_Napoleon's real view of the measure of sending him to St.
Helena--Allegation that Captain Maitland made terms with
him--disproved--Probability that the insinuation arose with Las
Cases--Scheme of removing Napoleon from the Bellerophon, by citing
him as a witness in a case of libel--Threats of
self-destruction--Napoleon goes on board the Northumberland, which
sails for St. Helena--His behaviour on the voyage--He arrives at St.
Helena, 16th October._
The interest attaching to the foregoing interview betwixt Napoleon and
the gentlemen sent to announce his doom, loses much, when we regard it
in a great measure as an empty personification of feeling, a
well-painted passion which was not in reality felt. Napoleon, as will
presently appear, was not serious in averring that he had any
encouragement from Captain Maitland to come on board his ship, save in
the character of a prisoner, to be placed at the Prince Regent's
discretion. Neither had he the most distant idea of preventing his
removal to the Northumberland, either by violence to himself or any one
else. Both topics of declamation were only used for show--the one to
alarm the sense of honour entertained by the Prince Regent and the
people of England, and the other to work upon their humanity.
[Sidenote: THE BELLEROPHON.]
There is little doubt that Napoleon saw the probability of the St.
Helena voyage, so soon as he surrendered himself to the captain of the
Bellerophon.[192] He had affirmed, that there was a purpose of
transferring him to St. Helena or St. Lucie, even before he left Elba;
and if he thought the English capable of sending him to such banishment
while he was under the protection of the treaty of Fontainbleau, he
could hardly suppose that they would scruple to execute such a purpose,
after his own conduct had deprived him of all the immunities with which
that treaty had invested him.
Nevertheless, while aware that his experiment might possibly thus
terminate, Napoleon may have hoped a better issue, and conceived himself
capable of cajoling the Prince Regent[193] and his administration into
hazarding the safety and the peace of Europe, in order to display a
Quixotic generosity towards an individual, whose only plea for deserving
it was that he had been for twenty years their mortal enemy. Such hopes
he may have entertained; for it cannot be thought that he would
acknowledge even to himself the personal disqualifications which
rendered him, in the eyes of all Europe, unworthy of trust or
confidence. His expectation of a favourable reception did not go so far,
in all likelihood, as those of the individual among his followers, who
believed that Napoleon would receive the Order of the Garter from the
Prince Regent; but he might hope to be permitted to reside in Britain on
the same terms as his brother Lucien had done.
Doubtless he calculated upon, and perhaps overrated, all these more
favourable chances. Yet, if the worst should arrive, he saw even in that
_worst_, that island of St. Helena itself, the certainty of personal
safety, which he could not be assured of in any despotic country, where,
as he himself must have known pretty well, an obnoxious prisoner, or
_detenu_, may lose his life _par négligence_, without any bustle or
alarm being excited upon the occasion. Upon the 16th August, while on
his passage to St. Helena, he frankly acknowledged, that though he had
been deceived in the reception he had expected from the English, still,
harshly and unfairly as he thought himself treated, he found comfort
from knowing that he was under the protection of British laws, which he
could not have enjoyed had he gone to another country, where his fate
would have depended upon the caprice of an individual. This we believe
to be the real secret of his rendition to England, in preference to his
father-in-law of Austria, or his friend in Russia. He might, in the
first-named country, be kept in custody, more or less severe; but he
would be at least secure from perishing of some political disease. Even
while at St. Helena, he allowed, in an interval of good tempered
candour, that comparing one place of exile to another, St. Helena was
entitled to the preference. In higher latitudes, he observed, they would
have suffered from cold, and in any other tropical island they would
have been burned to death. At St. Helena the country was wild and
savage, the climate monotonous, and unfavourable to health, but the
temperature was mild and pleasing.[194]
[Sidenote: CAPTAIN MAITLAND.]
The allegation on which Napoleon had insisted so much, namely, that
Captain Maitland had pledged himself for his good reception in England,
and received him on board his vessel, not as a prisoner, but as a guest,
became now an important subject of investigation. All the while Napoleon
had been on board the Bellerophon, he had expressed the greatest respect
for Captain Maitland, and a sense of his civilities totally inconsistent
with the idea that he conceived himself betrayed by him. He had even
sounded that officer, by the means of Madame Bertrand, to know whether
he would accept a present of his portrait set with diamonds, which
Captain Maitland requested might not be offered, as he was determined to
decline it.
On the 6th of August, Count Las Cases, for the first time, hinted to
Captain Maitland, that he had understood him to have given an assurance,
that Napoleon should be well received in England. Captain Maitland
replied, it was impossible the count could mistake him so far, since he
had expressly stated he could make no promises; but that he thought his
orders would bear him out in receiving Napoleon on board, and conveying
him to England. He reminded the count, that he had questioned him
(Captain Maitland) repeatedly, as to his private opinion, to which he
could only answer, that he had no reason to think Napoleon would be ill
received. Las Cases had nothing to offer in reply. Upon the same 6th
August, Napoleon himself spoke upon the subject, and it will be observed
how very different his language was to Captain Maitland, from that which
he held in his absence. "They say," he remarked, "that I made no
conditions. _Certainly I made no conditions._ How could an individual
enter into terms with a nation? I wanted nothing of them but
hospitality, or, as the ancients would express it, air and water. As for
you, captain, I have no cause of complaint; your conduct has been that
of a man of honour."
The investigation of this matter did not end here, for the ungrounded
assertion that Captain Maitland had granted some conditions, expressed
or implied, was no sooner repelled than it was again revived.
On the 7th, Count Las Cases having a parting interview with Lord Keith,
for the purpose of delivering to him a protest on the part of
Buonaparte, "I was in the act of telling him," said the count, "that
Captain Maitland had said he was authorised to carry us to London,
without letting us suspect that we were to be regarded as prisoners of
war; and that the captain could not deny that we came freely and in good
faith; that the letter from the Emperor to the Prince of Wales, of the
existence of which I had given Captain Maitland information, must
necessarily have created tacit conditions, since he had made no
observation on it." Here the admiral's impatience, nay, anger, broke
forth. He said to him sharply, that in that case Captain Maitland was a
fool, since his instructions contained not a word to such a purpose; and
this he should surely know, since it was he, Lord Keith, who issued
them. Count Las Cases still persevered, stating that his lordship spoke
with a hasty severity, for which he might be himself responsible; since
the other officers, as well as Rear-Admiral Hotham, had expressed
themselves to the same effect, which could not have been the case had
the letter of instructions been so clearly expressed, and so positive,
as his lordship seemed to think.[195]
Lord Keith, upon this statement of Count Las Cases, called upon Captain
Maitland for the most ample account he could give of the communications
which he had had with the count, previous to Napoleon's coming on board
the Bellerophon. Captain Maitland of course obeyed, and stated at full
length the manner in which the French frigates lay blockaded, the great
improbability of their effecting an escape, and the considerable risk
they would have run in attempting it; the application to him, first by
Savary and Las Cases, afterwards by Las Cases and Gourgaud; his
objecting to the frequent flags of truce; his refusal to allow
Buonaparte to pass to sea, either in French ships of war, or in a
neutral vessel; his consenting to carry to England the late Emperor and
his suite, to be at the disposal of the Prince Regent, with his cautions
to them, again and again renewed, in the presence of Captain Sartorius
and Captain Gambier, that he could grant no stipulations or conditions
whatever. These officers gave full evidence to the same effect, by their
written attestations. If, therefore, the insinuation of Count Las Cases,
for it amounts to no more, is to be placed against the express and
explicit averment of Captain Maitland, the latter must preponderate,
were it but by aid of the direct testimony of two other British
officers. Finally, Captain Maitland mentioned Napoleon's acknowledgment,
and that of his suite, that though their expectations had been
disappointed, they imputed no blame to him, which he could not have
escaped, had he used any unwarranted and fallacious proposals to entice
them on board his vessel. As the last piece of evidence, he mentioned
his taking farewell of Montholon, who again reverted to Napoleon's wish
to make him a present, and expressed the Emperor's sense of his
civilities, and his high and honourable deportment through the whole
transaction.
Captain Maitland, to use his own words, then said, "'I feel much hurt
that Count Las Cases should have stated to Lord Keith, that I had
promised Buonaparte should be well received in England, or indeed made
promises of any sort. I have endeavoured to conduct myself with
integrity and honour throughout the whole of this transaction, and
therefore cannot allow such an assertion to go uncontradicted.'--'Oh!'
said Count Montholon, 'Las Cases negotiated this business; it has turned
out very differently from what he and all of us expected. He attributes
the Emperor's situation to himself, and is therefore desirous of giving
it the best countenance he can; but I assure you the Emperor is
convinced your conduct has been most honourable;' then taking my hand,
he pressed it, and added, 'and that is my opinion also.'"
Lord Keith was of course perfectly convinced that the charge against
Captain Maitland was not only totally unsupported by testimony, but that
it was disproved by the evidence of impartial witnesses, as well as by
the conduct and public expression of sentiments of those who had the
best right to complain of that officer's conduct, had it been really
deserving of censure. The reason why Count Las Cases should persist in
grounding hopes and wishes of his own framing, upon supposed expressions
of encouragement from Captain Maitland, has been probably rightly
treated by Count Montholon. Napoleon's conduct, in loading Captain
Maitland with the charge of "laying snares for him," while his own
conscience so far acquitted that brave officer, that he pressed upon him
thanks, and yet more substantial evidence of his favourable opinion,
can, we are afraid, only be imputed to a predominant sense of his own
interest, to which he was not unwilling to have sacrificed the
professional character and honourable name of an officer, to whom, on
other occasions, he acknowledged himself obliged. As Captain Maitland's
modest and manly Narrative[196] is now published, the figment, that
Napoleon came on board the Bellerophon in any other character than as a
prisoner of war, must be considered as silenced for ever.
Having prosecuted this interesting subject to a conclusion, we return to
the train of circumstances attending Napoleon's departure from England,
so far as they seem to contain historical interest.
[Sidenote: THE BELLEROPHON.]
The inconvenient resort of immense numbers, sometimes not less than a
thousand boats, scarce to be kept off by absolute force by those who
rowed guard within the prescribed distance of 300 yards from the
Bellerophon, was rendered a greater annoyance, when Napoleon's repeated
expressions, that he would never go to St. Helena, occasioned some
suspicions that he meant to attempt his escape. Two frigates were
therefore appointed to lie as guards on the Bellerophon, and sentinels
were doubled and trebled, both by night and day.
An odd incident, of a kind which could only have happened in England
(for though as many bizarre whims may arise in the minds of foreigners,
they are much more seldom ripened into action,) added to the cares of
those who were to watch this important prisoner. Some newspaper, which
was not possessed of a legal adviser to keep it right in point of form,
had suggested (in tenderness, we suppose, to public curiosity,) that the
person of Napoleon Buonaparte should be removed to shore by agency of a
writ of Habeas Corpus. This magical rescript of the Old Bailey, as
Smollett terms it, loses its influence over an alien and prisoner of
war, and therefore such an absurd proposal was not acted upon. But an
individual prosecuted for a libel upon a naval officer, conceived the
idea of citing Napoleon as an evidence in a court of justice, to prove,
as he pretended, the state of the French navy, which was necessary to
his defence. The writ was to have been served on Lord Keith; but he
disappointed the litigant, by keeping his boat off the ship while he was
on board, and afterwards by the speed of his twelve-oared barge, which
the attorney's panting rowers toiled after in vain. Although this was a
mere absurdity, and only worthy of the laughter with which the anecdote
of the attorney's pursuit and the admiral's flight was generally
received, yet it might have given rise to inconvenience, by suggesting
to Napoleon, that he was, by some process or other, entitled to redress
by the common law of England, and might have encouraged him in resisting
attempts to remove him from the Bellerophon. On the 4th of August, to
end such inconvenient occurrences, the Bellerophon was appointed to put
to sea and remain cruising off the Start, where she was to be joined by
the squadron destined for St. Helena, when Napoleon was with his
immediate attendants to be removed on board the Northumberland.
His spirit for some time seemed wound up to some desperate resolve, and
though he gave no hint of suicide before Captain Maitland, otherwise
than by expressing a dogged resolution not to go to St. Helena, yet to
Las Cases he spoke in undisguised terms of a Roman death.[197] We own we
are not afraid of such resolutions being executed by sane persons when
they take the precaution of consulting an intelligent friend. It is
quite astonishing how slight a backing will support the natural love of
life, in minds the most courageous, and circumstances the most
desperate. We are not, therefore, surprised to find that the philosophic
arguments of Las Cases determined Napoleon to survive and write his
history. Had he consulted his military attendants, he would have
received other counsels, and assistance to execute them if necessary.
Lallemand, Montholon, and Gourgaud, assured Captain Maitland, that the
Emperor would sooner kill himself than go to St. Helena, and that even
were he to consent, they three were determined themselves to put him to
death, rather than he should so far degrade himself. Captain Maitland,
in reply, gave some hints indicative of the gallows, in case such a
scheme were prosecuted.
Savary and Lallemand, were, it must be owned, under circumstances
peculiarly painful. They had been among the list of persons excluded
from the amnesty by the royal government of France, and now they were
prohibited by the British Ministry from accompanying Napoleon to St.
Helena. They entertained, not unnaturally, the greatest anxiety about
their fate, apprehensive, though entirely without reason, that they
might be delivered up to the French Government. They resolved upon
personal resistance to prevent their being separated from their Emperor,
but fortunately were so considerate amid their wrath, as to take the
opinion of the late distinguished lawyer and statesman, Sir Samuel
Romilly.[198] As the most effectual mode of serving these unfortunate
gentlemen, Sir Samuel, by personal application to the Lord Chancellor,
learned that there were no thoughts of delivering up his clients to the
French government, and thus became able to put their hearts at ease upon
that score. On the subject of the resistance, as to the legality of
which they questioned him, Sir Samuel Romilly acquainted them, that life
taken in an affray of the kind, would be construed into murder by the
law of England. No greater danger, indeed, was to be expected from an
assault, legalized upon the opinion of an eminent lawyer, than from a
suicide adjusted with the advice of a counsellor of state; and we
suppose neither Napoleon nor his followers were more serious in the
violent projects which they announced, than they might think necessary
to shake the purpose of the English Ministry. In this they were totally
unsuccessful; and their intemperate threats only occasioned their being
deprived of arms, excepting Napoleon, who was left in possession of his
sword. Napoleon and his followers were greatly hurt at this marked
expression of want of confidence, which must also have been painful to
the English officers who executed the order, though it was explained to
the French gentlemen, that the measure was only one of precaution, and
that their weapons were to be carefully preserved and restored to them.
During his last day on board the Bellerophon, Napoleon was employed in
composing a Protest, which, as it contains nothing more than his address
to Lord Keith and Sir Henry Bunbury, we have thrown into the
Appendix.[199] He also wrote a second letter to the Prince Regent.
On the 4th of August, the Bellerophon set sail, and next morning fell in
with the Northumberland, and the squadron destined for St. Helena, as
also with the Tonnant, on board of which Lord Keith's flag was hoisted.
[Sidenote: O'MEARA--THE NORTHUMBERLAND.]
It was now that Napoleon gave Captain Maitland the first intimation of
his purpose to submit to his exile, by requesting that Mr. O'Meara,
surgeon of the Bellerophon, might be permitted to attend him to St.
Helena, instead of his own surgeon, whose health could not stand the
voyage. This made it clear that no resistance was designed; and, indeed,
so soon as Napoleon observed that his threats had produced no effect, he
submitted with his usual equanimity. He also gave orders to deliver up
his arms. His baggage was likewise subjected to a form of search, but
without unpacking or disturbing any article. The treasure of Buonaparte,
amounting only to 4000 gold Napoleons, was taken into custody, to
abridge him of that powerful means of effecting his escape. Full
receipts, of course, were given, rendering the British Government
accountable for the same; and Marchand, the favourite valet-de-chambre
of the Emperor, was permitted to take whatever money he thought might be
immediately necessary.
About eleven o'clock on the morning of the 7th August, Lord Keith came
in his barge to transfer Napoleon from the Bellerophon to the
Northumberland. About one o'clock, when Buonaparte had announced that he
was in full readiness, a captain's guard was turned out; Lord Keith's
barge was prepared; and as Napoleon crossed the quarter-deck, the
soldiers presented arms under three ruffles of the drum, being the
salute paid to a general officer. His step was firm and steady; his
farewell to Captain Maitland polite and friendly.[200] That officer had
no doubt something to forgive to Napoleon, who had endeavoured to fix
on him the stigma of having laid a snare for him; yet the candid and
manly avowal of the feelings which remained on his mind at parting with
him, ought not to be suppressed. They add credit, were that required, to
his plain, honest, and unvarnished narrative.
"It may appear surprising, that a possibility could exist of a British
officer being prejudiced in favour of one who had caused so many
calamities to his country; but to such an extent did he possess the
power of pleasing, that there are few people who could have sat at the
same table with him for nearly a month, as I did, without feeling a
sensation of pity, allied perhaps to regret, that a man possessed of so
many fascinating qualities, and who had held so high a station in life,
should be reduced to the situation in which I saw him."[201]
[Sidenote: VOYAGE TO ST. HELENA.]
Napoleon was received on board of the Northumberland with the same
honours paid at leaving the Bellerophon. Sir George Cockburn, the
British admiral, to whose charge the late Emperor was now committed, was
in every respect a person highly qualified to discharge the task with
delicacy towards Napoleon, yet with fidelity to the instructions he had
received. Of good birth, accustomed to the first society, a handsome
person, and an agreeable address, he had yet so much of the firmness of
his profession as to be able to do unpleasing things when necessary. In
every particular within the circle of his orders, he was kind, gentle,
and accommodating; beyond them, he was inflexible. This mixture of
courtesy and firmness was particularly necessary, since Napoleon, and
still more his attendants on his behalf, were desirous upon several
occasions to arrogate a degree of royal rank for the prisoner, which Sir
George Cockburn's instructions, for reasons to be hereafter noticed,
positively forbade him to concede. All that he could give, he gave with
a readiness which showed kindness as well as courtesy; but aware that,
beyond the fixed limit, each admitted claim would only form the
foundation for another, he made his French guests sensible that
ill-humour or anger could have no effect upon his conduct.
The consequence was, that though Napoleon, when transferred to the
Northumberland, was, by the orders of the Admiralty, deprived of certain
marks of deference which he received on board of the Bellerophon (where
Captain Maitland had no precise orders on the subject, and the
withholding of which in him would have been a gratuitous infliction of
humiliation,) yet no positive quarrel, far less any rooted ill-will,
took place betwixt Napoleon and the admiral. The latter remained at the
principal place of his own table, was covered when on the quarterdeck,
after the first salutations had passed, and disregarded other
particulars of etiquette observed towards crowned heads; yet such
circumstances only occasioned a little temporary coldness, which, as the
admiral paid no attention to his guests' displeasure, soon gave way to a
Frenchman's natural love of society; and Sir George Cockburn (ceasing to
be the _Réquin_, as Las Cases says the French termed him when they were
in the pet,) became that mixture of the obliging gentleman and strict
officer, for which Napoleon held him whenever he spoke candidly on the
subject.
It may be mentioned as no bad instance of this line of conduct, and its
effects, that upon the Northumberland crossing the line, the Emperor
desiring to exhibit his munificence to the seamen, by presenting them
with a hundred louis-d'or, under pretext of paying the ordinary fine,
Sir George Cockburn, considering this tribute to Neptune as too
excessive in amount, would not permit the donative to exceed a tenth
part of the sum; and Napoleon, offended by the restriction, paid nothing
at all. Upon another occasion, early in the voyage, a difference in
national manners gave rise to one of those slight misunderstandings
which we have noticed. Napoleon was accustomed, like all Frenchmen, to
leave the table immediately after dinner, and Sir George Cockburn, with
the English officers, remained after him at table; for, in permitting
his French guests their liberty, the admiral did not choose to admit the
right of Napoleon to break up the party at his, Sir George's, own table.
This gave some discontent.[202] Notwithstanding these trifling subjects
of dissatisfaction, Las Cases informs us that the admiral, whom he took
to be prepossessed against them at first, became every day more
amicable. The Emperor used to take his arm every evening on the
quarterdeck, and hold long conversations with him upon maritime
subjects, as well as past events in general.[203]
While on board the Northumberland, the late Emperor spent his mornings
in reading or writing;[204] his evenings in his exercise upon deck, and
at cards. The game was generally _vingt un_. But when the play became
rather deep, he discouraged that amusement, and substituted chess. Great
tactician as he was, Napoleon did not play well at that military game,
and it was with difficulty that his antagonist, Montholon, could avoid
the solecism of beating the Emperor.
During this voyage, Napoleon's _jour de fête_ occurred, which was also
his birth-day. It was the 15th August; a day for which the Pope had
expressly canonized a St. Napoleon to be the Emperor's patron. And now,
strange revolution, it was celebrated by him on board of an English
man-of-war, which was conducting him to his place of imprisonment, and,
as it proved, his tomb. Yet Napoleon seemed cheerful and contented
during the whole day, and was even pleased with being fortunate at play,
which he received as a good omen.[205]
[Sidenote: ST. HELENA.]
Upon the 15th October, 1815, the Northumberland reached St. Helena,
which presents but an unpromising aspect to those who design it for a
residence, though it may be a welcome sight to the sea-worn mariner. Its
destined inhabitant, from the deck of the Northumberland, surveyed it
with his spy-glass. St. James' Town, an inconsiderable village, was
before him, enchased as it were in a valley, amid arid and scarped rocks
of immense height; every platform, every opening, every gorge, was
bristled with cannon. Las Cases, who stood by him, could not perceive
the slightest alteration of his countenance.[206] The orders of
Government had been that Napoleon should remain on board till a
residence could be prepared suitable for the line of life he was to lead
in future. But as this was likely to be a work of time, Sir George
Cockburn readily undertook, on his own responsibility, to put his
passengers on shore, and provide in some way for the security of
Napoleon's person, until the necessary habitation should be fitted up.
He was accordingly transferred to land upon the 16th October;[207] and
thus the Emperor of France, nay, wellnigh of Europe, sunk into the
Recluse of St. Helena.
FOOTNOTES:
[192] "Aug. 3. The Emperor said to me, 'after all, it is quite certain
that I shall go to St. Helena; but what can we do in that desolate
place?'--'Sire,' I replied, 'we will live on the past; there is enough
in it to satisfy us. Do we not enjoy the life of Cæsar and that of
Alexander? We shall possess still more; you will reperuse yourself,
Sire!'--'Be it so,' rejoined Napoleon, 'we will write our memoirs. Yes,
we must be employed; for occupation is the scythe of time.'"--LAS CASES,
tom. i., p. 57.
[193] "Speaking of Napoleon's wish for an interview with the Prince
Regent, Lord Keith said, 'D--n the fellow, if he had obtained an
interview with his Royal Highness, in half an hour they would have been
the best friends in England.'"--MAITLAND, p. 211.
[194] Las Cases, tom. i., part ii., p. 229.
[195] Las Cases, tom. i., p. 69.--The reader may judge for himself, by
turning to p. 220, where the instructions are printed, acting under
which no man but a fool, as the admiral truly said, could have entered
into such a treaty, as Count Las Cases pretends Captain Maitland to have
engaged in.--S.
[196] "Narrative of the surrender of Buonaparte, and of his residence on
Board H.M.S. Bellerophon. By Captain F. L. Maitland, C. B. 1826."
[197] "'My friend,' said the Emperor to me, 'I have sometimes an idea of
quitting you, and this would not be very difficult; it is only necessary
to create a little mental excitement, and I shall soon have escaped. All
will be over, and you can then quietly rejoin your families.' I
remonstrated warmly against such notions. Poets and philosophers had
said, that it was a spectacle worthy of the Divinity to see men
struggling with fortune; reverses and constancy had their glory."--LAS
CASES, tom. i., p. 56.
[198] Savary, tom. iv., p. 189.
[199] See APPENDIX, No. II.--"It occurred to me, that, in such a
decisive moment, the Emperor was bound to show a formal opposition to
this violence. I ventured, therefore, to read to him a paper which I had
prepared, with the general sense of which he seemed pleased. After
suppressing a few phrases, and correcting others, it was signed, and
sent to Lord Keith."--LAS CASES, tom. i., p. 59.
[200] "Taking off his hat, he said, 'Captain Maitland, I take this last
opportunity of once more returning you my thanks for the manner in which
you have treated me while on board the Bellerophon, and also to request
you will convey them to the officers and ship's company you command;'
then turning to the officers, who were standing by me, he added,
'Gentlemen, I have requested your captain to express my gratitude to you
for your attention to me, and to those who have followed my fortunes.'
He then went forward to the gangway; and before he went down the ship's
side, bowed two or three times to the ship's company. After the boat had
shoved off, and got the distance of about thirty yards from the ship, he
stood up, pulled his hat off, and bowed, first to the officers, and then
to the men; and immediately sat down and entered into conversation with
Lord Keith."--MAITLAND, p. 202.
[201] "After Napoleon had quitted the ship, being desirous to know what
were the feelings of the ship's company towards him, I asked my servant
what the people said of him. 'Why, sir,' he answered, 'I heard several
of them conversing together about him this morning; when one of them
observed, "Well! they may abuse that man as much as they please, but if
the people of England knew him as well as we do, they would not hurt a
hair of his head;" in which the others agreed.'"--MAITLAND, p. 223.
[202] Las Cases [tom. i., p. 101,] gives somewhat a different account of
this trifling matter, which appears to have been a misunderstanding. Las
Cases supposes the admiral to have been offended at Napoleon's rising,
whereas Sir George Cockburn was only desirous to show that he did not
conceive himself obliged to break up the party because his French guests
withdrew. It seems, however, to have dwelt on Napoleon's mind, and was
always quoted when he desired to express dissatisfaction with the
admiral.
[203] Las Cases, tom. i., p. 138.--"After dinner the grand maréchal and
I always followed the Emperor to the quarterdeck. After the preliminary
remarks on the weather, &c., Napoleon used to start a subject of
conversation, and when he had taken eight or nine turns the whole length
of the deck, he would seat himself on the second gun from the gangway,
on the larboard side. The midshipmen soon observed this habitual
predilection, so that the cannon was thenceforth called the _Emperor's
gun_. It was there that Napoleon often conversed hours together, and
that I learned, for the first time, a part of what I am about to
relate."--LAS CASES, p. 95.
[204] "Sept. 1-6.--The Emperor expressed a wish to learn English. I
endeavoured to form a very simple plan for his instruction. This did
very well for two or three days; but the _ennui_ occasioned by the study
was at least equal to that which it was intended to counteract, and the
English was laid aside."--LAS CASES, tom. i., p. 137. "Sept. 7. The
Emperor observed that I was very much occupied, and he even suspected
the subject on which I was engaged. He determined to ascertain the fact,
and obtained sight of a few pages of my Journal; he was not displeased
with it. He observed that such a work would be interesting rather than
useful. The military events, for example, thus detailed, in the ordinary
course of conversation, would be meagre, incomplete, and devoid of end
or object. I eagerly seized the favourable opportunity, and ventured to
suggest the idea of his dictating to me the campaigns in Italy. On the
9th, the Emperor called me into his cabin, and dictated to me, for the
first time, some details respecting the siege of Toulon," &c.--LAS
CASES, p. 171. "Sept. 19-22. The Emperor now began regularly to dictate
to me his campaigns of Italy. For the first few days he viewed this
occupation with indifference; but the regularity and promptitude with
which I presented to him my daily task, together with the progress we
made, soon excited his interest; and at length the pleasure he derived
from this dictation, rendered it absolutely necessary to him. He was
sure to send for me about eleven o'clock every morning, and he seemed
himself to wait the hour with impatience."--LAS CASES, p. 187.
[205] Las Cases, tom. i., p. 92.
[206] Las Cases, tom. i., p. 241.