522 POLITICAL CORRESPONDENCE. [1811. 



The newspapers, however, did not tell that Burdett 

 treated him with the most marked coldness and 

 distance, and hit him some pretty hard knocks in 

 the course of his speech. It is also material to men- 

 tion that among those who voted against him were 

 Folkestone, Hanbury Tracy, Crcevey, and Brand. I 

 was not present, having purposely gone away before 

 it began, as it had a connection with a trial for a 

 libel in which I was counsel. 



" I have seen a man (Gell) who returned yesterday 

 morning from Lisbon. He has been in Spain and 

 Portugal for some months, and reports that the 

 French, since their reinforcements of 20,000, amount 

 to 70 ; 000 or 75,000, and that they don't apprehend 

 in the army any further reinforcement for the present. 

 He adds, however, that nobody but Lord Wellington 

 knows anything for certain, and that he keeps all he 

 knows to himself. They are not alarmed either in 

 the army or at Lisbon. At Lisbon, bread, &c., is 

 only double its price in ordinary times, and they 

 don't complain. They are supplied from Barbary. 

 There was a story of Badajos being relieved, but he 

 did not believe it. The French are -not in want of 

 food. They have a large space open to them; but 

 beyond that, are hemmed in so that they cannot send 

 a courier with any reasonable prospect of his reaching 

 his destination. This man is a strong partisan of 

 Wellington. 



The impression made on my mind by Perceval's 

 manner last night was that he would be very well 



