The question is frequently discussed whether the detention of Napoleon I at St Helena was or was not in accordance with international law. The facts of the case are as follows: After having abdicated the throne of France in favour of his son, Napoleon thought of taking refuge in America, and therefore set out for the port of Rochefort. Arriving there on July 3rd, 1815, he found the harbour watched by a British fleet. After some days of deliberation he made up his mind to throw himself on the mercy of the English people, and therefore on July 13th he wrote to the Prince Regent that he came to take his seat at the hearth of the British people and that he placed himself under the protection of the British laws. On July 15th he went on board the English ship the Bellerophon and gave himself into the charge of her captain, by whom he was conveyed to England. On August 7th Napoleon was removed to H.M.S. Northumberland, and the commander was instructed to convey him, together with a suite of twenty-five persons, to the island of St Helena. He arrived on Oct. 17th and remained there a prisoner of state up to the day of his death on May 5th, 1821.
In transporting and detaining Napoleon Great Britain carried out a mandate of the allied powers, for three identical conventions concerning the detention of Napoleon were signed at Paris on August 2nd, 1815, by the representatives of Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia. The important stipulations of the conventions—see Martens, N.R. ii. p. 605—are the two following:
"Art. I. Napoléon Bonaparte est regardé par les Puissances qui ont signé le traité du 25 mars dernier comme Leur prisonnier.
"Art. II. Son garde est spécialement confiée au Gouvernement Britannique. Le choix du lieu et celui des mesures qui peuvent le mieux assurer le but de la présente stipulation sont réservés à Sa Majesté Britannique."
CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS