I stay
the whole winter, I am very confident would not be brought to
perfection. For they are of so many minds, and are all so very
extravagant about their barrier, that I despair of doing any thing
good till they are more reasonable, which they will not be till they
see that they have it not in their power to dispose of the whole Low
Countries at their will and pleasure, in which the French flatter
them."--_Marlborough to Godolphin, Oct. 29, 1706. Coxe_, III. 79.]

THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA.

PART II.

"Por estas montanas,
Facciosos siguiendo,
Vamos defendiendo
La Constitucion."

_Himno de Navarra._

Rarely had the alameda of the picturesque old town of Logrono
presented a gayer or more brilliant appearance than on a certain July
evening of the year 1834. The day had been sultry in the extreme, and
the sun was touching the horizon before the fair Riojanas ventured to
quit their artificially darkened rooms, and the cool shelter of their
well-screened _miradores_, for the customary promenade. It was
pleasant, certainly, in those sombre apartments, and beneath those
thick awnings, which excluded each ray of sun, although they did not
prevent what little breeze there was from circulating freely between
the heavy stone balustrades or quaintly moulded iron-work of the
spacious balconies, rustling the leaves and blossoms of the
orange-trees, and wafting their fragrance to the languid beauties who
sat dozing, chatting, or love-making within. But if the _farniente_
and languor induced by the almost tropical heat, were so agreeable as
to tempt to their longer indulgence, on the other hand the _paseo_,
that indispensable termination to a Spaniard's day, had, upon the
evening in question, peculiar attractions for the inhabitants of
Logrono, and especially for their fairer portion. Within the preceding
three days, a body of troops, in number nearly twenty thousand men, a
large portion of them the pick and flower of the Spanish army, had
been concentrated at Logrono, whence, under the command of Rodil--a
general of high reputation--they were to advance into Navarre, and
exterminate the daring rebels, who, for some months past, had
disturbed the peace of Spain. All had been noise and movement in the
town during those three days; every stable full of horses, every house
crowded with soldiers; artillery and baggage-waggons encumbering the
squares and suburbs; the streets resounding with the h