Neither from these however, nor from the official report of the Board (which has been since published), is any satisfactory explanation to be gained on this question--or indeed on any other question of importance.

All, which is to be collected from them, is this: the Portugueze General, it appears, offered to unite his whole force with the British on the single condition that they should be provisioned from the British stores; and, accordingly, rests his excuse for not co-operating on the refusal of Sir Arthur Wellesley to comply with this condition.

Sir A.W.denies the validity of his excuse; and, more than once, calls it a _pretence_; declaring that, in his belief, Gen.

Freire's real motive for not joining was--a mistrust in the competence of the British to appear in the field against the French.

This however is mere surmise; and therefore cannot have much weight with those who sincerely sought for satisfaction on this point: moreover, it is a surmise of the individual whose justification rests on making it appear that the difficulty did not arise with himself; and it is right to add, that the only _fact_ produced goes to discredit this surmise; viz.