tion of Hayti by the French. He rose step by step to the rank of colonel, and subsequently to that of general, which he attained in 1846. He was remarkable for his taciturnity, and was at least cognisant of the various conspiracies which succeeded each other from 1843 to 1847. His ambition seems not to have been suspected by his associates; but he had for several years brooded over the plans by which he hoped to emulate the achievements of Napoleon, his great model. He was elected president in 1847. In 1849 he found a pretext for putting to death a considerable number of those persons likely to oppose his views, and then contrived to get up petitions from a number of citizens, from forty-nine generals, and all the colonels in the army, requesting him to accept the imperial crown. These petitions were presented to the chambers, by whom their prayer was of course unanimously granted. The first act of the new emperor was to create great numbers of dukes, marquises, counts, and barons, and to surround himself with an imposing array of officers of the household, gentlemen of honour, pages, masters of ceremonies, heralds-at-arms, &c. He and his wife, Adelina, were crowned with great pomp in April, 1851—the pattern of Napoleon's coronation being closely imitated. He soon got into troubles, and was twice defeated by Santa Anna. The career of this mock Napoleon terminated in 1859, when the Haytians rose against him on account of his violence and tyranny, and compelled him to take refuge in France, where he died about 1863. He left two daughters by his "empress" Adelina, a negress.—J. T.
SOULT, Nicholas John de Dieu, Duke of Dalmatia, was born at St. Amans La Bastide, in the south of France, on the 27th of March, 1769. The son of a peasant, he enlisted at an early age in an infantry regiment, and attained in 1792 the rank of lieutenant. After serving under Hoche, Jourdan, and Lefebvre, Soult rose to the rank of brigadier-general. But he first became prominent when co-operating with Massena in 1799 against the Russians and Austrians in Switzerland, whom in various encounters Soult signally defeated. Created general of division, Soult followed Massena into Italy, where disaster and disgrace had fallen on the French arms. Against superior forces Massena, who had achieved so much in Switzerland, could attempt little in Italy. He was at last compelled to limit himself to the defence of Genoa. Massena's obstinate stand at Genoa has been universally celebrated. Here Soult seconded him with an intrepidity equal to Massena's own. Soult was wounded and taken prisoner. Restored to liberty by the battle of Marengo in 1800, Soult held an important command in Italy till the conclusion of the peace of Amiens. On the return of Soult to France, he was received with distinction by Bonaparte. After a year's uneasy breathing time, hostilities were renewed in June, 1803. Early in 1804 Napoleon, who had already exercised a despotic power, took a despotic name, that of emperor. He conferred the title of marshal on eighteen of those who had helped, like himself, to make France glorious. One of the marshals was Soult. Napoleon prepared a grand expedition for the invasion of England—an expedition which had at least the effect of alarming and arousing the English people. To Soult was intrusted the command of the huge and imposing mass of troops assembled at Boulogne. Napoleon had to make head against a third grand coalition, and he began the brief and brilliant campaign of 1805. On the 2nd of December, the anniversary of his coronation, was fought the battle of Austerlitz. At the head of the right wing, on which the whole weight of the onset fell, Soult seized and held the heights of Pratzen, foolishly abandoned by the enemy, and assured the victory of the French. In the campaigns of 1806 and 1807 Soult displayed a courage and a generalship worthy of the renown which he had already acquired—was present at Jena and Eylau, and contributed to the capture of many towns and fortresses. The peace of Tilsit in July, 1807, gave the French emperor leisure to reward his most distinguished and devoted captains. Soult was made Duke of Dalmatia. In 1808 he was sent to Spain. The capitulation of Baylen, followed in a few weeks by the capitulation of Cintra, exasperated Napoleon, who expected to annihilate by the mere gleam of his appearance all opposition to his sway in the Peninsula. To Spain he accordingly hastened late in the autumn of 1808. Soult, Lannes, and Victor opened a path of triumph to Madrid for Napoleon and his brother Joseph. Napoleon gave Soult the proud order to drive the army of Sir John Moore into the sea. In fulfilling this order Soult has been accused of irresolution and inactivity. At Corunna on the 16th of January, 1809, he certainly attacked Sir John Moore with sufficient ardour. But whether Soult was victorious at Corunna is questionable. For more than two years after the battle of Corunna Soult, often successful, always elastic, persevering, indefatigable, accomplished no memorable result. On the 16th of May, 1811, he lost the battle of Albuera; he had designed to relieve Badajoz, but was obliged to retreat to Seville. From a contest the fortunes of which were ever changing, Soult was summoned in the spring of 1813 to Germany, where Napoleon was engaged with the allies. At Lützen Soult was at the head of the guards; at Bautzen he led the centre; but news having arrived that King Joseph's army had been ignominiously overthrown by Wellington at Vittoria on the 21st of June, 1813, Soult was despatched to save what could be saved from the wreck which Massena, Marmont, and Jourdan had left behind them. Soult penetrated into the Pyrenees to relieve, if possible, Pampeluna and St. Sebastian; but on the 8th of September Wellington took St. Sebastian by storm. Wellington having passed the Bidassoa, Soult entrenched himself in Bayonne. Finding his position there untenable, he marched westward. His defeat at Orthez was embittered by the still more terrible defeat on the 10th of April, 1814, at Toulouse. This was the last grand event of the war, and occurred just three days before the abdication of Napoleon. Soult submitted with apparent sincerity to the government of Louis XVIII., and the king was disposed to show him much favour. But the blunders of the royalists were so frequent, their reactionary spirit so insane, that though Soult had little of the politician, he was filled with disgust. When, therefore, Napoleon returned from Elba, and made his triumphant progress through France, Soult joined him. At both Ligny and Waterloo Soult was a combatant. During the early part of the second Restoration Soult went with his family into banishment, residing at Düsseldorf till 1819. The prejudice of the Bourbons against him gradually declined, and in 1827 Charles X. made him a peer. The July revolution gave Soult a prominence which he would never have expected under the elder branch of the Bourbons. He became a decided Orleanist, never regretting the empire, or wishing its revival. Louis Philippe reigned nearly eighteen years. All that time there was only one man who was really minister—Casimir Périer, who died in May, 1832. The others were ministers in the abject sense, Soult himself not excepted. In November, 1831, Marshal Soult assisted the duke of Orleans to suppress a furious insurrection at Lyons. The 11th October, 1832, saw a ministry constituted of which Soult was president, and Guizot, Thiers, and Broglie the principal members. This ministry, successively modified, continued in office till February, 1836. Soult had withdrawn, in the course of 1834, from disputes with his colleagues about the organization of the army. There was now a rapid succession of ministries; first a Thiers ministry, then a Molè and Guizot ministry, then a Molè ministry, and then—after a variety of other ministries—Soult was appointed a second time, in May, 1839, president of the council. This second Soult ministry had to make way for a Thiers ministry. But on the 29th October, 1840, Soult was raised to the office of prime minister for the third time. The October ministry remained in power till the February revolution. For though Soult in September, 1847, induced thereto by the infirmities of old age, yielded the presidency of the council to Guizot, neither the constitution of the ministry nor the policy of the government was affected thereby, for Guizot had always been the chief, the guiding member of the October ministry. Either from conviction, or from a less honourable motive, Guizot acted cordially with the king, no less in his implacable resentments than in his most obstinate bigotries. And to Guizot almost exclusively must the February catastrophe be ascribed. Yet we must not suppose that, whether as president of the council or minister of war, Soult was a mere cipher. Without the instincts or faculties of the statesman, Soult had great organizing ability. His influence on the home or foreign policy of France was perhaps slight; but to his experience and energy the efficiency and triumphs of the French army in Louis Philippe's reign were much indebted. One of the most interesting episodes of Soult's life was his presence by command, and as the representative of Louis Philippe, at the coronation of Queen Victoria. Two grey-haired men, formerly foes but now friends, were to meet beside the throne of a girl of nineteen. Soult died at his country mansion, St. Amans, on the 26th November, 1851. His collection
