The French were not sufficiently humbled to bear this meekly. The success which they had obtained in negotiation, in their minds more than counterbalanced the humiliation of their defeat, and of their present state. They denied that they had been defeated; they affirmed that they had dictated the terms; and Junot continued to occupy the royal box at the opera till his departure. The English generals respected, in this instance, the custom of the country, and after the Frenchman had resigned it, left it unoccupied, with the curtain down. But however much the enemy might console themselves with the confident hope of again becoming masters of the kingdom, their pride was bitterly wounded by the display of national feeling which met them every where, and which they considered presumptuous in a people who were soon to be brought again under their iron yoke. They called it audacity in the Portugueze to wear the national cockade, which they still chose to denominate a badge of insurrection; and they complained that even in their sight lamps were prepared for illuminating the city upon their departure, ♦Thiebault, 219–222.♦ and demanded in greater numbers than could be supplied.
♦Embarkation of the French.♦
The first division of the French embarked under protection of the second, the second and third were protected by the British troops from the fury of the Portugueze. Wholly to restrain it was impossible, but no serious injury was done. They embarked amid the curses of the people. Nine days and nights the rejoicings continued, not by any order from the magistracy, but by the voluntary act of the inhabitants, whose joy was in proportion to the misery from which they had been delivered. It was a joy which thousands whose fortunes had been ruined in the general calamity, partook; and which brought the last earthly consolation to many a broken heart. The enemy, while they lay in the river, were within sight of the illuminations and fire-works, and could hear the bells with which that great city rang from side to side. However brave in arms, however skilful in negotiation, they departed under circumstances more reproachful than had ever before attached to any army, or body of military men. As a last act of baseness, one of their general officers called at the commissioners’ office, while they were absent, just before he embarked, and carried off all the papers he could collect, in the hope of making it impossible for them to produce an account of their proceedings. But he was driven back to Lisbon by contrary winds, and compelled ♦Final report of the commissioners.♦ to restore them. The commissioners concluded the final report of their transactions by stating, that the conduct of the French had been marked by the most shameful disregard of honour and probity, publicly evincing their intention of carrying off their plundered booty, and leaving acknowledged debts unpaid. “Finally, said they, they have only paid what they were obliged to disgorge, and were not permitted to carry off. The British commissioners had represented to General Kellermann, that whatsoever the words, it could never be the spirit of any convention, that an army should, as a military chest, or otherwise, carry off public money, leaving public debts unpaid: they had called upon him, for the honour of the French army and nation, to act justly; and yet, unmindful of any tie of honour or of justice, the French army had taken away a considerable sum in the military chest, leaving its debts unpaid, to a very large amount.”
Thus the courtesy which had been shown toward the French Generals in the course of the negotiation, had the effect of fixing upon them a deeper stigma; by bringing into full view a low chicanery, a total want of honour, and utter disregard of truth, which could not have been suspected, if it had not been thus officially proved, and placed upon public record. Had such charges been advanced by the enemy against the general officers of a British army, the strictest inquiry would have been instituted, and no rank, no influence, no professional merits, could have screened the offenders. They would have been dismissed with ignominy from the service which they had disgraced, and for ever excluded from all honourable society. There was a time when the highest eulogium which the French bestowed upon a soldier was to say, that he was without fear and without reproach; but under the system of Buonaparte nothing was considered reproachful in his soldiers, provided they feared nothing in this world or in the next.
♦Addresses of thanks to the British Commander.♦
The good faith of the British, and their real regard for the interest and feelings of the Portugueze nation, were now apparent. The national flag was every where displayed, and the people were informed by a proclamation that no time would be lost in establishing their government upon the basis on which the Prince had left it, and substituting the civil for that military power which was continued only from necessity and for a few days. The magistrates and the clergy meantime, and all persons who possessed authority or influence, were called upon to co-operate in preserving order. Addresses of thanks came from the provinces; and the Juiz do Povo, who had protested in the name of the people of Lisbon so strongly against the convention, now for those same people expressed their gratitude to the British Commander, the British Sovereign, and the British nation, requesting that their sincere thanks for this great deliverance might be made known to the smallest village as well as to the throne. Such was the proud situation of the British army at Lisbon. Some formalities had been forgotten in the negotiation, some minor interests had been overlooked, and the courtesies of war had been too liberally accorded to an enemy who should have been made to feel their moral degradation. But the unstained honour, the unsuspecting integrity, the open manliness, the plain dignity of the British character, had been manifested throughout the whole of these transactions; and this was felt and acknowledged by the Portugueze.
♦Galluzo besieges Elvas.♦
Difficulties which could not have been foreseen arose concerning the delivery of Elvas. Galluzo, who commanded the army of Extremadura, and who had hitherto afforded no very efficient aid to the Portugueze, thought proper at this time, when he had been required by every civil and military authority to begin his march towards Castille, in contempt of those orders to enter Alem-Tejo, and besiege Elvas, as if no treaty for its surrender had been made. The French Commandant, Girod de Novillars, upon this required from the inhabitants an immediate loan of money, to the amount of 30,000 francs, and wine and provisions to the value of 20,000 more. Drained as they had been by repeated exactions, the people of Elvas were in no condition to obey this demand; the Bishop and the magistrates therefore easily obtained permission to go to the Spanish camp, and entreat Galluzo to suspend hostilities. That General, however, declared, that if the French did not surrender within six hours, he would open his fire against Fort La Lippe, and put the whole garrison to the sword. He had no time to lose, he said, but must hasten to assist his fellow-soldiers in expelling the enemy from the Peninsula; and the inhabitants must either abandon the city, or take arms against the French. From this dilemma they were delivered by the French themselves, who, during the night, withdrew into the forts, leaving about an hundred men in the hospital. An agreement was then made, with Galluzo’s consent, that the city should remain neutral; and the Spaniards began an absurd fire against Fort La Lippe, which is the strongest fortress in Portugal. Things were in this state when Lieutenant-Colonel Ross arrived with letters from the French Commander, instructing M. Girod to give up the place to him in pursuance of the convention. A demur was made by the Commandant, till he could send an officer to Lisbon, and satisfy himself that the dispatches were authentic; and difficulties less reasonable in their kind were started both by the Spaniards and Portugueze. Galluzo argued that no agreement between the British and French Generals could be binding upon him. The Spaniards, he affirmed, had a right as besiegers to take possession of Elvas, and the Spanish arms were not to be defrauded of the splendour which this would give them. He threatened Girod that if any injury were offered to the city the prisoners should be put to death, and the garrison receive no mercy; and he insisted that they should march out and lay down their arms, and that the place should be entered and occupied by the Spaniards only. In his communications with Sir Hew Dalrymple he held rather a lower tone, saying that certainly he should not have besieged and cannonaded Elvas if he had known of the convention; but it had not been thought proper to announce it to him. He required only a joint surrender to the British and Spanish arms, leaving the place and the prisoners to his Excellency; but he had heard the garrison were not to be considered prisoners; that article, though the opinion was that it would not be executed, occasioned some uneasiness, and therefore he would make them lay down their arms, and swear not to bear them again against Spain or her allies.
♦Difficulties concerning the surrender of Elvas.♦
Galluzo was at this time upon ill terms with the Portugueze. They complained that throughout the struggle in Alem-Tejo he had promised much and performed little; that the Spaniards had acted as masters in those fortresses which they had entered as friends, countermanded the orders of the Portugueze General, encouraged insubordination, appropriated to their own use money which had been raised for the national cause, and pillaged the country as they passed through it. On the other hand, Galluzo reproached the Portugueze with want of activity and energy, and with giving his people nothing but water when they went to assist them. His pretensions to Elvas, therefore, which under any circumstances might have given offence, were now peculiarly offensive; and it happened that the Junta of Porto, who were at this time not without hope of getting the government of the kingdom into their own hands, had ordered General Leite to march into Elvas and occupy it as soon as it should be evacuated. The General communicated their orders to Sir Hew, declaring that he felt it his duty to obey, and laying before him his complaints against the Spaniards. These difficulties were surmounted by a proper mixture of conciliation and firmness on the part of the British Commander. The first great object was, that British faith should be kept, and complete protection afforded to the French garrison. For this purpose those troops whom it was intended to canton in Alem-Tejo were immediately ordered thither, and stationed as near Elvas as possible. Colonel Graham was sent to Galluzo to bring him to reason; and if this were found impracticable, then to proceed to Madrid, and call for the interference of higher authorities. Colonel Ross was instructed to bear in mind, that as the French surrendered to no nation except the English, neither Spanish nor Portugueze troops were to appear when they marched out: that with respect to the Portugueze, the feelings of the nation were to be gratified, and their flag every where displayed under a salute; but he was to hold the substantial power, even if he saw cause for allowing a Portugueze General to march in with a detachment of his men. Colonel Graham performed his difficult mission with great ability. Galluzo ceased from all farther interference, and was so gratified by the temper in which this affair had been carried on by the British Commander, and the services which had been rendered to the soldiers of Extremadura who had been released at Lisbon, that he ordered the black English cockade to be blended with the red Spanish one in his army, to mark his gratitude, as he informed Sir Hew, and denote the intimate alliance between the two countries.