merchants, and containing a great deal of treasure, at the moment of the assault. Imagine what must have been the scenes passing before our eyes during the last four days. We have been driven almost to the ramparts by the fire, while the people have rushed in crowds where certain destruction seemed to threaten them, in search of their property, great part of which they had concealed and buried. Much has certainly been saved; we have done everything in our power to assist them; a great deal has been plundered, and a vast proportion must still remain buried under the ruins. The fire has nearly exhausted itself, for it has nothing left to prey upon, and we are now endeavouring to form communications from the ramparts to the only line of buildings still standing, in the direction of the castle. The houses were so lofty that every street. has been completely choked up with the ruins. The outer walls were all of very handsome stone; in many parts there is scarcely one stone standing upon another; in others, the whole wall is still perfect in its height, but overhanging the street, and appears to be only waiting for the first high wind to complete the destruction. The people who were its inhabitants have carried away everything they can hope to save, and excepting that now and then a peasant may be observed dodging about among the embers, led more by curiosity than interest, there is nothing living to be met with but a soldier. Never surely was there a more complete picture of devastation than this place presents. I do not know whether it is not more distressing in its present quiet state than even when the fire was raging at its height, and every effort was making, not only by the people to save their property, but by all ranks and conditions to rescue some hundreds of wounded, French as well as English, from the flames, which were every instant gaining ground upon them, and many decrepid and venerable inhabitants, who were ill prepared, from their age and infirmities, to meet such a visitation. I have in my recollection Ariosto's beautiful description of the Sacking of Biserta, and I believe there is no part of his animated painting to which the fate of San Sebastian cannot afford a parallel; but I shall finish my tale of horrors and turn your attention to a subject much more agreeable. I have, since I sat down to write, received a very good letter from Henry. He continues going on very well, says he feels almost as well as ever he did in his life, although his wound is still troublesome after any exertion; he talks of joining soon, but I hope he will still defer it for some weeks. Soult was again repulsed, you will see, on the day we assaulted the town, and I cannot think he will make any further serious attempt to relieve it. I trust a few days will enable me to give you a good account of our unaccommodating governor; in the meantime be assured we are doing perfectly well.' 'San Sebastian: September 11, 1813. It does not take away from the satisfaction with which I write to you upon our obtaining complete possession of this place, to find that I was not raising your expectations too high, when I told you in my last letter from the town that I did not think General Rey looked as if he meant to be very romantic in his defence of the castle. We opened a fire upon him from sixty bouches à feu on the 8th, and in less than two hours after he proposed to capitulate. The day following, the garrison laid down their arms, and to-day they are embarking for England; their strength is about fifteen hundred, the remains of three thousand six hundred when we came before this place. We are not at all sorry to get rid of them so soon; they are a disgusting set of fellows. The French of the present day appear to me to represent that very worst state of society described by Montesquieu, under which selfinterest, properly so called, is the sole spring of action. Treachery, intrigue, bad faith, at home as well as abroad, the acknowledged rules of conduct, and success through any of these channels the only title to respect. I trust we shall go on verifying Montesquieu's opinion of the weakness of a State so constituted, against those who subscribe to a different code. General Rey is a coarse fellow; his chief of the staff, M. Songeon, a great rogue, and holding a post, I should Y think, not yet equal to his merits The only gentleman among them is the ci-devant commandant of the place, the Baron de Santuari-he is one of the ancient noblesse. We took the liberty of telling some of them that we thought him at least a match for his new associates; que l'ancienne valoit bien la nouvelle. Ah! ma foi, oui. 'Here, then, ends our siege, which we have all longed sc heartily to bring to a conclusion, but in which, I believe, we need not regret our having been employed. Our loss has been heavy we have about three thousand men hors de combat since the commencement of the siege. Many of these are slightly wounded, and will return to us. Sir James Leith, I am happy to tell you, is recovering rapidly, and will resume the command of us in the course of a few weeks. This climate is wonderfully healthy; all our wounded recover faster than they have been known to do elsewhere, and " but for these vile guns" there would be no ailing among us. We have scarcely any sickness. 'I have heard from Henry very lately, and of him frequently; he is going on as well as possible, and, I dare say, will soon be able to return to his regiment. Your prognostics upon my hair-breadth 'scapes entertain me exceedingly. I wish I could be as easily satisfied myself as some of you are kind enough to be upon this point; but I am afraid the only inference I shall ever be able to draw from it at all convincing to myself will be that I am a lucky fellow. 'It is uncertain what they intend doing with us now. I believe all is likely to remain quiet in front. There have been reports that Soult is again upon his legs, but I do not believe them. I do not think the climate will suffer us to retain our mountain positions many weeks longer, nor will it be necessary. I hope they will leave us where we are, rather than bring us into third or fourth line for a few days, among the mountains. We are collecting again by degrees, but our forces are certainly at present a little like the walls of St. Sebastian—un peu délabrées. 'I forgot whether I told you Le Blanc was wounded in the assault; he is, however, doing very well.' CHAPTER XV. 1813-1814. LAST DRIVING THE FRENCH OVER THE FRONTIER-DEATH OF MOREAU- To his Sister. 'Ozarzum: September 27, 1813. 'I THINK you will be pleased with the novelty of hearing from Henry and myself under the same cover; and therefore I write two lines-he promises to write as many. 'We were relieved the day before yesterday by a Spanish garrison at San Sebastian, and our camp is now about two miles in front of Ozarzum, forming part of the second line. 'I yesterday received your letter of the 13th. You must have received the despatches (though, I am afraid, not my letter) the following day. I am glad to find General Oswald so handsomely mentioned; it is no panegyric, I assure you. We have left Sir James near San Sebastian, but I am happy to say his wounds are healing fast. 'We are most anxiously looking out for accounts from our side of the battle of Dresden, the Crown Prince's movements, Moreau, etc. There has certainly been hard work, and I believe Bonaparte has been well beaten in the end. 'They talk of our moving, but it is very uncertain. We have had violent weather lately, but the equinox seems to have passed over, and they tell us we are likely to have a month or two of fine weather. 'Henry is going to Passages for a short time; it is the best place for him. I am just going to ride over, and try to get him decently put up there, which is no very easy matter. 'Pray thank all my friends very kindly for me, who are so thoughtful as to inquire about me. I am afraid they will begin to think I have fallen under the displeasure of Southey's Kehama, "I charm thy life from the weapons of strife," etc.; but pray assure them I am in a very sane state of body at this moment, and I trust also of mind. "You shall hear from me when we make any movement. 'Just as I had closed my letter the packet which the Prince of Orange was so kind as to take charge of was put into my hands. 'I am afraid I have made you look forward with too much confidence to a visit from me in the winter. I do not know, but I think it looks as if our winter would not be a decidedly quiet one, and subject to many false alarms; and I should feel rather restless if I were at a distance when there was a chance of anything important taking place. Under such circumstances, too, it would be very difficult to obtain leave from Lord Wellington, 'Ozarzum: October 3, 1813. Henry's wound is not yet closed, nor ought it till the cloth, etc., which the ball forced in before it have worked their way out. Part of the coat has already made its appearance, and he is in anxious expectation of the shirt and waistcoat! In the meantime he suffers no pain, and is only prevented from taking violent exercise. He eats stewed meats whenever he can get them, and drinks more than you dare. All is still quiet here, and so long as it continues so this is the best place for him. 'Camp before St. Jean de Luz: October 9, 1813. "We crossed the Bidasoa the day before yesterday in face of the enemy, who made very little opposition, and retired skirmishing to the position he now occupies covering St. Jean de Luz. Our loss does not exceed one hundred and fifty. |