Count de Las Cases
Memorial de Sainte Hélène
London, 1823
MY RESIDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.
Volume 1, Part 2
page 216 - 260
1816, February 1 – 29
The Emperor speaks in praise of Saint-Helena.—Scanty resources of the island.
February 1.—The happiest and wisest philosophy is that which sometimes enables us to view the least unfavourable side of the most disagreeable things. The Emperor, who was, doubtless, at the moment, under the influence of this happy feeling, observed as we were walking with him in the garden, that, after all, as a place of exile, perhaps Saint-Helena was the best that could be. In high latitudes we should have suffered greatly from cold, and, in any other island of the tropic, we should have dragged out a miserable existence under the scorching rays of the sun. “ This rock,” continued he, “ is wild and barren, no doubt ; the climate is monotonous and unwholesome ; but the temperature, it must be confessed, is mild and agreeable.”
He afterwards asked me, in the course of conversation, which would have been preferable, England, or America, in case we had been free to follow our own inclinations ? I replied, that had the Emperor wished to spend his days in philosophic retirement, far from the tumult of the world, he should have chosen America ; but if he felt any interest, or entertained any afterthought with regard to public affairs, he should have preferred England. And, not willing to be behindhand in giving an additional touch to the flattering picture which the Emperor had drawn of our miserable rock, I even ventured to say, that there might, perhaps, be circumstances under which Saint-Helena would not be found the worst possible asylum. We might here be under shelter, while the tempest was howling in other parts of the world ; and we were placed beyond the reach of conflicting passions, circumstances every way favourable to the chance of a happier future. These observations arose out of my wish to represent things on their fairest side ; I extended the horizon to the utmost stretch of my imagination.
Meanwhile, in order to afford a correct idea of our place of exile, and the scantiness of its resources, it is only necessary to observe, that we were this day informed it would be necessary to economise various articles of our daily consumption, and, perhaps, even to make a temporary sacrifice of some. We were told the store of coffee was rapidly diminishing, and that it would soon be entirely exhausted. For a considerable time we have denied ourselves the use of white sugar ; there was but very little, and that very bad, which was reserved exclusively for the Emperor’s use ; and there is now every prospect of this little supply being exhausted before more can be obtained. It is the same with various other necessaries. Our island is like a ship at sea ; our stores are speedily exhausted, if the voyage be prolonged, or if we have more mouths to feed than we have the means of supplying. Our arrival has produced a scarcity at Saint-Helena, particularly as trading ships are not now suffered to approach the island ; we might be tempted to believe that they avoid it as a fatal rock, were we not aware that the English cruiser carefully keeps them at bay. But of all the privations with which we are threatened, that which most surprises us, and which is most of all vexatious, is the want of writing paper. We are informed that during our three months residence here we have consumed all the paper in the island ; which proves either that Saint-Helena is, in general, very scantily supplied with that article, or that we have used a most unreasonable quantity. The inmates of Longwood must have consumed six or eight times as much as all the rest of the colony together.
In addition to this, our physical and moral privations must be taken into account ; it must be recollected, that we were not in the full enjoyment of even the few resources which the island affords, and of which arbitrary feeling and caprice in part deprive us ; for we were not permitted to regale our eyes with the sight of the grass and foliage, in places at a certain distance from Longwood. The Admiral had promised that the Emperor should be free to ride over the whole of the island, and that he would make arrangements with respect to his guard, so as to free him from all annoyance. The Admiral, however, broke his engagement ; and by his orders an officer insisted on accompanying the Emperor in his rides. The Emperor consequently renounced the idea of taking any excursion whatever ; and we now remained cut off from all communication with the inhabitants.
With respect to physical comforts, our situation was most miserable, either through unavoidable circumstances or mismanagement. Scarcely any of the provisions were eatable. The wine was execrable ; the oil was unfit for use ; the coffee and sugar were almost at an end : and, as I have already observed, we had almost bred a famine in the island. Of course, we could endure all these privations, and might have contrived to exist under many more. But, when it is asserted that we are treated in a style of magnificence, when it is declared that we are very well off, we are induced to unfold our real situation, and to shew that we are destitute of every comfort. And lest our silence hereafter should lead to the inference that we are happy, let it be understood that our moral strength may enable us to endure miseries which language would be inadequate to express.
My son’s indisposition.—The Emperor gives me a horse.
2d.—My son having been, for some time past, troubled with a pain in his chest, accompanied by violent palpitation of the heart, I called in three surgeons, and they ordered him to be bled.—Bleeding is at present the favourite remedy with the English : it is their universal panacea. The employ it in all disorders, and sometimes where there is no disorder at all. They laughed at the astonishment we evinced at a treatment which was altogether new to us.
About the middle of the day we took a ride in the calash. On our return home, the Emperor wished to see a horse that had just been purchased for him : he thought him very handsome and well made. He tried him ; declared that he liked him uncommonly ; and then, with the most captivating good-nature, gave him as a present to me. However, I could not ride him : he proved vicious, and he was transferred to General Gourgaud, who is a much better horseman than I am.
The Emperor’s progress in learning English.
3d—6th. The 3d was a terrible day : the rain fell incessantly, and we found it impossible to stir out. The weather has continued wet for several days in succession. I never imagined we could have contrived to stay for such a length of time within doors. The damp is penetrating on every side of our dwelling, and the rain is making its way through the roof. The bad weather without doors had an unpleasant effect upon us within.—I became very dull ; and the Emperor was by no means well. “ What is the matter with you ?” said he to me one morning ; “ you seem quite altered for these few days past. Is your mind ailing ? Are you conjuring up Dragons, like Madame de Sevigne ?”—“ Sire,” I replied, “ my illness is altogether bodily. The state of my eyes plagues me exceedingly. As for my mind, I know how to keep that under the bridle. I can even use the bit, if needful ; and your Majesty has given me a pair of spurs which will be my last and victorious resource.”
The Emperor devoted three, four, and even five hours at a time to the study of English. His progress was really very remarkable ; he felt this, and was delighted at it. He frequently says, that he is indebted to me for this conquest, and that he considers it a very important one. For my part, however, I can claim no other merit than the method which I adopted with regard to the other occupations of the Emperor. I first suggested the idea, and then continually reverted to it : and when it was once fairly set on foot, I followed up its execution with a promptitude and daily regularity which stimulated the Emperor to proceed. If any of us happened not to be ready at the moment he wanted us, if it was found necessary to postpone any business till the following day, he was immediately seized with disgust, and his labours were suspended until some circumstance occurred to induce him to renew them. “ I stand in need of excitement,” said he in one of these transient interruptions, “ nothing but the pleasure of advancement can bear me through : for, between you and me, it must needs be confessed that there is nothing very amusing in all this. Indeed there is very little of diversion in the whole routine of our present existence.”
The Emperor still continued to play two or three games at chess before dinner ; in the afternoons we again resumed reversis, which had long been abandoned. Formerly we had not been very regular in paying our debts of honour ; and we henceforth agreed to pay the sums that we owed to each other, into a general bank. We began to consider how the money thus accumulated should be disposed of. The Emperor asked our opinions, and some one proposed that the money should be applied to the liberation of the prettiest female slaves in the island. This idea was universally approved ; we sat down to play with great spirit, and the first evening produced two Napoleons and a half.
The Emperor learns the death of Murat.
7th—8th. The frigate Theban arrived from the Cape, and brought us some newspapers. I translated them to the Emperor while we walked in the garden. One of these papers brought intelligence of a great catastrophe. I read that Murat, having landed in Calabria, with a few troops, had been siezed and shot. At this unexpected news, the Emperor interrupted me by exclaiming, “ The Calabrians were more humane, more generous than those who sent me here.” This was all he said ; and after a few moments silence, I continued my reading.
Murat, without real judgment, without solid views, without a character proportioned to the circumstances in which he was placed, had perished in an attempt evidently desperate. It is not impossible that the Emperor’s return from Elba may have turned his brain, and inspired him with the hope of renewing the prodigy in his own person. Such was the miserable end of him who had been one of the most active causes of our reverses ! In 1814 his courage and intrepidity might have saved us from the abyss in which his treachery involved us. He neutralized the Vice-King on the Po, and fought against him ; whereas, by uniting together, they might have forced the passes of the Tyrol, made a descent into Germany, and arrived on Bâle and the banks of the Rhine, to destroy the rear of the allies and cut off their retreat from France.
The Emperor, while he was at Elba, avoided all communication with the King of Naples ; but on departing for France, he wrote to inform him, that being about to resume possession of his throne, he felt pleasure in declaring to him that all their past differences were at an end. He pardoned his late conduct, tendered him his friendship, sent some one to sign the guarantee of his states, and recommended him to maintain a good understanding with the Austrians, and to content himself with merely keeping them in check, in case they should attempt to march upon France. Murat, at this moment, inspired with the sentiments of his early youth, would receive neither guarantee nor signature. He declared that the Emperor’s promise and friendship were sufficient for him, and that he would prove he had been more unfortunate than guilty. His devotedness and ardour, he added, would obtain for him oblivion of the past.
“ Murat,” said the Emperor, “ was doomed to be our bane. He ruined us by forsaking us, and he ruined us by too warmly espousing our cause. He observed no sort of discretion. He himself attacked the Austrians, without any reasonable plan, and without adequate forces ; and he was subdued without striking a blow.”
The Austrians, when rid of Murat, cited his conduct either as a reason or as a pretence for attributing ambitious views to Napoleon when he again appeared on the scene. They constantly referred to Murat, whenever the Emperor made protestations of his moderation.
Before these unlucky hostilities of the King of Naples, the Emperor had already concluded with Austria. Other inferior states had signified to him that he might rely on their neutrality. Doubtless the fall of the King of Naples gave another turn to affairs.
Endeavours have been made to represent Napoleon as a man of furious and implacable temper ; but the truth is, that he was a stranger to revenge, and he never cherished any vindictive feeling, whatever wrong he might have suffered. His anger was usually vented in violent transports, and was soon at an end. Those who knew him must be convinced of this fact. Murat had scandalously betrayed him ; as I have already observed, he had twice ruined his prospects, and yet Murat came to seek an asylum at Toulon. “ I should have taken him with me to Waterloo,” said Napoleon ; “ but such was the patriotic and moral feeling of the French army, that it was doubtful whether the troops could surmount the disgust and horror which they felt for the man who had betrayed and lost France. I did not consider myself sufficiently powerful to protect him. Yet he might have enabled us to gain the victory. How useful would he have been at certain periods of the battle ? He would have broken three or four English squares. Murat was admirable in such a service as this ;—he was precisely the man for it. At the head of a body of cavalry, no man was ever more resolute, more courageous, or more brilliant.
“ As to drawing a parallel,” said the Emperor “ between the circumstances of Napoleon and Murat—between the landing of the former in France, and the entrance of the latter in the Neapolitan territory ; no such parallel exists. Murat had no good argument to support his cause, except success ; his enterprise was purely chimerical, both as to the time and the manner of its commencement. Napoleon was the chosen ruler of a people ; he was their legitimate sovereign, according to modern doctrines. But Murat was not a Neapolitan ; the Neapolitans had not chosen Murat ; how, therefore, could it be expected that he would excite any lively interest in his favour ? Thus his proclamation was totally false, and void of facts. Ferdinand of Naples could view him in no other light than as a supporter of insurrection ; he did so, and he treated him accordingly.
“ How different was it with me !” continued the Emperor : “ before my arrival, one universal sentiment pervaded France, and my proclamation was imbued with that sentiment :—every one found that it echoed the feelings of his own heart. France was discontented ; I was her resource. The evil and its remedy were immediately in unison. This is the whole secret of that electric movement which is unexampled in history. It had its source solely in the nature of things. There was no conspiracy, and the impulse was general ; not a word was spoken and a general understanding prevailed throughout the country. Whole towns threw themselves at the feet of their deliverer. The first battalion which my presence gained over to me, immediately placed the whole army in my power. I found myself borne on to Paris. The existing government and its agency disappeared without efforts, like clouds before the sun. And yet,” concluded the Emperor, “ had I been subdued, had I fallen into the hands of my enemies, I was not a mere insurrectionary chief ; I was a Sovereign acknowledged by all Europe. I had my title, my standard, my troops ; and I was advancing to wage war upon my enemy.”
Porlier.—Ferdinand.—Tables of my Atlas.
9th.—In the papers which I was translating to the Emperor, I found the history of the Spanish General Porlier, one of the most distinguished chiefs of the famous Guerillas. He had made an attempt to excite the Spaniards to rise against the tyranny of Ferdinand ; but he failed, was arrested, and hanged.
The Emperor said, “ I am not in the least surprised that such an attempt should have been made in Spain. Those very Spaniards who proved themselves my most inveterate enemies when I invaded their country, and who acquired the highest glory by the resistance they opposed to me, immediately appealed to me on my return from Elba. They had, they said, fought against me as their tyrant ; but they now came to implore my aid as their deliverer. They required only a small sum to emancipate themselves, and to produce in the Peninsula a revolution similar to mine. Had I conquered at Waterloo, it was my intention immediately to have assisted the Spaniards. This circumstance sufficiently explains to me the attempt that has lately been made. There is little doubt but it will be renewed again. Ferdinand, in his madness, may grasp his sceptre as firmly as he will ; but one day or other it will slip through his fingers like an eel.”
We had now finished our perusal of the newspapers. The Emperor began to turn over the leaves of my Atlas, and I was happy to see him examine the genealogical tables. I had long wished to call his attention to them, but he had always passed them over. I analyzed to him, on the English table, the wars of the Houses of York and Lancaster ; which are unintelligible to many readers, without a help of this kind. He was struck with their utility, and examined several of them. With regard to the Russian table, he observed that it is extremely difficult, without such an assistant, to trace the irregular order of succession among the late sovereigns of Russia. On looking over the French table, he was very much surprised at the singular fact, that in spite of seven or eight enforcements of the salic law, Louis XVI. should have reigned as though that law had never existed.
The Emperor dwelt much on the accurate and complete agreement of these tables one with another ; he frequently adverted to the number of rallying points marked in so small a space ; the numerical order of the Sovereign, his degree of succession, the complete list of his ancestry, &c. He repeated what he had before hinted to me, that had he known the value of these tables, he should have engaged me to arrange them in a more convenient and less expensive form, in order to adapt them to the use of the French Lyceums. He added, that he should have liked to see all histories reprinted with similar documents to assist and explain them. I told him that I had entertained the same idea, that it had already been carried into execution, with Hume’s History of England, and that, had it not been for the late events in France, it would also have been applied to Pfeffeld’s History of Germany, Hainaut’s France, and a history of the three Crowns of the North.
About four o’clock I presented to the Emperor the Captain of the Theban, who was to sail next day for Europe, and Colonel Macoy, of the regiment of Ceylon. This brave soldier looked like a mutilated monument ; he had not only lost one of his legs, but his face was disfigured by a sabre-cut across his forehead, and several other scars. He had fallen on the field of battle in Calabria, and had been made prisoner by General Panthonaux. The Emperor received him with particular attention ; it was easy to see that they felt a mutual sympathy for each other. Colonel Macoy had held the rank of Major in the Corsican regiment, commanded by the new Governor, whom we expected. The Colonel remarked to some person, that he thought the Emperor was very ill-treated here ; but that he had too high an idea of General Lowe’s liberality of mind, not to believe that he would do every thing in his power to ameliorate our condition.
The Emperor afterwards rode out on horseback, when we again went up the valley, and did not return until about seven o’clock. The Emperor then resumed his walk in the garden ; the temperature was very mild, and the moon shone delightfully. The fine weather had completely returned.
On Egypt.—Plan for altering the course of the Nile.
10.—The Emperor now begins to make rapid advancement in English ; and, with the assistance of his Dictionary, might manage tolerably without me. He was delighted with the decided progress he had made. His lesson for to-day was the task of reading in the Encyclopedia Britannica the article on the Nile, of which he now and then made memoranda, to assist him in his dictations to the Grand Marshal. In this article the Emperor found a fact related which I had formerly mentioned to him, but which he had hitherto considered as an absurd story. The great Albuquerque proposed to the King of Portugal to turn the course of the Nile previous to its entrance into the valley of Egypt, so as to make it fall into the Red Sea, which would have rendered Egypt an impassable desert, and made the Cape of Good Hope the only channel for the great trade of India. Bruce thinks the execution of this gigantic idea not entirely impossible ; the Emperor was forcibly struck with it.
About five o’clock the Emperor took an airing in the calash ; the drive was extremely pleasant, and the circumstance of some trees having been cut down has, by forming several circuitous roads, made our original space three times as large as before. On our return, we took advantage of the fineness of the evening to walk for a long time in the garden : the conversation was most interesting. It turned on various important subjects, viz. on the variety of religions ; on the Spirit that had given them birth ; the ridiculous absurdities with which they were mingled ; the excesses by which they had been degraded ; the objections that had been urged against them, &c. The Emperor treated all these subjects with his usual superiority.
Uniformity.—Ennui.—The Emperor’s Solitude.—Caricatures.
11.—The Emperor read this morning the article entitled Egypt, in the Encyclopedia, and made some notes from it which cannot fail to be of service to him for his Campaign of Egypt. This circumstance gave him a great deal of pleasure ; and he repeated several times in the course of the day how much he was delighted with the progress he had made. He is now sufficiently advanced to read without assistance.
About four o’clock I accompanied the Emperor into the garden : we walked by ourselves for some time, but were afterwards joined by the rest of the company. The weather was very mild. The Emperor remarked on the calmness of our solitude. It was Sunday, and no workmen were to be seen. He added, that we could not, at least, be accused of dissipation, or of the ardent pursuit of pleasure ; in fact, it is difficult to imagine a state of greater uniformity, or a more complete absence of every sort of amusement.
The Emperor endures this mode of life admirably. He surpasses us all in equality and serenity of temper. He says himself, that it would be difficult to be more philosophic and tranquil than he is.—He retires to bed at ten o’clock, and does not rise, that is to say, does not go out, before five or six o’clock, so that he was never more than four hours out of doors ; like a prisoner who is led from his cell once a day to breathe the fresh air. But then how intense is the occupation of each day ! how various are the thoughts which occupy his mind ! With regard to mental exertion, the Emperor said he felt as capable of bearing it as he had ever been ; that he did not feel the least ill effect from it in any respect. He was astonished himself at the slight impression that had been made on him by all the late events of which he had been the hero. He said, it reminded him of lead which had been passed over marble. Weight may compress a spring, but cannot break it ; and it rises again with its own elasticity. He did not think any one in the world knew better than himself how to yield to necessity ; this, he said, was the real triumph of reason and strength of mind.
The hour for our ride had now arrived. As the Emperor was going to meet the calash, he happened to see little Hortense, Madame Bertrand’s daughter, with whom he was very much pleased. He called her to him, caressed her two or three times, and took her out in the carriage along with little Tristan de Montholon. During the drive, the Grand Marshal, who had been looking over the papers, gave an account of some bons-mots and caricatures he had found among them. One possessed a good deal of point. The picture consisted of two actions ; one represented Napoleon giving to the Princess of Hasfield, with directions to commit to the flames, the letter whose disappearance was to preserve her husband ; underneath was written, tyrannical act of an Usurper. The pendant was quite another character. We described to the Emperor a great number of the caricatures with which we had been inundated after the restoration. Some of them afforded him great amusement. One in particular made him smile : it had reference to a change of dynasty.
The Emperor observed, that if caricatures sometimes avenge misfortune, they form a continual annoyance to power. “ I think I have had my share of them,” said he. He then desired us to describe some of those which had been made upon him, and very much approved of one as being in good taste. It was a sketch representing George III. on the coast of England, throwing an enormous beet-root, in a great passion, at the head of Napoleon, who was on the opposite shore, and saying, “ Go and make yourself some sugar.”
The Emperor’s long walk.
12th.—Fine weather had now fairly set in. About four o’clock the Emperor walked in the garden. The temperature was delightful, and we all acknowledged that it was like one of our finest evenings in Europe. We had enjoyed nothing equal to it since we had been on the island. The Emperor ordered the calash ; and by way of a change, instead of driving along by the gum-trees, to get into the road leading to the Grand Marshal’s house, he wished to take the road which encircles the upper hollow of our favourite valley, and to gain, if possible, the spot on which is situated the residence of Miss Mason, and which is on the opposite side, facing Longwood. The Emperor invited Madame Bertrand to take a drive in the calash, in which Madame de Montholon and myself were already seated : the rest of our party followed on horseback, so that we were now all assembled together. At a few paces from Madame Bertrand’s, at the military post, which is established near the house, the ground was very rough and uneven ; the horses refused to advance, and we were obliged to alight from the calash. The barrier was scarcely wide enough to allow the carriage to pass ; but the English soldiers came to our assistance, and in a moment pushed it through by main force. However, when we had reached the hollow of the valley, we found walking so agreeable, that the Emperor wished to continue it ; and after a short time, he ordered the carriage to be driven along the road as far as the gate of Miss Mason’s house, while we should proceed with our walk in the valley. The evening was really most delightful ; the shades of night were beginning to overspread the sky, but the moon shone brilliantly. Our walk reminded us of those strolls which we had been accustomed to enjoy on fine summer evenings, in the neighbourhood of our country residences, in Europe.
The calash had now returned ; but the Emperor declined getting into it. He directed that it should wait at Madame Bertrand’s door ; but when the Emperor got there, he wished to walk on to Longwood, where he arrived very much fatigued. He had walked nearly six miles, which is a great deal for him, who was never a good walker at any period of his life.
Bad temperature of Saint-Helena.—Observation on the spirit of this Journal.
13—16. I have already observed that there is no regular course of seasons at Saint-Helena, but merely irregular successions of good and bad weather. It would be difficult to find four words to express any deviation from our accustomed routine, during these four days. And here I take the opportunity of observing, once for all, that if, in the course of my journal, the events of several days are occasionally found combined in one article, it is because I have cancelled a portion of the notes relating to each day separately. I have been induced to do this from various motives. Sometimes my notes appeared to me too puerile ; sometimes, on the other hand, they seemed to be too serious, and required to be accounted for by reference to a more distant period ; or occasionally they consisted of personalities, and I make it a rule studiously to avoid every thing of that kind. If, in spite of all my care, any offensive personal allusions have escaped me, it can only be when I have been led to their by the essential object of my journal ; namely, to describe the character of the Emperor. Even then, I may reflect for my own satisfaction, that these personalities relate only to public characters, and refer to facts already circulated in the world.
I am, however, perfectly well aware that the task I have undertaken, may subject me to many inconveniences ; but I consider it as a sacred duty, and shall endeavour to fulfil it to the best of my abilities, happen what will.
The Emperor’s views of French politics.
17th.—At six o’clock in the morning the Emperor mounted his horse, and we rode round the park, commencing in the neighbourhood of our valley, and proceeding as far as the road leading from the camp to the Grand Marshal’s residence. A party of about 150 or 200 sailors belonging to the Northumberland, who were daily employed in removing planks of wood or stones for the service of Longwood or the camp, ranged themselves in a line fronting Marshal Bertrand’s house, while the Emperor passed by. The Emperor spoke to the officers, and smiled complacently on his old ship-mates ; he appeared delighted at seeing them.
I have already mentioned that we occasionally received parcels of newspapers from Europe, the contents of which occupied our attention, and occasioned the Emperor to draw some lively and animated pictures. Conversing to-day on the subject of the intelligence we had recently received, the Emperor observed that the condition of France was by no means improved. “ The Bourbons,” he repeated, “have now no other resource than severity. Four months have already elapsed, the Allied forces are about to be withdrawn, and none but half measures have been taken. The affair has been badly managed. A government can exist only by its principle. The principle of the French government evidently is to return to old maxims ; and it should do this openly. In present circumstances, the Chambers, above all, will be fatal ; they will inspire the King with false confidence, and will have no weight with the nation. The King will soon be deprived of all means of communication with them. They will no longer follow the same religion, nor speak the same language. No individual will henceforth have a right to undeceive the people ; with regard to any absurdities that may be propagated ; even if it should be wished to make them believe that all the springs of water are poisoned, and that trains of gunpowder are laid under ground.” The Emperor concluded by observing, that there would be some juridical executions, and an extreme desire of re-action, which will be sufficiently strong to irritate, but not to subdue, &c.
As to Europe, the Emperor considered it to be as violently agitated as it had ever been. The powers of Europe had destroyed France, but she might one day revive through commotions arising among the people of different nations, whom the policy of the sovereigns was calculated to alienate ; the glory of France might also be restored through a misunderstanding among the Allied powers themselves, which would probably ensue.
As to our own personal affairs, they could only be improved through the medium of England ; and she could only be induced to favour us by political interests, a change in her ministers or her sovereign, or the sentiment of national glory excited by the torrent of public opinion. As for political interests, circumstances might bring them about ; the change of individuals depends on accidents ; finally, with respect to the sentiment of national glory, so easy to be understood, the present ministry had disavowed it, but another might not be insensible to it.
Picture of domestic happiness drawn by the Emperor.—Two young ladies of the Island.
18th.—The Emperor sent for me about ten o’clock ; he had just returned home. Some one had informed me that he had been out shooting ; but he said he had not. He rode out on horseback as early as six o’clock ; but he gave orders that His Excellency’s slumbers should not be disturbed. We set to work with the English lesson. Breakfast was served up ; it was most detestable, and I could not refrain from making the observation. He complained of my eating so little, and added that it was certainly necessary to have a good appetite to make a repast on such fare. We continued our lesson until nearly one o’clock, when the excessive heat obliged us to desist, and take a little repose.
About five o’clock the Emperor went out to walk in the garden. He began to draw a sketch of the happiness of a private man in easy circumstances, peacefully enjoying life in his native province, in the house and surrounded by the lands which he had inherited from his fore-fathers. Certainly nothing could be more philosophic. We could not refrain from smiling at the tranquil domestic picture, and some of us got our ears pinched for our pains. “ Felicity of this kind,” continued the Emperor, “ is now unknown in France except by tradition. The Revolution has destroyed it. The old families have been deprived of this happiness, and the new ones have not yet been long enough established in the enjoyment of it. The picture which I have sketched has now no real existence.”—He observed, that to be driven from one’s native home, from the fields in which we had roamed in childhood, to possess no paternal abode, was in reality to be deprived of a country. Some one here remarked, that the man who had been robbed of the home which he had created for himself after the storm had blown over ; who was driven from the house in which he had dwelt with his wife, and which had been the birthplace of his children, might truly say that he had lost a second country. What a world do we live in ! and what vicissitudes has not the present age produced !
We seated ourselves in the calash, and took our accustomed airing. During dinner the conversation turned on two young ladies, residents of the island : the one tall, handsome, and very fascinating ; the other not so pretty, but perfectly well bred, and pleasing in her deportment and manners. Opinions were divided respecting them. The Emperor, who knew I was an admirer of the one first described, declared himself in favour of her also. Some one remarked, that if he were to see the second, he would not be induced to change his mind. The Emperor then wished to know the gentleman’s own opinion respecting the ladies, and he replied, that he was an admirer of the second. This seemed rather contradictory, and the Emperor requested him to explain himself. “ Why,” said he, “ if I wished to purchase a slave, I should certainly fix on the first ; but if I thought I should derive any happiness from becoming a slave myself, I should address myself to the second.”—“ That is to say,” resumed the Emperor, quickly, “ that you have no very high opinion of my taste ?”—“ Not so, Sire, but I suspect your Majesty’s views and mine would be different.” The Emperor smiled, and said nothing more on the subject.
19th.—The Emperor rode on horseback very early this morning ; it was scarcely six o’clock when he went out. I was quite ready ; for I had ordered some one to call me ; and the Emperor was astonished to see me so active. We strolled about the park at random, and returned about nine o’clock : the sun was already beginning to be warm.
About four o’clock the Emperor wished to take his English lesson ; but he was not very well. He said, every thing had gone wrong with him today ; and that nothing had been done well. His walk in the garden did not restore him ; he was not well at dinner-time. He did not play his usual number of games at chess ; but retired after the first game.
The Emperor’s works in the Island of Elba.—Predilection of the Algerines for the Emperor.
20th.—The weather has been extremely bad. The Emperor had been rather unwell the whole of the night, but felt himself much better in the morning. He did not leave his room before five o’clock. About six we took advantage of a gleam of fine weather to drive round the park in the calash. The horses which have been provided for us are vicious ; they shy at the first object that comes in their way, and become restive. They stood still several times during our drive. The rain, indeed, had rendered the roads very heavy, and at one time it required all our efforts to obviate the necessity of returning on foot. The Grand Marshal and General Gourgaud were at one time obliged to alight and put their shoulders to the wheel. At length, after a great deal of trouble, we reached home. The conversation, during our drive, turned on the Island of Elba. The Emperor spoke of the roads he had made, and the houses he had built, which the best Painters of Italy begged, as a favour, to be permitted to adorn with their works.
The Emperor observed, that his flag had become the first in the Mediterranean. It was held sacred, he said, by the Algerines, who usually made presents to the Elba Captains, telling them that they were paying the debt of Moscow. The Grand Marshal told us, that some Algerine ships having anchored off the Island of Elba, had caused great alarm among the inhabitants, who questioned the pirates with regard to their intentions, and ended by asking them plainly whether they came with any hostile views.—“ Against the Great Napoleon !” said the Algerines : “ Oh ! never . . . . . . we do not wage war on God !”
Whenever the flag of the Island of Elba entered any of the ports of the Mediterranean, Leghorn excepted, it was received with loud acclamations : all the national feeling seemed to return. The crews of some French ships from Britanny and Flanders, which touched at the Island of Elba, testified the same sentiment.
“ Every thing is judged by comparison in this world,” said the Emperor ; “ the Island of Elba, which, a year ago, was thought so disagreeable, is a paradise compared to Saint-Helena. As for this Island, it may set all future regret at defiance.”
Piontkowski.—Caricature.
21st—22d. The Emperor continued to rise early and ride out on horseback, in the park and among the gum-trees. He rode only at a walking pace, but this light exercise was of advantage to him, as it enabled him to enjoy the fresh air. He returned with a better appetite, and pursued the occupations of the day with greater spirit. He breakfasted in the garden, under some trees which had been twined together to afford him a shade. One morning, as he was sitting down to breakfast, he perceived at a distance the Polonese Piontkowski, and sent for him to breakfast with him. He always takes pleasure in conversing with him whenever he meets him. Piontkowski, with whose origin we are not very well acquainted, came to the Island of Elba, and obtained permission to serve as a private in the Guards. On the Emperor’s return from Elba, he had gained the rank of lieutenant. When we departed from Paris, he received permission to follow us ; and we left him at Plymouth, among those who were separated from us by order of the English ministers. Piontkowski, having more fidelity, or more address, than his comrades, obtained leave to come to Saint-Helena. The Emperor had never known, and never spoken to him, till he came here.
Piontkowski was, indeed, equally unknown to us all. The English were surprised that we did not give him a warmer greeting on his arrival. Some individuals, who seized all opportunities of saying any thing to our disadvantage, wrote to England that we had received Piontkowski very badly. This story was totally false ; but it furnished the English ministerial prints with a subject on which to exercise their usual courtesy and wit. It was asserted that the Emperor had beaten Piontkowski ; and I heard of a caricature in which Napoleon was exhibited thrusting his nails into the Polish officer. It was, moreover, alleged that I had fallen upon him like a cannibal, about to devour him ; and that it was only by a stick being thrust between my teeth, by the driver of the cattle, that I was prevented from biting a mouthful out of his shoulder. Such were the elegant descriptions that were given of us.
The Emperor’s return from Elba.
24th.—After dinner, while we taking our coffee, the Emperor observed, that about this time last year, he quitted the Island of Elba. The Grand Marshal informed him that it was on the 26th of February, and on a Sunday. “ Sire,” said he, “ you directed the mass to be performed at an earlier hour than usual, that you might have the more time for issuing the necessary orders.”
They sailed in the afternoon, and next morning at ten o’clock, they were still within sight, to the great anxiety of those who were interested in their success.
The Emperor entered into conversation on this subject, and was, for upwards of an hour, engaged in describing the details of that event, which is single in history, both from the boldness of the enterprise, and the miracle of its execution. I shall insert, at another part of my journal, the details which I collected on this subject.
Campaigns of Italy and Egypt.—The Emperor’s opinion on the great French Poets.—Tragedies by late Writers.—Hector.—The Etats de Blois.—Talma.
25th—28th. Our days were for the most part very much alike ; if they seemed long in detail, they were rapidly shortened in a retrospective view. They were without character or interest, and left only imperfect recollections behind. The English went on gradually improving. The Emperor confessed that he had felt a moment of disgust ; his furia Francese had, he said, at one time, given way ; but he added, that I had reanimated him by means of a plan which he considered more certain and infallible than any other—that of reading and analyzing one single page over and over again until it was thoroughly learnt. The grammatical rules were explained by the way. In this manner, there is not a moment lost for study and memory. The progress at first appears slow, the learner seems to advance but little in his studies ; but by the time he has come to the fiftieth page, he is astonished to find that he knows the language. We had added a page of Telemachus to the rest of our lesson, and we found the benefit of it. By this time, however, the Emperor, though he had only had twenty or twenty-five complete lessons, could understand any book ; and would have been able to make himself understood in writing. He had not learnt every thing, it is true ; but, as he said, nothing could be concealed from him for the future, and this was a great thing—this was a decided victory.
The Campaign of Egypt was completed with the assistance of Bertrand, as far as the want of materials would permit. The Emperor now commenced, with another of the gentlemen, a new and very important period ; namely :—from his departure from Fontainebleau, up to his return to Paris, and his second abdication. He possessed no document relating to these rapid events ; but it was that very rapidity, which induced me to entreat him to employ his memory in the establishment of circumstances, which the hurry of events or party spirit might enfeeble or distort.
The Emperor also employed himself very frequently with me, in revising the different chapters of the Campaign of Italy ; this was generally done immediately before dinner. He had directed me to arrange each chapter in a regular and uniform manner ; to mark out the proper divisions of the paragraphs, and to note down and collect the justificatory articles. This he called the digestive business of an editor. “ And your interest is concerned in it,” said he to me one day, with an air of kindness which affected me ; “ henceforward it is your property the Campaign of Italy shall bear your name, and the Campaign of Egypt that of Bertrand. I intend that it shall add at once to your fortune and to your fame. There will be at least a hundred thousand francs in your pocket ; and your name will last as long as the remembrance of my battles.”
With regard to our evenings, the reversis had been relinquished a second time ; we could not continue it long. After the second or third round, the cards were abandoned for conversation. We resumed our readings : our stock of novels was exhausted, and plays occupied our attention for the future, tragedies in particular. The Emperor is uncommonly fond of analyzing them, which he does in a singular mode of reasoning, and with a great deal of taste. He remembers an immense quantity of poetry, which he learned when he was eighteen years old, at which time, he says, he knew much more than he does at present. The Emperor is delighted with Racine, in whom he finds an abundance of beauties. He greatly admires Corneille, but thinks very little of Voltaire, who, he says, is full of bombast and trick ; always incorrect ; unacquainted either with men or things, with truth or the sublimity of passion.
At one of the evening levees at Saint-Cloud, the Emperor analyzed a piece which had just been brought out ; it was Hector, by Luce de Lancival : this piece pleased him very much ; it possessed warmth and energy of character. He called it a head-quarter piece ; and said that a soldier would be better prepared to meet the enemy after seeing or reading it. He added, that it would be well if there were a greater number of plays written in the same spirit.—Then adverting to those dramatic productions which he termed waiting-maids’ tragedies, he said they would not bear more than one representation, after which they suffered a gradual diminution of interest. A good tragedy, on the contrary, gains upon us every day. The higher walk of tragedy, continued he, is the school of great men ; it is the duty of sovereigns to encourage and disseminate a taste for it. Nor is it necessary, he said, to be a poet, to be enabled to judge of the merits of a tragedy ; it is sufficient to be acquainted with men and things, to possess an elevated mind, and to be a statesman. Then, becoming gradually more animated, he added with enthusiasm,—“ Tragedy fires the soul, elevates the heart, and is calculated to generate heroes. Considered under this point of view, perhaps, France owes to Corneille a part of her great actions ; and, gentlemen, had he lived in my time, I would have made him a prince.”
On a similar occasion, he analyzed and condemned the Etats de Blois, which had just been presented for the first time at the theatre of the Court ; and perceiving, among the company present, the Arch-Treasurer Lebrun, who was distinguished for his literary acquirements, he asked his opinion of it. Lebrun, who was undoubtedly in the author’s interest, contented himself with remarking, that the subject was a bad one. “ That,” replied the Emperor, “ was M. Renouard’s first fault ; he chose it himself, it was not forced upon him. Besides, there is no subject, however bad, which great talent cannot turn to some account, and Corneille would still have been himself even in one like this. As for M. Renouard, he has totally failed. He has shewn no other talent but that of versification ; every thing else is bad, very bad ; his conception, his details, his result, are altogether deficient. He violates the truth of history ; his characters are false, and their political tendency is dangerous, and perhaps prejudicial. This is an additional proof of what, however, is very well known, that there is a wide difference between the reading and the representation of a play. I thought at first that this piece might have been allowed to pass ; it was not until this evening that I perceived its improprieties. Of these, the praises lavished on the Bourbons are the least ; the declamations against the Revolutionists are much worse. M. Renouard has made the Chief of the Sixteen the Capuchin Chabot of the Convention. There is matter in his piece to gratify every party and every passion : were I to allow it to be represented in Paris, I should probably hear of half a hundred people murdering one another in the pit. Besides, the author has made Henri IV. a true Philinte, and the Duke de Guise a Figaro, which is much too great an outrage on history. The Duke of Guise was one of the most distinguished men of his time ; and if he had but ventured, he might, at that time, have established the fourth dynasty. Besides, he was related to the Empress ; he was a Prince of the house of Austria, with whom we are in friendship, and whose Ambassador was present this evening at the representation. The author has in more than one instance shewn a strange disregard of propriety.” The Emperor afterwards said, that he felt more than ever fixed in the determination he had formed, not to permit any new tragedy to be played on the public stage before it had undergone a trial at the theatre of the Court. He therefore prohibited the representation of the Etats de Blois. It is worthy of remark, that since the restoration of the King, this piece was revived with the greatest pomp, and supported by all the favour which the prohibition of the Emperor would naturally procure for it. But, notwithstanding all this, it failed ; so correct was the judgment which Napoleon had passed upon it.
Talma, the celebrated tragedian, had frequent interviews with the Emperor, who greatly admired his talent, and rewarded him magnificently. When the First Consul became Emperor, it was reported all over Paris, that he had Talma to give him lessons in attitude and costume. The Emperor, who always knew every thing that was said against him, rallied Talma one day on the subject, and finding him look quite disconcerted and confounded,—“ You are wrong,” said he, “ I certainly could not have employed myself better, if I had had leisure for it.” On the contrary, it was the Emperor who gave Talma lessons in his art : “ Racine,” said he to him, “has loaded his character of Orestes with imbecilities, and you only add to their extravagance. In the Mort de Pompée, you do not play Cæsar like a hero ; in Britannicus, you do not play Nero like a tyrant.” Every one knows the corrections which Talma afterwards made in his performances of these celebrated characters.
Contractors, &c. during the Revolution.—The Emperor’s credit on his return from Elba.—His reputation in the public offices as a rigid investigator.—Ministers of Finance and the Treasury.—Cadastre.
29th.—At six o’clock, the Emperor having finished his daily occupations, went out to walk in the garden. We then took a drive in the calash : it was quite dark, and rained very fast when we returned.
After dinner, while coffee was served out, which we took, without rising from our seats at the dining-table, the conversation turned on what were termed the Agents, during the Revolution, and the great fortunes which they acquired. The Emperor knew the name, the family, the profession, and the character, of every one of these men.
Scarcely had Napoleon attained the Consulship than he became engaged in a dispute with the celebrated Madame Recamier, whose father held a situation in the Post-office department. Napoleon, on first taking the reins of Government, was obliged to sign in confidence a great number of lists ; but he soon established the most rigid inspection in every department. He discovered that a correspondence with the Chouans was going on under the connivance of M. Bernard, the father of Madame Recamier. He was immediately dismissed, and narrowly escaped being brought to trial, by which he would doubtless have been condemned to death. His daughter flew to the First Consul, and, at her solicitation, Napoleon exempted M. Bernard from taking his trial ; but was resolute with respect to his dismissal. Madame Recamier, who had been accustomed to ask for every thing, and to obtain every thing, would be satisfied with nothing less than the reinstatement of her father. The severity of the First Consul excited loud animadversions ; it was a thing quite unusual. Madame Recamier and her party, which was very numerous, never forgave him.
The contractors and agents were the class who, above all, excited the uneasiness of the new Supreme Magistrate, who called them the scourge and the plague of the nation. The Emperor observed, that all France would not have satisfied the ambition of the individuals of this party who were in Paris ; that, when he came to the head of affairs, they constituted an absolute power ; and that they were most dangerous to the state, whose springs were corrupted by their intrigues, joined to those of their numerous dependants.— In truth, said he, they could never be regarded as any thing but sources of corruption and ruin, like Jews and usurers. They had discredited the Directory, and they wished in like manner to control the Consulate. It may be said, that at that period they enjoyed the highest rank and influence in society.
“One of the principal retrograde steps,” said the Emperor, “ which I took, with the view of restoring the past state and manners of society, was to throw all this false lustre back into the crowd. I never would raise any of this class to distinction : of all aristocracies, this appeared to me the worst.” The Emperor rendered to Lebrun the justice of having specially confirmed him in this principle. “ The party always disliked me for this,” said the Emperor ; “ but they were still less inclined to pardon the rigid enquiry which I instituted into their accounts with the Government.”
The Emperor said, that in business of this sort he turned the service of his Council of State to the best account. He used to appoint a committee of four or five members of the Council, men of integrity and intelligence. They made their report to him, and if the case required farther investigation, they wrote at the bottom of the report : referred to the Grand Judge to be submitted to his laws. The individuals implicated generally endeavoured to compromise the affair, when it arrived to this length. They would disgorge one, two, three, or four millions, rather than suffer the business to be legally investigated. The Emperor was well aware, that all these facts were misrepresented in the different circles of the capital, that they produced him many enemies, and drew down upon him the reproach of arbitrariness and tyranny. But he thus acquitted a great duty to the mass of society, who must have been grateful to him for the measures he adopted towards these blood-suckers of the public.
“ Men are always the same,” said the Emperor : “ .”
This resource, so useful in the crisis in which the Emperor was placed, and which must at the same time have been so satisfactory and flattering to himself personally, proves the real opinion that was entertained of Napoleon in Europe, and the confidence which he inspired. This negotiation, which was unknown at the time, explains whence the Emperor derived the financial resources of which he suddenly found himself possessed on his return from Elba ; which was a great subject of conjecture at the time.
The Emperor himself said, that he enjoyed singular reputation among the heads of offices and accountants. The examination of accounts was a thing which he very well understood. “ The circumstance that first gained me reputation, in this way, was that while balancing a yearly account during the Consulate, I discovered an error of 2,000,000 to the disadvantage of the Republic. M. Dufresne, who was then chief of the treasury, and who was a perfectly honest man, at first would not believe that the error existed. However, it was an affair of figures ; the fact could not be denied. At the treasury several months were occupied in endeavouring to discover the error. It was at length found in an account of the contractor Seguin, who immediately acknowledged it on being shewn the accounts, and restored the money, saying it was a mistake.”
On another occasion as the Emperor was examining the accounts of the pay of the garrison of Paris, he observed an article of sixty and some odd thousand francs set down to a detachment which had never been in the capital. The minister made a note of the error, merely from complaisance, but was convinced in his own mind that the Emperor was mistaken. Napoleon however proved to be right, and the sum was restored.
The Emperor regarded as a matter of the highest importance, the separation of the departments of finance and the treasury, both for the sake of keeping the business of the two departments distinct, and for enabling them to become mutual checks to each other. The minister of the treasury, under a sovereign like Napoleon, was the most important man in the empire ; not merely as minister of the treasury, but as comptroller-general. All the accounts of the empire came under his examination, and he was thus enabled to detect every kind of peculation and abuse, and to make them known to the sovereign ; and communications of this nature were daily made. To special appropriations Napoleon also attached the greatest importance, as having been among the happiest springs of his administration.
Speaking of the cadustre, he said that according to the plan which he had drawn up, it might be considered as the real constitution of the empire. It was the true guarantee of property, and the security for the independence of each individual ; for the tax being once fixed and established by the legislature, each individual might make his own arrangements, and had nothing to fear from the authority or arbitrary conduct of assessors, which is always the point most sensibly felt, and the surest to enforce submission. During this conversation, the Emperor gave his opinion of the talents of MM. Gaudin, Mollien, and Louis, as well as of most of his other ministers and counsellors of state. He concluded by observing that he had succeeded in creating a system of government, doubtless the purest and most energetic in Europe ; and that he himself had the details so much at his command, that he was sure he now could, merely with the help of the Moniteurs, trace the complete history of the financial administration of the empire during his reign.