LETTER FROM COUNT BERTRAND TO COUNT DE LAS CASES.
My dear Las Cases,—I received, on the 7th of June, the letter which you did me the honour to write to me on the 15th of January last; and I have since then received, on the 13th of this month, your letters of 15th February, 15th March, and 15th April;[[39]] the contents of which I have communicated to the Emperor, and which have determined him to desire me to write to you. I received, four months ago, a box of books and pamphlets, addressed to me by Mr. Goulburn; and since then, a very obliging offer to send a picture, which was in the bed-chamber at St. Cloud, representing the christening of little Napoleon. Mr. Henry Goulburn had been kind enough to bargain with the owner of the picture for its purchase, and to get the price reduced to half the original demand. No answer has been returned to that offer, because it has seemed to form so strange a contrast with what takes place here, that it has been looked upon as a measure connected with parliamentary discussions, something like those relative to the wooden house. I have been much struck by the polite behaviour observed towards you, and by all you tell me in your last letter.[[40]]... Can it be, that the horrible vexations which we are made to experience are not sanctioned by the English Government, and that the Emperor is dying here a victim of the individual hatred of the Governor? Governments and Princes may be so easily deceived that I write this letter under strong feelings of doubt on the subject.
Things are much altered since your departure in 1817. And in this year, 1818, the vexations to which the Emperor has been exposed are such that they must be considered as an attempt against his life. You will judge by the detail. You must have read in the papers of March some observations upon the speech of Lord Bathurst. But things have grown considerably worse since then; and the hatred of the Governor of this Island has known no bounds.
When you left us, the Emperor had renounced riding, in order to avoid the snares laid, and the affronts intended, for him, by causing him to be insulted by the sentries. He has since been obliged to give up walking, in order to avoid the same inconveniences. During the months of March and April, the Emperor went out sometimes to call upon my wife, and sometimes he would sit upon a certain bench, which you know, about fifty paces from the house, and where he would stay half an hour or an hour. But means have been found to prevent him from doing that, and to oblige him to confine himself strictly to the house. They knew that this was not very difficult. A soldier of the 66th regiment was placed as gardener, and a serjeant had been stationed at my house. Both were very useful, either in rooting out weeds, which might poison the air, for no garden can exist in such a situation; or in repairing the house, which is in a ruinous state, and admits water whenever it rains. That arrangement appears very rational; but the Governor had invested these two soldiers with a right to stop whomsoever they thought proper, even at the doors and under the very windows of the Emperor. From that moment he has not stirred out of the house, and one hundred days have now elapsed since he has even put his head outside of a window.
This climate, this absolute want of exercise, added to the badness of the habitation, have affected his health to such a degree that you would not recognise him. Since the end of September, 1817, he has had the first symptoms of a chronic hepatitis, which, as you know, is mortal in this country. He had to attend on him the worthy O’Meara, in whom, you know, he has confidence; but, in the month of April, at the moment when he was most in want of his attention, Sir Hudson Lowe obliged him to tender his resignation, wishing to force the Emperor to have Baxter, whom you also know. The Emperor has refused to see any doctor; from the 10th April to the 10th May, he had none. At last, the Russian and Austrian Commissioners, indignant at this treatment, informed the Governor that, if the Emperor were to die under these circumstances, they themselves should not know what to say, should an opinion prevail in Europe that he had been murdered. This seems to have determined the Governor to reinstate the Doctor; but he has subjected him to every species of ill treatment. He attempted to get him expelled from the mess of the 66th regiment; and, as these brave officers refused to share in so arbitrary an act, he himself caused an order to be given to the Doctor, through the Colonel, to cease to dine with the officers of the 66th. He has written to London, and it is probable that O’Meara will be sent away. The Emperor will not, however, receive any other Doctor; and if the Prince Regent, or Lord Liverpool, do not take cognizance of the fact, he will die here of his disease, deprived of even the assistance of his physician. The Emperor has, however, been very ill for the last two months. He rises at eleven o’clock in the morning, and lies down again at two o’clock p. m. A few days ago, he experienced a very violent crisis, produced by the mercury which Dr. O’Meara administered to him for a liver complaint. Dr. O’Meara, alarmed at his responsibility, proposed to me to send for Mr. Baxter and the surgeon of the Conqueror; they are the two first medical men here. You know the dislike which the Emperor had to Mr. Baxter, founded upon his having been formerly Staff-surgeon of the Italian division commanded by Sir Hudson Lowe. That dislike has much encreased since, in consequence of his having lent himself,
from October, 1817, to March, 1818, to the production of bulletins filled with falsehoods, and which have deceived his Government and all Europe. But the Emperor did not see any inconvenience in O’Meara’s calling in Mr. Stokoe, although he did not much like it; and that gentleman consequently came to Longwood at three o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, but would not go into the Emperor’s apartment, fearing lest he should compromise his responsibility, and lose a situation obtained after forty years’ service. This appeared to me so extraordinary that I would not believe it. I therefore spoke to him, and he expressed his regret at not being able to comply with our wishes; for he is a very respectable man. His refusal is, however, easily explained; it proceeded from a hint that had been given to him, in the same manner as had been done to Cole, the banker, whom you know. Having some money matters to settle with him, I sent for him; but, on arriving at my house, he declared that he could not speak to me but in presence of the officer on duty, because he should be ruined if he did. Of course I refused. The same thing happened, a few days since, with a Mr. Fowler, arrived from England, with whom I had an account of a few hundred pounds to settle, for clothes ordered in London. It is true that you are not acquainted with the situation in which we are now placed, and which cannot be compared to what it was in your time. It was even then sufficiently unpleasant; and, knowing the Emperor as you do, you ought to have strenuously opposed the idea of any member of his family coming out hither. The spectacle of the humiliations, the vexations, and the hatred to which he is exposed, would be altogether unbearable for him, if his mother or any of his brothers were to share in it. Even to Count Montholon and myself, who are now the only two with him, he has often said that he wished us to quit St. Helena, to free ourselves from such a treatment, and to leave him alone; and that his agony would be less bitter if he did not see us share in it. You know that the officers had long since discontinued to come to my house; but, when we met them on the road, they would very politely stop and speak to my wife; this has now been forbidden to them, not in writing, it is true, but by hints; so that it has often happened that when they have seen us at a distance they have gone out of the road.
Things have come to such a pass that our dirty linen remains several days, to be examined by the Captain on duty, and sometimes by the Staff; a most indecent proceeding, and most dishonourable for them, but the object of which is to degrade and insult us.
In the month of June 1816, a store-ship brought out a marble bust of young Napoleon: Sir Hudson Lowe ordered the bust to be thrown into the sea. This he has since denied; but we have the fact judicially attested; for the act disgusted Lady Malcolm, who was still at St. Helena, as well as all the captains of store-ships that were on the island.
Since that time, in February last, the Cambridge store-ship brought out two prints of young Napoleon, which had been bought in London: Sir Hudson Lowe purchased them under pretence of presenting them to the Father, and when the officers heard, a month afterwards, that it was, on the contrary, to keep them from him, they could not contain their indignation that an Englishman should have been guilty of such conduct.
The British Government cannot be ignorant of all these proceedings. If what the Emperor said here to Lord Amherst has been repeated in London, if Captain Poppleton, whom you know, and who was the officer on duty during two years, has been questioned, if Colonel Nichols of the 66th regiment, and Colonel Fehrzen of the 53d regiment have been questioned, as well as many others, it must be known to what unworthy treatment we are exposed here.
If there be in Europe some enemies of the Emperor, who would have approved the conduct of the British Government if they had taken away Napoleon’s life, openly and publicly, on board of the Bellerophon, there is not one who will not some day cover with imprecations and opprobrium and disown those who adopt such cowardly means to attain that end.
How are we to reconcile all this with what you write to me? perhaps by the supposition of a correspondence filled with falsehoods, and artfully managed. However, we on our side have for the last two years complained openly and loudly; and the criminal conduct pursued here must be known in London,
You will be surprised to hear me speak of the French, Austrian, and Russian Commissioners who are here. We never saw them during the time you were with us, and to this day they have not yet seen the Emperor nor called upon us. But we have frequently met them on the roads within our limits, which is a way of seeing each other sufficiently ridiculous. Though the Emperor does not acknowledge them as Commissioners, he has never refused to receive them as strangers.
With respect to the Governor, the Emperor has not seen him since the month of April, 1816: you are aware of the reasons which induced him not to receive him, after the insults which the Governor had offered him.
This being the case, if Sir Hudson Lowe seeks to be revenged, such a proceeding, though inconsistent with a generous mind, can be easily explained. But how can Government have continued, during two years, to repose its confidence in a man who has so strangely abused it?
I therefore earnestly request you, in the Emperor’s name, to inform his family and relations of the situation in which he is placed; and peremptorily to require that none of them will encrease his sufferings by coming to share in them.
You tell us that the English Government has subscribed for us to the Morning Chronicle; but the same thing happens with this paper as with the Times; it is sent to us after those numbers which it is thought proper to conceal from us have been previously withdrawn. Thus we have had some numbers of February and some of March, but all those that it was their pleasure to withdraw have never been sent to us. Not to have a regular series of a newspaper is worse than to have none.
How could any book be sent to us, since, as soon as a store-ship comes out, the Governor immediately purchases all the books they have brought out, particularly French books, in order to prevent our buying them?
With respect to the pamphlets, which you announce as sent to us, we only received one box of them on the 12th March, from which we conclude that probably the remainder have been kept.
I have read this letter to the Emperor, who has approved of its contents, but has thought that I had very feebly expressed the baseness of the conduct observed towards him. He desires me to send you two notes written by himself, which will give you the whole of his opinion respecting the officer to whom the superintendence of this country has been intrusted. The calomel which the Emperor has taken has not hitherto had any beneficial effect on the liver, and has produced other ailments.
Accept, my dear Las Cases, the assurance of affectionate feelings which I entertain towards you.
COUNT BERTRAND.
P. S. During the few days that have elapsed since this letter was written, many things have happened which will prove to you that our situation, far from improving, as you seem to suppose, is daily growing worse.
You know that Captain Mackey of the 53d regiment, had been succeeded at Longwood, as officer on duty, by Captain Poppleton of the same regiment, and that Poppleton, at his departure, had been succeeded by Captain Blackeney of the 66th, who, like his predecessors, enjoyed a most excellent reputation in his regiment. This latter officer already thought, on the first days after his arrival, that the Governor required of him some acts unworthy of a man of honour; but as the number of those objectionable acts had greatly increased since that time, he at last ardently longed for the expiration of his year of service in that degrading post, in order to have nothing more to do with it. It is known that he declared confidentially to his friends in the regiment, that it was impossible for a man of honour to continue in that post without losing his own esteem. It may be also that Sir Hudson Lowe was not satisfied with the avowed sentiments of Captain Blackeney; be that as it may, on the 20th of this month, an officer who had been sent out to take the command of the militia, and whose former connexion with Sir Hudson Lowe is known to you, the only one out of the whole of the Governor’s staff whom the Emperor refused to see, came to instal himself as officer on duty, and with him, under various pretences, another officer, so that we had two instead of one. It appears that some rooms and articles belonging to Government, which had been given in common between the officer on duty and Doctor O’Meara, have occasioned some violent contentions between them.
On the 22nd I sent the protest marked A[[41]] to the Governor, who sent me a challenge by the officer alluded to. It was beneath my character and my situation to provoke Sir Hudson Lowe, but on this occasion I thought proper to address to him the letter marked B.[[41]]
On the 24th, he sent Dr. O’Meara away from Longwood, by virtue, he said, of an order from Lord Bathurst, as you will see by the Governor’s letter to Count Montholon, marked C.[[41]] to which Count Montholon answered by the letter marked D.[[41]]
Doctor O’Meara, you know, was attached to the Emperor, instead of his own physician, by a decision of the Council, and in consequence of a special demand to that effect, addressed by me to Admiral Keith; he could not therefore be taken away from the Emperor, but by an order in Council. If such an order exists, why are we not made acquainted with it? Certainly neither the Council nor Lord Bathurst would have removed from the Emperor the physician of his own choice, without having previously supplied his place by another, in whom the Emperor had confidence; they would have felt the responsibility attached to such a step.
But if even there had been an order in Council, it would not justify the Governor; for that order, given under ordinary circumstances, could not be carried into execution at the moment when the Emperor was seriously indisposed. It never can have been intended that his physician should be taken from him amidst his attendance in the case of a disease of so serious a nature, and which threatens his existence; particularly as since the month of April it has been demanded that if it were intended to take Dr. O’Meara away from him, another physician should be sent out from Europe in his stead, in whom the Emperor has confidence. The answer to this demand must arrive before three months are elapsed.
I conclude, my dear Las Cases: my heart is broken.
BERTRAND.
FIRST NOTE, WRITTEN BY THE EMPEROR, ON THE BACK OF SIR
HUDSON LOWE’S LETTER, DATED 18th NOVEMBER, 1817.
This letter, and the letters dated 24th July and 26th October last, are filled with falsehoods. I have shut myself up in my apartment for eighteen months, in order to shelter myself from the insults of this officer. My health is now impaired, and will no longer allow me to read such disgusting documents; send me no more of them.
Whether that officer considers himself authorized by verbal and secret instructions from his minister, as he has given us to understand that he does, or whether he acts of his own accord, which might be inferred from the care which he takes to act with disguise, I cannot treat him but as my assassin.
Had they sent out to this country a man of honour, not only I should have experienced fewer vexations, but they would have saved themselves many reproaches from Europe and history, which the farrago of writing of this crafty man will not deceive.
NAPOLEON.
Longwood, 23d November, 1817.
SECOND NOTE, INSERTED IN THE MARGIN OF SIR THOMAS
READE’s LETTER TO COUNT BERTRAND, DATED 25th APRIL,
1818.
1.—I told you yesterday, when you presented this letter to me, that I would not know its contents, and that you were not to translate it to me, since it is not conformable to the forms adopted for the last three years.
2.—This fresh insult only dishonours that coxcomb. The King of England alone can treat with me on a footing of equality.
3.—This crafty line of conduct has however an object: to prevent you from disclosing the criminal plot which has been carried on for the last two years against my life.
4.—It is thus that, while they appear to open a channel for complaints, they in fact close every avenue.
5.—Thus, with the appearance of a wish to provide me with a house, and after announcing a building for the last three years, I am however still in this unhealthy barn, and no building is begun.
6.—It is thus that, whilst it appears that I am at liberty to ride on horseback, indirect means are resorted to to prevent me from doing so and from taking exercise; the want of which is the primary cause of my complaint.
7.—The same means are resorted to, to prevent me from receiving any visit. It is necessary for them to veil themselves in darkness.
8.—It is thus that, after having attacked my physician, after having obliged him to tender his resignation, not wishing to be a passive instrument and deprived of all moral independence, he is nevertheless kept under arrest at Longwood, in order that it may be believed that I have the benefit of his attendance, when it is well known that I will not see him, that I have not seen him for the last fortnight, that I never will see him as long as he is not set at liberty, and freed from the oppression under which he is placed, and until he has regained his moral independence in what concerns the exercise of his functions.
9.—It is thus that a false representation is made by causing bulletins to be issued by a physician who has never seen me, and does not know the state in which I am, nor the disease with which I am affected; but that does very well to deceive the Prince and the people of England and Europe.
10.—A ferocious joy is manifested at the aggravation of sufferings which this privation of medical assistance adds to my protracted agony.
11.—Demand that this note be sent to Lord Liverpool, as also your letter of yesterday, and of 13th and 14th April, in order that the Prince Regent may know my murderer, and may cause him to be brought to public punishment.
12.—If he does not, I bequeath the opprobrium of my death to the reigning House of England.
NAPOLEON.
Longwood, 27th April, 1818.
Document A. PROTEST ADDRESSED TO THE GOVERNOR, ON
THE 22d JULY, 1818.
In the name of the Emperor Napoleon, I am enjoined to protest,
1.—Against all violation of our enclosure by servants, workmen or others, whom you would secretly invest with public authority.
2.—Against the insults offered to Dr. O’Meara to compel him to leave this place, and against the obstructions, either public or secret, which you have opposed or may oppose to Napoleon’s being assisted in his illness by the advice of some medical officer in whom he may have confidence, who may be accredited in the service of his Britannic Majesty, or known to practise publicly in the island.
3.—Against all testimonies, reports and writings of the militia officer Hyster, who is only placed at Longwood to be an instrument of hatred and vengeance.
COUNT BERTRAND.
Document B. TO THE GOVERNOR, SIR HUDSON LOWE.
Longwood, 23d July, 1818.
Sir,—I have the honour to transmit to you a letter which I have just received. The old man appears to me to be out of his senses. He can have no knowledge of my official correspondence but by your orders. I have not answered him, and shall not do so. He is only a subordinate agent, and if his principal, a general officer, wishes to demand satisfaction of me, I am ready to grant it.
I have the honour to be,
COUNT BERTRAND.
Document C. THE GOVERNOR TO COUNT MONTHOLON.
Plantation House, 25th July, 1818.
Sir,—I do myself the honour to state to you, for the information of Napoleon Bonaparte, that agreeably to the instructions which I have received from Lord Bathurst, dated 16th May, 1818, I am directed to remove Mr. O’Meara from his situation near the person of Napoleon Bonaparte, and that I have accordingly given orders for him to leave Longwood immediately. Rear Admiral Plampin has received, at the same time, instructions from the Lords of the Admiralty to remove him from this island. Lord Bathurst’s instructions further direct that, after Mr. O’Meara’s departure, I am to order Dr. Baxter to attend upon Napoleon Bonaparte, as physician, whenever he is requested to do so; and that I am to inform him that he is to consider the health of Napoleon Bonaparte as the chief object of his attention. On communicating this arrangement, I am strictly enjoined to state, at the same time, that if Napoleon Bonaparte has any reason not to be satisfied with the medical attendance of Dr. Baxter, or if he prefers any other physician of this Island, I am quite ready to acquiesce in his wishes in that respect, and to allow any other medical practitioner whom he may select to attend upon him, provided he strictly conform to the rules established and now in force.
Having given Dr. O’Meara the orders for his departure, I have furnished Mr. Baxter with the necessary instructions, and he will be ready to repair to Longwood at the first summons. In the meantime, until I am informed of the wishes of Napoleon Bonaparte on this subject, I shall order a medical officer to be stationed at Longwood, to be ready in case of emergency.
I have the honour to be, &c.
HUDSON LOWE, Lieut.-Gen.
Document D. COUNT MONTHOLON TO THE GOVERNOR.
Sir,—Dr. O’Meara quitted Longwood yesterday, being compelled to leave his patient in the midst of the course of medicine which he was prescribing for him; that course has ceased this morning. From this morning a great crime is in progress!!! Nothing remains to be added to Count Bertrand’s letters of the 13th, 24th, 26th and 27th April last. The Emperor will never receive any other physician than Mr. O’Meara, because he is the physician attached to him, or than the one who may be sent from Europe to him, in conformity with the letter of the 13th of August, which has been already mentioned.
I have communicated the letter you addressed to me yesterday. What I have now the honour of writing to you is the substance of the reply I have been desired to transmit.
I have, &c.
COUNT MONTHOLON.
LETTER OF COUNT BERTRAND TO HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL
FESCH.[[42]]
My Lord,—The Sieur Cypriani, the Emperor’s steward, died at Longwood, on the 27th of February last, at four in the afternoon. He was interred in the Protestant burial-ground of this island, and the ministers of their church have observed on this occasion the same rites that they would have performed for one of their own persuasion. Care has been taken that, in the extract from the register of deaths which I shall send to you, though this paragraph of my letter might answer the purpose, it should be stated that he died in the bosom of the Roman Catholic church. The minister of the church of this country would willingly have attended the deceased on his death-bed; but the latter was anxious for a Catholic priest; and, as we have none, he appeared to have no wish to see a clergyman of any other religion. I should be glad if you would let us know what is the law of the Catholic church upon this point, and whether a Catholic on his death-bed may be attended by a minister of the church of England. We cannot, however, sufficiently praise the proper feeling and the zeal which were evinced on the present occasion by the clergy of the island. Cypriani died of an inflammation in the bowels. He expired on a Friday, and had attended his duties on the preceding Sunday without having any presentiment of his approaching end. A child of one of Count Montholon’s servants had died at Longwood a few days before. A waiting-woman died some days ago of the same complaint. Such is the effect of this unhealthy climate, in which few live to old age. Liver complaints, dysentery, and inflammations in the bowels, carry off many of the natives, but a still greater number of Europeans. We felt upon this occasion, as we feel every day, the want of a minister of our own persuasion. As you are our bishop, we wish you would send us out one, either a Frenchman or an Italian. You will, in that case, select a man of education, under forty years of age, and especially of a mild disposition, and not imbued with antigallican principles.
The steward’s duty has devolved upon Mr. Pierron, of the household, but he has been very ill; and, though convalescent, is still in a bad state of health. The cook is in a similar condition. It would be, therefore, necessary that either you, or Prince Eugene, or the Empress, should send out a steward and a French or an Italian cook, taken from amongst those who have been in the Emperor’s service, or who may still be in the service of his family.
Your Eminence will find annexed: 1.—The papers found in M. Cypriani’s portfolio; 2.—A brooch which he was in the habit of wearing, and which I have thought it right to send home for his wife; 3.—An account of all that is coming to him, amounting to 8,287 francs, or 345l. 5s. 10d. sterling; 4.—A bill of exchange in favour of his heirs, for the settlement of that account. The Emperor, knowing that his son is under your care, and that his daughter is with Madame, only delays securing an annuity to both his children, until he shall have been informed of the fortune left by Cypriani, who appears to have funds in Genoa to a rather considerable amount.
I will not afflict you by dwelling upon the state of the Emperor’s health, which is not satisfactory. It has not, however, become worse since the hot weather. I hope you will keep these details concealed from Madame. Give no credit to the false reports that may be circulated in Europe. Consider as the only fact that may be relied on that for these twenty-two months past the Emperor has only quitted his apartment occasionally, though very seldom, in order to pay a visit to my wife. He has hardly seen any one, unless it be two or three Frenchmen who are here, and the English Ambassador to China.
I beg that your Eminence will present my respects to Madame, and to the individuals of her family, and accept the homage of the sentiments with which I have the honour to be, &c.
COUNT BERTRAND.
FIRST LETTER OF THE COUNT DE LAS CASES TO GENERAL
COUNT BERTRAND.[[43]]
I am going to devote to you the first moment that I can command. It is now upwards of a year since I quitted Longwood; and during that time, what troubles, what cares, what misfortunes of every kind have I not had to contend with!!! I leave it to the newspapers to give you an account of my tribulations. I shall avoid in my letters every expression, every subject, that might afford a pretext for their being withheld from you. I will promote, by all means in my power, the only object I have in view, which is that you should receive from me the proofs of a devotedness that will occupy every instant of the remainder of my life. I have but too present to my mind the consolation and happiness that I derived, when in your company, from European recollections, not to give all my attention to the object of procuring you that kind of consolation: Oh, my dear companions! who will henceforth engross my thoughts of every day, and of every moment! I am, therefore, writing to you on the first instant of freedom that I enjoy from personal restraint; and regularly every month, on the same day, I shall at least give you this token of my incessant anxiety for you. Obstacles, perhaps, over which I shall have no control, may prevent your receiving my letters; but, as far as regards me, death alone can make me fail in my promise; and here I appeal to the feelings of those who, being intrusted with the censorship of my letters, might fancy that they found in their expressions some motives for intercepting them. I beseech them to let me know of any involuntary deviations on my part that might appear reprehensible to them, in order that I may avoid them for the future. The necessity and the consolation of domestic sentiments cannot be prohibited by public morality: and such are the only sentiments which I shall endeavour to gratify in writing to you.
I have just obtained in Austria the asylum which I demanded, as soon as I found that my liberty was in danger. I shall repair to Lintz so soon as the wretched state of my health will allow me to undertake the journey. The headaches which first attacked me at the Cape are daily encreasing in violence, and give me much uneasiness. I shall avail myself of the free intercourse which is henceforth allowed me, in order to procure some exact information respecting all those that may be dear to you. To-day I can only give you such information as I have been able to collect indirectly.
My wife, who, by the greatest good fortune, was refused permission to go out to St. Helena, at the very moment when I was leaving it, and who came to meet me upon the road, where I was carried about like a bale of goods, is now on her return to Paris, whence she will bring back the rest of my children. She will enable me to afford you some details in my next letter concerning your family, and those of Montholon and of Gourgaud.
I have been able to ascertain that H.M. Maria Louisa enjoyed excellent health in Parma, and that nothing can exceed the health and beauty of her son, who is at Schœnbrunn. The Countess de Survilliers is detained here by the very infirm state of her health; she occasionally receives news from her husband, who is quite well, in America. Both her daughters are also well. The eldest bears a striking resemblance to the august head of the family. Princess Borghese, Madame, the Emperor’s mother, Prince Canino, Cardinal Fesch, and Prince Louis, are at Rome, and in the enjoyment of excellent health; the remainder of the family, Princess Eliza, Count de Montfort, and Princess Murat, reside in various parts of Austria. I hope that in time I shall be able to send you more direct and positive details. I feel the most bitter regret that I was not able to land and fix my abode in England. I am deprived of the means of procuring and sending immediately whatever I might have thought calculated to afford you some trifling diversion upon your horrible rock. This is a religious duty imposed upon me, which I have solicited, and shall continue every day to solicit, the British Ministers to allow me to fulfil. My constant endeavours to persuade them upon that point will not allow me to despair of success. Nevertheless, however far I may be from the spot, I shall not fail to attain so sacred an object by the assistance of some intermediate person; only you will receive the results of my cares and of my efforts in a less complete manner, and at a later period.
Be careful all of you of your health; live for the consolation, the affection, the happiness, and the wishes of those who admire and love you.
I received, upon my arrival at Dover, a letter from you, dated the 22d July, and one of the 29th from Sir Hudson Lowe. They acquainted me with what was unknown to me until then, that you had received the few articles I had sent to Longwood from the Cape; that you had received the document which was handed to me by you, and which I had returned, respecting the money which at my departure I had presumed to lay at the feet of the Emperor, and of which I was so happy as to procure the acceptance. Sir Hudson Lowe informs me that all the bills relating to this affair, which I had left in your hands, have been negotiated. I hope they have been duly honoured. I know not yet myself the state of my affairs. I have not yet had it in my power to write a single line to my agent in London, or to receive any news from him.
I regret much that T have not in my power, and at my command, the narrative of the campaigns of Italy. That distant epoch, already removed from the politics of the present day, possesses henceforth all the merit of history. It is anxiously wished for. Science and the contemporaries of that period claim it. I should deem myself fortunate if that work were confided to my care; and in case you should procure that favour for me, I shall instantly take the means of availing myself of it without delay, by at once inquiring in London, what are the previous formalities that would be required, both in England and at St. Helena, in order that I might receive that manuscript. I shall request that the reply to me may be likewise transmitted to Sir H. Lowe, in order that you may judge whether there would be no objection on your part to do what might be required of you.
Write to me dear General, in your turn, by every opportunity; give me all the commissions that may occur to your mind, whether serious or trifling, easy or difficult, it matters not. Be persuaded, and constantly bear in mind, that I live only for you and through you all. My body alone has left your rock.
COUNT DE LAS CASES.
SECOND LETTER OF COUNT DE LAS CASES TO GENERAL
COUNT BERTRAND.
Frankfort, 26 Jan., 1818.
Faithful to my promise, I write to you after the lapse of one month, and on the same day on which my first letter was dated. I have at heart to record the identical date, so that you may depend upon its never being passed over without my addressing you. Some passages, however, in my letter may perhaps be written subsequently to its date, owing to the silence of Madame de Las Cases, whose letters I was in daily expectation of receiving from Paris. It is now about a month since she left me. She proposed calling upon all your relations, and upon those of Generals Gourgaud and Montholon. She was to send me the most circumstantial details respecting them. To my great surprise, I have not heard from her, and as I do not wish to delay any longer writing to you, I am under the necessity of postponing till next month all the particulars, which I am quite certain she will have collected with as much zeal and as much care as I could have done myself.
I have the satisfaction to know that my first letter has been forwarded to you: I had enclosed it in one to Mr. Goulburn; his answer has just reached me. I acknowledge with real pleasure that it is filled with expressions of kind consideration, and is in all respects satisfactory; this leads me to hope that what had hitherto taken place proceeded from mutual misunderstanding.
He assures me of the readiness that will exist at all times to forward my letters to you, so long as they shall be of the same nature as the first, and not liable to any greater objections. He adds that, conformably to my request, the books and pamphlets I may point out will be sent to you. He offers to procure them, and to superintend himself their regular transmission, taking care to remit to me from time to time a note of their cost, in order that I may settle the amount. He informs me that in case the Emperor shall think proper to confide to me the Campaigns in Italy, Sir Hudson Lowe is forthwith to receive instructions to transmit it to England, whence it will be forwarded and delivered to me in the manner that may be desired at Longwood, after taking such cognizance of it as may be deemed necessary. Lastly, he apprizes me that my papers which were seized in the Thames had been instantly sent back to me unopened; and that if I had not yet received them, which is still the case, accident alone could have occasioned the delay.
I am therefore in hopes that you will receive some publications with this very letter. I am unfortunately at a great distance and unpleasantly situated for selecting them, and for procuring them while new; but I will immediately write to London to remedy this inconvenience. I likewise hope that by the same opportunity I may be able to send you many things of which you stand in need, or that may prove acceptable to you, and others that may be of essential service to the Emperor’s health.
Her Majesty Maria Louisa is quite well, and still resides in Parma. Her son, from a late account given by a person who had seen him at a juvenile ball, is remarkably handsome, and is the delight of all Vienna. Such were the expressions used. He dances admirably, and is passionately fond of that amusement.
All the members of the Emperor’s family have evinced the kindest and most affectionate interest towards me. They have loaded me with offers and good wishes. I shall fortunately have it in my power to afford you regular accounts of them every month.
Prince Jerome has caused me to be assured that his offers of service would know no other bounds than those of impossibility. He has given an asylum near his person to the worthy and virtuous Planat, who, after our separation on board the Bellerophon[Bellerophon], was tossed about by storms, and on the point of perishing on the coast. Princess Hortense informs me that she has suffered much persecution; but that if the torments inflicted upon her have originated in the tender and respectful devotedness which fills her heart, they are a source of pride and of happiness to her.
Whenever my health will allow me, I go to pay my respects to Princess Joseph, who is confined to the most absolute retirement, and chiefly to her bed, by the bad state of her health. We talk of St. Helena. Our thoughts traverse the seas; those are happy moments for us. Her daughters are quite well; her husband, from very late accounts, was likewise well. He had taken under his care two of the Emperor Napoleon’s servants, whom the British government had thought proper to retrench from the establishment of Longwood.
Prince Lucien gives me an account of all those of the family who are assembled in Rome. Madame, Cardinal Fesch, Princess Borghese, and Prince Louis are all in the enjoyment of good health, and unite in wishes and prayers for the health and preservation of their august relative. As for Prince Lucien, he says he is happy in Rome; he has just provided advantageously for his three daughters. Yet his mind and his heart are incessantly directed towards St. Helena. He can no longer reconcile himself to the idea of seeing his brother languishing and dying in exile. He desires that I will candidly tell him whether the Emperor would be as happy to see him as he himself would be to appear before him; and conformably to his desire I write to the British Government by the courier who bears this letter, to request they will allow him to proceed to St. Helena, and to reside there a couple of years or for life, if his brother does not send him away, with or without his wife and children: his wife wishing to share in the honour of his exile: and further, to state that he will engage not to occasion any augmentation of expense, either for himself or for his suite, and that he will submit to the same restrictions that are imposed upon his brother, and to any others that it might be thought proper to impose upon him personally, either before his departure, or after his return.
I cannot refrain, my dear General, from again requesting you will ascertain if the Emperor would intrust to me the Campaigns in Italy; you might next forward to me those of Egypt in their turn. They are both real treasures for the learned world and for history, quite foreign to the politics of the present day, and consequently not liable to any objection. I have written to London to convey the Countess Bertrand’s thanks for the friendly recollections that were so kindly expressed towards her, and the amiable attentions that were shewn to her children. If I had had it in my power to remain in England, I should have endeavoured to find out upon the spot some articles that I might have thought acceptable to the ladies. At this distance I can command nothing beyond my good wishes; they are very sincere towards them and towards you all, my dear companions. The fatal rock is ever impressed upon my heart.
I am still far from being well: my headaches are daily increasing; the physicians are at a loss to give an opinion upon the subject. May God be pleased to preserve my health, for the service and benefit of those who are dearest to my heart. I embrace you all affectionately. Take care of yourselves, and may you enjoy good health; it will be my reward, and the reward of your friends, who love you as I do.
COUNT DE LAS CASES.
THIRD LETTER FROM COUNT DE LAS CASES TO GENERAL
COUNT BERTRAND.
Frankfort, March 15, 1818.
I experience a certain pleasure, my dear General, in writing my third letter to you, from the thought that my first must now be very near reaching you. I hope my second is already on its way to St. Helena, although I am not fortunate enough to be certain of it. A great many publications were to be sent on at the same time, and I am going to transmit a note of some others to be sent with the present letter.
I have just heard from my wife, who is on the point of quitting Paris to come with my children and reside with me. She informs me that she had seen the family of General Gourgaud, and had given to them all the details which she had heard from me concerning himself and your establishment at Longwood. His mother and his sister are both very well, and send him the assurance of their most affectionate love and good wishes. Your family, Grand Marshal, was in one of the provinces, and for some time past no news had been received from them. With respect to the family of Count Montholon, Madame de Las Cases has not been fortunate enough to meet with anybody belonging to it. I hope to be able in my next letter to speak of your friends, notwithstanding they are away from the capital.
All the members of the Emperor’s family are quite well. I have heard of every one of them since my last, and shall hear every month, so as to be able to transmit regular information to you. They all follow him with their good wishes, and live only for him. Most of them had been hitherto entirely deprived of any information respecting him, and the little that I have been enabled to give has therefore proved most valuable and dear to them. To satisfy their interest and their affection, which are both natural, I shall request the British Government, when they receive news from St. Helena, to allow me to receive the intelligence of the state of the Emperor’s health; it is a favour which I shall request in the name of a numerous family, and I hope it will not be refused to the sentiment which dictates it.
Prince Jerome has done me the honour to inform me that the conditions attached to the permission of corresponding with his august brother, and his profound veneration for him whom he acknowledges as his second father, have alone prevented him from having the happiness of writing to him, and laying his existence at his feet. If the situation of the Emperor be not improved next year, he proposes to ask permission of the British Government to go to St. Helena, with his wife and his son, supposing that such a voyage could not be opposed by any reasonable objection. The Queen his wife, to whom nothing is foreign that is noble and elevated, is inspired with the same[same] sentiments, and expresses the same wishes.
Cardinal Fesch also writes to me in the name of Madame and in his own, requesting me to observe that, being the only two whose attention is not divided by individual ties, arising out of the consideration of a family, and the fear of exposing it to inconveniences, I must apply to them in preference for every thing that can contribute to alleviate in any way the horrible situation of the Emperor.
Countess Survilliers, whom I have the honour of seeing very frequently, and whose wishes are incessantly turned towards St. Helena, is in a very indifferent state of health. She suffers very much, and even occasions some uneasiness. The princesses her daughters are quite well.
I have just received, at last, my papers which had been seized in the Thames. They have reached me after four months of useless rambling and of daily privation to me. Fatality alone can have occasioned the delay, for they have been returned to me unopened.
I long very much to hear from you, and to receive your commissions. Unfortunately, the distance is so great, and the communications are so irregular, that I shall have yet to write for some time. Ask me for every thing you want; until then I am reduced to guess. You will soon receive that part of the Moniteur which you have not. I write this day on the subject.
I[I] have at last received a letter from my agent in London. He informs me that he has honoured my bills, which I am happy to hear. But he also informs me that he has received besides from you two other bills, which he has been under the necessity of refusing, for want of advice or authority from me. I am sorry for this. Since I have left you, I had not been able to communicate with him. I have immediately answered his letter, directing him to remedy the evil as far as it lies in his power. He does not however give me any particulars respecting those bills.
My[My] health is still as indifferent as ever, not to say much worse. I am quite disheartened by it, and the more so, as the season is getting very fine, and this circumstance does not however produce any beneficial change to me. That is the reason why I remain at Frankfort, being placed in the centre of a great number of mineral springs, to which the physicians intend to send me.
Receive for yourself, Grand Marshal, and for my dear companions, the expression of my wishes and of all my sentiments. The colony of Longwood occupies and fills every moment of my existence. Take care of yourselves. Such is the wish of those who love you. I daily hear it expressed for you all. There are in this place or in the neighbourhood, several of the exiles; some were particular acquaintances of yours. They love and venerate you.
COUNT DE LAS CASES.
FOURTH LETTER FROM COUNT LAS CASES TO GENERAL
COUNT BERTRAND.
Frankfort, 15th April, 1818.
Madame Las Cases has continued her inquiries respecting your family and that of the gentlemen. I have myself written direct. My letters have been returned to me by a valet de chambre. I have learned that your family were well and undisturbed. The sister of General Gourgaud has written me a very agreeable letter, full of tenderness for her brother. As to my third attempt, though repeated, it produced only absolute silence, You will find, M. Grand Marshal, my details very barren. It is not my fault: I write to you every thing I can. You will do wrong to judge, by my want of matter, of all my cares and incessant exertions.
I continue to receive news of all the members of the family of the Emperor. They are all well in health. His son continues a fine boy. The Empress, they write me, is very thin. I have lately seen a person of the household of the Princess Murat. He was specially charged to describe to me her tender solicitude for her august brother, her devotion and her wishes. I have received a letter from the Princess Eliza, full of the same sentiments. They all live only to think of him who is so dear to them, who loaded them with kindnesses, and now engrosses all their affections. The Princess Eliza resides at Trieste. She informs me that she has written five times to St. Helena. The Cardinal writes to me, on his part, that they have written very often from Rome. I have received an answer from London to the request which I made, and of which I informed you in my last, for leave for Prince Lucien to visit his august brother. The answer has not appeared sufficiently explicit for me to send it to you before I have a new explanation.—Prince Jerome, who talked of making a like attempt next year, has not been able to postpone for so long a time a step, the success of which would delight his heart. He is going to address himself to the Prince Regent, for permission for himself; his wife and son, to undertake the voyage immediately.
The Cardinal has given me a very full account of all the members of the family settled at Rome. The Princess Hortense enjoys tranquillity at Augsburg, where she is occasionally visited by her brother. She is occupied with the education of her second son. She has had the eldest with her several months, who has developed, during his short visit, all the qualities which honour, attach, and interest. He has returned to Rome to his father, who is settled in that city. I hope that my first letter has reached you before this; and I reckon the days and hours that will bring me your answer, because then I shall know more particularly what I can do to be agreeable to each of you. Be assured that I and mine only live for this; and that death itself could not interrupt the course of my efforts for that purpose. I shall have provided a successor. Let me then know all your wishes. Nothing will be impossible to my zeal, to the affection and devotion of those who assist me.
I have received a very polite answer from London respecting all the articles which I desired to be sent to your address. I am assured that the several pamphlets, which I mentioned, are about to be sent off. I am told that the Morning Chronicle, the Journal du Commerce, and that of Paris, which they say is the best, have been ordered for you. As for the rest, upon this point, as upon every other, write to me your wishes. Tell me every thing that may give pleasure to the establishment.
As to provisions, wine, coffee, oil, &c. which I mentioned in my letter, I am answered that a considerable supply, and of the best quality had been dispatched to you: the list has been sent me. It is added, Lord Holland had sent a quantity, at the request of the Princess Borghese: an invoice of that also has been sent me.
My health, unfortunately, is still very deplorable: I see no amendment. The physicians insist that I shall entirely abstain from business.—I am going to take the waters somewhere. I shall most probably inform you, in my next, of my departure from Frankfort. I have had an opportunity of seeing here several of the exiles, who have found a temporary refuge in this city or its vicinity. They flatter themselves daily with their speedy recal. Public opinion demands it, they are told. It is thought that about the end of the year all the French will be at liberty to reside in France. I have, however, myself, been a stranger to the severity exercised towards them. Madame Las Cases, on her return to Paris, received from old friends a great deal of advice, and many offers on my account. They pressed forward in the most obliging manner to offer their services and their influence; but she has constantly answered that in reality I wanted no assistance, and it was not my intention moreover to put the kindness of any one to the test; that I had voluntarily banished myself for a holy and religious ministry; and in fact I shall no more have a country, Monsieur Grand Marshal, as long as you shall be where you are, and there shall remain a single chance that my efforts, my devotion, and my zeal, may be able to afford you any useful or agreeable consolation—until then I shall be a wanderer in the world. I shall carry about every where, if it must be, my atmosphere of sorrow and zeal. On your part, keep me in your remembrance; give me the consolation of imagining that our thoughts cross each other, and sometimes are interchanged. Patience and courage are the virtues of heroes. Who knows better than I that they belong to you all? Adieu—I embrace you.
COUNT DE LAS CASES.
FIFTH LETTER FROM COUNT LAS CASES TO GENERAL
COUNT BERTRAND.
Frankfort on the Maine, 15th May, 1818.
I would write to you this day, my dear Bertrand, merely to be punctual and faithful to the date which I have invariably prescribed to myself, every month, for giving news of me. No change having taken place in my situation, I could only repeat, word for word, the matter contained in my last. I hoped to have been able to send you my letter from another place; but a severe complaint in my eyes, which has come to aggravate my other afflictions, has hitherto prevented me from setting out for some of the warm baths in the south of Germany, to which I shall repair, however, in a few days.
I have the satisfaction to learn that my preceding letters have been regularly despatched to you, and that a great many pamphlets have been sent off. I wish they may amuse you. Unfortunately I provide for you a little in the dark;—the circumstances of locality will be my excuse; I do my best; I am in a bad situation for that. Such a case as mine would require a capital.—I am not permitted to reside in London; and in Paris I could not accomplish my purpose. The same distance prevents me from thinking of sending you a great many little things with which I might employ myself if I were upon the spot. I had thought of completing for you a little chemical apparatus, but renounced it. I understand that it would be useless to you.
All the relatives of the Emperor are well, and await with impatience the regular course of your letters, of which they entertain no doubt, as you will have received my first, with my invariable resolution to send you theirs every month punctually.—My wife will rejoin me in a few days, to part no more, I hope.
Adieu, accept my wishes.
COUNT LAS CASES.
LETTER FROM COUNT LAS CASES TO MR. GOULBURN,
ENCLOSING TO HIM THE PRECEDING.
Frankfort on the Maine, 19th May, 1818.
I have the honour to thank you for the kindness with which you have been pleased to inform me of the departure of my letters for St. Helena, as also of that of the pamphlets and journals with which you have been pleased to accompany them.
I am sorry you should have found it necessary to preserve silence, upon certain points in my last letter. My discretion will know how to interpret that silence. I owe it to the personal kindness which you have hitherto shewn me, not to return to the subject any more. I have written to the Cardinal Fesch, agreeably to a passage in your letter, that he may send, by the way he shall think most proper, the sequel of the Moniteur, reckoning from 1808, addressed to the office of Lord Bathurst in London; and that his Lordship allows their transmission to St. Helena.
As to the passage of your letter, Sir, concerning the request which I had the honour to make to you, for a regular bulletin of the health of Napoleon, in the name, and on the behalf of the members of his family, may I be permitted to pray you will observe to my Lord Bathurst that the whole of the family of the Emperor are not at Rome; that he has one sister and her family at Frankfort; a brother and his family in Austria; two other sisters and their families in the vicinity of Vienna and Trieste; without reckoning others, all of whom would esteem it the greatest favour, and would consider it a real gratification to their heart, should the sentiments which induced Lord Bathurst to send regular accounts to Rome, induce him condescendingly to allow of their being regularly transmitted to them also. I was not ignorant of the gratification which had been hitherto procured for the Princess Borghese; but it did not extend from Rome to all the members of the family in Germany, where the route was then much more circuitous than that which I had the honour to request. Whatsoever title and right my heart might give me, perhaps, to solicit for myself a participation in this bulletin, I shall learn to renounce entirely and put myself completely aside; and not doubting but that the favour will be more highly appreciated by those for whom I solicit it, if it should come directly from Lord Bathurst, rather than pass through my hands, I shall solicit therefore anew, and in the name of the Countess of Survilliers (the Princess Joseph Bonaparte), who resides in this city, that he will have the goodness to send to her regularly the same accounts which he has the goodness to address to the Princess Borghese at Rome. The Countess of Survilliers will undertake to communicate them to all the family in Germany.
Sir, I have learned, from the public journals, the unexpected return of General Gourgaud. This sensible diminution of the household of Napoleon, this new privation of one servant more, penetrates my heart, and has determined me to pray that you will please to request of Lord Bathurst to allow me to return to St. Helena, accompanied by my family. This intention and this desire will never forsake me, as his Lordship may convince himself by the whole of my correspondence with Sir Hudson Lowe, from the moment of my quitting the colony. I do not think it would be necessary to demand the previous consent of the Emperor Napoleon to this request, because I dare flatter myself that his answer would not be doubtful. However, if Lord Bathurst should deem it necessary, I entreat his Lordship to make the application himself: he will see that in my letter to Longwood I have abstained from mentioning this circumstance. Considerations of delicacy, which his Lordship will know how to appreciate, have restrained me. The deplorable state of my health will be no obstacle. I am ambitious to go and find a grave at the feet of him whom I venerate, and to whose cares I shall find it sweet to consecrate my latest breath.
Accept, Sir, the expressions of the perfect consideration, &c.
COUNT LAS CASES.
I lost not a moment, on the receipt of the documents sent by Count Bertrand, in despatching a copy of them to each of the Sovereigns at Aix-la-Chapelle. I took this opportunity to renew my entreaties. I implored them to succour the illustrious victim. “A few days more,” said I, “and it will be too late.” The physician whom they had snatched away from him (an Englishman,) declared publicly in London that a much longer residence upon that unwholesome rock would cause his death. I ventured to represent to them that their humanity, the sentiments of their hearts, might be arrested perhaps by formal denials, but would not their justice listen to the other side of the question? I demanded that I might be allowed to furnish them with it, I solicited the sole favour of being heard in behalf of this sacred cause; “consenting,” I said, “if I did not prove the truth of the documents laid at their feet, that my shame and my blood should expiate my offence in having dared to impose upon them.”—At the same time I did not lose one opportunity, one instant, one thought, which might have multiplied the chances of any success. I addressed myself to every one, who, I learned, had any influence over the hearts of the Monarchs. I wrote particularly to M. de la Harpe, the tutor of the Emperor Alexander, so well known, so venerated, who, I had been told, was at that moment with him at Aix-la-Chapelle.
Neither upon this occasion, nor any other, have I ever had the slightest answer to any one of my letters; and if any thing has been sometimes insinuated to me indirectly and with mystery, I was obliged to suspect it as a snare laid against my person, which was of small moment; or against my cause, which was every thing to me. Thus the Congress ended, and not a word escaped from it in favour of Napoleon. In fine, I sought to stimulate even foreign talents; and in the number of voices then raised, the pamphlet of a certain German journalist attracted sufficient attention to serve for a pretext to devise trammels for the liberty of the press.
However, all the efforts which I had called forth were vain, all my hopes were blasted, all my pains were thrown away—they left him to die! In fact, what could the naked Truth avail with sovereigns, without the protection of any address, or the alliance of any interests, against the insinuations of wicked men, who watched with all the ardour of political fanaticism, private resentment, and prospective apprehensions! They acted so effectually that in the council of kings, fear, no doubt, prevailed over generosity. They demonstrated how dangerous universal interest rendered the victim: and it may be truly said, to the glory of generous sentiments, that public opinion was pronounced every where with great warmth; not less in Germany, than in any other country. And perhaps, in the sight of the high personages who were witnesses of it, this favourable opinion did a great deal of mischief to him whom it meant to serve; as if it had been in the destiny of Napoleon that the interest of the Germans should become as baneful to him in adversity, as their animosity had been fatal to him in the time of his power.—Amongst the efforts to maintain the hideous captivity of Napoleon, there has been actually imputed to the English Ministers a base intrigue, an unworthy deception. It was said that, to confirm the wavering Sovereigns, they had forged, for the express purpose, a pretended plot of escape. The imputation was founded upon the timeliness, the éclat, and publicity, with which the arrival of the Musquito brig suddenly caused this news to spread through all Europe; a circumstance, which, after it had once produced the intended effect, that of counterbalancing the public favour, gave room to no further mention, to no detail, to no confirmation whatsoever; an imaginary conjecture, no doubt, and in which the English Ministers are probably culpable, only in having afforded ground for suspecting them of it by the numerous antecedent cases, in which they degraded themselves in acting against Napoleon.
To my chagrin was added the fear of seeing old persecutions revived against me, in my peaceful solitude. The spring of 1819 was approaching. The excellent Grand Duke of Baden was just dead. Those who did not like us became stronger by this event, and it was signified to me, without the knowledge of the new sovereign perhaps, that I must quit the States of Baden. The order was given to me only verbally, and I was even informed that I should receive it in no other way. The motive for my removal, it was said, was the desire to live in close friendship with France, and the fear that my stay would be disagreeable to her; a motive that must excite a smile of pity. I disdained to say that the French Minister had thought fit to leave me in repose; the intolerance of opinion had discovered another motive to the full as ridiculous. The person charged with the order against me was very willing to grant me some days for preparation, but I was nearly like the Greek philosopher, who carried his all upon his own person; and I would have set out at the very instant of the notification itself, if Madame Las Cases had not been afflicted with an inflammation of the lungs which placed her in great danger. I assured him that I should only allow myself time to see her out of danger; and although the well-meant advice was given me to solicit Government for permission to remain, I still disdained it; and a few days afterwards, I set out on my route for Offenbach, where Madame Las Cases was to join me, when she should be in a state to travel.
If I felt myself so much hurt by this unexpected treatment, it is because I had already forgotten all the vexations with which I had been overwhelmed by the English authorities, and for more than a year, during which I lived upon the German soil, I was not subjected to such forms; but, on the contrary, I was spoiled by the favour, the interest, the respect, of which I every where saw myself the object, even among those of a contrary opinion; and, besides, on leaving Manheim, I was far from being embarrassed for a new residence. Some friends, in their kind precautions, had sounded some neighbouring governments; I was assured of a favourable reception in several. One of the princes, addressed upon the occasion, answered, with a smile, “Yes, no doubt; he should be well received and well treated. So far from repulsing a man of this character, a prince who understands his own interest should have his courtiers inoculated from him.”
However, in expatiating here so freely upon my successes, I must not disguise my disappointments. Now and then I had also my little mortifications. All was not roses: and, without reckoning the expulsion from Manheim, for example, of which I was speaking, they found great fault, in another place, with the respect shewn to me, being, they said, one of those wretches who had arrested the King of France at Varennes; and who more lately had done, perhaps, still worse. In another place, a Baron who gave a grand evening party, informed his guests that he had at length ascertained who this Count and Councillor of Napoleon’s was whose arrival had made so great a noise in the city. He was, he informed them, nothing but his cook from St. Helena; and that, not having means to pay him his wages at parting, he had, as a compensation, created him a Count and Councillor of State. If the Baron believed what he said, he was assuredly a good easy man, and if his object was only to make his guests believe it, he must have taken them for great simpletons. The pleasant part of the story remains, for we must tell the whole; and it is that, in fact, the cook from Longwood had passed through a few days before: and thus it appears how anecdotes and the biographies of the saloon are engendered and multiply; and the devil himself cannot afterwards eradicate them. I could smile at the wickedness or the stupidity. Their acts and their words were only ridiculous and grotesque; but a circumstance of an important nature presented itself, which would have distressed me excessively, if I did not know how much the mass of error which presses round sovereigns may impair the soundness of their judgment.
I was assured that some one at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, finding himself disposed, in the presence of the Emperor Alexander, to touch upon the frightful situation of Napoleon, and citing the authentic statements produced by me in his support, that Prince answered, “We must not believe all that this man is come to tell us in Europe; he is an intriguer.” How is it that the most enlightened princes are deceived; even those from whom we should expect better? Unless it was here, as with Napoleon, who often used peevish expressions, after his own manner, and not implying harm; and besides, by good fortune, I have still on my side, time, that true crucible of characters. Years have since elapsed, and the unanimous opinion, I dare hope, of all those who have known or followed me, would sufficiently clear me from such an accusation. “An intriguer!” I, who have worn out upon a rock all the vanities of this world! I, who in the clouds of Longwood, have seen all things from so great a height, that they remain small indeed to my eyes! I, who of all people on earth, know nothing to desire! I, in fine, who, no longer considering myself of this world, cannot have, and have not in fact, any other ambition whatever, any other wish, than that of Diogenes—“that they would not stand between me and the sun.”
FROM MY ARRIVAL AT OFFENBACH, UP TO
MY RETURN TO FRANCE.
A Space of more than Two Years.