The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-12-20 00:00:00


,3tourtrage 06serEter.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1878.

THE SENTENCE' ON MARSHAL

BAZAINE.

, The trial and sentence upon Marshal
Baxainc have attracted an unusual amount
of interest in this country, where, it must
be admitted, public opinion is by no means
unanimous in its estimate of the fallen offi-
cer. While the Tiawe and other papers'
have strongly approved the finding of the
Council of Aral., which was so long sitting
at Versailles, there has been an equal num-
ber on the other side to declare that although
the political part sought to be played by
Bazaine was wholly indefensible, he really
, did his utmost in face of the enormous dif-
ficulties by which he was surrounded. Leav-
ing history to pass judgment upon the un-
fortunate Marshal, let us for a moment
draw a parallel between his case and that of
a naval conunander of our own, whose fate
excited gecai interest in this country a little
more than a century ago. In the autumn
of 1756, and when the reign of George the
Second was drawing to a close, Admiral
Byng was sent to relieve the ilsand of Min-
orca. His fleet was, however, not quite so
, strong as that to which he was opposed; so
the British Admiral, after an indecisive con..
flict returned to Gibraltar, leaving Minorca
,to its fate. News did not travel so rapidly
in those days as it does now, consequently
it took some time before the conduct of Ad.
miral Byng became known in England, but
when people did hear of it, there was a loud
cry of indignation, not merely against Byng,
but also against the government which could
send such a miuerable fleet to sea. The
Ministers, to save themselves, put Admiral
upon his trial for "not doing his best in pre-
sence of the enemy," a term, it will be ob-
served, nearly identical with that employed
by the proseecutors of Marshal Bazaine. The
Court-Marshal found Byng guilty of negli-
gence, but acquitted him of dissaffection and
cowardice. By the Articles of war this con-
&lnitiation involved a sentence of death but,
the Court-Martial, willing to save the Ad-
miral's life, asked the Judge Advocate Gene-
ral whether the Articles of war could not be
mitigated, to which a reply in the negative
returned. As in the case of Bazaine, they
then unanimously recommended him to mercy
and accompanied their judgment with a most
earnest appeal to the Lords of the Admiralty
to intercede for his pardon, saying that hind-
,
ling themselves tied up from moderating the
Articles of War, and not being able in con-
science to pronounce that he had done all he
could, they had been forced to bring him in
guilty, but begged that his life might be
spared. There is yet another parallel between
the two trials. At each of them the written
testimony of the enemy was given in favor of
the accused officer. Byng's conduct was
spoken highly of by the Duke of Richelieu,
the commander of the expedition to Minorca
whose letter was transmitted to England by
Voltaire; while Prince Frederick Charles
and other Prussian Generals commended
the course which had been pursued by Bazain.
Here, however, the comparison ends. The
Ministers of George School would not move
a step to save Byng, and the King himself
was deeply prejudiced against him. His
majesty was assured that the House of Con*.
mons was inclined to mercy, but he declared
that he looked for the sense of his people
elsewhere. The result was that the extreme
penalty of the law was carried into effect,
and Admiral Byng was shot. Marshal Baz-
aine's lines have fallen in more pleasant
places. His doom has been averted by a
fotiner companion in arms, now in the chief
place of the State, and he is to pass the re-
mainder of his days on a little island washed
by the blue waters of the Mediterranean, and
within sight of that France which he declares
ho did his best to serve.