a determination by which the sufferings of Europe
must be aggravated and prolonged. But not to His Majesty is to be
attributed the continuance of the calamities of war, by the
disappointment of all hope of such a peace as would be compatible
with justice and honour."[205]

No open-minded person can peruse the correspondence on this subject
without concluding that British policy, if lacking the breadth, grip
and _finesse_ that marked that of France and Russia, yet possessed the
sterling merits of manly truthfulness and staunch fidelity. The words
quoted above were the words of Canning, but the spirit that animated
them was that of George III. His storm-tossed life was now verging
towards the dread bourne of insanity; but it was given to him to make
this stern yet half-pleading appeal to the Czar's better nature. And
who shall say that the example of constancy which the aged King
displayed amidst the gathering gloom of his public and private life
did not ultimately bear fruit in the later and grander phase of
Alexander's character and career?

Meanwhile Napoleon was bursting through the Spanish defence. The
patriots, puffed up with their first successes, had been indulging in
dreams of an invasion of France; and their provincial juntas
quarrelled over the sharing of the future spoils as over the
apportionment of English arms and money. Their awakening was terrible.
With less than 90,000 raw troops they were attacked by 250,000 men led
by the greatest warrior of the age. Everywhere they were routed, and
at a last fight at the pass over the Somosierra mountain, the
superiority of the French was strikingly shown. While the Spaniards
were pouring down grapeshot on the struggling masses of the
assailants, the Emperor resolved to hurl his light Polish horse uphill
at the death-dealing guns. Dashingly was the order obeyed. Some forty
or fifty riders bit the dust, but the rest swept on, sabred the
gunners, and decided the day. The Spaniards, amazed at these
unheard-of tactics, took to their heels, and nothing now stayed
Napoleon's entry into Madrid (December 4th). There he strove to
popularize Joseph's rule by offering several desirable reforms, such
as the abolition of feudal laws and of the Inquisition. It was of no
avail. The Spaniards would have none of them at his hands.

After a brief stay in Madrid, he turned to crush Sir John Moore. That
brave soldier, relying on the empty promises of the patriots, had