BIB_ID
380913
Accession number
MA 487.39
Creator
Arbuthnot, Robert, 1760-1809.
Display Date
1809 Feb. 6.
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1899.
Description
1 item (4 p.) ; 23.2 cm
Notes
Endorsed.
Volume 1 (MA 487) of a 33-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir James Pulteney, his family and distinguished contemporaries. (MA 487, MA 297 and MA 1260-1290). The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical by the author of the letter. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information (MA 487.1-46).
Volume 1 (MA 487) of a 33-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir James Pulteney, his family and distinguished contemporaries. (MA 487, MA 297 and MA 1260-1290). The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical by the author of the letter. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information (MA 487.1-46).
Provenance
Purchased from the Ford Collection of manuscripts.
Summary
Concerning the situation in Spain; expressing his disappointment that he has found "that people here either are or pretend to be as ignorant of what is going on as in the other parts of Spain which I have visited & there appears to be at least as much of the same indolence, indifference & want of Spirit as I have observed every where since I landed. Indeed the [illegible] & Apathy of Government are so good that it is scarcely possible to believe that they are really & truly anxious for the Success of the Cause in which they are engaged. The day before I left Cadiz Admiral Purvis told me that he would undertake to have [illegible] of the Men of War in the Harbour ready for Sea in ten days & offered to rig them & fit them out, but they have refused his offer & go on so slowly in their preparations that I have no doubt they will all fall into the hands of the French, & I am inclined to believe that do not wish them to escape but keep them in order to obtain better Conditions from the French by delivering them up. General Mackenzie with three English Regiments of Infantry & some Artillery is arrived at Cadiz from Lisbon & they have positively refused to allow them to land there & have proposed to scatter them in small detachments in the different Towns thro the Country. I hope in God that you at home will not think of supporting the Spanish Cause any longer by sending Troops to the South or to Catalan which you may be assured will only serve to produce mutual dislike & mutual Recrimination between the two nations & do no good to the Cause. We continue still unacquainted with the fate of Sir John Moore's army...A report is circulated in this place that Bonaparte is returning to France which has put them all in high Spirits as it is supposed that this measure has been dictated by the prospect of a war with Austria, the Consequence of which will be that the Spaniards will relax in the little Exertions they are making & that nothing will be done at all. Seville is a very dull town. There is little Society & no public amusement. The only House where one has a chance of seeing any Spaniards is Lord Holland's...There are many objects here however worthy the attention of a Traveller. The Cathedral is an immense structure larger I think than York. There are some magnificent public buildings & several beautiful pictures by Murillo & other..."
Catalog link
Department