26th.—The Emperor continued indisposed.
One of the English gentlemen, whose wife had yesterday been refused
admittance, in company with the Admiral, paid me a visit this morning,
with the view of making another and a final attempt to get presented
to Napoleon. This gentleman spoke French very well, having resided in
France during the whole of the war. He was one of those individuals
who were known at the time by the title of _detenus_: who, having
visited France as travellers, were arrested there by the First Consul,
on the rupture of the treaty of Amiens, by way of reprisal for the
seizure of our merchant-ships by the English Government, according to
its custom, before the declaration of war. This event gave rise to a
long and animated discussion between the two Governments; and even
prevented, during the whole of the war, a cartel for the exchange of
prisoners. The English ministers persisted in refusing to consider
their detained countrymen as prisoners, lest they should, in so doing,
make an implicit renunciation of what may perhaps be called their
_right of piracy_. However, their obstinacy cost their countrymen a
long captivity. They were detained in France more than ten years;
their absence was as long and as irksome, though not so glorious, as
that of the besiegers of Troy.
This English gentleman was a brother-in-law of Admiral Burton, the
Commander on the Indian station, who lately died. This circumstance
might very possibly procure for him an immediate communication with
Ministers on his arrival in England. He might perhaps have been
appointed by the Admiral to be the bearer of intelligence respecting
us. Instead, therefore, of declining conversation, I prolonged it. It
lasted more than two hours, and was all calculated on my part with a
view to what he might repeat to the Admiral, or communicate to the
Government or private circles in England. I will not tire my readers
by a recital of it. They would only find the same eternal
recapitulation of our reproaches and grievances: a repetition of our
complaints and vexations: a continued exposure of the violation of
those laws that are esteemed most sacred; of the outrage on our good
faith; of the arrogance, impudence, and petty insolence of power. I
dwelt particularly on the ill-treatment to which we were here exposed;
and on the caprices of the individual who was appointed our keeper.
“His glory,” said I, “should consist, not in oppressing, but in
relieving us. He should endeavour to make us forget, by his
attentions, all the rigour and injustice of his country’s policy. Can
he court the reprobation of mankind, when his good fortune enables him
to connect his name gloriously with that of the man of the age, the
hero of history? Can he object that he is bound by his instructions?
But even then, in the spirit of our European manners, honour enables
him to interpret them in a suitable manner.”
The Englishman listened to me with great attention. He seemed
occasionally to take particular interest in what I said; and expressed
his approbation of several of my remarks. But was he sincere, and will
he not express very different sentiments in London?
Whenever a ship arrives in England from St. Helena, the public papers
immediately give insertion to various stories relative to the captives
at Longwood, of so false and absurd a nature, as must necessarily
render them ridiculous to the great mass of the public. When we
expressed our indignation at these idle reports in the presence of
honourable and distinguished Englishmen here, they replied: “Do not
deceive yourselves, these false accounts proceed not from our
countrymen who visit you; but from our Ministers in London; for, to
the excess and violence of power, the administration by which we are
now ruled adds all the meanness of the lowest and vilest intrigues.”
ON THE FRENCH EMIGRANTS.—KINDNESS SHEWN BY
THE ENGLISH.—RESOURCES OF THE EMIGRANTS.
27th.—The Emperor felt himself better, and rode out on horseback about
one o’clock. On his return he received the officers of the 53rd, and
behaved to them in the most amiable and condescending manner.
After this visit, the Emperor, who had desired me to remain with him,
walked in the garden. I there gave him an account of the conversation
I had had the day before with the Englishman. He then asked me some
questions relative to the French emigrants, London, and the English. I
told him that though the emigrants in a body did not like the English,
yet there were few who did not become attached to some Englishman or
other: that though the English were not fond of the emigrants, yet
there were few English families who did not shew themselves friendly
to some of the French. This is the real key to those sentiments and
reports, so often contradictory, that are met with on the subject.
With regard to the kindness we received from the English, particularly
the middle class, from whom the character of a nation is always to be
learned, it is beyond all expression, and has entailed a heavy debt of
gratitude upon us. It would be difficult to enumerate the private
benefactions, the benevolent institutions, and the charitable
measures, by which our distresses were relieved. The example of
individuals induced the Government to assist us by regular allowances;
and even when these were granted, private benevolence did not cease.
The Emperor here asked me whether I had been a sharer in the grants
supplied by the English Government: I told him that I had felt more
pleasure in being indebted for support solely to my own exertions; and
that the state of society and encouragement of industry in England
were such that with this feeling a man was sure to succeed. On two
occasions I had had an opportunity of making my fortune: Colbert,
Bishop of Rhodez, a native of Scotland, who was very fond of me,
proposed that I should accompany his brother to Jamaica, where he was
appointed to the head of the executive power, and where he was one of
the most considerable planters. He would have intrusted to me the
direction of his property, and would have obtained for me other
employment of the same kind. The Bishop assured me that I should make
a fortune in three years. I could not, however, prevail on myself to
go; I preferred continuing a life of poverty, to removing to a greater
distance from the French shore.
“On another occasion,” continued I, “some friends wished to persuade
me to go to India, where I should have obtained employment and
patronage, and was assured that in a short time I should realize a
considerable fortune. But this I declined. I thought myself too old to
travel so far. This was twenty years ago; and yet I am now at St.
Helena.
“However, there were few who suffered greater hardships than I did at
the commencement of my emigration, and who enjoyed greater comforts
towards its close. I have more than once found myself on the point of
being entirely destitute of every thing. Still I was never discouraged
or dejected. I consoled myself with the treasure of philosophy, and
compared my own condition with that of numbers around me, who were
more wretched than myself: to old men and women, for example, to those
who were destitute of education, or who, wanting the faculties
requisite for acquiring a foreign language, were thus cut off from all
resources. I was young, full of hope, and capable of exertion. I
taught what I did not well know myself, whatever was asked of me, and
I learned over-night what I might have to teach on the succeeding day.
My Historical Atlas was a fortunate idea, which opened to me a mine of
gold. At that period, however, I had executed only an outline of my
plan; but in London every thing is encouraged, every thing sells; and,
moreover, Heaven blessed my exertions. I landed at the mouth of the
Thames, and reached London on foot, with only seven louis in my
pocket, without a friend, without an introduction, in a foreign land;
but I left it in a post-chaise, possessed of 2500 guineas, having
gained many dear friends, to serve whom I would gladly have sacrificed
my life.”
“But, supposing I had been an emigrant,” said the Emperor, “what would
have been my lot?” He took a view of various professions, but decided
in favour of a soldier’s life. “I should have fulfilled my career
after all,” said he.—“That is not quite certain,” I observed. “Sire,
you would have been smothered in the crowd. On arriving at Coblentz in
any French corps, you would have been placed according to your rank on
the list, without any possibility of getting beyond it; for we were
rigid observers of forms,” &c.
The Emperor then enquired when and how I had returned to France.
“After the peace of Amiens,” said I, “availing myself of the benefit
of your amnesty; yet I joined an English family, and slipped in in a
sort of contraband way, in order to reach Paris earlier than I
otherwise could have done. Immediately on my arrival there, fearing
lest I should compromise that family, I went in person to make my
declaration to the police, and received a paper which I was to present
for inspection once a week or once a month. I paid no attention to it;
but nothing happened to me through my neglect. I had determined on
conducting myself with prudence, and therefore felt satisfied that I
had nothing to fear. At one time, however, I saw that my intention
might have cost me dear: it was during the most violent crisis of the
affair of Georges and Pichegru. I usually passed my evenings in the
society of intimate friends in my own house; I scarcely ever went out.
On this occasion, however, impelled by fate, or, perhaps, by the
strong interest which I took in passing events, I strolled about in
the Faubourg Saint-Germain till rather a late hour in the evening. I
missed the way to the Pont de Louis XVI. which I knew so well, and
came out upon the Boulevard des Invalides, without knowing where I
was. The posts were everywhere increased in number, and each consisted
of a doubled guard. I enquired my way of one of the sentinels, and I
distinctly heard his comrade, who was a few yards off, ask him why he
had not stopped me; he answered that I was doing no harm. I hastened
home as fast as I could, terrified at the danger I had so narrowly
escaped. I was in formal contravention to the police: the
circumstances of my emigration, my name, my habits, and my opinions,
all tended to identify me with the malcontents. Every enquiry that
could have been instituted respecting me would have been to my
prejudice. I could not have referred to any one; and what alarmed me
still more was that they would have found five guineas in my pocket. I
had, it is true, been in France two years; but these guineas were the
last fruits of my industry: I always carried them about me, and I have
them with me still. I used to take a pleasure in seeing them: they
reminded me of a period of misfortune which had gone by. It is easy to
conceive the conclusions which might have been drawn from so many
concurring circumstances. In vain would have been my denials and
assertions; no credit would have been given to me. I should, no doubt,
have suffered considerably; and yet I was not in the least to blame:
such is the justice of men! However, I never took the trouble to
arrange my business with the police; and yet I never got into any
difficulty.
“When I was presented at your Majesty’s court, the emigrants, who were
in the same situation as myself, and had been placed under the
superintendence of the police for ten years, applied for their
emancipation, which they procured; for my part, I determined to let my
_surveillance_ die a natural death. Being invited, in your Majesty’s
name, to a fête at Fontainebleau, I thought it would be a good jest to
apply to the police for a passport. They agreed that it was, strictly
speaking, necessary, but declined giving it, on the ground that it
would tend to make government ridiculous. At a subsequent period,
having become your Majesty’s Chamberlain, I had occasion to go on a
private journey; and they then exempted me from all future formality.
“On your Majesty’s return in 1815, being desirous of serving some
emigrants who had returned with the King, I went in their name to the
police. Being a Councillor of State, all the registers were open to
me. After having inspected the article relating to my friends, I felt
a curiosity to refer to my own. I found myself designated as a
distinguished courtier of the Comte d’Artois, in London. I could not
help reflecting on the differences of times, and the changes produced
by revolution. However, my register was altogether incorrect. I
certainly visited the Comte d’Artois; but not oftener than once a
month. As to my being a courtier, if I had been ever so much inclined
to be one, the thing was out of my power. I had to provide for my
daily subsistence, and I had pride enough to wish to live by my own
industry; my time was therefore valuable.” The Emperor was very much
amused by my story, and I felt much pleasure in relating it to him.
The Doris frigate sailed this day for Europe.
28th.—Mr. Balcombe’s family called, in the hope of seeing the Emperor,
but he was again indisposed. His health declines; this place is
evidently unfavourable to him. He sent for me at three o’clock; he was
slightly feverish, but felt himself better. He spoke a good deal of
the domestic arrangements of the house, which sometimes annoyed him.
He then dressed, with the intention of going out. I persuaded him to
resume his flannel under-waistcoat, which he had laid aside very
imprudently in this damp and variable climate. We took a walk in the
garden, and the conversation continued to turn on the same subject as
before. The Emperor strolled about at random, and we came to the
gum-trees which run along the park, conversing on our local situation,
and our relations with the authorities, and speculating on the
political events of Europe. We were overtaken by a shower of rain, and
were forced to take shelter under a tree. The Grand Marshal and M. de
Montholon soon joined us. The Emperor made me return with him; and
when we got home, he played a game at piquet in the drawing-room with
Madame de Montholon. As it was very damp, the Emperor ordered a fire;
but as soon as it was lighted, we were driven away by the smoke, and
were compelled to take refuge in the Emperor’s chamber. Here the game
was resumed; but it was very soon suspended by the Emperor’s
conversation, which became most interesting. He entertained us with
anecdotes and minute details of his domestic life; and confirmed,
corrected, or contradicted those which Madame de Montholon and myself
related to him, as having been publicly circulated. Nothing could be
more gratifying: the conversation was quite confidential, and we
sincerely regretted its interruption by the announcement of dinner.
DIFFICULT EXCURSION.—RIDE TO THE VALLEY.—THE
MARSH.—CHARACTERISTIC TRAITS.—ENGLISHMEN
UNDECEIVED.—POISON OF MITHRIDATES.
29th.—There is a spot in the grounds about Longwood, which commands a
distant view of that part of the sea where the ships are first seen on
their arrival: here, too, is a tree at the foot of which the spectator
may survey it at his ease. I had been in the habit, for some days, of
spending a few idle moments here, amusing myself, in idea, with
looking out for the ship that was to conclude our exile. The
celebrated Münich lingered out twenty years in the heart of Siberia,
drinking every day to his return to St. Petersburg, and was at length
blessed with the accomplishment of his wish. I shall possess his
courage; but I trust I shall not have occasion for his patience.
Ships had successively appeared for several days. Three came in sight
very early this morning, two of which I judged to be ships of war.—On
my return home, I was informed that the Emperor had already risen: I
went to the garden to meet him, and to acquaint him with my discovery.
He ordered breakfast to be brought to him under a tree, and desired me
to keep him company. After breakfast, he directed me to ride out with
him on horse-back. We rode along by the side of the gum-trees, beyond
the confines of Longwood, and then attempted to descend into a very
steep and deeply-furrowed valley, whose sides were covered with sand
and loose stones, interspersed with brambles. We were obliged to
dismount. The Emperor desired General Gourgaud to turn off to one side
with the horses and the two grooms who accompanied us, and insisted on
continuing his journey on foot, amidst the difficulties which
surrounded us. I gave him my arm, and, with a great deal of trouble,
we succeeded in clambering over the ridges. The Emperor lamented the
loss of his youthful agility, and accused me of being more active than
himself. He thought that there was a greater difference in this
respect than the trifling disproportion of our ages would justify. I
told him that the pleasure of serving him made me forget my age. As we
were going along, he observed that any one who could have seen us at
that time would recognize without difficulty the restlessness and
impatience of the French character. “In fact,” said he, “none but
Frenchmen would ever think of doing what we are now about.” At length
we arrived, breathless, at the bottom of the valley. What we had at a
distance mistaken for a beaten road, proved to be nothing but a little
streamlet, a foot and a half wide. We proposed to step across it and
wait for our horses; but the banks of this little streamlet were very
treacherous. They appeared to consist of dry ground which at first
supported us, but we soon found ourselves suddenly sinking, as though
we had been breaking through ice. I had already sunk nearly above my
knees, when, by a sudden effort, I disengaged myself, and turned to
assist the Emperor, who had both legs in the mud, and had got his
hands on the ground, endeavouring to extricate himself. With a great
deal of trouble, and a great deal of dirt, we regained the _terra
firma_; and I could not help thinking of the marshes of Arcole, which
we had been engaged in describing a few days before, and in which
Napoleon was very near being lost. The Emperor looked at his clothes
and said, “Las Cases, this is a dirty adventure. If we had been lost
in the mud,” added he, “what would have been said in Europe? The
canting hypocrites would have proved, beyond a doubt, that we had been
swallowed up for our crimes.”
The horses being at length brought to us, we continued our journey,
breaking through hedges, and leaping over ridges; and with great
difficulty rode up the whole length of the valley, which separates
Longwood from Diana’s Peak. We returned by the way of Madame
Bertrand’s residence; it was three o’clock when we reached home. We
then learned that the vessels which had been seen in the morning were
a brig and a transport from England, and an American ship.
The Emperor sent for me about seven o’clock; he was with the Grand
Marshal, who was reading to him the newspapers from the 9th to the
16th of October. He had not done reading at nine o’clock. The Emperor,
astonished to find it so late, hastily rose and went to the table,
complaining of being kept waiting for his dinner. They were stupid
enough to give a very ridiculous reason for the delay. This domestic
irregularity irritated him very much; and then he was angry with
himself for having given vent to his anger; so the dinner passed off
in dulness and silence.
However, on returning to the drawing-room, to the dessert, the Emperor
began to converse on the news which the papers had brought us: the
conditions of peace, the fortresses ceded to foreign powers, and the
fermentation of the great cities of Europe. He treated these subjects
in a masterly style. He retired early; and had evidently not forgotten
the moment preceding dinner.
He soon sent for me, being desirous to continue the perusal of the
papers. As I was preparing to read, he recollected the state of my
eyes, and would not allow me. I begged to be permitted to continue,
telling him that I read quickly, and should soon have finished them;
but he took them away from me, saying, “We cannot command nature. I
forbid it; I will wait till to-morrow.” He then began to walk about a
little, and soon gave utterance to the feelings which had oppressed
his spirits. How amiable he appeared in his reproaches and complaints!
How humane and kind he seemed! How just and true was every observation
that escaped him! These were a few of the precious moments when
Nature, taken by surprise, exposes the inmost recesses of the human
heart and character. I left him, saying within myself, as I have so
often had occasion to say: “Good God, how little has the character of
the Emperor been known to the world!”
They are, however, beginning here to form a more just opinion of him.
Those Englishmen whose violent prejudices against him were in a great
degree excusable from the false accounts they had received, begin now
to entertain a more correct idea of his character. They allow that
they are strangely undeceived every day, and that the Emperor is a
very different being from that Napoleon whose image had been traced to
them through the medium of falsehood and political interests. All
those who have had opportunities of seeing him and hearing him
converse, have but one opinion on the subject. The Admiral has more
than once, in the midst of our disputes with him, hastily exclaimed
that the Emperor was decidedly the most good-natured, just, and
reasonable of the whole set. And he was in the right.
On another occasion, an Englishman, whom we frequently saw, confessed
to Napoleon, with the utmost humility of heart, and as it were by way
of expiation, that he had to reproach his conscience with having once
firmly believed all the abominable falsehoods related of him. He had
given credit to all the accounts of stranglings, massacres, and brutal
ferocity; in short, he even believed in the deformities of his person,
and the hideous features of his countenance. “And how,” said he
candidly, “could I help crediting all this? Our English publications
were filled with these statements; they were in every mouth; not a
single voice was raised to contradict them.”—“Yes,” said Napoleon,
smiling, “it is to your Ministers that I am indebted for these
favours: they inundated Europe with pamphlets and libels against me.
Perhaps they might say, in excuse, that they did but reply to those
which they received from France; and it must in justice be confessed
that those Frenchmen who have since been seen to exult over the ruins
of their country felt no hesitation in furnishing them with such
articles in abundant supplies.
“Be this as it may, I was repeatedly urged during the period of my
power, to adopt measures for counteracting this underhand work; but I
always declined it. What advantage should I have gained by such a
defence? It would have been said that I had paid for it, and that
would only have discredited me still more. Another victory, another
monument,—these, I said, are the best, the only answers I can make.
Falsehood passes away, and truth remains! The sensible portion of the
present age, and posterity in particular, will form their judgment
only from facts. And what has been the consequence? Already the cloud
is breaking; the light is piercing through, and my character grows
clearer every day. It will soon become the fashion in Europe to do me
justice. Those who have succeeded me possess the archives of my
administration and police, and the records of my tribunals: they hold
in their pay, and at their disposal, those who must have been the
perpetrators and the accomplices of my atrocities and crimes; yet what
proofs have they brought forward? What have they made known?
“The first moments of fury being passed away, all honest and sensible
men will render justice to my character; none but rogues or fools will
be my enemies. I may rest at ease; the succession of events, the
disputes of opposing parties, their hostile productions, will daily
clear the way for the correct and glorious materials of my history.
And what advantage has been reaped from the immense sums that have
been paid for libels against me? Every trace of them will soon be
obliterated; while my institutions and monuments will recommend me to
the remotest posterity.
“It is now, moreover, too late to heap abuse upon me. The venom of
calumny,” said he, repeating an idea which he had before expressed,
“has been exhausted on me; it can no longer injure me; it operates
only _like poison on Mithridates_.”
THE EMPEROR PLOUGHING.—THE WIDOW’S MITE.—INTERVIEW WITH THE ADMIRAL.—NEW
ARRANGEMENTS.—THE POLISH CAPTAIN PIONTKOWSKY.
30th.—The Emperor desired me to be called before eight o’clock. While
he dressed, I finished reading to him the newspapers which I had begun
to examine the day before. When dressed, he himself went to the
stables, asked for his horse, and rode out with me alone; his
attendants not being yet quite ready. We rode on at random, and soon
arrived in a field where some labourers were engaged in ploughing. The
Emperor alighted from his horse, seized the plough, and, to the great
astonishment of the man who was holding it, he himself traced a furrow
of considerable length. He again mounted and continued his ride
through various parts of the neighbourhood, and was joined
successively by General Gourgaud and the grooms.
On his return, the Emperor expressed a wish to breakfast under a tree
in the garden; and desired us to remain with him. During the ride, he
had mentioned a little present that he intended for us. “It is a
trifle, to be sure,” observed he; “but every thing must be
proportioned to circumstances, and to me this is truly _the widow’s
mite_.” He alluded to a monthly stipend which he had determined to
settle on each of us. It was to be deducted from an inconsiderable
sum, which we had contrived to secrete in spite of the vigilance of
the English; and this sum was henceforth Napoleon’s sole resource. It
may well be imagined how precious this trifle had become. I seized the
first moment, on finding myself alone with him, to express my opinion
on this subject, and to declare my own personal determination to
decline his intended bounty. He laughed at this, and as I persisted in
my resolution, he said, pinching my ear, “Well, if you don’t want it
now, keep it for me: I shall know where to find it when I stand in
need of it.”
After breakfast, the Emperor went in-doors, and desired me to finish
reading the newspapers. I had been some time engaged in reading, when
M. de Montholon requested to be introduced. He had just had a long
conversation with the Admiral, who was very anxious to see the
Emperor. I was directed to suspend my translations from the
newspapers, and the Emperor walked about for some time, as though
hesitating how to proceed; at length, taking up his hat, he went into
the drawing-room to receive the Admiral. This circumstance afforded me
the highest satisfaction; for I knew that it was calculated to put a
period to our state of hostility. I was well assured that two minutes’
conversation with the Emperor would smooth more difficulties than two
days correspondence with any one else. Accordingly I was soon informed
that his convincing arguments and amiable manners had produced the
wished-for effect. I was assured that on his departure the Admiral
appeared enchanted: as for the Emperor, he was very well pleased at
what had taken place; he is far from disliking the Admiral: he is even
somewhat prepossessed in his favour. “You may be a very good seaman,”
said the Emperor to him, “but you know nothing at all about our
situation. We ask nothing of you. We can bear in silence and
retirement our pains and privations; we can find resources within
ourselves; but still our esteem is worth obtaining.” The Admiral
referred to his instructions. “But,” replied the Emperor, “you do not
consider the vast distance that intervenes between the dictation and
the execution of those instructions! The very individual who issues
them in a remote part of the world would oppose them if he saw them
carried into execution. Besides,” continued he, “it is certain that on
the least difference, the least opposition, the slightest expression
of public opinion, the Ministers would disavow their instructions, or
severely blame those who had not given them a more favourable
interpretation.”
The Admiral conducted himself wonderfully well; the Emperor had every
reason to be satisfied with him: all asperities were softened down,
and good understanding prevailed on every point. It was agreed that
the Emperor should henceforth freely ride about the Island; that the
officer who had been instructed to attend him, should merely watch him
from a distance, so that the Emperor might not be offended with the
sight of a guard; that visitors should be admitted to the Emperor, not
with the permission of the Admiral, as the inspector of Longwood, but
with that of the Grand Marshal, who did the honours of the
establishment.
To-day our little colony was increased by the arrival of Captain
Piontkowsky, a native of Poland. He was one of those individuals whom
we had left behind us at Plymouth. His attachment to the Emperor, and
his grief at being separated from him, had subdued the severity of the
English Ministers, and he had received permission to proceed to St.
Helena.