the French force under Junot. The unaccountable surrender of Dupont at Baylen had in fact turned the brains of the juntas throughout Spain, and it required many and bitter lessons to bring them back to modesty and reason. Sir Arthur immediately sailed for the Tagus, and after an interview with Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, who was blockading a Russian squadron that had taken refuge in that river, decided on landing at the mouth of the Mondego, an operation which was effected on the 3d of August 1808. General Spencer had joined, and their united forces amounted to nearly 20,000 men, but were utterly deficient in cavalry, there being only a few hundred badly-mounted horsemen with the force. Sir John Moore, Sir Arthur's senior officer, was daily expected with a large reinforcement; but General Wellesley, naturally anxious to strike a good blow before another arrived to snatch the command from him, marched rapidly along the coast towards Lisbon. General Bernardin Freire, a Portuguese officer, at the head of about 6000 men, accompanied Wellesley for some distance; but as they neared the French, a rooted disbelief in the possibility of vanquishing Napoleon's generals grew upon him, and casting about for an excuse to avoid the approaching conflict, he hit upon the singular one of demanding that the British general should supply the Portuguese troops with rations! This absurd requisition was of course refused; indeed it was impossible to comply with it, and Don Bernardin separated himself from the English commander, leaving, however, at the request of the latter-who was anxious to retain the moral support with the country people of the presence of native troops-one regiment with the British, whom Sir Arthur undertook to supply with rations. The first resistance encountered was at Roliça, where the French general, Laborde, resolutely defended some difficult, tangled passes, retiring slowly step by step, and inflicting great loss upon the British, who could not from the nature of the ground return his incessant, well-directed fire with any effect. This destruction accomplished, Laborde retreated rapidly and skilfully before the English could reach him in any sufficient force. The day after this bitter fight, the army resumed its route, and received intelligence that Junot had marched out of Lisbon-after threatening to fire it on his return if, during his absence, there should be any effort at revolt-had rallied Laborde and Loyson, and was coming on with the fixed intention of 'driving the Leopards into the sea;' this being the stereotyped Moniteur' phrase for beating and drowning the English armies. Meanwhile the 'Leopards,' confident in their general and themselves, were in the highest spirits, nothing doubting that a gazette-extraordinary would, before many days elapsed, silence the exasperating sneers of certain eloquent English politicians at the folly and rashness, as they were pleased to term it, of opposing the 'pipe-clayed soldiers of Whitehall' to the war - accustomed veterans of France. A dark cloud came between them and their hopes. A dispatch from Lord Castlereagh had informed Sir Arthur Wellesley that Sir Harry Burrard was on his way to supersede him in the command of the troops, and that shortly afterwards Sir Hew Dalrymple might be expected to supersede Sir Harry. The first instalment of the threatened calamity had arrived. General Burrard's presence on board a frigate off the coast was signalled, and Sir Arthur, as in duty bound, waited upon him, and reported the state of affairs. He' related what had been already

6

done, and announced his intention of marching to meet Junot at dawn the next morning. Sir Harry Burrard would not hear of such a proceeding, than which nothing, he said, could be more rash. 'Offer battle without cavalry, and with artillery horses, as Sir Harry Burrard understood, good for nothing! Sir Arthur must not think of such a thing: no battle must be offered till the arrival of the reinforcements under Sir John Moore.' Vainly did Sir Arthur urge his reasons for desiring immediate battle, and assure General Burrard that success was as certain as any not yet accomplished event in war could be. It was useless: the advance of the army was peremptorily forbidden; and one can easily believe that as Sir Arthur stepped into the boat that was to convey him ashore, the same bitter smile which had been observed in Earl Cathcart's council-room again played about his lips with increased intensity, and that a flushed and angry brow surmounted the flashing eyes. Fortune made amends for the injustice of his official superior. The morning disclosed the gratifying sight of Junot's army in full march towards the English, and without a shameful flight, battle was inevitable. Sir Arthur's dispositions were quickly made, and with perfect tranquillity and confidence he awaited Junot's approach. The French attacked with their usual valour and impetuosity, and after an obstinate conflict were driven back in utter confusion upon all points, leaving in the power of the British thirteen guns and many hundred prisoners, amongst whom was a general-officer. It was now twelve o'clock; Sir Harry Burrard, who had landed a short time previously, assumed the command, and Sir Arthur's order for two divisions of the army to press fiercely upon the disordered French and drive them over the Sierra de Baraguedo, whilst Hill, Anstruther, and Fane by a rapid flank-march gained the Pass of Torres-Vedras, and cut Junot off from Lisbon-which would have been equivalent, or nearly so, to the French commander's surrendering at discretion—was countermanded. Sir Arthur Wellesley expostulated warmly it is said. General Burrard gave his reasons:-Enough had been done; the English had no cavalry; the French were rallying; the artillery-traces were damaged, etcetera. In fine, he would hear of no pursuit; especially of no flank-march upon Lisbon, which was a thing contrary to all rule. Sir Arthur, obliged to yield, turned to one of the staff, and said: 'We had better see about getting some dinner, as there is nothing more for soldiers to do to-day.' Thus ended the battle of Vimeira.

Junot, thanks to Sir Harry Burrard, got safely back to Lisbon, and there dictated a bulletin explanatory of the reasons why he had not driven the Leopards into the sea, afterwards published in the 'Moniteur' as materials for history. Sir Hew Dalrymple arrived soon afterwards, and he and Sir Harry Burrard, with General Wellesley's sullen assent-for in the present posture of affairs nothing better seemed likely to be done-concluded the famous Convention, called of Cintra, why it is difficult to say, by virtue of which the French army were to evacuate Portugal, on condition of being comfortably conveyed with all their arms, horses, artillery, baggage (plunder), to the nearest French port, in British vessels! One of the conditions granted by Dalrymple was that the Russian fleet should be permitted to leave the Tagus, and be given certain law or distance, as sportsmen do to a fox, before the British admiral started in pursuit.

This article required the consent of Sir Charles Cotton, and was at once rejected by that officer. This news arriving in the British camp caused immense exultation there, from the belief that the hated Convention was consequently at an end. Sir Hew Dalrymple thought so too, and wrote in that sense to Junot; but the marshal was too well satisfied with the Convention to hesitate at the sacrifice of the Russian fleet; and at once signed it, quite regardless of the omission of the stipulation in behalf of the French Emperor's august ally.

Sir Arthur Wellesley got away home as quickly as he could, and resumed his duties as Irish secretary, grimly awaiting a time when he might measure himself with those famous French marshals unfettered and uncrippled by such well-meaning, old-world generals as Burrard and Dalrymple.

The burst of indignation excited in England by the news of the Convention of Cintra compelled the ministry to appoint a court of inquiry, which, under the presidence of Earl Moira, met at Chelsea. It led to no result, and would scarcely have been worth mentioning here except for the purpose of relating a very honourable, although apparently trifling incident in so crowded a life as that of the Duke of Wellington. Sir Arthur was questioned relative to the refusal of Sir Harry Burrard to permit the flankmarch upon Lisbon after the victory of Vimeira. He generously excused Burrard, although of course maintaining that he had judged rightly in ordering the movement which that general had countermanded. 'I would do so again,' said Sir Arthur, 'under similar circumstances; still, I am bound to say that Sir Harry Burrard decided on fair military reasons.' No doubt of it. The only difference was, that Sir Arthur could see farther and more clearly than the aged veteran, who, there can be no doubt, decided, as he believed, for the best.

The able but disastrous campaign of Sir John Moore followed-a campaign flippantly condemned by the glittering rhetoric of Mr Canning and other orators, but of which the Duke of Wellington has written the following defence:-'The only error I can discern in Sir John Moore's campaign is, that he ought to have looked upon the advance to Sahagun as a movement in retreat, and have sent officers to the rear to mark and arrange the halting-points of each brigade. But this is an opinion formed after a long experience of war, and especially of Spanish war, which must be seen to be understood. Finally, it is an opinion formed after the event.' Marshal Soult, who commanded the French at Corunna, speaks thus of the English general: 'General Moore opposed every possible obstacle to me during a long and difficult retreat, and died in a battle which does honour to his memory.' These testimonies are as honourable to the commanders who penned them as to the gallant but ill-fated soldier whose fame they vindicate.

The deliverance of the Peninsula was still a prime object with the people of Great Britain, and it was determined to make another strenuous effort towards its accomplishment. Sir Arthur Wellesley, upon the distinct understanding that he should not be again superseded without reasonable cause, accepted the command of the army in Portugal; finally resigned the office of Irish Secretary; and arrived at Lisbon on the 22d of April 1809, Sir John Cradock, who had previously commanded there, returning home.

Active preparations for immediate hostilities at once commenced, and were urged with such unflagging vigour by Sir Arthur that in little more than a fortnight after his arrival in Portugal he was enabled to strike the terrible blow at Soult which, reverberating throughout Europe, first roused the nations to a perception of the great fact that a general had at last entered the lists against France, who in skill, promptitude, and daring was to the full the equal of the distinguished military chieftains that had sprung from that soldier-teeming soil. Our space will forbid us to do more than glance at the series of brilliant triumphs that illuminate the history of the Peninsular campaign: we can only hurriedly point to the more salient and conspicuous heights along which leaped the flame of victory till it shone upon the startled land of France. And let us not be misunderstood in thus speaking of the skill and hardihood displayed by our countrymen in the strictly-defensive contest waged in behalf of the betrayed and downtrodden peoples of Spain and Portugal. We yield to none in our dislike of war. Successful violence and wrong, however gilded over with fine-sounding phrases, however blazoned in history and song, are still with us detestable violence and wrong. But the spirit which prompts resistance to insolent invasion, and valiant defiance of triumphant oppression, is a virtue, a true heroism: its aim, the vindication of justice-its final victory, peace.

Marshal Soult had some time previously invaded Portugal from Orense in Galicia, and after dissipating the undisciplined forces opposed to him, and committing or permitting many cruel excesses, established his headquarters at Oporto, on the Douro, with about 25,000 men. Marshal Victor, with another considerable French army, was at Almeida. It was desirable to attack them separately, and at once; and the British general, after providing against danger from Victor, marched with the step of a giant upon Oporto. Arrived on the borders of the Douro, he found Soult quietly reposing in the subjugated city, after taking the precaution of destroying the bridge and securing all the boats to his own side of a river three hundred yards wide. This done, he felt perfectly satisfied that he could not be attacked except by sea, and without receiving full notice of the intention of his enemy. He was slumbering in a fool's paradise. Sir Arthur Wellesley first despatched Beresford to seize the bridge at Amarante held by Loyson, and prevent Soult's escape by that road; then Sir John Murray, with the British cavalry, was sent off to cross the Douro some miles further up; and at dawn of day on the 12th of May, Sir Arthur with his staff, partially concealed from the unsuspicious French outposts by a bend in the river, was eagerly searching for means of crossing to the other side. The eye of the British general rested upon a large unfinished building on the opposite shore, called a seminary. Could he find or contrive means of crossing, it would, he saw, afford a strong point d'appui for the passage of the troops. At this moment Colonel Waters, a zealous and adventurous staff-officer, brought the welcome intelligence that, having met a poor barber crossing in a skiff at some distance up the river, he, aided by the influence of the prior of Amarante, had persuaded the barber not only to lend his boat, but to return with them to the other side, and assist in unfastening and bringing across three barges. This was great news. The barges were quickly reported ready,

and a brief 'Let the men cross,' gave the order for this daring enterprise. The first detachment landed unobserved, and took quiet possession of the unfinished seminary; the second and the third were equally fortunate; but before the fourth could cross, the quick firing of the French sentinels, soon followed by the hurried roll of Soult's drums, announced that they were discovered; and the British troops, who had hitherto been kept out of sight, crowded to the banks of the river, and greeted the French-who presently poured out of Oporto in order to attack the seminary before its defenders became too numerous-with loud shouts of exultation and defiance. The struggle at the seminary soon became furious — deadly. Paget was wounded. Hill succeeded him, but so doubtful at one time appeared the issue that Sir Arthur, but for the remonstrances of his staff, and the reflection that Hill would do all that man could to maintain the position, would himself have crossed over. Presently loud shouts were heard from the quays of the awakened city, whose inhabitants, roused from their slumbers by the din and tumult of the surprise and contest, were unchaining the boats, and rowing them with frantic eagerness across the river. The British now crossed by hundreds, and it was not long before a cloud of dust, through which glimmered the flashing sabres of the English cavalry, announced the approach of Sir John Murray. Soult saw that the game was lost; and abandoning the city, his sick, stores, baggage, and artillery, everything with the exception of a few light field-pieces, went off rapidly in the direction of the bridge of Amarante, which he expected to find in the safe-keeping of the 3000 men under Loyson. This hurried retreat must at once have changed to a headlong flight but for the unaccountable inaction of Sir John Murray, who kept his impatient squadrons immovable in their ranks whilst the disordered stream of soldiery swept past. General Stewart, now Marquis of Londonderry, impatient of this strange inactivity, charged without, or rather in defiance of orders, at the head of the 14th Dragoons alone, right through the retiring columns; but remaining unsupported by Murray, got roughly handled, and lost a considerable number of men. Soult, eagerly followed by the British army as soon as it could be got in order for that purpose, crossed the Souza River, and there, to his mortification and dismay, met Loyson's force, which had hastily retired from before Beresford. French marshal's position now appeared desperate, and Loyson suggested the idea of a convention like that of Cintra. Soult, hopeless in all probability of cheating out of the fruits of his calculated daring the general who had struck him the blow he was writhing under, rejected the proposal; and having found a Spanish pedler, who informed him there was a road which led over the Sierra Catarina to Guimaraens, the marshal abandoned Loyson's and his own remaining cannon, baggage, military chest, and boldly followed his Spanish guide across the mountains. Everything was thrown away that could in the slightest degree impede this terrible retreat-terrible not only to the French, whose stragglers were mercilessly slain by the peasantry, roused into ferocious activity by the unlooked-for sight of the discomfiture and rout of the so-lately recklessly triumphant troops

The desolator desolate, the victor overthrown'—

The