The tender meeting of the old King and the new King,[141] as one can hardly call him a young King, must be most amusing.

I am told that if the old King had not made that love-match, he would be perfectly able to dethrone his son; I heard that yesterday from a person rather attached to the son and hating the father.

In the meantime, though one can hardly say that he is well at home, some strange mixture of cut-throats and ruined soldiers of fortune had a mind to play us some tricks here; we have got more and more insight into this.

Is it by instigation from him personally, or does he only know of it without being a party to it?
That _is_ difficult to tell, the more so as he makes immense demonstration of friendly dispositions towards us, and me in particular.

I would I could make a _chassez croisez_ with Otho;[142] he would be the gainer in solids, and I should have sun and an interesting country; I will try to make him understand this, the more so as you do not any longer want me in the West.
[Footnote 140: The Pragmatic Sanction of Philip V.was repealed in 1792 by the Cortes, but the repeal was not promulgated by the King.