The National Register.
London, England, 1815-09-10 00:00:00

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MARSHAL NEY

An Expose has been published at Paris, in Ney's
lion, 1)% his advocate, M. Berrier. The excuses amount to
little more than Falstaff's translation of the defence in the
play of qenry rebellion lay in his way, and he found
it."
Ve Expose says, that Ney had retired to his estate near
Chateaudrun, thirty leagues from Paris, where he lived
4` quite isolated, without any cortespondence or communi.
cation that associated him with political combinations, with
which it is well known he was quite unacquainted." On the
6th of March he received in his retirement a letter from
the War Ministei, brought to him by an aide-de-campe, or-
dering the 111aishal to proceed in all haste to the sixth mili-
tary division, the government of which was entrusted to
The Marshal instantly obeyed the order; and on pass-
im: thiough Paris, where he first learned the landing of
Buonaparte, obtained an interview with the King:
At the augus' aspect of the Monarch, all of whose traits
breathe bounty, the Marshal, electrified by the flattering
words in which his Majesty was pleased to address him,
warml% participated in the solicitude with which all minds
seemed to be occupied. Those who know the ardour of his
liberal soul, and the promptitude of his language in second-
ing it, never would mistake for falsehood or stratagem any
thiog which the Marshal may have said to the King, even in
language boldly figurative. Could duplicity have induced
him to utter such accents, it would have led to no advant-
age."
After contradicting. the report that the King ordered a
sum in be given. to Nev to secure as far as possible his fide-
lity, and appealing to the King for its falsehood, the Expose
proceed- to state, that Ney found Besancon quite bare of
trooos ; that the Duke de Maille on the 11th of March in-
fru med him of the troops at Grenoble having gone over to
Buonaparte, and that the latter might be able to enter
Lyons on the 11th. He (Ney) resolves to repair to Sons-le-
Saulnier. He writes to Suchet, that it was unfortunate Bun-
raparte had not been attacked. Ney's force consisted only
of four tegiments, without a single piece of artillery. The
Expose then states the dispositions he made, and the letter
he wrote to Oudinot to hasten the arrival of troops : " we
are on the eve of a great revolution, it is only by cutting up
the evil by the roots that we shall hope to avoid it." His
advanted guard passed over to Buonaparte. At Lyons the
troops remained inactive—He found himself in the centre
of insurrection. His army was alienated from him ; and
threatened him, if he prevented their going over to Buts-
staparte,
0. On the night of the 13th of March, the emissaries of
nuonaparte came to the Marshal, whom they found in great
agitation, inaccessible to all impressions, and trembling for
the fate of France. They brought a letter from Bertrand,
vl) told him that Buonaparte had concerted his enterprise
with Austria, through the Austrian General Kohler: that
England had Favoured his escape: that Murat advanced ra-
pidly to the north of Italy to assist his brother-in-law ; that
Vie troops 6f Russia had returned to their distant quarte.s;
Prus-i could not conten,„A alone against France; and
114 at if tity cotltiuurti to resist flit wQUId siyp uji Prance to

A 4.

war. These last
LarshaPs best resolutions."
exicuse this step. the Expose pro-
Jarabal drew up hastily a long series
was tole read to Buonaparte; and on
future study would be to repair the
Trance, Ney renounced opposing
r Buonaparte's return to Paris, the

COll

state ; not disgraced, as was said, but
because he was soon undeceived respecting the false asser-
tions given by Buonaparle of a speedy settlement with the
Powers. After stating that the public good was always his
guide, the gxpose concludes as follows:
" Such, without any disguise, is the conduct of Marshal
Ney since the month of March 1815. Does there result
from it, we will not say the-prejudice, that he has committed
the odious crime of treason, but even a moral d. gradation ?
All crime, in 4.lie legal acceptation of the word, supposes
premeditation or interest more or less prevailing. The clime
of treason consists of long, successive efforts, of cowardly
and perfidious combinations. An error of the moment, the
effect of an unheard of concurrence of the most strange in-
cidents—an error; of which one sees in the principle a sen-
timent praiseworthy in itself, but ill directed ; in short, an
error which served the Usurper in nothi.g, which profited
nothing to the person committing it—is such an error any
other than afatgl mistake?
" Far from having formed airy conspiracy, Marshal Ney,
notwithstanding his fault, had entered into none; that he
was sincere in his promises to the king; that be only yielded
to the irresistible influence of the safety of the State, which
was in his opinion compromised by an impending civil war;
that his hands remained pure, his character independent,
and inaccessible to all the seductions of personal interest :
that rite first moment it was possible to repair his error, while
there still was. danger in pronouncing ai;ainst the Usurper,
and in favour of the legitimate Sovereign, the Marshal did
not hesitate to lay open his whole soul, and to vote that
France should adopt the course of submission."

.
bst THE NATIoNikr, Ittalspk.
-
advaninge •of general civilisation ;an able direction of the peblic edu- all the horn of a 6111
can.l. Will So.ni nitaiii this important object ; manners *ill resume the triumph er the Mai
also their 4uft empire; the lure of country mill revive at the fitst aspect
After some tempts to
-PL..
of a new prosperity ; the necessity of union will arise out of our misfor-
tunes, and the necessity of relieving them. It is to this union. It is to ceeds to statfiluat the ht
the good it will produce, that we shall owe a new public spirit. of grievanceitiirwhich was
his swearing that his sole
.....
,: ..-• l'i Arl ' ' 1 evils he had izflicted on
M L ''o".
ARSHA HEY, ;' ,0;:,1:341 mt
-i us projects. 44§00n after
—m.-- .
. " Marshal retirod to his est.