he use of the goad, to inquire the occasion of
her journey thither.

For five years the peninsula has been one battlefield, and the present
has been one of unceasing activity to the British troops. Beginning
the year by suddenly crossing the frontier and investing Ciudad
Rodrigo, they had taken it by storm in January, while the French were
preparing to relieve it. Equally unexpectedly crossing the Tagus and
the Guadiana, they had sat down before the strong fortress of Badajoz,
and to save a few precious days, in which Soult and Marmont might have
united their hosts to its rescue, they, in April, took it in a bloody
assault, buying immediate possession at the price of more than a
thousand precious lives. No sooner had the disappointed Marshals
withdrawn their armies to less exhausted regions, than the forts of
Almarez were surprised in May, and the direct route of communication
between them cut off. The British army then invaded Spain on the side
of the kingdom of Leon: the forts of Salamanca fell before them in
June, and in July the battle of Salamanca crushed the French force in
that quarter, and opened the road to Madrid to the British, who,
driving thence the intrusive king, acquired the control of all central
Spain. But, at length, in October, the castle of Burgos defied their
utmost efforts, unaided by a siege-train. The French hosts from north,
south and east, abandoning rich provinces and strong fortresses they
had held for years, gathered around them in overwhelming numbers; and
slowly, reluctantly, and with many a stubborn halt, the English
general retraced his steps toward Portugal. The prostrated strength of
both armies put an end to the campaign. The French gave up the
pursuit, being too hungry to march further, or to fight any more; and
the discipline and appetites of the British soldiers were indicated,
on their march through the forests bordering the Huebra, by the
fusilade opened on the herds of swine, which were fattening on the
acorns there. For a moment their commander thought himself surprised,
and that the country, for miles around, was the scene of one
wide-spread skirmish with the foe. Even hanging a few of his men did
not put a stop to the disorder. Late in November the troops were
permitted to pause for rest, in the neighborhood of Ciudad Rodrigo,
with their energies prostrated and their discipline relaxed through
the sieges and battles, the continual marches, the exposure and the
want of a cam