The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-05 00:00:00

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two
when Soult, at the head of a numerous and well-appointed army, was
contesting inch by inch the possession of Spain with the British, he
himself, at the head of upwards of half a million of men, was pene-
trating into the wastes of Russia, and planting the eagles of France
on the Kremlin of Moscow I
On the Emperor's return from his fatal Russian expedition,
Marshal Soult was recalled from Spain to support his master's
tottering, throne in Germany. He was present at the great battle
Of ntaltZell, where fortune bestowed almost her last smile on
the
~ foremost man of all the world ;
news of the decisive defeat at Vittoria. This intelligence occa-
sioned " and at Dresden heard the
Napoleon a world of embarrassment. He saw that southern
France
was uncovered, and that it was necessary for him, without
loss of time, to send one of his ablest Marshals to check the career
of the triumphant Wellington. He accordingly summoned Soult
into
and ordered him instantly to return to Spain.
But no•
better fortune attended the Duke of. Dalmatia on this,
into
his presence,
was to relieve Pampeluna, but he was twice repulsed
the
his last campaign in the Peninsula, than on his former ones. His
first effort
and perceived that he could neither pievenethe invasion of
nor retard for any length of time the advance of the Allies.
yt reh;
did not despair, nor relax in his endeavours to fulfil his
instructions; but held out with unshrinking resolution to the last.
For
successive days he defended his intrenched camp at
ycnne, with a skill and
Austerlitz,;intreidy • worthy of the hero who had
fought and conquered at he assailed the Allies furiously
at Orthez, but was defeated and made his last desperate stand under
the walls of Toulouse, where his unlucky star again prevailed.
By this time the Imperial dynasty 'was at an end. The Prus.
sians, the Austrians, the Russians, and even the wild Cossack from
the banks of the Don and the' Wolga, were encamped in Paris ' •
Napoleon had signed his abdication ; and the Bourbons after an
exile of twenty years, during which they seemed to have learned
nothing, and to have forgotten nothing, were again on the throne of
France. Such being the state of affairs, Soult felt that he had no
other resource left than to give in his adhesion to Louis, which he
accordingly did, though, to his honour be it said, he was one of the
last to desert the standard of his old master, and submit to the ne-
cessity of the times.
The Bourbons who were well acquainted with his high and rare
military : qualities, confirmed him in his rank and dignities ; en-
trusted him with the command of the thirteenth military divi-
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sion of Brittany ; and soon aPerwards , gave him the portfolio of
King and his Courtiers fled at midnight in the utmost trepida-
ttiollihn.eohewneinFs frog', the Tuileries ; the Imperial - Eagle once more usurped
the place of, the Bourbon Lilies ; and Soult, throwing up his alle-
giance to Louis, was persuaded to accept from Buonaparte the
dignity of Peer and the functions of Major-General. In this
last capacity he was present at the battle of Waterloo—that
bloody conflict where, to adopt the forcible expression of Lannes,

applied to Montebello, " bones were cracking in every division
like hail rattling on a sky-light ;" and whose results were as fatal
to the flower of the French army as was that of Roncesvalles,
" When Charlemagne and all his peerage fell
By Fontarabia."
This event closed Soult's military, and for a time, his official
career. Banished from France, he retired to the Duchy of Berg,
his wife's native country, where he remained three years, occupying
his leisure in the composition. of his own Memoirs, which, it is to
be hoped, he will one day. give to the world. With his acknow-
ledged strength of understanding, his cool, dispassionate judgment,
his varied experience, and his long, and intimate acquaintance with
those illustrious military and political characters who, for the last
twenty years and upwards,' have exercised so mighty an influence
on the affairs of the Continent—we can conceive no personal Me-
moirs of so deeply interesting a nature, or so full of valuable
materials for some future historian of the Revolution, the Consulate,
and the Empire.

In 1819, Soult received permission to return to France, and in
the year 1821—Napoleon being then consigned to his rocky grave
in St. Helena—his Marshal's baton was restored to him. From
this time down to the period of•the expulsion of Charles the Tenth,
he took little or no part in public zi ffairs ; but on the elevation of Louis
Phillippe to the throne, he accepted a high post in the Ministry, the
duties of which—and they were exceedingly onerous, and full of, dif-
ficulties, France being then in quite a volcanic state—he discharged
with a zeal, a fearlessness, and an alacrity which were only to be
exceeded by his discretion and sagacity.

The Marshal is now in his sixty-ninth year. He is—as Allan
Cunningham rightly says—" a noble, martial-featured man, tall
and vigorous"—one of the most imposing relics of the empire—in-
deed almost the only remaining specimen of a race of military
giants now fast passing away. The grand scenes, in which he has
played so prominent a part are already matters of history—a cir-
cumstance which renders it impossible for even the most unreflecting
person to behold him without emotion. His present visit to Eng-
land is a most auspicious one ; and will, we are sure, be attended
with the happiest results to both countries. , It is a bow of promise
to warn both nations that the season of storms has passed off from
the horizon.' Why, indeed, should France and Great Britain hence--
forth be otherwise than in strict amity with each other ? They are
foremost in the career of civilization ; they hold equal rank among
the kingdoms of Europe; the desire to' obtain the blessings of an
enlightened and well-regulated freedom is common to both of
them ; and there is nothing in the history of the last tremendous
war, hat should prevent them entertaining the profoundest respect
for each other. As.for Waterloo, "La jeune France" can scarcely
cherish any rankling enmity to England on that score ; for, since
that event occurred, the principal actors—with one illustrious ex-
ception—have quitted the stage of life, and a new generation has
sprung up, imbued with far other feelings, and engrossed by far
different interests.

GENIUS, AN ODE