given him, as well as those of the City of London, and many other corporations. General Graham persisted steadily in his refusal to cooperate in any way with the Spanish army; and his refusal was not only approved at head-quarters, but his hands were strengthened by an order from Government which instructed him, as a rule, not to put himself under the command of any other general. He had now reached the summit of the aspirations so long entertained and so nobly vindicated, and had the reward of his patient and inflexible perseverance. He had placed his name, where it still stands, high on the roll of British captains. The Spanish leaders, stung by his unaided success, circulated and published the most infamous libels to cover what, if not their own incapacity and cowardice, was their own treachery. Graham was urged by Mr. Wellesley, our minister, not to allow these misstatements to pass without contradiction; but at last, as from accusations against his military skill they assailed his personal honour, he took a soldier's shorthand way with them. It is certainly not the usual way of dealing with allies, but it is so characteristic, and so thoroughly consistent with the temperament of the man, that we give the incident in the words of his brother-in-law, Colonel Cathcart, in a letter to his father, dated July 10, 1811. He says that he 'found a most impudent and mischievous publication of General Lacy's had been translated into English. There were some passages in this book so objectionable and personal to General Graham that he, when it first made its appearance at Cadiz, found himself under the disagreeable necessity of sending a message to both Lacy and Lapena, desiring that these passages might be expunged, or that they must consider the chastisement they so richly deserved from his hand had been already inflicted, and which otherwise certainly would be, the first opportunity. These gentlemen were all submission, shrugged up shoulders, and declared they did not mean any disrespect to the General, were very sorry the language had been so strong, and were ready to retract what he pleased!' And this they did. their Meanwhile Wellington obtained authority to require the services of General Graham as his second in command. The battles of Albuera and Fuentes de Onoro had been fought, and Wellington continued his advance. Graham joined him on August 6, 1811, and from that time forward his military life is so familiar that a mere summary may wind up our notice of this interesting volume. General Graham, as second in command to Lord Wellington, took part in all the movements from August, 1811, to July, 1812. He was present at the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo, and covered the siege of Badajos, with the 1st, 6th, and 7th Divisions, in April of that year. He was at Portalegre with the 1st and 6th Divisions, covering Hill's attack on Almaraz. With the 7th Division he drove back part of Marmont's force near Salamanca, the forts of which were captured, and Marmont withdrew. In March, 1811, he, along with Sir Rowland Hill, was invested with the Order of the Bath. For some time Graham had suffered under an affection of one of his eyes, which obliged him to return to England in the summer of 1812. While there he received from Wellington a short and graphic note announcing the victory at Salamanca, dated July 25, 1812. He says (p. 636), that Marmont, 'after manœuvring all the morning in the usual French style-nobody knew with what object-he at last pressed on my right in such a manner, at the same time without engaging, that he would either have carried our Arapiles, or he would have confined us entirely to our position. This was not to be endured, and we fell upon him, and I never saw an army receive such a beating. 'I need not express how much I regret the disorder in your eyes since this action.' Graham rejoined the army in April, 1813. He commanded the left wing of the army at the battle of Vittoria, and his operations on that day were mentioned by Wellington in his despatches with special approbation. On the 26th he attacked General Fay at Villafranca, and drove him from his positions. He was then charged with the reduction of St. Sebastian, but the first assault failed. The second was successful, and the place was captured on August 31, 1813. On October 7 he had the distinction of leading the first troops across the French frontier at the passage of Bidassoa. But his eyes were again becoming troublesome, and he relinquished his command to his cousin Sir John Hope, to the great regret of the army. He returned home, accompanied by many kindly expressions from a large circle of friends. Many towns in the United Kingdom presented him with the freedom of their corporations, and he was elected shortly afterwards Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. He was now sixty-five years of age; his health uncertain, and his eyesight impaired; but he was not allowed to rest in retirement. He was requested by the Government to undertake the duties of the Commander-inChief of the British and Dutch forces in the Low Countries. He was most desirous to avoid this service, as he felt there was little probability of its resulting creditably; but he did not think he could with propriety decline. It was from the first a dispiriting affair; and is a good example of the prevalent mismanagement of the departments. There was a design to burn the French fleet, but this was abandoned; for,' as Graham wrote, the easterly winds detained all the great ordnance train, rockets included, at home, and the ice in the river at Willemstadt prevented our getting the small ordnance ' equipment that had arrived, so that we were obliged to depend chiefly on such Dutch and French mortars as we could pick up. The shells bad, the fuses worse, so that the practice 'could not be good.' The campaign substantially terminated with the brilliant but unsuccessful and disastrous attempt to storm the fortress of Bergen-op-Zoom, which miscarried in the very moment of success, in consequence of one portion of the troops having, through misunderstanding orders, quitted the post assigned to them. แ The failure of this enterprise depressed the General greatly; all the more that he felt, bold as it was, it ought to have succeeded. His disappointment was consoled by many friendly letters, from the Duke of Clarence, Lord Mulgrave, and many other friends. Although unsuccessful, the conception and execution of the enterprise have been the theme of military eulogy in many quarters. Among the other letters he received was one from Mr. Adam, in which he says, in reference to a conversation between Napoleon and Colonel Campbell previous to the departure for Elba : 'He (Napoleon) particularly mentioned the attempt on Bergen-opZoom, displaying great military talent and enterprise, and, he added, "its failure is nothing against it; that is incident to all military enter"prise, and without such attempts there would be no great military success: its failure was owing to causes which the general who "planned it could neither foresee nor prevent." (P. 738.) Some years later Napoleon recurred to this subject at St. Helena, with Barry O'Meara, speaking of the assault as a most daring enterprise, although he thought it ought not to have succeeded, as the garrison was more numerous than the assailants-unless a panic ensued. ""Graham," he observed, ""had been Commissary with the army at the time of his first ""career of arms at Toulon. . . . A daring old man," he said, ' and asked if he were not the same who had commanded at the 'affair at Cadiz.'* In May, 1814, Sir Thomas Graham was raised to the peerage as Lord Lynedoch of Balgowan. He was soon after *Voice from St. Helena, ii. 195. wards appointed to the chief command of the forces in the Netherlands. He resigned this appointment into the hands of the Prince of Orange in August, 1814, and returned home. This was the last incident in his singular and brilliant military career. Considering the important duties committed to him, Lord Lynedoch was certainly a successful, if not always a fortunate commander. Few enterprises failed in his hands; and if he be the greatest general who makes the fewest mistakes, Graham must be held to stand high. His only mishaps were the first assault on St. Sebastian, and the misadventure at Bergenop-Zoom. The first was one of those events to which all siege operations are liable. The last was a calamity which none but a powerful leader would have encountered. With these two exceptions his career was one of unbroken success, and his character as a military chief stood even higher on the Continent than at home. The conversation related in this volume, between Major Stanhope and Marshal Bernadotte, proves the estimation in which he was held; and he was the only English general except Wellington mentioned by Napoleon in the interview with Colonel Campbell. Fortune, however, was not uniformly kind to him even in success. It was hard to lose the fruits of the brilliant success at Barrosa through the cowardice or treachery of his allies; for if they had done their part, his name would have stood even higher than it does. Doubly hard was it that, while serving with such distinction with Wellington, his physical powers, great as they were, should have given way. But take him altogether, his career was a marvel. In defence and in attackat Messina and Cadiz, as at Barrosa and Vittoria-he was equally and uniformly efficient. The main topic of regret which the narrative leaves behind, is that his power of accurate calculation, bold resolve, rapid action, and cool judgment were not made more available to his country before years, hard work, and unceasing exposure had laid their hand on his powerful frame. But even when he was compelled to quit his command in 1812, Wellington directed Dr. Macgrigor to intimate to his successor that the instant Sir Thomas Graham was able to resume his situation, no other person could fill it. How Graham acquired his knowledge of military detail he does not inform us. He trusted probably to quick observation and adaptability of apprehension, as the mainspring of his mastery of it. That he ever studied the art theoretically seems unlikely. His acquired knowledge of ground and distance, and accurate calculation of the time required for movements, the fruit of his love of field sports, along with his The last was not iron nerve and contempt for danger, made him what he was. But he had, beyond and below these, native genius, which forced its way through many opposing obstacles. So falls the curtain on the third act. marked by any excitement or adventure. was made Governor of Dumbarton Castle in 1829, and received a note at the same time from his old brother in arms, Lord Hill. In 1834 he was appointed Colonel of the 1st Foot, and the King wrote to him to congratulate him. His principal achievement was the foundation of the United Service Club, which, strange to say, excited as much interest and contention in high quarters as a campaign or a command. He at last succeeded, and a plate commemorative of his exertions is inserted in the foundation stone of the building, which was laid in March, 1817. In 1830 he published a letter to the unrepresented owners and holders of land, and the householders of the Royal Burghs in Scotland, in favour of Parliamentary Reform. Notwithstanding his great age, he continued to visit and travel on the Continent, and to take great interest in the current of affairs. The following description of his appearance and manner in extreme old age will be read with interest. Lord Cockburn in his journal mentions, under date October, 1837, that he met Lord Lynedoch at Jeffrey's. He says of him: 'At the age of about eighty-eight his mind and body are perfectly entire. He is still a great horseman, drives to London night and day in an open carriage, cats and drinks like an ordinary person, hears as well as others, sees well enough-after being operated on-for all practical purposes, reading included, has the gallantry and politeness of an old soldier, enjoys and enlivens every company, especially where there are ladies, by a plain, manly, sensible, well-bred manner and a conversation rich in his strong judgment, and with a memory full of the most interesting scenes and people of the last seventy years. Large in bone and feature, his head is finer than Jupiter's. It is like a grey, solid, war-worn castle.' He lived six years after this, and died in Stratton Street on December 18, 1843, in his ninety-sixth year. The romance is ended. The play is over. The actors have all gone. But they did not include among them a manlier, braver, or more honourable spirit than that of the hero of this interesting volume. It must be plain to our readers that we have only gleaned, and that sparingly, from the many topics and features presented by the work before us. The best meed of praise we can offer to the editor is that there is so little to say of his personal share in it. All is judicious, moderate, well selected, |