With the momentary exception of Junot’s threat to burn Lisbon if his terms were not complied with, we look in vain for any traces of that vigour which urged the march from Alcantara; we are astonished to perceive the man, who, in the teeth of an English fleet, in contempt of fourteen thousand Portuguese troops, and regardless of a population of three hundred thousand souls, dared, with a few hundred tired grenadiers, to seize upon Lisbon, so changed in half a year, so sunk in energy, that, with twenty-five thousand good soldiers, he declined a manly effort, and resorted to a convention to save an army which was really in very little danger. But such and so variable is the human mind, the momentary slave of every attraction, yet ultimately true to self-interest. When Junot entered Portugal, power, honours, fame, emolument, nay, even a throne, was within his reach, and toil and danger were overlooked in such gorgeous society; but when he proposed the convention he was only with the latter companions; fame flitted at a distance, and he easily persuaded himself that prudence and vigour could not be yoked together. A saying attributed to Napoleon perfectly describes the convention in a few words. “I was going to send Junot before a council of war, but, fortunately, the English tried their generals, and saved me the pain of punishing an old friend!” BOOK III. CHAPTER I. The convention of Cintra being followed by the establishment of a regency at Lisbon, the plans of the bishop and junta of Oporto were disconcerted, and Portugal was restored to a state of comparative tranquillity; for the Portuguese people being of a simple character, when they found their country relieved from the presence of a French army, readily acknowledged the benefit derived from the convention, and refused to listen to the pernicious counsels of the factious prelate and his mischievous coadjutors. Thus terminated what may be called the convulsive struggle of the Peninsular war. Up to that period a remarkable similarity of feeling and mode of acting betrayed the common origin of the Spanish and Portuguese people. A wild impatience of foreign aggression, extravagant pride, vain boasting, and a passionate reckless resentment, were common to both nations; but there the likeness ceased, and the finer marks of national character which had been impressed upon them by their different positions in the political world, became distinctly visible.