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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 WORDSWORTH 
 
 THE 
 
 CONVENTION OF CINTRA
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 LONDON EDINBUEQH GLASGOW NEW YORK 
 
 TORONTO MELBOUENK BOMBAY 
 
 HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A. 
 
 PUBLISHEK TO THE UNTVEBSITT
 
 WORDSWOETH'S TRACT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 [Published 1809] 
 
 WITH 
 
 TWO LETTEES OF WORDSWOETH 
 
 WEITTEN IN THE YEAE 1811 
 
 NOW REPUBLISHED 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 BY 
 
 A. V. DICEY 
 
 LONDON 
 
 HUMPHEEY MILFOED 
 
 19 16
 
 DC 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction by A. V. Dicey . . . . vii 
 
 Concerning the Relations of Great Britain, Spain, 
 and Portugal to each other, and to the Common 
 Enemy, at this crisis ; and specifically as affected 
 by the Convention of Cintra .... 1 
 
 Appendix. Postscript, and Sir John Moore's Letters . 212 
 Two Letters of Wordsworth (1811) .... 227 
 
 769104
 
 INTRODUCTION ^ 
 
 Of recent years it has been discovered that 
 Wordsworth's pamphlet, or ' tract ' (to use an ex- 
 pression of his own), on the Convention of Cintra 
 contains thoughts which from their profundity and 
 impressiveness are full of instruction for the men of 
 to-day, and are often as applicable to the world- 
 wide war of 1914-15 as they were to the Great War, 
 as it used to be called, of 180S-15. An intelligent 
 reader, who Avishes to understand this resurrection 
 from that oblivion which generally extinguishes our 
 interest in old pamphlets, will do well to ask himself 
 three questions : first, why was the Convention of 
 Cintra intensely unpopular ? secondly, what were 
 the grounds on which the Convention was denounced 
 by. Wordsworth ? thirdly, what were the results or 
 the effects of Wordsworth's pamphlet ? The main 
 
 ' A student should read with special care Oman's History 
 of the Peninsular War, i, sect. 4, chaps. 1-6, pp. 206-300 ; 
 Pasley's Military Policy of the British Empire, and Words- 
 worth's two Letters (see pp. 227-44, post) with regard to 
 Pasley's Essay. These are an essential part of Wordsworth's 
 argument against the Convention of Cintra. It may be well 
 to remember that, as explained by Oman, the Convention of 
 Cintra is a merely conventional designation of the celebrated 
 agreement. It had no real connexion with Cintra, except 
 that Dalrymple's dispatch, enclosing the agreement in its 
 latest form, was dated from that pleasant place in the 
 environs of Lisbon. — Oman, i, p. 274.
 
 viii THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 object of this introduction is to suggest an answer 
 to each of these inquiries. 
 
 Why was the Convention unpopular ? 
 
 An Englishman of to-day finds it hard to under- 
 stand the condition of things in 1808-9. He is 
 blinded by the tradition of Trafalgar and of Water- 
 loo. He feels as though during the great war against 
 Napoleon England had always triumphed over 
 the French Emperor. No idea can be more un- 
 founded. In 1808-9, Napoleon, or, as our ancestors 
 persisted in calling him, Bonaparte, reached the 
 height of his power. On land at any rate he was 
 believed to be invincible. He exercised in one form 
 or another despotic authority over the greater part 
 of Continental Europe.^ Sir Sidney Smith had 
 indeed, in 1799, forced Bonaparte to retreat from 
 before Acre. In 1801 British soldiers under British 
 generals had expelled the French army from Egypt. 
 In 1805 Trafalgar had annihilated the naval power 
 of the French Empire. In 1806 Sir John Stuart 
 had defeated a French army in Calabria. But, for 
 all this, Continental opinion greatly underrated the 
 fighting power of English soldiers. And many 
 Englishmen were victims to the strange delusion 
 that, while English sailors were always sure of 
 a victory by sea, British soldiers could not hope to 
 defeat on land armies commanded by Napoleon. 
 
 ^ In 1811 it was possible to walk from Rome to Hamburg 
 without passing through any country which was not techni- 
 cally part of the French Empire 1
 
 INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 The Peace of Amiens (1802) was indeed the sign of 
 British faihire in the long contest with France ; 
 even in 1811 the Whigs, had they come into office, 
 were, it was rumoured, prepared to recall our troops 
 from Portugal, and it is certain that, down to that 
 date, many English statesmen practically believed 
 in the invincibility of Bonaparte upon the Continent. 
 At the beginning of 1808 there prevailed, then, 
 throughout the United Kingdom a feeling, if not of 
 despair, yet of waning hope. The Spanish insur- 
 rection and the surrender to the insurgents (July 19, 
 1808) of a French army corps at Baylen cheered 
 the whole of England. Anything seemed possible. 
 The belief very naturally spread throughout the land 
 that a people who at the risk of their lives took up 
 arms to defend the independence of their country 
 coidd, under the inspiration of patriotism, vanquish 
 the best trained forces of France. Men passed 
 from exaggerated despondency to excessive hopeful- 
 ness. The proclamations of Spanish or Portuguese 
 patriots sound to us grandiloquent. When issued 
 they thrilled the hearts of Englishmen. Words were 
 taken as equivalent to deeds. Experience proved 
 that high-sounding language was no guarantee for 
 military discipUne. But fine words had in this case 
 a real meaning : they were the outward sign of the 
 true and intense detestation of foreign invaders which 
 prevailed throughout the whole Spanish Peninsula. 
 For the first time Bonaparte was forced to struggle 
 with the enmity of a nation. For the first time during
 
 X THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 the long war with France British commanders and 
 British troops were supported, if not by the love of 
 Spaniards or Portuguese, by the intense desire felt 
 by the people of the Peninsula to free themselves 
 from French dominion, sometimes through well- 
 fought battles and often through ruthless slaughter 
 of the hated foreigners. The debates in the British 
 Parliament showed that both the Government and 
 the people of England had grasped the situation, and 
 for a moment were agreed on the policy to be pur- 
 sued. On June 15, 1808, Canning, representing the 
 Ministry, proclaimed that any nation which starts 
 up with the determination to oppose France — the 
 common enemy of all other people — should become, 
 ipso facto, the ally of Great Britain. Sheridan, 
 representing the Opposition, or certainly a large part 
 thereof, welcomed the declaration. He announced 
 that the time had come to stand up boldly and fairly 
 for the deliverance of Europe, and that Bonaparte 
 had yet to learn what it is to combat a nation who 
 are animated with one spirit against him.^ Sir 
 Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) was 
 on July 14, 1808, placed in command of an army sent 
 to the Spanish Peninsula to aid either Spanish or 
 Portuguese insurgents who might rise to withstand 
 tyranny. On the evening of September 1st Colonel 
 
 ^ See especially Oman, i. 222. The tone of this parliamen- 
 tary debate is of great importance as showing the moral 
 right of Spaniards and Portuguese to be treated as allies by 
 Great Britain, and the justice of the complaint that under 
 the Convention of Cintra they were not so treated.
 
 INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 Brown arrived in London. He brought with him 
 a dispatch, dated August 21, and signed by Wellesley. 
 This dispatch told of the defeat of Junot (the general 
 in command of all the French forces in Portugal). 
 It gave an account of the victory of Rolica, and of 
 the still more decisive victory of Vimiero, gained 
 on August 21st. The dispatch did not mention 
 the proposal to surrender Lisbon. Colonel Brown, 
 however, reported verbally that, just as he was 
 leaving, Kellermann (the commander of Junot's 
 cavalry) had ridden into the English camp to offer 
 a surrender, and that our troops expected to march 
 into Lisbon on August 22nd or 23rd. People further 
 who arrived on board the ship that brought Wellesley 's 
 dispatch, told many true and encouraging details 
 respecting the battle ; and these details were known 
 all over London on September 2nd and Srd.^ This 
 victory, at a time when English victories were by 
 no means too frequent, was hailed with enthusiasm. 
 Disappointment was indeed felt that the dispatch 
 did not make any reference to the surrender of the 
 French army. But every Londoner expected day 
 by day to receive the formal announcement that the 
 French army had surrendered as at Baylen, and 
 become prisoners of war. No further official news 
 was sent from Lisbon till September 4th. The fact 
 
 1 To which one may add that on the 21st Wellesley himself 
 hoped to enter Lisbon in a few days. His expectations were 
 thwarted only by the interference of Sir Harry Burrard and 
 Sir Hew Dalrymple, who each on his arrival had by seniority 
 a right to take command of the army.
 
 xii THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 was that on August 21st and during the battle of 
 Vimiero Sir Harry Burrard arrived on the scene, 
 and, as Wellesley's senior officer, took command. 
 He had the grace not to interfere with the movement 
 of troops which Wellesley had already ordered, but 
 when the victory was won, and Wellesley said, ' Sir 
 Harry, now is your time to advance, the enemy is 
 completely beaten, and we shall be in Lisbon in 
 three days,' ^ General Burrard refused to allow the 
 advance, and announced his intention to wait for 
 the arrival of Sir John Moore with troops from the 
 Baltic, without making any further move. On the 
 22nd of August arrived Sir HewDalrymple, who then, 
 as senior officer in his turn, took command. He dis- 
 approved of Wellesley's plans, but on that day arrived 
 General Kellermann to propose to the British Com- 
 mander-in-chief the evacuation of Portugal by the 
 French army. Hence followed, not the surrender 
 of Lisbon and the French army, but negotiations 
 for a Convention. They lasted till August 30th, on 
 which day the so-called Convention of Cintra was 
 signed. Sir Hew Dalrymple sent no dispatch what- 
 ever till September 4th. This dispatch reached 
 London on the evening of the 15th of September. It 
 contained both the Convention ^ and the armistice ^ 
 on which the Convention was based. The dis- 
 patch was published on the 16th, but during the 
 night of the 15th the Park and the Tower guns had 
 
 1 See Oman, i. 260. » See p. 205, post. 
 
 ^ See p. 203, post.
 
 INTRODUCTION xiii 
 
 been fired as a sign of good news.^ The so-called 
 good news caused in these circumstances not joy 
 but bitter disappointment and indignation. The 
 terms of the Convention fell far short of popular 
 expectation. There was no surrender of the French 
 army ; ^ it was indeed provided that Portugal 
 should be entirely evacuated by the French troops,^ 
 but it was also provided that these troops should be 
 conveyed in English ships to a port in France.* The 
 Convention left them at liberty on their arrival in 
 France to serve against England or her allies.^ The 
 Convention contained grave faults. The document 
 was signed mthout being submitted to the Portuguese 
 Government, though certain articles in it affected the 
 interest and honour of that Government. In Articles 
 XVI and XVII « the British general, Dalrymple, 
 granted certain favours both to French ci\dlians 
 resident in Portugal, and to Portuguese subjects 
 who had taken service under Junot, which he had no 
 authority to concede. Article XVI allowed French- 
 men resident in Portugal to remain there if they did 
 not choose to leave the country with Junot and his 
 troops. Article XVII was even more objectionable. 
 A considerable number of Portuguese officials had 
 acquiesced m the French usurpation, and made 
 themselves the tools of the French Government. 
 
 1 This is distinctly stated by Wordsworth — see p. 50, 
 post. 
 
 « See Arts. I-XII, pp. 205-7, post. 
 
 ' Art. II, p. 205, post. * Art. Ill, p. 205, post. 
 
 » Art. II, p. 205, post. • See p. 208, post.
 
 xiv THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 The Portuguese loathed these traitors. It was 
 rational and humane to give them leave to quit the 
 kingdom, but it was monstrous that a British general 
 should take them under his special protection, and 
 guarantee them against injury to their persons and 
 property. It was still more monstrous that under 
 Article XVII he should grant them an amnesty for 
 their political conduct during the occupation of the 
 country by the French army. By Article XVIII the 
 general further engaged himself to obtain from the 
 Spaniards the restoration of certain French subjects 
 who were detained, though not prisoners of war, on 
 account of certain occurrences on May 29th; yet 
 the general had no authority to act on behalf of 
 Spain or of Spanish insurgents. It is clear also that 
 the result of the treaty was that many French officers 
 attempted to carry away, and did carry away, a good 
 deal of plunder from Portugal. ^ The Convention, 
 when its contents were understood, received, not un- 
 naturally, from the public much more of censure than 
 applause. An inquiry was demanded. A board 
 appointed for that purpose had before them, and 
 investigated the conduct of^ all the three generals. 
 They were each, though in very different degrees, 
 responsible for the conduct of the war, and to a cer- 
 tain extent for the Convention.^ At the bottom of 
 
 ^ See especially Oman, i. 279-82. 
 
 ' The responsibility for the Convention fell, it would seem, 
 technically upon Sir Hew Dalrymple only. Wellesley had 
 signed the armistice and was wrongly supposed to have
 
 INTRODUCTION xv 
 
 the public discontent lies the fact, as any one can 
 now see, that Wellesley, who commanded the troops 
 who gained the battles of Rolica and of Vimiero, 
 started his campaign under the extraordinary 
 arrangement that on the arrival of either of his 
 senior officers, Burrard and Dalrymple, he should 
 be superseded. He had sailed believing that he 
 would be in] chief command, but on the day that 
 he reached the coast of Portugal came the dispatch 
 saying that^^Burrard and Dalrymple were on their 
 way to supersede him. He resolved to go on and 
 not to await their arrival. The consequence was 
 that the victory of Vimiero, which would probably, 
 had Wellesley remained in command, have led to 
 the immediate occupation of Lisbon and to the 
 surrender of the French army, was deprived of half 
 the advantages it might have produced by the 
 interference, first of General Burrard and next of 
 General Dalrymple. 
 
 The ' verdict ' — if one may use the term — arrived 
 at by the board which investigated the Convention 
 embodies, or rather led to one of those curious 
 compromises which mark our system of party 
 government. The three generals were each and all 
 found, no doubt rightly, not guilty of any distinct 
 military offence. Some of the terms of the Con- 
 vention were censured by the king. Sir Hew 
 Dalrymple was also censured by the king for his 
 
 negotiated it, and in public opinion much blame at first fell 
 upon him. See Diet. Nat. Biog., Ix. 176.
 
 xvi THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 extraordinary delay in transmitting the news of the 
 armistice and the Convention. Neither Dalrymple 
 nor Burrard was ever employed again in the 
 conduct of important military affairs. But the 
 House of Commons refused to pass any resolution 
 condemning the Convention. Sir Arthur Wellesley 
 received the thanks of Parliament on January 27, 
 1809, and returned to Portugal to take command 
 of all the British armies in the Spanish Peninsula, 
 and thenceforward continued the war there against 
 France with unbroken success until in 1814 he 
 entered France, and after the abdication of Napoleon 
 brought the British army to Paris. The mature 
 judgement of history as represented by the latest, 
 the best informed, and the most authoritative 
 among the historians of the Peninsular War would 
 seem to be that the Convention, in all the circum- 
 stances of the case, was from a merely military 
 point of view, justifiable, and that the advantages 
 of getting Lisbon intact, with its arsenals, its forts, 
 and its shipping, and of saving not only the wealth 
 of the capital, but also the lives of the troops who 
 must have fallen in storming it, were so great as 
 to cover even larger military concessions than those 
 made by Dalrymple. And it is no doubt clear that 
 neither the English public nor Wordsworth appre- 
 ciated the military advantages of expelling the 
 French armies from Portugal at anything like their 
 true value. But the same historian holds that when 
 we turn to the political — and one might perhaps be
 
 INTRODUCTION xvii 
 
 allowed to add the moral — effect of the Convention, 
 we light upon grave faults and mistakes which were 
 clearly open to censure.^ It is at any rate of great 
 consequence that every reader of Wordsworth's 
 pamphlet should fully appreciate the extent to 
 which the Convention encroached upon the rights 
 of the Portuguese Government, and humiliated 
 and insulted a country to the aid of which we 
 had come as its ally. No one will understand 
 Wordsworth's pamphlet who does not realize that 
 it derives its weight not from his criticism, which 
 is often greatly at fault, of the military pro\'isions 
 contained in an unpopular treaty, but from his 
 denunciation of, and his statesmanlike insight into, 
 the folly of insulting allies whom we professed to 
 deliver from the dominion of a foreign despot. 
 Nor was even the popular indignation excited by 
 the Convention so unreasonable as it might at first 
 sight appear. True it is that a surprising victory 
 was treated almost as though it had been a dis- 
 graceful defeat. But we must take account of 
 some now forgotten circumstances. Spanish insur- 
 gents had compelled the complete surrender of 
 a French army. The reports brought by Colonel 
 Brown and his fellow passengers led the inhabitants 
 of London to believe that a complete surrender of 
 the French soldiers in Lisbon would certainly be 
 obtained by a British army as the reward of victory. 
 Then, too, it was clear that something had gone 
 
 1 See Oman, i. 274, 275. 
 
 824-38 b
 
 xviii THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 wrong, and an arrangement under which Wellesley 
 was superseded, first by Burrard and next by 
 Dalrymple, was as colossal a blunder as any Govern- 
 ment ever committed. Note, also, that the time 
 was not one in which any person of sense could 
 feel excessive confidence in the men who governed 
 England. In 1805-6 Lord Melville, then first lord 
 of the Admiralty, was accused of negligence and 
 embezzlement in the management of the Navy and 
 impeached. He obtained a deserved acquittal. Still, 
 some of the most respected members of the House 
 of Commons, among others Wilberforce, voted for 
 the impeachment. They must have held, not 
 without good reason, that one of England's lead- 
 ing statesmen, who was a man specially trusted by 
 Pitt, had, by his conduct when holding high office, 
 laid himself open to grave suspicion of high crimes and 
 misdemeanours which, if proved, would have covered 
 him with disgrace.^ In 1808 the Duke of York was 
 Commander-in-Chief. He had become entangled 
 with an adventuress, Mary Ann Clarke, who made 
 money out of her intimacy with the Duke by 
 promising promotion to officers who paid for her 
 recommendation. A Committee of the House of 
 Commons was in 1809 appointed to inquire into the 
 matter, and took evidence on oath. It was ulti- 
 mately proved that the Duke had shown most 
 reprehensible carelessness in his dealings with 
 Mrs. Clarke. He was acquitted by the House of 
 
 1 See State Trials, xxix. 550.
 
 INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 Commons of having been himself guilty of any cor- 
 rupt practices. On March 18 — a few weeks before 
 the publication of Wordsworth's pamphlet — he was 
 morally compelled to resign his high office.^ 
 
 No doubt the London crowd, like all crowds, 
 formed their judgement of the Convention of Cintra 
 without understanding its terms, and without 
 discriminating between the different liability of the 
 different generals more or less connected with it. 
 But it were vain to deny that the suspicion that 
 there was something wrong was well founded, or 
 that the Convention was open to grave censure. 
 
 What were the grounds on which Wordsworth 
 condemned the Convention of Cintra ? 
 
 He represented the popular feeling of the moment. 
 He denounced the Convention both as a military 
 blunder and as a political or moral crime. With 
 his attack both on the real and on the alleged 
 military blunders of our generals, we need not now 
 greatly concern ourselves. Wordsworth immensely 
 underrated the incalculable advantage gained by 
 compelling, on almost any terms, the evacuation of 
 Portugal by the armies under the command of 
 Junot. He also clearly did not fully realize the 
 real and immense error of the Government in making 
 arrangements under which Sir Arthur Wellesley 
 should be superseded, both by Sir Harry Burrard 
 
 ^ He was reinstated in the office of Commander-in-Chief 
 with general approval, in 1811. See Did. of Nat. Biog. xx. 
 234, 235. 
 
 b2
 
 XX THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 and also by Sir Hew Dalrymple. Wordsworth 
 possibly paid the less attention to this gigantic 
 blunder because he seems to have imagined that 
 all the three generals were equally responsible for 
 the characteristics of the Convention which excited 
 his moral indignation. The question worth con- 
 sidering is, what were his reasons for this indigna- 
 tion ? These reasons may be summed up in two 
 sentences : Wordsworth was the earliest of English 
 Nationalists : ^ The Convention was the violation of 
 the principles, and still more certainly of the senti- 
 ment, of Nationalism. 2 But this short reply neither 
 conveys much real information to my readers nor 
 does justice to the genius of Wordsworth. My wish 
 is to develop my reply so as to make it intelligible 
 to Englishmen of to-day, and so as to place before 
 them the true statesmanship of Wordsworth in 
 regard to England's relation not only towards the 
 inhabitants of the Spanish Peninsula engaged in 
 resisting the despotism of Napoleon, but towards 
 all foreign States. 
 
 Let me first make clear, and as far as possible in 
 Wordsworth's own words, the extent to which he 
 
 ^ See ' Wordsworth and the War ', Nineteenth Century, 
 No. 459, May 1915, p. 1041, and especially pp. 1052-7. 
 
 ^ This term was, to the best of my belief, in 1808 hardly 
 known to Wordsworth or to educated Englishmen in the 
 sense in which it is now used, namely as meaning the belief, 
 or doctrine, that every civilized European State ought to 
 consist of citizens who felt 'that they were, or wished to be, 
 one nation. Compare The Oxford English Dictionary, word 
 'Nationalism '.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxi 
 
 anticipated those ideas of Nationalism which are 
 specially associated Avith the names of Mazzini and 
 Cavour, and were, to a great extent, adopted by 
 the Liberals of England from say 1830 till towards 
 the close of the nineteenth century. To careful 
 readers of Wordsworth's pamphlet ^ it will soon 
 become apparent that he held and taught the 
 following doctrines : 
 
 First. National independence has, to every 
 European State Avhich has become possessed thereof, 
 been the necessary condition or source of the 
 greatest of blessings, such for example as freedom, 
 and progress in the path of civilization. 
 
 Thus national independence is, according to 
 Wordsworth, essential to the possession of civil 
 liberty. 
 
 The difference, between inbred oppression and 
 that which is from without [i.e. imposed by 
 foreigners], is essential ; inasmuch as the former 
 does not exclude, from the minds of a people, 
 the feeling of being self-governed ; does not imply 
 (as the latter does, when patiently submitted to) 
 an abandonment of the first duty imposed by the 
 faculty of reason. . . . 
 
 If a country have put on chains of its own 
 forging ; in the name of virtue, let it be conscious 
 that to itself it is accountable : let it not have 
 cause to look beyond its own limits for reproof : 
 and, — in the name of humanity, — if it be self- 
 depressed, let it have its pride and some hope 
 
 ' Which should never be separated from his letters in 
 regard to Pasley's book. See p. 227, post.
 
 xxii THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 within itself. The poorest Peasant, in an unsubdued 
 land, feels this pride. I do not appeal to the 
 example of Britain or of Switzerland, for the one is 
 free, and the other lately was free (and, I trust, will 
 ere long be so again) : but talk with the Swede ; 
 and you will see the joy he finds in these sensations. 
 With him animal courage (the substitute for many 
 and the friend of all the manly virtues) has space to 
 move in ; and is at once elevated by his imagination, 
 and softened by his affections : it is invigorated 
 also ; for the whole courage of his Country is in 
 his breast.^ 
 
 To national independence we may attribute the 
 high spirit of Spain. In virtue of it 'a numerous 
 Nation, determined to be free, may effect its purpose 
 in despite of the mightiest power which a foreign 
 Invader can bring against it '.^ We see in the case 
 of Spain this close inter-connection between national 
 independence and every other political blessing. 
 
 The first end to be secured by Spain is riddance 
 of the enemy : the second, permanent independence : 
 the third, a free constitution of government ; which 
 will give their main (though far from sole) value to 
 the other two ; and without which little more than 
 a formal independence, and perhaps scarcely that, 
 can be secured.^ 
 
 The permanence of any advance, even in the 
 material comfort, depends upon national indepen- 
 dence, or at any rate upon the spirit, by which alone 
 such independence can be maintained.* And free- 
 
 1 See pp. 167-9, post. " See p. 155, post. 
 
 « See p. 162, post. * See pp. 171-2, post.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxiii 
 
 dom in the long run, combined with independence, 
 will put an end to laws and customs which have 
 become oppressive and a hindrance to human 
 progress. Superstition itself -mil, in Wordsworth's 
 judgement, gradually be removed by national 
 independence, combined, one must suppose, with 
 the possession of personal freedom. He remembers 
 that from the beginning English well-wishers to the 
 cause for which the inhabitants of the Peninsula are 
 fighting, have been discouraged by the ' supersti- 
 tion ' said to prevail amongst them. He rebukes 
 the fears of such doubters in words which are 
 very characteristic of the poet and of his intense 
 belief in the benign influence of liberty and of 
 independence. They transcend the moral faith of 
 to-day and are not entirely in accordance with the 
 experience of the later nineteenth century. Still, 
 they contain an idea which deserves attention. 
 
 Short-sighted despondency ! Whatever mixture 
 of superstition there might be in the religious faith 
 or devotional practices of the Spaniards, this must 
 have necessarily been transmuted by that trium- 
 phant power, wherever that power was felt, which 
 grows out of intense moral suffering — from the 
 moment in which it coalesces with fervent hope. 
 The chains of bigotry, which enthralled the mind, 
 must have been turned into armour to defend and 
 weapons to annoy. Wherever the heaving and 
 effort of freedom was spread, purification must have 
 followed it. And the types and ancient instruments 
 of error, where emancipated men shewed their 
 foreheads to the day, must have become a language
 
 xxiv THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 and a ceremony of imagination ; expressing, con- 
 secrating, and invigorating, the most pure deduc- 
 tions of Reason and the hohest feehngs of universal 
 Nature.! 
 
 i Secondly . Every independent nation, and above 
 all England, is interested in the maintenance of 
 the national independence of every other country. 
 
 We should have, Wordsworth deems, at the head 
 of affairs 
 
 a General and a Ministry whose policy would be 
 comprehensive enough to perceive that the true 
 welfare of Britain is best promoted by the inde- 
 pendence, freedom, and honour of other Nations ; 
 and that it is only by the diffusion and prevalence 
 of these virtues that French Tyranny can be ulti- 
 mately reduced ; or the influence of France over 
 the rest of Europe brought within its natural and 
 reasonable limits.^ 
 
 No doubt, in the use of this language, as else- 
 where, Wordsworth, whose point of view is at its 
 best always sensible and practical, rather than 
 doctrinaire and abstract, is Avriting with an eye to 
 the immediate interest of Great Britain, Spain, and 
 Portugal in the destruction of French tyranny. 
 But it is equally true that his practical policy is 
 intentionally and inevitably bound up with his 
 fervent belief in Nationalism. Hence a further 
 thought or feeling hardly shared by the most fore- 
 seeing statesmen or the best thinkers of his time, 
 though later in the nineteenth century it was 
 1 See pp. 115, 116, post. * See p. 150, posl.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxv 
 
 accepted by all Nationalists. He ardently desires 
 national unity both for Italy and for Germany. 
 ' It will ', to his mind, ' be a happy day for Europe, 
 when the natives of Italy and the natives of Ger- 
 many (whose duty is, in like manner, indicated to 
 them) shall each dissolve the pernicious barriers 
 which divide them, and form themselves into a 
 mighty People.' ^ 
 
 Could the barriers be dissolved which have divided 
 the one nation [Italy] into Neapolitans, Tuscans, 
 Venetians, &c,, and the other [Germans] into Prus- 
 sians, Hanoverians, &c., and could they once be 
 taught to feel their strength, the French would be 
 driven back into their own land immediately. I 
 wish to see Spain, Italy, France, Germany, formed 
 into independent nations ; nor have I any desire 
 to reduce the power of France further than may be 
 necessary for that end.^ 
 
 .Thirdly. No State ought to possess irresistible 
 military power so as to menace the legitimate inde- 
 pendence of other countries. 
 
 On this point the language of Wordsworth is 
 emphatic ; in 1915 it may seem to have been pro- 
 phetic : 
 
 Woe be to that country whose military power 
 is irresistible ! I deprecate such an event for Great 
 Britain scarcely less than for any other land. . . . 
 If a nation have nothing to oppose or to fear with- 
 out, it cannot escape decay and concussion within. 
 
 * See p. 164, post. ' See p. 287, post.
 
 xxvi THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 Universal triumph and absolute security soon betray 
 a state into abandonment of that discipline, civil 
 and military, by which its victories were secured. 
 If the time should ever come when this island shall 
 have no more formidable enemies by land than it 
 has at this moment [1811] by sea, the extinction 
 of all that it previously contained of good and great 
 would soon follow.^ 
 
 _F(?urthly. It is desirable to create a new balance 
 of power. 
 
 i The materials [he writes] of a new balance of 
 power exist in the language, and name, and terri- 
 tory of Spain, in those of France, and those of Italy, 
 Germany, Russia, and the British Isles. The 
 smaller states must disappear, and merge in the 
 large nations and wide-spread languages. The pos- 
 sibility of this remodelling of Europe I see clearly ; 
 earnestly do I pray for it.^ 
 
 Wordsworth here was distinctly in advance of 
 the statesmen belonging to his own age. He was 
 also (strange as it may sound) in advance of many 
 later Nationalists. Wellington, Castlereagh, and 
 Metternich, and other leaders who guided the Con- 
 gress of Vienna, were in favour of a balance of power. 
 But they had no sympathy whatever with the idea 
 that every independent State should be inhabited 
 by a people who felt themselves or desired to be 
 one nation. The Congress therefore aimed at con- 
 stituting a balance of power which had nothing to 
 do with nationality. This end they strove to attain 
 
 » See p. 237, post. * See p. 238, post.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxvii 
 
 by giving to the rulers of a limited number of States 
 something like equal power. They thus hoped to 
 prevent the rise of some one omnipotent State. 
 Nationalists soon perceived that such a balance of 
 power was opposed to their hope of dividing Europe 
 into countries each of which should represent a 
 separate nationality. They therefore scouted and 
 derided the very idea of a balance of power, Words- 
 worth perceived what was true in each of these 
 opposed ideals. He contemplated a balance of power 
 which should exist to guarantee the independence 
 of each separate nation. Wordsworth further, 
 whilst he anticipated the leading articles of the 
 Nationalist creed, annexed to them certain limita- 
 tions which, if attended to, would have corrected 
 or averted the errors committed by some later 
 prophets of Nationalism. By the time when he 
 published the pamphlet on the Convention of 
 Cintra he had entirely got rid of the delusion that 
 national independence was necessarily connected 
 \vith any one form of constitution. A monarchy 
 might clearly, in his eyes, as well create, preserve, 
 or restore the national independence of a country 
 as could a republic. He would in 1859-60 have 
 agreed with the monarchical policy of Cavour rather 
 than ■with the republican dogmatism of Mazzini. We 
 may, however, conjecture that his special sympathy 
 would have been gained by Garibaldi, who first 
 fought in defence of the Roman Republic, and, then 
 at the highest point of his career, liberated Sicily and
 
 xxviii THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 Naples in order to increase the authority of the king 
 of a united Italy. Wordsworth, again, explicitly 
 recognized that nations, such as Scotland and 
 England, inspired by a sentiment of separate 
 nationality, which was the growth in each case of 
 a history to which each nation looked back with 
 pride, might rightly and wisely sacrifice something 
 of their separate character in order to form the 
 greater and more powerful nation of Great Britain. 
 Unity was in his eyes well worth purchasing at 
 some sacrifice of sentiment where it immensely 
 increases the security for national independence.^ 
 He, with great wisdom, concerns himself far more 
 with the maintenance or the restoration of the 
 independence of existing nations than with the 
 creation of new nationalities. His attitude is to 
 a great extent, if not wholly, represented by the 
 words of one of the most eminent among the men 
 who learned much from Wordsworth. 
 
 I do not the least enter into the Kossuth notion 
 about our duty to the ' Nationahties ' ; if there is 
 any good in them, if they are nations, and not 
 nationalities, they will help themselves. Our busi- 
 ness, so far as I can gather from history, has never 
 been to make a crusade for them, but to resist 
 whatever power in Spain, France, Russia, set itself 
 up to break down national boundaries and establish 
 a universal empire. It has been no choice with us, 
 whether we would do this or not ; we have been 
 forced to do it, when we were most reasonably and 
 
 1 See pp. 163, 164, 168-70, post.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxix 
 
 remarkably reluctant. God has sent us upon the 
 errand, if we were ever so inclined to escape in 
 a ship of Tarshish and look after our commercial 
 prosperity.^ 
 
 The moment that we understand Nationalism as/ 
 it presented itself to the mind of Wordsworth inj 
 1808, the moral indignation with which he denounced! 
 the Convention of Cintra receives a new significance,! 
 and admits, as regards the political terms of thatl 
 agreement, of complete justification. To his mind itj 
 was the duty, in any case, of a powerful State, such 
 as England, to defend the legitimate independence 
 of weaker nations ; it had been the sin of Eng- 
 land that she had waged one war to crush the 
 rising independence of the Thirteen Colonies and 
 another war to prevent France from exercising the 
 moral right of every independent nation to deter- 
 mine the form of government under which the 
 country should live. Bonaparte's aggressive des- 
 potism made the duty of England as clear as day. 
 She was bound, in Wordsworth's judgement, to wage 
 a holy war of liberation against the oppressor of 
 independent States. The people of England; on the 
 insurrection in the Peninsula, applauded the policy 
 demanded by the duty no less than by the interest 
 of their country. Our Parliament declared that 
 every nation which rose against the foreign despotism 
 of Bonaparte should be England's ally. The in- 
 surgents in Spain and in Portugal relied on this 
 
 * Life of F. D. Maurice, ii. 251.
 
 XXX THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 pledge. British troops were sent to the Peninsula 
 under Wellington in order that the pledge might be 
 fulfilled. The British arms used in a righteous 
 cause were blessed with victory. The Convention 
 of Cintra was the fruit of this triumph; but the 
 Convention, though it banished the armies of the 
 oppressor from Portugal, struck at the root of that 
 respect for the independence of Portugal and of 
 Spain which, in the eyes of Wordsworth, was the 
 one characteristic which made the war in the 
 Peninsula a holy war. The moment of victory was 
 the very time when ' by the strongest obligations we 
 were bound to be studious of a delicate and respectful 
 bearing towards those ill-fated nations — our allies '.^ 
 But this was the moment when, as Wordsworth 
 truly insisted, English generals treated the sovereign 
 rights both of Portugal and of Spain with an in- 
 difference, not to say insolence, foreign to the very 
 idea of equal alliance.^ This offence, though stated 
 in various forms, lies at the basis of Wordsworth's 
 condemnation of the Convention. The validity of 
 the charge is past dispute. The wrong done cannot 
 be disposed of by the true but irrelevant assertion 
 that the censure passed by Wordsworth on the mili- 
 tary provisions of the Convention is more often than 
 not futile. The truth of his accusation is in sub- 
 stance proved by the terms of the censure in which the 
 
 ^ See p. 74, post. 
 
 * See, for the terms of the Convention which were injurious 
 to our allies, Arts. XV-XVIII, pp. 208-9, post.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxxi 
 
 king (no doubt on the advice of ministers) expressed 
 to Sir Hew Dalrymple ' his disapprobation of those 
 articles [in the Convention] in which stipulations 
 were made directly affecting the interest or feelings 
 of the Spanish and Portuguese nations '.^ Nor can 
 the seriousness of a charge which is demonstrably 
 true be lessened by insistence on the undeniable 
 fact that Wordsworth is wanting in fairness to 
 Wellesley. He certainly attributes to that general 
 a responsibility for the terms of the Convention to 
 which he cannot be fairly held liable. We may 
 be certain that Wordsworth never wrote a word 
 which he felt to be unjust. But one may venture 
 to suspect that he instinctively perceived that 
 Wellesley was even more than most military men 
 incapable of entertaining Wordsworth's conception 
 of Nationahsm or of realizing, as Wordsworth did, 
 the duties of England as the protector of weak but 
 independent nations. An incidental remark to be 
 found in the pamphlet on the Convention of Cintra, 
 that the author could have wished that command 
 of our armies in the Peninsula had fallen into the 
 hands of a man like Nelson, possesses a good deal of 
 significance.^ However this may be, the Nationalism 
 of Wordsworth goes far to explain his moral con- 
 demnation of the Convention of Cintra. 
 
 What were the effects of Wordsworth's pamphlet ? 
 
 On the Convention itself it produced no effect what- 
 
 » Annual Register, 1808, Appendix to Chronicle, p. 282. 
 * See p. 57, post.
 
 xxxii THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 ever. The pamphlet was not pubhshed till after the 
 official investigation into the conduct of the generals 
 had closed and the results thereof had been made 
 public. Before Wordsworth's tract appeared Moore 
 had died at Corunna (January 16, 1809), and 
 Wellesley, after having received the thanks of 
 Parliament, had assumed the command of the 
 British forces in the Peninsula. Yet Wordsworth's 
 tract worked two notable results. The one was 
 immediate, the other was permanent. 
 
 It immediately brought into one line every man 
 throughout the United Kingdom who detested the 
 despotism of Bonaparte and recognized the duty of 
 England to save herself by an unappeasable war 
 against the tyrannical aggression of the French 
 Emperor, and on behalf of the independence of every 
 European State menaced or enslaved by the gigantic 
 power of the Empire. 
 
 Scott, on reading the earlier part of Wordsworth's 
 tract,^ writes : ' I much agree with him. Alas ! we 
 want everything but courage and virtue in this 
 desperate contest. Skill, knowledge of mankind, 
 ineffable unhesitating villany, combination of 
 movement and combination of means, are with our 
 adversary. We can only fight like mastiffs — boldly, 
 blindly, and faithfully.' ^ Tories, such as Scott, 
 John Wilson, and Castlereagh, joined hands with 
 
 1 Published in the Courier, 1808-9. 
 
 " Grosart, Prose Works of William Wordsworth, i. Preface, 
 p. xiv.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxxiii 
 
 revolutionists, such as had been Wordsworth or Cole- 
 ridge, who had deprecated or detested a war which 
 threatened the independence, and even the existence, 
 of France. For they could all sympathize with coun- 
 tries which at every risk dared to oppose the attacks 
 of a foreign despot. Till the Peace of Amiens the 
 war with France had been the work of a party, though 
 of a party which represented the majority of Eng- 
 lishmen. When the peace came to an end, and 
 certainly after the appearance of Wordsworth's 
 pamphlet, the war commanded the warm support 
 of England ; and those Whigs who still opposed it 
 rapidly sunk into a faction. The war was trans- 
 formed into a national war. This transformation 
 was due in no small degree to Wordsworth's 
 tract Concerning the Convention of Cintra. 
 
 The pamphlet's permanent effect lies in its con- 
 taining the doctrine of Nationalism. This doctrine, 
 as there expounded, may well be called the states- 
 manship of Wordsworth. It contains principles 
 applicable to the foreign policy of England during 
 the whole remainder of the nineteenth century. 
 The policy of our country, in so far as it coincided 
 with the statesmanship of Wordsworth, was during 
 that century markedly successful ; in so far as it 
 deviated from his statesmanship it ended in failure, 
 or at best in very dubious success. In order to per- 
 ceive that this was so we must bear in mind that 
 with him Nationalism was closely connected with 
 a keen perception of the necessity for the creation 
 
 824.38 C
 
 xxxiv THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 of a new balance of power which might prevent any 
 State whatever from encroaching upon the inde- 
 pendence of any other State.* 
 
 The pohcy of England with regard to France has, 
 on the whole, coincided with the statesmanship of 
 Wordsworth. Napoleon's despotic empire was over- 
 thrown past the possibility of true revival. Under 
 the treaties of Vienna France as regards her European 
 territory retained pretty nearly the limits by which 
 she was bounded at the beginning of 1790. England 
 consistently adhered to the principle that she would 
 never again wage war to hinder France from adopt- 
 ing any constitution accepted in fact by the French 
 people ; and hereby England went very far towards 
 establishing as a custom of international law, that 
 a constitution accepted by the people of an inde- 
 pendent State ought to be acknowledged by all 
 other independent States. This statesmanship was 
 pre-eminently successful. Within a century after 
 Waterloo it has produced a close and intimate 
 alliance between England and France. The triumph 
 of Wordsworth's statesmanship is here past a doubt. 
 There were many reasons, however, why English 
 Governments found it hard to adopt Wordsworth's 
 Nationalism. Such adoption was inconsistent with 
 the treaties resulting from the Congress of Vienna. 
 
 ^ On this subject see further ' Wordsworth and the War ', 
 Nineteenth Century, No. 459, May 1915, pp. 1054-7. Though 
 I am kindly allowed by the editor of the Nineteenth Century 
 to quote any part of this article, the passage referred to is 
 too long for quotation in this introduction.
 
 INTRODUCTION xxxv 
 
 No British party again easily welcomed Words- 
 worth's complete reverence for nationality. Tories 
 sympathized with the national resistance of Spaniards 
 to French invaders led by Bonaparte, but Tories 
 became very cool friends of nationalist movements 
 which were allied with revolution or republicanism. 
 During the Great War the Whigs, with one or two 
 brilliant exceptions, showed little favour to move- 
 ments which aimed at establishing national inde- 
 pendence. After 1832 they honestly believed that 
 the imitation of English constitutionalism, as finally 
 perfected by the Reform Act, would bestow upon the 
 people of any European State all the political bless- 
 ings desirable by reasonable men. The Whigs, 
 therefore, as a rule, made sincere but fussy and 
 generally ineffectual efforts to press English con- 
 stitutionalism upon the rulers and the people of 
 every European State. True it is that, somewhat 
 after the middle of the nineteenth century, Whigs, 
 such as Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell, 
 came, to their lasting credit, very near, at any rate 
 as regards Italy, to the adoption of Nationalist 
 doctrine, and there is not the least doubt that they 
 thereby assisted the Italians in the struggle for 
 unity, and also gained for England the goodwill and 
 affection of Italy. The Radicals of the Manchester 
 School fully believed that free trade and peace 
 would ensure the progressive improvement of every 
 European State. They adopted the so-called prin- 
 ciple of non-intervention ; they construed it as
 
 xxxvi THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 meaning that England should hardly ever intervene 
 at all in foreign affairs, and almost as meaning that 
 she should have no foreign policy whatever. Yet if 
 we cast a glance over English foreign policy during 
 the last hundred years it is impossible to say that it 
 has been as a whole successful, and it is hardly 
 possible to doubt that in the main its ill-success has 
 been due to the imperfect recognition of the wisdom 
 contained in Wordsworth's Nationalism. English 
 ministers constantly thrust upon the governments 
 of Europe advice supported only by moral force, 
 and tending up to 1848, or later, towards the sugges- 
 tion that the adoption of English constitutionalism 
 would, in every discontented State, produce recon- 
 ciliation between a government and its dissatisfied 
 subjects. But such counsel was palpably absurd 
 when the inhabitants of a part of a large State 
 desired neither good administration nor constitu- 
 tional rights, but national independence. And moral 
 force generally turned out to be no force at all, and 
 advice supported by nothing but appeals to morality 
 or to public opinion, rendered the counsel of England 
 an object not only of contempt but of ridicule. 
 Hence the English Government found itself unable 
 to compel Bomba of Naples to observe even the 
 rules of common humanity in the treatment of his 
 political opponents; and the action or inaction of 
 England was of no good to Denmark. Nor at an 
 earlier period were the attempts of enthusiastic 
 English Liberals to aid the cause of liberty in Spain
 
 INTRODUCTION xxxvii 
 
 or in Portugal of any great avail. At the present 
 moment few persons will hold England's attitude 
 in 1870 to have been satisfactory. ' Splendid 
 isolation ' has lost all the little splendour it ever 
 possessed, and certainly the course of action by 
 which it was obtained is not suggested by anything 
 in the statesmanship of Wordsworth. The more 
 carefully the matter is looked into the more certainly 
 we come round to the conclusion that the foreign 
 policy of England, except in so far as it coincided 
 with the statesmanship of Wordsworth, has not in 
 general been a success. 
 
 The answers to the three questions with which 
 this introduction deals must suggest to my readers 
 at least two further, though subordinate, inquiries 
 which deserve notice : 
 
 Did Wordsworth, one almost inevitably asks, in 
 any way foresee results of Nationalism which at the 
 beginning of the twentieth century cause perplexity 
 to thinkers who fully acknowledge the duty and the 
 advantages of protecting the rights of independent 
 nations ? Did he perceive the possibility that a 
 powerful State might arise, such as the existing 
 German Empire, which, in the view not only of its 
 government, but of its inhabitants, would identify 
 national independence with the confident assertion 
 of its right to supremacy among the nations of 
 Europe ? Here we may answer with some confi- 
 dence that the poet showed more foresight than most 
 statesmen or than most Nationalists. He really
 
 xxxviii THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 understood, as few Englishmen of his time did, the 
 condition of France. He seems to have seen the 
 possibihty that Bonaparte might find imitators and 
 that a State might come into existence where ' at 
 the head of all is the mind of one man who acts 
 avowedly upon the principle that everything which 
 can be done safely by the supreme power of a State 
 may be done '. Whether insight into the causes 
 of moral evil which comes under a thinker's actual 
 observation may sometimes turn into prophetic 
 foresight, is a question which any one of my readers 
 must answer for himself. Did Wordsworth, again, 
 foresee that the spirit of Nationality may become 
 a disruptive force, and instead of, as in the case of 
 Italy, producing national unity, break up well- 
 governed States where one might have hoped that 
 political union would by degrees foster a true spirit 
 of extended nationality ? To this inquiry no definite 
 answer can be given. The idea at any rate suggests 
 itself that, just because Wordsworth was far more 
 occupied with the fate of nations than with the 
 growth of nationalities, he failed to see clearly the 
 peril, which every one now perceives, that the 
 natural and strong sentiment of nationality might 
 degenerate into racial hostiUty and even into a sort 
 of blood feud, very injurious to the progressive 
 civilization of mankind. 
 
 What, lastly, is the quality which, quite apart 
 from the enunciation of specific political opinions, 
 gives a strange force to Wordsworth's tract ?
 
 INTRODUCTION xxxix 
 
 Readers who at all enter into or sympathize with 
 the essence of Wordsworth's political speculations 
 can hardly fail to see that the true source of Words- 
 worth's statesmanship, and of the power which his 
 words of political ad\dce possess for Englishmen, 
 lies far deeper than the dogmas of any political 
 creed, even though it be the faith of Nationalism. 
 Wordsworth is, from his whole tone of thought, 
 intensely interested in tracing the connexion 
 between his political beliefs and his moral creed, 
 and especially the connexion between these beliefs 
 and the common beliefs and feelings of ordinary 
 men. 
 
 In common things that round us lie 
 Some random truths he can impart ; — 
 The harvest of a quiet eye 
 That broods and sleeps on his own heart. 
 
 These words describe what Wordsworth would 
 himself call his ' principles '. They provide the 
 foundation of his politics, no less than of his moral 
 philosophy. His quarrel with statesmen is that 
 they do not understand human nature,^ or, in other 
 words, that they fail to take into account the 
 common feelings which rule the souls and guide the 
 action of ordinary men, and hence, for example, 
 do not perceive that the rightful detestation of 
 foreign tyranny is a far stronger and more wide- 
 spread feeling than the desire for some perfect 
 constitution, or for what is known as good govern- 
 ' See pp. 134, 140, post.
 
 xl THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 ment. In this Wordsworth was certainly right. 
 The force of national feeling was the strength of the 
 whole Nationalist movement, and also suppUes the 
 clue to half the historical conflicts of the nineteenth 
 century. It is again the success of this effort to 
 place himself in harmony with the best and strongest 
 feelings of human nature which makes sentences 
 from Wordsworth's tract ring as true and have 
 as much meaning in 1915 as they had in 1809. 
 To give one example, we all know what he means 
 when he reminds us that 
 
 When wickedness acknowledges no limit but the 
 extent of her power, and advances with aggravated 
 impatience like a devouring fire ; the only worthy 
 or adequate opposition is — that of virtue submitting 
 to no circumscription of her endeavours save that 
 of her rights, and aspiring from the impulse of her 
 own ethereal zeal. The Christian exhortation for 
 the individual is here the precept for nations — ' Be 
 ye therefore perfect ; even as our Father, which is 
 in Heaven, is perfect.' ^ 
 
 A. V. DICEY. 
 
 1 See pp. 188, 189, post.
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 THE EELATIONS 
 
 OP 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN, 
 SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL, 
 
 TO EACH OTHER, AND TO THE COMMON ENEMY, 
 
 AT THIS CRISIS; 
 
 AND SPECIFICALLY AS AFFECTED BY " 
 
 THE 
 
 CONVENTION OF CINTRA : 
 
 The whole brought to the test of those Principles, by which 
 
 alone the Indejiendence and Freedom of Nations 
 
 can be Preserved or Rf covered. 
 
 Qui didicit patriae quid debeat ; 
 
 Quod sit conscripti, quod judicis officium ; quae 
 Partes in bellum missi ducis. 
 
 BY WILLIAM WORDSWOETH. 
 
 ILonUon : 
 
 PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, 
 PATERNOSTER- ROW. 
 
 1809. 
 [Reduced type- facsimile of original title page"]
 
 Bitter and earnest writing must not hastily be condemned ; 
 for men cannot contend coldly, and without affection, about 
 things which they hold dear and precious. A politic man 
 may write from his brain, without touch and sense of his 
 heart ; as in a speculation that appertaineth not unto him ; — 
 but a feeling Christian will express, in his words, a character 
 of zeal or love. Lord Bacon.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 The following pages originated in the opposition 
 which was made by his Majesty's ministers to the 
 expression, in public jneetings and otherwise, of the 
 opinions and feelings of the people concerning the 
 Convention of Cintra. For the sake of immediate and 
 general circulation, I determined (when I had made 
 a considerable progress in the manuscript) to print it 
 in different portions in one of the daily newspapers. 
 Accordingly two poHions of it {extending to page 25) 
 were printed, in the months of December and January, 
 in the Courier, — as being one of the 7nost impartial 
 and extensively circulated journals of the time. The 
 reader is requested to hear in mind this previous 
 publication : otherwise he will be at a loss to account 
 for the arrangement of the matter in one instance in 
 the earlier part of the work. An accidental loss of 
 several sheets of the manuscript delayed the continuance 
 of the publication in that manner, till the close of the 
 Christmas holidays ; and — the pressure of public 
 business rendering it then improbable that room could 
 he found, in the columns of the paper, regularly to 
 insert matter extending to such a length — this plan of 
 publication was given up. 
 
 It may be proper to state that, in the extracts which 
 have been made from the Spanish Proclamations, 
 I have been obliged to content myself with the trans- 
 lations which appeared in the public journals ; having 
 only in one instance had access to the original. This 
 is, in some cases, to be regretted — where the language 
 falls below the dignity of the matter : but in general it 
 
 B2
 
 4 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 is not so ; and the feeling has suggested correspondent 
 expressions to the translators ; hastily as, no doubt, 
 they must have performed their work. 
 
 I must entreat the reader to hear in mind thai I began 
 to write upon this subject in November last ; and have 
 continued without bringing my work earlier to a con- 
 clusion, partly from accident, and partly from a wish 
 to possess additional docuinents and facts. Passing 
 occurrences have made changes in the situation of 
 certain objects spoken of; but I have not thought it 
 necessary to accommodate what I had previously 
 written to these changes : the whole stands without 
 alteration ; except where additions have been made, or 
 errors corrected. 
 
 As I have spoken without reserve of things {and of 
 persons as far as it was necessary to illustrate things, 
 hut no further) ; and as this has been uniformly done 
 according to the light of my conscience ; I have deemed 
 it right to prefix my name to these pages, in order that 
 this last testinnony of a sincere mind might not be 
 wanting. 
 
 May 20th, 1809.
 
 CONCERNING THE CONVENTION 
 OF CINTRA 
 
 The Convention, recently concluded by the 
 Generals at the head of the British army in Portugal, 
 is one of the most important events of our time. It 
 would be deemed so in France, if the Ruler of that 
 country could dare to make it public with those 
 merely of its known bearings and dependences with 
 which the English people are acquainted ; it has 
 been deemed so in Spain and Portugal as far as the 
 people of those countries have been permitted to 
 gain, or have gained, a knowledge of it ; and what 
 this nation has felt and still feels upon the subject is 
 sufficiently manifest. Wherever the tidings were 
 communicated, they carried agitation along with 
 them — a conflict of sensations in which, though 
 sorrow was predominant, yet, through force of 
 scorn, impatience, hope, and indignation, and 
 through the universal jDarticipation in passions so 
 complex, and the sense of jDower which this neces- 
 sarily included — ^thc whole partook of the energy and 
 activity of congratulation and joy. Not a street, 
 not a public room, not a fire-side in the island which 
 was not disturbed as by a local or private trouble ; 
 men of all estates, conditions, and tempers were 
 affected apparently in equal degrees. Yet was the 
 event by none received as an open and measurable 
 affliction : it had indeed features bold and intelli- 
 gible to every one ; but there was an under-exjorcs- 
 sion which was strange, dark, and mysterious — and,
 
 6 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 accordingly as different notions prevailed, or the 
 object was looked at in different points of view, we 
 were astonished like men who are overwhelmed 
 without forewarning — fearful like men who feel 
 themselves to be helpless, and indignant and angry- 
 like men who are betrayed. In a word, it would 
 not be too much to say that the tidings of this event 
 did not spread with the commotion of a storm 
 which sweeps visibly over our heads, but like an 
 earthquake which rocks the ground under our feet. 
 How was it possible that it could be otherwise ? 
 For that army had been sent upon a service which 
 appealed so strongly to all that was human in the 
 heart of this nation — that there was scarcely a gallant 
 father of a family who had not his moments of regret 
 that he was not a soldier by profession, which might 
 have made it his duty to accompany it ; every 
 high-minded youth grieved that his first impulses, 
 which would have sent him upon the same errand, 
 were not to be yielded to, and that after-thought did 
 not sanction and confirm the instantaneous dictates 
 or the reiterated persuasions of an heroic spirit. 
 The army took its departure with prayers and 
 blessings which were as widely spread as they were 
 fervent and intense. For it was not doubted that, 
 on this occasion, every person of which it was com- 
 posed, from the General to the private soldier, 
 would carry both into his conflicts with the enemy 
 in the field, and into his relations of peaceful inter- 
 course with the inhabitants, not only the virtues 
 which might be expected from him as a soldier, but 
 the antipathies and sympathies, the loves and 
 hatreds of a citizen — of a human being — acting, 
 in a manner hitherto unprecedented under the 
 obligation of his human and social nature. If the 
 conduct of the rapacious and merciless adversary
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 7 
 
 rendered it neither easy nor wise — made it, I might 
 say, impossible to give way to that unqualified 
 admiration of courage and skill, made it impossible 
 in relation to him to be exalted by those triumphs 
 of the courteous affections, and to be purified by 
 those refinements of civility which do, more than 
 any thing, reconcile a man of thoughtful mind and 
 humane dispositions to the horrors of ordinary war ; 
 it was felt that for such loss the benign and accom- 
 plished soldier would upon this mission be abun- 
 dantly recompensed by the enthusiasm of fraternal 
 love with which his Ally, the oppressed people whom 
 he was going to aid in rescuing themselves, would 
 receive him ; and that this, and the virtues which he 
 would ^vitness in them, would furnish his heart vnth 
 never-failing and far nobler objects of complacency 
 and admiration. The discipline of the army was 
 well known ; and as a machine, or a vital organized 
 body, the Nation was assured that it could not but 
 be formidable ; but thus to the standing excellence 
 of mechanic or organic power seemed to be super- 
 added, at this time, and for this service, the force of 
 inspiration : could any thing therefore be looked 
 for, but a glorious result ? The army proved its 
 prowess in the field ; and what has been the result 
 is attested, and long will be attested, by the down- 
 cast looks — the silence — the passionate exclamations 
 — the sighs and shame of every man who is worthy 
 to breathe the air or to look upon the green-fields 
 of Liberty in this blessed and highly-favoured Island 
 which we inhabit. 
 
 If I were speaking of things however weighty, that 
 were long past and dwindled in the memory, I should 
 scarcely venture to use this language ; but the feel- 
 ings are of yesterday — they are of to-day ; the 
 flower, a melancholy flower it is ! is still in blow,
 
 8 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 nor will, I trust, its leaves be shed through months 
 that are to come : for I repeat that the heart of the 
 nation is in this struggle. This just and necessary 
 war, as we have been accustomed to hear it styled 
 from the beginning of the contest in the year 1793, 
 had, some time before the Treaty of Amiens, viz. 
 after the subjugation of Switzerland, and not till 
 then, begun to be regarded by the body of the people, 
 as indeed both just and necessary; and this justice 
 and necessity were by none more clearly perceived, 
 or more feelingly bewailed, than by those who had 
 most eagerly opposed the war in its commencement, 
 and who continued most bitterly to regret that this 
 nation had ever borne a part in it. Their conduct 
 was herein consistent : they proved that they kept 
 their eyes steadily fixed upon principles ; for, 
 though there was a shifting or transfer of hostility 
 in their minds as far as regarded persons, they only 
 combated the same enemy opposed to them under 
 a different shape ; and that enemy was the spirit of 
 selfish tyranny and lawless ambition. This spirit, 
 the class of persons of whom I have been speaking, 
 (and I would now be understood, as associating them 
 with an immense majority of the people of Great 
 Britain, whose affections, notwithstanding all the 
 delusions which had been practised upon them, were, 
 I in the former part of the contest, for a long time 
 on the side of their nominal enemies,) this spirit, 
 when it became undeniably embodied in the French 
 government, they wished, in spite of all dangers, 
 should be opposed by war ; because peace was not 
 to be procured without submission, which could 
 not bvit be followed by a communion, of which the 
 word of greeting would be, on the one part, insult, — 
 and, on the other, degradation. The people now 
 wished for war, as their rulers had done before,
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 9 
 
 because open war between nations is a defined and 
 effectual partition, and the sword, in the hands of 
 the good and the virtuous, is the most intelligible 
 symbol of abhorrence. It was in order to be pre- 
 served from spirit-breaking submissions — from the 
 guilt of seeming to approve that which they had not 
 the power to prevent, and out of a consciousness of 
 the danger that such guilt would othermse actually 
 steal upon them, and that thus, by evil communi- 
 cations and participations, would be weakened and 
 finally destroyed, those moral sensibilities and 
 energies, by virtue of which alone, their liberties, 
 and even their lives, could be preserved, — that the 
 people of Great Britain determined to encounter all 
 perils which could follow in the train of open resis- 
 tance. — There were some, and those deservedly of 
 high character in the country, who exerted their 
 utmost influence to counteract this resolution ; nor 
 did they give to it so gentle a name as want of 
 prudence, but they boldly termed it blindness and 
 obstinacy. Let them be judged with charity ! 
 But there are promptings of wisdom from the pene- 
 tralia of human nature, wliich a people can hear, 
 though the A\isest of their practical Statesmen be 
 deaf towards them. This authentic voice, the 
 people of England had heard and obeyed : and, in 
 opposition to French tyranny growing daily more 
 insatiate and implacable, they ranged themselves 
 zealously under their Government ; though they 
 neither forgot nor forgave its transgressions, in 
 having first involved them in a war with a people 
 then struggling for its own liberties under a twofold 
 affliction — confounded by inbred faction, and be- 
 leagured by a cruel and imperious external foe. 
 But these remembrances did not vent themselves in 
 reproaches, nor hinder us from being reconciled to
 
 10 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 our Rulers, when a change or rather a revolution in 
 circumstances had imposed new duties : and, in 
 defiance of local and personal clamour, it may be 
 safely said, that the nation united heart and hand 
 with the Government in its resolve to meet the 
 worst, rather than stoop its head to receive that 
 which, it was felt, would not be the garland but the 
 yoke of peace. Yet it was an afflicting alternative ; 
 and it is not to be denied, that the effort, if it had 
 the determination, wanted the cheerfulness of duty. 
 Our condition savoured too much of a grinding 
 constraint — too much of the vassalage of necessity ; 
 — it had too much of fear, and therefore of selfish- 
 ness, not to be contemplated in the main with rueful 
 emotion. We desponded though we did not despair. 
 In fact a deliberate and preparatory fortitude — a 
 sedate and stern melancholy, which had no sun- 
 shine and was exhilarated only by the lightnings of 
 indignation — this was the highest and best state of 
 moral feeling to which the most noble-minded among 
 us could attain. 
 
 But, from the moment of the rising of the people 
 of the Pyrenean peninsula, there was a mighty 
 change ; we were instantaneously animated ; and, 
 from that moment, the contest assumed the dignity, 
 which it is not in the power of any thing but hope to 
 bestow : and, if I may dare to transfer language, 
 prompted by a revelation of the state of being that 
 admits not of decay or change, to the concerns 
 and interests of our transitory planet, from that 
 moment " this corruptible put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal put on immortaHty." This sudden 
 elevation was on no account more welcome — was by 
 nothing more endeared, than by the returning sense 
 which accompanied it of inward liberty and choice, 
 which gratified our moral yearnings, inasmuch as it
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 11 
 
 would give henceforward to our actions as a people, 
 an origination and direction unquestionably moral — 
 as it was free — as it was manifestly in sympathy mth 
 the species — as it admitted therefore of fluctuations of 
 generous feeling — of approbation and of complacency. 
 We were intellectualized also in proportion ; we 
 looked backward upon the records of the human race 
 with pride, and, instead of being afraid, we dehghted 
 to look forward into futurity. It was imagined that 
 this new-born spirit of resistance, rising from the 
 most sacred feelings of the human heart, would 
 diffuse itself through many countries ; and not 
 merely for the distant future, but for the present, 
 hopes were entertained as bold as they were dis- 
 interested and generous. 
 
 Never, indeed, was the fellowship of our sentient 
 nature more intimately felt — never was the irre- 
 sistible power of justice more gloriously displayed 
 than when the British and Spanish Nations, with 
 an impulse like that of two ancient heroes throwing 
 down their weapons and reconciled in the field, cast 
 off at once their aversions and enmities, and mutually 
 embraced each other — to solemnize this conversion 
 of love, not by the festivities of peace, but by com- 
 bating side by side through danger and under afflic- 
 tion in the devotedness of perfect brotherhood. 
 This was a conjunction which excited hope as fervent 
 as it was rational. On the one side was a nation 
 which brought with it sanction and authority, inas- 
 much as it had tried and approved the blessings 
 for which the other had risen to contend : the one 
 was a people which, by the help of the surrounding 
 ocean and its own virtues, had preserved to itself 
 through ages its liberty, pure and inviolated by 
 a foreign invader ; the ather a high-minded nation, 
 which a tyrant, presuming on its decrepitude, had,
 
 12 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 through the real decrepitude of its Government, 
 perfidiously enslaved. What could be more de- 
 lightful than to think of an intercourse beginning 
 in this manner ? On the part of the Spaniards their 
 love towards us was enthusiasm and adoration ; 
 the faults of our national character were hidden 
 from them by a veil of splendour ; they saw nothing 
 around us but glory and light ; and, on our side, we 
 estimated their character with partial and indulgent 
 fondness ; — thinking on their past greatness, not as 
 the undermined foundation of a magnificent build- 
 ing, but as the root of a majestic tree recovered from 
 a long disease, and beginning again to flourish with 
 promise of wider branches and a deeper shade than 
 it had boasted in the fulness of its strength. If in 
 the sensations with which the Spaniards prostrated 
 themselves before the religion of their country we 
 did not keep pace A\dth them— if even their loyalty 
 was such as, from our mixed constitution of govern- 
 ment and from other causes, we could not thoroughly 
 sympathize with, — and if, lastly, their devotion to the 
 person of their Sovereign appeared to us to have too 
 much of the alloy of delusion, — in all these things we 
 judged them gently : and, taught by the reverses of 
 the French revolution, we looked upon these disposi- 
 tions as more human — more social — and therefore as 
 w^iser, and of better omen, than if they had stood 
 forth the zealots of abstract principles, drawn out 
 of the laboratory of unfeeling philosophists. Finally, 
 in this reverence for the past and present, we found 
 an earnest that they were prepared to contend to 
 the death for as much liberty as their habits and 
 their knowledge enabled them to receive. To assist 
 them and their neighbours the Portuguese in the 
 attainment of this end, we sent to them in love and 
 in friendship a powerful army to aid — to invigorate —
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 13 
 
 and to chastise : — they landed ; and the first proof 
 they afforded of their being Avorthy to be sent on 
 such a ser\dce — the first pledge of amity given by 
 them was the victory of Vimiera ; the second pledge 
 (and this was from the hand of their Generals,) was 
 the Convention of Cintra. 
 
 The reader will by this time have perceived, what 
 thoughts were uppermost in my mind, when I began 
 vnth asserting, that this Convention is among the 
 most important events of our times : — an assertion, 
 wliich was made deliberately, and after due allowance 
 for that infirmity which inchnes us to magnify things 
 present and passing, at the expence of those -which 
 are past. It is my aim to prove, wherein the real 
 importance of this event lies : and, as a necessary 
 preparative for forming a right judgment upon it, 
 I have already given a representation of the senti- 
 ments, wdth which the people of Great Britain and 
 those of Spain looked upon each other. I have 
 indeed spoken rather of the Spaniards than of the 
 Portuguese ; but what has been said, will be under- 
 stood as applying in the main to the whole Peninsula. 
 The \ATongs of the two nations have been equal, 
 and their cause is the same : they must stand or fall 
 together. What their A\Tongs have been, in what 
 degree they considered themselves united, and what 
 their hopes and resolutions were, we have learned 
 from public Papers issued by themselves and by 
 their enemies. These were read by the people of 
 this Country, at the time when they were severally 
 published, with due impression. — Pity, that those im- 
 pressions could not have been as faithfully retained 
 as they were at first received deeply ! Doubtless, 
 there is not a man in these Islands, who is not con- 
 vinced that the cause of Spain is the most righteous 
 cause in which, since the opposition of the Greek
 
 14 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 Republics to the Persian Invader at Thermopylae 
 and Marathon, sword ever was drawn ! But this is 
 not enough. We are actors in the struggle ; and, in 
 order that we may have steady principles to con- 
 troul and direct us, (without which we may do much 
 harm, and can do no good,) we ought to make it 
 a duty to revive in the memory those words and 
 facts, which first carried the conviction to our hearts : 
 that, as far as it is possible, we may see as we then 
 saw, and feel as we then felt. Let me therefore 
 entreat the Reader seriously to peruse once more 
 such parts of those Declarations as I shall extract 
 from them. I feel indeed with sorrow, that events 
 are hurrying us forward, as down the Rapid of an 
 American river, and that there is too much danger 
 before, to permit the mind easily to turn back upon 
 the course which is past. It is indeed difficult. — 
 But I need not say, that to yield to the difficulty, 
 would be degrading to rational beings. Besides, if 
 from the retrospect, we can either gain strength by 
 which we can overcome, or learn prudence by which 
 we may avoid, such submission is not only degrading, 
 1^ but pernicious. I address these words to those who 
 have feeling, but whose judgment is overpowered 
 by their feelings : — such as have not, and who are 
 mere slaves of curiosity, calling perpetually for 
 something new, and being able to create nothing 
 new for themselves out of old materials, may be left 
 to wander about under the yoke of their own unpro- 
 fitable appetite. — Yet not so ! Even these I would 
 include in my request ; and conjure them, as they 
 are men, not to be impatient, while I place before 
 their eyes, a composition made out of fragments of 
 those Declarations from various parts of the Penin- 
 sula, which, disposed as it were in a tesselated pave- 
 ment, shall set forth a story which may be easily
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 15 
 
 understood ; which "\vill move and teach, and be 
 consolatory to him who looks upon it. I say, 
 consolatory : and let not the Reader shrink from 
 the word. I am well aware of the burthen which is 
 to be supported, of the discountenance from recent 
 calamity under which every thing, which speaks 
 of hope for the Spanish people, and through them 
 for mankind, vaW be received. But this, far from 
 deterring, ought to be an encouragement ; it makes 
 the duty more imperious. Nevertheless, whatever 
 confidence any indi\ddual of meditative mind may 
 have in these representations of the principles and 
 feehngs of the people of Spain, both as to their 
 sanctity and truth, and as to their competence in 
 ordinary circumstances to make these acknowledged, 
 it would be unjust to recall them to the public mind, 
 stricken as it is by present disaster, A\dthout attempt- 
 ing to mitigate the bewildering terror which accom- 
 panies these events, and which is caused as much 
 by their nearness to the eye, as by any thing in 
 their own nature. I shall, however, at present con- 
 fine myself to suggest a few considerations, some of 
 which will be developed hereafter, when I resume 
 the subject. 
 
 It appears then, that the Spanish armies have 
 sustained great defeats, and have been compelled to 
 abandon their positions, and that these reverses have 
 been effected by an army greatly superior to the 
 Spanish forces in number, and far excelling them in 
 the art and practice of war. This is the sum of 
 those tidings, which it was natural we should receive 
 with sorrow, but which too many have received with 
 dismay and despair, though surely no events could 
 be more in the course of rational expectation. And 
 what is the amount of the evil ? — It is manifest that, 
 though a great army may easily defeat or disperse
 
 16 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 another army, less or greater, yet it is not in a like 
 degree formidable to a determined people, nor 
 efficient in a like degree to subdue them, or to keep 
 them in subjugation — much less if this people, like 
 those of Spain in the present instance, be numerous, 
 and, like them, inhabit a territory extensive and 
 strong by nature. For a great army, and even 
 several great armies, cannot accomj^lish this by 
 marching about the country, unbroken, but each 
 must split itself into many portions, and the several 
 detachments become weak accordingly, not merely 
 as they are small in size, but because the soldiery, 
 acting thus, necessarily relinquish much of that part 
 of their superiority, which lies in what may be called 
 the enginery of war ; and far more, because they 
 lose, in proportion as they are broken, the power of 
 profiting by the military skill of the Commanders, or 
 by their own military habits. The experienced 
 soldier is thus brought down nearer to the plain 
 ground of the inexperienced, man to the level of 
 man : and it is then, that the truly brave man rises, 
 the man of good hopes and purposes ; and superiority 
 in moral brings with it superiority in physical power. 
 Hence, if the Spanish armies have been defeated, or 
 even dispersed, it not only argues a want of magnan- 
 imity, but of sense, to conclude that the cause 
 therefore is lost. Supposing that the spirit of the 
 people is not crushed, the war is now brought back 
 to that plan of conducting it, which was recom- 
 mended by the Junta of Seville in that inestimable 
 paper entitled " Precautions," which plan ought 
 never to have been departed from, except by com- 
 pulsion, or with a moral certainty of success ; and 
 which the Spaniards will now be constrained to re- 
 adopt, with the advantage, that the lesson, which 
 has been received, will preclude the possibiUty of
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 17 
 
 their ever committing the same error. In this paper 
 it is said, " let the first object be to avoid all general 
 " actions, and to convince ourselves of the very great 
 " hazards without any advantage or the hope of it, 
 " to which they would expose us." The paper then 
 gives directions, how the war ought to be conducted 
 as a war of partizans, and shews the peculiar fitness 
 of the country for it. Yet, though relying solely 
 on this unambitious mode of warfare, the framers of 
 the paper, which is in every part of it distinguished 
 by wisdom, speak with confident thoughts of success. 
 To this mode of warfare, then, after experience of 
 calamity from not having trusted in it ; to this, and 
 to the people in whom the contest originated, and 
 who are its proper depository, that contest is now 
 referred. 
 
 Secondly, if the spirits of the Spaniards be not 
 broken by defeat, which is impossible, if the senti- 
 ments that have been publicly expressed be fairly 
 characteristic of the nation, and do not belong only 
 to particular spots or to a few individuals of superior 
 mind, — a doubt, which the internal evidence of these 
 pubhcations, sanctioned by the resistance already 
 made, and corroborated by the universal consent 
 with which certain qualities have been attributed to 
 the Spaniards in all ages, encourages us to repel ; — 
 then are there mighty resources in the country which 
 have not yet been called forth. For all has hitherto 
 been done by the spontaneous efforts of the people, 
 acting under little or no compulsion of the Govern- 
 ment, but with its advice and exhortation. It is an 
 error to suppose, that, in proportion as a people are 
 strong, and act largely for themselves, the Govern- 
 ment must therefore be weak. This is not a neces- 
 sary consequence even in the heat of Revolution, 
 but only when the people are lawless from want of 
 
 824.38 Q
 
 18 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 a steady and noble object among themselves for 
 their love, or in the presence of a foreign enemy 
 for their hatred. In the early part of the French 
 Revolution, indeed as long as it was evident that the 
 end was the common safety, the National Assembly 
 had the power to turn the people into any course, to 
 constrain them to any task, while their voluntary 
 efforts, as far as these could be exercised, were not 
 abated in consequence. That which the National 
 Assembly did for France, the Spanish Sovereign's 
 authority acting through those whom the people 
 themselves have deputed to represent him, would, 
 in their present enthusiasm of loyalty, and condition 
 of their general feelings, render practicable and easy 
 for Spain. The Spaniards, it is true, with a thought- 
 fulness most hopeful for the cause which they have 
 undertaken, have been loth to depart from estab- 
 lished laws, forms, and practices. This dignified 
 feeling of self-restraint they would do well to cherish 
 so far as never to depart from it without some re- 
 luctance ; — but, when old and familiar means are 
 not equal to the exigency, new ones must, without 
 timidity, be resorted to, though by many they may 
 be found harsh and ungracious. Nothing but good 
 would result from such conduct. The well-disposed 
 would rely more confidently upon a Government 
 which thus proved that it had confidence in itself. 
 Men, less zealous, and of less comprehensive minds, 
 would soon be reconciled to measures from which 
 at first they had revolted ; the remiss and selfish 
 might be made servants of their country, through 
 the influence of the same passions which had prepared 
 them to become slaves of the Invader ; or, should 
 this not be possible, they would appear in their true 
 character, and the main danger to be feared from 
 them would be prevented. The course which ought
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 19 
 
 to be pursued is plain. Either the cause has lost the 
 people's love, or it has not. If it has, let the struggle 
 be abandoned. If it has not, let the Government, 
 in whatever shape it may exist, and however great 
 may be the calamities under which it may labour, 
 act up to the full stretch of its rights, nor doubt 
 that the people ^\^ll support it to the full extent of 
 their power. If, therefore, the Chiefs of the Spanish 
 Nation be men of -svise and strong minds, they will 
 bring both the forces, those of the Government and 
 of the people, into their utmost action ; tempering 
 them in such a manner that neither shall impair 
 or obstruct the other, but rather that they shall 
 strengthen and direct each other for all salutary 
 purposes. 
 
 Thirdly, it was never dreamt by any thinking man, 
 that the Spaniards were to succeed by their army ; 
 if by their army be meant any thing but the people. 
 The whole people is their army, and their true army 
 is the people, and nothing else. Five hundred men, 
 who in the early part of the struggle had been taken 
 prisoners, — I think it was at the battle of Rio Seco — 
 were returned by the French General under the title 
 of Gahcian Peasants, a title, which the Spanish 
 General, Blake, rejected and maintained in his 
 answer that they were genuine soldiers, meaning 
 regular troops. The conduct of the Frenchman 
 was politic, and that of the Spaniard would have 
 been more in the spirit of his cause and of his own 
 noble character, if, waiving on this occasion the plea 
 of any subordinate and formal commission which 
 these men might have, he had rested their claim 
 to the title of Soldiers on its true ground, and 
 affirmed that this was no other than the rights of 
 the cause which they maintained, by which rights 
 every Spaniard was a soldier who could appear in 
 
 C2
 
 20 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 arms, and was authorized to take that place, in 
 which it was probable, to those under whom he 
 acted, and on many occasions to himself, that he 
 could most annoy the enemy. But these patriots 
 of Galicia were not clothed alike, nor perhaps armed 
 ahke, nor had the outward appearance of those 
 bodies, wliich are called regular troops ; and the 
 Frenchman availed himself of this pretext, to apply 
 to them that insolent language, which might, 
 I think, have been more nobly repelled on a more 
 comprehensive principle. For thus are men of the 
 gravest minds imposed upon by the presumptuous ; 
 and through these influences it comes, that the 
 strength of a tyrant is in opinion— not merely in 
 the opinion of those who support him, but alas ! 
 even of those who willingly resist, and who would 
 resist effectually, if it were not that their own under- 
 standings betray them, being already half enslaved 
 by shews and forms. The whole Spanish nation 
 ought to be encouraged to deem themselves an 
 army, embodied under the authority of their country 
 and of human nature. A military spirit should be 
 there, and a military action, not confined like an 
 ordinary river in one channel, but spreading like 
 the Nile over the whole face of the land. Is this 
 possible ? I believe it is : if there be minds among 
 them Avorthy to lead, and if those leading minds 
 cherish a civic spirit by all Avarrantable aids and 
 appliances, and, above all other means, by combining 
 a reverential memory of their elder ancestors with 
 distinct hopes of solid advantage, from the privileges 
 of freedom, for themselves and their posterity — to 
 which the history and the past state of Spain furnish 
 such enviable facilities ; and if they provide for 
 the sustenance of this spirit, by organizing it in its 
 primary sources, not timidly jealous of a people.
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 21 
 
 whose toils and sacrifices have approved them 
 worthy of all love and confidence, and whose failing 
 of excess, if such there exist, is assuredly on the side 
 of loyalty to their Sovereign, and predilection for 
 all established institutions. We affirm, then, that 
 a universal military spirit may be produced ; and not 
 only this, but that a much more rare and more 
 admirable phenomenon may be realized — the civic 
 and military spirit united in one people, and in 
 enduring harmony ^\dth each other. The people of 
 Spain, with arms in their hands, are already in an 
 elevated mood, to which they have been raised by 
 the indignant passions, and the keen sense of insup- 
 portable wrong and insult from the enemy, and its 
 infamous instruments. But they must be taught, 
 not to trust too exclusively to the \aolent passions, 
 which have already done much of their peculiar 
 task and service. They must seek additional aid 
 from affections, which less imperiously exclude all 
 indi\adual interests, while at the same time they 
 consecrate them to the public good. — But the enemy 
 is in the heart of their land ! We have not forgotten 
 this. We would encourage their military zeal, and 
 all qualities especially military, by all rewards of 
 honourable ambition, and by rank and dignity con- 
 ferred on the truly worthy, whatever may be their 
 birth or condition, the elevating influence of which 
 would extend from the indi\adual possessor to the 
 class from which he may have sprung. For the 
 necessity of thus raising and upholding the military 
 spirit, we plead : but yet the professional excel- 
 lencies of the soldier must be contemplated according 
 to their due place and relation. Nothing is done, 
 or worse than nothing, unless something higher be 
 taught, ds higher, something more fundamental, ds 
 more fundamental. In the moral virtues and qualities
 
 22 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 of passion which belong to a people, must the 
 ultimate salvation of a people be sought for. Moral 
 qualities of a high order, and vehement passions, 
 and \irtuous as vehement, the Spaniards have 
 already displayed ; nor is it to be anticipated, that 
 the conduct of their enemies ^\'ill suffer the heat and 
 glow to remit and languish. These may be trusted 
 to themselves, and to the provocations of the merci- 
 less Invader. They must now be taught, that their 
 strength chiefly lies in moral qualities, more silent 
 in their operation, more permanent in their nature ; 
 in the \*irtues of perseverance, constancy, fortitude, 
 and watchfulness, in a long memory and a quick 
 feeling, to rise upon a favourable summons, a texture 
 of Hfe which, though cut through (as hath been 
 feigned of the bodies of the Angels) unites again — 
 these are the %*irtues and qualities on which the 
 Spanish People must be taught mainly to depend. 
 These it is not in the power of their Chiefs to create ; 
 but they may preserve and procure to them oppor- 
 tunities of unfolding themselves, by guarding the 
 Nation against an intemperate reliance on other 
 qualities and other modes of exertion, to which it 
 could never have resorted in the degree in which 
 it appears to have resorted to them without ha\'ing 
 been in contradiction to itself, pacing at the same 
 time an indirect homage to its enemy. Yet, in 
 hazarding this conditional censure, we are still in- 
 clined to beheve, that, in spite of our deductions on 
 the score of exaggeration, we have still given too 
 easy credit to the accounts furnished by the enemy, 
 of the rashness with which the Spaniards engaged 
 in pitched battles, and of their dismay after defeat. 
 For the Spaniards have repeatedly proclaimed, and 
 they have inwardly felt, that their strength was 
 from their cause — of course, that it was moral.
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 23 
 
 Why then should they abandon this, and endeavour 
 to prevail by means in which their opponents are 
 confessedly so much superior ? Moral strength is 
 their's ; but physical power for the purposes of im- 
 mediate or rapid destruction is on the side of their 
 enemies. This is to them no disgrace, but, as soon 
 as they understand themselves, they will see that 
 they are disgraced by mistrusting their appropriate 
 stay, and throwing themselves u^aon a power which 
 for them must be weak. Nor Avill it then appear to 
 them a sufficient excuse, that they were seduced 
 into this by the splendid qualities of courage and 
 enthusiasm, Avhich, being the frequent companions, 
 and, in given circumstances, the necessary agents of 
 virtue, are too often themselves hailed as \'irtues by 
 their own title. But courage and enthusiasm have 
 equally characterised the best and the worst beings, 
 a Satan, equally with an Abdiel — a Bonaparte 
 equally with a Leonidas. They are indeed indis- 
 pensible to the Spanish soldiery, in order that, man 
 to man, they may not be inferior to their enemies in 
 the field of battle. But inferior they are and long 
 must be in warlike skill and coolness ; inferior in 
 assembled numbers, and in blind mobility to the 
 preconceived purposes of their leader. If therefore 
 the Spaniards are not superior in some superior 
 quahty, their fall may be predicted with the certainty 
 of a mathematical calculation. Nay, it is right to 
 acknowledge, however depressing to false hope the 
 thought may be, that from a people prone and dis- 
 posed to war, as the French are, through the very 
 absence of those excellencies which give a contra- 
 distinguishing dignity to the Spanish character ; 
 that, from an army of men presumptuous by nature, 
 to whose presumption the experience of constant 
 success has given the confidence and stubborn
 
 24 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 strength of reason, and who balance against the 
 devotion of patriotism the superstition so naturally 
 attached by the sensual and disordinate to the 
 strange fortunes and continual felicity of their 
 Emperor ; that, from the armies of such a people 
 a more manageable enthusiasm, a courage less under 
 the influence of accidents, may be expected in the 
 confusion of immediate conflict, than from forces 
 like the Spaniards, united indeed by devotion to 
 a common cause, but not equally united by an equal 
 confidence in each other, resulting from long fellow- 
 ship and brotherhood in all conceivable incidents 
 of war and battle. Therefore, I do not hesitate to 
 affirm, that even the occasional flight of the Spanish 
 levies, from sudden panic under untried circum- 
 stances, would not be so injurious to the Spanish 
 cause ; no, nor so dishonourable to the Spanish 
 character, nor so ominous of ultimate failure, as 
 a paramount reliance on superior valour, instead of 
 a principled reposal on superior constancy and 
 immutable resolve. Rather let them have fled 
 once and again, than direct their prime admiration 
 to the blaze and explosion of animal courage, in 
 slight of the vital and sustaining warmth of fortitude ; 
 in slight of that moral contempt of death and 
 privation, which does not need the stir and shout 
 of battle to call it forth or support it, which can 
 smile in patience over the stiff and cold wound, as 
 well as rush forward regardless, because half sense- 
 less of the fresh and bleeding one. Why did we give 
 our hearts to the present cause of Spain with a fervour 
 and elevation unknown to us in the commencement 
 of the late Austrian or Prussian resistance to France ? 
 Because we attributed to the former an heroic tem- 
 perament which would render their transfer to such 
 domination an evil to human nature itself, and an
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 25 
 
 affrightening perplexity in the dispensations of 
 Providence. But if in oblivion of the i^rophetic 
 wisdom of their own first leaders in the cause, they 
 are surprised beyond the power of rallying, utterly 
 cast down and manacled by fearful thoughts from 
 the first thunder-storm of defeat in the field, wherein 
 do they differ from the Prussians and Austrians ? 
 Wherein are they a People, and not a mere army 
 or set of armies ? If this be indeed so, what have 
 we to mourn over but our own honourable im- 
 petuosity, in hoping where no just ground of hope 
 existed ? A nation, Avithout the virtues necessary 
 for the attainment of independence, have failed to 
 attain it. This is all. For little has that man 
 understood the majesty of true national freedom, 
 who believes that a population, like that of Spain, . 
 in a country like that of Spain, may Avant the qualities 
 needful to fight out their indeiDcndence, and yet 
 possess the excellencies which render men suscep- 
 tible of true liberty. The Dutch, the Americans, did 
 possess the former ; but it is, I fear, more than 
 doubtful whether the one ever did, or the other ever 
 will, evince the nobler morality indispensible to the 
 latter. 
 
 It was not my intention that the subject should 
 at present have been pursued so far. But I have 
 been carried forward by a strong wish to be of use 
 in raising and steadying the minds of my country- 
 men, an end to which every thing that I shall say 
 hereafter (provided it be true) Avill contribute. For 
 all knowledge of human nature leads ultimately to 
 repose ; and I shall WTite to little purpose if I do 
 not assist some portion of my readers to form an 
 estimate of the grounds of hope and fear in the 
 present effort of liberty against oppression, in the 
 present or any future struggle which justice will
 
 26 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 have to maintain against might. In fact, this is 
 my main object, " the sea-mark of my utmost sail : " 
 in order that, understanding the sources of strength 
 and seats of weakness, both in the tyrant and in 
 those who would save or rescue themselves from his 
 grasp, we may act as becomes men who would guard 
 their own liberties, and would draw a good use from 
 the desire which they feel, and the efforts which they 
 are making, to benefit the less favoured part of 
 the family of mankind. With these as my ultimate 
 objects, I have undertaken to examine the Conven- 
 tion of Cintra ; and, as an indispensible preparative 
 for forming a right judgment of this event, I have 
 already faithfully exhibited the feelings of the people 
 of Great Britain and of Spain towards each other, 
 and have shewn by what sacred bonds they were 
 united. With the same view, I shall next proceed 
 to shew by what barrier of aversion, scarcely less 
 sacred, the people of the Peninsula were divided 
 from theiT enemies, — their feelings towards them, 
 and their hopes for themselves ; trusting, that I have 
 already mitigated the deadening influences of recent 
 calamity, and that the representation I shall frame, 
 in the manner which has been promised, will speak 
 in its true colours and life to the eye and heart of the 
 spectator. 
 
 The government of Asturias, which was the first 
 to rise against their oppressors, thus expresses itself 
 in the opening of its Address to the People of that 
 Province. " Loyal Asturians ! beloved Country- 
 men ! your wishes are already fulfilled. The 
 Principality, discharging those duties which are most 
 sacred to men, has already declared war against 
 France. You may perhaps dread this vigorous 
 resolution. But what other measure could or ought 
 we to adopt ? Shall there be found one single man
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 27 
 
 among us, who prefers the vile and ignominious 
 death of slaves, to the glory of dying on the field of 
 honour, with arms in his hand, defending our un- 
 fortunate monarch, our homes, our children, and our 
 wives ? If, in the very moment when those bands 
 of banditti were receiving the kindest offices and 
 favours from the inhabitants of our Capital, they 
 murdered in cold blood upwards of two thousand 
 people, for no other reason than their having de- 
 fended their insulted brethren, Avhat could we expect 
 from them, had we submitted to their dominion ? 
 Their perfidious conduct towards our king and his 
 whole family, whom they deceived and decoyed into 
 France under the promise of an eternal armistice, in 
 order to chain them all, has no precedent in history. 
 Their conduct towards the whole nation is more 
 iniquitous, than we had the right to expect from 
 a horde of Hottentots. They have profaned our 
 temples ; they have insulted our religion ; they have 
 assailed our wives ; in fine, they have broken all 
 their promises, and there exists no right which 
 they have not violated. To arms, Asturians ! to 
 arms ! " The Supreme Junta of Government, sit- 
 ting at Seville, introduces its declaration of war in 
 words to the same effect. " France, under the 
 government of the emperor Napoleon the First, has 
 violated towards Spain the most sacred compacts — 
 has arrested her monarchs — obliged them to a forced 
 and manifestly void abdication and renunciation ; 
 has behaved with the same violence towards the 
 Spanish Nobles whom he keeps in his power — has 
 declared that he will elect a king of Spain, the most 
 horrible attempt that is recorded in history — has sent 
 his troops into Spain, seized her fortresses and her 
 Capital, and scattered his troops throughout the 
 country — has committed against Spain all sorts of
 
 28 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 assassinations, robberies, and unheard-of cruelties ; 
 and this he has done with the most enormous in- 
 gratitude to the ser\aces which the Spanish nation 
 has rendered France, to the friendship it has shewn 
 her, thus treating it with the most dreadful perfidy, 
 fraud, and treachery, such as was never committed 
 against any nation or monarch by the most barbarous 
 or ambitious king or people. He has in fine declared, 
 that he will trample down our monarchy, our funda- 
 mental laws, and bring about the ruin of our holy 
 catholic religion. — The only remedy therefore to such 
 grievous ills, which are so manifest to all Europe, 
 is in war, which we declare against him." The 
 injuries, done to the Portuguese Nation and Govern- 
 ment, previous to its declaration of war against 
 the Emperor of the French, are stated at length in 
 the manifesto of the Court of Portugal, dated Rio 
 Janeiro, May 1st, 1808 ; and to that the reader may 
 be referred : but upon this subject I will beg leave 
 to lay before him, the follomng extract from the 
 Address of the supreme Junta of Seville to the 
 Portuguese nation, dated May 30th, 1808. " Portu- 
 guese, — Your lot is, perhaps, the hardest ever 
 endured by any people on the earth. Your princes 
 were compelled to fly from you, and the events in 
 Spain have furnished an irrefragable proof of the 
 absolute necessity of that measure. — You were 
 ordered not to defend yourselves, and you did not 
 defend yourselves. Junot offered to make you 
 happy, and your happiness has consisted in being 
 treated with greater cruelty than the most ferocious 
 conquerors inflict on the people whom they have 
 subdued by force of arms and after the most obstinate 
 resistance. You have been despoiled of your princes, 
 your laws, your usages, your customs, your property, 
 your liberty, even your lives, and your holy religion,
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 29 
 
 wliich your enemies never have respected, however 
 they may, according to their custom, have j^romised 
 to protect it, and however they may affect and 
 pretend to have any sense of it themselves. Your 
 nobiUty has been annihilated, — its property con- 
 fiscated in punishment of its fidehty and loyalty. 
 You have been basely dragged to foreign countries, 
 and compelled to prostrate yourselves at the feet of 
 the man who is the author of all your calamities, and 
 who, by the most horrible perfidy, has usurped your 
 government, and rules you vnth a sceptre of iron. 
 Even now your troops have left your borders, and 
 are travelhng in chains to die in the defence of him 
 who has oppressed you ; by which means his deep 
 mahgnity may accomphsh his purpose, — by de- 
 stroying those who should constitute your strength, 
 and by rendering their lives subservient to his 
 triumphs, and to the savage glory to which he aspires. 
 — Spain beheld your slavery, and the horrible evils 
 which followed it, with mingled sensations of grief 
 and despair. You are her brother, and she panted 
 to fly to your assistance. But certain Chiefs, and 
 a Government either weak or corrupt, kept her in 
 chains, and were preparing the means by which the 
 ruin of our king, our laws, our independence, our 
 liberty, our lives, and even the holy rehgion in 
 which we are united, might accompany your's, — by 
 which a barbarous people might consummate their 
 own triumph, and accomplish the slavery of every 
 nation in Europe : — our loyalty, our honour, our 
 justice, could not submit to such flagrant atrocity ! 
 We have broken our chains, — ^let us then to action." 
 But the story of Portuguese sufferings shall be told 
 by Junot himself; who. in his proclamation to the 
 people of Portugal (dated Palace of Lisbon, June 
 26,), thus speaks to them : " You have earnestly
 
 30 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 entreated of him a king, who, aided by the omnipo- 
 tence of that great monareh, might raise up again 
 your unfortunate Country, and replaee her in the rank 
 which belongs to her. Doubtless at this moment 
 your new monarch is on the point of visiting you. — 
 He expects to find faithful Subjects — shall he find 
 only rebels ? I expected to have delivered over 
 to him a peaceable kingdom and flourishing cities — 
 shall I be obliged to shew him only ruins and heaps 
 
 of ashes and dead bodies ? Merit pardon by 
 
 prompt submission, and a prompt obedience to my 
 orders ; if not, think of the punishment which 
 awaits you. — Every city, town, or village, which shall 
 take up arms against my forces, and whose inhabi- 
 tants shall rise upon the French troops, shall be 
 delivered up to pillage and totally destroyed, and 
 the inhabitants shall be put to the sword — every 
 individual taken in arms shall be instantly shot." 
 That these were not empty threats, we learn from 
 the bulletins published by authority of the same 
 Junot, which at once shew his cruelty, and that of 
 the persons whom he employed, and the noble re- 
 sistance of the Portuguese. " We entered Beia," 
 says one of those dismal chronicles, " in the midst 
 of great carnage. The rebels left 1200 dead on the 
 field of battle ; all those taken with arms in their 
 hands were put to the sword, and all the houses 
 from which we had been fired upon were burned." 
 Again in another, " The spirit of insanity, which 
 had led astray the inhabitants of Beia and ren- 
 dered necessary the terrible chastisement which 
 they have received, has likewise been exercised in 
 the north of Portugal." Describing another en- 
 gagement, it is said, " the lines endeavoured to 
 make a stand, but they were forced ; the massacre 
 was terrible — more than a thousand dead bodies
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 31 
 
 remained on the field of battle, and General Loison, 
 pursuing the remainder of these wretches, entered 
 Guerda with fixed bayonets." On approaching 
 Alpedrinha, they found the rebels posted in a kind 
 of redoubt — " it was forced, the town of Alpedrinha 
 taken, and delivered to the flames : " the whole of 
 this tragedy is thus summed up — " In the engage- 
 ments fought in these different marches, we lost 
 twenty men kiUed, and 30 or 40 wounded. The 
 insurgents have left at least 13000 dead in the field, 
 the melancholy consequence of a frenzy which no- 
 thing can justify, which forces us to multiply 
 victims, whom we lament and regret, but whom 
 a terrible necessity obliges us to sacrifice." " It is 
 thus," continues the writer, " that deluded men, 
 ungrateful children as well as culpable citizens, 
 exchange all their claims to the benevolence and 
 protection of Government for misfortune and 
 wretchedness ; ruin their families ; carry into their 
 habitations desolation, conflagrations, and death ; 
 change flourishing cities into heaps of ashes — into 
 vast tombs ; and bring on their whole country 
 calamities which they deserve, and from which 
 (feeble victims !) they cannot escape. In fine, it is 
 thus that, covering themselves ^vith opprobrium 
 and ridicule at the same time that they complete 
 their destruction, they have no other resource but 
 the pity of those they have wished to assassinate — 
 a pity which they never have implored in vain, 
 when acknowledging their crime, they have solicited 
 pardon from Frenchmen, who, incapable of depart- 
 ing from their noble character, are ever as generous 
 as they are brave. — By order of Monseigneur le 
 due d'Abrantes, Commander in chief." — Compare 
 this with the Address of Massaredo to the Biscayans, 
 in which there is the like avowal that the Spaniards
 
 32 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 are to be treated as Rebels. He tells them, that he 
 is commanded by his master, Joseph Bonaparte, to 
 assure them — " that, in case they disapprove of the 
 insurrection in the City of Bilboa, his majesty will 
 consign to oblivion the mistake and error of the 
 Insurgents, and that he will punish only the heads 
 and beginners of the insurrection, with regard to 
 whom the law must take its course." 
 
 To be the victim of such bloody-mindedness is 
 a doleful lot for a Nation ; and the anguish must 
 have been rendered still more poignant by the scoffs 
 and insults, and by that heinous contempt of the 
 most awful truths, with which the Perpetrator of 
 those cruelties has proclaimed them. — Merciless 
 ferocity is an evil familiar to our thoughts ; but 
 these combinations of malevolence historians have 
 not yet been called upon to record ; and writers 
 of fiction, if they have ever ventured to create 
 passions resembling them, have confined, out of 
 reverence for the acknowledged constitution of 
 human nature, those passions to reprobate Spirits. 
 Such tyranny is, in the strictest sense, intolerable ; 
 not because it aims at the extinction of life, but of 
 every thing which gives life its value — of virtue, of 
 reason, of repose in God, or in truth. With what 
 heart may we suppose that a genuine Spaniard 
 would read the following impious address from the 
 Deputation, as they were falsely called, of his 
 apostate countrymen at Bayonne, seduced or com- 
 pelled to assemble under the eye of the Tyrant, 
 and speaking as he dictated ? " Dear Spaniards, 
 Beloved Countrymen ! — Your habitations, your 
 cities, your power, and your property, are as 
 dear to us as ourselves ; and we wish to keep all 
 of you in our eye, that we may be able to estab- 
 lish your security. — We, as well as yourselves, are
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 33 
 
 bound in allegiance to the old dynasty — to her, 
 to whom an end has been put by that God-like 
 Pro\adence which rules all thrones and sceptres. We 
 have seen the greatest states fall under the guidance 
 of this rule, and our land alone has hitherto escaped 
 the same fate. An unavoidable destiny has now 
 overtaken our country, and brought us under the 
 protection of the in\ancible Emperor of France. — 
 We know that you %vill regard our present situation 
 with the utmost consideration ; and we have 
 accordingly, in this con\action, been uniformly 
 conciliating the friendship to which we are tied 
 by so many obligations. With what admiration 
 must we see the benevolence and humanity of his 
 imperial and royal Majesty outstep our wishes — 
 qualities which are even more to be admired than 
 his great power ! He has desired nothing else, 
 than that we should be indebted to him for our 
 welfare. Whenever he gives us a sovereign to reign 
 over us in the person of his magnanimous brother 
 Joseph, he will consummate our prosperity. — As he 
 has been pleased to change our old system of laws, 
 it becomes us to obey, and to live in tranquillity : 
 as he has also promised to re-organize our financial 
 system, we may hope that then our naval and military 
 power ^vill become terrible to our enemies, «&c." — 
 That the Castilians were horror-stricken by the 
 above blasphemies, which are the habitual language 
 of the French Senate and Ministers to their Emperor, 
 is apparent from an address dated Valladolid, - 
 " He (Bonaparte) carries his audacity the length of 
 holding out to us offers of happiness and peace, 
 while he is laying waste our country, pulling down 
 our churches, and slaughtering our brethren. His 
 pride, cherished by a band of villains who are con- 
 stantly anxious to offer incense on his shrine, and 
 
 824-38 D
 
 34 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 tolerated by numberless victims who pine in his 
 chains, has caused him to conceive the fantastical 
 idea of proclaiming himself Lord and Ruler of the 
 whole world. There is no atrocity which he does 
 not commit to attain that end ***♦**. Shall 
 these outrages, these iniquities, remain unpunished 
 wliile Spaniards — and Castilian Spaniards — yet 
 exist ? " 
 
 Many passages might be adduced to prove that 
 carnage and devastation spread over their land have 
 not afflicted this noble people so deeply as this more 
 searching warfare against the conscience and the 
 reason. They groan less over the blood which has 
 been shed, than over the arrogant assumptions of 
 beneficence made by him from whose order that blood 
 has flowed. Still to be talking of bestowing and 
 conferring, and to be happy in the sight of nothing 
 but what he thinks he has bestowed or conferred, 
 this, in a man to whom the weakness of his fellows 
 has given great power, is a madness of pride more 
 hideous than cruelty itself. We have heard of 
 Attila and Tamerlane who called themselves the 
 scourges of God, and rejoiced in personating the 
 terrors of Providence ; but such monsters do less 
 outrage to the reason than he who arrogates to him- 
 self the gentle and gracious attributes of the Deity : 
 for the one acts professedly from the temperance of 
 reason, the other avowedly in the gusts of passion. 
 Through the terrors of the Supreme Ruler of things, 
 as set forth by works of destruction and ruin, we see 
 but darkly ; we may reverence the chastisement, 
 may fear it with awe, but it is not natural to incline 
 towards it in love : moreover, devastation passes 
 away — a perishing power among things that perish : 
 whereas to found, and to build, to create and to 
 institute, to bless through blessing, this has to do
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 35 
 
 with objects where we trust we can see clearly, — it 
 reminds us of what we love, — ^it aims at permanence, 
 — and the sorrow is, (as in the present instance the 
 people of Spain feel) that it may last ; that, if the 
 giddy and intoxicated Being who proclaims that he 
 does these things with the eye and through the might 
 of Providence be not overthrown, it will last ; that 
 it needs must last : — and therefore would they 
 hate and abhor him and his pride, even if he were 
 not cruel ; if he were merely an image of mortal 
 presumption thrust in between them and the piety 
 which is natural to the heart of man ; between them 
 and that religious worship which, as authoritatively 
 as his reason forbids idolatry, that same reason 
 commands. Accordingly, labouring under these 
 violations done to their moral nature, they describe 
 themselves, in the anguish of their souls, treated 
 as a people at once dastardly and insensible. In the 
 same spirit they make it even matter of complaint, 
 as comparatively a far greater evil, that they have 
 not fallen by the brute violence of open war, but by 
 deceit and perfidy, by a subtle undermining, or 
 contemptuous overthrow of those principles of good 
 faith, through prevalence of which, in some degree, 
 or under some modification or other, famihes, com- 
 munities, a people, or any frame of human society, 
 even destroying armies themselves can exist. 
 
 But enough of their wrongs ; let us now see what 
 were their consolations, their resolves, and their 
 hopes. First, they neither murmur nor repine ; 
 but with genuine religion and philosophy they 
 recognize in these dreadful visitations the ways of 
 a benign Providence, and find in them cause for 
 thankfulness. The Council of Castile exhort the 
 people of Madrid " to east off their lethargy, and 
 purify their manners, and to acknowledge the 
 
 D2
 
 36 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 calamities which the kingdom and that great capital 
 had endured as a punishment necessary to their 
 correction." General Morla in his address to the 
 citizens of Cadiz thus speaks to them : — " The 
 commotion, more or less violent, which has taken 
 place in the whole peninsula of Spain, has been of 
 eminent service to rouse us from the state of lethargy 
 in which we indulged, and to make us acquainted 
 with our rights, our glory, and the inviolable duty 
 which we owe to our holy religion and our monarch. 
 We wanted some electric stroke to rouse us from 
 our paralytic state of inactivity ; we stood in need 
 of a hurricane to clear the atmosphere of the in- 
 salubrious vapours with which it was loaded." — 
 The unanimity with which the whole people were 
 affected they rightly deem an indication of wisdom, 
 an authority, and a sanction, — and they refer it to 
 its highest source. " The defence of our country 
 and our king," (says a manifesto of the Junta of 
 Seville) " that of our laws, our religion, and of all the 
 rights of man, trodden down and violated in a manner 
 which is without example, by the Emperor of the 
 French, Napoleon I. and by his troops in Spain, 
 compelled the whole nation to take up arms, and 
 choose itself a form of government ; and, in the 
 difficulties and dangers into which the French had 
 plunged it, all, or nearly all the provinces, as it were 
 by the inspiration of heaven, and in a manner little 
 short of miraculous, created Supreme Juntas, 
 delivered themselves up to their guidance, and 
 placed in their hands the rights and the ultimate fate 
 of Spain. The effects have hitherto most happily 
 corresponded with the designs of those who formed 
 them." 
 
 With this general confidence, that the highest 
 good may be brought out of the worst calamities,
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 37 
 
 they have combined a solace, which is vouchsafed 
 only to such nations as can recal to memory the 
 illustrious deeds of their ancestors. The names of 
 Pelayo and The Cid are the watch-words of the 
 address to the people of Leon ; and they are told 
 that to these two deUverers of their country, and to 
 the sentiments of enthusiasm which they excited in 
 every breast, Spain owes the glory and happiness 
 which she has so long enjoyed. The Biscayans are 
 called to cast their eyes upon the ages which are 
 past, and they will see their ancestors at one time 
 repulsing the Carthaginians, at another destroying 
 the hordes of Rome ; at one period was granted to 
 them the distinction of serving in the van of the 
 army ; at another the privilege of citizens. " Imi- 
 tate," says the address, " the glorious example of 
 your worthy progenitors." The Asturians, the 
 Gallicians, and the city of Cordova, are exhorted in 
 the same manner. And surely to a people thus 
 united in their minds with the heroism of years 
 which have been long departed, and living under 
 such obligation of gratitude to their ancestors, 
 it is not difficult, nay it is natural, to take upon 
 themselves the highest obligations of duty to their 
 posterity ; to enjoy in the holiness of imagination 
 the happiness of unborn ages to which they shall 
 have eminently contributed ; and that each man, 
 fortified by these thoughts, should welcome despair 
 for himself, because it is the assured mother of hope 
 for his country. — " Life or Death," says a procla- 
 mation affixed in the most public places of Seville, 
 " is in this crisis indifferent ; — ye who shall return 
 shall receive the reward of gratitude in the embraces 
 of your country, which shall proclaim you her de- 
 liverers ; — ye whom heaven destines to seal with your 
 blood the independence of your nation, the honour of
 
 88 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 your women, and the purity of the religion which ye 
 profess, do not dread the anguish of the last mo- 
 ments ; remember in these moments that there are 
 in our hearts inexhaustible tears of tenderness to 
 shed over your graves, and fervent prayers, to which 
 the Almighty Father of mercies will lend an ear, to 
 grant you a glory superior to that which they who 
 survive you shall enjoy." And in fact it ought 
 never to be forgotten, that the Spaniards have not 
 wilfully blinded themselves, but have steadily fixed 
 their eyes not only upon danger and upon death, 
 but upon a deplorable issue of the contest. They 
 have contemplated their subjugation as a thing 
 possible. The next extract, from the paper entitled 
 Precautions, (and the same language is holden by 
 many others) will show in what manner alone they 
 reconcile themselves to it. " Therefore, it is neces- 
 sary to sacrifice our lives and property in defence 
 of the king, and of the country ; and, though our lot 
 (which we hope will never come to pass) should 
 destine us to become slaves, let us become so fighting 
 and dying like gallant men, not giving ourselves up 
 basely to the yoke hke sheep, as the late infamous 
 government would have done, and fixing upon 
 Spain and her slavery eternal ignominy and dis- 
 grace." 
 
 But let us now hear them, as becomes men with 
 such feelings, express more cheering and bolder 
 hopes rising from a confidence in the supremacy of 
 justice, — hopes which, however the Tyrant from 
 the iron fortresses of his policy may scoff at them 
 and at those who entertained them, will render their 
 memory dear to all good men, when his name will 
 be pronounced with universal abhorrence. 
 
 " All Europe," says the Junta of Seville, " will 
 applaud our efforts and hasten to our assistance :
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 39 
 
 Italy, Germany, and the whole North, which suffer 
 under the despotism of the French nation, will 
 eagerly avail themselves of the favourable opportu- 
 nity, held out to them by Spain, to shake off the 
 yoke and recover their liberty, their laws, their 
 monarchs, and all they have been robbed of by that 
 nation. France herself will hasten to erase the stain 
 of infamy, which must cover the tools and instru- 
 ments of deeds so treacherous and heinous. She 
 will not shed her blood in so vile a cause. She has 
 already suffered too much under the idle pretext of 
 peace and happiness, which never came, and can 
 never be attained, but under the empire of reason, 
 peace, religion, and laws, and in a state where the 
 rights of other nations are respected and preserved." 
 To this may be added a hope, the fulfilment of which 
 belongs more to themselves, and lies more within 
 their own power, namely, a hope that they shall be 
 able in their progress towards liberty, to inflict 
 condign punishment on their cruel and perfidious 
 enemies. The Junta of Seville in an Address to the 
 People of Madrid, express themselves thus : " People 
 of Madrid ! Seville has learned, with consternation 
 and surprize, your dreadful catastrophe of the second 
 of May ; the weakness of a government which did 
 nothing in our favour, — which ordered arms to be 
 directed against you ; and your heroic sacrifices. 
 Blessed be ye, and your memory shall shine immortal 
 in the annals of our nation ! — She has seen with 
 horror that the author of all your misfortunes and 
 of our's has published a proclamation, in which he 
 distorted every fact, and pretended that you gave 
 the first provocation, while it was he who provoked 
 you. The government was weak enough to sanction 
 and order that proclamation to be circulated ; and 
 saw, with perfect composure, numbers of you put to
 
 40 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 death for a pretended violation of laws which did 
 not exist. The French were told in that proclama- 
 tion, that French blood profusely shed was crying 
 out for vengeance ! And the Spanish blood, does 
 not it cry out for vengeance ? That Spanish blood, 
 shed by an army which hesitated not to attack 
 a disarmed and defenceless people, living under their 
 laws and their king, and against whom cruelties 
 were committed, which shake the human frame with 
 horror. We, all Spain, exclaim — the Spanish blood 
 shed in Madrid cries aloud for revenge ! Comfort 
 yourselves, we are your brethren : we will fight 
 like you, until we perish in defending our king and 
 country. Assist us with your good wishes, and your 
 continual prayers offered up to the Most High, 
 whom we adore, and who cannot forsake us, because 
 he never forsakes a just cause." Again, in the 
 conclusion of their address to the People of Portugal, 
 quoted before, " The universal cry of Spain is, we 
 will die in defence of our country, but we will take 
 care that those infamous enemies shall die with us. 
 Come then, ye generous Portugueze, and unite 
 with us. You have among yourselves the objects 
 of your vengeance — obey not the authors of your 
 misfortunes — attack them — they are but a handful 
 of miserable panic-struck men, humiliated and 
 conquered already by the perfidy and cruelties 
 which they have committed, and which have covered 
 them with disgrace in the eyes of Europe and the 
 world ! Rise then in a body, but avoid staining 
 your honourable hands with crimes, for your design 
 is to resist them and to destroy them — our united 
 efforts will do for this perfidious nation ; and 
 Portugal, Spain, nay, all Europe, shall breathe or 
 die free like men." — Such are their hopes ; and 
 again see, upon this subject, the paper entitled
 
 THE CONA^ENTION OF CINTRA 41 
 
 " Precautions ; " a contrast this to the impious 
 mockery of Providence, exhibited by the Tyrant in 
 some passages heretofore quoted ! " Care shall be 
 taken to explain to the nation, and to convince 
 them that, when free, as we trust to be, from this 
 civil war, to which the French have forced us, and 
 when placed in a state of tranquillity, our Lord and 
 Kjng, Ferdinand VII, being restored to the throne 
 of Spain, under him and by him, the Cortes will he 
 assembled, abuses reformed, and such laws shall be 
 enacted, as the circumstances of the time and ex- 
 perience may dictate for the public good and happi- 
 ness. Things which we Spaniards know how to do, 
 which we have done as well as other nations, without 
 any necessity that the \\\e French should come to 
 instruct us, and, according to their custom, under 
 the mask of friendship, should deprive us of our 
 liberty, our laws, &c. &c." 
 
 One extract more and I shall conclude. It is 
 from a proclamation dated Oviedo, July 17th. 
 " Yes — Spain with the energies of Liberty has to 
 contend Avith France debilitated by slavery. If she 
 remain firm and constant, Spain will triumph. 
 A whole people is more powerful than disciplined 
 armies. Those, who unite to maintain the inde- 
 pendence of their country, must triumph over 
 tyranny. Spain will inevitably conquer, in a cause 
 the most just that has ever raised the deadly weapon 
 of war ; for she fights, not for the concerns of a day, 
 but for the security and happiness of ages ; not for 
 an insulated privilege, but for the rights of human 
 nature ; not for temporal blessings, but for eternal 
 happiness ; not for the benefit of one nation, but 
 for all mankind, and even for France herself." 
 
 I will now beg of my reader to pause a moment, 
 and to review in his own mind the whole of what
 
 42 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 has been laid before him. He has seen of what 
 kind, and how great have been the injuries endured 
 by these two nations ; what they have suffered, 
 and what they have to fear ; he has seen that they 
 have felt with that unanimity which nothing but 
 the light of truth spread over the inmost concerns 
 of human nature can create ; with that simultaneous- 
 ness which has led Philosophers upon like occasions 
 to assert, that the voice of the people is the voice 
 of God. He has seen that they have submitted as 
 far as human nature could bear ; and that at last 
 these millions of suffering people have risen almost 
 like one man, with one hope ; for whether they look 
 to triumph or defeat, to victory or death, they are 
 full of hope — despair comes not near them — they 
 will die, they say — each individual knows the danger, 
 and, strong in the magnitude of it, grasps eagerly 
 at the thought that he himself is to perish ; and 
 more eagerly, and with higher confidence, does he 
 lay to his heart the faith that the nation will survive 
 and be victorious ; — or, at the worst, let the contest 
 terminate how it may as to superiority of outward 
 strength, that the fortitude and the martyrdom, the 
 justice and the blessing, are their's and cannot be 
 relinquished. And not only are they moved by 
 these exalted sentiments of universal morality, and 
 of direct and universal concern to mankind, which 
 have impelled them to resist evil and to endeavour 
 to punish the evil-doer, but also they descend (for 
 even this, great as in itself it is, may be here con- 
 sidered as a descent) to express a rational hope of 
 reforming domestic abuses, and of re-constructing, out 
 of the materials of their ancient institutions, customs, 
 and laws, a better frame of civil government, the 
 same in the great outlines of its architecture, but 
 exhibiting the knowledge, and genius, and the needs
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 43 
 
 of the present race, harmoniously blended with 
 those of their forefathers. Woe, then, to the un- 
 worthy who intrude with their help to maintain this 
 most sacred cause ! It calls aloud for the aid of 
 intellect, knowledge, and love, and rejects every 
 other. It is in vain to send forth armies if these do 
 not inspire and direct them. The stream is as pure 
 as it is mighty, fed by ten thousand springs in the 
 bounty of untainted nature ; any augmentation 
 from the kennels and sewers of guilt and baseness 
 may clog, but cannot strengthen it. — It is not from 
 any thought that I am communicating new informa- 
 tion, that I have dwelt thus long upon this subject, 
 but to recall to the reader his own knowledge, and 
 to re-infuse into that knowledge a breath and life of 
 appropriate feeling ; because the bare sense of 
 wisdom is nothing wthout its powers, and it is only 
 in these feelings that the powers of wisdom exist. 
 If then we do not forget that the Spanish and Portu- 
 gueze Nations stand upon the loftiest ground of 
 principle and passion, and do not suffer on our part 
 those sympathies to languish which a few months 
 since were so strong, and do not negligently or timidly 
 descend from those heights of magnanimity to which 
 as a nation we were raised, when they first represented 
 to us their wrongs and entreated our assistance, 
 and we devoted ourselves sincerely and earnestly 
 to their service, making with them a common 
 cause under a common hope ; if we are true in all 
 this to them and to ourselves, we shall not be at 
 a loss to conceive what actions are entitled to our 
 commendation as being in the spirit of a friendship so 
 nobly begun, and tending assuredly to promote the 
 common welfare ; and what arc abject, treacherous, 
 and pernicious, and therefore to be condemned and 
 abhorred. Is then, I may now ask, the Convention
 
 44 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 of Cintra an act of this latter kind ? Have the 
 Generals, who signed and ratified that agreement, 
 thereby proved themselves unworthy associates in 
 such a cause ? And has the Ministry, by whose 
 appointment these men were enabled to act in this 
 manner, and which sanctioned the Convention by 
 permitting them to carry it into execution, thereby 
 taken to itself a weight of guilt, in which the Nation 
 must feel that it participates, until the transaction 
 shall be solemnly reprobated by the Government, 
 and the remote and immediate authors of it brought 
 to merited punishment ? An answer to each of 
 these questions will be implied in the proof which 
 will be given that the condemnation, which the 
 People did with one voice pronounce upon this Con- 
 vention when it first became known, was just ; that 
 the nature of the offence of those who signed it was 
 such, and established by evidence of such a kind, 
 making so imperious an exception to the ordinary 
 course of action, that there was no need to wait here 
 for the decision of a Court of Judicature, but that 
 the People were compelled by a necessity involved 
 in the very constitution of man as a moral Being 
 to pass sentence upon them. And this I shall prove 
 by trying this act of their's by principles of justice 
 which are of universal obligation, and by a reference 
 to those moral sentiments which rise out of that 
 retrospect of things which has been given. 
 
 I shall now proceed to facts. The dispatches of 
 Sir Arthur Wellesley, containing an account of his 
 having defeated the enemy in two several engage- 
 ments, spread joy through the nation. The latter 
 action appeared to have been decisive, and the 
 result may be thus briefly reported, in a never to be 
 forgotten sentence of Sir Arthur's second letter. 
 " In this action," says he, " in which the whole of
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 45 
 
 the French force in Portugal was employed, under 
 the command of the Due D'Abrantes in person, 
 in which the enemy was certainly superior in cavalry 
 and artillery, and in which not more than half of the 
 British army was actually engaged, he sustained 
 a signal defeat, and has lost thirteen pieces of cannon, 
 &c. &c." In the official communication, made to 
 the public of these dispatches, it was added, that 
 " a General officer had arrived at the British head- 
 quarters to treat for terms." This was joyful 
 intelligence ! First, an immediate, effectual, and 
 honourable deliverance of Portugal was confidently 
 expected : secondly, the humiliation and captivity 
 of a large French army, and just punishment, from 
 the hands of the Portugueze government, of the 
 most atrocious offenders in that army and among 
 those who, having held civil offices under it, (especi- 
 ally if Portugueze) had, in contempt of all law, civil 
 and military, notoriously abused the power which 
 they had treasonably accepted : thirdly, in this 
 presumed surrender of the army, a diminution of 
 the enemy's military force was looked to, which, 
 after the losses he had already sustained in Spain, 
 would most sensibly weaken it : and lastly, and far 
 above this, there was an anticipation of a shock to 
 his power, where that power is strongest, in the 
 imaginations of men, which are sure to fall under the 
 bondage of long-continued success. The judicious 
 part of the nation fixed their attention chiefly on 
 these results, and they had good cause to rejoice. 
 They also received with pleasure this additional 
 proof (which indeed ^vith the unthinking many, as 
 after the victory of Maida, weighed too much,) of the 
 superiority in courage and discipline of the British 
 soldiery over the French, and of the certainty of 
 success whenever our army was led on by men of
 
 46 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 even respectable military talents against any equal 
 or not too greatly disproportionate number of the 
 enemy. But the pleasure was damped in the minds 
 of reflecting persons by several causes. It occasioned 
 regret and perplexity, that they had not heard more 
 of the Portugueze. They knew what that People 
 had suffered, and how they had risen ; — remembered 
 the language of the proclamation addressed to them, 
 dated August the 4th, and signed Charles Cotton 
 and Arthur Wellesley, in which they (the Portu- 
 gueze) were told, that " The British Army had been 
 sent in consequence of ardent supplications from all 
 parts of Portugal ; that the glorious struggle, in 
 which they are engaged, is for all that is dear to 
 man ; that the noble struggle against the tyranny 
 and usurpation of France will be jointly maintained 
 by Portugal, Spain, and England." Why then, it 
 was asked, do we not hear more of those who are at 
 least coequals with us, if not principals, in this 
 contest ? They appeared to have had little share in 
 either engagement ; {See Appendix A.) and, while 
 the French were abundantly praised, no word of 
 commendation was found for them. Had they 
 deserved to be thus neglected ? The body of the 
 People by a general rising had proved their zeal and 
 courage, their animosity towards their enemies, 
 their hatred of them. It was therefore apprehended, 
 from this silence respecting the Portugueze, that 
 their Chiefs might either be distracted by factions, 
 or blinded by selfish interests, or that they mis- 
 trusted their Allies. Situated as Portugal then was, 
 it would argue gross ignorance of human nature to 
 have expected that unanimity should prevail among 
 all the several authorities or leading persons, as to 
 the means to be employed : it was enough, that they 
 looked with one feeling to the end, namely, an
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 47 
 
 honourable deliverance of their country and security 
 for its Independence in conjunction with the libera- 
 tion and independence of Spain. It was therefore 
 absolutely necessary to make allowance for some 
 division in conduct from difference of opinion. 
 Instead of acquiescing in the first feelings of dis- 
 appointment, our Commanders ought to have used 
 the best means to A\an the confidence of the Portu- 
 gueze Chiefs, and to induce them to regard the 
 British as dispassionate arbiters ; they ought to 
 have endeavoured to excite a genuine patriotic spirit 
 where it appeared wanting, and to assist in creating 
 for it an organ by which it might act. Were these 
 things done ? or, if such evils existed among the 
 Portugueze, was any remedy or alleviation at- 
 tempted ? Sir Arthur Wellesley has told us, before 
 the Board of Inquiry, that he made apphcations to 
 the Portugueze General, Frere, for assistance, 
 which were acceded to by General Frere upon such 
 conditions only as made Sir Arthur deem it more 
 advisable to refuse than accept his co-operation : 
 and it is alleged that, in his general expectations of 
 assistance, he was greatly disappointed. We are 
 not disposed to deny, that such cause for complaint 
 might exist ; but that it did, and upon no provoca- 
 tion on our part, requires confirmation by other 
 testimony. And surely, the Portugueze have a right 
 to be heard in answer to this accusation, before they 
 are condemned. For they have supplied no fact 
 from their own hands, which tends to prove that 
 they were languid in the cause, or that they had 
 unreasonable jealousies of the British Army or 
 Nation, or dispositions towards them which were 
 other than friendly. Now there is a fact, furnished 
 by Sir Arthur Wellesley himself, which may seem 
 to render it in the highest degree probable that,
 
 48 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 previously to any recorded or palpable act of dis- 
 regard or disrespect to the situation and feelings of 
 the Portugueze, the general tenour of his bearing 
 towards them might have been such that they could 
 not look favourably upon him ; that he was not a 
 man framed to conciliate them, to compose their 
 differences, or to awaken or strengthen their zeal. 
 I allude to the passage in his letter above quoted, 
 where, having occasion to speak of the French 
 General, he has found no name by which to designate 
 him but that of Due D' Abrantes — words necessarily 
 implying, that Bonaparte, who had taken upon him- 
 self to confer upon General Junot this Portugueze 
 title with Portugueze domains to support it, was 
 lawful Sovereign of that Country, and that conse- 
 quently the Portugueze Nation were rebels, and the 
 British Army, and he himself at the head of it, aiders 
 and abettors of that rebellion. It would be absurd 
 to suppose, that Sir Arthur Wellesley, at the time 
 when he used these words, was aware of the meaning 
 really involved in them : let them be deemed an 
 oversight. But the capability of such an oversight 
 affords too strong suspicion of a deadness to the 
 moral interests of the cause in which he was engaged, 
 and of such a want of sympathy with the just feelings 
 of his injured Ally as could exist only in a mind 
 narrowed by exclusive and overweening attention 
 to the military character, led astray by vanity, or 
 hardened by general habits of contemptuousness. 
 These words, " Duke of Abrantes in person,'''' 
 were indeed words of bad omen : and thinking men 
 trembled for the consequences. They saw plainly, 
 that, in the opinion of the exalted Spaniards — of 
 those assuredly who framed, and of all who had felt, 
 that affecting Proclamation addressed by the Junta 
 of Seville to the Portugueze people, he must appear
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 49 
 
 utterly unworthy of the station in which he had 
 been placed. He had been sent as a deliverer — as 
 an assertor and avenger of the rights of human 
 nature. But these words would carry with them 
 every where the conviction, that Portugal and Spain, 
 yea, all which was good in England, or iniquitous 
 in France or in Frenchmen, was forgotten, and his 
 head full only of himself, miserably conceiting that 
 he swelled the importance of his conquered anta- 
 gonist by sounding titles and phrases, come from 
 what quarter they might ; and that, in proportion 
 as this was done, he magnified himself and his 
 achievements. It was plain, then, that here was 
 a man, who, having not any fellow-feeUng with the 
 people whom he had been commissioned to aid, 
 could not know where their strength lay, and there- 
 fore could not turn it to account, nor by his example 
 call it forth or cherish it ; but that, if his future 
 conduct should be in the same spirit, he must be 
 a blighting \vind wherever his influence was carried : 
 for he had neither felt the wrongs of his allies nor 
 been induced by common worldly prudence to affect 
 to feel them, or at least to disguise his insensibility ; 
 and therefore what could follow, but, in despite of 
 victory and outward demonstrations of joy, inward 
 disgust and depression ? These reflections inter- 
 rupted the satisfaction of many ; but more from 
 fear of future consequences than for the immediate 
 enterprize, for here success seemed inevitable ; and 
 a happy and glorious termination was confidently 
 expected, yet not without that intermixture of 
 apprehension, which was at once an acknowledg- 
 ment of the general condition of humanity, and a 
 proof of the deep interest attached to the impending 
 event. 
 
 Sir Arthur Wcllesley's dispatches had appeared 
 
 824.38 E
 
 50 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 in the Gazette on the 2d of September, and on the 
 16th of the same month suspence was put an end to 
 by the pubUcation of Sir Hew Dalrymple's letter, 
 accompanied with the Armistice and Convention. 
 The night before, by order of ministers, an attempt 
 had been made at rejoicing, and the Park and Tower 
 guns had been fired in sign of good news. — ^Heaven 
 grant that the ears of that great city may be pre- 
 served from such another outrage ! As soon as the 
 truth was known, never was there such a burst of 
 rage and indignation — such an overwhelming of 
 stupefaction and sorrow. But I will not, I cannot 
 dwell upon it — it is enough to say, that Sir Hew 
 Dalrymple and Sir Arthur Wellesley must be bold 
 men if they can think of what must have been 
 reported to them without awe and trembling ; the 
 heart of their country was turned against them, and 
 they were execrated in bitterness. 
 
 For they had changed all things into their con- 
 traries, hope into despair ; triumph into defeat ; 
 confidence into treachery, which left no place to 
 stand upon ; justice into the keenest injury. — Whom 
 had they delivered but the Tyrant in captivity ? 
 Whose hands had they bound but those of their 
 Allies, who were able of themselves to have executed 
 their own purposes ? Whom had they punished but 
 the innocent sufferer ? Whom rewarded but the 
 guiltiest of Oppressors ? They had reversed every 
 thing : — favour and honour for their enemies — 
 insult for their friends — and robbery (they had both 
 protected the person of the robber and secured to 
 him his booty) and opprobrium for themselves ; — to 
 those over whom they had been masters, who had 
 crouched to them by an open act of submission, 
 they had made themselves servants, turning the 
 British Lion into a beast of burthen, to carry a
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 51 
 
 vanquished enemy, with his load of iniquities, when, 
 and whither it had pleased him. 
 
 Such issue would have been a heavy calamity at 
 any time ; but now, when we ought to have risen 
 above ourselves, and if possible to have been fore- 
 most in the strife of honour and magnanimity ; now, 
 when a new-born power had been arrayed against 
 the Tyrant, the only one which ever offered a glimpse 
 of hope to a sane mind, the power of popular resis- 
 tance rising out of universal reason, and from the 
 heart of human nature, — and by a pecuhar provi- 
 dence disembarrassed from the imbecility, the 
 cowardice, and the intrigues of a worn-out govern- 
 ment — that at this time we, the most favoured 
 nation upon earth, should have acted as if it had 
 been our aim to level to the ground by one blow this 
 long-wished-for spirit, whose birth we had so joyfully 
 hailed, and by which even our own glory, our safety, 
 our existence, were to be maintained ; this was 
 verily a surpassing affliction to every man who had 
 a feeling of life beyond his meanest concerns ! 
 
 As soon as men had recovered from the shock, 
 and could bear to look somewhat steadily at these 
 documents, it was found that the gross body of the 
 transaction, considered as a military transaction, 
 was this ; that the Russian fleet, of nine sail of the 
 line, which had been so long watched, and could not 
 have escaped, was to be delivered up to us ; the 
 ships to be detained till six months after the end of 
 the war, and the sailors sent home by us, and to be 
 by us protected in their voyage through the Swedish 
 fleet, and to be at liberty to fight immediately 
 against our ally, the king of Sweden. Secondly, SU' 
 that a Erench army of more than twenty thousand 
 men, already beaten, and no longer able to appear 
 in the field, cut off from all possibility of receiving 
 
 E2
 
 52 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 reinforcements or supplies, and in the midst of a 
 hostile country loathing and abhorring it, was to be 
 transported with its arms, ammunition, and plunder, 
 at the expence of great Britain, in British vessels, 
 and landed within a few days march of the Spanish 
 frontier, — there to be at liberty to commence 
 hostilities immediately ! 
 
 Omitting every characteristic which distinguishes 
 the present contest from others, and looking at this 
 issue merely as an affair between two armies, what 
 stupidity of mind to provoke the accusation of not 
 merely shrinking from future toils and dangers, but 
 of basely shifting the burthen to the shoulders of 
 an ally, already overpressed ! — What infatuation, 
 to convey the imprisoned foe to the very spot, 
 whither, if he had had wings, he would have flown ! 
 This last was an absurdity as glaring as if, the French 
 having landed on our own island, we had taken them 
 from Yorkshire to be set on shore in Sussex ; but ten 
 thousand times worse ! from a place where without 
 our interference they had been virtually blockaded, 
 where they were cut off, hopeless, useless, and dis- 
 graced, to become an efficient part of a mighty host, 
 carrying the strength of their numbers, and alas ! 
 the strength of their glory, (not to mention the sight 
 of their plunder) to animate that host ; while the 
 British army, more numerous in the proportion of 
 three to two, with all the population and resources 
 of the peninsula to aid it, within ten days sail of it's 
 own country, and the sea covered with friendly 
 shipping at it's back, was to make a long march to 
 encounter this same enemy, (the British forfeiting 
 instead of gaining by the treaty as to superiority of 
 numbers, for that this would be the case was clearly 
 foreseen) to encounter, in a new condition of strength 
 and pride, those whom, by its deliberate act, it had
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 53 
 
 exalted, — having taken from itself, meanwhile, all 
 which it had conferred, and bearing into the presence 
 of its noble ally an infection of despondency and 
 disgrace. The motive assigned for all this, was the 
 great importance of gaining time ; fear of an open 
 beach and of equinoctial gales for the shipping ; fear 
 that reinforcements could not be landed ; fear of 
 famine ; — fear of every thing but dishonour ! {See 
 Appendix, B.) 
 
 The nation had expected that the French would 
 surrender immediately at discretion ; and, supposing 
 that Sir Arthur Wellesley had told them the whole 
 truth, they had a right to form this expectation. 
 It has since appeared, from the evidence given before 
 the Board of Inquiry, that Sir Arthur Wellesley 
 earnestly exhorted his successor in command (Sir 
 Harry Burrard) to pursue the defeated enemy at the 
 battle of Vimiera ; and that, if this had been done, 
 the affair, in Sir Arthur Wellesley's opinion, would 
 have had a much more satisfactory termination. 
 But, waiving any considerations of this advice, or of 
 the fault which might be committed in not following 
 it ; and taking up the matter from the time when 
 Sir Hew Dalrymple entered upon the command, and 
 when the two adverse armies were in that condition, 
 relatively to each other, that none of the Generals 
 has pleaded any difference of opinion as to their 
 ability to advance against the enemy, I will ask 
 what confirmation has appeared before the Board of 
 Inquiry, of the reasonableness of the causes, assigned 
 by Sir Hew Dalrymple in his letter, for deeming- 
 a Convention adviscablc. A want of cavalry, (for 
 which they who occasioned it are heavily censurable,) 
 has indeed been proved ; and certain failures of duty 
 in the Commissariat department with respect to 
 horses, &c ; but these deficiencies, though furnishing
 
 54 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 reasons against advancing upon the enemy in the 
 open field, had ceased to be of moment, when the 
 business was to expel him from the forts to which 
 he might have the power of retreating. It is proved, 
 that, though there are difficulties in landing upon 
 that coast, (and what military or marine operation 
 can be carried on without difficulty ?) there was 
 not the slightest reason to apprehend that the army, 
 which was then abundantly supplied, would suffer 
 hereafter from want of provisions ; proved also that 
 heavy ordnance, for the purpose of attacking the 
 forts, was ready on ship-board, to be landed when 
 and where it might be needed. Therefore, so far 
 from being exculpated by the facts which have been 
 laid before the Board of Inquiry, Sir Hew Dalrymple 
 and the other Generals, who deemed any Convention 
 necessary or expedient upon the grounds stated in 
 his letter, are more deeply criminated. But grant, 
 (for the sake of looking at a different part of the 
 subject,) grant a case infinitely stronger than Sir 
 Hew Dalrymple has even hinted at ; — why was not 
 the taste of some of those evils, in apprehension so 
 terrible, actually tried ? It would not have been the 
 first time that Britons had faced hunger and tem- 
 pests, had endured the worst of such enmity, and 
 upon a call, under an obligation, how faint and 
 feeble, compared with that which the brave men of 
 that army must have felt upon the present occasion ! 
 In the proclamation quoted before, addressed to the 
 Portugueze, and signed Charles Cotton and Arthur 
 Wellesley, they were told, that the objects, for which 
 they contended, " could only be attained by dis- 
 tinguished examples of fortitude and constancy." 
 Where were the fortitude and constancy of the 
 teachers ? When Sir Hew Dalrymple had been so 
 busy in taking the measure of his own weakness, and
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 55 
 
 feeding his own fears, how came it to escape him 
 that General Junot must also have had his weak- 
 nesses and his fears ? Was it nothing to have been 
 defeated in the open field, where he himself had been 
 the assailant ? Was it nothing that so proud a man, 
 the servant of so proud a man, had stooped to send 
 a General Officer to treat concerning the evacuation 
 of the country ? Was the hatred and abhorrence 
 of the Portugueze and Spanish Nations nothing ? 
 the people of a large metropolis under his eye — 
 detesting him, and stung almost to madness, no- 
 thing ? The composition of his own army made up 
 of men of different nations and languages, and 
 forced into the service, — was there no cause of 
 mistrust in this ? And, finally, among the many 
 unsound places which, had his mind been as active 
 in this sort of inquiry as Sir Hew Dalrymple's was, 
 he must have found in his constitution, could a bad 
 cause have been missed — a worse cause than ever 
 confounded the mind of a soldier when boldly 
 pressed upon, or gave courage and animation to 
 a righteous assailant ? But alas ! in Sir Hew Dal- 
 rymple and his brethren, we had Generals who had 
 a power of sight only for the strength of their 
 enemies and their own weakness. 
 
 Let me not be misunderstood. While I am thus 
 forced to repeat things, which were uttered or 
 thought of these men in reference to their military 
 conduct, as heads of that army, it is needless to add, 
 that their personal courage is in no wise implicated 
 in the charge brought against them. But, in the 
 name of my countrymen, I do repeat these accusa- . 
 tions, and tax them with an utter want of inUUectua^>y 
 courage — of that higher quality, which is never / 
 found without one or other of the three accom- 
 paniments, talents, genius, or principle ; — talents
 
 56 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 matured by experience, without which it cannot exist 
 at all ; or the rapid insight of peculiar genius, by 
 which the fitness of an act may be instantly deter- 
 mined, and which will supply higher motives than 
 mere talents can furnish for encountering difficulty 
 and danger, and will suggest better resources for 
 diminishing or overcoming them. Thus, through 
 the power of genius, this quality of intellectual 
 courage may exist in an eminent degree, though the 
 moral character be greatly perverted ; as in those 
 personages, who are so conspicuous in history, 
 conquerors and usurpers, the Alexanders, the Caisars, 
 and Cromwells ; and in that other class still more 
 perverted, remorseless and energetic minds, the 
 Catilines and Borgias, whom poets have denominated 
 " bold, bad men." But, though a course of de- 
 pravity will neither preclude nor destroy this quality, 
 nay, in certain circumstances will give it a peculiar 
 promptness and hardihood of decision, it is not on 
 this account the less true, that, to consummate this 
 species of courage, and to render it equal to all 
 occasions, (especially when a man is not acting for 
 himself, but has an additional claim on his resolution 
 from the circumstance of responsibility to a superior) 
 Principle is indispensibly requisite. I mean that 
 fixed and habitual principle, which implies the 
 absence of all selfish anticipations, whether of hope 
 or fear, and the inward disavowal of any tribunal 
 higher and more dreaded than the mind's own 
 judgment upon its own act. The existence of such 
 principle cannot but elevate the most commanding 
 genius, add rapidity to the quickest glance, a wider 
 range to the most ample comprehension ; but, with- 
 out this principle, the man of ordinary powers must, 
 in the trying hour, be found utterly wanting. 
 Neither, without it, can the man of excelling powers
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 57 
 
 be trust-worthy, or have at all times a calm and 
 confident repose in himself. But he, in whom 
 talents, genius, and principle are united, will have 
 a firm mind, in whatever embarrassment he may be 
 placed ; will look steadily at the most undefined 
 shapes of difficulty and danger, of possible mistake 
 or mischance ; nor will they appear to him more 
 formidable than they really are. For his attention 
 is not distracted — he has but one business, and that 
 is with the object before him. Neither in general 
 conduct nor in particular emergencies, are his plans 
 subservient to considerations of rewards, estate, or 
 title : these are not to have precedence in his 
 thoughts, to govern his actions, but to follow in the 
 train of his duty. Such men, in ancient times, 
 were Phocion, Epaminondas, and Philopoemen ; 
 and such a man was Sir Philip Sidney, of whom it 
 has been said, that he first taught this country the 
 majesty of honest dealing. With these may be named, 
 the honour of ouv own age, Washington, the deliverer 
 of the American Continent ; with these, though in 
 many things unlike. Lord Nelson, whom we have 
 lately lost. Lord Peterborough, who fought in 
 Spain a hundred years ago, had the same excellence ; 
 with a sense of exalted honour, and a tinge of 
 romantic enthusiasm, well suited to the country 
 which was the scene of his exploits. Would that we 
 had a man, like Peterborough or Nelson, at the head 
 of our army in Spain at this moment ! I utter this 
 wish with more earnestness, because it is rumoured, 
 that some of those, who have already called forth such 
 severe reprehension from their countrymen, are to re- 
 sume a command, which must entrust to them a por- 
 tion of those sacred hopes in which, not only we, and 
 the people of Spain and Portugal, but the whole human 
 race are so deeply interested. {See Appendix C.)
 
 58 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 I maintain then that, merely from want of this 
 intellectual courage, of courage as generals or chiefs, 
 (for I will not speak at present of the want of other 
 qualities equally needful upon this service,) grievous 
 errors were committed by Sir Hew Dalrymple and 
 his colleagues in estimating the relative state of the 
 two armes. A precious moment, it is most prob- 
 able, had been lost after the battle of Vimiera ; yet 
 still the inferiority of the enemy had been proved ; 
 they themselves had admitted it — not merely by 
 withdrawing from the field, but by proposing 
 terms : — monstrous terms ! and how ought they 
 to have been received ? Repelled undoubtedly with 
 scorn, as an insult. If our Generals had been men 
 capable of taking the measure of their real strength, 
 either as existing in their own army, or in those 
 principles of liberty and justice which they were 
 commissioned to defend, they must of necessity have 
 acted in this manner ; — if they had been men of 
 common sagacity for business, they must have acted 
 in this manner ; — nay, if they had been upon a level 
 with an ordinary bargain-maker in a fair or a market, 
 they could not have acted otherwise. — Strange that 
 they should so far forget the nature of their calling ! 
 They were soldiers, and their business was to fight. 
 Sir Arthur Wellesley had fought, and gallantly ; it 
 was not becoming his high situation, or that of his 
 successors, to treat, that is, to beat down, to chaffer, 
 or on their part to propose : it does not become any 
 general at the head of a victorious army so to do.* 
 They were to accept, — and, if the terms offered were 
 flagrantly presumptuous, our commanders ought to 
 
 * Those rare cases are of course excepted, in which the 
 superiority on the one side is not only fairly to be presiuned 
 but positive — and so prominently obtrusive, that to propose 
 terms is to inflict terms.
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 59 
 
 have rejected them with dignified scorn, and to 
 have referred the proposer to the sword for a lesson 
 of decorum and humiUty. This is the general rule 
 of all high-minded men upon such occasions ; and 
 meaner minds copy them, doing in prudence what 
 they do from principle. But it has been urged, 
 before the Board of Inquiry, that the conduct of the 
 French armies upon like occasions, and their known 
 character, rendered it probable that a determined 
 resistance would in the present instance be main- 
 tained. We need not fear to say that this conclu- 
 sion, from reasons which have been adverted to, 
 was erroneous. But, in the mind of him who had 
 admitted it upon whatever ground, whether false 
 or true, surely the first thought which followed, 
 ought to have been, not that we should bend to the 
 enemy, but that, if they were resolute in defence, 
 we should learn from that example to be coura- 
 geous in attack. The tender feelings, however, are 
 pleaded against this determination ; and it is said, . 
 that one of the motives for the cessation of hostilities 
 was to prevent the further effusion of human blood. 
 — When, or how ? The enemy was delivered over 
 to us ; it was not to be hoped that, cut off from all 
 assistance as they were, these, or an equal number 
 of men, could ever be reduced to such straits as 
 would ensure their destruction as an enemy, with so 
 small a sacrifice of life on their part, or on ours. 
 What then was to be gained by this tenderness ? 
 The shedding of a few drops of blood is not to be 
 risked in Portugal to-day, and streams of blood 
 must shortly flow from the same veins in the fields 
 of Spain ! And, even if this had not been the assured 
 consequence, let not the consideration, though it 
 be one which no humane man can ever lose sight 
 of, have more than its due weight. For national
 
 60 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 independence and liberty, and that honour by which 
 these and other blessings are to be preserved, honour 
 — which is no other than the most elevated and 
 pure conception of justice which can be formed, 
 these are more precious than life : else why have we 
 already lost so many brave men in this struggle ? — 
 Why not submit at once, and let the Tyrant mount 
 upon his throne of universal dominion, while the 
 world lies prostrate at his feet in indifference and 
 apathy, which he will proclaim to it is peace and 
 happiness ? But peace and happiness can exist only 
 by knowledge and virtue ; slavery has no enduring 
 connection with tranquillity or security — she cannot 
 frame a league with any thing which is desirable — 
 she has no charter even for her own ignoble ease and 
 darling sloth. Yet to this abject condition, man- 
 kind, betrayed by an ill-judging tenderness, would 
 surely be led ; and in the face of an inevitable 
 contradiction ! For neither in this state of things 
 would the shedding of blood be prevented, nor would 
 -warfare cease. The only difference would be, that, 
 instead of wars like those which prevail at this 
 moment, presenting a spectacle of such character 
 that, upon one side at least, a superior Being might 
 look down with favour and blessing, there would 
 follow endless commotions and quarrels without the 
 presence of justice any where, — in which the alterna- 
 tions of success would not excite a wish or regret ; 
 in which a prayer could not be uttered for a decision 
 either this way or that ; — wars from no impulse in 
 either of the combatants, but rival instigations of 
 demoniacal passion. If, therefore, by the faculty 
 of reason we can prophecy concerning the shapes 
 which the future may put on, — if we are under any 
 bond of duty to succeeding generations, there is high 
 cause to guard against a specious sensibihty, which
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 61 
 
 may encourage the hoarding up of Ufe for its own 
 sake, seducing us from those considerations by which 
 we might learn when it ought to be resigned. More- 
 over, disregarding future ages, and confining our- 
 selves to the present state of mankind, it may be 
 safely affirmed that he, who is the most watchful 
 of the honour of his country, most determined to 
 preserve her fair name at all hazards, will be found, 
 in any view of things which looks beyond the passing 
 hour, the best steward of the lives of his countrymen. 
 For, by proving that she is of a firm temper, that 
 she will only submit or yield to a point of her own 
 fixing, and that all beyond is immutable resolution, 
 he will save her from being wantonly attacked ; 
 and, if attacked, will awe the agressor into a 
 speedier abandonment of an unjust and hopeless 
 attempt. Thus will he preserve not only that which 
 gives life its value, but Ufe itself ; and not for his 
 own country merely, but for that of his enemies, to 
 whom he will have offered an example of magnan- 
 imity, which Avill ensure to them like benefits ; an 
 example, the re-action of which w^ll be felt by his 
 own countrymen, and will prevent them from 
 becoming assailants unjustly or rashly. Nations 
 will thus be taught to respect each other, and 
 mutually to abstain from injuries. And hence, by 
 a benign ordinance of our nature, genuine honour 
 is the hand-maid of humanity ; the attendant and 
 sustainer — both of the sterner qualities which 
 constitute the appropriate excellence of the male 
 character, and of the gentle and tender virtues 
 which belong more especially to motherliness and 
 womanhood. These general laws, by which man- 
 kind is purified and exalted, and by which Nations 
 are preserved, suggest likewise the best rules for the 
 preservation of individual armies, and for the
 
 62 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 accomplishment of all equitable service upon which 
 they can be sent. 
 
 Not therefore rashly and unfeelingly, but from the 
 dictates of thoughtful humanity, did I say that it 
 was the business of our Generals to fight, and to 
 persevere in fighting ; and that they did not bear 
 this duty sufficiently in mind ; this, almost the sole 
 duty which professional soldiers, till our time, 
 (happily for mankind) used to think of. But the 
 victories of the French have been attended every 
 where by the subversion of Governments ; and 
 their generals have accordingly united political with 
 military functions ; and with what success this has 
 been done by them, the present state of Europe 
 affords melancholy proof. But have they, on this 
 account, ever neglected to calculate upon the advan- 
 tages which might fairly be anticipated from future 
 warfare ? Or, in a treaty of to-day, have they ever 
 forgotten a victory of yesterday ? Eager to grasp 
 at the double honour of captain and negociator, 
 have they ever sacrificed the one to the other ; or, 
 in the blind effort, lost both ? Above all, in their 
 readiness to flourish with the pen, have they ever 
 overlooked the sword, the symbol of their power, 
 and the appropriate instrument of their success and 
 glory ? I notice this assumption of a double char- 
 acter on the part of the French, not to lament over 
 it and its consequences, but to render somewhat 
 more intelligible the conduct of our own Generals ; 
 and to explain how far men, whom we have no 
 reason to believe other than brave, have, through the 
 influence of such example, lost sight of their primary 
 duties, apeing instead of imitating, and following 
 only to be misled. 
 
 It is indeed deplorable, that our Generals, from 
 this infirmity, or from any other cause, did not
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 63 
 
 assume that lofty deportment which the character 
 and relative strength of the two armies authorized 
 them, and the nature of the service upon which they 
 were sent, enjoined them to assume ; — that they 
 were in such haste to treat — that, Avith such an 
 enemy (let me say at once,) and in such circum- 
 stances, they should have treated at all. Is it 
 possible that they could ever have asked themselves 
 who that enemy was, how he came into that country, 
 and what he had done there ? From the manifesto 
 of the Portugueze government, issued at Rio Janeiro, 
 and from other official papers, they might have 
 learned, what was notorious to all Europe, that this 
 body of men commissioned by Bonaparte, in the 
 time of profound peace, without a declaration of 
 war, had invaded Portugal under the command of 
 Junot, who had perfidiously entered the country, 
 as the General of a friendly and allied Power, assur- 
 ing the people, as he advanced, that he came to pro- 
 tect their Sovereign against an invasion of the 
 EngHsh ; and that, when in this manner he had 
 entered a peaceable kingdom, which offered no 
 resistance, and had expelled its lawful Sovereign, he 
 wrung from it unheard-of contributions, ravaged it, 
 cursed it with domestic pillage and open sacrilege ; 
 and that, when this unoffending people, unable to 
 endure any longer, rose up against the tyrant, he had 
 given their towns and villages to the flames, and put 
 the whole country, thus resisting, under military 
 execution. — Setting aside all natural sympathy with 
 the Portugueze and Spanish nations, and all pru- 
 dential considerations of regard or respect for their 
 feelings towards these men, and for tJieir expectations 
 concerning the manner in which they ought to be 
 dealt with, it is plain that the French had forfeited 
 by their crimes all right to those privileges, or to
 
 64 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 those modes of intercourse, which one army may 
 demand from another according to the laws of war. 
 They were not soldiers in any thing but the power of 
 soldiers, and the outward frame of an army. During 
 their occupation of Portugal, the laws and customs 
 of war had never been referred to by them, but as 
 a plea for some enormity, to the aggravated oppres- 
 sion of that unhappy country ! Pillage, sacrilege, 
 and murder — sweeping murder and individual 
 assassination, had been proved against them by 
 voices from every quarter. They had outlawed 
 themselves by their offences from membership in the 
 community of war, and from every species of com- 
 munity acknowledged by reason. But even, should 
 any one be so insensible as to question this, he will 
 not at all events deny, that the French ought to 
 have been dealt with as having put on a double 
 character. For surely they never considered them- 
 selves merely as an army. They had dissolved the 
 established authorities of Portugal, and had usurped 
 the civil power of the government ; and it was in this 
 compound capacity, under this two-fold monstrous 
 shape, that they had exercised, over the religion and 
 property of the country, the most grievous oppres- 
 sions. What then remained to protect them but 
 their power ? — Right they had none, — and power ! 
 it is a mortifying consideration, but I will ask if 
 Bonaparte, (nor do I mean in the question to imply 
 any thing to his honour,) had been in the place of 
 Sir Hew Dalrymple, what would he have thought of 
 their power ? — Yet before this shadow the solid 
 substance of justice melted away. 
 
 And this leads me from the contemplation of 
 their errors in the estimate and application of means, 
 to the contemplation of their heavier errors and 
 worse blindness in regard to ends. The British
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 65 
 
 Generals acted as if they had no purpose but that 
 the enemy should be removed from the country in 
 which they were, upon any terms. Now the 
 evacuation of Portugal was not the prime object, 
 but the manner in which that event was to be 
 brought about ; this ought to have been deemed 
 first both in order and importance ; — the French 
 were to be subdued, their ferocious warfare and 
 heinous policy to be confounded ; and in this way, 
 and no other, was the deliverance of that country 
 to be accomplished. It was not for the soil, or for 
 the cities and forts, that Portugal was valued, but 
 for the human feeling Avhich was there ; for the 
 rights of human nature which might be there 
 conspicuously asserted ; for a triumph over in- 
 justice and oppression there to be atchieved, which 
 could neither be concealed nor disguised, and which 
 should penetrate the darkest corner of the dark 
 Continent of Europe by its splendour. We com- 
 bated for victory in the empire of reason, for 
 strong-holds in the imagination. Lisbon and Por- 
 tugal, as city and soil, were chiefly prized by us as 
 a language ; but our Generals mistook the counters 
 of the game for the stake played for. The nation 
 required that the French should surrender at 
 discretion ; — grant that the victory of Vimiera had 
 excited some unreasonable impatience — we were 
 not so overweening as to demand that the enemy 
 should surrender within a given time, but that they 
 should surrender. Every thing, short of this, was 
 felt to be below the duties of the occasion ; not 
 only no service, but a grievous injury. Only as 
 far as there was a prospect of forcing the enemy 
 to an unconditional submission, did the British 
 nation deem that they had a right to interfere ; — 
 if that prospect failed, they expected that their 
 
 824.38 F
 
 66 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 army would know that it became it to retire, and 
 take care of itself. But our Generals have told 
 us, that the Convention would not have been 
 admitted, if they had not judged it right to effect, 
 even upon these terms, the evacuation of Portugal — 
 as ministerial to their future services in Spain. 
 If this had been a common war between two estab- 
 lished governments measuring with each other 
 their regular resources, there might have been some 
 appearance of force in this plea. But who does not 
 cry out at once, that the affections and opinions, 
 that is, the souls of the people of Spain and Por- 
 tugal, must be the inspiration and the power, if this 
 labour is to be brought to a happy end ? Therefore 
 it was worse than folly to think of supporting Spain 
 by physical strength, at the expence of moral. 
 Besides, she was strong in men ; she never earnestly 
 solicited troops from us ; some of the Provinces 
 had even refused them when offered, — and all had 
 been lukewarm in the acceptance of them. The 
 Spaniards could not ultimately be benefited but by 
 allies acting under the same impulses of honour, 
 rouzed by a sense of their wrongs, and sharing their 
 loves and hatreds — above all, their passion for 
 justice. They had themselves given an example, 
 at Baylen, proclaiming to all the world what ought 
 to be aimed at by those who would uphold their 
 cause, and be associated in arms with them. And 
 was the law of justice, which Spaniards, Spanish 
 peasantry, I might almost say, would not relax in 
 favour of Dujoont, to be relaxed by a British army 
 in favour of Junot ? Had the French commander 
 at Lisbon, or his army, proved themselves less 
 perfidious, less cruel, or less rapacious than the 
 other ? Nay, did not the pride and crimes of 
 Junot call for humiliation and punishment far more
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 67 
 
 importunately, inasmuch as his power to do harm, 
 and therefore his will, keeping pace ^vith it, had 
 been greater ? Yet, in the noble letter of the 
 Governor of Cadiz to Dupont, he expressly tells him, 
 that his conduct, and that of his army, had been 
 such, that they owed their lives only to that honour 
 which forbad the Spanish army to become execu- 
 tioners. The Portugueze also, as appears from 
 various letters produced before the Board of 
 Inquiry, have shewn to our Generals, as boldly as 
 their respect for the British nation would permit 
 them to do, what they expected. A Portugueze 
 General, who was also a member of the regency 
 appointed by the Prince Regent, says, in a protest 
 addressed to Sir Hew Dalrymple, that he had been 
 able to drive the French out of the provinces of 
 Algarve and Alentejo ; and therefore he could not 
 be convinced, that such a Convention was necessary. 
 What was this but implying that it was dishonour- 
 able, and that it would frustrate the efforts which 
 his country was making, and destroy the hopes 
 which it had built upon its own power ? Another 
 letter from a magistrate inveighs against the Con- 
 vention, as leaving the crimes of the French in 
 Portugal unpunished ; as gi\'ing no indemnification 
 for all the murders, robberies, and atrocities, which 
 had been committed by them. But I feel that 
 I shall be wanting in respect to my countrymen, 
 if I pursue this argument further. I blush that it 
 should be necessary to speak upon the subject at all. 
 And these are men and things, which we have been 
 reproved for condemning, because evidence was 
 wanting both as to fact and person ! If there ever 
 was a case, which could not, in any rational sense 
 of the word, be prejudged, this is one. As to the 
 fact — it appears, and sheds from its own body, 
 
 F2
 
 68 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 like the sun in heaven, the Ught by which it is seen ; 
 as to the person — each has written down with his 
 own hand, / am the man. Condemnation of actions 
 and men hke these is not, in the minds of a people, 
 (thanks to the divine Being and to human nature !) 
 a matter of choice ; it is like a physical necessity, 
 as the hand must be burned which is thrust into the 
 furnace — the body chilled which stands naked in 
 the freezing north-wind. I am entitled to make 
 this assertion here, when the moral depravity of the 
 Convention, of which I shall have to speak here- 
 after, has not even been touched upon. Nor let it 
 be blamed in any man, though his station be in 
 private life, that upon this occasion he speaks 
 publickly, and gives a decisive opinion concerning 
 that part of this public event, and those measures, 
 which are more especially military. All have a 
 right to speak, and to make their voices heard, as 
 far as they have power. For these are times, in 
 which the conduct of military men concerns us, 
 perhaps, more intimately than that of any other 
 class ; when the business of arms comes unhappily 
 too near to the fire-side ; when the character and 
 duties of a soldier ought to be understood by every 
 one who values his liberty, and bears in mind how 
 soon he may have to fight for it. Men will and 
 ought to speak upon things in which they are so 
 deeply interested ; how else are right notions to 
 spread, or is error to be destroyed ? These are 
 times also in which, if we may judge from the pro- 
 ceedings and result of the Court of Inquiry, the 
 heads of the army, more than at any other period, 
 stand in need of being taught wisdom by the voice 
 of the people. It is their own interest, both as men 
 and as soldiers, that the people should speak 
 fervently and fearlessly of their actions : — from no
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 69 
 
 other quarter can they be so powerfully reminded 
 of the duties which they owe to themselves, to their 
 country, and to human nature. Let any one read 
 the evidence given before that Court, and he will 
 there see, how much the intellectual and moral 
 constitution of many of our military officers, has 
 suffered by a profession, which, if not counteracted 
 by admonitions willingly listened to, and by habits 
 of meditation, does, more than any other, de- 
 naturalize — and therefore degrade the human being; 
 — he will note with sorrow, how faint are their 
 sympathies with the best feelings, and how dim 
 their apprehension of some of the most awful 
 truths, relating to the happiness and dignity of 
 man in society. But on this I do not mean to 
 insist at present ; it is too weighty a subject to be 
 treated incidentally : and my purpose is — not to 
 invahdate the authority of military men, positively 
 considered, upon a military question, but com- 
 paratively ; — to maintain that there are military 
 transactions upon which the people have a right 
 to be heard, and upon which their authority is 
 entitled to far more respect than any man or 
 number of men can lay claim to, who speak merely 
 ^vith the ordinary professional views of soldier- 
 ship ; — that there are such military transactions ; — 
 and that this is one of them. 
 
 The condemnation, which the people of these 
 islands pronounced upon the Convention of Cintra 
 considered as to its main military results, that is, 
 as a treaty by which it was established that the 
 Russian fleet should be surrendered on the terms 
 specified ; and by which, not only the obligation 
 of forcing the French army to an unconditional 
 surrender was abandoned, but its restoration in 
 freedom and triumph to its own country was
 
 70 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 secured ; — the condemnation, pronounced by the 
 people upon a treaty, by virtue of which these 
 things were to be done, I have recorded — accounted 
 for — and thereby justified. — I will now proceed to 
 another division of the subject, on which I feel 
 a still more earnest wish to speak ; because, though 
 in itself of the highest importance, it has been 
 comparatively neglected ; —I mean the poHtical 
 injustice and moral depravity which are stamped 
 upon the front of this agreement, and pervade 
 every regulation which it contains. I shall shew 
 that our Generals (and with them our Ministers, 
 as far as they might have either given directions 
 to this effect, or have countenanced what has been 
 done) — when it was their paramount duty to 
 maintain at all hazards the noblest principles in 
 unsuspected integrity ; because, upon the summons 
 of these, and in defence of them, their Alhes had 
 risen, and by these alone could stand — not only did 
 not perform this duty, but descended as far below 
 the level of ordinary ijrinciples as they ought to 
 have mounted above it ; — imitating not the majesty 
 of the oak with which it hfts its branches towards 
 the heavens, but the vigour with which, in the 
 language of the poet, it strikes its roots downwards 
 towards hell : — 
 
 Radice in Tartara tendit. 
 
 The Armistice is the basis of the Convention ; 
 and in the first article we find it agreed, " That 
 there shall be a suspension of hostilities between 
 the forces of his Britannic Majesty, and those of 
 his Imperial and Royal Majesty, Napoleon I." 
 I will ask if it be the practice of military officers, 
 in instruments of this kind, to acknowledge, in the 
 person of the head of the government with which
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 71 
 
 they are at war, titles which their own government — 
 for which they are acting — has not acknowledged. 
 If this be the practice, which I will not stop to 
 determine, it is grossly improper ; and ought to be 
 abolished. Our Generals, however, had entered 
 Portugal as allies of a Government by which this 
 title had been acknowledged ; and they might have 
 pleaded this circumstance in mitigation of their 
 offence ; but surely not in an instrument, where 
 we not only look in vain for the name of the Por- 
 tugueze Sovereign, or of the Government which he 
 appointed, or of any heads or representatives of the 
 Portugueze armies or jDCople as a party in the 
 contract, — but where it is stipulated (in the 4th 
 article) that the British General shall engage to 
 include the Portugueze armies in this Convention. 
 What an outrage ! — We enter the Portugueze 
 territory as allies ; and, without their consent — 
 or even consulting them, we proceed to form the 
 basis of an agreement, relating — not to the safety 
 or interests of our OAvn army — but to Portugueze 
 territory, Portugueze persons, liberties, and rights, — 
 and engage, out of our own will and power, to 
 include the Portugueze army, they or their Govern- 
 ment Avilling or not, -svithin the obligation of this 
 agreement. I place these things in contrast, viz. 
 the acknowledgement of Bonaparte as emperor and 
 king, and the utter neglect of the Portugueze 
 Sovereign and Portugueze authorities, to shew in 
 what spirit and temper these agreements were 
 entered upon. I will not here insist upon what 
 was our duty, on this occasion, to the Portugueze — 
 as dictated by those subhme precepts of justice 
 which it has been proved that they and the Spaniards 
 had risen to defend, — and without feeling the force 
 and sanctity of which, they neither could have
 
 72 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 risen, nor can oppose to their enemy resistance 
 which has any hope in it ; but I will ask, of any 
 man who is not dead to the common feelings of his 
 social nature — and besotted in understandinsr, if 
 this be not a cruel mockery, and which must have 
 been felt, unless it were repelled with hatred and 
 scorn, as a heart-breaking insult. Moreover, this 
 conduct acknowledges, by implication, that prin- 
 ciple which by his actions the enemy has for a long 
 time covertly maintained, and now openly and 
 insolently avows in his words — that power is the 
 measure of right ; — and it is in a steady adher- 
 ence to this abominable doctrine that his strength 
 mainly lies. I do maintain then that, as far as the 
 conduct of our Generals in framing these instru- 
 ments tends to reconcile men to this course of 
 action, and to sanction this principle, they are 
 virtually his Allies : their weapons may be against 
 him, but he will laugh at their weapons, — for he 
 knows, though they themselves do not, that their 
 souls are for him. Look at the preamble to the 
 Armistice ! In what is omitted and what is in- 
 serted, the French Ruler could not have fashioned 
 it more for his own purpose if he had traced it 
 with his own hand. We have then trampled upon 
 a fundamental principle of justice, and counten- 
 anced a prime maxim of iniquity ; thus adding, in 
 an unexampled degree, the foolishness of impolicy 
 to the heinousness of guilt. A conduct thus grossly 
 unjust and impolitic, without having the hatred 
 which it inspires neutralised by the contempt, is 
 made contemptible by utterly wanting that colour 
 of right which authority and power, put forth in 
 defence of our Allies — in asserting their just claims 
 and avenging their injuries, might have given. 
 But we, instead of triumphantly displaying our
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 73 
 
 power towards our enemies, have ostentatiously 
 exercised it upon our friends ; reversing here, as 
 every where, the practice of sense and reason ; — 
 conciliatory even to abject submission where we 
 ought to have been haughty and commanding, — 
 and repulsive and tyrannical where we ought to 
 have been gracious and kind. Even a common 
 law of good breeding would have served us here, 
 had we known how to apply it. We ought to have 
 endeavoured to raise the Portugueze in their own 
 estimation by concealing our power in comparison 
 with theirs ; dealing with them in the spirit of 
 those mild and humane delusions, which spread such 
 a genial grace over the intercourse, and add so much 
 to the influence of love in the concerns of private 
 hfe. It is a common saying, presume that a man 
 is dishonest, and that is the readiest way to make 
 him so : in hke manner it may be said, presume 
 that a nation is weak, and that is the surest course 
 to bring it to weakness, — if it be not rouzed to 
 prove its strength by applying it to the humiUation 
 of your pride. The Portugueze had been weak ; 
 and, in connection v.dth their allies the Spaniards, 
 they were prepared to become strong. It was, 
 therefore, doubly incumbent upon us to foster and 
 encourage them — to look favourably upon their 
 efforts — generously to give them credit upon their 
 promises — to hope with them and for them ; and, 
 thus anticipating and foreseeing, we should, by 
 a natural operation of love, have contributed to 
 create the merits which were anticipated and fore- 
 seen. I apply these rules, taken from the inter- 
 course between individuals, to the conduct of large 
 bodies of men, or of nations tow'ards each other, 
 because these are nothing but aggregates of indi- 
 viduals ; and because the maxims of all just law,
 
 74 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 and the measures of all sane practice, are only an 
 enlarged or modified apjDlication of those disposi- 
 tions of love and those principles of reason, by 
 which the welfare of individuals, in their connection 
 with each other, is promoted. There was also here 
 a still more urgent call for these courteous and 
 humane principles as guides of conduct ; because, 
 in exact proportion to the physical weakness of 
 Governments, and to the distraction and confusion 
 which cannot but prevail, when a people is struggling 
 for independence and liberty, are the well-inten- 
 tioned and the wise among them remitted for their 
 support to those benign elementary feelings of 
 society, for the preservation and cherishing of which, 
 among other important objects, government was 
 from the beginning ordained. 
 
 Therefore, by the strongest obligations, we were 
 bound to be studious of a delicate and respectful 
 bearing towards those ill-fated nations, our allies : 
 and consequently, if the government of the Por- 
 tugueze, though weak in power, possessed their 
 affections, and was strong in right, it was incumbent 
 upon us to turn our first thoughts to that govern- 
 ment — to look for it if it were hidden — to call it 
 forth, — and, by our power combined with that of 
 the people, to assert its rights. Or, if the govern- 
 ment were dissolved and had no existence, it was 
 our duty, in such an emergency, to have resorted 
 to the nation, expressing its will through the most 
 respectable and conspicuous authority, through 
 that which seemed to have the best right to stand 
 forth as its representative. In whatever circum- 
 stances Portugal had been placed, the paramount 
 right of the Portugueze nation, or government, to 
 appear not merely as a party but a principal, ought 
 to have been established as a primary position,
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 75 
 
 without the admission of which, all proposals to 
 treat would be peremptorily rejected. But the 
 Portugueze had a govermiient ; they had a lawful 
 prince in Brazil ; and a regency, appointed by 
 him, at home ; and generals, at the head of con- 
 siderable bodies of troops, appointed also by the 
 regency or the jDrince. Well then might one of 
 those generals enter a formal protest against the 
 treaty, on account of its being " totally void of that 
 deference due to the prince regent, or the govern- 
 ment that represents him ; as being hostile to the 
 sovereign authority and independence of that 
 government ; and as being against the honour, 
 safety, and independence of the nation." I have 
 already reminded the reader, of the benign and 
 happy influences which might have attended upon 
 a different conduct ; how much good we might 
 have added to that already in existence ; how far 
 we might have assisted in strengthening, among 
 our allies, those powers, and in developing those 
 virtues, which were producing themselves by a 
 natural process, and to which these breathings of 
 insult must have been a deadly check and inter- 
 ruption. Nor would the evil be merely negative ; 
 for the interference of professed friends, acting in 
 this manner, must have superinduced dispositions 
 and passions, which were ahen to the condition of 
 the Portugueze ; — scattered weeds which could not 
 have been found upon the soil, if our ignorant hands 
 had not sown them. Of this I will not now speak, 
 for I have already detained the reader too long at 
 the threshold ; — but I have put the master-key 
 into his possession ; and every chamber which he 
 opens will be found loathsome as the one which he 
 last quitted. Let us then proceed. 
 
 By the first article of the Con\ention it is
 
 76 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 covenanted, that all the places and forts in the king- 
 dom of Portugal, occupied by the French troops, 
 shall be delivered to the British army. Articles IV. 
 and XII. are to the same effect — determining the 
 surrender of Portugueze fortified places, stores, and 
 ships, to the English forces ; but not a word of 
 their being to be holden in trust for the prince 
 regent, or his government, to whom they belonged ! 
 The same neglect or contempt of justice and decency 
 is shewn here, as in the preamble to these instru- 
 ments. It was further shewn afterwards, by the 
 act of hoisting the British flag instead of the Por- 
 tugueze upon these forts, when they were first taken 
 possession of by the British forces. It is no excuse 
 to say that this was not intended. Such inatten- 
 tions are among the most grievous faults which 
 can be committed ; and are impossible, when the 
 affections and understandings of men are of that 
 quality, and in that state, which are required for 
 a service in which there is any thing noble or 
 virtuous. Again, suppose that it was the purpose 
 of the generals, who signed and ratified a Convention 
 containing the articles in question, that the forts and 
 ships, &c. should be delivered immediately to the 
 Portugueze government, — would the delivering up of 
 them wipe away the affront ? Would it not rather 
 appear, after the omission to recognize the right, 
 that we had ostentatiously taken upon us to bestow 
 — as a boon — that which they felt to be their own ? 
 Passing by, as already deliberated and decided 
 upon, those conditions, (Articles II. and III.) by 
 which it is stipulated, that the French army shall 
 not be considered as prisoners of war, shall be 
 conveyed with arms, &e. to some port between 
 Rochefort and L'Orient, and be at liberty to serve, 
 I come to that memorable condition, (Article V.)
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 77 
 
 " that the French army shall carry with it all its 
 equipments, that is to say, its military chests and 
 carriages, attached to the field commissariat and 
 field hospitals, or shall be allowed to dispose of such 
 part, as the Commander in Chief may judge it 
 unnecessary to embark. In like manner all indi- 
 viduals of the army shall be at liberty to dispose 
 of thei)' private propeHy of every description, with 
 full security hereafter for the purchasers." This is 
 expressed still more pointedly in the Armistice, — 
 though the meaning, imj^lied in the two articles, is 
 precisely the same. For, in the fifth article of the 
 Armistice, it is agreed pro\dsionally, " that all 
 those, of whom the French army consists, shall be 
 conveyed to France \\ith arms and baggage, and all 
 their private property of every description, no part 
 of which shall be WTcsted from them." In the 
 Convention it is only expressed, that they shall be 
 at liberty to depart, (Article II.) with arms and 
 baggage, and (Article V.) to dispose of their private 
 property of every description. But, if they had 
 a right to dispose of it, this would include a right 
 to carry it away — which was undoubtedly under- 
 stood by the French general. And in the Armistice 
 it is expressly said, that their private property of 
 every description shall be conveyed to France along 
 \\nth their persons. What then are we to under- 
 stand by the words, their private propeHy of every 
 description ? Equipments of the army in general, 
 and baggage of individuals, had been stipulated for 
 before : now we all know that the lawful pro- 
 fessional gains and earnings of a soldier must be 
 small ; that he is not in the habit of carrying about 
 him, during actual warfare, any accumulation of 
 these or other property ; and that the ordinary 
 private property, which he can be supposed to have
 
 78 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 a just title to, is included under the name of his 
 baggage ; — therefore this was something more ; and 
 what it was — is apparent. No part of their pro- 
 perty, says the Armistice, shall be wrested from 
 them. Who docs not see in these words the con- 
 sciousness of guilt, an indirect self-betraying 
 admission that they had in their hands treasures 
 which might be lawfully taken from them, and an 
 anxiety to prevent that act of justice by a posi- 
 tive stipulation ? Who does not see, on what sort 
 of property the Frenchman had his eye ; that it 
 was not property by right, but their possessions — 
 their plunder — every thing, by what means soever 
 acquired, that the French army, or any individual 
 in it, was possessed of ? But it has been urged, 
 that the monstrousness of such a supposition pre- 
 cludes this interpretation, renders it impossible 
 that it could either be intended by the one party, 
 or so understood by the other. What right they 
 who signed, and he who ratified this Convention, 
 have to shelter themselves under this plea — will 
 appear from the 16th and 17th articles. In these 
 it is stipulated, " that all subjects of France, or of 
 powers in alliance with France, domiciliated in 
 Portugal, or accidentally in the country, shall have 
 their property of every kind — moveable and im- 
 moveable — guaranteed to them, with liberty of re- 
 taining or disposing of it, and passing the produce 
 into France : " the same is stipulated, (Article 
 XVII.) for such natives of Portugal as have sided 
 with the French, or occupied situations under the 
 French government. Here then is a direct avowal, 
 still more monstrous, that every Frenchman, or 
 native of a country in alliance with France, however 
 obnoxious his crimes may have made him, and 
 every traitorous Portugueze, shall have his property
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 79 
 
 guaranteed to him (both previously to and after the 
 reinstatement of the Portugueze government) by 
 the British army ! Now let us ask, what sense the 
 word property must have had fastened to it in these 
 cases. Must it not necessarily have included all the 
 rewards which the Frenchman had received for his 
 iniquity, and the traitorous Portugueze for his 
 treason ? (for no man would bear a part in such 
 oppressions, or would be a traitor for nothing ; 
 and, moreover, all the rewards, which the French 
 could bestow, must have been taken from the 
 Portugueze, extorted from the honest and loyal, 
 to be given to the wicked and disloyal.) These 
 rewards of iniquity must necessarily have been 
 included ; for, on our side, no attempt is made at 
 a distinction ; and, on the side of the French, the 
 word immoveable is manifestly intended to preclude 
 such a distinction, where alone it could have been 
 effectual. Property, then, here means — possessions 
 thus infamously acquired ; and, in the instance of 
 the Portugueze, the fundamental notion of the 
 word is subverted ; for a traitor can have no 
 property, till the government of his own country 
 has remitted the punishment due to his crimes. 
 And these wages of guilt, which the master by such 
 exactions was enabled to pay, and which the 
 servant thus earned, are to be guaranteed to him 
 by a British army ! Where does there exist a 
 power on earth that could confer this right ? If the 
 Portugueze government itself had acted in this 
 manner, it would have been guilty of wilful suicide ; 
 and the nation, if it had acted so, of high treason 
 against itself. Let it not, then, be said, that the 
 monstrousness of covenanting to convey, along 
 with the persons of the French, their plunder, 
 secures the article from the interpretation which
 
 80 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 the people of Great Britain gave, and which, I have 
 now proved, they were bound to give to it. — But, 
 conceding for a moment, that it was not intended 
 that the words should bear this sense, and that, 
 neither in a fair grammatical construction, nor as 
 illustrated by other passages or by the general 
 tenour of the document, they actually did bear 
 it, had not unquestionable voices proclaimed the 
 cruelty and rapacity — ^the acts of sacrilege, assas- 
 sination, and robbery, by which these treasures had 
 been amassed ? Was not the perfidy of the French 
 army, and its contempt of moral obligation, both 
 as a body and as to the individuals which com- 
 posed it, infamous through Europe ? — Therefore, 
 the concession would signify nothing : for our 
 Generals, by allowing an army of this character to 
 depart with its equipments, waggons, military 
 chest, and baggage, had provided abundant means 
 to enable it to carry off whatsoever it desired, and 
 thus to elude and frustrate any stipulations which 
 might have been made for compelling it to restore 
 that which had been so iniquitously seized. And 
 here are we brought back to the fountain-head of 
 all this baseness ; to that apathy and deadness to 
 the principle of justice, through influence of which, 
 this army, outlawed by its crimes, was suffered to 
 depart from the land, over which it had so long 
 tyrannized — other than as a band of disarmed 
 prisoners. — I maintain, therefore, that permission 
 to carry off the booty was distinctly expressed ; 
 and, if it had not been so, that the principle of 
 justice could not here be preserved ; as a violation 
 of it must necessarily have followed from other 
 conditions of the treaty. Sir Hew Dalrymple him- 
 self, before the Court of Inquiry, has told us, in 
 two letters (to Generals Beresford and Friere,) that
 
 THE CON\^NTION OF CINTRA 81 
 
 " such part of the plunder as was in money, it 
 would be difficult, if not impossible, to identify ; " 
 and, consequently, the French could not be pre- 
 vented from carrying it away with them. From 
 the same letters we learn, that " the French were 
 intending to carry off a considerable part of their 
 plunder, by calling it public money, and saying 
 that it belonged to the military chest ; and that 
 their evasions of the article were most shameful, 
 and evinced a want of probity and honour, which 
 was most disgraceful to them." If the French had 
 given no other proofs of their want of such virtues, 
 than those furnished by this occasion, neither the 
 Portugueze, nor Spanish, nor British nations would 
 condemn them, nor hate them as they now do ; 
 nor would this article of the Convention have 
 excited such indignation. For the French, by so 
 acting, could not deem themselves breaking an 
 engagement ; no doubt they looked upon them- 
 selves as injured, — ^that the failure in good faith 
 was on the part of the British ; and that it was in 
 the lawlessness of power, and by a mere quibble, 
 that this construction was afterwards put upon the 
 article in question. 
 
 Widely different from the conduct of the British 
 was that of the Spaniards in a like case : — with high 
 feeling did they, abating not a jot or a tittle, enforce 
 the principle of justice. " How," says the governor 
 of Cadiz to General Dupont in the same noble 
 letter before alluded to, " how," says he, after 
 enumerating the afflictions which his army, and the 
 tyrant who had sent it, had unjustly brought upon 
 the Spanish nation, (for of these, in their dealings 
 with the French, they never for a moment lost 
 sight,) " how," asks he, " could you expect, that 
 your army should carry off from Spain the fruit 
 
 824.38 G
 
 82 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 of its rapacity, cruelty, and impiety ? how could 
 you conceive this possible, or that we should be 
 so stupid or senseless ? " And this conduct is as 
 wise in reason as it is true to nature. The Spanish 
 people could have had no confidence in their 
 government, if it had not acted thus. These are 
 the sympathies which prove that a government is 
 paternal, — that it makes one family with the people : 
 besides, it is only by such adherence to justice, that, 
 in times of like commotion, popular excesses can 
 either be mitigated or prevented. If we would be 
 efficient allies of Spain, nay, if we would not run 
 the risk of doing infinite harm, these sentiments 
 must not only be ours as a nation, but they must 
 pervade the hearts of our ministers and our generals 
 — our agents and our ambassadors. If it be not so, 
 they, who are sent abroad, must either be conscious 
 how unworthy they are, and A\dth what unworthy 
 commissions they appear, or not : if they do feel 
 this, then they must hang their heads, and blush 
 for their country and themselves ; if they do not, 
 the Spaniards must blush for them and revolt from 
 them ; or, what would be ten thousand times more 
 deplorable, they must purchase a reconcilement and 
 a communion by a sacrifice of all that is excellent 
 in themselves. Spain must either break down her 
 lofty spirit, her animation and fiery courage, to run 
 side by side in the same trammels wth Great 
 Britain ; or she must start off from her intended 
 yoke-fellow with contempt and aversion. This is 
 the alternative, and there is no avoiding it. 
 
 I have yet to speak of the influence of such 
 concessions upon the French Ruler and his army. 
 With what Satanic pride must he have contem- 
 plated the devotion of his servants and adherents 
 to their law, the steadiness and zeal of their per-
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 83 
 
 verse loyalty, and the faithfulness A\Tith which they 
 stand by him and each other ! How must his heart 
 have distended with false glory, while he con- 
 trasted these qualities of his subjects with the 
 insensibilitv and slackness of his British enemies ! 
 This notice has, however, no especial propriety in 
 this place ; for, as far as concerns Bonaparte, his 
 pride and depraved confidence may be equally fed 
 by almost all the conditions of this instrument. 
 But, as to his army, it is plain that the permission, 
 (whether it be considered as by an express article 
 formally granted, or only involved in the general 
 conditions of the treaty,) to bear away in triumph 
 the harvest of its crimes, must not only have 
 emboldened and exalted it with arrogance, and 
 whetted its rapacity ; but that hereby every 
 soldier, of which this army was composed, must, 
 upon his arrival in his own country, have been 
 a seed which would give back plenteously in its 
 kind. The French are at present a needy people, 
 mthout commerce or manufactures, — unsettled in 
 their minds and debased in their morals by revolu- 
 tionary practices and habits of warfare ; and the 
 youth of the country are rendered desperate by 
 oppression, which, lea^dng no choice in their occu- 
 pation, discharges them from all responsibility to 
 their own consciences. How powerful then must 
 have been the action of such incitements upon a 
 people so circumstanced ! The actual sight, and, 
 far more, the imaginary sight and handUng of these 
 treasures, magnified by the romantic tales which 
 must have been spread about them, would carry 
 into every town and village an antidote for the 
 terrors of conscription ; and would rouze men, like 
 the dreams imported from the new world when 
 the first discoverers and adventurers returned, \vith 
 
 G2
 
 84 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 their ingots and their gold dust — their stories and 
 their promises, to inflame and madden the avarice 
 of the old. " What an effect," says the Governor 
 of Cadiz, " must it have upon the people," (he 
 means the Spanish people,) " to know that a single 
 soldier was carrying away 2580 livres tovirnois ! " 
 What an effect, (he might have said also,) must it 
 have upon the French ! — I direct the reader's 
 attention to this, because it seems to have been 
 overlooked ; and because some of the public 
 journals, speaking of the Convention, (and, no 
 doubt, uttering the sentiments of several of their 
 readers,) — say " that they are disgusted with the 
 transaction, not because the French have been 
 permitted to carry off a few diamonds, or some 
 ingots of silver ; but because we confessed, by 
 consenting to the treaty, that an army of 35,000 
 British troops, aided by the Portugueze nation, 
 was not able to compel 20,000 French to surrender 
 at discretion." Tliis is indeed the root of the evil, 
 as hath been shewn ; and it is the curse of this 
 treaty, that the several parts of it are of such 
 enormity as singly to occupy the attention and 
 to destroy comparison and coexistence. But the 
 people of Great Britain are disgusted both with the 
 one and the other. They bewail the violation of 
 the principle : if the value of the things carried off 
 had been in itself trifling, their grief and their 
 indignation would have been scarcely less. But 
 it is manifest, from what has been said, that it was 
 not trifling ; and that therefore, (upon that account 
 as well as upon others,) this permission was no less 
 impolitic than it was unjust and dishonourable. 
 
 In illustrating these articles of the Armistice and 
 Convention, by which the French were both expressly 
 permitted and indirectly enabled to carry off their
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 85 
 
 booty, we have already seen, that a concession was 
 made which is still more enormous ; viz, that all 
 subjects of France, or of powers in alliance with 
 France, domiciliated in Portugal or resident there, 
 and all natives of Portugal who have accepted 
 situations under the French government, &c., shall 
 have their property of every kind guaranteed to 
 them by the British army. By articles 16th and 
 17th, their persons are placed under the like pro- 
 tection. " The French " (Article XVI.) " shall be 
 at liberty either to accompany the French army, 
 or to remain in Portugal ; " " And the Portugueze " 
 (Article XVII.) " shall not be rendered accountable 
 for their political conduct during the period of the 
 occupation of the country by the French army : 
 they all are placed under the protection of the 
 British commanders, and shall sustain no injury in 
 their jDroperty or persons.' 
 
 I have animadverted, heretofore, upon the 
 unprofessional eagerness of our Generals to appear 
 in the character of negotiators when the sword 
 would have done them more service than the pen. 
 But, if they had confined themselves to mere 
 military regulations, they might indeed with 
 justice have been grievously censured as injudicious 
 commanders, whose notion of the honour of armies 
 was of a low pitch, and who had no conception of 
 the peculiar nature of the service in which they were 
 engaged : but the censure must have stopped here. 
 Whereas, by these provisions, they have shewn that 
 they had never reflected upon the nature of 
 military authority as contra-distinguished from 
 civil. French example had so far dazzled and 
 blinded them, that the French army is suffered to 
 denominate itself " the French government ; " and, 
 from the whole tenour of these instruments, (from
 
 86 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 the preamble, and these articles especially,) it 
 should seem that our Generals fancied themselves 
 and their army to be the British government. For 
 these regulations, emanating from a mere military 
 authority, are purely civil ; but of such a kind, 
 that no power on earth could confer a right to 
 establish them. And this trampling upon the most 
 sacred rights — this sacrifice of the consciousness of 
 a self-preserving principle, without which neither 
 societies nor governments can exist, is not made 
 by our generals in relation to subjects of their own 
 sovereign, but to an independent nation, our ally, 
 into whose territories we could not have entered 
 but from its confidence in our friendship and good 
 faith. Surely the persons, who (under the counten- 
 ance of too high authority) have talked so loudly 
 of prejudging this question, entirely overlooked or 
 utterly forgot this part of it. What have these 
 monstrous provisions to do with the relative 
 strength of the two armies, or with any point 
 admitting a doubt ? What need here of a court 
 of judicature to settle who were the persons (their 
 names are subscribed by their own hands), and to 
 determine the quality of the thing ? Actions and 
 agents like these, exhibited in this connection 
 with each other, must of necessity be condemned 
 the moment they are known : and to assert the 
 contrary, is to maintain that man is a being without 
 understanding, and that morality is an empty 
 dream. And, if this condemnation must after this 
 manner follow, to utter it is less a duty than a 
 further inevitable consequence from the constitution 
 of human nature. They, who hold that the formal 
 sanction of a court of judicature is in this case 
 required before a people has a right to pass sentence, 
 know not to what degree they are enemies to that
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 87 
 
 people and to mankind ; to what degree selfishness, 
 whether arising from their peculiar situation or 
 from other causes, has in them prevailed over those 
 faculties which are our common inheritance, and 
 cut them off from fellowship with the species. 
 Most deplorable would be the result, if it were 
 possible that the injunctions of these men could be 
 obeyed, or their remonstrances acknowledged to be 
 just. For, (not to mention that, if it were not for 
 such prompt decisions of the public voice, mis- 
 demeanours of men high in office would rarely be 
 accounted for at all,) we must bear in mind, at this 
 crisis, that the adversary of all good is hourly and 
 daily extending his ravages ; and, according to 
 such notions of fitness, our indignation, our sorrow, 
 our shame, our sense of right and wrong, and all 
 those moral affections, and powers of the under- 
 standing, by which alone he can be effectually 
 opposed, are to enter upon a long vacation ; their 
 motion is to be suspended — a thing imi^ossible ; if it 
 could, it would be destroyed. 
 
 Let us now see what language the Portugueze 
 speak upon that part of the treaty which has 
 incited me to give vent to these feelings, and to 
 assert these truths. " I protest," says General 
 Friere, " against Article XVII., one of the two 
 now under examination, because it attempts to tie 
 down the government of this kingdom not to bring 
 to justice and condign punishment those persons, 
 who have been notoriously and scandalously disloyal 
 to their prince and the country by joining and 
 serving the French party : and, even if the English 
 army should be allowed to screen them from the 
 punishment they have deserved, still it should 
 not prevent their expulsion — whereby this country 
 would no longer have to fear being again betrayed
 
 88 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 by the same men." Yet, while the partizans of the 
 French are thus guarded, not a word is said to 
 protect the loyal Portugueze, whose fidelity to their 
 country and their prince must have rendered them 
 obnoxious to the French army ; and who in Lisbon 
 and the environs, were left at its mercy from the 
 day when the Convention was signed, till the de- 
 parture of the French. Couple also with this the 
 fkst additional article, by which it is agreed, " that 
 the individuals in the civil employment of the 
 army," (including all the agitators, spies, informers, 
 all the jackals of the ravenous lion,) " made prisoners 
 either by the British troops or the Portugueze in 
 any part of Portugal, will be restored {as is cus- 
 tomary) without exchange." That is, no stipula- 
 tions being made for reciprocal conditions ! In 
 fact, through the whole course of this strange 
 interference of a military power with the adminis- 
 tration of civil justice in the country of an ally, 
 there is only one article (the 15th) which bears the 
 least shew of attention to Portugueze interests. 
 By this it is stipulated, " That, from the date of 
 the ratification of the Convention, all arrears of 
 contributions, requisitions, or claims whatever of the 
 French Government against subjects of Portugal, 
 or any other individuals residing in this country, 
 founded on the occupation of Portugal by the 
 French troops in the month of December 1807, 
 which may not have been paid up, are cancelled : 
 and all sequestrations, laid upon their property 
 moveable or immoveable, are removed ; and the 
 free disposal of the same is restored to the proper 
 owners." Which amounts to this. The French 
 are called upon formally to relinquish, in favour of 
 the Portugueze, that to which they never had any 
 right ; to abandon false claims, which they either
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 89 
 
 had a power to enforce, or they had not : if they 
 departed immediately and had not power, the 
 article was nugatory ; if they remained a day 
 longer and had power, there was no security that 
 they would abide by it. Accordingly, loud com- 
 plaints were made that, after the date of the 
 Convention, all kinds of ravages were committed 
 by the French upon Lisbon and its neighbourhood : 
 and what did it matter whether these were upon 
 the plea of old debts and requisitions ; or new 
 debts were created more greedily than ever — from 
 the consciousness that the time for collecting them 
 was so short ? This article, then, the only one 
 which is even in shew favourable to the Portugueze, 
 is, in substance, nothing : inasmuch as, in what it 
 is silent upon, (\dz, that the People of Lisbon and 
 its neighbourhood shall not be vexed and oppressed 
 by the French, during their stay, with new claims 
 and robberies,) it is grossly cruel or neghgent ; and, 
 in that for which it actually stipulates, wholly 
 delusive. It is in fact insulting ; for the very 
 admission of a formal renunciation of these claims 
 does to a certain degree acknowledge their justice. 
 The only decent manner of introducing matter to 
 this effect would have been by placing it as a bye 
 clause of a provision that secured the Portugueze 
 from further molestations, and merely alluding to 
 it as a thing understood of course. Yet, from the 
 place which this specious article occupies, (pre- 
 ceding immediately the 16th and 17th which we 
 have been last considering,) it is clear that it must 
 have been intended by the French General as honey 
 smeared upon the edge of the cup — to make the 
 poison, contained in those two, more palateable. 
 
 Thus much for the Portugueze, and their parti- 
 cular interests. In one instance, a concern of the
 
 90 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 Spanish Nation comes directly under notice ; a 
 that nation also is treated without dehcacy or f eelii 
 For by the 18th article it is agreed, " that tl 
 Spaniards, (4000 in number) who had been disarmed 
 and were confined on ship-board in the port o 
 Lisbon by the French, should be liberated." And 
 upon what consideration ? Not upon their righ 
 to be free, as having been treacherously and cruell} 
 dealt "vvith by men who were part of a power that 
 Avas labouring to subjugate their country, and in this 
 attempt had committed inhuman crimes against it ; 
 — not even exchanged as soldiers against soldiers : — 
 but the condition of their emancipation is, that the 
 British General engages " to obtain of the Spaniards 
 to restore such French subjects, either military or 
 civil, as have been detained in Spain, without having 
 been taken in battle or in consequence of military 
 operations, but on account of the occurrences of the 
 29th of last May and the days immediately following. 
 " Occurrences .' " I know not what are exactly the 
 features of the face for which this word serves as 
 a veil : I have no register at hand to inform me what 
 these events precisely were : but there can be no 
 doubt that it was a time of triumph for liberty and 
 humanity ; and that the persons, for whom these 
 noble-minded Spaniards were to be exchanged, were 
 no other than a horde from among the most abject 
 of the French Nation ; probably those wretches, 
 who, having never faced either the dangers or the 
 fatigues of war, had been most busy in secret pre- 
 parations or were most conspicuous in open acts 
 of massacre, when the streets of Madrid, a few weeks 
 before, had been drenched with the blood of two 
 thousand of her bravest citizens. Yet the liberation 
 of these Spaniards, upon these terms, is recorded (in 
 the report of the Court of Enquiry) " as one of the
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 91 
 
 advantages which, in the contemplation of the 
 Generals, would result from the Convention ! " 
 
 Finally, " If there shall be any doubt (Article 
 XIV.) as to the meaning of any article, it shall be 
 explained favourably to the French Army ; and 
 Hostages (Article XX.) of the rank of Field Officers, 
 on the part of the British Army and Navy, shall 
 be furnished for the guarantee of the present 
 Convention." 
 
 I have now gone through the painful task of 
 examining the most material conditions of the 
 Convention of Cintra : — the whole number of the ly 
 articles is twenty-two, with three additional ones — 
 a long ladder into a deep abyss of infamy ! — 
 
 Need it be said that neglects — injuries — and 
 insults — like these which we have been contem- 
 plating, come from what quarter they may, let them 
 be exhibited towards whom they will, must produce 
 not merely mistrust and jealousy, but alienation 
 and hatred. The passions and feelings may be 
 quieted or diverted for a short time ; but, though 
 out of sight or seemingly asleep, they must exist ; 
 and the life which they have received cannot, but 
 by a long course of justice and kindness, be overcome 
 and destroyed. But why talk of a long course of 
 justice and kindness, when the immediate result 
 must have been so deplorable ? Relying upon our 
 humanity, our fellow-feeling, and our justice, upon 
 these instant and urgent claims, sanctioned by the 
 more mild one of ancient alliance, the Portugueze 
 People by voices from every part of their land 
 entreated our succour ; the arrival of a British Army 
 upon their coasts was joyfully hailed ; and the 
 people of the country zealously assisted in landing 
 the troops ; ^vithout which help, as a British General 
 has informed us, that landing could not have been
 
 92 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 effected. And it is in this manner that they are 
 repaid ! Scarcely have we set foot upon their country 
 before we sting them into self-reproaches, and act 
 in every thing as if it were our wish to make them 
 ashamed of their generous confidence as of a foolish 
 simplicity — proclaiming to them that they have 
 escaped from one thraldom only to fall into another. 
 If the French had any traitorous partizans in 
 Portugal, (and we have seen that such there were ; 
 and that nothing was left undone on our part, which 
 could be done, to keep them there, and to strengthen 
 them) what answer could have been given to one of 
 these, if (with this treaty in his hand) he had said, 
 " The French have dealt hardly with us, I allow ; but 
 we have gained nothing : the change is not for the 
 better, but for the worse : for the appetite of their 
 tyranny was palled ; but this, being new to its food, 
 is keen and vigorous. If you have only a choice 
 between two masters, (such an advocate might have 
 argued) chuse always the stronger : for he, after his 
 evil passions have had their first harvest, confident 
 in his strength, will not torment you wantonly in 
 order to prove it. Besides, the property which he 
 has in you he can maintain ; and there will be no 
 risk of your being torn in pieces — the unsettled prey 
 of two rival claimants. You will thus have the 
 advantage of a fixed and assured object of your 
 hatred : and your fear, being stripped of doubt, will 
 lose its motion and its edge : both passions will relax 
 and grow mild ; and, though they may not turn into 
 reconcilement and love, though you may not be 
 independent nor be free, yet you will at least exist 
 in tranquillity, — and possess, if not the activity of 
 hope, the security of despair." No effectual answer, 
 I say, could have been given to a man pleading thus 
 in such circumstances. So much for the choice of
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 93 
 
 evils. But, for the hope of good ! — what is to 
 become of the efforts and high resolutions of the 
 Portugueze and Spanish Nations, manifested by 
 their own hand in the manner Avhich we have seen ? 
 They may hve indeed and prosper ; but not by us, 
 but in despite of us. 
 
 Whatever may be the character of the Portugueze 
 Nation ; be it true or not, that they had a becoming 
 sense of the injuries which they had received from 
 the French Invader, and were rouzed to throw off 
 oppression by a universal effort, and to form a living 
 barrier against it ; — certain it is that, betrayed and 
 trampled upon as they had been, they held unpre- 
 cedented claims upon humanity to secure them from 
 further outrages. — Moreover, our conduct towards 
 them was grossly inconsistent. For we entered 
 their country upon the supposition that they had 
 such sensibility and virtue ; we announced to them 
 publickly and solemnly our belief in this : and indeed 
 to have landed a force in the peninsula upon any 
 other inducement would have been the excess of 
 folly and madness. But the Portugueze are a brave 
 people — a people of great courage and worth ! 
 Conclusions, draAvn from intercourse mth certain 
 classes of the depraved inhabitants of Lisbon only, 
 and which are true only A\ith respect to them, have 
 been hastily extended to the whole nation, which 
 has thus unjustly suffered both in our esteem and in 
 that of all Europe. In common Avith their neigh- 
 bours the Spaniards, they were making a universal, 
 zealous, and fearless effort ; and, whatever may be 
 the final issue, the very act of having risen under the 
 pressure and in the face of the most tremendous 
 military power which the earth has ever seen — is 
 itself evidence in their favour, the strongest and most 
 comprehensive which can be given ; a transcendent
 
 94 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 glory ! which, let it be remembered, no subsequent 
 failures in duty on their part can forfeit. This they 
 must have felt — that they had furnished an illus- 
 trious example ; and that nothing can abolish their 
 claim upon the good wishes and upon the gratitude 
 of mankind, which is — and will be through all ages 
 their due. At such a time, then, injuries and insults 
 from any quarter would have been deplorable ; but, 
 proceeding from us, the evil must have been aggra- 
 vated beyond calculation. For we have, throughout 
 Europe, the character of a sage and meditative 
 people. Our history has been read by the degraded 
 Nations of the Continent with admiration, and some 
 portions of it with awe ; with a recognition of 
 superiority and distance, which was honourable to 
 us — salutary for those to whose hearts, in their 
 depressed state, it could find entrance — and pro- 
 mising for the future condition of the human race. 
 We have been looked up to as a people who have 
 acted nobly ; whom their constitution of govern- 
 ment has enabled to speak and write freely, and 
 who therefore have thought comprehensively ; as 
 a people among whom philosophers and poets, by 
 their surpassing genius — their wisdom — and know- 
 ledge of human nature, have circulated — and made 
 familiar — divinely-tempered sentiments and the 
 purest notions concerning the duties and true dignity 
 of individual and social man in all situations and 
 under all trials. By so readily acceding to the 
 prayers with which the Spaniards and Portugueze 
 entreated our assistance, we had proved to them 
 that we were not wanting in fellow-feeling. There- 
 fore might we be admitted to be judges between 
 them and their enemies — unexceptionable judges — 
 more ^competent even than a dispassionate posterity, 
 which, from the very want comparatively of interest
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 95 
 
 and passion, might be in its examination remiss and 
 negligent, and therefore in its decision erroneous. 
 We, their contemporaries, were drawn towards 
 them as suffering beings ; but still their sufferings 
 were not ours, nor could be ; and we seemed to stand 
 at that due point of distance from which right and 
 wrong might be fairly looked at and seen in their 
 just proportions. Every thing conspired to pre- 
 possess the Spaniards and Portugueze in our favour, 
 and to give the judgment of the British Nation 
 authority in their eyes. Strange, then, would be 
 their first sensations, when, upon further trial, 
 instead of a gro^^^ng sympathy, they met with 
 demonstrations of a state of sentiment and opinion 
 abhorrent from their own. A shock must have 
 followed upon this discovery, a shock to their con- 
 fidence — not perhaps at first in us, but in themselves : 
 for, like all men under the agitation of extreme 
 passion, no doubt they had before experienced 
 occasional misgivings that they were subject to error 
 and distraction from afflictions pressing too violently 
 upon them. These flying apprehensions would now 
 take a fixed place ; and that moment would be 
 most painful. If they continued to respect our 
 opinion, so far must they have mistnjsted them- 
 selves : fatal mistrust at such a crisis ! Their 
 passion of just vengeance, their indignation, their 
 aspiring hopes, every thing that elevated and 
 cheared, must have departed from them. But this 
 bad influence, the excess of the outrage would mitigate 
 or prevent ; and we may be assured that they rather 
 recoiled from allies who had thus by their actions 
 discountenanced and condemned efforts, which the 
 most solemn testimony of conscience had avouched 
 to them were just ; — that they recoiled from us with 
 that loathing and contempt which unexpected,
 
 96 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 determined, and absolute hostility, upon points of 
 dearest interest will for ever ereate. 
 
 Again : independence and liberty were the bless- 
 ings for which the people of the Peninsula were con- 
 tending — immediate independence, which was not 
 to be gained but by modes of exertion from which 
 liberty must ensue. Now, liberty — healthy, matured, 
 time-honoured liberty — this is the growth and 
 peculiar boast of Britain ; and nature herself, by 
 encircling with the ocean the country which we 
 inhabit, has proclaimed that this mighty nation is 
 for ever to be her own ruler, and that the land is 
 set apart for the home of immortal indeiDendence. 
 Judging then from these first fruits of British 
 Friendship, what bewildering and depressing and 
 hollow thoughts must the Spaniards and Portugueze 
 have entertained concerning the real value of these 
 blessings, if the people who have possessed them 
 longest, and who ought to understand them best, 
 could send forth an army capable of enacting the 
 oppression and baseness of the Convention of Cintra ; 
 if the government of that people could sanction 
 this treaty ; and if, lastly, this distinguished and 
 favoured people themselves could suffer it to be held 
 forth to the eyes of men as expressing the sense of 
 their hearts — as an image of their understandings. 
 
 But it did not speak their sense — it was not en- 
 dured — it was not submitted to in their hearts. 
 Bitter was the sorrow of the people of Great Britain 
 when the tidings first came to their ears, when they 
 first fixed their eyes upon this covenant — over- 
 whelming was their astonishment, tormenting their 
 shame ; their indignation was tumultuous ; and the 
 burthen of the past would have been insupportable, 
 if it had not involved in its very nature a sustaining 
 hope for the future. Among many alleviations,
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 97 
 
 there was one, which, (not wisely, but overcome by 
 circumstances) all were willing to admit ; — that the 
 event was so strange and uncouth, exhibiting such 
 discordant characteristics of innocent fatuity and 
 enormous guilt, that it could not without violence 
 be thought of as indicative of a general constitution 
 of things, either in the country or the government ; 
 but that it was a kind of lusus natures in the moral 
 world — a solitary straggler out of the circumference 
 of nature's law — a monster which could not propa- 
 gate, and had no birthright in futurity. Accord- 
 ingly, the first expectation was that the government 
 would deem itself under the necessity of disanulling 
 the Convention ; a necessity which, though in itself 
 a great e\al, appeared small in the eyes of judicious 
 men, compared with the consequences of admitting 
 that such a contract could be binding. For they, 
 who had signed and ratified it, had not only glaringly 
 exceeded all power which could be supposed to be 
 vested in them as holding a military office ; but, in 
 the exercise of political functions, they had framed 
 ordinances which neither the government, nor the 
 nation, nor any power on earth, could confer upon 
 them a right to frame : therefore the contract was 
 self-destroying from the beginning. It is a wretched 
 oversight, or a wilful abuse of terms still more 
 %vretched, to speak of the good faith of a nation as 
 being pledged to an act which was not a shattering 
 of the edifice of justice, but a subversion of its 
 foundations. One man cannot sign away the faculty 
 of reason in another ; much less can one or two 
 individuals do this for a whole people. Therefore 
 the contract was void, both from its injustice and its 
 absurdity ; and the party, with whom it was made, 
 must have known it to be so. It could not then but 
 be expected by many that the government would 
 
 624-38 H
 
 98 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 reject it. Moreover, extraordinary outrages against 
 reason and virtue demand that extraordinary 
 sacrifices of atonement should be made upon their 
 altars ; and some were encouraged to think that 
 a government might upon this impulse rise above 
 itself, and turn an exceeding disgrace into true glory, 
 by a public profession of shame and repentance for 
 having appointed such unworthy instruments ; that, 
 this being acknowledged, it would clear itself from 
 all imputation of having any further connection 
 with what had been done, and would provide that 
 the nation should as speedily as possible, be purified 
 from all suspicion of looking upon it with other 
 feelings than those of abhorrence. The people knew 
 what had been their own wishes when the army was 
 sent in aid of their allies ; and they clung to the 
 faith, that their wishes and the aims of the Govern- 
 ment must have been in unison ; and that the guilt 
 would soon be judicially fastened upon those who 
 stood forth as principals, and who (it was hoped) 
 would be found to have fulfilled only their own will 
 and pleasure, — to have had no explicit commission 
 or implied encouragement for what they had done, 
 — no accessaries in their crime. The punishment 
 of these persons was anticipated, not to satisfy any 
 cravings of vindictive justice (for these, if they could 
 have existed in such a case, had been thoroughly 
 appeased already : for what punishment could be 
 greater than to have brought upon themselves the 
 unremoveable contempt and hatred of their country- 
 men ?) ; but for this reason — that a judicial condem- 
 nation of the men, who were openly the proximate 
 cause, and who were forgetfully considered as the 
 single and sole originating source, would make our 
 detestation of the effect more signally manifest. 
 These thoughts, if not welcomed without scruple
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 99 
 
 and relied upon without fear, were at least en- 
 couraged ; till it was recollected that the persons 
 at the head of government had ordered that the 
 event should be communicated to the inhabitants 
 of the metropolis mth signs of national rejoicing. 
 No wonder if, when these rejoicings were called to 
 mind, it was impossible to entertain the faith which 
 would have been most consolatory. The evil 
 appeared no longer as the forlorn monster which 
 I have described. It put on another shape, and was 
 endued with a more formidable life — with power to 
 generate and transmit after its kind. A new and 
 alarming import was added to the event by this 
 open testimony of gladness and approbation ; 
 which intimated — which declared — that the spirit, 
 which swayed the individuals who were the osten- 
 sible and immediate authors of the Convention, 
 was not confined to them ; but that it was widely 
 prevalent : else it could not have been found in 
 the very council-seat ; there, where if wisdom and 
 virtue have not some influence, what is to become 
 of the nation in these times of peril ? rather say, 
 into what an abyss is it already fallen ! 
 
 His Majesty's ministers, by this mode of com- 
 municating the tidings, indiscreet as it was unfeeling, 
 had committed themselves. Yet still they might 
 have recovered from the lapse, have awakened after 
 a little time. And accordingly, notwithstanding an 
 annunciation so ominous, it was matter of surprise 
 and sorrow to many, that the ministry appeared to 
 deem the Convention binding, and that its terms 
 were to be fulfilled. There had indeed been only 
 a choice of evils : but, of the two, the worse — ten 
 thousand times the worse — was fixed upon. The 
 ministers, having thus officially applauded the treaty, 
 — and, by suffering it to be carried into execution, 
 
 H 2
 
 100 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 made themselves a party to the transaction, — drew 
 upon themselves those suspicions which will ever 
 pursue the steps of public men who abandon the 
 direct road which leads to the welfare of their 
 country. It was suspected that they had taken this 
 part against the dictates of conscience, and from 
 selfishness and cowardice ; that, from the first, they 
 reasoned thus within themselves : — " If the act be 
 indeed so criminal as there is cause to believe that 
 the public will pronounce it to be ; and if it shall 
 continue to be regarded as such ; great odium must 
 sooner or later fall upon those who have appointed 
 the agents : And this odium, which ^vill be from 
 the first considerable, in spite of the astonishment 
 and indignation of which the framers of the Con- 
 vention may be the immediate object, will, when the 
 astonishment has relaxed, and the angry passions 
 have died away, settle (for many causes) more 
 heavily upon those who, by placing such men in the 
 command, are the original source of the guilt and 
 the dishonour. How then is this most effectually 
 to be prevented ? By endeavouring to prevent or to 
 destroy, as far as may be, the odium attached to 
 the act itself." For which purpose it was suspected 
 that the rejoicings had been ordered ; and that 
 afterwards (when the people had declared themselves 
 so loudly), — partly upon the plea of the good faith 
 of the nation being pledged, and partly from a false 
 estimate of the comparative force of the two obHga- 
 tions, — the Convention, in the same selfish spirit, 
 was carried into effect ; and that the ministry took 
 upon itself a final responsibility, with a vain hope 
 that, by so doing and incorporating its own credit 
 with the transaction, it might bear down the cen- 
 sures of the people, and overrule their judgment to 
 the superinducing of a belief, that the treaty was
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 101 
 
 not so unjust and inexpedient : and thus would be 
 included — in one sweeping exculpation — the mis- 
 deeds of the servant and the master. 
 
 But, — whether these suspicions were reasonable 
 or not, whatever motives produced a determination 
 that the Convention should be acted upon, — there 
 can be no doubt of the manner in which the ministry 
 wished that the people should appreciate it ; when 
 the same persons, who had ordered that it should 
 at first be received with rejoicing, availed themselves 
 of his Majesty's high authority to give a harsh re- 
 proof to the City of London for ha\Ting prayed " that 
 an enquiry might be instituted into this dishonour- 
 able and unprecedented transaction." In their 
 petition they styled it also " an afflicting event — 
 humiliating and degrading to the country, and 
 injurious to his Majesty's Allies." And for this, 
 to the astonishment and grief of all sound minds, 
 the petitioners were severely reprimanded ; and 
 told, among other admonitions, " that it was incon- 
 sistent ^vith the principles of British jurisprudence 
 to pronounce judgement without previous investi- 
 gation." 
 
 Upon this charge, as re-echoed in its general 
 import by persons who have been over-awed or 
 deceived, and by others who have been wilful 
 deceivers, I have already incidentally animadverted; 
 and repelled it, I trust, with becoming indignation. 
 I shall now meet the charge for the last time formally 
 and directly ; on account of considerations applic- 
 able to all times ; and because the whole course of 
 domestic proceedings relating to the Convention of 
 Cintra, combined with menaces which have been 
 recently thrown out in the lower House of Parlia- 
 ment, renders it too probable that a league has been 
 framed for the purpose of laying further restraints
 
 102 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 upon freedom of speech and of the press ; and that 
 the reprimand to the City of London was devised by 
 ministers as a preparatory overt act of this scheme ; 
 to the great abuse of the Sovereign's Authority, 
 and in contempt of the rights of the nation. In 
 meeting this charge, I shall shew to what desperate 
 issues men are brought, and in what woeful laby- 
 rinths they are entangled, when, under the pretext 
 of defending instituted law, they violate the laws 
 of reason and nature for their own unhallowed 
 purposes. 
 
 If the persons, who signed this petition, acted 
 inconsistently with the principles of British juris- 
 prudence ; the offence must have been committed 
 by giving an answer, before adequate and lawful 
 evidence had entitled them so to do, to one or other 
 of these questions : — " What is the act ? and who 
 is the agent ? " — or to both conjointly. Now the 
 petition gives no opinion upon the agent ; it pro- 
 nounces only upon the act, and that some one must 
 be guilty ; but who — it does not take upon itself to 
 say. It condemns the act ; and calls for punish- 
 ment upon the authors, whosoever they may be 
 found to be ; and does no more. After the analysis 
 which has been made of the Convention, I may ask 
 if there be any thing in this which deserves reproof ; 
 and reproof from an authority which ought to be 
 most enlightened and most dispassionate, — as it is, 
 next to the legislative, the most solemn authority 
 in the land. 
 
 It is known to every one that the privilege of 
 complaint and petition, in cases where the nation 
 feels itself aggrieved, itself being the judge, (and who 
 else ought to be, or can be ?) — a privilege, the exer- 
 cise of which implies condemnation of something 
 complained of, followed by a prayer for its removal
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 103 
 
 or correction — not only is established by the most 
 grave and authentic charters of Englishmen, who 
 have been taught by their wisest statesmen and 
 legislators to be jealous over its preservation, and to 
 call it into practice upon every reasonable occasion ; 
 but also that this privilege is an indispensable con- 
 dition of all civil liberty. Nay, of such paramount 
 interest is it to mankind, existing under any frame 
 of Government whatsoever ; that, either by law or 
 custom, it has universally prevailed under all govern- 
 ments — from the Grecian and Swiss Democracies 
 to the Despotisms of Imperial Rome, of Turkey, 
 and of France under her present ruler. It must 
 then be a high principle which could exact obeisance 
 from governments at the two extremes of polity, 
 and from all modes of government inclusively ; 
 from the best and from the worst ; from magistrates 
 acting under obedience to the stedfast law which 
 expresses the general will ; and from depraved and 
 licentious tyrants, whose habit it is — to express, 
 and to act upon, their own individual will. Tyrants 
 have seemed to feel that, if this principle were 
 acknowledged, the subject ought to be reconciled to 
 any thing ; that, by permitting the free exercise of 
 this right alone, an adequate price was paid down for 
 all abuses ; that a standing pardon was included in 
 it for the past, and a daily renewed indulgence for 
 every future enormity. It is then melancholy to 
 think that the time is come when an attempt has 
 been made to tear, out of the venerable crown of the 
 Sovereign of Great Britain, a gem which is in the 
 very front of the turban of the Emperor of Morocco. 
 — {See Appendix D.) 
 
 To enter upon this argument is indeed both 
 astounding and humiliating : for the adversary in 
 the present case is bound to contend that we cannot
 
 104 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 pronounce upon evil or good, either in the actions 
 of our own or in past times, unless the decision of 
 a Court of Judicature has empowered us so to do. 
 Why then have historians written ? and why do we 
 yield to the impulses of our nature, hating or loving 
 — approving or condemning according to the appear- 
 ances which their records present to our eyes ? 
 But the doctrine is as nefarious as it is absurd. For 
 those public events in which men are most inter- 
 ested, namely, the crimes of rulers and of persons in 
 high authority, for the most part are such as either 
 have never been brought before tribunals at all, or 
 before unjust ones : for, though offenders may be 
 in hostility with each other, yet the kingdom of guilt 
 is not wholly divided against itself ; its subjects 
 are united by a general interest to elude or over- 
 come that law which would bring them to condign 
 punishment. Therefore to make a verdict of a Court 
 of Judicature a necessary condition for enabling men 
 to determine the quality of an act, when the " head 
 and front " — the life and soul of the offence may 
 have been, that it eludes or rises above the reach of 
 all judicature, is a contradiction which would be too 
 gross to merit notice, were it not that men willingly 
 suffer their understandings to stagnate. And hence 
 this rotten bog, rotten and unstable as the crude 
 consistence of Milton's Chaos, " smitten " (for I will 
 continue to use the language of the poet) " by the 
 petrific mace — and bound with Gorgonian rigour by 
 the look " — of despotism, is transmuted ; and be- 
 comes a high- way of adamant for the sorrowful steps 
 of generation after generation. 
 
 Again : in cases where judicial inquiries can be 
 and are instituted, and are equitably conducted, this 
 suspension of judgment, with respect to act or agent, 
 is only supposed necessarily to exist in the court
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 105 
 
 itself ; not in the witnesses, the plaintiffs or accusers, 
 or in the minds even of the people who may be present. 
 If the contrary supposition were realized, how could 
 the arraigned person ever have been brought into 
 court? What would become of the indignation, 
 the hope, the sorrow, or the sense of justice, by which 
 the prosecutors, or the people of the country who 
 pursued or apprehended the presumed criminal, or 
 they who appear in evidence against him, are 
 actuated ? If then this suspension of judgment, by 
 a law of human nature and a requisite of society, is 
 not supposed necessarily to exist — except in the minds 
 of the court ; if this be undeniable in cases where the 
 eye and ear- witnesses are few ; — how much more so 
 in a case like the present ; where all, that constitutes 
 the essence of the act, is avowed by the agents them- 
 selves, and lies bare to the notice of the whole world ? 
 — Now it was in the character of complainants and 
 denunciators, that the petitioners of the City of 
 London appeared before his Majesty's throne ; and 
 they have been reproached by his Majesty's ministers 
 under the cover of a sophism, which, if our anxiety 
 to interpret favourably words sanctioned by the First 
 Magistrate — makes us unwilling to think it a deli- 
 berate artifice meant for the delusion of the people, 
 must however (on the most charitable comment) be 
 pronounced an evidence of no little heedlessness and 
 self-delusion on the part of those who framed it. 
 
 To sum up the matter — the right of petition 
 (which, we have shewn as a general proposition, 
 supposes a right to condemn, and is in itself an act of 
 qualified condemnation) may in too many instances 
 take the ground of absolute condemnation, both 
 with respect to the crime and the criminal. It was 
 confined, in this case, to the crime ; but, if the City 
 of London had proceeded farther, they would have
 
 106 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 been justifiable ; because the delinquents had set 
 their hands to their own delinquency. The peti- 
 tioners, then, are not only clear of all blame ; but 
 are entitled to high praise : and we have seen 
 whither the doctrines lead, upon which they were 
 condemned. — And now, mark the discord which will 
 ever be found in the actions of men, where there is 
 no inward harmony of reason or virtue to regulate 
 the outward conduct. 
 
 Those ministers, who advised their Sovereign to 
 reprove the City of London for uttering prematurely, 
 upon a measure, an opinion in which they were 
 supported by the unanimous voice of the nation, had 
 themselves before publickly prejudged the question 
 by ordering that the tidings should be communicated 
 with rejoicings. One of their body has since 
 attempted to wipe away this stigma by representing 
 that these orders were given out of a just tenderness 
 for the reputation of the generals, who would other- 
 wise have appeared to be condemned without trial. 
 But did these rejoicings leave the matter indifferent ? 
 Was not the positive fact of thus expressing an 
 opinion (above all in a case like this, in which surely 
 no man could ever dream that there were any features 
 of splendour) far stronger language of approbation, 
 than the negative fact could be of disapprobation ? 
 For these same ministers who had called upon the 
 people of Great Britain to rejoice over the Armistice 
 and Convention, and who reproved and discounten- 
 anced and suppressed to the utmost of their power 
 every attempt at petitioning for redress of the injury 
 caused by those treaties, have now made publick 
 a document from which it appears that, " when the 
 instruments were first laid before his Majesty, the 
 king felt himself compelled at once " (i. e. previously 
 to all investigation) " to express his disapprobation
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 107 
 
 of those articles, in which stipulations were made 
 directly affecting the interests or feelings of the 
 Spanish and Portugueze nations." 
 
 And was it possible that a Sovereign of a free 
 country could be othermse affected ? It is indeed 
 to be regretted that his Majesty's censure was not, 
 upon this occasion, radical — and pronounced in 
 a sterner tone ; that a council was not in existence 
 sufficiently intelligent and virtuous to advise the 
 king to give full expression to the sentiments of 
 his own mind ; which, we may reasonably conclude, 
 were in sympathy with those of a brave and loyal 
 people. Never surely was there a public event more 
 fitted to reduce men, in all ranks of society, under 
 the supremacy of their common nature ; to impress 
 upon them one belief ; to infuse into them one spirit. 
 For it was not done in a remote corner by persons of 
 obscure rank ; but in the eyes of Europe and of all 
 mankind ; by the leading authorities, military and 
 civil, of a mighty empire. It did not relate to a petty 
 immunity, or a local and insulated privilege — but to 
 the highest feelings of honour to which a nation may 
 either be calmly and gradually raised by a long course 
 of independence, liberty, and glory ; or to the level 
 of which it may be lifted up at once, from a fallen 
 state, by a sudden and extreme pressure of violence 
 and tyranny. It not only related to these high 
 feehngs of honour ; but to the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of justice, by which life and property, that is 
 the means of living, arc secured. 
 
 A people, whose government had been dissolved 
 by foreign tyranny, and which had been left to work 
 out its salvation by its own virtues, prayed for our 
 help. And whence were we to learn how that help 
 could be most effectually given, how they were even 
 to be preserved from receiving injuries instead of
 
 108 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 benefits at our hands, — whence were we to learn this 
 but from their language and from our own hearts ? 
 They had spoken of unrelenting and inhuman wrongs ; 
 of patienee wearied out ; of the agonizing yoke 
 cast off ; of the blessed ser^dce of freedom chosen ; 
 of heroic aspirations ; of constancy, and fortitude, 
 and perseverance ; of resolution even to the death ; 
 of gladness in the embrace of death ; of weeping over 
 the graves of the slain, by those who had not been 
 so happy as to die ; of resignation under the worst 
 final doom ; of glory, and triumph, and punishment. 
 This was the language which we heard — this was 
 the devout hymn that was chaunted ; and the 
 responses, with which our country bore a part in 
 the solemn service, were from her soul and from 
 the depths of her soul. 
 
 O sorrow ! O misery for England, the land of 
 liberty and courage and peace ; the land trust- 
 worthy and long approved ; the home of lofty 
 example and benign precept ; the central orb to 
 which, as to a fountain, the nations of the earth 
 " ought to repair, and in their golden urns draw 
 light ; " — O sorrow and shame for our country ; for 
 the grass which is upon her fields, and the dust 
 which is in her graves ; — for her good men who now 
 look upon the day ; — and her long train of 
 deliverers and defenders, her Alfred, her Sidneys, 
 and her ]VIilton ; whose voice yet speaketh for our 
 reproach ; and whose actions survive in memory 
 to confound us, or to redeem ! 
 
 For what hath been done ? look at it : we have 
 looked at it : we have handled it : we have pondered 
 it steadily : we have tried it by the principles of 
 absolute and eternal justice ; by the sentiments of 
 high-minded honour, both "vvith reference to their 
 general nature, and to their especial exaltation under
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 109 
 
 present circumstances ; by the rules of expedience ; 
 by the maxims of prudence, ci\'il and miUtary : we 
 have weighed it in the balance of all these, and found 
 it wanting ; in that, which is most excellent, most 
 wanting. 
 
 Our country placed herself by the side of Spain, 
 and her fellow nation ; she sent an honourable 
 portion of her sons to aid a suffering people to sub- 
 jugate or destroy an army — but I degrade the word — 
 a banded multitude of perfidious oppressors, of 
 robbers and assassins, who had outlawed themselves 
 from society in the wantonness of power ; who were 
 abominable for their own crimes, and on account of 
 the crimes of him whom they served — to subjugate or 
 destroy these ; not exacting that it should be done 
 within a limited time ; admitting even that they 
 might effect their purpose or not ; she could have 
 borne either issue, she was prepared for either ; but 
 she was not prepared for such a deliverance as hath 
 been accomplished ; not a deliverance of Portugal 
 from French oppression, but of the oppressor from 
 the anger and power (at least from the animating 
 efforts) of the Peninsula : she was not prepared to 
 stand between her allies, and their worthiest hopes : 
 that, when chastisement could not be inflicted, honour 
 — as much as bad men could receive — should be 
 conferred : that them, whom her own hands had 
 humbled, the same hands and no other should exalt : 
 that finally the sovereign of this horde of devastators, 
 himself the destroyer of the hopes of good men, 
 should have to say, through the mouth of his minister, 
 and for the hearing of all Europe, that his army of 
 Portugal had " dictated the terms of its glorious 
 
 RETREAT." 
 
 I have to defend my countrymen : and, if their 
 feelings deserve reverence, if there be any stirrings
 
 110 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 of wisdom in the motions of their souls, my task is 
 accomplished. For here were no factions to blind ; 
 no dissolution of established authorities to confound ; 
 no ferments to distemper ; no narrow selfish interests 
 to delude. The object was at a distance ; and it 
 rebounded upon us, as with force collected from 
 a mighty distance ; we were calm till the very 
 moment of transition ; and all the people were 
 moved — and felt as with one heart, and spake as 
 with one voice. Every human being in these 
 islands was unsettled ; the most slavish broke loose 
 as from fetters ; and there was not an individual — it 
 need not be said of heroic virtue, but of ingenuous 
 life and sound discretion — who, if his father, his son, 
 or his brother, or if the flower of his house had been 
 in that army, would not rather that they had 
 perished, and the whole body of their countrymen, 
 their companions in arms, had perished to a man, 
 than that a treaty should have been submitted to 
 upon such conditions. This was the feeling of the 
 people ; an awful feeling : and it is from these 
 oracles that rulers are to learn wisdom. 
 
 For, when the people speaks loudly, it is from 
 being strongly possessed either by the Godhead or 
 the Demon ; and he, who cannot discover the true 
 spirit from the false, hath no ear for profitable com- 
 munion. But in all that regarded the destinies of 
 Spain, and her own as connected with them, the 
 voice of Britain had the unquestionable sound of 
 inspiration. If the gentle passions of pity, love, and 
 gratitude, be porches of the temple ; if the senti- 
 ments of admiration and rivalry be pillars upon 
 which the structure is sustained ; if, lastly, hatred, 
 and anger, and vengeance, be steps which, by a 
 mystery of nature, lead to the House of Sanctity ; — 
 then was it manifest to what power the edifice was
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 111 
 
 consecrated ; and that the voice ^vithin was of 
 Holiness and Truth. 
 
 Spain had risen not merely to be delivered and 
 saved ; — deUverance and safety were but inter- 
 mediate objects ; — regeneration and Uberty were 
 the end, and the means by which this end was to be 
 attained ; had their own high value ; were deter- 
 mined and precious ; and could no more admit of 
 being departed from, than the end of being forgotten. 
 — She had risen — not merely to be free ; but, in the 
 act and process of acquiring that freedom, to recom- 
 pense herself, as it were in a moment, for all which 
 she had suffered through ages ; to levy, upon the 
 false fame of a cruel Tyrant, large contributions of 
 true glory ; to lift herself, by the conflict, as high 
 in honour — as the disgrace was deep to which her 
 own weakness and vices, and the violence and perfidy 
 of her enemies, had subjected her. 
 
 Let us suppose that our own land had been so 
 outraged ; could we have been content that the 
 enemy should be wafted from our shores as lightly 
 as he came, — much less that he should depart 
 illustrated in his own eyes and glorified, singing 
 songs of savage triumph and wicked gaiety ? — No. — 
 Should we not have felt that a high trespass — a 
 grievous offence had been committed ; and that to 
 demand satisfaction was our first and indispensable 
 duty ? Would we not have rendered their bodies 
 back upon our guardian ocean which had borne them 
 hither ; or have insisted that their haughty weapons 
 should submissively kiss the soil which they had 
 polluted ? We should have been resolute in a defence 
 that would strike awe and terror : this for our 
 dignity : — moreover, if safety and deliverance are 
 to be so fondly prized for their own sakes, what 
 security otherwise could they have ? Would it not
 
 112 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 be certain that the work, which had been so ill done 
 to-day, we should be called upon to execute still 
 more imperfectly and ingloriously to-morrow ; that 
 we should be summoned to an attempt that would 
 be vain ? 
 
 In like manner were the wise and heroic Spaniards 
 moved. If an Angel from heaven had come with 
 power to take the enemy from their grasp (I do not 
 fear to say this, in spite of the dominion which is now 
 re-extended over so large a portion of their land), they 
 would have been sad ; they would have looked round 
 them ; their souls would have turned inward ; and they 
 would have stood like men defrauded and betrayed. 
 
 For not presumptuously had they taken upon 
 themselves the work of chastisement. They did not 
 wander madly about the world — like the Tamer- 
 lanes, or the Chengiz Khans, or the present barbarian 
 Ravager of Europe — under a mock title of Delegates 
 of the Almighty, acting upon self-assumed authority. 
 Their commission had been thrust upon them. 
 They had been trampled upon, tormented, wronged 
 — bitterly, wantonly wronged — if ever a people on 
 the earth was wronged. And this it was which legi- 
 timately incorporated their law mth the supreme 
 conscience, and gave to them the deep faith which 
 they have expressed — that their power was favoured 
 and assisted by the Almighty. — These words are not 
 uttered without a due sense of their awful import : 
 but the Spirit of evil is strong : and the subject 
 requires the highest mode of thinking and feeling 
 of which human nature is capable. — Nor in this can 
 they be deceived ; for, whatever be the immediate 
 issue for themselves, the final issue for their Country 
 and Mankind must be good ; — they are instruments 
 of benefit and glory for the human race ; and the 
 Deity therefore is with them.
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 113 
 
 From these impulses, then, our brethren of the 
 Peninsula had risen ; they could have risen from no 
 other. By these energies, and by such others as 
 (under judicious encouragement) would naturally 
 grow out of and unite with these, the multitudes, 
 who have risen, stand ; and, if they desert them, 
 must fall. — Riddance, mere riddance — safety, mere 
 safety — are objects far too defined, too inert and 
 passive in their own nature, to have ability either to 
 rouze or to sustain. They win not the mind by any 
 attraction of grandeur or sublime delight, either in 
 effort or in endurance : for the mind gains conscious- 
 ness of its strength to undergo only by exercise 
 among materials which admit the impression of its 
 power, — which grow under it, which bend under it, 
 — which resist, — which change under its influence, — 
 which alter either through its might or in its pres- 
 ence, by it or before it. These, during times of 
 tranquillity, are the objects with which, in the studi- 
 ous walks of sequestered life, Genius most loves to 
 hold intercourse ; by which it is reared and sup- 
 ported ; — these are the qualities in action and in 
 object, in image, in thought, and in feeling, from 
 communion with which proceeds originally all that 
 is creative in art and science, and all that is magnani- 
 mous in virtue. — Despair thinks of safety, and hath 
 no purpose ; fear thinks of safety ; despondency 
 looks the same way : — but these passions are far too 
 selfish, and therefore too blind, to reach the thing 
 at which they aim ; even when there is in them 
 sufficient dignity to have an aim. — All courage is 
 a projection from ourselves ; however short-lived, 
 it is a motion of hope. But these thoughts bind too 
 closely to something inward, — to the present and 
 to the past, — that is, to the self which is or has 
 been. Whereas the vigour of the human soul is from 
 
 824.38 I
 
 114 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 without and from futurity, — in breaking down limit, 
 and losing and forgetting herself in the sensation 
 and image of Country and of the human race ; and, 
 when she returns and is most restricted and confined, 
 her dignity consists in the contemplation of a better 
 and more exalted being, which, though proceeding 
 from herself, she loves and is devoted to as to another. 
 
 In following the stream of these thoughts, I have 
 not wandered from my course : I have drawn out 
 to open day the truth from its recesses in the minds 
 of my countrymen. — Something more perhaps may 
 have been done : a shape hath perhaps been given 
 to that which was before a stirring spirit. I have 
 shewn in what manner it was their wish that the 
 struggle with the adversary of all that is good should 
 be maintained — by pure passions and high actions. 
 They forbid that their noble aim should be frustrated 
 by measuring against each other things which are 
 incommensurate — mechanic against moral power — 
 body against soul. They will not suffer, without 
 expressing their sorrow, that purblind calculation 
 should wither the purest hopes in the face of all- 
 seeing justice. These are times of strong appeal — 
 of deep-searching visitation ; when the best abstrac- 
 tions of the prudential understanding give way, and 
 are included and absorbed in a supreme compre- 
 hensiveness of intellect and passion ; which is the 
 perfection and the very being of humanity. 
 
 How base ! how puny ! how inefficient for all 
 good purposes are the tools and implements of policy, 
 compared with these mighty engines of Nature ! — 
 There is no middle course : two masters cannot be 
 served : — Justice must either be enthroned above 
 might, and the moral law take place of the edicts of 
 selfish passion ; or the heart of the people, which 
 alone can sustain the efforts of the people, will
 
 THE COXVEXTION OF CINTRA 115 
 
 languish : their desires will not spread beyond the 
 plough and the loom, the field and the fireside : the 
 sword will appear to them an emblem of no promise ; 
 an instrument of no hope ; an object of indifference, 
 of disgust, or fear. Was there ever — since the 
 earliest actions of men which have been transmitted 
 by affectionate tradition or recorded by faithful 
 history, or sung to the impassioned harp of poetry — 
 was there ever a people who presented themselves 
 to the reason and the imagination, as under more 
 holy influences than the dwellers upon the Southern 
 Peninsula ; as rouzed more instantaneously from 
 a deadly sleep to a more hopeful wakefulness ; as 
 a mass fluctuating with one motion under the breath 
 of a mightier A\ind ; as breaking themselves up, and 
 settling into several bodies, in more harmonious 
 order ; as reunited and embattled under a standard 
 Avhich was reared to the sun ^^'ith more authentic 
 assurance of final victory ? — The superstition (I do 
 not dread the word), which prevailed in these 
 nations, may have checked many of my countrymen 
 who would otherwise have exultingly accompanied 
 me in the challenge which, under the shape of a 
 question, I have been confidently uttering ; as I 
 know that this stain (so the same persons termed it) 
 did, from the beginning, discourage their hopes for 
 the cause. Short-sighted despondency ! Whatever 
 mixture of superstition there might be in the religious 
 faith or devotional practices of the Spaniards ; this 
 must have necessarily been transmuted by that 
 triumphant power, wherever that power was felt, 
 which grows out of intense moral suffering — from the 
 moment in which it coalesces with fervent hope. 
 The chains of bigotry, which enthralled the mind, 
 must have been turned into armour to defend and 
 weapons to annoy. Wherever the heaving and effort 
 
 I 2
 
 IIG THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 of freedom was spread, purification must have 
 followed it. And the types and ancient instruments 
 of error, where emancipated men shewed their fore- 
 heads to the day, must have become a language 
 and a ceremony of imagination ; expressing, conse- 
 crating, and invigorating, the most pure deductions 
 of Reason and the holiest feelings of universal 
 Nature. 
 
 When the Boy of Saragossa (as we have been told), 
 too immature in growth and unconfirmed in strength 
 to be admitted by his Fellow-citizens into their 
 ranks, too tender of age for them to bear the sight 
 of him in arms — when this Boy, forgetful or unmind- 
 ful of the restrictions which had been put upon him, 
 rushed into the field where his Countrymen were 
 engaged in battle, and, fighting with the sinew and 
 courage of an unripe Hero, won a standard from the 
 enemy, and bore his acquisition to the Church, and 
 laid it with his own hands upon the Altar of the 
 Virgin ; — surely there was not less to be hoped for his 
 Country from this act, than if the banner, taken from 
 his grasp, had, without any such intermediation, 
 been hung up in the place of worship — a direct 
 offering to the incorporeal and supreme Being. 
 Surely there is here an object which the most medi- 
 tative and most elevated minds may contemplate 
 Avith absolute delight ; a well-adapted outlet for the 
 dearest sentiments ; an organ by which they may 
 act ; a function by which they may be sustained. — 
 Who does not recognise in this presentation a visible 
 affinity with deliverance, with patriotism, with 
 hatred of oppression, and Mith human means put 
 forth to the height for accomplishing, under divine 
 countenance, the worthiest ends ? 
 
 Such is the burst and growth of power and virtue 
 which may rise out of excessive national afflictions
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 117 
 
 from tyranny and oppression ; — such is the hallow- 
 ing influence, and thus mighty is the sway, of the 
 spirit of moral justice in the heart of the indi- 
 vidual and over the ^vide world of humanity. Even 
 the very faith in present miraculous interposition, 
 which is so dire a weakness and cause of weakness in 
 tranquil times when the listless Being turns to it as 
 a cheap and ready substitute upon every occasion, 
 where the man sleeps, and the Saint, or the image of 
 the Saint, is to perform his work, and to give effect 
 to his wishes ; — even this infirm faith, in a state 
 of incitement from extreme passion sanctioned by 
 a paramount sense of moral justice ; having for its 
 object a poAver which is no longer sole nor principal, 
 but secondary and ministerial ; a power added to 
 a power ; a breeze which springs up unthought-of 
 to assist the strenuous oarsman ; — even this faith is 
 subjugated in order to be exalted ; and — instead of 
 operating as a temptation to relax or to be remiss, 
 as an encouragement to indolence or cowardice ; 
 instead of being a false stay, a necessary and definite 
 dependence which may fail — it passes into a habit 
 of obscure and infinite confidence of the mind in its 
 own energies, in the cause from its own sanctity, 
 and in the ever-present invisible aid or momentary 
 conspicuous approbation of the supreme Disposer 
 of things. 
 
 Let the fire, which is never wholly to be extin- 
 guished, break out afresh ; let but the human crea- 
 ture be rouzed ; whether he have lain heedless and 
 torpid in religious or civil slavery — have languished 
 under a thraldom, domestic or foreign, or under both 
 these alternately — or have drifted about a helpless 
 member of a clan of disjointed and feeble barbarians ; 
 let him rise and act ; — and his domineering imagina- 
 tion, by which from childhood he has been betrayed.
 
 118 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 and the debasing affections, which it has imposed 
 upon him, will from that moment participate the 
 dignity of the newly ennobled being whom they will 
 now acknowledge for their master ; and will further 
 him in his progress, whatever be the object at which 
 he aims. Still more inevitable and momentous are 
 the results, when the individual knows that the fire, 
 which is reanimated in him, is not less lively in the 
 breasts of his associates ; and sees the signs and 
 testimonies of his own power, incorporated with 
 those of a growing multitude and not to be distin- 
 guished from them, accompany him wherever he 
 moves. — Hence those marvellous atchievements 
 M^hich were performed by the first enthusiastic 
 followers of Mohammed ; and by other conquerors, 
 who with their armies have swept large portions of 
 the earth like a transitory wind, or have founded 
 new religions or empires. — But, if the object con- 
 tended for be worthy and truly great (as, in the 
 instance of the Spaniards, we have seen that it is) ; 
 if cruelties have been committed upon an ancient 
 and venerable people, which " shake the human 
 frame with horror ; " if not alone the life which is 
 sustained by the bread of the mouth, but that — 
 without which there is no life — the life in the soul, 
 has been directly and mortally warred against ; if 
 reason has had abominations to endure in her inmost 
 sanctuary ; — then does intense passion, consecrated 
 by a sudden revelation of justice, give birth to those 
 higher and better wonders which I have described ; 
 and exhibit true miracles to the eyes of men, and the 
 noblest which can be seen. It may be added that, 
 — as this union brings back to the right road the 
 faculty of imagination, where it is prone to err, and 
 has gone farthest astray ; as it corrects those 
 qualities which (being in their essence indifferent),
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 119 
 
 and cleanses those affections which (not being 
 inherent in the constitution of man, nor necessarily 
 determined to their object) are more immediately 
 dependent upon the imagination, and which may 
 have received from it a thorough taint of dishonour ; 
 — so the domestic loves and sanctities which are in 
 their nature less liable to be stained, — so these, 
 wherever they have flowed with a pure and placid 
 stream, do instantly, under the same influence, put 
 forth their strength as in a flood ; and, without being 
 sullied or polluted, pursue — exultingly and with 
 song — a course which leads the contemplative 
 reason to the ocean of eternal love. 
 
 I feel that I have been speaking in a strain which 
 it is difficult to harmonize with the petty irritations, 
 the doubts and fears, and the familiar (and there- 
 fore frequently undignified) exterior of present and 
 passing events. But the theme is justice : and my 
 voice is raised for mankind ; for us who are alive, 
 and for all posterity : — justice and passion ; clear- 
 sighted aspiring justice, and passion sacred as 
 vehement. These, like twin-born Deities delighting 
 in each other's presence, have wrought marvels in 
 the inward mind through the whole region of the 
 Pyrenean Peninsula. I have shewn by what process 
 these united powers sublimated the objects of out- 
 ward sense in such rites — practices — and ordinances 
 of Religion — as deviate from simplicity and whole- 
 some piety ; how they converted them to instru- 
 ments of nobler use ; and raised them to a conformity 
 with things truly divine. The same reasoning 
 might have been carried into the customs of civil 
 life and their accompanying imagery, wherever these 
 also were inconsistent with the dignity of man ; 
 and like effects of exaltation and purification have 
 been shewn.
 
 120 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 But a more urgent service calls me to point to 
 further Avorks of these united powers, more obvious 
 and obtrusive — works and appearances, such as 
 were hailed by the citizen of Seville when returning 
 
 from Madrid ; • " where " (to use the words of 
 
 his own public declaration) " he had left his country- 
 men groaning in the chains which perfidy had thrown 
 round them, and doomed at every step to the insult 
 of being eyed with the disdain of the conqueror to 
 the conquered ; from Madrid threatened, harrassed, 
 and vexed ; where mistrust reigned in every heart, 
 and the smallest noise made the citizens tremble in 
 the bosom of their families ; where the enemy, from 
 time to time, ran to arms to sustain the impression 
 of terror by which the inhabitants had been stricken 
 through the recent massacre ; from Madrid a prison, 
 where the gaolers took pleasure in terrifying the 
 prisoners by alarms to keep them quiet ; from 
 Madrid thus tortured and troubled by a relentless 
 Tyrant, to fit it for the slow and interminable evils 
 
 of Slavery ; " when he returned, and was 
 
 able to compare the oppressed and degraded state of 
 the inhabitants of that metropolis with the noble 
 attitude of defence in which Andalusia stood. " A 
 month ago," says he, " the Spaniards had lost their 
 country ; — Seville has restored it to life more glorious 
 than ever ; and those fields, which for so many years 
 have seen no steel but that of the plough-share, are 
 going amid the splendour of arms to prove the new 
 cradle of their adored country." — " I could not," 
 he adds, " refrain from tears of joy on viewing the 
 city in which I first drew breath — and to see it in 
 a situation so glorious ! " 
 
 We might have trusted, but for late disgraces, 
 that there is not a man in these islands whose heart 
 would not, at such a spectacle, have beat in sym-
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 121 
 
 pathy with that of this fervent Patriot — whose voice 
 would not be in true accord with his in the prayer 
 (which, if he has not already perished for the service 
 of his dear country, he is perhaps uttering at this 
 moment) that Andalusia and the city of Seville may 
 preserve the noble attitude in which they then stood, 
 and are yet standing ; or, if they be doomed to fall, 
 that their dying efforts may not be unworthy of 
 their first promises ; that the evening — the closing 
 hour of their freedom may display a brightness not 
 less splendid, though more aweful, than the dawn ; 
 so that the names of Seville and Andalusia may be 
 consecrated among men, and be words of life to 
 endless generations. 
 
 Saragossa ! — She also has given bond, by her 
 past actions, that she cannot forget her duty and 
 will not shrink from it.* Valencia is under the seal 
 of the same obligation. The multitudes of men who 
 were arrayed in the fields of Baylen, and upon the 
 mountains of the North ; the peasants of Asturias, 
 and the students of Salamanca ; and many a solitary 
 and untold-of hand, which, quitting for a moment 
 the plough or the spade, has discharged a more 
 pressing debt to the country by levelling Avith the 
 dust at least one insolent and murderous Invader ; 
 — these have attested the efficacy of the passions 
 which we have been contemplating — that the will 
 of good men is not a vain impulse, heroic desires 
 a delusive prop ; — have proved that the condition 
 of human affairs is not so forlorn and desperate, but 
 that there are golden opportunities when the dictates 
 of justice may be unrelentingly enforced, and the 
 beauty of the inner mind substantiated in the out- 
 ward act ; — for a visible standard to look back upon ; 
 for a point of realized excellence at which to aspire ; 
 * Written in February.
 
 122 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 a monument to record ; — for a charter to fasten 
 down ; and, as far as it is possible, to preserve. 
 
 Yes ! there was an annunciation which the good 
 received with gladness ; a bright appearance which 
 emboldened the wise to say — We trust that Re- 
 generation is at hand : these are works of recovered 
 innocence and wisdom : 
 
 Magnus ab integro seclorum nascitur ordo ; 
 Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna ; 
 Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto. 
 
 The spirits of the generous, of the brave, of the 
 meditative, of the youthful and undefiled — who, 
 upon the strongest wing of human nature, have 
 accompanied me in this journey into a fair region — 
 must descend : and, sorrowful to think ! it is at the 
 name and remembrance of Britain that we are to 
 stoop from the balmy air of this pure element. Our 
 country did not create, but there was created for 
 her, one of those golden opportunities over which we 
 have been rejoicing : an invitation was offered — a 
 summons sent to her ear, as if from heaven, to go 
 forth also and exhibit on her part, in entire coinci- 
 dence and perfect harmony, the beneficent action 
 with the benevolent will ; to advance in the career 
 of renovation upon which the Spaniards had so 
 gloriously entered ; and to solemnize yet another 
 marriage between victory and justice. How she 
 acquitted herself of this duty, we have already seen 
 and lamented : yet on this — and on this duty only 
 — ought the mind of that army and of the govern- 
 ment to have been fixed. Every thing was smoothed 
 before their feet ; — Providence, it might almost be 
 said, held forth to the men of authority in this 
 country a gracious temptation to deceive them into 
 the path of the new virtues which were stirring ; —
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 123 
 
 the enemy was delivered over to them ; and they 
 were unable to close their infantine fingers upon the 
 gift. — The helplessness of infancy was their's — oh ! 
 could I but add, the innocence of infancy ! 
 
 Reflect upon what was the temper and condition 
 of the Southern Peninsula of Europe — the noble 
 temper of the people of this mighty island sovereigns 
 of the all-embracing ocean ; think also of the con- 
 dition of so vast a region in the Western continent 
 and its islands ; and we shall have cause to fear that 
 ages may pass away before a conjunction of things, 
 so marvellously adapted to ensure prosperity to 
 virtue, shall present itself again. It could scarcely 
 be spoken of as being to the wishes of men, — it was 
 so far beyond their hopes. — The government which 
 had been exercised under the name of the old 
 Monarchy of Spain — this government, imbecile even 
 to dotage, whose very selfishness was destitute of 
 vigour, had been removed ; taken laboriously and 
 foolishly by the plotting Corsican to his own bosom ; 
 in order that the world might see, more triumphantly 
 set forth than since the beginning of things had ever 
 been seen before, to what degree a man of bad 
 principles is despicable — though of great power — 
 working blindly against his own purposes. It was 
 a high satisfaction to behold demonstrated, in this 
 manner, to what a narrow domain of knowledge the 
 intellect of a Tyrant must be confined ; that, if the 
 gate by which wisdom enters has never been opened, 
 that of poUcy will surely find moments when it will 
 shut itself against its pretended master imperiously 
 and obstinately. To the eyes of the very peasant 
 in the field, this sublime truth was laid open — not 
 only that a Tyrant's domain of knowledge is narrow, 
 but melancholy as narrow ; inasmuch as — from all 
 that is lovely, dignified, or exhilarating in the
 
 124 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 prospect of human nature — he is inexorably cut off ; 
 and therefore he is inwardly helpless and forlorn. 
 
 Was not their hope in this — twofold hope ; from 
 the weakness of him who had thus counteracted 
 himself ; and a hope, still more cheering, from the 
 strength of those who had been disburthened of 
 a cleaving curse by an ordinance of Providence — 
 employing their most wilful and determined enemy 
 to perform for them the best service which man 
 could perform ? The work of liberation was virtually 
 accomplished — we might almost say, established. 
 The interests of the people were taken from a govern- 
 ment whose sole aim it had been to prop up the last 
 remains of its own decrepitude by betraying those 
 whom it was its duty to protect ; — withdrawn from 
 such hands, to be committed to those of the people ; 
 at a time when the double affliction which Spain had 
 endured, and the return of affliction with which she 
 was threatened, made it impossible that the eman- 
 cipated nation could abuse its new-born strength 
 to any substantial injury to itself. — Infinitely less 
 favourable to all good ends was the condition of the 
 French people when, a few years past, a revolution 
 made them, for a season, their own masters, — rid 
 them from the incumbrance of superannuated insti- 
 tutions — the galling pressure of so many unjust laws 
 — and the tyranny of bad customs. The Spaniards 
 became their own masters : and the blessing lay 
 in this, that they became so at once : there had 
 not been time for them to court their power : their 
 fancies had not been fed to wantonness by ever- 
 changing temptations : obstinacy in them would 
 not have leagued itself with trivial opinions : petty 
 hatreds had not accumulated to masses of strength 
 conflicting perniciously with each other : vanity 
 with them had not found leisure to flourish — nor
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 125 
 
 presumption : they did not assume their authority, 
 — ^it was given them, — it was thrust upon them. 
 The perfidy and tyranny of Napoleon " compelled," 
 says the Junta of Seville in words before quoted, 
 " the whole nation to take up arms and to choose 
 itself a form of government ; and, in the difficulties 
 and dangers into which the French had plunged it, 
 all — or nearly all — the provinces, as it were hy the 
 inspiration of Heaven and in a manner little short 
 of miraculous, created Supreme Juntas — delivered 
 themselves up to their guidance — and placed in their 
 hands the rights and the ultimate fate of Spain." 
 — Governments, thus newly issued from the people, 
 could not but act from the spirit of the people — be 
 organs of their life. And, though misery (by which 
 I mean pain of mind not without some consciousness 
 of guilt) naturally disorders the understanding and 
 perverts the moral sense, — calamity (that is suffer- 
 ing, individual or national, when it has been inflicted 
 by one to whom no injury has been done or provoca- 
 tion given) ever brings wisdom along with it ; and, 
 whatever outward agitation it may cause, does 
 inwardly rectify the will. 
 
 But more was required ; not merely judicious 
 desires ; not alone an eye from which the scales had 
 dropped off — which could see widely and clearly ; 
 but a mighty hand was wanting. The government 
 had been formed ; and it could not but recollect that 
 the condition of Spain did not exact from her chil- 
 dren, as a first requisite, virtues like those due and 
 familiar impulses of spring-time by which things are 
 revived and carried forward in accustomed health 
 according to established order — not power so much 
 for a renewal as for a birth — labour by throes and 
 violence ; — a chaos was to be conquered — a work of 
 creation begun and consummated ; — and afterwards
 
 126 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 the seasons were to advance, and continue their 
 gracious revolutions. The powers, which were 
 needful for the people to enter upon and assist in 
 this work, had been given ; we have seen that they 
 had been bountifully conferred. The nation had 
 been thrown into — rather, lifted up to — that state 
 when conscience, for the body of the people, is not 
 merely an infalHble monitor (which may be heard 
 and disregarded) ; but, by combining — with the 
 attributes of insight to perceive, and of inevitable 
 presence to admonish and enjoin — the attribute of 
 passion to enforce, it was truly an all-powerful deity 
 in the soul. 
 
 Oh ! let but any man, who has a care for the 
 progressive happiness of the species, peruse merely 
 that epitome of Spanish wisdom and benevolence 
 and " amplitude of mind for highest deeds " which, 
 in the former part of this investigation, I have laid 
 before the reader : let him listen to the reports — 
 which they, who really have had means of know- 
 ledge, and who are worthy to speak upon the sub- 
 ject, Avill give to him — of the things done or endured 
 in every corner of Spain ; and he will see what 
 emancipation had there been effected in the mind ; — 
 how far the perceptions — the impulses — and the 
 actions also — had outstripped the habit and the 
 character, and consequently were in a process of 
 permanently elevating both ; and how much farther 
 (alas ! by infinite degrees) the principles and prac- 
 tice of a peojjle, with great objects before them to 
 concentrate their love and their hatred, transcend 
 the principles and practice of governments ; not 
 excepting those which, in their constitution and 
 ordinary conduct, furnish the least matter for 
 complaint. 
 
 Then it was — when the people of Spain were thus
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 127 
 
 rouzed ; after this manner released from the natal 
 burthen of that government which had bowed them 
 to the ground ; in the free use of their understand- 
 ings, and in the play and " noble rage " of their 
 passions ; while yet the new authorities, which they 
 had generated, were truly living members of their 
 body, and (as I have said) organs of their life ; when 
 that numerous people were in a stage of their journey 
 which could not be accomplished without the spirit 
 which was then prevalent in them, and which (as 
 might be feared) would too soon abate of itself ; — 
 then it was that we — not we, but the heads of the 
 British army and nation — when, if they could not 
 breathe a favouring breath, they ought at least to 
 have stood at an awful distance — stepped in with 
 their forms, their impediments, their rotten customs 
 and precedents, their narrow desires, their busy 
 and purblind fears ; and called out to these aspiring 
 travellers to halt — " For ye are in a dream ; " con- 
 founded them (for it was the voice of a seeming 
 friend that spoke) ; and spell-bound them, as far as 
 was possible, by an instrument framed " in the 
 eclipse " and sealed " with curses dark." — In a 
 word, we had the power to act up to the most sacred 
 letter of justice — and this at a time when the man- 
 dates of justice were of an affecting obligation such 
 as had never before been witnessed ; and we plunged 
 into the lowest depths of injustice : — We had power 
 to give a brotherly aid to our allies in supporting the 
 mighty world which their shoulders had undertaken 
 to uphold ; and, while they were expecting from 
 us this aid, we undermined — without forewarning 
 them — the ground upon which they stood. The evil 
 is incalculable ; and the stain will cleave to the 
 British name as long as the story of this island shall 
 endure.
 
 128 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 Did we not (if, from this comprehensive feeling of 
 sorrow, I may for a moment descend to particulars) 
 — did we not send forth a general, one whom, since 
 his return, Court, and Parhament, and Army, have 
 been at strife with each other which shall most caress 
 and applaud — a general, who, in defending the 
 armistice which he himself had signed, said in open 
 court that he deemed that the French army was 
 entitled to such terms. The people of Spain had, 
 through the Supreme Junta of Seville, thus spoken 
 of this same army : " Ye have, among yourselves, 
 the objects of your vengeance ; — attack them ; — 
 they are but a handful of miserable panic-struck 
 men, humiliated and conquered already by their 
 perfidy and cruelties ; — resist and destroy them : 
 our united efforts will extirpate this perfidious 
 nation." The same Spaniards had said (speaking 
 officially of the state of the whole Peninsula, and no 
 doubt with their eye especially upon this army in 
 Portugal) — " Our enemies have taken up exactly 
 those positions in which they may most easily be 
 destroyed." — Where then did the British General 
 find this right and title of the French army in Por- 
 tugal ? " Because," says he in military language, 
 " it was not broken." — Of the Man, and of the 
 understanding and heart of the man — of the Citizen, 
 who could think and feel after this manner in such 
 circumstances, it is needless to speak ; but to the 
 General I will say. This is most pitiable pedantry. 
 If the instinctive wisdom of your ally could not be 
 understood, you might at least have remembered the 
 resolute policy of your enemy. The French army 
 was not broken ? Break it then — wither it — pursue 
 it with unrelenting warfare — hunt it out of its holds ; 
 — if impetuosity be not justifiable, have recourse to 
 patience — to watchfulness — to obstinacy : at all
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 129 
 
 events, never for a moment forget who the foe is — 
 and that he is in your power. This is the example 
 which the French Ruler and his Generals have given 
 you at Ulm — at Lubeck — in Switzerland — over the 
 whole plain of Prussia — every where ; — and this for 
 the worst deeds of darkness ; while your's was the 
 noblest service of light. 
 
 This remonstrance has been forced from me by 
 indignation : — let me explain in what sense I pro- 
 pose, with calmer thought, that the example of our 
 enemy should be imitated. — The laws and customs 
 of war, and the maxims of policy, have all had their 
 foundation in reason and humanity ; and their 
 object has been the attainment or security of some 
 real or supposed — some positive or relative — good. 
 They are established among men as ready guides for 
 the understanding, and authorities to which the 
 passions are taught to pay deference. But the 
 relations of things to each other are perpetually 
 changing ; and in course of time many of these 
 leaders and masters, by losing part of their power to 
 do ser\dce and sometimes the whole, forfeit in pro- 
 portion their right to obedience. Accordingly they 
 are disregarded in some instances, and sink insensibly 
 into neglect wdth the general improvement of society. 
 But they often sur\'ive when they have become an 
 oppression and a hindrance which cannot be cast off 
 decisively, but by an impulse — rising either from the 
 absolute knowledge of good and great men, — or 
 from the partial insight which is given to superior 
 minds, though of a \atiated moral constitution, — or 
 lastly from that blind energy and those habits of 
 daring which are often found in men who, checked 
 by no restraint of morality, suffer their evil pas- 
 sions to gain extraordinary strength in extraordinary 
 circumstances. By any of these forces may the 
 
 824.38 K
 
 180 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 tyranny be broken through. We have seen, in the 
 conduct of our Countrymen, to what degree it 
 tempts to weak actions, — and furnishes excuse for 
 them, admitted by those who sit as judges. I wish 
 then that we could so far imitate our enemies as, 
 like them, to shake off these bonds ; but not, like 
 them, from the worst — but from the worthiest 
 impulse. If this were done, we should have learned 
 how much of their practice would harmonize with 
 justice ; have learned to distinguish between those 
 rules which ought to be wholly abandoned, and those 
 which deserve to be retained ; and should have 
 known when, and to what point, they ought to be 
 trusted. — But how is this to be ? Power of mind is 
 wanting, where there is power of place. Even we 
 cannot, as a beginning of a new journey, force or win 
 our way into the current of success, the flattering 
 motion of which would awaken intellectual courage 
 — the only substitute which is able to perform any 
 arduous part of the secondary work of " heroic 
 wisdom ; " — I mean, execute happily any of its 
 prudential regulations. In the person of our enemy 
 and his chieftains we have living example how 
 wicked men of ordinary talents are emboldened by 
 success. There is a kindliness, as they feel, in the 
 nature of advancement ; and prosperity is their. 
 Genius. But let us know and remember that this 
 prosperity, with all the terrible features which it has 
 gradually assumed, is a child of noble parents — 
 Liberty and Philanthropic Love. Perverted as the 
 creature is which it has grown up to (rather, into 
 which it has passed), — from no inferior stock could 
 it have issued. It is the Fallen Spirit, triumphant 
 in misdeeds, which was formerly a blessed Angel. 
 
 If then (to return to ourselves) there be such strong 
 obstacles in the way of our drawing benefit either
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 181 
 
 from the maxims of policy or the principles of justice ; 
 what hope remains that the British nation should 
 repair, by its future conduct, the injury which has 
 
 been done ? We cannot advance 
 
 a step towards a rational answer to this question — 
 without previously adverting to the original sources 
 of our miscarriages ; which are these : — First ; a 
 want, in the minds of the members of government 
 and public functionaries, of knowledge indispensible 
 for this service ; and, secondly, a want of power, in 
 the same persons acting in their corporate capacities, 
 to give effect to the knowledge which individually 
 they possess, — Of the latter source of weakness, — 
 this inability as caused by decay in the machine of 
 government, and by illegitimate forces which are 
 checking and controuling its constitutional motions, 
 — I have not spoken, nor shall I now speak : for I 
 have judged it best to suspend my task for a while : 
 and this subject, being in its nature delicate, ought 
 not to be lightly or transiently touched. Besides, 
 no immediate effect can be expected from the sound- 
 est and most unexceptionable doctrines which might 
 be laid down for the correcting of this evil. — The 
 former source of weakness, — namely, the want of 
 appropriate and indispensible knowledge, — has, in 
 the past investigation, been reached, and shall be 
 further laid open ; not without a hope of some result 
 of immediate good by a direct application to the 
 mind ; and in full confidence that the best and 
 surest way to render operative that knowledge which 
 is already possessed — is to increase the stock of 
 knowledge. 
 
 Here let me avow that I undertook this present 
 labour as a serious duty ; rather, that it was forced 
 (and has been unremittingly pressed) upon me by 
 a perception of justice united with strength of 
 
 K 2
 
 132 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 feeling ; — in a word, by that power of conscience, 
 calm or impassioned, to which throughout I have 
 done reverence as the animating spirit of the cause. 
 My work was begun and prosecuted under this con- 
 troul : — and with the accompanying satisfaction 
 that no charge of presumption could, by a thinking 
 mind, be brought against me : though I had taken 
 upon myself to offer instruction to men who, if they 
 possess not talents and acquirements, have no title 
 to the high stations which they hold ; who also, 
 by holding those stations, are understood to obtain 
 certain benefit of experience and of knowledge not 
 otherwise to be gained ; and who have a further 
 claim to deference — founded upon reputation, even 
 when it is spurious (as much of the reputation of 
 men high in power must necessarily be ; their errors 
 being veiled and palliated by the authority attached 
 to their office ; while that same authority gives more 
 than due weight and effect to their wiser opinions). 
 Yet, notwithstanding all this, I did not fear the 
 censure of having unbecomingly obtruded counsels 
 or remonstrances. For there can be no presumption, 
 upon a call so affecting as the present, in an attempt 
 to assert the sanctity and to display the efficacy of 
 principles and passions which are the natural birth- 
 right of man ; to some share of which all are born ; 
 but an inheritance which may be alienated or con- 
 sumed ; and by none more readily and assuredly 
 than by those who are most eager for the praise of 
 policy, of prudence, of sagacity, and of all those 
 qualities which are the darling virtues of the worldly- 
 wise. Moreover ; the evidence to which I have 
 made appeal, in order to establish the truth, is not 
 locked up in cabinets ; but is accessible to all ; as 
 it exists in the bosoms of men — in the appearances 
 and intercourse of daily Hfe — in the details of passing
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 133 
 
 events — and in general liistory. And more especially 
 is its right import within the reach of Him who — 
 taking no part in public measures, and having no 
 concern in the changes of things but as they affect 
 Avhat is most precious in his country and humanity — 
 will doubtless be more alive to those genuine sensa- 
 tions which are the materials of sound judgment. 
 Nor is it to be overlooked that such a man may have 
 more leisure (and probably will have a stronger inchna- 
 tion) to communicate with the records of past ages. 
 
 Deeming myself justified then in what has been 
 said, — I will continue to lay open (and, in some 
 degree, to account for) those privations in the 
 materials of judgment, and those delusions of opinion, 
 and infirmities of mind, to which practical States- 
 men, and particularly such as are high in office, are 
 more than other men subject ; — as containing an 
 answer to that question, so interesting at this 
 juncture, — How far is it in our power to make 
 amends for the harm done ? 
 
 After the view of things which has been taken, — 
 we may confidently affirm that nothing, but a know- 
 ledge of human nature directing the operations of 
 our government, can give it a right to an intimate 
 association with a cause which is that of human 
 nature. I say, an intimate association founded on 
 the right of thorough knowledge ; — to contradis- 
 tinguish this best mode of exertion from another 
 which might found its right upon a vast and com- 
 manding military power put forth with manifestation 
 of sincere intentions to benefit our allies — from 
 a conviction merely of policy that their liberty, 
 independence, and honour, are our genuine gain ; — 
 to distinguish the pure brotherly connection from 
 this other (in its appearance at least more magis- 
 terial) which such a power, guided by such intention
 
 134 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 uniformly displayed, might authorize. But of the 
 former connection (which supposes the main military 
 effort to be made, even at present, by the people of 
 the Peninsula on whom the moral interest more 
 closely presses), and of the knowledge which it 
 demands, I have hitherto spoken — and have further 
 to speak. 
 
 It is plain a priori that the minds of Statesmen 
 and Courtiers are unfavourable to the growth of this 
 knowledge. For they are in a situation exclusive 
 and artificial ; which has the further disadvantage, 
 that it does not separate men from men by collateral 
 partitions which leave, along with difference, a sense 
 of equality — that they, who are divided, are yet upon 
 the same level ; but by a degree of superiority 
 which can scarcely fail to be accompanied with more 
 or less of pride. This situation therefore must be 
 eminently unfavourable for the reception and estab- 
 lishment of that knowledge which is founded not 
 upon things but upon sensations ; — sensations which 
 are general, and under general influences (and this it 
 is which makes them what they are, and gives them 
 their importance) ; — not upon things which may be 
 brought ; but upon sensations which must be met. 
 Passing by the kindred and usually accompanying 
 influence of birth in a certain rank — and, where 
 education has been pre-defined from childhood for 
 the express purpose of future political power, the 
 tendency of such education to warp (and therefore 
 weaken) the intellect ; — we may join at once, with 
 the privation which I have been noticing, a delusion 
 equally common. It is this : that practical States- 
 men assume too much credit to themselves for their 
 ability to see into the motives and manage the 
 selfish passions of their immediate agents and 
 dependants ; and for the skill with which they
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 135 
 
 baffle or resist the aims of their opponents. A 
 promptness in looking through the most superficial 
 part of the characters of those men — who, by the 
 very circumstance of their contending ambitiously 
 for the rewards and honours of government, are 
 separated from the mass of the society to which they 
 belong — is mistaken for a knowledge of human kind. 
 Hence, where higher knowledge is a prime requisite, 
 they not only are unfurnished ; but, being uncon- 
 scious that they are so, they look down contemptu- 
 ously upon those who endeavour to supply (in some 
 
 degree) their want. The instincts of natural and 
 
 social man ; the deeper emotions ; the simpler 
 feelings ; the spacious range of the disinterested 
 imagination ; the pride in country for country's 
 sake, when to serve has not been a formal profession — 
 and the mind is therefore left in a state of dignity 
 only to be surpassed by having served nobly and 
 generously ; the instantaneous accomplishment in 
 which they start up who, upon a searching call, stir 
 for the land which they love — not from personal 
 motives, but for a reward which is undefined and 
 cannot be missed ; the solemn fraternity which 
 a great nation composes — gathered together, in 
 a stormy season, under the shade of ancestral 
 feeling ; the delicacy of moral honour which pervades 
 the minds of a people, when despair has been suddenly 
 thrown off and expectations are lofty ; the appre- 
 hensiveness to a touch unkindly or irreverent, where 
 sympathy is at once exacted as a tribute and wel- 
 comed as a gift ; the power of injustice and inor- 
 dinate calamity to transmute, to invigorate, and to 
 govern — to sweep away the barriers of opinion — 
 to reduce under submission passions purely evil — to 
 exalt the nature of indifferent qualities, and to render 
 them fit companions for the absolute virtues with
 
 136 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 which they are summoned to associate — to conse- 
 crate passions which, if not bad in themselves, are of 
 such temper that, in the cahn of ordinary life, they 
 are rightly deemed so — to correct and embody 
 these passions — and, without weakening them (nay, 
 with tenfold addition to their strength), to make 
 them worthy of taking their place as the advanced 
 guard of hope, when a sublime movement of deliver- 
 ance is to be originated ; — these arrangements and 
 resources of nature, these ways and means of society, 
 have so little connection with those others upon 
 which a ruling minister of a long-established govern- 
 ment is accustomed to depend ; these — elements as 
 it were of a universe, functions of a living body — 
 are so opposite, in their mode of action, to the formal 
 machine which it has been his pride to manage ; — 
 that he has but a faint perception of their immediate 
 efficacy ; knows not the facility with which they 
 assimilate with other powers ; nor the property by 
 which such of them — as, from necessity of nature, 
 must change or pass away — will, under wise and fear- 
 less management, surely generate lawful successors 
 to fill their place when their appropriate work is per- 
 formed. Nay, of the majority of men, who are 
 usually found in high stations under old govern- 
 ments, it may without injustice be said ; that, when 
 they look about them in times (alas ! too rare) 
 which present the glorious product of such agency 
 to their eyes, they have not a right to say — with 
 a dejected man in the midst of the woods, the rivers, 
 the mountains, the sunshine, and shadows of some 
 transcendant landscape — 
 
 "I see, not feel, how beautiful they are:" 
 
 These spectators neither see nor feel. And it is from 
 the blindness and insensibility of these, and the train
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 137 
 
 whom they draw along with them, that the throes 
 of nations have been so ill recompensed by the births 
 which have followed ; and that revolutions, after 
 passing from crime to crime and from sorrow to 
 sorrow, have often ended in throwing back such 
 heavy reproaches of delusiveness upon their first 
 promises. 
 
 I am satisfied that no enlightened Patriot will 
 impute to me a wish to disparage the characters 
 of men high in authority, or to detract from the 
 estimation which is fairly due to them. My pur- 
 pose is to guard against unreasonable expectations. 
 That specific knoAvledge, — the paramount impor- 
 tance of which, in the present condition of Europe, 
 I am insisting upon, — they, who usually fill places 
 of high trust in old governments, neither do — nor, 
 for the most part, can — possess : nor is it necessary, 
 for the administration of affairs in ordinary circum- 
 stances, that they should. — The progress of their 
 own country, and of the other nations of the world, 
 in civiUzation, in true refinement, in science, in 
 reliffion, in morals, and in all the real wealth of 
 humanity, might indeed be quicker, and might 
 correspond more happily with the wishes of the 
 benevolent, — if Governors better understood the 
 rudiments of nature as studied in the walks of com- 
 mon life ; if they were men who had themselves 
 felt every strong emotion " inspired by nature and 
 by fortune taught ; " and could calculate upon the 
 force of the grander passions. Yet, at the same 
 time, there is temptation in this. To know may 
 seduce ; and to have been agitated may compel. 
 Arduous cares are attractive for their own sakes. 
 Great talents are naturally driven towards hazard 
 and difficulty ; as it is there that they are most sure 
 to find their exercise, and their evidence, and joy
 
 138 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 in anticipated triumph — the UveUest of all sensations. 
 Moreover ; magnificent desires, when least under 
 the bias of personal feeling, dispose the mind — more 
 than itself is conscious of — to regard commotion 
 with complacency, and to watch the aggravations 
 of distress with welcoming ; from an immoderate 
 confidence that, when the appointed day shall come, 
 it will be in the power of intellect to relieve. There 
 is danger in being a zealot in any cause — not except- 
 ing that of humanity. Nor is it to be forgotten that 
 the incapacity and ignorance of the regular agents 
 of long-established governments do not prevent 
 some progress in the dearest concerns of men ; and 
 that society may owe to these very deficiencies, and 
 to the tame and unenterprizing course which they 
 necessitate, much security and tranquil enjoyment. 
 Nor, on the other hand, (for reasons which may 
 be added to those already given) is it so desirable as 
 might at first sight be imagined, much less is it 
 desirable as an absolute good, that men of compre- 
 hensive sensibility and tutored genius — either for 
 the interests of mankind or for their own — should, 
 in ordinary times, have vested in them political 
 power. The Empire, which they hold, is more 
 independent : its constituent parts are sustained 
 by a stricter connection : the dominion is purer and 
 of higher origin ; as mind is more excellent than 
 body — the search of truth an employment more 
 inherently dignified than the application of force — 
 the determinations of nature more venerable than 
 the accidents of human institution. Chance and 
 disorder, vexation and disappointment, malignity 
 and perverseness within or without the mind, are 
 a sad exchange for the steady and genial processes of 
 reason. Moreover ; worldly distinctions and offices 
 of command do not lie in the path — nor are they any
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 139 
 
 part of the appropriate retinue — of Philosophy and 
 Virtue. Nothing, but a strong spirit of love, can 
 counteract the consciousness of pre-eminence which 
 ever attends pre-eminent intellectual power with 
 correspondent attainments : and this spirit of love 
 is best encouraged by humihty and simplicity in 
 mind, manners, and conduct of life ; virtues, to 
 which wisdom leads. But, — though these be virtues 
 in a Man, a Citizen, or a Sage, — they cannot be 
 recommended to the especial culture of the Political 
 or MiHtary Functionary ; and still less of the Civil 
 Magistrate. Him, in the exercise of his functions, it 
 will often become to carry himself highly and with 
 state ; in order that evil may be suppressed, and 
 authority respected by those who have not under- 
 standing. The power also of office, whether the 
 duties be discharged well or ill, will ensure a never- 
 faiUng supply of flattery and praise : and of these — 
 a man (becoming at once double-dealer and dupe) 
 may, without impeachment of his modesty, receive 
 as much as his weakness inchnes him to ; under the 
 shew that the homage is not offered up to himself, 
 but to that portion of the pubUc dignity which is 
 lodged in his person. But, whatever may be the 
 cause, the fact is certain — that there is an uncon- 
 querable tendency in all power, save that of know- 
 ledge acting by and through knowledge, to injure 
 the mind of him who exercises that power ; so much 
 so, that best natures cannot escape the evil of such 
 alliance. Nor is it less certain that things of soundest 
 quality, issuing through a medium to which they 
 have only an arbitrary relation, are vitiated : and 
 it is inevitable that there should be a reascent of 
 unkindly influence to the heart of him from whom 
 
 the gift, thus unfairly dealt with, proceeded. 
 
 In illustration of these remarks, as
 
 140 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 connected with the management of States, we need 
 only refer to the Empire of China — where superior 
 endowments of mind and acquisitions of learning 
 are the sole acknowledged title to offices of great 
 trust ; and yet in no country is the government 
 more bigotted or intolerant, or society less pro- 
 gressive. 
 
 To prevent misconception ; and to silence (at 
 least to throw discredit upon) the clamours of ignor- 
 ance ; — I have thought proper thus, in some sort, 
 to strike a balance between the claims of men of 
 routine — and men of original and accomplished 
 minds — to the management of State affairs in ordi- 
 nary circumstances. But ours is not an age of this 
 character : and, — after having seen such a long 
 series of misconduct, so many unjustifiable attempts 
 made and sometimes carried into effect, good endea- 
 vours frustrated, disinterested wishes thwarted, and 
 benevolent hopes disappointed, — ^it is reasonable 
 that we should endeavour to ascertain to what cause 
 these evils are to be ascribed. I have directed the 
 attention of the Reader to one primary cause : and 
 can he doubt of its existence, and of the operation 
 which I have attributed to it ? 
 
 In the course of the last thirty years we have seen 
 two wars waged against Liberty — the American war, 
 and the war against the French People in the early 
 stages of their Revolution. In the latter instance 
 the Emigrants and the Continental Powers and the 
 British did, in all their expectations and in every 
 movement of their efforts, manifest a common 
 ignorance — originating in the same source. And, 
 for what more especially belongs to ourselves at this 
 time, we may affirm — ^that the same presumptuous 
 irreverence of the principles of justice, and blank 
 insensibihty to the affections of human nature,
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 141 
 
 which determined the conduct of our government in 
 those two wars against Uberty, have continued to 
 accompany its exertions in the present struggle for 
 hberty, — and have rendered them fruitless. The 
 British government deems (no doubt), on its own 
 part, that its intentions are good. It must not 
 deceive itself : nor must we deceive ourselves. 
 Intentions — thoroughly good — could not mingle with 
 the unblessed actions which we have witnessed. 
 A disinterested and pure intention is a light that 
 guides as well as cheers, and renders, desperate 
 lapses impossible. 
 
 Our duty is — our aim ought to be — ^to employ the 
 true means of liberty and \'irtue for the ends of 
 liberty and \artue. In such policy, thoroughly 
 understood, there is fitness and concord and rational 
 subordination ; it deserves a higher name — or- 
 ganization, health, and grandeur. Contrast, in 
 a single instance, the two processes ; and the quali- 
 fications which they require. The ministers of that 
 period found it an easy task to hire a band of 
 Hessians, and to send it across the Atlantic, that 
 they might assist in bringing the Americans (accord- 
 ing to the phrase then jDrevalent) to reason. The 
 force, ^vith which these troojDs would attack, was 
 gross — tangible, — and might be calculated ; but 
 the spirit of resistance, which their presence would 
 create, was subtle — ethereal — mighty — and incalcul- 
 able. Accordingly, from the moment when these 
 foreigners landed — men who had no interest, no 
 business, in the quarrel, but what the wages of their 
 master bound him to, and he imposed upon his 
 miserable slaves ; — nay, from the first rumour of 
 their destination, the success of the British was (as 
 hath since been affirmed by judicious Americans) 
 impossible.
 
 142 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 The British government of the present day have 
 been seduced, as we have seen, by the same common- 
 place facilities on the one side ; and have been equally 
 blind on the other. A physical auxiliar force of 
 thirty-five thousand men is to be added to the army 
 of Spain : but the moral energy, which thereby 
 might be taken away from the principal, is over- 
 looked or sUghted ; the material being too fine for 
 their calculation. What does it avail to graft 
 a bough upon a tree ; if this be done so ignorantly 
 and rashly that the trunk, which can alone supply 
 the sap by which the whole must flourish, receives 
 a deadly wound ? Palpable effects of the Conven- 
 tion of Cintra, and self-contradicting consequences 
 even in the matter especially aimed at, may be seen 
 in the necessity which it entailed of leaving 8,000 
 British troops to protect Portuguese traitors from 
 punishment by the laws of their country. A still 
 more serious and fatal contradiction hes in this — 
 that the Enghsh army was made an instrument of 
 injustice, and was dishonoured, in order that it 
 might be hurried forward to uphold a cause which 
 could have no hfe but by justice and honour. The 
 nation knows how that army languished in the 
 heart of Spain : that it accomplished nothing except 
 its retreat, is sure : what great service it might have 
 performed, if it had moved from a different impulse, 
 we have shewn. 
 
 It surely then behoves those who are in authority 
 — to look to the state of their own minds. There is 
 indeed an inherent impossibiUty that they should be 
 equal to the arduous duties which have devolved 
 upon them : but it is not unreasonable to hope that 
 something higher might be aimed at ; and that the 
 People might see, upon great occasions, — in the 
 practice of its Rulers — a more adequate reflection
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 148 
 
 of its own wisdom and \'irtue. Our Rulers, I repeat, 
 must begin with their own minds. This is a precept 
 of immediate urgency ; and, if attended to, might 
 be productive of immediate good. I will follow it 
 with further conclusions directly referring to future 
 conduct. 
 
 I will not suppose that any ministry of this country 
 can be so abject, so insensible, and unwise, as to 
 abandon the Spaniards and Portuguese while there 
 is a Patriot in arms ; or, if the people should for 
 a time be subjugated, to deny them assistance the 
 moment they rise to require it again. I cannot 
 think so unfavourably of my country as to suppose 
 this possible. Let men in power, however, take 
 care (and let the nation be equally careful) not to 
 receive any reports from our army — of the dis- 
 position of the Spanish people — without mistrust. 
 The British generals, who were in Portugal (the 
 whole body of them,* according to the statement of 
 Sir Hew Dalrymple), approved of the Convention 
 of Cintra ; and have thereby shewn that their com 
 munications are not to be relied upon in this case. 
 And indeed there is not any information, which we 
 can receive upon this subject, that is so little trust- 
 worthy as that which comes from our army — or from 
 any part of it. The opportunities of notice, afforded 
 to soldiers in actual service, must necessarily be very 
 limited ; and a thousand things stand in the way 
 of their power to make a right use of these. But 
 
 a retreating army, in the country of an ally ; 
 
 harrassed and dissatisfied ; willing to find 
 
 a reason for its failures in any thing but itself, and 
 
 * From this number, however, must be excepted the gallant 
 and patriotic General Ferguson. For that officer has had the 
 virtue publicly and in the most emphatic manner, upon two 
 occasions, to reprobate the whole transaction.
 
 144 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 actually not without much solid ground for com- 
 plaint ; retreating ; sometimes, perhaps, fugitive ; 
 and, in its disorder, tempted (and even forced) to 
 commit offences upon the people of the district 
 through which it passes ; while they, in their turn, 
 
 are filled with fear and inconsiderate anger ; 
 
 an army, in such a condition, must needs be incap- 
 able of seeing objects as they really are ; and, at 
 the same time, all things must change in its presence, 
 and put on their most unfavourable appearances. 
 
 Deeming it then not to be doubted that the 
 British government will continue its endeavours to 
 support its allies ; one or other of two maxims of 
 policy follows obviously from the painful truths 
 which we have been considering : — Either, first, that 
 we should put forth to the utmost our strength as 
 a military power — strain it to the very last point, 
 and prepare (no erect mind will start at the pro- 
 position) to pour into the Peninsula a force of two 
 hundred thousand men or more, — and make our- 
 selves for a time, upon Spanish ground, principals 
 in the contest ; or, secondly, that we should direct 
 our attention to giving support rather in Things 
 than in Men. 
 
 The former plan, though requiring a great effort 
 and many sacrifices, is (I have no doubt) practicable : 
 its difficulties would yield to a bold and energetic 
 Ministry, in despite of the present constitution of 
 Parliament. The Militia, if they had been called 
 upon at the beginning of the rising in the Peninsula, 
 would (I believe) — almost to a man — have offered 
 their services : so would many of the Volunteers in 
 their individual capacity. They would do so still. 
 The advantages of this plan would be — that the 
 power, which would attend it, must (if judiciously 
 directed) insure unity of effort ; taming down, by its
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 145 
 
 dignity, the discords which usually prevail among 
 allied armies ; and subordinating to itself the 
 affections of the Spanish and Portuguese by the 
 palpable service which it was rendering to their 
 Country. A further encouragement for adopting 
 this plan he will find, who perceives that the military 
 power of our Enemy is not in substance so formid- 
 able, by many — many degrees of terror, as outwardly 
 it appears to be. The last campaign has not been 
 wholly without advantage ; since it has proved that 
 the French troops are indebted, for their victories, 
 to the imbecihty of their opponents far more than 
 to their own discipline or courage — or even to the 
 skill and talents of their Generals. There is a super- 
 stition hanging over us which the efforts of our 
 Army (not to speak of the Spaniards) have, I hope, 
 removed. — But their mighty numbers ! — In that is 
 a delusion of another kind. In the former instance, 
 year after year we imagined things to be what they 
 were not : and in this, by a more fatal and more 
 common delusion, the thought of what things really 
 are — precludes the thought of what in a moment 
 they may become : the mind, overlaid by the 
 present, cannot lift itself to attain a glimpse of the 
 future. 
 
 All — which is comparatively inherent, or can lay 
 claim to any degree of permanence, in the tyranny 
 which the French Nation maintains over Europe — 
 rests upon two foundations : — First ; Upon the 
 despotic rule which has been established in France 
 over a powerful People who have lately passed from 
 a state of revolution, in which they supported 
 a struggle begun for domestic liberty, and long con- 
 tinued for liberty and national independence : — 
 and, secondly, upon the personal character of the 
 Man by whom that rule is exercised. 
 
 824-38 L
 
 146 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 As to the former ; every one knows that Des- 
 potism, in a general sense, is but another word for 
 weakness. Let one generation disappear ; and 
 a people over whom such rule has been extended, if 
 it have not virtue to free itself, is condemned to 
 embarrassment in the operations of its government, 
 and to perpetual languor ; with no better hope than 
 that which may spring from the diseased activity of 
 some particular Prince on whom the authority may 
 happen to devolve. This, if it takes a regular 
 hereditary course : but, — if the succession be inter- 
 rupted, and the supreme power frequently usurped 
 or given by election, — worse evils follow. Science 
 and Art must dwindle, whether the power be 
 hereditary or not : and the virtues of a Trajan or 
 an Antonine are a hollow support for the feeling of 
 contentment and happiness in the hearts of their 
 subjects : such virtues are even a painful mockery ; 
 something that is, and may vanish in a moment, 
 and leave the monstrous crimes of a Caracalla or 
 a Domitian in its place, — men, who are probably 
 leaders of a long procession of their kind. The 
 feebleness of despotic power we have had before 
 our eyes in the late condition of Spain and Prussia ; 
 and in that of France before the Revolution ; and 
 in the present condition of Austria and Russia. 
 But, in a new-born arbitrary and military Govern- 
 ment (especially if, like that of France, it have been 
 immediately preceded by a popular Constitution), 
 not only this weakness is not found ;' but it possesses, 
 for the purposes of external annoyance, a preter- 
 natural vigour. Many causes contribute to this : 
 we need only mention that, fitness — real or supposed 
 — being necessarily the chief (and almost sole) 
 recommendation to offices of trust, it is clear that 
 such offices will in general be ably filled ; and their
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 147 
 
 duties, comparatively, well executed : and that, 
 from the conjunction of absolute ci\dl and military- 
 authority in a single Person, there naturally follows 
 promptness of decision ; concentration of effort ; 
 rapidity of motion ; and confidence that the move- 
 ments made will be regularly supported. This is all 
 which need now be said upon the subject of tliis first 
 basis of French Tyranny. 
 
 For the second — namely, the personal character 
 of the Chief ; I shall at present content myself \vith 
 noting (to prevent misconception) that this basis is 
 not laid in any superiority of talents in him, but in 
 his utter rejection of the restraints of morality — in 
 mckedness which acknowledges no hmit but the 
 extent of its own power. Let any one reflect a 
 moment ; and he Avill feel that a new world of forces 
 is opened to a Being who has made this desperate 
 leap. It is a tremendous principle to be adopted, 
 and steadily adhered to, by a man in the station 
 which Buonaparte occupies ; and he has taken the 
 full benefit of it. What there is in tliis principle of 
 weak, perilous, and self-destructive — I may find 
 a grateful employment in endeavouring to shew upon 
 some future occasion. But it is a duty which we owe 
 to the present moment to proclaim — in vindication 
 of the dignity of human nature, and for an admoni- 
 tion to men of prostrate spirit — that the dominion, 
 which this Enemy of mankind holds, has neither 
 been acquired nor is sustained by endowments of 
 intellect which are rarely bestowed, or by uncom- 
 mon accumulations of knowledge ; but that it has 
 risen from circumstances over which he had no 
 influence ; circumstances wliich, with the power 
 they conferred, have stimulated passions whose 
 natural food hath been and is ignorance ; from the 
 barbarian impotence and insolence of a mind — 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 originally of ordinary constitution — lagging, in 
 moral sentiment and knowledge, three hundred 
 years behind the age in which it acts. In such 
 manner did the power originate ; and, by the forces 
 which I have described, is it maintained. This 
 should be declared : and it should be added — that 
 the crimes of Buonaparte are more to be abhorred 
 than those of other denaturalized creatures whose 
 actions are painted in History ; because the Author 
 of tl:ose crimes is guilty with less temptation, and 
 sins in the presence of a clearer light. 
 
 No doubt in the command of almost the whole 
 military force of Europe (the subject which called 
 upon me to make these distinctions) he has, at this 
 moment, a third source of power which may be added 
 to these two. He himself rates this last so high — 
 either is, or affects to be, so persuaded of its pre- 
 eminence — that he boldly announces to the world 
 that it is madness, and even impiety, to resist him. 
 And sorry may we be to remember that there are 
 British Senators, who (if a judgement may be formed 
 from the language which they speak) are inclined 
 to accompany him far in this opinion. But the 
 enormity of this power has in it nothing inherent 
 or permanent. Two signal overthrows in pitched 
 battles would, I believe, go far to destroy it. Ger- 
 mans, Dutch, Italians, Swiss, Poles, would desert 
 the army of Buonaparte, and flock to the standard 
 of his Adversaries, from the moment they could look 
 towards it with that confidence which one or two 
 conspicuous victories would inspire. A regiment 
 of 900 Swiss joined the British army in Portugal ; 
 and, if the French had been compelled to surrender 
 as Prisoners of War, we should have seen that all 
 those troops, who were not native Frenchmen, would 
 (if encouragement had been given) have joined the
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 149 
 
 British : and the opportunity that was lost of 
 demonstrating this fact — was not among the least 
 of the mischiefs which attended the termination of 
 the campaign. — In a word ; the vastness of Buona- 
 parte's military power is formidable — not because it 
 is impossible to break it ; but because it has not yet 
 been penetrated. In this respect it may not inaptly 
 be compared to a huge pine-forest (such as are found 
 in the Northern parts of this Island), whose ability 
 to resist the storms is in it's skirts : let but the blast 
 once make an inroad ; and it levels the forest, and 
 sweeps it away at pleasure. A hundred thousand 
 men, such as fought at Vimiera and Corunna, would 
 accomplish three such \actories as I have been 
 anticipating. This Nation might command a military 
 force which would drive the French out of the 
 Peninsula : I do not say that we could sustain there 
 a military force which would prevent their re- 
 entering ; but that we could transplant thither, by 
 a great effort, one which would expel them : — This 
 I maintain : and it is matter of thought in which 
 infirm minds may find both reproach and instruction. 
 The Spaniards could then take possession of their 
 own fortresses ; and have leisure to give themselves 
 a blended civil and military organization, comj^lete 
 and animated by liberty ; which, if once accom- 
 phshed, they would be able to protect themselves. 
 The oppressed Continental Powers also, seeing such 
 unquestionable proof that Great Britain was sincere 
 and earnest, would lift their heads again ; and, by 
 so doing, would lighten the burthen of war which 
 might remain for the Spaniards. 
 
 In treating of this plan — I have presumed that 
 a General might be placed at the head of this great 
 military power who would not sign a Treaty like that 
 of the Convention of Cintra, and say (look at the
 
 150 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 proceedings of the Board of Inquiry) that he was 
 determined to this by " British interests ; " or 
 frame any Treaty in the country of an Ally (save one 
 purely military for the honourable preservation, if 
 necessary, of his own army or part of it) to which the 
 sole, or even the main, inducement was — our interests 
 contradistinguished from those of that Ally ; — a 
 General and a Ministry whose policy would be com- 
 prehensive enough to perceive that the true welfare 
 of Britain is best promoted by the independence, 
 freedom, and honour of other Nations ; and that it 
 is only by the diffusion and prevalence of these 
 virtues that French Tyranny can be ultimately 
 reduced ; or the influence of France over the rest 
 of Europe brought within its natural and reasonable 
 limits. 
 
 If this attempt be " above the strain and temper " 
 of the country, there remains only a plan laid down 
 upon the other principles ; namely, service (as far as 
 is required) in things rather than in men ; that is, 
 men being secondary to things. It is not, I fear, 
 possible that the moral sentiments of the British 
 Army or Government should accord with those of 
 Spain in her present condition. Commanding power 
 indeed (as hath been said), put forth in the repulse 
 of the common enemy, would tend, more effectually 
 than any thing save the prevalence of true wisdom, 
 to prevent disagreement, and to obviate any tem- 
 porary injury which the moral spirit of the Spaniards 
 might receive from us : at all events — such power, 
 should there ensue any injury, would bring a solid 
 compensation. But from a middle course — an 
 association sufficiently intimate and wide to scatter 
 every where unkindly passions, and yet unable to 
 attain the salutary point of decisive power — no good 
 is to be expected. Great would be the evil, at this
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 151 
 
 momentous period, if the hatred of the Spaniards 
 should look two ways. Let it be as steadily fixed 
 upon the French, as the Pilot's eye upon his mark. 
 Military stores and arms should be furnished with 
 unfaihng liberality : let Troops also be supplied ; 
 but let these act separately, — taking strong positions 
 upon the coast, if such can be found, to employ 
 twice their numbers of the Enemy ; and, above all, 
 let there be Floating Armies — keeping the Enemy in 
 constant uncertainty where he is to be attacked. 
 The peninsular frame of Spain and Portugal lays 
 that region open to the full shock of British warfare. 
 Our Fleet and Army should act, wherever it is pos- 
 sible, as parts of one body — a right hand and a left ; 
 and the Enemy ought to be made to feel the force 
 of both. 
 
 But — whatever plans be adopted — there can be 
 no success, unless the execution be entrusted to 
 Generals of competent judgement. That the British 
 Army swarms with those who are incompetent — is 
 too plain from successive proofs in the transactions 
 at Buenos Ayres, at Cintra, and in the result of the 
 Board of Inquiry. — Nor must we see a General 
 appointed to command — and required, at the same 
 time, to frame his operations according to the 
 opinion of an inferior Officer : an injunction (for 
 a recommendation, from such a quarter, amounts to 
 an injunction) implying that a man had been ap- 
 pointed to a high station — of which the very persons, 
 who had appointed him, deemed him unworthy ; 
 else they must have known that he would endeavour 
 to profit by the experience of any of his inferior 
 officers, from the suggestions of his own understand- 
 ing : at the same time — by denying to the General- 
 in-Chief the free use of his own judgement, and 
 by the act of announcing this presumption of his
 
 152 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 incompetence to the man liimself — such an indignity 
 is put upon him, that his passions must of necessity 
 be rouzed ; so as to leave it scarcely possible that he 
 could draw any benefit, which he might otherwise 
 have drawn, from the local knowledge or talents of 
 the individual to whom he was referred : and, 
 lastly, this injunction virtually involves a subversion 
 of all military subordination. In the better times 
 of the House of Commons — a minister, who had 
 presumed to write such a letter as that to which 
 I allude, would have been impeached. 
 
 The Debates in Parliament, and measures of 
 Government, every day furnish new proofs of the 
 truths which I have been attempting to establish — 
 of the utter want of general principles ; — new and 
 lamentable proofs ! This moment (while I am 
 drawing towards a conclusion) I learn, from the 
 newspaper reports, that the House of Commons has 
 refused to declare that the Convention of Cintra 
 disappointed the hopes and expectations of the Nation. 
 
 The motion, according to the letter of it, was ill- 
 framed ; for the Convention might have been a very 
 good one, and still have disappointed the hopes and 
 expectations of the Nation — as those might have 
 been unwise : at all events, the words ought to have 
 stood — the just and reasonable hopes of the Nation. 
 But the hacknied phrase of ' disappointed hopes and 
 expectations ' — should not have been used at all : it 
 is a centre round which much delusion has gathered. 
 The Convention not only did not satisfy the Nation's 
 hopes of good ; but sunk it into a pitfall of unimagined 
 and unimaginable evil. The hearts and understand- 
 ings of the People tell them that the language of a 
 proposed parliamentary resolution, upon this occa- 
 sion, ought — not only to have been different in the 
 letter — but also widely different in the spirit : and the
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 153 
 
 reader of these pages %vill have deduced, that no terms 
 of reprobation could in severity exceed the offences 
 involved in — and connected with — that instrument. 
 But, while the grand keep of the castle of iniquity 
 was to be stormed, Ave have seen nothing but a puny 
 assault upon heaps of the scattered rubbish of the 
 fortress ; nay, for the most part, on some accidental 
 mole-hills at its base. I do not speak thus in dis- 
 respect to the Right Hon. Gentleman who headed 
 this attack. His mind, left to itself, would (I doubt 
 not) have prompted something worthier and higher : 
 but he moves in the phalanx of Party ; — a spiritual 
 Body ; in which (by strange inconsistency) the 
 hampering, weakening, and destroying, of every 
 individual mind of which it is composed — ^is the law 
 which must constitute the strength of the whole. 
 The question was — whether principles, affecting the 
 very existence of Society, had not been violated ; 
 and an arm lifted, and let fall, Avhich struck at the 
 root of Honour ; with the aggravation of the crime 
 having been committed at this momentous period. 
 But what relation is there between these principles 
 and actions, and being in Place or out of it ? If the 
 People would constitutionally and resolutely assert 
 their rights, their Representatives would be taught 
 another lesson ; and for their own profit. Their 
 understandings would be enriched accordingly : for 
 it is there — there where least suspected — that the 
 want, from which this country suffers, chiefly lies. 
 They err, who suppose that venality and corruption 
 (though now spreading more and more) are the 
 master-evils of this day : neither these nor im- 
 moderate craving for power are so much to be 
 deprecated, as the non-existence of a widely-ranging 
 intellect ; of an intellect which, if not efficacious 
 to infuse truth as a vital fluid into the heart, might
 
 154 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 at least make it a powerful tool in the hand. Out- 
 ward profession, — which, for practical purposes, is 
 an act of most desirable subservience, — would then 
 wait upon those objects to which inward reverence, 
 though not felt, was known to be due. Schemes of 
 ample reach and true benefit would also promise 
 best to insure the rewards coveted by personal 
 ambition : and men of baser passions, finding it their 
 interest, would naturally combine to perform useful 
 service under the direction of strong minds : while 
 men of good intentions would have their own pure 
 satisfaction ; and would exert themselves with more 
 upright — I mean, more hopeful — cheerfulness, and 
 more successfully. It is not therefore inordinate 
 desire of wealth or power which is so injurious — as 
 the means which are and must be employed, in the 
 present intellectual condition of the Legislature, to 
 sustain and secure that power : these are at once an 
 effect of barrenness, and a cause ; acting, and mutually 
 re-acting, incessantly. An enlightened Friend has, 
 in conversation, observed to the Author of these 
 pages — that formerly the principles of men were 
 better than they who held them ; but that now 
 (a far worse evil !) men are better than their prin- 
 ciples. I beheve it : — of the deplorable quality and 
 state of principles, the public proceedings in our 
 Country furnish daily new proof. It is however 
 some consolation, at this present crisis, to find — ^that, 
 of the thoughts and feelings uttered during the two 
 debates which led me to these painful declarations, 
 such — as approach towards truth which has any 
 dignity in it — come from the side of his Majesty's 
 Ministers. — But note again those contradictions to 
 which I have so often been obliged to advert. The 
 Ministers advise his Majesty pubUcly to express 
 sentiments of disapprobation upon the Convention
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 155 
 
 of Cintra ; and, when the question of the merits or 
 demerits of this instrument comes before them in 
 Parliament, the same persons — who, as advisers of 
 the crown, lately condemned the treaty — now, in 
 their character of representatives of the people, by 
 the manner in which they received this motion, have 
 pronounced an encomium upon it. For, though (as 
 I have said) the motion was inaccurately and inade- 
 quately worded, it was not set aside upon this 
 ground. And the Parliament has therefore per- 
 sisted in withholding, from the insulted and injured 
 People and from their Allies, the only reparation 
 which perhaps it may be in its power to grant ; has 
 refused to signify its repentance and sorrow for what 
 hath been done ,* without which, as a previous step, 
 there can be no proof — no gratifying intimation, 
 even to this Country or to its AlUes, that the future 
 efforts of the British Parliament are in a sincere 
 spirit. The guilt of the transaction therefore being 
 neither repented of, nor atoned for ; the course of 
 
 evil is, by necessity, persevered in. But 
 
 let us turn to a brighter region. 
 
 The events of the last year, gloriously destroying 
 many frail fears, have placed — in the rank of serene 
 and immortal truths — a proposition which, as an ob- 
 ject of belief, hath in all ages been fondly cherished ; 
 namely — That a numerous Nation, determined to 
 be free, may effect its purpose in despite of the 
 mightiest power which a foreign Invader can bring 
 against it. These events also have pointed out how, 
 in the ways of Nature and under the guidance of 
 Society, this happy end is to be attained : in other 
 words, they have shewn that the cause of the 
 People, in dangers and difficulties issuing from this 
 quarter of oppression, is safe while it remains not 
 only in the bosom but in the hands of the People ;
 
 156 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 or (what amounts to the same thing) in those of 
 a government which, being truly from the People, 
 is faithfully for them. While the power remained 
 with the provincial Juntas, that is, with the body 
 natural of the community (for those authorities, 
 newly-generated in such adversity, were truly living 
 members of that body) ; every tiling prospered in 
 Spain. Hopes of the best kind were opened out 
 and encouraged ; liberal opinions countenanced ; 
 and wise measures arranged : and last, and (except 
 as proceeding from these) least of all, — victories in 
 the field, in the streets of the city, and upon the 
 walls of the fortress. 
 
 I have heretofore styled it a blessing that the 
 Spanish People became their own masters at once. 
 It was a blessing ; but not without much alloy : 
 as the same disinterested generous passions, which 
 preserved (and would for a season still have pre- 
 served) them from a bad exercise of their power, 
 impelled them to part with it too soon ; before 
 labours, hitherto neither tried nor thought-of, had 
 created throughout the country the minor excel- 
 lences indispensible for the performance of those 
 labours ; before powerful minds, not hitherto of 
 general note, had found time to shew themselves ; 
 and before men, who were previously known, had 
 undergone the proof of new situations. Much 
 therefore was wanting to direct the general judge- 
 ment in the choice of persons, when the second 
 delegation took place ; which was a removal (the 
 first, we have seen, had not been so) of the power 
 from the People. But, when a common centre 
 became absolutely necessary, the power ought to 
 have passed from the pro\'incial Assemblies into 
 the hands of the Cortes ; and into none else. A 
 pernicious Oligarchy crept into the place of this
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 157 
 
 comprehensive — this constitutional — this saving and 
 majestic Assembly. Far be it from me to speak of 
 the Supreme Junta ^^^th ill-ad\dsed condemnation : 
 every man must feel for the distressful trials to 
 which that Body has been exposed. But eighty 
 men or a hundred, \\ith a king at their head veiled 
 under a cloud of fiction (we might say, with reference 
 to the difficulties of this moment, begotten upon 
 a cloud of fiction), could not be an image of a Nation 
 hke that of Spain, or an adequate instrument of 
 their power for their ends. The Assembly, from 
 the smallness of its numbers, must have wanted 
 breadth of wing to extend itself and brood over 
 Spain with a quickening touch of warmth every 
 where. If also, as hath been mentioned, there was 
 a want of experience to determine the judgment in 
 choice of persons ; this same smallness of numbers 
 must have unnecessarily increased the evil — by 
 excluding many men of worth and talents which 
 were so far known and allowed as that they would 
 surely have been deputed to an Assembly upon 
 a larger scale. Gratitude, habit, and numerous 
 other causes must have given an undue preponder- 
 ance to birth, station, rank, and fortune ; and have 
 fixed the election, more than was reasonable, upon 
 those who were most conspicuous for these distinc- 
 tions ; — men whose very \drtue would incline them 
 superstitiously to respect estabUshed things, and to 
 mistrust the People — towards whom not only 
 a frank confidence but a forward generosity was 
 the first of duties. I speak not of the vices to which 
 such men would be Uable, brought up under the 
 discipline of a government administered hke the old 
 Monarchy of Spain : the matter is both ungracious 
 and too obvious. 
 
 But I began with hope ; and hope has inwardly
 
 158 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 accompanied me to the end. The whole course of 
 the campaign, rightly interpreted, has justified my 
 hope. In Madrid, in Ferrol, in Corvmna, in every 
 considerable place, and in every part of the country 
 over which the French have re-extended their 
 dominion, — we learn, from their own reports, that 
 the body of the People have shewed against them, 
 to the last, the most determined hostility. Hence 
 it is clear that the lure, which the invading Usurper 
 found himself constrained lately to hold out to the 
 inferior orders of society in the shape of various 
 immunities, has totally failed : and therefore he 
 turns for support to another quarter, and now 
 attempts to cajole the wealthy and the privileged. 
 But this class has been taught, by late Decrees, 
 what it has to expect from him ; and how far he is 
 to be confided-in for its especial interests. Many 
 individuals, no doubt, he will seduce ; but the bulk 
 of the class, even if they could be insensible to more 
 liberal feelings, cannot but be his enemies. This 
 change, therefore, is not merely shifting ground ; 
 but retiring to a position which he himself has 
 previously undermined. Here is confusion ; and 
 a power warring against itself. 
 
 So will it ever fare with foreign Tyrants when 
 (in spite of domestic abuses) a People, which has 
 lived long, feels that it has a Country to love ; 
 and where the heart of that People is sound. 
 Between the native inhabitants of France and 
 Spain there has existed from the earliest period, 
 and still does exist, an universal and utter dis- 
 similitude in laws, actions, deportment, gait, 
 manners, customs : join with this the difference in 
 the language, and the barrier of the Pyrenees ; 
 a separation and an opposition in great things, and 
 an antipathy in small. Ignorant then must he be
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 159 
 
 of history and of the reports of travellers and 
 residents in the two countries, or strangely inatten- 
 tive to the constitution of human nature, who (this 
 being true) can admit the belief that the Spaniards, 
 numerous and powerful as they are, will live under 
 Frenchmen as their lords and masters. Let there 
 be added to this inherent mutual repulsiveness — 
 those recent indignities and horrible outrages ; and 
 we need not fear to say that such reconcilement is 
 impossible ; even without that further insuperable 
 obstacle which we hope will exist, an establishment 
 of a free Constitution in Spain. — The intoxicated 
 setter-up of Kings may fill his diary with pompous 
 stories of the acclamations with which his solemn 
 puppets are received ; he may stuff their mouths 
 with impious asseverations ; and hire knees to 
 bend before them, and lips to answer with honied 
 greetings of gratitude and love : these cannot 
 remove the old heart, and put a new one into the 
 bosom of the spectators. The whole is a pageant 
 seen for a day among men in its passage to that 
 " Limbo large and broad " whither, as to their 
 proper home, fleet 
 
 All the unaccomplish'd works of Nature's hand. 
 Abortive, monstrous, or unkindly mix'd, 
 Dissolv'd on earth. 
 
 Talk not of the perishable nature of enthusiasm ; 
 and rise above a craving for perpetual manifestations 
 of things. He is to be pitied whose eye can only 
 be pierced by the light of a meridian sun, whose 
 frame can only be warmed by the heat of mid- 
 summer. Let us hear no more of the little depen- 
 dence to be had in war upon voluntary service. 
 The things, with which we are primarily and mainly 
 concerned, are inward passions ; and not outward 
 arrangements. These latter may be given at any
 
 160 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 time ; when the parts, to be put together, are in 
 readiness. Hatred and love, and each in its 
 intensity, and pride (passions which, existing in the 
 heart of a Nation, are inseparable from hope) — 
 these elements being in constant preparation — 
 enthusiasm will break out from them, or coalesce 
 with them, upon the summons of a moment. And 
 these passions are scarcely less than inextinguishable. 
 The truth of this is recorded in the manners and 
 hearts of North and South Britons, of Enghshmen 
 and Welshmen, on either border of the Tweed and 
 of the Esk, on both sides of the Severn and the 
 Dee ; an inscription legible, and in strong characters, 
 which the tread of many and great blessings, 
 continued through hundreds of years, has been 
 unable to efface. The Sicilian Vespers are to this 
 day a famihar game among the boys of the villages 
 on the sides of Mount Etna, and through every 
 corner of the Island ; and " Exterminate the 
 French ! " is the action in their arms, and the word 
 of triumph upon their tongues. He then is a sorry 
 Statist, who desponds or despairs (nor is he less so 
 who is too much elevated) from any considerations 
 connected with the quality of enthusiasm. Nothing 
 is so easy as to sustain it by partial and gradual 
 changes of its object ; and by placing it in the way 
 of receiving new interpositions according to the 
 need. The difficulty Ues — not in kindling, feeding, 
 or fanning the flame ; but in continuing so to 
 regulate the relations of things — that the fanning 
 breeze and the feeding fuel shall come from no 
 unworthy quarter, and shall neither of them be 
 wanting in appropriate consecration. The Spaniards 
 have as great helps towards ensuring this, as ever 
 were vouchsafed to a People. 
 
 What then is to be desired ? Nothing but that
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 161 
 
 the Government and the higher orders of society 
 should deal sincerely towards the middle class and 
 the lower : I mean, that the general temper should 
 be sincere. — It is not required that every one should 
 be disinterested, or zealous, or of one mind with 
 his fellows. Selfishness or slackness in individuals, 
 and in certain bodies of men also (and at times 
 perhaps in all), have their use : else why should 
 they exist ? Due circumspection and necessary 
 activity, in those who are sound, could not other- 
 \vise maintain themselves. The deficiencies in one 
 quarter are more than made up by consequent 
 overflowings in another. " If my Neighbour fails," 
 says the true Patriot, " more devolves upon me." 
 Discord and even treason are not, in a country 
 situated as Spain is, the pure evils which, upon a 
 superficial view, they appear to be. Never are a 
 people so livelily rdmonished of the love they bear 
 their country, and of the pride which they have in 
 their common j^arent, as when they hear of some 
 parricidal attempt of a false brother. For this 
 cause chiefly, in times of national danger, are their 
 fancies so busy in suspicion ; which under such 
 shape, though oftentimes producing dire and 
 pitiable effects, is notwithstanding in its general 
 character no other than that habit which has grown 
 out of the instinct of self-preservation — elevated 
 into a wakeful and affectionate apprehension for the 
 whole, and ennobling its private and baser ways 
 by the generous use to which they are converted. 
 Nor ever has a good and loyal man such a swell of 
 mind, such a clear insight into the constitution of 
 virtue, and such a sublime sense of its power, as at 
 the first tidings of some atrocious act of perfidy ; 
 when, having taken the alarm for human nature, 
 a second thought recovers him ; and his faith 
 
 82438 M
 
 162 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 returns — gladsome from what has been revealed 
 within himself, and awful from participation of the 
 secrets in the profaner grove of humanity which that 
 momentary blast laid open to his view. 
 
 Of the ultimate independence of the Spanish 
 Nation there is no reason to doubt : and for the 
 immediate furtherance of the good cause, and a 
 throwing-off of the yoke upon the first favourable 
 opportunity by the different tracts of the country 
 upon which it has been re-imposed, nothing is want- 
 ing but sincerity on the part of the government 
 towards the provinces which are yet free. The first 
 end to be secured by Spain is riddance of the enemy : 
 the second, permanent independence : and the 
 third, a free constitution of government ; which 
 will give their main (though far from sole) value to 
 the other two ; and without which little more than 
 a formal independence, and perhaps scarcely that, 
 can be secured. Humanity and honour, and justice, 
 and all the sacred feelings connected with atone- 
 ment, retribution, and satisfaction ; shame that will 
 not sleep, and the sting of unperformed duty ; and 
 all the powers of the mind, the memory that broods 
 over the dead and turns to the living, the under- 
 standing, the imagination, and the reason ; — 
 demand and enjoin that the wanton oppressor should 
 be driven, with confusion and dismay, from the 
 country which he has so heinously abused. 
 
 This cannot be accomplished (scarcely can it be 
 aimed at) without an accompanying and an insepar- 
 able resolution, in the souls of the Spaniards, to be 
 and remain their own masters ; that is, to preserve 
 themselves in the rank of Men ; and not become 
 as the Brute that is driven to the pasture, and cares 
 not who owns him. It is a common saying among 
 those who profess to be lovers of civil liberty, and
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 163 
 
 give themselves some credit for understanding it, — 
 that, if a Nation be not free, it is mere dust in the 
 balance whether the slavery be bred at home, or 
 comes from abroad ; be of their own suffering, or of 
 a stranger's imposing. They see little of the vmder- 
 ground part of the tree of liberty, and knoAv less 
 of the nature of man, who can think thus. Where 
 indeed there is an indisputable and immeasurable 
 superiority in one nation over another ; to be 
 conquered may, in course of time, be a benefit to 
 the inferior nation : and, upon this principle, some 
 of the conquests of the Greeks and Romans may be 
 justified. But in what of really useful or honourable 
 are the French superior to their Neighbours ? 
 Never far advanced, and, now barbarizing apace, 
 they may carry — amongst the sober and dignified 
 Nations which surround them — much to be avoided, 
 but little to be imitated. 
 
 There is yet another case in which a People may 
 be benefited by resignation or forfeiture of their 
 rights as a separate independent State ; I mean, 
 where — of two contiguous or neighbouring countries, 
 both included by nature under one conspicuously 
 defined limit — the weaker is united with, or absorbed 
 into, the more powerful ; and one and the same 
 Government is extended over both. This, with due 
 patience and foresight, may (for the most part) be 
 amicably effected, without the intervention of 
 conquest ; but — even should a violent course have 
 been resorted to, and have proved successful — ^the 
 result will be matter of congratulation rather than 
 of regret, if the countries have been incorporated 
 with an equitable participation of natural advan- 
 tages and ci\nl privileges. Who does not rejoice 
 that former partitions have disappeared, — and that 
 England, Scotland, and Wales, are under one 
 
 M 2
 
 164 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 legislative and executive authority ; and that 
 Ireland (would that she had been more justly dealt 
 with ! ) follows the same destiny ? The large and 
 numerous Fiefs, which interfered injuriously with 
 the grand demarcation assigned by nature to 
 France, have long since been united and consolidated. 
 The several independent Sovereignties of Italy 
 (a country, the boundary of which is still more 
 expressly traced out by nature ; and which has no 
 less the further definition and cement of country 
 which Language prepares) have yet this good to 
 aim at : and it will be a happy day for Europe, 
 when the natives of Italy and the natives of Ger- 
 many (whose duty is, in like manner, indicated to 
 them) shall each dissolve the pernicious barriers 
 which divide them, and form themselves into a 
 mighty People. But Spain, excepting a free union 
 with Portugal, has no benefit of this kind to look 
 for : she has long since attained it. The Pyrenees 
 on the one side, and the Sea on every other ; the 
 vast extent and great resources of the territory ; 
 a population numerous enough to defend itself 
 against the whole world, and capable of great 
 increase ; language ; and long duration of inde- 
 pendence ; — point out and command that the two 
 nations of the Peninsula should be united in friend- 
 ship and strict alliance ; and, as soon as it may be 
 effected without injustice, form one independent 
 and indissoluble sovereignty. The Peninsula cannot 
 be protected but by itself : it is too large a tree 
 to be framed by nature for a station among under- 
 woods ; it must have power to toss its branches in 
 the wind, and lift a bold forehead to the sun. 
 
 Allowing that the " regni no vitas " should either 
 compel or tempt the Usurper to do away some 
 ancient abuses, and to accord certain insignificant
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 165 
 
 privileges to the People upon the purlieus of the 
 forest of Freedom (for assuredly he will never suffer 
 them to enter the body of it) ; allowing this, and 
 much more ; that the mass of the Population would 
 be placed in a condition outwardly more thri\'ing — 
 would be better off {as the phrase in conversation is) ; 
 it is still true that — in the act and consciousness of 
 submission to an imposed lord and master, to a will 
 not growing out of themselves, to the edicts of 
 another People their triumphant enemy — there 
 would be the loss of a sensation within for which 
 nothing external, even though it should come close 
 to the garden and the field — to the door and the 
 fire-side, can make amends. The Artisan and the 
 Merchant (men of classes perhaps least attached to 
 their native soil) would not be insensible to this 
 loss ; and the IMariner, in his thoughtful mood, 
 would sadden vuider it upon the wide ocean. The 
 central or cardinal feeling of these thoughts may, 
 at a future time, furnish fit matter for the genius 
 of some patriotic Spaniard to express in his own 
 noble language — as an inscri^Dtion for the Sword of 
 Francis the First ; if that Sword, which was so 
 ingloriously and perfidiously surrendered, should 
 ever, by the energies of Liberty, be recovered, and 
 deposited in its ancient habitation in the Escurial. 
 The Patriot will recollect that, — if the memorial, 
 then given up by the hand of the Government, had 
 also been abandoned by the heart of the People, 
 and that indignity patiently subscribed to, — his 
 country would have been lost for ever. 
 
 There are multitudes by whom, I know, these 
 sentiments will not be languidly received at this 
 day ; and sure I am — that, a hundred and fifty 
 years ago, they would have been ardently welcomed 
 by all. But, in many parts of Europe (and especially
 
 166 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 in our own country), men have been pressing 
 forward, for some time, in a path which has betrayed 
 by its fruitfulness ; furnishing them constant 
 employment for picking up things about their feet, 
 when thoughts were perishing in their minds. 
 While Mechanic Arts, Manufactures, Agriculture, 
 Commerce, and all those products of knowledge 
 which are confined to gross— definite — and tangible 
 objects, have, with the aid of Experimental Philo- 
 sophy, been every day putting on more brilliant 
 colours ; the splendour of the Imagination has been 
 fading : Sensibility, which was formerly a generous 
 nursling of rude Nature, has been chased from its 
 ancient range in the wide domain of patriotism and 
 religion with the weapons of derision by a shadow 
 calling itself Good Sense : calculations of pre- 
 sumptuous Expediency — groping its way among 
 partial and temporary consequences — have been 
 substituted for the dictates of paramount and 
 infallible Conscience, the supreme embracer of 
 consequences : lifeless and circvmispect Decencies 
 have banished the graceful negligence and unsus- 
 picious dignity of Virtue, 
 
 The progress of these arts also, by furnishing such 
 attractive stores of outward accommodation, has 
 misled the higher orders of society in their more 
 disinterested exertions for the service of the lower. 
 Animal comforts have been rejoiced over, as if they 
 were the end of being. A neater and more fertile 
 garden ; a greener field ; implements and utensils 
 more apt ; a dwelling more commodious and better 
 furnished ; — let these be attained, say the actively 
 benevolent, and we are sure not only of being in 
 the right road, but of having successfully terminated 
 our journey. Now a country may advance, for 
 some time, in this course with apparent profit :
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 167 
 
 these accommodations, by zealous encouragement, 
 may be attained : and still the Peasant or Artisan, 
 their master, be a slave in mind ; a slave rendered 
 even more abject by the very tenure under which 
 these possessions are held : and — if they veil from us 
 this fact, or reconcile us to it — they are worse than 
 worthless. The springs of emotion may be relaxed 
 or destroyed witliin him ; he may have little 
 thought of the past, and less interest in the future. — 
 The great end and difficulty of life for men of all 
 classes, and esiDCcially difficult for those who live 
 by manual labour, is a union of peace with innocent 
 and laudable animation. Not by bread alone is the 
 life of Man sustained ; not by raiment alone is he 
 warmed ; — but by the genial and vernal inmate of 
 the breast, which at once pushes forth and cherishes ; 
 by self-support and self-sufficing endeavours ; by 
 anticipations, apprehensions, and active remem- 
 brances ; by elasticity under insult, and firm 
 resistance to injury ; by joy, and by love ; by pride 
 which his imagination gathers in from afar ; by 
 patience, because life wants not promises ; by 
 admiration ; by gratitude which — debasing him 
 not when his fellow-being is its object — habitually 
 expands itself, for his elevation, in complacency 
 towards his Creator. 
 
 Now, to the existence of these blessings, national 
 independence is indispensible ; and many of them 
 it will itself produce and maintain. For it is some 
 consolation to those who look back upon the history 
 of the world to know — that, even without civil 
 liberty, society may possess — diffused through its 
 inner recesses in the minds even of its humblest 
 members — something of dignified enjoyment. But, 
 without national independence, this is impossible. 
 The difference, between inbred oppression and that
 
 168 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 which is from without, is essential ; inasmuch as the 
 former does not exclude, from the minds of a people, 
 the feeling of being self-governed ; does not imply 
 (as the latter does, when patiently submitted to) 
 an abandonment of the first duty imposed by the 
 faculty of reason. In reality : where this feeling 
 has no place, a people are not a society, but a herd ; 
 man being indeed distinguished among them from 
 the brute ; but only to his disgrace. I am aware 
 that there are too many who think that, to the 
 bulk of the community, this independence is of no 
 value ; that it is a refinement with which they feel 
 they have no concern ; inasmuch as, under the best 
 frame of Government, there is an inevitable depen- 
 dence of the poor upon the rich — of the many upon 
 the few — so unrelenting and imperious as to reduce 
 this other, by comparison, into a force which has 
 small influence, and is entitled to no regard. Super- 
 add civil liberty to national independence ; and this 
 position is overthrown at once : for there is no more 
 certain mark of a sound frame of polity than this ; 
 that, in all individual instances (and it is upon 
 these generalized that this position is laid down), 
 the dependence is in realitj^ far more strict on the 
 side of the wealthy ; and the labouring man leans 
 less upon others than any man in the community. — 
 But the case before us is of a country not internally 
 free, yet supposed capable of repelling an external 
 enemy who attem^Dts its subjugation. If a country 
 have put on chains of its own forging ; in the name 
 of virtue, let it be conscious that to itself it is 
 accountable : let it not have cause to look beyond 
 its own limits for reproof : and, — in the name of 
 humanity, — if it be self-depressed, let it have its 
 pride and some hope within itself. The poorest 
 Peasant, in an unsubdued land, feels this pride.
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 169 
 
 I do not appeal to the example of Britain or of 
 Switzerland, for the one is free, and the other 
 lately was free (and, I trust, A\all ere long be so 
 again) : but talk with the Swede ; and you ^\^ll 
 see the joy he finds in these sensations. With him 
 animal courage (the substitute for many and the 
 friend of all the manly virtues) has space to move 
 in ; and is at once elevated by his imagination, and 
 softened by liis affections : it is invigorated also ; 
 for the whole courage of his Country is in his breast. 
 
 In fact : the Peasant, and he who lives by the 
 fair reward of his manual labour, has ordinarily 
 a larger proportion of his gratifications dependent 
 upon these thoughts — than, for the most part, 
 men in other classes have. For he is in liis person 
 attached, by stronger roots, to the soil of which he 
 is the growth : liis intellectual notices are generally 
 confined within narrower bounds : in him no partial 
 or antipatriotic interests counteract the force of 
 those nobler sympathies and antipathies which he 
 has in right of his Country ; and lastly the belt or 
 girdle of his mind has never been stretched to utter 
 relaxation by false philosophy, under a conceit of 
 making it sit more easily and gracefully. These 
 sensations are a social inheritance to him ; more 
 important, as he is precluded from kixurious — and 
 those which are usually called refined — enjoyments. 
 
 Love and admiration must push themselves out 
 towards some quarter : otherwise the moral man 
 is killed. Collaterally they advance with great 
 vigour to a certain extent — and they are checked : 
 in that direction, hmits hard to pass are perpetually 
 encountered : but upwards and downwards, to 
 ancestry and to posterity, they meet with gladsome 
 help and no obstacles ; the tract is interminable. — 
 Perdition to the Tyrant who would wantonly cut off
 
 170 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 an independent Nation from its inheritance in past 
 ages ; turning the tombs and burial-places of the 
 Forefathers into dreaded objects of sorrow, or of 
 shame and reproach, for the Cliildren ! Look upon 
 Scotland and Wales : though, by the union of these 
 with England under the same Government (which 
 was effected Avithout conquest in one instance), 
 ferocious and desolating wars, and more injurious 
 intrigues, and sapping and disgraceful corruptions, 
 have been prevented ; and tranquillity, security, 
 and prosperity, and a thousand interchanges of 
 amity, not otherwise attainable, have followed ; — 
 yet the flashing eye, and the agitated voice, and all 
 the tender recollections, with which the names of 
 Prince LleweUin and William Wallace are to this 
 day pronounced by the fire-side and on the public 
 road, attest that these substantial blessings have 
 not been purchased without the relinquishment of 
 something most salutary to the moral nature of 
 Man : else the remembrances would not cleave so 
 faithfully to their abiding-place in the human heart. 
 But, if these affections be of general interest, they 
 are of especial interest to Spain ; whose history, 
 written and traditional, is pre-eminently stored 
 with the sustaining food of such affections : and in 
 no country are they more justly and generally 
 prized, or more feelingly cherished. 
 
 In the conduct of this argument I am not speaking 
 to the humbler ranks of society : it is unnecessary : 
 they trust in nature, and are safe. The People of 
 Madrid, and Corunna, and Ferrol, resisted to the 
 last ; from an impulse which, in their hearts, was 
 its own justification. The failure was with those 
 who stood higher in the scale. In fact ; the 
 universal rising of the Peninsula, under the pressure 
 and in the face of the most tremendous military
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 171 
 
 power which ever existed, is evidence which cannot 
 be too much insisted upon ; and is decisive upon 
 this subject, as invohdng a question of virtue and 
 moral sentiment. All ranks were penetrated with 
 one feeling : instantaneous and universal was the 
 acknowledgement. If there have been since indi- 
 vidual fallings-off ; those have been caused by that 
 kind of after-thoughts which are the bastard off- 
 spring of selfishness. The matter was brought 
 home to Spain ; and no Spaniard has offended 
 herein with a still conscience. — It is to the worldlings 
 of our own country, and to those who think without 
 carrying their thoughts far enough, that I address 
 myself. Let them know, there is no true wisdom 
 without imagination ; no genuine sense ; — ^that the 
 man, who in this age feels no regret for the ruined 
 honour of other Nations, must be poor in sj^mpathy 
 for the honour of his own Country ; and that, if he 
 be wanting here towards that wliich circumscribes 
 the whole, he neither has — nor can have — a social 
 regard for the lesser communities which Country 
 includes. Contract the circle, and bring him to his 
 family ; such a man cannot protect that with 
 dignified loves. Reduce his thoughts to his own 
 person ; he may defend himself, — what he deems 
 his honour ; but it is the action of a brave man 
 from the impulse of the brute, or the motive of 
 a coward. 
 
 But it is time to recollect that this vindication of 
 human feeling began from an hypothesis, — that the 
 outward state of the mass of the Spanish people 
 would be improved by the French usurpation. To 
 this I now give an unqualified denial. Let me also 
 observe to those men, for whose infirmity this 
 hypothesis was tolerated, — that the true point of 
 comparison docs not lie between what the Spaniards
 
 172 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 have been under a government of their own, and 
 what they may become under French domination ; 
 but between what the Spaniards may do (and, in 
 all likelihood, will do) for themselves, and what 
 Frenchmen would do for them. But, — waiving 
 this, — the sweeping away of the most splendid 
 monuments of art, and rifling of the public treasuries 
 in the conquered countries, are an apt prologue to 
 the tragedy which is to ensue. Strange that there 
 are men who can be so besotted as to see, in the 
 decrees of the Usurper concerning feudal tenures 
 and a worn-out inquisition, any other evidence 
 than that of insidiousness and of a constrained 
 acknowledgement of the strength which he felt he 
 had to overcome. What avail the lessons of 
 history, if men can be duped thus ? Boons and 
 promises of this kind rank, in trustworthiness, many 
 degrees lower than amnesties after expelled kings 
 have recovered their thrones. The fate of sub- 
 jugated Spain may be expressed in these words, — 
 pillage — depression — and helotism — for the sup- 
 posed aggrandizement of the imaginary freeman 
 its master. There would indeed be attempts at 
 encouragement, that there might be a supply of 
 something to pillage : studied depression there 
 would be, that there might arise no power of resis- 
 tance : and lastly helotism ; — but of what kind ? 
 that a vain and impious Nation might have slaves, 
 worthier than itself, for work which its own hands 
 would reject with scorn. 
 
 What good can the present arbitrary power confer 
 upon France itself ? Let that point be first settled 
 by those who are inclined to look farther. The 
 earher proceedings of the French Revolution no 
 doubt infused health into the country ; something 
 of which survives to this day : but let not the
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 173 
 
 now-existing Tyranny have the credit of it. France 
 neither owes, nor can owe, to this any rational 
 obligation. She has seen decrees without end for 
 the increase of commerce and manufactures ; 
 pompous stories without number of harbours, 
 canals, warehouses, and bridges : but there is no 
 worse sign in the management of affairs than when 
 that, Avhich ought to follow as an effect, goes before 
 under a vain notion that it Avill be a cause. — Let us 
 attend to the springs of action, and we shall not be 
 deceived. The works of peace cannot flourish in 
 a country governed by an intoxicated Despot ; 
 the motions of whose distorted benevolence must be 
 still more pernicious than those of his cruelty. 
 " / have bestowed ; I have created ; I have regenerated ; 
 I have been pleased to organize ; " — this is the 
 language perpetually upon his lips, when his ill-fated 
 activities turn that way. Now commerce, manu- 
 factures, agriculture, and all the peaceful arts, are 
 of the nature of Adrtues or intellectual powers : 
 they cannot be given ; they cannot be stuck in 
 here and there ; they must spring up ; they must 
 grow of themselves : they may be encouraged ; 
 they thrive better ^vith encouragement, and delight 
 in it ; but the obligation must have bounds nicely 
 defined ; for they are dehcate, proud, and inde- 
 pendent. But a Tyrant has no joy in any thing 
 which is endued with such excellence : he sickens 
 at the sight of it : he turns away from it, as an 
 insult to his own attributes. We have seen the 
 present ruler of France publicly addressed as a 
 Providence upon earth ; styled, among innumerable 
 other blasphemies, the supreme Ruler of things ; 
 and heard him say, in his answers, that he approved 
 of the language of those who thus saluted him. 
 {See Appendix E.) — Oh folly to think that plans
 
 174 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 of reason can prosper under such countenance ! 
 If this be the doom of France, what a monster 
 would be the double-headed tyranny of Spain ! 
 
 It is immutably ordained that power, taken and 
 exercised in contempt of right, never can bring 
 forth good. Wicked actions indeed have often- 
 times happy issues : the benevolent oeconomy of 
 nature counter-working and diverting evil ; and 
 educing finally benefits from injuries ; and turning 
 curses to blessings. But I am speaking of good in 
 a direct course. All good in this order — all moral 
 good — begins and ends in reverence of right. The 
 whole Spanish People are to be treated not as a 
 mighty multitude with feeling, will, and judgment ; 
 not as rational creatures ; — but as objects without 
 reason ; in the language of human law, insuperably 
 laid down not as Persons but as Things. Can good 
 come from this beginning ; which, in matter of 
 civil government, is the fountain-head and the main 
 feeder of all the pure evil upon earth ? Look at 
 the past history of our sister Island for the quality 
 of foreign oppression : turn where you will, it is 
 miserable at best ; but, in the case of Spain ! — it 
 might be said, engraven upon the rocks of her own 
 Pyrenees, 
 
 Per me si va nella citta dolente ; 
 Per me si va nell' eterno dolore; 
 Per me si va tra la perduta gente. 
 
 So much I have thought it necessary to speak 
 upon this subject ; with a desire to enlarge the 
 views of the short-sighted, to chear the desponding, 
 and stimulate the remiss. I have been treating of 
 duties which the People of Spain feel to be solemn 
 and imperious ; and have referred to springs of 
 action (in the sensations of love and hatred, of hope 
 and fear), — for promoting the fulfilment of these
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 175 
 
 duties, — which cannot fail. The People of Spain, 
 thus animated, vnW move now ; and ^vill be pre- 
 pared to move, upon a favourable summons, for 
 ages. And it is consolatory to think that, — even if 
 many of the leading persons of that country, in 
 their resistance to France, should not look beyond 
 the two first objects (viz. riddance of the enemy, 
 and security of national independence) ; — it is, 
 I say, consolatory to think that the conduct, which 
 can alone secure either of these ends, leads directly 
 to a free internal Government. We have therefore 
 both the passions and the reason of these men on 
 our side in two stages of the common journey : 
 and, when this is the case, surely we are justified 
 in expecting some further companionship and 
 support from their reason — acting independent of 
 their partial interests, or in opposition to them. 
 It is obvious that, to the narrow policy of this class 
 (men loyal to the Nation and to the King, yet 
 jealous of the People), the most dangerous failures, 
 which have hitherto taken place, are to be attri- 
 buted : for, though from acts of open treason Spain 
 may suffer and has suffered much, these (as I have 
 proved) can never affect the vitals of the cause. 
 But the march of Liberty has begun ; and they, 
 who will not lead, may be borne along. — At all 
 events, the road is plain. Let members for the 
 Cortes be assembled from those Provinces which are 
 not in the possession of the Invader : or at least 
 (if circumstances render this impossible at present) 
 let it be announced that such is the intention, to be 
 reahzed the first moment when it shall become 
 possible. In the mean while speak boldly to the 
 People : and let the People ^mte and speak boldly. 
 Let the expectation be famiUar to them of open and 
 manly institutions of law and liberty according to
 
 176 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 knowledge. Let them be universally trained to 
 military exercises, and accustomed to military 
 discipline : let them be drawn together in civic and 
 religious assemblies ; and a general communication 
 of those assemblies with each other be established 
 through the country : so that there may be one 
 zeal and one life in every part of it. 
 
 With great profit might the Chiefs of the Spanish 
 Nation look back upon the earlier part of the French 
 Revolution. Much, in the outward manner, might 
 there be found worthy of qualified imitation : and, 
 where there is a difference in the inner spirit (and 
 there is a mighty difference !), the advantage is 
 wholly on the side of the Spaniards. — Why should 
 the People of Spain be dreaded by their leaders ? 
 I do not mean the profligate and flagitious leaders ; 
 but those who are well-intentioned, yet timid. That 
 there are numbers of this class who have excellent 
 intentions, and are willing to make large personal 
 sacrifices, is clear ; for they have put every thing to 
 risk — all their privileges, their honours, and pos- 
 sessions — by their resistance to the Invader. Why 
 then should they have fears from a quarter — whence 
 their safety must come, if it come at all ? — Spain has 
 nothing to dread from Jacobinism. Manufactures 
 and Commerce have there in far less degree than 
 elsewhere — by unnaturally clustering the people 
 together — enfeebled their bodies, inflamed their 
 passions by intemperance, vitiated from cliildhood 
 their moral affections, and destroyed their imagina- 
 tions. Madrid is no enormous city, like Paris ; 
 over-grown, and disproportionate ; sickening and 
 bowing down, by its corrupt humours, the frame of 
 the body politic. Nor has the pestilential philo- 
 sophism of France made any progress in Spain. No 
 flight of infidel harpies has alighted upon their
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 177 
 
 ground. A Spanish understanding is a hold too 
 strong to give way to the meagre tactics of the 
 " Systeme de la Nature ; " or to the pellets of logic 
 which Condillac has cast in the foundry of national 
 vanity, and tosses about at hap-hazard — self- 
 persuaded that he is proceeding according to art. 
 The Spaniards are a people with imagination : and 
 the paradoxical reveries of Rousseau, and the flip- 
 pancies of Voltaire, are plants which will not natur- 
 alise in the country of Calderon and Cervantes. 
 Though bigotry among the Spaniards leaves much to 
 be lamented ; I have proved that the religious habits 
 of the nation must, in a contest of this kind, be of 
 inestimable service. 
 
 Yet further : contrasting the present condition of 
 Spain Avith that of France at the commencement of 
 her revolution, we must not overlook one charac- 
 teristic ; the Spaniards have no division among 
 themselves by and through themselves ; no numer- 
 ous Priesthood — no Nobility — no large body of 
 powerful Burghers — from passion, interest, and 
 conscience — opposing the end which is known and 
 felt to be the duty and only honest and true interest 
 of all. Hostility, wherever it is found, must proceed 
 from the seductions of the Invader : and these 
 depend solely upon his power : let that be shattered ; 
 and they vanish. 
 
 And this once again leads us directly to that 
 immense military force which the Spaniards have to 
 combat ; and which, many think, more than 
 counterbalances every internal advantage. It is 
 indeed formidable : as revolutionary appetites and 
 energies must needs be ; Avhen, among a people 
 numerous as the people of France, they have ceased 
 to spend themselves in conflicting factions within the 
 country for objects perpetually changing shape ; and 
 
 824.38 N
 
 178 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 are carried out of it under the strong controul of 
 an absolute despotism, as opportunity invites, for 
 a definite object — plunder and conquest. It is, 
 I allow, a frightful spectacle — to see the prime of 
 a vast nation j^ropelled out of their territory with 
 the rapid sweep of a horde of Tartars ; moving from 
 the impulse of like savage instincts ; and furnished, 
 at the same time, with those implements of physical 
 destruction which have been produced by science 
 and civilization. Such are the motions of the 
 French armies ; unchecked by any thought which 
 philosophy and the spirit of society, progressively 
 humanizing, have called forth — to determine or 
 regulate the application of the murderous and 
 desolating apparatus w^th which by philosophy and 
 science they have been provided. With a like 
 perversion of things, and the same mischievous 
 reconcilement of forces in their nature adverse, these 
 revolutionary impulses and these appetites of bar- 
 barous (nay, what is far worse, of barbarized) men 
 are embodied in a new frame of polity ; which 
 possesses the consistency of an ancient Government, 
 without its embarrassments and weaknesses. And 
 at the head of all is the mind of one man who acts 
 avowedly upon the principle that every thing, 
 which can be done safely by the supreme power of 
 a state, may be done {See Appendix F.) ; and who 
 has, at his command, the greatest part of the 
 continent of Europe — to fulfil what yet remains 
 unaccomplished of his nefarious purposes. 
 
 Now it must be ob\dous to a reflecting mind that 
 every thing which is desperately immoral, being in 
 its constitution monstrous, is of itself perishable : 
 decay it cannot escape ; and, further, it is liable to 
 sudden dissolution : time would evince this in the 
 instance before us ; though not, perhaps, until
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 179 
 
 infinite and irreparable harm had been done. But, 
 even at present, each of the sources of this preter- 
 natural strength (as far as it is formidable to Europe) 
 has its corresponding seat of weakness ; which, were 
 it fairly touched, would manifest itself immediately. 
 — The power is indeed a Colossus : but, if the trunk 
 be of molten-brass, the members are of clay ; and 
 would fall to pieces upon a shock which need not be 
 \aolent. Great Britain, if her energies were pro- 
 perly called forth and directed, might (as we have 
 already maintained) give this shock. " Magna 
 parvis obscurantur " was the appropriate motto 
 (the device a Sun Eclipsed) when Lord Peterborough, 
 with a handful of men opposed to fortified cities and 
 large armies, brought a great part of Spain to ac- 
 knowledge a sovereign of the House of Austria. We 
 have now a vast military force ; and, — even ^vithout 
 a Peterborough or a Marlborough, — at this precious 
 opportunity (when, as is daily more probable, a large 
 portion of the French force must march northwards 
 to combat Austria) we might easily, by expelling the 
 French from the Peninsula, secure an immediate 
 footing there for liberty ; and the Pyrenees would 
 then be shut against them for ever. The disciplined 
 troops of Great Britain might overthrow the enemy 
 in the field ; while the Patriots of Spain, under wise 
 management, would be able to consume him slowly 
 but surely. 
 
 For present annoyance his power is, no doubt, 
 mighty : but liberty — in which it originated, and of 
 which it is a depravation — is far mightier ; and the 
 good in human nature is stronger than the evil. 
 The events of our age indeed have brought this truth 
 into doubt with some persons : and scrupulous 
 observers have been astonished and have repined at 
 the sight of enthusiasm, courage, perseverance, and 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 fidelity, put forth seemingly to their height, — and all 
 engaged in the furtherance of wrong. But the minds 
 of men are not always devoted to this bad service 
 as strenuously as they appear to be. I have personal 
 knowledge that, when the attack was made which 
 ended in the subjugation of Switzerland, the injus- 
 tice of the undertaking was grievously oppressive to 
 many officers of the French army ; and damped 
 their exertions. Besides, were it otherwise, there 
 is no just cause for despondency in the perverted 
 alliance of these qualities with oppression. The 
 intrinsic superiority of virtue and liberty, even for 
 politic ends, is not affected by it. If the tide of 
 success were, by any effort, fairly turned ; — not only 
 a general desertion, as we have the best reason to 
 believe, would follow among the troops of the en- 
 slaved nations ; but a moral change would also take 
 place in the minds of the native French soldiery. 
 Occasion would be given for the discontented to 
 break out ; and, above all, for the triumph of human 
 nature. It would then be seen whether men fighting 
 in a bad cause, — men without magnanimity, honour, 
 or justice, — could recover ; and stand up against 
 champions who by these \drtues were carried forward 
 in good fortune, as by these virtues in adversity 
 they had been sustained. As long as guilty actions 
 thrive, guilt is strong : it has a giddiness and trans- 
 port of its own ; a hardihood not without super- 
 stition, as if Providence were a party to its success. 
 But there is no independent spring at the heart of 
 the machine which can be reUed upon for a support 
 of these motions in a change of circumstances. 
 Disaster opens the eyes of conscience ; and, in the 
 minds of men who have been employed in bad 
 actions, defeat and a feeling of punishment are 
 inseparable.
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 181 
 
 On the other hand ; the power of an unblemished 
 heart and a brave spirit is shewn, in the events of 
 war, not only among unpractised citizens and 
 peasants ; but among troops in the most perfect 
 discipline. Large bodies of the British army have 
 been several times broken — that is, technically 
 vanquished — in Egypt, and elsewhere. Yet they, 
 who were conquered as formal soldiers, stood their 
 ground and became conquerors as men. This para- 
 mount efficacy of moral causes is not AviUingly 
 admitted by persons high in the profession of arms ; 
 because it seems to diminish their value in society — 
 by taking from the importance of their art : but the 
 truth is indisputable : and those Generals are as 
 blind to their own interests as to the interests of 
 their country, who, by submitting to inglorious 
 treaties or by other misconduct, hazard the breaking 
 down of those personal virtues in the men under 
 their command — to which they themselves, as 
 leaders, are mainly indebted for the fame which they 
 acquire. 
 
 Combine, Avith this moral superiority inherent in 
 the cause of Freedom, the endless resources open to 
 a nation which shews constancy in defensive war ; 
 resources which, after a lapse of time, leave the 
 strongest invading army comparatively helpless. 
 Before six cities, resisting as Saragossa hath resisted 
 during her two sieges, the whole of the military power 
 of the adversary would melt aw^ay. Without any 
 advantages of natural situation ; without fortifica- 
 tions ; without even a ditch to protect them ; with 
 nothing better than a mud wall ; with not more than 
 two hundred regular troops ; with a slender stock 
 of arms and ammunition ; with a leader inexperi- 
 enced in war ; — the Citizens of Saragossa began 
 the contest. Enough of what was needful — was
 
 182 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 produced and created ; and — by courage, fortitude, 
 and skill, rapidly matured — they baffled for sixty 
 days, and finally repulsed, a large French army with 
 all its equipments. In the first siege the natural 
 and moral victory were both on their side ; nor less 
 so virtually (though the termination was different) 
 in the second. For, after another resistance of 
 nearly three months, they have given the enemy 
 cause feelingly to say, with Pyrrhus of old, — " A. 
 little more of such conquest, and I am destroyed." 
 
 If evidence were wanting of the efficacy of the 
 principles which throughout this Treatise have been 
 maintained, — it has been furnished in overflowing 
 measure. A private individual, I had written ; and 
 knew not in what manner tens of thousands were 
 enacting, day after day, the truths which, in the 
 solitude of a peaceful vale, I was meditating. 
 Most gloriously have the Citizens of Saragossa 
 proved that the true army of Spain, in a contest of 
 this nature, is the whole people. The same city 
 has also exemplified a melancholy — yea a dismal 
 truth ; yet consolatory, and full of joy ; that, — 
 when a people are called suddenly to fight for their 
 liberty, and are sorely pressed upon, — ^their best 
 field of battle is the floors upon which their children 
 have played ; the chambers where the family of each 
 man has slept (his own or his neighbours') ; upon or 
 under the roofs by which they have been sheltered ; 
 in the gardens of their recreation ; in the street, 
 or in the market-place ; before the Altars of their 
 Temples ; and among their congregated dwellings 
 — blazing, or up-rooted. 
 
 The Government of Spain must never forget 
 Saragossa for a moment. Nothing is wanting, to 
 produce the same effects every where, but a leading 
 mind such as that city was blessed with. In the
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 183 
 
 latter contest this has been proved ; for Saragossa 
 contained, at that time, bodies of men from almost 
 all parts of Spain. The narrative of those two 
 sieges should be the manual of every Spaniard : he 
 may add to it the ancient stories of Numantia and 
 Saguntum : let him sleep upon the book as a pillow ; 
 and, if he be a devout adherent to the religion of his 
 country, let him wear it in his bosom for his crucifix 
 to rest upon. 
 
 Beginning from these invincible feelings, and the 
 principles of justice which are involved in them ; let 
 nothing be neglected, which pohcy and prudence 
 dictate, for rendering subservient to the same end 
 those qualities in human nature w^hich are indifferent 
 or even morally bad ; and for making the selfish 
 propensities contribute to the support of wise ar- 
 rangements, civil and military. — Perhaps there never 
 appeared in the field more steady soldiers — troops 
 which it would have been more difficult to conquer 
 with such knowledge of the art of war as then 
 existed — than those commanded by Fairfax and 
 Cromwell : let us see from what root these armies 
 grew. " Cromwell," says Sir Philip Warwick, 
 " made use of the zeal and creduhty of these persons " 
 (that is — such of the people as had, in the author's 
 language, the fanatic humour) ; " teaching them 
 (as they too readily taught themselves) that they 
 engaged for God, when he led them against his 
 vicegerent the King. And, where this opinion met 
 with a natural courage, it made them bolder — and 
 too often crueller ; and, where natural courage 
 wanted, zeal supplied its place. And at first they 
 chose rather to die than flee ; and custom removed 
 fear of danger : and afterwards — finding the sweet 
 of good pay, and of opulent plunder, and of prefer- 
 ment suitable to acti\dty and merit — the lucrative
 
 184 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 part made gain seem to them a natural member of 
 godliness. And I cannot here omit " (continues the 
 author) " a character of this army which General 
 Fairfax gave unto myself ; when, complimenting 
 him with the regularity and temperance of his army, 
 he told me, The best common soldiers he had — came 
 out of our army and from the garrisons he had taken 
 in. So (says he) I found you had made them good 
 soldiers ; and I have made them good men. But, 
 upon this whole matter, it may appear " (concludes 
 the author) " that the spirit of discipline of warr 
 may beget that spirit of discipline which even Solo- 
 mon describes as the spirit of wisdom and obedience." 
 Apply this process to the growth and maturity of an 
 armed force in Spain. In making a comparison of 
 the two cases ; to the sense of the insults and injuries 
 which, as Spaniards and as human Beings, they have 
 received and have to dread, — and to the sanctity 
 which an honourable resistance has already conferred 
 upon their misfortunes, — add the devotion of that 
 people to their rehgion as Catholics ; — and it will 
 not be doubted that the superiority of the radical 
 feehng is, on their side, immeasurable. There is 
 (I cannot refrain from observing) in the Catholic 
 religion, and in the character of its Priesthood 
 especially, a source of animation and fortitude in 
 desperate struggles — which may be relied upon as 
 one of the best hopes of the cause. The narrative 
 of the first siege of Zaragoza, lately published in this 
 country, and which I earnestly recommend to the 
 reader's perusal, informs us that, — " In every part 
 of the town where the danger was most imminent, 
 and the French the most numerous, — was Padre 
 St. lago Sass, curate of a parish in Zaragoza. As 
 General Palafox made his rounds through the city, 
 he often beheld Sass alternately playing the part of
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 185 
 
 a Priest and a Soldier ; sometimes administering the 
 sacrament to the dying ; and, at others, fighting in 
 the most determined manner against the enemies of 
 his country. — He was found so serviceable in inspir- 
 ing the people with rehgious sentiments, and in 
 leading them on to danger, that the General has 
 placed him in a situation where both his piety and 
 courage may continue to be as useful as before ; and 
 he is now both Captain in the army, and Chaplain 
 to the commander-in-chief." 
 
 The reader will have been reminded, by the 
 passage above cited from Sir Philip Warwick's 
 memoirs, of the details given, in the earlier part of 
 this tract, concerning the course which (as it ap- 
 peared to me) might with advantage be pursued in 
 Spain : I must request him to combine those details 
 with such others as have since been given : the 
 whole would have been further illustrated, if I could 
 sooner have returned to the subject ; but it was first 
 necessary to examine the grounds of hope in the 
 grand and disinterested passions, and in the laws of 
 universal morality. My attention has therefore been 
 chiefly directed to these laws and passions ; in order 
 to elevate, in some degree, the conceptions of my 
 readers ; and with a wish to rectify and fix, in this 
 fundamental point, their judgements. The truth 
 of the general reasoning will, I have no doubt, be 
 acknowledged by men of uncorrupted natures 
 and practised understandings ; and the conclusion, 
 which I have repeatedly drawn, will be acceded to ; 
 namely, that no resistance can be prosperous which 
 does not look, for its chief support, to these princi- 
 ples and feeUngs. If, however, there should be men 
 who still fear (as I have been speaking of things under 
 combinations which are transitory) that the action of 
 these powers cannot be sustained ; to such I answer
 
 186 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 that, — if there be a necessity that it should be 
 sustained at the point to which it first ascended, 
 or should recover that height if there have been 
 a fall, — nature will provide for that necessity. The 
 cause is in Tyranny : and that will again call forth 
 the effect out of its holy retirements. Oppression, 
 its own blind and predestined enemy, has poured 
 this of blessedness upon Spain, — that the enormity 
 of the outrages, of which she has been the victim, 
 has created an object of love and of hatred — of 
 apprehensions and of wishes — adequate (if that be 
 possible) to the utmost demands of the human spirit. 
 The heart that serves in this cause, if it languish, 
 must languish from its own constitutional weakness ; 
 and not through want of nourishment from without. 
 But it is a behef propagated in books, and which 
 passes currently among talking men as part of their 
 famihar wisdom, that the hearts of the many are 
 constitutionally weak ; that they do languish ; and 
 are slow to answer to the requisitions of things. I 
 entreat those, who are in this delusion, to look 
 behind them and about them for the evidence of 
 experience. Now this, rightly understood, not 
 only gives no support to any such behef ; but proves 
 that the truth is in direct opposition to it. The 
 history of all ages ; tumults after tumults ; wars, 
 foreign or civil, with short or with no breathing- 
 spaces, from generation to generation ; wars — why 
 and wherefore ? yet with courage, with persever- 
 ance, with self-sacrifice, with enthusiasm — with 
 cruelty driving forward the cruel man from its own 
 terrible nakedness, and attracting the more benign 
 by the accompaniment of some shadow which seems 
 to sanctify it ; the senseless weaving and interweav- 
 ing of factions — vanishing and reviving and piercing 
 each other hke the Northern Lights ; public com-
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 187 
 
 motions, and those in the bosom of the individual ; 
 the long calenture to which the Lover is subject ; 
 the blast, like the blast of the desart, which sweeps 
 perennially through a frightful solitude of its own 
 making in the mind of the Gamester ; the slowly 
 quickening but ever quickening descent of appetite 
 down which the Miser is propelled ; the agony and 
 cleaving oppression of grief ; the ghost-like haunt- 
 ings of shame ; the incubus of revenge ; the Ufe- 
 distemper of ambition ; — ^these inward existences, 
 and the visible and familiar occurrences of daily hfe 
 in every town and village ; the patient curiosity and 
 contagious acclamations of the multitude in the 
 streets of the city and \\dthin the walls of the theatre ; 
 a procession, or a rural dance ; a hunting, or a horse- 
 race ; a flood, or a fire ; rejoicing and ringing of 
 bells for an unexpected gift of good fortune, or the 
 
 coming of a foolish heir to his estate ; these 
 
 demonstrate incontestibly that the passions of men 
 (I mean, the soul of sensibihty in the heart of man) 
 — in all quarrels, in all contests, in all quests, in all 
 delights, in all employments which are either sought 
 by men or thrust upon them — do immeasurably 
 transcend their objects. The true sorrow of hu- 
 manity consists in this ; — not that the mind of 
 man fails ; but that the course and demands of 
 action and of life so rarely correspond with the 
 dignity and intensity of human desires : and hence 
 that, which is slow to languish, is too easily turned 
 aside and abused. But — with the remembrance 
 of what has been done, and in the face of the inter- 
 minable evils which are threatened — a Spaniard can 
 never have cause to complain of this, while a follower 
 of the Tyrant remains in arms upon the Peninsula. 
 Here then they, with whom I hope, take their 
 stand. There is a spiritual community binding
 
 188 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 together the living and the dead ; the good, the 
 brave, and the wise, of all ages. We would not be 
 rejected from this community : and therefore do we 
 hope. We look forward with erect mind, thinking 
 and feeUng : it is an obUgation of duty : take away 
 the sense of it, and the moral being would die within 
 us. — Among the most illustrious of that fraternity, 
 whose encouragement we participate, is an English- 
 man who sacrificed his life in devotion to a cause 
 bearing a stronger likeness to this than any recorded 
 in history. It is the elder Sidney — a deliverer and 
 defender, whose name I have before uttered with 
 reverence ; who, treating of the war in the Nether- 
 lands against Phihp the Second, thus writes : " If 
 her Majesty," says he, " were the fountain ; I wold 
 fear, considering what I daily find, that we shold 
 wax dry. But she is but a means whom God useth. 
 And I know not whether I am deceaved ; but I am 
 fully persuaded, that, if she shold withdraw herself, 
 other springs wold rise to help this action. For, 
 methinks, I see the great work indeed in hand 
 against the abuses of the world ; wherein it is no 
 greater fault to have confidence in man's power, 
 than it is too hastily to despair of God's work." 
 
 The pen, which I am guiding, has stopped in my 
 hand ; and I have scarcely power to proceed. — I 
 will lay down one principle ; and then shall con- 
 tentedly withdraw from the sanctuary. 
 
 When wickedness acknowledges no limit but the 
 extent of her power, and advances with aggravated 
 impatience like a devouring fire ; the only worthy or 
 adequate opposition is — that of virtue submitting to 
 no circumscription of her endeavours save that of her 
 rights, and aspiring from the impulse of her own 
 ethereal zeal. The Christian exhortation for the 
 individual is here the precept for nations — " Be ye
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 189 
 
 therefore perfect ; even as your Father, which is in 
 Heaven, is perfect." 
 
 Upon a future occasion (if what has been now said 
 meets with attention) I shall point out the steps by 
 which the practice of life may be Ufted up towards 
 these high precepts. I shall have to speak of the 
 child as well as the man ; for Avith the child, or the 
 youth, may we begin with more hope : but I am not 
 in despair even for the man ; and chiefly from the 
 inordinate evils of our time. There are (as I shall 
 attempt to shew) tender and subtile ties by which 
 these principles, that love to soar in the pure region, 
 are connected v,iih the ground-nest in which they 
 were fostered and from which they take their flight. 
 
 The outermost and all-embracing circle of benevo- 
 lence has inward concentric circles which, Uke those 
 of the spider's web, are bound together by Hnks, and 
 rest upon each other ; making one frame, and cap- 
 able of one tremor ; circles narrower and narrower, 
 closer and closer, as they lie more near to the centre 
 of self from which they proceeded, and which sus- 
 tains the whole. The order of life does not require 
 that the subUme and disinterested feelings should 
 have to trust long to their own unassisted power. 
 Nor would the attempt consist either with their 
 dignity or their humiUty. They condescend, and 
 they adopt : they know the time of their repose ; 
 and the qualities which are worthy of being admitted 
 into their ser\ice — of being their inmates, their 
 companions, or their substitutes. I shall strive to 
 shew that these principles and movements of wis- 
 dom — so far from towering above the support of 
 prudence, or rejecting the rules of experience, for 
 the better conduct of those multifarious actions 
 which are ahke necessary to the attainment of ends 
 good or bad — do instinctively prompt the sole
 
 190 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 prudence which cannot fail. The higher mode of 
 being does not exclude, but necessarily includes, the 
 lower ; the intellectual does not exclude, but 
 necessarily includes, the sentient ; the sentient, the 
 animal ; and the animal, the vital — ^to its lowest 
 degrees. Wisdom is the hidden root which thrusts 
 forth the stalk of prudence ; and these uniting feed 
 and uphold " the bright consummate flower " — 
 National Happiness — the end, the conspicuous 
 crown, and ornament of the whole. 
 
 I have announced the feelings of those who hope : 
 yet one word more to those who despond. And 
 first ; he stands upon a hideous precipice (and it will 
 be the same with all who may succeed to him and 
 his iron sceptre) — he who has outlawed himself from 
 society by proclaiming, with act and deed, that he 
 acknowledges no mastery but power. This truth 
 must be evident to all who breathe — from the dawn 
 of childhood, till the last gleam of twihght is lost 
 in the darkness of dotage. But take the tyrant as 
 he is, in the plenitude of his supposed strength. 
 The vast country of Germany, in spite of the rusty 
 but too strong fetters of corrupt princedoms and 
 degenerate nobihty, — Germany — with its citizens, 
 its peasants, and its philosophers — will not lie quiet 
 under the weight of injuries which has been heaped 
 upon it. There is a sleep, but no death, among the 
 mountains of Switzerland. Florence, and Venice, 
 and Genoa, and Rome, — have their own poignant 
 recollections, and a majestic train of glory in past 
 ages. The stir of emancipation may again be felt 
 at the mouths as well as at the sources of the Rhine. 
 Poland perhaps will not be insensible ; Kosciusko 
 and his compeers may not have bled in vain. Nor 
 is Hungarian loyalty to be overlooked. And, for 
 Spain itself, the territory is wide : let it be overrun :
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 191 
 
 the torrent will weaken as the water spreads. And, 
 should all resistance disappear, be not daunted : 
 extremes meet : and how often do hope and despair 
 almost touch each other — though unconscious of 
 their neighbourhood, because their faces are turned 
 different ways ! yet, in a moment, the one shall 
 vanish ; and the other begin a career in the fulness 
 of her joy. 
 
 But we may turn from these thoughts : for the 
 present juncture is most auspicious. Upon liberty, 
 and upon liberty alone, can there be permanent 
 dependence ; but a temporary relief will be given by 
 the share which Austria is about to take in the war. 
 Now is the time for a great and decisive effort ; and, 
 if Britain does not avail herself of it, her disgrace 
 will be indelible, and the loss infinite. If there be 
 ground of hope in the crimes and errors of the enemy, 
 he has furnished enough of both : but imbecility 
 in his opponents (above all, the imbecility of the 
 British) has hitherto preserved him from the natural 
 consequences of his ignorance, his meanness of mind, 
 his transports of infirm fancy, and his guilt. Let us 
 hasten to redeem ourselves. The field is open for 
 a commanding British military force to clear the 
 Peninsula of the enemy, while the better half of his 
 power is occupied with Austria. For the South of 
 Spain, where the first effort of regeneration was 
 made, is yet free. Saragossa (which, by a truly 
 efficient British army, might have been relieved) has 
 indeed fallen ; but leaves little to regret ; for con- 
 summate have been her fortitude and valour. The 
 citizens and soldiers of Saragossa are to be envied : 
 for they have completed the circle of their duty ; 
 they have done all that could be wished — all that 
 could be prayed for. And, though the cowardly 
 malice of the enemy gives too much reason to fear
 
 192 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 that their leader Palafox (mth the fate of Toussaint) 
 will soon be among the dead, it is the high privilege 
 of men who have performed what he has performed 
 — that they cannot be missed ; and, in moments of 
 weakness only, can they be lamented : their actions 
 represent them every where and for ever. Palafox 
 has taken his place as parent and ancestor of innu- 
 merable heroes. 
 
 Oh ! that the surviving chiefs of the Spanish 
 people may prove worthy of their situation ! With 
 such materials, — their labour would be pleasant, 
 and their success certain. But — though heads of a 
 nation venerable for antiquity, and having good 
 cause to preserve with reverence the institutions of 
 their elder forefathers — they must not be indis- 
 criminately afraid of new things. It is their duty 
 to restore the good which has fallen into disuse ; 
 and also to create, and to adopt. Young scions of 
 polity must be engrafted on the time-worn trunk : 
 a new fortress must be reared upon the ancient and 
 living rock of justice. Then would it be seen, while 
 the superstructure stands inwardly immoveable, in 
 how short a space of time the ivy and wild plant 
 would climb up from the base, and clasp the naked 
 walls ; the storms, which could not shake, would 
 weather-stain ; and the edifice, in the day of its 
 youth, would appear to be one with the rock upon 
 which it was planted, and to grow out of it. 
 
 But let us look to ourselves. Our offences are 
 unexpiated : and, wanting light, we want strength. 
 With reference to this guilt and to this deficiency, 
 and to my own humble efforts towards removing 
 both, I shall conclude with the words of a man of 
 disciplined spirit, who withdrew from the too busy 
 world — not out of indifference to its welfare, or to 
 forget its concerns — but retired for wider compass
 
 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 193 
 
 of eye-sight, that he might comprehend and see in 
 just proportions and relations ; knowing above all 
 that he, who hath not first made himself master 
 of the horizon of his own mind, must look beyond 
 it only to be deceived. It is Petrarch who thus 
 writes : " Hsec dicerem, et quicquid in rem prsesen- 
 tem et indignatio dolorque dictarent ; nisi obtor- 
 puisse animos, actumque de rebus nostris, crederem. 
 Nempe, qui aliis iter rectum ostendere solebamus, 
 nunc (quod exitio proximum est) coeci coecis ducibus 
 per abrupta rapimur ; alienoque circumvolvimur 
 exemplo ; quid velimus, nescii. Nam (ut cceptum 
 exequar) totum hoc malum, seu nostrum proprium 
 seu potius omnium gentium commune, Ignoratio 
 Finis facit. Nesciunt inconsulti homines quid 
 agant : ideo quicquid agunt, mox ut coeperint, 
 vergit in nauseam. Hinc ille discursus sine termino ; 
 hinc, medio calle, discordiae ; et, ante exitum, 
 Damn ATA Principia ; et explete nihil." 
 
 As an act of respect to the EngUsh reader — I shall 
 add, to the same purpose, the words of our own 
 Milton ; who, contemplating our ancestors in his 
 day, thus speaks of them and their errors : — " Vali- 
 ant, indeed, and prosperous to win a field ; but, to 
 know the end and reason of \^^nning, injudicious and, 
 unwise. Hence did their victories prove as fruitless, 
 as their losses dangerous ; and left them still lan- 
 guishing under the same grievances that men suffer 
 conquered. Which was indeed unlikely to go other- 
 wise ; unless men more than vulgar bred up in the 
 knowledge of ancient and illustrious deeds, in\dncible 
 against many and vain titles, impartial to friend- 
 ships and relations, had conducted their affairs." 
 
 THE END. 
 824.38 O
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 A {page 46). 
 
 When this passage was written, there had appeared 
 only unauthorized accounts of the Board of Inquiry's 
 proceedings. Neither from these however, nor from the 
 official report of the Board (which has been since pub- 
 lished), is any satisfactory explanation to be gained on 
 this question — or indeed on any other question of im- 
 portance. All, which is to be collected from them, is 
 this : the Portuguese General, it appears, offered to 
 unite his whole force with the British on the single 
 condition that they should be provisioned from the 
 British stores ; and, accordingly, rests his excuse for 
 not co-operating on the refusal of Sir Arthur Wellesley 
 to comply with this condition. Sir A. W. denies the 
 validity of his excuse ; and, more than once, calls it a 
 pretence ; declaring that, in his belief. Gen. Freire's real 
 motive for not joining was — a mistrust in the competence 
 of the British to appear in the field against the French. 
 This however is mere surmise ; and therefore cannot 
 have much weight with those who sincerely sought for 
 satisfaction on this point : moreover, it is a surmise of 
 the individual whose justification rests on making it 
 appear that the difficulty did not arise with himself ; and 
 it is right to add, that the only fact produced goes to 
 discredit this surmise ; viz. that Gen. Friere did, without 
 any delay, furnish the whole number of troops which Sir 
 Arthur engaged to feed. However the Board exhibited 
 so little anxiety to be satisfied on this point, that no 
 positive information was gained. 
 
 A reference being here first made to the official report 
 of the Board of Inquiry ; I shall make use of the oppor-
 
 APPENDIX 195 
 
 tunity which it offers to lay before the reader an outline 
 of that Board's proceedings ; from which it will appear 
 how far the opinion — pronounced, by the national voice, 
 upon the transactions in Portugal — ought, in sound logic, 
 to be modified by any part of those proceedings. 
 
 We find in the warrant under which the Board of 
 Inquiry was to act, and which defined its powers, that 
 an inquiry was to be made into the conditions of the 
 " armistice and convention ; and into all the causes and 
 circumstances, whether arising from the operations of the 
 British army, or otherwise, which led to them." 
 
 Whether answers to the charges of the people of 
 England were made possible by the provisions of this 
 warrant — and, secondly, whether even these provisions 
 have been satisfied by the Board of Inquiry — will best 
 appear by involving those charges in four questions, 
 according to the following scale, which supposes a series 
 of concessions impossible to those who think the nation 
 justified in the language held on the transactions in 
 Portugal. 
 
 1 . Considering the perfidy with which the French army 
 had entered Portugal ; the enormities committed by it 
 during its occupation of that country ; the vast military 
 power of which that army was a part, and the use made 
 of that power by its master ; the then existing spirit of 
 the Spanish, Portuguese, and British nations ; in a word, 
 considering the especial nature of the service, and the 
 individual character of this war ; — was it lawful for the 
 British army, under any conceivable circumstances, so 
 long as it had the liberty of re-embarking, to make any 
 conceivable convention ? i. e. Was the negative evil of a 
 total failure in every object for which it had been sent 
 to Portugal of worse tendency than the positive evil of 
 acknowledging in the French army a fair title to the 
 privileges of an honourable enemy by consenting to 
 a mode of treaty which (in its very name, implying 
 a reciprocation of concession and respect) must be under 
 any limitations as much more indulgent than an ordinary 
 
 O 2
 
 196 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 capitulation, as that again must (in its severest form) be 
 more indulgent than the only favour which the French 
 marauders could presume upon obtaining — viz. per- 
 mission to surrender at discretion ? 
 
 To this question the reader need not be told that 
 these pages give a naked unqualified denial ; and that to 
 establish the reasonableness of that denial is one of their 
 main purposes : but, for the benefit of the men accused, 
 let it be supposed granted ; and then the second question 
 will be 
 
 2. Was it lawful for the English army, in the case of 
 its being reduced to the supposed dilemma of either 
 re-embarking or making some convention, to make that 
 specifical convention which it did make at Cintra ? 
 
 This is of necessity and d fortiori denied ; and it has 
 been proved that neither to this, nor any other army, 
 could it be lawful to make such a convention — not merely 
 under the actual but under any conceivable circum- 
 stances : let however this too, on behalf of the parties 
 accused, be granted ; and then the third question will be 
 
 3. Was the English Army reduced to that dilemma ? 
 
 4. Finally, this also being conceded (which not even 
 the Generals have dared to say), it remains to ask by 
 whose and by what misconduct did an army — confessedly 
 the arbiter of its own movements and plans at the open- 
 ing of the campaign — forfeit that free agency — either 
 to the extent of the extremity supposed, or of any ap- 
 proximation to that extremity ? 
 
 Now of these four possible questions in the minds of all 
 those who condemn the convention of Cintra, it is obvious 
 that the King's warrant supposes only the three latter 
 to exist (since, though it allows inquiry to be made into 
 the individual convention, it no where questions the 
 tolerability of a convention in genere) ; and it is no less 
 obvious that the Board, acting under that warrant, has 
 noticed only the last — i. e. by what series of military 
 movements the army was brought into a state of diffi- 
 culty which justified a convention (the Board taking for
 
 APPENDIX 197 
 
 granted throughout — 1st, That such a state could exist ; 
 2ndly, That it actually did exist ; and 3rdly, That — if 
 it existed, and accordingly justified some imaginable 
 convention — it must therefore of necessity justify this 
 convention). 
 
 Having thus shewn that it is on the last question only 
 that the nation could, in deference to the Board of In- 
 quiry, surrender or qualify any opinion which it had 
 previously given — let us ask what answer is gained, from 
 the proceedings of that Board, to the charge involved 
 even in this last question (premising however — first— 
 that this charge was never explicitly made by the public, 
 or at least was enunciated only in the form of a conjec- 
 ture — and 2ndly that the answer to it is collected chiefly 
 from the depositions of the parties accused) ? Now the 
 whole sum of their answer amounts to no more than 
 this — that, in the opinion of some part of the English 
 staff, an opportunity was lost on the 21st of exchanging 
 the comparatively slow process of reducing the French 
 army by siege for the brilliant and summary one of a 
 coup -de-main. 
 
 This opportunity, be it observed, was offered only 
 by Gen. Junot's presumption in quitting his defensive 
 positions, and coming out to meet the English army in 
 the field ; so that it was an advantage so much over and 
 above what might fairly have been calculated upon : at 
 any rate, if this might have been looked for, still the 
 accident of battle, by which a large part of the French 
 army was left in a situation to be cut off, (to the loss of 
 which advantage Sir A. Wellesley ascribes the necessity 
 of a convention) could surely never have been antici- 
 pated ; and therefore the British army was, even after 
 that loss, in as prosperous a state as it had from the first 
 any right to expect. Hence it is to be inferred, that 
 Sir A. W. must have entered on this campaign with 
 a predetermination to grant a convention in any case, 
 excepting in one single case which he knew to be in the 
 gift of only very extraordinary good fortune. With
 
 198 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 respect to him, therefore, the charges — pronounced by 
 the national voice — are not only confirmed, but greatly 
 aggravated. Further, with respect to the General who 
 superseded him, all those — who think that such an op- 
 portunity of terminating the campaign was really offered, 
 and, through his refusal to take advantage of it, lost — 
 are compelled to suspect in him a want of military skill, or 
 a wilful sacrifice of his duty to the influence of personal 
 rivalry, accordingly as they shall interpret his motives. 
 
 The whole which we gain therefore from the Board of 
 Inquiry is — that what we barely suspected is ripened into 
 certainty — and that on all, which we assuredly knew and 
 declared without needing that any tribunal should lend 
 us its sanction, no effort has been made at denial, or 
 disguise, or palliation. 
 
 Thus much for the proceedings of the Board of Inquiry, 
 upon which their decision was to be grounded. As to 
 the decision itself, it declares that no further military 
 proceedings are necessary ; " because " (say the members 
 of the board), " however some of us may differ in our 
 sentiments respecting the fitness of the convention in 
 the relative situation of the two armies, it is our unani- 
 mous declaration that unquestionable zeal and firmness 
 appear throughout to have been exhibited by Generals 
 Sir H. Dalrymple, Sir H. Burrard, and Sir A. Wellesley." 
 In consequence of this decision, the Commander-in-Chief 
 addressed a letter to the Board — reminding them that, 
 though the words of his Majesty's warrant expressly 
 enjoin that the conditions of the Armistice and Conven- 
 tion should be strictly examined and reported upon, 
 they have altogether neglected to give any opinion upon 
 those conditions. They were therefore called upon then 
 to declare their opinion, whether an armistice was ad- 
 viseable ; and (if so) whether the terms of thai armis- 
 tice were such as ought to be agreed upon ; — and to 
 declare, in like manner, whether a convention was 
 adviseable ; and (if so) whether the terms of that con- 
 vention were such as ought to have been agreed upon.
 
 APPENDIX 199 
 
 To two of these questions — viz. those which relate to 
 the particular armistice and convention made by the 
 British Generals — the members of the Board (still 
 persevering in their blindness to the other two which 
 express doubt as to the lawfvdness of any armistice or 
 convention) severally return answers which convey an 
 approbation of the armistice and convention by four 
 members, a disapprobation of the convention by the 
 remaining three, and further a disapprobation of the 
 armistice by one of those three. 
 
 Now it may be observed — first — that, even if the 
 investigation had not been a public one, it might have 
 reasonably been concluded, from the circumstance of the 
 Board having omitted to report any opinion concerning 
 the terms of the armistice and the convention, that those 
 terms had not occupied enough of its attention to justify 
 the Board in giving any opinion upon them — whether of 
 approbation or disapprobation ; and, secondly, — this 
 conclusion, which might have been made a priori, is 
 confirmed by the actual fact that no examination or 
 inquiry of this kind appears throughout the report of its 
 proceedings : and therefore any opinion subsequently 
 given, in consequence of the requisition of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, can lay claim to no more authority 
 upon these points — than the opinion of the same men, 
 if they had never sat in a public court upon this question. 
 In this condition are all the members, whether they 
 approve or disapprove of the convention. And with 
 respect to the three who disapprove of the convention, — 
 over and above the general impropriety of having, under 
 these circumstances, pronounced a verdict at all in the 
 character of members of that Board — they are subject 
 to an especial charge of inconsistency in having given 
 such an opinion, in their second report, as renders 
 nugatory that which they first pronounced. For the 
 reason — assigned, in their first report, for deeming no 
 further military proceedings necessary — is because it 
 appears that unquestionable zeal and firmness were
 
 200 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 exhibited throughout by tlie several General Officers ; 
 and the reason — assigned by those three who condemn 
 the convention — is that the Generals did not insist upon 
 the terms to which they were entitled ; that is (in direct 
 opposition to their former opinions), the Generals shewed 
 a want of firmness and zeal. If then the Generals were 
 acquitted, in the first case, solely upon the ground of 
 having displayed firmness and zeal ; a confessed want 
 of firmness and zeal, in the second case, implies conversely 
 a ground of censure — rendering (in the opinions of these 
 three members) further military proceedings absolutely 
 necessary. They, — who are most aware of the uncon- 
 stitutional frame of this Court or Board, and of the 
 perplexing situation in which its members must have 
 found themselves placed, — will have the least difficulty 
 in excusing this inconsistency : it is however to be 
 regretted ; particularly in the instance of the Earl of 
 Moira ; — who, disapproving both of the Convention and 
 Armistice, has assigned for that disapprobation un- 
 answerable reasons drawn — not from hidden sources, 
 unapproachable except by judicial investigation — but 
 
 from facts known to all the world. The reader will 
 
 excuse this long note ; to which however I must add 
 one word : — Is it not strange that, in the general decision 
 of the Board, zeal and firmness — nakedly considered, 
 and without question of their union with judgment and 
 such other qualities as can alone give them any value 
 — should be assumed as sufficient grounds on which to 
 rest the acquittal of men lying under a charge of military 
 delinquency ? 
 
 B {page 53). 
 
 It is not necessary to add, that one of these fears was 
 removed by the actual landing of ten thousand men, 
 under Sir J. Moore, pending the negociation : and yet no 
 change in the terms took place in consequence. This 
 was an important circumstance ; and, of itself, deter- 
 mined two of the members of the Board of Inquiry to
 
 APPENDIX 201 
 
 disapprove of the convention : such an accession entitling 
 Sir H. Dalrymple (and, of course, making it his duty) 
 to insist on more favourable terms. But the argument 
 is complete without it. 
 
 C (page 57). 
 
 I was unwilling to interrupt the reader upon a slight 
 occasion ; but I cannot refrain from adding here a word 
 or two by way of comment. — I have said at page 52, 
 speaking of Junot's army, that the British were to 
 encounter the same men, &c. Sir Arthur Wellesley, 
 before the Board of Inquiry, disallowed this supposition ; 
 affirming that Junot's army had not then reached Spain, 
 nor could be there for some time. Grant this : was it 
 not stipulated that a messenger should be sent off, 
 immediately after the conclusion of the treaty, to 
 Buonaparte — ^apprising him of its terms, and when he 
 might expect his troops ; and would not this enable him 
 to hurry forward forces to the Spanish frontiers, and to 
 bring them into action — knowing that these troops of 
 Junofs would be ready to support him ? What did it 
 matter whether the British were again to measure swords 
 with these identical men ; whether these men were even 
 to appear again upon Spanish ground ? It was enough, 
 that, if these did not, others would— who could not have 
 been brought to that service, but that these had been 
 relet sed and were doing elsewhere some other service for 
 their master ; enough that every thing was provided by 
 the British to land them as near the Spanish frontier 
 (and as speedily) as they could desire. 
 
 D [page 103). 
 
 This attempt, the reader will recollect, is not new to 
 our country ; — it was accomplished, at one sera of our 
 history, in that memorable act of an English Parliament, 
 which made it unlawful for any man to ask his neighbour 
 to join him in a petition for redress of grievances ; and
 
 202 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 which thus denied the people " the benefit of tears and 
 prayers to their own infamous deputies 1 " For the de- 
 plorable state of England and Scotland at that time — see 
 the annals of Charles the Second, and his successor. — We 
 must not forget however that to this state of things, as 
 the cause of those measures which the nation afterwards 
 resorted to, we are originally indebted for the blessing 
 of the Bill of Rights. 
 
 E (page 173). 
 
 I allude here more especially to an address presented 
 to Buonaparte (October 27th, 1808) by the deputies of 
 the new departments of the kingdom of Italy ; from 
 which address, as given in the EngUsh journals, the 
 following passages are extracted : — 
 
 " In the necessity, in which you are to overthrow — ^to 
 destroy — to disperse your enemies as the wind dissipates 
 the dust, you are not an exterminating angel ; but you 
 are the being that extends his thoughts — ^that measures 
 the face of the earth — to re-establish universal happiness 
 upon better and surer bases." 
 
 ****** 
 
 " We are the interpreters of a million of souls at the 
 
 extremity of your kingdom of Italy." " Deign, 
 
 Sovereign Master of all Things, to hear (as we doubt not 
 you will) " &c. 
 
 The answer begins thus : — 
 
 " I applaud the sentiments you express in the name of 
 my people of Musora, Metauro, and Tronto." 
 
 F {page 178). 
 
 This principle, involved in so many of his actions, 
 Buonaparte has of late explicitly avowed : the instances 
 are numerous : it will be sufficient, in this place, to allege 
 one — furnished by his answer to the address cited in the 
 last note : — 
 
 I am particularly attached to your Archbishop of 
 
 ((
 
 APPENDIX 203 
 
 Urbino : that prelate, animated with the true faith, 
 repelled with indignation the advice — and braved the 
 menaces — of those who wished to confound the affairs of 
 Heaven, which never change, with the affairs of this 
 world, which are modified according to circumstances of 
 force and policy." 
 
 SUSPENSION OF ARMS 
 
 Agreed upon between Lieutenanl-General Sir Arthur 
 Wellesley, K.B. on the otw part, and the General- 
 of-Division Kellermann on the other part ; each 
 having powers from the respective Generals of tfie 
 French and English Armies. 
 
 Head-Quarters of the English Army, August 22, 1808. 
 
 Article I. There shall be, from this date, a Suspension 
 of Arms between the armies of his Britannic Majesty, and 
 his Imperial and Royal Majesty, Napoleon I. for the 
 purpose of negociating a Convention for the evacuation 
 of Portugal by the French army. 
 
 Art. II. The Generals-in-Chief of the two armies, and 
 the Commander-in-Chief of the British fleet at the 
 entrance of the Tagus, will appoint a day to assemble, 
 on such part of the coast as shall be judged convenient, 
 to negociate and conclude the said Convention. 
 
 Art. III. The river of Sirandre shall form the line of 
 demarkation to be established between the two armies ; 
 Torres Vedras shall not be occupied by either. 
 
 Art. IV. The General-in-Chief of the English army 
 undertakes to include the Portuguese armies in this 
 suspension of arms : and for them the line of demarka- 
 tion shall be established from Leyria to Thomar. 
 
 Art. V, It is agreed provisionally that the French 
 army shall not, in any case, be considered as prisoners of
 
 204 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 war ; that all the individuals who compose it shall be 
 transported to France with their arms and baggage, and 
 the whole of their private property, from which nothing 
 shall be exempted. 
 
 Abt. VI. No individual, whether Portuguese, or of 
 a nation allied to France, or French, shall be called to 
 account for his political conduct ; their respective pro- 
 perty shall be protected ; and they shall be at liberty to 
 withdraw from Portugal, within a limited time, with 
 their property. 
 
 Aet. VII. The neutrality of the port of Lisbon shall 
 be recognised for the Russian fleet : that is to say, that, 
 when the English army or fleet shall be in possession of 
 the city and port, the said Russian fleet shall not be 
 disturbed during its stay ; nor stopped when it wishes to 
 sail ; nor pursued, when it shall sail, until after the time 
 fixed by the maritime law. 
 
 Art. VIII. All the artillery of French calibre, and 
 also the horses of the cavalry, shall be transported to 
 France. 
 
 Art. IX. This suspension of arms shall not be broken 
 without forty-eight hours' previous notice. 
 
 Done and agreed upon between the above-named 
 Generals, the day and year above-mentioned. 
 (Signed) Arthur Wellesley. 
 
 Kellermann, General-of-Division. 
 
 Additional Article. 
 
 The garrisons of the places occupied by the French 
 army shall be included in the present Convention, if they 
 have not capitulated before the 25th instant. 
 (Signed) Arthur Wellesley. 
 
 Kellermann, General-of-Division. 
 (A true Copy.) 
 A. J. Dalrymple, Captain, Military Secretary.
 
 APPENDIX 205 
 
 DEFINITIVE CONVENTION FOR THE EVACUA- 
 TION OF PORTUGAL BY THE FRENCH ARMY 
 
 The Generals commanding in chief the British and 
 French armies in Portugal, having determined to nego- 
 ciate and conclude a treaty for the evacuation of Portugal 
 by the French troops, on the basis of the agreement 
 entered into on the 22d instant for a suspension of 
 hostilities, have appointed the under-mentioned officers 
 to negociate the same in their names ; viz. — on the part 
 of the General-in-Chief of the British army, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Murray, Quarter-Master-General ; and, on 
 the part of the General-in-Chief of the French army, 
 Monsieur Kellermann, General-of-Division ; to whom 
 they have given authority to negociate and conclude 
 a Convention to that effect, subject to their ratification 
 respectively, and to that of the Admiral commanding 
 the British fleet at the entrance of the Tagus. 
 
 Those two officers, after exchanging their full powers, 
 have agreed upon the articles which follow : 
 
 Article I. All the places and forts in the kingdom of 
 Portugal, occupied by the French troops, shall be 
 delivered up to the British army in the state in which 
 they are at the period of the signature of the present 
 Convention. 
 
 Art. II. The French troops shall evacuate Portugal 
 with their arms and baggage ; they shall not be con- 
 sidered as prisoners of war ; and, on their arrival in 
 France, they shall be at liberty to serve. 
 
 Art. III. The English Government shall furnish the 
 means of conveyance for the French army ; which shall 
 be disembarked in any of the ports of France between 
 Rochefort and L'Orient, inclusively. 
 
 Art. IV. The French army shall carry with it all its 
 artillery, of French calibre, with the horses belonging to 
 it, and the tumbrils supplied with sixty rounds per gun.
 
 206 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 All other artillery, arms, and ammunition, as also the 
 military and naval arsenals, shall be given up to the 
 British army and navy in the state in which they may 
 be at the period of the ratification of the Convention. 
 
 Art. V. The French army shall carry with it all its 
 equipments, and all that is comprehended under the 
 name of property of the army : that is to say, its military 
 chest, and carriages attached to the Field Commissariat 
 and Field Hospitals ; or shall be allowed to dispose of 
 such part of the same, on its account, as the Commander- 
 in-Chief may judge it unnecessary to embark. In like 
 manner, all individuals of the army shall be at liberty to 
 dispose of their private property of every description ; 
 with full security hereafter for the purchasers. 
 
 Art. VI. The cavalry are to embark their horses ; as 
 also the Generals and other officers of all ranks. It is, 
 however, fully understood, that the means of conveyance 
 for horses, at the disposal of the British Commanders, 
 are very limited ; some additional conveyance may be 
 procured in the port of Lisbon ; the number of horses to 
 be embarked by the troops shall not exceed six hundred ; 
 and the number embarked by the Staff shall not exceed 
 two hundred. At all events every facility will be given 
 to the French army to dispose of the horses, belonging to 
 it, which cannot be embarked. 
 
 Art. VII. In order to facilitate the embarkation, it 
 shall take place in three divisions ; the last of which will 
 be principally composed of the garrisons of the places, 
 of the cavalry, the artillery, the sick, and the equipment 
 of the army. The first division shall embark within 
 seven days of the date of the ratification ; or sooner, 
 if possible. 
 
 Art. VIII. The garrison of Elvas and its forts, and of 
 Peniche and Palmela, will be embarked at Lisbon ; that 
 of Almaida at Oporto, or the nearest harbour. They will 
 be accompanied on their march by British Commissaries,
 
 APPENDIX 207 
 
 charged with providing for their subsistence and accom- 
 modation. 
 
 Art. IX. All the sick and wounded, who cannot be 
 embarked with the troops, are entrusted to the British 
 army. They are to be taken care of, whilst they remain 
 in this country, at the expence of the British Government ; 
 under the condition of the same being reimbursed by 
 France when the final evacuation is effected. The 
 English government will provide for their return to 
 France ; which shall take place by detachments of about 
 one hundred and fifty (or two hundred) men at a time. 
 A sufficient number of FYench medical officers shall be 
 left behind to attend them. 
 
 Art. X. As soon as the vessels employed to carry the 
 army to France shall have disembarked it in the harbours 
 specified, or in any other of the ports of France to which 
 stress of weather may force them, every facility shall be 
 given them to return to England without delay ; and 
 security against capture until their arrival in a friendly 
 port. 
 
 Art. XI. The French army shall be concentrated in 
 Lisbon, and within a distance of about two leagues from 
 it. The English army will approach within three leagues 
 of the capital ; and will be so placed as to leave about one 
 league between the two armies. 
 
 Art. XII. The forts of St. Julien, the Bugio, and 
 Cascais, shall be occupied by the British troops on the 
 ratification of the Convention. Lisbon and its citadel, 
 together with the forts and batteries, as far as the Lazar- 
 etto or Tarfuria on one side, and fort St. Joseph on the 
 other, inclusively, shall be given up on the embarkation 
 of the second division ; as shall also the harbour ; and 
 all armed vessels in it of every description, with their 
 rigging, sails, stores, and ammunition. The fortresses of 
 Elvas, Almaida, Peniche, and Palmela, shall be given up 
 as soon as the British troops can arrive to occupy them. 
 In the mean time, the General-in-Chief of the British
 
 208 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 army will give notice of the present Convention to the 
 garrisons of those places, as also to the troops before 
 them, in order to put a stop to all further hostilities. 
 
 Art. XIII. Commissioners shall be named, on both 
 sides, to regulate and accelerate the execution of the 
 arrangements agreed upon. 
 
 Art. XIV. Should there arise doubts as to the mean- 
 ing of any article, it will be explained favourably to the 
 French army. 
 
 Art. XV. From the date of the ratification of the 
 present Convention, all arrears of contributions, requisi- 
 tions, or claims whatever, of the French Government, 
 against the subjects of Portugal, or any other individuals 
 residing in this country, founded on the occupation of 
 Portugal by the French troops in the month of December 
 1807, which may not have been paid up, are cancelled ; 
 and all sequestrations laid upon their property, move- 
 able or immoveable, are removed ; and the free disposal 
 of the same is restored to the proper owners. 
 
 Art. XVI. All subjects of France, or of powers in 
 friendship or alliance with France, domiciliated in Portu- 
 gal, or accidentally in this country, shall be protected : 
 their property of every kind, moveable and immoveable, 
 shall be respected : and they shall be at liberty either to 
 accompany the French army, or to remain in Portugal. 
 In either case their property is guaranteed to them ; 
 with the liberty of retaining or of disposing of it, and 
 passing the produce of the sale thereof into France, or 
 any other country where they may fix their residence ; 
 the space of one year being allowed them for that purpose. 
 
 It is fully understood, that the shipping is excepted 
 from this arrangement ; only, however, in so far as 
 regards leaving the port ; and that none of the stipula- 
 tions above-mentioned can be made the pretext of any 
 commercial speculation. 
 
 Art. XVII. No native of Portugal shall be rendered 
 accountable for his political conduct during the period
 
 APPENDIX 209 
 
 of the occupation of this country by the French army ; 
 and all those who have continued in the exercise of 
 their employments, or who have accepted situations 
 under the French Government, are placed under the 
 protection of the British Commanders : they shall 
 sustain no injury in their persons or property : it not 
 having been at their option to be obedient, or not, to the 
 French Government : they are also at liberty to avail 
 themselves of the stipulations of the 16th Article. 
 
 Art. XVIII. The Spanish troops detained on board 
 ship in the port of Lisbon shall be given up to the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the British army ; who engages to 
 obtain of the Spaniards to restore such French subjects, 
 either military or civil, as may have been detained in 
 Spain, without being taken in battle, or in consequence 
 of military operations, but on occasion of the occurrences 
 of the 29th of last May, and the days immediately 
 following. 
 
 Art. XIX. There shall be an immediate exchange 
 established for all ranks of prisoners made in Portugal 
 since the commencement of the present hostilities. 
 
 Art. XX. Hostages of the rank of field-officers shall 
 be mutually furnished on the part of the British army 
 and navy, and on that of the French army, for the 
 reciprocal guarantee of the present Convention. The 
 officer of the British army shall be restored on the com- 
 pletion of the articles which concern the army ; and the 
 officer of the navy on the disembarkation of the French 
 troops in their own country. The like is to take place 
 on the part of the French army. 
 
 Art. XXI. It shall be allowed to the General-in-Chief 
 of the French army to send an officer to France with 
 intelligence of the present Convention. A vessel will 
 be furnished by the British Admiral to convey him to 
 Bourdeaux or Rochefort. 
 
 Art. XXII. The British Admiral will be invited to 
 accommodate His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, 
 
 82438 p
 
 210 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 and the other principal officers of the French army, on 
 board of ships of war. 
 
 Done and concluded at Lisbon this 30th day of August, 
 1808. 
 
 (Signed) George Murray, Quarter-Master-General, 
 Kellermann, Le General de Division. 
 
 We, the Duke of Abrantes, General-in-Chief of the 
 French army, have ratified and do ratify the present 
 Definitive Convention in all its articles, to be executed 
 according to its form and tenor. 
 
 (Signed) The Duke of Abrantes. 
 Head-Quarters — Lisbon, 30th August, 1808. 
 
 Additional Articles to the Convention of the BOth of 
 August, 1808. 
 
 Art. I. The individuals in the civil employment of the 
 army made prisoners, either by the British troops, or by 
 the Portuguese, in any part of Portugal, will be restored, 
 as is customary, without exchange. 
 
 Art. II, The French army shall be subsisted from its 
 own magazines up to the day of embarkation ; the 
 garrisons up to the day of the evacuation of the fortresses. 
 
 The remainder of the magazines shall be delivered over, 
 in the usual form, to the British Government ; which 
 charges itself with the subsistence of the men and horses 
 of the army from the above-mentioned periods till they 
 arrive in France ; under the condition of their being 
 reimbursed by the French Government for the excess of 
 the expense beyond the estimates, to be made by both 
 parties, of the value of the magazines delivered up to the 
 British army. 
 
 The provisions on board the ships of war, in possession 
 of the French army, will be taken in account by the 
 British Government in like manner with the magazines 
 in the fortresses.
 
 APPENDIX 211 
 
 Art. III. The General commanding the British troops 
 will take the necessary measures for re-establishing the 
 free circulation of the means of subsistence between 
 the country and the capital. 
 
 Done and concluded at Lisbon this 30th day of August, 
 1808. 
 
 (Signed) George Murray, Quarter-Master-General. 
 Kellermann, Le General de Division. 
 
 We, Duke of Abrantes, General-in-Chief of the French 
 army, have ratified and do ratify the additional articles 
 of the Convention, to be executed according to their form 
 and tenor. 
 
 The Duke of Abrantes. 
 (A true Copy.) 
 A. J. Dalrymple, Captain, Military Secretary. 
 
 Articles of a Convention entered into betiveen Vice- Admiral 
 Seniavin, Knight of the Order of St. Alexander and 
 other Russian Orders, and Admiral Sir Charles 
 Cotton, Bart, for the Surrender of the Russian Fleet, 
 now anchored in the River Tagus. 
 
 Art. I. The ships of war of the Emperor of Russia, 
 now in the Tagus (as specified in the annexed list), shall 
 be delivered up to Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, immedi- 
 ately, with all their stores as they now are ; to be sent 
 to England, and there held as a deposit by his Britannic 
 Majesty, to be restored to His Imperial Majesty within 
 six months after the conclusion of a peace between His 
 Britannic Majesty and His Imperial Majesty the Em- 
 peror of all the Russias. 
 
 Art. II. Vice-Admiral Seniavin, with the officers, 
 sailors, and marines, under his command, to return to 
 Russia, without any condition or stipulation respecting 
 their future services ; to be conveyed thither in men of 
 
 P 2
 
 212 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 war, or proper vessels, at the expence of His Britannic 
 Majesty. 
 
 Done and concluded on board the ship Twerday, in 
 the Tagus, and on board His Britannic Majesty's ship 
 Hibernia, off the mouth of that river, the 3d day of 
 September 1808, 
 
 (Signed) De Seniavin. 
 (Signed) Charles Cotton. 
 (Counter-signed) By command of the Admiral, 
 
 L. Sass, Assesseur de College. 
 (Counter-signed) By command of the Admiral, 
 
 James Kennedy, Secretary. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT 
 ON SIR JOHN MOORE'S LETTERS 
 
 Whilst the latter sheets of this work were passing 
 through the press, there was laid before Parliament 
 a series of correspondence between the English Govern- 
 ment and its servants in Spain ; amongst which were the 
 letters of Sir John Moore. That these letters, even with 
 minds the least vigilant to detect contradictions and 
 to make a commentary from the past actions of the 
 Spaniards, should have had power to alienate them from 
 the Spanish cause — could never have been looked for ; 
 except indeed by those who saw, in the party spirit on 
 this question, a promise that more than ordinary pains 
 would be taken to misrepresent their contents and to 
 abuse the public judgment. But however it was at any 
 rate to have been expected — both from the place which 
 Sir J. Moore held in the nation's esteem previously to his 
 Spanish campaign, and also especially from that which 
 (by his death in battle) he had so lately taken in its 
 affections — that they would weigh a good deal in depress- 
 ing the general sympathy with Spain : and therefore the
 
 APPENDIX 213 
 
 Author of this work was desirous that all which these 
 letters themselves, or other sources of information, 
 furnished to mitigate and contradict Sir J. M.'s opinions 
 — should be laid before the public : but — being himself 
 at a great distance from London, and not having within 
 his reach all the documents necessary for this purpose 
 — he has honoured the friend, who corrects the press 
 errors, by making over that task to him ; and the reader 
 is therefore apprised, that the Author is not responsible 
 for any thing which follows. 
 
 ****** 
 Those, who have not examined these letters for them- 
 selves, will have collected enough of their general import, 
 from conversation and the public prints, to know that 
 they pronounce an opinion unfavourable to the Spaniards. 
 They will perhaps have yet to learn that this opinion is 
 not supported by any body of facts (for of facts only 
 three are given ; and those, as we shall see, misrepre- 
 sented) ; but solely by the weight of Sir John Moore's 
 personal authority. This being the case, it becomes the 
 more important to assign the value of that authority, 
 by making such deductions from the present public 
 estimate of it, as are either fairly to be presvmied from 
 his profession and office, or directly inferred from the 
 letters under consideration. 
 
 As reasons for questioning a priori the impartiality of 
 these letters, — it might be suggested (in reference to 
 what they would be likely to omit) — first — that they are 
 the letters of a soldier ; that is, of a man trained (by the 
 prejudices of his profession) to despise, or at least to rate 
 as secondary, those resources which for Spain must be 
 looked to as supreme ; — and, secondly, that they are the 
 letters of a general ; that is, of a soldier removed by his 
 rank from the possibility of any extensive intercourse 
 with the lower classes ; concerning whom the question 
 chiefly was. But it is more important to remark (in 
 reference to what they would be likely to mis-state) — 
 thirdly — that they are the letters of a commander-in-chief ;
 
 214 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 standing — from the very day when he took the field — in 
 a dilemma which compelled him to risk the safety of his 
 army by advancing, or its honour by retreating ; and 
 having to make out an apology, for either issue, to the 
 very persons who had imposed this dilemma upon him. — 
 The reader is requested to attend to this. Sir John 
 Moore found himself in Leon with a force " which, if 
 united," (to quote his own words) " would not exceed 
 26,000 men." Such a force, after the defeat of the 
 advanced armies, — he was sure — could effect nothing ; 
 the best result he could anticipate was an inglorious 
 retreat. That he should be in this situation at the very 
 opening of the campaign, he saw, would declare to all 
 Europe that somewhere there must be blame : but 
 where ? with himself he knew that there was none : 
 the English Government (with whom he must have seen 
 that at least a part of the blame lay — for sending him so 
 late, and with a force so lamentably incommensurate to 
 the demands of the service) it was not for him — holding 
 the situation that he did — openly to accuse (though, by 
 implication, he often does accuse them) ; and therefore 
 it became his business to look to the Spaniards ; and, 
 in their conduct, to search for palliations of that ineffi- 
 ciency on his part — which else the persons, to whom he 
 was writing, would understand as charged upon them- 
 selves. Writing with such a purpose — and under a 
 double fettering of his faculties ; first from anxious 
 forebodings of calamity or dishonour ; and secondly 
 from the pain he must have felt at not being free to 
 censure those with whom he could not but be aware that 
 the embarrassments of his situation had, at least in part, 
 originated — ^we might expect that it would not be diffi- 
 cult for him to find, in the early events of the campaign, 
 all which he sought ; and to deceive himself into a belief, 
 that, in stating these events without any commentary or 
 even hints as to the relative circumstances under which 
 they took place (which only could give to the naked 
 facts their value and due meaning), he was making no
 
 APPENDIX 215 
 
 misrepresentations, — and doing the Spaniards no in- 
 justice. 
 
 These suggestions are made with the greater earnest- 
 ness, as it is probable that the honourable death of Sir 
 John Moore will have given so much more weight to his 
 opinion on any subject — as, if these suggestions be 
 warranted, it is entitled on this subject to less weight — 
 than the opinion of any other individual equally intelli- 
 gent, and not liable (from high office and perplexity of 
 situation) to the same influences of disgust or prejudice. 
 
 That these letters were written under some such 
 influences, is plain throughout : we find, in them, 
 reports of the four first events in the campaign ; and, 
 in justice to the Spaniards, it must be said that all are 
 virtually mis-statements. Take two instances : 
 
 1 . The main strength and efforts of the French were, 
 at the opening of the campaign, directed against the army 
 of Gen. Blake. The issue is thus given by Sir J. M. : — 
 " Gen. Blake's army in Biscay has been defeated — dis- 
 persed ; and its officers and men are flying in every 
 direction." Could it be supposed that the army, whose 
 matchless exertions and endurances are all merged in 
 this over-charged (and almost insulting) statement of 
 their result, was, '' mere peasantry " (Sir J. M.'s own 
 words) and opposed to greatly superior numbers of 
 veteran troops ? Confront with this account the descrip- 
 tion given by an eye-witness (Major-Gen. Leith) of their 
 constancy and the trials of their constancy ; remember- 
 ing that, for ten successive days, they were engaged 
 (under the pressure of similar hardships, with the 
 addition of one not mentioned here, viz. — a want of 
 cloathing) in continued actions with the French : — 
 " Here I shall take occasion to state another instance of 
 the patience (and, I will add, the chearfulness) of the 
 Spanish soldiers under the greatest privations. — After 
 the action of Soronosa on the 31st ult., it was deemed 
 expedient by Gen. Blake, for the purpose of forming 
 a junction with the second division and the army of
 
 216 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 Asiurias, that the army should make long, rapid, and 
 continued marches through a country at any time 
 incapable of feeding so numerous an army, and at present 
 almost totally drained of provisions. From the 30th of 
 October to the present day (Nov. 6), with the exception 
 of a small and partial issue of bread at Bilboa on the 
 morning of the 1st of November, this army has been 
 totally destitute of bread, wine, or spirits ; and has 
 literally lived on the scanty supply of beef and sheep 
 which those mountains afford. Yet never was there 
 a symptom of complaint or murmur ; the soldiers' 
 minds appearing to be entirely occupied with the idea 
 
 of being led against the enemy at Bilboa." " It is 
 
 impossible for me to do justice to the gallantry and 
 energy of the divisions engaged this day. The army 
 are loud in expressing their desires to be led against the 
 enemy at Bilboa ; the universal exclamation is — The 
 bayonet ! the bayonet ! lead us back to Soronosa." 
 
 2. On the 10th of November the Estramaduran 
 advanced-guard, of about 12,000 men, was defeated at 
 Burgos by a division of the French army selected for the 
 service — and having a vast superiority in cavalry and 
 artillery. This event, with the same neglect of circum- 
 stances as in the former instance. Sir J. M. thus reports : 
 — " The French, after beating the army of Estramadura, 
 are advanced at Burgos." Now surely to any unpre- 
 judiced mind the bare fact of 12,000 men (chiefly raw 
 levies) having gone forward to meet and to find out the 
 main French army — under all the oppression which, to 
 the ignorant of the upper and lower classes throughout 
 Europe, there is in the name of Bonaparte — must appear, 
 under any issue, a title to the highest admiration, such 
 as would have made this slight and incidental mention 
 of it impossible. 
 
 The two next events — viz. the forcing of the pass at 
 Somosierra by the Polish horse, and the partial defeat 
 of Castanos — are, as might be shewn even from the 
 French bulletins, no less misrepresented. With respect
 
 APPENDIX 217 
 
 to the first, — Sir J. Moore, over-looking the whole drama 
 of that noble defence, gives only the catastrophe ; and 
 his account of the second will appear, from any report, 
 to be an exaggeration. 
 
 It may be objected that — since Sir J. M. no where 
 alleges these events as proving any thing against the 
 Spaniards, but simply as accounting for his own plans 
 (in which view, howsoever effected, whether with or 
 without due resistance, they were entitled to the same 
 value) — it is unfair to say that, by giving them uncir- 
 cumstantially, he has misrepresented them. But it 
 must be answered, that, in letters containing elsewhere 
 (though not immediately in connexion with these state- 
 ments) opinions unfavourable to the Spaniards, to omit 
 any thing making /or them — is to misrepresent in effect. 
 And, further, it shall now be shewn that even those three 
 charges — which Sir J. M. does allege in proof of his 
 opinions — are as glaringly mis-stated. 
 
 The first of these charges is the most important : 
 I give it to the reader in the words of Sir John Moore : — 
 " The French cavalry from Burgos, in small detachments, 
 are over-running the province of Leon ; raising contri- 
 butions ; to which the inhabitants submit without the 
 least resistance." Now here it cannot be meant that 
 no efforts at resistance were made by individuals or small 
 parties ; because this would not only contradict the 
 universal laws of human nature, — but would also be at 
 utter variance with Sir J. M.'s repeated complaints that 
 he could gain no information of what was passing in his 
 neighbourhood. It is meant therefore that there was 
 no regular or organised resistance ; no resistance such as 
 might be made the subject of an official report. Now we 
 all know that the Spaniards have every where suffered 
 deplorably from a want of cavalry ; and, in the absence 
 of that, hear from a military man (Major-Gen. Brodrick) 
 why there was no resistance : " — At that time I was not 
 aware how remarkably the plains of Leon and Castille 
 differ from any other I have seen ; nor how strongly the
 
 218 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 circumstances, which constitute that difference, enforce 
 the opinion I ventured to express." (He means the 
 necessity of cavalry reinforcements from England.) 
 " My road from Astorga lay through a vast open space, 
 extending from 5 to 20 or more miles on every side ; 
 without a single accident of ground which could enable 
 a body of infantry to check a pursuing enemy, or to 
 cover its own retreat. In such ground, any corps of 
 infantry might be insulted, to the very gates of the town 
 it occupied, by cavalry far inferior in numbers ; contri- 
 butions raised under their eyes, and the whole neighbour- 
 hood exhausted of its resources, without the possibility of 
 their opposing any resistance to such incursions.'' 
 
 The second charge is made on the retreat to Corunna : 
 " the Gallicians, though armed," Sir J. M. says, " made 
 no attempt to stop the passage of the French through the 
 mountains." That they were armed — is a proof that 
 they had an intention to do so (as one of our journals 
 observed) : but what encouragement had they in that 
 intention from the sight of a regular force — more than 
 30,000 strong — abandoning, without a struggle, passes 
 where (as an English general asserts) " a body of a thou- 
 sand men might stop an army of twenty times the 
 number ? " 
 
 The third charge relates to the same province : it is 
 a complaint that ' the people run away ; the villages 
 are deserted ; ' and again, in his last letter, — " They 
 abandoned their dwellings at our approach ; drove away 
 their carts, oxen, and every thing which could be of the 
 smallest aid to the army." To this charge, in so far 
 as it may be thought to criminate the Spaniards, a full 
 answer is furnished by their accuser himself in the 
 following memorable sentence in another part of the very 
 same letter : — " I am sorry to say that the army, whose 
 conduct I had such reason to extol in its march through 
 Portugal and on its arrival in Spain, has totally changed 
 its character since it began to retreat." What do we 
 collect from this passage ? Assuredly that the army
 
 APPENDIX 219 
 
 ill-treated the Gallicians ; for there is no other way in 
 which an army, as a body, can offend — excepting by an 
 indisposition to fight ; and that interpretation (besides 
 that we are all sure that no English army could so 
 offend) Sir J. Moore expressly guards against in the next 
 sentence. 
 
 The English army then treated its ally as an enemy : 
 and, — though there are alleviations of its conduct in its 
 great sufferings, — ^yet it must be remembered that these 
 sufferings were due — not to the Gallicians — but to 
 circumstances over which they had no controul — ^to the 
 precipitancy of the retreat, the inclemency of the wea- 
 ther, and the poverty of the country ; and that (knowing 
 this) they must have had a double sense of injustice in 
 any outrages of an English army, from contrasting them 
 with the professed objects of that army in entering Spain. 
 — It is to be observed that the answer to the second 
 charge would singly have been some answer to this ; and, 
 reciprocally, that the answer to this is a full answer to the 
 second. 
 
 Having thus shewn that, in Sir J. Moore's very inac- 
 curate statements of facts, we have some further reasons 
 for a previous distrust of any opinion which is supported 
 by those statements, — it is now time to make the reader 
 acquainted with the real terms and extent of that opinion. 
 For it is far less to be feared that, from his just respect 
 for him who gave it, he should allow it an undue weight 
 in his judgment — than that, reposing on the faithfulness 
 of the abstracts and reports of these letters, he should 
 really be still ignorant of its exact tenor. 
 
 The whole amount then of what Sir John Moore has 
 alleged against the Spaniards, in any place but one, is 
 comprised in this sentence : — '' The enthusiasm, of 
 which we have heard so much, no where appears ; what- 
 ever good-will there is (and I believe amongst the lower 
 orders there is a great deal) is taken no advantage of." 
 It is true that, in that one place (viz. in his last letter 
 written at Corunna), he charges the Spaniards with
 
 220 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 " apathy and indifference : " but, as this cannot be 
 reconciled with his concession of a great deal of good-zvill, 
 we are bound to take that as his real and deliberate 
 opinion which he gave under circumstances that allowed 
 him most coolness and freedom of judgment. — The 
 Spaniards then were wanting in enthusiasm. Now what 
 is meant by enthusiasm ? Does it mean want of ardour 
 and zeal in battle ? This Sir J. Moore no where asserts ; 
 and, even without a direct acknowledgement of their 
 good conduct in the field (of which he had indeed no 
 better means of judging than we in England), there is 
 involved in his statement of the relative numbers of the 
 French and Spaniards — combined with our knowledge 
 of the time during which they maintained their struggle 
 — a sufficient testimony to that ; even if the events of 
 the first campaign had not made it superfluous. Does 
 it mean then a want of good-will to the cause ? So far 
 from this, we have seen that Sir J. M. admits that there 
 was, in that class where it was most wanted, ' a great 
 deal ' of good- will. And, in the present condition of 
 Spain, let it be recollected what it is that this implies. 
 We see, in the intercepted letter to Marshal Soult (trans- 
 mitted by Sir J. M.), that the French keep accurate 
 registers of the behaviour of the different towns ; and 
 this was, no doubt, well known throughout Spain. 
 Therefore to shew any signs of good-will — much more 
 to give a kind welcome to the English (as had been done 
 at Badajoz and Salamanca) — was, they knew, a pledge 
 of certain punishment on any visit from the French. 
 So that good-will, manifested in these circumstances, 
 was nothing less than a testimony of devotion to the 
 cause. 
 
 Here then, the reader will say, I find granted — in the 
 courage and the good-will of the Spaniards — all the 
 elements of an enthusiastic resistance ; and cannot 
 therefore imagine what more could be sought for except 
 the throwing out and making palpable of their enthusi- 
 asm to the careless eye in some signal outward manifes-
 
 APPENDIX 221 
 
 tations. In this accordingly we learn what interpreta- 
 tion we are to give to Sir J. M.'s charge : — there were 
 no tumults on his entrance into Spain ; no insurrections ; 
 they did not, as he says, " rally round " the English 
 army. But, to determine how far this disappointment 
 of his expectations tells against the Spaniards, we must 
 first know how far those expectations were reasonable. 
 Let the reader consider, then. 
 
 First ; what army was this round which the Spaniards 
 were to rally ? If it was known by the \nctory of Vimiera, 
 it was known also to many by the Convention of Cintra ; 
 for, though the government had never ventured to 
 communicate that affair officially to the nation, dark 
 and perplexing whispers were however circulated about 
 it throughout Spain. Moreover, it must surely demand 
 some superstition in behalf of regular troops — to see, 
 in an army of 26,000 men, a dignity adequate to the office 
 here claimed for it of awakening a new vigour and 
 enthusiasm in such a nation as Spain ; not to mention 
 that an English army, however numerous, had no right 
 to consider itself as other than a tributary force — as 
 itself tending to a centre — and attracted rather than 
 attracting. 
 
 Secondly ; it appears that Sir J. M. has overlooked one 
 most important circumstance ; — viz. that the harvest, 
 in these provinces, had been already reaped ; the Eng- 
 lish army could be viewed only as gleaners. Thus, as 
 we have already seen, Estramadura had furnished an 
 army which had marched before his arrival ; from 
 Salamanca also — the very place in which he makes his 
 complaint — there had gone out a battalion to Biscay 
 which Gen. Blake had held up, for its romantic gallantry, 
 to the admiration of his whole army. 
 
 Yet, thirdly, it is not meant by any means to assert 
 that Spain has put forth an energj' adequate to the ser- 
 vice — or in any tolerable proportion to her own strength. 
 Far from it ! But upon whom does the blame rest ? 
 Not surely upon the people — who, as long as they
 
 222 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 continued to have confidence in their rulers, could not 
 be expected (after the early fervours of their revolution 
 had subsided) much to overstep the measure of exertion 
 prescribed to them — but solely upon the government. 
 Up to the time when Sir J. M. died, the Supreme Junta 
 had adopted no one grand and comprehensive measure 
 for calling out the strength of the nation ; — scarcely any 
 of such ordinary vigour as, in some countries, would have 
 been adopted to meet local disturbances among the 
 people. From their jealousy of popular feeling, — ^they 
 had never taken any steps, by books or civic assemblies, 
 to make the general enthusiasm in the cause available 
 by bringing it within the general consciousness ; and 
 thus to create the nation into an organic whole. Sir J. M. 
 was fully aware of this : — " The Spanish Government," 
 he says, " do not seem ever to have contemplated the 
 possibility of a second attack : " and accordingly, 
 whenever he is at leisure to make distinctions, he does 
 the people the justice to say — ^that the failure was with 
 those who should have " taken advantage " of their good 
 will. With the people therefore will for ever remain the 
 glory of having resisted heroically with means utterly 
 inadequate ; and with the government the whole burthen 
 of the disgrace that the means were thus inadequate. 
 
 But, further, — even though it should still be thought 
 that, in the three provinces which Sir J. Moore saw, 
 there may have been some failures with the people, — it 
 is to be remembered that these were the very three 
 which had never been the theatre of French outrages ; 
 which therefore had neither such a vivid sense of the 
 evils which they had to fear, nor so strong an animation 
 in the recollection of past triumphs : we might accord- 
 ingly have predicted that, if any provinces should prove 
 slack in their exertions, it would be these three. So 
 that, after all, (a candid inquirer into this matter will say) 
 admitting Sir J. M.'s description to be faithful with 
 respect to what he saw, I can never allow that the con- 
 duct of these three provinces shall be held forth as an
 
 APPENDIX 223 
 
 exponent of the general temper and condition of Spain. 
 For that therefore I must look to other authorities. 
 
 Such an inquirer we might then refer to the testi- 
 monies of Gen. Leith and of Capt. Pasley for Biscay and 
 Asturias ; of Mr. Vaughan (as cited by Lord Castlereagh) 
 for the whole East and South ; of Lord Cochrane 
 (himself a most gallant man, and giving his testimony 
 under a trying comparison of the Spaniards with English 
 Sailors) for Catalonia in particular ; of Lord W. Bentinck 
 for the central provinces ; and, for all Spain, we might 
 appeal even to the Spanish military reports — which, by 
 the discrimination of their praises (sometimes giving 
 severe rebukes to particular regiments, &c.), authenti- 
 cate themselves. 
 
 But, finally, we are entitled — after the actions of the 
 Spaniards — to dispense with such appeals. Spain might 
 justly deem it a high injury and affront, to suppose that 
 (after her deeds performed under the condition of her 
 means) she could require any other testimony to justify 
 her before all posterity. WTiat those deeds have been, 
 it cannot surely now be necessary to inform the reader : 
 and therefore the remainder of this note shall be em- 
 ployed in placing before him the present posture of 
 Spain — under two aspects which may possibly have 
 escaped his notice. 
 
 First, Let him look to that part of Spain which is now 
 in the possession of the enemy ; — let him bear in mind 
 that the present campaign opened at the latter end of 
 last October ; that the French were then masters of the 
 country up to the Ebro ; that the contest has since lain 
 between a veteran army (rated, on the lowest estimate, 
 at 113,000 men — with a prodigious superiority in cavalry, 
 artillery, «&c.) opposed (as to all regular opposition) by 
 unpractised Spaniards, split into three distinct armies, 
 having no communication with each other, making 
 a total of not more than 80,000 men ; — and then let him 
 inquire what progress, in this time and with these ad- 
 vantages the French have been able to make (comparing
 
 224 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 it, at the same time, with that heretofore made in Prussia, 
 and elsewhere) : the answer shall be given from the 
 Times newspaper of April 8th — " It appears that, at the 
 date of our last accounts from France as well as Spain, 
 about one half of the Peninsula was still unsubdued by 
 the French arms. The provinces, which retain their 
 independence, form a sort of irregular or broken crescent ; 
 of which one horn consists in parts of Catalonia and 
 Valencia, and the other horn includes Asturias (perhaps 
 we may soon add Gallicia). The broader surface contains 
 the four kingdoms of Andalusia (Seville, Grenada, Cor- 
 dova, and Murcia), and considerable parts of Estrama- 
 dura, and La Mancha ; besides Portugal." — The writer 
 might have added that even the provinces, occupied 
 by the French, cannot yet be counted substantially as 
 conquests : since they have a military representation 
 in the south ; large proportions of the defeated armies 
 having retreated thither. 
 
 Secondly, Let him look to that part of Spain which yet 
 remains unsubdued. — It was thought no slight proof of 
 heroism in the people of Madrid, that they prepared for 
 their defence — not as the foremost champions of Spain 
 (in which character they might have gained an adven- 
 titious support from the splendour of their post ; and, 
 at any rate, would have been free from the depression 
 of preceding disasters) — but under a full knowledge of 
 recent and successive overthrows ; their advanced 
 armies had been defeated ; and their last stay, at 
 Somosierra, had been driven in upon them. But the 
 provinces in the South have many more causes for 
 dejection : they have heard, since these disasters, that 
 this heroic city of Madrid has fallen ; that their forts in 
 Catalonia have been wrested from them ; that an Eng- 
 lish army just moved upon the horizon of Spain — to 
 draw upon itself the gaze and expectations of the people, 
 and then to vanish like an apparition ; and, finally, they 
 have heard of the desolation of Saragossa. Under all 
 this accumulation of calamity, what has been their
 
 APPENDIX 225 
 
 conduct ? In Valencia redoubled preparations of defence ; 
 
 in Seville a decree for such energetic retaliation on the 
 
 enemy, — as places its authors, in the event of his success, 
 
 beyond the hopes of mercy ; in Cadiz — on a suspicion 
 
 that a compromise was concerted with their enemy — 
 
 tumults and clamours of the people for instant vengeance ; 
 
 every where, in their uttermost distress, the same stern 
 
 and unfaultering attitude of defiance as at the glorious 
 
 birth of their resistance. 
 
 In this statement, then, of the past efforts of Spain — 
 
 and of her present preparations for further efforts — will 
 
 be found a full answer to all the charges alleged, by Sir 
 
 John Moore in his letters, against the people of Spain, 
 
 even if we did not find sufficient ground for rejecting 
 
 them in an examination of these letters themselves. 
 ****** 
 
 The author of the above note — having, in justice to 
 the Spaniards, spoken with great plainness and freedom 
 — ^feels it necessary to add a few words, that it may not 
 thence be concluded that he is insensible to Sir J. Moore's 
 claims upon his respect. Perhaps — if Sir J. M. could 
 himself have given us his commentary upon these letters, 
 and have restricted the extension of such passages as 
 (from want of \ngilance in making distinctions or laxity 
 of language) are at variance with concessions made 
 elsewhere — they would have been found not more to 
 differ from the reports of other intelligent and less 
 prejudiced observers, than we might have expected from 
 the circumstances under which they were written. 
 Sir J. M. has himself told us (in a letter published since 
 the above note was written) that he thinks the Spaniards 
 " a fine people ; " and that acknowledgement, from 
 a soldier, cannot be supposed to exclude courage ; nor, 
 from a Briton, some zeal for national independence. 
 We are therefore to conclude that, when Sir J. M, pro- 
 nounces opinions on " the Spaniards " not to be recon- 
 ciled with this and other passages, he speaks — not of the 
 Spanish people — but of the Spanish government. And, 
 
 824.38 Q
 
 22G THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 even for what may still remain charged uncandidly upon 
 the people, the writer does not forget that there are 
 infinite apologies to be found in Sir J. Moore's situation : 
 the earliest of these letters were written under great 
 anxiety and disturbance of mind from the anticipation 
 of calamity ; — and the latter (which are the most severe) 
 under the actual pressure of calamity ; and calamity 
 of that sort which would be the most painful to the 
 feelings of a gallant soldier, and most likely to vitiate his 
 judgment with respect to those who had in part (however 
 innocently) occasioned it. There may be pleaded also 
 for him — that want of leisure which would make it 
 difficult to compare the different accounts he received, 
 and to draw the right inferences from them. But then 
 these apologies for his want of fidelity — are also reasons 
 before-hand for suspecting it : and there arenow (May 18th) 
 to be added to these reasons, and their confirmations in 
 the letters themselves, fresh proofs in the present state 
 of Gallicia, as manifested by the late re-capture of Vigo, 
 and the movements of the Marquis de la Romana ; all 
 which, from Sir J. Moore's account of the temper in that 
 province, we might have confidently pronounced im- 
 possible. We must therefore remember that what in 
 him were simply mis-statements — are now, when repeated 
 with our better information, calumnies ; and calumnies 
 so much the less to be excused in us, as we have already 
 (in our conduct towards Spain) given her other and no 
 light matter of complaint against ourselves. 
 
 END OF THE APPENDIX.
 
 TWO LETTERS OF WORDSWORTH 
 
 (1811) 
 
 To Captain Pasley, Royal Engineers} 
 
 Grasmere, March 28, 1811. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I address this to the pubhshers of your 
 " Essay," not knoAving where to find you. Before 
 I speak of the instruction and pleasure which I have 
 derived from your work, let me say a word or two 
 in apology for my own apparent neglect of the letter 
 with which you honoured me some time ago. In 
 fact, I was thoroughly sensible of the value of your 
 correspondence, and of your kindness in writing to 
 me, and took up the pen to tell you so. I wrote 
 half of a pretty long letter to you, but I was so 
 disgusted with the imperfect and feeble expression 
 which I had given to some not uninteresting ideas, 
 that I threw away the unfinished sheet, and could 
 not find resolution to resume what had been so 
 inauspiciously begun. I am ashamed to say, that 
 I write so few letters, and employ my pen so Uttle 
 in any way, that I feel both a lack of words (such 
 words I mean as I wish for) and of mechanical skill, 
 extremely discouraging to me. I do not plead these 
 disabiUties on my part as an excuse, but I ^vish you 
 
 ' Memoirs of Wordsworth, 1851, i. 406« 
 Q2
 
 228 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 to know that they have been the sole cause of my 
 silence, and not a want of sense of the honour done 
 me by your correspondence, or an ignorance of 
 what good breeding required of me. But enough 
 of my trespasses ! Let me only add, that I addressed 
 a letter of some length to you when you were lying 
 ill at Middleburgh ; this probably you never received. 
 Now for your book. I had expected it with great 
 impatience, and desired a friend to send it down 
 to me immediately on its appearance, which he 
 neglected to do. On this account, I did not see it 
 till a few days ago. I have read it through twice, 
 with great care, and many parts three or four times 
 over. From this, you will conclude that I must 
 have been much interested ; and I assure you that 
 I deem myself also in a high degree instructed. 
 It would be a most pleasing employment to me to 
 dwell, in this letter, upon those points in which 
 I agree with you, and to acknowledge my obligations 
 for the clearer views you have given of truths which 
 I before perceived, though not with that distinctness 
 in which they now stand before my eyes. But 
 I could wish this letter to be of some use to you ; 
 and that end is more Ukely to be attained if I advert 
 to those points in which I think you are mistaken. 
 These are chiefly such as though very material in 
 themselves, are not at all so to the main object you 
 have in view, viz. that of proving that the military 
 power of France may by us be successfully resisted, 
 and even overthrown. In the first place, then, 
 I think that there arc great errors in the survey of 
 the comparative strength of the two empires, with 
 which you begin your book, and on which the first 
 160 pages are chiefly employed. You seem to wish 
 to frighten the people into exertion ; and in your 
 ardour tc attain your object, that of rousing our
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 229 
 
 countrymen by any means, I think you have caught 
 far too eagerly at evTry circumstance with respect 
 to revenue, navy, «fec. that appears to make for the 
 French. This I think was unnecessary. The people 
 are convinced that the power of France is dangerous, 
 and that it is our duty to resist it to the utmost. 
 I think you might have commenced from this 
 acknowledged fact ; and, at all events, I cannot 
 help saying, that the first 100 pages or so of your 
 book, contrasted with the brilliant prospects towards 
 the conclusion, have impressed me with a notion 
 that you have written too much under the influence 
 of feelings similar to those of a poet or novelist, who 
 deepens the distress in the earlier part of his work, 
 in order that the happy catastrophe which he has 
 prepared for his hero and heroine may be more 
 keenly rcHshed. Your object is to conduct us to 
 Elysium, and, lest we should not be able to enjoy 
 that pure air and purpurial sunshine, you have 
 taken a peep at Tartarus on the road. Now I am 
 of your mind, that we ought not to make peace with 
 France, on any account, till she is humiliated, and 
 her power brought within reasonable bounds. It is 
 our duty and our interest to be at war with her ; 
 but I do not think with you, that a state of peace 
 would give to France that superiority which you seem 
 so clearly to foresee. In estimating the resources 
 of the two empires, as to revenue, you appear to 
 make little or no allowance for what I deem of prime 
 and paramount importance, the characters of the 
 two nations, and of the two governments. Was 
 there ever an instance, since the world began, of the 
 peaceful arts thriving under a despotism so oppressive 
 as that of France is and must continue to be, and 
 among a people so unsettled, so depraved, and so 
 undisciplined in civil arts and habits as the French
 
 230 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 nation must now be ? It is difficult to come at the 
 real revenue of the French empire ; but it appears 
 to me certain, absolutely certain, that it must 
 diminish rapidly every year. The armies have 
 hitherto been maintained chiefly from the contribu- 
 tions raised upon the conquered countries, and 
 from the plunder which the soldiers have been able 
 to find. But that harvest is over. Austria, and 
 particularly Hungary, may have yet something to 
 supply ; but the French Ruler will scarcely quarrel 
 with them for a few years at least. But from 
 Denmark, and Sweden, and Russia, there is not 
 much to be gained. In the mean while, wherever 
 his iron yoke is fixed, the spirits of the people are 
 broken ; and it is in vain to attempt to extort 
 money which they do not possess, and cannot 
 procure. Their bodies he may command, but their 
 bodies he cannot move wthout the inspiration of 
 wealth, somewhere or other ; by wealth I mean 
 superfluous produce, something arising from the 
 labour of the inhabitants of countries beyond what 
 is necessary to their support. What will avail him 
 the command of the whole population of the 
 Continent, unless there be a security for capital 
 somewhere existing, so that the mechanic arts and 
 inventions may thereby be applied in such a manner 
 as that an overplus may arise from the labour of 
 the country which shall find its way into the pocket 
 of the state for the purpose of supporting its mihtary 
 and civil establishments ? Now, when I look at the 
 condition of our country, and compare it with that 
 of France, and reflect upon the length of the time, 
 and the infinite combination of favourable circum- 
 stances which have been necessary to produce the 
 laws, the regulations, the customs, the moral 
 character, and the physical enginery of all sorts.
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 231 
 
 through means, and by aid of which, labour is 
 carried on in this happy land ; and when I think of 
 the wealth and population (concentrated too in so 
 small a space) which we must have at command for 
 n Jlitary purposes, I confess I have not much dread, 
 looking either at war or peace, of any power which 
 France, with respect to us, is likely to attain for 
 years, I may say for generations. Whatever may 
 be the form of a government, its spirit, at least, 
 must be mild and free before agriculture, trade, 
 commerce, and manufactures can thrive under it ; 
 and if these do not prosper in a state, it may extend 
 its empire to right and to left, and it will only carry 
 poverty and desolation along with it, without being 
 itself permanently enriched. You seem to take for 
 granted, that because the French revenue amounts 
 to so much at present it must continue to keep up 
 to that height. This, I conceive impossible, unless 
 the spirit of the government alters, which is not 
 likely for many years. How comes it that we are 
 enabled to keep, by sea and land, so many men in 
 arms ? Not by our foreign commerce, but by our 
 domestic ingenuity, by our home labour, which, with 
 the aid of capital and the mechanic arts and estab- 
 lishments, has enabled a few to produce so much 
 as will maintain themselves, and the hundreds of 
 thousands of their countrymen whom they support 
 in arms. If our foreign trade were utterly destroyed, 
 I am told, that not more than one-sixth of our 
 trade would perish. The spirit of Buonaparte's 
 government is, and must continue to be, hke that of 
 the first conquerors of the New World who went 
 raving about for gold — gold ! and for whose 
 rapacious appetites the sIoav but mighty and sure 
 returns of any other produce could have no charms. 
 I cannot but think that generations must pass away
 
 232 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 before France, or any of the countries under its 
 thraldom, can attain those habits, and that character, 
 and those estabUshments which must be attained 
 before it can wield its population in a manner that 
 will ensure our overthrow. This (if we conduct the 
 war upon principles of common sense) seems to me 
 impossible, while we continue at war ; and should 
 a peace take place (which, however, I passionately 
 deprecate), France will long be compelled to pay 
 tribute to us, on account of our being so far before 
 her in the race of genuine practical philosophy and 
 true liberty. I mean that the 7nind of this country 
 is so far before that of France, and that that mind 
 has empowered the hands of the country to raise so 
 much national wealth, that France must condescend 
 to accept from us what she will be unable herself to 
 produce. Is it likely that any of our manufacturing 
 capitalists, in case of a peace, would trust themselves 
 to an arbitrary government like that of France, 
 which, without a moment's warning, might go to war 
 with us and seize their persons and their property ; 
 nay, if they should be so foolish as to trust themselves 
 to its discretion, would be base enough to pick 
 a quarrel with us for the very purpose of a pretext 
 to strip them of all they possessed ? Or is it likely, 
 if the native French manufacturers and traders were 
 capable of rivalling us in point of skill, that any 
 Frenchman would venture upon that ostentatious 
 display of wealth which a large cotton-mill, for 
 instance, requires, when he knows that by so doing 
 he would only draw upon himself a glance of the 
 greedy eye of government, soon to be followed by 
 a squeeze from its rapacious hand ? But I have 
 dwelt too long upon this. The sum of what I think, 
 by conversation, I could convince you of is, 
 that your comparative estimate is erroneous, and
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 233 
 
 materially so, inasmuch as it makes no allowance 
 for the increasing superiority which a state, supposed 
 to be independent and equitable in its dealings to 
 its subjects, must have over an oppressive govern- 
 ment ; and none for the time which is necessary to 
 give prosperity to peaceful arts, even if the govern- 
 ment should improve. Our country has a mighty 
 and daily growing forest of this sort of wealth ; 
 whereas, in France, the trees are not yet put into 
 the ground. For my own part, I do not think it 
 possible that France, with all her command of 
 territory and coast, can outstrip us in naval power, 
 unless she could previously, by her land power, cut 
 us off from timber and naval stores, necessary for 
 the building and equipment of our fleet. In that 
 intellectual superiority which, as I have mentioned, 
 we possess over her, we should find means to build 
 as many ships as she could build, and also could 
 procure sailors to man them. The same energy 
 would furnish means for maintaining the men ; and 
 if they could be fed and maintained, they would 
 surely be produced. Why then am I for war with 
 France ? 1st. Because I think our naval superiority 
 may be more cheaply maintained, and more easily, 
 by war than by peace ; and because I think, that 
 if the war were conducted upon those principles of 
 martial policy which you so admirably and nobly 
 enforce, united with (or rather bottomed upon) 
 those notions of justice and right, and that knowledge 
 of and reverence for the moral sentiments of mankind, 
 which, in my Tract, I attempted to portray and 
 illustrate, the tide of military success would immedi- 
 ately turn in our favour ; and we should find no 
 more difficulty in reducing the French power than 
 Gusta\Tis Adolphus did in reducing that of the 
 German Empire in his day. And here let me express
 
 234 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 my zealous thanks for the spirit and beauty with 
 which you have pursued, through all its details, the 
 course of martial policy which you recommend. 
 Too much praise cannot be given to this which is 
 the great body of your work. I hope that it will 
 not be lost upon your countrymen. But (as I said 
 before) I rather wish to dwell upon those points in 
 which I am dissatisfied with your ' Essay,' Let me 
 then come at once to a fundamental principle. 
 You maintain, that as the military power of France 
 is in progress, ours must be so also, or we must 
 perish. In this I agree with you. Yet you contend 
 also, that this increase or progress can only be 
 brought about by conquests permanently established 
 upon the Continent ; and, calling in the doctrines 
 of the writers upon the law of nations to your aid, 
 you are for beginning with the conquest of Sicily, 
 and so on, through Italy, Switzerland, &c. &c. 
 Now it does not appear to me, though I should 
 rejoice heartily to see a British army march from 
 Calabria, triumphantly, to the heart of the Alps, 
 and from Holland to the centre of Germany, — yet 
 it docs not appear to me that the conquest and 
 permanent possession of these countries is necessary 
 either to produce those resources of men or money 
 which the security and prosperity of our country 
 requires. All that is absolutely needful, for either 
 the one or the other, is a large, experienced, and 
 seasoned army, which we cannot possess without 
 a field to fight in, and that field must be somewhere 
 upon the Continent. Therefore, as far as concerns 
 ourselves and our security, I do not think that so 
 wide a space of conquered country is desirable ; and, 
 as a patriot, I have no wish for it. If I desire it, it 
 is not for our sakes directly, but for the benefit of 
 those unhappy nations whom we should rescue, and
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 235 
 
 whose prosperity would be reflected back upon 
 ourselves. Holding these notions, it is natural, 
 highly as I rate the importance of military power, 
 and deeply as I feel its necessity for the protection 
 of every excellence and virtue, that I should rest 
 my hopes with respect to the emancipation of 
 Europe more upon moral influence, and the wishes 
 and opinions of the people of the resi^ective nations, 
 than you appear to do. As I have written in my 
 pamphlet, "on the moral qualities of a people must 
 its salvation ultimately depend. Something higher 
 than military excellence must be taught as higher ; 
 something more fundamental, as more fundamental." 
 Adopting the opinion of the writers upon the laws 
 of nations, you treat of conquest as if conquest could 
 in itself, nakedly and abstractedly considered, 
 confer rights. If we once admit this proposition, all 
 morality is driven out of the world. We conquer 
 Italy — that is, we raise the British standard in 
 Italy, — and, by the aid of the inhabitants, we expel 
 the French from the country, and have a right to 
 keep it for ourselves. This, if I am not mistaken, is 
 not only implied, but explicitly maintained in your 
 book. Undoubtedly, if it be clear that the possession 
 of Italy is necessary for our security, we have a right 
 to keep possession of it, if we should ever be able to 
 master it by the sword. But not because we have 
 gained it by conquest, therefore may we keep it ; 
 no ; the sword, as the sword, can give no rights ; 
 but because a great and noble nation, like ours, 
 cannot prosper or exist without such possession. 
 If the fact were so, we should then have a right to 
 keep possession of what by our valour we had 
 acquired — not other\vise. If these things were 
 matter of mere speculation, they would not be 
 worth talking about ; but they arc not so. The
 
 236 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 spirit of conquest, and the ambition of the sword, 
 never can confer true glory and happiness upon 
 a nation that has attained power sufficient to 
 protect itself. Your favourites, the Romans, though 
 no doubt having the fear of the Carthaginians before 
 their eyes, yet were impelled to carry their arms out 
 of Italy by ambition far more than by a rational 
 apprehension of the danger of their condition. 
 And how did they enter upon their career ? By 
 an act of atrocious injustice. You are too well 
 read in history for me to remind you what that 
 act was. The same disregard of morality followed 
 too closely their steps everywhere. Their ruling 
 passion, and sole steady guide, was the glory of 
 the Roman name, and the wish to spread the 
 Roman power. No wonder, then, if their armies 
 and military leaders, as soon as they had destroyed 
 all foreign enemies from whom anything was to be 
 dreaded, turned their swords upon each other. 
 The ferocious cruelties of Sylla and Marius, of 
 CatiUnc, and of Antony and Octavius, and the 
 despotism of the empire, were the necessary 
 consequences of a long course of action pursued 
 upon such blind and selfish principles. Therefore, 
 admiring as I do your scheme of martial policy, 
 and agreeing with you that a British military power 
 may, and that the present state of the world requires 
 that it ought to be, predominant in Italy, and 
 Germany, and Spain ; yet still, I am afraid that you 
 look with too much complacency upon conquest 
 by British arms, and upon British military influence 
 upon the Continent, for its own sake. Accordingly, 
 you seem to regard Italy with more satisfaction 
 than Spain. I mean you contemplate our possible 
 exertions in Italy with more pleasure, merely because 
 its dismembered state would probably keep it more
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 237 
 
 under our sway — in other words, more at our mercy. 
 Now, I think there is nothing more unfortunate for 
 Europe than the condition of Germany and Italy 
 in these respects. Could the barriers be dissolved 
 which have divided the one nation into Neapohtans, 
 Tuscans, Venetians, &c., and the other into Prussians, 
 Hanoverians, &c., and could they once be taught 
 to feel their strength, the French would be driven 
 back into their own land immediately. I wish to 
 see Spain, Italy, France, Germany, formed into 
 independent nations ; nor have I any desire to 
 reduce the power of France further than may be 
 necessary for that end. Woe be to that country 
 whose military power is irresistible ! I deprecate 
 such an event for Great Britain scarcely less than 
 for any other land. Scipio foresaw the evils vnth 
 which Rome would be visited when no Carthage 
 should be in existence for her to contend with. 
 If a nation have nothing to oppose or to fear A\ithout, 
 it cannot escape decay and concussion within. 
 Universal triumph and absolute security soon 
 betray a state into abandonment of that discipline, 
 civil and military, by which its victories were 
 secured. If the time should ever come when this 
 island shall have no more formidable enemies by land 
 than it has at this moment by sea, the extinction of 
 all that it previously contained of good and great 
 would soon follow. Indefinite progress, undoubtedly, 
 there ought to be somewhere ; but let that be in 
 knowledge, in science, in civilization, in the increase 
 of the numbers of the people, and in the augmentation 
 of their virtue and happiness. But progress in 
 conquest cannot be indefinite ; and for that very 
 reason, if for no other, it cannot be a fit object for 
 the exertions of a people, I mean beyond certain 
 limits, which, of course, will vary with circumstances.
 
 238 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 My prayer, as a patriot, is, that we may always have, 
 somewhere or other, enemies capable of resisting us, 
 and keeping us at arm's length. Do I, then, object 
 that our arms shall be carried into every part of 
 the Continent ? No : such is the present condition 
 of Europe, that I earnestly pray for what I deem 
 would be a mighty blessing. France has already 
 destroyed, in almost every part of the Continent, 
 the detestable governments with which the nations 
 have been afflicted ; she has extinguished one sort 
 of tyranny, but only to substitute another. Thus, 
 then, have the countries of Europe been taught, 
 that domestic oppression, if not manfully and 
 zealously repelled, must sooner or later be succeeded 
 by subjugation from without ; they have tasted 
 the bitterness of both cups, have drunk deeply of 
 both. Their spirits are prepared for resistance to 
 the foreign tyrant, and with our help I think they 
 may shake him off, and, under our countenance, 
 and following (as far as they are capable) our 
 example, they may fashion to themselves, making 
 use of what is best in their own ancient laws and 
 institutions, new forms of government, which may 
 secure posterity from a repetition of such calamities 
 as the present age has brought forth. The materials 
 of a new balance of power exist in the language, 
 and name, and territory of Spain, in those of France, 
 and those of Italy, Germany, Russia, and the 
 British Isles. The smaller states must disappear, 
 and merge in the large nations and wide-spread 
 languages. The possibility of this remodelling of 
 Europe I see clearly ; earnestly do I pray for it ; 
 and I have in my mind a strong conviction that 
 your invaluable work will be a powerful instrument 
 in preparing the way for that happy issue. Yet, 
 still, we must go deeper than the nature of your
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 239 
 
 labour requires you to penetrate. Military policy 
 merely Avill not perform all that is needful, nor mere 
 military \artues. If the Roman state was saved 
 from overthrow, by the attack of the slaves and of 
 the gladiators, through the excellence of its armies, 
 yet this was not without great difficulty ; ^ and 
 Rome would have been destroyed by Carthage, had 
 she not been preserved by a civic fortitude in which 
 she surpassed all the nations of the earth. The 
 reception which the senate gave to Terentius Varro, 
 after the battle of Cannse, is the sublimest event in 
 human history. What a contrast to the wretched 
 conduct of the Austrian government after the 
 battle at Wagram ! England requires, as you have 
 shown so eloquently and ably, a new system of 
 martial pohcy ; but England, as well as the rest 
 of Europe, requires what is more difficult to give 
 it, — a new course of education, a higher tone of 
 moral f eeUng, more of the grandeur of the imaginative 
 faculties, and less of the petty processes of the 
 unfeeUng and purbUnd understanding, that would 
 manage the concerns of nations in the same calcula- 
 ting spirit with which it would set about building 
 a house. Now a state ought to be governed (at 
 least in these times), the labours of the statesman 
 ought to advance, upon calculations and from 
 impulses similar to those which give motion to the 
 hand of a great artist when he is preparing a picture, 
 or of a mighty poet when he is determining the 
 proportions and march of a poem ; — much is to be 
 done by rule ; the great outUne is previously to be 
 conceived in distinctness, but the consummation of 
 the work must be trusted to resources that are not 
 tangible, though known to exist. Much as I admire 
 
 * "Totis imperii viribus consurgitur," says the historianj 
 speaking of the war of the gladiators.
 
 240 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 the political sagacity displayed in your work, 
 I respect you still more for the lofty spirit that 
 supports it ; for the animation and courage with 
 which it is replete ; for the contempt, in a just 
 cause, of death and danger by which it is ennobled ; 
 for its heroic confidence in the valour of your 
 countrymen ; and the absolute determination which 
 it everywhere expresses to maintain in all points the 
 honour of the soldier's profession, and that of the 
 noble nation of which you are a member — of 
 the land in which you were born. No insults, no 
 indignities, no vile stooping, will your politics admit 
 of ; and therefore, more than for any other cause, 
 do I congratulate my country on the appearance of 
 a book which, resting in this point our national 
 safety upon the purity of our national character, 
 will, I trust, lead naturally to make us, at the same 
 time, a more powerful and a highminded nation. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 W. Wordsworth. 
 
 Letter enclosing the Preceding to a Friend un-named.^ 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I have taken the Liberty of addressing the 
 enclosed to you, with a wish that you would be so 
 kind as to send it by the twopenny Post. The 
 Letter, though to a personal Acquaintance and to 
 some degree a friend, is upon a kind of Public 
 occasion, and consists of Comments upon Captain 
 Pasley's lately published Essay on the MiUtary 
 Policy of Great Britain ; a work which if you have 
 
 ' From Grosart's edition of the Prose Works, 1876. By 
 kind permission of Grosart's executor.
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 241 
 
 not seen I earnestly recommend to your careful 
 Perusal. I have sent my Letter unsealed in order 
 that if you think it worth while you may read it, 
 which would oblige me. You may begin with those 
 words in the 1st Page, ' Now for your Book : ' which 
 you will see are legible, being transcribed by 
 a Friend. The rest, in my own hand, is only an 
 Apology for not writing sooner ; save that there 
 are two Sonnets which if you like you may glance 
 your eye over. Do not forget to put a wafer on the 
 Letter after you have done with it. 
 
 Will you excuse me if I find myself unable to 
 forbear saying, upon this occasion, a few words con- 
 cerning the conduct pursued with respect to foreign 
 affairs by the Party with whom you act ? I learn 
 from a private quarter of unquestionable Authority, 
 that it was Lord Gren\'ille's intention, had he come 
 into power as he lately expected, to have recalled the 
 army from Portugal. In the name of my Country, 
 of our virtuous and suffering Allies, and of Human 
 Nature itself, I give thanks to Providence who has 
 restored the King's health so far as to prevent this 
 intention being put into practice hitherto. The 
 transgressions of the present ministry are grievous ; 
 but excepting only a deliberate and direct attack 
 upon the civil liberty of our own Country, there 
 cannot be any thing in a Minister worse than 
 a desponding spirit and the lack of confidence in 
 a good cause. If Lord G. and Mr. Ponsonby think 
 that the privilege allowed to opposition-manoeuvering 
 justifies them in speaking as they do, they are sadly 
 mistaken and do not discern what is becoming the 
 times ; but if they sincerely believe in the omnipo- 
 tence of Buonaparte upon the Continent, they arc 
 the dupes of their own fears and the slaves of their 
 own ignorance. Do not deem me presumptuous
 
 242 THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA 
 
 when I say that it is pitiable to hear Lord Grenville 
 talking as he did in the late debate of the 
 inability of Great Britain to take a commanding 
 station as a military Power, and maintaining that 
 our efforts must be essentially, he means exclusively, 
 naval. We have destroyed our enemies upon the 
 Sea, and are equally capable of destroying him upon 
 land. Rich in soldiers and revenues as we are, 
 we are capable, avaiUng ourselves of the present 
 disposition of the Continent, to erect there under 
 our countenance, and by a wise application of our 
 resources, a military Power, which the tyrannical 
 and immoral Government of Buonaparte could not 
 prevail against, and if he could not overthrow it, 
 he must himself perish. Lord G. grudges two 
 millions in aid of Portugal, which has eighty 
 thousand men in arms, and what they can perform 
 has been proved. Yet Lord G. does not object to 
 our granting aid to a great Military Power on the 
 Continent if such could be found, nay he begs of us 
 to wait till that fortunate period arrives. Whence 
 does Lord G., from what quarter does he expect it ? 
 from Austria, from the Prussian monarchy, brought 
 to life again, from Russia, or lastly from the 
 Confederacy of the Rhine turning against their 
 Creator and Fashioner ? Is the expectation of the 
 Jews for their Messiah or of the Portuguese for 
 St. Sebastian more extravagant ? But Lord G. 
 ought to know that such a military power does 
 already exist upon the Peninsula, formless indeed 
 compared with what under our plastic hands it 
 may become, yet which has proved itself capable of 
 its giving employment during the course of three 
 years to at least five hundred thousand of the 
 enemy's best troops. An important fact has been 
 proved, that the enemy cannot drive us from the
 
 TWO LETTERS FROM WORDSWORTH 243 
 
 Peninsula. We have the point to stand upon which 
 Archimedes "wished for, and we may move the 
 Continent if we persevere. Let us prepare to 
 exercise in Spain a mihtary influence hke that 
 which we already possess in Portugal, and our 
 affairs must improve daily and rapidly. Whatever 
 money we advance for Portugal and Spain, we can 
 direct the management of it, an inestimable advantage 
 which, with relation to Prussia, Russia or Austria, 
 we never possessed. Besides, how could we govern 
 the purposes of those States, Avhen that inherent 
 imbecility and cowardice leave them no purpose 
 or aim to which they can steadily adhere of them- 
 selves for six weeks together ? Military Powers ! 
 So these States have been called. A strange 
 Misnomer ! they are Weaknesses — a true though 
 ill-sounding Title ! — and not Powers ! Polybius 
 tells us that Hannibal entered into Italy with 
 twenty thousand men, and that the aggregate 
 forces of Italy at that time amounted to seven 
 hundred and sixty thousand foot and horse, with 
 the Roman discipline and power to head that 
 mighty force. Gusta\ais Adolphus invaded Germany 
 with thirteen thousand men ; the Emperor at that 
 time having between two and three hundred thou- 
 sand warlike and experienced Troops commanded by 
 able Generals, to oppose to him. Let these facts 
 and numerous others which history supphes of the 
 same kind, be thought of ; and let us hear no more 
 of the impossibility of Great Britain girt round 
 and defended by the Sea and an invincible Navy, 
 becoming a military Power ; Great Britain whose 
 troops surpass in valour those of all the world, and 
 who has an army and a militia of upwards of three 
 hundred thousand men 1 Do reflect my dear Sir, 
 upon the materials which are now in preparation
 
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