to my horror that he had sunk in a quicksand, and nothing but his head and part of his neck was above the surface. I had no means of rescuing him from his helpless position, but fortunately soon reached the bank and was able to climb up to the village. I began to knock at the first door, but was told by a voice from inside ... 'I am the postman; I cannot leave the house.' At the next door I was answered, 'There is nobody but the married couple in the house; I cannot help you.' I then inquired from some one I met for the house of the Alcalde, and when I found him he presently collected some men with ropes and lanterns and we all set off down the road to the bank of the river. Here we presently found my unfortunate pony, and the men contrived to place their ropes under his body and lifted him up sate and sound. . . . The Alcalde gave me a billet in one of the best cottages, and I passed the night very comfortably. In the morning I set off on my road to Conil, where my friends had slept. They had wondered what had become of me, and were happy to see me again. I found that the river was a tidal river, and that the tide, in an hour or two more, would have covered my poor pony.1

Two days after this incident the friends reached Tarifa, and three days afterwards Gibraltar. They made the famous rock their headquarters from the last day of January to the last day but one of February, making, however, two excursions to Ceuta and Tetuan. On February 27 they left the Rock, intending to travel through South Eastern Spain to Malaga, Granada, Cordova, Cartagena, and Alicante- the point of embarkation for Sicily. The first part of this plan was duly carried out. They reached Malaga on the 3rd; Granada, where they spent a week, on the 9th; and Cordova on the 20th, March. But at Cordova brighter news from the army induced them to change their plans; and, instead of taking the direct road to the coast, they chose the high road to Madrid. Travelling steadily on, they reached La Mancha; and at the beginning of April went to see the great quicksilver mine at Almaden. Here, however, less favourable news reached them from the front; and Mr. Bridgeman and

1 From a memo. dictated to Lady Russell in 1869. In the diary the only reference to the incident is, 'Near the river at Conil I got my horse in a quicksand. An honest peasant gave me a lodging for the night. His mother was ill, and I did not get a very fine room; but they were all very civil.'

VOL. I.

F

Mr. Clive returned through Cordova to Granada with the intention of making their way to Alicante. Not so Lord John.

Finding the French did not continue the retreat [so wrote Mr. Bridgeman to his mother], John Russell, my strange cousin and your Ladyship's mad nephew, determined to execute a plan which he had often threatened, but it appeared to Clive and me so very injudicious a one that we never had an idea of his putting it into execution. However, the evening previous to our leaving Almaden, he said, 'Well, I shall go to the army and see William,' and I will meet you either at Madrid or Alicante.' We found he was quite serious, and he then informed us of his intentions. He said he should stay the next day at Almaden to sell his pony, and buy something bigger. He would not take his servant, but ordered him to leave out half a dozen changes of linen, and his gun loaded. He was dressed in a blue great coat, overalls and sword, and literally took nothing else except his dressing-case, a pair of pantaloons and shoes, a journal and an account book, pens and ink, and a bag of money. He would not carry anything to reload his gun, which he said his principal reason for taking was to sell, should he be short of money, for we had too little to spare him any. The next morning he sold his pony, bought a young horse, and rode the first league with us. Here we parted with each other with much regret, and poor John seemed rather forlorn. God grant he may have reached headquarters in safety and health, for he had been far from well the last few days he was with us. He returned to Almaden, there to purchase some leathern bags to carry his clothes, and he was to start the following morning. Clive and I feel fully persuaded that we shall see him no more till we return to England.2

Lord John's own account is much shorter :

Sunday, April 4.—Clive and Bridgeman went off with the servants and mules towards Cordova, intending to proceed by Granada to Alicante. I separated from them, and took the road towards the English army, because I particularly wished to see my brother William, whom I supposed to be at this time arrived at headquarters. It were unnatural had I not felt it a severe blow to separate from friends with whom I had been so long.

Lord Wellington's headquarters, when Lord John com

1 Lord William had returned to Spain, and was serving on Lord Wellington's staff.

2 Mr. Bridgeman s Letters, pp. 96, 97.

menced this remarkable journey, were at Frenida on the Portuguese frontier, some 150 miles from Almaden. To reach them it was necessary to cross two rivers, the Guadiana and the Tagus, and to pass the two mountain ranges which intersect the province of Estremadura. It was reported, moreover, at Almaden, and Lord John's companions believed, that French cavalry were still picketed on the banks of the Tagus. The journey was performed alone, or with any peasant whom he picked up as a guide. On April 16, however, it was safely accomplished; and Lord John rode into Frenida.

A very poor village. Lord Fitzroy Somerset furnished me with a bed, and everyone was very good-natured to me.

The next entry in his diary is as follows:

Tuesday, May 25.-I pass over my long stay at headquarters, which was entirely time spent with Englishmen. On the 22nd Lord Wellington moved to Ciudad Rodrigo and on the 23rd to Tamames.

Two days afterwards Lord John parted from the army, turning towards Madrid. Years afterwards he spoke of this parting, thus:

I left the Duke of Wellington's army on the march. . . They pursued the way to Vittoria, where they fought the famous battle of that name, and I always regret that my wish to see Madrid, and to rejoin my former companions, deprived me of the magnificent sight of that famous victory.

Yet there were sound reasons for his decision :--

Events were so doubtful that I did not like to go with him [Lord W. Russell] across the Douro. Lord Wellington told me that the French were likely to extend on this side, in which case I should have been completely cut off from Alicante; [besides] as I had no military character, I never liked to be a mere incumbrance on the operations of men whose whole days were occupied in the real business of war.

But, if he consequently missed the excitement of a great battle, the journey which he took was not without adventure and interest. When he left the army he was far from well-so ill, indeed, that he was delayed for some days at Plasencia; and, what was unusual with him, thought it necessary to

Perhaps for

mention his illness again and again in his diary. this reason at Plasencia he engaged a servant, 'the worstdressed and most foul-shinned scamp I ever saw.' Thenceforward his appearance was even more grotesque than before.

I wore a blue military cloak, and a military cocked hat; I had a sword by my side; my whole luggage was carried in two bags, one on each side of the horse. In one of these I usually carried a leg of mutton, from which I cut two or three slices when I wished to prepare my dinner. My servant had a suit of clothes which had never been of the best, and was then mostly in rags. He too wore a cocked hat, and, being tall and thin, stalked before me with great dignity.'

From Plasencia, after making a short détour to see the Monastery of Yuste, the retreat of Charles V., he proceeded to Talavera, where he carefully examined the battle field, endeavouring to trace the course of the charge in which his brother William had been wounded; thence he took the road to Toledo; and on June 5, only two days after the French had evacuated it, having made a circuit of the surrounding country, he at last entered the Spanish capital, 'and came through a very shabby street to a very dirty inn.'

Much is ruined and destroyed; but enough remains to show that it was a most magnificent little town. Although the French were here four years, the people have true Spanish feelings, and showed a joy at Lord Wellington's success, compared to which all London rejoicings are tame and flat.

While Lord John was thus accompanying Lord Wellington and riding to Madrid, his more cautious friends were carrying out their original plan and proceeding to Alicante. They reached Alicante on May 7, and stayed in that 'insufferable, stupid, filthy town '2 for more than a month. The retreat of the French induced them to reconsider their arrangements and to rejoin Lord John, whom they hoped to keep steady in future.' They reached Madrid a fortnight after Lord John's

1 It was at Plasencia that Lord John was the guest of the 'jolly, red-faced priest' who reproved him for not drinking more wine with the syllogism: 'Qui bene bibit, bene dormit ; qui bene dormit, non peccat; qui non peccat, salvatus erit.'

2 Mr. Bridgeman's Letters, p. 110.

arrival, and stayed there till July 17. Lord John wrote in his diary—

During the time I stayed at Madrid the news came of the victory of June 21 [Vittoria]. The joy it caused among all classes was a sight I had never known before. Every man, woman, and child was reading the gazette, or hearing it read, on the first day. Then came shouting, singing, dancing, and thanksgiving.

On the 17th of July they left Madrid in two caleches with two riding horses; and, after a fortnight's travel, they entered Valencia, where they were detained waiting for a ship till September 9. On that day they embarked on board

a fish vessel, master Captain Martin, who cheated us by taking 180 dollars for our passages. He sailed with a fine westerly breeze, but the ship was not the best of sailers.1

Bad as the vessel was, however, she brought them in three days to Palma, the chief port of Majorca, where, after a twenty-four hours' detention in quarantine, they were permitted to land and escorted to the Bishop's palace, 'prepared for the reception of our magnificent persons.' They remained in Majorca for nine days, when they crossed from Alendia to Minorca, landing in Ciudadela on the 22nd, and reaching Port Mahon on September 23. There the three friends again parted. Mr. Bridgeman and Mr. Clive, recurring to their original intention, went on to Sicily. Lord John, on the contrary, took advantage of a ship of war, 'The Espoir,' touching at Port Mahon, crossed to Tarragona, and thence, finding his way across Spain, returned to England.

Reasons for his return undoubtedly existed. On the 25th of the previous April, while Lord John was staying at Lord Wellington's headquarters near the Portuguese frontier, an event had occurred in England which was destined to influence the whole of his life. This event was the death of General Fitzpatrick, a gentleman who may be still recollected by a few persons as a politician and by a few others as a poet and a scholar, who has been mentioned in this memoir as

Mr. Bridgeman, as usual, is more explicit. He wrote, 'The brig was a clumsy, bad sailer, and the master a great blackguard. We had a great deal of swell, and were all sick.'