ABSTRACT
The pamphlet, a direct reaction to events in the Peninsular War, is 216 pages long, De Quincey's Postscript comprises the final 10 pages. The latter was not revised or republished during De Quincey's lifetime, though minor departures in detail can be found in Wordsworth's text as a result of the 'variant' copies generated by the extraordinarily perplexed publishing history of Cintra. Despite much forestalling of potential censure of the Postscript from Wordsworth in the same letter, reaction from the poet was predictably ambiguous: initial praise is immediately undercut by serious criticism. The English army then treated its ally as an enemy: and, - though there are alleviations of its conduct in its great sufferings, - yet it must be remembered that these sufferings were due—not to the Gallicians—but to circumstances over which they had no controul - to the precipitancy of the retreat, the inclemency of the weather, and the poverty of the country.
