Minute details of the several battles of the Pyrenees, and of those fought upon the soil of France up to the gates of Toulouse, will be found in the last volume of Napier’s _History_. With regard to the Lines of Torres Vedras, the testimony of Colonel (since General) Jones, an eminent engineer officer, whose writings are of the plainest and most practical character, and who evidently had little imagination to incite him to enthusiasm, is as follows:--“The lines in front of Lisbon are a triumph to the British nation. They are without doubt the finest specimen of a fortified position ever effected. From their peninsular situation there is no possibility of manœuvring on the flanks, cutting off the supplies, or getting in the rear of them: in the details of the work there is no pedantry of science; nor long lines of fortification for show without strength; mountains themselves are made the prominent points; the gorges alone derive their total strength from retrenchments. The quantity of labour bestowed on them is incredible, but in no part has the engineer done more than his duty; assisted nature, assisted the general, and assisted the troops, and for each arm has procured a favourable field of action.” (_Journals of the Sieges undertaken by the Allies in Spain_, note 1.) I have frequently witnessed at Lisbon the excitement of French military travellers about these works. Their first rush from Lisbon is to Torres Vedras and the neighbourhood to see them; and their admiration, although a little bitterly, is always freely expressed. The testimony of a distinguished French general is equally explicit:--“Ce monument remarquable de l’industrie de nos ennemis, les lignes construites en 1810 pour la defence de Lisbonne.” (Foy, _Hist. Guerre. Pénins._ liv. ii.)