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Leader (1850-1860), 6th December 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 9

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      The Life And Death Of Marshal Soult. Nic...

      ^ T vera . Soult , as soon as he had heard of this ¦ J- aMtrouB check to the French arms , managed , by a « ies of rapid movements , to join Ney and Mortier , A the combined masses of French troops forced Welli ngton to retire back upon Portugal . The purnit not being urged beyond the confines of Spain , the French divisions separated , and Soult overran Andalusia . He , took Seville , but failed before Cadiz . About this time it was that the Marshal issued an n-iudged proclamation against the patriotic Spaiard srmenacing them with the fate of murderers if tak 6 n ' in arms . A British counter-announcement warned the troops of his ' Catholic Majesty , Joseph Napoleon , " that for every Spaniard shot in cold blood , the next three Frenchmen captured should be hanged—a species of reprisal which effectually cowed Soult ' s rash resolve . This is one of the passages in the Marshal's life

      which substantiate , to some extent , the charges of unscrupulous cruelty so often made against him . The fa was that , like most of his military compeers , he was careless of life , and thought little of the means , provided he could gain his ends . The stationing only of Spanish troops in the important key fortress of Badajoz it was which probably prompted Soult ' s next movement against it . The attack was triumphantly successful . The Spaniards made no effectual resistance , and after leaving a garrison in the fort , the Marshal retired towards Andalusia . But the important post of Badajoz was destined to be speedily recovered . Marshal Beresford was advancing towards it , and Soult , when he heard the sews , hastened to meet him . The English Marshal duly invested the fort , but his operations were protracted by floods in the Guadiana .

      On the approach of Soult , the whole of the allied forces were , prepared by their commander to meet him , and the desperate and most important battle of Albuera took place . The details form some of the most vivid chapters of Napier ' 9 History of the Peninsular War . The French lost 8000 men—the allies 7 000 , of whom 4300 were British , and the number of ¦ wounded , from the extent of hand to hand fighting , was excessive . Soult lost Albuera , and retreated from Badajoz . Beresford gallantly followed him , but the junction between Soult and Marmont caused the allies again to give ground . But at this moment King Joseph , suspicious of Soult , wrote a querulous letter to Napoleon , complaining of the Marshal ' s ambition . Napoleon replied by recalling Soult , it is true ; t > ut also by naming him one of » the Generals of the Imperial Guard .

      The withdrawal of Soult from Spain virtually caused its loss to the French . The Marshal played an heroic part at the field of Bautzen , and again at Dresden ; but south of the Pyrenees Wellington was advancing with rapid strides , and when at length the news of Vittoria reached the Emperor , Soult was the only one of his marshals whom he believed he could pit against Wellington , and accordingly Soult flew to Spain , and assumed the command . But the game was all against him . He knew it to be hopeless—the enemy triumphant , flushed \ vith a series of wellearned victories , the country dispirited , or inimical , and his own army beginning to doubt if the Emperor always won . Yet , upon taking the command of the

      army in July , 1813 , as the " lieutenant of the Emperor , his proclamation to the troops breathed the haughtiest confidence in his cause , and inhis chancesdeclaring , as it did , that if the Feench had been well commanded at Vittorin , they would have beaten the English . Soult found his troops in the Pyrenees , not far from Bayonno . For two Bucceasive days he obstinately defended the entrenched camp ; but on Wellington manoeuvring to turn his flank , he continued the retreat . Soult ' s resistance , while threading the file of the Pyrenees , was desperate . He was continually turning to bay , and once succeeded in materially checking his pursuers , while on another occasion he was all but taken prisoner . At length the British forces entered France . The Bidassoa was

      passed , Soult ' s position on the Nive carried , and the allies became an army of invasion . Still Soult fought every step of ground with the desperation of despair , 'he battle of Orthez ensued , and a victory was won by Wellington inferior , in moral effect to none ° t his greatest triumphs . Beresford and Picton were his worthy subordinates , and the French Were rapidly driven towards Toulouse , where w'ih fought the last and crowning action of the long Peninsular war , a battle claimed by both sides , and m which it ia not to be denied that on both sides

      were displayed consummate niilitury skill mid the nuiHt determined and stubborn bravery . But the A ' H'iieh had the worst of it . On the announcement ° l the event at Paris , lie signed u suspension of arms , Ul adhered to the reestablishment of . Louis XV 11 I ., wl presented him with the CroBs of St . Louis , and c' » lled him to the command of the Thirteenth military "iviaion , and then to the Ministry of War ( J ) ecem-Kli ' * ' 1 H 14 ) - () n March 8 , learning the landing from ll ) u > be published the order of the day which is so W (! l » known , and in which Napoleon is treated more j » un severely . () u March 11 , he resigned his port-° IlH Minister of War , and declared for the Em-Pf'ror w ] l 0 > j , ayH j U K () Vur t | ic jfH , nouH proclamation , "used him to the dignity of Peer of France , and

      In 1837 her Majesty ascended to the throne , and in 1838 she was crowned . On that auspicious occasion Soult visited , as may be conceived for the first time , the shores , of which , from the heights of Boulogne , he had anticipated the conquest . Soult ' s visit was gracefully made , gracefully timed , and gracefully received . He had long outlived the mere glitter of military glory . The statesmanlike and purely intellectual and moral powers of his mind had achieved a perfect triumph over the habits and associations of his early life , and he came amongst us cordially and trustfully as a generous and chivalric enemy converted : into a wise and true friend . The

      Major-general of the Array . After Waterloo , where he fought most energetically , the Marshal took refuge at Malzieu ( Lozere ) , with General Bran de Villeret , his former aide-de-camp . Being set down on the list of the proscribed , he withdrew to Dusseldorf , on the banks of the Rhine , until 1819 , when a Royal ordinance allowed him to return to France . He then went to live with his family at St . Amand , his native place , and on his reiterated representations his marshal ' s baton , which , had been withdrawn from him , was restored . Charles X . treated Marshal Soult with -favour , creating him knight of his orders , and afterwards making him . Peer of France . After the revolution of July , 1830 , the declaration of the Chamber of Deputies of August 9 , excluded him from that rank ; but he was restored to it four days later by a special nomination of Louis Philippe , who soon after appointed him Minister of "War .

      occasion , too , was a grand one . The old foe of Wellington arrived as Ambassador Extraordinary from Louis Philippe , to represent France at the great ceremonial in Westminster Abbey . He was received with a degree of popular enthusiasm which deeply gratified the veteran , and greatly astonished his friends at home , who ingeniously made it out that the reception was the result , not of a generous feeling in favour of an old and gallant enemy , but a demonstration against the Government . Soult , however , understood and appreciated the impulse . First and foremost he was feted by the Duke of Wellington ; and the two aged heroes were received with unbounded acclamation

      on their public appearance together . Soult , indeed , became highly popular , and his splendid carriage was constantly attended by a cheering mob . Nor did the higher ranks of society remain behindhand in the general manifestation , The Duke of Dalmatia became the lion of a brilliant season , and achieved the comble of his popularity at a grand banquet given by the Corporation of London in Guildhall . Upon that occasion the healths of the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Soult were proposed together . The Duke , in replying , expressed his delight that so great and illustrious a man as the Marshal had been received in this country with the honours which were so much his due ; and the Duke of Dalmatia , amid profound silence , made a short

      acknowledgment . He said the expressions of the illustrious Duke had entered into his very heart . Never was there a nobler-minded or more honourable man . The French , nation had learned to appreciate the worth of the English army . But he hoped that there would be no further appeal to arms between the two peoples , but that the future would be distinguished by ( laying great emphasis on the words ) " une alliance perpetuclle . " . Before his departure from England , the Ambassador Extraordinary paid a visit to the manufacturing districts , and the head-quarters of the iron and cotton trades . He was everywhere received with a . reflex of his London popularity ; and altogether , his visit must be described as a rare instance of the outbreak of generous and noble national sympathies .

      Soult spent his latter days at his chateau in the land of his birth . The revolution of 1848 found him superannuated . He lived privately , took no part in politics , and died on the 26 th ultimo , at the great nge of eighty-two .

      Psc. 6,1851.] Sfj$ Nearer. " 1157

      psc . 6 , 1851 . ] Sfj $ nearer . " 1157

      "Fast" Likk In T1ik Army. To Understand ...

      " FAST" LIKK IN T 1 IK ARMY . To understand aright , the case of " ltegina v . Alleyne and others , " which was tried the other day at the Queen ' s Bench , we must connect it . with a former trial , which took place on the 2 S ) th of October l : i « t , at the Central Criminal Court . In the Old Bailey case a certain Ignatius Francis Coyle , who had been mixed up in the Running Rein affair , wau indicted for forging an acceptance- for £ 1150 , with intent to defraud Lord Clifden . This noblcniiii was not , however , the real prosecutor . The fraud had been committed upon u certain Captain Alexander M'Ocuchy Allcyno , loimerly of the Kighty-Ninth Itegimeut . It appeared in evidence that Captain Allcyne , who is ut present about , twenty-six years ofage , hud returned from Canada in the year lH 4 (> and from that time until quite recently hud been mixed up with horse-racing in one shape or another . In the course of the yeiir 1 H 18 , he became acquainted with the prisoner Coylc , then a hill discounter , and the keeper of a betting establishment in the neighbourhood of JLeicenterfiquiirc . When the Derby race came off in I 860 Captain AlleyiK ! paid a considerable hiiiii of money on the prisoner's u « count , * for bets that he luul made upon bin behall and with lii . s imnclion . In the month of January , 18 / 10 , Coyle owed Allcyne a sum not lens than £ 1700 , and in part payment ol that debt paid into his lands a promiBBory note , Binned by Lord Clifden , for the

      sum of £ 1150 . The note turned out to be a mere forgery on the part of Coyle , who subsequently admitted the fact in the presence of Captain Alexander Alleyne , and of his brother , Captain Holder Alleyne . He said that he was perfectly ruined ; begged to be forgiven ; promised to work for Captain Alleyne all his life if he would pardon him ; and threatened to throw himself from the Monument unless the transaction were overlooked . We may at this point take our leave for the present of this respectable member of society , adding simply that he was convicted , and by a most merciful sentence was ordered to be imprisoned for only twelve calendar months .

      Hitherto we have looked upon Captain Alexander M'Geachy Alleyne as a silly young man of fortune , who had fallen into the hands of a crew of sharpers , and been defrauded of his money . We must now regard the gallant captain and his brother , Captain Holder Alleyne , from a very different point of view . Already in the course of the trial at the Old Bailey a series of very untoward facts had come to light with respect to the brothers Alleyne . At the very time they stepped into the witnessbox at the Central Criminal Court , it appeared that an indictment in the Queen ' s Bench was hanging over their heads for defrauding a certain Mr . Kennedy of a large sum of money . Nor was the fraud destitute of its own peculiar features of interest . We all know that our last

      Yankee cousins have been fortunate during the twelve months in their race against the world . They have managed to get passengers through the Panama Isthmus—they have outploughed us , outsailed us , and picked our very best locks . In addition to all this they have outtrotted us upon our own turnpike roads . The celebrated Yankee mare , " Fanny Jenks , " has been among us in disguise , " trotting our heads off , " in the language of the stable-yard . We had supposed throughout that an English mare , " Pigeon " by name , had accomplished these marvels ; but , lo ! it turns out that Pigeon is Fanny Jenks . The celebrated Yankee mare had , by some means or other , come into the possession of Captain Holder Alleyne , who straightway proceeded to disguise at the

      her and changed her name . Here we arrive Queen s Bench trial of the present week , and here we shall find Coyle convicting the Alleynes of fraud , as the Alleynes had recently convicted Coyle of forgery . With the two brothers there was included in the indictment a young man upon town named D'Arcy , whom , by the result of the investigation , we must accept as a participator in the fraud and the booty of the two brothers . Holder Alleyne , the owner of Fanny Jenks , alias Pigeon , was the principal , and the two others were charged with having conspired and cooperated with him to defraud Mr . Kennedy . This young gentleman had been a brother officer of the two Alleynes , and of D'Arcy in Canada . He was stationed , with his regiment at Hull in the year 1816 , the two Alleynes , as we believe , having previously left the regiment . Be this , however , as it may , Holder Alleyne presented himself at the

      quarters of the regiment , and busied himself in getting up a race between " Pigeon" and Castanet , a mare of young Kennedy ' s , for £ 300 . Upon this occasion Holder Alleyne said that "Pigeon" was an English mare , that she had never run in public , but he thought her pretty good . This match never came off , but immediately another bet , or rather series of bets was proposed by Holder Alleyne , and accepted by Mr . Kennedy . Not to trouble our readers with the details of the arrangement , it did in effect amount to this , that the sum of £ 7300 was involved in the decision of the question whether or not " Pigeon" could trot fifteen miles within the hour . Shortly afterwards Pigeon fell lame . We accept this fact as proved , although of course there was a discrepancy of statement upon this , the most material point in the whole trial . The defendants , however , were not able to obtain the acquiescence of the judge or jury in their view of the case .

      It appears , then , that the mare fell dead lame , and that Captain Holder Alleyne entirely concealed the fact from Mr . Kennedy . When this foolish young gentleman , by the assiduous efforts of M'Geachy Alleyne and D'Arcy , had been cleverly brought to the point of asking for a compromise of his bet , Holder Alleyne still concealed from him the essential point of the mare ' s lameness . Thus he screwed out of him the total amount of the stake , on the condition that Kennedy should become half owner of the lame mare . It was proved in evidence that M'Geachy Alleyno and D'Arcy had received sums of money from Holder Alleyne just after the perpetration of the fraud . For this reason , and the reasons stated above , the jury connected them with the guilt of the principal in the fraud .

      Such , then , is the history of the brothers Alleyne , men well educated , well born , and with good prospects in life . For some time before the trial they had found that the turf would no longer answer their purpose , and had devoted themselves to making beer barrels in Her mondeey .

      A Hard Cask. James Ilockloy, Saddler, Li...

      A HARD CASK . James Ilockloy , saddler , living in the Fiilhnm Union , is ill und obliged to apply to the Board of Guardians for relief . He is taken into the Iiouhc ; and his home of course broken up . Naturally , when recovered lie asks to bo allowed to seek work , is m « . t by a rofunul , and offered stone-breaking , lie declined . The stone-breaking was too evidently intended as a punishment for liis being a pauper . The Guardians then took him before Mr . week

      Paynter , * t the Police Court on Thursday , who at once declared that the man had been very shamefully and absurdl y treated in not being allowed to seek work , and- being compelled to break stones . Ho sent the . case back . On Friday , llockley was again pl . iced in tlio dock on the same charge . Mr . Paynter severely e < nsured the Board . He said that he thought tlie . prisoner hud been trcuU-d in a very cruel manner . The man lnul been compelled to break up liin home through illnenH , and enter the house with hiu wile and family ; and now , hnving recovered , he was not

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 6, 1851, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06121851/page/9/