as relating to the 3rd army, it was incumbent on the Principe de Anglona, the Commander in Chief of that army, to be cautious not to take any steps whatever regarding His Majesty's decree without orders.

I must observe also that this army and the 4th, being either on the frontiers or in France, are in a very different situation from others; and that it was peculiarly the duty of their Commanders to preserve discipline and order, and not to interfere, or allow others to interfere, in matters in which they had, as soldiers, no concern, excepting to obey.

Upon the whole, as the Commander in Chief of the army, I cannot approve either the matter or the manner of this complaint. The former appears dictated by a spirit of party, which ought to be discouraged in the army, and the latter is inconsistent with the military Ordenanzas.

I had the honor of receiving at Rabastens, in the morning .of the 18th instant, your Excellency's letter of the 4th instant, enclosing various decrees passed by His Majesty at Valencia on the same day.

As I was then in the neighbourhood of the 4th army, at Tarbes, I deemed it expedient to review it; and I availed myself of the opportunity which then offered of apprising the General and other superior officers of what had taken place; of pointing out to them the peculiar duty of the army under such circumstances; and of urging them in the strongest manner to preserve the discipline of the troops under their command, and to prevent factious persons of any description from influencing the conduct of the officers and troops, in order to produce a civil war in Spain. I likewise availed myself of the opportunity which offered yesterday of reviewing the 3rd army, under Mariscal de Campo the Principe de Anglona; and I repeated to the General Officers and Chiefs of corps the same sentiments and injunctions as to the General and principal Officers of the 4th army; and I have the satisfaction of reporting to

your Excellency, for His Majesty's information, that His Majesty has not in his service officers and troops more devoted to him than those belonging to these two corps.

Having, since I reviewed the 3rd army, found that His Majesty had made public, and carried into execution, his decree of the 4th of May, I have thought it proper to promulgate it officially to the troops, through the channel of the Chief of the Staff in the field.

I send this to your Excellency by a messenger, being detained here for a few hours by an accident to my carriage, but I hope to be at Madrid on the 24th instant.

'I have the honor to be, &c.

'El Duque de San Carlos.'

WELLINGTON.

'SIR,

To the Duque de San Carlos.

Mondragon, 21st May, 1814. Referring to my official letter to your Excellency of this date, I beg to inform your Excellency that I had seen in the newspapers expectations held out that the 3rd and 4th armies would take part in favor of the Constitution; and although I have reason to believe that there was very little, if any, foundation for such expectations, and that the reports on the subject were, as usual, very much exaggerated, I thought it proper to proceed with such caution as should give time for reflection, and should ensure my object, which was to secure for His Majesty and the State the allegiance of those two armies.

I am happy in being able to assure your Excellency that His Majesty may rely upon them entirely; and in case your Excellency should have received any reports to the contrary, I shall be much obliged to you if you will delay to take any steps founded on those reports till I shall have had the honor of paying my respects.

'El Duque de San Carlos.'

I have the honor to be, &c.

WELLINGTON.

To Viscount Castlereagh.

MY DEAR LORD, 'Mondragon, 21st May, 1814. 'Being detained by the breaking of my carriage, I write to let you know that I have seen the 3rd and 4th armies,

and I consider them secure in their allegiance to the King. The whole country, I believe, excepting Cadiz, has declared for the King.

• Viscount Castlereagh.'

MY DEAR SIR,

'Believe me, &c.

WELLINGTON.

To Sir Charles Stuart, K.B.

Madrid, 25th May, 1814. I received yesterday your letters of the 14th and 17th, for which I am much obliged to you. From your account, I think Decrés' house would suit me best; and I shall be obliged to you if you will desire to have the refusal of it, as I should like to see it on my way through Paris to England, if possible, before I should take it.

You will have heard of the extraordinary occurrences here, though not probably with surprise. Nothing can be more popular than the King and his measures, as far as they have gone to the overthrow of the Constitution. The imprisonment of the Liberales is thought by some, I believe with justice, unnecessary, and it is certainly highly impolitic; but it is liked by the people at large.

Since the great act of vigor which has placed Ferdinand on the throne, unshackled by constitution, nothing of any kind has been done, either for the formation of a new system, or for any other purpose, and, as far as I can judge, it is not intended to do any thing. However, I arrived only yesterday, and I have not had time to learn much. Those to whom I have talked, who pretend and ought to know, say that His Majesty will certainly perform the promise made in his decree of the 4th of May, and will give a free constitution to Spain. I have and shall continue to urge this measure upon them, as very essential to His Majesty's credit abroad.

I entertain a very favorable opinion of the King from what I have seen of him, but not of his Ministers. I think they might have managed better than they have; and as they were, or ought to have been, certain of accomplishing their object, they ought to have chosen a less objectionable mode; and they appear to have been little aware of the nature and difficulties of their situation.

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

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.

6

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.

Viscount Castlereagh.'

'Believe me, &c.

WELLINGTON.

To Major General Pack.

'MY DEAR PACK, '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.'

'Believe me, &c.

WELLINGTON.

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

SIR, 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,

To His Excellency the Minister at War, Madrid.

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