the fatal proclamation of the 14th March, in
which the cause of Napoleon was openly es-
poused, and which was immediately followed by
the defection of the whole army. He said in his
declaration that it was written by Napoleon, and
sent to him by means of his brother Joseph, who
1 Moniteur, ^^''^s at Prangin. Yet so strong had
Nov. 11, 1615, been his protestations of fidelity,
^-VP'^.^^I" "'' 'hat down to the very last moment
.^jy, 340; Lac. , i r i u i r
ii. 5, 6- Pro- '"® ro-yal lamily had more confi-
its de' Ney. dence in him than in any man in
21'- France.' *
Ney was in Paris, though not employed with
g, the army, when the capitulation
Ilis departure with the Duke of Wellington and
from Paris, Marshal Blucher was signed — acir-
and arrest at cumstance which led to a painful
difficulty, so far as this country was
concerned, in the trial which ensued. He re-
ceived passports under a feigned name from
Fouche, which were indorsed by the Austrian
and Swiss embassies at Paris, and by Count
Bubna. the Austrian commander at Lyons. He
was just leaving France in pursuance of Taile}'-
rand's advice, and had reached Nantua, within a
few leagues of the Swiss frontier, when he was
seized, like Labedoyere, with a fatal desire to
return to his own country. He was haunted by
the idea of a sentence of death jmr contimiacc,
which would weigh upon his memory and the in-
terests of his relations. He returned accordingly,
and took up his residence at the chateau of Bos-
sonis, which belonged to his family. There he
made no attempt at concealment, and was dis-
covered by a magnificent sabre, with his name
engraven on the hilt, which had been given him
by the Emperor in the days of his glory. He
was in consequence seized, without any instruc-
tions from head-quarters, by M. Locard, the
prefect of the department, a zealous Royalist,
and sent to Paris, where his arrival occasioned
' Cap. iii. 340 "° small regret and consternation
342; Lac. ii. among the members of the Govern-
4.5- ment.'
But, once taken, it was out of the power of
g4 Government not to bring him to
Ilistrial be- trial; for, if so great a traitor es-
fore the Cham- caped, how could any inferior crim-
ber of Peers. i„^i be brought to justice ? Great
diffioulty, however, was experienced in finding
a court to undertake the responsibility of his
trial. He was, in the first instance, sent to be
tried by a military commission, presided over by
line cage de for. Je nc me rappcllc pas bien ce quo j'ai
(Ut. Je sals que j'ai jirononce ces mots, ' Cage do fer.'
Je dis aussi quo JJoiKiparte me paraissait bien coupable
d'avoirrompu son tian. J'ai (5cric, ' Si je vols do I'hcsita-
tlon dans la troupe, je prcndrai moi-mome In fusil du
premier grenadier, pour m'en servir, et donii'ir I'exernple
aux autres.' J'ai entrainc ; j'ai cu tort, il n'y a pas le
moindryedoutc." — Proces du Marechal Ney — Miinitcur, No.
515, nth Nov. 1815.
* "Tout depend des prrmiiTS coups dc fusil, car cnfin
U n'y en a pas encore de tires. J'attends tout de Nry,
puisque c'est lo scul qui comhattra eel hornine. Ne pcr-
dez pas de temps :i cc; vilaiti Paris ; mon beau frere est
•asez pour le contenir ; mais vous, pourquoi n'ctcs vniix
pas cmec Omliait ou Ni-yV — Madame la Duche.se d'An-
OOULEMC a Af.lc Comic d'Artoi.", IJordeaux 2'J Mars,
1615. — Capekiol'e, iv. 42) — Appendix
INIarshal Moncey; but that veteran recoiled from
the idea of trying an old companion in arms, and
declined the trial on the plea of having no juris-
diction over a peer of the reahn. This refusal,
which was considered by the Royalists a de^ii-
sive proof of a general conspiracy in the army,
gave profound mortification to the court, and
was punished by three months' imprisonment, in-
flicted on the recusant marshal. Ney was next
sent to the Chamber of Peers, which, how un-
willing soever to undertake the painful duty,
could find no pretext to evade it. The Dukcde
Richelieu, in introducing the accusation on behall
of the Government, observed — " It is not only in
the name of the king that we discharge this
duty — it is in the name of France, long indig-
nant, and now stupefied : it is even in the name
of Europe that we at once conjure and require
you to undertake the trial of Maishal Ney. We
accuse him before you of high treason and crimes
against the state. The Chamber of Peers owes
'to the world a conspicuous reparation ; and it
should be prompt, if it is to be effectual. The
king's ministers are obliged to say that the de-
cision of the council of war has become a triumph
to the factions. We conjure you then, and in the
name of the king require you, in terms of the
ordinance of his majesty, to proceed
to the trial of jNIarshal Ney." The lnl°Ti'Tu
. , , , 1-111 i>ov. 11, lbl5.
trial proceeded accordingly, the de- sup.,and
fense of the marshal being intrusted Nov. 25,1815;
to the able hands of MM. Berryer ^}\P-,"'- ^^\
, T^ ■ , •'361; Lac. u. 5.
and Uupin.'
These able counselors could not deny the
facts proved against him, the most c-
important of which were admitted His defense
by himself in his judical declaration, and condcm-
They confined themselves, there- "^t'O"-
fore, to the plea that ho was no longer a free
agent when he signed the proclamation of the
14th of March, sent to him by Napoleon;* that
he was carried away by the torrent, and that the
cause of Napoleon had been by the soldiers so
warmly embraced before it was issued, that
have taken any other course- had become im-
practicable. But to this it was justly replied,
that difficuity will never justify crime; that if
he could not control his troops, he might at least
have withdrawn from the command, and not em-
ployed the power confided to him by the king for
the destruction of .his authority. And the de-
fense of being carried awii}', such as it was, vi'us
* " Ofliciers, sous-ofliciers, ct soldats — La cause dcs
Bourbons est a jamais perdue 1 Le dynastic liifritiincque
la nation Franc;aise a adoptee va remonter sur le Tronc ;
c'est a rEinper(Hir Napoleon noire Souveraiii (lu'il appar-
ticnt seul de rufrner sur ce beau pays 1 Quo la noblesse
des Hourbons prenne le parti de I'oxpatrier encore, ou
qu'elle consente a vivre au milieu dc nous, qu'iniporto !
La cause sacree de la liberie ct dc notro indcpoiidance no
souflTrira plus de lour funesle inlluoncc. lis out voiilu
avilir noire gloire militairo, mais ils so sont tronipOs;
celle gloire est le fruil do trop nobles travaux i)Our quo
nouspuissionscn pcrdro lamomoire. .Soldats, les icnips
nc sont plus ou on gouvernait les peuplos en Olouflant
lous leurs droits: la liberie Iriomplie enfin el Napoleon
noire augusle Empereur, va I'adermir a jamais ! Que
dtisorniais celle cause si belle soil la notre et cclle de lous
les I''ran(-ais I Que lous los braves que j'ai I'lioiuieur da
commander so penotreni do cettc grande vcrile. Sol-
dats, jo vous ai si souvent menes a la vicloiro, mainte-
nant jo vcnx vous conduire a cello phalange immortollo
que rEnqxTour Napoleon conduit a Paris, et qui y sera
sous i)eu de jours, el la, notro csp
soront a jamais cgalisos. Vivo I'Empereur I — Lo7is-l<>
Sauliiier, le 13 Mam. 1815. — Lr Maiiecmal df, 1,'Emi'IUK,
?1HNCE DE i.A MosKOUA." — Mimitcw, 22d No\ . Ibl5
60
HISTORY OF EUROPE.
entirely overturncil liy liie cviilonec of Generals
Leoinirbe and Bourniont, wlio were with him at
the lime of his dcfeetion — who eoncurreil in slnt-
inj:, the one in oral testimony, the other in a dc-
posiiion emitcd beloro death, that Key hatl him-
seir said, in their presence, that it was all over;
that every thiiisi had hccn agircd upon for three
tiwntlis, and they would have known it, if tlicy
ht. J been at I'.ii is ; that no violence was to be
^c^e to the kinj:^, l)ut tiiat he was to be dethroned,
pLt on board a> vessel, and conducted into Eng-
land.'* It appeared, from M-hat fell
JuoumoM; '"'"^"" General Bourmont, that Ncy's
Proccs lie ' words led to the belief that, like
Ney, bT ; and many other of the most terrible ca-
Moniieur, taslrophes recorded in history, from
Dec. 6, lel5. , .' ,, „, , -^ , , •
the siege ot Iroy downward, his
conduct on this occasion had been mainly in-
stigated by female jealousy and mortifications.
It now remained only to the counsel for the
gg accused to appeal to the capitula-
Appeal to the tion of Paris : and here, it must be
cai)|tulaiion admitted, they had a much stronger
oilans. case to rest upon. By the twelfth
article of the capitulation of that city, concluded
at St. Cloud, it had been stipulated that no per-
son then in Paris should be disquieted in his per-
son or estate on account of his conduct during
the Hundred Days; and by another article, that
if any doubt arose concerning the interpretation
to be put on any part of the convention, it should
be construed in favor of the party capitulating.!
Three witnesses of the highest respectability,
wh'i tor>k part in the capitulation, IMarshal Da-
vou>i. Geiici;tl Guillimont, and 31. Bignon, con-
currc.l ii. ucpuning that this article was intend-
* " Cost une chose absolument finie," dit le Marechal.
Je ne I'avais pas compris. Le General Lecourbe entra ;
"je lui disais que tout est fini," dit-il au General Le-
courbe ; celul-ci parut etnnne. " Oui," ajouta le Mare-
shal, " c'est une affaire arrangee. il y a trois mois que
nous sommcs tons d'accord ; si vous aviez ete a Paris vous
I'auriez su comme moi. Les troupes sent divisees par
deux bataillons et trois escadrons, les troupes d'Alsace
de ineme, les troupes de la Lorraine de menie ; le Roi doit
avoir quitte Paris, ou il sera enleve, mais on ne lui fera
pas de mal ; mallieur a qui ferait du rnal au Roi ; on n-.ivait
rintention que de le detroner, de Tembarquer surunvais-
seau et de le faire conduire en Angleterre. Nous n'avoiis
i;lus maintenant qu"a rejoindre PEmpereur." Je dis au
Marechal qu'il etait tres extraordinaire qu'il proposal
d'aller rejoindre celui eontre lequel il devait combattre. II
me repondit qu'il m'engageait a le faire, " mais vous etes
libre." Le General Lecourbe lui repondit — "Je suis i<;i
pour serrir le Roi, et non pour servir Bonaparte. Jamais
U ne m'a fait que du mal, et le Roi ne m'a fail quedu bien.
Je veux servir le Roi, j'ai de I'honneur." " Et moi aussi,"
repondit le Marechal, '■ parceque je ne veux pas etre hu-
milie. Je ne veux pas que ma femme retourne chez moi
les larmes aux ycux des humiliations qu'elle a re?ues dans
la journee. Le Roi ne veut pas de nous, c'esi evident ; ce
n'est qu'avec Bonaparte que nous pouvons avoir de la con-
sideration ; ce n'est qu'avec un homme de I'armee que
pouira en obtenir I'armee." Une demi-heure apres. il pril
un papier sur la table— "Voila ce que je veux lire aux
troupes." Et il lut la Proclamation. . . . Le Mare-
chal ttait si bien determine d'avance a prendre son parti
qu'Uie demiheure apres il port ail la decoration de la Legion
(fllonncur avec I'Aigle, et a son grand cordon la decora-
tion a fEfTit'ie de Bonaparte — Deposition du General Bour-
niont— Moiuteur, 6 Dec. 1815.
t " Seronl respectees les persones et les proprictes
particulieres ; les habitans, et, en general, tous les in-
dividus qui se trouvent dans la capitate, continueront a
jouir de leurs droits et liberies, sans pouvoir etre ni en-
qni^t^s ni recherches, meme relativement aux fonctians
quils occupent ou auraient occupees, a leur conduite el a
leur opinion politique. S'il survienl quelques difficultes
sur I'execution de quelques-uns des articles de la conven-
tion, Pinterpretalion en sera faite en faveur de I'armee
Franijaisi", <^ de lavillede Paris." — Arts 12 i!t 15, Capitu-
lation de TiTis—Moniteur, July 9, JS15 ; Cap iii. 3f6, 307.
[Chap. Ill
ed to cover tho m Jita.y as well as the ordi-
nary inhabitants of Paris; and that had this not
been agreed to, thoy would have broken olf the
negotiation. " I had," said Marshal Davoust.
'•^5,000 cavalry, 400 or 500 guns; and if the
French are leady to fly, they are not less ready
to rally under tho walls of Paris." JNIarshal
Ney exclaimed iijion this — '•' The article was sc
entirely jirotcctivc, that I relied on it: but ft r
it, can it be believed I would not have died
sword in hand ? It was in defiance of that ca
pitulalion that I was arrested, and on its faith
that I re-entered France." The Peers, by a
majority, held that tbey could listen to no defense
founded on the military convention of July 3, con-
cluded between foreign generals and a provision-
al government not emanating from the king, and
to which he was so entire a stranger, that two-
and-twenty days after he signed an ordinance,
directing a certain number of individuals to be
brought to trial, which was signed by the very
minister who had been president of the provision,
al government. As a last resource, M. Berryer
objected that Ney was no longer a Frenchman,
or subject to the laws of that country ; for, by
the treaty of 20th November last, the place of
his birth had been detached from France. But
the marshal stopped that defense in a noble
manner — "I am a Frenchman," exclaimed he,
'• and will die as such. Hitherto my defense has
appeared free : it is no longer so. I thank my
generous defenders, but I would rather not be
defended than have the shadow only of a de-
fense. I am accused in opposition to the faith
of treaties, and I am precluded from , jji(,j,jjg„f
appealing to them. I imitate Mo- uec. 7, 1S15-,
reau — I appeal from Europe to pos- Cap. iii. 3t>l.
terity."! ^^^'■
When the appeal to the capitulations was re-
fused, the counsel for Ney had no g_
longer any defense. He was ac- jje is found
cordingly found guilty — 1st, By a guilty, and
majority of 107 to 47, of having, ^^"1^/"^'"* '°
in the night of the 13th and 14lh
]\rarch, received the emissaries of the usurper ;
2d, Unanimously, of having, on the 14th March,
read a proclamation in the chief square of Lons-
le-Saulnier, tending to excite his troops to re-
bellion, and immediately given orders to them
to unite their forces with those of the usurper,
and of having himself eflfected that junction ;
3d, By a majority of 157 to 1, of having com-
mitted high treason. It remained to determine
on the punishment to be inflicted, the determin-
ation of which the French law, in the case of
that high tribunal, gives to the judges — viz.,
whether it would be that prescribed by the
penal code or the military law : 142 voted for
death, according to the martial law, 13 for
transportation, 5 declined voting. The sen-
tence was pronounced in absence of the ac-
cused, the privilege of doing so having been
given tn the Peers by the royal ordinance direct-
mg the trial. In the majority who voted for
death were found the names of j jvioniieur
Marmont, Serrurier, the Duke of Dec. 7, is\i
Valmy, Latour, Maubourg, and Cap. iii. 389.
many others of Ney's old compan- jj' ,'„ ^^'^- "•
ions in arms.^ '
The marshal himself supped calmly th.al
night, and. after smoking a cigar, slept for some
hours. He was wakened by M. Caucli-y, who
: 815.1
HISTORY OF EUROPE.
&1
came to announce to him tiie decision of the
gg House of Peers. " Marshal," said
riis death de- he, '"I have a melancholy duty to
termined oii perform." " Do your duty, M.
by the king. Q^uchy, we all have ours in this
world." Then, as the preamble began, he said
— "To the point, to the point." When the
numerous titles of the accused — Prince of
the ]Moskwa, Duke of Elchingen — began, he
interrupted him agam : " Say simply IMichel
Ney, soon a little dust; that is all." Never did
execution succeed a sentence more rapidly.
The king's ministers were in a state of ex-
treme anxiety ; the state of the metropolis was
reported to them every quarter of an hour. In
the evening a conference of the royal family
was held, at which it was resolved by all that
a great example was necessary ; the Duchess
d'Angouleme was particularly vehement in in-
culcating this opinion. At midnight the minis-
ters had a meeting, at \\ hich it was determined,
after anxious deliberation, to petition the king
in favor of a commutation of the sentence to
one of banishment to America The Duke of
Richelieu was, with some difficulty, brought to
acquiesce in this resolution; but, having done
so, he exerted himself to the utmost to carry it
into efiect. and besought the king to exercise
his clemency by acceding to the wishes of the
f abinet ; but he found the monarch immovable.
He had not courage enough to be magnani-
mous; the heroic only have such. It is those
who could themselves confront death that can
forgive it to others. It was doubtless a matter
of extreme difficulty for the king to resist the
unanimous voice of the European powers, who
concurred in demanding the punishment of a
great delinquent, and the impassioned feelings
uf the great majority of both the Chambers,
who concurred in that requisition. But there is
a voice in the human heart superior to that of
public opinion, and that voice is the voice of
God. Condemned by the great majority of
men at the moment, the forgiveness of Ney,
by one whom he had so deeply injured, would
I r ••■ dM ^'^^'^ been the noblest inaugura-
403?^ '" ' ^'"^^ ^^ ^^'^ monarchy for all future
times.*
At three in the morning of the 8th, the palace
89 of the Luxembourg, where Ney
His execution, was confined, was taken possession
Doc. 8. of by M. de la Rochecouart with
two hundred soldiers, chiefly gendarmes and
veterans. At nine in the morning, llic marshal,
having drank a little claret, entered a carriage,
accompanied by the Cure of St. Sulpiec : two
gendarmes occupied the front scat of the car-
riage. The vehicle drew up in the gardens
to the left of the entrance, about fifty yards
from tlie gate. Ney got out with a rapid step,
and placing himself eight paces from the wall,
said, addressing the officer in command, '' Is it
here, sir?" "Yes, M. le Mareehai," was the
reply. He refused to have his eyes bandaged.
"For five-and-tvvcnty years," said he, "I have
been accustomed to face the balls of the ene-
aiur.,^;....,, my." Then taking off his hnt wilh
Dec. 9, 1815; his Icit natul, and |ilar'ing his ngiit
Cap. iii. 4U3, ujion hiy iicart, he said in a loud
ta^il^*'^ " voice, froniing the soldiers. "My
' ' comra'les, fire on mo."' The offi-
cer in comm;iti'l gave he signal, and he fell
V^T 1_K
without any struggle : death was instantaneons,
three balls had penetrated the head, and four
the breast. The place of execution may still
be seen in the gardens of the Luxembourg ^ and
no spot in Europe will ever excite more mel-
ancholy feelings in the breast of the spectator.
The death of Ney was one of the greatest
' faults that the Bourbons ever com- go.
i mitted. His guilt was self-evident; Reflections on
never did criminal more richly de- *^^ event,
serve the penalties of treason. Like Mftrlbo
rough, he had not only betrayed his sovereign,
but he had done so when in high command, and
when, like him, he had recently before been
prodigal of protestations of fidelity to the eauso
he undertook. His treachery had brought on
his country unheard-of calamities — defeat in
battle, conquest by Europe, the dethrtnemeiit
and captivity of its sovereign, occupation of ils
capital and provinces by 1,100,000 armed men.
contributions to an unparalleled amount from
its suffering people. Double treachery had
marked his career ; he had first abandoned in
adversity his fellow-soldier, benefactor, and em-
peror, to take service with his enemy, and, hav-
ing done so, he next betrayed his trust to that
enemy, and converted the power given him into
the means of destroying his sovereign. If ever
a man deserved death, according to the laws of
all civilized countries — if ever there was one to
whom continued life would have been an oppro-
brium — it was Ney. But all that will not jus-
tify the breach of a capitulation. He was in
Paris at the time it was concluded — he remain-
ed in it on its faith — he fell directly under its
word as well as its spirit. To say that it was a
rnilitary convention, which could not tie up the
hands of the King of France, who was no party
to it, is a sophism alike contrary to the prin-
ciples of law and the feelings of honor. If
Louis XVIII. was not a party to it, he became
such by entering Paris, and resuming his throne,
the very day after it was concluded, without fir-
ing a shot. True, the magnitude of the treach-
ery called for a great example; true, ]''urope in
arms demanded bis head as an expiation ; — but
what then ? The very time when justice is
shown in harmony with present magnanimity
and ultimate expedience, is when a great crime
has been comniitted, a great criminal is at
stake, and a great sacrifice must be made to
secure that harmony. Banished from France,
with his double treason affixed to his name, Ney
would for ever have been an object of scorn and
detestation to every honorable mind. Slain, in
defiance of the cajiitulation, in the gardens of
the Luxembourg, and meeting death in a heroic
spirit, he became an object of eternal pathetic
interest ; and the decoration of the Legion of
Honor, which his sentence directed to lie torn
from his neck, was for ever replaced around it
by the volley of the platoon which consignctJ
him to the grave.
During the trial, and when his counsel I)a\l
appealed tothc capitulation of Paris
as protecting him, great ellbrts were j^,„i „",| ■,!,„
made with foreign powers to save Jjukeof Welj
his life. Notes wcro addiesscd to inKion'Hshnro
all the foreign embassadors then at j,■J.^>j;," '""'"■
Paris, and the intervention of the
military chiefs who conr luded that convention
was in an especial n am cr invoked, Madame
HISTORY OF EUROPE.
,Chap. Ill
Nev npplioil for nml obtaincil nn interview with
tlie l^iikc i>r Wollinfiton on tlio sulijoet, ami in
tlio must |i!\ssion:»lo manner invoked the protec-
tion of the I'JtIi aniele. '• Mudum,"' answered
the Duke, "thai ea|)itnl;uiiin was only intended
to proteet the inhabitants of Paris ay^ainst the
ven!,'caneo of the allied armies; and it is not
oliliiratory cxeept on the powers which have
ratified it, which Louis XA'III. has not done/'
'• Mv Lord," replied Madame Ney, "was not the
fakin
lation, equivalent to a ratification?"' '-That,"
rejoined the Duke, " regards the king of France ;
apply to him."' Wellington expressed himself
in the same terms to INIarshal Ney, in answer to
a letter addressed to him by the marshal on the
sulijeet.* The whole case rests on both sides
on this brief dialogue: all the wit of man to the
end of time can add nothing to their force.
Strictly speaking, the Duke of Wellington was
undoubtedly risht : the capitulation bound him,
and had been observed by him ; if the King of
France violated it, that was the affair of that
monarch and his ministers; and there was a
peculiar delicacy in a victorious foreign general,
in military possession of the capital, interfering
with the administration of justice by the French
government. In private, it is said, Wellington
exerted himself much, though unhappily with-
out efl'eet, to save the life of his old antagonist
in arms; but, in the face of the united opinion
of the whole powers of Europe, he did not con-
ceive himself at liberty to make any public de-
monstration in his favor. His situation was
doubtless a delicate one, surrounded with diffi-
culties on every side ; but there is an instinct in
the human heart paramount to reason, there is a
wisdom in generosity which is often superior to
that of expedience. Time ■will show whether it
would not have been wiser to have listened to its
voice than to that of unrelenting justice on this
occasion ; and whether the throne of the Bour-
bons would not have been better inaugurated by
a deed of generosity which would have spoken
to the heart of man through every succeeding
age, than by the sacrifice of the greatest, though
also the most guilty, hero of the empire.
Another trial took place at the same period
92. before the ordinary courts of justice
Trial of Lava- in Paris, which, although not term-
'^"®- inating in the same mournful catas-
trophe, was attended with circumstances of per-
haps greater romantic interest. 'M. Lavalette
was in civil administration what jNIarshal Ney
had been in military — the great criminal of the
Hundred Lays. Accompanied by General Sebas-
tiani, he had taken forcible possession, in the