obtained a trial, and was pronounced innocent. Calvo's conduct toward Sir Arthur Wellesley undoubtedly appears suspicious: but he probably acted under secret instructions; for, by some strange mispolicy, the junta at that time employed every dishonourable artifice to render the English unpopular.

The French meantime, as soon as they had forced the ill-defended passes of the Sierra Morena, advanced without resistance, and sent off detachments in every direction to take possession of the country. Jaen, which had boasted of its preparations for defence, where six-and-forty pieces of cannon had been mounted, and military stores laid in to resist a siege, submitted as tamely as the poorest and most defenceless village. Granada, also, where a crusade had been preached, was taken possession of by Sebastiani. The people of Alhama were the first who opposed the enemy; their town, which had only the ruins of Moorish works to protect it, was carried by storm, and Sebastiani fought his way from Antiquera to Malaga through armed citizens and peasantry, headed by priests and monks. This insurrection, as the French termed it, by the confession of the insolent invaders, put on an alarming appearance; and it is evident, from the measures taken and the struggle made by this hasty and undisciplined multitude, that if the provincial authorities had displayed common prudence in preparing for the invasion, and common spirit in resisting it, Andalusia might have proved the grave of all the French who entered there. While Sebastiani thus overran Granada, Mortier was detached on the other hand to occupy Estremadura, which it was thought was left exposed by the retreat of the

English; but Alburquerque, disobeying the express commands of the supreme junta, had garrisoned Badajoz, and here therefore the progress of the enemy was checked.

The intruder, following his armies, and thinking to obtain possession of Cadiz, and destroy the legitimate government of Spain, issued a procla mation at Cordova, characterized by the usual impiety, ferocity, and falsehood, which has marked the whole proceedings of the French in this most atrocious usurpation. "The moment was arrived," he said, "when the Spaniards could listen with advantage to the truths which he was about to utter. Thinking persons well knew, that for more than a century the force of circumstances, which masters all events, had determined that Spain should be the friend and ally of France. When an extraordinary revolution hurled from the throne the house which reigned in France, it was the duty of the Spanish branch to support it, and not lay down its arms until it was re-established, to preserve itself from the same fate. But it required a spirit of heroism to adopt such a resolution, and the cabinet of Madrid thought it better to wait for that from the progress of time, which it wanted courage to obtain by arms." This truth, for such the intruder might well call this part of the proclamation, marks, as much as the falsehoods which accompanied it, the devilish spirit by which the French councils have so long been possessed; having allured the Spanish Bourbons by oaths and treaties to their own destruction, France now reproached them with the very conduct which she had tempted them to pursue. The paper proceeded to affirm, that during its whole alliance with France, Spain was watching an

opportunity of falling upon her,-an assertion notoriously and even ridiculously false. "The conqueror of Europe," it continued, "would not allow himself to be duped. The princes of the house of Spain, not having the courage to fight, renounced the crown, and were content to make stipulations for their private interests. The Spanish grandees, the generals, the chiefs of the nation, recognised these truths. I," said the intruder, “received their oaths at Madrid, but the occurrence at Baylen threw every thing into confusion. The timid became alarmed, but the enlightened and conscientious remained true to me. A new continental war, and the assistance of England, prolonged an unequal contest, of which the nation feels all the horrors. The issue was never doubtful, and the fate of arms has now declared so. If tranquillity is not immediately restored, who can foresee the consequence of such blind obstinacy? It is the interest of France to preserve Spain entire and independent, if she become again her friend and ally; but if she continue her enemy, it is the duty of France to weaken, to dismember, and to destroy her. God, who reads the hearts of men, knows with what view I thus address you. Spaniards! the irrevocable destiny is not yet pronounced. Cease to suffer yourselves to be duped by the passions excited by the common enemy. Employ your understanding: it will point out to you in the French troops, friends who are ready to defend you. It is yet time: rally around me! May this open to Spain a new era of glory and happiness."

If the Spaniards had had as little wisdom, or as little sense of honour and duty, as the anti-Spaniard party

* Edinburgh Review.

in England, they would have believed the intruder, and submitted to him. This party, who, at the time of Sir John Moore's retreat, told us that the Spaniards had then yielded, and that their fate was decided, now declared, with a little more prudence in their prediction, that "the Spanish chiefs had only a little hour to fret and strut." The king's message at the meeting of parliament, declaring that Great Britain would continue her assistance to the great cause of Spain, as the most important considerations of policy and of good faith required, excited in them the most gloomy forebodings. "We were then still," they said, "to cling to the forlorn hope of maintaining a footing in Portugal! Our resources were still farther to be drained in supporting our ally, or rather in supporting a system which did not arouse its own people to its defence; and for our efforts, however strenuous, in the support of which we did not receive either their gratitude or their co-operation. But Lord Grenville would bring the policy of the measure into discussion, and it would receive from his luminous mind the illustration that would make it clear to the meanest capacity, except perhaps to that of his majesty's ministers." "It was reported," they said, "that the English army had made a retrograde movement to Lisbon, and actually embarked in the transports at the mouth of the Tagus. Having uniformly declared their opinion, that this expedition, under Lord Wellington, was injurious to the most important interests of the country, as they affected both its resources and its character, they should most sincerely and warmly congratulate the public if such were its + termination." That is, they

+ Morning Chronicle.

would have congratulated us if we had broken our faith, deserted our allies, fled before our enemies, left Buonaparte to obtain possession of Cadiz and Lisbon, and then waited tremblingly for him upon our own shores, with our resources carefully husbanded till it pleased him to come and take them!

"It has been conjectured," said these hopeful politicians," that Ca diz might be abundantly supplied from the opposite coast of Barbary. But those who hazarded this opinion were not precisely informed of the state of things on the African coast. The Emperor of Morocco was at present, from some cause unexplained, extremely unfriendly to his Christian neighbours. Cadiz, to be sure, was an interesting point, which it was our interest to maintain as long as possible; but at the same time they had no expectation that Cadiz, when really attacked, could long hold out. It could not be supplied with fuel with which to bake bread for the inhabitants for one week." While this party thus displayed their presumptuous ignorance, and vented their bitter mortification in insults against the ministry and against our allies, they endeavoured to direct our attention toward the Spanish colonies, saying that our great, and indeed our only object, was to establish a mercantile connection with the empire which was to be erected there, and recommending that we should take immediate measures for assisting the emigration of the Spanish patriots! Happily the councils of Great Britain were directed by wiser heads, and the patriots of Spain actuated by better principles and by a braver spirit.

"We are supported," said Romana to his countrymen, " by the illustrious and gallant English nation, who are united with the brave Portugueze, our brethren, possessing a common interest with ourselves, and who never will abandon us." The people and the government had the same confidence in British honour. English and Portugueze troops hastened from Lisbon to assist in the defence of Cadiz, and Ceuta was delivered in trust to an English garrison.

The Isle of Leon forms an irregu lar triangle, of which the longest side is separated from the main land by a channel, called the river of Santi Petri, ten miles in length, and navigable for the largest ships. This side is strongly fortified, and the situation also is peculiarly strong. The bridge of Zuazo, built originally by the Romans, over the channel, is flanked with batteries, and communicates with the continent by a causeway over impassable marshes. There are two towns upon the is. land; that which bears the same name, and which contains about 40,000 inhabitants, is nearly in the middle of the isle; the other, called St Carlos, which stands a little to the north, is newly erected, and consists chiefly of barracks and other public buildings. Cadiz stands on the end of a tongue of land seven miles in length, extending from the isle into the bay; this isthmus is from a quarter to half a mile broad, flanked on one side by the sea, and on the other by the bay of Cadiz. Along this isthmus, an enemy who had made himself master of the island must pass; new batte ries had been formed, new works thrown up, and mines dug; and if all these obstacles were overcome, they

adviseable to dispossess them of this point, and endeavour to maintain it against them. This was accordingly done, and the hasty works which could be re-erected were garrisoned by a party of British soldiers and sailors; they defended it with a bravery which excited the admiration of the Spaniards and of the British commander at Cadiz, General April 22. Graham, for two months, when, seeing it reduced to a heap of ruins, they abandoned it, having lost in the last two days 16 killed and 57 wounded. The manner in which these dismantled works were defended, taught the French what they were to expect if they attempted the Isle of Leon. The Spaniards suffered a heavier loss from the elements. During a tremendous gale, which began on the fifth of March and continued for four days with unabated violence, a Portugueze 74, two Spanish ships of the same size, with one first-rate and a frigate, and above forty merchant vessels, were driven on shore upon that side of the bay which was in possession of the enemy. All the ships of war and many of the merchantmen were burnt; nevertheless a considerable booty and many prisoners fell into the power of the French. After the storm, the boats of the Triumph picked up nearly 7000 boxes of quicksilver, which were stowed in the store-room and the hold: the heat cracked them, several tons of the metal ran through the ship, the whole of the provisions were spoilt, the ship was sent away to be cleared at Gibraltar, and about 300 of the crew were so affected, that it was necessary to remove them immediately into transports, many of them being in a state from which it was not expected that they would

recover.

All eyes were now turned towards Cadiz, in expectation of an arduous contest; but hostilities were carried on there with equal languor on both sides. The French made no attempt to win the Isle of Leon, and the Spaniards made none to break up the land blockade. On the part of the enemy, this arose from a consciousness of the strength of the place; on the part of the Spaniards, from want of energy in the government, and want of spirit in the people of Cadiz. The power of the regency was in reality little more than nominal; with the lawful authority which they derived from the central junta, a portion of its unpopularity had descended to them; and a feeling seemed to prevail, that the men to whom that imbecile body had transmitted their power could not be worthy of the public confidence. On the other hand, the junta of Cadiz possessed that full confidence which the people naturally reposed in a magistracy of their own free choice, in addition to the influence which their wealth and connection gave them. The French boasted that the insurrectional government, as they styled it, was confined to the Isle of Leon; the assertion, though it was repeated by their semi-allies in England, was as false as it was insolent; but these circumstances gave the junta an ascendancy over the regency in the immediate seat of government, which paralysed their measures, and produced, with respect to the colonies, great, if not irremediable, evil.

The regency was established before Alburquerque arrived; that noble Spaniard, who never had any other object in view than the good of his country, immediately acknowledged it. The service which he had rendered was so signal, and its import.