Now the truth is, Portugal is a miserably poor country at the best of times, and does not produce enough for the wants of the people.

Of course, it has been terribly impoverished by the war.
The fields in most places have been untilled and, in fact, the greater portion of the population, as well as our army, has to be fed from England.
"Altogether, Wellington must have enough worry to drive an ordinary man out of his mind.

I never heard of such difficulties as those he has to meet.

We come to help a people who won't help themselves, to fight for people who not only won't fight for themselves, but want to dictate how we shall fight.

Instead of being fed by the country, we have to feed it; and the whole object of the Juntas, both in Spain and Portugal, seems to be to throw every difficulty in our way, and to thwart us at every turn.