found his company very agreeable. He constantly recommended me to take
care of my health. He said he could guess the seat of my disorder, and
regretted that it was out of his power to prescribe any remedy for me.
I assured him that the greatest favour he could confer on me would be
to procure a person who could read to me and write from my dictation.
This I had been vainly soliciting since my arrival, for the state of
my eyes precluded all occupation, and my son was strictly enjoined to
abstain from all sedentary employment. I therefore laboured under an
intolerable depression of spirits, in being thus wholly abandoned to
my melancholy thoughts.
The Doctor informed me that the Governor was about to depart, to make
a tour over the colony, and that he would be absent about three
months. This information precluded the hope of any change in my
condition. I determined to make a last attempt, not that I counted on
its success, but only because I wished to leave nothing untried; for
the horrible and truly discourteous way in which I had been treated
astonished me less than it was calculated to do. I was prepared for
it. At St. Helena, we had been repeatedly informed that Lord Charles
Somerset was our personal enemy, and, on my arrival at the Cape, when
I made inquiries respecting his character and the sort of reception I
was likely to experience, I was told that nothing but a dog or a horse
could claim his attention. Subsequently, in the solitude of my prison,
I often thought to myself that, being neither a dog nor a horse, I
might despair of obtaining any notice from the Governor. I shall soon
show how little Lord Charles Somerset deserved these reflections.
Profiting by a passage in his letter, in which he expressed a wish to
render my stay at the Cape as agreeable as possible, I took the
opportunity in my next letter candidly to communicate to him my
thoughts respecting the treatment I experienced. My letter was as
follows:—
“MY LORD,—I learn that your Excellency is on the eve of leaving Cape
Town, and that you will be absent for a considerable time: this
induces me, with extreme repugnance, to enter upon a disagreeable
subject, and to call your Excellency’s attention to a few domestic
details. I think it my duty to do this, for otherwise, should any
public expression of dissatisfaction hereafter escape me, I might
justly incur the reproach of having addressed no complaint to your
Excellency.
“But before I enter on the subject, my Lord, that you may not regard
as ridiculous the facts which I am about to state: and also to afford
you a just idea of the circumstances in which I am placed, of which I
think it very probable your Excellency is ignorant, permit me to
observe, with all the embarrassment of one who is obliged to introduce
himself, that there is no individual here with whom I may not, and
ought not naturally and without reserve to place myself on a level _in
every respect whatever_. Finally, I neither request, nor solicit any
indulgence nor favour relative to my personal wants, wishing in this
respect to depend entirely on my own resources.
“These two points being fixed and determined, I proceed to that
passage in your letter in which you have the goodness to express your
wish of rendering my stay here as agreeable as possible. On this
subject, I must acquaint your Excellency that I am imprisoned in a
kind of dungeon, in which it will be difficult for me much longer to
support existence.
“My son and I, who are both unwell, are, in this extremely hot
weather, lodged in a very small chamber, where we breathe unwholesome
air, and have scarcely room to move, for our beds nearly fill it. The
scorching rays of the sun, darting on a window without curtains,
compel me to pass the day in bed. There is, it is true, another
adjoining apartment of the same kind; but it is a dining room, where
two of your officers do the honours of the table. If I occasionally
enter this room, I count every moment I spend in it. There is a third
room, which is occupied by the officer who is appointed as our guard,
and through which I must pass, however unpleasant to me, on every
indispensable occasion.
“Whatever may be the hardships and miseries of such a situation, I
have been a sailor, I have been a soldier, and what is more, I am a
man, and I can in silence endure this and even more. I speak here,
only in answer to the obliging paragraph in your letter. There is no
fire in our apartments; so that if we should require warm water, on
account of my son’s health or any transient wants, we must either do
without it, or have recourse to the charity of our neighbours. The
Doctor has in vain prescribed the use of the bath for my son; no water
can be obtained for this purpose. If I feel a wish to procure any
little thing at my own expense, I am informed that your Excellency has
ordered every thing to be provided for me; and thus, from motives of
delicacy I repress my wish, and abstain from gratifying it.
“I spare your Excellency a multitude of details, which are equally
beneath your notice and mine. When the hour of dinner arrives, two
officers, who, I feel pleasure in acknowledging, treat me with great
politeness and respect, preside at the table. But it is a singular
fact, though a very certain one, that even their attentions add to my
discomfort, by obliging me to endeavour to return them in a suitable
way, though it would be far more natural and desirable for me to allow
my thoughts to wander far from the spot in which I am now situated.
Besides, our habits and manners are totally different. I find myself
under the necessity of sitting for several hours at table, when I
should not from choice sit for half an hour. All conversation must be
disagreeable to me, unless it be on the subject which now wholly
occupies my thoughts. Your Excellency has too much judgment not to
perceive that the situation in which I am placed is an absolute
torment to me. My melancholy is, doubtless, as irksome to my table
companions as their gaiety is annoying to me. Perfect solitude is
alone agreeable to me; and, therefore, I have completely withdrawn
from the dinner-table, and I take my meals in bed.
“Where is the necessity for an officer being attached to my person? I
presume to ask your Excellency this question, while at the same time I
repeat, with pleasure, that I cannot sufficiently express my
satisfaction with the one whom you have appointed to attend me. Is it
for the purpose of watching me? Surely the sentinel posted at my door
is sufficient for that purpose. Can it be intended as a mark of
respect, for the sake of transmitting any wish that I may express? But
I have no wish. Can it be to give the sanction of authority to any
visits I may receive? I can receive none, except such as are permitted
by authority. Is it for the purposes of accompanying me in my walks? I
will never consent to stir a step, if I must be a trouble to an
officer. I shall not therefore go abroad.
“Since, my Lord, you are determined that I shall remain your prisoner,
what objection can you have to placing me in a house in the town, and
permitting me to engage, at my own expense, any valet, cook, &c. that
may suit me, with the precautions that you may think proper to adopt.
When thus left to myself, your Excellency might provide as you pleased
for my security. You would hear no more of me. If I felt a wish to go
out in a carriage, or otherwise, I could write to the officer: I know
his obliging disposition, and my wish would be granted. I have
mentioned a house in the town, my Lord, because the state of my son’s
health, which requires constant, and often sudden, medical attendance,
renders a residence in the country objectionable.
“Such are the details to which I feel myself compelled to call your
Excellency’s attention. I hope that they may be less disagreeable and
painful to you than they are to me.
“I have the honour to be,” &c.
This letter was, from its nature, calculated to lead to a decisive
result. I received an immediate answer. The Adjutant General came to
inform me, in the name of the Governor—1st. That he had given orders
that a separate chamber should be assigned to my son on the following
day;—2d. That the officers should no longer take their meals with
us;—3d. That a more convenient residence was preparing for us; and,
finally, that if I had any other wish to express, endeavours would be
made to comply with it.
Such was the effect of my letter. It was successful beyond my hopes,
and I congratulated myself on having written it, because it afforded
me the opportunity of discovering traits in the character of Lord
Charles Somerset of which I had previously no idea. But this was not
all.—Early on the following morning, the Governor’s first Aide-de-camp
wrote to acquaint me that he had a communication to make to me on the
part of his Excellency, and he wished me to appoint the hour at which
it would be convenient for me to receive him. On the receipt of my
answer he came, and informed me that the Governor had that morning
left town, to make a tour of three months. His Excellency had
expressed himself very sorry to learn that I had been so exceedingly
unwell, and begged that I would do him the justice to believe that he
was entirely ignorant of the fact. The Aide-de-camp was instructed to
tell me that Lord Charles Somerset had nothing more at heart than to
render my abode at the Cape as agreeable as it could be; and he
offered me the use of his country residence, the servants, and every
thing belonging to it. He begged that I would take possession of it,
repeating that, if I had any other wish, I need only name it, and it
would be complied with. I accepted, without hesitation, the offer of
the change of residence, and the Aide-de-camp went to give the
necessary orders for our immediate removal.
I now discovered how greatly the Governor’s character had been
misrepresented to me. I found that Lord Charles Somerset possessed the
grace and courtesy of manners requisite for his high rank. How much
men differ from one another! At St. Helena, such a letter as I had
written would probably have had the effect of doubly rivetting my
chains; but here it procured for me the offer of a palace. The fact is
in itself sufficient to characterize the two authorities with whom I
have had to treat. Lord Charles Somerset was, indeed, far from
meriting the reports I had heard respecting him. Almost every man has
his detractors; and those who have high functions to discharge seldom
escape the tongue of calumny. Lord Charles, as I had subsequently the
opportunity of ascertaining, is a man distinguished for noble and
generous feeling, moral principle, piety, and perfect benevolence.
None of the vexations by which I had been so greatly harassed
proceeded from him, but from subordinate agents, who executed orders
and influenced decisions. For the persons in authority here, who were
the slaves of vulgar national prejudice, hated us as Frenchmen, and
esteemed themselves happy in subjecting us to all the severity which
it was in their power to inflict.
If I had enjoyed the advantage of personal intercourse with the
Governor, in which, I have reason to believe, there would have been no
difficulty, I doubt not that, in pleading my cause with Lord Charles
Somerset, I should have obtained all I demanded, because my demands
were perfectly just; but my situation withheld me from seeking access
to him, and it seemed to be the wish of those about him to prevent him
from coming near me. He several times announced his intention of
seeing me, it is true, but this intention was never fulfilled.
REMOVAL TO NEWLANDS, THE GOVERNOR’S COUNTRY
RESIDENCE.—DETAILS.
From Jan. 29th to April 5th.—Early this morning, precisely at the hour
that had been appointed, the Governor’s Aide-de-camp drove up to the
door of our prison in a carriage and four. We set out; and in less
than three quarters of an hour we reached Newlands, the Governor’s
country house, which might be accounted a pleasant residence even in
Europe. I could easily perceive that several years had elapsed since
the place had first received its name, for it was surrounded by lofty
trees and thick groves: many of the fruit-trees were in full bearing.
One of the Governor’s Aides-de-camp placed us in possession, with all
due form and with the most studied politeness. He conducted me over
the grounds, and pointed out to me every thing worthy of notice,
without mentioning a word about limits or restrictions. He took an
opportunity of adroitly hinting to me that the soldiers whom I saw
posted about were merely the Governor’s ordinary guards, and had
received none but their usual orders. He added that I might consider
myself at home, as every thing would be done under my own direction.
He then took his leave.
When left to ourselves in this delightful place, we felt that we had
been suddenly removed from a prison to a Paradise. The elegantly
furnished apartments, the dovecots in the vicinity of the house, the
birds of every kind that inhabited the grounds, the numerous
flower-beds, groves, and delightful walks, and the silence and
solitude that prevailed—all presented a somewhat magical effect, and
reminded us of Zemire and Azor.
We had the use of the whole house, in which all the furniture remained
just as it had been left by the Governor’s family; not an article
having been removed. My son, on opening a colour-box, found an
unfinished drawing, by one of the daughters of Lord Charles Somerset.
It was a portrait of the revered object whose fate we deplore; for
where is his image not to be found? Beside the drawing lay the copy
from which it had been taken. It was a wretched sketch; a sort of
caricature likeness of the Emperor, which had been made on board the
Northumberland. This thing seemed to haunt us wherever we went, and we
always destroyed it with the ardent zeal of missionaries breaking the
images of false gods. In the impulse of the moment my son made his
poetical _debut_, by writing the following lines beneath Miss
Somerset’s unfinished drawing:—--
Sous vos doigts élégans tout devrait s’embellir;
C’est aux belles surtout à peindre le courage:
Du héros des héros, du Mars de l’avenir,
Comment avez-vous pu défigurer l’image?
I placed beside the drawing a small medal, which afforded a more
faithful representation of Napoleon. We then shut up the box, pleased
with our trick, and enjoying, in anticipation, Miss Somerset’s
surprise when she should one day read, and we hoped without anger, the
censure which we had presumed to pronounce upon her drawing.
The Governor had carried his attention so far as to send from town a
person to act as Steward at Newlands, to receive from me daily orders
for provisions; and I was given to understand that I might be supplied
profusely with whatever I wished for. But I had adopted Spartan
manners, and I desired to be supplied merely with necessaries. As to
the steward, I changed his occupation, and made him my reader; in
which capacity I found him a most valuable acquisition. By chance this
person proved to be a relative of the only inhabitant of St. Helena
with whom I had formed acquaintance. He was the nephew of the worthy
Amphitryon, our good host of the Briars, for whom I entertain a
sincere regard.
The Aide-de-camp visited us regularly, having received special
instructions to see that we wanted for nothing. I begged that he would
present my thanks and acknowledgments to Lord Charles Somerset, for
the delicate way in which he sought to disguise our captivity. “But it
was all one,” I informed him; “since, in spite of ourselves, we must
deplore our absence from St. Helena and Europe.”
Our departure from prison and removal to Newlands produced quite a
revolution in our condition. We received visits from many individuals,
who expressed themselves anxious to see us. General Hall, who acted as
the Governor’s deputy during his absence, came, accompanied by his
wife, a lady of very pleasing person and manners, and who, moreover,
spoke French exceedingly well. Her husband had been eleven years a
prisoner in France. Mrs. Hall had proceeded thither to join him, in
spite of the severe restrictions which then existed between the two
countries; and, if I recollect rightly, she ventured across the
Channel in an open boat. Both General and Mrs. Hall were intimate with
many of my friends in Paris. General Hall, who is a frank and
honourable man, observed that he should feel happy in repaying me,
without regard to difference of opinion, for all the kind treatment he
had generously experienced in France; and he kept his word.
I was also visited by Colonel Ware, whose wife has a sister married to
one of the members of the present English Ministry. Colonel Ware
resided at a short distance from Newlands, and he came, he said, to
offer me his services as a good neighbour; and, indeed, I found him an
extremely agreeable one, from his kind and unremitting attentions to
me. Finally, a lady, of the highest distinction in every respect, who
at that time accidentally happened to be in the colony, had the
charity several times to visit the captive. This was an unlooked-for
happiness; for the act of kindness thus conferred on me was enhanced
by the charms of agreeable conversation, combined with graceful
manners and the most captivating modesty. She was a lovely European
flower, amidst the heath of the Cape.
We were also visited in our solitude by numerous officers of all
ranks, who expressed sincere sympathy and interest for our
misfortunes. Had their kindness at that time come to the knowledge of
the English Ministry, it might have operated to their prejudice. Even
now, though with a great sacrifice to my feelings, I must refrain from
mentioning their names. But they may be assured that none of their
actions or words were lost upon me; for gratitude is a sentiment
innate in my heart.
Curiosity also had its share in attracting visitors to me. Every
stranger who arrived at the colony, and in particular the numerous
passengers who were proceeding to India, failed not to visit Newlands.
I was a ray flung from Longwood, and all were eager to see one who had
recently been near Napoleon, whom I found to be every where the
universal object of interest, and the constant subject of
conversation.
I had now an opportunity of answering many questions that were
addressed to me respecting the Emperor, the theme on which I always
dwelt most fondly. How many prejudices did I not destroy! How much
astonishment did I not create! It would now be difficult to conceive
how many atrocious and absurd reports respecting the Emperor had
gained credit, owing to the long suspension of intercourse between the
two nations, and their mutual feelings of irritation. Will it be
believed that a military officer of high rank, a man of considerable
intelligence, begged that I would tell him candidly whether Napoleon
was really able to write. He took it for granted that he was a mere
soldier, and nothing else. He seemed indeed, almost to doubt whether
he could read. I laughed, and asked whether he had ever seen his
military proclamations? He replied that he had, but that he supposed
these had been made for him. This officer was much astonished, and
acknowledged that he had nothing further to say on the subject, when I
informed him that, at the age of twenty-seven, Napoleon had been a
Member of the French Institute, undoubtedly the first learned
establishment in Europe.
As soon as we had fixed our residence at Newlands, my first care was
to send to Longwood a few articles of which the Emperor stood in need.
I knew, from experience how many privations he had to endure in that
abode of misery, where it was impossible to procure many things which
long habit had rendered necessary or agreeable. With my heart full of
these recollections, I resolved to transmit to him whatever I could
procure; though I was well aware that the Emperor attached but little
importance to luxuries of any kind. I however ordered some of the best
Constantia and Bordeaux wines, coffee, liqueurs, oil, eau de cologne,
&c. I mentioned that, if they were not of the best quality, I would
decline purchasing them. The Cape is yet but ill supplied with the
luxuries of Europe. Excepting Constantia wine, which is the production
of the place, only small quantities of the articles I had ordered
could be procured. I had taken the precaution to ask General Hall
whether I should be permitted to send the things, and he very politely
replied in the affirmative. With the view of facilitating the
reception of this little package at St. Helena, I had determined not
to have it brought to me at the Cape. I requested the officers of the
Governor’s staff to have the goodness to make the purchases for me,
and only reserved to myself the charge of paying for them. I mentioned
these precautions in a letter to Sir Hudson Lowe, to whom I addressed
the whole. It is stated by Mr. O’Meara that, on the arrival of these
things at St. Helena, Sir Hudson Lowe expressed himself much offended
at what I had done, which, he said, was an insult to the English
Government; and, in answer to me, he afterwards stated that, though I
had acted with much delicacy, yet it was out of his power to permit
the articles to be transmitted to Longwood, because he was charged, in
the name of the English Government, to provide every thing that was
wanting at that establishment.—He forgot that he had often assured us
the sum allowed him was insufficient for the purpose; and that we, on
our part, had frequently complained to him of wanting necessaries.
However, I afterwards understood that the articles had been sent to
Longwood, and I had the inexpressible satisfaction of learning that
the Constantia wine, in particular, had pleased the Emperor. It was
reserved for his own use, and he called it by my name. In his last
moments, when rejecting every thing that was offered, and not knowing
what to have recourse to, he said—“Give me a glass of Las Cases’
wine.” How was I gratified to hear of this!
At the same time, I sent back to Sir Hudson Lowe the note which, at
the sad moment of my departure, had been given to me for the four
thousand louis which I left for the Emperor’s use. It purported that
the sum was to be paid to me at sight. On my hesitating to accept it,
the Governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, ironically said—“Take it, take it. You
will go where the General has funds, and that will enable you to get
payment.” Afterwards, when I came to recollect this circumstance, not
doubting the report that Sir Hudson Lowe would make of it to his
Ministers, I thought it right to send back the note, with the request
that he would transmit to the English Government a correction of the
_erroneous commentaries_, with which I was convinced he had not failed
to accompany his account of the circumstance. “I reserve to myself,”
said I, in my letter to him, “merely the signature, which to me is
more valuable than the sum itself. The note is useless, I added. The
Emperor’s relations would, I am sure, dispute the honour of paying me
back the sum; or, in case of emergency, the first Frenchman I may
happen to meet with will be ready to give me credit for it.”
We had now been two months at Newlands, and, from what I have already
stated, many may be led to believe that we were perfectly happy. But
can there be happiness in a state of captivity, far from one’s native
country? We merely whiled away the hours as agreeably as we could. We
regulated our time, and distributed our occupations. My son pursued
his studies. The piano of the Misses Somerset was one of his favourite
amusements. I read a great deal; for I had books at hand, and my
friends regularly furnished me with the journals and new publications.
In the evenings, my son walked with me in the beautiful groves
surrounding the house; or, as he had bought a horse, he sometimes took
an excursion in the neighbourhood, and then returned to ride backward
and forward in the beautiful alleys of Newlands, where I sat down, and
took pleasure in watching him. I thought I could perceive his health
recruited, and his strength developing itself.