volunteered to go in a fast-sailing vessel | line." But when did the the Count de Dumas ever hear of 17 British ships of the line lying-to, to await the attack of a French 80-gun ship and two frigates? The conduct of the Company's officers and men on the memorable action off Pulo A'or displayed a fine instance of our national character. On what occasion has it ever happened that the merchant ships of our enemies have defended themselves, and adhered to each other with so much firmness and decision, against a ship of war? Our East Indiamen are certainly very fine ships, and have, generally, such an appearance as to be sometimes mistaken for ships of the line; but their complement of men is very inadequate to their size, for fight alongside a ship of the line. None of them, we believe, had more than 100 men, their heaviest metal 18-pounders. The Marengo had 700 at least, with a weight of metal on her lower-deck, and a scantling which rendered her an over to order the country ships to keep on the lee bow of the India fleet; by this judicious arrangement Captain Dance kept himself between the country ships and the enemy. Lieutenant Fowler, having executed his order, returned, bringing with him some volunteers from the country ships to serve at the guns (a noble proof of the public spirit of our sailors). The Indiamen lay-to in line of battle during the night, with the people at their quarters. At daylight, on the 15th, the enemy were three miles to windward, also lying-to the British ships hoisted their colours and offered battle, but the enemy not choosing to come down, at nine A. M. the India fleet steered its course under easy sail; the enemy then filled and edged towards them. At one г. M.ing, particularly when required to lie Captain Dance, perceiving that the French admiral intended to attack and eut off his rear, made the signal for his fleet to tack and engage in succession. The Royal George led, and was followed by the Ganges and Earl Camden. The ships performed the manœuvre with ad-match for all the ships of that fleet that mirable correctness, and stood towards the French under a press of sail. The latter formed a very close line, and opened their fire on the headmost ships, which was not returned until ours had approached as near as they could get, the French having a great advantage in superior sailing. The Royal George bore the brunt of the action; the Ganges and Camden came up, and also began to engage; but before any other ships could get up, the French admiral hauled his wind, and stood away to the east ward under all the sail he could set. Captain Dance made the signal for a general chase, but, after a pursuit of two hours, finding the enemy gained on him, he very properly desisted. The action was very short: one man only was killed on board the Royal George, and one wounded; the other ships had none hurt, and received little damage in their hulls or rigging. To say that Linois was deceived by the warlike appearance of our Indiamen, and the blue swallow-tail flags (pavillon queue bleue) worn by the three largest ships, may save his courage at the expense of his judgment. "An Indiaman," says the Count de Dumas, " has often been mistaken for a ship of the could at one time have brought their guns to bear on her. The two frigates were also very powerful ships; so that the conduct of Captain Dance, in resist❘ing the attack, and keeping his ships in line of battle, instead of ordering them to separate and seek their safety in flight, entitles him to all the praise which can be bestowed on a sea officer. His Majesty was graciously pleased to confer upon him the honour of knighthood. The Court of Directors also presented him with 2000 guineas, and a piece of plate of the value of 200 guineas. To Captain Timmins, of the Royal George, they presented the sum of 1000 guineas, and a piece of plate of the value of 100 guineas; to Captain Moffatt, of the Ganges, 500 guineas, and a piece of plate of 100 guineas value; to all the other captains 500 guineas, and a piece of plate of the value of 50 guineas; to Lieutenant Fowler, of the Royal Navy, a piece of plate of 300 guineas value; and the Court of Directors, as well as the public bodies in India, were extremely liberal in pecuniary gratification to every officer and man in the fleet. Captain Sir Nathaniel Dance had also a pension of 300l. per annum settled on him by the East-India Company; and this, by a vote of a general meeting of proprietors, was increased to 500l. per annum. Sir Nathaniel Dance was born in London the 9th June, O. S. 1748, and made his first voyage to the East Indies in 1759. Before he attained the rank of commander, he had performed eight voyages to the East Indies, one to the West Indies, and one to the Mediterranean. In August, 1780, he sailed chief mate in the King George East Indiaman on the ninth voyage, which ship was one of the five unfortunately captured off Cape St. Vincent by the combined fleet of France and Spain, and carried into Cadiz, where he remained six months a prisoner. In 1787 he made his first voyage as commander on board the Lord Camden, in which ship he performed four voyages. In 1803 he sailed for Bombay and China in a new ship, the Earl Camden, of 1200 tons burden, carrying 36 18-pounders; and on the 5th February, 1804, left China on his return to Europe as commodore of the fleet, which consisted of sixteen regular Indiamen and eleven country ships, the whole valued at ten millions sterling. It was in prosecuting this service that he fell in with the enemy's squadron, and achieved that victory which filled the world with admiration and surprise. The nations of the earth had long witnessed the superior energy and skill of British seamen when exercised on board ships of war, but it was reserved for the present period to crown those efforts with a victory achieved by a fleet of merchantmen, heavily laden, in a manner highly honourable to the national character, and reflecting the greatest credit on every individual engaged, while the abilities of the commodore place his name amongst the most distinguished characters of the British navy. In addition to the rewards enumerated above, the Bombay Insurance Society voted 5000l. together with a sword of 100 guineas value, to Sir N. Dance, and swords of the same value to Captains Timmins, Moffat, and Wilson, whose ships shared in the action, as marks of the esteem and admiration with which their minds were impressed by the skill and gallantry displayed by them on that occasion. They further voted the sum of 100l. to be distributed among the men who were wounded in the engagement, or to their families. In transmitting the above resolutions to Sir N. Dance, the gentleman appointed thus addressed themselves :"In fulfilling so grateful a duty, we might perhaps be allowed to dwell with minuteness on the glory which has been achieved for yourself, the fame which results to the country, and the incalculable advantages which have arisen to its vital interests by an exploit so splendid and important; but it is superfluous for us to enter on this extensive field, and we content ourselves merely in offering our tribute of congratulations, proud in the opportunity afforded us of expressing our sentiments on an action which adds lustre to the annals of the empire." THE FRENCH MARSIIALS-NO. IV. MARSHAL MARMONT, who has immortalized his name by his bravery and military talents, and tarnished it by being the first to desert his benefactor, was born in 1774, at Chattillon-surSeine. He belongs to a noble family, and was destined to the army from his childhood. After having served in the infantry, in the year 1792 he entered into the artillery; and was present in the first campaigns of the armies of the Alps and of Italy. He was employed at the blockade of Mentz, in 1795, and in the following year was again sent to the army of Italy. There he became aid-de-camp to Bonaparte, and displayed a high degree of courage and talent, at the battles of Lodi, Castiglione, and St. George. In 1798, he accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, as his aidde-camp, and for his conduct at Malta, he was made a brigadier-general. At the assault of Alexandria, he commanded a column, and bore a conspicuous part in the battle of the Pyramids, and on other important occasions. Marmont was one of those whom Bonaparte selected to accompany him to France, and he was active in assisting to bring about the revolution of the eighteenth of Brumaire. Appointed commander-in-chief of the army intended to recover Italy from the Austrians, he exerted himself with much effect at the passage of the great St. Bernard, and still more at the | perilous passage under the fire of the cannon-ball. His wound was scarcely fort of Bard. He greatly contributed to healed when, in April 1813, he was the victory at Marengo, and his services appointed to the command of a division were equally useful at the passage of in Germany, and contributed to the the Mincio and the Adige. At the close victories at Lutzen, Bautzen, Wurtzen, of the campaign, he was made a gene- Dresden, Dippoldiswald, and Zinwald. ral of division and was employed to At the battle of Leipsic, with a feeble negociate the armistice of Castel Franco. corps, he kept at bay the army of SileOn his return to France, after the peace, sia, and was again wounded. In 1814, he was placed at the head of the artil- he was present at the battle of Brienne, lery, with the title of first inspector- and shared largely in the laurels gained general, and he introduced a new sys- at Champaubert, Vauchamp, and Monttem, which is still followed. After the mirail. When, in the hope of cutting rupture of the treaty of Amiens, Mar- the enemy off from their magazines, and mont was sent to command the French even from their line of retreat, Napoarmy, in Holland; and while there, he leon made his flank movement against occupied his troops in erecting, at Ziest, the allies, he left to Marmont and to a magnificent pyramid in honour of Oudinot the task of covering Paris. In Napoleon. It does honour to the Dutch the retreat on the capital, and in the government, that it has allowed this battle which was fought under the walls moument to remain uninjured. Mar- of that city, there can be no doubt that mont was employed in Italy in the cam- Marmont, finding himself in a situation paign of 1805; he reduced the province in which he could pursue his own views of Styria, and harassed the Archduke without being accountable to Napoleon, Charles. Thence he was dispatched whose cause he now considered despeinto Dalmatia, at the epoch of the siege rate, determined to play the part which of Ragusa, where, with only a handful General Monk performed with so much of troops, he succeeded in defeating the success in England. Marmont accordRussians and Montenegrins, and re-ingly entered into a negociation with storing tranquillity to the province. In the exhausted and defeated armies of consequence of this signal exploit, he the allies; and before Napoleon could was created Duke of Ragusa. He arrive to overwhelm the enemy, the remained in Dalmatia till 1809, when marshal had concluded a negociation on the breaking out of the war with with the provisional government; and Austria, he collected 10,000 men, de- had agreed to separate his division from feated 17,000 Austrians in four engage- the rest of the imperial army. When ments, accomplished his junction with Napoleon was informed by General the army of Italy, drove General Giulay's Belliard of this base desertion, he was corps of 35,000 men into Hungary, deeply affected. "Who," exclaimed shared in the battle of Wagram, and he, "would have believed such a thing on the tenth and eleventh of July, suc- of Marmont!—a man with whom I have cessfully contended at Znaim against shared my bread-whom I drew from the whole of the Austrian army, into obscurity-whom I raised to fortune and the rear of which he had penetrated. reputation! Behold, what is the fate of He was made a marshal on the field of sovereigns-to make ingrates!" The battle at Znaim, and was sent to re- soldiers of Marmont, more faithful than assume the command of the Illyrian their leader, mutinied when they disprovinces. After having held the govern- covered that he had betrayed his counment of these provinces for eighteen try; but they were already divided months, he was recalled to be placed from the rest of the army, and it was at the head of the army of Portugal. impossible for them to retrace their He compelled Lord Wellington to raise steps. It must be considered rather as the siege of Badajoz, and for a long an insult than as a kindness, that, in time succeeded in covering the Spanish his treaty with those who had seized the frontier; but in 1812, his army having reins of government, he stipulated for been weakened by draughts to the other the safety of Napoleon. Louis the armies, he was defeated at Salamanca, Eighteenth rewarded him with the rank where he was severely wounded by a of a peer, and a captaincy in his body guards. On the Emperor's return to Paris, Marmont accompanied the fugitive king, who had no hold on the affections of his subjects, to Ghent, and was one of the few individuals expressly excepted from the amnesty which was granted by Napoleon. With a presumption and impudence which only a man of Marmont's calibre is capable of displaying, he endeavoured to justify himself in a reply to the Emperor's proclamation, but with little success. After the second return of Louis to Paris, Marmont was nominated one of the four marshals of the royal guard, and was made a commander of St. Louis. In 1817, he was sent to Lyons, with extensive powers, as the king's lieutenant; and in this instance he acted in a praiseworthy manner, as he immediately put a stop to the enormities which the ultraroyalists had been for some time committing, and punished those who had been engaged in them. This circumstance, of course, drew down upon him many severe animadversions from the ultra-royalist faction. Since that period, Marmont took no very active part in public affairs, till the breaking out of the French Revolution of 1830, when he received the command of the troops appointed to defend Paris. On the morning of the twenty-seventh of July, M. de Polignac first made known to the king the troubles which had taken place the preceding evening, on account of the famous ordonnances which had been issued by his Majesty, in violation of the charter; and Charles the Tenth immediately sent for Marshal Marmont, and entrusted him with the command so fatal to his reputation and his fortunes. On arriving at Paris, the marshal found the most utter want of preparation for that kind of resistance which the government ought to have expected. The troops were not even consigned to their quarters, and it was necessary to wait the muster-hour in order to assemble them together. On the twenty-eighth, the opposition of the people increasing, and assuming a formidable aspect, Marmont urged concessions. "The honour of the crown," said he, to Charles the Tenth, "may yet be saved. To-morrow, perhaps, this will be impossible." His advice was not listened to; Paris was declared in a state of siege. The populace, on the evening of the twenty-eighth, had the advantage over the soldiery. This, at least, was the opinion of Marmont. "I ought not to conceal from you," said he in a letter to the king, "that the situation of things becomes more and more serious." The fighting continued during the twenty-ninth. At one time on the morning of the thirtieth, there were hopes of an armistice. Marmont entered into a parley with the citizens, advancing by the Rue de Richelieu; but at this moment, in a new and unexpected quarter, the firing recommenced. The Louvre, evacuated by mistake, had been entered by the people; the troops in the Place du Carousel were seized with a sudden panic; the commandant had only time to throw himself on his horse, and charging at the head of his men, he cleared, for a moment, the court before the Tuileries. But the Tuileries themselves were soon entered by the gate of the Pont Royal. Their defenders jumped from the windows into the gardens; all discipline was gone; the terror was universal, and the utmost efforts of the marshal could only infuse some degree of order into the retreat. Swiss battalion in the garden covered the rear; the force in the Place Louis XV., checked the multitudes of the Faubourg St. Honoré, and allowed the troops still on the Boulevard de la Madeleine an opportunity to retire, which they did by the Champs Elysées ; and at the Barriere de l'Etoile, the marshal received a letter from the king, which announced the appointment of the Duke d'Angouleme to the office of Commander-in-chief, and ordered the royal forces to be directed to St. Cloud. The people of Paris were triumphant; the contest of the three days was over. A The advice of Marshal Marmont to the king, at St. Cloud, now was, "take your troops to the Loire; they will there be beyond the reach of disaffection; summon the Chambers, and the corps diplomatique to your place of residence; take these measures immediately; your throne is yet secure!" The king hesitated-the troops deserted. The few moments that should have been spent in adopting some energetic line of conduct, were wasted in a violent dispute between the Dauphin and Marmont. The latter had published an order of the day to the troops, which, by inadvertence, he had not shown to the Duke d'Angouleme. This order was contrary to the Dauphin's opinions. He became furious, rushed upon the marshal, and even wounded himself in wresting his sword from Marmont's side. The old king succeeded in restoring peace, and mutual apologies passed between the two; but such a quarrel at such a moment inspired mistrust among all parties, and filled up the fatality of the illfated king's fortunes. Since 1830, Marshal Marmont has lived out of France, and has recently published his "Travels in Hungary, Southern Russia, &c." of division, and chief of his staff; functions which he continued to perform, under Moreau and Championnet, after the death of Joubert. Such was his merit that Massena, who succeeded Championnet, selected him to act as his second in command, and the talents which Suchet on this occasion displayed, proved the wisdom of Massena's choice. At the head of a feeble division of not 7,000 men, half naked, without magazines, and in a ruined country, he long held at bay five times the number of Austrian forces, under Melas, relinquished the Genoese territory only inch by inch, and at length retired unbroken behind the Var, where he set at defiance the enemy, saved the south of France from invasion, and facilitated the operations of the army of reserve, which was advancing from Dijon to cross the Alps. The moment that, in consequence of the march of Bonaparte, the Austrians commenced their retreat, Suchet followed their footsteps, harassed them incessantly, took 15,000 prisoners, and by compelling Melas to weaken his army to oppose him, he powerfully contributed to the victory at Marengo. In that campaign, subsequent to the armistice, he took 4,000 prisoners at Pozzolo, and had an important share in all the battles that were fought. In 1803, he commanded a division at the camp of Boulogne. On the 11th of December, 1803, he was named a member of the Legion of Honour, grand officer of that body in 1804, and governor of the im perial palace at Lacken, in 1805. At Ulm, Hollabrun, and Austerlitz, in the latter year; at Saalfield and Jena, in 1806, and at Pultusk in 1807, Suchet was one of those who most contributed to fix victory to the French eagles. Napoleon rewarded him, in 1806, with the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour, and granted him an endowment of 20,000 Com-franks from the property of the order; and in 1808, he raised him to the dig nity of a count of the empire. The king of Saxony also nominated him a commander of the military order of St. Henry. The genius of Suchet was now called into action in another quarter, and with success equal to his former efforts. He was sent to Spain, and was placed at the head of the army of Arragon. In 1809, he defeated General Blake, at Louis Gabriel Suchet, afterwards Duke of Albufera, was born at Lyons, in 1772, and was the son of a silkmanufacturer. After having received a good education, he entered into the army as a volunteer, at the age of twenty. His first military exploit was at Toulon, where he was an officer in the battalion, by which General O'Hara was taken prisoner. Being sent to Italy, he was present at nearly all the battles which were fought there, during the campaigns of 1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797, and was thrice wounded; once dangerously. In the last of these campaigns, he was appointed chief-de-brigade, on the field of battle, by Bonaparte. The following year he bore such a distinguished part in the campaign against the Swiss, that he was chosen to carry to Paris twentythree standards, which had been taken from the enemy. As a reward for his services, he was made general of brigade; and he was on the point of sailing with the expedition to Egypt, when he was suddenly retained, to restore discipline and confidence to the army of Italy, which was completely disorganized. This difficult task he performed in the most effectual manner. pelled to return hastily to France, in consequence of a quarrel with the commissioners of the directory, Suchet vindicated his conduct satisfactorily, and was sent to the army of the Danube, where he enhanced his reputation by his exertions in defending the country of the Grisons. Joubert, his friend, being entrusted with the command of the army of Italy, Suchet joined him as general |