heard the accounts of its former magnificence, and high reputation as a seat of learning. The remains of nineteen splendid colleges, built of a handsome white stone, most elaborately and classically ornamented, are still visible. Several of these colleges were dedica ted entirely to Irish students, numbers of whom are to be met with in the church, the army, and various other departments of the state. They have now become naturalised, and are said to constitute the best informed part of the community.

During the advance of the army through Spain, a marked difference was observed in the policy which the French had pursued towards this country from that which they appear to have adopted towards Portugal. Their chief aim, during their residence in Spain, was to introduce an alteration in the manners and customs of the people, and to render them more conge nial with their own views; but as they could scarcely ever hope to reign with unlimited sway over Portugal, that country was treated more in the light of a conquered kingdom, and rapine and devastation were universally committed. In Spain, indeed, every establishment was destroyed; and the invaders, while they secured the king, and frightened the government into obedience, annihilated the influence of the priests, and abolished all religious and learned institutions with remorseless rigour. Those walls, which, during the prosperous days of Spain, contained all that is estimable in science and literature, were now converted into receptacles for the passing armies, which alternately preyed upon the vi tals of the country.

The British army, which had thus rapidly penetrated into Spain, was in the nest condition; it was exceedingly healthy, and had enjoyed a long repose, while the check which it met with last year only redoubled its ar

dour and enthusiasm. The infantry were well provided with tents in this campaign, which ensured the health and comfort of the soldier, and proved a powerful assistance in preserving the regiments, which, in former campaigns, were so greatly reduced by sickness, fatigue, and extreme exposure to the weather. The Portuguese troops had also a fine appearance; but the equipment of the Spaniards was more defective. The following account has been given by an eye-witness of their appearance at a review. "The generalissimo (Castanos) gorgeously arrayed, was mounted upon a black Andalusian horse, in a full suit of white laced regimentals, surrounded by his staff, in blue uniforms, and escorted by a troop of royal lancers, clothed in yellow. There were from 5 to 6000 men upon the ground. An inspection of necessaries formed one part of the ceremony, of which, from motives of curiosity alone, I wished to be a spectator Had the men all been marched through Monmouth street, in order that every one might suit himself according to his taste, it is hardly possible to suppose a selection more ridiculously happy than the assemblage I then witnessed, as to shape, colour, and quality.-Notwithstanding the great deficiency of appointment and discipline in this army, the men are naturally fine looking; and if well organized, clothed, and officered, would no doubt prove a formidable force. The officers, in general," adds the same writer," are wretched and miserable in their appearance; their dress is not often better than that of the men, and equally irregular and unmilitary. I have often seen them eating and drinking, and conversing familiarly, with the privates; and it is not unusual to meet an officer riding in good fellowship with one of them upon the same mule, the animal bearing the personal baggage of both his riders.” Notwithstanding the whimsical appear

ance of the Spanish army, it was destined very soon to take a part in trans-, actions of the greatest moment, and to prove itself not unworthy of the task confided to it.

Lord Wellington left the command of the centre and right of the army to Sir Rowland Hill, and joined the left under Sir Thomas Graham at Carvelejos. On the 31st of May this wing crossed the Ezla, and, passing through Zamora, arrived on the 2d of June at Toro, the French having evacuated both these places on the approach of the allies.-The most interesting mili. tary movement which occurred upon the march was the fording of the river; Douro under the walls of Toro. This place is, to all appearance, impregnably fortified by nature on the western side, and certainly not wanting in defence on every other, the whole being surrounded by an exceedingly strong high wall. The enemy, a few days be fore the arrival of the British, destroyed the bridge, to secure themselves from pursuit; and their astonishment must have been great to find that the advantages which the city possessed formed no obstacle to the progress of the allied forces. The enemy's right and left being quickly turned in succession, he was compelled instantly to retire before the combined army. The river, at this place, is very deep, and flows with a rapid stream. A little below the bridge there is a fordable passage for cavalry; yet the cavalry of the allied army, although passing in an immense body at one time, were forced to pursue a diagonal, rather than a direct course. A small proportion only of the horses could keep their legs, the rest having been forced absolutely to swim through the tor

Other portions of the army crossed the Ezla; the fordings proved fatal to many, though not perhaps to the extent which might reasonably

have been expected, from the difficulties attending the passage.

The city of Toro, of which the English had now got possession, is small, but handsome and compact; and its appearance, when viewed from a distance, is very imposing. From the spot, on which the bridge destroyed by the French stood, a wide and excellent road runs in a serpentine course to the summit of a very lofty precipice, which forms the scite of the town; in front is a fine, verdant, and level country, abounding in villages; while on the opposite side, the view is beyond conception rich and extensive.

The division of Sir Thomas Graham had now effected a junction with the Gallician army, which formed its extreme left-During the 3d of June, Lord Wellington halted at Toro, in order that the rear, which had been detained by the difficulty of crossing the Ezla, might have time to close in. On the 4th the whole army marched on Valladolid. Thus had Lord Wellington, by advancing against the enemy along the northern bank of the Douro, entirely deprived him of the protection which he might have derived from having that river in his front, and compelled him to evacuate his strong positions.

The French force on the Douro being unable to arrest the rapid advance of the allies, their army at Madrid was placed in a very critical situation. By remaining there it might have been cut off from the other army, and from the high road leading to the French frontier. It was therefore determined to abandon the capital without a strug-, gle; on the 27th of May all the troops in Madrid and on the Tagus began their retreat, and on the 3d crossed the Douro. Although the different French armies were thus united, they did not attempt to defend Valladolid, or the passage of the Pisu.

erga, but continued their retreat without intermission till they arrived at Burgos. The allied armies advanced to Palencia. A large force of the ene my had recently occupied this town, where their head quarters were established.-Joseph Buonaparte had taken flight the evening before the allies entered The people were rejoiced at their arrival, as the enemy, during his stay, treated them with great severity. The three great divisions of the army concentrated around this town, part of the cavalry and the staff being quartered within its walls, and the rest encamped on the plains around.

The town is large, but has an air of poverty, though when viewed from a distance it assumes a fine appearance. It has a large cathedral church, which, though plain in its external appearance, is handsomely and elaborately ornamented in the interior. The city contains also several convents; these buildings are spacious, but their establishments are very poor.-In the environs of the town, and occupying a space scarcely less than that of the town itself, stand the remains of the once magnificent and wealthy convent of Saint Francisco, which some years ago attracted the cupidity of Buonaparte, who was unwilling to suffer an order so rich and powerful to exist. Not contented with ruining this splendid establishment, he caused eighteen unfortunate friars to be surrounded and put to death in the cloisters. A lay brother, a venerable old man, who was under librarian to the house, and who still remained in charge of the little property left by the plunderers, related to a British officer, with tears in his eyes, and a just expression of indignation, the account of this cruel murder, of which he himself was a melancholy witness-Much of the building of this monastery still remains notwithstanding the devasta

tion it has sustained. The establishment appears formerly to have included an extensive library, many of the books belonging to which have been recently carried away. The offices are spacious and convenient, and bespeak the former splendour of the institution.-The country round Palencia is well peopled, and numerous villages are seen in all directions. The inhabitants stated that the French officers abandoned the place in full confidence of a speedy return, little expecting the decisive events which were so soon to overwhelm them.

At Burgos the whole of the enemy's armies of the centre-of Portugal-and of the north, were assembled; and as this strong-hold formed the key of the north of Spain, and the last before reaching the Ebro, it seemed that here the great stand must be made. Lord Wellington gave his army a short repose, which had been rendered necessary by the unparalleled rapidity of the march, and then pushed forward with the cavalry and light troops to reconnoitre the enemy's position, and drive them to some decisive measure. They were found covering Burgos in a strong position, but a charge of British cavalry soon turned both their flanks, and obliged them to fall back behind the river Urbelar. In the course of the following night they withdrew their whole force through the town of Burgos, having first destroyed the works of the castle; and on the following day all their troops were in full retreat towards the Ebro.

Lord Wellington did not pursue the enemy along the main road, where the passage of the river might have been disputed, and his progress obstructed by the strong fortress and defiles of Pancorbo. As soon as he saw that Burgos had been abandoned, he ordered the allied army to make a movement on its left, with the view of pass

ing the Ebro near its source. The enemy, by whom this measure seems to have been unexpected, had made no provision for guarding the passage; and Lord Wellington crossed the river without opposition. He had now not only overcome the barrier of the Ebro, but was in a condition to threaten the rear of the enemy, and his communications with France.

Every step the army now advanced brought it into a more mountainous region; the roads, however, for the most part, were good, and the country generally fertile. The inhabitants regarded the approach of the British with a greater degree of enthusiasm and cu riosity than had been displayed in more southern districts. In the course of the march the people assembled in crowds, and hailed their allies with shouts of joy; they spoke much of the tyranny and oppression of the French army, and acquainted the British of ficers with many anecdotes respecting the enemy, which evinced his disregard of all feeling and principle.

It was on the 15th of June that part of the army crossed the Ebro by the pass of Saint Martino, and entered that district of Spain which Buonaparte had dared to annex for ever to France, the river Ebro, instead of the Pyrenees, having been declared the boundary between the two coun tries.-There is something very striking in this pass. After a long march, the army arrived at a tremendous precipice, extending right and left beyond the reach of sight, and which, rising a httle in front, prevents the deep and wide chasm through which the river flows from being seen, till the traveller comes immediately upon it, when a prospect suddenly bursts upon the view of the richest and most interesting character, and greatly heightened by the contrast with the region so recently traversed. The Ebro is here very nar

row, though deep; and meanders in a serpentine form through fertile vallies, while each side is flanked by stupendous chains of mountains, partly rocky and barren, and partly culti vated, and affording walks for the sheep and goats, which brouze upon their steepest summits. A few leagues northward, near the source of the river, the loftiest rocks rise perpendicularly above each other, forming deep ravines and stupendous cataracts, and consti tuting altogether an assemblage of grand and sublime objects, probably not surpassed in any part of the globe. Two divisions of the army crossed the Ebro at this place; where, on account of the difficulties to be overcome, in traversing the steep descents, only one horse or mule could pass at a time. The progress of the artillery and baggage was in this manner greatly im peded.-Throughout the whole of this part of the march the army seemed to traverse the land of romance; extensive ravines every where intersect this country; while the mountains rear their barren and rocky heads to the clouds, attracting vast masses of snow, which, when melted by the sun, flow in torrents down the rocks. This wild and romantic scenery is finely varied by the appearance of rich corn fields, vineyards, and olive-groves, among which the Ebro irregularly winds its majestic course through some of the most fertile parts of Spain, and passing by Zaragoza, empties itself into the Mediterranean at a small distance below Tortosa.

The passage of the Ebro having been thus fortunately accomplished, the British general directed his march on Vittoria, which the French had made their central depot in the frontier provinces. To oppose his progress they hastily collected such troops as were in the neighbourhood, or could be thrown across from Pancorbo.-These troops

advanced to meet the allies, but although for the moment superior in number they were quickly repulsed, The enemy, however, still remained at Pancorbo, and seemed determined to maintain themselves, if possible, in that strong position. When they observed, however, that the allied army threatened their rear, they abandoned Pancorbo on the night of the 18th, and hastened to take up a position in front of Vittoria, which they effected on the following day. Lord Wellington spent the 20th in collecting his divisions which had been scattered by a hasty march over a rugged and difficult country, and in reconnoitring the position of the enemy.

The enemy's army, commanded by Joseph Buonaparte, having Marshal Jourdan as the major-general, had taken up a position in front of Vittoria, the left of which rested upon the heights which terminate at Puebla de Arlanzon, and extended from thence across the valley of Gadora, in front of the village of Arunez. They occupied, with the right of the centre, a height which commands the valley of Zadora; their right was stationed near Vittoria, and destined to defend the passages of the river Zadora. From these positions the British general determined to drive them; and accordingly made the necessary preparations for attacking them the next day, (the 21st June) when he obtained a great and decisive victory in the neighbourhood of that city.

The operations of the day commen ced by a successful movement of Sir R. Hill, to obtain possession of the heights of Puebla, on which the enemy's left rested; these heights the French had not occupied in great strength. Sir R. Hill detached on this service one brigade of the Spanish division under General Murillo, the other being employed in keeping open

the communication between his main body, on the high road from Miranda to Vittoria, and the troops detached to the heights. The enemy, however, soon discovered the importance of the heights, and reinforced his troops there to such an extent, that Sir R. Hill was obliged to detach the 71st regiment, and the light infantry battalion of General Walker's brigade, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Cadogan, and successively other troops to the same point. The allies, however, not only gained, but maintained, possession of these important heights throughout their operations, notwithstanding all the efforts of the enemy to retake them. The contest, at this point, however, was very severe, and the loss sustained considerable. General Murillo was wounded, but remained in the field; Colonel Cadogan died of a wound which he received. "In him,' said Lord Wellington, "the service lost an officer of great zeal and tried gallantry, who had already acquired the respect and regard of the whole profession, and of whom it might have been expected, that if he had Ïived, he would have rendered the most important services to his country."

Under cover of these heights, Sir R. Hill passed the Zadora at La Puebla, and the defile formed by the heights and the river Zadora. He attacked and gained possession of the village of Sabijana de Alava, in front of the enemy's line, which the latter made repeated attempts to regain. The difficult nature of the country prevented the communication from being formed between the different columns moving to the attack from their station on the river Bayas, at as early an hour as Lord Wellington had expected; and it was late before he knew that the column composed of the 3d and 7th divisions, under the command of the Earl of Dalhousie, had arrived at thẹ