226 
invade Portugal, and should the 
court refuse both to gppose him and 
to escape from him, then it would 
become necessary to prevent the 
fleet from falling into his hands. 
This was, indeed, a thing so self. 
evident, that it was scarcely neces. 
sary to mention it ; but the British 
government, for the sake of pre. 
serving to the end that frankness 
and plain dealing which had all 
along marked. their proceedings 
towards this old ally, deemed it pro- 
per to add the above to the other 
instructions. ‘The case to which it 
should be applicable was scarcely a 
conceivable one, but it was more 
safe and accurate to provide for 
every possible combination of cir- 
cumstances. 
During the interval between the 
sailing of Lord St. Vincent’s squa- 
dron, and the opening of the com- 
munications at Lisbon, in the begin- 
ning of September, a considerable 
change had taken place in the as- 
pect of affairs in the North. The 
Emperor of Russia had refused to 
ratify D’Oubril’s treaty, the king 
of Prussia had begun his prepara-~ 
tions for making war upon France, 
and it was also apprehended that 
Austria would not remain neutral in 
so extensive a centest. The natural 
consequence of this unexpected 
change of circumstances, was the 
abandonment of the designs upon 
Portugal for the present ; the troops 
on their march to assemble at Ba- 
yonne were countermanded ;_ the 
French ambassador at Lisbon, ge- 
neral Junot, instead of proceeding 
to his destination, was sent away to 
the crny inGermany ; a large body 
of Spanish treops was marched to 
the assistance of France in the 
North, and Bonaparte and his mi- 
nisters left Paris to join the armies. 
3 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1806. 
A respite was thus obtained for Par.» 
tugal, which it was evident must las€ 
at least as long as the new war 
should continue; and that country 
might be considered as altogether 
safe, until the allies should be again 
completely conquered, and theirnew 
coalition dissolved. 
When this change took place, 
time had only been afforded the ne- 
gotiators at Lisbon to open their 
business, and ascertain the disposi- 
tion and resources of the Portuguese 
government. They found on the 
part of the prince regent, the best 
possible disposition towards Eng- 
land. The cabinet was, indeed, 
feeble, both in talents and spirit, but 
was well inclined to do whatever 
might reasonably be expected, should 
the threatened dangers approach 
nearer. The liberal and disinterest. 
ed offers of the British government 
were received with the warmest ex~ 
pressions of gratitude, and the 
friendly solicitude shewn by that 
generous ally, made a deep and last- 
‘ing impression upon the prince. 
When the unexpected intelligence 
arrived, that hostilities were re- 
commencing in the North, the court 
of Lisbon deemed it advisable no 
longer to request the protection of 
the British admiral, and it was cvi- 
dent, that for the present, the land- 
ing of any English forcein Portugal, 
could only serve to give umbrage at 
Madrid, without answering any 
good purpose. The troops were 
accordingly disembarked at Ply- 
mouth, lord St, Vincent returned 
to his station off the Tagus, and 
lord Rosslyn sailed for England, 
carrying back with him the most 
friendly and sincere expressions of 
the prince regent’s gratitude to the 
British government, and thestrongest 
protestations of his increased confi. 
dence 
