BIB_ID
380899
Accession number
MA 487.36
Creator
Arbuthnot, Robert, 1760-1809.
Display Date
1809 Jan. 10.
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1899.
Description
1 item (4 p.) ; 23.4 cm
Notes
Endorsed.
Volume 1 (MA 487) of a 33-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir James Pulteney, his family and distinguished contemporaries. (MA 487, MA 297 and MA 1260-1290). The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical by the author of the letter. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information (MA 487.1-46).
Volume 1 (MA 487) of a 33-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir James Pulteney, his family and distinguished contemporaries. (MA 487, MA 297 and MA 1260-1290). The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical by the author of the letter. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information (MA 487.1-46).
Provenance
Purchased from the Ford Collection of manuscripts.
Summary
Telling him he has arrived in Lisbon after finding Vigo very dull but having "the mortification of finding the inhabitants of this Capital in the greatest Consternation expecting a second visit from the French who had advanced as far as Truxillo where they levied Contributions...They have since retreated & fallen back to Placentia & will probably move on to the North as it appears now to be the intention of the French to concentrate their Force in order to attack the English & Spanish Armies under the Marques de la Romana & Sir John Moore. Bonaparte himself it is said left Madrid upon the 19th ult. with 30,000 men, leaving General Lannes with about eight thousand to garrison the Capital. Probably by this time either our Army must have retreated or a Battle has been fought which will decide the Fate both of Spain & Portugal. In this country I fear we cannot expect that any Resistance will be made. The Government is without activity or Energy & the people without spirit or Enthusiasm. I suspect that [illegible] in Spain the Patriotic Ardor must be greatly damped, or they would not allow small Detachments of French Dragoons to ride up & down the country with impunity, raising Contributions & spreading terror wherever they go. I perceive that Lord Holland & some other English here who are attached to the opposition blame Ministers very much for not removing all our Troops as soon as the French had left the Country & giving full Liberty to the people to form a Government for themselves, instead of supporting the Regency established by the Prince of Brazil when he made his escape. Unquestionably the present Government is both weak & unpopular but I firmly believe they would have fallen into a state of complete Anarchy & Confusion, as there is scarcely stuff enough in this Country to make a good Government out of - They talk enough to be sure of Liberty, Religion & Independence, have composed some pretty National Hymns, & sing God save the King at the Theaters with vast applause, but they have not yet been able to raise above 14 thousand men to defend themselves. Lisbon is a most agreeable duty tour & I shall set out for Seville next week. I dined yesterday at Sir John Cradocks. He lives with great Magnificence in the House formerly inhabited by Junot;" adding that it has "rained incessantly" since he arrived.
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