182 L O N 
But hew great was the furprife of the public, when it 
•was understood that the difcharge of the Park and Tower 
guns related to a convention, figned at Cintra, by which 
it was, among other ftipulaticns, agreed on, “ That the 
English government fhould beat the expenfe of tranfpcrt- 
ing the whole of the French army to any of the ports be¬ 
tween Rochfort and l'Orient. When the army arrived 
in France, it was to be at liberty to ferve again immedi¬ 
ately. All the property of the army, as well as the per- 
fonal property of the individuals of the army, was to be 
facred and untouched. It might either be carried off 
into France or fold in Portugal. In the latter cafe, full 
fecurity was to be given by the Britifh to the purchafers, 
that the property they had would not be taken from them, 
gnor they themfelves molefled on account of the purchafe.” 
The regret and indignation of the Britifh nation were 
e-aifed by this convention to a painful height. The throne 
■was befieged, as it were, with petitions from all parts of 
•the kingdom, calling loudly for an inquiry into that tranf- 
aftion. The anfwer to the petition from the city of Lon¬ 
don, “that for the inftitution of an inquiry there was no 
need of their interference,” was univerfally deemed un¬ 
gracious. An’inquiry was fet on foot. The board in 
their report, after giving a well-arranged, and not altoge¬ 
ther an uncircumllantial, account of fir Arthur Wellef- 
3 ey’s expedition, declared, “That," on a conficleration of 
nil circumftances, as fet forth in the report, they molt 
humbly fubmitted their opinion, that no.further military 
proceeding was ne'cefiary on that fubjeft : becaufe, how¬ 
ever feme of them might differ refpefting the fitr.efs of 
the convention in the relative fituation of the two armies. 
It was theiT- unanimous declaration, that unqueftionable 
zeal and firm fiefs appeared throughout to have been ex¬ 
hibited by lieutenant-general fir Hew Dalrympie, fir Harry 
Burrard, and fir Arthur Wellefley ; as well as that the ar¬ 
dour and gallantry of the reft of the officers and foldiers, 
on every occafion during the expedition, ha'd done honour 
to the troops, and reflected luftre on his majefty’s arms.” 
Sir Arthur Wellefley, who, ultimately, by his prudence, 
courage, and perfeverance, has not only fet the whole 
of Portugal and Spain at liberty, but has now planted the 
British ftandard on French ground, had ftrenuoufly re¬ 
commended a purfuir of the French; and great pains were 
taken by his friends at home to fereen him from the odium 
of both the armiftice and convention; with which fir Ar¬ 
thur appears indeed to have exprefled much diffatisfadtion 
to his friends in private, though he had not hinted any dif- 
spprobanon when in confultation with the other generals. 
But the board unanimoufiy approved the judgment of fir 
Harry Burrard, in abfiaining from purfuir. “ A fuperior 
cavalry,” they obferved, u retarding our advance, would 
have allowed the enemy’s infantry, ‘without any degree 
of rifk, to continue their retreat in the moft rapid manner, 
till they fhould have arrived at any given and advantage¬ 
ous point of rallying and formation: nor did fir A. Wel¬ 
lefley, on the 17th of Auguft, when the enemy had not 
half the cavalry he had on the 21ft, purfue a more incon- 
fiderable and beater, army with any marked advantage.” 
In ffiort, the report of the board was an indirect cenfure 
on fir Arthur; but more juftice has been done him fince; 
and his arduous campaigns in Portugal and Spain have 
eftablifned his character as the greateit general we have 
had fince the days of Marlborough. 
As the defeat of Junot and the deliverance of Portugal 
were only mediate, and not the ultimate objects of the 
Britifh army, it matched from Lifbon, but not till the 
07th of Odiober, nearly two months after the convention 
of Cintra, under the command of general fir John Moore, 
to the affiflance of the Spanifh patriots. 
The enthufiaftn of Spanifh patriotifm was not confined 
behind the Pyrenean mountains; it fpread itfelf through 
the whole continent, and was admired and hailed as the 
dawn of a new order of things, and as an ominous liar to 
the pow’ r of Napoleon.—By a well-combined plan, con¬ 
certed between Keats, the Britifh admiral in the Bal¬ 
tic, and Romana, ten thoufand of the Spanifh troops lla- 
D O N. 
tioned in Funen, Langland, Zealand, and Jutland, eman¬ 
cipated themfelves from the French yoke, and, under the 
protection of the Britifh fleet, were conveyed, with their 
ftores, arms, and artillery, to Spain, where they landed 
at Corunna on the 30th of September. The marquis of- 
Romana himfelf returned home by the way of London, 
where he arrived 1 on the 16th of September, for the pur- 
pofe of having a conference with the Britifh miniftry, and 
Britifh military officers. But one Spanifh regiment, near 
two tboufand ftrong, in Jutland, was too ditlant, and too 
critically fituated, to effett its efcape. And two in Zea¬ 
land, after firing on the French general Frifion, who com¬ 
manded them, and killing one of his aid-de-camps by his 
fide, were difarmed. While Frifion was in the att of ha¬ 
ranguing thefe troops, for the purpofe of engaging them 
to declare for king Jofeph, one of the foldiers, burning 
with indignation, and regardlefs of confequences, flepped 
forth from the ranks and fired a piftol at him, which, 
miffing the general, killed the aid-de-camp. 
The marquis de la Romana was kept in profound igno¬ 
rance of the glorious events that had taken place in his 
country; and various attempts had been made on the part 
of the Britifh government, to communicate the tidings to 
him, and to devife means for his efcape with the troops un¬ 
der his command, without effebt.' At' length a Swedifh cler¬ 
gyman was found, in whofe honour., good fenfe, and enter- 
prifing difpofition, the firmed confidence could be placed. 
Tbisgentleman,difguifed as a travelling pedlar, went by the 
way of Heligoland, and, having overcome many ohltacles 
with the utmofl patience, prudence, and fortitude, at length 
arrived at the place where the marquis and his troops were 
Rationed. Having afeertained the perfon of the marquis, he 
was obliged to watch inceflantly for an opportunity of ad- 
dreffing him, without exciting the fufpicion of the nume¬ 
rous fpies by whom he was furrounded. The venerable, 
agent at lad was obliged, as if by accident, to jodle the 
marquis in the dreet, in order to attraft his attention. Hav¬ 
ing done fo, he apologized, as if ignorant of the perfon whom 
he addrefled, and concluded with offering to fell him fome 
excellent coffee. The marquis treated this offer with con¬ 
tempt ; and iignified, that he ftippofed lie was fpeaking to a 
fmuggler. The miniderof the gofpel, however, perfevered 
in recommending his coffee, and in the courfe of the 
converfation, found means to intimate, that he was not a 
fmuggler, but a gentleman. “We’ll foon fee that,” faid 
the marquis; and then afked him if he could 'peak Latin. 
The minider anfwered in the affirmative; and a converfa¬ 
tion enfued, apparently about coffee,-as the gedures of 
both were calculated to deceive all who might obferva 
them. The marquis was then duly informed of every¬ 
thing that had occurred in Spain, of the abidance the 
Britifh government had rendered, and of the readinefs of 
his Britannic majefty to adopt any meafure that might be 
thought p radii cable for effecting the refeue of himfelf and. 
his troops, that they might join their heroic countrymen 
in refilling the bale attempts of France to enflave them. 
Previous to the famous interview of the two emperors 
at Erfurth, while the French army lay inactive on the 
Ebro and the palfes into the mountainous province of 
Bifcay, and while Bonaparte was employed in averting- 
danger to his caufe on the fide of Germany and Ruffia, 
the provincial juntas of Spain had leiftire to refolve them- 
felv.es into one fupreme and central junta. This-fupreme 
and central junta was formed by deputies 'nominated by 
the refpedtive juntas, and was indalled at Aranjuez on 
the 2.5th of September. The prefident per interim was 
the venerable count Florida Blanca. Among the mem¬ 
bers we find two other didinguiflied names; viz. Don 
Francifco Palafox,one of the deputies from. Arragon ; and 
Don Melchior de Jovellanos, one of the two from Aftu- 
rias. After hearing mafs, which was celebrated by the 
primate of Laodicea, alio archbifhop, and one of the 
members of the junta for Seville, the following oath, ad- 
miniftered on the holy evangelifts, was taken by all the 
deputies:—“ You fwear by God, and all the holy Evan¬ 
gel ills, and by Jefus Ch rift crucified,, whofe facred image 
is 
