IN the Year one Thousand six Hundred seventy two, War being proclaimed with Hol­land, it was looked upon, among Nobility and Gentry, as a Blemish, not to attend the Duke of York aboard the Fleet, who was then de­clared Admiral. With many others, I, at that Time about twenty Years of Age, en­ter'd my self a Voluntier on board the London, commanded by Sir Edward Sprage, Vice-Admiral of the Red.

THE Fleet set Sail from the Buoy of the Nore about the beginning of May, in order to join the French Fleet, then at Anchor in St. Hellen's Road, under the Command of [Page 2] the Count de Estrée. But in executing this Design we had a very narrow Escape: For De Ruyter, the Admiral of the Dutch Fleet, having Notice of our Intentions, waited to have intercepted us at the Mouth of the River, but by the Assistance of a great Fog we pass'd Dover before he was aware of it; and thus he miscarried, with the poor Advantage of taking only one small Tender.

A DAY or two after the joining of the English and French, we sailed directly to­wards the Dutch Coast, where we soon got sight of their Fleet; a Sand called the Galloper lying between. The Dutch seem'd willing there to expect an Attack from us: But in regard the Charles Man of War had been lost on those Sands the War before; and that our Ships drawing more Water than those of the Enemy, an Engagement might be render'd very disad­vantagious; it was resolv'd in a Council of War to avoid coming to a Battle for the present, and to sail directly for Solebay, which was accordingly put in Execution.

WE had not been in Solebay above four or five Days, when De Ruyter, hearing of it, made his Signal for sailing in order to surprize us; and he had certainly had his Aim, had there been any Breeze of Wind to favour him. But though they made use of all their Sails, there was so little Air stir­ring, [Page 3] that we could see their Fleet making towards us long before they came up; not­withstanding which, our Admirals found difficulty enough to form their Ships into a Line of Battle, so as to be ready to receive the Enemy.

English and Dutch Fleets en­gag'd in Solebay.IT was about Four in the Morning of the 28th of May, being Tuesday in Whitson Week, when we first made the Discovery; and about Eight the same Morning the Blue Squadron, under the Command of the Earl of Sandwich, began to engage with Admiral Van Ghent, who command­ed the Amsterdam Squadron; and about Nine the whole Fleets were under a general Engagement. The Fight lasted till Ten at Night, and with equal Fury on all Sides, the French excepted, who appeared station­ed there rather as Spectators than Parties; and as unwilling to be too much upon the Offensive, for fear of offending them­selves.

DURING the Fight the English Admi­ral had two Ships disabled under him; and was obliged about Four in the Afternoon to remove himself a third Time into the London, where [...] remain'd all the rest of the Fight, and till next Morning. Never­theless, on his Entrance upon the London, which was the Ship I was in and on our Hoisting the Standard, De Ruyter and his Squadron seem'd to double their Fire upon [Page 4] her, as if they resolv'd to blow her out of the Water. Notwithstanding all which, the Duke of York remain'd all the time up­on Quarter Deck, and as the Bullets plenti­fully whizz'd around him, would often rub his Hands, and cry, Sprage, Sprage, they follow us still. I am very sensible later Times have not been over favourable in their Sen­timents of that unfortunate Prince's Valour, yet I cannot omit the doing a Piece of Ju­stice to his Memory, in relating a Matter of Fact, of which my own Eyes were Wit­nesses, and saying, That if Intrepidity, and Undauntedness, may be reckon'd any Parts of Courage, no Man in the Fleet better de­serv'd the Title of Couragious, or behav'd himself with more Gallantry than he did.

THE English lost the Royal James, commanded by the Earl of Sandwich, which about Twelve (after the strenuous Endeavours of her Sailors to disengage her from two Dutch Fire Ships plac'd on her, one athwart her Hawsers, the other on her Star-board Side) took Fire, blew up, and perish'd; and with her a great many brave Gentlemen, as well as Sailors; and amongst the rest the Earl himself, concerning whom I shall further add, that in my Passage from Harwich to the Brill, a Year or two af­ter, the Master of the Pacquet Boat told me, That having observ'd a great Flock of Gulls hovering in one particular Part of [Page 5] the Sea, he order'd his Boat to make up to it; when discovering a Corpse, the Sailors would have return'd it to the Sea, as the Corpse of a Dutch Man; but keeping it in his Boat, it proved to be that of the Earl of Sandwich. There was found about him between twenty and thirty Gui­neas, some Silver, and his Gold Watch; restoring which to his Lady, she kept the Watch, but rewarded their Honesty with all the Gold and Silver.

THIS was the only Ship the English lost in this long Engagement. For although the Katherine was taken, and her Com­mander, Sir John Chicheley, made Priso­ner, her Sailors soon after finding the Op­portunity they had watch'd for, seiz'd all the Dutch Sailors, who had been put in upon them, and brought the Ship back to our own Fleet, together with all the Dutch Men Prisoners; for which, as they deserv'd, they were well rewarded. This is the same Ship which the Earl of Mul­grave (afterwards Duke of Buckingham) commanded the next Sea Fight, and has caus'd to be painted in his House in St. James's Park.

I MUST not omit one very remark­able Occurrence which happened in this Ship, There was a Gentleman aboard her, a Voluntier, of a very fine Estate, general­ly known by the Name of Hodge Vaughan. [Page 6] This Person receiv'd, in the beginning of the Fight, a considerable Wound, which the great Confusion, during the Battle, would not give them leave to inquire into; so he was carried out of the Way, and dis­posed of in the Hold. They had some Hogs aboard, which the Sailor, under whose Care they were, had neglected to feed; these Hogs, hungry as they were, found out, and fell upon the wounded Per­son, and between dead and alive eat him up to his very Scull, which, after the Fight was over, and the Ship retaken, as before, was all that could be found of him.

ANOTHER Thing, less to be account­ed for, happen'd to a Gentleman Voluntier who was aboard the same Ship with my self. He was of known personal Courage, in the vulgar Notion of it, his Sword ne­ver having fail'd him in many private Duels. But notwithstanding all his Land­mettle, it was observ'd of him at Sea, that when ever the Bullets whizz'd over his Head, or any way incommoded his Ears, he immediately quitted the Deck, and ran down into the Hold. At first he was gently reproach'd; but after many Repeti­tions he was laugh'd at, and began to be despis'd; sensible of which, as a Testimo­nial of his Valour, he made it his Request to be ty'd to the Main Mast. But had it [Page 7] been granted him, I cannot see any Title he could have pleaded from hence, to true Magnanimity; since to be ty'd from run­ning away can import nothing less, than that he would have still continued these Signs of Cowardice, if he had not been pre­vented. There is a Bravery of Mind which I fansy few of those Gentlemen Duellists are possess'd of. True Courage cannot proceed from what Sir Walter Ra­leigh finely calls the Art or Philosophy of Quarrel. No! It must be the Issue of Principle, and can have no other Basis than a steady Tenet of Religion. This will appear more plain, if those Artists in Murder will give themselves leave cooly to consider, and answer me this Question, Why he that had ran so many Risques at his Sword's Point, should be so shamefully intimidated at the Whiz of a Cannon Ball?

• COMMISSIONER Cox, Captain of the Royal Prince, under the Command of the Admiral; and Mr. Travanian, Gentleman to the Duke of York; Mr. Digby, Captain of the Henry, second Son to the Earl of Bristol; Sir Fletchvile Hollis, Captain of [Page 8] the Cambridge, who lost one of his Arms in the War before, and his Life in this; Captain Saddleton, of the Dartmouth; the Lord Maidstone, Son to the Earl of Winchelsea, a Voluntier on board the Charles, commanded by Sir John Harman, Vice-Admiral of the Red.
• SIR Philip Carteret, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Cotterel, Mr. Peyton, Mr. Gose, with se­veral other Gentlemen unknown to me, lost their Lives with the Earl of Sandwich, on board the Royal James; Mr. Vaughan, on board the Katherine, commanded by Sir John Chicheley.
• IN this Engagement, Sir George Rook was youngest Lieutenant to Sir Edward Sprage; Mr. Russel, afterwards Earl of Orford, was Captain of a small Fifth Rate, called the Phoenix; Mr. Herbert, after­wards Earl of Torrington, was Captain of a small Fourth Rate, called the Monck; Sir Harry Dutton Colt, who was on board the Victory, commanded by the Earl of Oss [...]ry, is the only Man now living that I can remember was in this Engagement.

BUT to proceed, the Dutch had one Man of War sunk, though so near the Shore, that I saw some part of her Main Mast remain above Water; with their Admiral Van Ghent, who was slain in the close Engagement with the Earl of [Page 9] Sandwich. This Engagement lasted four­teen Hours, and was look'd upon the greatest that ever was fought between the English and the Hollander.

I CANNOT here omit one Thing, which to some may seem trifling; though I am apt to think our Naturalists may have a diffe­rent Opinion of it, and find it afford their Fansies no undiverting Employment in more curious, and less perilous Reflections. We had on board the London, where, as I have said, I was a Voluntier, a great Number of Pidgeons, of which our Com­mander was very fond. These, on the first firing of our Cannon, dispers'd, and flew away, and were seen no where near us during the Fight. The next Day it blew a brisk Gale, and drove our Fleet some Leagues to the Southward of the Place where they forsook our Ship, yet the Day after they all returned safe aboard; not in one Flock, but in small Parties of four or five at a Time. Some Persons at that Time aboard the Ship admiring at the Manner of their Return, and speaking of it with some Surprize, Sir Edward Sprage told them, That he brought those Pid­geons with him from the Streights; and that when, pursuant to his Order, he left the Revenge Man of War, to go aboard the London, all those Pidgeons, of their own accord, and without the Trouble or [Page 10] Care of carrying, left the Revenge like­wise, and removed with the Sailors on board the London, where I saw them: All which many of the Sailors afterwards confirm'd to me. What Sort of Instinct this could proceed from, I leave to the Cu­rious.

SOON after this Sea Engagement I left the Fleet. And the Parliament, the Winter following, manifesting their Resentments against two of the Plenipotentiaries, viz. Buckingham and Arlington, who had been sent over into Holland; and expressing, withal, their great Umbrage taken at the prodigious Progress of the French Arms in the United Provinces; and warmly remon­strating the inevitable Danger attending England in their Ruin. King Charles from all this, and for want of the expected Supplies, found himself under a Necessity of clapping up a speedy Peace with Holland. Peace with Holland.

THIS Peace leaving those youthful Spirits, that had by the late Naval War been rais'd into a generous Ferment, under a perfect Inactivity at Home; they found themselves, to avoid a Sort of Life that was their Aversion, oblig'd to look out for one more active, and more suitable to their vigo­rous Tempers Abroad.

I MUST acknowledge my self one of that Number; and therefore in the Year 1674, I resolv'd to go into Flanders, in or­der [Page 11] to serve as Voluntier in the Army com­manded by his Highness the Prince of Orange. I took my Passage accordingly at Dover for Calais, and so went by way of Dunkirk for Brussels.

ARRIVING at which Place, I was in­form'd that the Army of the Confederates lay encamp'd not far from Nivelle; and un­der the daily Expectation of an Engagement with the Enemy. This News made me press forward to the Service; for which Purpose I carry'd along with me proper Letters of Recommendation to Sir Walter Vane, who was at that time a Major-Gene­ral. Upon further Enquiry I understood, that a Party of Horse, which was to guard some Waggons that were going to Count Montery's Army, were to set out next Morn­ing; so I got an Irish Priest to introduce me to the Commanding Officer, which he readily oblig'd me in; and they, as I wish'd them, arriv'd in the Camp next Day.

I HAD scarce been there an Hour, when happen'd one of the most extraordinary Ac­cidents in Life. I observ'd in the East a strange dusty colour'd Cloud, of a pretty large Extent, riding, not before the Wind (for it was a perfect Calm) with such a pre­cipitate Motion, that it was got over our Heads almost as soon as seen. When the Skirts of that Cloud began to cover our Camp, there suddenly arose such a terrible [Page 12] Hurricane, or Whirlwind, that all the Tents were carry'd aloft with great Vio­lence into the Air; and Soldiers Hats flew so high and thick, that my Fansy can resemble it to nothing better than those Flights of Rooks, which at Dusk of E­vening, leaving the Fields, seek their roosting Places. Trees were torn up by the very Roots; and the Roofs of all the Barns, &c. belonging to the Prince's Quarters, were blown quite away. This lasted for about half an Hour, until the Cloud was wholly past over us, when as suddenly en­sued the same pacifick Calm as before the Cloud's Approach. Its Course was seem­ingly directly West; and yet we were soon after inform'd, that the fine Dome of the great Church at Utrecht had greatly suffer'd by it the same Day. And, if I am not much mistaken, Sir William Temple, in his Memoirs, mentions somewhat of it, which he felt at Lillo, on his Return from the Prince of Orange's Camp, where he had been a Day or two before.

AS soon after this, as I could get an Op­portunity, I deliver'd, at his Quarters, my recommendatory Letters to Sir Walter Vane; who receiv'd me very kindly, telling me at the same time, that there were six or seven English Gentlemen, who had enter'd them­selves Voluntiers in the Prince's own Com­pany of Guards: And added, that he would [Page 13] immediately recommend me to Count Solmes, their Colonel. He was not worse than his Word, and I was enter'd accordingly. Those six Gentlemen were as follows, — Clavers, who since was better known by the Title of Lord Dundee; Mr. Collier, now Lord Portmore; Mr. Rooke, since Major-General; Mr. Hales, who lately died, and was for a long time Governor of Chelsea-Hospital; Mr. Venner, Son of that Venner remarkable for his being one of the Fifth-Monarchy Men; and Mr. Boyce. The four first rose to be very eminent; but Fortune is not to all alike favourable.

The Army marcheth towards Binch.IN about a Week's Time after, it was resolv'd in a Council of War, to march to­wards Binch, a small wall'd Town, about four Leagues from Nivelle; the better to cut off the Provisions from coming to the Prince of Conde's Camp that Way.

ACCORDINGLY, on the first Day of August, being Saturday, we began our March; and the English Voluntiers had the Favour of a Baggage Waggon appoint­ed them. Count Souches, the Imperial General, with the Troops of that Nation, led the Van; the main Body was compos'd of Dutch, under the Prince of Orange, as Generalissimo; and the Spaniards, under Prince Vaudemont, with some Detachments, made the Rear Guard.

[Page 14]AS we were upon our March, I being among those Detachments which made up the Rear Guard, observ'd a great Party of the Enemy's Horse upon an Ascent, which, I then imagin'd, as it after prov'd, to be the Prince of Condé taking a View of our Forces under March. There were many Defiles, which our Army must necessarily pass; through which that Prince politickly enough permitted the Imperial and Dutch Forces to pass unmolested. But when Prince Vaudemont, with the Spaniards, and our Detachments, thought to have done the like, the Prince of Condé fell on our Rear Guard; Prince of Condé in­tirely routs the Rear of the Con­federate Army. and, after a long and sharp Dis­pute, entirely routed 'em; the Marquiss of Assentar, a Spanish Lieutenant-General, dying upon the Spot.

HAD the Prince of Condé contented him­self with this Share of good Fortune, his Victory had been uncontested: But being push'd forward by a vehement Heat of Temper (which he was noted for) and flush'd with this extraordinary Success, he resolv'd to force the whole Confederate Army to a Battle. In order to which, he immediately led his Forces between our Se­cond Line, and our Line of Baggage; by which means the latter were entirely cut off, and were subjected to the Will of the Enemy, who fell directly to plunder; in which they were not a little assisted by the [Page 15] routed Spaniards themselves, who did not disdain at that time to share with the Enemy in the plundering of their Friends and Allies.

THE English Voluntiers had their Share of this ill Fortune with the rest; their Waggon appointed them being among those intercepted by the Enemy; and I, for my Part, lost every Thing but Life, which yet was saved almost as unaccountably as my Fellow-Soldiers had lost theirs. The Bag­gage, as I have said, being cut off, and at the Mercy of the Enemy, every one endea­vour'd to escape through, or over the Hedges. And as in all Cases of like Con­fusion, one endeavours to save himself upon the Ruins of others: So here, he that found himself stopt by another in getting over the Gap of a Hedge, pull'd him back to make way for himself, and perhaps met with the same Fortune from a Third, to the Destruc­tion of all. I was then in the Vigour of my Youth, and none of the least active, and perceiving how it had far'd with some be­fore me, I clapt my left Leg upon the Shoulders of one who was thus contending with another, and with a Spring threw my self over both their Heads and the Hedge at the same time. By this Means I not only sav'd my Life (for they were all cut to Pieces that could not get over) but from an Eminence, which I soon after attain'd, I [Page 16] had an Opportunity of seeing, and making my Observations upon the remaining Part of that glorious Conflict.

IT was from that advantagious Situation, that I presently discover'd that the Imperia­lists, who led the Van, had now join'd the main Body. And, I confess, it was with an almost inexpressible Pleasure, that I be­held, about three a-Clock, with what in­trepid Fury they fell upon the Enemy. The Battle of Seneff.In short, both Armies were universally en­gag'd, and with great Obstinacy disputed the Victory till Eleven at Night. At which Time the French, being pretty well sur­feited, made their Retreat. French quit the Field. Nevertheless, to secure it by a Stratagem, they left their lighted Matches hanging in the Hedges, and waving with the Air, to conceal it from the Confederate Army.

Confede­rate Army drawn off.ABOUT two Hours after, the Confede­rate Forces follow'd the Example of their Enemies, and drew off. And tho' neither Army had much Reason to boast; yet as the Prince of Orange remain'd last in the Field; and the French had lost what they before had gain'd, the Glory of the Day fell to the Prince of Orange; who, altho' but twenty-four Years of Age, had the Suffrage of Friend and Foe, of having play'd the Part of an old and experienc'd Officer.

[Page 17]THERE were left that Day on the Field of Battle, by a general Computation, not less than eighteen Thousand Men on both Sides, over and above those, who died of their Wounds: The Loss being pretty equal, only the French carried off most Prisoners. Prince Waldeck was shot through the Arm, which I was near enough to be an Eye-witness of: And my much lamented Friend, Sir Walter Vane, was carried off dead. A Wound in the Arm was all the Mark of Honour, that I as yet could boast of, though our Cannon in the Defiles had slain many near me.

THE Prince of Condé (as we were next Day inform'd) lay all that Night under a Hedge, wrapp'd in his Cloke: And either from the Mortification of being disappointed in his Hopes of Victory; or from a Refle­ction of the Disservice, which his own na­tural over Heat of Temper had drawn upon him, was almost inconsolable many Days after. And thus ended the famous Battle of Seneff.

BUT though common Vogue has given it the Name of a Battle, in my weak Opi­nion, it might rather deserve that of a con­fus'd Skirmish; all Things having been for­cibly carried on without Regularity, or even Design enough to allow it any higher Denomination: For, as I have said before, notwithstanding I was advantagiously sta­tioned [Page 18] for Observation, I found it very of­ten impossible to distinguish one Party from another. Prince of Orange in the midst of the French Army.And this was more remarkably evident on the Part of the Prince of Orange, whose Valour and Vigour having led him into the Middle of the Enemy, and being then sensible of his Error, by a peculiar Presence of Mind, gave the Word of Command in French, which he spoke per­fectly well. But the French Soldiers, who took him for one of their own Generals, making Answer, that their Powder was all spent, it afforded Matter of Instruction to him to persist in his Attack; at the same Time, that it gave him a Lesson of Cauti­on, to withdraw himself, as soon as he could, to his own Troops.

Marches to Quarig­nan.HOWEVER, the Day after the Prince of Orange thought proper to march to Qua­rignan, a Village within a League of Mons; where he remain'd some Days, till he could be supply'd from Brussels with those Neces­saries which his Army stood in need of.

Marches to Valenci­ennes; and besieges Oudenard.FROM thence we march'd to Valen­ciennes, where we again encamp'd, till we could receive Things proper for a Siege. Upon the Arrival whereof, the Prince gave Orders to decamp, and march'd his Army with a Design to besiege Aeth. But having Intelligence on our March, that the Ma­reschal De Humiers had reinforc'd that Garrison, we march'd directly to Oude­nard, [Page 19] and immediately invested it.

THIS Siege was carried on with such Application and Success, that the Besiegers were in a few Days ready for a Storm; but the Prince of Condé prevented them, by coming up to its Relief. Upon which the Prince of Orange, pursuant to the Resolution of a Council of War the Night before, drew off his Forces in order to give him Battle; and to that purpose, after the laborious Work of filling up our Lines of Contraval­lation, that the Horse might pass more freely, we lay upon our Arms all Night. Next Morning we expected the Imperial General, Count Souches, to join us; but instead of that, he sent back some very frivolous Excuses, of the Inconveniency of the Ground for a Battle; and after that, instead of joining the Prince, marched off quite another way; the Prince of Orange, with the Dutch and Spanish Troops, marched directly for Ghent; exclaiming publickly against the Chicanery of Souches, and openly declaring, That he had been advertis'd of a Conference between a French Capuchin and that General, the Night before. Certain it is, that that General lay under the Displeasure of his Master, the Emperor, for that Piece of Manage­ment; and the Count de Sporck was imme­diately appointed General in his Place.

[Page 20] Prince of Orange to going to leave the Army in Disgust.THE Prince of Orange was hereupon leaving the Army in great Disgust, till pre­vail'd upon by the Count de Montery, for the general Safety, to recede from that Re­solution. However, seeing no likelihood of any Thing further to be done, while Souches was in Command, he resolv'd up­on a Post of more Action, though more dangerous; wherefore ordering ten Thou­sand Men to march before, he himself soon after follow'd to the Siege of Grave.

Carries on the Siege of Grave.THE Grave, a strong Place, and of the first Moment to the Hollanders, had been block'd up by the Dutch Forces all the Summer; the Prince of Orange therefore leaving the main Army under Prince Wal­deck at Ghent, follow'd the Detachment he had made for the Siege of that impor­tant Place, resolving to purchase it at any Rate. On his Arrival before it, Things began to find new Motion; and as they were carried on with the utmost Applica­tion and Fury, the Besieged found them­selves, in a little Time, oblig'd to change their haughty Summer Note for one more suitable to the Season.

And takes it.THE Prince, from his first coming, ha­ving kept those within hotly ply'd with Ball, both from Cannon and Mortars, Monsieur Chamilly, the Governor, after a few Days, being weary of such warm Work, desired to capitulate; upon which Hostages were [Page 21] exchanged, and Articles agreed on next Morning. Pursuant to which, the Garri­son march'd out with Drums beating and Colours flying, two Days after, and were conducted to Charleroy.

BY the taking this Place, which made the Prince of Orange the more earnest up­on it, the French were wholly expell'd their last Year's astonishing Conquests in Holland. And yet there was another Con­sideration, that render'd the Surrender of it much more considerable. For the French being sensible of the great Strength of this Place, had there deposited all their Can­non and Ammunition, taken from their other Conquests in Holland, which they never were able to remove or carry off, with tolerable Prospect of Safety, after that Prince's Army first took the Field.

THE Enemy being march'd out, the Prince enter'd the Town, and immediately order'd publick Thanksgivings for its happy Reduction. Then having appointed a Go­vernor, and left a sufficient Garrison, he put an End to that Campaign, and return'd to the Hague, where he had not been long before he fell ill of the Small Pox. The Consternation this threw the whole Coun­try into, is not to be express'd: Any one that had seen it would have thought, that the French had made another Inundation greater than the former. But when the [Page 22] Danger was over, their Joy and Satisfacti­on, for his Recovery, was equally beyond Expression.

Limburgh besieged and taken by the French.THE Year 1675. yielded very little re­markable in our Army. Limburgh was be­sieged by the French, under the Command of the Duke of Enguien, which the Prince of Orange having Intelligence of, immedi­ately decamp'd from his fine Camp at Beth­lem, near Louvain, in order to raise the Siege. But as we were on a full March for that purpose, and had already reach'd Ruremond, Word was brought, that the Place had surrender'd the Day before. Upon which Advice, the Prince, after a short Halt, made his little Army (for it consisted not of more than thirty Thousand Men) march back to Brabant. Nothing of moment, after this, occurr'd all that Campaign.

Maestrich besieged by the Prince of Orange.IN the Year 1676. the Prince of Orange having, in concert with the Spaniards, resolv'd upon the important Siege of Mae­strich (the only Town in the Dutch Pro­vinces, then remaining in the Hands of the French) it was accordingly invested about the middle of June, with an Army of twen­ty Thousand Men, under the Command of his Highness Prince Waldeck, with the grand Army covering the Siege. It was some Time before the heavy Cannon, which we expected up the Maes, from Holland, [Page 23] arrived; which gave Occasion to a Piece of Raillery of Monsieur Calvo, the Governor, which was as handsomely repartee'd. That Governor, by a Messenger, intima­ting his Sorrow to find, we had pawn'd our Cannon for Ammunition Bread. An­swer was made, That in a few Days we hoped to give him a Taste of the Loaves, which he should find would be sent him in­to the Town in extraordinary plenty. I remember another Piece of Raillery, which pass'd some Days after between the Rhin­grave and the same Calvo. The former sending Word, that he hoped within three Weeks to salute that Governor's Mistress within the Place. Calvo reply'd, He'd give him leave to kiss her all over, if he kiss'd her any where in three Months.

BUT our long expected Artillery being at last arriv'd, all this Jest and Merriment was soon converted into earnest. Our Trenches were immediately open'd towards the Dauphin Bastion, against which were planted many Cannon, in order to make a Breach; my self as a Probationer being twice put upon the forlorn Hope to faci­litate that difficult Piece of Service. Nor was it long before such a Breach was ef­fected, as was esteem'd practicable, and therefore very soon after it was ordered to be attack'd.

[Page 24]THE Disposition for the Attack was thus ordered; two Serjeants with twenty Grenadiers, a Captain with fifty Men, my self one of the Number; then a Party car­rying Wool Sacks, and after them two Captains with one Hundred Men more; the Soldiers in the Trenches to be ready to sustain them, as Occasion should re­quire.

THE Signal being given, we left our Trenches accordingly, having about one Hundred Yards to run, before we could reach the Breach, which we mounted with some Difficulty and Loss; all our Batteries firing at the same instant to keep our Action in countenance, and favour our Design. When we were in Possession of the Bastion, the Enemy fir'd most furiously upon us with their small Cannon through a thin brick Wall, by which, and their hand Grena­does, we lost more Men than we did in the Attack it self.

BUT well had it been had our ill For­tune stopp'd there; for as if Disaster must needs be the Concomitant of Success, we soon lost what we had thus gotten, by a small, but very odd Accident. Not being furnished with such Scoopes as our Ene­mies made use of, in tossing their hand Grenadoes some distance off, one of our own Soldiers aiming to throw one over the Wall into the Counterscarp among the [Page 25] Enemy, it so happen'd that he unfortunate­ly miss'd his Aim, and the Grenade fell down again on our side the Wall, very near the Person who fir'd it. He start­ing back to save himself, and some others who saw it fall, doing the like, those who knew nothing of the Matter fell into a sud­den Confusion, and imagining some greater danger than there really was, every body was struck with a panick Fear, and endea­vour'd to be the first who should quit the Bastion, and secure himself by a real Shame from an imaginary Evil. Thus was a Ba­stion, that had been gloriously gain'd, in­advertently deserted; and that too, with the Loss of almost as many Men in the Re­treat, as had been slain in the Onset, and the Enemy most triumphantly again took Possession of it.

AMONG the Slain on our Side in this Action, was an Ensign of Sir John Fen­wick's Regiment; and as an Approbation of my Services his Commission was bestow­ed upon me.

A FEW Days after it was resolv'd again to storm that Bastion, as before; out of three English, and one Scotch Regiment, then in the Camp, a Detachment was se­lected for a fresh Attack. Those Regi­ments were under the Command of Sir John Fenwick (who was afterwards be­headed) [Page 26] Colonel Ralph Widdrington, and Colonel Ashley, of the English; and Sir Alexander Collier, Father of the present Lord Portmore, of the Scotch. Out of every of these four Regiments, as before, were detach'd a Captain, a Lieutenant, and an Ensign, with fifty Men: Captain An­thony Barnwell, of Sir John Fenwick's Re­giment, who was now my Captain, com­manding that Attack.

AT break of Day the Attack was be­gun with great Resolution; and though vigorously maintain'd, was attended with the desir'd Success. The Bastion was again taken, and in it the commanding Officer, who in Service to himself, more than to us, told us, that the Center of the Bastion would soon be blown up, being to his Knowledge undermin'd for that purpose. But this Secret prov'd of no other use, than to make us, by way of Precaution, to keep as much as we could upon the Rampart. In this Attack Captain Barnwell lost his Life; and it happened my new Commission was wetted (not, as too frequently is the Cu­stom, with a Debauch) but with a Bullet through my Hand, and the Breach of my Collar Bone with the Stroke of a Halberd.

AFTER about half an Hour's Possession of the Bastion, the Mine under it, of which [Page 27] the French Officer gave us warning, was sprung; the Enemy at the same Time ma­king a furious Sally upon us. The Mine did a little, though the less, Execution, for being discover'd; but the Sally no way answer'd their End, for we beat them back, and immediately fix'd our Lodgment; which we maintain'd during the Time of the Siege. But to our double Surprize, a few Days after they fir'd another Mine un­der, or aside, the former, in which they had plac'd a quantity of Grenadoes, which did much more Execution than the other: Notwithstanding all which, a Battery of Guns was presently erected upon that Ba­stion, which very considerably annoy'd the Enemy.

THE Breach for a general Storm was now render'd almost practicable; yet be­fore that could be advisably attempted, there was a strong Horn-work to be taken. Upon this Exploit the Dutch Troops only were to signalize themselves; and they answer'd the Confidence repos'd in them; for though they were twice repuls'd, at the third Onset they were more successful, and took Posses­sion; which they likewise kept to the Rai­sing of the Siege.

THERE was a Stratagem lay'd at this Time, which in its own Merit one would have thought should not have fail'd of a [Page 28] good Effect; but to shew the Vanity of the highest human Wisdom, it miscarry'd. On the other side of the Maes, opposite to Mae­strich, lies the strong Fortress of Wyck, to which it is join'd by a stone Bridge of six fair Arches. The Design was, by a false Attack on that regular Fortification to draw the Strength of the Garrison to its Defence, which was but very natural to imagine would be the Consequence. Rea­dy to attend that well concerted false At­tack, a large flat bottom'd Boat, properly furnish'd with Barrels of Gun-Powder, and other Necessaries, was to fall down under one of the middle Arches, and when fix'd there, by firing the Powder to have blown up the Bridge, and by that means to have prevented the Return of the Garrison to op­pose a real Attack at that instant of Time to be made upon the Town of Maestrich by the whole Army.

THE false Attack on Wyck was accord­ingly made, which, as propos'd, drew the Main of the Garrison of Maestrich to its De­fence, and the Boat so furnish'd fell down the River as projected, but unfortunately, before it could reach the Arch, from the Darkness of the Night, running upon a Shoal, it could not be got off; for which Reason the Men in the Boat were glad to make a hasty Escape for fear of being dis­cover'd; [Page 29] as the Boat was, next Morning, and the whole Design laid open.

THIS Stratagem thus miscarrying, all Things were immediately got ready for a general Storm, at the main Breach in the Town; and the rather, because the Prince of Orange had receiv'd incontestable Intelli­gence, That Duke Schomberg, at the Head of the French Army, was in full march to relieve the Place. But before every Thing could be rightly got ready for the intended Storm (though some there were who pre­tended to say, that a Dispute rais'd by the Spaniards with the Dutch, about the Pro­priety of the Town, when taken, was the Cause of that Delay) we heard at some di­stance several Guns fir'd as Signals of Re­lief; upon which we precipitately, and, as most imagin'd, shamefully drew off from before the Place, and join'd the grand Ar­my under Prince Waldeck. Prince of Orange's Army re­treats from before Maestrich. But it was Matter of yet greater Surprize to most on the Spot, that when the Armies were so joyn'd, we did not stay to offer the Enemy Battle. The well known Courage of the Prince, then Generalissimo, was so far from solving this Riddle, that it rather puzzled all who thought of it; however, the pre­vailing Opinion was, that it was occasion'd by some great Misunderstanding between the Spaniards and the Dutch. And Ex­perience will evince, that this was not the [Page 30] only Disappointment of that Nature, occa­sion'd by imperfect Understandings.

BESIDES the Number of common Soldi­ers slain in this Attack, which was not incon­siderable, we lost here the brave Rhingrave, a Person much lamented on account of his many other excellent Qualifications, as well as that of a General. Colonel Ralph Wid­drington, and Colonel Doleman (who had not enjoy'd Widdrington's Commission above a Fortnight) Captain Douglas, Cap­tain Barnwell, and Captain Lee, were of the Slain among the English; who, in­deed, had born the whole brunt of the At­tack upon the Dauphin's Bastion.

I REMEMBER the Prince of Orange, during the Siege, receiv'd a Shot through his Arm; which giving an immediate Alarm to the Troops under his Command, he took his Hat off his Head with the wounded Arm, and smiling, wav'd it, to shew them there was no danger. Thus, after the most gallant Defence against the most couragi­ous Onsets, ended the Siege of Maestrich; and with it all that was material that Cam­paign.

Cambray and St. O­mers be­sieged by the French.EARLY in the Spring, in the Year 1677. the French Army, under the Duke of Orleans, besieged at once, both Cam­bray and Saint Omers. This last the Prince of Orange seem'd very intent and resolute to relieve. In order to which, [Page 31] well knowing by sad Experience, it would be to little purpose to wait the majestick Motions of the Spaniards, that Prince got together what Forces he could, all in Dutch Pay, and marching forward with all speed, resolv'd, even at the Hazard of a Battle, to attempt the Raising the Siege. Prince of Orange attempts to raise the Siege of St. Omers, but is forc'd to retreat. Upon his appearing the Duke of Orleans, to whose particular Conduct the Care of that Siege was committed, drew off from before the Place, leaving scarce enough of his Men to defend the Trenches. The Prince was under the Necessity of march­ing his Forces over a Morass; and the Duke, well knowing it, took care to at­tack him near Mont Cassel, before half his little Army were got over. The Dispute was very sharp, but the Prince being much out number'd, and his Troops not able, by the Straitness of the Passage, to engage all at once, was oblig'd at last to retreat, which he did in pretty good Order. I re­member the Dutch Troops did not all alike do their Duty; and the Prince seeing one of the Officers on his fullest speed, call'd to him over and over to halt; which the Offi­cer in too much haste to obey, the Prince gave him a Slash over the Face, saying, By this Mark I shall know you another Time. Soon after this Retreat of the Prince, Saint Omers was surrender'd. St. Omers surrenders.

[Page 32]UPON this Retreat the Prince marching back, lay for some Time among the Boors, who from the good Discipline, which he took care to make his Troops observe, did not give us their customary boorish Recep­tion. And yet as secure as we might think our selves, I met with a little Passage that confirm'd in me the Notions, which the ge­nerality, as well as I, had imbib'd of the private Barbarity of those People, when­ever an Opportunity falls in their Way. I was stroling at a Distance from my Quar­ters, all alone, when I found my self near one of their Houses; into which, the Doors being open, I ventur'd to enter. I saw no body when I came in, though the House was, for that Sort of People, well enough furnish'd, and in pretty decent Order. I call'd, but no body answering, I had the Curiosity to advance a little farther, when, at the Mouth of the Oven, which had not yet wholly lost its Heat, I spy'd the Corpse of a Man so bloated, swoln and parch'd, as left me little room to doubt, that the Oven had been the Scene of his Destiny. I con­fess the Sight struck me with Horror; and as much Courage and Security as I enter'd with, I withdrew in haste, and with quite different Sentiments, and could not fansy my self out of Danger till I had reach'd our Camp. A wise Man should not frame an Accusation on Conjectures; but, on Inquiry, [Page 33] I was soon made sensible, that such bar­barous Usage is too common among those People; especially if they meet with a Straggler, of what Nation soever.

THIS made me not very sorry when we decamp'd, and we soon after receiv'd Or­ders to march and invest Charleroy; before which Place we stay'd somewhat above a Week, and then drew off. I remember very well, that I was not the only Person then in the Camp that was at a Loss to dive into the Reason of this Investiture and De­campment: But since I at that time, among the Politicians of the Army, never heard a good one, I shall not venture to offer my Sentiments at so great a Distance.

Army marches to­wards Mons.WE, after this, march'd towards Mons; and, in our March, pass'd over the very Grounds on which the Battle of Seneff had been fought three Years before. It was with no little Pleasure, that I re-survey'd a Place, that had once been of so much Danger to me; and where my Memory and Fansy now repeated back all those Observations I had then made under some unavoidable Confu­sion. Young as I was, both in Years and Experience, from my own Reflections, and the Sentiments of others, after the Fight was over, methought I saw visibly before me the well order'd Disposition of the Prince of Condé; the inexpressible Difficul­ties which the Prince of Orange had to en­counter [Page 34] with; while at the same Moment I could not omit to repay my Debt to the Memory of my first Patron, Sir Walter Vane, who there loosing his Life, left me a solitary Wanderer to the wide World of Fortune.

BUT these Thoughts soon gave place to new Objects, which every Hour presented themselves in our continu'd March to En­ghien, a Place famous for the finest Gardens in all Flanders, near which we encamp'd, on the very same Ground which the French chose some Years after at the Battle of Steenkirk: of which I shall speak in its proper Place. Here the Prince of Orange left our Army, as we afterwards found, to pass into England; where he marry'd the Princess Mary, Daughter of the Duke of York. And after his Departure, that Cam­paign ended without any thing further ma­terial.

Peace con­cluded.NOW began the Year 1678, famous for the Peace, and no less remarkable for an Action previous to it, which has not fail'd to employ the Talents of Men, variously, as they stood affected. Our Army, under the Prince of Orange, lay encamp'd at Soignies, where it was whisper'd that the Peace was concluded. Notwithstanding which, two Days after, being Sunday the 17 ^th Day of August, the Army was drawn out, as most others as well as my self appre­hended, [Page 35] in order to a feux de Joye; but in lieu of that, we found our March order'd towards St. Dennis, where the Duke of Luxemburg lay, as he imagin'd, safe in inaccessible Entrenchments.

Prince of Orange arrives at St. Dennis, and begins the Attack.ABOUT three of the Clock our Army ar­riv'd there, when we receiv'd Orders to make the Attack. It began with a most vi­gorous Spirit, that promis'd no less than the Success which ensu'd. The three English and three Scotch Regiments, under the Command of the ever renown'd Earl of Ossory, together with the Prince of Orange's Guards, made their Attack at a Place call'd the Château; where the French took their Refuge among a Parcel of Hop-Poles; but their Resource was as weak as their Defence; and they were soon beaten out with a very great Slaughter.

IT was here that a French Officer having his Pistol directed at the Breast of the Prince, Monsieur D'Auverquerque interpos'd, and shot the Officer dead upon the Spot.

Duke of Luxem­burg de­feated, and Peace pro­claim'd.THE Fight lasted from three in the After­noon till Nine at Night; when growing dark, the Duke of Luxemburg forsook his Entrenchments, into which we march'd next Morning. And to see the sudden Change of Things! that very Spot of Ground, where nothing but Fire and Fury appear'd the Day before, the next saw so­lac'd with the Proclamation of a Peace.

[Page 36]ABOUT an Hour before the Attack be­gan, the Duke of Monmouth arriv'd in the Army, being kindly receiv'd by the Prince of Orange, bravely fighting by his Side all that Day. The Woods, and the Uneven­ness of the Ground, render'd the Cavalry almost useless; yet I saw a Standard, among some others, which was taken from the Enemy, being richly embroidered with Gold and Silver, bearing the Sun in the Zodiack, with these haughty Words, Nihil obstabit eunte. On the News of this unex­pected Victory, the States of Holland sent to congratulate the Prince; and to testify how much they valued his Preservation, they presented Monsieur D'Auverquerque, who had so bravely rescued him, with a Sword, whose Handle was of massy Gold set with Diamonds. I forgot to mention that this Gentleman receiv'd a Shot on his Head at the Battle of Seneff; and truly in all Actions, which were many, he nobly distinguished himself by his Bravery. He was Father of this present Earl of Grantham.

• Lieut. Col. Archer,
• Capt. Charleton,
• Capt. Richardson,
• Capt. Fisher,
• Capt. Pemfield,
• Lieut. Charleton,
• Lieut. Barton,
• Ensign Colvile.
• [Page 37]With several others, whose Names I have forgot.

LIEUT. Col. Babington, who began the Attack, by beating the French out of the Hop Garden, was taken Prisoner. Col. Hales, who was a long time Governor of Chelsea College, being then a Captain, re­ceived a Shot on his Leg, of which he went lame to his dying Day.

THE War thus ended by the Peace of Nimeugen, the Regiment in which I serv'd, was appointed to lie in Garrison at the Grave. We lay there near four Years, our Soldiers being mostly employ'd about the Fortifications. It was here, and by that Means, that I imbib'd the Rudiments of Fortification, and the practick Part of an Enginier, which in my more advanc'd Years was of no small Service to me.

NEVERTHELESS, in the Year 1684, our Regiment receiv'd Orders to march to Haren, near Brussels; where, with other Forces, we encamp'd, till we heard that Luxemburg, invaded by the French, in a Time of the profoundest Peace, had sur­render'd to them. Then we decamp'd, and march'd to Mechlin; where we lay in the Field till near November. Not that there was any War proclaim'd; but as not know­ing, whether those who had committed such Acts of Hostility in time of Peace, [Page 38] might not take it in their Heads to proceed yet further. In November we march'd into that Town, where Count Nivelle was Go­vernor: The Marquiss de Grana, at the same time, governing the Netherlands in the Jurisdiction of Spain.

NOTHING of any Moment happen'd after this, till the Death of King Charles II. The Summer after which, the three English and three Scotch Regiments receiv'd Orders to pass over into England, upon the Occa­sion of Monmouth's Rebellion; English and Scotch Regiments pass over into Eng­land. where, upon our Arrival, we receiv'd Orders to encamp on Hounslow-Heath. But that Rebellion being soon stifled, and King James having no farther Need of us, those Regiments were order'd to return again to Holland, into the proper Service of those who paid them.

THO' I am no stiff Adherer to the Doc­trine of Predestination, yet to the full Assu­rance of a Providence I never could fail to adhere. Thence came it, that my natural Desire to serve my own native Country prevail'd upon me to quit the Service of an­other, though its Neighbour and Allie. Events are not always to direct the Judg­ment; and therefore whether I did best in following those fondling Dictates of Nature, I shall neither question nor determine.

HOWEVER, it was not long after my Ar­rival in England before I had a Commission [Page 39] given me by King James, to be a Lieute­nant in a new rais'd Regiment under the Command of Colonel Tufton, Brother to the Earl of Thanet. Under this Commis­sion I sojourn'd out two peaceable Cam­paigns on Hounslow-Heath; where I was an Eye-Witness of one mock Siege of Buda: After which our Regiment was order'd to Berwick, where I remained till the Revo­lution.

K. James abdicates the Throne.KING James having abdicated the Throne, and the Prince of Orange accepting the Administration, all Commissions were order'd to be renew'd in his Name. The Officers of our Regiment, as well as others, severally took out theirs accordingly; a very few excepted, of which Number was our Colonel; who refusing a Compliance, his Commission was given to Sir James Lesley.

Prince of Orange proclaim'd King.THE Prince of Orange presently after was declar'd and proclaim'd King, and his Princess Queen, with a conjunctive Power. Upon which our Regiment was order'd into Scotland, where Affairs appear'd under a Face of Disquietude. We had our Quar­ters at Leith, till the Time the Castle of Edinburg, then under the Command of the Duke of Gordon, had surrender'd. After which, pursuant to fresh Orders, we march'd to Inverness, a Place of no great Strength, and as little Beauty; though yet [Page 40] I think I may say, without the least Danger of an Hyperbole, that it is as pleasant as most Places in that Country. Here we lay two long Winters, perpetually harrass'd upon Parties, and hunting of somewhat wilder than their wildest Game, namely, the Highlanders, who were, if not as nimble footed, yet fully as hard to be found.

BUT General Mackay having receiv'd Orders to build a Fort at Inverlochy, our Regiment, among others, was commanded to that Service. The two Regiments ap­pointed on the same Duty, with some few Dragoons, were already on their March, which having join'd, we march'd together through Louquebar. This sure is the wildest Country in the Highlands, if not in the World. I did not see one House in all our March; and their Oeconomy, if I may call it such, is much the same with that of the Arabs or Tartars. Hutts, or Cabins of Trees and Trash, are their Places of Habi­tation; in which they dwell, till their half-horn'd Cattle have devour'd the Grass, and then remove, staying no where longer than that Convenience invites them.

IN this March, or rather, if you please, most dismal Peregrination, we could but very rarely go two on a Breast; and oftner, like Geeze in a String, one after another. So that our very little Army had sometimes, [Page 41] or rather most commonly, an Extent of many Miles; our Enemy, the Highlanders, firing down upon us from their Summits all the Way. Nor was it possible for our Men, or very rarely at least, to return their Fa­vours with any Prospect of Success; for as they pop'd upon us always on a sudden, they never stay'd long enough to allow any of our Soldiers a Mark; or even time enough to fire: And for our Men to march, or climb up those Mountains, which to them were natural Champion, would have been as dangerous as it seem'd to us impracticable. Nevertheless, under all these disheartning Disadvantages, we arriv'd at Inverlochy, and there perform'd the Task appointed, building a Fort on the same Spot where Cromwell had rais'd one before. And which was not a little remarkable, we had with us one Hill, a Colonel, who had been Go­vernor in Oliver's Time, and who was now again appointed Governor by General Mac­kay. Thus the Work on which we were sent being effected, we march'd back again by the Way of Gillycrancky, where that memorable Battle under Dundee had been fought the Year before.

SOME time after, Sir Thomas Levingston, afterwards Earl of Tiviot, having receiv'd Intelligence that the Highlanders intended to fall down into the lower Countries, in a considerable Body, got together a Party [Page 42] of about five Hundred (the Dragoons, call'd the Scotch Greys, inclusive) with which he resolv'd, if possible, to give them a Meet­ing. We left Inverness the last Day o [...] April, and encamp'd near a little Town call'd Forrest, the Place where, as Tradi­tion still confidently avers, the Witches met Mackbeth, and greeted him with their dia­bolical Auspices. But this Story is so natu­rally display'd in a Play of the immortal Shakespear, that I need not descend here to any farther Particulars.

HERE Sir Thomas receiv'd Intelligence, that the Highlanders design'd to encamp upon the Spey, near the Laird of Grant's Castle. Whereupon we began our March about Noon; and the next Day, about the Break thereof, we came to that River, where we soon discover'd the Highlanders by their Fires. Sir Thomas immediately, on Sight of it, issued his Orders for our fording the River, and falling upon them as soon after as possible. High­landers totally routed.Both were according­ly perform'd, and with so good Order, Se­crecy and Success, that Cannon and Balfour, their Commanders, were obliged to make their Escape naked.

THEY were about one Thousand in Num­ber, of which were kill'd about three Hun­dred; we pursued them, till they got up Crowdale-Hill, where we lost them in a Fog. And, indeed, so high is that Hill, [Page 43] that they, who perfectly knew it, assured me, that it never is without a little dark Fog hanging over it. And to me, at that Instant of Time, they seem'd rather to be People receiv'd up into Clouds, than flying from an Enemy.

NEAR this there was an old Castle, call'd Lethendy, into which about Fifty of them made their Retreat, most of them Gentle­men, resolving there to defend themselves to the last. Sir Thomas sent a Messenger to them, with an Offer of Mercy, if they would surrender: But they refus'd the profer'd Quarter, and fir'd upon our Men, killing two of our Grenadiers, and wound­ing another. During my Quarters at the Grave, having learnt to throw a Grenado, I took three or four in a Bag, and crept down by the Side of a Ditch, or Dyke, to an old thatch'd House near the Castle, ima­gining, on my mounting the same, I might be near enough to throw them, so as to do execution. I found all Things answer my Expectation; and the Castle wanting a Cover, I threw in a Grenado, which put the Enemy immediately into Confusion. The Second had not so good Success, falling short; and the Third burst as soon as it was well out of my Hand, though without Da­mage to my self. But throwing the Fourth in at a Window, it so increas'd the Confu­sion, which the first had put them into, that [Page 44] they immediately call'd out to me, upon their Parole of Safety, to come to them.

ACCORDINGLY I went up to the Door, which they had barricaded, and made up with great Stones; when they told me they were ready to surrender upon Condition of obtaining Mercy. I return'd to Sir Thomas; and telling him what I had done, and the Consequence of it, and the Message they had desir'd me to deliver (a great many of the Highland Gentlemen, not of this Party, being with him) Sir Thomas, in a high Voice, and broad Scotch, best to be heard and understood, order'd me back to tell 'em, He would cut them all to Pieces, for their Murder of two of his Grenadiers, after his Profer of Quarter.

I WAS returning full of these melancholy Tidings, when Sir Thomas, advancing after me a little Distance from the rest of the Company; Hark ye, Sir, says he, I be­lieve there may be among 'em some of our old Acquaintance (for we had serv'd together in the Service of the States in Flanders) therefore tell them they shall have good Quarter. I very willingly carry'd back a Message so much chang'd to my Mind; and upon delivering of it, without the least He­sitation, they threw down the Barricado, open'd the Door, and out came one Brody, who, as he then told me, had had a Piece of his Nose taken off by one of my Gre­nadoes. [Page 45] I carry'd him to Sir Thomas, who confirming my Message, they all came out, and surrendered themselves Prisoners. This happen'd on May Day in the Morning; for which Reason we return'd to Inverness with our Prisoners, and Boughs in our Hats; and the Highlanders never held up their Heads so high after this Defeat.

UPON this Success Sir Thomas wrote to Court, giving a full Account of the whole Action. In which being pleas'd to make mention of my Behaviour, with some Parti­cularities, I had soon after a Commission order'd me for a Company in the Regiment under the Command of Brigadier Tiffin.

MY Commission being made out, sign'd, and sent to me, I repair'd immediately to Portsmouth, where the Regiment lay in Garrison. A few Days after I had been there, Admiral Russel arriv'd with the Fleet, and anchor'd at St. Hellen's, where he re­main'd about a Week. On the 18 ^th of May the whole Fleet set Sail; and it being my Turn the same Day to mount the Main Guard, I was going the Rounds very early, when I heard great shooting at Sea. I went directly to acquaint the Governor, and told him my Sentiments, that the two contending Fleets were actually engag'd, which indeed prov'd true; for that very Night a Pinnace, which came from our Fleet, brought News that Admiral Russel had engag'd the French [Page 46] Admiral Turvile; and, after a long and sharp Dispute, was making after them to their own Coasts.

THE next Day, towards Evening, seve­ral other Expresses arriv'd, one after an­other, all agreeing in the Defeat of the French Fleet, and in the Particulars of the burning their Rising Sun, together with many other of their Men of War, at la Hogue. All which Expresses were imme­diately forwarded to Court by Mr. Gibson, our Governor.

ABOUT two Months after this, our Re­giment, among many others, was, according to Order, shipp'd off on a Secret Expedi­tion, under the Command of the Duke of Leinster, no Man knowing to what Place we were going, or on what Design; no, not the Commander himself. However, when we were out at Sea, the General, according to Instructions, opening his Commission, we were soon put out of our Suspence, and in­form'd, that our Orders were to attack Dunkirk. But what was so grand a Secret to those concern'd in the Expedition, having been intrusted to a Female Politician on Land, it was soon discover'd to the Enemy; for which Reason our Orders were counter­manded, before we reach'd the Place of Action, and our Forces receiv'd Directions to land at Ostend.

[Page 47] Battle at Steenkirk.SOON after this happen'd that memorable Battle at Steenkirk, which as very few at that Time could dive into the Reason of, and mistaken Accounts of it have pass'd for authentick, I will mention somewhat more particularly: The Undertaking was bold; and, as many thought, bolder than was consistent with the Character of the wise Undertaker. Nevertheless, the French having taken Namure; and, as the Male­contents alledg'd, in the very Sight of a su­perior Army; and nothing having been done by Land of any moment, Things were blown into such a dangerous Fermen­tation, by a malicious and lying Spirit, that King William found himself under a Necessity of attempting something that might appease the Murmurs of the People. He knew very well, though spoke in the Senate, that it was not true, that his Forces at the Siege of Namure exceeded those of the Enemy; no Man could be more afflicted than he at the overflowing of the Mehaigne, from the continual Rains, which obstructed the Relief he had design'd for that important Place; yet since his Maligners made an ill Use of these false Topicks, to insinuate that he had no Mind to put an End to the War, he was resolv'd to evince the contrary, by shewing them that he was not afraid to ven­ture his Life for the better obtaining what was so much desired.

[Page 48]TO that Purpose, receiving Intelligence that the Duke of Luxemburg lay strongly encamp'd at Steenkirk, near Enghien (tho' he was sensible he must pass through many Defiles to engage him; and that the many Thickets between the two Armies would frequently afford him new Difficulties) he resolv'd there to attack him. Our Troops at first were forc'd to hew out their Passage for the Horse; and there was no one Diffi­culty that his Imagination had drawn that was lessen'd by Experience; and yet so prosperous were his Arms at the Beginning, that our Troops had made themselves Masters of several Pieces of the Enemy's Cannon. But the farther he advanc'd, the Ground growing straiter, so strait as not to admit his Army's being drawn up in Bat­talia, the Troops behind could not give timely Succour to those engag'd, and the Cannon we had taken was forcibly left be­hind in order to make a good Retreat. The French had lost all their Courage in the Onset; for though they had too fair an Op­portunity, they did not think fit to pursue it; or, at least, did it very languidly. How­ever, the Malecontents at Home, I remem­ber, grew very well pleas'd after this; for so long as they had but a Battle for their Money, like true Englishmen, lost or won, they were contented.

[Page 49]SEVERAL Causes, I remember, were assign'd for this Miscarriage, as they call'd it: Some there were who were willing to lay it upon the Dutch; and alledge a Say­ing of one of their Generals, who receiving Orders to relieve some English and Scotch that were over-power'd, was heard to say, Dam 'em, since they love Fighting let 'em have their Bellies full. But I should rather impute the Disappointment to the great Loss of so many of our bravest Officers at the very first Onset. General Mackay, Colonel Lanier, the Earl of Angus, with both his Field-Officers, Sir Robert Douglas, Colonel Hodges, and many others falling, it was enough to put a very considerable Army into Confusion. I remember one par­ticular Action of Sir Robert Douglas, that I should think my self to blame should I omit: Seeing his Colours on the other Side the Hedge, in the Hands of the Enemy, he leap'd over, slew the Officer that had them, and then threw them over the Hedge to his Company; redeeming his Colours at the Expense of his Life. Thus the Scotch Commander improv'd upon the Roman Ge­neral; for the brave Posthumius cast his Stan­dard in the Middle of the Enemy for his Soldiers to retrieve, but Douglas retriev'd his from the Middle of the Enemy, without any Assistance, and cast it back to his Soldiers [Page 50] to retain, after he had so bravely rescued it out of the Hands of the Enemy.

FROM hence our Regiment receiv'd Or­ders to march to Dixmuyd, where we lay some time employ'd in fortifying that Place. While we were there, I had one Morning stedfastly fix'd my Eyes upon some Ducks, that were swimming in a large Water be­fore me; when all on a sudden, in the Midst of a perfect Calm, I observ'd such a strange and strong Agitation in the Waters, that prodigiously surpriz'd me. I was at the same Moment seiz'd with such a Giddiness in my Head, that, for a Minute or two, I was scarce sensible, and had much a-do to keep on my Legs. I had never felt any thing of an Earthquake before, which, as I soon after understood from others, this was; and it left, indeed, very apparent Marks of its Force in a great Rent in the Body of the great Church, which remains to this Day.

HAVING brought the intended Fortifications into some tolerable Order, we receiv'd a Command out of hand to reimbarque for England. And, upon our Landing, Direc­tions met us to march for Ipswich, where we had our Quarters all that Winter From thence we were order'd up to London to do Duty in the Tower. I had not been there long, before an Accident happen'd, a [...] [Page 51] little to be accounted for, without a divine Providence, as some would make that Pro­vidence to be, that only can account for it.

A dange­rous Acci­dent at the Tower of London.THERE was at that Time, as I was assur'd by my Lord Lucas, Constable of it, upwards of twenty Thousand Barrels of Gun­powder, in that they call the White-Tower, when all at once the middle Flooring did not only give way, or shrink, but fell flat down upon other Barrels of Powder, together with many of the same combustible Matter which had been placed upon it. It was a Providence strangely neglected at that Time, and hardly thought of since: But let any considerate Man consult the Consequences, if it had taken fire; perhaps to the Destruc­tion of the whole City, or, at least, as far as the Bridge and Parts adjacent. Let his Thoughts proceed to examine, why or how, in that precipitate Fall, not one Nail, nor one Piece of Iron, in that large Fabrick, should afford one little Spark to enflame that Mass of sulphurous Matter it was loaded with; and if he is at a loss to find a Providence, I fear his Friends will be more at a loss to find his Understanding. But the Battle of Landen happening while our Regiment was here on Duty, we were soon remov'd to our Satisfaction from that paci­fick Station, to one more active in Flanders.

NOTWITHSTANDING that fatal Battle the Year preceding, namely, A. D. 1694. the [Page 52] Confederate Army under King William lay encamp'd at Mont St. André, an open Place, and much expos'd; while the French were entrench'd up to their very Teeth, at Vig­namont, a little Distance from us. This afforded Matter of great Reflection to the Politicians of those Times, who could hard­ly allow, that if the Confederate Army suffer'd so much, as it really did in the Battle of Landen, it could consist with right Conduct to tempt, or rather dare a new Engagement. But those sage Objectors had forgot the well-known Courage of that brave Prince, and were as little capable of fathoming his Designs. The Enemy, who to their Sorrow had by Experience been made better Judges, was resolv'd to tra­verse both; for which Purpose they kept close within their Entrenchments; so that after all his Efforts, King William finding he could no way draw them to a Battle, suddenly decamp'd, and march'd directly to Pont Espiers, by long Marches, with a Design to pass the French Lines at that Place.

BUT notwithstanding our Army march'd in a direct Line, to our great Surprize, we found the Enemy had first taken possession of it. They gave this the Name of the Long March, and very deservedly; for though our Army march'd upon the String, and the Enemy upon the Bow, sensible of [Page 53] the Importance of the Post, and the Neces­sity of securing it, by double horseing with their Foot, and by leaving their Weary and Weak in their Garrisons, and supplying their Places with fresh Men out of them, they gain'd their Point in disappointing us. Though certain it is, that March cost 'em as many Men and Horses as a Battle. How­ever their Master, the French King, was so pleas'd with their indefatigable and auspi­cious Diligence, that he wrote, with his own Hand, a Letter of Thanks to the Officers, for the great Zeal and Care they had taken to prevent the Confederate Army from entring into French Flanders.

KING William, thus disappointed in that noble Design, gave immediate Orders for his whole Army to march through Oude­nard, and then encamp'd at Rosendale; after some little Stay at that Camp we were remov'd to the Camerlins, between Newport and Ostend, once more to take our Winter Quarters there among the Boors.

Namur invested by the Earl of Athlone.WE were now in the Year 1695. when the strong Fortress of Namur, taken by the French in 1692. and since made by them much stronger, was invested by the Earl of Athlone. After very many vigorous Attacks, with the Loss of many Men, the Town was taken, the Garrison retiring into the Castle. Into which soon after, notwithstanding all [Page 54] the Circumspection of the Besiegers, Maref­chal Bouflers found means, with some Dra­goons, to throw himself.

Prince Vaude­mont's glo­rious Re­treat.WHILE King William was thus engag'd in that glorious and important Siege, Prince Vaudemont being posted at Watergaem, with about fifty Battallions, and as many Squadrons, the Mareschal Villeroy laid a Design to attack him with the whole French Army. The Prince imagin'd no less, there­fore he prepar'd accordingly, giving us Or­ders to fortify our Camp, as well as the little time we had for it would permit. Those Orders were pursu'd; nevertheless, I must confess, it was beyond the Reach of my little Reason to account for our so long Stay in the Sight of an Army so much supe­rior to ours. The Prince in the Whole could hardly muster thirty Thousand; and Villeroy was known to value himself upon having one Hundred Thousand effective Men. However, the Prince provisionally sent away all our Baggage that very Mor­ning to Ghent, and still made shew as if he resolv'd to defend himself to the last Extre­mity in our little Entrenchments. The Enemy on their Side began to surround us; and in their Motions for that Purpose, blew up little Bags of Gun-powder, to give the readier Notice how far they had accom­plish'd it. Another Captain, with my self, being plac'd on the Right, with one Hun­dred [Page 55] Men (where I found Monsieur Montal endeavouring, if possible, to get behind us) I could easily observe, they had so far at­tain'd their Aim of encompassing us, as to the very Fashion of a Horse's Shoe. This made me fix my Eyes so intently upon the advancing Enemy, that I never minded what my Friends were doing behind me; though I afterwards found that they had been fileing off so very artfully and private­ly, by that narrow Opening of the Horse-Shoe, that when the Enemy imagin'd us past a Possibility of Escape, our little Army at once, and of a sudden, was ready to dis­appear. There was a large Wood on the Right of our Army, through which lay the Road to Ghent, not broader than to admit of more than Four to march a-breast. Down this the Prince had slid his Forces, except to that very small Party which the Captain and my self commanded, and which was de­signedly left to bring up the Rear. Nor did we stir till Captain Collier, then Aid de Camp to his Brother, now Earl of Port­more, came with the Word of Command for us to draw off.

WHEN Villeroy was told of our Retreat, he was much surpriz'd, as thinking it a Thing utterly impossible. However, at last, being sensible of the Truth of it, he gave Orders for our Rear to be attack'd; but we kept fireing from Ditch to Ditch, and [Page 56] Hedge to Hedge, till Night came upon us; and so our little Army got clear of its gi­gantick Enemy with very inconsiderable Loss. However, the French fail'd not, in their customary Way, to express the Sense of their Vexation, at this Disappointment, with Fire and Sword in the Neighbourhood round. Thus Prince Vaudemont acquir'd more Glory by that Retreat than an intire Victory could have given him; and it was not, I confess, the least Part of Satisfaction in Life, that my self had a Share of Honour under him to bring off the Rear at that his glorious Retreat at Arseel.

HOWEVER, in further Revenge of this po­litical Chicane of the Prince of Vaudemont, and to oblige, if possible, King William to raise the Siege from before Namur, Ville­roy enter'd into the Resolution of Bom­barding Brussells. Villeroy bombards Brussels. In order to which he encamp'd at Anderleck, and then made his Approaches as near as was convenient to the Town. There he caus'd to be planted thirty Mortars, and rais'd a Battery of ten Guns to shoot hot Bullets into the Place.

BUT before they fir'd from either, Ville­roy, in complement to the Duke of Bava­ria, sent a Messenger to know in what Part of the Town his Dutchess chose to re­side, that they might, as much as possible, avoid incommoding her, by directing their Fire to other Parts, Answer was return'd [Page 57] that she was at her usual Place of Residence, the Palace; and accordingly their fireing from Battery or Mortars little incommoded them that Way.

FIVE Days the Bombardment continu'd; and with such Fury, that the Centre of that noble City was quite lay'd in Rubbish. Most of the Time of Bombarding I was upon the Counterscarp, where I could best see and distinguish; and I have often counted in the Air, at one time, more than twenty Bombs; for they shot whole Vollies out of their Mortars all together. This, as it must needs be terrible, threw the inha­bitants into the utmost Confusion. Cart­loads of Nuns, that for many Years before had never been out of the Cloister, were now hurry'd about from Place to Place, to find Retreats of some Security. In short, the Groves, and Parts remote, were all crowded; and the most spacious Streets had hardly a Spectator left to view their Ruins. Nothing was to be seen like that Dexterity of our People in extinguishing the Fires; for where the red-hot Bullets fell, and rais'd new Conflagrations, not Burghers only, but the vulgar Sort, stood stareing, and with their Hands impocketted, beheld their Houses gradually consume; and without offering prudent or charitable Hand to stop the growing Flames.

[Page 58] Villeroy decamps.BUT after they had almost thus destroy'd that late fair City, Villeroy, finding he could not raise the Siege of Namur, by that vi­gorous Attack upon Brussels, decamp'd at last from before it, and put his Army on the March, to try if he could have better Success by exposing to Show his Pageant of one Hundred Thousand Men. Prince Vau­demont had timely Intelligence of the Duke's Resolution and Motion; and resolv'd, if possible, to get there before him. Nor was the Attempt fruitless: He fortunately suc­ceeded, though with much Fatigue, and no little Difficulty, after he had put a Trick upon the Spies of the Enemy, by pretending to encamp, and so soon as they were gone ordering a full March.

THE Castle of Namur had been all this Time under the Fire of the Besieger's Can­non; and soon after our little Army under the Prince was arriv'd, a Breach, that was imagin'd practicable, being made in the Terra Nova (which, as the Name imports, was a new Work, rais'd by the French, and added to the Fortifications, since it fell into their Hands in 1692. and which very much increas'd the Strength of the Whole) a Breach, as I have said, being made in this Terra Nova, a Storm, in a Council of War, was resolv'd upon. Four entire Re­giments, in conjunction with some Draughts made out of several others, were order'd [Page 59] for that Work, my self commanding that Part of 'em which had been drawn out of Colonel Tiffin's. We were all to rendevouze at the Abbey of Salsines, under the Com­mand of the Lord Cutts; the Signal, when the Attack was to be made, being agreed to be the blowing up of a Bag of Gun-powder upon the Bridge of Boats that lay over the Sambre.

Lord Cutts storms the Castle of Namur; but oblig'd to retire.SO soon as the Signal was made, we march'd up to the Breach with a decent Intrepidity, receiving all the Way we ad­vanc'd the full Fire of the Coborn Fort. But as soon as we came near enough to mount, we found it vastly steep and rugged. Not­withstanding all which, several did get up, and enter'd the Breach; but not being sup­ported as they ought to have been, they were all made Prisoners. Which, together with a Wound my Lord Cutts receiv'd, after we had done all that was possible for us, necessitated us to retire with the Loss of many of our Men.

VILLEROY all this while lay in sight, with his Army of One Hundred Thou­sand Men, without making the least Offer to incommode the Besiegers; or even with­out doing any thing more than make his Ap­pearance in favour of the Besieged, and re­connoitring our Encampment: And, at last, seeing, or imagining that he saw, the At­tempt would be to little purpose, with all [Page 60] the good Manners in the World, in the Night, he withdrew that terrible Meteor, and reliev'd our poor Horses from feeding on Leaves, the only Inconvenience he had put us to.

The Castle capitulatesTHIS Retreat leaving the Garrison without all Hope of Relief, they in the Castle immediately capitulated. But after one of the Gates had been, according to Articles, delivered up, and Count Guiscard was marching out at the Head of the Gar­rison, and Bouflers at the Head of the Dra­goons; the latter was, by order of King William, arrested, in reprize of the Garri­son of Dixmuyd (who, contrary to the Cartel, had been detain'd Prisoners) and remain'd under Arrest till they were set free.

Assassina­tion Plot.AT the very Beginning of the Year 1696. was discover'd a Plot, fit only to have had its Origin from Hell or Rome. A Plot, which would have put Hottentots and Bar­barians out of Countenance. This was call'd the Assassination Plot, from the Design of it, which was to have assassinated King William a little before the Time of his usual leaving England to head the Army of the Confederates in Flanders. And as nothing could give a nobler Idea of the great Cha­racter of that Prince than such a nefarious Combination against him; so, with all con­siderate Men nothing could more depreciate [Page 61] the Cause of his inconsiderate Enemies. If I remember what I have read, the Sons of ancient Rome, though Heathens, behav'd themselves against an Enemy in a quite dif­ferent Manner. Their Historians afford us more Instances than a few of their generous Intimations to Kings and Generals, under actual Hostilities, of barbarous Designs upon their Lives. I proceed to this of our own Countrymen.

SOON after the Discovery had been made, by Persons actually engag'd in that inhuman Design, the Regiment, in which I serv'd, with some others then in Flanders, receiv'd Orders, with all Expedition, to embarque for England; though, on our Arrival at Gravesend, fresh Orders met us to remain on board the Transports, till we had fur­ther Directions.

ON my going to London, a few Days after, I was told, that two Regiments only were now design'd to come a-shore; and that the rest would be remanded to Flan­ders, the Danger apprehended being pretty well over. I was at White-Hall when I receiv'd this Notice; where meeting my Lord Cutts (who had ever since the storming of the Terra Nova at Namur allow'd me a Share in his Favour) he express'd him­self in the most obliging Manner; and at parting desir'd he might not fail of seeing me next Morning at his House; for he had [Page 62] somewhat of an extraordinary Nature to communicate to me.

AT the time appointed, I waited on his Lordship, where I met Mr. Steel (now Sir Richard, and at that time his Secretary) who immediately introduc'd me. I found in company with him three Gentlemen; and after common Salutations, his Lordship de­liver'd into my Hands, an Order from the King in Council to go along with Captain Porter, Mr. de la Rue, and Mr. George Harris (who prov'd to be those three with him) to search all the Transports at Graves­end, in order to prevent any of the Conspi­rators getting out of England that Way. After answering, that I was ready to pay Obedience, and receiving, in private, the further necessary Instructions, we took our Leave, and Oars soon after for Gravesend. 'Twas in our Passage down, that I under­stood that they had all been of the Conspi­racy, but now reluctant, were become Wit­nesses.

WHEN we came to Gravesend, I produc'd my Authority to the Commanding Officer, who very readily paid Obedience, and gave Assistance: But after our most diligent Search, finding nothing of what we look'd for, we return'd that very Night to London.

NEXT Day a Proclamation was to come out for the apprehending three of four Troopers, who were sent over by King [Page 63] James, with a thousand Pounds Reward for each: Mr. George Harris, who was the fourth, being the only Evidence against the other three. No sooner were we re­turn'd from Gravesend, but Harris had In­telligence brought him, that Cassells, one of the three, was at Mr. Allens in the Savoy, under the Name of Green. Upon which we went directly to the Place; and enqui­ring for Mr. Green, we were told he lodg'd there, and was in his Room.

I WAS oblig'd by my Order to go along with them, and assist 'em; and very well was it that I was so: For in consideration of the Reward in the Proclamation, which, as I have said, was to come out the next Day, Harris and the rest were for deferring his Seizure, till the coming out of that Procla­mation; but making answer, that in case of his Escape that Night, I must be respon­sible to my Superiors; who, under the most favourable Aspect, would construe it a Neg­lect of Duty, they were forc'd to comply; and so he was taken up, and his Name that Night struck out of the Proclamation. It is very true, by this faithful Discharge of my Trust, I did save the Government one Thousand Pounds; but it is equally so, that I never had of my Governors one Farthing Consideration for what others term'd an over-officious Piece of Service; though in [Page 64] Justice it must be own'd a Piece of exact and disinterested Duty.

SOME few Days after, attending by Di­rection at the Secretary's Office, with Mr. Harris, there came in a Dutchman, splut­tering and making a great Noise, that he was sure he could discover one of the Con­spirators; but the Mein and the Behaviour of the Man, would not give any Body Leave to give him any Credit or Regard. How­ever, the Man persisting in his Assertions, I spoke to Mr. Harris to take him aside, and ask him what Sort of a Person he was: Harris did so; and the Dutchman descri­bing him, says Harris, returning to me, I'll be hang'd if it be not Blackburn. Upon which we had him question'd somewhat more narrowly; when having no room to doubt, and understanding where he was, Colonel Rivet of the Guards was sent for, and order'd to go along with us to seize him. We went accordingly; and it proving to be Blackburn, the Dutchman had five Hundred Pounds, and the Colonel and o­thers the Remainder. Cassels and Black­burn, if still alive, are in Newgate, confin'd by Act of Parliament, one only Witness, which was Harris, being producible against them.

WHEN Blackburn was seiz'd, I found in the Chamber with him, one Davison, a [Page 65] Watch-maker, living in Holbourn. I car­ry'd him along with me to the Secretary of State; but nothing on his Examination ap­pearing against him, he was immediately discharg'd. He offer'd afterwards to present me with a fine Watch of his own making, which I refus'd; and he long after own'd the Obligation.

SO soon as the Depth of this Plot was fathom'd, and the intended Evil provided against, as well as prevented, King William went over into Flanders, and our Regi­ment thereupon receiv'd Orders for their immediate Return. Nothing of any Mo­ment occurr'd till our Arrival at our old Quarters, the Camerlins, where we lay dis­pers'd amongst the Country Boors or Far­mers, as heretofore. However, for our better Security in those Quarters, and to preserve us from the Excursions of the neighbouring Garrison of Furnes, we were oblig'd to keep an Out-guard at a little Place call'd Shoerbeck. This Guard was every forty-eight Hours chang'd, and re­mounted with a Captain, a Lieutenant, an Ensign, and threescore Men.

WHEN it came to my Turn to relieve that Guard, and for that Purpose I was ar­riv'd at my Post, it appear'd to me with the Face of a Place of Debauch, rather than Business; there being too visible Tokens, that the hard Duty of both Officers [Page 66] and Soldiers had been that of hard Drin­king, the foulest Error that a Soldier can commit, especially when on his Guard.

TO confirm my Apprehensions, a little after I had taken Possession of my Guard, the Man of the House related to me such Passages, and so many of 'em, that satisfy'd me, that if ten sober Men had made the At­tack, they might have fairly knock'd all my Predecessors of the last Guard on the Head, without much Difficulty. However, his Account administer'd Matter of Caution to me, and put me upon taking a narrower View of our Situation. In consequence whereof, at Night I plac'd a Centinel a Quarter of a Mile in the Rear, and such o­ther Centinels as I thought necessary and convenient in other Places; with Orders, that upon Sight of an Enemy the Centinel near should fire; and that upon hearing that, all the other Centinels, as well as he, should hasten in to strengthen our Main Guard.

WHAT my Jealousy, on my Landlord's Relation, had suggested, happen'd ac­cordingly: For about one in the Morning I was alarm'd with the Cry of one of my Centinels, Turn out for God's sake; which he repeated, with Vehemence, three or four times over. I took the Alarm, got up suddenly; and with no little Difficulty got my Men into their Ranks, when the Person [Page 67] who made the Outcry came running in, al­most spent, and out of Breath. It was the Centinel, that I had luckily plac'd about a Quarter of a Mile off, who gave the Alarm, and his Musket flashing in the Pan, without going off, he endeavour'd to supply with his Voice the Defect of his Piece. I had just got my Men into their Ranks, in order to re­ceive the Enemy, when by the Moon-light, I discover'd a Party advancing upon us. My out Centinel challeng'd 'em, and as I had precaution'd, they answer'd, Hispanioli; though I knew 'em to be French.

HOWEVER, on my Survey of our Situa­ [...]ion by Day-light, having mark'd in my Mind a proper Place for drawing up my Men in Case of an Attack, which was too [...]arrow to admit of more than two on a [...]reast; and which would secure between [...]s and the Enemy a Ditch of Water: I re­ [...]lv'd to put in practice what had enter­ [...]in'd me so well in the Theory. To that [...]urpose I order'd my first Rank to keep [...]eir Post, stand still and face the Enemy, [...]hile the other two Ranks stooping should [...]llow me to gain the intended Station; [...]hich done, the first Rank had Orders to [...]e off and fall behind. All was perform'd [...] excellent Order; and I confess it was [...]th no little Pleasure, that I beheld the [...]emy, for the best Part of an Hour, in Con­ [...]tation whether they should attack us or [Page 68] no. The Result, nevertheless, of that Consultation ended in this; that, seeing us so well upon our Guard, it was most ad­viseable to draw off. They soon put their Resolution into practice, which I was very glad to see; on Examination a little before having found that my Predecessor, as in o­ther Things, had fail'd of Conduct in leaving me a Garrison without Ammunition.

NEXT Morning I was very pleasingly surpriz'd with a handsome Present of Wine, and some other necessary Refreshments. At first I made a little Scruple and Hesitation whether or no to receive 'em; till the Bearer assur'd me, that they were sent me from the Officers of the next Garrison, who had made me a Visit the Night before, as a candid Acknowledgment of my Conduct and good Behaviour. I return'd their Com­pliment, that I hop'd I should never receive Men of Honour otherwise than like a Man of Honour; which mightily pleas'd them. Every of which Particulars the Ghent Ga­zettier the Week after publish'd.

WE had little to do except Marching an [...] Counter-marching all the Campaign after [...] till it was resolv'd in a Council of War, fo [...] the better preserving of Brussels from suc [...] Insults, as it had before sustain'd from th [...] French, during the Siege of Namur, t [...] fortify Anderlech; upon which our Regiment, as well as others, were commande [...] [Page 69] from our more pacifick Posts to attend that Work. Our whole Army was under Move­ment to cover that Resolution; and the Train fell to my Care and Command in the March. There accompany'd the Train a Fellow, seemingly ordinary, yet very offi­cious and courteous, being ready to do any thing for any Person, from the Officer to the common Soldier. He travell'd along and mov'd with the Train, sometimes on Foot, and sometimes getting a Ride in some one or other of the Waggons; but ever full of his Chit-chat and Stories of Humour. By these insinuating Ways he had screw'd himself into the general good Opinion; but the Waggoners especially grew particularly fond of him. At the End of our March all our Powder-Waggons were plac'd breast a-breast, and so close, that one miscarrying would leave little doubt of the Fate of all the rest. This in the Camp we commonly call the Park; and here it was that our new Guest, like another Phaeton, though under Pretence of Weariness, not Ambi­tion, got Leave of the very last Carter to the Train to take a Nap in his Waggon. One who had entertain'd a Jealousy of him, and had watch'd him, gave Information a­gainst him; An Incen­diary taken and burnt in the Face of the Army.upon which he was seiz'd and brought to me as Captain of the Guard. I caus'd him to be search'd; and upon search, finding Match, Touchwood, and other [Page 70] dangerous Materials upon him; I sent him and them away to the Provoe. Upon the Whole, a Council of War was call'd, at which, upon a strict Examination, he con­fess'd himself a hir'd Incendiary; and as such receiv'd his Sentence to be burnt in the Face of the Army. The Execution was a Day or two after: When on the very Spot, he further acknowledg'd, that on Sight or Noise of the Blow, it had been concerted, that the French Army should fall upon the Confederates under those lamentable Cir­cumstances.

Peace of Riswick.THE Peace of Riswick soon after taking place, put an End to all Incendiarisms of either Sort. So that nothing of a Military Kind, which was now become my Pro­vince, happen'd of some Years after. Our Regiment was first order'd into England; and presently after into Ireland: But as these Memoirs are not design'd for the Low Amuzement of a Tea-Table, but rather of the Cabinet, a Series of inglorious Inactivity can furnish but very little towards 'em.

YET as little as I admir'd a Life of Inac­tivity, there are some Sorts of Activity, to which a wise Man might almost give Su­pineness the Preference: Such is that of bare­ly encountring Elements, and wageing War with Nature; and such, in my Opinion, would have been the spending my Commis­sion, and very probably my Life with it, [Page 71] in the West Indies. For though the Climate (as some would urge) may afford a Chance for a very speedy Advance in Honour, yet, upon revolving in my Mind, that those Ro­tations of the Wheel of Fortune are often so very quick, as well as uncertain, that I my self might as well be the First as the Last; the Whole of the Debate ended in somewhat like that Couplet of the excellent Hudibras:

HOWEVER, my better Planets soon dis­annull'd those melancholy Ideas, which a Rumour of our being sent into the West Indies had crowded my Head and Heart with: For being call'd over into England, upon the very Affairs of the Regiment, I arriv'd there just after the Orders for their Transportation went over; by which Means the Choice of going was put out of my Power, and the Danger of Refusing, which was the Case of many, was very luckily avoided.

IT being judg'd, therefore, impossible for me to return soon enough to gain my Passage, one in Power propos'd to me, that I should resign to an Officer then going over; and with some other contingent Ad­vantages, to my great Satisfaction, I was [Page 72] put upon the Half-pay List. This was more agreeable, for I knew, or at least imagin'd my self wise enough to foretel, from the over hot Debate of the House of Commons upon the Partition Treaty, that it could not be long before the present Peace would, at least, require patching.

UNDER this Sort of uncertain Settlement I remain'd with the Patience of a Jew, though not with Judaical Absurdity, a faithful Adherer to my Expectation. Nor did the Consequence fail of answering, a War was apparent, and soon after pro­claim'd. War Pro­claim'd. Thus waiting for an Opportunity, which I flatter'd my self would soon present, the little Diversions of Dublin, and the mo­derate Conversation of that People, were not of Temptation enough to make my Stay in England look like a Burden.

BUT though the War was proclaim'd, and Preparations accordingly made for it, the Expectations from all receiv'd a sudden Damp, by the as sudden Death of King William. K William dies. That Prince, who had stared Death in the Face in many Sieges and Battles, met with his Fate in the Midst of his Diversions, who seiz'd his Prize in an Hour, to human Thought, the least adapted to it. He was a Hunting (his customary Diversion) when, by an unhappy Trip of his Horse, he fell to the Ground; and in the Fall displac'd his Collar-bone. The [Page 73] News of it immediately alarm'd the Court, and all around; and the sad Effects of it soon after gave all Europe the like Alarm. France only, who had not disdain'd to seek it sooner by ungenerous Means, receiv'd new Hope, from what gave others Motives for Despair. He flatter'd himself, that that long liv'd Obstacle to his Ambition thus re­mov'd, his Successor would never fall into those Measures, which he had wisely con­certed for the Liberties of Europe; but he, as well as others of his Adherents, was glo­riously deceiv'd; that God-like Queen, with a Heart entirely English, prosecuted her royal Predecessor's Counsels; and to remove all the very Faces of Jealousy, im­mediately on her Accession dispatch'd to every Court of the great Confederacy, Per­sons adequate to the Importance of the Mes­sage, to give Assurances thereof.

THIS gave new Spirit to a Cause, that at first seem'd to languish in its Founder, as it struck its great Opposers with a no less mor­tifying Terror: And well did the great Suc­cesses of her Arms answer the Prayers and Efforts of that royal Soul of the Confedera­cies; together with the Wishes of all, that, like her, had the Good, as well as the Ho­nour of their Country at Heart, in which the Liberties of Europe were included. The first Campaign gave a noble Earnest of the Future. Bon, Keyserwaert, Venlo, and [Page 74] Ruremond, were found Forerunners only of Donawert, Hochstet, and Blenheim. Such a March of English Forces to the Support of the tottering Empire, as it gloriously manifested the ancient Genius of a warlike People; so was it happily celebrated with a Success answerable to the Glory of the Un­dertaking, which concluded in Statues and princely Donatives to an English Subject, from the then only Emperor in Europe. A small Tribute, it's true, for ransom'd Nations and captiv'd Armies, which justly enough inverted the Exclamations of a Ro­man Emperor to the French Monarch, who deprecated his Legions lost pretty near the same Spot; but to a much superior Num­ber, and on a much less glorious Occasion.

BUT my good Fortune not allowing me to participate in those glorious Appendages of the English Arms in Flanders, nor on the Rhine, I was resolv'd to make a Push for it the first Opportunity, and waste my Minutes no longer on Court Attendances. And my Lord Cutts returning with his full Share of Laurels, for his never to be forgot­ten Services at Venlo, Ruremond, and Hochstet, found his active Genius now to be repos'd, under the less agreeable Burden of unhazardous Honour, where Quiet must pro­vide a Tomb for one already past any Dan­ger of Oblivion; deep Wounds and glo­rious Actions having anticipated all that [Page 75] could be said in Epitaphs or litteral Inscrip­tions. Soon after his Arrival from Ger­many, he was appointed General of all her Majesty's Forces in Ireland; upon which going to congratulate him, he was pleas'd to enquire of me several Things re­lating to that Country; and particularly in what Part of Dublin I would recom­mend his Residence; offering at the same time, if I would go over with him, all the Services that should fall in his Way.

BUT Inactivity was a Thing I had too long lamented; therefore, after I had, as decently as I could, declin'd the latter Part, I told his Lordship, that as to a Place of Residence, I was Master of a House in Dublin, large enough, and suitable to his great Quality, which should be at his Ser­vice, on any Terms he thought fit. Adding withal, that I had a Mind to see Spain, where my Lord Peterborow was now going; and that if his Lordship would fa­vour me with a Recommendation, it would suit my present Inclinations much better than any further tedious Recess. His Lord­ship was so good to close with both my Overtures; and spoke so effectually in my Favour, that the Earl of Peterborow, then General of all the Forces order'd on that Expedition, bad me speedily prepare my self; and so when all Things were ready I embarqu'd with that noble Lord for [Page 76] Spain, to pursue his well concerted Under­taking; which, in the Event, will demon­strate to the World, that little Armies, un­der the Conduct of auspicious Generals, may sometimes produce prodigious Effects.

THE Jews, in whatever Part of the World, are a People industrious in the in­creasing of Mammon; and being accustom'd to the universal Methods of Gain, are al­ways esteem'd best qualify'd for any Under­taking, where that bears a Probability of be­ing a Perquisite. Providing Bread, and other Requisites for an Army, was ever allow'd to carry along with it a Profit answerable; and Spain was not the first Country where that People had engag'd in such an Under­taking. Besides, on any likely Appearance of great Advantage, it is in the Nature as well as Practice of that Race, strenuously to assist one another; and that with the utmost Confidence and prodigious Alacrity. One of that Number, both competent and willing enough to carry on an Undertaking of that kind, fortunately came at that Juncture to solicit the Earl of Peterborow to be em­ploy'd as Proveditor to the Army and Troops, which were, or should be sent into Spain.

IT will easily be admitted, that the Earl, under his present Exigencies, did not de­cline to listen. And a very considerable Sum being offer'd, by way of Advance, the [Page 77] Method common in like Cases was pursu'd, and the Sum propos'd accepted; by which Means the Earl of Peterborow found him­self put into the happy Capacity of pro­ceeding upon his first concerted Project. The Name of the Jew, who sign'd the Contract, was Curtisos; and he and his Friends, with great Punctuality, advanc'd the expected Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling, or very near it; which was immediately order'd into the Hands of the Pay-master of the Forces. For though the Earl took Money of the Jews, it was not for his own, but publick Use. Ac­cording to Agreement, Bills were drawn for the Value from Lisbon, upon the Lord Godolphin (then Lord Treasurer) all which were, on that Occasion, punctually com­ply'd with.

THE Earl of Peterborow having thus fortunately found Means to supply himself with Money, and by that with some Horse, after he had obtain'd Leave of the Lord Galoway to make an Exchange of two Regiments of Foot, receiv'd the Arch-Duke, and all those who would follow him, aboard the Fleet; and, at his own Expense, transported him and his whole Retinue to Barcelona: For all which prodigious Charge, as I have been very lately inform'd, from very good Hands, that noble Earl never to this Day receiv'd any Considera­tion [Page 78] from the Government, or any Person whatsoever.

WE sail'd from Lisbon, in order to join the Squadron under Sir Cloudsley Shovel: Meeting with which at the appointed Sta­tion off Tangier, the Men of War and Transports thus united, made the best of their Way for Gibraltar. There we stay'd no longer than to take aboard two Regi­ments out of that Garrison, in lieu of two out of our Fleet. Here we found the Prince of Hesse, who immediately took a Resolu­tion to follow the Arch-Duke in this Expe­dition. He was a Person of great Gallan­try; and having been Vice-Roy of Cata­lonia, was receiv'd on board the Fleet with the utmost Satisfaction, as being a Person capable of doing great Service in a Country where he was well known, and as well be­lov'd.

SPEAKING Latin then pretty fluently, it gave me frequent Opportunities of conver­sing with the two Father Confessors of the Duke of Austria; and upon that Account I found my self honour'd with some Share in the Favour of the Arch-Duke himself. I mention this, not to gratify any vain Hu­mour, but as a corroborating Circumstance, that my Opportunities of Information, in Matters of Consequence, could not thereby be suppos'd to be lessen'd; but that I might more reasonably be imagin'd to arrive at [Page 79] Intelligence, that not very often, or at least not so soon, came to the Knowledge of o­thers.

FROM Gibraltar we sail'd to the Bay of Altea, not far distant from the City of Va­lencia, in the Road of which we continu'd for some Days. While we were there, as I was very credibly inform'd, the Earl of Peterborow met with some fresh Disap­pointment; but what it was, neither I nor any Body else, as far as I could perceive, could ever dive into: Neither did it appear by any outward Tokens, in that noble Ge­neral, that it lay so much at his Heart, as those about him seem'd to assure me it did.

HOWEVER, while we lay in Altea Bay, two Bomb-Vessels, and a small Squadron, were order'd against Denia, which had a small Castle; but rather fine than strong. And accordingly, upon our Offer to bring to bear with our Cannon, and preparing to fix our Bomb-Vessels, in order to bombard the Place, it surrender'd; Denia sur­renders, and pro­claims the Arch-Duke K. of Spain and acknowledg'd the Arch-Duke as lawful King of Spain, and so proclaim'd him. From this time, therefore, speaking of that Prince, it shall be under that Title. General Ramos was left Commander here; a Person who after­wards acted a very extraordinary Part in the War carry'd on in the Kingdom of Va­lencia.

[Page 80]BUT notwithstanding no positive Resolu­tions had been taken for the Operations of the Campaign, before the Arch Duke's Departure from Lisbon, the Earl of Peter­borow, ever solicitous of the Honour of his Country, had premeditated another Enter­prize, which, had it been embrac'd, would, in all Probability, have brought that War to a much more speedy Conclusion; and at the same time have obviated all those Diffi­culties, which were but too apparent in the Siege of Barcelona. He had justly and judiciously weigh'd, that there were no Forces in the Middle Parts of Spain, all their Trrops being in the extream Parts of the Kingdom, either on the Frontiers of Portugal, or in the City of Barcelona; that with King Philip, and the royal Fa­mily at Madrid, there were only some few Horse, and those in a bad Condition, and which only serv'd for Guards; if therefore, as he rightly projected within himself, by the taking of Valencia, or any Sea-Port Town, that might have secur'd his Landing, he had march'd directly for Madrid; what could have oppos'd him? But I shall have occasion to dilate more upon this Head a few Pages hence; and therefore shall here only say, that though that Project of his might have brought about a speedy and wonderful Revolution, what he was by his Orders afterwards oblig'd to, against his In­clinations, [Page 81] to pursue, contributed much more to his great Reputation, as it put him under a frequent Necessity of overcoming Difficulties, which, to any other General, would have appear'd unsurmountable.

Valencia describ'd. VALENCIA is a City towards the Centre of Spain, to the Seaward, seated in a rich and most populous Country, just fifty Leagues from Madrid. It abounds in Horses and Mules; by reason of the great Fertility of its Lands, which they can, to great Advantage, water when, and as they please. This City and Kingdom was as much inclin'd to the Interest of King Charles as Catalonia it self; for even on our first Appearance, great Numbers of People came down to the Bay of Altea, with not only a bare Offer of their Services, but loaded with all Manner of Provisions, and loud Acclamations of Viva Carlos tercero, Viva. There were no regular Troops in any of the Places round about it, or in the City it self. The nearest were those few Horse in Madrid, one hundred and fifty Miles distant; nor any Foot nearer than Barcelona, or the Frontiers of Por­tugal.

Description of Barce­lona.ON the contrary, Barcelona is one of the largest and most populous Cities in all Spain, fortify'd with Bastions; one Side thereof is secur'd by the Sea; and the other by a strong Fortification, call'd Monjouick. [Page 82] The Place is of so large a Circumference, that thirty thousand Men would scarce suffice to form the Lines of Circumvallation. It once resisted for many Months an Army of that Force; and is almost at the greatest Distance from England of any Place be­longing to that Monarchy.

THIS short Description of these two Places will appear highly necessary, if it be consider'd, that no Person without it would be able to judge of the Design which the Earl of Peterborow intended to pursue, when he first took the Arch-Duke aboard the Fleet. Nevertheless the Earl now found himself under a Necessity of quitting that noble Design, upon his Receipt of Orders from England, while he lay in the Bay of Altea, to proceed directly to Cata­lonia; to which the Arch-Duke, as well as many Sea and Land Officers, were most in­clin'd; and the Prince of Hesse more than all the rest.

ON receiving those Orders, the Earl of Peterborow seem'd to be of Opinion, that from an Attempt, which he thought under a Probability of Success, he was condemn'd to undertake what was next to an Impossibi­lity of effecting; since nothing appear'd to him so injudicious as an Attempt upon Barce­lona. A Place at such a Distance from re­ceiving any Reinforcement or Relief; the only Place in which the Spaniards had a [Page 83] Garrison of regular Forces; and those in Number rather exceeding the Army he was to undertake the Siege with, was enough to cool the Ardour of a Person of less Pene­tration and Zeal than what the Earl had on all Occasions demonstrated. Whereas if the General, as he intended, had made an immediate March to Madrid, after he had secur'd Valencia, and the Towns adja­cent, which were all ready to submit and declare for King Charles; or if otherwise inclin'd, had it not in their Power to make any considerable Resistance; to which, [...]f it be added, that he could have had Mules [...]nd Horses immediately provided for him, [...]n what Number he pleas'd, together with Carriages necessary for Artillery, Baggage, an [...] Ammunition; in few Days he could [...]ave forc'd King Philip out of Madrid, where he had so little Force to oppose him. And as there was nothing in his Way to [...]revent or obstruct his marching thither, it [...] hard to conceive any other Part King Philip could have acted in such an Extre­ [...]ity, than to retire either towards Portu­ [...]al or Catalonia. In either of which Cases [...]e must have left all the middle Part of Spain [...]en to the Pleasure of the Enemy; who [...] the mean time would have had it in their [...]ower to prevent any Communication of [...]ose Bodies at such opposite Extreams of [...]e Country, as were the Frontiers of Por­tugal [Page 84] and Barcelona, where only, as I said before, were any regular Troops.

AND on the other Side, as the Forces of the Earl of Peterborow were more than sufficient for an Attempt where there was so little Danger of Opposition; so if their Army on the Frontiers of Portugal should have march'd back upon him into the Coun­try; either the Portugueze Army could have enter'd into Spain without Opposition; or, at worst, supposing the General had been forc'd to retire, his Retreat would have been easy and safe into those Parts of Valencia and Andaluzia, which he pre­viously had secur'd. Besides, Gibraltar, the strongest Place in Spain, if not in the whole World, was already in our Posses­sion, and a great Fleet at Hand ready to give Assistance in all Places near the Sea. From all which it is pretty apparent, that in a little time the War on our Side might have been supported without entering the Mediterranean; by which Means all Rein­forcements would have been much nearer at Hand, and the Expences of transporting Troops and Ammunition very considerably diminish'd.

BUT none of these Arguments, though every one of them is founded on solid Rea­son, were of Force enough against the pre­vailing Opinion for an Attempt upon Cata­lonia. Mr. Crow, Agent for the Queen in [Page 85] those Parts, had sent into England most po­sitive Assurances, that nothing would be wanting, if once our Fleet made an Invasion amongst the Catalans: The Prince of Hesse likewise abounded in mighty Offers and pro­digious Assurances; all which enforc'd our Army to that Part of Spain, and that gal­lant Prince to those Attempts in which he lost his Life. Very much against the Incli­nation of our General, who foresaw all those Difficulties, which were no less evident after­wards to every one; and the Sense of which occasion'd those Delays, and that Opposi­tion to any Effort upon Barcelona, which ran thro' so many successive Councils of War.

HOWEVER, pursuant to his Instructions from England, the repeated Desires of the Arch-Duke, and the Importunities of the Prince of Hesse, our General gave Orders to sail from Altea towards the Bay of Barce­lona, the chief City of Catalonia. Earl of Pe­terborow arrives in Barcelona Bay, and after some time lands the Forces.Never­theless, when we arriv'd there, he was very unwilling to land any of the Forces, till he saw some Probability of that Assistance and Succour so much boasted of, and so often promis'd. But as nothing appear'd but some small Numbers of Men, very indifferently arm'd, and without either Gentlemen or Officers at the Head of them; the Earl of Peterborow was of Opinion, this could not be deem'd sufficient Encouragement for him to engage in an Enterprize, which carry'd [Page 86] so poor a Face of Probability of Success a­long with it. In answer to this it was urg'd, that till a Descent was made, and the Affairs thoroughly engag'd in, it was not to be ex­pected that any great Numbers would ap­pear, or that Persons of Condition would discover themselves. Upon all which it was resolv'd the Troops should be landed.

ACCORDINGLY, our Forces were disem­bark'd, and immediately encamp'd; not­withstanding which the Number of Suc­cours increas'd very slowly, and that after the first straggling Manner. Nor were those that did appear any way to be depended on; coming when they thought fit, and go­ing away when they pleas'd, and not to be brought under any regular Discipline. It was then pretended, that until they saw the Artillery landed as well as Forces, they would not believe any Siege actually in­tended. This brought the General under a sort of Necessity of complying in that also. Though certainly so to do must be allow'd a little unreasonable, while the Majority in all Councils of War declar'd the Design to be impracticable; and the Earl of Peter­borow had positive Orders to proceed ac­cording to such Majorities.

AT last the Prince of Hesse was pleas'd to demand Pay for those Stragglers, as Officers and Soldiers, endeavouring to maintain, that it could not be expected that Men [Page 87] should venture their Lives for nothing. Thus we came to Catalonia upon Assurances of universal Assistance; but found, when we came there, that we were to have none un­less we paid for it. And as we were sent thither without Money to pay for any thing, it had certainly been for us more tolerable to have been in a Country where we might have taken by Force what we could not ob­tain any other Way.

HOWEVER, to do the Miquelets all pos­sible Justice, I must say, that notwithstanding the Number of 'em, which hover'd about the Place, never much exceeded fifteen Hundred Men; if sometimes more, oftner less; and though they never came under any Command, but planted themselves where and as they pleas'd; yet did they considerable Service in taking Possession of all the Country Houses and Convents, that lay between the Hills and the Plain of Barcelona; by means whereof they render'd it impossible for the Enemy to make any Sorties or Sallies at any Distance from the Town.

AND now began all those Difficulties to bear, which long before by the General had been apprehended. The Troops had con­tinu'd under a State of Inactivity for the Space of three Weeks, all which was spent in perpetual Contrivances and Disputes a­mongst our selves, not with the Enemy. In six several Councils of War the Siege of [Page 88] Barcelona, under the Circumstances we then lay, was rejected as a Madness and Impossibility. And though the General and Brigadier Stanhope (afterward Earl Stan­hope) consented to some Effort, yet it was rather that some Effort should be made to sa­tisfy the Expectation of the World, than with any Hopes of Success. However, no Consent at all could be obtain'd from any Council of War; and the Dutch General in particular declar'd, that he would not obey even the Commands of the Earl of Peter­borow, if he should order the Sacrifice of the Troops under him in so unjustifiable a Manner, without the Consent of a Council of War.

AND yet all those Officers, who refus'd their Consent to the Siege of Barcelona, offer'd to march into the Country, and at­tempt any other Place, that was not pro­vided with so strong and numerous a Gar­rison; taking it for granted, that no Town in Catalonia, Barcelona excepted, could make long Resistance; and in case the Troops in that Garrison should pursue them, they then might have an Opportunity of fighting them at less Disadvantage in the open Field, than behind the Walls of a Place of such Strength. And, indeed, should they have issu'd out on any such Design, a Defeat of those Troops would have put the Province of Catalonia, toge­ther with the Kingdoms of Aragon and Va­lencia, [Page 89] into the Hands of King Charles more effectually than the taking of Barcelona it self.

LET it be observ'd, en passant, that by those Offers of the Land Officers in a Coun­cil of War, it is easy to imagine what would have been the Success of our Troops, had they march'd directly from Valencia to Madrid. For if after two Months Alarm, it was thought reasonable, as well as prac­ticable, to march into the open Country rather than attempt the Siege of Barcelona, where Forces equal, if not superior in Num­ber, were ready to follow us at the Heels; what might not have been expected from an Invasion by our Troops when and where they could meet with little Opposition? But leaving the Consideration of what might have been, I shall now endeavour at least with great Exactness to set down some of the most remarkable Events from our taking to the Relief of Barcelona.

THE repeated Refusals of the Councils of War for undertaking the Siege of so strong a Place, with a Garrison so nume­rous, and those Refusals grounded upon such solid Reasons, against a Design so rash, reduc'd the General to the utmost Per­plexity. The Court of King Charles was immerg'd in complaint; all belonging to him lamenting the hard Fate of that Prince, to be brought into Catalonia only to return [Page 90] again, without the Offer of any one Effort in his Favour. On the other Hand, our own Officers and Soldiers were highly dissa­tisfy'd, that they were reproach'd, because not dispos'd to enter upon and engage them­selves in Impossibilities. And, indeed, in the Manner that the Siege was propos'd and insisted upon by the Prince of Hesse, in e­very of the several Councils of War, after the Loss of many Men, thrown away to no other purpose, but to avoid the Shame (as the Expression ran) of coming like Fools and going away like Cowards, it could have ended in nothing but a Retreat at last.

IT afforded but small Comfort to the Earl to have foreseen all these Difficulties, and to have it in his Power to say, that he would never have taken the Arch-Duke on Board, nor have propos'd to him the Hopes of a Recovery of the Spanish Monarchy from King Philip, if he could have imagin'd it probable, that he should not have been at liberty to pursue his own Design, according to his own Judgment. It must be allow'd very hard for him, who had undertaken so great a Work, and that without any Orders from the Government; and by so doing could have had no Justification but by Suc­cess; I say, it must be allow'd to be very hard (after the Undertaking had been ap­prov'd in England) that he should find [Page 91] himself to be directed in this Manner by those at a Distance, upon ill grounded and confident Reports from Mr. Crow; and compell'd, as it were, though General, to follow the Sentiments of Strangers, who either had private Views of Ambition, or had no immediate Care or Concern for the Troops employ'd in this Expedition.

SUCH were the present unhappy Circum­stanches of the Earl of Peterborow in the Camp before Barcelona: Impossibilities pro­pos'd; no Expedients to be accepted; a Court reproaching; Councils of War re­jecting; and the Dutch General refusing the Assistance of the Troops under his Com­mand; and what surmounted all, a Despair of bringing such Animosities and differing Opinions to any tolerable Agreement. Yet all these Difficulties, instead of discouraging the Earl, set every Faculty of his more afloat; and, at last, produc'd a lucky Thought, which was happily attended with Events extraor­dinary, and Scenes of Success much beyond his Expectation; such as the General him­self was heard to confess, it had been next to Folly to have look'd for; as certainly, in prima facie, it would hardly have born proposing, to take by Surprize a Place much stronger than Barcelona it self. True it is, that his only Hope of succeeding consisted in this: That no Person could suppose such an Enterprize could enter into the Imagina­tion [Page 92] of Man; and without doubt the Gene­ral's chief Dependence lay upon what he found true in the Sequel; that the Gover­nor and Garrison of Monjouick, by reason of their own Security, would be very negli­gent, and very little upon their Guard.

HOWEVER, to make the Experiment, he took an Opportunity, unknown to any Person but an Aid de Camp that attended him, and went out to view the Fortifica­tions: And there being no Horse in that strong Fortress; and the Miquelets being possess'd of all the Houses and Gardens in the Plain, it was not difficult to give him­self that Satisfaction, taking his Way by the Foot of the Hill. The Observation he made of the Place it self, the Negligence and Supineness of the Garrison, together with his own uneasy Circumstances, soon brought the Earl to a Resolution of putting his first Conceptions in Execution, satis­fy'd as he was, from the Situation of the Ground between Monjouick and the Town, that if the first was in our Possession, the Siege of the latter might be undertaken with some Prospect of Success.

FROM what has been said, some may be apt to conclude that the Siege afterward succeeding, when the Attack was made from the Side of Monjouick, it had not been impossible to have prevail'd, if the Effort had been made on the East Side of the [Page 93] Town, where our Forces were at first en­camp'd, and where only we could have made our Approaches, if Monjouick had not been in our Power. But a few Words will convince any of common Experience of the utter Impossibility of Success upon the East Part of the Town, although many al­most miraculous Accidents made us succeed when we brought our Batteries to bear upon that Part of Barcelona towards the West. The Ground to the East was a perfect Level for many Miles, which would have neces­sitated our making our Approaches in a re­gular Way; and consequently our Men must have been expos'd to the full Fire of their whole Artillery. Besides, the Town is on that Side much stronger than any o­ther; there is an Out-work just under the Walls of the Town, flank'd by the Cour­tin and the Faces of two Bastions, which might have cost us half our Troops to possess, before we could have rais'd a Bat­tery against the Walls. Or supposing, after all, a competent Breach had been made, what a wise Piece of Work must it have been to have attempted a Storm a­gainst double the Number of regular Troops within?

ON the contrary, we were so favour'd by the Situation, when we made the Attack from the Side of Monjouick, that the Breach was made and the Town taken without [Page 94] opening of Trenches, or without our being at all incommoded by any Sallies of the Enemy; as in truth they made not one du­ring the whole Siege. Our great Battery, which consisted of upwards of fifty heavy Cannon, supply'd from the Ships, and ma­nag'd by the Seamen, were plac'd upon a Spot of rising Ground, just large enough to contain our Guns, with two deep hollow Ways on each Side the Field, at each End whereof we had rais'd a little Redoubt, which serv'd to preserve our Men from the Shot of the Town. Those little Redoubts, in which we had some Field Pieces, flank'd the Battery, and render'd it intirely secure from any Surprize of the Enemy. There were several other smaller Batteries rais'd upon the Hills adjacent, in Places not to be approach'd, which, in a manner, render'd all the Artillery of the Enemy useless, by reason their Men could not ply 'em, but with the utmost Danger; whereas ours were secure, very few being kill'd, and those mostly by random Shot.

BUT to return to the General; forc'd, as he was, to take this extraordinary Resolu­tion, he concluded, the readiest Way to sur­prize his Enemies was to elude his Friends. He therefore call'd a Council of War ashore, of the Land Officers; and aboard, of the Admirals and Sea Officers: In both which it was resolv'd, that in case the Siege of [Page 95] Barcelona was judg'd impracticable, and that the Troops should be re-imbark'd by a Day appointed, an Effort should be made upon the Kingdom of Naples. According­ly, the Day affix'd being come, the heavy Artillery landed for the Siege was return'd aboard the Ships, and every thing in ap­pearance prepar'd for a Re-imbarkment. During which, the General was oblig'd to undergo all the Reproaches of a dissatisfy'd Court; and what was more uneasy to him, the Murmurings of the Sea Officers, who, not so competent Judges in what related to Sieges, were one and all inclin'd to a De­sign upon Barcelona; and the rather, be­cause as the Season was so far spent, it was thought altogether improper to engage the Fleet in any new Undertaking. However, all Things were so well disguis'd by our seeming Preparations for a Retreat, that the very Night our Troops were in March towards the Attack of Monjouick, there were publick Entertainments and Rejoicings in the Town for the raising of the Siege.

THE Prince of Hesse had taken large Li­berties in complaining against all the Pro­ceedings in the Camp before Barcelona; even to Insinuations, that though the Earl gave his Opinion for some Effort in publick, yet us'd he not sufficient Authority over the other General Officers to incline them to com­ply; throwing out withal some Hints, that the [Page 96] General from the Beginning had declar'd himself in favour of other Operations, and against coming to Catalonia; the latter Part whereof was nothing but Fact. On the other Side, the Earl of Peterborow complain'd, that the boasted Assistance was no way made good; and that in failure thereof, his Troops were to be sacrificed to the Humours of a Stranger; one who had no Command; and whose Conduct might bear a Question whether equal to his Cou­rage. These Reproaches of one another had bred so much ill Blood between those two great Men, that for above a Fortnight they had no Correspondence, nor ever ex­chang'd one Word.

The Earl marches to MonjouickTHE Earl, however, having made his proper Dispositions, and deliver'd out his Orders, began his March in the Evening with twelve Hundred Foot and two Hun­dred Horse, which of necessity were to pass by the Quarters of the Prince of Hesse. That Prince, on their Appearance, was told that the General was come to speak with him; and being brought into his Apart­ment, the Earl acquainted him, that he had at last resolv'd upon an Attempt against the Enemy; adding, that now, if he pleas'd, he might be a Judge of their Behaviour, and see whether his Officers and Soldiers had deserv'd that Character which he had so liberally given 'em. The Prince made [Page 97] answer, that he had always been ready to take his Share; but could hardly believe, that Troops marching that way could make any Attempt against the Enemy to satisfac­tion. However, without further Discourse he call'd for his Horse.

BY this we may see what Share Fortune has in the greatest Events. In all probabi­lity the Earl of Peterborow had never en­gag'd in such a dangerous Affair in cold Blood and unprovok'd; and if such an En­terprize had been resolv'd on in a regular Way, it is very likely he might have given the Command to some of the General Officers; since it is not usual, nor hardly allowable, for one, that commands in chief, to go in Person on such kind of Services. But here we see the General and Prince, notwithstanding their late indifferent Har­mony, engag'd together in this most de­sperate Undertaking.

BRIGADIER Stanhope and Mr. Methuen (now Sir Paul) were the General's parti­cular Friends, and those he most consulted, and most confided in; yet he never imparted this Resolution of his to either of them; for he was not willing to engage them in a Design so dangerous, and where there was so little Hope of Success; rather choosing to reserve them as Persons most capable of giving Advice and Assistance in the Confu­sion, great enough already, which yet must [Page 98] have been greater, if any Accident had hap­pen'd to himself. And I have very good Reason to believe, that the Motive, which mainly engag'd the Earl of Peterborow in this Enterprize, was to satisfy the Prince of Hesse and the World, that his Diffidence proceeded from his Concern for the Troops committed to his Charge, and not for his own Person. On the other Hand, the great Characters of the two Gentlemen just men­tion'd are so well known, that it will easily gain Credit, that the only Way the Gene­ral could take to prevent their being of the Party, was to conceal it from them, as he did from all Mankind, even from the Arch-Duke himself. And certainly there never was a more universal Surprize than when the firing was heard next Morning from Monjouick.

BUT I now proceed to give an exact Ac­count of this great Action; of which no Per­son, that I have heard of, ever yet took upon him to deliver to Posterity the glorious Par­ticulars; and yet the Consequences and Events, by what follows, will appear so great, and so very extraordinary, that few [...] if any, had they had it in their Power [...] would have deny'd themselves the Pleasure or the World the Satisfaction of knowing it.

THE Troops, which march'd all Nigh [...] along the Foot of the Mountains, arriv' [...] [Page 99] two Hours before Day under the Hill of Monjouick, not a Quarter of a Mile from the outward Works: For this Reason it was taken for granted, whatever the De­sign was which the General had propos'd to himself, that it would be put in Execution before Day-light; but the Earl of Peter­borow was now pleas'd to inform the Officers of the Reasons why he chose to stay till the Light appear'd. He was of opinion that any Success would be impos­sible, unless the Enemy came into the out­ward Ditch under the Bastions of the second Enclosure; but that if they had time al­low'd them to come thither, there being no Palisadoes, our Men, by leaping in upon them, after receipt of their first Fire, might drive 'em into the upper Works; and fol­lowing them close, with some Probability, might force them, under that Confusion, in­to the inward Fortifications.

SUCH were the General's Reasons then and there given; after which, having promis'd ample Rewards to such as discharg'd their Duty well, a Lieutenant, with thirty Men, was order'd to advance towards the Bastion nearest the Town; and a Captain, with fifty Men, to support him. After the Ene­my's Fire they were to leap into the Ditch, and their Orders were to follow 'em close, if they retir'd into the upper Works: Never­theless, not to pursue 'em farther, if they [Page 100] made into the inner Fort; but to endeavour to cover themselves within the Gorge of the Bastion.

A LIEUTENANT and a Captain, with the like Number of Men and the same Orders, were commanded to a Demi-Bastion at the Extremity of the Fort towards the West, which was above Musket-Shot from the in­ward Fortification. Towards this Place the Wall, which was cut into the Rock, was not fac'd for about twenty Yards; and here our own Men got up; where they found three Pieces of Cannon upon a Plat­form, without any Men to defend them.

THOSE appointed to the Bastion towards the Town were sustain'd by two hundred Men; with which the General and Prince went in Person. The like Number, under the Directions of Colonel Southwell, were to sustain the Attack towards the West; and about five hundred Men were left under the Command of a Dutch Colonel, whose Orders were to assist, where, in his own Judgment, he should think most proper; and these were drawn up between the two Parties appointed to begin the Assault. My Lot was on the Side where the Prince and Earl were in Person; and where we su­stain'd the only Loss from the first Fire of the Enemy.

OUR Men, though quite expos'd, and though the Glacis was all escarp'd upon the [Page 101] live Rock, went on with an undaunted Courage; Confede­rate Army attack Monjouickand immediately after the first Fire of the Enemy, all, that were not kill'd or wounded, leap'd in, pel-mel, a­mongst the Enemy; who, being thus boldly attack'd, and seeing others pouring in upon 'em, retir'd in great Confusion; and some one Way, some another, ran into the inward Works.

THERE was a large Port in the Flank of the principal Bastion, towards the North-East, and a cover'd Way, through which the General and the Prince of Hesse follow'd the flying Forces; and by that Means be­came possess'd of it. Luckily enough here lay a Number of great Stones in the Gorge of the Bastion, for the Use of the Fortifi­cation; with which we made a Sort of Breast-Work, before the Enemy recover'd of their Amaze, or made any considerable Fire upon us from their inward Fort, which commanded the upper Part of that Bastion.

WE were afterwards inform'd, that the Commander of the Citadel, expecting but one Attack, had call'd off the Men from the most distant and western Part of the Fort, to that Side which was next the Town; upon which our Men got into a Demi-Bastion in the most extream Part of the Fortification. Here they got Possession of three Pieces of Cannon, with hardly any Opposition; and had Leisure to cast up a little Retrenchment, [Page 102] and to make use of the Guns they had taken to defend it. Under this Situation, the Enemy, when drove into the inward Fort, were expos'd to our Fire from those Places we were possess'd of, in case they offer'd to make any Sally, or other Attempt against us. Thus we every Moment became better and better prepar'd against any Effort of the Garrison. And as they could not pretend to assail us without evident Hazard; so no­thing remain'd for us to do, till we could bring up our Artillery and Mortars. Now it was that the General sent for the thousand Men under Brigadier Stanhope's Command, which he had posted at a Convent, half way between the Town and Monjouick.

THERE was almost a total Cessation of Fire, the Men on both Sides being under Cover. The General was in the upper Part of the Bastion; the Prince of Hesse be­low, behind a little Work at the Point of the Bastion, whence he could only see the Heads of the Enemy over the Parapet of the inward Fort. Soon after an Accident happen'd which cost that gallant Prince his Life.

THE Enemy had Lines of Communica­tion between Barcelona and Monjouick. The Governor of the former, upon hearing the firing from the latter, immediately sent four hundred Dragoons on Horseback, un­der Orders, that two Hundred dismounting [Page 103] should reinforce the Garrison, and the other two Hundred should return with their Horses back to the Town.

WHEN those two Hundred Dragoons were accordingly got into the inward Fort, unseen by any of our Men, the Spaniards, waving their Hats over their Heads, re­peated over and over, Viva el Rey, Viva. This the Prince of Hesse unfortunately took for a Signal of their Desire to surrender. Upon which, with too much Warmth and Precipitancy, calling to the Soldiers fol­lowing, They surrender, they surrender, he advanc'd with near three Hundred Men (who follow'd him without any Orders from their General) along the Curtain which led to the Ditch of the inward Fort. Two Hun­dred Men taken by the Spa­niards.The E­nemy suffer'd them to come into the Ditch, and there surrounding 'em, took two Hun­dred of them Prisoners, at the same time making a Discharge upon the rest, who were running back the Way they came. This firing brought the Earl of Peterborow down from the upper Part of the Bastion, to see what was doing below. When he had just turn'd the Point of the Bastion, he saw the Prince of Hesse retiring, with the Men that had so rashly advanc'd. The Prince of Hesse kill'd.The Earl had ex­chang'd a very few Words with him, when, from a second Fire, that Prince receiv'd a Shot in the great Artery of the Thigh, of which he died immediately, falling down [Page 104] at the General's Feet, who instantly gave Orders to carry off the Body to the next Convent.

ALMOST the same Moment an Officer came to acquaint the Earl of Peterborow, that a great Body of Horse and Foot, at least three Thousand, were on their March from Barcelona towards the Fort. The Distance is near a Mile, all uneven Ground; so that the Enemy was either discoverable, or not to be seen, just as they were marching on the Hills or in the Vallies. However, the General directly got on Horse-back, to take a View of those Forces from the rising Ground without the Fort, having left all the Posts, which were already taken, well secur'd with the allotted Numbers of Officers and Soldiers.

BUT the Event will demonstrate of what Consequence the Absence or Presence of one Man may prove on great Occasions: No sooner was the Earl out of the Fort, the Care of which he had left under the Command of the Lord Charlemont (a Person of known Merit and undoubted Courage, but some­what too flexible in his Temper) when a panick Fear (tho' the Earl, as I have said, was only gone to take a View of the E­nemy) seiz'd upon the Soldiery, which was a little too easily comply'd with by the Lord Charlemont, then commanding Officer. True it is; for I heard an Officer, ready [Page 105] enough to take such Advantages, urge to him, that none of all those Posts we were become Masters of, were tenable; that to offer at it would be no better than wilfully sacrificing human Lives to Caprice and Hu­mour; and just like a Man's knocking his Head against Stone Walls, to try which was hardest. Having over-heard this Piece of Lip-Oratory, and finding by the Answer that it was too likely to prevail, and that all I was like to say would avail nothing, I slipt away as fast as I could, to acquaint the General with the Danger impending.

AS I pass'd along, I took notice that the Panick was upon the Increase, the ge­neral Rumor affirming, that we should be all cut off by the Troops that were come out of Barcelona, if we did not immediately gain the Hills, or the Houses possess'd by the Miquelets. Officers and Soldiers, under this prevailing Terror, quitted their Posts; and in one united Body (the Lord Charle­mont at the Head of them) march'd, or rather hurry'd out of the Fort; and were come half way down the Hill before the Earl of Peterborow came up to them. Though on my acquainting him with the shameful and surprizing Accident he made no Stay; but answering, with a good deal of Vehemence, Good God, is it possible? hasten'd back as fast as he could.

[Page 106]I NEVER thought my self happier than in this Piece of Service to my Country. I confess I could not but value it, as having been therein more than a little instrumental in the glorious Successes which succeeded; since immediately upon this Notice from me, the Earl gallop'd up the Hill, and light­ing when he came to Lord Charlemont, he took his Half-Pike out of his Hand; and turning to the Officers and Soldiers, told them, if they would not face about and follow him, they should have the Scandal and eternal Infamy upon them of having de­serted their Posts, and abandon'd their Ge­neral.

IT was surprizing to see with what Ala­crity and new Courage they fac'd about and follow'd the Earl of Peterborow. In a Moment they had forgot their Apprehen­sions; and, without doubt, had they met with any Opposition, they would have be­hav'd themselves with the greatest Bravery. But as these Motions were unperceiv'd by the Enemy, all the Posts were regain'd, and anew possess'd in less than half an Hour, without any Loss: Though, had our Forces march'd half Musket-shot farther, their Re­treat would have been perceiv'd, and all the Success attendant on this glorious At­tempt must have been intirely blasted.

ANOTHER Incident which attended this happy Enterprize was this: The two hun­dred [Page 107] Men which fell into the Hands of the Enemy, by the unhappy Mistake of the Prince of Hesse, were carry'd directly into the Town. The Marquiss of Risburg, a Lieutenant-General, who commanded the three thousand Men which were marching from the Town to the Relief of the Fort, examin'd the Prisoners, as they pass'd by; and they all agreeing that the General and the Prince of Hesse were in Person with the Troops that made the Attack on Monjouick, the Marquiss gave immediate Orders to re­tire to the Town; taking it for granted, that the main Body of the Troops attended the Prince and General; and that some De­sign therefore was on foot to intercept his Return, in case he should venture too far. Thus the unfortunate Loss of our two hun­dred Men turn'd to our Advantage, in pre­venting the Advance of the Enemy, which must have put the Earl of Peterborow to in­conceivable Difficulties.

THE Body of one Thousand, under Brigadier Stanhope, being come up to Mon­jouick, and no Interruption given us by the Enemy, our Affairs were put into very good Order on this Side; while the Camp on the other Side was so fortify'd, that the Enemy, during the Siege, never made one Effort against it. In the mean time, the Communication between the two Camps was secure enough; although our Troops [Page 108] were oblig'd to a tedious March along the Foot of the Hills, whenever the General thought fit to relieve those on Duty on the Side of the Attack, from those Regiments encamp'd on the West Side of Barcelona.

THE next Day, after the Earl of Peter­borow had taken Care to secure the first Camp to the Eastward of the Town, he gave Orders to the Officers of the Fleet to land the Artillery and Ammunition behind the Fortress to the Westward. Immediate­ly upon the Landing whereof, two Mortars were fix'd; from both which we ply'd the Fort of Monjouick furiously with our Bombs. But the third or fourth Day, one of our Shells fortunately lighting on their Maga­zine of Powder, blew it up; Magazine of Mon­jouick blown up, and the Fortress taken. and with it the Governor, and many principal Officers who were at Dinner with him. The Blast, at the same Instant, threw down a Face of one of the smaller Bastions; which the vigilant Mi­quelets, ready enough to take all Advantages, no sooner saw (for they were under the Hill, very near the Place) but they readily enter'd, while the Enemy were under the utmost Confusion. If the Earl, no less watchful than they, had not at the same Moment thrown himself in with some regu­lar Troops, and appeas'd the general Dis­order, in all probability the Garrison had been put to the Sword. However, the Ge­neral's Presence not only allay'd the Fury of [Page 109] the Miquelets; but kept his own Troops under strictest Discipline: So that in a happy Hour for the frighted Garrison, the Gene­ral gave Officers and Soldiers Quarters, making them Prisoners of War.

HOW critical was that Minute wherein the General met his retreating Commander? a very few Steps farther had excluded us our own Conquests, to the utter Loss of all those greater Glories which ensu'd. Nor would that have been the worst; for be­sides the Shame attending such an ill con­certed Retreat from our Acquests on Mon­jouick, we must have felt the accumulative Disgrace of infamously retiring aboard the Ships that brought us; but Heaven reserv'd for our General amazing Scenes both of Glory and Mortification.

I CANNOT here omit one Singularity of Life, which will demonstrate Men's different Way of Thinking, if not somewhat worse; when many Years after, to one in Office, who seem'd a little too deaf to my Com­plaints, and by that Means irritating my human Passions, in Justice to my self, as well as Cause, I urg'd this Piece of Service, by which I not only preserv'd the Place, but the Honour of my Country; that Mi­nister petite, to mortify my Expectations and baffle my Plea, with a Grimace as odd as his Logick, return'd, that, in his Opinion, the Service pretended was a Disservice to [Page 110] the Nation; since Perseverance had cost the Government more Money than all our Con­quests were worth, could we have kept 'em. So irregular are the Conceptions of Man, when even great Actions thwart the Bent of an interested Will!

THE Fort of Monjouick being thus sur­prizingly reduc'd, furnish'd a strange Viva­city to Mens Expectations, and as extrava­gantly flatter'd their Hopes; for as Success never fails to excite weaker Minds to pursue their good Fortune, though many times to their own Loss; so is it often too apt to push on more elevated Spirits to renew the En­counter for atchieving new Conquests, by hazarding too rashly all their former Glory. Accordingly, every Body now began to make his utmost Efforts; and look'd upon himself as a Drone, if he was not employ'd in doing something or other towards pushing forward the Siege of Barcelona it self, and raising proper Batteries for that Purpose [...] But, after all, it must in Justice be ac­knowledg'd, that notwithstanding this pro­digious Success that attended this bold En­terprize, the Land Forces of themselves [...] without the Assistance of the Sailors, could never have reduc'd the Town. The Com­manders and Officers of the Fleet had al­ways evinc'd themselves Favourers of the Project upon Barcelona. A new Under­taking so late in the Year, as I have sai [...] [Page 111] before, was their utter Aversion, and what they hated to hear of. Elated therefore with a Beginning so auspicious, they gave a more willing Assistance than could have been ask'd, or judiciously expected. The Admirals forgot their Element, and acted as General Officers at Land: They came every Day from their Ships, with a Body of Men form'd into Companies, and regu­larly marshall'd and commanded by Cap­tains and Lieutenants of their own. Cap­tain Littleton in particular, one of the most advanc'd Captains in the whole Fleet, offer'd of himself to take care of the Landing and Conveyance of the Artillery to the Camp. And answerable to that his first Zeal was his Vigour all along; for finding it next to an Impossibility to draw the Cannon and Mortars up such vast Precipices by Horses, if the Country had afforded them, he caus'd Harnesses to be made for two hundred Men; and by that Means, after a prodigious Fa­tigue and Labour, brought the Cannon and Mortars necessary for the Siege up to the very Batteries.

Barcelona besieg'd.IN this Manner was the Siege begun; nor was it carry'd on with any less Application; the Approaches being made by an Army of Besiegers, that very little, if at all, exceed­ed the Number of the Besieg'd; not alto­gether in a regular Manner, our few Forces would not admit it; but yet with Regula­rity [Page 112] enough to secure our two little Camps, and preserve a Communication between both, not to be interrupted or incommoded by the Enemy. We had soon erected three several Batteries against the Place, all on the West Side of the Town, viz. one of nine Guns, another of Twelve, and the last of upwards of Thirty. From all which we ply'd the Town incessantly, and with all imaginable Fury; and very often in whole Vollies.

NEVERTHELESS it was thought not only adviseable, but necessary, to erect another Battery, upon a lower Piece of Ground un­der a small Hill; which lying more within Reach, and opposite to those Places where the Walls were imagin'd weakest, would annoy the Town the more; and being de­sign'd for six Guns only, might soon be per­fected. A French Engeneer had the Direc­tion; and indeed very quickly perfected it. But when it came to be consider'd which way to get the Cannon to it, most were o [...] opinion that it would be absolutely imprac­ticable, by reason of the vast Descent; tho [...] I believe they might have added a stronge [...] Reason, and perhaps more intrinsick, that i [...] was extremely expos'd to the Fire of th [...] Enemy.

HAVING gain'd some little Reputatio [...] in the Attack of Monjouick, this Difficulty was at last to be put upon me; and as som [...] [Page 113] not my Enemies, suppos'd, more out of Envy than good Will. However, when I came to the Place, and had carefully taken a View of it, though I was sensible enough of the Difficulty, I made my main Objection as to the Time for accomplishing it; for it was then between Nine and Ten, and the Guns were to be mounted by Day-light. Neither could I at present see any other Way to answer their Expectations, than by casting the Cannon down the Precipice, at all Hazards, to the Place below, where that fourth Battery was erected.

THIS wanted not Objections to; and therefore to answer my Purpose, as to point of Time, sixty Men more were order'd me, as much as possible to facilitate the Work by Numbers; and accordingly I set about it. Just as I was setting all Hands to work, and had given Orders to my Men to begin some Paces back, to make the Descent more gradual, and thereby render the Task a little more feasible, Major Collier, who commanded the Train, came to me; and perceiving the Difficulties of the Under­taking, in a Fret told me, I was impos'd upon; and vow'd he would go and find out Brigadier Petit, and let him know the Im­possibility, as well as the Unreasonableness of the Task I was put upon. He had scarce utter'd those Words, and turn'd himself round to perform his Promise, when an un­lucky [Page 114] Shot with a Musket-Ball wounded him through the Shoulder; upon which he was carry'd off, and I saw him not till some con­siderable time after.

BY the painful Diligence, and the addi­tional Compliment of Men, however, I so well succeeded (such was my great good Fortune) that the Way was made, and the Guns, by the Help of Fascines, and other lesser Preparations below, safely let down and mounted; so that that fourth Battery began to play upon the Town before Break of Day; and with all the Success that was propos'd.

IN short, the Breach in a very few Days after was found wholly practicable; and all Things were got ready for a general Storm. Governor of Barcelona beats a Parley, and agrees to surrender in three Days.Which Don Valasco the Governor being sensible of, immediately beat a Parley; upon which it was, among other Articles, con­cluded, that the Town should be surren­der'd in three Days; and the better to en­sure it, the Bastion, which commanded the Port St. Angelo, was directly put into our Possession.

BUT before the Expiration of the limited three Days, a very unexpected Accident fell out, which hasten'd the Surrender. Don Valasco, during his Government, had behav'd himself very arbitrarily, and there­by procur'd, as the Consequence of it, a large Proportion of ill will, not only among the [Page 115] Townsmen, but among the Miquelets, who had, in their Zeal to King Charles, flock'd from all Parts of Catalonia to the Siege of their Capital; and who, on the Signing of the Articles of Surrender, had found various Ways, being well acquainted with the most private Avenues, to get by Night into the Town: So that early in the Morning they began to plunder all that they knew Ene­mies to King Charles, or thought Friends to the Prince his Competitor.

THEIR main Design was upon Valasco the Governor, whom, if they could have got into their Hands, it was not to be que­stion'd, but as far as his Life and Limbs would have serv'd, they would have suffi­ciently satiated their Vengeance upon. He expected no less; and therefore concealed himself, till the Earl of Peterborow could give Orders for his more safe and private Conveyance by Sea to Alicant.

NEVERTHELESS, in the Town all was in the utmost Confusion; which the Earl of Peterborow, at the very first hearing, hasten'd to appease; with his usual Alacrity he rid all alone to Port St. Angelo, where at that time my self happen'd to be; and de­manding to be admitted, the Officer of the Guard, under Fear and Surprise, open'd the Wicket, through which the Earl enter'd, and I after him.

[Page 116]SCARCE had we gone a hundred Paces, when we saw a Lady of apparent Quality, and indisputable Beauty, in a strange, but most affecting Agony, flying from the ap­prehended Fury of the Miquelets; her lovely Hair was all flowing about her Shoulders, which, and the Consternation she was in, rather added to, than any thing diminish'd from the Charms of an Excess of Beauty. She, as is very natural to People in Distress, made up directly to the Earl, her Eyes satisfying her he was a Per­son likely to give her all the Protection she wanted. And as soon as ever she came near enough, in a Manner that declar'd her Quality before she spoke, she crav'd that Protection, telling him, the better to se­cure it, who it was that ask'd it. But the generous Earl presently convinc'd her, he wanted no Intreaties, having, before he knew her to be the Dutchess of Popoli, taken her by the Hand, in order to convey her through the Wicket which he enter'd at, to a Place of Safety without the Town.

I STAY'D behind, while the Earl con­vey'd the distress'd Dutchess to her requested Asylum; and I believe it was much the longest Part of an Hour before he return'd. But as soon as ever he came back, he, and my self, at his Command, repair'd to the Place of most Confusion, which the extra­ordinary Noise full readily directed us to; [Page 117] and which happen'd to be on the Parade be­fore the Palace. There it was that the Miquelets were making their utmost Efforts to get into their Hands the almost sole Occa­sion of the Tumult, and the Object of their raging Fury, the Person of Don Valasco, the late Governor.

IT was here that the Earl preserv'd that Governor from the violent, but perhaps too just Resentments of the Miquelets; and, as I said before, convey'd him by Sea to Ali­cant. And, indeed, I could little doubt the Effect, or be any thing surpriz'd at the Easiness of the Task, when I saw, that wherever he appear'd the popular Fury was in a Moment allay'd, and that every Di­ctate of that General was assented to with the utmost Chearfulness and Deference. Valasco, before his Embarkment, had given Orders, in Gratitude to his Preserver, for all the Gates to be deliver'd up, tho' short of the stipulated Term; and they were according­ly so deliver'd, and our Troops took Posses­sion so soon as ever that Governor was a­board the Ship that was to convey him to Alicant.

DURING the Siege of Barcelona, Bri­gadier Stanhope order'd a Tent to be pitch'd as near the Trenches as possibly could be with Safety; where he not only entertain'd the chief Officers who were upon Duty, but likewise the Catalonian Gentlemen who [Page 118] brought Miquelets to our Assistance. I re­member I saw an old Cavalier, having his only Son with him, who appear'd a fine young Gentleman, about twenty Years of Age, go into the Tent, in order to dine with the Brigadier. But whilst they were at Dinner, an unfortunate Shot came from the Bastion of St. Antonio, and intirely struck off the Head of the Son. The Fa­ther immediately rose up, first looking down upon his headless Child, and then lifting up his Eyes to Heaven, whilst the Tears ran down his Cheeks, he cross'd himself, and only said, Fiat voluntas tua, and bore it with a wonderful Patience. 'Twas a sad Spectacle, and truly it affects me now whilst I am writing.

THE Earl of Peterborow, tho' for some time after the Revolution he had been em­ploy'd in civil Affairs, return'd to the mili­tary Life with great Satisfaction, which was ever his Inclination. Brigadier Stanhope, who was justly afterwards created an Earl, did well deserve this Motto, Tam Marte quam Mercurio; for truly he behav'd, all the time he continu'd in Spain, as if he had been in­spir'd with Conduct; for the Victory at Al­manar was intirely owing to him; and likewise at the Battle of Saragosa he distin­guish'd himself with great Bravery. That he had not Success at Bruhega was not his Fault; for no Man can resist Fate; for 'twas [Page 119] decreed by Heaven that Philip should re­main King of Spain, and Charles to be Em­peror of Germany. Yet each of these Mo­narchs have been ungrateful to the Instru­ments which the Almighty made use of to preserve them upon their Thrones; for one had not been King of Spain but for France; and the other had not been Emperor but for England.

Barcelona, the chief Place in Catalonia, being thus in our Hands, as soon as the Garrison, little inferior to our Army, had march'd out with Drums beating, Colours flying, &c. according to the Articles, Charles the Third made his publick Entry, and was proclaim'd King, and receiv'd with the general Acclamations, and all other Demonstrations of Joy suitable to that great Occasion.

Publick Rejoycings.SOME Days after which, the Citizens, far from being satiated with their former Demonstrations of their Duty, sent a Peti­tion to the King, by proper Deputies for that Purpose appointed, desiring Leave to give more ample Instances of their Affections in a publick Cavalcade. The King granted their Request, and the Citizens, pursuant thereto, made their Preparations.

ON the Day appointed, the King, plac'd in a Balcony belonging to the House of the Earl of Peterborow, appear'd ready to ho­nour the Show. The Ceremonial, to speak [Page 120] nothing figuratively, was very fine and grand: Those of the first Rank made their Appearance in decent Order, and upon fine Horses; and others under Arms, and in Companies, march'd with native Gravity and Grandeur, all saluting his Majesty as they pass'd by, after the Spanish Manner, which that Prince return'd with the Move­ment of his Hand to his Mouth; for the Kings of Spain are not allow'd to salute, or return a Salute, by any Motion to, or of, the Hat.

AFTER these follow'd several Pageants; the first of which was drawn by Mules, set off to the Height with stateliest Feathers, and adorn'd with little Bells. Upon the Top of this Pageant appear'd a Man dress'd all in Green; but in the Likeness of a Dragon. The Pageant making a Stop just over-against the Balcony where the King sate, the Dra­gonical Representative diverted him with great Variety of Dancings, the Earl of Pe­terborow all the time throwing out Dollars by Handfuls among the Populace, which they as constantly receiv'd with the loud Acclamation and repeated Cries of Viva, Viva, Carlos Terceros, Viva la Casa d' Austria.

WHEN that had play'd its Part, another Pageant, drawn as before, made a like full Stop before the same Balcony. On this was plac'd a very large Cage, or Aviary, the [Page 121] Cover of which, by Springs contriv'd for that Purpose, immediately flew open, and out of it a surprizing Flight of Birds of va­rious Colours. These, all amaz'd at their sudden Liberty, which I took to be the Emblem intended, hover'd a considerable space of time over and about their Place of Freedom, chirping, singing, and otherwise testifying their mighty Joy for their so un­expected Enlargement.

THERE were many other Pageants; but having little in them very remarkable, I have forgot the Particulars. Nevertheless, every one of them was dismiss'd with the like Acclamations of Viva, Viva; the Whole concluding with Bonfires and Illu­minations common on all such Occasions.

I CANNOT here omit one very remark­able Instance of the Catholick Zeal of that Prince, which I was soon after an Eye-witness of. I was at that time in the Fruit-Market, when the King passing by in his Coach, the Host (whether by Accident or Contrivance I cannot say) was brought, at that very Juncture, out of the great Church, in order, as I after understood, to a poor sick Woman's receiving the Sacrament. On Sight of the Host the King came out of his Coach, kneel'd down in the Street, which at that time prov'd to be very dirty, till the Host pass'd by; then rose up, and taking the lighted Flambeau from him who [Page 122] bore it, he follow'd the Priest up a streight nasty Alley, and there up a dark ordinary Pair of Stairs, where the poor sick Woman lay. There he stay'd till the whole Cere­mony was over, when, returning to the Door of the Church, he very faithfully re­stor'd the lighted Flambeau to the Fellow he had taken it from, the People all the while crying out Viva, Viva; an Acclamation, we may imagine, intended to his Zeal, as well as his Person.

ANOTHER remarkable Accident, of a much more moral Nature, I must, in justice to the Temperance of that, in this truly inimitable People, recite. I was one Day walking in one of the most populous Streets of that City, where I found an uncommon Concourse of People, of all Sorts, got to­gether; and imagining so great a Croud could not be assembled on a small Occasion, I prest in among the rest; and after a good deal of Struggling and Difficulty, reach'd into the Ring and Centre of that mix'd Mul­titude. But how did I blush? with what Confusion did I appear? when I found one of my own Countrymen, a drunken Grana­dier, the attractive Loadstone of all that high and low Mob, and the Butt of all their Merriment? It will be easily imagin'd to be a Thing not a little surprizing to one of our Country, to find that a drunken Man should be such a wonderful Sight: How­ever, [Page 123] the witty Sarcasms that were then by high and low thrown upon that senseless Creature, and as I interpreted Matters, me in him, were so pungent, that if I did not curse my Curiosity, I thought it best to withdraw my self as fast as Legs could carry me away.

BARCELONA being now under King Charles, the Towns of Gironne, Tarragona, Tortosa, and Lerida, immediately declar'd for him. To every one of which Enge­neers being order'd, it was my Lot to be sent to Tortosa. This Town is situated on the Side of the River Ebro, over which there is a fair and famous Bridge of Boats. The Waters of this River are always of a dirty red Colour, somewhat fouler than our Moorish Waters; yet is it the only Water the Inhabitants drink, or covet to drink; and every House providing for its own Con­venience Cisterns to preserve it in, by a few Hours standing it becomes as clear as the clearest Rock-water, but as soft as Milk. In short, for Softness, Brightness, and Pleasantness of Taste, the Natives pre­fer it to all the Waters in the World. And I must declare in favour of their Opinion, that none ever pleas'd me like it.

THIS Town was of the greater Moment to our Army, as opening a Passage into the Kingdom of Valencia on one Side, and the Kingdom of Arragon on the other: And be­ing [Page 124] of it self tolerably defensible, in human Appearance might probably repay a little Care and Charge in its Repair and Improve­ment. Upon this Employ was I appointed, and thus was I busy'd, till the Arrival of the Earl of Peterborow with his little Army, in order to march to Valencia, the Capital of that Province. Here he left in Garrison Colonel Hans Hamilton's Regiment; the Place, nevertheless, was under the Com­mand of a Spanish Governor, appointed by King Charles.

WHILE the Earl stay'd a few Days at this Place, under Expectation of the promis'd Succours from Barcelona, he re­ceiv'd a Proprio (or Express) from the King of Spain, full of Excuses, instead of Forces. And yet the very same Letter, in a paradoxical Manner, commanded him, at all Events, to attempt the Relief of Santo Mattheo, where Colonel Jones commanded, and which was then under Siege by the Conde de los Torres (as was the Report) with upwards of three thousand Men. The Earl of Peterborow could not muster above one thousand Foot, and about two hundred Horse; a small Force to make an Attempt of that Nature upon such a superior Power: Yet the Earl's Vivacity (as will be occa­sionally further observ'd in the Course of these Memoirs) never much regarded Num­bers, so there was but room, by any Stra­tagem, [Page 125] to hope for Success. True it is, for his greater Encouragement and Consolation, the same Letter intimated, that a great Concourse of the Country People being up in Arms, to the Number of many Thou­sands, in Favour of King Charles, and wanting only Officers, the Enterprize would be easy, and unattended with much Danger. But upon mature Enquiry, the Earl found that great Body of Men all in nubibus; and that the Conde, in the plain Truth of the Matter, was much stronger than the Letter at first represented.

SANTO Mattheo was a Place of known Importance; and that from its Situation, which cut off all Communication between Catalonia and Valencia; and, consequently, should it fall into the Hands of the Enemy, the Earl's Design upon the latter must inevi­tably have been postpon'd. It must be granted, the Commands for attempting the Relief of it were pressing and peremptory; nevertheless, the Earl was very conscious to himself, that as the promis'd Reinforce­ments were suspended, his Officers would not approve of the Attempt upon the Foot of such vast Inequalities; and their own de­clar'd Sentiments soon confirm'd the Dictates of the Earl's Reason. He therefore ad­dresses himself to those Officers in a different Manner: He told 'em he only desir'd they would be passive, and leave it to him to [Page 126] work his own Way. Accordingly, the Earl found out and hired two Spanish Spies, for whose Fidelity (as his great Precaution al­ways led him to do) he took sufficient Se­curity; and dispatch'd 'em with a Letter to Colonel Jones, Governor of the Place, in­timating his Readiness, as well as Ability, to relieve him; and, above all, exhorting him to have the Miquelets in the Town ready, on Sight of his Troops, to issue out, pursue, and plunder; since that would be all they would have to do, and all he would expect at their Hands. The Spies were dis­patch'd accordingly; and, pursuant to In­structions, one betray'd and discover'd the other who had the Letter in charge to de­liver to Colonel Jones. The Earl, to carry on the Feint, having in the mean time, by dividing his Troops, and march­ing secretly over the Mountains, drawn his Men together, so as to make their Appea­rance on the Height of a neighbouring Mountain, little more than Cannon-shot from the Enemy's Camp. Santo Mattheo reliev'd by the Earl of Peterbo­row.The Tale of the Spies was fully confirm'd, and the Conde (though an able General) march'd off with some Precipitation with his Army; and by that Means the Earl's smaller Number of twelve Hundred had Liberty to march into the Town without Interruption. I must not let slip an Action of Colonel Jones's just be­fore the Earl's Delivery of them: The [Page 127] Conde, for want of Artillery, had set his Miners to work; and the Colonel, finding they had made some dangerous Advances, turned the Course of a Rivulet, that ran through the Middle of the Town, in upon them, and made them quit a Work they thought was brought to Perfection.

SANTO Mattheo being reliev'd, as I have said, the Earl, though he had so far gain'd his Ends, left not the flying Enemy without a Feint of Pursuit; with such Cau­tion, nevertheless, that in case they should happen to be better inform'd of his Weak­ness, he might have a Resource either back again to Santo Mattheo, or to Vinaros on the Sea-side; or some other Place, as occa­sion might require. But having just before receiv'd fresh Advice, that the Reinforce­ments he expected were anew counter­manded; and that the Duke of Anjou had increas'd his Troops to twelve thousand Men; the Officers, not enough elated with the last Success to adventure upon new Ex­periments, resolv'd, in a Council of War, to advise the Earl, who had just before re­reiv'd a discretionary Commission in lieu of Troops, so to post the Forces under him, as not to be cut off from being able to assist the King in Person; or to march to the De­fence of Catalonia, in case of Necessity.

PURSUANT to this Resolution of the Council of War, the Earl of Peterborow, [Page 128] tho' still intent upon his Expedition into Valencia (which had been afresh com­manded, even while his Supplies were countermanded) orders his Foot, in a truly bad Condition, by tedious Marches Day and Night over the Mountains, to Vinaros; and with his two hundred Horse, set out to pro­secute his pretended Design of pursuing the flying Enemy; resolv'd, if possible, not­withstanding all seemingly desperate Cir­cumstances, to perfect the Security of that Capital.

TO that Purpose, the Earl, with his small Body of Patrolers, went on frightning the Enemy, till they came under the Walls of Nules, a Town fortify'd with the best Walls, regular Towers, and in the best Re­pair of any in that Kingdom. But even here, upon the Appearance of the Earl's Forlorn (if they might not properly at that time all have pass'd under that Character) under the same Panick they left that fensible Town, with only one Thousand of the Town's People, well arm'd, for the Defence of it. Yet was it scarce to be imagin'd, that the Earl, with his small Body of two hun­dred Horse, should be able to gain Admis­sion; or, indeed, under such Circumstances, to attempt it. But bold as the Undertaking was, his good Genius went along with him; and so good a Genius was it, that it rarely left him without a good Effect. He had [Page 129] been told the Day before, that the Enemy, on leaving Nules, had got Possession of Villa Real, where they put all to the Sword. What would have furnish'd another with Terror, inspir'd his Lordship with a Thought as fortunate as it was successful. The Earl rides up to the very Gates of the Town, at the Head of his Party, and peremptorily de­mands the chief Magistrate, or a Priest, im­mediately to be sent out to him; and that un­der Penalty of being all put to the Sword, and us'd as the Enemy had us'd those at Villa-Real the Day or two before. The Troops, that had so lately left the Place, had left behind 'em more Terror than Men; which, together with the peremptory Demand of the Earl, soon produc'd some Priests to wait upon the General. By their Readiness to obey, the Earl very justly imagin'd Fear to be the Motive; wherefore, to improve their Terror, he only allow'd them six Minutes time to resolve upon a Surrender, telling them, that otherwise, so soon as his Artillery was come up, he would lay them under the utmost Extremities. The Priests return'd with this melancholy Message into the Place; Nules sur­render'd to the Earl of Peterbo­row.and in a very short time after the Gates were thrown open. Upon the Earl's En­trance he found two hundred Horse, which were the Original of his Lordship's forming that Body of Horse, which afterwards prov'd the saving of Valencia.

[Page 130]THE News of the taking of Nules soon overtook the flying Enemy; and so in­creas'd the Apprehensions of their Danger, that they renew'd their March the same Day; though what they had taken before would have satisfy'd them much better without it. On the other hand, the Earl was so well pleas'd with his Success, that leaving the Enemy to fly before their Fears, he made a short Turn towards Castillon de la Plana, a considerable, but open Town, where his Lordship furnish'd himself with four hundred Horses more; and all this un­der the Assurance that his Troops were driving the Enemy before them out of the Kingdom. Hence he sent Orders to Colo­nel Pierce's Regiment at Vinaros to meet him at Oropesa, a Place at no great Di­stance; where, when they came, they were very pleasingly surpriz'd at their being well mounted, and furnish'd with all Accoutre­ments necessary. After which, leaving 'em canton'd in wall'd Towns, where they could not be disturb'd without Artillery, that inde­fatigable General, leaving them full Orders, went on his way towards Tortosa.

AT Vinaros the Earl met with Advice, that the Spanish Militia of the Kingdom of Valencia were assembled, and had already advanc'd a Day's March at least into that Country. Upon which, collecting, as fast as he could, the whole Corps together, the [Page 131] Earl resolv'd to penetrate into Valencia directly; notwithstanding this whole col­lected Body would amount to no more than six hundred Horse and two thousand Foot.

BUT there was a strong Pass over a River, just under the Walls of Molviedro, which must be first disputed and taken. This Bri­gadier Mahoni, by the Orders of the Duke of Arcos, who commanded the Troops of the Duke of Anjou in the Kingdom of Va­lencia, had taken care to secure. Molviedro describ'd. Molvie­dro, though not very strong, is a wall'd Town, very populous of it self; and had in it, besides a Garrison of eight hundred Men, most of Mahoni's Dragoons. It lies at the very Bottom of a high Hill; on the upper Part whereof they shew the Ruins of the once famous SAGUNTUM; Saguntum. famous sure to Eternity, if Letters shall last so long, for an inviolable Fidelity to a negligent Confede­rate, against an implacable Enemy. Here yet appear the visible Vestigia of awful Anti­quity, in half standing Arches, and the yet unlevell'd Walls and Towers of that once celebrated City. I could not but look upon all these with the Eyes of Despight, in re­gard to their Enemy Hannibal; with those of Disdain, in respect to the uncommon and unaccountable Supineness of its Confederates, the Romans; but with those of Veneration, as to the Memory of a glorious People, who rather than stand reproach'd with a Breach [Page 132] of Faith, or the Brand of Cowardice, chose to sacrifice themselves, their Wives, Children, and all that was dear to them, in the Flames of their expiring City.

IN Molviedro, as I said before, Mahoni commanded, with eight hundred Men, be­sides Inhabitants; which, together with our having but little Artillery, induc'd the Officers under the Earl of Peterborow reasonably enough to imagine and declare, that there could be no visible Appearance of surmounting such Difficulties. The Earl, nevertheless, instead of indulging such De­spondencies, gave them Hope, that what Strength serv'd not to accomplish, Art might possibly obtain. To that Purpose he pro­posed an Interview between himself and Mahoni; and accordingly sent an Officer with a Trumpet to intimate his Desire. The Motion was agreed to; and the Earl having previously station'd his Troops to advantage, and his little Artillery at a convenient Di­stance, with Orders they should appear on a slow March on the Side of a rising Hill, during the time of Conference, went to the Place appointed; only, as had been stipu­lated, attended with a small Party of Horse. When they were met, the Earl first offer'd all he could to engage Mahoni to the In­terest of King Charles; proposing some Things extravagant enough (as Mahoni himself some time after told me) to stagger [Page 133] the Faith of a Catholick; but all to little Purpose: Mahoni was inflexible, which oblig'd the Earl to new Measures.

WHEREUPON the Earl frankly told him, that he could not however but esteem the Confidence he had put in him; and there­fore, to make some Retaliation, he was ready to put it in his Power to avoid the Barbarities lately executed at Villa-Real. ‘"My Relation to you, continued the Gene­ral, inclines me to spare a Town under your Command. You see how near my Forces are; and can hardly doubt our soon being Masters of the Place: What I would therefore offer you, said the Earl, is a Capitulation, that my Incli­nation may be held in Countenance by my Honour. Barbarities, however justified by Example, are my utter Aversion, and against my Nature; and to testify so much, together with my good Will to your Per­son, was the main Intent of this Interview."’

THIS Frankness so far prevail'd on Ma­honi, that he agreed to return an Answer in half an Hour. Accordingly, an Answer was return'd by a Spanish Officer, and a Ca­pitulation agreed upon; the Earl at the same time endeavouring to bring over that Officer to King Charles, on much the same Topicks he us'd with Mahoni. But finding this equally fruitless, whether it was that he tacitly reproach'd the Officer with a Want [Page 134] of Consideration in neglecting to follow the Example of his Commander, or what else, he created in that Officer such a Jealousy of Mahoni, that was afterward very service­able to him in his further Design.

TO forward which to a good Issue, the Earl immediately made choice of two Dra­goons, who, upon promise of Promotion, undertook to go as Spies to the Duke of Arcos, whose Forces lay not far off, on the other Side a large Plain, which the Earl must unavoidably pass, and which would inevitably be attended with almost insuper­able Dangers, if there attack'd by a Force so much superior. Those Spies, according to Instructions, were to discover to the Duke, that they over-heard the Conference between the Earl and Mahoni; and at the same time saw a considerable Number of Pistoles deliver'd into Mahoni's Hands, large Promises passing at that Instant reci­procally: But above all, that the Earl had recommended to him the procuring the March of the Duke over the Plain between them. The Spies went and deliver'd all ac­cording to Concert; concluding, before the Duke, that they would ask no Reward, but undergo any Punishment, if Mahoni did not very soon send to the Duke a Request to march over the Plain, in order to put the concerted Plot in execution. It was not long after this pretended Discovery be­fore [Page 135] Mahoni did send indeed an Officer to the Duke, desiring the March of his Forces over the Plain; but, in reality, to obstruct the Earl's Passage, which he knew very well must be that and no other way. How­ever, the Duke being prepossess'd by the Spies, and what those Spanish Officers that at first escap'd had before infus'd, took Things in their Sense; and as soon as Mahoni, who was forc'd to make the best of his way over the Plain before the Earl of Peterborow, arriv'd at his Camp, he was put under Arrest and sent to Madrid. The Duke having thus imbib'd the Venom, and taken the Alarm, immediately decamp'd in Con­fusion, and took a different Rout than at first he intended; leaving that once formidable Plain open to the Earl, without an Enemy to obstruct him. In some little time after he arriv'd at Madrid, Mahoni made his Inno­cence appear, and was created a General; while the Duke of Arcos was recall'd from his Post of Honour.

The Earl's Entry into the City of Valencia.THE Day after we arriv'd at Valencia, the Gates of which fine City were set open to us with the highest Demonstrations of Joy. I call'd it a fine City; but sure it richly deserves a brighter Epithet, since it is a common Saying among the Spaniards, that the Pleasures of Valencia would make a Jew forget Jerusalem. It is most sweetly situated in a very beautiful Plain, and with­in [Page 136] half a League of the Mediterranean Sea. It never wants any of the Fragrancies of Nature, and always has something to de­light the most curious Eye. It is famous to a Proverb for fine Women; but as infa­mous, and only in that so, for the Race of Bravoes, the common Companions of the Ladies of Pleasure in this Country. These Wretches are so Case-hardened, they will commit a Murder for a Dollar, tho' they run their Country for it when they have done. Not that other Parts of this Nation are uninfested with this sort of Animals; but here their Numbers are so great, that if a Catalogue was to be taken of those in o­ther Parts of that Country, perhaps nine in ten would be found by Birth to be of this Province.

BUT to proceed, tho' the Citizens, and all Sorts of People, were redundant in their various Expressions of Joy, for an Entry so surprizing, and utterly lost to their Expecta­tion, whatever it was to their Wishes, the Earl had a secret Concern for the Publick, which lay gnawing at his Heart, and which yet he was forced to conceal. He knew that he had not four thousand Soldiers in the Place, and not Powder or Ammunition for those; nor any Provisions lay'd in for any thing like a Siege. On the other Hand, the E­nemy without were upwards of seven Thou­sand, with a Body of four Thousand more, [Page 137] not fifteen Leagues off, on their March to join them. Add to this, the Mareschal de Thesse was no farther off than Madrid, a very few Days March from Valencia; a short Way indeed for the Earl (who, as was said before, was wholly unprovided for a Siege, which was reported to be the sole End of the Mareschal's moving that Way.) But the Earl's never-failing Genius resolv'd again to attempt that by Art, which the Strength of his Forces utterly disallow'd him. And in the first Place, his Intelli­gence telling him that sixteen twenty-four Pounders, with Stores and Ammunition answerable for a Siege, were ship'd off for the Enemy's Service at Alicant, the Earl forthwith lays a Design, and with his usual Success intercepts 'em all, supplying that way his own Necessities at the Expence of the Enemy.

THE four thousand Men ready to rein­force the Troops nearer Valencia, were the next Point to be undertaken; but hic labor, hoc opus; since the greater Body under the Conde de las Torres (who, with Mahoni, was now reinstated in his Post) lay between the Earl and those Troops intended to be dispers'd. And what inhaunc'd the Diffi­culty, the River Xucar must be pass'd in al­most the Face of the Enemy. Great Dis­advantages as these were, they did not dis­courage the Earl. He detach'd by Night [Page 138] four hundred Horse and eight hundred Foot who march'd with such hasty Silence, that they surpriz'd that great Body, routed 'em, A small Party of the Earl's routs a Body of four Thou­sand. and brought into Valencia six hundred Pri­soners very safely, notwithstanding they were oblig'd, under the same Night-Covert, to pass very near a Body of three Thousand of the Enemy's Horse. Such a prodigious Victory would hardly have gain'd Credit in that City, if the Prisoners brought in had not been living Witnesses of the Action as well as the Triumph. The Conde de las Torres, upon these two military Rebuffs, drew off to a more convenient Distance, and left the Earl a little more at ease in his new Quarters.

HERE the Earl of Peterborow made his Residence for some time. He was extream­ly well belov'd; his affable Behaviour ex­acted as much from all; and he preserv'd such a good Correspondence with the Priests and the Ladies, that he never fail'd of the most early and best Intelligence, a thing by no means to be slighted in the common Course of Life; but much more commendable and necessary in a General, with so small an Army, at open War, and in the Heart of his Enemy's Country.

THE Earl, by this Means; some small time after, receiving early Intelligence that King Philip was actually on his March to Bar­celona, with an Army of upwards of twenty [Page 139] five thousand Men, under the Command of a Mareschal of France, began his March to­wards Catalonia, with all the Troops that he could gather together, leaving in Va­lencia a small Body of Foot, such as in that Exigence could best be spar'd. The whole Body thus collected made very little more than two thousand Foot and six hundred Horse; yet resolutely with these he sets out for Barcelona: In the Neighbourhood of which, as soon as he arriv'd, he took care to post himself and his diminutive Army in the Mountains which inviron that City; where he not only secur'd 'em against the Enemy; but found himself in a Capacity of putting him under perpetual Alarms. Nor was the Mareschal, with his great Army, capable of returning the Earl's Compliment of Disturbance; since he himself, every six or eight Hours, put his Troops into such a varying Situation, that always when most arduously sought, he was farthest off from being found. In this Manner the General bitterly harrass'd the Troops of the Enemy; and by these Means struck a perpetual Ter­ror into the Besiegers. Nor did he only this way annoy the Enemy; the Precautions he had us'd, and the Measures he had taken in other Places, with a View to prevent their Return to Madrid, though the Invi­dious endeavour'd to bury them in Oblivion, having equally contributed to the driving [Page 140] of the Mareschal of France, and his Catho­lick King, out of the Spanish Dominions.

BUT to go on with the Siege: The Breaches in the Walls of that City, during its Siege by the Earl, had been put into tolerable Repair; but those of Monjouick, on the contrary, had been as much neglect­ed. However, the Garrison made shift to hold out a Battery of twenty-three Days, with no less than fifty Pieces of Cannon; when, after a Loss of the Enemy of upwards of three thousand Men (a Moiety of the Army employ'd against it when the Earl took it) they were forc'd to surrender at Discretion. Monjouick taken by the Mares­chal of France. And this cannot but merit our Observation, that a Place, which the English General took in little more than an Hour, and with very inconsiderable Loss, afforded the Mareschal of France a Resi­stance of twenty-three Days.

Barcelona besieg'd.UPON the taking of Fort Monjouick, the Mareschal de Thess gave immediate Orders for Batteries to be rais'd against the Town. Those Orders were put in Execution with all Expedition; and at the same time his Army fortify'd themselves with such En­trenchments, as would have ruin'd the Earl's former little Army to have rais'd, or his pre­sent much lesser Army to have attempted the forcing them. However, they sufficiently demonstrated their Apprehensions of that watchful General, who lay hovering over [Page 141] their Heads upon the Mountains. Their main Effort was to make a Breach between Port St. Antonio and that Breach which our Forces had made the Year before; to effect which they took care to ply them very di­ligently both from Cannon and Mortars; and in some few Days their Application was answer'd with a practicable Breach for a Storm. Which however was prudently deferr'd for some time, and that thro' fear of the Earl's falling on the Back of them whenever they should attempt it; which, consequently, they were sensible might put them into some dangerous Disorder.

AND now it was that the Earl of Peter­borow resolv'd to put in practice the Reso­lution he had some time before concerted within himself. About nine or ten Days be­fore the Raising of the Siege, he had receiv'd an Express from Brigadier Stanhope (who was aboard Sir John Leake's Fleet appoint­ed for the Relief of the Place, with the Reinforcements from England) acquainting the Earl, that he had us'd all possible En­deavours to prevail on the Admiral to make the best of his way to Barcelona. But that the Admiral, however, persisted in a posi­tive Resolution not to attempt the French Fleet before that Place under the Count de Tholouse, till the Ships were join'd him which were expected from Ireland, under the Command of Sir George Bing. True [Page 142] it was, the Fleet under Admiral Leake was of equal Strength with that under the French Admiral; but jealous of the Infor­mations he had receiv'd, and too ready to conclude that People in Distress were apt to make Representations too much in their own Favour; he held himself, in point of Discretion, oblig'd not to hazard the Queen's Ships, when a Reinforcement of both cleaner and larger were under daily Expectation.

THIS unhappy Circumstance (notwith­standing all former glorious Deliverances) had almost brought the Earl to the Brink of Despair; and to increase it, the Earl every Day receiv'd such Commands from the King within the Place, as must have sa­crificed his few Forces, without the least Probability of succeeding. Those all tended to his forcing his Way into the Town; when, in all human Appearance, not one Man of all that should make the Attempt could have done it, with any Hope or Pro­spect of surviving. The French were strong­ly encamp'd at the Foot of the Mountains, distant two Miles from Barcelona; towards the Bottom of those Hills, the Avenues into the Plain were possess'd and fortify'd by great Detachments from the Enemy's Army. From all which it will be evident, that no Attempt could be made without giving the Enemy time to draw together what Body [Page 143] of Foot they pleas'd. Or supposing it fea­sible, under all these difficult Circumstances, for some of them to have forc'd their Pas­sage, the Remainder, that should have been so lucky to have escap'd their Foot, would have found themselves expos'd in open Field to a Pursuit of four thousand Horse and Dragoons; and that for two Miles to­gether; when in case of their inclosing them, the bravest Troops in the World, un­der such a Situation, would have found it their best way to have surrender'd them­selves Prisoners of War.

NEVERTHELESS, when Brigadier Stan­hope sent that Express to the Earl, which I just now mention'd, he assur'd him in the same, that he would use his utmost Dili­gence, both by Sea and Land, to let him have timely Notice of the Conjunction of the Fleets, which was now all they had to de­pend upon. Adding withal, that if the Earl should at any time receive a Letter, or Paper, though directed to no Body, and with nothing in it, but a half Sheet of Paper cut in the Middle, he, the Earl, might cer­tainly depend upon it, that the two Fleets were join'd, and making the best of their Way for Barcelona. It will easily be ima­gin'd the Express was to be well paid; and being made sensible that he ran little or no Hazard in carrying a Piece of blank Paper, he undertook it, and as fortunately arriv'd [Page 144] with it to the Earl, at a Moment when Chagrin and Despair might have hurry'd him to some Resolution that might have prov'd fatal. The Messenger himself, how­ever, knew nothing of the Joining of the Fleets, or the Meaning of his Message.

AS soon as the Earl of Peterborow re­ceiv'd this welcome Message from Brigadier Stanhope, he march'd the very same Night, with his whole little Body of Forces, to a Town on the Sea-Shore, call'd Sigeth. No Person guess'd the Reason of his March, or knew any thing of what the Intent of it was. The Officers, as formerly, obey'd without Enquiry; for they were led to it by so many unaccountable Varieties of Success, that Affiance became a second Nature, both in Officer and Soldier.

THE Town of Sigeth was about seven Leagues to the Westward of Barcelona; where, as soon as the Earl with his Forces arriv'd, he took care to secure all the small Fishing-Boats, Feluccas, and Sattées; nay, in a Word, every Machine in which he could transport any of his Men: So that in two Days time he had got together a Num­ber sufficient for the Conveyance of all his Foot.

BUT a Day or two before the Arrival o [...] the English Fleet off Sigeth, the Officers o [...] his Troops were under a strange Consternation at a Resolution their General had take [...] [Page 145] Impatient of Delay, and fearful of the Fleets passing by without his Knowledge, the Earl summon'd them together a little before Night, at which time he discover'd to the whole Assembly, that he himself was oblig'd to endeavour to get aboard the English Fleet; and that, if possible, before the French Scouts should be able to make any Disco­very of their Strength: That finding him­self of no further Use on Shore, having al­ready taken the necessary Precautions for their Transportation and Security, they had nothing to do but to pursue his Orders, and make the best of their Way to Barcelona, in the Vessels which he had provided for them: That they might do this in perfect Security when they saw the English Fleet pass by; or if they should pass by in the Night, an Engagement with the French, which would be an inevitable Consequence, would give them sufficient Notice what they had to do further.

THIS Declaration, instead of satisfying, made the Officers ten times more curious: But when they saw their General going with a Resolution to lie out all Night at Sea, in an open Boat, attended with only one Officer; and understood that he in­tended to row out in his Felucca five or six Leagues distance from the Shore; it is hardly to be express'd what Amazement and Con­cern surpriz'd them all. Mr. Crow, the [Page 146] Queen's Minister, and others, express'd a par­ticular Dislike and Uneasiness; but all to no purpose, the Earl had resolv'd upon it. Ac­cordingly, at Night he put out to Sea in his open Felucca, all which he spent five Leagues from Shore, with no other Com­pany than one Captain and his Rowers.

IN the Morning, to the great Satisfaction of all, Officers and others, the Earl came again to Land; and immediately began to put his Men into the several Vessels which lay ready in Port for that Purpose. But at Night their Amaze was renew'd, when they found their General ready to put in execu­tion his old Resolution, in the same Equi­page, and with the same Attendance. Ac­cordingly, he again felucca'd himself; and they saw him no more till they were landed on the Mole in Barcelona.

WHEN the Earl of Peterborow first en­gag'd himself in the Expedition to Spain, he propos'd to the Queen and her Ministry; that Admiral Shovel might be join'd in Com­mission with him in the Command of the Fleet. But this Year, when the Fleet came through the Straites, under Vice-Admiral Leake, the Queen had sent a Com­mission to the Earl of Peterborow for the full Command, whenever he thought fit to come aboard in Person. This it was that made the General endeavour, at all Hazards, to get aboard the Fleet by Night; for he [Page 147] was apprehensive, and the Sequel prov'd his Apprehensions too well grounded, that Admiral Leake would make his Appearance with the whole Body of the Fleet, which made near twice the Number of the Ships of the Enemy; in which Case it was natural to suppose, that the Count de Tholouse, as soon as ever the French Scouts should give Notice of our Strength, would cut his Cables and put out to Sea, to avoid an En­gagement. On the other hand, the Earl was very sensible, that if a Part of his Ships had kept a-stern, that the Superiority might have appear'd on the French Side; or rather if they had bore away in the Night towards the Coast of Africa, and fallen to the East­ward of Barcelona the next Day, a Battle had been inevitable, and a Victory equally certain; since the Enemy by this Means had been tempted into an Engagement, and their Retreat being cut off, and their whole Fleet surrounded with almost double their Num­ber, there had hardly been left for any of them a Probability of Escaping.

THEREFORE, when the Earl of Peter­borow put to Sea again the second Evening, fearful of loosing such a glorious Opportu­nity, and impatient to be aboard to give the necessary Orders, he order'd his Rowers to obtain the same Station, in order to discover the English Fleet. And according to his Wishes he did fall in with it; but unfor­tunately [Page 148] the Night was so far advanc'd, that it was impossible for him then to put his Project into practice. Earl of Pe­terborow arrives on board the English Fleet. Captain Price, a Gentleman of Wales, who commanded a Third Rate, was the Person he first came aboard of; but how amaz'd was he to find, in an open Boat at open Sea, the Person who had Commission to command the Fleet? So soon as he was enter'd the Ship, the Earl sent the Ship's Pinnace with Letters to Admiral Leake, to acquaint him with his Orders and Intentions; and to Brigadier Stanhope with a Notification of his safe Ar­rival; but the Darkness of the Night prov'd so great an Obstacle, that it was a long time before the Pinnace could reach the Ad­miral. When Day appear'd, it was asto­nishing to the whole Fleet to see the Union Flag waving at the Main-top-mast Head. No Body could trust his own Eyes, or guess at the Meaning, till better certify'd by the Account of an Event so singular and extra­ordinary.

WHEN we were about six Leagues Di­stance from Barcelona, the Port we aim'd at, one of the French Scouts gave the Alarm, who making the Signal to another, he communicated it to a Third, and so on, as we afterward sorrowfully found, and as the Earl had before apprehended: The French Admiral being thus made acquainted with the Force of our Fleet, hoisted sail, and [Page 149] made the best of his Way from us, either pursuant to Orders, or under the plausible Excuse of a Retreat.

THIS favourable Opportunity thus lost, there remain'd nothing to do but to land the Troops with all Expedition; which was executed accordingly: The Regiments, which the Earl of Peterborow embark'd the Night before, being the first that got into the Town. Let the Reader imagine how pleasing such a Sight must be to those in Barcelona, reduc'd as they were to the last Extremity. In this Condition, to see an Enemy's Fleet give way to another with Reinforcements from England, the Sea at the same Instant cover'd with little Vessels crouded with greater Succours; what was there wanting to compleat the glorious Scene, but what the General had project­ed, a Fight at Sea, under the very Walls of the invested City, and the Ships of the Enemy sinking, or tow'd in by the victo­rious English? But Night, and a few Hours, defeated the latter Part of that well intended Landskip.

KING Philip, and the Mareschal of France, had not fail'd to push on the Siege with all imaginable Vigour; but this Re­treat of the Count de Tholouse, and the News of those Reinforcements, soon chang'd the Scene. Their Courage without was abated proportionably, as theirs within was [Page 150] elated. The Siege of Barce­lona rais'dIn these Circumstances, a Council of War being call'd, it was unanimously re­solv'd to raise the Siege. Accordingly, next Morning, the first of May, 1706. while the Sun was under a total Eclypse, in a suitable Hurry and Confusion, they broke up, leaving behind them most of their Cannon and Mortars, together with vast Quantities of all Sorts of Ammunition and Provisions, scarce stopping to look back till they had left all but the very Verge of the disputed Dominion behind them.

KING Charles look'd with new Pleasure upon this lucky Effort of his old Deli­verers. Captivity is a State no way de­sirable to Persons however brave, of the most private Station in Life; but for a King, within two Days of falling into the Hands of his Rival, to receive so seasonable and unexpected a Deliverance, must be supposed, as it really did, to open a Scene to universal Rejoicing among us, too high for any Words to express, or any Thoughts to ima­gine, to those that were not present and Partakers of it. He forth with gave Orders for a Medal to be struck suitable to the Oc­casion; one of which, set round with Dia­monds, he presented to Sir John Leake, the English Admiral. The next Orders were for re-casting all the damag'd brass Cannon which the Enemy had left; upon every one of which was, by order, a Sun eclyps'd, [Page 151] with this Motto under it: Magna parvis obscurantur.

I HAVE often wonder'd that I never heard any Body curious enough to enquire what could be the Motives to the King of Spain's quitting his Dominions upon the raising of this Siege; very certain it is that he had a fine Army, under the Command of a Mareschal of France, not very consi­derably decreas'd, either by Action or De­sertion: But all this would rather increase the Curiosity than abate it. In my Opinion then, though Men might have Curiosity enough, the Question was purposely evaded, under an Apprehension that an honest Answer must inevitably give a higher Idea of the General than their Inclinations led them to. At first View this may carry the Face of a Paradox; yet if the Reader will consider, that in every Age Virtue has had its Shaders or Maligners, he will himself easily solve it, at the same time that he finds himself compell'd to allow, that those, who found themselves unable to prevent his great Services, were willing, in a more subtil Manner, to endeavour at the annulling of them by Silence and Concealment.

THIS will appear more than bare Suppo­sition, if we compare the present Situation, as to Strength, of the two contending Powers: The French, at the Birth of the Siege, con­sisted of five thousand Horse and Dragoons, [Page 152] and twenty-five thousand Foot, effective Men. Now grant, that their kill'd and wounded, together with their Sick in the Hospitals, might amount to five Thousand; yet as their Body of Horse was entire, and in the best Condition, the Remaining will appear to be an Army of twenty-five Thou­sand at least. On the other Side, all the Forces in Barcelona, even with their Re­inforcements, amounted to no more than seven thousand Foot and four hundred Horse. Why then, when they rais'd their Siege, did not they march back into the Heart of Spain, with their so much superior Army? or, at least, towards their Capital? The Answer can be this, and this only; Be­cause the Earl of Peterborow had taken such provident Care to render all secure, that it was thereby render'd next to an Im­possibility for them so to do. That Gene­ral was satisfy'd, that the Capital of Cata­lonia must, in course, fall into the Hands of the Enemy, unless a superior Fleet re­mov'd the Count de Tholouse, and threw in timely Succours into the Town: And as that could not depend upon him, but others, he made it his chief Care and assiduous Employment to provide against those Strokes of Fortune to which he found him­self again likely to be expos'd, as he often had been; and therefore had he Resource to that Vigilance and Precaution which had [Page 153] often retriev'd him, when to others his Cir­cumstances seem'd to be most desperate.

THE Generality of Mankind, and the French in particular, were of opinion that the taking Barcelona would prove a decisive Stroke, and put a Period to the War in Spain; and yet at that very Instant I was inclin'd to believe, that the General flatter'd himself it would be in his Power to give the Enemy sufficient Mortification, even though the Town should be oblig'd to submit to King Philip. The wise Measures taken induc'd me so to believe, and the Sequel approv'd it; for the Earl had so well ex­pended his Caution, that the Enemy, on the Disappointment, found himself under a Necessity of quitting Spain; and the same would have put him under equal Difficul­ties had he carry'd the Place. The French could never have undertaken that Siege without depending on their Fleet, for their Artillery, Ammunition, and Provisions; since they must be inevitably forc'd to leave behind them the strong Towns of Tortosa, Lerida, and Taragona. The Earl, there­fore, whose perpetual Difficulties seem'd rather to render him more sprightly and vi­gorous, took care himself to examine the whole Country between the Ebro and Barcelona; and, upon his doing so, was pleasingly, as well as sensibly satisfy'd, that it was practicable to render their Return into [Page 154] the Heart of Spain impossible, whether they did or did not succeed in the Siege they were so intent to undertake.

THERE were but three Ways they could attempt it: The first of which was by the Sea-side, from Taragona towards Tortosa; the most barren, and consequently the most improper Country in the Universe to sustain an Army; and yet to the natural, the Earl had added such artificial Difficulties, as ren­der'd it absolutely impossible for an Army to subsist or march that Way.

THE middle Way lay through a better Country indeed, yet only practicable by the Care which had been taken to make the Road so. And even here there was a Ne­cessity of marching along the Side of a Mountain, where, by vast Labour and In­dustry, a high Way had been cut for two Miles at least out of the main Rock. The Earl therefore, by somewhat of the same Labour, soon made it impassable. He em­ploy'd to that End many Thousands of the Country People, under a few of his own Officers and Troops, who cutting up twenty several Places, made so many Precipices, perpendicular almost as a Wall, which ren­der'd it neither safe, or even to be attempt­ed by any single Man in his Wits, much less by an Army. Besides, a very few Men, from the higher Cliffs of the Mountain, might have destroy'd an Army with the Arms of [Page 155] Nature only, by rolling down large Stones and Pieces of the Rock upon the Enemy passing below.

THE last and uppermost Way, lay thro' the hilly Part of Catalonia, and led to Le­rida, towards the Head of the Ebro, the strongest Place we had in all Spain, and which was as well furnish'd with a very good Garrison. Along this Road there lay many old Castles and little Towns in the Mountains, naturally strong; all which would not only have afforded Opposition, but at the same time have entertain'd an E­nemy with variety of Difficulties; and espe­cially as the Earl had given Orders and taken Care that all Cattle, and every Thing necessary to sustain an Army, should be con­vey'd into Places of Security, either in the Mountains or thereabouts. These three Ways thus precautiously secur'd, what had the Earl to apprehend but the Safety of the Arch-Duke; which yet was through no Default of his, if in any Danger from the Siege?

FOR I well remember, on Receipt of an Express from the Duke of Savoy (as he fre­quenly sent such to enquire after the Pro­ceedings in Spain) I was shew'd a Letter, wrote about this time by the Earl of Peter­borow to that Prince, which rais'd my Spi­rits, though then at a very low Ebb. It was too remarkable to be forgot; and the [Page 156] Substance of it was, That his Highness might depend upon it, that he (the Earl) was in much better Circumstances than he was thought to be: That the French Officers, knowing nothing of the Situation of the Country, would find themselves ex­treamly disappointed, since in case the Siege was rais'd, their Army should be oblig'd to abandon Spain: Or in case the Town was taken, they should find themselves shut up in that Corner of Catalonia, and under an Impossibility of forcing their Way back, either through Aragon or Valencia: That by this Means all Spain, to the Ebro, would be open to the Lord Galoway, who might march to Madrid, or any where else, without Opposition. That he had no other Uneasiness or Concern upon him, but for the Person of the Arch-Duke, whom he had nevertheless earnestly solicited not to re­main in the Town on the very first Ap­pearance of the intended Siege.

BARCELONA being thus reliev'd, and King Philip forc'd out of Spain, by these cautious Steps taken by the Earl of Peter­borow, before we bring him to Valencia, it will be necessary to intimate, that as it always was the Custom of that General to settle, by a Council of War, all the Mea­sures to be taken, whenever he was oblig'd for the Service to leave the Arch-Duke; a Council of War was now accordingly held, [Page 157] where all the General Officers, and those in greatest Employments at Court assisted. Here every thing was in the most solemn Manner concerted and resolv'd upon; here Garrisons were settled for all the strong Places, and Governors appointed: But the main Article then agreed upon was, that King Charles should immediately begin his Journey to Madrid, and that by the Way of Valencia. The Reason assign'd for it was, because that Kingdom being in his Possession, no Difficulties could arise which might occasion Delay, if his Majesty took that Rout. It was likewise agreed in the same Council, that the Earl of Peterborow should embark all the Foot, not in Gar­risons, for their more speedy, as well as more easy Conveyance to Valencia. The same Council of War agreed, that all the Horse in that Kingdom should be drawn to­gether, the better to insure the Measures to be taken for the opening and facilitating his Majesty's Progress to Madrid.

ACCORDINGLY, after these Resolutions were taken, the Earl of Peterborow embarks his Forces and sails for Valencia, where he was doubly welcom'd by all Sorts of People upon Account of his safe Arrival, and the News he brought along with it. By the Joy they express'd, one would have ima­gin'd that the General had escap'd the same Danger with the King; and, in truth, had [Page 158] their King arriv'd with him in Person, the most loyal and zealous would have found themselves at a loss how to have express'd their Satisfaction in a more sensible Manner.

SOON after his Landing, with his custo­mary Vivacity, he apply'd himself to put in execution the Resolutions taken in the Coun­cils of War at Barcelona; and a little to improve upon them, he rais'd an intire Re­giment of Dragoons, bought them Horses, provided them Cloaths, Arms, and Acou­trements; and in six Weeks time had them ready to take the Field; a thing though hardly to be parallell'd, is yet scarce worthy to be mentioned among so many nobler Actions of his; yet in regard to another General it may merit Notice, since while he had Madrid in Possession near four Months, he neither augmented his Troops, nor lay'd up any Magazines; neither sent he all that time any one Express to concert any Mea­sures with the Earl of Peterborow; but lay under a perfect Inactivity, or which was worse, negotiating that unfortunate Project of carrying King Charles to Madrid by the round-about and ill-concerted Way of Ara­gon; a Project not only contrary to the solemn Resolutions of the Council of War; but which in reality was the Root of all our succeeding Misfortunes; and that only for the wretched Vanity of appearing to have had some Share in bringing the King to his [Page 159] Capital; but how minute a Share it was will be manifest, if it be consider'd that another General had first made the Way easy, by driving the Enemy out of Spain; and that the French General only stay'd at Madrid till the Return of those Troops which were in a manner driven out of Spain.

AND yet that Transaction, doughty as it was, took up four most precious Months, which most certainly might have been much better employ'd in rendering it impossible for the Enemy to re-enter Spain; nor had there been any great Difficulty in so doing, but the contrary, if the General at Madrid had thought convenient to have join'd the Troops under the Earl of Peterborow, and then to have march'd directly towards Pampelona, or the Frontiers of France. To this the Earl of Peterborow solicited the King, and those about him; he advis'd, desir'd, and intreated him to lose no time, but to put in Execution those Measures re­solv'd on at Barcelona. A Council of War in Valencia renew'd the same Application: but all to no Purpose, his Rout was order'd him, and that to meet his Majesty on the Frontiers of Arragon. There, indeed, the Earl did meet the King; and the French General an Army, which, by Virtue of a decrepid Intelligence, he never saw or heard of till he fled from it to his Camp [Page 160] at Guadalira. Inexpressible was the Con­fusion in this fatal Camp: The King from Arragon, the Earl of Peterborow from Valencia arriving in it the same Day, al­most the same Hour that the Earl of Galo­way enter'd under a hasty Retreat before the French Army.

BUT to return to Order, which a Zeal of Justice has made me somewhat anticipate; the Earl had not been long at Valencia be­fore he gave Orders to Major-General Windham to march with all the Forces he had, which were not above two thousand Men, and lay Siege to Requina, Requina besieg'd. a Town ten Leagues distant from Valencia, and in the Way to Madrid. The Town was not very strong, nor very large; but sure the odliest fortify'd that ever was. The Houses in a Circle connectively compos'd the Wall; and the People, who defended the Town, instead of firing from Hornworks, Counter-scarps, and Bastions, fir'd out of the Win­dows of their Houses.

NOTWITHSTANDING all which, General Windam found much greater Opposition than he at first imagin'd; and therefore finding he should want Ammunition, he sent to the Earl of Peterborow for a Supply; at the same time assigning, as a Reason for it, the unexpected Obstinacy of the Town. So soon as the Earl receiv'd the Letter he sent for me; and told me I must repair to Re­quina, [Page 161] where they would want an Engi­neer; and that I must be ready next Morn­ing, when he should order a Lieutenant, with thirty Soldiers and two Matrosses, to guard some Powder for that Service. Ac­cordingly, the next Morning we set out, the Lieutenant, who was a Dutchman, and Commander of the Convoy, being of my Acquaintance.

WE had reach'd Saint Jago, a small Village about midway between Valencia and Requina, when the Officer, just as he was got without the Town, resolving to take up his Quarters on the Spot, order'd the Mules to be unloaded. The Powder, which consisted of forty-five Barrels, was pil'd up in a Circle, and cover'd with Oil-cloth, to preserve it from the Weather; and though we had agreed to sup together at my Quarters within the Village, yet being weary and fatigu'd, he order'd his Field-Bed to be put up near the Powder, and so lay down to take a short Nap. Forty-five Barrels of Powder blewn up by an Accident.I had scarce been at my Quarters an Hour, when a sud­den Shock attack'd the House so violently, that it threw down Tiles, Windows, Chim­neys and all. It presently came into my Head what was the Occasion; and as my Fears suggested so it prov'd: For running to the Door I saw a Cloud ascending from the Spot I left the Powder pitch'd upon. In haste making up to which, nothing was to [Page 162] be seen but the bare Circle upon which it had stood. The Bed was blown quite away, and the poor Lieutenant all to pieces, seve­ral of his Limbs being found separate, and at a vast Distance each from the other; and particularly an Arm, with a Ring on one of the Fingers. The Matrosses were, if possible, in a yet worse Condition, that is, as to Manglement and Laceration. All the Soldiers who were standing, and any thing near, were struck dead. Only such as lay sleeping on the Ground escap'd; and of those one assur'd me, that the Blast remov'd him several Foot from his Place of Repose. In short, enquiring into this deplorable Disaster, I had this Account: That a Pig running out of the Town, the Soldiers endeavour'd to intercept its Return; but driving it upon the Matrosses, one of them, who was jealous of its getting back into the Hands of the Soldiers, drew his Pistol to shoot it, which was the Source of this miserable Catastrophe. The Lieutenant car­ry'd along with him a Bag of Dollars to pay the Soldiers Quarters, of which the People, and the Soldiers that were sav'd, found many; but blown to an inconceivable Distance.

WITH those few Soldiers that remain'd alive, I proceeded, according to my Orders, to Requina; where, when I arriv'd, I gave General Windham an Account of the [Page 163] Disaster at St. Jago. As such it troubled him, and not a little on account of the Dis­appointment. However, to make the best of a bad Market, he gave Orders for the forming of a Mine under an old Castle, which was part of the Wall. As it was or­der'd, so it was begun, more in Terrorem, than with any Expectation of Success from it as a Mine. Nevertheless, I had scarce began to frame the Oven of the Mine, when those within the Town desir'd to capitulate. Requina surrenders. This being all we could aim at, under the Miscarriage of our Powder at St. Jago (none being yet arriv'd to supply that De­fect) Articles were readily granted them; pursuant to which, that Part of the Garrison, which was compos'd of Castilian Gentry, had Liberty to go wherever they thought best, and the rest were made Prisoners of War. Requina being thus reduc'd to the Obedience of Charles III. a new rais'd Regi­ment of Spaniards was left in Garrison, the Colonel of which was appointed Governor; and our Supply of Powder having at last got safe to us, General Windham march'd his little Army to Cuenca.

Cuenca besieg'd. CUENCA is a considerable City and a Bishoprick; therefore to pretend to sit down before it with such a Company of Forragers, rather than an Army, must be plac'd among the hardy Influences of the Earl of Peterborow's auspicious Administra­tion. [Page 164] On the out Part of Cuenca there stood an old Castle, from which, upon our Ap­proach, they play'd upon us furiously: But as soon as we could bring two Pieces of our Cannon to bear, we answer'd their Fire with so good Success, that we soon oblig'd them to retire into the Town. We had rais'd a Battery of twelve Guns against the City, on their Rejection of the Summons sent them to come under the Obedience of King Charles; going to which from the old Castle last reduc'd, I receiv'd a Shot on the Toe of one of my Shoes, which carry'd that Part of the Shoe intirely away, without any further Damage.

WHEN I came to that Battery we ply'd them warmly (as well as from three Mor­tars) for the Space of three Days, their Nights included; but observing, that in one particular House, they were remarkably busy; People thronging in and out below; and those above firing perpetually out of the Windows, I was resolv'd to have one Shot at that Window, and made those Officers about me take Notice of it. True it was, the Distance would hardly allow me to hope for Success; yet as the Experiment could only be attended with the Expence of a single Ball, I made it. So soon as the Smoak of my own Cannon would permit it, we could see Clouds of Dust issuing from out of the Window, which, together with [Page 165] the People's crouding out of Doors, con­vinc'd the Officers, whom I had desir'd to take Notice of it, that I had been no bad Marksman.

UPON this, two Priests were sent out of the Place with Proposals; but they were so triflingly extravagant, that as soon as ever the General heard them, he order'd their Answer in a fresh Renewal of the Fire of both Cannon and Mortars. And it hap­pen'd to be with so much Havock and Exe­cution, that they were soon taught Reason; and sent back their Divines, with much more moderate Demands. After the Ge­neral had a little modell'd these last, they were accepted; and according to the Ar­ticles of Capitulation, the City was that very Day surrender'd into our Possession. Cuenca surrenders. The Earl of Duncannon's Regiment took Guard of all the Gates; and King Charles was proclaim'd in due Form.

THE Earl of Peterborow, during this Expedition, had left Valencia, and was ar­riv'd at my Lord Galway's Camp at Gua­dalaxara; who for the Confederates, and King Charles in particular, unfortunately was order'd from Portugal, to take the Command from a General, who had all along been almost miraculously successful, and by his own great Actions pav'd the Way for a safe Passage to that his Sup­planter.

[Page 166]YET even in this fatal Place the Earl of Peterborow made some Proposals, which, had they beem embrac'd, might, in all Probability, have secur'd Madrid from fall­ing into the Hands of the Enemy: But, in opposition thereto, the Lord Galway, and all his Portugueze Officers, were for forcing the next Day the Enemy to Battle. The almost only Person against it was the Earl of Peterborow; who then and there took the Liberty to evince the Impossibility of com­ing to an Engagement. This the next Morning too evidently made apparent, when upon the first Motion of our Troops towards the River, which they pretended to pass, and must pass, before they could engage, they were so warmly saluted from the Bat­teries of the Enemy, and their small Shot, that our Regiments were forc'd to retire in Confusion to their Camp. By which Re­buff all heroical Imaginations were at pre­sent laid aside, to consider how they might make their Retreat to Valencia.

THE Retreat being at last resolv'd on, and a Multiplicity of Generals rendering our bad Circumstances much worse, the Earl of Peterborow met with a fortunate Reprieve, by Solicitations from the Queen, and Desires tantamount to Orders, that he would go with the Troops left in Catalonia to the Relief of the Duke of Savoy. It is hardly to be doubted that that General was [Page 167] glad to withdraw from those Scenes of Con­fusion, which were but too visible to Eyes even less discerning than his. However, he forbore to prepare himself to put her Ma­jesty's Desires in execution, as they were not peremptory, till it had been resolv'd by the unanimous Consent of a Council of War, where the King, all the Generals and Mi­nisters were present, That it was expedient for the Service that the Earl of Peterborow, during the Winter Season, should comply with her Majesty's Desires, and go for Italy; since he might return before the opening of the Campaign, if it should be necessary. And return indeed he did, before the Cam­paign open'd, and brought along with him one hundred thousand Pounds from Genoa, to the great Comfort and Support of our Troops, which had neither Money nor Credit. But on his Return, that noble Earl found the Lord Galway had been near as successful against him, as he had been unsuccessful against the Enemy. Thence was the Earl of Peterborow recall'd to make room for an unfortunate General, who the next Year suffer'd himself to be decoy'd in­to that fatal Battle of Almanza.

THE Earl of Peterborow, on his leaving Valencia, had order'd his Baggage to fol­low him to the Camp at Guadalaxara; and it arriv'd in our little Camp, so far safe in its way to the greater at Guadalaxara. [Page 168] I think it consisted of seven loaded Wag­gons; and General Windham gave Orders for a small Guard to escorte it; under which they proceeded on their Journey: But a­bout eight Leagues from Cuenca, at a pretty Town call'd Huette, a Party from the Duke of Berwick's Army, with Boughs in their Hats, the better to appear what they were not (for the Bough in the Hat is the Badge of the English, as white Paper is the Badge of the French) came into the Town, crying all the way, Viva Carlos Tercero, Viva. With these Acclamations in their Mouths, they advanc'd up to the very Waggons; when attacking the Guards, who had too much deluded themselves with Appearances, they routed 'em, and immediately plunder'd the Waggons of all that was valuable, and then march'd off.

THE Noise of this soon reach'd the Ears of the Earl of Peterborow at Guadalaxara. When leaving my Lord Galway's Camp, pursuant to the Resolutions of the Council of War, with a Party only of fourscore of Killegrew's Dragoons, he met General Windham's little Army within a League of Huette, the Place where his Baggage had been plunder'd. The Earl had strong Mo­tives of Suspicion, that the Inhabitants had given Intelligence to the Enemy; and, as is very natural, giving way to the first Dictates of Resentment, he resolv'd to have [Page 169] lay'd the Town in Ashes: But when he came near it, the Clergy and Magistrates upon their Knees, disavowing the Charge, and asserting their Innocence, prevail'd on the good Nature of that generous Earl, without any great Difficulty, to spare the Town, at least not to burn it.

WE march'd however into the Town, and that Night took up our Quarters there; and the Magistrates, under the Dread of our avenging our selves, on their part took Care that we were well supplied. But when they were made sensible of the Value of the Loss, which the Earl had sustain'd; and that on a moderate Computation it amount­ed to at least eight thousand Pistoles; they voluntarily presented themselves next Morn­ing, and of their own accord offer'd to make his Lordship full Satisfaction, and that, in their own Phrase, de Contado, in ready Money. The Earl was not displeas'd at their Offer; but generously made An­swer, That he was just come from my Lord Galway's Camp at Chincon, where he found they were in a likelihood of wanting Bread; and as he imagin'd it might be easier to them to raise the Value in Corn, than in ready Money; if they would send to that Value in Corn to the Lord Galway's Camp, he would be satisfy'd. This they with Joy embrac'd, and immediately com­plied with.

[Page 170]I AM apt to think the last Century (and I very much fear the Current will be as de­ficient) can hardly produce a parallel In­stance of Generosity and true publick Spi­ritedness: And the World will be of my Opinion, when I have corroborated this with another Passage some Years after. The Commissioners for Stating the Debts due to the Army, meeting daily for that Purpose at their House in Darby Court in Channel Row, I there mentioned to Mr. Read, Gentleman to his Lordship, this very just and honourable Claim upon the Government, as Monies advanced for the Use of the Army. Who told me in a little Time after, that he had mention'd it to his Lordship; but with no other Effect than to have it rejected with a generous Disdain.

WHILE we stay'd at Huette there was a little Incident in Life, which gave me great Diversion. The Earl, who had al­ways maintain'd a good Correspondence with the fair Sex, hearing from one of the Priests of the Place, That on the Alarm of burning the Town, one of the finest Ladies in all Spain had taken Refuge in the Nunnery, was desirous to speak with her.

THE Nunnery stood upon a small rising Hill within the Town; and to obtain the View, the Earl had presently in his Head this Stratagem; he sends for me, as Engi­neer, [Page 171] to have my Advice, how to raise a proper Fortification upon that Hill out of the Nunnery. I waited upon his Lordship to the Place, where declaring the Intent of our coming, and giving plausible Reasons for it, the Train took, and immediately the Lady Abbess, and the fair Lady, came out to make Intercession, That his Lord­ship would be pleas'd to lay aside that De­sign. The divine Oratory of one, and the beautiful Charms of the other, prevail'd; so his Lordship left the Fortification to be the Work of some future Generation.

FROM Huette the Earl of Peterborow march'd forwards for Valencia, with only those fourscore Dragoons, which came with him from Chincon, leaving General Wind­ham pursuing his own Orders to join his Forces to the Army then under the Com­mand of the Lord Galway. But stopping at Campilio, a little Town in our Way, his Lordship had Information of a most bar­barous Fact committed that very Morning by the Spaniards, at a small Villa, about a League distant, upon some English Sol­diers.

A CAPTAIN of the English Guards (whose Name has slip'd my Memory, tho' I well knew the Man) marching in order to join the Battalion of the Guards, then under the Command of General Windham, with some of his Soldiers, that had been in [Page 172] the Hospital, took up his Quarters in tha [...] little Villa. But on his marching out of i [...] next Morning, a Shot in the Back lai [...] that Officer dead upon the Spot: And as it had been before concerted, the Spaniards of the Place at the same Time fell upon the poor, weak Soldiers, killing several; not even sparing their Wives. This was but a Prelude to their Barbarity; their savage Cruelty was only whetted, not glutted. They took the surviving few; hurried and dragg'd them up a Hill, a little without the Villa. On the Top of this Hill there was a Hole, or Opening, somewhat like the Mouth of one of our Coal-Pits, down this they cast several, who, with hideous Shrieks and Cries, made more hideous by the Ecchoes of the Chasm, there lost their Lives.

THIS Relation was thus made to the Earl of Peterborow, at his Quarters at Campilio; who immediately gave Orders for to found to Horse. At first we were all surpriz'd; but were soon satisfy'd, that it was to revenge, or rather, do Justice, on this barbarous Action.

AS soon as we enter'd the Villa we found that most of the Inhabitants, but especially the most Guilty, had withdrawn themselves on our Approach. We found, however, many of the dead Soldiers Cloaths, which had been convey'd into the [Page 173] Church, and there hid. And a strong Ac­cusation being laid against a Person belong­ing to the Church, and full Proof made, that he had been singularly Industrious in the Execution of that horrid Piece of Bar­barity on the Hill, his Lordship command­ed him to be hang'd up at the Knocker of the Door.

AFTER this piece of military Justice, we were led up to the fatal Pit or Hole, down which many had been cast headlong. There we found one poor Soldier alive, who, upon his throwing in, had catch'd fast hold of some impending Bushes, and sav'd himself on a little Jutty within the Concavity. On hearing us talk English he cry'd out; and Ropes being let down, in a little Time he was drawn up; when he gave us an ample Detail of the whole Villany. Among other Particulars, I remember he told me of a very narrow Escape he had in that obscure Recess. A poor Woman, one of the Wives of the Soldiers, who were thrown down after him, struggled, and roared so much, that they could not, with all their Force, throw her cleaverly in the Middle; by which means falling near the Side, in her Fall she almost beat him from his Place of Security.

UPON the Conclusion of this tragical. Relation of the Soldier thus saved, his Lordship gave immediate Orders for the [Page 174] Firing of the Villa, which was executed with due Severity: After which his Lord­ship march'd back to his Quarters at Cam­pilio; from whence, two Days after, we arriv'd at Valencia. Where, the first Thing presented to that noble Lord, was all the Papers taken in the Plunder of his Baggage, which the Duke of Berwick had generously order'd to be return'd him, without waste or opening.

IT was too manifest, after the Earl's ar­rival at this City, that the Alteration in the Command of the English Forces, which before was only receiv'd as a Rumour, had deeper Grounds for Belief, than many of his Friends in that City could have wish'd. His Lordship had gain'd the Love of all by a Thousand engaging Condescensions; even his Gallantries being no way prejudicial, were not offensive; and though his Lord­ship did his utmost to conceal his Chagrin, the Sympathy of those around him made such Discoveries upon him, as would have disappointed a double Portion of his Cauti­on. They had seen him un-elated under Successes, that were so near being unac­countable, that in a Country of less Super­stition than Spain, they might almost have pass'd for miraculous; they knew full well, that nothing, but that Series of Successes had pav'd a Passage for the General that was to supersede him; those only having [Page 175] removed all the Difficulties of his March from Portugal to Madrid; they knew him the older General; and therefore, not knowing, that in the Court he came from, Intrigue was too often the Soul of Merit, they could not but be amazed at a Change, which his Lordship was unwilling any body should perceive by himself.

IT was upon this Account, that, as for­merly, he treated the Ladies with Balls, and to pursue the Dons in their own Humour, order'd a Tawridore or Bull-Feast. In Spain no sort of publick Diversions are esteemed equal with this. But the Bulls provided at Valencia, not being of the right Breed, nor ever initiated in the Mysteries, did not acquit themselves at all masterly; and consequently, did not give the Diver­sion, or Satisfaction expected. For which Reason I shall omit giving a Description of this Bull-Feast; and desire my Reader to suspend his Curiosity till I come to some, which, in the Spanish Sense, were much more entertaining; that is, attended with much greater Hazards and Danger.

BUT though I have said, the Gallan­tries of the General were mostly political, at least very inoffensive; yet there hap­pen'd about this Time, and in this Place, a piece of Gallantry, that gave the Earl a vast deal of Offence and Vexation; as a Matter, that in its Consequences might [Page 176] have been fatal to the Interest of King Charles, if not to the English Nation in general; and which I the rather relate, in that it may be of use to young Officers, and others; pointing out to them the Danger, not to say Folly, of inadvertent and preci­pitate Engagements, under unruly Pas­sions.

I HAVE said before, that Valencia is famous for fine Women. It indeed abounds in them; and among those, are great Num­bers of Courtezans not inferior in Beauty to any. Nevertheless, two of our English Officers, not caring for the common Road, however safe, resolv'd to launch into the deeper Seas, though attended with much greater Danger. Amours, the common Failing of that fair City, was the Occasion of this Accident, and two Nuns the Objects. It is customary in that Country for young People in an Evening to resort to the Grates of the Nunneries, there to divert them­selves, and the Nuns, with a little pleasant and inoffensive Chitchat. For though I have heard some relate a World of nauseous Pas­sages at such Conversations, I must declare, that I never saw, or heard any Thing un­seemly; and therefore whenever I have heard any such from such Fabulists, I never so much wrong'd my Judgment as to afford them Credit.

[Page 177]OUR two Officers were very assiduous at the Grates of a Nunnery in this Place; and having there pitch'd upon two Nuns, pro­secuted their Amours with such Vigour, that, in a little time, they had made a very great Progress in their Affections, without in the least considering the Dangers that must attend themselves and the Fair; they had exchang'd Vows, and prevail'd upon the weaker Vessels to endeavour to get out to their Lovers. To effect which, soon after, a Plot was lay'd; the Means, the Hour, and every thing agreed upon.

IT is the Custom of that Nunnery, as of many others, for the Nuns to take their weekly Courses in keeping the Keys of all the Doors. The two Love-sick Ladies giving Notice to their Lovers at the Grate, that one of their Turns was come, the Night and Hour was appointed, which the Officers punctually observing, carry'd off their Prey without either Difficulty or In­terruption.

BUT next Morning, when the Nuns were missing, what an Uproar was there over all the City? The Ladies were both of Quality; and therefore the Tidings were first carry'd to their Relations. They re­ceiv'd the News with Vows of utmost Ven­geance; and, as is usual in that Country, put themselves in Arms for that Purpose. There needed no great canvassing for dis­covering [Page 178] who were the Aggressors: The Officers had been too frequent, and too publick, in their Addresses, to leave any room for question. Accordingly, they were complain'd of and sought for; but sensible at last of their past Temerity, they endeavour'd, and with a great deal of Difficulty perfected their Escape.

LESS fortunate were the two fair Nuns; their Lovers, in their utmost Exigence, had forsaken them; and they, poor Creatures, knew not where to fly. Under this sad Dilemma they were taken; and, as in like Offences, condemn'd directly to the Punish­ment of immuring. And what greater Punishment is there on Earth than to be con­fin'd between four narrow Walls, only open at the Top; and thence to be half supported with Bread and Water, till the Offenders gradually starve to Death?

THE Earl of Peterborow, though highly exasperated at the Proceedings of his Offi­cers, in compassion to the unhappy Fair, resolv'd to interpose by all the moderate Means possible. He knew very well, that no one Thing could so much prejudice the Spaniard against him, as the countenancing such an Action; wherefore he inveigh'd a­gainst the Officers, at the same time that he endeavour'd to mitigate in favour of the Ladies: But all was in vain; it was urg'd against those charitable Intercessions, that [Page 179] they had broke their Vows; and in that had broke in upon the Laws of the Nun­nery and Religion; the Consequence of all which could be nothing less than the Punish­ment appointed to be inflicted. And which was the hardest of all, the nearest of their Relations most oppos'd all his generous Me­diations; and those, who according to the common Course of Nature should have thank'd him for his Endeavours to be instru­mental in rescuing them from the impending Danger, grew more and more enrag'd, be­cause he oppos'd them in their Design of a cruel Revenge.

NOTWITHSTANDING all which the Earl persever'd; and after a deal of Labour, first got the Penalty suspended; and, soon after, by the Dint of a very considerable Sum of Money (a most powerful Argument, which prevails in every Country) sav'd the poor Nuns from immuring; and at last, though with great Reluctance, he got them receiv'd again into the Nunnery. As to the War­like Lovers, one of them was the Year after slain at the Battle of Almanza; the other is yet living, being a Brigadier in the Army.

WHILE the Earl of Peterborow was here with his little Army of great Hereticks, neither Priests nor People were so open in their superstitious Fopperies, as I at other times found them. For which Reason I [Page 180] will make bold, and by an Antichronism in this Place, a little anticipate some Obser­vations that I made some time after the Earl left it. And as I have not often committed such a Transgression, I hope it may be the more excusable now, and no way blemish my Memoirs, that I break in upon the Series of my Journal.

VALENCIA is a handsome City, and a Bishoprick; and is considerable not only for the Pleasantness of its Situation and beautiful Ladies; but (which at some cer­tain Times, and on some Occasions, to them is more valuable than both those put to­gether) for being the Birth-place of Saint Vincent, the Patron of the Place; and next for its being the Place where Santo Domingo, the first Institutor of the Dominican Order had his Education. Here, in honour of the last, is a spacious and very splendid Convent of the Dominicans. Walking by which, I one Day observ'd over the Gate, a Figure of a Man in Stone; and near it a Dog with a lighted Torch in his Mouth. The Image I rightly enough took to intend that of the Saint; but inquiring of one of the Order, at the Gate, the Meaning of the Figures near it, he very courteously ask'd me to walk in, and then entertain'd me with the following Relation:

WHEN the Mother of Santo Domingo, said that Religious, was with Child of that [Page 181] future Saint, she had a Dream which very much afflicted her. She dreamt that she heard a Dog bark in her Belly; and in­quiring (at what Oracle is not said) the Meaning of her Dream, she was told, That that Child should bark out the Gospel (ex­cuse the Bareness of the Expression, it may run better in Spanish; tho', if I remember right, Erasmus gives it in Latin much the same Turn) which should thence shine out like that lighted Torch. And this is the Reason, that wherever you see the Image of that Saint, a Dog and a lighted Torch is in the Group.

HE told me at the same time, that there had been more Popes and Cardinals of that Order than of any, if not all the other. To confirm which, he led me into a large Gal­lery, on each Side whereof he shew'd me the Pictures of all the Popes and Cardinals that had been of that Order; among which, I particularly took Notice of that of Cardi­nal Howard, great Uncle to the present Duke of Norfolk. But after many Enco­miums of their Society, with which he in­terspers'd his Discourse, he added one that I least valu'd it for; That the sole Care and Conduct of the Inquisition was intrusted with them.

FINDING me attentive, or not so con­tradictory as the English Humour generally is, he next brought me into a fair and large [Page 182] Cloister, round which I took several Turns with him; and, indeed, the Place was too delicious to tire, under a Conversation less pertinent or courteous than that he enter­tain'd me with. In the Middle of the Cloister was a small but pretty and sweet Grove of Orange and Lemon-trees; these bore Fruit ripe and green, and Flowers, all together on one Tree; and their Fruit was so very large and beautiful, and their Flowers so transcendently odoriferous, that all I had ever seen of the like Kind in Eng­land could comparatively pass only for Beauty in Epitome, or Nature imitated in Wax-work. Many Flocks also of pretty little Birds, with their chearful Notes, added not a little to my Delight. In short, in Life I never knew or found three of my Senses at once so exquisitely gratify'd.

NOT far from this, Saint Vincent, the Patron, as I said before, of this City, has a Chapel dedicated to him. Once a Year they do him Honour in a sumptuous Pro­cession. Then are their Streets all strow'd with Flowers, and their Houses set off with their richest Tapestries; every one strives to excel his Neighbour in distinguishing him­self by the Honour he pays to that Saint; and he is the best Catholick, as well as the best Citizen, in the Eye of the religious, who most exerts himself on this Occasion.

[Page 183]THE Procession begins with a Cavalcade of all the Friars of all the Convents in and about the City. These walk two and two with folded Arms, and Eyes cast down to the very Ground, and with the greatest out­ward Appearance of Humility imaginable; nor, though the Temptation from the fine Women that fill'd their Windows, or the rich Tapestries that adorn'd the Balconies might be allow'd sufficient to attract, could I observe that any one of them all ever mov'd them upwards.

AFTER the Friars is borne, upon the Shoulders of twenty Men at least, an Image of that Saint of solid Silver, large as the Life: It is plac'd in a great Chair of Silver likewise; the Staves that bear him up, and upon which they bear him, being of the same Metal. The whole is a most costly and curious Piece of Workmanship, such as my Eyes never before or since beheld.

THE Magistrates follow the Image and its Supporters, dress'd in their richest Ap­parel, which is always on this Day, and on this Occasion, particularly sumptuous and distinguishing. Thus is the Image, in the greatest Splendor, borne and accompany'd round that fine City; and at last convey'd to the Place from whence it came: And so concludes that annual Ceremony.

THE Valencians, as to the Exteriors of Religion, are the most devout of any in [Page 184] Spain, though in common Life you find them amorous, gallant, and gay, like other People; yet on solemn Occasions there shines out-right such a Spirit as proves them the very Bigots of Bigotry: As a Proof of which Assertion, I will now give some Ac­count of such Observations, as I had time to make upon them, during two Lent Seasons, while I resided there.

THE Week before the Lent commences, commonly known by the Name of Car­naval Time, the whole City appears a per­fect Bartholomew Fair; the Streets are crouded, and the Houses empty; nor is it possible to pass along without some Gambol or Jack-pudding Trick offer'd to you; Ink, Water, and sometimes Ordure, are sure to be hurl'd at your Face or Cloaths; and if you appear concern'd or angry, they rejoyce at it, pleas'd the more, the more they dis­please; for all other Resentment is at that time out of Season, though at other times few in the World are fuller of Resentment or more captious.

THE younger Gentry, or Dons, to ex­press their Gallantry, carry about them Egg-shells, fill'd with Orange or other sweet Water, which they cast at Ladies in their Coaches, or such other of the fair Sex as they happen to meet in the Streets.

BUT after all, if you would think them extravagant to Day, as much transgressing [Page 185] the Rules of common Civility, and neither regarding Decency to one another, nor the Duty they owe to Almighty God; yet when Ash-Wednesday comes you will ima­gine them more unaccountable in their Con­duct, being then as much too excessive in all outwards Indications of Humility and Re­pentance. Here you shall meet one, bare­footed, with a Cross on his Shoulder, a Burden rather fit for somewhat with four Feet, and which his poor Two are ready to sink under, yet the vain Wretch bears and sweats, and sweats and bears, in hope of finding Merit in an Ass's Labour.

OTHERS you shall see naked to their Wastes, whipping themselves with Scourges made for the Purpose, till the Blood fol­lows every Stroke; and no Man need be at a Loss to follow them by the very Tracks of Gore they shed in this frentick Perambu­lation. Some, who from the Thickness of their Hides, or other Impediments, have not Power by their Scourgings to fetch Blood of themselves, are follow'd by Surgeons with their Lancets, who, at every Turn, make use of them, to evince the Extent of their Patience and Zeal by the Smart of their Folly. While others, mingling Amour with Devotion, take particular Care to pre­sent themselves all macerated before the Windows of their Mistresses; and even in that Condition, not satisfy'd with what they [Page 186] have barbarously done to themselves, they have their Operators at hand, to evince their Love by the Number of their Gashes and Wounds; imagining the more Blood they lose, the more Love they shew, and the more they shall gain. These are ge­nerally Devoto's of Quality; though the Tenet is universal, that he that is most bloody is most devout.

AFTER these Street-Exercises, these ostentatious Castigations are over, these Self-sacrificers repair to the great Church, the bloodier the better; there they throw themselves, in a Condition too vile for the Eye of a Female, before the Image of the Virgin Mary; though I defy all their Race of Fathers, and their infallible holy Father into the Bargain, to produce any Authority to fit it for Belief, that she ever delighted in such sanguinary Holocausts.

DURING the whole Time of Lent, you will see in every Street some Priest or Frier, upon some Stall or Stool, preaching up Re­pentance to the People; and with violent Blows on his Breast crying aloud, Mia Culpa, mia maxima Culpa, till he extract reciprocal Returns from the Hands of his Auditors on their own Breasts.

WHEN Good-Friday is come they enter­tain it with the most profound Show of Re­verence and Religion, both in their Streets and in their Churches. In the last, parti­cularly, [Page 187] they have contriv'd about twelve a-Clock suddenly to darken them, so as to render them quite gloomy. This they do to intimate the Eclipse of the Sun, which at that time happen'd. And to signify the Rending of the Vail of the Temple, you are struck with a strange artificial Noise at the very same Instant.

BUT when Easter Day appears, you find it in all Respects with them a Day of Rejoicing; for though Abstinence from Flesh with them, who at no time eat much, is not so great a Mortification as with those of the same Persuasion in other Countries, who eat much more, yet there is a visible Satisfa­ction darts out at their Eyes, which demon­strates their inward Pleasure in being set free from the Confinement of Mind to the Dissatisfaction of the Body. Every Person you now meet greets you with a Resurrexit Jesus; a good Imitation of the primitive Christians, were it the real Effect of Devo­tion. And all Sorts of the best Musick (which here indeed is the best in all Spain) proclaim an auspicious Valediction to the de­parted Season of superficial Sorrow and stupid Superstition. But enough of this: I proceed to weightier Matters.

WHILE we lay at Valencia, under the Vigilance and Care of the indefatigable Earl, News was brought that Alicant was besieg'd by General Gorge by Land, while [Page 188] a Squadron of Men of War batter'd it from the Sea; from both which the Besiegers play'd their Parts so well, and so warmly ply'd them with their Cannon, that an in­different practicable Breach was made in a little time.

MAHONI commanded in the Place, being again receiv'd into Favour; and clear'd as he was of those political Insinua­tions before intimated, he now seem'd re­solv'd to confirm his Innocence by a reso­lute Defence. However, perceiving that all Preparations tended towards a Storm, and knowing full well the Weakness of the Town, he withdrew his Garrison into the Castle, leaving the Town to the Defence of its own Inhabitants.

JUST as that was doing, the Sailors, not much skill'd in Sieges, nor at all times capable of the coolest Consideration, with a Resolution natural to them, storm'd the Walls to the Side of the Sea; where not meeting with much Opposition (for the People of the Town apprehended the least Danger there) they soon got into the Place; and, as soon as got in, began to Plunder. This oblig'd the People, for the better Se­curity of themselves, to open their Gates, and seek a Refuge under one Enemy, in opposition to the Rage of another.

GENERAL Gorge, as soon as he enter'd the Town, with a good deal of seeming [Page 189] Lenity, put a stop to the Ravages of the Sailors; and ordered Proclamation to be made throughout the Place, that all the In­habitants should immediately bring in their best Effects into the great Church for their better Security. This was by the mistaken Populace, as readily comply'd with; and neither Friend nor Foe at all disputing the Command, or questioning the Integrity of the Intention; the Church was presently crouded with Riches of all sorts and sizes. Yet after some time remaining there, they were all taken out, and disposed of by those, that had as little Property in 'em, as the Sailors, they were pretended to be preserv'd from.

THE Earl of Peterborow upon the very first News of the Siege had left Valencia, and taken Shipping for Alicant; where he arrived soon after the Surrender of the Town, and that Outcry of the Goods of the Towns-men. Upon his Arrival, Ma­honi, who was block'd up in the Castle, and had experienced his indefatigable Di­ligence, being in want of Provisions, and without much hope of Relief, desired to capitulate. The Earl granted him honour­able Conditions, upon which he delivered up the Castle, and Gorge was made Go­vernor.

UPON his Lordship's taking Ship at Va­lencia, I had an Opportunity of marching [Page 190] with those Dragoons, which escorted him from Castile, who had received Orders to march into Murcia. We quarter'd the first Night at Alcira, a Town that the River Segra almost surrounds, which renders it capable of being made a Place of vast Strength, though now of small Importance.

THE next Night we lay at Xativa, a Place famous for its Steadiness to King Charles. General Basset, a Spaniard, be­ing Governor; it was besieg'd by the Forces of King Philip; but after a noble Resistance, the Enemy were beat off, and the Siege raised; for which Effort, it is supposed, that on the Retirement of King Charles out of this Country, it was depriv'd of its old Name Xativa, and is now called San Felippo; though to this day the Peo­ple thereabouts much dissallow by their Practice, that novel Denomination.

WE march'd next Morning by Monte­za; which gives Name to the famous Title of Knights of Monteza. It was at the Time that Colonel O Guaza, an Irishman, was Governor, besieg'd by the People of the Country, in favour of King Charles; but very ineffectually, so it never chang'd its Sovereign. That Night we quarter'd at Fonte dalas Figuras, within one League of Almanza; where that fatal and unfortu­nate Battle, which I shall give an Account [Page 191] of in its Place, was fought the Year after, under the Lord Galway.

ON our fourth days March we were o­blig'd to pass Villena, where the Enemy had a Garrison. A Party of Mahoni's Dragoons made a part of that Garrison, and they were commanded by Major Oroirk an Irish Officer, who always carried the Re­putation of a good Soldier, and a brave Gentleman.

I had all along made it my Observation, that Captain Matthews, who commanded those Dragoons, that I march'd with, was a Person of much more Courage than Con­duct; and he us'd as little Precaution here, though just marching under the Eye of the Enemy, as he had done at other Times. As I was become intimately acquainted with him, I rode up to him, and told him the Danger, which, in my Opinion, attended our present March. I pointed out to him just before Villena a jutting Hill, under which we must unavoidably pass; at the turning whereof, I was apprehensive the Enemy might lie, and either by Ambuscade or otherwise, surprize us; I therefore in­treated we might either wait the coming of our Rear Guard; or at least march with a little more leisure and caution. But he taking little notice of all I said, kept on his round March; seeing which, I press'd forward my Mule, which was a very good [Page 192] one, and rid as fast as her Legs could carry her, till I had got on the top of the Hill. When I came there, I found both my Ex­pectation, and my Apprehensions answer'd: For I could very plainly discern three Squa­drons of the Enemy ready drawn up, and waiting for Us at the very winding of the Hill.

HEREUPON I hastened back to the Captain with the like Speed, and told him the Discovery I had made; who never­theless kept on his March, and it was with a good deal of Difficulty, that I at last pre­vail'd on him to halt, till our Rear Guard of twenty Men had got up to us. But those joining us, and a new Troop of Spa­nish Dragoons, who had march'd towards us that Morning, appearing in Sight; our Captain, as if he was afraid of their rival­ling him in his Glory, at the very turn of the Hill, rode in a full Gallop, with Sword in Hand, up to the Enemy. They stood their Ground, till we were advanc'd within two hundred Yards of them; and then in Confusion endeavoured to retire into the Town.

THEY were obliged to pass over a small Bridge, too small to admit of such a Com­pany in so much haste; their crouding upon which obstructed their Retreat, and left all that could not get over, to the Mercy of our Swords, which spar'd none. However [Page 193] narrow as the Bridge was, Captain Mat­thews was resolved to venture over after the Enemy; on doing which, the Enemy made a halt, till the People of the Town, and the very Priests came out to their Re­lief with fire Arms. On so large an Ap­pearance, Captain Matthews thought it not adviseable to make any further Advances; so driving a very great flock of Sheep from under the Walls, he continued his March towards Elda. In this Action we lost Captain Topham, and three Dragoons.

I remember we were not marched very far from the Place, where this Rencounter happen'd; when an Irish Dragoon over­took the Captain, with a civil Message from Major O Rairk, desiring that he would not entertain a mean Opinion of him for the Defence that was made; since could he have got the Spaniards to have stood their Ground, he should have given him good Reason for a better. The Captain return'd a complimental Answer, and so march'd on. This Major O Rairk, or O Roork, was the next Year killed at Alkay, being much la­mented, for he was esteemed both for his Courage and Conduct, one of the best of the Irish Officers in the Spanish Service. I was likewise informed that he was descend­ed from one of the ancient Kings of Ireland; the Mother of the honourable Colonel Pa­get, [Page 194] one of the Grooms of the Bedchamber to his present Majesty, was nearly related to this Gallant Gentleman.

ONE remarkable Thing I saw in that Action, which affected and surprized me: A Scotch Dragoon, of but a moderate Size, with his large basket-hilted Sword, struck off a Spaniard's Head at one stroke, with the same ease, in appearance, as a Man would do that of a Poppy.

WHEN we came to Elda (a Town much in the Interest of King Charles, and famous for its fine Situation, and the largest Grapes in Spain) the Inhabitants received us in a manner as handsome as it was peculiar; all standing at their Doors with lighted Torches; which considering the Time we enter'd was far from an unwelcome or dis­agreeable Sight.

THE next Day several requested to be the Messengers of the Action at Villena to the Earl of Peterborow at Alicant; but the Captain return'd this Answer to all, that in consideration of the Share that I might just­ly claim in that Day's Transactions, he could not think of letting any other Person be the Bearer. So giving me his Letters to the Earl, I the next Day deliver'd them to him at Alicant. At the Delivery, Colonel Killegrew (whose Dragoons they were) being present, he expressed a deal of Satis­faction [Page 195] at the Account, and his Lordship was pleased at the same time to appoint me sole Engineer of the Castle of Alicant.

SOON after which, that successful Gene­ral embark'd for Genoa, according to the Resolutions of the Council of War at Guadalaxara, on a particular Commission from the Queen of England, another from Charles King of Spain, and charged at the same time with a Request of the Marquiss das Minas, General of the Portugueze Forces, to negotiate Bills for one hundred thousand Pounds for the use of his Troops. In all which, tho' he was (as ever) success­ful; yet may it be said without a figure, that his Departure, in a good measure, de­termin'd the Success of the confederate Forces in that Kingdom. True it is, the General return'd again with the fortunate Fruits of those Negotiations; but never to act in his old auspicious Sphere: And there­fore, as I am now to take leave of this for­tunate General, let me do it with Justice, in an Appeal to the World, of the not to be parallel'd Usage (in these latter Ages, at least) that he met with for all his Services; such a vast variety of Enterprizes, all suc­cessful, and which had set all Europe in amaze; Services that had given occasion to such solemn and publick Thanksgivings in our Churches, and which had received such ve­ry remarkable Approbations, both of Sove­reign [Page 196] and Parliament; and which had been represented in so lively a Manner, in a Let­ter wrote by the King of Spain, under his own Hand, to the Queen of England, and communicated to both Houses in the Terms following:

AND yet, after all, was this noble Ge­neral not only recall'd, the Command of the Fleet taken from him, and that of the Army given to my Lord Galway, without Assignment of Cause; but all Manner of Falsities were industriously spread abroad, not only to diminish, if they could, his Re­putation, [Page 202] but to bring him under Accusations of a malevolent Nature. I can hardl [...] imagine it necessary here to take Notic [...] that afterward he disprov'd all those idl [...] Calumnies and ill-invented Rumours; or t [...] mention what Compliments he receiv'd, i [...] the most solemn Manner, from his Country, upon a full Examination and thorough can­vassing of his Actions in the House of Lords. But this is too notorious to be omitted, That all Officers coming from Spain were purpose­ly intercepted in their Way to London, and craftily examin'd upon all the idle Stories which had pass'd tending to lessen his Cha­racter: And when any Officers had asserted the Falsity of those Inventions (as they all did, except a military Sweetner or two) and that there was no Possibility of laying any thing amiss to the Charge of that General-they were told, that they ought to be care, ful however, not to speak advantagiously of that Lord's Conduct, unless they were willing to fall Martyrs in his Cause—A Thing scarce to be credited even in a popish Country. But Scipio was accus'd—tho' (as my Author finely observes) by Wretches only known to Posterity by that stupid Ac­cusation.

AS a mournful Valediction, before I enter upon any new Scene, the Reader will par­don this melancholy Expostulation. How mortifying must it be to an Englishman, [Page 203] after he has found himself solac'd with a Re­lation of so many surprizing Successes of her Majesty's Arms, under the Earl of Peter­borow; Successes that have lay'd before our Eyes Provinces and Kingdoms reduc'd, and Towns and Fortresses taken and reliev'd; where we have seen a continu'd Series of happy Events, the Fruits of Conduct and Vigilance; and Caution and Foresight pre­venting Dangers that were held, at first View, certain and unsurmountable: To change this glorious Landskip, I say, for Scenes every way different, even while our Troops were as numerous as the Enemy, and better provided, yet always baffled and beaten, and flying before the Enemy, till fatally ruin'd in the Battle of Almanza: How mortifying must this be to any Lover of his Country! But I proceed to my Me­moirs.

ALICANT is a Town of the greatest Trade of any in the Kingdom of Valencia, having a strong Castle, being situated on a high Hill, which commands both Town and Harbour. In this Place I resided a whole Year; but it was soon after my first Arrival, that Major Collier (who was shot in the Back at Barcelona, as I have related in the Siege of that Place) hearing of me, sought me out at my Quarters; and, after a particular Enquiry into the Success of that difficult Task that he left me upon, and my [Page 204] answering all his Questions to satisfaction (all which he receiv'd with evident Plea­sure) he threw down a Purse of Pistoles upon the Table; which I refusing, he told me, in a mos handsome Manner, his Friend­ship was not to be preserv'd but by my ac­cepting it.

AFTER I had made some very necessary Repairs, I pursu'd the Orders I had receiv'd from the Earl of Peterborow, to go upon the erecting a new Battery between the Castle and the Town. This was a Task attended with Difficulties, neither few in Number, nor small in Consequence; for it was to be rais'd upon a great Declivity, which must render the Work both laborious and precarious. However, I had the good Fortune to effect it much sooner than was expected; and it was call'd Gorge's Battery, from the Name of the Governor then com­manding; who, out of an uncommon Pro­fusion of Generosity, wetted that Piece of Gossiping with a distinguishing Bowl of Punch. Brigadier Bougard, when he saw this Work some time after, was pleas'd to honour it with a singular Admiration and Approbation, for its Compleatness, not­withstanding its Difficulties.

THIS Work, and the Siege of Carta­gena, then in our Possession, by the Duke of Berwick, brought the Lord Galway down to this Place. Cartagena is of so [Page 205] little Distance from Alicant, that we could easily hear the Cannon playing against, and from it, in our Castle, where I then was. And I remember my Lord Galway, on the fourth Day of the Siege, sending to know if I could make any useful Observations, as to the Success of it; I return'd, that I was of Opinion the Town was surrender'd, from the sudden Cessation of the Cannon, which, by our News next Day from the Place, prov'd to be fact. Cartagena is a small Sea-Port Town in Murcia; but has so good an Harbour, that when the famous Admiral Doria was ask'd, which were the three best Havens in the Mediterranean, he readily return'd, June, July, and Carta­gena.

UPON the Surrender of this Place, a De­tachment of Foot was sent by the Governor, with some Dragoons, to Elsha; but it be­ing a Place of very little Strength they were soon made Prisoners of War.

THE Siege of Cartagena being over, the Lord Galway return'd to his Camp; and the Lord Duncannon dying in Alicant, the first Guns that were fir'd from Gorge's Bat­tery, were the Minute-Guns for his Fune­ral. His Regiment had been given to the Lord Montandre, who lost it before he had Possession, by an Action as odd as it was scandalous.

[Page 206]THAT Regiment had received Orders to march to the Lord Galway's Camp, under the Command of their Lieutenant-Colonel Bateman, a Person before reputedly a good Officer, tho' his Conduct here gave People, not invidious, too much Reason to call it in Question. On his March, he was so very careless and negligent (though he knew himself in a Country surrounded with Enemies, and that he was to march through a Wood, where they every Day made their Appearance in great Numbers) that his Soldiers march'd with their Mus­kets slung at their Backs, and went one after another (as necessity had forc'd us to do in Scotland) himself at the Head of 'em, in his Chaise, riding a considerable way before.

IT happened there was a Captain, with threescore Dragoons, detatch'd from the Duke of Berwick's Army, with a Design to intercept some Cash, that was order'd to be sent to Lord Galway's Army from A­licant. This Detachment, missing of that intended Prize, was returning very discon­solately, Re infecta; when their Captain, observing that careless and disorderly March of the English, resolv'd, boldly enough, to attack them in the Wood. To that Purpose he secreted his little Party behind a great Barn; and so soon as they were half passed by, he falls upon 'em in the Center with [Page 207] his Dragoons, cutting and slashing at such a violent Rate, that he soon dispersed the whole Regiment, leaving many dead and wounded upon the Spot. The three Co­lours were taken; and the gallant Lieu­tenant-Colonel taken out of his Chaise, and carried away Prisoner with many others; only one Officer who was an Ensign, and so bold as to do his Duty, was kill'd.

THE Lieutenant who commanded the Granadiers, received the Alarm time enough to draw his Men into a House in their way; where he bravely defended himself for a long Time; but being killed, the rest imme­diately surrender'd. The Account of this Action I had from the Commander of the Enemy's Party himself, some Time after, while I was a Prisoner. And Captain Ma­honi, who was present when the News was brought, that a few Spanish Dragoons had defeated an English Regiment, which was this under Bateman, protested to me, that the Duke of Berwick turn'd pale at the Relation; and when they offer'd to bring the Colours before him, he would not so much as see them. A little before the Duke went to Supper, Bateman him­self was brought to him, but the Duke turn'd away from him without any further Notice than coldly saying, that he thought he was very strangely taken. The Wags of the Army made a thorough jest of him, and [Page 208] said his military Conduct was of a piece with his Oeconomy, having two Days be­fore this March, sent his young handsome Wife into England, under the Guardianship of the young Chaplain of the Regiment.

April 15. IN the Year 1707, being Easter Monday, we had in the Morning a flying Report in Alicant, that there had been the Day before a Battle at Almanza, between the Army under the Command of the Duke of Berwick, and that of the English, under Lord Galway, in which the latter had suffer'd an entire Defeat. We at first gave no great Credit to it: But, alas, we were too soon wofully convinced of the Truth of it, by Numbers that came flying to us from the conquering Enemy. Then indeed we were satisfied of Truths, too dif­ficult before to be credited. But as I was not present in that calamitous Battle, I shall relate it, as I received it from an Offi­cer then in the Duke's Army.

TO bring the Lord Galway to a Battle, in a Place most commodious for his pur­pose, the Duke made use of this Strata­gem: He ordered two Irishmen, both Offi­cers, to make their way over to the Enemy as Deserters; putting this Story in their Mouths, that the Duke of Orleans was in a full March to join the Duke of Berwick with twelve thousand Men; that this would be done in two Days, and that then they [Page 209] would find out the Lord Galway, and force him to Fight, where-ever they found him.

Battle of Almanza.LORD Galway, who at this Time lay before Villena, receiving this Intelligence from those well instructed Deserters, im­mediately rais'd the Siege; with a Resolu­tion, by a hasty March, to force the E­nemy to Battle, before the Duke of Orleans should be able to join the Duke of Berwick. To effect this, after a hard March of three long Spanish Leagues in the heat of the Day; he appears a little after Noon in the face of the Enemy with his fatiegu'd Forces. Glad and rejoyc'd at the Sight, for he found his Plot had taken; Berwick, the better to receive him, draws up his Army in a half Moon, placing at a pretty good Advance three Regiments to make up the Centre, with express Order, nevertheless, to re­treat at the very first Charge. All which was punctually observ'd, and had its desired Effect: For the three Regiments, at the first Attack gave way, and seemingly fled towards their Camp; the English, after their customary Manner, pursuing them with Shouts and Hollowings. As soon as the Duke of Berwick perceiv'd his Trap had taken, he order'd his right and left Wings to close; by which Means, he at once cut off from the rest of their Army all those who had so eagerly pursu'd the imaginary Runa­ways. In short, the Rout was total, and [Page 210] the most fatal Blow that ever the English re­ceiv'd during the whole War with Spain. Nor, as it is thought, with a great probabi­lity of Reason, had those Troops that made their Retreat to the Top of the Hills, under Major General Shrimpton, met with any bet­ter Fate than those on the Plain, had the Spaniards had any other General in the Command than the Duke of Berwick; whose native Sympathy gave a check to the Ardour of a victorious Enemy. And this was the sense of the Spaniards themselves after the Battle. Verifying herein that no­ble Maxim, That Victory to generous Minds is only an Inducement to Moderation.

THE Day after this fatal Battle (which gave occasion to a Spanish piece of Wit, that the English General had routed the French) the Duke of Orleans did arrive indeed in the Camp, but with an Army of only fourteen Attendants.

THE fatal Effects of this Battle were soon made visible, and to none more than those in Alicant. The Enemy grew every Day more and more troublesome; visiting us in Parties more boldly than before; and often hovering about us so very near, that with our Cannon we could hardly teach 'em to keep a proper Distance. Gorge the Gover­nor of Alicant being recall'd into England, Major General Richards was by King Charles appointed Governor in his Place. [Page 211] He was a Roman Catholick, and very much belov'd by the Natives on that Account; tho' to give him his due, he behaved him­self extremely well in all other Respects. It was in his Time, that a Design was laid of surprizing Guardamere, a small Sea-port Town in Murcia: But the military Bishop (for he was in a literal Sense excellent tam Marte, quam Mercurio, among his many others Exploits, by a timely Expedition, prevented that.

GOVERNOR Richards, my Post being always in the Castle, had sent to desire me to give notice whenever I saw any Parties of the Enemy moving. Pursuant to this Order, discovering one Morning a consider­able body of Horse towards Elsha, I went down into the Town, and told the Gover­nor what I had seen; and without any de­lay he gave his Orders, that a Captain with threescore Men should attend me to an old House about a Mile distance. As soon as we had got into it, I set about barricading all the open Places, and Avenues, and put my Men in a Posture ready to receive an Enemy, as soon as he should appear; upon which the Captain, as a feint, ordered a few of his Men to shew themselves on a rising Ground just before the House. But we had like to have caught a Tartar: For tho' the Enemy took the Train I had laid, and on sight of our small Body on the Hill, [Page 212] sent a Party from their greater Body to in­tercept them, before they could reach the Town; yet the Sequel prov'd, we had mistaken their Number, and it soon appeared to be much greater than we at first imagin'd. However our Out-scouts, as I may call 'em, got safe into the House; and on the Appear­ance of the Party, we let fly a full Volly, which laid dead on the Spot three Men and one Horse. Hereupon the whole Body made up to the House, but stood a-loof up­on the Hill without reach of our Shot. We soon saw our Danger from the number of the Enemy: And well for us it was, that the watchful Governor had taken notice of it, as well as we in the House. For ob­serving us surrounded with the Enemy, and by a Power so much superior, he marched himself with a good part of the Garrison to our Relief. The Enemy stood a little time as if they would receive 'em; but upon second thoughts they retir'd; and to our no little Joy left us at Liberty to come out of the House and join the Garrison.

SCARCE a Day pass'd but we had some visits of the like kind attended sometimes with Rencounters of this Nature; in so much that there was hardly any stirring out in Safety for small Parties, tho' never so little away. There was within a little Mile of the Town, an old Vineyard, envi­roned with a lose stone Wall: An Officer [Page 213] and I made an Agreement to ride thither for an Airing. We did so, and after a little riding, it came into my Head to put a Fright upon the Officer. And very lucky for us both was that unlucky Thought of mine; pretending to see a Party of the Enemy make up to us, I gave him the Alarm, set Spurs to my Horse, and rid as fast as Legs could carry me. The Officer no way bated of his Speed; and we had scarce got out of the Vineyard but my Jest prov'd Earnest, twelve of the Enemy's Horse pursuing us to the very Gates of the Town. Nor could I ever after prevail upon my Fellow-Traveller to believe that he ow'd his Escape to Merri­ment more than Speed.

SOON after my Charge, as to the Forti­fications, was pretty well over, I obtain'd Leave of the Governor to be absent for a Fortnight, upon some Affairs of my own at Valencia. On my Return from whence, at a Town call'd Venissa, I met two Officers of an English Regiment, going to the Place from whence I last came. They told me, after common Congratulations, that they had left Major Boyd, at a little Place call'd Capel, hiring another Mule, that he rode on thither having tir'd and fail'd him; de­siring withal, that if I met him, I would let him know that they would stay for him at that Place. I had another Gentleman in my Company, and we had travell'd on not [Page 214] above a League further, whence, at a little Distance, we were both surpriz'd with a Sight that seem'd to have set all Art at de­fiance, and was too odd for any thing in Nature. It appear'd all in red, and to move; but so very slowly, that if we had not made more way to that than it did to us, we should have made it a Day's Journey be­fore we met it. My Companion could as little tell what to make of it as I; and, in­deed, the nearer it came the more mon­strous it seem'd, having nothing of the Tokens of Man, either Walking, Riding, or in any Posture whatever. At last, com­ing up with this strange Figure of a Creature (for now we found it was certainly such) what, or rather who, should it prove to be, but Major Boyd? He was a Person of him­self far from one of the least Proportion, and mounted on a poor little Ass, with all his warlike Accoutrements upon it, you will al­low must make a Figure almost as odd as one of the old Centaurs. The Morocco Saddle that cover'd the Ass was of Burden enough for the Beast without its Master; and the additional Holsters and Pistols made it much more weighty. Nevertheless, a Curb-Bridle of the largest Size cover'd his little Head, and a long red Cloak, hang­ing down to the Ground, cover'd Jack­boots, Ass, Master and all. In short, my Companion and I, after we could specifi­cally [Page 215] declare it to be a Man, agreed we never saw a Figure so comical in all our Lives. When we had merrily greeted our Major (for a Cynick could not have forborn Laughter) He excus'd all as well as he could, by saying he could get no other Beast. After which, delivering our Message, and condoling with him for his present Mounting, and wishing him better at his next Quarters, he settled into his old Pace, and we into ours, and parted.

WE lay that Night at Altea, famous for its Bay for Ships to water at. It stands on a high Hill; and is adorn'd, not defended, with an old Fort.

THENCE we came to Alicant, where having now been a whole Year, and having effected what was held necessary, I once more prevail'd upon the Governor to per­mit me to take another Journey. The Lord Galway lay at Tarraga, while Le­rida lay under the Siege of the Duke of Orleans; and having some Grounds of Ex­pectation given me, while he was at Ali­cant, I resolv'd at least to demonstrate I was still living. The Governor favour'd me with Letters, not at all to my Disad­vantage; so taking Ship for Barcelona, just at our putting into the Harbour, we met with the English Fleet, on its Return from the Expedition to Toulon under Sir Cloudsly Shovel.

[Page 216]I STAY'D but very few Days at Barce­lona, and then proceeded on my intended Journey to Tarraga; arriving at which Place I deliver'd my Packet to the Lord Galway, who receiv'd me with very great Civility; and to double it, acquainted me at the same time, that the Governor of Ali­cant had wrote very much in my Favour: But though it was a known Part of that noble Lord's Character, that the first Im­pression was generally strongest, I had Reason soon after to close with another Saying, equally true, That general Rules always admit of some Exception. While I was here we had News of the taking of the Town of Lerida; the Prince of Hesse (Brother to that brave Prince who lost his Life before Monjouick) retiring into the Castle with the Garrison, which he bravely defended a long time after.

WHEN I was thus attending my Lord Galway at Tarraga, he receiv'd Intelli­gence that the Enemy had a Design to lay Siege to Denia; whereupon he gave me Orders to repair there as Engineer. After I had receiv'd my Orders, and taken Leave of his Lordship, I set out, resolving, since it was left to my Choice, to go by way of Barcelona, and there take Shipping for the Place of my Station; by which I pro­pos'd to save more time than would allow me a full Opportunity of visiting Montserat, [Page 217] a Place I had heard much Talk of, which had fill'd me with a longing Desire to see it. To say Truth, I had been told such extra­vagant Things of the Place, that I could hardly impute more than one half of it to any thing but Spanish Rhodomontado's, the Vice of extravagant Exaggeration being too natural to that Nation.

Description of Mont­serat. MONTSERAT is a rising lofty Hill, in the very Middle of a spacious Plain, in the Principality of Catalonia, about seven Leagues distant from Barcelona to the West­ward, somewhat inclining to the North. At the very first Sight, its Oddness of Fi­gure promises something extraordinary; and even at that Distance the Prospect makes somewhat of a grand Appearance: Hun­dreds of aspiring Pyramids presenting them­selves all at once to the Eye, look, if I may be allowed so to speak, like a little pe­trify'd Forrest; or, rather, like the awful Ruins of some capacious Structure, the La­bour of venerable Antiquity. The nearer you approach the more it affects; but till you are very near you can hardly form in your Mind any thing like what you find it when you come close to it. Till just upon it you would imagine it a perfect Hill of Steeples; but so intermingled with Trees of Magnitude, as well as Beauty, that your Admiration can never be tir'd, or your Cu­riosity surfeited. Such I sound it on my Ap­proach; [Page 218] yet much less than what I found it, was so soon as I enter'd upon the very Pre­misses.

NOW that stupendious Cluster of Pyra­mids affected me in a Manner different to all before; and I found it so finely group'd with verdant Groves, and here and there inter­spers'd with aspiring, but solitary Trees, that it no way lessened my Admiration, while it increased my Delight. Those Trees, which I call solitary, as standing single, in opposition to the numerous Groves, which are close and thick (as I observ'd when I ascended to take a View of the several Cells) rise generally out of the very Clefts of the main Rock, with nothing, to Ap­pearance, but a Soil or Bed of Stone for their Nurture. But though some few Na­turalists may assert, that the Nitre in the Stone may afford a due Proportion of Nou­rishment to Trees and Vegetables; these, in my Opinion, were all too beautiful, their Bark, Leaf, and Flowers, carry'd too fair a Face of Health, to allow them even to be the Foster-children of Rock and Stone only.

UPON this Hill, or if you please, Grove of Rocks, are thirteen Hermits Cells, the last of which lies near the very Summit. You gradually advance to every one, from Bottom to Top, by a winding Ascent; which to do would otherwise be impossible, by reason of the Steepness; but though there [Page 219] is a winding Ascent to every Cell, as I have said, I would yet set at defiance the most observant, if a Stranger, to find it feasible to visit them in order, if not precaution'd to follow the poor Borigo, or old Ass, that with Paniers hanging on each Side of him, mounts regularly, and daily, up to every particular Cell. The Manner is as fol­lows:

IN the Paniers there are thirteen Parti­tions; one for every Cell. At the Hour ap­pointed, the Servant having plac'd the Pa­niers on his Back, the Ass, of himself, goes to the Door of the Convent at the very Foot of the Hill, where every Partition is sup­ply'd with their several Allowances of Vi­ctuals and Wine. Which, as soon as he has receiv'd, without any further Atten­dance, or any Guide, he mounts and takes the Cells gradually, in their due Course, till he reaches the very uppermost. Where having discharg'd his Duty, he descends the same Way, lighter by the Load he carry'd up. This the poor stupid Drudge fails not to do, Day and Night, at the stated Hours.

TWO Gentlemen, who had join'd me on the Road, alike led by Curiosity, seem'd alike delighted, that the End of it was so well answer'd. I could easily discover in their Countenances a Satisfaction, which, if it did not give a Sanction to my own, much [Page 220] confirm'd it, while they seem'd to allow with me that these reverend Solitaries were truly happy Men: I then thought them such; and a thousand times since, reflecting within my self, have wish'd, bating their Errors, and lesser Superstitions, my self as happily sta­tion'd: For what can there be wanting to a happy Life, where all things necessary are provided without Care? Where the Days, without Anxiety or Troubles, may be grate­fully passed away, with an innocent Va­riety of diverting and pleasing Objects, and where their Sleeps and Slumbers are never interrupted with any thing more offensive, than murmuring Springs, natural Cascades, or the various Songs of the pretty feather'd Quiristers.

BUT their Courtesy to Strangers is no less engaging than their Solitude. A recluse Life, for the Fruits of it, generally speaking, produces Moroseness; Pharisaical Pride too often sours the Temper; and a mistaken O­pinion of their own Merit too naturally leads such Men into a Contempt of others: But on the contrary, these good Men (for I must call them as I thought them) seem'd to me the very Emblems of Innocence; so ready to oblige others, that at the same In­stant they seem'd laying Obligations upon themselves. This is self-evident, in that Affability and Complaisance they use in shewing the Rarities of their several Cells; [Page 221] where, for fear you should slip any thing worthy Observation, they endeavour to in­stil in you as quick a Propensity of asking, as you find in them a prompt Alacrity in answering such Questions of Curiosity as their own have inspir'd.

IN particular, I remember one of those reverend old Men, when we were taking Leave at the Door of his Cell, to which out of his great Civility he accompany'd us, finding by the Air of our Faces, as well as our Expressions, that we thought our selves pleasingly entertain'd; to divert us afresh, advanc'd a few Paces from the Door, when giving a Whistle with his Mouth, a sur­prizing Flock of pretty little Birds, varie­gated, and of different Colours, immediate­ly flock'd around him. Here you should see some alighting upon his Shoulders, some on his awful Beard; others took Refuge on his snow-like Head, and many feeding, and more endeavouring to feed out of his Mouth; each appearing emulous and under an inno­cent Contention, how best to express their Love and Respect to their no less pleased Master.

NOR did the other Cells labour under any Deficiency of Variety: Every one boasting in some particular, that might distinguish it in something equally agreeable and enter­taining. Nevertheless, crystal Springs spouting from the solid Rocks were, from [Page 222] the highest to the lowest, common to the [...] all; and, in most of them, they had littl [...] brass Cocks, out of which, when turn'd, issu'd the most cool and crystalline Flows o [...] excellent pure Water. And yet what more affected me, and which I found near more Cells than one, was the natural Cascades of the same transparent Element; these falling from one Rock to another, in that warm, or rather hot Climate, gave not more delightful Astonishment to the Eye, than they afforded grateful Refreshment to the whole Man. The Streams falling from these, soften, from a rougher tumultuous Noise, into such affecting Murmurs, by Distance, the Intervention of Groves, or neighbouring Rocks, that it were impossible to see or hear them and not be charm'd.

NEITHER are those Groves grateful only in a beautiful Verdure; Nature renders them otherwise delightful, in loading them with Clusters of Berries of a perfect scarlet Co­lour, which, by a beautiful Intermixture, strike the Eye with additional Delight. In short, it might nonplus a Person of the nicest Taste, to distinguish or determine, whether the Neatness of their Cells within, or the beauteous Varieties without, most exhaust his Admiration. Nor is the Whole, in my Opinion, a little advantag'd by the frequent View of some of those pyramidical Pillars, which seem, as weary of their own [Page 223] Weight, to recline and seek Support from others in the Neighbourhood.

WHEN I mention'd the outside Beauties of their Cells, I must be thought to have for­got to particularize the glorious Prospects presented to your Eye from every one of them; but especially from that nearest the Summit. A Prospect, by reason of the Purity of the Air, so extensive, and so very entertaining, that to dilate upon it properly to one that never saw it, would baffle Cre­dit; and naturally to depaint it, would confound Invention. I therefore shall only say, that on the Mediterranean Side, after an agreeable Interval of some fair Leagues, it will set at defiance the strongest Opticks; and although Barcelona bounds it on the Land, the Eyes are feasted with the De­lights of such an intervening Champion (where beauteous Nature does not only smile, but riot) that the Sense must be very temperate, or very weak, that can be soon or easily satisfy'd.

HAVING thus taken a View of all their refreshing Springs, their grateful Groves, and solitary Shades under single Trees, whose Clusters prov'd that even Rocks were grown fruitful; and having ran over all the Variety of Pleasures in their several pretty Cells, decently set off with Gardens round them, equally fragrant and beautiful, we were brought down again to the Con­vent, [Page 224] which, though on a small Ascent, lies very near the Foot of this terrestrial Pa­radise, there to take a Survey of their sumptuous Hall, much more sumptuous Chapel, and its adjoining Repository; and feast our Eyes with Wonders of a dif­ferent Nature; and yet as entertaining as any, or all, we had seen before.

IMMEDIATELY on our Descent, a Priest presented himself at the Door of the Con­vent, ready to shew us the hidden Rarities. And though, as I understood, hardly a Day passes without the Resort of some Strangers to gratify their Curiosity with the Wonders of the Place; yet is there, on every such Occasion, a superior Concourse of Natives ready to see over again, out of meer Bigo­try and Superstition, what they have seen, perhaps, a hundred times before. I could not avoid taking notice, however, that the Priest treated those constant Visitants with much less Ceremony, or more Freedom, if you please, than any of the Strangers of what Nation soever; or, indeed, he seem'd to take as much Pains to disoblige those, as he did Pleasure in obliging us.

THE Hall was neat, large and stately; but being plain and unadorn'd with more than decent Decorations, suitable to such a Society, I hasten to the other.

WHEN we enter'd the Chapel, our Eyes were immediately attracted by the [Page 225] Image of our Lady of Montserat (as they call it) which stands over the Altar-Piece. It is about the natural Stature; but as black and shining as Ebony it self. Most would imagine it made of that Material; though her Retinue and Adorers will allow nothing of the Matter. On the contrary, Tradi­tion, which with them is, on some Occa­sions, more than tantamount to Religion, has assur'd them, and they relate it as un­doubted Matter of Fact, that her present Colour, if I may so call it, proceeded from her Concealment, in the Time of the Moors, between those two Rocks on which the Chapel is founded; and that her long lying in that dismal Place chang'd her once love­ly White into its present opposite. Would not a Heretick here be apt to say, That it was great pity that an Image which still boasts the Power of acting so many Miracles, could no better conserve her own Com­plexion? At least it must be allow'd, even by a good Catholick, to carry along with it Matter of Reproach to the fair Ladies, Natives of the Country, for their unnatural and excessive Affection of adulterating, if not defacing, their beautiful Faces, with the ruinating Dauberies of Carmine?

AS the Custom of the Place is (which is likewise allow'd to be a distinguishing Piece of Civility to Strangers) when we approach the black Lady (who, I should have told [Page 226] you, bears a Child in her Arms; but whe­ther maternally Black, or of the Mulatto Kind, I protest I did not mind) the Priest, in great Civility, offers you her Arm to sa­lute; at which Juncture, I, like a true blue Protestant, mistaking my Word of Com­mand, fell foul on the fair Lady's Face. The Displeasure in his Countenance (for he took more Notice of the Rudeness than the good Lady her self) soon convinc'd me of my Error: However, as a greater Token of his Civility, having admitted no Spa­niards along with my Companions and me, it pass'd off the better; and his after Civi­lities manifested, that he was willing to re­form my Ignorance by his Complaisance.

TO demonstrate which, upon my telling him that I had a Set of Beads, which I must entreat him to consecrate for me, he readily, nay eagerly comply'd; and having hung them on her Arm for the Space of about half, or somewhat short of a whole Minute, he return'd me the holy Baubles with a great deal of Address and most evi­dent Satisfaction. The Reader will be apt to admire at this curious Piece of Supersti­tion of mine, till I have told him, that even rigid Protestants have, in this Country [...] thought it but prudent to do the like; and likewise having so done, to carry them a­bout their Persons, or in their Pockets: For Experience has convinc'd us of the Necessity [Page 227] of this most Catholick Precaution; since those who have here, travelling or other­wise, come to their Ends, whether by Ac­cident, Sickness, or the Course of Nature, not having these sanctifying Seals found up­on them, have ever been refus'd Christian Burial, under a superstitious Imagination, that the Corps of a Heretick will infect every thing near it.

TWO Instances of this kind fell within my Knowledge; one before I came to Montserat, the other after. The first was of one Slunt, who had been Bombardier at Monjouick; but being kill'd while we lay at Campilio, a Priest, whom I advis'd with upon the Matter, told me, that if he should be buried where any Corn grew, his Body would not only be taken up again, but ill treated, in revenge of the Destruction of so much Corn, which the People would on no account be persuaded to touch; for which Reason we took care to have him lay'd in a very deep Grave, on a very barren Spot of Ground. The other was of one Captain Bush, who was a Prisoner with me on the Surrender of Denia; who being sent, as I was afterwards, to Saint Clemente la Mancha, there dy'd; and, as I was inform'd, tho' he was private­ly, and by Night, bury'd in a Corn-Field, he was taken out of his Grave by those super­stitious People, as soon as ever they could discover the Place where his Body was de­posited. [Page 228] But I return to the Convent at Montserat.

OUT of the Chapel, behind the High-Altar, we descended into a spacious Room, the Repository of the great Offerings made to the Lady. Here, though I thought in the Chapel it self I had seen the Riches of the Universe, I found a prodigious Quan­tity of more costly Presents, the supersti­tious Tribute of most of the Roman-Catho­lick Princes in Europe. Among a Multi­tude of others, they show'd me a Sword set with Diamonds, the Offering of Charles the Third, then King of Spain, but now Emperor of Germany. Though I must confess, being a Heretick, I could much easier find a Reason for a fair Lady's pre­senting such a Sword to a King of Spain, than for a King of Spain's presenting such a Sword to a fair Lady: And by the Motto upon it, Pulchra tamen nigra, it was plain such was his Opinion. That Prince was so delighted with the Pleasures of this sweet Place, that he, as well as I, stay'd as long as ever he could; though neither of us so long as either could have wish'd.

BUT there was another Offering from a King of Portugal, equally glorious and costly; but much better adapted; and therefore in its Propriety easier to be ac­counted for. That was a Glory for the Head of her Ladiship, every Ray of which [Page 229] was set with Diamonds, large at the Bot­tom, and gradually lessening to the very Extremity of every Ray. Each Ray might be about half a Yard long; and I imagin'd in the Whole there might be about one Hundred of them. In short, if ever her Ladiship did the Offerer the Honour to put it on, I will, though a Heretick, venture to aver, she did not at that present time look like a humane Creature.

TO enumerate the rest, if my Memory would suffice, would exceed Belief. As the upper Part was a plain Miracle of Nature, the lower was a compleat Treasury of mira­culous Art.

IF you ascend from the lowest Cell to the very Summit, the last of all the thirteen, you will perceive a continual Contention between Pleasure and Devotion; and at last, perhaps, find your self at a Loss to decide which deserves the Preheminence: For you are not here to take Cells in the vulgar Ac­ceptation, as the little Dormitories of soli­tary Monks: No! Neatness, Use, and Contrivance appear in every one of them; and though in an almost perfect Equality, yet in such Perfection, that you will find it difficult to discover in any one of them any thing wanting to the Pleasure of Life.

IF you descend to the Convent near the Foot of that venerable Hill; you may see more, much more of the Riches of the [Page 230] World; but less, far less Appearance of a celestial Treasure. Perhaps, it might be only the Sentiment of a Heretick; but that Awe and Devotion, which I found in my Attendant from Cell to Cell grew languid, and lost in meer empty Bigotry and foggy Superstition, when I came below. In short, there was not a greater Difference in their Heights, than in the Sentiments they in­spir'd me with.

BEFORE I leave this Emblem of the bea­tifick Vision, I must correct some thing like a Mistake, as to the poor Borigo. I said at the Beginning that his Labour was daily; but the Sunday is to him a Day of rest, as it is to the Hermits, his Masters, a Day of Refection. For to save the poor faithful Brute the hard Drudgery of that Day, the thirteen Hermits, if Health per­mit, descend to their Coenobium, as they call it; that is, to the Hall of the Convent; where they dine in common with the Monks of the Order, who are Benedictines.

AFTER seven Days Variety of such in­nocent Delight (the Space allow'd for the Entertainment of Strangers) I took my Leave of this pacifick Hermitage, to pursue the more boisterous Duties of my Calling. The Life of a Soldier is in every Respect the full Antithesis to that of a Hermit; and I know not, whether it might not be a Sense of that, which inspir'd me with very great [Page 231] Reluctancy at parting. I confess, while on the Spot, I over and over bandy'd in my Mind the Reasons which might prevail upon Charles the Fifth to relinquish his Crown; and the Arguments on his Side never fail'd of Energy, when I could per­suade my self that this, or some like happy Retreat, was the Reward of abdicated Em­pire.

FULL of these Contemplations (for they lasted there) I arriv'd at Barcelona; where I found a Vessel ready to sail, on which I embark'd for Denia, in pursuance of my Orders. Sailing to the Mouth of the Medi­terranean, no Place along the Christian Shore affords a Prospect equally delightful with the Castle of Denia. It was never design'd for a Place of great Strength, be­ing built, and first design'd, as a Seat of Pleasure to the Great Duke of Lerma. In that Family it many Years remain'd; tho', within less than a Century, that with two other Dukedoms, have devolv'd upon the Family of the Duke de Medina Celi, the richest Subject at this time in all Spain.

DENIA was the first Town, that, in our Way to Barcelona, declar'd for King Charles; and was then by his Order made a Garrison. The Town is but small, and surrounded with a thin Wall; so thin, that I have known a Cannon-Ball pierce through it at once.

[Page 232]WHEN I arriv'd at Denia, I found a Spaniard Governor of the Town, whose Name has slipt my Memory; tho' his Be­haviour merited everlasting Annals. Major Percival, an Englishman, commanded in the Castle, and on my coming there, I un­derstood, it had been agreed between 'em, that in case of a Siege, which they appre­hended, the Town should be defended wholly by Spaniards, and the Castle by the English.

I had scarce been there three Weeks be­fore those Expectations were answered. The Place was invested by Count D' Alfelt, and Major General Mahoni; two Days after which, they open'd Trenches on the East Side of the Town. I was necessitated upon their so doing, to order the Demolishment of some Houses on that Side, that I might erect a Battery to point upon their Trenches, the better to annoy them. I did so; and it did the intended Service; for with that, and two others, which I rais'd upon the Castle (from all which we fir'd incessantly, and with great Success) the Besiegers were sufficiently incommoded.

THE Governor of the Town (a Spaniard as I said before, and with a Spanish Garri­son) behav'd very gallantly; insomuch, that what was said of the Prince of Hesse, when he so bravely defended Gibraltar against the joint Forces of France and [Page 233] Spain, might be said of him, that he was Governor, Engineer, Gunner, and Bom­bardier all in one: For no Man could ex­ceed him, either in Conduct or Courage; nor were the Spaniards under him less va­liant or vigilant: For in case the Place was taken, expecting but indifferent Quarter, they fought with Bravery, and defended the Place to Admiration.

THE Enemy had answer'd our Fire with all the Ardour imaginable; and having made a Breach, that, as we thought was practicable, a Storm was expected every Hour. Preparing against which, to the great Joy of all the Inhabitants, and the Surprize of the whole Garrison, and with­out our being able to assign the least Cause, the Enemy suddenly raised the Siege, and withdrew from a Place, which those within imagined in great Danger.

THE Siege thus abdicated (if I may use a modern Phrase) I was resolved to im­prove my Time, and make the best Provisi­on I could against any future Attack. To that purpose I made several new Fortificati­ons, together with proper Casemets for our Powder, all which render'd the Place much stronger, tho' Time too soon show'd me that Strength it self must yield to For­tune.

SURVEYING those Works, and my Work­men, I was one Day standing on the great [Page 234] Battery, when casting my Eye toward the Barbary Coast, I observ'd an odd sort of greenish Cloud making to the Spanish Shoar. Not like other Clouds with Rapi­dity or Swiftness; but with a Motion so slow, that Sight itself was a long time be­fore it would allow it such. At last, it came just over my Head, and interposing between the Sun and me, so thickned the Air, that I had lost the very Sight of Day. At this moment it had reach'd the Land; and tho' very near me in my Imagination, it began to dissolve, and lose of its first Te­nebrity, when all on a sudden there fell such a vast multitude of Locusts, as exceed­ed the thickest storm of Hail or Snow that I ever saw. All around me was immediately cover'd with those crauling Creatures; and they yet continu'd to fall so thick, that with the swing of my Cane I knock'd down thousands. It is scarce imaginable the Ha­vock I made in a very little space of time; much less conceivable is the horrid Desola­tion which attended the Visitation of those Animalcula. There was not in a Day or two's time, the least Leaf to be seen upon a Tree, nor any green Thing in a Garden. Nature seem'd buried in her own Ruins; and the vegetable World to be Supporters only to her Monument. I never saw the hardest Winter, in those Parts, attended with any equal Desolation. When, glut­ton [Page 235] like, they had devour'd all that should have sustained them, and the more valuable Part of God's Creation (whether weary with gorging, or over thirsty with devour­ing, I leave to Philosophers) they made to Ponds, Brooks, and standing Pools, there revenging their own Rape upon Nature, up­on their own vile Carkasses. In every of these you might see them lie in Heaps like little Hills; drown'd indeed, but attended with Stenches so noisome, that it gave the distracted Neighbourhood too great Reason to apprehend yet more fatal Consequences. A Pestilential Infection is the Dread of every Place, but especially of all Parts upon the Me­diterranean. The Priests therefore repair'd to a little Chapel, built in the open Fields, to be made use of on such like Occasions, there to deprecate the miserable Cause of this dreadful Visitation. In a Week's time, or there abouts, the Stench was over, and every Thing but verdant Nature in its pristin Order.

Denia be­sieged a­gain and taken.SOME few Months after this, and about eight Months from the former Siege, Count D' Alfelt caus'd Denia to be again invest­ed; and being then sensible of all the Mistakes he had before committed, he now went about his Business with more Regularity and Dis­cretion. The first Thing he set upon, and it was the wisest Thing he could do, was to cut off our Communication with the Sea. [Page 236] This he did, and thereby obtained what he much desired. Next, he caus'd his Bat­teries to be erected on the West side of the Town, from which he ply'd it so furiously, that in five Days time a practicable Breach was made; upon which they storm'd and took it. The Governor, who had so brave­ly defended it in the former Seige, fortu­nately for him, had been remov'd; and Francis Valero, now in his Place, was made Prisoner of War with all his Garrison.

AFTER the taking the Town, they erect­ed Batteries against the Castle, which they kept ply'd with incessant Fire, both from Cannon and Mortars. But what most of all plagu'd us, and did us most Mischief, was the vast showers of Stones sent among the Garrison from their Mortars. These, ter­rible in Bulk and Size, did more Execution than all the rest put together. The Gar­rison could not avoid being somewhat dis­heartened at this uncommon way of Ren­counter; yet, to a Man, declar'd against hearkening to any Proposals of Surrender, the Governor excepted; who having select­ed more Treasure than he could properly, or justly call his own, was the only Person that seem'd forward for such a Motion. He had more than once thrown out Expressions of such a Nature, but without any Effect. Nevertheless, having at last secretly obtain­ed a peculiar Capitulation for himself, Bag, [Page 237] and Baggage; the Garrison was sacrific'd to his private Interest, and basely given up Prisoners of War. By these Means indeed he saved his Money, but lost his Reputati­on; and soon after, Life it self. And sure every Body will allow the latter loss to be least, who will take Pains to consider, that it screen'd him from the consequential Scrutinies of a Council of War, which must have issued as the just Reward of his Deme­rits.

THE Garrison being thus unaccountably de­livered up and made Prisoners, were dispers­ed different Ways: Some into Castile, others as far as Oviedo, in the Kingdom of Leon. For my own part, having received a Contu­sion in my Breast; I was under a ne­cessity of being left behind with the Enemy, till I should be in a Condition to be re­mov'd, and when that time came, I found my self agreeably order'd to Valencia.

AS a Prisoner of War I must now bid a­dieu to the active Part of the military Life; and hereafter concern my self with Descrip­tions of Countries, Towns, Palaces, and Men, instead of Battles. However, if I take in my way Actions of War, founded on the best Authorities, I hope my Intersper­sing such will be no disadvantage to my now more pacifick MEMOIRS.

SO soon as I arriv'd at Valencia, I wrote to our Pay-master Mr. Mead, at Barcelona, [Page 238] letting him know, that I was become a Prisoner, wounded, and in want of Money. Nor could even all those Circumstances prevail on me to think it long before he re­turned a favourable Answer, in an Order to Monsieur Zoulicafre, a Banker, to pay me on Sight fifty Pistoles. But in the same Let­ter he gave me to understand, that those fifty Pistoles were a Present to me from Ge­neral (afterwards Earl) Stanhope; and so indeed I found it, when I return'd into England, my Account not being charged with any part of it: But this was not the only Test I received of that generous Earl's Generosity. And where's the Wonder, as the World is compell'd to own, that Hero­ick Actions and Largeness of Soul ever did discover and amply distinguish the genuine Branches of that illustrious Family.

THIS Recruit to me however was the more generous for being seasonable. Bene­fits are always doubled in their being easily conferr'd and well tim'd; and with such an Allowance as I constantly had by the order of King Philip, as Prisoner of War, viz. eighteen Ounces of Mutton per diem for my self, and nine for my Man, with Bread and Wine in proportion, and especially in such a Situation; all this I say was sufficient to invite a Man to be easy, and almost for­get his want of Liberty, and much more so to me, if it be consider'd, that, that want [Page 239] of Liberty consisted only in being debarr'd from leaving the pleasantest City in all Spain.

HERE I met with the French Engineer, who made the Mine under the Rock of the Castle at Alicant. That fatal Mine, which blew up General Richards, Colonel Sy­burg, Colonel Thornicroft, and at least twenty more Officers. And yet by the Ac­count, that Engineer gave me, their Fate was their own choosing: The General, who commanded at that Siege being more industrious to save them, than they were to be sav'd: He endeavour'd it many ways: He sent them word of the Mine, and their readiness to spring it; he over and over sent them Offers of Leave to come, and take a view of it, and inspect it: Notwith­standing all which, tho' Colonel Thorni­croft, and Captain Page, a French Engi­neer, in the Service of Kng Charles, pur­sued the Invitation, and were permitted to view it, yet would they not believe; but reported on their Return, that it was a sham Mine, a feint only to intimidate 'em to a Surrender, all the Bags being fill'd with Sand instead of Gunpowder.

THE very Day on which the Besiegers design'd to spring the Mine, they gave No­tice of it; and the People of the Neigh­bourhood ran up in Crowds to an opposite Hill in order to see it: Nevertheless, altho' [Page 240] those in the Castle saw all this, they still remain'd so infatuated, as to imagine it all done only to affright 'em. At length the fatal Mine was sprung, and all who were upon that Battery lost their Lives; and a­mong them those I first mentioned. The very Recital hereof made me think within my self, who can resist his Fate?

THAT Engineer added further, that it was with an incredible Difficulty, that he prepar'd that Mine; that there were in the Concavity thirteen hundred Barrels of Powder; notwithstanding which, it made no great Noise without, whatever it might do inwardly; that only taking away what might be not improperly term'd an Excre­scence in the Rock, the Heave on the Blast had render'd the Castle rather stronger on that Side than it was before, a Cre­vice or Crack which had often occasioned Apprehensions being thereby wholly clos'd and firm.

SOME further Particulars I soon after had from Colonel Syburg's Gentleman; who seeing me at the Play-house, chal­lenged me, tho' at that Time unknown to me. He told me, that the Night pre­ceeding the unfortunate Catastrophe of his Master, he was waiting on him in the Casemet, where he observed, sometime before the rest of the Company took notice of it, that General Richards appeared [Page 241] very pensive and thoughtful, that the whole Night long he was pester'd with, and could not get rid of a great Flie, which was per­petually buzzing about his Ears and Head, to the vexation and disturbance of the rest of the Company, as well as the General himself; that in the Morning, when they went upon the Battery, under which the Mine was, the General made many offers of going off; but Colonel Syburg, who was got a little merry, and the rest out of a Bravado, would stay, and would not let the General stir; that at last it was pro­pos'd by Colonel Syburg to have the other two Bottles to the Queen's Health, after which he promised they would all go off together.

UPON this my Relator, Syburg's Gentle­man, said, he was sent to fetch the stipula­ted two Bottles; returning with which, Captain Daniel Weaver, within thirty or forty Yards of the Battery, ran by him, vowing, he was resolv'd to drink the Queen's Health with them; but his Feet were scarce on the Battery, when the Mine was sprung, which took him away with the rest of the Company; while Major Harding now a Justice in Westminster com­ing that very Moment off Duty, exchang'd Fates.

IF Predestination, in the Eyes of many, is an unaccountable Doctrine, what better [Page 242] Account can the wisest give of this Fatality? Or to what else shall we impute the Issue of this whole Transaction? That Men shall be solicited to their Safety; suffered to sur­vey the Danger they were threatened with; among many other Tokens of its approach­ing Certainty, see such a Concourse of Peo­ple crowding to be Spectators of their im­pending Catastrophe; and after all this, so infatuated to stay on the fatal Spot the fetching up of the other two Bottles; what­ever it may to such as never think, to such as plead an use of Reason, it must admini­ster Matter worthy of the sedatest Conside­ration.

BEING now pretty well recover'd of my Wounds, I was by Order of the Governor of Valencia, removed to Sainte Clemente de la Mancha, a Town somewhat more Inland, and consequently esteem'd more secure than a Semi-Seaport. Here I remain'd under a sort of Pilgrimage upwards of three Years. To me as a Stranger divested of Acquain­tance or Friend (for at that instant I was sole Prisoner there) at first it appear'd such, tho' in a very small compass of Time, I luckily found it made quite otherwise by an agreeable Conversation.

SAINTE Clemente de la Mancha, is rendered famous by the renown'd Don Michael Cerviantes, who in his facetious but satyrical Romance, has fix'd it the [Page 243] Seat and Birth Place of his Hero Don Quixot.

THE Gentlemen of this Place are the least Priest-ridden or Sons of Bigotry, of any that I met with in all Spain; of which in my Conversation with them I had daily Instances. Among many others, an Expression that fell from Don Felix Pacheco, a Gentle­man of the best Figure thereabout, and of a very plentiful Fortune, shall now suffice. I was become very intimate with him; and we us'd often to converse together with a Freedom too dangerous to be common in a Country so enslav'd by the Inquisition. Asking me one Day in a sort of a jocose manner, who, in my Opinion, had done the greatest Miracles that ever were heard of? I answer'd, Jesus Christ. ‘"It is very true, says he, Jesus Christ did great Mi­racles, and a great one it was to feed five Thousand People with two or three small Fishes, and a like number of Loaves: But Saint Francis, the Founder of the Franciscan Order, has found out a way to feed daily one hundred Thousand Lub­bards with nothing at all;"’ meaning the Franciscans, the Followers of Saint Francis, who have no visible Revenues; yet in their way of Living come up to, if they do not exceed any other Order.

ANOTHER Day talking of the Place, it naturally led us into a Discourse of the [Page 244] Knight of la Mancha, Don Quixot. At which time he told me, that in his Opinion, that Work was a perfect Paradox, being the best and the worst Romance, that ever was wrote. ‘"For, says he, tho' it must infallibly please every Man, that has any taste of Wit; yet has it had such a fatal Effect upon the Spirits of my Country­men, that every Man of Wit must ever resent; for, continu'd he, before the Ap­pearance in the World of that Labour of Cerviantes, it was next to an Impossibi­lity for a Man to walk the Streets with any Delight, or without Danger. There were seen so many Cavaliero's prancing and curvetting before the Windows of their Mistresses, that a Stranger would have imagin'd the whole Nation to have been nothing less than a Race of Knight Errants. But after the World became a little acquainted with that no­table History; the Man that was seen in that once celebrated Drapery, was pointed at as a Don Quixot, and found himself the Jest of High and Low. And I verily believe, added he, that to this, and this only we owe that dampness and poverty of Spirit, which has run thro' all our Councils for a Century past, so little agreeable to those nobler Actions of our famous Ancestors."’

[Page 245]AFTER many of these lesser sorts of Con­fidences, Don Felix recommended me to a Lodging next Door to his own. It was at a Widow's, who had one only Daughter, her House just opposite to a Franciscan Nunnery. Here I remain'd somewhat up­wards of two Years; all which time, lying in my Bed, I could hear the Nuns early in the Morning at their Matins, and late in the Evening at their Vespers, with Delight enough to my self, and without the least Indecency in the World in my Thoughts of them. Their own Divine Employ too much employ'd every Faculty of mine to entertain any Thing inconsentaneous or offensive.

THIS my Neighbourhood to the Nunnery gave me an opportunity of seeing two Nuns invested; and in this I must do a Justice to the whole Country, to acknowledge, that a Stranger who is curious (I would impute it rather to their hopes of Conversion, than to their Vanity) shall be admitted to much greater Freedoms in their religious Pagean­tries, than any Native.

The man­ner of In­vesting Nuns.ONE of these Nuns was of the first Quali­ty, which render'd the Ceremony more re­markably fine. The manner of investing them was thus: In the Morning her Relations and Friends all met at her Father's House; whence, she being attir'd in her most sump­tuous Apparel, and a Coronet plac'd on her Head, they attended her, in Cavalcade, to [Page 246] the Nunnery, the Streets and Windows be­ing crowded, and fill'd with Spectators of all sorts.

SO soon as she enter'd the Chapel belong­ing to the Nunnery, she kneel'd down, and with an appearance of much Devotion, sa­luted the Ground; then rising up, she ad­vanced a Step or two farther; when on her Knees she repeated the Salutes: This done she approached to the Altar, where she remain­ed till Mass was over: After which, a Ser­mon was preach'd by one of the Priests in Praise, or rather in an exalted Preference of a single Life. The Sermon being over, the Nun elect fell down on her Knees before the Altar; and after some short mental Orai­sons, rising again, she withdrew into an in­ner Room, where stripping off all her rich Attire, she put on her Nun's Weeds: In which making her Appearance, she, again kneeling, offer'd up some private Devotions; which being over, she was led to the Door of the Nunnery, where the Lady and the rest of the Nuns stood ready to receive her with open Arms. Thus enter'd, the Nuns conducted her into the Quire, where after they had entertained her with Singing, and playing upon the Organ, the Ceremony concluded, and every one departed to their proper Habitations.

THE very same Day of the Year ensuing, the Relations and Friends of the fair Novi­tiate [Page 247] meet again in the Chapel of the Nun­nery, where the Lady Abbess brings her out, and delivers her to them. Then again is there a Sermon preach'd on the same Subject as at first; which being over, she is brought up to the Altar in a decent, but plain Dress, the fine Apparel, which she put off on her Initiation, being deposited on one side of the Altar, and her Nun's Weeds on the other. Here the Priest in Latin cries, Utrum horum mavis, accipe: to which she answers, as her Inclination, or as her Instruction directs her. If she, after this her Year of Probation, show any Dislike, she is at Liberty to come again into the World: But if aw'd by Fear (as too often is the Case) or won by Ex­pectation, or present real Inclination, she makes choice of the Nun's Weeds, she is im­mediately invested, and must never expect to appear again in the World out of the Walls of the Nunnery. The young Lady I thus saw invested was very beautiful, and sang the best of any in the Nunnery.

THERE are in the Town three Nunneries, and a Convent to every one of them; viz. one of Jesuits, one of Carmelites, and the other of Franciscans. Let me not be so far mistaken to have this taken by way of Reflection. No! Whatever some of our Rakes of the Town may assert, I freely de­clare, that I never saw in any of the Nun­neries (of which I have seen many both in [Page 248] Spain and other Parts of the World) any thing like indecent Behaviour, that might give occasion for Satyr or Disesteem. It is true, there may be Accidents, that may lead to a Misinterpretation; of which I re­member a very untoward Instance in Ali­cant.

WHEN the English Forces first laid Siege to that Town, the Priests, who were apprehensive of it, having been long since made sensible of the profound Regard to Chastity and Modesty of us Hereticks, by the ignominious Behaviour of certain Officers at Rota and Porta St. Maria, the Priests, I say, had taken care to send away privately all the Nuns to Majorca. But that the He­retick Invaders might have no Jealousy of it, the fair Curtezans of the Town were admit­ted to supply their Room. The Officers, both of Land and Sea, as was by the Friars pre-imagin'd, on taking the Town and Castle, immediately repair'd to the Grates of the Nunnery, toss'd over their Handker­cheifs, Nosegays, and other pretty Things; all which were, doubtless, very graciously received by those imaginary Recluses. Thence came it to pass, that in the space of a Month or less, you could hardly fall into Company of any one of our younger Officers, of either sort, but the Discourse, if it might deserve the Name, was concerning these beautiful Nuns; and you wou'd have ima­gin'd [Page 249] the Price of these Ladies as well known as that of Flesh in their common Markets. Others, as well as my self, have often en­deavour'd to disabuse those Glorioso's, but all to little purpose, till more sensible Tokens convinced them, that the Nuns, of whose Fa­vours they so much boasted, could hardly be perfect Virgins, tho' in a Cloyster. And I am apt to think, those who would palm upon the World like vicious Relations of Nuns and Nunneries, do it on much like Grounds. Not that there are wanting In­stances of Nunneries disfranchis'd, and even demolish'd, upon very flagrant Accounts; but I confine my self to Spain.

IN this Town of la Mancha the Corrigi­dore always has his Presidence, having six­teen others under his Jurisdiction, of which Almanza is one. They are changed every three Years, and their Offices are the Pur­chase of an excessive Price; which occasi­ons the poor People's being extravagantly fleeced, nothing being to be sold but at the Rates they impose; and every Thing that is sold paying the Corrigidore an Acknowledg­ment in specie, or an Equivalent to his liking.

WHILE I was here, News came of the Battle of Almanar and Saragosa; and gi­ving the Victory to that Side, which they espous'd (that of King Philip) they made very great Rejoycings. But soon, alas, for them, was all that Joy converted into Sor­row: [Page 250] The next Courier evincing, that the Forces of King Charles had been victorious in both Engagements. This did not turn to my present Disadvantage: For Convents and Nunneries, as well as some of those Dons, whom afore I had not stood so well with, strove now how most to oblige me; not doubting, but if the victorious Army should march that way, it might be in my Power to double the most signal of their Services in my Friendship.

SOON after an Accident fell out, which had like to have been of an unhappy Con­sequence to me. I was standing in Com­pany, upon the Parade, when a most sur­prizing flock of Eagles flew over our Heads, where they hover'd for a considerable time. The Novelty struck them all with Admira­tion, as well as my self. But I, less ac­customed to like Spectacles, innocently say­ing, that in my Opinion, it could not bode any good to King Philip, because the Eagle compos'd the Arms of Austria; some busie Body, in hearing, went and inform'd the Corrigidore of it. Those most magi­sterial Wretches embrace all Occasions of squeezing Money; and more especially from Strangers. However finding his Expecta­tions disappointed in me, and that I too well knew the length of his Foot, to let my Money run freely; he sent me next Day to Alercon; but the Governor of that [Page 251] Place having had before Intelligence, that the English Army was advancing that way, refus'd to receive me, so I return'd as I went; only the Gentlemen of the Place, as they had condol'd the first, congratulated the last; for that Corrigidore stood but very indifferently in their Affections. However, it was a warning to me ever after, how I made use of English Freedom in a Spanish Territory.

AS I had attain'd the Acquaintance of most of the Clergy, and Religious of the Place; so particularly I had my aim in ob­taining that of the Provincial of the Car­melites. His Convent, tho' small, was ex­ceeding neat; but what to me was much more agreeable, there were very large Gar­dens belonging to it, which often furnished me with Sallading and Fruit, and much oftner with Walks of Refreshment, the most satisfactory Amusement in this warm Cli­mate. This Acquaintance with the Pro­vincial was by a little Incident soon ad­vanced into a Friendship; which was thus: I was one Day walking, as I us'd to do, in the long Gallery of the Convent, when observing the Images of the Virgin Mary, of which there was one at each end; I took notice that one had an Inscription un­der it, which was this, Ecce, Virgo pepe­ [...]it filium: but the other had no Inscription [Page 252] at all; upon which, I took out my Pencil, and wrote underneath, this Line: ‘Sponsa Dei, patrisque parens, & filia filii.’

THE Friars, who at a little distance had observed me, as soon as I was gone, came up and read what I had writ; reporting which to the Provincial, he order'd them to be writ over in Letters of Gold, and plac'd just as I had put 'em; saying, doubt­less, such a fine Line cou'd proceed from nothing less than Inspiration. This secur'd me ever after his and their Esteem; the least advantage of which, was a full Liberty of their Garden for all manner of Fruit, Sallading, or whatever I pleased: And as I said before, the Gardens were too fine not to render such a Freedom acceptable.

THEY often want Rain in this Country: To supply the Defect of which, I observed in this Garden, as well as others, an Inven­tion not unuseful. There is a Well in the middle of the Garden, and over that a Wheel with many Pitchers, or Buckets, one under another, which Wheel being turn­ed round by an Ass, the Pitchers scoop up the Water on one Side, and throw it out on the other into a Trough, that by little Channels conveys it, as the Gardiner di­rects, into every part of the Garden. By this Means their Flowers and their Sallad­ing [Page 253] are continually refresh'd, and preserved from the otherwise over-parching Beams of the Sun.

The Dan­ger of the Inquisition.THE Inquisition, in almost every Town in Spain (and more especially, if of any great Account) has its Spies, or Informers, for treacherous Intelligence. These make it their Business to ensnare the simple and un­guarded; and are more to be avoided by the Stranger, than the Rattle Snake. Na­ture having appointed no such happy Tokens in the former to foreshew the Danger. I had Reason to believe, that one of those Ver­min once made his Attack upon me in this place: And as they are very rarely, if ever known to the Natives themselves, I being a Stranger, may be allowed to make a guess by Circumstances.

I was walking by my self, when a Per­son, wholly unknown to me, giving me the civil Salute of the Day, endeavour'd to draw me into Conversation. After Questions had pass'd on general Heads, the Fellow ensna­ringly asked me, how it came to pass, that I show'd so little Respect to the Image of the crucify'd Jesus, as I pass'd by it in such a Street, naming it? I made Answer, that I had, or ought to have him always in my Heart crucified. To that he made no Re­ply: But proceeding in his Interrogatories, question'd me next, whether I believ'd a Purgatory? I evaded the Question, as I [Page 254] took it to be ensnaring; and only told him that I should be willing to hear him offer any Thing that might convince me of the Truth, or Probability of it. Truth? He reply'd in a Heat: There never yet was Man so Holy as to enter Heaven without first passing through Purgatory. In my O­pinion, said I, there will be no Difficulty in convincing a reasonable Man to the contra­ry. What mean you by that, cry'd the Spy? I mean, said I, that I can name one, and a great Sinner too, who went into Bliss without any Visit to Purgatory. Name him, if you can, reply'd my Querist. What think you of the Thief upon the Cross, said I? to whom our dying Saviour said, Hodie eris mecum in Paradiso. At which being silenced tho' not convicted, he turned from me in a violent Rage, and left me to my self.

WHAT increas'd my first Suspicion of him was, that a very short time after, my Friend the Provincial sent to speak with me; and repeating all Passages between the holy Spy and me, assur'd me that he had been forc'd to argue in my Favour, and tell him that I had said nothing but well: For, says he, all ought to have the Holy Jesus crucified in their Hearts. ‘"Nevertheless, continu'd he, it is a commendable and good Thing to have him represented in the high Ways: For, suppose, said he, [Page 255] a Man was going upon some base or pro­fligate Design, the very Sight of a cruci­fied Saviour may happen to subvert his Resolution, and deter him from commit­ting Theft, Murder, or any other of the deadly Sins."’ And thus ended that Con­ference.

I remember upon some other occasional Conversation after, the Provincial told me, that in the Carmelite Nunnery next to his Convent, and under his Care, there was a Nun, that was Daughter to Don Juan of Austria; if so, her Age must render her venerable, as her Quality.

TAKING notice one Day, that all the People of the Place fetch'd their Water from a Well without the Town, altho' they had many seemingly as good within; I spoke to Don Felix of it, who gave me, under the Seal of Secrecy, this Reason for it: ‘"When the Seat of the War, said he, lay in these Parts, the French Train of Artillery was commonly quarter'd in this Place; the Officers and Soldiers of which were so very rampant and rude, in attempting to debauch our Women, that there is not a Well within the Town, which has not some French Mens Bones at the bottom of it; therefore the Natives, who are sen­sible of it, choose rather to go farther a field."’

[Page 256]BY this Well there runs a little Rivulet, which gives head to that famous River call'd the Guadiana; which running for some Leagues under Ground, affords a pretence for the Natives to boast of a Bridge on which they feed many Thousands of Sheep. When it rises again, it is a fine large River, and after a Currency of many Leagues, empties it self into the Atlantick Ocean.

AS to military Affairs, Almanar and Sara­gosa were Victories so compleat, that no Body made the least doubt of their settling the Crown of Spain upon the Head of Charles the Third, without a Rival. This was not barely the Opinion of his Friends, but his very Enemies resign'd all Hope or Expectation in favour of King Philip. The Castilians, his most faithful Friends, enter­tain'd no other Imagination; for after they had advis'd, and prevail'd that the Queen with the Prince of Asturias should be sent to Victoria; under the same Despondency, and a full Dispiritedness, they gave him so little Encouragement to stay in Madrid, that he immediately quitted the Place, with a Resolution to retire into his Grandfather's Dominions, the Place of his Nativity.

IN his way to which, even on the last Day's Journey, it was his great good For­tune to meet the Duke of Vendome, with some few Troops, which his Grandfather Lewis XIV. of France had order'd to his [Page 257] Succour, under that Duke's Command. The Duke was grievously affected at such an un­expected Catastrophe; nevertheless, he left nothing unsaid or undone, that might in­duce that Prince to turn back; and at length prevailing, after a little Rest, and a great deal of Patience, by the Coming in of his scatter'd Troops, and some few he could raise, together with those the Duke brought with him, he once more saw himself at the Head of twenty thousand Men.

While Things were in this Manner, un­der Motion in King Philip's Favour, Charles the third, with his victorious Army, advan­ces forward, and enters into Madrid, of which he made General Stanhope Governor. And even here the Castilians gave full Proof of their Fidelity to their Prince; even at the Time when, in their Opinion, his Affairs were past all Hopes of Retrieve, they them­selves having, by their Advice, contributed to his Retreat. Instead of prudential Accla­mations therefore, such as might have an­swered the Expectations of a victorious Prince, now entering into their Capital, their Streets were all in a profound Silence, their Balco­nies un-adorn'd with costly Carpets, as was customary on like Occasions; and scarce an Inhabitant to be seen in either Shop or Win­dow.

This doubtless was no little Mortificati­on to a conquering Prince; however his [Page 258] Generals were wise enough to keep him from shewing any other Tokens of Resent­ment, than marching through the City with Unconcern, and taking up his Quarters at Villa-verda, about a League from it.

NEVERTHELESS King Charles visited, in his March, the Chapel of the Lady de Ato­cha, where finding several English Colours and Standards, taken in the Battle of Al­manza, there hung up; he ordered 'em to be taken down, and restor'd 'em to the En­glish General.

IT was the current Opinion then, and al­most universal Consent has since confirm'd it, that the falsest Step in that whole War was this Advancement of King Charles to Madrid. After those two remarkable Vi­ctories at Almanar and Saragosa, had he directed his March to Pampeluna, and ob­tain'd Possession of that Place, or some other near it, he had not only stopt all Succours from coming out of France, but he would, in a great Measure, have prevented the ga­thering together of any of the routed and dispers'd Forces of King Philip: And it was the general Notion of the Spaniards, I convers'd with while at Madrid, that had King Philip once again set his Foot up­on French Land, Spain would never have been brought to have re-acknowledged him.

KING Charles with his Army having stay'd some Time about Madrid, and see­ing [Page 259] his Expectations of the Castilians join­ing him not at all answered, at last resolved to decamp, and return to Saragosa: Accord­ingly with a very few Troops that Prince ad­vanced thither; while the main Body, under the Command of the Generals Stanhope and Staremberg, passing under the very Walls of Madrid, held on their March towards Aragon.

AFTER about three Days March, Gene­ral Stanhope took up his Quarters at Breu­higa, a small Town half wall'd; Gene­ral Staremberg marching three Leagues farther, to Cifuentes. This Choice of Si­tuation of the two several Armies not a little puzzled the Politicians of those Times; who could very indifferently account for the English General's lying expos'd in an open Town, with his few English Forces, of which General Harvey's Regiment of fine Horse might be deem'd the Main; and Ge­neral Staremberg encamping three Leagues farther off the Enemy. But to see the Vi­cissitudes of Fortune, to which the Actions of the bravest, by an untoward Sort of Fa­tality, are often forced to contribute! None, who had been Eye-witnesses of the Bravery of either of those Generals at the Battles of Almanar and Saragosa, could find Room to call in question either their Conduct or their Courage; and yet in this March, and this Encampment will appear a visible ill [Page 260] Consequence to the Affairs of the Interest they fought for.

THE Duke of Vendosme having increas'd the Forces which he brought from France, to upwards of twenty thousand Men, marches by Madrid directly for Breuhiga, where his Intelligence inform'd him General Stan­hope lay, and that so secretly as well as swiftly, that that General knew nothing of it, nor could be persuaded to believe it, till the very Moment their Bullets from the Ene­my's Cannon convinc'd him of the Truth. Breuhiga, I have said, was wall'd only on one Side, and yet on that very Side the Enemy made their Attack. But what could a Handful do a­gainst a Force so much superior, though they had not been in want of both Powder and Ball; and in want of these were forc'd to make use of Stones against all Sorts of Ammunition, which the Enemy ply'd them with? The Consequence answered the Deficiency; they were all made Prisoners of War, and Har­vey's Regiment of Horse among the rest; which, to augment their Calamity, was im­mediately remounted by the Enemy, and march'd along with their Army to attack General Staremberg.

THAT General had heard somewhat of the March of Vendosme; and waited with some Impatience to have the Confirmation of it from General Stanhope, who lay be­tween, and whom he lay under an Expecta­tion [Page 261] of being joined with: However he thought it not improper to make some lit­tle Advance towards him; and accordingly breaking up from his Camp at Cifuentes, he came back to Villa viciosa, a little Town between Cifuentes and Breuhiga; there he found Vendosme ready to attack him, before he could well be prepared for him, but no English to join him, as he had expected; nevertheless, the Battle was hot, and obsti­nately fought; although Staremberg had vi­sibly the Advantage, having beat the Ene­my at least a League from their Cannon; at which Time hearing of the Misfortune of Breuhiga, and finding himself thereby fru­strated of those expected Succours to sup­port him, he made a handsome Retreat to Barcelona, which in common Calculation is about one hundred Leagues, without any Disturbance of an Enemy that seem'd glad to be rid of him. Nevertheless his Baggage having fallen into the Hands of the Enemy, at the Beginning of the Fight, King Phi­lip and the Duke of Vendosme generously return'd it unopen'd, and untouch'd, in ac­knowledgment of his brave Behaviour.

I HAD like to have omitted one material Passage, which I was very credibly inform­ed of; That General Carpenter offered to have gone, and have join'd General Starem­berg with the Horse, which was refus'd him. This was certainly an Oversight of the high­est [Page 262] Nature; since his going would have strengthen'd Staremberg almost to the Assu­rance of an intire Victory; whereas his Stay was of no manner of Service, but quite the contrary: For, as I said before, the Enemy, by re-mounting the English Horse (which perhaps were the compleatest of any Regi­ment in the World) turn'd, if I may be al­lowed the Expression, the Strength of our Artillery upon our Allies.

UPON this Retreat of Staremberg, and the Surprize at Breuhiga, there were great Rejoicings at Madrid, and every where else, where King Philip's Interest prevailed. And indeed it might be said, from that Day the Interest of King Charles look'd with a very lowering Aspect. I was still a Prisoner at la Mancha, when this News arriv'd; and very sensibly affected at that strange Turn of Fortune. I was in Bed, when the Express pass'd through the Town, in order to con­vey it farther; and in the Middle of the Night I heard a certain Spanish Don, with whom, a little before, I had had some lit­tle Variance, thundering at my Door, en­deavoring to burst it open, with, as I had Reason to suppose, no very favourable De­sign upon me. But my Landlady, who hi­therto had always been kind and careful, calling Don Felix, and some others of my Friends together, sav'd me from the Fury of his Designs, whatever they were.

[Page 263]AMONG other Expressions of the general Joy upon this Occasion, there was a Bull-Feast at la Mancha; which being much be­yond what I saw at Valencia, I shall here give a Description of. These Bull-Feasts are not so common now in Spain as formerly, King Philip not taking much Delight in them. Nevertheless, as soon as it was pub­lish'd here, that there was to be one, no o­ther Discourse was heard; and in the Talk of the Bulls, and the great Preparations for the Feast, Men seem'd to have lost, or to have lay'd aside, all Thoughts of the very Occasion. A Week's time was allow'd for the Building of Stalls for the Beasts, and Scaffolds for the Spectators, and other ne­cessary Preparations for the setting off their Joy with the most suitable Splendour.

ON the Day appointed for the bringing the Bulls into Town, the Cavalieroes mount­ed their Horses, and, with Spears in their Hands, rode out of Town about a League, or somewhat more to meet them: If any of the Bulls break from the Drove, and make an Excursion (as they frequently do) the Cavaliero that can make him return again to his Station among his Companions, is held in Honour, suitable to the Dexterity and Address he performs it with. On their Entrance into the Town, all the Windows are fill'd with Spectators; a Pope passing in grand Procession could not have more; for [Page 264] what can be more than all? And he or she who should neglect so rare a Show, would give Occasion to have his or her Legitimacy call'd in Question.

WHEN they come to the Plaza, where the Stalls and Scaffolds are built, and upon which the Feats of Chivalry are to be per­formed, it is often with a great deal of Diffi­culty that the Brutes are got in; for there are twelve Stalls, one for every Bull, and as their Number grows less by the enstalling of some, the Remainder often prove more untractable and unruly: In these Stalls they are kept very dark, to render them fiercer for the Day of Battle.

ON the first of the Days appointed (for a Bull-Feast commonly lasts three) all the Gentry of the Place, or near adjacent, resort to the Plaza in their most gaudy Apparel, every one vieing in making the most glorious Appearance. Those in the lower Ranks provide themselves with Spears, or a great many small Darts in their Hands, which they fail not to cast or dart, whenever the Bull by his Nearness gives them an Oppor­tunity. So that the poor Creature may be said to fight, not only with the Tauriro (or Bull-hunter, a Person always hired for that Purpose) but with the whole Multitude in the lower Class at least.

ALL being seated, the uppermost Door is open'd first; and as soon as ever the Bull [Page 265] perceives the Light, out he comes, snuffing up the Air, and stareing about him, as if in admiration of his Attendants; and with his Tail cock'd up, he spurns the Ground with his Forefeet, as if he intended a Challenge to his yet unappearing Antagonist. Then at a Door appointed for that purpose, enters the Tauriro all in white, holding a Cloak in one Hand, and a sharp two edged Sword in the other. The Bull no sooner sets Eyes upon him, but wildly staring, he moves gently towards him; then gradually mends his pace, till he is come within about the space of twenty Yards of the Tauriro; when, with a sort of Spring, he makes at him with all his might. The Tauriro knowing by frequent Experience, that it behoves him to be watchful, slips aside just when the Bull is at him; when casting his Cloak over his Horns, at the same Moment he gives him a slash or two, always aiming at the Neck, where there is one particular Place, which if he hit, he knows he shall easily bring him to the Ground. I my Self observ'd the truth of this Experiment made upon one of the Bulls, who receiv'd no more than one Cut, which happening upon the fatal Spot, so stun'd him, that he remain'd perfectly stupid, the Blood flowing out from the Wound, till after a violent Trembling he dropt down stone dead.

[Page 266]BUT this rarely happens, and the poor Creature oftner receives many Wounds, and numberless Darts, before he dies. Yet whenever he feels a fresh Wound either from Dart, Spear, or Sword, his Rage receives addition from the Wound, and he pursues his Tauriro with an Increase of Fury and Violence. And as often as he makes at his Adversary, the Tauriro takes care with the utmost of his Agility to avoid him, and re­ward his kind Intention with a new Wound.

SOME of their Bulls will play their Parts much better than others: But the best must die. For when they have behav'd them­selves with all the commendable Fury possi­ble; if the Tauriro is spent, and fail of do­ing Execution upon him, they set Dogs upon him: Hough him and stick him all over with Darts, till with very loss of Blood he puts an end to their present Cru­elty.

WHEN dead, a Man brings in two Mules dress'd out with Bells and Feathers. and fastening a Rope about his Horns, draws off the Bull with the Shouts and Acclamations of the Spectators; as if the Infidels had been drove from before Ceuta.

I had almost forgot another very common peice of barbarous Pleasure at these Diver­sions. The Tauriro will sometimes stick [Page 267] one of their Bull Spears fast in the Ground, aslant, but levell'd as near as he can at his Chest; then presenting himself to the Bull, just before the point of the Spear, on his taking his run at the Tauriro, which, as they assur'd me, he always does with his Eyes closed, the Tauriro slips on one side, and the poor Creature runs with a violence often to stick himself, and sometimes to break the Spear in his Chest, running away with part of it till he drop.

THIS Tauriro was accounted one of the best in Spain; and indeed I saw him mount the back of one of the Bulls, and ride on him, slashing and cutting, till he had quite wearied him; at which time dismounting, he kill'd him with much Ease, and to the acclamatory Satisfaction of the whole Con­course: For variety of Cruelty, as well as Dexterity, administers to their De­light.

THE Tauriroes are very well paid; and in Truth so they ought to be; for they often lose their Lives in the Diversion, as this did the Year after in the way of his Calling. Yet is it a Service of very great Profit when they perform dextrously: For when ever they do any Thing remarkable, deserving the Notice of the Spectators, they never fail of a generous Gratification, Money being thrown down to 'em in plenty.

[Page 268]THIS Feast (as they generally do) lasted three Days; the last of which was, in my Opinion, much before either of the other. On this, a young Gentleman, whose Name was Don Pedro Ortega, a Person of great Quality, perform'd the Exercise on Horse­back. The Seats, if not more crowded, were filled with People of better Fashion, who came from Places at a distance to grace the noble Tauriro.

HE was finely mounted, and made a very graceful Figure; but as when the Foot Tauriro engages, the Bull first en­ters; so in the Contest the Cavaliero al­ways makes his Appearance on the Plaza before the Bull. His Steed was a manag'd Horse; mounted on which he made his En­try, attended by four Footmen in rich Li­veries; who, as soon as their Master had rid round, and paid his Devoirs to all the Spectators, withdrew from the Dangers they left him expos'd to. The Cavaliero having thus made his Bows, and received the repeated Vivas of that vast Concourse, march'd with a very stately Air to the very middle of the Plaza, there standing ready to receive his Enemy at coming out.

THE Door being open'd, the Bull ap­peared; and as I thought with a fiercer and more threatning Aspect than any of the for­mer. [Page 269] He star'd around him for a consider­able time, snuffing up the Air, and spurning the Ground, without in the least taking no­tice of his Antagonist. But at last fixing his Eyes upon him, he made a full run at the Cavaliero, which he most dexterously avoid­ed, and at the same moment of time, pas­sing by, he cast a Dart that stuck in his Shoulders. At this the Shouts and Vivas were repeated; and I observed a Handker­chief wav'd twice or thrice, which, as I afterwards understood, was a Signal from the Lady of his Affections, that she had beheld him with Satisfaction. I took notice that the Cavaliero endeavour'd all he could to keep aside the Bull, for the Advantage of the Stroke, when putting his Horse on a full Career, he threw another Dart, which fix'd in his Side, and so enrag'd the Beast, that he seem'd to renew his Attacks with greater Fury. The Cavaliero had behav'd himself to Admiration, and escap'd many Dangers; with the often repeated Acclama­tions of Viva, Viva; when at last the en­raged Creature getting his Horns between the Horse's hinder Legs, Man and Horse came both together to the Ground.

I expected at that Moment nothing less than Death could be the Issue; when to the general Surprize, as well as mine, the very civil Brute, Author of all the Mischief, on­ly [Page 270] withdrew to the other Side of the Pla­za, where he stood still, staring about him as if he knew nothing of the Matter.

THE Cavaliero was carry'd off not much hurt, but his delicate Beast suffer'd much more. However I could not but think afterward, that the good natur'd Bull came short of fair Play. If I may be pardon'd the Expressi­on, he had us'd his Adversary with more Humanity than he met with; at least, since, after he had the Cavaliero under, he gene­rously forsook him; I think he might have pleaded, or others for him, for better Treat­ment than he after met with.

FOR as the Cavaliero was disabled and carry'd off, the Foot Tauriro enter'd in white Accoutrements, as before; but he flatter'd himself with an easier Conquest than he found: there is always on these Occasions, when he apprehends any imminent Danger, a Place of Retreat ready for the Foot Tau­riro; and well for him there was so; this Bull oblig'd him over and over to make Use of it. Nor was he able at last to dis­patch him, without a general Assistance; for I believe I speak within Compass, when I say, he had more than an hundred Darts stuck in him. And so barbarously was he mangled, and slash'd besides, that, in my Mind, I could not but think King Philip in the Right, when he said, That it was a Custom deserv'd little Encouragement.

[Page 271]SOON after this Tauridore, or Bull-Feast was over, I had a Mind to take a pleasant Walk to a little Town, call'd Minai, about three Leagues off; but I was scarce got out of la Mancha, when an Acquaintance meet­ing me, ask'd where I was going? I told him to Minai; when taking me by the Hand, Friend Gorgio, says he in Spanish, Come back with me; you shall not go a Stride further; there are Picarons that Way; you shall not go. Inquiring, as we went back, into his Meaning, he told me, that the Day before, a Man, who had received a Sum of Money in Pistoles at la Mancha, was, on the Road, set upon by some, who had got notice of it, and murdered him; that not finding the Money expected about him (for he had cautiously enough left it in a Friend's Hands at la Mancha) they concluded he had swallowed it; and therefore they ript up his Belly, and open'd every Gut; but all to as little Purpose. This diverted my Walk for that Time.

BUT some little Time after, the same Per­son inviting me over to the same Place, to see his Melon-Grounds, which in that Coun­try are wonderful fine and pleasant; I ac­cepted his Invitation, and under the Advan­tage of his Company, went thither. On the Road I took notice of a Cross newly erected, and a Multitude of small Stones a­round the Foot of it: Asking the Meaning [Page 272] whereof, my Friend told me, that it was rais'd for a Person there murder'd (as is the Custom throughout Spain) and that every good Catholick passing by, held it his Du­ty to cast a Stone upon the Place, in De­testation of the Murder. I had often before taken Notice of many such Crosses: but never till then knew the Meaning of their Erection, or the Reason of the Heaps of Stones around them.

THERE is no Place in all Spain more fa­mous for good Wine than Sainte Clemente de la Mancha; nor is it any where sold cheaper: For as it is only an inland Town, near no navigable River, and the People temperate to a Proverb, great Plenty, and a small Vend must consequently make it cheap. The Wine here is so famous, that, when I came to Madrid, I saw wrote over the Doors of most Houses that sold Wine, Vino Sainte Clemente. As to the Temperance of the People, I must say, that notwithstand­ing those two excellent Qualities of good and cheap, I never saw, all the three Years I was Prisoner there, any one Person over­come with Drinking.

IT is true, there may be a Reason, and a political one, assign'd for that Abstemious­ness of theirs, which is this, That if any Man, upon any Occasion, should be brought in as an Evidence against you, if you can prove that he was ever drunk, it will in­validate [Page 273] his whole Evidence. I could not but think this a grand Improvement upon the Spartans. They made their Slaves pur­posely drunk, to shew their Youth the Fol­ly of the Vice by the sottish Behaviour of their Servants under it: But they never reach'd to that noble height of laying a Pe­nalty upon the Aggressor, or of discoura­ging a voluntary Impotence of Reason by a disreputable Impotence of Interest. The Spaniard therefore, in my Opinion, in this exceeds the Spartan, as much as a natural Beauty exceeds one procured by Art; for tho' Shame may somewhat influence some few, Terrour is of force to deter all. A Man, we have seen it, may shake Hands with Shame; but Interest, says another Proverb, will never lye. A wise Institution therefore doubtless is this of the Spaniard; but such as I fear will never take Place in Germany, Holland, France, or Great Britain.

BUT though I commend their Tempe­rance, I would not be thought by any Means to approve of their Bigotry. If there may be such a Thing as Intemperance in Religion, I much fear their Ebriety in that will be found to be over-measure. Under the notion of Devotion, I have seen Men a­mong 'em, and of Sense too, guilty of the grossest Intemperancies. It is too common [Page 274] to be a rarity to see their Dons of the prime Quality as well as those of the lower Ranks, upon meeting a Priest in the open Streets, con­descend to take up the lower part of his Vestment, and salute it with Eyes erected as if they look'd upon it as the Seal of Sal­vation.

WHEN the Ave-Bell is heard, the Hearer must down on his Knees upon the very Spot; nor is he allowed the small Indulgence of deferring a little, till he can recover a clean Place; Dirtiness excuses not, nor will dirty Actions by any means exempt. This is so notorious, that even at the Play-house, in the middle of a Scene, on the first sound of the Bell, the Actors drop their Discourse, the Auditors supersede the indulging of their unsanctified Ears, and all on their Knees, bend their Tongues, if not their Hearts, quite a different way, to what they just before had been employ'd in. In short, tho' they pretend in all this to an extraor­dinary Measure of Zeal and real Devotion; no Man, that lives among them any time, can be a Proselyte to them without immola­ting his Senses and his Reason: Yet I must confess, while I have seen them thus delude­ing themselves with Ave Marias, I cou'd not refrain throwing up my Eyes to the only proper Object of Adoration, in commiserati­on of such Delusions.

[Page 275]THE Hours of the Ave Bell, are eight and twelve in the Morning, and six in the Evening. They pretend at the first to fall down to beg that God would be pleas'd to prosper them in all things they go about that Day. At twelve they return Thanks for their Preservation to that time; and at six for that of the whole Day. After which, one would think that they imagine them­selves at perfect Liberty; and their open Gallantries perfectly countenance the Ima­gination: For tho' Adultery is look'd upon as a grievous Crime, and punish'd according­ly; yet Fornication is softned with the title of a Venial Sin, and they seem to practise it under that Persuasion.

I found here, what Erasmus ridicules with so much Wit and Delicacy, the Cu­stom of burying in a Franciscan's Habit, in mighty request. If they can for that pur­pose procure an old one at the price of a new one; the Purchaser will look upon himself a provident Chap, that has secur'd to his deceased Friend or Relation, no less than Heaven by that wise Bargain.

THE Evening being almost the only time of Enjoyment of Company, or Conversa­tion, every body in Spain then greedily seeks it; and the Streets are at that time crowd­ed like our finest Gardens or most private Walks. On one of those Occasions, I met [Page 276] a Don of my Acquaintance walking out with his Sisters; and as I thought it became an English Cavalier, I saluted him: But to my Surprize he never return'd the Civility. When I met him the Day after, instead of an Apology, as I had flatter'd my self, I receiv'd a Reprimand, tho' a very civil one; telling me it was not the Custom in Spain, nor well taken of any one, that took No­tice of any who were walking in the Com­pany of Ladies at Night.

BUT a Night or two after, I found by Experience, that if the Men were by Cu­stom prohibited taking Notice, Women were not. I was standing at the Door, in the cool of the Evening, when a Woman seemingly genteel, passing by, call'd me by my Name, telling me she wanted to speak with me: She had her Mantilio on; so that had I had Day-light, I could have only seen one Eye of her. However I walk'd with her a good while, without being able to discover any thing of her Business, nor pass'd there between us any thing more than a Conversation upon indifferent Matters. Ne­vertheless, at parting she told me she should pass by again the next Evening; and if I would be at the Door, she would give me the same Advantage of a Conversation, that seem'd not to displease me. Accordingly the next Night she came, and as before we [Page 277] walk'd together in the privatest parts of the Town: For tho' I knew her not, her Dis­course was always entertaining and full of Wit, and her Enquiries not often improper. We had continu'd this Intercourse many Nights together, when my Landlady's Daughter having taken Notice of it, stopt me one Evening, and would not allow me to stand at the usual Post of Intelligence, saying, with a good deal of heat, Don Gorgio, take my Advice; go no more along with that Woman: You may soon be brought home deprived of your Life if you do. I cannot say, whether she knew her; but this I must say, she was very agreeable in Wit as well as Person. However my Land­lady and her Daughter took that Opportu­nity of giving me so many Instances of the fatal Issues of such innocent Conversations, (for I could not call it an Intrigue) that apprehensive enough of the Danger, on lay­ing Circumstances together, I took their Ad­vice, and never went into her Company after.

Sainte Clemente de la Mancha, where I so long remain'd a Prisoner of War, lies in the Road from Madrid to Valencia; and the Duke of Vendosme being ordered to the latter, great Preparations were made for his Entertainment, as he pass'd through. He stay'd here only one Night, where he was [Page 278] very handsomely treated by the Corrigidore. He was a tall fair Person, and very fat, and at the time I saw him wore a long black Patch over his left Eye; but on what Oc­casion I could not learn. The afterwards famous Alberoni (since made a Cardinal) was in his Attendance; as indeed the Duke was very rarely without him. I remember that very Day three Weeks, they return'd through the same Place; the Duke in his Herse, and Alberoni in a Coach, paying his last Duties. That Duke was a prodigious Lover of Fish, of which having eat over heartily at Veneros, in the Province of Va­lencia, he took a Surfeit, and died in three Days time. His Corps was carrying to the Escurial, there to be buried in the Panthae­on among their Kings.

THE Castilians have a Privilege by Li­cence from the Pope, which, if it could have been converted into a Prohibition, might have sav'd that Duke's Life: In regard their Country is wholly inland, and the River Tagus famous for its Poverty, or rather Barrenness; their Holy Father indulges the Natives with the Liberty, in lieu of that dangerous Eatable, of eating all Lent time the Inwards of Cattle. When I first heard this related, I imagin'd, that the Garbidge had been intended, but I was soon after thus rectify'd, by Inwards (for [Page 279] so expresly says the Licence it self) is meant the Heart, the Liver, and the Feet.

THEY have here as well as in most other Parts of Spain, Valencia excepted, the most wretched Musick in the Universe. Their Guitars, if not their Sole, are their darling Instruments, and what they most delight in: Tho' in my Opinion our English Sailors are not much amiss in giving them the Title of Strum Strums. They are little better than our Jews-harps, tho' hardly half so Musical. Yet are they perpetually at Nights disturbing their Women with the Noise of them, under the notion and name of Serenadoes. From the Barber to the Grandee the Infection spreads, and very often with the same Attendant, Danger: Night Quarrels and Rencounters being the frequent Result. The true born Spani­ards reckon it a part of their Glory, to be jealous of their Mistresses, which is too often the Forerunner of Mur­ders; or at best attended with many other very dangerous Inconveniences. And yet bad as their Musick is, their Dancing is the reverse. I have seen a Country Girl ma­nage her Castanets with the graceful Air of a Dutchess, and that not to common Mu­sick; but to Peoples beating or druming a Tune with their Hands on a Table. I have seen half a Dozen couple at a time dance to the like in excellent order.

[Page 280]I just now distinguish'd, by an Exception, the Musick of Valencia, where alone I ex­perienced the use of the Violin; which tho' I cannot, in respect to other Countries, call good; yet in respect to the other parts of Spain, I must acknowledge it much the best. In my Account of that City, I omit­ted to speak of it; therefore now to supply that Defect, I will speak of the best I heard, which was on this unfortunate Occasion: Several Natives of that Country having received Sentence of Death for their Adhe­rence to King Charles, were accordingly ordered to the Place of Execution. It is the Custom there, on all such Occasions, for all the Musick of the City to meet near the Gallows, and play the most affecting and melancholy Airs, to the very approach of the Condemn'd; and really the Musick was so moving, it heightened the Scene of Sorrow, and brought Compassion into the Eyes of even Enemies.

AS to the Condemn'd, they came stript of their own Cloaths, and cover'd with black Frocks, in which they were led a­long the Streets to the Place of Execution, the Friars praying all the way. When they came through any Street, where any publick Images were fix'd, they stay'd be­fore 'em some reasonable time in Prayer with the Friars. When they are arriv'd at the [Page 281] fatal Place, those Fathers leave 'em not, but continue praying and giving them ghostly Encouragement, standing upon the rounds of the Ladder till they are turn'd off. The Hangman always wears a silver Badge of a Ladder to distinguish his Profession: But his manner of executing his Office had somewhat in it too singular to allow of Si­lence. When he had ty'd fast the Hands of the Criminal, he rested his Knee upon them, and with one Hand on the Criminal's No­strils, to stop his Breath the sooner, threw himself off the Ladder along with the dying Party. This he does to expedite his Fate; tho' considering the Force, I wonder it does not tear Head and Body asunder; which yet I never heard that it did.

BUT to return to la Mancha; I had been there now upwards of two Years, much divert­ed with the good Humour and Kindness of the Gentlemen, and daily pleased with the Conversation of the Nuns of the Nunnery opposite to my Lodgings; when walking one Day alone upon the Plaza, I found my self accosted by a Clerico. At the first Attack, he told me his Country: But added, that he now came from Madrid with a Potent, that was his Word, from Pedro de Dios, Dean of the Inquisition, to endea­vour the Conversion of any of the English Prisoners; that being an Irishman, as a sort [Page 282] of a Brother, he had conceived a Love for the English, and therefore more eagerly embraced the Opportunity, which the Holy Inquisition had put into his Hands for the bringing over to Mother Church as many Hereticks as he could; that having heard a very good Character of me, he should think himself very happy, if he could be instru­mental in my Salvation; ‘"It is very true, continu'd he, I have lately had the good Fortune to convert many; and besides the Candour of my own Disposition, I must tell you, that I have a peculiar knack at Conversion, which very few, if any, ever could resist. I am going upon the same work into Murcia; but your good Character has fix'd me in my Resolution of preferring your Salvation to that of others."’

TO this very long, and no less surprizing Address, I only return'd, that it being an Affair of moment, it would require some Consideration; and that by the time he re­turn'd from Murcia, I might be able to re­turn him a proper Answer. But not at all sa­tisfy'd with this Reply; ‘"Sir, says he, God Almighty is all-sufficient: This mo­ment is too precious to be lost; he can turn the Heart in the twinkling of an Eye, as well as in twenty Years. Hear me then; mind what I say to you: I will convince you immediately. You Here­ticks [Page 283] do not believe in Transubstantia­tion, and yet did not our Saviour say in so many Words, Hoc est corpus meum? And if you don't believe him, don't you give him the Lye? Besides, does not one of the Fathers say, Deus, qui est omnis Veritas, non potest dicere falsum?"’ He went on at the same ridiculous rate; which soon convinced me, he was a thorough Rattle. However, as a Clerico, and con­sequently in this Country, a Man dangerous to disoblige, I invited him home to Dinner; where when I had brought him, I found I had no way done an unacceptable thing; for my Landlady and her Daughter, seeing him to be a Clergyman, receiv'd him with a vast deal of Respect and Pleasure.

DINNER being over, he began to enter­tain me with a Detail of the many wonder­ful Conversions he had made upon obsti­nate Hereticks; that he had convinced the most Stubborn, and had such a Nostrum, that he would undertake to convert any one. Here he began his old round, inter­mixing his Harangue with such scraps and raw sentences of fustian Latin, that I grew weary of his Conversation; so pretending some Business of consequence, I took leave, and left him and my Landlady together.

I did not return till pretty late in the E­vening, with Intent to give him Time e­nough to think his own Visit tedious; but [Page 282] [...] [Page 283] [...] [Page 284] to my great Surprize, I found my Irish Mis­sionary still on the Spot, ready to dare me to the Encounter, and resolv'd, like a true Son of the Church militant, to keep last in the Field of Battle. As soon as I had seat­ed my self, he began again to tell me, how good a Character my Landlady had given me, which had prodigiously increased his Ardour of saving my Soul; that he could not answer it to his own Character, as well as mine, to be negligent; and therefore he had enter'd into a Resolution to stay my Coming, though it had been later. To all which, I return'd him Abundance of Thanks for his good Will, but pleading Indisposition and want of Rest, after a good deal of civil Impertinence, I once more got rid of him; at least, I took my Leave, and went to Bed, leaving him again Master of the Field; for I understood next Morning, that he stay'd some Time after I was gone, with my good Landlady.

Next Morning the Nuns of the Nunnery opposite, having taken Notice of the Cleri­co's Ingress, long Visit, and late Egress, sent to know whether he was my Country-man; with many other Questions, which I was not then let into the Secret of. To all which I return'd, that he was no Country-man of mine, but an Irish-man, and so perfectly a Stranger to me, that I knew no more of him than what I had from his own Mouth, [Page 285] that he was going into Murcia. What the Meaning of this Enquiry was, I could never learn; but I could not doubt, but it proceed­ed from their great Care of their Vicino, as they call'd me; a Mark of their E­steem, and of which I was not a little proud.

AS was my usual Custom, I had been ta­king my Morning Walk, and had not been long come home in order to Dinner, when in again drops my Irish Clerico: I was con­founded, and vexed, and he could not a­void taking Notice of it; nevertheless, with­out the least Alteration of Countenance, he took his Seat; and on my saying, in a cold and indifferent Tone, that I imagin'd he had been got to Murcia before this; he reply'd, with a natural Fleer, that truely he was going to Murcia, but his Conscience prick­ed him, and he did find that he could not go away with any Satisfaction, or Peace of Mind, without making me a perfect Con­vert; that he had plainly discovered in me a good Disposition, and had, for that ve­ry Reason, put himself to the Charge of Man and Mule, to the Bishop of Cuenca for a License, under his Hand, for my Conver­sion: For in Spain, all private Missionaries are obliged to ask Leave of the next Bishop, before they dare enter upon any Enterprize of this Nature.

[Page 286]I was more confounded at this last Assu­rance of the Man than at all before; and it put me directly upon reflecting, whether any, and what Inconveniencies might en­sue, from a Rencounter that I, at first, con­ceiv'd ridiculous, but might now reasona­bly begin to have more dangerous Appre­hensions of. I knew, by the Articles of War, all Persons are exempted from any Power of the Inquisition; but whether car­rying on a Part in such a Farce, might not admit, or at least be liable to some dange­rous Construction, was not imprudently now to be considered. Though I was not fear­ful, yet I resolv'd to be cautious. Where­fore not making any Answer to his Declara­tion about the Bishop, he took Notice of it; and to raise a Confidence, he found expiring, began to tell me, that his Name was Mur­tough Brennan, that he was born near Kil­kenny, of a very considerable Family. This last part indeed, when I came to Madrid, I found pretty well confirm'd in a conside­rable Manner. However, taking Notice that he had alter'd his Tone of leaving the Town, and that instead of it, he was ad­vancing somewhat like an Invitation of him­self to Dinner the next Day, I resolv'd to show my self shy of him; and thereupon abruptly, and without taking any Leave, I left the Room, and my Landlady and him together.

[Page 287]THREE or four Days had passed, every one of which, he never fail'd my Lodgings; not at Dinner Time only, but Night and Morning too; from all which I began to suspect, that instead of my Conversion, he had fix'd upon a Re-conversion of my Landlady. She was not young, yet, for a black Woman, handsom enough; and her Daughter very pretty: I entered into a Re­solution to make my Observations, and watch them all at a Distance; nevertheless carefully concealing my Jealousy. However, I must confess, I was not a little pleas'd, that any Thing could divert my own Persecuti­on. He was now no longer my Guest, but my Landlady's, with whom I found him so much taken up, that a little Care might fru­strate all his former impertinent Importuni­ties on the old Topick.

BUT all my Suspicions were very soon after turn'd into Certainties, in this Manner: I had been abroad, and returning somewhat weary, I went to my Chamber, to take, what in that Country they call, a Cesto, up­on my Bed: I got in unseen, or without seeing any Body, but had scarce laid my self down, before my young Landlady, as I jestingly us'd to call the Daughter, rushing into my Room, threw her self down on the Floor, bitterly exclaiming. I started off my Bed, and immediately running to the Door, who should I meet there but my I­rish [Page 288] Clerico, without his Habit, and in his Shirt? I could not doubt, by the Dishabil­lè of the Clerico, but the young Creature had Reason enough for her Passion, which render'd me quite unable to master mine; wherefore as he stood with his Back next the Door, I thrust him in that ghostly Plight in­to the open Street.

I might, with leisure enough, have re­pented that precipitate Piece of Indiscretion; if it had not been for his bad Character, and the favourable Opinion the Town had conceived of me; for he inordinately ex­claim'd against me, calling me Heretick, and telling the People, who were soon gathered round him, that coming to my Lodgings on the charitable work of Conversion, I had thus abus'd him, stript him of his Habit, and then turn'd him out of Doors. The Nuns, on their hearing the Outcries he made, came running to their Grates, to enquire into the Matter, and when they understood it, as he was pleas'd to relate it; though they condemn'd my Zeal, they pity'd my Condition. Very well was it for me, that I stood more than a little well in the good Opinion of the Town; among the Gentry, by my frequent Conversation, and the in­ferior Sort by my charitable Distributions; for nothing can be more dangerous, or a nearer Way to violent Fate, than to insult one of the Clergy in Spain, and especial­ly, [Page 289] for such an one as they entitle a Here­tick.

MY old Landlady (I speak in respect to her Daughter) however formerly my seem­ing Friend, came in a violent Passion, and wrenching the Door out of my Hands, open­ed it, and pull'd her Clerico in; and so soon as she had done this, she took his Part, and railed so bitterly at me, that I had no Reason longer to doubt her thorough Conversion, under the full Power of his Mission. How­ever the young one stood her Ground, and by all her Expressions, gave her many In­quirers Reason enough to believe, all was not Matter of Faith that the Clerico had ad­vanced. Nevertheless, holding it advisea­ble to change my Lodgings, and a Friend confirming my Resolutions, I removed that Night.

The Clerico having put on his upper Gar­ments, was run away to the Corrigidor, in a violent Fury, resolving to be early, as well knowing, that he who tells his Story first, has the Prospect of telling it to double Advantage. When he came there, he told that Officer a thousand idle Stories, and in the worst Manner; repeating how I had a­bus'd him, and not him only, but my poor Landlady, for taking his Part. The Corri­gidor was glad to hear it all, and with an officious Ear fish'd for a great deal more; expecting, according to Usage, at last to [Page 290] squeeze a Sum of Money out of me. How­ever he told the Clerico, that, as I was a Pri­soner of War, he had no direct Power over me; but if he would immediately write to the President Ronquillo, at Madrid, he would not fail to give his immediate Orders, according to which he would as readily act against me.

THE Clerico resolv'd to pursue his old Maxim, and cry out first; and so taking the Corrigidor's Advice, he wrote away to Madrid directly. In the mean Time the People in the Town, both high and low, some out of Curiosity, some out of Friend­ship, pursu'd their Enquiries into the Reality of the Facts. The old Landlady they could make little of to my Advantage; but when­ever the young one came to the Question, she always left them with these Words in her Mouth, El Diabolo en forma del Cleri­co, which rendring Things more than a lit­tle cloudy on the Clerico's Side, he was ad­vis'd and press'd by his few Friends, as fast as he could to get out of Town; Nuns, Cler­gy, and every Body taking Part against him, excepting his new Convert, my old Landlady.

The Day after, as I was sitting with a Friend at my new Quarters, Maria (for that was the Name of my Landlady's Daugh­ter) came running in with these Words in her Mouth, El Clerico, el Clerico, passa la [Page 291] Calle. We hasten'd to the Window; out of which we beheld the Clerico, Murtough Brennan, pitifully mounted on the Back of a very poor Ass (for they would neither let, nor lend him a Mule through all the Town) his Legs almost rested on the Ground, for he was lusty, as his Ass was little; and a Fellow with a large Cudgel march'd a-foot, driving his Ass along. Never did Sancha Pancha, on his Embassage to Dulcinea, make such a despicable, out of the way Fi­gure, as our Clerico did at this Time. And what increas'd our Mirth was, their telling me, that our Clerico, like that Squire (tho' upon his own Priest-Errantry) was actually on his March to Toboso, a Place five Leagues off, famous for the Nativity of Dulcinea, the Object of the Passion of that celebrated Hero Don Quixot. So I will leave our Cle­rico on his Journey to Murcia, to relate the unhappy Sequel of this ridiculous Af­fair.

I have before said, that, by the Advice of the Corrigidor, our Clerico had wrote to Don Ronquillo at Madrid. About a Fort­night after his Departure from la Mancha, I was sitting alone in my new Lodgings, when two Alguizils (Officers under the Corrigidor, and in the Nature of our Bailiffs) came into my Room, but very civilly, to tell me, that they had Orders to carry me away to Prison; but at the same Moment [Page 292] they advis'd me, not to be afraid; for they had observed, that the whole Town was concern'd at what the Corrigidor and Clerico had done; adding, that it was their Opini­on, that I should find so general a Friend­ship, that I need not be apprehensive of any Danger. With these plausible Speeches, though I afterwards experienced the Truth of them, I resign'd my self, and went with them to a much closer Confinement.

I had not been there above a Day or two, before many Gentlemen of the Place sent to me, to assure me, they were heartily afflicted at my Confinement, and resolv'd to write in my Favour to Madrid; but as it was not safe, nor the Custom in Spain, to visit those in my present Circumstances, they hoped I would not take it amiss, since they were bent to act all in their Power towards my Deli­verance; concluding however with their Advice, that I would not give one Real of Plata to the Corrigidor, whom they hated, but confide in their assiduous Interposal. Don Pedro de Ortega in particular, the Person that perform'd the Part of the Tau­riro on Horseback, sometime before, sent me Word, he would not fail to write to a Relation of his, of the first Account in Ma­drid, and so represent the Affair, that I should not long be debarr'd my old Ac­quaintance.

[Page 293]IT may administer, perhaps, Matter of Wonder, that Spaniards, Gentlemen of the stanchest Punctilio, should make a Scruple, and excuse themselves from visiting Persons under Confinement, when, according to all Christian Acceptation, such a Circumstance would render such a Visit, not charitable on­ly, but generous. But though Men of vul­gar Spirits might, from the Narrowness of their Views, form such insipid Excuses, those of these Gentlemen, I very well knew, proceeded from much more excusable To­picks. I was committed under the Accusa­tion of having abus'd a sacred Person, one of the Clergy; and though, as a Prisoner of War, I might deem my self exempt from the Power of the Inquisition; yet how far one of that Country, visiting a Person, so accused, might be esteemed culpable, was a consideration in that dangerous Climate, far from deserving to be slighted. To me there­fore, who well knew the Customs of the Country, and the Temper of its Country­men, their Excuses were not only allowable, but acceptable also; for, without calling in Question their Charity, I verily believ'd I might safely confide in their Honour.

ACCORDINGLY, after I had been a close Prisoner one Month to a Day, I found the Benefit of these Gentlemens Promises and Solicitations. Pursuant to which, an Or­der was brought for my immediate Dis­charge; [Page 294] notwithstanding, the new Convert, my old Landlady, did all she could to make her appearing against me effectual, to the Height of her Prejudice and Malice, even while the Daughter, as sensible of my In­nocence, and acting with a much better Con­science, endeavoured as much to justify me, against both the Threats and Persuasions of the Corrigidor, and his few Accomplices, though her own Mother made one.

After Receipt of this Order for my En­largement, I was mightily press'd by Don Felix, and others of my Friends, to go to Madrid, and enter my Complaint against the Corrigidor and the Clerico, as a Thing highly essential to my own future Security. Without asking Leave therefore of the Cor­rigidor, or in the least acquainting him with it, I set out from la Mancha, and, as I after­wards understood, to the terrible Alarm of that griping Officer; who was under the greatest Consternation, when he heard I was gone; for as he knew very well, that he had done more than he could justify, he was very apprehensive of any Complaint; well knowing, that as he was hated as much as I was beloved, he might assure himself of the Want of that Assistance from the Gen­tlemen, which I had experienced.

SO soon as I arrived at Madrid, I made it my Business to enquire out, and wait up­on Father Fahy, Chief of the Irish College. [Page 295] He received me very courteously; but when I acquainted him with the Treatment I had met with from Brennan, and had given him an Account of his other scandalous Behavi­our, I found he was no Stranger to the Man, or his Character; for he soon confirm'd to me the Honour Brennan first boasted of, his considerable Family, by saying, that scarce an Assize passed in his own Country, with­out two or three of that Name receiving at the Gallows the just Reward of their De­merits. In short, not only Father Fahy, but all the Clergy of that Nation at Madrid, readily subscribed to this Character of him, That he was a Scandal to their Country.

AFTER this, I had nothing more to do, but to get that Father to go with me to Pe­dro de Dios, who was the Head of the Do­minican Cloyster, and Dean of the Inquisi­tion. He readily granted my Request, and when we came there, in a Manner unexpect­ed, represented to the Dean, that having some good Dispositions towards Mother-Church, I had been diverted from them, he feared, by the evil Practices of one Mur­tough Brennan, a Countryman of his, tho' a Scandal to his Country; that under a Pre­tence of seeking my Conversion, he had lay'd himself open in a most beastly Manner, such as would have set a Catholick into a vile Opinion of their Religion, and much more [Page 296] one that was yet a Heretick. The Dean had hardly Patience to hear Particulars; but as soon as my Friend had ended his Nar­ration, he immediately gave his Orders, pro­hibiting Murtough's saying any more Masses, either in Madrid, or any other Place in Spain. This indeed was taking away the poor Wretches sole Subsistence, and put­ting him just upon an Equality with his De­merits.

I took the same Opportunity to make my Complaints of the Corrigidor; but his Term expiring very soon, and a Process being likely to be chargeable, I was advised to let it drop. So having effected what I came for, I returned to my old Station at la Man­cha.

WHEN I came back, I found a new Cor­rigidor, as I had been told there would, by the Dean of the Inquisition, who, at the same Time, advised me to wait on him. I did so, soon after my Arrival, and then ex­perienced the Advice to be well intended; the Dean having wrote a Letter to him, to order him to treat me with all Manner of Civility. He show'd me the very Letter, and it was in such particular and obliging Terms, that I could not but perceive he had taken a Resolution, if possible, to eradicate all the evil Impressions, that Murtough's Be­haviour might have given too great Oc­casion for. This serv'd to confirm me in an [Page 297] Observation that I had long before made, That a Protestant, who will prudently keep his Sentiments in his own Breast, may command any Thing in Spain; where their stiff Bigotry leads 'em naturally into that o­ther Mistake, That not to oppose, is to assent. Besides, it is generally among them, almost a work of Supererogation to be even instru­mental in the Conversion of one they call a Heretick. To bring any such back to what they call Mother Church, nothing shall be spar'd, nothing thought too much: And if you have Insincerity enough to give them Hopes, you shall not only live in Ease, but in Pleasure and Plenty.

I had entertain'd some thoughts on my Journey back, of taking up my old Quar­ters at the Widow's; but found her so intirely converted by her Clerico, that there wou'd be no room to expect Peace: For which Reason, with the help of my fair Vicinos, and Don Felix, I took another, where I had not been long, before I receiv­ed an unhappy Account of Murtough's Con­duct in Murcia. It seems he had kept his Resolution in going thither; where meeting with some of his own Countrymen, though he found 'em stanch good Catholicks, he so far inveigled himself into 'em, that he brought them all into a foul chance for their Lives. There were three of 'em, all Soldiers, in a Spanish Regiment, but in a [Page 298] fit of ambitious, though frantick, Zeal: Murtough had wheedled them to go along with him to Pedro de Dios, Dean of the Inquisition, to declare and acknowledge be­fore him, that they were converted and brought over to Mother Church, and by him only. The poor Ignorants, thus intic'd, had left their Regiment, of which the Colo­nel, having notice, sent after them, and they were overtaken on the Road, their Missionair with them. But notwithstanding all his Oratory, nay, even the Discovery of the whole Farce, one of them was hang'd for an Example to the other two.

IT was not long after my Return before News arriv'd of the Peace; which though they receiv'd with Joy, they could hardly entertain with Belief. Upon which, the new Corrigidor, with whom I held a better Correspondence than I had done with the old one, desired me to produce my Letters from England, that it was true. Never did People give greater Demonstrations of Joy, than they upon this Occasion. It was the common cry in the Streets, Paz con Angle­terra, con todo Mundo Guerra; And my Confirmation did them as much Pleasure as it did Service to me; for if possible, they treated me with more Civility than before.

BUT the Peace soon after being pro­claimed, I received Orders to repair to Madrid, where the rest of the Prisoners [Page 299] taken at Denia had been carried; when I, by reason of my Wounds, and want of Health, had been left behind. Others I understood lay ready, and some were on their March to Bayone in France; where Ships were or­dered for their Transportation into England. So after a Residence of three Years and three Months; having taken leave of all my Acquaintance, I left a Place, that was almost become natural to me, the delicious Sainte Clemente de la Mancha.

NOTHING of Moment, or worth observ­ing, met I with, till I came near Ocanna; and there occurred a Sight ridiculous e­nough. The Knight of the Town, I last came from, the ever renown'd Don Quixot, never made such a Figure as a Spaniard, I there met on the Road. He was mounted on a Mule of the largest size, and yet no way unsizeable to his Person: He had two Pistols in his Holsters, and one on each side stuck in his Belt; a sort of large Blunder­buss in one of his Hands, and the fellow to it slung over his Shoulders hung at his Back. All these were accompany'd with a right Spanish Spado, and an Attendant Stiletto, in their customary Position. The Muletier that was my Guide, calling out to him in Spanish, told him he was very well arm'd; to which, with a great deal of Gravity, the Don returned Answer, by Saint Jago a Man cannot be too well arm'd in such dan­gerous Times.

[Page 300]I took up my Quarters that Night at O­canna, a large, neat, and well built Town. Houses of good Reception, and Entertain­ment, are very scarce all over Spain; but that, where I then lay, might have pass'd for good in any other Country. Yet it gave me a Notion quite different to what I found: for I imagined it to proceed from my near Approach to the Capital. But in­stead of that, contrary to all other Coun­tries, the nearer I came to Madrid, the Houses of Entertainment grew worse and worse; not in their Rates do I mean (for that with Reason enough might have been expected) but even in their Provision, and Places and way of Reception. I could not however forbear smiling at the Reason given by my Muletier, that it proceeded from a piece of Court Policy, in Order to oblige all Travellers to hasten to Madrid.

TWO small Leagues from Ocanna we ar­rived at Aranjuez, a Seat of Pleasure, which the Kings of Spain commonly select for their place of Residence during the Months of April and May. It is distant from Madrid about seven Leagues; and the Country round is the pleasantest in all Spain, Valencia excepted. The House it self makes but a very indifferent Appearance; I have seen many a better in England, with an Owner to it of no more than five hundred Pounds per Annum; yet the Gardens are [Page 301] large and fine; or as the Spaniards say, the finest in all Spain, which with them is all the World. They tell you at the same Time, that those of Versailles, in their most beautiful Parts, took their Model from these. I never saw those at Versailles: But in my Opinion, the Walks at Aranjuez, tho' noble in their length, lose much of their Beauty by their Narrowness.

THE Water-works here are a great Cu­riosity; to which the River Tagus running along close by, does mightily contribute. That River is let into the Gardens by a vast number of little Canals, which with their pleasing Maeanders divert the Eye with in­expressible Delight. These pretty Wande­rers by Pipes properly plac'd in them, af­ford Varieties scarce to be believ'd or ima­gin'd; and which would be grateful in any Climate; but much more, where the Air, as it does here, wants in the Summer Months perpetual cooling.

TO see a spreading Tree, as growing in its natural Soil, distinguish'd from its pine­ing Neighbourhood by a gentle refreshing Shower, which appears softly distilling from every Branch and Leaf thereof, while Na­ture all around is smiling, without one li­quid sign of Sorrow, to me appear'd sur­prizingly pleasing. And the more when I observ'd that its Neighbours receiv'd not any the least Benefit of that plentiful Effu­sion: [Page 302] And yet a very few Trees distant, you should find a dozen together under the same healthful Sudor. Where Art imitates Nature well, Philosophers hold it a Perfec­tion: Then what must she exact of us, where we find her transcendent in the Per­fections of Nature?

THE watry Arch is nothing less surpri­zing; where Art contending with Nature, acts against the Laws of Nature, and yet is beautiful. To see a Liquid Stream vaulting it self for the space of threescore Yards in­to a perfect Semi-Orb, will be granted by the Curious to be rare and strange: But sure to walk beneath that Arch, and see the Waters flowing over your Head, without your receiving the minutest Drop, is stran­ger, if not strange enough to stagger all Belief.

THE Story of Actaeon, pictur'd in Water Colours, if I may so express my self, tho' pretty, seem'd to me, but trifling to the o­ther. Those seem'd to be like Nature mi­raculously displayed; this only Fable in Grotesque. The Figures indeed were not only fine, but extraordinary; yet their va­rious Shapes were not at all so entertain­ing to the Mind, however refreshing they might be found to the Body.

I took notice before of the straitness of their Walks: But tho' to me it might seem a Diminution of their Beauty: I am apt to [Page 303] believe to the Spaniard, for and by whom they were laid out, it may seem otherwise. They, of both Sexes, give themselves so in­tolerably up to Amouring, that on that Ac­count the Closeness of the Walks may be look'd upon as an Advantage rather than a Defect. The grand Avenue to the House is much more stately, and compos'd as they are, of Rows of Trees, somewhat larger than our largest Limes, whose Leaves are all of a perfect Pea bloom Colour, together with their Grandeur, they strike the Eye with a pleasing Beauty. At the Entrance of the Grand Court we see the Statue of Philip the Second; to intimate to the Spectators, I suppose, that he was the Founder.

AMONG other Parks about Aranjuez there is one intirely preserved for Drome­daries; an useful Creature for Fatigue, Bur­den, and Dispatch; but the nearest of kin to Deformity of any I ever saw. There are several other enclosures for several sorts of strange and wild Beasts, which are some­times baited in a very large Pond, that was shown me about half a League from hence. This is no ordinary Diversion: But when the Court is disposed that way, the Beast, or Beasts, whether Bear, Lyon, or Tyger, are convey'd into a House prepar'd for that pur­pose; whence he can no other way issue than by a Door over the Water, through, or over, which forcing or flinging himself, [Page 302] [...] [Page 303] [...] [Page 304] he gradually finds himself descend into the very depth of the Pond by a wooden De­clivity. The Dogs stand ready on the Banks, and so soon as ever they spye their Enemy, rush all at once into the Water, and engage him. A Diversion less to be com­plain'd of than their Tauridores; because attended with less Cruelty to the Beast, as well as Danger to the Spectators.

WHEN we arrived at Madrid, a Town much spoken of by Natives, as well as Strangers, tho' I had seen it before, I could hardly restrain my self from being surpri­zed to find it only environ'd with Mud Walls. It may very easily be imagin'd, they were never intended for Defence, and yet it was a long time before I could find any other use, or rather any use at all in 'em. And yet I was at last con­vinc'd of my Error by a sensible Increase of Expence. Without the Gates, to half a League without the Town, you have Wine for two Pence the Quart; but within the Place, you drink it little cheaper than you may in London. The Mud Walls therefore well enough answer their Intent of forcing People to reside there, under pretence of Security; but in reality to be tax'd, for other Things are taxable, as well as Wine, tho' not in like Proportion.

All Embassadors have a Claim or Privi­lege, of bringing in what Wine they please [Page 305] Tax-free; and the King, to wave it, will at any Time purchase that Exemption of Duty at the price of five hundred Pistoles per Annum. The Convents and Nunneries are allowed a like Licence of free Importation; and it is one of the first Advantages they can boast of; for, under that Licence having a liberty of setting up a Tavern near them, they make a prodigious Advantage of it. The Wine drank and sold in this Place, is for the most part a sort of white Wine.

BUT if the Mud Walls gave me at first but a faint Idea of the Place; I was pleasing­ly disappointed, as soon as I enter'd the Gates. The Town then show'd itself well built, and of Brick, and the Streets wide, long, and spacious. Those of Atocha, and Alcala, are as fine as any I ever saw; yet is it situated but very indifferently: For tho' they have what they call a River, to which they give the very fair Name of la Mansuera, and over which they have built a curious, long, and large Stone Bridge; yet is the Course of it, in Summer time especi­ally, mostly dry. This gave occasion to that piece of Railery of a Foreign Embassa­dor, That the King would have done wise­ly to have bought a River, before he built the Bridge. Nevertheless, that little Stream of a River which they boast of, they improve as much as possible, since down the Sides, as far as you can see, there are [Page 306] Coops, or little Places hooped in, for Peo­ple to wash their Linen (for they very rarely wash in their own Houses) nor is it really any unpleasing Sight, to view the re­gular Rows of them at that cleanly Opera­tion.

THE King has here two Palaces; one within the Town, the other near adjoining, That in the Town is built of Stone, the o­ther which is called Bueno Retiro, is all of Brick. From the Town to this last, in Summer time, there is a large covering of Canvas, propt up with tall Poles; under which People walk to avoid the scorching heats of the Sun.

AS I was passing by the Chapel of the Carmelites, I saw several blind Men, some led, some groping the Way with their Sticks, going into the Chapel. I had the curiosity to know the Reason: I no sooner enter'd the Door, but was surprized to see such a number of those unfortunate People, all kneeling before the Altar, some kissing the Ground, others holding up their Heads, crying out Misericordia. I was informed 'twas Saint Lucy's Day, the Patroness of the Blind; therefore all who were able, came upon that Day to pay their Devotion: So I left them, and directed my Course to­wards the King's Palace.

WHEN I came to the outward Court, I met with a Spanish Gentleman of my Ac­quaintance, [Page 307] and we went into the Piazza's; whilst we were talking there, I saw several Gentlemen passing by having Badges on their Breasts, some white, some red, and others green: The Orders of Knight­hood in Spain.My Friend informed me that there were five Orders of Knighthood in Spain. That of the Golden Fleece was on­ly given to great Princes, but the other four to private Gentlemen, viz. That of Saint Jago, Alacantara, Saint Salvador de Mont­real, and Monteza.

HE likewise told me, that there were a­bove ninety Places of Grandees, but never filled up; who have the Privilege of being cover'd in the Presence of the King, and are distinguished into three Ranks. The first is of those who cover themselves before they speak to the King. The second are those who put on their Hats after they have begun to speak. The third are those who only put on their Hats, having spoke to him. The Ladies of the Grandees have also great Respect show'd them. The Queen rises up when they enter the Cham­ber, and offers them Cushions.

NO married Man except the King lies in the Palace, for all the Women who live there are Widows, or Maids of Honour to the Queen. I saw the Prince of Asturia's Dinner carried through the Court up to him, being guarded by four Gentlemen of the Guards, one before, another behind, [Page 308] and one on each Side, with their Carbines shoulder'd; the Queen's came next, and the King's the last, guarded as before, for they always dine separately. I observed that the Gentlemen of the Guards, though not on Duty, yet they are obliged to wear their Carbine Belts.

SAINT Isodore, who from a poor la­bouring Man, by his Sanctity of Life ar­rived to the Title of Saint, is the Pa­tron of Madrid, and has a Church dedi­cated to him, which is richly adorned with­in. The Sovereign Court of the Inquisiti­on is held at Madrid, the President where­of is called the Inquisitor General. They judge without allowing any Appeal for four Sorts of Crimes, viz. Heresy, Polygamy, Sodomy and Witchcraft, and when any are convicted, 'tis called the Act of Faith.

MOST People believe that the King's great­est Revenue consists in the Gold and Silver brought from the West Indies (which is a mistake) for most Part of that Wealth be­longs to Merchants and others, that pay the Workmen at the Golden Mines of Po­tosi, and the Silver Mines at Mexico; yet the King, as I have been informed, receives about a Million and a half of Gold.

THE Spaniards have a Saying, that the finest Garden of Fruit in Spain is in the mid­dle of Madrid, which is the Plaza or Market Place, and truly the Stalls there [Page 309] are set forth with such variety of delicious Fruit, that I must confess I never saw any Place comparable to it; and which adds to my Admiration, there are no Gardens or Orchards of Fruit within some Leagues.

THEY seldom eat Hares in Spain but whilst the Grapes are growing, and then they are so exceeding fat, they are knocked down with Sticks. Their Rabits are not so good as ours in England; they have great plenty of Patridges, which are larger and finer feather'd than ours. They have but little Beef in Spain, because there is no Grass, but they have plenty of Mutton, and exceeding good, because their Sheep feed only upon wild Potherbs; their Pork is de­licious, their Hogs seeding only upon Chest­nuts and Acorns.

MADRID and Valladolid, though Great, yet are only accounted Villages: In the latter Philip the Second, by the per­suasion of Parsons an English Jesuit, erect­ed an English Seminary; and Philip the Fourth built a most noble Palace, with ex­traordinary fine Gardens. They say that Christopher Columbus, who first discover'd the West Indies, dyed there, tho' I have heard he lies buried, and has a Monument at Sevil.

The King's Palace.THE Palace in the Town stands upon eleven Arches, under every one of which there are Shops, which degrade it to a [Page 310] meer Exchange. Nevertheless, the Stairs by which you ascend up to the Guard Room (which is very spacious too) are stately, large, and curious. So soon as you have pass'd the Guard Room, you enter into a long and noble Gallery, the right Hand whereof leads to the King's Apartment, the left to the Queen's. Entring into the King's Apartment you soon arrive at a large Room, where he keeps his Levee; on one side whereof (for it takes up the whole Side) is painted the fatal Battle of Almanza. I confess the View somewhat affected me, tho' so long after; and brought to Mind many old Passages. However, the Re­flection concluded thus in favour of the Spa­niard, that we ought to excuse their Va­nity in so exposing under a French General, a Victory, which was the only material one the Spaniards could ever boast of over an English Army.

IN this State Room, when the King first appears, every Person present, receives him with a profound Homage: After which turn­ing from the Company to a large Velvet Chair, by which stands the Father Confes­sor, he kneels down, and remains some Time at his Devotion; which being over, he rising crosies himself, and his Father Confessor having with the motion of his Hand intimated his Benediction, he then gives Audience to all that attend for that [Page 311] purpose. He receives every Body with a seeming Complaisance; and with an Air more resembling the French than the Spanish Ceremony. Petitions to the King, as with us, are delivered into the Hands of the Secre­tary of State: Yet in one Particular they are, in my Opinion, worthy the Imitation of other Courts; the Petitioner is directly told, what Day he must come for an An­swer to the Office: at which Time he is sure, without any further fruitless Atten­dance, not to fail of it. The Audience be­ing over, the King returns through the Gallery to his own Apartment.

I cannot here omit an accidental Con­versation, that pass'd between General Ma­honi and my self in this Place. After some talk of the Bravery of the English Nation, he made mention of General Stanhope, with a very peculiar Emphasis. ‘"But, says he, I never was so put to the Nonplus in all my Days, as that General once put me in. I was on the Road from Paris to Madrid, and having notice, that that General was going just the Reverse, and that in all likelyhood we should meet the next Day: Before my setting out in the Morning, I took care to order my gay­est Regimental Apparel, resolving to make the best Appearance I could to re­ceive so great a Man. I had not tr [...]d above four Hours before I saw t [...] [...] tlemen, [Page 312] who appearing to be English, it induc'd me to imagine they were Fore­runners, and some of his Retinue. But how abash'd and confounded was I? when putting the Question to one of 'em, he made answer, Sir, I am the Person. Never did Moderation put Vanity more out of Countenance: Tho', to say Truth, I cou'd not but think his Dress as much too plain for General Stanhope, as I at that juncture thought my own too gay for Mahoni. But, added he, that great Man had too many inward great Endow­ments to stand in need of any outside Decoration."’

OF all Diversions the King takes most delight in that of Shooting, which he per­forms with great Exactness and Dexterity. I have seen him divert himself at Swallow shooting (by all, I think allow'd to be the most difficult) and exceeding all I ever saw. The last time I had the Honour to see him, was on his Return from that Exercise. He had been abroad with the Duke of Medina Sidenia, and alighted out of his Coach at a back Door of the Palace, with three or four Birds in his Hand, which according to his usual Custom, he carried up to the Queen with his own Hands.

[...]There are two Play-houses in Madrid, at both which they act every Day; but their Actors, and their Musick, are almost too in­different [Page 313] to be mentioned. The Theatre at the Bueno Retiro is much the best; but as much inferior to ours at London, as those at Madrid are to that. I was at one Play, when both King and Queen were present. There was a splendid Audience, and a great Concourse of Ladies; but the latter, as is the Custom there, having Lattices before them, the Ap­pearance lost most of its Lustre. One very remarkable Thing happen'd, while I was there; the Ave-Bell rung in the Middle of an Act, when down on their Knees fell e­very Body, even the Players on the Stage, in the Middle of their Harangue. They re­mained for some Time at their Devotion; then up they rose, and returned to the Busi­ness they were before engag'd in, beginning where they left off.

THE Ladies of Quality make their Visits in grand State and Decorum. The Lady Visitant is carry'd in a Chair by four Men; the two first, in all Weathers, always bare. Two others walk as a Guard, one on each Side; another carrying a large Lanthorn for fear of being benighted; then follows a Coach drawn by six Mules, with her Wo­men, and after that another with her Gen­tlemen; several Servants walking after, more or less, according to the Quality of the Person. They never suffer their Servants to overload a Coach, as is frequently seen with us, neither do Coachmen or Chairmen [Page 314] go or drive as if they carried Midwives in lieu of Ladies. On the contrary, they affect a Motion so slow and so stately, that you would rather imagine the Ladies were every one of them near their Time, and very ap­prehensive of a Miscarriage.

I remember not to have seen here any Horses in any Coach, but in the King's, or an Embassador's; which can only proceed from Custom; for certainly finer Horses are not to be found in the World.

AT the Time of my being here, Cardi­nal Giudici was at Madrid; he was a tall, proper, comely Man, and one that made the best Appearance. Alberoni was there at the same Time, who, upon the Death of the Duke of Vendosme, had the good Fortune to find the Princess Ursini his Patroness. An Instance of whose Ingratitude will plead Pardon for this little Digression. That Princess first brought Alberoni into Favour at Court. They were both of Italy, and that might be one Reason of that Lady's e­spousing his Interest: tho' some there are, that assign it to the Recommendation of the Duke of Vendosme; with whom Alberoni had the Honour to be very intimate, as the other was always distinguish'd by that Prin­cess. Be which it will, certain it is, she was Alberoni's first, and sole Patroness; which gave many People afterwards a very smart Occasion of reflecting upon him, both [Page 315] as to his Integrity and Gratitude. For, when Alberoni, upon the Death of King Philip's first Queen, had recommended this present Lady, who was his Countrywoman, (she of Parma, and he of Placentia, both in the same Dukedom) and had forwarded her Match with the King, with all possible Assi­duity; and when that Princess, pursuant to the Orders she had received from the King, pass'd over into Italy to accompany the Queen Elect into her own Dominions; Al­beroni, forgetful of the Hand that first ad­vanced him, sent a Letter to the present Queen, just before her Landing, that if she resolv'd to be Queen of Spain, she must ba­nish the Princess Ursini, her Companion, and never let her come to Court. Accord­ingly that Lady, to evince the Extent of her Power, and the Strength of her Resolution, dispatch'd that Princess away, on her very Landing, and before she had seen the King, under a Detachment of her own Guards, in­to France; and all this without either al­lowing her an Opportunity of justifying her self, or assigning the least Reason for so un­common an Action. But the same Albero­ni (though afterwards created Cardinal, and for some Time King Philip's Prime Mi­nion) soon saw that Ingratit [...]de of his re­warded in his own Dis [...]race, at the very same Court.

[Page 316]I remember, when at la Mancha, Do [...] Felix Pachero, in a Conversation there [...] maintain'd, that three Women, at tha [...] Time, rul'd the World, viz. Queen Anne [...] Madam Mantenon, and this Princess Ursini [...]

FATHER Fahy's Civilities, when last a [...] Madrid, exacting of me some suitable Acknowledgment, I went to pay him a Visit [...] as to render him due Thanks for the past, s [...] to give him a further Account of his Coun­tryman Brennan: but I soon found he di [...] not much incline to hear any Thing more o [...] Murtough, not expecting to hear any Goo [...] of him; for which Reason, as soon as I wel [...] could, I changed the Conversation to ano­ther Topick. In which some Word drop­ping of the Count de Montery, I told him that I heard he had taken Orders, and offi­ciated at Mass: He made answer, it was al [...] very true. And upon my intimating, tha [...] I had the Honour to serve under him in Flan­ders, on my first entring into Service, an [...] when he commanded the Spanish Forces a [...] the famous Battle of Seneff; and adding [...] that I could not but be surprized, that he [...] who was then one of the brightest Cavalieroes of the Age, should now be in Orders; and that I should look upon it as a mighty Fa­vour barely to have, if it might be, a View of him; he very obligingly told me, that he was very well acquainted with him, and that [...]f I would come the next Day, he would [Page 317] not fail to accompany me to the Count's House.

PUNCTUALLY at the Time appointed, I waited on Father Fahy, who, as he promi­sed, carry'd me to the Count's House: He was stepping into his Coach just as we got there; but seeing Father Fahy, he advan­ced towards us. The Father deliver'd my Desire in as handsom a Manner as could be, and concluding with the Reason of it, from my having been in that Service under him; he seem'd very well pleas'd, but added, that there were not many beside my self living, who had been in that Service with him. After some other Conversation, he call'd his Gentleman to him, and gave him parti­cular Orders to give us a Frescari, or, in English, an Entertainment; so taking leave, he went into his Coach, and we to our Fres­cari.

COMING from which, Father Fahi made me observe, in the open Street, a Stone, on which was a visible great Stain of somewhat reddish and like Blood. ‘"This, said he, was occasion'd by the Death of a Coun­tryman of mine, who had the Misfortune to overset a Child, coming out of that House (pointing to one opposite to us) the Child frighted, though not hurt, as is natural, made a terrible Out-cry; upon which its Father coming out in a violent Rage (notwithstanding my Countryman [Page 318] beg'd Pardon, and pleaded Sorrow as being only an Accident) stabb'd him to the Heart, and down he fell upon that Stone, which to this Day retains the Mark of innocent Blood, so rashly shed."’ He went on, and told me, the Spaniard imme­diately took Sanctuary in the Church, whence some Time after he made his Escape. But Escapes of that Nature are so common in Spain, that they are not worth wondering at. For even though it were for wilful and premeditated Murder, if the Murderer have taken Sanctuary, it was never known, that he was delivered up to Justice, though de­manded; but in some Disguise he makes his Escape, or some Way is secured against all the Clamours of Power or Equity. I have observed, that some of the greatest Quality stop their Coaches over a stinking nasty Puddle, which they often find in the Streets, and holding their Heads over the Door, snuff up the nasty Scent which ascends, be­lieving that 'tis extream healthful; when I was forced to hold my Nose, passing by. 'Tis not convenient to walk out early in the Morning, they having no necessary Houses, throw out their Nastiness in the Middle of the Street.

AFTER I had taken Leave of Father Fa­hy, and return'd my Thanks for all Civili­ties, I went to pay a Visit to Mr. Salter, who was Secretary to General Stanhope, when [Page 319] the English Forces were made Prisoners of War at Breuhiga; going up Stairs, I found the Door of his Lodgings a-jar; and knock­ing, a Person came to the Door, who ap­peared under some Surprize at Sight of me. I did not know him, but enquiring if Mr. Salter was within; He answered, as I fan­cy'd, with some Hesitation, that he was, but was busy in an inner Room. How­ever, though unask'd, I went in, resolving, since I had found him at home, to wait his Leisure. In a little Time Mr. Salter enter'd the Room; and after customary Ceremonies, asking my Patience a little longer, he desi­red I would sit down and bear Ensign Fan­shaw Company (for so he call'd him) ad­ding at going out, he had a little Busi­ness that required Dispatch; which be­ing over, he would return, and join Com­pany.

THE Ensign, as he call'd him, appear'd to me under a Dishabileè; and the first Que­stion he ask'd me, was, if I would drink a Glass of English Beer? Misled by his Ap­pearance, though I assented, it was with a Design to treat; which he would by no Means permit; but calling to a Servant, or­dered some in. We sat drinking that Liquor, which to me was a greater Rarity than all the Wine in Spain; when in dropt an old Ac­quaintance of mine, Mr. Le N [...]y, Secretary to Colonel Nevil. He sat down with us, and be­fore [Page 320] the Glass could go twice round, told Ensign Fanshaw, That his Colonel gave his humble Service to him, and ordered him to let him know, that he had but threescore Pistoles by him, which he had sent, and which were at his Service, as what he pleas'd more should be, as soon as it came to his Hands.

AT this I began to look upon my Ensign as another guess Person than I had taken him for; and Le Noy imagining, by our setting cheek by joul together, that I must be in the Secret, soon after gave him the Title of Captain. This soon convinc'd me, that there was more in the Matter than I was yet Master of; for laying Things toge­ther, I could not but argue within my self, that as it seem'd at first, a most incredible Thing, that a Person of his Appearance should have so large Credit, with such a Complement at the End of it, without some Disguise, and as from an Ensign he was risen to be a Captain, in the taking of one Bottle of English Beer; a little Patience would let me into a Farce, in which, at pre­sent, I had not the Honour to bear any Part but that of a Mute.

AT last Le Noy took his leave, and as soon as he had left us, and the other Bottle was brought in, Ensign Fanshaw began to open his Heart, and tell me, who he was. I am necessitated, said he, to be under this Dis­guise, [Page 321] to conceal my self, especially in this Place. ‘"For you must know, conti­nued he, that when our Forces were Lords of this Town, as we were for a little while, I fell under an Intrigue with another Man's Wife: Her Husband was a Person of considerable Account; ne­vertheless the Wife show'd me all the Fa­vours that a Soldier, under a long and hard Campaigne, could be imagined to ask. In short, her Relations got ac­quainted with our Amour, and knowing that I was among the Prisoners taken at Breuhiga, are now upon the Scout and Enquiry, to make a Discovery that may be of fatal Consequence. This is the Reason of my Disguise; this the unfortu­nate Occasion of my taking upon me a Name that does not belong to me."’

HE spoke all this with such an Open­ness of Heart, that in return of so much Confidence, I confess'd to him, that I had heard of the Affair, for that it had made no little Noise all over the Country; that it highly behoved him to take great Care of himself, since, as the Relations on both Sides were considerable, he must consequently be in great Danger: That in Cases of that Nature, no People in the World carry Things to greater Extremities, than the Spaniards. He return'd me Thanks for my good Advice, which I understood, in a few [Page 322] Days after, he, with the Assistance of his Friends, had taken Care to put in Practice; for he was convey'd away secretly, and af­terwards had the Honour to be made a Peer of Ireland.

MY Passport being at last sign'd by the Count de las Torres, I prepared for a Jour­ney, I had long and ardently wish'd for, and set out from Madrid, in the Beginning of September, 1712. in Order to return to my native Country.

ACCORDINGLY I set forward upon my Journey, but having heard, both before and since my being in Spain, very famous Things spoken of the Escurial; though it was a League out of my Road, I resolved to make it a Visit. And I must confess, when I came there, I was so far from condemning my Curiosity, that I chose to congratulate my good Fortune, that had, at half a Day's Ex­pence, feasted my Eyes with Extraordina­ries, which would have justify'd a Twelve-months Journey on purpose.

Description of the Es­curial.THE Structure is intirely magnificent, be­yond any Thing I ever saw, or any Thing my Imagination could frame It is compo­sed of eleven several Quadrangles, with no­ble Cloisters round every one of them. The Front to the West is adorn'd with three stately Gates; every one of a different Mo­del, yet every one the Model of nicest Ar­chitecture. The Middlemost of the three [Page 323] leads into a fine Chapel of the Hieronomites, as they call them; in which are entertain'd one hundred and fifty Monks. At every of the four Corners of this august Fabrick, there is a Turret of excellent Workmanship, which yields to the Whole an extraordina­ry Air of Grandure. The King's Palace is on the North, nearest that Mountain, whence the Stone it is built of was hew'n; and all the South Part is set off with many Galle­ries, both beautiful and sumptuous.

THIS prodigious Pile, which, as I have said, exceeds all that I ever saw; and which would ask, of it self, a Volume to particu­larize, was built by Philip the Second. He lay'd the first Stone, yet liv'd to see it finish­ed; and lies buryed in the Panthaeon, a Part of it, set apart for the Burial-place of suc­ceeding Princes, as well as himself. It was dedicated to Saint Laurence, in the very Foundation; and therefore built in the Shape of a Gridiron, the Instrument of that Martyr's Execution; and in Memory of a great Victo­ry obtain'd on that Saint's Day. The Stone of which it is built, contrary to the common Course, grows whiter by Age; and the Quarry, whence it was dug, lies near e­nough, if it had Sense or Ambition, to grow enamour'd of its own wonderful Production. Some there are, who stick not to assign this Convenience, as the main Cause of its Situa­tion; and for my Part, I must agree, that I [Page 324] have seen many other Parts of Spain, where that glorious Building would have shone with yet far greater Splendour.

THERE was no Town of any Conse­quence presented it self in my Way to Bur­gos. Here I took up my Quarters that Night; where I met with an Irish Priest, whose Name was White. As is natural on such Rencounters, having answered his En­quiry, whither I was going; he very kind­ly told me, he should be very glad of my Company as far as Victoria, which lay in my Road; and I with equal Frankness em­brac'd the Offer.

NEXT Morning, when we had mounted our Mules, and were got a little Distance from Burgos; he began to relate to me a great many impious Pranks of an English Officer, who had been a Prisoner there a lit­tle before I came; concluding all, with some Vehemence, that he had given greater Oc­casion of Scandal and Infamy to his native Country, than would easily be wiped off, or in a little Time. The Truth of it is, ma­ny Particulars, which he related to me, were too monstrously vile to admit of any Repetition here; and highly meriting that unfortunate End, which that Officer met with some Time after. Nevertheless the just Reflections made by that Father, plainly ma­nifested to me the Folly of those Gentlemen, who, by such Inadvertencies, to say no [Page 325] worse, cause the Honour of the Land of their Nativity to be called in question. For tho', no doubt, it is a very false Conclusion, from a singular, to conceive a general Cha­racter; yet in a strange Country, nothing is more common. A Man therefore, of com­mon Sense, would carefully avoid all Occa­sions of Censure, if not in respect to himself, yet out of a human Regard to such of his Countrymen as may have the Fortune to come after him; and, it's more than proba­ble, may desire to hear a better and juster Character of their Country, and Country­men, than he perhaps might incline to leave behind him.

AS we travelled along, Father White told me, that near the Place of our Quartering that Night, there was a Convent of the Carthusian Order, which would be well worth my seeing. I was doubly glad to hear it, as it was an Order most a Stranger to me; and as I had often heard from many others, most unaccountable Relations of the Severity of their Way of Life, and the very odd Original of their Instituti­on.

THE next Morning therefore, being Sun­day, we took a Walk to the Convent. It was situated at the Foot of a great Hill, ha­ving a pretty little River running before it. The Hill was naturally cover'd with Ever­greens of various Sorts; but the very Sum­mit [Page 326] of the Rock was so impending, that one would at first Sight be led to apprehend the Destruction of the Convent, from the Fall of it. Notwithstanding all which, they have very curious and well ordered Gardens; which led me to observe, that, what ever Men may pretend, Pleasure was not incom­patible with the most austere Life. And in­deed, if I may guess of others by this, no Or­der in that Church can boast of finer Con­vents. Their Chapel was compleatly neat, the Altar of it set out with the utmost Mag­nificence, both as to fine Paintings, and o­ther rich Adornments. The Building was answerable to the rest; and, in short, no­thing seem'd omitted, that might render it beautiful or pleasant.

WHEN we had taken a full Survey of all, we, not without some Regret, return'd to our very indifferent Inn: Where the better to pass away the Time, Father White gave me an ample Detail of the Original of that Order. I had before-hand heard somewhat of it; nevertheless, I did not care to inter­rupt him, because I had a Mind to hear how his Account would agree with what I had al­ready heard.

‘" Bruno, said the Father, the Author or Founder of this Order, was not originally of this, but of another. He had a holy Brother of the same Order, that was his Cell-mate, or Chamber-fellow, who was [Page 327] reputed by all that ever saw or knew him, for a Person of exalted Piety, and of a most exact holy Life. This Man, Bru­no had intimately known for many Years; and agreed in his Character, that general Consent did him no more than Justice, having never observed any Thing in any of his Actions, that, in his Opinion, could be offensive to God or Man. He was perpetually at his Devotions; and distin­guishably remarkable, for never permit­ing any Thing but pious Ejaculations to proceed out of his Mouth. In short, he was reputed a Saint upon Earth."’

‘"THIS Man at last dies, and, according to Custom, is removed into the Chapel of the Convent, and there plac'd with a Cross fix'd in his Hands: Soon after which, saying the proper Masses for his Soul, in the Middle of their Devotion, the dead Man lifts up his Head, and with an audi­ble Voice, cry'd out, Vocatus sum. The pious Brethren, as any one will easi­ly imagine, were most prodigiously sur­prized at such an Accident, and there­fore they earnestly redoubled their Pray­ers; when lifting up his Head a second Time, the dead Man cried aloud, Judi­catus sum. Knowing his former Piety, the pious Fraternity could not then entertain the least doubt of his Felicity; when, to their great Consternation and Confusion [Page 328] he lifted up his Head a third Time, cry­ing out in a terrible Tone, Damnatus sum; upon which they incontinently re­moved the Corps out of the Chapel, and threw it upon the Dunghill."’

‘"Good Bruno, pondering upon these Passages, could not fail of drawing this Conclusion; That if a Person to all Ap­pearance so holy and devout, should miss of Salvation, it behov'd a wise Man to contrive some Way more certain to make his Calling and Election sure. To that Purpose he instituted this strict and severe Order, with an Injunction to them, sacred as any Part, that every Professor should always wear Hair Cloth next his Skin; ne­ver eat any Flesh; nor speak to one ano­ther, only as passing by, to say, Memento mori."’

THIS Account I found to agree pret­ty well with what I had before heard; but at the same Time, I found the Redouble of it made but just the same Impression, it had at first made upon my Heart. How­ever having made it my Observation, that a Spirit the least contradictory, best carries a Man through Spain; I kept Father White Company, and in Humour, 'till we arrived at Victoria. Where he added one Thing, by Way of Appendix, in Relation to the Carthusians, That every Person of the So­ciety, is oblig'd every Day to go into their [Page 329] Place of Burial, and take up as much Earth, as he can hold at a Grasp with one Hand, in order to prepare his Grave.

NEXT Day we set out for Victoria. It is a sweet, delicious, and pleasant Town. It received that Name in Memory of a consi­derable Victory there obtained over the Moors. Leaving this Place, I parted with Father White; he going where his Affairs led him; and I to make the best of my Way to Bilboa.

Entring into Biscay, soon after I left Vi­ctoria, I was at a Loss almost to imagine, what Country I was got into. By my long Stay in Spain, I thought my self a tolera­ble Master of the Tongue; yet here I found my self at the utmost Loss to understand Landlord, Landlady, or any of the Family. I was told by my Muletier, that they pretend their Language, as they call it, has continu­ed uncorrupted from the very Confusion of Babel; though if I might freely give my O­pinion in the Matter, I should rather take it to be the very Corruption of all that Confu­sion. Another Rhodomontado they have, (for in this they are perfect Spaniards) that neither Romans, Carthaginians, Vandals, Goths, or Moors, ever totally subdued them. And yet any Man that has ever seen their Country, might cut this Knot without a Hatchet, by saying truly, that neither Ro­man, Carthaginian, nor any victorious Peo­ple, [Page 330] thought it worth while to make a Con­quest of a Country, so mountainous and so barren.

Bilboa de­scribed.HOWEVER, Bilboa must be allowed, tho' not very large, to be a pretty, clean and neat Town. Here, as in Amsterdam, they al­low neither Cart, nor Coach, to enter; but every Thing of Merchandize is drawn, and carried upon Sledges: And yet it is a Place of no small Account, as to Trade; and e­specially for Iron and Wooll. Here I hop'd to have met with an opportunity of Em­barking for England; but to my Sorrow I found my self disappointed, and under that Disappointment, obliged to make the best of my Way to Bayonne.

SETTING out for which Place, the first Town of Note that I came to, was Saint Sebastian. A very clean Town, and neatly pav'd; which is no little Rarity in Spain. It has a very good Wall about it, and a pretty Citadel. At this Place I met with two English Officers, who were under the same state with my self; one of them being a Prisoner of War with me at Denia. They were going to Bayonne to embark for England as well as my self; so we agreed to set out together for Port Passage. The Road from St. Sebastian is all over a well pav'd Stone Causeway; almost at the end where­of, there accosted us a great number of young Lasses. They were all prettily dress'd, their [Page 331] long Hair flowing in a decent manner over their Shoulders, and here and there decora­ted with Ribbons of various Colours, which wantonly play'd on their Backs with the Wind. The Sight surpriz'd my Fellow Tra­vellers no less than me; and the more, as they advanced directly up to us, and seiz'd our Hands. But a little time undeceiv'd us, and we found what they came for; and that their Contest, tho' not so robust as our Oars on the Thames, was much of the same Nature; each contending who should have us for their Fare. For 'tis here a Custom of Time out of mind, that none but young Women should have the management and profit of that Ferry. And tho' the Ferry is over an Arm of the Sea, very broad, and sometimes very rough, those fair Ferriers manage themselves with that Dexterity, that the Passage is very little dangerous, and in calm Weather, very pleasant. In short, we made choice of those that best pleased us; who in a grateful Return, led us down to their Boat under a sort of Musick, which they, walking along, made with their Oars, and which we all thought far from being disagreeable. Thus were we transported over to Port Passage; not undeservedly accounted the best Har­bour in all the Bay of Biscay.

WE stay'd not long here after Landing, resolving, if possible, to reach Fonterabia [Page 332] before Night; but all the Expedition we could use, little avail'd; for before we could reach thither the Gates were shut, and good Nature and Humanity were so lock'd up with them, that all the Rhetorick we were Masters of could not prevail upon the Governor to order their being opened; for which Reason we were obliged to take up our Quarters at the Ferry House.

When we got up the next Morning, we found the Waters so broad, as well as rough, that we began to enquire after another Pas­sage; and were answer'd, that at the Isle of Conference, but a short League upwards, the Passage was much shorter, and exposed to less Danger. Such good Reasons soon de­termin'd us: So, setting out we got there in a very little Time; and very soon after were landed in France. Here we found a House of very good Entertainment, a Thing we had long wanted, and much lamented the want of.

WE were hardly well seated in the House before we were made sensible, that it was the Custom, which had made it the business of our Host, to entertain all his Guests at first coming in, with a prolix Account of that remarkable Interview between the two Kings of France and Spain. I speak safely now, as being got on French Ground: For the Spaniard in his own Country would have made me to know, that putting Spain [Page 333] after France had there been look'd upon as a meer Solecism in Speech. However, ha­ving refresh'd our selves, to show our defe­rence to our Host's Relation, we agreed to pay our Respects to that famous little Isle he mention'd; which indeed, was the whole burden of the Design of our crafty Landlord's Relation.

WHEN we came there, we found it a little oval Island, over-run with Weeds, and surrounded with Reeds and Rushes. ‘"Here, said our Landlord (for he went with us) upon this little Spot, were at that juncture seen the two greatest Mo­narchs in the Universe. A noble Pavi­lion was erected in the very middle of it, and in the middle of that was placed a very large oval Table; at which was the Conference, from which the Place re­ceiv'd its Title. There were two Bridges rais'd; one on the Spanish side, the Pas­sage to which was a little upon a Descent by reason of the Hills adjacent; and the other upon the French side, which as you see, was all upon a Level. The Musick playing, and Trumpets sounding, the two Kings, upon a Signal agreed upon, set forward at the same time; the Spanish Monarch handing the Infanta his Daugh­ter to the Place of Interview. As soon as they were enter'd the Pavilion, on each Side, all the Artillery fired, and [Page 334] both Armies after that made their seve­ral Vollies. Then the King of Spain advancing on his side the Table with the Infanta, the King of France advan­ced at the same Moment on the other; till meeting, he received the Infanta at the Hands of her Father, as his Queen; upon which, both the Artillery and small Arms fir'd as before. After this, was a most splendid and sumptuous Entertain­ment; which being over, both Kings re­tir'd into their several Dominions; the King of France conducting his new Queen to Saint Jean de Luz, where the Mar­riage was consummated; and the King of Spain returning to Port Passage."’

AFTER a Relation so very inconsistent with the present State of the Place; we took Horse (for Mule-mounting was now out of Fashion) and rode to Saint Jean de Luz, where we found as great a difference in our Eating and Drinking, as we had be­fore done in our Riding. Here they might be properly call'd Houses of Entertainment; tho' generally speaking, till we came to this Place, we met with very mean Fare, and were poorly accommodated in the Houses where we lodged.

A Person that travels this way, would be esteem'd a Man of a narrow Curiosity, who should not desire to see the Chamber where Louis le grand took his first Nights [Page 335] Lodging with his Queen. Accordingly, when it was put into my Head, out of an Ambition to evince my self a Person of Taste, I asked the Question, and the Fa­vour was granted me, with a great deal of French Civility. Not that I found any Thing here, more than in the Isle of Confe­rence, but what Tradition only had render­ed remarkable.

S Jean de Luz. Saint Jean de Luz is esteem'd one of the greatest Village Towns in all France. It was in the great Church of this Place, that Lewis XIV. according to Marriage Articles, took before the high Altar the Oath of Re­nunciation to the Crown of Spain, by which all the Issue of that Marriage were debarred Inheritance, if Oaths had been o­bligatory with Princes. The Natives here are reckon'd expert Seamen; especially in Whale fishing. Here is a fine Bridge of Wood; in the middle of which is a De­scent, by Steps, into a pretty little Island; where is a Chapel, and a Palace belonging to the Bishop of Bayonne. Here the Queen Dowager of Spain often walks to divert herself; and on this Bridge, and in the Walks on the Island, I had the Honour to see that Princess more than once.

THIS Villa not being above four Leagues from Bayonne, we got there by Dinner time, where at an Ordinary of twenty Sons, we eat and drank in Plenty, and with a gusto, [Page 336] much better than in any part of Spain; where for eating much worse, we paid very much more.

Bayonne. BAYONNE is a Town strong by Na­ture; yet the Fortifications have been very much neglected, since the building of the Citadel, on the other Side the River; which not only commands the Town, but the Harbour too. It is a noble Fabrick; fair and strong, and rais'd on the side of a Hill, wanting nothing that Art could fur­nish, to render it impregnable. The Mar­shal Bouflers had the Care of it in its erec­tion; and there is a fine Walk near it, from which he us'd to survey the Workmen, which still carries his Name. There are two noble Bridges here, tho' both of Wood, one over that River which runs on one side the Town; the other over that, which di­vides it in the middle, the Tide runs thro' both with vast Rapidity; notwithstanding which, Ships of Burden come up, and pay­ing for it, are often fasten'd to the Bridge, while loading or unloading. While I was here, there came in four or five English Ships laden with Corn; the first, as they told me, that had come in to unlade there, since the beginning of the War.

Pont d' Esprit.ON that Side of the River where the new Citadel is built, at a very little distance lies Pont d' Esprit, a Place mostly inhabit­ed by Jews, who drive a great Trade [Page 337] there, and are esteemed very rich, tho' as in all other Countries mostly very rogueish. Here the Queen Dowager of Spain has kept her Court ever since the Jealousy of the present King reclus'd her from Madrid. As Aunt to his Competitor Charles (now Em­peror) he apprehended her Intrigueing; for which Reason giving her an Option of Retreat, that Princess made choice of this City, much to the Advantage of the Place, and in all Appearance much to her own Sa­tisfaction. She is a Lady not of the lesser Size; and lives here in suitable Splendour, and not without the Respect due to a Per­son of her high Quality: Every time she goes to take the Air, the Cannon of the Citadel saluting her, as she passes over the Bridge; and to say Truth, the Country round is extremely pleasant, and abounds in plenty of all Provisions; especially in wild Fowl. Bayonne Hams are, to a Proverb, celebrated all over France.

WE waited here near five Months before the expected Transports arrived from Eng­land, without any other Amusements, than such as are common to People under Sus­pence. Short Tours will not admit of great Varieties; and much Acquaintance could not be any way suitable to People, that had long been in a strange Country, and ear­nestly desired to return to our own. Yet one [Page 338] Accident befell me here, that was nearer costing me my Life, than all I had before encounter'd, either in Battle or Siege.

GOING to my Lodgings one Evening, I unfortunately met with an Officer, who would needs have me along with him, a­board one of the English Ships, to drink a Bottle of English beer. He had been often invited, he said; and I am afraid our Coun­tryman, continued he, will hold himself slighted, if I delay it longer. English Beer was a great rarity, and the Vessel lay not at any great distance from my Lodgings; so without any f [...]rther Persuasion I consented. When we came upon the Bridge, to which the Ship we were to go aboard was fastned, we found, as was customary, as well as ne­cessary, a Plank laid over from the Ship, and a Rope to hold by, for safe Passage. The Night was very dark; and I had cau­tiously enough taken care to provide a Man with a Lanthorn to prevent Casualties. The Man with the Light went first, and out of his abundant Complaisance, my Friend, the Officer, would have me follow the Light: But I was no sooner stept upon the Plank after my Guide, but Rope and Plank gave way, and Guide and I tumbled both together into the Water.

THE Tide was then running in pretty strong: However, my Feet in the Fall [Page 339] touching Ground, gave me an opportunity to recover my self a little; at which Time I catch'd fast hold of a Buoy, which was plac'd over an Anchor on one of the Ships there riding: I held fast, till the Tide rising stronger and stronger threw me off my Feet; which gave an Opportunity to the poor Fel­low, our Lanthorn-bearer, to lay hold of one of my Legs, by which he held as fast as I by the Buoy. We had lain thus lov­ingly at Hull together, strugling with the increasing Tide, which, well for us, did not break my hold (for if it had, the Ships which lay breast a breast had certainly suck­ed us under) when several on the Bridge, who saw us fall, brought others with Ropes and Lights to our Assistance; and especi­ally my Brother Officer, who had been Accessary as well as Spectator of our Ca­lamity; tho' at last a very small Portion of our Deliverance fell to his share.

AS soon as I could feel a Rope, I quitted my hold of the Buoy; but my poor Drag at my Heels would not on any account quit his hold of my Leg. And as it was next to an Impossibility, in that Posture to draw us up the Bridge to save both, if either of us, we must s [...]ll have perished, had not the Alarm brought off a Boat or two to our Succour, who took us in.

I was carry'd as fast as possible, to a neigh­bouring House hard by, where they took [Page 340] immediate care to make a good Fire; and where I had not been long before our in­tended Host, the Master of the Ship, came in very much concern'd, and blaming us for not hailing the Vessel, before we made an Attempt to enter. For, says he, the very Night before, my Vessel was robb'd; and that Plank and Rope were a Trap de­sign'd for the Thieves, if they came again; not imagining that Men in an honest way would have come on board without asking Questions. Like the wise Men of this World, I hereupon began to form Resolu­tions against a Thing, which was never a­gain likely to happen; and to draw Infe­rences of Instruction from an Accident, that had not so much as a Moral for its Founda­tion.

ONE Day after this, partly out of Bu­siness, and partly out of Curiosity, I went to see the Mint here, and having taken no­tice to one of the Officers, that there was a difference in the Impress of their Crown Pieces, one having at the bottom the Im­press of a Cow, and the other none: ‘"Sir, reply'd that Officer, you are much in the right in your Observation. Those that have the Cow, were not coin'd here, but at Paw, the chief City of Navarr; where they enjoy the Privilege of a Mint, as well as we. And Tradition tells, says he, that the Reason of that [Page 341] Addition to the Impress was this: A certain King of Navarr (when it was a Kingdom distinct from that of France) looking out of a Window of the Palace, spy'd a Cow, with her Calf standing a­side her, attack'd by a Lyon, which had got loose out of his Menagery. The Lyon strove to get the young Calf into his Paw; the Cow bravely defended her Charge; and so well, that the Lyon at last, tir'd and weary, withdrew, and left her Mistress of the Field of Battle; and her young one. Ever since which, concluded that Officer, by Order of that King, the Cow is plac'd at the bottom of the Impress of all the Money there coined."’

WHETHER or no my Relator guess'd at the Moral, or whether it was Fact, I dare not determine: But to me it seem'd appa­rent, that it was no otherways intended, than as an emblematical Fable to cover, and pre­serve the Memory of the Deliverance of Hen­ry the Fourth, then the young King of Na­varr, at that eternally ignominious Slaugh­ter, the Massacre of Paris. Many Histori­ans, their own as well as others, agree, that the House of Guise had levell'd the Malice of their Design at that great Prince. They knew him to be the lawful Heir; but as they knew him bred, what they call'd a [Page 342] Hugonot, Barbarity and Injustice was easily conceal'd under the Cloak of Religion, and the Good of Mother Church, under the veil of Ambition, was held sufficient to post-pone the Laws of God and Man. Some of those Historians have deliver'd it as Matter of Fact, that the Conspirators, in searching af­ter that young King, press'd into the very A­partments of the Queen his Mother; who having, at the Toll of the Bell, and Cries of the Murder'd, taken the Alarm, on hear­ing 'em coming, plac'd her self in her Chair, and cover'd the young King her Son with her Farthingale, till they were gone. By which means she found an oppor­tunity to convey him to a Place of more Safety; and so preserv'd him from those bloody Murderers, and in them from the Paw of the Lyon. This was only a private Reflection of my own at that Time; but I think carries so great a Face of Probability, that I can see no present Reason to reject it. And to have sought after better Information from the Officer of the Mint, had been to sacrifice my Discretion to my Curiosity.

WHILE I stay'd at Bay [...]nne, the Princess Ursini came thither, attended by some of the King of Spain's Guards. She had been to drink the Waters of some famous Spaw in the Neighbourhood, the Name of which has now [...]pt my Memory. She was most [Page 343] splendidly entertain'd by the Queen Dow­ager of Spain; and the Mareschal de Mon­trevel no less signaliz'd himself in his Re­ception of that great Lady, who was at that Instant the greatest Favourite in the Spanish Court; tho' as I have before related, she was some Time after basely under­mined by a Creature of her own advanc­ing.

BAYONNE is esteem'd the third Em­porium of Trade in all France. It was once, and remain'd long so, in the Possessi­on of the English; of which had History been silent, the Cathedral Church had afforded evident Demonstration; being in every respect of the English Model, and quite different to any of their own way of Building in France.

Pampelo­na. PAMPELONA is the Capital City of the Spanish Navarr, supposed to have been built by Pompey. 'Tis situated in a pleasant Valley, surrounded by lofty Hills. This Town, whether famous or infamous, was the Cause of the first Institution of the Order of the Jesuits. For at the Siege of this Place Ignatius Loyola being only a private Soldier, receiv'd a shot on his Thigh, which made him uncapable of following that Profession any longer; up­on which he set his Brains to work, being a subtle Man, and invented the Order of [Page 344] the Jesuits, which has been so troublesome to the World ever since.

AT Saint Stephen near Lerida, an Acti­on happened between the English and Spa­niards, in which Major General Cunning­ham bravely fighting at the Head of his Men, lost his Life, being extreamly much lamented. He was a Gentleman of a great Estate, yet left it, to serve his Country; Dulce est pro Patria Mori.

ABOUT two Leagues from Victoria, there is a very pleasant Hermitage plac'd upon a small rising Ground, a murmuring Rivulet running at the bottom, and a pretty neat Chapel standing near it, in which I saw Saint Christopher in a Gigantick Shape, ha­ving a Christo on his Shoulders. The Her­mit was there at his Devotion, I ask'd him (tho' I knew it before) the reason why he was represented in so large a Shape: The Hermit answered with great Civility, and told me, he had his Name from Christo Fe­rendo, for when our Saviour was young, he had an inclination to pass a River, so Saint Christopher took him on his Shoulders in order to carry him over, and as the Water grew deeper and deeper, so he grew higher and higher.

AT last we received News, that the Gloucester Man of War, with two Tran­sports, was arrived at Port Passage, in or­der for the Transporting of all the remain­ing [Page 345] Prisoners of War into England. Ac­cordingly they march'd next Day, and there embark'd. But I having before a­greed with a Master of a Vessel, which was loaded with Wine for Amsterdam, to set me ashoar at Dover, stay'd behind, waiting for that Ship, as did that for a fair Wind.

IN three or four Days Time, a fine and fair Gale presented; of which the Master ta­king due Advantage, we sail'd over the Bar into the Bay of Biscay. This is with Sai­lors, to a Proverb, reckon'd the roughest of Seas; and yet on our Entrance into it, no­thing appear'd like it. 'Twas smooth as Glass; a Lady's Face might pass for young, and in its Bloom, that discover'd no more Wrinckles: Yet scarce had we sail'd three Leagues, before a prodigious Fish presented it self to our View. As near as we could guess, it might be twenty Yards in Length; and it lay sporting it self on the Surface of the Sea, a great Part appearing out of the Water. The Sailors, one and all, as soon as they saw it, declar'd it the certain Fore­runner of a Storm. However, our Ship kept on its Course, before a fine Gale, till we had near passed over half the Bay; when, all on a sudden, there was such a hideous Alteration, as makes Nature re­coil on the very Reflection. Those Seas that seem'd before to smile upon us, with the Aspect of a Friend, now in a Moment [Page 346] chang'd their flattering Countenance into that of an open Enemy; and Frowns, the certain Indexes of Wrath, presented us with apparent Danger, of which little on this Side Death could be the Sequel. The an­gry Waves cast themselves up into Mountains, and scourg'd the Ship on every Side from Poop to Prow: Such Shocks from the con­tending Wind and Surges! Such Falls from Precipices of Water, to dismal Caverns of the same uncertain Element! Although the lat­ter seem'd to receive us in Order to skreen us from the Riot of the former, Imagination could offer no other Advantage than that of a Winding-Sheet, presented and prepared for our approaching Fate. But why mention I Imagination? In me 'twas wholly dormant. And yet those Sons of stormy Weather, the Sailors, had theirs about them in full Stretch; for seeing the Wind and Seas so very boi­sterous, they lash'd the Rudder of the Ship, resolv'd to let her drive, and steer herself; since it was past their Skill to steer her. This was our Way of sojourning most Part of that tedious Night; driven where the Winds and Waves thought fit to drive us, with all our Sails quite lower'd and flat upon the Deck. If Ovid, in the little Archipelagian Sea, could whine out his jam jam jacturus, &c. in this more dismal Scene, and much more dange­rous Sea (the Pitch-like Darkness of the Night adding to all our sad Variety of Woes) [Page 347] what Words in Verse or Prose could serve to paint our Passions, or our Expectations? Alas! our only Expectation was in the Re­turn of Morning: It came at last; yet even slowly as it came, when come, we thought it come too soon, a new Scene of sudden Death being all the Advantage of its first Appear­ance. Our Ship was driving full Speed, to­wards the Breakers on the Cabritton Shore, between Burdeaux and Bayonne; which fil­led us with Ideas more terrible than all be­fore, since those were past, and these seemingly as certain. Beside, to add to our Distress, the Tide was driving in, and consequently must drive us fast to visible Destruction. A State so evident, that one of our Sailors, whom great Experience had render'd more sensible of our present Danger, was prepa­ring to save one, by lashing himself to the main Mast, against the expected Minute of Desolation. He was about that melancholy Work, in utter Despair of any better Fortune, when, as loud as ever he could bawl, he cry'd out, a Point, a Point of Wind. To me, who had had too much of it, it appear'd like the Sound of the last Trump; but to the more intelligent Crew, it had a different Sound. With Vi­gour and Alacrity they started from their Prayers, or their Despair, and with all ima­ginable Speed, unlash'd the Rudder, and hoist­ed all their Sails. Never sure in Nature did one Minute produce a greater Scene of [Page 348] Contraries. The more skilful Sailors took Courage at this happy Presage of Delive­rance. And according to their Expecta­tion did it happen; that heavenly Point of Wind deliver'd us from the Jaws of those Breakers, ready open to devour us; and carrying us out to the much more wellcome wide Sea, furnished every one in the Ship with Thoughts, as distant as we thought our Danger.

WE endeavour'd to make Port Passage; but our Ship became unruly, and would not answer her Helm; for which Reason we were glad to go before the Wind, and make for the Harbour of Saint Jean de Luz. This we attain'd without any great Difficulty, and to the Satisfaction of all, Sailors as well as Passengers, we there cast Anchor, after the most terrible Storm (as all the oldest Sailors agreed) and as much Danger as ever Peo­ple escap'd.

HERE I took notice, that the Sailors buoy'd up their Cables with Hogsheads; enquiring into the Reason of which, they told me, that the Rocks at the Bottom of the Harbour were by Experience found to be so very sharp, that they would other­wise cut their Cables asunder. Our Ship was obliged to be drawn up into the Dock to be refitted; during which, I lay in the Town, where nothing of Moment, or worth reciting, happen'd.

[Page 349]I beg Pardon for my Errors; the very Movements of Princes must always be consi­derable, and consequently worth Recital. While the Ship lay in the Dock, I was one Evening walking upon the Bridge, with the little Island near it, (which I have before spoke of) and had a little Spanish Dog a­long with me, when at the further End I spy'd a Lady, and three or four Gentlemen in Company; I kept on my Pace of Leisure, and so did they; but when I came nearer, I found they as much out number'd me in the Dog, as they did in the human Kind. And I soon experienced to my Sorrow, that their Dogs, by their Fierceness and Ill-hu­mour, were Dogs of Quality; having, with­out Warning, or the least Declaration of War, fallen upon my little Dog, accord­ing to pristine Custom, without any honou­rable Regard to Size, Interest or Num­ber. However the good Lady, who, by the Privilege of her Sex, must be allow'd the most competent Judge of Inequalities, out of an Excess of Condescension and Good­ness, came running to the Relief of oppres­sed poor Tony; and, in courtly Language, rated her own oppressive Dogs for their great Incivility to Strangers. The Dogs, in the Middle of their insulting Wrath, o­bey'd the Lady with a vast deal of profound Submission; which I could not much won­der at, when I understood, that it was a [Page 350] Queen Dowager of Spain, who had chid them.

Our Ship being now repaired, and made fit to go out again to Sea, we left the Har­bour of Saint Jean de Luz, and with a much better Passage, as the last Tempest was still dancing in my Imagination, in ten Days Sail we reach'd Dover. Here I land­ed on the last Day of March, 1713. having not, till then, seen or touch'd English Shoar from the Beginning of May, 1705.

I took Coach directly for London, where, when I arriv'd, I thought my self transport­ed into a Country more foreign, than any I had either fought or pilgrimag'd in. Not foreign, do I mean, in respect to others, so much as to it self. I left it, seemingly, un­der a perfect Unanimity: The fatal Distin­ctions of Whig and Tory were then esteemed meerly nominal; and of no more ill Conse­quence or Danger, than a Bee robb'd of its Sting. The national Concern went on with Vigour, and the prodigious Success of the Queen's Arms, left every Soul without the least Pretence to a Murmur. But now on my Return, I found them on their old Esta­blishment, perfect Contraries, and as un­likely to be brought to meet as direct An­gles. Some arraigning, some extolling of a Peace; in which Time has shown both were wrong, and consequently neither could be right in their Notions of it, however an over [Page 351] prejudic'd Way of thinking might draw them into one or the other. But Whig and Tory are, in my Mind, the compleatest Pa­radox in Nature; and yet like other Para­doxes, old as I am, I live in Hope to see, before I die, those seeming Contraries per­fectly reconcil'd, and reduc'd into one happy Certainty, the Publick Good.

Whilst I stay'd at Madrid, I made seve­ral Visits to my old Acquaintance General Mahoni. I remember that he told me, when the Earl of Peterborow and he held a Con­ference at Morvidro, his Lordship used many Arguments to induce him to leave the Spa­nish Service. Mahoni made several Excuses, especially that none of his Religion was suf­fer'd to serve in the English Army. My Lord reply'd, That he would undertake to get him excepted by an Act of Parliament. I have often heard him speak with great Re­spect of his Lordship, and was strangely sur­prized, that after so many glorious Successes he should be sent away.

He was likewise pleased to inform me, that at the Battle of Saragoza, 'twas his Fortune to make some of our Horse to give way, and he pursued them for a considerable time; but at his Return, he saw the Spanish Army in great Confusion: But it gave him the Opportunity of attacking our Battery of Guns; which he performed with great [Page 352] Slaughter, both of Gunners and Matrosses. He at the same time inquired, who 'twas that commanded there in chief. I informed him 'twas Col. Bourguard, one that understood the Oeconomy of the Train exceeding well. As for that, he knew nothing of; but that he would vouch, he behaved himself with extraordinary Courage, and defended the Battery to the utmost Extremity, receiving several Wounds, and deserved the Post in which he acted. A Gentleman who was a Prisoner at Gualaxara, informed me, that he saw King Philip riding through that Town, being only attended with one of his Guards.

Saragoza. Saragoza, or Caesar Augusta, lies upon the River Ebro, being the Capital of Arra­gon; 'tis a very ancient City, and contains fourteen great Churches, and twelve Con­vents. The Church of the Lady of the Pil­lar is frequented by Pilgrims, almost from all Countries; 'twas anciently a Roman Colony.