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EXTRACTS RELATI HIS LIFE AT ST. H
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NAPOLEON'S LIFE AT ST. HELENA.
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Extracts from the ' Times '
and 'Morning Chronicle'
1 8 15-182 1 relating to
Napoleon's Life at
St. Helena.
PRIVATELY PRINTED BY A. L. HUMPHREYS, PICCADILLY, LONDON . . . MDCCCCI.
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NAPOLEON
Extract from the ' Morning Chronicle,' October 18, 1815.
authentic particulars of bonaparte.
[From an Officer on board the Northumberland.]
His Majesty's ship Northumberland, lat. 34-53, long. 13'45, August 22, 1815.
As every circumstance relative to the man we are now conveying from Europe may prove acceptable, I embrace this opportunity of detailing some anecdotes of him, and also of contradicting some of the assertions that have been circulated respecting him. Among the latter is the one, that he took possession of Captain Maitland's cabin the moment he came on board the Bellerophon, refusing that gallant officer even a corner of it to sleep in. Previous to Bonaparte coming on board, Captain Maitland had determined to give up his own cabin, and part of the ward-room cabins were to be appropriated for the ladies who were expected. Equally unfounded are the statements that Bonaparte walked the quarter-deck furiously, with his hands behind him, and talking to himself ; as also, that he asked if the commissaire (purser of the ship) was not a rogue.
Conversing one day about the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, Bonaparte observed — ' That when Sir Sidney Smith was there, he distributed several Proclamations among the French troops, which made them waver a little.' In order to obviate (his, he published an Order, in which he 'asserted that the English commodore was mad, and it con- cluded with prohibiting all communication with him. This, he added, 'had the desired effect, and so enraged Sir Sidney, that he sent him a challenge to single eonibat, which was declined,' and Napoleon re- turning at the same time for answer, that 'when he brought the Duke of Marlborough to meet him, he would accept it.' He stated most positively 'that he tvould Uien have taken Acre, IF THE ENGLISH HAD NOT TAKEN HIS BATTERING TRAIN,' and added, in English and French, 'had it not been for you English, I would have
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been Emperor of the East, but wherever a ship could get I was always sure to find some of the English to oppose me.'
He spoke of the Invasion of England as his firm determination, and said that he intended to have landed as near Chatham as possible, and to have dashed at once for London. He admitted the great probability of his not succeeding, and that he might have been killed in the attempt. That this scheme was not put into effect, he says, was owing to Admiral Villeneuve not obeying the orders he received. He was particularly inquisitive as to the climate of England, and said that the cause of so many suicides was the humidness of the atmosphere.
The anxiety of the English to see him when on board the Belle- rophon flattered his vanity in the extreme, and he would frequently stand at the gangway purposely to afford the gaping and wondering multitude an opportunity of beholding his person. At this time he had invariably a spy-glass in his hand, which he frequently used in observing the spectators. There was always a great number of well- dressed females, many of them very elegant in their persons, and they never failed to attract his particular attention, and he would not fail to notice to those near him how forcibly he gazed on their beauties.
He appeared greatly pleased with the beauty and elegance of our fair countrywomen, and was always wishing to know their names, families, and any circumstance that could be communicated to him concerning them.
He took particular notice one evening of a young lady who was very close to the ship, and, as usual, inquired what was her name and
family. He was informed she was a Miss B n, daughter of
General B. He bowed and took off his hat, exclaiming several times, with peculiar emphasis, to those near him, ' Oh, charmante ! ' This admiration of the females was not confined to Bonaparte, for all his officers were equally delighted ; and they expressed their opinion of the superiority of the English women over any they had before seen.
Bonaparte gives great credit to our Infantry and our Artillery. He said, ' the British Infantry is now what the French was ten years back, and that the Cavalry is greatly inferior to the Infantry in everything but appearance.' He found great fault with the construction of the bits, which he says 'are so bad that the men cannot manage their horses.' Bertrand and the others assented to the truth of this observation.
One day Bonaparte was speaking of the Duke of Wellington, and observed, ' he did not expect he would have given him battle, but that he would have retreated, and waited for the Russians and other re- inforcements, in which case,' he says, 'he must have been finally beaten ; but that he was extremely happy to find Lord Wellington did not decline the combat,' — adding, that 'he made quite certain of obtaining the victory.1 He also said, 'That he knew of the advances of the Prussians, but that he did not regard it of much consequence ; and that he was betrayed by some of his Generals.' He further said that, ' the universal consternation among his troops taking place at a time of darkness, he was not able to rally the fugitives by shewing his person to them, which he is convinced would have effectually restored order had it been daylight ; but that, in consequence of its being dark, he was borne away by the crowd, and obliged to fly himself?
On being asked why he had not given himself up to Austria, he
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replied, ' What ! give myself up to a nation without laws, honour, or faith ? No : the moment I had got there I should have been put into a dungeon, and never heard of more. In giving myself up to the English, I have given myself up to a nation with honourable and just laws, which afford protection to every person.'
At another time he remarked on the singularity of Mr. Whitbread's suicide, but made no further observation on that melancholy event.
One day he observed, he ' ought to have died the day he entered Moscow, as ever since he had experienced a continual series of disasters.' He further observed, he 'would have made Peace at Dresden, and also afterwards, if it had not been for the advice of the Duke of Bassano, who persuaded him against it.
The invasion of Spain, Bonaparte says, he undertook at the special desire of Talleyrand, who was continually urging him to that measure, invariably pointing out the absolute necessity of its being undertaken, and, if possible, accomplished at all hazards.
It is astonishing the detestation in which Fouche" is held by Bonaparte and all his followers, who never mention his name but with the greatest contempt ; and they say, ' It was entirely owing to this Creature that Bonaparte abdicated in favour of his Son ; and that he was continually carrying on a clandestine correspondence with the Allies.'
The respect that is still paid to Bonaparte by his suite is very great ; as an instance I shall mention that he was one day playing at chess with Montholon, who is by far the best player of the two, Bonaparte had evidently the worst of the game, when Montholon made purposely an improper movement, which was speedily observed by the former, and he ultimately was the victor. Montholon praised the superior skill of his master (as he termed him), and declared himself ' not competent to encounter such an excellent player again ;' at which Bonaparte was highly pleased. At this game, or Vingt-un, Bonaparte generally passes his time ; but was much hurt when the Admiral insisted that neither of these games, nor any other, should be played on Sundays.
He has been very inquisitive as to the climate, &c, of St. Helena, and declares that he shall be more comfortable there than in Austria. Temperance, he says, is the only means of preserving health, and adds, that he never was ill but twice in his life, and on one of those occasions only applied a blister. Montholon's wife has been unwell, and he inquired of the Surgeon how she was. He said, rather better, but that he thought the fear of the tropical climates preyed on her mind. Bonaparte replied nearly in the words of Shakespeare, 'Doctor, thou cannot administer to a mind diseased.' The force with which this remark was made was observed by every one near, and apparently related to his own feelings.
Bertram! and his wife are continually with Bonaparte, and the whole are more reconciled to their future destiny.
sir George Cockburn and Bonaparte are on excellent terms, as he is, Indeed, with all the Officers of the ship; they frequently play at Cards, &c, in which occasionally they have the advantage of each
other,
Hitherto our passage has been very favourable, and no particular
occurrence has taken place since we sailed from Torbay.
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' Morning Chronicle,' October 25, 1815. house and furniture for bonaparte.
The House.
The framework for the house is nearly completed at Woolwich. The front is in the Grecian style. It is about 120 feet in length, containing fourteen windows and a fine open corridor. The depth of the building is about 100 feet, with a back corridor, almost making the whole structure square. It is two stories high, and will have an elegant cottage appearance. The ground floor of the right division of the house contains Bonaparte's apartments. In the centre of this wing is his drawing-room, which, as well as the other apartments for his accommodation, is about 30 feet in length, by a breadth of 20. This proportion runs through the whole. Next is his dining-room, with an adjoining library, behind which is a capacious billiard-room. His bed- room, dressing-room, and bath are, of course, connected. The left division of the edifice contains apartments for the officers of his suite. The rear comprises the servants' and store-rooms. The kitchen is detached from the regular building, and yet perfectly con- venient to the dining-room, without communicating any offensive fumes to the principal range of rooms. This is of no small value in a sultry climate. The hall is plain, and merely furnished with seats. The corridor will furnish a cool and shaded promenade.
The Furniture.
The drawing-room is coloured with various shades of green. The curtains are Pomona green, made of light silk taboret, bordered with full green velvet, and edged with a gold-coloured silken twist or gimp to correspond. The green silk forms a fine ground for the border, — and the style in fitting up the upholstery is simple : the curtain rings are concealed under a matted gold cornice, enclosing the rod on which they run. The supporters are gilt and carved patras, and the green velvet folds form into the architecture of the room by falling in straight lines at each side of the windows, where they draw smooth and compact, without interrupting the progress of those two useful but often excluded properties of nature — air and light. The centre table is formed out of one piece of exquisitely veined British oak, polished in the very highest degree of perfection. The pier table is of the same timber and quality, inlaid with a slab of the verd antique marble of Mona, from Mr. Bullock's quarry at Anglesea, and sur- mounted by a pier-glass, with a frame of buhl and ebony. The chairs in this apartment correspond with the tables. There are also two Greek sofas and foot-stalls ; these are enriched with ormulu ornaments. These carpets are of the Brussels texture, in shades of olive, brown, and amber ; colours finely calculated to harmonise with the tone of decorations in the room. The walls are of light tints of sage green, with ornamented panels in Arabesque gold. The colours, it will be observed, ascend from the darker shades upon the ground, until
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they are lost in the cream colour of the ceiling. This produces a harmony in the decorations which is in the highest degree elegant. One of the drawing-room recesses is filled up by a pianoforte, and a few tasteful chandeliers and candelabras are occasionally introduced with a pleasing effect.
The Dining-room.
A neatly furnished table, supported by substantial claws and pillars, capable of being divided to suit a company of from six to fourteen. The side-board intended for the Imperial plate is of a new form, pure and simple in its construction and decoration. The wine-cooler is of bronze and rich wood, and shaped after the fashion of the Greek Bacchanalian vases. The chairs are plain. The curtains are of lavender-coloured silk lace and cord. The carpet and walls are shaded with the same colours, falling into blues, with a black and brown relief; the latter, of various hues, pervade the room.
The Library.
This apartment is fitted up in the Etruscan style, with a number of dwarf book-cases. The curtains are of a new material, composed of cotton, which produces the appearance of fine cloth. The library table is particularly elegant, and mechanical ingenuity has been laboriously applied to furnish it with desks and drawers, suited to every con- venience of study accommodation.
The Sitting-room.
This chamber is fitted up with several plain cabinets, formed of ebony, inlaid with polished brass ; the carpets are ethereal blue, inter- mingled with black.
The Bedroom.
This apartment contains a high canopy bedstead, with curtains of fine straw-coloured muslin, and lilac draperies of Persia — the entire edged with a gold-coloured fringe ornament. The bedstead encloses a curious mosquito net, formed of silk weft, embossed with transparent rich drapery. The dressing-room possesses the usual conveniences required by taste and comfort. The adjoining bath is marble-lined, and so constructed that it can admit either hot or cold water.
The table services have been provided by Mr. Bullock, from the most eminent manufacturers in the kingdom, and consist of the fairest, though not the most extravagant, specimens of our own proficiency in the various walks of mechanism and art. There is one set of breakfast ware, one dinner set, two desserts (one of china, the other of glass), one tea, and one for supper.
The sets of china were selected from different manufacturers throughout the country.
An immense quantity Of stationery will also be sent. The cargo will weigh marly 500 tons. It will be divided into about 4011 packages, and several artisans are to accompany it, for the purpose of fitting up the establishment at its destination.
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■ Mohning Chronicle,' December 5, 1815.
The arrival of Bonaparte at St. Helena will give rise to various speculations. It will give consolation to the people before whose eyes he was everlastingly held up in terror, whenever Ministers were desirous of draining their pockets, or making them surrender their sons and nephews to recruit the army ; but to Ministers themselves it will bring despair — they have lost their best Ally. He was their sheet- anchor. He was put in as an answer to every objection that was started to a new loan, to an augmentation of taxes, to a gagging bill, and to an interminable war. If an army was wanted for Spain it was for the deliverance of that noble, generous, and grateful people from the tyrant Bonaparte. If Prussia required a subsidy it was to keep her stedfast to that policy from which she had never swerved. If Austria wanted a loan to enable her to make war (and Austria was always faithful to her engagements), it was to make war on Bona- parte. The Emperor of Russia must be hired by British gold to become the magnanimous Deliverer of Europe from that monster ; and from one end of Europe to the other — from the Swede to the Neapolitan — all were to be paid, because the British people were frightened with the name of Bonaparte, just as the children of France were lulled to sleep in the cradle with the song of Malbrooke. But the tyrant is no more, and Ministers, we repeat it, have lost their best Ally.
Nor is it our Ministers only. The four great contracting Sovereigns of Europe who have engaged to march into France, and pour forth all the horrors of desolation, and massacre wherever they think they perceive the germs of opposition to legitimacy, will find that they reckon without their Jwst. Do they think that legitimacy will take the place of the demon ? They also aroused their people by the terror of this maniac, who in the moment of his triumph forgot all true policy so far as to make all mankind his enemy. But do the Sovereigns believe that now the phantom of Bonaparte is withdrawn they will be charmed by the anointed image of legitimacy 1 No. They will recollect the promises that were made them when they last roused and quickened into action. That it was to establish the independence and rights of nations and of men that they were to arise and exert them- selves against Bonaparte. They obeyed the call ; and the con- tracting Powers will find, notwithstanding their most audacious and unparalleled Convention, that as the French Army first learned the principles of liberty in the fields of America, the Prussians and Russians have heard the word ' Constitution ' in the plains of France. And ' by the grace of God' they will speedily demand it.
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'Morning Chronicle,' December 9, 1815. bonaparte's arrival at st. helena.
Further particulars of Bonaparte's arrival at St. Helena have reached us in letters from that island to the 22nd of October. On the 16th of that month his Majesty's ship Icarus arrived there with the first tidings of Bonaparte's downfall, of his being a second time so strangely saved from punishment, and of his destination to that island as a place of confinement. The inhabitants naturally were struck with no small degree of surprise. It was of course learnt at the same time that a very considerable addition would be made to the population of the island by the new garrison, as well as the attendants of the celebrated Rebel, the Commissioners to watch him, their suites, &c. Accordingly all was immediately hurry and bustle. Provisions ex- perienced sudden and enormous rise in price. Eggs, which were before about three shillings a dozen, now advanced to a shilling apiece. Almost every other article of produce rose in the same proportion, and even land itself assumed an increased value of fifty per cent., which is not to be wondered at considering the small extent of the island, and the still smaller portion that is fit for cultivation, to feed the increased number of mouths. Upwards of 900 troops arrived out in the squadron under charge of the Northumberland. A great bustle took place on the 11th in making preparations for Bonaparte's reception ; eighty of the Company's soldiers were stationed to guard the gates, and orders were immediately issued by the Governor that no fishing boats were to be out of harbour after four o'clock in the afternoon. On the 15th the fleet arrived, when some persons from the town were allowed to go on board the squadron to dine. It was some days before all was ready for conveying Bonaparte to the house allotted for his reception. When he landed he was dressed in a green coat, white waistcoat, light coloured small clothes, white stockings, and cocked hat. The coat was trimmed with gold, and a plain gold epaulette was placed on each shoulder. He held in his hand an elegant telescope, and cast his eyes around him with great eagerness to survey the new objects. The Company's troops on the island were immediately to be sent to the Cape, to do duty there.
'Morning Chronicle,' December 11, 1815.
St. Helena, Oct. 22.— On the 10th inst. a sloop of war arrived with the intelligent that a fleet was approaching our island, in which was Bonaparte! This news threw us all into peat confusion. On Sunday, the loth, the Northumberland arrived here with the
ex-Emperor and his suite. On Monday his surgeon (an Englishman)
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called on me, and took me with him on board. I was introduced to General Bertrand and his Lady, and the other passengers ; after remaining a few minutes in the ward -room, Bonaparte was announced to be on deck, when we all went up. I approached him and took off my hat ; he did the same ; he asked me if there was any good watch-makers in the place ? I told him there was a very good one, a Mr. Solomons, who is also a very respectable merchant. He requested me to take his watches to him, as they were out of repair ; one was a large gold repeater, the other a silver repeater, both musical ; the latter, he says, he always had with him in his carriage.
* Times,' December 12, 1815.
Extracts from letters received from Officers of His Majesty's ship Northumberland : —
H.M.S. Northumberland, Oct. 18, 1815.
Buonaparte was very much pleased with the attention shewn to him, whilst on board this ship, however he might have felt upon subjects connected with bringing him here. He publickly thanked Captain Ross, on the quarter-deck, for his kindness, and requested he would do the same for him to the officers.
* Morning Chronicle,' December 28, 1815.
The following letter is from the Surgeon of the Northumberland : —
'St. Helena, Oct. 20, 1815.
' You must not expect any interesting anecdotes of Napoleon from me, though I had the honour of dining in his company four or five times, and of conversing a good deal with him, but merely on medicine, and the different modes of practice and degrees of improvement between the French and English. He speaks to every individual on his particular pursuit or profession, and asks very pertinent questions. He spent his time as follows on board the Northumberland. The whole of the forenoon, or rather day, in his private cabin reading ; at five, he made his appearance at dinner, ate and drank tolerably well, took his cup of coffee, and went on deck, where he walked with Marshal Bertrand or Monsieur Las Casas for an hour or more. Some- times he conversed with Admiral Cockburn ; he then returned and played at Vingt & Un or Whist till ten or eleven o'clock ; and this was the regular routine day after day.
' We arrived here on the 15th, and Napoleon landed on the 17th. The next morning he rode out to see Longwood, the Lieutenant- Governor's country hoirse, which, when repaired, is to be his future
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residence. He stopped to take some refreshment at a Mr. Balcombe's country house, a merchant here, and expressed such a dislike to the town, that he has been permitted to remain in the country, and he is to be Mr. Balcombe's guest for a week or ten days, until his own residence is ready. I am told he has written in the strongest terms of expostulation to Ministry on the hardship of confining him here ; and indeed your imagination cannot form an idea of anything more dreary than the first aspect of this island, and I have yet seen little, on a closer inspection, to dispel the gloom. It consists entirely of a brown volcanic rock, split, as it were, into two parts, and through this valley flows a rivulet, on the banks of which are scattered patches of cultivation. The inhabitants consist of natives, the descendants of the English settlers, Indian blacks with lank hair, Indian slaves, Lascars, and Chinese. The town is tolerably good, and the houses neat and clean ; its first appearance reminds you strongly of the decoration of an Opera scene.'
' Times,' January 2, 1816.
His Majesty's ship 'Ferrel," St. Helena, Oct. 23rd, 1815. General Buonaparte is much dejected, and highly displeased with the island, and the residence allotted to him. However, here he is, and likely to remain until death closes his mortal hours. Marshal Bertrand and all the attendants are at a house near the landing-place ; but Buonaparte is at Mr. Balcombe's in the country, where he intends taking up his abode until the house appropriated to his reception is ready. The island of St. Helena is so fortified by nature, as well as art, that it is impossible he can make his escape ; but, notwithstanding, Admiral Cockburn (the fittest man in the world to guard him) has thought it necessary to place two brigs on the look-out, one above and the other below the island. Madame Bertrand has been extremely ill since her arrival, but we hope she will soon recover, as she is remark- ably attentive to the English.
The Peruvian, Capt. White, and Zoiobia, Capt. Dobree, have sailed for the island of Ascension; the Havannah, Capt. Hamilton, sails to-morrow for the Cape. The Ceylon and Zephyr are not yet arrived, but we hourly expect them. Everything on the island is extremely dear j we hope, however, from the frequent communications with the Cape, it will soon prove less so. The Governor is very popular.
A gentleman arrived passenger by the last ship from St. Helena, informs us that matters are now so arranged at the Island as to prevent the possibility of Buonaparte's escape. The military regulations are so strict, tli.it the inhabitants are not suffered to be out of their houses after dark. The gates of the garrison are shut, and the drawbridge hoisted up at sunset. No private merchantmen are allowed to anchor; regular Indianien are only allowed this privilege.
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' Times,' January 16, 1816.
Extract of a Letter from His Majesty's ship Northumberland, dated St. Helena, November 23, 1815 : —
' The exiled Napoleon reached his adamantine prison on the 13th of October, after a passage of seventy-four days. He left us on the evening of the 17th, choosing that time of the day to avoid the gazing throng. The weather was uncommonly temperate during our passage, and Buonaparte appeared to bear his reverse of fortune with an uncommon share of fortitude. The disappointment in not being permitted to reside in England disconcerted him greatly, and we naturally concluded he would shew some marks of his disapprobation, perhaps either by being silent, or confining himself to his cabin. No, no, there has been no moroseness, no sullenness of disposition shewn by Buonaparte ; on the contrary, he has been particularly affable, inquisitively curious, and condescendingly coinniunicative. The only thing I heard him complain of during the passage was the length of it. He longed for exercise on horseback, and was always desirous of learning particulars of St. Helena. He read Lord Valencia's account of St. Helena, and we lent him Mr. Johnson's account, both of which he told me, since we arrived, are too highly coloured. Buonaparte is extremely healthy, and the few days he has been on shore, I think, has improved his look. I think he was a little alarmed at a residence in a tropical climate. He was very mquisitive respecting the number of sick and with the nature of the disease. In a crowded ship of 850 souls entering the tropic, sickness in some shape or other is looked for. It made its appearance on board the Northumberland in the shape of the inflammatory fever, with derangement of the Hepatic system and considerable affection of the head, which was combated by considerable bleedings and purgatives. Buonaparte argued stoutly against bleed- ing ; he could not conceive how three or four pounds of blood could be taken from a man without occasioning great debility — he was clear for attacking it on the Brunonian system ; but I believe Napoleon has at last become a convert to the system of depletion, for he acknowledges the success of the practice has refuted his argument. We reached St. Helena with only nine on our sick list, without having lost a man on the passage. I do assure you Buonaparte has no contemptible opinion of the practices of the day, but jokingly says it is perfectly San Grade. I remarked to him one [day how very temperate he was in wine. Yes, he replied, I required only a quarter of an hour to dinner, and drank a very moderate portion of Claret or Burgundy ; now I get older I feel my relish increase. I like wine very well. I stood by his side when he first viewed this frightful rock. The only accessible chasm or valley is so fortified by nature, and so breasted with guns, that one had only to look at it and Buonaparte, and be satisfied that any attempt to escape from this stupendous perpendicular, hideous rock must be fruitless. Here we pay £1 10s. a day for board and a bench to sleep on. Fortunately, we get 4 dollars for our pound.'
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' Times,' January 17, 1816.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman just returned from India (and who touched at St. Helena) to his father in Edinburgh : —
' On leaving Bombay we had heard very little of those great recent events which have occurred in Europe. We were acquainted with Buona- parte's escape from Elba, and his attaching to his cause the army of France. On our arrival at the Cape we received a very indistinct account of the battle of Waterloo and its consequences, in addition to which it was reported that he (Buonaparte) had endeavoured to escape to America, which had promised him protection, and had been captured by an English ship. AH this, of course, gave us great joy, but our warmest hopes could never have anticipated our seeing him at St. Helena. This, however, we did, twelve days after leaving the Cape. On making the island we were met by the Redpole, sloop, who first communicated to us the agreeable intelligence, and was answered by us with three heartfelt cheers. I of course expected to see Captain Fraser ; but, looking over a recent Navy List, was consoled for my disappointment by seeing his promotion. We were of course all very anxious to have a peep at the great Napoleon. He resides about two miles in the country, in a small cottage with a marquee adjoining, belonging to a Mr. Balcombe, a navy agent. Mr. B.'s country house is in the same inclosure, about an hundred yards distant. This is the only family on the island which he visits. Mr. B. has two smart young daughters, who talk the French language fluently, and to whom he is vciy much attached ; he styles them his little pages. There is a number of little stories of the innocent freedoms they take, and how highly he is diverted by it. He is occupied during the day in writing the history of his life, and the evening is devoted to walking in the garden with his Generals and his society at Mr. Balcombe's. The only chance strangers have of conversing with him is by getting an intro- duction to Mr. B., and stepping in, as if by chance, in the evening. Our Captain and several of our passengers by this means have had long Conversations with him ; he talks upon every subject but those relating to politics, which he seems very desirous to avoid. He behaved with great politeness to the ladies, who have been echoing his praises ever since. I rode up one afternoon, and had the good fortune to arrive as he was taking his afternoon's walk in his garden. We (for I had a companion with me) tied our horses to a tree, and slipt behind a bush a little way from the walk where he was to pass. He passed several times within a few feet of us ; we had a most distinct view of him ; he WAS a< SCOXnpanied by two of his generals, Montholon and (Jourgaud, who remained uncovered. From what I could hear (for though loud he talks very thickly) the late events were (lie subject of their con- versation. Davoust's name, I could learn, was mentioned with no high encomiums. He was dressed in a plain blue coat, buttoned high over the breast, leaving the belly exposed, which protuherated a good deal, long white waistcoat, nankeen breeches, and military boots; he had a large star on his left breast. He is a middle-sized man, well made, rather corpulent, with a singular though agreeable countenance,
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light blue eyes, which appeared to me the most striking feature of his countenance, being so expressive and intelligent. There was nothing, however, in his appearance at all indicative of the great qualities he possesses. He is very strictly watched by the Admiral. Two sloops of war are constantly cruizing off the island, the one on the windward, and the other on the leeward sides, besides several guard-boats ; they are fortifying it in every possible direction. He still, however, enter- tains the idea of being at no distant period the Emperor of France. He thinks it impossible that the French people can long suffer the Bourbons.'
< Times,' February 12, 1816.
By accounts which have been received from St. Helena to the 14th of December, it appears that the arrangements for restraining the late Usurper of the French throne to the narrow limits of his present confinement are carried into full effect. Between three and four miles from the little sort of village which is dignified with the title of James-town, after ascending a narrow, winding road, bordered with ravines and precipices, you reach a small plain of about a mile and a quarter in length, terminated by an abrupt cliff overhanging, at a considerable elevation, the sea. About the middle of this plain stands Longwood, which serves the once-mighty Oorsican either for a palace or state prison, according as his imagination may embellish the scene. The house, which is small, is surrounded at every outlet by sentries regularly relieved. Half a mile in advance of the house stands the lodge, where an officer's guard is stationed, suffering no individual to pass without a written order, signed by the Admiral's own hand. The opposite front of the house is about three-quarters of a mile from the cliff before noticed ; on the one side is an impassable ravine, on the other an unscaleable mountain. The space within these limits is all that is assigned to the movements of the state prisoner. There is, besides, within the boundary, an encampment for 250 or 300 men ; and on every commanding eminence, at every point which can serve to keep his movements under view, sentries are posted, who may be said to form the interior line of circumvallation, closing in the monster in the toils. The before-mentioned road to James-town is the only outlet from this certainly not 'happy valley,' but that road has sentries and picquets posted, in regular succession, all the way to the town. So much for the securities by land ! Those by sea seem to be provided with still greater care, to render the escape of the prisoner physically impossible. No vessel can approach the island, in any direction, with- out being seen by some of the numerous signal posts which are esta- blished, and communicate with each other all round the island. The moment a strange sail is seen signals are made to the cruizing vessels, of which there are two divisions, that alternately relieve each other, in the uninteresting, but ceaseless duty of hovering about this speck in the ocean. They proceed from the anchorage to a certain distance,
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and then move round in one direction or the other, according to the winds or other circumstances, until they have completely encircled the island. If a straggling vessel from India, or elsewhere, approaches, they instantly make sail towards her, carefully overhaul her, and, if necessary, bring her up for final examination by the Admiral. She is not, however, suffered to anchor, unless she be a King's ship or an Indiaman, and this latter class are under very strict regulations. Few of their officers are suffered to land, and even their captains are not permitted to visit the interior of the island. As to the small boats that go out to fish for the supply of the inhabitants, they are carefully examined, both on their departure and return, are limited to a few short hours for the pursuit of their occupation, and when unemployed are carefully drawn up under the guns of the harbour or of the men of war. It is difficult for anybody belonging to the squadron to get leave to pass the night ashore. In general all individuals must come off from the land before sunset, at which time the drawbridge is taken up, and is not let down again till sunrise in the morning ; and during this interval guard-boats are constantly employed in rowing round the island. Such are the precautions systematically devised, and employed to prevent the possibility of a second attempt of this restless being to create insurrection, and disturb the repose of the continent. Military and naval men, who have thoroughly investigated all these arrange- ments, are of opinion that they promise as much security as the nature of human affairs can in any case afford, against the escape of the most crafty or desperate prisoner.
'Times,' March 27, 1816.
An evening paper publishes the following account of the habits of Buonaparte. It appears to be written by a lady. It is certainly in a most lady-like style.
Plantation House, St. Helena, Jan. 6.
Those who have only seen the burning valley and shabby town of St. Helena can form no idea of the romantic beauties of this enchanting spot. The governor, at whose house we are, wishes us to remain till
the new governor arrives ; but 's military duty will not allow us
to be absent from camp many days. Buonaparte makes the duty very hard upon the officers ; they are on duty every third day. Since we arrived with the great Napoleon, we have had nothing but a round of
balls, entertainments, and galas ; and Sir G. B , our colonel, gave
a morning fete in tents, which cost 25()£. I did the honour to the French Countesses, Governor, Ladies, etc., danced in every dance, and then walked home two miles in the rain ; so will say I am tolerable strong. E — y danced with young Count Lascaaes. She Bang to Buonaparte, and accompanied herself in two Italian songs on the piano. He was so delighted with her that he seized her by tin- ear, and gave her two severe pinches, which is the climax of his appro-
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bation and delight. He pinched Sir G. B , and every officer on
board the Northumberland, except the Admiral, when they said any thing to please him.
I was introduced to Bony when he lived at the Briars. He met me in the garden, where he was walking with his Generals, all very obsequious, with their hats in their hands. He asked whether I was the lady who sang Italian, and spoke to me in Italian and French. He asked me to go into Mr. Balcombe's, and sing him an Italian song. I felt a little alarmed when I found the Emperor of the whole world behind my chair, although he is now an Ex- Emperor. I sang him a great many songs and an Italian duet with E — y, which appeared to please him greatly, and I understood he talked of us for three days.
I had the felicity of dining with him on the 2d. of January, at the first party he gave. Sir G. B. was the only one invited. The greatest state and etiquette is observed at the Court of Longwood ; not a single word was uttered during dinner, excepting by Buonaparte himself. All the Marshals and Countesses sat mumchance ; but I chattered away to his Majesty without any fear, which appeared to amaze them all. You cannot form an idea of the awe they all stand in of him, and he treats them, ladies and all, in the most cavalier manner. The plate and china is superb beyond belief. The coffee-cups are 25 guineas each cup and saucer. Each cup has views of Egypt on it, all different, and the saucers have highly finished miniatures of different Egyptian chiefs. These were presented to him by the City of Paris. Buonaparte took great delight in explaining them to me. He then asked me to play at tric-trac. I sat down, but did not know the game. He then asked me to teach him English backgammon. The idea of my instructing the Great Napoleon put me into a fine fright. He is very cheerful and gay, and sang all the time he was playing at cards. All the 53rd were introduced to him in a body. He sent a plate of sweetmeats to E — y from table with his own hand, and offered some to me, which I did not remark at the time ; but I was told by his Secretary, Count Lascases, that it was a favour Queens had never received from him ; and as for Kings, said he, I have seen seven at once waiting in his ante-room without gaining an audience. Countess Bertrand is an elegant woman. I see her very often, and Lascases is one of the most learned men of the age, and exceedingly agreeable. Our camp is a quarter of a mile from Longwood. We are building a house, which will be ready in a month. The climate is very cool in the mountains, but too cold, I think.
' Times,' April 9, 1816.
By the Zenobia, Captain DOBREE, which arrived here with despatches from St. Helena on Monday last, we have a different version of the story inserted in the Courier and other papers that Buonaparte had been shot at by a sentinel for trespassing beyond his boundaries. The facts are that the sentinel, on perceiving that
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Buonaparte and his attendants were passing the prescribed limits, called to them to return. No attention being paid to this, he rapidly proceeded after them, in doing which he fell. At the same time the ramrod got loose from his musket, and as he was replacing it Buona- parte conceived that he was loading the piece with an intention to 6hoot, and so reported it to the Governor. On an inquiry it proved that the musket had not been loaded, and no further notice was taken of the affair. The sentinel being asked during the inquiry (not a court-martial) if he would have shot Buonaparte, firmly answered yes. Buonaparte every day grows more and more sullen in his demeanour, but still affects the majesty of a sovereign. According to report, he has distributed gold among the Malay slaves on the island with the view of inducing them to rise in his favour. —Plymouth paper.
' Times/ April 17, 1816.
The following anecdote is taken from the account of the revolution in Spain, written by the Abbe" de Pradt. It does honour to the Count de Lima, who appears to have excited something like a generous emotion even in the selfish breast of Buonaparte : —
' Napoleon had ordered that there should be sent to Bayonne a deputation of the best qualified persons in Portugal. It waited for him in this city, and was presented to him some hours after his arrival. At its head was the Count de Lima, who had been Ambassador from Portugal to Paris, and who was in high repute there. Napoleon did not wait for the delivery of the President's speech, as is usual on such occasions ; but, either from some delay on the part of the Count, or from his own impatience, at once began the conference in a most singular manner. After some polite forms he said, addressing the Deputies, "I don't know what 1 shall do with you; it will depend on what takes place in the south. Are you in the situation of making a nation? Have you means sufficient for that purpose? You are abandoned by your Prince: he lias suffered himself to be carried to Brazil by the English : he has committed a great blunder and will repent of it!" Then tinning to me lie added, with an air of great gaiety, "It is with princes as with bishops — they must be resident." Afterwards, addressing himself to the Count de Lima, he asked him about the population of Portugal, and then presently joining the answer to the question, according to his custom, said, "Are there two millions?" "More than three," said the Count. "Ah! 1 did not know it," said Napoleon. "And Lisbon, does it contain 150,000 souls?" "More than double," said the Count de Lima. "Ah! I did not know it," again remarked Napoleon. Other questions and answers were exchanged with the same difference of opinion, and from one T did not know to another. Napoleon at length arrived at this question, " What is it you Portuguese want ? Do you want to be Spaniards?"
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At these words I saw the Count de Lima, swelling to ten feet in height, planting himself in a firm position, placing his hand on the guard of his sword, and answering with a voice which shook the room, "No!" The old heroes of Portugal could not have said it better. Napoleon was accordingly exceedingly struck with this heroic monosyllable, and the next day, in a conversation with one of his principal officers, he showed the impression which had been made upon him by observing, •'The Count de Lima yesterday gave me a superb No." He afterwards treated the Count with great and unremitting distinction. In all future conversation with him he plainly showed the kind disposition which the noble repartee had excited : he granted to the Count all he asked for the interests of Portugal, and did not say another word about its union with Spain.'
Times,' April 24, 1816.
A French paper contains the following interesting details of the abominable conduct of one of Buonaparte's agents of police. Can there still exist any persons who believe that liberty could have any, the remotest connexion with a being who habitually employed such instruments ?
' M. Fauche Borel, so well known by the services which he has rendered to the royal cause, has just commenced a legal prosecution against M. Perlet, formerly a journalist, which will throw a great light on the means which the police of Buonaparte employed to entrap the most illustrious and most estimable personages.
' M. Fauch^ establishes in his memoir that M. Perlet, pretending to concur in the re-establishment of the house of Bourbon, held with the ministers of the King for several years a correspondence, which he previously showed to Buonaparte, and which Buonaparte frequently dictated himself.
'All was prepared in this perfidious correspondence, in order to draw to France the most devoted royalists, to give them over to the royal executioner. It was with this horrible hope that they wished to draw over even a Prince of the Royal Family. It was not sufficient for the Usurper, by the most odious assassination, to have rendered inevitable the extinction of the illustrious house of Conde\ another victim of the royal blood was necessary.
' Perlet, who under the dictation of Buonaparte wrote to the agents of Louis XVIII. , made them believe for a long time that there existed at Paris a royal committee, composed of distinguished persons, who only waited for the presence of a grand personage to declare them- selves in favour of the legitimate King ; in short, the object was nothing less than to draw into an infamous ambush a son of France, and even the King himself.
' This odious plot continued till 1814, and the agents of Buonaparte followed it up even on the eve of his fall ! When this fall was certain,
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they did all they could to bury their horrible crimes in oblivion ; but if there could be any doubt of the Divine justice, what proof of it could be more convincing than the almost miraculous discovery of the corre- spondence which established all these facts ?
' This correspondence lasted more than ten years ? From the month of February, 1807, Vitel junior, nephew of M. Fauche\ had been sent secretly from London to Paris in order to become acquainted with the royal committee, and to learn whether its means were really so important if a great personage should come to direct them. Being referred to Perlet by his credulous correspondents, the unfortunate man was soon stripped by him of all his secrets, of all his money, and given over to his executioner. The informer, after having received from the police an indemnity of 3600 francs, after having obtained from the spoils of the victim 4174 francs more, did not find these sums sufficient ; he wrote to the uncle of Vitel to send him 600 louis with all speed. If he should receive this sum in time, Perlet would answer to Fauche" for the safety of his nephew, and yet Vitel was already gone to his death !
1 This unfortunate young man had a long time perished the victim of his zeal when Perlet touched the sum of 14,400 francs, which Fauche-Borel sent him on the first news of the danger of his nephew.
' The money which Perlet received in the same manner at different times and from different hands is incalculable, and the agents of the police themselves have declared that they never knew a monster more insatiable and more villanous. He wrote once to his correspondents in London that the royal committee wanted 500,000 francs, and he was near receiving this sum.
'M. Fauche" supports all these assertions by receipts and letters from the hand of Perlet himself. He announces that the originals of these pieces are deposited with the notary whose address he gives. In short, all the facts are established in a manner so peremptory that there appears to be no defence for his adversary, except in denying his hand-writing ; and yet M. Fauche" has foreseen that he would have recourse to this denial, and therefore, to take from him this last resourse, he has added to the memorial the facsimile of a receipt which Perlet gave to the prefect of police on the 10th of October, 1806, for an indemnity of 1500 francs. Those who know the hand-writing can examine and verify it.
' It must result from this extraordinary proceeding either that M. Fauche is a very audacious calumniator, or that Perlet is one of the most horrible monsters that ever disgraced humanity. M. Fauche1, for the present, seems to confine himself to the demand of the restitution of the 14,400 francs which he gave for the salvation of Vitel when he was already dead ; but, if all the charges are proved, Perlet would be a- fortunate man to be quit so easily.'
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'Times,1 May 21, 1816.
St. Helena, March 16.
Since I wrote to you last it has been very evident that Buonaparte is far from being content with his residence here. He was greatly offended a short time back with some orders given by Sir G. Cockburn relative to prohibiting any individual entering Longwood without a pass. On this occasion he declared that he would never receive any person bringing a pass from the Admiral, as he should immediately consider that person of the same kidney with himself, and added that the Admiral telling him the sentinels were merely placed out of com- pliment to him, and to prevent his being teazed by importunate or curious visitors, was only adding irony to insult. He also expressed that, next to the British Government banishing him to such a detest- able rock as St. Helena, he conceived their sending him under the directions of the Admiral to have been the greatest injury they could have done him. Some time after his arrival at this island, and previous to his being finally settled at Longwood, he ascertained that a Chinese was detained here, and most unwarrantably considered as a slave, he having by some means been smuggled on shore, and probably handed over to his first master for some paltry sum of money (and of such conduct it is believed that many instances could be produced). He took an opportunity to communicate this to the Admiral, who immediately ordered an inquiry to be made into the circumstances of the case, in consequence of which other discoveries have been made, and several supposed slaves, or persons hitherto considered as such, will be restored to liberty, and most likely to their native countries. Buonaparte enjoys very good health, although the great humidity of the climate and the frequent dense fogs do not permit him to take as much exercise on horseback as he is desirous of. In this execrable island, he says, there is neither sun or moon to be seen, and he has given it the name of Isle de Brouillard. He sometimes rides out in the morning. On one of these occasions, in passing a field where some men were ploughing, he alighted and took the direction of the plough- handle for the length of the field, and on returning drove the team the same distance, remarking that it was fatiguing employment. He received the intelligence of Murat's death with considerable fortitude, and appeared only anxious to know whether he had been killed in battle or not. Neither was it possible to discover from his manner whether the information produced any unpleasant impression on his mind. Notwithstanding the short distance between Longwood and James-town, it was commonly reported at the latter place that he broke out into the most violent invectives on hearing it, and probably such has been the account forwarded to England. When he was informed of the death of Marshal Ney he observed that he was a brave man, a very brave man. Such persons as the Admiral approves of have now liberty to visit at Longwood by applying to Marshal Bertrand (who resides at Hutt's-gate, about a mile from Longwood) for a pass to enter the gates. Marshal Bertrand is much esteemed by every one for
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his great consistency, and the honourable line of conduct he has adopted. Napoleon is now on better terms with the Admiral than formerly ; he has discovered that the conduct of the latter has been misrepresented.
'Times,' May 29, 1816.
Our readers will recollect the accusation brought by M. Fauchd- Borel against one Perlet, of which we, some weeks ago, gave an abstract as illustrative of the horrible atrocities of Buonaparte's police. At an early period of the Revolution M. Borel had aban- doned his country, had left a beloved wife and an ample fortune, and had served the King of Fiance confidentially in various parts of Europe, and for a long succession of years. He had himself undergone a severe imprisonment, and had sent his nephew, M. Vitel, on a dangerous mission to Paris, and had intrusted the secret, together with a large sum of money, to Perlet. This latter wretch, who had previously been despatched by Fouch^ and Real to England to persuade the Royal Family to come to France with a view to have them assassinated, finding that attempt unsuccessful, resolved at least to betray Vitel and to pocket Borel's money under pretence of employing it for the unfortunate young man's release. Vitel perished, and Borel did not at that time suspect Perlet. We have before us a pamphlet which he published in 1807, very shortly after his nephew's death, in which he speaks of its authors as unknown to him, but adds, ' I am on my part resolutely determined not to spare them, but to oblige them sooner or later to develope themselves. Let them be assured that I am resolved to drag them into daylight.' This threat M. Borel, fortunately for the interests of morality, has at last accomplished. He has unmasked the traitor to his Sovereign, the swindler of his friend, the base and infamous dealer in blood. Perlet had the audacity to reply by a charge of calumny against Borel. The actions were consolidated, and at the first hearing both the plaintiffs stood in person before the court, but the guilt of Perlet was established by his own answers, and irre- sistibly confirmed by the deposition of Veyrat, another agent of Buonaparte's police at the time of Vitel's death. At the sub- sequent hearing Perlet had absconded. Borel's counsel was heard, and the cause was adjourned for the Procureur - General to sum up, on the part of the Government, in relation to both the charges. On the 24th inst. this cause, which had excited an exceedingly great interest in Paris, was brought to a conclusion by the speech of a M. Riffe, who appealed as substitute for the Procureur-General. The Judges, much to their honour, went beyond the sentence on Perlet which M. Riffe demanded. They condemned him to five years' Imprisonment, to pay 24,000 franca to Borel, including costs, and to tin- privation of all civil rights for ten years, and thev ordered 500
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copies of the sentence to be printed and posted up for public inspection. We have often had occasion to lament the wretched degradation into which the profession of the law has fallen in France during the Revolution. We have shown that the French advocates frequently betray a total absence of the first principles of morality. Who would have thought but that any wise and good man would have eagerly seized the opportunity of thanking M. Borel, in the name of public morals, for the perseverance which brought so horrid a train of crimes to light, and exposed the infamy of despotism to such just abhorrence ? Who would not have expected to have heard a just and warm eulogium on the man whose zeal and fidelity to the royal cause had exposed to hazard his own life, and subjected that of a dear relative to destruc- tion ? Not a word of all this ! M. Riffe takes an opportunity of complimenting Veyrat (a man who since the restoration has himself been placed under the superintendence of the police) by calling him • a devoted subject of the King;' but he occupies nearly half his speech in reprobating Borel for not having submitted in silence to the calumnies of Perlet and others, which had robbed him of the King's favour, so justly due to him. Borel is reproached, after all he had done and suffered for the royal cause, because he could not bury in his own bosom the ingratitude he had experienced. He is told, now that he has exposed Perlet's infamy, that the calumnies of an infamous person could not wound his character, although down to the very hearing of the cause Borel's services were actually left without reward, while Perlet appeared at the trial with the decoration of the Order of the Lily ! We know not where M. Riffe was during the thirty-three months that Borel passed as a prisoner in the Temple, or at the moment when Vitel sealed with his blood his own and his uncle's attachment to the cause ; but it is an insult, on the part of this revolutionary lawyer, to ask M. Borel whether to all his other sacrifices he could not add the homage of his sufferings on feeling himself treated with unmerited neglect ? No ; that was an homage somewhat beyond the common powers of human nature, and the general voice of all Europe will join in reprobating the manner in which M. Borel has been treated, if the heartless sarcasms of Riffe be not amply compensated by the open and liberal gratitude of Louis XVIII.
' Morning Chronicle,' July 22, 1816.
Saturday morning, about eight o'clock, Captain Whitz, R.N., of his Majesty's ship the Peruvian arrived in a chaise and four with despatches from St. Helena. The Captain brought despatches to the Secretary of State's Office for the Colonial Department and the Admiralty. Earl Bathurst not being in London, the Captain proceeded to the noble Earl at his country house at Putney. The contents of the despatches were considered of so much importance that
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circulars were sent round to all the Cabinet Ministers with the con- tents. The Captain had a very excellent passage ; he came in six weeks, and is of opinion he should have done it in three weeks had it not been for contrary winds, which kept him off the English coast. He landed at Portsmouth on Friday night. He reports that Bona- parte was in good health when he left St. Helena.
'Morning Chronicle,' July 24, 1816. extract of a letter from st. helena, june 3.
' Instead of Napoleon's condition having been, as was supposed by a few, considerably ameliorated by the change of Government, some additional restrictions were judged necessary to be laid on. These for some days produced an unpleasant effect on his mind, and were probably the cause of his confining himself closely to his chamber for several days. He has, however, been seen within a few days back, driving in his carriage, and occasionally riding with his accustomed velocity within his limits, as he most religiously persists in his resolu- tion of not riding out with a British officer.
' A letter, purporting to be written from St. Helena, has appeared in some of the public papers which have lately reached this island, and were it not that a few of the circumstances mentioned in it have a distinct relation to what really occurred, though miserably garbled and scandalously misrepresented, one would suppose that it never was the production of a person resident in St. Helena, as one would imagine that an inhabitant, or even a temporary sojourner, would have had opportunities of learning anecdotes less distantly removed from the truth than those which form the subject of it.
• The author of the letter in question is so grossly ignorant of that which he pretends to relate with great accuracy, that he does not even know the name of the officer on duty at Longwood. In the first place no such circumstance occurred as Bonaparte's ordering Captain Poppleton to ride in the rear, and that the privilege of riding abreast of him was not for him. Neither did he (the Captain) refuse to accompany Napoleon out the following day, or apprise him that he intended for the future to ride with him in uniform. The assertion of Captain P. having token the precaution of sleeping in a room through which Bonaparte must necessarily pass on his way to his own, is too ridiculous to need contradiction, were it not that such a statement, if left uncontradicted, might with a few affect the reputation of a most respectable Knglish officer who has always pei'formed the (nol nii- frequentlv) unpleasant duties of his situation in the most delicate manner, by having it understood that he would execute the degrading office of a turnkey.
'The statement respecting the Polish Captain is equally false and most scandalous. Instead of Napoleon having tamed his back upon him (the Polish Ciiptain) and asked Las Cases "who that man was," he
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received hira in the niost polite manner, and conversed with him upwards of two hours. Immediately after this Napoleon despatched one of his suite to ask him what he stood in need of — money, clothes, linen ? with directions if he had none of the latter clean after so long a voyage, to furnish him with some of his own. To this was added an order for 40Z. or 50L, which was immediately paid. He also had him to dinner with him for several days after.
' Equally true with the above-mentioned letter are those which state that Napoleon eats a whole pig smothered with onions for break- fast, and eight fotvls for dinner ! The writers of such absurd stuff must either be inconceivably silly, or have most contemptible opinions of the understandings of those to whom they address them, or they would never attempt to thrust such a farrago of stupid lies down their throats. However, they seem to be greedily swallowed by some of the journalists. This circumstance drew from Bonaparte one day a remark that he supposed the Editors of some of the English papers would make him eat a live bull at one meal, horns and all ! This anecdote I have heard from a person who was present.
'Sometime back Sir H. and Lady D., Mrs. M'Clintock, Mrs. Wetherall, with several other ladies and gentlemen, were introduced to him in the garden, to all of whom he was extremely affable, and they departed highly pleased with their reception. When it was mentioned to him afterwards that the ladies were particularly grati- fied, and that they were surprised to find him so different a person from what he had been represented, he is said to have replied, laugh- ing, " I suppose they imagined that I was some strange kind of animal with two great horns sticking out of my head."
' It has been asserted that he has frequently reviled the memory of Kleber, and even by some that he had caused his assassination. Quite the contrary would appear from the very handsome manner in which he speaks of him. A short time back he expressed himself in the following manner. — "If Kleber had lived the English would never have taken Egypt with an army without cavalry and few artillery. The Turks were nothing. Kleber, Kleber," repeated he, " was an irreparable loss to France and to me. He was a man of the brightest talents, and a general of the greatest bravery." — "Menou," he observed, " was a brave man, but destitute of talent."
' The friends and relatives of the late lamented Sir John Moore would probably be not displeased to hear the following tribute of applause paid to his memory by an enemy whose capacity to judge need not be pointed out. " Moore," said Napoleon, "was a brave soldier, an excel- lent officer, and a man of talent. He made a few mistakes, which were probably inseparable from the difficulties by which he was sur- rounded, and most likely caused by the incorrectness of his information having misled him." This he repeated, observing "that Moore had commanded the reserve in Egypt, where he evinced considerable talent." " He died," added he, " gloriously ; he died like a soldier." Speaking about St. Helena, he observed ' ' that such was the deplorable state of the island that the inhabitants considered the absence of actual want, or the lack of starvation, as the greatest blessing." " For example," said
he, " P went the other day to R 's, and there they said to him,
' Oh, how happy you must be to have fresh meat every day at dinner 1 Oh ! if we could but enjoy that how happy we should be.'"
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' It was stated, some time back, that Napoleon's maitre cThotel and others of his suite had signed a paper (pursuant to orders received from England, either to do that or quit St. Helena) purporting their willingness to remain and submit to such restrictions as it might be thought necessary to impose on them. The following is an abstract of that paper :— " We, the undersigned, wishing to remain in the service of the Emperor Napoleon, consent, however dreadful may be the abode of St. Helena, to remain in it, submitting ourselves to such restrictions, however arbitrary and unjust they may be, which have been imposed upon the Emperor and the persons in his service."'
'Times/ July 25, 1816.
All sorts of accounts are published respecting Buonaparte ; we will not undertake to say which are true and which are false ; those who profess an intimate knowledge of the man will perhaps recognize him 'by his style.'
Extract of a letter from St. Helena, June 3rd: —
A letter, purporting to be written from St. Helena, has appeared in some of the public papers which have lately reached this island ; and, were it not that a few of the circumstances mentioned in it have a distant relation to what really occurred, though miserably garbled and scandalously misrepresented, one would suppose that it never was the production of a person resident in St. Helena. The author of the letter in question is so grossly ignorant of that which he pretends to relate with great accuracy, that he does not even know the name of the officer on duty at Longwood. In the first place, no such circum- stance occurred as Buonaparte's ordering Captain Poppleton to ride in the rear, and that the privilege of riding abreast of him was not for him. Neither did he (the captain) refuse to accompany Napoleon out the following day, or apprise him that he intended for the future to ride with him in uniform. The assertion of Capt. P. having taken the precaution of sleeping in a room through which Buonaparte must necessarily pass on his way to his own, is too ridiculous to need contradiction, were it not that such a statement, if left uncontradicted, might with a few affect the reputation of a most respectable English officer — who has always performed the (not unfrequently) unpleasant duties of his situation in the most delicate maimer, by having it under- stood thai he would execute the degrading office of a turnkey. The statement respecting the Polish captain is equally false, and more scandalous. Instead of Napoleon having turned his hack upon him (the Polish captain), and asked Las Cases 'Who that man was?' he received him in the most polite manner, and conversed with him upwards of two hours. Immediately after this, Napoleon despatched one of his suite to ask him what lie stood in need of — money, clothes,.
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linen ? — with directions, if he had none of the latter clean after so long a voyage, to furnish him with some of his own. To this was added an order for 40Z. or bOL, which was immediately paid. He also had him to dinner with him for several days after.
Some time back, Sir H and Lady D , Mrs. M'Clintock,
Mrs. Wetherell, with several other ladies and gentlemen, were intro- duced to Buonaparte in the garden, to all whom he was extremely affable ; and they departed highly pleased with their reception. When it was mentioned to him afterwards that the ladies were particularly gratified, and that they were surprised to find him so different a person from what he had been represented, he is said to have replied, laughing, ' I suppose they imagined that I was some strange kind of animal, with two great horns sticking out of my head.'
It has been asserted that he has frequently reviled the memory of Kleber, and even by some that he had caused his assassination. Quite the contrary would appear from the very handsome manner in which he speaks of him. A short time back he expressed himself in the following manner :— ' If Kleber had lived, the English would never have taken Egypt with an army without cavalry and few artillery. The Turks were nothing. Kleber, Kleber,' repeated he, 'was an irreparable loss to France and to me. He was a man of the brightest talents and a general of the greatest bravery. Menou,' he observed, 'was a brave man, but destitute of talent.'
Speaking of Sir John Moore, Napoleon said, 'Moore was a brave soldier, an excellent officer, and a man of talent. He made a few mistakes, which were probably inseparable from the difficulties by which he was surrounded, and most likely caused by the incorrectness of his information having misled him.' This he repeated, observing ' That Moore had commanded the reserve in Egypt, where he evinced considerable talent.' 'He died,' added he, 'gloriously; he died like a soldier.' Speaking about St. Helena, he observed, 'That such was the de- plorable state of the island, that the inhabitants considered the absence of actual want, or the lack of starvation, as the greatest blessing.' ' For
example,' said he, 'P went the other day to R 's, and there
said to him, ' ' Oh, how happy yoxi must be to have fresh meat every day at dinner ! Oh, if we could but enjoy that, how happy we should be." '
It was stated some time back, that Napoleon's maitre aV hotel, and others of his suite, had signed a paper (pursuant to orders received from England, either to do that or quit St. Helena), purporting their willingness to remain, and submit to such restrictions as it might be thought necessary to impose upon them. The following is an abstract of that paper : —
' We, the undersigned, wishing to remain in the service of the Emperor Napoleon, consent, however dreadful may be the abode of St. Helena, to remain in it, submitting ourselves to such restrictions, however arbitrary and unjust they may be, which have been imposed upon the Emperor and the persons in his service.'
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'Times,' August 8, 1816.
A German paper contains the following letter from New York under date of the 12th of May : —
' In so large, opulent, and of itself so populous and busy a city as New York, the addition of a few thousand individuals could scarcely make any difference ; but in our places of public resort the presence of so many foreigners becomes very perceptible, and the many emigrant Frenchmen now here are not without influence on the tone in society. There are at present in this place a multitude of French ex-dukes, counts, barons, ministers, and counsellors of state, high officers of court and state, both civil and military, who have all brought more or less money. Joseph Buonaparte lives here without any great show. He has laid aside all titles, dignities, and orders, and bis servants go with- out livery. He is merely called Mr. Joseph Buonaparte. He is ex- tremely liberal to every man who has any claim upon him for assistance in obtaining a settlement, which his very great wealth enables him easily to do. He seldom visits in the societies of this city, and his circle is chiefly confined to Frenchmen. He lately made a journey to Phila- delphia, where he was accompanied by Marshal Grouchy and General Lefebvre Desnouettes. In Landsdowne, where he resided for some time, General Clanzel was also in his suite. Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely has recently returned to New York from Charlestown, where he purchased 10,000 acres of land in South Carolina. He is much occu- pied in writing, and from time to time publishes very interesting articles in the American journals. Though so strong an adherent of Buona- parte, he now in all he writes affects to be a warm defender of liberty, and a genuine republican. Eight thousand acres of land on the Ohio have been purchased on the account of M. Real (formerly Councillor of State and Prefect of Paris), who is daily expected here. Portions of these lands are to be given gratis to such French families as choose to settle there. Among the persons who have brought off large sums from France to America, Messrs. Lacepede and Chaptal are particularly spoken of — both celebrated naturalists and formerly members of the Paris Institute, the former a Count and President of the Senate, the latter also a Count, and for some years Minister of the Interior under Napoleon. European veteran officers are at present in demand for the American service. Many French military men have already obtained advantageous appointments. This measure is generally approved of, because it was particularly ascribed to the want of good officers in the militia, that in the late war the enemy was able to attempt landings, which were very mortifying to the American national pride. Experi- ence has also taught that, in the United States, in a period of common danger it is easy to increase the regular army, which in peace is very small, by Voluntary levies to almost any amount, though it is not so easy to find in this country officers to lead them.'
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* Morning Chronicle,' November 18, 1816. extract of a letter from st. helena.
(From the Antigallican.)
Sept. 22, 1816.
A very curious circumstance occurred here a few days ago. — Bonaparte, in a rage, ordered his service of plate to be broken up, the eagles which were engraved to be effaced, and the whole to be disposed of as old silver. He applied to a merchant, a resident of this place, who asked permission of the Governor. He thought that the amount would not exceed 3000Z. or 4000Z. sterling. The Governor consented to the merchant's going to look at the plate, but observed that the amount should not be paid to Buonaparte, but deposited in the hands, of the Governor or the purveyor. When the merchant went to look at the plate, instead of the sum above-mentioned, the property was about 19,500Z. sterling — a sum rather too great to be procured here at so short a notice. However, in a day or two it is expected that this curious negotiation will be brought to a close. It is said that Bona- parte wishes by these means to make himself independent of the British Government, and that in future he will never make any application for money, but live on his own resourses. His suite receive their regular allowance from Government. This place is un- commonly lively. The French Commissioner is the laughing-stock of all the inhabitants of this place. He is called the French hairdresser. Indeed, he has the appearance of belonging to that fraternity.
'Times,' December 28, 1816.
extract of a letter from the marquis de mont- chenu, commissioner of the king of france,
TO HIS FRIEND M. PRIEUR, KNIGHT OF ST. LOUIS, DIRECTOR OF THE POSTS AT ANGOULEME.
St. Helena, July 22, 1816.
You cannot form an idea of this isle ; all that you have read or heard of it makes it a paradise when compared with the reality : its aspect is still more hideous in the interior, — you see only rugged mountains, destitute of vegetation, of a height varying from fifty to 1500 toises — a single plain, which is that where Buonaparte resides. One meets here and there a few stunted trees ; nothing but potatoes are cultivated, and that in small quantity ; — a single town, in which
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there are about sixty houses — and not a village ; some cottages, which are dignified with the name of country houses, about a tenth of which are habitable ; some very fine roads, uniformly bordered by frightful precipices ; no practicable paths. Such, my dear Sir, is the abode of your friend, who, besides, is ignorant of the language of the country ; and if he should know it, would not be much the better for it. If you commiserate me, then regret that you did not accompany me. We want everything ; everything is here at an exorbitant price. To give you an idea of this, you must know that all our wants must be supplied from England or the Cape of Good Hope, which is 600 leagues off. Coals for the kitchen come from England, for the island produces no firewood. A few days ago some bullocks arrived from the Cape ; out of 25 embarked, 11 died on the passage. A small sheep costs from 5 to 6 louis ; a fowl, very tough, from 10 to 15 francs, according to its size ; bread, which is the cheapest article, 22 sous per lb. ; a pair of shoes from 18 to 20 fr.
Having thus detailed to you my miseries, I will now talk to you of our great man, of his situation and guard.
The garrison consists of about 2500 men, with 500 and odd pieces of artillery, and about a score of mortars. It occupies the house of the Lieutenant-Governor, situate upon the only plain in the island, called Longwood. This plain is surrounded on all sides by horrible precipices, and there is but one road by which you can reach it. On this plain has been established a camp, occupied by the 53rd regiment and a park of artillery ; it is besides lined with posts of troops. Buonaparte and his followers have the liberty of walking or riding within this circle. He must be accompanied by an officer in uniform, who must not quit him a single step, and this same officer lodges in the house, and must know what he is doing the whole of the day. The other persons in his suite are accompanied by an orderly officer, and the valets by a non- commissioned officer. The Governor is made acquainted hourly with whatever passes by means of telegraphs, erected throughout the isle, so that in a minute he knows whatever is passing, or in two minutes when he is making his rounds or on horseback ; and in case of anything happening, the whole island would be under arms in three or four minutes. Such are the precautions by land ; those at sea are of a different kind. There are always at least two frigates at anchor, while two brigs are sailing night and day round the island ; and from six o'clock in the evening to the same hour next morning, armed boats patrol along the base of the mountains which border tbe sea and sur- round us on all sides ; at night, that is after six o'clock, all the boats, belonging both to individuals and the shipping, must have returned, and if a boat makes its appearance it is fired upon. After nine o'clock, no one can move out without having the password without tear of being shot, or, at least, arrested. No foreign vessel can come on the coast; they an' announced by signal the moment they are perceived, and a dollar is K>ven to him who first spies them, which may be done Dearly Sixty miles to sea. Ships cannot bear in close to the island in one nitfht, especially on a coast so dangerous; add to which, that the breaker- are so strong that one is sometimes several days without
beinj< ahle to come close in without danger. You perceive, my dear friend, thai escape appears physically impossible; that even if the Governor wished to favour it, the Admiral must also be in the plot. If
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even, in spite of all these precautions, the Admiral were to allow two or three boats to approach in a favourable night, which would be exposed to a very dangerous fire, what would happen then ? All the roads are guarded, the rocks are nearly impracticable, and there is not a point where ten men without arms, and with stones only, which are in abundance, could not stop a thousand men well armed.
The other day, while making a reconnaissance with the Governor, it appeared to me that a point of landing, defended by thirty-six pieces of cannon and a very strong post, could be better protected, because one of the flanking batteries was a little too much elevated. I found a point where the rock would admit of being easily levelled a little so as to admit the erection of a small battery of four pieces of cannon that would brush the very surface of the water. They are now at work upon it. Nothing passes or is done without my being informed of it, so that you may reassure your good people of Angouleme to be perfectly easy ; you will never see him more, I answer for it, as long as I am here. At night every man must be in his home, without leaving it. The house is surrounded by sentinels, with orders to fire instantly. They are certain that the order will be executed, which has already happened once. I hope, however, not to die here, unless it be of hunger or ennui. In that case, every month of my residence will surely be counted for some years of purgatory. See, my friend, what a means of salvation you have neglected.
Buonaparte, on his arrival here, was long lodged at the house of an inhabitant of the name of Mr. Balcomb. He has a daughter named Betsy, who is celebrated for her independent spirit and her wild temper. She is rather handsome ; he has appeared fond of her. Chatting with her the other day, I said, 'Miss, I am not surprised at your speaking French so well— Buonaparte was your teacher. I have been told that you knew how to tame him, and that he was amorous.' ' Oh ! you don't know him at all ; he is not galant enough for that.' Her sister told me that, being with him, he took her by the ear, which he pulled very hard— 'He pained me much.' Very well, what did this pretty hand do then ? ' I gave him a famous cuff, which put him in such a passion that he squeezed my nose, which continued red the whole day.' ' For my part I should have embraced you '—and I kissed the pretty hand that had cuffed the great man. The other day she found a sword in his chamber, drew it, and attacked him. He retreated to a corner of the room, shouting with all his might, Lascaze came to his assistance, and disarmed her. ' Do you mean to kill him ?' ' No ; but I wish to see the colour of his blood.' For the rest he is not at all amusing. He is almost always in bad humour, vexes everybody about him, makes himself be served as Emperor, and, generally speaking, he imposes himself as such on all his people.
I had a fine passage, we were only fifty-seven days ; he was seventy-seven days. I did not suffer much from the voyage. Though I arrived on the 1st of June I am still somewhat indisposed from its effects. My aide-de-camp, a young man of twenty-six, has more
speedily recovered You may copy my letter and circulate it.
It will cheer up the timid, and intimidate the disaffected. The style is perhaps too negligent, but I have not time to correct it, as a ship sails immediately for Europe.
(Signed) MONTCHENU. 28
NAPOLEON
'Morning Chronicle,' March 13, 1817.
Letter,
By Order of the Emperor Napoleon.
Addressed by General Count Montholon, to Sir Hudson Lowe, British Governor of the Island of St. Helena.
General, — I have received the Treaty of the 3d of August, 1815, concluded between his Britannic Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, which accompanied your letter of the 23d of July.
The Emperor Napoleon protests against the contents of that Treaty ; he is not the prisoner of England. After having placed his abdication in the hands of the Representatives of the Nation, for the advantage of the Constitution adopted by the French people, and in favour of his Son, he repaired voluntarily and freely to England, with the view of living there, as a private individual, under the protection of the British laws. The violation of every law cannot constitute a right. The person of the Emperor Napoleon is actually in the power of England, but he neither has been, nor is, in the power of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, either in fact or of right, even according to the laws and customs of England, which never included, in the exchange of prisoners, Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Spaniards, or Portuguese, though united to these powers by treaties of alliance and making war conjointly with them.
The Convention of the 2nd of August, concluded fifteen days after the Emperor was in England, cannot have of right any effect. It exhibits only a spectacle of the coalition of the four greatest Powers of Europe for the oppression of a single man! — a coalition which the opinion of every nation and all the principles of sound morality equally disavow.
The Emperors of Austria and Russia, and the King of Prussia, having neither in fact or in right any claim over the person of the Emperor Napoleon, could decide nothing respecting him.
Had the Emperor Napoleon been in the power of the Emperor of Austria, that Prince would have recollected the relations which religion and nature have formed between a fattier and a son — relations which are never violated with impunity.
lb- would have recollected that Napoleon had four times restored to him his throne : viz. at Leoben in 1797 — at Lune villein 1804 — when his armies were under the walls of Vienna — at Presburgh in 1800, and at Vienna in lS0i>, when his armies had possession of the capital and three-fourths of the monarchy! That Prince would have recollected the protestations he made to Napoleon at the bivouac in Moravia in 1800, and at the interview in Dresden in 1812.
Had the person of the Emperor Napoleon been in the power of the Emperor Alexander, he would have recollected the ties of friendship contracted at Tilsit, at Erfurth, and during twelve years of daily corrcspondeiwe.
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He would have recollected the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon the day after the battle of Austerlitz, when, though he could have made him, with the wreck of his army, prisoner, contented himself with taking his parole, and allowed him to operate his retreat. He would have recollected the dangers to which the Emperor Napoleon personally exposed himself in order to extinguish the fire of Moscow, and to preserve that capital for him — assuredly, that Prince would never have violated the duties of friendship and gratitude towards a friend in misfortune.
Had the person of the Emperor Napoleon been in the power of the King of Prussia, that Sovereign could not have forgotten that it depended on the Emperor, after the battle of Friedland, to place another Prince on the throne of Berlin. He would not have forgotten, in the presence of a disarmed enemy, the protestations of attachment and the sentiments of gratitude which he testified to him in 1812 at the interviews in Dresden.
It accordingly appears from articles 2 and 5, of the Treaty of the 2nd of August, that these Princes, being incapable of exercising any influence over the disposal of the Emperor, who was not in their power, accede to what may be done thereon by his Britannic Majesty, who takes upon himself the charge of fulfilling every obligation. These Princes have reproached the Emperor Napoleon with having preferred the protection of the English laws to theirs. The false ideas which the Emperor Napoleon had formed of the liberality of the laws of England, and of the influence of the opinion of a great, generous, and free people over their Government, decided him to prefer the protection of these laws to that of a father '-in-latv or an old friend.
The Emperor Napoleon had it in his power to secure, by a diplo- matic treaty, whatever was personal to himself, by putting himself either at the head of the army of the Loire, or at the head of the army of the Gironde, commanded by General Clausel ; but wishing, hence- forth, for nothing but retirement and the protection of the laws of a free state, either English or American ; all stipulations appeared to him unnecessary. He conceived that the English people were more bound by a conduct which was, on his part, frank, noble, and full of confidence, than they would have been by the most solemn treaties. He has been deceived, but this error will for ever cause true Britons to blush, and will, in the present as well as the future generations, be a proof of the bad faith of the English administration.
Austrian and Prussian Commissioners are arrived at St. Helena. If the object of their mission be the fulfilment of a part of the duties which the Emperors of Austria and Russia have contracted by the Treaty of the 2nd of August, and to take care that the English agents in a small colony, in the midst of the ocean, do not fail in the respect due to a Prince connected with these Sovereigns by the bonds of relationship and so many other ties, proofs of the character which belong to these two Monarchs will be recognized in this proceeding ; but you, Sir, have declared that these Commissioners have neither the right nor the power of giving any opinion on what may be passing on this Rock 1
The English Ministers have caused the Emperor Napoleon to be transported to St. Helena, at the distance of 2000 leagues from Europe 1 This Rock, situated within the tropics, and 500 leagues from
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any continent, is subject to the devouring heats of these latitudes. It is covered with clouds and fogs during three-fourths of the year, and is at once the most arid and the most humid country in the world. Such a climate is most inimical to the health of the Emperor, and hatred must have dictated the choice of this residence, as well as the instructions given by the English Ministry to the officers commanding in the Island.
They have even been ordered to call the Emperor Napoleon General, as if it were wished to oblige him to consider himself as never having reigned in France.
The reason which determined him not to assume an incognito name, as he might have resolved to do on leaving France, were these : First Magistrate for life of the Republic under the title of First Consul, he concluded the Preliminaries of London and the Treaty of Amiens with the King of Great Britain ; and received, as Ambassadors, Lord Cornwallis, Mr. Meny, and Lord Whitworth, who resided in that quality at his court.
He accredited to the King of England, Count Otto and General Andreossi, who resided as Ambassadors at the Court of Windsor. When, after an exchange of letters between the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the two Monarchies, Lord Lauderdale came to Paris invested with full powers from the King of England : he treated with the Plenipotentiaries possessing full powers from the Emperor Napoleon, and remained for several months at the Court of the Tuileries : when Lord Castlereagh afterwards signed, at Chatillon, the ultimatum, which the Allied Powers presented to the Plenipotentiaries of the Emperor Napoleon, he recognized by that the fourth dynasty. This ultimdtum was more advantageous than the Treaty of Paris, but in exacting that France should renounce Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine, it enacted what was contrary to the propositions of Frankfort, and the Proclamations of the Allied Powers — what was contrary to the oath, by which, at his coronation, the Emperor swore to maintain the integrity of the Empire. The Emperor, besides, thought that these natural limits were necessary, both for the security of France, and to preserve the equilibrium of Europe ; he thought that the French nation, in the situation in which it was, ought rather to run the hazard of all the chances of war than to depart from that policy : France had obtained this integrity, and would have preserved it with honour, if treason had not arrayed itself in aid of the Allies.
The Treaty of the 2nd of August, and the Act of the British Parliament, called the Emperor Napoleon — Bonaparte, and gave him only the title of General. The title of General Bonaparte is doubtless eminently glorious, the Emperor bore it at Lodi, at Castiglione, at Rivoli, at Arcole, at Leoben, at the Pyramids, at Aboukir; but for seventeen years he has borne that of First ( lonsul and Emperor, which proves that he has been both First Magistrate of the Republic, and Sovereign of the Fourth Dynasty. Those Who think thai nation.- art- flocks which belong of Divine right to certain families, do not belong to the age, nor do they participate in the Spirit of the English
Legislature, which has several times changed tl rder of its Dynasty,
because great changes had taken place in public opinion, in which the reigning Princes not participating, they became enemies to the welfare of the great majority of the nation, for Kings are only hereditary
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Magistrates, who exist for the welfare of nations, and not nations for the satisfaction of Kings.
It is in the same hateful spirit that orders have been given that the Emperor Napoleon shall not be allowed to write or receive any letters, unless they are opened and read by the English Ministers and the Officers at St. Helena. They have interdicted to him the possibility of receiving intelligence from his wife, his mother, his son, or his brothers ; and when, in order to avoid the inconvenience of having his letters read by subaltern officers, he wished to send letters sealed to the Prince Regent, he was told that the order could not be departed from, and that the letters must pass open, such being the instructions of the Ministry. This conduct needs no observation ; it gives rise, however, to strange ideas as to the spirit of the Administration which could dictate what would be disavowed even at Algiers. Letters have arrived at St. Helena, for the officers in the suite of the Emperor ; they were broken open and transmitted to you, but you have not com- municated them, because they did not come through the channel of the English Ministry. Thus they had to go back 4000 leagues ; and these Officers had the grief of knowing that there was intelligence on the Rock from their wives, their mothers, their children, and that they could not know the nature of it for six months — the heart must solace itself !
They could not obtain either The Morning Chronicle, The Morning Post, or any French journals. Now and then a few stray numbers of TJie Times reached Longwood. In consequence of a request made on board the Northumberland, some books were sent, but all those relative to the affairs of late years have been carefully kept back. He wished to correspond with a Bookseller in London, in order to have direct the books which he wanted, and those relative to the events of the day — this was prevented. An English author, having made a tour in Prance, and having published an account of it in London, he took the trouble to transmit it to you, in order that it might be presented to the Emperor ; you thought proper not to transmit it because it was not sent to you by the express desire of your Government. It is said also, that other books sent by their authors have not been transmitted, because some of them were inscribed to the Emperor Napoleon, and others to Napoleon the Great. The English Ministry is not authorised to order any of these vexations ; the law, although unique, by which the British Parliament regards the Emperor Napoleon as a prisoner of war, has never prohibited prisoners of war from subscribing to journals or receiving printed books — such a prohibition only takes place in the dungeons of the Inquisition.
The Island of St. Helena is ten leagues in circumference ; it is inaccessible everywhere ; brigs surround the coast ; posts are stationed on the shore within sight of each other ; which render impracticable any communication with the sea. There is only one small town (James Town), where there is an anchorage, and where vessels touch. To prevent an individual from quitting the island, it is sufficient to guard the shore by land and sea. To lay an interdict on the interior of the island can therefore have no other object than to deprive him of a promenade of from eight to ten miles, which it would be possible to make on horseback, and the privation of which will shorten the life of the Emperor. The Emperor has been established at Longwood, ex-
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NAPOLEON
posed to every wind, and where the land is sterile and uninhabitable, without water, and not susceptible of any cultivation. There is a circuit marked out of about 1200 toises ; at about 11 or 12,000 distance a, camp is established on a hill, and another camp is in an opposite position at the same distance ; in short, in the midst of the heat of the the tropics there is nothing to be seen but camps. Admiral Malcolm having learnt the utility which the Emperor would derive from a tent in that situation, caused one to be set vip by his sailors at twenty paces distance in front of the house ; it was the only place in which a shade coidd be found. The Emperor had as much reason to be satisfied with the spirit that animated the officers and soldiers of the brave 53rd regiment, as he had been with the crew of the Northumberland.
The house at Longwood was built to serve as a barn for the Com- pany's farm ; the Deputy Governor of the Island had since built some Chambers ; it served him for a Country house, but it was not in the proper habitable state, workmen have been employed at it for a year, and the Emperor has been continually subjected to the inconvenience and insalubrity of inhabiting a house in the progress of building. The chamber in which he sleeps is too small to contain a bed of ordinary dimensions ; but every alteration at Longwood prolongs the inconveni- ence of having workmen there. There are, however, in this miserable territory, beautiful situations, presenting fine trees, gardens, and good houses. There is, besides, Plantation House ; but the positive instruc- tions of Government forbade you from giving up this house, although much expense would thereby have been saved to your Government — an expense incurred in fitting up at Longwood a hut, covered with paper, which is already unserviceable.
You have interdicted all correspondence between us and the in- habitants of the islands — you have in fact placed the house at Long- wood au secret — you have even prevented any communication with the Officers of the garrison — it seems, therefore, to be your study to deprive us of the little resource which this miserable territory affords, and we are here just as we should be on the insulated and uninhabited rock of Ascension. During the four months that you have been at St. Helena, you have, Sir, rendered the situation of the Emperor much worse. Count Bertrand has observed to you that you violate even the laws of your Legislature, and that you trample under foot the rights of General Officers, prisoners of war. You have replied that you act according to the letter of your instructions, and that your conduct to us is not worse than is dictated by them.
I have the honour to be,
Your very humble and very obedient servant,
(Signed) The GENERAL COUNT DE MONTHOLON.
After I had signed this letter, I received your's of the 17th August, in which you subjoin the account of an annual sum of 20,000Z. sterling, which you consider indispensable for the support of the expenses of the establishment at Longwood, after having made all the reductions which you thought possible. We do not think we have any thing to do with the discussion of this point ; the table of the Emperor is scarcely provided with strict necessaries, and all the provisions are of the worst quality. You ask of the Emperor a fund of 12,000J. sterling, as your Government will only allow 8000Z. for all the expenses. I have
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NAPOLEON
already had the honour of informing you that the Emperor had no fluids, that for a year past he had neither written nor received any letter, and that he is altogether ignorant of what has passed, or is passing, in Europe. Transported by force to this rock, without being able to write or to receive any answer, the Emperor is now entirely at the mercy of English agents. The Emperor has always desired, and is still desirous, to provide himself for all his expenses, of whatever nature, and he will do it as soon as you render it possible by taking off the interdiction laid upon the merchants of the Island with regard to his correspondence, and directing that it should not be subjected to any inquisition on your part, or by any of your agents. Thenceforth the wants of the Emperor would be known in Europe, and those persons who interested themselves in his behalf, might send him the funds necessary to provide for them.
The letter of Lord Bathurst, which you have communicated to me, gives birth to strange ideas. Are your Ministers, then, ignorant that the spectacle of a great man in captivity and adversity is a most sublime spectacle ? Are they ignorant that Napoleon at St. Helena, in the midst of persecutions of every description, to which he opposes nothing but serenity, is greater, more sacred, and more venerable than when seated upon the first Throne in the world, where for so long a time he was the arbiter of Kings ? Those who in such a situation are wanting to Napoleon are blind to their own character and that of the nation which they represent. MONTHOLON
* Times,' March 20, 1817.
We spoke yesterday of a singular book, professing itself to be the work of Buonaparte, and containing a summary of his political and military history. With respect to the authenticity of the volume, we hardly know what to say. External evidence there is none in its favour. The internal — the manner and style of the work — would at least lead us to believe that it is the production of a man well acquainted with the life, and familiar even to mimicry with the habits and expressions of Buonaparte, such as they have appeared in his public documents, and the attested accounts of his proceedings. The first extract which we shall make gives a description of those two grand parties which have divided the world in these latter days — the revolutionists, and the friends of the existing order — of that order which is now, we hope we may say, happily re-established ; though we wish it had come back shorn of many of its evils — its Inquisition, and its Jesuits ; and, in general, its aversion to the slightest and most evident improvement.
' From the moment that I discovered the bottom of the heart of these two factions ; from the moment I perceived that they divided the world as in the time of the Reformation, I was aware that any sort of compact between them was impossible, because almost all their
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interests clashed too strongly. I was sensible that the more the crisis was abridged, the better it would be for the people. It was necessary that the majority of Europe should be for us, in order to make the balance incline to our side ; and I could only thus dispose the weight in virtue of the law of the strongest, for that is the only law acknow- ledged among nations. An absolute necessity, therefore, required that I should be the strongest, for I had not only to govern France, but to subject the world to her ; otherwise she must have been annihilated by the world.
1 1 never had any choice in the measures which I adopted : they were always commanded by events, because the danger was always imminent : and the 31st of March showed to what a degree it was to be dreaded, and whether it was an easy matter for the old and new systems to live in peace together.
' I then clearly foresaw that as long as there should be an equality in the strength of these two systems, there woidd exist a war, either open or secret, between them. The treaties of peace which they might sign would only be pauses for breathing. It followed, then, that France, as the metropolis of the revolution, should be maintained in a state capable of resisting the tempest. It was requisite that there should be unity in the Government, in order that it might be strong — union in the nation, in order that all its means might be directed to the same object ; and confidence in the people, in order that they might acquiesce in the sacrifices necessary for obtaining success.
4 But in the system of the Consulate everything was precarious, because nothing connected with it was in its proper place. There existed under that system a republic in name, and a sovereignty in fact ; a feeble national representation, and a strong executive Power ; authorities in subjection, and a preponderant army.
' Nothing proceeds rightly in a political system in which words dis- agree with things. The Government is degraded by the perpetual duplicity it practises. It falls into that contempt which awaits every- thing false ; because whatever is false is feeble. It is besides no longer possible to play double in politics ; nations have been too long acquainted with public affairs, and the newspapers tell them too much for that now to be done. There remains only one secret for leading the world — which is, to be strong ; for in strength there is no error, no illusion ; it is truth exposed naked.
' I felt the weakness of my position, the ridicule of my Consulate. I saw the necessity of establishing something solid to serve as a point of support for the revolution. I was nominated Consul for life. It was a life rent of the sovereign power ; insufficient, however, in itself, since it held out a future epoch ; and nothing is so injurious to confi- dence as the prospect of a change : but it was passable for the moment in which it was established.'
The account given in this work of the murder of the Duke D'Enghien, and the motives of that atrocious act, vary in some degree from those heretofore assigned. In the work before us Buonaparte seems to have thought the destruction of a Prince of the House of Bourbon necessary, to convince the world that he had no thoughts of re-acting the part of General Monk, and bringing back the Royal Family.
' It was necessary, at all hazards, to undeceive France, the Royalists,
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and Europe, in order that all might know what they had to expect froni nie. A persecution in detail, against words, always has a bad effect ; because it does not attack the evil in its root. Besides, this mode of proceeding has become impossible in this age of solicitation, in which the exile of a woman agitates the whole of France.
'At this moment there occurred, unfortunately for me, one of those strokes of chance which destroy the best resolutions. The police •discovered some petty Royalist plots, the focus of which was beyond the Rhine. An august head was implicated in these transactions. All the circumstances of this event squared in an incredible manner with those which influenced me to attempt a great measure of state policy. The death of the Duke D'Enghien decided the question which was agitated* It decided it for me past all return. I ordered it.
' A man of much talent, who ought to understand the subject, has said of this transaction, that it was more than a crime, it was a fault. No offence to that personage : it was a crime, and not a fault. I am not ignorant of the value of the words. The offence of that un- fortunate Prince was confined to miserable intrigues with some old Baroness of Strasburgh. He played his game. The intriguers were watched. They neither menaced the safety of France nor my safety. He perished the victim of policy, and of an extraordinary concurrence of circumstances.
' His death was no fault, for all the consequences which I foresaw have happened.'
Of the revolutionary interests, as established by his dynasty, he thus speaks :
' The Revolution was finally terminated ; it became immovably fixed under a permanent dynasty. The Republic had satisfied opinions only ; the Empire guaranteed interests along with opinions.
' These interests were those of the immense majority ; because, above all things, the Empire guaranteed equality. In it democracy existed, de facto et de jure. Liberty alone was restrained, because it is of no value at the period of a crisis. Besides, liberty is only for the use of the enlightened part of a nation ; equality is for the use of all. This is the reason why my power remained popular even during those reverses which have crushed France.'
The conclusion of the work, which speaks of his final surrender to the English, is interesting, whoever may be its author.
' France has respected misfortune in my person up to the moment when I for ever quitted her shores. I might, perhaps, have retired into America, and displayed my defeat in the new world ; but one who had reigned over France ought not to disgrace his throne by courting any other glory.
1 A prisoner upon another hemisphere, I have nothing left for me to defend, but the reputation which history is preparing for me. It will say, that a man to whom a people was devoted could not have been so wholly destitute of merit as his contemporaries pretend.'
In putting forth the arguments and reasoning of the author and chief actor in this work, we must not be thought to praise or allow of his conduct : with him, convenience, or what he is pleased to call necessity, seems to justify every crime.
From one of the passages above cited, it appears, that it became ■necessary to convince the world that he had no leaning to the
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Bourbons, therefore he murdered a Prince of that house. From others in the body of the work, he found it necessary to enforce the continental system, therefore he deluged Spain with blood. It became necessary to prove whether France or Russia was most powerful, thence the horrors of the Russian campaign. Virtuous minds would argue thus — that whatever projects necessarily led to crime should be relinquished.
'Times,' March 22, 1817.
Of the work entitled 'Manuscrit venu de St. Helene,' or its author, we know little more than we did when we last spoke of it. It claims to be written by Buonaparte himself, and is a very singular and interesting production, as our extracts will prove. Its author must be a man familiar with all the occurrences of the Continent, as with 'household names'; and habituated, either from situation or dis- position, to view them with a Buonaparte eye, and to draw Buonaparte inferences from them. It is singular that no external evidence should have reached us respecting the author of such a work. The chief impediment to the conviction that it is his whose it professes to be, is, that it tells few or no secrets. We must leave it to time to show whether this proceeds from ignorance in the pretended author, or caution in the real one.
While writing the above we have heard of a rumour, that an inquiry has been instituted respecting the origin of the work, and that there is reason to suppose it does not proceed from Buonaparte, but from some person in France connected with Madame de Stael.
The following is the account of the continental system :
' The vital principle of resistance was in England. I had no means of attacking her hand to hand ; and I was certain that the war would be renewed on the Continent as soon as the English Ministry were possessed of the means of defraying its expense. The contest might last long, because the profits of war feed war. It presented a vicious circle, the result of which would be the ruin of the Continent : it was therefore necessary to discover a method of depriving England of the advantages she derived from maritime warfare ; with this view the continental system was proposed to me. The plan appeared good, and I accepted it. Few persons understood that system. There was an obstinate disposition to see no other object in it except that of making coffee dear. It was destined to bave very different consequences.
'It was calculated to have ruined the trade ol England ; but in that respect it performed its duty badly ; because, as prohibitions always do, it produced high prices, which are always to the advantage of merchants; and because it could not be so completely established as to prevent smuggling.
4 But the continental system also served to make a clear distinction
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between cmr friends and onr enemies. In this respect we could not be deceived. Attachment to the continental system was a proof of attachment to our cause, for it formed its ensign and palladium.
4 This system, which has been so much discvissed, was indispensable at the period of its establishment ; for a great empire ought not only to have a general tendency for the direction of its policy, but its economy ought to have a like tendency. Industry, as well as every- thing else, ought to have a route in which to move and advance. This was wanting to France when I traced out her route by giving her the continental system.
•Before the Revolution the economy of France was directed towards the colonies and the trade of barter. Such was then the mode : and with respect to these objects great success was obtained. Highly, however, as the advantages derived from these sources may have been vaunted, their final results were the ruin of the finances of the State, the failure of credit, the destruction of the military system, the loss of consideration abroad, and the languor of agriculture. These advantages led at last to the signing a treaty of commerce, which surrendered up all the means of commercial supply to the English.
' Fiance had, it is true, some few sea-ports, and some merchants with colossal fortunes.
' The maritime system was destroyed, past return, by the war. The ports were ruined. No human force could restore what the revolution had annihilated. Another impulse was then to be given to the spirit of trade, in order to revive French industry. This was only to be done by depriving England of the monopoly of manufacturing industry, in order to make that industry the object of the general tendency of the economy of the State. It was necessary to create the continental system.'
* * # # * * *
' Experience has decided in my favour. I displaced industry from her seat, and made her cross the seas. Manufactures have now made such progress on the Continent, that competition is no longer to be feared. If France would prosper, let her retain my system with a change of name. If she would decline, she need only recommence maritime enterprises ; for England will destroy them in the first war. I was compelled to push the continental system to extremes, because its object was not only benefit to France, but injury to England.'
' From this moment, also, the war assumed a more serious character in England. Her public fortune, that is to say, her existence, was at stake. The war became popular. The English no longer trusted for their protection to auxiliaries : they took it upon themselves, and appeared in large masses in the field. It was then the struggle became perilous : and I received that impression in signing the decree. I suspected that there was no longer any repose for me, and that my life would be spent in combating resistances which the public did not see, but the secret of which I possessed ; for I was the only person whom appearances had not deceived. I flattered myself from the bottom of my heart, with remaining master of the future, through the army which I had formed ; to such a degree had success rendered it
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invincible. I never doubted of success ; it moved with facility, because we had renounced the system of camps and magazines. The troops could be transported immediately in all directions ; and everywhere they arrived with the consciousness of superiority. With such soldiers what general would not have loved war ? I loved it, I confess ; still, however, after the affair of Jena, I no longer felt that plenitude of confidence, nor that disregard of consequences to which I was indebted for my first successes. I distrusted myself, and distrust introduced uncertainty into my decisions. My temper was altered, my character degraded. I held a command over myself ; but that which is not natural is never perfect.
' The continental system made the English determine on a war of life and death. The north was subdued, and kept down by my garrisons. The English had no longer any intercourse with that part of Europe, except through smuggling. But Portugal had been delivered into their hands ; and I know that Spain, under the colour of neutrality, favoured their trade.'
*******
He then goes on to state, that it was necessary to force Portugal and Spain into an agreement with his favourite system ; and justifies, on this ground, his invasion of those countries, and his particular treachery to the latter ; he, however, allows that his management of this part of his scheme was full of blunders ; the grossest of which was removing Ferdinand, and thus exciting sympathy for his fate, instead of waiting till the Spanish people had a thorough knowledge of the real character of that Prince : he proceeds as follows : —
1 1 went to Spain to accelerate events, and to make myself acquainted with the ground on which I had left my brother. I had occupied Madrid, and destroyed the English army which was ad- vancing to succour it. My success was rapid ; terror was at its height ; resistance was about to terminate : not a moment was to be lost — and none was lost. The English Ministers armed Austria. They were always as active in finding me enemies as I was in beating them.
'The Austrian project was for this time conducted very ably. I was taken by surprise. Justice ought to be done to those who deserve it.
'My armies were scattered about at Naples, at Madrid, at Ham- burgh. I was myself in Spain. It was probable that the Austrians might obtain some advantages in the outset, which might lead to further successes. In an affair of this kind the first step is the most important. They might have been able to entice Prussia and Russia, to brush up the courage of the Spaniards, and to give popularity to the English Ministry.
' The policy of the Court of Vienna is of a tenacious sort, which events cannot derange. It was long before I could devise the cause of this. I perceived at last, though too late, that this State was so deeply rooted, merely because the mildness of the Government had allowed it to degenerate into an oligarchy, The State is under the direction of about a hundred nobles. They possess the territory, and govern the finances, politics, and war. Thus they are masters of everything, and leave nothing to the Court but the signing of papers.
'Opinion never changes with oligarchies, because their interests are
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always the same. Whatever they do, they do badly ; but then they are always in action, because they never die. They never obtain success, but they endure reverse admirably, because they endure it in fellowship.
'Pour times was Austria indebted for her safety to this form of Government. It decided the commencement of the war just declared against me.'
*******
He then gives a description of the battle known by the name of Essling, or Asperne, and acknowledges that he was worsted. After praising the Arch -duke Charles for the excellence of his military position, he goes on as follows : —
' As we could not stand still for ever, it was necessary to come to some conclusion. The army was in motion. The corps of Marshal Massena debouched first. He had commenced the firing when an accident broke the bridges over the Danube. It was impossible to repair them in time to give him any assistance. He was attacked by the whole army of the enemy. His corps defended itself with heroic bravery, because it had lost all hope. Their ammunition failed, and they were on the point of utter destruction, when the Austrians stopped their fire, thinking, no doubt, that sufficient for one day was the trouble thereof. They took up their former position at the decisive moment of the battle, and thus relieved me from a cruel agony.
'We had, nevertheless, experienced a reverse. I saw this by the state of public opinion. My defeat was made public : my retreat was announced : my ruin was prophesied. The Tyrolese revolted : Prussia and Westphalia were in arms, and strove to excite a general rising against me. The English attempted an expedition against Antwerp, which must have succeeded, but for their blundering. My situation grew worse every day.'
He then mentions the battle of Wagram, which was successful; and ascribes that success in a great measure to a bold manoeuvre of Macdonald. He gives the following reasons for having made peace with Austria : —
'The enemy, on the other hand, told the people that they were armed to deliver them from the evils of war, and to reduce the price of English merchandise.
' These insinuations made proselytes. The continuance of the war rendered the resolution unpopular. On that account I wished for peace ; but the consent of the English Ministry was to be obtained. Austria undertook to ask it. It was refused.
'This refusal disquieted me. It followed that England possessed resources with which I was unacquainted. I tried to discover them ; but in vain.'
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'Morning Chronicle,' March 25, 1817.
The recent Motion for Papers relating to our treatment of Bona- parte, has excited all the senseless clamour of the Ministerial Press, which has resorted to the usual argument of misrepresentation, notwithstanding Lord Holland's repeated declarations of his having no other motive than to justify our proceedings to foreign powers, who would otherwise receive the complaint with all its aggravations, but without any of the true circumstances attending it. It is absurd to suppose this extraordinary character should not be viewed with some degree of interest, when we look back to the grandeur of the elevation from which he has fallen. Not long since we have seen him with the destinies of Europe in his hands, fenced round, as Mr. Sheridan has eloquently described, by palisades formed with sceptres, and whose sentinels were Kings ! A single sentence from him not long since would have assembled Monarchs, and have set whole Kingdoms in arms — and now, so uncertain are all human acquirements, and revolting as it may appear to the pride of our nature, we find him soliciting a few personal comforts for himself and his humble suite. During the whole of Bonaparte's career, no one act of his pre-eminent genius astonished us equally with his return from Elba, which appears like romance and a tale of fiction, rather than an historical truth, for with few more than a boat's crew of followers did he undertake, and succeed in reconquering a powerful Empire. He relied upon the magical charm of his name, and all who have lately travelled on the Continent have had opportunities of knowing, that he depended on a tower of great strength. We shall be told we are admirers of Napoleon, but we despise the accusation, for it is impossible for any reflecting mind not to have been astonished at the extraordinary events of his life, however we may blend our wonder with our curses. And let it be remembered by these thoughtless accusers, that the Ex-Emperor, the object of all their affected scorn, that this single individual is necessarily under confinement to preserve the World at peace !
God forbid, that we should become the admirers of any man, who would voluntarily protract the horrors of war a single moment. We look upon Napoleon only as one of the chief actors in the great Drama of History, as one of those warlike Sovereigns whose mad ambition has led them on from conquest to conquest, regardless of the miseries they have inflicted upon their fellow creatures. The history of Charles V. presents us with a similar series of battles, when he too aspired after universal Empire, and presents us also with many disgusting cruelties exercised by his Armies, particularly when the Pope was taken as his prisoner, and Rome delivered up to pillage. We afterwards find him, tired with the cares of Sovereignty, and retired to the humble monastery of St. Justus, where he appeared to view the busy scene he had abandoned, with all the contempt and indifference arising from a thorough experience of its vanity. Such providential instances of the infirmities of our nature cannot but be interesting to the reflecting mind, and they convey a useful lesson alike to the powerful, and to the oppressed.
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We recollect too well the many misfortunes which have befallen this country during the reign of Bonaparte, and we recollect also the blunders and profligacy of the Administration of Mr. Pitt, but for which, Bonaparte would have still remained in obscurity. Mr. Fox foresaw, that, to give a military direction to the French Revolu- tionists, would be to spread desolation throughout Europe, and to effect the ruin of this country. He implored his heedless rival to consider this, but Mr. Fox was overwhelmed with every species of calumny, and we are now left to comment upon the bitter experience of facts. Mr. Pitt unfortunately had never travelled, and would always persist in assimilating the peasantry of foreign countries with our own, not allowing them to be in a state of vassallage, unknown to us, passive as mere sheep, little caring who might be their shepherd. We have paid dearly for this, his mistake ; Mr. Pitt persevered in his war measiires, and Bonaparte seemed to be selected for Fortune's favourite champion in the storm which he had raised.
* Morning Chronicle,' April 24, 1817.
The Morning Post says, ' Bonaparte has of late had fourteen sentinels placed round his house, who are kept at a distance in the day-time, but draw up close towards night. The number has been increased since he attempted to make his escape in a lumber chest, which was defeated, and since which he has seldom appeared out of his own house. Our informant says, that three soldiers of the 53rd Regiment, who were only enlisted for seven years, and whose term had expired, came home in the Adamant, every one of whom were on guard the night the intended escape was detected.'
• Morning Chronicle,' April 25, 1817.
The accounts of the treatment of Bonaparte in St. Helena, have excited, as might be expected, the keenest interest on the Continent, We mentioned in our Paper of Wednesday last, that the Pamphlet of Santani had been copied entire into the Official Paper of the Court of Vienna. We now extract from a Paper, which we believe to have a wider circulation than any other in Germany, some strictures on the speech of Lord Bathurst in the House of Lords, from which our readers may perceive how the conduct of our Government with regard to Bonaparte is viewed in Germany. We can assure them that
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this is far from being the only instance in which the Continental Press has expressed itself loudly against the manner in which Ministers have treated that extraordinary man.
' Should we ask an Englishman if he ever drank Cape Wine — if this has ever been accidentally the case, he would answer without fail, " It
is d d poor stuff." If we should ask him again respecting Teneriffe,
he would answer, "It is very sour stuff." Lord Bathurst, in order not to raise the price of Madeira wine — which however is not very dear on the spot, which is drunk daily in very great quantities by the lowest clerks and servants of the East India Company, as it is the most suitable to a warm climate — Lord Bathurst, the friend of humanity, the magnanimous Briton, the Son of a Lord Chancellor, allows for 43 people who have voluntarily followed their Master into his wretched situation — he gives to these men, who truly are not frequently found ; in a word he gives to the servants of Bonaparte, who probably could all live without following Bonaparte, and were accustomed to better things, nothing but the most wretched beverage, nothing but white and yellow strap. The Noble Lord allows to them not a drop of porter, a necessary of life in that climate for every person in want of refreshment. He adds, that he does not even allow middling wine, but merely bad wine, and of the Lords in the Upper House, not one says a word on the subject. What in all the world could it signify to the finances of England, that the few faithful servants, who voluntarily accompanied Bonaparte in his adversity, got daily a couple of glasses of French wine, a drink of strong beer, and a glass of stomachic wine to assist their digestion ? What are we to say, when we see that in England, and among the present Admini- stration, there are to be found men who have not courage enough to destroy their fallen enemy, as the world would speak of it, but who nevertheless have the disposition to torment him, by tormenting the men who are dear to him on account of their fidelity, and tormenting them merely because they are constant in their fidelity. So much as to the servants of Bonaparte, and the affected magnanimity of the British Gaoler towards them. A couple of words merely as to Bonaparte himself and his table. Lord Bathurst confesses that he interdicted the reading of Journals and Magazines to General Bona- parte, because he thought he perceived that his friends corresponded with him by means of such prints. We have heard indeed of secret means by which a correspondence could be kept up by reference to pages and lines in books ; but that by means of Magazines and Journals publicly printed and read by all the world, any secret information could be communicated which the Noble Lord himself could not find out, we certainly never before heard ; and people will from hence- forward begin to entertain a much higher respect for Journals, when they learn that they not merely serve to expose folly and crime, to make fools more cautious, and knaves more apprehensive, but that every letter of them may have a secret prophetic meaning.
' The cruelty besides, which there is in depriving the many men who have accompanied Bonaparte to the desert of St. Helena of the last means of conversing with the world they left behind them, by means of the dead letter, we leave to those to determine, who in distant lands, after a long interruption, obtain a sight of the Journals of their native country. The fourteen flasks of Champagne of which
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Lord Bathurst speaks, are not in the list of Captain Lewis ; and in the enumeration of Lord Bathurst there is no date, while there is one in that of the former. One of the Opposition Papers goes even so far as to affirm, that Lord Bathurst's list is but a couple of days old, and consequently is merely imaginary ; that it was to leave Plymouth on board the Conqueror, with the first fair wind, as a new regulation for St. Helena. But even allowing it to be genuine, is one bottle of Champagne enough for the eleven persons who daily sit at Bonaparte's table ? A half flask of Constantia daily for eleven persons for breakfast and desert ? Would this have been believed if it had not been said by a British Lord in Parliament ? God preserve us from British Ministerial Liberality ! A Journalist (The Times) en- deavours to sweeten the pill by saying — "we really believe, that if Bonaparte or his friends continue their complaining, he must be delivered over to the Spaniards, the Hamburgers, or any other people who have suffered the most from his bloodthirsty ambition." — This Journalist seems to measure the way of thinking of others, and more especially of the Germans, after his own revengeful narrow minded- ness. Whoever can allow himself to torment his fallen enemy, even supposing him as in this case the most unrelenting Tyrant, for years, purposely and methodically, proves, that he is no better than the other, and that if he had possessed the same means he would have equally abused them. The German is no executioner — he does not take a delight in slowly torturing his enemy. His indignation is roused, he raises his arm, lays his adversary prostrate, and even sacrifices him to his momentary rage. But he does not hold out his hand to him, does not affect magnanimity towards him, in order to torment him for years till his latter end, and to feast on his sufferings.'
'Morning Chronicle,' May 2, 1817.
The fact of Bonaparte being employed in writing 'Memoirs of his own Life and Times,'' is positively asserted by M. Santini, who says, that when he left St. Helena, ' it was finished down to the end of the Egyptian Expedition.'
We find by the Monthly Magazine, that Sir Richard Phillips, who has ascertained the above facts, instantly became desirous of having the publication of the work, and that between him and the Colonial Department the following correspondence has taken place upon the subject : —
LETTER PROM SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS TO EARL BATHURST, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIAL DEPART- MENT, ETC., ETC.
MY LORD, — I have been credibly informed, that the late Emperor Napoleon has been for some time past engaged in writing annals of his eventful life ; and it has appeared to me to be a suitable speculation in
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which, as a publisher, to engage as an affair of business. It is how- ever necessary that I should be able to communicate with the author on the subject, and I therefore take the liberty to inquire whether, if I addressed a letter under cover to your Lordship's care, it will be for- warded to him at St. Helena.
Having read in the newspapers your Lordship's late speech in the House of Lords, I am of course duly sensible of the delicacy of making this request, and aware that I ought to seek nothing of your Lordship on this subject, which is inconsistent with the line of policy adopted by the British Government. My letter, therefore, my Lord, would be open, and would be strictly limited to a proposal in regard to the printing and publishing of the work in question, with fidelity and promptitude. I should also request that all communication with me should be made in the usual forms through your Lordship.
I conceive, my Lord, that you will feel that such a work, in its close connexion with the eventful history of the times, is an object of con- siderable literary interest, and that its publication cannot fail to excite a lively curiosity, as well in this age as in posterity. As materials of history, it could be inferior to no ancient or modern production, and in that view it lays claim to my notice, and will, I hope, entitle this application to the respect of your Lordship.
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your most obedient humble servant, March 29, 1817. R. PHILLIPS.
REPLY OF HENRY GOULBURN, ESQ., UNDER SECRETARY
OF STATE, ETC.
Downing Street, April 2, 1817. SIR, — I am directed by Lord Bathurst to acknowledge the receipt this day of your letter of the 29th ultimo, requesting permission to address a letter either to General Bonaparte or to General Bertrand, on the subject of publishing a work, in which you have been informed that the former is engaged ; and to acquaint you that, before giving any reply to your letter, Lord Bathurst is desirous of being informed whether you have received any communication, either from General Bonaparte, or from any person authorized by him to treat with you, on the subject of such a publication.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
HENRY GOULBURN Sir Richard Phillips, Knt.
SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS TO HENRY GOULBURN, ESQ., UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE, ETC.
SIR, — If you will do me the honour to reconsider my letter to Earl Bathurst, you will perceive that I act merely on the information that the literary and historical work in question is in course of preparation ; and that, as a man of business, I am anxious, on my own motion, to open a negotiation for the publication of it.
Under other circumstances, I should have felt no hesitation in addressing the author, or his representative, directly on the subject :
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but the actual situation of this author renders it necessary that my communication be made through Earl Bathurst ; and it was the object of my letter to learn, whether an overture, in that form and manner, would be allowed to be made.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, April 4, 1817. R. PHILLIPS.
HENRY GOULBURN, ESQ., ETC., TO SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS.
Colonial Office, April 11, 1817. SIR, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, referring to a former letter, and stating your desire to open a negotiation for the publication of a literary and historical work,, which you have understood to be in preparation by General Bonaparte, or by one of his suite ; and having laid the same before Earl Bathurst, I have received directions to acquaint you that, under the circum- stances stated, his Lordship must decline being the medium of for- warding an application to this effect, or of authorizing such a communication being transmitted to General Bonaparte, or to any of his followers.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
HENRY GOULBURN. To Sir R. Phillips, Knt.
'Times,' August 28, 1817.
The Ccesar, which in consequence of the loss of the Alceste frigate, recently brought home Lord Amherst and his suite from Batavia, is the bearer of the latest intelligence from St. Helena relative to the health and manner of living of the ex-Emperor of France. The Ccesar having occasion to touch at St. Helena, Lord Amherst expressed a desire to be introduced to Buonaparte, and in spite of some obstacles which presented themselves, his lordship, with Captain Maxwell and Mr. Lynn, surgeon of the Alceste, was allowed to wait upon him. On the 3rd July Lord Amherst was ushered into Buonaparte's presence at Longwood, whilst Captain Maxwell and the Surgeon waited in an ante chamber. It was not long before those officers were desired to join. There was nothing in the appearance of Buonaparte which in the least indicated ill-health : on the contrary, he looked well, and less bloated than ordinary. In his conversation with the party, his questions were put with his usual rapidity ; indeed, they followed each other in such quick succession, that answers could only be given to those which appeared most marked and important. With his general curiosity, Buonaparte inquired of the officers what stations they filled on board the ship, and on learning Mr. Lynn was the surgeon, he inquired what system of pharmacy he pursued. ' That depends upon circumstances,* replied the surgeon. 'I hope,' rejoined the General, 'it is any other than that practised on this island, for here we have the same thing:
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over and over again — bleeding and calomel for ever.' The conversation taking a turn on the mission of Lord Amherst to China, his Lordship related the cause of its failure ; which he ascribed to the necessity imposed upon him by the Emperor, of smiting the ground nineteen times with his forehead ; an indignity which his Lordship intimated could not be submitted to. Here Buonaparte's answer showed the man, — 'Indeed ! Now had it suited my policy to send an ambassador to the Emperor of China, I should have instructed him to kiss his great toe ; and if that would not do, he might, if required, have saluted a more offensive part, provided my object could be attained.'
In the course of conversation, Buonaparte said he knew of no law which gave the Powers of Europe the right of detaining him a prisoner at St. Helena or elsewhere ; and strongly urged the propriety of his present situation being taken into consideration by the crowned heads of Europe. Notwithstanding his disappointments, he still affects great reliance on the justice of the Prince Regent of England, when un- connected with national policy, and the influence of Ministers ; and, with this impression on his mind, he expressed an anxious wish that Lord Amherst would be the bearer of a letter from him to his Royal Highness, which had been prepared some time, with the intention of forwarding it to England. We have reason to believe we are correct in stating, that his Lordship undertook to deliver the letter in question. It is said to be couched in the most respectful terms ; but discovers a soreness throughout on account of the unnecessary restraints he alleges that he is made to undergo. The Officers of the late Alceste found that he can have the range of the whole island in his exercise of riding, driving, or walking, provided he will allow a British Officer to attend him ; but to this he objects. As it is, he may extend his walks about 12 miles, but then he is liable to meet in his perambulations British sentinels at various points, who never fail to present arms to him. Madame Bertrand was seen by the British officers, and the impression made upon them was, that she was a very handsome and clever woman.
'Morning Chronicle,' September 5, 1817.
Extract of a letter from St. Helena, dated in June last : —
' Madame Bertrand continues the same gay creature as ever. She was brought to bed a few days ago. Bonaparte paid her a lying-in visit. She took her child in her arms, and presented it to the ex-Emperor, saying, " Sire.'I have the pleasure of shewing you a great curiosity — in a word, an unique, the first stranger that ever was allowed to approach your Majesty in this island, without permission from the Governor, or an order from the Secretary of State." — Bonaparte was quite pleased at the bon mot, and laughed heartily.'
It would appear that the recollection of the landing of Bona- parte in 1815, and the great political agitations of the last three
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years, had rendered the people in the south of France alive to every idle rumour, and disposed to rely on every absurd conjecture connected with revolution or invasion. An instance of this liability to fear, and this species of stupid credulity, occurred lately in the neighbour- hood of Marseilles. Prince Hohenloe, a Lieutenant -General in the service of France, having inspected the garrison of Montpellier, was proceeding to Marseilles, and on purpose that he might arrive more quickly at his destination, embarked at Cette ; but meeting with contrary winds, was obliged to disembark at the mouth of the Rhone, and thence continue his journey by land. His unexpected appearance on a part of the coast little frequented by ships, and inhabited only by poor fishermen, gave rise to many conjectures, which the uniform of a foreign legion in which he was attired, and the orders of the different Powers of Europe with which he was decorated, easily directed to political objects. Rumour was busy with her hundred tongues, and propagated a thousand alarms. The disembarkation of an unattended General was transformed into a dangerous invasion of an enemy or a usurper. The public tranquillity was considered as menaced ; the civil and military authorities hastened to their posts, and instituted measures of precaution ; and so general was alarm, that the journal of Marseilles, which mentions the delusion, thought it necessary to detail the circumstances, in order to recompose the public mind.
'Morning Chronicle,' October 7, 1817. (from mr. ellis's journal of the embassy to china.)
We have heard so much at the Cape of the vicissitudes of temper to which Bonaparte was subject, that we were by no means confident of being admitted to his presence ; fortunately for us, the ex-Emperor was in good humour, and the interview took place on this day.
Lord Amherst was first introduced to Bonaparte by General Bertrand, and remained alone with him for more than an hour. I was next called in, and presented by Lord Amherst. Bonaparte having continued in discourse about half an hour, Captain Maxwell and the gentlemen of the embassy were afterwards introduced and presented. He put questions to each, having some relation to their respective situation ; and we all united in remarking that his manners were simple and affable, without wanting dignity. I was most struck with the unsubdued ease of his behaviour and appearance ; he could not have been freer from embarrassment and depression in the zenith of his power at the Tuilleries.
Bonaparte rather declaimed than conversed, and during the half hour Lord Amherst and I were with him, seemed only anxious to impress his sentiments upon the recollection of his auditors, probably for the purpose of having them repeated. His style is highly epigram- matic, and he delivers his opinions with the oracular confidence of a
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man accustomed to produce conviction : his mode of discussing great political questions would in another appear chavlatanei^ie, but in him is only the development of the empirical system, which he universally adopted. Notwithstanding the attention which he might be supposed to have given to the nature of our Government, he has certainly a very imperfect knowledge of the subject ; all his observations on the policy of England, as relating to the past, or looking to the future, were adapted to a despotism ; and he is either unable or unwilling to take into consideration the difference produced by the will of the monarch being >ul 'ordinate, not only to the interests, but to the opinion of his people.
He used metaphors and illustration with great freedom, borrowing the latter chiefly from medicine: his elocution was rapid, but clear and forcible; and both his manner and language surpassed my expectations. The character of his countenance is rather intellectual than command- ing, and the chief peculiarity is in the mouth, the upper lip apparently changing in expression with the variety and succession of his ideas. In person Bonaparte is so far from being extremely corpulent, as has been represented, that I believe he was never more capable of under- going the fatigues of a campaign than at present. I should describe him as short and muscular, not more inclined to corpulency than men often are at his age.
Bonaparte's complaints respecting his shmation at St. Helena would not. I think, have excited much attention if they had not become a subject of discussion in the House of Lords ; for as he denied our right i<» consider him a prisoner of war, in opposition to the most obvious principles of reason and law, it was not to be expected that any treat- ment he might receive consequent to his being so considered, would be acceptable. On the other hand, admitting him to be a prisoner, it is difficult to imagine upon what grounds he can complain of the limited restraint under which he is placed at St. Helena.
His complaints respecting a scanty supply of provisions and wine (for I consider Montholon as the organ of Bonaparte) are too absurd to deserve consideration, and it is impossible not to regret, that anger, real or pretended, should have induced so great a man to countenance such petty misrepresentations. I must confess that the positive state- ment- which had been made respecting the badness of the accommo- dations a1 Longwood had produced a partial belief in my mind ; even this, however, was removed by actual observation. Longwood House, considered as a residence for a sovereign, is certainly small, and perhaps inadequate : but viewed as the habitation of a person of rank, disposed to live without show, is both convenient and respectable. Better situations may be found in the island, and Plantation House is in every respecl b superior residence ; but that is intended for the reception of numerous guests, and for the degree of exterior splendour belonging to the office of Governor.
The two remaining circumstances of Bonaparte's situation deserving attention are the restraints which may affect his personal liberty, and those which relate to his intercourse with others. With respect to the first. Bonaparte assumes as a principle that his escape, while watched by the forts and men of war, is impossible; and that, therefore, his liberty within the precincts of the island, ought to be unfettered. The truth of this principle is obviously questionable, and the consequence is
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overthrown by the fact of his being a prisoner, whose detention is of importance sufficient to justify the most rigorous precautions ; his own conclusion is nevertheless admitted to the extent of allowing him to go to any part of the island, provided he be accompanied by a British Officer ; for all justifiable purposes this permission is sufficient ; nor is it intended to be nullified in practice by undue interference on the part of the officer in attendance. For purposes of health or amuse- ment he has a range of four miles, unaccompanied and without being overlooked ; another of eight miles, where he is partially in view of the sentries ; and a still wider circuit of twelve miles, throughout which he is under their observation. In both these latter spaces he is also free from the attendance of an officer. At night, indeed, the sentries close round the house. I can scarcely imagine that greater personal liberty, consistent with any pretention to security, could be granted to an individual, supposed under any restraint at all.
His intercourse with others is certainly under immediate surveil- lance, no person being allowed to enter the inclosure at Longwood without a pass from the Governor ; but these passes are readily granted, and neither the curiosity of individuals, nor the personal gratification which Bonaparte may be expected to derive from their visits, are checked by pretended difficulties or arbitrary regulations. His correspondence is also under restraint, and he is not allowed to send or receive letters but through the medium of the governor ; this regulation is no doubt disagreeable, and may be distressing to his feelings ; but it is a necessary consequence of being what he now is, and what he has been.
Two motives may, I think, be assigned for Bonaparte's unreason- able complaints : the first, and principal, is to keep alive public interest in Europe, but chiefly in England, where he flatters himself that he has a party ; and the second, I think, may be traced to the personal character and habits of Bonaparte, who finds an occupation in the petty intrigues by which these complaints are brought forward, and an unworthy gratification in the tracasseries and annoyance which they produce on the spot.
If this conjecture be founded, time alone, and a conviction of their inutility, will induce Bonaparte to desist from his complaints, and to consider his situation in its true light ; as a confinement with fewer restrictions upon his personal liberty, than justifiable caution, un- influenced by liberality, would have established.
'Times,' Oct. 21st, 1817.
So long as Buonaparte lives, he will occasionally supply amuse- ment to idle people, by anecdotes published respecting him, entitled to more or less credit ; and, after his death, it is conceived that he will not fail to excite a fresh and more lively interest by a work of his own, in which he is now said to be engaged. It is rather singular that the
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sanctity of the latter should have heen violated by some man profess- ing himself to be a friend of the ex- Imperial author. There was a time when few people would have ventured to take a work out of Buona- parte's own hands on the pretence of serving him ; but, when a great man is once degraded, friends as well as foes alter their conduct towards him. The latter insult, the former take liberties with him.
The work of Mr. Warden, the surgeon on board the Northum,be),- land respecting Buonaparte, excited, it will be recollected, peculiar interest at the time of its publication. The ardent adherents of established Governments thought it too favourable to the overthrower of thrones, after his own was overthrown. But it seems that the friends of every tyranny but legitimate, that is to say, the Jacobins, conceived their champion but scurvily used by the Surgeon ; and to repair the wrong done him, a series of letters, equal in number to those of Mr. Warden, are just published, entitled 'Letters from the Cape of Good Hope, in reply to Mr. Warden ; with Extracts from the great Work now compiling for publication under the inspection of Napoleon.' The latter part of the title-page certainly contains expressions of mighty promise : but, unluckily, they immediately excite an inquiry who it is that has had a dip in Napoleon's portfolio ; and to this no answer can be returned. The world was competent to judge of Mr. Warden's pretensions, his means of observation, and his consequent claim to credit ; for he put his name to his letters. Those now published are anonymous ; and what right a man can have to be believed when he tells us that he has had access to this or that fountain of original information, but does not tell us who he is, is too obvious to need explanation. The extracts, therefore, given in these letters as proceeding from the ' great work ' supposed to be writing by Buonaparte, are all 'a fudge,' as Dr. Goldsmith calls it in the ' Vicar of Wakefield ;' the only book in which the extracts will appear being that before us, which is a little one. The author has, however, picked up a few anecdotes about Buonaparte, probably among some of the inferior attendants on his person ; and epeaks and reasons on his actions, without any display of access to secret history, but in a manner in which those would speak who are acquainted with the incidents of his life, and happen, by a perversion of intellect, or through depravity of heart, to admire his character. But why are the letters said to be written in reply to Mi-. Warden ? They do not go to the direct contradiction of his statement : on the contrary, the great body of it is confirmed, and rendered more credible, so far as a known writer can be corroborated by an anonymous one. After this general character of the work, we proceed to give some extracts from it not devoid of interest.
The beginning of the third letter is occupied in the account and justification of Buonaparte's return from Elba. The latter part goes back to the Egyptian expedition, and the King of Spain.
■ Cape of Good Hope, May 1, 1817. 'My dear Lady C., — In reviewing Mr. Warden's third letter, a more difficult task presents itself, and more important subjects are to be •discussed. It is asserted in it, that the Duke of Bassano was at the head of the conspiracy to bring back Napoleon into France ; that numbers of individuals were despatched from France to Elba ; and
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that Napoleon was induced to think that the English were determined to send him to St. Helena, &c. These accounts are entirely contrary to what I have read in any of the Lcmgrvood manuscripts ; to what I have been told in different conversations with Marshal Bertrand, and learned, even from the mouth of Napoleon himself, who has been frequently heard to declare, ' ' that in his return from Elba he had no other co-operator than the Count oVArtois, his tivo sons, and his daughter-in-law ; that it was their measures, and those which they inspired, to the Government of the Tuileries, which convinced him that they were insulated in the midst of the nation, and had only in their favour the emigrant party and the counter revolutionists."
' In this same manuscript it is stated, that Napoleon was determined to go and replace himself upon the Imperial throne, from his own private impulse, and guided by the sole aspect of the acts of the Royal Government ; that, in departing from Fontainbleau, in 1814, he said, "If the Bourbons govern as the chiefs of the fifth dynasty they will succeed ; if, on the contrary, they endeavour to continue the third, they will not remain long :" that before departing from Elba, several of his suite were desirous that he should inform himself of Massena's sentiments, who commanded upon the coast where the disembarkation was to be effected, and also how the General who commanded at Grenoble was affected towards him : that he, however, instantly rejected both propositions, saying, " If I have preserved the hearts of the people and the army, they will soon bend to their sovereign will the inclinations of all particular persons ; if I have lost them, I have nothing to hope from the influence of a few individuals. It is by means of the imagination and the opinions of great bodies that I have always acted." His subsequent success, and the acclamations with which he was received by the people and the army, have surprised all the world. It is said that Marshal Soult (who, according to the above- mentioned manuscript, really served the King faithfully) thought, when he first heard of the landing, that a few gens-d'armes would be sufficient to defeat the attempt ; or that Buonaparte would proceed to Italy ; but that he afterwards confessed the events which had taken place had been to him a revelation of the secret feelings of the nation and the army, of which he had not entertained the slightest idea before. Cambaceres, Savary, Fouche\ Carnot, and several others, frequently expressed a similar opinion : they never doubted that Napoleon had a great many partisans : but they had not believed it possible that he could have arrived at Paris, in the manner he did, without firing a musket.
Here we must observe, that the author most ingeniously refutes his own reasonings ; for if, as he acknowledges, such men as Soult, Savary, Fouche\ and Carnot, believed Bonaparte only to have possessed partisans in Fiance, he must be a bold man indeed, that in the face of such evidence can assert, that he was seated in the affections of the whole people. But to proceed.
' With respect to the treaty of Fontainbleau, Napoleon asserts that the Allies did not adhere to it in any point (as you have seen so ably shown by Earl Grey, in his speech in the House of Lords), and that justice was entirely on his side. He affirms that there were no less than ten material violations of the treaty on the part of the Allies, which being curious to learn, I subsequently obtained and entered in
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my journal, in the words of the person I heard them from. 1st. Pass- ports were to have heen given to all Napoleon's family, in order to admit them to follow him ; but, notwithstanding this, his wife and son were seized and sent to Vienna. 2dly. He was to have been considered and treated as Emperor, and his wife as Empress ; but the French Court would never acknowledge this condition ; on the contrary, Louis seated upon the throne at Paris, and his pretended legitimate party, had considered the imperial government as an usurped one, had dated his acts in the 19th year of his reign, and acted as if Napoleon had never governed either as First Consul or Emperor. Hdly. Prince Eugene was to have had a sovereignty in Italy : this formed an article in the treaty of Fontainbleau ; but the Congress, by its own authority, excluded him from that, instigated, no doubt, by the legitimate party. 4thly. The Empress Marie Louise, and her son, were to have the Duchies of Parma, Plaeentia, and Guastalla : both were deprived of them by the Congress at Vienna, upon the same principle of legitimacy. 5thly. The army was to have preserved all the endowments assigned it upon the funds of the establishment at the Mount Napoleon, which were, however, all suppressed. 6thly. The island of Elba required troops to defend it, and produced nothing. The French Court was to pay Napoleon two millions for his own support, and that of the island. This article was violated; and several English travellers declared at Elba, that when present at different dinners, and amongst others at the Duke de Fleury's, they had heard it declared, that it never liad been intended to be paid, and never would be; the papers asserted positively the same. and in fcuzt payment never was made. 7thly. Napoleon's brothers and his mother had certain revenues assigned to them, which were nevei' paid. 8thly. A rent charge of 100,000 francs had been made upon the great book of France, to be paid to such persons as Napoleon thought proper. Assignments were accordingly made, which were refused to be entered upon the great book. 9thly. Napoleons private property was to be preserved to him, and particularly the funds which had arisen from the savings made by him in the civil list. Now all the funds arising from such savings, which amounted to a considerable sum, and had been placed in the hands of the treasurer Labouelliere, were seised upon, contrary to the spirit of the treaty, and all the requisitions made by Napoleon in his own private right were dis- regarded. lOthly. The private properties of Napoleon's family were to be respected : in violation of this condition, however, they were sequestrated by the King. "Here, then," said Las Casas, '-are ten manifest violations of the treaty made by the Allies, for which no justification can be offered ; but," continued he, "where is the light of nations, or where is the treaty which has not been violated by the Congress of Vienna ? the controlling powers of which were not actuated, either by the interests or the happiness of Europe, but solely by their own ambition !"'
Tin' Egyptian expedition follows:
' I heard Napoleon converse several times on board the Northumber- land, with the captain of marines, about the siege of Acre, at which that officer was present. He appeared to discourse <>f it with that pleasure which is commonlv experienced in relating past events,
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particularly those in which more or less danger had been encountered', I heard him relate a striking instance of devotion manifested towards- himself, by two of his guards, during that memorable siege. Being at the trenches, Napoleon sunk into a hole made by a shell, which fell between his legs : two of his guards, named, I think, Dumesnil and Charbonet, ran up, grasped him, one before and the other behind, and remained in that position until the shell exploded, of which several fragments fell at his feet, without, however, hurting either himself or the brave fellows who had behaved so heroically. The failure of the attack is principally attributed to the capture of four xebecs laden with twelve 24 pounders, some mortars and ammunition, by the English squadron, at the moment they had entered the port of Caifa under Mount Carmel.
'Several errors have crept into this letter of Mr. Warden. It is there stated that Napoleon had professed Mahometanism in Egypt through policy ; this he denies ever to have done, and says that Menou was the only French officer of any distinction that ever embraced that religion. I have read in the Campaigns of Egypt, two very interesting chapters, one relative to the. Christian religion and Mahometanism, full of novel ideas ; and the other relative to the " Fetham" issued by the great Cheicks of Semil-Azar, concerning the oath of obedience, and in which are detailed the means by which he obtained this Fetham from the ministers of the grand mosque at Cairo ; from both of which it appears that Napoleon maintains as a principle, that in all matters above human comprehension every one ought to continue in the religion of his forefathers, and in the bosom of which he was born. The following extracts were made from it relative to the deliberation of the 60 doctors of the mosque at Cairo and Semil-Azar.
' "The Koran ordains, either to exterminate infidels, or to make them submit to tribute ; it does not admit of either obedience or sub- mission to an infidel Power, which is contrary to the spirit of our holy religion: ' Render unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's,' saith Jesus- Christ ; and elsewhere, ' My kingdom is not of this tvorld : obey the powers.' In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries the Christians ruled in Syria, but religion was the cause of constant wars. It was a war of extermination. To it Europe sent thousands of men, who there perished. If such a spirit had animated the Egyptians, it would not have been possible for 25,000 or 30,000 Frenchmen, who, moreover, were not animated by any fanaticism, but, on the contrary, greatly disgusted with the country, to have maintained a similar contest. Although masters of Cairo and Alexandria, and victorious over the Mamelukes at the Pyramids, still the question of the conquest was not decided without first conciliating the Imams, the Muphtis, the Ulmas, and all the ministers of the Mahometan religion. The French army, from the time of the revolution, did not profess or practise any religion : even in Italy, the army never went to church. Advantage was taken of this circumstance. The French army was represented to the Mussulmen as an army of Catechumens, disposed to embrace the Mahometan religion. The Christian sects, Cophts, Greeks, Syrians, Latins, who were very numerous, wanted to profit by the presence of the French in order to relieve themselves from the different restric- tions which had been imposed upon their worship : Napoleon, however, opposed this, and took care to maintain religious matters upon the
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then existing footing. Every day at sunrise the 60 Cheicks of the great mosque of Semil-Azar (a kind of Sorbonne) presented themselves at his levee. He there caused sherbet and coffee to be served to them, and loaded them with marks of esteem and consideration. He fre- quently conversed at length with them, respecting the different cir- cumstances of the life of their prophet, and of chapters of the Koran. After his return from the battle at Salleis, he proposed to them to issue a Fetham, which should be read in all the mosques of Egypt, and in which the great Cheicks should order all the people to take an oath of obedience to him (Napoleon), whom they called Sultan Kiber. At the proposal they turned pale, and were greatly embarrassed : after some hesitation, the Cheick Sap Kao, a respectable old man, said to Napoleon, ' Why do you not become a Mussulman, and make all your army do the same ? Then 100,000 men would rush to your standards ; and, disciplined in your manner, you could soon re-establish the Arabian kingdom, and subdue the East.' To this Napoleon objected circumcision, to which he could not submit his army ; and, afterwards, the prohibition contained in the Koran, to drink wine, alleging that, being people from the north, such beverage was indispensably necessary to the French soldiers. After several discussions upon the subject, it was decided that the great Cheicks of Semil-Azar should unite together, and endeavour to find means to do away with the two above-mentioned obstacles. The disputes upon the question ran high, and lasted for three weeks ; but the rumour which prevailed through all Egypt that the great Cheicks were employed in concerting together measures, in order to render the army Mussulmen, filled the minds of the inhabit- ants with joy, and the French soon experienced a great melioration in the public spirit, and were no longer considered as infidels. When the Ulmas had agreed in opinion, four Muphtis brought the Fetham, in which it was declared that circumcision being only a perfection, was not indispensably necessary in order to be a Mussulman ; that likewise Mussulmen might drink wine, and still be Mussulmen; but that, in this last case, there was no hope of paradise in the next world. One half of the great difficulty was thus removed ; but it was not easy to persuade the Muphtis that the latter part of their decision was un- reasonable : to accomplish this, was the object of the discussions for six weeks more ; finally, however, they issued a Fetham, declaring that it was possible to be a Mussulman and drink wine, provided that, for every bottle of wine so drunk, some good action was performed. It was then agreed, that some time was requisite to prepare everything necessary for this great event ; accordingly, the plan of a mosque, larger than that of Semil-Azar, was sketched out, which Napoleon declared should be built, in order to serve as a monument to com- memorate the epoch of the conversion of the French army. This succeeded so well in gaining their opinions, that the Fetham of obedience was given by the Cheicks — the Sultan Kiber declared to be the Friend of the Prophet, and specially protected by him- — and a report was universally circulated that, before the expiration of a year, all the army would assume the turban." This, it is stated, was the line of march which Napoleon invariably pursued, viz., reconciling the desire which he had to continue ill the same religion *n which he was born, with the necessities of his policy and his ambition. During the stay of the French armv in Egypt, (Jen, Bfenou alone became a
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Mussulman, which was said to have been useful, and to have produced a good effect upon the minds of the inhabitants : when the French army quitted Egypt, however, 500 or 600 remained behind, who embraced Mahometanism, and enrolled themselves amongst the Mamelukes.'
[To be continued.']
'Morning Chronicle,' October 22, 1817. answer to mr. warden.
The ' Letters from the Cape of Good Hope in reply to Mr. Warden, with Extracts from the Great Work now compiling for Publication under the inspection of Napoleon,' which we have before more than once alluded to, were published yesterday by Ridgway. The work is dated in the month of April last, and bears internal evidence of having proceeded from some person who has had opportunities of frequent access to Bonaparte, or the persons in his confidence. The first letter thus speaks of Mr. Warden's book : —
'I was well acquainted with Mr. Warden, both on board of the Northumberland and at St. Helena, and esteemed him a man of talent ; he was particularly noticed for the ardent curiosity which he displayed for everything concerning Napoleon ; but, not understanding either French or Italian, the only modern languages spoken by the great man in question, he consequently had no other opportunity of learning what he relates, than either by means of the interpretation of Count de Las Casas, who, having lived some years in England, under- stands our language, although he speaks it very incorrectly, and with considerable hesitation ; or of General Bertrand, who possesses the facility of speaking it in a lesser degree than even the other. Amongst all the French embarked, Madame Bertrand is the only one who speaks English with facility, and with an accurate pronun- ciation. This simple observation would of itself be sufficient to enable you to form a correct judgment as to the exactness of Mr. Warden's
relations.' The author, who signs himself C , gives the following
account of his means of information : —
' During the passage in the Northumberland, I have had the honour once or twice a week of holding a conversation of some minutes' duration with Napoleon ; and a day never elapsed without my having had breakfast with the Officers of his suite. At St. Helena I frequently breakfasted with Madame Bertrand, and twice I had an interview, of more than a quarter of an hour each time, with Napoleon himself. I was also particularly intimate with Count de Las Casas, whom I have often seen at Briars, and in his own apartment at Longwood.'
The eight letters of which the work is composed follow the state- ments in Mr. Warden's letters in detail — in some instances denying his assertions, in others substituting counter-statements. The extracts which are given from the Historical Memoirs of Napoleon, have nothing
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of these epigrammatic turns which were remarked in the Manuscrit venu de St. Hglene. We shall give those extracts which relate to the transactions of Napoleon's life, which have given rise to the greatest number of speculations as to his motives. After an account of the various projects to assassinate Bonaparte during his Consulate, especially the explosion of the infernal machine, the author proceeds to say: —
' In the same manuscript the conspiracy of Moreau, Pichegru and Georges is related as follows : " Pichegru and Georges were disemharked from English ships from the coast of France, seconded
from the horders of Germany hy the intrigues of at Munich
and at Stutgard. It was proved that a Prince of the House
of Bourhon was to disemhark at the Palaise de Beville, as soon as intelligence should be received of the assassination of Napoleon. And as fears were entertained that the wind, always independent, and never subordinate to the vain calculations of man, should prove unfavourable, and prevent the intended disembarkation, it was decided, that the Due d'Enghien, then in Germany, should, immediately on being made acquainted with it, proceed to Paris as the representative of the King, for it was deemed that the presence of a Prince of the Blood was indispensable. The Due d'Enghien, a young Prince of the greatest bravery, lived four leagues from the frontiers of France. It was proved that he there carried on a correspondence with Stras- burg, where his agents had shown themselves, and that several times in the week, under pretence of hunting, he had conferences upon the banks of the Rhine with agents from the interior; that all the agents in the English pay had received orders to unite in the Brisgau, and the duchy of Baden : that this Prince had with him, at Offemhourg, a person named Afassey, an emigrant-agent, who served as the means of
his correspondence with and , and furnished the necessary
supplies of money for all the plots. Upon this. Napoleon judged that it was absolutely necessary to secure the person of the Due d'Enghien, and accordingly a regiment of Dragoons crossed the Rhine at Neuf- Brisach, at seven in the evening: invested the Prince's house in the night, made him a prisoner, and conducted him to Strashurg, from whence he was instantly taken to Paris, brought before a military commission according to the laws, condemned to death, and the sentence executed and posted up all over Paris. The tribunal was not composed arbitrarily, but formed according to law of all the Colonels in the garrison of Paris. The Prince avowed his having borne anus against the Republic, having solicited and obtained a new employment from England, and being privy to, and taking an active pari in, the events of the day." In the manuscript Napoleon is made to state "that if the Count d'Artois had been taken under similar circum- stances, he would have been tried and executed in a like manner: that the laws of Prance were positive against those who bore arms against their country; the Prince was besides on.- of the chiefs of the great conspiracy then plotting."
'Even those who wished to maintain thai he was not privy to the conspiracy, have agreed, that his death was to lie attributed to the
Count d'Artois (in fact, the latter was frequently reproached hy the unfortunate Prince's father, the Dukede Bourbon, as having been so); who, at, the moment while he was planning the overturning of 1 ho
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Republic, and the assassination of the First Magistrate of the Republic, left a Prince of his blood in the power of that very Magistrate. — "The affair of the Due d'Enghien," says Napoleon, " ought to be judged by the law of nature and policy." " By the law of nature," he maintains, " that he was not only authorised to cause him to be tried, but even to procure his being put to death. What," said he, "can be alleged in favour of the Princes of a house who were publicly convicted of being the contrivers of the infernal machine, and who had actually dis- gorged sixty brigands upon Paris, for the purpose of causing me to be assassinated ? Was not I, by the laws of nature, authorised to cause the Count d'Artois to be assassinated in London ? By the law of policy, the whole Republic tottered upon the brink of a precipice, and the Due d'Enghien was one of the chiefs who conspired its fall ; and besides, it was necessary to check the audacity of the Bourbons, who had sent to Paris sixty of their adherents, amongst whom were the Rivieres, the Polignacs, Bouvets and others ; people of no ordinary stamp, and not brigands or murderers accustomed to assassinations and robberies like the Chouans. The Republican Government could not, consistent with its dignity, do less, when the assassination of its Chief was publicly plotted, than cause its thunder to strike the family which dared to engage in such attempt." '
The following is a part of a narration of the taking of Jaffa, ex- tracted from the chapters of the Historical Memoirs of the Campaigns of Syria, which had been lent to the author by Count de Las Casas : an interesting detail is previously given of the siege of El Arish, and the march of the French Army over the desert : —
' Napoleon, however, secretly concluded an armistice with the Pacha, and, being thereby in security with respect to his right flank, marched against Jaffa on the 4th, which was invested and several batteries of twelve-pounders directed against it. It was fortified only by a single wall, but there was a garrison of six or seven hundred men, amongst whom was a corps of artillery from Constantinople, which had been instructed by French officers. When the batteries were ready to open, a flag of truce was sent to summon the place ; a quarter of an hour afterwards, the head of the unfortunate man who had borne it was seen stuck upon the end of a pike, and his mutilated carcase thrown over the walls. This was the signal to begin : in three hours a breach was made in one of the towers ; forty or fifty grenadiers and a dozen of sappers made a lodgment in it ; the column followed ; the place was taken by assault ; nothing could stop the fury of the soldiery ; almost every body they encountered was shot, and the place delivered up to pillage. During the night the disorder was terrible, and no sort of order could be established until day. As many as had been saved of the un- fortunate garrison were sent prisoners to Egypt, with the exception of about eight hundred men who were shot. They were the remainder of the twelve hundred of the garrison of El- Arish, who, after having marched three days in the direction of Bagdat,* had changed their
* The Capitulation of El- Arish :
' The Commandant of the fort of El-Arish, and the other three Commandants of the troops, to the General-in-Chief.
' We have received the capitulation which you have addressed to us. We consent to deliver into your hands the fort of El-Arish. We will return to Bagdat by the Desert. We send you the list of the Agas of the fort, who promise, upon oath, for themselves and their troops, not to serve Djezzar's army, and not to return to Syria for the space of one year, reckoning from this day. We will receive a pass and colours from you. We
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route, violated their capitulation, and thrown themselves into Jaffa. Prudence would not admit of their heing sent to Cairo. Accustomed to the Desert, they would have all escaped in their march, and they would have been found again in Acre. About four thousand Turks perished in Jaffa, and about three thousand were saved, namely, twelve hundred sent prisoners to Egypt : thirteen hundred soldiers and servants, natives of Egypt, who were set at liberty as fellow-country- men ; and five tmndred were sent to carry the news of the French victory to Damascus, Jerusalem, Aleppo, &c, &c.'
'The Times,' Oct. 22nd, 1817.
work respecting buonaparte, in reply to
mr. warden.
We have before stated, that the intimation thrown out in these letters, that they contain several extracts from Buonaparte's own work on himself, is a deception. We do not know whether the author even means it to be believed : perhaps it is simply a fable which he invents, for the sake of introducing his own opinions more adroitly, as what Buonaparte or his friends might say on such or such sub- jects ; but, if so, his meaning is not sufficiently obvious. If he really wishes to have it thought that he has had access to Buonaparte's private writings, he is neither more nor less than an infamous impostor. However, he certainly writes and reasons like one deeply attached to the detenu at St. Helena, his principles and party ; but a man might write in that manner, and quite as well as he, without ever having been at St. Helena, or in Buonaparte's presence at all. On the contrary, we all know that Mr. Warden, whom he attempts in some instances to correct, was an authentic witness of what he related.
We continue our extracts : —
' I will finish this letter with a few details relative to Ferdinand VII. of whom I have heard and read as follows: — Ferdinand was placed at Valencai in the Prince of Benevento's chateau, one of the most beautiful in France, situated in the midst of a vast forest. His brother and uncle were with him. No guard was placed over them ; they were at liberty to receive whomever they pleased, and all their officers and servants were with them. They frequently went out to the distance of three or four leagues, either to hunt, or in their carriages, without being spoken to or observed. Independent of 30007. sterling, paid
will leave in the OMttfl all the supplies which are found there. The whole of the Agas in the fort, solemnly swear hy our Lord, Moses. Abraham, by the l'rophet (to whom may God be propitious), and by the Koran, to execute faithfully all these articles, and above all, not to nerve Djezzar.— The Most High, and his l'rophet. are witnesses of our good, faith. (Signed) ' Ihkahim Nik an, ( onunandant of the fort of Kl-Arish.
' EL. H. Hadj v Moil a.mmki). Colonel of the Mogrebins.
• El. H. Hadj v Zadyk. Aga of the Arnauts.
'Mohammkd Aoa, Chief of the Commissaries.' 59
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annually by the French treasury to Talleyrand for rent, Ferdinand had 60,000J. sterling yearly allowed to him for his support. These were all stipulations made in a treaty which had been entered into and ratified.
' The prince wrote regularly every month to Napoleon, and received answers from him. On the loth of August (the Empress's fete), he illuminated Valencai, and distributed alms. He asked permission several times of Napoleon to visit Paris, and was put off from time to time. He also entreated earnestly of Napoleon to adopt him as his son, and to marry him to a French woman. During the whole of the time that he was at Valencai, there were no grounds whatever of complaint. He had in that house the use of a superb library, from which he acquired a good deal of instruction. He had his almoners and confessors ; frequently received visits from the neighbouring gentlemen and merchants from Paris ; the latter of whom were very assiduous in bringing him everything that was new. For a long time he had a theatre, to which he attached some comedians ; but latterly his confessors inspired him with some scruples, and he dismissed the troop. The King his father, and the Queen his mother, were a long time at Compiegne ; from thence they went to Marseilles, and after- wards to Rome, where they were lodged in Prince Borghese's palace. They had 120,000Z. sterling per annum allowed them. The Queen of Etruria, Ferdinand's sister, was one of those who took the warmest part in the Spanish revolution. Her correspondence with Murat, then commanding in Spain, is extremely curious, being full of invectives and inculpations of the most criminal nature against Ferdin nd. She was of her mother's party against her brother, and acted her part with great zeal. She remained a long time at Nice. She was extremely ugly, and with a very limited share of either talent or information, though possessed of some activity of mind. She afterward opened a correspondence with the English officer commanding in the Mediter- ranean. It is stated that Napoleon, on hearing that she intended quitting Fiance, caused it to be signified to her, that he would be extremely glad to learn that she was gone either to England or Sicily, or indeed to any other European country ; in fact, he considered her of no importance, and felt that her departure would save the 10 or 12,0007. yearly, which she cost the Government.
' It is asserted that Ferdinand invariably testified great aversion to the Cortes, and extreme repugnance to the English, notwithstanding their exertions in his favour ; and that he frequently declared he should prefer remaining at Valencai to reigning in Spain with the Cortes, and that he never concealed his intention to re-establish all matters as they stood before the revolution, especially the Inquisition. Napoleon says that the Spanish nation will deplore, for a length of time, that the constitution of Bayonne was not successful ; that, had it been so, they would have had no monks, no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, no archbishops enjoying millions of income ; no privileged nunneries, no provincial custom-houses ; no badly administered and uncultivated national domains ; they would have had a contented secular clergy, and nobles without feudal privileges and exemptions from taxes ; that they would have been a regenerated people ; that the change they would have experienced would have been more beneficial to them than the discovery of another Peru. "Instead of this," said he, "what
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have they got ? A set of grossly ignorant monks, superstitious and rich ! nobles grasping everything ! a people oppressed by the Inquisi- tion, and brutalized by ignorance and feudal tyranny! But if the Bayonne constitution had triumphed, an enlightened people, having shaken off the yoke of prejudice, would have had less antipathy to the English ; whereas now, the Inquisition, the monks, and superstition, fortify their antipathy every day ; so that tJie English, instead of triumphing for tJiernselves, have only completed the triumph of those who are their eternal enemies in Spain."
' I said above, that Napoleon would have suppressed the Inqui- sition in Spain. I saw the chapter upon the subject of this diabolical tribunal, in the campaigns of Italy, which treats of the negotiations which took place at Valentins, in 1797, when Napoleon wanted to obtain from Pope Pius VI. the suppression of the Inquisition through- out Europe. In this chapter are three most curious letters from the Pontiff to Napoleon, in which he styles him "his very dear son;" and with great earnestness endeavours to persuade him " to abandon this fatal resolve ; which would dishonour him, and render him a prey to remorse in his later years : that he himself would sooner part with a province than permit any change in regard to the Inquisition ; that it had never really been that tyrannical and cruel institution which the enemies of the Holy See pretended it was, &c. &c." After having urged his demand for a long time, Napoleon yielded at last to the earnest entreaties of the venerable old man ; and, as the treaty imposed upon liim was already sufficiently rigorous, gave up that point for the time.
•In the course of a conversation I had the honour to hold with Napoleon, I thought I discovered his religious opinions to be extremely tolerant ; he thinks that faith is beyond the reach of law ; that it is tin- mosl 3acred property of man, and one for which he has no right to account to any "mortal," if there is nothing in it contrary to social order.
' I took an opportunity in speaking to some of his officers concern- ing the famous Sanhedrim or Jewish council held in France, which had some years back excited the attention of all Europe; they had, however, no ideas about the matter; they said merely that, if any person knew what was likely to have taken place then, it was Count Mole ; but that they had their doubts whether even he knew any more than what Napoleon wanted to obtain in the first assembly of the Sanhedrim ; for that his constant method had been to first excite the public attention upon some object, but that his intentions were not known until the last moment, and sometimes not until several years after the first discussion of it.
'I have the honour, &c. &c.'
In letter V. the following reasonings, it is obvious, might be held anywhere as well as in St. Helena. They are more violent than convincing : —
• EEuropeail news of December, January, and February arrived. The Cate of Bffuratwas made known to Napoleon, who merely said — "The Oalabrians are more humane than the English Ministry. When it La wished i<> get rid of a man, a bullet is the most humane and noble means of doing so." This saying got speedily abroad, and produced
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considerable emotion. He was greatly surprised at the trial of Ney and said he could not conceive how the Allies could violate so bare facedly the capitulation of Paris ; he held the breach of that treaty as upon a footing with those of Dantzic and Dresden ; he observed, that the Parisian lawyers had in general displayed but little talent, and less courage in behalf of their clients ; that Cambrone was the person who had manifested most honour in his defence. He also observed, that it was difficult to conceive how the Duke of Otranto, who was Minister of Police under him, could have signed the act of proscription. How the names of Bertrand, Cambrone, and Drouet, who had never served under the Bourbons, who had left Prance, who had never borne their commission, and who had never ceased to be under his command, could have been included in it, "These men," said he, "whose character and fidelity merited the highest approbation, were con- demned by Generals who had taken the oath to the King, who had received the Cross of St. Louis from his hands, who had worn his cockade, sworn obedience to him, and a few days afterwards had again mounted the tri-colour cockade, trampled under foot the white, thrown away the Cross of St. Louis with disdain, and made war upon Louis XVIII." He also observed of the sentences, "that laws had been applied to the prisoners that had been decreed by the republic and the fourth dynasty against the Bourbons, and for the maintenance of that republic and the imperial dynasty. Is it possible," said he, "to conceive such a state of affairs? It is by virtue of a law made against the Bourbons by an usurped government, during the time that the legitimate government resided at Mittau and London, that the same legitimate government now causes people to be executed. How can you reconcile the nineteenth year of the reign of Louis XVIII. with the putting in force laws made by a rebellious republic and an usurp- ing government? The men," continued he, "who at Waterloo defended the nation against combined Europe, are condemned, and the faithful subjects are they who fought against their country, like General Bourmont, who unfurled the tri-colour flag with Ney, on the 17th of March, and afterwards came to Paris to take the oath of fidelity to me, was employed in his rank of general of division, for three months was chief of the staff at Metz, under the orders of Gerard, and on the 14th, and two days before the battle of Waterloo, deserted with two officers of his staff, and went over to the enemy — this Bourmont, who bore witness against Ney, he is the good French- man ; he is the man who has fought for his country ! Never yet, continued he, ' ' was human reason treated with such gross contempt. Louis XVIII. is the ally of the coalesced powers, and signs a treaty with them against France. Nevertheless, a treaty of peace is concluded by them with him. It is the first time that ever a treaty of peace has been concluded with an ally ! By this very treaty of peace his good Allies have imposed upon his subjects a contribution of seven hundred millions ! All the proclamations and all the promises made by the Allies, of not intending to impose any Government upon France, and of waging war solely against me, were disregarded as soon as they entered Paris, and had succeeded in disbanding the army of France."
' One of the sentences was afterwards pointed out to me as having been put in execution, in virtue of a law passed during Robespierre's rule, a very few days after the decree of the Convention which caused
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Louis XVI. to die on a scaffold ! I must confess I was confounded at seeing all principle defied in this manner, and could not refute the conclusions which were made, viz. — "That men so condemned and assassinated ; that so many contradictions and absurdities had never before been jumbled together ; that a king calling himself legitimate, by thus putting in force laws, made by a government he designated as usurped, protested himself against his oxon legitimacy, and proclaimed to the world the legitimacy of that government he contended was an usurpation !"
'I have the honour, &c. &c.'
If Buonaparte really held all this doctrine, it is a proof that his memory is bad, or his reading confined. Did not Charles II. of England, after his return and while he executed the laws of the republic, date his reign from the death of his father? And as to a treaty of peace between the Allies and Louis XVIII., the treaty was between the Allies and France, towards which country, as the acces- sion of Louis rendered the terms more favourable, so was he the only person that could sign on its behalf.
[To be continued.]
'Times,' October 23, 1817.
WORK RESPECTING BUONAPARTE, IN REPLY TO
MR. WARDEN.
We continue our extracts from, and observations on, the work relating to Buonaparte. We had, indeed, intended to insert the whole of Letter VI., which gives an account of Pichegru and Georges' con- spiracy ; but with considerable knowledge of the occurrences there is evidently mixed up so much falsehood, that we decline. We copy, however, the following account of the meeting of Moreau, Pichegru, and Georges in Paris, which is at one amusing and untrue : —
'It was proved by these trials, which took place, one may say, in the face of all Europe, the ambassadors and foreign agents constantly attending the tribunal, that Pichegru, having become reconciled to Moreau, came to Paris ; that Moreau had several interviews with him, and three with Georges and him. The first interview which took place between Moreau, Pichegru, and Georges, was in the Boulevard de la ICadelaine, at night. "Here I am," cried Pichegru, "their is not a moment's time to be lost in overthrowing the First Consul." Moreau answered, "Against the First Consul, living, I can undertake nothing; but I can undertake anything against the First Consul, dead. Kill the First Consul; and the senate, the people, and the army will unani- mously nominate me in his place. I will change the commanders of the troops encamped at Boulogne, and I will name a commission to
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try you, Pichegru ; acquitted, you will be appointed second consul."' •' Very well," cried Georges, " but in that case I must be third consul." "That is impossible," said Moreau. "If it were known that I had even seen you, I should be a lost man, I should scarcely have my valet de chambre on my side." "This is all a farce," said Georges. " You mean to betray us. You, Moreau and Pichegru ! You are both two blues. When you get into power you will have us shot. I declare frankly to you that, blue for blue, Buonaparte is much better than anybody else."
' At the termination of the conference, Moreau promised to see his friends and to try what he could do : several of them he sounded ; but it is not supposed he imparted to them the whole of what was in agitation, and thereby became more than ever convinced that it was absolutely necessary for Georges and the Chouans to commence the business, by despatching, in the first instance, the First Consul, for which purpose several schemes were adopted. Six fellows were charged to poniard him on the parade, at the moment he went out of the gate of the Carousel, and entered the crowd to receive petitions ;. but the parade never took place upon days previously fixed, and some- times there was not one for three months. Thirty others were equipped in the uniform of the Chasseurs of the guard, and were to have attacked his carriage between Nanterre and the Pont de Neuilly, when he went to Malmaison, to which place he generally went by night ; to have charged his picquet, which did not consist of more than 15 men, one-half of whom would probably be killed by a discharge of pistols before they could defend themselves, and afterwards to massacre him in the carriage with their poniards. It is a fact that the greater number of these Chouans were not animated by any personal hatred or malice against Napoleon, and that, having plenty of money, they were wallowing in the intemperance and debaucheries of Paris ; that most of them had several mistresses, and put off from day to day the difficult and dangerous part of their operations.
' Pichegru had committed the greatest crime that man is capable of — that of causing his army to execute false manoeuvres, on purpose that they might fall into ambuscades and snares of the enemy ; and thus to cause his oxen soldiers, in executing his orders, to fall victims of his baseness and treachery.'
How the author can state as he does that Buonaparte was free from revolutionary crimes, though he describes him, in the subjoined extract, as heading the massacre at Paris on the 13th Vendemiaire, we know not.
' Arrived at Paris, he was employed by the Committee of Public Safety to direct the movements of the armies. On the 13th of Vendemiaire the Convention gave him the command of the troops, when, by the excellence of the dispositions he adopted, he caused the Convention to triumph over its enemies, although he had only 5 or 600 men to defend that body against all the population of Paris. As to this interesting event, I have been informed that the conventionalist army fired ball and grape shot only, until they were sure of victory, which was the work of a quarter of an hour ; and that, immediately afterwards, they fired, and continued to do so all the evening and night, blank cartridge only : and that to this was to be attributed the trifling loss sustained by the Parisians, which Napoleon states, in his
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history, not to have amounted to more than between 3 and 400 men killed and wounded.'
The story that follows, about firing blank cartridges, is too absurd to deserve notice.
Critics, observing the powers of amplification in poets, state that, where Homer speaks of only 10 tongues and 10 mouths, Virgil in- creases them to 100. By an inverse power of diminution in history — that is, in such history as this we are reviewing — we find that Buonaparte's poisoning the whole of his wounded, as fully stated and proved by Sir Robert Wilson and others, but chiefly by him, has now been reduced by natural causes, to the death of seven : —
' It would render this letter too long, and, besides, I had not time to take notes with the exactness I had determined to observe in all I related, concerning the march of the French from Jaffa to St. Jean d'Acre, or of the details of the siege of that city, or of the battles which took place at Mount Tabor against the armies of Damascus and Aleppo. Suffice it to say that, on the 20th of May, the French raised the siege, and following the track along the sea-side encamped on the ruins of Cesarea. On the 24th they arrived at Jaffa, having with them about 1000 men, who had been wounded at the siege of Acre, and who occupied all the means of transport in their possession. These men with the sick in the hospitals of Jaffa were sent by sea, with orders to make the best of their way to Damietta. At this time the plague raged in the French hospitals, and every day five or six died victims to it. Those who were strongest among the sick were sent out first ; and as soon as a boat was laden it proceeded on, and the last boat contained those of whose recovery there was very little hope. Napoleon gave orders for the army to depart on the 27th of May ; and on the 26th, according to his usual custom, sent one of his aides-de-camps (Lavalette) to visit the hospitals and stores, in order to be perfectly satisfied that his orders had been strictly carried into execution. The aide-de-camp reported to him that the whole had been evacuated with the exception of seven men, of whose recovery the medical officers despaired, and who could not be moved, inasmuch as they would infect with the plague whoever approached them ; that some of those unfortunate wretches, on pei'ceiving that they were abandoned to their fate in this manner, had loudly demanded death, with lamentable cries ; repre- senting, that the Turks, upon their arrival, would practise unheard-of cruelties upon them ; (in fact, it was customary for those barbarous monsters to cutoff "les partes," the nose, and scoop out the eyes of those who were unfortunate enough to fall into their hands.) The surgeons on duty at the hospital had demanded authority from the aide-de-camp to gratify their desires by giving them (at the last moment) opium, stating, that it was inhuman and horrible to abandon those men in such a manner; and that the maxim " Do as you would that others should do unto you," ought to be put in practice. Notwith- standing this, Napoleon ordered the chief physician Desgenettes, and the chief surgeon Laweg, to be called, in order to ascertain if there was not still Borne possibility of sending away the above-mentioned un- fortunate men, and recommended that they should be put on horseback and the horses be Led, offering for that purpose his own saddle-horses; but the physician declared this to he impossible, and added, that the men had not t went y-iour hours Longer to live. They, moreover, stated
NAPOLEON
that in the course of their consultation touching the possibility of sending them away, they had deliberated upon the propriety of giving them opium ; but that Desgenettes had been of opinion that, as his profession was to cure, he could not possibly authorise such a measure. Upon this, Napoleon delayed the departure of the army for twenty-four hours. Nothing was urgent : he was master of all the country, and Djezzar Pacha had not stirred out of Acre. A rearguard of 300 cavalry did not leave the town until four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, forty-eight hours after the visit of the aide-de-camp to the hospital, and not until the seven sick men were reported to be all dead. This circumstance, which has been so much misrepresented, is in reality a proof of his humanity and care towards his troops ; who, in return, are stated to have invariably considered him as their father ; and, probably, no other general ever possessed in so eminent a degree the affections of his soldiers.'
The following extract gives our readers an account of one who has made some talk in the world : —
1 The information I have been able to collect with respect to the Abbe Pradt is as follows : — The Abbe' Pradt emigrated, and afterwards availed himself of the amnesty and returned to France. Being without any means whatever of procuring subsistence, he addressed himself to the police, and was amply recompensed for the services which he rendered to them. It was some time, however, before he was able to succeed in getting admittance to the Ruler of France ; but having insinuated himself into the good graces of Duroc, the Grand Marshal, whose relation he pretended to be, through the protection of this favourite, he was appointed Almoner of the Chapel, and took the customary oaths required of all the Household ; he was also made Bishop of Poitiers, and afterwards Archbishop of Mechlin. During the Council of Paris Napoleon frequently detained him at his levees in order to converse with him upon affairs concerning the priests. Ambitious and intriguing, he availed himself of this in order to in- crease his intimacy, and under colour of exalted zeal, he informed his master of numberless circumstances which passed in the societies of the capital, where his acquaintance was very extensive. The Bishops of Nantes and Treves, the Archbishop of Tours, and the Primate of Venice were appointed by the Council of the Bishops of France and Italy to proceed and meet the Pope at Savona ; and the Duke of Rovigo asked permission to add the Archbishop of Mechlin to them. This met with great opposition, and produced remonstrances from the bishops. It was, in fact, associating one of the most disreputable bishops of Christendom with four of the most respectable prelates in it; but, however, as it was a matter of great importance to be informed of everything which was said and done there, he was appointed. His conduct towards the Pope at Savona was, however, marked with so much levity, that his colleagues were frequently obliged to remind him of the decency and respect due to a sovereign, and especially to one who was also the chief of his religion. He was afterwards employed to observe the affairs of Spain. In 1812 he went to Dresden with the post of Almoner. The Duke of Bassano, being desirous of having the Baron de Bignon (who was then at Warsaw) with him at Wilna, proposed, two days before his departure from Dresden, that the Abbe- de Pradt should replace him. His easy manner appeared well calcu-
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lated to render hini a proper person for a place where the ladies have so much influence. He was known to possess some talent, address, a great desire to please, and must have been conscious that success was necessary to ensure his preferment. Nevertheless, Napoleon hesitated to intrust a pardoned emigrant, a man who until then had been only employed by the Government in clandestine and subordinate affairs, with a brilliant and most confidential situation ; but, finally, the recommendation of Duroc prevailed, who said that the Archbishop's mitre would make up for everything, particularly in a country where the prelates were in the habit of filling the principal employments, and that his conduct at Mechlin could not leave a doubt as to the nature of his sentiments, and his attachment to the Government. Our almoner's conduct, however, when arrived at Warsaw, was a complete series of follies ; he took a wrong turn at every step, and his conduct and writings rendered him the contempt of the Poles of all parties. As Napoleon returned from his disastrous campaign on Moscow, he stayed three hours at Warsaw, where he heard nothing but complaints about him. He was even accused of treachery by thirty different persons ; and by the most moderate of incapacity, it was evident that he had not the talent necessary for the business he was intrusted with. When he was introduced into the presence of his master, he went on in his usual inconsiderate way, and gave loose to his customary mania of talking about war. Napoleon, extremely fatigued, at first returned him no answer, but listened with coolness to his nonsense ; at last, losing patience, he took up a card which was lying upon the chimney- piece, and wrote upon it with a pencil the following words — "Write to the Due of Bassano, that on his way through Warsaw he is to send this coxcomb back to Paris." (Faites vine lettre au Due de Bassano pour qu'a son passage par Varsovie, il renvoye ce freluquet a Paris.) This card he gave to Caulaincourt, who was present, and immediately, in presence of the Abb£, sat down to write the letter.
'After Napoleon's return in March, 1815, all his detractors, imagining him to be burning with revenge, fled from Paris ; they were, however, mistaken. He was under too many obligations to them to be inclined to do them any harm, and they regained their situations. Lavatelle resumed the duties of his station at the Lyceum. Pichon was employed on a secret mission to London, &c. The Abbe" de Pradt took a step quite conformable to the effrontery of the man ; he sent Napoleon a memorial filled with invectives against the Bourbons and the Ministers who had turned him out of the grand chancellorship of the legion of honour. This memorial he accompanied with a letter, in which he explained his conduct by saying, "that outwardly he had had the appearance of being changed ; but that, in his heart, he had been always faithful to his benefactor, and to the prince who was the choice of the nation 1" and concluded with begging to be again appointed to his situation in the chapel. "Oh, e'est trop," said Napoleon; "qutl miserable 1'"
[To be conti?iued.]
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NAPOLEON
* Times,' October 24, 1817.
WORK RESPECTING BUONAPARTE, IN REPLY TO
MR. WARDEN.
We shall conclude our extracts with the greater part of the last letter in the book : —
' This letter will conclude the series. You wish to be made acquainted with whatever occurrences may have taken place since July, 1816. The task is a very painful one. I have already explained to you, in my fifth letter, in what manner matters were arranged, and, although everything was not quite so well as could have been wished, Plantation-house not being allotted them, nor the liberty of the whole of the little rock, yet still they were treated with attention and regard, and received whoever they thought proper. Napoleon had it in his power to amuse himself occasionally with the society of the inhabitants, of the officers of the army and navy, and also with that of a great number of strangers who arrived ; a great resource, especially to Madame Bertrand. Since that period, everything has been changed ; they scarcely receive any person, and no longer go out. It is impossible for me to go into minute details, they would be excessively afflicting to an Englishman, and which, if known, would excite a general feeling of indignation. In order, however, not to leave you entirely in the dark, I will relate to you such general details as my memory furnishes me.
' Three commissioners, Austrian, French, and Russian, arrived at St. Helena on the 17th of June, 1816, in the Newcastle and Orontes frigates, along with Admiral Malcolm. Some weeks after this the Governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, announced their arrival at Longwood, and communicated the treaty of the 2nd