ceived for the artillery, from the Irish commissariat, were cast-off cavalry, old, lame, and blind, many of them actually dying of age. The opinion which the board delivered was, that they could not pronounce, with confidence, whether the victory of Vimiera ought to have been pursued or not; but, considering the extraordinary circumstances under which two new commanders arrived from the ocean, and joined the army, (the one during, and the other immediately after the battle, and those successively superseding each other, and both the original commander, within the space of twenty-four hours,) it was not surprising that the army was not carried forward until the second day after the action, from the necessity of the generals' being acquainted with the actual state of things, and proceeding accordingly. On a consideration of all circumstances, they were of opinion, that no farther military proceeding was necessary on the subject; and however some of them might differ in opinion respecting the fitness of the convention, it was their unanimous declaration, that unquestionable zeal and firmness had been exhibited by all the three generals.

As this was, in fact, delivering no opinion at all, the board was called upon, by the Duke of York, as commander-in-chief, to resume its consideration of the armistice and convention, and pronounce decidedly whether they thought them adviseable. The armistice was disapproved by Earl Moira; the convention by the same nobleman, by the Earl of Pembroke, and General Nicolls: thus, six of the seven members approved the armistice, and four approved the convention. The dissentient members delivered in their rea

Jan. 18.

1809.

sons for the opinion which they gave. General Nicolls and Earl Pembroke confined themselves to a military point of view. Earl Moira took a wider scope, and argued, clearly and convincingly, against the moral and political effects of this unhappy treaty. The proceedings were concluded by a declaration from the king, adopting the unanimous opinion of the board, that no farther military proceeding was necessary; but expressing his disapprobation of those articles of the convention in which stipulations were made, directly affecting the interests or feelings of the Spanish and Portugueze nations. That disapprobation his majesty had signified to Sir Hew Dalrymple when the treaty was first laid before him, and he repeated it, deeming it necessary that his sentiments should be clearly understood as to the impropriety and danger of the unauthorised admission, into military conventions, of articles of such a description. Nor could he forbear observing, that Sir Hew's delaying to transmit the armistice concluded on the 22d of August, till the 4th of September, when the ratified convention was transmitted at the same time, was calculated to produce great public inconvenience, and that such inconvenience had, in fact, resulted therefrom. The king abstained from any observations upon other parts of the convention.

Thus the whole censure fell upon Sir Hew Dalrymple. The people were more disposed to censure Sir Harry Burrard-imputing it to him that the victory had not been pursued; but in the worst part of the transaction, the three generals were equally implicated. Six weeks, however, had elapsed before the board

of inquiry was instituted, and ten more before its final result. During that interval, other events occurred which broke off the attention of the public; the ardour of their feelings had subsided, and the indifference with which they regarded the

close of an inquiry which they had so eagerly demanded, afforded one proof more of the instability of popular opinion, when it is not secured, by some deeply-rooted principles, from the influence of passion and party.

WHILE the intruder was at Madrid,

those friends of Ferdinand who had been compelled to enter into his service took the earliest opportunity to effect their escape, and declare themselves in favour of the patriots. The Duke del Infantado got out of the city in the dress of a peasant, and in that disguise made his way to Salamanca, where he joined one of the Spanish armies. The Duke del Parque who had been appointed captain of the body-guards, and travelled in the same carriage with Joseph Buonaparte from Madrid, threw off the charge which had been imposed upon him, and went to bear arms in defence of his country's independence. Cevallos sent July 28. in his resignation: his only wish, he said, had been to return to his native land, and this having been denied him, after two months repeated solicitation, he had no other means of putting an end to that separation from his family, and his fellow-countrymen, than by accepting the appointment which was pressed upon him; reserving to himself the right, which no one could renounce, of adhering to the vote of the majority of the nation, in case it

should reject the king of Buonaparte's

choice. Cevallos had secured his retreat before he took this step,and the first use he made of his liberty was, to lay before the world an account of the iniquitous transactions at Bayonne.

The avowed partizans of the intruder fled with him. The council of Castile, who, probably more from cowardice than corruption, had sanctioned all the measures of the French, during the usurpation, with the whole weight of their authority, were now alarmed for their own safety, and addressed a proclamation to the people of Madrid, every line of which betrayed their consciousness of their own misconduct, by its flattery and its ill disguised fear. It called them a generous and worthy people, virtuous Spaniards, worthy citizens, good men, and true patriots. It told them, that what they had suffered was but a punishment necessary for their correction; their morals having almost reached the point of complete corruption: that the innocent victims whose blood had been shed, had implored forgiveness for them; the God of battles had heard their interces

Aug. 5.

sion, and was appeased; and all their victories were owing to God and our lady the Virgin. Would they then add to the calamities of their country? Would they commit new insurrections and excesses? They who were crying out for justice, and who were eager, under the pretext of exercising it for themselves, to pillage, and burn, and destroy, were not inhabitants of Madrid, or its vicinity, but vagabonds, who, having fled from their own magistrates, took shelter in the metropolis. "Judge no one," it said," for that renders you liable to sacrifice many innocent.If there have been among us any traitors, the Supreme Tribunal will avenge their crimes, and, if they merit it, cast them away, as unworthy of the name of Spaniards. God grant that there be no occasion to draw the sword of justice! Let it be employed against the enemies of our nation, against the oppressors liberty." In another part of this address, the council ventured even to pronounce their own eulogy."The government and the faithful provinces," they said, "would be filled with joy, when the council should have exhibited before them, and all Europe, the constant firmness with which the first nobility, the superior tribunals, and the chiefs of the nation, had sustained their cause, and the rights of the throne. Not a few individuals among them had been led, by fraud and force, far beyond the limits of Spain, and, though without liberty, and exposed to the severest insults, they had proved the inflexibility of their loyalty, and the religious purity of their opinions." And then, introducing an excuse for their own baseness, they bade the people distrust the signatures which had been circulated among them,

of our

and wait with patience for the testimonies of their conduct.

A circular address, in the same spirit, was sent, at the same time, to the provincial juntas. The council," it is said, "which could not fail to be, in a great degree, involved in the consequences of the subjection of the capital, availed itself of the first moments of its liberty, to make its sentiments known: these could not but correspond with the immutable loyalty, and the indelible love of justice, which always constituted its character, and had gained it, in all times, the confidence of the nation. This it was which had supported them in the midst of the greatest dangers, and added firmness to the constancy with which they had refused to recognise the intruder, farther than circumstances justified." Affecting then to believe that the juntas which it addressed must be convinced of this, the council professed its readiness to co-operate with them in any plans of defence. With respect to measures of another kind, which were necessary for the salvation of the country, it belonged to this supreme tribunal, said the address, merely to rouse and excite the national authorities, which it would assist with its influence, its advice, and its knowledge. As it was not possible, under the existing extraordinary circumstances, to adopt the expedients pointed out by the laws and customs of Spain, the council would not occasion any delay by ill-timed discussions, but would confine itself, for the present, to the indication of a measure in which it would with the greatest satisfaction concur which was, that deputies should be appointed by all the different juntas, who should confer on this most important object,

and make such arrangements, that all projects and expedients, proceeding from this common action, might be as expeditious as the end in view required.

A separate letter was addressed to Palafox, in which, after the Aug. 4. same apologetical protestations, they exhorted him to contribute, with all his power, to the safety of the capital. This letter was written at the time when the war was raging with most violence in the heart of Zaragoza; and when the hero to whom it was addressed had leisure to reply to it, it is not to be wondered at, if the sight of the ruins and slaughter around him occasioned in him some feelings of not unreasonable indignation. The integrity with which the council of Castile, he said, had conducted itself in other times, had rendered it respectable, even in foreign countries; but, in these mournful circumstances, in which Spain had been assailed by perfidy the most enormous that the history of the world presents, this tribunal has not fulfilled its duty. Many of the individuals who compose it have established satisfactory proofs of their own justification; but others, suffering themselves to be seduced at such a time by France, or perhaps prompted by the depravity of their own hearts, have not been content to remain neuter; they have even sided with the most cruel enemies of their country. "I myself," said Palafox," to my bitter sorrow, have seen some of them direct the operations of the enemy, and appear with them before Zaragoza, where they wrote treasonable papers, and circulated addresses which are a disgrace to the Spanish nation. I know well that the council was not at liberty, and that, after the outrages of the French

in Madrid, it was reduced to be the mere executor of the pleasure of that most execrable government; but had it only once expressed the general wish of the nation, it would, by such an act, have given more importance to what was transacting in the provinces, it would have united itself to them, and would at least have prevented its apparent sanction of those detestable, treacherous, and false proclamations. To this there seems to me to have been no insuperable obstacle, and even if there had, the good of the whole, and the welfare of the nation, ought to have been preferred to the personal interest of any individual."

The council next published an elaborate justification of their proceedings, from the time of the affair of the Escurial; referring to the firmness with which they had then protected the prince and his friends, as the first proof of their good conduct, in the most delicate circumstances wherein the tribunal had ever been placed. When the French troops entered the kingdom, various objects had been surmised the protection of Ferdinand, the occupation of Portugal, the defence of the coast, the conquest of a part of Africa, were talked of; but, at length, suspicion was excited, even in the most unwary. The council observed, that, even in times of great security, the confidence with which these troops were received would have been most imprudent, both on account of their number and of the position which they took; above all, that it was contrary to the constant maxim of not receiving the forces of an ally superior in number to our own; and that it

was an act of unexampled weakness to let them take possession of the fortresses. But, having no constitu