The communications of General Gourgaud, upon parting with Sir Hudson Lowe, put the governor in possession of the curious fact, that the breaking up of the plate[245] was a mere trick, resorted to on account of the impression it was calculated to produce in England and Europe; for that at the time they had at Longwood plenty of money. Sir Hudson Lowe conjectured, that General Gourgaud alluded to the sale of some stock belonging to Las Cases, the value of which that devoted adherent had placed at Napoleon's disposal; but General Gourgaud replied, "No, no; before that transaction they had received 240,000 francs, chiefly in Spanish doubloons." He further said, that it was Prince Eugene who lodged the money in the hands of the bankers. In London, General Gourgaud made the same communication. We copy the words in which it is reported by Sir Hudson Lowe to Lord Bathurst:—
"General Gourgaud stated himself to have been aware of General Buonaparte having received a considerable sum of money in Spanish doubloons, viz. £10,000, at the very time he disposed of his plate; but, on being pressed by me as to the persons privy to that transaction, he contented himself with assuring me, that the mode of its transmission was one purely accidental; that it could never again occur; and that, such being the case, he trusted that I should not press a discovery, which, while it betrayed its author, could have no effect, either as it regarded the punishment of the offenders, or the prevention of a similar act in future. The actual possession of money was, moreover, not likely, in his view of the subject, to afford any additional means of corrupting the fidelity of those whom it might be advisable to seduce; as it was well known, that any draught, whatever might be its amount, drawn by General Buonaparte on Prince Eugene, or on certain other members of his family, would be scrupulously honoured."
He further stated, that it was Napoleon's policy to make a moyen, a fund for execution of his plans, by placing sums of money at his, General Gourgaud's command, and that he had sustained ill-treatment on the part of Napoleon, and much importunity on that of Bertrand, because he declined lending himself to facilitate secret correspondence.
Whatever sympathy Buonaparte may claim for his other distresses at St. Helena, it was made plain from this important disclosure, that want of funds could be none of them; and it is no less so, that the trick of selling the plate can now prove nothing, excepting that Napoleon's system was a deceptive one; and that evidence of any sort, arising either from his word or actions, is to be received with caution, when there is an apparent point to be carried by it.
INSTRUCTIONS TO THE GOVERNOR.
When Sir Hudson Lowe's report reached England, that the excess of the expenditure at Longwood, about twelve thousand pounds, had been defrayed by Napoleon himself, it did not meet the approbation of the Ministry; who again laid before the governor the distinction which he was to draw betwixt expenses necessary to maintain the table and household of a general officer, and such as might be of a nature different from, and exceeding those attendant on the household of a person of that rank; which last, and those alone, the French might be called on to defray. The order is dated 24th Oct. 1817.
"As I observe from the statement contained in your despatch, No. 84, that the expense of General Buonaparte's establishment exceeds £12,000 per annum, and that the excess beyond that sum has, up to the date of that despatch, been defrayed from his own funds, I deem it necessary again to call your attention to that part of my despatch, No. 15, of the 22d November last, in which, in limiting the expense to £12,000 a-year, I still left you at liberty to incur a farther expenditure, should you consider it to be necessary for the comfort of General Buonaparte; and to repeat, that, if you should consider the sum of £12,000 a-year not to be adequate to maintain such an establishment as would be requisite for a general officer of distinction, you will have no difficulty in making what you deem to be a requisite addition. But, on the other hand, if the expenses which General Buonaparte has himself defrayed are beyond what, on a liberal construction, might be proper for a general officer of distinction, you will permit them, as heretofore, to be defrayed from his own funds."
These positive and reiterated instructions serve to show that there was never a wish on the part of Britain to deal harshly, or even closely with Napoleon; as the avowals of General Gourgaud prove, on the other hand, that if the governor was too rigid on the subject of expense, the prisoner possessed means sufficient to have saved him from any possible consequences of self-denial, which might have accrued from being compelled to live at so low a rate as twelve thousand pounds a-year.
The subject of the residence of Napoleon continued to furnish great subjects of complaint and commotion. We have recorded our opinion, that, from the beginning, Plantation-house, as the best residence in the island, ought to have been set apart for his use. If, however, this was objected to, the building a new house from the foundation, even with the indifferent means which the island affords, would have been far more respectable, and perhaps as economical, as constructing a great wooden frame in London, and transporting it to St. Helena, where it arrived, with the furniture destined for it, in May, 1816. It was not, however, a complete parapluie house, as such structures have been called, but only the materials for constructing such a one; capable of being erected separately, or, at Napoleon's choice, of being employed for making large and commodious additions to the mansion which he already occupied. It became a matter of courtesy to inquire whether it would best answer Napoleon's idea of convenience that an entirely new edifice should be constructed, or whether that end would be better attained by suffering the former building to remain, and constructing the new one in the form of an addition to it. We have recounted an interview betwixt Napoleon and the governor, in the words of the former, as delivered to O'Meara. The present we give as furnished by Sir Hudson, in a despatch to Lord Bathurst, dated 17th May, 1816:—
INTERVIEW WITH SIR H. LOWE.