[322] Fantin des Odoards, writing at Oporto under the date May 5, says that he had just read this proclamation on the walls, and was astounded at it, for the great bulk of the population was so hostile that the project seemed absolutely insane.
[323] St. Chamans, aide-de-camp to Soult, speaks of the crowds assembled by Veloso and others (p. 134): Bigarré says that General Ricard threw money to the crowd for seven days running from the Marshal’s balcony, and then stopped because the harvest of _vivas_ was not large enough (p. 245).
[324] See Fantin des Odoards, p. 229, and Jourdan, p. 218.
[325] This strange document will be found printed in the Appendix.
[326] See Chamans, pp. 134 and 140. He ends with observing that Soult ‘aurait voulu se faire demander pour roi de Portugal par les habitants, qu’alors, le premier pas fait, il aurait sollicité les suffrages de l’armée, ils auraient été consignés sur des registres pour chaque corps, et il aurait mis toutes ces pièces sous les yeux de l’Empereur, en lui demandant son approbation.’
[327] Napoleon to Soult from Schönbrunn, Sept. 26, _Nap. Corresp._, 15,871.
This was written from Vienna, before the Emperor had received any full and exact account of the details of Soult’s intrigues. Had he but known them all, it is doubtful if he would have granted his lieutenant the complete pardon and restoration to favour with which his dispatch concludes[328].
[328] Napier’s conclusions as to Soult’s conduct are wholly warped by his strong predilection for the Marshal--which dated back to the time when the latter dealt kindly with his wounded brother on the day after Corunna. He understates Soult’s encouragement of the movement, and will have us believe that it was purely the work of the Portuguese. He omits all mention of Ricard’s circular, and finally suppresses all mention of Napoleon’s angry upbraidings except the following (ii. p. 75): ‘The Emperor wrote to Soult that the rumour had reached him, adding, with a delicate allusion to the Marshal’s previous services, “I remember nothing but Austerlitz.”’ Now it was not a _rumour_ which had reached Schönbrunn, but a copy of Ricard’s circular, which the Emperor quotes _verbatim_. Therefore Napoleon was writing with tangible evidence, not with camp reports, to guide him. How far Napier’s sentence above gives a fair impression of the tone of the dispatch which I have reproduced, I leave the reader to judge. It was a surprise to myself when I put the two together. Once and for all, it must be remembered that Napier can never be trusted when Soult is in question--the Marshal’s intrigues, his greed, his shameful plundering of Andalusian churches, are all concealed.