On the 27th the Emperor received, for a moment, a colonel, a relation of the family of Walsh Serrant, who was on his return from the Cape in the Haycomb, and was to sail next day for Europe. He had been Governor of Bourbon, and entertained us with many agreeable particulars respecting that island.
After dinner, the conversation turned on the old and new Court, with their arrangements, expenses, etiquette, &c. I have already mentioned most of these points in another place, and many of them were repeated on the present occasion. I pass over what would seem but a literal repetition.
The Emperor’s Court was, in every respect, much more magnificent than any thing seen up to that period, and yet, said he, the expense was infinitely less. That vast difference was caused by the suppression of abuses, and by the introduction of order and regularity into the accounts. His hunting and shooting establishment, with the exception of some useless and ridiculous particulars, he observed, as that of falconry and some others, was as splendid, as numerous, and as striking, as that of Louis XVI., and the annual disbursement, he assured us, was but 400,000 francs, while the King’s amounted to seven millions. His table was regulated according to the same system. Duroc had, by his regularity and strictness, done wonders in that respect. Under the kings, the palaces were not kept furnished, and the same articles were transferred from one palace to another; the people belonging to the Court had no furniture allowed them, and every one was obliged to look out for himself. Under him, on the contrary, there was not a person in attendance who did not find himself provided as comfortably, or even more so, with every thing that was necessary or suitable, in the apartment assigned to him, than in his own house.
The Emperor’s stud cost three millions, the expense of the horses was averaged at 3000 francs a horse yearly. A page cost from 6 to 8000 francs. That establishment, he observed, was perhaps the most expensive belonging to the palace, and accordingly the education of the pages and the care taken of them, were the subjects of just encomium. The first families of the empire were solicitous to place their children in it, and they had good reason, said the Emperor.
With respect to the etiquette of the Court, the Emperor said he was the first who had separated the service of honour (an expression invented under him) from that which was absolutely necessary. He had dismissed every thing that was laborious and substantial, and substituted what was nominal and ornamental only. “A king,” he said, “is not to be found in nature, he is the mere creature of civilization. There are no naked kings; they must all be dressed,” &c.
The Emperor remarked[remarked] that it was impossible for any one to be better informed of the nature and relation of all these matters than himself; because they had been all regulated by him, according to the precedents of past times, from which he had lopped off whatever was ridiculous, and preserved every thing that appeared suitable.
The conversation lasted until after eleven o’clock. It had been kept up with tolerable spirit; and the Emperor again observed, on leaving us, that, after all, we must be a good-natured kind of people to be able to lead so contented a life at St. Helena.
FRESH INSTANCE OF THE GOVERNOR’S MALIGNITY, &c.—DESPERATE PROJECT OF SANTINI, THE CORSICAN.
29th.—The weather had been bad for some days; the Emperor took advantage of a fine interval to examine a tent, which the admiral had, in a very handsome manner, ordered to be erected for his accommodation by his ship’s crew, having heard him complain, in the course of conversation, of the want of shade, and of the impossibility of enjoying himself in the air out of his apartment. The Emperor conversed with the officer and men who were putting the last hand to the work, and ordered a napoleon to be given to each of the seamen.
We learnt to-day that the last vessel had brought a book on the state of public affairs for the Emperor, written, as it was said, by a Member of Parliament. It had been sent by the author himself, and the following words were inscribed in letters of gold on the outside,—To Napoleon the Great. This circumstance induced the Governor to keep back the work, a rigour, on his part, which formed a singular contrast with his eagerness to supply us with libels, that treated the Emperor so disrespectfully.