I have accomplished my object in coming here; that is, I think there will certainly be no civil war at present; and propose to set out on my return on the 5th of June. Believe me, &c.

I

'Sir Charles Stuart, K.B.

⚫ WELLINGTON.

If Lord Castlereagh should still be at Paris, show him this letter.

I enclose letters for the King and Monsieur from Sir Sidney Smith.'

'MY DEAR Lord,

To Viscount Castlereagh.

'Madrid, 25th May, 1814. I arrived here yesterday. Sir Charles Stuart will let you know what I think of the revolution lately effected.

It occurs to me that there are modes in which we could get the cession of Olivença for Portugal.

First; to come to a clear understanding with Spain respecting her colonies, and to engage secretly, that, in consideration of certain commercial advantages, or that in the event of the trade to America being laid open as to any province in Spain, Great Britain should be admitted as the most favored nation, we would discourage and discountenance, by every means in our power, the rebellion in the Spanish colonies.

Secondly; to promise to bind North America, by a secret article in our treaty of peace, to give no encouragement, or countenance, or assistance to the Spanish colonies.

These engagements would probably induce the Spanish Government to give up Olivença.

'Madrid, 26th May, 1814.

I have received your letter of the 16th. After I had written to you from Toulouse, I understood that you had not recovered from your wound, and that you had gone to Bordeaux with the intention of returning to England for your recovery. Under these circumstances, as it was neces

sary to settle the expedition before I should quit France, I made the arrangements for the command of the brigades without you. I have only therefore to thank you on the part of the Commander in Chief and Government for the readiness with which you consented to go, notwithstanding you were not quite recovered from your wound.

'I shall leave this on the 5th, and expect to be at Bordeaux on the 10th or 11th.

Major General Pack.'

SIR,

To Lieut. General Baron Linsingen, K.G.L.

Madrid, 26th May, 1814. I have had the honor of receiving your letter of the 25th of April. I entertain the highest opinion and regard for your regiment, the 1st hussars, than which none in the army has served better, and very few so well or so usefully, and I should be most happy to see them placed in a situation which would be agreeable to them and to you. I would beg to observe to you, however, that the arrangement which you propose is one with which I have no concern whatever. It depends upon the Commander in Chief and the Government; and I can interfere in it in no manner, excepting to give testimony, as I shall always be ready to do, in favor of the 1st hussars.

'Lieut. General

Baron Linsingen.'

SIR,

I have the honor to be, &c.

⚫ WELLINGTON.

To His Excellency the Minister at War, Madrid.

'Madrid, 27th May, 1814.

I have the honor to enclose a memorial transmitted to me by Don José Castro, aide de camp to General Freyre, who was employed by me to carry to Government the reports of the conclusion of the war, and the conventions for suspending hostilities agreed upon by me with Marshals Soult and Suchet on the 19th of April, in which he mentions that, contrary to the usual custom, he had not been promoted on that occasion.

As I imagine that this circumstance is to be attributed

to the determination of the late Regency to refrain from making any promotions in the army after His Majesty's arrival in Spain, I request your Excellency to recommend this officer to His Majesty for the promotion to which he has aspired; and which, according to usual practice, he would have received, if it had not been for His Majesty's fortunate arrival.

6

'The Minister at War.'

SIR,

I have the honor to be, &c.

WELLINGTON.

To John Imurel, Esq., Secretary to Cordwainers' Company,

Newcastle upon Tyne.

'Madrid, 27th May, 1814.

I have had the honor of receiving your letter of the 12th April, in which you have enclosed the unanimous resolution of the Incorporated Company of Cordwainers of Newcastle upon Tyne of the same date, declaring their approbation of my conduct, for which I beg you to request the Company to accept my most grateful acknowledgments.

'John Imurel, Esq., Newcastle upon Tyne.'

SIR,

To His Excellency the Minister at War, Madrid.

'Madrid, 27th May, 1814. I have had the honor of receiving your letter of the 16th instant, regarding the horses of the British cavalry and artillery.

As it has been arranged with the French Government that the British cavalry and artillery are to march through France, and to embark in the Channel, there will be no horses to be disposed of fit for the service of His Majesty, otherwise I should be happy to facilitate any arrangement which might be proposed for their transfer.

I enclose a letter and other papers received from Major General Peacocke, regarding an order recently given by

the Admiralty, to prevent passages being granted in His Majesty's ships, or troop ships, to officers even going upon duty and service, unless on application from me or His Majesty's Ministers at Lisbon or Madrid.

The execution of this order is quite impossible, unless it is intended to prevent the embarkation of officers in the same ships with the soldiers of the army. My duty has necessarily called me to a great distance from Lisbon for some years past, and great delay and inconvenience to the service would have occurred if the rule now adopted had been in force. Many detachments have been embarked, and officers sent to England or other stations, in the ordinary course of the service, and even by order from the authorities at home, without the delay of reference to me, and upon the application of the General Officer commanding at Lisbon.

In the same manner, my head quarters are now at a distance from Pasages and Bordeaux; I have come to Madrid on the King's service, and great inconvenience and delay must result if no officer is to be embarked on the public service at either of those places without an application from me, more particularly after, in ignorance of this order, I had placed all the details of the embarkation of the army in the hands of the Quarter Master General, and had requested Admiral Lord Keith to attend to his applications.

These circumstances, besides the detail of business which this order unnecessarily throws upon the Officer Commanding the army in Chief, would, I hope, induce the Admiralty to relax this order, and to allow the embarkation of officers and troops to be made, as it has been hitherto, upon the application of the General Officers commanding on the spot, or on that of the Staff Officers charged with the details of the embarkation.

'Earl Bathurst.'

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To His Excellency the Minister at War, Madrid.

'Madrid, 28th May, 1814.

I have the honor to inform your Excellency, that in the course of last year I recommended to the late Regency several General and other officers for promotion, in conse

quence of their conduct, either during the last campaign, or in the course of the war, to which recommendations the Regency did not think proper to attend, for reasons stated in the answer from the Minister at War, Don Juan O'Donoju. Some of these officers were subsequently promoted; and I repeated the recommendations of others to the late Minister, Don Thomas Moreno, who informed me that, His Majesty having arrived in Spain, the Regency thought proper to refrain from making any promotions; and I have now the honor again to bring their names under the consideration of your Excellency, requesting your Excellency to submit them to His Majesty's favor. Mariscal de Campo Don Luis Wimpffen and the Principe de Anglona to be Lieutenant Generals; Brig. General Ezpeleta to be Mariscal de Campo. To these I have to add, Brig. General O'Lawlor, an officer of great merit, who has served most meritoriously during the whole war, attached to the British head quarters, and whom I had sent in the month of December last to the late Regency with dispatches, containing accounts of the military successes gained at that period. Contrary to the usual practice, he was not promoted upon that occasion, and I beg leave now to draw your Excellency's attention to his merits.

SIR,

To His Excellency the Minister at War, Madrid.

I have had the honor of receiving your Excellency's letter of the 27th instant, in regard to the appointment of Captains General of the provinces as heretofore.

Your Excellency will have observed from my letter of yesterday's date the measures which I had directed in consequence of the suspension of hostilities in France, and of the convention for evacuating the French territory; and as there is every probability of a general peace in Europe at an early period, and that circumstances render it probable that it will last, it is highly expedient that measures should be adopted to place the military establishments of Spain on the footing on which they are to be in time of peace; and