that the French marshal was at length compelled to

retreat.

A far more signal catastrophe had befallen another powerful corps d'armée, under General Dupont, which marched from Madrid towards the south, with the view of suppressing all symptoms of insurrection in that quarter, and, especially, of securing the great naval station of Cadiz, where a French squadron lay. Dupont's force was increased as he advanced, till it amounted to 20,000 men; and with these he took possession of Baylen and La Carolina, in Andalusia, and stormed Jaen. But before he could make these acquisitions, the citizens of Cadiz had universally taken the patriot side; the commander of the French vessels had been forced to surrender them; and the place, having opened a communication with the English fleet, assumed a posture of determined defence. General Castanos, the Spanish commander in that province, who had held back from battle until his raw troops should have had time to be disciplined, began at length to threaten the position of the French. Jaen was attacked by him with such vigour, that Dupont was fain to evacuate it, and fall back to Baylen, where his troops soon suffered severe privations, the peasantry being in arms all around them, and the supply of food becoming from day to day more difficult. On the 16th of July, Dupont was attacked at Baylen by Castanos, who knew from an intercepted despatch the extent of his enemy's distress: the French were beaten, and driven as far as Menjibar. They returned on the 18th, and attempted to recover Baylen; but, after a long and desperate battle, in which 3,000 of the French were killed, Dupont, perceiving that the Spaniards were gathering all around in numbers not to be resisted, proposed to capitulate. In effect, he and 20,000 soldiers laid down their arms at Baylen, on condition that they should be transported in safety to France. The Spaniards broke this convention, and detained them as prisoners-thus imitating the perfidy of Napoleon's own conduct to Spain. The richest part of Spain was freed wholly of the invaders: the light troops of Castanos pushed on, and swept the country before them; and within ten days, King Joseph perceived the necessity of quitting Madrid, and removed his head-quarters to Vittoria.

In the meantime, Lefebre Desnouettes, whose early

success in Arragon has been alluded to, was occupied with the siege of Saragossa-the inhabitants of which city had risen in the first out-break, and prepared to defend their walls to the last extremity. Don Jose Palafox, a young nobleman, who had made his escape from Bayonne, was invested with the command. The importance of success in this enterprise was momentous, especially after the failure of Moncey at Valencia. Napoleon himself early saw, that if the Valencians should be able to form an union with the Arragonese at Saragossa, the situation of the Catalonian insurgents on the one side would be prodigiously strengthened; while, on the other hand, the armies of Leon and Gallicia (whose coasts offered the means of continual communication with England), would conduct their operations in the immediate vicinity of the only great road left open between Madrid and Bayonne-the route by Burgos. He therefore had instructed Savary to consider Saragossa as an object of the very highest importance; but the corps of Lefebre was not strengthened as the emperor would have wished it to be, ere he sat down before Saragossa. The siege was pressed with the utmost vigour; but the immortal heroism of the citizens baffled all the valour of the French. There were no regular works worthy of notice: but the old Moorish walls, not above eight or ten feet in height, and some extensive monastic buildings in the outskirts of the city, being manned by crowds of determined men, whose wives and daughters looked on, nay, mingled boldly in their defence-the besiegers were held at bay week after week, and saw their ranks thinned in continual assaults without being able to secure any adequate advantage. Famine came and disease in its train, to aggravate the sufferings of the townspeople; but they would listen to no suggestions but those of the same proud spirit in which they had begun. The French at length gained possession of the great convent of St. Engracia, and thus established themselves within the town itself: their general then sent to Palafox this brief summons: "Head-quarters, Santa Engracia-Capitulation;" but he received for answer, "Head-quarters, Saragossa— War to the knife." The battle was maintained literally from street to street, from house to house, and from chamber to chamber. Men and women fought side by side, amidst flames and carnage; until Lefebre received

the news of Baylen, and having wasted two months in his enterprise, abandoned it abruptly, lest he should find himself insulated amidst the general retreat of the French armies. Such was the first of the two famous sieges of Saragossa.

"The English government meanwhile had begun their preparations for interfering effectually in the affairs of the Peninsula. They had despatched one body of troops to the support of Castanos in Andalusia; but these did not reach the south of Spain until their assistance was rendered unnecessary by the surrender of Dupont at Baylen. A more considerable force, amounting to 10,000, sailed early in June, from Cork, for Corunna, under the command of the Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley. Sir Arthur, being permitted to land at what point of the Peninsula he should judge most advantageous for the general cause, was soon satisfied that Portugal ought to be the first scene of his operations, and accordingly lost no time in opening a communication with the patriots, who had taken possession of Oporto. Here the troops which had been designed to aid Castanos joined him. Thus strengthened, and well informed of the state of the French armies in Spain, Sir Arthur resolved to effect a landing, and attack. Junot while circumstances seemed to indicate no chance of his being reinforced by Bessieres. 'It was on the 8th of August, 1808-a day ever memorable in the history of Britain-that Sir Arthur Wellesley effected his debarkation in the bay of Mondego. He immediately commenced his march towards Lisbon, and on the 17th came up with the enemy under General Laborde, strongly posted on an eminence near Roriça. The French contested their ground gallantly, but were driven from it at the point of the bayonet, and compelled to retreat. The British general, having hardly any cavalry, was unable to pursue them so closely as he otherwise would have done and Laborde succeeded in joining his shattered division to the rest of the French forces in Portugal. Junot (recently created Duke of Abrantes) now took the command in person; and finding himself at the head of full 24,000 troops, while the English army were greatly inferior in numbers, and miserably supplied with cavalry and artillery, he did not hesitate to assume the offensive. On the 21st of August he attacked Sir Arthur at Vimiero. In the language of the English

T

general's despatch, "a most desperate contest ensued;" and the result was "a signal defeat." Junot, having lost thirteen cannon and more than 2,000 men, immediately fell back upon Lisbon, where his position was protected by the strong defile of the Torres Vedras.

It is to be regretted that, in the moment of victory, Sir Arthur should have been superseded by the arrival of an officer of superior rank, who did not consider it prudent to follow up the victory. Junot a few days after sent Kellerman to demand a truce, and propose a convention for the evacuation of Portugal by the troops under his orders. General Sir Hugh Dalrymple, who had succeeded Sir Arthur Wellesley in the command, granted the desired armistice. Junot offered to surrender his magazines, stores, and armed vessels, provided the British would disembark his soldiers, with their arms, at any French port between Rochefort and L'Orient, and permit them to take with them their private property; and Dalrymple did not hesitate to agree to these terms, although Sir John Moore arrived off the coast with a reinforcement of 10,000 men during the progress of the negotiation. The famous "Convention of Cintra" was signed accordingly on the 30th of August; and the French army wholly evacuated Portugal in the manner provided for. Thus Portugal was freed from the presence of her enemies; and England obtained a permanent footing within the Peninsula. The character of the British army was also raised, not only abroad, but at home; and had the two insurgent nations availed themselves, as they ought to have done, of the resources which their great ally placed at their command, and conducted their own affairs with unity and strength of purpose, the deliverance of the whole Peninsula might have been achieved years before that consummation actually took place.'-Family Library.

CHAP. XXXIII.

Arbitrary Conduct of the French military Governors— General Dupas at Hamburg-the Code of CommerceConquests by Senatus Consulta-Creation of the Imperial Nobility-Restoration of the University—Italy aggrandized at the Expense of the Pope-the Interview at Erfurt between the Emperors Napoleon and Alexander.

I HAVE no wish to detail the many disgraceful actions committed by intriguers of the second class, who hoped to come in for their share in the partition of the continent. It would be a tedious matter to give an account of all the tricks and treacheries which they practised either to augment their fortunes, or to secure the favour of their chief, who wished to have kings for his subjects. It is scarcely to be conceived with what eagerness the princes of Germany sought to range themselves under the protection of Napoleon, by joining the Confederation of the Rhine. I received letters from them continually, which served to shew both the influence which Napoleon exercised in Germany, and the facility with which men stoop beneath the yoke of a new power.

Bernadotte had proceeded to Denmark, to take the command of the Spanish and French troops, who had been sent from the Hanse Towns to occupy that kingdom, which was then menaced by England. His departure was a great loss to me, for we had always taken the same views on whatever measures were to be adopted, and I became still more sensible of his loss when enabled to form a comparison between him and his successor. It is painful to me to detail the misconduct of those who compromised the French name in unhappy Germany, but, in fulfilling the task I have undertaken, I am determined to adhere strictly to the truth.

In April, 1808, General Dupas arrived as governor of Hamburg, but only under the orders of Bernadotte, who retained the chief command of the French troops in the Hanse Towns. By the nomination of General Dupas, the emperor cruelly disappointed the wishes and hopes of the inhabitants of Lower Saxony. That general, a scourge to the people of Hamburg, was wont to say of