roasting alive
in the market-place two unfortunate soldiers, who had been captured in a
sortie a few days before; besides burning the body of the holy Saint
Quirinus, with other holy relics. The detestable deed was to be most
horribly avenged.

A steady cannonade from forty-five great guns was kept up from 2 A.M. of
July 15 until the dawn of the following day; the cannoneers--being all
provided with milk and vinegar to cool the pieces. At daybreak the
assault was ordered. Eight separate attacks were made with the usual
impetuosity of Spaniards, and were steadily repulsed.

At the ninth, the outer wall was carried, and the Spaniards shouting
"Santiago" poured over it, bearing back all resistance. An Italian Knight
of the Sepulchre, Cesar Guidiccioni by name, and a Spanish ensign, one
Alphonao de Mesa, with his colours in one hand and a ladder in the other,
each claimed the honour of having first mounted the breach. Both being
deemed equally worthy of reward, Parma, after the city had been won, took
from his own cap a sprig of jewels and a golden wheat-ear ornamented with
a gem, which he had himself worn in place of a plume, and thus presented
each with a brilliant token of his regard. The wall was then strengthened
against the inner line of fortification, and all night long a desperate
conflict was maintained in the dark upon the narrow space between the two
barriers. Before daylight Kloet, who then, as always, had led his men in
the moat desperate adventures, was carried into the town, wounded in five
places, and with his leg almost severed at the thigh. "'Tis the bravest
man," said the enthusiastic Lord North, "that was ever heard of in the
world."--"He is but a boy," said Alexander Farnese, "but a commander of
extraordinary capacity and valour."

Early in the morning, when this mishap was known, an officer was sent to
the camp of the besiegers to treat. The soldiers received him with
furious laughter, and denied him access to the general. "Commander Kloet
had waked from his nap at a wrong time," they said, "and the Prince of
Parma was now sound asleep, in his turn." There was no possibility of
commencing a negotiation. The Spaniards, heated by the conflict, maddened
by opposition, and inspired by the desire to sack a wealthy city,
overpowered all resistance. "My little soldiers were not to be
restrained," said Farnese, and so compelling a reluctant consent on the
part of the commander-in-chief to an assault, the Ita