BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. NO. CCCLXVII. MAY, 1846. VOL. LIX CONTENTS. THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA. PART THE LAST, 513 SHAKESPEARE AND THE DRAMA, 534 BIRBONIANA; OR, ITALIAN ANTIQUARIES AND ANTICHITÀ, 543 THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. PART I., 554 STATE OF IRELAND--ITS CONDITION--THE LIFE AND PROPERTY BILL--THE DEBATE, AND THE FAMINE, 572 THE MODERN PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, 604 THE ILIAD OF HOMER--BOOK THE FIRST. (IN ENGLISH HEXAMETERS,) 610 PROSPECTUS, 621 TRUTH AND BEAUTY, 624 THE CAMPAIGN OF THE SUTLEJ, 625 EDINBURGH: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET; AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. _To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._ SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH. EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. NO. CCCLXVII. MAY, 1846. Vol. LIX. THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA. PART THE LAST. There was a crowd and a clamour in the principal coffee-house of Pampeluna at nine o'clock on a July evening, that of the first day after Don Baltasar's escape from the town. The numerous tables were surrounded by officers of Cordova's army, still flushed with their recent victory, and eager to enjoy to the utmost a period of relaxation, which, for aught they knew, the next day might bring to a close. Great was the clattering of glasses and the consumption of ices and _refrescos_, rendered especially grateful by the extreme heat of the weather; long and loud were the peals of laughter that echoed through the apartments, and dense the clouds of tobacco smoke, which, in spite of open doors and windows, floated above the heads of the jovial assembly. In one room a party of monté-players, grouped round a baize-covered table, on which were displayed piles of gold and silver coin, and packs of Spanish cards, with their queer devices of horses, suns, and vases, notwithstanding the numerous general orders prohibiting gambling in the army, were busy in increasing or getting rid of a small and recently made issue of pay. Here comparative stillness reigned, only broken by the monotonous voices of the bankers, or by an occasional angry ejaculation from some unlucky subaltern who saw his last dollar drawn into the vortex, without any means occurring to him whereby to replenish his empty pockets. The other apartments were thronged to suffocation; even the balconies were filled with idlers, leaning over the balustrade, puffing their cigars and listening to a band of amateur musicians, who performed a serenade, in honour of his late victory, under the windows of the commander-in-chief.