It is necessary to enter into these details to understand the source of the political fortune of the Duke of Wellington. We here see that all his rank, his honours, even his income, are derived from the field of battle. The rewards granted by parliament were profuse, because it was of the highest importance to create a military existence capable of opposing the wonderful fortunes of Napoleon. At this time, Marshal Soult, who had raised the siege of Cadiz and abandoned Andalusia, made so well-arranged a movement in concert with the main body of General Souham's army, that Lord Wellington's line of communication was compromised; he was compelled to make a precipitate retreat, and Marshal Soult resumed a glorious offensive position. The English general having here forgotten the prudent system he usually observed, for two days his whole army was exposed to the enemy, and it is evident, from this circumstance, that the Duke of Wellington's talent for defensive measures was greater than for an active military campaign.[36] He never appeared to understand how to observe an exact medium between the well-considered temerity, which seizes upon a fault for the chance it affords of success, and the prudence which foresees all the chances that may occur, even in a bad position. [36] Witness Assaye, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, Vittoria, &c.--_Editor._ In order to complete the deliverance of the Peninsula, Lord Wellington in January 1813, repaired to Cadiz, to communicate in person with the regency; by this step all doubts were dispelled, and the Spanish army, after being better organised, was placed under his immediate command. He was tenaciously regardful of his title of generalissimo, and explained his plan for the campaign at the head of the combined army of England, Spain, and Portugal, as far as Vittoria, where the battle took place which was so fatal to our arms in the Peninsula, and where every thing was taken by the English, even to the treasure of Joseph Buonaparte. The utter incapacity of Marshal Jourdain, and the avidity of some of the French generals, were among the principal causes of this misfortune; and the efforts made to save the treasure occasioned the destruction of the army. All the family of Napoleon, by whom he was surrounded, being incapable of comprehending his glory, only served to endanger his fortune; and when the day of misfortune has arrived, what power can arrest the torrent? The battle of Vittoria procured for Lord Wellington the elevated rank of field-marshal, so rarely conferred in England; and it opened the road of the Pyrenees to the Coalition. It was when approaching Pampeluna and St. Sebastian, that the English general unfolded his plan of carrying the war into France. Soult had again taken the command of the French troops on the Bidassoa; for Napoleon had found it necessary to despatch from the field of Bautzen, a marshal of skill and ability to the point most