Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-02-06


t,te of my conscience, IT becomes my duty
Tn explain myself to your Majes,y.
enter not into the enquiry whether
Marshal Ney is guilty or inno" ent--Your
Justice, and the equity of his judges, will
answer it to pOs,erity, which weighs in the
same balance, kings and their subj Cts
pnt the subj e: on which cannot be 81 ent,
and on which ! must speak distinctly to
your majesty, is the critical position into
which you are rushing. Alas has not c.
nough OF French blood been shed? Are
not our misfortunes suiii cientiy great The
humiliation of Francois it not pushed
TO She last extreme? And when it is ne
ccssary TO rectify, to softsn, to calm, it is
then you are required 70 sign new proscrip
tons! Oh, sire. if those who direct
your councils, had only in view your good,
taev. would tel, you, that never did the
scaffold make frien1s-Do they then be-
Eeve that death is terrible to those who
have 80 of.cn travei it, Is it the allies
who REQUIRE IF France *>Es*7****E=ks
But, sire, is there no danger for your per
son and your august dynasty, from them
They entered tive country as your allies,
and what title do they merit from the p o
pie Of k's7ce, OF Lorraine, and of the cap
ita,. They have demanded the price of
their friendship they have required secu-
rites from those they. came 10 deliver;
they have required the Inhabitants of the
countries they occupy, to deliver up their.
arms and in two thirds of the Kingdom,
there remains not even a single fowling-
piece. They have required that the Fr, nc,
army should be disbanded and there re-
mains not singie man at his colours not
single piece Of c nroa s. aru' ssed. They
have demand.d the delivery OF our fortress
SEES, and if some of them stl hold out, it
is because their cnnmardan cannot be
leve your majesty has ordered their sur
render So much coadesceps;oa ought
surely to have softeued Their passions-But
no they wish to render your majesty obi
GUS to your subjects they wish to guard
against every possib'e danger, by riking
OF the heads of tn Sc soldiers and states
men whose names they cannot hear with
out being re minded of their own humil a.
ton.
Let, then, French general be allowed
to say, in the face Of Europe, that if our ar
mics lave overrun the neighboring coun-
tries, they pun, hased their conques,s with
their vaiOr and blood. Let your majesty
consiler-Will the allies ever forgive Their
conquerors 1t is their shame and humi-
liation which they wish to efface, and not
TO strengthen your throne, which is more
shaken by their outrages than established
by their vengeance But when you have
given up every thing. what can you refuse
If the fate of Poland is to be ours, what
means of resistance have you left , Your
armies You have none Your fortress
ses hey are in the possession of the al
lies Your marshals, your generals, your
statesmen ?-their heads will have fallen
VIII you then resort to the people 7 TO that
people, so much hum lated, so much des-
pissed Is it thosc who formed your coun.
ellis The recollection of the month OF
March, 1915, must shew your majesty
what you have to expect from their zeal
and attachment .-There remains then no
other resource than reliance upon the
g"nel osity OF yoar allies and or enemies
Have you then forgotten that in order to
crafty the man WHO oo cupied your throne,
they refused you, one after another, an asy-
ium in their doTninions ? So completely
had they recognized his legitimacy, that
IN their trerties with him, they never tho't
OF STIMULATING even an indemnity for YOU
Did not England herself negotiate with
him! Would she not again have treated
with him at Prague, had his pretensions
been less eXtravagant? Did not the people
Of London drag the carriage of his minister,
when you were not even permitted to APP
pear At court Was your restoration tho't
of, when they negotiated at Chaterey !?
Had it not been for the hostile occupation
Bordeaux, and the loyalty manifested by
the people of that city, treaty would
have been signed with Napoleon. Sill
more recently, at the Congress of Vienna,
was your maicsty's minister able to obtain
guarantee for the integrity CT our t rri-
tory Oh, sire, the man Of El5a may
have had correspondence and intelligence
in France but who were they that went
b seek for him who told the English feet
to suffer him to pass? Has the Admiral,
who was entrusted with the superinten-
dence of the island, been prosecuted Had
not the king of Prus ia $4,000 men nearIour
frontiers, who might have marched upon
Paris. and reached it before Napoleon
Are not the Prussian cannon daily placed
Ill battery before your palace, and pointed
against your residence ? And yet you can
rely on the generosity of your allies And
yet under such circumstances, you require
me to take my seat in tribunal, where
1 shall perhaps figure in my turn, not rs
Judge, but as prisoner at the bar Did |
not lead the French army in 1894, to the
borders OF the Ebro? Even now the
poignards of those who struck Brane, and
"****, and so many others, glitter before
my eyes, and shall ], in my own person,
san ton judi i'll murder All no while
there remains to my unhappy country only
shadow OF existence, shall associate my
name with that of her oppressors No,
sire you yourself cannot but approve my
resolution: What shall 25 years of glo-