4 S6 PENINSULAR WAR. [1809. 



iii the ' Edinburgh Review;' but I think it impossible 

 that lie should not admire it, and, as a friend of 

 Moore's, that he should not be, upon the whole, ex- 

 tremely gratified by what you say of him. I have, 

 however, put the question to him directly, and will 

 let you know his opinion. I agree with you in think- 

 ing that indiscriminate praise is seldom advantageous, 

 as it is hardly ever just, and that poor Moore's repu- 

 tation is much more effectually served by a fair and 

 candid discussion of the whole question not support- 

 ing the points on which his conduct may appear some- 

 what doubtful than it could have been by unqualified 

 panegyric. Admiring Moore as I do in the highest 

 degree, and thinking that what has appeared has 

 proved him to be not only one of the best officers this 

 country ever produced, but as a man to have possessed 

 the most amiable heart combined with a lofty mind 

 and independent spirit, I do not feel at all dissatisfied 

 with the manner in which you treat the question of 

 his advance from Salamanca. I should certainly have 

 been disposed to give more weight to the motives 

 which determined him to take that fatal measure as 

 being such as it was almost impossible for human 

 nature to resist ; and perhaps the cause might have 

 been a little more pointedly fixed to Frere's interfer- 

 ence, by showing the very moment, almost, at which 

 his resolution appears to have been changed ; for on 

 the morning of the 5th he wrote to Baird that he 

 continued his intention of retreating; and afterwards, 

 when in the course of the same day he sent his counter 



