This second offence, for sir Hew’s answer did not reach Oporto until after Freire’s report had arrived there, completed the mortification of the bishop and the junta; they set no bounds to their violence. Efforts were made to stimulate the populace of Lisbon to attack not only the French but the English, in the hope that the terrible scene which must have ensued would effectually prevent the re-establishment of the old regency, and at the same time render the transfer of the seat of government to Oporto an easy task. Hence the outrageous conduct of the Monteiro Mor and of the judge of the people, and the former’s insolent letter calling upon sir Charles Cotton to interrupt the execution of the convention.
The 3d of September, sir Hew Dalrymple received instructions from home relative to the formation of a new regency, which were completely at variance with the plan arranged between the bishop and general Von Decken, yet no difficulty attended the execution. Here, as in the case of prince Leopold, we are arrested by the singularity of the transaction. Is it likely that general Von Decken should plunge into such a delicate and important affair in one hour after his arrival at Oporto, if he had not been secretly authorised by some member of the English cabinet; and are we to seek for a clue to these mysteries in that shameful Machiavelian policy that soon afterwards forced lord Castlereagh to defend his public measures by a duel?
The usual fate of plans laid by men more cunning than wise, attended the bishop of Oporto’s projects; he was successful for a moment in rendering the convention of Cintra odious to the Portuguese, but the great mass of the people soon acknowledged with gratitude the services rendered them by the English, and rejoiced at the fulfilment of a treaty that freed [Appendix, No. 23.] their country at once from the invaders; and well might they rejoice when they beheld above twenty-five thousand bold and skilful soldiers reluctantly quitting the strong holds of the kingdom, and to the last maintaining the haughty air of an army unsubdued, and capable on the slightest provocation of resorting once more to the decision of battle.
The Portuguese people were contented; but the Spanish general Galluzzo appears to have favoured the views of the Oporto faction. Detachments of his troops, and Portuguese refugees (principally from the northern provinces), commanded by a Spaniard, were acting in conjunction with the insurgents of the Alemtejo. Many disputes arose between the two nations, as I have already related, and the Spaniards treated Portugal as a conquered country, they denied the authority of the Portuguese general Leite, who [Appendix, No. 12.] was not of the bishop’s party; they insulted him personally, seized his military chest at Campo Mayor, and in all things acted with the utmost violence and rapacity. Galluzzo himself was required by his own government to join the Spanish armies concentrating on the Ebro; but instead of obeying, he collected his forces near Elvas, and when he heard of the convention concluded at Lisbon, invested Fort Lalippe, and refused to permit the execution of the treaty relative to that impregnable fortress. Colonel Girod de Novillard commanded the French garrison, and profiting from its situation, had compelled the inhabitants of Elvas to shut their gates against the Spaniards, and to supply the fort daily with provisions. Galluzzo’s proceedings were also manifestly absurd in a military point of view; his attacks were confined to a trifling bombardment of Lalippe from an immense distance, and the utmost damage sustained, or likely to be sustained by that fortress, was the knocking away the cornices and chimneys of the governor’s house, every other part being protected by bomb proofs of the finest masonry.
Through lord Burghersh, who had been appointed to communicate with the Spanish troops in Portugal, Galluzzo was early in September officially informed of the articles of the convention, and also that the troops of his nation confined on board the hulks at Lisbon, were by that treaty released, and would be clothed and armed and sent to Catalonia. Upon the 5th of September, sir Hew Dalrymple wrote to the Spaniard, repeating the substance of the first communication, and requesting that his detachments might be withdrawn from the Alemtejo where they were living at the expense of the people. Galluzzo took no notice of either communication; he pretended that he had opened his fire against Lalippe before the date of the convention; that no third party had a right to interfere, and that he would grant no terms to the garrison, nor permit any but Portuguese to enter the fort. At this very moment the Spanish armies on the Ebro were languishing for cavalry, which he alone possessed; and his efforts were so despised by Girod that the latter made no secret of his intention, (if the fate of the French army at Lisbon should render such a step advisable), to blow up the works, and march openly through the midst of Galluzzo’s troops.
Colonel Ross, with the 20th regiment, being appointed by sir Hew to receive the fort from colonel Girod, and to escort the garrison to Lisbon under the terms of the convention, sent a flag of truce to the French. Major Colborne, who carried it, was furnished with an autograph letter from Kellerman, and was received by Girod with civility; but the latter refused to surrender his post without more complete proof of the authenticity of the treaty; and with the view of acquiring that, he proposed that a French officer should proceed to Lisbon to verify the information; not that he affected to doubt the truth of Colborne’s information, but that he would not surrender his charge while the slightest doubt, capable of being removed, was attached to the transaction; and so acting he did well, and like a good soldier.
General Dearey, who commanded the investing force, was persuaded to grant a truce for six days, to give time for the journey of the officers appointed to go to Lisbon; but on their return it was not without great difficulty and delay that they were permitted to communicate with colonel Girod, and no argument could prevail upon the obstinate Galluzzo to relinquish the siege. After a warm intercourse of letters, sir Hew Dalrymple was forced to order sir John Hope to advance to Estremos with a considerable body of troops, for the purpose of giving weight to his remonstrances, or, if pushed to extremity, of forcing the [Appendix, No. 12.] Spaniard to desist from his unwarrantable pretensions. It must be observed that Galluzzo was not only putting aside the convention by which he profited himself, but also violating the independence of the Portuguese who desired his absence from their territory; and he was likewise setting at naught the authority of his own government, for the army of Estremadura pretended to act under the orders of the junta of Seville: and Laguna, an accredited agent of that junta, was at this moment receiving from sir Hew Dalrymple the Spanish prisoners liberated by the effect of the convention, together with money, arms, &c., to prepare them for immediate service in Catalonia, whither they were also to be transported in British vessels. One more effort was however made to persuade this intractable man to submit to reason, before recourse was had to violent measures which must have produced infinite evil. Colonel Graham repaired upon the 25th of September to Badajos, and his arguments being backed up by the near approach of the powerful division under Hope, were successful, and this troublesome affair ended in an amicable manner.
Colonel Girod evacuated the forts, and his garrison proceeded to Lisbon, attended by the 52d regiment as an escort. The rival troops agreed very well together, striving to out-do each other by the vigour and the military order of their marches; but the Swiss and French soldiers did not accord, and many of the latter wished to desert. At Lisbon the whole were immediately embarked; but the transports being detained Appendix to col. De Bosset’s Parga, p. 134. for some time in the river, major de Bosset, an officer of the Chasseurs Britanniques, contrived to persuade near a thousand of the men to desert, who were afterwards received into the British service. Thiebault. Girod de Novillard complained of this as a breach of the convention, and it must be confessed that it was an equivocal act, yet one common to all armies, and if done simply by persuasion, very excusable.
The garrison of Almeida surrendered that fortress without any delay, and being marched to Oporto, were proceeding to embark, when the populace rose and would have slain them if great exertions had not been made by the British officers to prevent such a disgraceful breach of faith. The escort was weak, but resolute to sustain the honour of their nation, by firing upon the multitude if the circumstances became desperate. Nevertheless several of the French soldiers were assassinated, and in spite of every effort the baggage was landed, and the whole plundered; the excuse being that church plate was to be found amongst it, an accusation easily made, difficult to be disproved to the satisfaction of a violent mob, and likely enough to be true.
This tumult gives scope for reflection upon the facility with which men adapt themselves to circumstances, and regulate their most furious passions, by the scale of self-interest. In Oporto, the suffering, in consequence of the invasion, was trifling compared to the misery endured in Lisbon; yet the inhabitants of the former were much more outrageous in their anger. In Lisbon, the very persons who had inflicted the worst evils upon the people were daily exposed, more or less, to violence, yet suffered none; while in Oporto it was with extreme difficulty that men, until that moment unseen of the multitude, were rescued from their frantic revenge. In both cases fear regulated the degree of hatred shown, and we may conclude from hence, that national insurrections however spontaneous and vehement, if the result of hatred only, will never successfully resist an organized force, unless the mechanical courage of discipline be grafted upon the first enthusiasm.