“The day following, at the time appointed, your officer, who never seemed to lose sight of his object, again attended on the Minister, and pressed his plan of revenge. He was questioned on the number and state of the Legion, and the character of its chief. ‘Pray, Sir,’ asked Muralo, ‘what opinion is General Evans held in, in England?’ ‘Why, Sir,’ he replied, ‘as to that, he bears the character of most British officers—great courage and personal daring; but as he never commanded a company in action, he is thought incapable of conducting any great enterprise.’ ‘They tell me,’ continued the Minister, ‘that your Legion is dying by companies, through negligence and cruel treatment;’ and with this your officer was dismissed to attend the next day for instructions. The following morning, however, was designed to crush all the deserter’s hopes, as the affair changed altogether. ‘We have considered the affair over again,’ said Muralo, ‘and have resolved not to act in it. The Queen Regent of Spain can afford to lose five men to our one, and from the accounts of the proceedings of this General of yours, they will be of more service to us than a victory; and I fear were he supplanted, some more efficient officer might be put in his stead. Besides, if the English press accounts be correct, his Excellency appears to be a man too honest to be suspected, and too incapable to act conclusively. ‘This,’ said the cadet, as I thought smilingly, ‘was related the next day to the King, who laughed heartily at the sagacity of his minister.’”
On our return to Vittoria, and when on the point of leaving, the inhabitants gave a grand ball to the officers of the Legion; and a piece, entitled “Des Circonstances,” was got up at the theatre; at the same time, in honour of the English, another, entitled “Charles the First,” in which that monarch was made a second Don Carlos, and the English who dethroned and beheaded him, were compared to the noble Spaniards then fighting against the tyranny of the Spanish Charles.
While the French Legion were at Vittoria, they also were honoured with a _fête_; the piece selected to flatter their national pride was a spectacle representing the life of Napoleon, from his first campaign in Italy to his death. But the part he acted in Spain was entirely omitted. Yet Sir Hudson Lowe was not forgotten, nor were allusions wanting to the cruel conduct of the British Government towards the Man of the Rock.