"'Then you had better speak to the grand maréchal about it, and settle it with him.'
"'I prefer, sir, addressing you upon it. I find so many mésintelligences happen, when I adopt the medium of other persons (particularly as in the instance of the orders which you mention I had given for forcing an entrance into your private apartments,) that I find it more satisfactory to address yourself.'
"He made no particular reply to this, walked about for a moment, and then, working himself up apparently to say something which he thought would appal me with extraordinary surprise or dread, he said—'Do you wish me, sir, to tell you the truth? Yes, sir, I ask you if you desire me to tell you the truth? I believe that you have received orders to kill me—yes, to kill me—yes, sir, I believe that you have received orders to stick at nothing—nothing.' He then looked at me, as if expecting a reply. My answer was—'You were pleased to remark, sir, in our last interview, that you had miscalculated the spirit of the English people. Give me leave to say, you at present calculate as erroneously the spirit of an English soldier.'
"Our interview here terminated; and, as if neither of us had any thing more to say, we mutually separated."
Sir Hudson received a letter in reply to his account of this strange and violent scene, in which his forbearance and firmness are approved of. But we quote it, chiefly because it marks the intention of the British Government with respect to Buonaparte, and shows the consideration which they had for his peculiar condition, and the extent of forbearance which it was their desire should be extended towards him by the governor of St. Helena:
"There is a wide distinction between the conduct which you ought to hold towards General Buonaparte, and towards those who have chosen to follow his fortunes, by accompanying him to St. Helena.
"It would be a want of generosity not to make great allowance for the intemperate language into which the former may at times be betrayed. The height from whence he has been precipitated, and all the circumstances which have attended his fall, are sufficient to overset a mind less irritable than his; and it is to be apprehended that he can find little consolation in his reflections, either in the means by which he obtained his power, or his manner of exercising it. So long, therefore, as his violence is confined to words, it must be borne with—always understanding, and giving him to understand, that any wilful transgression, on his part, of the rules which you may think it necessary to prescribe for the security of his person, will place you under the necessity of adopting a system of restraint, which it will be most painful to you to inflict.
"With respect to his followers, they stand in a very different situation; they cannot be too frequently reminded, that their continuance in the island is an act of indulgence on the part of the British Government; and you will inform them that you have received strict instructions to remove them from the person of General Buonaparte, and to transport them out of the island, if they shall not conduct themselves with that respect which your situation demands, and with that strict attention to your regulations which is the indispensable condition on which their residence in the island is permitted."
LONGWOOD.