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THE SPANISH JOURNAL 

OF 

ELIZABETH LADY HOLLAND 



THE JOURNAL OF 
ELIZABETH LADY HOLLAND 

(1791-1811). 

Edited by the EARL OF ILCHESTER. 

With 6 Portraits. 2 vols. 8vo. 21s. net. 



LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., 39 Paternoster Row, 
London, New York, Bombay, and Calcutta. 




( u I / k li'l h , _/ ml ii t h ' i ■> / ' I ' 1 1 1 7 ( I 

■ i . ,i c ( i a/ i ii I'l'l Ii. ( hill 



THE SPANISH JOURNAL 

OF 

ELIZABETH LADY HOLLAND 



EDITED BY 

THE EARL OF ILCHESTER 



WITH PORTRAIT AND MAP 



LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 
NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA 

1910 
All rights reserved 



PREFACE 

The present volume of Lady Holland's journal deals 
with the accounts of two journeys in Spain, the first in 
1802-05, the second in 1808-09. These were omitted 
when the two former volumes were published. The 
first part tells the story of the travels of the Hollands 
and their party at some length, and gives descriptions 
of many of the objects of interest which they visited. 
I have omitted or shortened the less important details 
as much as possible, and have endeavoured to confine 
the narrative to those incidents which seem of special 
interest or which bear on the character and customs 
of the Spaniards. Any mention also of institutions or 
buildings which suffered in the wars or have disappeared 
since that time, has been retained. The anecdotes and 
gossip of the Court may be of interest to the descen- 
dants of those concerned, and I have attempted very 
shortly to identify the various members of the families to 
whom reference is made. 

The second portion of the Journal deals almost 
exclusively with the incidents of the early part of the 
Peninsular War. Lord Holland's name was well known 
in Spain, and his sympathy with the cause was apparent 
to many outside his own circle of friends. Thus he 
was in a position to obtain much information which would 
not have been vouchsafed to the ordinary traveller. It 



VI 



PREFACE 



was Lady Holland's daily habit to jot down the reports 
which were received from the front and the information 
which she collected from Spanish sources. Her narrative 
is, therefore, often disjointed, and I have endeavoured, 
by means of brief notes, to compare her version with 
the various histories of the war now at our disposal. 
Especially to Mr. Oman's invaluable work am I indebted 
for much of the information which has enabled me to 
link together the incidents which she records. 

During the stay of the Hollands in Seville they were 
in close communication with many members of the 
Central Junta. Naturally, their views on the situation 
carried much weight, and Lady Holland's remarks are 
frequently tinged with a thoroughly Spanish flavour. 
This is especially noticeable in her comments on Moore 
and his campaign. Frere was at her elbow, despatches 
were continually arriving from La Romana — the two 
men who had considered themselves slighted by the 
British general ; and it was as yet too early for the 
inhabitants of the South to realise the debt of gratitude 
which in reality they owed to Moore for his strategic 
retreat. 

It is curious to note in contemporary records of 
the war the complete spirit of self-satisfaction in 
which the Spanish leaders were accustomed to pencil 
their despatches, whatever was the nature of their 
contents. Defeat was often described on paper as 
victory, and the truth of a report was sometimes only 
to be judged in the light of subsequent events. It 
can be no matter of surprise that on the spot it 
was difficult to differentiate between fact and fancy. 
Even in dealing with letters from British commanders 
a remarkable divergence of opinion is manifest. This 
is well illustrated by those from Lord Paget and Sir 
Robert Wilson, which are included in the Appendix. 



PREFACE 



vn 



Though operating only a few hundred miles apart, their 
ideas of the Spanish character and disposition will be 
found to be entirely different. The one mistrusted every 
action, report, or emissary of the Spaniards ; the other 
praised their perseverance and their ardour in the cause 
of liberty. The Journal is thus valuable as a sidelight 
upon the history of the war, and as evidence of the 
contradictory rumours and petty jealousies which were 
so common at the time. I have taken the opportunity 
of inserting a number of unpublished letters in the 
Appendix, which may be of some interest to students of 
these early campaigns. 

It should be clearly stated that Lord Holland was 
travelling entirely for his own pleasure. He had no 
official position of any kind in 1808-09, though it 
appears from the Buckingham Memoirs that some hope 
of the offer of an Ambassadorship to Spain was held out 
to him in 1811, as a bait to gain his support for the 
Government. Indeed, in a letter enclosing passports, 
dated October 1808 {Holland House MSS.), Canning 
definitely requested him to be careful to make it clear 
to the Spaniards that his communications with them 
were in no way authorised by the British Government. 
He even warned him that he held himself at liberty, 
if necessary, to take steps to prevent such misappre- 
hensions. Lord Holland was not at one with his 
party on the subject of Spain. He was throughout an 
ardent supporter of the war and was always convinced 
that, with outside assistance, the patriotic spirit of 
the Spaniards would in time prevail against their 
oppressors. 

Some reference was made in the Introduction to the 
previous volumes to an episode in Lady Holland's 
early life, relating to the concealment of her Webster 
daughter in Italy. Anxious to retain the care of the 



viii PREFACE 

child, she sent a false report to Sir Godfrey Webster of 
its death ; and to prevent suspicion, she even arranged 
a sham funeral. I have been recently fortunate enough 
to find a paper in Lady Holland's own handwriting 
relating the whole circumstances. The details differ 
somewhat from the previously recognised version of the 
story, and I therefore take this opportunity of printing 
the paper as it stands : — 

' I left Florence on the nth of April with my three 
children, accompanied by Marie Madelaine Bonfigli, her 
daughter — a child of four years old — Sally Brown nursery 
maid, Jacques Arnoud cook, Andre Genovale valet-de- 
chambre, Giovachino Mardei footman. Having in view 
the concealment of my daughter Harriet, I had sent 
the remainder of my servants by the shortest road 
from Florence to Padua, at which place I intended 
joining them by the route of Modena and Bologna. 
Those servants were Morrity a nurse, Ann Williams 
my under-maid, and Leopold Marconi, confectioner. On 

ye of April, I pretended that Harriet appeared 

unwell and expressed my apprehensions that she was 
sickening with the measles ; on which pretext I took 
her from her brothers into my own carriage for the 

remainder of the journey. On the I arrived in 

the evening at Paullo. Paullo is a solitary post house, 
about 3 or 4 posts from Modena. I there called Sally 
Brown to show her some red spots upon the child's 
arms, &c, having previously made the spots with water 
colours myself. I easily convinced her that there was 
danger from infection, and detained the child in my own 
room all night. In the morning I pretended the symp- 
toms had increased, and that it would be safer to remove 
my boys. I therefore sent them attended by Sally 
Brown and Jacques Arnoud to Modena, there to wait 
further directions from me. In the course of the day 



PREFACE ix 

I gave out that the child grew worse, and sent Giovachino 
to Florence to fetch Dr. Targioni, the physician who 
usually attended me, with directions that he should 
meet me at Bologna, as I intended going thither if the 
child mended, as the accommodations were better than 
at Paullo : but my real reason was that Targiori might 
not detect the fraud by seeing the child, who was in 
perfect health. I was thus left only with Marie Bonfigli, 
her child, Andre, and Harriet. To avoid suspicion 
from the innkeepers I allowed them to think the child 
was better, as I apprehended the fear of her death 
might draw more observation. I had brought a guitar 
in a case from Florence ; the case was of an oblong form, 
and might pass for a rude cofhn. In it I placed some 
stones for weight and dressed a pillow with cloathes and 
a wax mask. I did the latter, as it was probable the 
box might be opened at the difft. custom houses. I 
then desired Andre to convey the box to Leghorn, and 
receive the Consul's orders for the proper mode of having 
it interred, and I conclude that the coffin was conveyed 
and buried without inspection. 

* I dressed Harriet in boy's clothes, and to avoid 
being noticed by the people of the inn, I set off at night. 
I arrived at a small post house 2 posts distant from 
Modena, and there left Harriet, Marie Bonfigli, and 
Octavia. I went on to Modena, where my arriving alone 
and apparently dejected confirmed all the alarming 
apprehensions Sally had entertained about Harriet's 
illness. I immediately set off from Modena on the 
17th of April, and found Dr. Targioni at Bologna. I 
detained him with me for a few days, and took him with 
me to Padua. I had procured from Mr. Wyndham a 
blank passport, pretending it was for a person coming to 
me out of Switzerland, whose name I had forgotten. The 
blank I filled in with the name of Saludini and two 



x PREFACE 

children, under which name Marie Bonfigli, who had 
never lost sight of Harriet since her separation from her 
brothers at Paullo, travelled as an officer's wife to Verona, 
Munich, Ratisbon, through the lower part of Germany, 
until they arrived at Hamburg, where I saw the child 
on the 2nd of June, 1796. As my child was reported 
to have suffered by the measles, it afforded strong reasons 
and satisfactorily accounted for Marie Bonfigli's staying 
behind to attend her own child, who had caught them. 
I had furnished Marie Bonfigli with money, and 
through Mr. Bruni (the banker) had procured for Madame 
Saludini letters-of-credit upon several bankers on the 
road.' 

From another recently discovered paper I am also 
now able to give further and more correct details of the 
early pedigree of the Vassall family. It appears from 
the account I have before me, entitled ' 1588 to 1831 ' 
that one Samuel Vassall died, leaving a son, John, who 
married Anna Lewis. Four sons were born of this 
marriage, John, William, Henry, Leonard. William, the 
second son, married Miss Mills, and left Bathsheba (who 
died unmarried) and Florentius, Lady Holland's grand- 
father. 

My best thanks are due to Lord Iveagh for his kindness 
in allowing me to reproduce, as the frontispiece to this 
volume, his full-length portrait, by Romney, of Lady 
Holland, in the early days of her married life with Sir 
Godfrey Webster. She here appears in fancy dress 
as a ' Virgin of the Sun.' 

As in the previous volumes, the original spelling and 
punctuation of the Journal has not been retained. In 
the case of proper names especially, where confusion 
might easily arise, alteration has been made, and the 
more usually recognised Spanish version, taken from 



PREFACE 



XI 



Arteche and Toreno, &c, has been substituted. A map 
of Spain and Portugal has been added, showing the 
principal places mentioned in the text, and pointing 
out the approximate routes taken by the Hollands by 
coloured lines. 

ILCHESTER. 

August 1910. 



PHOTOGRAVURE PLATE 

Elizabeth, Lady Holland, as a Virgin of the 

Sun Frontispiece 

From the picture by George Romney in possession of L ord Iveagh. 



Map of Spain and Portugal, Illustrating Lady 

Holland's Journeys in 1802-5 and 1808-9 at end 



LADY HOLLANDS 
SPANISH JOURNAL 

l802 - 1805 

It was during the early months of 1802 that the Hollands 
decided upon a prolonged trip abroad. The continual 
illnesses of their eldest boy Charles had become a serious 
cause of alarm, and the doctors advised a winter in a foreign 
climate (vol. ii. 149). Leaving England in July they went 
first to Paris. The party, besides themselves, consisted of 
their two boys ; Frederick Howard, Lord Carlisle's sixteen- 
year-old son ; his tutor and an intimate friend of the Hollands, 
the Rev. Matthew Marsh ; and Mr. Allen, a doctor recom- 
mended to them by Lord Lauderdale, afterwards librarian 
and a permanent resident at Holland House. 

Charles James Fox and his wife were also in the French 
capital at this time, accompanied by his secretary Trotter, 
General Fitzpatrick, Lord Robert Spencer, and others. 
Both parties were much feted during their stay, and it was not 
until September 20 that the Hollands and their retinue left 
Paris en route for Spain. After a short tour among the castles 
on the Loire they travelled south to Bordeaux. From thence 
they took the road to Toulouse, and onward by Narbonne 
and Perpignan to cross the north-eastern frontier of Spain 
on the high road to Barcelona. They entered Spain on 
November 7, 1802. 

The destinies of that country were at this time again in 
the hands of Manuel Godoy, Duke of Alcudia, the favourite 
of Maria Luisa and her brainless husband Charles IV. The 



2 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

Prince of the Peace, for by that name Godoy was best known, 
had become chief minister of the state in 1792. In com- 
pliance with the wishes of the King, war was declared against 
France at the time of his cousin Louis XVFs death. The 
neighbouring provinces of Rousillon and Catalonia were 
the chief sufferers in a struggle which resulted in disaster 
to the Spaniards. Peace was signed in July 1795, and a 
month later Spain found herself in alliance with the regicide 
government of France and at war with England. The 
British fleets were too strong for the Spaniards, while times 
without number the latter found their various interests 
sacrificed to those of their more northern ally. The indigna- 
tion of the nation against the responsible minister at last 
boiled over, and his fall came about in March 1798, although 
he appears never to have ^st the confidence of the King. 
Saavedra and Urquijo successively took up the burden of 
office, only passively to submit to further indignities at the 
hands of France, and to deliver themselves securely fettered 
into the power of the First Consul. 

It is unnecessary here to trace the rise of Napoleon in a 
few short years to the supreme power in France. His hatred 
of England led him to pursue a policy intended to alienate 
that country from the other powers of Europe. By February 
1801 his plan was completely successful, for Portugal alone 
remained in alliance with Great Britain. To punish that 
recalcitrant nation the welfare, of Spain was again disregarded ; 
but at last the eyes of her ministers were opened, and they 
saw the gulf into which they had fallen. Urquijo received 
speedy chastisement for his disobedience to Napoleon, and 
was dismissed from office a few weeks after the arrival of 
Lucien Bonaparte in Madrid as special envoy. Godoy, whose 
actions Napoleon thought he could mould as he wished, was 
restored to power, and consented to undertake a joint invasion 
of Portugal. Even to Godoy, who assumed the command 
of the Spanish troops, the campaign was child's play, for 
the Portuguese army was practically non-existent. But for 
once the self-satisfied spirit of the favourite stood his country 
in good stead. He began to look on himself as a heaven- 
sent genius in the field as well as in the council chamber, 
and, tired of the exactions of the French, he was less inclined 
to obey their ceaseless demands. Napoleon was amazed at 



l80 2] DUGOMMIER'S DEATH 3 

this new show of independence, and did not forget it when 
the interests of Spain were at stake during the Congress of 
Amiens. The northern confederation against England had 
been broken up by the death of the Czar Paul, and such 
was the exhaustion of the Continent from continual war that 
even France was willing to conclude a peace. This was 
secured by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, which gave a short 
interval of respite before the struggle which was soon to 
commence again with renewed vigour. 

Leaving France on November 7, 1803, they crossed 
the boundaries of Spain near the village of Perthus. 
Fine pillars supporting the arms of Spain mark the 
entrance into Spain ; since the war they have not been 
elevated but remain overthrown, a pretty just emblem 
of the kingdom they represent. 

Dined at Junqueras. Saw the ground where Dugom- 
mier, 1 the French general, was killed. Also where the 
Spanish Commander-in-chief, the Count de la Union, 2 
was shot ; the piety of his countrymen has raised a white 
marble cross to his memory. The philosophy of the French 
has induced them to convey the bodies of their two generals 
killed in the Spanish war, Dugommier and [Dagobert], to 
the public place at Perpignan, where dead dogs, cats, and 
all the filth of the streets is the only decoration on their 
sods. Just above Figueras is the fort esteemed a chef 
d'eeuvre in modern fortification ; the French got it at 
the beginning of the campaign by the foulest treachery. 3 
The governor who surrendered ran away, and is now 

1 Jacques Coquille Dugommier (1738-1794), who was in command 
of the French troops before Toulon when the city finally fell into their 
hands. He commanded the army at the battle of Sierra Negra, where 
he was killed. 

2 Don Luis Carvajal y Vargas, Conde de la Union (1752-1794), 
killed at the same battle as Dugommier. 

3 The Castillo de San Fernando. A court-martial which was 
appointed to inquire into the circumstances of this surrender named 
four persons as guilty of the vilest cowardice and treachery, and con- 
demned them to death. (Historia general de Espaiia, Lafuente.) 

B2 



4 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [No v. 

enjoying the fruits of his villainy at Montpelier. The 
King of Spain came here a few days ago, 1 and those 
who saw him describe his viewing the strength of the 
fort and commenting upon its capitulation with the 
utmost agitation. It is in the small but neat town 
of Figueras that the amiable wife of the unfortunate 
D. of Orleans lives. 2 She was not precisely there when 
we went through. 

Nov. 8th, — Dined at a venta called ye Col d'Oriol. 
There met a Grandee and his wife travelling ; we got 
acquainted and discovered him to be a connection of 
many of our friends, a Marques de Torre alta y Fuentes. 
He is a Portuguese, and brother to Mde. de Silva. The 
villages look uncommonly cheerful, as in honor of the 
King's visit to Catalonia they have brushed up their 
houses, whitewashed, and cleaned them. Abundance of fine 
shrubs. Just before Gerona we met several substantial 
carriages and plump mules, which, like all the good things 
in Spain, belonged to the Church ; fat canons were the 
lading. Gerona very prettily placed, road blackened 
by priests : very excellent inn kept by a Frenchman. 
The Dsse. of Orleans was in it on her return to Figueras. 
Being tired and sans toilette I did not go down and 
fulfil my promise to her sons of seeing her, but Ld. Hd. 
did, and was charmed with her serenity and unaffected 

1 The Spanish Court had been at Barcelona in October, to celebrate 
the double marriage of the Prince of the Asturias and his sister to the 
Neapolitan Princess and Prince, children of King Ferdinand IV and 
Queen Marie Caroline. Their tour was extended to the cities on the 
east coast and lasted some months. 

2 Louise Marie Adelaide de Bourbon (1753-1821), daughter of the 
Due de Penthievre, and mother of King Louis Philippe. She married 
Philippe Egalite, Due d' Orleans, in 1769. Notwithstanding the violent 
death of her husband she refused to leave France, and was imprisoned 
in Paris, most of the time at the ' maison de sanU ' of Dr. Bclhomme. 
She went to Spain in 1797, where she remained until the outbreak of 
the Peninsular War. She then moved to Sicily and returned to France 
in 181 4. Her daughter, Louise Marie Adelaide Eugene, was later best 
known as Madame Adelaide, 



l8 o2] BARCELONA 5 

goodness. Her daughter was with her, and is entitled 
to every praise. 

Nothing of interest to Mataro, ' a charming little town, 
full of life, manufactures, and spirit.' 

I walked about and experienced what I could never 
have believed otherwise, the extreme derision and scorn\ 
with which a woman is treated who does not conform 
to the Spanish mode of dressing. Churches heavily laden 
with golden ornaments, bad taste, outside mean, and 
without any pretentions even to architecture. Prince 
of Conti l made to live at Mataro. 

nth. — Flat road to Barcelona ; met and spoke with 
the P. of Conti on the road. His wit will never restore the 
H. of Bourbon. Just before that city passed a torrent 
which is bad at times. Owing to Mr. Stembor's ~ civility 
we experienced no trouble at the gates, and drove through 
the streets to the residence he had with difficulty procured 
for us. It was a spacious, handsome mansion exactly 
in the centre of the city, built round a small square court 
into which the windows of the apartments looked. The 
streets which surrounded the house are at the widest 
8 feet 8 inches, geometrically measured by Mr. Allen. 
Houses high, roofs projecting, by which means a ray of 
sun never can nor never did penetrate into a single apart- 
ment. In this dreary dungeon I and my poor children 
were destined to remain, as it is utterly impracticable 
to lure a carriage, first because the Court had taken all 

1 Louis Francois Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Conti (1734-1814), 
son of Louis Francois, Prince de Conti, and the last of his name. He 
had some sympathy with the Revolution but was acquitted, though 
arrested by the Convention. The Directory, however, sent him into 
exile, and he died at Barcelona. 

2 ' A Dutch merchant, who has the firm which used to be Sir James 
Herries & Co. : an excellent, friendly, kindhearted man. We were 
most essentially obliged to him for his cordial civilities.' (Note by 
Lady Holland.) 



6 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

horses, and, 2dly, because it is never the custom to 
hire any in Barcelona. Walking the streets was also 
out of the question, not only from the danger of being 
exposed to meet a carriage in the streets but from the\ 
certainty of being insulted owing to the dress. 

12th. — Mr. Bourke, 1 the Danish minister, an old Nea- 
politan acquaintance, came. He offered his services to 
introduce us to the only Houses now here, and proposed to 
make me acquainted with his wife, an intimate friend 
of some years' standing whom he has at length married. 
She came, and we went together to the Opera. The 
theatre is tolerably good, the performances are alternately 
Spanish plays and Italian operas ; the representation 
we saw was the latter. Showy ballet ; the grotesque 
dancers not so good as many I have seen in Italy. After- 
wards we went to Conde de Fuentes, 2 a Grandee whom 
Admiral Gravina 3 had desired to show Ld. Hd. every 
civility, as he could not because he went back to Naples 
with the Prince. He is one of the most powerful men in 
Spain in point of wealth and influence ; his possessions 
are in many provinces, also countries, Naples, Flanders, 
France, Germany. He is the son of Ct. Egmont and 
grandson of the Marechal de Richelieu. His family name 
is Pignatelli. His revenue hundred thousand pounds 
a year ; his expenditure double. He is young, pleasing 
in his manners, and very luxurious in his habits ; he 

1 Edmond, Count Bourke (1761-1821), Danish Ambassador at 
Madrid from 1801 to 181 1. He was later Ambassador in London 
and in Paris. 

2 D. Armando Pignatelli de Egmont y Moncayo, XVI 1 1 Conde 
de Fuentes and Marques de Coscojuela y Mora, son of D. Luis 
Pignatelli, Conde de Fuentes, who married, in 1768, Da. Luisa, only 
daughter of Casimir Pignatelli de Egmont, Conde de Egmont. 

3 Carlos, Duque de Gravina (1756-1806), the celebrated Spanish 
naval commander. Born in Palermo. He was sent to Paris in 1804 
as Ambassador, but was appointed to command the Spanish fleet the 
following year, and died of wounds received at the battle of Trafalgar. 



i8o2] BARCELONA 7 

served with distinction in the war and in consequence of 
a severe wound he has been obliged to try various waters 
and climates. He has been in England, and is going 
there immediately to try Bath waters again. The party 
consisted of the Bourkes and Madame Sabatini, a cele- 
brated beauty, Mde. de Minestoli, bien aimee du Comte, 
her husband, a shrewd Neapolitan, the Russian Minister, 
and some motley mixtures of nations. The sly Italian 
set up a faro bank : as every one played I conformed, 
much as I dislike that amusement ; I sat at the table 
until fatigue so fairly overcame me that I was obliged 
to go away. 

13th. — I arranged some black petticoats and draperies 
to make myself as unlike a foreigner as I could and set 
off for want of a carriage to walk through the streets to 
enquire for a house, but finding it impossible to get one 
we decided upon accepting Mr. Stembor's very friendly 
offer of lending us his villa at Sarria, a village distant 
about 3 miles from Barcelona. 

14^. — Sunday. To my infinite satisfaction moved 
to Sarria, as I grew alarmed about the childien. The 
confined air of the gloomy street in which our dismal 
mansion was situated was not calculated to restore the 
baby's strength or preserve Charles's. 

15th. — Drove to Barcelona to see it, for altho' I 
had been in it three days, yet the constant fidget and 
alarm I suffered on acct. of the wretched habitation 
in which the children were, deprived me not only of all 
desire but absolutely of the faculty of looking. Odious 
as it appeared to me, whilst living in the center of it, 
I must own a Ute reposee that it is a very fine city, full 
of magnificent public buildings and the handsomest 
promenade of any place I have yet seen. The forti- 
fications are well kept, so that one may drive round the 
whole city ; the Rambla, a long straight walk in the 



8 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [No v. 

town, is from custom the most frequented, but that is 
its only recommendation. The Muralla de Mar is the 
pleasantest, as it faces the sea, commands the port and 
views of Barcelona and Mt. Juich, but the Dominicans 
and other gentry of that description have, with their 
usual taste in these matters, discovered the merits of the 
situation and consequently built their convent there. 
The Academy is a magnificent palace ; it was used as 
such for the Prince of the Peace, 1 who lodged under 
it himself, his mistress, and the grand Inquisitor — a 
curious trio. The Royal families were lodged in the 
Custom Houses. 

16th. — Went to Barcelona and took leave of Count 
Fuentes at his house, where we did the same of the 
Bourkes, who are going off to Valencia to follow the Court. 
As the gates of the city shut every night at sunset we are 
compelled to renounce the theatre and all society, there- 
fore our life of retirement should be productive of some 
good as we have leisure to study. 

18th. — Rode again to a convent of nuns at Pedralves 
of the order of St. Clara ; magnificent view. Returned 

1 Manuel de Godoy, Duque de Alcudia (1767-1851), born of a poor 
but noble family at Badajoz. He joined the Royal bodyguard in 1784, 
and attracted the attention of Queen Maria Luisa, who encouraged 
King Charles IV to heap dignities and honours upon him. He became 
Prime Minister in 1792, and took a leading part in arranging the 
peace with France of 1795, from which he obtained his title of ' Prince 
of the Peace.' He was removed from office in 1798, but returned the 
following year, and retained his power until 1808, when he was forced 
to leave the country. He later accompanied Charles IV to Rome. The 
true account of Godoy's marriages is difficult to trace. According to 
one story he first married Da. Pepita Tudo, afterwards appointed 
woman of the bedchamber to the Queen, but she lived in a separate 
house from him in order not to ruin his career. In 1797, however, the 
King offered him the hand of his niece, Da. Maria Teresa de Borbon, 
Comtesse de Chinchon, daughter of Infante D. Luis, and he married her. 
In the Blazon de Espana (Don Augusto de Burgos), he is stated 
to have married La Tudo after the death of his Borbon wife, 
and the Duchesse d'Abrantes in her Memoirs writes that she knew a 
lady who was present at their marriage in Rome. 



i8o2] BARCELONA 9 

early as we were to dine at Mr. Stembor's. Met at 
dinner the French Commissaire des relations commercialcs, 
as Consul must no longer be profaned by the vulgar. 
He seems an affected, self-sufficient personage ; his 
confrere vulgar and noisy. The Governor acceded to 
our request of granting permission to the gates ; thus 
we are enabled to have them opened at all hours, an 
indulgence of course not to be abused. It is a great 
favor, and granted at present only to the P. of Conti. 
Mr. de Rechler, the ci-devant Dutch minister dined ; the 
rest of the party were his partners, clerks, &c. Stembor 
is a worthy, kind-hearted man, disposed and even eager 
to oblige us : he has really conferred obligations. 

23rd. — Went after dinner to Barcelona ; previous 
to going to the play drove along the ramparts. Much 
diverted at the antiquated equipages and grotesque 
appearance of the whole appointment. 5 o'clock is 
the hour when the beau monde exhibit themselves ; the 
specimen we had did not tempt me to see more of them. 
Bad actors to an empty salle. 

24th. — Drove to Barcelona and showed it to Charles. 
Went, after dinner, up the village of Sarria through a 
fine avenue of cypresses to the porch of a Capucin con- 
vent, called the Desierto. Women are forbidden to enter, 
therefore I remained in the chapel whilst the gentlemen 
entered the garden to see a representation in wood of 
the plague at Barcelona. This convent is the head of 
the Franciscans in Catalonia. The cypresses are large 
and may vie with those so justly admired in Tuscany. 
The architectural form of the tree and gloom of its foliage 
assorts well with the entrance of a convent, and the 
venerable Fathers are entitled to praise for the taste 
they have shown in choosing such an appropriate orna- 
ment for their avenue. 

25th. — Mr. Stembor and the Swedish Consul dined 



io LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL pec. 

with us. During dinner the Marquis of Blondel came ; 
he is a Fleming in the Spanish services, in which he has 
served fifty years. He was Captain-General of Biscay, 
but now lives upon his appointments in a sort of disgrace. 
The old veteran has taken a young wife who is reckoned 
a strange, whimsical lady, wearing ostensibly the breeches 
she of course wears metaphorically, as such merit and 
ought to be the fate of those who enter into dispropor- 
tionate marriages. 

2()th. — Drove in eve. to Barcelona. When we came 
home we were told that Madame Blondel in her male 
attire had made me a visit. She astonished the servants, 
who described her as a nondescript. 

Dec. ist. — Went to Barcelona. Evening, returned 
the visit to my singular neighbour ; found her noisy, 
positive, vulgar, and not pretty, but with enough of 
youth and beauty (tho' the portion of each is slender, 
as she is the mother of an officer of 25) to captivate her 
mart octogenaire. 

Dec. 2nd. — Bien costumee a VEspagne I went to see 
the Cathedral. The inside is very fine, being in the purest 
Gothic taste. It appears gloomy as it is not stuccoed or 
painted, but the masonry left unadorned as when just 
built and the stones being of dark colour the tinge is 
solemn. The sacristan took us behind the altar of a 
saint's chapel, and showed us the most venerated relic in 
the skeleton line, no less than the entire body of St. 
Olegar ; he reposes in a large glass coffin with very clean 
vestments, which the man with great gravity and perfect 
belief assured us were put on a century ago, and that the 
saint was so pleased with his new dress that, as a mark 
of approbation, he stood upright upon his feet whilst the 
priest passed the surplice over his raw bones. 

yd. — Rode to Gracia, a pretty village under the same 
line of mt. It is remarkable for the number and beauty 



1802] 



BARCELONA n 



of the tones (the Catalan name for a villa). The gardens 
appear extremely pretty, full of orange, lemon, cypress, 
and palm trees. The Dsse. de Bourbon 1 resides there, 
a strange person who believes in Mesmer, and continues 
magnetising to this day ! 

$th. — Took a pleasant walk, and dined at Gracia with 
Larzard [?], the Danish Consul and our banker, a dull 
rogue d la lettrc. His house is tolerably good ; in showing 
his garden he urged as its greatest merit and beauty that 
you never lost sight of Barcelona. We met at dinner ye 
Due and Dsse. de la Vauguyon 2 and their daughter, a 
very pretty girl. They are making their way towards 
Paris ; where, if the D. is allowed to return, he may 
thank his stars. 

6th. — Went to Barcelona ; made a visit to the V.'s ; 
saw their eldest daughter, the Psse. de Bauffrement, 
apparently a very sensible woman ; she has two fine sons, 
one like their uncle Carency. In the evening the Blondels 
came, accompanied by the Marquis de St. Simon 3 a 
Grandee of Spain, and the French Commissaries. The 
Commissaire read a flattering letter about us from 

1 Louise Marie Therese d'Orleans (1750-1822), sister of Philippe 
Egalite, Due d'Orleans, and mother of the Due d'Enghien. She 
married Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, known as 
' the last of the Condes,' in 1770 ; but they lived apart after 1780. 
When exiled in 1795 she went to Spain, and remained there, chiefly 
near Barcelona, until the Restoration. 

2 Paul Francois de Quelen de Stuer de Caussade, Due de la Vauguyon, 
who married, in 1766, Antoinette Rosalie, daughter of Charles Armand, 
Vicomte de Pons. 

3 Claude Anne, afterwards Due de Saint-Simon (1743-1819). 
Though elected a deputy to the States General, he left France in the 
early days of the Revolution and took service in Spain. He held 
several important military commands, and being captured by Napoleon 
in Madrid was tried and condemned to death as a traitor. The 
sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life, and he remained in 
confinement at Joux until the end of the war. 

' A grande d'Espagne, far from agreeable.' (Note by Lady 
Holland.) 



12 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

Beurnonville l desiring him to show every civility in his 
power, in consequence of which he invited us to dinner 
and at the same time to assister at the lecture of the life 
of his deceased last wife, which he has just written to 
dissipate his chagrin for her death ! ! ! A second edition 
of Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. We accepted. 

Jth. — Went with Mde. Blondel, who was dressed in 
men's clothes in a general's uniform, to see the nuns of St. 
Claire ; they appeared at the parloir, which has a double 
grating. Their dress is hideous, instead of the white 
plaited guimpe, so becoming to the French and Italian 
nuns, they wore round their faces an ugly coloured 
yellow of knitted worsted ; the dress is black cloth. Poor 
souls, they affected a resignation they could not feel. 
Five out of six sisters their father crushed in nunneries ! 

8th. — Frederick ill. Staid at home. We three dined 
at the French Commissaire's ; fortunately ! too late to 
hear his mournful narration about his departed spouse. 

10^. — Marquis de St. Simon dined ; no traces of the 
talents of his ancestor, to whom he owes his grandesse 
espagnole. No good humour or mirth to supply the 
defect. 

Starting for Valencia on the T4th, the Hollands paid a 
visit to Montserrate, but left the children to await them at 
the foot of the mountain. 

The convent is an immense pile of buildings. The 
appendages are extensive ; a hospice to lodge pilgrims 
and beggars. The former they must maintain for three 
days. We brought letters, but of the two, only one was 
at Mtserrate, and he was in the mt., for so they call 
the peak above, speaking as if they were in the plain 
themselves. The padre aposentador 2 gave us very good 

1 Pierre de Riel, Comte de Beurnonville (1752-1821), French 
General, and at this time Ambassador to Spain. 
" J The father in charge of the lodgings. 



l8o2 ] MONTSERRATE 13 

apartments, indeed excellent, and both on account of 
the lateness of the hour and the danger of the descent, 
I resolved upon sleeping in the Convent, a great effort 
for me to be separated so many hours from the children. 
We made a hasty dinner to go to the hermitages, that is 
to say to one, for I was conscious of being unequal to 
more. The ascent is very difficult and even painful. 
It is steep, and the stairs are cut in the solid rock at 
such distances as to make it a labour of the utmost 
fatigue ; however in about 40 minutes we reached the 
first hermitage. The actual proprietor is an Asturian 
who has resided there 21 years ; upon being asked if 
he liked so high a situation, he turned up the whites 
of his eyes, and said he lived in hopes of being exalted 
to a higher one, meaning in Heaven. He appeared to 
be an ignorant hypocrite ; he would not admit me into 
his apartments. I remained in the Chapel which is 
small, but has on each side seats to the number of 14 
or 15. Hither all the hermits assemble on Tuesday. 
A priest from the convent comes up and says mass to 
them. The hermits never eat meat, fish only twice 
a week ; they are not even allowed the affectionate 
society of dogs nor cats nor birds in cages. The devotee 
gave us some wine, but he would not give it to the men. 
It was excellent, and justified his parsimony. Some of 
our party went to another hermitage. Being impatient 
to see the Shrine, besides having my knees very sore, 
I resolved upon going down. On our way down, we were 
overtaken by the Padre Ruis, one to whom we were 
recommended. He had the manners of a man of the 
world, and betrayed more inclination to live in it than 
to follow the rules of St. Benedict. In speaking of the 
hermits, he said they were well off, as they were at liberty, 
having no Superior to restrain them ; that they felt their 
independence, and never came to the convent, where they 



14 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

must submit to strict rules, but when they were worn 
out by extreme old age. 

Altho' it was so late and much beyond the usual 
hour of showing the Sanctuary, Padre Ruis went down 
and ordered the sacristans to be ready with lights to 
show us the treasure. The church is handsome, but not 
large. The high altar, over which stands the miraculous 
image, is separated from the body of the church by 
a railing as high as the ceiling : on each side are small 
chapels, richly ornamented, in one is a picture by Rubens, 
so degraded as to be a disfigurement instead of ornament. 
The treasure is rich ; the relics, the most valuable part 
to the really devout, the monk showed in good taste. 
He did not laugh, because that would have been unbe- 
coming his own situation ; he did not dwell upon their 
utility, as he was aware it would not suit us. Nothing 
amused me more in the whole collection than the figure 
of a It. -general in silver, about 6 inches high, with 
a bullet fastened by a chain. This votive offering is as 
recent as the last war (about three years ago), in which 
this military booby got wounded, mortally he imagined ; 
but for the intercession of the Holy Lady and upon his 
recovery, he offered this at her Shrine. Monks and lay 
brothers all smiled whilst this story was narrating. 

We then proceeded upstairs into a small room hung 
round with small pictures, but by candle light their 
beauties were lost upon us. In the room beyond are the 
splendid folding doors which open to the Virgin's niche ; 
they are covered with large plates of silver. The image 
is smaller than life, carved on a black wood. The features 
are handsome, and represent the face of a fine woman, 
tho' not so celestial as the priests formerly described 
it ; for an old chronicle reports that those whose office 
it was to dress the image trembled and did not dare 
look at her face during the ceremonies of the toilette. 



i8o2] TARRAGONA 15 

Many sovereigns of Spain, and even those of other 
countries, have committed the fatiguing act of devotion, 
exhausting their strength and their purses to offer a 
votive gift to Nuestra Senora de Montserrate. The 
King and Queen went up not long before we did. They | 
made no present, an intentional omission, as that was 
the only convent which pleaded poverty and did not 
assist him during the French war. 

igth. — The situation of Tarragona very pretty, being 
placed on a hill above the sea which forms a small 
bay, to assist the security of which a port is making. 
Performed the journey in two hours and three-quarters. 
Met with great civilities here. Mr. Stembor's corre- 
spondent sent us wine in plenty, and very good ; the 
commandant and director of the Works visited us and 
accompanied us to the port, and in consequence of the 
Bishop of Barcelona having written to desire the canons 
to be civil, we were extremely well treated by them. 
After eating a little, we walked out to see the antiquities. 
A whole gang of beggars followed us readily through the 
Bishop's palace, as they would have done had we remained 
in the streets ; they are a most insubordinate rabble. 

At the port we found Mr. Smith, who, from his name, 
is of English origin, but is by birth a Spaniard. He is 
the chief engineer, and showed us the jetee, which even 
at present is a grand work, but will be magnificent when 
completed. Its length into the sea is one-third of an 
English mile ; it is to be just double that length. The 
labour is performed by galley slaves, who continue being\ 
dressed in green, a living chain in former times, as the 
colour most offensive to the Moors who revere it and 
reserve it for their Sovereigns and those who call them- 
selves the Prophet's cousins. He has to contend against 
many difficulties besides the elements and 33 feet of 
water. He has only a fund of £10,000, one million 



16 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

of reals, and great indifference in the country to all 
public works. 

20th. — El campo de Tarragona is celebrated for its 
fertility ; it is now returning to the culture of grain, 
which branch of agriculture was considerably diminished 
a few years back on account of the demand for brandies, 
which induced the proprietors to cultivate vines and 
renounce corn. But, as I have said, at present they are 
returning to grain. 

We reached Hospitalet, a wretched venta formed 
within the ruined walls of an old fortress. To escape 
the smoke, which issued in abundance from the kitchen, 
ye only fireplace, and which was on a level with our 
rooms, we walked (with a guard) down to the beach, 
about 300 yards ; the night was gloomy and cold, and the 
sea agitated. Entered a peasant's cot to seek for fish, 
but found none. In our wretched venta there were 
many travellers, none of whom but ourselves got beds ; 
one, a rich merchant, charged with a large sum of 
money. He had, for security, taken three soldiers ; 
they were Germans taken prisoners in Italy and almost 
compelled to enter into the Spanish service. As they 
were to return, we arranged that they should escort us, 
in addition to our three guards. The Captain-General 
of Valencia, ye Corregidor of Barcelona, and several other 
persons of distinction having been robbed, has been 
the means of rendering the road much safer, as there 
are troops stationed at the different ventas. The 
picture of the fireplace would have made a grotesque 
groupe. 

21st. — Set off with our strong escort across the Col de 
Balaguer. The mode of driving is peculiar to Spain, 
the first pair of mules have bridles and the coachman 
holds the reins, the other four or six, according to the 
size of the carriage, are merely harnessed, and governed 



i8o2] ' DRIVING IN SPAIN 17 

by the voice ; a mozo or muchacho l runs by their side, and 
to vary the mode of guiding, as often throws adroitly 
a stone at the offender as he directs him by the voice. 
The common pace is a fast walk, but when there is a 
descent, they run down full gallop, and mount the hills, 
when short, at the same rate. The men are nimble 
and hardy. The custom of going so much on foot, 
renders them both ; at night they lay with their mules, 
either upon straw, if they find any, or upon the hard 
ground if they cannot. They never undress, and it is 
a figurative expression to say an honest Spaniard dies 
in his bed, as I believe there are many who never know 
the luxury of one. The Spanish army ought to be among 
the best of Europe ; indeed were their officers to be relied 
upon, it would be so. 

The King lodged in the ftosada at Perello, which is 
distant 6 hours ; therefore our expectations were raised. 
But we found unfortunately that his visit had, if possible, 
made the place worse, as they had built a suite of rooms 
which smelt strongly of plaster, and the little furniture 
there had been was removed to place his in the rooms ; 
and as the Spaniards proceed poco a fioco, that which had 
previously been there was not restored. Thus we had 
some dreary rooms, with only five chairs in all, three 
beds, and a table. I never was in a more dismal, cold 
place. 

24th, Vinaroz. — Began to see a great difference in 
the dress of the people, countenance, and figure. No 
longer the bright red Catalan cap worn with taste so as to 
form a helmet sort of elevation in the middle, and tuft 
in front. The exchange is for an immense black hat, 
very shallow but enormous in the brim, tied with black 
string under the chin : a tight waistcoat, and loose 
linen vestments, neither breeches nor fillibeg, but very 

1 Young man or boy. 

c 



18 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec 

ugly. The dress of the Catalans is convenient and 
handsome, the hair confined in redecillas, 1 with a cap 
of red cloth or worsted over. Leather gaiters, sandals, 
and scarlet waistcoat, and brown coat or capa hung 
loosely upon ye left shoulder, with a jolly, fat, squat 
figure, round face, cheerful countenance, fair skin, and 
an air of independent, sulky good humour. The 
Valencian is tall, meagre, sallow, quick-sighted, long- 
visaged, forbidding countenance. Enveloped in his 
ample capa of blue cloth, his shaggy hair, bushy 
about his face, surmounted with this broad black 
beaver, gives his whole tournure somewhat of a terrific 
appearance. 

29th. — Fine road to Valencia, where we met with 
Mr. Vague, who had most obligingly procured for us a 
habitation at the end of the bridge just out of the town, 
called la Huerta Santissima. The town is very large ; 
the houses spacious and handsome. Some of the streets 
are narrow, but none so much so as those of Barcelona, 
and many are wide and cheerful. They are not paved, 
and there is so great a prejudice in favor of the ' Boue de 
Valence ' for manure, that there is at present no chance 
of that improvement taking place ; as there is a general 
belief among the inhabitants that the gardens round the 
town derive much of their fertility from what consti- 
tutes so great an annoyance to foot passengers in rainy 
weather. However they have the consolation of very 
seldom undergoing much inconvenience upon that score, 
as in this delicious climate the weather is temperate and 
subject to very little rain. The streets are lighted by 
large lanterns fastened to the houses. There are watch- 
men who cry the hours, and as they generally call ' sereno,' 
their names are serenos, — a proof, if any were requisite, 
of the uniform excellence of the weather. 

1 Silk hair-nets. 



l8o2 ] VALENCIAN CUSTOMS 19 

Of the interior of the town I have seen but little as 
yet. The intolerance of the Spaniards for those who do 
not conform to their costume, makes it not only un- 
pleasant, but positively unsafe for a woman to appear 
without the basquina l and mantilla, a dress thoroughly 
inconvenient for the strong light of this glorious sun, the 
eyes being exposed to all its power. So few travel who 
have not business, that strangers find nothing calculated 
for their reception or accommodation. Ambassadors 
and merchants are the only foreigners, and each go to 
their destination. Those of the natives who move go 
generally upon business or duty, either to their estates 
(that unluckily but rarely) or to their relations ; therefore 
they do not feel the want of a house to lodge in or an 
equipage to convey them. Whereas the traveller who 
arrives for a couple of months in a town, must incur 
the same expense as if he were to remain ten years, — 
furnish and buy the furniture of a house from a joint 
stool to a spit. A carriage is almost out of the question, 
unless the whole is purchased. Hitherto we have de- 
pended upon the civility of our acquaintance, but that 
is irksome. 

Of ye society I can form but an imperfect judgment, 
but the Spaniards strike me as being remarkably frank 
and warm-hearted. They have not the captivating 
polish of the French, but then they seem devoid of the 
bad counterpoise, — excessive medisance. The women 
are ungraceful out of their mantilla ; allow their voice 
to get into high tones, but seem to enjoy conversation, 
which they enliven frequently with sallies of humour 
and even wit. Unlike the Italians in many respects, 
they resemble them in that which an austere critic 
might call the characteristic of the whole sex, that of 
making love, — the sole occupation of their lives. With 

1 A kind of upper petticoat. 

C2 



20 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec 

them it really is love, for whilst it lasts, and that it does 
with fervour for years resistless of all obstacles and 
unshaken by everything but absence, it is most vehement 
and constant. Indeed there are stories of love-sick 
ladies who have pined away and died ; but miracles 
both holy and amorous have long since ceased. We 
on the other side of the Pyrenees imagine, because the 
Spanish husbands no longer confine their wives within 
their high-walled mansions, and allow the air to enter 
elsewhere than through lattice windows and iron bars, 
that, as they are not gaolers, they are not jealous ; and 
like the husbands of Italy from one extreme have fallen 
into the other. But that is not the case. The husband 
being complaisant puts sufficiently a restraint upon his 
wife's conduct to cause a sort of mystery, which adds 
to the piquant of a love adventure and maintains its force. 
The cortejo rarely appears with his dama in public ; their 
interviews are private and owe to the basquiiia and mantilla 
their frequency and security. A woman of the highest 
rank, the moment she is so equipped, defies observation ; 
she may go out unattended, and by a dexterous manage- 
ment of the mantilla, may elude detection from the most 
vigilant. Judiciously enough, with a view to this object, 
they have entered into a sort of tacit compact that no 
woman can go into a church unless so attired, nor walk 
with impunity the streets ; thus the costume will be 
perpetuated from mother to daughter, intentionally and 
accidentally. The Governt. has deprived the gentle- 
man of a similar disguise ; the capa and sombrero 
being confined to the maja, a sort of bravache or 
bravado, — our mohawks in the beginning of the last 
century, who drew forth the spirited animadversion 
of the Spectator. It was attempted to be done by 
law first, and that failed. A more imperious law 
than any so issued prevailed, that of fashion ; thus 



i8o2] THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES 21 

the men of fashion wear the same dress as those of 
other countries. 

The family of Vague have been very obliging ; their 
house is the only one regularly open every evening. The 
only complaint is that there is too much music, the 
ladies being excellent performers. Through the means 
of Mde. Tallien, not directly from her, as no women 
saw her whilst I was at Paris, we have seen a good deal 
of her mother, Mde. Cabarrus ; ! she is remarkably 
pleasing, has great remains of beauty, and an air of the 
world which I did not think could have been acquired 
or maintained in Spain. She has, however, been at 
Paris. 

The theatre is to a degree a resource, as it is frequented 
by the most fashionable ladies, but I can scarcely add 
that it is much of an amusement. The sallc is bad, 
long, and narrow ; the town once possessed a better, 
which was destroyed by lightning. The Archbishop, 
who was a bigot, regarded that event as a proof of 
celestial wrath and converted the funds collected to 
defray the expense of rebuilding another to some holy 
purpose, and left the city without a theatre. His 
successors, less devout, have not opposed the conversion 
of a corn magazine into a salle de spectacle. 

The performances have at least the merit of variety. 
There is first a heroic tragedy in which Spanish valour 
is sure to overcome Moorish fraud ; those old enmities 
still affording a very material subject for the drama. 
Every act supplies at least two intrigues. One alone 
would be sufficient to form the plot of a modern 

1 Wife of Francisco, Conde de Cabarrus, the financier, son of a 
French merchant. He was born in 1752, and went to Spain at an 
early age, where he married, at Zaragoza, a native of that town whose 
name was Galabert. He was the founder of the bank of St. Carlos, and 
on several occasions acted as intermediary between the Spanish and 
French Governments. He died in 1810. 



22 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

tragedy, the unravelling of which constitutes a laborious 
pleasure, for Boileau described it accurately when he 
said : — 

' Et qui, debrouillant mal une penible intrigue, 
D'un divertissement me fait une fatigue.' 1 

The gracioso or buffoon, in the midst of the most 
pathetic scenes, breaks in, and by coarse jokes destroys 
the whole interest of the plot. After the play, and 
sometimes between the acts, comes the sainetes, petites 
pieces, without much intrigue, but excellent, as they are 
a faithful representation of the manners, customs, 
and dress of the inferior classes, who are there 
exhibited precisely as they are in their own houses. 
It is not an embellished imitation ; the portrait is so 
scrupulously exact that one cannot but feel inclined to 
dispense with the rigor of the imitation. It is Mande- 
ville's mankind, certainly not Shaftesbury's. The sainetes 
are followed by the bolero, which is danced by a man 
and woman in the national costume. The music has 
a sameness, and the figure of the dance not much variety, 
but it is impossible to see and hear it danced without 
pleasure ; the castanets and feet mark the measure with 
an agreeable precision. The fandango, of which this 
bolero is a refinement, is dismissed to the festivities of 
the lower classes. The tonadilla follows ; it is a comic 
opera, very short, sung by one performer alone sometimes, 
but generally by three or four. It is followed by the 
segnidilla, a sort of rondeau or refrain of the whole. The 
mechanism of the scenery is still in a rude, primitive 
state ; in the coulisse there is a sort of gallery out of 
which the scene-shifters fling themselves upon a cord, 
their bodies act as a lever, and the scene is drawn up. 
The prompter sits as in France, in the center of the 

1 V Art Podtique, Chant III. 



l8o3 ] SPANISH CUSTOMS 23 

lamps ; but it is not an exaggeration to say that he 
speaks louder than the performers. The actors are 
so indifferent to their art, that they hardly endeavour 
to learn their part ; therefore in addition to the prompter 
in front, one on each side of the scene stands with a book 
and candle, by which means the performers never act to 
each other, always towards the prompter. The parterre 
are called mosqueteros. 

On 12th day, the sixth of January, we dined with the 
Captain-General ; he is, as most are in that post, super- 
annuated. His name is Caro, 1 his wife is handsome and 
interesting, and, compared to him, young. She is his 
niece ; he is her father's eldest brother, a strange inces- 
tuous alliance but one they are fond of in this country, 
which may account for the degeneracy of the Grandees, 
who intermarry thus from generation to generation. 
Physiologists reckon a cross necessary to making a good 
breed. In England we renew our horses with Arabian 
blood, and to a degree in all breeds of cattle the same 
renovation is required, and consequently to the human 
species also. Stories are told of a singular miscon- 
formation in their children ; their two elder sons were 
baptized first as females, and since as boys, but still 
their sex is dubious. After dinner La Generate, for so 
the wife of a Captain-General is called, in compliment 
to us went to the play. Afterwards we returned to 
her house to a tertulia, a dull assembly, where the ladies 
sit round the room and the gentlemen stand at the end, 
each as much separated as if they were in different 
provinces. A refresco is a more agreeable meeting ; 
a large table is filled with ices, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, 

1 Don Ventura Caro (1737-1808), a native of Valencia, and general 
in the Spanish Army. He was appointed Captain-General of Valencia 
in 1802. His father, Don Jose Caro, was created Marques de la Romana 
in 1730, and his nephew, the third Marquess, was celebrated for his 
patriotic efforts in the early stages of the Peninsular War, 



24 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

and the esponjado, a sugar biscuit, round which people 
sit or stand without ceremony and enjoy great liberty. 
The chocolate is such a favourite beverage, that it is as 
regular at eight o'clock as tea is in a country town in 
England. It is the common breakfast also ; an inveterate 
Spaniard takes it three or four times in the day. The 
monks are reckoned very fond of it and there are jokes 
upon the subject. 

Jan. 12th. — Saw the Cathedral, a strange, clumsy, 
misshapen, unformed pile without, with one handsome 
Gothic portal. The inside is fitted up prettily, white and 
gold ornaments, marble and jasper columns and en- 
tablatures in profusion ; the roof is too low, and the 
whole appearance is light, clean, and cheerful. The 
High Altar is made of solid silver, admirably wrought, 
representing a variety of scriptural histories ; the folding 
doors which cover this costly altar are covered with 
excellent paintings done by an eminent Italian painter, 
whose name they have forgotten here. 1 When Philip IV 
saw them he observed that the altar was of silver, but truly 
the doors were of gold. A few pictures by Joannes, 2 an 
artist hardly known out of Spain ; they are good, but 
I had not leisure, owing to the lateness of the hour, to 
examine much. 

Feb. 8th, 1803, Valencia del Cid. — Went with Mde. 
Cabarrus and Dr. Matoses to the Convent of St. Miguel 
de los Reyes, 3 distant about half a league from the 
town on the Murviedro road. It is a magnificent 
pile of building ; in the court is an alley of fine 
cypresses, which go to the church doors. The monks 
were singing a funeral dirge for a brother who lay 

1 Most of the silver was stripped off and melted in 1809. The 
doors are attributed to Pablo de Aregio and Francisco Neapoli, pupils 
of Leonardo da Vinci. 

2 Better known as Vicente Juan Macip (1523-1579). 
s Now a convict establishment. 



i8o 3 ] ST. MIGUEL DE LOS REYES 25 

dead before the High Altar. As I always avoid an 
unnecessarily painful sight, I withdrew. We were 
shown into a small room where several monks insisted 
upon keeping us company, whilst others went to the 
library for the manuscripts. They brought them down, 
a singular favor, and one we were made fully to compre- 
hend as being such. A Seneca, richly illustrated, a Virgil. 
The Romance of the Rose, in Provengal, curious from the 
dresses, but defective both in drawing and colouring ; 
an early medical work by Villanucva, with illuminations 
of his prescriptions which consisted chiefly in baths of 
different sorts, with Latin verses explanatory of the 
effects and utility of bathing. A religious work upon 
ye Xtian doctrine, done in 1279, by order of Philip, 
King of France. A beautiful missal, richly and admirably 
illuminated, belonging to the Queen Germana, wife to 
the founder. Women are not allowed to enter beyond 
the church, but we were placed under the grand staircase, 
just so as to enable us to see the cloister, which is spacious 
and built in a good style of architecture. The area or 
quadrangle is filled with orange and palm trees. Out 
of extreme civility, the corpse of the defunct was removed, 
which enabled me to return to the church and see the 
altars. Many are decorated with inlaid marbles ; the 
chief excellence is the beauty of the marble and the 
polish, not the workmanship of the representation. 

On Saturday, 29th of January, Saavedra 1 (Baron 
d'Albalat) gave us a fete at the Albufera, a lake about 8 
miles off. The lake communicates with the sea ; it is about 
3 leagues in length, and one in width, more or less. It 
is supposed to abound with curious birds, many of which 
are unknown in Europe ; the attraction for them is the 
rice grounds, which unfortunately for the health of the 

1 Don Miguel de Saavedra, Baron de Albalat. He held the post of 
Captain-General of Valencia in 1808, and was killed by the mob there. 



26 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

peasantry are numerous in the neighbourhood of Albufera. 
We quitted our carriages, and went into a tent prepared 
for us and prettily fitted up. It was upon an eminence, 
from whence we were to see the chasse, but the wind 
was high and we came too late ; only a few birds were 
shot. Frederick slept there the night before, so had a 

specimen of the sort of chasse. We returned to , 

where we had a good dinner ; Saavedra conducted the 
whole arrangement extremely well. We quitted the 
Huerto del Sacramento (sic) on Wednesday, the ninth of 
February, for a more spacious dwelling called Casa Liria, 
Calle Alboraja. Unluckily the first few days were, for 
Valencia climate, cold, which made us uncomfortable. 
Several days, before and after sunrise, the puddles under 
a north wall were frozen, an event so rare as to afford much 
amusement to the boys and children in the streets, who 
handed about lumps of ice from one to the other as a 
singular rarity. It is indeed very possible that many 
of them had never beheld such a sight before, as snow 
is used for cooling liquors and making ice. 

Mr. Vaughan, 1 brother to my worthy friend, the 
physician, is travelling upon the Radcliffe Fellowship. 
He intends making the tour of Spain, and is, for the 
present, staying here. He is a remarkably good-natured, 
well disposed, obliging young man, but is not probably 
exactly the description of person whom Dr. Radcliffe 
intended should benefit by his Foundation. However 
he is not determined upon practising what, I am sure, 
he has not yet much studied. There are besides from 

1 Sir Charles Richard Vaughan (1774-1849), son of James Vaughan, 
M.D., of Leicester, and brother of the better known Dr. Vaughan 
(Sir Henry Halford). He was also educated as a physician, but 
took up diplomacy instead. He was employed in Spain on several 
occasions, privately and publicly, during the Peninsular War, and was 
Minister to the United States 1825-35. Several interesting letters from 
him are included in the Appendix. 



,8o 3 ] A VALENCIAN BALL 27 

our island two Messrs. Gordon, one of whom is travelling 
for his health, which is in a state that demands every 
precaution. A few nights since, (last Sunday) ye Condesa 
de Rotova gave a splendid ball ; the house is very spacious. 
Ten and upwards of fine rooms were opened and brilliantly 
illuminated ; refreshments in abundance. To spectators 
the balls are uncommonly dull, as from decorum they 
have abandoned the national dances, and have omitted 
learning others ; therefore what is called dancing is no 
more than jumping, leaping, jigging, walking, rolling, 
pacing, more or less in measure. A long figure meant 
to be that of an English country dance. 

The theatre is an inexhaustible source of amusement ; 
we were much diverted at a representation of a translation 
from the French petite piece of the Tonnelier. The story 
is originally taken from Boccaccio and La Fontaine, 
where the sting of the jest is not of a nature to be exhibited. 
But as it was necessary, according to the critique of 
the French piece, to give some unequivocal proof of 
the lady's love, the difficulty was great, because the 
French mode would never do. Spanish delicacy would 
have been shocked. A kiss on the stage is never permitted, 
therefore in lieu of so gross an act as kissing, the love is 
demonstrated by the lady lousing the lover, and this is 
the animated tendresse of their tete a tete. 

Feb. 16th. — We went with Dr. Matoses to see the 
University. The library is tolerably good ; the manu- 
scripts are very insignificant. 1 I asked to see the pro- 
hibited books, and when upon seeing the works of Calvin 
and Erasmus I observed that I concluded we were close, 
as they of course were of that number, the astonishment 
of the librarian and ye learned of the party was ludicrous. 
The head of the University approaching at that moment, 

1 The library was burnt by the French in 1812, but has been since 
replaced from the suppressed convents. 



28 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

I was introduced to him as a prodigy of human learning. 
We afterwards dined with the Cte. de St. Hilaire, a 
French noble, who has been in the service of Spain these 
fifty years. He was Captain-General at San Roque. 
He is a cheerful old man, but positively offensive from his 
gross style of conversation. An abbe resides with him, a 
Bas-Breton, who upon the strength of emigration claimed 
relationship, and was humanely received, — Abbe Bodin. 

At the Rotova's ball, I was shown a former favorite 
of the Q. He was banished by the late K. to Murcia. 
Upon the journey the Royal family saw him, and the 
Q. is supposed to have felt a return of her former 
partiality, and bestowed tokens of goodwill in profusion, 
decorating him with trinkets and numberless ornaments. 
As soon as he was introduced to me he began displaying 
his honors, a flat watch set round with large diamonds 
suspended round his neck by a gold chain, a ring with 
secret springs and amorous devices, which, I was given 
to understand, was not to be examined. He is a large, 
florid complexioned man, reckoned very like the P. 
of Peace. His name is Ortia. It is said that he was 
urged to go to Court, but declined the favor unless he 
might go openly, as he very naturally feared the uncon- 
trolled power of his more fortunate successor. The 
notoriety of the Q.'s amours is so great that it is not 
an unusual topic of conversation with the muleteers. 
Hitherto all ranks disapprove of the elevation of the 
P. of Peace, and ascribe his rise to the true reason. 
The dissolute manners of the women is disgusting ; their 
excesses make them antidotes to the inclination they 
wish to inspire. Several of the highest rank, possess- 
ing youth, beauty, and consequence, have from their 
libertinage destroyed their health. 

On Tuesday, Feb. 22nd, Mardi gras, the gaieties 
of the Carnival closed. I went to the play to see the 



l8o3 ] TRAVELLING IN SPAIN 29 

comedians pelted with dragees ; those who were disliked 
were annoyed with large stones and bits of wood. The 
performances were abruptly closed with a notification that 
several of the performers were wounded and some going 
to be blooded. 

This morning (Feb. 23rd, Ash Wednesday) we went to 
the Church of St. Nicholas to hear the Spanish style of 
pulpit declamation. The preacher, who is an old man, 
made an exordium of about half an hour upon his age 
and infirmities, presumption in undertaking the task 
of preaching, gratitude for such an audience, &c. As 
much as I could comprehend of his discourse, it was 
rather of a nature to keep one from nodding. The 
curate saw Voltaire, who, struck with his good figure 
and beauty, made him a compliment at the expense of 
the whole nation, by expressing his wonder that Spain 
could produce so handsome a man. 

The Spaniards say of the climate of Madrid, ' No 
extingue la candela y mata al hombre,' ' and as this fatal 
propensity is in full vigour in the early months of spring, 
we have determined, provided we all keep well, to go 
round by Granada, Seville, Cordova, Toledo, to Madrid, 
instead of waiting here for ye fine weather at Madrid. 
We shall fill up the interval in travelling. The accounts 
of the roads are so much more favorable than Swin- 
burne and other travellers lead one to imagine, that in 
point of danger there is little to apprehend, tho' many 
trifling inconveniences to encounter, such as wretched 
gipsy posadas and robbers in the shape of smugglers, who 
rob by compelling you to purchase at an exorbitant 
price their snuff and counterband (sic) commodities. 
Our theatrical representations are no more than rope- 
dancers and tumblers. Both these talents are possessed 
by the performers in a tolerable degree of perfection, but 

1 It does not blow out a candle, but kills a man. 



30 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

these tours-de-force always give me much more pain than 
pleasure. The Castle Spectre 1 has been honored with a 
translation into Castilian, by the title of El Duque de 
Viseo ; the monk and the ghost are omitted. Much 
diversion did an enthusiastic bel esprit afford me by 
exclaiming that the author who composed that soliloquy 
of the negro must indeed be a sublime genius ! 

A biographical dictionary of Los Hijos de Madrid is 
no bad specimen of the roundabout way in which Spaniards 
do things. The names are arranged in alphabetical 
order, but alas ! according to the Xtian names of the 
worthies ; therefore one might look for an hour for the 
most celebrated hero in Spain, and not find it at last, 
unless one had an extract from the parish record of all 
the saints under whose protection the parents chose to 
place him. 

The accounts from Paris and England of the unusual 
severity of the weather give us much reason to rejoice 
at our determination of being in a milder climate ; 
especially as, even under the ciel of Valencia, a cold 
tramontana (which has hardly happened three times) 
brings on Charles' coughs, though they have never been 
accompanied with the slightest fever. He grows robust, 
and his health is astonishingly mended. From the end 
of October 1801 to the beginning of March 1802, he 
seldom passed a week without being attended by Dr. 
Vaughan, and was frequently in his bed and twice in 
imminent danger ; therefore the ease of mind we now feel 
compensates for every privation of society. The local 
weakness in Henry E.'s 2 leg seems to yield to the tonic 
effects of sea bathing ; he is a sprightly, active child, 

1 M. G. Lewis' play, produced in 1797. 

- The Hon. Henry Edward Fox, afterwards fourth Lord Holland. 
He was born in 1802, and suffered from leg trouble from the time 
of his birth. 



x8o 3 ] DON QUIXOTE 31 

and would run alone if his knee seconded^his wishes. 
Our occupations afford little matter for notice. Ld. 
Hd. is employed in writing a Life and Review of the 
literature of Lope de Vega ; ' I read a little Spanish, 
but chiefly fill up my time in examining with a melancholy 
apprehension the progress of the disease in my eyes ! Mr. 
Allen, who is delightful, is devoted to his political economy, 
and, like the hero of Cervantes, ' con mucho leer y poco 
dormir,' 2 he would sally forth and encounter the merinos, 
municipal laws, and all the institutions he looks upon 
as the political remoras 3 to the prosperity of Spain. 

I always thought till now that nothing was more 
pedantic than to say Don Quixote could not be relished 
out of the original. Nothing is so true, and to the 
assertion must be added that it cannot be completely so 
unless the reader knows Spain, its manners, customs, 
looks of the inhabitants, their tones of voice, dress, 
gestures, gravity, modes of sitting upon their asses, 
driving ; their ventas, posadas, utensils, vessels for 
liquor, skins, etc. In English I thought it a flat, burlesque 
work ; now I think it without exception much the most 
amusing production of human wit. It is the only book 
which ever excited my risible faculties, as when I read it, 
I cannot refrain from bursting out into a loud laugh. 
The blunder about Sancho's ass is strange ; in the same 
chapter it is lost and recovered and lost again, without 
its appearance being accounted for. 

Frederick * writes that the weather is so cold in France 
that the Rhone froze, and two hardy, foolhardy English- 
men ventured to cross it with their baggage. A celebrated 

1 His work, Some A ccount of the Life and Writings of Lope de Vega 
and Guillen de Castro, was published in 1817, 

2 With much reading and little sleeping. 

3 Hindrances. 

4 Frederick Ponsonby had left at the end of January in order to 
join his regiment in England, 



32 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

and promising young abogado 1 has dined here : he is in 
disgrace, and his exile is to his native kingdom, Valencia. 
The offence was of a nature to crush all hope of justice 
being fairly administered, or truth being pleaded. He 
conducted a suit against a lady on the behalf of her 
husband ; the lady was mistress to Ricardos, 2 and 
has some influence over ye Prince of P. Incensed 
against this young man for venturing to plead against 
her, she obtained that he should be arrested going out 
of his house, and seized to serve for eight years as a 
soldier upon the accusation that he was a vagabond. 
He, however, had friends who exerted themselves and 
proved to the P. of P. the falsehood of the pretext, by 
producing documents to prove that he had studied at 
the University at Salamanca, and had legally entered 
the career of jurisprudence. This effort in his favor 
procured an order for his banishment in lieu of his serving 
in the ranks. He is the son of an obscure peasant, but 
merely by his talents has elevated himself into public 
notice. Such is the disposition of the P. of P. that\ 
aupres de lui les femmes ont toujours raison ; suffice 
it that they complain, be it against husband, brother, 
father, son, they are sure of success. Ainsi c'est le paradis 
des femmes. Till I get to the fountain head, I shall 
suspend my belief in the various anecdotes about the 
Court which people credit and retail. The number of 
persons in disgrace prove that there is much tracasserie, 
fear, and caprice in those at the helm. 

Bessboroughs and Morpeths have been at Paris. 
Smiths 3 are sailed by this time. His place is that of 

1 Advocate. His name was Don Pasqual Rodenas. 

2 Antonio, Conde de Ricardos-Carillo (1727-1794), the Spanish 
general. 

3 ' Bobus ' Smith, Sydney Smith's brother. Robert Percy Smith 
( 1 770-1 845) married, in 1797, Caroline, daughter of Richard Vernon, 
Esq., and Evelyn, first Countess of Upper Ossory. He held the post 
for seven years. 



i8o 3 ] BOBUS SMITH 33 

Advocate-General in Bengal ; ye salary is £5000 pr. 
ann., and the gains in legal practice to a man of abilities 
is full double. And money was, as with him it appears 
to be, the object : the temptation was irresistible. His 
success at home did not keep pace with his ambition. 
He was far from popular with the lawyers ; a certain 
overbearing arrogance of deportment made him offensive 
in society, and upon the whole for his happiness and 
reputation he has chosen judiciously. 

March 1.2th. — The weather has again become cold ; 
the accounts from England are full of complaints of the 
extraordinary rigor of the weather. 

The Pope's Bull is become public in this country 
thro' the medium of the French newspapers, and much 
emotion is thereby excited. It lodges in the P. of P. 
the power of suppressing what proportion of monastic 
establishments he judges expedient for the country to 
have done away. 

igth. — Walked, as we usually do in the morning, in 
the gardens of Juliano and Parcente. In the evening 
not having yet seen the Lent diversions of the Passion, 
Birth of Christ, Bible histories, &c, we went to a repre- 
sentation of the first. It was well performed by tolerably 
large sized puppets ; the decorations were good and the 
voices well managed ; before the stage cords hung 
perpendicularly to confound the sight with those by 
which the puppets were suspended. Several women 
cried, and demonstrated by sighs and groans how much 
they were affected by the representation. The whole 
audience appeared to feel especially for the sorrows of the 
Virgen. The next evening, ye I9th,the Vigil of San Josef 
{sic), the people amused themselves with a singular 
pastime, curious from the antiquity. Joseph, the patron 
of carpenters, during the infancy of Christ made toys 
and playthings to divert him. This circumstance the 



34 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

carpenters of Valencia perpetuate by making large 
figures according to their fancy and taste, which are 
erected in the daytime and set fire to and burnt in the 
evening. Pagan deities, such as Venus and Bacchus, 
were condemned to the flames, but whether their being 
destroyed was from a caprice of the carpenter who 
selected them, or whether it is a traditionary custom 
handed down from the early days of Xtianity to 
mark the pious contempt felt against the mythology 
of paganism, I could not learn. 

Indeed nothing is more difficult in Spain than to 
obtain an explanation of an old custom. Either the 
persons one asks are ignorant of it, or instead of answering 
the question the time is employed in wondering how one 
can be interested in those sort of things. The plays 
they urge one to admire, instead of being their own good 
national productions, are generally indifferent translations 
or imitations from the German and French theatre. 
Their national music they lay aside and prefer Italian 
and German ; even their language, instead of encouraging 
one to speak it, they try their own bad French by way 
of an exercise, and, forgetful of the difference of idiom, 
translate the words as the dictionary would direct, the 
sense of which is frequently foreign to their meaning. 

In the kingdom of Valencia very extensive tracts of 
ground are enclosed by order of the Marine Tribunal, 
under pretence of rearing trees for the Royal Navy. These 
orders are frequently given without previous examination 
of the ground, or consideration whether it be at all fit 
for the purpose intended ; so many of these tracts are 
covered with stinted oaks and pines of no use whatever. 
Districts so apportioned often defeat the purpose designed. 
Cale was obliged to plant with acorns at its own expense 
a large tract for ten years successively, without producing 
in ye end a single tree fit for the Navy. 



l8 o 3 ] DRESS IN VALENCIA 35 

The dress of the labrador 1 consists in a wide pair of 
drawers more like a Scotch fillibeg, a shirt and short 
waistcoat of linen, and a jacket or vest of cloth, mantle of 
woollen, alpargates 2 without stockings, and often stockings 
without feet, broad-brimmed hat or Catalan caps. On 
feast days they wear a vest called capotel (sic), a silk 
handkerchief round ye neck with a knot before, stockings 
which do not come up so high as the knee with silk 
garters, fine alpargates or shoes, and a blue capa, which 
they commonly carry gracefully on their shoulders, or 
rather on one shoulder only, which appears to be extremely 
difficult, but all Spaniards do it with the greatest facility. 

30^. — Just as I was entering the inner door of the 
church del Colegio, a rough ill-tempered priest stopped 
and turned me back because I had not a thick mantilla 
of cloth wrapped round my body, the usual one worn 
by the ladies being too alluring for the sanctity of the 
priests. It is the only church where there is a similar 
scrutiny. A lady of this town was repulsed last week 
with rudeness for a similar offence. Not having past 
the threshold, I know not whether the church is worth 
seeing or not. Saw a promising painter of the name of 
Lopez ; the King has unfortunately employed him merely 
to copy pictures some of which are very indifferent. 

On Saturday, the 2nd April, we were to have quitted 
Valencia, but the report of the state of the roads was 
not favorable, therefore we deferred till Sunday ; but 
unluckily I received such a severe blow on my head in 
going under a low doorway out of the garden of a Fran- 
ciscan convent, that I was ill and obliged to lie in bed. 
However on Monday, at about two o'clock, we bid adieu 
to the glowing and luxuriant beauties of Valencia. 
We went round the town to the Puerta San Vincente 
and then took the high Madrid road. Nothing could 

1 Labourer. J Sandals made of hemp. 

D 2 



36 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ap rii 

exceed the beauty and gaiety of the scene ; the labourers 
were busily and numerously employed in their fields 
harrowing, or rather laying the soil flat and even, after 
ploughing. This they do by means of a broad, flat 
board, upon which sometimes one man and sometimes 
two stood and are pulled on by the horse ; whether this 
mode is better than the large common roller used in 
France and England, I know not. The peasants in 
their dress recall the memory of their Moorish ancestors, 
their garb being so entirely Asiatic ; flowing white 
dresses, and white handkerchiefs bound round their 
heads like a sort of turban. The trees were green in 
the avenue on each side the road. 

Tuesday, April $th. — Dined at Venta del Rey, a 
spacious and princely fabric ; 600 horses, mules, &c, 
can be accommodated in the stables. The rooms are good, 
but there, as in all Spanish inns, when asked what they 
have to eat, the answer is, ' What yourselves have 
brought.' Passed at the foot of Montesa, destroyed by 
earthquake in 1748 ; the ruins of castle and convent 
appear well upon the hill. After repeated and violent 
rains, the mountain shook ; vibrations in the North 
and S. direction. After some severe shocks the whole 
edifice fell and a cloud of dust arose, which announced 
this calamity to the neighbourhood. The confusion 
was greater in the church, as mass was celebrating, 
four priests and seven novices were crushed. Other 
individuals of the community also perished who were 
not in the church. Several villages, convents, and 
hermitages in the adjoining mts. were destroyed. The 
inhabitants deserted towns and lived in ye open fields, 
suffering great distress from the heavy rains and want 
of food. The shocks were renewed, and anxiety lasted 
for eighteen months. Slight shocks occasionally felt to 
this day in the neighbouring mts. Slept at Mogente, 



i8o 3 ] THE MESTA 37 

a magnificent inn built by the Marques de la Romana ; 
immense corridors, terraces, &c, quite superb and ex- 
cellent as far as depended upon the architect. 

Alicant, Good Friday, April 8th, 1803. — Received 
a noble present from Prince Pio, of flowers, strawberries, 
oranges, old and scarce wine, and an immense parmesan 
cheese. A present worth altogether, at the least, 30 
louis d'or. He is father of Benifayo and Valcarcel, and 
son of a Psse. Pio, herself a mighty Grandee Castel 
Rodrigo. She fell in love with Valcarcel, a Milanese, 
and to a degree disgraced herself by marrying him. 1 
Met with very great civilities from everybody, Governor, 
Spanish nobles, and English merchants. 

Besides the mayorazgo z and various other bad 
institutions, one of the greatest remoras 3 against the 
advancement of Spain is the mesta* a code of laws 
which grant almost unlimited privileges to a company 
who possess the merino flocks. The code is called 
zuaderno. The mesta is composed of powerful persons 
and ecclesiastical bodies. They prevent the purchase 
of land for tillage ; all lands in tillage without licence 
since 1590 to be laid into pasture. Their flocks range 
uncontrolled all over the Kingdom. If what ye French 
agriculturalists assert should be true, Spain may still 
keep its excellence in wool, and not destroy and check 
husbandry. They maintain that the extensive sheep- 
walks in no way contribute to the fineness of the wool, 
and that the fleeces of Rambouillet from a Spanish flock 



1 Da. Isabel Maria Pio de Saboya y Moura married Don Antonio 
Valcarcel Perez Pastor. Their eldest son was Don Antonio Valcarcel 
Pio de Saboya y Moura, who had two sons. 

2 Entail. 3 Hindrance. 

4 The mesta was abolished in 1836, as prejudicial to cultivation, 
and the travelling flocks which before had been allowed to be pastured 
on land bordering the routes by which they travelled, are now obliged 
to keep to the roads. 



38 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

vie with those of Segovia, and those sheep never 
travel. 

Tuesday, April 12th. — Left Alicant for Murcia, and 
slept at Elche, distant five leagues. The Lord paramount 
is the Count of Altimira, about whom there is a current 
anecdote. He is remarkable for the lowness of his stature, 
and the greatness of his family. He unites seven som- 
breros, 1 seven grandesses, &c. The King rallied him 
for being ' muy pequeho,' 2 upon which he replied that 
at Court he was so, but in his states he was ' muy 
grande.' The palace is situated upon the banks of a 
deep torrent, and denotes its great antiquity by its 
gloomy, massy style. It now serves as a prison. People 
seemed obliging ; upon perceiving we were strangers, they 
readily offered to show us the way through the street, even 
the women (who are the most troublesome to foreigners) 
were civil. Posada spacious. Sent for musicians who 
played boleros, seguidillas, and ye fandango, which 
some of the townspeople came and danced. They did 
not do it with their usual spirit, as the women were 
offended at the want of arreglamiento , 3 that is there was 
no master of the ceremonies and the men (our servants, 
&c.) went to the side of the room which Spanish etiquette 
devotes solely to their use and they were requested to 
dance, whereas they select their partners, — a remnant of 
the acknowledged sovereignty of the sex. 

About 10 set off to Orihuela. Convents prettily, 
judiciously, and profitably placed. Women remarkably 
pretty, men healthy and robust ; numbers either blind 
or almost so from violent inflammation on the eye- 
lids, a disease very common throughout Spain and 
ascribed to the small-pox. Indeed out of a hundred, 
one may almost assert that 10 are either totally blind, 

1 Those privileged to remain covered in the King's presence. 

2 Very small. 3 Arrangement. 



i8o 3 ] MURCIA 39 

or blinded of one eye, owing to the ravages of that 
baneful distemper. I am very much pleased at finding 
that the vaccine has gained, even in the country ; the 
priests rather advise it in preference to incurring the 
risk of the other contagion. At Callosa symptoms of 
super-abundant loyalty, as at the two ends are columns 
with busts and medallions de los Reyes, that is of the 
King and Queen. In the evening conversed much with 
an Alicant gentleman, who, like the rest of the Spaniards 
who are at all enlightened, was full of complaint against 
the Govert. and the disgraceful situation of his country. 

Thursday, April 14th, Orihuela. — The Governor, Don 
Juan Cartas, called to offer his services. Man of gentle- 
manlike appearance and manners, formerly a garde du 
corps. Seemed vain of his governt. and of the improve- 
ments he had made in it. 

Reached Murcia about four. Up the river is a sort of 
levee to prevent inundations ; it is laid out like a garden 
and makes a very beautiful public walk of considerable 
length. The convent into which Count Florida Blanca 1 ** 
has retired looks upon this walk. On opposite side of 
the town there is also another walk or alameda. In 
the evening the Messrs. Valence, merchants, came and 
offered their services ; very civil. The Inquisition at 
Murcia is the most vigilant and severe. The gloomy 
walls had been gaily trimmed out for the King's journey. 
I had great hopes of seeing the prisons and the salle in 
which the torture is inflicted. 

Friday, April 15th. Murcia. — Don Josef Usero, Baron 

1 Don Jose Monifio, Conde de Florida-Blanca (1728-1808), the 
celebrated Spanish statesman. He was for many years chief minister 
under Charles III, and for three years under his successor, Charles IV. 
He was closely connected with those numerous reforms which made 
the former reign of such importance in the history of the country. 
When dismissed he was imprisoned at Pampeluna, but was liberated 
and allowed to retire to his estates. 



40 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ap rii 

d'Albalat's 1 agent, who had received orders to prepare 
a house for our reception [and was] not aware of our 
arrival till he met M. Valence who drew him forth to 
pay his respects to us, amused me much by the real 
agony he suffered at appearing before me in his common 
garb ; we could extract nothing from him but his lamen- 
tations at such a misfortune. He said it would cost him 
two bleedings. We all went to the Cathedral, a large 
pile of Gothic building. The high altar, though over- 
loaded with ornaments and those not in the purest taste, 
is altogether striking. 

Saturday, April 16th, Murcia. — Our friend Don Josef 
had acceded to my petition to see the cells and chamber 
of torture, &c, in the Inquisition, and accordingly we 
set out, he having previously objected to any person 
accompanying us, but I contrived to engage him to 
allow Mr. Allen. We sat some time in an office where 
clerks were busily employed ; the room was lined with 
presses on which were written Secuestracion. The. 
senors of the holy office were sitting, and till they broke 
up we could not go. When I saw so many persons 
stirring, passing through and fro, I augured ill of our 
mysterious expedition, and true enough we saw nothing, 
for when the council broke up, we were ushered into 
the Hall or Tribunal which was fitted up exactly like 
the one at Barcelona, hung with crimson velvet, crucifix, 
&c. In the Sacristy they showed us a San Benito, 
the yellow and scarlet dress thrown over the accused 
person ; also a pasteboard cap with paintings of serpents, 
scorpions, devils vomiting out flames, &c. Also an irom 
instrument like a visor which is put upon the face and 
thrusts into the mouth an iron which pinches the tongue, 
that is the mild punishment for blasphemy. The rest, 
or rather the whole of the interior, we did not see, but 

1 Saavedra. 



l8o3 ] FLORIDA BLANCA 41 

Don Josef promised to exert himself for a midnight 
expedition. 

Great civilities from P. Monteforte, who lent us his 
carriage and offered his services, and regretted that 
being en retraite prevented his showing us the distinction 
he was disposed to do. He is an Italian, a Grandee of 
Spain, formerly Captain-General of Valencia, now not 
in favor at Court. Walked upon the dyke, close to 
which is the convent chosen by F. Blanca for his retreat ; 
whether from devotion or hypocrisy one does not feel 
an increased admiration for him from his choice. We 
had a letter to see him, but he was in the country at his 
villa some leagues off ; there was a rumour of his going', 
to Etruria to assist the King in a task he is so unfit 
for from his health, that of governing the once happy 
Tuscans. We heard no more of Don Josef or the In- 
quisition ; went early to bed in order to be off betimes, 
but some very pretty music made by clarinets and 
guitars, and singing and seguidillas under my window 
at two o'clock, made us conclude that Don Josef, to 
compensate for the Inquisition, had favored me with 
a serenade. 

Carthagena, Monday, 18th. — Temperature of atmo- 
sphere very variable ; hot, windy, damp, cold, frequently 
in the course of the same day. To the East a large salt 
marsh which has lately been drained, but not sufficiently 
to prevent epidemical fevers in summer and autumn ; 
the place appears pestilential, and will excite no regret 
when the moment of departure shall arrive. 

Tuesday. — Several visits. One from Mde. Cabarrus's 
sister, a noisy vulgar little woman, very unlike her sister : 
and Don Juan Kindelan ' (a person whose name we 
mistook for Caumartin ; he dined with us at Sarria). 

1 An Irishman, who was appointed by the Spanish Government in 
1807 Inspector-General of foreign troops. 



42 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ap rii 

He is very gentlemanlike and pleasing in his manner, 
full of information, and if the Spanish Governt. know 
their own interests he will be employed in some high 
situation, as he will acquit himself in a distinguished 
manner, I doubt not, in any employment he may under- 
take. Governor offered his box, and apprised us there 
was one always at our service at theatre. Went. The 
subject of piece was an English story ; the chief character 
was Lord Roast-beef. His part was pathetic, and his 
mistress makes tender appeals to his fine feelings, ' Oh 
Rossbif ' ! ! The bolero was delightfully danced. This 
is the country where it is executed in perfection ; it 
was invented about 30 years ago by a Murcian of the 
name of Bolero, whose fame is thus celebrated by giving 
his name to the most popular dance in the kingdom, 
one which has destroyed the fandango. 

Carthagena, Wednesday, 20th. — Not well, which made 
me stay at home. D. Juan Kindelan dined with us. 
Confirmed in our liking to him. We got the bolero danced 
at the theatre for us ; it is only done 3 times a week, 
unless ordered by Governor. The play was the Dama 
Ducnde, of Calderon, a piece full of intrigue and one of 
his best. 

Lorca, Friday, 22nd. — The ravages done by the 
bursting of the pantano l are very great ; the number 
computed to have perished was between 9 and 10,000 
souls. The whole of the faubourg in which our inn stood 
was swept away ; reparations were going on in the 
house in consequence of the destruction. The pantano 
was considerably larger than the one at Alicant ; it was 
constructed about 6 years ago by order of the Court. 
The king advanced 12 millions of reaux towards the 

1 The pantano, or reservoir, of Lorca was commenced by a private 
company in 1755, but was only filled for the first time in February 
1802, and gave way 2 months later. Lorca again suffered severely 
from inundations in 1879. 



lS o 3 ] FLOODS AT LORCA 43 

enterprize ; the scheme was good, as it was to supply 
the secano 1 of many thousand acres with the means 
of becoming fertile, but the persons, for whose benefit 
it was proposed, objected, from an apprehension of the 
very disaster that occurred. Many remonstrated and in 
petitioning gave their reasons, all founded upon the 
nature of the soil and local objections. Several of the 
persons who objected were punished by imprisonment. 
Roblas, the engineer, had powerful friends, Ministers 
were misled, and the project adopted. The consequences 
were unfortunately such as were expected. The wall 
which supported the body of water yielded, and a mass 
that required a basin two leagues deep in length and 
1 and J wide rushed down upon the country, sweeping 
everything before it — 900 houses in the suburb of Lorca. 
The height of current about 40 feet ; width depended 
upon channel. The whole country was strewed with 
dead bodies, planks, tables, chairs, &c, &c. The 
labourers were chiefly out employed in the fields ; the 
women and children were the greatest sufferers in the 
town. 900 were buried in the ruins. One large house 
built upon the edge of the torrent, was constructed with 
such solidity with -pierre de faille that the people fled to 
it as to a sure refuge ; it is reported that it was carried 
above five hundred yards entire, and then cracked, yielding 
up its contents to the number of 160 persons. We were 
told at Murcia that the effect was so violent that the 
church bells were rung, and every token of great alarm 
demonstrated ; the waters of Segura rose above the 
bridge and the Alameda was inundated to the height 
of 16 feet. This calamity happened just a year ago, 
on the 30th April, 1802. Besides this loss in the town 
of Lorca, the inhabitants of the country of course suffered, 

1 Arable land. 



44 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

as the impetuosity of the waters drove everything before 
them for many leagues. 

In imitation of our subscriptions in England for the 
relief of individuals distressed by any great calamity, 
one was set on foot for the sufferers at Lorca ; large 
sums were subscribed, but the money remains at Madrid 
and has not yet been distributed among those who stand 
much in need of such assistance. Indemnifications have 
been granted to many proprietors ; at least, I know 
Baron d'Albalat, who had a property between Lorca and 
Murcia, was amply indemnified, altho' he did not lose 
a crown by the pantano. Yet he acecpted it with a 
clear conscience, as he had been long ago applying for 
an indemnification for the losses he had sustained during 
the revolt in Valencia, and had not the most remote 
chance of obtaining anything. Therefore he availed 
himself of this compensation, altho' the distributive 
justice of the Governt. was not to be admired in the 
proceeding. 

Lorca, April 23rd. — In consequence of the sale of 
church lands the number of priests have visibly dimin- 
ished, for during the war the King ordered the sale of 
ecclesiastical property, whether parish church possessions 
or convent lands. By this law much property has been 
alienated and the incumbents rely for payment upon the 
good faith of the Governt., as they are upon a footing 
with our stock holders, receiving the vales l at about 
the rate of five pr. cent, on the purchase money. These 
lands, as far as we could learn at Valencia and elsewhere, 
were private endowments to churches and ecclesiastical 
communities not composed of friars. Don Josef Usero, 
of Murcia, had purchased several lots of these lands. 
The King, they say, makes the Revolution in Spain, 
the people in France. If this saying is just, it is paying 

1 Bonds. 



,8o 3 ] DUCHESS OF ALBA 45 

a high compliment to the Governt., because if it is 
disposed to correct abuses and ameliorate the laws, &c, 
the people will not feel disposed to mend themselves 
a la francaise. The crying evil is the immense number 
of priests, friars, &c. ; if the Papal Bull is made use 
of with discretion, great benefit will accrue from it. 

The day's journey on April 24 took them as far as Velez 
el Rubio. Crossing the high ground which they had to 
pass the atmospheric conditions were very different from what 
they had been accustomed. ' Having felt so hot the preceding 
day, I improvidently diminished my quantity of clothing, 
but the keen air down the barrancas 1 from the high snow 
mountains made me repent sorely my legerete.' 

The posada at Velez el Rubio is externally very 
magnificent, the inside without any recommendation or 
comfort but space ; the furniture did not diminish that. 
The Duquesa of Alba built it, the estate being hers. 
She was the representative of the great family of Los 
Velez and was married, at a very early age, to her relation 
the D. of Alba. 2 The estates thus reunited were again 
divided from her failure of issue. She died last summer, 
supposed to have been poisoned ; her physician and 
some confidential attendants are imprisoned, and her 
estates sequestered during their trial, but by whom and 
for what reason the dose was administered, remains as 
yet unknown. She was very beautiful, popular, and' 
by attracting the best society was an object of jealousy 
to one who is all-powerful. But of this story heard 
imperfectly from Psse. Sta. Croce and Mr. Merry 3 whilst 

1 Ravines. 

2 Lady Holland's account of the Duquesa's parentage is incorrect. 
Da. Maria del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Alvarez de Toledo was 
XIII Duquesa de Alba de Tormes in her own right, being daughter 
of D. Francisco de Paula, who predeceased his father, XII Duque de 
Alba. She married, in 1773, D. Jose Alvarez de Toledo, XI Marques de 
Villafranca, the representative of the Los Velez family ; and died 
in 1802. 

:1 The British Ambassador in Paris. 



46 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ap rii 

I was at Paris, I shall say no more for the present till 
I hear more certain particulars at Madrid. 

Monday, 25th. Velez el Rubio. — As we approached 
Andalusia, we observe asses and horses chiefly used for 
draught and burden. They plough with the former, 
tho' in the huerta of Velez oxen were used ; through 
the huerta the country is cheerful and well cultivated, 
the road excellent, broad, and well made. About a 
league before Chirivel we got into a barranca or ravine, 
barren except in spots. The posada which we had been 
told was execrable, we found very decent ; indeed, 
hitherto the difficulties have been exaggerated beyond all 
belief, both as to the state of roads and accommodations. 
The inns are chiefly kept by Frenchmen or gipsies ; 
people of the country (especially as we approach An- 
dalusia) look upon innkeeping as a degrading occupation. 
The Frenchmen are generally Savoyards, vagrant tinkers, 
for all the tinkering work is done by those itinerant 
chaudronniers ; many have forgotten the little bad 
French they once knew, and have not acquired good 
Spanish in exchange. Since we have quitted Valencia 
we have met above fifty of that trade laden with pots, 
pans, and tinkering implements — all French. Strange 
life! 

Thursday, 28th. — When we got near Iznalloz, met 
by a messenger dispatched from our banker, Dandeya, 
apprising us that in consequence of introductions from 
the D. de la Vauguyon, who had ordered his house to be 
prepared for us, he had arranged that we should go 
thither in preference to the inn as we had ordered. 
Much delighted at this intelligence, and pleased by the 
extreme civility and consideration of the Vauguyons. 
Iznalloz is a wretched place. 

Friday, 29th. Granada. — Every hour that delayed 
reaching this far famed city seemed double, and as upon 



1803] GRANADA 47 

these occasions one always meets with some untoward 
accident to retard one, so did we on this, for in the midst 
of a deep slough the coach broke in several parts ; the 
whole road most abominably rugged. Met in the vega 1 
Messrs. Dandeya ct fils who came out to meet us. First 
view of town pretty and romantic. I can say nothing 
yet, the whole being a confused mass in my mind of 
singular, irregular beauties. Our house is delightful ; 
a double court, in each of which we have fountains which 
play constantly ; apartments excellent. As soon as I 
had dined I wished to see the Alhambra, but that was 
impossible, not having the permission and owing to the 
lateness of the hour. 

Our house is situated at the extremity of the town 
on the banks of ye Darro. Opposite to my window 
I see the fortress and palace of the Alhambra, which is 
placed upon a steep hill the sides of which are covered 
with delightful trees now putting forth their luxuriant 
foliage. The moon shone very bright, and just after the 
Angelas, being near the Cathedral, I could not resist 
going into it. The feeble rays from the lamps burning 
before the altars, made the building appear magnificent. 
Got the portraits of Ferdinand and Isabella well cleared 
of the cobwebs that I might distinguish their features. 

Sunday, 1st May. — From the Plaza Nueva, where 
there is a magnificent palace for the Captain-General, 
one ascends the Calle de los Gomerez, a quarter belonging 
to a great Moorish family of that name, at the extremity 
of which there is a large gateway, under which one passes 
to get into the precincts of the Alhambra 

Hieronymites. 2 — A convent and college founded by 

1 Plain. 

2 The Convent of San Geronimo is now used as a cavalry barracks. 
Gonzalo's sword was carried off by Sebastiani's soldiers, who desecrated 
the church and stripped it of much of the woodwork. 



48 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

Gonzalo de Cordova, ' El Gran Capitan ' y Duque de Sessa. 
The church is crowded with tawdry decorations, walls 
well painted in fresco by Palmerino, 1 a pupil of Luca 
Giordano's. In a small chapel there is a carving in 
wood remarkably good ; it is also estimable for having 
belonged to the private oratory of Gonzalo. On each 
side of the high altar are kneeling figures of Gonzalo 
and his wife ; his real sword is placed in a picture repre- 
senting the Pope giving it to him. The high altar is 
loaded with well carved and well painted images, one by 
a disciple of Verruguete. One cannot but regret that so 
much time and talent should have been thrown away 
upon such trivial and paltry subjects. Most conventual 
churches in Spain are disfigured by the manner in which 
the choir is placed for the monks, instead of being in 
the centre, which is also ugly but does not destroy the 
vaisseau of the church so much. A third of the space 
is taken off at about 20 feet from the pavement, so one 
enters under a heavy low ceiling, which adds to the 
darkness of the church. 

XWent to Sitio de Roma, a Royal sitio distant about 
2 leagues. It was originally a hunting seat of Charles V, 
who stocked it with pheasants, then and now a rarity 
in Spain ; General Wall pulled down the palace and 
built the present small but commodious house. It is 
now a possession of the Prince of Peace, who is accused 
of neglecting it most sadly. The chief and sole beauty 
consists in the fine woods and springs, the drives through 
which are delicious ; the birds sing with unusual melody. 
The Xenil and other streams run through it. We dined 
there, and returned rather late to Granada. Mde. 
Bendicho gave me a ball that I might see the tana and 
guaracha danced in perfection. Mile. Ortiz did honor to 

1 Palomino de Castro y Velasco (1653-1726), the friend and rival 
of Luca Giordano, not his pupil. 



1803] OSUNA 49 

the compositions, I never saw a more bewitching com- 
pound of grace, beauty, and modesty. M. (sic) Azanza, 1 
Vice-roy of Mexico, very civil, in exile : Valdes, locum- 
tenens for Captain-General, the Intendente and his wife, 
besides others whose names I have forgotten. 

On the 9th of May we left Granada. 

12th May, 1803. — Met just before Osuna a thoroughly 
Spanish equipage, four fine mules carrying a fat lady and 
attendants out to tomar el sol. 2 Osuna is a large, well- 
built, clean, and cheerful town ; houses seemed com- 
fortable, small antesalas well lighted before the inner door. 
The Senor, or Lord, is the Duke of Osuna. Giron, Conde 
Ureha, the unfortunate Viceroy of Naples involved in 
the disgrace of the Duque de Uceda, after languishing 
in a prison for years, died before he could even obtain 
a hearing in 1624. He is immortalized by Quevedo in 
a sonnet written upon his death. The present Duchess 
of Osuna is a person of greater importance than the 
Duque ; she is Dss. of Gandia, Countess of Benavente, 
and now has inherited great part of the Alba property. 3 

13th May. — Dined at Puebla de Osuna, clean posada ; 
in courtyard heaps of roots of palmito for burning. We 
there saw a man who had been robbed by 4 men on 
horseback in the forest through which we were to pass 
to Arahal. After being on the alert for about a league, 

1 Don Miguel Jose Azanza (i 746-1 826). He was appointed War 
Minister in 1793, but was sent to Mexico as Viceroy three years later. 
He returned in 1799, and lived in retirement until 1808. He accepted 
high office under Joseph Bonaparte, and spent the rest of his life in 
France. 

2 To take the sun. 

3 D. Pedro Tellez Giron, IX Duque de Osuna (1755-1807) married, 
in 1 771, Da. Maria Josefa Pimentel, XII Duquesa de Benavente. She 
has been described as the greatest Spanish lady of her time. She was 
only daughter of D. Francisco de Borja Pimentel, Conde y Duque 
de Benavente y Duque de Gandia, and died in 1834 at the age of 82. 

Osuna, the Viceroy of Naples, was imprisoned with Uceda, son of the 
Duque de Lerma, at Philip Ill's death in 1621, by the Conde Duque de 
Olivares, who had obtained the ascendancy, 

E 



50 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [M ay 

we perceived, under the shade of a large tree, a man 
well mounted and well armed, sitting on his horse as 
if he were watching for prey on the road to give notice 
to the remainder of his troop. I confess I was for 
about ten minutes most seriously terrified, even Ld. Hd. 
thought his appearance whimsical ; however we passed 
unmolested, tho' not unnoticed. Saw many storks and 
other large birds, bustards, kites, &c. Droves of fine 
horses, and herds of bulls and cows as wild as the winds. 
The method of driving the bull is singular and dexterous. 
A man, well mounted, holds a long pole 20 feet at least 
in length, which he places horizontally across himself, 
balancing the weight by one hand, whilst with the other 
he guides his horse which goes at full speed ; the bulls 
fly at his approach, and, what appears strange, he has 
the faculty of impelling them whither he pleases. I 
was gratified at seeing what I had heard described, at 
least I conclude the method is the same as that used 
at Buenos Ayres. Indeed as the Spaniards are the 
hunters, and those Spaniards probably from the province 
of Andalusia, it is not an unfair supposition, for till the 
trade was made free to America, Cadiz and St. Lucar 
were the only ports which could trade to America, and 
most probably the adventurers were of this province. 
The picadores in the bull feasts are merely the huntsmen 
of the wild herds in the woods. 

15th May. — Heavy clouds, weather threatened a 
change. Approach to Xerez very cheerful ; gardens 
well cropped and trimly kept. Met 126 asses laden 
with hard dollars going to the Royal Treasury at Madrid ; 
the first ass carried a flag upon his head with the arms 
of the Crown. They were escorted by a small body 
of soldiers. Heavy rain at Xerez. Mr. Gordon ! came 

1 Probably the same Mr. Gordon, ' an English wine merchant,' 
mentioned in Lord Broughton's Recollections (vol. ii. 11). 



i8o 3 ] CADIZ 51 

out to meet us on the road, extremely civil. Went to 
play, where the bolero was well danced. He is a cousin 
of poor Don Roberto Gordon, who died here about two 
years ago ; his wife is a very pleasing woman, a Spaniard. 
His daughter is just returned from England ; she was 
educated in a Catholic convent at York. 

16th May, Xerez. — Heard from Don Jacobo Gordon, 
that news by express had reached Cadiz, announcing 
that war was declared between England and France. 
One of the messengers was a French courier du Cabinet, 
the other a Spanish one sent from the commercial agent 
at Madrid to the Consulado at Cadiz. 1 Most unfortunate 
news for England. 

zyth May, Cadiz. — The stir and animation of Cadiz is 
very cheerful ; it is the best paved, lighted, built, and 
cleanest town that can be seen. The fiosada very good. 
On our arrival, Mr. Duff, the English Consul, sent his 
partner Mr. Archdeacon, with all civilities ; he himself 
indisposed in consequence of news which however is 
not yet decisive, the alarm being greater than the facts 
warrant. Mr. Gordon of Xerez came to meet us during 
our stay. Visits from Messrs. Murphy and Marques of 
Villa Vicencio 2 (son of Duque de San Lorenzo, hereditary 
Alcalde of Alcazar at Xerez). Mr. Duff procured us a 
carriage, always a difficult thing in Spain where none 
can be hired, and we went to the play. Theatre very 
good, performance and troupe inferior to Xerez ; all 
the ladies in the mantilla and say a 3 (the Andalusian word 



1 Lord Whitworth, the British Ambassador in Paris, received his 
passports on May 12. The declaration of war was followed, in accord- 
ance with the First Consul's orders, by the arrest of all the English 
then travelling or residing in France. 

2 D. Lorenzo Justino Fernandez de Villavicencio, son of D. Lorenzo 
Tadeo Fernandez de Villavicencio, fourth Marques de Valhermoso 
de Pozuela (created Duque de San Lorenzo in 1795)- 

3 Petticoat. 

E2 



52 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

for basquina). They are graceful and lively, very small, 
even less than French women. 

i$th May, Cadiz. — Went to the Hospicio, an estab- 
lishment of O'Reilly's. 1 The object is to prevent begging 
in the streets, feed and educate orphans, and maintain 
the decrepit and superannuated. An admirable in- 
stitution, (see account in Townsend) but unfortunately 
it is on the decline, the funds being too small for the 
expenditure. Drove about the ramparts, and saw with 
regret the decay of the magnificent rampart [?] made by 
O'Reilly against the encroachment of the sea. The 
Calle Ancha and the Plaza are very clean, and cheerful 
from the number of well-dressed people about. Mr. 
Duff, an excellent old man, as civil and attentive as 
possible. The alarm of an epidemical disease arose 
from five successive deaths in one house ; the Governor, 
who has been very strict since the plague, ordered a 
guard to be placed at the door to prevent all egress and 
ingress into the house. The disorder was such as is 
common in all large towns ; a tent full of military however 
occupy the part of street by his house. Mr. Gordon 
dined with us. Drove to the Alameda, which is full of all 
the beauty and grace of Cadiz. All in mantillas ; pretty 
as the women are, much of their beauty is owing to art, 
at least as far as complexion. Went to the play. Many 
expresses arrived to difft. merchants there ; mercantile 
speculations upon the purchase of the vales, &c. Post 
brought nothing decisive upon the great question. 

igth, Thursday, Cadiz. — Not being well, stayed at 
home not to disappoint the good Mr. Duff, with whom 
I had promised to dine, and who had accordingly arranged 
a party. His house is charming ; he commands a view 

1 Count Alexander O'Reilly (1725-1794), an Irishman, who rose to the 
rank of general in the Spanish Army. 

This building is now called the Casa de Misericordia. It still 
carries on the good work for which it was founded. 



i8o 3 ] MR. DUFF 53 

of the bay, el puerto, and under his window, the ramparts. 
The party consisted of himself, ourselves, Mr. Gordon, 
Mr. Archdeacon, Mr. Richards, Mr. Malcolm, Mr. White, 
and several others, all clerks or partners. Out of com- 
pliment to Ld. H. he drank Ld. Lansdown's health ; I 
begged to add Ld. Henry Petty's name. He keeps up 
sthe old, exploded English custom of toasts. His deport- 
ment and character reminds me of the British merchant 
of a century back, Mr. Andrew Freeport, 1 etc. Went to 
the play. 

The party returned to Xeres on the 21st. 

22nd, Sunday. — Drove to Mr. Gordon's stables, who 
has a fine breed of the handsome horses of this country ; 
he is a considerable farmer, which enables him to keep 
many and find employment for them. Dined at his 
house, a handsome establishment ; his cellars are much 
larger than the public one at Hamburg. They are 
built in circles, like a church. The center is lofty, full 
fifty feet. We went to see a large still- work for brandies ; 
they only employ the wine of an inferior quality, or those 
of a bad vintage, for raising into spirit. The dinner 
party consisted of the once celebrated beauty, Marquesa 
de Campo Real. She appears clever and entertaining, 
and for a Spanish woman well-informed ; she has no traces 
of her former beauty. Love for her detained the late Ld.\ 
Mountstuart 2 two years in Xerez, and but for the inter- 
ference of her husband and his father, he would have 
remained longer. An Abbe Gil 3 much praised for his 

1 Sir Andrew Freeport, a British merchant, one of the imaginary- 
characters of the club by which the Spectator was published. 

- John, Lord Mount Stuart (1767-1794), eldest son of John, fourth 
Earl and first Marquess of Bute. 

3 A Franciscan monk, native of Andalusia, born in 1747. He 
seems to have been a man of violent temper, which led him into extremes. 
fie was thrown into prison on account of the pamphlet here mentioned. 
He took a leading part in the early stages of the Peninsular War. 



54 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL pay 

erudition and wit ; at present in disgrace at Court, having 
been a friend of Malaspina, and being suspected of hand- 
ing about a libellous work called the Private Life of Maria 
Luisa, the Queen. Mr. Roberts, a Cadiz merchant, and 
several others whose names I do not recollect, Messrs. 
Mitchell, Turnbull, &c, clerks and partners. After dinner 
went to the Alameda. Women very pretty ; more men 
in capas 1 and monteras 3 than at Cadiz. The promenade 
always ends at the Angelus, which is sung at sunset ; it 
always produces a pretty effect in a full walk, the sudden 
pause and momentary devotion. Time is given to say an 
Ave and a Pater. I like this general humiliation ; at 
that precise moment every town in Spain is employed 
in paying this homage to a person they revere. The 
benediction at Rome, once announced to the whole 
Christian world at the same moment, was a grand idea 
and filled the mind with something supreme and awful. 
Soon after, went to the theatre, where a play was given 
at my request, Don Sancho Ortiz de Roelas. 3 It is 
remarkably interesting, and, as I have described elsewhere, 
is full of excellent verses and fine sentiments. Estrella 
was well performed, well looked, and dressed. At no 
theatre have I yet seen the dresses handsomer ; the 
old Spanish costume is well preserved. The usual 
manner of approaching the King formerly (and even 
now on occasions of great ceremony), instead of bowing, 
is by making a courtesy, and the King sits to receive 
all petitions. The women's dresses are hats with feathers, 
petticoats with very short train, and gowns tucked up 
behind to make full puffs ; sleeves long. The men's, 
as we see in pictures and on our own stage ; all persons 



1 Cloaks. 2 A kind of cap made of cloth. 

3 A drama, written by Lope de Vega, under the name of La Estrella 
de Sevilla, but altered and adapted for theatrical representation by 
Trigu eros. 



l8o3 l MODE OF AGRICULTURE 55 

of high consequence have a cane with gold head, hat 
with feathers. Pretty bolero, good tonadilla, and sainete 
very amusing. Took leave of the Gordons, and thanked 
them sincerely for their cordial civilities. 

2/\th May, Xerez. — Called at half past two, that we 
might go off early and reach Seville. Set off 10 minutes 
before five. Can remain with tolerable pleasure till 
\ past 10 in the open carriage ; however hitherto the 
weather has not been as hot as I expected. Indeed both 
at Cadiz and Xerez the winds were keen, and Charles 
caught cold. Met many Montaneses 1 well mounted and 
equipped ; they come from the Asturias, where they 
leave their families, and settle for a year or two. They 
bring merchandise, which they sell, and keep shops — 
labour the Andalusians are not inclined to profit by. 
Fields of wheat yellow and ready for the sickle, begun 
near Cadiz already ; the agriculture of the country is 
shamefully neglected. One reason, besides the one 
usually assigned that of great indolence, may also have 
its effect, that of the labourers inhabiting the great 
towns and there being no villages. The field labour is 
done by the men who go out for three months in large 
parties with droves of cattle ; they reside either in 
wretched temporary hovels, called cortijos, or are lodged 
by the Administrador in the immense mansion called La 
Hacienda of the proprietor. In one field only, plough- 
ing all in a row, we counted 29 pair of oxen. Thus 
a ploughing match is quite an agricultural campaign, 
from the squadron employed against mother earth. 

We dined at Utrera, famed for the excellence of its 
bulls and skill of its picadores. The finest feat given 
when the Court came was at Utrera ; their best picador 
was killed in the affray. The taste for this national 

1 Inhabitants of the hills near Santander, 



56 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [M ay 

amusement had declined a few years back, but is now 
resumed with spirit. The fighters are less skilful than 
formerly, in consequence of a prohibition within these 
20 years to prevent the townspeople skirmishing with 
the bulls brought either for slaughter, &c, into the town. 
By so doing the men had opportunities of trying their 
own dexterity, and acquiring a knowledge of the character 
of difft. bulls. Now the champ de bataille is rehearsal 
and exhibition. I have heard that in this province 
many of the nobles go to obscure fights and try their 
abilities in the combat. Men and women have resumed 
the fashion of wearing the toro dresses, trajes, ma] as, and 
majos. 

25th. — We entered Seville by the Puerta de Xerez. 
The streets are extremely narrow, in many places our 
carriages could scarcely pass — a remnant of the customs 
of the Moors, whose towns are all built in that manner 
on acct. of heat which is more effectually excluded. 
The Posada del Sol, a very moderate one ; we were given 
a terrena apartment. Mr. Wiseman gave us the bad 
news of Ld. W. having left Paris on ye 13th. 

Our English letters, only come to the 6th, brought 
acct. of poor Conolly's death, 1 and also of Lady Harriet 
Hamilton, the beautiful and much-liked daughter of 
Ld. Abercorn ; she died of the complaint to which 
Charles is so frequently disposed, an inflammation 
of the membrane of the windpipe, a species of croup. 
In the evening we drove to the Cathedral, a magnifi- 
cent building, and to the Alameda, banks of Guadal- 
quiver, &c. The quay no longer exhibits the busy 
crowds which thronged upon it when all the wealth 



1 The Right Hon. Thomas Conolly (1738-1803), for many years a 
member of both the English and Irish Houses of Commons. He married, 
in 1758, Lady Louisa Lennox, daughter of Charles, second Duke of 
Richmond, Lord Holland's great-aunt. 



i8o 3 ] SEVILLE 57 

of America poured in, and Seville was the best mart in 
Europe. 1 

26th, Seville, Thursday. — Don Francisco Bruna ~ to 
whom we had a letter from General Valdes, called and 
offered every civility. He is an old man near 90, but 
in possession of his spirit and faculties. We went to see 
the Alcazar, the old palace of the Moors, of which our 
friend Don Francisco is the Alcalde. ... As Don 
Francisco, who has a taste for the arts, has established 
an Academy of which he is the President, he did /aire 
grace of the most insignificant object, and the illegible 
inscriptions were the attractions of his fondest notice. 
Two fine pictures by Murillo were copying, that the^ 
originals might be removed to Madrid ; 3 the Court have 
everywhere stripped the provincial cities of their capital 
pictures. The subject of one was, ' The Return of the 
Prodigal Son ' ; the other, ' The Visit of the 3 angels 
to Abraham.' The first is the best composition. 

The Prince of Peace has made his brother-in-law, 
Marques of Fuente Blanca, Asi stent e de Sevilla,^ the same 
post as Olavide 5 had during his favor; he is rapacious, 
and she is generally disliked. As they were absent, we 
saw their apartments, which are very pleasant ; they 
look over the gardens, and command a view over buildings 



1 It is of interest to note that owing to dredging operations, which 
have made it possible for fairly large vessels to come up the river, 
Seville has now again taken its place as a commercial port, to the 
detriment of the interests of Cadiz. 

2 Joseph Townsend in his Journey through Spain mentions Don 
Francisco de Bruna as having a thorough knowledge of the pictures 
in Seville, and as possessing himself an interesting collection. 

3 Both these pictures are now at Stafford House. See p. 265. 

4 Da. Ramona Godoy, the youngest sister of the Prince of the 
Peace, married D. Manuel Moreno, Conde de Fuente Blanca. 

The post mentioned was that of chief officer of Justice in Seville. 

5 Pablo Antonio Olavide, Conde de Pilos (1725-1803), one of 
Charles Ill's ministers, and a leading participator in his schemes of 
reform until disgraced in 1776. 



58 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [M ay 

to the plain. Philip V resided in these apartments atl 
the time he hesitated whether he should make it his 
capital, and desert Madrid. His chief amusement was to 
angle by torchlight in the reservoir for tench ; previous 
to beginning this sport he asked one of his attendants 
whether he thought they should catch anything that 
night, who replied that he was persuaded they were sure 
of catching a pain in their side. 

Don Francisco conducted us to the gardens of the 
Alcazar, where he had previously given orders that the 
waterworks should be played. The gardens are preserved 
in the Moorish style ; one part is precisely as at the 
Conquest, clipped hedges of myrtle and devices cut upon 
them. Another part was laid out by Don Pedro ; rows of 
myrtle warriors, giants, and ladies with wooden heads 
and arms, carrying in their hands swords, clubs, musical 
instruments, &c. Farther on is the garden of Charles V, 
with a pavilion for refreshments, a delicious spot. The 
whole garden is full of jets d'eau, cascades, fountains, 
and water tricks and devices. I was to the full as much 
pleased with these hanging gardens as Charles or any 
child could be. The English taste for simplicity and 
nature, which places a house in the midst of a grazing 
field where the sheep din ba ba all day long, has, by 
offending me so much, perhaps driven me into the opposite 
extreme, and made me prefer to the nature of a grass field 
and round clump the built gardens of two centuries 
back. 

Friday, 2yth May, Seville. — Mr. Wiseman, 1 our banker, 
announced that a courier had come from Madrid to 

1 James Wiseman, father of Cardinal Wiseman (1802-1865), by 
his second wife Xaviera, daughter of Peter Strange, of Alwardston 
Castle, co. Kilkenny, whom he married in London in 1800. Mr. Wiseman 
was an Irish Catholic, who settled in Spain as a merchant, and died 
suddenly of apoplexy in 1804. His brother Patrick was also a partner 
in the business. 



i8o 3 ] THE AMERICAN ARCHIVES 59 

Cadiz in 49 hours, and that war had been declared at 
Paris on the 15th. Met Don Francisco at the Cathedral, 
where we again admired the pictures, and went, accom- 
panied by him, to the Lonja, or Casa de Mercaderes, 1 an 
insulated square building with equal facades of 200 feet 
in length each. From motives of piety it is not used 
by the merchants, it being deemed indecent to attend to 
mercantile concerns so near the high altar, it being close 
to the Cathedral. The staircase is very grand, wide, 
and of difft. colored polished marbles. The American 
archives, or as they are called de las Indias, are preserved 
in the neatest and most methodical manner ; three 
sides of the building are devoted to this deposit. These 
archives contain everything that concerns America 
from its conquest to the dispatches of this very year. 
Munoz ' 2 had free access to them, and, but for his untimely 
death, much curious matter would have been made 
public. It is a sad record of injustice and cruelty ! We 
could not see the original letter of Cortez, the person 
being absent who has the keys. 

The next sight we saw was the church of La Caridad, 
which contains several of the first pictures of Murillo. 
One pleased me extremely, ' Isabella washing the sores 
of the sick and poor ' ; 3 the meekness and benevolence 
of her countenance is well contrasted with the coarse 
complainings of the sufferers writhing from the anguish 
of their disease. The other pictures are, ' Moses striking 
the rock,' the ' Miracle of loaves and fishes.' The two 

1 The Exchange. 

2 The Spanish historian, who died in 1799, before he was able to 
finish his great work, a history of the New World. 

3 This picture is now in the Prado Gallery at Madrid. It represents 
St. Elizabeth of Hungary washing the beggars and sick people. Cean 
Bermudez in the Dictionario calls her St. Isabel of Portugal, but 
corrects it in his Carta. The picture was taken to France by Soult, 
but it was restored to Spain in 1815, and placed in the Academia de San 
Fernando at Madrid. 



60 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

I saw in the Alcazar were taken from here ; tolerable 
copies are substituted for them. Under the High Altar 
is a curious epitaph. It says that, ' A qui yace the bones 
and ashes of the worst man in all the world.' This 
humility proceeded either from an excess of vanity, 
madness, or morbid fear of the devil, as the person was 
the founder, always an ostentatious character, of this 
charity. 1 He endowed it during his life with all his 
worldly possessions, and finished his days as a pauper 
upon his own bounty. 

Drove out with Don Francisco, who is pleased at 
showing us his truly Spanish equipage, 6 mules, several 
servants, and a vehicle containing more timber than 
a small cutter. The walks by the river are laid out 
by Olavide ; they are very delightful, but fashion has 
renounced all their advantage, for instead of stopping 
by the side of a cool fountain under trees or near the 
river, all the carriages, after they have diiven about, 
assemble at the end of the bridge, where the smell of the 
raw hides and tallow is quite insufferable. The Alameda 
in the town is deserted ; it is, however, handsome, being 
adorned with fountains and alleys of high trees. 

Saturday, 28th. — The public notification from Ministers 
that the respective Ambassadors were to quit the country, 
is the first fact that makes the apprehension of war but 
too well founded. Drove out in the evening. Mr. 
Wiseman's brother came. They are completely Irish, 
Paddys (sic) of the grave sort ; this one has a sort of 
humour. 

Monday, 30th May. — The anniversary of the conquest 
of Seville by San Fernando. Received an invitation 
from the Maestranza to go in their box to see the funcion 
at the plaza this evening. We declined going into their 
box because, in honor of the Prince of Asturias, it is 

1 Don Miguel de Manara Vicentelo de Leca, a friend of Murillo. 



i8o 3 ] THE MAESTRANZA 61 

necessary to go in full dress ; we therefore shall go with 
Don Francisco. The Maestranza is an old institution, — \ 
the Cavaliers of a city or district whose personal attend- 
ance is required whenever the Sovereign goes in person 
to the army. At present it is a mere opportunity for 
showing off fine horses, their own skill in equitation, and 
giving balls and feasts to the ladies. They superintend 
all sports in the plaza, bulls, &c. The Prince of Asturias 
is the Hermano Mayor of the society. According to Don 
Francisco's advice I went in the traje espanola l instead 
of going en cuerpo ; the consequence was that when I 
arrived at the Circus, instead of going, as I expected, 
into a private box, he conducted me to the great one of 
the Maestranza where every woman was dressed to the 
utmost of her taste. To be sure ! I never felt more 
distressed, because I was the only one in the mantilla. 
However there was no choice, and Charles and I went in 
on condition of being allowed to sit as far from the front 
as I pleased. Spanish decorum excludes the men, there- 
fore I was thrust in among a herd of female Philistines ; 
they were, however, uncommonly civil and obliging. 
They are so little accustomed to foreigners, that they 
are disagreeable upon one point, that of language ; 
because out of civility to them when, instead of merely 
replying in French or Italian, I endeavoured to answer 
in Spanish, they shouted in boisterous mirth at any 
failure of the accent or pronunciation. They did not 
mean to offend me ; only a breach of good manners arising 
out of their neglected education. Twenty-four nobles, 
well mounted, performed various equestrian movements, 
and imitated the Gothic tournaments in their feats of 
dexterity. After bowing to the portrait of the Prince of 
Asturias, which occupies a whole box, the knights in 
succession run at full gallop with a spear to take off a knot 

1 Spanish costume. 



62 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

of ribbands from a branch, to carry off at the point of 
the lance the head of a Moor which is placed upon a post, 
to throw a dart into a shield, and lift upon a drawn 
sword the head of a Moor from the ground. These feats, 
done of course with more or less adroitness, occupied 
an hour and half. When over, we were invited to 
the house of the Hermano Mayor to beber— drink. 
Being in traje I could not go, notwithstanding the 
assurances to the contrary, but I persuaded Ld. H. to 
go. He described the meeting as a most formidable 
tertulia. I remained by the river, and enjoyed the air 
and moonlight. 

31st May. — The heat of our posada is insufferable. In 
consequence of Charles's illness, I gave up my cool 
apartment to exchange to one which is certainly dry, 
but so abominably hot that I can obtain no repose by 
night or day. The upper rooms in Seville are abandoned 
in summer. A moderate house has 4 or 5 courts, at 
least 2 in which are fountains. Tent or sail cloth is 
stretched over them during the day, which renders the 
whole mansion cool by excluding the sun. Went with 
Don Francisco to the convent of Franciscans ; * a most 
magnificent building. The cloisters are filled with fine 
paintings by Murillo. The patios are very spacious. 
The fraile 2 who conducted us, in compliment to Don 
Francisco and civility to me, showed more of the interior 
than is usual, and took us into the Refectory where 



1 This convent joined the Town hall, and occupied a vast space 
of ground centering on the present Plaza Nueva or Plaza de San 
Fernando. It was occupied by Soult's troops in 1810, and partially 
destroyed by fire. Little more than ruins remained when the French 
left the town two years later, and it was entirely demolished in 1840 
to make way for the present square and adjacent streets. 

Murillo was employed in 1645 to decorate the small cloister, and 
painted eleven pictures for it, seven of which were removed by the 
French. 

- Monk. 



l8o3 j A BULL FIGHT 63 

the lay brothers were employed in preparing the supper, 
dinner being already over at J- before 12. 

After dinner we set off to the plaza to see a bull feast. 
Don Francisco had contrived by sending an aposte (sic) 
to the box of the Maestranza where the gentlemen go, 
that Ld. Hd. should sit near me, as I really apprehended 
the possibility of being unwell from the sight of blood, 
altho' I went fully prepossessed [?] in favor of the national 
amusement. The sight of the circus filled to the last 
seats, the eagerness of the people, and a sort of formal 
solemnity in the preparations, is very striking. After 
the arena is cleared, which is done with dexterity by the 
military, both cavalry and infantry, who to a slow 
movement advance and hedge the mob to an exit from 
whence they are compelled to issue, the picador, or 
riding-master, of the Maestranza, escorted by 4 valets-de- 
pied, enters the arena ; and after an obsequious bow 
to the portrait of the Prince, requests of the Maestranza 
leave to begin the sports. The chief throws the keys 
from the balcony — the keys are of the stables of the bulls. 
Immediately 6 or 8 bander illeros, 4 picadores, 2 sets 
of mules of 3 each, richly harnessed and decorated with 
gaudy coloured ribbands, enter to the sound of martial 
music. They approach the box and make an obeisance 
first to the portrait, and afterwards to the Senores delta 
Maestranza. The banderilleros are equipped in the richest 
and most perfect Spanish costume, such as is used in 
dancing the bolero — gay coloured vest, &c, &c. The 
last fashion is a montera instead of the redecilla ; l over 
their arms they have different coloured manteaux. The 
picadores wear the large-brimmed, shallow white hat, 
leather breeches and gaiters, and a brown coloured vest, 
sash, &c. Their only weapon is a long lance with a short 

1 Silk hair-net. 



64 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

iron prong at the extremity ; with this frail defence they 
are to turn the fury of the bull. The mules, who are 
solely to convey off the vanquished from the field, with- 
draw ; the men arrange themselves to receive their 
impetuous adversary, whose entrance is proclaimed by 
the sound of the shrill trumpet and the opening of folding 
doors. The noble animal rushes in more surprised than 
irritated. On his back is a knot of ribbands ; the colours 
declare the district from whence he came. The picador 
excites the attack, which begins on the part of the bull 
by shutting his eyes and running with his head down to 
thrust his horns into the belly of the horse ; the skill 
of the horseman consists in turning the head of the 
animal by pushing the lance into his neck. If the aim 
then taken succeeds, the bull runs off smarting from the 
pain of the wound, which bleeds profusely ; if the lance- 
man fails, the horns run into the wretched horse, gore him, 
and frequently drag out his bowels. After the pic adores 
have exhausted his indignation against them at the 
expense of their horses' lives, and find he refuses to run 
any more, another species of torment is inflicted. The 
banderilleros on foot plague him by throwing their cloaks, 
at which he runs, and escape with agility over the paling 
which is more than 6 ft. high ; they then run full at him 
and with astonishing dexterity insert into his crest two 
darts covered with twisted paper. The animal then 
becomes perfectly frantic, and few hairbreadth escapes 
on the part of the men occupy the attention of the 
spectator for a short time. When the matador approaches, 
he draws his sword which he hides under his manteau and 
surveys the countenance of the bull. How he gave the 
blows I know not, because I carefully avoided looking, 
but soon after I perceived the bull vomiting blood, and 
his legs tottering from debility and finally sink down 
before his inhuman, barbarous opponent. Trumpets 



i8o 3 ] A BULL FIGHT 65 

sounded, the mules entered and dragged off from the 
scene of slaughter the fallen hero, merely to make room 
for another victim. The next was a harmless, good- 
tempered creature, more disposed to gambol than fight ; 
a contemptuous cry of ' Perros, Perros,' ' Dogs, Dogs,' 
showed the banderilleros what to do. Instead of merely 
inserting the darts, they had recourse to squibs and 
crackers to rouse the gentleness of the animal to rage. 
Disgusted with the scene, I withdrew for the second time. 
The fourth bull was from Utrera ; he was savage and 
required all the sagacity and dexterity of his foes. He 
gored the horses, one so much that nothing but brutal 
indifference both on the part of the rider and spectators 
could allow it to remain in the arena ; the bowels dragged 
on the ground. The bull at length received the blow, but 
he did not fall ; the strokes were repeated and as often 
failed. In short, no slaughter-house could have afforded 
more brutal attempts at destruction. His agonies, the 
horse ripped up and yet forced to face the combat, 
the hardened insensibility of the men, altogether so 
filled me with disgust, aversion, dislike, and anger, that 
I went away and left 5 bulls more to be slaughtered and 
3 horses. I wished myself all-powerful to inflict some 
punishment upon the picador who urged his half-dead 
animal to the fight, and from the bottom of my heart did 
I applaud and cry ' Viva toro/ when a man was thrown 
down by the animal. The only relief to my feelings is 
that the danger is danger now on the part of the men ; 
8 or 10 have been killed within these few years in Anda- 
lusia, and many elsewhere. The horses are the particular 
objects of my pity ; they are brought in merely to add 
their blood to the stream. They take no part in the 
combat, have no animosity, means of attack, or resistance. 
I drove in the alleys, nor could I prevail upon myself to 
return to see the fireworks, the closing part of the spectacle. 



66 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju ne 

The rage of the bull feasts is revived with double force ; 
the women sell to their shifts, and finally persons, to 
procure sufficient to obtain a seat. 2,000 horses are 
consumed annually ; about 6,000 bulls ! ! ! Went after- 
wards to Messrs. Wiseman ; Mrs. Wiseman is a female 
Paddy tambien. 1 Delightful house contains 6 patios and 
some admirably distributed apartments. The rent is only 
one duro per day, so fallen is the value of everything in 
this once celebrated city. 

Wednesday, June 1st, Seville. — Heat insufferable. 
Went to Santa Cruz 2 to see the picture by Campana, 
celebrated by the praises of Murillo, who used to pass 
hours daily in study before it, and who, to eternalize 
its fame ordered his own place of burial to be close under 
it. The subject is a ' Descent from the Cross,' the women 
mourning beneath ; the expression of the feelings is 
ill done, the details are well, but as a touching com- 
position it fails to me. 

From thence we went to Los Venerables, 2, an estab- 
lishment or rather asylum for superannuated priests. 
The patio is pretty, and the fountain in center is un- 
common. It is very large and circular, the basin is below 
the surface of the ground. Circular steps descend to 
the center of it, from whence water springs up. In the 
refectory, where many were at dinner, are two fine 
pictures by Murillo, one is ' Christ distributing bread,' 
the other is a portrait of the founder. The church 
contains more pictures by same master, but all in a 
difft. style one from the other. The ' Ascension of the 

1 Also. 

2 It is now over the altar in the Great Sacristy of the Cathedral. 
Santa Cruz was Murillo' s parish church, whence the picture was 
removed after it had been broken in pieces by some of Soult's troops 
in the destruction of the church. Murillo' s bones were scattered 
to the winds at the same time. 

3 Near the Calle de los Menores, close to the Alcazar. For further 
reference to the pictures, see p. 264. 



i8o 3 ] LOS VENERABLES 67 

Virgin,' for the excellence of composition and beauty 
of the groups pressing up the graceful, meek figure, 
pleased me much ; also a ' Christ upon the Cross,' a 
magnificent appearance of the total abandonment in 
which he is left. Met several Irish priests who talked 
what they intended to be English. 

In the evening at six, relying upon the moon, we set off 
6 leagues to Carmona. 

2nd June, Carmona. — We passed through a wooden 
plaza for the toros, small and square ; the size, however, 
is better calculated to please those who relish the sight 
of blood, as all the spectators may enjoy every agonizing 
writhing of the animals and not lose a sigh or gasp. 
I can easier comprehend the eagerness and enthusiasm 
inspired by an auto-da-fe. There passion is roused 
against the hardened infidel or stubborn heretic who 
either will not see the truth or who has lapsed from it; 
revenge is gratified whilst torments are inflicting. But 
the bull, the horse, what have they done ? At the same 
time I abhor the whining sensibility which has crept 
into the modern systems of education, when as much 
fine feeling is bestowed upon the sufferings of an earth- 
worm as upon those of a fellow creature. All that is 
puritanical cant and hypocrisy, and actually a mere cover 
to some bad design or injustice ; but there is a difference 
between sports. 

dpi June. — The walls of Cordova are old and have 
more the look of Roman than Moorish workmanship ; 
large gardens within make picturesque bits, and recall 
Italy from the mixture of building and foliage. Our 
Posada but indifferent, conveniently placed as it is exactly 
opposite one door of the Mezquita, which as soon as 
I could put on my mantilla, I went to see. The church 
is ill-kept, pavement broken up and bad ; I could almost 
fancy that in spite of the frequent pious lustrations the 

F2 



68 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL tJu ne 

prejudice against the purpose it formerly was applied to 
still subsisted, as the people pay no respect whatever to 
the sacredness of the place. Beggars are numerous, dogs 
lie about, and one filthy small cart was drawn through. 
The modern choir is respected, the beggars follow not 
with their importunities within that. It is fine ; the 
plan was Herrera's. 1 The custodia of richly wrought 
gold and silver in plaque work is, for the sort of thing, 
very handsome ; the whole of the altar plate is costly. 

We walked in the gardens which are delightful, 
abounding in luxuriant vegetation ; oranges in full 
blossom, and the lovely pomegranates in flower. A 
spring of fresh, clear water is conducted through the 
garden, and causes its fertility and adds to its beauty. 
The Royal hara (sic) is a spacious building. We saw. 
some fine fathers of families ; they are compelled to 
stand up, as their hind legs are fastened by a rope to 
a post which prevents their lying down. Some told 
us the fastening remained always, others that it was 
removed at night. Saw a ftiqueur and a young noble 
well mounted. The Spaniards are excellent, and at 
the same time graceful, horsemen. They admire a 
work upon equitation written by the Marquess of 
Newcastle, 3 the man of whose wife Ld. Orford gives 
a most entertainng account in his Lives of Noble 
Authors. 

Sunday, $th June. — Whilst carriages were getting 
ready I went to take another view of Cathedral. Vespers 
was performing ; the loud peal of the distant organ, the 
swell of the voices in chorus, then the murmurs of a 
part of the service, produced a wonderful effect, nor 

1 The architect of the choir was Fernan Ruiz. (Murray.) 

2 Sir William Cavendish, first Marquess and Duke of Newcastle 
( x 593-1676). He wrote two books on horsemanship, besides several 
plays and poems. 



l8o3 ] CORDOVA 69 

could I without reluctance quit the spot. We did not 
cross the bridge to go to Carpio. 

Cordova would have been an excellent spot for the 
capital, well placed upon the banks of a fine river, 
which would have been made navigable, in a fertile 
country abounding in luxuriant productions, enjoying a 
delicious climate, fine water, and near enough to the 
Sierra to have chateaux for the Court. At 2 leagues is 
Alcolea, the King's hara, 1 an extensive park, enclosed 
within a wall, where the brood mares and fillies remain ; 
they have great range, and the park goes to the margin 
of the river. 

6th June, Carpio. — We were joined by three soldiers 
from Cordova on their way to Madrid. We were stopped 
to be shown the head of a notorious robber. It was 
placed in an iron grating, and little but the skull remained ; 
the other parts of his body were sent to the different 
places where he had offended. He was a desperate 
fellow, only 25 years old when he suffered ; he had 
committed 17 murders. A priest, a young woman, and 
3 soldiers were among his last offences. At Andujar 
the posada by far the most disagreeable place I have yet 
encountered ; to escape we walked and sat upon the 
terrace of the toll-gatherer. He represented the state 
of the country from robbers as deplorable ; three were 
that day hanged in Cordova. Fifty of the Aragonese 
michelons quartered there had, in the course of 7 months, 
seized 500 robbers. At our inn there was a criminal 
conducted by soldiers, he was being conveyed to Granada. 
A merchant of Segovia joined us for safety. 

yth June, Bailen. — The posada was filled by soldiers 
and presidarios galley slaves, six hundred souls in all — 



1 The best stallions were carried off from these breeding establish- 
ments during the Peninsular War, 



70 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [j U ne 

400 convicts. They appeared in a sad situation, and 
are said to be cruelly used by their guards ; one was 
just dead, and another died in the night. It was a sort 
of gaol delivery from Madrid ; they were going down to 
Malaga. The smugglers and robbers were in irons, the 
murderers as the least criminal were only tied and allowed 
more licence por con desgracia} 

8th June. — At La Concepcion de Almuradiel, the last 
of the German Colonies. 2 The posada is built by, and 
belongs to the Governt. ; spacious, without large room 
or any convenience. It was the eve of the Fete Dieu. 
Ld. Hd. and I walked about a large bonfire in honor of the 
morrow The church was humble, and the single bell 
and solitary clapper reminded one of the feelings of him 
who planned the colony ; he excluded monks and sus- 
pended tithe. We were close to the bell at las animas, 
which follows the oration. A suppdt of the church with 
a lantern and bell goes about the town soliciting the 
assistance of the holy ; he visits all houses, all posadas, 
and all the rooms in them to obtain money to ' sacar 
las almas ' 3 out of Purgatory. Previous to an execution 
a clerical syndic sallies forth with his bell and begging 
box to implore from the pious compassion of the devout 
some cuartos to saquear (sic) the soul of the criminal. 
At Valencia, the evening before the poor soldier was 
shot he must have been dinned by the sound of the bells 
tinkling for this purpose. Soon after the animas, the 
streets are filled with processions of the difft. cofradrias, 
gremios* brotherhoods ; they are called rosarios. They 
carry a standard on which the figure of the Virgin is 
represented ; 10 or 12 lanterns and sometimes more, 

1 For their misfortune. 

8 Thirteen new villages were built in this district by Charles III in 
1790, and populated with 6000 Bavarians, in order to assist travellers 
and exterminate the brigands, who were the scourge of the mountains. 

3 To rescue the souls. 4 Confraternities, companies. 



l8o3 j RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS 71 

according to the wealth of the fraternity, precede the holy 
banner ; musicians accompany the holy band chanting 
staves in honor of the Queen of Heaven, which is in- 
terrupted at fixed intervals by pauses, during which the 
pious troop kneel and repeat Ave Marias. Carriages 
stop whenever they meet these rosarios ; persons put out 
candles from the balconies, and all join, or appear to 
join, in this homage. At Seville they were very fine 
and numerous ; it, in early times, was the seat of extrava- 
gant and gloomy superstition. During the epidemical 
disorder 3 years or less ago, among the various causes 
assigned for this calamity, the impiety of theatrical 
representations was suggested as being an offence of 
such magnitude as to draw down the Divine wrath. 
Hence all dramatic performances were ceased by order 
of the Bishop ; the innoxious and humane spectacle 
of a bull feast however remains ! Seville was the first 
place where the Inquisition was established, in an old, 
gloomy castle in Triana, now abandoned. 

gth June. — Dined at Valdepefias, celebrated foi its 
wines, which are esteemed beyond any in Spain. Mr. 
Gordon, of Xerez, said he had often attempted to 
export it to England, but that it could not stand the 
voyage. The town is filthy and ill-paved. Most tedious 
road across the unvaried flat plain. At about 2 leagues 
we passed the post house. About a quarter of a mile 
beyond, three men on horseback, well armed, and two 
on foot, passed us. Ld. Hd. thought it advisable to 
announce that he had been apprised that a band answering 
exactly to that description robbed about 2 leagues from 
Manzanares ; all the arms were made ready, and we were 
at least prepared for even a more formidable band. The 
chief robber is well known, and called El Zapatero, the 
shoemaker. There was no doubt of their being ladrones ; 
they had a blunderbuss and other unusual arms, but 



72 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [june-Aug. 

they found us too numerous. There was another alarm ; 
several men lying flat upon the ground by the side of their 
horses saddled was suspicious. We reached Manzanares 
safely. A bad posada ; they are worse in the Mancha 
than elsewhere. 

Sunday, 12th June. — Dined at Ocana, a large, fortified 
city, formerly the residence of many of the kings of Castile ; 
Isabella frequently resided at it. The Alcazar, or palace, 
is now converted either into a hospital or barracks. We 
found a letter from M. de Bourke apprising us of the 
difficulty of getting apartments, as the following day 
was a gala and besamanos 1 at Aranjuez. As soon as we 
arrived at the inn the Consul-General called to offer a 
share of his apartment : we had only 2 rooms. M. de 
Bourke kindly gave us a room ; left the baby at the inn. 
Found among the Corps Diplomatique many acquaint- 
ances. Heat beyond all bearing. 

San Ildefonso, July 6th. — The heat of Aranjuez and 
the cutting of 4 of his double teeth, made the dear 
baby so ill that for 3 weeks I have been unable to attend 
to anything. W T e left Madrid to try the effect of a change 
of air upon his complaint ; he is now better and we 
return to-morrow. We quitted Aranjuez on the night of 
the 17th June, stayed a couple of days at M. de Bourke's 
house, then removed to the Cruz de Malta. 2 On 27th, 
at night, quitted with part of family for La Gran j a or 
San Ildefonso, where we inhabit the house of the Duque 
de San Teodoro, which he has lent to us. Yesterday, the 
5th of July, we went over to Segovia distant 2 short 
leagues. 

2yth August, Madrid, 1803. — After fluttering between 
life and death for 6 hours, the former gained the victory, 
and I am again restored to animation and the enjoyment 
of beholding those I love. Anxiety of mind caused by 

1 Court festival. - Posada de la Cruz de Malta, 



i8o 3 ] ARANJUEZ 73 

the war which renders our return both difficult and unsafe, 
the heat of the weather, and several other circumstances 
of inconvenience brought on a most dreadful miscarriage, 
the consequences of which nearly proved fatal. This is the 
16th day, and I can only pass 4 or 5 hours out of my bed. 
I suffer excruciating torment from the pains of my head, 
and it is only from the desperate feel (sic) of knowing I 
cannot be worse, that I incur the risque of increasing my 
sufferings. 

Retrospect from 13th June, on which day we dined 
with M. de Bourke at Aranjuez. The gala at Court was 
a besamanos. Inadvertently I followed Mde. de B.'s 
example and advice by going full-dressed into the gardens, 
where she assured me the whole Court were to be seen. 
Such might have been the custom in the days of Philip V, 
but certainly never has been such since. The gardens 
are justly praised ; the shade is so thick from the lofty 
trees weighed down by luxuriant foliage, that one may 
defy the rays of a Spanish sun even at midday. In the 
garden we were shown a small hunting villa built by 
Charles V, now falling into decay ; in front of it are three 
venerable trees (either elms or oaks), which according 
to oral tradition are said to have been planted by the 
Emperor Francis I during his captivity, and Philip II. 
Two are flourishing, but one, which I hope may be that 
planted by Philip II, is in a piteous condition, and may 
be accepted as but too just an emblem of the state into 
which the monarchy has fallen in consequence of his 
pernicious political doctrines. In the evening the foun- 
tains played in another garden called del Principe : the 
King and the Princess of the Asturias 1 were present. His 
amusement consists chiefly in running as fast as possible 

1 Da. Maria Antonia de Bourbon, daughter of Ferdinand IV of 
Naples, and Queen Marie Caroline, who had been married in October, 
1802, to Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias. She died in 1806. 



74 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [June 

from one fountain to another, and in seeing the unwary 
spectator wetted with the spray or by the secret pipes. 
He appears a hale, good-humoured, obliging man. The 
Princess is very little, rather pretty, and bears a strong 
resemblance to her mother, the Queen of Naples. The 
walks are delicious ; one upon the banks of the Tagus 
especially. The Royal dock-yard is near it ; the frigate 
is reckoned excellent, and only requires space to excel 
most of those in his Majesty's navy. After walking, 
went to the Promenade, which is in the Calle de la Reina, 
with the Duchess of San Teodoro. 1 It is a magnificent 
avenue of considerable length ; the Royal family drive 
up and down the center of the walk preceded by a 
detachment of gardes de corps, and followed by all the 
Infantes, lords and ladies of Court, pages, physician, 
and surgeon. The Prince of the Peace follows, accom- 
panied by his Princess. He is a large, coarse, ruddy- 
complexioned man, with a heavy, sleepy, voluptuous 
eye, not unlike Ld. Amherst in the form of his face and 
some of the features, but with a different expression. In 
the evening the Corps Diplomatique assemble at M. 
Bourke's, where a rouge et noir table attracts the spare 
medals of the society. 

14th June. — Dined at the English Minister's, Mr. 
Frere, 3 a singular personage to represent a powerful 
nation ! He was better employed for his credit and 
ours as editor and poetaster of the Anti- Jacobin. 



1 Lady-in-waiting to the Princess of the Asturias. 

- John Hookham Frere (1769-1846), son of John Frere, Esq., of 
Roydon Hall, Norfolk. He was an intimate friend of Canning and was 
joint-editor with him of the Anti- Jacobin. He succeeded his friend 
as Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1799. He was sent to Lisbon 
as Envoy Extraordinary the following year. He occupied the same 
post at Madrid 1802-4, and again in 1808-9. He was recalled after 
Corufia, and refusing all offers of employment after that date went to 
Malta in 1818, where he resided until his death. He married in 18 12, 
Elizabeth Jemima, Dowager Countess of Enroll. 



l8o3 J QUEEN MARIA LUISA 75 

Dined every day at Bourke's. On ye 17th I was 
presented to the Queen and King by the Dss. of San 
Teodoro. It was a private audience, which made Her 
Majesty dispense with my appearing in a hoop ; but not 
even the plea of being a stranger could obtain a dis- 
pensation from the custom of appearing without gloves 
before his Catholic Majesty. That species of clothing 
produces such a sudden and violent physical effect 
upon him that the Queen alone chooses to encounter the 
consequences. White leather gloves produce similar 
effects upon many of the Spanish branch of the Bourbon 
family. The Queen's manner is uncommonly gracious. 
She shows great readiness in making conversation, and 
taste in choosing her topics ; all she said was flattering, 
obliging, and well-expressed. The King was quite a 
bon homme, and his great talents lie in the skill of a garde 
de chasse. The Queen called her favorite child, the 
Infante Don Francisco, 1 a pretty, lively boy, bearing a 
"^most indecent likeness to the P. of the Peace. She 
enumerated the children she had, and those she had lost, 
22 ! ! 6 only remaining. ' My eldest son whom you 
are going to see you will find ugly, he is the counterpart 
of myself.' She begged I would come in the evening 
to see her diamonds, for which she has a royal fondness. 
From thence we went to the Princess of the Asturias and 
the Prince, a gawky lad like the Bentincks : very agree- 
able in her manner, the little Princess. I was not dressed 
properly ; the mourning for the King of Etruria 2 being 
woollen, whereas my dress was merely black crape and 
bronze. I made an apology to the Queen upon the score 



1 D. Francisco de Paula Antonio, born in 1794. 

2 Louis I, King of Etruria (1773-1803), son of Ferdinand de Bourbon, 
Duke of Parma. He married the Infante Maria Luisa, daughter of 
Charles IV of Spain. The kingdom of Etruria was created by France 
in 1801. 



76 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [June 

of not having had time or notice to prepare myself. 
Altho' Ld. Hd., owing to Frere's unaccountable ignorance 
of all rules, &c, had not been presented, she desired he 
might see the jewels. I hardly know which is the finest 
collection, those of the late King Augustus of Poland now 
at Dresden, or these. The baby alarmed us greatly. 

The town of Aranjuez is regularly built, but remark- 
ably ill-calculated to suit the climate. Houses are low, 
streets excessively wide and covered with a white, loose 
sand over the pavement ; houses built of white stone 
which reflects powerfully the heat and light. The walks 
and roots of the trees are regularly watered, which gives 
a coolness to the air, almost pernicious from the damp 
feel which it emits. It is a healthy and pleasant residence 
till ye end of May, but it then becomes hot, and from 
the marshy ground in its neighbourhood, the people suffer 
from agues, &c. The air is in some places infected with 
putrid matter ; as it is not allowed to bury any body or 
animal at the sitio, 1 therefore they are thrown on a heap 
and allowed to rot. The King, besides, is not averse to 
this custom, as the carcases serve for food to crows, &c.a/ 
which is so much fish to his net, as he is indifferent about 
the quality of his chasse. The horses killed in the arena 
by the bulls also lie exposed to the heat of the sun. The 
~~~^Casa del Labrador is a small house built by the King in 
the garden del Principe, most beautifully fitted up with 
French furniture, and Italian fresco walls. In a circular 
or octagon room large glasses fill the corners or panels, 
which open by a spring and discover in one recess an 
oratory, in another a writing-table, &c. But the bonne 
bouche is a cabinet d Vanglaise, most richly fitted up. 
They dwell with peculiar satisfaction upon this luxury 
and do not /aire grace upon the most minute pipe, &c. 

1 The King's country residence. 



l8o3 ] SAN ILDEFONSO J7 

The Royal family often breakfast at this supposed rural 
mansion. 

igth. — The baby so ill that we resolved to try the cool 
mountain air of San Ildefonso. Remained there until 
the 7th July. The gardens are reckoned among the\ 
finest in Europe ; they are in the old French style of 
high clipped hedges, salons de verdure, alleys, &c. Tho' 
that is the style I prefer far beyond any other, yet these 
gardens are sombre, and only striking from the number 
of their fountains, which stand unrivalled. We obtained 
permission from the Intendente to have the fountains 
play for us, a request usually complied with upon paying 
two ounces of gold. I was surprised at seeing channels 
to convey water to the roots of the trees, the same as is 
used at Aranjuez and at Madrid. There there is no 
moisture or coolness, but here the neighbourhood of 
the mountains cause frequent storms of thunder and 
rain. Besides the great garden, we saw the private 
ones of the King and Queen ; in one we were shown the 
hedge behind which the K. conceals himself to shoot at 
sparrows. The facade of the palace for a moment 
reminds one of the ugly front of Versailles ; the corps 
de logis is the church. The garden front is rather hand- 
some ; the windows are of large plate glass made at 
the manufactory, joined without frames. The interior 
of the palace is not remarkable ; the best apartments 
are not occupied, as Carlos III lived in them, and the 
Queen, who dislikes the stillness of the gardens, prefers 
remaining in those she occupied whilst Pss. of the Asturias, 
as from them she can see the court in which the gardes de 
Corps exercise, &c, &c. In the lower rooms is the 
collection of statues, busts, and bronzes belonging to 
Christina of Sweden, and purchased at her death by 
Philip V at Rome. We saw in detail the glass manu- 
factory ; they ran a large plate for us. In point of size, 



?8 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL L j u iy 

several have been made which surpass those cast either 
in France, Bohemia, Venice, or England. They reckon 
extreme slightness a merit in the material ; the goblets 
that are highly wrought, hardly weigh more than writing 
paper would in the same form. 

Left S. I. at 6, afternoon of the 7th July. Met many 
forerunners of the Court upon the road coming with 
goods, &c, to prepare for the Royal residence. As we 
descended we had moonlight, which lasted us to the 
Escorial, where we arrived at 4 in the morning. The\ 
convent and palace of the Escorial form a building 
of prodigious magnitude, solid, dull, and gloomy beyond 
imagination. The walls are high, and the perforations 
for windows extremely small. The church is uncommonly 
lofty, the arches of considerable span, and the columns 
immense. The greatness of the scale diminishes the 
apparent size of the vaisseau (I know not an English 
word which corresponds with that so well). . . . The 
pictures in the sacristy are very fine, but we had no 
light to distinguish them, as a heavy storm was approach- 
ing, and the heavens were darkened by heavy clouds. 
I did not see the cloisters, or any of the interior of the 
convent except a couple of patios, as Mr. Frere as usual 
had made a blunder about the Nuncio's Bull ; as without 
that permission no woman can enter. The disappoint- 
ment was less on acct. of the weather, and our intention 
of returning there. At 11 at night set out for Madrid, 
where we arrived at 9 in the morning. 

On 18th July Ld. Hd. went to Court to see the cere- 
mony of the besamanos on acct. of the marriage. 1 Ladies 

1 The festivals were given in honour of the double marriage which 
had been celebrated at Barcelona in October of the preceding year. 
Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias, there married Princess Maria 
Antonia, and her eldest brother, the Prince Royal of Naples, married 
the Spanish Infanta Maria Isabella. The Spanish Court had only just 
returned to Madrid after an extended tour in the provinces. 



!8o 3 ] COURT FUNCTIONS 79 

did not attend. 1000 persons kissed the hands of their 
Majesties. On the 19th the Royal family went in 
procession to Nuestra Sehora de Atocha to return thanks 
for the happy marriage. Heavy old coaches for the 
suite, some as old as the time of Charles II. Illumination 
in the streets through which they passed ; outsides of 
houses richly ornamented with carpets, tapestries, &c. 
A very showy and splendid sight. 

On the 20th, the grand Funcion de los toros, or bull 
feast, in the Plaza Mayor, given by the Court in honor 
of the marriage. The Plaza had been prepared for this 
big show by enclosing its area within wooden barriers, 
which formed seats to the height of the first floor of the 
houses for spectators The seats were presents from the 
King, but sold ; I gave 24 duros for a seat for a friend. 
I went in our Minister's balcony, au second : the am- 
bassadors had balconies on the first floor We were 
opposite the Court. A window was fitted superbly for 
the Court : the King and Queen were sitting under a 
canopy. Next to the Queen stood the Prince of the 
Peace P. and Pss. in another balcony ; present above 
100,000 persons. Under the Royal balcony a line of 
halberdiers were placed, exposed to the rage of the bull ; 
their only defence was in their halberds, with which they 
kept off the animal ; if they killed him, the flesh was their 
perquisite. The alguacils 1 on horseback stood opposite 
to them ; they had no means of defence. They con- 
tributed much to the amusement of the populace by 
galloping off with great celerity whenever the animal 
approached. The mode of fighting the bulls is very 
different from that practised in the common feasts. 
Formerly upon these occasions the Grandees themselves 
fought, they now content themselves with adopting 
inferior nobles whom they equip in old Spanish dresses, 

1 Police, 



80 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Aug. 

mount upon fine Madrid horses, and grant a numerous 
suite of followers dressed in singular dresses to accompany 
them on foot — Mamelukes, Hessians, Romans, &c. The 
disgusting scene ended with the daylight. 

One or other occupation, added to the great heat, 
has prevented me keeping any regular dates. 

ist August. — Dined at the Bourkes. Present, Prince 
Masserano, 1 St. Simon, Freire the Portuguese Minister, &c. 
The first is the son of an Italian or a Spanish Grandee, 
and one of the 4 captains of the King's Guard ; he is 
lively, rattles away freely, which makes him rather an 
acquisition to a large party. What he says, however, 
is proverbially false. St. Simon 2 is a most diligent 
courtier ; his flattery of the Court is so fulsome that 
refined ears would not endure it, but the P. of P., &c., 
have no standard but their own vanity, and that is 
immeasurable. He is intriguing to obtain the command 
of the army on the frontier in case of a war ; he did 
distinguish himself in the last campaign. Since the 
peace he has been to Paris to endeavour to recover 
his estates, and to pay his court to the Corsican chieftain. 
Upon his introduction, the great man asked if he had 
not commanded the Spanish troops on the frontier, to 
which the Marquess repli- d in confusion that altho' 
he had served against France he could never forget 
that ' C'etait ma patrie.' ' Comment done ! et le Roi 
d'Espagne ne vous a pas pendus.' This coarse reproof 
was deserved for the folly and meanness of his justification. 
Mde. Blondel has quitted her old spouse, and is with him, 
and her grossesse is just declared after 8 months' absence 
from him. Freire, the Portuguese Minister, is a whisper- 
ing, civil man ; he was employed in England, and for 
his sins, he says, sent for 3 years to America ! 

1 Afterwards Spanish Ambassador in Paris. 

2 See ante, p. 11. 



l8o3 ] THE FORBIDDEN PICTURES 81 

2nd August. — Went with M. de Lambert to the 
Cabinet of Natural History and to the Academia de las 
3 nobles artes. The mineralogical specimens are very 
beautiful and well placed, and are infinitely larger than 
any I ever saw in other collections. The other branches 
of the collection were very imperfect and bad, except, 
I believe, the shells. Below the Cabinet of Natural 
History is the Academy. By favor we were admitted 
into the forbidden apartment into which the pious 
Monarch has banished all naked pictures ; indeed an 
order was given for their destruction, but upon a promise 
being made that the eyes of the public should not be 
shocked by such sights, they were spared. Whilst the 
King of Etruria was here he could never obtain permission 
from his father-in-law to see them. They are merely 
a beautiful ' Venus,' ' Danae,' and others of that sort, 
by Titian, Albano, and other celebrated masters : some 
are exquisite, and might compare with those formerly 
at Naples and Florence. 

Dined at home, only Mr. Vaughan. Mde. Bourke's 
in evening, after the Prado and Buen Retiro. Saw 
first time M. de Betancourt, 1 superintendent-general 
of les ponts et chaussees in Spain ; he was just 
returned from Granada where he had been to confine 
the overflowing of the Xenil. He is a younger branch 
of the family who discovered the Canary Isles ; he 
is well-informed and quick, but dogmatical and 
positive. 

3rd August. — Dined at Frere's to meet Pellicer, 2 the\ 
King's librarian, the editor of Don Quixote, to which 
he has added explanatory notes — very good. An old 

1 Augustin de Bethencourt y Molina (1760-1824), an authority on 
dams and waterworks. He entered the service of Russia in 1808. 

2 Juan Antonio Pellicer y Pilares (1738-1806). His edition of Don 
Quixote was published in 1797. See p. 191, where Lady Holland refers 
to him as librarian to the Prince of the Peace. 

G 



82 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Aug . 

man ; prolix and extremely minute in all particulars of 
a story, which, altho' one says sufficient to convince him 
one knows the anecdote, he nevertheless pursues with 
a becoming perseverance. Marques de la Romana x and 
his brother-in-law, a Neapolitan. 

<\ih. — Morning at the palace ; the Court quitted it 
the preceding day. Apartments magnificent, infinitely 
more splendid than any palace I ever saw ; the pictures 
are very fine, and so numerous that it would require 
many visits to do justice to them. The large saloon, 
in which are placed the equestrian pictures by Velasquez 
and Titian, is very striking. Charles V equipped in 
armour with his lance in arrest is admirable, and the 
figure so very chevaleresque. King's private library 
large, and contains a number of excellent books in different 
small rooms, also much theological lore. One bookcase 
full of MS. relating chiefly to the secret history of Spain 
during the reign of the House of Austria. The present 
Governt. is as jealous of the circulation of political opinions 
and papers against the Court of Philip II and downwards, 
as against the present. Dinner at home : the Bourkes, 
St. Simon, and M. de Riche, the new Danish Secretary. 
I took a box at the play, and went almost every evening to 
the Carlos del Peral ; only once to the Cruz, as it is not 
opened but on feast days. The latter is infinitely the 
best theatre for the representation of the national pieces, 
and the troupe is also better. 

$th. — Freres 2 dined with us. Had a visit from the 



1 Pedro Caro y Sureda, Marques de la Romana (1761-1811), Spanish 
general; He was sent to the Baltic in 1807, in command of the Spanish 
troops destined for French service, but extricated and brought them 
back to their own country the following year on the outbreak of the 
war in Spain. He took a leading part in the commencement of hostilities 
against the French, and died in 181 1 worn out with the hardships 
he had undergone. 

2 Hookham Frere and his brother Bartholomew. 



i8o 3 ] DISTURBANCES IN LISBON 83 

Duke of Infantado ; * I shall say more of him hereafter. 
He told us an important fact, as his opinion and practice 
for 12 years had been to refute it : he reckons the fineness 
of the Merino wool to depend on the migrations of the 
sheep, continue for a generation or two as good when 
stationary, but afterwards lose the excellence of its quality. 
yth. — English letters and papers. A general arming of 
the people. News by express from Lisbon of an alboroto, 2 
an affray between 2 regiments quelled and the com- 
manders imprisoned. Some imagine the origin of the 
affair to have been a scheme concerted with the French 
general Lannes and the Opposition party against the 
Ministers, to get them dismissed ; others that Lannes 
wanted it merely to get a civil war and to call in his 
troops to conquer. 3 The only thing certain is the foolish 

1 Pedro de Toledo, Duque del Infantado (1773-1841), was brought 
up in France. He was closely connected with the Prince of the Asturias, 
and accompanied him to Bayonne in 1807. He there took service with 
Joseph, but turned against him in 1809. He commanded one of the 
Spanish armies, but was singularly unsuccessful in his military dis- 
positions. He held several offices of state, but retired into private 
life in 1826, owing to his failure in carrying through certain reforms 
which he considered were necessary for the good of his country. His 
children by Da. Manuela de Lesparre were legitimised in 1825. 

2 Riot. 

3 After the Queen of Portugal, Maria I, finally lost her reason in 
1792, it became necessary for her son Dom John to take over the 
management of the affairs of that country, though he was not actually 
appointed Regent until 1799. He attempted to take up a neutral 
position in the Continental wars, but was not allowed to do so by 
Napoleon, who insisted on regarding Portugal as a sort of province of 
England, and did all he could to compass her destruction. With 
this intent the First Consul brought about the war between Portugal 
and Spain, which terminated so disastrously for the former at the 
Treaty of Badajoz in 1801. After the Peace of Amiens Dom John 
tried to maintain his neutrality, but again Napoleon stirred up strife 
by sending the blunt and undiplomatic Lannes as Ambassador to 
Lisbon. The latter succeeded only too well in creating discord in the 
country during his two years of employment there. He was superseded 
by Junot in 1804. 

The Duke of Sussex appears to have been the Prince Regent's guest 
in Lisbon. Lord Robert Fitzgerald was British Minister there. 

g2 



84 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Au g. 

behaviour of the Duke of Sussex, who went to the Prince 
Regent to remonstrate against the confinement of the 
officer notoriously in the French interest. The Princes 
quarrelled, and the former was going to quit the palace 
where he resides in a passion, but Ld. Robt. Fitzgerald 
interfered and pacified matters. Prince openly follows 
the R. Catholic worship, abjured Protestantism 2 years 
ago. 

Tierney joined Addington, and made Treasurer of 
the Navy, with a house, perquisites, £6000 pr. ann., 
and pension of £1500 upon retiring. Bravo ! bravo ! 
amigo mio ! 

12th. — I was taken ill and confined to my bed, where 
I lay for weeks. About the end of a fortnight I lay for 
a few hours on a sofa and saw a few people. Lambert 
often, Cabarrus. He told us that Madrid was the city 
of Spain the worse supplied with provisions on acct. 
of the heavy duties and impolitic regulations. When he 
imports wine, oil, and provisions from his own estate, he 
finds the expense from the duties to be nearly as great 
as if he bought them in the market, besides the trouble 
of getting at least half a dozen passports for every distinct 
cartload. All the Ministers owe their nomination to the 
P. of the Peace, except Caballero, 1 Minisr. of Gracia and 
Justicia, who owes his to the whim of the King. Said 
of him by an indignant Spaniard, that he was neither 
graciable, justiciero, ni caballero. The P. of the P. 
made an insolent but certainly rather witty reply, when 
he came to compliment the P. on his birthday. The P. 
perceived him in the crowd and made towards him 
expressing his surprise at seeing him, as on that day his 
friends came ; the rebuffed Minister said he thought as 

1 Jose Antonio, Marques de Caballero (1760-1821). He held this 
post from 1798 till 1808, when he took office under Joseph whom he 
followed to France in 181 4. He returned to his native country in 1820, 



,8o 3 ] VOLTAIRE AND THE JESUITS 85 

his Excellency's ' mero conducto,' 1 it was his duty ; 
' Es un muy sucio.' 2 Aranda 3 used to say that the Jesuits 
would have been still in existence if Voltaire had known 
of the intention to suppress them ; for, after their 
destruction, he had in contemplation to put an end to 
the Saint Office, but imprudently confided his intention 
to Voltaire, who, as might be expected, boasted of his 
knowledge of the secret, which excited such a sensation 
in Spain that he was compelled to drop his project. 

<\th September, Madrid. — Dined, B. Frere, 4 Lambert, 
and Lasteyrie. 5 News confirmed of Lannes' triumph 
at Lisbon. Almeida dismissed from Ministry, Pinto 
appointed in his place ; the changes not to stop there. 
The French troops are augmenting on the frontier, 
and when it was reported that General St. Cyr was to 
command the army, Beurnonville was extremely irritated, 
and betrayed evident symptoms of his disappointment 
at not being named himself to the command. 

$th September. — I dined for the first time at table 
since my illness ; only B. Frere. Great failures through- 
out the Peninsula in corn crops, especially about Seville 
and in Portugal. Yesterday there were only 4000 
fanegas of wheat in Madrid, and but for a fortunate 
supply this morning, a ferment would have taken place 
in the town. Bread is exorbitantly dear ; many bakers' 

1 Intermediary. 

2 You are a very tainted person. 

3 Don Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Conde de Aranda (1718-1799), 
Spanish statesman, who held office 1 765-1 773, and again for a short time 
in 1792 in succession to Florida Blanca. He commenced his attacks on 
the Jesuits in 1767. 

4 Bartholomew Frere (1778-1851), youngest brother of John 
Hookham Frere, diplomatist. Though Secretary of Legation at various 
European towns, he never held any independent post. 

b Charles Philibert, Comte de Lasteyrie du Saillant (1759-1849), a 
prominent French philanthropist and economist. He travelled through 
all the countries of Europe studying the social status and the modes of 
living of their inhabitants. 



86 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sep t 

shops have been assaulted. Within these 10 days the 
streets are infested by robbers, who rob, insult, and 
even strip those they fall upon. In consequence of 
this numerous patrols on horseback go about the streets 
soon after the Angelus. 

6th September. — Great anxiety prevails respecting 
the question of peace and war ; some think the demand 
has already been made of passage for troops to Portugal, 
others that money is the sole object of the French Governt. 1 
The only fact that is certain is that our poetical Minister 
has been, and will be completely bamboozled. It appears 
certain now that a speculation of Ld. Hd.'s has been 
realised, viz. : — that a neutral treaty between the neutral 
powers has been in agitation ; that a sketch has been 
sent to the Emperor of Russia for his approbation, 
putting him at the head of it ; that the Ministers here 
do not yet know of its arrival at Petersburg, but that 
by the extreme activity of the French it has fallen 
into Bonaparte's hands. The effect has been a most 
thundering message from him to the Court, and a repri- 
mand to Beurnonville for allowing such negociations to 
pass under his nose without discovering them. 

The King of Spain is so little au courant of the history 

1 The history of the whole transactions between France and Spain 
at this juncture shows Napoleon's entire disregard for the justice and 
political morality of any question which interfered with his vast 
schemes. The invasion of England, as a means of curbing the power 
of his only formidable foe, was at this time his fixed object, and every- 
thing was to be made subservient to it. To this end he sold Louisiana 
to the United States to obtain funds, though the act was entirely 
contrary to the clauses of the Treaty of San Ildefonso. He went much 
further, for he insisted that Spain should declare war on England and 
hand over her fleet and resources to assist him. This was too much 
even for Godoy, as England was Spain's only chance of emancipation 
from the yoke of the First Consul. A judicious insistence, however, on 
the dismissal of the Spanish Minister had its effect at the Court, and 
Azara, the Spanish Ambassador in Paris, was forced to sign the Treaty 
of Paris (Oct. 1803), by which peace was bought at the price of six 
million francs a month and other concessions to France. 



l8 o 3 ] THE QUEEN'S FAVOURITES 87 

of our times that he is as yet not aware of the inde- 
pendence of America, and to this day denominates the 
Minister of the United States El Ministro de las Colonias, 
being perfectly satisfied that these colonies still belong 
to the English. When the unfortunate Mallo * was the' 
Queen's favorite, he squandered away with profusion 
the sums she fondly lavished. He was remarkably 
addicted to show, especially in the number and variety 
of his equipages. One day the King, Queen, and Prince 
of the Peace were standing on the balcony of the palace 
of Aranjuez, when Mallo drove rapidly by in a new 
and splendid carriage, upon which the King exclaimed 
that he had often observed lately and wondered how 
he found means for such expense. The Queen remarked 
that she concluded he had inherited from a relation in 
Las Indias (he is an American). ' No, no,' replied the 
P. of the P., 'he is supplied by an ugly, old woman 
without teeth or agrement, who has fallen in love with 
him.' The King laughed heartily ; the Queen was com- 
pelled to force a companionable smile. Certainly it was 
a laugh on the wrong side of her mouth. 

8th September. — Exactly 4 weeks this day since I 
was taken ill and confined to this apartment, without 
once going out. Lasteyrie and Quintana 2 dined. The 
former after following our route to Granada, struck off 
to the Alpuxarras down to Malaga, from thence to 
Cadiz, San Lucar Barrameda, to Estremadura. He has 
obtained some curious information respecting the interior 
of the Inquisition, which he dare not publish in France, 
since the Chieftain of the Governt. has taken Catholicism 

1 The Duchesse d'Abrantes in her Memoirs calls him Mayo, and 
Lady Holland, Majo, but she adopts the usual spelling in a later passage. 

2 Manuel Jose Quintana (1772-1857), Spanish poet, playwright, 
and politician; whose ultra-liberal views cost him six years in prison 
under Ferdinand VII. Later in life his doctrines became somewhat 
milder and he took office. 



88 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Se pt. 

and Papacy under the tricolor standard. At Murcia 
he was told by the Grand Inquisitor that had he been 
apprised of my attempt to see the prisons he would most 
readily have given every assistance, but he only heard 
of it after we were gone. 

Comte Etty, the Imperial ambassador, arrived 
lately sooner than was expected, as he intended to 
prolong his stay at Paris some months further into the 
winter, but the Consul, it is reported, rebuffed him in 
a manner so offensive to his German morgue that he 
decamped. He is a proud, haughty, empty-noddled 
nobleman, better calculated for embassies where nothing 
is required but a rosy, plump subject properly decorated 
with stars and ribbons, than one either for business or 
show : of the first he is incapable, and for the latter he 
will not untie his purse-strings. His wife, a daughter 
of Prince Colloredo, is to all appearance a very worthy 
woman; nothing strikingly pleasing or the reverse in 
her person or manner. They were at the Court of 
Dresden several years before their nomination to this 
one. Andreoli, 1 a Tyrolese or Milanese, was charge 
d'affaires, and is now secretary to the legation and 
resident from the Hanse towns. An interested, selfish 
debauche, with an inferior species of humour, which he 
owes chiefly to the gravity he preserves whilst telling a 
droll story. Very little reliance ought to be given to 
his facts. It is not improbable that the suspicions 
against him are founded, of his being a spy of the P. of 
the Peace. 

13th September. — I have already been out 3 times 
and do not feel the worse for the exertion. The political 
ferment which agitated the public has subsided into a 
perfect state of stagnation. There is a report which 

1 Lord Holland, in his Foreign Reminiscences, calls him a Venetian by 
birth. 



l8 o 3 ] BONAPARTE AND CEVALLOS 89 

the P. of the P. sedulously puts into circulation, that 
the French demands are insolent, and the conduct of 
the English so generous in allowing their money and 
ships to pass, that to comply with the French in declaring 
war against them the difficulty would be in finding griefs 
to make out a manifesto. On the discovery of a nego- 
ciation being on foot here to form a neutral confederacy, 
Bonaparte was highly incensed and directed an immediate 
application to be made to the S. Governt. that they 
should fulfil their treaty (of defensive and offensive 
alliance). The reply from M. de Cevallos * was (about 
a fortnight ago) that till that instant the S. Gov. were 
ignorant of hostilities having taken place between F. 
and E. ; that as they were no parties in the Peace of 
Amiens they could not assist in the breach of it ; that 
the S. Gov. at that time had entered a caveat upon the 
cession of Trinidad and their treaty they considered 
as annulled thereby. 2 Beurnonville repeatedly asked 
whether they seriously intended this reply to be trans- 
mitted to his Court. The First Consul in his own hand 
wrote a most threatening reply, observing that unques- 
tionably M. de Cevallos was the only man in Europe 
ignorant of the war between E. and F. Ld. Hd. does not 
think it improbable that this violence in the article in 
the Moniteur against the P. of Denmark, may proceed 

1 Don Pedro de Cevallos (i 761 -1838). He was appointed Minister 
for Foreign Affairs by the influence of Godoy, whose niece he had 
married. He continued in office after Charles IVs abdication, and 
even accepted the advances of Joseph and remained in his post. 
He soon retired, however, from his service, and became a member 
of the Supreme Junta with his accustomed portfolio. He was sent 
to England in 1809. He held high office after the Restoration, 
but opposed Ferdinand's marriage, and was dismissed. He then 
went as Ambassador to Naples and afterwards to Vienna. 

2 Trinidad had been ceded to England in the Agreement of London, 
1 801, by a secret clause which had not been made known to the actual 
owners of the island — Spain. The interests of that country were 
completely sacrificed by France at the Congress of Amiens, notwith- 
standing the persistent protests of Azara, the Spanish Minister. 



go LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Se pt 

from the detection of this neutral project of protection for 
Spain, Portugal, &c, &c. 

The acct. of the army at Bayonne varies from 3 to 
36,000 ; each Governt. exaggerate their numbers. Ye one 
to intimidate the S. Gov., the other to show that what- 
ever monies they pay the people will be better off than 
by having a foreign army traversing the kingdom. Of 
the sums required, there is also a great difference in the 
reports ; one fixes it at a million of livres tournois pr. 
month ; another, at 6 and the admission of French 
garrisons into their ports. 1 Orders are issued to grant 
passage to 1500 sailors to pass from Bayonne to Ferrol, 
and the S. Governt. have agreed to equip and victual the 
ships of war belonging to the French which have miracu- 
lously arrived safely there from St. Domingo. Another 
arrived about 10 days ago, briskly pursued by our cruisers, 
who had only time to fire a broadside into her (which 
unfortunately killed many men) and then upon the fort 
signal that she was under the protection of the Spanish 
coast had the moderation to withdraw. Augereau 2 is 
named to the command of the army at Bayonne, which 
may after all be destined to Galicia and so to go to Ireland, 
instead of, as is reported, to conquer Portugal. The 
scarcity is alarming throughout the kingdom, and those 
who understand the subject suspect that the meddling 
laws may convert it into a famine. This calamity 
extends to Portugal. Many bakers' shops have been 
assaulted. A man endeavoured to force the door of 



1 By the treaty of neutrality Spain was, among other conditions, to 
pay France 6 million francs a month or expend it on refitting and 
revictualling French ships, and was to secure a payment of a million 
a month from Portugal. The latter country was also bound, by a 
treaty concluded on December 25, to pay France 16 million francs 
a year to obtain exemption from hostilities. 

2 Pierre Francois Charles Augereau (1757-1816), Due de Castiglione, 
one of the most famous of Napoleon's marshals. 



,8o 3 ] STATE OF MADRID 91 

the Chief of the Council's house. The streets are infested 
with numerous bands of robbers ; two days ago an order 
was issued that any person upon applying to the Corps 
de gardes might obtain an escort. Cavalry patrols are 
in every street. Above 20 gentlemen have been plundered, 
some even to their shirts ; many severely wounded. 

September 16th. — When poor Ld. Henry S. 1 was 
quitting Stockholm, the Duke of Sudermania, 3 then 
Regent, sent him the usual present of a snuff-box, but 
as an impertinence, instead of its being either a portrait 
or cypher of the King, the painting represented naked 
nymphs in various groups, making rather an indelicate 
composition. On receiving it, Spencer thanked the 
D. of S.'s messenger for the gift, observing that altho' 
it did not bear a portrait of his Majesty, yet it was a 
' tableau fidele de sa Cour.' 

lyth. — Ld. Hd. was yesterday seized with a smart 
attack of gout in his foot which gave him great pain. I 
sat up reading The Sicilian Romance 3 till 6 o'clock to 
him ; all this day at intervals he has suffered great 
anguish. 

The Alba palace, 4, situated by the Prado in the most 



1 Lord Henry Spencer (i 770-1 795), second son of George, fourth 
Duke of Marlborough. He so distinguished himself in diplomacy that 
he was made Minister to the Netherlands in his twentieth year. He 
was Minister in Sweden 1793-5, and died at Berlin the latter year. 

2 Gustavus IV of Sweden, who succeeded to the throne upon the 
assassination of his father, Gustavus III, in 1792, was only thirteen 
years old at the time. His uncle, the Duke of Sudermania; who suc- 
ceeded him when dethroned in 1809, as Charles XIII, acted as Regent 
until 1 796, when Gustavus took over the reins of government. 

3 Mrs. Radcliffe. 

"* , * The original Alba palace, known as the Palacio de Buenavista, is 
situated in the Calle de Alcala, and is now the War Office. The land 
was actually bought in 1769 for over four million reals, but the building, 
which was carried out at vast expense, was still unfinished at the death 
of both the Duchess and her husband. The town of Madrid then 
bought the palace from their heirs in 1805, and presented it to the 
Prince of the Peace. He, however, had no time to enjoy it, and after 



92 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sep t 

commanding situation, was built by the late Dss.'s 
grandfather. The plan was magnificent ; she almost 
finished its execution when a fire broke out and destroyed 
much of the work. However not discouraged by the 
accident, she pursued the plan, and the palace was nearly 
ready for her reception when another fire, more violent 
and destructive than the former, destroyed the labour of 
years. Every search was made among the workmen to 
ascertain how the disaster was occasioned, but the vigi- 
lance of enquiry was eluded and enough was disco vered\ 
to convince that a further attempt to finish the noble 
edifice would end in a similar disappointment, the train 
being laid by a high and jealous power. The library 
contained manuscripts of considerable value which were 
consumed by the flames. The Dss. was always an object 1 ', 
of jealousy and envy to the great Lady ; her beauty, 
popularity, grace, wealth, and rank were corroding to her 
heart. A short time before her death she was banished 
for 3 years, and the only favor shown was allowing her 
the choice of her estates. She chose to reside at her 
palace at St. Lucar Barrameda in Andalusia. Capmany x 
insinuated the above, which recital was followed by an 
anecdote of Philip II, who was actuated by the same 
ignoble species of envy. In passing on horseback he' ; 
observed a noble edifice nearly completed. He enquired 
to whom it belonged, when upon hearing that it was 
raised by his jeweller, and called El Palacio de Jacome 

the confiscation of his estates in 1808 it became the Military Museum. It 
was later occupied by the Regent, the Duque de la Victoria (Espartero) ; 
became the Turkish Embassy ; and finally the War Office. 

The present residence of the Alba family is called the Palacio de 
Liria. 

1 Don Antonio Capmany y de Montpalau y (1742-18 13). Originally 
a soldier, he left the service in early life and devoted himself to literature 
and history. He became secretary of the Academy at Madrid, and 
took a leading part in the deliberations of the Cortes at Seville in 1812 
and 1813. 



i8o 3 ] ST. DOMINGO 93 

Trezzo, he sternly replied that in Spain none occupied 
a palace but the King. The work was stopped, and for 
two centuries the half-reared fabric remained unfinished, 
and indeed may be so to this day. 

jyth September, Sunday. — This evening Lasteyrie 
brought, at my desire, a French officer lately arrived 
from St. Domingo, his name is Alvemar ; he went thither 
in Le Clerc's ! expedition, and is among the few who 
have escaped the fury of the negroes and the ravages 
done by the yellow fever. He described with warmth 
and execration, the cruelties committed upon the blacks, 
thousands of whom were shot, burnt, and drowned ; 
those disposed of in the latter manner were put into 
vessels which were sunk in the harbour. The putre- 
faction from the dead bodies floating on the surface of the 
calm sea caused an insufferable stench. He was employed 
by Le Clerc in Spanish America, to obtain, he said, 
succour for the army. This commission enabled him 
to see Mexico, the Floridas, Lima, Louisiana, &c. He 
estimates the loss of the negroes massacred at 11,000 ; the 
numbers of the French at 53,000. When I expressed 

1 Victor Emmanuel Leclerc (1 772-1 802), who married Pauline 
Bonaparte, afterwards Princess Borghese. He accompanied his 
brother-in-law to Egypt, and afterwards took a leading part in the 
coup d'ttat of 18 Brumaire. He died of yellow fever while at St. Domingo, 
and was succeeded in the command by General Rochambeau. 

Part of the island of St. Domingo had been ceded to France at 
the Peace of Ryswick in 1697. At the time of the French Revolution 
it was a most flourishing colony, but elements of disorder between the 
white, mulatto, and black populations were introduced by demands 
for the acceptance of the new principles. During the civil war which 
ensued, the English invaded the island, but were finally driven out in 
1798 with the assistance of the black commander Toussaint l'Ouverture. 
The latter established himself as President for life, but was not recog- 
nised by Napoleon, who sent a force of 25,000 men to reduce the colony. 
Toussaint was treacherously murdered, and the blacks, assisted by the 
British fleet, forced the French troops to surrender and evacuate the 
island. The independence of St. Domingo, or Hayti, was proclaimed 
in 1804. 



94 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sept. 

astonishment at the latter number, which he construed 
into a doubt of his assertion, he said he must be certain 
in his calculation, as he was ordered by General Rocham- 
beau to make that report. At no period had the army 
a disposable force beyond 10,000 soldiers ; disease drove 
above four-fifths into the hospital. 

He was in Egypt, tho' he denies having formed a part 
of the expedition, as he was employing himself as an 
artist. On Bonaparte's arrival he joined him, and in 
consequence of some disagreement between them, which 
must have been very serious, he ventured to put himself 
into Dhezzar Pacha's power at Acre, from whence he 
escaped with 3 Turks in a small open boat. But on 
their way to Cyprus they were captured by Ld. Nelson, 
who treated him remarkably well, but having a suspicion 
that he was the bearer of dispatches from Bonaparte 
never allowed him for 11 months to put his foot upon 
land. He spoke with freedom of Bonaparte, and 
described with some humour the progress of a French 
army invading a country ; how little profit of the plunder 
came to the Governt. as the exactions went merely to 
enrich the Commander, the etat-major, and so down to 
the common soldiers. That the reply made to the 
Governt. was that they had been misinformed in sup- 
posing the country wealthy, as on the contrary, it was 
poor : in the churches the calices were plated, the jewels 
in the shrines false, and all that was precious had been 
secreted by the monks. If, added he, this cruel system 
of plunder, shocking and impolitic as it is, saved France 
from taxes, yet the people in it would lament less, but 
their impositions are not diminished one sol by this 
pillaging system. He has been 8 times in England ; is 
acquainted with Sir Lionel l and Mrs. Crewe. Ld. Hd.'s 

1 Sir Lionel Copley. 



l8 o 3 ] THE MASSACRE AT JAFFA 95 

confinement brings many people in the evening ; chess is 
his chief resource. 

Bonaparte, to vex the English, as he knows the taste 
of their palate, has prohibited the exportation of Bor- 
deaux wines and Dutch cheeses — a measure that will 
recoil upon himself. Letters of marque are withdrawn 
from all French corsairs, in order to augment the number 
of sailors to navigate his famous Armada against our 
coasts. I hear, with regret, that the House of Grammont 
at Bordeaux is become bankrupt ; great failures both 
in France and England since the war. Another revolt 
in Ireland, in which the Chief Justice, Ld. Kilwarden, 
was murdered by the mob. 1 General Fox 2 is the Com- 
mander-in-chief ; a high, but perilous post. She and 
the children have joined him. 

I showed to Alvemar the passage in Sr. Robt. Wilson's 
book upon the English expedition to Egypt, in which 
Bonaparte is accused of having murdered in cool blood 
3000 of his prisoners at Jaffa, after they had capitulated. 
On ye first reading, he denied the fact altogether, but 
upon examination explained the circumstance, which 
was as follows. 500 cannoniers or engineers arrived in 
Syria from Constantinople, all instructed by French 
officers there, understanding their business admirably 
to the full as well as any of the corps-du-genie in B.'s 
army. This body of men he took prisoner. Being on a 
march, he could not keep them, or trust to their parole 
of not serving, therefore ordered a general- of- division to 

1 Arthur Wolfe (i 739-1 S03), created Lord Kilwarden and Chief 
Justice of Ireland in 1798. He and his nephew were murdered on the 
night of the Emmet rebellion, while driving from his home in the country 
to Dublin Castle. 

2 General the Hon. Henry Edward Fox (1755-1811), Lord Holland's 
uncle. He held the chief command in Ireland 1 803-1 804. He had 
married, in 1786, Marianne, daughter of William Clayton, Esq., and 
had one son and two daughters. 



96 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sept 

surround and shoot them. The general considering 
humanity more than expediency, refused. B. called him a 
' Capucin,' and found another more ready to obey his 
orders. 1 The chief difference in the stories consists in 
there being no capitulation, in the numbers, and the 
dates. He smiled at the total ignorance displayed of 
Bonaparte's character, where the military author describes 
him as looking through a glass to feast upon the bloody 
sight. 

2ist. — Arriaza, 2 a Spanish poet, went off to-day to the 
Legation in London ; he has quickened his departure 
in order to secure seeing England before the declaration 
of war shall compel them all to decamp. He was formerly 
in the Navy, but his shortness of sight and loss of one 
eye obliged him to quit the service ; he is gentlemanlike 
in his manner and appears popular among his brother 
beaux esprits. 

Augereau has taken the command of the camp at 
Bayonne ; he is too active and distinguished an officer 
to be given a command unless real service was intended. 
He was expelled from Portugal at the beginning of the 
Revolution ; he was then a fencing master by profession. 
The choice is not amiss, as Augereau, it is said, feels a 
great degree of irritation against the Portuguese Govern- 
ment for their treatment of him upon that occasion. 

The bridge over the Bidassoa is completed ; it was 
undertaken and finished without the participation of this 

1 Bourrienne, who was also an eye-witness of the whole affair, 
mentions 4000 as the number of the prisoners. He does not mention 
Napoleon's reason for the necessity of the slaughter {A Voice from 
St. Helena), i.e. that he had already taken many of the same Turkish 
troops at El Arish, where he released them on parole. 

2 Juan Arriaza (1769-1837), who entered the navy at the age of 
12, and served in the campaigns of 1793-1795. He was military attache 
to the Embassy in London for a time, and was later employed in the 
Secretary of State's office. He was the author of a number of poems 
and verses, 



i8o 3 ] RELATIONS WITH FRANCE 97 

Governt., or even was their consent required. Already 
Augereau has been as far as Fuenterrabia to survey the 
ground and fix posts, &c, previous to the threatened 
attack upon Portugal. With all this it appears strange 
that both Spain and France should expect a war with 
each other. Here many of the F. are getting off as fast 
as they can ; and at Paris the S., fearful of undergoing 
the same captivity as befell the English, hasten away 
also. If this abject, weak, and contemptible Government 
could venture to resist the insolence of the French 
demands, the country would for ever be freed from 
the thraldom it now labours under, but to do that with 
success and glory so much must be renounced on the 
part of the Court that to hope it is in vain. Besides, the 
influence which must necessarily be given to the people 
to excite them to repel the enemy, by letting them 
have something worth defending, would to this corrupt 
Minister be infinitely more alarming than even seeing 
the enemy lodged in all the forts and garrisons of the 
kingdom. The expenses of the Court is exactly one- 
third of the revenue, and the Queen's share is 

exclusive of the expenses she shares with the King, such 
as in equipages, mules, attendants, board, &c. Some 
think she has amassed large sums, foreseeing from the 
fate of other sovereigns how necessary such an aid might 
become ; but the most like the truth is the opinion 
that she is prodigal upon herself and profuse to her 
lovers, many of whom enjoy good fortunes. 

29^ September. — Both yesterday and to-day we dined 
at the Bourkes to interfere as little as we could with the 
servants whilst they were changing from the Cruz de 
Malta to this house in the Calle de la Abada. We have 
more space, and in case we should be detained from home 
by circumstances either of health or war, we shall be 
warmer in the cold days of October and November. 



98 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [0c t. 

News is come of the capture of another paquet from 
Lisbon to Falmouth. The coast of Portugal is very 
much exposed to the danger of privateers, as we have not 
a single cruiser, owing to a quarrel between Admiral 
Cornwallis and Ld. Nelson, each saying it is the business 
of the other's fleet to cruise there. Thus for this squabble 
trade and b\jsiness suffer, and lives are lost. The captain 
of the King George died in consequence of his wounds. 
All communication from France to England is cut off by 
a decree of Governt. ; even a flag of truce will not be 
admitted into their ports, and, if it approaches, will be 
fired at from the batteries. A Spanish courier dispatched 
to London from hence has been arrested at Paris, and 
compelled to return ; it is not yet known whether with 
or without his dispatches. 

2nd October. — Confined again to my couch. Hermann, 1 
the Fiist Secretary of the French Embassy, is returned. 
His re-appearance here is a proof of the disapprobation 
of the F. Government towards Beurnonville ; indeed 
would be difficult to mark it stronger than by this 
measure. Hermann was here upon Beurnonville's 
arrival, but in consequence of being treated with coldness 
and a total want of confidence, he asked his recall, 
which was granted. He was, on his return, employed 
by Talleyrand, whose confidence he enjoys, and as he is 
remarkably conciliatory in his manners, it is supposed 
that he is come to pour oil upon the flame so injudiciously 
kindled by B.'s violence and insolence. He was once 

1 Francois Antoine Hermann (1758-1837), French diplomatist. 
He left France after the death of the King, and only returned in 1S01. 
He was employed in Spain and Portugal, where he acted as Minister 
of the Interior during the French invasion, and levied a large contri- 
bution from the country. After the Restoration he for some years 
held the post of Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. 

His mission in reality was to deliver a letter from Napoleon to 
the King, demanding the dismissal of Godoy under pain of instant 
invasion. 



i8o 3 ] HERMANN 99 

before employed upon a similar occasion, having been the 
pacificator at Lisbon after Lannes' great esclandre. He 
was, under the ancien regime, 10 years Consul-General 
in England, where he married an Englishwoman and 
conceived an attachment for the country. During the 
war on the continent he served in the Royalist army, 
was the confidential friend and secretary of the P. de 
Conde. On Bonaparte's accession he went and offered 
his services, stating that he had served his King as long 
as there was a chance of success, but that all hopes, 
even among the most sanguine, were over : that as a 
father of a family he felt it incumbent upon him to seek 
an existence, and he preferred feeling an obligation to 
his own country than to a foreign one, and would serve 
the Governt. that employed him with the fidelity that 
he had manifested towards his King and the cause 
he served. No immediate reply was made, but owing 
probably to Talleyrand's strong recommendations he 
was sent hither as charge d'affaires between Lucien 
Bonaparte and Beurnonville. The latter, who has 
been guided and governed by Belleville, 1 spoke very 
slightingly of him to us, and Belleville asserted generally, 
without any apparent reference to Hermann, that under 
the present Governt. no Royalist was actually employed ; 
implying, one may presume, that if there had been any 
they were removed from their trusts. This was said 
3 months ago. If Beurnonville really ventured to hold 
the language to the Queen that he boasted to us of doing, 
one cannot be surprised that much secret influence 
was employed to get him recalled or superceded. He 
told us that he had said to the Queen herself ' de vive 



1 Redon de Belleville (i 748-1 S20), a French official, who served 
his country in various capacities. He was at this time in charge of the 
commercial interests of France in Spain, and remained at Madrid till 
1804. 

H 2 



ioo LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [0c t. 

voix,' that were his advice to be followed, Bonaparte would 
send 80,000 men ' pour mettre ce pays-ci a. la raison.' 

6th October. — The F. Ambassador's house is thronged\ 
with all the best and worst company in Madrid, not to 
visit him but his shop. It seems that several of his 
lower apartments are converted into a magasin, where 
may be purchased all that is fine and curious from 
Paris. The servants are allowed this indulgence, and 
under his franchise import counterband (sic) articles upon 
which there is much appearance of his getting a per- 
centage. We have long purchased wine at his house.V 
In some of his quarrels with the Ministers, he made, 
as the price of his forgiveness, an extension of franchise 
six months beyond the period commonly allotted to 
Ambassadors and Envoys. The morning after Hermann's 
arrival he went to the sitio (which is now at the Escorial) 
without Beur. He returned this morning, and Beur. 
set off instantly for the sitio. Frere also went off suddenly. 
Within these few days, 3 men, one a Frenchman, have 
disappeared, supposed to have been arrested by the 
Inquisition in consequence of their having held imprudent 
language about the Governt. That awful tribunal is now 
become a civil court and a mere instrument of state ; 
persons whom they dare not arrest and fear to bring to 
trial as political offenders are seized by the Inquisition, and 
public opinion is still so strong in favor or rather in its fear 
and respect of that authority, that no enquiries are made. 

yth October. — After a confinement of 8 days to my 
couch, I drove out to take the air, and find myself better. 
Lambert, Mouravieff-Apostol, 1 Frere, Rist, 2 Andreoli, 

1 Ivan Mouravieff-Apostol (1769-1851), a Russian belonging to one 
of the collateral branches of the Mouravieff family. He was Russian 
Ambassador at Madrid for some years, and became a Senator on his 
return home. He was a marvellous linguist, and translated various 
classical works into the Russian tongue. 

2 Johann Georg Rist (1775-1847), secretary of the Danish legation 
at Madrid, and later charge 1 d'affaires. He held the same post in 



i8o 3 ] LA RITA LUNA 101 

Quintana, Balbi, Mr. Chamberlain, have dined ; the three 
first frequently, besides generally passing the evening. 
Ld. Hd.'s gout still troublesome. He has, within these 
few days, got on by means of crutches, but is generally 
carried up and down stairs. Children well ; family 
recovered. Weather rainy for 6 days ; no cold winds 
as yet. Delicious temperature at present. Azara, 1 the 
Spanish Ambassador at Paris, is recalled, and General 
O'Farril is appointed in his place. Hermann returns 
to Paris immediately ; no person hitherto knows the 
cause of his coming. 

Madrid, October yth, 1803 : Calle de la Abada. — Went 
this evening to the Teatro de la Cruz to see the celebrated 
actress La Rita Luna. Kemble's admiration of her 
talents has added considerably to her reputation, and 
the crowds who flock to see her are as great as those which 
press to see him and his sister. The part she represented 
is not one calculated to show off her powers. The play is 
an old piece. The intrigue is less complicated than is 
usual for a Spanish drama. A young lady of high birth, 
wealth, and beauty is left by her father's death at her own 
disposal ; he died without a will, and his only admonition 
was as the name imports : ' Be careful in the choice of 
your husband, or look before you leap.' She is sur- 
rounded by numerous suitors, whose pretensions and 
qualities are enumerated in an excellent scene between 
her and her secretary. In expatiating upon their 
characters, she comments wittily and satirically upon 
many local prejudices. The man she prefers is traduced 

London, at the time of the British attack on the Danish fleet at Copen- 
hagen, in 1807. 

1 Don Jose Nicolas de Azara (1731-1804). He was for many years 
the chief agent of the Spanish Government in the Papal Court, and 
was first sent to Paris as Ambassador in 1798. He died shortly after 
his removal from the post. 

He was succeeded by D. Jose Martinez Hervas, who soon, however, 
gave place to Admiral Gravina. 



102 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [0c t. 

by a jealous woman, whom he deserted : the great 
defect, and one which it is admitted on all sides as being 
insurmountable, is that he has an issue, una fuente! This 
objection would be felt by the audience, as, after being 
accused of Judaism or called a Moor, the next injury or 
insult is to be reproached with having an issue. The 
play is full of blemishes, long metaphysical disquisitions, 
which, though full of subtlety, are extremely tedious. 
Rita Luna is squat and short, her countenance open and 
pleasing, her voice agreeable. Lambert dined and went 
with us. 

8th October. — Mouravieff and Lambert dined. In 
evening Mde. de Montijo, Mde. Ariza, 1 &c. The latter 
is a daughter of the Duque de Hi jar and sister of the 
Duque de Alliaga. She is the widow of the Duque de 
Berwick, now married to the Marques de Ariza. Hei 
son, an infant, is Duke of Berwick, and heir to a great 
portion of the mayorazgo of the D. of Alba. Mde. A. 
has been pretty, but her bad health and extreme thinness 
has destroyed her beauty ; she is sprightly, and possesses 
small talk of a better sort than most Spanish women. 
Mde.de Montijo 3 has the reputation of being the cleverest 
and best informed woman in Spain. Her society is the 
best in Madrid, and was composed of the most remarkable 

1 Da. Teresa de Silva Palafox y Centuri6n, daughter of D. Pedro de 
Silva de Hijar, X Duque de Hijar, and his wife Da. Rafaela Palafox 
Centuri6n, daughter of VI Marques de Ariza. She married, in 1790, 
D. Jacobo Felipe Carlos Stuart, V Duque de Liria ; and secondly, in 
1 801, her cousin D. Vicente Centuri6n Palafox y Silva, VIII Marques 
de Ariza. 

2 Da. Maria Francisca de Sales Portocarrero y Zufiiga, born in 1754, 
and daughter of D. Cristobal Pedro Portocarrero, VI Marques de 
Valderabano. On his death in 1763 she succeeded to all the titles, 
including that of Condesa de Montijo. She married, in 1768, Don 
Felipe Antonio Palafox, son of VI Marques de Ariza, who took the 
name of Conde deMontijo from his wife's title. Hedied in 1790, aged 51. 
Mde. de Montijo lived until 1808. She had several children, and her 
eldest son took an important part in the struggles against France. 
One of her daughters married the Marques de Lazan. 



x8o 3 ] MOURAVIEFF-APOSTOL 103 

men : the unfortunate but estimable Jovellanos is her 
intimate friend. She was calculating lately how much 
her society had been diminished, and counted the number 
of seventeen who were exiled or imprisoned within ten 
years by the P. of the P. 

gth. — B. Frere and Mr. Chamberlain * dined. The 
latter is a sensible, candid, agreeable man, employed at 
Lisbon to regulate the packets : a subordinate post, and 
one he is far above in point of talents. He came express 
from Lisbon to the Minister here, probably to excite 
some activity about ye claims of our merchants. 

10th. — Mouravieff and Le Voff dined. The first is thel 
Minister from Russia, of splendid, brilliant talents, with 
more information than one might conclude he possessed 
from the aptitude with which he blurts it out upon 
every occasion. He was of Catherine's private society, 
and employed to write and act at her theatre. He 
translated The School for Scandal, and others of our pieces 
into French. It is astonishing how well he speaks and 
understands languages ; already he is reckoned a good 
Spanish scholar. From etourderie he is without a groat : 
this being his first exit from Russia he totally forgot 
to learn that the mode of satisfying a creditor is different 
in other countries. There blows and refusals are current 
coin, but Stirling gold is necessary elsewhere. He was 
placed about the present Emperor by Catherine, to teach 
him English. Le Voff is attached to him by stronger ties 
than those of mere good will to his parents, being his 
living image. 

nth. — Wrote for the first time these several weeks 
letters to England. Infinitely diverted at Luzuriaga's 2 

1 He was subsequently British Consul at Rio Janeiro. 

2 Don Ignacio Maria Ruiz de Luzuriaga (i 763-1 822), who com- 
menced his studies in Paris at an early age, and studied at the University 
of Edinburgh under Dr. Cullen. He went on to Glasgow and London, 
where he became a fellow of many of the leading medical societies. He 



104 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Oct. 

account of the treatment of the patients entrusted to the 
care of the Confraternity of San Juan de Dios. . . . 

12th October. — Mouravieff, Le Voff, Sapia, Lambert, 
and a M. Voisin, his cousin, dined. Sapia is Secretary 
of Legation to the Ministre de la Republique ligurienne. 
Having been 14 years resident from Genoa he feels himself 
ill-used at being placed in a subordinate station, and 
the struggle between pride and poverty is not yet decided, 
tho' the latter must ultimately triumph and make him 
stay and submit. He is a civil and obliging person, full 
of the caquetage of the Court and Madrid. In addition to 
this humiliation, he has neither esteem nor regard for his 
superior, a wary, wily Genoese of the name of Serra. 1 
During the bloody period of the Revolution he tried to act 
similar scenes at Genoa ; the people at one moment were 
so incensed that the cry throughout the streets was 
' Morte a Serra, Serra a la morte.' Bonaparte dislikes 
and fears his principles and talents ; refused his returning 
to Genoa where he dare not trust him, and neither liking 
to offend or allow him to remain at Paris gave him 
this honorable banishment to Madrid. His countenance 
is an index to his character, shrewd, false, cunning, and 
clever. I see him often, as living in the world one 
must know all the motley humours of those who compose 
it, and not incur the ridicule of being a censor by excluding 
those whose morality may not square with rigid theories. 
Au teste he is rather pleasant, nor is it difficult to perceive, 
notwithstanding the decorum he observes towards the 
Governt. of his Master, that he is dissatisfied and not 
convinced of its stability. In common with many others, 
he was astonished at Amiens that we did not stipulate 

returned to France for a short time, and thence went to Madrid, where 
he published a number of medical works. 

1 Jerome, Marquis de Serra (1761-1837), Genoese statesman and 
author of a History of Genoa. He was later French Ambassador in 
Dresden. 



i8o 3 ] SERRA 105 

for the liberties of Holland, Switzerland, and the restora- 
tion of the King of Sardinia ; all points he is of opinion 
we might have carried. Those who know the negociators, 
Ld. Cornwallis and Merry, are equally astonished we did 
so well there, the former being a plain, honest, uninformed 
soldier, with good intentions and slender capacity, the 
other nulle, nulle, perhaps formerly a decent head of 
a factory and then chiefly from being able to speak 
Spanish fluently. 

The vales rose, or rather fell, as they are reckoned by 
the discount, whilst Hermann was here, but since his 
departure the general has undone all that he settled, 
and the affaires are more jumbled than ever. The 
army at Bayonne is not nearly so great as has been 
reported. Yesterday's post brought me a letter from 
Lasteyrie, who is there ; he says the forces do not 
exceed 11,000 men. He adds in a mysterious manner, 
but intelligible to us, that public opinion was much 
changed in France about their Sovereign. 

24th October, Madrid. — Since I have been able to 
enjoy this delicious weather, most of my time has been 
employed basking in the sun. On the day of San Pedro, 
19th, Mde. Ariza (ci-devant Duquesa de Berwick) gave 
a ball, it being the name-day of her father, the Duque de 
Hi jar. The company were in gala, well and magnificently 
dressed ; the whole of the entertainment handsomely 
and judiciously conducted. The supper was disposed 
upon many small tables, to which different parties 
succeeded each other. The only difference from a ball 
anywhere else was the dancing upon carpets, a general 
custom, they told me, at Madrid. The two prettiest 
women were the Marquesa de Santa Cruz, 1 Osuna's 

1 Da. Joaquina (1784-1851), second daughter of D. Pedro Tellez 
Giron, IX Duque de Osuna. She married D. Jose Gabriel de Silva y 
Bazan, X Marques de Santa Cruz, in 1801. 



106 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [0c t 

daughter, and the eldest daughter of Mde. Taruco. 
The D. of Infantado was by far the most pleasing and 
gentlemanlike man. One cannot but regret that an) 
obscure connection deprives society of his example and 
talents. I went three time to see Rita Luna in an old 
play of Lope de Vega's, Lo cierto por lo dudoso. Her 
acting is admirable, her taste in dress deplorable, which, 
added to rather a clumsy figure, prevents the illusion of 
supposing her a youthful, captivating woman. Went 
last night to Los Cahos del Peral, where the new opera 
was too bad to listen to. Dined to-day at Freres' to 
enable the servants to see the bull feast, and to which 
I also went, it being probably the last I can ever see, as 
it closes the season of those fiestas. The plaza is of wood 
and compared to those of Valencia, Granada, Cadiz, 
Seville, &c, is very shabby. After fighting three bulls 
in the usual manner, the 4th was to be killed in a new\ 
way. A man on his knees was placed opposite the gate 
through which the animal was to enter ; he held a 
thick pole, at the end of which a broad spear was affixed. 
The intention was that the animal should rush upon it and 
kill himself ; this he did not do, however, he only threw 
the man over. The banderilleros fought him with their 
capas without the picadores. For the last three bulls, the 
arena was divided by a high fence of wooden paling, 
which enabled them to regale the public with two fiestas or 
corridas at once ; those animals were very furious, several 
horses were killed, and the picadores thrown. The only 
extra accident was the tossing of a poor fellow, whose 
eagerness carried him into the arena to see the bull come 
forth, who, instead of attacking the picador, attacked and 
threw him over his horns with the utmost violence. Such 
however is the indifference about a victim in so great 
a cause, that as yet I cannot ascertain how much he 
has been hurt. The only merit in my eyes of this 



j8o 3 ] BULL FIGHT IN MADRID 107 

representation is the eagerness of the people, who can 
neither contain their delight nor displeasure when the 
matador makes a bad stroke and the bull vomits blood ; 
they cry ' Picaro quere hacer de caballero,' alluding to 
the phrase that a high-born noble throws his noble blood 
in your face — ' il vous crache sa noblesse a la figure.' 
An expert matador only inflicts one wound, but that 
is mortal. The matadores are the toreros l admired 
by the ladies ; the Dsses. of Osuna and Alba formerly 
were the rivals for Pedro Romero. 2 This evening 
when Rocca fought, the Marquesa Santiago with- 
drew to the back of her balcone (sic) not to see him 
in danger. The Santa Cruz is suspected of beginning 
to follow her mother in her tastes, as she goes in 
the gradas, where the aficionados^ sit within reach of 
the toreros ! ! ! 

We have not been without alarm at the possibility 
of the yellow fever reaching Madrid ; it was brought 
to Malaga by a French vessel from St. Domingo, and 
from thence was spread to Antequera, and some say to 
Granada. The number of deaths at Malaga amount to 
60 a day : the French capt., fortunately for the believers 
in retributive justice, was among the first. Cabarrus' 
father-in-law died in 2 days. 

A cordon of troops placed round the district, but 
the Governor of Malaga, Truxillo, being brother-in-law 
to the Tudo, none dare speak openly of the calamity, and 
to avoid spreading alarm the letters are not steeped in 
vinegar and undergo no manner of fumigation. 

30^ October. — In order to natter, the public entirely 
discredited the accounts from Malaga, and altho' by 
them the disease appeared to gain daily, its very existence 

1 Bull fighters. 

2 A well-known bull fighter (i 754-1839). Moratin composed an ode 
in his honour. a The habitues of the ring. 



io8 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Oct. 

was denied. We saw the private letters to Cabarrus, 
which represent the deplorable state of the town ; 97 
deaths in a day, upon a population considerably reduced 
in consequence of the flight of the principal inhabitants 
to the mountains and adjacent towns. To fall in with 
what appeared the wishes of the Prince, Vasco, the Capt.- 
General of Granada, published a bando, 1 the substance 
of which was to quiet the minds of those persons who had 
allowed themseves to be imposed upon by foolish reports 
of an epidemical disorder at Malaga, whereas the only 
illness which prevailed there was the one incidental to 
the season. This conciliatory proclamation satisfied 
the Court till yesterday, when, however, an alarm as 
great as the previous indifference arose. The Council of 
Castile issued an order for the immediate formation of 
a cordon ; the Court sent a notification to Vasco, declaring 
that as his false information had lulled them into a 
dangerous security his head should pay the forfeit, 
if the contagion spread into Andalusia : and couriers 
were this morning dispatched to the seaports with orders 
that no vessels from America, Spanish or English Islands 
of West India, Malaga, &c, should be admitted either 
at Barcelona, Alicant, Carthagena, Cadiz. Cabarrus sets 
off to-morrow to drag away his imbecile wife, who, not 
content with incurring danger for herself, has by re- 
maining endangered her three children. We feel anxiety 
on his account, as he will not be able to return when he 
chooses, the cordon being intended to be an impenetiable 
barrier, tho' in the former plague, report says it was 
opened by duros. 

We went a few mornings ago to see the Palacio del 
Buen Retiro, the favorite residence of Philip IV. 2 It 

1 Edict. 

2 The palace was built for Philip IV by the Conde Duque de Olivares, 
after the earlier one had been burnt about 1630. It was also seriously 



i8o 3 ] BUEN RETIRO PALACE 109 

is on the other side of the Prado in a spacious, handsome 
garden, in which are two statues ; one an equestrian 
figure in bronze of Felipe IV, executed after a design 
of Velasquez's by Pedro (sic) Tacca, a Florentine sculptor ; 
the other a marble statue of Charles V. The former 
is much admired, and deservedly, as it is a fine specimen 
of workmanship ; it has not, however, the spirit of the 
equestrian statue of Charles I of England at Charing 
Cross. The palace is neither magnificent within nor 
without ; the Royal apartments are stripped of their 
furniture. A few excellent pictures alone remain. The 
theatre is very beautiful ; it was originally erected by 
Philip IV, whose taste for show and profusion was 
encouraged by his injudicious Minister, the Conde Duque. 
It has since been decorated afresh by Ferdinand VI, 
no less an admirer of theatrical exhibitions than his 
predecessor. One was the patron of Calderon and Moreto, 
the other a zealous partizan of Italian music and Farinelli. 
One large hall, where the Junta of the cities who vote for 
the Cortes assembles, is adorned with the arms of the 
difft. provinces who have votes. The pictures, of which 
there are 12 in number, represent different historical 
subjects. A curious picture of the last solemn auto da fe 
celebrated in the Plaza Mayor at Madrid, by Francisco 
Rizi} It represents the King Carlos II, his Queen Maria 
of France (Orleans), and the Queen-mother, seated in a 
balcony as spectators of the bloody scene : the tribunal 
of the Inquisition in the center, and the victims dressed 
for sacrifice. The young Queen was so overcome at the 

damaged by fire in 1734. It was restored by Ferdinand VI, but was 
hardly treated by the French during their occupation, and the only 
portion now standing is the Artillery Museum, the rest having been 
pulled down in 1868, when the whole gardens were thrown open to the 
public. 

The equestrian statue of Philip IV, here mentioned, is now in the 
Plaza del Oriente. 

1 Now in the Picture Gallery. 



no LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

sight that she could not refrain from expressing her 
horror. A fine portrait of Henry II of France by Titian. 
Full length of Fernando and Isabel. Several fine pictures 
of stag and boar huntings by Rubens. Some admirable 
pieces by Snyders and John Tillen, and ' Hawking ' by 
Pedro (sic) de Vos, and a ' Chasse at the Prado.' Two 
portraits taken at different periods of Felipe IV by 
Velasquez, and a ' bufon ' very good. The mother of 
Carlos II, young, and another in the dress of a widow. 
Several ceilings by Luca Giordano, and fresco walls of 
the taking of Granada. One large saloon, very hand- 
some, with a cabinet or recess entirely lined with mirrors. 
The palace was burnt while Felipe IV and all his Court 
were in it. An account of the disaster and the distresses 
of the ladies is given in the Semanario erudito ; therefore 
one cannot distinguish the old part from the new. The 
fire did not prevent the festivals, as the theatre escaped 
the flames ; and whilst the palace was smouldering, the 
Court assisted at a fete ordered by the Conde Duque. 
The estanque and lake in the gardens was used, and 
dramatic performances exhibited on it in gondolas by 
torch-light. 

A few days after we went to the Pardo, a sitio real, 
made such by Charles V, whom the scandalous chronicle 
accuses of having used it as retreat for a favorite and 
mysterious mistress. We passed through the Bosque, 
where at this season all Madrid flock daily to gather and 
eat the acorns from the evergreen-oaks, called bellotas. 
A circuit of wall of six leagues encloses the park solely 
reserved for the royal chasse. The road excellent, and 
several views of the river, trees, and abundance of game, 
very pretty. The Pardo is about two leagues from the 
town ; at present it is totally abandoned, pictures, 
glasses, and furniture being removed. Carlos III added 
some handsome apartments to the original chateau, but 



i8o 3 ] NAPOLEON AND MARCOFF m 

the present King since his accession, has never inhabited 
it. He has built a small pavilion called el Casa del 
Campo, where he dines after hunting ; it is executed in 
very good taste, and is really a bijou. 

3rd November. — Mouravieff told us of the First 
Consul's violence towards Marcoff, 1 in consequence of 
which the latter has demanded his recall. It seems 
that at Bareges this autumn, Marcoff lived a good deal 
with Ld. Elgin, 3 an offence to the great man, whose temper 
towards the English is implacable. At the first audience 
for Foreign Ministers after his return the Consul addressed 
himself to the Saxon Minister, expressing his indigna- 
tion that protection was granted to a person proscribed 
by the French Republic ; the Saxon made a discreet reply, 
and referred him to Marcoff. The short and the long 
of the business was that the Consul lost all temper, and 
openly abused the Russian Governt. for allowing M. 
d'Entraigues 3 to write and publish against him. Marcoff's 
wit and repartee deserted him ; he mumbled a few 
words which no one heard. The next day invitations 
were issued to all the Russians to assist at a fete at St. 
Cloud, with the exception only of Marcoff : the whole 
of that nation declined attending. If the Emperor 
Alexander had not unfortunately been educated by 
La Harpe in the modern principles of philanthropy, &c, 
he would feel stung at the insult, and resent the offence 
in a way that might awe the little man ; would that 

1 Arcadi Ivanovitch Marcoff, a favourite of Catherine II; who was 
Russian Ambassador in Paris 1 801-1803. 

2 Thomas, seventh Earl of Elgin (1766-1841), the collector of the 
' Elgin Marbles.' He was detained in France with other English after 
the rupture of the Treaty of Amiens. 

3 Emmanuel Henri Delaunay, Comte d'Entraigues (1755-1812). 
He was a member of the £tats-Generaux and signed the Declaration, 
but emigrated soon afterwards. He became a diplomat in the Russian 
service, but continued to publish brochures against the French Govern- 
ment, and perhaps assisted to provide the English Government with 
information of the secret clauses of the Treaty of Tilsit, 



ii2 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

it might be so, as a war or threat of one would create 
a diversion of some of those forces all of which now menace 
our little Island. 

Cte. de Lambert, employed confidentially by Panin 
during his Ministry, told me he had had in his hands two , 
thick folio vols., in manuscript, of memoirs of the life 
of Catherine II, written by herself ; they come down 
as late as three months after her husband's accession. 
Affairs thickened so fast after that period that probably 
she could not keep pace with them preserving the exactness 
and fidelity she observed heretofore. He remarked from 
them that altho' she was laying plans and creating a 
party for herself, it appeared more to form a system 
to govern than to destroy her husband. Also he read 
a large packet of Catherine's letters to Potemkin, returned 
to her upon his death. These with the Memoirs are 
deposited in the Imperial Archives, and will in all proba- 
bility never see the light during our time at least. 

Considerable alarm prevails in consequence of the 
yellow fever. Some have died of it in Barceloneta, and 
also a few at Alicant : precautions are taking to prevent 
its progress. The Corps Diplomatique are gone to the 
Escorial to compliment his Catholic Majesty to-morrow, 
it being his name-day, San Carlos. Comte Etty alone 
keeps aloof ; he will not incur the expense of mules and 
apartments. The dull uniformity of the Court life is 
insupportable to the little Princess, who already listens 
to projects of reform against the time she may possess 
power enough to enforce them. En attendant she employs 
the livelong day in reading novels. Having heard so, 
and that there had been a fuss about them with the 
King, I asked the Duque de San Teodoro the truth. He 
acknowledged having supplied her with a stock f 140, 
advising at the same time ' de ne pas en abuser.' Un- 
luckily the King, who pries into every corner, detected 



l8o3 ] PRINCESS OF ASTURIAS 113 

one in her private apartment, and not approving of 
the engraving, ' fit la grimace.' She was conducted 
according to custom on her arrival at the Escorial into 
the Mausoleum ; the Queens and Princesses of the 
Asturias are admitted once only during their lives through 
a door which never opens to them again until they are 
carried to their last niche for ever. The poor little thing 
was so violently affected, that the prior, whose office it 
is to admit her into the dismal vault, had much difficulty 
in recovering and conveying her above into the church. 
At the high altar she knelt and received his benediction. 
When the Queen underwent the same ceremony, she 
acted more heroically ; on being shown the sarcophagus 
destined to contain her perishable remains, she drew 
from an etui a pair of scissors, and engraved upon the 
porphyry ' Maria Luisa.' 

The weather is always cold and tempestuous at St. 
Lorenzo ' at this season ; there are neither promenades 
nor gardens, nor anything to enliven the desolate environs. 
The only walks are in the cloisters, and the Psse. skips 
about the sacristy and church pour se distraire. The 1 
P. of the Peace passes a week alternately at the sitio and 
here : one for the voice and support of the Queen, the 
other to secure the silence and obedience of his first and 
legal wife, the Tudo, whom he both loves and fears. In 
spite of the pains we have taken to get at the truth of 
the nature of those jarring connections, it is yet as much 
of a riddle as when I first heard of them, nor do I believe 
anyone has the key of the enigma. Recently the French 
thought themselves strong enough to displace him, but 
the Queen was roused, forgot his indignities towards 
her, and shielded him with her influence. The letter 
of which Hermann was the porter was from Bonaparte 
to the King 2 containing many positive charges against 

1 The Escorial. '- See ante, p. 98. 



H4 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

the Prince, not only for incapacity, but duplicity and 
falsehood ; one of the charges was that, notwithstanding 
the close alliance subsisting between the countries, the 
Prince had placed large sums of money in the funds 
of their common enemy the English. This charge the 
Prince mentioned publicly at his levee, affecting to treat 
it as preposterous and unfounded. This, in truth, he 
could not well do, as from a circumstance it has come 
to my knowledge that he has sums to a considerable 
amount in our stocks. When we first came to Madrid, 
Ld. Hd., in consequence of having been so well received 
by him during his last journey in Spain, 1 resolved in 
the course of conversation to say something on behalf 
of Jovellanos, 2 with whom he was well acquainted ; 
but so great a change had a few years operated in his 
fortunes, that all access was prohibited by the forms 
established, and one audience with the English Minister 
present was all the intercourse he was likely to obtain, 
unless he had demanded another, which, not being in 
any official capacity, would have been intrusive and 
troublesome. 

All hopes of saying a favorable word being thwarted, 
another mode was suggested by Mde. M. and C, under 
the promise on our part of the strictest secrecy. In 
consequence of the war, the great person alluded to had 
conceived some apprehensions about lus money, arising 
chiefly from his ignorance of the mode of brokerage, &c. ; 

1 Lord Holland's first visit to Spain was in 1793. 

2 Don Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744-1811) a native of Gijon 
in the Asturias. He was by profession a lawyer, but by taste a play- 
wright, poet, and man of letters. Banished in 1790 with his friend 
Cabarrus to bis native town, he was made Minister of Justice by Godoy 
in 1797, He was again disgraced the following year, and was imprisoned 
in 1801 in Majorca for seven years. He took a leading part in the early 
stages of the Peninsular War, and it was mainly owing to his efforts with 
the Junta at Seville that the Cortes met at Cadiz in 1810. His letters to 
Lord Holland in that year and 1809, preserved at Holland House, are 
to be published in Spain during iqti, the centenary of his death. 



l8o3 ] GODOY AND JOVELLANOS 115 

it was therefore suggested that it might allay his fears 
if a man of rank and importance were to offer to super- 
intend the motions of his brother in London. This, 
tho' from various circumstances it was in itself an 
unpleasant undertaking, would have been acceded to, 
if the liberty of J. were to be the reward. Accordingly 
a meeting was to have taken place, arranged by C. 
The scheme fell to the ground. As business from Paris 
pressed, he went to the sitio, remained there longer 
than usual, and the hopes of peace being maintained 
diminished his fears. The only reason for recollecting 
the circumstance is the assurance of the P. of the P. 
in talking so intrepidly on the First Consul's accusation. 
His hatred towards Jovellanos is so rancorous, that 
little or no hope remains either of his deliverance or 
diminution of the rigor of his captivity. He was first 
imprisoned in a convent of Carthusians in Mallorca, 1 
deridingly recommended to learn from those reverend 
fathers his catechism ; there he was permitted to walk 
in their garden (always accompanied by a holy brother), 
to use their library, and enjoy their society. During the 
two years he resided among them, he attached, by the 
goodness of his heart and agrement of his conversation, 
the whole confraternity to his interest, and the prior 
never named him without bestowing praises upon his 
character. This, added to his addressing a letter 
directly to the King, demanding a trial and reprobating the 
cruelty of condemnation previous to being allowed a 
hearing, exasperated the P. of the P. so greatly that he 
was instantly removed to the fortress in which he now 
languishes under the vigilant eye of a severe and brutal 
Governor, whose natural sternness is heightened by 
repeated orders not to relax to the smallest indulgence. 
He occupies a spacious chamber with one window only, 

1 Majorca. 

12 



n6 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

at which a sentinel is placed ; at the door also stands 
another. His servant is allowed to attend him at stated 
hours, but never without a sergeant or corporal. He is 
deprived of the use of pen and ink, and has no books 
but those given him by the governor. The only air 
he enjoys comes through his grated window, and the 
only exercise he takes is such as the dimensions of his 
room allows. He is 52 years of age. Accustomed to an 
active life, this change to one so very sedentary, has 
affected his health ; his legs begin to swell, and after 
three months' application to be allowed a physician, it 
was then granted. The physician's report was that air 
and bathing were necessary ; after much delay in the 
reply, the request was granted, on condition, however, 
that he should only drive to the beach attended by the 
governor, the physician, the captain on guard, escorted 
by 20 dragoons. This permission Jovellanos rejected, 
not thinking the life of an old man worth troubling so 
many persons. The only favor he asks is to be allowed 
to retire to his native town in the Asturias, from whence 
he will engage never to stir without permission. This 
application is totally rejected. At present the persons 
of the highest consideration in that province have signed 
a memorial pledging themselves for his security if the 
P. of the P. will allow him to return. To this he is also 
inexorable, but his friends have a faint hope. 

Urquijo and Saavedra x are comparatively well off; 

1 Don Francisco de Saavedra. He took office as Minister of 
Finance with Jovellanos in November 1797, on the retirement of 
Godoy, and when the great writer left the Government a few months 
later, he became Prime Minister. This post he retained for a short time 
only, and falling into disgrace he was superseded by Urquijo, He lived 
in retirement in Andalusia until 1808, when he was made President of the 
Junta of Seville, and later Finance Minister to the Supreme Junta. He 
was a member of the Regency of 1810, but retired afterwards into 
private life. (See p. 303.) 

Urquijo only held office for two years, and was also disgraced and 
thrown into prison for a time. 



l8o3 ] EL BONDUCANI 117 

the former indeed is even in favor. He obtained his 
grace thro' the means of the Dsse. de Alliaga, who is the 
favorite of Don Diego Godoy, 1 the Prince's brother. 
Beurnonville, whom I sounded in favor of Jovellanos, 
replied that he pitied his sufferings and esteemed his 
worth, but that any influence he might possess, he had 
and should exert on behalf of Saavedra, whose lot he 
already had ameliorated, as he was allowed to live 
with his family at Puerto Santa Maria. 

4th. — Yesterday B. Frere and Lambert. From 
painful recollections I abhor birthdays, and availed 
myself of the fete of San Carlos to celebrate dear Charles's. 
He was very happy in presents and doing pretty much 
everything he liked ; dined at table, had puppet shows, 
and a magic lantern, &c. Reports in the Puerta del Sol 
of the yellow fever being already in Madrid : 2 families 
lately arrived from Malaga are sent to the lazaretto 
established on the road to Aranjuez. 

6th, Sunday.— Lambert dined. The people of Madrid 
call the Prince of the Peace, El Bonducani, the nickname! 
of the Caliph at which all bow, obey, and tremble. On 
the day of the besamanos, the ladies were all in the outer 
chamber, and were approaching the Queen's apartment, 
but in the centre of the room stood the Prince of the P. 
playing with the Queen's little dog ; the ladies did not 
venture to pass. The Queen impatient and surprised 
at the delay begged the King to look, who, seeing the 
impediment, said laughing, ' They won't pass the Bon- 
ducani ' ! 2 

24th Nov. — Ld. Hd. went this morning to the P. of\ 
the Peace's levee. In a private audience he was told by 
him the story that has been in circulation these 10 days, 

1 Created Duque de Alrnodovar del Campo. 

2 Another nickname was ' El Choricero,' the sausage maker, from 
his native province, Estremadura, which is famous for its pigs. 



n8 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov . 

to the authenticity of which the Prince is always cited, 
that of 4000 Frenchmen being sunk by the English off 
Boulogne : nothing to this purpose has appeared in 
French papers, and the truth of it is stoutly denied by 
the Mission here. He finished with great professions of 
national esteem, adding the two nations of Spaniards and 
English were exactly calculated to act together from 
their mutual esteem. His anti-chamber is crowded 
with all that is great and distinguished and beautiful in 
the kingdom, and tho' often fatigued by their servility, 
his manner never offends. Such is the power of beauty, 
that those who have favors to solicit, entrust their cause to 
the prettiest female of their family, who pleads tete-d-tete 
in the cabinet allotted and fitted up for the purpose of 
such secret audiences, and according as the charms of 
the fair one please, so is he propitious to the suit. 

It is impossible with truth to ascertain, what are the 
ties between him and the Queen. He neglects, has 
insulted her, and possessed himself of the King's con- 
fidence, independent of her influence ; and yet when- 
ever he is hardly pressed by unpopularity or by French 
interference, she supports him effectually : for instance 
recently in the case of the letter written by Bonaparte 
which Hermann delivered, in which his dismissal was 
made a specific condition. Whilst the Court are at the 
sitios he passes a week alternately there and here. His 
riches are unbounded ; all he acquires accumulates, as 
the Court supply his expenses. His table is shabby, and 
that is his only expense whilst here, for at the sitios he 
is furnished from the Royal kitchen. One of the re- 
proaches made against him is that of covetousness and 
penury to the utmost rigor of the word. 

29^ Nov. 1803. — Having been so long confined 
without discovering the least amendment, I took a 
resolution of going out and conducting myself as if I were 



i8o 3 ] MACBETH IN SPANISH 119 

well. Women are described as running from one extreme 
to the other, but in chronical complaints little is gained 
by attending to every symptom ; therefore in modera- 
tion variety of scene is serviceable. Went Wednesday, 
23rd, for first sortie to see Macbeth in Spanish at 
Los Cahos del Peral. It is whimsical that foreigners 
invariably object to Shakespeare's extravagances, 
and yet in their translations or imitations from him 
they out Herod Herod and create absurdities and 
superfluous crimes to become sublime. For instance in 
this tragedy, Lady Macbeth is represented with a son of 
6 years old, who is introduced for no other purpose than 
that of enabling her to run upon the stage with bloody 
hands, fresh from murdering him in his bed. Mile. St. 
Simon I took with me. Afterwards I went to the 
Comtesse D'Etty ; it was the first night of her opening her 
house, the company was treated with a game of blind 
man's buff. Mde. Bourke by dint of extreme court, 
very fortunately for the society of foreigners, has brought 
many Spaniards into her society, and the Court wink 
at it at present, but how long this indulgence may be 
accorded unto them is doubtful. The next day the 
Duquesa de Osuna called upon me in the morning to 
invite me to pass the evening at her house and to bring 
Charles. It was a very splendid ball and supper ; 
Charles was enchanted with her daughter, the Manuelita, 1 
and her futur (sic), the young Duque de Berwick. I did 
not stay till 6 o'clock in the morning, otherwise I 
might have seen her fin de fiesta Mass, which was said in 
the oratory of the Duquesa. Went to see La dama duende, 
a good play by Calderon. On Monday dined with Frere ; 
Pellicer, Lambert, Evening, Mde. Bourke's. Not late 
and fatiguing. 

1 Da. Maria Manuela Tellez Giron, the Duchess's youngest daughter, 
who married D, Angel Maria Jose Fernandez de Cordova, VIII Duque 
de Abrantes. 



120 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [D ec. 

Thursday, ist December, Madrid. — Ld. Hd. dined at 
Mr. Pinkney's, 1 the American Minister. The public have 
been amused by a domestic occurrence in the family of 
the D. of Osuna. The youngest son, Giron, 2 has been 
suspected of a design of marrying a girl of his own age 
nearly, the niece of ye late General Deroutier, Generalisimo 
of the Spanish armies and the bosom friend of the D. 
and Dss. of Osuna. But as, in Spain, great offices do 
not confer real dignity, the privileges of birth are not 
waved in their favor : thus Mile. Deroutier was a sad 
mesalliance for a son of Osuna, and both he and his 
elder brother (accused of conniving at the scheme) 
were imprisoned — Pehafiel put under arrest and confined 
to barracks by order of his father (as superior officer), 
and Giron shut up at home. This made a great clamor 
in Madrid for a few days, but all is restored to peace and 
harmony, the young man having given his word to 
renounce all thoughts of the lady. The scarcity con- 
tinues increasing, nor do the measures taken for the 
relief of it yet give hopes of bettering our condition. 

4th December, Madrid. — Went yesterday to see the 
Casa del Campo, a small hunting palace belonging to the 
King : it is not above half a mile from the town, on the 
opposite side of the Manzanares, across the bridge of 
Segovia. The house is small and insignificant ; in the 
garden is a magnificent equestrian statue in bronze of 
Philip III, designed and begun by John de Bologna 

1 William Pinkney (1764-182 2), American diplomat, who was sent 
to Madrid as Minister in 1797, and returned to the United States in 
1804. He was Ambassador in London 1806-1811. 

- D. Pedro Giron (1786-1851), Marques de Javalquinto, a general 
in the Spanish service in the Peninsular War. He married, in 1811, 
Da. Maria del Rosario Perez de Santillan, daughter of the Marques de 
la Motilla. 

His elder brother D. Francisco Giron, Marques de Penafiel, and 
afterwards X Duque de Osuna, was born in 1785 ; married, in 1802, 
Da. Maria Francisca de Beaufort y Toledo, eldest daughter of the Duque 
de Beaufort-Spontin. He died in 1821, his wife nine years later. 



i8o 3 ] THE CASA DEL CAMPO 121 

and finished on his death by Pedro Tacca, erected in 
1616. 1 It is an admirable piece of workmanship, the 
defects are chiefly owing to the badness of the situation 
in which it is placed ; the pedestal is too small and 
narrow, and the statue is so much larger in proportion 
than the house (close to which it is placed), that one 
might fancy a fly bite would impel him to leap over it, 
or like the good Alfonso in the Castle of Otranto the 
inhabitant of the castle had grown too big for it. In 
the garden there is also a beautiful white marble jet d'eau ; 
the basin is richly sculptured and ornamented with 
the chains, &c, of the Toison d'or workmanship of the 
age of Charles V. There are some pictures mouldering 
on the chamber walls, chiefly bad portraits of the Austrian 
family. Some inexplicable allegories on human life 
by Jerome Bosch. The park is entered by a wall of two 
leagues in circumference ; it contains an abundance of 
pheasants. Three large estanques abound in foreign ducks 
and geese. On an eminence is a small chapel built by 
the piety of Carlos III for the gardes chasse. The wood 
is very pretty, and the view of the palace in Madrid 
truly grand. On this side the town appears handsome, 
and does not betray the total nakedness and barrenness 
which disfigure its environs on every other side. Lambert, 
Quintana, and an agricultural friend of Lasteyrie's dined. 
Went to La Cruz ; much pleased with the play, one of 
Lope's — La hermosa fea. 

The day before (Friday) the Bourkes, Mouravieff , Rist, 
Lambert, and his cousin dined. Evening went to Mde. 
Etty, where the pleasures of the nursery were offered to 
grown-up ladies and gentlemen in the juvenile sports 
of blind man's buff, forfeits, hot cockles, &c. No letters 
from England since 22nd October. From the change 
in the tone of the French papers, it is not improbable 

1 Now in the Plaza Mayor. 



122 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [D ec. 

that the projected invasion of England is renounced, and 
Ireland will be the object ; an alarming change for us, as 
in one instance they only exposed themselves to certain 
death and failure, but in the other to success as certain 
as they can hope for. However the very change exposes 
the First Consul to ridicule, and how far the French 
national character has changed upon the scorn attached 
to a ridicule, remains to be seen. 

Le Chevalier, 1 who has been passing 80 days, and, as 
he adds, what is much more, 80 nights, on the heights 
above Tarragona measuring triangles, gave a letter of 
introduction to Messrs. Richards, Bingham, and Escher 
to us. The latter is a Swiss merchant from Leghorn ; 
the former a young Englishman, seized in France on 
his return from Italy and kept as a detenu 6 months at 
Nismes, from whence he contrived to make his escape by 
an Italian passport. He represents the situation of the 
English as deplorable, more however from petty vexations 
than from positive rigor, altho' there are examples of 
the latter. Those who have small, uncertain incomes 
suffer by the detention, as the bankers exact exorbitant 
profits upon the sums they draw for. At Fontainebleau 
the indigent part of the community suffer cruelly ; I 
rejoiced to find that the small sum of £50, which I had 
desired Perregeaux to give among them, was likely to 
be so useful. He represents the public opinion having 
changed, in the space of 3 months, from enthusiasm and 
exultation on the score of the invasion to indifference 
and doubt. The military offended at the rank granted 
to the gens d'armerie, who have precedence. A sort of 
discontent arose in the army at Bayonne ; a suspicion of 
conspiracy excited some alarm, and for three days all 

1 Jean Baptiste Le Chevalier (i 752-1 836), French traveller, who 
published an account of his researches in Asia Minor, and a work on 
Homer. 



l8o3 ] STATE OF FRANCE 123 

the houses in Toulouse were searched for arms. The 
vulgar story was that the troops, irritated at the ill-usage 
of Toussaint and his family ! (the latter reside at Toulouse), 
intended to make some effort in their favor. Toussaint is 
reported to be dead ; others affirm that he is confined 
in the Chateau dTf, opposite to Marseilles. Bonaparte' 
is personally disliked at Marseilles : a voluntary con- 
tribution for the chaloupcs cannonieres could not be 
raised. 

$th December. — Three gentlemen and Lambert dined. 
Yesterday Charles spent the day at the D. of Osuna's, 
playing with her little daughter Manuelita. We went in 
the evening to the Bourkes. Many Spaniards, but in 
consequence of the ill success of the bank for many 
successive evenings, the company were compelled to 
revert to the games of their youth, and derive their 
amusement from the innocent pastimes of forfeits, &c. 
However les petits jcux languished and went off heavily. 
A considerable alarm prevailed in consequence of the 
report of a violent contagious fever having broken out 
in the prisons ; it is not called the yellow fever, but by 
the accounts appears to be equally malignant. This 
evening more particulars ; all the prisoners were removed 
last night, and conveyed in coaches to a lazaretto 2 leagues 
off. The fever was brought into the prison by some 
criminals lately apprehended, 5 of whom died ; the others 
expired after 30 hours' illness ; a lad who attended them 
is also dead, and the priest who administered is dying. 
The utmost precautions have been taken to stop the 

1 Toussaint l'Ouverture (1743-1803)^ negro statesman and general, 
and native of St. Domingo. He took a leading part in the disturbances 
in that island, but after being named Commander-in-Chief by the 
French in 1796, he threw off their authority, and in 1801 proclaimed 
himself President for life. He was treacherously taken prisoner by 
General Leclerc, and sent to France, where he died in the Chateau de 
Joux, near Besancon. 



124 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec 

contagion ; muriatic acid and other fumigations. Some 
fear the prisoners were a part of the gang lately 
seized in Andalusia ; others that they came from the 
Mancha, where 48,000 persons are sick of putrid disorders 
in consequence of the scarcity of provisions and want of 
fuel. Luzuriaga affirms that the famine is so dreadful 
and universal that the population of Spain will be 
materially diminished. At Burgos the people die like flies, 
the villages are deserted, as the miserable peasants crowd 
into the towns to obtain relief from the rich and pious. 

There has been a slight misunderstanding, or more 
properly a coldness, between the Queen and the P. of 
the Peace on the subject of Morla x (Captain-General of 
Andalusia). She insisted upon his removal, to which the 
Prince acceded, provided Caballero was expelled. She 
refused, and the Prince remained a fortnight from the 
sitio, where he went yesterday, and the report is that 
this day Morla received the order to retire into a small 
village in Andalusia. 

The French Minister in Sweden, replied wittily enough 
to the late King of Sweden, 2 who had long made himself 
ridiculous by vain boasting. When asked of what part 
of France he was, and perceiving the King's intention 
was to make him call himself a Gascon, answered, ' From 
the banks of the Garonne.' ' Enfin,' said the King, ' you 
are a Gascon.' ' Oui, Sire, Gascon du Midi.' The public 
had long named the King, ' Le Gascon du Nord.' 

Another wearisome confinement to my couch has 
depressed my spirits, and incapacitated me from exerting 
either mind or body. 

1 Don Tomas Morla (1752-1820), Spanish general, who succeeded 
Solano as Governor of Cadiz, after his murder in 1808 by the mob, 
and captured the French ships there. He was instrumental in the 
surrender of Madrid to Napoleon in 1808, and sided with Joseph's 
Government the following year. He was disgraced at the restoration 
of Ferdinand VII, and retired to his estates. 

2 Gustavus VII, who was assassinated in 1792. 



i8o 3 ] MORLA 125 

nth December. — The gth was the fete of the Queen ; 
after it the Prince of the P. came to Madrid. Many 
days previously there were rumours of a quarrel between 
the Queen and Prince of the Peace, on account of Morla 
(the Captain-General of Andalusia), whom the Queen 
always detested and was glad of the pretext of complying 
with the request of the French to dismiss. It appears 
that the French complained of his want of respect to 
their flag in the not saluting properly a ship-of-war which 
entered the port of Cadiz. The Prince reluctantly agreed 
to Morla's removal, even tho' balanced by Caballero's 
disgrace, but the Queen would not come to those con- 
ditions and several warm scenes and vives altercations 
ensued. Some say Morla received an order to withdraw 
from Madrid and retire to an obscure town, but that 
the Prince ventured to call him to the sitio on ye 9th. 

Orders were issued for the preparation of the castle at 
Arena for the reception of the Court, who were to go 
there, from thence to Toledo, and so to Aranjuez, without 
coming through Madrid. The cause of this unusual 
measure was both to avoid the danger of infection (a 
jail-fever having broken out in the prisons and alarmed 
the inhabitants of Madrid) and the clamours of a starving 
populace. Arena is an insulated mansion near the 
frontiers of Estremadura, about 30 leagues from hence ; 
it formerly belonged to the Infante Don Luis, 1 father 
of the Princess of the Peace, who is acknowledged as a- 
Bourbon but not as his legitimate daughter, as the King 
calls her cousin not niece. On the day of the gala, the 
Queen lamented the necessity of the journey, expressing 

1 D. Luis Antonio de Borbon, born in 1725. He was made Arch- 
bishop of Toledo, but renounced that honour, and married Da. Maria 
Teresa Vallabriga y Drummond in 1761. One son and two daughters 
were born of this marriage : Infante D. Luis Maria, who was made 
Archbishop of Toledo, while the eldest daughter married Godoy and the 
youngest the Duque de San Fernando. 



126 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

her aversion to travelling ; the King, on the contrary, 
testified the utmost delight, enjoying beforehand the 
pleasures of an unexplored chasse. Those who were 
at the besamanos remarked that he suffered excessively 
from the heat, and frequently to refresh himself had the 
windows opened, which considering the extreme cold 
(snow then being several inches on the ground) was 
unpleasant to the Queen and others. In the night he 
was seized with a suffocation, and bled twice ; apparently 
an apoplectic attack, similar to the one which had nearly 
proved fatal 3 years ago at San Ildefonso. An express 
was immediately dispatched to recall the Prince of the 
Peace, who was in bed but immediately set off to the 
Escorial. The bulletin of to-day reports a great amend- 
ment in his health. 

Last night a messenger arrived from England ; he 
came in an armed cutter from Portsmouth, bearing 
probably dispatches of the last importance with regard 
to our decision relative to the fate of Spain, its neutrality, 
peace, or war. Mile. St. Simon dined twice lately, her 
father once ; B. Frere, Lambert, and Rist, almost every 
day. To-day nobody. From England no news of great 
importance. Ld. Hawkesbury 1 called up to H. of Lds., 
which has left the Doctor without an orator in the H. of 
Commons. General Fox appointed Commander of the 
Home district. Ld. Stafford's death, by which Ld. Gower 
is become the richest subject (with the exception of 
Bonaparte's brothers and generals) in Europe. The 
invasion has ceased to alarm the English for their own 
island ; the preparations and threat are diverted towards 
Ireland it is supposed. Paul de la Vauguyon has entered 



1 Robert Banks, Lord Hawkesbury and afterwards second Earl of 
Liverpool (1770-1828), for many years Prime Minister. He was 
Secretary for Foreign Affairs under Addington (' the Doctor '), and 
was raised to the peerage in November 1803. 



!8o 3 ] PRIVATE THEATRICALS 127 

into the Armee d' Angleterre. The Dsse. is at Paris 
soliciting the Under Consuls, not having yet obtained 
admittance to the First. 

14th December. — On the evening of the 12th went to 
a private play at the Marques de Penafiel's. The dramatis 
personce consisted of the persons most distinguished for 
their birth and youthful brilliancy. The choice of the 
piece was bad, Gabrielle de Vergy, a wretched tragedy by 
Belloy, scarcely ever represented at Paris, not improved 
by the Spanish translation. The Conde de Haro per- 
formed the part of Fayel ; his wife the Condesa de Haro, 
that of Gabrielle ; Marques Pefiafiel, Raoul de Courcy ; 
the confidante, Marquesa Santa Cruz ; the confidant of 
Raoul, the Marques de Silva, Santa Cruz's brother ; the 
husband's confidant, Giron, Penafiel's brother. The 
representation went off better than we expected. The 
petite piece was very well acted, Le rencontre heureux. 
Decorations pretty, dresses costly, jewels in profusion. 

13th. — Monsieur Couessens, recommended by Mr. 
Chamberlain, dined with us ; he is lately arrived from 
Philadelphia at Oporto. During the voyage the vessel 
was frequently searched by English cruisers in hopes' 
of discovering Jerome Bonaparte. 1 He is a native of 
Brittany, and proprietor of large possessions in the Island 
of Martinique ; praised much the conduct of the English 
whilst they were masters of the colony, and is evidently in 
hopes they may recapture it, as under its present masters 
the productions must remain shut up unprofitably until 
a peace. He has travelled through Mexico, where he 
passed 3 months with the Prussian traveller, Baron 



1 Napoleon's youngest brother (1784-1860). He took part in the 
expedition to St. Domingo, and being summoned to return to France by 
his brother, went to the United States, in the hope of thus escaping 
capture by the English ships. At Baltimore he married Miss Elizabeth 
Patterson, but the union was not recognised by Napoleon, and he 
returned to Europe without her in 1805. 



i 2 8 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

Humboldt, whom he represents as a very enterprising 
and diligent observer. At Philadelphia he saw Jerome 
Bonaparte, who was amusing himself with the luxury, 
state, and profusion of a young Prince ; he describes him 
as rather clever, with a decided dislike to the profession 
his brother has chosen for him, and only fond of horses, 
equipages, &c. Mde. Bonaparte's mother * still remains- 
at the Martinique, where she prefers the social intercourse 
of her old friends to the ridicule of beginning a Court life 
at Paris ; she allows no one to name Bonaparte in her 
presence, and her only enquiries are about her daughters' 
health. 

20th December. — Dined with the Bourkes ; party 
consisted of the Freres, Mouravieff, Miners, 2 his secretary 
Falck. 3 In evening called upon San Teodoros ; returned 
to Mde. Bourke's, where as usual a motley society of 
foreigners and Spaniards, gamblers and idlers, assemble. 
Mouravieff imparted as a sort of secret the ukase (pro- 
clamation) which has been issued in Russia for the levying 
of additional troops, far beyond the necessary number 
for the peace establishment ; from whence it is inferred 
that, as Russia cannot fear being attacked from her 
geographical situation, the augmentation is not made to 
put her upon the defensive but to interfere actively in 
the concerns of Europe. 

21st. — Mouravieff, Lambert, and Falck dined. 
Received in the morning a small box, brought by Mr. 
Hunter from Lisbon, containing Cowper's Life by Hayley, 
and Lady M. Worthy Montagu's Letters, published by 

1 Rose Claire de Vergers de Sannois, who married Joseph Tascher de 
la Pagerie, both descendants of French families settled in the Antilles. 

2 The Dutch Minister in Madrid. 

3 Antoine Reinhard, Baron Falck (1776-1843), Secretary of the 
Dutch Legation at Madrid. He held important positions of State in 
Holland both under Louis Bonaparte and William I, and was later sent 
as Ambassador to London. 



i8o 3 ] LADY MARY MONTAGU 129 

permission from the family papers in Ld. Bute's possession. 
The whole novelty are a couple of volumes of her corre- 
spondence with her husband and daughter. There is in 
the first (whilst lovers) on her part a mixture of cold 
reasoning and forward importunity that renders his 
hesitation far from surprising, but the vanity of possessing 
such a wit probably decided him. I devour it with the 
same eagerness one feels about a new and interesting novel, 
with this difference, that the novel excites curiosity 
merely for the story, whereas Lady Mary's wit and 
sarcasm form its excellence, and novelty makes one pause 
to admire its justness. Her picture, or rather view 
of human life, is not flattering but faithful. 

On Christmas Eve, in conformity to an Italian custom, 
the Neapolitan Ambassador gives a buona notte or d 
I'cspagnol, la buena noche, consisting of a splendid supper 
after midnight and a numerous assembly, which is usually 
composed of foreigners, as the Spaniards who keep 
houses stay at home to receive their own tertulianos, 1 
who always dine with the persons whom they visit on 
the preceding evening. We stayed very late, and I was 
not sorry on the morrow to doze away the day alone and 
by the fireside. On Monday, much amused with the 
theatrical representations at the Bourkes : they consisted 
of different ftroverbes, acted by Mouravieff, Falck, 
Lambert, Rist, Vaudeuil, Balbi, Le Voff. The first was 
a mock-heroic tragedy ; 2nd, Le mari absent ; the 
third and last, L'etranger, admirably performed by 
Mouravieff, who hit off the German accent and prolix 
method of arguing facts with the utmost humour and 
exactitude. After this there was a very cheerful ball. 
~ » On Wednesday morning I went to the Duke of 
Infantado's ; he showed me his books, manuscripts, 
and pictures. His own apartment is very comfortable ; 

1 Circle of friends. 



130 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

his books and papers scattered about betrayed that his 
collection was more for use than ostentation. Ld. Hd. 
observed that it forcibly recalled to his mind the poor 
Duke's 1 own apartment at Woburn, for here there is also 
a medley of the useful and ornamental models of machinery 
for manufactures by the side of an inestimable Rubens, 
electrical apparatus, minerals, fossils, chemical instru- 
ments, fine porcelain, armory, and a thousand curious, 
useful, and costly objects huddled together. In addition 
to every modern publication, he has some rare and 
precious manuscripts. A Romance of the Rose splendidly 
illuminated, Les quatre dames d' amour : most all the 
romances of chivalry enumerated as composing Don 
Quixote's library. A Mexican record, in hieroglyphics, 
of the early manner of communicating with them by 
signs or symbols. A beautiful portrait by Vandyke. 
Quantities of sketches by Rubens, several fine portraits 
on horseback by Velasquez, especially one of Christina on 
the brink of a river. Prince Emanuel de Salm, brother 
of the Duchess of Infantado, and uncle of the Duke, 2 
knowing my intimacy with the D. of Devonshire, came 
on purpose to meet me and enquire about them. He is 
a sensible, agreeable, well-informed old man, much con- 
nected in the early part of the Revolution with the 
Fayettists, having long been the lover of the Princess 
of Bouillon, who was one of the four inseparables, with 
Mde. d'Hesnin, Psse. de Poix, Dsse. de Biron. He told 
me he had spent several days with Mde. d'Hesnin and 
Lally 3 at Mde. de Gouvernais's near Bordeaux, and that 
Lally was employed in writing a history of the beginning 
of the Revolution which he intended should have the 

1 Francis, fifth Duke of Bedford, who died in 1802, 

' The Duke's mother was Maria, Princess of Salm-Salm. 

3 Trophime Gerard, Marquis de Lally Tollendal (1751-1830), who 

wrote most of the work entitled, Memoirs concerning Marie Antoinette, 

published by Joseph Weber in 1804. 



i8o 3 ] MR. FRERE 131 

merit of impartiality ; but many may be Lally's merits, 
but impartiality certainly is not one of the number. 

Gravina, a It. -general of Marine, was highly rejoiced 
at meeting with Ld. Hd., whom he accompanied from 
England to Spain about ten years ago. He is an excellent, 
frank, warm-hearted man. 

Friday, 30th. — Went to the Austrian Ambassadress' 
— rather dull. Frere sent circular letters to the different 
ports to desire the Consuls to put the merchants upon 
their guard, as war appeared probable. This intelligence 
was only known from the merchants at the ports, who 
wrote it back to Madrid ; here it having been kept a 
most profound secret. If it was communicated, it was 
only to a Mr. Campbell, a mysterious character, a Scotch 
American, who has speculated considerably in vales, 1 
and has assisted in the loan of large sums. Report 
says he has very recently acquired sums to a considerable 
amount upon the agiotage of the vales, and some are 
amazed at the sagacity of his speculations. It is unlucky 
for F.'s reputation that he has not a just discrimination 
between what ought to be reserved and what disclosed, 
as it renders him liable to various imputations, especially 
of the above nature. Both Bourke and others have 
smiled, and the former, who has a regard for him, has 
lamented his boutonne character, as it has deprived him 
of opportunities of serving him ; as no equal will collect 
and give information without getting something in return. 
The Prince of the Peace said openly that he knew more 
about England from others than from the Minister, and 
foolishly enough, I think, accounted for it by observing 
that F. was not trusted by his own Court or rather 
Administration. 

Wednesday, January 4th, 1804. — Dined at Frere's ; 
Gravina, Nuncio, Freire (Ministre de Portugal), General 

1 Stocks. 

K2 



132 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

Lancastre, Don Juan de Langara. The latter is the 
Spanish admiral who was prisoner in England. 1 Lan- 
castre is the descendant of some follower of John of 
Gaunt, who came to assist Pedro the Cruel in his wars 
against his brother, and the family have been established 
in Spain ever since that epoch. 

January 12th. — Weather has been very English for 
many hours in the day during the last month, with this 
difference that here we have well-grounded hopes that 
the eclipse of the sun by a dense cloud will soon be 
removed, whereas chez nous an impervious gloom is the 
settled habit of the weather. 

nth. — Indiscreet language was used in the apartment 
of the P. of the Asturias during the King's illness at 
the Escorial, which naturally enough has indisposed the 
old Court towards the young one. Great apprehensions 
are entertained about the future reign : shoals of Italians, 
especially of Neapolitans, have arrived, hoping to bask in 
the sunshine of their native protectress's bounty. The 
Neapolitan Embassy are viewed with dislike and pique 
by both Courts ; the Princess is supposed already to 
have selected among her countrymen a favorite, who is 
no other than Louis Caraffa, the garde-du-corps. This 
disposition was manifested in the zealous manner with 
which she undertook his promotion, reprimanding sharply 
the Dss. of San Teodoro for her preference to another 
competitor, whose name had not been so long upon the 
list as Caraffa's, but whom the Dss. wished to favor. 
In consequence of the observations made upon this 
occasion, it has been notified to Caraffa's superior officer, 
that he must not upon the pretext of gala days be 
allowed so frequently to visit the sitio. 

1 The commander of the Spanish fleet defeated by Rodney off Cape 
St. Vincent in 1780. He was there wounded and taken prisoner. He 
commanded Spanish fleets on two separate occasions off Toulon, and 
was Minister of Marine 1 797-1 798. 



l8 o 4 ] THE KING AND GODOY 133 

N As soon as the King was better, an architect was 
dispatched to Badajoz to prepare a fit residence for the 
Court next October. This scheme was a project of the 
Queen's, who meant thereby to secure herself a palace 
for a retreat at some future period. The P. of the Peace 
is a native of Estremadura and has frequently declared 
his intention of retiring thither after the death of the King. 
The difficulties the King, &c, experienced in the journey 
to Vellada are supposed to have been increased by the 
contrivance of the P. of the P., who wished to pass 30 
hours alone with the Royal family. On the second day 
of the journey, his Majesty received a note from Cevallos 
(Minister for Foreign Affairs), apprising him of the 
impracticability of crossing a rapid torrent, humbly 
advising that his Majesty should go to Talavera instead 
of risking the passage of the river. The King paused, 
but said nothing could be decided till ' Manuel ' came, 
at the brink of the water. The result of the parley 
was that one of Manuel's chasseurs should plunge into 
the stream and examine the practicability of the safety 
of it, his report was that the water only reached his middle, 
that the bottom was sound. The King resolved to pass 
with the Queen, &c, and P. of the Peace, escorted by the 
chasseurs (which has offended his own gardes-du-corps). 
The consequence was that as no attendants crossed at 
the same time, the P. made the King's bed, and together 
they made the Queen's. 

x The effect of this privacy has been a decree confirming to 
the Prince all the grants hitherto made of the Crown lands, 
another estate, and another chapeau or Grandesse, with the 
remainder over of the title of Prince to his heirs. The 
wording of the decree is whimsical ; it is almost a threat of 
his indignation should his successors infringe these rights. 
They call it here a billet d } enter rement du Roi, as it confirms 
the belief of his illness and approaching danger. It is a 



134 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Jan. 

great proof of the folly, vanity, and egotism of the P. 
of the P. Folly to imagine that such a measure could 
in any way bind hereafter the Prince of the Asturias, 
should he be inclined to pluck this fat bird ; and of 
vanity, to obtain an additional Grandeeship merely 
because others who have several are addressed as double 
Grandees in memorials : egotism, at this crisis when 
fresh taxes and scarcity already oppress every class to 
get favors merely to enrich himself. His policy is 
unaccountable. In his conduct towards the P. of the A., 
instead of conciliating or even demonstrating the usual 
tokens of respect due to his rank, he offends, and has 
insulted him by slights. The consequence has been 
what might have been foreseen, that he has made him an 
implacable enemy, who will not delay showing his resent- 
ment by overturning this formidable rival — formidable 
only as far as he has usurped the place in the King's 
affections and the public eye which ought to have been 
filled by the other ; because nothing can be farther from 
probability than what has been circulated in foreign 
countries of his ambition and enterprising schemes of 
aggrandizement. The only ambition he has is to amass 
immense wealth, and the high situations he has enjoyed 
have only been estimable in as far as they gratified that 
passion. Habitual and constitutional indolence impede 
the execution of any great enterprise flatterers may have 
suggested or he listened to in a dozing reverie. Not only 
he is without a party or an adherent, but he has no friend 
upon whom he can rely. 

T-2>th. — In consequence of the intense heat at the 
play on the 12th, I suffered dreadfully from a violent 
migraine, which made me so ill that I could scarcely 
hold up my head. Got up to dinner, at which assisted 
Balbi, Caraffa, San Pedro, Lambert, B. Frere. At \ past 
five the lustre oscillated violently ; we suspected it was 



l8 o 4 ] AN EARTHQUAKE 135 

occasioned by a shock of an earthquake, and in conse- 
quence examined the lustres in the other rooms. They 
were all equally agitated, and continued in that state for 
a minute and half. San Pedro and Charles were both 
frightened, and to the same degree. I was much too ill 
to go to Mde. Etty's. 

14th. — Having nursed myself, I was enabled to dine 
with Miners, the Dutch Minister ; party consisted of 
Bourkes, Mouravieff, Lambert, Acosta, Le Voff, Rist. 
Dinner very splendid : a mixture of French refinement 
and Dutch solidity ; everything well served and appointed. 
Company in high spirits. In many parts of the town 
the shocks of the earthquake were felt with sufficient 
smartness to create great alarm. The inhabitants of 
the houses in the Plaza Mayor ran out into the streets, 
fearing the fragility of their old tenements. Part of the 
church of San Tomaso fell. The barracks of the gardes- 
du-corps had some tiles shaken off. In short it was 
universally felt more or less. General Gravina said it 
was felt a quarter of an hour sooner at Aranjuez. The 
Prince of the Asturias was considerably alarmed. From 
the direction in which it came, it is conjectured that it 
must come from Valencia or Murcia. It has furnished 
a topic of conversation. Not that in point of small 
talk any is wanting, as the projects of gaiety upon the 
tapis afford abundance of matter for conversation. 
Went in the evening to Mde. Bourke's. 

Tuesday, 24th. — San Pedro dined. Evening pleasant 
at home. The earthquake did mischief at Granada ; 
opened the great arch of the cathedral several inches, 
and threw down houses. Severe also at Malaga and 
Carthagena. Motril, in the kingdom of Granada, has 
been overturned and several streets entirely swallowed up. 

Wednesday, 25th. — The Nuncio obtained permission 
for us to see the Palace of Medinaceli ; accordingly we 



136 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

went, and found him 1 and the Dss. of M. C. sitting waiting 
our arrival in the armory. She, her son, and daughter- 
in-law accompanied us everywhere with the utmost 
civility and attention — to the offices, kitchens, infirmary, 
school for servants' children belonging to the family, 
archives, secretaries' offices, stables for horses, ditto for 
mules, vaulted passages of communication from difft. 
parts of the house, others underground to get out to the 
Prado, depot for garde meuble. Sumptuous apartments 
above. The mansion is immense ; it covers several 
acres of ground, stands in three parishes, and commu- 
nicates by covered galleries with three churches. 3000 
persons lodge under the roof. They alone preserve the 
custom of pages, los caballeros, dressed in yellow with 
black stockings. Many have the crosses of military 
orders, and are promoted to high posts in difft. pro- 
fessions. They are very devout. 

Saturday. — Me. Montijo, Lambert, Falck, Quintana 
dined. Letters from Nelson saying that he believes 
the French fleet has slipped out of Toulon, 10 sail of line 
and 4 frigates. A messenger immediately dispatched 
to Corufia to apprise Sir E. Pellew's squadron ; because 
should they make a junction with the ships in Ferrol, 
the combined forces would be too strong for him. 2 

On Monday, the 6th, Ld. Hd. met with a deplorable 
accident in riding in the Prado. At the very moment 
Frere was extolling the excellence of his horse, the 
animal fell, and in the struggle of getting up, broke Ld. 
Hd.'s arm ; the fracture is in the forearm, of the two 

' D. Luis Maria Fernandez de C6rdova, XIII Duque de Medinaceli 
( 1 749-1 806) married, in 1764, Da. Joaquina Maria de Benavides, after- 
wards Duquesa de Santisteban del Puerto, in her own right. 

2 This was only one of the periodical scares which the French 
admiral in Toulon was giving Nelson throughout 1803 and 1804. His 
ships were continually coming out of harbour to give the sailors practice, 
but he never dared face the British fleet, which was ever on the alert. 



l8 o 4 ] LORD HOLLAND'S ACCIDENT 137 

bones. At first he fainted frequently, but after the 
setting he declared the pain was not nearly as great as 
that of a gouty twitch. He continued totally free from 
fever. Our excellent friend Lambert has been of the 
utmost use and comfort by never quitting the bedside 
whilst he thought his services were useful in the least 
degree. His calmness and address were far more useful 
than the skill of the surgeon. He dines here every 
day. On the Saturday following the accident Ld. Hd. 
dined at table. His spirits have throughout been good, 
except within these 4 days, when the pain in his fingers 
and hand made him fear an attack of gout. Every eve. 
we have a numerous tertulia of Spaniards and foreigners. 
D. of Infantado very kind and attentive, also P. E. Salm. 
Dine frequently with Le Chevalier de Toledo ; his 
brother also. 

21st March. — It would be lost time to attempt either 
to bring up my journal, or wait until I was in a humour 
to make a correct resume of the events of the period which 
I have allowed to go by unnoticed. The King of 
England's death was currently reported ; in addition to 
his mental derangement it appears that he has been 
afflicted with an acute disorder. As late as the 25th 
of Feb. no communication was made to Parlt. about 
his health. Willis and his son were sent for, but refused 
attending unless ordered to do so by the Privy Council ; 
Addington refused to allow Willis to be called in, having 
given his word to the King that he never should be 
attended by Willis whilst he was Minister. Dr. Symonds l 
from St. Luke's was called in. Prince had been in 
danger from an inflammation on his lungs in conse- 
quence of dining three successive days with the D. of 
Norfolk. 

1 Samuel Foart Simmons, M.D. (1750-1813). 



138 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

Moreau arrested, 1 accused of being in a conspiracy to 
assassinate Bonaparte and, in conjunction with Pichegru, 
to restore the Bourbons, — an accusation at first universally 
discredited, but the arrest of Pichegru, and subsequently 
that of Georges and many Royalists in the Vendee, add 
credit but too strongly to the story. With great concern 
I read among the list of those already seized the names 
of Armand and Jules Polignac, and with some regret that 
of the Marquis de Riviere. The latter had long forfeited 
my esteem from the strong suspicion entertained of his 
having meddled in the affair of the 3rd Nivose. 2 Assas- 
sination without the extenuation of personal animosity 
or prompt revenge is so foul and mean, that it is not to 
be defended upon any score. 

31st March, 1804. — By a messenger, who arrived from 
Paris yesterday, and brought with him the Moniteur 
of the 23rd March, it appears that the Due d'Enghien 
has been arrested, tried, and condemned to death ! The 
trial was conducted by a military commission named by 
General Murat (the brother-in-law of Bonaparte and the 
military Governor of Paris). 3 The trials of Moreau, 



1 It is probable that General Moreau was not in reality a partici- 
pator in the schemes of Pichegru (whose treachery in 1797 he had 
denounced) and Georges Cadoudal, though it is equally certain that he 
was perfectly willing to assist any plot detrimental to Napoleon' s interests. 
The latter, who looked on him as a dangerous rival, was enabled to 
cause his downfall, on the grounds of Royalism and attempted assassina- 
tion, at a moment when it would have been difficult to assail his popularity 
with the army. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but was 
allowed to leave the country and go to the United States. 

2 The attempt to assassinate Napoleon on his way to the Opera on 
December 24, 1800. See Journal, vol. ii. 127, 142. 

3 Murat always denied that he was responsible for the appointment 
of the eight officers who sat in judgment on the Due d'Enghien : in fact 
he always maintained that he did all in his power to save him. Certainly 
Murat was a most humane man, and never signed a death warrant 
during the seven years he was reigning in Naples. 

The Duke had no connection whatever with Georges' plot. He was at 
Ettenheim; in Baden territory, in pursuit of a love affair. It is probable 



i8o 4 ] D'ENGHEIN'S DEATH 139 

Pichegru, and the others have not yet come on. It is 
hard that such a calamity should have befallen this young 
Prince, as he is high-spirited, gallant, and full of estimable 
qualities, all calculated to advance the cause he served 
by the admiration and respect they excited. Through- 
out the struggle the Conde branch of Bourbon House 
have been the only one which endured the hardships of 
the war, exposing themselves indiscriminately with the 
commonest soldier to all the dangers and inconveniences 
of a severe campaign. Hitherto the conspiracy appeared 
made up of such incongruous personages that the object 
of it was not clearly understood, but the presence of 
this ill-fated young man, accompanied by the staunch 
adherents of the C. d'Artois, puts it beyond a doubt that 
the restoration of the House of Bourbon was the purpose 
to be effected. 

This discovery, however, throws no light upon 
Moreau's conduct, whose alliance with Pichegru in a 
Royalist plot must remain a mystery, when it is recol- 
lected that Moreau himself denounced his friend Pichegru 
for holding a traitorous correspondence with the Princes. 
24 of the chief men at the bar have offered their services 
to plead his cause ; he has accepted 2, but means to 
plead for himself. They tell a story of his coachman, 
that may be true. On the road from Grosbois to Paris, 
he was met by Gen. Moncey ' and a detachment of 
gendarmes. The General, on stopping the carriage, 
lamented the service he was employed upon, and apprised 
Moreau that his orders were to conduct him to the 
Abbaye, upon which Moreau, with the utmost composure, 



that Napoleon was spurred on to action by the belief that Dumouriez 
was also there. It was however a case of mistaken identity ; the 
ex-general was far away at the time. 

1 Moncey, Due de Conegliano, was appointed Inspector-General of 
Gendarmerie by Napoleon in 1801, 



140 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

halloed to his coachman to drive to VAbbaye. The 
coachman jumped down, and asked Moreau if he meant 
really to go to the Abbaye ; upon being assured that such 
were his orders, the man replied, ' Te menera qui voudra, 
ca ne sera pas moi tou jours,' and a dragoon was obliged 
to take the reins and drive. His wife and mother-in-law 
were in the greatest consternation when the carriage 
arrived empty, altho' they had endured with tranquillity 
the seizure of his papers, &c. The mode of trial is to be 
changed : the military are to be admitted, but in either 
case Bonaparte may be satisfied that the sentences will 
be such as he will approve, so low and abject is the 
French character become. The adulatory addresses 
congratulating him upon his escape from the machinations 
of Georges Roi et Georges brigand are truly disgusting, 
and show a depravity that one can hardly suppose an 
enlightened nation capable of. 

Gravina is appointed Ambassador from this Court to 
Paris. There are various opinions on this nomination ; 
some think that the P. and Queen dislike that so honest a 
person should be about the King, and also that he may 
be a support to the Princess of the Asturias in the mauvaise 
chicane that they intend to excite against her. 

Advices from England by the regular Lisbon post as 
late as the 7th March. Domestic news not good. Lady 
Ossory, after a lingering illness, in which she suffered 
cruel pain, died in Feb. Lord Lansdown had a severe 
paralytic stroke, which has left his understanding clear, 
and his voice is recovered from the shock. The Prince 
of Wales has given a place in the Duchy of Cornwall to 
Sheridan ; shortly after the appointment, Warwick Lake 
produced a signed promise from the Prince, in which 
the place was given to General Lake. 1 H.R.H. means 

1 General Gerard Lake, created Baron Lake in 1804 for his dis- 
tinguished services in India. At the time of his death in 180S, he was 



i8o 4 ] THE ESCORIAL 141 

to get off by annulling the transaction on the score of 
its illegality. King better. Appearance of a coalition 
between Fox and Ld. Grenville. Ld. Camelford killed 
in a duel in H. House grounds. 

6th April, Friday. — On Monday we dined with Mde. de 
l'lnfantado. Made some visits in early part of evening. 
On Tuesday at one o'clock, set off to the Escorial, arrived 
at i before 8. Mr. Miners, the Dutch Minister, lent us 
his house, which, as I took the children, was more 
agreeable than going to an inn. Our party consisted of 
ourselves, Lambert and B. Frere, and P. Emanuel de 
Salm. Having provided ourselves with a letter from 
the Secretary of State to enable us to see the Royal 
apartments, and another which was a Bull to enable me 
to enter the clausura, 1 we set off on Wednesday morning. 
Having seen the church and mausoleum in the summer, 
the novelty of the first impression was lessened, tho' 
surprise can scarcely be diminished when one beholds 
such a stupendous, heavy monument of gloomy super- 
stition. The library is very spacious and well pro- 
portioned ; the ceiling is painted by Luca Giordano. 2 
There are four full length portraits of the Austrian Kings, 
from Charles V inclusive to Philip IV ; the latter is 
ascribed to Velasquez, but is out of all drawing, especially 
in the right leg. The librarian, who was remarkably 
obliging, showed us some manuscripts ; 3 one upon 
hunting, which had belonged to the Count of Foix, 
beautifully illuminated, done in the 13th century ; the 

a member of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall. Warwick Lake was 
his youngest son. This appointment of Receiver was worth about 
^1000 per annum. Sheridan surrendered the emoluments until after 
General Lake's death. 

1 Cloister. 

2 This ceiling is by Tibaldi ; but there is one in an anteroom near at 
hand which is by Luca Giordano. 

3 Joseph removed the books and manuscripts, and though Ferdi- 
nand VII sent them back, 10,000 were missing. 



142 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

Revelation and Apocrypha ; an Alcoran in Arabic. On 
quitting the library, on my expressing a wish to see a cell, 
the librarian offered to show us his ; after traversing 
extensive and numerous cloisters, we reached his very 
cheerful habitation. From thence we went to the Prior's 
apartment, which is spacious and was formerly occupied 
by Don Gabriel, who died in it. In the choir saw the\ 
two monks who were praying for the soul of Philip II. 
From the moment of his death to the present one, two 
friars have incessantly been interceding for his spiritual 
welfare ; they are relieved every 6 or 8 hours. 

Friday. — The unfortunate D. d'Enghien appears to 
have been murdered most unjustifiably : seized on 
neutral territory (in the Electorate of Baden), conveyed 
under a strong escort to the castle of Vincennes, where 
he arrived at 8 o'clock in the eve. ; dragged out of his bed 
at 12 to appear before the military judges, and shot 
in the fosse of the castle by torch light at \ past two 
o'clock. He refused to allow his eyes to be covered, 
adding that he did not fear meeting death, and himself 
gave the word of command ! Thus, at the age of 32, 
expired this gallant young man. 

In the Retiro I went to see the bronze statue of Charles V 
crushing heresy ; it is very good, but rather small. 

Monday. — In the morning early went to the bull 
feast ; to see the humours of it completely, instead of 
going as usual in a box, I went to the gradas. The 
bulls were furious : one alone killed 6 horses and threw 
the picadores down in the most dangerous manner. The 
rapture of the spectators is a thing quite incredible ; 
whenever the bull foils the picador whom they dislike, 
they applaud him. Once they were so incensed at an 
awkward thrust of the lance, which made them infer a 
want of courage in the caballero, that several cried out 
that they hoped they should see him killed. 



i8o 4 ] THE ALAMEDA 143 

Tuesday, 10th April. — P. Emanuel de Salm, Mde. de 
Montijo, her daughter Mde. de Lazan, Falck, Lambert, 
Gravina. Extremely pleasant, and delightful coze upon 
interesting subjects. 

Friday, 13th. — Went with Madame d'Osuna to her 
country house, called the Alameda ; 1 she conveyed us 
in an immense carriage, made to hold 12 persons. The 
party consisted of herself, Mde. de Penafiel, Perico, 
P. Emanuel, M., Mde. de la Pena, Olmeda, an officer, and 
Manuelita. The distance from Madrid is about a league 
and a quarter on the road to Alcala de Henares. It is a 
creation of her own, as she found 24 years ago the same 
sterility and nakedness which characterizes the environs 
of Madrid ; it is now cheerful and woody. The garden 
is rather crowded with a profusion of difft. ornaments, 
some in the German sentimental taste, others in a tawdry, 
citizenlike style. La Casa delta vieja (sic) is very pretty. 
The mansion is excellent and well fitted up. We had an 
agreeable day, altho' the weather was as unfavorable 
as rain and hail could render it. Returned by torch 
light at 9. 

14th. — Left Madrid late in the day, and reached 
Aranjuez at night. Our house is excellent ; it belongs 
to the Marques of Santiago, and costs us 15,000 reals 
for the Jornada ; it is the dearest, tho' not the best house 
in the sitio. 

16th. — Set off to Madrid. On the evening of the 
morning in which I went to the bull feast, a picador was 
killed : he was removed senseless from the Plaza, and 
languished a few hours. Ximenes, the matador, was, in 
the same corrida, cruelly wounded and gored by the 
bull, and if he recovers, which is doubtful, he will not be 
capable of following his noble calling in life. 

1 Bought by Don Gustavo Bauer, the banker, a few years ago. 



144 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

About 10 days ago, there appeared in the Moniteur, 
under the date of Madrid, the substance of a conversation 
supposed to have taken place between Mr. Frere and 
the P. of the Peace, in which Frere is represented as 
justifying assassination, from the necessity of it in the 
deplorable state into which England is now thrown. The 
Prince is made to use very grand language, deprecating 
such doctrines, and prophecying that their effects generally 
recoil upon those who act upon them. A note of obser- 
vation is added by the editor, that at the moment such 
opinions were promulgated in favor of the Bourbons 
one of their house had perished by the sword of justice 
(the only public notification of the murder of the D. 
d'Enghien). 

Many days previous to the publication of this 
paragraph or rather its arrival here, the P. of the P. had 
told the French Ambassador and others that it was 
inconceivable the interest which the English Minister 
manifested about Georges and others of the conspirators. 
Frere sent a note to the P., testifying his surprise at 
the publication and requiring a contradiction of it, that 
he might be acquitted to the public and to his own Court. 
The Prince sent a shuffling answer, advising F. to treat 
the whole with contempt, a line of conduct he had always 
found the most successful whenever he himself had been 
abused. In the meantime, the Prince of the P. affected 
towards the French Legation great satisfaction that 
publicity had been given to his sentiments, and corro- 
borated by the strongest assertions the veracity of the 
statement. Frere, not satisfied with the note of reply, 
passed another, in which he categorically demanded 
a satisfactory answer. No sooner was this dispatched, 
than he grew frightened at the peremptory tone he had 
used, and consulted with Mouravieff, who offered to see 
the P. and mediate before a final answer should come. 



l8 o 4 ] FRERE AND GODOY 145 

Consequently he came here and had an audience. He 
was coldly received ; the P. said he should give no 
further answer, that the Spanish Governt. was tired 
of the uncertain state of affairs with England, and had 
60 thousand troops ready to add to the French expedition. 
However he added he was going to Madrid and would 
consider more upon the subject. 

Serra is suspected to be a contriver of this plot to 
bring on the war ; he is dissatisfied with his position 
here, which is a sort of exile in consequence of his having 
quarrelled with Bonaparte, who made use of his influence 
to overturn the Governt. of Genoa, and having obtained 
all he wanted has thrown him aside, but fears his return 
to Genoa and dreads his plotting at Paris. Hence Serra 
seeing the French Governt. so permanently established, 
calculates that it is more advantageous to make his 
peace with B. than gratify his spleen by trusting to the 
posthumous fame of his Memoirs, in which probably the 
truth alone, independent of the ingenuity with which 
he would state it, would make his case versus the First 
Consul strong. En attendant, if by showing an extrava- 
gant portion of zeal, he can captivate the First Consul, 
govern Spain underhand without the odium of bullying, 
and injure England by making the war turn upon an 
odious point, he will be a useful ally to the Diplomatic 
squad, and obtain some higher post at Paris or elsewhere 
than he can expect without a change of sentiments. It 
is notorious that for three months he has had a daily 
conference with the P. of the P., who at first abused him 
without reserve, but has since ended by enduring and 
liking him. His court has been so assiduous, that it was 
even conjectured that he aspired to some official employ- 
ment in the Spanish Governt. 

There is no doubt that the important part of the 
conversation is a fabrication ; altho' Frere admits that 



146 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [June 

the topic was discussed, that he expressed himself 
warmly as to the legitimacy of assassination on the part 
of every Frenchman towards Bonaparte, adding that, 
were he an emigrant, he should not feel more scruples in 
placing a dagger into B.'s heart than he did in sticking 
a knife into a leg of mutton. But he protests against 
having uttered a word in behalf of the interference of 
other Governts. in a scheme of murder. It was highly 
imprudent to enter into a speculative disquisition upon 
a subject in which our country is supposed to be so 
disgracefully involved, and one in which he has been 
publicly accused himself in the Moniteurs about the 
period of the 3rd Nivose. 

These ensuing three or four days are highly interesting 
and important, as in the course of them the question of 
peace or war must be decided. 1 Some think the latter 
inevitable and far beyond all conciliation or even con- 
cession, as the P. cannot fulfil his treaty of furnishing 
the stipulated sums to the French, and to avoid showing 
to the country the dissipation of those monies he will 
not venture to raise more, but had rather sacrifice the 
neutrality and become an active ally of France than run 
the risque of offending them. 

Baby fell ill, his disorder being imputed to the close 
heat of Aranjuez : we borrowed Mr. Hunter's house at 
Madrid, and he, accompanied by Mr. Allen, set off on 
the 3rd of June. We followed on the 4th ; came in the 
German waggon with B. Frere. The night fresh and 
pleasant ; arrived in five hours. The state of child's 

1 Between Spain and England. The Spanish subsidies to France, 
though manifestly for a purpose antagonistic to the interests of England, 
were at first tacitly left unnoticed by the British Government as being 
levied under compulsion. However, the large increase of these, and 
the assistance given to French ships in Spanish ports, became the 
subject of representations early in 1804 from Frere to the Spanish 
Government, who were clearly given to understand that a continuation 
of such practices might be treated as a casus belli. 



lS o 4 ] ROYAL MANUFACTORIES 147 

health so precarious that it was deemed dangerous and 
impossible to undertake the journey to the coast, con- 
sequently we sought a house for a few weeks ; fortunately 
in consequence of the expulsion of so many persons 
from Madrid, we found it less difficult than usual. By 
Mde. Montijo's interference we obtained the house of the 
Marques de Aguilar, a spacious and airy house, situated 
in the Plazuela de Santa Barbara, en frente de la iglesia. 
It was the Hotel of the Imperial Ambassadors for 50 years, 
and in the garden many Protestants are buried. We took 
possession of the house on the 10th June. 

jyth June, Sunday. — Mr. Angiboult and Mr. Willing 
to dinner. The former mentioned that a cedula l had 
lately been issued ordering all the cotton machines in 
Spanish America to be burned or destroyed ; also pro- 
hibiting all persons to come to Spain from her colonies — 
without a permission from the Court of Madrid. Great 
improvements lately made in the china manufactory 
at the Buen Retiro by the use of a magnesian earth 
containing a mixture of the carbonate of magnesia. 
Spanish Govt, loses considerably by its cloth manufactory 
at Guadalaxara. Confirms the common remark that 
the number of directors and inspectors with large salaries 
who are placed over the Rl. manufactory are more than 
sufft. to absorb all the profits of the manufactory, tho' 
supported by every sort of monopoly and exclusive 
privilege, both in the purchase of the raw material and sale 
of the manufactured produce. Royal fabrics are often 
established in order to create a place for some creature 
or dependent of the Minister, and a decayed member of 
the consejo is not unfrequently recompensed for bad 
services by the place of Inspector of some manufacture 
of the very name or existence of which he was ignorant 
till he received his patent. 

1 Memorandum. 

L2 



148 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju ne 

igth, Tuesday. — Serra, Falck, Miners, and Alava to 
dinner. Alava 1 was at the Filipine Isles with his uncle, 
who was formerly Governor there, and returned by the 
way of Mexico. He is a very handsome man, and was, 
previous to the Royal journey to Barcelona, very well 
with the Queen ; but is at present among the desterrados, 2 
and is about to quit Madrid, they say, because the Pss. 
of A. solicited the place of camarista 2, for his sister, on 
which the Q. sent for him and reproached him for using 
any other interest for the advancement of his family 
than hers. He pleaded ignorance of the suit in favour of 
his sister, but did not succeed in allaying the anger of his 
former friend, as it was notified to him shortly after to 
go to his department at Cadiz ; he has solicited in vain 
for a remission of his sentence. 

21st June, Madrid, 1804. — Went to the Alameda and 
dined with the Dss. of Osuna, present M. and Mde. Pena, 
Don Diego — librarian, Olme^da, and the habitues of the 
house. Duchess gave a very entertaining, and to all 
appearance a fair account, as it was not favorable to her- 
self, of the affair of Penafiel and his brother which made so 
much noise last winter. 4 He was put under arrest by 
his father as colonel, for some slight military omission, 
but in reality for contriving a clandestine amour (if not 
marriage) between his brother and Madlle. Deroutier, 
contrary to the promise he had made to his padres, and 
beating the servant who was employed to watch them. 
She strongly reprobates, as do all the Spaniards, anything 

1 D. Miguel Ricardode Alava (1771-1843). He was firstVsailor, but 
was transferred to the army. He was one of those who signed the 
Constitution for Joseph and accompanied him to Madrid. He did not, 
however, support the French for long, and became intermediary between 
Wellington and Cuesta in the Talavera campaign, and brigadier to 
the former in 181 1. He was put in prison for a short time by 
Ferdinand on his return to Spain. Later in life he was Ambassador in 
London, and also in Paris. 

- Outcast. 3 Maid of honour. 4 See ante, p. 120. 



i8o 4 ] MOREAU 149 

like an Italian faction springing up at Court. The 
present Q. has never taken any favorites but Spaniards. 
Said of her that she is without a love of glory, ambition, 
or national dignity, and has never seen anything in Spain 
but as the means of purchasing her pleasures. I remember 
Calonne used to say something to the same purpose more 
grossly expressed. Her harsh treatment of the young 
Court, and the resentment of the Pss., much talked of. 
Casa Ndpoles suspected of betraying the Pss. to the Q., 
and to have been severely reproached by the Q. of 
Naples for the shabbiness of their conduct. Alameda 
very pretty, fitted up with great elegance by the Dss., 
but created at an immense expense. Gardens contrived 
for coolness, innumerable grottoes, temples, chaumieres, 
hermitages, excavations, canal, ports, pleasure boats, 
islands, mounts, &c, &c. Dss. very agreeable ; great 
natural talents, wit, eloquence, and vivacity. 

Found Frere as soon as we returned. Serra to supper. 
He gave us a very entertaining account of Moreau's 
progress in life from being an avocat at Rennes to his 
late trial. He and Beurnonville fell into discredit with 
the Republicans because they refused to circulate among 
their troops the Fructidorian addresses of the Italian 
army. Had not the chief command from that time, 
till he was raised to it by the troops, after the misconduct 
of Scherer. His magnanimous conduct towards Joubert 
before the battle of Novi, 1 when the other generals 
were remonstrating against Joubert's determination to 
descend into the plain and fight the enemy. Joubert 
in return offered to give up to Moreau the command 
of the army, which the other had the prudence to refuse. 
Battle of Novi fought to fulfil a foolish, boasting promise 
made to the 500. Joubert killed in ye beginning of the 

1 In 1799. 



150 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [ju ne 

engagement by his own troops. The quarrel between 
Moreau and Macdonald arose from the latter claiming an 
independent command after his celebrated retreat from 
Naples, and from his rashness and obstinacy in descending 
into the plain of the Po and attacking there the Allies. 
Moreau again behaved in an exemplary manner, when he 
found that he could not divert Macdonald from his project, 
by giving him all ye support in his power : but the diff. 
between these two genls. has never been made up, and 
this is the reason of the coolness between Moreau and 
Beurnonville. Serra disbelieves the story of offers having 
been made to Moreau before the 18th Brumaire, because 
the Republicans never had confidence in him after the 
affair of Fructidor. Bonaparte and Moreau saw each 
other for the first time at the grand dinner given a few 
days before the explosion of St. Cloud, when this re- 
volution was determined upon in the private cabal of 
gen. officers. Sieyes read to them his plan of a new 
Constitution, which was to be proclaimed as soon as 
the Councils were dissolved, and Bonaparte started no 
sort of objection to it. This meeting was held at the 
Bois de Boulogne, and a second took place the night 
before the explosion. When Sieyes was asked for his 
Constitution but he had left it at Paris from fear that 
he might be seized with it upon him, he answered 
that he would send for it to-morrow, to which one of the 
generals (Beurnonville says, himself) answered, 'Ma foi, 
si vous ne l'avez pas ici aujourd'hui, il n'en sera pas 
question demain ' ! Accordingly, Bonaparte, having got 
quit of the old Govt, without having proclaimed a new 
Constitution, was in no hurry abt. producing it, and 
afterwards brought forward one that had very little 
resemblance with that agreed upon originally with Sieyes. 
The estate of Crosne, which Sieyes accepted from 
Bonaparte, has completely ruined him with the country.'' 



i8o 4 ] MOREAU 151 

Serra considers the military genius of Moreau as 
greatly inferior to that of Bonaparte : mentioned his 
loitering before Ulm as one of the proofs of it. Moreau 
is considered as the best tacticien ; Massena as the first 
practicien with little science ; but Bonaparte has greater 
resources in his own genius, in which he appears always 
confident. One great merit of Moreau is his calmness and 
self-possession in dangerous situations. Moreau became 
a frondeur soon after the termination of the Continental 
war, and has since blamed almost every act of Govt., 
even the Peace of Amiens, 'tho',' adds Serra, ' the best that 
France ever made.' Bonaparte was at first very anxious 
to be reconciled to him again, and declared if M. would 
make the first step, he would make all the rest. 

22nd. — Mouravieff and Caillet 1 to dinner. The former 
is about to present to this Court a note on the death of 
the D. of Enghien. The latter, who is a French emigrant 
in ye service of Portugal, has lately been banished from 
Lisbon on the requisition of Lannes. When some one 
wondered the other day why Serrurier had been made a 
marechal de V Empire, Caillet answered, ' Probablement 
on a fait Serrurier marechal pour ferrer l'ane.' 

2/\th. — D. of Infantado, Don Manuel Toledo, Don 
Pedro Giron. The latter is a sprightly, clever lad ; 
second son of Mde. d'Osuna. The rumours of the King's 
illness and bad state of health, the uncommon number 
of troops brought into Madrid (not less than 14,000), 
daily slights put on the P. and Pss. of Asturias, excite 
suspicions of some designs being in agitation. The little 
Pss. is fearful of being with child. In the meantime 
there is a general outcry against the Italians, perhaps 
raised and encouraged by the Q. and her favourite. 

2jth. — Mme. de Montijo, with her youngest son, 
who is a fine young man, absent from the military school 

1 Lady Holland elsewhere spells the name Cailhe. 



152 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [ Jun e 

at Segovia, and seems full of ardor in his profession, 
M. Lugo, M. Vargas, Bauza. 1 Vargas 2 is an officer of 
Marine, who is out of favor at Court on acct. of the freedom 
of his opinions. He is a member of the Academy of 
History, and is employed in writing a history of the 
Castilian Marine : by birth an Andaluz and a friend of 
Jovellanos. Good-humoured man with a natural flow of 
spirits, some wit, and turn for sarcasm. Lugo bestowed 
great praise on Roda, 3 to whom he ascribes most of the 
good done in the beginning of Ch. Ill's time. Roda was 
a Jansenist, and had a great share in the expulsion of 
the Jesuits. 

30/A June. — Much talk on the slights lately shown 
to the young Court. Troops ordered away when the 
Royal family arrived from Aranjuez before he had 
passed by ; double sentinels placed at the door of his 
and ye Pss.'s apartments. Yet the hatred against the 
Italians continues so great as to prevent resentment 
being shown. Mde. Branciforte, 4 sister to the P. of ye 
Peace, is no friend to her brother. Urquijo 5 was her 
lover, and she frequently urged him, when her brother 
was out of favor, to banish him from Court : but from 
excess of confidence in ye stability of Court favor and 

1 Felipe Bauza, Spanish geographer, and head of the Institute at 
Madrid. He died in 1833. 

2 Jose de Vargas y Ponce (1 760-1 821) poet and author. He saw 
service while in the Marines. Rewarded by the Spanish Academy for 
his Elegio de A Ifonso el Sabio ; member of all the literary societies, and 
compiler of a history of the Spanish navy. 

: ' D. Manuel de Roda was Minister of Justice under Charles III. 

* Da. Antonia de Godoy married D. Miguel de la Grua y Talamanca, 
Marques de Branciforte, at one time Viceroy of Mexico. 

5 Don Mariano Luis Urquijo (1768-18 17), who succeeded Saavedra 
as Foreign Minister in 1798. He became later Chief Minister, but his 
reforms offended the retrograde party, who compassed his downfall in 
1800. Godoy returned, and Urquijo was thrown into prison where he 
remained two years. He was recalled to power in 1807 by Ferdinand, 
but sided with Joseph when he had given up all hope of his country 
regaining her liberty. 



l8o4 ] URQUIJO AND GODOY 153 

some remains of gratitude to the P. of ye P., he not only 
declined complying with the request, but in the winter of 
1800 had the imprudence to allow her brother to come 
to Aranjuez and have free access to the Q., at a time 
when he himself had a quarrel with the Papal Court on 
the subject of a memorial which he had presented agt. 
the Dateria. 1 The P. of ye P. contrived to reinstate 
himself in ye Q.'s good graces, and, by her assistance 
and that of Cardinal Capponi, inspired the King with 
such distrust of Urquijo's projects that he gave an order 
for that Minister's exile to Pamplona before he had the 
smallest suspicion of the danger that threatened him. 
Branciforte accused of tyranny and peculation in Mexico. 
Gravina has no connection with any Italian party, and 
is the only Italian beloved by the Spaniards. 

July 1st. — Ld. Strangford, 2 Mr. Robarts, and Freres 
to dinner. Robarts is nephew to Tierney, and has been 
2 years in Spain, living chiefly at Segovia ; seems to be 
connected with the wool trade. 

^th. — To dinner ye Duke of Infantado, Don M. 
Toledo, Don Pedro Giron, Don Antonio Capmany, Don 
Felipe Bauza. Capmany argues stoutly that education 
in Spain has not suffered by the suppression of the Jesuits. 
The epoch of the fall of taste and literature in Spain is 
coeval with the rise of the influence of the Jesuits ; their 
reign for a century and half is marked in Spain by pro- 
found ignorance and gross prejudice, or by frivolous and 
unsubstantial pursuits. The revival of literature and 
the study of the severer sciences are subsequent to their 



1 Urquijo, himself a Jansenist, urged Charles IV, on the death of 
Pius VI in 1799, to 'liberate his Bishops from the oppressive guardian- 
ship of the Roman Curia and his people from several heavy contribu- 
tions to the See of St. Peter.' (Neilsen's History of the Papacy.) 

2 Percy Clinton Sydney, sixth Baron Strangford (1780-1855) ; 
appointed Secretary of Legation at Lisbon in 1802, and Minister 
Plenipotentiary four years later. 



154 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [July 

suppression. The Court of Naples has consented to 
re-admit the Jesuits, provided the Court of Spain agrees 
to admit them into Spain, and an application has been 
made to the S. Govt, by ye Ambassador here to know 
what its intentions are, and to urge its compliance with 
the wishes of the head of the church. 1 

gth. — Falck, Freres, Ld. Strangford. Spanish Govt, 
refused to ratify treaty with the United States about 
the cession of Louisiana. 2 Pinkney has ordered his 
two black servants to announce thro' the town in all 
botillerias that he is to go home, and advertise his wine 
for sale. Moreau is arrived at Barcelona on his way to 
the U. States. 

nth. — Dined at Freres. Present, the Casa de Ale- 
mania, Mouravieff, St. Simon, M. de Rouffignac, an old 
Frenchman who leaves upon his cards, ' Le premier 
gentilhomme et chretien du Limousin,' but compelled 
to fly his country many years ago for having killed his 
colonel in a duel. 

15^. — Capmany, Quintana, and Falck to dinner. 
Capmany despairs of Spain ever regaining her con- 
sequence or even independence, and, like the other 
Spaniards, looks forward to her absorption in the Gt. 
Empire. It was the policy of Aranda during his last 
Administration 3 to maintain peace with France, and to 
place the army and navy in the most respectable state 
in order to make the neutrality of his country respected by 
the belligerent powers. He had also proposed to take 

1 The Jesuits had been abolished in 1773 by the Bull of Clement XIV. 
They were restored in 1804 in Naples, but not in Spain until the return 
of Ferdinand VII in 1814. The Society was then reinstated, and 
by a further edict of the following year all their rights and property, 
of which they had been deprived in 1767, were handed back. 

2 Louisiana was handed over to France by Spain in 1800. 
Napoleon had now arranged to sell it to the United States, for fear it 
should fall into the hands of the English. 

3 In 1792. 



l8o4 ] ARANDA'S POLICY 155 

advantage of the troubles in France and discontents 
of the Lyonese, in order to attract into Spain all the 
silk manufacturers of Lyons with their machinery and 
workmen. Vargas told us he was himself the agent 
employed in the negotiation, in which he had made 
considerable progress when Aranda was disgraced and the 
policy of the Court totally changed. Most of the effects^ 
of the late Dss. of Alba were seized by the Q., P., and 
even King, on the day after her death, engaging to pay 
for them the price at which they should be valued. 1 One 
of her estates, bought by ye P. of the Peace, taken posses- 
sion of, but not paid for on acct. of the law-suits about 
her will ; sold to the K. afterwards, and the purchase 
money received, without having to this day satisfied 
the original proprietors. 

18th. — Pinkney to dinner. In appearance, manner, 
and style of conversation very Yankee, but evidently 
skilful in making a bargain. Talks of the dispute between 
Spain and U. States as he would of a difference between 
two of his neighbours. Talks with contempt of Spain, and 
reports conversations with Cevallos that must have been 
very galling. Told us that he had charged 16 dollars for 
stationery in his accts. of extraordinary expenditure, 
whereupon, tho' the acct. was passed and paid, he 
received a private letter from Madison 2 cautioning him 
agt. making such charges in future. Maxim of Jefferson 
that no citizen of the U. States ought to remain longer 
than 4 years in Europe. 

igth. — Bourke, Rist, Mouravieff to dinner. Several 
vessels with silver on board arrived from America, said 



A 1 Among other effects of the Duchess of Alba at the time of her 
death which passed into the hands of the Prince of the Peace, was 
the Rokeby ' Venus,' by Velasquez, now in our National Gallery; 

2 Appointed Secretary of State in the United States in 1801 under 
Jefferson, whom he succeeded as President in 1809, 



156 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju i y 

to amount to 4 millions of pesos, and 9 millions expected 
still. Reports of discontents at Paris. Bonaparte's 
sisters hissed at theatre ; called ' Princesses du Sang,' 
allusion to the murder of Enghien. Brunet, the actor, 
at Montausier imprisoned for a joke. When asked by 
his master if he has ' remise'd the coach,' replies, 
' Non, l'imperiale est trop elevee ; il faut l'abattre.' 
Beurnonville gone to Bareges. 

25th. — To dinner Conde Fernan Nunez, 1 his brother del 
Rios, Marques Pefianel, Perico Giron, Marques de Santa 
Cruz, B. Frere. Much conversation about ye etiquette 
and ceremonial of the Sp. Court. King and Q., and even 
the little Infantes, served with drink by the gentlemen- 
in-waiting on their knees. Old custom retained of 
tasting what the King is to drink and eat. When the\ 
cup is carried through the apartments or corridors of the 
palace, every one by whom it passes must take off his hat. 
At the Escorial once lately an obstinate- fellow refused, 
upon which the bearer of the cup threw it down, with 
the exclamation of * Copa profanada ' ; the man was 
imprisoned for the insult. Duty of the gentlemen-in- 
waiting excessively hard. There are 12, Fernan Nunez 
and brother are of the number. Scratch King's back 
at night when he is in bed. Gives water, &c, par extra- 
ordinaire, but not since English improvements have been 
introduced. Sumiller de cuerpo 2 (Marques de Ariza) 
puts on K.'s shirt. Forms observed when K. is sick, 
even continued after his death. ' No quiere comer el 
Rey ? ' 3 till he is interred, when the Sumiller breaks 
his wand or staff of office, and exclaims with surprise, 
' Esta muerto el Rey ? ' F. Nunez, son of the Ambassador 

1 D/Carlos Jose Gutierrez de los Rios, VI Conde de Fernan-Nunez, 
eldest of five brothers. He married Da. Maria de la Esclavitud, 
V Marquesa de Castel-Moncayo. 

- Lord Chamberlain. :i ' Does not the King wish to eat ? ' 



l8 o 4 ] COURT ETIQUETTE 157 

in France. His wife is a very foolish little woman, so 
great a sotte that he thought it would not be worth any 
person's while to make love to her, but unluckily he 
overheard persons in the Prado who did not know him 
talking of her amour with Toledo as an established old 
affair. This made him observe, and the fruits of his 
vigilance was an abrupt discovery of the truth in conse- 
quence of returning home unexpectedly. 

Remonstrances humbly made in a Memorial from 
Badajoz, imploring his Majesty not to pass the winter 
in that city, unless every article of subsistence, both for 
the attendants of the Court and mules be brought into 
the province. Crops in Estremadura so bad. 

26th. — Dined at the Dss. of Infantado's, her fete, 
Ste. Anne. Present her sons and 2 granddaughters ; M. 
Santiago, Penafiel, Creagh (whom we knew at Valencia), 
and Abbe" Melon. The Duke is at present engaged in 
a lawsuit with the Crown for his senorial rights in ye 
kingdom of Valencia, worth to him about £8000 pr. ann. 
These rights are derived from a grant of D. Jaime el 
Conquistador to one of the nobles who assisted him in 
the conquest of that kingdom. They passed by sale 
into the possession of the D. of I.'s ancestors, were 
repeatedly confirmed by the Kings of Aragon, and more 
recently by Felipe III after the expulsion of the Moriscos, 
on condition that the Senor should find settlers for the 
waste lands left by that measure. This was complied 
with, and the family have enjoyed this possession ever 
since, undisturbed by the Crown, till Soler * raised this 
process on the pretext that by the Constitution of Aragon 



1 D. Miguel Cayetano Soler (i 746-1 809). For some years Inten- 
dant of Majorca, he succeeded Saavedra as Minister of Finance in 1798. 
He was able to introduce reforms, both salutary and useful to the 
finances of the country, during his term of office, notwithstanding the 
difficulties of his position. He resigned the post in 1808. 



158 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [j„i y 

the original grant was illegal, and that the conditions in 
the Act of Poblacion 1 in Felipe Ill's charter were not 
fulfilled by the family of Infantado. The cause is to be 
decided on the 28th. Abbe Melon is the author of an 
agricultural work which has reputation ; it is a periodical 
journal. Abbe has been in England. Went apres diner 
to Mde. Castelflorido, or as she is always called, Mde. 
d'Aranda, the widow of the Minister. She is devout and 
sickly ; she has a very mild and innocent look ! ! 

Since French subsidy Marine more than usually 
neglected, instances of officers dying from poverty, and 
others compelled to menial services to obtain subsistence. 
The expenses of the Court are in the meantime going on 
without abatement : lately the K. granted to the P. of 
the P. 5000 dollars a week for repairing and enlarging 
his palace in Madrid, to be continued till the whole is 
finished. The works proceed of course very slowly. 
The K.'s journey, even to the sitios, is regularly preceded 
by an embargo on mules, and the same method is taken 
to procure mules whenever they are wanted for any other 
purpose, and the hire instead of being regulated by the 
current price is fixed by a tasa. 2 A similar tasa is fixed 
on houses, either at Madrid or the sitios, and it is sufficient 
that a house is empty to force the proprietor to let it 
to the person who gets an order for that purpose from 
the Govt. 

2jth. — To dinner Andreoli, Balbi, M. Raghet. 
Andreoli disclosed some of his diplomatic rogueries that 
might vie with many of Scapin's fourberies : charges to 
his Court and the Hanseatic towns for journies to the 
sitios that never took place, for gala suits never made, 
for illuminations where there was not a candle burned. 
General belief that the Spanish Govt, have sent instruc- 

Population. . 2 Rate. 



i8o 4 ] O'FARRIL 159 

tions to Casa Irujo (their Minister in the U. States) to 
yield all demanded by them rather than go to war. 
Frere recalled, and Bartholomew named charge 
d'affaires. 

28th. — Urrutia, now dead, who commanded the 
Spanish army with reputation after the death of the 
Conde de Union, 1 had under him 2 general officers of 
considerable talents, both versed in the genie, and rivals, 
O'Farril and Morla. 2 O'F. has the advantage of undaunted 
courage, and is thought by some the best officer in the 
Spanish service. He is supposed by those discontented 
with the present Govt, to be friendly to their views. 
His wife has hurt him by her indiscretion and violent 
speeches in favor of Jacobinism (his house and society is 
mentioned by Azara in his famous letter to the P. of the P. 
in 1800). He is out of favor at present, and employed at 
Berlin. Morla, his rival, has ye confidence of the P. of 
the P. Morla's courage has been questioned. The Q. 
dislikes him, and prevented his filling a high office which 
his patron had destined for him. He is in Andalusia. 
Solano, good officer. 3 Pardo (brother-in-law of Galvez) 
is good. Mazarredo 4 is the best of the Spanish admirals ; 
inferior officers very good seamen. 

D. of Infantado lost this day his suit. The cause was 
tried by the Tribunal de Hacienda, where old Godoy 

1 In the Catalonian campaign against France in 1793-1794. 

2 Don Gonzalo O'Farril (1754-1831), Spanish general, who served 
with distinction in the army until appointed Ambassador at Berlin in 
1798. He sided with Joseph after the abdication at Bayonne, and at 
Ferdinand's restoration was condemned to death in his absence as a 
traitor to his country. He spent the remainder of his life in France. 

3 Solano (1 768-1 808), Captain-General of Andalusia and Governor 
of Cadiz. He was murdered by the populace of that town in 1808 for his 
supposed sympathy with the French. 

4 Don Jose Maria Mazarredo (1744-1812), who saw much service in 
the Spanish navy and was Ambassador in Paris for a short time in 1804. 
He became Minister of Marine under Joseph in 1808, and retained the 
post until his death. 



160 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [July 

presides. This is supposed to be the commencement of 
a series of lawsuits by which the Minister Soler boasts 
that he will add 5 millions to the revenues of the Crown. 
At this moment, when under pretence of the restrictions 
imposed on the Crown by the ancient constitution of 
Aragon the D. of I. has been stripped of a property held 
for more than 5 centuries by his family, has the King, in 
direct violation of an express article in that very Con- 
stitution, made over to the P. of the P. the Albufera of 
Valencia * — a possession, by the bye, taken from another 
family upon the ground that it could not be held by a 
subject. The stratagems which the P. of the P. puts 
in practice in order to prevent these examples from being 
at some future period turned agst. his own acquisitions, 
are equally shallow and ridiculous. At one time the 
King charges his heirs as they revere his memory not 
to recall his donations to this favorite : at other times 
he purchases Royal domains or exchanges them with 
estates of his own, as if he could have the means to 
purchase a single estate, or even loaf, without pillaging 
the royal Treasury. 

29^. — To dinner Serra, Sapia, Quintana, Perico 
Giron, and Falck. The expense of a day's shooting 
to the K. is said to be 75,000 piasters. A cortege of 
6000 persons conveyed and fed at the expense of the 
Govt, to Barcelona. When the Court was at Barcelona 
25 judges were at once removed from the tribunals at 
Madrid con honores y sueldos, 2 on pretence of age, sickness, 
&c, and their places filled up by other persons. Many 
of them were young men under 40 yrs. of age and in 
perfect health, nor is it supposed that a single one was 

1 The lagoon and domain was valued in 1813 at £300,000. It was 
granted by Napoleon to Suchet in reward for his capture of Valencia, 
and the title of Duke of Albufera was at the same time given to him. 

2 With honours and stipends. 



i8o 4 ] THE LATE MINISTERS 161 

induced either from age or infirmity to retire from 
office ; and in a fortnight they were banished from Madrid 
on pretence of want of houses, and sent to Malaga, 
Aragon, &c. It is said that before the decision of the 
D. of Infantado's process, old Godoy and Soler did 
not scruple to threaten the judges of the Hacienda if they 
permitted themselves to be swayed agst. the K., reminding 
them of this expulsion. The judges gave their opinions 
and vote in secret, no one at least being present except 
the Fiscal or K.'s advocate. D. of Infantado came in 
the eve., evidently more hurt at the manner of the 
pleadings agt. him than at the loss of property. In 
the memorial of his adversary he is held out as the 
oppressor of the people by holding unlawful rights over 
them. 

ist August, Madrid, 1804. — To dinner D. of Infantado, 
Toledo, Bauza, Abbe Melon, Falck. The former intends 
appealing agt. the decision of his lawsuit. Abbe Melon 
prefers agriculture as a national object to manufactures. 
Peter the Cruel and Ximenes are his Spanish heroes. 
Of the late Ministers he seems to have conceived a good 
opinion of Saavedra's talents. To Jovellanos he objects 
that he was a man of haughty manners, obstinate and 
muy aristocratico. Urquijo was loco, 1 but well with 
the Queen. Soler, when Intendant at Iviza established 
there a manufactory of muslins, and sent to Court some 
English muslins, which he represented as made in his own 
manufactory. This imposture succeeded, and gained him 
the character of an attentive, active man, and was the 
foundation of his present fortune. 

nth. — Ld. Hd. very ill for some hours from nausea. 
Serra and Sapia to dinner. Former highly good-humoured 
and amusing ; told many stories. Pinkney is detained, 
not only because he cannot find a purchaser for his 

1 Mad. 



162 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Aug. 

wine, but also by a suit which his tailor has instituted 
agt. him in a court of law. Pinkney admits the legality 
of the debt, but refers the tailor to Soler, saying, ' The 
King of Spain owes the U. States a considerable sum of 
money. I do the business of my Govt, here ; it is 
therefore but fair Soler, as the K.'s cashier, should 
pay this bill, and I will account with Madison when I 
get across the Atlantic.' Infantado, with his usual 
friendliness, came again and spent eve. Numbers of 
other persons also. Moreau has arrived at Cadiz with his 
wife ; she is to lie-in, and they proceed immediately 
afterwards to America. Solano, the Captain-General, 
served as a volunteer under Moreau in the famous cam- 
paign of '96, thus upon the score of fellow soldiers he 
will meet with a cordial reception ; altho' it is reported 
that the Court have enjoined that he should confine 
himself to distant civilities. 

12th. — In the morning went to the Royal Library, 
collected by Felipe V. One of the librarians, M. Conde, 1 
who is an oriental linguist and has the charge of the 
manuscripts, very civilly arranged my admittance, it 
not being the custom to admit ladies, and without his 
intervention and the day being a festival I could not 
have seen it at all. We saw some MSS., valuable both 
from their antiquity and rich illumination. Missals, 
Dante, Petrarch, and the first books of Genesis orna- 
mented in the 12th century. A prose translation into 
Spanish of ye Mneid by Don Enrique de Villena. A 
sort of cabalistical work containing receipts to make 
the philosopher's stone ; the characters are quite unin- 
telligible, 

1 Jos6 Antonio Conde (1765-1820), the author of various works 
on Spain. He was librarian to the Minister of the Interior, and after- 
wards at the Escorial under Joseph, but was exiled at the restoration 
of Ferdinand VII. 



l8 o 4 ] FRERE AND GODOY 163 

Tuesday, 14th. — Freres only. Ld. Hd. better. English 
letters to the 26th July. Ld. G. Leveson 1 appointed to 
the Embassy of Petersburg ; he takes with him, tho' in 
no official capacity, Wm. Howard and Willy Ponsonby. 
The report of Count Panin's 2 recall, combined with 
Leveson's nomination, gives colour to the rumours of a 
Northern confederacy forming against France. Leveson 
knew Panin intimately when he went to carry the com- 
pliment of congratulation to the present King of Prussia 
in 1798-9 on his accession to the throne. 

The day Serra dined here, after dinner he came with 
me into Ld. Hd.'s bedchamber ; we sat round his bed, 
and he told many curious facts and entertaining anecdotes. 
The old story of Frere's correspondence and dispute has 
been revived, in consequence of some garbled copies of 
the letters being inserted in the French papers. This 
subject led to a discussion upon the business. He argued 
that Frere would not have taken it up had he not had 
officious advisers ; that being surrounded by persons 
of immoral and suspicious character, it was not fair to 
assert that the Prince had betrayed the conversation, 
Frere himself being incautious, and disposed to talk 
openly at table before his servants and dependants, 
each of whom were likely to betray him to the F. 
Ambassador. That it was not the intention of the Prince 
to make the correspondence public, but how was that 
to be avoided, when copies were distributed among ye 
subordinate diplomatic agents, Andreolis and Ardelbergs ? 
Upon asking whom the persons were who were accused 
of this immorality, Mouravieff and Bourke were named. 

1 Lord Granville Leveson-Gower, created first Earl Granville in 
1815. 

2 Count Nikita Petrovitch Panin, Ambassador at The Hague and 
Berlin under Catherine II. Later Foreign Minister under Paul I and 
for a few months under Alexander. He took no further part in political 
life and died in 1837. 

M 2 



164 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [ Au g. 

Romana glanced at as being a meddler and reporter from 
the Prince of the P.'s house to Frere's. The discussion 
was given with a degree of warmth and precision that was 
surprising, and it was apparent that he spoke quite the 
opinion and language of the P. of the P. 

What was my astonishment on the following post day 
to read an article extracted from the Moniteur, under the 
date of Madrid, containing the whole substance of the 
above, and the immoral persons rather more strongly 
marked than in the correspondence. This coincidence 
puts it beyond doubt that either he furnished the article 
himself, or that the P. communicated it to him. What 
his motives are is difficult to ascertain, but his present 
great object is to ingratiate himself with the leading men 
here. Frere acknowledged to me that the P. of the P. 
did in the course of last winter caution him against 
intimacy or connection with M., but B. could give offence 
only from his rouge et noir. Mouravieff was active in 
compelling the State of Hamburg, where he was Minister, 
to surrender Napper Tandy at our request. Frere 
ascribes to policy this measure of involving M. and B., 
as it is probable their Courts may instruct them to 
sound how far this Court will join this supposed Con- 
federacy which is to take place in the North, and that to 
procure a delay in replying to this demand he will pretext 
a personal difference with the Ministers, require others 
to be appointed — all of which will gain time : a maxim 
being still in force in Spain, that he who gains that, 
gains all. Frere hurt at his recall ; compares Engd. in 
consequence of this humiliation to the insolence of the 
P. of the P., to Prussia in her servility to Bonaparte. 
Resolved not to accept another Mission, after having been 
sacrificed here by the person who brought him forward in 
politics, and who ought to uphold him. 

Saturday, 18th. — Freres. Mouravieff, D. Infantado, 



l8 o 4 ] MORATIN 165 

eve. Walked in Retiro with Quintana. Delightful 
eve., and he very agreeable. Moratin ! is at present 
the best and most distinguished poet and man-of-letters 
in Spain ; he is powerfully protected by the P. of the P., 
who has provided amply for his fortunes, a debt which 
the poet repays in excellent but adulatory verses. His 
father was also a man of wit ; he belonged to the house- 
hold of the late Queen, but finding his literary occupations 
were rewarded with more praise than profit, he resolved 
that his son should have some more substantial enjoyment. 
Accordingly he bound him apprentice to a silversmith, 
but Moratin's natural disposition and taste got the better 
of his mechanical employment, and unknown to his 
father, he became a candidate for an Academy prize, 
which he obtained. The subject of the poem was the 
Conquest of Granada by the Catholic Kings. The 
reputation he acquired gratified his father's vanity, who 
no longer insisted upon his drudging on in the trade he 
had chosen for him. Cabarrus, pleased with his talents, 
made him his secretary, and took him into France. On 
the death of Carlos III, they returned to Madrid ; shortly 
after, the P. of the P. gave him a travelling pension to 
enable him to see the theatres of other countries. He 
lived sometimes at Paris, and became acquainted with 
Goldoni, who inspired him with admiration for Italian 
literature. He remained at Paris till the massacres of the 
2nd Sept. frightened him away. He went to England, 
where having no letters of recommendation, he passed 
his time so little to his satisfaction, that he quitted 
the country abruptly and in disgust, from whence he 

1 Leandro Fernandez de Moratin (1760-1828), the author of many 
plays and poems. He was first a protege of Florida Blanca, and after 
his downfall obtained the favour of Godoy. He sided with the French 
in 1808, and went into exile on Ferdinand's return, refusing the pardon 
which was offered to him. His father was Nicolas Fernandez de 
Moratin (1 737-1 780), also a poet and writer of some celebrity. 



166 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Au g. 

went to Italy. His patron, in benefices and pensions, 
has procured him an income of 5000 piasters annually, 
which makes him among the poets a magnate, a 
potentate. 

Tuesday. — Freres only. The Infante Don Luis, 1 
brother of Carlos III, had frequently asked permission 
of the King to allow him to marry, but had always been 
refused. At length he sent for the Royal confessor, and 
enjoined him to tell the King that as he had denied 
him leave to marry, his conscience would be chargeable 
with any offences he might commit, having by that 
denial rendered himself responsible for all his crimes. 
This being reported to the King alarmed him excessively, 
and the next day he sent for his brother and gave him 
the names of 3 ladies, adding that he might choose out of 
that number a wife, but that he would not permit any 
other choice, either among the daughters of Sovereigns 
or Grandees. Don Luis complied : as soon as the 
marriage ceremony was performed, the King to a degree 
banished him to the sitios, from whence he withdrew 
and resided at Larena (sic), near Talavera, like a simple 
individual, without guards or Court etiquette or any of 
the appendages of Royalty. But what was whimsicaL 
was his appearance at Court on the days of besamanos. 
At about 2 leagues from wherever the King held his Court, 
a Royal carriage with gardes-du-corps waited to receive 
Don Luis, who arrived in a simple coche de colleras. 2 He 
also found valets-de-chambre and magnificent suits, who 
equipped him as the occasion required. In the Circle, 
the King received and spoke to him as if they were 
on the best and most familiar terms. The Court over, 
Don Luis was galloped off, stripped of his finery, and, 
like Cinderella, returned to his obscurity. The lady was 
of the family of Stuart, she lives at Saragossa ; her name 

1 See ante, p. 125. - Coach drawn by mules. 



i8o 4 ] INFANTA DON LUIS 167 

is Dona Maria Teresa de Vallabriga y Drummond. The 
Cardinal of Bourbon Archp. of Toledo, 1 the Princess of 
the Peace, and an unmarried daughter, are the issue of 
this marriage. Don Luis was a man of talents and taste 
for the sciences and arts ; there once was a project for 
sending him to America as Viceroy, which would have 
been synonymous to the making him an independent 
sovereign. 

Altho' Carlos III had fewer bad qualities than most 
kings, he yet equalled any in unfeelingness ; there are 
stories without end of his hardness of heart and indifference 
when his relations and those to whom he was apparently 
attached died or met with any calamity. He also never 
forgot nor overlooked what he deemed a fault. It is 
a fact well known, that one day, having seen an officer, 
when the heat was intense, carry a parasol, a quitasol, 
he observed it at the moment. For upwards of 30 years, 
when the names of officers upon the list for promotion 
were presented to him, he scratched out that of this poor 
man, adding he carried a quitasol. (Duke of Infantado's 
stories.) 

Wednesday, 2.2nd. — Dined at Mouravieff's ; Freres 
and ourselves only. Went to the Cruz ; play represented 
was Por la puente Juana, by Lope de Vega. The last 
supper with poor Frere. He sets off solitarily and out 
of spirits to Corufia ; his feelings are a mixture of indigna- 
tion at the recall, and humiliation to be sacrificed to one 
whom he despises. 

Madrid, 25th August, 1804. — About a fortnight ago the 
peasants in a district near Bilbao assembled tumultuously, 

1 Infante D. Luis Maria de Borbon (1777-1823), Archbishop of 
Toledo. He acted as President of the Regency of Cadiz during Ferdi- 
nand's captivity, and died in 1823. His youngest sister married the 
Duque de San Fernando. 

The maiden name of his mother is given in the Blazon de Epanas as 
Vallabriga y Rosas. 



168 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Aug.-Sept. 

went to the senoria (or house where the magistrates 
meet), and demanded the decree which had been passed 
for enrolling men to serve between the ages of 15 
and 50. When they obtained it, they read it aloud, 
and, to show their contempt for it, tore the paper 
trampling it with their feet. They seized the corregidor, 
and compelled him to give up to them 200 muskets which 
had been deposited since the French war in the senoria. 
They insisted upon the decree being annulled, which could 
not be done, but the corregidor promised that a general 
meeting should be convened to take it into considera- 
tion. By the last accounts, it appears that the decree 
has been rescinded, and the corregidor, who is a Gallego 
and abhorred by the Biscayans, nearly murdered. They 
deposited him in the custody of Urquijo, making him 
responsible at his peril for the person of the corregidor ; x 
and they have obtained that the new port lately called 
in honor of the P. of the P. the ' Puerto de la Paz,' should 
retain its former name : this will greatly mortify that 
grand personage. The mob made Urquijo and Mazarredo 
take an ostensible part, which their enemies have mis- 
construed and converted into a mischievous desire on 
their parts to excite hatred agst. P. and discontent towards 
the Government. 

On August 29th the Hollands set out from Madrid on 
an expedition to visit Burgos, Valladolid, &c. 

4th September, Lerma. — We are lodged in the Duke 
of Infantado's magnificent palace. 2 We were received 

1 Urquijo had lived in retirement in Bilbao since his release from 
prison at Pampeluna in 1802. Mazarredo had also retired there, after 
dismissal from office in consequence of his opposition to Napoleon's 
wishes regarding the Spanish fleet. To them the speedy termina- 
tion of the revolt was due, but the Government in Madrid did not 
take this view. Urquijo was again imprisoned for a short time and 
Mazarredo was ordered to leave the province. 

2 It was destroyed by the French. 



i8o 4 ] LERMA 169 

by the alcalde mayor, and the mayordomo mayor with 
great civility. As we were expected, the carpets and 
curtains were put into the rooms that are perceived 
to be inhabited. We walked over the palace before 
dinner. The rooms are well proportioned, and the 
sala de los embaxadores very fine. There are galleries 
of communication to three churches. When the Duque 
Cardenal founded them, he received the permission of 
having tribunes even in the clausura. In the gallery 
which forms one side of the plaza, bull feasts used to be 
exhibited, especially when Felipe III honored the Duke 
of Lerma with his presence and that of his Court. Here 
were the two balconies, one to the Plaza, the other 
opposite ; the one to the park was called the despenedor, 
where a most barbarous sport was shown. Underneath 
the balconies, just opposite to the folding-doors thro' 
which the bull was admitted into the arena, was another 
opening to the park, from whence boards were projected 
beyond the precipice (the ground is a rapid descent 
to the rivulet). The animal, terrified by the shouting 
and noise which immediately took place on his entrance, 
endeavoured to escape to the country which he sees 
opposite to him, when the planks sank under him and he 
was precipitated to the bottom of the valley, where he 
was dispatched by the dexterity of the King and courtiers 
shooting bows and arrows and throwing lances. The 
view into the park is beautiful ; it is well wooded, and 
watered by the Arlanza ; there are seven hermitages, 
uninhabited at present. After dinner the Abbot, in his 
full array, made us a visit offering his services, telling 
us he was so ordered to do by his patron. He accom- 
panied us to the Collegiate church, a handsome building 
in which there is a fine monument erected by the D. 
of Lerma to his uncle, Sandoval, A. of Seville, who died 
at Valladolid on his road to visit his nephew and assist at 



170 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sept. 

the consecration of the church. The figure is kneeling, 
and made of bronze, well executed. The sacristy contains 
three portraits of the D. of Lerma ; the first a gallant 
knight and courtier, the second in his Cardinal's hat and 
robes, the third a corpse ! The canonigo who made the 
following communications about Lerma, told an anecdote 
that appears too dramatic to be true. He had secretly 
obtained from Rome the Hat, in order to secure himself 
from the consequences that might ensue after Felipe Ill's 
death : his suspicions were verified, as an officer of 
Justice entered his house at Valladolid with a Royal 
order to seize his person. The D. assembled the clergy, 
and seated himself in his sacerdotal habit, at the top of 
the room, placing the Papal Bull on a table before him. 
The messenger upon entering was asked by the Cardinal, 
' Que quieres ? ' Confounded at the sight of so much 
clerical splendour, he hesitated, and then replied, ' Nada 
que para servir a vuestra Eminencia.' l Upon which the 
C. replied, ' Vaya vd. con dios,' 2 and there ended the arrest. 
He was, however, compelled to refund much of his wealth, 
and D. Rodrigo Calderon, Marques de Siete-Iglesias, his 
secretary and favorite, was the victim upon whom the 
new Governt. wreaked their vengeance. 

$th September, Lerma. — The canonigo who brought 
me the noticias 3 concerning Lerma went with us to the 
Collegiate church. He insisted upon our smelling the 
bone of Santa Rosa de Lima ; the fragrance he ascribed 
to a miracle, and observed that it was certain, because 
this relic was kept by ' curas y no por frailes, y ellos usan 
siempre enganos.' 4 True it was that the bone had a strong 
odour, but to sceptical noses the musk was offensive. 
The architecture of the court is in a simple, chaste style, 

1 Only to serve your Excellency. 

- Farewell. 3 Information. 

4 Priests and not by monks, and they always used deceits. 



i8o 4 ] BURGOS 171 

cither by Herrera or a disciple : the other part of the 
edifice, though not faulty, is not in the same excellent 
taste. There is not scarcely a room, however small, 
that has not a chimney, a proof of the rigor of the climate ; 
already the change is so considerable that we are not 
sorry to put on additional raiment. 

Just at setting off I was unwell with a sort of faintness. 
The road is very indifferent, but is undergoing a thorough 
reparation, and will, when finished, be as fine as any in 
Spain or Europe. View of Burgos at the distance of 
about a league. Castle on an eminence ; Cathedral and 
town considerably beneath it. Large and extensive 
forests. Lodged at the posada in the suburb. Received 
letters from Madrid. Don Gonsalvo del Rio, to whom 
we were recommended, came, very civil. No news. 
Affairs in Biscay unsettled still. Eight regiments ordered 
to march agst. them, but at present they are remaining 
here under the command of the Col. San Juan, confidential 
person sent by the P. of the P. to observe the real state of 
affairs ; but until further orders they will not march. 

Burgos, 6th September, 1804. — A message from D. 
Antonio Valdes x to welcome us and offer his services. 
He was Minister of Marine, but in 1795 dismissed and 
glad to retire in security here, where he has resided these 
4 years. Ld. Hd. knew him in his first visit to Spain, 
and has always been remembered with kindness by 
the whole family. The banker, Valdes, &c, offered 
their civilities. After dinner went to the Cathedral, a\ 
magnificent pile, more remarkable from the exquisite 
workmanship of the sculptured ornaments than from 
its vastness. The cupola, dome, or tower fell in in 1520, 

1 Don Antonio Valdes (1 744-1 816), Minister of Marine under 
Charles III. He took no active part in politics after 1795 until 
appointed president of the Juntas of Galicia, Leon, and the Asturias 
in 1808, and soon after member of the Central Junta. He was Bailiff 
of the Knights of Malta. 



172 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sept. 

and was very successfully repaired during the reign of 
Charles V. The facades are richly ornamented. The 
principal entrance has been shamefully disfigured by 
the ignorance and bad taste of the late Canon, who 
superintended the reparations of the church. The 
portal required some repairs, and glad of an opportunity 
of showing his skill, he put in the place of a Gothic pointed 
arch a Grecian doorway with a broken pediment and 
Corinthian frieze ! The chapel called del Condestable is 
very spacious and magnificent. The choir is in the same 
corrupt taste as that in which the Canon repaired the 
gateway. 

After seeing the Cathedral, Don Antonio Valdes sent 
us his carriage and 6 fine mules, with his mayordomo to 
accompany us, making excuses that his own health pre- 
vented him from attending me. We went to the famous 
Monasterio de las Huelgas, about a mile from the city 
on the road to Valladolid. It is a foundation of Alonso 
VIII after his victory over the Moors in las Navas de 
Tolosa ; he also founded a hospital for the reception 
and accommodation of pilgrims going to Santiago de 
Compostella. The jurisdiction and power of the Abbess 
is very singular in Spain, as it is almost episcopal. Her 
court takes cognisance of offences committed within 
the precincts of the convent ; benefices, curacies, and 
many valuable donations are in her gift. Great estates 
are attached to the convent and their revenues are very 
considerable. The sacristan was out, which deprived us 
of seeing the church ; we went, however, to the reja 1 
where we conversed with two nuns, one sprightly and well 
looking, the other had just vacated the dignity of Abbess, 
a new one having been nominated within these two days. 

September yth, Burgos. — Dined with Don Antonio 
Valdes. His family is composed of two female cousins 

1 Grille. 



i8o 4 ] TOMB OF THE CID 173 

and the son of one. The party was composed, besides, 
of the Marques de Manca, and a widow Galves. The 
M. de Manca has lived here eight years ; ye fifteen 
months previous were passed in exile. He was well 
known as the adversary of Florida Blanca, agst. whom 
he wrote many satirical squibs. He and Salucci were 
persecuted and imprisoned by order of F. Blanca. 1 

Saturday, 8th September. — Went first to the Huelgas, 
where found a service performing in the church in honor 
of the Nativity of the Virgin. Evening, went to the 
convent of San Pedro de Cardeha. The order is Bene- 
dictine, and the endowments are so scanty, that it is 
the poorest in Spain of that order. The Cid and Dona 
Ximena are buried here, and subsequent to the period 
of their death a chapel has been dedicated to them, 
and their figures, rudely sculptured, are lying upon a 
monument with an inscription denoting that they are 
interred beneath these representations of them. The 
Padre Abad who accompanied us had the appearance 
of being a sensible man, a tinge of melancholy upon his 
countenance rendered him interesting ; one could fancy 
he was disgusted with the solitude and charlatanerie of 
his profession. 

On our return home, the Marques de Manca passed 
two hours with us ; he was very entertaining, told us 
stories of the rise and fall of Ministers, his own share in 
the disgrace of Florida Blanca, &c. When French troops 
were here they behaved orderly and gave no offence ; 
they were lodged in the barracks. But the officers being 

1 Lord Holland states in his Foreign Reminiscences, p. 70, that this 
incident was one of the causes of the dismissal of Florida Blanca from 
office. The Minister was proceeding against Manca, formerly Spanish 
envoy to Denmark, Don Vicente Salucci, and others, for libel, and in his 
eagerness to win his case tried to influence the President of the court. 
The letter miscarried, and reached the King, who was greatly annoyed 
at Florida Blanca's conduct. The case was reopened after his fall. 



174 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sep t. 

quartered among the principal inhabitants were exces- 
sively insolent and offensive ; they were dissatisfied 
with everything allotted for them. Among the common 
soldiers, the only object which excited their curiosity 
was, ' Le tombeau de Chimene ' ; not one failed of going 
to visit her monument, and declaim a tirade from 
Corneille. Orders were given for a solemn function in 
the Cathedral to-morrow, in which the Almighty is to 
be implored to grant health to the King, and success 
to his arms agst. the Biscay ans. The commotions in 
Biscay are very trivial, but the P. of the P. is supposed 
to exaggerate, that he may have the honor of quelling 
them and receive from the deputies of Biscay a good 
round sum to prevent the soldiery from committing 
excesses. 

September nth, Palencia. — Hitherto very little use 
has been made of the canal 1 for irrigation, tho' the 
Governt. has offered the water gratis to the farmers. 
There is a plan of bringing Valencians here and giving 
them lands from Govt, to introduce the practice of 
irrigation among the natives. Angiboult is on terms 
with Governt. to purchase the unfinished paper mill 
at Palencia together with a large tract of excellent 
land lying between the canal and the Carrion. There is 
one objection of which they make light, viz. the land 
belongs to the Archbishop ; but the good of an individual, 
they say, must yield to the genl. good. The money 
Angiboult offers them would enable the canal to go on 
with activity. At present 200,000 reals a month is the 
whole sum allowed for carrying it on. 

The soil is naturally excellent, but the cultivation 
is careless and slovenly. The peasant merely scratches 

1 The Canal de Castilla was first commenced in 1550, but the serious 
work was undertaken in 1752 by Ensenada. After the interruption 
caused by the wars it was finished by private enterprise in 1832. 



l8 o 4 ] AGRICULTURAL METHODS 175 

the ground with his plough, throws in the seed, and trusts 
to chance for his crop, as he never troubles himself about 
his farm till the corn is ripe, when he cuts it down, 
separates the grain with his trillo, 1 winnows, and carries 
it to market. When the crop has been abundant they 
are ruined by the low price of corn, and when it fails 
they are half-starved and many perish for hunger. The 
farmers are commonly tenants who pay £ of the produce 
to the propr. in the best lands, exclusive of tithes. No 
large property cultivated by the owner. The senorial 
rights are merely nominal in this country : mills and 
ovens, indeed, are included in them, but this is easily 
commuted. The Royal tercias 2 and alcabalas 3 are in 
some villages alienated, and in others belong to the 
Crown. A great obstacle to the improvement of agri- 
culture is the residence of the farmers and labourers 
in villages : not uncommon for a peasant to go 2 
or 3 leagues to plough his farm and return in the 
evening. 

The persons to whose attentions and civilities we were 
much indebted were Don Mozo Mozo, Intendente of the 
canal, D. — Omar, son of the Director, and Don Marian 
Augustin, one of the canons, a well-informed and 
enlightened man. The Director's son sent and showed us 
all the plans of the canal, which are very distinct, and 
give a perfect idea of the undertaking so far as it is 
completed. The most difficult and expensive part of 
the work that remains to be executed is to convey it 
past Duefias, on acct. of the deep, rocky steeps that 
almost overhang the Carrion and Pisuerga at that place. 
It was originally proposed to have carried the canal 

1 Harrow for thrashing. 

2 Two-ninths of the ecclesiastical tithes, which were deducted for 
the King. 

3 Excise duties. 



176 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Se pt 

twice across the river, but they have now determined to 
carry it down on the same side the whole way. 

Valladolid. — I have a very indistinct recollection of what 
occurred during my long illness. I had a severe and 
dangerous miscarriage, which confined me to my bed until 
the day before I set off to Madrid, which was on ye 6th of 
November. I made occasional efforts to see churches, 
&c, which always produced a relapse. After our arrival 
on ye 14th of September, Bartholomew, who had 
threatenings of fever, thought himself obliged to return 
to Madrid, and, after staying only a few days, set off. 
He could only reach Olmedo, the distance of 4 leagues, 
and fever and decided ague came on. The most painful 
moment of my life occurred a few days after ; his malady 
increased, and at length he sent to beg Mr. Allen would 
go over and succour him. At the moment this request 
arrived, every alarming s3^mptom had manifested itself, 
and having nearly expired the year before on a similar 
occasion, Mr. A. was averse to quitting me, and with 
shame I acknowledge my own fears were such that I was 
unwilling to be left for 48 hours. Ld. Holland, however, 
offered to go to him and carry Mr. A.'s instructions and 
do all in his power, reluctant as he felt at leaving me 
in such a moment. He returned with an alarming 
account, which determined me to encounter any evil in 
preference to adding to my stock of remorse at having 
detained Mr. A., who accordingly set off and found him 
in a desperate state ; even when he quitted him he 
was still in danger. We had regular bulletins, and fre- 
quent intercourse. After near a month's confinement he 
made shift to go, altho' the ague returned every 3rd day. 
Whilst I was confined, Mr. Gordon the Principal of the 
Scotch College, Mr. Cameron the Sub-director, Galves, 
and a few others, dined oftentimes with Ld. Hd., and 



i8o 4 ] VALLADOLID 177 

when I could bear the exertion of seeing company used 
to sit an hour or less by my bedside. 

(Most of the following particulars were collected in 
conversation, many from Principal Gordon and Mr. 
Cameron.) 

The Scotch College was endowed by Col. Semple, 
who had been page to Queen Mary ; x he afterwards made 
a fortune in Spain, where he died in the reign of Philip IV. 
The income of the college is chiefly from houses in Madrid ; 
they have also about £300 a yr. in juros, 2 which the Crown 
has suffered to be 3 years in arrears. They maintain 
13 or 14 boys, and educate and clothe them gratis. 
After a certain number of years, the boys must either 
submit to the tonsure or leave the college. They are 
selected and sent here by the Scotch Bishops. There is 
also an English College in this city, endowed by Philip II, 
richer than the S. College. Cardinal Ximenes intro- 
duced the practice of registering baptisms and burials, 
and they have ever since been kept with the greatest 
exactness. They are under the superintendence of the 
Bishops. 

The peasantry have before the late years of scarcity 
lived in a very plentiful manner. Their diet consisted 
of sopa 3 in the morning, made of bread, oil, garlic, salt, 
and water. Bread, onions, and wine in the middle 
of the day ; and their olla at night, in which entered 
pork, beef, and mutton, according to the season of the 
year, garbanzos, 4, calabazas, 5 and cabbage. Their bread 
is made of excellent flour, tho' heavy and compact. 
Their wine is strong and wholesome. Every family 
makes cloth for its own consumption, and so invariable 
are the fashions and yet so great the variety in these 

1 It was moved to Valladolid from Madrid when the Jesuits were 
expelled. 2 Annuities. 

s Soup. 4 Pulse. 3 Pumpkins. 

N 



178 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Sept. 

homely manufactures, that the inhabitants of one village 
are readily distinguished from those of another by the 
stuff with which they are clothed. Mills and ovens are 
included among senorial rights here, as in other places, 
but by not being complained of, are not grievances. 

Convents in Valladolid derive their chief income 
from tithes, tho' they have also houses, and some of them 
have lands ; and their lands are always cultivated on 
their own acct., and in general much better cultivated 
than any other lands. The convents of nuns, tho' many 
of them richly endowed at their origin or foundation, 
are at present poor, because their funds have been 
embezzled and mismanaged by administrators. Nunneries 
are for their temporal concerns either under the Bishop, 
who allows them to name their own administrator, or 
they are subject to a convent of friars of their own order. 
They prefer the former Governt. 

Several abuses and a violent spirit of party had 
crept into the Colegios Mayores before they were reformed 
by Roda and Florida Blanca ; but they rapidly declined 
from that moment, and in 1798 that of Valladolid was 
finally suppressed, and its revenues applied to the new 
military school at Badajoz. The high offices in the 
church and law have not been so well filled since the 
fall of these institutions. The fall of the Jesuits was a 
great blow to the progress of education in Spain, which 
these fathers were beginning to improve after the model 
of other countries when the order was suppressed. Their 
temporalities, which their frugality had made go so 
far that their riches had been supposed much greater 
than the truth, have been so ill administered, that the 
pensions of the surviving Jesuits have been paid for 
some yrs. back out of the Treasury. 

An attempt during the present reign to reform the 
discipline and plan of education at Salamanca : present 



i8o 4 ] COLLEGES 179 

Bishop friendly to it : frustrated by the imprudence of 
some of the leading reformers, who betrayed an attach- 
ment to revolutionary principles that alarmed the 
moderate and strengthened the party inimical to inno- 
vation. Salvo, professor of law and a leading reformer, 
was shut up for some time and afterwards banished. 
There appear to have been many in the N. of Spain 
friendly to revolutionary principles, and they are at 
present the bitterest enemies of France. 

Previous to the expulsion of the Jesuits, the Scotch 
College was under the direction of that Society, who 
latterly tried to keep the administn. in Spain, and 
remit the rents to Douay. On the suppression of 
the Society, the Irish Colegio at Alcala represented to the 
Governt. that there were no Catholics in Scotland, and 
on this false pretence got possession of the College and 
the funds, which were with great difficulty recovered by 
the Scotch Bishops, and then chiefly by the assistance 
of Campomanes. Bishop Geddes * was the first Rector 
chosen from among the secular clergy, and owing to his 
negligence about £1000 in money and many valuable 
books and effects were not recovered from the Irish. It 
is said that there is much less disposition than formerly 
in Spain for the clerical profession, fewer novices apply 
to the convents, so that the regulari are fast decreasing. 

The first impression one receives of Valladolid is 
extremely unfavorable to its police, on account of the 
disgusting filthiness of its streets and the badness of 
its pavement. Many of its buildings have the appearance 
of ancient magnificence, but with very few exceptions 
they are neglected, slovenly, and dirty in the patio, and 
appear worse from the fine pillars and arches, &c, so 
unsuitable to their present condition and inhabitants. 



John Geddes (1 735-1 799), appointed Bishop of Morocco in 1780, 

N 2 



180 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Oct.-Nov. 

Most of the old Grandees have palaces at Valladolid. 
The D. of Infantado has two : the Duquesa de Osuna 
lately sold the Benevente palace to the Govt, for an 
hospicio. The house where Philip II was born is still 
shown. The palace of the Duke of Lerma was occupied 
by Felipe III, and is now inhabited by ye Intendente. 
Valladolid covers a considerable portion of ground, but 
though it is certainly much less populous than it was 
once, much of the space within the gates seems never to 
have been inhabited. Many of the convents are large, 
and the greater part of them were built in the 16th and 
17th centuries by the most celebrated architects, and 
adorned by the best sculptors and carvers which Spain 
at that time produced. Few of the altars are in marble ; 
the greater part are in wood, so that it is a better study 
for carving than sculpture. There are no pictures of 
any reputation. It is a fanciful theory amongst some 
of the Spaniards that the genius for painting has been 
confined to the south of the Guadarrama, while the 
architects and sculptors were natives of the country to 
the north of that chain of mountains. The Cathedral 
is a grand work, hardly one half of it is finished, and 
the cloisters not even begun. Bourgoing l criticizes fairly 
enough the ugliness of the screen. From what is executed 
of the building, the grandeur and simplicity which it 
would possess if finished makes one regret that the 
artist and the facade were carried off together to the 
Escorial. 2 The facade is disfigured by some preposterous 
additions to what Herrera had done. 

Took rather a distant airing one day that I felt more 
curious than prudent to Fuensaldana, to see in a convent 

1 Travels in Spain. 

- Juan Herrera succeeded his master; Toledo, on his death in 1567, 
as architect of the Escorial, and was obliged to leave unfinished the 
Cathedral at Valladolid upon which he was engaged at the time. 



i8o 4 ] VALLADOLID 181 

belonging to some nuns three celebrated paintings by 
Rubens, the coloring of which is very fine, and many of 
the figures good. The principal picture is the ' Assump- 
tion of the Virgin.' x Ye great fault in all the best altars 
in Valladolid is the extravagant profusion of gilding and 
a crowded number of figures in the ornaments, which 
are fantastic and sometimes frightful. Several public 
libraries, which are opened every day, and librarians 
attend to get the books required by those who go to 
read or consult books. Mr. Allen was extremely well 
satisfied with the attention and civility he met with 
from all those who were appointed to attend and furnish 
books to strangers. At the library in the College of 
Santa Cruz, three librarians attend four hours every day, 
fast-days excepted. 

gth Nov., Vcnta de San Rafael. — Found letters 
from B. Frere informing us that in consequence of the 
misunderstanding between the Courts, he had applied 
for his passport, and would probably be out of Madrid 
before our arrival. 2 

nth Nov. — Entered Madrid for ye 5th time. We 
found Bartholomew, and lodged in his house at the 
Santa Barbara ; I was excessively weak and ill, but by 
a great exertion went to see Mde. de Infantado. We 
staid ye 12th and 13th. All my friends came to see me, 
and on ye 14th, Bartholomew accompanying us, we all 
set off for Portugal. 

14th Nov. 1804. — Left Madrid on our way to Lisbon. 
Went out by the Puerta de San Vicente, passed the 
bridge of Segovia, and as we ascended the rising ground 
beyond it, took our farewell view of Madrid, which 



1 Now in the Museum at Valladolid. 

2 The actual cause of hostilities was the capture of Spanish treasure 
ships early in October by the British fleet under Sir Graham Moore. 
War was declared on Dec. 12. 



182 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

appears to advantage, altho' there are more advantageous 
points of view from whence it may be seen. Saw at a 
distance the illuminations at the Escorial in honor of the 
two joyful events, the birth of a Pss. of Naples and the 
announced pregnancy of the Pss. of Asturias. 

Talavera de la Reina, 18th Nov. — Streets narrow, but 
not so crooked as in most old towns, tolerably paved, and 
for a town in Castile, not over dirty. The bad police in 
the Castilian towns with reference to cleanliness is curious ; 
I never beheld anything to compare with their filthiness, 
especially as almost in every other province the towns 
are remarkable for their neatness and cleanliness. The 
houses, and even some of the public edifices, are built 
of brick, which gives them a very paltry appearance : 
some of the principal churches are, however, of stone. 
The Cathedral is too low in the roof, which diminishes its 
size. In a small chapel dedicated to St. Francis, there 
is a marble statue represented in the attitude of praying, 
admirably executed ; it represents a dignitary of the 
church in the holy vestments, so well draped that they 
are rather an ornament than incumbrance. The parish 
churches have nothing remarkable ; at the door of that 
of Santiago, there was a sale of game, poultry, loaves, 
crockery, hardware, trinkets, and images of saints, the 
profits of which were destined ' para sacar animas.' 
Two priests presided. The river is very wide, but flat 
sandbanks make it very ugly. 

30th. — Crossed the Guadiana and entered upon a 
dehcsa 1 which lasted until we arrived at the frontier. 
Crossed the river Cayo, which is here the limit between 
Spain and Portugal. A cordon of Portuguese soldiers 
along the frontier on account of the epidemic. We 
passed without interruption, having passports from 
Lisbon to that effect. Great improvements on the P. 

1 Pasture ground. 



i8o 4 ] PORTUGUESE MANNERS 183 

territory in the neatness of their cultivation. Ye vines 
supported by poles, a refinement in cultivation which I 
had not observed since we left Xeres. 

2nd Dec, Estremoz. — Very much struck, since we 
entered Portugal, by the excessive dissimilitude between 
the Spaniards and Portuguese. The latter are universally 
clumsy in their persons, and coarse, not to say downright 
ugly, in their features. Instead of the stately reserve 
of the Spaniard and sometimes repulsive coldness, whose 
curiosity is never impertinent nor his civility tinctured 
with meanness, we were frequently incommoded with 
the forward curiosity of the populace, who were as 
intrusive as the French, without however possessing a 
particle of their gaiety or good-humour. Oftentimes 
disgusted with the number and servility of their salu- 
tations, which were rendered not to us but to our equipage. 

yth, Aldea Gallega. — Mr. Chamberlain came over 
from Lisbon, and wished us to return with him ; this I 
declined, as the boats were not large. He returned the 
next evening with proper conveyances, and we all set 
off with the evening tide ; reached Lisbon within three 
hours. Took possession that night of our house at St. 
Isabel, close to the church. 

Having been so dreadfully ill, I had no courage to 
keep notes of anything that occurred. As soon as I 
could bear the exertion of moving, we made an ex- 
cursion to As Caldas, Alcobaga, Marinha Grande, and 
Batalha. 

24th Feb. 1805, Alcobaga. — The convent is large, and 
remarkably clean ; the apartments of the monks, who are 
Bernardines, are commodious : the garden and cenador 1 
very prettily situated. The library is considerable, 
contains many gifts from travellers, and several from the 
inhabitants of the British Islands. Their revenue is very 
1 Summer-house. 



184 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

great. The present Abbot is general of the order in 
Portugal, but he is not a mitred Abbot. We had a 
splendid dinner in the Sala de los Reyes, at which he 
presided with several others of the fraternity and did 
the honors very much in the style of a high-bred, polished 
man of the world. A very large part of the convent is 
set aside for strangers, and a suite of spacious rooms 
appropriated solely for the use of the Royal family. We 
lodged in a house belonging to the convent, kept for 
the purpose of receiving women, they not being allowed 
to enter the convent. However I was permitted to 
visit every part of the convent without difficulty, the 
Abbot telling me no doors were closed and I had but to 
walk straight on ; he kept out of the way whilst I walked 
over the interior, that he might not appear to sanction 
an irregular proceeding. The refectory is large and cool ; 
the magazines well provided with provisions of every sort, 
and upon the whole, it is by far the best and least dis- 
gusting convent I ever saw. The reports of the luxuries 
of monks being excessively exaggerated, poverty and 
filth are in general all one finds and often very scanty 
fare. 

25th. — Batalha is a more recent foundation than 
Alcobaca, and much poorer. In some of the chapels 
behind the high altar are the monuments of several of 
the kings of Portugal, and of some private individuals, 
one belonging to the family of the Duke de la Foens, 
also the coffin of John II, and his body still entire. 
This was opened to us while the monks sang a requiem. 
Mr. Allen examined the body very accurately ; he 
described the skin of the hands, feet, and breast as 
dry and shrivelled, the skin of the face not preserved, 
nor the teeth, but their sockets are entire. From the 
momentary glimpse I bestowed upon the disgusting 
object, he appears to have been under the common 



i8o 5 ] MARINHA GRANDE 185 

size ; there is a small gold crown on his head, and 
he is dressed in royal robes. 1 

28th. — Marinha Grande, where we have been most 
hospitably entertained for these last three days, is a 
modern village built within the last 40 years by Mr. 
Stephens, an Englishman, who established a glass manu- 
factory here under the protection of the P. Governt., 
with great advantage to Portugal, as well as to his own 
private fortune. He enjoys the privilege of taking for 
the use of the manufacture decayed pine trees from 
the adjacent forest, but Villaverde, the present Minister 
of State, threatens to deprive him of this privilege, in 
which case the manufacture must decline, and will 
probably soon go to ruin. There are, at present, 24 
workmen employed in the glass house ; the sand prin- 
cipally used is brought from ye Isle of Wight, and 
the barilla from Alicant, and the potash from Russia 
or North America ; so that, except the pines and salt 
of tartar from Oporto, none of the rude materials are 
the produce of Portugal. Crystal glass is the only sort 
made here, and in such quantity as to supply the whole 
demand of Portugal and the chief demand of the Bresils. 
The house is commodious : the present proprietor is 
brother of the founder of the establishment, who 
died about 2 years ago. He had an Opera house fitted 
up here, in which Portuguese and Italian operas were 
represented once a month. The actors were chiefly the 
young people employed about the works, whom he had 
instructed in music and dancing for this purpose. These 
representations have ceased since his death, but every 
night a tolerable concert was given by the person who 
resides in the house, and superintends the work. 

4th March. — Returned to Lisbon. Found children well. 

1 Dom John's body was exhumed and cut to pieces by the French, 
and the tomb destroyed. 



186 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

Progress of spring very striking. Weather excessively 
hot, quite oppressive. Having resolved upon trying the 
effects of the baths of As Caldas upon baby's leg and 
Ld. Hd.'s fingers, we sent over to secure a house, which 
being done, we set off on March 13th. 

March 14th. — Reached As Caldas very late at night. 
Found very excellent and convenient accommodation ; 
we had the whole inn to ourselves, and by dint of 
green baize, a few additional tables, and a sofa we 
contrived to feel as comfortable as if we had been 
magnificently lodged. 

News arrived that the French fleet had escaped from 
Brest, and it was necessary to send the information to 
England. Accordingly Ld. Robt. 1 was obliged to hasten 
the sailing of the packet, and as Ld. Hd. wished to get 
home in time to attend the debate upon the Catholic 
Question, which was fixed for the 9th of May, we resolved 
to go, and in 13 hours were ready to sail ! A wonderful 
exertion. We embarked in the Walsingham, Capt. 
Roberts, at 12 o'clock at night. We engaged the whole 
packet, and took B. Frere with us. The weather was 
tolerably fine till towards midday ; our passage across 
the bar was rough and dangerous ; a frigate followed us, 
but lost her bowsprit and was compelled to return. The 
winds were contrary the first seven days. We were pur- 
sued by a large ship, which from its black studding-sails 
was supposed to be an enemy. The equipage were 
alarmed, and the captain put out great oars in order to 
paddle away, but the darkness of the night was a better 
assistant. A few days after we were in a heavy gale, 
in the midst of which an enemv's schooner bore down 



1 Lord Robert Stephen Fitzgerald (1765-1833), sixth son of James, 
first Duke of Leinster. He was Minister at Lisbon at this time, having 
succeeded Mr. Hookham Frere. He married, in 1792, Sophia Charlotte, 
daughter of Captain Fielding, R.N, 



l8o5 ] RETURN TO ENGLAND 187 

upon us ; the terror was universal. The heavy sea on 
which we were heaved exposed our hulk to their guns, 
but she never approached near enough to hurt us, and the 
storm drove her away from us. Thus after a boisterous 
and anxious voyage of 14 days, we landed safely in 
Falmouth Harbour. The newspapers we received by the 
boats which came out to us, brought the intelligence of 
the vote in the H. of Commons against Ld. Melville. 

Holland House. — We stopped at Mr. Marsh's at Winter- 
slow a couple of nights, and on May 6th arrived within 
these venerable walls. My mother, Mr. Fox, Ly. Bess- 
borough, and Gen. Fitzpatrick, and various others, came 
to greet our return. I liked to see them mightily, but 
a return to this country always damps my spirits. 

The first two months was a tourbillon, and I could very 
little methodize my thoughts. Poor Ld. Lansdown 
died ; he had eagerly wished to see Ld. Hd., but 
that very desire agitated and even hastened his end. 1 
Bartholomew Frere was sent, in July, Secretary of 
Legation under Mr. Jackson at Berlin. Mouravieff came 
to England, and passed upwards of a month, indeed all 
the time he remained in England, here. Lds. Lorn and 
Minto staid nearly the whole month of August and part 
of September, off and on. Knight's book a very general 
topic ; liked by Mr. Fox, roughly handled by General 
Fitzpatrick. 2 He differs with Knight on most of his 
opinions, and admires the sublime and beautiful. The 
title of the book is erroneous, pretending to be an analy- 
tical enquiry, whereas it contains nothing but desultory 
remarks upon literary subj ects. The character of Achilles, 
he allows, is well drawn, but that is a theft from Beattie's 
Essays. 

1 He died on May 7. 

- An A nalytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste, by Richard Payne 
Knight, the connoisseur and collector of coins. 



188 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

Ld. Webb Seymour, the Duke of Somerset's brother, 
dined here. He is sedately handsome, very dark, and 
resembling the two brothers Wycombe and Petty. When 
he speaks, his countenance brightens, and denotes more 
indulgence than his cast of features at first indicates. 
He is more sensible than his brother, clear and distinct in 
delivering his ideas, and tho' absorbed in les hautes 
sciences is yet tolerant to the pursuits of others. He 
resides chiefly in Scotland. It is a singular taste to 
prolong the toils of a University education ; he has 
extended his to seven years. Professor Playfair is his 
magnet. 



DESCRIPTIONS AND SAYINGS OF PEOPLE 
IN SOCIETY IN SPAIN, 1804 

Alava had been an aide-de-camp of Gravina's ; he is 
nephew to the Grand Inquisitor, a young naval officer, 
and a remarkably handsome man. He was formerly 
a favorite with the Q., and some enemies of the Prince of 
ye Peace invited him to throw himself again in her way 
to revive her former inclination. This project did not 
succeed, so he is included in the desterrados at dinner at 
my house. Serra, who is himself in an honorable but 
marked exile, asked him (in consequence of being aware 
of the failure of his project) when he should return to 
Madrid. Was answered by Alava, ' About the time you 
set off to Paris.' * He was at the Filipine Isles with his 
uncle, who was formerly Governor there, and returned by 
the way of Mexico. Abuses Branciforte (brother-in-law 
of the P. of the P.) who was Viceroy of Mexico during 
his stay in that country. Laments the want of a good 
harbour on ye north coast of New Spain : Vera Cruz is 
a very bad one. Many excellent harbours on ye South 
Sea, Acapulco, &c. Some miners from Germany were 
sent lately to Mexico in order to improve the methods 
of working the mines, but after several trials, they 
confessed that the methods used in the country were 
better than their own. Simpler and better contrived 
machinery has been lately introduced into the mines, so 
as to diminish greatly the consumption of the mules. No 

1 See ante, p. 104, 
189 



igo LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [1804 

mines wrought on acct. of Crown. Several of the pro- 
prietors of mines immensely rich. 

Capmany. Estates of Medinaceli are by far ye 
greatest in Spain, include n cities and 800 pueblos, 1 of 
which 300 are in Cataluha ; produce at present £130,000 
a yr., but under proper management they would produce 
more than double that sum. Governt. is at a vast 
expense in promoting ye arts and sciences and literature, 
but without effect in consequence of various causes. A 
man is sent abroad at ye public expense to study science 
or literature or acquire some useful art. He returns, 
finds no means of prosecuting ye art which he has acquired 
with so much pains, is employed to teach a parcel of 
boys who have no use for it, and is prohibited from 
publishing, or after being permitted to publish is sent 
into banishment for having expressed himself with too 
much freedom. A few such examples, and they are too 
many, destroy all ye efforts of ye Governt. to improve 
and enlighten ye country. 

The expenses of the Court are going on without any 
abatement. The carriers and muleteers forced into the 
Royal service in the last journey to Badajoz are not 
yet paid for their labor and loss of mules : and ye 
miserable peasants were robbed of their poultry, corn, 
fodder, &c, and forced to quit their harvest work to 
mend ye roads. Olive trees, it is positively asserted, 
were cut down in some places for fuel, because no other 
wood could be obtained. All the abuses of former 
purveyance for the senor subsist at this day. Houses, 
castles, and provisions are liable to be seized for the 
use of the Court and the most petty officer belonging 
to it, at the price which they choose to fix ; and this 
price not paid till the miserable creditor has lost 
double in hanging about the Court to solicit pay- 

1 Villages. 



EXACTIONS OF THE COURT 191 

ment. The King's journeys, even to the sitios, is 
regularly preceded by an embargo upon mules, and the 
same method is taken to procure mules whenever they 
are wanted for any other purpose ; and ye hire, instead 
of being regulated by the current price, is fixed by a 
tasa. A similar tax is fixed on houses at ye sitios and 
Madrid or wherever ye King moves with his Court, and 
it is sufft. that a house is empty, to force the proprietor 
to let it to the person who gets an order to that purpose 
from ye Governt. 

Soler, the Minister of Finance, retains his place 
because he has no scruples how he obtains money for 
the Royal coffers. About a year since, the parish of St. 
Martin applied to Governt. for permission to repair and 
decorate their parish church. They were asked how 
they expected to provide funds for so expensive a work 
as they proposed to undertake ; they incautiously 
answered that besides expecting aid from the charity 
of the pious, they had provided a sum of 500,000 reals to 
begin with. Soler praised their foresight, and that very 
evening sent an order for the money, saying that his 
Majesty had resolved to take the repairs of their church 
into his own hands. 

Pellicer is a supple and servile adherent of the great, 
be they what or whom they may. He is at present 
librarian to the P. of ye Peace. He owes his fortune to a 
lucky marriage with the rich widow of a mule harness- 
maker, and the stall is still kept by him in ye Plaza 
Mayor. He is held in great contempt by his brother 
authors for his meanness and sordidness of character 
and ye laborious trifling of his pursuits. Capmany says 
of him, that he collects of past ages all those anecdotes, 
and those only, which no person would care to know of 
the present. 

Great indifference amongst the tradesmen as to 



192 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [ l8 o 4 

obtaining and finishing work. No inducement, however 
urgent, will engage them to work on a day they have 
been used to devote to pleasure. No work on dias de 
fiesta, media-fiesta, or on Mondays. One of the principal 
joiners in Madrid finds it more economical to indent 
tradesmen in Germany for 4 years, bring them and re- 
turn them at his own expense, than to employ Spaniards. 
M. Bourke said this. 

Mallo 1 is a native of Caraccas ; he was a garde-du- 
corps, in very indigent circumstances, and reduced to 
very low company when ye Q. took a fancy to him. So 
much so, that Sapia had made one of his countrymen 
break off his acquaintance with Mallo, as a person whom 
it was not creditable to be seen with. He is a man of no 
sort of talents, hero de boudoir. Saavedra encouraged 
the connection, and wished to use Mallo as a prop. 
Indeed many agree that Saavedra was more occupied 
during his Administration with intrigues to main- 
tain himself in place than with doing service to his 
country. 

Duke of Infantado, about 35 yrs. old, slender, light 
figure, with a stronger northern tint in his complexion 
than Spanish hue. Fond of mechanics, chemistry, and 
agriculture. Has attempted the introduction of manu- 
factories on his estates, and is at present occupied with 
improving them by planting, inclosing, &c. Very high 
independent spirit, and of course ill seen, from that 
circumstance, at Court. Very agreeable conversation, 
and the manners of a man of the world. He was educated 
at Paris, and his preceptor was Cavanilles. He served 
in the war against France, and distinguished himself. 
He resides chiefly at Madrid, but frequently visits his 
estates. He is one of the greatest proprietors of the 
mesta. The family name of Infantado is Mendoza, but 

1 See ante, p. 87. 



DUKE OF INFANTADO 



193 



the present family are the male descendants of the 
great D. of Alba. 

Don Manuel de Toledo. His brother, a very handsome, 
graceful, young man ; perfectly Spanish in his complexion 
and features, and an admirable specimen of the national 
character. Very much addicted to the same pursuits 
with his brother, of whom he is extremely fond. They 
are both attached to their mother, who is the Dsse. Dow. 
Infantado, nee Psse. de Salm, and sister of P. Emanuel 
and Mde. de Stahremberg, &c. She has built a most 
delicious residence for herself at the extremity of the 
city looking down upon the Rio, extensive gardens, 
magnificent terrace, and a tennis court. The house is 
upon a Paris model, and is quite perfect. She lived 
at Paris, and built the Hotel formerly called by her 
name on the Place de Louis XV, and now occupied by 
Lucchesini, &c. Her jointure is about £10,000 pr. ann. 

P. Emanuel de Salm. Her brother, who in conse- 
quence of his marriage had come into Spain in ye beginning 
of the reign of Charles III, served some time in S. army, 
and had a Commanderie of Montesa bestowed upon him. 
He has not been in Spain these thirty years till last 
winter. 

Madame de Montijo. Widow about 50 ; head of 
the family of Portocarrero. Has an uncommon share 
of wit and talent and a satirical bent, which she is apt 
to indulge at the expense of the Court, for which she 
has a most undisguised contempt and dislike. Suspected 
of being inclined towards Jansenism, and is at the head 
of many charitable institutions. Was much connected 
with and is still extremely attached to Jovellanos, whose 
cause she has maintained with great ardor and firmness 
during his cruel persecution. She has great quickness 
and powers of reply ; her eagerness oftentimes blinds her 
better judgment, and disposes her to be credulous with 



i 9 4 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [l8 o 4 

regard to stories of the Court ; and her resentment for 
the unjust persecution of so many of her friends renders 
her severe and rash in her conclusions upon the proceed- 
ings of the Court. The society at Madrid appears from 
her, as well as every other account, to have been much 
better in the time of Charles III than it is at present ; 
much greater liberty of conversation and freedom of 
intercourse. The circumstances and jealousy of the Q., 
political and amorous, are the chief causes of this change, 
as those who offend her are exiled, and those who escape 
are glad to obtain security by their silence and discretion. 
Mde. de Monti jo is herself a Grandee, and her husband 
only a cadet of the House of Hijar. When Ld. Auckland 1 
was Ambassador, she rather liked Ly. Auckland, but 
when she visited her she made a condition that Milor 
should not be troubled, he being too moral and hyper- 
critical in his aphorisms for her. She is supposed to 
be privately married to M. Lugo. 

Madame de Lazan, her daughter, lively and clever. 

Madame de Villafranca, 2 another daughter, very 
like her mother in figure and person. Extremely 
clever, but not quite so cheerful. Her husband is 
the brother of the late D. of Alba, head of the 
House of Guzman, and inheritor and representative 
of the estates and family of Medina Sidonia. Their 
house is the most magnificent in Madrid, and adorned 
with fine pictures and portraits of the Guzman family. 
Their archives contain many curious papers relating to 
the Spanish history in the time of the Austrian dynasty : 
vast number of clerks always at work there, as indeed 
in all the great houses. All their papers were accessible 

1 William, first Lord Auckland (1744-18 14), was Ambassador in 
Madrid 1 788-1 789. His wife was sister to Sir Gilbert Elliot, first Earl 
of Minto. 

a Da. Maria Tomasa Palafox y Portocarrero married D. Francisco de 
Borja Alvarez de Toledo, XII Marques de Villafranca (1763-1821). 



DUCHESS OF OSUNA 195 

to Ld. Hd., who had applied to examine if there should 
be any that could be of service to his uncle in his History. 

El Marques de Villafranca passes his time chiefly at 
Court, as he is Mayordomo Mayor to the Princess. He 
is very much attached to his wife and children, and she 
has not yet taken a decided cortejo. 

Mde. de Villamonte, 1 another daughter, handsome, 
but less so than her sister Me. de la Condamina, whom 
we knew at Valencia. 

Monsieur Lugo, a man of letters, and a Jansenist. 
As he is very intimately connected with Me. de Montijo 
we must give him credit for some capacity and sense, 
but none can be detected from his conversation. His 
brother is married to a very pretty French woman. He 
is Spanish Consul at Lisbon. 

Dsa. de Osuna, 2 heiress in her own right of the House 
of (Pimentel), Benavente, Quifiones, &c, &c, to the 
number of four or five sombreros alias grandesses, is the 
most distinguished woman in Madrid from her talents, 
worth, and taste. She has acquired a relish for French 
luxuries, without diminishing her national magnificence 
and hospitality. She is very lively, and her natural 
wit covers her total want of refinement and acquirement. 
Her figure is very light and airy. She was formerly the 
great rival of the celebrated Dss. of Alba in profligacy 
and profusion. Her cortejo, Pefia, has been attached 
for many years, and is now the only one established. She 
is rather imperious in her family. Her revenues are 
greater even than the D. of Osuna's, who is a very tolerably 
sensible man and of considerable knowledge. He had 
great projects of ambition, and acquired at the beginning 

1 The youngest daughter, Da. Maria Benita de los Dolores, married 
D. Antonio Ciriaco Maria Belvis de Moncada, Conde de Villamonte 
(afterwards Marques de Belgida). The eldest, Da. Ramona, married 
D. Jose de la Cerda, Conde de la Condamina. 

3 See ante, p. 49. 

o 2 



196 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [l8o4 

of the French Revolution the surname of being another 
Orleans. He obtained permission during his favor at 
Court to import from foreign countrys what books he 
chose for his own library, notwithstanding they were 
prohibited by the Inquisition, and he took advantage 
of this to collect a very good and extensive library, 
chiefly of classics, history, voyages, and books of science, 
which he intended for the use of the public ; but this 
intention he was not permitted by the Governt. to carry 
into effect. He has, after the Medinaceli, the greatest 
estate, but the Infantado is the most unincumbered at 
present. 

Marques de Penaflel his eldest son. A young man of 
18, married to a granddaughter of the Dss. of Infantado's. 
He is, like his brother Grandees, of diminutive stature ; 
his manner is good, owing to great pains having been 
bestowed upon his education and his excursion to Paris. 

Don Pedro Giron. ' Perico ' commonly called by 
his intimates. Sprightly, fond of dancing, and rather 
clever. 

Madame Camarasa, eldest daughter. 

Mde. Santa Cruz, 2nd daughter. She is very beautiful ; 
a most engaging, captivating smile when she speaks. 
I have a portrait of her in the Spanish costume, full 
length in miniature ; she sat for it 32 times ! Slow as 
this may appear, the artist was a Frenchman with whom 
I had a difference about the price, he having charged 
exorbitantly. As it was, I paid four times its value for 
the picture, £120. 

El Conde de Haro, 1 of the House of Velasco, eldest 
son of the D. de Frias, an empty, chattering coxcomb. 

Duke of Medinaceli, a bigot ; blind, and nearly 

1 D. Bernardino Fernandez de Velasco, who succeeded his father in 
181 1 as XIV Duque de Frias. Born in 1783. He was appointed 
Ambassador in London 1820, in Paris 1834, and held several offices of 
state. 



DUKE OF MEDINACELI 197 

imbecile. It happened whilst we were at Madrid that 
several religious processions were suppressed by the 
order of the Govt, (as from time to time they are doing), 
and among the rest, one which belonged to the D. in 
consequence of having witnessed the miraculous power 
of the image. Whereupon he requested the Queen, in 
a very humble petition, to interfere to preserve the 
procession, and enumerated the miracles the Saint had 
worked, one of which was performed in his presence, 
namely that of arresting the progress of a conflagration in 
the town. He is Alguacil Mayor of the Inquisition, and 
ought to have assisted at an auto-da-fe which happened 
during our stay, but in consequence of some slight he 
received from the Holy Office, he neither assisted in 
person, nor allowed his son to officiate for him. The 
Duchess is the heiress of the House of Santistevan : 
a clumsy, vulgar woman. The palace is immense ; 500 
servants with their wives and children are lodged within 
it. There are tailors and shoemakers and many other 
mechanics living in the house, and employed only for the 
family. Every article of furniture almost is furnished 
from the estates of the family, and worked by his people ; 
the marble from his quarries, the wood from his forests, 
the silk hangings from his estates and looms, the cloth 
and linen from his wool and flax. The mirrors only are 
from the Royal manufacture of San Ildefonso. They 
alone keep up a sort of sovereign state, formerly more 
common among the Grandees than at present. The D. 
and Dss. are served at table by gentlemen on their bended 
knees. They are both narrow-minded and illiterate, 
and associate with none of their equals, being constantly 
surrounded by monks and priests. The Medinaceli 
estates are the greatest in Spain. Among many great 
Houses sunk in Medinaceli, is Cardona, in Cataluna. As 
Cerdas they claim to be the rightful heirs of Castile, and 



198 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL tl8 o 4 

on the day when the King is proclaimed the old custom is 
still retained of erecting a gallows opposite to the Medina- 
celi palace, and in taking the oath of fealty they present 
a protest against this act being construed into a renun- 
ciation of their claims. They have the armoury, in which 
there is a curious collection of ancient armour, and some 
good bas-reliefs. 

Marques de Cogolludo} their son and only child, 
preferred a religious wife to a pretty one ; he was engaged 
to marry Mde. de Santa Cruz. 

Duque de Hijar. 2 The first of the old Grandees who 
condescended to tutoyer the P. of the Peace, and that 
immediately after the banishment of his son-in-law, 
the Conde de Aranda. 

His son, the D. of Aliaga, a heavy, clumsy figure. 
Two years ago he acted Cupid in one of his own plays. 
The Dss., his wife, is daughter of the House of Berwick, 
the brutally treated favorite of Don Diego Godoy, 
brother to the P. of the Peace. 

Mde. Fontanar. Handsome figure, mistress to Ld. 
Bute, and expected to be married to him. Very dissi- 
pated, dances and dresses in perfection. 

Mde. Santiago. Very profligate and loose in her 
manners and conversation, and scarcely admitted into 
female society. As the late Dss. of Alba and the Dow. 
Marquesa de Santa Cruz, however they may have indulged 
themselves, never wantonly violated decency in their 

1 D. Luis Joaquin, Duque de Cogolludo (1780-1840), who succeeded 
his father in 1806 as XIV Duque de Medinaceli. He married, in 1802, 
Da. Maria de la Conception Ponce de Leon y Carvajal, daughter of the 
Duque de Montemar. 

2 D. Augustin Pedro Alcantara Fadrique Fernandez de Hijar 
Abarca de Bolea, X Duque de Hijar, who married Da: Rafaela de 
Palafox, daughter of VI Marques de Ariza. His eldest son D. Augustin 
Pedro Fernandez de Hijar, Duque de Aliaga, and later XI Duque 
de Hijar, married, in 1790, Da. Maria Fernanda Stuart, daughter of 
IV Duque de Liria. He died in 1817. 



ME. DE SANTIAGO 199 

conversation or deportment, but the Santiago is said to 
boast of her nocturnal revels. She is immensely rich. 
Her husband is a well-bred man, a Navarrese. 

Mde. de Xaruja. Very beautiful, but too large. 
Extremely voluptuous, and entirely devoted to the 
passion of love. She was in England some years ago. 
Her husband is at Vera Cruz. Her eldest daughter is 
the most magnificent glowing beauty I ever beheld ; the 
offspring of the Sun. 

Mile. Bouligny, daughter of a Grecian lady, un- 
commonly modest and pretty. Mile. Ne vanes and 
various other pretty young women danced and appeared 
at the balls. The other handsome women were Mesdames 
de Aguilar, Villa- Vicenza {sic), Zayas, Fernan-Nufiez, 
&c, &c. 

M. de Fernan-Nufiez, son of the Ambassador at Paris. 
Gentlemanlike person, countenance that denotes more 
sense than he possesses. 

Acosta, settled at Valladolid Men malgre lui ; married 
a camarista in the expectation of a good post, in which he 
has been disappointed. 

Don Alfonso Pignatelli, 1 brother to Mora ; very great 
reputation for successful amours, not very respectable 
character. 

Count Fuentes y Mora. Came to England to marry 
Miss Beckford ; checked by her refusal. Handsome and 
noble in his manners. Very rich, powerful, and of 
consequence. 

Don Antonio Capmany, the historian of Barcelona, a 
Catalan, about 60 years of age. A man of extraordinary 
wit and vivacity, and of uncommon order of mind. 

1 D. Alfonso Pignatelli de Egmont y Moncayo succeeded his brother 
D. Armando as XIX Conde de Fuentes and Marques de Coscojuela y 
Mora. See ante, p. 6. 



LADY HOLLAND'S 
JOURNAL 

1808-1809 

During the three years which had passed since the Hollands 
left Spain in 1805, many events of importance had taken 
place in that country and in Portugal. War had broken out 
between England and Spain early in 1805, but Napoleon's 
hopes of a naval supremacy had been dashed to the ground by 
the defeat of the joint fleets of France and Spain at Trafalgar. 
Godoy himself, though nominally in alliance with France, was 
casting about for means of escape from the thraldom of 
the Emperor ; while Ferdinand the heir-apparent was openly 
desirous of peace, and looked to an alliance with England as 
the only means of saving his country. For Napoleon's plans 
for bringing the whole of the Peninsula under his sway had 
gradually been maturing. Portugal had been occupied by 
Junot in 1807 with a large force of French troops, and the 
Royal family had been forced to take refuge across the seas 
in far distant Brazil. Nominally for that purpose troops 
had been massed in Spain, but it ere long became plain to all 
observers that the yoke of France was soon to be extended 
over her so-called ally. Events played into the Emperor's 
hands, and dissentions between Charles IV and Ferdinand 
made it easy for him to entice them both across the frontier 
to Bayonne, there to submit to whatever terms he chose to 
dictate. 

The folly and instability of the rulers of Spain was easily 
overcome, but not so the people themselves. The rising 



i8o8] 



STATE OF SPAIN 201 



in Madrid of the ' Dos de Mayo ' was but a signal for 
similar riots and insurrections in every part of the country. 
Emissaries were sent early in May (1808) from the Northern 
provinces to England to ask for aid. The Government was 
sufficiently impressed by their patriotic spirit and earnestness 
of purpose to decide upon affording immediate assistance. 
Money and arms in large quantities were sent out ; while 
agents, both military and civil, were dispatched to the various 
provinces to confer with the Spanish leaders. At the same 
time a force collected for other employment was diverted to 
Portugal. They were landed in July, and under Wellesley 
defeated Junot at Vimiero. The Convention of Cintra 
followed, and secured the evacuation of Portugal by the 
French. 

After the abdication of the Spanish Bourbons Napoleon 
had given the crown to his brother Joseph, whose entry into 
his capital in July took place at an inauspicious moment. 
Throughout the summer the Spanish armies had more than 
held their own : but within ten days of his arrival came the 
news of Dupont's capitulation at Baylen, and the new king 
was forced again to retire behind the Ebro. 

It was at this period that the Hollands embarked on 
their second visit to the Peninsula. Their decision to under- 
take the journey was probably made some months previously, 
and it is likely that Lord John Russell was induced to join 
their party when the Hollands were staying at Woburnin July. 
He accompanied them throughout the expedition, and also 
kept a journal of their movements, which is quoted by Sir 
Spencer Walpole in his Life. Lord Holland was in close touch 
with the Spanish emissaries during their stay in England. 
The glowing accounts of the enthusiasm and successes of their 
compatriots would have eradicated any fears which might 
have arisen, regarding the advisability of attempting the 
journey at such a time and the probable difficulties of travel. 
It was not then known that Napoleon was straining every 
nerve to revenge the recent checks sustained by his arms in 
the Peninsula, and many months had elapsed before the real 
numbers of the French troops in Spain were even suspected 
in England. 

The Hollands left London for Falmouth on Oct. 9, but 
it was not until the first days of November that they landed 



202 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [0c t. 

at Coruna. The complexion of affairs in Spain had assumed 
a more serious aspect during those weeks of waiting, owing 
to the increased activity of the French. Sir John Moore had 
taken over, early in October, the command in Portugal of 
the British troops destined for an advance to Madrid and the 
Ebro. The intelligence as to the best routes for his troops to 
follow was lamentably scarce, and neither the Spanish nor 
Portuguese authorities seemed able to give him any informa- 
tion as to the state of the roads. What little knowledge 
Moore could obtain was faulty, and he was thereby induced to 
send his cavalry and artillery under Hope by the circuitous 
route of Elvas and Escorial to join at Salamanca the rest 
of his force, which was moving by the direct routes to that 
city. Of necessity a long delay occurred in this way, which 
completely altered the character of the campaign. To 
co-operate in the North with Moore and effect a junction 
with him as soon as practicable, a force of over 12,000 troops 
under Sir David Baird were shipped from England to Coruna. 
The first transports arrived there on Oct. 13, but owing to the 
action of the Spanish authorities, no troops were landed 
until Oct. 26. The disembarkation of the infantry was only 
concluded on Nov. 4, the date upon which Lady Holland 
again takes up her pen. 

On Sunday, 9th October, we set off to Falmouth in 
hopes of being able to get there in time to embark with 
the expedition to Spain. Our party consisted of ourselves 
Mr. Allen, Chester, and Ld. John Russell (who overtook 
us near Andover), 2 maids, and five men ; two carriages 
only, being resolved to take as few persons and incum- 
brances as possible. On the road near Bridport, we heard 
of the departure of the expedition, but nevertheless 
continued hastening on to Falmouth in hopes some 
lagging transports might remain for a convoy. Reached 
Falmouth early on Thursday ; pleasantly lodged in a 
house at the skirts of the town. We had obtained 
Ld. Mulgrave's * permission to go in any King's ship, so 

1 Lord Mulgrave was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1807 till 



i8o8] CAPTAIN PARKER 203 

our only difficulty was to get an accommodating captain. 
Fortunately Edward Young received Admiralty orders 
to send round from Plymouth the Amazon to convoy 
four transports which had arrived, like ourselves, too 
late. The commander, Capt. Parker, 1 offered us a 
passage. At length after waiting upwards of a fort- 
night, on Sunday, the 30th, we embarked on board the 
Amazon. 

After a delightful passage of five days, we reached 
Corufia. I never thought it could have been possible to 
have felt regret at leaving a ship, but Capt. Parker's was 
so pleasant that longer stay even on board would not have 
been irksome. He is a nephew of Ld. St. Vincent's, 
and he has the reputation of being worthy of his relation- 
ship. To those who only know the interior of a man- 
of-war from Roderick Random the difference between 
the reality and the description is striking. The order, 
civility, discipline, and cleanliness is astonishing. We 
admired Capt. Parker's manner on deck ; without losing 
his dignity towards his officers and men, they approach 
him with respect and friendship, not terror. Mr. Tennant, 2 
a Staffordshire gentleman, a friend and countryman of 
Capt. P. was on board ; he is married to a daughter 
of Ld. Yarborough's. We were delayed by the convoy, 
otherwise we should have made our passage in less than 
50 hours. Once or twice I was alarmed by the report of 
strange sails and the bustle in consequence of pursuing 

1 Sir William Parker (1781-1866), Admiral of the Fleet, who was in 
command of the Amazon for eleven years. He was created a Baronet in 
1844 for his services in the Chinese War. 

Mr. Ward in a letter to Mrs. Stewart (Letters to Ivy), dated Falmouth, 
Oct. 21, says, ' Lady H. has resolved to force herself on board it 
(the Amazon), in spite of the evident reluctance of poor Captain Parker, 
who has some friends of his own going with him.' Ward was, how- 
ever, no friend of Lady Holland's, from expressions of his own in the 
same letter and a tirade against her badness of heart. His feelings were 
evidently fully reciprocated. 

- William Tennant, Esq., of Aston Hall. 



204 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

them, but they were only our own cruisers. The French 
are sending out corvettes to the Islands, and now and 
then they hazard a pair of frigates. By daybreak we 
lay before Coruha, and entered the harbour early. 
Appearance of the town, castle, and fortifications very 
pleasing. The shores are rocky and barren, and the 
waves of the Bay of Biscay strike against them with 
great fury, and produce very constantly a good deal of 
surf. A high building, called the Tower of Hercules, is 
the lighthouse. The Galicians complain of their poverty, 
and make that an excuse for not lighting it. 

Admiral de Courcy came on board to make a visit 
to Ld. Hd. He seems to be a very excellent, good- 
hearted man : he is the commander on this station. He 
confirmed the stories we had heard of the unwillingness 
of the Spaniards to receive our troops. It appears that 
the expedition arrived without having obtained per- 
mission from the Central Junta (at Madrid) to disembark ; x 
at length when leave was procured the Quartermasters, 
Commissioners, &c, &c, had been so negligent or 
ignorant, that the troops were many of them 36 hours 
without food. Great difficulties also arose from want 
of money. Several Spaniards came out to offer us their 
services in their own names and those of the ladies. 
We dined on board, and in the evening landed and found, 
to my very great dismay, two coaches full of ladies who 
had been waiting near two hours to receive me on my 

1 Lady Holland mentions later in these pages that Saavedra told 
Lord Holland that Santander was actually decided upon as the landing 
place for Baird's troops, and attributed the subsequent disasters in the 
Asturias to this change of plan. No allusion to such an arrangement is 
made by Arteche or Toreno. The British government considered that 
ports like Gijon and Santander were too small for the disembarkation 
of so large a force, and that Galicia would be best able to victual the 
army. Napier states that the Galician Junta tried to drive them to 
another port in order to save themselves trouble. No answer was 
received from the Central Junta for thirteen days. 



i8o81 



CORURA 205 



landing and to conduct me to my house. One was the 
wife of Sangro, the Galician deputy, 1 the others, Madame 
Mosquera, Marquesa de Vianze (sic) , &c. The house which 
they had procured for us was thoroughly in the Spanish 
fashion, spacious, but totally void of furniture. Afterwards 
we went to a tertulia at Mde. Mosquera's. The Duque 
de Veragua, a Grandee and descendant of Columbus, told 
us he had received accounts from Astorga informing him 
that Romana, 2 who had set off en posta from hence to 
Madrid, had there received orders to proceed directly to 
the army, without going to the Central Junta for in- 
structions. They describe the reception given to Romana 
by the people as being touching ; they drew the carriage, 
an honor never bestowed upon any person in Spain before, 
dragged him along the principal streets, and were only 
interrupted by acclamations of ' Viva, Viva ! ' He was 
quite overcome, and sobbed aloud ; as soon as he could 
speak he addressed them and said these testimonies of 
their attachment were gratifying, but they were not due 
to him, that the praise belonged to the army, for he 
only felt in common with them, and shared an impulse 
which their own generous character had excited. 

The Freres 3 proceeded straight to Madrid. On 
Friday we dined at Mde. Sangro's ; Capt. Parker and 
Mr. Tennant were there, and the rest of the party was 
composed of Spaniards. An offensive old debauchee, who 

1 Sangro was one of the five Spanish deputies sent over to England 
during the summer of 1808 to implore aid against the French. 

- At the time of the first risings in Spain La Romana was in command 
of a Spanish force in French service stationed in Denmark. These 
troops he contrived to embark in transports lent him by the English, 
and landed them at Santander on Oct. 11. He himself visited England 
on his way, and arrived at Coruna on Oct. 20, by the same ship which 
brought Frere. He went at once to Madrid, but was sent after the 
battle of Zornosa to supersede Blake. 

3 John Hookham Frere had again been appointed Minister to Spain, 
and arrived at Coruna, accompanied by his brother, on Oct. 20. 



206 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

is the Governor of Coruna, prevented me from deriving 
any pleasure whatever from the society ; he is the 
author of a maritime dictionary, his name is Alcedo ; ! 
he becomes nearly frantic after drinking punch, and 
descants on topics that are rarely discussed before women. 
Went in the evening to the theatre ; very tolerable ex- 
hibition, in the midst of which, unfortunately, I was 
seized with a sudden illness, and fell down in a fainting 
fit which lasted me some time, the consequence probably, 
of the sea voyage, where those who are not sick on board 
suffer afterwards for that exemption. 

Saturday. — Capt. Parker, Mr. Tennant, and Ward 2 
dined with us ; we could not boast of our comforts 
yet. Went to the play, and with great regret took 
leave of our shipmates. The Amazon was ordered off 
Ushant. 

10th November, Corufia. — Walked with Mr. Allen 
to the lighthouse about a mile and three-quarters from 
the town. The view of the town and harbour, now filled 
with shipping, is very magnificent. We saw some 
Spanish recruits exercising ; they were healthy, well- 
looking young men, clothed rudely, but did not appear the 
less military. It is a glorious sight to behold the popula- 
tion of a country turning out with zeal in a fresh cause 
and against such an enemy. The English cavalry were 
landing in small detachments from the transports ; 
tho' not very well conducted for want of proper prepara- 
tions to facilitate their disembarking, few horses perished. 
Met many acquaintances in the streets ; Frederick 

1 Don Antonio de Alcedo, a Spanish American, and author of a 
dictionary of America and the West Indies, published 1 786-1 789. 

2 Hon; John William Ward (1 781-1833), first Earl of Dudley, eldest 
son of William, third Viscount Dudley. He had left Falmouth on 
Oct. 22 in a packet bound for Coruna, but was back in the former port 
on the 25th, owing to adverse winds and bad weather. He appears, 
from a subsequent letter from Captain Parker to Lord Holland, to 
have returned to England about Dec. 1. 



ENGLISH PHYSIQUE 207 

Howard, 1 Clifford, Baron Robeck, 2 &c. Mr. Lemon on 
his way to Cadiz ; a Capt. Gordon, recommended by 
Sydney Smith ; Ld. Paget, 3 uncommonly obliging and 
pleasing. The Spaniards very much struck with his 
beauty ; they call him an ' arrogante mozo y muy 
bizarro.' 4 The dress of the officers excites more wonder 
than admiration ; they observe that it is not warm for 
winter, nor cool for summer, and utterly inconvenient 
in a campaign. The height and size of the Englishmen 
surprises them ; the physical difference is very apparent. 
The ladies praise the complexion, blue eyes, and height of 
the men, but complain of want of expression in their 
countenances, and delicacy in the shape of the limbs, 
especially about the knees ; they add that they are in 
general ' muy frios ! ' 5 Freire, 6 Admiral de Courcy, and 
Fred. Howard dined with us. In the evening the ball, 
which had properly been put off on acct. of the bad news 
from Blake's army, 7 was, with more civility to me than 

1 Major the Hon. Frederick Howard, third son of Frederick, fifth 
Earl of Carlisle, an officer in the ioth Hussars. Born in 1785 : killed 
at Waterloo. 

2 John Michael Henry Fock, Baron de Robeck (1790-1856), a cornet 
in the 7th Hussars. His mother was a niece of John, first Earl of 
Upper Ossory. 

3 Henry William, Lord Paget (1 768-1 854), afterwards Earl of 
Uxbridge and Marquess of Anglesey. He reached the rank of lieu- 
tenant-general in April 1808, and was given command of Sir David 
Baird's cavalry division. 

4 A haughty young man and very gallant. 

4 Very cold. 

5 Manoel Freire (1765-1834), Spanish general, who served with 
distinction throughout the war. 

7 The battle of Zornosa on Oct. 31, in which Blake made but a feeble 
resistance, but was able to draw off his forces without serious loss. 
Joachim Blake (1759-1827) was member of an Irish family settled in 
Spain. He was colonel of a Spanish regiment when appointed Captain- 
General of Galicia at the commencement of the war, and had no 
experience whatever of handling troops. He was superseded by the 
Junta after the battle of Zornosa, and the command given to La 
Romana. The intelligence, however, never reached him till after his 
second defeat at Espinosa. La Romana joined him at Renedo on 



208 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

discretion with respect to the public feeling, fixed for 
this evening at Mosquera's. I called for Ld. Paget, 
and took him and F. Howard. The ladies were sitting, 
according to the Spanish custom, all round the room on 
chairs close to the wall. I had to run the gauntlet 
along a whole range of them, till La Mosquera seated me 
on the couch. The middle of the room was occupied 
entirely by men, chiefly English officers. The dancing 
was bad, and the women, out of their own costume 
of the basquina and mantilla, awkward and ill-dressed. 
A gavotte was danced by Mde. Sangro, and a few national 
dances at my request. A Spanish general arrived from 
Oporto during the ball. The absence of the young men 
who are at the army, and the decorous behaviour of 
their wives, mistresses, &c, who abstained from appearing 
in public under these circumstances, deprived the ball 
of much gaiety ; however, it went off very tolerably well. 
The reports of Blake's death at Zornosa are so various 
and contradictory, that one hardly knows how much 
to give credit to. The only information which is avowed 
is contained in his letter to the Central Junta, which was 
published here, and a letter to his wife, whom he of 
course encourages by giving hopes of future success. 
Some persons are dissatisfied that he should be super- 
seded in the command by Romana. Blake is the idol 
of this province, and was lately chosen their Capt. -General, 
a preference which is supposed to have contributed greatly 
towards increasing the animosity already subsisting 
between him and Cuesta. 1 

Nov. 15, but did not actually take over the management of the scattered 
remnants of the army until they had reached the neighbourhood of 
Leon. Blake obtained further employment in Catalonia and Valencia. 
He was taken prisoner in 181 2, and sent to France. 

1 Don Gregorio Garcia de la Cuesta (1740-18 12), Capt.-General of 
Old Castile, commander of the Spanish armies in the Talavera campaign: 
He resigned his command in 1809, and retired to Majorca, where he 
died. 



!8o8] SPANISH REVERSES 20 g 

nth Nov. — Mde. Sangro accompanied me to return 
some of the innumerable visits which the ladies had quite 
overcome me with. We found several at home. We 
had to dinner Col. Kennedy, 1 Mr. Ward, Mr. Bruce, and 
Baron Robeck. In the evening to the theatre, where 
there were rumours founded upon obscure letters from 
Madrid of Castanos 2 having met with a check, of the 
French crossing the Ebro at Logroho, of their being 
masters of Burgos, and other stories equally unpleasant. 
Ld. Paget thought it not impossible that the French 
might make a push to prevent the junction of our armies, 
i.e. that of Sir John Moore's from Salamanca with Sir 
David Baird's from Astorga. He apprehends much for 
the cavalry, their want of forage, &c. Upon the whole 
all he says appears to proceed from good sense and 
observation. 

The packet from Falmouth arrived ; all well at home. 
No public event of any importance, except a declaration 
made at Erfurt by Napoleon that he intends taking the 
command of his armies in order to place the crown of 
Spain on the head of his brother, Don Josef (sic) Napoleon, 
and to plant his eagles on the towers of Lisbon. 

The jokes against Mr. Ward for his want of nerves, 
proved by his desire of returning instantly to England, 
have reached his ears, and to show his courage he is 

1 Captain Kennedy, a British military agent stationed at Coruna by 
Colonel Doyle, who obtained for him in Madrid the local rank of 
lieut. -colonel. 

- Don Francisco Xavier de Castanos, Duque deBaylen (1756-1852), 
commander of the Spanish troops in Andalusia, and leader of the 
Spaniards at Baylen (July 1808). He sustained a severe reverse on 
the Tudela late in November, and was only employed by the Junta 
in subordinate positions during the remainder of the war. 

There was foundation for both these rumours. Pignatelli, who 
was removed from his command, was forced by Ney to abandon the 
bridge at Logrono, without even firing a mine in it, and retired on 
Castanos' force near Tudela. Napoleon himself routed Belvedere at 
Gamonal on the 10th, and entered Burgos. 

P 



2io LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

resolved to wait a little time longer at Corufia. His 
courage is like Falstaff's, who thought discretion the 
best part of valor ! His fickleness and selfish caprice is 
astonishing ; he is a living proof of the misfortune of 
being an only child and heir to immense wealth. He 
is whimsical and discontented. 

12th Nov. 1808. — Upon hearing that a letter had 
arrived from Mr. Stuart * to D. Baird, Adl. de Courcy was 
good enough to go and make enquiries. He read the letter 
dated 3rd, from Aranjuez. It mentions the passage of 
13,000 or 17,000 men through Madrid to Burgos ; his 
silence about the army of Castanos is a sort of negative 
proof that the story circulated here is unfounded, as 
any disaster which might have taken place at Logroho 
on the 28th Oct. must have been known by the 3rd. 

Set out for Santiago at 2. In consequence of the 
doubtful state of the news resolved to return by Corufia 
for one night, in order to ascertain the truth, and, if very 
bad, shape our future plans accordingly. The English 
cavalry barracks just out of the gates made a very 
cheerful object, the country tres riant ; villages and 
scattered houses all along the sides of the hills, appa- 
rently very populous. The road greatly animated ; 
carts drawn by oxen, full of commodities for the market 
now so abundantly supplied, in consequence of the great 
demand. 

Arrived at Santiago at about 5 o'clock. Much 
diverted by meeting on the road two pieces of English 
artillery surmounted by two fat Franciscan friars, sitting 
astride the cannon ; a strong proof of the close alliance 
between the nations. Entered one of the city gates ; 
narrow streets, well paved, houses built upon arcades 
within which people walk, and the shops display their 

1 Charles Stuart (1779-1845), afterwards created Lord Stuart de 
Rothesay. He was charge" d'affaires in Madrid until Frere's arrival. 



1808] SANTIAGO 211 

contents. Greeted and molested by a concourse of 
persons crying out ' Viva, Viva,' in honor of the Alliance. 
The front of the Cathedral is richly but heavily orna- 
mented. We were shown the relicario, and went to the 
treasure ; at the latter we were joined by ye Archbishop l 
and his attendants. He is a stout, hearty man, nearly 
sixty years of age. In showing the treasure we were 
told that Godoy (for now he is never called by any other 
name) had plundered them upon the pretext of the 
exigencies of the State. The Archbishop made us walk 
with him in a sort of procession. He was preceded by a 
priest carrying the crozier ; he took us to a nunnery, 
which being under his jurisdiction he had the power of 
granting us permission to visit throughout. The nuns 
are of the order of St. Francis de Sales ; they receive 
pensioners to educate, and also girls from the town who 
come during the day. They were delighted at seeing 
us, chattered away briskly. The Archbishop seemed to 
like patting his young flock under the chin, and giving 
them little caresses. After seeing everything in detail, 
and the cells of the nuns which are very spacious and 
airy, we sat in the salon de recreation, where some of the 
pensioners danced to the thrumming of an old nun upon 
an instrument between a spinet and virginal ; one 
danced a hornpipe. The good sisters gave me a heap of 
little articles of their own workmanship, and would 
have given all their worldly goods. One nun is a hearty, 
cheerful woman, a sister of Mosquera's. We returned 
home to a very early dinner, in order to get out in the 
tarde 2 to see with the Archbishop other churches, &c. 
At three he sent us a present of sweet things, and we 
went to meet him at San Martin's Convent. He 

1 D. Rafael de Muzquiz y Aldimate. He was Bishop of Avila until 
1801, when he came to Santiago. He died in 1821. 

2 Evening. 

P2 



212 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

flattered himself that his applying to the Superior would 
enable me to enter the cloisters, but he met with a 
positive refusal. It was evident that the man's vanity 
was gratified in having an opportunity of denying the 
Archbishop's request. San Martin is a rich Benedictine 
convent, and they told me the monks were better informed 
than in the other communities. After a very fatiguing 
day, not the less so from the oppressive importunity 
of the Archbishop, who wanted us to stay another day 
in order to dine with him, we finally took leave of him 
at our posada door at 6 o'clock. 

The Archbishop's name is Muzquiz. He was formerly 
Bishop of Avila, and three years Confessor to the Queen. 
Supposed to have been devoted to Godoy whilst he 
was powerful. He was the person who instituted that 
famous suit against the Cuestas, two canons of Valencia, 
who subscribed to the tenets of a Pastoral letter written 
by the B. of Palencia, which was supposed to contain 
some Jansenist doctrines. They were imprisoned and 
persecuted for several years ; one contrived to make his 
escape into France, the other was in the prisons of the 
Inquisition whilst we were at Valladolid in 1804. 

In the evening we were serenaded by a concert sent 
from the public authorities — the musicians of the Cathedral. 
During the intervals between the music, fireworks were 
displayed, accompanied by acclamations of ' Viva,' of 
' Inglaterra,' ' Jorge III y Fernando VII.' At every 
shout we went out upon the balcony to answer their 
Viva, by Vivas, for ' Espana,' and ' Fernando.' The 
musicians proposed coming upstairs, and they sang some 
good Italian music. A civil canonigo, and Sr. Don Josef 
Juan Caamano, now Conde de Maceda l in right of his 

1 D. Juan Jose Caamano y Pardo, Sefior de Romelle, married Da. 
Ramona Escolastica Pardo de Figuera, VIII Condesa de Maceda, who 
died in 1838. Her cousin from whom she succeeded to the titles was 
killed at the battle of Rioseco in 1808. 



l8 o8] NEWS FROM THE FRONT 213 

wife, and a member of the Junta, came up with them ; 
they were very civil, obliging persons. 

Returned to Coruha, 16th. Pizuela received letters 
from Valladolid of the date of the 10th. Burgos had 
been alarmed by the sight of some French troops, several 
leagues off, but they withdrew, and on the 7th and 8th 
13,000 troops belonging to the Army of Estremadura 
had reached Burgos. 1 This intelligence seems so well 
authenticated, that we feel the utmost confidence of 
getting securely on our journey. Letters came from Sir 
J. Moore from Ciudad Rodrigo of the date of the 12th. 
He was advancing then without his army ; that unfor- 
tunately was considerably in the rear. 2 A letter from 
Sr. Robt. Wilson mentions great sickness in that army, 
even specifying that it was to the amount of 2000 men. 
They were proceeding without sufficient camp equipage 
to protect them from the rigor of the season, or rather the 
severe rains. 

Five hundred of the volunteers of Cadiz belonging to 
the army of Castafios were surrounded at Lerin and made 
prisoners. Castafios preferred losing them by not 
attempting a rescue, which might have brought on a 
general action ; in the course of a day 220 made their 
escape and returned to him. 

General Pignatelli, the uncle of Ct. Fuentes, has been 
suspected of a treasonable correspondence with the 
French ; a spy was posted at his quarters, and his orders 
were so contradictory and his conduct so suspicious 
that he is removed. 

1 These were Galluzzo's three divisions, now under the command of 
the Conde de Belvedere, which were defeated by Napoleon at Gamonal 
on the 10th. Galluzzo had been superseded on Nov. 2, and recalled to 
answer certain charges brought against him by the Central Junta. 

2 The first British troops reached Salamanca on Nov. 13, and 
the whole of Moore's 15,000 infantry were assembled there by the 
23rd. 



214 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

lyth Nov. — Admiral de Courcy again and again 
repeated his kind and friendly offers of the Tonnant being 
at our service in case we should be compelled to make our 
retreat through Corafia. 

iSth. — Left Betanzos at £ past 10. At about a league 
before Guitiriz we met a Scotch officer riding past, whom 
we stopped to ask news. He belonged to Gen. Mackenzie's, 
and brought a disagreeable report of Blake having been 
again defeated, 1 and of the French advancing to prevent 
the junction of the two English armies ; of Burgos being 
in the possession of the French. The venta at Guitiriz 
large, and for Ld. Paget and his staff ; he had secured 
us the best part. He and his brother, Major Paget, and 
Baron Tripp 2 dined with us. Ld. P. thinks ill of the 
business. 

igth. — We did not set off until Ld. Paget had mustered 
his men : they rode off with regularity, preceded by the 
band playing. We met a Spanish gentleman riding past, 
and stopped him to enquire the news. He confirmed 
the report of Blake's second defeat. At Lugo it seems 
Sr. D. Baird received a messenger from his own com- 
missary at Leon, containing the acct. of the defeat of 
Blake on the ioth, but the gentleman added that from 
Sr. David's pronunciation of the proper names in Spanish, 
he could not understand where the action happened. 
Also that he received news from his advanced guard at 
Astorga and a messenger from Salamanca. The result 
was his taking the resolution of setting off in haste with 

1 At Espinosa, where he was defeated by Victor on the ioth and 
nth. His troops made a creditable show, but suffered severe 
losses, including San Roman, second-in-command of the troops 
who had just returned from the Baltic. Blake reached Reinosa on 
the 12th, where he collected about 12,000 men, about half his original 
force. He was not allowed a moment, however, as Soult was close 
at hand. Striking into the mountains with about 7000 troops he 
evaded his pursuers, and reached Leon on the 16th. 

2 Or Fripp. 



SIR DAVID BAIRD 215 

his staff to Astorga. His conduct is surprising. He has 
not communicated a syllable to Ld. Paget, a general 
officer commanding the cavalry, and I believe 3rd in 
command of the whole army. One should think in such 
a moment as this is likely to become, that it would be 
advisable to have as many opinions in council ; not only 
for the good of the cause, but for his own character, 
either to have the sanction or escape the censure of Ld. P. 
Ld. P. and his men remained at Baimonde. Great 
losses amongst the cavalry. The horses, after 7 weeks 
confinement on a ship and then plunged into the sea 
to be swum on shore in a state of fever, have of course 
suffered severely, especially in their feet ; besides the 
change of food from oats and hay to chopped straw and 
maize has affected their health. Seventeen were left at 
Betanzos. Three young men died, and on the road we saw 
several horses lying dead, and others who had fallen but 
could not rise. Soon after our arrival at Lugo, the two 
cousins, las primas 1 de la Sangro, came to visit and offer 
their services, Da. Maria de Prado. They invited us to 
dinner on the following day, and sent us presents of live 
turkeys and hares. 

20th. — At breakfast we received a visit from the 
Prior of the place, a friend of Quintana's, D. Manuel 
Fernandez Vanela, a very sensible, clever, well-informed 
man. The Bishop soon after came ; an Asturian, very 
ignorant and grossier, quite, the manners of a fraile. 
He owed his elevation to the favor of Campomanes in 
his quality of countryman. The ladies came in a carriage 
to fetch me to go into the town to see the Cathedral, &c. 

Ld. Paget arrived from Baimonde at about 2. He 
argues well from Baird's silence, for if the news were 
true to the extent reported, he thinks it would have 

1 Cousins, 



2i6 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov . 

been impossible that he should not have received a 
messenger. 

We dined at the house of Prado, all the five primas of 
Mde. Sangro, her stepmother, and various other persons ; 
fortunately for me, our sensible acquaintance the Prior 
in the evening. Followed a dreadfully formal tertulia. 
Among the guests we had an oidor 1 of Valladolid and his 
family. He fled from thence on the arrival of the French, 
and he again fled from the persecution of Cuesta, who 
threatened to arrest him for having gone to Lugo as a 
deputy from Villafranca del Vierzo. 2 We had a boisterous 
canon, a native of Africa, who to show his zeal and 
adoption of English customs, drank bumpers of wine 
and roared out toasts — the usual ones of Ferdinando and 
Jorge, the union of the two countries, and compts. to 
Ld. Hd. He owed his place to the favor of Mallo, the 
Queen's lover, who was banished to Astorga. The Bishop 
had invited me to a refresco, but on discovering that I 
was likely to be ye only woman, when ye time came to go 
I declined the visit. Ld. Hd. went with Ld. Paget. 

Just afterwards, Monroe, the messenger bringing dis- 
patches from Aranjuez, brought letters from Baird to 
Ld. P. The ist, dated ye 18th Nov., desires him to halt 
his cavalry at Lugo in consequence of the disastrous 
news from Blake's army, and the State of Burgos being 
in possession of the enemy. Ye 2nd, 19th, bids him 
cancel all the orders about halting the cavalry, because, 
from a letter of Sir John Moore's, he finds the French 
have never been in any great force at Valladolid. In 
this letter he omits one very important point, which 
is from whence Moore writes, and it is only by hear- 
say that it is supposed his army had reached Sala- 
manca. He urges Ld. P. to take the post and join him, 

1 Auditor. 

- See letter from Mr. Charles Vaughan in Appendix F. 



BLAKE'S DEFEAT 217 

as he wants his advice in the very critical position of 
affairs. 

Blake appears to have been, after more fighting and 
great exertions on his part, completely beaten, and 
driven with the fragment of his army into Santander. 
Romana is there going to take the command of the 
scattered troops. Blake was attempting to join Baird at 
Leon, but a body of French intercepted him, and it is 
said that at Sahagun he lost his whole park of artillery. 
This news overset the whole tertulia. I went to Ld. P., 
and wrote by the messenger whom he stopped to take 
his letters. 

21st Nov., Lugo. — Early this morning Ld. Paget and his 
two aide-de-camps set off en fosta for Astorga. B. Frere 
writes from Aranjuez, 15th : advises us not to advance 
until something decisive is seen from the armies ; com- 
plains of the insalubrity of Aranjuez at this season. 
They live in our old house belonging to the Marquis de 
Santiago. We have resolved upon returning for the 
present to Coruna, but shall spend the day here in order 
to write letters, &c, &c. This is Ld. Hd.'s birthday, 
on which he completes his 35 years. 

Drove in the Bishop's carriage, with four mules and 
two postilions in cocked hats, round the city walls. 
El Prior, Don Manuel Fernandez Vanela, dined with us 
and passed the evening. He told us a great many 
interesting anecdotes regarding the affair of the Escorial, 
the motin 1 at Aranjuez, and the disturbance at Madrid 
of the 2nd May, etc. ; P. of P., on sounding some 
of the military whom he had raised to high stations, 
on being refused complained that he had the mis- 
fortune to make ungrateful followers not friends. The 
Prior is full of humour and wit ; told us several 
stories admirably. One of the Irish colonel whom he 

1 Mutiny. 



218 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

had clothed when wet, fed, and lodged, who just 
before he set off fell upon his knees and, meaning 
to ask his benediction, in bad Latin, said, ' Redde beni- 
ficium tuum ' : for that, ' No,' said the Prior. His 
benefice is worth about iooo pr. ann. He has lived a 
great deal at Madrid and has a quick conception of 
ridicule ; he made apologies for the provincial and 
boisterous behaviour of the gentlemen Gallegos at dinner 
yesterday. 

22nd Nov. — This day as foggy and damp as that of 
yesterday. We left Lugo late, n o'clock. The English 
troops concerned at our leaving them ; they were told we 
were only making an excursion for a few days, and should 
rejoin them on the road. Met Gen. Slade 1 and young 
FitzClarence. 2 He said the ammunition and artillery 
were behind, complained of the want of assistance from 
the Juntas who had not furnished them with cattle or 
guides. 36 waggons containing artillery left on the 
road for want of means to come on. The road very 
fine, but the country a moor and swamp bounded by 
distant mts. The 15th regt. Dragoons passed us ; 
they appear to be in much better condition than either 
the 7th or 10th. 3 They were on board ship only eleven 
days ; the first was on board upwards of seven weeks. 
It is very vexatious to feel it indispensable to retrogade ; 
it really is an act of self-denial not to proceed. I am per- 
suaded one's courage rises in proportion as one approaches 
the scene of danger, and at Astorga I should have felt 
less terror than I did in apprehension at Hd. House. 

1 General Sir John Slade (1762-1859), commanding the Hussar 
brigade. 

2 Eldest son of William IV and Mrs. Jordan, created Earl of Munster 
in 1830. He was a cornet in the 10th Hussars, and was only fifteen 
at that time. 

3 These regiments latsr were termed Hussars. They still, however, 
appeared in the army list of 1809, and for some years after, as Light 
Dragoons. 



FOOD IN GALICIA 219 

Reached Guitiriz at 6 in evening. In Galicia one 
may always find milk, eggs, and potatoes ; the first is 
supplied abundantly from numerous herds of goats, 
whose white coating mingles well in the distant views 
with the black, shaggy flocks of sheep. The eggs they 
owe to their poultry, of which there is a vast quantity, 
especially about Lugo ; the capons are very fat. Their 
method of fattening them is by giving a walnut with 
the shell every day, increasing the number to forty, at 
which time they are reckoned to be in a state of perfection, 
and are then killed. The culture of potatoes has been 
introduced from England ; they are much used. On the 
roadside the countrywomen bring them ready boiled to 
sell to the troops as they pass. The mutton is nauseous, 
beef excellent ; pork in every shape famous all over 
Europe. Fish very good ; the eels and trout of the 
Miho are reckoned exquisite. Fruits, from the specimen 
which was given of them when prepared, delicious. 
Bread, except at Santiago, quite execrable. At Coruha 
and all the way to Lugo it is gritty from a mixture of 
sand and filth, heavy and brown. The common wine 
very palatable, light, and wholesome. The salt brown 
and foul ; the Spaniards scarcely eat any. They con- 
sider it as very pernicious, altho' they eat great quantities 
of salted' meat, ham, pork, sausages, pigs' faces, feet, 
lard, &c. Water excellent, it is generally brought along 
open aqueducts, both at Coruha, Lugo, and, I believe, 
at Santiago. Candles are in common use, not lamps as 
in the other parts of Spain. The floors are of wood ; not 
brick or stone pavements like those I have seen in Spain. 
The houses are not large, nor are they built round a 
court or patio. The ventas or posadas, tho' far from 
being good, yet furnish more articles than many do in 
the south of Spain, such as chairs, sheets, mattresses, 
and plates. 



220 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

23rd. — Awoke in the night by a strong smell of fire, 
and found the room full of smoke. There not being a 
chimney in the house but that of the kitchen, which I 
knew had been long extinguished, and knowing that in 
and about the house there were 36 waggons laden with 
ammunition, I thought it might be advisable to make 
some enquiry. It was 3 o'clock. Upon examination 
it appeared that in the stable under the room in which I 
slept, the muleteers had wanted a light, so not having 
anything conveniently at hand they made straw torches. 
The only outlet to the smoke was through the crevices of 
my floor. 

On the road we passed several divisions of the 15th 
in excellent condition. The last of the cavalry leave 
Corufia to-day. They march in 9 divisions, and the 
first ought by this time to be at Nogales, but if the French 
are assembling at Benavente, the cavalry can be of little 
use, as perhaps all the English army have to look to is 
to defend themselves and protect the frontier of Galicia, 
and on those heights cavalry are of no service whatever. 
Sr. D. Baird has about 10,000 infantry ' forward,' but 
whether that means at Astorga, or on their way hither, I 
know not. 

A large train of artillery is waiting here (Betanzos) 
for the want of horses to convey it on forward ; a com- 
missary has been employed above a month to procure 
the means. From all I can observe, the service would 
be greatly benefited by the dismissal of the whole com- 
missariat ; the artillery lags behind, and the men are 
distressed frequently for want of provisions. No army 
can less endure privation from food and no one is more 
liable to it than the English, entirely from the ignorance 
and unskilful management of the commissaries. Between 
Coruha and Lugo a number of men were 36 hours totally 
unprovided with food, and for two days another division 



l8 o8] THE BRITISH COMMISSARIAT 221 

had not received their ratio of wine. Nothing could be 
more true than a brother or relation of Ld. Rosslyn's say- 
ing, when being appointed commissary to an army, that he 
was going out to cheat the King and starve the troops. 

Two companies of ye 60th composed of foreigners ; it 
is well managed keeping them here upon duty of guarding 
artillery, &c, as they would find some difficulty in 
deserting, if they should become so inclined. 

24th Nov., Coruna. — Arrived at 2 o'clock. We have 
taken up our residence in a small house occupied formerly 
by Sr. David Baird ; it was the only one to be procured. 
Received English letters and papers to the 8th Nov. 
Dined at Mr. Barrie's, the merchant's. Met Mr. Stuart, 
the aide-de-camp of Gen. Mackenzie, the same person 
who gave us the bad news on the road to Guitiriz. An 
army of reserve is forming at Pontevedra ; Mosquera is 
gone thither to take command of his regt. A person 
has been sent to the Supreme Junta to complain of the 
proceedings of the one here, and to recommend that a 
military officer of distinction should be sent here with 
full powers to supersede the Junta and take measures 
necessary for the defence of the Kingdom, for which 
purpose they have shown themselves totally incapable 
and unfit. 

25^. — Adl. de Courcy came early. Under the strictest 
seal of secrecy he revealed some very unpleasant circum- 
stances to us. He received orders from Sr. D. Baird 
directing him to choose a safe and proper place from 
whence troops might embark with safety, and the vessels 
remain at anchorage out of reach of batteries. This 
order was so precise that he leaves it to be acted upon 
without any further reference to himself. Accordingly 
as the Bay of Coruna is commanded by forts, the fire of 
which would if in the enemy's possession render the 
embarkation unsafe, de Courcy has fixed upon Vigo, and 



222 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

has already taken measures accordingly. Under the pre- 
text of sending to England the empty transports, he has 
ordered the Endymion to convey them to Vigo. Ashe 
knew we were to return here he very kindly gave orders 
to the Champion to be ready, and kept her 24 hours 
longer on our acct., to send her home to demand of the 
Admiralty ships of the line and frigates to protect the 
transports in case there should be a necessity of their 
returning with the army. He intends to follow shortly 
with the Tonnant. As we were resolved upon attempting 
the road into Portugal, we have declined his offer of the 
Champion, and he has accordingly dispatched a small 
sloop instead, as he will require all his force. 

Sr. D. Baird seems to have been alarmed almost 
unjustifiably, tho' the junction of the two armies is still 
a very doubtful point, and all that is known for certain 
of Sr. John Moore is that on ye 24th Nov. (yesterday) 
he could not have with him at Salamanca more than 
16,000 men, but without artillery or cavalry. Baird is at 
Astorga with about 10,000, quite without cavalry, little 
artillery, and less ammunition. The first division of 
the 7th Light Dragoons will not be able to join him till 
ye 26th, and the rear of the cavalry will not get up before 
ye 2nd December. To-night Lt. Laroche, an officer of 
the 15th, brought on a dispatch from Lugo, forwarded 
from Astorga, containing merely a repetition of those 
orders to the Admiral. He brought a verbal report that 
the 15th have been ordered to halt and fall back upon 
Baimonde. Notwithstanding these symptoms of a speedy 
retreat, no bad news seems to have arrived. The Madrid 
post arrived at the regular time, a proof that the French 
did not, or could not intercept them at Benavente on 
ye 22nd. 

Letters from Gijon of the 19th are free from alarm 
as to the approach of the French, but in a letter from 



BLAKE'S RETREAT 



223 



Sr. D. Baird to Ld. Hd., it appears that they made an 
attack upon San Vicente de la Barquera, a place situated 
about 3 leagues on this side of Santander. Romana, 
who is at Santander, is said to be greatly cast down by 
these disasters ; the guns of the batteries that command 
the harbour have been spiked by his orders on ye 12th, 
and many thrown over into the sea, and casks of stores 
and ammunition. 1 

26th. — Adl. de Courcy brought and introduced to us a 
cousin, Capt. Digby, of the Cossack. He arrived yesterday 
from Santander ; he left Romana there on ye 13th, who 
was just setting off en posta with his aide-de-camps and 
5 hundred 1000 duros to -find Blake, who was supposed 
to be at Reinosa. Romana had 5000 of his dismounted 
cavalry, who were armed with new English muskets 
supplied from the Cossack. The fugitives from Blake's 
army were numerous ; they represented their sufferings 
as having been great. Capt. Birch, who was wounded 
in one of the engagements, admitted that the army had 
been reduced to the greatest straights. For 5 days 
they had no supplies, and their food was just such as 
they could find — wild goats and animals they could catch 
in the mountains ; many perished from hunger and 
fatigue, and the want of provisions contributed as much 
as the superior force of the enemy to disband and disperse 
the army. Romana's famous Catalan regt. were in an 
advanced post ; on the 31st they were surprised by 
daybreak by the French, who opened three fires upon 
them in the most furious manner. They refused to 
surrender, and were to a man destroyed. 2 At Bilbao 

1 Soult entered Santander on Nov. 16, and captured a quantity of 
heavy stores. He again dispersed the remains of Blake's Asturian 
division at San Vicente ; but advanced no farther, and struck south- 
wards to Saldafia, where he regained touch with Lefebvre. 

2 This was at Durango on Oct. 31, one of the actions which preceded 
Blake's defeat at Espinosa. 



224 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov . 

2 Spanish soldiers were left sick in the hospital, and 
when the French arrived were given up as prisoners. 
Merlin, a genl. of division, ordered them to be carried 
to the plaza and shot as rebels. 1 It is reported that he 
has been since mortally wounded in some of those battles 
with Blake. 

Captain Digby, who has been all the summer and 
autumn stationed off the coast, says that the French 
did not receive reinforcements to the number of 5000 
men from ye beginning of July to the end of Sept., but 
it is said that lately 60,000 have passed Bayonne. Joseph 
went to Madrid escorted by not more than 2500 men, but 
by sending forward parties of Dragoons to order rations 
for 5 times the number of men they have, they spread an 
alarm in the villages through which they pass of the 
vastness of their numbers. Capt. Birch, of the artillery, 
is come in the Cossack wounded ; he was with Blake in 
three actions. He blames the plan of campaign of the 
Spanish generals. It was planned by Castafios and 
Palafox, a confidential officer of Blake's assisting in 
order to carry back to Blake their determination. Blake 
was much agst. the plan of his advancing into Biscay, 
but the Supreme Junta compelled him ; they were 
dissatisfied at him for delay. The soldiers behaved 
with great courage and firmness in these actions, but 
some of the officers conducted themselves infamously. 
Romana ordered that all the officers who should be 
found without a passport should be put under arrest. 
Fortunately 3 victuallers put into Santander and fed 
the starving army. 

Two Spanish frigates came in at the same time with the 

1 The sack of Bilbao by General Merlin took place at a much earlier 
date (September) than the period with which Lady Holland is now 
concerned. It was the result of a premature rising which was easily 
kept in check by Marshal Bessieres' 2nd Corps. Christophe Antoine, 
Comte Merlin (1771-1839) received the rank of general in 1805. 



l8 o8] DISASTROUS NEWS 225 

Cossack from Santander. The Conde de San Roman, 
2nd-in-command in Blake's army, died of his wounds 
on board ; they threw his body over board. He was an 
excellent officer and much esteemed by the army. All 
seem to agree that cavalry ought to have been sent to 
Galicia in July ; if even the present forces had reached 
Spain 3 months ago the face of Spain would have been 
very difft. Junot's army was by its position hors de 
combat. Capt. Digby dined with us. 

The Minerva and two brigs are come in from Gijon ; 
the former brings accts. of the French having entered 
Santander on ye 15th. They saw the Dragoons riding 
down into the town. The town was nearly deserted 
by its inhabitants. The Bishop came in the Minerva 
and was landed at Luarca. The Spaniards fled shame- 
fully from San Vincente de Barquera from 1800 French. 
In one of the brigs are Mr. and Mrs. Hunter l and daughter ; 
they left Gijon on ye 24th. Late at night, Mills, an 
English messenger from Madrid, brought letters from 
Astorga, one from Ld. P. to Ld. Hd. 2 Worse accounts 
than ever from the army urges us without loss of time 
to quit Spain. Romana is at Leon without troops ; 
the French are running over Asturias, and their cavalry 
scouring over Castile. They have concentrated a force of 
14,000 men at Rioseco, but none have advanced as yet 
to Benavente. On the 21st probably Sr. J. Moore would 
fall back upon Ciudad Rodrigo, and he has ordered 
D. Baird to look to the supply of his troops and re- 
embark as speedily as he can. The cavalry are to go 
on to cover the retreat of the infantry. The Cossack is 

1 Mr. Hunter was the British agent at Gijon. 

2 See Appendix A, Nov. 24. Napoleon had no idea of the close 
proximity of the British, and halted at Aranda de Duero from Nov. 23 
to 28, with his mind fixed on the capture of Madrid. Hence the French 
advance from Valladolid towards Salamanca, which Moore expected, 
never took place. 

Q 



226 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Nov. 

to sail to-morrow, nominally for Lisbon, but in fact for 
Vigo with transports. 

2yth Nov., Coruna. — Dispatches from Sr. David Baird 
from Astorga. In consequence of Sr. John Moore's 
orders that he would do well to consult the safety of the 
forces under his command and look to speedy embarkation, 
he has reiterated his demands for transports. It appears 
that Romana transmitted the acct. of Blake's army being 
cut up, that the French were in possession of San Vicente 
de la Barquera and of Colombres, and that the Asturias 
could not be defended. Sr. D.'s dispatch to Ld. 
Castlereagh states that by a dispatch from Moore, dated 
21st, Salamanca, that general apprised him that as soon 
as he should hear that the French had left Valladolid, he 
should fall back upon Ciudad Rodrigo, and that, in that 
case, Baird ought to retreat with a view to embark at 
Vigo, and if possible transport his cavalry to Portugal 
over the Mifio ; this however he left to the judgment 
of Baird. 

Reports that Blake has saved his artillery, and that it 
is at Leon. The battering train of artillery which Blake 
took from Ferrol (perhaps to bombard Pampeluna) is 
returned in the Spanish frigates which arrived yesterday. 

In a confidential letter from Ld. P. to Ld. Hd., 1 among 
other things, it seems apprehensions are entertained that 
the French may penetrate into Galicia by the way of 
Orense, so as to harass the English on their retreat to 
Vigo. 

A report that General Vives, after a severe engagement 
with the French in Cataluna, had approached close under 
Barcelona. 2 Mr. Hunter and Sr. Thomas Dyer 3 describe 

1 See Appendix A, Nov. 24. 

2 Vives was besieging Duhesme in Barcelona, 

8 Sir Thomas Dyer, who succeeded his father as seventh Baronet in 
1801. He became lieut.-general, and died in 1838. He was one 
of the military agents in the Asturias. 



l8 o8] CONFLICTING REPORTS 227 

the public feeling in Oviedo as being much more enthu- 
siastic than it is amongst the Gallegos. All these alarms 
have induced us to renounce our journey to Vigo by 
land ; we were upon the point of setting off, the mules 
were actually tinkling their bells at the door. The 
worthy Admiral assures us of a retreat in the Tonnant, 
and an earlier one in the Champion, but the orders are so 
urgent for the detention of every vessel, that none can 
now be sent out either to Vigo or to England. 

28th. — Gen. Broderick 1 has received a letter from 
Col. Bathurst, the quarter master at Astorga, containing 
more favorable accounts. Blake has brought part of 
his army to Leon, and many of the fugitives are collecting 
together, which will form in the course of 8 or 10 days 
a force of 20, 000. 2 His artillery are arrived, and a 
junction of his army with Sr. D. Baird is supposed to 
be practicable and likely to be effected. Broderick' s 
expression is that, ' Safety and honor go together.' 

Broderick thinks the junction between Blake and 
Baird as good as done, whatever orders to fall back may 
have been given previously. Capt. Crauford of Champion, 
has lately been at Cadiz. Dupont 3 was very turbulent and 
troublesome. Morla confined him and his staff in light- 
house. In his baggage was found an immense quantity 
of plate from churches, and spoons, forks, and even 
buckles beat down into a mass. His mistress stole at 
Cordova cambric to make herself three hundred 

1 Hon. John Brodrick (i 765-1 842). sixth son of George, third 
Viscount Midleton ; military agent in Galicia. (Napier, Bk. III. ch. i.) 

2 La Romana had nearly 16,000 men near Leon on Dec. 4, but they 
were badly equipped and short of clothing ; and 23,000 were collected 
there ten days later (Oman). He did not actually move from there 
till much later, but wrote to Moore on Nov. 30, saying that he hoped 
soon to be able to do so. 

3 General Dupont, the commander of the French army which 
capitulated to Castafios at Baylen. He and his staff were sent back 
to France soon after this. 

22 



228 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [N ov. 

shifts. Reports of disturbances against the English 
at Oporto. Sr. Robt. Wilson is there raising a legion 
of 5000 men. 

29^/t. — Blake's army at Leon is said to be 18,000 strong. 
It begins to transpire here among the merchants that 
preparations are making to embark at Vigo. 

30th. — Bissett, a King's messenger, arrived in the eve., 
with dispatches from Sr. J. Moore ; private letter from 
Ld. P. to Ld. Hd. 1 Moore was at Salamanca on the 28th 
with 18,000 men, no sickness prevailed in his army. 
Infantry of Baird had fallen back. By the letters from 
Astorga the opinion entertained there is that the French 
have no infantry or very few, and that their whole force 
consists in cavalry ; they are supposed to be pushing 
their force towards Navarre in order to demolish Castanos 
and Palafox. Ld. P. writes in the highest spirits, it having 
been decided upon that the junction of the armies is to be 
attempted ; the cavalry will begin the operations on the 
3rd, the infantry will follow on the 4th or 5th. Romana, 
who is at Leon with his army, is disposed to join the 
English armies, but Ld. P. rather wishes him to retrogade 
on Asturias to intercept the retreat of the French who are 
advancing to Oviedo ; this last fact however, does not 
appear to be quite certain. Ld. P. says the Marquis 
might make a joli coup. The people here discredit the 
report of the French having as yet got into the Asturias, 
and that at headquarters they have been deceived. 
A French corps pushing through the Asturias might 
easily surprise Ferrol, which is entirely stripped of 
troops. At Ferrol there are 7 ships of the line, three of 
which are 100 guns. General Miiller, a naval architect 
and engineer, came over yesterday from Ferrol, and he 
considers it as impracticable for the French to pass through 
the Asturias. 

1 See Appendix A. 



ADVANCE OR RETREAT 229 

The Hunters dined here, and gave the following acct. 
from Mr. Hay, 1 an aide-de-camp, of Genl. Leith's report. 
He was sent by Frere with dispatches from Madrid to 
Santander, but was compelled by the progress of the 
French armies to go to Gijon. ' Nov. 10th, French 
attacked the 1st division of Estremadura army at Burgos, 
defeated and took from it 10 or 12 pieces of cannon. 
Entered Burgos in the evening.' 

Dec. 1st. — All hope has vanished, and orders are given 
for retreating : orders dated, 29th, at night, from Sr. D. 
Baird to repeat the necessity of the transports and all 
being ' ready to sail at a start (?) .' He has received positive 
orders from Sir J. Moore to begin his march towards the 
shipping without delay. Sr. J. Moore is determined 
to fall back upon Ciudad Rodrigo. The cause of this 
sudden determination on the part of Moore he rests upon 
the defeat of Castafios. 2 Neither the date, nor place where 
this disaster happened are known, but the circumstances 
are said to be similar to those of Blake. Ld. Paget 
went to Leon and saw Romana ; he does not think much 
of the quartier-general. In the dispatch to Ld. Castlereagh, 
Baird encloses Ld. P.'s report of the conversation he had 
with Romana on the 26th. Romana complains that he 
has been deceived and not communicated with by his 

1 Andrew Leith Hay (1785-1862), aide-de-camp to his uncle General 
Sir James Leith. He wrote A Narrative of the Peninsular War, and 
other works. 

2 Castafios and Palafox met the French under Marshal Lannes at 
Tudela on Nov. 23, and were utterly routed. Castafios' own troops 
retreated on Madrid, while the remainder found their way to Zaragoza. 
The news of this disaster reached Sir John Moore on the 28th, being 
brought him by Vaughan, Charles Stuart's secretary, who was actually 
present at the battle. The dismal tidings were sufficient to cause 
him to decide on retreat, and orders to that effect were dispatched 
forthwith to Baird and Hope. Moore himself remained, however, where 
he was, on the chance of picking up the latter's force ; and these few 
days put a new complexion on the face of affairs which enabled him 
to pursue a very different line of action. 



230 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [D ec. 

Govt. ; that he was appointed to the command of an 
army which does not exist. As to spies, he can get no 
information, altho' he has great reason to believe the 
French are well supplied with information about all 
that is doing in his army. His men are half-naked, 
and starving, and unless equipped they cannot be kept 
together. He was confident of having in 8 days 20,000 
men collected ; he has only 12 pieces of cannon. Nothing 
but the most precise and peremptory orders can justify 
Moore in acting as he is going to do. It is too mortifying. 

Dec. 2nd. — Baird hears from Moore that the Supreme 
Junta are going to move to Toledo, in consequence of 
the news of Castanos's defeat. At Vigo there are 140 
transports under convoy of Endymion, Cossack, Minerva ; 
here about 32 under the Tonnant and Champion. Upon 
the whole we think it safest to hasten to Vigo and there 
embark, for if the French should pursue hotly and seize the 
batteries, it may be a very serious state of commotion here. 

At eleven at night, to our great surprise, our old 
friend Mr. Vaughan l arrived en posta from Madrid, having 
carried dispatches from thence to Moore at Salamanca, 
and so on through Astorga, where he saw Baird. He 
brings the acct. of the defeat of Castanos, with whom, 
I regret to find, there was a large body of Palafox's army. 
Castanos escaped with 3000 men to Calatayud. On the 
arrival of the intelligence, Mr. Stuart dispatched Vaughan 
with it to Lord Castlereagh in a dispatch from Col. Doyle. 2 

1 Sir Charles Richard Vaughan (1 774-1 849), the well-known 
traveller and diplomatist, for many years Minister to the United States 
(1825-1835). He accompanied Charles Stuart to Spain in 1808, though 
in no official capacity, and was present at the first siege of Zaragoza 
with Col. Doyle. He was again in Spain 1810-1816 as Secretary of 
Legation and chargi d'affaires. See Appendix F, for his letters previous 
to this date. 

- Afterwards Sir Charles William Doyle (1770-1842), employed in 
military and political duties in Galicia and later in Catalonia. He 
was at this time assisting in the direction of affairs at headquarters. 



POSITION OF THE BRITISH 231 

At Villacastin Vaughan met with Gen. Hope's division, 
21 leagues from Salamanca, 7000, chiefly of cavalry, and 
a large train of heavy artillery, which was on its march 
to join Moore. At Salamanca he found Moore very much 
out of humour, abusing the poor Spaniards, and dissatis- 
fied with the service on which he was employed. Moore 
told him that if the junction had been formed he would 
then ' throw himself into Spain,' but as Baird could not 
advance before the 4th, he should not attempt it. At 
Benavente he found some English dragoons, and was 
told that French patrols had been at the bridge the 
night before. At Astorga he found Sr. Dd. Baird more 
out of humour with the Spaniards even than Moore, 
saying they had no enthusiasm, no order, and wanting 
nothing but our money, &c. 7th Dragoons at Astorga ; 
10th at Cacabelos, and some of the 15th at Villafranca. 
Artillery returning to Betanzos. People of the country 
ignorant of this glorious retreat ; they suppose the 
English are falling back in order to oppose the French 
who are marching through the Asturias. A French 
aide-de-camp was stabbed by his guide whilst passing 
a ford, and the letters of which he was the bearer betrayed 
a scheme being in contemplation of getting along the 
coast through the Asturias. Ld. Paget believes they 
have actually 12,000 men in that principality ; 1 con- 
fidentially mentions that our going to Lisbon will not 
secure us quiet, as Moore has applied for transports to 
the Tagus, apprehending that Portugal is not to be 
defended, and that whoever is the master of Spain must 
be also of Portugal. 

At Madrid they are preparing for a similar resistance to 

1 This was quite incorrect. Soult having forced the remnants of 
Blake's force over the mountains to Leon, never went farther west than 
Columbres, but turned south through the mountains to Saldafia and 
Carrion. 



232 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [D ec. 

that made by the inhabitants of Saragossa agst. the 
French. Morla and Castelar T are at the head of the 
military force. From intercepted letters it appears that 
the French intend to enter that city and wreak a dreadful 
vengeance. Vaughan describes great enthusiasm to 
prevail in Aragon, Catalonia, and New Castile ; in Old 
Castile and Leon the affair of Cuesta has done harm. 2 
A considerable Spanish force on the Somosierra ; 20,000 
Spanish soldiers excellent, officers indifft., ignorant, 
and great want of military knowledge in the generals. 
Palafox 3 is indefatigable, but without any knowledge 
of the military art, or indeed of any kind. Montijo he 
rates low. Romana was appointed to the command of 
Castahos's army just before the battle of Tudela. 

When Palafox declared war against France he had only 
250 regular troops in Aragon, and 2000 reals in the 
public treasure. Palafox is the author of the proclama- 



1 Marques de Castelar, Captain-General of New Castile. 

2 In Aug. 1808, soon after the battle of Rioseco — the scene of 
Cuesta' s defeat and consequent loss of prestige, the revolutionary Juntas 
of Leon and Castile were joined by that of Galicia and constituted 
themselves a joint assembly under the Presidency of Valdes. Cuesta, 
however, as Captain-General of Castile, considered himself the supreme 
authority in those parts and refused to recognise them. In order to 
constitute a central authority to prosecute the war a Supreme Junta 
of 35 members, deputies from the various Juntas, was appointed to 
assemble at Aranjuez in September. While proceeding thither the 
deputies from Leon, Valdes, and the Vizconde de Quintanilla were 
arrested by Cuesta and thrown into the castle of Segovia, there to be 
court-martialed for disobedience to his orders. They were at once 
released by the command of the Supreme Junta, and Cuesta was 
deprived of his command for his presumption. 

3 Jose de Palafox y Melchi (1776-1847), the most distinguished of 
three brothers, of whom the eldest was Marques de Lazan, the youngest 
Francisco de Palafox. He accompanied Ferdinand to Bayonne, but 
returned to Zaragoza when he saw the impossibility of the latter' s 
escape from the clutches of Napoleon. He was there proclaimed 
Captain-General of Aragon, though he had no knowledge of military 
matters. He at once proclaimed war against the French, and held 
the command in both the sieges of Zaragoza. 



i8o8] PALAFOX 233 

tions which appear in his name. He has a chaplain of 
the name of Tas, who distinguished himself during the 
siege. He himself is so much beloved by the Aragonese, 
and next to Our Lady of Pilar 1 is the person who enjoys 
most of their confidence. V. saw the heroine 2 who 
defended a battery after all the men were killed, and 
defeated a French column who were advancing to take 
possession of the battery by firing off a 24-pounder. 
She is a pretty, modest-looking woman, and ascribes 
her mighty deeds to an inspiration from Our Lady del 
Pilar. 

3rd December. — Sr. Dd. Baird continues sending dis- 
patches to repeat the urgency of the retirement. He has 
ordered all ships of war to be detained, as in case of a hot 
pursuit all must take troops on board. He has desired de 
Courcy to inform the Junta of the retreat of the army, 
but that he may assure them the English will never 
abandon the Spanish cause ! What a jest ! To insult 
and deride them at the moment we are abandoning them 
thus disgracefully. I thought it friendly to hint the 
danger to Mrs. Hunter. Mr. Arbuthnot, her brother, is 
here ; he arrived by the last packet, meaning to pass a 
few months with her quietly in the Asturias. 

4th December. — Mr. Vaughan set off in the Snapper 
schooner laden with letters, &c, for England. We are 
hastening to Vigo, and shall set off in an hour. A variety 
of delays owing to the difficulty of getting mules and 
conveyances. The Governt. have laid an embargo upon 
all mules and horses in order to facilitate the departure 



1 A very ancient wooden figure of the Virgin preserved in the 
Cathedral of Zaragoza. 

2 Agostina Zaragoza, who in battle snatched the lighted match out 
of her dying lover's hand and applied it to the gun. The Spanish soldiers 
shamed by this heroic deed returned and beat off the French column. 
Palafox made her a sub-lieutenant of artillery. {Oman.) 



234 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [D ec. 

of the artillery and stores to Leon. In consequence of 
Ld. Hd.'s application to the Junta we have one tiro 1 
released. We are obliged to use a calesin and mules of 
burthen. 

Beautiful evening, very light the moon being nearly 
full ; reached Herbes, a wretched venta, for the third 
time in which we slept at it. The Madrid post has not 
arrived ; the correo 2 only came from Benavente, a clear 
proof that the enemy have intercepted the road. Ld. Hd. 
received a very kind and friendly letter from the D. of 
Infantado. Also a present from Jovellanos of a new 
edition, handsomely bound with Ld. Hd.'s name and 
his own on the cover, of the Siete Partidas, the code of 
laws instituted by Alonzo el Sabio. 

$th December was one of the most delicious days I 
ever felt ; the sun was very powerful, and yet there was 
a gentle air to temper its ardor. The usual occupations of 
the peasants made some pretty scenes ; sowing, ploughing, 
and harrowing in the same open space. The road less 
good than when we passed before, partly from the 
heavy rains, and partly from the passage of artillery. 
The recollection of our late reception at Santiago made 
me feel a dread of encountering similar and now unde- 
served expressions of kindness to the English nation. 
I dreaded entering amidst acclamations of ' Viva,' ' Viva,' 
knowing how soon, and justly, those friendly expressions 
must be changed to contempt and aversion. 

6th December. — Received by the post a letter from 
Adl. de Courcy, in which he mentions the arrival of the 
Lavinia, Ld. Wm. Stuart, and enclosing a handsome letter 
in which Ld. Wm. offers, considering our forlorn condition, 
to look into Vigo purposely to take us up and convey 
us on to Lisbon and further if we choose. As it is a stretch 
of power to do this, he urges us to be ready to meet him. 

1 Team. - Mail. 



VIGO 235 

He was to sail on the eve of the 6th, and might get there 
in 24 hours. He has brought Matarrosa, 1 &c, &c, and 
Gen. Cradock, 2 who is going to take the command at 
Lisbon . 

yth. — As we ascended the hill looking down upon Vigo, 
we saw the beautiful but melancholy sight of 140 transports 
and three ships of war ! The harbour is very spacious ; 
it is reckoned one of the finest in Spain. The English 
Consul, Melendez, had procured a very tolerable house 
for us upon the beach. In the evening Capts. Capel 3 
and Digby came to see us ; they were very obliging and 
friendly in their offers of service. The former commands 
the Endymion, a fine, large frigate, but of course his 
motions are uncertain, as he must superintend the 
embarkation of the troops, and as yet no acct. is come 
of their progress. The wind fair for the Lavinia. Agreed 
with Capt. Capel upon his signal in case she should 
arrive at night. 

gth. — A fleet of transports were entering about 5 
o'clock under the convoy of the Orestes. The Admiral 
writes from Corufia that he sends round by desire of 
Sr. D. Baird all the head-quarter ships ; and that 
Sr. D. was at Villafranca on the 4th, and the whole 
army falling back. 

10th. — Just after breakfast Capt. Capel and ye capt. 

1 Jose Maria Queipo de Llano Ruiz de Saravia, Vizconde de 
Matarrosa, and afterwards Conde de Toreno (1786-1843), a member 
of one of the leading families of the Asturias. He had been to England 
as one of the deputies sent by the Northern Juntas to seek assistance 
against the French. He was the author of the well-known history of the 
insurrection in Spain. 

2 Sir John Cradock (1762-1839), created Lord Howden in 1819. He 
was sent out to take command of the troops left by Moore in Portugal, 
but was superseded by Wellesley in April 1809, and sent to Gibraltar 
as Governor. He was appointed Governor of the Cape of Good Hope 
in 1811. 

3 Afterwards Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel (1 776-1 853), 
youngest son of William, fourth Earl of Essex. 



236 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

of the Orestes came to announce the dismal news of 
the Lavinia having sailed from Coruha the day before the 
Orestes, and that without doubt from the fairness of the 
wind she had passed this port in the night of the 7th, 
and was already at Lisbon ! It was a sad contretemps ; 
but we must prepare for a land journey, first because we 
wish to avoid the painful sight of witnessing the embarka- 
tion of our fugitive army, and secondly because the delay 
may be very great, and we may be detained for the 
Endymion above a fortnight. 

11th. — The first news this morning was as disastrous 
as surprising — the loss of the Jupiter, 50-gun ship, almost 
in the harbour ! They think against a rock. The 
heavy guns are overboard ; the crew, it is certain, are 
all saved. I am going to hear some particulars. The 
guns we heard were signals of distress ; Capt. Capel 
was out all night with her. The fault was entirely owing 
to the ignorance and presumption of the capt. He 
had only an old chart, drawn a century ago, and he 
refused the pilot who went out to offer his assistance ; 
the guns were thrown overboard. 

12th. — Col. Long, 1 a staff officer belonging to the 15th 
Dragoons came from Coruna ; he read the orders to the 
commanding officer at Santiago, the purport of which 
was that the troop was not to proceed to Vigo, but to 
wait there till further orders for their proceeding forward 
again. Thus there is great reason to hope Sir John 
Moore has decided upon advancing. The women at 
Santiago, when our soldiers entered the town, called 
out to them that they were not taking the right road to 
meet ye French, and pointed to the one they had left as 

1 Colonel, afterwards Lieut. -General Robert Ballard Long (1771- 
1825), a colonel on the staff of Spain. It is stated in the Dictionaty of 
National Biography that he only landed in that country the day before 
the battle of Coruna. 



MOORE'S ADVANCE 237 

the fittest for them to go. Such expressions and marks 
of contempt must be expected. 

13th. — Soon after we were in bed we were roused 
by the arrival of a messenger from Coruha, who brought 
us an immense packet of old English letters. The 
messenger was Col. Kennedy's servant, and his verbal 
acct. was highly gratifying. He represented his master 
as being in great joy at the news from head-quarters, 
orders being issued for the advance of the army once 
more to Astorga. 1 In the morning a confirmation of all 
the good reports in a letter from Admiral de Courcy to 
Capt. Capel. Sir John Moore, in consequence of the great 
exertions making by the Spaniards and the general 
appearance of affairs on the 5th Dec, took his deter- 
mination of doing what he never ought to have abandoned, 
viz. proceeding from Salamanca to the junction with 
Baird. Orders are issued for all officers to proceed 
immediately to head-quarters, and all preparations for 
fitting up the transports for the reception of cavalry 
to cease ; indeed it is even hinted that the transports may 
perhaps be sent back to England immediately. It is 

1 Baird's force was the only one which actually commenced a 
retrograde movement, and they received a new set of orders from 
Moore at Villafranca on Dec. 6. 

A variety of reasons had caused Moore's change of mind during 
those days of waiting at Salamanca, though the ' great exertions 
making by the Spaniards ' was an invention of Frere's fertile brain. 
Hope had reached him with the cavalry and artillery, his own force 
was full of discontent at the thoughts of retreat, and La Romana 
seemed stronger than he had supposed. Above all he had discovered 
that there were no French troops near enough to hinder his junction 
with Baird, and that Napoleon's real point of objective was Madrid. A 
blow dealt on the flank of the French he rightly conjectured would 
draw them upon him in force, and thus ease the pressure upon the 
capital. He little knew that Madrid had fallen several days before 
he commenced his hazardous advance, and that the enemies' forces 
totalled not 80,000, as he supposed, but three times that number. 
Yet his enterprise was even more successful than he can have 
imagined or lived to realise, for by that dash on to the Carrion he 
undoubtedly saved Spain. 



238 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec 

most natural to infer from this resolution of Moore's, 
that Gen. Hope effected his junction successfully, and 
made so just and fair a report of the state of the public 
feeling and determination sooner to perish than yield 
to Napoleon in Castile, that he has convinced Moore not 
only of the practicability but of the moral necessity of 
advancing to succour the Spaniards. 

By letters from the Asturias it seems the alarm of 
the French was greatly exaggerated, and the few who 
entered that principality were already withdrawn. 
7th Dec. was the last date from Oviedo. The transition 
from sullen discontent to frank joy at this place is very 
striking. Great exertions are making everywhere to 
recruit the Spanish armies. 250 volunteers are now under 
arms at this little place, who are to be sent to join the 
army of rescue. Romana is said to have removed, in 
other words disgraced, many of the officers. Madrid post 
has failed. Capt. Capel dined. 

i^ih. — We were woke again in the night by the 
arrival of an express. Col. Long stopped a messenger 
from Sr. Robt. Wilson to Broderick, which contained a 
passport for us and an extract of a letter from Gen. 
Anstruther, 1 at Almeida, dated 7th : ' I am happy to 
say that three battalions from Oporto are ordered forward 
to Salamanca with all speed, and I am sanguine that 
things may yet go well. 2 The Spaniards are making a 
desperate effort at Madrid ; God grant it may be 
successful.' 



1 Brigadier-General Robert Anstruther (1 768-1 809) took part in the 
Vimiero campaign and commanded a brigade under Edward Paget in 
his advance from Portugal to join Moore at Salamanca. His brigade 
protected Moore's retreat to Coruna, but the magnificent services he 
performed were too much for his strength and he died of exhaustion 
the day before the battle. 

2 Of these one battalion only, the 82nd. reached Moore in time. 
The other two were too far behind, and returned to Portugal. 



l8o 8] FALL OF MADRID 239 

12th. — Oporto, from Sr. Robt. Wilson : ' I march on 
Wednesday morning. All in high spirits. Capt. Peacock 
with a British detachment has entered Braganca. We 
suppose this to be Sr. D. Baird's military chest. Pray 
tell Ld. Holland this intelligence.' 

15th. — Began our laborious and hazardous journey by 
land on mules and in litters to Lisbon. 

20th December, Tuesday, Oporto. — Mr. Butter communi- 
cated the sad and melancholy news of the capitulation 
of Madrid ; the enemy were repulsed three times, and it 
must have been about the 10th that the event took place. 1 
The Supreme Junta had removed to Truxillo, and were 
on their road to Seville ; the Freres were with them. 
The particulars are not known. Col. Trant was sent 
over to England in the Lavinia, the bearer of this in- 
telligence. It came from Lisbon in a private letter from 
an aide-de-camp of Col. Cradock's to his uncle. Moore 
had made the junction with Hope, and was in hopes of 
effecting that with Baird. Sr. Robt. Wilson has set off 
from hence with his Lusitanian legion, consisting at 
present of 800 men. 2 This undertaking does not meet 
with ye hearty support of the Regency, who do not 
confirm his military appointments or furnish supplies 
either for the equipment or pay of the troops ; he is very 
anxious to get on to Spain where their solde will be 
at the expense of our Governt. The re-establishment of 
the Regency has been a most unpopular measure in this 



1 Madrid surrendered at 8 o'clock on the 4th, after holding out for 
one day ! 

2 Sir Robert Wilson had raised his ' Lusitanian Legion ' around 
Oporto, and in time it amounted to about 1300 men. Napier says the 
project was originated by Souza, the Portuguese Minister in London, 
with a view really to dominate the situation in Oporto which was 
seething with faction. Wilson, however, had different views and moved 
off his available force (Napier says, by Sir J. Cradock's advice) to other 
quarters as soon as he was able to do so, 



240 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Dec. 

country. 1 The persons in high offices are suspected of 
being strongly addicted to the French cause. Mr. 
Villiers, 3 ' handsome with the flaxen hair,' is arrived 
at Lisbon as envoy ; his sagacity will hardly mend matters. 
Bernardino Freire, 3 the Captain-General and Commander- 
in-chief of the Portuguese forces, called. He appears dis- 
posed to be very serviceable and obliging. His manner 
is formal and extremely ceremonious. 

We removed from our wretched posada to the inn 
built in the Factory House for the accommodation of 
the English travellers ; spacious, clean, and possessing 
the comforts of fireplaces. Sr. Robt. Wilson had pre- 
pared a house for our reception, one formerly belonging 
to the English Consul ; we only heard of it after we had 
settled to come here. In the eve. Mr. Butter, Mr. Noble, 
and Capt. Stanhope. The latter came in two days from 
Vigo ; he left England on the nth. The alarm there 
was so great in consequence of the dispatches from Sr. D. 
Baird, that all the troops, cavalry, and infantry which 
were embarked at Portsmouth were ordered immediately 

1 After the evacuation of Portugal by the French, the original 
Regency, appointed by Dom John when leaving for Brazil nine months 
before, was reconstituted by the proclamation of Sir Hew Dalrymple, 
the English general. Those members however were omitted who had 
sided with the French, and the Bishop of Oporto was added, making 
in all seven members. The Junta of Oporto, who had borne the brunt 
of the fray, considered it should have received more recognition, 
and the fact that the Constitution was settled through the agency of 
the English did not tend to increase its popularity with the Portu- 
guese. 

2 The Hon. John Charles Villiers (1757-1838), who succeeded his 
brother as third Earl of Clarendon in 1824. He was envoy to the 
Court of Portugal from 1808 till 1810. Lady Holland's quotation is 
from the Rolliad. 

3 Bernardino Freire de Andrada, a cousin of the general in the French 
army: born about 1764. He took a leading part in the insurrection 
in 1808 against the French, and was present at the battle of Vimiero. 
During Soult's invasion of Portugal in the following year he fell a 
victim to an outburst of frenzy on the part of his soldiers, who accused 
him of treachery and murdered him. 



i8o8] OPORTO 241 

to disembark, and the empty shipping sent to Vigo to 
bring away our army. 

Mr. Noble dined with us. In the evening the worthy 
Bishop of Oporto l came to see me. I was very sorry, 
as he had been confined to his bed for five days ; he looks 
sick and dying. He is greatly beloved by the people, 
and his presence alone keeps them from committing acts 
of violence. Went to the Opera ; had offers of several 
boxes, Bernardino Freire sent his aide-de-camp offering 
Madame's. I went into Sr. Robt. Wilson's. The theatre 
is very large and handsome. The troop good, much 
better than that of the Haymarket without Catalani. 
The 1st basson, Scamarelli, is engaged at a high salary 
for the Haymarket. Bernardino Freire and his wife 
made me a visit : very obliging. He offered, if we chose, 
to send forward and order the monks of Grijo to prepare 
for our reception. We accepted. 

Dec. 30th, Marinha Grande. — Met Ld. Ebrington 2 who 
was riding past with Gen. Cameron 3 from Lisbon to 
Almeida in order to join Sr. John Moore. He gave a 
confused acct. of public affairs ; could scarcely collect 
a single fact from his statements. It appears certain 
that Madrid is in possession of the French, as he had 
seen the capitulation, but he did not know the date, 
nor the stipulations whether the Spanish army had 

1 Dom Antonio de San Jose de Castro, President of the ' Supreme 
Junta ' of Oporto, and a member of the Regency of Portugal. 

2 Hugh, Viscount Ebrington (1783-1861), who succeeded his father 
as second Earl Fortescue in 1841. He went out to Spain as a volunteer, 
acted as aide-de-camp to Wellesley at Vimiero, and was sent back to 
England on Oct. 18 as the bearer of a despatch. He must have returned 
almost immediately to Portugal. He was later attached to Venegas, 
and was present at the battle of Almonacid. 

3 General Sir Alan Cameron (1753-1828), who was left in command 
of the troops at Lisbon by Moore when he moved forward to Salamanca. 
On Cradock's arrival, however, he advanced to join Moore, but hearing 
at Almeida of the latter' s retreat, he remained there and occupied 
himself with collecting the stragglers. 

R 



242 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL t jan. 

surrendered, &c. Ld. Hd. got a hurried note from Sr. 
Robt. Wilson at Lamego, 23rd, in which he refers him to 
a Portuguese officer for particulars of news, but said 
officer is not forthcoming. Met other travellers who said 
the reports were very contradictory. 

3rd Jan., 1809. — Remembered the road : it was so 
rough that I was obliged to ride almost into Lisbon. Met 
about 3000 Portuguese troops marching to the frontiers. 
Very tolerably lodged owing to the kind civility of Mr. 
Bulkeley. He and Mr. Bell called. Gen. Cradock sent 
his aide-de-camp to offer his services. 

4th Jan., Lisbon. — Ld. Hd. went yesterday to Mr. 
Villiers who was inclined to be very civil. This morning 
he breakfasted with Sr. John Cradock, the Commander- 
in-chief of the forces in Portugal. He was very com- 
municative and even confidential to Ld. Hd. It appears 
that the French, who were as far as Merida on the 26th, 
and had levied contributions in Truxillo, afterwards 
retreated and rather suddenly recrossed the bridge of 
Almaraz, and, it is said, directed their course to Plasencia. 1 
It seems that a French column is at Salamanca and 

1 With a view to discover the whereabouts of the English, and also 
ultimately to act as an advance guard for his descent on Seville and 
Lisbon, Napoleon had pushed Lasalle's cavalry far south to Plasencia 
on Dec. 17. But as soon as Moore's real position became known, on 
the 21st, the Emperor collected all the troops he could lay hands on to 
overwhelm him, leaving only part of Victor's 1st corps, and Lefebvre's 
(Duke of Dantzig) 4th corps, to protect Madrid. The latter had orders 
to dislodge, with the aid of Lasalle, the remains of the Spanish armies 
defeated at Gamonal and the Somosierra from the bridge over the 
Tagus at Almaraz, where they had collected under the command of 
Galluzzo. This Lefebvre effected without difficulty on Dec. 24, and 
after pushing forward to the south a few parties of cavalry, he withdrew, 
not as Lady Holland says (just as does Napier) to Plasencia and Talavera 
but right over the Guadarrama to Avila, where he appeared on Jan. 5. 
This act of disobedience disarranged all Napoleon's plan, and cost 
Lefebvre his command. 

Galluzzo was relieved of his command by the Supreme Junta after 
his retirement from Almaraz, and his troops were handed over to 
Cuesta. 



jSoq] LEFEBVRE'S MOVEMENTS 243 

Ciudad Rodrigo, and that the communication of Sr. J. 
Moore with Portugal is of course intercepted. The 
junction of Romana, Moore, and Baird it is certainly 
believed was effected on ye 22nd, Moore having fallen 
back from Toro for that purpose. 1 From the letters 
found upon a French courier whom the Spanish postilion 
had murdered (the 3rd within these two months) Moore 
knew that the army of Soult, who is opposed to him, 
was stronger than he expected, and dispatches of import- 
ance with regard to the plans of the French army are 
in his possession. Cuesta is at the head of the forces in 
Estremadura ; he was proclaimed almost by acclamation 
their chief, and his nomination has been confirmed by 
the Supreme Junta, Galluzzo, the former general of that 
army, having lost the confidence of that province by 
his loss of the bridge of Almaraz. One English regt. 
and some Portuguese are at Elvas. Col. Kemmis, who 
commands, writes that he is prepared to hold out in 
Fort la Lippe to the last extremity. There is a very small 
English garrison at Almeida. Portuguese troops are 
collecting at Thomar and at Guimaranes, but excepting 
these there seems nothing to prevent the French from 
penetrating when they choose to Lisbon. 2 Mr. Villiers 

1 The junction between Baird and Moore was effected at Mayorga 
on Dec. 20, and La Romana joined them at Astorga on the 30th, 
much to Moore's annoyance. The latter had requested him to retire 
through the Asturias if forced to evacuate Leon, and leave Galicia 
for the British. Moore commenced his retreat from Sahagun on 
Dec. 24. 

2 Cradock found thirteen battalions of infantry, besides cavalry 
and artillery, at his disposal upon his arrival in Portugal. Of these, 
one battalion, the 40th, was at Elvas, garrisoning the citadel, Fort la 
Lippe ; four at Almeida, two of which had been sent back by Moore, 
and two had started too late to reach him. The rest were at Abrantes 
and Lisbon. 

Considering these too few for the defence of Portugal Cradock, early 
in February, withdrew all but the battalion at Elvas to the neighbour- 
hood of Lisbon, and commenced to dismantle the forts on the Tagus in 
case of the necessity of an evacuation of the town. This in itself was 

R2 



244 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

has already given an intimation to the Factory that they 
must be ready to depart at a moment's warning, as it may 
be necessary for them to do so, and measures, Sir J. 
Cradock told Ld. Hd., were taking already to render 
the fortresses on the Tagus unserviceable ; it seems 
they are defenceless towards the land. In short the 
inhabitants of Lisbon are rather dans un tres mauvais pas, 
and our journey through Badajoz and Seville is not quite 
so safe an undertaking as we had expected to find it. 
Mr. Bell l and Mr. Bulkeley dined with us. Sir John 
Cradock called : great offers of service. Mr. Villiers, 
the same. He is not a Solomon from his manner. Sent 
key of his box at San Carlos. Lugo, the Spanish Consul- 
general, Don Pasqual , the Spanish charge d'affaires, 

called. The latter is suspected of being a Frenchman 
in his opinions. Went to the Opera. The singing is not so 
good as at Oporto ; the dancing better. Slender audience. 
$th Jan., Lisbon. — Went with Ld. Hd. who made some 
visits ; the town full as dirty as formerly. The houses 
bear evident marks of decay from being shut up, neglected, 
and uninhabited. Mr. Bell dined with us. Great alarm 
amongst the merchants, many of whom are already 
dispatching their property on board of ships. Went 

perfectly correct, as they were useless for defence against a land force, 
but the result showed the proceeding to be both unfortunate and 
inopportune. The populace at once began to suspect that they were 
to be deserted by the British, and serious riots were only obviated 
at the end of January by the presence of the soldiers. 

The Portuguese troops at the end of 1808 were practically a negli- 
gible quantity. With the exception of five or six battalions near Lisbon, 
they were scattered all over the country, and having no transport 
available were not in a position to take the field. 

1 Lord Holland notes of Mr. Bell in Further Memoirs of the Whig 
Party, ' An English merchant, whose talents and intrepidity during the 
French occupation of Portugal should have entitled him to the place 
of Consul in 1809.' 

Mr. Bulkeley is perhaps the same mentioned by Lord Broughton 
(Reminiscences, vol. ii) as having 'charged us 13 per cent, for changing 
money.' 



i8og] STATE OF LISBON 245 

to the National Theatre, where complimentary songs to 
the English and Portuguese were sung. Sr. J. Cradock 
went to place his men this morning at Sa cavern, now the 
only military post between us and the force of Napoleon ; 
he has about 3000 men. He was awoke in the night 
by the news brought by an officer who says the French 
column from Plasencia have entered Coria, and some 
already pushed into Castello Branco. If this is so, this 
place must fall immediately. All the ships of war were 
hastened off to Vigo, and we have only a Commodore and 
two frigates. The forts being dismantled on the Tagus 
has contributed to spread the alarm amongst the mer- 
chants. Many French spies are suspected to be about 
under the disguise of friars and priests. An English 
packet in 13 days from Falmouth ; no letters later than 
16th, newspapers down to 21st. The Court of Inquiry l 
is over ; but the result is not public, as it has not been 
laid before the King. Lord Liverpool is dead. The 
Spanish charge d'affaires told Ld. Hd. that he had heard 
from Badajoz of the death of Count Florida Blanca at 
Seville, 2 and that he was succeeded in the Presidentship 
Altamira, 3 Cevallos Vice-President, and Garay 4 Secy, of 
State. Much afraid that our Badajoz expedition will not 
be safe to attempt. 

6th. — Dined at Sr. John Cradock's, where our party 
consisted of Generals Mackenzie and Cotton, 5 Mr. Wellesley, 

1 The Court of Inquiry on the terms of the Convention of Cintra 
commenced its sitting on Nov. 14 under the presidency of Sir David 
Dundas. Its report was issued on Dec. 22. 

2 He died of bronchitis, the result of a chill caught during the 
hurried journey of the Junta from Madrid to Seville. 

3 Conde de Altamira and Marques de Astorga. 

4 Don Martin Garay (i76o(?)-i822), Secretary to the Cortes, and 
Minister of Finance under Ferdinand VII from 1814 till 1818. 

5 General Sir Stapleton Cotton (1 773-1 865) who was created Lord 
Combermere in 181 4. He was sent to Vigo in August with a cavalry 
brigade, but its destination was changed to Lisbon. 



246 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

Ld. Ipswich, 1 Commodore Halket, 2 Mr. Wynne, Capt. 
Francis, Mr. Fremantle, and Baron Quintilla the owner 
of the house, which is a noble palace. During the 
French tyranny Junot was quartered upon him ; all 
the expenses of living were at his cost, and even the 
fetes, to many of which the Baron was not even invited. 
The lowest sum at which this was estimated to have cost 
Quintilla is £40,000. 

The story of the French being already at Castello 
Branco is not credited ; it came from the Portuguese 
Regency. No news from Moore. Genl. Cameron is at 
Almeida, and Ld. Ebrington, who was knocked up by 
the journey and had remained at Coimbra, has resumed 
his intention of proceeding. Mr. Wellesley 3 appears to 
be very pleasing and intelligent. 

8th. — Bad news from Catalonia ; Rosas is taken and 
Gerona is invested. 4 I had a letter from Bartholomew, 
dated, 4th, Seville. Florida Blanca is certainly dead ; 
he attended his funeral. 5 Capmany is safe at Seville ; 
he escaped from Madrid on the 4th. Quintana left 
Madrid before it was taken. Capmany is as full of 



1 Henry, afterwards Earl of Euston, and fifth Duke of Grafton 
(1 790-1 863). He was an officer in the 7th Light Dragoons. 

2 He succeeded Admiral Cotton as commander of the naval force 
on the station, and is highly spoken of by Napier. 

3 Perhaps one of Lord Wellesley' s two illegitimate sons, born before 
his marriage in 1793 or 1794 with their mother Hyacinthe Gabrielle, 
daughter of Pierre Roland. 

4 The capture of the fortress of Rosas was effected by St. Cyr's 
force early in December. In the meanwhile, however, the relief of 
Barcelona had become an urgent necessity, and the French commander 
was unable to undertake the reduction of Gerona until May. 

5 ' He was buried in great state : the function lasted four hours. 
He lay in state yesterday evening, and was carried to the Cathedral 
upon an open bier, with his hat, uniform, cordon, and cane in his hand ; 
and though I was shocked at the idea of seeing him in this way, when 
he passed by there was so little difference between the face of the 
corpse and his face when alive that I could hardly believe but that 
he was asleep.' (B. Frere to Lady Holland.) 



l8o9 ] NEWS FROM THE FRONT 247 

energy as ever ; he says his mind has not suffered, and 
that instead of getting weaker as it grows older, as 
other peoples' do, it is like the arm of a blacksmith 
that the more it works the more nervous it grows. 
Sir John Moore was to leave Carrion de los Condes 
on the 23rd, in order to attack Soult, who was at 
Saldana. 1 On the same day Napoleon left the Escorial, 
and an army of 30,000 men marched to attack Moore. 
Letters from Elvas and Badajoz. The French have 
abandoned the bridge of Almaraz. Letter from Col. 
Peacock, who is entrusted with a large sum of money, 
under an escort of 500 men, to join Moore, dated ye 
30th Dec, Miranda del Duero. He had received a 
letter from an English officer, Col. Harvey, at Zamora, 
dated 28th, from which it is clear that the French had 
never been at Salamanca as was believed here at head- 
quarters. Some of the patrols had been at Toro. 2 The 
7th and 18th Dragoons had an action in which they had 
greatly the advantage of the French. Col. Peacock, 
was advised, however, not to proceed by Zamora but 
to go round by Braganca. Letters from Salamanca 
of the 28th, from which it is certain the French had 
not been there. 

Cuesta has scarcely any troops at Badajoz ; he is 
not over and above satisfied with our commander for 
refusing him aid, which considering the smallness of the 
force here could not be granted. There have been 
popular commotions, excesses, and murders at Badajoz. 
Dined at Mr. Villiers's. 



1 This is incorrect : Moore was never at Carrion. He had arranged 
to attack Soult there at dawn on the 24th, but received the all-important 
news on the 23rd of Napoleon's advance in force from Escorial and 
Madrid, which was to be his signal for immediate retreat. 

2 Lapisse's force which was detailed to deal with this district was 
still at Benavente on Jan. 1. Moving south immediately he stormed 
Toro, and Zamora only fell after a determined resistance on Jan. io, 



248 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [jan. 

gth. — The French who entered Plasencia advanced 
on the ist in the direction of Salamanca and Ciudad 
Rodrigo. This corps is said to be 8000 strong. Cevallos 
is appointed Ambassador to the Court of London. 
Cuesta has advanced from Badajoz to reoccupy the bridge 
of Almaraz. A heap of good news from Sr. Robt. Wilson, 
but not sufficiently authenticated to justify great con- 
fidence in them. It appeared to be the determination 
yesterday at head-quarters to make a great effort to 
assist Moore, viz. to send forward all the troops here. 
The policy at present is to bring from the country all 
the magazines which had been collecting at Vizeu, 
Lamego, &c. ; but Sr. Robt. Wilson has, upon his own 
judgment, proceeded on to Ciudad Rodrigo with his Lusi- 
tanians, 1 and taken with him provisions and ammunition, 
which, as he will most likely be taken prisoner, will 
fall into the hands of the enemy and be of infinite service 
to them. Junot, in his march from the frontier, lost 
600 men from fatigue and hunger. Went to the Opera 
in evening. 

zoth. — Accounts of cruel excesses having been com- 
mitted in many parts of Spain. Many officers murdered 
by their soldiers from suspicion of treachery. Cuesta is 
gone forward with troops to the bridge of Almaraz, and 
is organizing the army. I walked in Quintilla's garden. 
Mr. Setaro 2 called in the evening and gave some interesting 
particulars respecting the departure of the Prince Regent, 

1 Wilson remained near Almeida in order to observe Lapisse's force 
which had now taken up its quarters at Salamanca. With a force 
varying from 1500 to 3000 men, he managed most skilfully to keep 
in check the French corps of 9000 men from January till April, 
and for some weeks actually interrupted their communications with 
Madrid. 

2 A Portuguese merchant, in whose charge was the victualling of 
the British fleet at Lisbon. 

Lord Holland gives a full account of the Strangford controversy in 
his Further Memoirs of the Whig Party, pp. io, 393. 



l8o9 ] MOORE'S RETREAT 249 

and confirmed what we had already heard that Lord 
Strangford, far from being instrumental in inducing 
the Prince to take the resolution of going to Rio Janeiro, 
was not aware of his determination till after he had 
embarked full 24 hours. 

nth. — The Regency received news from an officer 
in whom they have the greatest confidence, date, 4th, 
Zamora. He had been at ye headquarters of Sr. John 
Moore at Villafranca ! on ye 31st. He sends accts. of 
various actions both before and after the 31st, all 
of which appear to have terminated to the advantage 
of the English, and in one subsequent he reports Lefebvre 
to have been taken prisoner. 1 Gen. Cameron has left 
Almeida with 2 regts. in order to penetrate Tras os 
Montes to Moore's army. The 14th regt. of cavalry 3 
which are embarked, were to have been sent round to Vigo 
by sea without delay, but the news of Moore's retreat 
will probably suspend their departure. The P. Govern- 
ment are out of spirits and depressed at the departure 
of our troops. From Badajoz they write confidently of 
Infantado's being at the head of a considerable army 
with which he is advancing against Madrid. 3 Not above 
8000 French are left to garrison Madrid. We are 
taking measures to go to Seville by the way of Ayamonte. 

12th. — Gen. Cameron left Almeida on 5th ; his line of 
march was through Torre de Moncorvo, Mirandella, and 

1 General Count Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes (1773-1822) was 
captured by the British at Castro Gonzalo, near Benavente, on Dec. 29. 
The 1 8th Light Dragoons and the 10th Hussars were the chief troops 
engaged in the action. Lefebvre was sent to England, but escaped in 
181 1 by breaking his parole. 

2 These had only arrived at Lisbon from England in December. 

3 This was Infantado's ' Army of the Centre,' which was established 
at Cuenca in New Castile — about 21,000 men in all. The operations 
miscarried owing to the incapacity of the commander, and resulted 
In a disaster at Ucles. Infantado fled to Murcia, and was deprived 
by the Junta of his command, which was given to Cartaojal. 



25 o LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Jan . 

Bragan£a. Major Roche and Ld. Ebrington came from 
Pinhel. The magazines collected at Almeida are moving 
back to Oporto, and the officer who has charge of them 
has orders to destroy them in case of the approach of the 
enemy. The French have not been nearer than 12 leagues 
to Salamanca. Roche is quite a partizan of Cuesta's, and 
takes his part in that unfortunate dispute with Blake. 1 
The 14th are embarking, and Gen. Mackenzie with 
2 regts. of infantry are to go with them to Vigo. 

Upon a strict investigation of the Portuguese acct. 
from Zamora, it seems that the officer saw the English 
army at Manzanal on ye 31st, fortifying a place called 
Cevadon and cantoned in Ponferrada, Villafranca, and 
Viana de Belo. 

13th. — We received a heap of letters from Coruna, 
Vigo, and Oporto. One from Ld. Paget, of the 23rd, 
at Sahagun. 3 He mentions three brilliant affairs in 
which the cavalry distinguished themselves ; in one my 
son 3 and Capt. Jones at the head of thirty dragoons 
charged 100 of the enemy, killed 20 and took five prisoners. 
Complains of the apathy of the Spaniards, and rallies 
Ld. Hd. upon his misconceptions in their favor, adding 
that they are a people not worth saving* He adds in a 

1 Major Roche had originally been sent to the Asturias, as a military 
agent under Sir Thomas Dyer, and was attached to Cuesta's head- 
quarters. {Napier.) 

2 See Appendix A. 

3 Sir Godfrey Vassall Webster (1 789-1 836) was Lady Holland's eldest 
son by her first husband. He was gazetted to the 20th Light Dragoons 
on Jan. 3, but was soon afterwards transferred back to the 18th, which 
was the regiment here engaged. This skirmish took place on Dec 23. 

4 Compare a letter in the Record Office. Sir John Cradock to 
Edward Cooke (Under Secretary, War Office), Feb. 26, 1809: ' I 
saw a letter to-day from those shocking people Lord and Lady Holland 
(I always put them together) at Seville. His Lordship says the French 
never had so large a force in Spain as was represented in England, and, 
what is worse they [the French] made our army believe it. Was not his 
Lordship content with the loss we sustained ? [In the retreat to 
Coruna.] I believe he would give the lives of ten English to save one 
Spaniard.' 



i8o 9 ] MOORE'S RETREAT 251 

postscript, ' We march to attack Soult to-morrow,' and 
seemed confident of success. Unfortunately this bright 
hope was betrayed, as Adl. de Courcy, in his letter to me of 
the 1st Jan. from Coruha, mentions that the meditated 
attack on Soult was not made on acct. of the great 
reinforcements from Madrid on their way to join him. 
The English have fallen back on the mts. of Galicia. Mr. 
Noble mentions the action near Castro Gonzalo, in 
which Lefebvre was made prisoner. Capt. Capel tired to 
death of Vigo, 1 and is superceded by Sr. S. Hood. Gen. 
Broderick writes to Sir J. Cradock at Moore's desire to 
apprise him that the army is falling back to re-embark, 
and that transports for at least 14,000 men are wanting, 
and desires empty ones may be sent round to Vigo. 
This is dated ye 3rd Jan., Coruha. An English officer 
writes from Puebla de Sanabria that the English head- 
quarters are at Lugo. From an intercepted correspond- 
ence of Berthier's and Josef (sic) Bonaparte, it appears 
that Napoleon was at Astorga on ye 31st Dec., 2 and 
from an expression of reassurance it would seem that 
the great Napoleon himself had been alarmed, as Berthier 
says, surely, assurement, the Emperor must be at his 
ease as he has 5 regts. of cavalry and 4 of infantry, a 
force quite sufficient. He complains of Lefebvre (the 
D. of Dantzic), for sending a force from Avila to Plasencia, 3 
a movement he says which disconcerted an operation of 
the Emperor's ; he adds, ' But one is not surprised at 
his obstinacy and stupidity, after his indecision in the 
place d' Aranjuez.' (This alludes to an affair of which, 

1 Capt. Capel wrote on Jan. i from Vigo: 'We have now n sail 
of the line here with 200 sail of transports, the whole of which force 
will, I conclude, remain here until the fate of Spain is fixed.' {Holland 
House MSS.) 

- He reached that place on the evening of Jan. 1. (Balagny.) 
8 Lady Holland was mistaken. The movement was really in the 
opposite direction, i.e. from Plasencia to Avila. 



252 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Jan. 

of course, we are ignorant.) The troops which were at 
Plasencia are gone to Be jar, and not to Ciudad Rodrigo. 

14th Jan., 1809. — Everything prepared for our depar- 
ture to Aldea Gallega. Carriages and mules already there, 
packages in the boats, and all ready. / was seized 
with a dreadful panic at the state of the public mind at 
Badajoz, and the journey to Seville by land is put off 
sine die. We dined at Mr. Villiers's. 

Seville Gazette of the 6th, containing the capitulation 
of Madrid and that precious villain Morla's letter to the 
Junta. 

From Vigo it appears that the advanced guard of 
the army was expected the next day ; the soldiers march 
at the rate of 7 and even 8 leagues a day. Adl. Berkeley l 
arrived with his family in the Conqueror ; he of course 
supersedes the Commodore. The ophthalmia rages in his 
ship. 

16th. — Orders had been received at Vigo to send 
round the transports to Betanzos Bay, as Moore intended 
to embark his army there. 2 On acct. of the swell and 
overflow of the Duero, ships cannot pass the bar, nor 
can they receive their lading. The consternation here is 
very great, every effort is making by the merchants to 
embark their property on board of the ships in the river. 

1 Admiral the Hon. George Cranneld Berkeley (1753-1818), son 
of Augustus, fourth Earl of Berkeley. He held the post of Commander 
of the Portuguese station until May 181 2. He married, in 1784, 
Emily Charlotte, daughter of Lord George Lennox, and sister of 
Charles, fourth Duke of Richmond. 

2 Robert Crawfurd and Alten's German brigade (3500 men) left 
the main body of Moore's troops at Astorga and retreated on Vigo, 
where they re-embarked without molestation. As to the rest, Moore 
did not finally make up his mind until he reached Lugo, which harbour 
he would use. In fact the transports only reached Corufia after 
arrival of most of his force, and it was only by good fortune that they 
arrived then. Lord Holland relates (Further Memoirs of the Whig 
Party, p. 21) that the order to move the transports from Vigo miscarried, 
and it was only through a private letter to Captain Capel that Moore's 
intended line of retreat was made known to the British admiral. 



z8o9] LISBON 253 

The Portuguese begin to murmur and complain of the 
English for coming among them to expel the French, 
and then abandoning them to their rage. Common 
people and clergy good, and ready to make any exertion 
and sacrifice. The Regency frightened. Freire begins 
to be insolent. 

lyth. — A perfect deluge of rain, and a westerly wind. 
Bar impassable. 

18th. — Hazy weather, wind S.W., bar rough, and all 
matters very blank. Two letters from Col. Kemmis at 
Elvas, of the date of 16th. He complains of the want 
of accurate information of the force and position of the 
enemy ; surprised at Gen. Cuesta's want of intelligence. 
Kemmis expected us, and sent a courier to meet us at 
Evora on 15th. Lt. Ellis writes from Truxillo, 12th, 
he saw a Spanish officer who had escaped from Madrid, 
and upon the strength of his report he went to Talavera 
la Reina. No French troops nearer than Madrid (and 
there not above 7000) ; in Toledo not more than 4 or 5,000. 
Bridge of Almaraz impregnable with common perseverance, 
but the Spaniards fled without firing a shot. 1 League 
and a half south the Puerto de Mirabete, the only one 
for nine leagues on either side and might easily be 
defended by a few hundred men. 

This day being the Queen's birthday, we dined at 
Mr. Villiers's, all from head-quarters and the heads of 
the navy, Admiral and Lady Emily Berkeley ; she is 
a very pleasing, handsome person. Many expressions, 
and I believe sincere ones, of good will and readiness to 
serve us from the Admiral, but stated the utter impossi- 
bility of his being able to part with any force during the 
actual state of affairs, indeed that nothing could stir 
until they knew what Moore's destination was to be in 

1 On Dec. 24, before the Duke of Dantzig's attack. It was his 
incomprehensible march to Avila winch thus exposed Madrid. 



254 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

future. One officer goes to-morrow with money to 
Col. Kemmis at Elvas to enable him to march from 
thence to Seville. 1 This, coupled with the difficulty of 
getting a vessel, has induced us to resume our project of 
going by land, and accepting the opportunity of marching 
with the English garrison as an escort. 

igth Jan., 1809, Lisbon. — Blew a heavy gale all night, 
the passage to Aldea Gallega too rough to cross ; the bar 
is roaring audibly, consequently no ships could hazard 
to cross it in its present state. Called upon Ly. Emily 
Berkeley ; she has a delightful house at Buenos Ayres. 
A messenger last night from Sr. Robt. Wilson ; he is still 
between Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo. He says he 
intends to cover the frontier of Portugal, or fall upon 
Seville if the enemy approaches. He has about 800 
Lusitanians ! An incomprehensible kind of letter from 
the Vice-Consul of Viana to Mr. Villiers ; he transmits 
the copy of a letter from the Junta of Orense to the Govr. 
of Viana, with date of the 8th Jan., in which mention is 
made of the arrival of a corps of 4000 English. A 
postscript of the 10th adds, ' 5000 more English have 
entered, and Romana is expected, but his artillery came 
another route, a proof the French are not near.' 2 Also 
that a posta had come with a letter for Romana, upon 
not finding him at the English head-quarters at Lugo, and 
that Blake had taken it not knowing where he was. 
Sr. John Cradock is greatly alarmed at the position of 
Moore's army, and expects daily to hear of capitulation 
or convention. God forbid affairs should be in such 
a desperate state. 

1 Col. Kemmis had orders to hand over Elvas to the Portuguese, and 
march his regiment, the 40th, to Seville. He was there to place himself 
under Mr. Frere's orders. 

- La Romana took the same line of retreat from Astorga as Craw- 
furd's force, and collected near Orense the remnants of his force, which 
had been severely handled by Franceschi on Jan. 2. - 



l8o9 ] GEN. MACKENZIE 255 

This day we were employed in taking measures for 
our journey, which is to commence to-morrow. Gen. 
Mackenzie, his aide-de-camp Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Rawlins, 
Commissary-General, dined. The former is very restless 
at his detention here ; he is pressing to get employed in 
S. Spain, and was almost embarked to go, but Mr. V. 
was frightened and did not think he could venture 
upon his instruction to send him away. This, under 
the strictest promise of secrecy, he told me. He is a 
man of an excellent, sound understanding, remarkably 
well informed in his profession, and very correct in his 
judgment. He laments the division of the English 
forces, wants them to concentrate in Spain. Catalonia 
would have been the best point ; but Cadiz at present 
is the only one. Mr. Rawlins very obliging about 
mules, carts, &c, &c. ; delayed the departure of Major 
Stuart with the money for Elvas to give us the certainty 
of reaching Elvas before the departure of the whole 
garrison. General Cameron is safe at Lamego with his 
2 regts. Cypriano Freire complained to Ld. Hd. to-day 
of the sudden alarm which the English had taken, and 
the fluctuation of their plans. Spanish charge d'affaires 
wants all troops to go to the Algarves. Castafios l is safe 
at Seville, and is to undergo his trial. The Supreme 
Junta are sending all the force they can collect to Infan- 
tado, who commands an army at Yepes, where he has 
had some advantage over a corps of French cavalry. 
They are allowed officers to raise companies consisting 
of one hundred horsemen, and each horseman has a man 
on foot ; these companies are to harass the French, 
and to keep for themselves whatever they may plunder. 
When these armed bands are roving about, it will sometimes 
be a matter of fine distinction betwixt a friend and a foe. 

1 Ridiculous accusations were brought against Castafios and other 
generals of treachery and secret communications with Napoleon. 



256 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

21st. — One of the stormiest days we have seen this 
year. En depit du mauvais temps we embarked at two 
o'clock on board an excellent boat belonging to the 
Govt. The waves ran high and the wind burst upon us in 
sudden and violent squalls ; I scarcely know the induce- 
ment which could tempt me to encounter another such 
voyage ! The boatmen were very skilful ; we had engaged 
that they should only row, but such was the violence 
of the current that they could hardly stem its violence. 
We came in 2.\ hours, the longest of my life ! Reached 
Aldea Gallega by \ past five. A courier from Seville, 
who is charged with a letter to Romana, which he must 
deliver whenever he can find him. The commissioners, 
who had been sent by the Regency to examine into the 
sufferings of the people at Evora from the French, 1 
returned and arrived here this evening. 

23rd, Arrayolos. — Lt. Ellis arrived from Lisbon 
during the night ; he brought a letter from Sr. John 
Cradock to Ld. Hd., which he would not deliver to any 
person. He breakfasted with us. He is active, zealous, 
and seems intelligent. The enemy quitted Talavera on 
ye 8th, but returned on 14th. 2 The column which crossed 
the Tagus was entirely composed of Poles ; the cavalry 
keep with the infantry, and all march in a compact and 
numerous body; they are aware that all stragglers are 
cut off. Lt. Ellis was instrumental in saving the lives 
of 29 whom the peasantry had taken. They pretended 
not to understand French ; he thought they were in 

1 Evora was attacked by the French under Loison in July 1808, and 
was sacked by them. It was one of the seats of the Portuguese in- 
surrectionary Juntas. Foy puts the numbers of Spaniards and Portu- 
guese killed at 2000, while another historian speaks of four times that 
number. Lady Holland mentions 800. See p. 367. 

2 The 4th corps had been hurried forward from Avila, and with 
further reinforcements Joseph and Jourdan were able to again take up 
the positions allotted by Napoleon for the various bodies of troops 
south of the capital. 



l8o9 ] NEWS FROM ESTREMADURA 257 

reality foreigners, Poles. Had the Spaniards maintained 
themselves in Mirabete, and kept the bridge at Almaraz, 
and Galluzzo advanced against the two regts. which 
forded the river, they must have been cut off, as the 
flood swelled the stream and they could not cross the ford. 
Cuesta has sent that general to take his trial at Seville. 
He praised Cuesta for his activity and great abilities ; 
already he is at the head of eleven thousand men, 
whom he has clothed in a uniform which gives them 
a more military appearance, and makes them forget 
that they are peasantry. He told us of 700 horse at 
Merida, an excellent, well-conditioned troop. He is 
the bearer of a letter to counter-order the departure 
of the garrison from Elvas, in case they should not 
have marched ; if they have, they are to continue 
their route. 

We met a Spanish messenger from Seville, which he 
left on the 22nd. He reports that the D. of Infantado 
had been compelled to fall back upon Cuenca in conse- 
quence of the affair at Tarancon, where the division of 
his army under Venegas was not supported as it ought 
to have been by M. del Palacio. 

This evening Mr. Fletcher of Elvas came to see us ; 
he is on his way to Lisbon. Cuesta left Badajoz for 
the frontier of the Tagus on ye 22nd. He thinks the 
road by Badajoz and Seville perfectly safe for us. He 
remained at Elvas while the French were in Portugal, 
being specially protected by Junot, who had lodged 
at his house and received civilities from him during his 
embassy. They did not suffer much from the French 
at Elvas. Terrible cruelties at Villa Vicosa and Evora ; 
at the latter, persons of all ages and sexes were murdered 
in cold blood, two fine young men of Mr. Fletcher's 
acquaintance. Mr. F. knew one who was massacred in 
his own house and in the arms of his mother by a party 



258 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

who broke into the house and plundered it. The cotton 
which was taken by some English dragoons and 
Spaniards is now at Badajoz ; Mr. Fletcher purchased 
it, and advanced 10 thousand crowns to the Junta 
upon it. 

Elvas, 25th. — No certain information of the position 
of the enemy upon the Tagus. General Cuesta left 
Badajoz suddenly on 22nd. Part of his army had 
preceded him several days. His head-quarters were at 
Merida, but altho' there are many stories, such as his 
movements being combined with those of Infantado, 
yet nothing is known for certain. He is said to be a 
person who consults with no one, and never imparts his 
plans. It is said that the French are at the bridge of 
Almaraz. Mr. Trabassos related some atrocities which 
the French had committed at Villa Vicosa. 1 - Several 
persons were seized and brought to Fort la Lippe and 
shot without any process or form even of trial. One 
priest having been twice fired at and did not fall ; the 
soldiers cried out he was sorceror, and running at him 
with their bayonets, hacked, and mangled him shockingly. 
The people at Elvas, as they did not resist, smarted 
only in exorbitant contributions. Trabassos intends, if 
possible, to escape, and get away to Bresil. Ld. Hd. 
gave him letters to Adl. Berkeley and Mr. Villiers, in order 
if possible to facilitate his scheme. Col. Kemmis obliging, 
an Irishman ; very pompous, and not to all appearance 
very wise. The garrison of Elvas are to march to-morrow 
to Seville — our road. The convalescents and cavalry 
return to Lisbon. 

26th. — Left Elvas at 9. General Moretti, an Italian 
in Spanish service, met us on the Spanish ground with 
Col. Kemmis ; Ld. Hd. rode on with them. I felt very 

1 During the occupation of Portugal by Junot. It was plundered 
by Avril at the end of June 1808. 



i8og] BADAJOZ 259 

happy to be once again on Spanish ground. Peasants 
scampering about on horseback in the true Andaluz 
style. Entered Badajoz under one of the arches of the 
bridge, which we afterwards went upon to cross the 
Guadiana. Crowds of people were assembled to view 
the troops ; pretty sight. Rejoiced to see the basquitia and 
mantilla. We went to refresh at the house belonging 
to the Conde de Torre Fresno, murdered a few months 
ago by the people ; J he was the nephew of the P. of the 
Peace. His widow resides in the house, and came up to 
me and offered all sorts of civilities. We were visited 
by the Bishop, the ex-Capt. -General, the Governor, &c, 
and by one of the inquisitors, who remembered us at 
Valladolid. An English officer, Mr. L'Estrange, came 
post from Sr. Robt. Wilson on his way to Seville ; he 
left him at Ciudad Rodrigo on 24th, where he had assured 
the people he would remain and defend it to the last. 
The town is surrounded by an old wall, and is safe from 
a coup de main. There are heavy cannon which the 
French might employ in the reduction of Almeida. 
Salamanca yielded without striking a blow to 1800 
Frenchmen. The Bishop went out at the head of 
some inhabitants, displaying a banner on which ' Vive 
Napoleon ' was inscribed. He, Sr. Robt. Wilson, attacked 
an outpost and took a few dragoons, but had an English 
officer made prisoner. He contrives to keep the enemy 
at bay by spreading exaggerated reports of his strength 
and the approach of reinforcements. The common 
people thereabouts well-disposed, but the higher sort 
very frigid. A person of the name of Marshall introduced 
himself to Ld. Hd. as an acquaintance of Petty's. He 
states himself to have served with the Spaniards, and 

1 The Conde de la Torre del Fresno, Captain-General of Estremadura, 
was killed by the mob in Badajoz on May 30, because he was unwilling 
to give his support to their demonstrations against the invaders of 
their country. 

s2 



260 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

to have been made prisoner at Somosierra ; examined 
by Napoleon himself, who was sitting before his tent at 
a fire an hour before sunrise, surrounded by his French. 
There is something louche in his story, the being prisoner 
and then assisting, after his escape from Madrid, in the 
assault of the Buen Retiro. 

28th, Fuente. — Reached Los Santos at \ past four. 

Baron A , who commands a division of Romana's 

dismounted cavalry, called : his position is very dis- 
tressing. 1 The Supreme Junta are much to blame for 
negligence in not mounting these men, and securing them 
from falling into the hands of the French in their present 
defenceless state. He complained that he was detained 
by Monsieur Cuesta. When on their way to the Supreme 
Junta he undertook to mount them, but they say the 
horses of this province are incapable of sustaining the 
duty of a cavalry horse. They left Romana at Leon on 
ye 3rd and 4th, and performed their journey by that 
identical route which our generals deemed unsafe to 
attempt their junction upon. When at Salamanca the 
Junta applied to them to assist in defending their walls 
in case of an attack ; this they declined, as they were 
unarmed and unused to the use of artillery. The Baron 
was too Frenchified for a Spaniard ; he grumbled, and 
tho' he has much to make him complain, yet I did not 
like his series of grievances. 

Lt. Ellis came whilst we dined. One of the depu- 
ties from the provincial Junta at Seville, who had 
been at Lisbon, and was just returned from Badajoz, 
having left it at 11 last night, brought an acct. from 
thence, viz. that the advanced guard of Cuesta's 
army had had an affair with the French, whom they 

1 The four cavalry regiments which La Romana brought from 
Denmark did not join Blake, having no horses, but marched into 
Estremadura to obtain them. (Oman.) 



i8og] 



SEVILLE 261 



had compelled to retreat and recross the Tagus at 
Almaraz. 1 Cuesta's head-quarters were said to be 
Jaraicejo. 

Arrived at Fuente de Cantos at \ past one. Ourselves 
and maids were lodged in the house of a priest, the 
secretary of the Prior of Santiago. The priest could 
not comprehend who and what we were, when we 
assured him that we were not military, ambassadors, or 
merchants. I remember the last time we were in Spain 
persons were equally puzzled ; they then satisfied them- 
selves by asserting that Ld. Hd. was a Grandee exiled 
from England. 

Jan. 30th. — Arrived at Seville. The inn, in consequence 
of the fugitives from Madrid, is excessively full, and we 
were compelled to be contented with a very indifferent 
house. Dined at Mr. Frere's. Capmany was rejoiced 
at seeing us ; he escaped from Madrid, and found his way 
here on foot, after experiencing some very severe hard- 
ships. Duchess of Osuna came to see me ; she recounted, 
with great energy, her disasters. She fled from Madrid 
in the night upon the news of the French having ^broken 
the Spanish line at Somosierra, her three daughters, 
9 grandchildren, and the wife of Gen. Peha and other 
friends, with no change of clothes. Her plate, &c, &c, 
all left to the mercy of the enemy. Quintana delighted 
at seeing us ; he got away on the 4th from Madrid. I 
omitted an incident which occurred. About two leagues 
from Seville in the mts., we met a terrified friar on horse- 
back, who had been attacked by robbers about a quarter of 
an hour before, and fired at as he made his escape. He 
seemed much concerned at the fate of his companions : — 
two propios 2 of the Govt, he feared had fallen into 
their hands, and the robbers had drawn them off the 

1 Cuesta occupied the bridge at Almaraz on the 29th, and broke 
the central arch. 2 Messengers. 



262 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ja n. 

high road into the wood. We left him encompassed with 
tropas. 1 

31st. — Quintana and Rodenas 2 came to see us, as 
did the Duquesa de Hijar and the Marquesa de Ariza ; 
also Jovellanos, who had a very long conversation with 
Ld. Hd. We dined at Frere's, and in the evening I went 
to see the Dss. of Osuna. 

An acct. from Mazarredo of the state of the English 
army at Coruha ; he left them on 13th. He draws a 
most disgraceful and lamentable picture of their retreat. 
They had not had any action of importance with the 
French, but had been fortunate in all the skirmishes. 
They lost in the retreat their baggage, their artillery, 
and even a portion of their money, and from the forced 
marches and state of exhaustion in which they arrived 
at Corurla, he is convinced many must have been left 
to perish on the road. They were so worn by hunger, 
want of rest, and disfigured by dirt, that they were 
scarcely to be recognised ; the inhabitants scarcely could 
credit that they were the same men who set forth a few 
weeks before in all the pride and pomp of health and 
confidence. They were employed in killing their horses, 
from an apprehension that there would not be sufficient 
number of horse transports. 3 He describes having seen 
a number of dead bodies of horses floating in the bay. 
The French pursued them hotly, and from on board the 
Tonnant, he saw a party of French capture, on the 
opposite side of the bay, some sailors who were employed 
in dismantling a fort. The Duque de Veragua and Mde. 
Blake and her daughters were on board the Tonnant. 
Mde. Sangro in endeavouring to quit the town some 
days before had been stopped by the populace. He says 

1 Soldiers. 2 See ante, p. 32. 

3 The horses were in a shocking state, and over 2000 were slaughtered 
in this way. 



l8o9 ] THE RETREAT TO CORUftA 263 

Admiral de Courcy told him that when the order for 
retreating was communicated at Benavente to the 
soldiers, it was received with universal discontent, and 
the murmur was so great that they even refused to obey 
at first. Romana marched from Leon after the English 
had begun to retreat, and at Astorga he lost 2 battalions 
in an action with the French. 1 

1st Feb., Seville. — I called upon Madame d'Ariza ; 
she had through Mr. Stuart's means complied with my 
wish of allowing me to occupy her house during her 
absence. The house is spacious, and has a fine garden ; 2 
we move out to-morrow. Poor woman ! She fled with 
her sister and son, the young Duke of Berwick, very 
precipitately, without taking even common necessaries ; 
many of her jewels and all her plate is left. 

2nd Feb. — Dined very early and moved in evening to 
this magnificent Casa Liria, a fine palace belonging to the 
Duke of Berwick, inherited from the family of Alba. 
In the evening Mde. d'Ariza, her son, Messrs. Arbuthnot 
and Wynne. 

4th Feb. — Went to see the books at Casa Aguila ; the 
library has been sold, and the best books purchased before 
we came. The house belonged to the Conde de Aguila, 
who was the first victim to the Spanish cause. 3 Mde. 
Santa Cruz called in evening. She is in great beauty, 
having preserved her looks much unimpaired. Rodenas, 

1 La Romana lost 1500 men at the bridge of Mansilla on Dec. 30, 
the day on which he evacuated Leon and marched to join Moore at 
Astorga. Lady Holland, however, more probably refers to an action 
on Jan. 2 near the pass of Foncebadon when Franceschi caught up 
the Spanish rearguard and took 1500 prisoners and two standards. 

2 The present residence in Seville of the Duque de Alba in the 
Calle de las Duenas. 

3 The Conde de Aguila was shot in the streets of Seville on May 27, 
1808, by the populace, though accused of no crime. Napier suggests 
that the assassination was instigated by a personal enemy of the Count. 
The early months of the rising against the French are full of these 
atrocities, for which the ungovernable fury of the mob was responsible. 



264 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

Major Roche, and Ouintana dined with us. People 
called in the evening. 

$th Feb., Seville. — Went to Santi Ponce to see the 
remains of Italica. On our way we stopped at the 
Hieronymite convent where General Castaiios undergoes 
a sort of confinement, not being permitted by the Supreme 
Junta to enter Seville, though allowed to walk about the 
environs and see whom he chooses. Ld. Hd. made him 
a visit, and he came to see me in the sacristy. His 
manner is a good deal constrained, and he appears, from 
the size of his clothes, to have fallen away in bulk. He 
spoke of Gen. Fox with esteem, lamented that the Junta 
had not mounted Romana's cavalry in preference to 
the raw recruits ; observed that on this day three 
months Napoleon had just entered Spain ; sneered at 
the Grandees (especially Osuna) for their want of zeal 
and military spirit ; praised Perico Giron ; expressed a 
wish to see Ld. Hd. another time. Went afterwards to 
see the remains of the amphitheatre, which is in a state of 
great decay. Dss. Osuna, Mde. de Sta. Cruz, Manuelita, 
Jovellanos, Capmany, Mariscal de Castilla dined. Some 
persons called evening. 

6th Feb. — Went in the morning to see the Hospital de 
San Bernardo, called commonly Los Venerables. In the 
church a picture by Murillo, in which he imitates the 
manner of Ribera or Espaholito, ' San Pedro ' ; ' the Concep- 
cion,' a beautiful figure full of grace and dignity, the groups 
of angels airy and light, something about the mouth of the 
Virgin which betrays the manliness which he is accused 
of giving too much to his female figures. In the Refec- 
tory is the deservedly famous picture of ' the Infant Jesus 
giving bread to the old and infirm priests,' alluding to the 
foundation of the Charity. 1 A portrait of a ' Canonigo.' 

1 These three pictures were all removed to Paris by Soult. The 
Conception is now in the Louvre : the Distribution of Bread in the 



l8o9 ] THE CARIDAD 265 

Santa Cruz, where we expected to find the Tomb of 
Murillo, but the priests knew not where he lay. This 
church contains a 'Descent from the Cross' by Pedro 
Campafia, which it is said was much studied by Murillo. 

Caridad contains the famous collection of Murillo. 
' Sta. Isabel of Hungary washing the sores of the lame and 
sick.' ' The angel releasing St. Peter ' (the worst picture). 
'Christ raising the paralytic man.' 'The Distribution of 
the loaves and fishes.' ' Moses striking the rock.' 'The 
return of the Prodigal Son.' 'Angels visiting Abraham,' 
and ' San Juan de Dios embracing a sick man.' A few 
small altar-pieces of single figures. A ' Virgin and Child ' 
near the high altar. The altar-piece is carved by Roldan 
and assisted in the perspective by painting and basso 
relievo. The founder is buried under the altar with 
an ostentatious show of humility, calling himself in his 
epitaph ' el peor hombre en el mundo.' The weather 
was delicious. 

English forces under Gen. Mackenzie are arrived at 
Cadiz. An officer from Romana's army was an eye- 
witness to the embarkation of the British army on ye 
18th from Corufia. On the 16th, 17th, a heavy fire of 
cannons was heard, which ceased suddenly, and upwards 
of 200 sail of transports was seen going out of Corufia, 
but they were soon becalmed, and their course could not 
be ascertained. The French were on the glacis before 

Gallery at Buda Pesth ; the whereabouts of the St. Peter weeping is 
unknown. 

The portrait of a Canonigo is that of Murillo's friend Don Justino 
Neve, the founder of the Hospital. It now belongs to Lord Lansdowne, 
at Bowood. See ante, p. 66. 

Of the Caridad pictures, the Distribution of the Loaves and Fishes, 
Moses striking the Rock, and the St. Juan de Dios still remain in their 
original places. Sta. Isabel {Elizabeth) of Hungary is in the Prado 
Gallery, Madrid; The Angel releasing St. Peter at St. Petersburg 
(Hermitage) ; Christ raising the Paralytic belongs to Capt. Pretyman, 
at Orwell Park , and the other two are at Stafford House. 



266 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

the embarkation was completed. Romana, in the 
gentlest terms, ascribes the ruin and dispersion of his 
army to Sir John Moore having deceived him ; he 
promised to defend the pass of Villafranca, and Romana 
accordingly made his movements with that object, but 
in this he was disappointed, and lost on ye 30th 2 bat- 
talions. Romana is making his way through the North 
of Portugal. 

Saavedra, the Minister, told Ld. Hd. that Sir D. 
Baird's army, it had been settled at Madrid, should be 
landed at Santander, in consequence of which preparations 
were made at that place for their reception. It was to 
the strange change of destination of the army that the 
difficulty arose at Corufia about their landing, and the 
subsequent delay of getting them forward. 1 Whilst 
Moore was at Salamanca, Escalante and another officer 
of high rank were sent to him from the Junta in order to 
urge him to advance ; they remained with him some 
days. 2 He was cold, repulsive, scarcely civil to them, 
and not in the least disposed towards the cause he was 
employed in serving. 

Ardelberg, Col. Duff 3 called evening. There is a poste 

1 Any idea conceived by the British Government of landing Baird's 
troops at Gijon or Santander was given up owing to the smallness 
of those ports and the probable difficulties of finding supplies in the 
surrounding country. (Oman.) 

2 Don Ventura Escalante, Captain-General of Granada, and General 
Augustin Bueno reached Moore's head-quarters early in December. 
That their reception by the British commander was not cordial is 
clear from his letter to Frere. dated Dec. 6. But perhaps it is hardly 
to be wondered at, for their glowing accounts of the condition of the 
various Spanish armies corresponded but slightly with those Moore 
was receiving from Stuart and Lord William Bentinck. Before their 
departure also he was able to introduce to them Col. Graham, who 
had just returned with an account of the action at Somosierra and 
the French advance upon Madrid. 

3 James Duff, afterwards fourth Earl of Fife (1776-1857). He took 
service with the Spaniards in 1808, and was made a major-general in 
their service. He became Lord Macduff in 1809 ; was severely wounded 



i8o 9 ] UCLES 267 

from Cuesta, in which he states having repulsed the 
French from an attack upon the bridge of Almaraz. 
Strong rumours of the French armies retreating into 
France, and of Napoleon's retiring to Vitoria. Successes 
also in Saragossa. 

yth Feb. — Jovellanos dined and gave us some very 
interesting particulars respecting the present and past 
state of affairs. The D. of Infantado is removed from 
the command of the army, and the command is conferred 
upon Urbina, Conde de Cartaojal, a man who distin- 
guished himself at the battle of Baylen. The action at 
Ucles, Jovellanos thinks, has been the severest blow to 
their cause. The vanguard of their army, which was 
entirely cut to pieces, had been placed nine leagues in 
advance sin afioyo ningun. 1 Palafox is shut up in Sara- 
gossa with 25,000 men, troops of the line, besides the 
citizens ; 2 he is reduced to straights for want of provisions. 
His brother Lazan has written to Jovellanos for rein- 
forcements, as 5000 men carrying in supplies had been 
cut off. Orders are sent to furnish what relief may be 
afforded, but as Reding writes from Cataluna that he 
occupies a very favorable position for destroying the 
French, he will not move. They reckon upon having 
40,000 men in Cataluna. Romana, with what he calls his 
noyau d'armee, is at Oimbra, near Chaves, in Portugal. 3 

at Talavera, but continued in Spain till his father's death in 181 1, 
when he succeeded to the titles, and returned home. 

1 Without any support. 

2 He had 32,000 trained fighting men shut up in the town. Lazan 
had moved his force of 4000 men from Catalonia to the neighbourhood 
of Zaragoza as soon as the investment commenced, but his force was 
insufficient to give efficient aid to the besieged. 

3 After parting from Moore at Astorga, La Romana gained time to 
collect his scattered and disorganised force at Orense. There he remained 
till the middle of January, when the approach of a portion of Ney's 
force drove him to take shelter in the mountains on the frontier near 
Monterey. He was able to collect and reorganise a force of 9000 men, 
but was constantly obliged to move about owing to lack of provisions. 



268 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

His letters are 28th and 30th. He lost some of his best, 
troops in consequence of co-operating as he expected 
with Moore, but Moore disregarded the combination 
and left him to shift as he could ; and in consequence 
of Hope's l division marching upon Vigo just before him, 
he had a corps consuming provisions in his front and a 
harassing enemy in his rear. He writes that the French 
general had solicited an interview with him. He reports 
that Moore was killed whilst covering the embarkation 
of his men, that the French were on the glacis, and that 
they took possession upon capitulation of Corufia. He 
adds that Moore would have done better to have made 
the attack they had agreed upon on the 24th upon 
Soult at Sahagun than fallen thus. 

Jovellanos is a good deal annoyed at the urgent 
manner in which the English press to be admitted at 
Cadiz. 2 The Junta are afraid of the suspicions which 
it will excite among the people, nor are they free from 
entertaining some apprehensions themselves of the views 
of the English Govt, in demanding that permission. A 
certain Sir G. Smith, a confidential friend of Ld. Mulgrave's, 
an aide-de-camp of the King's, and a man closely con- 
nected with Worontzow, pretends to be endowed with 



1 Hope himself was present at Coruna and took command after 
Moore's fall. Crawfurd's brigade was a part of his division. 

2 This was Mackenzie's brigade, which had been sent by Cradock 
from Lisbon on Feb. 2, at Sir George Smith's urgent request, to garrison 
the town in case of a French invasion of Andalusia. Smith, who was 
one of the many military agents, had neglected to consult the Home or 
Spanish authorities before taking this step, and Frere himself seems 
to have been unaware of what was taking place until he had sounded 
the Junta on the same subject and had met with an unqualified refusal. 
The Junta, disturbed by rumours of a British evacuation of Portugal, 
remained firm in their refusal to allow the troops to land. During the 
month which the transports spent in the harbour, riots, due entirely 
to internal causes, took place in the town. Sir George Smith died 
of fever about the middle of February, and the troops returned to 
Lisbon soon afterwards. 



l8o9 ] BRITISH AT CADIZ 269 

powers to call for any number of troops he may choose. 
He offered some to the Govt, of Cadiz. From the 
proceeding the Junta naturally infer that, as the English 
Govt, employs agents independent of their accredited 
envoy, designs are in agitation which are kept secret from 
him. This, combined with the arrival of Mackenzie's 
small corps accompanied by the news of the retreat of 
the English from Galicia and a general belief that they 
are gone home, has naturally enough excited very strong 
alarm that the English may think their cause desperate 
and wish to pillage their arsenals, shipping, &c. Mr. 
Frere is very ready to insist upon the troops quitting 
Cadiz two days after they are landed, but he makes a sort 
of point of honor that they should be admitted there 
and not, as proposed, at Puerto Sta. Maria, as that would 
show in a marked manner distrust on the part of the 
Spaniards, and give a confirmation to Morla's insinuations. 
8th. — Capmany dined with us. During the dinner, 
Padre Gil l called. He is an incessant talker, full of 
himself and all he did ; his loud voice and disgusting 
vanity displeased me so much that I fled for refuge 
speedily into my own room. He saved Andalusia 
certainly by his courage and presence of mind, but he is 
a man of such a turbulent nature that he is likely to lose 
it from mere restlessness and vanity. He is still a 
member of the Junta of Seville ; he is discontented with 
the Supreme Junta for having usurped authority over 
them, and they in return are displeased with him and 
are going to dispatch him to Sicily to get him out of 
the way. 

1 A Franciscan and native of Andalusia, born in 1747. He was 
appointed Royal historian, but fell under the ban of the Prince of the 
Peace. He reissued from his monastery in 1808, and took a leading 
part in the resistance to the French, especially in the organization 
of guerilla warfare, becoming Secretary to the Junta of Seville. He 
died in 1815. 



270 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

Poor Infantado is universally blamed for the loss of 
ye army at Ucles. They say the French were really 
preparing to evacuate Madrid. The French have fallen 
back from Madridejos towards Toledo. The cause of 
this retrograde movement is not known. 1 Napoleon has 
certainly quitted Spain and taken the road towards 
Toulouse. Rumours of war with Austria. Oxala ! 

gth Feb. — Two English ships of war arrived at Cadiz ; 
they met the convoy returning from Corufia to England. 
Moore was killed ; he remained to the last with a light 
corps whilst his men were embarking. Baird has lost 
an arm, and two other generals severely wounded. No 
mention is made of horses or artillery. The officer who 
spoke to them estimates the loss of the English at 3000. 2 
A corps of French which had reached Betanzos before 
them was cut to pieces on the 15th. 

The Junta, by permission of the French in possession 
of Corufia, has received an official acct. of the capitu- 
lation of that place and of Ferrol, which surrendered on 
ye 26th. Moore has closed the mouths of his accusers, 
and sought the only exculpation left to him. 

Jovellanos and his nephews dined here. One is the 
Canonigo Cienfuegos, a member of the Seville provincial 
Junta, a cheerful, agreeable man, half-brother to the 
Asturian, Conde de Pehalva. The other was em- 
ployed in the bureau of Gracia y Justicia ; he is a 
remarkably unpleasant and even offensive person in his 
manners. 

1 Victor withdrew his main force to Almaraz, in accordance with 
Napoleon's orders that he should be ready to assist Soult's invasion when 
required, by a diversion in the direction of Badajoz. A screen of 
cavalry were left at Madridejos and Ocana. 

2 The total loss at the battle of Corufia of British troops was 
estimated by Hope, who took command after the fall of his superiors, 
as between 700 and 800. Mr. Oman considers this was probably an 
overstatement of the facts of the case. Soult's losses were perhaps 
about double. 



!8o 9 ] THE SPANISH ARMIES 271 

10th Feb. — There is a letter from Col. Whittingham l 
to Mr. Frere, in which he represents the army of Palacio 
as being in a most flourishing condition. The infantry 
amounts to 22,000, and 1700 cavalry, very fine men and 
all well accoutred, besides 10,000 men ready but wanting 
musquets. The Spaniards say they stand not in need 
of men, money, cannon, nor horses ; saddles, musquets, 
and ammunition are all they require. Garay told us 
that great exertions had been made both in and out of 
Spain to procure monturas, 2 and that persons were 
employed in Sweden, Lisbon, and Constantinople even, 
to make them, and that a supply is expected from England. 
All the workmen in the province are embargoed — put into 
requisition. Infantado's army is in a wretched plight ; 
they are at Sta. Cruz. Rodenas, who is in Garay's 
office, told me confidentially that it is in agitation that 
as soon as the army is well collected together under 
Urbina they are to advance towards Toledo in order 
to form a junction with Cuesta and attack the French 
on the N. side of the river. 

Went by appointment to see the Alcazar with Jovel- 
lanos and his agreeable nephew. The lower apartment 
is occupied by the provincial Junta. The large halls, 
built by Charles V, are filled with modern pictures and 
the fragments of Roman antiquities found at Italica. 

1 Afterwards Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham (i 772-1841). While 
on his way to take up a staff appointment in Sicily, he got leave to 
join Castanos as a volunteer, and was instructed from home to remain 
with him. He took part in the battle of Baylen and was made colonel 
of Spanish cavalry for his services. He was sent away by Infantado, 
and went to Seville, where he was subsequently employed under 
Albuquerque and Cuesta. He remained in the Peninsula throughout 
the war, and received honorable notice by Wellington in his dispatches. 

Infantado had 12,000 men left after Ucles, and these added to 
6000 or more with del Palacio and some new regiments from Granada 
make up the number. Cartaojal had taken over the whole at La 
Carolina on Jan. 24. 

2 Accoutrements. 



272 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Fe b. 

The Central Junta hold their sittings above ; adjoining 
to the room in which they deliberate Florida Blanca died. 
Jovellanos gave an affecting and philosophical description 
of his death ; he was not aware of the approach of his 
dissolution, his memory flagged, and the whole moral 
system sank from the mere exhaustion of his physical 
powers. He was nearly 90. A pedantic physician 
termed his death hydropesia senil. There were models of 
pikes and crows' feet (to injure the cavalry) lying about 
the tables of the room ; they had been submitted to their 
inspection. Jovellanos presented to us his colleague 
from the Asturias, the Conde de Campo Sagrado : l he 
is the 2nd in the bureau of War. He appeared active 
and zealous. Caught a glimpse of the man who seized 
the Viceroy of Mexico in his bed and compelled him to 
return to Europe, which he did and is now under con- 
finement at Cadiz. 2 Visited Garay in his office ; he was 
busily employed, and surrounded by his secretaries. 

The Spanish prisoners have the alternative offered 
them of being sent into France, or of taking the oath and 
serving Joseph ; many to avoid the agony of being driven 
like a flock of animals have taken the latter part, doubtless 
with a mental reservation and strong feeling that what is 
done by compulsion is not binding in any court of con- 
science. King Joseph has issued a bando, announcing 
to his beloved Madrilenos that he is going to quit them 
upon a military expedition, and requests them not to 

1 Deputy from Asturias to the Central Junta. 

2 Jose de Iturrigaray was Viceroy from 1803 until Sept. 1808. 
The Mexicans firmly refused to recognise the decrees of Joseph 
sent out to them from Spain, and had them publicly burnt. At 
the same time the Viceroy was unwilling to receive representations 
from the Juntas, and gave the impression to many that he was about 
to usurp for himself plenary powers. To frustrate this a plot was set on 
foot, and the conspirators surprising him one night as he slept, formally 
deposed him. He was sent to Spain, where he lingered for some years 
in prison. 



i8o 9 ] JOSEPH'S RULE 273 

show demonstrations of attachment by delaying him ; 
that that might ultimately be prejudicial to the general 
good. Persons from Madrid declare that it was generally 
considered there to be quite a matter of certainty that 
Austria had declared war against Napoleon, and that 
offensive operations in the Tyrol had been actually begun. 1 
The Govt, are vigilant about the persons who come from 
thence with this sort of news, as they are probably 
spies disguised in the garb of friends and fugitives. It is 
rumoured that the titles of some of the Grandees are 
already, with their estates, bestowed upon a number 
of French generals, Infantado, Osuna, Santa Cruz, 
Belliard, Bessieres, Victor. Escano, the Minister of Marine, 
is named to the Govt, of Mexico, but he is unwilling to 
abandon the Junta at this moment of peril. Since the 
occupation of Madrid by the French those ladies of 
distinction who have remained in it have never appeared 
in the streets, and to communicate with each other they 
have broken doors through the walls of houses, and can 
by that means maintain any intercourse they may 
choose to have together. The whole length of two 
streets and across the Plazuela in one place, and a 
similar mode of meeting in another part of the town 
has been opened. 

nth Feb. 1809, Seville. — Kearney, an Irish English 
language master came from Carthagena, where he describes 
the slow state of preparation of 6 ships of the line. 

We went to the Geronymite convent of La Bella (sic) 
Vista. A beautiful small picture by Murillo of the 
' Concepcion ' ; a statue of San Jerome by Torregiano. 
It is highly esteemed ; it represents the Saint on his 
knees before a book of devotion, with a crucifix in one 

1 Austria declared war against Bavaria, an ally of France, on 
April 9 ; and the people of the Tyrol, who had been placed under the 
dominion of Bavaria, rose at the same time. 

T 



274 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

hand, in the other a large stone with which he inflicts 
blows upon his heart. The material is of clay, and it is 
coloured. 1 In the sacristy some pictures by Louis de 
Vargas. The architecture of the courts is in very excellent 
style, and a staircase, which being in the interior of the 
convent I was not permitted to see. Received some 
old letters from England, a very entertaining and well 
written one from L., 2 with some good hits at Mr. Canning. 

Col. Kemmis and Major Thornton to dinner. Great 
alarm prevails about Cuesta ; the Junta are pressing 
Mr. Frere to make the troops advance from Cadiz. 3 
They show their adherence to official forms by requesting 
in the public note that he will order round the English 
army from Galicia, whilst in fact they have received 
the official terms of the capitulation of Coruha and 
Ferrol after the departure of the English. Cuesta, in the 
poste of to-day, says the enemy are at Talavera making 
great preparations to cross the river and attack him. 

The French at Madrid are said to be very crestfallen 
and dejected, and that even among the soldiery, especially 
the German and Poles, strong symptoms of discontent 
are manifested. Many desert to Cuesta. Mr. F. is 
desirous of making Gen. Mackenzie march on, and told 
Ld. Hd. that he had thought of employing him to go 
over and urge this measure. There are many letters 
from Galicia complaining of the atrocities committed 



1 These are now in the Picture Gallery. 2 Lauderdale. 

3 Napier relates that the Junta made four proposals regarding the 
disposition of the British troops : that they should land at Puerto 
Santa Maria and be quartered there ; that they should be sent up 
to help Cuesta ; that they should be sent to Catalonia ; that they should 
be divided up among the Spanish armies. Frere suggested that part 
should join Cuesta and the rest garrison Cadiz, but no one considered 
this a satisfactory solution of the difficulty. Mackenzie contended 
that it would be exceeding his orders, and that re-embarkation after an 
advance towards the French would attach a stigma to his troops ; while 
the Junta remained resolute that the force should not enter Cadiz. 



i8og] 



BAIRD'S DISEMBARKATION 275 



by the English, and in one there is this expression, 
' Terror enfurecido de nuestros aliados,' 1 who ravaged 
towns and villages and even surpassed the French in 
some of their excesses. 

The substance of Jovellanos's conversation with me, 
when he spoke in the most open and frank manner 
possible, was as follows : — 

I. An application was made to the English Govt, to 
furnish military support to Gen. Blake. Through Mr. 
Stuart, a promise of 10,000 men was made to them, 
who were to be landed at Santander to co-operate with 
Blake, then at Reinosa. Orders accordingly were issued 
by the Minister of War that every preparation should 
be made for the reception of this force. To the great 
astonishment of the Supreme Junta, the Governor of 
Coruha announced the arrival of the English army in 
that harbour demanding cantonments about Ferrol, 
which request the Governor did not think was consistent 
with his duty to comply with until he knew what were 
the intentions of his Govt, with respect to that armament. 3 

II. They have received from Apodaca 3 las quejas or 



1 Fear spreads of our allies. 

2 La Romana's torce from Denmark, 10,000 in number, was first 
sent to Corufia ; but orders were there received from England to send 
them on to Santander. Lord Castlereagh's dispatch to Lord William 
Bentinck, Sept. 30, 1808, states clearly the attitude of the British 
Government. ' It would have been more satisfactory, had our army 
been equipped for service, to have disembarked it at St. Andero, or 
some point nearer the enemy ; but as it is of equal importance to the 
Spaniards, as it is to us, that the army should not be partially committed 
or brought into contact with the enemy, till the means of moving and 
following up an advantage is secured ; and as the navigation on the 
coast becomes extremely precarious towards the close of the year, it 
was the decided opinion of all military men and of none more than the 
Marques de la Romana, whose sentiments on the subject are stated in 
the accompanying memorandum, and will be expressed on his arrival 
in Spain as fully approving the decision that has been taken, to make 
Corufia our principal depot and operate from thence.' 

3 The Spanish Ambassador in England. 

t 2 



276 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

griefs which the Eng. Govt, has against them. I could 
only collect three, but rather think there is a fourth 
which has escaped my memory. 1st, the delay in 
allowing Baird's army to land and the want of alacrity to 
supply and further them on their march. 2ndly, the 
reserve and want of confidence in the Spanish. 3rdly, 
their requiring the English generals to be subordinate 
to the Spanish generals. 

The Junta set forth in reply and vindication that the 
disembarkation having been adjusted for Santander, 
there could be no complaint at their not being prepared 
for the reception of any army at Corufia. For in the 
place agreed upon between the Junta, Stuart, and 
perhaps Ld. Wm. Bentinck, 1 the English were to act as 
auxiliaries to Blake ; the plan of a junction with Moore 
having been quite a secret and subsequent project, it 
never having been understood by the Junta that the 
English were to act as a separate and distinct army. To 
the accusation of reserve, Jovellanos says that the English 
Minister has access to the Junta during its deliberations, 
and gives an opinion upon the change of generals, move- 
ments of armies, &c, &c. 3rdly. They have copies of 
Romana's notes to Sr. John Moore, in which he offers to 
serve in any way, with or under any English general 
whom he may approve, only requesting Sr. John Moore 
to employ and dispose of him and his army in the manner 
he may deem most advisable for the general cause. 

He complained of Moore's whole conduct, and his 
offensive treatment of the persons sent from the Junta. 



1 Lord William Cavendish-Bentinck (1774-1839), second son of 
William Henry, third Duke of Portland. He was raised to the rank 
of major-general in 1808 for his services in India and was sent on a 
mission to the Supreme Junta in Spain. He joined Sir John Moore 
after Mr. Frere's arrival at Madrid, and took part in the battle of 
Coruna. He was sent to Sicily as Envoy in 1 8 11 . He was subsequently 
Governor-General of Bengal, and the first Governor-General of India. 



l8 o 9 ] MOORE'S CONDUCT 277 

Escalante, when the first retreat was known, was deputed, 
and found him sulky and repulsive at Salamanca. In 
reply to the arguments urged to induce him to advance, 
he made no reply further than that, ' Mon parti est pris, 
mon parti est pris ; Romana has only 5000 men. I 
have ordered rations at Ciudad Rodrigo for ye 10th of 
Dec, and mon parti est pris.' Escalante, disgusted at 
his reserve and haughtiness of manner, quitted him, 
finding it hopeless to attempt to make any impression 
upon such an obdurate character. On his return towards 
Madrid, he met Don Juan de Texada, the Gov. of Ferrol, 
who was just come from Romana, and in great spirits 
at having been surrounded by an army already composed 
of 17,000 men, and which was daily increasing. This 
intelligence induced Escalante to return to Moore with 
Texada in order that he might hear a distinct account 
from an eye-witness, but Moore was contemptuous and 
incredulous, and they departed in despair of shaking his 
resolution. Mr. Stuart went from Truxillo in company 
with Caro, 1 a deputy from the Junta, and they were more 
successful, for after an interview with them Moore deter- 
mined upon advancing. (Moore told Stuart Escalante was 
an old woman. Stuart allows that Moore was haughty 
and offensive in all intercourse he had with the Spaniards.) 
He looks upon Cuesta as a doubtful character, full of 
intrigue and ambition. The quarrel between him and 
Valdes 2 has been productive of much mischief. He is 



1 Don Francisco Xavier Caro, a professor of the University of 
Salamanca, and brother of La Romana. One of the deputies for Old 
Castile. 

Stuart and Caro saw Sir John Moore at Toro on Dec. 16. They 
certainly had no hand in influencing the latter's decision to advance, for 
that was taken at Salamanca on Dec. 5, and the infantry actually 
commenced their march on the nth. Moore's remark about Escalante 
being an old woman was repeated in a letter to Frere. 

2 Don Antonio Valdes (1 744-1 81 6); See ante, p. 232. 



278 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

very popular in Castile and his present appointment is 
owing entirely to the clamour of the people in his favor. 
Had the Junta assembled in Madrid as it was originally 
proposed, he has no doubt that the people would have 
compelled them to have named Cuesta to head the army. 

The loss of Spain he ascribes to the influence of 
O'Farril who was so highly esteemed by all the officers 
in the army. To him may be imputed the hesitating, 
irresolute conduct of Solano, Espiletta, Amarillas, Filan- 
ghieri, and several others of that class. Besides the 
general estimation in which he was held in the army, 
he formed a great party in consequence of that opinion in 
his favor and attached ye young officers who were best 
informed and most zealous in the service. 

The dispassionate and benevolent character of Jovel- 
lanos, considering all he has suffered, is very remarkable ; 
there is such a mixture of dignity and mildness that it 
is impossible to avoid feeling the strongest inclination 
towards him of love and admiration. He views the 
active scene into which he is thrown with philosophical 
calmness, and should he see the cause he has espoused 
succeed he will enjoy the victory without triumphant 
exultation ; and should it fail, he is prepared to fall 
without despondency or sinking in abject despair. Were 
he some years younger, he would attempt to direct the 
Govt, and begin by destroying their Junta, which in its 
form is vicious ; it wants the promptness of Monarchy and 
the energy and confidence of popular Govt. 

The D. of Infantado injured himself in the public 
estimation by his conduct at Bayonne, where he used 
to submit to associate with Savary, and pass his mornings 
playing at tennis, apparently cheerful and unconcerned 
at the dreadful web which was weaving to entangle his 
country, King, and friends. It was entirely owing to 
his advice and to that of Escoiquiz that Ferdinand VII 



l8 o9] INFANTADO AT BAYONNE 279 

acted as he did, altho' many persons believe that he 
remonstrated against his entrusting himself in the hands 
of Napoleon before his title was acknowledged. 

12th. — The French have fallen back from the Mancha 
upon Toledo to the amount of 17,000 or nearly 20,000. 
It is not known how much of this may be destined against 
Cuesta. That general is threatened on his flank by 
troops from Coria and Plasencia. Letters from Sr. Robt. 
Wilson. He still keeps his position at Ciudad Rodrigo. 
Jovellanos said a poste had arrived from Romana, full of 
the most amarga l complaints against Moore, his haughti- 
ness, insolence, ignorance, and want of skill. A copy of 
these complaints has been sent to the Sec. of State for 
Foreign Affairs. The retreat through Galicia abounded 
with instances on the part of our troops of every species 
of outrage and violence upon the poor inhabitants. 
Mr. Frere received accts. from England, by Cadiz, to 
the 14th Jan. He says 4000 troops under Gen. 
Sherbrooke are coming out immediately to Cadiz. 2 

14th. — Went to the Franciscans, 3 and by good luck 
got into the cloister where are the famous Murillos. The 
finest without all comparison is the ' Death of Santa 
Clara ' ; I scarcely think any of those in the Caridad 
excel it, but unfortunately the moisture of the air to 
which it is exposed, has considerably injured the picture. 
The figures of friars standing before a Pope are also an 
exquisite performance. The sides of the small cloister 
are covered by Murillo, but these are his masterpieces. 

1 Bitter. 

2 Canning in his dispatch to Frere, dated Jan. 14, states that the 
British Government considered that the South of Spain was now the 
most important place in which to assist that country. Four thousand 
troops had therefore been dispatched under General Sherbrooke, with 
orders to go on to Gibraltar if not admitted into Cadiz. They only 
reached the latter place, however, just as Mackenzie was leaving, and 
were taken by him to Lisbon. 

3 See ante, p. 62. 



2 8o LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

A ' Concepcion ' in the church ; a fine altar-piece carved 
by Mertunes. A Walloon regt. quartered in this spacious 
convent. 

Ld. Hd. received a note early from Jovellanos, in 
which he mentions the arrival of the fioste from Cuesta 
during the night, containing the acct. of the enemy being 
in motion near the bridge of Arzobispo, but todavia l not 
in great force. Cuesta had been interrogated by the 
Junta as to the meaning he affixed to the bridge of 
Arzobispo being intransitable ; 2 he explained by saying 
that from the strong fortified position he has taken the 
French cannot penetrate by it to the southwards. 3 

Mr. Walpole from Cadiz. Sir John Moore was 
wounded by a cannon ball. He very gallantly, at the 
head of his own regt., was supporting the 50th and 
42nd out of Corufia to cover the embarkation. He 
spoke after his wound to Col. Graham. It required such 
an end to redeem his reputation. 

16th Feb. — Jovellanos wrote a few lines to mention, 
and with concern, that Infantado had not complied 
with the orders of the Junta to go to Seville. From 
various circumstances it appears that nothing can be 
more unfortunate for the Duke than the mal entourage 
and his own irresolution of character. 

There is much disgust expressed in this place against 
the Central Junta ; it is said by its enemies that Gen. 
Cuesta is abandoned, and that they would rejoice at 
hearing news of his defeat. People also talk big that 
if that disaster should happen Cuesta would march 

1 Nevertheless. 2 Impassable. 

3 Notwithstanding Cuesta's assertion Lasalle's cavalry were able 
to cross the bridge on Feb. 19, and force Trias' division which was 
opposed to them to take refuge in the mountains. The French, 
however, soon retreated over the river, and Cuesta again remained 
undisturbed for another month on the line which he had taken up south 
of the Tagus. 



i8o9] CUESTA AND THE JUNTA 281 

against the Junta and dismiss them from the adminis- 
tration of public affairs. All make in exception in 
favor of Jovellanos, whom they say always proposes good 
measures but is overruled by Garay and others, who 
consequently are become obnoxious. These complaints 
come from the provinces also, where the Junta are 
accused of ignorance and incapacity, and blamed for 
the selfish objects they have in view. It is even said that 
gold is amassed and not issued from the Treasury, in 
case on the approach of the French the Junta should 
be compelled to fly, and this hoarding would furnish them 
with a supply. Capmany dined with us, also Quintana, 
Rodenas, Mr. Luttrell, Mr. Pearce. 

Saragossa still held out on the 8th, though completely 
invested, nor were there any thoughts entertained of 
its surrendering. 1 Don Francisco Ferras y Cornel, who is 
the nephew of the Minister for War, who is himself an 
Aragonese and was in Saragossa during the sixty-one 
days' siege, and who came from thence only lately, says 
there were upwards of 30,000 infantry and 800 cavalry 
in the city. A population of 60,000 souls, with a pro- 
digious proportion of women. Bread in abundance, but 
meat and forage is scarce. An attempt was made to 
throw in some succours, under 5000 men, but they 
were baffled, and entirely cut off. 

Joseph has issued orders to raise 40,000 men by 
conscription ; this has had a good effect already, as 
many to escape it have fled to Romana, and 2000 already 
have reached Ciudad Rodrigo. Persons from Madrid 
attest the departure of Joseph from thence ; some say he 
is gone to Valladolid, others to Toledo. If the former, 

1 Zaragoza had been invested for a second time since the middle 
of December. The actual siege was commenced on Dec. 20, and 
lasted until Feb. 20, on which day the remnants of the garrison 
marched out. 



282 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

it is to be out of the way of the population of Madrid ; if 
the latter, it will be to take the command most likely 
of the force destined to act against this province. It 
is believed that the Galicians, especially about Orense, 
have risen in arms against the French. 1 Infantado still 
remains with the army ; he does ill to contest with the 
Govt, he has promised to obey. 

lyth. — Went to see the mosaic pavement at Italica. 
On our return met 600 cavalry well appointed, but 
moderately mounted, making on towards Cuesta. Many 
of the trees about town are felled in order to deter the 
enemy from using them should they approach near 
enough to assault city. Works are going on ; the lines 
are extensive, but the English engineers think them 
very badly constructed. 

18th. — A poste arrived from Cuesta with the intelligence 
of the French having passed the bridge of Arzobispo, 
with what design is unknown. Genl. Trias had taken a 
position at Garvin. In evening found Jovellanos, and 
Hermida, 2 the Minister for Gracia y Justicia. He 
had received a most desponding letter, dated 16th, 
from Cuesta, who laments his own situation from whom 
so much is expected ; that his means are inconsiderable 
to oppose the force which is opposed to him, that he can 
only depend upon 12,000 men, and the enemy exceed 
24,000. He concludes by advising him to recommend 
himself to God, who alone can work miracles. 

1 A general rising, encouraged by La Romana and fanned by the 
local priests, took place early in February throughout Galicia, and 
added seriously to the many difficulties which Soult had to face in his 
invasion of Portugal. 

2 Don Benito Hermida (1736-1814). He was a Judge for some years, 
but abandoned his profession for politics, and held high office until 
1802, when he was disgraced for his opposition to certain measures of 
Godoy. He took a leading part in the affairs of the nation after the 
abdication of Charles IV. He was a fine linguist and musician, and 
was a skilful lawyer. 



1 8o 9 ] SIEGE OF ZARAGOZA 283 

The account of Saragossa is alarming. Napoleon 
weary of the tedious manner in which Moncey was 
pursuing the siege, ordered Lannes to take the command, 
and carry the town by vive force. The French are in 
possession of the outworks, and a battery in the town 
which commands a Spanish fort raised in a convent. 
Palafox complains of having such unequal powers 
of artillery ; the calibre of his not exceeding -pieces 
of 8. 

Went in the eve. to Mde. Osuna's. She had received 
a letter from Perico, dated 13th, Almagro, where he was 
with an advanced guard of 11,000 men under the D. of 
Albuquerque, detached from the main army of Urbina 
to assist Cuesta ; they were to be at Ciudad Real on 
14th. 1 

Infantado has not yet given up the command ; he 
wishes to remain with the army and act only as colonel 
of his regt., but this will not be permitted. I am sorry 
he holds out still. 

Blake arrived to-night from Portugal, full of griefs 
against Romana probably, as he quitted him abruptly 
at or near Orense. A courier from Vienna, which he 
left on 10th, brings the acct. of the bakers having received 
orders to prepare ammunition bread, and the artillery 
horses to move onwards. On ye 12th at Trieste the 
Russian ships were getting ready to move out of the 
harbour. 

igth. — Palafox has written to Col. Doyle, who trans- 
mitted a copy of the letter to Mr. Frere. It is dated the 

1 This statement that these troops were detached to ' assist Cuesta ' 
is somewhat misleading. The help was only indirect, i.e. to keep the 
French busy, and prevent them from reinforcing Victor who was 
opposed to Cuesta. It was, according to every authority, after the 
affair at Mora on Feb. 18 and his subsequent retreat to Manzanares 
(see p. 291), that Albuquerque was detached by order of the Junta 
with 3500 infantry and 200 cavalry to join Cuesta. 



284 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

7th Feb. He says he foresees they must perish within 
the walls, which he is prepared to do, but that it is hard 
to fall without any attempt having been made to relieve 
him. Their situation he represents as deplorable, and 
refers him to the bearer for other particulars. The 
circumstance he would not write was that a contagious 
fever was raging amongst the inhabitants. Doyle is 
resolved to go with the force which is to attempt to 
force its way with a convoy of provisions. 

The division of the Central army which has advanced 
to assist Cuesta was at Yebenes on 15th. 

Reports of the Galicians having risen in many parts 
against the French, and to have cut off corps convoying 
supplies. In Val de Orsas they have killed 84 cavalry 
and taken 19, with the plunder of Genl. Marchand. 1 
Romana estimates the loss of the French in their pursuit 
of English through Galicia at 14,000. Romana writes a 
private letter, date, 7th, to Jovellanos. On the 12th in his 
poste he mentions that in consequence of the favorable 
reports from Galicia, he had resolved upon returning 
thither, and had already reached Monterey. I feel he is 
sanguine, but he adds that he expected in a week to have 
3 divisions of 10,000 men each. 

Quintana's manifiesto on Europe appeared to-day. 2 
Jovellanos attempted to read it, but he was so affected 
that he could not pursue the lecture. It is written in a 
most masterly style, and in the appendix the letters 
from Murat to Dupont are annexed. They add, if any 
additional proofs were required, to the certainty of the 



1 The approach of Marchand's division, belonging to Ney's corps, 
forced La Romana to evacuate Orense and move south to Chaves 
and Monterey ; in which neighbourhood he was continually forced 
to change his head-quarters owing to want of provisions. 

- Cjuintana was appointed head of the secretariat attached to the 
Junta, and was personally responsible for many of the orders and 
manifestos issued at the time by that body. 



,80ft] FERNAN NUNEZ 285 

base system of treachery and perfidy which were pursued 
by the French towards this country. 

20th Feb., Monday. — Cuesta is not so well disposed 
towards the English as he was previous to their retreat 
from Galicia. Lt. Ellis, who is returned from his 
head-quarters, left him on acct. of the coolness of his 
reception and manner. 

Fernan Nunez, who is just come from his regt. at 
Ecija dined here, also Quintana, Paiz, 1 and Mr. Luttrell. 2 
Fernan Nunez is in a bad state of health, and from 
his appearance and the strong symptoms he has of a 
pulmonary disorder, I fear he is in a declining state. 
He lost in hard specie in his house at Madrid, one million 
8000 reals, money he had raised for his regt., besides all 
his papers, many of which were valuable as they would 
throw light upon many of the transactions previous to 
capture of Ferdinand VII. 

General Blake came with Don Francisco Ferras y 
Cornel in eve. His manners are plain and simple, his 
whole appearance military and prepossessing. He expects 
very little from the Galician peasantry, unless they should 
be assisted by regular troops and commanded by some 
able leader. He reckoned the French force which 
pursued the English into Galicia at between 28 and 
30,000. Romana's loss in retreat arose more from 
sickness, hunger, and desertion than frcm the attacks 
of the enemy, with which it does not appear he ever was 
engaged. I questioned him as to the succour he expected 
from Santander ; he said he was greatly disappointed at 
their not arriving, as he had been long led to expect 



1 ' Auditor de guerra in Romana's army in the north.' (Lady 
Holland.) 

2 Henry Luttrell (i765(?)-i85i), a natural son of Lord Carhampton, 
the well-known wit and poet. He was a frequent visitor at Holland 
House in later days. 



286 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

them (another proof that the original destination of the 
British troops was to have been at Santander). He 
praised Lefebvre, 1 whom he reckoned the most enter- 
prising general who had been opposed to him ; the 
French operations were much brisker after Lefebvre 
assumed the command. Blake evidently took the by 
roads through Portugal to avoid touching Cuesta's 
territory ; he entered upon the high road at Santa Ollala. 
He mentioned the strange impudence and assurance with 
which the French assert the greatest falsehoods in their 
bulletins, not only in falsifying and misrepresenting 
accounts of battles and engagements, but really in 
describing actions which never took place, and boasting 
of victories gained and prisoners taken, where there 
never was even a Spanish patrol. He gave one or two 
instances, and named the places where such examples 
had occurred. 

Romana in a confidential letter to Jovellanos, which he 
entrusted to Lord H. to read and even copy, estimates 
his loss in his retreat from Leon, owing to fatigue of body 
and mind and putrid fevers, to not less than n colonels, 
one general of division, and a great number of subaltern 
officers of distinguished merit. He uses very strong 
language about General Blake and Martinengo, whom, 
he says, shamefully fled, abandoned, and seduced from 
him many officers, and taken the military chest. His 
army, he states to be at present about 8000 men, but 
without arms, ammunition, or generals. He has been 
assured the French lost from 4 to 5,000 men in the action 
at the Puente de Burgo, 2 and that had not Moore been 
killed, and the 2nd-in-command wounded, they would 
in probability have been greatly cut up, nor would the 
English have retreated. 

1 Duke of Dantzig. - Corufia, 



l8o9 ] THE FRENCH ADVANCE 287 

21st. — Cuesta has removed Trias from his command, 
for not attacking French when they crossed bridge at 
Arzobispo. Junta have already sent to Cuesta 2000 
muskets two days ago, and are to send him 2000 more 
to-morrow. Cartaojal has removed his head-quarters 
to Valdepenas. No certain news, but some unpleasant 
stories about the surrender of Saragossa. 

22«^. — Jovellanos told us the contents of Cuesta's 
fioste. Body of French, 4000, attacked one of Cuesta's 
advanced posts, consisting of 300, in which the Spanish 
commander was killed after having employed the enemy 
near 3 quarters of an hour. They were driven back to 
Alia. The French, Cuesta imagined, were pushing on to 
Guadalupe with an intention of pillaging the convent, but 
if that should be their object they will be foiled, as the riches 
of the convent and all the monks have been removed. 

From Ciudad Real Perico writes to Dss. of Osuna on ye 
17th it was supposed in the army that an attack was 
to be made upon Toledo. General Blake has received 
orders from the Junta to serve in Cataluna, where, as 
Reding is the oldest general, he will only act as 2nd-in- 
command. 1 I asked him when he first knew that he was 
not to be succoured from Santander, his answer : — 
' Only when I heard the English had landed at Corufia.' 
Had they even landed at Santander when they did at 
Coruha, he would have been saved, as the French did not 
begin their attack till full 10 days after the troops might 
have been landed, refreshed, and ready for action. Dn. 
Francisco said they had been busily employed in going 
through the business of Genl. Eguia, 2 who is now confined 

1 Reding died early in March from the wounds received at the 
battle of Vails on Feb. 25. Blake on his arrival at Tarragona found 
himself in command, and received the post of commander-in-chief 
of the Coronilla — Aragon, Valencia, and Catalonia. 

- General Eguia was head of the ' Army of Reserve ' and held 
the command of the troops collected for the defence of Madrid against 



288 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Fe b. 

in the Cartuja ; the accusation against him is that he 
did not defend Somosierra on 29th. Cuesta wishes the 
trial to be deferred in order that he may be sent to him ; 
he is reckoned an able military character, and Cuesta com- 
plains of the total incapacity of most of those under him. 

23rd Feb. — Went to the Cathedral with the Canonigo 
Cienfuegos ; Jovellanos joined us during our stay in the 
Cathedral. . . . There is a public library belonging to 
the Cathedral, which is open at fixed hours daily for the 
benefit of the public. It contains some useful reading 
books ; above the bookcases are a range of portraits since 
the first Archbishop of Seville down to the present. The 
first was the son of San Fernando, the present is the 
Cardinal de Bourbon, brother of the Pss. of the Peace, and 
son of the Infante Don Luis. 

Quintana, Rodenas, Mr. B. Frere, Mr. Pearce dined. 
Luttrell eve. During dinner Sangro (the Galician 
deputy) arrived. He appeared excessively dejected ; 
he had a bad voyage from England, and heard at sea off 
Coruha the deplorable retreat of the English army from 
Galicia. He thinks the Junta are not acting wisely here, 
and desponds of any good arising unless their discussions 
are public and their representation more numerous. 
Romana is still at Oimbra, but is very sanguine about 
the state of the public mind in Galicia. He has advised 
the Bishop of Orense to return and fulfil his duties there. 
His secty., Cacciaperos died at Orense of a putrid fever. 
He complains of Blake's flight. The French are said to 
have lost all their horses in Galicia, and have been 
compelled to mount their men on mules and asses in order 
to transport them back to Castile. 

Napoleon's advance in Nov. 1808. His subordinate San Juan 
was in charge of the division entrusted with the defence of the 
Somosierra. Eguia later became second-in-command under Cuesta, 
and succeeded the latter when he was obliged by failing health to 
resign after the battle of Talavera, 



i8o 9 ] SUCCESS AT MORA 289 

24th Feb. — Albuquerque with 1000 horse surprised a 
corps of French cavalry of 400, commanded by a Gen. 
Dijon or Dejean, took a hundred prisoners and the 
general equipage. 1 The Spanish infantry ought to have 
come up and surrounded the town of Mora, by which the 
escape of the enemy would have been rendered imprac- 
ticable, but the guides who conducted them mistook the 
way, and they went by Yebenes, which caused the delay 
of half a day, and the coup manqued. 

There was a serious disturbance at Cadiz. The 
pretext was that 1500 Poles, who were made prisoners 
in Dupont's army, should not be allowed to garrison 
the town, and the people rose and shut the gates against 
them. They also seized the person of Villel, 3 a member 
of the Junta, and but for a Capucin who interposed for 
his personal safety, he would probably have been destroyed. 
He had offended the people by interfering with their 
amusements, and even dresses ; they accused him of 
treachery and being upon the point of betraying Cadiz 
to the enemy. The poste arrived from Seville during the 
scuffle, and the mob insisted upon seeing the dispatches ; 
fortunately the contents referred solely to the fortifications 
of the town, &c. The people entrusted him to the custody 
of the Capucins. They then drew up a series of their 

1 This was the affair at Mora on Feb. 18: The French losses were 
probably not so large as here stated. The French commander was 
General Digeon. Jourdan in his Memoires remarks that Albuquerque 
was responsible for a false statement of facts in his dispatch to the 
Junta, which caused great elation at Seville. This is evidently the 
version believed and quoted by Lady Holland. 

2 The Marques de Villel had been sent to Cadiz as Special Commis- 
sioner, and it was to his treatment of the people that this imeute was 
due. He appears to have considered that the reverses of the Spaniards 
were due to the decadence of their habits and customs, and took 
drastic steps to try and find a remedy. Colonel Leslie, of Balquhain, 
in his Military Journal mentions that none of the British rank and 
file on the transports in the harbour were allowed to land in the 
town, but that the officers continually came ashore and were received 
with enthusiasm by the inhabitants. See also Appendix C. 

u 



290 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Feb. 

grievances ; among those enumerated is that persons 
favored by the P. of the Peace still retain their offices, 
that accused persons were not tried, and various other 
points. Heredia, 1 who was placed in some office by the 
P. of the P. at Puerto Santa Maria, was murdered by the 
populace ; and orders that Caraffa and the ex- Viceroy 
of Mexico and another prisoner should undergo their 
trial immediately. The temporary Govt, is entrusted 
to a Capucin friar and Felix Jones, 2 the Govr. Several 
edicts and bandos are issued. One is that no foreign 
troops whatever shall enter the town of Cadiz, but that 
the artillery officers of their faithful ally the English shall 
come into the town and examine the state of the works, 
there being a suspicion entertained by the people that 
the Junta have ordered ye fortifications to be so con- 
structed that the enemy may not find any impediment 
from them. 

25th, Seville. — Albuquerque's movement meets with 
general disapprobation — cosa de muchacho. 3 There is a 
conjecture that an English Colonel Whittingham, who 
is in correspondence with Mr. Frere, has made him push on 
beyond the limits prescribed by the Junta. Cuesta se 
quexa mucho ; 4 ' he expected the reinforcements to join 
him by 22nd. 

Blake is clearly of opinion that Moore might have 
defied the power of France if he had taken his position in 
the valley of Vierzo between Villafranca and Manzanal. 
He could only have been attacked by the enemy in front ; 
the nature of the country prevented his being flanked. 
Capmany read us a proclamation he is going to publish 
in a few days. 

1 Head of the coastguard, and unpopular for his severe measures 
against smugglers, 

2 An Irish officer in the Spanish service. He was military governor 
of Cadiz. 

3 Foolhardy, 4 Makes many complaints. 



l8o9 ] MOORE'S RETREAT 291 

Arriaza, the poet, has made his escape from Madrid ; 
he came in the disguise of a mayoral. 1 Also several 
other persons have got away both from Bayonne and 
Madrid. 

26th, Sunday. — Sangro, Mariscal de Castilla, Mr. 
Pearce to dinner. Eve, Jovellanos, Conde de Campo 
Sagrado, Mr. B. Frere, Mr. Pearce. Blake considers 
Moore's first alarm of being flanked by the French by 
Mondofiedo through the Asturias as too ridiculous to 
have been a serious opinion ; he allows that the enemy 
might have entered Galicia by the pass of Sanabria, but 
rejects the probability of their doing so, as artillery could 
only pass with difficulty, and the attempt was too 
hazardous for them to make. He saw Ld. Paget only 
once, but, from all he collected from the Spanish generals 
and officers, is positive that of all the English generals 
Ld. P. was the most averse to the retreat. It was also 
considered as an unpopular measure amongst the inferior 
officers and troops. 

27th. — Rodenas, Quintana, Mr. Ellis, Pearce, dinner. 
After the action at Mora, Albuquerque fell back upon 
Consuegra, where he was briskly attacked by the French, 
who had received by forced marches reinforcements from 
Madrid, Aranjuez, and Toledo, to the amount of 12,000 
infantry and 2000 cavalry. The retreat of the Spaniards 
was made in good order ; the cavalry covered the rear, 
and he reached Villarta with the loss only of four or five 
men. He has joined Urbina's main army at Valdepenas. 
The Spanish cavalry had greatly the advantage over 
the French. This circumstance has put them into great 
spirits here ; besides they consider this diversion as 
having operated in keeping Cuesta free from an attack, 
which from the force collecting at Talavera would probably 
have taken place almost immediately. Great complaints 

1 Shepherd. 

U2 



292 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

of Frere, whom they accuse of mauvaise foi, and say he 
has pushed the affair of landing troops at Cadiz with 
malignity. He wears the patience and takes up the 
time of the Junta in making long-winded speeches full 
of equivocal expressions in confused and unintelligible 
Spanish. Garay has resolved to conduct all business in 
future by notes. The Junta have peremptorily refused 
to allow the admission of ye English troops into Cadiz. 
Frere assured them arms were embarked on the 18th Dec. 
for Spain, and their not being arrived has filled them with 
suspicion against Frere, whom they suspect of asserting 
facts without having any authority to do so from his Govt. 

28th. — The English troops afloat before Cadiz are to 
return to Lisbon ! It seems now that Mr. Frere, who 
said he had no authority over them, can dispose of them 
as he likes. Jovellanos speaks of Frere's conduct as 
having been intricate and violent ; they all appear 
dissatisfied personally with him, because Apodaca's 
dispatches, which are subsequent to those Frere has 
received from his Govt., do not state the wishes of the 
English Ministry to be at all urgent with respect to the 
occupation of Cadiz by English troops. 

1st March, Wednesday. — Col. Doyle's last letter to 
Mr. Frere was dated 22nd Feb. Saragossa had not then 
fallen. He mentions their being in possession of positive 
information of French troops having left Spain. Mr. 
Tupper (the partner of Price, an English merchant at 
Valencia) writes from Valencia that several of the Swiss 
Cantons are in insurrection, as they do not choose to have 
Berthier imposed upon them for a King. 1 The French 
papers breathe war in very hostile articles against Austria. 
They give a copy of Hope's dispatch upon the embarka- 
tion at Coruha, at which, as he terms it victory, they very 

1 One of Berthier' s recent honours was his appointment as Sovereign 
Prince of Neufchatel. , 



1809] ARRIAZA 293 

fairly sneer, and hope the English may always enjoy 
such glories. 

Some persons think that it was the D. of Infantado's 
intention, had he succeeded in getting to Madrid instead 
of being so cruelly cut up at Ucles, to have in concer 
with Cuesta destroyed the Govt, of the Junta and re- 
stored the Council of Castile to its splendor and functions. 
He is the President of that Council, and Cuesta is also a 
member. 

2nd March. — A report of Castahos having been mur- 
dered in a village by the people on his way to Algeciras. 

Arriaza is a writer of considerable merit ; he published 
some pretty verses, and had lately rendered himself con- 
spicuous by the Prophecy of the Pyrenees, and a National 
Hymn in honor of the Battle of Baylen. He could not 
get away from Madrid when it was first occupied by the 
enemy, and he remained tolerably at his ease, in conse- 
quence of its being given out that all men of letters and 
science might remain and should be protected. He was 
to his dismay, however, informed that the French sought 
him and had resolved to shoot him. He escaped being 
arrested by his presence of mind, for on perceiving two 
suspicious men waiting for him at his house door, he 
passed on, took refuge with a friend, and got out of the 
town in the disguise of a mayoral. This was very difficult 
for him, as he is uncommonly short-sighted and wears 
spectacles constantly. He was suspected at Toledo, but 
after some risks and many alarms he arrived here about 
a week ago. Napoleon was accompanied in his journey 
into Spain by a clever man of the name of Edouville, a 
French emigrant, who had been kindly received in Spain 
when of the age of 12 years. This man, who is a mixture 
of literary and military character, has given him a great 
insight into Spanish manners and customs. He read 
aloud, and translated as he read, Capmany's first Centinela ', 



294 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

some passages he wished to skip, but Napoleon insisted 
upon the whole. Arriaza was a great friend of the 
O'Farril ; he is, like all the others who knew O'Farril, 
astonished at his conduct, and convinced that he is full 
of remorse for the mischief he unintentionally has caused. 1 
O'Farril, Mazarredo, Azanza, and Urquijo act together ; 
the other part of the Ministry headed by Cabarrus, whose 
adherents are Arriba, Romero, &c. Arriba is a man of 
very extraordinary talents, who owes his situation 
entirely to his own assurance and enterprise : his office 
is Grand Judge. Romero is a very able man, draughted 
from the corps of abogados, and is placed at the head of 
police. 

The French officers when among themselves and 
talking over the state of the war in Spain bore testimony 
universally to the military talents of Blake, whom they 
said after a severe day's fighting, in which he was out- 
numbered and obliged to retreat, never lost one piece of 
cannon ; and when he retreated at night he disappeared, 
and was always found the day following in the best 
position. After the battle of Zornoza, in which Blake 
showed great talents, Napoleon asked O'Farril, ' Who is 
that Blake ? ' ' Sire, c'est un bon militaire, et un parfait 
honnete homme.' 

Cuesta mentions in his poste that a French parlemen- 
taire appeared at the bridge and announced the fall of 
Saragossa. The report is not entirely discredited, tho' 
considered by Cuesta as an artifice of the enemy to 
ascertain the state of the bridge. Story of Castanos 
quite unfounded. He arrived at Algeciras amidst the 
applause of the people, who retained a grateful recol- 
lection of his good govt, when he commanded there. 

3rd March. — D. of Infantado came to us ; he is thin 
and altered. 

1 By taking service under the French. 



i8o 9 ] FALL OF ZARAGOZA 295 

4th March. — Cuesta relates, in his poste of to-day, 
a ridiculous circumstance, which if it was meant as 
a stratagem of the enemy to ascertain the state of the 
bridge, ended fatally for their employe. A man from the 
French posts appeared dressed like a priest when officiat- 
ing at mass, and announced himself a messenger from 
the Virgin. The sentinel levelled his piece, fired, and 
shot the holy ambassador dead. It was a whimsical 
incident and not very intelligible. 

$th. — Blake set off on Friday for Tarragona, by the 
way of Malaga, where he intended, if a good opportunity 
offered, to embark. A malicious story circulated against 
him, which had been even laid before the Junta, viz. 
of his sketching the fortifications from the summit of 
the Giralda, marking certain points, and expressing 
concern when the paper was carried off by a gust of wind. 
He had made an outline of the works. He was perfectly 
at liberty to do so, but Don Francisco Ferras, who 
ascended the Giralda in his company, declares the whole 
story to be a fabrication. Changes meditated in the 
Govt. ; Council of Castile likely to be revived. Talked of 
Infantado's views. Infantado obliged to go to Cadiz to 
his mother, who is unwell ; has promised to return as 
speedily as possible. 

yth March, Tuesday. — Saragossa fell on the 21st and 
22nd. 1 Palafox had given the command to St. March, 2 as 
he was attacked by the epidemic of which he was dying. 
Genl. O'Neille was dead, and St. March confined to his bed 
dying. The garrison from 30,000 men was reduced to 
5000 ; the general ration had long been 4 ounces of bread 
and a small allowance of oil. The French army was 

1 20th and 21st. Oman says that about 8000 peasants and soldiers 
marched out of the town. 

2 St. March's appointment was ill taken, and Palafox handed over 
the supreme command to a Junta of thirty-three persons. (Oman.) 



296 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

reduced to 16,000 men. The town yielded to the mode 
which the French pursued of undermining and blowing 
up every house in succession. 

Reding met with a smart check, and has been com- 
pelled to fall back upon Tarragona. He was wounded 
in 5 places. Col. Doyle also is ill of the contagion ; it is 
feared that in the Army of the Center there prevails an 
epidemic, and as they are ill provided with medicines 
and surgeons, there is great reason to fear it may occasion 
havoc and spread over the country. The enemy are 
withdrawing from the south of Madrid, and Cuesta writes 
that he shall construct pontoons in order to cross the 
Tagus, from which it should seem that both the bridges 
of Almaraz and Arzobispo are destroyed. The French 
fleet are out, 1 and they write from Cadiz that an English 
fleet under Duckworth is in pursuit of it. Arriaza came 
in eve., and was very pleasant. 

8th. — A mysterious letter from Gen. M. 2 who had 
informed me a few days ago that his destination was to 
the eastward, but that within 2 hours of giving me this 
notice he had received intelligence that the enemy were 
in a quarter where he did not know they were, and that 
he was going to meet them. 

A deputy arrived from the Asturias, which he left a 
fortnight ago. He represents the force there at about 
30,000 men, armed and disciplined, and ready to repulse 
the enemy at every point. 3 Cuesta is jealous of Romana 
having dignities which he claims as having been conferred 

1 This was the Brest fleet. It was partially destroyed by Lord 
Cochrane in the Basque Roads during a night attack on April II. 

2 General Mackenzie, the commander of the British force lying off 
Cadiz, which was now ordered to return to Lisbon, and join Wellesley's 
army. 

3 Mr. Oman mentions a dispatch (Frere to Lord Castlereagh) of 
March 24, in which it is stated that the Asturian Junta reported that 
they had over 20,000 men under arms. 



i8o 9 ] MANESCAN 297 

upon him by Fernando VII, the Captain-General of 
Castile, &c, &c. Lobo l came this eve. He left London 
on 22nd Feb. Jacome 2 and his nephew are also arrived. 
The arms and saddles will soon come. The day he left 
London it was generally believed that Lord Castlereagh 
was out, and Ld. Wellesley was to come in. 3 

Thursday, 9th March. — Dn. Francisco Ferras, Capmany, 
Rodenas, and Don Jose Manescan. 

Manescan 4 is a friend of Rodenas's. He is an oidor of 
Valencia, and distinguished himself considerably during 
the disturbances in that city, especially in his decision 
of character and readiness to punish offenders. He 
sentenced to death 38 offenders in one morning. They 
amply deserved punishment, as they were of those who 
had burst open the prison doors and butchered 300 
defenceless French prisoners, and were also instrumental 
in the murder of poor Saavedra. He is reckoned very 
clever, and full of fire and enthusiasm. He joined 
loudly in disapproving the mode of administering justice 
here, where a French spy detected and convicted is to be 
secretly strangled to-night in his prison, and his body to 
be exhibited to-morrow in the Plaza, with a label affixed 
to describe his quality, country, and offences. 

Cuesta is impatient for the arrival of the pontoons, 
which are prepared at Badajoz. He intends to pass 
the Tagus and give battle to the enemy. The Govt, 
have it in contemplation to decree a national mourning 



1 Don Rafael Lobo y Campo, Spanish sailor. He was sent to 
London in 1808 as secretary to the Mission from Seville, and remained 
as secretary at the Embassy. He put himself in communication with 
La Romana, in Denmark, and assisted in person in the escape of 
the Spanish troops. He died in 1816. 

2 A member of the Junta of Seville, and one of the deputies sent 
to England in 1808 to seek assistance against the French. 

3 As Secretary for Foreign Affairs in place of Canning. 

4 One of the Judges of the Supreme Court. 



298 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL parch 

for the loss of Saragossa of 9 days, public funeral orations, 
and extensive privileges to the town for its glorious and 
never-to-be-forgotten resistance. Quintana is busily- 
employed in composing this solemn and affecting appeal 
to the feelings of the public. The French have not 
ventured to enter the town yet, partly from fear of the 
epidemic, and perhaps some apprehension of the expiring 
hand of an unsubdued patriot. 

Jovellanos brought the Asturian deputy. The state 
of that principality is very promising. Ballesteros 
commands a division of 10,000 men ; l he is greatly 
beloved of the soldiers, who chose him by acclamation, 
and whenever he exposes his person they entreat him to 
be more cautious for their sakes, as without him they 
could do nothing. Matarosa, 2 &c, are at Gijon, and very 
active in these disturbances. Went to Mde. Osuna's ; 
Ld. Hd. and Ld. John to La Villa Manriques' tertulia. 
No particular news. 

Friday, 10th March. — Sr. Robt. Wilson still continues 
collecting men at Ciudad Rodrigo. By offers of reward 
he gets Polish and German deserters, and if they bring 
arms he adds considerably to the recompense. Genl. 
Sherbrooke and his troops are off Cadiz. 

Jovellanos has been occupied in preparing materials 
for the re-establishment of the Council of Castile, a 
revival which the Junta have in view. 3 He told me that 

1 Ballesteros' division was that part of the Asturian force which had 
not followed Blake to Leon after the battle of Espinosa, but had retired 
to their own mountains and remained quietly there. The Junta had 
been recruiting largely in the province and had nearly 20,000 men in 
April, but had done little or nothing towards the common cause.* This 
force was told off to watch Bonnet's division near Santander. 

2 The Conde de Toreno. 

3 The effete Council of Castile had seriously discredited its import- 
ance by the ignominious and unhesitating surrender to Napoleon's 
wishes in the matter of Joseph's appointment as King. It was super, 
seded by the Central Junta in Oct. 1808, after a long wrangle as to 
the legality of the powers of the newly elected body. 



i8o9] COUNCIL OF CASTILE 299 

it was an error to suppose that Council had any pernicious 
tendency agst. civil liberty : that previous to the formation 
of the Central Junta it had usurped powers it did not 
possess legally, but that the Cortes had always been a 
favorite object in it : that it was indispensable to have 
a tribunal of dernier report, and useful for the internal 
administration of affairs to have a supreme authority to 
superintend its political economy. 

Wednesday, 15th March, Seville. — Received a letter from 
Capt. Parker in which he informs me of his being in the 
Tagus, having brought out General Beresford l to Lisbon 
for the purpose of disciplining the Portuguese levies. 

Perez de Castro 2 is gone to succeed Tenorio as charge 
d'affaires from the Junta at Lisbon. He is a very 
clever man ; the first declaration of war from Aranjuez 
was written by him, and the whole of that celebrated 
work to which Cevallos has affixed his name is also his 
composition. 3 He also went in disguise to Bayonne and 
obtained an interview with Fernando VII, and facilitated 
the escape of some of his companions in the segretoria de 
estado. 4. 

The pontoons which are gone from Badajoz to Cuesta 
are magnificent of their kind ; they cost 14,000,000 reals. 
Upon the river Tietar there has been a little affair which 
terminated to the advantage of the Spaniards, who made 
several prisoners. Cuesta has now 22,000 men, well 
equipped and disciplined ; upwards of 2000 cavalry in 
excellent condition. His head-quarters are at Deleitosa 

1 William Carr Beresford (1768-1854), raised to the peerage in 
1814 as Lord Beresford. He took part in Sir John Moore's retraat, 
and having then returned to England with his troops, he was sent out 
to Portugal to reorganise the military forces of that country. 

2 Don Evaristo Perez de Castro. Arteche speaks of him as Spanish 
representative in Portugal. 

3 Lady Holland evidently refers to Cevallos' pamphlet on the 
affairs of Spain and the events of Bayonne, which he published in 
London in 1808. 4 State prison. 



300 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL parch 

to be nearer the enemy, who seem to be making some 
demonstrations towards the bridge of Almaraz. 

From the intercepted letters it appears that the French 
in Salamanca are ignorant of Soult's position in Galicia, 
from whence it is inferred that the Gallegos have cut off 
all communication between that army and the French 
corps which are dispersed about Castile. The Lively 
frigate went into Vigo, and cut out some English small 
craft which had been captured by the French. The 
country from thence to Santiago is in insurrection, and 
if the people had more arms and ammunition, they might 
make an effectual resistance to the French. The French 
attempted to cross the Mifio on boats ; the Portuguese 
allowed them to advance, and then opened a brisk fire from 
some masked batteries which they had erected. 1 Romana 
is still in the neighbourhood of Oimbra ; the accusations 
against him are numerous, the accusers respectable, and 
the points plausible. He learnt at Soreze too much of 
the French legerete, and I greatly fear his statements 
partake more of that quality than is befitting they should 
upon such important matters. 

xyth March, Friday. — Lord Carlos Doyle, for so he 
styles or allows himself to be styled, writes from 
Tortosa that the French have behaved with the greatest", 
inhumanity to their prisoners at Saragossa, stripped 
them literally naked, having robbed them of everything. 
Palafox is alive, and when able to be moved is to be 
conducted to Bayonne ; he was delirious when the 
French officer came to his bed-side, and was ignorant 
of the surrender of the city. 2 Reding is at present at 

1 This was on Feb. 16 at Campo Saucos, about two miles from the 
mouth of the river. The French failed ignominiously to effect a 
landing on the other bank. 

2 The French officer tried to insist on his signing orders for the 
surrender of two other towns, and when he refused threatened to have 
him shot. He was taken to France and confined in close captivity 
at Vincennes until the end of 1813. 



l8 o 9 ] LIBERTY OF THE PRESS 301 

Tarragona with 8000 men ; Lazan at Tortosa ; the 
French at Fraga. The French have fallen back in La 
Mancha to the neighbourhood of Yepes, Dos Barrios, 
and other villages, which they occupied before the affair 
at Mora. At Valencia there are 14,000 men embodied, 
but only 4,000 musquets to arm them with. The French 
fleet are in Basque roads, closely blockaded by Ld. 
Gambier. General Sherbrooke is arrived at Lisbon with 
the troops originally destined for Cadiz. The convoy 
with provisions and clothing for the Spanish army is 
arrived at Cadiz ; the arms unfortunately are not on 
board any of these vessels, tho' mentioned as belonging 
to that convoy. 

Hermida told Ld. Hd. that he had been making 
great exertions in the section of Grace and Justice to 
procure some modification, if not abrogation, of the 
decree against the Liberty of the Press ; but that not- 
withstanding all his efforts, he had hitherto been unsuc- 
cessful. His chief ally in the section is Jovellanos ; the 
principal opponents are Riquelme 1 and the Archbishop 
of Laodicea. 3 The latter is a narrow-minded, timid, 
feeble man, but being the only Archbishop in the Junta 
he is a sort of head of the clergy, and being also a member 
of the provincial Junta of Seville, he acts in the double 
capacity and has greater influence. Quintana represents 
Garay as being totally under the control of Jovellanos 
(but this I doubt) . Calvo 3 is one of the most able and 
eloquent men they have. He was originally a small 
merchant in Madrid ; he failed in his business. He 
placed himself by the side of Palafox in Saragossa, 
brought into the town amidst the balls of the enemy 
a timely supply of provisions. He wrote that famous 

1 One of the members from Aragon to the Central Junta. 

2 One of the members for Seville, and Bishop Coadjutor of that town. 

3 Don Lorenzo Calvo de Rozas, an intimate friend of Palafox, and 
his representative on the Council at Madrid in September. 



302 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

proclamation signed by Palafox, in which he makes 
Napoleon responsible for the safety of Ferdinand and 
throws out a hint of favor of some Austrian Prince. 1 
Upon his first admission to the Junta, it was expected 
that he would take the lead, but he lost himself entirely 
by making a proposition on behalf of Palafox, whom he 
proposed should be Regent. 

iSth March, Saturday. — The Council of Castile has been 
re-instated by a decree of the Junta, but the members 
who are to compose it have not been summoned, nor have 
the powers been defined. Infantado, who is the President, 
considers himself as slighted, whereas the re-establish- 
ment of it was, I believe, chiefly done with a view to 
please him and make him a station worthy of his conse- 
quence, and as a compensation for the loss of the command 
of the army. 

Dn. Francisco Saavedra is the Ministro de la Hacienda. 2 
He is a stout man, apparently about fifty-two or three, 
but he is in reality a year older than Jovellanos. The 
upper part of his face, his brow, is very fine and has the 
same commanding and animated character as that of the 
late Ld. Lansdown ; the lower features have a more set 
appearance, indicating a sort of suffering. This they 
have acquired since the severe illness he had, which the 
vulgar ascribed to poison administered by the Queen 
during his Ministry. The place he now holds is exces- 
sively laborious, and he quite sinks under the fatigue. 
It must be very ill organized, because he told us that 
full two hours every day, from 5 till 7, he employed solely 
in signing his name. 

When the Queen broke the Administration up, 
Jovellanos was sent into the Asturias and Saavedra 

1 This proclamation was issued at the time of the first rising in 
Zaragoza, and was dated May 31, 1808. See Arteche, vol. i. 405. 

2 Chancellor of the Exchequer. See ante, p. 116. 



i8o 9 ] SAAVEDRA 303 

exiled to Puerto Santa Maria. The intrigue which 
occasioned their downfall is not exactly known ; some 
ascribe their failure to Saavedra, who advised a line of 
conduct about the P. of the P., without activity and 
energy to enforce it. He recommended in order to get 
him out of the way, that he should be sent to travel with 
an honorable commission to all the Courts in Europe. 
The Queen, who tho' displeased, angry, and jealous, and 
wished him to be mortified, could not bear his absence, 
and to avoid parting sacrificed those very persons she 
had been exciting to act agst. Godoy. Jovellanos praises 
the integrity and candor of Saavedra, whom he seems to 
admire and love very affectionately. 

igth March, Sunday. — An extra-ordinary messenger 
arrived this morn, early from Cuesta with the alarming 
account that 12,000 Frenchmen had crossed the bridge of 
Arzobispo. The Spaniards behaved perfectly well ; they 
defended the river Ibor, and with great order and bravery 
retired to Campillo. 1 Cuesta is satisfied with the conduct 
of his troops. The French are without artillery, it being 
impossible to convey any across that bridge. Previous 
to dispatching the news hither, Cuesta had sent to apprise 
Albuquerque, who is at Ciudad Real, of the necessity of 
his supporting his right, which they hope A. will feel and 
advance without orders from Cartaojal's head-quarters. 
Cuesta has 4000 cavalry. The opinion and belief in the 
Govt, is that the French force on the line of the Tagus 
is not above 28 to 32,000 men, and not above 4000 
cavalry. Urbina, some say, already has 6000 cavalry. 

1 The French advance must have come somewhat as an unpleasant 
surprise to Cuesta, who had been himself gaily talking of advancing 
across the river. Victor crossed the Tagus on March 16 with Ruffin's 
and Villatte's divisions at Arzobispo, while Leval's Germans crossed 
at Talavera. The Spaniards under the Duque del Parque made a 
long and determined resistance against this combined force, but fled 
in confusion when the enemy came to close quarters. 



304 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

Cuesta, they say, writes in spirits ; he is at the Puerto de 
Mirabete. 

An officer who has made his escape from Saragossa, 
gives a melancholy acct. of the condition of the inhabitants 
and the state of the city. The latter is chiefly a heap 
of ruins, and the inhabitants are dying as rapidly as 
they did in Andalusia of the yellow fever. Lannes has 
placed guards in the churches in order to protect the 
plate, that no one may share the plunder with him. 

20th March, Monday. — M., Mde. Ariza dinner. Great 
anxiety prevailed for the arrival of intelligence from 
Cuesta, which was not of a nature to dispel alarm. The 
French have crossed at Almaraz, and their force altogether 
consists of 27,000 men, a force superior to Cuesta's. 
The bridge of Almaraz was yielded scandalously by 
Henestrosa, either from cowardice or treachery, but the 
other points were bravely fought. 1 Cuesta is afraid the 
enemy may attempt to push on and intercept him from 
Truxillo, where his magazines, &c, are. His plan was 
to abandon Mirabete and reach Truxillo last night, but 
there was a bare possibility of the enemy getting there 
before him. His intention is to fight his way through 
and reach the passes of the Sierra Morena, so as to cover 
Andalusia. The moment is critical : one false movement 
in tactics and the whole cause is lost. 

At length the arms are arrived at Cadiz, 30,000 
musquets, &c, &c. 

Jalon, an officer sent from Valencia, gives a good 
report of the state of the public mind there. They have 
4000 men armed with bad muskets, and 12,000 clothed, 

1 Henestrosa's position opposite Almaraz had become impossible 
owing to Victor's success at Meza de Ibor, and Oman states that 
Cuesta sent orders to his lieutenant to abandon the position. Cuesta's 
force retreated without danger to Truxillo, but Henestrosa only got 
away with difficulty, yet managed to inflict two decided checks on 
the enemy during his retreat. 



i8o 9 ] CUESTA'S RETREAT 305 

trained, and embodied who have none, and as many 
more enlisted who have no clothing and are not 
drilled. 

There is a foolish, prating Baron Crossard from the 
Austrians ; he has no mission, but is allowed to come in 
order to see the armies. According to the private letters 
and public papers, the English public are only occupied 
with the disgraceful business of the D. of York, 1 against 
whom some women of no character and some men of 
bad character have brought forth very severe charges 
of corruption if they should be substantiated. Spain, 
the reverses of the English army, and the failure of the 
measures of Ministers, seem all forgotten in the superior 
interest of examining women of the town at the Bar of 
the H. of Commons. 

21st March. — The news from Cuesta has revived the 
drooping and almost expiring hopes of the Spaniards. 
Cuesta began his retreat at £ past ten on the night of the 
18th from Mirabete ; he effected it in excellent order to 
Truxillo, without sustaining the loss of a single piece of 
cannon or any of his baggage or ammunition. His 
head-quarters were at Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and his 
avant guard at Truxillo ; the enemy had an advanced 
post at Torrecillas. His intention was to maintain 
himself at Sta. Cruz until he knew what were the move- 
ments of the army of Albuquerque in his favor. The 
opinion now is that the enemy are not in great force, that 
they hardly equal, and certainly do not exceed that of 
Cuesta. From great despondence, the spirits of the 
people are rising almost too much. 

Great complaints of the English military adventurers 
who go to the Spanish armies and interfere and meddle. 
Infantado sent away one when he discovered that he 

1 The scandal about Mrs. Clarke. 



306 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

was not employed by the English Govt. — a Col. Whitting- 
ham. The consequence has been that he has traduced 
and injured the Duke in every possible manner. 

23rd March. — Cuesta, conscious how exposed his situa- 
tion was if the French should advance and get on his rear, 
resolved to fall back and avoid active operations, in 
order that the Army of the Center might have full oppor- 
tunity to pursue its operations. He found considerable 
difficulty in repressing the ardor of his troops, who are 
very desirous of advancing in this affair as well as in 
that of Consuegra. 1 It is evident that the Spanish 
cavalry is far superior to that of the French. 

Albuquerque left Ciudad Real at \ past four in 
morning on the 19th, with the intention of proceeding 
to Guadalupe to support Cuesta. Urbina was to follow 
up this movement, and to attack the French at Toledo, 
where they are said to be 700 weak ; but I much fear the 
Spaniards are sanguine and credulous about the forces of 
their enemies. Ld. Hd. has had a letter from Romana. 
He was attacked at Chaves by a considerable force, and 
at the close of the affair they came to the bayonet ; 
he has fallen back. Ciudad Rodrigo is terrified, and 
an attack is hourly expected. 

Cuesta continues retreating, he has fallen back upon 
Medellin, where he intends to maintain himself to give 
scope to the movements of the Central Army. The Spanish 
cavalry has again had a brilliant pursuit and victory 
over the enemy at Miajadas ; 2 the regts. Infante and 
Almanza are named for their bravery. Cuesta adds that 
but for the appearance of a column of infantry, the 

1 See ante, pp. 289-291. Cuesta was awaiting two valuable reinforce- 
ments, hence his unusual show of caution. 

2 This was the second of two successful skirmishes with the enemy, 
which were planned by Henestrosa during his retreat. The French lost 
over 150 men killed and wounded. The first took place on the 20th 
at Berrocal. 



l8 o 9 3 CUESTA'S RETREAT 307 

enemy would have lost every horseman. These regts. 
are part of Romana's dismounted cavalry who were 
in Germany, and left this place about a fortnight 
ago equipped and tclerably mounted. This skirmish 
happened on 21st. 

The 40th regt. 1 have orders to march to Elvas next 
Monday. Gen. Sherbrooke has about 4000 men freshly 
arrived at Lisbon. Cornel, the Minister of War, applied 
to the English Minister, Frere, to allow the 40th to take 
the post of Sta. Ollala ; I know not what has been the 
answer. Great succours in clothing, &c, are arrived at 
Lisbon from England ; the people are quite enraptured. 

Blake is to be appointed Capt.-Genl. of Aragon and 
Valencia, and to have one half of Lazan's army put under 
his command, and to collect near Teruel. Very pleasing 
accts. of the successes of the somatenes and miqueletes 
in Catalonia. Two thousand men have advanced from 
Sta. Ollala to join Cuesta, 2 and the same number of 
raw troops have gone from hence to supply their place 
at Sta. Ollala. They write from Gibraltar and Cadiz 
that in an English frigate which passed the straits an 
Austrian and Russian courier were on board. Good news 
if true : great rumours of Austrian war. 

24^ March. — Duque del Infantado, Chev. Ardelberg, 
Arriaza, Dn. Francisco Ferras y Cornel. Cuesta's poste of 
to-day is still dated from Medellin, but it is supposed that 
he intends to fall back upon Campanario, in order to secure 
his junction with the Duke of Albuquerque, who on the 
16th left Ciudad Real and joined Gen. Echavarria at 
Almodovar del Campo. Their corps united consisted of 
8000 infantry and 500 cavalry, and it is reported, for 
it is not authentic, that his advanced guard was in 

1 The British regiment which had been sent from Elvas to Seville 
in February. See ante, p. 254. 

2 Three regiments from Badajoz under the Marques de Portago. 

x 2 



308 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

Guadalupe on the 21st. 1 Urbina has marched towards 
Aranjuez with 4 or 5,000 cavalry and flying artillery. 
The infantry and remainder of his army will follow ; 
they were in Valdepehas and Manzanares. The French 
south of Madrid are said to be considerably weakened 
and disheartened. 

Freire, the Galician, called with Sangro this eve. 
He reports unfavorably of Romana's conduct and of the 
state of his army. 

It is not accurately known how many French have 
crossed the Tagus ; Cuesta at a rough guess estimates them 
at 26,000. Those who know Cuesta are very much 
pleased at a little trait of liveliness, a disposition very 
foreign to his nature in general ; for when he dispatched 
the courier who arrived to-day, he gave him himself 
the dispatches and gravely asked what he thought of his 
army, adding ' Diga a Sevilla que no tengan cuidado.' 2 
The Junta are perfectly aware that the first fruits of a 
victory will be their complete annihilation. Cuesta will 
fall unmercifully upon them and assume the Govt, 
himself. Already some of his officers write loudly in 
his praise, and of the necessity of constituting him 
generalisimo. 

i^th March. — My birthday. Cuesta dates from Cam- 
panario on the 23rd. His nephew had come from the 
advanced guard of Albuquerque, which was within 4 
leagues of him. Cuesta intended to go on to Higuera 
to meet Albuquerque who was at El Valle. That district 
is remarkably fruitful and abundant, and will furnish 
viveres 3 and straw, especially for the cavalry, and it is 

1 Albuquerque does not seem to have picked up any of Echavarria's 
force, and joined Cuesta with the seven regiments of infantry and one 
of cavalry from Cartaojal's force — a little over 4000 men in all. Arteche 
says that Cuesta expected a reinforcement of at least 10,000 men. 

2 ' Tell Seville not to be afraid.' 

3 Provisions. 



i8o 9 ] FALL OF ZARAGOZA 309 

chiefly on that acct., to replenish his supplies, that he 
goes thither. 

Various rumours about Romana and his army ; 
some say he is already at Astorga on his way to the 
Asturias. At Chaves there is reason to fear he conducted 
himself very ill sans coupferir. 1 He as usual has quarrelled 
with those he acted with, and Silveira the Portuguese 
general and he mutually accuse each other of great 
errors. 

Went in the evening to the Condesa de Condamina's, 
Jovellanos, Freres, and D. of Osuna. Jovellanos has 
been confined to his house nearly a week with a painful 
complaint, a divieso or boil, in his thigh. I had refrained 
from calling out of discretion, but I longed so much once 
more to enjoy the charms of his conversation, that I went. 
He is cheerful, and was very pleasant. Hermida's daughter 
is just arrived from the neighbourhood of Saragossa. 
Had the besieged possessed a greater stock of gunpowder, 
they might have destroyed the French who had lodged 
themselves in the convent of St. Augustin by undermining 
them, but their quantity was very small, and all they used 
was manufactured in the town. The epidemic raged 
universally. Ten canons of the Cathedral died, and 
when this was alleged as a reason for capitulating, 
Palafox still protested in favor of death to infamy. 
The French in order to conciliate the Aragonese have 

1 La Romana' s refusal to leave Spain and enter Portugal to assist 
Silveira, the Portuguese general, certainly had the appearance of 
cowardice and treachery, especially as neither they nor their men were 
on good terms. But in reality it was the wisest line La Romana 
could have taken. He was thus enabled to draw off his force, which was 
hardly fit to take the open field, practically unharmed, and could place 
himself on Soult's flank and rear — the very position from which 
the latter had wished to dislodge him. His skeleton rear-guard, it 
is true, was intercepted and dismembered by Franceschi, but his main 
force was safe, and keeping within the Spanish boundaries he moved 
by easy stages into Galicia, 



3 io LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL p a rch 

declared that Saragossa shall be exempted for 6 years 
from all contributions whatever, that all the monasteries 
shall be abolished and the edifices demolished, so that 
the materials may be used by the inhabitants to repair 
and rebuild their houses destroyed by the siege. Palafox, 
they say, in the infirm state of health in which he is, was 
compelled to go to his balcony and view the execution 
of his friend and preceptor, Dn. Ignacio de Asso. They 
required the Auxiliary Bishop to preach a sermon of 
thanksgiving for the conquest in the church of Our 
Lady del Pilar. He is a clever man, and will either not 
comply or do it in a tone that will not please. 

26th March. — Cuesta's -poste of the 24th is from La 
Serena, and the junction with Albuquerque is considered 
as effected. The distance between them is only 4 leagues, 
and the officers ride over from head-quarters. The 
enemy seem to have remained without any change of 
position at Miajadas. Cuesta has received intelligence 
of the enemy having sent out of Madrid on the 14th 
12 pieces of heavy cannon for battering walls. This 
ordnance is coming down to the army of Estremadura, 
and Cuesta is convinced that they intend to besiege 
Badajoz ; he rejoices at this probability, as he is confident 
that he shall be able to cut off their retreat and seize 
their magazines. Ferras is all eagerness that Cuesta 
should attack without delay, as the Spaniards do not 
fight so well when they wait to be attacked. He reckons 
the force of that army now with Albuquerque, the 
supplies from Badajoz, St. Ollala, and this place, 33,000 
effective men. 

Very contradictory rumours about Romana ; some 
say he is recalled and coming here, others that he is at 
Astorga, and some say at Lugo. He has quarrelled with 
the Portuguese, and the whole of his conduct betrays 
a degree of flightiness that has hurt him in the opinion of 



i8o 9 ] CUESTA'S PLANS 311 

those most disposed in his favor. His intendente, Heras, 
is the man who in fact does all. 

2jth March. — The French have not advanced beyond 
Miajadas, but from some observations of the spies they 
were preparing to go on to Merida. The French have 
evacuated Reus in Cataluha, and a few of their regts. 
have returned to France ; this gives great strength to 
the report of an Austrian war. 

Quintana gave a curious acct. of the fears of the 
Govt, in case Cuesta should gain an important victory ; 
indeed so fully are they aware of their own weakness and 
unpopularity that to avoid Cuesta's seizing upon the 
Govt., they would at the time of announcing publicly 
his successes issue an edict for assembling the Cortes. 
This Garay told him yesterday was resolved upon. 

By a letter from Valdepehas, it appears that Cartaojal 
has surprised and routed a Polish regt. of cavalry at 
Yebenes. 1 

28th. — We dined with Jovellanos, who is still confined 
to his house. Our party consisted of Garay, Campo 
Sagrado, Hermida, and the two nephews of Jovellanos. 
Cartaojal has found, as I always dreaded, the enemy 
much stronger in the Mancha, and accordingly the 
scheme of reaching Toledo is renounced. The enemy 
are in great numbers at and about Consuegra. Garay 
had received accts. from Portugal that about 17,000 
French had penetrated to Braga and were advancing 
upon Oporto. The populace at Oporto had risen 
in a most disorderly manner, broke open the house 
of Bernardino Freire, and murdered him and his 

1 This was the most northerly point reach by Cartaojal in his 
foolhardy dash on Toledo. It is true he routed this Polish outpost 
and killed or took ioo men, but he was forced to retreat to Ciudad 
Real on Sebastiani's approach. The latter then most unexpectedly 
pressed forward towards that town, and in the rout which ensued 
the Spanish troops were very severely handled before they could 
reach the shelter of the mountains. 



312 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [March 

aide-de-camp. 1 Poor man! they accused him of being a 
traidor, the common cry when the armies fly, as those 
of the Portuguese do generally. The runaways said 
nothing but the want of powder prevented them from 
gaining a complete victory over the French. 

29^. — Cuesta in his poste of the 27th complains of 
the small numbers furnished by the Andalusian armies ; 
the force brought by Albuquerque not exceeding 3500 
infantry and 300 cavalry, in lieu of 8 or 9,000 men promised 
to him. The advanced guards have been engaged with 
the French near Medellin, and it is said that a column 
of the enemy has been detached towards Merida. Garay 
told us that Cuesta was very much discontented at the 
smallness of the succours, and wrote excessively out 
of humour. 

Cartaojal is much censured by the Junta for advancing 
without his infantry, having left it at Valdepenas without 
instructions how it was to march. Garay spoke warmly 
against him and said it should be a severe carga. 2 

30th March. — Cartaojal writes a confused and unintelli- 
gible letter from the Venta de Carolina. A division of his 
army under Moreno, has been attacked and defeated ! In 
consequence of which he made the whole army retreat 
to Viso and Sta. Cruz. Thus this army, which was to 
seize Toledo and conquer Madrid, has fallen back upon 
the Sierra Morena. The cavalry he entrusted to the 
most inefficient general, Perellos, but omits mentioning 
where they were. The Junta of armament has removed 
back to Carolina. 

The poste of Cuesta did not come in at the usual hour. 

1 Bernardino Freire was murdered by the populace at Braga, not 
at Oporto. He was dragged to his death from the gaol, where his 
second-in-command, Baron Eben, chosen by the troops as his successor, 
had placed him in the hope of saving his life. He had certainly shown 
little courage or foresight in his efforts to oppose the advance of the 
enemy, - Reprimand, 



i8o 9 ] MEDELLIN 313 

31s/. — The accts. arrived very late from Cuesta last 
night, bringing the acct. of a most disastrous result from 
a successful and brilliant commencement. On the 28th, 
between Don Benito and Medellin, he attacked the 
enemy, and had at first greatly the advantage ; his 
infantry and artillery drove the French in every direction, 
but a regt. of cavalry called by that inauspicious name 
for Spain, Maria Luisa, yielded to a charge of the French 
cavalry, and nothing but confusion and disorder ensued. 1 
Cuesta was thrown from his horse and bruised, but did 
not sustain any material injury. He writes that had he 
died he should have at last had the satisfaction of seeing 
the French turn their backs. He was nearly taken, and 
to avoid it threw off his general's uniform and put on the 
coat of a private soldier. 

An officer from Cartaojal's army says his loss did not 
exceed 800 men. 3 Those prisoners taken at Yebenes 
are brought away, but it was from all accts. a disgraceful 
retreat, and shows a complete want of all military know- 
ledge and common presence of mind on the part of 
Cartaojal. 

April 1st, Seville. — We were to have set off to-day, 

1 Victor drew up his army in front of the town of Medellin, and 
Cuesta placing all his troops in the front line, which allowed only 
four men deep, advanced without any reserve, with the intention of 
enveloping the French by their longer front. At first the Spanish 
tactics were successful and the French were forced back, but as soon as 
their advance was checked the thin Spanish line wavered and fell 
into confusion. After this the end soon came, and though the Spanish 
cavalry to a large extent escaped owing to their cowardly behaviour, 
the infantry were decimated by the French cavalry. The Spanish 
losses were probably about 8000 men. 

Mr. Oman states that it was the 3 regiments on the left flank which 
behaved so badly and threw their comrades into disorder. These 
were the 2 regiments from La Romana's army, and a Toledo regiment 
which rode over Cuesta. He also mentions that the Maria Luisa 
regiment was in the centre of the line, and behaved well in preserving 
some of the right wing from the French. 

2 Arteche computes the casualties in this action at 2000, besides 
the same number of prisoners. 



314 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

but the violence of the rain, thunderstorms, &c., pre- 
vented us. Cuesta writes from Campillo on the 30th. 
He was too sanguine as to collecting his dispersos. The 
cavalry were ordered to Llerena, he was to put his cartel- 
general in Berlanga, and he intended to form a semi-circle 
in order to collect the fugitives. Jovellanos has recom- 
mended some salutary and judicious measures to the 
Junta ; his moderation and firmness at this juncture is 
very striking, and he may easily derive a greater degree 
of influence from it over his terrified colleagues than he 
acquired in their days of prosperity. He has advised 
great publicity towards the people, and publication of 
all the posies as they arrive. 

Garay read a letter from Lisbon in which he is informed 
of the retaking of Chaves by the Portuguese general 
Silveira, who surprised a corps of French who had been 
left at Chaves ; 1 they have killed 200 of them, and driven 
the rest into a castle where they cannot maintain them- 
selves above three days. 

2nd April. — Just as we were going to set off, I was 
taken ill rather in an alarming manner and obliged to 
go to bed. 

Cuesta's last poste is written in a very desponding 
state. He is at Berlanga and means to proceed to 
Llerena, but is not sanguine at all as to the probability 
of collecting together as numerous a force as he had 
expected. The French entered Merida on 30th and 

1 Chaves had been taken by Soult early in May, after La Romana 
had moved away and left Silveira to his fate. The latter had collected 
the remnants of his army in the mountains, when the French advanced 
on Oporto, and on the very day that Soult defeated Eben at Braga 
Silveira reappeared at Chaves with 6000 men. Only one company of 
able-bodied Frenchmen had been left there, the remainder being either 
sick or unreliable legionaries. The commandant retired into the 
citadel, but surrendered after 5 days, when 1200 men fell into the 
hands of the Portuguese. 

See Appendix B. 



l8o9 ] CARTAOJAL'S RECALL 315 

remained there on ye 31st. He still believes their object 
is Badajoz. All the assistance which can be given is 
sent from hence already. 

Albuquerque arrived this evening from Cuesta's 
army. Mr. Jackson brought us an acct. from Alicant 
written by the Austrian Consul that Ld. Collingwood 
had issued orders that Russian vessels were not to be 
detained. Russian vessels in the Tagus preparing for 
sea. 

yd. — Cuesta's cavalry are almost all assembled at 
Llerena, but unfortunately his infantry come slowly. 
He is to retreat towards St. Ollala. The French ad- 
vanced parties for foraging have been as far as Almen- 
dralejo. He still believes the French intend to attack 
Badajoz. 

The accts. of Cartaojal's army are as bad as possible. 
He made a scandalous retreat before an inferior force. 
The Junta are so much displeased at this conduct that 
he is to be recalled immediately, and Cuesta is appointed 
Commander-in-Chief, with Albuquerque ad interim 2nd- 
in-command, until Venegas l can be found, who has 
been confined by illness at Valencia. The Junta have 
appointed the Archbishop of Mexico to be Viceroy of 
that country ; Cisneros, who is already there, to be the 
Viceroy of Buenos Ayres, and another marine officer who 



1 General Francisco Venegas, who as Infantado's second-in-com- 
mand was actually in charge of the force defeated at Ucles. He may 
not have been entirely to blame in this action, as his commander 
left him unsupported in the face of a vastly superior force of the 
enemy. All authorities, however, agree in belittling his military skill, 
and in all probability the ' Army of the Center ' was exchanging a better 
commander for a worse. Colonel Whittingham writes from Aldea del 
Rio on April 9 : ' General Venegas has taken command of the army of 
Sierra Morena, and the Count of Orgaz that of the division on their 
march to join General Cuesta and which will pass through Seville. 
The D. of Albuquerque having no longer any command will return 
in a few days to Seville.' {Holland House MSS.) 



316 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ap rii 

has conducted himself well, to Caraccas. They had, at the 
formation of their Junta, desired the American provinces 
to elect deputies to represent them in the Junta. 

4th April. — Cuesta still at Llerena with a very small 
number of infantry. He ascribes their dilatoriness to the 
swelling of the torrents, which must have prevented their 
joining. The enemy remain at Merida. 

Cartaojal's magazines have fallen into the hands of 
the enemy, and the want of forage has compelled him 
to place his cavalry at Ubeda. 

$th April. — Cuesta has placed his head-quarters at 
Monasterio, and placed advanced guards at Fuente de 
Cantos and Santos. The French have been at Zafra. 
The French have evacuated Viso and Visillo in La Mancha. 
Vives writes that he keeps the French escarmentado 1 
about Ciudad Rodrigo, that Romana is at Ponferrada, and 
Brigadier Wilson at Alcantara. Romana Ferras calls 
the duende ; 2 he is here, there, and everywhere. The 
Portuguese have taken the castle in which the French 
had shut themselves up after the affair of Chaves. The 
Gallegos have summoned Vigo, and only given the 
French 24 hours to consider, which they must from the 
smallness of their numbers comply with. 3 A party of 
400 cavalry have summoned Badajoz ; the Governor 
made a spirited and vaunting reply. 

6th April. — Cuesta mentions that the enemy has re- 
treated from Almendralejo and gone in the direction of 
Lobon and Talavera. Cornel, the Minister of War, thinks 
the Governor of Badajoz is a man of firmness but totally 
without talents. From a note which Campo Sagrado 



1 Beaten troops. 2 Will-o'-the-wisp. 

3 Vigo was blockaded by the Galicians soon after Soult's advance 
into Portugal. They were assisted by two English frigates, which 
arrived on March 23. Five days later the French surrendered, stipu- 
lating only that they should remain prisoners in British hands. 



i8o 9 ] CUESTA'S ARMY 317 

wrote to me this eve., it appears that the official return 
of the state of Cuesta's army is as follows : 2971 cavalry, 
6702 infty., besides 200 cavalry soldiers without 
horses. 1 He has also from 3 to 4,000 recruits, and at St. 
Ollala there are more. His dispersos are assembling, 
and many have reached Cordoba already. 

yth April. — Before I set off, I went to take leave of 
Jovellanos, who is still confined by his boil. He seemed 
very much concerned at our going. Nothing had arrived 
from the armies ; however he promised to let us hear 
regularly the bulletins from thence. We quitted Seville 
at 2 o'clock ; I never felt more regret at leaving a place, 
the loss of society, and interesting information. It reA. 
minded me of the going out of the late Ministry, as to 
me the chief pleasure of their being in office was that I 
knew sooner and better what was going on. 

11th April. — Entered Cadiz at \ past four. Duff and 
Lobo called. Went to the play. Dss. of Hijar and 
Fernan Nunez came to see me in my box. 

13th April, Cadiz. — This place so insufferable that as 
we cannot go by Gibraltar, we have wisely determined 
upon returning to Seville for 10 days. Admiral Purvis 
called ; very obliging, and promised assistance about 
frigates, &c. We cannot embark till after 7th May. 
Dined at the Dss. of Infantado's. 

15th April. — Set off with great satisfaction from 
Cadiz. Slept at Pta. Santa Maria. 

16th, Pta. Santa Maria. — Set off at 12, the weather 
not too hot, and going in a northerly direction made it 
very pleasant, as the sun was not so powerfully upon 
my head. News from armies continues good, as far as 
great force being collecting. Cuesta, with the army of 



WS J These figures tally closely with those in a letter from D' Urban to 
Cradock, quoted by Mr. Oman, of date April 8. 



3 i8 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

the Carolina which is now passing through Seville, will 
have 26,000 infantry, and 6000 cavalry. 1 Victor is 
entrenching himself at Medellin. After dinner called 
upon Mrs. Gordon ; her daughter Mrs. Dos very pleasing. 
Complaints agst. Frere universal ; Spaniards full as much 
as English. They want an Ambassador and a man of 
consideration and rank. Mr. Cranstoun said the com- 
plaints were so strong that application had already been 
made for his recall. 

zyth April, 1809, Xeres. — Set off from thence at I before 
11 ; met Mr. Gordon equipped in the Andaluz peasant 
dress, well-mounted, waiting to show his farm, which 
lies partly by the road-side, and is very extensive ; he 
manages it under the direction of a Scotch bailiff. The 
weather was very cold. Spoke, at the Venta del Cuervo, 
to Major Evatt on his return from Seville to Gibraltar. 
The only news from Seville is that Urbina cannot be found ; 
some think he has absconded to the enemy, others that 
the Govt, wish him to escape punishment, and have 
connived at his concealing himself in some convent. The 
popular feeling is very strong against him. 

igth April, Seville. — Jovellanos and Ferras to dinner. 
Eve., Quintana, Capmany, Perico came ; Wiseman, 2 
Col. Whittingham. The latter accompanies the D. of 
Albuquerque, who is now here but on his way to join 
Cuesta with a reinforcement of 7000 infantry and near 
3000 cavalry. Venegas has still from 15 to 16,000 
effective infantry and 1500 cavalry. The French are 
entrenching themselves at Merida ; they have been 
re-inforced by 6000 men from Salamanca, who on their 
way took possession of the bridge of Alcantara, in conse- 
quence of the Junta of Badajoz having withdrawn, when 

1 These figures nearly tally with Napier's account. Mr. Oman gives 
20,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry as the correct estimate. 

2 See ante, p. 58, 



l8 o 9 ] MEDELLIN 319 

their town was threatened with a siege, their forces from 
thence. 1 

Pedro Giron very much improved ; manly, military 
appearance, greatly esteemed in the army, and beloved 
by his officers and soldiers. The opinion of the best 
informed military men is against the translation of the 
war from La Mancha to Estremadura ; in the latter 
the cavalry cannot be subsisted so well, and the present 
positions are unfavorable to their operations. Wiseman 
criticized Cuesta's mode of attack, the disposing the 
army in a long line without a corps of reserve, and his 
cavalry, with the exception only of 200, all on one wing. 
This was the case at Medellin and will ever be his tactics, 
as he is obstinate and determined upon persevering in 
his own plan. The steadiness of the infantry was aston- 
ishing, and even with the hottest fire playing upon them 
they continued advancing with greatest firmness and 
regularity. The loss of the Spaniards is estimated at 
5000, that of the French at 3000. 3 All concur in believ- 
ing that the result of a pitched battle will always be 
fatal to the Spaniards from the superior discipline and 
manoeuvres of French, but that in skirmishes and guerrillas 
they will always succeed, both in infantry and cavalry. 
W. speaks handsomely of Venegas, tho' all Albuquerque's 
partisans are discontented at present with him. He 
throws the whole blame of the affair of Ucles on the D. 
of Infantado ; that action was the most fatal to the 
Spaniards. They lost 9000 of their best infantry, 
including the greater part of veteran regts., which were 

1 This was Lapisse's division, which had been kept inactive near 
Salamanca by Wilson's small force for two months. They reached 
Merida on April 19. Alcantara was sacked and the inhabitants treated 
with the utmost cruelty. 

2 Mr. Oman computes the Spanish losses to have been at the lowest 
7500. There is great uncertainty about those of the French. Semele 
and Jourdan put them at 300, others at 4000 and 2000. 



320 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ap rii 

surrounded and entirely cut off. Venegas had frequently 
apprised Infantado of his danger and that he should 
inevitably be surrounded ; he even sent an aide-de-camp 
to head-quarters at Cuenca to expose his situation, but 
he neither received assistance nor a reply to his applica- 
tion. The enemy were three times his number when they 
attacked him. 

All parties agree that nothing could be more scandalous 
than the flight of Cartaojal, who fled from an enemy but 
one-third equal to himself. All the letters from Cataluna 
and Aragon state the retreat of the French. Blake in 
his letter to Ferras corroborates this report, and adds 
that many corps of their army have passed through 
Irun. 1 Jaca, in Aragon, was sold to them by the treachery 
of the commanding officer. 

20th April, Seville. — Intercepted correspondence has 
been brought in ; the letters of most interest are from 
King Joseph and Jourdan to the French commanders, 
especially to Sebastiani. Joseph declares it is not his 
intention that any operation against Seville should take 
place until Victor has communicated with Soult, and 
then the attack is to be a combined one from Estremadura 
and La Mancha. 2 A Visconde de Quintanilla, 3 who is 
just come from Lisbon, declares that the English army 
amounts to 25,000, a fact much to be doubted. Frere 
has an official account of 14,000 men, but no more. 

An officer who had escaped from Aragon gave many 
instances of the cruelty of the French towards their 
prisoners. The garrison of Saragossa was marched to 

1 The result of the Austrian war. 

2 This was Napoleon's own plan of campaign. Soult was to capture 
Oporto, communicate with Victor when nearing Lisbon, join with him 
in Estremadura after capturing the Portuguese capital, and advance 
in combination against Seville. 

3 Deputy for Leon. His information as to the numbers of the 
British was quite correct. 



i8o9] DUKE OF ALBUQUERQUE 321 

Bayonne with a French column, the prisoners who halted 
and could not keep pace with them were shot ; he saw 
140 lying dead on the road. This fact corroborated by 
Whittingham and Don Francisco. 

It is in agitation amongst the members of the Junta 
to take some steps towards convoking the Cortes. A 
decree or manifesto sketched by Garay is to be drawn 
up by Quintana, and to be published immediately. This 
excellent measure is owing to our venerable friend 
Jovellanos, who has never ceased urging the necessity 
of the proceeding. However the period of the assembling 
of the Cortes will be remote, one year at least. 

21st April. — Perico brought the D. of Albuquerque, 
whom I was glad to see. He is low in stature, his head is 
full one-fifth of his height, his long face does not afford 
a very intelligent countenance ; his eyes are remarkably 
small but rather lively, fair light hair. His manner de- 
noted neither the silliness of character imputed to him 
by many, nor the great superiority of talent ascribed 
to him by others. He complained of Cartaojal not 
having given him the detachment he was ordered to 
supply, which if he had obtained, the battle of Medellin 
would have been a second Baylen. 

The French have abandoned the bridge of Alcantara, 
and the Spaniards, Portuguese, and a few English under 
Sr. Robt. Wilson have taken possession of it. The 
Conde de Montijo, 1 who was arrested at Granada for an 
absurd tumult excited by himself to invest him with 
the authority of Capt. -General, is arrived here ; the 

1 D. Eugenio Eulalio Portocarrero y Palafox, VII Conde de 
Montijo, son of Don Felipe Antonio Palafox and Da. Maria Francisca 
de Sales Portocarrero y Zuniga, Condesa de Montijo in her own right. 
A turbulent, discontented reactionary, he was always at the head of any 
movement directed against the more sober members of the Junta. 
In this case, he was banished for the time being, first to Badajoz (not 
San Lucar, as is stated by Arteche), 

Y 



322 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

whole affair was so foolish that it will not lead to any 
consequences. 

22nd April. — The guerrillas of Cuesta have made a 
handsome prize, 14,000 merinos belonging to the Conde del 
Campo de Alonge, which were going with French pass- 
ports to the north of Spain, also a number of brood mares. 

2yd. — Dined at Jovellanos'. Party consisted of 
Garay, Campo Sagrado, Jovellanos' nephews. Garay 
very much delighted at the approbation bestowed upon 
him for the share, and it seems to have been a powerful 
one, in bringing about the measure in favor of the Cortes, 
his mind being well imbued with Jovellanos' opinions 
upon that subject. For Jovellanos, besides his declaration 
at Aranjuez, had very recently during his late illness 
delivered in again in writing his opinion. He had 
proposed a few nights ago without any previous concert 
in the Junta the convoking the Cortes. Campo Sagrado 
told me that he occupied himself with observing the 
effect produced upon the countenances of many present 
who had, under the influence of Florida Blanca, rejected 
the proposition for assembling Cortes when proposed 
at Aranjuez by Jovellanos, 1 and he observed great 
surprise, but no very decided opposition. Calvo who 
had rejected the scheme at Aranjuez, upon finding it 
likely to be carried, adopted the plan with eagerness 
and made a flaming speech, declaring that unless the 
measure was adopted by the Junta he would take minutes 
of the proceedings and lay before the public the salutary 
scheme which had been rejected by them. The most 
hostile to the project are Valdes, the Archbishop, and 
Riquelme, whom Jovellanos calls an athlete against it ; 
there are also several others. Campo Sagrado described 
the meeting at Aranjuez upon the subject to have been 
very animated ; a dispute arose between Jovellanos 

1 During the early sessions of the Supreme Junta. 



l8o9 ] QUESTION OF THE CORTES 323 

and Florida Blanca, in which the former was about 
resigning, and would have done so but for the disasters 
of the campaign. 

Calvo is a suspected character, always ready to fall 
into the current and with sufft. dexterity to see in time 
which way it is likely to flow. 

Jaca, in Aragon, which had been sold to the enemy 
by the treachery of its Governor, has been retaken by 
the inhabitants headed by the apothecary of the town. 
Fresh reports of the French withdrawing from Spain. 

Sebastiani has written to Jovellanos and Saavedra with 
offers of accommodation, telling them the cause of the 
insurgents is lost, &c. I have copies of the letters. 

25th. — Jovellanos, Garay, Quintana, Rodenas dined. 
Ferras, eve. Garay very lively and amusing ; a quick, 
open, frank, clever man. 

Reding so ill of the epidemical disease which rages in 
his army that his life is despaired of, and the command 
of the army is assumed by Coupigny. The manifesto 
and decree which is drawn up by Quintana is at present 
undergoing ye considerations of the section of the Junta. 
It is reckoned too long and rather full of poetry. Some 
ascribe the acquiescence on the part of the Junta to the 
fear of Cuesta. 

26th. — Nothing fresh from either of the armies. 
French couriers are daily intercepted, and the valise 
containing the letters is brought here ; 100 doblones is 
the reward. The armed peasantry contrive to kill even 
the hussars who escort them. Victor has received rein- 
forcements from La Mancha. The French are said to 
have collected a force of 18,000 men at Saragossa. 

2jth. — Ld. Hd. and Ld. John dined at the regimental 
mess of ye 40th regt. Ferras and Perico eve. Ferras gave 
a statement of the force at the armies. The French have 
evacuated Barcelona, taking with them all their plunder 



324 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [April 

and prisoners, leaving only a small garrison in the 
Ciudadela. It is said they have shaped their course 
towards France by the way of Vich. Coupigny has 
detached a corps under Wimpfen to annoy them on 
their march, and the somatenes are very active. 1 

28th. — Six valises have been brought to Govt, within 
4 days. In Estremadura the peasantry are formed into 
regular bodies who harass the enemy and cut off their 
communications in every direction and intercept their 
correspondence. These lost letters are of use to Cuesta, 
by giving the military details of the positions of the force 
of artillery, &c, and their intended movements. A corps 
of 1400 men has been sent from Victor's army towards 
Caceres, and another detachment is gone to Madrid. 

29th. — Jovellanos gave us the news of the arrival 
of Sr. Arthur Wellesley at Lisbon. 2 General Doyle 
who, par parenthese, was never within hearing of a 
musket being fired off, gave some acct. of Saragossa. 
The artillera, the heroine whom Mr. Vaughan mentioned 
with so much praise, 3 was killed in the 2nd siege by a 
cannon ball, as were 3 other women who had been inspired 
by her courage and followed her example. Palafox 
was insulted by the French and cruelly treated ; they 
removed the surgeon who attended him, and placed a 
Frenchman in his place. In his room there were several 
drawings done by the celebrated Goya, who had gone' 
from Madrid on purpose to see the ruins of Saragossa ; 
these drawings and one of the famous heroine above 
mentioned, also by Goya, the French officers cut and 

1 St. Cyr moved out to Vich on April 18, to save his store of pro- 
visions in Barcelona, and at the same time to cover the preparations 
which were going forward for the siege of Gerona. 

2 He arrived there on April 22, and a week later moved out and 
commenced his advance to meet Soult, who was then in the neighbour- 
hood of Oporto. 

* See ante, p. 233. 



l8o9 ] DEATH OF REDING 325 

destroyed with their sabres, at the moment too when 
Palafox was dying in his bed. 

30/A April. — News came to-day of the death of Reding 
at Tarragona, and also that Coupigny had been ill of the 
same contagious fever for 3 days. Also that General 
Vives has died at Ciudad Rodrigo of a pleurisy ; only 
five days' illness. Considerable solicitude as to the 
nomination of a President ; the election is to take place 
to-morrow. Jovellanos excluded himself in the paper 
upon the Cortes which he wrote at Aranjuez ; he 
wishes to name a President out of their body, and would 
choose Saavedra. There is an apprehension that Valdes 
may be chosen, and he is reckoned to be the worst that 
could be named. Altamira is objected to from his 
excessive nullity. 

1st May. — Altamira l has been chosen for the Presi- 
dency, and perhaps it was the most judicious choice, 
as they could not have Jovellanos, and by not choosing 
one out of their body neither could they have had 
Saavedra. 

2nd May, Seville. — Cuesta mentions the arrival of 
wagons with 70 wounded at Victor's head-quarters, but has 
no guess from whence they came, unless they are the victims 
of the holy crusade, or that there has been an affair with 
Brigadier Wilson. It is said, but not from authority, 
that the bridge of Alcantara has again been evacuated. 
The Govt, are somewhat displeased and a little dis- 
concerted at Frere's behaviour in urging fresh plans 
of military operations, considering that Miguel A lava 2 
has only just been dispatched with full instructions 
from hence and from Cuesta to Lisbon, to concert with 
Genl. Wellesley for a combined plan of campaign. This 
conduct of his, and some expressions which he dropped 

1 Marques de Astorga. 2 See ante, p. 148. 



326 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [M ay 

inadvertently, give reason to apprehend that Wellesley's 
orders from home are to consider the defence of Lisbon 
as the chief object of his expedition. Frere, without 
waiting to hear the result of Alava's communication 
with Wellesley, is pressing a project in which the D. of 
Albuquerque shall have an independent command in 
the Mancha, but the Junta very judiciously reject all 
such plans until they hear what are to be the movements 
of the English army. The Junta have complimented 
Cuesta with the nomination of a successor to General 
Vives, and it is supposed the Duque del Parque 1 will 
obtain the appointment. 

The spirit of the Aragonese remains undaunted still. 
At Molina de Aragon after repulsing the French in 
several successive attacks, when they found an irresistible 
force coming against them, they resolved to abandon the 
town and withdrew with their families and portable effects 
into the mountains, and continued there until the French 
chose to evacuate the place. 

At the Castillo de Albuquerque near Caceres, in 
Estremadura, the inhabitants upon being demanded to 
furnish rations for 2000 men, said they had no answer 
to make to such requisitions but from the mouths of 
their cannon. 

The priests headed by a Bishop and several dignitaries 
of the Church have established a sort of crusade in 
Estremadura against the French. The initiated wear 
a cross upon their breasts, like those worn in the Holy 
Wars against the infidels, and the pious crusader is 
consecrated for engaging in such a sacred cause, and 
Heaven is promised and certain reward if he falls in 
the contest. It is wonderful the havoc these enthusiasts 

1 Duque del Parque-Castrillo (1755-1832). He served Joseph for 
a short time, but soon took service with his compatriots; He was in 
command of a division at Meza de Ibor and Medellin. 



l8o9 ] THE HOLY CRUSADE 327 

make amongst the enemy, and Victor has complained 
to Cuesta of this cruel and irregular mode of warfare. 
It well becomes a Frenchman to complain after what 
they have inflicted and are inflicting upon the poor 
priests, and indeed upon every class and denomination 
of the community in Spain. 

Col. Whittingham confirms the report of the excellent 
state of Cuesta's army, and the exactness of Ferras' 
numbers — 25,000 infantry, 3000 cavalry beyond Mon- 
asterio, and 3500 on this side under the command of 
Albuquerque. Provisions are abundant and there is 
no sickness, but the cavalry want forage. 

3rd May. — No further decision was made in the Junta 
last night than to defer the discussion upon the subject 
of the Cortes to the 14th of this month, and then every 
vocal l of the Junta is to deliver in his opinion and vote 
in writing on the subject. 

General Wellesley is marching on towards Oporto, and 
carries every soldier, Portuguese and English, he can 
gather. Alava writes in praise of his activity and frank- 
ness, but seems disappointed that no positive promise of 
assistance is made to support Cuesta. 

Antillon 2 is a geographer, and has just published a 
statistical survey and description of Spain ; he is clever 
and well-informed, it is said, upon la physique. He is an 
Aragonese, and was in Saragossa during the first siege, 
and near it latterly. He confirms the stories of the 
cruelties and murders committed by the French in 
violation of the terms of capitulation. He is remarkably 
unpleasant in his manners, and has filthy tricks which 
might prove he was akin to Belsham. The Semanario 

1 Voter. 

2 Don Isidoro Antillon (i 777-1 820), professor of history and geo- 
graphy at the Colegio de Nobles, and the author of various works on 
geography, astronomy, and history. 



328 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

politico (sic) is going to be revived, and he in conjunction 
with Blanco l are to be the writers. Quintana told me that 
it was suspected that Frere was averse to the convoking 
of the Cortes, and that Garay this morning had been 
betrayed into some degree of warmth and refused him 
the paper which had been submitted to the sections, 
upon the pretext that it was not yet an official piece, 
not having been decreed by the Junta. 

4th May. — Ferras told me that 14,000 French from 
Saragossa under Marshal Mortier were proceeding by the 
way of Burgos to Galicia to assist Ney and Soult. He also 
told us that the French had contrived to get into Barce- 
lona a convoy of 30 transports, escorted by 5 sail of the 
line ; the latter, owing to the shallowness of the water in 
the harbour, did not attempt to enter. 2 These vessels 
have probably brought stores and supplies for the garrison, 
and perhaps a few troops. 

I told Frere that he was accused of being unfriendly 
to the Cortes ; he admitted that he objected to their 
mode of proceeding, and certain it is this clamour for 
reform in England has revived all his old anti- Jacobin 
terrors. 

$th May. — Cuesta in his poste of to-day expresses great 
ill-humour against the English, whose armies, he says, are 
never exposed. This opinion is given in consequence of 
the letter he received from Gen. Wellesley, who does not 



1 Don Jose Maria Blanco y Crespo, more commonly known as 
Joseph Blanco White (1775-1841), son of Don Guillermo White, an 
Irishman by birth and British Vice-Consul at Seville. Quintana had 
established the Semanario patriotico in Madrid in 1808, and when it 
was removed to Seville the editorship was offered to White and Antillon. 
Their free style of writing, however, frightened the Junta, who put 
a stop to the publication of the Journal. White soon after (18 10) 
went to England, where he took up his abode, and later became editor 
of the Espaiiol, a periodical which lasted for four years, being published 
in England and circulated in Spain. 

2 These ships came from Toulon, under convoy of Admiral Cosmao. 



i8o9] CUESTA AND WELLESLEY 329 

seem to fulfil all the flattering expectations which had 
been raised by Don Miguel Alava's first report. 

6th May. — The Queen of Sicily has returned to the 
Spaniards all the jewels which the Pss. of Asturias had 
given back to her family, and also 5000 muskets, 3000 
of which are arrived already at Alicante. 

yth May. — The Madrid Gazette at length announces the 
commencement of hostilities between Austria and France. 

8th May. — The corps which was under Vives in the 
province of Salamanca has met with some successes. They 
have taken possession of Ledesma, and pushed on their 
forces into Avila. Coupigny sends two posies in which he 
mentions that the French were attacked near Vich and 
lost 1400 men, and that the garrison of Barcelona had 
made a sortie but had been repelled with some loss. 1 
He also mentions Lord Collingwood having divided his 
fleet into two squadrons, one directed towards Toulon, 
and the other towards Gibraltar to watch the Straits. 

Sr. Arthur Wellesley was at Coimbra on the 2nd, and 
expected to be joined by his whole force on 4th. Silveira 
has maintained himself at the Puente against a corps 
of Soult's army and effected a junction with 4000 of 
Beresford's army. 2 A strange story of an intercepted 
letter of Victor's to Frere. Jovellanos has received a 
long letter from Blake in which he states all the difficulties 
of his situation, and gives a plan of campaign which he 
thinks more advisable than that proposed by Reding, 
but which is incompatible with the orders he received 
from the Junta of clearing Cataluna ; he presses the 

1 No movement of any importance can be traced about this time, 
but the French were continually being harassed by the bands of 
somatenes and miqueletes which took such a prominent part in the 
warfare of this north-east corner of Spain. 

2 Silveira had gallantly kept 9000 French under Loison in check 
at the bridge of Amarante for a whole fortnight, but was driven back on 
May 3 and his force dispersed. He took refuge at Lamego, and was 
not joined by Beresford's flanking column until May 10. (Oman.) 



330 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

necessity of making the seat of war in Aragon. The 
Junta have sent him a carte blanche, and he is Captain- 
General of Aragon and Commander-in-Chief of the 3 armies. 

noth May, Seville. — Ld. Hd. received a letter from Adl. 
Purvis, apprising us of the arrival of the Ocean off Cadiz 
harbour, adding that he advised us to lose no time, as 
she was to proceed to England with dispatches. Accord- 
ingly we determined upon setting off to-morrow. 

Ld. Hd. had a long letter from Sr. Robt. Wilson. 1 
Lapisse's division got from Salamanca to Alcantara in 
consequence of the cowardice of the Portuguese, who 
fled when they were ordered to advance. The peasants 
defended the bridge of Alcantara five hours. He men- 
tioned that from an intercepted letter of Kellermann's 
it appeared that Ney and Soult had quarrelled in con- 
sequence of the expedition of the latter to Oporto, 
which had been undertaken without the approbation 
of Ney, whose plan was first to subdue all Galicia. 2 
Kellermann was stationed at Valladolid with cavalry to 
watch Romana and the Asturias, and keep down the 
spirit of the people at Leon who were ready to rise. 
We dined with Jovellanos, his nephews, Monasterio, 
Mde. Santa Colomba, Hermida's daughter, and her 
husband. Eve., Capmany, Quintana, Rodenas, Paiz, 
Ferras, Arriaza, Gallegos, Malo, &c, &c, and Frere to 
supper. 

nth May. — Quitted Seville with extreme regret quarter 
before 11. A short time after reaching Utrera a most 
melancholy accident occurred ; Joaquin, our coachman, 
whom we took at Coruha, was stabbed by one of our own 
carreteroSj of the name of Martin, who drove our own 
cart and Portuguese machos. 3 The blow was aimed at 

1 See Appendix B. 

2 Relations became very strained between Ney and Soult over 
this point, but the latter had Napoleon's instructions to push south, 
and he could but obey. 3 Mules. 



l8o9 ] AN ASSASSINATION 331 

the heart, but fortunately only pierced the lungs ; for 
near half an hour Mr. A. was very doubtful whether the 
blow was mortal or not. The poor fellow instantly 
demanded a confessor and the sacraments. After being 
administered his agitation of mind subsided greatly. 
The assassin was thrown into prison and the Justicia, 
personified in the corregidor and escribano l took the de- 
positions of the wounded man and the witnesses; they 
stripped the assassin of all his property and secured 
his effects, which were carefully registered by the escribano. 
What his future lot may be is uncertain, owing to the 
extreme tardiness of the Spanish law proceedings. 

12th May. — Set off at 4. Reached the Venta de San 
Antonio about the oration, near eight. The people of 
the venta were under some alarm in consequence of a 
troop of horsemen who had been committing great 
depredations on the high road in the morning ; the 
robbers were supposed to be lurking in a house under 
the ruins of an old tower about \ a league off. As the 
banditti in Andalusia often force the solitary ventas to 
admit them, our soldiers immediately secured the only 
two gates of entrance, and it was determined that we 
should remain the whole night in order not to encounter 
the danger of being attacked. I went to bed, and our 
party supped at a table just at the foot of my bed 
and opposite to a small grated window (without glass) 
which opened to the country. At about 10 o'clock, just 
as supper was coming in, I heard the sound of a horse, 
followed immediately by another. Jokingly I said to 
Charles, ' Hullo ! here are the robbers ! ' Ld. Hd. 
jumped up immediately and ran to the window asking, 
' Who goes there ? ' The answer was not calculated to 
set us at rest, ' Caballeros, no tengan cuidado, Sefior.' 2 
In an instant the soldiers and servants and muleteers 

1 Notary. - ' Gentlemen. Don't be afraid, Sir.' 



332 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

put themselves into a posture of defence, for 6 or 7 
horsemen had arrived at the front gate, and were clamorous 
for admittance ; fortunately no shots were fired, and 
when a parley was obtained it seemed that this was a 
party of 13 from Espera in search of the robbers, who 
had plundered a house there and committed various 
excesses. We were not without apprehension, even 
after they were admitted, that we had let in the rogues. 
However they proved to be what they really pretended. 
The alarm was very great and justifiable ; every face 
was blanched from fear. The reason for their surrounding 
the venta, and posting themselves at the gates was from 
a supposition that the robbers might have quartered 
themselves there for the night, and unless so circumvented 
might effect their escape. 

13/A. — On our road we met a person belonging to the 
house of Gordon, who told us that a convoy of 70 vessels 
were come from Malta, and put under the Ocean, which 
was not to sail for some days. In eve. the nuncio and 
two other persons called upon us. 

14th May, Pta. Sta. Maria. — I was resolved not to 
return to the villainous fonda, and with some difficulty 
we got by favor into a private house belonging to Mr. 
Vaughan (who is at Gibraltar) upon the Alameda, and 
was, I think, formerly occupied by Ly. Westmorland. 
The Sheridans l and Mr. Campbell called. The Ocean is 
very much out of repair, and tho' safe, would yet from 
its rolling and being so strained terrify me excessively, 
besides the passage would from the convoy be at least 
6 weeks. Frere is recalled, and Lord Wellesley is named 

1 Tom Sheridan, R. B. Sheridan's only son (1775-1817), who died 
at the Cape of Good Hope while acting as Colonial Treasurer. He 
married, in 1805, Caroline Henrietta Callender, the novelist, and by 
her was father of the three noted beauties, Mrs. Norton, Lady Dufferin, 
and the Duchess of Somerset. He had been ill for some time, and 
was travelling abroad for his health. 



i8o 9 ] FRERE'S RECALL 333 

to succeed him. Ld. Grey made a severe attack upon 
Frere for his letters to Moore. Ministers hardly made 
any defence for him. 

15th May. — Dined alone. Mr. Campbell very obligingly 
has offered us his house, which is larger and cooler. We 
moved in the eve. Duff who had been over to ye ftosta 
with Sir John Cradock 1 (who is gone to Seville) brought 
Us letters from Jovehanos and Ferras. There have been 
several skirmishes in the Mancha, all in favor of the 
Spaniards. In Estremadura the French are retiring 
towards Truxillo, and Cuesta's advanced guard is in 
Santos. 3 Venegas' have reached Infantes. Blake in a 
fiosta muy reservada tells the Junta that he has had an 
offer of being put into possession of one of the gates of 
Montjuich moyennant 10 millions of reals and a secure 
refuge in Spain. 3 He has acceded to the proposal, and 
it is approved, as the advantage is well worth the money. 
Jovellanos says the opinions delivered on the Cortes 
on the 14th were so long that the time was consumed in 
hearing them read. 

Romana has dismissed the Provisional Junta of 
Oviedo by military force ; he ordered grenadiers to lock 

1 Cradock was offered the appointment of Governor of Gibraltar 
when superseded in Portugal by Wellesley. 

2 Owing to a rumour that the head of a Portuguese column had 
reoccupied Alcantara, Victor moved against that place with Lapisse's 
division, and had little difficulty in reoccupying it, as the force was 
in reality a small one of 2000 men — part of the Lusitanian Legion, under 
Colonel Mayne. Victor did not remain, but withdrawing the main body 
of his troops to the neighbourhood of Caceres he rejoined them there. 

3 Blake had personally little or nothing to do with the conspiracy 
which was hatching in Barcelona for the purpose of ejecting the French. 
He was far away, engaged in the campaign which resulted so unsuc- 
cessfully for him in the battle of Alcaniz and Belchite. Doubtless, 
however, the reports of his lieutenant, Coupigny, would be forwarded by 
him to the Junta. The plot was frustrated by two Italian officers 
who were approached and feigned willingness to help, but who told all 
to Duhesme, the governor. The ringleaders were arrested before the 
appointed time, and the whole scheme miscarried, 



334 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL pay 

the doors of the room in which they usually assembled, 
and prevent their meeting. 1 The precedent might prove 
fatal to the Central Junta itself, especially if Cuesta were 
younger. 

18th May, Cadiz. — Ld. Hd. and John dined on board 
the Atlas with Adl. Purvis. Victor is retreating towards 
Alcantara, either with an intention of making an effort 
to assist Soult, or to meet with Mortier, whose division 
left Saragossa supposed with the project of getting into 
Castile. Cuesta is pursuing, but slowly, as he is afraid 
this movement of Victor's may be a stratagem to draw 
him into the plains ; accordingly he keeps towards 
Badajoz. 3 

The majority of the Junta are for calling the Cortes, 
and declaring to the public their intention. 

igth May. — Conde de Fernan Nunez dined. Jovellanos 
sends a bulletin daily of all events. He laments as a 
lover of the fine arts the loss of that magnificent work, 
a specimen of the taste of the age of Trajan, the bridge 
of Alcantara, which was destroyed by the Portuguese 
and English on the approach of Victor's army. As a 
military operation it was judicious, but one of the finest 
works of antiquity is thus demolished, and owes its 
destruction to those modern Vandals, the French. 3 When 
the French found the bridge blown up, they fell back, 
and are on their march to cross the Tagus higher up. 
Cuesta pursues slowly. Albuquerque was ordered for- 

1 The Junta of Oviedo had refused to furnish the necessary supplies 
for La Romana's army ; hence his arbitrary action. From the report 
of an eye-witness, he marched 50 men into the Council Chamber and 
ordered them to clear the room. 

2 See Appendix E. 

3 The bridge was not demolished when Victor attacked Mayne on 
May 14, as the mine was not completely successful. The French were 
able to cross in sufficient numbers to drive back the defenders, and 
it was not until June 10 that Mayne, having reoccupied the position, 
finally destroyed thearches. 



i8o 9 ] BALLESTEROS' RAID 335 

ward with his cavalry, and doubtless will harass the 
enemy greatly on their march. 

Ballesteros made 700 French prisoners at San Vicente 
de la Barquera, and killed many in the action ; they 
also were drowned in making their escape over the 
river. 1 For want of boats he could not follow them, 
otherwise he would immediately have got to Santander 
where the French have only 4500 men. It is supposed 
that he must be in possession of it by this time. 

Romana was on the 9th at Oviedo. Jovellanos 
does not disapprove of his proceedings against that 
Junta, where I believe he acted in the capacity of delegate 
from the Supreme Junta. The Junta was thwarting 
Romana in all his regulations about the army, which by 
robbery and secret intrigue they would soon have 
destroyed. A report here that Blake is coming upon 
Cuenca to threaten Madrid. Also a story of Josef's 
having withdrawn to San Ildefonso. 

20th. — By a letter from Mr. Hoppner 3 at Seville to 
Mr. Campbell, it appears that the French column 10,000 
strong, who were marching upon Alcantara, fell back upon 
the news of the destruction of the bridge, and are now 

1 No mention is made by any authority of an action about this date. 
In fact Oman states that Ballesteros only left his lair in the mountains 
at Covadonga on May 24 in order to annoy Bonnet by his raid on 
Santander. This was entirely successful, and the numbers of French 
losses correspond closely with the fight above mentioned. The date 
given by the Spanish historians of the capture of Santander, however, is 
June 10. Ballesteros unfortunately for himself lingered in the town, 
was caught there two days later by Bonnet, and his army cut up and 
dispersed with a loss of 3000 prisoners. Can it be that rumour had fore- 
stalled the event by a whole month ? There is an authentic parallel 
in the case of the battle of Bailen. It was reported in Galicia on 
June 24, and Wellesley touching at Corufia on July 20 en route for 
Portugal heard of the battle in Andalusia on the very day on which it 
took place. 

2 Probably Lascelles Hoppner, younger son of the painter, who 
was sent to Seville with dispatches and remained some time studying 
the pictures of Murillo. He was shortly after shut up in a lunatic 
asylum. {Autobiography of Blanco White.) 



336 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

at Arroyo del Puerco. Another division is gone directly 
from Merida to Almaraz. Cuesta's head-quarters are 
at Fuente Maestre, nor does it appear that any part of 
his army has crossed the Guadiana. 

Quintana writes, not in great spirits, that the Cortes 
will meet in the course of next year, and sooner if circum- 
stances permit. The analysis of the opinions delivered on 
14th are not yet made out. Plans of reform and internal 
go vert, are in the meantime to be prepared for the Cortes 
when they meet. 

21st May. — Great rejoicing at Seville in consequence of 
the news from Portugal. 1 There was a great function at 
the theatre, a salvo from Purvis's ship, and patriotic 
songs. An official announcement of the taking of 
Santander, which Jovellanos is afraid is premature. 

French to the number of 4 or 500 are shut up and 
fortified in a convent at Merida, and they are in momentary 
expectation at Seville of hearing of their surrender, as 
Zayas has already summoned them. 3 

Cabezas, the deputy from Asturias, who was recom- 
mended to Ld. Hd. by Jovellanos, gives a sad acct. of 
Romana's qualities as a general, tho' praises his gallantry 
as a soldier. It is to be regretted that the Central Junta 
have not recalled him, as he does infinite mischief, having 
contrived to disorganize the army, disperse and reduce 
it to a small force, nor allowed them whilst he was with 
it to fire off a musket ; he is so disliked in Galicia that he 
probably will never venture himself there. His army 
is at Lugo under a good officer of the name of Mendizabal. 3 

1 Wellesley's successes at Oporto, and Beresford's at Amarante. 
See Appendix D. 

2 The French — two battalions of Germans, had no difficulty in 
holding their own, and the Spaniards speedily retreated upon an alarm 
being raised of superior forces moving against them. 

a This paragraph is incorrect in most of its particulars, but has 
been retained in the text as an example of the jealousies of the time 
and the false statements which are apt to obscure the truth. 



i8o 9 ] LOBO 337 

22nd May, Cadiz. — Lobo, who was so greatly dissatisfied 
with the Junta, is now quite won over by his being named 
to the command of a frigate and sent in it on a mission 
to Constantinople; his violent patriotism has subsided, 
and instead of finding him quite furious at the delays 
about the Cortes, he soberly observes that too much time 
and reflection cannot precede such an important measure 
as the convoking them. 

23rd May. — The accts. from Seville do not fulfil all we 
had expected. Zayas, instead of seizing the French whom 
he had summoned in Merida, is at Lobon, where he 
intends to pass the river with his cavalry ; he can retreat 
upon Badajoz if the enemy should attack him with 
superior forces. Jovellanos says, ' Lo que nos da alguno 
cuidado es la division de Bassecourt, cuya direction era a 
Truxillo, y desde este se ignora. Pero Cuesta no feme.' l 

Alava is returned from Portugal ; he praises both 
Cuesta and the English army, especially the cavalry of 
the latter. A contrabandista 2 and his gang have taken the 
French general Lasalle and a Col. Artan, killed all their 
escort, and stripped and robbed them entirely. 3 

Sir John Cradock, Ld. Ebrington, and Col. Reynell 
called ; he is just returned from Seville whither he 
made an excursion. He was not pleased with Frere, 
who was as usual negligent, did not present him to the 
Junta, and with difficulty to the President. He has all 
the appearance of a broken-hearted, wounded man ; 
I admire his not being able to dissemble his feelings. 

1 • That the division of Bassecourt gave us some alarm ; it had gone 
in the direction of Truj illo, and its whereabouts afterwards was unknown- 
But Cuesta was not afraid.' 

- Smuggler. 

3 This story must be a Spanish fabrication. General Lasalle was 
present at Medellin on March 28, and was recalled a few days later to 
take charge of a division in Germany. De Clery in his Memoirs men- 
tions that Roederer met him at Burgos on April 28, and from a dispatch 
it appears that he was at Ebersdorf on May 19. 

z 



338 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

He said he had resigned the appointment given to him 
of Governor of Gibraltar. He confirmed the acct. of 
the discontent and insubordination which is said to 
exist in the army of Soult. The English forces he rates 
much lower than we had hoped, in all only 20,000, 
cavalry included. General Mackenzie is with a force 
at Abrantes, and some troops are left in Lisbon ; then 
Sr. Arthur Wellesley has not above 16 or 17,000 men 
with him. Beresford and Silveira between 7 and 8,000. 
The quarrel between Ney and Soult has been most 
destructive to the operations and the French arms in 
that quarter. 

Ld. Hd. received his letters from Seville. In the eve., 
Jovellanos, Ferras, and Capmany. The French have 
returned to Merida. The poste from Cuesta had not 
arrived. Venegas is still at Sta. Elena, and the enemy 
in their former positions. No poste from Blake, from 
whence they infer that he is in motion. It is at length 
finally settled that the Cortes are to meet in the course 
of next year and sooner even, if circumstances shall 
admit, and this is to be announced immediately to the 
country by a short and simple decree. Admiral Berkeley 
has sent gun-boats to Abrantes. 

24th May. — Sr. John Cradock sent to Ld. Hd. Ld. 
Castlereagh's dispatch and private letter, and his answer 
relating to his removal from Portugal and appointment 
to Gibraltar. 1 Ld. Castlereagh's letter is written in a\ 

1 ' May 24, 1809. Allow me to ask your perusal of the enclosed, 
as the question may arise why I am sent to Gibraltar, leaving the army 
I lately commanded in Portugal before the enemy. I cannot blame 
Ministers for any act that either give the appearance or reality of more 
success, but perhaps it was not fair to me for five months to leave 
us to our fate in Portugal with no other instruction than " to maintain 
our situation until compelled to evacuate." While distress, danger, 
and disgrace were our lot the command was consigned to me ; when 
all is changed it was given to another. Lord Castlereagh's letter to 
me is a private one,' (Sir J. Cradock to Lord Holland.) 



i8o 9 j SIR JOHN CRADOCK 339 

most disgusting manner, full of the jargon of the H. of 
Commons, and he labours throughout to give a very 
false impression. By way of consoling Cradock he tells 
him that the eyes of Europe will be diverted towards 
Gibraltar, as the struggle will be there and he may acqaire 
as much of glory as the commander did in 1782 and 
more than at the head of an army. A thorough false, 
tricking letter. Cradock with feeling and spirit declines 
the inactive station of Gibraltar. It was a cruel morti- 
fication that he should be withdrawn at the very moment 
he was, for he had commenced active operations and was 
actually on his march towards Soult. He told Ld. Hd. 
very confidentially that on the 22nd April a colonel 
in the French service passed from the French quarters 
at Aveiro to Col. Trant and applied to him for a passport 
to return to France. 1 Upon being questioned whether he 
was a deserter, he replied that he could hardly be called 
one, as he withdrew with the knowledge of almost all 
his brother officers ; for, with the exception of Soult 
himself and three other officers, all were heartily tired 
of the war and ready to embark in any measures for the 
restoration of peace upon the Continent, and were even 
inclined to compel Napoleon to comply with this measure. 
He added that this feeling was pretty general in the army, 
but the Imperial Guards alone were so firmly attached 
to Napoleon, that no assistance was to be expected from 

1 The officer was Captain Argenton, adjutant of a Dragoon regiment. 
He was conducted to Lisbon by Major Douglas, an English officer in the 
Portuguese service, and Beresford, and had an interview with Wellesley 
who had just arrived. He was sent back to Oporto, but saw Wellesley 
again near Coimbra on May 6. He was betrayed to Soult, however, 
on his second return to the French camp, and was thrown into prison. 
The plot therefore entirely miscarried, as Soult acting on his information, 
arrested the ringleaders. Argenton in his examination mentioned 
Wellesley' s presence and the movements of the British force, and thus 
ruined Wellesley's hopes of surprising the French. Nothing was done 
to the conspirators, and Argenton himself escaped to England. 

Z 2 



340 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

them. This Col. advised C. to collect every soldier in 
the country and press forward upon Soult, whom if they 
could surround and offer a capitulation of a safe retreat 
into France for his army, he was certain the offer would 
be accepted, and the troops once returned to France 
would there manifest the disposition he knew they had to 
act against Napoleon. C. sent this off to Ministers, and 
when Sir A. Wellesley arrived he communicated this 
information, upon which, however, he did not implicitly 
rely. Wellesley naturally enough felt averse to any 
sound that resembled that of Convention, and judged it 
best to compel Soult to see England than to permit him 
to return to France. Upwards of one half of Soult's army 
is composed of foreigners ; Ld. Hd. suspected that the 
name of this colonel was Melzi. 

Jovellanos writes from the Junta, where Campo 
Sagrado was reading Cuesta's poste. Zayas was opposite 
to Merida, preparing to ford the river, and recommence 
his attack upon the old convent. Henestrosa is at 
Almendralejo and Torremegia with the cavalry. Basse- 
court is at Campanario and Medellin. The French are at 
Truxillo, Alcuescar, Merida, Arroyo del Puerco,and Brozas. 
General Mackenzie with 16,000 men and cavalry. 1 
(Sr. John C. says he may have 10,000, and that he has 
two regts. of English cavalry.) 

Soult is hemmed in by Wellesley ; his army can 
only escape by dispersion. Sickness both in Soult and 
Victor's army to a very great extent. 

25th May. — A messenger who left Madrid on the 10th 
May told Fernan Nunez that he had witnessed an alboroto 3 
on the 6th, in consequence of the condemnation of foar 
criminals, who were to be executed in the Plaza de la 

1 General Mackenzie was detached by Wellesley with about 12,000 
men to hold Abrantes, and resist any advance of Victor's troops in 
the direction of Lisbon. - Disturbance. 



l809 ] RIOT IN MADRID 341 

Cebada. A pardon was granted at the foot of the gallows 
to one, because he was a Corsican and countryman of 
Josef's ; the others were Spaniards. The people were 
incensed at the distinction and were riotous. No blood 
was spilt. 

Nothing fresh from Cuesta ; he assured Alava that 
he should keep his word to Wellesley, that he would not 
engage with Victor until the destruction of Soult's army 
was completed. Zayas had fallen back on the approach 
of a superior force. Vessel arrived from Lisbon, which 
it had left on 21st ; no accts. of fresh successes. Mr. 
Jackson writes to me from Seville, that Soult had retired 
towards the Miho, and that Wellesley was in full pursuit 
of him. 

Napoleon released the Prince of Castelfranco x from 
his prison and allowed him to choose his retreat. He 
selected Vienna, and sent to Madrid for his wife to join 
and accompany him thither ; however upon the news 
of the Austrian war, Castelfranco was thrown again into 
prison, and the Princess arrested at Bordeaux. 

26th May. — The Madrid Gazette of the 6th claims a 
victory over the Austrians between Landshut and Ratisbon 
on 21st ulto. 2 . . . This acct. is most likely to be a good 
deal exaggerated, yet the rejoicings at Boulogne and 
elsewhere confirm the report of a victory. 

Cuesta and Victor continue nearly in the same 
positions. The French have not re-entered Merida. 
Zayas is preparing to ford the river to renew his attack 
on the old convent. Albuquerque is at Zafra. The 
French have placed 1000 horse at Miajadas to keep 
their communications from being cut off with Truxillo. 

1 D. Pablo Sangro y de Merode (1740-1815), Spanish general, and 
Ambassador in Vienna until 1808. His wife was Dowager-Duchess 
of Berwick. 

2 The battle of Echmuhl, on April 22. 



342 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

Campo Sagrado in his bulletin mentions an intercepted 
letter from Victor to Soult, which states that on 29th 
April (day letter was written) his infantry consisted 
of 20,741, cavalry 4762, besides artillery. He apprised 
him of his plan, which was to penetrate by Almaden del 
Azogue. In consequence of this intention Bassecourt 
with the 5th division has been ordered from Campanario 
to Monterubbio. Victor's plan most probably was to 
make a junction with Sebastiani. It is said that Joseph 
has quitted Madrid and joined the army in the Mancha. 
Perez de Castro sent off an extraordinary to Seville 
from Lisbon, giving an acct. of the surrender of Soult 
and his army. 1 There is no official acct. from Oporto, 
but the details in the private letters are so circumstantial 
and bear such marks of truth, that Castro is satisfied 
with the fact. A small bark came in to-day from the 
Bayona Islands. An English frigate told her on ye 
18th that Soult and his army had reached Barcellos, and 
that Sr. A. Wellesley was following closely. A vessel 
from Malta brings an acct. of a splendid victory fought 
near Venice between the Austrians and French, in which 
the former were successful. The news came from 
Trieste on 20th. The story is too dramatic. The 
catastrophe is brought about by the Archduke John, 
who wounds the Vice-King Eugenio, and then after 
three days hard fighting and reverses the Austrians are 
finally victorious. 3 This news is published in an extra- 
ordinary Gazette at Gibraltar, but it seems to want 
confirmation. 

1 This was of course incorrect. Soult was able after many hard- 
ships to draw off the remains of his army into Galicia. 

2 The Archduke John inflicted a signal defeat on Eugene Beau- 
harnais on April 16 at Sacile, near Pordenone. The French commander, 
however, does not appear to have received any wound. The successes 
in Italy were more than counterbalanced by Napoleon's rapid advance 
to Vienna. 



1809] WELLESLEY'S CAMPAIGN 343 

29th. — Alas ! all the glorious news which had been so 
positively asserted for some days was quite overthrown 
by the accts. from Seville. Jovellanos says the news 
from Portugal is not so successful in the result as they 
had been taught to expect. Soult with f of his army 
has escaped into the mts. of Orense ; he sacrificed the 
remainder of his army, his baggage, artillery, &c. 
Wellesley was going to fulfil his promise to Cuesta, 1 and 
was to cross the Mondego on ye 25th or 26th. Mortier 
appeared at Salamanca and threatened Ledesma ; he 
has fallen back no one knows whither, but it is con- 
jectured that he will attempt to form a junction either 
with Victor or Sebastiani. Cuesta has applied for 
Mackenzie with his corps to come from Alcantara to 
prevent Victor's salida ~ into Castile. (Sr. John Cradock 
says this request will not be complied with, as the English 
army has positive instructions not to operate in detached 
corps.) Victor was making some movements towards 
Almaraz. 

Romana, foolish fellow, instead of collecting and 
reinforcing his army with the troops he might draw from 
the Asturias, was on the 12th of this month at Oviedo, 
squabbling and disputing with the Civil Governt. In 
La Sierra Morena there has been an action muy bonito 
with the guerrillas. Blake has taken Alcaniz, and the 
whole plan and conduct of affairs was judicious and 
brilliant. 3 There is to be an extraordinary Gazette upon 

1 To move his troops to assist him, as soon as Soult had been dealt 
with. 2 Sally. 

3 In Aragon, owing to successes achieved by the Spanish irregulars 
at Monzon and Pomar, affairs began to look well for the Spaniards. 
One of Grandj ean's brigades under Laval was forced by Blake to evacuate 
Alcaniz on May 18. His army at that time amounted to about 10,000 
men. Suchet at this juncture took up the command of the French 
troops in Aragon, and at once marched with 8000 men to attack Blake. 
The battle took place near Alcaniz on May 23, and resulted in a defeat 
of the French, who lost at least 700 men and retreated in complete 
disorder. 



344 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [May 

this success. Mr. Jackson sent me an abstract of Sr. A. 
Wellesley's letter to Frere, dated Oporto, 22nd. He 
followed Soult beyond Braga to Salamonde. He came 
up with their rearguard and took 600 prisoners under 
the command of Loison. On the 27th he and his army 
were to be at Coimbra. He refers Frere to Mr. Villiers's 
letters for details, but these letters have not yet arrived. 
About § of the French army has escaped, without cannon, 
ammunition, or baggage. 

No news in the Seville letters from the armies. Jovel- 
lanos begins to be afraid that Cuesta, who has rigorously 
kept his word not to attack whilst Wellesley was going 
on to Oporto, will consider his promise as sufficiently 
fulfilled and begin attacking immediately. The day of 
San Fernando probably will excite him to some attempt 
of the sort. 

30^ May, the day of San Fernando. — Intelligence from 
Blake, the defeat of a body of French who had marched 
from Barbastro to punish Monzon, followed by the 
evacuation of Barbastro. This last was sent to me by 
Don Francisco, and is contained in a letter from his uncle, 
dated Lerida, 22nd. It seems that 1300 French had 
crossed the Cinca in order to punish Monzon, were not 
only foiled in that object, but prevented from returning 
by the swelling of the river, in consequence of which 600 
of them were made prisoners, and the rest including the 
Commander, a Great-Cross of the Legion of Honor, killed 
or drowned. 1 In consequence of these disasters, those 
who remained at Barbastro evacuated that city on the 
night of ye 29th. In several towns of Aragon the French 
have had public rejoicings for the taking of Seville. They 

1 Habert was the French general in command. He seems to have 
been one of the few who escaped capture. His attempt to recapture 
Monzon from the insurgents, who had driven out the French, took 
place on May 16. 



l809 ] THE COMMISSION OF FIVE 345 

are said to have abandoned their intention of besieging 
Gerona. 

Jovellanos is discontented at the choice of the Com- 
missioners for the Cortes ; the five are Jovellanos, Caro, 
Castanedo, the Archbishop of Laodicea, and Riquelme. 1 

31st May. — Jovellanos writes shortly, as he had spent 
the whole of the San Fernando in ceremony tho' the day 
was melancholy, for certainly without having any great 
love for Ferdinand there is something very dismal in 
passing a day in his honor in festivity, whilst he, poor 
fellow, is cut off from all intercourse with his countrymen 
and confined in a foreign country. I do not believe, 
however, that these were Jovellanos's feelings when he 
said the day was not de alegria ; 2 he was probably more 
annoyed at the election of the Commission of five. He 
says Cuesta writes that he has certain intelligence that 
Mortier is returning into France with his division ; in 
his army nothing new has occurred, nor in that of the 
Sierra Morena. Ld. Hd. has a letter from Quintana and 
Blanco very full of complaints and dissatisfaction at 
the decree for trie convocation of the Cortes, which they 
call barren, cold, and formal. They are even unreason- 
able in grumbling at Jovellanos, to whom they ascribe 
very much of this delay, but in which they accuse him a 
tort. Sr. John Cradock, &c, sailed in the Surveillante for 
Gibraltar. Ld. Ebrington and T. Sheridan rode over to 
Gibraltar, leaving his good little wife. My rheumatism 
very troublesome. 



1 By a proclamation issued by the Central Junta on May 22, the 
Cortes was to be called together ' early the following year or earlier if 
circumstances permit.' The method of procedure was to be left to 
five members. Arteche places a different construction on the respective 
attitudes of the commissioners from that stated by Lady Holland on 
p. 347. He remarks that Riquelme and Caro were opposed in their 
views to the other three members. 

2 Festive, 



346 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [June 

2nd June. — Letters from Jovellanos, Ferras, and 
Quintana, containing an acct. of a very brilliant affair of 
Blake's with the French near Alcaniz on the 23rd May. 
Ferras enclosed Maldonado's relation of the battle, which as 
he was present, is interesting. The French, commanded by 
Suchet, who had succeeded Junot, attacked him four 
times and were vigorously repulsed. At one moment, 
owing to the great superiority of the French in cavalry, 
the Spanish line was thrown into so much disorder that 
Maldonado and Burriel seeing the danger to which the 
general was exposed, advised him to save himself ' que 
no habia remedio, aun hay remedio dixo ' ; and with a 
company of infantry only he encouraged and sustained 
the artillery, and the rest followed his example and saved 
the day. The French lost one piece of cannon, 500 killed, 
100 prisoners ; they abandoned their positions and 
retired towards Saragossa. 

The siege of Gerona is begun, but the garrison are full 
of spirits and confident of success, and have made several 
successful sallies. 1 A slight advantage under Grimarest 
in ye Sierra Morena. When Cuesta's poste came away, 
Zayas and Bassecourt were engaged with the enemy. 
Cuesta believed that the French were preparing to cross 
the Tagus at Almaraz. Romana was in the Asturias on 
the 15th with 7000 troops, ill equipped and provided. 
He has 6000 men in Vigo, and the remainder of his army 
near Lugo. He has written to Wellesley that if he 
destroys Soult, he will demolish Ney, but if they form a 
junction Galicia and the Asturias will be lost. 

Most melancholy details in the Madrid Gazettes ; the 
bulletins of the French army in Bavaria from the 24th 
to 27th April. On 19th and 23rd actions between French 

1 The siege of Gerona in Catalonia was actually commenced on 
May 24 by Verdier. The place, which was commanded by Alvarez de 
Castro, held out till Dec. 10. 



l8o9 ] NEWS FROM BAVARIA 347 

and Austrians which finally terminated in the total 
expulsion of the latter from Bavaria, with loss of 30,000 
prisoners, 100 cannon, baggages, ammunition, &C. 1 The 
Archduke Charles had fallen back to Bohemia, the French 
had passed the Irun, and Napoleon promised his army 
to be in Vienna in a month. 

yd June. — The French from their movements appear 
disposed to retreat upon Almaraz. They have already 
abandoned Miajadas. Jovellanos says the Commission of 
five was chosen by secret votes. His was the first name 
that came out. He admits that Riquelme and the Arch- 
bishop were chosen by the enemies of the Cortes, but 
he is satisfied that he can defeat their intentions by 
devoting himself entirely to the trust committed to him, 
and supported as the cause of liberty is by the public 
opinion, he feels confident of triumphing over any oppo- 
sition that may be made to him by others of the Com- 
mission. King Joseph has been at Toledo, where he did 
not meet with a single viva from the people ; he returned 
to Aranjuez. 

4th June. — A vessel from Gijon in five days brings the 
bad news of the French having penetrated into ye Asturias, 
and reached the neighbourhood of Gijon on ye 19th, 
which place was preparing to defend itself ; 3 many women 
and children and old persons had escaped on board some 
English transports and other vessels on the coast, and that 



1 The campaign of Abensberg, Echmuhl, and Ratisbon. Napoleon 
had only left Paris twelve days before the Austrians were driven from 
Bavaria. 

- This was one section of the concentric advance planned by the 
French, in order to envelope and destroy the scattered Spanish forces 
in Galicia and the Asturias, by the simultaneous advance of three 
columns moving from different bases. The attack on Oviedo and 
Gijon, undertaken by Ney, was completely successful. La Romana 
was taken by surprise, retreated hurriedly to the coast, and embarked 
without his troops. Oviedo was occupied by the French on May 19, 
and Gijon on May 20, 



348 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju ne 

Romana had embarked his army in order to convey 
it to Ribadeo in Galicia, so as to get into the rear of the 
French. This vessel says that the French army is Ney's, 
who has evacuated Ferrol and took the Asturias in his 
way to France for the sake of plunder, but this is mere 
report. A splendid illumination at the theatre in honor 
of George III, and a representation of the escape of 
Romana and his army from the Isle of Fiinen. A dull 
performance. 

5th June, Cadiz. — Ferras says the encomienda, a 
military comandancia at Peso Real in Valencia, which the 
Junta have given to Blake, is worth 60,000 reals. He com- 
plains of Caro at Valencia, who does not support Blake 
with supplies and cavalry, 1 and adds that the family will 
ruin Spain, for Romana has fled from the enemy in the 
plains. Jovellanos knew of the French having possession of 
the principal Juntas in the Asturias ; he laments over 
Gijon, and adds that their former Junta would not have 
abandoned them as Romana has done ! 

There are official accts. of the French having been 
driven from Santiago on the 23rd by Don Martin de la 
Carrera after a severe defeat, and of a battle near Lugo 
on the 19th, in which they were defeated with great loss 
by Don Nicolas Mahy, and compelled to shut themselves 
up in that town. 2 There are official communications 



1 Oman (vol. ii. 414) combats a somewhat similar suggestion made 
by Napier. The reinforcements supplied from Valencia seem adequate, 
and compare favourably with those sent by other provinces. 

2 General Mahy had escaped westward from the advance of Ney's 
column, and being unpursued set himself to attack the isolated French 
garrisons left in Galicia. He attacked General Fournier at Lugo with 6000 
men, drove him into the town, which he was about to attempt to assault 
when Soult's unexpected arrival from Orense with the discomfited 
remains of his Portuguese army drove him to take refuge in the moun- 
tains. At the same time Martin la Carrera with a small body of regulars 
from Puebla de Sanabria joined the insurgents who had attacked Tuy 
and Vigo, and advanced against Santiago. The French commander 



i8og] GALICIA 349 

from the respective generals and conveyed by English 
cruisers to Lisbon to Perez de Castro, who forwards them 
to the Junta. There is a subsequent acct. of the surrender 
of Lugo on ye 24th, but it rests entirely on the testimony ol 
a Portuguese officer, who added that Mazarredo was in 
Lugo. Mahy's letter of the 20th mentions the departure 
of Ney with all his scattered parties from Old Castile 
towards the Asturias, which he meant to plunder on his 
way to France, whither he was going, and that he had 
already reached Cangas de Tineo. He adds that he 
could not besiege Lugo for want of battering cannon, 
and meant to take a position near Mondohedo to watch 
the motions of Marshal Ney. 

A letter from Zafra of 31st from Col. Whittingham, 
which mentioned that Victor was concentrating his 
forces at Torremocha. 

Jovellanos enclosed a bulletin from Campo Sagrado. 
Cuesta has a terciano, 1 which is not yet become malig- 
nant : O'Donoju 2 writes for him. Two English colonels 
from Wellesley's army had reached his head-quarters 
in order to concert a plan of operations. The English 
army was to leave Coimbra on 1st June, but from 
the badness of the roads and the want of shoes it 
would not arrive till the 15th or 16th. The amount 
will then be 20,000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 6 brigades 
of artillery. 3 

June 7, Ckiclana. — Jovellanos sends an extract 
from the Moniteur, nth May, which announces the 
appointment of Ld. Holland to the embassy of Vienna ; 



Maucune met them outside the town, but was defeated with the loss 
of 600 men, and driven to Corufla, where he was joined in all haste by 
Ney and his victorious force from Oviedo. 

1 Tercian fever. 2 Cuesta's chief of the staff. 

3 The whole total of English troops which entered Spain was 
about 22,000 {Oman). The leading brigades did not enter Spain till 
July 3. 



350 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Jun e 

f 

it adds that his Seigneurie must lose no time in getting 

there, as he may find another sovereign than the one he is 

sent to. Jovellanos is annoyed at the delay of Wellesley, 

and is full of suspicion and discontent, and complains 

that he has exacted a promise of forbearance from Cuesta. 

Ferras says there are no further details from Blake, about 

whom he feels the greatest anxiety ; he probably has 

advanced to Caspe. Reinforcements of cavalry and 

infantry are sent off already from Valencia. Nothing 

from Cuesta. 

8th. — Hot day. Arriaza, Iglesias, Caceres, and Don 
Arturo Gordon called Monday. Eat an early dinner, 
and went in eve. to Cadiz. Crossed the bark which is 
very ill contrived. The toll of the bark is due to the 
Duke, and but for Solano, who sacrificed the convenience 
of the public to favor Medina Sidonia's interests, who 
as Senor of Chiclana has the profits of the ferry, the public 
might have had an excellent stone bridge ; the whole 
scheme was propounded, but for the above reason was 
dropped. Duff told us that the profits to Villafranca 
upon the tunny fishery at Conil last year were 90,000 
duros, but as the market was over-stocked they do not 
mean to get as many fish this year. In Catalonia the 
tunny fish had a great consumption, but that market at 
present is closed to them. Cuesta continued so ill that 
he had not been able to see the English colonels sent 
by Gen. Wellesley. Eguia has the supreme command 
at present. The French are concentrating at Merida. 
Some say they are waiting for pontoons from Madrid to 
cross the Tagus. 

gth. — By Jackson's expression of they say that 
Wellesley is to be at Badajoz, it seems as if he doubted 
the truth of the report. Cuesta is impatient to advance. 
The Lisbon Gazette reports that Soult's army was 
pursued to Allariz near Orense. By a letter from the 



l8o9 ] FRENCH MOVEMENTS 351 

Duque del Parque of 30th, Ciudad Rodrigo, it seems that 
the French are in force at Salamanca, Avila, Valladolid, 
having abandoned Ledesma from the increased force of 
the Spaniards in that quarter. 

Madame de Hijar has just heard that Napoleon, who 
had given permission to Castelfranco to choose any place 
for his residence out of Spain, has again ordered him to 
be arrested, and he is to be confined as a prisoner at 
Gaeta because he had chosen Vienna for his retreat. 
His wife, the Dow. Dss. of Berwick, [who] had obtained 
permission to join him, is detained at Bordeaux gar dee 
a vue. The Marquis of Santa Cruz is already in his 
prison at Finistral in Piemont. The French entered 
Vienna on 12th May. 

10th. — Infantado called ; he wants to speak with 
Ld. Hd. confidentially. Ld. Wellesley is to come out 
in the Donegal, 1 and brings Cevallos. 2 

12th June. — Poste of last night this morning. No 
news from armies. The official returns, Mr. Jackson 
writes to me, were from Cuesta as follows : 28,000 
infantry, 7000 cavalry well mounted, besides artillery 
and unequipped troops. Venegas has 19,000 foot and 
cavalry altogether. The English cols, who are with 
Cuesta are Bourke 3 and Cadogan. 4 

Albuquerque left Zafra on the gth to proceed to 
Villanueva de la Serena and Don Benito, in order to 
reinforce Bassecourt, who was at Medellin threatened 
with an attack from Miajadas. Zayas was preparing 
to renew his attack on that eternal convent in Merida. 

1 He arrived off Cadiz on July 31. 

2 Cevallos had been sent to England by the Junta as their agent. 

3 Richard Bourke (1777-1855), assistant quartermaster-general 
to the British army in Portugal, and afterwards Governor of New South 
Wales. He was made K.C.B. in 1835. 

4 Henry Cadogan (1780-1813), aide-de-camp to Sir Arthur Wellesley. 
He was killed at Vitoria."! 



352 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Jun e 

Bassecourt advanced first ; had a skirmish with the 
French on the 8th half a league beyond Medellin. 1 

Very severe solano or levante wind which affects 
everybody ; I have suffered greatly from a fluxion 
in my head and cheek. Mr. North, Ld. Lewisham, 
Mr. Fazakerley dined ; I was too ill from pain and went 
to bed. 

i^th. — No company on acct. of my illness. Cuesta 
writes that the enemy were preparing to come upon 
Merida or Medellin, 3 which compelled him to divide his 
forces between these two points. He has made the first 
division march to support Bassecourt at Villanueva 
de la Serena, and has given the command to Eguia, 
remaining himself with the rest near Merida. On the 
nth he had a letter from Sir A. Wellesley apprising him 
of a French division having returned upon Alcantara, 
where the Portuguese commander had cortado el puente. 
The French had got a letter of Cuesta's to an officer at 
Alcantara, which fortunately contained nothing but 
instructions not to destroy the bridge until the last 
extremity. Some English have reached Portalegre. 
Wellesley has assured Cuesta that he will co-operate 
with him, and march if expedient north los Pirineos. 

1 Mr. Jackson to Lord Holland : ' June 12, Seville. On the 8th 
the 2nd regiment of Hussars of Estremadura (alias of Maria Luisa) 
belonging to Bassecourt's division and advanced half a league beyond 
Medellin, was vigorously attacked by 80 horse, who came within 
musket's shot supported by a body of 400. Their Colonel Ribas 
attacked the first who offered themselves with the greatest intrepidity, 
and Bassecourt says he saw them entirely turned, so that no one wd. 
have escaped, had not the principal body charged ours and obliged 
Ribas to retire, which he did in such order that they dared not venture 
to pursue him. We lost only 3 killed and one wounded ; the enemy 
40 of the first and 70 of the latter,' Albuquerque had 1400 men with 
him. 

2 The news of Soult's retreat had just reached the French, and 
the retirement behind the Tagus was only commenced on this date, 
June 14. It was more due, however, to the lack of provisions south 
of that river than to any fear of the British advance. 



i8o 9 ] MR. WARD 353 

Romana l was at Orense on the 4th between the Mino and 
the Sil acting on the defensive, whilst Soult had reached 
Lugo in the most deplorable condition with his army. 
Ney had returned from the Asturias. Mortier had dis- 
patched 6000 men to Leon. 2 

16th. — Arriaza at dinner. Col. Doyle gave us an 
acct. of Ward, whom he had left at Gibraltar more out 
of humour and discontented than ever. He has made 
an enemy and furnished matter for a joke wherever he 
has been. Doyle has received an exact acct. of the 
Valencia forces which left Valencia to join Blake on the 
2nd June — 7000 infantry and 800 cavalry ; of the latter 
he says there is one regt. equal in excellence to any 
in the Spanish service. Also an admirable officer 
whom Blake is determined, whenever an opportunity 
may offer, of raising to the rank of Mariscal-de- 
Campo : Valcarcel is his name. The letter from Jovel- 
lanos which ought to have arrived last night came 
this morning. He is not ill. It gives an acct. of 
the evacuation of Merida by the French ; the 300 in 
the convent were escorted out under the cover of 
2000 cavalry, and have withdrawn to Alcuescar. Zayas 
occupies Merida, and Henestrosa has orders to advance 
with his infantry to Almendralejo, and his cavalry to 
Calamonte. 

Romana writes his disgusting proceedings from 
Orense, where he is on the defensive with 9633 men. 
Soult has formed his junction with Ney, who has evacuated 



1 After his escape by sea from Oviedo, La Romana landed at Ribadeo 
and joined Many. Seeing, however, that the Spanish troops were thus 
confined in a corner, he decided to move to Orense, and slipped past 
Soult, who had plenty to do at Lugo with reorganising his battered 
force and quarrelling about future movements with Ney. 

2 To join Kellermann. He was not long allowed the use of them 
for Mortier sent for the division back in a hurry to assist in repelling 
the expected advance of Wellesley towards Salamanca. 

2 A 



354 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [June 

the Asturias. 1 Campo Sagrado, in his bulletin, mentions 
that the French had entered that principality in two 
corps, one under Kellerman by Paxares, the other 6000 
under Ney by Ibias. A curate ! acted as guide to the 
latter corps, which proceeded so secretly and rapidly that 
it had reached Salas and Cornellana before its entrance 
into the Asturias was known at Gijon. Campo Sagrado 
is highly incensed against Romana, whom he thinks 
highly deserving of punishment, and wishes much to have 
it inflicted ; for according to his own statements there 
were 6000 good troops under Ballesteros and 5000 under 
Worster, but he gives no explanation or justification of 
his conduct in first suppressing the Junta, and then in 
neglecting and abandoning the defence of the province. 

jyth. — A packet from England came this morning 
with papers and letters to the 6th June. Very dismal 
accts. from x\ustria which have depressed us all, as when 
that country is subdued Spain must be over-run by 
legions of fresh invaders flushed with victory and conquest, 
and what can she do against such physical superiority ? 

G. Lamb 2 is married to Caroline St. Jules. D. of D. 
behaves very kindly. They are to live in a house of their 

1 La Romana had taken the sensible resolve never to engage the 
enemy in force if he could avoid it. How much better would it have 
been had other Spanish generals done likewise ! From a letter, however, 
in the Record Office (June 9), quoted by Mr. Oman, he appears in this 
case to have intended to fall on Ney's flank, but was deterred from 
doing so by the presence of Soult at Monforte. 

Soult and Ney had decided, after much squabbling at Lugo, to 
undertake the reduction of Galicia, and arranged a plan of campaign 
accordingly, which the former appears to have had no intention of 
carrying out. He in fact took the first opportunity of marching away 
to Leon, leaving Ney to undertake a task which was quite beyond his 
power with the force at his command. 

These movements of the French refer to the earlier sweeping 
movements mentioned on p. 347. 

2 Honble. George Lamb (1 784-1 S34), fourth son of Peniston, first 
Viscount Melbourne. He was a lawyer, but employed his time more 
in literature and politics than in his own profession. 



l8 o 9 3 NEWS FROM HOME 355 

own, as he wisely intends to pursue his profession. Ly. 
Isabella Fitzgerald l is married to Chabot, the son of 
Jarnac, a bad marriage, which Ly. L. Conolly with her usual 
good-nature is endeavouring to reconcile the family to. 
Tierney and Sr. Francis Burdett had some sharp words 
together in the H. of Commons, 2 but the latter made a 
submission, else Tierney's towering passion would have 
ended in a duel between them. 

General Wellesley writes on 13th of June from Abrantes 
and promises a junction in a few days with Cuesta ; and 
entreats in the meantime that no action may be hazarded. 
There are symptoms of retreat in Victor's army, and 
some of his troops have passed the Tagus. The English 
still want shoes. Jovellanos has very kindly released 
Capmany from the drudgery of the Gazette, and employed 
him in enquiries and researches about the Cortes. 

18^ June, Cadiz. — Went off early in day to Pto. Sta. 
Maria, partly with the intention of changing the air, and 
partly with a view perhaps of proceeding again to Lisbon 
by the way of Seville, for there is no chance of sail- 
ing from Cadiz. Admirals Purvis and Berkeley have 
quarrelled, and ships do not go from their respective 
stations ; and Ld. Wellesley's arrival grows doubtful and 
even his returned ships may not take us or may not go 
back to England. 

igth, Puerto Santa Maria. — I had letters from 
Rodenas and Ferras, Ld. Hd. one from Jovellanos. The 
army of La Carolina is resuming its old positions. Victor 
returning across the Tagus, and Cuesta in pursuit of his 
rearguard. The Conde de Norofia had an action with the 
French at Puente de Sampayo immediately on his arrival 

1 Lady Isabella Charlotte Fitzgerald, fourth daughter of William 
Robert, second Duke of Leinster. She married Major-General Louis 
Guillaume de Rohan Chabot, Viscomte de Chabot, and died in 1868, 

- On Curwen's Reform Bill, May 26. 

2 A 2 



356 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Jun e 

in Galicia, in which he repulsed them four times and 
finally gained the victory. 1 The Spaniards at Seville 
are very much dissatisfied with Sir A. Wellesley, whom 
they accuse of not advancing and of not allowing Cuesta 
to advance. He first complained of want of shoes, and 
now he grounds his delay upon want of money. He was 
still at Abrantes. Sebastiani has moved to Consuegra. 

Ferras accounts for the smallness of Blake's army at 
Alcafiiz because he had left a strong garrison at Tortosa ; 
he thought by this time his numbers would be doubled. 
On the 7th his head-quarters were still at Samper. 
Strange to say the English King has refused to accept 
of the 4000 merinos, which at Frere's instigation the 
Junta had offered him. Poor creatures, they have 
already sailed. B. Frere is to remain as secty. to the 
embassy with Lord Wellesley. Ly. Wellesley does not 
for the moment come out. 

20th. — The accts. from Jovellanos and Jackson from 
Seville are too excellent almost to admit of belief ; if true 
in the smallest degree, Spain may yet be saved. An 
extraordinary Gazette from Tarragona has arrived giving 
a minute and circumstantial account of a great defeat 
sustained by the French commanded by Napoleon ! in 
person on the Danube on the 22nd and 23rd of May. 2 It 
is said that this is corroborated by private letters from 
Paris, and by a bulletin in which they admit their loss to 
amount to 3000 men. 

Victor is bona-fide retreating, and Cuesta is in full 

1 It was the reduction of this force of insurgents and regulars in the 
south of Galicia which was occupying Ney when he heard of Soult's 
departure from the provinces. Alone he was unable to make any im- 
pression on these Spaniards safely ensconced behind the Oitaben, and 
he finally retired to Lugo. The Conde de Norona had been given 
command of the force which had done so well at Vigo and Santiago ; 
2500 men only were regular troops. 

s The battle of Aspern, where Napoleon was repulsed and driven 
back to the island of Lobau. 



l8 o 9 ] THE FRENCH RETREAT 357 

pursuit ; the last accts. from Cuesta were dated Miajadas ; 
Eguia at Sta. Cruz de la Sierra, and actions had taken 
place between the S. light troops and 5000 French 
stationed at Ruena and La Coimbre [?]. Some random 
accts. of the English army. Venegas has advanced to 
Manzanares, and recovered the positions so scandalously 
abandoned by Urbina. The road being libre from Seville 
to Badajoz, we have resolved not to loiter on this coast, 
but to proceed to Lisbon and there get a passage home. 

2yd June, Xeres. — Letters from Jovellanos and Ferras, 
by which it appears that the French have abandoned 
Truxillo, leaving magazines of corn and flour behind them. 
Cuesta is at that city, his advanced guard at Jaraicejo. 
There have been skirmishes with the French rearguard, 
but of no importance. Nothing of the English. Blake 
still at Belchite on the 12th. Head-quarters of Venegas 
at Valdepehas. Jovellanos is alarmed at the probable 
junction of Victor and Sebastiani. 12th bulletin of French 
army acknowledges losses, but no very accurate official 
particulars have yet been received. 

Mr. Gordon is very well pleased with the advantages 
which the Junta have accorded to Xeres, viz. the establish- 
ment of an aduana, 1 which shall render them independent 
of Cadiz ; of the trade direct with America ; and per- 
mission to make a canal from Guadalquiver through 
its territory to the Bay of Cadiz, which when completed 
will enable them to have a dock above Puerto Real to 
ship their goods without being exposed to delay from 
the bar of Sta. Maria, which is oftentimes impassable for 
several days together. Cadiz will suffer if the scheme 
is ever realised. 

2qth June. — At Seville we found the city gates blocked 
up by batteries, and great precautions of course were 
necessary to wind our way through the embrasures, &c. 

1 Custom house. 



358 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Jun e 

Took up our abode in the Duenas ; l our rooms are 
insufferably hot, the house is filled, Mde. Castelnorido, 
her husband, and the Marques Ariza. Jovellanos, Ferras, 
&c, in eve. 

25th June, Seville. — Jovellanos, Ferras. Sad news of 
Blake's defeat on 18th at Belchite after repulse from 
Saragossa. 2 

2jth. — Blake's poste very affecting ; seems to have 
been cruelly betrayed and abandoned by the Valencians. 
An intrigue of the Grandees suspected. 

On the 26th there was a very interesting discussion 
in the Junta upon the business of the Cortes, whether 
the representation should be of the whole nation, or from 
the three classes the bravo militar, clerigo, pueblo ; the 
leaning was in favor of the latter. Several members 
entered with their vote a protest of reservation, to object 
in case they thought the proportion of deputies from 
those classes too great. 

Poor Blake has written a touching letter to the 
Junta, which I have not yet prevailed upon myself to 
read, for the calamity has truly affected me. He gives 
no details. The Section of War took the deposition of 
the courier, who declares that the action only lasted one 
hour, beginning at 6 and ending at 7 ; that the dispersion 
was complete, and that the general and his staff were 

1 The Marquesa de Ariza's house. 

2 Blake after collecting his reinforcements advanced from Alcahiz 
on Zaragoza, but was attacked at Maria by Suchet, who profited by 
the faulty dispositions of the Spanish commander, and drove him from 
the field. Blake retreated in good order to Belchite, where he again drew 
up his forces to oppose the enemy on the following day. As far as can 
be ascertained an accidental explosion of Spanish powder-wagons was 
the primary cause of the disgraceful sauve qui peut which followed. 
The Spanish army, already shaken by the events of the previous day, 
thought they had been treacherously attacked in the rear and fled in 
the utmost confusion. Their actual loss was not great, but the army 
simply scattered all over the country, and it was months before it was 
reformed. 



i8o 9 ] BELCHITE 359 

left entirely alone. The Valencian reinforcements had 
reached him in part, for O'Donoju, the col. of the regt. 
of Olivenza was killed. 1 From various circumstances 
it seems evident that he was sacrificed and betrayed 
scandalously by a party of officers in his own army. 
Caro, 3 the brother of Romana, who is the popular head 
of the rabble of Valencia, excited underhand a tumult in 
the city to prevent his going with the succour ordered 
for Blake. Lazan is suspected of conniving at the 
treachery, and to be one of the intriguing Grandees 
who intend to endeavour to overturn the Govt. He has 
evaded the orders of the Junta who recalled him lately. 
The plot is deep, if the conjectures are well founded. 
Lazan wanted the Capt. -Generalship of Aragon ; Caro has 
long been trying to be confirmed as such in Valencia ; 
Villafranca by intrigue obtained that of Murcia ; and 
Montijo has struggled for that of Granada, which, how- 
ever, in the attempt to gain, he has entirely lost, and 
got himself arrested and confined to Badajoz. 

Bauza 3 with great dexterity has contrived to make 
his escape from Madrid with his family and all his most 
valuable papers, and to conceal the rest so that the French 
can have no access to them — his materials for a map of the 
province of Spain bordering on the Pyrenees, Malespina's 
voyage, the drawings and various materials for S. America, 
&c. Laborde, 4 who had been employed upon the Voyage 
Pittoresque d'Espagne, persecuted him. The French 

1 Arteche quoting Toreno says that Colonel Juan O'Donoju was 
taken prisoner. 

2 General Jose Caro, La Romana' s youngest brother, Governor 
of Valencia. He had in the province and with the local Junta 
immense influence, which was always employed to oppose the authority 
of the Central Junta at Seville and to thwart their actions. 

3 See ante, p. 152. 

4 Alexandre Louis Joseph, Comte de Laborde (1773-1842), who 
accompanied Lucien Bonaparte on his mission to Spain as aide-de-camp, 
and remained there to obtain materials for his work, which was pub- 
lished in 1808. 



3 6o LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [June 

officers are very corrupt and money will procure any 
testimony. For five guineas he got a certificate from 
a mulatto colonel to declare he was 60 years of age. He 
describes the people of Madrid and of every place which 
he passed through as equally hostile to the French as this. 
He says, what they all do, that the French have no power 
over any part of Spain but just where their armies are 
in possession. 

Cuesta has received his famous pontoons from Bada- 
joz ; but they have sent him only 18 boats, whereas 22 
is the complement, consequently he undergoes great 
difficulty and delay in passing his troops. 1 The enemy 
seem to have evacuated their positions on the opposite 
shore of the river, so he has no obstacle to encounter in 
crossing the river but the embarrassments which arise 
from want of boats. From a letter just received by 
Quintana from Venegas' army it seems that Sebastiani 
has been greatly reinforced ; if from Victor's army the 
news is good, but if from Aragon or elsewhere it is alarm- 
ing. 2 King Pepe has taken the command ; probably he 
did not like to trust himself in Madrid, stripped of troops, 
alone amongst his faithful vassals. Venegas, in conse- 
quence of this information is falling back upon Despeha 
Perros. 

I spoke to Campo Sagrado upon this sad disaster which 
has befallen Blake, adding how much it was to be wished 
that he might receive every consolation which could be 
afforded him from the Govt. He spoke with the utmost 

1 Cuesta had advanced to Almaraz, when Victor withdrew his 
troops north of the Tagus to Talavera. He repaired the pontoon bridge 
there, which had been destroyed by the French. Victor had intended 
to hold the line of the Tagus, but sheer want of provisions drove him 
to retire behind the Alberche. 

2 The reinforcements did consist of troops lent by Sebastiani to 
Victor, and of part of Joseph's own force at Madrid. Venegas had 
to beat a hurried retreat, and was not caught, though his rash advance 
merited such a fate. Joseph pursued him as far south as El Moral. 



1809] BLAKE 361 

feeling, and said the charge of writing had been entrusted 
to him by the Junta, and that his friends might be 
satisfied that everything should be done to mitigate his 
anguish of mind and prove that he still retained their 
confidence. I hinted that in order to acquit him to 
the public, the blame ought to be thrown where it was 
deserved, for to conceal the treachery of those who had 
betrayed him was in fact sharing it in part. Veri, 1 who 
was by, joined most heartily in this ; Campo Sagrado 
acquiesced equally warmly, but it was evident that he was 
not allowed to act upon that subject as he wished. Veri 
gave me a copy of poor Blake's poste ; it is very affecting, 
and evidently written under a feeling of the utmost 
despondency. He declined all future command even if 
the Junta would entrust any to a man of such a mala 
estrella ; he will serve his country as a mere soldier, 
declines the encomienda, and only requests a moderate 
pension for his family merely for their maintenance. He 
gives no details of the action, but from the ambiguity 
of some of the expressions he glances at treachery in 
those about him. 

The D. of Infantado has determined upon publishing 
an acct. of his whole conduct. His opinion agst. the 
abdication of Ferdinand is very strong, and would have 
cleared him from many aspersions had he been judicious 
enough to have made it public at the time, instead 
of entrusting it to Cevallos, who to make his own case 
more saliente, 2 concealed Infantado's. The D. of 
Albuquerque in a pet has thrown up his command, 
which, considering that he is in face of the enemy, is 
scandalous. He is discontented with Cuesta, and angry 
with the Junta for not giving him a separate supreme 

1 Don Tomas de Veri, member of the Central Junta for the Balearic 
Isles. 

2 Remarkable. 



362 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju]y 

command. Jovellanos is displeased with Frere, who 
never ceases to urge the Junta to make him C. -in-Chief. 
This is a part of the grand plot of the Grandees. Ld. Hd. 
dined with Infantado. Before we set off Jovellanos 
and Infantado were with us. 

30th June, Fuente de Cantos. — We are lodged here in 
the house of the Conde de Casa Chaves, a member of the 
Junta of Badajoz. The females of this family, as did 
the others of the town, fled into the Sierra whilst the 
French were in the neighbourhood. It does not appear 
that any French reached this place. A small party 
went to Zafra, but on rinding the inhabitants were 
disposed to make resistance, they withdrew. The 
Condesa of this house is a relation of Venegas ; she 
seems a mild, well-behaved person. Her husband is very 
unpleasant, and treats her with the utmost harshness ; 
she submits to the lowest household drudgery whilst he 
takes his siesta and with his Order at his button struts 
like a person of importance. 

1st July. — Our host and many persons of substance 
are proprietors of the merinos. The Marquis of 
Ensehares from Zafra came over in consequence of 
hearing that we were likely to go there ; by some 
strange jumble they conceived Ld. Hd. was a great 
purchaser of wool, and they set off their stock 
of that commodity for the best advantage. 1500 
French came to this place (Los Santos). They only 
remained two hours in consequence of the approach 
of Echevarria's advanced guards. They committed 
great ravages at Almendralejo. At Merida they have 
sacked the town, only one house is untouched ; they 
pretend to say they only destroy where the proprietors 
fly, and that at Caceres where the inhabitants remained 
they left everything uninjured. 

2nd July. — Left Los Santos at 3 o'clock. Saw on 



lS09 ] A GOOD RECOMMENDATION 363 

left the town and old tower and walls of Feria ; very 
picturesquely situated. A party of French went up to 
the town and demanded rations, but the people retired 
to the old tower and worked an old cannon, which played 
so briskly that they forced them to retire. Reached 
Sta. Marta about 7 o'clock. The French to the number 
of 500 were quartered here for 22 days, beginning from 
21st April. The women and young men fled, and many 
houses were quite deserted. The French cut down the 
olives for their encampment, and took off the doors and 
windows from the houses for their tents, which when they 
withdrew they burnt. The young men who left the 
village joined with other peasants, and kept up a constant 
skirmishing with the advanced posts of the French. Our 
curate's house was not destroyed, his mother and another 
woman remained ; she lodged two colonels, one who said 
he was a near relation of Napoleon's. One of them on 
going away expressed his satisfaction at the reception 
he had met with and the uniform attention he had 
received ; and to prove his gratitude he begged to leave 
a certificate of approbation, desiring it might be shown 
to any friend who might afterwards come to her house. 
The poor woman readily accepted of his offer, and accord- 
ingly received from him the following certificate, which 
is literally copied in orthography, &c. : — 

' Malheureux Espagnols, votre ignorance et votre 
fanatisme font tout votre malheur. Si vous eties plus 
alacres vous series peutetre plus justes, moin ferosse 
plus sivilisees, et par consequent plus heureux et plus 
estimables.' 

Till Mr. Allen translated the meaning of the words, 
the people were fully persuaded they possessed a high 
compliment in their favour. 

yd July, Sta. Marta. — We only lay down for a few 
hours and proceeded on our journey early. The alcalde 



364 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju iy 

told us that in consequence of the great alarm and fright 
produced by the arrival of the French at Sta. Marta, much 
sickness had ensued, hemorrhages, and the death of most 
of the young sucking children whose mothers had fled 
in great trepidation on foot amongst the mountains. 
At Los Santos Ld. Hd. received a letter from the person 
who is to lodge us at Badajoz, to know exactly at 
what hour we should arrive, in order to receive him in 
a manner suitable to his rank. This is terribly dis- 
agreeable, and entails great ennui for me. At Sta. 
Marta the Junta of Badajoz sent us out a guard of honor 
on horseback to escort us. Saw to the left Nogales, 
where a body of peasantry amounting to 5 or 6,000 
repulsed the French who went to demand rations. Upon 
the road before Albuera we met Proudman, the messenger, 
who was on his way from Sr. A. Wellesley to Seville with 
dispatches. Wellesley left Abrantes on 26th, and was 
to leave Castello Branco yesterday, 2nd July, and 
according to his report was to march 10 days onwards. 
About a league from Badajoz, two members deputed 
from ye Junta came in a coach and six, escorted by a troop 
of Dragoons, to meet Ld. Hd. They got out in the middle 
of the high road, and made him a set speech, which when 
concluded they invited us to go into the coach, an honor 
I of course declined, but Ld. Hd. was resigned to his fate 
and went with them. A vast crowd was assembled in 
and about the town to greet our arrival, and we got out 
of the carriage amidst innumerable vivas at the house of 
the late Conde de Torre Fresno, which had been prepared 
for our reception. In the eve. we had a refresco, and 
all classes and descriptions of persons came : the 
Capt. -General d'Arce, the Inquisidor Riesgo, whom we 
knew at Valladolid and who is the president of 
this Junta. Fire-works and music on a stage erected 
opposite to our windows, on which the portrait of 



l8 o 9 ] A SPANISH WELCOME 365 

Ferdinand VII was exhibited occasionally amidst the 
applauses. 

4th July, Badajoz. — I had a severe cold which served 
as a pretext to keep me away from the clamorous festi- 
vities which Ld. Hd. was compelled to undergo ; there 
was a dinner consisting of 30 persons, and noisy toasts 
full of patriotism and compliments. John was better, 
and we dined in my room together. Late in eve. I went 
in the saloon, and was pestered with civilities, fireworks, 
drums, &c. All these honors were owing to our friend 
Garay, who, from a mistaken notion of doing what was 
civil, overpowered us by all these troublesome attentions. 

I hear that the Junta of Badajoz are dissatisfied with 
the Central Junta, and in order to see their downfall are 
very eager for the Cortes. Ld. Hd. obtained promises 
to see the Conde de Montijo, who is strictly confined 
under a strong guard on acct. of the accusations agt. 
him by the Junta of Granada for having excited a tumult 
in that town. 1 He is a clever man, quick, eloquent, and 
designing, and has got himself many partizans even at 
Badajoz for he represents himself as an object of persecu- 
tion, and indeed the Junta have been inconsiderate in 
sending him to the center of his own country to a hostile 
Junta. The Capt. -General, d'Arce, told me of some 
atrocities of the French ; one committed most cruelly 
par gaiete de cceur. At Brozas they dressed an old man of 
seventy in women's clothes, and compelled him to dance 
till he dropped ; then stabbed him with their bayonets, 
and afterwards burned his body. This Junta intends 
to make a collection of all such horrors which can be 
authenticated, and publish them. They have also estab- 
lished a Commission to look into the abuses committed 
during the residence of the French in the towns which 

1 See ante, p. 32T. 



366 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju i y 

they have now abandoned, for it seems that many worth- 
less inhabitants purchased the goods and valuable effects 
of his more unfortunate neighbour. 

$th July. — We left Badajoz at £ before 6. I was 
terrified at one of the honours destined for us, a salve 
from the balconies (?) ; accordingly I set off at full gallop. 
Ld. Hd. was obliged to the last to hear their civilities, and 
came in the carriage with the two deputies who were 
appointed to receive Ld. Hd. as far as the river Cayo, the 
limit of the kingdom. We got to Elvas at 8, and lodged 
in the house of Mr. Fletcher. 

6th July, Elvas. — Left Elvas at 6. . . . The Governor 
of Badajoz forwarded by a postillion a letter from Don 
Francisco, who mentions having heard from Blake and 
Maldonado. The discomfiture of the former seems to 
be still a mystery. In the former actions his troops 
appeared full of confidence and enthusiasm, and the enemy 
expected to make their way out of Aragon, when in an 
instant, without even discharging their pieces and only 
two rounds from the enemy, Blake was deserted by his 
whole army, and whether this desertion was owing to 
treachery or to panic is still unknown. He is gone to 
Tarragona with Maldonado, and has left Lazan at Tortosa, 
and Roca at Morella to collect the fugitives. Cuesta's 
advanced posts had reached within a league of Talavera, 
but on finding the enemy in force, and understanding 
that King Joseph was advancing from La Mancha to 
Toledo at the head of a considerable reinforcement, 
he meant to send back the main body of his army 
to recross the Tagus on ye 29th, securing the bridges, 
and leaving his advanced guard on the other side of 
the river, and there to wait for the arrival of the 
English. 

8th July, Evora. — We were most kindly received and 
lodged by the Archbishop in his palace, which is very 



l8 o 9 ] ARCHBISHOP OF EVORA 367 

large, and contains some handsome, lofty, well-furnished 
rooms. The Archbishop 1 is a very remarkable man for his 
learning and piety. He is 86 years of age ; he was origin- 
ally a Franciscan friar, but from his great learning and 
excellent qualities was selected by Pombal as the fittest 
person to be the preceptor of the elder brother of the 
P. Regent, 3 a young man about whom the greatest hopes 
were entertained, but who unfortunately (it is said) for 
the glory and welfare of Portugal, was cut off in his prime 
at 25. He is a venerable figure, but so old, that he 
reminded me of the body of John II which is preserved 
in the coffin at Batalha. 

Evora was one of the towns which in consequence 
of the resistance made in Spain against the French, 
followed that example, and in July 1808 rose and formed 
a sort of Junta. 3 Junot, in order to intimidate and 
prevent the spirit of resistance from spreading, detached 
Gen. Loison with a strong force of 10,000 troops upon 
the pretext of marching to relieve Dupont in Andalusia 
from Lisbon, but in fact to chastise and suppress these 
provincial Govts. Loison was lodged in this palace, and 
on first seeing the Archb. he spoke very roughly, and told 
him three times over that his life was forfeited for having 
issued a decree agst. the D. of Abrantes (Junot) ; however 
he became calmer, and gave his word of honor to the 
Archbishop that his palace should be respected and 
nothing plundered in the general sack which was to be 
made of the town. However, notwithstanding this sacred' 
promise, he himself accompanied by some officers and 
soldiers forced open a private door, and broke into a 

1 D. Fray Manuel de Cenaculo Villas Boas. 

2 Dom Jose, eldest son of Queen Maria I. He married his aunt 
Da. Maria Benedictina, and died in 1786. His next brother, Dom 
Joao, was appointed Regent after his mother had finally lost her senses 
in 1799. 

3 See ante, p. 256. 



368 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju i y 

cabinet of medals and antiquities, &c., and plundered the 
collection of all the gold and silver medals, of which he 
had a very valuable series, leaving the copper and bronze 
untouched. Not satisfied with this, he rifled the drawers 
and coffers in which were deposited some trinkets and 
golden crucifixes, &c. These of course were taken, but 
the wood-work torn and cast away ; heaps of MSS. were 
destroyed, and the shreds and remains are now left in 
a heap as a curious vestige of the rage and mischief of the 
French. A priest, the Grand Vicaire, assured Ld. Hd. 
that Loison himself stole from a table whilst the Archbishop 
was sleeping his episcopal ring, and saw him (Loison) 
put it into his pocket. There was regular battle between 
the Portuguese and some Spaniards who had come to 
their assistance and the French without the walls of the 
town, and Loison then gave it up to massacre and pillage- 
800 of the inhabitants were killed, 57 secular priests, and 
10 monks. 

After dinner we went to the library, which is built 
by the Archbishop, and the collection, which is valuable 
and extensive, is made entirely by him ; he probably 
designs to annex it as a bequest to the Archbishopric- 
Beside the collection of medals and coins of which the 
French plundered him, and of rare manuscripts which they 
destroyed, he has some very pretty fragments of ancient 
statues, which were found in digging both here and at 
Beja (he was formerly Bishop of Beja), also some curious 
inscriptions, &c. 

qth July. — We dined at an early hour with the Arch- 
bishop ; he had appeared much affected at the sight of the 
portrait of his pupil, and I was anxious, without absolutely 
asking, to know some particulars respecting the character 
and death of that Prince. Accordingly we found him very 
willing to dwell upon the subject, and also about the 
character of Pombal. To that minister he owed his 



1809] 



DOM JOSE 369 



appoint, of preceptor to the young prince, and his see 
of Beja. He spoke highly of his talents as a statesman, 
and of the charms of his conversation as a gentleman 
or man of the world. On the accession of the present 
Queen, the Archbishop was dismissed from his employ- 
ment about the Prince, and Pombal was disgraced, 1 but the 
Prince continued to correspond regularly with him. He 
praises highly his talents, disposition, and acquirements ; 
is satisfied that had he lived this country would have 
been in a very difft. situation. He was married to his 
aunt, a person of very extraordinary abilities ; she is 
now living and has accompanied the Royal family to the 
Bresils. The Archbishop represents the present Princess 
of Bresil; 2 the daughter of Maria Luisa, as a woman of 
very wonderful knowledge and learning. 

In one of the saloons of the palace there are some 
curious old pictures representing the birth and life of 
Christ ; they are the works of a Greek painter, who is said to 
have been brought into Portugal by Isabella, an Aragonese 
Princess, when she came to marry King Diniz nearly 600 
years ago. The drawing and composition is very good ; 
the present Archbishop has had them cleaned and 
refreshed, but great care was taken not to destroy the 
original design in any way. 3 

Setubal, 12th July. — Capt. Smith gave us some dis- 
gusting instances of the bad govert. of the Regency, who 
disgrace themselves by as much bribery and connivance at 
peculation as any of the old Governts. He also told us 
that the cause of Gen. Wellesley's delay was his suspicion 

1 Maria I and her husband Pedro III were entirely governed by her 
mother Da. Marianna Vittoria, widow of King Jose, who hated the 
Minister Pombal, and obtained his dismissal from office. 

2 Da. Carlotta Joaquina, eldest daughter of Charles IV of Spain and 
Queen Maria Luisa. She was born in 1775. 

3 Several pictures are said to be by Gran Vasco. They were preserved 
from destruction by the Archbishop. 



370 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL [Ju iy 

of the Portuguese Govt., and that he did not like to 
advance leaving them behind him without an English 
force at Lisbon ; accordingly a camp to a considerable 
amount is now collected in that city. 

13th July. — Reached Belem, where we found Mr. 
Villiers' carriage waiting, and from thence we went to his 
house and dined with Ld. John Fitzroy. 

From Jovellanos, 8th July. Romana is recalled, but 
has permission to name his successor ! l What feebleness 
in ye Govt ! Jovellanos and very much discon- 
tented with their colleagues in regard to the Asturias, 
and other things. Jovellanos thinks for the sake of 
decoro and his own feelings he shall ask leave to go to 
the baths. No progress about the affair of the Cortes. 
Great efforts are making to collect an army for Blake. An 
army of rescue is forming between Xenil and Guadalquiver, 
and that in consequence of the number of public papers, 
addresses, etc., the Gazette is in future to be published twice 
a week. Wellesley and Beresford have quarrelled about 
the patronage of the Portugese army. Major Berkeley 
writes to his father, the Admiral, that the difference is 
very striking in their comforts since they have entered 
Spain, [better] than when they were supplied by their own 
commissariat in Portugal ; they have wine and excellent 
bread and all supplies in abundance, and yet they are 

1 La Romana was recalled from Galicia by the Junta under the 
pretext of his appointment to a vacant deputyship from Valencia. He 
was succeeded by the Duque del Parque. 

Captain Parker to Lord Holland : ' Ferrol, Aug. 18, 1809. We had 
the Marquis of Romana nearly a month at CoruSa and found him 
remarkably pleasant. I have enclosed the drawing of a monument 
which he has in the handsomest manner caused to be erected over the 
remains of Sir John Moore, which had been removed to a more appro- 
priate place of interment, and deposited with military honours. The 
Marquis marched about a fortnight ago towards Villa Franca, where he 
will, I believe, leave the army and proceed to Seville, having I under- 
stand, been recalled by the Central Junta, as he meditated an attack 
on St. Andero with a division of the army.' 



x8o9] HOME AGAIN 371 

marching through the worst part of the worst and most 
uncultivated province of Spain. 

jyth. — We are to sail in the Lively, commanded by 
Capt. McKinley. 

igth. — Our accommodation was excellent, and what 
was equally important, Capt. McKinley was one of the 
most obliging and kind-hearted men I ever met with. 

On the 10th of August got into St. Helens and landed 
in a most boisterous gale and high sea at Portsmouth. 
Remained the whole day, set off the following, and slept 
at , and on 12th reached Holland House. 






? B 2 



APPENDICES 

APPENDIX A 

(See p. 225, etc.) 

Lord Paget to Lord Holland 

No. 1 
Private 

Astorga, Nov. 24th, 1808. 

My dear Lord, — I am very sorry to be obliged to assure 
you that I think there is no chance whatever of your being 
enabled to remain in Spain. It is but too true that Blake's army 
has been beaten and totally dispersed. He is said to be at Leon 
without troops, where Romana also was yesterday. Letters 
have been written by their desire to Sr. D. Baird to state the 
fact pretty much as it is, and to engage him to provide for 
his own safety. The French have had their cavalry dancing 
all over the country. They have been at Valladolid with 
1200 of them and two pieces of artillery, and are said to have 
had the same number at Mayorga. They have withdrawn 
them from the latter place and had, on the 22nd, concentrated 
14,000 men at Rio Seco. Sr. J. M. is no doubt by this time 
on his march to Ciudad Rodrigo, as in his last letter written, 
I think, on the 21st, he states his intention of retiring from 
Salamanca the moment that the French move from Valladolid, 
and that they have already done this, I have no doubt. He 
considered then all hope of junction as nearly at an end, and 
directed Sir D. B. to retire for embarkation. 

In consequence the army has begun its retreat to the 
position of Villafranca. The Light Brigade of Infantry stay 



APPENDIX A 37 

here as a rearguard, and I also shall remain. The cavalry 
will continue to move forwards. 

We are, alas ! in the most critical and the most melancholy 
of all situations. I do not mean in respect to the danger in 
the act of retreating. I have no apprehension on that head. 
But it is most melancholy to be sent to assist in the defence 
of a country, and to be obliged to abandon it without the 
power of making an effort, and this is really the case. The 
following is the state of the Spanish armies. Blake's is 
totally vanished. The Estremadurians were beat at Burgos 
and dispersed. In a letter from Graham, which I have read, 
who was with Castafios's army, he says that it does not amount 
to more than 20,000 men, and that that of Palafox's is about 
10,000 ; that both are ill-equipped, half-naked, and not in 
a state to keep the field, and I am sorry to say that I hear 
of no reserves, no enthusiasm in the people. In fact there 
positively does not exist any Spanish corps with which any 
part of the British army can form a junction. Sr. J. M. 
will retreat upon Lisbon, as will, no doubt, Hope if he can ; 
but as he cannot yet have joined Moore, having made a very 
circuitous march by Madrid, I shd. not be at all surprised 
if he were to be put in the situation of being obliged to retire 
upon Gibraltar. We shall fall back upon Vigo, as the only 
chance of saving the horses, by waiting in Bayona or even 
transporting them to the islands until transports arrive for 
them ; but always, however, liable to be overpressed and to 
be obliged to destroy them and to save the men. You will 
remember what I stated as likely to happen ; I am not there- 
fore surprised, but sadly grieved. All I can now hope for, is 
that the infantry may be enabled to remain a sufficient time 
at Villafranca to allow the cavalry to come up, that we may 
then have our opportunity (and that we may not fail in it) 
of showing ourselves. I am aware that this can do no good 
to the general cause, but I am, I own, childish enough to 
feel ashamed of going off quietly. The British army has 
been put into the most cruel situation. Ministers must 
have been totally deceived with respect to the situation of 
this country, the state of its army, and the disposition of the 
people. I am aware that I am writing to a Spaniard, but 
I really think that he will not now have much to say for 
his proteges. 

What I have said respecting our retreat to Vigo is in 
the strictest cotifidence, because it is of much importance 



374 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

that the enemy shd. not be aware of it, as he has a shorter 
road to it than we can go on acct. of stores and all the various 
impedimenta of an army. This is a secret, however, which 
like most others will no doubt soon be generally known. 

I have not been enabled to obtain any information respect- 
ing Sir G. Webster, or Lauderdale's son. 

The following is my speculation. I am not in possession 
of many facts. The French are over-running the Asturias 
tout a leur aise, and may very possibly try to push a light corps 
along the sea coast. They will leave a sufficient force to 
keep in check but not to beat Castafios and Palafox, whilst 
they are pushing forwards a strong corps to prevent our 
junction, which having effected, it will separate and follow 
each of us, but particularly Moore. Madrid will soon be in 
their hands ; there is nothing whatever to stop them. They 
may possibly push a corps by Monforte and Orense to try to 
keep us out of Vigo if apprised of our intentions, and our 
situation is such that we cannot march straight to our point of 
embarkation from the difficulty of moving the artillery, the 
stores, and ammunition by the short route. I think that 
any four of the lines of this letter read to Mr. Ward will send 
him off by the ist packet, and I hope that the whole will engage 
you and Lady Holland (to whom I beg my best compliments) 
to repair forthwith to Holland House and there wait until the 
patriotic Spaniards are en masse for the expulsion of Joseph 
and his suite. 

Ever, my dear Lord, 

Very faithfully yours, 

Paget. 
P.S. — No letters for you or Mr. Allen. 

Patroles has been within 14 leagues of Madrid. Not 
yet at Benavente. Let them stop only one week and we will 
join Moore, give them a good licking. We will catch Joseph, 
and then retire into Andalusia and wait for a little more 
Spanish patriotism. 



No. 2 

Astorga, Nov. 28 th. 

My dear Lord, — I wrote a short note to you this morn, by 
the messenger sent by Sir J. Moore, since which I have been 



APPENDIX A 3/5 

favored by your kind letter and Ly. H.'s kind note of the 25th. 
I am much in hopes that the little panic which was felt here 
is subsiding, and that things may still be done as they ought 
to be, for I confess to you that I have been most wretched at 
what was likely to be decided upon. 

I do not quite agree with you in yr. reasoning respecting 
the improbability of the enemy trying to penetrate thro' the 
Asturias. He may do so. There is not a respectable corps 
to stop him, and I do not believe that La Romana is inclined 
to detach anything from Leon to look behind him. I now 
feel confident that we shall at all events attempt a junction 
with Moore, nor have I the least doubt of succeeding in it. 
This will at once cover your movement by Vigo and Tuy into 
Portugal, but it will not tend to lessen the probability of a 
corps pushing on to Ferrol, &c. , thro' the Asturias, particularly 
if Romana makes the movement of which he talks, namely 
that of following our corps towards Salamanca. I own I wd. 
rather wish him to get into the rear of that corps which is 
getting towards Oviedo, and then if your Galicians would 
make a movement on his front, the Marquis might make a 
jolt coup. 

Many thanks for your letter of intelligence ; some of it 
was new to me. Such, for instance, as the arrival of Bona- 
parte at Vitoria. It confirms me in the idea that he is pouring 
a very large force upon Castanos. I wish that army may 
be able to stand the shock. I own I doubt it. I know not 
what may be the spirit of the people to the southward, but 
believe me, there is very little enthusiasm this way, and I 
confess to you that I have but a poor opinion of the Spanish 
Quarlier-General. With respect to the British army, I sus- 
pect that the orders given have been so extremely cautious, 
or rather that our Ministers have recommended such extreme 
caution, that we shall only engage seriously when we cannot 
help it, but then I do really believe we shall perform wonders. 
The cavalry is suffering a good deal upon the march, not in 
condition, but in the feet and legs of the horses. My regiment 
has been sadly harassed, and owing to the stupidity, or 
something worse, of some of the gentlemen who were sent 
back to stop the advance of baggage and stores, even laid 
hands upon the cavalry which has been twice stopped and 
even sent back, and twice obliged to make forced marches to 
recover lost ground. 



376 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

If anything particular should occur I will send a line to you 
to Vigo as well as to Corufia. With best compts. to Ly. H. 
and party. 

Believe me, 

My dear Lord, 

Very faithfully yours, 

Paget. 

P.S. — Most happy am I to tell you that our advance is 
decided upon. And I am now as anxious to conceal this 
intention as I was the former less satisfactory one, for if we 
are quiet, I am not without hopes of making some little coup 
upon the march. I shall probably move on the 3rd ; the 
gros corps on the 4th or 5th. 



No. 3 

Sahagun, Dec. 23rd, 1808. 

My dear Lord, — I am in a violent rage with you. You are 
the most prejudiced man alive. You talk to a parcel of people 
snug upon the sea coast and who, knowing your enthusiasm for 
the Spanish cause, flatter your misconceptions of the state of this 
country, and from the language of such people you form your 
judgment of the dispositions of the Spanish nation. 'Tis one 
not worth saving. Such ignorance, such deceit, such apathy, 
such pusillanimity, such cruelty, was never both united. 
There is not one army that has fought at all. There is not one 
general who has exerted himself, there is not one province 
that has made any sacrifice whatever. There is but one town 
in all Spain that has shown an atom of energy. We are 
treated like enemies. The houses are shut against us. The 
resources of the country are withheld from us ; we are roving 
about the country in search of Quixotic adventures to save our 
own honor, whilst there is not a Spaniard who does not skulk 
and shrink within himself at the very name of Frenchman. 
I am with an army the finest in the world for its numbers, 
enthusiastic, equal to every exertion, burning to engage. 
I have been one of the most strenuous advisers to advance and 
to take our chance. But why have I done so ? For my own 
sake, for that of my comrades in arms, for the honor of the 
British army, not, believe me, not in the smallest degree for 
the Spaniards. I have been an enthusiast for their cause ; 



APPENDIX A 377 

but I, as well as all the world, at least the English world, have 
been grossly deceived. All I have to say upon that subject 
is much too long for a letter, but when we meet, I will convince 
you that you too have been deceived. 

Let me turn to a subject on which I can write with more 
pleasure and consequently in better humour. 

The British cavalry has been several times partially 
engaged and has each time acquitted itself with the greatest 
honor. The 18th have made three little coups, in one of which 
Charles Stewart was engaged and did famously. In the latter 
(it is with the intensest satisfaction I relate it to you for 
Lady Holland's information) Captain Jones and Sir Godfrey 
Webster at the head of 30 men attacked 100 of the enemy, 
killed 20 and took 5 prisoners. 'Twas a most gallant affair. 

I must now (as you are a great soldier) detail to you a coup 
which fell to my share. Being 4 leagues from hence with 
the 10th and 15th Hussars and some artillery, I learnt that 
General-of-Brigade the Marquis de Debelle with 7 or 800 
cavalry was in this town. I ordered the 10th with the guns 
to march on one side of the river and to make every demon- 
stration to engage them to quit the town ; and I marched 
at 1 a.m. with about 400 of the 15th, picking up a Capt. 
and 12 of the 7th in my way, in order to get round the town 
by day-break. At half past 4 my advanced guard fell in 
with a patrole of the enemy, charged it and made 5 prisoners, 
but the rest escaping, and fearing they might be in time to 
prevent my plan I was obliged to push on. I arrived exactly 
in time. They had formed without the town, and upon 
perceiving us made off. I had a great deal of manoeuvring 
to come up with and cut them off from their point of retreat. 
At length having accomplished my object, I formed and 
immediately attacked. They fired their pistols and received 
us firmly. We broke thro' them and the result was 2 lt.-cols., 
1 capt., 10 lieuts., 170 men, 125 horses, some mules and 
baggage taken. Several killed, 19 wounded. I had two 
officers and 22 men wounded. Had I not in consequence of the 
patrole been obliged to hasten my march, by which I was forced 
to attack before the arrival of the 10th, I think I should have 
had most of them. By every testimony of prisoners they 
were 750. I cannot speak too highly in praise of those 
engaged. The attack was most regular and beautiful. The 
pursuit very wild. I scolded them well for it, and they 
answered by 3 cheers and begging I would accept from 



378 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

them the two finest horses taken. This is of course for your 
private ear. But of what avail are such things, if those for 
whom we came to fight will not fight for themselves. But 
I stop myself and having begun my letter in anger I will close 
in good humour, sincerely congratulating Lady Holland upon 
the gallantry of her son, 

Open your eyes, my dear Lord, 

And believe me, 

Very faithfully yours, 

Paget. 

We march to-night to attack Soult and shall beat him. 
We are all delighted. 
Sincerely so. 
Mais a quoi bon ? 



APPENDIX B 

Sir Robert Wilson to Lord Holland 
No. i 

Villa da Cerves, April 6, 1809. 

My Lord, — I have to lament that your Lordship's only 
reached me this day, as I may have appeared negligent of a 
correspondence which I would cultivate as a great honour and 
the source of much gratification. I wish it had been in my 
power to render your journey less inconvenient, and I shall ever 
regret that circumstances prevented me from receiving yr. 
Lordship at Oporto. I am afraid to indulge my feelings 
at the commendation of yr. Lordship for the resolution I 
embraced to continue in Spain at a moment of despondency, 
for I must not suffer myself to estimate the service beyond 
its value. 

I would have been a more useful friend to the great cause, 
which exacts as a duty and stimulates to ambition every 
personal sacrifice, but my means wd. have been inadequate 
to my desires. Whilst I, however, bear any part of this contest, 
you may be assured of hearing whatever may be worthy of 
your notice as matter of fact whether propitious or adverse. 



APPENDIX B 379 

Notwithstanding the appearance of an immediate junction 
Soult persevered in his order to attack Portugal, relying on 
the intention of the English to embark from Lisbon when- 
ever a French force appeared in the country, as his intercepted 
dispatch acquainted us. He left in Galicia another corps 
of the army, but the Imperial Guards and all the light cavalry 
of the army returned to France from their cantonments in 
Valladolid, Astorga, &c, and the last column was met at 
Burgos on the 12th of March. Genl. Lapisse collected on 
the Tormes about 8000 men to cover Segovia and Leon, 
and combine with Soult whenever communication was 
practicable. After several enterprises to pass the Minho, 
Soult was defeated in that plan, and was finally compelled 
to make a movement against Chaves, into which place a col. 
of militia with 1200 troops and near 3000 troops threw 
themselves contrary to Genl. Silveira's order, and surrendered 
by capitulation the next day. The Marquis of Romana, 
finding the route along the frontier of Galicia open, took 
advantage of this moment to break from a connection which 
had been imperiously forced on him and which from the 
disposition of the Portuguese became every day more painful 
and menacing. He moved forward, left a post at Puebla de 
Sanabria, and on the 13th of March was at Ponferrada 
marching without interruption towards the Asturias, where 
a considerable force would submit to his orders. The Mar- 
quis's own force did not exceed 9000 armed and 7000 unarmed 
men. Soult pressed on from Chaves on the 14th of March, 
the day after its surrender, and advanced agst. Braga, where 
the people put Genl. Bernardino Freire and his two aides-de- 
camp to death on the suspicion of treason and, I fear, on 
the assurance of imbecility both as to capacity and personal 
fortitude. The French pressed on. The troops without 
a leader fled, and the people, bold only in crime, emigrated 
en masse from this city. Gen. Silveira at the head of a vast 
number of militia, populace, and about 3000 regulars, 
taking advantage of a feeble garrison, invested Chaves and 
possessed himself of the place with about 1000 persons, of 
which probably there were 500 soldiers. The rest infirm, 
and followers of the army. Soult arrived before Porto on the 
25th. The populace, previously alarmed, had proceeded to 
wreak their vengeance on about 20 persons confined in the 
prisons and some others, who puerile malice and no public 
offences doomed. On the 27th the city was summoned and 



380 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

the summons rejected. The Bishop had left the town the 
day before. On the 29th, the French columns advanced, 
forced the batteries which had wasted their ammunition 
in idle cannonades that gave the enemy confidence, and 
occupied the city with very little loss to themselves, but much 
to the Portuguese, who crowded the bridge and were forced 
over into the river. The French hearing that the Bishop 
had not long departed from the Villa Nova with the public 
treasure, pursued, but could not overtake him. 

Such is the report of the capture of this city that I have 
been able to collect from persons worthy of credit, but you 
must imagine the extent of the catastrophe by remembering 
the character of the city and keeping in mind that until the 
moment of danger there was the most insolent confidence and 
lawless restraint on all persons and property. Its pains and 
its penalties are rather indeed now a subject for satisfaction 
than pity, since a French taskmaster alone could dominer 
to subdue a spirit of turbulence and cruelty which prevailed 
without the trace of one noble sentiment or a public or private 
virtue. 

That Soult can continue at Oporto appears impossible. 
He has not above 12,000. Silveira at the head of an immense 
multitude environs his posts, and with the multitude within 
the city will oblige a severity of duty that would not be 
long supported, whilst the British troops and the Portuguese 
advance from Lisbon and alarm him more seriously. The 
division in Galicia can scarcely aid him without abandoning 
the sea ports and yielding Galicia to Romana. The division 
from Salamanca has advanced, probably with that intention, 
but after a parade before Ciudad Rodrigo where my arty, 
killed him several men, from thence its general bore on 
St. Felices. On my return from Coria, where I had gone 
to take the command of 2500 Portuguese and as many 
Spaniards, but which Cuesta's retreat prevented from 
assembling, I found the Agueda swollen by the rains, and 
therefore I resolved to take the very passage the enemy had 
over it. On the 1st I attacked him, carried the village, and 
in a sharp action of several hours killed and wounded him 
above 100 men, without any loss to mention on our side. 
I do not therefore think that he will endeavour to force 
his way when he finds that every step is disputed, where 
the country everywhere becomes more unfavourable for his 
progress, and where above 8000 troops could and, I hope, 



APPENDIX B 381 

would oppose him, for there can be no further pretext for 
inaction in the Portuguese army. 

Considering, therefore, all these circumstances, and that 
the Austrian war is in full activity, I must hope, nay believe, 
that Soult has no alternative but capitulation or a very 
difficult retreat, probably to Zamora. Of this I am assured 
that in Portugal there are the means to annihilate the projects, 
if not the corps, of Soult, and of pressing the Salamanca 
division back on Valladolid. But not to abuse power we 
must use time, and if this principle be adopted your Lordship 
may yet visit Madrid this summer. 

British interests deserved our efforts, but those who have 
had opportunity to know the Spaniards and investigate their 
worth, must feel a more generous concern in their welfare. 

I have existed but by their fidelity now for three months, 
and I have not found one instance to justify suspicion of their 
disloyalty to my service, but on the contrary a thousand 
for admiration of their patriotism, spirit of independence, 
zeal, and natural courage. 

I am now waiting for some instructions from Lisbon and 
I should suppose greater force to command than 600 men, 
but I must not depreciate my 600, for their conduct has been 
exemplary in the field, to my astonishment. I am loth to 
leave Spain even for a moment, and very very reluctant to 
cross the Duero from private considerations, but I shall not 
hesitate to pass there if my presence can be more useful than 
in this qr. We all have much to do, and, I hope, shall do it 
cheerily and merrily to the joy of old England. 

I beg my best respects to Lady Holland and I remain 

Your Lordship's 

Most obedt. servt., 

Robt. Wilson. 



No. 2 

Thomar, April 20, 1809. 

My Lord, — The French column which so suddenly moved 
from the province of Salamanca by most rapid marches 
advanced on Alcantara, which city defended by 2000 peasants 
offered for five hours some resistance. Unfortunately I 
could not overtake the enemy with my inf., or, weak and 



382 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

unsupported as I was, we should have shattered him con- 
siderably. With the cavalry I made prisoners, but no 
serious impression. 

I had flattered myself that a corps of 2500 men, which 
I had entreated might be moved forward from Salude Nova, 
would have checked the enemy until I could get up, and by 
a mutual attack he must have perished, for he was in the 
cut de sac, encumbered with a large convoy of ammunition, 
and conscious of his perilous situation very much alarmed. 
But instead of hearing that the troops advanced from Salude 
Nova I found that as the enemy appeared the commander had 
hoisted the white flag, retired to Abrantes, whilst men, women, 
and children left desolate every hamlet, village, and intervening 
town on the east of the Zezere. 

Fortune and cowardice thus relieved the enemy, but the 
hazards to which he exposed himself by passing along the 
frontier of a kingdom and thro' a country that his rage for 
enormities scared to desperate hostility, abandoning a point 
where he neared Portugal and Soult in his forlorn situation, 
proved the urgency to Victor of his succour, and a letter from 
General Kellermann to Soult confirms that the orders for 
Lapisse's division to march to Estremadura were given in 
consequence of the battle of Medellin. 

I was ordered by Marshal Beresford to repair instantly to 
him, and so soon as I had seen the enemy pass Alcantara, and 
I had placed a garrison there, I repaired here, where I find 
General Beresford employed in an Herculean labour, but he 
will partially succeed. Altogether, he cannot to any solid 
degree, unless there is a general reform in the state, and even 
then much time is required for the extinction of old habits 
and the exercise of a new education. It is, however, always 
well to begin, and I hope success will crown the effort, for 
Portugal has certainly great military resources applicable to 
the interests of England. 

Soult has now remained undisturbed at Oporto since his 
capture, rioting in spoil, but I believe daily becoming more 
uneasy as to his situation. 

He has been obliged to extend his forces — 5000 men 
preserve Tuy, Orense, and Braga, as many are on this side 
of the Duero, and the same force between Penafiel and Oporto, 
in which city he leaves but a very feeble garrison by day and 
scarcely any at night. At Zamora, Kellermann writes that 
there are 1500 inf. and 400 horse belonging to his corps, but 



APPENDIX B 383 

Silveira with 8000 troops will actively, I hope, keep that 
succour in check, and indeed the peasantry of the Tras os 
Montes are more than equal to that service. 

Ney has quarrelled with Soult, because Soult would not 
postpone his march into Portugal until Galicia was restored 
to order, and the capture of Vigo, with the general insurrection 
in Galicia and Romana's security whilst he intercepts all 
communication, as verified by Gen. Kellermann from Valla- 
dolid, proves the insufficiency of the enemy's forces in that 
qr. to achieve their enterprises or maintain themselves. 

Genl. Kellermann in his letter to Soult moreover says 
that he watches at Valladolid with a considerable cavalry the 
Asturians and Romana and the people of Leon, who would 
have the inclination to rise if they dared, but that the Austrian 
war has recalled all the household troops of every description 
to France and that he is silent as to any force destined to 
replace them. 

At Salamanca there is scarcely 500 men capable to bear 
arms, and I feel that fortune has been rather unkind in with- 
drawing me at a moment that I could have achieved what 
I had so long proposed, but I hope we shall be vigorous in our 
operations agst. Soult and then march into Spain ; for the 
march alone would assure safety to the Peninsula and especi- 
ally if we move boldly up the Tagus. But I am somewhat 
disposed to believe that there is no very great cordiality of 
operation in the two staffs at this moment. 

Sir A. Wellesley is momentarily expected out with an 
army, and I should suppose orders from home would even 
stimulate his zeal and ambition, for if we do our duty, victory 
is certain and immediate, in which case I hope to see yr. 
Lordship still at Madrid. With great esteem and respect, 

I remain, 

Your Lordship's 

Most obedt. Servt., 

Robt. Wilson. 

No. 3 

Zarza Major, June 20, 1809. 

My Lord, — It is very long since I had the opportunity to 
write, and indeed I did expect to leave the Peninsula, as I 
was for a time removed from the Legion and the chance of 



384 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

serving in Spain, but a more agreeable arrangement having 
finally been made, I now find myself here with my Legion and 
attached exclusively to the British army. 

Marshal Beresford and the Portuguese troops are ordered 
to the north of Portugal and are to keep in check Soult and 
Ney, who made a movement that indicated an approach to the 
Tras os Montes whilst some other corps menaced Braganca, 
but in fact with the intention solely of diverting our operations 
from Victor. 

The delay of the British army, is now, I believe, terminated, 
and the 1st division will reach this place on the 2nd, with the 
intention of moving on Plasencia and Madrid if the enemy 
check between Talavera de Reyna and the capital. But it 
is supposed that Victor will leave Madrid on his left, and in 
all cases I expect a stern chase. It is however a most serious 
object to prevent the enemy from collecting his forces installed 
on the Ebro, and I sincerely lament our return to the Tagus 
for the recommencement of our operations. 

Sir A. Wellesley has certainly been most eager to advance, 
but I have heard that he only received his orders very lately, 
for the Govt, was afraid of a new adventure. The Galician 
retreat has had many a mischievous effect. It has calum- 
niated a gallant, generous, and friendly nation ; it has erected 
imaginary impediments to success ; it has seriously dis- 
couraged the British army, and founded a spirit of licentious- 
ness and rapine that excites the most painful slur and which 
will require the energy of Sir A. Wellesley to repress. 

The Austrian successes have excited, however, great 
enthusiasm, and I hope that our march will be one continued 
and unchequered series of triumph, to console for so many 
years of disaster. The victory of Essling must have a pro- 
pitious effect on the French army, because the foreigners 
composing it will now find that there is another power in 
Europe anxious to secure and capable to protect them, and 
the local effect must be great. Assuredly the evacuation 
of the Tyrol and the retrograde movement of Bonaparte 
and the Vice-King of Italy whilst revolt engages the chiefs 
of the Confederation and Holland, now would be a glorious 
moment to raise the true banner of public liberty and by 
the sacrifice of Galicia restore the monarchy of Poland. It 
would be a blow that condemned Russia to precarious Euro- 
pean existence and consolidated the Austrian preponderance. 
I am however diverting into political speculations that your 



APPENDIX B 385 

Lordship does not require from me, and therefore, with the 
promise of continuing to communicate whatever may be 
really interesting with regard to our movements north of the 
Tagus, 

I remain with great sincerity and truth, 

Your obedt. and humble servt., 

Robt. Wilson. 

I suppose that the British army will be 28,000 effective 
infy. with arty., exclusive of cavalry, on the onset, but the 
average for the campaign, not reckoning accidents in the field, 
26,000 altogether. Portugal may send beyond the northern 
frontier about 8000 men, but with great ill will on the part of 
officers and the nation at large, but not of the soldiers. 



APPENDIX C 

(See p. 289) 

Henry Luttrell to Lady Holland 

Cadiz, March 1, 1809. 

Dear Lady Holland, — It was my intention to have 
written to you yesterday but I arrived here with so 
violent a cold, thanks to the Levant wind which has 
affected most people here in the same manner, as totally 
to disqualify me both for occupation and amusement. Tho' 
not much better this morning, I write at all hazards, lest 
you should suppose me unmindful of my promise. The 
insurrection here wore, at one time, a most serious aspect. 
A mob very soon, if not controuled, changes its object. 
Disappointed in executing their vengeance on Villel, the 
insurgents turned their fury against the wretched man whom 
they murdered from personal, not political, hatred. Their next 
motion was to let loose the contents of the gaols, and to 
plunder the houses of the rich merchants. The first of these 
exploits they had very nearly effected, and if, in this critical 
juncture, the volunteers and the priests had not united in 
bodily and ghostly energies against them, a scene extremely 



386 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

like what was acted in London in 1780 would inevitably have 
followed. Major Doyle, whose curiosity led him to mix with 
all the insurgents, tells me that they were to the last degree 
ferocious, and bent upon blood. The men were sharpening 
their knives upon the stones, and a number of women of the 
lower classes adding all they could by outcries and gestures 
to the spirit of mischief and murder among the men. Villel 
had a most narrow escape. Doyle, who witnessed what 
passed in front of his house, gave up his life for lost. The man, 
he says, behaved with a great deal of firmness, and protested 
most strongly against the disclosure of his official dispatches. 
He seems to be very unpopular here. No puritan magistrate 
in the days of Cromwell ever made a more rigid and vexatious 
inquisition into the irregularities, and even the harmless 
recreations, of private life than he seems to have done, laying 
to the account of the dress and dancing and intrigue of Cadiz 
all that has happened unfavorable to the Spanish cause. It 
is strange how extremes meet. That a zealous Catholic should 
think and act so like a zealous Presbyterian is amusing enough. 
But it will not do. Spain requires, at this crisis of her fate, 
men, not monks. Something no doubt has been achieved, 
and much, I know, is expected from the strong spirit of 
superstition, or religion if you will, in this country, but I 
believe it will wholly fail, when most relied upon. At no time 
do I feel stronger apprehensions for the final issue of the 
momentous contest now pending, than when I reflect how 
mainly the hopes of Spain repose on this insecure and treach- 
erous foundation. Should you have at any time ten minutes 
leisure, it would be charitable to employ them in giving me 
some account of what is passing in Seville, a place which I 
shall remember with pleasure chiefly on account of your and 
Lord Holland's kind attentions. Pray convey to him my 
best regards, and believe me, dear Lady Holland, 

Your obliged and faithful humble servant, 

Henry Luttreli.. 



APPENDIX D 387 

APPENDIX D 

{See p. 336, &c.) 

Account by Captain Burgh of the pursuit of Soult, 
forwarded to lord holland by colonel reynell 

Convento de Tujo, 20 miles N. of Oporto, 

2 1st May, 1809. 

Our Campaign in the N. of Portugal terminated on the 18th, 
when we fairly saw the Enemy out of the Country ; since that 
day the Troops have been drawing towards Victor, who, we 
understand is approaching Lisbon. 

The Enemy retreated all night after the battle of the 12th 
on the road to Amarante, and the German Legion pursued 
them the next morning. The remainder of the army unfortu- 
nately halted that day. When the French got as far as Penafiel 
they heard of Marshal Beresford's approach to Amarante, 
and after spiking all their Cannon and blowing up the 
Tumbrils they retreated by Guimaraens and Braga. 

On the 15th our army was at Braga; the Enemy left it 
only the day before. On the 16th we got up with their rear 
Guard consisting of about 3000 men who were strongly posted 
on a hill in front of the village of Salamonde ; the Guards 
were in advance and were ordered forward to the attack 
supported by artillery, cavalry, and the German Legion. 
Sir Arthur had previously sent two Comps. over the hills to 
turn the Enemy's left ; these Companies lost their way, and 
two others were sent which occasioned some delay, and it was 
past 6 o'clock before the attack commenced. The Guards 
advanced in Sections along the road in face of the Enemy's 
position. This manoeuvre astonished them, and after receiving 
the first discharge of Musquetry they ran down the Ravines 
in the greatest disorder. The darkness favor'd their Escape ; 
if we had had half an hour more daylight not a man could have 
got off, as the Portuguese had broken down the Bridge in 
their Rear. Numbers were killed by the Peasantry and 
drown'd in attempting to cross the River, 400 Horses and 
droves of their Bullocks were taken, and the only piece of 
Cannon they had left. They have not now any wheel'd 
carriage. A great deal of Plunder had been taken by our 
Lt. Infantry and Dragoons. On the morning of the 16th, 



388 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

20 Drags, took 50 French Prisoners at Agreja Nova, and found 
on them a quantity of Coin. 

Considering the long march of near 30 Miles from Braga 
through very heavy rain (which has continued without 
cessation since the 13th) upon the worst possible roads, the 
advance of the army only march' d one league on the 17th, 
to Receines. No Artillery could come up that day, as it was 
first necessary to repair the Bridge. 

Next day we had a most unpleasant march to Montalegre, 
the road was full of dead Bodies of the French murder'd by 
the Peasants; their army is most sickly and consequently 
many stragglers who seldom escape the rage of the Peasantry. 
We passed also about 100 Horses and Mules that were ham- 
strung by the Enemy. This act of Cruelty cannot be easily 
accounted for. 

Arriving at Montalegre we found that the Enemy had just 
left a village a few miles which was then in flames ; all the 
towns the French pass'd thro' after they left Braga were 
destroyed by them, and nothing now remaining except the 
bare walls. The inhabitants all fled to the Mountains on their 
approach. 

The Portuguese Genl. Silveira, with between 3 and 4,000, 
had been in that Neighbourhood for some days without offer- 
ing any resistance. On our arrival at Montalegre after hard 
pressing to put his army in motion after the Enemy, he 
wish'd to have some of our Dragoons, but Sir Arthur positively 
refus'd, having predetermin'd not to pursue the Enemy thro' 
the Mountains of Galicia, as they were disencumber'd of all 
kind of Baggage to impede their flight. 

Beresford has march'd from Chaves to Monterey, and with 
Silveira will hang on the Enemy's flank and rear. They have 
already lost one fourth of their army with all their artillery, 
&c, with the loss on our side of about 200. 

You are nearer the scene of Victor's manoeuvres and 
better acquainted with them than we are. The army is in 
motion (Tilson's force is already arrived at Oporto) and there 
will be a grand assemblement at Coimbra in 5 or 6 days 
I believe a rapid movement will be made to crush Victor. 



APPENDIX E 389 

APPENDIX E 

(See p. 334) 

Lord MacDuff to Lord Holland 

No. 1 

Monasterio, Sunday, 14th May, 1809. 

My Dear Lord, — Some time since, having mentioned my 
determination of visiting the armies, you expressed a wish of 
hearing from me. I have been here since Tuesday last, and 
have been employed in witnessing the discipline of the several 
corps along the road and around this place. The whole division 
in this neighbourhood were taken out by the genl. yesterday 
and to-day to manoeuvre, and formed into attacking and 
attacked parties. The genl. took great pains in explaining, 
and they seemed, on the whole, to conduct themselves like 
soldiers. For some days past we have been pretty certain 
that the enemy were going to move, by withdrawing their 
posts ; ours were pushed forward and strengthened. Yester- 
day the furthest in advance were near Merida, to-morrow the 
head-quarters is intended to move to Llerena. The troops 
in the rear are ordered up ; Henestrosa, who commands the 
first division, to proceed on, and the Duke Albuquerque to 
take the post of Fuente de Cantos. The further movements 
of the army must depend on that of the enemy, and the 
conjectures of what is their object ; whether this movement 
of theirs proceeds from a fear that the English mean to co- 
operate with this army against them, or whether they mean 
with the whole or a part to unite with the other French corps 
to act against the English, is to be ascertained. 

On the march of Genl. Wellesley and of Soult, of the 
probability of bringing him to action alone, you will be better 
informed than we are here. There seems no doubt, however, 
that the French are in motion everywhere, and that they 
intend to act with numbers against the English ; and there 
is reason to believe also that circumstances will force them to 
act in this country with two or three corps at most. This will, 
of course, give the different parts not occupied by them an 
opportunity to rise. But self-preservation is the first object, 
and as the French have, from the best accounts, from a hundred 



390 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

to a hundred and twenty thousand men, they can certainly 
act first against the English offensively and take care of their 
remaining forces, if they adopt this resolution. 

I examined a deserter last night, a German and soldier of 
ours in the Hanoverian Legion, who was taken at Benavente ; 
he escaped two days ago, and robbed his master of much silver, 
jewels, and a horse and a mule. His master was young 
Cabarrus ; they had robbed him before, he says, and it was 
but fair to retaliate. He says that the French told him that 
he would soon see his countrymen, the English. Their whole 
army consists of five and twenty thousand men. The garrison 
of Merida is of fifteen hundred with fortifications. Medellin 
they had also begun to fortify. He gives much the same 
account as the Spaniards of the last battle, but with the 
exception that they lost few men. 

Among the officers here I cannot but take notice of Genl. 
O'Donoghue (sic), who is fortunately the chief person about 
Cuesta ; he is by far the best-informed military man I have 
met with in Spain, indeed in any country. 

The force of the whole army is considered at thirty 
thousand. But I believe they have near twenty thousand in- 
fantry pretty well disciplined, and six thousand cavalry. The 
aggregate number twenty-three thousand infantry and eight 
thousand cavalry. But they are very active in getting the people 
on with their exercise, and some of the corps are well clothed. 

Pray present my best respects to Lady Holland, and 
Believe me always, 

My dear Lord, 

Faithfully, 

MacDuff. 

No. 2 

Monasterio, Monday, 15th May. 

My Dear Lord, — I have only time to add a few lines to 
what I wrote you last night. The whole plan of the 
march of the army is changed — from the information 
received of the French genl., Cuesta seems determined to 
follow them as fast as possible. We hear that they have 
taken the direction of Alcantara ; Genl. Victor in the 
van, with the artillery, carts, &c. On the 12th, a part 
of them were near Alcantara ; four hundred men have 
been left at Merida, fortified in a convent, with four 



APPENDIX E 391 

pieces of cannon. Yesterday our advance must have been 
there. It has been ordered to proceed on Monasterio also, 
with the first division of cavalry. Troops are marching to 
strengthen them. Merida, if not taken at first, is ordered to 
be blockaded. The cuartel general is to be to-morrow at 
Medina de las torres : the main body of the army in the towns 
near. The whole army is to advance on the great road. 

The French must sacrifice also a great part of their artillery, 
which is at Truxillo. 

I shall proceed before and try to overtake Henestrosa. I 
wish Genl. Mackenzie, who is at Abrantes, and Genl. Mayne 
at Alcantara, may have got timely information of the move- 
ments of the French. 

I remain, 

My dear Lord, 

Faithfully, 

MacDuff. 

No. 3 

Head-quarters, Venta de Almaraz, 

June 28th; 1809. 

My Dear Lord, — Since I received your letter from 
Cadiz, little or nothing passed worthy of notice, till our march 
in pursuit of Victor's army. I was perfectly certain this 
would take place that I did not judge it necessary to 
give you a detailed account of positions which I conceived 
any hour might be changed. We have been here four 
days ; the bridge of pontoons being too small, it was obliged 
to be turned into a flying bridge. The passing of the troops 
was stopped one day from information that the French were 
concentrating, but it was only to their further retreat. 

His army is composed of five divisions of infantry and 
two of cavalry, besides the rear-guard and the reserve. The 
whole amounting to near thirty-eight thousand men. One 
division of infantry and two thousand cavalry have pass'd 
the Tagus at the Arzobispo. On the 26th, in the evening, 
the French began their retreat from Oropesa, and formed 
behind Calera. The 27th, the vanguard of cavalry from 
the Arzobispo entered Oropesa, commanded by the Prince 
Anglona, the Duke of Albuquerque being ill. The French 
halted at Gamonal, 3! leagues from thence. The 5th division 
of infantry was to enter Calera on the 27th, in the evening. 

Victor's force is in full retreat, so is Sebastiani's. The 



392 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

vanguard of Venegas, was on the 22nd at Villarta. We do 
not know whether Victor means to join near Toledo, or continue 
his retreat. The vanguard of this army is now in the rear 
of the 5th division of infantry and 2nd of cavalry, besides 
another division of infantry sent to strengthen them. It 
passed the river on the 27th, made a reconnaissance and 
occupied the position opposite here to cover the passing of the 
army yesterday. We contrived to get made a foot bridge 
near the old bridge of Almaraz, which wants one arch ; on 
this the whole infantry of the army passed yesterday. The 
cavalry, for the most part, has also passed ; but the artillery, 
carts, &c, will take some time on a bridge which can only 
contain eight men and horses at a time — 20 minutes in pass- 
ing and repassing. This morning the vanguard proceeded 
forward, and we expect the Genl. to follow every hour. 

You will be surprised to hear that in such a retreat that our 
army took neither provisions nor baggage, but the fault was 
not the General's. That the French might be induced to keep 
their position, all the attacks by the vanguard on Merida, &c, 
were disapproved, and strict orders were given that the army 
not only should avoid fighting but not provoke the enemy. 
I was with the vanguard in the several attacks made on Merida, 
and near it, and was convinced that, from the manner of the 
French, they intended to retreat, and thought right to give 
my opinion to Genl. Cuesta, who exactly thought the same. 
But the French, as usual, before they retreat, made three 
great reconnaissances, which induced most people to believe 
that they intended to attack before the English came. The 
division near Medellin was augmented to 12,000 men, and 
the opinions of most were that the General ought to hazard 
nothing before the arrival of the English. The General gave 
orders to the Medellin force to follow the enemy and attack 
them. The same to the vanguard at Calmonte, the 1st 
division of cavalry at Almendralejo. All the divisions at 
Villafranca and Aceuchal and all the villages where troops 
were quartered, to move on as fast as possible to support one 
another. We found that the reconnaissances near Merida 
and Medellin were only to carry off the 300 men in the convent, 
and that the French had been taking measures for some time 
before for their retreat. The General followed ; came to 
Merida the first day, Miajadas the 2nd, and Truxillo the 3rd— 
21 leagues, when to his great disappointment he found the 
orders given had been delayed a whole day, and the troops 



APPENDIX E 393 

were all together, with the exception of the vanguard which 
was in presence of the French rear. They follow' d them to 
the Puerto of Miravete, and in the night the French retired 
across the river, destroyed the bridge, and were found next 
morning in front of our present position with five batteries. 
At Miravete the French advanced a body of infantry to relieve 
their rear-guard of cavalry, which gave them the advantage 
in this country where cavalry cannot act. The van of course 
unsupported could not attack them. The General hearing 
these things, after one day's halt at Truxillo, came to the 
Casas of Miravete, reconnoitred the enemy, and altho' of 
opinion that a passage might be forc'd, delay'd. The next 
day occupied in observing the batteries, which constantly 
kept firing. The night the French retreated the General 
came immediately from the Casas of Miravete to this place, 
which is an inn close to the road, expecting to be able to pass 
in one night, when again, to our disappointment, the pontoons, 
14 in number, were only found half sufficient. After many 
experiments and consultations the mode I have explained 
was adopted. In short you will find that a concurrence of 
circumstances have happened to foil and disappoint our 
worthy old Genl. Of the English we have no certain accounts 
of their march. They are to come by Plasencia. But if the 
French continue their retreat, and we our pursuit in the same 
manner, they will not see an enemy for a long time. We expect 
they left Abrantes the 23rd, so that on the 3rd of next month 
they may reach Plasencia. They are always tardy and late. 
I shall not close my letter till I see the General, from whom 
I may hear something new. 

I remain, my dear Lord, 

Very faithfully yours, 

MacDuff. 

Since writing in the morning, information has come that 
Jose Napoleon arrived at Toledo on the 23rd, and left it the 
24th with the division of Leval, and went to Mora. What 
this means is yet to be learnt; whether they intend to 
attack Venegas, or continue their retreat. The troops in 
advance have retired from Oropesa. The party of guerrillas 
near Calera killed ten Frenchmen, took three, and one escaped. 
Thus none joined the rear of the enemy, and also return'd and 
burnt the town. Bassecourt, hearing this, retired, and so did 
the division of cavalry. No news of the English, which is 



394 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

astonishing. We understand too that a division of Victor's 
army was near Plasencia, and pass'd by it the 21st, and, we 
imagine, is now at Talavera. They have broken down the 
bridge at Talavera. Genl. Cuesta seems now a little uncon- 
vinced about pushing on, from the very extraordinary motions 
of the enemy. It is reported also here that Ney and Soult 
have invaded Portugal, which is extraordinary. No news yet 
of the English. I trust they do not mean to give us the slip. 
I trust you will be able to read this scrawl. We have nothing 
here to eat, to write on, or to sleep on, and the pen I write with 
I have had this fortnight in use. 

The force of Victor, on the 1st of May, from a return I have 
seen was 29 thousand fit for duty, and ten thousand sick. 

No. 4 
Venta de Almaraz, June 29th, 1809. 

My Dear Lord, — Since I wrote you yesterday we have 
received accounts that Jose Napl. returned to Toledo on 
the 26th, and was advancing towards Talavera with his 
whole force. It became necessary to think seriously of 
our situation, as this army was placed in the most dis- 
advantageous position, with no regular bridge, and half 
the cannon, baggage, &c, on this side. Letters also 
from Wellesley, that he intended to begin his march 
on the 27th, and requesting Genl. Cuesta to hazard nothing 
till he arrived. He intended to be at Zarza on the 
2nd or 3rd, and not to halt till he arrived at Plasencia. The 
intentions of the French being too evident that they intended 
to attack us, and the Genl. not having given over his desire 
of pursuing, Genl. Whittingham, Roche, and myself went to 
him and represented the extreme danger and the importance 
of keeping that army entire till the arrival of the English. That 
if any accident happened they would not advance, that the 
campaign would be lost, as on the fate of this army everything 
depended, and that it was better to forego the precarious 
chance of some advantage in pursuing the enemy than 
hazard its existence in such a critical time and against such 
numbers. Whittingham spoke to him very properly, and 
he listened with much attention, and answered us with great 
sincerity and satisfaction. Genl. O'Donoghue, a most worthy 
man and of great talents, persuaded him, after talking the 
whole subject over, to give immediate directions that the 
advance parties should retire, and that the whole troops should 
repass the road and take up our position and wait for events 



APPENDIX E 395 

and for the English. The divisions of Portago, Bassecourt, 
with the cavalry under the Prince of Anglona are to repass 
at the Arzobispo. The remainder of the army at the bridge 
here. Fortunately the pontoons arrived (I mean the re- 
mainder of them) to-day. With the orders which have been 
given and the directions for the defence of the Arzobispo 
and the batteries leaving, I trust, if it is the intention of the 
enemy to attack us, that the army will repass without loss. 
We shall be, for the present, in security, which is the great 
object, and by drawing on the enemy, will give us a better 
chance to strike a decisive blow when the English come up. 
I cannot conclude without observing that Genl. Cuesta, who 
is represented as sullen to all his officers, and particularly 
to foreigners, has, in this critical situation, acted with the 
greatest candour and deference to the opinions of others. 
Indeed, during the whole time I have been with him, he has 
behaved to me, on all occasions, rather as an equal and friend, 
than as one who is only here from curiosity. On all occasions 
open, friendly, and kind. 

Last night the advanced guerrillas were two miles from 
the village of Calera, the French two thousand horse two 
miles further, and behind them four regts. of infantry. 
Brigadier Zayas with the advance guard was to-day at 
Calzada ; the whole will retire, I hope, to-night. 

We are obliged to Whittingham, not only for the good 
Spanish he speaks, but for the manner he expressed himself. 

At twelve o'clock last night the positions of the advanced 
corps were as follows : — 

Puente de Arzobispo. — Major-Genl. Bassecourt : 6000 
infantry, 500 cavalry, 8 pieces cann. 

Azutan. — Marquis Portago, Lt.-General : 5000 infantry. 

Alcola del Tajo. — Prince of Anglona, Brigr.-General : 
1500 cavalry, 200 It. infantry, 6 pieces cann. 

Advanced posts to Oropesa, and near to Calera. 

Br. Zayas (the vanguard of the enemy) . — Calzada : 1948 
cavalry, 2113 infantry, 6 pieces cann. 

Marquis de Zayas, Major Genl. — Naval Moral : 4268 
infantry, 2 pieces cann. 

Main body between Naval Moral and Puente de Almaraz. 

Whittingham informs us that most of the French officers 
spoke at Oropesa of their marching back to France. But one 
of the genls. said that they intended to fight a great battle, 
and then it would be seen what they would do afterwards. 



396 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

APPENDIX F 

(See p. 216, &c.) 

Letters from Sir Charles Vaughan to Lord and 
Lady Holland 

No. 1 

Coruna, Sunday; August 14th, 1808. 

Dear Lord Holland, — No event of importance has 
occurred since the date of my last. The rumours of this 
place you will collect from the Diarios, which accompany 
this letter. It has been reported that the army of Estre- 
madura, which consists of 24 thousand infantry and about 
9 thousand cavalry under General Galluzzo, had cut in pieces 
a detachment from Junot of 7 thousand French troops, near 
Evora in Portugal. Two days have passed without any con- 
firmation of this report, which was brought in a Portuguese 
vessel to Coruna, and also in a letter from Salamanca. The 
French forces were, it is said, attempting to make their way 
to Burgos. Perhaps it may turn out that the garrison of 
Elvas has been checked in some movement to join Junot 
upon the Tagus. We have been amused also with another 
report of the escape of Ferdinand to Madrid, and of the Duke 
de Infant ado to the army of Cuesta. The last is still in 
some measure credited, and was at first circulated in so 
authentic a manner that I undertook to be the bearer of some 
communication between him and Stuart. The approaching 
assembly of the Cortes of the North at Lugo, made it appear 
advisable to sound the dispositions of the Duke de Infantado 
and to engage him to co-operate heartily in the defence of his 
country ; and at the same time we might have put an end 
to the dissention that has arisen between Cuesta and Blake 
and the growing dislike of the Junta of Coruna to the former. 
Cuesta is a zealous patriot, but he has been an imprudent 
officer. He brought on the battle of Rio Seco. He was at 
the head of a small division of cavalry and about 10 thousand 
Castilian peasants, and formed the advanced part of Blake's 
army. The latter had taken a strong position and had no 
intention of engaging the French, when Cuesta advanced and 
brought on the action of Rio Seco, and the troops under 
Blake, consisting of the garrisons of Galicia, in vain hastened 



APPENDIX F 397 

to his support. The Castilian peasants were dispersed, 
Cuesta retreated with his cavalry towards Ciudad Rodrigo, 
separating himself from Blake, and the latter retreated to 
Manzanal midway between Astorga and Ponferrada. Blake 
is now advancing a second time, and by the last accounts his 
army of 23 thousand infantry, regular regiments filled up 
with new levies, was at Astorga. From what I hear this army 
is in great want of cavalry, and but ill supplied with artillery. 
The mules and small oxen, which are the draft cattle of the 
country, are not equal to the removal of parks of artillery 
in a mountainous district. 

The mountains of the Asturias are defended by 18 thousand 
peasants under the Generals Miranda and Ponti. 

The French have retreated from Madrid upon Burgos 
(their outposts extend to Palencia), where they are entrenching 
themselves. They are said to have abandoned a considerable 
quantity of ammunition upon quitting the Buen Retire We 
hear nothing here of their numbers, but in a Diario you will 
see some attempt to calculate the original force and its losses. 

The patriot army of Estremadura under General Galluzzo, 
said to consist of 24 thousand infantry, and cavalry that 
has increased from 4000 (the original number) to 9000, has 
been of great service, tho' with the exception of the affair 
of Evora (should it prove true) they have not been engaged 
with the enemy. By taking up a position at Almaraz, upon 
the Tagus, which you will find in the map north in a direct 
line of Truxillo, they interrupted the communication between 
Madrid and Lisbon and kept open the district between Blake 
and Castanos. 

Since the defeat of Dupont, a letter has appeared in the 
Santiago Gazette from General Castanos to General O'Farril. 
He makes O'Farril responsible for the people of Madrid, and it 
is written in rather a ludicrous as well as threatening manner ; 
but if it is to be believed, it tells us that he has under his 
command 120 thousand men, in which he includes the armies 
of Estremadura and other provinces of the South, an immense 
park of artillery, and moreover he declares that he has in his 
possession 27 thousand French prisoners, amongst whom he 
numbers 12 generals and 7000 cavalry. Castanos is marching 
with all the forces of the South towards Madrid. 

Valencia, as we have long since heard, was attacked in 
the latter end of the month of June by Moncey. I yesterday 
saw a private letter from that city, which states that sixty 



398 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

pieces of cannon are mounted upon the walls, and that the 
only entrance into the city is by the Puerta del Mar, on account 
of the ditches dug round the walls. A French battery upon 
the Torre Santa Catalina nearly destroyed the Convento del 
Socorro. The French bombarded the town in vain and 
retreated by way of Albacete. The letter says nothing of 
subsequent actions. The son of Captain-General Caro com- 
manded. I mention the particulars, judging from my own 
feelings about Valencia that they may be interesting to you 
and Lady H. 

It would be too much to expect perfect unanimity during 
this success of the patriots. So many provincial govts., 
with their armies under distinct commanders, must have 
many difficulties to overcome before they can legislate for 
the whole Peninsula. The first attempt to establish a Cortes 
originates in Galicia. They have persuaded the Junta of 
Leon to meet them at Lugo in this province, and they do 
not appear to have any doubt but that the Junta of the 
Asturias will also join them. As soon as they assemble at 
Lugo it is their intention to invite Estremadura, the Castiles, 
and the Southern provinces to co-operate in forming a Cortes. 
The outline of this plan is simple and rational, but you, who 
know how wedded the Spaniards are to precedent and how 
variously the provinces used to be represented, will forsee 
much discussion and division about the numbers of deputies 
to be sent from each province. Galicia has already procured 
the assent of Leon to seven deputies. The Junta sitting at 
Coruna asked for eleven. You know how insignificant the 
influence of Galicia used to be in a Cortes. The 20th of 
this month has been appointed the day for the assembly at 
Lugo of the deputies of Leon and this provinces. Orders have 
long since been dispatched for houses to be prepared for them, 
but I cannot venture to hope that they will meet for many 
weeks. 

The people of Coruna dislike the departure of their Junta, 
and it is thought that they may assemble to prevent it. 
The Junta here is composed of seven persons. The most 
intelligent man amongst them is the Bishop of Orense, whose 
letters about the French have appeared in the English news- 
papers. His countenance does not betray that religious 
gloom sometimes visible in the Spanish priest, but has in it 
a good deal of fun and more cunning. I have been at one of 
their meetings and everything was very regular. At a table 



APPENDIX F 399 

in a long room sat their secretary, and opposite to him the 
members of the Junta under a portrait of the King Ferdinand, 
over which there was a large crimson canopy. They work 
very hard, but I am afraid that they will become idle as 
the cause advances, and daily show a greater disposition to 
jobbing. Don Freire, their deputy to London, was a lieutenant 
in the Navy, and they have given him a ship for the success 
of his negociation. Nothing can be more creditable to the 
Spanish character than the conduct of the people of this 
district during their revolution. The only person killed 
was the Capt. -General of Ferrol, Filanghieri, who disgusted 
them by his coldness and indisposition to their cause. Soon 
after the arrival of the prisoners from England, there was a 
popular tumult in which the French houses were assaulted ; 
but it ended only in the arrest of the Consul and some indi- 
viduals who are now on board a hulk in the harbour. A sadler 
of the place, who has a good deal of the Andalusian in his person 
and character, is the Capitan del Pueblo. He has shown that 
he has more influence over them than any other person, being 
a clever, daring fellow, and the Junta very wisely have put a 
silver badge upon his arm, and thereby obtained a control 
over him. He presented me with his card, styling himself, 
' Sinforiano Lopez, Defensor de la P atria. ' 

The kindest feeling towards the English prevails every- 
where. The Government have made an excellent choice in 
Stuart. In the harbour we have the Tonnanl, Admiral de 
Courcy, and the Defiance, Capt. Hotham, both officers of the 
most amiable and conciliatory manners. I am happy to say 
that we have no drunken riots, or anything which can disturb 
the harmony between the two nations. 

I understand that Galicia has received a million of dollars 
from England, and Leon and the Asturias half a million 
each. Blake has earnestly entreated the English Government 
to send him two thousand cavalry. I wish that it may be 
done promptly. Cuesta's separation from him is unfortunate. 
I must entreat you not to suppose from anything that I may 
have said about the differences between these generals, or the 
difficulties in forming a Cortes, that anything, has yet, or 
seems ever likely to occur that can have a fatal influence on 
the general welfare of the nation. Depend upon it that the 
cause of the patriots is in the hands of the people ; it borrows 
no fancied importance from any illustrious leaders, and woe 
be to those who shall be weak enough to expose to them their 



400 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

quarrels and dissentions. It is natural that the priesthood 
should have greater influence over the people than the noblesse. 
I hope that in the formation of the Cortes they may not pre- 
dominate. The Archbishop of Santiago de Compostella is 
suspected of being very unfriendly to the Junta of Galicia. 
He remains near the shrine of his Saint and is too wise to be 
troublesome. It is curious to know that the Spaniards here 
have not yet seen the correspondence between the French 
and the Pope. It should be translated and sent out to them 
immediately. 

Stuart has given me a room in his house, which is called 
el palacio from being certainly the best house in Coruna. Mr. 
Walpole is with Stuart, rather as a friend than a secretary. 

We have a comedy in a small temporary theatre, a fire 
having consumed a very good one. The bolero and fandango 
are tolerably well danced, but they succeed better in the dance 
called the farongo, which is new to me. The tertulias after the 
play are sometimes in wretched garrets, sometimes in very 
decent houses. But I have not yet formed an high opinion 
of the Gallego nobility. Spain is more interesting to me and 
more dear to me than ever. It was my intention to have 
set out for Blake's army this week, but the approaching 
assembly of the Cortes tempts me to defer it, and to visit 
Santiago on my road to Lugo. If the Cortes do not meet, 
I shall set out for Blake and the Asturias. Mr. Arguelles 
gave me two letters for the Asturias, and if the deputies should 
assemble from the province at Lugo I shall be well off for 
introductions. 

I have extended this letter to an unusual length, and send 
you very little to satisfy your curiosity about Spain. I wish 
that I could deal less in reports and speak more from actual 
observation. 

Present my kindest remembrances to Lady Holland 
and believe me to be 

Yr. obliged and Faithful Servt, 

Chas. R. Vaughan. 

P.S. — Colonel Doyle and Capts. Kennedy and Cawel, 
who came over with the Spanish prisoners, have been pro- 
moted by the Spaniards, the first to the rank of brigadier- 
general in their service, and the latter to It. -colonelcies. 
They are not attached to any divisions of the army. Capt. 



APPENDIX F 401 

Kennedy remains at Corufia, and Doyle and the other officers 
are with Blake. I hope they will not make the latter give 
battle to the French. 

No. 2 

Lugo, Galicia, Sept. 1st; 1808. 

Dear Lord Holland, — I arrived here with Stuart 
on the 29th ult., the day appointed for the assembly of the 
Juntas of Old Castile, Leon, Galicia, and the Asturias at this 
place. For reasons at present unknown, the Asturias have 
not kept their promise. Six deputies assembled from each 
of the other provinces, and amongst those of Leon, I found 
your friend Valdes. I gave him your letter, and I was much 
pleased with his manner of receiving it. 

Stuart has this moment received an official document 
from the assembly of the deputies, announcing their imme- 
diate departure from Lugo, to join a general assembly of 
deputies from every Junta in Spain at Ocana. They state 
that probably a royal sitio will afterwards be agreed upon 
as the place of meeting ; and I conclude that they allude to 
Aranjuez, which you know is within two leagues of Ocana. 
From what I can learn, there is a difficulty in assembling 
at Madrid, on account of the Council of Castile, which has 
lost the confidence of many of the Northern provinces by 
having continued in the capital while it was in possession of 
Bonaparte. 

The assembly of Ocana is to be composed of two members 
deputed from each Junta. Valdes is amongst those of Leon ; 
and it is officially announced that the Junta of Valencia has 
deputed the Conde de Contamina and the Prince Pio ; and 
that of Murcia, Florida Blanca, and the Viscount del Villar. 
Although the assembly at Lugo mention only the names of 
deputies from Valencia and Murcia besides those of their own 
body, yet the general tenor of their communication indicates 
that an assembly of deputies from every Junta in Spain, at 
some central place, is now universally agreed upon. 

The people of the Asturias seem to be less capable of laying 
aside their provincial prejudices than any other Spaniards. 
The English Government has, I think, been too lavish of 
supplies to that province. It ought to be remembered that 
nothing passes those mountains that once finds its way into 
them, and that arms and ammunition which must have 



402 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

been intended for the service of Spain in general have been 
exclusively appropriated by the Asturias to themselves. 

The settlement of the future Govert. of this country is of 
course a topic of conversation, and a favourite scheme is the 
Regency of the Princess of the Brazils. The names universally 
mentioned to form part of a Council of Regency are those of 
FloridaBlanca,theDukedeInfantado,Jovellanos,andSaavedra. 

I wish that I could confirm the report I sent you of General 
Cuesta being ready to rejoin Blake. I fear their quarrel is 
more violent than ever, and I shall not be surprised to hear 
that Cuesta fell a sacrifice to his obstinate refusal to restore 
the cavalry to Blake's army. 

The evacuation of Aragon is confirmed, and there are no 
other military movements worth noticing. It is supposed that 
an attempt is about to be made to cut off the retreat of the 
French. 

On my way to Lugo I staid two days at Santiago. The 
wealthy priests of that shrine were very civil to us. Stuart 
and his party were received with enthusiasm by the people 
and lodged and fed at the expense of the municipality. 

It is my present intention to proceed with the deputies 
to Ocana in the suite of my good friend Stuart, unless any 
particular circumstance should arise to render such a scheme 
impracticable. 

General Broderick arrived here to-day on his way to 
Blake's army. Scarcely a vessel arrives from England with- 
out a military or a civil mission. 

With best and kindest remembrances to Lady Holland, 
I am, 

Yr. much obliged and faithful Servt., 

Chas. R. Vaughan. 

As I have left Coruha I have no newspapers to send you, 
and as the Junta has left it they have lost some sources of 
intelligence. 

No. 3 

Madrid, Sept. 17th, 1S08. 

Dear Lady H., — Your note, dated Hinckley, overtook me 
at Valladolid. I thank you for your letter to Mrs. Hunter, 
and I have no doubt but that I shall profit by it before I leave 
Spain. Your commissions shall be executed with all due 
dispatch. 



APPENDIX F 403 

My last letter to Lord H. from Lugo, will have informed 
you of my intention of accompanying my friend Stuart to 
Madrid, on his way to the Central Junta now forming at 
Ocafia. Many deputies are already arrived there, but the 
place for their future deliberations is not finally agreed upon. 
Aranjuez or the Pardo near Madrid are talked of. 

It is impossible to describe to you the manner in which 
the people in every town thro' which we have passed have 
expressed their opinion of the English. We have been feasted 
by the upper classes of society, and we have been literally 
hugged and carried in the arms of the mob. It is singular 
that in every class and in every district, the same anxious 
wish has been repeatedly expressed that the Royal family 
of England should give a wife to Ferdinand VII. The outrage 
of seizing their frigates is now considered as the miraculous 
interposition of Providence, which placed in the hands of 
the English a treasure which would certainly have fallen 
into the hands of the French, and which treasure is now given 
back to them by the English when the nation is most in need 
of it. The revolution seems to have changed the Spanish 
character in many respects. They are incessant talkers. 
In every town thro' which you pass the people collect together 
anxiously enquiring the news, and the post no sooner arrives 
than the Gazette is read aloud to the multitude by some fellow 
mounted upon a chair. We have had no reason to complain 
of bad police on our journey, tho' as usual we have heard from 
time to time that in some distant district we must expect to 
meet with robbers. Agricultural and commerce wear as little 
appearance of war as you can well imagine. 

At Segovia we passed thro' what may be called the left 
wing of the Spanish army, advancing against the French 
stationed upon the Ebro. We found there General Cuesta 
and about 8 thousand infantry, principally battalions of 
newly raised peasantry. Eight hundred of his cavalry were 
at St. Ildefonso and, according to the officers, the horses were 
sadly out of condition. The whole of his cavalry is said to 
amount to 15 hundred. 

Yesterday I saw a part of Reding's corps file off through 
Madrid for Soria, to join the centre of the Spanish army. 
Twelve thousand men had arrived some days since in the 
environs of that place, and the forces of Castafios amounting 
to 30 thousand men continue daily to collect upon that point. 

The right wing of this army will be composed of 18 thousand 



4 04 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

effective men under Palafox, who is already on his march upon 
the Ebro. 

The French have a few hundred cavalry in Burgos and 
the rest of their force is in cantonments upon the Ebro, to 
facilitate the supplying them with provisions. It is under- 
stood that they have not a single magazine. Their most 
advanced post upon the Ebro is Milagro. 

Blake is at Reinosa in the mountains of Montana, ready 
to fall upon the flank or rear of the French in co-operation 
with the corps advancing from the South. 

These military movements I am sorry to say have been 
much impeded by the provincial Juntas. The Junta of 
Seville refused to advance any supplies to Castanos if he 
quitted Andalusia, but they were more peremptory with 
him about not quitting Madrid. Under these circumstances 
General Doyle drew for as many thousand dollars as would 
put him in motion, and since that the Junta have altered their 
conduct and have been very liberal. Galicia also does not 
like its army being carried so far from the frontier of their 
own province. 

All these circumstances prove to you the necessity of 
immediately forming one central Government. The deputies 
have been appointed from their respective Juntas, but their 
meeting does not appear to me to be so certain or so simple a 
business as one should at first suppose. I have before told 
you of the quarrel between Cuesta and Blake. The latter 
has been made Captain-General of Galicia, and the command 
of the army of that province has been given to him, and which 
army consists of the regular troops of the several garrisons 
of Ferrol, Coruna, &c, &c. Cuesta, who is Captain-General 
of Castile and Leon, had only an army of peasantry and a 
respectable body of cavalry, acting with the forces from 
Galicia, which were at first under the command of Filanghieri, 
who resigned and was afterwards murdered by his soldiers. 
Upon this event happening, Cuesta as an old general expected 
to be appointed his successor, but to his great mortification 
Blake, an officer of very inferior rank, was appointed to the 
command of the forces of Galicia by the Junta at Coruna, and 
immediately after the battle of Rio Seco, Cuesta separated 
himself from him with the levies of Leon and Castile. From 
this moment there has been great difference of opinion 
between the provinces under the control of Cuesta and Galicia. 
As soon as we had passed the frontier of the latter kingdom 
we heard of nothing but Cuesta and his great merits, as far 



APPENDIX F 405 

as this city, where he does not seem to be a favourite. He is, 
I understand, a man of great pride, harsh manners, cool and 
determined courage, and tho' considerably advanced in age, 
strong and active. His quarrel with Blake has just given 
rise to a circumstance which, if true, will impede for some 
time the meeting of the Central Government. It was yester- 
day reported on the authority of a letter from a cousin of Don 
Antonio Valdes (the friend of Ld. Holland) that Cuesta had 
arrested Valdes on his way to Ocana at Tordesillas, and 
carried him to the tower of Segovia. The Duke de Infantado 
and the best informed people of Madrid believe the report, 
inasmuch as Cuesta threatened so to do upon hearing that 
Valdes, as President of the Junta at Leon, had joined the 
assembly of deputies at Lugo in Galicia. Valdes was not 
far behind us on our way to this city ; we passed him on the 
frontier of Galicia and at Segovia. Stuart had a long inter- 
view with Cuesta on the 14th when he talked with the utmost 
frankness and spared nobody, but said nothing of his intention 
of arresting Valdes. We shall soon have the confirmation 
of this news. 

We have heard much complaint upon our road about the 
formation of Juntas ; sometimes because the members were 
not natives of the province for which they were named. The 
assembly at Lugo also has given great offence in Leon, Castile, 
and even Madrid by a pompous kind of treaty that they made 
upon assembling together. For my part I see nothing offen- 
sive in it but the form. It was right that they should declare 
on what grounds they met, but a formal treaty as between 
three powers was an odd form for a Declaration. 

I have had the pleasure of being in company with the Duke 
de Infantado and General Castanos. They both look worn 
with fatigue, and the latter is become so old in looks since 
I saw him at Algesiras in 1802 that I should not have known 
him again. 

General Doyle is just returned from Saragossa and speaks 
of the defence of that place as being the most singular event 
that has happened. The Portuguese and French deserters 
and prisoners make the loss of the French amount to 8 
thousand killed, and only 2 thousand wounded. Palafox is 
said to be very like Sir Sidney Smith in person and manner. 

I have sent Ld. Holland a very curious and interesting 
pamphlet by Cevallos, and another, The Justification of the 
Council of Castile. I hope that they will arrive as soon as 
this letter. Admiral de Courcy at Corufia will forward them 



406 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

to Admiral Young at Plymouth, and thence they are to be 
forwarded according to their address. I send you two or 
three Madrid Gazettes also. 

It is wished that the army of Romana should debark at 
Santona near Santander, where Blake can cover the landing. 

Throughout Spain there is a singular anxiety about the 
arrival of a detachment of English cavalry to act with Blake 
or the other armies upon the Ebro. A mistake of the Junta 
of Coruna induced every one to believe that such a detach- 
ment was on the way to Galicia, and it has been a hard work 
wherever we have been to explain away this mistake. Cer- 
tainly applications for cavalry have been made to the British 
Govert. I believe first thro' Sir T. Dyer. Perhaps the time 
that has elapsed would not justify any complaints against 
the British Government for delay, if they have the intention 
of sending it. I do not know how far it might be advisable 
to meet the wishes of the Spaniards on this subject, or what 
difficulties we may have to encounter in finding an English 
general to act under a Spanish one. But this I know, that 
the Spaniards are in great want of cavalry and that their 
operations must be confined owing to that circumstance. It 
is said that they have a large body of horse in Estremadura, 
but that General Galluzzo will not move from before Elvas 
till he has had the honor of its surrendering to him. Elvas 
must fall to the first British officer who can secure the safety of 
the French. 

Believe me to be with the highest respect and esteem, 
Your much obliged and obedient Servt., 

C. R. V. 

We are lodged at Madrid in the House of the Inquisitor 
General. The brutality and dirty pilfering of the French in 
every place thro' which we passed is astonishing. Particu- 
larly Valladolid and Rio Seco. 

No. 3 

Aranjuez, Sept. 28th, 1808. 

Dear Lord H, — Your letter of the 12th of September 
and one without a date, inclosing a letter to the Duke de 
Infantado, both reached me last night, by couriers from 
Gijon and Coruna. The arrival of the Duke at this sitio upon 
business with the Junta, gave me an opportunity of putting 



APPENDIX F 407 

your letter into his hands this day, and to-morrow I shall carry 
your letters to Count Florida Blanca and Jovellanos. I am 
much obliged to you for the kind manner in which you have 
chosen to recommend me to them. I have had several oppor- 
tunities of being in company with the Duke de Infantado. 
You know how attractive his manners are, and the revolution 
has made him one of the most interesting characters in Madrid. 
I hope to profit by your introduction and to become better 
known to him. He tells me that he has received your book 
and speaks of it, as every other Spaniard does who is 
acquainted with it, in terms that you would think it vile 
flattery in me to repeat. The Spanish also of your letters is 
highly thought of. 

I despair of seeing much of the Count Florida Blanca and 
Jovellanos. The first has severe duties to fulfil for a man 
of his great age as the President of the Central Junta, at 
present scarcely formed, and the latter, I am told, is much 
broken by his long imprisonment and must devote also the 
greater part of his day to public business. 

The Junta are assembled in the palace here, from 9 to 1 
and from 7 to 9 in the evening. The siesta and visits occupy 
the few hours that they remain at home. But I shall have 
much to thank you for, if your letters should procure me only 
one interview with two such interesting characters. 

The Central Junta met in due form, as I told you in my 
last, on the 25th inst. I enclose you a list of the members, 
with such observations upon them as I have been able to 
collect from conversation with different people. You will be 
surprised like myself not to find Saavedra amongst them. 
The truth is that the Junta of Seville was formed by the mob, 
who looked at their work and did not like it, until some one 
proposed to give respectability to the whole by placing at the 
head of it Saavedra. This provincial Junta is not abolished 
by the establishment of the Central one, at least at present, 
and the people who are accustomed to obey it acting under the 
name of Saavedra, would run riot if they found it abandoned 
to the mauvais sujets that they originally placed there. The 
absence of Saavedra is thus accounted for to me by natives of 
Seville. I am afraid that the hasty formation of many of the 
provincial Juntas may be felt in the Central one. In some 
parts of Spain the Juntas were named by a Captain-General, 
in others selected in haste by a mob from the persons sur- 
rounding them, and in very few were the deputies the choice 
of the people. It is natural, therefore, that complaints should 



408 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



be heard against many persons sent to the Central Junta, 
sometimes for incapacity, sometimes want of character, and 
at others that they are not natives of the province that 
they represent. There has been likewise great liberality in 
admitting a larger proportion of members from one kingdom 
than another, which is not yet talked of as a grievance, tho' 
deputies have been sent back, as two from Cadiz and the same 
number from a Junta at Carthagena. I agree with you in 
your opinion that the popular assembly should be numerous, 
but I cannot find a Spaniard who does not think that the 
number of deputies in the Central Junta is already too large. 

The members are as follows — those marked * were present 
on the 25th : — 



Seville. 



Granada. 



El Sehor administrador, el Arzobispo de 
Laodicea.* He is appointed to officiate 
as Bishop at Seville by the Archbishop of 
Toledo and Seville. A good man, very 
timid and warmly attached to his Patron. 
Perhaps I ought to add that the Arch- 
bishop of Toledo, &c, is a Bourbon, 
who was not acknowledged by the Court 
of Spain until the Prince of the Peace 
married his sister, when he was made 
an Archbishop, and subsequently a 
younger sister was proposed as a second 
wife for Ferdinand VII. The Princess 
of the Peace now goes by the name of 
Countess of Chinchon. 

El Conde de Tilly,* the other deputy, is 
a noted gambler, who was at the head 
of the populace at Seville, May 26th. 
A man of some wit, but very slender 
capacity. It is said that he cannot go 
to Madrid on account of a criminal pro- 
cess against him for stealing jewellery. 

Sr. Dn. Rodrigo Riquelme,* a man of great 
talent and very likely to become a leader in 
the National Junta. A lawyer : bad heart, 
and suspected of dishonest intentions. 

El Canonigo Luis Gineo Funes,* an eccle- 
siastic who is not likely to take an active 
part in any business. 



APPENDIX F 



409 



Cordova. 

Jaen. 
estremadura. 



ASTURIAS. 



Leon. 



Castilla La 
Vieja. 



Valencia. 



Murcia. 



Marques de la Puebla,* a plain, good sort of 

man. 
Dn. Juan de Diez Rabe.* 

Dn. Sebastian Jocano.* 

Dn. Francisco de Paula Castanedo.* 

El Intendente Dn. Martin Garay,* a 
man of great talents, an high sense of 
honor, very likely to become a leader in 
the Junta, but deficient in discernment, 
and not unlikely to be misled by Riquelme. 

El Tesorero Felix Ovalle,* a man of 
excellent understanding, great acquired 
knowledge but ill-digested. Not likely 
to take an active part in public life. 
Subservient to his colleague Garay. 

Sr. Dn. Gaspar Jovellanos.* It would 
be impertinent to sketch his character, 
but it may be proper to add that the 
Spaniards believe that he will not 
develop his talents or take a lead, lest 
he should be suspected of being ambitious 
of holding altogether the reins of Govern- 
ment. 

El Conde de Campo Sagrado.* 

El Senor Don Antonio Valdes. The Span- 
iards speak of his esprit de corps. 
Daniel, elected in his room by Cuesta, 
is not received. 

El Visconde de Quintanilla. 

El Sr. Dn. Lorenzo Bonifaz Quintano.* 
I believe that he is the author of a sort 
of newspaper, and must not be mistaken 
for your friend. 

Dn. Francisco Xavier Caro. 

El Conde de Contamina.* 

El Principe Pio. Two quiet members unless 
they touch upon nobility. The latter is 
friendly to the Council of Castile. 

El Conde Florida Blanca. * 

Marques del Villar,* good natural talents, 
without acquirements. 



4io 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



Catalonia. 



Toledo. 



Aragon. 



Mallorca y 
islas baleares. 



Galicia. 



Marques de Villel.* 

Baron de Sabazona,* a good man, of 
considerable knowledge of books. 

El vicario Dn. Pedro Ribero.* 
El abogado Dn. Jose Manuel Garcia de la 
Torre,* a lawyer of an intriguing dis- 
position and mischievous temper. 

Dn. Francisco Palafox,* brother of the 

general. 
Sr. Dn. Lorenzo Calvo,* said to be very 

clever and very cunning. 

Dn. Tomas de Veri,* an officer in the militia 
of his island. A man of letters, timid, 
and unlikely that he will take an active 
part. 

Marques de Togosez.* 

Conde de Gimonde, an honest patriot of 

plain understanding. 
Sr. Avalle, who was a cypher in the Junta 

of Coruha. 

Biscay, Navarre, and Madrid are wanting. Deputies are 
arrived at the army of Palafox from Navarre out of whom they 
are to be chosen, and the Count de Altamira is said to be 
one of those named for Madrid. I cannot account for other 
provinces wanting. 

You will smile at the flippant manner in which I have 
attempted the characters of these worthy legislators. But 
it will serve to give you some idea of what is thought of them 
by the Spaniards. I do not speak of any of them from 
personal knowledge of them or acquaintance with them. 

I understand that their first meetings were devoted to 
arranging the form of choosing a President, the duration of 
that office, &c, and dividing themselves into committees 
for the dispatch of business. 

Florida Blanca, it is supposed, will continue President for 
two terms, and then that the President will be chosen by lot. 
Marques del Villar is appointed to be their organ of com- 
munication with the British Envoy. They have been pressed 
upon the subject of military arrangements since the arrival 
of Ld. W. Bentinck, who is empowered to treat about the 
movements of our army and they talk of appointing imme- 
diately a Council of War. 



APPENDIX F 411 

The state of parties seems to be this. The Council of 
Castile and the people of Madrid talk of a Regency. The 
Central Junta declare that they shall exercise the power of 
the Sovereign and they have proposed to the Council of 
Castile an oath of allegiance, at which they begin to revolt. 
You know the constitutional powers of this Council : — that 
all edicts of the King, to have effect, must be promulgated by 
the Council of Castile ; that they have the right to remonstrate 
with the Crown and to refuse to publish its edicts ; and that 
in the absence of the Cortes they are the barrier between the 
power of the Crown and the people. You also know that these 
30 Councillors are appointed by the King and exist only during 
his pleasure, wherefore little practical good has been derived 
by the people from this constitutional check upon the Crown. 
Inasmuch as the acts of the Court have of late years been more 
than usually disgraceful, it was necessary that the Council of 
Castile should be composed of persons not likely to revolt at 
any proposal from the King's Minister. It is said, therefore, 
that the present members of that Council are persons unworthy 
of their trust and creatures of the Prince of the Peace. How- 
ever little they may merit such harsh language, it is certain 
that the people of the provinces detest them, for having issued 
the edicts of the King Father on his resumption of his crown 
at Bayonne and of the Bonapartes, with the same tame 
submission as those of Ferdinand. The host of writers, and 
others employed by them at Madrid, give them there a strong 
party in their favor, and those noblemen whose views are 
inclined to the Regency think well of them. The Junta, 
however, are alive to the feelings of the people, and they have 
assembled at a distance from the Council of Castile ; but 
I apprehend that they will issue their edicts thro' this con- 
stitutional organ, tho' the people consider it as impure. If 
so, we must expect a good deal of discussion. The edict of 
the Junta will not pass without observation, and the people 
exercising the power of the Crown would not surely destroy 
the only check upon that power which is to be restored to 
their King by removing Counsellors who give them advice. 

Had the Duke de Infantado been a man of talent and 
ambition he must have been at the head of the Government. 
A council of Regency has been a favorite idea amongst the 
people, but it never will be so with the Junta. The Duke, 
should such a Council be formed, must be a leading character 
in it. He is popular ; he has been the friend and fellow- 



4 i2 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

sufferer with Ferdinand, has been once named by him Regent. 
I allude to the period when the King Charles IV disinherited 
Ferdinand, and the latter appointed the Duke Regent, in the 
event of his being prevented ascending the throne on the death 
of his father. It was the commission to the Duke that was 
the cause of the arrest at the Escorial. I cannot help thinking 
that the Council of Castile have the ear of the D. de I., and 
that they wish to put him forward. But on his part we hear 
of nothing but joining the armies. The Central Junta are 
sometimes, I observe, spoken of with contempt ; and I know 
not whether to attribute it to the bad characters of some 
members, or to a jealousy of the growing influence of the 
people. It is something represented as ridiculous the people 
exercising the power of the Crown, and the slowness of their 
proceedings is complained of. I do not think that the nobility 
of this country have much claim upon the people. They were 
slow to take up arms and they would have formed the levee 
of Bonaparte, as they had formed that of the Prince of the 
Peace, had not the just indignation and noble efforts of the 
most virtuous people in the world driven them to defend 
their country. 

But however it is yet too early to speak of the characters 
of the several orders in this country. The enemy is still at 
their gate, and I am sorry to say that much time has been 
lost in appointing a chief of their armies. It would be well 
if they could do without one. But such men as Cuesta should 
be controlled. 

Since my last, Blake seems to have made a good movement. 
He advanced from Reinosa to Frias, and the French outposts 
were in consequence of it obliged to fall back upon Pancorvo. 
In the meantime Blake pushed a division of 5000 men to 
Bilbao, and the French garrison of that place consisting of 
12 hundred men escaped only by 3 hours. The Spaniards put 
to death 70 Frenchmen they found there, and were in pursuit 
and likely to cut off the retreat of the twelve hundred. This 
movement of Blake's has put in motion the Asturias, who 
have received about half a million sterling from England 
without one soldier passing their mountains. In the Montana 
4000 men have got arms, and about double that number in 
Biscay. 

Blake at present has his left at Ona, centre at Frias, and 
the right extends to Orduna. His head-quarters are at 
Trapaderno and he has not the least apprehension of the 



APPENDIX F 413 

French daring to attack his position. He cannot descend into 
the plains of Alava for want of cavalry. 

Sept. 29th, 1808. 

I have just heard that the Central Junta have resolved to 
appoint Don Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, who is already in London, 
their Minister at the British Court and to recall immediately 
all other deputies. 

It is said that the cavalry of Estremadura and a regiment 
from Granada are ordered by forced marches to join the army 
assembling in front of the French. I rather suspect that 
everything is arranged for our army joining the Spanish 
forces upon the frontier. 

No. 4 

Aranjuez, Oct. 14th, 1808. 

Dear Lord H., — The Junta are still at Aranjuez, and 
their adjourning to Madrid is postponed to some distant day. 
They named the Ministers of State last night. They are 
as follows : Cevallos, Foreign Affairs ; Hermida, Home 
Department or Secretario de la Gratia y Justicia ; Cornel, 
War Department ; Escano, Minister of Marine ; Saavedra, 
the Department of the Hacienda or Finance. The deputy 
Garay is named Secretary of the Junta, permanently. 

I hear that the deputies have resolved that Florida Blanca 
is to remain their President with a salary of 25 thousand 
dollars per ann. ; that he is to reside at Madrid in the palace ; 
to have the title of Highness, and to be escorted by guards 
when he appears in public. They have voted the inviola- 
bility of their persons and they are to wear the costume of 
Counsellors of State, with the addition of a rich crimson velvet 
mantle on gala days ; moreover, every deputy is to have an 
annual salary of 5 thousand dollars. 

To-day, the Birthday of Ferdinand VII, the Junta, after 
chapel, held a Court in the palace. I am just returned from 
making my bow to them. The President surrounded by the 
deputies received a few people who are at the sitio, and the 
ceremony was merely advancing, making a bow, and imme- 
diately retiring. I accompanied Stuart, who is the only 
Minister who has taken any notice of them. The charges 
d'affaires of Austria and America, and the Russian Ambassador, 
Count Strogonoff , are the only ones remaining at Madrid of the 
Diplomatic corps. 



414 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

I hear that orders have arrived at Lisbon for 20,000 of our 
troops to advance immediately into Spain, and that they are 
to be joined by 10,000 under Baird expected at Coruha. 
The Marquis de Romana has experienced bad weather off 
the coast of Spain, and I do not hear that he is yet arrived. 
I saw his brother this morning, who left him at Gottenburg. 

My next letter will be dated from Palafox's headquarters. 
I leave Aranjuez to-night, and set out to-morrow evening 
with Colonel Doyle and Mr. Cavendish for Saragossa. Thence 
I mean to advance with Palafox towards the French and 
return shortly to Madrid by way of the centre of the Spanish 
army. All that I know of their positions at present is 
that they are advancing. Since the alarm of the French 
reinforcements, the utmost activity has prevailed in drawing 
together troops from all quarters. By the way, the French 
have not received their reinforcements, but by an intercepted 
letter they are promised them by the 20th Nov. 

The Junta will lose no time in appointing Ambassadors 
to the Courts of Vienna and Petersburg. The Council of 
Castile is very submissive, and the Junta is popular at Madrid. 

I cannot thank you too often for your letter to Jovellanos. 
He is one of the most modest men in his manners, and of the 
most amiable disposition I have yet seen. It is impossible 
to see anything of Florida Blanca, and indeed it is very 
seldom that I have an opportunity of speaking to Jovellanos. 
He has never seen your book. 

Count Tilly gave us a dinner the other day. I presume 
that it was in celebration of his person being declared inviol- 
able. All the deputies are now arrived. Cuesta and Valdes 
are before the Junta. 

The quarrel with Cuesta is the only unpleasant circum- 
stance that has yet occurred. Otherwise the most perfect 
harmony and unison now prevails in all classes of the Go vert, 
and of the people. 

Remember me kindly to Lady H. and Mr. A. I do not 
send you the Semanario, as Stuart informs me that he received 
a packet for you from Quintana of them, and forwarded it, 
as well as a pamphlet by Capmany, dedicated to you. The 
Semanario is very much sought after. 

P.S. — The Bishop of Orense is appointed Inquisitor 
General. You will observe that not one of the Ministers has 
been taken from the Junta. 



APPENDIX F 415 

Since writing the above I learn that Romana's forces 
have landed at Santander. The French have abandoned the 
line of the Ebro and their force is divided between Bilbao 
and the posts of Olite, Estella, and Pampeluna. 

No. 5 

Saragossa, Nov. 8 th, 1808. 
I have just heard of your embarking on board the Amazon 
frigate for Spain, and I expect that this letter will find you 
at Coruna. I regret that I did not read your intention of 
setting out immediately in your enquiries about roads. 
I ought to have told you of the great difficulty of procuring 
money for bills upon England ; Coruna is a better place for 
discounting bills than Madrid, and I would recommend you 
to negociate your business with M. Barrie, a most respectable 
merchant, who has been unfortunately persecuted on account 
of his French origin. He has correspondents in all parts of 
the world, and may be very useful to you. There cannot be 
a worse man of business at Coruna than the English Vice- 
Consul, Magniac. I hope that you have not any French 
servant in your suite, as he will certainly be discovered and 
occasion you great uneasiness. Coruna is a bad place to 
move from with carriages, as I remember that there was but 
one miserable tiro of mules in the place. If Ferrol and the 
surrounding district has been swept of mules to carry the 
baggage of the English army, you would do well to send in 
to Leon, the country of margatos (sic), and purchase tiros, which 
you would dispose of afterwards to advantage at Madrid. 
You need have no fear of the road over the Galician moun- 
tains ; it is excellent. I cannot give you any information 
respecting inns, as I travelled post to Astorga, and thence to 
Madrid rapidly with relays of mules. Before you receive 
this letter you will know as much of Coruna as myself. The 
Gallego noblesse are not very well lodged, nor are their tertulias 
the most brilliant. If Mr. Allen is with you tell him that he 
will find a very good library in the Consulado. 

I am just returned from the army of Aragon on the frontier 
of Navarre and the headquarters of the Central Army at 
Tudela. I accompanied Doyle and Palafox. In Exea 12 
leagues from Saragossa and in Sadava 4 leagues beyond Exea, 
we found a division of 4960 effective men, of which number 
about 500 cavalry, under the command of General St. Marc, 



416 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

a native of Flanders with the vivacity of a Frenchman, and 
who has the reputation of being an excellent executive officer. 
The state of the division did him credit. His men well cloathed, 
particularly the Valencian regts., owing to the exertions of 
the Junta of Valencia. At Sos, 6 leagues from Sadava, and 
a very strong position in the mountains, we found a small 
detachment of infantry. General O'Neil who commands the 
army of Aragon in the absence of Palafox had established 
headquarters at Sanguesa, 2 leagues from Sos. His division, 
according to the returns on the 1st of Nov., amounted to 
9368 effective men, of whom about 200 cavalry armed with 
lances. The advanced posts of this division at Aybar and 
Lumbier. In Sanguesa were stationed the men most in need 
of cloathing, and I was sorry to see many soldiers of advanced 
guards turned out to their general almost naked. But 
enthusiasm and a spirit of obedience prevailed everywhere 
notwithstanding the most severe wants. The divisions of 
St. Marc and O'Neil have since been reinforced by 4000 
Murcians infantry and 120 cavalry, well cloathed and 
organized. The position of these divisions ought by this 
time to be as follows : O'Neil at Sanguesa, Aybar, and 
Lumbier. Gen. Villaba at Sos, Caseda, and Gallifienso. Gen. 
St. Marc at Sadava. It is the intention to move up to Exea 
2000 infantry from Saragossa and 2000 new levies with 100 
dragoons from Calatayud, leaving in Saragossa about 2000 
men to do the garrison duty and guard 1500 French prisoners. 
Thus the whole effective force of what may be called the army 
of Aragon, which forms the right of the Spanish line, amounts 
to 24,548 men, of which number the cavalry are about 1500. 
It must be remembered that about 6000 men under the 
Marques de Lazan, the brother of Palafox, marched from 
Aragon to the relief of Catalonia, soon after the siege of 
Saragossa. There will be no difficulty in adding 30,000 
recruits to this army whenever musquets can be found for 
them. Eight thousand English musquets are daily expected 
here from Tortosa, which will immediately give as many 
soldiers to the army, and the people of this province are the 
best formed for soldiers that I have met with. The utmost 
effort is made here to cloath, to arm, and to organize a force. 
In the midst of the siege the gunpowder failed and the inhabi- 
tants immediately set about making it. They have now 
established a manufactory of it in the city which produces 
from 10 to 12 anobas pr. day. The earth in the neighbourhood 



APPENDIX F 417 

furnishes saltpetre ; the sulphur is drawn from Terruel and 
other places, and the charcoal is made from the stalks of the 
hemp which grows to an immense size. Several hundred 
monks are daily employed in a large church making cart- 
ridges. Since the siege, extensive works have been constructed 
for the defence of the city, and they have established maga- 
zines for cloathing their armies, and I hope that very shortly 
they will have completed uniforms for the troops already in 
the field. The active spirit of the chief pervades every 
department and is well seconded by the people. 

At Tudela, the headquarters of the Central Army, there 
are about 10,000 men under Gen. Castafios. On the left 
his line extends to Nalda where he has 2000 ; at Ansejo 1000 ; 
at Calahorra, 6000 ; at Alfaro and Corella 13,000. The 
whole force about 29,000 men, of whom abt. 4000 cavalry. 
The Estremadura army has been ordered to Burgos to support 
the right of Blake, who has had a severe engagement with 
the French, and been obliged to retire to Valmaseda, where 
his letter was dated on the 3rd of Novr. The French General 
Lasalle has moved towards Burgos to check the Estremadura 
forces. Six thousand of Castafios' division still remain at 
Madrid. The army of Castafios is well cloathed, but want 
shoes ; and tolerably well appointed. He mingles his levies 
with his regulars. It has been proved again and again 
that armed masses of peasantry cannot resist in the field a 
regular force such as the French. The Battles of Cabezon, Rio 
Seco, and all the engagements in Aragon before the siege of 
Saragossa are proofs of it. But behind walls and in towns 
peasantry are quite as formidable as regular troops. 

The French have received during the month of October 
and the first week of November a reinforcement of 24,681 
infantry of the line, 3500 cavalry, 3662 light infantry. I 
have seen the regular returns, and many of the regts. are 
Dutch and others of the Confederation of the Rhine. Bona- 
parte was at Bayonne with Savary on the 3rd of this month, 
with about a thousand infty. and a proportion of gendarmes. 

The deputies from the Spanish Junta held a Council of 
War while we were at Tudela, and it was agreed to make a 
combined attack upon Caporrosa. The French in Navarre, 
to the amount of about 28,000 men, are at Pampeluna, and 
thence extend to Estella, Falces and Peralta, Tafalla, Olita, 
and Caparrosa. Delay has taken place again in the move- 
ments of Castafios, and suspicions gain ground with those 



418 LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 

who would be active that he is under the influence of 
two people upon his staff, who were formerly aides-de- 
camp of the Prince of the Peace and allowed each of 
the military departments under their control to go to ruin. 
Their names are Navarro and St. Pierre. It is impossible 
to know with what justice their patriotism is suspected, 
but at the head-quarters at Tudela I heard much of their 
talents. 



Nov. gth. 

I have just heard that the enemy are in movement in 
Navarre ; and we expect an attack upon the central and 
right wing. The attacks of the enemy at Logrono on the 25th 
of Oct., and the same day at Lerin, on the 29th at Calahorra, 
and the 24th at Sanguesa, look to me very like what the 
military people call attacks of reconnaissance and having ascer- 
tained the position of the Spaniards and their force, I shall 
not be surprised at an irruption into Aragon, dividing Castafios 
from the Aragon army and beating both in detail before the 
English arrive. 

What would I not sacrifice, my dear Lord, for the satis- 
faction of seeing you the Ambassador in Spain. Your regard 
for the Spaniards is well known in this country. You are the 
only foreigner of distinction who has made himself acquainted 
with their literature, and I so often hear your name mentioned 
with pleasure where I least expect it that I cannot but feel 
grieved that you are not the organ of my own Govert. in 
this country. It would not be right to canvass the character 
of the person who is sent to Madrid, but I must observe, that 
I never heard one individual in Spain ever mention his name. 
I have witnessed the conduct of Stuart from living in the 
house with him, and in my opinion it has been very judicious. 
He is very diligent, and there is a frankness in his manners 
which pleases the Spaniards and he does not, like my country- 
men in general, shun their society. Hitherto there has been 
no lack of missionaries in Spain : major-generals and their 
staffs with every army, not one of whom has ever known 
enough of the language to obtain the confidence of those with 
whom they have been placed. This does not apply to Doyle, 
who is really beloved by the Spaniards, and I do not believe 
that Palafox receives a private note without submitting it to 
his perusal. 



APPENDIX F 419 

Nov. 10th. 

Buonaparte at Vitoria on the 5th. The French seem 
to meditate an attack upon Castafios. They appear to be 
collecting a force to pass the Ebro at Logrono and Lodosa. 
The army of this province are ordered to descend the Aragon 
river, destroying all the bridges, and to support the center. 

I shall probably in the course of the next month shake 
you by the hand at Coruna on my way to England. Kindest 
remembrances to Lady H. and Mr. A. 



2 e 2 



INDEX 



Abbreviations 

a., signifies afterwards ; v., referred to ; des., description of ; figures in 
italics, notes. 



Addington, Henry, a., Viscount 
Sidmouth, 126, 137 

Aguila, Conde de, shot at Seville, 
263 

Alava, Don Miguel Ricardo de, 
rumours concerning, 148 ; a 
brief account of, 189 ; relations 
of, with Sir A. Wellesley, 325-6, 
327, 329 ; cited on General 
Cuesta and on the English 
cavalry, 337 

Alba, Maria del Pilar, XIII 
Duquesa de, supposed to have 
been poisoned, 45 ; royalty 
jealous of, 92 ; sale of her 
effects, 155 ; character of, 107, 
195, 198 

Alba palace, the, des., 91-2 and 
notes. 

Albalat, Baron d'. See Saavedra. 

Albuf era de Valencia, the, 2 5-6, 1 60 

Albuquerque, Duque de, detached 
from army of Urbina, 283 ; 
success of, at Mora, 289 ; con- 
sidered foolhardy, 290 ; attacked 
at Consuegra, 291 ; relations 
of, with Cuesta, 303, 305-7, 
308, 309-310, 312, 318, 327, 
334 ; return of, to Seville, 
315 ; and Venegas, 319 ; des., 
321 ; relations of, with J. H. 
Frere, 326 ; throws up his 
command, 361 ; v., 334, 351, 

389, 39i 
Alcala, Irish College at, 179 
Alcedo, Don Antonio de, 206 
Alcobaca, des., 183-4 
Alcudia, Duque de. See Godoy, 

Manuel. 
Alexander I, Czar, 86, in 



Allen, Dr. John, his first Spanish 
journey, 1 ; interests and 
studies of, 5, 31, 40, 181, 363, 
415 ; medical services of, 176 
his second Spanish journey, 202 

Aliaga, Duque de, des., 198 

Aliaga, Duquesa de, 117, 198 

Alonso VIII, founder of the 
Monasterio de las Huelgas, 172 

Altamira, Conde de (Marques de 
Astorga), anecdote of 38 ; Pre- 
sident of the Cortes, 245, 325 ; 
r., 410 

Alvemar, M., cited on affairs in 
St. Domingo, 93-4 ; and in 
Egypt, 94, 95-6 

Amiens, Peace of (1802), 3, 89, 

105, 151 
Andreoli, character of, 88, 158, 

163 
Angiboult, M., cited, 147 ; and 

Canal de Castilla, 174 
Anglona, Prince of, 391, 395 
Anstruther, Brigadier-General 

Robert, cited, 238 
Antillon, Don Isidoro, des., 327-8 
Apodaca, Don Juan Ruiz de, 

Spanish Ambassador in London, 

275-6, 292, 413 
Aragon, Constitution of, 157, 160 
Aranda, Mde. de, 158 
Aranda, Pedro Pablo Abarca, 

Conde de, 85 ; French policy of, 

154-5 

Aranjuez, des., 73-4, 76 

Arce, Capt. -General d', 364, 365 

Ariza, Da. Teresa, Marquesa de, 
position and manners of, 102, 
105 ; flight of, from Madrid, 263 

Ariza, Marques de, 102, 156 



422 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



Argenton, Capt., cited on discon- 
tent in Soult's army, 339-40 

Arnoud, Jacques, viii 

Arriaza, Juan, des., 96 ; escape of, 
from Madrid, 291, 293 ; friend- 
ship of, for General O'Farril, 

294 

Arriba, talents of, 294 

Aspern, battle of, 356 

Asso, Don Ignacio de, execution 
of, 310 

Asturias, Ferdinand, Prince of, a. 
Ferdinand VII, festivities in 
honour of, 60-1, 78-80 ; marri- 
age of, 73, 78 ; appearance of, 
75 ; relations of Infantado with, 
83, 278-9, 361, 411-12 ; indis- 
creetness of, 132 ; relations of, 
with Godoy, 134 ; slighted by 
the Court, 151, 152 ; looks to 
an alliance with England, 200 ; 
papers relating to, 285 ; honours 
Romana, 297 ; De Castro has 
an interview with, 299 ; Napo- 
leon keeps in captivity, 302, 
345 ; reported escape of, 396 ; 
desire in Spain that he should 
have an English wife, 403 ; 
birthday of, celebrated at Aran- 
juez, 413 

Asturias, Maria Antonia, Princess 
of, marriage of, 73, 78 ; manners 
and appearance of, 74, 75 ; 
taste in reading, 1 12-13 '• visit of, 
to the Mausoleum, 113 ; her in- 
discreetness, 132; Maria Luisa's 
jealousy of, 140, 148, 152 ; 
health of, 151, 182 ; jewels of, 

329 

Auckland, Lady, 194 

Auckland, William, 1st Lord, 

Ambassador in Madrid, 194 
Augereau, Pierre Francois Charles, 

General, at Bayonne, 90, 96-7 
Austria, war between, and France, 

27°. 273, 283, 292, 307, 329, 

342, 34°-7» 354. 384-5 
Azanza, Don Miguel Jose, 49, 294 
Azara, Don Jose Nicolas de, 

recalled from Paris, 101 



Badajoz, reception of the 
Hollands at, 364-5 

Baird, Sir David (General), has 
difficulty in disembarking his 
troops, 202, 204, 266, 276 ; 
relations of, with Lord Paget, 
214-17 ; sends secret orders to 



Admiral de Courcy, 221-2 ; 
ordered to re-embark, 225, 226, 
229 ; likely to effect a junction 
with Blake, 227 ; infantry of, 
fallen back, 228 ; out of humour 
with the Spaniards, 231 ; joins 
Sir J. Moore, 243 ; wounded, 
270 ; r., 209, 210, 220, 223, 
229, 230, 233, 235, 237, 372, 
414 
Ballesteros, General, beloved by 
his men, 298 ; rumoured 
successes of, 335, 335 
Barcelona, des., 7-8, 9, 10 
Bassecourt, General, r., 351-2; 

342, 393, 395 

Batalha, des., 184 

Bauffrement, Princesse de, n 

Bauza, Felipe, work of, 152 ; 
escape of, from Madrid, 359- 
60 

Beauharnais, Prince Eugene, 342 

Bedford, Francis, 5th Duke of, 
130 

Bell, Mr., 244 

Belleville, Redon de, 99 

Beresford, General (William Carr, 
a. Lord Beresford), in Portugal, 
299 ; relations of, with Sir A. 
Wellesley, 370 ; Sir R. Wilson 
on, 382, 384 ; r., 387, 388 

Berkeley, Admiral the Hon. George, 
Commander of the Portuguese 
Station, 252, 253 ; sends gun- 
boats to Abrantes, 338 ; has 
quarrelled with Admiral Purvis, 

355 
Berkeley, Lady Emily, 253, 254 
Berkeley, Major, comments on 

commissariat in Spain, 370-1 
Berthier, General, cited on 
Lefebvre, 251 ; created Prince of 
Neufchatel, 292 
Bethencourt, Augustin de, 81 
Beurnonville, Pierre de Riel, 
Comte de, French Ambassador 
in Spain, 12, 85, 86, 89, 156; 
doubtful diplomacy of, 98, 99 ; 
his maga^in, 100 ; relations of, 
with Moreau, 149, 150 
Bilbao, insurrection at, 167-8 ; 

sack of, 223-4 
Birch, Capt., 223, 224 
Biscay, insurrection in, 171, 174 
Blake, General Joachim, defeat 
of, at Zornosa, 207-8 ; defeat at 
Espinosa, 214, 216-17 <' suffer- 
ings of his men, 223 ; advances 
into Biscay unwillingly, 224 ; 



INDEX 



423 



saves his artillery, 226, 227 ; 
likely to join Baird, 227 ; 
strength of his force at Leon, 
228 ; relations of, with Cuesta, 

250, 396-7, 399, 4° 2 . 4°4-5 1 
English support promised to, 
275, 276 ; relations of, with La 
Romana, 283, 285-6, 288 ; 
comments of, on the campaign, 
285, 287, 290, 291 ; relations 
of, with Lord Paget, 291 ; 
ordered to Cataluna, 287 ; 
French testimony to, 294 ; 
rumours against, 295 ; ap- 
pointed Capt.-General of Valen- 
tia and Aragon, 307 ; sends 
news of the French retreat, 320 ; 
is given a free hand, 329-30 ; 
plot at Barcelona, 333 ; suc- 
cess of, at Alcafiiz, 343, 346 ; 
and near Barbastro, 344 ; his 
Valencian reinforcements, 348, 
353 ; defeated at Belchite, 
358-9, 360-1, 366 ; efforts 
made to collect a fresh army 
for, 370 ; Lord Paget on defeat 
of, 372-3 ; Mr. Vaughan on, 
412-13 

Blanco White, Joseph, editor of 
Semanario, 328 ; grumbles at 
Jovellanos, 345 

Blondel, Madame, 10, 11, 12, 80 

Blondel, Marquis de, 10, n 

Bodin, Abbe, 28 

Boileau, Nicolas, quoted, 22 

Bolero, the, 42 

Bonaparte, Jerdme, in America, 
127-8 

Bonaparte, Joseph, King of 
Spain, 201, 209, 224, 342, 
347. 360, 366, 374 ; inter- 
cepted letters of, cited, 251, 320; 
issues a bando, 272 ; attempts 
a conscription, 281-2 ; not 
cordially received at Toledo, 

347. 393. 394 

Bonaparte, Lucien, envoy in 
Madrid, 2, 99 

Bonaparte, Napoleon. See 

Napoleon 

Bonfigli, Marie Madelaine, con- 
nexion of, with the conceal- 
ment of Harriet Webster, viii-ix 

Borb6n, Don Luis Antonio de, 
his marriage, 125, 166-7 

Bosch, Jerome, pictures by, 121 

Bouillon, Princesse de, 130 

Bourbon, Louise Marie Therese, 
Duchesse de, u 



Bourke, Edmond, Count, Danish 
Ambassador at Madrid, 6, 72-5, 
80 ; relations of, with Mr. 
Frere (J. H.), 131, 163-4 ; 
cited on Spanish tradesmen, 192 

Bourke, Madame, social gather- 
ings of, 119, 128, 129 

Bourke, Richard, Colonel, 351 

Branciforte, Antonia, Marquesa 
de, unfriendly to Godoy, 152 

Branciforte, Marques de, accused 
of peculation, 153, 189 

Broderick, General Hon. John, 
in Peninsular Campaign, 227, 
251, 402 

Brown, Sally, and concealment of 
Harriet Webster, viii-ix 

Bruna, Don Francisco de, a 
courteous guide, 57-63 

Buen Retiro Palace, 109 

Bueno, General Augustin, 266 

Burdett, Sir Francis, has a 
difference with Tierney, 355 

Burgh, Capt., letter of, on pur- 
suit of Soult, to Lord Holland. 
387-8 

Burgos, des., 171-3 



Cabaxlero, Don Jose Antonio, 
Marques de, anecdote of, 84-5 ; 
v., 124, 125 
Cabarrus, Don Francisco, Conde 
de, origin of, 21 ; cited on fiscal 
regulations at Madrid, 84 ; and 
yellow fever epidemic, 108 ; 
relations of, with Jovellanos, 
1 1 4-1 5 ; and with M. de 
Moratin, 165 ; heads one party 
in the Ministry, 294 
Cabarrus, Madame, 21, 108 
Cabezas, cited on La Romana, 

336 
Cadiz, des., 51-2 ; riots at, 289-90 
Cadogan, Henry, Col., 351 
Cadoudal, Georges, 138, 144 
Caillet, M., anecdote of, 151 
Calonne, M. de, cited on Maria 

Luisa, 149 
Calvo de Rosas, Don Lorenzo, 
friendship of, with Palafox, 
301-2 ; political attitude of, 
322-3 ; deputy from Aragon, 
410 
Camelford, Thomas, 2nd Baron, 

killed, 141 
Cameron, General Sir Alan, serves 
in Peninsular Campaign, 241, 
246, 249, 255 



424 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



Cameron, Mr., 176, 177 

Campa&a, Pedro, pictures by, 66, 
265 

Campbell Mr., 131, 333 

Campo Real, Marquesa de, des., 53 

Campo^Sagrada, Conde de, Deputy 
from Asturias, 272, 409 ; on 
the proposals for reassembling 
the Cortes, 322 ; dispatches of, 
cited, 342 ; incensed against 
La Romana, 354 ; attitude of, 
towards General Blake, 360-1 

Canal de Castilla, 174, 175-6 

Canning, George, attitude of, to- 
wards Lord Holland's Spanish 
journey, vii 

Capel, Capt., a., Admiral Sir 
Thomas Bladen, 235, 236, 237, 

251 

Capmany, Don Antonio, cited, 92- 
3 ; on Spanish domestic affairs, 
153-4. x 90-i ; des., 199 ; 
energy of, 246-7 ; escape of, 
from Madrid, 261 ; his ' pro- 
clamation,' 290 ; his ' Cen- 
tinela,' 293-4 : *■> 355, 4 J 4 

Caraffa, Louis, 132 

Carlotta Joaquina, Princess, 369 

Caro, Don Francisco Xavier, visit 
of, to Sir J. Moore, 277 ; ap- 
pointed Deputy for Castilla La 
Vieja, 345, 409 

Caro, Don Ventura, marriage of, 

23 

Caro, General Jose, treachery of, 

359 

Carrera, Don Martin de la, 
success of, at Santiago, 348 

Cartaojal. See Urbina. 

Castanedo, Don Francisco de 
Paula, Deputy from Jaen, 

345, 409 
Castanos, General Francisco 
Xavier de, defeated on the 
Tudela, 209, 210, 229, 230, 232 ; 
plan of campaign of, cen- 
sured, 224 ; in confinement, 
255, 264 ; false rumours about, 
293, 294 ; letter of, to General 
O'Farril, 397 ; relations of, with 
Junta of Seville, 404 ; con- 
dition of his army, 417 ; under 
doubtful influence, 417-18 ; 
attack on, expected, 418, 419 ; 
aged by fatigue and anxiety, 
405; r., 213, 373, 374, 375, 

403 
Castelar, Marques de, 232 
Castelfranco, Don Pablo Sangro, 



Prince of, Napoleon's dealings 
with, 341, 351 

Castile, Council of, 298-9, 302, 
411-12, 414 

Castlereagh, Robert, Viscount, 
dispatches to, cited, 226, 229, 
230 ; succeeded by Lord Welles- 
ley, 297 ; relations of, with Sir 
J. Cradock, 338-9 

Castro, Don Evaristo Perez de, 
talents and exploits of, 299 ; 
dispatches of, cited, 342, 349 

Catalans, characteristics of the, 
17-18 

Catherine II, Empress, 103 ; 
Memoirs of, 112 

Cavendish-Bentinck, Lord Wil- 
liam, and disembarkation ques- 
tion, 276 ; and Central Junta, 
410 

Cevallos, Don Pedro de, Minister 
for Foreign Affairs, 89, 413 ; 
Ambassador in London, 248 ; 
his pamphlet, 299, 405 ; return 
of, to Spain, 351 ; relations of, 
with Infantado, 361 

Chamberlain, Mr., 101, 103, 183 

Charles III (of Spain), no, 165 ; 
relations of, with his brother, 
Don Luis, 166-7 '• disposition 
of, 167 ; society in reign of, 194 

Charles IV (of Spain), relations 
of, with Godoy, 1-2, 117, 118, 
158 ; at Figueras, 4 ; at Mon- 
serrate, 15 ; and reservoir at 
Lorca, 42 ; orders sale of 
Church lands, 44 ; amuse- 
ments and tastes of, 73-4, 76, 
77 ; Lady Holland presented 
to, 75 ; ignorant of outside 
affairs, 87 ; disapproves of 
novel-reading, n 2-1 3 ; health 
of, 126, 133, 151 ; distrusts 
Urquijo, 153 ; Court etiquette 
in regard to, 156 ; unconstitu- 
tional methods of , 160; relations 
between, and Prince of Asturias, 
200, 412 

Charles V, Emperor, statues, por- 
traits and other memorials of, 
48, 58, 73, 82, no, 142 

Christina, Queen of Sweden, 77 

Cienfuegos, Canonigo, 270 

Clarke, Mrs., scandal of, 305 

Cogolludo, Don Luis Joaquin, 
Duque de, 198 

Collingwood, Admiral Sir Cuthbert 

315, 329 
Condamina, Madame de la, 195 



INDEX 



425 



Condamina, Conde de, Deputy 
from Valentia, 401, 409 

Conde, Don Jose Antonio, 162 

Conolly, Rt. Hon. Thomas, death 
of, 56 

Conti, Prince of (Louis Francois 
Joseph de Bourbon), in exile, 

5. 9 

Convention of Cintra, 201, 245 

Copley, Sir Lionel, 94 

Cordova, des., 67-9 

Cornel. Relations with J. H. 
Frere, 307 ; appointed to War 
Office, 413 ; r., 316. See Ferras 
y Cornel 

Cornwallis, Admiral Sir William, 
98 

Cornwallis, Charles, 1st Marquess 
and 2nd Earl, and Peace of 
Amiens, 105 

Corufia, and disembarkation ques- 
tion, 204, 275, 276, 287 ; battle 
of, 265-6, 268, 270, 286, 292-3 

Cotton, General Sir Stapleton, 

245 

Couessens, M., brings news, 127-8 

Coupigny, General, assumes 
Reding's command, 323, 324 ; 
illness of, 325; dispatches of, 
cited, 329 

Courcy, Admiral de, and dis- 
embarkation question, 204 ; 
courtesy of, 210, 214, 227, 399 ; 
relations of, with Sir David 
Baird, 221-2, 233 ; letters of, 
2 34» 237, 2 5 T : cited on the 
order to retreat, 263 

Cradock, General Sir John, arrives 
to take command at Lisbon, 
235 ; confidences to Lord Hol- 
land, 242-4 ; cited on Lord 
Holland's Spanish sympathies, 
250 ; appointed to Gibraltar, 
333, 337-9, 345 ; interview of 
with Capt. Argenton, 340; r., 
245, 251, 254, 256 

Cuesta, Don Gregorio Garcia de 
la, relations of, with General 
Blake, 208, 250, 396-7, 399, 
402, 404-5 ; quarrel of, with 
Valdes, 232, 232, 277, 414 ; 
head of the forces in Estre- 
madura, 242, 243 ; at Badajoz, 
247 ; at bridge of Almaraz, 248, 
260-1, 266-7 '• Col. Kemmis on, 
253 ; military talents and quali- 
ties of, 257, 258 ; threatened 
by the enemy, 274, 279 ; 
Jovellanos cited on, 277-8 ; 



relations between and the 
Government, 280-1, 293, 311, 
323, 326 ; dispatches of, cited, 
280, 282, 296, 297, 299-300, 
3°3-4> 3°5> 306. 3°7, 3°8, 3 IO > 
312, 314-15, 3*6, 325, 328, 
34°. 34 1 . 345, 346, 352 ; atti- 
tude of, towards the English, 
285 ; removes General Trias 
from office, 287 ; relations of, 
with General Eguia, 287-8 ; 
expecting reinforcements, 290 ; 
relates certain artifices of the 
enemy, 294-5 '• relations of, 
with La Romana, 296-7 ; de- 
feated at Medellin, 313, 314 ; 
appointed Commander-in-Chief, 
315 ; official returns of his 
men, 317-18, 351 ; his tactics 
criticized, 319 ; makes use of 
intercepted letters, 324 ; con- 
dition of his army, 327 ; pur- 
sues slowly, 334 ; praised by 
Alava, 337 ; applies for Macken- 
zie's corps, 343 ; illness of, 349, 
350 ; agreement between, and 
Sir A. Wellesley, 350, 355, 
356 ; in pursuit of General 
Victor, 355, 356-7, 360, 366, 
390-5 ; at battle of Rio Seco, 
396-7 ; cavalry of, 403 ; Mr. 
Vaughan on, 412 



Dandeya, Messrs., 46, 47 

Deroutier, Mile., 120, 148 

Dhezzar Pacha, 94 

Diez Rabe, Don Juan de, 409 

Digby, Capt., his account of the 
condition of Blake's army, 223- 
4 ; offers his services to the 
Hollands, 235 

Doyle, Col., a. General (Sir 
Charles William), dispatches 
of, cited, 230, 292 ; relations of, 
with General Palafox, 283, 418 ; 
goes to Saragossa, 284, 414 ; 
illness of, 296 ; cited on siege 
of Saragossa, 300, 324, 405 ; 
cited on various matters, 353 ; 
on riots in Madrid, 386 ; pro- 
moted to rank of Brigadier- 
General, 400 ; advances money 
to Castanos, 404 

Duff, Col. James, a., 4th Earl of 
Fife, 266 ; letters of, to Lord 
Holland, 389-95 

Duff, Mr. (English Consul at 
Cadiz), 51, 52-3 



426 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



Dugommier, Jacques Coquille, 

General, killed, 3 
Dupont, General, 201, 227, 397 
Dyer, Sir Thomas, cited on public 

feeling in Oviedo, 226-7 ; r., 



Ebrington, Hugh, Viscount, 241, 
246 

Echavarria, General, 307, 308 

Echmuhl, battle of, 341 

Edouville, M., relations of, with 
Napoleon, 293-4 

Eguia, General, relations of, with 
Cuesta, 287-8, 350, 352 

Elgin, Thomas, 7th Earl of, in 

Ellis, Lieut., military reports of, 
253, 256-7 ; cited on Cuesta, 
285 

Enghien, Due d', condemned to 
death, 138-9; execution of, 
142, 144 

England, war declared between, 
and France, 51, 98 ; relations 
between, and Spain (1804), 146, 
181 ; in 1805-8, 200-2 ; Govern- 
ment of, complaints of the 
Spanish junta against, 275-6 

English troops in Spain, sickness 
among, 213 ; commissariat of, 
ill-managed, 220-1 ; insulted 
at Santiago, 236-7 ; Portu- 
guese murmur against, 253 ; 
state of, after the retreat at 
Corufia, 262-3 I embarkation 
of, 265-6 ; conduct of, criticized, 

274-5, 279 
Entraigues, Emmanuel Henri, 

Comte d', his brochures, in 
Escalante, Don Ventura, visit of, 

to General Moore, 266, 277 
Escano, Senor, named to the 

government of Mexico, 273 ; 

appointed Minister of Marine, 

413 

Etruria, Kingdom of, 75 

Etty, Comte, (Imperial Am- 
bassador), 88, 112 

Etty, Comtesse d', 119, 121 

Evora, Archbishop of (Don Fray 
Manuel de Cenaculo Villas Boas) , 
367 ; relations of, with General 
Loison, 367-8 

Evora, sack of, 256, 257, 367-8 



Falck, Antoine Reinhard, Baron, 
128 



Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias. 
See Asturias 

Ferdinand, VI, 109 

Fernan-Nunez, VI Conde de, 156 ; 
losses of, during the war, 285 

Ferras y Cornel, Don Francisco, 
cited on siege of Saragossa, 281 ; 
on General Eguia, 287 ; rela- 
tions of, with Blake, 295, 320 ; 
eager that Cuesta should attack, 
310; cited on military affairs, 
323, 327, 328, 333, 346, 348 

Figueras, surrender of fort at, 

3-4 

Filanghieri, Capt. -General, ir- 
resolution of, 278 ; murder of, 

399, 4°4 

FitzClarence, Mr., a. Earl of 
Munster, 218 

Fitzgerald, Lady Isabella, 
marriage of, 355 

Fitzgerald, Lord Robert Stephen, 
English Minister at Lisbon, 84, 
186 

Fitzpatrick,Hon. Richard, General, 
1, 187 

Fletcher, Mr., (of Elvas), cited 
on conduct of the French troops 
in Portugal, 257-8 

Florida-Blanca, Don Jose Mofiino, 
Conde de, in retirement, 39, 41 ; 
downfall of, 173 ; reforms in- 
stituted by, 178 ; death of, 
245, 246, 272 ; attitude of, 
towards revival of the Cortes, 
322-3 ; Deputy for Murcia, 
401, 409, 410 ; suggested on 
Council of Regency, 402 ; 
President of Central Junta, 
407 ; salary and style of, 413 

Fontenar, Mde. de, 198 

Fox, Right Hon. Charles J., 1, 141 

Fox, Charles Richard, 1, 7, 30, 
55, 56, 62, 117 

Fox, General the Hon. Henry 
Edward, ordered to Ireland, 
95 ; commander of the Home 
District, 126 ; r., 264 

Fox, Hon. Henry Edward (a. 4th 
Lord Holland), 30-1 

France, and Treaty of Amiens, 3 ; 
war declared between, and 
England, 51, 98 ; transactions 
between, and Spain, (1803), 86 ; 
at war with Austria, 270, 273, 
283, 292, 307, 329, 342, 346-7, 

351, 354, 384-5 
Francisco de Paula Antonio, 
Infante, 75 



INDEX 



427 



Frederick Augustus, Duke of 
York, and Clarke scandal, 

3°5 

Freire, Bernardino, (Portuguese 
general), courtesy of, 240, 241 ; 
murder of, 311-12, 379 

Freire, Cypriano (Portuguese 
Minister), 80, 131 ; attitude 
of, towards the English, 253, 

255 

Freire, General Manoel, 207, 308, 

399 

French subsidy, effect of, in 
Spain, 158 

Frere, Bartholomew, accompanies 
his brother to Spain, 82, 85, 
205 ; succeeds his brother as 
charge" d'affaires, 159; illness of , 
1 76 ; leaves Madrid, 181 ; returns 
to England, 186 ; Secretary of 
Legation at Berlin, 187 ; letters 
of, cited, 217, 246 ; is secretary 
to Lord Wellesley, 356 

Frere, John Hookham, relations 
of, with Sir J. Moore, vi ; 
diplomacy of, criticized, 74, 
76, 78, 131, 290, 318 ; in- 
discretion of, 144-5, 146, 163- 
4; recalled, 159, 164, 167 ; again 
appointed to Madrid, 205 ; rela- 
tions of, with the Junta, 268, 
269, 274, 292, 325-6 ; opposes 
convocation of the Cortes, 328 ; 
letter to, from General Victor, 
329 ; recalled and censured, 
332-3 ; r., 100, 279, 307, 320, 

337 

Fuente Blanca, Don Manuel 

Moreno, Conde de, 57 
Fuentes, Don Armando Pignatelli, 

XVIII Conde de, 6-7, r., 8 
Fuentes y Mora, Conde de, des., 

199 
Funes, Canonigo Luis Gineo, 

408 



Galicia, conditions of life in, 219 ; 
rising in, against the French, 
282, 284, 285, 300, 316 

Galluzzo, General, superseded, 
213, 242, 243, 257 ; action of, 
near Evora, 396, 397 ; before 
Elvas, 406 

Garay, Don Martin, appointed 
Secretary of State, 245, 413 ; 
cited on public affairs, 271, 311, 
312, 314 ; is in favour of 
reassembling the Cortes, 322 ; 



relations of, with J. H. Frere, 
292, 328 ; talents and qualities 
of, 409 ; r., 272, 281, 321, 323, 
365 

Geddes, John, Bishop of Morocco, 
179 

Genovale, Andr6, and concealment 
of Harriet Webster, viii-ix 

George III, health of, 137, 141 

Gerona, siege of, 346 

Gijon, taken by Ney, 347-8 

Gil, Abbe, writings of, 53-4 ; rela- 
tions of, with the Junta, 269 

Gimonde, Conde de, 410 

Giordano, Luca, paintings by, 48, 
no, 141 

Giron, Don Pedro, Marquis de 
Javalquinto, domestic affairs 
of, 120, 148 ; des., 196 ; beloved 
by his men, 319 ; serves during 
the war, 264, 283, 287 

Godoy, Don Diego (a. Duque de 
Almodovar del Campo), 117, 
198 

Godoy, Don Manuel, Duque de 
Alcudia, brief sketch of his 
career, 1-3, 8; not popular, 
28 ; feminine influence over, 
32, 113, 118 ; appearance of, 74 ; 
anecdote of, 87 ; attitude of, 
towards England, 89, 118 ; 
charges brought against, 1 13-14, 
118 ; relations of, with Jove- 
llanos, 114-16; power and 
wealth of, 117-18, 158, 160-1 ; 
relations of, with Charles IV, 
117, 118, 133, 158; and with 
Prince of Asturias, 134 ; and Don 
T. Morla, 124-5, x 59 ; relations 
of, with J. H. Frere, 131, 144, 
145-6,163-4; and with Urquijo 
T 5 2 ~3 ; a patron of literature, 
165 ; only nominally allied to 
France, 200 ; influence of, over 
Council of Castile, 411 ; r., 33, 
48, 57. 75, 79, 84, 98, 102, 140, 
155, 168, 174, 189, 212, 217, 
290, 3°3 

Gordon, Don Jacopo, 50-1, 52 ; 
establishment and domain of, 
53, 3 J 8 ; cited on wines, 71 ; 
on State agricultural improve- 
ments, 357 

Gordon, Mr., Principal of Scotch 
College at Valladolid, 176, 
177 

Goya, pictures by, 324 

Granada, des., 46-8 

Gravina, Don Carlos, Duque de, 



428 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



Spanish Admiral, relations of, 

with Lord Holland, 6, 131 ; 

Spanish Ambassador in Paris, 

140 ; the only Italian loved by 

the Spaniards, 153 
Grenville, William Wyndham, 

Lord, 141 
Grey, Charles, 2nd Earl, censures 

Frere's conduct in Spain, 

333 
Gustavus VII, anecdote of, 
124 



Hamilton, Lady Harriet, death 

of, 56 
Haro, Conde de, 196 
Hawkesbury, Robert, Lord, called 

to the House of Lords, 126 
Hay, Andrew Leith, cited, 229 
Henestrosa, General, abandons 

bridge of Almaraz, 304 ; success 

of, at Miajadas, 306 ; v., 389, 

391, 34°, 353 

Heredia, murdered, 290 

Hermann, Francois Antoine, 
diplomatic career of, 98-9, 100, 
1 01, 105 ; bearer of charges 
against Godoy, 113, 118 

Hermida, Don Benito, 282 ; works 
for greater liberty of the Press, 
301 ; appointed to the Home 
Department, 413 

Herrera, Juan, 171, 180 

Hijar, Don Augustin, X Duque de, 
105,198 

Holland, Elizabeth, Lady, and 
concealment of Harriet Web- 
ster, vii-x ; cited on Don 
Quixote, 31 ; ill-health of, 
72-3, 84, 85, 87, 100, 118-19, 
124, 171, 176-7, 183 ; presented 
to the King and Queen of 
Spain, 75-6 ; sends money to 
the English at Fontainebleau, 
122 ; her voyage to Falmouth, 
186-7 I return of, to Holland 
House, 187 

Holland, Henry Richard Vassall, 
3rd Baron, Spanish sympathies 
of, vii, 201, 250, 376 ; rela- 
tion of, with Admiral Gra- 
vina, 6, 131 ; his literary occu- 
pations, 31 ; delay in his pre- 
sentation at Court, 76 ; goes to 
Court, 78 ; political prognosti- 
cations of, 86, 89-90 ; ill-health 
of, 91, 94-5, 101, 161, 163, 186 ; 
moves on behalf of Jovellanos, 



1 1 4-1 6 ; has audience of Godoy 
1 1 7-1 8; accident to, 136-7; 
relations of, with B. Frere, 176 ; 
his Foreign Reminiscences, cited, 
173 ; returns to England, 186 ; 
relations of, with Lord Lans- 
down, 187 ; has access to the 
Guzman papers, 194-5 ; keeps 
his 35th birthday, 217; popu- 
larity of, 234 ; relations of, 
with Duque of Infantado, 234, 
351, 407; and with Sir J. 
Cradock, 242-4 ; his Further 
Memoirs of the Whig Party 
cited, 244, 248, 252; supposed 
to be in exile, 261 ; visit of, to 
General Castanos, 264 ; rela- 
tions of, with Admiral Purvis, 
330 ; letters of Sir R. Wilson 
to , 330, 378-85 ; a false report 
of, 349 ; reception of, at Bada- 
joz, 364-5 

Hood, Admiral Sir Samuel, 251 

Hope, General, a., 4th Earl of 
Hopetoun, takes a long route, 
202, 231 ; effects a junction 
with Moore, 238, 239 ; takes 
command after Moore's death, 
268, 268 ; his account of battle 
of Corufia criticized, 292-3 ; 
Lord Paget on, 373 

Hoppner, Lascelks, 335 

Hotham, Capt., 399 

Howard, Major the Hon. F., 1, 
206-7 

Humboldt, Baron, travels of, 
127-8 



Infantado, Duchess (Dowager) 

°f, 193 
Infantado, Pedro de Toledo, 
Duque del, cited on merino wool, 
83 ; relations of, with Prince 
of Asturias, 83, 278-9, 361, 
411-12 ; manner and appear- 
ance of, 106, 137, 192-3 ; his 
appartement, 129-30 ; his law- 
suit with the Crown, 157-60, 
161 ; palaces of, 168-9, 180 ; 
relations of, with Lord Holland, 
2 34i 35 1 ) 4°7 » n is military- 
service, 249, 255, 257, 396 ; 
removed from his command, 267 
271, 27/ ; blamed for disaster 
at Ucles, 270, 319-20 ; at 
Bayonne, 278-9 ; relations of, 
with the Government, 280, 282, 
283, 293, 295 ; President of 



INDEX 



429 



Council of Castile, 302 ; rela- 
tions of, with Col. Whittingham, 
305-6 ; decides to publish an 
account of his conduct, 361 ; 
suggested on Council of Regency, 
402 ; relations of Mr. Vaughan 
with, 405, 407 ; position and 
influence of, 411-12 

Inquisition, the, become a mere 
instrument of state, 100 

Ireland, rumoured French invasion 
of, 1 2 1-2, 126 

Isabella, Queen, 72 

Italians, disliked at Spanish Court, 
149, 151, 152 

Iturrigaray, Don Jose de, removed 
from his Mexican post, 272 ; 
trial of, demanded, 290 



Jaca, sold to the French, 320 ; 
retaken, 323 

Jackson, Mr., letters of, cited, 344, 
351, 352, 356 

Jacome, Deputy, 297 

Jesuits, suppression of, 153-4, 177, 
178, 179 

Jocano, Don Sebastian, 409 

John, Dora, Regent of Portugal, 
84 ; flight of, 248-9 

John II, body of, preserved at 
Batalha, 184-5 

Jones, Capt., bravery of, 250 

Jose, Dom, character and abilities 
of, 367, 369 

Joubart, General, 149-50 

Jourdan, General, letters of, cited, 
320 

Jovellanos, Don Gaspar Melchor 
de, Godoy's treatment of, 103, 
114-16, 117; Madame de 
Montijo's interest in, 103, 193 ; 
Abbe Melon on, 161 ; relations 
of, with the Hollands, 234, 
271-2 ; cited on political situa- 
tion and the war, 267-9, 280, 
284, 286, 287, 329, 333, 336, 

337, 343, 344, 353, 355, 357; 
substance of important conver- 
sation with, 275-8, 279 ; 
character of, 278, 281 ; relations 
of, with J. H. Frere, 292, 362 ; 
and revival of the Council of 
Castile, 298-9 ; works for 
greater liberty of the Press, 301 ; 
intrigue which led to his down- 
fall, 302-3 ; illness of, 309, 
311, 317 ; influence of, with the 
Government, 314, 321 ; associa- 



tion of, with Saavedra, 302-3 ; 
in favour of assembling the 
Cortes, 322-3 ; excludes himself 
in choice of a President, 325 ; 
cited on bridge of Alcantara, 
334 ; on La Romana, 335, 348 ; 
dissatisfied with the choice of 
Commissioners, 345, 370 ; his 
account of the choice, 347 ; 
annoyed at Sir A. Wellesley's 
delay, 350 ; suggested on Council 
of Regency, 402 ; reasons of, 
for not taking a lead, 409 ; Mr. 
Vaughan on, 407, 414 

Junot, General, army of in Portu- 
gal, 200, 201, 225, 246, 248, 
257-8, 367, 396 

Junta, the Central, in bad odour, 
280-1; formation and members 
of, 407-10 ; friction between 
Council of Castile, 411-12 ; 
popular at Madrid, 414 

Jupiter, H.M.S., loss of, 236 



Kellermann, General, letters of, 

intercepted 330, 382-3 ; in 

Asturias, 354 
Kemmis, Col., 243, 253, 254, 

258 
Kennedy, Capt., 209, 400-1 
Kilwarden, Lord (Arthur Wolfe), 

murder of, 95 
Kindelan, Don Juan, 41-42 
Knight, Richard Payne, work of, 

on ' Taste,' 187 



Laborde, Alexandre, Comte de, 
relations between and Bauza, 

359 
Lake, General Gerard, 140 
Lally Tollendal, Trophine Gerard, 

Marquis de, his writings, 130-1 
Lamb, Hon. George, marriage 

of, 354-5 
Lambert, Comte de, 81, 84, 85, 

137 ; and Memoirs of Catherine 

II, 112 
Lancastre, General, 131-2 
Langara, Don Juan de, 132 
Lannes, Marshal, Ambassador at 

Lisbon, 83, 83, 85, 99 ; at 

siege of Saragossa, 283 
Lansdown, William, 1st Marquees 

of, illness of, 140 ; death of, 187 
Laodicea, Archbishop of, Deputy 

to the Central Junta, 301, 345 

347, 4°8 



430 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



Lapisse, General, 247, 248, 319, 
33°. 379, 382 

Lasteyrie, Charles Philibert, Comte 
de, 85, 87 ; cited on the army 
at Bayonne, 105 

Lazan, Marques de, 267 ; rela- 
tions of, with Blake, 359, 366 ; 
goes to the relief of Catalonia, 
416 

Le Chevalier, Jean Baptiste. cited, 
122 

Leclerc, General Victor Emmanuel, 
at St. Domingo, 93 

Lefebvre, General (Duke of 
Dantzig), disobedience of, 242, 
253 ; General Blake on, 286 ; 
General Berthier on, 251 

Lefebvre - Desnouettes, General 
Count Charles, taken prisoner, 
249, 251 

Lerma, des., 169-70 

Lerma, Duque de, anecdote of, 
170 ; r., 180 

Leveson-Gower, Lord Granville, 
a., 1st Earl Granville, ap- 
pointed to Embassy of St. 
Petersburg, 163 

Le Voff, 103 

Lewis, M. G., his Castle Spectre, 

V; 30 

Lisbon, threatened by the French, 

243-4 
Liverpool, Charles, 1st Earl of, 

death of, 245 
Lobo y Campo, Don Rafael, 297, 

337 
Loison, General, in Evora, 256, 

367-8 
Long, Robert B., Col., a., Lieut. - 

General, 236, 238 
Lorca, floods at, 42-4 ; sale of 

Church lands at, 44-5 
Louis I, King of Etruria, 75, 81 
L'Ouverture, Toussaint, 93, 123 
Lugo, M., 152, 194, 195 
Luna, La Rita, acting of, 101-2,106 
Luttrell, Henry, 285 ; letter of 

to Lady Holland, 385-6 
Luzuriaga, Don Ignacio Maria 

Ruiz de, 103-4 ; on the famine 

in Spain, 124 



Mahy, Don Nicolas, success of, 

at Lugo, 348-9 
Macbeth, as performed in Madrid, 

119 
Macdonald, General, quarrel of, 

with Moreau, 150 



MacDuff, Lord. See Duff 

Macip, Vincente Juan, pictures 
by, 24 

Mackenzie, General, commands 
and movements of , during Penin- 
sular War, 245, 250, 265, 268-9, 
274, 296, 338, 340, 343, 391 ; 
cited on the campaign, 255 

McKinley, Capt., courtesy of, 

37i 
Madison, Secretary of State, 

U.S.A., 155, 162 

Madrid, climate, 29 ; des., 81-2, 
84 ; risings in, 201 ; prepares 
to resist the French, 231-2 ; 
fall of, 239 ; the Escorial, 
141-2 

Maestranza, the, an account of, 
60-1, 63 

Malaga, yellow fever in, 107-8 

Maldonado, cited on battle of 
Alcaniz, 346 ; r., 366 

Mallo, anecdote of, 87 ; v., 192, 
216 

Manca, Marques de, relations of, 
with Florida Blanca, 173 

Manescan, Don Jose, sentences 
offenders, 297 

Marchand, General, 284 

Marcoff, Arcadi Ivanovitch, re- 
lations of, with Napoleon, in 

Mardei, Giovachino, viii-ix 

Maria Isabella, Infanta, marriage 
of, 78 ; birth of her daughter, 
182 

Maria Luisa, Queen, relations of, 
with Godoy, 1, 28, 79, 113, 117, 
118, 125, 153 ; character of, 
28, 97, 194 ; Lady Holland 
presented to, 75 ; anecdote of, 
87 ; relations of Beurnonville 
with, 99 ; at the Mausoleum, 
113 ; and Don Tomas Morla, 
124-5, 159 ; desires a palace 
to retreat to, 133 ; relations 
of, with the Princess of Asturias, 
140, 148, 151, 152 ; and with 
Don Miguel de Alava, 148, 189 ; 
and Mallo, 192, 216 ; dealings 
of, with Saavedra, 302-3 ; r., 
77, 126, 140, 155 

Marinha Grande, glass manu- 
factory at, 185 

Marsh, Rev. Matthew, 1, 187 

Martinengo, General, La Romana 
on, 286 

Massena, General, 151 

Masserano, Prince, 80 

Matarrosa, Don Jose Maria 



INDEX 



43i 



Vizconde de, a., Conde de 
Toreno, 235 

Matoses, Dr., 24, 27 

Mazarredo, Don Jose Maria, best 
of the Spanish Admirals, 159; 
false representations against, 
168 ; cited on the English at 
Coruna, 262-3 ; r., 294, 349 

Medinaceli, Don Luis, XIII Duque 
de, description of, and of his 
palace, 136, 196-8 

Melon, Abbe, 157 ; interested in 
agriculture, 158, 161 

Melville, Henry Dundas, 1st Vis- 
count, 187 

Merry, Mr., 45, 105 

Merlin, General, sacks Bilbao, 
224, 224 

Miners, M., Dutch Minister in 
Madrid, 128, 135 

Minestoli, Mde. de, 7 

Monasterio de las Huelgas, Burgos, 
des., 172-3 

Moncey, General, arrests General 
Moreau, 139; at siege of 
Saragossa, 283 ; attacks 

Valencia, 397-8 

Moniteur, Le, cited, 144, 145-6, 
163, 164 

Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. 
Letters of, criticized, 128-9 

Montijo, Don Eugenio, Conde de, 
excites tumult in Granada, 
321-2 ; ambition of, 359, 365 ; 
r., 232 

Montijo, Da. Maria Francesco, 
Condesa de, position and quali- 
ties of, 102-3, I 93~4> I 95 

Montserrate, Convent of, des., 
12-15 

Moore, Admiral Sir Graham, 181 

Moore, General Sir John, Lady 
Holland on, vi, 230 ; in 
command in Portugal, 202 ; 
difficulty of, in effecting a junc- 
tion with Sir D. Baird, 209, 222, 
243 ; sickness in his army, 
213 ; orders Sir D. Baird to 
re-embark, 225, 226, 229 ; dis- 
patch of, from Salamanca, 216, 
228 ; out of humour with the 
Spaniards, 231 ; decides to 
advance, 236-8, 237 ; General 
Hope joins, 239 ; communica- 
tions of, with Portugal inter- 
cepted, 243 ; destination of, 
uncertain, 253 ; attitude of, 
towards the Spanish generals, 
266, 276-7 ; death of, 268, 270, 



280, 286 ; relations of, with 
La Romana, 276, 279 ; General 
Blake on, 290, 291 ; Lord 
Paget on, 372-4, 375 ; r., 241, 
247, 249, 254 

Moratin, Leandro Fernandez de, 
career of, 165-6 

Moreau, General, arrested, 138; 
mysterious conduct of, 139- 
40 ; career of, 1 49-51 ; at 
Barcelona, 154 ; at Madrid, 162 

Moretti, General, 258 

Morla, Don Tomas, General, re- 
lations of, with Queen Maria 
Luisa, 124-5 ; in favour with 
Godoy, 159 ; and General 
Dupont, 227 ; in command at 
Madrid, 232 ; r., 252, 269 

Mortier, General, 328, 334, 343, 

345, 353 

Mosquera, Madame, 205, 208 
Mount Stuart, John, Lord, 53 
Mouravieff-Apostol, Ivan, 100 ; 
talents of, 103, 129 ; cited on 
Marcoff, 111 ; on Russian 
affairs, 128 ; a mediator, 144-5 ; 
comments on death of Due 
d'Enghien, 151 ; accused of 
treachery, 163-4 ; a ^ Holland 
House, 187 
Mulgrave, Henry, Earl, 202 
Muller, General, cited, 228 
Mufioz, Spanish historian, 59 
Murat, General, conducts the trial 
of Due d'Enghien, 138 ; letters 
of, cited, 284-5 
Murcia, des., 39-41 
Murillo, pictures by, 57, 59, 62 
66-7, 264-5, 273-4, 279-80 



Napoleon I, Emperor, rise of, 
2-3 ; snubs M. de Saint-Simon, 
80 ; political immorality of, 
86 ; his reception of Count Etty, 
88 ; attitude of, towards Spain, 
89, 201 ; M. Alvemar on, 94, 
95-6 ; relations of, with Marquis 
of Serra, 104-5 ; attitude of, 
towards England, 111 ; makes 
charges against Godoy, 1 13-14, 
118; an attempt to assassinate, 
138 ; adulatory addresses to 
140; relations of, with Abbe 
Sieyes. 150 ; and with Moreau, 
151 ; effect of Trafalgar on, 200 ; 
and the Spanish Crown, 209; 
plans of, disarranged, 242 ; in- 
tends to attack Moore, 247; 



432 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



reported to have quitted Spain, 
270 ; at war with Austria, 273 ; 
dealings of, with Ferdinand VII, 
279, 302 ; orders Lannes to 
Saragossa, 283 ; relations of, 
with M. Edouville, 293-4 '> 
cited on Blake, 294 ; treat- 
ment of Prince of Castelfranco, 
341, 351 ; successes of, in 
Bavaria, 346-7 ; defeated at 
Aspern, 356 ; v., 123, 128, 251, 
260, 267 

Nelson, Horatio, Admiral Lord, 
94, 136 ; relations of, with Lord 
Cornwallis, 98 

Newcastle, William Cavendish, 1st 
Marquess of, (a., Duke), his 
work upon equitation, 68 

Ney, Marshal, relations between 
and Soult, 330, 338, 353-4, 354, 
383 ; in the Asturias, 347-8, 

349,354.' ''•,384, 394 
Norfolk, Charles, nth Duke of, 

137 

Norona, Conde de, successful 

action of, 355-6 
Novi, battle of, 149 



Ocana, assembly of Juntas at, 

401, 403, 405 
O'Donoju, Col. Juan, 349 ; r., 390, 

394 
O'Farril, General Gonzalo, 101 ; 

talents of, 159; Jovellanos on, 

278 ; comment on his conduct, 

294 ; letter of Castanos to, 397 
Olavide, Don Pablo Antonio, 

Conde de Pilos, 57 
Olivares, Conde-Duque de, 108, 

109, no 
O'Neille, General, death of, 295 ; 

r., 416 
Oporto, Bishop of (Dom Antonio 

de San Jose de Castro), influence 

of, 241 
O'Reilly, Count Alexander, his 

hospicio, 52 
Orense, Bishop of, character of, 

398 ; appointed Inquisidor 

General, 414 
Orleans, Louise Marie Adelaide, 

Duchesse d', 4-5 
Ortia, 28 

Ossory, Lady, death of, 140 
Osuna, Don Pedro Tellez Giron, 

IX Duque de, 49 ; his library, 

195-6 
Osuna, Duquesa de, her country 



house, 143 ; conversation and 
manners of, 148-9, 195-6 ; her 
flight from Madrid, 261 ; r., 49, 
107, 119, 180 
Ovalle, Don Felix, qualities of, 409 



Paget, General Sir Henry William, 
Lord,a.,ist Marquess of Anglesey 
and 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, 
vi-vii ; 207 ; cited on the 
military situation, 209, 214, 226, 
228, 231, 250-1 ; relations of, 
with Baird, 215-17; with La 
Romana, 229-30 ; and with 
Blake, 291 ; letters of, to Lord 
Holland, 372-8 

Palacio del Buen Retiro, des., 108- 
110 

Palacio, General del, 257, 271 

Palafox, Don Francisco, 410 

Palafox y Melchi, General Jose de, 
commands and movements of, 
224, 228, 229, 230, 373, 374, 404, 
414 ; qualities of, 232-3 ; be- 
sieged in Saragossa, 267, 283-4, 
295 ; illness of, 295, 300 ; 
friendship of Calvo for, 301-2 ; 
prefers death to surrender, 309 ; 
treatment of, by the French, 
310, 324-5 ; reported to resemble 
Sir Sidney Smith, 405 ; relations 
of, with General Doyle, 418 

Panin, Nikita Petrovitch, Count. 
112 ; recalled from St. Peters- 
burg, 163 

Parker, Admiral Sir W., 203, 299 

Pardo, the, no 

Parque-Castrillo, Duque del, 326, 

351 

Pellew, Admiral Sir E., 136 
Pellicer, Juan Antonio, his edition 

of Don Quixote, 81-2 ; character 

of, 191 
Peiiafiel, Don Francisco Giron, 

Marques de, a., X Duque de 

Osuna, 120, 127, 148, 196 
Philip II, 73, 82, 92-3, 142, 177 
Philip III, 120-1, 157, 158, 169, 

170 
Philip IV, 24, 108, 109 
Philip V, 58, 73, 77, 162 
Pichegru, General, arrest and trial 

of, 138-9 
Pignatelli, Don Alfonso, 199 
Pignatelli, General, suspected, 213 
Pinkney, William, American 

Minister in Spain, 120, 154, 155 ; 

his tailor's bill, 161-2 



INDEX 



433 



Pio de Saboya, Don Antonio 
Valcarel, Prince, 37 ; repre- 
sents Valencia, 401, 409 
Pio de Saboya, Da. Isabel Maria, 

Princess, 37 
Playfair, Professor John, 188 
Polignac, Jules de, arrest of, 138 
Pombal, Minister, 367 ; character 

of, 368-9 
Ponsonby, Sir Frederick, 26, 31 
Portugal, from 1 801-2, 1802-3 '> 
invaded by the French, 200 ; 
evacuated, 201 ; Regency un- 
popular in, 239-40 
Portuguese, the, manners of, 
compared with Spaniards, 183 ; 
murmur against the English, 253 
Potemkin, Prince, letters of 

Catherine II to, 112 
Prince of the Peace. See Godoy, 

Manuel. 
Puebla, Marques de la, 409 
Purvis, Admiral, 330, 334, 355 

Quintana, Don Manuel Jose, 87, 
165 ; flight of, from Madrid, 
246, 261 ; his Manifesto, 284- 
5, 321, 323 ; composes an appeal 
on fall of Saragossa, 298 ; cited 
on Garay, 301 ; on Cuesta and 
the Government, 311 ; on pro- 
posed meeting of the Cortes, 
328, 336 ; grumbles at Jove- 
llanos, 345 ; sends the Sema- 
nario to the Hollands, 414 
Quintanilla, Vizconde de, 320, 409 
Quintano, Don Lorenzo, 409 
Quintilla, Baron, Junot quartered 
on, 246 



Radcliffe, Dr. John, his Foun- 
dation, 26 

Rechler, M. de, 9 

Reding, General, commands and 
movements of, 267, 287, 300-1, 
403 ; wounded, 296, 323 ; death 
of, 325 ; v., 329 

Ribero, Don Pedro, 410 

Ricardos-Carillo, Antonio, Conde 
de, 32 

Riquelme, Don Rodrigo, 301 ; 
opposes assembling of Cortes, 
322 ; appointed Commissioner, 

345, 347, 4°8 
Rist, Joann Georg, 700 
Riviere, Marquis de, arrest of, 

138 



Rizi, Francisco, picture by, 109 

Robeck, J. M. H. Fock, Baron 
de, 207 

Roblas, 43 

Rochambeau, General, in St. 
Domingo, 93 

Roda, Don Manuel de, 152, 178 

Rodenas, Don Pasqual, case of, 
32 ; v., 262, 271 

Romana, Marques de la, Spanish 
General, relations of, with 
General Moore, vi, 243, 266, 
267-8, 276, 279 ; career of, 82 ; 
rumours and accusations 
against, 164, 300, 308, 309, 310- 
11 ; relations of, with Blake, 
207-8, 223, 254, 283, 285-6, 288 ; 
reception of, at Madrid, 205 ; 
posts and movements of during 
the war, 217, 223, 225, 228, 232, 
256, 260, 263, 264, 284, 288, 
3° 6 , 3°7, 3 l6 , 353- 354, 375, 4 o6 > 
414, 415 ; military discipline of, 
224, 238 ; reports of, on the 
campaign, 226 ; he complains 
of being misled, 229-30 ; cited 
on the disembarkation at 
Coruna, 275 ; Cuesta jealous of, 
296-7 ; relations of, with 
General Silveira, 309 ; dealings 
of, with the Junta of Oviedo, 
333-4, 335, 343 I Cabezas cited 
on, 336 ; letter of, to Sir A. 
Wellesley cited, 346 ; in the 
Asturias, 347, 348 ; recalled, 
370 ; Sir R. Wilson on, 379, 
380, 383 

Romero, Pedro, 107, 294 

Rotova, Condesa de, 27, 28 

Roumgnac, M. de, 154 

Rubens, pictures by, no, 130, 
181 

Russell, Lord John, a., Earl 
Russell, accompanies the Hol- 
lands to Spain, 201, 202 

Russia, active interference of, 
rumoured, 128 



Saavedra, Don Francisco de, 2 ; 
relations of, with Jovellanos, 
1 1 6-1 7, 302-3 ; Abbe Melon 
on, 161 ; makes use of Mallo, 
192 ; cited on Moore's attitude 
towards the Spanish Generals, 
266 ; character and career of, 
302-3 ; suggested as President 
of the Cortes, 325 ; suggested 
on Council of Regency, 402 ; not 
2 F 



434 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



included in Central Junta, 407 ; 
Minister of Finance, 413 

Saavedra, Don Miguel de, Baron 
de Albalat, entertains the 
Hollands, 25-6 ; indemnified 
for losses, 44 ; murder of, 297 

Sabatini, Mde., 7 

Sabazona, Baron de, 410 

Saint Cyr, General, 85 

Saint Hilaire, Comte de, 28 

Saint Marc, General, 295 ; effi- 
ciency of, 415-16 

St. Miguel de los Reyes, Valencia, 
Convent of, des., 24-5 

St. Simon, Claude Anne, Marquis 
de, 11-12, 80, 82 

Salamanca, educational reforms 
in, 178-9 ; reports from, 247 ; 
fall of, 259 

Salm, Prince Emanuel de, 130, 

i37» 193 
Salucci, Don Vicente, 173 
Salvo, Professor, revolutionary 

principles of, 179 
San Geronimo, Granada, Convent 

of, des., 47-8 
Sangro (Galician Deputy), cited 

on the unwisdom of the Junta, 

288 
Sangro, Madame, 205, 208, 209 
San Ildefonso, gardens of, 77 
Sannois, Rose Claire de Vergers 

de, Madame, 128 
San Roman, Conde de, death of, 

225 
San Teodoro, Duque de, supplies 

the Princess of Asturias with 

novels, 112 
San Teodoro, Duquesa de, 74, 75, 

132 
Santa Cruz, Da. Joaquina, Mar- 

quesa de, 105 ; tastes of, 107 ; 

portrait of, 196 ; preserves 

her looks, 263 
Santander, French troops in, 

223-4, 225, 335 > English force 

to disembark at, 275, 276, 285- 

286, 287 
Santiago, des., 210-12 ; English 

troops insulted at, 236-7 ; Don 

Rafael de Muzquiz, Archbishop 

of, 211-12 
Santiago, Marquesa de, 107 ; 

character of, 198-9 
Sapia, 104, 161, 192 
Saragossa, siege of, 267, 281, 

283-4, 287, 292, 304, 309-10; fall 

of, 294, 295-6 ; public mourn- 
ing for, 298 ; inhumanity of 



French army at, 300, 320-1, 

327 

Scotch College, the, in Valladolid, 
177, 179 

Sebastiani, Gen. letters to, inter- 
cepted, 320 ; letters of, to 
Spanish statesmen, 323 ; in 
retreat, 391 ; r., 342, 343, 356, 
360 

Semanario, the, 328, 328, 414 

Semple, Colonel, endowed the 
Scotch College, 177 

Serra, Jerome, Marquis de, cha- 
racter and career of, 104-5, 145 ; 
cited on Moreau, 149-51 ; 
stories of, 161 ; and indis- 
cretions of J. H. Frere, 163-4 » 
conversation of, with Alava, 
189 

Setaro, cited on the Strangford 
controversy, 248-9 

Seville, des., 56-7, 57, 58-66, 
71, 261 

Seymour, Lord Webb, tastes of, 
188 

Sherbrooke, General Sir John C, 
ordered to Spain, 279 ; on 
service in Spain and Portugal, 

279, 299, 3 OI > 3°7 
Sheridan, Richard B., 140-1 
Sheridan, Thomas, 332 
Sieyes, Abbe, his plan of a new 

Constitution, 150 
Silva, Mde. de, 4 
Silveira, Gen., relations of, with 

La Romana, 309 ; retakes 

Chaves, 314 ; gallantry of, 329 ; 

Sir R. Wilson on, 379, 380, 383 ; 

r., 338, 388 
Simmons, Dr. Samuel F., 137 
Slade, General Sir John, 218 
Smith, Robert Percy (Bobus), 

32-3 

Smith, Sir George, orders English 
troops to Cadiz, 268-9 

Snyders, pictures by, no 

Solano, Capt.-General, 159 ; re- 
lations of, with Moreau, 162 ; 
influence of O'Farril on, 278 

Soler, Don Miguel Cayetano, and 
Duque de Infantado, 157-8, 
160, 161 ; and Pinckney's debts, 
162, r., 191 

Soult, Marshal, posts and move- 
ments of, during the war, 223, 
231, 243, 247, 251, 268, 300, 
314, 320, 329, 334, 34°-4, 
353-4. 389, 394 : relations 
between, and Marshal Ney, 



INDEX 



435 



330, 338, 354, 383, 387-8; 
discontent in army of, 338, 
339-4° ; Sir R. Wilson on, 
379-8i, 382-4 
Spain, relations of, with other 
Powers from 1 792-1 802, 2-3 ; 
famine in, 85-6, 90, 120, 124, 
I2 5> J 57 > transactions between, 
and France (1803), 86, 90; 
relations between, and England, 
146, 181, 200-2 ; relations 
between, and U.S.A., 154, 155, 
158-9 
Spanish America, trade of, 147 
Spanish : 

agriculture, 55, 174-5 
biographical dictionaries, 30 
bull-fights, 55-6, 63-6, 79- 

80, 106-7, 142, 143, 169 
character and disposition, vii 
Court etiquette, 156 
dancing, 400 
dress, 20-1, 35, 56 
Government, weakness of, 
97 ; and cession of 
Louisiana, 154 
habits and customs, des., of, 
16-17, 19-21, 23-4, 28-9, 
33-4. 35-6, 50, 54, 61-2, 
106 
intolerance, 5, 7, 19 
laws, 37 

manners and bearing, 183 
manufactories, 147 
marriages, 23 
preaching, 29 
prisoners, alternative offered 

to after Ucles, 272 
religious customs, 70-1 
theatrical performances, 21- 

3, 27 
tradesmen, indifference of, 

191-2 
women, characteristics and 
manners of, 19-20, 28, 52, 
61 
Spencer Lord Henry, anecdote 

of, 91 
Spencer, Lord Robert, 1 
Stafford, Marquess of, death of, 126 
Stembor, Mr., courtesy of, 5-9, 15 
Stephens, Mr., his glass factory, 

185 
Stewart, Sir Charles, a., 3rd 
Marquess of Londonderry, 377 
Strangford, Percy, 6th Viscount, 

153, 248-9 
Strogonoff, Count, Russian Am- 
bassador in Spain, 413 



Stuart, Charles, a., Lord Stuart 

de Rothesay, charge" d'affaires 

in Madrid, 210, 230, 275-7, 

401 ; ability of, 399, 418 ; 

relations of, with Cuesta, 405 ; 

and with Central Junta, 413 

Stuart, Lord W.'Uiam, 234-5, 236 

Suchet, General, defeated, 346 

Sudermania, Charles, Duke of, 91 

Sussex, Augustus Frederick, Duke 

of, in Lisbon, 83-4 
Swiss Cantons, in insurrection, 
292 



Tacca, Pedro, 109, 121 
Talavera de la Reina, des., 182 
Talleyrand, Prince, a patron of 

M. Hermann, 98, 99 
Tallien, Mde., 21 
Targioni, Dr., ix 
Tarragona, des., 15-16 
Texada, Don Juan de, visit of, 

to General Moore, 277 
Tierney, George, 84, 355 
Tillen, John, pictures by, no 
Tilly, Conde de, 408, 414 
Titian, pictures by, 82, no 
Togosez, Marques de, 410 
Toledo, Don Manuel de, 193 
Torre alta y Fuentes, Marques de, 

4 

Torre, Don Jose M.G. de la, re- 
presents Toledo, 410 

Torre Fresno, Conde de, murder 
of, 259 

Trias, General, 280, 282 ; re- 
moved from his command, 287 

Trinidad, Spanish view of cession 
of, 89 

Truxillo, Governor of Malaga, 
107 

Tudela, battle of, 229, 230, 232 

Tudo, Dona Pepita, 8, 107 



Ucles, battle of, 267, 270, 319-20 

United States, dispute of, with 
Spain over Louisiana, 154, 155, 
158-9 

Union, Conde de la, Don Luis 
Carvajal y Vargas, death of, 
3, 159 

Urbina, Conde d? Cartaojal, super- 
sedes Infantado, 267 ; com- 
mands and movements of, 
during the war, 271, 283, 287, 
303, 306, 308, 311-13, 316, 



436 



LADY HOLLAND'S JOURNAL 



320, 321, 357; deprived of his 
command, 315 ; disappearance 
of, 318 
Urefia, Giron, Conde de, 49 
Urquijo, Don Mariano Luis, ob- 
tains favour, 1 16-17; rela- 
tions of, with Godoy, 152-3 ; 
is misrepresented, 168 ; v., 2, 
161, 294 
Usero, Don Josef, 39-40, 41, 44 
Utrera, famous for bull-fights, 
55-6 



Valcarcel, Col., 353 

Valdes, Don Antonio, courtesy 
of, 171 ; relations of, with 
Cuesta, 232, 277, 405, 414 ; 
opposes assembling of the Cortes 
322 ; suggested as President 
of the Cortes, 325 ; Deputy for 
Leon, 401, 409 

Valencia, des., 18, 21, 24 ; Uni- 
versity at, 27-8 ; attacked by 
General Moncey, 397-8 

Vallabriga y Drummond, Da. 
Maria Teresa de, 125, 167 

Valladolid, Colleges in, 177 ; 
social and political conditions 
in, 177-79 ; buildings and 
paintings in, 180-1 

Vandyke, portraits by, 130 

Vanela, Don Manuel Fernandez, 
215, 216 ; stories of, 217-18 

Vargas, Don Jose de, 152, 155 

Vasco, Capt.-General, 108 

Vassall, Family of, further details 
of, x 

Vaughan, Dr. Henry [a., Sir Henry 
Halford), 30 

Vaughan, Sir Charles Richard, 
26, 81 ; dispatches of, cited, 
230-3 ; letters of, to Lord 
and Lady Holland, 396-419 

Vauguyon, Paul Francois, Due 
de la, 11, 46, 126-7 

Vega, Lope de, 31, 54 

Velasquez, pictures by, 82, 109, 
130, 155 

Venegas, General Francisco, com- 
mands and movements of, 315, 
318, 319-20, 338, 351, 357, 360, 
392, 393 

Veragua, Duque de, 205, 262 

Veri, Don Tomas de, attitude of, 
towards Blake, 361 ; disposition 
of, 410 

Victor, General, commands and 
movements of, 318, 320, 323, 



324, 325, 329, 334, 343, 355, 
356, 360, 384, 387, 388, 394; 
complains of the priests' war 
against him, 327 ; sickness in 
his army, 340 ; letters of, inter- 
cepted, 342 

Vigo, Sir D. Baird's force to 
embark at, 221-2, 226, 228, 
230, 235-6, 240-1, 373-4 

Villafranca, Don Francisco, XII 
Marques de, 194, 195, 359 

Villafranca, Marquesa de, 194 

Villamonte, Me. de, 195 

Villar, Marques del, 401, 409, 410 

Villavicencio, Don Lorenzo Jus- 
tino Fernandez, Marques de, 51 

Villel, Marques de, seized by the 
mob, 289 ; murdered, 385-6 ; 
r., 410 

Villena, Don Enrique, his Spanish 
version of the Mneid, 162 

Villiers, Hon. John C, envoy at 
Lisbon, 240, 242-4, 255 

Vimiero, battle of, 201 

Vives, General, 226, 316 ; death 

of, 325 
Voltaire, anecdotes of, 29, 85 
Vos, Pedro de, pictures by, no 



Wales, Prince of, a., George IV, 
140, 141 

Wall, Richard, General, 48 

Walpole, Sir Spencer, 201 

Ward, Hon. John W., a., Earl of 
Dudley, 203, 206, 353, 374 ; 
comment on character of, 209- 
10 

Webster, Harriet Frances, con- 
cealment of, vii-x 

Webster, Sir Godfrey, viii, x 

Webster, Sir Godfrey Vassall, 
250, 374, 377, 378 

Wellesley, Richard Colley, Mar- 
quess, 297 ; appointed Am- 
bassador to Spain, 332-3, 351, 
355, 356 

Wellesley, Sir Arthur, a., Duke of 
Wellington, defeats Junot at 
Vimiero, 201 ; movements of, 
324» 325-6, 327, 329, 338, 
340-1, 342, 343, 344, 383, 
387-8, 389; letters of, to 
Cuesta, cited, 343, 352, 355, 394 ; 
Sevillians dissatisfied with, 356 ; 
is suspicious of the Regency 
Government, 369-70 ; dis- 
agreement of, with Beresford, 
370 ; Sir R. Wilson on, 384 



INDEX 



437 



Whittingham, Sir Samuel F., 
letters of, cited, 271, 290, 349 ; 
relations of, with Infantado, 
305-6 ; joins Albuquerque, 
318 ; cited on French cruelties 
at Saragossa, 321 ; relations 
of, with Cuesta, 327, 394, 

395 

Whitworth, Charles, Earl, 51, 
56 

Willis, Dr. Francis, 137 

Wilson, Sir Robert, Spanish 
sympathies of, vi-vii, 381 ; 
writings of, cited, 95 ; dis- 
patches of, cited, 213, 238, 
239, 248, 254, 330; raising 
recruits, 228 ; his Lusitanian 
Legion, 239 ; acts uoon his own 
judgment, 248 ; in Ciudad 
Rodrigo, 259, 279 ; recovers 
bridge of Alcantara, 321 ; letters 



of, to Lord Holland, 378-85 ; r., 
240-2, 325 
Wiseman, James, 56, 58, 66, 318, 
319 



Xaruja, Mde. de, des., 199 
Ximena, tomb of, 173, 174 
Ximenes, Cardinal, 177 



Yellow fever, ravages of, 107-8, 
112, 117 



Zaragoza, Agostina, heroism of, 

233, 324-5 
Zayas, Brigadier-General, com- 
mands and movements of, 336, 

337, 34°-i» 35i, 353, 395 
Zornosa, battle of, 207, 208 



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