X. June. selves strong, they murdered two soldiers whom the French in- CHAP. discreetly sent into the city for provisions. Ignorant of their fate, the commander supposed they had been imprisoned, and 1808. threatened, if they were not immediately set free, to release them by force. The people then riotously demanded arms, that they might rush out and attack the enemy. The magistrates remonstrated with them in vain, and on the following morning the Corregedor, finding that farther delay would only endanger his June 25. own life, distributed among them such weapons as could be collected, and taking the safest course for himself, set off to solicit aid from the Junta of Ayamonte, the nearest authority by which it could be supplied. The Provedor and the Juiz de Fora thought it their duty to avert, if possible, the immediate danger: they went out to the French, intreated them not to attack the town, and promised them supplies; the enemy were easily intreated, because they were not strong enough in reality for any such attempt'; the magistrates then endeavoured to make the people ratify what they had undertaken for them; all reasoning was in vain, and to save their own lives they left the city. But here also private malice availed itself of public troubles to effect its own ends; a messenger recalled them, upon the plea that they were wanted to give orders for collecting provisions, in fulfilment of their agreement; for the Corregedor having departed, there was no person to take upon himself that business. Deceived by this treacherous message, they returned, and were Neves, iii. butchered by a ferocious mob, who knew not that they were made the brutal instruments of individual revenge. 323-327. Beja sacked by the French, and set on By this time, however, the ardour of the people had so far cooled, that they no longer talked of sallying against the French, they contented themselves with keeping a tumultuous fire. watch through the night; and when the morning dawned, and there appeared no enemy, they fancied themselves secure. June. June 26. CHAP. The French commander had merely retired out of sight: his X. dispatches reached Mertola at eleven on the preceding night; at 1808. midnight Maransin, with 950 men, began his march, and at four the next evening the united force arrived before Beja. They were opposed by a mere multitude without order, leader, or plan of defence, every man acting for himself as he thought best. Yet the victory was not gained without a brave resistance, and some loss to the assailants. According to the French account they lost eighty in killed and wounded, while 1200 of the Portugueze were slain in the action, and all who were taken in arms were put to death. The worst excesses followed by which huPortuguez, manity can be disgraced and outraged, and the * city was sacked Neves, iii. and set on fire. Observador 327-332. In this whole merciless proceeding Maransin acted upon his * Baron Thiebault represents this as a great exploit on the part of his fellowsoldiers. He says, Le Colonel Maransin auroit pu éviter Beja, mais il crut devoir ramener, par un grand exemple, ce pays à l'obeissance. Il forme ses colonnes en marchant, et sans artillerie attaque cette ville, enceinte de hautes murailles, dont toutes les portes étoient barricadées, dont les murs, les tours, étoient défendus par des forces quintuples des siennes, et par des hommes qui, dans leur fureur, defioient nos bataillons. Who would suppose, from this description, that these high walls and towers were in ruins, and that they were defended by a mob of three or four thousand men, not a third part of whom were armed with firelocks! After killing 1200 men in action, and all who were found in arms after it, sacking the city, and setting it on fire, it seems difficult to understand what the mercy was which the surviving inhabitants are said to have sent to Lisbon to solicit. According to Baron Thiebault, un brave religieux, after the assault, moved all his auditors to tears, by representing to them how much they had provoked their own misfortunes; he was consequently deputed unanimously to implore Junot's clemency. Junot received him graciously, and rewarded him with a canonry; LA RECONNOISSANCE FUT EXTREME,..et Beja n'en reprit pas moins les armes peu de jours après. In the bulletin published at Lisbon upon this occasion, and signed by this same General Thiebault, it is said, the inhabitants expressed their contrition by their deputy, acknowledged that they had been justly punished, and confessed that they had been seduced by the English! X. June. mann's pro- own judgement, well knowing that such was the system which CHAP. Napoleon had laid down, and which his generals felt no reluctance in executing. He proceeded to Evora, and Keller- 1808. mann, approving of his conduct, held out the fate of Beja in a proclamation, as a warning to the province. "Inhabitants of KellerAlem-Tejo," he said, "Beja had revolted, and Beja exists no longer. Its guilty inhabitants have been put to the edge of the Tejo. sword, and its houses delivered up to pillage and to the flames. Thus shall all those be treated who listen to the counsels of a perfidious rebellion, and with a senseless hatred take arms against us. Thus shall those bands of smugglers and criminals be treated, who have collected in Badajoz, and put arms into the hands of the unhappy Lusitanians, but dare not themselves march against us. Who, indeed, can resist our invincible troops? Ye who have precipitated yourselves into rebellion, prevent, by prompt submission, the inevitable chastisement that awaits you! And ye who have hitherto been happy or prudent enough to continue in your duty, profit by this terrible example! Our general in chief has not told you in vain that clouds of Observador rebels shall be dispersed before us like the sands of the desert 347. before the impetuous breath of the south wind." Portuguez, clamation tugueze. The bombastic sentence which Kellermann thus quoted, was Junot's profrom a proclamation that Junot had just sent forth, in that to the Porspirit of shameless falsehood and remorseless tyranny which characterised the intrusive government. He asked the Portugueze what madness possessed them? What reason they could have, after seven months of the most perfect tranquillity, of the best understanding, to take arms; . . and against whom? against an army which was to secure their independence and maintain the integrity of their country! Was it their wish, then, that ancient Lusitania should become a province of Spain? Could they regret a dynasty which had abandoned them, and under June. CHAP. which they were no longer counted among the nations of Europe? X. What more could they desire than to be Portugueze, and in1808. dependent? and this Napoleon had promised them. They had asked him for a king, who, under his all-powerful protection, might restore their country to its rank. At this moment their new monarch was expecting to approach them. "I hoped,” said Junot, "to place him in a peaceable and flourishing kingdom; am I to show him nothing but ruins and graves? Will he reign in a desert? assuredly not; and you will not be any thing but a wretched province of Spain. Your customs and laws have been maintained; your holy religion, which is ours also, has not suffered the least insult; it is you who violate it, suffering it to be influenced by heretics, who only wish for its destruction. Ask the unhappy Roman-catholics of Ireland under what op pression they are groaning! If these perfidious islanders invade your territory, leave me to fight them;.. your part is to remain peaceably in your fields." He then attempted to soothe them, saying, that if any abuses in the administration still existed, every day's experience would diminish them. The Emperor, satisfied with the reports which he had received of the public spirit, had graciously remitted half the contribution. He was fulfilling all their wishes. And would they let themselves be dragged on by the influence of a banditti, at the very moment when they should be happy? Portugueze," said he, "you have but one moment to implore the clemency of the Emperor, and disarm his wrath. Already the armies of Spain touch your frontiers at every point; . . you are lost if you hesitate. Merit your pardon by quick submission, or behold the punishment that awaits you! Every village or town in which the people have taken arms, and 66 fired upon my troops, shall be delivered up to pillage, and deObservador stroyed, and the inhabitants shall be put to the sword. Every 317-320. individual found in arms shall instantly be shot." Portuguez, X. June. feeling of the Portu gueze. The French had dealt largely in false promises; they were CHAP. sincere in their threats, and on the very day when this proclamation was issued at Lisbon, that sincerity was proved at 1808. Beja. But as the Portugueze had not been deceived, neither were they now to be intimidated. Their character had been totally National mistaken by their insolent oppressors. They, like the Spaniards, had a deep and ever-present remembrance of their former greatness. It was sometimes expressed with a vanity which excited the contempt of those who judge hastily upon that imperfect knowledge which is worse than ignorance; more generally it produced a feeling of dignified and melancholy pride. The kingdom had decayed, but the degeneracy of the people was confined to the higher ranks, whom every possible cause, physical and moral, combined to degrade. Generation after generation, they had intermarried, not merely within the narrow circle of a few privileged families, but oftentimes in their own; uncles with their nieces, nephews with their aunts. The canonical law was dispensed with for these alliances; but no dispensing power could set aside the law of nature, which rendered degeneracy the sure consequence. Thus was the breed deteriorated; and education completed the mischief. The young fidalgo was never regarded as a boy as soon as the robes, or rather bandages of infancy were laid aside, he appeared in the dress of manhood, was initiated in its forms and follies, and it was rather his misfortune than his fault, if, at an early age, he became familiar with its vices. When he arrived at manhood, no field for exertion was open to him, even if he were qualified or disposed to exert himself. The private concerns of embellishing and improving an estate were as little known in Portugal as those public affairs in which the nobility of Great Britain are so actively engaged: if not in office, he was in idleness, and his idleness was passed in the capital. A wasteful expenditure made him a bad landlord, 3 Q VOL. I. |