that it might not be practicable to lay down a bridge till the river had fallen, Lord Wellington observed instantly with cheerful animation. but with strong decision, "If it will not do one way, we must try another; for I never in my life gave up any thing I once undertook."

As soon as the pontoons were laid down near Roques, on the 31st. Sir RowLAND HILL led his corps across the river; but, from the state of the roads, and the nature of the country, which had been soaked with the late rains, he found it impossible to march upon Toulouse from that point. The efforts were for a time perservered in; but the road proving quite impassable, he countermarched, and returned to the left bank. On the 4th of April, a bridge was laid down considerably below the city, at a bend in the river, about half a league above Grenade. Here, under the cover of flanking batteries, Marshal Beresford, with the fourth and sixth divisions and some cavalry, crossed and established himself on the right bank. These troops were to have been followed by the Spanish corps under General Freire, and by the light division; but the river suddenly rose, and it became necessary to take up a part of the bridge instantly, and on the morrow to remove the whole. Thus Marshal Beresford was left upon the right bank in a very anxious position, and might have been attacked by a very superior force. However, no attack was made. The river subsided, and upon the 8th, the pontoons were again put down, and the Spaniards of Friere crossed to the right bank; a brilliant affair of cavalry, in which the 18th hussars, led by Colonel Vivian, overthrew a body of the enemy's horse in front of the village of Croix d'Orade, enabled that officer to seize the bridge, and thus secure an approach to the enemy's position of great importance. In this skirmish the French were pursued so closely that they lost 100 prisoners. During this period the corps of Sir RowLAND HILL remained in front of the Fauxbourg St. Cyprien; and the attention of the enemy was thus diverted from Marshal Beresford. On the night of the 8th, the bridge by which that Marshal and the Spaniards had crossed the Garonne was removed and brought higher up the river, and put down near Ausonne. This could not

be effected so as to admit of the light division passing, on the 9th, soon enough for a general engagement on that day; but, early on the 10th, the light and third division crossed the river, and the whole army was in motion, or under arms to attack the enemy.

The corps of Sir ROWLAND HILL observed the Fauxbourg St. Cyprien, and confined the enemy closely within his works. The third division was to make a heavy demonstration against the canal bridge and the town immediately to the right of the river; the light division was to act upon the left of the third, and to observe and shut up the road of Paris. Marshal Beresford was to lead the fourth and sixth divisions across the Ers, seize the village of Mont Blanc; and moving along the left bank of the Ers, till he gained the right flank of the enemy's position, he was to form and attack it. The Spaniards under Friere were to ascend the left of the enemy's position, at the same moment that Beresford assaulted the right, and push forward upon the heights till they should meet his column. Such were the dispositions for the attack.

The heights upon the left of the enemy's position, called La Pujade, were guarded by two divisions of infantry, having in their front a brigade of horse. Those of Mont Calvinet, on the right centre, were occupied by one division of infantry; and those of Montaudran on the extreme right, were held by one brigade of infantry, with a strong body of cavalry in their front, on the road to Bordes. Heavy columns of reserve were posted in rear of the heights. The canal, from the rear of La Pujade to its junction with the Garonne, was guarded by strong bodies of infantry. The suburb of St Cyprień was occupied by a division; and that of St. Etienne, upon the eastern side, by another; and various posts in the Fauxbourg and on the walls were defended by reserve conscripts and national gauards.

Marshal Beresford opened the battle, by crossing the bridge of Orade, and carrying the village of Mont Blanc. This done, he marched up the left bank of the Ers in three open columns over difficult ground in the finest order. As soon as he had reached a point opposite the extreme right of the enemy's position he formed his lines of attack, and advanced steadily upon it. While Beresford was engaged in these preliminary movements, General Friere had formed the Spanish foot in front of Croix d'Orade in two lines of attack. A battery of Portuguese artillery was placed on a height near, to cover their movements; and General Ponsonby's brigade of cavalry was formed in their rear as a reserve. The right and left of the heights occupied by the enemy were now assaulted at the same moment. The Spaniards advanced boldly, and drove in the first brigade of the French which they encountered; but, as they closed npon the enemy's works, the fire of grape become so deadly, that they lost their formation, and went forward with great irregularity and confusion to a hollow road in front of the enemy's intrenchments, which was sheltered from the guns. The second line of the Spaniards advanced but slowly to their support. The French seeing the difficulty and irresolution of the assailants, came upon them swiftly, and with such vigour, that, with the exception of one regiment, the Spanish troops broke, and were driven back upon the Ers with a heavy loss. The General Freire and his best Officers exerted themselves gallantly, and to the utmost, to check this disorder, and rally the fugitives. Lord Wellington, always present at the right place, and at the right moment, rallied a small body of them at an important point in person. The light division was brought up on the right of the Spaniards, and thus the enemy was checked in his hot pursuit; the bridge over the Ers was preserved; and General Freire was enabled to collect his discomfited battalions and form them anew.

The right of the enemy's position was already in the power of Marshal Beresford. Nothing could exceed the steady gallantry with which General Clinton's division advanced up the steep height of Mont Calvinet, carried the redoubt which covered the right flank of that hill, and established themselves on the enemy's line. General Cole's division, in like order, but with a smaller loss, marched up the heights on the enemy's extreme right, and formed upon the summit; suffering little either from the brigade of infantry in their front or the cavalry on their left flank.

At this period of the battle 10,000 of the allies were drawn up on the same range of heights with the enemy, and Marshal Beresford only awaited the arrival of his guns to follow up his success. Without artillery it was not possible to continue his movements against the enemy's centre; for they still occupied in strength a formidable line of intrenchments, two fortified houses, and four large redoubts.

Owing to this state of things, all further attacks upon the enemy were of necessity suspended. Meantime Soult strongly reinforced his cavalry on the heights of Montaudrau, and drew from the fauxbourg St. Cyprien and the canal as many troops as could be spared to form reserves in the rear of Calvinet. By the repulse of the Spaniards the French had obtained a considerable advantage; and, in another part of the field, they had given a severe and bloody check to the brave division of General Picton.

That Officer had been directed to make a false attack on the caual bridge nearest to the Garonne. He exceeded these instructions, and thus committed his division in a real attack upon a formidable work which defended that bridge, and which, by the nature of its wide ditch, was found inassailable. General Picton was tempted to this effort by a quick perception of the advantage that would have been gained could he have pushed across the canal when the French drove. the Spaniards from the heights of La Pujade, and advanced so far in pursuit of them. As soon as ever he discovered the impracticable nature of the tête de pont, he drew off his division with haste; but they suffered very severely both from musketry and artillery.

Upon the left of the Garonne, Sir ROWLAND HILL confined the. enemy within those works which they had erected in front of St. Cyprien, and made such demonstrations as kept them jealous and alarmed for that suburb.

About noon Beresford got up his guns, and the battle was renewed. He continued his movements along the ridge at the head of two divisions. The sixth, under Sir Henry Clinton, led; the fourth, under Sir Lowry Cole, followed; and both advanced upon the enemy's re doubts in line. Soult determined, instead of waiting for this attack in the line of his works, to anticipate it by a sudden and weighty assault on the sixth division, both in front and flank; counting, if successful, to overpower them before the fourth division could come into action. He therefore ordered the divisions of Clausel and Taupin to attack that of General Clinton in front; and the brigade of General Leseur, with a regiment of chasseurs and the cavalry of General Berton to fall upon its flank. The French pushed resolutely out, and met the advancing line in ground where the fire of their redoubts could render them no support.

The struggle was fierce and bloody, but it did not last long; and was finally decided by the bayonets of the British. General Taupin was killed, and his division driven back in confusion upon their works. The two principal redoubts, and the fortified houses in the centre of their position, were instantly carried by a brigade of the sixth division under General Pack.

All these things might be seen from the walls and the roofs of Toulouse, which were crowded with anxious and agitated spectators. Animated by the consciousness of this, the French soldiers,

formed again, and, supported by the reserves on the canal, made & desperate effort to recover these redoubts; but it was vain. In vain did Soult renew the assault with a stubborn and determined spirit, in vain did he form his weakened divisions upon a new line, in the hope that he might yet hold the works of La Pujade on his left, and cover his right by those of the Pont de Demoiselles on the canal; Marshal Beresford pursued his success with ability and vigour. The Spaniards, who had been reformed, advanced upon the left of La Pujade, and the gallant sixth division pushed towards the same point. The French, abandoning the redoubts upon those heights, now rapidly passed the canal; and the citizens of Toulouse saw the banners of England, Portugal, and Spain, waving upon the conquered hill in triumph.

The victory of Toulouse cost the British and Portuguese more than 4500 killed and wounded, and the loss of the Spaniards exceeded 2000: the French had two Generals killed, and three wounded and taken. On the side of the allies many superior Officers were wounded; and lieutenant-colonels Coghlan of the 61st, and Forbes of the 45th, were killed. Several of the British regiments, especially in the sixth division, lost more than half their numbers, and were distinguished by their valour.

The French had now but one road open for their retreat; they could not force across the Garonne by the suburb of St. Cyprien; for Sir ROWLAND HILL had, during the battle, possessed himself of their exterior works in front of that suburb, had shut them up within the ancient wall, and guarded that bank of the Garonne closely and in strength. The battle of Toulouse was fought on Easter Sunday; and, on the day following, the terrified inhabitants saw 30,000 troops within their walls, and busy preparations to defend the city. It is not probable that Soult ever seriously thought of such a measure; though he spoke of defending it to extremity, and burying himself beneath the ruins. He understood his military position too well, and knew perfectly the actual temper of the inhabitants: therefore, when he observed the dispositions of Lord Wellington to complete the investment of Thoulouse, he evacuated the city by night, on the 12th of April, taking the road of Ville-Franche, and retired the day following to Castelnaudry.

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.

THE position of the allied troops, under the Duke of Wellington, was about half a league in advance of Waterloo and of the forest of Soignies. The right was thrown back to a long ravine near Merke Braine, a small hamlet, separated by an extended plateau from Braine la Leud. This village was also occupied, and a communication thus maintained with a cross road which leads to Brussels by Braine le Château. Upon this were stationed two brigades in observation, the one British, the other Belgian,

The left of the allies extended to a height above the hamlet of Ter la Haye, and was protected by a ravine which descends on that side towards Ohain, through which place lay the line of communication with the Prussians at Wavre. From thence Blucher had promised to support the Duke with as many troops as might be necessary, if he should be attacked.

In rear of the British centre was the farm of Mont St. Jean, and farther behind, the village of that name. In rear of the French centre was the farm of La Belle Alliance. The centre of the allied position crossed the two roads which, from Nivelles and from Charleroi, conduct to Brussels. These roads unite at the village of Mont St, Jean, and thence pursue the same chausée to that capital.

Upon the left of the Nivelles road, in front of the right centre, was a Flemish mansion, with a walled garden, having a small wood and a paddock attached to it. This post being at the angle, from which the right wing stretched "en potence" to Merke Braine, covered the return of that flank, and was the great key of the position.

Upon the right of the Charleroi road, immediately in front of the left centre, was a farm-house and yard, which covered the approach to that part of the line.

The division of guards, under General Cooke, occupied the mansion of Hougoumont, in front of the right centre, with a detatchment of three companies, and was drawn up on the rising ground behind and above that post, leaning with its right on the road of Nivelles. The division of General Alten stood with its left flank upon the road of Charleroi, and held the farm of La Haye Sainte, in front of the left centre, with a strong detatchment of one of the light battalions of the German legion. With this division were the Nassau regiments, some in the front line, and one of light infantry detatched in the wood of Hougoumont. The Brunswick troops were disposed, a part in the first line, and the main force in reserve with the division of guards under General Cooke. The whole corps was commanded by the Prince of Orange.

The right wing was composed of the British divisions of Generals Clinton and Colville; of two of Hanoverians; and one of the Netherlanders, under General Chausse. This force occupied the right front en potence, and was commanded by Lieutenant General LORD HILL,

The left wing consisted of the division of General Picton, some Hanoverian troops and Netherlanders, and one British brigade under General Lambert. This wing extended from the Charleroi road along a hedge and lane upon the rising ground which terminates above Ter la Haye. That hamlet, as also Smohain and the farm of Papillotte, which lay on the extreme left, a little advanced in the direction of the wood of Fritschermont, were occupied by Nassau troops under the Prince of Weimar.

The whole of the allied cavalry was disposed in reserve, or second line, under Lord Uxbridge.

The army of the Duke of Wellington mustered about 74,000 men; but of these 5000 were in observation on the cross road near Braine le Château, and not in the line. The force of Napoleon then in presence counted upwards of 76,000 combatants.