XI. September. government had engaged the two countries in war, there existed CHAP. no angry feelings nor jarring interests between them; and the wishes of both were for a renewal of that long established inter- 1808. course which was beneficial to both. It also behoved us especially to show ourselves grateful for the protection which the Russians had afforded to the English and Portugueze refugees, and the facilities which they had given them of effecting their escape. These were personal favours, for which the obvious personal return should have been to have immediately sent home men and officers under an engagement not to serve against us or our allies, and to have shown towards them every courtesy and kindness by which the evils of hostility can be mitigated. But that personal regard should influence the terms of capitulation, was a thing as unheard of as the terms themselves. "Hold in deposit!" The phrase had never before been known in the British navy. They knew what it was to fight their enemies; they knew what it was to beat, capture, sink, burn, and destroy them, according to the spirit and letter of their instructions. This was said by the navy, and by the nation; and the bitter reflection arose, how would Nelson have received such a proposal! Such language as this arose from a right feeling; but the disappointment of well-founded and high-raised hopes had heated the public mind, and disqualified it for regarding the whole transaction dispassionately. The manner in which the Portugueze had been overlooked in the negotiation was aggravated in England by persons who supported the pretensions of the Junta of Porto; and undue stress was laid upon the neglect of formalities which could not have been overlooked if the Portugueze General had been acting with the British army as he ought. There had been one serious omission affecting the Portugueze, which was, in not insisting upon a stipulation that the CHAP. troops of that nation who had been sent to serve in Buonaparte's XI. armies should be restored to their own country; such a stipu1808. lation ought to have been required, though it would undoubtedly September. have been broken. The other oversights which were objected Board of Inquiry appointed. were merely frivolous, and the manner in which, through all the subsequent details, the feelings as well as interests of the Portugueze had been consulted, had already contented them, and made them grateful for the conduct of their allies. There was another cause which exasperated the English people: they compared the treatment of Junot's army with that of Dupont's, and were,mortified by a comparison which ought rather to have elated them; for looking to what seemed advantageous, and not to what was just, they did not perceive that in deferring to a popular cry the Junta of Seville had broken a solemn engagement. The strong disapprobation with which Sir Hew Dalrymple regarded that breach of faith, acted upon him, perhaps unconsciously, when he allowed the French the utmost which could be claimed upon the most liberal construction of the letter of the treaty in their favour. Meetings were convened in most parts of England to express the indignation of the people at the convention, and call for the punishment of those by whom it had been negotiated. The Common Council presented an address to the same purport, and were told in reply that it was inconsistent with the principles of British justice to pronounce judgement without previous investigation, and that their interposition was not necessary for inducing the King to institute a due inquiry into a transaction which had disappointed the hopes and expectations of the nation. Accordingly the three Generals were recalled, and a Board of Inquiry was appointed, composed of the Earl of Moira, General Craig, Lord Heathfield, the Earl of Pembroke, Sir George Nugent, and Lieutenant-General Nicolls, with Sir David Dundas for pre XI. sident. Their decision, after a long and full investigation, was, CHAP. that they could not pronounce, with confidence, whether the victory of Vimeiro ought to have been pursued or not; but, con- 1808. sidering the extraordinary circumstances under which two new commanders arrived from the ocean, and joined the army, (the one during, and the other immediately after the battle, and these successively superseding each other, and both the original commander, within the space of twenty-four hours,) it was not surprising that the army was not carried forward until the second day after the action, from the necessity of the generals' being acquainted with the actual state of things, and proceeding accordingly. On a consideration of all circumstances, they were of opinion, that no farther proceeding was necessary; and, however some of them might differ respecting the fitness of the convention, it was their unanimous declaration, that unquestionable zeal and firmness had been exhibited by all the three generals. As this was, in fact, delivering no opinion at all, the board was called upon, by the Duke of York, as commander-in-chief, to resume its consideration of the armistice and convention, and pronounce decidedly whether they thought them adviseable. The armistice was disapproved by Earl Moira; the convention by the same nobleman, by the Earl of Pembroke, and General Nicolls thus, six of the seven members approved the armistice, and four approved the convention. The dissentient members delivered in their reasons for the opinion which they gave. General Nicolls and Earl Pembroke confined themselves to a military point of view. Earl Moira took a wider scope, and argued ably against the moral and political effects of the treaty. The proceedings were concluded by a declaration from the King, Jan. 18, adopting the unanimous opinion of the board, that no farther proceeding was necessary; but expressing his disapprobation of those articles of the convention in which stipulations were made, VOL. I. 4 I 1809. CHAP. directly affecting the interests or feelings of the Spanish and XI. Portugueze nations. That disapprobation his Majesty had sig1808. nified to Sir Hew Dalrymple when the treaty was first laid before him, and he repeated it, deeming it necessary that his sentiments should be clearly understood, as to the impropriety and danger of the unauthorised admission, into military conventions, of articles of such a description. Nor could he forbear observing, that Sir Hew's delaying to transmit the armistice concluded on the 22d of August, till the 4th of September, when the ratified convention was transmitted at the same time, was calculated to produce great public inconvenience, and that such inconvenience had, in fact, resulted therefrom. The King abstained from any observations upon other parts of the convention. Thus the whole censure fell upon Sir Hew Dalrymple. But it was seen by the people that the great error of judgement had been committed at home, in not providing that the General by whom the campaign was planned should carry it to the end. And how often may it be observed in history, as in private life, that the course of events is better directed to the end desired, than if the persons most interested in the success could themselves have ordered it! So it was in this campaign, which at the time so severely disappointed the nation. A more splendid triumph might have been obtained in the field, a higher tone might have been taken in the negotiation; but in either of these cases Almeida and Elvas would have been left in possession of the enemy; and whatever efforts might have been made for reducing them, they could easily have held out till the dispersion of the Spanish armies. It would then have been a great object with the French to relieve the garrisons, and this would have brought them to Lisbon at a time when there were neither preparations nor means for resistance there. CHAPTER XII. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CENTRAL JUNTA. OPERATIONS IN WHEN Castaños was informed of Sir Hew Dalrymple's appointment to the command of the British army, he declared that he regarded this nomination as the most fortunate event of his own life; so much advantage to the common cause did he anticipate from their confidence in each other, and the cordial cooperation which would ensue. In reality that influence which the confidence of a British commander would have given him, might have been of the most essential benefit to Spain at this momentous crisis. Such was the national character, that when the struggle commenced every man was ready to follow in the cause of his country; but so pitiable had been the state of education, and so successfully had the double despotism of the government and the inquisition shut out knowledge from their empire, that no man was fit to lead. There were now as many governments as there were Juntas, each acting with little regard to the others; and as these were every where filled by persons chosen because of their station, the government throughout Spain was delivered, or rather fell into the hands of the provincial nobility and gentry, with a few clergy; a set of men whom their general want of information, their prejudices, and their previous way of life, in great measure disqualified for the task to which they were called. 1808. Necessity of a provision al govern ment. |