Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
then alluded to an invitation sent to him by Sir Hudson Lows to meet
Lady Loudon at his house, and said there could not be an act of
more refined cruelty than inviting him to his table by the title of
"General," to make him an object of ridicule or amusement to his guests.
What right had he to call him "General" Bonaparte? He would not
be deprived of his dignity by him, nor by any one in the world. He
certainly should have condescended to visit Lady Loudon had she been
within his limits, as he did not stand upon strict etiquette with a
woman, but he should have deemed that he was conferring an honour upon
her. He would not consider himself a prisoner of war, but was placed in
his present position by the most horrible breach of trust. After a few
more words he dismissed the Governor without once more alluding to the
house which was the object of the visit. The fate of this unfortunate
house may be mentioned here. It was erected after a great many disputes,
but was unfortunately surrounded by a sunk fence and ornamental railing.
This was immediately connected in Napoleon's mind with the idea of a
fortification; it was impossible to remove the impression that the
ditch and palisade were intended to secure his person. As soon as the
objection was made known, Sir Hudson Lowe ordered the ground to be
levelled and the rails taken away. But before this was quite completed
Napoleon's health was too much destroyed to permit his removal, and the
house was never occupied.
Napoleon seems to have felt that he had been too violent in his conduct.
He admitted, when at table with his suite a few days after, that he had
behaved very ill, and that in any other situation he should blush for
what he had done. "I could have wished, for his sake," he said, "to see
him evince a little anger, or pull the door violently after him when
he went away." These few words let us into a good deal of Napoleon's
character: he liked to intimidate, but his vehement language was
received with a calmness and resolute forbearance to which he was quite
unaccustomed, and he consequently grew more angry as his anger was less
regarded.
The specimens here given of the disputes with Sir Hudson Lowe may
probably suffice: a great many more are furnished by Las Cases, O'Meara,
and other partisans of Napoleon, and even they always make him the
aggressor. Napoleon himself in his cooler moments seemed to admit this;
after the most violent quarrel with the Governor, that of the 18th of
August 1816, which utterly put an end to anything like decent civility
between the parties; he allowed that he had used the Governor very ill,
that he repeatedly and purposely offended him, and that Sir Hudson Lowe
had not in a single instance shown a want of respect, except perhaps
that he retired too abruptly.
Great complaints were made of the scanty way in which the table of the
exiles was supplied; and it was again and again alleged by them that
they had scarcely anything to eat. The wine, too, was said to be
execrable, so bad that in fact it could not be drunk; and, of such
stuff as it was, only one bottle a day was allowed to each person--an
allowance which Las Cases calls ridiculously small. Thus pressed, but
partly for effect, Napoleon resolved to dispose of his plate in monthly
proportions; and as he knew that some East India captains had offered
as much as a hundred guineas for a single plate, in order to preserve a
memorial of him, he determined that what was sold should be broken up,
the arms erased, and no trace left which could show that they had ever
been his. The only portions left uninjured were the little eagles with
which some of the dish-covers were mounted. These last fragments were
objects of veneration for the attendants of Napoleon, they were looked
upon as relics, with a feeling at once melancholy and religious. When
the moment came for breaking up the plate Las Cases bears testimony to
the painful emotions and real grief produced among the servants. They
could not, without the utmost reluctance, bring themselves to apply the
hammer to those objects of their veneration.
The island of St. Helena was regularly visited by East India ships on
the return voyage, which touched there to take in water, and to leave
gunpowder for the use of the garrison. On such occasions there were
always persons anxious to pay a visit to the renowned captive. The
regulation of those visits was calculated to protect Napoleon from being
annoyed by the idle curiosity of strangers, to which he professed a
great aversion. Such persons as wished to wait upon him were, in the
first place, obliged to apply to the Governor, by whom their names were
forwarded to Count Bertrand. This gentleman, as Grand-Marshal of the
household, communicated the wishes of those persons to Napoleon, and in
case of a favourable reply fixed the hour for an interview.
Those visitors whom Napoleon admitted were chiefly persons of rank
and distinction, travellers from distant countries, or men who had
distinguished themselves in the scientific world, and who could
communicate interesting information in exchange for the gratification
they received. Some of those persons who were admitted to interviews
with him have published narratives of their conversation, and all agree
in extolling the extreme grace, propriety, and appearance of benevolence
manifested by Bonaparte while holding these levees. His questions were
always put with great tact, and on some subject with which the person
interrogated was well acquainted, so as to induce him to bring forth any
new or curious information of which he might be possessed.
Captain Basil Hall, in August 1817, when in command of the Lyra, had
an interview with the Emperor, of whom he says: "Bonaparte struck me as
differing considerably from the pictures and busts' I had seen of him.
His face and figure looked much broader and more square--larger, indeed,
in every way than any representation I had met with. His corpulency,
at this time universally reported to be excessive, was by no means
remarkable. His flesh looked, on the contrary, firm and muscular. There
was not the least trace of colour in his cheeks; in fact his skin
was more like marble than ordinary flesh. Not the smallest trace of a
wrinkle was discernible on his brow, nor an approach to a furrow on
any part of his countenance. His health and spirits, judging from
appearances, were excellent, though at this period it was generally
believed in England that he was fast sinking under a complication
of diseases, and that his spirits were entirely gone. His manner of
speaking was rather slow than otherwise, and perfectly distinct; he
waited with great patience and kindness for my answers to his questions,
and a reference to Count Bertrand was necessary only once during the
whole conversation. The brilliant and sometimes dazzling expression
of his eye could not be overlooked. It was not, however, a permanent
lustre, for it was only remarkable when he was excited by some point of
particular interest. It is impossible to imagine an expression of more
entire mildness, I may almost call it of benignity and kindness, than
that which played over his features during the whole interview. If,
therefore he were at this time out of health and in low spirits, his
power of self-command must have been even more extraordinary than is
generally supposed, for his whole deportment, his conversation, and the
expression of his countenance indicated a frame in perfect health and a
mind at ease."
The manner assumed by Napoleon in the occasional interviews he had
with such visitors was so very opposite to that which he constantly
maintained towards the authorities in whose custody he was placed, that
we can scarcely doubt he was acting a part in one of those situations.
It was suggested by Mr. Ellis that he either wished, by means of his
continual complaints, to keep alive his interest in England, where
he flattered himself there was a party favourable to him, or that his
troubled mind found an occupation in the annoyance which he caused to
the Governor. Every attempt at conciliation on the part of Sir Hudson
Lowe furnished fresh causes for irritation. He sent fowling-pieces to
Longwood, and the thanks returned were a reply from Napoleon that it was
an insult to send fowling-pieces where there was no game. An invitation
to a ball was resented vehemently, and descanted upon by the French
party as a great offence. Sir Hudson Lowe at one time sent a variety of
clothes and other articles received from England which he imagined
might be useful at Longwood. Great offence was taken at this; they were
treated, they said, like paupers; the articles, ought to have been left
at the Governor's house, and a list sent respectfully to the household,
stating that such things were at their command if they wanted them.
An opinion has already been expressed that much of this annoyance was
due to the offended pride of Napoleon's attendants, who were at first
certainly far more captious than himself. He admitted as much himself
on one occasion in a conversation with O'Meara. He said, "Las Cases
certainly was greatly irritated against Sir Hudson, and contributed
materially towards forming the impressions existing in my mind." He
attributed this to the sensitive mind of Las Cases, which he said was
peculiarly alive to the ill-treatment Napoleon and himself had been
subjected to. Sir Hudson Lowe also felt this, and remarked, like
Sir George Cockburn, on more than one occasion, that he always found
Napoleon himself more reasonable than the persons about him.
A fertile source of annoyance was the resolution of Napoleon not upon
any terms to acknowledge himself a prisoner, and his refusal to submit
to such regulations as would render his captivity less burdensome. More
than once the attendance of an officer was offered to be discontinued if
he would allow himself to be seen once every day, and promise to take no
means of escaping. "If he were to give me the whole of the island," said
Napoleon, "on condition that I would pledge my word not to attempt
an escape, I would not accept it; because it would be equivalent to
acknowledging myself a prisoner, although at the same time I would not
make the attempt. I am here by force, and not by right. If I had been
taken at Waterloo perhaps I might have had no hesitation in accepting
it, although even in that case it would be contrary to the law of
nations, as now there is no war. If they were to offer me permission
to reside in England on similar conditions I would refuse it." The very
idea of exhibiting himself to an officer every day, though but for a
moment, was repelled with indignation. He even kept loaded pistols to
shoot any person who should attempt an intrusion on his privacy. It is
stated in a note in O'Meara's journal that "the Emperor was so firmly
impressed with the idea that an attempt would be made forcibly to
intrude on his privacy, that from a short time after the departure of
Sir George Cockburn he always kept four or five pairs of loaded pistols
and some swords in his apartment, with which he was determined to
despatch the first who entered against his will." It seems this practice
was continued to his death.
Napoleon continued to pass the mornings in dictating his Memoirs and the
evenings in reading or conversation. He grew fonder of Racine, but his
favourite was Corneille. He repeated that, had he lived in his time, he
would have made him a prince. He had a distaste to Voltaire, and
found considerable fault with his dramas, perhaps justly, as conveying
opinions rather than sentiments. He criticised his Mahomet, and said he
had made him merely an impostor and a tyrant, without representing him
as a great man. This was owing to Voltaire's religious and political