[Sidenote: Appendix, No. 13, section 7.] For many years so much ridicule had been attached to the name of an English expedition, that weak-headed men claimed a sort of prescriptive right to censure without regard to subordination, the conduct of their general. It had been so in Egypt, where a cabal was formed to deprive lord Hutchinson of the command; it had been so at Buenos Ayres, at Ferrol, and in Portugal. It was so at this time in sir John Moore’s army; and it will be found in the course of this work, that the superlative talents, vigour, and success of the duke of Wellington, could not even at a late period of the war secure him from such vexatious folly. The three generals who commanded the separate divisions of the army, and who were in consequence acquainted with all the circumstances of the moment, were perfectly agreed as to the propriety of a retreat; but in other quarters indecent murmurs were so prevalent among officers of rank as to call for rebuke. Charmilly, ignorant of the decided character of the general-in-chief, concluded that this temper was favourable to the object of his mission, and presented a second letter, which Mr. Frere had charged him to deliver, should the first fail of effect. The purport of it was to desire that if sir John Moore still persisted in his intention of retreating, “_the bearer might be previously examined before a council of war_,” in other words, that Mr. Frere, convinced of sir John Moore’s incapacity and want of zeal, was determined to control his proceedings even by force. And this to a British general of long experience and confirmed reputation, and by the hands of a foreign adventurer!! The indignation of a high spirit at such a foolish, wanton insult, may be easily imagined. He tore the letter in pieces, and ordered Charmilly to quit the cantonments of the British army without delay. His anger, however, soon subsided. Quarrels among the servants of the public could only prove detrimental to his country, and he put his personal feelings on one side. The information brought by Charmilly, separated from the indecorum of his mission, was in itself important. It confirmed the essential fact, that Madrid was actually resisting, and that the spirit and energy of the country was awaking. Hitherto his own observation had led sir John Moore to doubt, if the people took sufficient interest in the cause to make any effectual effort; all around himself was apathetic and incapable, and his correspondents, with the exception of Mr. Frere, nay, even the intercepted letters of French officers, had agreed in describing the general feeling of the country as subsiding into indifference. To use his own words, “_Spain was without armies, generals, or a government_.” But now the fire essential to the salvation of the nation appeared to be kindling, and Moore feeling conscious of ability to lead a British army, hailed the appearance of an enthusiasm which promised success