First, the threat of murdering the prisoners should have been dismissed from General Whitelocke’s mind at once. With his powers of retaliating after any such atrocity,--being, as he was, in possession of part of the town,--the threat was an empty one; and between civilized communities most unlikely of execution, even if the control of the General had been weak. But, as a matter of fact, General Linières’ power and popularity among the inhabitants at the time were very great;--a rumour of his having fallen during the day produced a profound depression, which made the reaction of joy the more intense when it was found that he was uninjured. That such a crime against humanity would have been allowed by one who was admitted by all to be chivalrous in the extreme, is utterly improbable; and the use of the threat merely showed that he found it necessary to make use of every argument, real and unreal, to secure his purpose;--that his position was not sufficiently strong to dictate terms to an enemy, even in the first hour of his discomfiture;--and, possibly, that he measured the man with whom he had to deal, and acted accordingly. Secondly, the very eagerness of General Linières to let the troops go, and his ready permission to let them take all the guns, &c., which they had captured, should have suggested to General Whitelocke that these were not the characteristics of a General confident in his own strength, and in his enemy’s inferiority. And, thirdly, _were_ the inhabitants so bitterly hostile to the English, as General Whitelocke assumed? Doubtless they were not likely to evince much amiability while having to fight for their lives and homes; but, had a different mode of attack been adopted--blockade with a threatened bombardment, followed by the occupation in force of one or two commanding points--would it not have been possible so to foster English trade with the inhabitants as to ensure a thoroughly friendly feeling? This was evidently believed by those whose written opinions are extant--opinions formed in the city, and after careful inquiry. They said that had the Bishop been strictly watched, and warned that he would be sent to Europe, should he be detected in any political conspiracy, or countenancing any irregularity;--had all the Spanish officers and regular troops been sent to England immediately, and all the arms and ammunition of the inhabitants removed;--had the chief public officers been removed, but no injury done to the private inhabitants, and had honesty and uprightness been displayed in the English administration, the country might have been easily retained as a very useful appendage to Great Britain. The presence of an English army would have raised the price of nearly every commodity, and at the same time the system of ready-money payment would have benefited the local trade, and would have given the stock-owners a very strong interest in the presence of the English.