350
NOTES AND QUERIES.
[9 th 8. IX. MAY 3, 1902.
though some success attended him he Vas
unable to effect anything decisive. He re-
signed in April, 1835, and died a few months
later.
The contrast between Peterborough and Mina seems rather strained. The latter was a guerilla leader acting in his own country. Peterborough was compelled by circumstances to become something of a " free captain " in Spain. If it is true that he was responsible for the capture of Barcelona (of which there seems to be some little doubt), Peterborough deserves a higher place than Mina. The parallel would seem to be in the contempt of both for the red tape of their day. Peter- borough had his way by land and sea as long as it was humanly possible. His methods were impossible a hundred years later, even if Mina had been capable of anything outside his own experience. Mina inveighed against the officers of the regular army. They were the slaves of an unsuccessful system, and he would have none of them. He was able to create his material, while Peterborough had to work with what was to his hand ; and Marlborough, "who thought no campaigning except his own material," took care in his wretched fashion that it should be none of the best. Both made free use of the means, good and (often) bad, that came to hand. Such disgraceful incidents as Peterborough's shameless trick on Mahoni at Murviedro and Mina's destruction of Castellfollit seem merely necessary events in such stormy careers Mina, however, was made of sterner stuff than the fiery and versatile Mordaunt. 'Here was Castellfollit," he wrote on one of its ruined walls. "Cities, learn by this example not to befriend the enemies of your country ! "
It may be mentioned as a coincidence that when Peterborough arrived in Spain the Por- tuguese general in nominal command over tough old Galway and the allies was Las Minas. GEORGE MARSHALL.
opfton Park, Liverpool.
The guerilla system of warfare was of a wild and romantic character. Men totally unfitted by previous habits and education appeared upon the scene, and developed talent and determination that made them a scourge to the invaders of their country. But theirs was simply a war of extermination. Expecting no quarter (they were called bandits by the French), they did not extend any to those who became their prisoners.
War to the knife " was the motto of the guerillas, and on both sides blood flowed in torrents. Several of the followers of Juan Martin Diez, the Empecinado, having been
surprised in the mountains, they were nailed
to the trees and left there to die of hunger
and thirst. To the same trees, before a week
elapsed, a similar number of French soldiers
were affixed by the guerillas. Some females
had been abused most scandalously by the
escort of a convoy ; in return the guerilla
leader drove into an ermida eighty French-
men and their officers, set fire to the thatch,
and burnt them to death. Such were the
dreadful enormities a system of retaliation
caused. Many of the guerilla bands were
actuated in every enterprise by a love of
bloodshed and spoliation. Others took the
field from nobler motives : a great love of
their country and religion, and for ven-
geance against a tyranny which had become
insufferable. These desperate adventurers
were commanded by men of the most dis-
similar professions ; and, strange to say, the
most ferocious band that invested Biscay
was commanded by a woman named Mar-
tina. Of all the guerilla leaders the two
Minas were the most daring and successful.
The younger, Xavier, had but a short career
chivalrous and romantic. The elder, Fran-
cisco Espoz y Mina, was born in 1784, and
became a guerilla chief in 1809, and after
obtaining several victories over the French
generals was promoted to the rank of field-
marshal. Mina was the idol of the Spanish
people, who styled him the " King of Navarre,"
and extolled his deeds beyond those of the
Cid or the most famous knights of Spanish
chivalry and romance. Mina resided in
England for some time, but returned to
Spain in 1834 to oppose Don Carlos, and
died on 24 December, 1836, of wounds he
received at Barcelona.
HENRY GERALD HOPE. 119, Elms Road, Clapham, S.W.
GORDON RIOTS (9 th S. ix. 68, 233). In the
'Annual Register' for 1780 will be found a
full account (the best I have come across)
of the riots, the burning of Langdale's, A T C ,
together with a report of the subsequent
judicial proceedings, names of prisoners,
verdicts, sentences (where found guilty). I
would have mentioned this sooner, only I was
afraid of being "one among too many." A
full list (but without names) of those put on
trial may also be found in Thornbury's * Old
and New London ' (new edition, ed. by
Edward Walford, 1893, vol. vi. p 347). Lang-
dale's is still, I believe, in the hands of the
original family ; but I doubt whether the
products of the firm in 1902, however much
the perfumes, vanilla, &c., might tempt the
fair, but frail ones among the rioters (espe-
