But in other cases the commissioners were bound by the letter of a treaty, in which it now appeared that one party could not have presumed too little upon the honour of the other, nor one too much. All the money which these plunderers had collected they were allowed to carry off. Sir Hew observed, that this description of property could never come under the provisions of the treaty, and that it was impossible to identify it, or prove exactly from whom it was obtained. But Ayres Pinto had pointed out a simple and satisfactory mode of proof: the French had brought no Portugueze money with them, consequently, whatever they possessed in it must have been the fruits of rapine. Yet the French carried off three months’ pay for the whole army, in the general military chest, and, besides this, distributed large sums to the different regiments, to be carried off in their regimental chests. One regiment alone was said to have taken 100,000 crowns with it.
♦Question concerning the silver in bars.♦
The French had also a great quantity of silver in bars, into which they had reduced the pillage of the churches and palaces, for the sake of easier conveyance. Kellermann strenuously insisted that the convention guaranteed to them whatever was in their possession previous to the first day of the truce, and declared, most positively, that they never would concede this point. The commissioners, on the contrary, insisted upon the article which restricted them from carrying off other than military and personal baggage; and they declared that the Commander-in-chief would never consent to any other construction. At length they compromised the dispute: the French, though they would not acknowledge that, by the treaty, they were under any obligation, proposed to pay the debts of the army with this silver, for which purpose, they said, it had ever been expressly intended, and agreed, that if any remained after these debts were discharged, it should be delivered up. The commissioners acknowledged, that, by the convention, they could scarcely require more; and Sir Hew pronounced that the offer was fair, and might be acceded to.
♦Further instances of dishonour in the French.♦
The commissioners, however, were soon convinced that concession was not the likeliest expedient for avoiding new pretensions. The ingenuity of man, they said, could not provide against French cavil, and ingenuity in misconstruction; and in consequence of the perpetual subterfuges and false promises of Kellermann, they insisted upon the establishment of a committee, to inquire into all the claims presented by the Portugueze, and to be invested with full authority to summon persons, and to order restitution. Property to a very great amount, both private and public, was recovered by these means. Information was obtained that fifty-three boxes of indigo were embarked as part of Junot’s baggage: the indigo was found and seized: the French general, of course, disclaimed any knowledge of the transaction; and the commissioners, without hesitation, assured him that every officer in the British army would acquit him personally on this head, because it was impossible for him to inspect or know what was done in his name! A bold and well-supported attempt was made to avoid the repayment of the money taken from the Deposito Publico, and a compensation for articles taken from the public magazines since the convention, amounting in the whole to £40,000. The justice of this demand had been acknowledged, and immediate payment promised. Nevertheless, it had not been made when Junot embarked, and when he was called upon to fulfil his agreement, Kellermann pleaded that the money remaining in the Caisse Militaire did not amount to the £60,000, which, by the explanation of the convention, was admitted to be a fair military chest, and therefore he considered the agreement to repay these sums as cancelled. The first division of the French had already sailed, but the commissioners applied to Sir Charles Cotton to detain the second, and the Commander-in-chief, till that point should be satisfactorily settled. Even after this instance of vigour, much litigation and discussion was permitted; and when, at length, Kellermann yielded to necessity, attempts were still made to put off the payment, till no means of enforcing it should be left. During the three last days that Junot remained in the river, orders were repeatedly given to the payeur-general to pay this money, and they were always evaded, under some frivolous pretext; till at last the commissioners ordered him and his baggage on shore to the arsenal, and then the Frenchman reluctantly refunded this part of the plunder.
♦Protests of the Monteiro Mor and of the Juiz do Povo.♦
While the commissioners were thus recovering from the French a part of that wealth which they had collected by every means of oppression and violence, the strong interference of the British alone preserved these plunderers from the vengeance of the people. The popular feeling was partaken by all ranks. The Monteiro Mor, who had now advanced to Azeitam, addressed a protest to the British Admiral against the treaty, because the Prince and his Government had not been consulted; and because no attention had been paid to himself, who, without any foreign aid, had found means to expel the enemy from the kingdom of Algarve, and pursuing them, passing on to Alem-Tejo, and compelling them to evacuate all their posts, had taken a position with his army on the south bank of the Tagus. Such fanfaronade could only detract from his own deserts, and discredit the exertions and the sufferings of a brave and loyal nation. He accompanied this protest by a request, that, on account of the robberies and atrocities which the French had committed, the vessels employed to carry them home might be embargoed till the King of England and the Prince of Brazil should have resolved on what was best for the honour and interest of the two nations; and he required that their baggage should be rigorously searched by Portugueze and English commissioners, lest they should carry away with them the booty which they had so infamously obtained. The Juiz do Povo also presented a protest; though the convention had not been published, the people, he said, knew there was no mention made in it of the three states of the kingdom, and that it left them without satisfaction for the crimes both against divine and human laws, and without vengeance for the murders, robberies, and atrocities of every kind, which the usurpers had committed. “Our churches stript,” said he, “the royal palaces damaged, the royal treasury plundered, the people reduced to poverty and misery, so that the streets and squares of the capital are rendered impassable by crowds of beggars, ... nothing of this is taken into consideration: ... yet the safety of kingdoms depends on not letting their rights be invaded without punishing the offenders, and the consequence of permitting such crimes with impunity will occasion incalculable misfortunes. The people and the officers of this tribunal declare their gratitude to the generous allies who have liberated Portugal, but they pray for the suspension of a convention so favourable to the French as this is said to be. It must be invalid after the abuses and hostilities which they have continued to commit in Almeida, and the contribution which they have since extorted; and this tribunal cannot consent to the return of the enemy to France, as they already threaten that they will come back to destroy what they have left.”
♦Danger of tumults in Lisbon.♦
Such language from a magistrate whose name was never heard but in turbulent times, increased the popular ferment; and General Hope, who now commanded in Lisbon, found it necessary to issue a proclamation, prohibiting the Portugueze from entering the city with arms, or wearing them in the streets; and enacting that all places where wine was sold should be shut at six in the evening, and not opened before sunrise. To enforce these regulations, and maintain order, strong guards, picquets, and patroles, were appointed to arrest every person who should break the peace. Nothing but this prompt vigilance prevented the people from gratifying their thirst for vengeance. It is said that all the houses in Belem in which the enemy were lodged were marked in the course of one night, and that lists of those Frenchmen and their adherents who were deemed most worthy of death were posted up. The English were loudly reproached for having protected men who deserved the most exemplary punishment; and there were not wanting persons unreflecting enough to assert, that sure as they were of the Spaniards, they could have exacted that punishment without any necessity for English aid. This feeling, however, was far from general. The English character was too well known in Lisbon, for the English name ever to be unpopular among a people not less retentive of kind and friendly feelings than of injuries. When the English soldiers went to occupy the arsenals and forts, refreshments were brought out for them along the way, and British officers were followed in the streets by applauding crowds; while the hatred which was manifested towards the French was so deep and general, that no people could possibly have incurred it unless they had deserved it to the utmost. Not only did the Portugueze refuse to purchase from them those things which they wished to convert into money, they refused to sell them any thing, even provisions for their hospital. If a Frenchman ventured to appear alone, trusting to escape discovery, he betook himself, upon the first suspicious eye which was directed toward him, to an Englishman for protection. Kellermann came on shore one day after his embarkation to dine with a British officer, and being recognized on his return to the water-side, was attacked by the mob. Our sailors defended and saved him, but not before he had received some severe contusions. Loison, who was a more marked object of execration, was considered in so much personal danger, that four battalions were bivouacked near his quarters, and four pieces of cannon planted there for his protection. But toward those officers who had demeaned themselves humanely and honourably, the people testified nothing but respect and good-will.
♦Temper of the French.♦