ately sent and
ordered the gates of Irun, to which they were flying, to be shut
against them, and sent to Freyre to desire he would rally his
men. This was done, and they sustained the attack of the French;
but General Freyre sent to the Duke to beg he would let his
divisions support him, as he could not maintain himself much
longer. The Duke said to Freyre's aide-de-camp, 'If I let a
single man fire, the English will swear they gained the victory,
and he had much better do it all himself; besides, look through
my glass, and you will see the French are retreating.' This was
the case, for a violent storm of rain had occurred, and the
French, who had crossed a river, finding that it began to swell,
and that their bridges were in danger of being carried away, had
begun to retreat. The Spaniards maintained their position, but
the Duke said he believed they owed it to the storm more than to
their own resolution.

The Duke wrote to Alava some time ago (three years, I think) and
desired him to advise the King from him, now that he had accepted
the Constitution, to throw himself upon his Ministers. He has not
written to Alava, nor Alava to him, for three years, because he
knows that all letters are opened and read. He says the King of
Spain is not clever, but cunning; his manners are good. He is in
correspondence with the Allied Sovereigns, and is playing false.
He has the means of corresponding, because, although his
household is composed of men friendly to the revolution, there is
no restraint upon his person, and he sees whomsoever he pleases.
In case of war the French would obtain complete success. He
conceives their object would be to obtain possession of the
person of the King, to overthrow the Constitution, establish the
King upon the throne with a Constitution perhaps similar to the
French Charte, and to establish an army of occupation to maintain
such an order of things till he should be able to form an army of
his own.

[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S RECOLLECTIONS.]

The Duke saw the King of France twice while he was in Paris. He
was much broken, but talked of living twelve or fourteen years.
The second time he was in better health and spirits than the
first time. Madame du Cayla sent to the Duke to ask him to call
upon her; he went twice and she was not at home. At his levee the
King said, 'Il y a une personne qui regrette beaucoup de n'avoir
pas eu le plaisir de vous voir.' The courtiers told him the King
m