CHAP. nor allowed the displeasure which it naturally excited to preXI. ponderate against the real services which the Bishop of Porto 1808. had rendered to his country, and the popularity which in conSeptember. sequence he then possessed. He replied therefore to the Bishop,

that had there been no objection, the Council of Regency which the Prince had appointed at his departure, would now have resumed their authority of course; but seeing that some of its members were strongly suspected of being in the French interest, he felt himself authorized to state, that however desirous the King his Sovereign might be to interfere as little as possible in the internal affairs of Portugal, it was impossible for his Majesty, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to acquiesce in the return of those persons to power. On the other hand, those members who had kept aloof from the interests of the enemy, and retaining their loyalty had retained the confidence of the nation, had an unquestionable claim to be reinstated in their situations. Declaring therefore that his instructions were to take measures for forming a Regency as soon as possible, composed of such persons of rank, character, and talents, as might be found ready to undertake, and qualified to discharge, the important trust, but with as few changes (particularly in the subordinate departments) as might be compatible with the public interests, in the fulfilment of this duty he naturally addressed himself to his Excellency and the Provisional Board of Government at Porto. You," Sir Hew continued, "have already turned your thoughts to the great question now at issue, and are doubtless prepared to propose measures for completing the Council of Regency so as to merit the confidence of the nation, and to prevent any just cause of discontent in any other provisional government, or other respectable description of the people. For my own part, I have only been able, from the information I have received since my arrival in Portugal, to form one decided opinion on

66

XI.

this subject; which is, the infinite importance to the public wel- CHAP. fare that your Excellency should yourself hold a distinguished place in the proposed Regency."

1808.

The Coun

established.

The Bishop's reply was, that he should readily acquiesce in September.. whatever might be determined upon, except his own nomination cil of Reto the Council; for he, better than any other person, knew what gency rewas necessary for the good of the public cause, and of the northern provinces, and therefore would not remove from the place where he had been stationed by God and by his Prince. It was soon, however, ascertained, that if this Prelate could not remain at the head of the government at Porto, he would not persist in refusing to accept a share in it at Lisbon. Sir Hew therefore, upon mature deliberation, and with the best advice which could be obtained, issued a proclamation, saying, that through the success with which Providence had blessed the British arms, the time was come when the re-establishment of the Portugueze government could be effected. He gave the people due praise Sept. 18. for the exertions which they had made against the French; and saying that no views of interest or of national aggrandizement could be imputed to the liberal policy of Great Britain, declared, that the best manner in which he could fulfil the intentions of his Sovereign, and promote the welfare of Portugal, was by restoring that Council to which their Prince had delegated his authority when he preserved his royal dignity from the insults of an implacable enemy, and secured his American dominions. One of that Council had been unhappily sent away from his country; others had incurred imputations which rendered their restoration impossible at this time. The three, however, who had contracted no such disability, the Monteiro Mor, D. Francisco Xavier de Noronha, and Francisco da Cunha e Menezes, he called upon to resume the administration, and with them the Desembargador Joam Antonio Salter de Mendonça, and Bri- Sept. 20.

CHAP. gadier D. Miguel Pereira Forjas Coutinho, whom the Prince XI. had named to succeed in case of vacancies. These persons 1808. assembled accordingly, and to fill up the number which the act September of regency appointed, elected the Marquez das Minas and the Bishop of Porto. The Junta of Porto then dissolved itself, declaring, however, that if the Regency should again be overthrown by any new invasion of the enemy, (which they prayed God to avert,) or any other calamity, they should by that event enter again upon the full exercise of the authority which they now laid aside. The other Juntas were in like manner dissolved; the Regency was acknowledged throughout Portugal, and things resumed, as far as possible, their former course.

Outcry in England

Convention.

While Sir Hew Dalrymple was employed in carrying the against the terms of the convention into effect, putting an end to the anarchy which prevailed, and preparing with all possible speed to advance into Spain, an outcry which he little expected had arisen against him at home. The official account of the battle reached England a fortnight before the news of the armistice and convention: tidings came with it that the French had proposed to evacuate Portugal, and the news of Junot's unconditional surrender was looked for as what must necessarily ensue. When the terms of the convention were received the Park and Tower guns were fired; but the public feeling was not in accord with this demonstration of joy, and never was any public feeling so unanimously and instantaneously manifested. The hopes of the nation had been raised to the highest pitch; their disappointment was in proportion, and it was expressed with a violence only to be explained by the deep and general abhorrence which the conduct of the French in Portugal had provoked. The capitulations of the Helder and of Buenos Ayres were remembered as less mortifying than the convention of Cintra. Nothing else could be talked of, nothing else could be thought of: men greeted each other in the streets with execrations upon those

XI.

who had signed this detested convention; it kept them waking CHAP. at night, or disturbed their sleep, like a misdeed or a misfortune of their own. The London newspapers joined in one cry of 1808. wonder and abhorrence; on no former occasion had they been so unanimous. The provincial papers proved that, from one end of the island to the other, the resentment of this grievous disappointment was the same; some refused to disgrace their pages by inserting the treaty; others surrounded it with broad black lines, putting their journal in mourning for the dismal intelligence it contained; some headed the page with a representation of three gibbets, and a general suspended from each, cut in wood for the occasion.

What could be done? There were not wanting writers who called upon government to annul the convention. The Romans, they said, would have done so, and have delivered up the generals who signed it, bound and haltered, to the enemy's discretion. Would it be argued, that to break the treaty would be to break our faith towards the enemy? Why, it was so framed that it could not be fulfilled without breaking our faith towards each and all of our allies! We were the allies of Portugal; and it was a breach of faith towards Portugal, to transport this army of thieves, ravishers, and murderers out of the country in which they had perpetrated their crimes, and from which they had no other possible means of escape. We were the allies of Spain; and it was a breach of faith towards Spain, if four-and-twenty thousand French troops, cut off from all succour and all retreat, should be conveyed, under the British flag, into their own country, with arms and baggage, that they might join the forces with which Buonaparte was preparing to march against the Spaniards. We were the allies of Sweden; and it was a breach of faith towards Sweden to carry Russian sailors through the Swedish fleet for the purpose of manning Russian ships against

CHAP. the Swedes. Were we then to annul this treaty with our enemies, XI. or to betray our friends? for to this alternative our triumvirate 1808. of generals had reduced us! No law of nations could justify September. them in making such stipulations; no law of nations therefore

could justify us in performing them. But the French, it was urged, had already fulfilled their part of the convention; they had evacuated the fortified towns, and admitted us into Lisbon. Thus we had already reaped the advantages, and were, in honour, bound to carry into effect the remainder of the treaty, which was advantageous to them. In whatever way we acted, some loss of honour was inevitable; but it was less disgraceful to break the terms than to fulfil them; better that the French should reproach us, than that they should compliment us upon a fidelity which enabled them to injure our allies. The blow, it was affirmed, might have gone far towards deciding the fate of Europe. France had lost one army in Andalusia, and how deeply Buonaparte felt the loss was shown by the anxiety with which he concealed it from the French people. What might not have been the effect of the destruction of a second and larger army, following so close upon that of the former! How would it have encouraged the Portugueze, given new animation to the Spaniards, and raised the hope and the courage of those various states who were suffering under the tyrant's yoke!

The conditions which had been granted to the Russian Admiral were condemned with the same vehement feeling of disappointment. The intimate connexion which had so lately subsisted between the Courts of London and Petersburgh, and the personal regard which the British Admiral entertained for Admiral Siniavin, had been adduced as reasons why an agreement acceptable to both nations should be concluded. Certainly it became us to manifest every mark of personal respect toward the Russian officers, because, though the false policy of their