in its defense.

The first glance into the state of affairs gave the Earl of Peterborough
such an unfavorable impression that he at once objected to the proposed
attack.

The governor, Don Francisco Velasco, was a brave and distinguished
officer, the garrison equaled his own force in numbers, the town was
well supplied with provisions and stores, and, in order to add to the
difficulties of the besiegers, orders had been given to destroy all the
forage in the surrounding country which could not be conveyed within
the walls. Any Austrian sympathies the inhabitants might possess were
effectually suppressed by the power and vigilance of the governor.
The besieging army was far too small to attempt a blockade, while the
chances of an assault upon an equal force behind well armed defenses
seemed almost desperate.

The engineers declared that the difficulties of a regular siege were
enormous, if not insurmountable, and that the only vulnerable point
was covered by a bog, where the transport of cannon or the formation
of works would be impossible. Above all, the principal hope of the
expedition had failed. The adherents of Charles had assured him that the
whole country would rise in his favor on the arrival of the fleet, and
that the town itself would probably open its gates to receive him. These
promises had, like all others he had received from his Spanish friends,
proved delusive. Few of the peasantry appeared to receive them on the
coast, and these were unarmed and without officers.

The earl's instructions, although generally quite indefinite, were
stringent upon one point. He was on no account to make the slightest
alteration in the plans of the expedition, or to take any decisive step
for their accomplishment, without the advice of the council of war. This
would have been in any case embarrassing for a general; in the present
instance it was calculated altogether to cripple him. There was but
little harmony among the chief officers. The English military officers
were by no means on good terms with each other, while the naval officers
regarded almost as an insult Lord Peterborough's being placed in command
of them. The English hated the German officers and despised the Dutch.
Lord Peterborough himself disliked almost all his associates, and
entertained a profound contempt for any one whose opinion might differ
from that which he at the moment might happen to hold.

It was impossible that good could come from a counc