Count de Las Cases
Memorial de Sainte Hélène
London, 1823
My Residence with the Emperor Napoleon.
Volume 3, Part 5
page 58 – 91
1816, July 21 – 31
Egypt.—Saint-Jean d’Acre.—The Desert.—Anecdotes, &c. &c.
July 21st.—About three o’clock the Emperor called for his calash. He sent for me, and we walked together to the bottom of the wood where he had ordered the carriage to take him up. I had some particulars of no great moment to communicate, which personally concerned him. ..................
We observed, in the course of our ride, two vessels under sail for the island.
At dinner the Emperor seemed very fond of conversation. He had been just employed on his campaign of Egypt, which he had, for some time, neglected, and which, he said, would be as interesting as an episode of romance. In speaking of his position at Saint-Jean d’Acre, he observed : —
“ The position which I occupied in the middle of Syria, with 12,000 men only, was, it must be admitted, a very enterprizing measure. I was at the distance of 500 leagues from Desaix, who formed the other extremity of my army. It has been related by Sydney Smith, that I lost 18,000 men before Saint-Jean d’Acre, although my army consisted but of 12,000. An obscure person M......, who had just gone through his exercises at college, as it seemed, who knows nothing of what he describes, and whose only talent is that of tacking some sentences together, with a view, no doubt, of converting them to his emolument, the brother, however, of one, whom I have loaded with favours, and who was one of my council of state, has recently published something on that subject, on which I have cast a glance, and which vexes me on account of its silliness and the gloomy tint it endeavours to shed on the glory and exploits of that army, &c. &c.
“ Had I been master of the sea, I should have been master of the East, and the thing was so practicable, that it failed only through the stupidity or bad conduct of some officers of the navy.
“ Volney, who travelled in Egypt before the revolution, had stated his opinion, that that country could not be occupied without three great wars against England, the Grand Signior, and the inhabitants. The latter, in particular, seemed difficult and terrible to him. He was altogether mistaken in that respect, for it gave us no trouble. We had even succeeded in making friends of the inhabitants, in the course of a short time, and of connecting their cause with ours. A handful of Frenchmen had then been sufficient to conquer that fine country, which they ought never to have lost. We had actually accomplished prodigies in war and in politics. Our undertaking was altogether different from the crusades ; the crusaders were innumerable and hurried on by fanaticism. My army, on the contrary, was very small, and the soldiers were so little inclined to the enterprize, that they were frequently tempted to carry off the colours and return. I had, however, succeeded in familiarizing them with the country, which supplied every thing in abundance, and at so cheap a rate, that I was one time on the point of placing them on half pay for the purpose of laying by the other half for them. I had acquired such an ascendency over them, that I had it in my power, by a simple order of the day, to convert them to Mahometanism. They would have treated it as a joke, the population would have been gratified, and the Christians of the East themselves would have considered themselves gainers, and approved of it, as they knew that we could not act better for them and for ourselves.
“ The English were struck with consternation at seeing us in possession of Egypt. We exposed to Europe the certain means of wresting India from them. They have not yet dismissed their apprehensions, and they are in the right. If 40 or 50,000 European families ever succeed in establishing their industry, laws, and government in Egypt, India will be more effectually lost to the English by the commanding influence of circumstances, than by the force of arms.”
In the course of the evening, the grand Marshal put the Emperor in mind of one of his conversations with Monge, the mathematician, at Cutekié, in the midst of the desert. “What do you think of all this, citizen Monge ?” said Napoleon.— “Why, citizen general,” answered Monge, “I think, if there are ever seen in this place as many equipages as at the Opera house, there must be some wonderful revolutions on the globe.” The Emperor laughed very heartily at the recollection. He had, however, he observed, a carriage with six horses on the spot. It was unquestionably the first of the kind that travelled over the desert, and accordingly it very much surprised the Arabs.
The Emperor remarked, that the desert always had a peculiar influence on his feelings. He had never crossed it without being subject to a certain emotion. It seemed to him, he said, the image of immensity : it shewed no boundaries, and had neither beginning nor end ; it was an ocean on terra firma. His imagination was delighted with the sight, and he took pleasure in drawing our attention to the observation that Napoleon meant Lion of the desert ! .....
The Emperor also told us, that when he was in Syria, it was a settled opinion at Cairo, that he never would be seen there again, and he noticed the thievery and impudence of a little Chinese, who was one of his servants. “It was,” said he, “a little deformed dwarf, whom Josephine once took a fancy to at Paris. He was the only Chinese in France, and was generally placed behind her carriage. She took him to Italy, but as he was in the constant habit of pilfering, she wished to get rid of him. With that view, I put him on board of my Egyptian expedition. Egypt was a lift to him half way on his journey. This little monster was entrusted with the care of my cellar, and I had no sooner crossed the desert, than he sold, at a very low price, 2,000 bottles of delicious claret. His only object was to make money, and he was convinced, that I should never come back. He was not at all disconcerted at my return, but came eagerly to meet me, and acquainted me, as he said, like a faithful servant, with the loss of my wine. The robbery was so glaring, that he was himself compelled to confess it. I was much urged to have him hanged, but I refused, because, in every sense of justice, I ought to have done as much to those in embroidered clothes, who had knowingly bought and drank the wine. I contented myself with discharging and sending him to Suez, where he was at liberty to do what he pleased.”
With respect to this topic I must observe, that we were induced, in this place, to give momentary credit to a very singular coincidence. We were informed a few months ago, that on board one of the Chinese traders, which were then off the island, on their return to Europe, there was a Chinese, who said, he had been in the Emperor’s service in Egypt. The Emperor instantly exclaimed, that it was his little thief, whose story I have just told ; but it was, in fact, a cook that had belonged to Kleber.
The Emperor put a sudden stop to the conversation, and with more gaiety than usual, turning to Madame Bertrand, said with a smile, “When will you be at your apartments in the Tuileries ? When will you give your splendid dinners to the ambassadors ? But you will be obliged, at least, I am told so, to have new furniture, for it is reported, that the fashion has entirely changed in that country.” The conversation then naturally turned on the manificence and luxury, which we had witnessed under the Emperor.
Paternal advice—Remarkable conversation—Cagliostro ; Mesmer, Gall, Lavater, &c.
22d.—The Emperor came to my apartment about 10 o’clock, and took me out to walk. We all breakfasted under the trees. The weather was delightful, and the heat, though intense, wholesome. The Emperor ordered his calash, two of us were with him, and the third accompanied us on horseback. The Grand Marshal could not attend. The Emperor recurred to some misunderstanding, which had taken place among us a few days before. He took a view of our situation and our natural wants ;— “You are bound,” said he, “when you are one day restored to the world, to consider yourselves as brothers, on my account. My memory will dictate this conduct to you. Be so, then, from this moment !” He next described how we might be of mutual advantage to each other, the sufferings we had it in our power to alleviate, &c. &c. It was, all at once, a family and moral lesson, alike distinguished for excellent sentiment and practical rules of conduct. It ought to have been written in letters of gold. It lasted nearly an hour and a quarter, and will, I think, never be forgotten by any of us. For myself, not only the principles and the words, but the tone, the expression, the action, and above all, the entire affection with which he delivered them, will never be erased from my mind.
About five o’clock, the Emperor entered my apartment, where I was employed, with my son, on the sketch of the battle of Arcola. He had something to say to me and I followed him to the garden, where he resumed, at great length, the conversation that had taken place in the calash. ......
We now dined in the old topographical cabinet, adjoining that of the Emperor and the apartment formerly occupied by Montholon’s family, which, with the help of the books and shelves lately received from England, was converted into a tolerable library.
As the damage done by the fire in the saloon was long in repairing, we were obliged to continue at table in our new dining-room until the Emperor withdrew. This circumstance, however, gave additional interest to the conversation.
The Emperor was very communicative to-day. The conversation turned on dreams, presentiments, and foresights, which the English call second sight. We employed every common-place topic, ordinarily connected with these objects, and came at last to speak of sorcerers and ghosts. The Emperor concluded with observing ; “All these quackeries, and as many others, such as those of Cagliastro, Mesmer, Gall, and Lavater, &c. &c., are destroyed by this sole and simple argument ; All that may exist, but it does not exist.
“ Man is fond of the marvellous ; it has for him irresistible fascinations ; he is ever ready to abandon that, which is near at hand, to run after that, which is fabricated for him. He voluntarily lends himself to his own delusions. The truth is, that every thing about us is a wonder. There is nothing which can be properly called a phenomenon. Every thing in nature is a phenomenon. My existence is a phenomenon. The wood that is put in the fire-place and warms me, is a phenomenon ; that candle there, which gives me light, is a phenomenon. All the first causes, my understanding, my faculties, are phenomena ; for they all exist and we cannot define them. I take leave of you here,” said he, “and lo ! I am at Paris, entering my box at the opera. I bow to the audience ; I hear the acclamations ; I see the performers ; I listen to the music. But if I can bound over the distance from Saint Helena, why should I not bound over the distance of centuries ? Why should I not see the future as well as the past ? Why should the one be more extraordinary, more wonderful than the other ? The only reason is, that it does not exist. This is the argument which will always annihilate, without the possibility of reply, all visionary wonders. All these quacks deal in very ingenious speculations ; their reasoning may be just and seductive ; but their conclusions are false, because they are unsupported by facts.
“ Mesmer and Mesmerism have never recovered from the blow dealt at them by Bailly’s report in the name of the Academy of Sciences. Mesmer produced effects upon a person by magnetizing him to his face, yet the same person, magnetized behind, without his knowing it, experienced no effect whatever. It was therefore, on his part, an error of the imagination, a debility of the senses ; it was the act of the somnabule, who, at night runs along the roof without danger, because he is not afraid ; but who would break his neck in the day, because his senses would confound him.
“ I once attacked the quack Puységur, on his somnabulism, at one of my public audiences. He wished to assume a very lofty tone ; brought him down to his proper level with only these words. If your doctrine is so instructive, let it tell us something new ! Mankind will, no doubt, make a very considerable progress in the next 200 years, let it specify any single improvement, which is to take place within that period ! Let it tell me what I shall do within the following week ! Let it ascertain the numbers of the lottery, which will be drawn tomorrow ! &c. &c.
“ I behaved in the same manner to Gall, and contributed very much to the discredit of his theory. Corvisart was his principal follower. He, and all who resemble him, had a great attachment to materialism, which was calculated to strengthen their theory and influence. But nature is not so barren. Were she so clumsy as to make herself known by external forms, we should go to work more promptly and acquire a greater degree of knowledge. Her secrets are more subtle, more delicate, more evanescent, and have hitherto escaped the most minute researches. We find a great genius in a little hunch back, and a man, with a fine commanding person, turns out to be a stupid fellow. A big head with a large brain is sometimes destitute of a single idea, while a small brain is found to possess a vast understanding. And observe the imbecility of Gall. He attributes to certain protuberances, propensities and crimes, which are not inherent in nature, which arise solely from society and the compact of mankind. What becomes of the protuberance, denoting thievery, where there is no property to steal ;— of that indicating drunkenness, where there are no fermented liquors, and of that characterising ambition, where there is no social establishment ?
“ The same remarks apply to that egregious charlatan, Lavater, with his physical and moral relations. Our credulity lies in the defect of our nature. It is inherent in us to wish for the acquisition of positive ideas, when we ought, on the contrary, to be carefully on our guard against them. We scarcely look at a man’s features, before we undertake to ascertain his character. We should be wise enough to repel the idea and to neutralize those deceitful appearances. I was robbed by a person who had grey eyes, and from that moment am I never to look at grey eyes without the idea of the fear of being robbed ? It was a weapon, that wounded me, and of that I am apprehensive wherever I see it, but was it the grey eyes that robbed me ? Reason and experience, and I have been enabled to derive great benefit from both, prove, that all those external signs are so many lies ; that we cannot be too strictly on our guard against them, and that the only true way of appreciating and gaining a thorough knowledge of mankind is by trying and associating with them. After all, we meet with countenances so hideous, it must be allowed,” (and as an instance he described one ; it was that of the governor), “that the most powerful understanding is confounded, and condemns them in spite of itself.”
Singular Accummulation of Contrarieties, &c. &c.
23d.—The Emperor called upon me about three o’clock. He wished to take a walk. He had a gloomy look, and had suffered much since yesterday. He was seriously affected by the intense heat during his ride in the calash. He had observed a new door which was making without, and which would have altered the whole interior of the topographical cabinet, and of Madame Montholon’s former apartment. He had not been consulted on the occasion, and was sensibly affected at it. He sent instantly for the person who had given the directions, and the bad reasons he assigned served only to vex him still more. We were desirous of taking a walk, but it seemed decided that every thing was to irritate and put him in ill humour that evening. He saw some English officers on his way, and turned aside from them almost in anger, observing, that shortly it would be impossible for him to put his foot out of doors. A few paces off he was joined by the Doctor, who came to tell him, unseasonably enough, of some arrangements that were making for him, the Emperor, and to ask his opinion on the subject. It was one of the topics, which, perhaps, hurt his feelings most. He made no answer, his ordinary resource against disappointment, but this time he kept silent with a fretfulness he could not conceal. He came up with the carriage, and got in ; but on our way we met with some more English officers, and then he suddenly ordered the coachman to drive off, at a gallop, in another direction.
The new opening, however, which had been made in the house without his knowledge, and which he found so inconvenient, still sat heavy on his heart. He was about to lighten the load by a lively playfulness with the wife of the person who had ordered it, and who happened to be in the calash. “Ah,” said he, “are you there ? You are in my power ; you shall pay the penalty. The husband is the guilty person ; it is the wife that shall answer for him.” But instead of accommodating herself to the sense in which the words were uttered, which she might have done without the least inconvenience, and with the certainty of a satisfactory result, she persisted in making lame excuses for her husband, and repeating reasons, which served but to revive his dissatisfaction. Finally, to fill up the chapter of cross purposes, one of us, on discovering the tents of the camp, informed him that the evolutions and manoeuvres of the preceding day were in celebration of one of the great victories gained by the English in Spain, and that the regiment which executed them, had been very nearly destroyed in battle. “A regiment, Sir, is never destroyed by the enemy ; it is immortalized,” was his only answer. It is true, that it was delivered very dryly.
For myself, I meditated in silence on this accumulation of contrarieties, which struck with redoubled blows in so short a time. It was a precious moment for an observer. I estimated the torments they were calculated to produce, and I remarked, with admiration, the few he suffered to escape. I said to myself, this is the intractable man, this the tyrant ! It might have been said, that he knew what was passing in my mind, for, when we left the calash, and were a few paces before the others, he said to me in a low tune, “If you like to study mankind, learn how far patience can go, and all that one can put up with,” &c. &c.
On his return, he called for tea ; I had never seen him take any. Madame de Montholon was, for the first time, in possession of her new saloon. He wished to see it, and observed that she would be much better accommodated than us all. He called for fire, and played at chess with several of us successively. He gradually resumed his natural state, and ate a little at dinner, which completely restored him. He indulged in conversation, and again reverted to his early years, which always possessed fresh charms for him. He spoke a great deal of his early acquaintances, and of the difficulties some of them had in obtaining admission to him after his elevation, and observed, “that if the threshold of his palace was impassable, it was in spite of himself. What then,” said he, “must be the situation of other sovereigns in that respect ?” &c. &c.
We continued the conversation until eleven, without noticing the lateness of the hour.
Madame de B.....—Details, &c.—Anecdotes respecting the Emigrants.
24th.—To-day the Emperor tried the billiard-table which had been just laid down, and went out, but the weather being very damp, he returned almost immediately.
He conversed with me in his apartment, before dinner, on the emigrants, and the name of Madame de B...., who had been dame d’atours to Madame, and was very conspicuous in the commencement of our affairs, was mentioned. The Emperor observed, “But is not this Madame de B.... a very dangerous woman ?” — “Certainly not,” I replied ; “she is, on the contrary, one of the best women in the world, with a great deal of wit, and an excellent judgment.” “If that is the case,” said the Emperor, “she must have much cause to complain of me. This is the painful consequence of false representations ; she was pointed out as a very dangerous character.” — “Yes, Sire, you made her very unhappy. Madame de B.... placed all her happiness in the charms of society, and you banished her from Paris. I met with her in one of my missions, confined within her province, and pining away with vexation, yet she expressed no resentment against your Majesty, and spoke of you with great moderation.” “Well, then ! why did you not come to me, and set me right ?” — “Ah, Sire, your character was then so little known to us, compared with what I know it to be at present, that I should not have dared to take it upon myself. But I will mention an anecdote of Madame de B.... when at London, during the high tide of our emigration, which will make you better acquainted with her than any thing I could say. At the time when you were declared Consul, a person, just arrived from Paris, was invited to a small party at her house. He engrossed the attention of the company, in consequence of all the particulars he had to communicate respecting a place, which interested us so very materially. He was asked several questions respecting the Consul. He can not, said he, live long, he is so yellow as to inspire delight. These were his words. He grew more animated by degrees, and gave as a toast—the death of the First Consul ! Oh, horrible ! was the instantaneous exclamation of Madame de B.... What, drink to the death of a human being ! For shame ! I will give a much better one ; the King’s health !”
“Well,” said the Emperor, “I repeat, that she was very ill used by me, in consequence of the representations, which were made to me. She had been described to me as a person fond of political intrigues, and remarkable for the bitterness of her sarcasms. And this huts me in mind of an expression which is perhaps wrongly attributed to her, but which struck me, however, solely on account of its wit. I was assured, that a distinguished personage, who was very much attached to her, was seized with a fit of jealousy, for which she clearly proved she had given no cause. He persisted, however, and observed, that she ought to know that the wife of Cæsar should be free from suspicion. Madame de B.... replied, that the remark contained two important mistakes ; for it was known to, all the world that she was not his wife, and that he was not Cæsar.”
After dinner, the Emperor read to us parts of the comedies of the Dissipateur and the Glorieux, but he was so little pleased with them, that he left off ; they did not possess a sufficient degree of interest. He suffered severely in his right side. It was the effect of the dampness with which he had been affected during his morning walk, and we were not without apprehensions of its being a symptom of the common malady in these scorching climates.
On my return home, I found a letter from England, with a parcel, containing some articles for my toilet. The Griffin ship of war had just arrived from England.
The Emperor receives Letters from his Family.—Conversation with the Admiral.—The Commissioners of the Allied Powers.
25th.—About nine o’clock, I received from the Grand Marshal three letters for the Emperor. They were from Madame Mére, the Princess Pauline, and Prince Lucien. The latter was enclosed in one, addressed to me from Rome, by Prince Lucien, dated the 6th of March. I also received two from my agent in London.
The Emperor passed the whole of the morning in reading the papers from the 25th of April to the 13th of May. They contained accounts of the death of the Empress of Austria, of the prorogation of the French Chambers, of Cambrone’s acquittal, and the sentence passed upon General Bertrand, &c. &c. He made many remarks upon all these subjects.
About three, Admiral Malcolm requested to be presented to the Emperor. He brought him a series of the Journal des Debats to the 13th of May. The Emperor desired me to introduce him, and he conversed with him nearly three hours. He gave great pleasure to the Emperor, who treated him, from the first moment, with a great deal of freedom and good nature, as if he had been an old acquaintance. The Admiral was entirely of his opinion with respect to a great number of subjects. He admitted, that it was extremely difficult to escape from Saint Helena, and he could see no inconvenience in allowing him to be at large in the island. He considered it absurd, that Plantation-house had not been given up to the Emperor, and felt, but only since his arrival, he confessed, that the title of general might be offensive. It struck him, that Lady Loudon’s conduct had been ridiculous here, and would be laughed at in London. He thought, that the governor had good intentions, but did not know how to act. Ministers had, in his opinion, been embarrassed with respect to the Emperor, but entertained no hatred against him ; they did not know how to dispose of him. Had he remained in England, he would have been, and was still a terror to the Continent ; he would have been too dangerous and efficient an instrument in the hands of Opposition, &c. &c. He was apprehensive, however, that all these circumstances put together would detain us here a long time ; and he expressed his confidence, that it was the intention of Ministers, with the exception of the necessary precautions to prevent his escape, that Napoleon should be treated with every possible indulgence at Saint Helena, &c. &c. He delivered himself upon all these points, in so satisfactory a manner, that the Emperor discussed the business with him, with as little warmth, as if it was perfectly indifferent to him.
At one moment, the Emperor produced a sensible effect upon him ; it was, when, alluding to the commissioners, he pointed out the impossibility of receiving them. “After all, Sir,” said he, “you and I are men. I appeal to you, Is it possible, that the Emperor of Austria, whose daughter I married, who implored that union on his knees, who retains my wife and my son, should send me his commissioner, without a line for myself, without the smallest scrap of a bulletin with respect to my son’s health ? Can I receive him with consistency ? Can I have any thing to communicate to him ? I may say the same thing of the commissioner sent by Alexander, who gloried in calling himself my friend, with whom, indeed, I carried on political wars, but had no personal quarrel. It is a fine thing to be a sovereign, but we are not on that account the less entitled to be treated as men ; I lay claim to no other character at present ! Can they all be destitute of feeling ? Be assured, Sir, that when I object to the title of General, I am not offended. I decline it merely, because it would be an acknowledgment, knowledgment, that I have not been Emperor ; and, in this respect, I advocate the honour of others more than my own. I advocate the honour of those with whom, I have been, in that rank, connected by treaties, by family and political alliances. The only one of these commissioners, whom I might, perhaps, receive, would be that of Louis XVIII., who owes me nothing. That commissioner was a long time my subject, he acts merely in conformity to circumstances, independent of his option ; and I should accordingly receive him to-morrow, were I not apprehensive of the misrepresentations, that would take place, and of the false colouring, that would be given to the circumstance,” &c. &c.
After dinner, the Emperor again alluded to the time of his consulate, to the numerous conspiracies which had been farmed against him, to the celebrated persons of that period, &c. I have already noticed these topics at considerable length. The conversation lasted until one o’clock in the morning, a very extraordinary hour for us.
The Emperor’s Court—Expenses, savings, hunting and shooting establishment, mews, pages, service of honour, &c.
26th-28th. Our usual mode of living,—an airing in the carriage in the middle of the day ; conversation at night.
On the 27th the Emperor received for a moment, a colonel, a relation of the family of Walsh Serrent, who was on his return from the Cape in the Haycomb, and was to sail next day for Europe. He had been governor of Bourbon, and entertained us with many agreeable particulars respecting that island.
After dinner, the conversation turned on the old and new court, with their arrangements, expenses, etiquette, &c. &c. I have already mentioned most of these points in another place, and many of them were repeated on the present occasion. I pass over what would seem but a literal repetition.
The Emperor’s court was, in every relation, much more magnificent than any thing seen up to that period, and yet, said he, the expense was infinitely less. That vast difference was caused by the suppression of abuses, and by the introduction of order and regularity into the accounts. His hunting and shooting establishment, with the exception of some useless and ridiculous particulars, he observed, as that of falconry and some others, was as splendid, as numerous, and as striking, as that of Louis XVI., and the annual disbursement, he assured us, was but 400,000 franks, while the King’s amounted to seven millions. His table was regulated according to the same system. Duroc had, by his regularity and strictness, done wonders in that respect. Under the kings, the palaces did not continue furnished, and the same articles were transferred from one palace to another ; the people belonging to the court had no furniture allowed them, and every one was obliged to look out for himself. Under him, on the contrary, there was not a person in attendance, who did not find himself provided as comfortably, or even more so, with every thing that was necessary or suitable in the apartment assigned to him, than in his is own house.
The Emperor’s mews cost three millions, the expense of the horses was averaged at 3,000 francs a horse yearly. A page cost from 6 to 8,000 francs. That establishment, he observed, was perhaps the most expensive belonging to the palace, and accordingly the education of the pages and the care taken of them, were the subject of just encomium. The first families of the empire were solicitous to place their children on it, and the inducements were irresistible.
With respect to the etiquette of the court, the Emperor said, he was the first who had separated the service of honour (an expression invented, under him) from that which was absolutely necessary. He had dismissed every thing that was laborious and substantial, and substituted what was nominal and ornamental only. “A king,” be said, “is not to be found in nature, he is the mere creature of civilization. There are no naked kings ; they must all be dressed,” &c.
The Emperor remarked, that it was impossible for any one to be better informed of the nature and relation of all these matters than himself ; because they had been all regulated by him, according to the precedents of past times, from which he had lopped off whatever was ridiculous, and preserved every thing that seemed suitable, &c.
The conversation lasted until after eleven o’clock. It had been kept up with tolerable spirit ; and the Emperor again observed on leaving us, that, after all, we must be a good-natured kind of people to be able to lead so contented a life at Saint Helena.
Fresh Instance of the Governor’s Malignity, &c.—Desperate Project of Santini, the Corsican.
29th.—The weather had been bad for some days, the Emperor took advantage of a fine moment to examine a tent, which the admiral had, in a very handsome manner, ordered to be raised for his accommodation by his ship’s crew, having heard him complain, in the course of conversation, of the want of shade and of the impossibility of enjoying himself in the air out of his apartment. The Emperor conversed with the officer and men who were putting the last hand to the work, and ordered a napoleon to be given to each of the seamen.
We learnt to-day, that the last vessel had brought a book on the state of public affairs for the Emperor, written, as it was said, by a member of parliament. It had been sent by the author himself, and the following words were inscribed in letters of gold on the outside,—To Napoleon the Great. This circumstance induced the Governor to retain the work, a rigour, on his part, which formed a singular contrast with his eagerness to supply us with libels, that spoke so disrespectfully of the Emperor.
During dinner the Emperor, turning, with a stern look, to one of the servants in waiting, exclaimed, to our utter consternation ; “So then, assassin, you resolved to kill the Governor !—Wretch !—If such a thought ever again enters your head, you will have to do with me ; you will see how I shall behave to you.” And then addressing himself to us, he said, “Gentlemen, it is Santini, there, who determined to kill the Governor. That rascal was about to involve us in a sad embarassment. I found it necessary to exert all my authority, all my indignation to restrain him.”
With the view of explaining this extraordinary transaction, it is necessary for me to observe, that Santini, who was formerly usher of the Emperor’s cabinet, and whose extreme devotion had prompted him to follow his master and serve him, no matter, he said, in what capacity, was a Corsican of deep feeling and a warm imagination. Enraged at the Governor’s bad usage, no longer able to bear with patience the affronts he saw heaped upon the Emperor, exasperated at the decline of his health, and affected himself with a distracting melancholy, he had, for some time, done no work in the house, and under pretence of procuring some game for the Emperor’s table, his employment seemed to be that of shooting in the neighbourhood. In a moment of confidence, he told his countryman Cypriani, that he had formed the project, by the means of his double barrelled piece, of killing the Governor, and then putting an end to himself. And all, said he, to rid the world of a monster.
Cypriani, who knew his countryman’s character, was shocked at his determination, and communicated it to several other servants. They all united in entreating him to lay aside his design, but their efforts, instead of mitigating, seemed but to inflame his irritation. They resolved then to discover the project to the Emperor, who had him instantly brought before him : “And it was only,” he told me some time afterwards, “by imperial, by pontifical authority, that I finally succeeded in making the scoundrel desist altogether from his project. Observe for a moment the fatal consequences he was about to produce. I should have also passed for the murderer, the assassin of the Governor, and in reality it would have been very difficult to destroy such an impression in the mind of a great number of people.”
The Emperor read to us La Mort de Pompée, which was stated in the journals to be the subject of general interest at Paris, on account of its political allusions. And this gave rise to the remark, that government had been obliged to forbid the representation of Richard, and that, certainly on the fifth and sixth of October, Louis XVI. little thought of its ever being prohibited for its allusions to another. “The fact is, that times are wonderfully changed,” said the Emperor.
30th.—The Emperor, after a few turns in the garden, went to General Gourgaud’s apartment, where he was a long time employed, with his compasses and crayon, in ascertaining the dimensions of the coast of Syria, and the plan of Saint Jean d’Acre, which the general was to execute. In marking some points about Saint Jean d’Acre, he said ;— “I passed many unpleasant moments there.”
In the evening we had Le Mariage de Figaro, which entertained and interested us much more than we had been led to expect. “It was,” observed the Emperor, in shutting the book, “the revolution already put into action.”
La Hatpe’s Mélanie.—Nuns.—Convents.—Monks of La Trappe.—The French Clergy.
31.—The weather was horrible, and the Emperor found great difficulty in going to Madame de Montholon’s saloon. He amused himself for some time in reading the Thousand and One Nights, and afterwards perceiving a volume of the Moniteur, on which M. de Montholon was then employed, and which lay open in the part relative to the negociations for a maritime armistice in 1800, his whole attention was absorbed by them for upwards of an hour.
After dinner the Emperor read first La Mère Coupable, in which we felt interested and next, the Mélanie of La Harpe, which he thought wretchedly conceived and very badly executed. “It was,” he said, “a turgid declamation, in perfect conformity with the taste of the times, founded in fashionable calumnies and absurd falsehoods. When La Harpe wrote that piece, a father certainly had not the power of forcing his daughter to take the veil ; the laws would never have allowed it. This play, which was performed at the beginning of the revolution, was solely indebted for its success to the momentary caprice of public opinion. Now, that the inducement is over, it would be a wretched performance ! La Harpe’s characters are all unnatural. He should not have attacked defective institutions with defective weapons.”
The Emperor said, that La Harpe had so completely failed in his object with regard to his own impressions, that all his feelings were in favour of the father, while he was shocked at the daughter’s conduct. He had never seen the performance, without being tempted to start from his seat and call out to the daughter ; “You have but to say, No, and we will all take your part ; you will find a protector in every citizen.”
He observed, that when he was on service with his regiment, he had often witnessed the ceremony of taking the veil. “It was a ceremony very much attended by the officers, and which raised our indignation, particularly, when the victims were handsome. We ran in crowds to it, and our attention was alive to the slightest incident. Had they but said, No, we should have carried them off sword in hand. It is consequently false, that violence was employed : the only means used were the acts of seduction. Those, upon whom they were practised, were kept, not unlike recruits. They were exposed to the blandishments and exhortations of the nuns, the abbess, the spiritual director, and the bishop, to the examination of the civil officer, and finally to public view. Thus every thing seemed to concur in prevailing upon them to make the sacrifice.”
The Emperor declared that he was an enemy to convents in general, as useless, and productive of degrading inactivity. He allowed, however, in another point of view, that certain reasons might be pleaded in their favour. The best mezzo termine, and he had adopted it, was, in his opinion, that of tolerating them, of obliging the members to become useful, and of recognizing annual vows alone.
The Emperor complained, that he had not been allowed time enough to complete his institutions. It had been his intention to enlarge the establishments, of Saint Denis, and Ecouen, for the purpose of giving an asylum to the widows of soldiers, or women advanced in years, &c. &c. “And then,” he added, “it must also be allowed, that there were characters and imaginations of all kinds ; that compulsion ought not to be used with regard to persons of an eccentric turn, provided their oddities were harmless, and that an empire, like France, might and had a right to have houses for madmen, called trappistes. With respect to the latter,” he observed, “that if any one ever thought of inflicting upon others the discipline which they practised, it would be justly considered a most abominable and that it might, notwithstanding, constitute the delight of him who voluntarily exercised it on himself. .......... This is man, these his fantastical pursuits, or his folly ! ... He had tolerated the monks of Mount Cenis, but these, at least,” he added, “were useful, very useful, and might be even called heroical.”
The Emperor expressed himself in his council of state in the following words, when the organization of the university was about to take place :
“ It is my opinion, that the monks would be far the best body for communicating instruction, were it possible to keep them under proper control, and to shake off their dependence upon a foreign master. I am disposed to be favourable to them. I should, perhaps, have had the power to reinstate them in their establishments, but they have made the thing impossible. The moment I do any thing for the clergy, they give me cause to repent it. I do not complain of the old established clergy, for with them I am sufficiently satisfied ; but the young priests are brought up in a gloomy fanatical doctrine ; there is nothing Gallican in the young clergy.
“ I have nothing to say against the ancient, the old bishops. They have shewn themselves grateful for what I did for religion ; they have realized my expectations.
“ Cardinal de Boisgelin was a man of sense, a virtuous character, who had faithfully adopted me.
“ The Archbishop of Tours, Barral, a man of great acquirements, and who was of essential service to us in our differences with the Pope, was always very much attached to me.
“ The worthy cardinal du Belloy, and the virtuous Bishop Roquelaure, had a sincere affection for me.
“ I made no difficulty whatever in placing Bishop Beausset among the dignitaries of the university, and I am convinced, that he was one of those, who, in that capacity, most sincerely conducted themselves in conformity with my views.
“ All these ancient bishops possessed my confidence, and none of them deceived me. It is not a little singular, that those I had the greatest cause to complain of, were precisely those whom I had chosen myself ; so very true is it, that the holy unction, in approximating us to Heaven, does not deliver us from the infirmities of the earth, from its irregularities, its obscenities, its turpitudes,” &c. &c.
The conversation next turned upon the want of priests in France, on the obligation of employing them at the age of 16, and the difficulty, even the impossibility of finding any at 21, &c. &c.
It was the Emperor’s wish that they should be ordained at a more advanced age. The answer of the bishops and the Pope himself was, “It is very well : your reasons are very just ; but if you wait for that period, you will find none to ordain, and yet you admit that you are in want of them.”
“ I have, no doubt,” observed the Emperor, “that, after me, other principles will be adopted. A conscription of priests and nuns will, perhaps, be seen in France, as a military conscription was seen in my time. My barracks will, perhaps, be turned into convents and seminaries. Thus the world runs on. Poor people ! In spite of all your knowledge, all your wisdom, you continue like simple individuals, the slaves of fashionable caprice.”
It was nearly one o’clock in the morning before the Emperor retired. It was, he said, a real victory over tediousness, and a great relief for the want of sleep.