"M. Las Cases then presented to me the letter Count Bertrand wrote concerning Buonaparte's intention to come on board the ship (a copy of which has been transmitted to your lordship by Sir Henry Hotham,) and it was not till then agreed upon that I should receive him; when either M. Las Cases or General Gourgaud (I am not positive which, as I was employed writing my own dispatches) wrote to Bertrand to inform him of it. While paper was preparing to write the letter, I said again to M. Las Cases, 'You will recollect I have no authority for making conditions of any sort.' Nor has M. Las Cases ever started such an idea till the day before yesterday. That it was not the feeling of Buonaparte, or the rest of his people, I will give strong proof, drawn from the conversations they have held with me.
"As I never heard the subject mentioned till two days ago, I shall not detail every conversation that has passed, but confine myself to that period. The night that the squadron anchored at the back of Berryhead, Buonaparte sent for me about ten P.M., and said he was informed by Bertrand that I had received orders to remove him to the Northumberland, and wished to know if that was the case; on being told that it was, he requested that I would write a letter to Bertrand, stating I had such orders, that it might not appear he went of his own accord, but that he had been forced to do so. I told him I could have no objection, and wrote a letter to that effect, which your lordship afterwards sanctioned, and desired me, if he required it, to give him a copy of the order.
"After having arranged that matter, I was going to withdraw, when he requested me to remain, as he had something more to say. He then began complaining of his treatment in being forced to go to St. Helena; among other things he observed, 'They say I made no conditions—certainly I made no conditions; how could a private man (un particulier) make conditions with a nation? I wanted nothing from them but hospitality, or (as the ancients would express it) air and water. I threw myself on the generosity of the English nation: I claimed a place sur leurs foyers, and my only wish was to purchase a small estate, and end my life in tranquillity.' After more of the same sort of conversation, I left him for the night.
"On the morning he removed from the Bellerophon to the Northumberland, he sent for me again, and said, 'I have sent for you to express my gratitude for your conduct to me, while I have been on board the ship you command. My reception in England has been very different from what I expected; but you throughout have behaved like a man of honour; and I request you will accept my thanks, as well as convey them to the officers and ship's company of the Bellerophon.' Soon afterwards, Montholon came to me from Buonaparte; but, to understand what passed between him and me, I must revert to a conversation that I had with Madame Bertrand on the passage from Rochefort.
"It is not necessary to state how the conversation commenced, as it does not apply to the present transaction; but she informed me that it was Buonaparte's intention to present me with a box containing his picture set with diamonds. I answered, 'I hope not, for I cannot receive it.'—'Then you will offend him very much,' she said.—'If that is the case,' I replied, 'I request you will take measures to prevent its being offered, as it is absolutely impossible I can accept of it; and I wish to spare him the mortification, and myself the pain, of a refusal.' There the matter dropped, and I heard no more of it, till about half an hour before Buonaparte quitted the Bellerophon, when Montholon came to me, and said he was desired by Buonaparte to express the high sense he entertained of my conduct throughout the whole of the transaction;—that it had been his intention to present me with a box containing his portrait, but that he understood I was determined not to accept it. I said, 'Placed as I was, I felt it impossible to receive a present from him, though I was highly flattered at the testimony he had borne to the uprightness of my conduct throughout.' Montholon added, 'One of the greatest causes of chagrin he feels in not being admitted to an interview with the Prince Regent is, that he had determined to ask as a favour, your being promoted to the rank of rear-admiral.' To which I replied, 'That would have been quite impossible, but I do not the less feel the kindness of the intention.' I then said, 'I am hurt that Las Cases should say I held forth any assurances as to the reception Buonaparte was to meet with in England.'—'Oh!' said he, 'Las Cases is disappointed in his expectations; and as he negotiated the affair, he attributes the Emperor's situation to himself: but I can assure you that he (Buonaparte) feels convinced you have acted like a man of honour throughout.'
"As your lordship overheard part of a conversation which took place between Las Cases and me on the quarterdeck of the Bellerophon, I shall not detail it; but on that occasion, I positively denied having promised any thing as to the reception of Buonaparte and his suite; and I believe your lordship was of opinion he could not make out the statement to you. It is extremely unpleasant for me to be under the necessity of entering into a detail of this sort; but the unhandsome representation Las Cases has made to your lordship of my conduct, has obliged me to produce proofs of the light in which the transaction was viewed by Buonaparte as well as his attendants.
"I again repeat that Captains Gambier and Sartorius can verify the principal part of what I have stated, as far as concerns the charge made against me by Count Las Cases.—I have the honour to be your lordship's, &c.
"Frederick L. Maitland.
"To the Right Hon.
Viscount Keith, G.C.B., &c. &c."
"Slaney, in Plymouth Sound,
15th August, 1815.