All that concerned him was to hold the British at bay from the line of the Douro, while French authority was established in the north and north-east.

This he was determined to keep; and probably he had already formed the design, later on to be mooted to Ferdinand VII.

at Valencay, of restoring him to the throne of Spain and of indemnifying him with Portugal for the loss of the north-eastern provinces.

This scheme may even have formed part of a plan of general pacification; for at Dresden, on May 17th, he proposed to Austria the admission of representatives of the Spanish _insurgents_ to the European Congress.

But it is time to turn from the haze of conjecture to the sharp outlines of Wellington's campaign.[315] While the French cause in Spain was crumbling to pieces, that of the patriots was being firmly welded together by the organizing genius of Wellington.