TON and WATERLOO would
not the less be immortally associated because a cross bearing those of
PENINSULA and PYRENEES, or any other appropriate legend, shone upon the
breasts of that "old Spanish infantry," of whom the Duke always spoke
with affection and esteem, and to whom he unquestionably is mainly
indebted for the wealth, honours, and fame which, for more than thirty
years, he has tranquilly enjoyed. Moreover, we cannot credit such
selfishness on the part of such a man, or believe that he, to whom a
grateful sovereign and country decerned every recompense in their power
to bestow, would be so thankless to the men to whose sweat and blood he
mainly owed his success--to men who bore him, it may truly be said, upon
their shoulders, to the highest pinnacle of greatness a British subject
can possibly attain. Waterloo concluded the war: its results were
immense, the conduct of the troops engaged heroic; but when we compare
the amount of glory there gained with the renown accumulated during six
years' warfare--a renown undimmed by a single reverse;--still more, when
we contrast the dangers and hardships of one short campaign, however
brilliant, with those of half-a-dozen long ones crowded with battles and
sieges, we must admit that if the victors of La Belle Alliance nobly
earned their medal, the veterans of Salamanca and Badajoz, Vittoria and
Toulouse, have a threefold claim to a similar reward. They have long
been unjustly deprived of it, and now comparatively few remain to
receive the tardily-accorded distinction.

The first action to which Mr Grattan refers, as having himself taken
share in, is that of Busaco. The name is familiar to every body, but
yet, of all the Peninsular battles, it is perhaps the one of which least
is generally known. It was not a very bloody fight--the loss in killed
and wounded having been barely seven per cent of the numbers engaged;
still it was a highly important one, as testing the quality of the
Portuguese levies, upon which much depended. Upon the whole, they
behaved pretty well, although they committed one or two awkward
blunders, and one of their militia regiments took to flight at the first
volley fired by their own friends. Mr Grattan does not usually set
himself up as a historical authority with respect to battles, except in
matters pertaining to his own regiment or brigade, and which came under
his own observation. Nevertheless, concerning Busaco, he speaks boldly
out, and asserts h