brilliant page of English history, perhaps the
finest record in its entire course of glory won in retreat, of
patience, moderation, and success in the very hour of bitterest
disappointment. It was the spirit and example of Moore which made
possible the victories of Wellington.

The French interests in Spain were left in a most deplorable
condition. The populace of Madrid had received the hero of the age
with coldness, and shut themselves up in their houses to avoid forming
a crowd or creating any enthusiasm in the streets. They would not even
come out to see the gorgeous military parade which was arranged for
their benefit. The gentry and nobility had been alike distant and
cold. It was clear that Spain could neither be wheedled, cajoled, nor
threatened into even passive acquiescence in the new conquest. It was
essential, therefore, that another course should be tried. On December
fourth, Napoleon, in the role of reformer-statesman, pronounced and
issued from Chamartin a series of the most thoroughgoing edicts. All
feudal privileges, all interprovincial customs dues, were swept away;
the Inquisition was abolished, and the number of convents was reduced
to a third. These measures were in themselves most salutary, and
struck at the very root of the upas-tree under the baneful shade of
which Spain had been slowly perishing. But to do good they must be
enforced; there must be a complete military conquest of the country,
and a capable administration.

There was neither. The Spanish army had been defeated, but, severe as
had been its punishment, its power of resistance was not destroyed;
the occupation of the country was also sadly incomplete, and it made
no difference whither French soldiers marched, or what strategic
points they held, some kind of Spanish fighting force, no matter how
irregular, sprang up behind them and on their sides. The complete
military centralization of Prussia had made Jena decisive for the
whole loose-jointed territory of that kingdom; the compact territory
of Spain and the local independence of her peoples made regular
victories utterly fruitless so far as the open country was concerned.

Moreover, Joseph, although he had been driven from his capital, and
had enjoyed neither power nor consequence except as the general of
Napoleon's armies, now asserted that he, and not his brother, was the
king of Spain. He was angry and hurt by the Emperor's assumption of
superior sovereignty. He was the one, h