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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3566.txt b/3566.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7188685 --- /dev/null +++ b/3566.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2178 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Napoleon--1821, v16 +#16 in our series by Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne +#16 in our Napoleon Bonaparte series + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Phipps +Colonel, Late Royal Artillery + +1891 + + + +CONTENTS: +CHAPTER XIII. 1815-1821 +(Chapter XIV. and the Appendix have not been included) + + +CHAPTER XIII + + --[ This chapter; by the editor of the 1836 edition, is based upon + the 'Memorial', and O'Meara's and Antommarchi's works.]-- + + +1815-1821. + + Voyage to St. Helena--Personal traits of the Emperor--Arrival at + James Town--Napoleon's temporary residence at The Briars--Removal to + Longwood--The daily routine there-The Campaign of Italy--The arrival + of Sir Hudson Lowe--Unpleasant relations between the Emperor and the + new Governor--Visitors at St. Helena--Captain Basil Hall's interview + with Napoleon--Anecdotes of the Emperor--Departure of Las Cases and + O'Meara--Arrivals from Europe--Physical habits of the Emperor--Dr. + Antommarchi--The Emperor's toilet--Creation of a new bishopric-- + The Emperor's energy with the spade--His increasing illness-- + Last days of Napoleon--His Death--Lying in state--Military funeral-- + Marchand's account of the Emperor's last moments--Napoleon's last + bequests--The Watch of Rivoli. + +The closing scenes in the life of the great Emperor only now remain to be +briefly touched upon. In a previous chapter we have narrated the +surrender of Napoleon, his voyage to England, and his transference from +the Bellerophon to the Northumberland. The latter vessel was in great +confusion from the short notice at which she had sailed, and for the two +first days the crew was employed in restoring order. The space abaft the +mizenmast contained a dining-room about ten feet broad, and extending the +whole width of the ship, a saloon, and two cabins. The Emperor occupied +the cabin on the left; in which his camp-bedstead had been put up; that +on the right was appropriated to the Admiral. It was peremptorily +enjoined that the saloon should be in common. The form of the dining- +table resembled that of the dining-room. Napoleon sat with his back to +the saloon; on his left sat Madame Bertrand, and on his right the +Admiral, who, with Madame de Montholon, filled up one side of the table. +Next that lady, but at the end of the table, was Captain Ross, who +commanded the ship, and at the opposite end M. de Montholon; Madame +Bertrand, and the Admiral's secretary. The side of the table facing the +Emperor was occupied by the Grand-Marshal, the Colonel of the field +Regiment, Las Cases, and Gourgaud. The Admiral invited one or two of the +officers to dinner every day, and the band of the 53d, newly-formed, +played during dinner-time. + +On the 10th of August the Northumberland cleared the Channel, and lost +sight of land. The course of the ship was shaped to cross the Bay of +Biscay and double Cape Finisterre. The wind was fair, though light, and +the heat excessive. Napoleon breakfasted in his own cabin at irregular +hours. He sent for one of his attendants every morning to know the +distance run, the state of the wind, and other particulars connected with +their progress. He read a great deal, dressed towards four o'clock, and +then came into the public saloon; here he played at chess with one of the +party; at five o'clock the Admiral announced that dinner was on the +table. It is well known that Napoleon was scarcely ever more than +fifteen minutes at dinner; here the two courses alone took up nearly an +hour and a half. This was a serious annoyance to him, though his +features and manner always evinced perfect equanimity. Neither the new +system of cookery nor the quality of the dishes ever met with his +censure. He was waited on by two valets, who stood behind his chair. +At first the Admiral was in the habit of offering several dishes to the +Emperor, but the acknowledgment of the latter was expressed so coldly +that the practice was given up. The Admiral thenceforth only pointed out +to the servants what was preferable. Napoleon was generally silent, as +if unacquainted with the language, though it was French. If he spoke, it +was to ask some technical or scientific question, or to address a few +words to those whom the Admiral occasionally asked to dinner. + +The Emperor rose immediately after coffee had been handed round, and went +on deck, followed by the Grand-Marshal and Las Cases. This disconcerted +Admiral Cockburn, who expressed his surprise to his officers; but Madame +Bertrand, whose maternal language was English, replied with spirit, "Do +not forget, sir, that your guest is a man who has governed a large +portion of the world, and that kings once contended for the honour of +being admitted to his table."--" Very true," rejoined the Admiral; and +from that time he did his utmost to comply with Napoleon's habits. He +shortened the time of sitting at table, ordering coffee for Napoleon and +those who accompanied him even before the rest of the company had +finished their dinner. The Emperor remained walking on deck till dark. +On returning to the after-cabin he sat down to play vingt et un with some +of his suite, and generally retired in about half an hour. On the +morning of the 15th of August all his suite asked permission to be +admitted to his presence. He was not aware of the cause of this visit; +it was his birthday, which seemed to have altogether escaped his +recollection. + +On the following day they doubled Cape Finisterre, and up to the 21st, +passing off the Straits of Gibraltar, continued their course along the +coast of Africa towards Madeira. Napoleon commonly remained in his cabin +the whole morning, and from the extreme heat he wore a very slight dress. +He could not sleep well, and frequently rose in the night. Reading was +his chief occupation. He often sent for Count Las Cases to translate +whatever related to St. Helena or the countries by which they were +sailing. Napoleon used to start a subject of conversation; or revive +that of some preceding day, and when he had taken eight or nine turns the +whole length of the deck he would seat himself on the second gun from the +gangway on the larboard side. The midshipmen soon observed this habitual +predilection, so that the cannon was thenceforth called the Emperor's +gun. It was here that Napoleon often conversed for hours together. + +On the 22d of August they came within sight of Madeira, and at night +arrived off the port. They stopped for a day or two to take in +provisions. Napoleon was indisposed. A sudden gale arose and the air +was filled with small particles of sand and the suffocating exhalations +from the deserts of Africa. On the evening of the 24th they got under +weigh again, and progressed smoothly and rapidly. The Emperor added to +his amusements a game at piquet. He was but an, indifferent chess- +player, and there was no very good one on board. He asked, jestingly, +"How it was that he frequently beat those who beat better players than +himself?" Vingt et un was given up, as they played too high at it; and +Napoleon had a great aversion to gaming. One night a negro threw himself +overboard to avoid a flogging, which occasioned a great noise and bustle. +A young midshipman meeting Las Cases descending into the cabin, and +thinking he was going to inform Napoleon, caught hold of his coat and in +a tone of great concern exclaimed, "Ah sir, do not alarm the Emperor! +Tell him the noise is owing to an accident!" In general the midshipmen +behaved with marked respect and attention to Bonaparte, and often by +signs or words directed the sailors to avoid incommoding him: He +sometimes noticed this conduct, and remarked that youthful hearts were +always prone to generous instincts. + +On the 1st of September they found themselves in the latitude of the Cape +de Verd Islands. Everything now promised a prosperous passage, but the +time hung heavily. Las Cases had undertaken to teach his son English, +and the Emperor also expressed a wish to learn. He, however, soon grew +tired and laid it aside, nor was it resumed until long afterwards. His +manners and habits were always the same; he invariably appeared +contented, patient, and good-humoured. The Admiral gradually laid aside +his reserve, and took an interest in his great captive. He pointed out +the danger incurred by coming on deck after dinner, owing to the damp of +the evening: the Emperor, would then sometimes take his arm and prolong +the conversation, talking sometimes on naval affairs, on the French +resources in the south, and on the improvements he had contemplated in +the ports and harbours of the Mediterranean, to all which the Admiral +listened with deep attention. + +Meanwhile Napoleon observed that Las Cases was busily employed, and +obtained a sight of his journal, with which he was not displeased. He, +however, noticed that some of the military details and anecdotes gave but +a meagre idea of the subject of war: This first led to the proposal of +his writing his own Memoirs. At length the Emperor came to a +determination, and on Saturday, the 9th of September he called his +secretary into his cabin and dictated to him some particulars of the +siege of Toulon. On approaching the line they fell in with the trade- +winds, that blow here constantly from the east. On the 16th there was a +considerable fall of rain, to the great joy of the sailors, who were in +want of water. The rain began to fall heavily just as the Emperor had +got upon deck to take his afternoon walk. But this did not disappoint +him of his usual exercise; he merely called for his famous gray +greatcoat, which the crew regarded with much interest. + +On the 23d of September they passed the line. This was a day of great +merriment and disorder among the crew: it was the ceremony which the +English sailors call the "christening." No one is spared; and the +officers are generally more roughly handled than any one else. The +Admiral, who had previously amused himself by giving an alarming +description of this ceremony, now very courteously exempted his guests +from the inconvenience and ridicule attending it. Napoleon was +scrupulously respected through the whole of this Saturnalian festivity. +On being informed of the decorum which had been observed with regard to +him he ordered a hundred Napoleons to be presented to the grotesque- +Neptune and his crew; which the Admiral opposed, perhaps from motives of +prudence as well as politeness. + +Owing to the haste with which they had left England the painting of the +ship had been only lately finished, and this circumstance confined +Napoleon, whose sense of smell was very acute, to his room for two days. +They were now, in the beginning of October, driven into the Gulf of +Guinea, where they met a French vessel bound for the Isle of Bourbon. +They spoke with the captain, who expressed his surprise and regret when +he learnt that Napoleon was on board. The wind was unfavourable, and the +ship made little progress. The sailors grumbled at the Admiral, who had +gone out of the usual course. At length they approached the termination +of their voyage. On the 14th of October the Admiral had informed them +that he expected to come within sight of St. Helena that day. They had +scarcely risen from table when their ears were saluted with the cry of +"land!" This was within a quarter of an hour of the time that had been +fixed on. The Emperor went on the forecastle to see the island; but it +was still hardly distinguishable. At daybreak next morning they had a +tolerably clear view of it + +At length, about seventy days after his departure from England, and a +hundred and ten after quitting Paris, Napoleon reached St. Helena. In +the harbour were several vessels of the squadron which had separated from +them, and which they thought they had left behind. Napoleon, contrary to +custom, dressed early and went upon deck: he went forward to the gangway +to view the island. He beheld a kind of village surrounded by numerous +barren hills towering to the clouds. Every platform, every aperture, the +brow of every hill was planted with cannon. The Emperor viewed the +prospect through his glass. His countenance underwent no change. He +soon left the deck; and sending for Las Cases, proceeded to his day's +work. The Admiral, who had gone ashore very early, returned about six +much fatigued. He had been walking over various parts of the island, and +at length thought he had found a habitation that would suit his captives. +The place stood in need of repairs, which might occupy two months. His +orders were not to let the French quit the vessel till a house should be +prepared to receive them. He, however, undertook, on his own +responsibility, to set them on shore the next day. + +On the 16th, after dinner, Napoleon, accompanied by the Admiral and the +Grand-Marshal, Bertrand, got into a boat to go ashore. As he passed, the +officers assembled on the quarter-deck, and the greater part of the crew +on the gangways. The Emperor, before he stepped into the boat, sent for +the captain of the vessel, and took leave of him, desiring him at the +same time to convey his thanks to the officers and crew. These words +appeared to produce the liveliest sensation in all by whom they were +understood, or to whom they were interpreted. The remainder of his suite +landed about eight. They found the Emperor in the apartments which had +been assigned to him, a few minutes after he went upstairs to his +chamber. He was lodged in a sort of inn in James Town, which consists +only, of one short street, or row of houses built in a narrow valley +between two rocky hills. + +The next day the Emperor, the Grand-Marshal, and the Admiral, riding out +to visit Longwood, which had been chosen for the Emperor's residence, on +their return saw a small villa, with a pavilion attached to it, about two +miles from the town, the residence of Mr. Balcombe; a merchant of the +island. This spot pleased Napoleon, and the Admiral was of opinion that +it would be better for him to remain here than to return to the town, +where the sentinels at his door, with the crowds collected round it, in a +manner confined him to his chamber. The pavilion was a sort of summer- +house on a pyramidal eminence, about thirty or forty paces from the +house, where the family were accustomed to resort in fine weather: this +was hired for the temporary abode of the Emperor, and he took possession +of it immediately. There was a carriage-road from the town, and the +valley was in this part less rugged in its aspect. Las Cases was soon +sent for. As be ascended the winding path leading to the pavilion he saw +Napoleon standing at the threshold of the door. His body was slightly +bent, and his hands behind his back: he wore his usual plain and simple +uniform and the well-known hat. The Emperor was alone. He took a fancy +to walk a little; but there was no level ground on any side of the +pavilion, which was surrounded by huge pieces of rock. Taking the arm of +his companion, however, he began to converse in a cheerful strain. When +Napoleon was about to retire to rest the servants found that one of the +windows was open close to the bed: they barricaded it as well as they +could, so as to exclude the air, to the effects of which the Emperor was +very susceptible. Las Cases ascended to an upper room. The valets de +chambres lay stretched in their cloaks across the threshold of the door. +Such was the first night Napoleon passed at the Briars. + +An English officer was lodged with them in the house as their guard, and +two non-commissioned officers were stationed near the house to watch +their movements. Napoleon the next day proceeded with his dictation, +which occupied him for several hours, and then took a walk in the garden, +where he was met by the two Misses Balcombe, lively girls about fourteen +years of age, who presented him with flowers, and overwhelmed him with +whimsical questions. Napoleon was amused by their familiarity, to which +he had been little accustomed. "We have been to a masked ball," said he, +when the young ladies had taken their leave. + +The next day a chicken was brought for breakfast, which the Emperor +undertook to carve himself, and was surprised at his succeeding so well, +it being a long time since he had done so much. The coffee he considered +so bad that on tasting it he thought himself poisoned, and sent it away. + +The mornings were passed in business; in the evening Napoleon sometimes +strolled to the neighbouring villa, where the young ladies made him play +at whist. The Campaign of Italy was nearly finished, and Las Cases +proposed that the other followers of Napoleon who were lodged in the town +should come up every morning to assist in transcribing The Campaign of +Egypt, the History of the Consulate, etc. This suggestion pleased the +ex-Emperor, so that from that time one or two of his suite came regularly +every day to write to his dictation, and stayed to dinner. A tent, sent +by the Colonel of the 53d Regiment, was spread out so as to form a +prolongation of the pavillion. Their cook took up his abode at the +Briars. The table linen was taken from the trunks, the plate was set +forth, and the first dinner after these new arrangements was a sort of +fete. + +One day at dinner Napoleon, casting his eye on one of the dishes of his +own campaign-service, on which the-arms of the King had been engraved, +"How they have spoiled that!" he exclaimed; and he could not refrain from +observing that the King was in great haste to take possession of the +Imperial plate, which certainly did not belong to him. Amongst the +baggage was also a cabinet in which were a number of medallions, given +him by the Pope and other potentates, some letters of Louis XVIII. which +he had left behind him on his writing-table in the suddenness of his +flight from the Tuileries on the 20th of March, and a number of other +letters found in the portfolio of Dia Blacas intended to calumniate +Napoleon. + +The Emperor never dressed until about four o'clock he then walked in the +garden, which was particularly agreeable to him on account of its +solitude--the English soldiers having been removed at Mr. Balcombe's +request. A little arbour was covered with canvas; and a chair and table +placed in it, and here Napoleon dictated a great part of his Memoirs. +In the evening, when he did not go out, he generally contrived to prolong +the conversation till eleven or twelve o'clock. + +Thus time passed with little variety or interruption. The weather in the +winter became delightful. One day, his usual task being done; Napoleon +strolled out towards the town, until he came within sight of the road and +shipping. On his return he met Mrs. Balcombe and a Mrs. Stuart, who was +on her way back from Bombay to England. The Emperor conversed with her on +the manners and customs of India, and on the inconveniences of a long +voyage at sea, particularly to ladies. He alluded to Scotland, Mrs. +Stuart's native country, expatiated on the genius of Ossian, and +congratulated his fair interlocutor on the preservation of her clear +northern complexion. While the parties were thus engaged some heavily +burdened slaves passed near to them. Mrs. Balcombe motioned them to make +a detour; but Napoleon interposed, exclaiming, "Respect the burden, +madam!" As he said this the Scotch lady, who had been very eagerly +scanning the features of Napoleon, whispered to her friend, "Heavens! +what a character, and what an expression of countenance! How different +to the idea I had formed of him!" + +Napoleon shortly after repeated the same walk, and went into the house of +Major Hudson. This visit occasioned considerable alarm to the +constituted authorities. + +The Governor gave a ball, to which the French were invited; and Las Cases +about the same time rode over to Longwood to see what advance had been +made in the preparations for their reception. His report on his return +was not very favourable. They had now been six weeks at the Briars, +during which Napoleon had been nearly as much confined as if on board the +vessel. His health began to be impaired by it. Las Cases gave it as his +opinion that the Emperor did not possess that constitution of iron which +was usually ascribed to him; and that it was the strength of his mind, +not of his body, that carried him through the labours of the field and of +the cabinet. In speaking on this subject Napoleon himself observed that. +nature had endowed him with two peculiarities: one was the power of +sleeping at any hour or in any place; the other, his being incapable of +committing any excess either in eating or drinking: "If," said he, "I go +the least beyond my mark my stomach instantly revolts." He was subject +to nausea from very slight causes, and to colds from any change of air. + +The prisoners removed to Longwood on the 10th of December 1815. Napoleon +invited Mr. Balcombe to breakfast with him that morning, and conversed +with him in a very cheerful manner. About two Admiral Cockburn was +announced; he entered with an air of embarrassment. In consequence of +the restraints imposed upon him at the Briars, and the manner in which +those of his suite residing in the town had been treated, Bonaparte had +discontinued receiving the visits of the Admiral; yet on the present +occasion he behaved towards him as though nothing had happened. At +length they left the Briars and set out for Longwood. Napoleon rode the +horse, a small, sprightly, and tolerably handsome animal, which had been +brought for him from the Cape. He wore his uniform of the Chasseurs of +the Guard, and his graceful manner and handsome countenance were +particularly remarked. The Admiral was very attentive to him. At the +entrance of Longwood they found a guard under arms who rendered the +prescribed honours to their illustrious captive. His horse, unaccustomed +to parades, and frightened by the roll of the dram, refused to pass the +gate till spurred on by Napoleon, while a significant look passed among +the escort. The Admiral took great pains to point out the minutest +details at Longwood. He had himself superintended all the arrangements, +among which was a bath-room. Bonaparte was satisfied with everything, +and the Admiral seemed highly pleased. He had anticipated petulance and +disdain, but Napoleon manifested perfect good-humour. + +The entrance to the house was through a room which had been just built to +answer the double purpose of an ante-chamber and a dining-room. This +apartment led to the drawing-room; beyond this was a third room running +in a cross direction and very dark. This was intended to be the +depository of the Emperor's maps and books, but it was afterwards +converted into the dining-room. The Emperor's chamber opened into this +apartment on the right hand side, and was divided into two equal parts, +forming a cabinet and sleeping-room; a little external gallery served for +a bathing-room: Opposite the Emperor's chamber, at the other extremity of +the building, were the apartments of Madame Montholon, her husband, and +her son, afterward used as the Emperors library. Detached from this part +of the house was a little square room on the ground floor, contiguous to +the kitchen, which was assigned to Las Cases. The windows and beds had no +curtains. The furniture was mean and scanty. Bertrand and his family +resided at a distance of two miles, at a place called Rut's Gate. +General Gourgaud slept under a tent, as well as Mr. O'Meara, and the +officer commanding the guard. The house was surrounded by a garden. In +front, and separated by a tolerably deep ravine, was encamped the 53d +Regiment, different parties of which were stationed on the neighbouring +heights. + +The domestic establishment of the Emperor consisted of eleven persons. +To the Grand-Marshal was confided the general superintendence; to M. de +Montholon the domestic details; Las Cases was to take care of the +furniture and property, and General Gourgaud to have the management of +the stables. These arrangements, however, produced discontent among +Napoleon's attendants. Las Cases admits that they were no longer the +members of one family, each using his best efforts to promote the +advantage of all. They were far from practising that which necessity +dictated. He says also, "The Admiral has more than once, in the midst of +our disputes with him, hastily exclaimed that the Emperor was decidedly +the most good-natured, just, and reasonable of the whole set." + +On his first arrival he went to visit the barracks occupied by some +Chinese living on the island, and a place called Longwood Farm. He +complained to Las Cases that they had been idle of late; but by degrees +their hours and the employment of them became fixed and regular. The +Campaign of Italy being now finished, Napoleon corrected it, and dictated +on other subjects. This was their morning's work. They dined between +eight and nine, Madame Montholon being seated on Napoleon's right; Las +Cases on his left, and Gourgaud, Montholon, and Las Cases' son sitting +opposite. The smell of the paint not being yet gone off, they remained +not more than ten minutes at table, and the dessert was prepared in the +adjoining apartment, where coffee was served up and conversation +commenced. Scenes were read from Moliere, Racine, and Voltaire; and +regret was always expressed at their not having a copy of Corneille. +They then played at 'reversis', which had been Bonaparte's favourite game +in his youth. The recollection was agreeable to him, and he thought he +could amuse himself at it for any length of time, but was soon +undeceived. His aim was always to make the 'reversis', that is, to win +every trick. Character is displayed in the smallest incidents. + +Napoleon read a libel on himself, and contrasted the compliments which +had passed between him and the Queen of Prussia with the brutal- +behaviour ascribed to him in the English newspapers. On the other hand, +two common sailors had at different times, while he was at Longwood and +at the Briars, in spite of orders and at all risks, made their way +through the sentinels to gain a sight of Napoleon. On seeing the +interest they took in him he exclaimed, "This is fanaticism! Yes, +imagination rules the world!" + +The instructions of the English Ministers with regard to the treatment of +Napoleon at St. Helena had been prepared with the view completely to +secure his person. An English officer was to be constantly at his table. +This order, however, was not carried into effect. An officer was also to +accompany Napoleon in all his rides; this order was dispensed with within +certain prescribed limits, because Napoleon had refused to ride at all on +such conditions. Almost everyday brought with it some new cause of +uneasiness and complaint. Sentinels were posted beneath Napoleon's +windows and before his doors. This order was, however, doubtless given +to prevent his being annoyed by impertinent curiosity. The French were +certainly precluded from all free communication with the inhabitants of +the island; but this precaution was of unquestionable necessity for the +security of the Emperor's person. Las Cases complains that the passwords +were perpetually changed, so that they lived in constant perplexity and +apprehension of being subjected to some unforeseen insult. "Napoleon," +he continues, "addressed a complaint to the Admiral, which obtained for +him no redress. In the midst of these complaints the Admiral wished to +introduce some ladies (who had arrived in the Doric) to Napoleon; but he +declined, not approving this alternation of affronts and civilities." +He, however, consented, at the request of their Colonel, to receive the +officers of the 53d Regiment. After this officer took his leave. +Napoleon prolonged his walk in the garden. He stopped awhile to look at +a flower in one of the beds, and asked his companion if it was not a +lily. It was indeed a magnificent one. The thought that he had in his +mind was obvious. He then spoke of the number of times he had been +wounded; and said it had been thought he had never met with these +accidents from his having kept them secret as much as possible.' + +It was near the end of December. One day, after a walk and a tumble in +the mud, Bonaparte returned and found a packet of English newspapers, +which the Grand-Marshal translated to him. This occupied him till late, +and he forgot his dinner in discussing their contents. After dinner had +been served Las Cases wished to continue the translation, but Napoleon +would not suffer him to proceed, from consideration for the weak state of +his eyes. "We must wait till to-morrow," said he. A few days afterwards +the Admiral came in person to visit him, and the interview was an +agreeable one. After some animated discussion it was arranged that +Napoleon should henceforth ride freely about the island; that the officer +should follow him only at a distance; and that visitors should be +admitted to him, not with the permission of the Admiral as the Inspector +of Longwood, but with that of the Grand-Marshal, who was to do the +honours of the establishment. These concessions were, however, soon +recalled. On the 30th of this month Piontkowsky, a Pole; who had been +left behind, but whose entreaties prevailed upon the English Government, +joined Bonaparte. On New-Year's Day all their little party was collected +together, and Napoleon, entering into the feelings of the occasion, +begged that they might breakfast and pass it together. Every day +furnished some new trait of this kind. + +On the 14th of April 1816 Sir Hudson Lowe, the new Governor, arrived at +St. Helena. This epoch is important, as making the beginning of a +continued series of accusations, and counter-accusations, by which the +last five years of Napoleon's life were constantly occupied, to the great +annoyance of himself and all connected with him, and possibly to the +shortening of his own existence. + +It would be tedious to detail the progress of this petty war, but, as a +subject which has formed so great a portion of the life of Napoleon, it +must not be omitted. To avoid anything which may appear like a bias +against Napoleon, the details, unless when otherwise mentioned, will be +derived from Las Cases, his devoted admirer. + +On the first visit of the new Governor; which was the 16th of April, +Napoleon refused to admit him, because he himself was ill, and also +because the Governor had not asked beforehand for an audience. On the +second visit the Governor, was admitted to an audience, and Napoleon +seems to have taken a prejudice at first sight, as he remarked to his +suite that the Governor was "hideous, and had a most ugly countenance," +though he allowed he ought not to judge too hastily. The spirit of the +party was shown by a remark made, that the first two days had been days +of battle. + +The Governor saw Napoleon again on the 30th April, and the interview was +stormy. Napoleon argued with the Governor on the conduct of the Allies +towards him, said they had no right to dispose of him, who was their +equal and sometimes their master. He then declaimed on the eternal +disgrace the English had inflicted on themselves by sending him to St. +Helena; they wished to kill him by a lingering death: their conduct was +worse than that of the Calabrians in shooting Murat. He talked of the +cowardliness of suicide, complained of the small extent and horrid +climate of St. Helena, and said it would be an act of kindness to deprive +him of life at once. Sir H. Lowe said that a house of wood, fitted up +with every possible accommodation, was then on its way from England for +his use. Napoleon refused it at once, and exclaimed that it was not a +house but an executioner and a coffin that he wanted; the house was a +mockery, death would be a favour. A few minutes after Napoleon took up +some reports of the campaigns of 1814, which lay on the table, and asked +Sir H. Lowe if he had written them. Las Cases, after saying that the +Governor replied in the affirmative, finishes his account of the +interview, but according to O'Meara, Napoleon said they were full of +folly and falsehood. The Governor, with a much milder reply than most +men would have given, retired, and Napoleon harangued upon the sinister +expression of his countenance, abused him in the coarsest manner, and +made his servant throw a cup of coffee out of the window because it had +stood a moment on a table near the Governor. + +It was required that all persons who visited at Longwood or at Hut's Gate +should make a report to the Governor, or to Sir Thomas Reade, of the +conversations they had held with the French. Several additional +sentinels were posted around Longwood House and grounds. + +During some extremely wet and foggy weather Napoleon did not go out for +several days. Messengers and letters continually succeeded one another +from Plantation House. The Governor appeared anxious to see Napoleon, +and was evidently distrustful, although the residents at Longwood were +assured of his actual presence by the sound of his voice. He had some +communications with Count Bertrand on the necessity that one of his +officers should see Napoleon daily. He also went to Longwood frequently +himself, and finally, after some difficulty, succeeded in obtaining an +interview with Napoleon in his bedchamber, which lasted about a quarter +of an hour. Some days before he sent for Mr. O'Meara, asked a variety of +questions concerning the captive, walked round the house several times +and before the windows, measuring and laying down the plan of a new +ditch, which he said he would have dug in order to prevent the cattle +from trespassing. + +On the morning of the 5th of May Napoleon sent for his surgeon O'Meara to +come to him. He was introduced into Napoleon's bed-chamber, a +description of which is thus given: "It was about fourteen feet by +twelve, and ten or eleven feet in height. The walls were lined with +brown nankeen, bordered and edged with common green bordering paper, and +destitute of skirting. Two small windows without pulleys, one of which +was thrown up and fastened by a piece of notched wood, looked towards the +camp of the 53d Regiment. There were window-curtains of white long- +cloth, a small fire-place, a shabby grate and fire-irons to match, with a +paltry mantelpiece of wood, painted white, upon which stood a small +marble bust of his son. Above the mantelpiece hung the portrait of Maria +Louisa, and four or five of young Napoleon, one of which was embroidered +by the hands of his mother. A little more to the right hung also the +portrait of the Empress Josephine; and to the left was suspended the +alarm chamber-watch of Frederick the Great, obtained by Napoleon at +Potsdam; while on the right the Consular watch, engraved with the cipher +B, hung, by a chain of the plaited hair of Maria Louisa, from a pin stuck +in the nankeen lining. In the right-hand corner was placed the little +plain iron camp-bedstead, with green silk curtains, on which its master +had reposed on the fields of Marengo and Austerlitz. Between the windows +there was a chest of drawers, and a bookcase with green blinds stood on +the left of the door leading to the next apartment. Four or five cane- +bottomed chairs painted green were standing here and there about the. +room. Before the back door there was a screen covered with nankeen, and +between that and the fireplace an old-fashioned sofa covered with white +long-cloth, on which Napoleon reclined, dressed in his white morning- +gown, white loose trousers and stockings all in one, a chequered red +handkerchief upon his head, and his shirt-collar open without a cravat. +His sir was melancholy and troubled. Before him stood a little round +table, with some books, at the foot of which lay in confusion upon the +carpet a heap of those which he had already perused, and at the opposite +side of the sofa was suspended Isabey's portrait of the Empress Maria +Louisa, holding her son in her arms. In front of the fireplace stood Las +Cases with his arms folded over his breast and some papers in one of his +hands. Of all the former magnificence of the once mighty Emperor of +France nothing remained but a superb wash-hand-stand containing a silver +basin and water-jug of the same metal, in the lefthand corner." The +object of Napoleon in sending for O'Meara on this occasion was to +question him whether in their future intercourse he was to consider him +in the light of a spy and a tool of the Governor or as his physician? +The doctor gave a decided and satisfactory answer on this point. + +"During the short interview that this Governor had with me in my +bedchamber, one of the first things he proposed was to send you away," +said Napoleon to O'Meara, "and that I should take his own surgeon in your +place. This he repeated, and so earnest was he to gain his object that, +though I gave him a flat refusal, when he was going out he turned about +and again proposed it." + +On the 11th a proclamation was issued by the Governor, "forbidding any +persons on the island from sending letters to or receiving them from +General Bonaparte or his suite, on pain of being immediately arrested and +dealt with accordingly." Nothing escaped the vigilance of Sir Hudson +Lowe. "The Governor," said Napoleon, "has just sent an invitation to +Bertrand for General Bonaparte to come to Plantation House to meet Lady +Moira. I told Bertrand to return no answer to it. If he really wanted +me to see her he would have put Plantation House within the limits, but +to send such an invitation, knowing I must go in charge of a guard if I +wished to avail myself of it, was an insult." + +Soon after came the Declaration of the Allies and the Acts of Parliament +authorising the detention of Napoleon Bonaparte as a prisoner of war and +disturber of the peace of Europe. Against the Bill, when brought into +the House of Lords, there were two protests, those of Lord Holland and of +the Duke of Sussex. These official documents did not tend to soothe the +temper or raise the spirits of the French to endure their captivity. + +In addition to the misery of his own captivity, Napoleon had to contend +with the unmanageable humours of his own followers. As often happens +with men in such circumstances, they sometimes disagreed among +themselves, and part of their petulance and ill-temper fell upon their +Chief. He took these little incidents deeply to heart. On one occasion +he said in bitterness, "I know that I am fallen; but to feel this among +you! I am aware that man is frequently unreasonable and susceptible of +offence. Thus, when I am mistrustful of myself I ask, should I have been +treated so at the Tuileries? This is my test." + +A great deal of pains has been taken by Napoleon's adherents and others +to blacken the character of Sir Hudson Lowe, and to make it appear that +his sole object was to harass Napoleon and to make his life miserable. +Now, although it may be questioned whether Sir Hudson Lowe was the proper +person to be placed in the delicate situation of guard over the fallen +Emperor, there is no doubt that quarrels and complaints began long before +that officer reached the island; and the character of those complaints +will show that at best the prisoners were persons very difficult to +satisfy. Their detention at the Briars was one of the first causes of +complaint. It was stated that the Emperor was very ill there, that he +was confined "in a cage" with no attendance, that his suite was kept from +him, and that he was deprived of exercise. A few pages farther in the +journal of Las Cases we find the Emperor in good health, and as soon as +it was announced that Longwood was ready to receive him, then it was +urged that the gaolers wished to compel him to go against his will, that +they desired to push their authority to the utmost, that the smell of the +paint at Longwood was very disagreeable, etc. Napoleon himself was quite +ready to go, and seemed much vexed when Count Bertrand and General +Gourgaud arrived from Longwood with the intelligence that the place was +as yet uninhabitable. His displeasure, however, was much more seriously +excited by the appearance of Count Montholon with the information that +all was ready at Longwood within a few minutes after receiving the +contrary accounts from Bertrand and Gourgaud. He probably perceived that +he was trifled with by his attendants, who endeavoured to make him +believe that which suited their own convenience. We may also remark that +the systematic opposition which was carried to such a great length +against Sir Hudson Lowe had begun during the stay of Admiral Cockburn. +His visits were refused; he was accused of caprice, arrogance, and +impertinence, and he was nicknamed "the Shark" by Napoleon himself; his +own calmness alone probably prevented more violent ebullitions. + +The wooden house arrived at last, and the Governor waited on Napoleon to +consult with him how and where it should be erected. Las Cases, who +heard the dispute in an adjoining room, says that it was long and +clamorous. + +He gives the details in Napoleon's own words, and we have here the +advantage of comparing his statement with the account transmitted by Sir +Hudson Lowe to the British Government, dated 17th May 1816. The two +accounts vary but little. Napoleon admits that he was thrown quite out +of temper, that he received the Governor with his stormy countenance, +looked furiously at him, and made no reply to his information of the +arrival of the house but by a significant look. He told him that he +wanted nothing, nor would receive anything at his hands; that he supposed +he was to be put to death by poison or the sword; the poison would be +difficult to administer, but he had the means of doing it with the sword. +The sanctuary of his abode should not be violated, and the troops should +not enter his house but by trampling on his corpse. He then alluded to +an invitation sent to him by Sir Hudson Lows to meet Lady Loudon at his +house, and said there could not be an act of more refined cruelty than +inviting him to his table by the title of "General," to make him an +object of ridicule or amusement to his guests. What right had he to call +him "General" Bonaparte? He would not be deprived of his dignity by him, +nor by any one in the world. He certainly should have condescended to +visit Lady Loudon had she been within his limits, as he did not stand +upon strict etiquette with a woman, but he should have deemed that he was +conferring an honour upon her. He would not consider himself a prisoner +of war, but was placed in his present position by the most horrible +breach of trust. After a few more words he dismissed the Governor +without once more alluding to the house which was the object of the +visit. The fate of this unfortunate house may be mentioned here. It was +erected after a great many disputes, but was unfortunately surrounded by +a sunk fence and ornamental railing. This was immediately connected in +Napoleon's mind with the idea of a fortification; it was impossible to +remove the impression that the ditch and palisade were intended to secure +his person. As soon as the objection was made known, Sir Hudson Lowe +ordered the ground to be levelled and the rails taken away. But before +this was quite completed Napoleon's health was too much destroyed to +permit his removal, and the house was never occupied. + +Napoleon seems to have felt that he had been too violent in his conduct. +He admitted, when at table with his suite a few days after, that he had +behaved very ill, and that in any other situation he should blush for +what he had done. "I could have wished, for his sake," he said, "to see +him evince a little anger, or pull the door violently after him when he +went away." These few words let us into a good deal of Napoleon's +character: he liked to intimidate, but his vehement language was received +with a calmness and resolute forbearance to which he was quite +unaccustomed, and he consequently grew more angry as his anger was less +regarded. + +The specimens here given of the disputes with Sir Hudson Lowe may +probably suffice: a great many more are furnished by Las Cases, O'Meara, +and other partisans of Napoleon, and even they always make him the +aggressor. Napoleon himself in his cooler moments seemed to admit this; +after the most violent quarrel with the Governor, that of the 18th of +August 1816, which utterly put an end to anything like decent civility +between the parties; he allowed that he had used the Governor very ill, +that he repeatedly and purposely offended him, and that Sir Hudson Lowe +had not in a single instance shown a want of respect, except perhaps that +he retired too abruptly. + +Great complaints were made of the scanty way in which the table of the +exiles was supplied; and it was again and again alleged by them that they +had scarcely anything to eat. The wine, too, was said to be execrable, +so bad that in fact it could not be drunk; and, of such stuff as it was, +only one bottle a day was allowed to each person--an allowance which Las +Cases calls ridiculously small. Thus pressed, but partly for effect, +Napoleon resolved to dispose of his plate in monthly proportions; and as +he knew that some East India captains had offered as much as a hundred +guineas for a single plate, in order to preserve a memorial of him, he +determined that what was sold should be broken up, the arms erased, and +no trace left which could show that they had ever been his. The only +portions left uninjured were the little eagles with which some of the +dish-covers were mounted. These last fragments were objects of +veneration for the attendants of Napoleon they were looked upon as +relics, with a feeling at once melancholy and religious. When the moment +came for breaking up the plate Las Cases bears testimony to the painful +emotions and real grief produced among the servants. They could not, +without the utmost reluctance, bring themselves to apply the hammer to +those objects of their veneration. + +The island of St. Helena was regularly visited by East India ships on the +return voyage, which touched there to take in water, and to leave +gunpowder for the use of the garrison. On such occasions there were +always persons anxious to pay a visit to the renowned captive. The +regulation of those visits was calculated to protect Napoleon from being +annoyed by the idle curiosity of strangers, to which he professed a great +aversion. Such persons as wished to wait upon him were, in the first +place, obliged to apply to the Governor, by whom their names were +forwarded to Count Bertrand. This gentleman, as Grand-Marshal of the +household, communicated the wishes of those persons to Napoleon, and in +case of a favourable reply fixed the hour for an interview. + +Those visitors whom Napoleon admitted were chiefly persons of rank and +distinction, travellers from distant countries, or men who had +distinguished themselves in the scientific world, and who could +communicate interesting information in exchange for the gratification +they received. Some of those persons who were admitted to interviews +with him have published narratives of their conversation, and all agree +in extolling the extreme grace, propriety, and appearance of benevolence +manifested by Bonaparte while holding these levees. His questions were +always put with great tact, and on some subject with which the person +interrogated was well acquainted, so as to induce him to bring forth any +new or curious information of which he might be possessed. + +Captain Basil Hall, in August 1817, when in command of the Lyra, had an +interview with the Emperor, of whom he says: "Bonaparte struck me as +differing considerably from the pictures and busts' I had seen of him. +His face and figure looked much broader and more square--larger, indeed, +in every way than any representation I had met with. His corpulency, at +this time universally reported to be excessive, was by no means +remarkable. His flesh looked, on the contrary, firm and muscular. There +was not the least trace of colour in his cheeks; in fact his skin was +more like marble than ordinary flesh. Not the smallest trace of a +wrinkle was discernible on his brow, nor an approach to a furrow on any +part of his countenance. His health and spirits, judging from +appearances, were excellent, though at this period it was generally +believed in England that he was fast sinking under a complication of +diseases, and that his spirits were entirely gone. His manner of +speaking was rather slow than otherwise, and perfectly distinct; he +waited with great patience and kindness for my answers to his questions, +and a reference to Count Bertrand was necessary only once during the +whole conversation. The brilliant and sometimes dazzling expression of +his eye could not be overlooked. It was not, however, a permanent +lustre, for it was only remarkable when he was excited by some point of +particular interest. It is impossible to imagine an expression of more +entire mildness, I may almost call it of benignity and kindness, than +that which played over his features during the whole interview. If, +therefore he were at this time out of health and in low spirits, his +power of self-command must have been even more extraordinary than is +generally supposed, for his whole deportment, his conversation, and the +expression of his countenance indicated a frame in perfect health and a +mind at ease." + +The manner assumed by Napoleon in the occasional interviews he had with +such visitors was so very opposite to that which he constantly maintained +towards the authorities in whose custody he was placed, that we can +scarcely doubt he was acting a part in one of those situations. It was +suggested by Mr. Ellis that he either wished, by means of his continual +complaints, to keep alive his interest in England, where he flattered +himself there was a party favourable to him, or that his troubled mind +found an occupation in the annoyance which he caused to the Governor. +Every attempt at conciliation on the part of Sir Hudson Lowe furnished +fresh causes for irritation. He sent fowling-pieces to Longwood, and the +thanks returned were a reply from Napoleon that it was an insult to send +fowling-pieces where there was no game. An invitation to a ball was +resented vehemently, and descanted upon by the French party as a great +offence. Sir Hudson Lowe at one time sent a variety of clothes and other +articles received from England which he imagined might be useful at +Longwood. Great offence was taken at this; they were treated, they said, +like paupers; the articles, ought to have been left at the Governor's +house, and a list sent respectfully to the household, stating that such +things were at their command if they wanted them. + +An opinion has already been expressed that much of this annoyance was due +to the offended pride of Napoleon's attendants, who were at first +certainly far more captious than himself. He admitted as much himself on +one occasion in a conversation with O'Meara. He said, "Las Cases +certainly was greatly irritated against Sir Hudson, and contributed +materially towards forming the impressions existing in my mind." He +attributed this to the sensitive mind of Las Cases, which he said was +peculiarly alive to the ill-treatment Napoleon and himself had been +subjected to. Sir Hudson Lowe also felt this, and remarked, like Sir +George Cockburn, on more than one occasion, that he always found Napoleon +himself more reasonable than the persons about him. + +A fertile source of annoyance was the resolution of Napoleon not upon any +terms to acknowledge himself a prisoner, and his refusal to submit to +such regulations as would render his captivity less burdensome. More +than once the attendance of an officer was offered to be discontinued if +he would allow himself to be seen once every day, and promise to take no +means of escaping. "If he were to give me the whole of the island," said +Napoleon, "on condition that I would pledge my word not to attempt an +escape, I would not accept it; because it would be equivalent to +acknowledging myself a prisoner, although at the same time I would not +make the attempt. I am here by force, and not by right. If I had been +taken at Waterloo perhaps I might have had no hesitation in accepting it, +although even in that case it would be contrary to the law of nations, +as now there is no war. If they were to offer me permission to reside in +England on similar conditions I would refuse it." The very idea of +exhibiting himself to an officer every day, though but for a moment, was +repelled with indignation. He even kept loaded pistols to shoot any +person who should attempt an intrusion on his privacy. It is stated in a +note in O'Meara's journal that "the Emperor was so firmly impressed with +the idea that an attempt would be made forcibly to intrude on his +privacy, that from a short time after the departure of Sir George +Cockburn he always kept four or five pairs of loaded pistols and some +swords in his apartment, with which he was determined to despatch the +first who entered against his will." It seems this practice was +continued to his death. + +Napoleon continued to pass the mornings in dictating his Memoirs and the +evenings in reading or conversation. He grew fonder of Racine, but his +favourite was Corneille. He repeated that, had he lived in his time, he +would have made him a prince. He had a distaste to Voltaire, and found +considerable fault with his dramas, perhaps justly, as conveying opinions +rather than sentiments. He criticised his Mahomet, and said he had made +him merely an impostor and a tyrant, without representing him as a great +man. This was owing to Voltaire's religious and political antipathies; +for those who are free from common prejudices acquire others of their own +in their stead, to which they are equally bigoted, and which they bring +forward on all occasions. When the evening passed off in conversation +without having recourse to books he considered it a point gained. + +Some one having asked the Emperor which was the greatest battle that he +had fought, he replied it was difficult to answer that question without +inquiring what was implied by the greatest battle. "Mine," continued he, +"cannot be judged of separately: they formed a portion of extensive +plans. They must therefore be estimated by their consequences. The +battle of Marengo, which was so long undecided, procured for us the +command of all Italy. Ulm annihilated a whole army; Jena laid the whole +Prussian monarchy at our feet; Friedland opened the Russian empire to us; +and Eckmuhl decided the fate of a war. The battle of the Moskwa was that +in which the greatest talent was displayed, and by which we obtained the +fewest advantages. Waterloo, where everything failed, would, had victory +crowned our efforts, have saved France and given peace to Europe." + +Madame Montholon having inquired what troops he considered the best, +"Those which are victorious, madam," replied the Emperor. "But," added +he, soldiers are capricious and inconstant, like you ladies. The best +troops were the Carthaginians under Hannibal, the Romans under the +Scipios, the Macedonians under Alexander, and the Prussians under +Frederick." He thought, however, that the French soldiers were of all +others those which could most easily be rendered the best, and preserved +so. With my complete guard of 40,000 or 50,000 men I would have +undertaken to march through Europe. It is perhaps possible to produce +troops as good as those that composed my army of Italy and Austerlitz, +but certainly none can ever surpass them." + +The anniversary of the battle of Waterloo produced a visible impression +on the Emperor. "Incomprehensible day!" said he, dejectedly; +"concurrence of unheard-of fatalities! Grouchy, Ney, D'Erlon--was there +treachery or was it merely misfortune? Alas! poor France!" Here he +covered his eyes with his hands. "And yet," said he, "all that human +skill could do was accomplished! All was not lost until the moment when +all had succeeded." A short time afterwards, resuming the subject, he +exclaimed, "In that extraordinary campaign, thrice, in less than a week, +I saw the certain triumph of France slip through my fingers. Had it not +been for a traitor I should have annihilated the enemy at the outset of +the campaign. I should have destroyed him at Ligny if my left wing had +only done its duty. I should have destroyed him again at Waterloo if my +right had seconded me. Singular defeat, by which, notwithstanding the +most fatal catastrophe, the glory of the conquered has not suffered." + +We shall here give Napoleon's own opinion of the battle of Waterloo. +"The plan of the battle," said he, "will not in the eyes of the +historian reflect any credit on Lord Wellington as a general. In the +first place, he ought not to have given battle with the armies divided. +They ought to have been united and encamped before the 15th. In the +next, the choice of ground was bad; because if he had been beaten he +could not have retreated, as there was only one road leading through the +forest in his rear. He also committed a fault which might have proved +the destruction of all his army, without its ever having commenced the +campaign, or being drawn out in battle; he allowed himself to be +surprised. On the 15th I was at Charleroi, and had beaten the Prussians +without his knowing anything about it. I had gained forty-eight hours of +manoeuvres upon him, which was a great object; and if some of my generals +had shown that vigour and genius which they had displayed on other +occasions, I should have taken his army in cantonments without ever +fighting a battle. But they were discouraged, and fancied that they saw +an army of 100,000 men everywhere opposed to them. I had not time enough +myself to attend to the minutiae of the army. I counted upon surprising +and cutting Wellington up in detail. I knew of Bulow's arrival at eleven +o'clock, but I did not regard it. I had still eighty chances out of a +hundred in my favour. Notwithstanding the great superiority of force +against me I was convinced that I should obtain the victory, I had about +70,000 men, of whom 15,000 were cavalry. I had also 260 pieces of +cannon; but my troops were so good that I esteemed them sufficient to +beat 120,000. Of all those troops, however, I only reckoned the English +as being able to cope with my own. The others I thought little of. +I believe that of English there were from 35,000 to 40,000. These I +esteemed to be as brave and as good as my own troops; the English army +was well known latterly on the Continent, and besides, your nation +possesses courage and energy. As to the Prussians, Belgians, and others, +half the number of my troops, were sufficient to beat them. I only left +34,000 men to take care of the Prussians. The chief causes of the loss +of that battle were, first of all, Grouchy's great tardiness and neglect +in executing his orders; next, the 'grenadiers a cheval' and the cavalry +under General Guyot, which I had in reserve, and which were never to +leave me, engaged without orders and without my knowledge; so that after +the last charge, when the troops were beaten and the English cavalry +advanced, I had not a single corps of cavalry in reserve to resist them, +instead of one which I esteemed to be equal to double their own number. +In consequence of this the English attacked, succeeded, and all was lost. +There was no means of rallying. The youngest general would not have +committed the fault of leaving an army entirely without reserve, which, +however, occurred here, whether in consequence of treason or not I cannot +say. These were the two principal causes of the loss of the battle of +Waterloo." + +"If Lord Wellington had intrenched himself," continued Napoleon, "I would +not have attacked him. As a general, his plan did not show talent. +He certainly displayed great courage and obstinacy; but a little must +be taken away even from that when you consider that he had no means of +retreat, and that had he made the attempt not a man of his army would +have escaped. First, to the firmness and bravery of his troops, for the +English fought with the greatest courage and obstinacy, he is principally +indebted for the victory, and not to his own conduct as a general; and +next, to the arrival of Blucher, to whom the victory is more to be +attributed than to Wellington, and more credit is due as a general; +because he, although beaten the day before, assembled his troops, and +brought them into action in the evening. I believe, however," continued +Napoleon, "that Wellington is a man of great firmness. The glory of such +a victory is a great thing; but in the eye of the historian his military +reputation will gain nothing by it." + +"I always had a high opinion of your seamen," said Napoleon one day to +O'Meara, in a conversation arising out of the expedition to Algiers. +"When I was returning from Holland along with the Empress Maria Louisa we +stopped to rest at Givet. During the night a violent storm of wind and +rain came on, which swelled the Meuse so much that the bridge of boats +over it was carried away. I was very anxious to depart, and ordered all +the boatmen in the place to be assembled that I might be enabled to cross +the river. They said that the waters were so high that it would be +impossible to pass before two or three days. I questioned some of them, +and soon discovered that they were fresh-water seamen. I then +recollected that there were English prisoners in the barracks, and +ordered that some of the oldest and best seamen among them should be +brought before me to the banks of the river. The waters were very high, +and the current rapid and dangerous. I asked them if they could join a +number of boats together so that I might pass over. They answered that +it was possible, but hazardous. I desired them to set about it +instantly. In the course of a few hours they succeeded in effecting what +the others had pronounced to be impossible, and I crossed before the +evening was over. I ordered those who had worked at it to receive a sum +of money each, a suit of clothes, and their liberty. Marchand was with +me at the time." + +In December 1816 Las Cases was compelled to leave St. Helena. He had +written a letter to Lucien Bonaparte, and entrusted it to a mulatto +servant to be forwarded to Europe. He was detected; and as he was thus +endeavouring to carry on (contrary to the regulations of the island) a +clandestine correspondence with Europe, Las Cases and his son were sent +off, first to the Cape and then to England, where they were only allowed +to land to be sent to Dover and shipped off to Ostend. + +Not long after their arrival at St. Helena, Madame Bertrand gave birth to +a son, and when Napoleon went to visit her she said, "I have the honour +of presenting to your Majesty the first French subject who has entered +Longwood without the permission of Lord Bathurst." + +It has been generally supposed that Napoleon was a believer in the +doctrine of predestination. The following conversation with Las Cases +clearly decides that point. "Pray," said he, "am I not thought to be +given to a belief in predestination?"--"Yes, Sire; at least by many +people."--"Well, well! let them say what they please, one may sometimes +be tempted to set a part, and it may occasionally be useful. But what +are men? How much easier is it to occupy their attention and to strike +their imaginations by absurdities than by rational ideas! But can a man +of sound sense listen for one moment to such a doctrine? Either +predestination admits the existence of free-will, or it rejects it. +If it admits it, what kind of predetermined result can that be which a +simple resolution, a step, a word, may alter or modify ad infinitum? +If predestination, on the contrary, rejects the existence of free-will it +is quite another question; in that case a child need only be thrown into +its cradle as soon as it is born, there is no necessity for bestowing the +least care upon it, for if it be irrevocably decreed that it is to live, +it will grow though no food should be given to it. You see that such a +doctrine cannot be maintained; predestination is but a word without +meaning. The Turks themselves, the professors of predestination, are not +convinced of the doctrine, for in that case medicine would not exist in +Turkey, and a man residing in a third floor would not take the trouble of +going down stairs, but would immediately throw himself out of the window. +You see to what a string of absurdities that will lead?" + +The following traits are characteristic of the man. In the common +intercourse of life, and his familiar conversation, Napoleon mutilated +the names most familiar to him, even French names; yet this would not +have occurred on any public occasion. He has been heard many times +during his walks to repeat the celebrated speech of Augustus in +Corneille's tragedy, and he has never missed saying, "Take a seat, +Sylla," instead of Cinna. He would frequently create names according to +his fancy, and when he had once adopted them they remained fixed in his +mind, although they were pronounced properly a hundred times a day in his +hearing; but he would have been struck if others had used them as he had +altered them. It was the same thing with respect to orthography; in +general he did not attend to it, yet if the copies which were made +contained any faults of spelling he would have complained of it. One day +Napoleon said to Las Cases, "Your orthography is not correct, is it?" +This question gave occasion to a sarcastic smile from a person who stood +near, who thought it was meant to convey a reproach. The Emperor, who +saw this, continued, "At least I suppose it is not, for a man occupied +with important public business, a minister, for instance, cannot and need +not attend to orthography. His ideas must flow faster than his hand can +trace them, he has only time to dwell upon essentials; he must put words +in letters, and phrases in words, and let the scribes make it out +afterwards." Napoleon indeed left a great deal for the copyists to do; +he was their torment; his handwriting actually resembled hieroglyphics-- +he often could not decipher it himself. Las Cases' son was one day +reading to him a chapter of The Campaign of Italy; on a sudden he stopped +short, unable to make out the writing. "The little blockhead," said +Napoleon, "cannot read his own handwriting."--" It is not mine, Sire."-- +"And whose, then?"--"Your Majesty's."--"How so, you little rogue; do you +mean to insult me?" The Emperor took the manuscript, tried a long while +to read it, and at last threw it down, saying, "He is right; I cannot +tell myself what is written." He has often sent the copyists to Las +Cases to read what he had himself been unable to decipher. + +We are now approaching the last melancholy epoch of Napoleon's life, when +he first felt the ravages of that malady which finally put a period to +his existence. Occasional manifestations of its presence had been +exhibited for some years, but his usual health always returned after +every attack, and its fatal nature was not suspected, although Napoleon +himself had several times said that he should die of a scirrhus in the +pylorus, the disease which killed his father, and which the physicians of +Montpelier declared would be hereditary in his family. About the middle +of the year 1818 it was observed that his health grew gradually worse, +and it was thought proper by O'Meara to report to the Governor the state +in which he was. Even on these occasions Napoleon seized the opportunity +for renewing his claim to the title of Emperor. He insisted that the +physician should not send any bulletin whatever unless he named him in it +by his Imperial designation. O'Meara explained that the instructions of +his Government and the orders of Sir Hudson Lowe prohibited him from +using the term; but it was in vain. After some difficulty it was agreed +upon that the word "patient" should be used instead of the title of +General, which caused so much offence, and this substitution got rid of +the difficulty. + +O'Meara afterwards proposed to call in the assistance of Dr. Baxter, the +principal medical officer of the island, but this offer Napoleon refused +at once, alleging that, although "it was true he looked like an honest +man, he was too much attached to that hangman" (Lows), he also persisted +in rejecting the aid of medicine, and determined to take no exercise out- +of-doors as long as he should be subjected to the challenge of sentinels. +To a representation that his determination might convert a curable to a +fatal malady, he replied, "I shall at least have the consolation that my +death will be an eternal dishonour to the English nation who sent me to +this climate to die under the hands of . . ." + +An important incident in Napoleon's monotonous life was the removal of +O'Meara, who had attended him as his physician from the time of his +arrival on the island. The removal of this gentleman, was occasioned by +the suspicion of similar conduct to that which brought about the +dismissal of Las Cases twenty months previously, namely, the carrying on +secret correspondence with persons out of the island. Napoleon +complained bitterly of the loss of his medical attendant, though he had +most assuredly very seldom attended to his advice, and repelled as an +insult the proffered assistance of Dr. Baxter, insinuating that the +Governor wished to have his life in his power. Some time after Dr. +Stokes, a naval surgeon, was called in, but withdrawn and eventually +tried by court-martial for furnishing information to the French at +Longwood. After this Napoleon expressed his determination to admit no +more visits from any English physician whatever, and Cardinal Fesch was +requested by the British Ministry to select some physician of reputation +in Italy who should be sent to St. Helena to attend on Napoleon. The +choice fell on Dr. Antommarchi, a young surgeon, who was accordingly sent +to St. Helena in company with two Catholic priests, the Abbes Buonavita +and Vignale, and two domestics, in compliance with the wish of Napoleon +to that effect. The party reached the island on 10th September 1819. + +On his first visit the Emperor overwhelmed Antommarchi with questions +concerning his mother and family, the Princess Julie (wife of Joseph), +and Las Cases, whom Antommarchi had seen in passing through Frankfort, +expatiated with satisfaction on the retreat which he had at one time +meditated in Corsica, entered into some discussions with the doctor on +his profession, and then directed his attention to the details of his +disorder. While he examined the symptoms the Emperor continued his +remarks. They were sometimes serious, sometimes lively; kindness, +indignation, gaiety, were expressed by turns in his words and in his +countenance. "Well, doctor!" he exclaimed, "what is your opinion? Am I +to trouble much longer the digestion of Kings?"--"You will survive them, +Sire."--" Aye, I believe you; they will not be able to subject to the ban +of Europe the fame of our victories, it will traverse ages, it will. +proclaim the conquerors and the conquered, those who were generous and +those who were not so; posterity will judge, I do not dread its +decision."--"This after-life belongs to you of right. Your name will +never be repeated with admiration without recalling those inglorious +warriors so basely leagued against a single man. But you are not near +your end, you have yet a long career to run."--"No, Doctor! I cannot +hold out long under this frightful climate."--"Your excellent +constitution is proof against its pernicious effects."--"It once did not +yield to the strength of mind with which nature has endowed me, but the +transition from a life of action to a complete seclusion has ruined all. +I have grown fat, my energy is gone, the bow is unstrung." Antommarchi +did not try to combat an opinion but too well-founded, but diverted the +conversation to another subject. "I resign myself," said Napoleon, "to +your direction. Let medicine give the order, I submit to its decisions. +I entrust my health to your care. I owe you the detail of the habits I +have acquired, of the affections to which I am subject. + +"The hours at which I obey the injunctions of nature are in general +extremely irregular. I sleep, I eat according to circumstances or the +situation in which I am placed; my sleep is ordinarily sound and +tranquil. If pain or any accident interrupt it I jump out of bed, call +for a light, walk, set to work, and fix my attention on some subject; +sometimes I remain in the dark, change my apartment, lie down in another +bed, or stretch myself on the sofa. I rise at two, three, or four in the +morning; I call for some one to keep me company, amuse myself with +recollections or business, and wait for the return of day. I go out as +soon as dawn appears, take a stroll, and when the sun shows itself I +reenter and go to bed again, where I remain a longer or shorter time, +according as the day promises to turn out. If it is bad, and I feel +irritation and uneasiness, I have recourse to the method I have just +mentioned. I change my posture, pass from my bed to the sofa, from the +sofa to the bed, seek and find a degree of freshness. I do not describe +to you my morning costume; it has nothing to do with the sufferings I +endure, and besides, I do not wish to deprive you of the pleasure of your +surprise when you see it. These ingenious contrivances carry me on to +nine or ten o'clock, sometimes later. I then order the breakfast to be +brought, which I take from time to time in my bath, but most frequently +in the garden. Either Bertrand or Montholon keep me company, often both +of them. Physicians have the right of regulating the table; it is proper +that I should give you an account of mine. Well, then, a basin of soup, +two plates of meat, one of vegetables, a salad when I can take it, +compose the whole service; half a bottle of claret; which I dilute with a +good deal of water, serves me for drink; I drink a little of it pure +towards the end of the repast. Sometimes, when I feel fatigued, I +substitute champagne for claret, it is a certain means of giving a fillip +to the stomach." + +The doctor having expressed his surprise at Napoleon's temperance, he +replied, "In my marches with the army of Italy I never failed to put into +the bow of my saddle a bottle of wine, some bread, and a cold fowl. This +provision sufficed for the wants of the day,--I may even say that I often +shared it with others. I thus gained time. I eat fast, masticate +little, my meals do not consume my hours. This is not what you will +approve the most, but in my present situation what signifies it? I am +attacked with a liver complaint, a malady which is general in this +horrible climate." + +Antommarchi, having gained his confidence, now became companion as well +as physician to the Emperor, and sometimes read with him. He eagerly +turned over the newspapers when they arrived, and commented freely on +their contents. "It is amusing," he would say, "to see the sage measures +resorted to by the Allies to make people forget my tyranny!" On one +occasion he felt more languid than ordinary, and lighting on the +'Andromache' of Racine; he took up the book, began to read, but soon let +it drop from his hands. He had come to the famous passage where the +mother describes her being allowed to see her son once a day. + +He was moved, covered his face with his hands, and, saying that he was +too much affected, desired to be left alone. He grew calmer, fell +asleep, and when he awoke, desired Antommarchi to be called again. He +was getting ready to shave, and the doctor was curious to witness the +operation. He was in his shirt, his head uncovered, with two valets at +his side, one holding the glass and a towel, the other the rest of the +apparatus. The Emperor spread the soap over one side of his face, put +down the brush, wiped his hands and mouth, took a razor dipped in hot +water and shaved the right side with singular dexterity. "Is it done, +Noverraz?"--"Yes, Sire."--"Well, then, face about. Come, villain, quick, +stand still." The light fell on the left side, which, after applying the +lather, he shaved in the same manner and with the same dexterity. He +drew his hand over his chin. "Raise the glass. Am I quite right?"-- +"Quite so."--"Not a hair has escaped me: what say you?"--"No, Sire," +replied the valet de chambre. "No! I think I perceive one. Lift up the +glass, place it in a better light. How, rascal! Flattery? You deceive +me at St. Helena? On this rock? You, too, are an accomplice." With +this he gave them both a box on the ear, laughed, and joked in the most +pleasant manner possible. + +An almost incredible instance of the determination of the exiles to make +as many enemies as they possibly could was exhibited to Antommarchi on +his arrival at Longwood. He states that before he was permitted to enter +on his functions as surgeon he was required to take an oath that he would +not communicate with the English, and that he would more especially avoid +giving them the least information respecting the progress of Napoleon's +disorder. He was not allowed to see his illustrious patient until the +oath was taken. After exacting such an oath from his physician the +attendants of Bonaparte had little right to complain, as they did, that +the real state of his disorder was purposely concealed from the world by +the English Government. It is more than probable that the constant +attempts observed to throw mystery and secrecy around them must have +tended to create the suspicion of escape, and to increase the consequent +rigour of the regulations maintained by the Governor. + +Soon after the arrival of the priests Napoleon determined, we may suppose +partly in jest, to elevate one of them to the dignity of bishop, and he +chose for a diocese the Jumna. "The last box brought from Europe had +been broken open," says Antommarchi; "it contained the vases and church +ornaments. "Stop," said Napoleon, "this is the property of St. Peter; +have a care who touches it; send for the abbes--but talking of the abbes, +do you know that the Cardinal [Fesch] is a poor creature? He sends me +missionaries and propagandists, as if I were a penitent, and as if a +whole string of their Eminences had not always attended at my chapel. +I will do what he ought to have done; I possess the right of investiture, +and I shall use it." Abbe Buonavita was just entering the room, "'I give +you the episcopal mitre.'--'Sire!'--'I restore it to you; you shall wear +it in spite of the heretics; they will not again take it from you.'-- +'But, Sire!'--'I cannot add to it so rich a benefice as that of Valencia, +which Suchet had given you, but at any rate your see shall be secure from +the chances of battles. I appoint you Bishop of--let me see--of the +Jumna. The vast countries through which that river flows were on the +point of entering into alliance with me--all was in readiness, all were +going to march. We were about to give the finishing blow to England." +The speech concluded with an order to Count Montholon to procure the +necessary dress for the abbe in order to strike with awe all the +heretics. The upshot of the whole was, that the scarlet and violet +coloured clothes necessary to furnish the new bishop with the only +valuable portion of his temporalities, his dress, could not be procured +in the island, and the abbe remained an abbe in spite of the investiture, +and the whole farce was forgotten. + +We occasionally see the Exile in better moods, when he listened to the +voice of reason, and thought less of the annoyances inseparable from the +state to which his ambition, or as he himself always averred, his +destiny, had reduced him. He had for a long time debarred himself from +all exercise, having, as he expressed it, determined not to expose +himself to the insult of being accompanied on his ride by a British +officer; or the possibility of being challenged by a sentinel. One day +when he complained of his inactive life his medical attendant recommended +the exercise of digging the ground; the idea was instantly seized upon by +Napoleon with his characteristic ardour. Noverraz, his chasseur, who had +been formerly accustomed to rural occupations, was honoured with the +title of head gardener, and under his directions Napoleon proceeded to +work with great vigour. He sent for Antommarchi to witness his newly +acquired dexterity in the use of the spade. "Well, Doctor," said he to +him, "are you satisfied with your patient--is he obedient enough? This +is better than your pills, Dottoraccio; you shall not physic me any +more." At first he soon got fatigued, and complained much of the +weakness of his body and delicacy of his hands; but "never mind," said +he, "I have always accustomed my body to bend to my will, and I shall +bring it to do so now, and inure it to the exercise." He soon grew fond +of his new employment, and pressed all the inhabitants of Longwood into +the service. Even the ladies had great difficulty to avoid being set to +work. He laughed at them, urged them, entreated them, and used all his +arts of persuasion, particularly with Madame Bertrand. He assured her +that the exercise of gardening was much better than all the doctor's +prescriptions--that it was in fact one of his prescriptions. But in this +instance his eloquence failed in its effect, and he was obliged, though +with much reluctance, to desist from his attempts to make lady gardeners. + +But in recompense he had willing labourers on the part of the gentlemen. +Antommarchi says, "The Emperor urged us, excited us, and everything +around us soon assumed a different aspect. Here was an excavation, there +a basin or a road. We made alleys, grottoes, cascades; the appearance of +the ground had now some life and diversity. We planted willows, oaks, +peach-trees, to give a little shade round the house. Having completed +the ornamental part of our labours we turned to the useful. We divided +the ground, we manured it, and sowed it with abundance of beans, peas, +and every vegetable that grows in the island." In the course of their +labours they found that a tank would be of great use to hold water, which +might be brought by pipes from a spring at a distance of 3000 feet. + +For this laborious attempt it was absolutely necessary to procure +additional forces, and a party of Chinese, of whom there are many on the +island, was engaged to help them. These people were much amused at +Napoleon's working-dress, which was a jacket and large trousers, with an +enormous straw hat to shield him from the sun, and sandals. He pitied +those poor fellows who suffered from the heat of the sun, and made each +of them a present of a large hat like his own. After much exertion the +basin was finished, the pipes laid, and the water began to flow into it. +Napoleon stocked his pond with gold-fish, which he placed in it with his +own hands. He would remain by the pond for hours together, at a time +when he was so weak that he could hardly support himself. He would amuse +himself by following the motion of the fishes, throwing bread to them, +studying their ways, taking an interest in their loves and their +quarrels, and endeavouring with anxiety to find out points of resemblance +between their motives and those of mankind. He often sent for his +attendants to communicate his remarks to them, and directed their +observations to any peculiarities he had observed. His favourites at +last sickened, they struggled, floated on the water, and died one after +another. He was deeply affected by this, and remarked to Antommarchi, +"You see very well that there is a fatality attached to me. Everything I +love, everything that belongs to me, is immediately struck: heaven and +mankind unite to persecute me." From this time he visited them daily in +spite of sickness or bad weather, nor did his anxiety diminish until it +was discovered that a coppery cement, with which the bottom of the basin +was plastered, had poisoned the water. The fish which were not yet dead +were then taken out and put into a tub. + +Napoleon appears to have taken peculiar interest in observing the +instincts of animals, and comparing their practices and propensities with +those of men. A rainy day, during which the digging of the tank could +not be proceeded with, gave occasion for some observations on the actions +of a number of ants, which had made a way into his bedroom, climbed upon +a table on which some sugar usually stood, and taken possession of the +sugar-basin. He would not allow the industrious little insects to be +disturbed in their plans; but he now and then moved the sugar, followed +their manoeuvres, and admired the activity and industry they displayed +until they found it again; this they had been sometimes even two or three +days in effecting, though they always succeeded at last. He then +surrounded the basin with water, but the ants still reached it; he +finally employed vinegar, and the insects were unable to get through the +new obstacle. + +But the slight activity of mind that now remained to him was soon to be +exchanged for the languor and gloom of sickness, with but few intervals +between positive suffering and the most distressing lowness of spirits. +Towards the end of the year 1820 he walked with difficulty, and required +assistance even to reach a chair in his garden. He became nearly +incapable of the slightest action; his legs swelled; the pains in his +side and back were increased; he was troubled with nausea, profuse +sweats, loss of appetite, and was subject to frequent faintings. "Here +I am, Doctor," said he one day, "at my last cast. No more energy and +strength left: I bend under the load . . . . I am going. I feel that +my hour is come." + +Some days after, as he lay on his couch, he feelingly expressed to +Antommarchi the vast change which had taken place within him. He +recalled for a few moments the vivid recollection of past times, and +compared his former energy with the weakness which he was then sinking +under. + +The news of the death of his sister Elisa also affected him deeply. +After a struggle with his feelings, which had nearly overpowered him, he +rose, supported himself on Antommarchi's arm; and regarding him +steadfastly, said, "Well, Doctor! you see Elisa has just shown me the +way. Death, which seemed to have forgotten my family, has begun to +strike it; my turn cannot be far off. What think you?"--"Your Majesty is +in no danger: you are still reserved for some glorious enterprise."-- +"Ah, Doctor! I have neither strength nor activity nor energy; I am no +longer Napoleon. You strive in vain to give me hopes, to recall life +ready to expire. Your care can do nothing in spite of fate: it is +immovable: there is no appeal from its decisions. The next person of our +family who will follow Elisa to the tomb is that great Napoleon who +hardly exists, who bends under the yoke, and who still, nevertheless +keeps Europe in alarm. Behold, my good friend, how I look on my +situation! As for me, all is over: I repeat it to you, my days will soon +close on this miserable rock."--"We returned," says Antommarchi, "into +his chamber. Napoleon lay down' in bed. 'Close my windows,' he said; +leave me to myself; I will send for you by-and-by. What a delightful +thing rest is! I would not exchange it for all the thrones in the world! +What an alteration! How I am fallen! I, whose activity was boundless, +whose mind never slumbered, am now plunged into a lethargic stupor, so +that it requires an effort even to raise my eyelids. I sometimes +dictated to four or five secretaries, who wrote as fast as words could be +uttered, but then I was NAPOLEON--now I am no longer anything. My +strength--my faculties forsake me. I do not live--I merely exist.'" + +From this period the existence of Napoleon was evidently drawing to a +close his days were counted. Whole hours, and even days, were either +passed in gloomy silence or spent in pain, accompanied by distressing +coughs, and all the melancholy signs of the approach of death. He made a +last effort to ride a few miles round Longwood on the 22d of January +1821, but it exhausted his strength, and from that time his only exercise +was in the calash. Even that slight motion soon became too fatiguing. + +He now kept his room, and no longer stirred out. His disorder and his +weakness increased upon him. He still was able to eat something, but +very little, and with a worse appetite than ever. "Ah! doctor," he +exclaimed, "how I suffer! Why did the cannon-balls spare me only to die +in this deplorable manner? I that was so active, so alert, can now +scarcely raise my eyelids!" + +His last airing was on the 17th of March. The disease increased, and +Antommarchi, who was much alarmed, obtained with some difficulty +permission to see an English physician. He held a consultation, on the +26th of March, with Dr. Arnott of the 20th Regiment; but Napoleon still +refused to take medicine, and often repeated his favourite saying: +"Everything that must happen is written down our hour is marked, and it +is not in our power to take from time a portion which nature refuses us." +He continued to grow worse, and at last consented to see Dr. Arnott, +whose first visit was on the 1st of April He was introduced into the +chamber of the patient, which was darkened, and into which Napoleon did +not suffer any light to be brought, examined his pulse and the other +symptoms, and was requested to repeat his visit the next day. Napoleon +was now within a month of his death, and although he occasionally spoke +with the eloquence and vehemence he had so often exhibited, his mind was +evidently giving way. The reported appearance of a comet was taken as a +token of his death. He was excited, and exclaimed with emotion, +"A comet! that was the precursor of the death of Caesar." + +On the 3d of April the symptoms of the disorder had become so alarming +that Antommarchi informed Bertrand and Montholon he thought Napoleon's +danger imminent, and that Napoleon ought to take steps to put his affairs +in order. He was now attacked by fever and by violent thirst, which +often interrupted his sleep in the night. On the 14th Napoleon found +himself in better spirits, and talked with Dr. Arnott on the merits of +Marlborough, whose Campaigns he desired him to present to the 20th +Regiment, learning that they did not, possess a copy in their library. + +On the 15th of April Napoleon's doors were closed to all but Montholon +and Marchand, and it appeared that he had been making his Will. On the +19th he was better, was free from pain, sat up, and ate a little. He was +in good spirits, and wished them to read to him. As General Montholon +with the others expressed his satisfaction at this improvement he smiled +gently, and said, "You deceive yourselves, my friends: I am, it is true, +somewhat better, but I feel no less that my end draws near. When I am +dead you will have the agreeable consolation of returning to Europe. One +will meet his relations, another his friends; and as for me, I shall +behold my brave companions-in-arms in the Elysian Fields. Yes," he went +on, raising his voice, "Kleber, Desaix, Bessieres, Duroc, Ney, Murat, +Massena, Berthier, all will come to greet me: they will talk to me of +what we have done together. I will recount to them the latest events of +my life. On seeing me they will become once more intoxicated with +enthusiasm and glory. We will discourse of our wars with the Scipios, +Hannibal, Caesar, and Frederick--there will be a satisfaction in that: +unless," he added, laughing bitterly, "they should be alarmed below to +see so many warriors assembled together!" + +He addressed Dr. Arnott, who came in while he was speaking, on the +treatment he had received from England said that she had violated every +sacred right in making him prisoner, that he should have been much better +treated in Russia, Austria, or even Prussia; that he was sent to the +horrible rock of St. Helena on purpose to die; that he had been purposely +placed on the most uninhabitable spot of that inhospitable island, and +kept six years a close prisoner, and that Sir Hudson Lowe was his +executioner. He concluded with these words: "You will end like the proud +republic of Venice; and I, dying upon this dreary rock, away from those I +hold dear, and deprived of everything, bequeath the opprobrium and horror +of my death to the reigning family of England." + +On the 21st Napoleon gave directions to the priest who was in attendance +as to the manner in which he would be placed to lie in state after his +death; and finding his religious attendant had never officiated in such a +solemnity he gave the most minute instructions for the mode of conducting +it. He afterwards declared that he would die, as he was born a Catholic, +and desired that mass should be said by his body, and the customary +ceremonies should be performed every day until his burial. The +expression of his face was earnest and convulsive; he saw Antommarchi +watching the contractions which he underwent, when his eye caught some +indication that displeased him. "You are above these weaknesses; but +what would you have? I am neither philosopher nor physician. I believe +in God; I am of the religion of my fathers; every one cannot be an +atheist who pleases." Then turning to the priest--"I was born in the +Catholic religion. I wish to fulfil the duties which it imposes, and to +receive the succour which it administers. You will say mass every day in +the adjoining chapel, and you will expose the Holy Sacrament for forty +hours. After I am dead you will place your altar at my head in the +funeral chamber; you will continue to celebrate mass, and perform all the +customary ceremonies; you will not cease till I am laid in the ground." +The Abbe (Vignale) withdrew; Napoleon reproved his fellow-countryman for +his supposed incredulity. "Can you carry it to this point? Can you +disbelieve in God? Everything proclaims His existence; and, besides, the +greatest minds have thought so."--"But, Sire, I have never called it in +question. I was attending to the progress of the fever: your Majesty +fancied you saw in my features an expression which they had not."-- +"You are a physician, Doctor," he replied laughingly; "these folks," he +added, half to himself, "are conversant only with matter; they will +believe in nothing beyond." + +In the afternoon of the 25th he was better; but being left alone, a +sudden fancy possessed him to eat. He called for fruits, wine, tried a +biscuit, then swallowed some champagne, seized a bunch of grapes, and +burst into a fit of laughter as soon as he saw Antommarchi return. The +physician ordered away the dessert, and found fault with the maitre +d'hotel; but the mischief was done, the fever returned and became +violent. The Emperor was now on his death-bed, but he testified concern +for every one. He asked Antommarchi if 500 guineas would satisfy the +English physician, and if he himself would like to serve Maria Louisa in +quality of a physician? "She is my wife, the first Princess in Europe, +and after me you should serve no one else." Antommarchi expressed his +acknowledgments. The fever continued unabated, with violent thirst and +cold in the feet. On the 27th he determined to remove from the small +chamber into the salon. They were preparing to carry him. "No," he +said, "not until I am dead; for the present it will be sufficient if you +support me." + +Between the 27th and 28th the Emperor passed a very bad night; the fever +increased, coldness spread over his limbs, his strength was quite gone. +He spoke a few words of encouragement to Antommarchi; then in a tone of +perfect calmness and composure he delivered to him the following +instructions: "After my death, which cannot be far off, I wish you to +open my body: I wish also, nay, I require, that you will not suffer any +English physician to touch me. If, however, you find it indispensable to +have some one to assist you, Dr. Arnott is the only one I am willing you +should employ. I am desirous, further, that you should take out my +heart, that you put it in spirits of wine, and that you carry it to Parma +to my dear Maria Louisa: you will tell her how tenderly I have loved her, +that I have never ceased to love her; and you will report to her all that +you have witnessed, all that relates to my situation and my death. I +recommend you, above all, carefully to examine my stomach, to make an. +exact detailed report of it, which you will convey to my son. The +vomitings which succeed each other without intermission lead me to +suppose that the stomach is the one of my organs which is the most +deranged, and I am inclined to believe that it is affected with the +disease which conducted my father to the grave,--I mean a cancer in the +lower stomach. What think you? "His physician hesitating, he continued +--"I have not doubted this since I found the sickness become frequent and +obstinate. It is nevertheless well worthy of remark that I have always +had a stomach of iron, that I have felt no inconvenience from this organ +till latterly, and that whereas my father was fond of high-seasoned +dishes and spirituous liquors, I have never been able to make use of +them. Be it as it may, I entreat, I charge you to neglect nothing in +such an examination, in order that when you see my son you may +communicate the result of your observations to him, and point out the +most suitable remedies. When I am no more you will repair to Rome; you +will find out my mother and my family. You will give them an account of +all you have observed relative to my situation, my disorder, and my death +on this remote and miserable rock; you will tell them that the great +Napoleon expired in the most deplorable state, wanting everything, +abandoned to himself and his glory." It was ten in the forenoon; after +this the fever abated, and he fell into a sort of doze. + +The Emperor passed a very bad night, and could not sleep. He grew light- +headed and talked incoherently; still the fever had abated in its +violence. Towards morning the hiccough began to torment him, the fever +increased, and he became quite delirious. He spoke of his complaint, and +called upon Baxter (the Governor's physician) to appear, to come and see +the truth of his reports. Then all at once fancying O'Meara present, he +imagined a dialogue between them, throwing a weight of odium on the +English policy. The fever having subsided, his hearing became distinct; +he grew calm, and entered into some further conversation on what was to +be done after his death. He felt thirsty, and drank a large quantity of +cold water. "If fate should determine that I shall recover, I would +raise a monument on the spot where this water gushes out: I would crown +the fountain in memory of the comfort which it has afforded me. If I +die, and they should not proscribe my remains as they have proscribed my +person, I should desire to be buried with my ancestors in the cathedral +of Ajaccio, in Corsica. But if I am not allowed to repose where I was +born, why, then, let them bury me at the spot where this fine and +refreshing water flows." This request was afterwards complied with. + +He remained nearly in the same state for some days. On the 1st of May he +was delirious nearly all day, and suffered dreadful vomitings. He took +two small biscuits and a few drops of red wine. On the 2d he was rather +quieter, and the alarming symptoms diminished a little. At 2 P.M., +however, he had a paroxysm of fever, and became again delirious. He +talked to himself of France, of his dear son, of some of his old +companions-in-arms. At times he was evidently in imagination on the +field of battle. "Stengel!" he cried; "Desaix! Massena! Ah! victory +is declaring itself! run--rush forward--press the charge!--they are +ours!" + +"I was listening," says Dr. Antommarchi, "and following the progress of +that painful agony in the deepest distress, when Napoleon, suddenly +collecting his strength, jumped on the floor, and would absolutely go +down into the garden to take a walk. I ran to receive him in my arms, +but his legs bent under the weight of his body; he fell backwards, and I +had the mortification of being unable to prevent his falling. We raised +him up and entreated him to get into bed again; but he did not recognise +anybody, and began to storm and fall into a violent passion. He was +unconscious, and anxiously desired to walk in the garden. In the course +of the day, however, he became more collected, and again spoke of his +disease, and the precise anatomical examination he wished to be made of +his body after death. He had a fancy that this might be useful to his +son." "The physicians of Montpelier," he said to Antommarchi, "announced +that the scirrhosis in the pylorus would be hereditary in my family; +their report is, I believe, in the hands of my brother Louis; ask for it +and compare it with your own observations on my case, in order that my +son may be saved from this cruel disease. You will see him, Doctor, and +you will point out to him what is best to do, and will save him from the +cruel sufferings I now experience. This is the last service I ask of +you." Later in the day he said, "Doctor, I am very ill--I feel that I am +going to die." + +The last time Napoleon spoke, except to utter a few short unconnected +words, was on the 3d of May. It was in the afternoon, and he had +requested his attendants, in case of his losing consciousness, not to +allow any English physician to approach him except Dr. Arnott. "I am +going to die," said he, "and you to return to Europe; I must give you +some advice as to the line of conduct you are to pursue. You have shared +my exile, you will be faithful to my memory, and will not do anything +that may injure it. I have sanctioned all proper principles, and infused +them into my laws and acts; I have not omitted a single one. +Unfortunately, however, the circumstances in which I was placed were +arduous, and I was obliged to act with severity, and to postpone the +execution of my plans. Our reverses occurred; I could not unbend the +bow; and France has been deprived of the liberal institutions I intended +to give her. She judges me with indulgence; she feels grateful for my +intentions; she cherishes my name and my victories. Imitate her example, +be faithful to the opinions we have defended, and to the glory we have +acquired: any other course can only lead to shame and confusion." + +From this moment it does not appear that Napoleon showed any signs of +understanding what was going forward around him. His weakness increased +every moment, and a harassing hiccough continued until death took place. +The day before that event a fearful tempest threatened to destroy +everything about Longwood. The plantations were torn up by the roots, +and it was particularly remarked that a willow, under which Napoleon +usually sat to enjoy the fresh air, had fallen. "It seemed," says +Antommarchi, "as if none of the things the Emperor valued were to survive +him." On the day of his death Madame Bertrand, who had not left his +bedside, sent for her children to take a last farewell of Napoleon. The +scene which ensued was affecting: the children ran to the bed, kissed the +hands of Napoleon, and covered them with tears. One of the children +fainted, and all had to be carried from the spot. "We all," says +Antommarchi, "mixed our lamentations with theirs: we all felt the same +anguish, the same cruel foreboding of the approach of the fatal instant, +which every minute accelerated." The favourite valet, Noverraz, who had +been for some time very ill, when he heard of the state in which Napoleon +was, caused himself to be carried downstairs, and entered the apartment +in tears. He was with great difficulty prevailed upon to leave the room: +he was in a delirious state, and he fancied his master was threatened +with danger, and was calling upon him for assistance: he said he would +not leave him but would fight and die for him. But Napoleon was now +insensible to the tears of his servants; he had scarcely spoken for two +days; early in the morning he articulated a few broken sentences, among +which the only words distinguishable were, "tete d'armee," the last that +ever left his lips, and which indicated the tenor of his fancies. The +day passed in convulsive movements and low moanings, with occasionally a +loud shriek, and the dismal scene closed just before six in the evening. +A slight froth covered his lips, and he was no more. + +After he had been dead about six hours Antommarchi had the body carefully +washed and laid out on another bed. The executors then proceeded to +examine two codicils which were directed to be opened immediately after +the Emperor's decease. The one related to the gratuities which be +intended out of his private purse for the different individuals of his +household, and to the alms which he wished to be distributed among the +poor of St. Helena; the other contained his last wish that "his ashes +should repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French +people whom he had loved so well." The executors notified this request +to the Governor, who stated that his orders were that the body was to, +remain on the island. On the next day, after taking a plaster cast of +the face of Napoleon, Antommarchi proceeded to open the body in the +presence of Sir Thomas Reade, some staff officers, and eight medical men. + +The Emperor had intended his hair (which was of a chestnut colour) for +presents to the different members of his family, and it was cut off and +kept for this purpose. + +He had grown considerably thinner in person during the last few months. +After his death his face and body were pale, but without alteration or +anything of a cadaverous appearance. His physiognomy was fine, the eyes +fast closed, and you would have said that the Emperor was not dead, but +in a profound sleep. His mouth retained its expression of sweetness, +though one side was contracted into a bitter smile. Several scars were +seen on his body. On opening it it was found that the liver was not +affected, but that there was that cancer of the stomach which he had +himself suspected, and of which his father and two of his sisters died. +This painful examination having been completed, Antommarchi took out the +heart and placed it in a silver vase filled with spirits of wine; he then +directed the valet de chambre to dress the body as he had been accustomed +in the Emperor's lifetime, with the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour +across the breast, in the green uniform of a colonel of the Chasseurs of +the Guard, decorated with the orders of the Legion of Honour and of the +Iron Crown, long boots with little spurs, finally, his three cornered +hat. Thus habited, Napoleon was removed in the afternoon of the 6th out +of the hall, into which the, crowd rushed immediately. The linen which +had been employed in the dissection of the body, though stained with +blood, was eagerly seized, torn in pieces, and distributed among the +bystanders. + +Napoleon lay in state in his little bedroom which had been converted into +a funeral chamber. It was hung with black cloth brought from the town. +This circumstance first apprised the inhabitants of his death. The +corpse, which had not been embalmed, and which was of an extraordinary +whiteness, was placed on one of the campbeds, surrounded with little +white curtains, which served for a sarcophagus. The blue cloak which +Napoleon had worn at the battle of Marengo covered it. The feet and the +hands were free; the sword on the left side, and a crucifix on the +breast. At some distance was the silver vase containing the heart and +stomach, which were not allowed to be removed. At the back of the head +was an altar, where the priest in his stole and surplice recited the +customary prayers. All the individuals of Napoleon's suite, officers and +domestics, dressed in mourning, remained standing on the left. Dr. +Arnott had been charged to see that no attempt was made to convey away +the body. + +For some-hours the crowd had besieged the doors; they were admitted, and +beheld the inanimate remains of Napoleon in respectful silence. The +officers of the 20th and 66th' Regiments were admitted first, then the +others. The following day (the 7th) the throng was greater. Antommarchi +was not allowed to take the heart of Napoleon to Europe with him; he +deposited that and the stomach in two vases, filled with alcohol and +hermetically sealed, in the corners of the coffin in which the corpse was +laid. This was a shell of zinc lined with white satin, in which was a +mattress furnished with a pillow. There not being room for the hat to +remain on his head, it was placed at his feet, with some eagles, pieces +of French money coined during his reign, a plate engraved with his arms, +etc. The coffin was closed, carefully soldered up, and then fixed in +another case of mahogany, which was enclosed in a third made of lead, +which last was fastened in a fourth of mahogany, which was sealed up and +fastened with screws. The coffin was exhibited in the same place as the +body had been, and was also covered with the cloak that Napoleon had worn +at the battle of Marengo. The funeral was ordered for the morrow, 8th +May, and the troops were to attend in the morning by break of day. + +This took place accordingly: the Governor arrived first, the Rear-Admiral +soon after, and shortly all the authorities, civil and military, were +assembled at Longwood. The day was fine, the people crowded the roads, +music resounded from the heights; never had spectacle so sad and solemn +been witnessed in these remote regions. At half-past twelve the +grenadiers took hold of the coffin, lifted it with difficulty, and +succeeded in removing it into the great walk in the garden, where the +hearse awaited them. It was placed in the carriage, covered with a pall +of violet-coloured velvet, and with the cloak which the hero wore at +Marengo. The Emperor's household were in mourning. The cavalcade was +arranged by order of the Governor in the following manner: The Abbe +Vignale in his sacerdotal robes, with young Henry Bertrand at his side, +bearing an aspersorium; Doctors Arnott and Antommarchi, the persons +entrusted with the superintendence of the hearse, drawn by four horses, +led by grooms, and escorted by twelve grenadiers without arms, on each +side; these last were to carry the coffin on their shoulders as soon as +the ruggedness of the road prevented the hearse from advancing; young +Napoleon Bertrand, and Marchand, both on foot, and by the side of the +hearse; Counts Bertrand and Montholon on horseback close behind the +hearse; a part of the household of the Emperor; Countess Bertrand with +her daughter Hortense, in a calash drawn by two horses led by hand by her +domestics, who walked by the side of the precipice; the Emperor's horse +led by his piqueur Archambaud; the officers of marine on horseback and on +foot; the officers of the staff on horse-back; the members of the council +of the island in like manner; General Coffin and the Marquis Montchenu on +horseback; the Rear-Admiral and the Governor on horseback; the +inhabitants of the island. + +The train set out in this order from Longwood, passed by the barracks, +and was met by the garrison, about 2500 in number, drawn up on the left +of the road as far as Hut's Gate. Military bands placed at different +distances added still more, by the mournful airs which they played, to +the striking solemnity of the occasion. When the train had passed the +troops followed and accompanied it to the burying-place. The dragoons +marched first. Then came the 20th Regiment of infantry, the marines, the +66th, the volunteers of St. Helena, and lastly, the company of Royal +Artillery, with fifteen pieces of cannon. Lady Lowe and her daughter +were at the roadside at Hut's Gate, in an open carriage drawn by two +horses. They were attended by some domestics in mourning, and followed +the procession at a distance. The fifteen pieces of artillery were +ranged along the road, and the gunners were at their posts ready to fire. +Having advanced about a quarter of a mile beyond Hut's Gate the hearse +stopped, the troops halted and drew up in line of battle by the roadside. +The grenadiers then raised the coffin on their shoulders and bore it thus +to the place of interment, by the new route which had been made on +purpose on the declivity of the mountain. All the attendants alighted, +the ladies descended from their carriages, and the procession followed +the corpse without observing any regular order. + +Counts Bertrand and Montholon, Marchand and young Napoleon Bertrand, +carried the four corners of the pall. The coffin was laid down at the +side of the tomb, which was hung with black. Near were seen the cords +and pulleys which were to lower it into the earth. The coffin was then +uncovered, the Abbe Vignale repeated the usual prayers, and the body was +let down into the grave with the feet to the east. The artillery then +fired three salutes in succession of fifteen discharges each. The +Admiral's vessel had fired during the procession twenty-five minute guns +from time to time. A huge stone, which was to have been employed in the +building of the new house of the Emperor, was now used to close his +grave, and was lowered till it rested on a strong stone wall so as not to +touch the coffin. While the grave was closed the crowd seized upon the +willows, which the former presence of Napoleon had already rendered +objects of veneration. Every one was ambitious to possess a branch or +some leaves of these trees which were henceforth to shadow the tomb of +this great man, and to preserve them as a precious relic of so memorable +a scene. The Governor and Admiral endeavoured to prevent this outrage, +but in vain. The Governor, however, surrounded the spot afterwards with +a barricade, where he placed a guard to keep off all intruders. The tomb +of the Emperor was about a league from Longwood. It was of a +quadrangular shape, wider at top than at bottom; the depth about twelve +feet. The coffin was placed on two strong pieces of wood, and was +detached in its whole circumference. + +The companions of Napoleon returned to France, and the island gradually +resumed its former quiet state, while the willows weeping over the grave +guarded the ashes of the man for whom Europe had been all too small. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Every one cannot be an atheist who pleases +Grew more angry as his anger was less regarded +I do not live--I merely exist +Strike their imaginations by absurdities than by rational ideas +Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Napoleon, v16, 1821 +by Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne + diff --git a/3566.zip b/3566.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d92fbcc --- /dev/null +++ b/3566.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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