Domestic and Foreign. 



1829.] 



usual degree — to point out particular pieces ; 

 but without meaning to depreciate others, 

 we were most pleased by '' IMuirside Jlag- 

 gie," by the author of the " Odd Volume ;" 

 and Mrs. Hall's " Larry Moore ;" which 

 latter successfully competes with IMiss Edge- 

 worth, in her own line. " II Vesuviano" 

 is spiritedly sketched ; and the " Author of 

 London in the Olden-time," has a well- 

 told little tale. Of the poetry — if we must 

 speak generally — it is below the usual stan- 

 dard of the writers ; yet a scrap of Mont- 

 gomery's — James of course — nobody will 

 mistake him for the other stringer of 

 phrases — entitled the " Cry of Africa," is 

 worthy of him ; and this song of Hogg's— 



A scot's luve sang. 

 By the Eltrick Shepherd. 

 I. 

 Could this ill warld hae been contrived 



To stand without mischievous Woman, 

 How peacefu' bodies wad hae lived. 



Released fiae a' the ills sae common ! 

 But since it is the waefu' case 



That iMan maun hae this teazing woiiy. 

 Why sic a sweet bewitching face? 

 — had they no been made sae bonny! 



II. 



I might have wandered dale and wood, 



Bii>k as the breeze that whistles o'er me. 

 As careless as the roe-deei's brood. 



As happy as the lambs before me ; 

 I might hae screwed my tunefu' pegs. 



And carolled mountain strains so gaily. 

 Had we but waiitit a' the Megs 



Wi' glossy e'en sae dark an' wily. 



III. 



1 saw the danger, feared the dart, 



The smile, the air, an' a' sae taking. 

 Vet open laid my wareless heart, 



An' gat the wound that keeps me waking. 

 JVIy harp waves on tiie willow green ; 



()' wild witch-notes, it has nae ony. 

 Sin' e'er I saw that pawky quean, 



Sae sweet, sae wicked, an' sae bonny 1 



Napier'' s ITmtory of the Peninsular War, 



Vol. //., 1829 Colonel Napier's object is 



to give a complete view of the Peninsular 

 war, not only in military details, but in 

 civil and political influences — not merely 

 tracing the successful career of tlie English 

 and their allies, but .searching into the 

 conduct of tlie French, and developing their 

 plans, and tlie causes of their failures. His 

 knowledge of the country, his professional 

 ac<iuircnients, his free politics, (which some- 

 times, by the way, betray too much of tlie 

 bias of j)arty,) liis critical spirit and sound 

 judgment, qualify him eminently for the 

 effective accomplishment of liis undertaking. 

 In addition to the common sources of in- 

 fitrmation, open to every body, he has had 

 accesH to original papers belonging to Soult 

 and Jourdain — to tlic Duke of Wellington, 

 Lord .Stuart de Kothsay, Sir Johns Craddock 

 and IVIoore. 



The first volume concluded, it will be 

 remembered, with the death of Moore, at 



56*5 



Corunna. The present is occupied nearly 

 with the campaign of 1809, and brings up 

 the story to the battle of Talavera, and the 

 subsequent retreat of the British army, 

 leaving it, at head-quarters, at Badajoz, in 

 September. But before the author enters 

 upon this active campaign, he describes the 

 events of the latter part of the previous one 

 in the east of Spain. The siege of Sara- 

 gossa, in Arragon, and St. Cyr's operations 

 in Catalonia to preserve Barcelona, were 

 necessary to complete the survey of 1808. 



After the embarkation of the English 

 army at Corunna, Napoleon being now 

 recalled to Paris by the prospect of Austrian 

 hostilities, Soult was commanded to invade 

 Portugal on the north, and Victor to co- 

 operate with him on the east. Though re- 

 tarded by untoward circumstances, Soult 

 succeeded in getting possession of Oporto, 

 but was disabled from advancing further ; 

 and Victor, apparently from some dissatis- 

 faction, or perhaps on this occasion con- 

 trolled by Jourdain and the king, who 

 were thinking more of Bladrid and the 

 Spaniards than of Portugal, was certainly 

 not active in co-operating. In the mean 

 while, the English troops, now in Portugal, 

 continued in the neighbourhood of Lisbon, 

 under the command of Sir John Craddock, 

 who was left without specific directions— 

 with no adequate force for bold operations, 

 and fettered by the controjl of the political 

 agents, especially Blr. Frere. Had the 

 French commanders been capable of acting 

 cordially and in unison, Portugal must have 

 been irrecoverably lost. 



In the month of April, Craddock, though 

 chargeable with no fault, for he had done 

 aU that his insignificant means enabled him 

 to attempt, though far short of what was 

 enjoined by Mr. Canning's rhetoric at home, 

 was unhandsomely superseded ; and Sir 

 Arthur Welle.sley arrived to take the com- 

 mand, to the great satisfaction of the army. 

 He was welcomed as a successful com- 

 mander, and a new spirit was infused into 

 the troops, now considerably augmented. 

 Sir Arthur knew what was expected of him, 

 and he was not inclined to let the grass 

 grow under his feet. Soult was already in 

 Portugal, in the north, and Victor was in 

 the east, but still at a distance from the 

 frontiers. . These commanders it was de- 

 sirable to attack singly, before they could 

 possibly unite their troops. His own force 

 little exceeded 20,000 ; Beresford, with his 

 newly disciplined Portuguese, wa.s in the 

 neighbourhood of the Douro, and Cuesta, 

 with his Spaniards, in the valley of the 

 Tagus. Where sliould he begin ? Soult 

 was the i.carcst — this decided tlie matter. 

 The march commenced forthwith ; the 

 Douro was boldly and successfuly cro.ssed, 

 and Oporto entered, and Soult retreated 

 before him without a conflict. The real 

 cause of the little opposition the English 

 commander met with, was the treachery of 

 the French officers, and a plot they hail 



