Segur, take the Poles, and make them take the Spaniards, or let the Spaniards take them."

Piré having informed the chef d'escadron, Kozietulski, of what the Emperor had said, that officer replied, “Come then alone with me, and see if the devil himself, made of fire as he is, would undertake this business." He was right; thirteen thousand Spaniards were placed, as it were, in an amphitheatre, in such a way that no one battalion was masked by another, and they could only join in columns. From that point, the Poles had to sustain forty thousand discharges of musketry, and as many of cannon, every minute. However, the order was positive. "Commandant," said Segur, "let us go; it is the Emperor's wish: the honour will be ours: Poles, advance. Vive l'Empereur !” The squadron then rushed forwards; when, out of upwards of eighty men, scarcely twenty remained unhurt, and four officers out of seven were killed on the spot, the Polish commandant and two others being wounded. Major Segur, some paces in advance, was struck by several balls, and found himself standing alone with Lieutenant Rudowski, a fine tall man, and of great promise. The bodies of the Polish lancers choked up the passage, and the squadron was annihilated; yet, although thus defeated, the men had drawn upon themselves the enemy's whole attention; at which juncture, Count Krasinski and Colonel Dautancourt, at the head of other squadrons, rallying the few who had sustained the first charge, and supported by the French infantry, commenced the second attack, which was attended by such prodigious success.

On the 1st of December, the whole of Marshal Ney's corps formed a junction with the army of the centre, and the head-quarters were fixed at the village of Sant Augustino on the same day. On the 2d, the Emperor, with the cavalry of his guard, as well as Maubourg's and Lahoussaie's dragoons, moved towards the heights from which Madrid may be seen, approaching it by the high road from Castille, that city being in the greatest state of fermenta

tion. An aide-de camp, sent by Marshal Bessieres to summon the authorities to open the gates, narrowly escaped with his life, from the exasperation of the populace. The military Junta returned for answer, that the inhabitants would rather bury themselves under the ruins of the place, than submit. It is sufficient to add, that Madrid could not resist the fire of thirty pieces of cannon, which soon effected a breach in the edifice called the Retiro, when the same, with other places, was immediately inundated by French troops. Consternation then became general, and a second and third summons intimidated the authorities, who were ultimately allowed only two hours for acceptance or rejection.

At five o'clock, General Morla and Don Bernado Yriarte arrived, to solicit a suspension of arms during the rest of the day, in order to give the constituted authorities time to obtain the consent of the populace to the surrender of the capital. Those deputies being presented to the Emperor, on seeing Morla, who had used no hesitation in seizing five French ships of war in Cadiz harbour, even before the Spanish nation had declared war, he could not conceal his indignation, and said, in an angry tone, “It is to no purpose that you put yourself forward in the name of the people; if you cannot assuage their irritation, it is in consequence of your having excited it; it is because you yourselves have produced it by your falsehoods. Collect the curates, chiefs of the convents, the alcades, with the principal proprietors; and, at six o'clock, let the city be given up, or it shall cease to exist. I will not, nor ought I to withdraw my troops: you have assassinated the unfortunate French prisoners who had fallen into your hands. Only a few days ago, you murdered two domestics in the streets, belonging to the Russian embassy, because they were born Frenchmen. The inability and baseness of a general (Dupont) placed in your power the troops who had capitulated on the field of battle, and you violated such capitulation. You! Monsieur Morla! what letter was that which you wrote to the general in question? It

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well becomes you, indeed, to talk of pillage; you, who, having entered Roussillon, seized upon the women, and divided them, like booty, among the soldiers! What right have you to hold such language? Look at the conduct of the English, who are very far from piquing themselves upon being rigid observers of the law of nations-they complain of the convention of Cintra, made in Portugal; but they have performed its conditions: to violate a military treaty, is to renounce all civilisation, and place yourselves upon a level with the Bedouins of the desart. How can you demand a capitulation-you, who have broken that of Baylen? See how injustice and bad faith always turn to the prejudice of the culpable. I had a fleet at Cadiz: it was in alliance with Spain; and you turned all the mortars in the place against it. I had a corps of Spaniards in my ranks : instead of disarming, I preferred seeing them precipitate themselves from the rocks of Espinosa, and go on board the English fleet: I preferred having seven thousand men more to combat with, rather than fail in good faith or honour. Return to Madrid: I give you till six o'clock to-morrow morning; return then, and if you cannot inform me that all the people have submitted, all (you and the regular troops excepted) shall be put to the sword."

This discourse was pronounced with a degree of passion more assumed than real, in order that it might be communicated to the multitude; though, at the bottom, Napoleon ardently wished that the surrender of Madrid should have the appearance of a voluntary act, as he flattered himself all Spain would follow the example of its capital.

Notwithstanding this, the militia and the populace not only refused to lay down their arms, but kept up a brisk fire from the windows of the houses that looked towards the Prado. General Maison, imprudently venturing that way, was wounded, and General Bruyeres killed. Deserters, who hourly arrived, announced that more than forty thousand of those infuriated beings ran about the streets, demanding to be led to battle. The Marquis of Castellar,

and the greater number of the general officers, not believing such enthusiasm would arrest the progress of the French, availed themselves of the darkness of night to leave the city, with all the troops of the line, and sixteen pieces of cannon.

On the 4th of December, at six in the morning, General Morla and Don Fernando de la Vera returned to the head-quarters of the Prince of Neufchatel, to announce that the peaceable inhabitants would gratefully accept the ge nerous proposals of the Emperor; but that it would be necessary to adopt strong measures, in order to check the fermentation that still continued among the lower orders. General Belliard, being appointed governor of Madrid, entered the capital about ten o'clock, with a body of troops, all the posts being occupied about the same time. Napoleon, wishing to allay the effects of popular resentment, caused a general amnesty to be proclaimed; when the mo deration of the victor, and the rigorous discipline of the troops, soon restored order and security, and the shops were re-opened, and continued so till eleven at night. The inhabitants, who had laboured so hard to fortify their houses, were then in greater haste to replace things as they had been before. Still the French cavalry was ordered to continue on the alert, and the horses remained saddled; no troops being lodged in the houses, but distributed in the various convents, in different quarters of the city.

The entrance of the French into the street called Alcala was attended with the following circumstance :-A corner house, an hotel, was occupied by an ancient Spanish officer. The French commandant, imagining that mansion would make a good military post, had determined to occupy it himself. He accordingly entered, with some of his men; when the respectable proprietor, eighty years of age, advanced to meet him, leading his daughter by the hand, veiled. "I am," said he, "an old soldier. I know the rights and licentiousness of a state of war: here is my daughter; save her honour; be her spouse; I will give

her a dowry of one hundred and eighty thousand piastres." To that appeal made to his delicacy, the French officer made a proper reply. He treated the old general and his family with the respect due to them, but did not consent to become his son-in-law, till he had ascertained the young lady had not the least repugnance to the union proposed.

The Emperor, not choosing to enter Madrid, encamped, with his guards, upon the heights of Chamartin, a mile from the city, where he continued to take measures calculated to ensure the subjugation of the whole country. Six or seven hundred militia, who had endeavoured to defend the Escurial, were forcibly driven out of that monastery, on the 5th, by a division of dragoons; yet the occupation of the Spanish capital did not produce the submission expected in the provinces, as not one of them attempted, for a considerable time, to soothe the vengeance of the conqueror. In the meanwhile, Marshal St. Cyr was sent into Catalonia, to besiege the important fortress of Roses, on the 6th of December; who, on the 17th, attacked and defeated General Reding, second in command at the battle of Baylen.

After the French troops had entered Madrid, Napoleon lost no time in issuing a proclamation, wherein he promised the Spanish nation every thing which the benignity of his disposition could bestow, provided the people quietly received his brother, and, like loyal subjects, swore fealty and allegiance to him; while, on the other hand, he denounced the severest vengeance, if they continued contumacious. He distinctly affirmed, that he would, in the latter case, put the crown upon his own head, treat the country as a conquered province, and find another kingdom for his brother: "for," added he, "God has given me both the inclination and power to surmount all obstacles." In an address, which the corregidor and magistrates presented to the Emperor, on the 9th of December, the inhabitants. were made to thank him for his clemency, and solicit the favour of seeing King Joseph at Madrid.