Bellesta had left a letter for Junot, which the Chamber of Porto, as soon as his departure left them to the sense of their own weakness, dispatched to Lisbon, with assurance of their continued submission to the French. The news reached him at the close of an entertainment given by the French officers at the theatre, where, though the Russian admiral and his officers were present, the portrait of Buonaparte was displayed, with the Russian flag lying among other trophies ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 292.♦ at his feet. A sense of insecurity was manifested amid their festivities; the avenues to the theatre were occupied by armed troops, fire engines were made ready, and all the watermen were ordered to be at hand with their barrels full. The entertainment continued till four in the morning, and immediately afterward movements were observed which indicated that some important intelligence had arrived; couriers were sent off, troops crossed the Tagus, and detachments marched to Mafra, Santarem, and other places. A body of Spaniards who were stationed in the Campo de Ourique were ordered to the Convent of S. Francisco da Cidade, an unfinished pile of enormous magnitude, which the French occupied as barracks, and where a thousand men were waiting to disarm them as soon as they should enter. The Spaniards, when they drew nigh, suspected ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 295.♦ some ill design, and fixing their bayonets, declared they would not be quartered there. They were allowed to return without interruption; and in the evening they and their countrymen at Val de Pereiro, being in all 1200, were ordered to assemble at two in the morning, in the Terreiro do Paço, there to embark and cross the river on their way to Spain. Thither they repaired joyfully, and found 3000 troops awaiting them, with cannon placed under the arcades of that great square, and at the mouths of the streets which open into it; and they were summoned to lay down their arms and baggage, and surrender. In the course of that and the succeeding day, the Spaniards from Mafra and other parts were brought in as prisoners, in a condition which excited the compassion of the people, their women exhausted with the fatigue of marching in the burning heat of summer, some carrying children at the breast, and some, who were unable to walk, tied upon the baggage carts, lest they should be thrown off. The whole number of Spaniards thus arrested was somewhat above 4500; they were confined in hulks upon the Tagus. The officers were left at liberty upon their parole; but after a few days, when several had broken an engagement, which, considering the manner in which they had been seized, they did not think themselves bound in honour to observe, they were placed under the same confinement as the men. Junot then informed his army, in public orders, that the infamous conduct of the Spanish General Bellesta, the revolt of two regiments, the arrest of some of his officers at Badajoz and at Ciudad Rodrigo,