A complete circuit of the ancient walls was in existence, and all the approaches were commanded by works which had been hastily repaired or newly raised by the inhabitants; the citadel was in a tolerable state of defence, and the population were preparing for a vigorous resistance. A city containing eighty thousand people, actuated by the most violent passions, cannot be easily overcome, and the Valencians derived additional strength from the situation of their town, built as it was upon low ground, and encircled with numerous canals and cuts, made for the purposes of irrigation; the deep ditches of the place were filled with water, so that no approach could be made by the small force under Moncey except against the gates. It is said that the marshal had corrupted a smuggler, who promised to betray the city during the heat of the assault, and it is probable that some secret understanding of that kind induced the French commander to make an attempt which would otherwise have been rash and unmilitary. Don Joseph Caro, a brother of the marquis of Romana, was with four thousand men entrenched behind the canal of the Guadalaviar, which was five miles in advance of the city gates. The village of Quarte, and some thickly planted mulberry trees, helped to render this post very strong; and when Moncey attacked it upon the 27th, he met with a vigorous resistance. Caro was, however, beaten, and chased into the city, with the loss of some cannon, and on the 28th the French drove in the outposts, and occupied all the principal avenues of the town. However enthusiastic the patriots were while their enemy was at a distance, his near approach filled them with terror, and it is possible that a vigorous assault might have succeeded at the first moment of consternation. But the favourable opportunity, if it really existed, quickly passed away; Padre Rico, a friar distinguished by his resolution, traversing the streets, with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other, aroused the sinking spirit and excited the fanaticism of the multitude; the fear of retaliation for the massacre of the French residents, and the certainty that Moncey’s troops were few, powerfully seconded his efforts; and as it is usual for undisciplined masses of people to pass suddenly from one extreme to another, fear was soon succeeded by enthusiasm.