Up to this period, all reports from the agents, all information from the government at home, all communications public and private, coincided upon one subject. _The Spaniards were an enthusiastic, a heroic people, a nation of unparalleled energy! their armies were brave; they were numerous; they were confident! one hundred and eighty thousand men were actually in line of battle, extending from the sea-coast of Biscay to Zaragoza; the French, reduced to a fourth of this number, cooped up in a corner, shrunk from an encounter; they were deserted by the emperor; they were trembling; they were spiritless!_ Nevertheless, the general was somewhat distrustful; he perceived the elements of disaster in the divided commands, and the lengthened lines of the Spaniards; and early in October he had predicted the mischief that such a system would produce. “As long as the French remain upon the defensive,” he observed, “it will not be so much felt; but the moment an attack is made, some great calamity must ensue.” However, he was not without faith in the multitude and energy of the patriots, when he considered the greatness of their cause. [Sidenote: Appendix, No. 13, section 7.] Castaños was at this time pointed out by the central junta as the person with whom to concert a plan of campaign, and sir John Moore, concluding that it was a preliminary step towards making that officer generalissimo, wrote to him in a conciliatory style, well calculated to ensure a cordial co-operation. This was an encouraging event; the English general believed it to be the commencement of a better system, and looked forward with more hope to the opening of the war; but this favourable state soon changed. Far from being created chief of all, Castaños was superseded in the command he already held, the whole folly of the Spanish character broke forth, and confusion and distress followed. But even at that moment clouds were arising in a quarter, which had hitherto been all sunshine. The military agents, as the crisis approached, lowered their tone of confidence, they no longer dwelt upon the enthusiasm of the armies; they admitted, that the confidence of the troops was sinking, and that even in numbers they were inferior to the French. In truth, it was full time to change their note, for the real state of affairs could no longer be concealed, and a great catastrophe was at hand; but what of wildness in their projects, or of skill in the enemy’s; what of ignorance, vanity, and presumption in their generals; what of fear among their soldiers; and what of fortune in the events; combined to hasten the ruin of the Spaniards, and how that ruin was effected, I, quitting the English army for a time, will now relate. CHAPTER IV.