The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-19 00:00:00

THE NEW TARIFF.

The following are the new duties which came into
operation on Monday, the 10th inst.:—
Beef, salted, Bs. per cwt.
Beef, fresh, or slightly salted, which was prohibited,
Bs. per cwt. from foreign countries, 2s. from British
cobni(-s.

Pork, salted (not hams), 83. rer cwt. from foreign
countries.

Pork, fresh, was prohibited, but now admitted at
Bs. per cwt. from foreign countries, and both only 2s.
per cwt. from British colonies.

Hams, which paid 285. per cwt. are now admitted
at 14s. per cwt.

Nutmegs now pay from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per lb.,
and after the sth of July, 1843, will pay 3s. 81 per
lb. from foreign, and 2s. 6d. British.
Onion Seed now pays ls. 6d. per lb., and after the
sth of July, 1843, will pay 20s. per cwt. from foreign
and 10s. from British colonies.

Timber or Wood---30s. per load of 50 cubic feet
and 255. after the 10th Oct., 1843, from foreign
countries, and Is. from British colonies.

Deals, Battens, Brands, or other timber, sawn, 38s.
per load of 50 cubic feet, and 325. after the 10th of
October, 1843, from foreign countries, and 2s. from
British colonies.

- Wood, planed, or otherwise dressed for use, 9d. per
foot of cubic contents, and further for every 1001.
value 10/. ; 7d. per foot after the 10th October, 1843,
from foreign countries, and from British possessions
only 51. for every 1001. value.
Oil, Train, and Blubber, the produce of foreign
fishing, now pays 261. 12s. per tun, and after the sth
July, 1843, will pay only 61. per tun from foreign
countries ; from British possessions, ls. per tun.
Oil, Spermaceti, pays 261. 12s. per tun, and after
the sth July, 1843, will pay 151. 10s. per tun, and be
free from British possessions.
Cork now pays Bs. per ton ; and after the sth of
July, 1843, it will pay ls. per ton.
Corks, ready made, pay 7s. per lb. ; and after the
sth of July, 1843, will pay Bd. per lb.
Whale Fins, of foreign fishery, pay 95/. per ton;
and after the sth of July, 1843, they will be admitted
on paying 201. per cent. on value.
EFFECTS OF THE TARIFF.—FAIRS, &c.

That part of Sir Robert Peel's tariff which relates
to the importation of butcher's meat came into opera-
tion on Monday, and we are informed that the whole
quantity of beef and pork takers .out of bond during
that and the following day in Glasgow, scarcely
amounted to fifty barrels. This appears to have been
taken out principally as samples, as the duty was paid
upon it in small lots of from three to five barrels each.
-Scottish (Glasgow) Guardian.
THE 'TARIFF.-A gentleman farmer not two miles
from Aberystw ith, purchased at Lledrod fair, in Oct.
1841, nine head of cattle, and kept them well with
turnips, hay, &c., during the winter, and on excellent
grass through the summer, and at the last Lledrod
lair, held on the 7th instant, sold the nine, and had
only realised to his pocket for their excellent keep
the sum
-Carnarvon Herald.
The
beneficial of
effects of the new tariff have, we
ls.
congratulate the public, reached Bedford, by affording
to us excellens American salt beef at 4d. per 'lb.-
Bedford Mercury.
*FOREIGN PICKLED Poax.--Good pickled foreign
pork has been sold at Darlington at 3d. and 4d. per
lb. Pickled dried tongues were sold at 2d. per lb.
gininliiieiginthoabreitaenivtse of the
benefit.
" good old town ' are be-
nefit.
of Sir R. Peel's tariff.
Canadian and American hams and pork have been
offering in Halifax at low prices ; and on Thursday
the bellman announced the arrival of a boat-load of
fine white potatoes at 4d. per stone, or 4s. 6d. per load.
-Halifax Guardian.
Hula. FAIR.-Our annual fair for foals was held on
Tuesday, and was more numerously attended, both by
buyers and sellers, than has been the case for many
years. A good amount of business was done, at en-
couraging prices. Superior foals were not numerous,
sold readily at good
of horned cattle
and,price 1s) ifiri
from
le a2goelr. 1 yt
to
s2o6ulg. h tTahfet
shower,
was unusually large, including a considerable propor-
tion of Holstein mid other foreign breeds, a portion
only of which were sold at moderate prices.
Axminster fair, on Wednesday. was the fullest,
both of bipeds and quadrupeds that we ever remember
to have seen. The supply of sheep was particularly
abundant, upwards of 10,000 head having been penned.
Ewes varied in price from 245. to 375., and lambs
from 16s. to 21s. each. Fat mutton fetched sd. per
lb. The bullock fair may be pronounced good,
though the supply was by no means so large as we
have seen on former occasions. Best beef sold at 95.,
and lean stock at 6s. 6d. per score. Household cheese
realised as much as 285., but the general price was .
275. per cwt. ; raw milk cheese varied from 565. to
60s. per cwt. On the whole the fair was very dull,
and many sales of stock were effected at actual pecu-
niary loss to the sellers.-Western Times.
TAVISTOCK, FAIR, OCT. 12.-This is the largest
fair in the year, and, from the very fine weather, at-
tracted a greater number of visitors than on any
similar occasion for many years. The number of
both cattle and sheep was immense, and a great deal
of business was done, but at low rates.-Thid.
At Sweepwash fair, on the 6th instant, there were
not so many bullocks shown as on some former occa-
sions, but the greatest part were in fine condition ;
caws and calves in great demand, at from 11/. to 14/.
each ; steers, lease cows, &c., were rather a drug, but
several bargains were effected in these at prices cor-
responding with the neighbouring
fairs of late.-Ibid.
new pasture. The
MALTON MICHAELMAS CATTLE FAIR.-011 Tues-
dayai, m
r theirlieehwN‘as,
eraeveexrhyibnitueid numerous show
shshow of cattle at this
f
show of incalving cows and heifers was fair, and they
sold also at fair prices. There was a great number of
good
pricess t;e
of
fr s,
English thoughh
heifers
smtwere
es ollvd, and those at
supply,
lw
andn
good qualities sold at fair prices, though inferior sorts
were not inquired for. The show of Irish heifers
was numerous in quantity and excellent in quality;
in fact, the best . that have been exhibited for many
seasons, but they only met with a dull market. Ewes
and lambs experienced a bad trade, there being but
little demand for them, and, where sales were effected,
the prices were low indeed. Good turniping wethers
met with a fair demand at from sd. to 6d. per lb.
Altogether, it would appear there is either 'a scarcity
of money amongst the farmers, or they are afraid of
'laying it out under the
.present unfavourable and un-
settled aspect of affairs in the country.- York Herald.
BRAINTREE FAIR.-At this fair, which took place
se'nnight, there was a very
on Monday and Tuesday
full attendance, particularly the first day. The show
of beasts was larger than has been known for many
years, but the demand was by no means brisk, one-
third of the number being turned out unsold. Of
Welsh was very limited, compared
m
'2O to 25 per cent. lower than were obtained at the
last fair. The greatest depression was in the best
description of beasts, which hardly found a purchaser,
litehlsbbeasts
and they were nearly all moved off to Norwich. The
trade was very limited, at a depression, in many
former
lyboth kinds, prices were from
instances, in the price of ewes of from Bs. to 10s. each ;
keeping sheep, of which the supply was short, were
most in demand, and they obtained good prices.
Down ewes fetched from 21s. to 265. ; Down lambs,
from 12s, to 18s. ; half-bred Leicester lambs, 14s. to
205.; wethers, 265. to 325. 6d. About one-third of
the sheep left the field unsold.-Of hops there mas a
larger, supply than has been known for the last few
years, and they were, for the most part, of pretty
good quality. The sale was, however very limited,
the prices for those of Essex growth ranging between
4/. 10s. and 51. 125.; Kents, of which there were few
shown, 4/. 10s. to 51. 10s. A quantity of new Kent
and Essex were sold by auction, by Mr. Surridge,
and some of the latter realised 90. per lb. The
growth this year in Essex, we are informed, averaged.
from seven to eight cwt. per acre.
, -Hertford Chron.
AIR MICIIALMAS HORSE X'Ant.-This fair is being
held at the Nolt Faulds to-day (Thursday). It is a
dull market, the supply being very short, the quality
inferior, and the demand very
slack. This- at first
thought may seem remarkable, as keep
of all kinds is
both plenty and cheap ; but the languor that paralyses
business and trade, and the uncertainty that perplexes
the farmer, coupled with low p rices, continue to make
agriculturists keep as few idle beasts about them as
possible.-Ayr Advertiser.
The October fair of Nenagh was held on Monday
last, and was of the most cheerless character. It is
said to be the worst fair which had passed for many
years, there being a tolerably good stock for sale, but
few sales and purchasers, and ;
prices anythingbut
remunerative. Beef from 3i-d. to sd. per lb. Mil&
cows, 71. to 9/. 10s. ; heifers, 51. to 61, ; yearlings, 21.
to 31. 10s. ; wedders, 255. to 355.; ewes, 21s. to 325. ;
hoggetts, 18s. 6d. to 28s. ; lambs, 15s. to 18s. Gd. ;
pigs, 28s. to 325. per cwt.-Nenagh Guardian.
The fair of Tralee, on Monday, vvas well attended,
and an ample supply of every description of stock was
exhibited, but the farmers and graziers were loud in
their complaints of the low prices. On the other hand,
we consider it but fair to mention that the butchers
aver that these complaints are not well founded.
However, all parties agree that the average price of
horned beasts was fully. 1/. a head under last year's
prices at the October fair here. The sales were cer-
tainly limited, and it may with truth be said that this
fair afforded another of the many illustrations lately
exhibited that rents must be lowered, or the graziers
and farmers will be beggared. Store sheep fetched
from 6s. to Bs. ; fat ditto, 12s. to 155., and a few prime
ones 205.; good milch cows, 71. to 91.; inferior ditto,
6/. to 6/. 163. ; pigs, from 345. to 365. per cwt.-
Kerry Examiner.
At the fair of Charleville, beef rated at 38s. per cwt.,
and mutton sd. per lb., sinking offal. Mr. Keating
sold ten cows at 9/. 12s. 6d. ; Mr. Condon seven ditto
at 121. Mr. Keating ten ditto at 12/. ss.
-.....a........a55.aaann0m

Mr. Papineau is said to be in New York, on his
way to Canada. Mother .Rumour, the old hag with a
thousand tongues, gives him a birth as Deputy Post-
master-General of .Montreal.—Halifax United States
Paper.

THE TRIAL OF MARSHAL NEY.

(From the Edinburgh Review, just published.)
In the beginning of 1815, Marshal Ney was Go-
vernor of Besancon, but residing on his estate near
I Chateaudun, a town between Chartres and Orleans,
labout 80 miles from Paris. On the 6th of March he
received an order from Soult, then Minister of War,
' to proceed to Besancon. News travels slowly in
France ; though Bonaparte had been five days in
Provence, the fact was unknown at Chateaudun, and
Ney, curious as to the motive of the order, took Paris
in his road. He arrived on the 7th, and found M.
Batardy, his attorney, at his house waiting for him.
They arranged some private business, and Batardy,
surprised at Ney's making no allusion to what occu-
pied every mind in Paris, ventured to remark, "This
is a strange event." " What event ?" answered Ney.
"Don't you know," replied Batardy, "that Bonaparte
has landed at Cannes—that Monsieur proceeded this
morning to Lyons, and that you are ordered to your
government ?" At first Ney treated the news as in-
credible ; but when he was told that it was officially
stated in the illoniteur, he leant his head upon the
mantel-piece and exclaimed, " What a calamity 1—
what a horrible event ! What can be done ?—what
is there to oppose such a man as that ? Would he
have ventured to return unless he had relied on find-
ing here enemies to the Government ?"
' Ney went immediately to the Minister, and was
told that he would find his instructions at Besancon.
He then saw the King, made his memorable promise
to bring back. Bonaparte in a cage, left Paris for
Besancon, and appears to have arrived there during
the night between the 9th and 10th. The 10th he
employed in directing the forces under his control to
meet at Lons le Saulnier, a small town to the South
of Besancon, and to the east of the high-road from
Lyons to Paris. On the 11th he set out himself for
Lons le Saulnier. In:the mean time, Grenoble had
opened its gates to Bonaparte ; he had rushed forward
to Lyons, the second city in France, occupied by a
considerable force under Monsieur and Marshal Mac-
donald. The city and the garrison had received him
with enthusiasm ; Monsieur and Macdonald had been
forced-to fly • the trifling band with which he -had
landed had been swelled by the garrisons of Grenoble
and Lyons to more than 10,000 men, and was aug-
menting every day by the desertion rom the Royal
forces of individuals, companies, and even regiments.
On his road Ney met M. de St. Amour and M. de
Soren returning from Lyons, who described to him
the revolutionary madness which they had witnessed
in the people, and the cries of Vice 1' Empereur
which they had heard from the troops whom
they had met on their march. In the mom-
ing of the 12th he reached Lons le Saulnier.
During the whole of that day, and until the night of
the 13th, he appears to have been making active pre-
parations to attack Bonaparte, or at least to resist him.
The troops nominally under his order did not amount
to 5,000 men ; they were deficient in ammunition, and
scarcely provided with artillery—the artillery horses
having been hired by the farmers, and not to be found
when unexpectedly wanted. Bonaparte's proclama-
tions were scattered round, and seemed everywhere
to produce their intended effects. In the evening of
the 13th, Ney's spies informed him that Bonaparte,
preceding his own forces with an escort of only 40
men, had entered Macon in triumph ; that from
Macon to Bourg (which is only seven posts from
Loris le Saulnier) the whole country was in what the
French call exaltation, that even the villagers, and the
people in the fields, were crying Vivel'Empereur.
Ney's last acts on the lath were to make arrange-
ments—the prudence and details of which raised the
admiration of the peers at his trial—to write to Mar-
shals Suchet and Oudinot, who were co-operating
with him in support of the Royal cause. to communi-
cate his proceedings vend to require all the regimental
and non-commissioned officers of his small force
separately to swear before him to be faithful to the
Bourbons. It is to be observed that on this very
day, at a Council held in the Tuileries, it was ad-
mitted that resistance was hopeless—that not a soldier
would fire on his former Emperor, and that the only
debatable question was, in what direction the King
should fly.
Late in the night between the 13th and 14th, Ney
was guilty of his first breach of duty. He admitted
messengers from Bonaparte; they brought him a
letter from Bertrand, assuring him that Louis had
been been betrayed by his Ministers ; that troops de-
voted to Bonaparte had been posted along the road to
Paris, so as to ensure his advance without opposition ;
and that the whole enterprise had been concerted
with England and Austria. The folly of the last
statement ought not to revolt us, when we remember
that the successor to Napoleon was the grandson of
Francis, and that M. Berryer, who has passed his life
in estimating evidence, even now believes that we
effected Bonaparte's escape. Absurd as they really
were, they did not appear so to Ney. With Ber-
trand's letter came a proclamation ready prepared in
the name of Ney, in which he was made to declare
that the cause of the Bourbons was lost for ever, and
that liberty and Napoleon were triumphant. And
there came also orders from Bonaparte, expressed as
if the old relations between himself and Ney had
remained uninterrupted, and giving instructions in
the style which he had long been accustomed to obey.
Between three and four in the morning of the 146,
he was roused from his sleep by M. de Capelle, the
Prefect of Bourg, who had to tell him that one of his
regiments, the 76th, stationed at Bourg, had pro-
claimed Bonaparte ; that even the regiment at St.
Amour, which formed the advanced guard of the
small force at Lons de Saulnier, was preparing to go
over ; and that throughout the country the higher
classes were stupified, and the lower mad with revo-
lutionary excitement. This information appears to
have convinced him of the impossibility of further
opposition. " Can I stop," he said to M. de Capelle,
" with my hand the rising of the tide ?" A few hours
afterwards he ordered his troops to be called together ;
but before he took a decisive step, summoned the two
generals next him in command, De Bourmont and Le-
courbe, both of them supposed to be devoted to the
King, showed them the proclamation, repeated the
contents of Bertrand's letter, and asked their advice.
No fourth person was present. De Bourmont and
Lecourbe state that they urged him to remain faithful
to the King ; Ney maintains that they approved of
his joining Bonaparte. It is in favour of Ney's state-
ment that they both accompanied him to the parade,
where the troops were formed in square, stood on
each side of him while he read the proclamation,
heard it without any expression of dissent, and dined
with him the same evening. The dinner was silent
and melancholy. We fully believe Ney's account of
the effect produced on his own mind by the irrevocable
step which he had taken. " From the time of that
unhappy proclamation life was a burden to me ' • I
wished for nothing but death, and did all I could to
find it at 'Waterloo. A hundred times I was on the
point of blowing out my brains ; all that restrained
me was my wish to defend my character. I knew
that all honourable men must blame me—l blamed
myself. I did wrong, I admit it, but I was not a
traitor ; I was partly deceived, and partly carried
away."
Ney proceeded to meet Bonaparte at Dijon, and a
few days afterwards was ordered to visit the northern
and eastern frontier, from Lille to Landau, to ascer-
tain the state of the fortresses and hospitals ; and to
publish everywhere that Bonaparte had returned
under a treaty between himself, England, and Austria
—stipulating that he was never to carry on war be-
yond the frontier of France; that he was to give
France a liberal constitution ; and that his wife and
child were to remain as hostages in Vienna until he
had performed all the positive parts of his engage-
ment. Having executed his mission, he retired into
the country, and took so little part in the transactions
of April and May, that when, on the Ist of June, he
appeared at the 'ceremony f the acceptance of the
new Constitution, Bonaparte told him that he thought
he had emigrated. " I ought to have done so lOng
ago," answered Ney; "now it is too late."
He returned after the battle of Waterloo to Paris ;
and by his bold exposition in the Chamber of Peers,
on the 22d of June, of the real facts and consequences
of the battle, materially assisted in driving Bonaparte
from power. In that speech Ney maintained that the
allies would be before Paris in a week. His predic-
tion was accomplished ; and on the morning of the 3d
of July it seemed probable that, before the evening, a
battle would have been fought,' more disastrous to
France, and particularly to Paris, than any event in
the history of the French nation. Davoust, who com-
manded the army defending the town, had a large body
of infantry (80,000 men, according to M. Berryer),
25,000 cavalry, and between 400 and 500 pieces of
field artillery—a force insufficient for victory, but suf-
ficient to maintain a contest destructive of the city in
which it was to take place. Already the firing had
begun, when the Provisional Government and Davoust
sent to propose a negotiation; of which the bases were
to be the entry of the allied forces, on the one hand,
and the preservation of Paris and the security of all
who inhabited it, on the other. On these terms the
i, Convention of the 3d of July, 1815, was framed ; and
ratified by the Duke of 'Wellington and 131ucher on
the part of the allies, and by Davoust on the part of
the Provisional Government. The twelfth article
provided that all the inhabitants, and generally all
persons found in Paris, should continue to enjoy all
their rights and liberty, and should not be liable to
any molestation or inquiry whatsoever with relation
to their functions, to their conduct, or to their politi-
cal opinions. It appears, from the evidence of Gene-
ral Guilleminot, one of the negotiators of.the Conven-
tion, that this was the clause to which the defenders of
Paris attached the most importance. Had it been re-
fused, he was to break off the discussion, nd the battle
would have commenced.
Relying on the protection given to him by the Con-
vention, Ney remained in Paris till the 6th of July,
and continued in France until the 3d of August,
when he was arrested on a charge of treason, and
ordered to be tried by a court-martial, comv•ising
among its members four of the Marshals of 1 ranee.
1 Ney protested against the jurisdiction of such a tri-

bunal, and the Court, unfortunately, as M. Berryer
thinks, for the prisoner, declared itself incompetent.
The cause, therefore, was transferred to the House
of Peers, the Court appointed by the charter for the
trial of treason. The object of Ney's counsel was to
gain time. They knew, from the experience of thirty-
live years of revolution, that political resentment is a
passion ss fleeting as it is fierce; and that, if a delay
of a few months could be obtained the Government
would no longer have the courage to execute him, nor
indeed the wish. For this purpose they endeavoured
to show, that although the charter rendered treason
cognisable by the House of Peers, yet it laid down no
rules by which the House was to be governed when
sitting as a Court of criminal justice; and they re-
quired that the trial should be suspended until a law
regulating the procedure of the House should have
been passed. M. Berryer's speech is an admirable
specimen of legal and constitutional reasoning; and
indicates, with great sigacity, the errors into which
such a tribunal, unless supported and directed by
strict regulations, would be likely to fall. The House,
hoWever, after a secret deliberation of an hour and a
half, decided that the trial should go on. Objections
were then raised to the indictment, and though they
were over-ruled, so much time was gained, that the
House, which had met for the trial on Nov. 11, did
not really begin it till Dec. 4.
In the meantime, Ney had applied to the Ministers
of the Allied Powers, and required them to interfere,
and prevent the Convention of the 3d of July from
being violated in his person. Their answer, drawn
up by the Duke of Wellin.gton, and adopted by the
Ministers of Austria and Prussia, stated that "the
object of the 12th article was to prevent the adoption
of any measure of severity, under the military autho-
rity of those who made it, towards any person in
Paris, on account of the offices which they had filled,
or their conduct, or their political opinions ; but it
was not intended, and could not be intended, to pre-
vent either the existing French Government, or any
French Government which should succeed to it, from
acting in this respect as it might deem fit."
In this extremity Madame Ney sought the aid of
Lord Holland, a name illustrious throughout Europe
as the friend of the oppressed. She requested him to
lay Ney's memorial before the Prince Regent. It
was done; but the only effect was a letter from Lord
Liverpool, referring her to the communication al-
ready made to her husband by the Duke of Wellins-
- Lord Holland, however, did not yet despair.
He still thought that the Duke of Wellington's in-
terference might be obtained, and must be decisive;
and in that hope he addressed to their common friend,
Lord Kinnaird, then at Paris, a letter which was to
be shown to the Duke. What effect it might have
had cannot be told. It arrived the day after the sen-
tence had been executed. As this admirable letter
has never been published, we cannot resist the temp-
tation of extracting some of its most material pas-
sages

" Middleton, Dec. 5, 1816.
" Dear Kintaird,—What is passing at Paris annoys
me more than I can describe. For La Valette, on
the score of private acquaintance, though slight, I am
much concerned ; but from regard to the character of
our country, and to that of the Duke of Wellington
(in whom, after the great things he has done, even as
decided an opponent of the war as myself must feel a
national interest), I have conceived more horror at
the trials and executions going on in the teeth of our
capitulation than mere humanity could create.
How can such a man as Wellington assert that
the impunity for political conduct extends only to im-
punity from the Allies for offences committed against
them? When ships, when garrisons surrender, do
the captains or commanders stipulate that the foreign
conqueror shall not molest them for their political
exertions ? With or without such stipulations, what
shadow of right has a foreign enemy to punish indi-
viduals for opinions held or conduct pursued in their
own country ? It is clear that the impunity promised
was impunity for crimes, real or supposed, against a
French Government. If the French Government was
a party to that promise, by that promise it must
abide; if not, the other Allies are bound in honour
not to deliver over a town taken in virtue of it,
without exacting the same terms from those to
whom they deliver it. Such, perhaps, is the formal,
technical way of putting the argument. Practi-
cally and substantially the case, if not more striking,
is yet more conclusive to men of justice and honour.
The Allies have virtually, I might say formally,
too, been masters of Paris, while the persons who de-
livered it to them on the faith of impunity for politi-
cal offences have for political offences been impri-
soned, tried, condemned, and executed! Wellington
has himself precluded all doubt on the question. He
maintained, in his letter to Lord Castlereagh, that
there is no article in the capitulation securing to the
town of Paris the pictures and statues ; and therefore
he argues, and he acts on his argument, that the Al-
lies may seize the pictures, &c., and seize them with-
out any fresh or formal cession from Louis XVIII.
Up to that time, then, the Allies, according to him,
were in military possession of Paris, and up to that
time, therefore, even upon his own view of the sub-
ject, the inhabitants were entitled to claim impunity
for all political opinions and conduct. Those who had
the right and the power of taking forcibly from Paris
property not specified or disposed of in the capitula-
tion, notwithstanding the nominal government of
Louis XVIII., must surely have a right to enforce on
any such nominal and dependent Government the ob-
servance of the promises on the faith of which the in-
habitants had surrendered the town.

"Technical arguments may possibly be urged on
both sides ; and, though they appear to me all in
favour of Ney's claim, it is not on them I lay stress,
but on the obvious and practical aspect of the transac-
tion, as it must strike impartial men and posterity.
The plain relation of the events in history will be this.
A promise of security was held out to the inhabitants
of Paris—they surrendered the town, and while
Wellington and the Allies were still really in posses-
sion of it, Labedoyere was executed, and Ney was
tried for political opinions and conduct. Even of sub•
sequent executions, and I fear there will be many, it
will be said—the Allies delivered over their authority
in Paris to a French Government, without exacting
an observance of the stipulations on whichi they had
originally acquired it.
" Had we taken Martinique in 1794, on a promise
of not molesting individuals for political opinions
or conduct, should we have been at liberty to cede
it, had Louis XVIII. been then restored,
without insisting on the impunity of all po-
litical offenders; or, at the very least, on the
right of leaving the country for all such as might
have so offended ? In Egypt the French stipulated
that no natives should be molested for their conduct or
opinions during the war. We took military posses-
sion of the country on these terms, and then delivered
it over to the political authority of the Ottoman
Porte. When, however, the Capitan Pacha, acting
under that authority, began murdering the Beys, and
proceeding against the adherents of the French, we
not only remonstrated and threatened, but actually
protected the persecuted men within our own lines.
Yet, by reference to the history of those times, we
find that many blamed Lord Hutchinson for not
having recourse to yet more violent methods, to en-
force on the legitimate political authority the observ-
ance of engagements entered into by our military
power on taking military possession of the country.
" What would Wellington himself have said, if the
British troops had surrendered any town in Spain to
the French with a similar stipulation, and if, on the
flimsy and " hypocritical subterfuge of a distinction
between Joseph's Government and the French mili-
tary authorities, all the Spaniards who had assisted
us during, the siege had been prosecuted for treason
against Joseph ? Yet, where is the distinction ?
" The want of principle and consistency, and the
disgusting changes of the Marshals, have, I know,
steeled men's minds to their sufferings. This is na-
tural enough. But when the violence of the times is
gone by, and, above all, when the tomb has closed on
' their offences, the transaction will be judged with re-
ference to the nature of the promise, not to the'con-
duct or misconduct of the sufferers. Si ego digna in-
quain faceres, to tainen indignus qui feceris, Pamphik.
" Nor is this all. If we judge by former instances,
even the crime itself will be regarded with more in-
dulgence by posterity than any irregular mode of
punishing it. Allowance for individuals is made in
all great changes. It is difficult in sudden
oemer-
gencies and great convulsions of state, especially for
tr
professional men whose lives have been passed in
camps, to weigh maturely all the considerations by
which their conduct should, in the strict line of duty,
be regulated. Unforeseen cases occur, _anrdeed m. en
i of
good principles and understanding are fiunto
acts of inconsistency and political immorality.
"In this latter view of the subject, 1 know I am
somewhat singular. Few at present ma_ke such allow-
ances for the political tergiversations of the Marshals ;
and many, more indulgent than I am in their judg-
.vditiffih
ciunl-t
judg-
ment of political apostacy in England, are quite out-
rageous with Frenchmen for not acting
flexible principle in the most trying and
circumstances. Some, however, anion the most in-
dignant at their crimes, yet doubt the justice, policy,
and safety of punishing them ; and, more especial!
y
among the moderate of all parties, think the claim
of
the capitulation conclusive ; or, if not quite so of a
nature questionable enough to induce Welling ton, for
the preservation of his own and the national character,
to give it the construction most favourable to the
weaker party.
" My opinion is of no importance ' • but it is so
strong that I could not resist expressing it to you,
who have access to those whose character is most
in-
terested in forming a sound one on this important
subject. I have not spoken of La Vallette. All my
arguments apply in his favour as strongly as in Ney's;
and surely he is not, as others may be, any object of
a bystander's indignation. He seems an honourable
man throughout. Your's ever truly,
" VASSALL HOLLAND."
The progress of the trial had been comparatively
rapid. In two sittings, on the sth and 6th of De-

cember, each party proved satisfactorily their prin-
cipal points; the accusers, that the treason ws
legally completed—the defenders, that the crime In
been unpremeditated. But when M. Berryer open( 1
the real defence, the Convention of the 3d of Jul. ,
he was interrupted by the Counsel for the Crow, .
M. Bellart, their leader, protested against any allu-
sions to a Convention, the conditions of which
been demanded by rebels, and had never been ac •
cepted by the King ; and he presented to the Hou:As
a requisition, by which he formally opposed the ret,. -
ing of the Convention, and any allusion to it, a: 1
required the House, by the Chancellor, its Preside! ,
to order Marshal Ney and his defenders to confi;
their defence to the mere facts of the indictment.
The Chancellor, speaking in the name of the House,
answered that, foreseeing the line of defence the ;
would be adopted, he had already taken the opinie t
of the House; and that the Peers had decided, by
large majority, that it would be be highly improp
to rely in:that House on a Convention to which t_va
King was no party, and by which it was obvious, fru. J.
the mere fact of Ney's prosecution, that his Majes.t,"
did not consider himself bound. He therefore foi •
bade the defenders to make_anyuse of the Conventio: .
Ney's counsel replied, that they bowed to the will (
the King, and to the decision which the Court, withoi
hearing them, had thought fit to adopt; but that th.fr
felt bound to offer a plea to the jurisdiction of tha
Court—namely, that Sarre Louis, the birth-place e r
their client, having been ceded to Prussia, he was 1. a
longer a subject of France.
Here, however, the counsel were interrupted by Nev-..
" No !" he exclaimed, "I was born a Frenchman-
I will die a Frenchman. Up to this time my defent
has been free, but I now see that it is to be fetters
I thank my generous defenders for the exertions will( a
they have made, and which they are ready to make ;
but I had rather have no defence than the mere shade e.
of one. If, when I am accused in the teeth of a solen
treaty, I am not allowed to appeal to it, I must app sd
to Europe and to posterity."
" Gentlemen, counsel for the prisoner," said Cs
Chancellor, "continue your defence within the lire '.ll
which I have prescribed."
"My Lord," said Ney, "I forbid my
.counsel
sHa yo
uasne o‘tvhheart
w. You
yYo hr
nkfi t;Excellency
buta
smtaoy give ve
coupstt 1.
1 ,e
they may go on if they are free, but if they are to
be restrained by your limits I forbid them to spP: k.
You see," he said, turning to M. Berner, who v 119
anxious to continue, " that it is a decided thing. I
had rather have no defence than one chalked out ly
my accusers."

" Then," said M. Beßart, we waive our right;
reply; if the defence is at an end, so is the accusa'iic a.
We have only to demand the judgment of the Com!,;."
" Have you anything to add ?" said the Chancell or,
turning to the prisoner and his counsel.
" Nothing whatever," replied Ney, in rather an
patient tone.
The Chamber was then cleared, and the Peers alc (le
remained in deliberation ; the result of their ( <e-
liberation, and of the attempts afterwards made to
obtain a pardon, are too notorious to require repetiti m.
The execution of Ney was one of the grossest far Its
of the Restoration ; his crime was great, but, as wee
have seen, it was not premeditated ; only a few licr tra
elapsed between his active fidelity and his treason : it
was the effect of the pressure of circumstances of
traordinary difficulty and perplexity on a mind un: be-
customed to balance conflicting motives.