Star.
London, England, 1830-09-25 00:00:00

MEMOIR OF MARSHAL BOUEMONT.

Ltuts Count de Bnurmont first saw the light in the Chateau Bow.
mo a, in the province of Anjou, where the family had long been settled.
ti-niic yet a 1),,y he evinced a taste for a military life, and accordingly
find him an officer its the French Guards before the Revolution. At
that period lie, in common with many others of the adherents of the
Bourbon dynasty, emigrated. He served with the army of the Prince
de Condi., rose to the rank of Major-General in the Royalist Vendean
army, under Scepeau, and commanded in the Maine and the adjacent
insurrectionary distticts. He frequently went over on that service to
Englavd ; presettitts'. himself to Count d'Artois in 1796; and, although
under the prescribed ake. was rewarded with the Cordon of St. Louis,
for his services h. the Royalist cause.
Zr. 1799, his character first began to appear in an equivocal point of
v+ew. He at first refused to accede to a treaty made with the Royalists
by General Hi:dont-Me ; but, notwithstanding his apparent reluctance,
asoi his show of devotion to the Royalist cause, he is believed to have
is4heattd where certain guns and succours, furnished from England,
rem concealed. He subsequently professed himself attached to the new
order of things in France. and was, apparently, hell in great estimation
hy Bonaparte. On the occasion of die explosion of the " infernal ma.
chine." lie was among the first to hasten to offer the Consul his conger
tutations upon the providential escape of the latter. He was, however,
so extsemely earnest in adjuring vengeance upon the Jacobin .conspire.
tors, that he became himself an object of suspicion with Napoleon, who
was an excellent judge of the human character. From this and some
subsequent suspicions, he was imprisoned in the Temple in 1803, and
afterwards successively transferred to the citadels of Dijon and Besancon,
from which latter place he contrived to make his escape, in July, 1806,
with a M. D'Andigne. He had, however, sufficient interest to obtain
an especial permission to retire to Portugal, and the sequestration was
even taken off his property. Upon the evacuation of that country by
the Freneh troops, he was permitted to return to France, and was re.
ceived into the service of the Emperor!
In this service he put forth all-his energies. He 6' covered himself
with glory" in the campaign of Dresden, and rose from the rank of Ge-
neral of Brigade to that of General of Division. He commanded in
Champagne in 1814 ; and defended himself, though wounded, and
with only 1,200 men, in such style at Nugent, as to excite the admira-
tion of the enemy. He commanded the 6th military at Bannon at
the Restoration ; and obtained the honour of being made a Commander
of the Legion of Honour.
On the return of Nopolcon from Elba, General Bonrmont was one of
those devoted Royalists who accompanied Nett in the march against him;
and, like hie Commanding Officer, he consented once more to range
himself under the banners of the Ex-Emperor. Napoleon, who held
Bourmont in no great estimation (as appears by all the Memoirs of the
noperor,) was loth to avail himself of his services, even at that critical
juncture : but, at the earnest solicitation of General Girard, he appointed
Bourmont to the command of &division at the head of which he marched
towards Flanders. subsequent events gloved that Napoleon was not
mistaken in his estimate of Bourmont'a character. He betrayed the
D:ipe:cr's plan to the Duke of Wellington, and &nuttily passed over
to the enemy on the 14th June, 1815.
He now became once more in favour with the Bourbons, and obtained
a cousin:6nd in the Northern Department, where he was very serviceable
in festering :tranquillity, and enforcing obedience to the new order of
things. There wanted only one more touch to complete his character,
and titat lie obtained, in being a material witness at the trials of Marshal
Ney and Gen. Bonnaire.
On the accession of Polignac to the head of the French Ministry, M.
de flonnnont obtained the portfolio of the Minister at War. This
created great dissatisfaction among the Opposition Journals, and the
editor of the broom (among others) was prosecuted, and sentenced to
pay a tine of 1,000 fr. and to six monhts' imprisonment, for having pub-
lished opinions unpalatable to the Ministry. In the appeal to the
Cour Royale, the celebrated Advocate Dupin appeared for the accused.
The following passages in his powerful address, which are copied from
Le Globe of the 25th of February last, relate to the duplicity and double
treachery of General Bourmont :
" Every nation has its distinctive character, and its peculiar virtues.
France has ever been distinguished for her loyalty, sod fidelity in her
engagements ; and the profession of arms has ever been, more than
any other, scrupulously nice, and jealous of the national honour.—
Ailitary honor, among us, ranks as the highest order of that national
virtue, and includes the idea of all that is loyal and generous. When a
French officer swore by his sword, he gave the strongest pledge of his
fidelity that it was possible to give ; and in the disastrous periods of our
civil discords it was truly said, that the national honour had taken:
refuge in the camp. Can it, then, be a matter of eurprise that the
nation is jealous of her honour, and that she wising to see the di-
rection of her army committed to unsullied hands ? Ah had it been
confided to one of those faithful chieftains who followed. the King into
exile, or to one of those devoted warriors who remained en •thsir native
soil to repulse the invader, it were of little monsentirhich. Both obeyed
the dictates of what they considered their duty—both trod in the path

of honour ; but by a fatal error there is now placed over the heads of
those hrt% c men one whom France, whom Kutope, whom posterity, can-
not bnt reproach.
" The warrior who, on the invasion of the 20th of March, should
nobly break his sword and refuse to lift his arm in the cause of t.surpa-
tion might well deserve distinction and reward ;he who should fit, to the
succlutr of the oppressed King, and devote his life to his service, alight
he deemed worthy of praise and admiration ; but what must be thought
of him who should throw himself into the arms of the Conqueror for
the time being, and swear fidelity to him—who should accept a com-
mand, thereby ratifying a solemn engagement with his brethren in arms
to lead them to victory, and to live or die with them, and afterwards
violate that sacred compact—who should betray and abandon them in the
hour of peril—who should supply to the enemy, whom he was pledged
to combat, the means of destroying those whom he had swprn to de-
fend? • • e

But let it not be said that Royal grace and favour are sufficient to
wipe out the stain, or absolve from these crimes. When the Constable
of Bourbon, exasperated by an unjust arrest, took the inexcusable step
of offering his aid to a foreigner against his own country, Charles V.
asked one of his courtiers for the use of his Palace for the accommc
Lion of the illustrious deserter, whose detection was so important to the
Emperor. I can refuse your Alajesty nothing,' said the noble Cas-
tilian, but I declare that if the Duc de Bourbon enter my house I
will burn it to the ground the moment he quits it, as a place tainted
with perfidy, and therefore unworthy of ever being occupied by a man
of honour.' Charles V. did not punish the man who had the courage
thus to express himself: and the answer is on record among those noble
sentiments which must ever be honoured by posterity."
Count de Bourmont's appointment to the command of the expedition
against Algiers, and the success of that enterprise after great losses, are
sufficiently well known. The reward of this service, (in which he has
to deplore the loss of a son) was a Marshal's baton, bafore the expulsion
of the late Government.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PAY AND PENSIONS
IN THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH ARMIES.

BRITISH ARMY.

(Circular) War-Office, 21st Nov. 1829.
Particulars extracted—Warrant regulating the grant of pensions and
allowances to officers of the land forces, for wounds received in action.
Allowed for the loss of two limbs, or total loss of sight, besides half
pay:—
Regimental rank Yearly half-pay Rate of pension Total
Lieut.-Col. Commanding Z2OO 0 0 £6OO £BOO 0 0
Major Commanding - 173 2 6 500 673 2 6
Major . - . 173 2 6 400 573 2 6
Captain . . . 127 15 0 200 327 15 0
First Lieutenant . - 82 2 6 140 222 2 6
Ensign . - 54 15 0 100 154 15 0
Allowed for the loss of one limb, or cyc, besides half-pay :
Regimental rank Yearly half-pay Rate of pension Total
Lient.-C'ol. Commanding £2OO 0 0 £3OO X5OO 0 0
Major Commanding . 173 2 6 250 423 2 6
Major . . 173 2 6 200 373 2 6
Captain . - 127 15 0 100 227 15 0
First Lieutenant - 82 2 6 70 152 2 8
Ensign - . 54 15 0 50 104 15 0
Rate of daily pensions allowed to sergeants, corporals, and privates,
being in proportion to the severity of their wounds, as per scale s

Daily Highest rate yearly Lowest rate.
Serjeants---3e 64, 3s 23 (Id, 2s, is 61, Is ,663 17 6 £lB 2 6
Corporals-3s, 2s, Is Gd, Is,9d, Gd, 54 15 0 9 1 3
Privates-2s, Is 6d, ls, 93, Gd, 36 5 0 9 1 3
Rate of daily pensions allowed to serjeants-major, quarter.master.aer.
.
junts, serjeants, corporals and privates, after twenty-four years' ser-
vice in the cavalry, and twenty-one years in the Infantry, provided that
the noncommissioned officers held their respective ranks for three years
previous to their being discharged ; and should they serve beyond the
'above period their pensions would Increase.
Daily Yearly annuity.
Serjeant-Major 2s 4d £42 6 8
Quarter-Master Serjt. 2s. 2d. - . . - 39 510
Serjeant . - Is. 10d. . • . . 33 6 8
Corporal - - Is. 4d. . . . . 24 4 2
Private . . ls. Od. . . . . 18 2 6

Many officers who have lost but one limb or eye, hare remained on
full pay in the service, consequently their rank goes on.
Surgeons and paymasters receive the same rate of pension u a Cap-
tain, with their half pay. Adjutants and assistant.surgeons receive the
same rate of pension u a first.lieutenant, with their halt-lay. Hegi.
mental quarter-master, veterinary surgeons and volunteers, receive the
same rate of pension as a cornet, second lieutenant or ensign with their
half-pay.

FRENCH ARMY.
Palace of the Tuileries, Aug. 27, 1814.
Particulars eztracted—Rules and regulations for granting pensions.
:It appears that there is no half.pay.)
Allowed for the loss of two limbs, or total loss of sight s
Regimental rank. Yearly rate of pension.
Lieut.-Col. Commanding ... ... £125 0 0
Major ... ... ... 100 0 0
Captain ... ... ... 66 13 8
First Lieutenant ... ... MO LO 6 0
Second Lieutenant ... ... 41 13 8
Sergeant ... . . 18 16 6
Corporal ... ... ... 16 13 8
Private ... ... ... 15 4 0
Loss of one limb, without reference to services s
_ _ _

Regimental rank. - Yearly rate of pension.
Lieut.. Col. Commanding ... ... £Ol 10 0
Major ... •.. ... 50 0 0

Captain 33 0 $
First Lieutenanl 25 0 0

Second Lieutenant

20 16 9

Sergeant ... ... ... 8 6 6
Corporal ... ... ... 7 1 6
Private ••• ••• ••• 6 6 0
After twenty three years' service, those three ranks, if then Wing a
limb, would be allowed the following rate of pensions s—To a sergeant,
141. be; to a corporal, 111. 8s; to a private, 8L 101.
Allowed after thirty years' service, u per lade :
Army rank. Yearly rate of pension.
Lleut..CoL Commanding, after 30 years' service £5O 0 0
Major ... ... OD • • 41 13 0
Captain ... ..... ... 26 0 0
—-•

.. ... .. 18 13 0