e afternoon, the breaching batteries,
comprising twenty-seven large guns, opened their fire on the wall of
the town. In five days the breaches were practicable, and a summons to
surrender was sent to the governor. This he declined doing.
Wellington, having personally examined the breaches, felt convinced
that an assault had every prospect of success. Ordering the fire of
the guns to be directed against the cannon on the ramparts, he sat
down on an embankment, and wrote the order of assault which was to
seal the doom of the town, beginning with the emphatic sentence--"The
attack upon Ciudad Rodrigo must be made this evening at seven
o'clock."

Spain and Portugal conferred honors on the conqueror of Rodrigo; and
at home he was raised to the earldom of Wellington, with an increased
annuity of L2,000 a year.

The French army, under Marshal Soult, had at length been compelled to
quit Spain, and with such speed, that in four days they passed over
ground which it took the allied armies seven days to traverse. During
the retreat the two armies approached each other several times; and on
one occasion, when the French army was crossing the plains of Ger, its
pursuers followed so closely, that had it not been for the thick woods
through which they had to pass, Soult's retreat would have been
seriously endangered by the British cavalry.

When Bonaparte had quitted Fontainebleau, and had embarked on board
the Undaunted frigate for Elba, Lord Wellington felt he might safely
leave the army for a time; and, setting out for Paris, he reached it
May 4th. He met with an enthusiastic reception from all classes; while
the unqualified praises of each of the allied sovereigns showed how
much the successful issue of the struggle to restore liberty to Europe
was due to his talents and constancy of purpose. The restored Spanish
king, Ferdinand, sent him a letter of gratitude; and the Crown Prince
of Sweden gave him the Order of the Sword. England at the same time
conferred upon him the dukedom he so long enjoyed, and raised five of
his lieutenants to peerages.

Once more the "loud shrill clarion" of war aroused Europe to arms. Ten
short months after his abdication, Napoleon, escaped from Elba, was
again in Paris, resolved to incur all risks in order to gain the
greatest prize in Europe--the crown he had so lately relinquished. The
magic influence of his name spread through France, which became one
vast camp; and in an incredibly short space