The Express.
London, England, 1851-12-01 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 1, 1851.

well as fight. Souk was capable of heroically grand resolu-
tions. His determination to act on the offensive when sent
by Napoleon to keep the English from crossing the
Pyrenees, and when any other general would have cauti-
ously trimmed, was worthy of a lieutenant of that Emperor,
who, after the disasters of Russia, was ready to face all
Europe, and faced it by advancing on the allies. Sault was
essentially a soldier of heroic proportions. His silent re-
serve, his taciturn firmness, his inexorable etiolation, awed
his army into adequate instruments for his pu9mes.
lie never knew when he was beaten, and never allowed
his troops to think defeat possible.
Souk was absent from Spain during the time Lord Wel-
lington was most successful. It may be that had he been at
Vittoria he would have fared as badly as Marmont ; but it
is a fact that Spain was lost to the Emperor while Sault
was with the Emperor. Soule was withdrawn in conse-
quence of the complaints made by King Joseph. Joseph
had written to his brother to say that either he (Joseph) or
Souk must quit Spain. The withdrawal was only for a time.
Souls was with Napoleon, serving him faithfully at Bautzen,
and at Dresden. But there came the news of victoria.
Southern France was uncovered to Wellington. Only two
men were fit, in Napoleon's estimate, to meet Wellington—
, Napoleon sad Soult. Ho could not go himself: he scot
Souk. It was a great mission and a high trust, and Soult
was worthy of the confidence reposed in his genius and in
his honour. Ho lost at San Sebastian, at Orthes, and at
Toulouse. Then there reached him the news that the
Emperor had abdicated. lie did not even then submit.
There was a truce and he paused. None knew which
course he would take. At last he submitted. Perhaps not
because he despaired of Napoleon. With a rugged out-
ward indifference to all changes he now became a loyalist.
Like other marshals he consented to be courted by Louis
the Eighteenth. The must formidable of them he was
courted more than the others ; and he became Minister of
War to the restored Bourbon. The imperialists called this
treachery to the Emperor—and so it was. But Soult, as
far as he can be comprehended at all, in his political actions
had only one rule to steer by—to assist the strongest. lie had
no "principles," in our acceptation of "principles," was
neither a republican, a royalist, nor an imperialist.
He had a faith in and a love for Napoleon, there is
no doubt; and if ho did not become minister at
war to Louis XVIII. for the very purpose of betray •
ing Louis XVIII., it is very certain that he did not hesitate
to desert to his former chief the moment the news arrived
that Napoleon had landed from Elha. Ile preferred, like
all soldiers, the winning side: and on Napoleon's side he saw
not only the best chance, but the side on which his natural
leaniugs placed him. Ile had, however, ceased to be Mi-
nister, or connected with the government at all, when he
rejoined Napoleon ; and hence his escape from the dangers
of which Ney was the %knits. lie was with Napoleon,
his " right hand," throughout the last struggle. He fought
at Waterloo ; and he it was whom Napoleon only would
believe when told that all was lust. There is no need to
particularise this portion of the history.
After Waterloo Souk was, perforce, patient There
could be no second return of the Emperor; and the Bour-
bons were not disposed to trust him again, had he been dis-
posed to trust thew. Ile fled from }mace, taking shelter
in Berg, and there he remained three years, it is said
writing his military memoirs, and probably little expecting
that only half his career hail been accomplished. During
this time he appears to have conciliated the new powers in
France. He had friends at Paris, and he was still too
powerful, if only as a name, for Lis friendship to be for-
gotten. In 1819 he obtained the royal permission to return
to France, and in 1821, so tar had he succeeded in disarming
resentments, his marshal's baton was returned to him. He
was now again on the scene—a political personage—potent
for good or evil. He, however, maintained a wary re-
serve. A new reign, in 1825,commenced a new era. Louis
the Eighteenth and Charles the Tenth had made the mis-
take of supposing that absolute monarchy and parliamen-
tary government could exist together. Charles the 'l'enth
pushed the difficulty to its limits. The chambers resisted.
Charles the Teuth exclaimed, " I will not suffer my erowa
to be thrown into the mire." But the chambers resisted.
H. do Polignac succeeded to M. de Martignac. M. de Pia
lignac pushed the difficulty beyond its limits. The
chambers were dissolved. The Duke of Orleans gave a ball
to the King of Naples ; and M. de &acted), sail that the
ball was genuinely Neapolitan, for that the guests danced
on a volcano. The volcano was met by a coup d'elat—a
still fashionable expedient in these days. The ordinances
came : the constitution was suspended. The editors signed
a protest. Marshal elariuont took the command of the
king's troops. Marshal Marmont was beaten, more soundly
than at Vittoria, and Louis Philippe became king. Then
Marshal Souk ceased his reserve. The transition was
passed. There was a strong government for France at last,
" a monarchy surrounded by republican institutions ;" and
Marshal Soult determined to make it stronger by lending to
it the prestige and power of his name and fame. Louis
Philippe sought him when he was seeking Louis Philippe,
and they soon came to terms. The Napoleon of
Peace asked the aid of the lieutenant of the Napoleon
of war ; and Marshal Soult became distinguished in France
and in Europe as the chief agent of the " English alliance,"
and the boldest opponent of a war policy. The marshal
joined the first ministry of Casimir Perier, succeeding, in
that post, to Marshal Gerard, and being somewhat awk-
wardly held responsible for the blunders of his predcemor in
sanctioning the famous Oisquct peculation—" wt fusil
Oisquet " being a nickname for the marshal thereafter. As
Minister of War at this time Marshal Soult had a terrible
post to sustain. The earlier part of the reign of Louis
Philippe was a succession of smothered insurrections—now
of the republicans, now of the Vendcans, and now of " the
nephew of my uncle ;" and to Marshal Soult the King
looked beyond all other men. In the insurrections of the
sth ana 6th June, the marshal had everything in his hands;
and the sufficient reply to the doubts which were then
openly expressed of his honesty, was the fact that he stood
by the King. He astounded the King and the cabinet by
his suggestion, at that time—that, in the event of a serious
insurrection, they should abandon Paris ! But, his plan he
justified: and, perhips, the counter-plan, to surround Paris
with forts was not wiser. In whatever he did, he managed
to be successful; and his government in his own depart-
ment, was confessedly popular. The responsibility of the
general policy of the cabinet, he shared in more than an
indirect degree. Some of his colleagues would have desired
a war for Poland er for Italy; he strenuously resisted all
the republican appeals for French intervention, and whether
wisely or not for Europe, with prosperous consequences for
Louis Philippe. A marshal of the Empire could alone
have sustained the odium of an English alliance,
which meant peace, and the King fully appreciated
the service. It does not appear that the marshal and
his colleagues worked well together. The marshal and M.
Guilin were enemies ; and for " doctrinaires," generally as
M. Guizot and his sect began to be called, the marshal had
a profound contempt. On a question of appointing a go-
vernor of Algeria, there was a split in the cabinet; M.
Guisot and M. Thiers caballed against the marshal, and
the marshal retired—the grounds being purely personal be-
tween himself and his colleagues. The fall of Marshal
Sonic was the occasion of serious complications and difficul-
ties, bathe would not reconnect himself with those who had
insulted and defied him. With M. Thiers, however, he
kept up intimate relations; and by the king, who had
already commenced personal government, he was confiden-
tially consulted. At the breaking up of the ministry of
the Ilth of October (1431), he did not join the cabinet
formed by M. Mole, and until 1837 he was inactive. It was
in the period from 1834 to 1837 that Louis Philippe suc-
ceeded in establishing that system of home government
which was in the end so fatal to his government. For this
Marshal Sault was but slightly responsible. Of the foreign
policy of Louis Philippe from 1830 to 1842 be was a sup-
porter, and in reference to that he must be judged. The
foreign policy and tho home policy, in truth, however,
rested and were dependent on one another.
In 1837, Queen Victoria came to the English throne, and
at the coronation of her Majesty, in 1838, Marshal Souk
was selected by the cabinet of the Tuileries as Ambassador
Extraordinary to London. His mission was to cement the
English alliance, by renewing that alliance with the
new Sovereign ; and as a political agent in that cha-
racter he was received with a national welcome
in England. Compliments were showered upon him
by the court and by ministers ; and the people greeted the
great general, the ancient enemy, wherever he appeared,
with enthusiastic cheers. At the coronation his figure was
the second in interest ; and in the procession his carriage,
" • blue body, in the shape of a gondola, with silver
mouldings," was grander than that of any English peer.
The Duke of Wellington appeared at public places with
him, and, though malapropos public instructors sneered
about Toulouse, and even went so far in detraction as to
summon Colonel Napier into a manly remonstrance and
reminder of the pillar at Carmine, the public were mad
with joy at the auspicious conjunction of the two heroes.
We next come to 1841. The ministry of M. Mole fell.
The minister, and the press, and the Chamber were at war,
and, to avoid the storm, the King sacrificed a faithful ser-
vant. A new ministry was formed, and, in consequence of
the dissensions of M. Guizot and M. Tillers, who would
no longer act together, Marshal Soult was called to the
presidency of the council. But this was not brought about
without difficulty. While the King was without a
ministry—or rather without a ministry of repute
enough to meet the crisis—there came an insur-
rection: the revolt of May 12. The provisional
cabinet was swept away ; and the King and society found
a man in whom they could confide in Marshal Souk.
While President of the Council he underwent the storm
excited by the " Syrian question," and secured an intense
unpopularity by his honourable anxiety to keep faith with
Lord Palmerston. His ministry was not long-lived. M.
(*aura entered power, and the results constitute the news
of yesterday.
Since that time Marshal Souk, enfeebled by age, but
still intellectually vigorous, lived in retirement, in the en-
joyment of boundless fame and ample fortune.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY Or LONDON.—The fifteenth
anniversary meeting was held on Saturday at the society's
rooms, 20,11edfnd-street, Strand; T. Moore, Esq., F.L.0.,
in the chair. Mr. 0. E. Denies, the secretary, read the re-
port of the council, from which it appeared that 17 new-
members had been elected since the last anniversary meet-
ing, and that the society now consisted of 270 members.
Many thousands of British and foreign plants had been dis-
tributed to members in the United Kingdom and venous
parts of Europe, and the donations to the library had been
considerable. The report was unanimously adopted ; after
which a ballot took place for the council, when J. E. Gray,
Esq., F.R.S., was reelected president; Mr. Reynolds,
treasurer; and Mr. G. E. Denies, secretary.
ANNIVERSARY OF THE POLISH REVOLUTION.—
Saturday, the 29th ult. being the 21st anniversary of the
Polish Revolution of 1430 31, a great number of refugees,
resident in London, attended a funeral service in the Roman
catholic chapel, Sohoaquare, in commemoration of those of
their countrymen who feU in the war of that national
stragg'e.

the Court.

OSBORNE, SATURDAY.
Her Majesty, his Royal Ilighneas Prince Albert,
and the royal family walked yesterday morning in tke park.
The Queen and Prince drove out In the afternoon in a
pony phaeton.
There was no addition to the royal dinner part/.
DUNDAY.
lice Majesty, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, and the
royal family did not leave the grounds at Osborne yester-
day.
There was no addition to the royal dinner party.

Mr. Henry Berkeley, M.P., trattricted business with ths
Chancellor of the Exchequer on Saturday at his official resi-
dence in Downing-street.

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS. Lieutenant-Colonel
John Cornell Chad% late of the Ist West In lia Regiment,
is appointed President and senior Member of Council of the
Virgin Islands.—Captain Jamco Richard Booth, R.N. is
appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Montserrat.—Mr. &-
Ito-
beet Duncan Wilmot is appointed Surveyor-General of New
Brunswick.—Mr. Richard Francis Morgan is appointed a
Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
EARL GREY has, we perceive, just appointed
James St. John, fourth sou of James Augustus St. John,
to be Surveyor-General to the colony of Labuan, where his
brother, Mr. Spencer St. John, already holds the high
office of her Britannic. Majesty's commission to the Sultan
of Borneo, and the princes and independent chiefs of the
Indian Archipelago.