This Colonial Secretary, whom I have not yet mentioned, though he was the second civil officer in the colony, was a man perfectly eccentric, both in person and character. He had been several times a Member of Parliament. He knew every thing, discussed every thing, and usually confused every thing he meddled with: he was said to be like an encyclopædia, with the sheets bound up in their wrong places. He first took it into his head to fix our abode in a residence which he had built, and which he had persuaded the Government to hire. Fortunately, he relinquished this design, because various difficulties opposed its execution. We should, I believe, have been obliged to proceed thither by sea; and, even had we been safely established in this abode, there would have been some uncertainty respecting the facility of communication with us when necessary. At length, it was determined that we should be lodged with a worthy family who resided about eight or ten leagues from the Cape, at a place called Tygerberg (Tiger Hill), which name it received from the Dutch, on account of the numerous tigers that inhabited the place, at the time when it was first occupied.
This occupation is not of very remote date; for these lands have not been exclusively in the possession of the civilized inhabitants until very recently. Several persons informed me that they had themselves seen tigers in the beautiful grounds of Newlands. It would appear that the Dutch, confining themselves to maritime affairs, devoted but little, or at least tardy, attention to the progress of colonization. Now, however, the industry and activity of the English are giving a different turn to affairs. All parts of the Cape, and Cape town in particular, which the sailors call the half-way house of the two worlds, will infallibly rise to the highest importance. The soil is rich and the climate admirable. The productions of the temperate zone and those of the tropics may be cultivated almost in all parts and at once. English settlers emigrate to the Cape in great numbers; and the population is rapidly increasing. Europe invaded Africa by the south, and the European race will, in course of time, spread over the whole continent, as it is now spread over America. From Botany Bay, Europeans will, in course of time, extend to New Holland, and thence subjugate China. The European race will rule the globe; happy should it expiate, by the blessings of civilization, the crimes of conquest, or its impurity of origin!
RESIDENCE AT TYGERBERG.—THE NAME OF NAPOLEON
FAMILIAR IN THE DESERT.—MANUSCRIPT OF ST.
HELENA, &C.
From April 6th to August 19th.—We left Newlands about the middle of the day, and at night reached Tygerberg. Our new host was a Mr. Baker, a native of Coblentz, or its neighbourhood, and we looked upon him as one of our countrymen, from his origin, his opinions, and the sympathy he shewed us. The family altogether formed the most agreeable society imaginable. It would have been impossible for us to have been treated with greater respect and attention. All our wishes were anticipated and gratified. We now commenced the third period of our captivity at the Cape. The first was our insupportable imprisonment in the Castle, which fortunately lasted only ten days: the second was our abode in the charming retreat of Newlands: the third was our residence at the desert of Tygerberg, which was to continue for the space of four months; and even this might not be the termination of our captivity!
At Tygerberg, we found ourselves situated on the confines of the wandering hordes. The country, here and there, presented detached habitations, at considerable distances from each other. These were occupied by cultivators of various nations, who were clearing the new grounds, in order to turn them to profitable account; and, with perseverance, regularity, and a little capital, their efforts will, no doubt, be successful. Though now removed to the very extremity of the civilized world, we found ourselves treated with even more than kindness. We observed that the people here were neither ignorant nor indifferent with respect to the events of Europe, which, on the contrary, excited an unusual degree of interest. The majority of the population was Dutch, and was, therefore, connected with our national system. Thus, to my surprise, I found the name of Napoleon familiar in this desert. The most victorious game-cock in the neighbourhood was called Napoleon! The swiftest race horse was Napoleon! The most invincible bull in the country was Napoleon! I could not refrain from laughing at this. But every one has his own way of rendering honour and respect; and Napoleon was the noblest of all names in the estimation of the inhabitants of Tygerberg.
Notwithstanding our removal from the town, we still continued to receive many visits, and it was very gratifying to us to calculate the degree of interest that was felt for us, by the degree of reserve and embarrassment that we excited.
The interest we excited was not confined to Frenchmen alone. An American captain came to me, and offered to rescue me from captivity. He informed me that he had adopted every precaution, and made every necessary arrangement; and he observed that all depended on my own will, since Mr. Baker was not my jailer, but merely my host. Yet what would have been the use of embracing this proposal? I had but one point, one object, in view, and that was, to repair to London and appeal to the English Ministers.
We endeavoured to amuse ourselves with our usual occupations. I had procured a person to read to me, and I kept him well employed. In spite of the distance, our friends still continued to supply us with the journals and new publications. At this time, I read the Letters written during the last reign of the Emperor by Mr. Hobhouse, who, I believe, was the first that ventured to speak favourably of Napoleon. I also procured Warden’s work, which, though containing many errors, was, I am confident, written with the very best intentions; and finally, I obtained a sight of the famous Manuscript of St. Helena, which excited so much interest and curiosity throughout Europe. Opinion was powerfully divided on the subject of this publication; a thousand conjectures were afloat respecting its authenticity and real origin. It would certainly be difficult for me to describe the astonishment and doubt which it excited in my mind. What were my feelings and thoughts when I found pages of truth, which seemed to have escaped from my own secret collection, mingled with whole pages of error and frivolity! I several times stopped, doubting whether I was not dreaming. I recognised not only the substance of certain passages, but even phrases and expressions, in the literal form in which I had myself transcribed them from the mouth of the narrator. They were contained in the very papers which Sir Hudson Lowe had detained at St. Helena. I could positively have affirmed that all the grand ideas and noble conceptions formed by Napoleon,—all the political speculations,—and, in short, all the most attractive and interesting contents of the celebrated Manuscript, were in my Journal collected from the conversation of Napoleon. If only this portion of the publication had been read to me, I should not, for a moment, have doubted that the work had been obtained directly from Longwood. Even the dates would have warranted this conclusion; for six or seven months had now elapsed since my expulsion from St. Helena. But whence had been procured the alloy with which the better portion of the work was mixed up? This was a riddle which I could not attempt to guess. Can it be, thought I, that the facts contained in this publication have been surreptitiously derived from my papers, certain parts of which may have been selected and put together by strange hands? But, besides that, I could not bring myself to cherish such a disagreeable suspicion without better proof. What probability was there that the hostile authority of St. Helena would favour the publication of that, which was, upon the whole, favourable to the illustrious victim of the ostracism of kings?
What was the real sentiment which dictated the Manuscript of St. Helena? This is, in many instances, very equivocal. By what hands was it produced? This question gives rise to many contradictory conjectures. Finally, it may be asked, what was the real object of the publication? It presents various styles, various sentiments, and bears evidence of various degrees of information. This publication must have been the patchwork production of various hands; for how could the individual, who appears to have been so familiar with the secret designs of the supposed author and his cabinet, have been ignorant of his opinion on various public acts, when that opinion was accessible to every body? as, for example, on the subject of Napoleon’s first marriage; the situation of the French in Egypt; the trial of the Duke d’Enghien; &c.
Is it probable that the man, who could have procured by his own means facts of so confidential a nature, should have been reduced to the necessity of mixing them up with vulgar errors? And, even supposing any one to have had sufficient shrewdness to guess these great truths, would not his judgment have suggested to him the propriety of being correct with respect to the rest? I shall say nothing of the far-fetched and singular phraseology which disfigures the work, and which can only be regarded as a proof of bad taste and an unsuccessful attempt at imitation. Neither shall I comment on the numerous and extraordinary anachronisms which this Manuscript contains. These and other circumstances render the publication totally inexplicable.