Abrantes without sending a large force across the Tagus; that he cannot send a large corps across the Tagus without exposing himself to loss on one side or the other; that if he makes an attack upon Abrantes without sending a force across the Tagus, I must have it in my power, and will relieve and reinforce the place; and lastly, that the successful attack upon Abrantes is impracticable, if these gentlemen are of good heart and do their duty; and that the regular attack of the place, at this season of the year, is out of the question, and that the enemy are unprovided with means to undertake it.

'I have had the honor of receiving your letter of the 27th instant, relative to the freight to be paid for transports to be sent to Algiers for corn.

Early in this month I received an application from His Majesty's Minister at Lisbon, that I would request the Admiral to allow 3000 tons of transports to proceed to Algiers to bring back to Lisbon cargoes of corn, for which Mr. Sampayo, the importer of corn, would pay the usual freight for such a voyage.

In consequence of this application, I wrote, on the 4th November, a letter to Admiral Berkeley, of which I enclose a copy; and I am much disappointed to find that the vessels have not yet sailed, and that they are detained, because it is wished to alter the terms on which Mr. Sampayo himself requested that he should have the use of the vessels.

It is impossible for me to interfere any further in this concern. If the vessels should sail, I shall consider myself bound to take care that Mr. Sampayo shall pay no more than the usual freight for such a voyage. If they should return without cargoes, Mr. and Mr. Sampayo must abide by the decision of the Treasury, to be exempted from all demands of freight; to which indulgence I should think their claim would have been strengthened, if the vessels had been dispatched at the moment they were applied for and granted,

and much valuable time had not been lost in discussions to

make the bargain rather better.

From a letter which I received yesterday from Mr. and Mr. Sampayo, I am sorry to observe that the former has contrived at last to mix himself up in our concerns, by entering into partnership with the latter in the Algiers purchases of corn; and I recognise his efforts to make the bargain better, in the discussions which have lately taken place respecting freight, from which delay and inconvenience will, I am afraid, be experienced.

It would be worth while to give Sampayo a hint that he will not improve his situation by a connexion with Mr. He knows that I have always treated him handsomely, and have been disposed to give a liberal consideration to any statement of losses incurred by those who have served the army. But I will not be forced to authorize a bargain in the first instance which is inconsistent with the regulations and instructions of the Treasury, which is what Mr. has invariably driven at since he has turned his mind to our concerns; and the consequence of Sampayo's connexion with him will be, that he will exclude himself from them in future. Believe me, &c.

'C. Stuart, Esq.

MY DEAR HILL,

To Lieut. General Hill.

• WELLINGTON,

'Cartaxo, 29th November, 1810, Noon. I have received yours of the 29th, which ought to have been dated the 28th.

I have had more trouble with Don Carlos de España and his provisions than I have with those of the whole army; and I am sorry to observe, from a letter which Marshal Sir W. Beresford put into my hands, that Don Carlos has threatened to make his soldiers take provisions wherever they can find them. I beg that you will tell Don Carlos that I do not allow of such conduct in any Officer or troops; and that, if I find that he and his troops are guilty of that or

any other misconduct, I shall have him provisioned to the frontiers of Estremadura, to which province he shall go. 'The inconvenience which Don Carlos has felt, if he has felt any, is to be attributed entirely to his own irregularity: first, in coming to Abrantes without any previous orders from the Marques de la Romana, or any communication with me by which I could order arrangements to be made for his supply; and secondly, from the total want of system and arrangement in his own brigade, and his want of Officers to make the deliveries to the troops. From this cause the Portuguese or British magazines are obliged not only to supply the articles for the consumption of his troops, but to supply Commissaries to make the detailed deliveries to the troops.

When the Marques de la Romana's army came into Portugal I promised to supply them with provisions, and those have been regularly supplied of whose march I have been apprised; and, notwithstanding the irregularity of Don Carlos de España's arrival, he has been supplied also. His complaints upon this subject have been without foundation; for it is a curious circumstance, that on the very day I received the first of them, I likewise received from the Portuguese Government a representation of the expense of provision stores at Abrantes, by his being in the neighborhood.

I had already given Fane directions upon this subject, and I beg now that you will settle whether Don Carlos de España's brigade is to receive provisions from the magazine at Abrantes, or from your Commissary at Chamusca, or elsewhere; and you will direct accordingly that the quantity of provisions required for this brigade may be issued to the person or persons whom Don Carlos de España shall send to receive them, either daily or every two or three days, as you may find most convenient, upon the regular requisitions and receipts for the service.

I beg of you to send to Don Carlos de España a copy of this letter; and I can only say that if I shall receive any further complaints, either from, or of the conduct of, this brigade, I shall request the Marques de la Romana to relieve me from the pain of having anything to do with it. I am happy to learn that you are better.

'Lieut, General Hill,

Believe me, &c.

• WELLINGTON.

'MY DEAR SIR,

To James Duff, Esq.

'Cartaxo, 30th November, 1810.

I have received your letter of the 17th November, and I shall be very much obliged to you if you will let me know what are the causes, besides the scarcity of money, at Cadiz, which have prevented you from continuing your remittances of specie for the use of the army in this country. The military chest is now very low, and it would be very desirable to receive from you as much as it may be in your power to

send.

'J. Duff, Esq.

Believe me, &c.

WELLINGTON.

To Captain Churchill*.

• SIR,

'Cartaxo, 30th November, 1810. 'I have received your note, and I have written to Lord Liverpool a letter in favor of Mrs. Catlin Craufurd, which will go by the post to-morrow. I know that Mrs. Craufurd is acquainted with Lord Wellesley, and I think she had

better state her case to him herself.

Captain Churchill.

I have the honor to be, &c.

WELLINGTON.

To the Earl of Liverpool, Secretary of State.

MY DEAR LORD,

'Cartaxo, 30th November, 1810. Captain Churchill, the aide de camp of the late Brig. General Catlin Craufurd, has informed me that it is intended by his friends to apply to Government for some provision for his widow, who has been left with a large family in very bad circumstances.

Although General Craufurd was not killed in action, he certainly died of a fever which he caught in the performance of his duty in this country; and as he was a respectable Officer, who had served in the Peninsula with distinction, and I believe that his widow is a person of excellent character, I beg leave to recommend her case to the favorable consideration of Government.

*Colonel C. H. Churchill, Quarter Master General in Bengal.

To His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal. 'SIR, Cartaxo, 30th November, 1810. The Governors of the Kingdom will, without doubt, transmit to be laid before your Royal Highness, a detailed account of recent events and transactions in Portugal; and I should not think it necessary to trouble your Royal Highness upon this occasion, if some discussions which I have lately had with the Governors of the Kingdom had not rendered it desirable that I should make your Royal Highness acquainted with the opinions which I have entertained, and the principles on which I have acted.

Your Royal Highness is informed, that till the recent change made in the Government of this country, I had the good fortune to possess the confidence and good opinion of the Governors of the Kingdom; and notwithstanding the magnitude, the variety, and the intricacy of the affairs which I had transacted with them, there had existed no difference of opinion upon any point of importance.

When the peace was made in Germany, in October, 1809, it was necessary that I should consider of the system of military operations to be carried on by the allied armies of your Royal Highness and of His Majesty, the command of which had been intrusted to me, in reference to the state of affairs in the Peninsula; to the description of the troops of which the armies were composed; and the defence of your Royal Highness's dominions.

Having formed the plan in concert with Marshal Beresford, I went to Lisbon early in February last from the frontiers of Beira, purposely to communicate it to the Governors of the Kingdom, whose approbation, including that of the Patriarch, it received.

It is not necessary that I should trouble your Royal Highness with a detail of this plan. It was founded upon the fact, that the allied army under my command was the only organized body existing in the Peninsula which could keep the field against the enemy.

I considered that Lisbon and the Tagus were the sinews of your Royal Highness's Government, the point of communication with your Royal Highness's person and with His Majesty's Government; and that they were the objects which