From the 15th to the 25th of April, Napoleon occupied himself with
drawing up his last will, in which he bequeathed his orders, and a
specimen of every article in his wardrobe, to his son. On the 18th, he
gave directions for opening his body after death, expressing a special
desire that his stomach should be examined and its appearance
communicated to his son. “The symptoms,” he said, “seem to show that of
all my organs the stomach is the most diseased. I am inclined to believe
it is attacked with the disorder that killed my father--the physicians
of Montpellier prophesied it would be hereditary in our family.”
On the third of May, it became evident that the scene was near its
close. The attendants would fain have called in more medical men; but
they durst not, knowing his feelings on this head: “even had he been
speechless,” said one of them, “we could not have brooked his eye.” The
last sacraments of the church were now administered by Vignali. He
lingered on thenceforth in a stupor. On the 4th, the island was swept by
a tremendous storm, which tore up almost all the trees about Longwood by
the roots. The 5th was another day of tempests; and about six in the
evening, Napoleon having pronounced the words “_tête d’armée_,” passed
forever from the dreams of battle.
[Illustration: DEATH-BED OF NAPOLEON.]