[318] Napier, ii. pp. 80-1, consistently mis-calls him Brochard.
[319] Either of these might easily have been fired by a casual shot, during the long cannonading which had been in progress. The Portuguese, therefore, avoided them.
[320] See Le Noble (Soult’s partisan and official vindicator), p. 207, and Fantin des Odoards, p. 227.
[321] See his conversation with his aide-de-camp, St. Chamans, in the latter’s Mémoires, p. 139. The Marshal said that he was in a hazardous military position and that ‘je ne puis m’en tirer qu’en divisant les Portugais entre eux, et j’emploie pour cela le meilleur moyen politique qui soit en mon pouvoir.’ Compare Fantin des Odoards, p. 227.
[322] Fantin des Odoards, writing at Oporto under the date May 5, says that he had just read this proclamation on the walls, and was astounded at it, for the great bulk of the population was so hostile that the project seemed absolutely insane.
[323] St. Chamans, aide-de-camp to Soult, speaks of the crowds assembled by Veloso and others (p. 134): Bigarré says that General Ricard threw money to the crowd for seven days running from the Marshal’s balcony, and then stopped because the harvest of vivas was not large enough (p. 245).
[324] See Fantin des Odoards, p. 229, and Jourdan, p. 218.
[325] This strange document will be found printed in the Appendix.
[326] See Chamans, pp. 134 and 140. He ends with observing that Soult ‘aurait voulu se faire demander pour roi de Portugal par les habitants, qu’alors, le premier pas fait, il aurait sollicité les suffrages de l’armée, ils auraient été consignés sur des registres pour chaque corps, et il aurait mis toutes ces pièces sous les yeux de l’Empereur, en lui demandant son approbation.’
[327] Napoleon to Soult from Schönbrunn, Sept. 26, Nap. Corresp., 15,871.