sible now
when he had three thousand men at his disposal?

But the earl trusted fully as much to his talents in the way of
deceiving the enemy as to his power of defeating them by open force
in the field. His eccentric genius appeared to revel in the mendacious
statements by which he deceived and puzzled both friend and foe; and
although the spreading of a certain amount of false news for the purpose
of deceiving an enemy has always been considered as a legitimate means
of warfare, Peterborough altogether exceeded the usual limits, and
appeared to delight in inventing the most complicated falsehoods from
the mere love of mischief. At times Jack was completely bewildered
by his general, so rapid were the changes of plans, so changeable his
purposes, so fantastic and eccentric his bearing and utterances. That
his military genius was astonishing no one can for a moment question,
but it was the genius rather of a knight errant than of the commander of
great armies.

As a partisan leader Peterborough is without a rival in history. Whether
he would have succeeded equally well as the commander of great armies he
had never an opportunity of proving, but it is more than doubtful. Rapid
changes of plan, shifting and uncertain movements, may lead to wonderful
successes when but a small body of troops have to be set in motion, but
would cause endless confusion and embarrassment with a large army, which
can only move in accordance with settled plans and deliberate purpose.

It must be said, however, that this most eccentric of generals proved
upon many occasions, as at the siege of Barcelona, that he was capable
of adapting himself to circumstances, and it is possible that had he
ever been placed in command of a great army he would have laid aside his
flightiness and eccentricity, his love for theatrical strokes and hair
breadth adventures, and would have exhibited a steadfast military genius
which would have placed his name in the annals of British history on a
par with those of Wellington and Marlborough. Never did he exhibit
his faculty for ingenious falsehood more remarkably than at Murviedro,
where, indeed, a great proportion of his inventions appear to have been
prompted rather by a spirit of malice than by any military necessity.

Murviedro was the Saguntum of the Romans, one of the strongest cities
in Spain. The force there was commanded by Brigadier General Mahony, an
officer of Irish descent. He had under him five hundr