The National Register. — London, England, 1816-04-15 00:00:00

APRIT. 15. Ii.I7"FLE OF WiITE.IIL(Xi. lilrrative of the Conduct of SAY./LEON Box XP main on the Igth admit., Int.'', during and after the Battle or Waterloo, take); fvotti the Depo.ition ofJohn Baptista De Co! tcr,wko served 113 Guide on Oat Day. J. 13. De Caster is abed about 1 . .3; he was born in the village of Corbeck-km, near Louvaine, and has inhabited Walloon for !;:t years; bdore the invasion of Napoleon he occupied a small ale-house (cabaret), with about six acres of laud. Upon the approach of the French army, on the 17th of June, he retired with his consisting of his wife and seven children, help the wood of the Abbey d'Awyko.s; on Sunday he went to his brother's, who lived Pauchenoit. He met there three French Generals, who sent him to Buonaparte. Dc •Costerfoundhim at afar, minus' Rossum, and was immediately presented to him, who was standing in a rsom in the midst of a great number of officers of his Staff. Huonaparte asked him, if he was well acquainted with the local situation of the country, and it' he would be his guide? Dc Coster having answered him mnisfitetorilv, Buonaparte told him he would accompany him, adding Speak frankly with me, toy friend, as if you were with your children." llntmaystrte had De Coster r 'three different times, to obtain information as to the maps of the country, which he consulted. —He questioned him chiefly upon the distance of several towns of Brabant from the field Or battle, and made him explain those he had seen in his youth. De Coster named It, which appeared to pleas; Buonaparte; he seemed very much satisfied to find that' De Coster wa3FleMish, and that-he spoke the language; he advised him above all, to give only well authenticated information, and not to answer for things of which he was uncertain, shrug Ong his shoulders at th sane time. He repeated often &eye instructions, adding—" That if' he (Buonaparte) succeeded, his recompenee should be a' hundred times greater than he could imagiue."—He dispensed with every particalar mark of respect, telling him, that instead of taking t. f' his cap, he need only put his hand to his forehea 1. At mid-day, Buonaparte went out with his staff, and placed himself upon a drank on the aide of the road which commanded a view of the field of battle. Shortly after wards news arrived that the attack upon the farm and chateau of Hougoumont, which he had commenced at 11 o'clock, was unsuccessful. At one the battle became general; Buonaparte remain ed in his first station with his staff anti five; he was on foot, and constantly walked backwards unit f awards, sometimes with his arms crossed, but chiefly behind his back, with his thumbs in the pocket of a dark coloured great coat; he had iris eyes fixed upon the bottle, and pulled out his w:rtch and snuff box alternately. De Custer, who was ,on horseback near him, observud fre quently his watch. Buonaparte perceiving that De Coster took snuff, and that he had none, gave bins seve ral pinches. When he found that his attempts to force the position of the Chateau of Hougoumont had been made in vain, he took a horse, left the farm Rossum at five P. M. and riding foremost, halted opposite De Coster's house, about 100 yards from La Belle Alliance. He remained there until seven. At this moment he, by means of a tele scope, first perceived the Prussians advance, and commu nicated it to an Aid-de-Camp, who,'upon turning his spy ing glass saw them also. Some moments atter, an officer came to announce that Bulow's corps approached. Buo naparte replied that he knew it well, and gave orders for his guard to attack the centre of the English army ; and riding at full gallop in advents, he placed himself with his staff in a hollow made by the road, half way between La Belle Alliance and Haye Sainte. This was his third and last position. Buonaparae and his suite ran great risks to reach this hollow : a bullet struck the pommel of the saddle of one of his officers, without touching him or his horse. Boo naparte contented himself by coolly observing, "that they must remain is this hollame." _ _ Here there was on each side of the road a battery, and perceiving that one of the cannons of the left battery did not play well, he dismounted, as?ended the height of the advsaaced to the third piece, and rectified the error, • while the bullets were hissing around him. Whilst in this position, he saw eight battalions of his Old Guard, to whom he lmul givett orders to force the cen tre of the English army, tulvaneing upon Hayc Sainte. Three of these battalions were annihilated in his sight, whilst crossing the road, by the firing from the &rut and batteries. Nevertheless, the French made themselves masters of the f.:rtn, and the Hanoverians who occupied it, were obliged to surrender fhr want of ammunition. To support the foot guards (garde a fined) linonaparte made his horse guards, composed of eight or nine regi ments, advance ; he waited the result of this charge with the greatest anxiety; but he saw the flower of his army destroyed in an instant, whilst ascending the bill upon which Haye Sainte is situate. This was his last trial ; for on sexing his Old Guard destroyed, 1w lost all hope, and on turning towards his officers, said, "a present eat sauvons anus."— lt is now finished, let us save our selves. It was half-past eight o'clock.; and, wqunt pursuing any steps, or giving any orders, and taking nli ptribic care to livid the Prussitus, he, accomytmied by his• Sta:; ?HE NATIONAL IrEGlfiTrlt. rode off at full gallop to(ienappe. In passing before a bat tery of 14 guns, that was near the (Miservatory, he or dered that, before they uliandoned it to the enemy, they should fire 14 rounds. When he arrived at Genappe, it was half-past nine o'clock, P.M. The only street which timms this village was so •encumbered with caissons and cannons, thet it re quired an entire hour to puss them, alongside the houses; all the inhabitants had fin•saken their dwellings. There was no other road to talc, becato.e :he Prussians occu pied the loft, and thre.e was no other bridge but that of Genappe, by which to pass the river that flowed there. From Genappe he advanced towards Quatre Bras, has tening his pace, always afraid lest the l'ru►sians should arrive before him; he was more tranquil when he had passel this last phase ; and when arrived at Gosseley, he even dismounted and walked the remainder of the road to Charleroy (about one league). He traversed Cherie roy on horseback for two hours and a half, and stopped in a meadow called Marcenelle, at the other end of the town. There they made a large f►re, and brought him two glasses and two bottles of wise, which he drank with his officers. He took no other nottrishment. They spread upon the ground :► sack of nuts, which his horses eat in their bridles. At a quarter before five o'clock, af ter having taken another guide (to whom he gave the horse that had served De Coster), he remounted, made a slight bow to De Coster, and rode off. Bertrand gra% e De Coster, for his services, a single Napolcua, and disal pezrel, as also the whole Staff, leaving De Custer alone, wh, was obliged to return home on foot. From the — moment that Buonapartv began to retreat, until his arrival in the meadow of Mareentile, he did not stop, nor did he speak to any one. He hail taken no non rishment from the time he left the farm possum, and De Coster even thinks he bad taken nothing from sit in the morning. The dangers of the bartle did not appear to affect him. De Cotner, who was greatly agitated through l'ear, low ortxl his head frequently on the neck of his horse to avoid the balls which hissed over his head. Bnonaparte appear ed displeased at it, and told him that those motions made his officers Lelieve that he was wounded, and also tabled, that he would not eseape the balls more by stooping than by holding himself upright. During the battle, he often Tendered justice to the opposing army ; he principally praised the Scotch Greys, and expresard much regret to see them suffer so severely, whin they mauoiu►•red so well, and wielded the sword w dexterously. Until half past five P.M. he htul the greatest hope of atcecst•, and repeated every moment " All gory well." His fientraks entertained the same hope. He was per fectly calm, and shored much sang froid (luring. the ac tion, without appearing out of humour, and always spoke very mildly to his officers. He was never in danger of being taken prisoner, bring always surrounded; even in the third station, where he was nearest to the enemy, he had with him 1.2 pieces of cannon, and 3000 ;■renadiers of his guard. This narrative was given at Waterloo, in the public house kept by Jean Dc Nivelles. INSOLIZNT DED7ORS" COURT. On Saturday the discharge of Maria Levi was opposed by Mr. it ilanty lie, on the part of the insoivent's own lather, on the groand of a emicealint tit of her property. The insolvent, in her examination try Mr.Halantyne, stated. that previonsly to the 25th of Ueceisil4T last, the day of her arrest, site had a clothes-shed in Rosemary-lane, and a room in. the Minories, where she lodged ; she cohatalted with Mr. Jo seph Bell, whom she knew for, about two years; and flir whom. she sold clothes on connuission, having no, pater property; she., had some little furniture a few years ago, but was obliged to st II it to pay a debt ; she had nothiug to subsist au now but the. little emitittission trade to WhiellAlle *Uuded ; the child theuiu h e r arms was not Mt. itell's ; she had it before she knew him. Mr. Bar tl'vNE said, Butt the instructions lac had received from the family of the insolvent stated, that she had, when arrested, 6001. worth of her , property her stall. The court, upon looking 'Mtn the schedule, observed, that the only creditor of the lusoltent was her MAII father, whose debt /marked" disputed" in the insolvent': schedule) was ul-, !edged to be.l lot, and its nature v. as stilted to be ter board, lodging. and money advanced. How any father could mak e such a charge against his daughter, and verify it by affidavit, wa , , in the mind of the court, astonishing. Ale- BALA:VIA:SE aeptied, that the father der certain cir circumstances, had a le,gal recovery fox g un oard, lodging, and money, furnished to his daughter; but ou this occasiou the only object of the family in the present opposition was to separate the daughter from the unhappy connexion which she had formed. The tollowing questions were then put by the court to the cut U. How out are yon? A. Twenty.nine years, my lord.— Q. Yon ase nut married? A. Nn.—Q. Have yon ever lived at your father's fur a stipulated expellee? A. Never : I have been, of conrse, hawks% ards and forwards there, but have never bor rowed Homey Boom hint, or gone there in et Herat, ekeept when pm ocularly ;asked to do so.—Q. Did your fattier ever furnish oik w ith a bill of ant charge lie meant to bring against you, or ma k e a demand orally i. 411 t for s out umiutt-naucc,Nc ? A. He never did in any shape, nor kucl I the slightest reason to expert his would have made a clkarze of this description.---Q. Who is y o u r father? An old elothesman.—Q. You have been un fortunate with a 51r. lied? A. Yes ; but we have parted. sh e then stated that she haul no property whatever at present. Mr. Sek jeAnt BENNINGTON. —I don't know that I ever Met %villa a more disgraceful tiansactiou than this conduct of a parent. Mr. B %I. SATs NE.—'this man makes but what he thinks a fair claim; he limes it iu course of legal investigation. '1 he court could not bring itself to any conehision against the insolvent. under the eireunistaares which had beca di., clostil.-61te no accordingly discharged. OLD BAILEY. MoNnav, /team a.—George Burnett was put to the bar, to take his trial on an indictment charging him with shooting a pistol, loaded with Shot, at trances Maria Kelly, the metre.. s with intent to kill her, or do her some bodily harm.—Mr. Har ris, a jeweller in Drury lane, deposed, that he was K the The atre on the 27th of Felirnary. The yrimmer sat in the pit about two rows before him. After Miss Kelly :slid Mr. Kui.4411 had embraced each other, in tire characters of Non and fe-y. in the farce of The Jlerry Mourners, Miss Kelly went towards the left stage dour, and Mr. Knight to the right. I%iiss K. had her face towards the audience, when the prisoner stand with his right hand pointed slanting to the spot where she 4toott He could not see what the prisoner had in his hand, but he tn.- stantly heard the report of a pistol, and saw a dash- Witness leaped over the seats, and seized the prisoner before he email sit down. I - k sail he was not the man who tired the y ist u l, " don't take me." Witness saw the flash come from the pri smarr3 right band ; and be also saw the wadding drop at the tame instant. He took the prisoner across the s e at, until he got farther assistance, end lie was taken into the avenue, where he was searched, and a pen-ease taken from his pocket, which contained gunpowdes.—Miss Kelly was sworn, evidently tinder great embarrassment, and inn,di affected. On the night in question she was performing at Drury-lane Theatre ; saw a light, and, atthc same moment, heard what she supposed to be it detonating ball. Had not the least acquaintance with the prisoner to her knowledge ; had never seen him before that period, nor till this day. She hart reeeivad two letters signed. with his name, but had not noticed them.—Mr. Birnie, the Magistrate, said, that he had asked the prisoner why he had shot at Miss Kelly? and be said, " She knew what it was for." The prisoner had an appearance of wildness in his eyes.—The • letters were then read, as follows : FIRST LETTER. " X U LILLY, VALIKIr-,LAILL runtime. " Fcb. It 1116 " Did love ever partsipt you to rehearse, Tie part of hor.sur, unessay'd in yens•? Or pa ision strive to guard it from decay, Applause to gain, or self-applause to pay? Tile works of genius would Its charms resign. And your lioatiur's praise echo every line. •• Mistaken girl ! ambition would you bW7I7. To iiiillttlt: a part in each taineerted play? Y •es's softness endeavour to abuse; And for defence, not one poor excuse. " I have here, Midam, defined your character and disposition in a few words ; and shall go so tar as to say you are not a stringer to my taws. •• Year ago I was your admirer, but always met with disappoints mem—coquetry indnigesl you, though often obtained at the expence of others. •• Without vanity to myself. I think my good intentions towards yon have been more trifled with than any of my cotemiporwries ; m r claim to your iierson is theretine greater, which determines me to de mand your hand—or, in other words, to make you my wife. " YOU Will either consent to this, or accept my daUengc—l wit attend you any hour you please, on Wednesday, or before. I hare witnessed }our destenty in tiring a gun—but suppose a pistol will better suit you, as being much lighter. -• Ilad you not infringed the *lilt of was ale;. I should not hails thus adilresscd you; hot as,4 is, so Wier per*" csin, better answer this letter that) yourself; it shall not brook contempt orstigistg 4 . To !Oka KELLY.° GronGr RA 11 NP,17." •• 22, Pr;nrc . s-street. I )—y-lane." S reoN I ) LETTF.R. " Miss tiaLLV, I'ERFGAIKEI4IOI/Ultir-LANt TWCATIE. " Feb. ts,, 1s1& " Ms') 5',1...i received &letter yestenlay evening, which, Em i t its. apparent rustaity, I believe is yours. You would act wiser if you was to add your name, as I ant not sufficiently acquainted sith your hand writing; and, us I hinted in my last letter, not to subject others to be answerable for your forwardness—lf the terms %purified in my letter were not to your satisfactaw, why not exprtss yourself as one hesrming your profession ? why suffer you temper to over-rule your reosim? - •• I love the sex, and once esteemed you is an ornament to it. rift you roused my indignation by you impertinence and seandalotas abuses. e" You are very partial to a disguised male drew; but let not nut experience any more of your fully, air if you do, I'd secure you as an, . impostor. and punish pia for your temerity. I am, Madam, your well-wiener, 66 GEORGE DAR NE7T. • The evidence for the prosecution being closed ‘ Mr. Dowling proceeded to call witnesses to support the defence or ilipaolt. , . —The prisoner's Tether-in-Taw and his mother, several law sta tioner, who hail ernployed hint, as well as ;Sir. Claridge , jun. of gevennaks, Kent, deposed to many acts of insanity by the prisoner sncli as Ism-Mille into a loud laugh without any al,- parent cense- -total forgetfulness of immediate objects-- -and. standing in the street gazing at houses in a state apathy rid crowds of people were collected round him.—Mr. J. l ant s a surgeon residing in North Crescent, Bedford-square, who had seen, cod conversed with the prisoner since his contluenient, bad no doubt that he was insone.—Mr. Baron Wood. in Slim ming up the evidence, also said the letters which 'had bee. toad hure evident sy 'Naomi of insanity:—The Jury footed the prisoper, Not Cotiity, OA the grownol .). lounily.—The Court a(e cordiogly ordered hint to be tictitiued. Tuesday, fYriteurs 4ockerwr, a master gold watch case maker, of respectable appearance, was indicted for feloniously trans posing the Goldsmith . .. Halt mark from one gold watch to the wire of another, of inferior metal, thereby intending to coat , wit fraud agaio.st .the statute. This trial to:minis il the afters. Lion of the Court at least five hours; but the testimony of !ha priticiptil witness for the prosecution (a person natoed Dalton, in the secedes oldie prisoner) being discredited. the Jnry, after a considerable investigation, acquitti il the latter. Upon the verdict be ing returned, a ace-ac of tumuli confusion took place i and the csebunations in the Coon were so loud nod veheineut, ea to drown the interposing observations of the Bench. t'Amtes &Weird Hord, and Mown. liitswinster, 11w latter the father-imlaw of the former, and who had both been employed in the Six Clerks Otter as cooing clerks. were indicted for stealing RIM lintitlred weight of parchment from the said office. It appeared shit the parchment in question consisted of bills and answers in Chancel y, which the prisoners put mined, and sold to Mr. Bridges a drum-maker, aker, residing at bottom.—Mr. Alley took a legal objection tint the pal chment wilt out the auh • ject of larceny, but Mr. Baron Wood even sled the objection. and Jury, under his Lordship's direction, fonali Use prisoth - era Guilty. .) i v , SATURDAIII, APRIL 13. PAil/ir .Sit eel was indicted for burelaricusly break:usig4lllll n 'c. dwellitm.liose of the Hon. . hatdley, is Mary-It-bone, '., . stealing 'Keating apparel of the value of . his. the proper o r Etlis aril Parsons. Cila aro Parson% who was groom to the prov.e on% lived - in.,, a room which leis over the stable. o.i the evt ,: , .ti of `jig* Feb. he went ovi bei'ore it was dark, kr.;:l ~. , •i, .., 'twist • the stable had beta broken o,,en, .eau ihil a . . .i . i :- : .t"•: - Ntweli. Tl,‘ ~..isoner was ti , ol tbe Al.,' on tl-: tl' l i t Mo, ;ft =.:* committi:oz 54,. •e II .., r d - .. In. ini, led on st 4,1 bin* bis 111 I. 11:i . 41. v. u ivund.—thai:. . . 4 %toil-