a general engagement, but the impetuosity of Vendome forced it on. Staremberg, finding that he could not resume his retreat unmolested, drew off his troops to the neighbouring plain of Villa Viciosa, and disposed them to the best advantage, his left behind a steep ravine, and his right with squadrons and battalions interlaced. From the loss of Stanhope, the superiority of numbers was greatly against the Allies. They had but thirteen thousand men to oppose to twenty, but on the other hand they held the stronger position, and they would encounter an enemy exhausted by many days' long marches and by one day's hard fight. Vendome however would not postpone the onset beyond that afternoon. By his advice Philip put himself at the head of the Royal Guards, Spanish and Walloon, and with them rode fiercely up against the left wing of the Allies. So bold was the charge, and so inspiriting the presence of the Sovereign, that he threw it into utter confusion. The Allies in this quarter lost their baggage, which some of the Spaniards turned aside to plunder; and three of their best chiefs, the Dutch Generals Belcastel and St. Amant, and the Palatine General Frankenberg, were slain. But the veteran skill of Staremberg retrieved the day. of his best troops by a movement counter-charge upon the centre and left wing of the enemy. There the Spanish infantry, in great part weary and foot-sore, could offer no steady or sustained resistance. On this point therefore he was enabled to break their first and beat back their second line. Vendome and Philip at these tidings relinquished their success upon the right, and hastened back to the endangered centre; but there found the rout so general that they Bringing up some in flank, he made a looked upon the whole battle as lost, and issued orders for retreat in the direction of Torrija. At this critical conjuncture one of Vendome's best officers, the Marquis de Valdecañas, putting himself at the head of the reserves and combining with them some of the Walloon cavalry, succeeded in rallying his countrymen and arresting the progress of his foe. Thus the conflict was resumed, and waged with obstinate valour until closed by the early coming of the winter night. Both chiefs-Staremberg as well as Vendome-had signalised themselves by their courage and conduct, both at the close maintained a strong position, and both, it may be said, equally divided the honors of the day. The killed and wounded in each army amounted to nearly the same number-namely from three to four thousand; and while Staremberg might boast the capture of some cannon, Vendome might boast the capture of some standards. Therefore although the victory was claimed in the most confident terms by both commanders, and although services of thanksgiving for it were offered up alike in the churches of Madrid and in those of Barcelona, the battle was in truth undecided.* But if even the discomfiture of Vendome had been more complete, Staremberg was not in a condition to profit by it. During the night he spiked his own and the Spanish cannon for want of means of transport, and before daybreak resumed his retreat from Castille. On his way, though not pursued by Vendome, he was harassed in his hasty marches by frequent attacks of irregular • Of this battle there is a very | another not quite so even-handed fair account in a letter written by from Staremberg to Charles in the Philip to his Queen and published Complete History of Europe, 1710, in the appendix to the Mémoires p. 617. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 361; and ¦ horse; he sustained a further loss of several hundred men; and finding that he could make no stand in Aragon, fell back to Barcelona. He brought back to Charles an army reduced to 7,000 men—a grievous contrast to his numbers when the campaign began. Gloomy was the retrospect, but no less gloomy the view before him. He learnt that the Duke of Noailles had already invaded the province, and invested the important city of Gerona, which Staremberg had no means of effectually relieving. Vendome on the other hand, as though entirely victorious, had advanced to Zaragoza, where Philip established his Court and was rejoined by his Queen. The news of Brihuega and of Villa Viciosa, but the former more especially, diffused of course great joy at Madrid and through all the people of Castille. How welcome the thought that the English HIJOS DE LUTERO (sons of Luther) were now captives-the same English whom they had so recently beheld as conquerors! Nor did a holy legend fail to spring up in that congenial soil. It was alleged that the Allies at Toledo (who, by the way however, were mostly Portuguese) had there committed divers acts of sacrilege and profaneness in the churches, wholly disregarding the authority of St. Leocadia, the patron Saint of that city. But St. Leocadia had soon avenged herself. She had compelled the intruders to capitulate on the 9th of December-the very day held sacred to her worship in the Church's calendar. Thus writes of it a zealous Spaniard, the historian of those times, the Marquis de San Phelipe, "Heretics may laugh, but misdeeds are not forgotten, and there is no such thing as chance in the decrees of Providence."5 It might in like manner have beseemed the sanctity 5 Comentarios de la Guerra de España, tom. ii. p. 51. of Leocadia had she also inflicted some penalty upon the French Marshal for the breach of faith which ensued. The capitulation of Brihuega, as he signed it, stipulated that the officers and men who laid down their arms should not be separated from each other, but be conveyed to some towns near the coast, there to remain until they were exchanged. By order of Vendome, on the contrary, the officers were quartered at Valladolid and other inland cities, and the men dispersed in villages, and there exposed to various acts of ill-treatment and indignity, as to which the earnest remonstrances of Stanhope could obtain but a tardy and partial redress. Before I leave the events of this year in Spain, I may observe that, strangely chequered as they were with good and evil fortune, they appear to have strongly impressed the imagination of the Spaniards. This is shown not merely nor so much by the legend of Leocadia already mentioned, but above all by the multitude of popular ballads and broadsides which this year produced among them, while scarce any, as I believe, are to be found for a long period either before or since. All these ballads are on the Castillian side, and love to remind their readers that the Allies were in great part heretics. Luther and the Devil are often brought into play. Staremberg is commonly mentioned by his Christian name of Guido, as being no doubt more metrical; Stanhope appears as Estanope; and Queen Anne as Doña Ana; and there are frequent attempts at a jingle on these rhymes.6 In England the new Parliament having met as sum 6 Here is one sample: Quien nuestras leyes profana ?—ANA. Quien nuestro cuchillo ha sido ?-GUIDO. Another of these conceits is in the Soneto à la entrada del Señor Archiduque en Madrid y à las tropas auxiliares de Demonios. Here moned on the 25th of November, the Commons in their very first act manifested the colour which they derived from the recent Elections. They chose for Speaker without a contest William Bromley, one of the members for the University of Oxford, and one of the foremost. men in the High Tory ranks. On the 27th the Queen in person delivered the opening Speech. "My Lords and Gentlemen " she said, "I shall in the plainest words tell you my intentions. I am resolved to support and encourage the Church of England as by law established; to preserve the British Constitution according to the Union; and to maintain the Indulgence by law allowed to scrupulous consciences. And that all these may be transmitted to posterity, I shall employ none but such as are heartily for the Protestant Succession in the House of Hanover; the interest of which Family no person can be more truly concerned for than myself." To these expressions on Home policy there were added some others on Foreign, declaring that to carry on the war in all its parts, but particularly in Spain, with the utmost vigour, was the likeliest means, with the point seems to be that every line is to conclude with the same syllable te. Thus: El Señor Archiduque de repen A reynar se nos viene à nuestra Cor TH But the most spirited perhaps of these numerous effusions is an imaginary Carta de Estarember à Estanop, with Estanop's reply Digo es esta la conquista Querias hazer Serrallo De un obispo de Lutero ? |