the rate of 7s. 4d., and, I believe, 7s. 6d. a dollar. The army is also six months, and the staff seven months in arrear of their pay. We have, however, I believe, plenty of bread and biscuit, and meal for a month with the army, and corn at Passages in abundance. The short transport from thence is almost too much for us, and the supply is by no means general to the animals, whilst long forage is quite a rarity. The destruction in the oxen is frightful in the rear. Our great depôt is as far back as Palencia, and even there, in store, the cattle die very fast, and the moment they march they fall away to nothing, and die by fifties. Our Commissarygeneral almost despairs of getting more up, although he has made depôts of bran and straw, etc., on the road, to try and obviate the total want of food. It is now in contemplation to ship cattle from St Andar, where there is a store; but then we have rather a scarcity of naval transports also. Cattle would come in as fast as we wished from twenty leagues to our right, could we but pay for it. As it is, I am almost inclined to think we shall, as a choice of evils, be obliged, in spite of the roads, etc., to move towards our right in quest of food. I heard a few days since an anecdote about the siege of Rodrigo, which shows the man [Wellington]. Scarcely anyone knew what was to be done; the great preparations were all made in Almeyda, and most supposed, and I believe the French, that everything which arrived there, was for the purpose of defence there, not of attack elsewhere. On a sudden the army was in front of Rodrigo. A new advanced work was discovered, which must be taken before any progress could be made in the siege. To save men and time, an instant attack was resolved upon. Scaling-ladders were necessary; the engineers were applied to; they had none with them, for they were quite ignorant of the plans-an inconvenience which has often arisen in different departments from Lord Wellington's great secrecy, though the general result, assisted by his genius, has been so good. The scaling could not take place without ladders; Lord Wellington was informed of this. "Well," says he, "you have brought up your ammunition and stores, never mind the waggons, cut them all up directly, they will make excellent laddersthere you see, each side piece is already cut." This was done, and by the help of these novel ladders, the work was scaled forthwith. At Badajoz, he found so little to be had in the regular way for a siege, from want of transport, and so many difficulties in consequence from the regular bred artillery generals, etc., that he became principal engineer himself, making use of Colonel Dickson, the acting man, as his instrument. These sieges procured Dickson his majority and lieutenantcolonelcy in consequence, and though only a Captain in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, he now conducts the whole department here, because he makes no difficulties. In one instance Lord Wellington is not like Frederick the Great. He is remarkably neat, and most particular in his dress, considering his situation. He is well made, knows it, and is willing to set off to the best what nature has bestowed. In short, like every great man, present or past, almost without exception, he is vain. He cuts the skirts of his own coats shorter, to make them look smarter: and only a short time since I found him discussing the cut of his half-boots, and suggesting alterations to his servant, when I went in upon business. The vanity of great men shows itself in different ways, but I believe always exists in some shape or other. Head-Quarters, Bordeaux, July 15th, 1814. Our final departure from hence appears, at last, to be gradually approaching. The numbers of the English diminish daily; and though we have for this month past been talking of the "next week," I begin to think that another week will really and truly see us off, and the French army again in possession of Bordeaux. The tradesmen of the town will miss us greatly. They have made a famous time of it these last three months, as the army has in that time received six months pay, and most of it has found its way into the pockets of the keepers of the restaurateurs, the hotels, etc. Bordeaux has had its full share of the spoils of the milords. Nor have the inhabitants suffered anything by the army, except the little inconvenience of giving up a room or two in general as quarters for the officers, who partly made up even for this by giving their hosts tickets for the play, taking boxes for the ladies, etc., and making them presents every now and then. The only persons who have suffered by us at all in the neighbourhood, are those who have small gardens, near the camp. They certainly have had their vegetables and and fruit gathered gratis, and have generally not even had their share. This evil is, however, exaggerated, and much of it which really exists, has been done by the French peasantry and country servants, who, if a soldier takes six cabbages, immediately take a dozen more themselves, sell them in the camp, and swear to the owners that the soldiers are the culprits. Those who have vineyards as well as gardens, have also their full revenge in the price of their wines, which were immediately doubled, by the arrival of the troops, and the latter, in fact, pay dearly for their vegetables, though they get a good part for nothing. It is fortunate for the inhabitants that we shall be off before the grapes begin to ripen, and for our own soldiers likewise. Surrounded by vineyards, the temptations would be irresistible, and the means of offence almost boundless; so that the loss to the cultivators of their principal harvest, and the injury to the soldiers, would be very considerable. 35. A VIEW OF THE THREATENED FRENCH INVASION [1815] SOURCE: Sydney Smith, Letters of Peter Plymley, No. 5, 1807. As for the spirit of the peasantry, in making a gallant defence behind hedgerows, and through plate-racks and hencoops, highly as I think of their bravery, I do not know any nation in Europe so likely to be struck with panic as the English; and this from their total unacquaintance with the science of war. Old wheat and beans blazing for twenty miles round; cart mares shot; sows of Lord Somerville's breed running wild over the country; the minister of the parish wounded sorely in his hinder parts; Mrs Plymley in fits; all these scenes of war an Austrian or a Russian has seen three or four times over; but it is now three centuries since an English pig has fallen in a fair battle upon English ground, or a farm-house been rifled. . The old edition of Plutarch's Lives, which lies in the corner of your parlour window, has contributed to work you up to the most romantic expectations of our Roman behaviour. You are persuaded that Lord Amherst will defend Kew Bridge like Cocles; that some maid of honour will break away from her captivity, and swim over the Thames; that the Duke of York will burn his capitulating hand; and little Mr Sturges Bourne give forty years' purchase for Moulsham Hall, while the French are encamped upon it. I hope we shall witness all this, if the French do come; but in the mean time I am so enchanted with the ordinary English behaviour of these invaluable persons, that I earnestly pray no opportunity may be given them for Roman valour, and for those very un-Roman pensions which they would all, of course, take especial care to claim in consequence. 36. RURAL LIFE IN ENGLAND SOURCE: Washington Irving, Sketch Book. Oh! friendly to the best pursuits of man, The stranger who would form a correct opinion of the English character, must not confine his observations to the metropolis. He must go forth into the country; he must sojourn in villages and hamlets; he must visit castles, villas, farm houses, cottages; he must wander through parks and gardens; along hedges and green lanes; he must loiter about country churches; attend wakes and fairs, and other rural festivals; and cope with the people in all their conditions, and all their habits and humours. In some countries, the large cities absorb the wealth and fashion of the nation; they are the only fixed abodes of elegant and intelligent society, and the country is inhabited almost entirely by boorish peasantry. In England, on the contrary, the metropolis is a mere gathering place, or general rendezvous, of the polite classes, where they devote a small portion of the year to a hurry of gaiety and dissipation, and having indulged this kind of carnival, return again to the apparently more congenial habits of rural life. The various orders of society are therefore diffused over the whole surface of the kingdom, and the most retired neighbourhoods afford specimens of the different ranks. The English, in fact, are strongly gifted with the rural feeling. They possess a quick sensibility to the beauties of nature, and a keen relish for the pleasures and employments of the country. This passion seems inherent in them. Even the inhabitants of cities, born and brought up among brick walls and bustling streets, enter with facility into rural habits, and evince a tact for rural occupation. The merchant has his snug retreat in the vicinity of the |