Count de Las Cases
Memorial de Sainte Hélène
London, 1823
MY RESIDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.
Volume 1, Part 2
page 23 – 91
1815, December 10 – 31.
ESTABLISHMENT AT LONGWOOD.
Removal to Longwood.—Description of the Road.—Taking Possession.—the Emperor’s First Bath, &c.
10.—The Emperor ordered me to be called about nine o’clock, to accompany him into the garden. He was obliged to leave his chamber very early, as all the furniture was to be removed that morning to Longwood. On entering the garden, the Emperor sent for Mr. Balcombe our host. He then ordered his breakfast, and invited Mr. Balcombe to breakfast with him. He was in charming spirits, and his conversation was very lively.
About two o’clock the Admiral was announced : he advanced with an air of embarrassment. The manner in which the Emperor had been treated at Briars, and the restraints which had been imposed upon the members of his suite residing in the town, had occasioned a coolness between them. The Emperor had discontinued receiving the visits of the Admiral ; yet on the present occasion he behaved to him as though they had met but yesterday.
At length we left Briars, and set out for Longwood. The Emperor rode the horse which had been brought to him from the Cape. He had not seen him before ; he was a small, sprightly, and tolerably handsome animal. The Emperor wore his uniform of the chasseurs of the guard : his graceful figure and handsome countenance were particularly remarkable. His appearance attracted general notice, and I was gratified to hear the observations it called forth. The Admiral was very attentive to hint. Many persons had collected on the road to see him pass. Several English officers, together with ourselves, formed his escort.
The road from Briars to Longwood runs for some distance in the direction of the town. It then turns off suddenly to the right, and, after three or four windings, clears the chain of hills forming one side of the valley. The road next opens upon a level height of gentle acclivity, and a new horizon and new scenes present themselves. We now left behind us the chain of barren mountains and rocks which distinguish the landing-side of the island, and saw before us a transverse group of hills, of which Diana’s Peak is the highest, and appears like the key-stone, or the nucleus of the surrounding scene. On the left or eastern side, where Longwood is situated, the horizon is bounded by the broken chain of rocks forming the outline and barrier of the island. There the soil exhibits an uncultivated desert ; but on the right the eye rests on an extensive tract of country, which, though rugged, at least presents traces of vegetation : it is covered with numerous residences, and upon the whole is tolerably well cultivated. On this side, it must be confessed, the picture is romantic and pleasing.
Here a deep valley opens on the left of the road, which is in very good condition ; and two miles farther on, where the road turns in an angular direction, stands Hut’s gate, a wretched little house, which was selected as the residence of the Grand Marshal and his family. At a short distance from this point, the valley on the left, having gradually encreased in depth, forms a circular gulf, which from its vast depth and extent, has received the name of the Devil’s Punch-bowl. The road is here contracted by an eminence on the right, and it runs along by the side of this precipice, until it turns off in the direction of Longwood, which is close at hand.
At the entrance of Longwood, we found a guard under arms, who rendered the prescribed honours to the august captive. The Emperor’s horse, which was spirited and untractable, being unused to this kind of parade, was startled at the sound of the drum ; he refused to pass the gate, and it was only by the help of the spur, that his rider succeeded in forcing him to advance. At this moment, I observed very expressive looks exchanged among the persons composing the Emperor’s escort. We entered our new residence about four o’clock.
The Admiral took great pains to point out to us even the minutest details at Longwood. He had superintended all the arrangements, and some things were even the work of his own hands. The Emperor was satisfied with every thing, and the Admiral seemed highly pleased. He had evidently anticipated petulance and disdain ; but the Emperor manifested perfect good-humour.
He retired at six o’clock, and beckoned me to follow him to his chamber. Here he examined various articles of furniture, and enquired whether I was similarly provided. On my replying in the negative, he insisted on my accepting of them ; saying in the most engaging manner, “ Take them, I shall want for nothing : I shall be taken better care of than you.” He felt much fatigued, and he asked whether he did not look so. This was the consequence of having passed five months in perfect inactivity. He had walked a good deal in the morning, besides riding some miles on horseback.
Our new residence was provided with a bathing machine, which the Admiral had ordered the carpenters to fit up in the best way they could. The Emperor, who, since he quitted Malmaison, had been obliged to dispense with the use of the bath, which to him had become one of the necessaries of life, expressed a wish to bathe immediately, and directed me to remain with him. The most trivial details of our new establishment came once more under consideration ; and as the apartment which had been assigned to me was very bad, the Emperor expressed a wish that, during the day, I should occupy what he called his topographic cabinet, which adjoined his own private closet, in order, as he said, that I might be nearer him. I was much affected by the kind manner in which all this was spoken. He even went so far as to tell me that I must come next morning and take a bath in his machine ; and when I excused myself on the ground of the respect and the distance which it was indispensable should be observed betwixt us, “ My dear Las Cases,” said he, “ fellow prisoners should accommodate each other. I do not want the bath all day, and it is no less necessary to you than to me.” One would have supposed that he wished to indemnify me for the loss I was about to sustain, in being no longer the only individual about his person. This kindness delighted me, it is true ; but it also produced a feeling of regret. The kindness of the Emperor was doubtless the reward of my assiduous attentions at Briars ; but it also gave me cause to anticipate the close of that constant intercourse with him for which I had been indebted to our profound solitude. The Emperor, not wishing to dress again, dined in his own chamber, and desired me to remain with him. We were alone, and our conversation turned on a subject of a peculiar nature, the result of which may be exceedingly important. He asked my opinion, and told me to communicate it to him next morning.
Description of Longwood.
11th—14th. We now found unfolded to us new portion of our existence on the wretched rock of Saint-Helena. We were settled in our new abode, and the limits of our prison were marked out.
Longwood, which was originally merely a farm belonging to the East India company, and which was afterwards given as a country residence to the Deputy Governor, is situated on one of the highest parts of the Island. The difference of the temperature between this place and the valley where we landed, is marked by a variation of at least ten degrees of the English thermometer. Longwood stands on a level height, which is tolerably extensive on the eastern side, and pretty near the coast. Continual, and frequently violent gales, always blowing in the same quarter, sweep the surface of the ground. The sun, though it rarely appears, nevertheless exercises its influence on the atmosphere, which is apt to produce disorders of the liver, if due precaution be not observed. Heavy and sudden falls of rain, complete the impossibility of distinguishing any regular season. But there is no regular course of seasons at Longwood. The whole year presents a continuance of wind, clouds, and rain ; and the temperature is of that mild and monotonous kind, which, perhaps, after all, is rather conducive to ennui than disease. Notwithstanding the abundant rains, the grass rapidly disappears, being either nipped by the wind, or withered by the heat. The water, which is conveyed hither by a conduit, is so unwholesome that the Deputy Governor, when he lived at Longwood, never suffered it to be used in his family until it had been boiled ; and we are obliged to do the same. The trees which, at a distance, impart a smiling aspect to the scene, are merely gum-trees—a wretched kind of shrub, affording no shade. On one hand, the horizon is bounded by the vast ocean : but the rest of the scene presents only a mass of huge barren rocks, deep gulfs, and desolate valleys ; and in the distance, appear the green and misty chain of mountains, above which towers Diana’s Peak. In short, Longwood can be pleasing only to the traveller, after the fatigues of a long voyage, for whom the sight of any land is a cheering prospect. Arriving at Saint-Helena on a fine day, he may, perhaps, be struck with the singularity of the objects which suddenly present themselves, and may, perhaps, exclaim “How beautiful !” but his visit is momentary ; and what pain does not his hasty admiration cause to the unhappy captives who are doomed to pass their lives at Saint-Helena !
Workmen had been constantly employed for two months in preparing Longwood for our reception ; the result of their labours, however, amounted to little. The entrance to the house was through a room which had just been built, and which was intended to answer the double purpose of an anti-chamber and a dining-room. This apartment led to another, which was made 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. This chamber was divided into two equal parts, forming the Emperor’s 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 de Montholon, her husband, and her son, which have since been used as the Emperor’s 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 me. My son was obliged to enter his room through a trap-door and by the help of a ladder ; it was nothing but a loft and scarcely afforded room for his bed. Our windows and beds were without curtains. The few articles of furniture which were in our apartments had evidently been obtained from the inhabitants of the island, who doubtless readily seized the opportunity of disposing of them to advantage for the sake of supplying themselves with better.
The Grand Marshal with his wife and children had been left at the distance of two miles behind us, in a place which even here is denominated a hut (Hut’s-gate). General Gourgaud slept under a tent, as did also the Doctor,1 and the officer commanding our guard, till such time as their apartments should be ready, which the crew of the Northumberland were rapidly preparing.
We were surrounded by a kind of garden ; but, owing to the little attention which we had it in our power to bestow on its cultivation, joined to the want of water and the nature of the climate, it was a garden only by name. In front, and separated from us by a tolerably deep ravine, was encamped the fifty-third regiment different parties of which were posted on the neighbouring heights. — Such was our new abode.
On the 12th I communicated to the Emperor my opinion on the subject, respecting which we had conversed two days before. He came to no decision, conceiving the affair to be useless. I ventured to maintain that even doubtful as the case might be, there was nothing either to lose or to risk, and that it was merely taking a chance in the lottery without the expense of a share. Time, however, has proved that the Emperor judged correctly. The thing would have been perfectly useless ; it could have led to no result. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The same day Colonel Wilks, (formerly Governor for the East India Company,) who had been succeeded by the Admiral, came to visit the Emperor. I acted as interpreter on the occasion. On the 13th or 14th the Minden sailed for Europe, and I availed myself of the opportunity thus afforded to send letters to London and Paris.
Arrangement of the Emperor’s establishment.—Feelings of the captives with respect to each other.—Traits of the Emperor’s character.—Portrait of Napoleon by M. de Pradt, translated from an English newspaper.—Its refutation.
15th-16th. The domestic establishment of the Emperor, on his departure from Plymouth, consisted of twelve persons. I feel pleasure in recording their names here ; it is a testimony due to their devotedness.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . However numerous this establishment may appear, it may be truly said that after our departure from England, during the voyage, and from the time of our landing at Saint-Helena, it had ceased to be serviceable to the Emperor. Our dispersion, the uncertainty of our establishment, our wants, and the irregular way in which they were supplied, necessarily created disorder.
As soon as we were all assembled at Longwood, the Emperor determined to arrange his establishment, and to assign to each of us an employment suited to our respective capacities. Reserving to the Grand Marshal the general control and superintendence of the whole household ; he consigned to M. de Montholon all the domestic details. To M. Gourgaud he intrusted the direction of the stables ; and I was appointed to take care of the property and furniture, and to superintend the management of our supplies. The latter part of my duty appeared to interfere too much with the regulation of domestic details. I conceived it would be conducive to the general advantage, that these two departments should be under the control of one individual, and I soon succeeded in accomplishing this object.
Every thing now proceeded tolerably well, and we were certainly more comfortable than before. But, however reasonable might be the regulations made by the Emperor, they, nevertheless, sowed the seeds of discontent, which took root, and occasionally developed themselves. One thought himself a loser by the change ; another sought to attach too high an importance to his office ; and a third conceived that he had been wronged in the general division of duties. We were no longer the members of one family, each exerting his best endeavours to secure the advantage of the whole. We were far from putting into practice that which necessity seemed to dictate to us ; and a wreck of luxury, or a remnant of ambition, frequently became an object of dispute.
Though attachment to the person of the Emperor had united us around him, yet chance, and not sympathy, had brought us together. Our connexion was purely fortuitous, and not the result of any natural affinity. Thus, at Longwood, we were encircled round a centre, but without any cohesion with each other. How could it be otherwise ? We were almost all strangers to one another, and, unfortunately, our different conditions, ages, and characters, were calculated to make us continue so.
These circumstances, though in themselves trifling, had the vexatious effect of depriving us of our most agreeable resources. It banished that confidence, interchange of sentiment, and intimate union, which might have proved a source of happiness even amidst our cruel misfortunes. But, on the other hand, these very circumstances served to develope many excellent traits in the Emperor’s character. They were apparent in his endeavours to produce among us unity and conformity of sentiment ; his constant care to remove every just cause of jealousy ; the voluntary abstraction by which he averted his attention from that which he wished not to observe ; and finally, the paternal expressions of displeasure, of which we were occasionally the objects, and which (to the honour of all be it said) were avoided as cautiously, and received as respectfully, as though they had emanated from the throne of the Tuileries.
Who can pretend to know the Emperor in his character of a private man better than myself ?—I who was with him during two months of solitude in the desert of Briars ;—I who accompanied him in his long walks by moonlight, and who enjoyed so many hours in his society ? Who like me had the opportunity of choosing the moment, the place, and the subject of his conversation ? Who besides myself heard him recall to mind the charms of his boyhood, or describe the pleasures of his youth, and the bitterness of his recent sorrow ? I am convinced that I know his character thoroughly, and that I can now explain many circumstances which, at the time of their occurrence, seemed difficult to be understood. I can now very well comprehend that which struck us so forcibly, and which particularly characterized him in the days of his power ; namely,—that no individual ever permanently incurred the displeasure of Napoleon : however marked might be his disgrace, however deep the gulf into which he was plunged, he might still confidently hope to be restored to favour. Those who had once enjoyed intimacy, whatever cause of offence they might give him, never totally forfeited his regard. The Emperor is eminently gifted with two excellent qualities ;—a vast fund of .justice, and a disposition naturally open to attachment. Amidst all his fits of petulance or anger, a sentiment of justice still predominates. He is sure to turn an attentive ear to good arguments, and, if left to himself, candidly brings them forward whenever they occur to his mind. He never forgets services performed to him, nor habits he has contracted. Sooner or later he invariably casts a thought on those who may have incurred his displeasure ; he reflects on what they have suffered, and regards their punishment as sufficient. He recalls them, when they are perhaps forgotten by the world ; and they again enjoy his good graces, to the astonishment of themselves as well as of others. Of this there have been many instances. The Emperor is sincere in his attachments, without making a show of what he feels. When once he becomes used to a person, he cannot easily bear separation. He observes and condemns his faults, blames his own choice, expressing his displeasure in the most unreserved way ; but still there is nothing to fear : these are but so many new ties of regard.
It will probably be a matter of surprise, that I should sketch the Emperor’s character in so humble a style. All that is usually written about him is so far-fetched ; it has been thought necessary to employ antitheses, and brilliant colouring ; to seek for effect, and to rack the imagination for high-flown phrases. For my own part, I merely describe what I see, and express what I feel. This reflection, by the by, comes à-propos.
The Emperor was to-day reading with me, in the English papers, a portrait of himself, drawn by the Archbishop of Malines, and worked up with affected antitheses and contrasts. He desired the Grand Marshal to transcribe it word for word. The following are the principal points : “ The mind of Napoleon,” says the Abbé de Pradt, in his Embassy to Warsaw in 1812, “ was vast ; but after the manner of the Orientals, and through a contradictory disposition, it descended, as it were, by the effect of its own weight, into the lowest details. His first idea was always grand, and his second petty. His mind was like his purse ; munificence and meanness held each a string. His genius, which was at once adapted to the stage of the world, and the mountebank’s show, represented the royal robe, joined to the harlequin’s jacket. He was the man of extremes ; one, who having commanded the Alps to bow down, the Simplon to level its head, and the sea to advance and recede from its shores, ended by surrendering himself to an English cruiser. Endowed with wonderful and infinite shrewdness ; seizing, creating, in every question, new and unperceived relations ; abounding in lively and picturesque images, animated and pointed expressions, more forcible from the very incorrectness of his language, which always bore a sort of foreign impress ; sophistical, subtle, and changeable, to excess ; he adopted different rules of optics from those by which other men are guided. Add to this the delirium of success, the habit of drinking from the enchanted cup, and intoxicating himself with the incense of the world ; and you may be enabled to form an idea of the man, who, uniting in his caprices all that is lofty and mean in human character, majestic in the splendour of sovereignty, and peremptory in command, with all that is ignoble and base—joining the eve’s-dropper to the subverter of thrones—presents altogether such a Jupiter Scapin, as never before figured on the scene of life.”
Certainly here is abundance of fancy, and far-fetched ideas. I pass over the indecorous and disgraceful fact, that a reverend prelate, an Archbishop, overwhelmed with the bounty of his Sovereign, to whom, during his prosperity, he paid the most assiduous court, and offered the most abject flattery, should, in the adversity of that sovereign, indulge in language so trivial, grotesque, and insulting, as that above quoted. I shall merely dwell on the merit of the Abbé de Pradt’s judgment, when he says that the Emperor’s “ first idea is always grand, and his second petty ; that he is the man of extremes : one who having commanded the Alps to bow down, the Simplon to level its head, and the sea to advance and recede from its shores, ended by surrendering himself to an English cruiser.” The Abbé de Pradt formed but a faint idea of the sublimity, grandeur, and magnanimity of that noble step. To withdraw himself from a people who were misled by faithless promises, in order to remove every obstacle to their welfare : to sacrifice his own personal interests, for the sake of averting the evils of a civil war without national results : to disdain honourable and secure, but dependent asylums : to prefer taking refuge among a people to whom he had, for the space of twenty years, been an inveterate foe : to suppose their magnanimity equal to his own : to honour their laws so far as to believe they would protect him from the ostracism of Europe :—certainly such ideas and sentiments are not the reverse of sublime, noble, and great.
N.B. At this part of my journal were inserted several pages, full of details very discreditable to the Archbishop of Malines, which were received from the Emperor’s own mouth, or collected from the different individuals about him. I however strike them out, in consideration of the satisfaction which I was informed the Emperor subsequently experienced in perusing M. de Pradt’s Concordats. For my own part, I am perfectly satisfied with numerous other testimonies of the same nature, and derived from the same source. An honourable and voluntary acknowledgment is a thousand times better than all the retorts that can be heaped upon an offender. There are persons to whom atonement is not without its due weight ; I am one of these.
Just as I had written the above, I happened to read some lines from the pen of the Abbé de Pradt, which are certainly very fine with respect to diction ; but which are still finer on account of their justice and truth. I cannot refrain from transcribing them here ; as they make ample amends for those already quoted. A declaration of the Allied Sovereigns at Laybach, in which Napoleon was, in terms of reprobation, pronounced to be the representative of the Revolution, called forth the following observations from the Archbishop of Malines :—
“ It is too late to insult Napoleon, now that he is defenceless, after having for so many years crouched at his feet, while he had the power to punish. . . . Those who are armed should respect a disarmed enemy, and the glory of the conqueror in a great measure depends on the just consideration shewn towards the captive, particularly when he yields to superior force, not to superior genius. It is too late to call Napoleon a revolutionist, after having for such a length of time pronounced him to be the restorer of order in France, and consequently in Europe. It is odious to see the shaft of insult aimed at him by those who once stretched forth their hands to him as a friend, pledged their faith to him as an ally, sought to prop a tottering throne by mingling their blood with his.” Farther on he says : He the representative of the revolution ! The revolution broke the bonds of union between France and Rome : he renewed them. The revolution overthrew the temples of the Almighty : he restored them. The revolution created two classes of clergy hostile to each other : he united them. The revolution profaned Saint-Denis : he purified it, and offered expiation to the ashes of Kings. The revolution subverted the throne : he raised it up. The revolution banished from their country the nobility of France : he opened to them the gates of his palace, though he knew them to be his irreconcilable enemies, and for the most part the enemies of the public good ; he re- incorporated them with the society from which they had been separated. This representative of a revolution (which is distinguished by the epithet anti-social) brought from Rome the head of the Catholic Church, to anoint his brow with the oil that consecrates diadems ! This representative of a revolution (which has been declared hostile to sovereignty) filled Germany with kings, advanced the rank of princes, restored superior royalty, and re-constructed a defaced model ; This representative of a revolution (which is condemned as a principle of anarchy), like another Justinian, drew up, amidst the din of war and the snares of foreign policy, those codes which are the least defective portion of human legislature, and constructed the most vigorous machine of government in the whole world. This representative of a revolution (which is vulgarly accused of having subverted all institutions) restored universities and public schools, filled his empire with the master pieces of art, and accomplished those amazing and stupendous works, which reflect honour on human genius : and yet, in the face of the Alps, which bowed down at his command ; of the ocean, subdued at Cherbourg, at Flushing, at the Helder, and at Antwerp ; of rivers, smoothly flowing beneath the bridges of Jena, Serres, Bourdeaux, and Turin ; of canals, uniting seas together in a course beyond the control of Neptune ; finally, in the face of Paris, metamorphosed as it is by Napoleon,-he is pronounced to be the agent of general annihilation ! He who restored all, is said to be the representative of that which destroyed all ! To what undiscerning men is this language supposed to be addressed ? &c.”
My situation materially improved.—My bed-chamber changed, &c.
17th.—The Emperor summoned me at two o’clock, when he began to dress. On entering, he observed that I looked pale : I replied, that it might be owing to the atmosphere of my chamber, which, from its proximity to the kitchen was an absolute oven, being frequently filled with smoke. He then expressed a wish that I should constantly occupy the topographic cabinet, in which I might write during the day, and sleep at night, in a bed which the Admiral had fitted up for the Emperor himself, but which he did not make use of, as he preferred his own camp-bed. When he had finished dressing, and was choosing between two or three snuff boxes which lay before him, he abruptly gave one to his valet-de-chambre (Marchand) : “ Keep it,” said he, “ it always meeting my eye, and it vexes me.” I know not what was on this snuff-box ; but I imagine it was a portrait of the King of Rome.
The Emperor left his apartment, and I followed him : he went over the house, and entered my chamber. Seeing a dressing-glass, he inquired whether it was the one he had given me. Then putting his hand to the wall, which was heated by the kitchen, he again observed that I could not possibly remain in that room, and absolutely insisted on my occupying his bed in the topographic cabinet ; adding, in a tone of captivating kindness, that it was “ the bed of a friend.” We walked out, and proceeded in the direction of a wretched farm which was within sight. On our way we saw the barracks of the Chinese. These Chinese are men who enlist on board English ships at Macao, and who continue at Saint-Helena in the service of the East India Company for a certain number of years, when they return to their homes, after collecting a little store of money, as the people of Auvergne do in France. The Emperor wished to ask them some questions ; but we could not make ourselves understood by them. We next visited what is called Longwood Farm. The Emperor was seduced by the name ; he expected to find one of the delightful farms of Flanders or England ; but this was merely on a level with our lowest metairies. We afterwards went down to the Company’s garden, which is formed in the hollow where the two opposite ravines meet. The Emperor called the gardener, and the man who attends to the Company’s cattle and superintends the Chinese, of whom he asked many questions. He returned home very much fatigued, though we had scarcely walked a mile this was his first excursion.
Before dinner the Emperor summoned me and my son to our accustomed task. He said, I had been idle, and called my attention to my son, who was laughing behind my back. He asked why he laughed ; and I replied, that it was probably because his Majesty was taking revenge for him. “ Ah !” said he, smiling, “ I see I am here acting the part of the grandfather.”
Habits and hours of the Emperor.—His style to the two Empresses.—Details.—The Emperor’s maxims on the subject of the police.—Secret police for the examination of letters.—Curious particulars.—The Emperor favourable to a fixed and moderate system of government.
18th—19th. By degrees our hours and habits began to be fixed and regular. About ten o’clock the Emperor breakfasted in his own chamber, and one of us occasionally attended him. At the table of the household we breakfasted at nearly the same hour. The Emperor granted us permission to do the honours of this table as we pleased, and to invite to it whomsoever we might think fit.
No hours were yet fixed for the Emperor’s walks. The heat was very great during the day, and the damp came on speedily, and in great excess, towards evening. We were informed, some time before, that coach and saddle horses were coming from the Cape ; but they never arrived. During the day the Emperor was engaged in dictating to different individuals of his suite ; and he usually reserved me for the interval preceding dinner, which was not served until eight or nine o’clock. He required my attendance about five or six o’clock, together with my son. I could neither write nor read, owing to the state of my eyes ; but my son was enabled to supply my place. He wrote to the Emperor’s dictation, and I was present only to help him afterwards to correct his hasty scrawl ; for, by dint of habit, I could repeat, almost literally and entirely, all that had fallen from the Emperor.
The Campaign of Italy being now finished, we began to revise it, and the Emperor corrected, and dictated anew. We dined, as I have before observed, between eight and nine o’clock. The table was laid out in the room nearest the entrance of the house. Madame de Montholon sat on the right of the Emperor ; I on his left ; and MM. de Montholon, Gourgaud, and my son, sat in the opposite places. The room still smelled of paint, particularly when the weather was damp ; and though not very offensive, it was sufficiently annoying to the Emperor : we, therefore, sat no longer than ten minutes at table. The dessert was prepared in the adjoining apartment, which was the drawing-room, and we again seated ourselves round the table. Coffee was then served up, and conversation commenced. We read a few scenes from Moliere, Racine, and Voltaire, and always regretted not having a copy of Corneille. We then played at reversis, which had been the Emperor’s favourite game in his youth. The recollection was pleasing to him, and he at first thought he could amuse himself for a length of time at it ; but he was soon undeceived. We played at the game and all its varieties ; so that I have seen from fifteen to eighteen thousand counters in use at once. The Emperor’s aim was always to make the reversis ; that is to say, to make every trick, which is no easy matter. However, he frequently succeeded :—character developes itself every where and in every thing ! We retired about ten or eleven o’clock.
To-day, the 19th, when I paid my respects to the Emperor, he shewed me a libel upon himself which had fallen into his hands, and asked me to translate it. Amidst a mass of other nonsense, some private letters were mentioned, which were said to have been addressed by Napoleon to the Empress Josephine, under the solemn form of Madame et chère Epouse. Allusion was next made to a combination of spies and agents, by whose aid the Emperor peeped into the private affairs of every family in France, and penetrated the secrets of all the cabinets in Europe. The Emperor wished to proceed no farther, and made me lay aside the book, saying ;—“ It is too absurd !” The fact is, that, in his private correspondence, Napoleon always addressed the Empress Josephine very unceremoniously, by the pronoun “thou”(tu) ; and “ my good little Louisa” (ma bonne petite Louise) was the form by which he addressed Maria Louisa.
The first time I ever saw the Emperor’s running hand, was at Saint-Cloud, after the battle of Friedland, when the Empress Josephine amused herself, by making us try to decypher a note which she held in her hand, and which seemed to be written in hieroglyphics. It was to the following effect :—“ My sons have once more shed a lustre over my career : the victory of Friedland will be inscribed in history, beside those of Marengo, Austerlitz, and Jena. You will cause the cannon to be fired (tu feras tirer le canon;) Cambacérès will publish the bulletin.”
I was again favoured with the sight of a note in the Emperor’s hand-writing, at the time of the treaty of Tilsit. It contained the following. “ The Queen of Prussia is really a charming woman. She is fond of coquetting with me ; but do not be jealous : I am like a cerecloth, along which every thing of this sort slides, without penetrating. It would cost me too dear to play the gallant.”
On this subject, an anecdote was related in the saloon of Josephine. It was said that the Queen of Prussia one day had a beautiful rose in her hand, which the Emperor asked her to give him. The Queen hesitated for a few moments, and then presented it to him, saying : “ Why should I so readily grant what you request, while you remain deaf to all my entreaties ?” She alluded to the fortress of Magdeburgh, which she had earnestly solicited. Such was the nature of the intimacy, and such the conversations, that were so unblushingly misrepresented in English works of a certain character, where the Emperor was described as an insolent and brutal tyrant, seeking, with the aid of his ferocious Mamelukes, to violate the honour of the lovely Queen, under the very eyes of her unfortunate husband.
As to the grand machinery of espionage and police. which has been so much talked of, what State on the Continent could boast of having less of such evils than France ; and yet what country stood more in need of them ? What circumstances more imperiously called for them ? Every pamphlet published in Europe, was directed against France, with a view of rendering odious in another country, that which it was thought advisable to conceal at home. Still, however, these measures so necessary in principle, though doubtless hateful in their details, were looked at merely in a general way by the Emperor, and always with a strict observance of his constant maxim, that nothing should be done that is not absolutely indispensable. In the Council of State, I have frequently heard him make enquiries into these subjects ; investigate them with peculiar solicitude ; correct abuses and seek to obviate evils, and appoint committees of his Council to visit the prisons, and make reports to him. Having been myself employed in a mission of this nature, I had an opportunity of observing the misconduct and abuses of subaltern agents ; and at the same time of knowing the ardent wishes of the sovereign to repress them.
The Emperor found that this branch of the administration in a certain degree clashed with established prejudices and opinions ; and he therefore wished to elevate it in the eyes of the people, by placing it under the control of a man whose character was beyond the reach of censure. In the year 1810, he summoned the Counsellor of State, Baron ——, to Fontainebleau. The Baron had been an emigrant, or what nearly amounted to the same thing. His family, his early education, his former opinions,—all were calculated to render him an object of suspicion to one more distrustful than Napoleon. In the course of conversation, the Emperor said :—“ If the Count de Lille were now to discover himself in Paris, and you were intrusted with the superintendence of the police, would you arrest him ?” “Yes, certainly,” answered the Counsellor of State, “ because he would thereby have broken his ban, and because his appearance would be in opposition to every existing law.” “If you were one of a committee appointed to try him, would you condemn him ?” “ Yes, doubtless ; for the laws which I have sworn to obey would require that I should condemn him.” “ Very well !” said the Emperor, “ return to Paris ; I make you my prefect of police.”3
With regard to the inspection of letters under the government of Napoleon, whatever may have been publicly said on that subject, the Emperor declared, that certainly very few letters were read at the post-offices. Those which were delivered either open or sealed, to private persons, had, for the most part, not been read : to read all would have been an endless task. The system of examining letters was adopted with the view of preventing, rather than discovering, dangerous correspondence. The letters that were really read, exhibited no trace of having been opened, so effectual were the precautions employed. “ Since the reign of Louis XIV,” said the Emperor, “ there had existed an office of political police for discovering foreign correspondence ; and since that period the same family had managed the business of the office, though the individuals and their functions were alike unknown. It was in all respects an official post. The persons superintending this department were educated at great expense in the different capitals of Europe. They had their own peculiar notions of propriety, and always manifested reluctance to examine French domestic correspondence : this matter, however, remained entirely at their own discretion. As soon as the name of any individual was entered upon the lists of this important department, his arms and seals were immediately engraved at the office ; and with such a degree of accuracy, that the letters, after being read, were closed up and delivered without any mark of suspicion. These circumstances, joined to the serious evils they might create, and the important results they were capable of producing, constituted the vast responsibility of the office of postmaster-general, and required that it should be filled by a man of prudence, judgment, and intelligence.” The Emperor bestowed great praise on M. de Lavalette, for the way in which he had discharged his duties.
The Emperor was by no means favourable to the system of inspecting correspondence. With regard to the diplomatic information thereby obtained, he did not consider it of sufficient value to counterbalance the expenses incurred ; for the establishment cost 600,000 francs. As to the examination of the letters of citizens, he regarded that as a measure calculated to do more harm than good. “ It is rarely,” said he, “ that conspiracy is carried on through such channels ; and with respect to the individual opinions obtained from epistolary correspondence, they may be more dangerous than useful to a sovereign, particularly among such a people as the French. Of whom will not our national volatility and fickleness lead us to complain ? The man whom I may have offended at my levee, will write to-day that I am a tyrant, though but yesterday he overwhelmed me with praises, and perhaps to-morrow will be ready to lay down his life to serve me. The violation of the privacy of correspondence may, therefore, cause a prince to lose his best friends, by wrongfully inspiring him with distrust and prejudice towards all ; particularly as enemies capable of mischief are always sufficiently artful to avoid exposing themselves to that kind of danger. Some of my ministers were so cautious in this respect, that I could never succeed in detecting one of their letters.”
I think I have already mentioned that on the Emperor’s return from Elba, there were found in M. de Blacas’ apartments in the Tuileries, numerous petitions and letters, in which Napoleon was spoken of most indecorously. “ They would have formed a most odious collection,” said the Emperor. “ For a moment I entertained the idea of inserting some of them in the Moniteur. They would have disgraced certain individuals ; but they would have afforded no new lesson on the human heart : men are always the same !”
The Emperor was far from knowing all the measures taken by the police, in his name, with respect to writings and individuals ; he had neither time nor opportunity to enquire into them. Thus he daily learned from his ministers, or from the pamphlets that happened to fall in his way, the arrests of individuals, or the suppression of works, of which he had never before heard.
In alluding to the works that had been suppressed by the police during his reign, the Emperor observed, that having plenty of leisuretime during his stay at Elba, he amused himself with glancing over some of these works, and that he was frequently unable to conceive the motives that had induced the police to suppress them.
He then proceeded to converse on the subject of the liberty and restriction of the press. This, he said, was an interminable question, and admitted of no medium. The grand difficulty, he observed, did not lie in the principle itself, but in the treatment of the accused party, or the circumstances under which it might be necessary to apply the principle taken in an abstract sense. The Emperor would have been favourable to unlimited liberty. In all our conversations at Saint-Helena, he constantly treated every great question in the same point of view and with the same arguments. Thus Napoleon truly was, and must remain in the eyes of posterity, the type, the standard, and the prince of liberal opinions ; they belonged to his heart, to his principles, and to his mind. If his actions sometimes seemed at variance with these ideas, it was when he was imperiously swayed by circumstances. This is proved by the following fact, to which I now attach more importance than I did when it first came to my knowledge.
In one of the evening-parties at the Tuileries, Napoleon conversing aside with three or four individuals of the court, who were grouped around him, closed a discussion on a great political question with the following remarkable words :—“ For my part, I am fundamentally and naturally favourable to a fixed and moderate government.” And observing that the countenance of one of the interlocutors expressed surprise, “ You don’t believe me !” continued he ; “ why not ? Is it because my deeds do not seem to accord with my words ? My dear Sir, how little you know of men and things ! Is the necessity of the moment nothing in your eyes ? Were I to slacken the reins only for a moment, we should have fine disorder ; neither you nor I would probably sleep another night at the Tuileries.”
The Emperor’s first Ride on Horseback.—Severity of the Ministerial Instructions.—Our vexations and complaints.—The Emperor’s Remarks.—Rude replies.
20th—23d. The Emperor mounted his horse after breakfast. We directed our course towards the farm : we found the farmer in the Company’s garden, and he attended us over the whole of the grounds. The Emperor asked him a number of questions respecting his farm, as he used to do during his hunting-excursions in the neighbourhood of Versailles, where he discussed with the farmers the opinions of the Council of State, in order to bring forward to the Council in their turn the objections of the farmers. We advanced through the grounds of Longwood, in a line parallel with the valley, until finding no farther road for the horses we were compelled to turn back. We then crossed the little valley, gained the height where the troops were encamped, advanced to the Alarm hill, and passing over its summit we arrived beyond the camp, near the Alarm house, on the road leading from Longwood to Madame Bertrand’s residence. The Emperor at first proposed calling on her ; but, when about half-way thither, he changed his mind, and we returned to Longwood.
The instructions of the English Ministers with regard to the Emperor at Saint-Helena, were dictated in that disgraceful spirit of harshness, which in Europe had urged the solemn violation of the law of nations. An English officer was to be constantly at the Emperor’s table ; this cruel measure was of course calculated to deprive us of the comfort of familiar conversation. The order was not carried into effect, only because the Emperor took his meals in his own chamber. I have very good reason to believe, that he regretted not having adopted the same resolution on board the Northumberland. An English officer was to accompany the Emperor in his rides on horseback : this was a severe annoyance, which rendered it impossible that his mind could for a moment be diverted from his unfortunate situation. This order was not, however, enforced within certain limits which were prescribed to us, because the Emperor had declared that he would not ride on horseback at all on such conditions.
In our melancholy situation, every day brought with it some new cause of uneasiness : we were constantly receiving some new sting, which seemed the more cruel, as we were destined to endure it for a long futurity. Yet, lacerated as our feelings undoubtedly were, each fresh wound was not the less sensibly felt. The motives that were assigned for our vexations frequently assumed the appearance of irony. Thus, sentinels were posted beneath the Emperor’s windows, and before our doors ; and this we were informed was for our own safety. We were cut off from all free communication with the inhabitants of the island ; we were put under a kind of close confinement ; and were told that this was done to free the Emperor from all annoyance. The pass-words and orders were incessantly changed ; we lived in the continual perplexity and apprehension of being exposed to some unforeseen insult. The Emperor, whose feelings were keenly alive to all these things, resolved to write to the Admiral, through the medium of M. de, Montholon. He spoke with warmth, and made some observation worthy of remark. “ Let not the Admiral suppose,” said he, “ that I treat with him on any of these subjects. Were he to present himself to me to-morrow, in spite of my just resentment, he would find my countenance as serene, and my temper as composed, as usual. This would not be the effect of dissimulation on my part, but merely the fruit of experience. I recollect that Lord Whitworth once filled Europe with the report of a long conversation that he had had with me, scarcely a word of which was true. But that was my fault ; and it taught me to be more cautious in future. The Emperor has governed too long not to know that he must not commit himself to the discretion of any one who may have it in his power to say falsely : The Emperor told me so and so ; while the Emperor may not have the means of either affirming or contradicting the statement. One witness is as good as another. It is, therefore, necessary to employ some one, who may be enabled to tell the narrator that he speaks false, and that he is ready to set him right ; which the Emperor himself cannot do.”
M. de Montholon’s letter was couched in sharp terms ; the reply was insulting and coarse : “No such thing as an Emperor was known at St. Helena ; the justice and moderation of the English government towards us, would be the admiration of future ages, &c.” Dr. O’Meara was instructed to accompany this written reply with verbal additions of the most offensive nature : to enquire, for example, whether the Emperor wished that the Admiral should send him sundry atrocious libels and anonymous letters which had been received, addressed to him, &c.
I was engaged with the Emperor at the time this answer was communicated to him. I could not conceal my astonishment and indignation at certain expressions that were employed. But we could only let philosophy take place of resentment ; it was sufficient to reflect that all satisfaction was beyond our reach. To address a direct complaint to the Prince Regent, would perhaps have been to furnish a gratification to that Prince ; as well as a recommendation to him who had offended us. Besides, the Emperor could not address complaints to any individual on earth : he could appeal only to the tribunals of heaven, nations, and posterity.
On the 23d the Doris frigate arrived from the Cape, bringing seven horses that had been purchased there for the Emperor.
The Emperor’s disdain of popularity, his reasons, arguments, &c.—Conversation respecting my Wife.—On General Gourgaud’s Mother and Sister.
24th.—The Emperor had been reading some publication in which he was made to speak in too amiable a strain ; and he could not help exclaiming against the mistake of the writer. “ How could they put these words into my mouth ?” said he. “ This is too tender, too sentimental for me ; every one knows that I do not express myself in that way.”—“ Sire,” I replied, “ it was done with a good intention ; the thing is innocent in itself, and may have produced a good effect. That reputation for amiability, which you seem to despise, might have exercised great influence over public opinion ; it might at least have counteracted the effect of the colouring in which a European system has falsely exhibited your Majesty to the world. Your heart, with which I am now acquainted, is certainly as good as that of Henri IV, which I did not know. Now, his amiableness of character is still proverbial : he is still held up as an idol ; yet I suspect Henri IV. was a bit of a quack. And why should your Majesty have disdained to be so ? You have too great an aversion to that system. After all, quackery rules the world : and it is fortunate when it happens to be only innocent.”
The Emperor laughed at what he termed my prosing. “ What,” said he, “
continued he, smiling, “ you, who frequently display the mildness and simplicity of a child.”
I could not but admit the force of his arguments, and now, in my turn, maintained that both systems might have their peculiar advantages. “ Every individual,” said I, “ should form for himself a character by means of education ; but he should be careful, at the same time, to lay its foundation on the character he has received from Nature ; otherwise he runs a risk of losing the advantages of the latter, without obtaining those of the character which he wishes to acquire ; and his education may prove an instrument to mislead him. After all, the course of a man’s life is the true result of his character, and the proper test by which it should be judged. Of what, then, can I have to complain ? From the lowest degree of misery, I raised myself by my own efforts to tolerable independence ; and from the streets of London, I penetrated to the steps of your throne, and to the benches of your Council-chamber ; all this, too, without having cause to blush in the presence of any individual for any thing that I have ever spoken, written, or done. Have I not, then, also performed my little wonders in my own little way ? What could I have done better had another turn been given to my character ?”
The conversation was here interrupted by some one entering, to announce that the Admiral and some ladies, who had arrived by the Doris, solicited the favour of being presented to the Emperor ; but he answered drily, that he would see no one, and that he did not wish to be disturbed.
Under our present circumstances, the personal politeness of the Admiral was felt only as an additional insult ; and with regard to those who accompanied him, as no one could approach us but with the Admiral’s permission, the Emperor did not choose that the honours of his person should be thus performed. If it were intended that he should remain in close confinement, he ought to be told so ; but if not, he should be allowed to see whom he pleased without the interference of any person. Above all, it was not fair that they should pretend in Europe to surround him with every sort of attention and respect, while on the contrary they were annoying him with every kind of indecorum and caprice.
The Emperor walked out in the garden at five o’clock. The Colonel of the 53d regiment waited on him there, and begged permission to present to him, next day, the officers of his regiment. The Emperor granted his request, and appointed three o’clock as the hour to receive them. The General took his leave, and we prolonged our walk. The Emperor stopped awhile to look at a flower in one of the beds, and asked me whether it was not a lily. It was, indeed, a magnificent one.
After dinner, while we were playing our usual game of reversis, of which, by the by, the Emperor began to grow weary, he suddenly turned to me and said, “ Where do you suppose Madame Las Cases is at this moment ?” “Alas, Sire,” I replied, “ Heaven knows !” “ She is in Paris,” continued he ; “ to-day is Tuesday ; it is nine o’clock ; she is now at the Opera.” “ No, Sire, she is too good a wife to go to a theatre while I am here.” “ Spoken like a true husband,” said the Emperor, laughing, ever confident and credulous ! Then turning to General Gourgaud, he joked him in the same style on his mother and sister. Gourgaud seemed very much downcast, and his eyes were suffused with tears, which the Emperor perceiving, cast a side-glance towards him, and said, in the most interesting manner, “ How wicked, barbarous, and tyrannical I am, thus to trifle with feelings so tender !”4
The Emperor then asked me how many children I had, and when and how I had become acquainted with Madame Las Cases. I replied that my wife had been the first acquaintance of my life ; that our marriage was a tie which we had ourselves formed in early youth, though it was not finally knit until the greater part of the events of the Revolution had passed away.
The Emperor frequently wounded in his campaigns.—Cossacks.—Jerusalem Delivered.
25th.—The Emperor, who had not been well the preceding evening, was still indisposed this morning, and sent word that it would be impossible for him to receive the Officers of the 53d, as he had appointed. He sent for me about the middle of the day, and we again perused some chapters of the Campaign of Italy. I compared that which treats of the battle of Arcola, to a book of the Iliad.
Some time before the dinner-hour, he assembled us all around him in his chamber. A servant entered to announce that dinner was ready ; he sent us away, but, as I was going out last, he called me back. “ Stay here,” said he, “ we will dine together. Let the young people go ; we old folks will keep one another company.” He then expressed a desire to dress, intending, as he said, to go into the drawing-room after dinner.
While he was dressing, he put his hand on his left thigh, where there was a deep scar. He called my attention to it by laying his finger in it ; and, finding that I did not understand what it was, he told me that it was the mark of a bayonet-wound by which he had nearly lost his limb, at the siege of Toulon. Marchand, who was dressing him, here took the liberty of remarking, that the circumstance was well known on board the Northumberland ; that one of the crew had told him, on going on board, that it was an Englishman who first wounded our Emperor.
The Emperor, on this, observed that people had in general wondered and talked a great deal of the singular good fortune which had preserved him, as it were, invulnerable in so many battles. “ They were mistaken,” added he ; “ the only reason was, that I made a secret of all my dangers.” He then related that he had had three horses killed under him at the siege of Toulon ; that he had had several killed and wounded in his campaigns of Italy ; and three or four at the siege of Saint-Jean d’Acre. He added, that he had been wounded several times ; that at the battle of Ratisbonne, a ball had struck his heel ; and at the battle of Esling or Wagram, I cannot say which, a ball had torn his boot and stocking, and grazed the skin of his left leg. In 1814, he lost a horse and his hat at Arcis-sur-Aube, or its neighbourhood. After the battle of Brienne, as he was returning to head-quarters in the evening, in a melancholy and pensive mood, he was suddenly attacked by some Cossacks, who had passed over the rear of the army. He thrust one of them away, and was obliged to draw his sword in his own defence ; several of the Cossacks were killed at his side. “ But what renders this circumstance very extraordinary,” said he, “ is, that it took place near a tree which at that moment caught my eye, and which I recognised as the very one under which, when I was but twelve years old, I used to sit during play-hours and read Jerusalem Delivered.” . . . . Doubtless on that spot Napoleon had been first fired by emotions of glory !
The Emperor repeated that he had been frequently exposed to danger in his different battles, but it was carefully kept secret. He had enjoined, once for all, the most absolute silence on all circumstances of that nature. He said, it would be impossible to calculate the confusion and disorder which might have resulted from the slightest report or the smallest doubt relative to his existence. On his life depended the fate of a great Empire, and the whole policy and destinies of Europe. He added, that this habit of keeping circumstances of that kind secret, had prevented him from relating them in his campaigns ; and indeed they were now almost forgotten. It was only, he said, by mere accident, and in the course of conversation, that they could recur to him.
My conversation with an Englishman.
26th.—The Emperor continued indisposed.
One of the English gentlemen, whose wife had yesterday been refused admittance, in company with the Admiral, paid me a visit this morning, with the view of making another and a final attempt to get presented to Napoleon. This gentleman spoke French very well, having resided in France during the whole of the war. He was one of those individuals who were known at the time by the title of detenus : who, having visited France as travellers, were arrested there by the First Consul, on the rupture of the treaty of Amiens, as a reprisal for the English Government having, according to custom, seized our merchant-ships before the declaration of war. This event gave rise to a long and animated discussion between the two Governments ; and even prevented, during the whole of the war, a cartel for the exchange of prisoners. The English ministers persisted in refusing to consider their detained countrymen as prisoners, lest they should, in so doing, make an implicit renunciation of their sort of right of piracy. However, their obstinacy cost their countrymen a long captivity. They were detained in France more than ten years ; their absence was as long and as irksome, though not so glorious, as the siege of Troy.
This English gentleman was a brother-in-law of Admiral Burton, the Commander on the Indian station, who lately died. This circumstance might very possibly procure for him an immediate communication with Ministers on his arrival in England. He might perhaps have been appointed by the Admiral to be the bearer of intelligence respecting us. Instead, therefore, of abridging our conversation, I prolonged it. It lasted more than two hours, and was all calculated on my part with a view to what he might repeat to the Admiral, or communicate to the Government or private circles in England. I am glad I did so. All I said was a recapitulation of our reproaches and griefs ; a repetition of our complaints and vexations ; a continued exposure of the violation of those laws that are esteemed most sacred ; of the outrage on our good faith ; of the arrogance, impertinence, and petty insolence of power. I dwelt particularly on the ill-treatment to which we were here exposed ; and on the caprices of the individual who was appointed as our keeper : “ His glory,” said I, “ should consist, not in oppressing, but in relieving us. He should endeavour to make us forget, by his attentions, all the rigour and injustice of his country’s policy. Could he have to fear the reprobation of mankind, while his good fortune enabled him gloriously to connect his name with that of the man of the age, the hero of history ? Could he pretend that his instructions would prevent him ?—Our European manners enabled him to interpret their suitably without detriment to his honour.”
The Englishman listened to me with great attention. He seemed occasionally to take particular interest in what I said ; and expressed his approbation of several of my remarks. But was he sincere, and will he not express very different sentiments in London ?
Whenever a ship arrives in England from Saint-Helena, the public papers immediately give insertion to various stories relative to the captives at Longwood of so false and absurd a nature, as must necessarily render them ridiculous to the great mass of the public. When we expressed our indignation at these idle reports in the presence of honourable and distinguished Englishmen here, they replied : “ Do not deceive yourselves, these false accounts proceed not from our countrymen who visit you ; but from our Ministers in London ; for, to the excess and violence of power, the administration by which we are now ruled joins all the meanness of the lowest and vilest intrigue.”
On the French Emigrants.—Kindness shown by the English.—Resources of the Emigrants.
27th.—The Emperor felt himself better, and rode out on horseback about one o’clock. On his return he received the Officers of the 53d, and treated them in the most amiable and condescending manner.
After this visit, the Emperor, who had desired me to remain with him, walked in the garden. I there gave him an account of the conversation I had had the day before with the Englishman. He then asked me some questions relative to the French emigrants, London, and the English. I told him that though the emigrants in a body did not like the English, yet there were few who did not become attached to some Englishman or other : that though the English were not fond of the emigrants, yet there were few English families who did not show themselves friendly to some of the French. This is the real key of those sentiments and reports, so often contradictory, that are met with on the subject. With regard to the kindness we received from the English, particularly the middle class, from whom the character of a nation is always to be learned, it is beyond all expression, and has entailed a heavy debt of gratitude upon us. It would be difficult to enumerate the private benefactions, the benevolent institutions, and the charitable measures by which our distresses were relieved. The example of individuals induced the Government to assist us by regular allowances ; and even when these were granted, private benevolence did not cease.
The Emperor here asked me whether I had been a sharer in the grants supplied by the English Government : I told him that I felt more pleasure in being indebted for support solely to my own exertions ; and that the state of society in England was such, that with this feeling a man was sure to succeed. On two occasions I had had an opportunity of making my fortune ? Colbert, Bishop of Rhodez, a native of Scotland, who was very fond of me, proposed that I should accompany his brother to Jamaica, where he was appointed to the head of the executive power, and where he was one of the most considerable planters. He would have intrusted to me the direction of his property, and would have obtained for me other employment of the same kind. The Bishop assured me that I should make a fortune in three years. I could not, however, prevail on myself to go ; I preferred continuing a life of poverty, to removing to a greater distance from the French shore.
“ On another occasion,” continued I, “some friends wished to persuade me to go to India, where I should have obtained employment and patronage, and where I was assured that in a short time I should realize a considerable fortune. But this I declined. I thought myself too old to travel so far. This was twenty years ago ; and I am now at Saint-Helena.
“ However, there were few who had suffered greater hardships than I did at the commencement of my emigration, and who enjoyed greater comforts towards its close. I have often, at night, found myself in want of the means of subsistence for the following day ; still I was never discouraged or dejected. I consoled myself with the treasure of philosophy, and compared my own condition with that of numbers around me, who were more wretched than myself : to old men and women, for example, to those who were destitute of education, or who, wanting the faculties requisite for acquiring a foreign language, were thus cut off from all resources. I was young, full of hope, and capable of exertion. I taught what I did not well know myself, and I learned overnight what I might have to teach on the succeeding day. My Historical Atlas was a fortunate idea which opened to me a mine of gold. At that period, however, I had executed only an outline of my plan ; but in London every thing is encouraged, every thing sells ; and, moreover, Heaven blessed my exertions. I landed at the mouth of the Thames, and reached London on foot with only seven louis in my pocket, without a friend, without an introduction in a foreign land ; but I left England in a post-chaise, possessed of 2500 guineas, having gained many dear friends, to serve whom I would gladly have sacrificed my life.”
“ But, supposing I had been an emigrant,” said the Emperor, “ what would have been my lot ?” He took a view of various professions, but decided in favour of a soldier’s life. “ I should have fulfilled my career after all,” said he. “ That is not quite certain,” I observed. “ Sire, you would have been smothered in the crowd. On arriving at Coblentz in any French corps, you would have been placed according to your rank on the list, without any possibility of getting beyond it ; for we were rigid observers of forms,” &c.
The Emperor then enquired when and how I had returned to France. “ After the peace of Amiens,” said I, “ availing myself of the benefit of your amnesty ; yet I joined an English family, and slipped in in a sort of contraband way, in order to reach Paris earlier than I otherwise could have done. Immediately on my arrival thither, fearing lest I should compromise that family, I went in person to make my declaration to the police, and received a paper which I was to present for inspection once a week or once a month. I paid no attention to it ; but nothing occurred to me through my neglect. I had determined on conducting myself with prudence, and therefore felt satisfied that I had nothing to fear. At one time, however, I saw that my intention might have cost me dear : it was during the most violent crisis of the affair of Georges and Pichegru. I usually passed my evenings in the society of intimate friends in my own house ; I scarcely ever went out. On this occasion, however, impelled by fate, or, perhaps, by the strong interest which I took in passing events, I strolled about in the Faubourg Saint-Germain till rather a late hour in the evening. I missed the way to the Pont de Louis XIV. which I knew so well, and came out upon the Boulevard des Invalids, without knowing where I was. The posts were everywhere increased in number, and each consisted of a double guard. I enquired my way of one of the sentinels, and I distinctly heard his comrade, who was a few yards off, ask him why he had not stopped me ; he answered that I was doing no harm. I hastened home as fast as I could, terrified at the danger I had so narrowly escaped. I was in formal contravention with regard to the police ; the circumstances of my emigration, my name, my habits, and my opinions, all tended to identify me with the malcontents. Every enquiry that could have been instituted respecting me would have been to my prejudice. I could not have referred to any one ; and what alarmed me still more was, that they would have found five guineas in my pocket. I had, it is true, been in France two years ; but these guineas were the last fruits of my industry ; I always carried them about me, and I have them with me still. I used to take a pleasure in seeing them ; they reminded me of a period of misfortune which had gone by. It is easy to conceive the conclusions which might have been drawn from so many concurring circumstances. In vain would have been my denials and assertions ; no credit would have been given to me. I should, no doubt, have suffered considerably ; and yet I was not in the least to blame : such is the justice of men ! I never took the trouble to arrange my business with the police ; and yet I never got into any trouble.
“ When I was presented at your Majesty’s court, the emigrants, who like myself had been placed under the superintendence of the police for ten years, applied for their emancipation, which they procured ; for my part, I made no application of any sort. Being invited, in your Majesty’s name, to a fête at Fontainebleau, I thought it would be a good joke to apply to the police for a passport. They agreed that it was, strictly speaking, necessary, but declined giving it, on the ground that the thing would be ridiculous. At a subsequent period, having become your Majesty’s Chamberlain, I had occasion to go on a private journey ; and they then exempted me from all future formality.
“ On your Majesty’s return in 1815, being desirous of serving some emigrants who had returned with the King, I went in their name to the police. Being a Counsellor of State, all the registers were open to me. After having inspected the article relating to my friends, I felt a curiosity to refer to my own. I found myself noted down as a distinguished courtier of the Comte d’Artois, in London. I could not help reflecting on the differences of times, and the changes produced by revolution. However, my register was altogether incorrect. I certainly visited the Comte d’Artois ; but not oftener than once a month. As to my being a courtier, if I had been ever so much inclined to be one, the thing was out of my power. I had to provide for my daily subsistence, and I had pride enough to wish to live by my own industry ; my time was therefore valuable.” The Emperor was very much pleased with my story and I was happy to have afforded him some amusement.
The frigate Doris sailed this day for Europe.
28th.—Mr. Balcombe’s family called, in the hope of seeing the Emperor, but he was again indisposed. His health declines : this place is evidently unfavourable to him. He sent for me at three o’clock : he was slightly feverish, but felt himself better. He complained a good deal of the noise occasioned by the domestic arrangements of the house, which frequently annoyed him. He then dressed, with the intention of going out. I persuaded him to resume his flannel under-waistcoat, which he had laid aside very imprudently in this damp and variable climate.—We took a walk in the garden, and the conversation continued to turn on the same subject as before. The Emperor strolled about at random, and we came to the gum-trees which run along the park, conversing our local situation, and our relations with the authorities, and speculating on the political events of Europe. We were overtaken by a shower of rain, and were forced to take shelter under a tree. The Grand Marshal and M. de Montholon soon joined us. The Emperor made me return with him ; and when we got home, he played a game at piquet in the drawing-room with Madame de Montholon. As it was very damp, the Emperor ordered a fire ; but as soon as it was lighted, we were driven away by the smoke, and were compelled to take refuge in the Emperor’s chamber. Here the game was resumed ; but it was very soon suspended by the Emperor’s conversation, which became most interesting. He entertained us with anecdotes and minute details of his domestic life ; and confirmed, corrected, or contradicted those which Madame de Montholon and myself related to him, as having been publicly circulated. Nothing could be more gratifying : the conversation was quite confidential, and we sincerely regretted its interruption by the announcement of dinner.
Difficult Excursion.—Ride to the valley.—The Marsh.—Characteristic traits.—Englishmen undeceived.— Poison of Mithridates.
29th.—There is a spot in the grounds about Longwood, which commands a distant view of that part of the sea where the ships are first seen on their arrival : here, too, there is a tree, the foot of which affords a comfortable seat for the spectator. I had been in the habit, for some days past, of spending a few idle moments here, amusing myself, in idea, with looking out for the ship that was to conclude our exile. The celebrated Munich lingered out twenty years in the heart of Siberia, drinking every day to his return to Saint-Petersburgh ; and was at length blessed with the accomplishment of his wish. I shall possess his courage ; but I trust I shall not have occasion for his patience.
Ships had successively appeared for several days. Three came in sight very early this morning, two of which I judged to be ships of war.—On my return home, I was informed that the Emperor had already risen : I went to the garden to meet him, and to acquaint him with my discovery. He ordered breakfast to be brought to him under a tree, and desired me to keep him company. After breakfast, he directed me to ride out with him on horseback. We rode along by the side of the gum-trees, beyond the confines of Longwood, and then attempted to descend into a very steep and deeply-furrowed valley, whose sides were covered with sand and loose stones, interspersed with brambles. We were obliged to dismount. The Emperor desired General Gourgaud to turn off to one side with the horses and the two grooms who accompanied us, and insisted on continuing his journey on foot, amidst the difficulties which surrounded us. I gave him my arm, and, with a great deal of trouble, we succeeded in clambering over the ridges. The Emperor lamented the loss of his youthful agility, and accused me of being more active than himself. He thought there was a greater difference in this respect than the trifling disproportion of our ages would justify. I told him that the pleasure of serving him made me forget my age. As we were going along, he observed, that any one who could have seen us at that time would recognise without difficulty the restlessness and impatience of the French character. “ In fact,” said he, “ none but Frenchmen would ever think of doing what we are now about.” At length we arrived, breathless, at the bottom of the valley. What we had at a distance mistaken for a beaten road, proved to be nothing but a little streamlet, a foot and a half wide. We proposed to step across it and wait for our horses ; but the banks of this little streamlet were very deceptive. They appeared to consist of dry ground, which at first supported us, but we soon found ourselves suddenly sinking as though we had been breaking through ice. I had already sunk above my knees, when by a sudden effort I disengaged myself, and turned to assist the Emperor, who had both legs in the mud, and had got his hands on the ground, endeavouring to extricate himself. With a great deal of trouble and a great deal of dirt, we regained the terra firma ; and I could not help thinking of the marshes of Arcola, which we had been engaged in describing a few days before, and in which Napoleon was very near being lost. The Emperor looked at his clothes and said, “ Las Cases, this is a dirty adventure.” “ If we had been lost in the mud,” added he, “ what would have been said in Europe ? The canting hypocrites would have proved beyond a doubt that we had been swallowed up for our crimes.”
The horses being at length brought to us, we continued our journey, breaking through hedges, and leaping over ridges ; and with a great deal of difficulty we rode up the whole length of the valley, which separates Longwood from Diana’s Peak. We returned back by the way of Madame Bertrand’s residence ; it was three o’clock when we reached home. We then learned that the vessels which had been seen in the morning were a brig and a transport from England, and an American ship.
The Emperor sent for me about seven o’clock ; he was with the Grand Marshal, who was reading to him the newspapers from the 9th to the 16th of October. He had not done reading at nine o’clock. The Emperor, astonished to find it so late, hastily rose and went up to the table, complaining of being kept waiting for his dinner. They were stupid enough to give a very ridiculous reason for the delay. This domestic irregularity irritated him very much ; and then he was angry with himself for feeling offended ; so the dinner passed off in dulness and silence.
However, on returning to the drawing-room for the dessert, the Emperor began to converse on the news which the papers had brought us the conditions of peace, the fortresses ceded to foreign powers ; and the fermentation of the great cities of Europe. He treated these subjects in a masterly style. He retired early ; and had evidently not forgotten the circumstance which annoyed him at dinner.
He soon sent for me, being desirous to continue the perusal of the papers. As I was preparing to read, he recollected the state of my eyes, and would not allow me. I begged to be permitted to continue, telling him that I read quickly, and should soon have finished them ; but he took them away from me, saying, “ Nature will not obey our commands. I forbid it ; I will wait till to-morrow.” He then began to walk about a little, and soon gave utterance to the feelings which had oppressed his spirits. How amiable he appeared in his reproaches and complaints ! How just and true was every observation that escaped him ! These were a few of the precious moments when Nature taken by surprise, exposes the inmost recesses of the human heart and character. I left him, saying within myself, as I have so often had occasion to say ; “ Good God, how little has the character of the Emperor been known to the world ! ”
They are beginning here to form a more just opinion of him, however. Those Englishmen whose violent prejudices against him were in a great degree excusable from the false accounts they had received, begin now to entertain a more correct idea of his character. They allow that they are strangely undeceived every day, and that the Emperor is a very different being from that Napoleon whose image had been traced to them through the medium of falsehood and political interests. All those who have had opportunities of seeing and hearing him converse, have but one opinion on the subject. 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. And here the Admiral was in the right.
On another occasion, an Englishman, whom we frequently saw, confessed to Napoleon, with the utmost humility of heart, and as it were by way of expiation, that he had to reproach his conscience with having once firmly believed all the abominable falsehoods related of him. He had given credit to all the accounts of stranglings, massacres, and brutal ferocity ; in short, he even believed in the deformities of his person, and the hideous features of his countenance. “And,” said he candidly, “how could I help crediting all this ? Our English publications were filled with these statements ; they were in every mouth ; not a single voice was raised to contradict them.” “ Yes,” said Napoleon, smiling, “ it is to your Ministers that I am indebted for these favours : they inundated Europe with pamphlets and libels against me. Perhaps they might say in excuse, that they did but reply to those which they received from France ; and it must in justice be confessed that those Frenchmen who have since been seen to exult over the ruins of their country, felt no hesitation in furnishing them with such articles in abundant supplies.
“ Be this as it may, I was repeatedly urged during the period of my power, to adopt measures for counteracting this underhand work ; but I always declined it. What advantage should I have gained by such a defence ? It would have been said that I had paid for it, and that would only have discredited me still more. Another victory, another monument,—these, I said, are the best, the only answers I can make. Falsehood passes away, and truth remains ! The sensible portion of the present age, and posterity in particular, will form their judgment only from facts. Is it not so ? Already the cloud is breaking ; the light is piercing through, and my character grows clearer every day. It will soon become the fashion in Europe to do me justice. Those who have succeeded me, possess the archives of my administration and police, and the records of my tribunals : they hold in their pay, and at their disposal, those who must have been the executors, and the accomplices of my atrocities and crimes ; yet, what proofs have they brought forward ? what have they made known ?
“ The first moments of fury being passed away, all honest and sensible men will render justice to my character ; none but rogues or fools will be my enemies. I may rest at ease ; the succession of events, the disputes of opposing parties, their hostile productions, will daily clear the way for the correct and glorious materials of my history. And what advantage has been reaped from the immense sums that have been paid for libels against me ? Soon every trace of them will be obliterated ; while my institutions and monuments will recommend me to the remotest posterity.
“ Now, however, it is too late to heap abuse upon me. The venom of calumny,” said he, repeating an idea which he had before expressed, “ has been exhausted on me ; it can no longer injure me ; it operates like the poison on Mithridates.”
The Emperor ploughing.—The widow’s mite.—Interview with the Admiral.—New arrangements.—The Polish Captain Piontkowsky.
30th.—The Emperor desired me to be called before eight o’clock. While he dressed, I finished reading to him the newspapers which I had begun to examine the day before. When dressed, he himself went to the stables, asked for his horse, and rode out with me alone, his attendants not being yet quite ready. We rode on at random, and soon arrived in a field where some labourers were engaged in ploughing. The Emperor alighted from his horse, seized the plough, and, to the great astonishment of the man who was holding it, he himself traced a furrow of considerable length. He again mounted and continued his ride through various parts of the neighbourhood ; and was joined successively by General Gourgaud and the grooms.
On his return, the Emperor expressed a wish to breakfast under a tree in the garden ; and desired us to remain with him. During the ride he had mentioned a little present that he intended for us. “ It is a trifle, to be sure,” observed he ; “ but every thing must be proportioned to circumstances, and to me this is truly the widow’s mite.” He alluded to a monthly stipend which he had determined to settle on each of us. It was to be deducted from an inconsiderable sum, which we had contrived to secrete in spite of the vigilance of the English ; and this sum was henceforth Napoleon’s sole resource. It may well be imagined how precious this trifle had become. I seized the first moment, on finding myself alone with him, to express my opinion on this subject, and to declare my own personal determination to decline his intended bounty. He laughed at this, and as I persisted in my resolution, he said, pinching my ear, “ Well, if you don’t want it now, keep it for me ; I shall know where to find it when I stand in need of it.”
After breakfast the Emperor went in-doors, and desired me to finish reading the newspapers. I had been some time engaged in reading when M. de Montholon requested to be introduced. He had just had a long conversation with the Admiral, who was very anxious to see the Emperor. I was directed to suspend my translations from the newspapers, and the Emperor walked about for some time as though hesitating how to proceed ; but at length taking up his hat, he went into the drawing-room to receive the Admiral. This circumstance afforded me the highest satisfaction ; for I knew that it was calculated to put a period to our state of hostility. I was well assured that two minutes conversation with the Emperor would smooth more difficulties than two days correspondence with any one else. Accordingly I was soon informed, that his convincing arguments, and amiable manners, had produced the wished-for effect. I was assured, that on his departure the Admiral appeared enchanted ; as for the Emperor, he was very well pleased at what had taken place ; he is far from disliking the Admiral, he is even somewhat prepossessed in his favour. “ You may be a very good seaman,” said the Emperor to him, “ but you know nothing at all about our situation. We ask you for nothing. We can maintain ourselves without all those annoyances and privations ; we can provide for ourselves ; but still our esteem is worth the obtaining.” The Admiral referred to his instructions. “ But,” replied the Emperor, “ you do not consider the vast distance that intervenes between the dictation and the execution of those instructions ! The very individual who issues them in a remote part of the world, would oppose them if he saw them carried into execution. Besides,” continued he, “ it is certain that on the least difference, the least opposition, the slightest expression of public opinion, the Ministers would disavow their instructions, or severely blame those who had not given them a more favourable interpretation.”
The Admiral conducted himself wonderfully well ; the Emperor passed high praises on him ; all asperities were softened down, and good understanding prevailed. It was agreed that the Emperor should henceforth freely ride about the Island ; that the officer who had been instructed to attend him, should merely watch him from a distance, so that the Emperor might not be offended with the sight of a guard ; that visitors should be admitted to the Emperor, not with the permission of the Admiral, as the inspector of Longwood, but with that of the Grand Marshal, who did the honours of the establishment.
To-day, our little colony was encreased by the arrival of Captain Piontkowsky, a native of Poland. He was one of those individuals whom we had left behind us at Plymouth. His devotedness to the Emperor, and his grief at being separated from him, had subdued the severity of the English ministers, and he received permission to proceed to Saint-Helena.
Lieutenant-governor Skelton.
31st.—Lieutenant-governor Skelton and his lady, who had always shewn us great attentions, came to present their respects to the Emperor, who, after an hour’s conversation, desired me to translate to the Colonel an invitation to ride out with him on horseback. The invitation was joyfully accepted, and we set out. We passed through the valley which separates us from Diana’s Peak, to the great astonishment of the Colonel, to whom this course was perfectly new. He found the ride fatiguing, and in many parts dangerous. The Emperor detained Colonel and Mrs. Skelton to dinner, and entertained them in the most agreeable way.
1 Dr. O’Meara of the Northumberland.
2 Individuals composing the Emperor’s household.
Servants of the chamber.
Marchand, . . . native of Paris, . . . 1st valet de chambre.
St. Denis, called Aly, . . . native of Versailles, . . . valet de chambre
Noverraz, . . . Swiss, . . . . ditto
Santini, . . . . Corsican, . . . usher
Servants in livery.
Archambault, sen. . . . native of Fontainebleau, . . . groom.
Archambault, jun. . . . ditto, . . . . . ditto.
Gentilini, . . . native of Elba, . . . . footman.
Servants for the table.
Cypriani, . . . Corsican, died at St. Helena, . . . maitre d’hotel
Pierron, . . . native of Paris, . . . butler
Lapage, . . . . . . . . . . cook
Rousseau, . . . native of Fontainebleau, . . . steward.
3 See the Letters from the Cape.
4 General Gourgaud entertained the greatest affection for his mother and sister, and was equally beloved by them. To Such a length did he carry his regard for them, that in his letters he even described Saint-Helena as a delightful place, in order to ease their anxiety on his account. In his letters he talked of nothing but groves of orange and lemon-trees, and perpetual Spring ; in short, every thing that a romantic imagination could suggest. The English ministers, however, blushed not subsequently to turn against him these innocent misrepresentations, the offspring of his filial solicitude !