LII

Yet raise thy head, sad City! Though in chains,
Enthralled thou canst not be! Arise and claim
Reverence from every heart where Freedom reigns,
For what thou worshippest !-thy sainted Dame,
She of the Column, honoured be her name,

By all, whate'er their creed, who honour love!
And like the sacred relics of the flame,

That gave some martyr to the blessed above, To every loyal heart may thy sad embers prove!

LIII

Nor thine alone such wreck. Gerona fair!

Faithful to death thy heroes should be sung,
Manning the towers while o'er their heads the air
Swart as the smoke from raging furnace hung;
Now thicker darkening where the mine was sprung,
Now briefly lightened by the cannon's flare,
Now arched with fire-sparks as the bomb was flung,
And reddening now with conflagration's glare,
While by the fatal light the foes for storm prepare.

LIV

While all around was danger, strife, and fear,
While the earth shook, and darkened was the sky,
And wide Destruction stunned the listening ear,
Appalled the heart, and stupified the eye,-
Afar was heard that thrice-repeated cry,

In which old Albion's heart and tongue unite,
Whene'er her soul is up and pulse beats high,
Whether it hail the wine-cup or the fight,
And bid each arm be strong, or bid each heart be light.

LV

Don Roderick turned him as the shout grew loud-
A varied scene the changeful vision showed,
For where the ocean mingled with the cloud,
A gallant navy stemmed the billows broad.
From mast and stern St. George's symbol flowed,
Blent with the silver cross to Scotland dear;
Mottling the sea their landward barges rowed,

And flashed the sun on bayonet, brand, and spear,
And the wild beach returned the seaman's jovial cheer.

LVI

It was a dread, yet spirit-stirring sight!

The billows foamed beneath a thousand oars, Fast as they land the red-cross ranks unite,

Legions on legions brightening all the shores.

sponding to their deep interest, and to the peculiar sources of in. formation open to the historian.

Then banners rise, and cannon-signal roars,
Then peals the warlike thunder of the drum,
Thrills the loud fife, the trumpet-flourish pours,

And patriot hopes awake, and doubts are dumb,
For, bold in Freedom's cause, the bands of Ocean come!

LVII

A various host they came-whose ranks display
Each mode in which the warrior meets the fight,
The deep battalion locks its firm array,

And meditates his aim the marksman light;
Far glance the lines of sabres flashing bright,
Where mounted squadrons shake the echoing mead,
Lacks not artillery breathing flame and night,

Nor the fleet ordnance whirled by rapid steed,
That rivals lightning's flash in ruin and in speed.

LVIII

A various host-from kindred realms they came,
Brethren in arms, but rivals in renown-
For yon fair bands shall merry England claim,

And with their deeds of valour deck her crown.
Hers their bold port, and hers their martial frown,
And hers their scorn of death in freedom's cause,
Their eyes of azure, and their locks of brown,

And the blunt speech that bursts without a pause, And freeborn thoughts, which league the Soldier with the Laws.

LIX

And O! loved warriors of the Minstrel's land!
Yonder your bonnets nod, your tartans wave;
The rugged form may mark the mountain band,
And harsher features, and a mien more grave;
But ne'er in battle-field throbbed heart so brave
As that which beats beneath the Scottish plaid,
And when the pibroch bids the battle rave,

And level for the charge your arms are laid,
Where lives the desperate foe, that for such onset stayed!

LX

Hark! from yon stately ranks what laughter rings,
Mingling wild mirth with war's stern minstrelsy,
His jest while each blithe comrade round him flings,
And moves to death with military glee:
Boast, Erin, boast them! tameless, frank, and free,
In kindness warm, and fierce in danger known,
Rough Nature's children, humorous as she:

And HE, yon Chieftain-strike the proudest tone
Of thy bold harp, green Isle !-the HERO is thine own.

LXI

Now on the scene Vimeira" should be shown,
On Talavera's fight should Roderick gaze,
And hear Corunna wail her battle won,

And see Busaco's crest with lightning blaze :-
But shall fond fable mix with heroes' praise?

Hath Fiction's stage for Truth's long triumphs room? And dare her wild-flowers mingle with the bays, That claim a long eternity to bloom

Around the warrior's crest, and o'er the warrior's tomb!

LXII

Or may I give adventurous Fancy scope,
And stretch a bold hand to the awful veil
That hides futurity from anxious hope,
Bidding beyond it scenes of glory hail,
And painting Europe rousing at the tale

Of Spain's invaders from her confines hurled,
While kindling Nations buckle on their mail,

And Fame, with clarion blast and wings unfurled, To freedom and revenge awakes an injured World.

LXIII

O vain, though anxious, is the glance I cast,
Since Fate has marked futurity her own:-
Yet Fate resigns to Worth the glorious past,
The deeds recorded and the laurels won.
Then, though the Vault of Destiny'd be gone,
King, Prelate, all the phantasms of my brain,
Melted away like mist-wreaths in the sun,

Yet grant for faith, for valour, and for Spain,
One note of pride and fire, a Patriot's parting strain.

2 This battle, in which Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated Junot at the head of forces superior in point of numbers to the English army, was fought August 21, 1808.

a This glorious victory was gained by Sir Arthur Wellesley, July 28, 1809.

b This victory, in which Sir John Moore fell, was won January 16, 1809.

c Fought September 27, 1810.

d Before finally dismissing the enchanted cavern of Don Roderick, it may be noticed that the legend occurs in one of Calderon's plays, entitled "La Virgen del Sagrario." The scene opens with the noise of the chase, and Recisundo, a predecessor of Roderick upon the Gothic throne, enters pursuing a stag. The animal assumes the form of a man, and defies the king to enter the cave, which forms the bottom of the scene, and engage with him in single combat. The king accepts the challenge, and they engage accordingly, but without advantage on either side, which induces the Genie to inform Recisundo that he is not the monarch for whom the adventure of the enchanted cavern is reserved, and he proceeds to predict the downfall of the Gothic monarchy, and of the Christian religion, which shall attend the discovery of its mysteries. Recisundo, appalled by these prophecies, orders the cavern to be secured by a gate and bolts of iron. In the second part of the same play we are informed that Don Roderick had

CONCLUSION.

I

"Who shall command Estrella's mountain-tide
Back to the source, when tempest-chafed, to hie?
Who, when Gascogne's vexed gulf is raging wide,
Shall hush it as a nurse her infant's cry?
His magic power let such vain boaster try,
And when the torrent shall his voice obey,
And Biscay's whirlwinds list his lullaby,

Let him stand forth and bar mine eagles' way,
And they shall heed his voice, and at his bidding stay.

II

"Else, ne'er to stoop, till high on Lisbon's towers,
They close their wings the symbol of our yoke,
And their own sea hath whelmed yon red-cross Powers!"-
Thus, on the summit of Alverca's rock,

To Marshal, Duke, and Peer, Gaul's Leader spoke.
While downward on the land his legions press,
Before them it was rich with vine and flock,

And smiled like Eden in her summer dress;-
Behind their wasteful march, a reeking wilderness.e

III

And shall the boastful Chief maintain his word,
Though Heaven hath heard the wailings of the land,
Though Lusitania whet her vengeful sword,

Though Britons arm, and WELLINGTON command!
No! grim Busaco's iron ridge shall stand

An adamantine barrier to his force!

And from its base shall wheel his shattered band, As from the unshaken rock the torrent hoarse Bears off its broken waves, and seeks a devious course.

IV

Yet not because Alcoba's mountain-hawk
Hath on his best and bravest made her food,
In numbers confident, yon Chief shall balk

His Lord's imperial thirst for spoil and blood:
For full in view the promised conquest stood,

And Lisbon's matrons, from their walls, might sum
The myriads that had half the world subdued,
And hear the distant thunders of the drum,

That bids the band of France to storm and havoc come.

removed the barrier and transgressed the prohibition of his ancestor, and had been apprised by the prodigies which he discovered of the approaching ruin of his kingdom.

e I have ventured to apply to the movements of the French army, that sublime passage in the prophecies of Joel which seems applicable to them in more respects than that I have adopted in the text.-See Joel, ii.

V

Four moons have heard these thunders idly rolled,
Have seen these wistful myriads eye their prey,
As famished wolves survey a guarded fold-
But in the middle path, a Lion lay!

At length they move-but not to battle-fray,
Nor blaze yon fires where meets the manly fight;
Beacons of infamy, they light the way,

Where cowardice and cruelty unite,

To damn with double shame their ignominious flight.

VI

O triumph for the Fiends of Lust and Wrath!
Ne'er to be told, yet ne'er to be forgot,

What wanton horrors marked their wrackful path!
The peasant butchered in his ruined cot,
The hoary priest even at the altar shot,

Childhood and age given o'er to sword and flame,
Woman to infamy;-no crime forgot,

By which inventive demons might proclaim Immortal hate to Man, and scorn of God's great name!

VII

The rudest sentinel, in Britain born,

With horror paused to view the havoc done,
Gave his poor crust to feed some wretch forlorn,f
Wiped his stern eye, then fiercer grasped his gun.

f Even the unexampled gallantry of the British army in the carnpaign of 1810-11, although they never fought but to conquer, will do them' less honour in history than their humanity, attentive to soften to the utmost of their power the horrors which war, in its mildest aspect, must always inflict upon the defenceless inhabitants of the country in which it is waged, and which, on this occasion, were tenfold augmented by the barbarous cruelties of the French. Soupkitchens were established by subscription among the officers, wherever the troops were quartered for any length of time. The commissaries contributed the heads, feet, &c. of the cattle slaughtered for the soldiery; rice, vegetables, and bread where it could be had, were purchased by the officers. Fifty or sixty starving peasants were daily fed at one of these regimental establishments, and carried home the relics to their famished households. The emaciated wretches, who could not crawl, from weakness, were speedily employed in pruning their vines. While pursuing Massena, the soldiers evinced the same spirit of humanity, and, in many instances, when reduced themselves to short allowance, from having out-marched their supplies, they shared their pittance with the starving inhabitants who had ventured back to view the ruins of their habitations, burned by the retreating enemy, and to bury the bodies of their relations whom they had butchered. Is it possible to know such facts without feeling a sort of confidence, that those who so well deserve victory are most likely to attain it? It is not the least of Lord Wellington's military merits, that the slightest disposition towards marauding meets immediate punishment. Independently of all moral obligation, the army which is most orderly in a friendly country has always proved most formidable to an armed enemy.