MORE AS TO MARSHAL NEY.

Dear Sir: I wish I could have a talk with you on the execution of Marshal Ney. I trust I have not tired you in writing from time to time on this most interesting subject and hope you will pardon me for intruding on your valuable time. Just a few more lines and I quit.

Why was the execution to take place on the plain of Grenville at 10 o'clock a. m. and 10,000 people on the way to witness it, when it was suddenly changed to the Luxemburg gardens at 6:30 in the morning, with very few witnesses present?

Why was it some of the most prominent people of North and South Carolina on first acquaintance with P. S. Ney, did not believe him to be the marshal, but when they came to know him well were fully convinced that he was?

The best evidence we have that the execution was false is the statement of Sir William Fraser to Rev. James A. Weston, the author of "Historic Doubts as to Ney's Execution." Mr. Weston says:

"Sir William Fraser told me that he had grave doubts as to the execution of Marshal Ney; that the official account was evidently a fabrication; that it carried the evidence of falsehood upon its face; that Mr. Quentin Dick was a man of the very highest character, and his word could not for a moment be doubted. It is probable that Wellington saved Ney's life."

or

Now here we have two reports of the execution. Sir William Fraser says the official report is false. This official false report has gone down in history. Why? Taking into consideration the political state of affairs in France and Europe it had to be accepted as history. The Bonaparte faction was out; the Bourbon faction was in, and Ney, a member of the Bonaparte faction, was a traitor to his country, insofar as his country has never honored him in erecting a monument to commemorate his glorious deeds: but a monument stands upon the spot where he was supposed to have been executed in memory of him as a traitor, and of his execution; and the French nation ought to tear down this monument and erect one worthy of the great soldier, and call for his remains, which lie near Third Creek church, Rowan County, North Carolina. Most truly yours,

H. H. NEWTON, JR.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SEAL OF DAVID

SON COLLEGE, N. C.

"Peter S. Ney is the author of the deIvice on the seal of Davidson College:

"A man's right hand grasping a dagger, with the point downward, piercing a coiled serpent, not far from the head. The hilt of the weapon has rising from it a star or flame that casts rays through the surrounding space. This is encircled by two rings, between which is the legend in Latin, 'Alenda lux ubi orta est libertas' (Light must be sustained where liberty arose), alluding, we suppose, to the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775. But there seems to be an incongruity between the radiation of light and the handle of a dagger. It seems to have been customary to set valuable jewels in the hilt of such weapons. The largest diamond known is called Kohinoor, or Mountain of Light, is rose cut, and belonged to Queen Victoria. The second or third in size is called the Pitt diamond. It decorated the hilt of the Sword of State of the first Napoleon. It is now owned (1891) by Sir William Fraser, of London. It has jewels set in the upper part. We infer, then, that Peter Stuart Ney, having been familiar with the sight of this most brilliant gem in the hilt of Napoleon's sword, had it before his mind when he drew the device for the seal of Davidson College."

"There are two or three statues of Napoleon in Paris, where he is represented as grasping with his right hand the hilt of a dagger or short (Roman) sword. The weapon is held in a perpendicular position, the point being downward."

H. H. NEWTON, JR.
Bennettsville, S. C.

"PETER STUART NEY OF NORTH

CAROLINA."

Linda Clement, in Charlotte Observer.

Three years after the execution of Marshal Ney in Paris, some French refugees sojourning in Georgetown, S. C., met a schoolmaster who, in the town, was known as Peter Stuart Ney. They publicly declared that in the exiled Frenchman they recognized their great and beloved marshal, Michel Ney.

Friends of Peter Ney, overjoyed to learn that he, the remarkable stranger, bearing so distinguished a cognomen, was not

merely the lowly pedagogue he assumed, made haste to tell him that his identity was known. As mysteriously as he had appeared in their midst he departed, leaving no trace by which he might be followed.

Afterwards, however, it was learned that he was teaching in Brownsville, Marlboro county, S. C. Here in 1821, while in the schoolroom at his work a newspaper was brought to him which bore tidings of Napoleon Bonaparte's death at St. Helena.. The news, to an ordinary soldier of the French revolution, would have meant a sigh, a tear of regret, without further outward manifestations of feeling. Peter Ney read in horrible fascination the short account of his emperor's end, then turning deathly pale, fell in a dead faint to the floor.

When he had revived his school was dismissed for the day. In his room some hours later he burned most of his valuable papers. The next morning, when he did not make his appearance among the family of the home in which he was boarding, those going in search found him with a gash in his throat. The blade of the knife with which he had sought to end his unhappy existence had fatefully broken, sparing for a longer period the life that some supernatural power had so long stood guardian of.

Shortly after this, while attending a military review in Columbia and occupying an honorary position assigned him in the parade by the Governor, he was a second time recognized by Frenchmen who had known him as the marshal. Again, when the rumor was brought to him of his discovery he fled. In Mocksville, Davie county, N. C., he sought oblivion among a people who had not previously sheltered a French fugitive.

Here, in 1822, he resumed his occupation as a teacher. But even in this obscure and shut-in place the fear of an assassin never left him. With the people who so graciously received him he, in time, grew intimately fond and to the most trusted of these friends he related the story of his adventurous life.

From French records, one learns that Marshal Ney was not of noble origin. His father was called Peter Ney; his mother, a Stuart, was of Scotch descent. The pedagogue declared: "I could not give up the name of Ney on coming to America, so 1 decided to take my father's name and add to it the maiden name of my mother."

Of his bogus execution in Paris, Peter Stuart Ney, in relating the circumstances leading up to it, stated that Louis XVII. was full of revenge, and in order to make his execution the more horrible decreed that his own soldiers must fire the fatal shots. Not until after he left the prison for the place of his execution was he told that a plot had been formed to spare his life. Over his heart a thin rubber bag con

taining a red fluid was concealed. He was told that he should himself give the command to fire, at the same time striking his breast with sufficient force to burst the bag.

Instead of being carried to the Plains of Grenelle, where he and every one else supposed the execution was to take place, the carriage containing besides himself and the curate of St. Sulpice, stopped in a narrow alley just back of the Luxembourg Gardens. He was immediately ordered to alight. As he passed the line of detailed soldiers drawn up before him, he whispered, "Aim high.' His command in battle had always been "Aim low."

When he had taken his place about eight paces from the wall the officer commanding the party advanced toward him for the purpose of bandaging his eyes. But Ney stopped him. "Are you ignorant," he said, "that for twenty-five years I have been accustomed to face both balls and bullets." The officer, confused and embarrassed, stepped back. Ney, taking advantage of the halt in the proceedings, said: "I protest before God and my country against the sentence which has condemned me." With the next breath, striking his heart with his hand, he gave the command to fire, falling as he did so, and allowing every bullet to pass over him.

Besides the soldiers, only five or six persons witnessed the execution; these unwilling or chance spectators, among whom, most probably, were several children. When the smoke from the discharged guns of the executioners had lifted, the apparently lifeless form of Michel Ney was covered with a cloth. A few minutes later the body was borne to the chaise that so lately had drawn him and conveyed to the Hospital for Foundlings.

From that place, the next morning, a leaden coffin encased in a pine one, containing possibly a substituted corpse, but most probably none at all, was carried to the Cemetery of Pere la Chaise and buried without any rites or ceremonies whatever. The marshal's wife, who loved him devotedly, did not so much as witness the burial.

Peter Stuart Ney asserted that from the hospital, on the night after his bogus execution, he fled, and having been provided with one of the swiftest of horses, reached Bordeaux by daybreak. From there, disguised as a servant, he took passage on a ship bound for America. On January 29, 1816, after a 35-days' voyage, he landed at Charleston, S. C.

On board the same vessel on which Ney embarked and with the same destination in view, was an old soldier, who had served under his command in the French wars. One day the old veteran, who, for some time, had been suspiciously attracted to the disguised marshal, approached him and after conversing with him for some minutes told him that he knew him.

"Who do you think I am?" his old commander asked. The reply came, "My old leader, Marshal Ney." In a rough voice the Duke of Elchingen sought to mislead him, saying, "Marshal Ney was executed two weeks ago in Paris." And immediately afterward, fearing further identification, he withdrew from the man and was not seen again by the passengers during the entire voyage.

Peter Ney's first three years on American soil were spent in utmost seclusion. It is said he gave two very plausible reasons for this. The first was tnat he felt confident that after that lapse of time all Europe would have ceased to discuss him and believe him dead, despite any rumors to the contrary that might arise. Besides this, it was necessary that he spend a part of his time in study and review to fit himself for his profession as schoolmaster. He had decided on his occupation soon after reaching the land in which his exile was to be spent. "Here," (in the school room) Le said, "I can earn my living and be my master still." The idea of serving a man whom he might consider his inferior, was always most repellant and repugnant to him.

There is connected with Schoolmaster Ney's arrival in Mocksville, Davis county, N. C., an incident which many of the children and grandchildren of the teacher's old pupils still relate. During a heated political campaign in 1822 a group of men had assembled in the little village of a few houses to discuss the leading issues of the opposing parties. Pre-eminent in the assemblage was Dr. Schools, an Irishman by birth and rearing, but for several years a native by adoption of the town.

When the arguments began to clash as the debate waxed warmest, Dr. Schools became insulted by a statement made by one of the party. He declared that his opponent meant is remark as a personal insult to himself and demanded an apology. When this was denied him, his Irish blood sought revenge in an encounter. Like lightning he grabbed the offender and swore he would thrust him through with the dagger which he had just drawn from a concealed place on his person.

At that juncture a stranger of imposing appearance added himself to the group. Without any hesitancy whatever, he walked up to the Doctor and laid his hand on his arm as he asked of him in some surprise, "What! kill a man unarmed with no chance to defend himself!" The quiet inquiry chilled the boiling blood of the Irishman. Like magic, his dagger sought its accustomed hiding place and the hand that had held it was extended to stranger. With a foreign brogue, but in perfectly intelligible English, the peacemaker continued: "I am Peter Stuart Ney, a French refugee, in search of a school." The people of the village were in need of a teacher and Mr. Ney encountered no difficulties in coming to terms with them.

the

Whatever may have been the first impressions made by the Frenchman, time only served to strengthen them in his favor. In physical appearance, he was tall and athletic. His head was very large and remarkably shaped. One historian, in describing it, said: "Flattish on top, oval, long from front to back." His hair was red, complexion florid, forehead broad. deep and full; eyes blue or gray and deep set, overhung by great bushy eyebrows; his mouth straight and firm; lips tightly compressed in repose; chin large and prominent; neck short and massive; step quick and spirited, with marked military tread; face somewhat scarred as if by smallpox; voice deep and vibrant.

In personality and characteristics Peter Stuart Ney was even more striking than in personal appearance. His historian, the late Dr. Weston, says, by way of comparison in associating the pedagogue with Marshal Ney: "Marshal Ney had a sound, strong, clear, acute, vigorous, practical mind. He was brave, bold, daring, intrepid, calm and cool in the hour of peril or need; active energetic, prompt, painstaking, methodical, self-denying (though heady at times), modest, kind, gentle, affectionate, tender, honest, just, generous, frank, open, blunt, rough (though not coarse), impulsive, quick-tempered, sometimes offending his best friends by the plainness and severity of his language, yet always careful to make the amplest reparation for any wrong done when the excitement had passed away; a good, though not implacable hater; a true friend, grave, dignified (yet witty and humorous at times), plain (despising the fashions and fripperies of life), proud (though not haughty), independent, yet grateful for the smallest attention or kindness, patriotic, an ardent lover, nay, a devout worshiper of freedom, ready to die at any moment in defense of holy cause; a man of great personal magnetism and immense moral power, who exercised a controlling influence over almost all persons who were brought into association with him. Such was Marshal Ney. Such was Peter Stuart Ney."

In 1832 Mr. Ney taught at Burgess school house east of Mocksville. At that time of poor mail facilities the weekly arrival of the postman was an event looked forward to for days before the due time. In October of the stated year, Mr. Ney sent one of his pupils during the noon hour from the school to the office, which was more than a mile away. When he returned the study period had been resumed. He handed to the pedagogue a package of letters and walked back to his stationed place. Mr. Ney looked hastily through the bundle until his eye was attracted by a familiar postmark. Instantly he broke the seal of the letter. It contained the news of young Napoleon's death. The other communications fell nervously through his fingers to the floor and he, so absorbed and troubled, paused not to reclaim them.

Frantically he paced back and forth the length of the room, oblivious of all else except the over-burdening weight on his heart.

As a maddened animal he rushed through the door to the open, where he strode once more back and forth seeking to compose his confused brain. Later, he reentered the room and dismissed school for the day. To some of his pupils who lingered behind he revealed the nature of the awful stroke he was endeavoring to endure. "Young Napoleon is dead," said he, "and with him dies my every hope of ever going back to France, of again seeing wife and children and home and friends." So fiercely did the fire of despair burn into his brain that he became ill. In delirium, he gave orders to his under officers as he fought again the old battles. Repeatedly he raved of Fezenac, the man he loved above all others, save Napoleon.

When the fevered .brain of the unfortunate Frenchman once more became calm, he resumed his former occupation. But realizing that his exile would only end with death, he never again spoke of returning to his own country. For in France there still lived those who had aided in his escape, and had the never-forgiving Bourbons, been informed of their miscarried plot, they would have as cruelly and unmercifully slain Ney's rescuers as they had imposed his death sentence. It is supposed that Wellington (though it is said that Peter Ney never implicated any one by revealing their names) contrived the plot for his escape. It is an unquestionable truth that Wellington greatly admired Marshal Ney and there are French records which prove his intercession with the Bourbon monarch in behalf of "the bravest of the brave." Louis, who owed his unsteady throne to the intercession of the English, dared to insult Wellington when he appeared as the suppliant and many believe that this made resolute the Iron Duke's determination of protection. Peter Ney said he was spared through the “ancient order," referring, most probably, to Masonry. He and Wellington bore the same high rank in that fraternity.

After leaving Davie county, Peter Stuart Ney taught for a Mr. Houston in Iredell county. Mrs. Mary C. Dalton, a daughter of Mr. Houston, contributed to Dr. Weston's book that was published fourteen years ago, a testimonial that relates a remarkable incident that occurred while Mr. Ney was a boarder in their home. "One day about dark a stranger rode up to our gate and asked father if he could stop with him that night. We had a good deal of company at the time, and every room was occupied. My father told him that he was sorry he could not accommodate him; but the young man insisted, and said he was willing to sleep on the floor and that his horse being tired and completely worn out he could go no farther. My father then

told him if he could suit himself to circumstances he would be glad to have him remain. The stranger, a fine looking man, thanked him and went in. When he was conducted in to supper he took a seat at the table opposite Mr. Ney, who was occupying his usual seat on the left hand of my father. They glanced at each other, and though not a word was spoken, it was evident to all present that it was a glance of recognition. My mother said a sign passed between them. Immediately after tea, Mr. Ney and the stranger, taking their hats, left the house together and were not seen by the family any more that night. An old negro man (Frederick) reported that he saw them near midnight sitting behind a strawstack in the field in close conversation, and although unobserved by them, could hear them distinctly, but could not understand a word they said. The stranger ordered his horse very early the next morning and left. He gave no information about himself except in a general way. After the man had gone, Mr. Ney went to his room and remained in it all that day, reading and writing. He never made any allusion to the matter and we had too much respect to question him about it. The stranger had black hair, black eyes and a dark complexion. This incident happened, I think, in 1834 or 1835."

Singularly enough, there was never but one flaw picked in the character of Peter Ney during his thirty-one years as an American. He at times drank to an excess and this habit he only became addicted to after Napoleon's death. He repeatedly urged young men with whom he was associated to let spirituous drinks alone, always explaining that he used the beverage to forget for a time his troubles.

Dr.

The old Frenchman's influence was almost unbounded wherever he was known. His moral code was almost that of a god's. In the school room, he insisted on integrity to oath at whatever cost, truthfulness, purity, nobleness, just dealing, frankness, generosity, mercy and every other virtue that goes toward moral greatness. Wood, one of his old pupils, wrote of him: "He paid as much attention perhaps to the moral as to the mental development of his pupils. In this way he accomplished a vast deal of good. Few teachers, I venture to say, have left so deep, so lasting an impress upon the minds and hearts of their pupils as Peter Stuart Ney. had but one vice-that of occasionally drinking to excess; but his general conduct was so pure, so honorable, so upright, so noble that every one, from the highest to the lowest, had the sincerest respect for him, the fullest confidence in him. His oath would have been received in any court of justice as quickly and as readily as that of Judge Pearson or Governor Morehead. His influence for good in the community where he lived can hardly be over-estimated. It is felt to this day, and

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