form at the house of a person, named Pombas, in Thouars. A number of persons, assembled there, were told, that the government of the king was overturned, that a provisional government was established, and that it was necessary to render themselves masters of the gendarmerie. Immediately cartouches were distributed, the tricoloured cockade was mounted, and they marched off. An individual of the name of Delon, who had been already condemned to death, and who had arrived at Thouars at the same period as Berton, put himself at the head of the insurgents. One of the gendarmerie heard the bell ring at the door of the barracks. On his opening it, armed men rushed upon him and commanded silence; others went to the rooms of the different gensdarmes and compelled them to go down stairs. All the brigade, being thus made prisoners, were conducted to the house inhabited by Pombas.

The tocsin was soon rung; the generale was beat; the curate was arrested in his bed by men who called themselves soldiers of liberty; a judge of the tribunal of Bressure was arrested in the street, and a member of the municipal council, at the house of the mayoralty, whither the insurgents went to substitute the tri-coloured standard for the white flag, and to insult the bust of the king. Horses and carriages were seized. The insurgents then proceeded to the house of an armourer, named Gaspy, and took possession of the arms they found there. Sentinels were placed at the gates of the town. Cries of "Vive la liberte!" "Vivent les peuples" were heard. A provisional government was stated to have been established at

Paris, of which general Foy, Keratry, Voyer d'Argenson, the marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Constant were said to be members. This was believed. The authorities, struck with stupor, assembled at the town house, whither general Berton immediately repaired, accompanied by several armed men, and declared to them, that the movement at Thouars extended through the whole of France, and that its ob ject was to recover public liberty. He repeated to the mayor, that a provisional government was established, and that he authorized him to continue his functions. Berton then proceeded to one of the public squares, where a person, named Heureux, who described himself as the deputy of the town of Nantes, read two proclamations. One was addressed to "The People." It announced the overthrow of the king's government, by which the purchases of national property would be secured, and the indirect contributions suppressed. The other was addressed to the army; it assured them that all France had risen, and promised them victory, honour, and promotion. The friends of honour, it stated, "are all ranged under the sacred standard of the country. Our veteran warriors are arriving from all parts, and uniting with your fathers, your brothers, and your friends; the present is the moment of reward and the fulfilment of glory! You will answer the summons. You are Frenchmen." It was signed by the "General commanding the national army of the West." These proclamations were received with mingled cries of "The Charter for ever-Napoleon II. for ever-The Republic for ever." The provisional govern

ment was then proclaimed, and the marquis de Lafayette was declared generalissimo of the armies. Berton and Heureux stated, that the most distinguished members of the left side, and particularly baron Demarcay, were well informed of what was going on. Berton then made several new appointments, and re-organized the authorities. After these arrangements were completed, a column consisting of about 15 men on horseback, and 120 on foot, marched off with drums beating, and the standard of revolt flying, towards Saumur.

The conspirators of Saumur made preparations for receiving the column. The enemy had arrived at Montreuil, only three leagues distant, and yet the authorities of Saumur were ignorant of their approach. At three o'clock Berton and his band passed through Montreuil, with cries of "Vivent les peuples! Vive la liberte! Vive Napoleon II." Several emissaries came from Saumur to meet him, but in the meantime, the brigadier of the gendarmes of Montreuil had sent forward one of his men to Saumur, to give notice of the approach of the insurgents, and measures were taken to prevent his entering the town. A party of the cavalry of the school of Saumur hastened to oppose him. Berton informed the officer who commanded this party, that all resistance was useless, that his corps was only the advanced guard of 20,000 men, who were marching on Saumur. "You see," he added, "that the national guard and the gendarmerie are marching with me. Parthenay, Loudun, Niort, Thouars, Chinon, Bauge, are all in a state of insurrection. The cuirassiers of Orleans (in garrison at Niort) make common cause

with us. The legion which is at Angers is for us also. At Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux-in all the great towns of France-the same movement has begun. Be advised, avoid the effusion of blood." The commandant replied, that he did not know Berton; that he had no command in the department, and that, having received orders to resist his march, he should oppose him by force. However, he made his detachment take a half-circuit, and fixed his position behind the bridge Fouchard. Berton and his band followed him; they reached the bridge and passed it. A new detachment of cavalry now joined the former one. Delon arranged the troops; but the officer, who commanded the first detachment which had marched to meet the insurgents, declared that he should not enter; on which Delon replied, that he might answer for the blood that was shed. The mayor of Saumur advanced about 7 o'clock in the evening, accompanied by a single national guard, and sought general Berton, who, addressing him, observed that he had seen him in Paris, and that he had come in the name of liberty. The mayor replied, that he was a rebel and a blockhead, and that he must retire. Berton, disconcerted, ordered Moreau to withdraw their bands beyond the bridge. The bridge was evacuated, and the national guard began to form themselves in order of battle. The insurgents, their part, blocked up the road with carriages, and established posts, in order that they might not be surprised by the troops of the town. Things remained in this state for several hours. The mayor and Berton had another conference: and the authorities of Saumur held a council of war, in which it was

on

ment, for 20 and 15 years re spectively.

Two remarkable circumstances

paigns of 1806-7. In consequence of the valour which he displayed in the attack upon Lubeck, which Blucher occupied after the battle of Jena, Berton was rewarded with the rank of chef d'escadron, and in 1808 was promoted to the rank of colonel. He was afterwards appointed chief of the staffmajor of general Valence, who was soon compelled by the state of his health to quit his command; upon

which Berton was attached to the staff-major of the 4th corps d'armée under the command of general Sebastiani. He distinguished himself at the battle of Talavera and several other engagements in the Peninsula. At Ocana he led the Polish lancers to the attack, and displayed much skill, calinness, and intrepidity. After the capture of Malaga, he was appointed governor of the place, and in that character he opposed the Guerrillas with great success. Marshals Soult and Sebastiani had long demanded for Berton the rank of general officer, which Napoleon at length conferred upon him by a decree of the 30th of May, 1813. Berton had ardently desired to quit the service of the staffmajor, and therefore received his new appointment with great joy. The brigade, which was placed under his command, was composed of the 2nd Hussars and the 13th and 21st Chasseurs; and marshal Soult manifested the confidence, which he reposed in the new general, by constantly nominating him to the honour of protecting the retreat, or forming the advanced guard. At the memorable battle of Toulouse, the conduct of Berton increased his former reputation. The only reward he obtained for his services, was to be placed on half pay immediately after the restoration. He remained inactive, until the 20th of March of the following year. In 1815, Berton commanded a brigade of the corps of Excelmans, composed of the 14th and 17th Dragoons, and behaved with his accustomed bravery during the short campaign of Waterloo. On his return to Paris, he was arrested and detained five months in the Abbaye, whence he was liberated without being brought to trial, and

occurred on this trial. It is the custom in France to include in the indictment, not merely the sub

without even being informed of the motives of his arrest. Berton wrote the "Precis historique, critique, et militaire, des Battailes de Fleurus et de Waterloo;" he also published a commentary on the work of lieut.-general Taraire, intituled "De la Force dans les Gouvernemens;" and a letter to baron Mounier, on the subject of the pretended will of Napoleon. The second of these pamphlets caused him to be deprived of his disposable pay, and placed on the retired list long before the age prescribed by the ordinances. Berton, in a Memoire addressed to M. de Latour Maubourg, bitterly complained of this proceeding, which he called illegal and tyrannical: he also declared that he considered as a violation of property, the order which deprived him of his allowances, to which, he said, he had as good a title as to an estate purchased with his own money. Berton, however, was not left destitute. He had an estate near Villers Coterets that yielded him 7,000 or 8,000 francs a year, which, added to the pension attached to his cross, enabled him to live in ease, and to maintain his sons in a suitable manner. Berton had great aptitude and an ardent relish for study: his restless imagination would never suffer him to remain unoccupied; and his passion for acquiring knowledge in some measure obstructed his advancement; for it often made him neglect his external appearance, and even some of those minute duties, to which generals wish officers to be confined; but as soon as his talent had an opportunity of showing itself, nobody thought any more of reproaching him with the neg ligence of his exterior-they were contented with calling him in joke, "the Independent." He was frank and generous, a sincere and approved friend, and excellent comrade, and the best of fathers. His hair was gray, and he wore thick and black musta chios. He had a sparkling eye, and a florid complexion; his features were rather ugly, but flexible and expres sive; his figure was tall, his step quick, his voice powerful, and his whole appearance bespoke courage and intrepidity.