May, effected its retreat. The torrent which passes at Ruivaens, and that which passes under the Ponte Nova, is the same torrentalthough Colonel Napier supposes them to be different, and calls the one the little river' of Ruivaens, and the other the Cavado river. It is obvious, therefore, from what has been said, that, to cut the French off from Montalegre, it was necessary to stop them effectually both at the bridge called Ponte Nova, and at the bridge of Ruivaens, which is about a mile and a half higher up the same stream. But neither of these bridges was completely destroyed, and an assemblage of peasants with a few fowling-pieces for that was the real composition of the Portuguese force, and the quality of their arms-was very unequal to the defence of these bridgeseven had they been both cut through.

Colonel Napier proceeds

'The night was setting in, the soldiers were harassed, barefooted, and starving; the ammunition was injured by the rain, which had never ceased since the 13th, and which was now increasing in violence, accompanied with storms of wind; the British army would certainly fall upon the rear in the morning; and if the Ponte Nova, where the guard was reported to be weak, could not be secured, the hour of surrender was surely arrived. In this extremity, Soult sent for Major Dulong, an officer justly reputed for one of the most daring in the French ranks. Addressing himself to this brave man, he said, "I have chosen you from the whole army to seize the Ponte Nova, which has been cut by the enemy. Select a hundred grenadiers and twenty-five horsemen, endeavour to surprise the guards, and secure the passage of the bridge. If you succeed, say so, but send no other report; your silence will suffice." Thus exhorted and favoured by the storm, Dulong reached the bridge unperceived of the Portuguese, killed the sentinel before any alarm was given, and then, followed by twelve grenadiers, began crawling along a narrow slip of masonry, which was the only part undestroyed. The Cavado river was flooded and roaring in its deep channel; one of the grenadiers fell into the gulf, but the noise of the waters was louder than his cry, and Dulong with the eleven reaching the other side surprised the nearest post; the remainder of his men advanced at the same moment close to the bridge, and some crossing and others mounting the heights, shouting and firing, scared the poor peasantry, who imagined the whole army was upon them; thus the passage was gallantly won.' - pp. 292, 293.

We have not the least doubt of Major Dulong's bravery, nor of his having executed with intelligence and with courage the part allotted to him. Neither shall we object to Soult's theatrical speech, although we are a little at a loss to know what use the twenty-five horsemen could be of in the proposed enterprise. We know that the torrent which passes under the Ponte Nova-whether Colonel Napier may call it the little river' of Ruivaens, or the deep and roaring Cavado' is quite noisy enough, when flooded, to drown

drown the voice of a man who has fallen into it; but we know, likewise, that at day-break on the morning after the affair at Salamonde two officers of the British staff, with a party of dragoons, passed the bridge of Ponte Nova-and that, although the bridge is very narrow, and the parapets had been thrown down, and the stones of the arch itself had been laid bare of their covering of earth and gravel, and no subsequent repairs had been made, the officers and dragoons rode over the bridge, notwithstanding that, by Colonel Napier's account, a narrow slip of masonry was the only part undestroyed.'

'Beyond the Ponte Nova there was a second obstacle still more formidable. For the pass in which the troops were moving being cut in the side of a mountain, open on the left for several miles- [four miles] -at last came upon a torrent called the Miserella, which, breaking down a deep ravine, or rather gulph, was only to be crossed by a bridge constructed with a single lofty arch, called Saltador, or the leaper, and so narrow that only three persons could pass abreast. Fortunately for the French, the Saltador was not cut, but entrenched and defended by a few hundred Portuguese peasants, who occupied the rocks on the farther side, and here the good soldier Dulong again saved the army.'-pp. 293, 294.

The pass at the bridge of Miserella is very strong, for there is a steep and rugged rock of considerable elevation on the right bank of the river, and immediately fronting the bridge. There were not, however, any entrenchments there, nor was there indeed much occasion for them, had there been well-armed troops to defend the pass. The bridge itself was, however, sufficiently broad to admit of the passage of the British artillery; and it was very little injured. So much for the romance which Le Noble and Colonel Napier together have composed upon Marshal Soult's retreat from Oporto.

We do not recollect to have met with any other author who departs so much in the body of his work from the promises, professions, and expectations held out in his preface, as is done by Colonel Napier. He professes, in his preface, to make truth the object of his search; avoiding equally the 'mists of prejudice,' and the 'false lights of interest.' He holds out to his readers, that to remedy the injustice done,' and 'justice left undone, has been one of the chief motives of his undertaking. He professes to have 'corrected his own recollections and opinions by those of others of superior knowledge:' and he claims confidence partly as an eye-witness,' and partly as possessing the advantage of access to 'original documents, placed without reserve at his disposal. But in the body of his work, the mists of prejudice appear to be his natural element; and his own glaring partialities are the lights held out by him for the guidance of his readers.

readers. To distribute an undue share of praise to some, and to
load others with bitter reproaches unsupported, nay, contradicted,
by facts, is Colonel Napier's mode of doing justice, and of re-
dressing injustice. In place of amending his own recollections
and opinions by those of others, and adding further information,
by means of original documents, to the stock already possessed,
he has departed, without giving any explanation of his motives.
or any notice even of the fact, from records of unquestionable
authenticity already before the public; and has represented, on
the authority of interested parties, many transactions in a very
different point of view from that in which they appear when the
light of unbiassed contemporaneous testimony is made to fall
unexpectedly upon them.

We shall, at our leisure, continue our examination of this
equally pompous, flagitious, and shallow History.

INDEX

VOLUME FIFTY-SEVEN OF THE QUARTERLY REVIEW.