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Robt. Cooper Scult.
Count de Las Cases.

MEMOIRS
OF
THE LIFE, EXILE,
AND
CONVERSATIONS,
OF THE
EMPEROR NAPOLEON.

BY

THE COUNT DE LAS CASES.

A NEW EDITION.

WITH PORTRAITS

AND NUMEROUS OTHER EMBELLISHMENTS.

VOL. IV.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN,

BY RICHARD BENTLEY; BELL AND BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH; J. CUMMING, DUBLIN: AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

MDCCCXXXVI.

ANDOVER: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY B. BENSLEY.

NAPOLEON’S HUMANITY.
London: Published for Henry Colburn, December, 1835.

MEMOIRS

OF

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.

REMOVAL OF FOUR PERSONS OF OUR ESTABLISHMENT.--RECOLLECTIONS
OF THE EMPEROR’S EARLY LIFE.

Oct. 18, 1816.—I did not see the Emperor until five o’clock, when he sent for me to attend him in the drawing-room. He continued indisposed; but he had been engaged all the morning in dictating to the Grand Marshal. He summoned all the persons of his suite in succession. He was low-spirited and heavy; but at the same time there was a certain restlessness about him. He sought to amuse himself in various ways. He first tried chess, then dominos, and then chess again; but he was at length compelled to return to his chamber, finding it impossible to sit up. The state of the weather, joined to the vexations to which we are exposed, concur in producing torments almost beyond endurance. The weather has an effect on the nerves, and the persecutions that are heaped upon us are still worse to bear. Every word uttered by the Governor increases our misery. To-day he had signified his intention of removing four of our establishment, which has been the cause of general lamentation among the household: the individuals singled out for removal regret their separation from their companions; while those who are to remain are tormented by the fear of speedily sharing the same fate. We compared Sir Hudson Lowe to Scylla, devouring the four companions of Ulysses.

The Governor has informed me that he also intends removing my servant, who is an inhabitant of the island, and with whom I am very well satisfied. He is doubtless afraid that the man will become too much attached to me. He proposes to send me a servant of his own choosing, a favour for which I feel very grateful, though I have no intention of availing myself of the kind offer.

At dinner the Emperor ate but little. During the dessert, however, his spirits revived a little, and we began to converse on the events of his early life. This is a subject on which he delights to dwell, and which always affords him a source of new and lively interest. He repeated many of the particulars which I have already related at different times. He said that he loved to go back to that happy age when all is gaiety and enjoyment;—that happy period of hope and rising ambition, when the world first opens before us, and the mind fondly cherishes every romantic dream. He spoke of his regiment, and the pleasures he had enjoyed when he first mingled in society. On mentioning the different balls and fêtes which he had attended in his youthful days, he described one as having been particularly splendid. “But,” said he, “at that time my notions of splendour were very different from what they now are.”

Alluding to the date of certain circumstances, he observed that it would be difficult for him to divide his life year by year. We observed that if he would only date the events of four or five years, we could easily take all the rest upon ourselves. He reverted to his military début at Toulon, the circumstances that first called him into notice, the sudden ascendency which he acquired by his first successes, and the ambition with which they inspired him: “And yet,” said he, “I was far from entertaining a high opinion of myself. It was not till after the battle of Lodi that I conceived those lofty notions of ambition which were confirmed in Egypt, after the victory of the Pyramids and the possession of Cairo. Then,” said he, “I willingly resigned myself to every brilliant dream.”

The Emperor had become very cheerful and talkative, and he did not retire until midnight. We looked upon this as a sort of resuscitation.