"Sir Henry Wellesley’s request for an aide-de-camp" (April 20, 1814)

Sir Henry Wellesley was the British ambassador in Madrid from 1809 to 1821. In a planned sequel to An Independent Heart, Justin joins him there and assists in negotiating the Treaty between His Britannic Majesty and His Catholic Majesty, for preventing Their Subjects from engaging in any illicit Traffic in Slaves. 

Detail showing Henry Wellesley from Carl Lancedelli, Lord Cowley, Lord Clarendon: K. Großbrittanische Bevollmächtigte, Archiv Bezirksmuseum Währing

 

The treaty was signed at Madrid on September 23, 1817. Mind you, that was about the slave trade. Slavery as such was not outlawed until 1840 – in British territories. 

Also see Boyd Hilton, A Mad, Bad & Dangerous People? England 1783–1846, Oxford 2006, pp. 184ff. – Elizabeth Longford, Wellington: The Years of the Sword, London 1969, p. 260.

Patrick O'Brian fans will recognize the secretive Mr Russ in this scene, whose name acknowledges the profound debt I owe this great writer and his portrayal of the Napoleonic era.