In the course of the conversation the Emperor, who in the morning had been reading the Campaign of 1814, by Alphonse de Beauchamp, in which all the English bulletins bore the signature Lowe, asked the Governor if he was the individual who had signed them. Sir Hudson Lowe, with marked embarrassment, replied in the affirmative, and added that the bulletins represented his views and opinions. The Governor, who had several times proposed that the Emperor should be attended by his physician, who he said was a very skilful man, on taking his leave again proposed to send his Doctor to Longwood. But the Emperor saw his motives, and constantly resisted his offer.
Having related all these particulars to me, the Emperor remained silent for some minutes. Then resuming, apparently after some reflection, he said: "How mean and disagreeable is the expression of the Governor’s countenance! I never saw any thing like it in my life!... I should be unable to drink my coffee if this man were left for a moment alone beside me.... My dear Las Cases, they have sent me worse than a jailor!..."
THIRD DAY OF THE EMPEROR’S SECLUSION.—SUMMARY
OF HIS HISTORY.
May 1st.—The Emperor kept his room to-day as he had done yesterday. I felt ill from my ride from the Briars; I had a slight fever, accompanied by great lassitude. The Emperor sent for me about seven o’clock in the evening. I went to his chamber and found him reading Rollin, whom he accused, as usual, of being too indulgent an historian. He did not appear to have been indisposed, and even said he was very well; but this only rendered me the more uneasy at his seclusion and his calmness of manner. He put off dinner to a later hour than usual, and detained me with him. He called for a glass of Constantia some time before dinner; this he generally does when he feels the want of excitement.
After dinner, he looked over a few of the addresses, proclamations, or acts, in Goldsmith’s imperfect collection. The perusal of some of these documents seemed to interest him; then, laying down the book, he began to walk about, and said, "After all, let them abridge, suppress, and mutilate as much as they please, they will find it very difficult to throw me entirely into the shade. The historian of France cannot pass over the Empire, and if he has any honesty, he will not fail to render me my share of justice. His task will be easy; for the facts speak for themselves: they shine like the sun.
“I closed the gulf of anarchy and cleared the chaos. I purified the Revolution, dignified Nations and established Kings. I excited every kind of emulation, rewarded every kind of merit, and extended the limits of glory! This is at least something! And on what point can I be assailed on which an historian could not defend me? Can it be for my intentions? But even here I can find absolution. Can it be for my despotism? It may be demonstrated that the Dictatorship was absolutely necessary. Will it be said that I restrained liberty? It can be proved that licentiousness, anarchy, and the greatest irregularities, still haunted the threshold of freedom. Shall I be accused of having been too fond of war? It can be shown that I always received the first attack. Will it be said that I aimed at universal monarchy? It can be proved that[that] this was merely the result of fortuitous circumstances, and that our enemies themselves led me step by step to this determination. Lastly, shall I be blamed for my ambition? This passion I must doubtless be allowed to have possessed, and that in no small degree; but, at the same time, my ambition was of the highest and noblest kind that ever, perhaps, existed—that of establishing and of consecrating the empire of reason, and the full exercise and complete enjoyment of all the human faculties! And here the historian will probably feel compelled to regret that such ambition should not have been fulfilled and gratified!” ... Then after a few moments of silent reflection: “This,” said the Emperor, “is my whole history in a few words.”
FOURTH DAY OF ABSOLUTE SECLUSION.—THE MONITEUR
FAVOURABLE TO THE EMPEROR.
2nd.—The Emperor still kept his room as on the preceding days. He sent for me about nine o’clock in the evening, after I had dined. He had seen no one during the day; I remained with him till eleven o’clock; he was in good spirits, and appeared to be well. I assured him that the days which we passed without seeing him seemed very tedious; and that we feared his health would suffer from close confinement and the want of fresh air. For my own part, this seclusion caused me great uneasiness and affliction. He went to bed half an hour before he dismissed me: he said his legs refused to support him. He felt fatigued with walking, though he had only taken a few turns with me in his chamber.
He spoke a great deal of the Legion of Honour, of Goldsmith’s Collection, and of the Moniteur. Respecting the latter, he said that it was certainly a very remarkable circumstance, and one of which few besides himself could boast, that he had made his way through the Revolution at so early an age, and with so much notoriety, without having to dread the Moniteur. “There is not a sentence in it,” said he, “which I could wish to obliterate. On the contrary, the Moniteur will infallibly serve me as a justification, whenever I may have occasion for it.”