They will most richly deserve their fate, and it
may save us some trouble. No doubt the Junta will hear some day that the
ordenancas here rose, killed the three members of their committee,
obtained arms at Castro, and marched into the mountains. The Junta will
care nothing whatever for the killing of its three agents; plenty of men
of the same kind can be found to do their work. That the mutineers
afterwards fell in with a British officer, and placed themselves under his
command, will not concern the Junta one way or the other, and they will
certainly be a great deal more useful in that way than they would be in
remaining unarmed here. They may even, when the French once get in motion,
come to regard the affair altogether as satisfactory. If all the new
levies were to act in exactly the same way, Portugal would be very
materially benefited."
"But how are you going to feed them?"
"That is rather a serious question. I suppose they will have to be fed in
the same way as other irregular bands. However, I shall consider myself
fully justified in devoting a fifth of the money I am carrying to that
purpose. I obtained from Villiers L5,000 to enable Romana to support the
levies he is raising. Those levies will be for the most part unarmed, and
therefore practically useless; and as these Portuguese will be at any rate
fairly armed, and are likely to be of very much greater service than a
horde of Galician peasants, a portion at least of the money can be very
much more usefully employed in feeding them than were it all given to
Romana, I have no doubt whatever that when I explain the circumstances to
General Cradock, he will entirely approve of my appropriating a small
portion of the money that Villiers has chosen to throw away on Romana.
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