Chapter I: Am Not Allowed to Remain in England.—removal to Ostend.—persecutions (4)

I had only come to Frankfort to deposit, in due form, all my documents in the respective legations, and that done, I returned immediately to Manheim, in order to escape from the bustle and from the intrigues of Frankfort. Several persons came thither and offered to serve me at the Congress, assuring me that their services might be of very great importance, and proposing to become very zealous agents in my cause. For this assistance I should of course have been obliged to pay very largely, and it has been seen that I had scarcely wherewith to supply the first wants of him for the uncertain interests of whom large sums were demanded of me. During the sitting of the Congress, and whilst I was waiting in the hope of a favourable decision from the Sovereigns, I was destined to receive, even in my solitude at Manheim, fresh proofs of the perverseness of Sir Hudson Lowe, and of the ill treatment which he continued to inflict upon his victims. An unfortunate gunner of an East Indiaman found me out at Manheim, and about the same time I received a large packet from General Bertrand. The history of the gunner and of all the vexations to which he was exposed from the Governor and his confidents, for having been the bearer of a bust of young Napoleon, from which he hoped to derive some advantage, by offering it at Longwood, is detailed at some length in Mr. O’Meara’s work. This bust, which the Governor had at first intended to throw into the sea, and the existence of which he afterwards attempted to conceal by taking possession of it, under pretence of making a present of it to Napoleon himself, was, however, at last sent to Longwood, in consequence of the expression of public indignation; and Count Bertrand sent to the gunner, as well for the value of the bust as to indemnify him for all the vexations and losses which it had occasioned him, one of the bills which I left with him at my departure, amounting to 300_l._ Count Bertrand, on sending the bill to the gunner, requested him to acknowledge the receipt of it; but the poor fellow, so far from being enabled to acknowledge the receipt of the bill, had not even heard of Count Bertrand’s Letter, and had been obliged to pursue his voyage to India, after having delivered the bust, with the following verbal information given to him by Sir Hudson Lowe: “That the people of Longwood had destined some gratuity for him, and that he would hear of it in the course of time.” On his return from India, the unfortunate gunner was not allowed to go on shore during the whole time the ship stayed at St. Helena, and he was merely told once more that what had been mentioned to him concerning his interests was at the Admiralty in London. When he reached England, he at last, upon inquiry, got the bill; and it was the first time he had heard of it; but upwards of eighteen months had elapsed; the persons on whom it was drawn no longer had the necessary funds, and he was obliged to leave London with the melancholy persuasion that he had lost both his bust and his money. This gunner was an inhabitant of Dalmatia, and was going through Germany on his return home, by way of Trieste, when he heard, by the greatest chance in the world, at Frankfort, that he should find at Manheim the drawer of the bill which he held; he therefore came to me, and his joy was as lively as his imprecations against Sir Hudson Lowe were abundant, on receiving that sum which, as he said, was a little fortune to him, and would render him happy for the remainder of his life.

The large packet which I received from the Grand Marshal consisted of a long letter from him, written by order of the Emperor, and of sundry authentic documents which had arrived out of the regular channel. But, to my great surprise, the very day when I received that letter, I read its contents in the Netherland newspapers, as extracted and re-translated from the English papers. Guessing what had been the intentions at Longwood, I nevertheless sent an official copy of that letter to Lord Liverpool, as will be seen presently. I insert here all those documents, because Count Bertrand’s letter, giving a rather detailed account of the ill treatment which the Emperor experienced from the moment I had left him, lays before the reader a further period of eighteen months of the history of Longwood. Some of these documents, besides, have postscripts in Napoleon’s own hand-writing, and are too remarkable to be left unnoticed.

LETTER OF COUNT LAS CASES TO LORD LIVERPOOL.

MY LORD,—I have this instant received a long letter from Count Bertrand; and at the same moment, to my great surprise, have seen that letter printed in the _Vrai Liberal_, of Brussels, re-translated from the _Morning Chronicle_ of London.

To inform your Lordship how that has happened is beyond my power; but I can assure you, with great truth, that it is without my participation, and that I sincerely regret the circumstance. I can only explain it by supposing that one of your countrymen only consented to take charge of the packet from Longwood, upon condition of receiving it open, and being assured that it concerned the honour of his country; and that, on his arrival in London, he communicated its contents to the public, and forwarded it to me at the same time. Things would not have been so, my Lord, if, agreeably to my continued solicitations, I had obtained permission to reside in England. Persuaded as I am, and as Count Bertrand seems to suspect, that the atrocious vexations and the indignities which are daily inflicted upon Longwood may be unknown to the Administration, it would have been to you, my Lord, who are at the head of that Administration, and to you alone, that I should immediately have applied to inform you of such unheard-of grievances; thus furnishing you with the means, and leaving to you the merit, of redressing them.

I entreat your Lordship to believe that it would have been only after I had in vain exhausted every step required by decorum, after I had, in vain, applied, in the order of their rank, to the different authorities, that I should have adopted the extreme measure of addressing myself at last to public opinion, which will only be appealed to and pronounced in the last instance. I gave a proof of this disposition, my Lord, when, after eight months of absolute silence on the part of Lord Bathurst, to the statement which I addressed to his Lordship of various grievances, of which I had the honour of asking redress at his hands, and which I should, at least, have been justified in publishing, I did not however do so, until some ill-timed observations of one of your Members of the House of Commons rendered it a matter of positive necessity. I gave a proof of it, my Lord, at the period of the earnest entreaties which my heart prompted me to make at Aix-la-Chapelle, when I carefully transmitted to Lord Castlereagh himself a copy of the solicitations and complaints which I respectfully laid at the feet of the Allied Sovereigns. Lastly, my Lord, it is to give, as much as lies in my power, an additional proof of that disposition, that I hastily cause a copy to be made of the letter of Count Bertrand, in order that your Lordship may possess direct and authentic knowledge of that document, and lay it before his Royal Highness the Prince Regent.

A prey to bodily sufferings, caused by the insalubrious climate of St. Helena, as well as to the moral sufferings by which my separation was aggravated; the deplorable state of my health is such that every kind of application is forbidden to me by the faculty. I cannot, therefore, add any thing to the letter, of which I have the honour of addressing you a copy. Besides, what commentary could equal the bare recital of the facts which it contains?

I have the honour to be, with the highest consideration, my Lord, &c.

P. S.—After having addressed your Lordship on the subject of interests of so high and sacred an importance, may I be allowed to take advantage of the opportunity thus naturally afforded to descend to the consideration of objects that are merely personal to me?

Am I not to expect any redress, or to obtain any answer concerning the numerous grievances of which I have complained? Am I, above all, to continue to be deprived of the papers which have now been detained at St. Helena two years, notwithstanding the many protestations which I made to Sir Hudson Lowe himself; notwithstanding the letter which I had the honour of addressing to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on that subject, from the Cape of Good Hope; the letter which I wrote to one of your colleagues from the same place, and on the same subject; and, lastly, notwithstanding the letter which I addressed to Lord Bathurst from Frankfort? Can this obstinate and absolute silence, to demands so just and so often reiterated, be intended as a formal denial of justice? I cannot believe it, my Lord. I know the power and superiority of your laws, and the respect which every Englishman is bound to shew to them, whatever his rank or situation in life may be; and I must therefore suppose that the fault lies with me, who, not knowing how to act, transgress, in all probability, the established rules and formalities. But, in that case, my Lord, would it not be proper, just, and considerate, to inform me of those rules, or even to dispense with them?—My Lord, I demand that favour of your generosity. Those papers, which I allowed Sir Hudson Lowe to peruse at the time, are, from their nature, entirely foreign to the object of the custody of your prisoner; they cannot be of any importance to you in that point of view; and to me they are dear and invaluable beyond all expression.

LETTER FROM COUNT BERTRAND TO COUNT DE LAS CASES.

MY DEAR LAS CASES,—I received, on the 7th of June, the letter which you did me the honour to write to me on the 15th of January last; and I have since then received, on the 13th of this month, your letters of 15th February, 15th March, and 15th April;[39] the contents of which I have communicated to the Emperor, and which have determined him to desire me to write to you. I received, four months ago, a box of books and pamphlets, addressed to me by Mr. Goulburn; and since then, a very obliging offer to send a picture, which was in the bed-chamber at St. Cloud, representing the christening of little Napoleon. Mr. Henry Goulburn had been kind enough to bargain with the owner of the picture for its purchase, and to get the price reduced to half the original demand. No answer has been returned to that offer, because it has seemed to form so strange a contrast with what takes place here, that it has been looked upon as a measure connected with parliamentary discussions, something like those relative to the wooden house. I have been much struck by the polite behaviour observed towards you, and by all you tell me in your last letter.[40]... Can it be, that the horrible vexations which we are made to experience are not sanctioned by the English Government, and that the Emperor is dying here a victim of the individual hatred of the Governor? Governments and Princes may be so easily deceived that I write this letter under strong feelings of doubt on the subject.

Footnote 39:

See those letters in the sequel of these pages.

Footnote 40:

Experience seems to have proved too clearly that there existed more
knowledge of mankind at Longwood than in the Frankfort
correspondent.

Things are much altered since your departure in 1817. And in this year, 1818, the vexations to which the Emperor has been exposed are such that they must be considered as an attempt against his life. You will judge by the detail. You must have read in the papers of March some observations upon the speech of Lord Bathurst. But things have grown considerably worse since then; and the hatred of the Governor of this Island has known no bounds.

When you left us, the Emperor had renounced riding, in order to avoid the snares laid, and the affronts intended, for him, by causing him to be insulted by the sentries. He has since been obliged to give up walking, in order to avoid the same inconveniences. During the months of March and April, the Emperor went out sometimes to call upon my wife, and sometimes he would sit upon a certain bench, which you know, about fifty paces from the house, and where he would stay half an hour or an hour. But means have been found to prevent him from doing that, and to oblige him to confine himself strictly to the house. They knew that this was not very difficult. A soldier of the 66th regiment was placed as gardener, and a serjeant had been stationed at my house. Both were very useful, either in rooting out weeds, which might poison the air, for no garden can exist in such a situation; or in repairing the house, which is in a ruinous state, and admits water whenever it rains. That arrangement appears very rational; but the Governor had invested these two soldiers with a right to stop whomsoever they thought proper, even at the doors and under the very windows of the Emperor. From that moment he has not stirred out of the house, and one hundred days have now elapsed since he has even put his head outside of a window.

This climate, this absolute want of exercise, added to the badness of the habitation, have affected his health to such a degree that you would not recognise him. Since the end of September, 1817, he has had the first symptoms of a chronic hepatitis, which, as you know, is mortal in this country. He had to attend on him the worthy O’Meara, in whom, you know, he has confidence; but, in the month of April, at the moment when he was most in want of his attention, Sir Hudson Lowe obliged him to tender his resignation, wishing to force the Emperor to have Baxter, whom you also know. The Emperor has refused to see any doctor; from the 10th April to the 10th May, he had none. At last, the Russian and Austrian Commissioners, indignant at this treatment, informed the Governor that, if the Emperor were to die under these circumstances, they themselves should not know what to say, should an opinion prevail in Europe that he had been murdered. This seems to have determined the Governor to reinstate the Doctor; but he has subjected him to every species of ill treatment. He attempted to get him expelled from the mess of the 66th regiment; and, as these brave officers refused to share in so arbitrary an act, he himself caused an order to be given to the Doctor, through the Colonel, to cease to dine with the officers of the 66th. He has written to London, and it is probable that O’Meara will be sent away. The Emperor will not, however, receive any other Doctor; and if the Prince Regent, or Lord Liverpool, do not take cognizance of the fact, he will die here of his disease, deprived of even the assistance of his physician. The Emperor has, however, been very ill for the last two months. He rises at eleven o’clock in the morning, and lies down again at two o’clock p. m. A few days ago, he experienced a very violent crisis, produced by the mercury which Dr. O’Meara administered to him for a liver complaint. Dr. O’Meara, alarmed at his responsibility, proposed to me to send for Mr. Baxter and the surgeon of the Conqueror; they are the two first medical men here. You know the dislike which the Emperor had to Mr. Baxter, founded upon his having been formerly Staff-surgeon of the Italian division commanded by Sir Hudson Lowe. That dislike has much encreased since, in consequence of his having lent himself,

from October, 1817, to March, 1818, to the production of bulletins filled with falsehoods, and which have deceived his Government and all Europe. But the Emperor did not see any inconvenience in O’Meara’s calling in Mr. Stokoe, although he did not much like it; and that gentleman consequently came to Longwood at three o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, but would not go into the Emperor’s apartment, fearing lest he should compromise his responsibility, and lose a situation obtained after forty years’ service. This appeared to me so extraordinary that I would not believe it. I therefore spoke to him, and he expressed his regret at not being able to comply with our wishes; for he is a very respectable man. His refusal is, however, easily explained; it proceeded from a hint that had been given to him, in the same manner as had been done to Cole, the banker, whom you know. Having some money matters to settle with him, I sent for him; but, on arriving at my house, he declared that he could not speak to me but in presence of the officer on duty, because he should be ruined if he did. Of course I refused. The same thing happened, a few days since, with a Mr. Fowler, arrived from England, with whom I had an account of a few hundred pounds to settle, for clothes ordered in London. It is true that you are not acquainted with the situation in which we are now placed, and which cannot be compared to what it was in your time. It was even then sufficiently unpleasant; and, knowing the Emperor as you do, you ought to have strenuously opposed the idea of any member of his family coming out hither. The spectacle of the humiliations, the vexations, and the hatred to which he is exposed, would be altogether unbearable for him, if his mother or any of his brothers were to share in it. Even to Count Montholon and myself, who are now the only two with him, he has often said that he wished us to quit St. Helena, to free ourselves from such a treatment, and to leave him alone; and that his agony would be less bitter if he did not see us share in it. You know that the officers had long since discontinued to come to my house; but, when we met them on the road, they would very politely stop and speak to my wife; this has now been forbidden to them, not in writing, it is true, but by hints; so that it has often happened that when they have seen us at a distance they have gone out of the road.

Things have come to such a pass that our dirty linen remains several days, to be examined by the Captain on duty, and sometimes by the Staff; a most indecent proceeding, and most dishonourable for them, but the object of which is to degrade and insult us.

In the month of June 1816, a store-ship brought out a marble bust of young Napoleon: Sir Hudson Lowe ordered the bust to be thrown into the sea. This he has since denied; but we have the fact judicially attested; for the act disgusted Lady Malcolm, who was still at St. Helena, as well as all the captains of store-ships that were on the island.

Since that time, in February last, the Cambridge store-ship brought out two prints of young Napoleon, which had been bought in London: Sir Hudson Lowe purchased them under pretence of presenting them to the Father, and when the officers heard, a month afterwards, that it was, on the contrary, to keep them from him, they could not contain their indignation that an Englishman should have been guilty of such conduct.

The British Government cannot be ignorant of all these proceedings. If what the Emperor said here to Lord Amherst has been repeated in London, if Captain Poppleton, whom you know, and who was the officer on duty during two years, has been questioned, if Colonel Nichols of the 66th regiment, and Colonel Fehrzen of the 53d regiment have been questioned, as well as many others, it must be known to what unworthy treatment we are exposed here.

If there be in Europe some enemies of the Emperor, who would have approved the conduct of the British Government if they had taken away Napoleon’s life, openly and publicly, on board of the Bellerophon, there is not one who will not some day cover with imprecations and opprobrium and disown those who adopt such cowardly means to attain that end.

How are we to reconcile all this with what you write to me? perhaps by the supposition of a correspondence filled with falsehoods, and artfully managed. However, we on our side have for the last two years complained openly and loudly; and the criminal conduct pursued here must be known in London,

You will be surprised to hear me speak of the French, Austrian, and Russian Commissioners who are here. We never saw them during the time you were with us, and to this day they have not yet seen the Emperor nor called upon us. But we have frequently met them on the roads within our limits, which is a way of seeing each other sufficiently ridiculous. Though the Emperor does not acknowledge them as Commissioners, he has never refused to receive them as strangers.

With respect to the Governor, the Emperor has not seen him since the month of April, 1816: you are aware of the reasons which induced him not to receive him, after the insults which the Governor had offered him.

This being the case, if Sir Hudson Lowe seeks to be revenged, such a proceeding, though inconsistent with a generous mind, can be easily explained. But how can Government have continued, during two years, to repose its confidence in a man who has so strangely abused it?

I therefore earnestly request you, in the Emperor’s name, to inform his family and relations of the situation in which he is placed; and peremptorily to require that none of them will encrease his sufferings by coming to share in them.

You tell us that the English Government has subscribed for us to the Morning Chronicle; but the same thing happens with this paper as with the Times; it is sent to us after those numbers which it is thought proper to conceal from us have been previously withdrawn. Thus we have had some numbers of February and some of March, but all those that it was their pleasure to withdraw have never been sent to us. Not to have a regular series of a newspaper is worse than to have none.

How could any book be sent to us, since, as soon as a store-ship comes out, the Governor immediately purchases all the books they have brought out, particularly French books, in order to prevent our buying them?

With respect to the pamphlets, which you announce as sent to us, we only received one box of them on the 12th March, from which we conclude that probably the remainder have been kept.

I have read this letter to the Emperor, who has approved of its contents, but has thought that I had very feebly expressed the baseness of the conduct observed towards him. He desires me to send you two notes written by himself, which will give you the whole of his opinion respecting the officer to whom the superintendence of this country has been intrusted. The calomel which the Emperor has taken has not hitherto had any beneficial effect on the liver, and has produced other ailments.

Accept, my dear Las Cases, the assurance of affectionate feelings which I entertain towards you.

COUNT BERTRAND.

P. S. During the few days that have elapsed since this letter was written, many things have happened which will prove to you that our situation, far from improving, as you seem to suppose, is daily growing worse.

You know that Captain Mackey of the 53d regiment, had been succeeded at Longwood, as officer on duty, by Captain Poppleton of the same regiment, and that Poppleton, at his departure, had been succeeded by Captain Blackeney of the 66th, who, like his predecessors, enjoyed a most excellent reputation in his regiment. This latter officer already thought, on the first days after his arrival, that the Governor required of him some acts unworthy of a man of honour; but as the number of those objectionable acts had greatly increased since that time, he at last ardently longed for the expiration of his year of service in that degrading post, in order to have nothing more to do with it. It is known that he declared confidentially to his friends in the regiment, that it was impossible for a man of honour to continue in that post without losing his own esteem. It may be also that Sir Hudson Lowe was not satisfied with the avowed sentiments of Captain Blackeney; be that as it may, on the 20th of this month, an officer who had been sent out to take the command of the militia, and whose former connexion with Sir Hudson Lowe is known to you, the only one out of the whole of the Governor’s staff whom the Emperor refused to see, came to instal himself as officer on duty, and with him, under various pretences, another officer, so that we had two instead of one. It appears that some rooms and articles belonging to Government, which had been given in common between the officer on duty and Doctor O’Meara, have occasioned some violent contentions between them.

On the 22nd I sent the protest marked A[41] to the Governor, who sent me a challenge by the officer alluded to. It was beneath my character and my situation to provoke Sir Hudson Lowe, but on this occasion I thought proper to address to him the letter marked B.[41]

On the 24th, he sent Dr. O’Meara away from Longwood, by virtue, he said, of an order from Lord Bathurst, as you will see by the Governor’s letter to Count Montholon, marked C.[41] to which Count Montholon answered by the letter marked D.[41]

Footnote 41:

See these letters in the following pages.

Doctor O’Meara, you know, was attached to the Emperor, instead of his own physician, by a decision of the Council, and in consequence of a special demand to that effect, addressed by me to Admiral Keith; he could not therefore be taken away from the Emperor, but by an order in Council. If such an order exists, why are we not made acquainted with it? Certainly neither the Council nor Lord Bathurst would have removed from the Emperor the physician of his own choice, without having previously supplied his place by another, in whom the Emperor had confidence; they would have felt the responsibility attached to such a step.

But if even there had been an order in Council, it would not justify the Governor; for that order, given under ordinary circumstances, could not be carried into execution at the moment when the Emperor was seriously indisposed. It never can have been intended that his physician should be taken from him amidst his attendance in the case of a disease of so serious a nature, and which threatens his existence; particularly as since the month of April it has been demanded that if it were intended to take Dr. O’Meara away from him, another physician should be sent out from Europe in his stead, in whom the Emperor has confidence. The answer to this demand must arrive before three months are elapsed.

I conclude, my dear Las Cases: my heart is broken.

BERTRAND.

FIRST NOTE, WRITTEN BY THE EMPEROR, ON THE BACK OF SIR
HUDSON LOWE’S LETTER, DATED 18th NOVEMBER, 1817.

This letter, and the letters dated 24th July and 26th October last, are filled with falsehoods. I have shut myself up in my apartment for eighteen months, in order to shelter myself from the insults of this officer. My health is now impaired, and will no longer allow me to read such disgusting documents; send me no more of them.

Whether that officer considers himself authorized by verbal and secret instructions from his minister, as he has given us to understand that he does, or whether he acts of his own accord, which might be inferred from the care which he takes to act with disguise, I cannot treat him but as my assassin.

Had they sent out to this country a man of honour, not only I should have experienced fewer vexations, but they would have saved themselves many reproaches from Europe and history, which the farrago of writing of this crafty man will not deceive.

NAPOLEON.

_Longwood_, 23d November, 1817.

SECOND NOTE, INSERTED IN THE MARGIN OF SIR THOMAS
READE’S LETTER TO COUNT BERTRAND, DATED 25th APRIL,
1818.

1.—I TOLD you yesterday, when you presented this letter to me, that I would not know its contents, and that you were not to translate it to me, since it is not conformable to the forms adopted for the last three years.

2.—This fresh insult only dishonours that coxcomb. The King of England alone can treat with me on a footing of equality.

3.—This crafty line of conduct has however an object: to prevent you from disclosing _the criminal plot which has been carried on for the last two years against my life_.

4.—It is thus that, while they appear to open a channel for complaints, they in fact close every avenue.

5.—Thus, with the appearance of a wish to provide me with a house, and after announcing a building for the last three years, I am however still in this unhealthy barn, and no building is begun.

6.—It is thus that, whilst it appears that I am at liberty to ride on horseback, indirect means are resorted to to prevent me from doing so and from taking exercise; the want of which is the primary cause of my complaint.

7.—The same means are resorted to, to prevent me from receiving any visit. It is necessary for them to veil themselves in darkness.

8.—It is thus that, after having attacked my physician, after having obliged him to tender his resignation, not wishing to be a passive instrument and deprived of all moral independence, he is nevertheless kept under arrest at Longwood, in order that it may be believed that I have the benefit of his attendance, when it is well known that I will not see him, that I have not seen him for the last fortnight, that I never will see him as long as he is not set at liberty, and freed from the oppression under which he is placed, and until he has regained his moral independence in what concerns the exercise of his functions.

9.—It is thus that a false representation is made by causing bulletins to be issued by a physician who has never seen me, and does not know the state in which I am, nor the disease with which I am affected; but that does very well to deceive the Prince and the people of England and Europe.

10.—A ferocious joy is manifested at the aggravation of sufferings which this privation of medical assistance adds to my protracted agony.

11.—Demand that this note be sent to Lord Liverpool, as also your letter of yesterday, and of 13th and 14th April, in order that the Prince Regent may know my murderer, and may cause him to be brought to public punishment.

12.—If he does not, _I bequeath the opprobrium of my death_ to the reigning House of England.

NAPOLEON.

_Longwood, 27th April, 1818._

Document A. PROTEST ADDRESSED TO THE GOVERNOR, ON
THE 22d JULY, 1818.

In the name of the Emperor Napoleon, I am enjoined to protest,

1.—Against all violation of our enclosure by servants, workmen or others, whom you would secretly invest with public authority.

2.—Against the insults offered to Dr. O’Meara to compel him to leave this place, and against the obstructions, either public or secret, which you have opposed or may oppose to Napoleon’s being assisted in his illness by the advice of some medical officer in whom he may have confidence, who may be accredited in the service of his Britannic Majesty, or known to practise publicly in the island.

3.—Against all testimonies, reports and writings of the militia officer Hyster, who is only placed at Longwood to be an instrument of hatred and vengeance.

COUNT BERTRAND.

Document B. TO THE GOVERNOR, SIR HUDSON LOWE.

_Longwood, 23d July, 1818._

SIR,—I have the honour to transmit to you a letter which I have just received. The old man appears to me to be out of his senses. He can have no knowledge of my official correspondence but by your orders. I have not answered him, and shall not do so. He is only a subordinate agent, and if his principal, a general officer, wishes to demand satisfaction of me, I am ready to grant it.

I have the honour to be,

COUNT BERTRAND.

Document C. THE GOVERNOR TO COUNT MONTHOLON.

_Plantation House, 25th July, 1818._

SIR,—I do myself the honour to state to you, for the information of Napoleon Bonaparte, that agreeably to the instructions which I have received from Lord Bathurst, dated 16th May, 1818, I am directed to remove Mr. O’Meara from his situation near the person of Napoleon Bonaparte, and that I have accordingly given orders for him to leave Longwood immediately. Rear Admiral Plampin has received, at the same time, instructions from the Lords of the Admiralty to remove him from this island. Lord Bathurst’s instructions further direct that, after Mr. O’Meara’s departure, I am to order Dr. Baxter to attend upon Napoleon Bonaparte, as physician, whenever he is requested to do so; and that I am to inform him that he is to consider the health of Napoleon Bonaparte as the chief object of his attention. On communicating this arrangement, I am strictly enjoined to state, at the same time, that if Napoleon Bonaparte has any reason not to be satisfied with the medical attendance of Dr. Baxter, or if he prefers any other physician of this Island, I am quite ready to acquiesce in his wishes in that respect, and to allow any other medical practitioner whom he may select to attend upon him, provided he strictly conform to the rules established and now in force.

Having given Dr. O’Meara the orders for his departure, I have furnished Mr. Baxter with the necessary instructions, and he will be ready to repair to Longwood at the first summons. In the meantime, until I am informed of the wishes of Napoleon Bonaparte on this subject, I shall order a medical officer to be stationed at Longwood, to be ready in case of emergency.

I have the honour to be, &c.

HUDSON LOWE, Lieut.-Gen.

Document D. COUNT MONTHOLON TO THE GOVERNOR.

SIR,—Dr. O’Meara quitted Longwood yesterday, being compelled to leave his patient in the midst of the course of medicine which he was prescribing for him; that course has ceased this morning. From this morning a great crime is in progress!!! Nothing remains to be added to Count Bertrand’s letters of the 13th, 24th, 26th and 27th April last. The Emperor will never receive any other physician than Mr. O’Meara, because he is the physician attached to him, or than the one who may be sent from Europe to him, in conformity with the letter of the 13th of August, which has been already mentioned.

I have communicated the letter you addressed to me yesterday. What I have now the honour of writing to you is the substance of the reply I have been desired to transmit.

I have, &c.

COUNT MONTHOLON.

LETTER OF COUNT BERTRAND TO HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL
FESCH.[42]

Footnote 42:

We have thought it right to insert here this letter, because it
affords additional details respecting the interior of Longwood, and
adds new features to all that has been said of its real situation.

MY LORD,—The Sieur Cypriani, the Emperor’s steward, died at Longwood, on the 27th of February last, at four in the afternoon. He was interred in the Protestant burial-ground of this island, and the ministers of their church have observed on this occasion the same rites that they would have performed for one of their own persuasion. Care has been taken that, in the extract from the register of deaths which I shall send to you, though this paragraph of my letter might answer the purpose, it should be stated that he died in the bosom of the Roman Catholic church. The minister of the church of this country would willingly have attended the deceased on his death-bed; but the latter was anxious for a Catholic priest; and, as we have none, he appeared to have no wish to see a clergyman of any other religion. I should be glad if you would let us know what is the law of the Catholic church upon this point, and whether a Catholic on his death-bed may be attended by a minister of the church of England. We cannot, however, sufficiently praise the proper feeling and the zeal which were evinced on the present occasion by the clergy of the island. Cypriani died of an inflammation in the bowels. He expired on a Friday, and had attended his duties on the preceding Sunday without having any presentiment of his approaching end. A child of one of Count Montholon’s servants had died at Longwood a few days before. A waiting-woman died some days ago of the same complaint. Such is the effect of this unhealthy climate, in which few live to old age. Liver complaints, dysentery, and inflammations in the bowels, carry off many of the natives, but a still greater number of Europeans. We felt upon this occasion, as we feel every day, the want of a minister of our own persuasion. As you are our bishop, we wish you would send us out one, either a Frenchman or an Italian. You will, in that case, select a man of education, under forty years of age, and especially of a mild disposition, and not imbued with antigallican principles.

The steward’s duty has devolved upon Mr. Pierron, of the household, but he has been very ill; and, though convalescent, is still in a bad state of health. The cook is in a similar condition. It would be, therefore, necessary that either you, or Prince Eugene, or the Empress, should send out a steward and a French or an Italian cook, taken from amongst those who have been in the Emperor’s service, or who may still be in the service of his family.

Your Eminence will find annexed: 1.—The papers found in M. Cypriani’s portfolio; 2.—A brooch which he was in the habit of wearing, and which I have thought it right to send home for his wife; 3.—An account of all that is coming to him, amounting to 8,287 francs, or 345_l._ 5_s._ 10_d._ sterling; 4.—A bill of exchange in favour of his heirs, for the settlement of that account. The Emperor, knowing that his son is under your care, and that his daughter is with Madame, only delays securing an annuity to both his children, until he shall have been informed of the fortune left by Cypriani, who appears to have funds in Genoa to a rather considerable amount.

I will not afflict you by dwelling upon the state of the Emperor’s health, which is not satisfactory. It has not, however, become worse since the hot weather. I hope you will keep these details concealed from Madame. Give no credit to the false reports that may be circulated in Europe. Consider as the only fact that may be relied on that for these twenty-two months past the Emperor has only quitted his apartment occasionally, though very seldom, in order to pay a visit to my wife. He has hardly seen any one, unless it be two or three Frenchmen who are here, and the English Ambassador to China.

I beg that your Eminence will present my respects to Madame, and to the individuals of her family, and accept the homage of the sentiments with which I have the honour to be, &c.

COUNT BERTRAND.

FIRST LETTER OF THE COUNT DE LAS CASES TO GENERAL
COUNT BERTRAND.[43]

I am going to devote to you the first moment that I can command. It is now upwards of a year since I quitted Longwood; and during that time, what troubles, what cares, what misfortunes of every kind have I not had to contend with!!! I leave it to the newspapers to give you an account of my tribulations. I shall avoid in my letters every expression, every subject, that might afford a pretext for their being withheld from you. I will promote, by all means in my power, the only object I have in view, which is that you should receive from me the proofs of a devotedness that will occupy every instant of the remainder of my life. I have but too present to my mind the consolation and happiness that I derived, when in your company, from European recollections, not to give all my attention to the object of procuring you that kind of consolation: Oh, my dear companions! who will henceforth engross my thoughts of every day, and of every moment! I am, therefore, writing to you on the first instant of freedom that I enjoy from personal restraint; and regularly every month, on the same day, I shall at least give you this token of my incessant anxiety for you. Obstacles, perhaps, over which I shall have no control, may prevent your receiving my letters; but, as far as regards me, death alone can make me fail in my promise; and here I appeal to the feelings of those who, being intrusted with the censorship of my letters, might fancy that they found in their expressions some motives for intercepting them. I beseech them to let me know of any involuntary deviations on my part that might appear reprehensible to them, in order that I may avoid them for the future. The necessity and the consolation of domestic sentiments cannot be prohibited by public morality: and such are the only sentiments which I shall endeavour to gratify in writing to you.

I have just obtained in Austria the asylum which I demanded, as soon as I found that my liberty was in danger. I shall repair to Lintz so soon as the wretched state of my health will allow me to undertake the journey. The headaches which first attacked me at the Cape are daily encreasing in violence, and give me much uneasiness. I shall avail myself of the free intercourse which is henceforth allowed me, in order to procure some exact information respecting all those that may be dear to you. To-day I can only give you such information as I have been able to collect indirectly.

My wife, who, by the greatest good fortune, was refused permission to go out to St. Helena, at the very moment when I was leaving it, and who came to meet me upon the road, where I was carried about like a bale of goods, is now on her return to Paris, whence she will bring back the rest of my children. She will enable me to afford you some details in my next letter concerning your family, and those of Montholon and of Gourgaud.

I have been able to ascertain that H.M. Maria Louisa enjoyed excellent health in Parma, and that nothing can exceed the health and beauty of her son, who is at Schœnbrunn. The Countess de Survilliers is detained here by the very infirm state of her health; she occasionally receives news from her husband, who is quite well, in America. Both her daughters are also well. The eldest bears a striking resemblance to the august head of the family. Princess Borghese, Madame, the Emperor’s mother, Prince Canino, Cardinal Fesch, and Prince Louis, are at Rome, and in the enjoyment of excellent health; the remainder of the family, Princess Eliza, Count de Montfort, and Princess Murat, reside in various parts of Austria. I hope that in time I shall be able to send you more direct and positive details. I feel the most bitter regret that I was not able to land and fix my abode in England. I am deprived of the means of procuring and sending immediately whatever I might have thought calculated to afford you some trifling diversion upon your horrible rock. This is a religious duty imposed upon me, which I have solicited, and shall continue every day to solicit, the British Ministers to allow me to fulfil. My constant endeavours to persuade them upon that point will not allow me to despair of success. Nevertheless, however far I may be from the spot, I shall not fail to attain so sacred an object by the assistance of some intermediate person; only you will receive the results of my cares and of my efforts in a less complete manner, and at a later period.

Be careful all of you of your health; live for the consolation, the affection, the happiness, and the wishes of those who admire and love you.

I received, upon my arrival at Dover, a letter from you, dated the 22d July, and one of the 29th from Sir Hudson Lowe. They acquainted me with what was unknown to me until then, that you had received the few articles I had sent to Longwood from the Cape; that you had received the document which was handed to me by you, and which I had returned, respecting the money which at my departure I had presumed to lay at the feet of the Emperor, and of which I was so happy as to procure the acceptance. Sir Hudson Lowe informs me that all the bills relating to this affair, which I had left in your hands, have been negotiated. I hope they have been duly honoured. I know not yet myself the state of my affairs. I have not yet had it in my power to write a single line to my agent in London, or to receive any news from him.

I regret much that T have not in my power, and at my command, the narrative of the campaigns of Italy. That distant epoch, already removed from the politics of the present day, possesses henceforth all the merit of history. It is anxiously wished for. Science and the contemporaries of that period claim it. I should deem myself fortunate if that work were confided to my care; and in case you should procure that favour for me, I shall instantly take the means of availing myself of it without delay, by at once inquiring in London, what are the previous formalities that would be required, both in England and at St. Helena, in order that I might receive that manuscript. I shall request that the reply to me may be likewise transmitted to Sir H. Lowe, in order that you may judge whether there would be no objection on your part to do what might be required of you.

Write to me dear General, in your turn, by every opportunity; give me all the commissions that may occur to your mind, whether serious or trifling, easy or difficult, it matters not. Be persuaded, and constantly bear in mind, that I live only for you and through you all. My body alone has left your rock.

COUNT DE LAS CASES.

Footnote 43:

It has been thought necessary to introduce here the following
letters of Count de Las Cases; 1.—Because they are alluded to in the
preceding letter from Count Bertrand, and help to complete the sense
and understanding of it; 2.—Because they evince the candour and good
faith with which this correspondence with Longwood was carried on;
3.—In short, because they enable the reader to give its due value to
the extraordinary assertion of Mr. Goulburn, who, whilst he received
these letters, and acknowledged with courtesy the receipt of them,
nevertheless ventured to affirm in the House of Commons, on a
certain occasion, that the author’s expressions were always clothed
in language admitting of a twofold interpretation. How can a man of
candour, such as the person to whom the aforesaid letters were
addressed, who had received, and must have read my letter to Lord
Bathurst particularly, take upon himself to assert that the author’s
expressions were always given in language that admitted of a double
interpretation? Surely, Mr. Goulburn must be very fastidious in
point of explicit and positive meaning, or else he does not
understand French. But has he read? Has he misunderstood? Did he
wish to misunderstand, and, in imitation of Lord Bathurst, may he
not, like his noble patron, on the occasion of his famous denials to
Lord Holland in the House of Peers, have founded his arguments not
upon what really existed, but upon what appeared to his advantage?
The communication of these letters is made chiefly from the
necessity of enabling every one to judge of the degree of credit
which is due to Mr. Goulburn’s assertion. That they were not
intended to be made public is sufficiently evident from the careless
and unaffected style in which they are written.

SECOND LETTER OF COUNT DE LAS CASES TO GENERAL
COUNT BERTRAND.

_Frankfort, 26 Jan., 1818._

Faithful to my promise, I write to you after the lapse of one month, and on the same day on which my first letter was dated. I have at heart to record the identical date, so that you may depend upon its never being passed over without my addressing you. Some passages, however, in my letter may perhaps be written subsequently to its date, owing to the silence of Madame de Las Cases, whose letters I was in daily expectation of receiving from Paris. It is now about a month since she left me. She proposed calling upon all your relations, and upon those of Generals Gourgaud and Montholon. She was to send me the most circumstantial details respecting them. To my great surprise, I have not heard from her, and as I do not wish to delay any longer writing to you, I am under the necessity of postponing till next month all the particulars, which I am quite certain she will have collected with as much zeal and as much care as I could have done myself.

I have the satisfaction to know that my first letter has been forwarded to you: I had enclosed it in one to Mr. Goulburn; his answer has just reached me. I acknowledge with real pleasure that it is filled with expressions of kind consideration, and is in all respects satisfactory; this leads me to hope that what had hitherto taken place proceeded from mutual misunderstanding.

He assures me of the readiness that will exist at all times to forward my letters to you, so long as they shall be of the same nature as the first, and not liable to any greater objections. He adds that, conformably to my request, the books and pamphlets I may point out will be sent to you. He offers to procure them, and to superintend himself their regular transmission, taking care to remit to me from time to time a note of their cost, in order that I may settle the amount. He informs me that in case the Emperor shall think proper to confide to me the _Campaigns in Italy_, Sir Hudson Lowe is forthwith to receive instructions to transmit it to England, whence it will be forwarded and delivered to me in the manner that may be desired at Longwood, after taking such cognizance of it as may be deemed necessary. Lastly, he apprizes me that my papers which were seized in the Thames had been instantly sent back to me unopened; and that if I had not yet received them, which is still the case, accident alone could have occasioned the delay.

I am therefore in hopes that you will receive some publications with this very letter. I am unfortunately at a great distance and unpleasantly situated for selecting them, and for procuring them while new; but I will immediately write to London to remedy this inconvenience. I likewise hope that by the same opportunity I may be able to send you many things of which you stand in need, or that may prove acceptable to you, and others that may be of essential service to the Emperor’s health.

Her Majesty Maria Louisa is quite well, and still resides in Parma. Her son, from a late account given by a person who had seen him at a juvenile ball, is remarkably handsome, and is the delight of all Vienna. Such were the expressions used. He dances admirably, and is passionately fond of that amusement.

All the members of the Emperor’s family have evinced the kindest and most affectionate interest towards me. They have loaded me with offers and good wishes. I shall fortunately have it in my power to afford you regular accounts of them every month.