156] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



Although the splendid semces 

 of the marquis of Wellington, and 

 the necessity of bringing the Spa- 

 nish armies into a state of effectual 

 operation, had caused the appoint- 

 ment of his lordship to the high post 

 of captain-general and commander- 

 in-chief of the troops of Spain, yet 

 symptotos had on different occa- 

 sions appeared of that national jea- 

 lousy which naturally attends upon 

 a foreigner placed rather by cir- 

 cumstances than by good will in an 

 office of great authority and trust ; 

 and his lordship's patience and mo- 

 deration had more than once been 

 exercised by the contradictions he 

 had experienced. At length, the 

 recall, by the Regency, of general 

 Castanos from the army, under the 

 pretext of employing him as a 

 counsellor of state, obliged lord 

 Wellington to break silence, and 

 address a public letter to the Spa- 

 nish secretary at war, Don Juan 

 O'Donoju, dated from Huarte, 

 July 2nd. It begins with referring 

 to the alleged reason of the re- 

 moval of general Castanos, name- 

 ly, because he was not at the head 

 of the 4th army which the Re- 

 gency had intrusted to him ; and 

 it enters into a particular expla- 

 nation of the causes which occa- 

 sioned his employment elsewhere, 

 not at his own suggestion, but that 

 of lord Wellington himself, who 

 expressed a high esteem for this 

 officer, as one who had served his 

 country in close union with him 

 during the last three years, without 

 a single difference of opinion be- 

 tween them in any matter of mo- 

 ment. The removal of gen. Giron 

 from his command without any 

 motive assigned, is another subject 

 of complaint. His lordship pro- 



ceeds, " Your Excellency also 

 knows, that this is not the first in- 

 stance in whichthatcontract.formed 

 with so much solemnity, and after 

 such mature deliberation, has been 

 violated ; and no one can be more 

 fully aware than yourself, of the 

 inconveniencies which thence re- 

 sult to the good of the service. 

 Your Excellency is equally well 

 acquainted with my natural dis- 

 position, and my wishes to conti- 

 nue to serve the Spanish nation, 

 as far as my abilities extend : but 

 forbearance and submission to in- 

 juries so great, have their limits; 

 and I avow that I have been treat- 

 ed by the Spanish government in 

 those matters, in a .manner the 

 most improper, even simply as an 

 individual." We are not informed 

 of the direct result of this letter ; 

 but the name of Giron is after- 

 wards found in active service with 

 lord Wellington. 



For a considerable time past the 

 General and Extraordinary Cortes 

 had been the body, by whom the 

 great business of the renovation of 

 Spain, and the formation of its 

 constitution, was conducted ; but 

 the time was now arrived in which 

 it was to resign its authority to 

 the Ordinary Cortes. On the Hth 

 of September the decree of the 

 General and Extraordinary Cortes 

 for the close of its sittings being 

 read, the president Don Jose Mi- 

 guel Gordoa delivered an animated 

 and eloquent oration, in which he 

 gave a retrospect of the wretched 

 condition of the country at the 

 time of the assembling of the 

 Cortes, and a summary of what 

 had been effected by that body 

 towards its recovery. The fol- 

 lowing passage sketches the speak- 



