The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, During His Various Campaigns in India, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, the Low Countries, and France Volume 6 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1845 Excerpt: ... for a year the latter; debts are due to all classes and descriptions of persons, excepting to the Portuguese government alone, to whom I assert that not only nothing is due, but that the subsidy is overpaid. In point of fact, a loan of money is never received from any quarter that a proportion of it is not given to Kis Majesty's minister for the use of the Portuguese government; and very lately I borrowed a sum of money at Madrid (under a very inconvenient engagement which I preferred, to repay it in a month), and gave the greater part of it to relieve the distresses of the Portuguese troops in the field which had been neglected by the government, notwithstanding that large sums had been paid in subsidy. This money has only now been repaid into the chest of the British army. I wish that the Portuguese government had performed their engagements, and had given to the cause a well-equipped army of 30,000 men, in return for the subsidy which they have received from His Majesty. 3dly; It does not appear to me that the government have at all weighed or digested the scheme for the payment of the subsidy in London, the details of which they appear to consider very easy to arrange; and they have left them to the Conde de Funchal. I would beg leave just to point out to them that the difference between the market price and the mint price of bullion in England is now, if I am not misinformed, about 25 percent.; and they would lose in the receipt of the subsidy such a proportion of that sum as the rate at which they now receive the dollar approaches to the mint price of bullion. If they now receive the dollar at 4s. 6d. sterling, they would lose the whole 25 per cent-on the subsidy, or one quarter of its amount; if they now receive the dollar at 5., the loss would be ab...