vagely. These mules are trained all to stop the same instant by one long shrill whistle. They might be mistaken for teams of stags or elks, by their long taper legs, the height of their stature, and the bold lofty carriage of their heads. The shouts of the coach-drivers and muleteers,-the constant chiming of the bells of the churches,—the various dresses of the men,—the more than sufficient display of southern energy displayed by their gestures and loud sonorous cries in a language we did not understand,—their manners so unlike our own; all contributed to give to the Spanish capital a most strange appearance to people accustomed to the quietness with which all is done in the north. We were the more struck with it, because Madrid was the first large city we found peopled since we entered Spain.

At the hour of the Siesta, and more particular ly in summer, during the heat of the day, all this uproar ceased, and the whole city resigned itself to sleep. The only sound then heard in the streets, was the echo of the trampling of the horses of some of our troops of cavalry, returning from or going their rounds, or the drum of some detachment of infantry about to mount the solitary guard. That very drum had already beaten the march and the charge in Alexandria, in Cairo, in Rome, and almost in every city of Europe from Konigsberg to Madrid.

Our regiment continued nearly a whole month in the Spanish capital. I staid with an old man of an illustrious name, who lived alone with his daughter. He went regularly twice a day to mass, and once to the Place del Sol, to hear the news. On returning, he seated himself in his parlour,

them. The strictest discipline was observed by the army; and tranquillity, at least in appearance, prevailed as much as in time of peace.

On entering Madrid in the morning by the gate of Toledo, or the Place de la Cenada, where the market is held, nothing is more striking than the confused mass of people from the country and the provinces, who, variously clad, are arriving and departing, going and coming. There, a Castilian draws around him with dignity the folds of his ample cloak, like a Roman Senator in his toga. Here a cowherd from La Mancha, with his long goad in his hand, clad in a kilt of ox-skin, whose antique shape bears some resemblance to the tunic worn by the Roman and Gothic warriors.. Farther on, may be seen men with their hair confined in long nets of silk. Others, wearing a kind of short brown vest, striped with blue and red, conveying the idea of the Moorish garb. The men who wear this dress come from Andalusia. They are remarkable from their lively black eyes, their rapid utterance, and expressive animated countenances. At the corners of the streets and places of resort, are to be seen women preparing refreshments for all those who have no permanent abode in Madrid.

On arriving, we observed long trains of mules, laden with skins, containing wine and oil; and large droves of asses under the care of one person, speaking to them incessantly. We were met by carriages, also, drawn by eight or ten mules, ornamented with small bells. A single coachman guided them either at trot or gallop with wondrous dexterity, making no use of reins, and urging them forward with his voice alone, shouting most sa

capitals. The forms of etiquette under which he subjected himself towards his brother Joseph, whom he already considered an independent sovereign, prevented him from observing this ceremony. Constantly encamped with his guard on the heights of Chamartin, he daily prescribed decrees to Spain, waiting that submission which it was natural to think would soon be effected by the terror of our rapid successes.

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The thundering proclamations, issued by the Emperor, announced his triumphs to astonished Europe, and gave cause to dread a terrible des tiny, to such places of the Peninsula as persevered in their resistance. And yet the several provinces of Spain displayed no promptitude in tak ing steps to propitiate the implacable conqueror, or avert the death-blow they had reason to dread. No one offered to lay at Napoleon's feet, with the exacted homage, those obsequious panegyrics to which other countries had accustomed him. putations from the city of Madrid, and the Alcaids of some places occupied by our troops, alone came to present submissions extorted by fear, at the Imperial quarters of Chamartin. The heads of twelve hundred select families in Madrid being summoned, also appeared to take the oath of fidelity to King Joseph. But it was even said, that the very priests, before whom they swore on the Gospels, had given them plenary indulgence some time before, for every oath of subjection they might take to their conquerors.

The declarations made by the French authorities, that they came to reduce the religious orders, and abolish the Inquisition, far from placing us in

the light of saviours, tended only to exasperate that bitter hatred which the clergy and their numerous zealots already bore us. The friars of all classes who had been exiled from their convents, spread themselves over the country, and whereever they went, preached against us. Disguising, by a holy zeal, their resentment for the recent loss of their wealth, they endeavoured by every means in their power to stimulate the people against the French. The priests protested warmly, that it was against strangers alone that the Inquisition was upheld; and that, without it, the principles of religion would long since have been as completely ruined in Spain, as for more than twenty years they had now been in France,

For a century past, the Inquisition had indeed been greatly ameliorated. It no longer was the terror of Spaniards; and some intelligent individuals had even gone so far as to consider it essential to a feeble government, for restraining the multitude, and curbing the power of the inferior clergy. The poor began to reflect where they would have to go in seasons of scarcity, for that sustenance they had been accustomed to receive every day at the gates of the convent.

A religious nation like this, which supposed its establishments had always existed, could not conceive how they should ever terminate. In the times of their misfortune, therefore, every change effected by an enemy appeared downright impiety.

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CHAPTER IV.

SOME days after Madrid surrendered, while our regiment was quartered at Cevolla on the Tagus, I received orders to carry an open despatch to Marshal Lefevre from General Lasalle, who lay in our front at Talavera. Marshal Lefevre was to read the despatch, and then forward it to the Prince of Neufchatel. At Maquedar I met Marshal Lefevre, as the sun went down, just arriving from Casa Rubios. To save his own aides-decamp, he commanded me to prosecute the journey myself, and deliver at the Imperial quarters the letters I had in charge. Requiring to ride post, I mounted a requisition-mule, which the staffnajor made the Alcaid of the place provide for

me.

I was soon on my way, in a dismal night, on a huge obstinate mule, whose mane somebody had shorn; preceded by a Spanish peasant, on a mulé that matched my own. When we had gone about a league, my guide allowed himself to fall, and his beast started at the gallop, to return, I suppose, to the village. Thinking the poor fellow had fainted by the violence of his fall, I alighted to render him assistance. In vain I sought for him, where I imagined he had fallen; the rogue had sliped into the thick brushwood, and disappeared. I