The National Register.
London, England, 1811-11-24 00:00:00

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9.4, Igll.

N°. 204.

POLITICAL DISQUISITION.

No. 191.

GENERAL SARRAZIN.

This celebrated soldier has lately laid aside the
sword, with which he used to combat the enemies
of France, and taken up the pen to wield against,
what he. terms, his personal foes, resident in Great
Britain. In the list of those whom this literary
champion has considered hostile to his vies s, we
find not only his Majesty's Ministers, but the prin-
cipal Newspapers published in London, whether
they are the supporters, or the opposers of the mea-
sures of Government. An attack so general in its
nature, and against such powerful opponents, indi-
cates no timidity of mind, and bespeaks a coiyielence
in himself atleast, that the cause which he main-
tains, is the cause of truth, and that the wrongs of
which he complains, ire something more than ima-
ginary. It was, therefore, to be expected, if Gene-
ral SATUIAZIN determined to lay:his case before
the
,public, that lie had it in his power to exhibit
proofs sufficient to support his averments, and to
cre-ate an interest in his fate. In adverting to The
Philosopher published by the General, it is not our in-
tention to advocate the cause of cotemporary journal-
i..;ts whom he may have attacked ; we leave this task to
themselves, because it properly belongs to them, and,
it is to be presumed, they can acquit themselves
better in-it than a third party. As, however, it is
not very probable that Ministers will feel themselves
at lii;elty to answer the charges thrown out against
them in The Philosopher, we shall examine a little
into their nature, and into the proofs brought _for-
ward in support of them by the General. The most
prominent feature in these charges, is the accusa-
t;on, that " after haying had the most brilliant pro-
mises" made him, and " being not only invited, hut
dragged from the camp of Boulogne," he had been
so " ill-treated" in England, as to be obliged to
seek for the " means of subsistence" in the employ.
silent of his pen. This is undoubtedly a heavy
charge, and, if true, would certainly militate greatly
against Ministers ; but although we have carefully
perused the work of SAIMAZIN, and anxiously look-
ed for the documents to support it, we have not been
able to discover a vestige of evidence of its truth,

PRICE 96:

himself, which are numerous enough, are to be re-
garded in that light. At the end of the preface to
44 The Philosopher" he has published several letters,
mostly written by himself, one of which he appears
to have addressed to Marquis WELLESLEY ; but
we do nor-find that he has laid before the public a
single document, by which it appears that he was
invited to this country, far less dragged to it, by
Ministers, or by any person else. The charge,
therefore, appears to us unfounded, and we are
afraid it will he viewed in the same light by the
public, until the General brings forward some
better evidence of its truth than his own ipse
But we strongly suspect that the General has al-
ready admitted sufficient to show, that he never
was, in reality, invited to this country. In •the
outset of his 44 Reply to Critics," he explicitly
states :••••-•.." I had quitted France to avoid humilia-
tion and poverty, for as such I could not but con-
sider the obligation of serving under the orders of my
former Aides-de-Camp, and to subsist merely upon
my appointments." Here then is a very sufficient
and tangible reason assigned by the General
for his abandoning - France. Unless, , therefore,
he can produce positive proofs of his be-
ing led to take this step on the solicitation
of Ministers, we cannot hold that he was influenced
by any other rn,,tive than that most powerful of all
motives, .6 to avoid humiliation and poverty."—
Besides, it cannot fail to be remarked, that, in the
General's letters to Marquis WELLESLRY, to Mr.
CROKER, and to Mr. R VEVES, in which he strongly
urges his supposed claims against Government, he
is en•irely silent as to the charge now brought for.
ward, that he was invited, nay dragged, into the
service of this country. Had this part of his state-
ment been true, he could not have brought forward
a more powerful or successful plea in support of
his claims. It was, indeed, the only thing which
could afford him a pretence for demanding support
from this country. It is impossible, therefore, to
believe he would have emitted it on an occasion so
critical, had his statement been founded on truth.
With regard to the .6 brilliant promises" which,
he says, were made to induce him to leave
France, the General's silence upon these in the let-
ters to which we have referred, proves equally fatal
to his story. Neither can we believe that Ministers
mad, brilliant promises," or ma

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unless indeed the renewed statements of the ~ . „- ;- .uld have made " brilliant promises, or eyea
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