[447] For the correspondence with the Russian and French governments, relative to the overtures from Erfurt, see Parliamentary Debates, vol. xii., p. 93.
[448] It was one of the minute and childish particulars in which Buonaparte showed a spleen against the British nation, that he would not bear the heraldic achievement, which the English flag had displayed for five hundred years, to be termed Lions, but always called them Leopards. The spirit which this ebullition of spite manifested, could only be compared to that exhibited by the poor citizen, when he revenged himself, as he thought, upon the cognizance of the Earl of Oxford, by calling the nobleman's Swan a Goose.—S.
[449] Napier, vol. i., p. 303; Southey, vol. ii., p. 300.
[450] Gouvion St. Cyr says of them that they are the best light troops in Europe.—Journal, p. 54.
[451] Southey, vol. ii., p. 323.
[452] "Robertson was qualified for this dangerous service by his skill as a linguist. One Spanish verse was given him; to have taken any other credentials might have proved fatal, and there was an anecdote connected with this which would sufficiently authenticate his mission. During Mr. Frere's residence as ambassador in Spain, Romana, who was an accomplished scholar, had recommended to his perusal the Gests of Cid, as one of the most ancient and curious poems in the language. One day he happened to call when Mr. Frere was reading it, and had just made a conjectural emendation in one of the lines: Romana instantly perceived the propriety of the proposed reading, and this line, therefore, when he was reminded of it, would prove that Mr. Robertson had communicated with his friend the British ambassador."—Southey, vol. ii., p. 337.
[453] Parliamentary Debates, vol. xii., p. 97.
[454] "What 'the general science of war upon an extended scale' may mean, I cannot pretend to say; but that Sir David Baird was sent by the Government from England direct to Corunna, and that Sir John Moore was not induced, by the reports of the peasants, to divide his army, may be ascertained by a reference to Sir John Moore's correspondence."—Napier, vol. i., p. 333.
[455] "In a few days I go," he said, "to put myself at the head of my armies, and, with the aid of God, to crown the King of Spain in Madrid, and to plant my eagles on the towers of Lisbon."
[456] "He reached Bayonne, and afterwards Vittoria, with the rapidity of an arrow. He performed the latter journey on horseback in two days, reaching Tolosa on the first, and on the second Vittoria."—Savary, tom. ii., p. 11.