It may seem arrogant for an obscure and nameless individual to claim
the glory of having put to death the most formidable of all recorded
heroes. But a shadowy champion may be overthrown by a shadowy
antagonist. Many a terrific spectre has been laid by the beams of a
halfpenny candle. And if I have succeeded in making out, in the
foregoing pages, a probable case of suspicion, it must, I think, be
admitted, that there is some ground for my present boast, of having
_killed_ Napoleon Buonaparte.
Let but the circumstances of the case be considered. This mighty
Emperor, who had been so long the bugbear of the civilized world,
after having obtained successes and undergone reverses, such as never
befel any (other at least) _real_ potentate, was at length sentenced
to confinement in the remote island of St. Helena: a measure which
many persons wondered at, and many objected to, on various grounds;
not unreasonably, supposing the illustrious exile to be a real person;
but on the supposition of his being only a man of straw, the
situation was exceedingly favourable for keeping him out of the way of
impertinent curiosity, when not wanted, and for making him the
foundation of any new plots that there might be occasion to conjure
up.
About this juncture it was that the public attention was first
invited, by these pages, to the question as to the real existence of
Napoleon Buonaparte. They excited, it may be fairly supposed, along
with much surprise and much censure, some degree of doubt, and
probably of consequent inquiry. No fresh evidence, as far as I can
learn, of the truth of the disputed points, was brought forward to
dispel these doubts. We heard, however, of the most jealous
precautions being used to prevent any intercourse between the
formidable prisoner, and any stranger who, from motives of curiosity,
might wish to visit him. The "man in the iron mask" could hardly have
been more rigorously secluded: and we also heard various contradictory
reports of conversations between him and the few who were allowed
access to him; the falsehood and inconsistency of most of these
reports being proved in contemporary publications.
At length, just about the time when the public scepticism respecting
this extraordinary personage might be supposed to have risen to an
alarming height, it was announced to us that he was dead! A stop was
thus put, most opportunely, to all troublesome inquiries. I do not
undertake to deny that such a person did live and die. That he was,
and that he did, _everything_ that is reported, we cannot believe,
unless we consent to admit contradictory statements; but many of the
events reported, however marvellous, are certainly not, when taken
separately, physically impossible. But I would only entreat the candid
reader to reflect what might naturally be expected, on the supposition
of the surmises contained in the present work being well founded.
Supposing the whole of the tale I have been considering to have been a
fabrication, what would be the natural result of such attempt to
excite inquiry into its truth? Evidently the shortest and most
effectual mode of avoiding detection, would be to _kill_ the phantom,
and so get rid of him at once. A ready and decisive answer would thus
be provided to any one in whom the foregoing arguments might have
excited suspicions: "Sir, there can be no doubt that such a person
existed, and performed what is related of him; and if you will just
take a voyage to St. Helena, you may see with your own eyes,--not him,
indeed, for he is no longer living,--but his _tomb_: and what evidence
would you have that is more decisive?"
So much for his _Death_: as for his _Life_,--it is just published by
an eminent writer: besides which, the shops will supply us with
abundance of busts and prints of this great man; all striking
likenesses--of one another. The most incredulous must be satisfied
with this! "Stat magni NOMINIS umbra!"