[5]. All the world knows, or ought to have known (if, by a fatality, altogether peculiar to Napoleon, the greater part of his most commendable actions had not been, at the time, stifled under the weight of malignity and libels), the history of that miserable hut, enclosed within the circuit of the palace of the King of Rome; the proprietor of which demanded successively ten, twenty, fifty, and one hundred times its real value. When he had reached that ridiculous price, the Emperor, whose directions on that point were taken, suddenly commanded a stop to be put to the bargain, exclaiming that that wretched stall, amidst all the magnificence of the palace of the King of Rome, would be, after all, the vineyard of Naboth, the most decisive testimony of his justice, the noblest trophy of his reign.
[6]. It is right to remark that Colonel Gustafson (Gustavus IV.) has declared this statement to be erroneous. But, from his letter itself, one would be induced to think that the error proceeds solely from misinterpretation of his real words: now every one knows how easy, how common such inaccuracies are in regard to circumstances transmitted through several intermediate persons. Fearful that the misunderstanding might originate with myself, which is possible enough, I should not have hesitated a moment to charge myself with the error; but every reader must judge that the length of Napoleon’s conversation and the development of his ideas on this subject, could not leave me in any doubt.
[7]. The patrimonial house of Napoleon, his cradle, at present (1824) in the possession of M. Romalino, member of the Chamber of Deputies, is, as it might naturally be supposed, an object of eager curiosity and great veneration to travellers and military men in particular.
I am assured by eye-witnesses, that, on the arrival of every regiment in Corsica, the soldiers instantly run to it in crowds, and obtain admission with a certain degree of authority. It might be said that they believe themselves entitled to it as a right. Once admitted, every one conducts himself according to the warmth of his feeling, one raises his hands to heaven, as he looks about him, another falls on his knees, a third kisses the floor, and a fourth bursts into tears. There are some who seem to be seized by a fit of insanity. Something similar is said of the tomb of the great Frederic. Such is the influence of heroes.
[8]. I commonly pass over all details of this kind as trivial, unless an occasion for their utility presents itself, and unfortunately I have not time to look for, or to give rise to, such occasions. The trifling circumstance, however, which I relate here, acquires but too great a value by the nature of the death and the protracted and terrible agonies of the immortal victim, who expired under the triple tortures of body, mind, and heart. He would have had much less to endure from the hands of cannibals!... And these sufferings and these torments were coldly reserved for him by a barbarous administration, which, by that proceeding, has stained the annals of a people so justly renowned for the elevation of their sentiments and their sympathy with misfortune!... But a sad and painful celebrity will attach to the names of the executioners of Napoleon. The indignation of the generous hearts of every age and of every country strikes them for ever with eternal reprobation!
[9]. It was my letter to Prince Lucien, since so celebrated in the history of my persecutions, and which will be found in its proper place.
[10]. Since the first appearance of this work, it has been remarked to me that this is an anachronism; as the gilding of the dome of the Invalids was begun before the campaign in Russia. It was the minarets of Cairo and not the steeples of Moscow which must have suggested the idea to Napoleon; and this was no doubt what he meant to say: it is easy to imagine that a mistake of this kind might be made by him in a conversation without any special object: in fact every body is liable to such mistakes.
[11]. General Durutte, who was mutilated on that disastrous day, and who commanded the fourth division here mentioned, declares that there must be some mistake in regard to the number specified in this dictation of Napoleon’s; or that there was some inaccuracy or malice in the report that was made to him.
[12]. After my removal from Longwood, Napoleon undertook a special work on Frederick the Great, with notes and Commentaries on his Campaigns.
[13]. A noble Venetian lady of great beauty, whose adventures form a truly romantic and dramatic history. She eloped from her father’s house to follow a young Florentine pedlar, and was reduced to the greatest wretchedness. She subsequently became Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and she closed her career by coolly poisoning herself at table, in a fit of vexation at seeing the Grand Duke, her husband, partake of a poisoned dish, which she had prepared for her brother-in-law, Cardinal de Medicis, who, on his part, obstinately abstained from tasting it.