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the vast preparations he made for this enterprise, and every port in France and the Netherlands which looks towards the shores of Great Britain resounded with the labours of his artisans. A large flotilla of gunboats, armed with four hundred pieces of artillery, and an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men, were assembled at Boulogne. But neither the brave old king, nor the people of England, ever gave way to fear; every one thought to himself,

......

nought shall make us rue,

If England to herself do rest but true."

Men of all ranks and professions, merchants, lawyers and doctors, farmers and shopkeepers, came forward in crowds, and volunteered to act as soldiers for the defence of their native land. In a short time more than three hundred and forty thousand men had been provided with arms, and were devoting all their leisure hours to the practice of military exercises. Fortified camps were formed at Chatham, Dover, and Chelmsford, and bodies of troops stationed at several places in the southern and eastern counties. At this time, too, were built the Martello towers which we see on some parts of the coast.

But after all Bonaparte's mighty preparations, he was never able to embark any part of his army; for the harbour of Boulogne was incessantly watched by British ships; and after a long period of anxious expectation, the people of England heard that the troops which were to have invaded their shores had been marched into Germany.

In October 1805, Nelson fought his last and greatest battle, against the fleets of France and Spain. In the hope of bringing the French Admiral

to battle, Nelson had chased his fleet through the Mediterranean to the Nile, from the Nile to the West Indies, and from the West Indies back to the coast of Spain, and he rejoiced greatly when at last he beheld his foes before him. They outnumbered him both in ships and guns, but he felt sure that he should win the day, and also that he should die; and so it was. When he had ordered his ships, "Now," said he, "I can do no more; we must trust to the great Disposer of all events, and to the justice of our cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my duty." And he gave these words as the signal for action,— "England expects every man to do his duty." At the sight of that signal all the crews raised a shout of joy. In the midst of the fight, while Nelson's own ship was engaged with three others, he was mortally wounded by a shot from the rigging of one of them, and survived but an hour or two in great suffering. But he lived long enough to know that the desire of his heart was accomplished; his men had done their duty, and the naval power of the enemy was so entirely broken, that during all the remainder of the war there were no more battles at sea to fight.

This famous action is called the Battle of Trafalgar; it was fought on the 21st October, 1805. But all the glory and the benefits of the victory could not reconcile Englishmen to the death of Nelson. The whole nation mourned for him, and he was interred with the utmost honour in St. Paul's Cathedral.

His solemn funeral was quickly followed by another occasion of national mourning. A few months after the victory of Trafalgar, Pitt died, worn out in the prime of his years by labour and anxiety for the

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welfare of his country. He had never taken thought for his own interest; all his cares were for England. He, too, was interred with the utmost solemnity in Westminster Abbey, by the side of his great father; and ere the year expired his famous rival and successor, Fox, was borne to the same illustrious place of sepulture.

CHAPTER LXXXII.

THE PENINSULAR WAR.-BATTLE OF CORUNNA, AND DEATH OF SIR JOHN MOORE, JANUARY 16TH, 1809.-VICTORY OF SALAMANCA, JULY 22D, 1812.-WELLINGTON ENTERS MADRID.-VICTORY OF VITTORIA, JUNE 21ST, 1813.—WELLINGTON ENTERS FRANCE, OCTOBER 7TH, 1813.-VICTORY OF TOULOUSE, AND END OF THE PENINSULAR WAR, APRIL 10TH, 1814.-BONAPARTE'S RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN, 1812. HE ABDICATES THE EMPIRE OF FRANCE, APRIL, 1814.

(From 1806 to 1814.)

FROM 1808 to 1814, England was engaged in a war which is commonly called the Peninsular War, because it was fought in Spain and Portugal, the countries which form the chief peninsula of Europe.

Bonaparte had taken possession of Spain and Portugal by an act of treachery. The King of Spain, who was a weak, unprincipled man, readily consented when Bonaparte proposed to him that they should seize Portugal, and divide it between them. The Portuguese royal family, unable to resist the force brought against them, sailed away to their South American possessions in Brazil. Three months afterwards, Bonaparte invited the King of Spain and his son to visit him at Bayonne; and when they arrived there, he told them they were his prisoners, and obliged them to sign a paper by which they gave up their rights to him.

He immediately proclaimed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain. But the people of Spain and Portugal did not choose to be given away to foreigners, and they entreated England to help them to drive out the French armies, and the new king who had been set over them against their will.

Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had now returned from India, was sent to Portugal, with ten thousand men, and obliged the French troops to quit that country. Another general, Sir John Moore, a brave good man, greatly loved by his soldiers, was sent to Spain, but he was not so successful in his undertaking. His troops had to contend not only with the French forces, but with famine and inclement weather, and were forced to return to England. But before they could embark, they had to fight a great battle at Corunna; and although they won the victory, it was dearly purchased with the loss of their gallant general. They buried him sorrowfully on the ramparts of the city, and then went on board their ships.

The management of the war was now entrusted to Sir Arthur Wellesley, whom we may begin to call Wellington, for he was soon created Viscount Wellington, in honour of his victories; and as years went on, and he still added victory to victory, he was raised to the dukedom. He had very hard work to do; Bonaparte poured armies into the Peninsula, till he had three hundred thousand men there, and Wellington had only thirty thousand British troops under his command. All the best generals of France came, one after another, to contend with him. He had to teach the Portuguese how to fight, and make good soldiers of them, able to defend their country against

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the French; and he had also to bear patiently with the Spanish generals, who would not follow his advice, but were constantly bringing their troops into difficulty and disaster. He had also many other vexations, very hard to bear, but which cannot be related in this small history; and his resolute perseverance under all these difficulties, never losing heart, but always trying to do his duty to the utmost, however disagreeable it might be, is more glorious than even his victories.

It would be too long even to name all the battles in this war, but two of the most important must be mentioned,-Salamanca and Vittoria. After gaining the victory of Salamanca, in July, 1812, Wellington entered Madrid, the capital of Spain, and the intruder king, Joseph Bonaparte, never returned to it again. The French had now been driven out of the south and centre of the country, and after losing the battle of Vittoria, in June, 1813, they were obliged to quit the Peninsula altogether. In this action, King Joseph Bonaparte and his army were so completely routed, that they fled from the field, leaving guns, baggage, and everything behind them. Amongst the spoils were several thousand carriages, laden with the choicest treasures of the Spanish churches and palaces, and the English commander was well pleased to be able to restore these things to their proper owners.

Wellington now took the fortresses of Pampeluna and Saint Sebastian, the last places which remained to the French in Spain; then he crossed the Pyrenees, and advanced into France. All this cost very much fighting and bloodshed, for there were at least eight battles before the last, which was fought at Toulouse,