The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-02 00:00:00

is very apparent; but this is a fault common to all gene-
rals. Of the results Napier speaks Iwriting of the
rout of Baya, in 1811, he says--06 H. c
eroitis
to refrain from aAdtmAiriinhguerSaouhlte'sl
battles upon human record, and that at
foa
mil thede moment whoa
the King, by abandoning his, throne, head doubled every
embarrassment. Nevertheless, holdingfast
he still maintained the struggle,tnadura, to Est:v.
taking the offensive, obliged the allies to repnd
ass thet'i l
f
Guadiana. If he did not then push his fortune to
still
s
the utmost it must be considered that his
com-
mand was divided, that his troops wen©
pressed with the recollection of Albucra, at:d that I.th -
genius of his adversary had worked out new troubiLe
tor him in Andalusia. With how much resolution and
activity he repressed those troubles I have just shown;
but, above all things, he is to be commended for the
prudent vigour of his administration, which, in despite
of the opposition of Joseph's Spanish counsellors, had
impressed the Andalusians with such a notion of his
power and resources that no revolt of any real conse-
quence took place, and none of his civic guards or Es-
copeteros failed him in the hour of need. Let any man
observe the wide extent of country he had to maintain,
the frontiers fringed, as it were, with hostile armies, the
ieterior suffering under war requisitions, the people
secretly hating the French, a constant insurrection in the
Rends, and a national government and a powerful army
in the Isla de Leon, innumerable English and Spanish
agents, prodigal of money and of arms, continually insti-
eeting the people of Andalusia to revolt, the coast co-
vered with hostile vessels, Gibraltar sheltering beaten ar-
mies on one side, Cadiz on another, Portugal on a third,
Siurcia on a fourth, the communication with Franco diffi-
cult, two battles lost, few reinforcements, and all the
:neural! means to be created in the country—let any
Inui, I say, consider this and he will be convinced that
it was no common genius that could remain unshaken
amidst such difficulties. Yet Soult not only sustained
himself, but contemplated Aka most giganticoffensiventerprises, and was at all times an adversary to be
Treaded. What though his skill iu actual combat was
not so remarkable as in some of his contemporaries, who
ean deny him firmness, activity, vigour,
foresight, grand
perception,and admirable'arrangement? It is teas combi-
eation of high qualities tliat forms a great captain." Scull,
Beyond all question, was something very much more
Shan a great general. A " great captain" is a man who
:an govern as well as fight. Soult was capable of
leroioally grand resolutions. His determination to act
m the offensive when sent by Napoleon to keep the
English from crossing the Pyrenees, and when any
ether general would have cautiously trimme I, was
certhy of a lieutenant of that Emperor, who, after the
lisasters of Russia, was ready to face all Europe, and
raced it by advancing on the allies. Soult was essen-
tially a soldier of heroic proportions. His silent re-
serve, his taciturn firmness, his inexorable resolution,
awed his army into adequate instruments for his pur-
poses. He never knew when ho was beaten, and never
Wowed his troops to think defeat possible. When he
issued his proclamation in 1813 he addressed soldiers
who had been routed at Talavera, at Ciudad Rodrigo, at
Salamanca, at Vittoria, and at Albuera; and he knew
.bat whatever might be his successes ultimate destruc-
don was inevitable. Yet he spoke in the same tone as
ehen, in 1809, after driving Moore to his ships, he was
Marching into Portugal in the belief that at the end of
eis march he would find a throne.
• Soult was absent from Spain during the time Lord
Wellington was most successful. It may be that had ho
been at Vittoria he would have fared as badly us
iarmont; but it is a fact that Spain was lost to the
Emperor while Soult was with the Emperor. Souls
was withdrawn in consequence of the complaints made
by King Joseph. Joseph had written to his bro-
'her to say that either he (Joseph) or Soult must
quit Spain. Soult, he said, was a man not to be trusted:
• restless, intriguing, ambitious, he would sacrifice
everything to his own advancement, and possessed just
hat sort of talent which would lead him to mount a
scaffold when he thought he was ascending a throne."
Phis was the representation, in reference to one of his
greatest commanders, which greeted Napoleon just as
he reached Paris from Moscow. " In the most calm
and prosperous state of affairs," says Napier, " coming
from this source, the charges might well have excited
the jealous wrath of the strongest mind; but in the ac-
tual crisis, when the Emperor had just lost his great
army, and found the smothering embers of a suppressed
conspiracy at his very palace gates—when his friends
were failing and his enemies accumulating, it seems
scarcely possible I that these accusations should not
lave proved the ruin of Soult. Yet they did not even
ruffle the temper of Napoleon. Magnanimous as ho
was sagacious, he smiled at the weakness of Joseph,
and though he removed Soult from Spain because
,ho feud between him and the King would not
permit them to serve beneficially together, it was
only to make him the commander of the
Imperial Gourd." The withdrawal was only for a time.
Sault was with Napoleon, serving him faithfully at
Rau zen, and at Dresden. But there came the news o:
Vittoria. Southern France was uncovered to Welling-
WO. Only two men were fit, in Napoleon's estimate, to
meet Wellington—Napoleon and Soult. He could not go
nimselta he sent Sonic. I.; was a great mission and a
nigh trust, and Soult was worthy of the confidence re-
posed in his genius and in his honour. He lost at San
Sebastian, at Orthez, and at Toulouse. Then there
reached him the news that the Emperor had abdicated.
He did not even then submit. There was it truce and he
paused. None knew which course he would take. At
last he submitted. Perhaps net because he despaired of
Napoleon. With a rugged outward indifference to all
changes he now became a loyalist. Like other mar-
shals he consented to be courted by Louis the
Eighteenth. The moat 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
Souls, as far as he can be comprehended at all, in his po-
litical actions had only one rale to steer by—to assist
the strongest. He had no " principles," in our accep-
tation of " principles," was neither a republican, a
royalist, nor an imperialist. He found himself, in 1814, in a
dilemma. Immediate retirement was hardly possible:
and the temptations to maintain his position, for per-
manent good government ,under the Bourbons, if that
were possible, or for the purpose of afterwards aiding
Napoleon, if that were possible, were very great. He
was too sagacious to believe that the Bourbons could
maintain themselves; and he was not of that class of
men who disclaim expediencies in pursuit of their objects,
or even to confess their objects. Ho had a faith in and
a love for Napoleon, there is no doubt; and if he did
not become Minister at War to Louis XVIII. for the
very purpose of betraying Louis XVIII., it is very
certain that he did not hesitate to desert his
former chief the moment the news arrived
that Napoleon had landed from Elba. He preferred,
like all soldiers, the winning side: and on Napoleon's
side he saw not only the best chance, but the aide on
whioh his natural leanings placed him. Ile had, how-
ever, ceased to be Minister, or connected with the Go-
vernment at all, when he rejoined Napoleon; and hence
his escape from the dangers of which Ney was the
victim. He 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 lost. There is no need to particularise
this portion of the history.
After Waterloo Soult was, perforce, patient. There
could bo no second return of the Emperor; and the Bour-
bons were not disposed to trust him again, had he been dis-
posed to trust them. He fled from France, taking shelter
in Berg, and there he remained three years, it is said,
writing his military memoirs, and probably little ex-
pecting that only half his career had been accomplished.
During this time he appears to have conciliated the new
powers in France. He had friends at Paris, and be was
still too powerful, if only as a name, for his friendship
to be forgotten. In 1819 he obtained the royarpermis-
sion to return to France, and in 1821, so far had he suc-
ceeded in disarming resentments, his Marshal's baton
was returned to him. Ho was now again on the scene—
a political personage—potent for good or evil. He, how-
ever, maintained a wary reserve. At this period there
were no alternatives in France. The empire was gone,
the Duke of Reichstadt was a child, the Duke of Orleans
dwelt in decencies, and no man dreamed of another Re-
public. France was humbled, passive, broken down;
and, so far, the restored Princes were without enemies,
and without fears. It was a time of transitions; and so
much, without seeing the result, every man could see.
Marshal Soult held aloof, reposing on his laurels, and
enjoying the homage of society. But events marched;
there was still vitality in wounded and suffering France.
s
new
a hede:ryTma
a'haneddhLe
Charles
A new
gte
ahreign,rto yefengs supposing
in
and
unslidniBn age
Charlesan t , t h
ac t
couldo m commenced
absolutehe
exist
enc eT d a n
emnt
too
hngae ehrt
le
mtihaiems tEeanki
the a Treensitshtepdu. s h
ce dh tahr
lee ds itffih
ee ul t
Tenth
t o ietxs
el
arai
mi t se.d 1 oweihlianmo-t
suffer my crown to be thrown into the mire."
the difficulty
But the
chambers resisted. M. de Ppoulisghne
its limits.
. Thlh.edocPhati
Vera: were dissolved. TyhteobeyondDuke
e
adeths
of Orleans gave a ball to the King
de Salvandy said that the ball was of Naples; and Da
for that the guests danced on a volcano.genuinely Neapolitan,
volcano
was met by a coup deka •
—a still fashionable
in these days. The ordiir enees came: tho Constitution
was suspended. The editors siened a protest. Marshal
Marmont took command of the ing's troops. Marshal
Mu's:flout was beaten, more soundly than at Vittoria,
and Louis Pnilippe became King. Then Marshal
There
ceases his reserve. The transition was pasasel Monarchyl
was a strong Government fur France at las,t,
";ind Itlarshai
surrounded by republican institutions;
Souls determined to make it stronger by leading to it
the prestige and power of his name and fame. Louis
,
Philippe sought him when he was
seeking Louis Phi-
lippe, and they soon came to terms. The Napoleon of I
1 e Napoleon of
Peace asked the aid of the lieutenant of she
War; and Marshal Soult because distinguished in France
and in Europe as the chief agent in the " English alli-
ance," and the boldest opponent of a war polic). The
Marshal joined the first Ministry of Casimir Pericr,
succeeding, in that post, to Marshal Gerard, anti being
somewhat awkwardly held responsible for the blunders
of his predecessor in sanctioning tho famous Gisquet
peculations—" un fusil Giequet" 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 sums-