DIFFICULTIES STARTED BY THE GOVERNOR RESPECTING OUR DECLARATIONS.—THE EMPEROR’S SENTIMENTS ON THAT SUBJECT.—THE GOVERNOR’S CONVERSATION WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL OF THE EMPEROR’S SUITE.—NAPOLEON’S REMARK.—CONSUMMATION OF OUR SLAVERY.
15th. For some time past I have found it impossible to sleep; and I have passed whole nights without closing my eyes. About eight o’clock this morning, as I was endeavouring to compose myself to rest, the Grand Marshal entered my chamber, to inform me that the Governor had sent back our declarations, and was coming himself to oblige us to sign that which he had sent as a model, and which differed from ours only with respect to the title which we gave to the Emperor. It was wished that we should designate him merely by the name Bonaparte.
The Grand Marshal proceeded to the Emperor’s apartments, whither I was almost immediately summoned. On entering, I found the Emperor walking about and expressing himself with great warmth. All the individuals of the suite were assembled together. “The insults,” said he, “which are daily heaped upon those who have devoted themselves to me, insults which, it is very probable, will be multiplied to a still greater extent, present a spectacle which I cannot and must not longer endure. Gentlemen, you must leave me; I cannot see you submit to the restrictions which are about to be imposed on you, and which will doubtless soon be augmented. I will remain here[here] alone. Return to Europe, and make known the horrible treatment to which I am exposed; bear witness that you saw me sinking into a premature grave. I will not allow any one of you to sign this declaration in the form that is required. I forbid it. It shall never be said that hands which I had the power to command were employed in recording my degradation. If obstacles are raised respecting a mere foolish formality, others will be started to-morrow for an equally trivial cause. It is determined to remove you in detail; but I would rather see you removed altogether and at once. Perhaps this sacrifice may produce a result.” With these words he dismissed us, and we withdrew overwhelmed with dismay.
In a few moments the Emperor again sent for me. He was walking up and down, through the whole length of his two little rooms. There was a peculiar tenderness in the tone of his voice, and I never observed more easy familiarity in his manner. “Well, my dear Las Cases,” said he, “I am going to turn hermit,” “Sire,” said I, “are you not one already? What resources does our society present to you? We can only offer you prayers and good wishes; which, though they can contribute but little to your consolation, are every thing to us. Our present situation is the most distressing that can possibly be conceived; for, in the question under consideration, we now perhaps, for the first time, find it difficult to obey your Majesty. You hold the language of reason; while we are guided only by sentiment. The arguments which you just now addressed to us admit of no reply. Your determination is in unison with your character; it will astonish no one, but its execution is beyond our power. The thought of leaving you here alone exceeds in horror all that our imagination can picture.”—“Such, however, is my fate,“ replied the Emperor calmly, “and I must prepare for the worst: my mind is strong enough to meet it. They will cut short my life; that is certain.”—“Sire,” I observed, “the step which you command is not to be thought of. To the last moment I will speak out as your Majesty has done: on this point I will resist to the utmost; but I shall find it impossible to act as I speak.”
The Emperor seated himself, and desired me to sit down beside him. He observed that he was much fatigued; and he ordered breakfast, desiring me to stay with him. For a considerable time past, I had not been in the habit of dining with him; he told me the reason why I had been denied this happiness; and I considered it as a favour that he should condescend to tell me. When the coffee was brought in, there was no cup for me. Marchand was going to fetch one; but the Emperor called him back, saying: “Take that one from the mantel-piece: he shall drink out of my handsome gold cup.”[[34]]
Just as breakfast was over, the Grand Marshal entered and told us that the Governor had arrived, and had expressed a wish to see him at his (Bertrand‘s) new house, which is a very short distance from our establishment, and is at length on the point of being completed. The Emperor desired him to attend the Governor. The Grand Marshal, as he was about to withdraw, seemed desirous to know whether the Emperor still persisted in the orders he had given us this morning, in case the Governor should not yield. The Emperor sharply observed: “I am not a child; when I have once thoroughly considered a question, I no longer entertain two opinions upon it. I have directed battles which have decided the fate of empires, and the orders I issued were always the result of my mature deliberation. In this instance I am alone concerned. Go!”
The Grand Marshal soon returned with an account of the interview, which he had closed by his refusal. The Governor, he said, had desired to see the other three persons of the suite together; but we thought that it would be more proper to present ourselves in succession.
I went to wait on the Governor. I found him, surrounded by several of his attendants, in the garden, near the path leading to the Grand Marshal’s house. He withdrew on perceiving me; but I joined him in the court before the house.
As he had expressed himself very much irritated against me, I went as well fortified as I possibly could. He, however, conducted me with great politeness into the house, leaving the officers of his suite on the outside; and, having told me that he awaited the arrival of Messrs. de Montholon and Gourgaud, to enter upon the business, I asked him whether he had any objection to treat immediately with me. He replied that he had not; and, calling in his officers, he told me, in their presence, that I had no doubt learned from the Grand Marshal what he had to propose on the subject of my declaration. I replied in the affirmative, at the same time observing that I regarded the Grand Marshal as my model and guide, on account of his rank, as well as the respect and esteem I entertained for him, and therefore it was natural to expect that my answer should correspond with his. I added that I could not conceive why so much importance was attached to a mere matter of form, which was so painful to our feelings, while it could be of no service to those who insisted on it. “It is out of my power,” said the Governor, “to make the alteration you wish. I am directed to present to you for signature the declaration written in my hand: now I, being an Englishman, cannot write the title you wish.”—“I was not aware of that,[that,]” replied I; “to that argument I have no reply to make. You, as an Englishman, must write thus; but I, being a Frenchman, must sign in my language; that is to say, with the translation from yours. Allow me, therefore, to add to my signature any phrase that you may think proper to dictate to me, in which I can express myself in my own language. You may now judge,” added I, “whether I deal candidly, and whether I seek to create difficulties.” This proposal seemed to claim his attention. “We are now,” I continued, “merely disputing about words, which may appear very silly, considering the important circumstances in which we are placed; but, Sir, who created these difficulties? Who will suffer from them? Your refusal places us in a most distressing situation! You see me reduced to the utmost despair! To me separation from the Emperor would be worse than death; yet I would rather submit to it than suffer my hand to be the instrument of his degradation. The Emperor unites in himself all that constitutes an august character, in the eyes of God and man: to deny this would be to deny the light of the sun.”
The Governor observed that he, as an Englishman, could not acknowledge the Emperor; and I replied that I could urge no objection to that. I added that however much I might be hurt by his mode of designating the Emperor, yet I did[did] not mean to question his right of using whatever terms he might think proper; and that, for the same reason, he ought not to object to my opinions and expressions, considering that I was a Frenchman, and that he demanded my signature.
Here Sir Hudson Lowe angrily alluded to some past circumstances relating to himself personally; and he observed that, after all, moral character was the only real title to respect. “At that rate, Governor,” replied I, with some warmth, and turning to the Officers who were in attendance, “the Emperor may divest himself of all his titles, and he will but gain in the opinion of the world, if his character be estimated by the scale to which you allude.” The Governor was silent: then, after a pause of a few moments, he observed that we still treated our General as though he were an Emperor. “And how can we treat him otherwise?”—“I mean to say, that you continue to look upon him as a Sovereign.”—“Governor, you talk of revering him as our Sovereign; we do more—we worship him! We now consider the Emperor as removed from this world; we view him as though he were in Heaven!... When you leave us a choice that is in opposition to him, it is like the choice given to martyrs, when they are commanded to renounce their faith or die. “Death, therefore, must be our alternative.” These words produced a visible impression on the officers who were present, and even on the Governor. Contrary to custom, his countenance assumed a mild expression, and the tone of his voice was softened.
“Our situation here,” continued I, “is so horrible as to be almost beyond endurance. You know this;—but what we now suffer is nothing to the misery which is reserved for us. What I ask will be no sacrifice to you, and it will be every thing to us. I implore you to grant what I request; and this is something, for you know I am not in the habit of soliciting favours from you. Make but this one concession, and you will claim my eternal gratitude. Besides, consider that a responsibility rests with you; that there is a public opinion in Europe, which you may forfeit without gaining any advantage in return. You cannot be a stranger to the sentiments which animate me; they must, I am sure, go to the hearts of all who listen to me.”
Here the Governor appeared somewhat moved; the officers were evidently affected. Sir Hudson Lowe, after a few moments‘ silence, bowed to me, and I took my leave.
Messrs. de Montholon and Gourgaud had each an interview in their turn; and we all four attended the Emperor during his toilet, without, however, being able to tell him whether any decision had been formed on the subject that so deeply interested us.
The Emperor expressed a wish to go out, though the wind was extremely boisterous: we all walked to the extremity of the wood. He took a review of the Governor’s conduct, making remarks upon it in the rapid and copious way peculiar to himself; and he concluded by saying that if to-day we should agree to sign the declaration, in order to avoid being separated from him, to-morrow another ground of expulsion would be brought forward; and that he should wish our removal to be effected forcibly and at once, rather than tranquilly and in detail. Then, suddenly assuming a tone of pleasantry, he said that, after all, he could hardly believe the Governor wished to reduce his subjects to one only; and what sort of subject would that one be! added he—an absolute porcupine, on which he would not dare to lay a finger.
During our walk, two strangers approached pretty near to us. The Emperor made some one enquire who they were, and he was informed that they belonged to a vessel which was about to sail to-morrow for Europe. The Emperor asked whether they were likely to see any of the Ministers on their arrival in London; and they replied that they should see Lord Bathurst. “Tell him,” said Napolean, “[Napolean, “]that his instructions with respect to my treatment here are most odious, and that his agent executes them with scrupulous fidelity. If he wished to get rid of me, he should have despatched me at a blow, instead of thus killing me by inches. This conduct is truly barbarous; there is nothing English in it; and I can only attribute it to some personal hatred. I have too much respect for the Prince Regent, the majority of the Ministers, and the English nation, to suppose that they are responsible for my treatment. Be this as it may, their power extends only to the body; the soul is beyond their reach: it will soar to Heaven even from the dungeon.”
The Emperor, on his return home, took a bath; he was fatigued and harassed by the events of the day. He fell asleep, and I watched beside him, meditating on our new grievances.
At dinner he ate but a little. Some one made an observation, and the Emperor, not having heard it distinctly, asked what had been said—a thing which frequently happens. The words were then repeated in a louder tone, upon which he observed: “I am certainly growing deaf, for I occasionally miss hearing what is said, and I feel inclined to be angry when people speak louder than usual.” He concluded the evening by reading a part of Don Quixote. He was much amused at some comic passages; and, laying down the book, he remarked that we certainly showed a great deal of courage, since we could laugh at such trifles under our present circumstances. He paused for some moments, and seemed deeply wrapped in thought: then rising, he withdrew, saying: “Adieu, my dear friends.”
During dinner, a letter had been delivered to me from the Grand Marshal; but I had kept it concealed, conceiving that it augured no good. I opened it as soon as the Emperor withdrew. It enclosed a letter from the Governor, announcing that if we still persisted in our refusal to sign the declaration, he would immediately give orders for our removal to Europe. We yielded to the dictates of our hearts: to determine on leaving the Emperor was beyond our power; while at the same time it would have been going beyond his wishes, and perhaps too beyond his orders. With unanimous sentiments, we eagerly signed the declarations in the form in which they were presented to us, and delivered them to the English officer on duty at Longwood, together with a letter to the Grand Marshal, acquainting him with what we had done without his participation. We had been guided solely by our feelings, and we trusted that those feelings would afford us consolation, even though the Emperor should disapprove of the step we had taken.
We have now reached the consummation of our absolute slavery and dependence on the will and caprice of Sir Hudson Lowe; not merely by the signature we have just given him, but because he now knows our secret, and therefore it is in his power to compel us to submit to any thing he pleases.