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FREDERICK SHELDON PARKER B.A.LLB.
YALE 1873
TO THE
YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY1
1918

MEMORIAL DE SAINTE HELENE.

JOURNAL OF THE
PRIVATE LIFE
AND
CONVERSATIONS OF THE
EMPEROR NAPOLEON
AT SAINT HELENA.
BY
THE COUNT DE LAS CASES.

VOL. III.
PART THE FIFTH.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN AND CO.
1823.

B. Bensley,
Bolt Court, Fleet Street.

CONTENTS OF
THE FIFTH PART.

Page
The Bill respecting our Exile — Beaumarchais — Account of
the Works of Cherbourg  ]
Long audience given to the Governor — Remote Conversa
tion  16
On the beautiful Women of Italy — Madame Grassini —
Madame V  ; — and Berthier  19
Faubourg Saint Germain — Aristocracy ; Democracy — The
Emperor's Intention to marry a French Woman  23
Our Establishment on Fire — Etiquette at Longwood .... 29
Establishments for Mendicity in France — Napoleon's Pro
jects on Illyria — Hospitals — The Foundling — Prisoners
of State — Ideas of the Emperor  Sl
Egypt — Saint- Jean d'Acre — The Desert — Anecdotes, &c. 58
Paternal Advice — Remarkable Conversation— Cagliostro ;
Mesmer, Gall, Lavater, &c  64
Singular Accumulation of Contrarieties, &c. &c  70
Madame de B  — Details, &c. — Anecdotes respecting
the Emigrants  73
The Emperor receives Letters from his Family — Conversa
tion with the Admiral — The Commissioners of the Allied
Powers  76
Fresh Instance of the Governor's Malignity, &c. — Des
perate Project of Santini, the Corsican  82
La Harpe's Melanie — Nuns — Convents — Monks of La
Trappe — The French Clergy  86
Marie Antoinette — The Manners of Versailles — Anecdote
— Beverley — Diderot's Pere de Familie  91
Historical Sketph of the Emigration to Coblentz — Anec
dotes, &c  94
Napoleon's Sentimental Journey — Public Spirit of the
Time— Events of the 10th of August  139
Masked Balls — Madame de Megrigny — Piedmont and the
Piedmontese — Canals of France — Dreams on Paris —
Versailles — Fontainebleau, &c  145
Plan of a History of Europe — Selim III. — Forces of a
Turkish Sultan — The Mamelukes— On the Regency.. 161
Campaigns of Italy, &c. — Epoch of 1815, &c. — Gustavus
III.— Gustavus IV.— Bemadottc — Paul 1  165
Napoleon's Patrimonial Vine, &c. — His Nurse — His Pa-
t ternal Roof — Tears of Josephine, during Wurmser's
Skirmishes in the Environs of Mantua  179

IV CONTENTS. Page
The Emperor Bishop, &c. — Had never suffered in his
Stomach  185
Campaign of 1809, &e. &c  186
On the War with Russia — Fatalities, &c. — M. de Talley
rand, &c. — The Corinna of Madame de Stael. — M.
Necker, &c  188
Shooting Party at St. Helena, &c — Eve of the 15th of
August, &c  1 95
The Emperor's Birth-Day  197
Polytechnic . School suppressed, &c. — Indecency of the
English Journals — Ice Machine  ib.
Religious- Ideas of Napoleon — Bishop of Nantez (de
Voisin) — The Pope — Liberties of the Gallican Church
— Anecdotes — Concordat of Fontainebleau  199
Warm Conversation with the Governor, in the Admiral's
Presence  219
The Conversation with the Governor again noticed, &c. —
Effect .of. the Libels against Napoleon — Treaty of Fon
tainebleau — The Work of General S  n  224
The Baroness de S . . . ., &c  230
Corvisard-r— Anecdotes of the Saloons of Paris  233
The Emperor continues ill — Remarkable Official Docu
ment, addressed to Sir Hudson Lowe  239
Official Document  241
My English Family — Just Debt of Gratitude to the Eng
lish on the part of the Emigrants, &c. — General Jou-
bert — Petersburg — Moscow; the Fire— Projects of
Napoleon, had he returned victorious .  254
On the Coronation, &c. — Decrees of Berlin and Milan —
The Grand Cause of the Hatred of the English  281
Account of the Campaign of Waterloo, dictated by Napo
leon  268
INDEX  311

MY RESIDENCE

WITH

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON
AT ST. HELENA.

The Bill respecting our Exile. — Beaumarchais. — Account of
ihe Works of Cherbourg.
July 15, 1816. About ten o'clock, the Emperor
entered my apartment ; he came unawares, as he
wished to take a walk. I followed him, and he
walked for some time towards the wood, where
we were taken up by the calash. A considerable
interval had elapsed since he made use of it. I
was the only person with him, and the bill, which
related to him, and with the nature of which we
were unacquainted, was, during the whole time,
the subject of our conversation 

Upon our return, the Emperor, after some he
sitation, whether he should breakfast under the
trees, determined to go in, and remained at home
the whole of the day. He dined alone.
Vol. III. Part V. b

3 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
He sent for me after dinner ; I found him en
gaged in reading some Mercuries or old journals.
They supplied various anecdotes and circum
stances respecting Beaumarchais, whom the Em
peror, during his consulate, had, notwithstanding
all his wit, uniformly discountenanced, on ac
count of his bad character and his gross immo
rality. The difference of manners imparted a
poignancy to the anecdotes, although the differ
ence of times was so trifling. He found an account
of Louis the Sixteenth's visit to Cherbourg, on
which he dwelt for some time. He next adverted
to the works of Cherbourg, and took a rapid re
view of them, with the clearness, precision, and
lively manner that characterized every thing he
said. Cherbourg is situated at the bottom of a semi
circular bay, the two extremities of which are the
the isle Pel£e oil the right, and the point Quer-
queville on the left. The line, by which these
two points are connected, forms the chord or the
diameter, and runs East and West.
Opposite, to the North, and at a very small
distance, about 20 leagues, is the celebrated
Portsmouth, the grand arsenal of the English.
The remainder of their coast runs nearly parallel
opposite to ours. Nature has done every thing
for our rivals ; nothing for us. Their shores are
safe and every day freed from obstruction. They
abound in good soundings, iu the means of shel-

i<3|.6.] THE EMPEROR NAPOJLEON. j
ter, in harbours and excellent ports ; ours are, on
the contrary, filled with rocks, their water is shal
low, and they are every day choaking up. "We
have not in these parts a single real port of large
dimensions, and it might be said, that the Eng
lish are, at the same moment, both at home and
on our coast, since it is not requisite for their
squadrons, at anchor in Portsmouth, to put to sea
to molest us, A few light vessels are sufficient
to convey intelligence of our movements, and, in
an instant, without trouble and danger, they are
ready to seize upon their prey.
If, on the contrary, our squadrons are daring
enough to appear in the British Channel, which
ought, in reality, to be called the French sea
only, they are exposed to perpetual danger; their
total destruction may be effected by the hurri
canes or the enemy's superiority, because in both
these cases there is no shelter for them. This is
what happened at the famous battle of La Hogue,
where Tourville might have been enabled to unite
the glory of a skilful retreat with that of a hard*
fought and so unequal a contest, had there been
a port for him to take shelter in.
In that state of things, men of great sagacity
and attached to the good of their country, pre*
vailed upon government, by dint of projects and,
memorials, to seek, by the assistance of art, for
those resources of which we had been deprived
by nature; and after a great deal of hesitation,

4 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
the bay of Cherbourg was selected, and was to
be suited to the design by the means of an im
mense dike, projecting into the sea. In that way,
we were to acquire, even close to the enemy, an
artificial road, whence our ships might be en
abled, in all times and weather, to attack his, and
where they might escape from their pursuit.
" It was," said the Emperor, " a magnificent
" and glorious undertaking, very difficult with
" respect to the execution and to the finances of
"that period. The dike was to be formed by
"immense cones constructed empty in the port
" and towed afterwards to the spot, where they
" ~were sunk by the weight of the stones with which
"they were filled.*"" There certainly was great
"ingenuity i» the invention. Louis XVI. ho-
"noured these operations with his presence. His
" departure from Versailles was a great event.
" In those times, a king never left his residence,
" his excursions did not extend beyond the limits
" of a hunting party ; they did not hurry about
" as at present, arid I really believe, that I con-
" tributed not a little to the rapidity of their
" movements. " However, as it was absolutely necessary,
" that things should be impressed with the cha-
" Tacter of the age, the eternal rivalry between
" the land and sea, that question which can never
* The diameter of these cones, which were 60 feet high, was
104 feet at the base, and 60 at the top.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEOX. 5
" be decided, continued to be carried on. It
" might have been said in that respect, that there
" were two kings in France, or that he, who
" reigned, had two interests, and ought to have
" two wills, which proved rather, that he had
" none at all. Here the sea was the only subject
" for consideration, yet the question was decided
" in favour of the land, not by superiority of ar-
" gument, but by priority of right. Where the
" fate of the empire was at stake, a point of pre-
" cedence was substituted, and thus the grand
" object, the magnificent enterprize, failed of suc-
" cess. The land-party established itself at the
" isle Pelee and at fort Querqueville ; it was em-
" ployed there merely to lend an auxiliary hand
" to the construction of the dike, which was itself
" the chief object ; but instead of that, it began by
" establishing its own predominance, and after-
" ward.? compelled the dike to become the instru-
" ment of its convenience, and subservient to its
" plans and discretion. What was the result?.
" The harbour, that was forming and which ought
" to contain the mass of our navy, whether de-
" signed to strike at the heart of the enemy's
" power, or to take occasional shelter, could only
" accommodate fifteen sail at most, witle we
" wanted anchorage for more than a hundred,
" which might have been effected without more
'.' labour and with little more expense, had the
" works been carried more forward into the sea*

« MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
" merely beyond the limits, which the land-party
" had appropriated to itself.
" Another blunder highly characteristic and
*** scarcely conceivable took place. All the prin-
" cipal measures for completing the harbour were
*' fixed upon; the dike commenced; one of the
'* channels, that to the eastward, finished, and
'* the other to the westward was on the point of
" being formed, without an exact and precise
fi knowledge of all the soundings. This over-
" sight was so great, that the channel already
r' formed, that to the eastward, five hundred
" fathoms broad, having been extended too closely
" to the fort, did not, without inconvenience, ad-
" mit of vessels at low water, and that the other
" which was about to be constructed to the west-
" Ward would, have been impracticable, or at
" least very dangerous, but for the individual
'** zeal of one officer (M. de Chavagnac), who
" made that important discovery in time, and
" caused the works on the left extremity of the
" dike to be stopped at the distance of twelve
" hundred fathoms from QuerqueviHe fort, by
*' which it was to be defended. This seems to
" me, and is, in fact, too great a distance.*
* It was not until 1789, five years after the commencement
of these works, tliat orders were given by government for tak
ing the soundings of the harbour and ascertaining the state of
the bottom. Up to that time, the works had been carried on
solely on •* ague and imperfect, notions ! ! (M^moire du Baron Ca*
chin, inspecteur ge*ne>al des pouts et chaussies.)

ISIS.] flit EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 7
"¦ The system adopted in the works of the dike,
" which is more than a league from the shore,
" and more than 1900 fathoms long by 90 feet
" broad, was also liable to numerous changes,
*' suggested, however, by experience. The cones,
" which, according to the established principle,
" ought to have touched each other in their bases,
" were, in that respect, either separated by acci-
" dent or with a view of economy. They were
" damaged by storms, eaten by worms, or they
" rotted with age. They were at length altoge-
" ther neglected, with the exception of stones
" thrown at random into the sea, and when it
" was observed, that these were scattered by the
" rolling of the waves, recourse was had to enor-
" mous blocks, which finally answered every ex-
*' pectation. " The works were continued, without interrup-
•" tion, under Louis XVI. An encreased degree
*" of activity was imparted to them by our Iegis-
" lative assemblies ; but in consequence of the
" commotions, which soon followed, they were
**• completely abandoned, and at the time of the
" Consulate, there was not a trace of that famous
" dike to be seen. Every thing had been de-
** stroyed for several feet under low water level,
** by the original imperfection of the plan, by the
'¦" length of time and the violence of the waves.
" The moment, however, I took the helm of
<¥ affairs, one of my first employments was to

8 MV RESIDENCE WITH .[July,
" turn my attention to so important a point. I
" ordered commissions of inquiry, I had the sub-
" ject discussed in my presence, I made myself
" acquainted with the local circumstances, and
" I decided, that the dike should be run up with
" all possible means and expedition, and that
" two solid fortifications should, in the course of
" time, be constructed at the two extremities;
." but that measures should be immediately taken
" for the establishment of a considerable provi-
" sional battery. I had then to encounter, on all
.*" sides, the inconveniencies, the objections, the
" particular views, the fondness which attaches
" itself to individual opinions, &c. &c. Several
" maintained,- that the thing certainly could not
" be done ; I continued steady, I insisted, I
" commanded, and the thing was done. In less
" than two years, a real island was seen to rise,
"as it were by magic, from the sea, on which
" was erected a battery of large calibre. Until
" that moment, our labours had almost constantly
" been the sport of the English; they had, they
" said, been convinced from their origin, that
" they would prove fruitless ; they had foretold,
" that the cones would destroy themselves, that
" the small stones would be swept away by the
" waves, and above all, they relied upon our
" lassitude and our inconstancy. But here things
• " were completely altered* and they made a shew
.?* qf molesting our operations ; they were, how-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. .9
"ever, too late; I was already prepared for
" them. The western channel naturally conti-
" nued very wide, and the two extreme fortifica-
" tions, which defended, each its peculiar passage,
" being incapable of maintaining a cross-fire, it
" was probable, that an enterprising enemy might
" be enabled to force the western channel, come
" himself to an anchor within the dike, and there
" renew the defeat of Aboukir. But I had al-
" ready guarded against this with my central
" provisional battery. However, as I am for per-
" manent establishments, I ordered within the
" dike, in the centre, by way of support, and
" which in its turn might serve as an envelope,
" an enormous elliptical pie to be constructed,
" commanding the central battery, and mounted
¦'" itself in two casemated tiers, bomb proof, with
" 50 pieces of large calibre and 20 mortars of an
" extensive range, as well as barracks, powder-
^" magazine, cistern, Sec. &c.
" I have the satisfaction of having left this noble
" work in a finished state.
" Having provided for the defensive, my only
" business was to prepare offensive measures,
" which consisted in the means of collecting the
" mass of our fleets at Cherbourg. The harbour,
" however, could contain but fifteen sail. For
" the purpose of increasing the number, I caused
" a new port to be dug ; the Romans never un-
" dertook a more important, a more difficult task,

10 MT RESIDENCE WITH [July,
" or one which promised a more lasting dura-
" tion ! It was sunk into the granite to the depth
" of 50 feet, and I caused the opening of it to be
" celebrated by the presence of Maria Louisa,
" while I myself was on the fields of battle in
" Saxony. By this means 1 procured anchorage
" for 25 sail more. Still that number was not
" sufficient, and I therefore relied upon very dif-
" ferent means of augmenting my naval strength.
*' I was resolved to renew the wonders of Egypt
" at Cherbourg. I had already erected my py-
" ramid in the sea; I would have also had my
" lake Mceris. My great object was to be enabled
" to concentrate all our maritime force, and in
"'time, it would have been immense and ade-
" quate to strike a fatal blow against the enemy.
" I was preparing my scene of action in such a
'"way, that the two nations, in their totality,
" might have been enabled to grapple with each
" other, man to man, and the issue could not be
" doubtful, for We would have been more than
" 40 millions of French against 15 millions of
" English. I should have wound up the war,
*' with a battle of Actium, and afterwards what
" did I want of England ? Her destruction ? Cer-
" tainly not. 1 merely wanted the end of an
." intolerable usurpation, the enjoyment of impre-
'* scriptible and sacred rights, the deliverance,
". the liberty of the seas, the independence, the
?* honour of flags. 1 was speaking in the name

1S16.1 THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 11
" of all and for all, and I should have succeeded
" by concession or by force. I had, on my side,
" power, indisputable right, the wishes of na-
" tions," &c. &c.
I have reasons for believing, that the Emperor,
disgusted with the losses', occasioned by partial
attempts at sea, and enlightened by fatal ex
perience, had adopted a new system of maritime
war. The war between England and France had in
sensibly assumed the aspect of a real struggle for
life or death. The irritation of all the English
against Napoleon was raised to the highest de
gree. His Berlin and Milan decrees, his conti
nental system and offensive expressions had
shocked all minds on the other side of the chan
nel, while the ministers, by their libels, fabrica
tions, and all imaginable means, had succeeded
in exciting every passion to render the quarrel
altogether national. On this ground, it was de
clared in full parliament, that the war was ptr-
petual or at least for life. The Emperor thought
it his duty to shape his plans in conformity to
that state of things, and from that instant, as
much from calculation as from necessity, he gave
Up all kind of cruizing, distant enterprizes, and
hazardous- attempts. He determined upon a strict
defensive system, until" his continental affairs
Should be finally settled, and the accumulation of
his maritime force should allow him to strike, with

12 JIY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
certainty, at a later period. He, therefore, re
tained the whole of his shipping in port, and conr
fined himself to the gradual augmentation of our
naval resources, without exposing them to any
further risk. Every thing was calculated on the
basis of a remote result.
Our navy had lost a great number of vessels,
the greatest part of our good seamen were prison
ers in England, and all our ports were blockaded by
the English, who straitened their communications.
The Emperor ordered canals to be constructed in
Britanny, by the means of which and in spite of
the enemy, points of communication for provid
ing Brest with all kinds of supplies were esta
blished between Bordeaux, Rochefort, Nantes,
Holland, Antwerp, Cherbourg, and that port. He
was desirous of having wet docks at Flushing or
in its neighbourhood, for the purpose of contain
ing the Antwerp squadron, completely equipped
and ready to put to sea in four-and-twenty hours,
which was necessarily confined in the Scheldt,
four or five months of the year. Finally, he pro
jected near Boulogne, or on some spot along that
coast, the construction of a dike similar to that of
Cherbourg, and a harbour between Cherbourg
and Brest, suitable to the Ile-k-Bois. All this was
planned, for the purpose of securing, at all times
and without danger, a full and free communica
tion to our ships from Antwerp as far as Brest.
To obviate the want of seamen, arid the great dif-

1816\*] THE EMPEROR NaP0LE6n. \H
ficulty of forming them, it was ordered, that the
young conscripts should be, every day, trained in
all our ports . They were, at first, to be put on board
of small light vessels, and a flotilla of that kind was
even to nayigate the Zuiderzee ; they were after
wards to be turned over to large ships and imme
diately replaced by others of the same class. The
vessels were ordered to get under sail every day,
to go through every possible manoeuvre and evo
lution, and even to exchange shots with . the
enemy, without exposing themselves to the
chance of an engagement.
The last point was the force and number of our
vessels ; they were considerable notwithstanding
all our losses, and the Emperor calculated on
being enabled to build 20 or 25 yearly. The
crews would be ready as fast as they were want
ed, and thus, at the expiration of four or six
years, he could have relied upon having 200 sail
of the line, and perhaps 300, had that number
been necessary, in less than 10 years. And what
was that period of time with regard to the perpe
tual or the war for life, which was declared against
us? The- affairs of the continent would, in the
mean time, be brought to a termination; the
whole of it would have embraced our system ;
the Emperor would have marched back the great
est part of his troops to our coast, and it was in
that situation, that he looked, with confidence to,
a decisive issue of the contest. All the respective

H MT RESIDENCE WITH [July,
resources of the two nations would have been
called into action, and we should then, in his
opinion, subdue our enemies by moral energy, or
strangle them by our natural strength.
The Emperor entertained several projects for
the improvement of the navy, and adapted to that
end part of his military tactics. He intended to
establish his offensive and defensive line from
Cape Finisterre to the mouths of the Elbe. He
was to have had three squadrons with admirals
commanding in chief, as he had corps d'arm^e
with their generals in chief. The admiral of the
centre was to establish his head quarters at Cher
bourg ; of the left at Brest, and of the right at
Antwerp. Smaller divisions were to be stationed
at the extremities, at Rochefort, and at Ferrol, in
the Texel, and at the mouths of the Elbe, for the
purpose of turning and outflanking the enemy*
All these points were to be connected by nume
rous intermediate stations, and their respective
Commanders in chief were to be considered as
constantly present, by the assistance of tele
graphs, which lining the coast, preserved an un
interrupted communication between the parts of
the grand system.
Let us consider, however, what would have
been the conduct of the English during our pre
parations and the progressive increase of our
naval power? Would they have continued the
blockade of our ports? We should have had the

1816*] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 15
satisfaction of witnessing the wear and tear of
their cruising squadrons; we should have com
pelled them to maintain 100 or 150 vessels con
stantly exposed on our coasts to the violence of
tempests, to the danger of rocks, to all the hazards
of disaster, while we, on the contrary, had every
chance of success, should any unforeseen catas
trophe present itself from natural events, or the
faults of their admirals, which could not fail to
happen in the course of time. What advantages
should 'we not have derived from the event ? We,
fresh and in excellent condition ; we, who waited
for the opportunity, always ready to set sail and
engage! Should the English be tired out? Our
vessels would immediately put to sea for the pur
pose of exercising and training their crews.
On the completion of our armaments and at
the approach of the decisive moment, were the
English, frightened for the safety of their island,
to collect their strength in front of their principal
arsenals, Plymouth, Portsmouth, and the Thames,
our three divisions of Brest, Cherbourg, and Ant
werp, would attack them, and our wings would
turn then on the. side of Ireland and Scotland.
Were they, relying upon their skill and bravery,
resolved to oppose us in one great body, then the
struggle would be reduced to a decisive issue, of
which we should have been at liberty to choose
the time.* the place, and the opportunity; — and this
is what the Emperor called the battle of Actium,

i6 MV RESIDENCE WITH [July,
in which, if we were defeated, we experienced
but simple losses, while, if Ave proved victorious,
the enemy ceased to exist. But our triumph,
he maintained, was certain, for the two nations
would have to contend man to man, and we were
upwards of forty millions against fifteen. This
was the favourite position on which he uniformly
dwelt. Such was one of his grand ideas, his gi
gantic conceptions.
Napoleon has been the founder of so many
establishments, that his works and monuments are
injurious to each other by their number, variety,
and importance. It was my earnest wish to have
given a full relation of his works, which were
executed at Cherbourg, as well as of those which
he had projected. A person precisely of the pro
fession, best qualified to appreciate the subject,
and one of its brightest ornaments, has promised
me a description of them. Should he keep his
word, it will be found in the following volume.
Long Audience given to the Governor. —^-Remote
Conversation.
16th. — About nine o'clock, the Emperor took
an airing in the calash. There was a vessel in
sight, at which he looked through the glass. He
invited the Doctor, whom he found employed in the
same way, to accompany him. On our return, we
breakfasted under the trees. He conversed at great

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 17
length with the Doctor respecting the Governor's
conduct to us, his endless vexations, &c. &c.
About two o'clock, a message was brought to
the Emperor to ascertain, whether he was willing
to receive the Governor. He gave him an audi
ence that lasted nearly two hours, and ran over,
without falling into a passion, he said, all the ob
jects under discussion. He recapitulated all our
grievances ; enumerated all his wrongs ; addressed
himself, he observed, by turns to his understand
ing, his imagination, his feelings, and his heart. He
put it in his power to repair all the mischief he
had done, to recommence upon a plan altogether
hew, but in vain, for that man, he declared, was
without fibres ; nothing was to be expected from
him. This Governor, said the Emperor, had assured
him, that when the detention of M. de Montho-
lon's servant took place, he did not know he was
in our service, and he added, that he had not read
Madame Bertrand's sealed letter. The Emperor
observed to him, that his letter to Count Bertrand
was altogether repugnant to our manners and in
direct opposition to our prepossessions ; that if he,
the Emperor, were but a simple general and pri
vate individual, and had received such a letter
from him, the Governor, he would have called
him out ; that a man so well known and respected
in Europe, as the Grand Marshal, was not to be
insulted, under the penalty of social reprobation ;
Vol. III. Part V, c

18 MT RESIDENCE MrITII [July,
that he did not take a correct view of his situa
tion with regard to us ; that all his actions here
came within the province of history, and that
even the conversation which passed at that mo
ment belonged to history ; that he injured every
day by his conduct, his own government and his
own nation, and that in time he might feel the
consequences of it; that his government would
disclaim his conduct in the end, and that a stain
would attach itself to his name, which would dis
grace his children. " Will you allow me," said
the Emperor, " to tell you what we think of you?
" We think you capable of every thing; yes, of
" every thing; and while you retain your hatred,
" we shall retain our opinion. I shall still wait
" for some time, because I like to act upon cer-
" tainties; and I shall then have to complain, not
" that the worst proceeding of ministers was to
" send me to St. Helena, but that they gave you
" the command of it. You are a greater calamity
" to us than all the wretchedness of this horrible
" rock."The Governor's answer to all this was, that he
was about to transmit an account of it to his
government; that he learned at least something
from the Emperor, but that he received only pro
voking treatment from us, and that we made mat-

ters worse.

With respect to the commissioners of the
powers, whom the Governor wished to present, the

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 19
Emperor rejected them in their political capacity,
but assured the Governor, that he would readily
receive them as private individuals ; that he had
no dislike to any one of them, not even to the
French commissioner, M. de Montchenu, who
might be a very worthy man, who had been his
subject ten years, and having been an emi
grant, was probably indebted to him, the Empe
ror, for the happiness of returning to France;
that, besides, after all, he was a Frenchman ; that
that title was indelible in his eyes, that there was
no opinion which could destroy it in his estima
tion, &c. &c.
With regard to the new buildings at LongwoOd
which were the great object of the Governor's
visit, the Emperor replied to his communication
on that topic, that he did not wish for them ; that
he preferred his present inconvenient residence
to a better one situated at a great distance, and at
the expense of a great deal of noise and the trou
ble of moving ; that the buildings which he had
just mentioned to him required years to be com^
pleted, and that before that time, either we should
not be worth the cost incurred for us, or provi
dence would have dehvered him from us, &c. &e.
On the beautiful Women of Italy. — Madame Grrassini-—
Madame V. . . . and Berthier.
17th. — The Emperor sent for me about two
o'clock; he dressed himself and went out in
c2

90 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
the calash. Madame de Montholon was one of
the party. It was her first appearance since her
accouchement. The conversation turned parti
cularly on the Italian ladies, their character and
beauty. The youhg General, who effected the conquest
of Italy, excited in that country, from the first
moment, every feeling of enthusiasm and ambi
tion. The Emperor was delighted in acknow
ledging and telling it. Above all, there was not
a beauty, who did not aspire to please and touch
his heart, but in vain. His mind, he said, was
too strong to be caught in the snare ; the preci
pice, concealed under the flowers, was present to
his view. His situation was singularly delicate ;
he had the command of veteran generals ; the task
he had to execute, he observed, was immense, all
his motions were watched by jealous eyes ; his
circumspection was extreme. His fortune con
sisted in his prudence ; he might have forgotten
himself for a single hour, and how many of his
victories, said he, had been connected with a
point of no superior importance!
Several years afterwards, at the time of his co
ronation at Milan, his attention was attracted by
Grass'ini* the celebrated singer. Circumstances
were then more auspicious. He desired to see
her, and immediately after her introduction, she
put him in mind, that she had made her d£but
precisely during the early achievements of the

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 21
General of the army of Italy. " I was then,"
said she, " in the full lustre of my beauty and
' my talent. My performance in the Virgins of
' the Sun was the topic of universal conversation.
' I fascinated every eye and inflamed every heart.
' The young General alone was insensible to my
* charms, and yet he was the only object of my
'wishes! What caprice, what singularity! When
' I possessed some value, when all Italy was at
' my feet, and I heroically disdained its admira-
' tion for a single glance from you ; I was un-
' able to obtain it, and now, how strange an
' alteration, you condescend to notice me — now,
' when I am not worth the trouble and am no
' longer worthy of you ! "
The celebrated Madame V  was also
among the crowd of Armidas; but tired with
losing her time, she lowered her pretensions to
Berthier, who, from the first instant, lived but for
her. The Commander-in-Chief made him a pre
sent one day of a magnificent diamond worth
more than 100,000 francs. " Here," said he,
" take that ; we often play high, lay it up against
" a rainy day." — Four-and-twenty hours had
scarcely elapsed, when Madame Buonaparte came
to tell her husband of a diamond which was the
subject of her admiration. It was the present that
was to have been laid up against a rainy day, which
had already found its way from Berthier's hand

22- MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
to Madame V  *s head. He has since, in all
the circumstances of his life, been uniformly go
verned by her.
The Emperor, having gradually heaped riches
and honours upon Berthier, pressed him often to
marry, but he as constantly refused, declaring,
that Madame V  could alone make him
happy. The son, however, of Madame V 
having got acquainted with a duchess of Bavaria,
who had come to Paris, with the hope of obtain
ing a husband, through the Emperor's favour,
Madame V  thought she was doing won
ders and advancing her son's fortune by the mar
riage of her lover, and, with this impression, she
prevailed upon Berthier to espouse the Bavarian
princess. But, said the Emperor, there is no
project, however excellent, which does not be
come the sport of fortune ; for scarcely was the
marriage concluded, when Madame V  '&
husband died and left his wife at liberty. That
event proved to her and to Berthier the source
of real despair; they were inconsolable. Ber
thier came with tears in his eyes to communicate
his wretched fate to the Emperor, who laughed
at his misfortune. To what a miserable condi
tion, he exclaimed, was he reduced ; with a little
more constancy, Madame V  might have
been his wife! &c. &c.

181S.J THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 23
Faubourg Saint Germain. — Aristocracy; Democracy. — The
Emperor's intention to marry a French Woman.
18th. — About four o'clock, I was sent for by
the Emperor, who was in a very weak state. He
had by an absence of mind remained three hours
in a very hot bath and burnt his right thigh
with the boiling water. He had read two vo
lumes in the bath. He shaved, but would not
dress himself.
At half-past seven, the Emperor ordered two
covers to be laid in his cabinet, and was very
much out of temper, because his papers were
thrown into confusion by using the table on which
they lay. They were replaced by his direction,
and the covers laid upon another small table.
We conversed for a long time ; he brought me
back to topics, which often suggested themselves
to him when we were together, and upon which
I must endeavour not to be guilty of repetitions,
the more so, as they possess attractions, which to
me are peculiarly interesting. We talked a great
deal about our youthful years and the time we
passed at the military school. This subject led
him again to notice the new schools he had esta
blished at Saint Cyr and at Saint Germain, and
he finally recurred to the emigrants and those he
called ?20s encfCath. He became gay and lively
in consequence of some anecdotes of the Fau
bourg Saint Germain, respecting his person,

24 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
which I related, and as the slightest things grew
into importance, the moment he touched upon
them, he said — " I see plainly that my plan with
" respect to your Faubourg Saint Germain was
" ill managed. I did too much or too little. I
" did enough to dissatisfy the opposite party,
" and not enough to connect the other with me
" altogether. Although some of them were fond
" of money, the multitude would have been con-
" tent with the rattles and sound, with which I
" could have crammed them, without any injury,
" in the main, to our new principles. My dear
" Las Cases, I did too much and not enough, and
" yet I was earnestly occupied with the business.
" Unfortunately, I was the only one seriously en-
" gaged in the undertaking. All who were about
" me thwarted, instead of promoting it, and yet
" there were but two grand measures to be taken
" with regard to you; — that of annihilating, or
" that of melting you down in the great mass of
" society. The former could not enter my head,
" and the latter was not an easy task, but I did
" not consider it beyond my strength. And, in
" fact, although I had no support, and was even
" counteracted in my views, I nearly realized
" them at length. Had I remained, the thing
" would have been accomplished. This will ap-
" pear astonishing to him, who knows how to
" appreciate the heart of man and the state- of
" society. I do not think that history can fur-

1816] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 25.
' nish any case of a similar kind, or that so im-
' pprtant a result, obtained in so short a space
' of time, can be found. I should have carried
' that fusion into effect, and cemented that union
' by every sacrifice ; it would have rendered us
' invincible. The opposite conduct has ruined
' us, and may for a long time protract the mis-
' fortunes, perhaps the last gasps, of unhappy
' France. I. once more repeat, that I did too
' much or too little. I ought to have attached
' the emigrants to me upon their return ; I might
' have easily become an object of adoration with
( the aristocracy. An establishment of that na-
' ture was necessary for me. It is the real, the
' only support, of monarchy — its guide— its lever
' — its point of resistance. Without it, the
' state is but a vessel without a rudder, a real
' balloon in the air. But, the essence of aristo-
' cracy, its talismanic charm, consists in anti-
' quity, in age ; and these were the only things.
' I could not create. The intermediate means.
' were wanting. M. de Breteuil, who had insinu-
'• ated himself into my favour, encouraged me.
' On the contrary, M. de T  , who cer-
.' tainly was not a favourite with the emigrants,
' discouraged me by every possible means. Rea-
' sonable democracy contents itself with hus-
' banding equality for all, as a fair ground of pre-
' tension and possession. The real line of conduct
' would have been to employ the remains of aris-
' tocracy, together with the forms and design of

58 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
democracy. Above all, it was necessary to
collect the ancient names, those celebrated in
our history. This is the only mode of giving
' an instantaneous air of old age to the most mo-
' dern institutions.
" I entertained, upon that subject, ideas which
' were altogether peculiar to myself. Had any
' difficulties been started by Austria and Russia,
' I would have married a French woman, I would
' have selected one of the most illustrious names
' of the monarchy. That was even my original
' thought, my real inclination. My ministers
' were unable to prevent me, but by their earn-
' est appeals to political views. Had I been sur-
' rounded by the Montmorencies, the Nesles,
' and the Clissons, I should, by adopting their
' daughters, have united them with foreign sove-
' reigns. My pride and my delight would have
' been to' extend these noble French stocks, had
' they taken part with, or given themselves up to
' us altogether. They and those belonging to
"' me thought, that I was influenced by prejudice
* alone, when I was acting in conformity with
' the most profound combinations. Be that as
'¦* it will, your friends have lost more in me than
* they are aware of !  They are destitute
" of soul, of the feeling of true glory. By what
" unhappy propensity have they preferred wal-
" lowing in the mire of the allies to the noble task
" of following me to the top of mount Simplon,
" and commanding, from its summit, the respect

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 37
' and admiration of the rest of Europe. Sense-
' less men! — I had, however," he continued, " a
' project in my port-folio; time alone was want-
' ing to mature it, which would have rallied
' round me a great number of that description of
' persons, and which, after all, would have been
' but just. It was, that every descendant of an-
*** cient marshals, or ministers.' &c. &c. should be
¦' considered at all times capable of getting him-
' self declared a duke, by presenting ' the requi-
:' site endowment. All the sons of generals and
* governors of provinces were, upon the same
' principle, to be qualified to assume the title of
' count, and so on in gradation. This would
' have advanced some, raised the hopes of others,
* excited the emulation of all, and hurt the pride
' of none ; grand, but altogether harmless rattles,
' and belonging, besides, to my system and my
' combinations. " Old and corrupt are not governed like ancient
•* and virtuous nations. For one individual, at
** present, who would sacrifice himself for the
* public good, there are thousands and millions
' who are insensible to every thing but their own
' interests, enjoyments, and vanity. To pretend,
' therefore, to regenerate a people in an instant,
' or as if one were travelling post, would be an
' act of madness. The genius of the workman
' ought to consist in knowing how to employ the
* materials he has at hand, and that is one of the

28 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
" causes of the resumption of all the monarchical
" forms, of the re-establishment of titles, of
" classes, and of the insignia of orders. The
" secret of the legislator should consist in know-
" ing how to derive advantage even from the ca-
" price and irregularities of those whom he pre-
" tends to rule ; and after every consideration, all
" these gewgaws were attended with few incon-
" veniencies and not destitute pf some benefit.
" At the point of civilization, to which we have
" now attained, they are calculated to attract the
" respect of the multitude, provided always, that
" the person decorated with them, preserves re-
" spect for himself. They may satisfy the vanity
" of the weak, without scaring, in the slightest
" degree, strong and powerful minds," &c. &c. — •
It was very late, and the Emperor said, at part
ing, " there is another pleasant evening spent."
N. B. How many conversations of this kind
have I not lost from the want of elucidation, since
I first noted them down ! For there was not one,
however different the subject, that was not occa
sionally characterized by very extraordinary ex
pressions and sallies. The reader will, perhaps,
be gratified with my narrative ; for myself, I feel,
I think only of what I have lost ! When .1 made a
careless entry of some lines in my journal, my
mind was full of the entire object, which, accord
ing to my design, was to be explained and dis
played a short time afterwards, and, besides, I

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 29
was close to the source, from which I expected
fresh supplies the following day. At present,
every thing is obliterated by time, vexation, and
affliction ; a single day does not, however, pass
by, in which some scattered fragments, some
ideas, some sentences, some isolated expressions,
do not recur to my memory ; but where are they
to be placed ? How are they to be suitably intro
duced ? That is a difficulty which, however easy
and agreeable in appearance, is beyond my facul
ties, and to which my state of health is inade
quate.
Our Establishment on fire. — Etiquette at Longicood.
19th. — The chimney of the saloon took fire in
the night, but the flames did not break out until
day-light. Two hours sooner, and the building
would have been a heap of ashes.
The Emperor took a walk ; he was attended
by several of us, and we went round the park on
foot. One of his shoe-buckles fell out, and we all
eagerly strove to put it in again ; he, who suc
ceeded, considered himself the most fortunate.
The Emperor, who would not have allowed us to
behave so at the Tuileries, seemed here to feel a
kind of satisfaction at our conduct ; he let us do
as we liked, and we were thankful to him for in
dulging us in an action, that did honour to us, in
our own opinion.

30 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
This leads me to observe, that I have not yet
spoken of our .customary manners near his per
son, and I am more peculiarly induced to notice
them, because we have received several London
newspapers, which circulate, in this respect, a
thousand idle stories, and assert, that the impe
rial etiquette was as strictly maintained at Longv
wood as at the Tuileries.
The Emperor behaved to us in the kindest man*
ner, and with a paternal familiarity. We were,
on our part, the most attentive and respectful of
courtiers. We uniformly endeavoured to antici
pate his wishes ; we carefully watched all his
wants, and he had scarcely time to make a sign
with his hand, before we were in motion.
None of us entered his apartment without being
sent for, and if any thing of importance was to
be communicated to him, he was previously made
acquainted with it. If he walked separately with
any of us, no other presumed to intrude. In the
begining, we constantly remained uncovered near
his person, which appeared strange to the Eng
lish, who had been ordered to put on their hats,
after the first salute. This contrast appeared so
ridiculous to the Emperor, that he commanded
us, once for all, to behave like them. Nobody,
except the two ladies, took a seat in his presence,
unless desired to do so. He was never spoken
to but at his own peculiar instance, and when the
conversation became general, which was, always

1816.J THE EiMPEROR NAPOLEON. 31
and in all cases, under his control and guidance.
Such was the etiquette of Longwood, which en
tirely was, as it must be evident, that of our re
collections and feelings.
On our return the Emperor received and ques
tioned, for a long time, the master of the New
castle. In consequence of the fire in the saloon and
the laying down of a billiard table in the dining-
room, we adjourned to the topographical cabinet.
After dinner, there being no other apartment to
retire to, we were obliged to remain a long time
at table. That circumstance seemed, however,
to give an additional interest to the conversation ;
we became more acquainted, more united with
each other ; we gave a greater scope to our lan
guage, and the evening passed off more rapidly.
Establishments for Mendicity in France. — Napoleon's pro
jects on Illyria. — Hospitals. — The Foundling. — Prisoners
of State. — Ideas of the Emperor.
20th. — The Emperor sent for me in the morn
ing ; I found him reading an English work on the
poor's rate, the immense sums raised, and the
vast number of individuals maintained at the ex
pense of their parishes; the account embraced
millions of men and hundreds of millions of
money.*

* See the first part, note, page 381.

32 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
The Emperor was apprehensive that he had not
read the work correctly, or that he had mistaken
the sense. The thing, he said, seemed altogether
impossible. He could not conceive by what vices
and defects so many poor could be found in a
country so opulent, so industrious, and so abun
dant in resources for labour as England. He was
still less capable of comprehending, by what pro
digy, the proprietors, overloaded with a horrible
ordinary and extraordinary taxation, were also
enabled to provide for the wants of such a multi
tude. " But we have nothing," he observed,
" in France to be compared to it in the propor-
" tion of a hundredth or a thousandth degree.
" Have you not told me, that I sent you into the
" departments on a particular mission with re-
" gard to mendicity ? Let us see, what is the
" number of our beggars ? What;did they cost?
" How many poor-houses did I establish? What
"was the number they held? What effect had
" they in removing mendicity ? "
To this crowd of questions Iwas compelled to
answer, that a considerable period of time had
since elapsed, that my mind had been occupied
with several other objects, and that it was impos
sible for me to enter into correct statements from
mere recollection ; but that I had the official re-
pott itself among the few papers I had preserved,
and that the first time he might be pleased to
send for me, I should be. enabled to satisfy him.

1816,] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. SS
" But," said he, " go instantly and look for it,
" things are not profitable unless seasonably ap-
" plied, and I shall soon run it over with my
" thumb, as Abbe de Pradt ingeniously said ; al-
" though, to deal candidly with you, I am not
" at present over desirous to give up my atten-
" tion to such objects; they put me in mind of
" mustard after dinner."
In two minutes the report was in his hand.
" Well!" said the Emperor to me, also, in a very
few minutes, for it might be really said that he
had not turned over the leaves; " well, this, in
" fact, has no resemblance whatever to England.
" Our organization, however, had failed; I sus-
" pected as much, and it was on- that account I
" intrusted you with the mission. Your report
" would have been in perfect conformity with my
" views. You took up the consideration ingenu-
" ously and like an honest man, without the fear
" of exciting the displeasure of the minister, by
" depriving him of a great many appointments.
" I am pleased with a great number of your
" details. Why did you not come and converse
" with me about them yourself? You would have
" satisfied me, and I should have known how to
" value your services." — " Sire, as things were
" then situated, it would have been impossible
" for me ; we were then involved in the confusion
" and embarrassment caused by our misfortunes."
" — Your observation is perfectly correct; you
Vol. III. Part V. d

34 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
" establish an unquestionable position. The fact
" is, that in the flourishing state to which I had
" raised the empire, no hands could any where
" be found destitute of employment. It was
" laziness and vice alone that could produce
" mendicants. " You think that their complete annihilation
" was possible ; and, for my part, I am of the
" same opinion.
" Your levy, in mass, of a vast and single prison
" in each department, was equally adapted to the
" tranquillity of society, and the well-being of
" those confined in it ; — your idea of construct-
" ing monuments to last for centuries would have
" attracted my attention. That gigantic under-
" taking, its utility, its importance, the perma-
" nence of its results, all these points belonged to
" my system.
" With respect to your university for the peo-
" pie, I am very apprehensive, that it would have
" been but a beautiful chimera of philanthropy,
" worthy of the unsophisticated Abb6 de Saint
" Pierre. There is, however, some merit in the
" aggregate of those conceptions; but an energy
" of character, and an unbending perseverance,
" for which we are not generally distinguished,
" would be requisite to produce any good result.
" As for the rest, I every day collect ideas
" from you in this place, of which I did not ima-
" gine you capable ; but it was not at all my

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 35
" fault. You were near me; why did you not
"open your mind to me? I did not possess the
"gift of divination. Had- you been minister,
" those ideas, however fantastical they might at
"first have appeared to me, would not have been
" the less attended to, because, there is, in my
" opinion, no conception altogether unsusceptible
" of some positive good, and a wrong notion,
" when properly controlled and regulated, often
" leads to a right conclusion. I should have
" handed you over to commissioners, who would
" have analyzed your plans; you .would have de-
" fended them by your arguments, and after a
" thorough knowledge of the subject, I alone
" should have finally decided according to my
" own judgment. Such was my way of acting
" and my intention. I gave an impulse to in-
" dustry; I put it into a state of complete acti-
" vity throughout Europe; I was desirous of
" doing as much for all the faculties of the mind,
"but time was not allowed me. I could not
" bring my plans to maturity in full gallop ; and,
"unfortunately, I but too often wasted them
" upon a sandy foundation, and consigned them
" to unproductive hands.
" What were the other missions with which I
" entrusted to you?" — " One in Holland, another
" in Illyria." — " Have you got the reports?" —
" Yes, Sire."—" Go for them." But I had not
got to the door, when he said, " Never mind,
d2

So* MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
" come back, spare me "the trouble of reading
" such matters! — They are henceforth, in reality,
" altogether useless." — What discoveries did not
these words enable me to make ! *
The Emperor resumed the subject of Illyria.- —
" In obtaining possession of Illyria, it was never
" my intention to retain it; I never entertained
" the idea of destroying Austria. Her existence,
" was, on the contrary, indispensably requisite
" for the execution of my plans. But Illyria was,
" in our hands, a van-guard to the heart of Au-
" stria, calculated to keep a check upon her; a
" sentinel at the gates of Vienna to keep her
" steady to our interests. Besides, I was desir-
" ous of introducing and establishing in that
" country our doctrines, our system of govern -
" ment, and our codes. It was an additional
" step to the regeneration of Europe. I had
" merely taken it as a pledge, and intended, at a
" later period, to exchange it for Gallicia, at the
" restoration of Poland, which I hurried on
" against my own opinion. I had, however,
" more than one project with regard to Illyria;
" for I frequently fluctuated in my designs, and
* However short the report on mendicity may be — however
necessary ^ far more distinctly understanding- the Emperor's ob
servations, and although not destitute of interest for those who
are fond of the study of philanthropic economy, I have declined
the insertion of it here, out of deference to the greater number
of my readers.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 37
" had few ideas that were fixed on solid grounds.
" This arose rather from adapting myself to cir-
" cumstances than from giving an impulse and
" direction to them, and I was every instant com-
" pelled to shift about. The consequence was,
" that, for the greater part of the time, I cime to
" no absolute decision, and was occupied merely
" with projects. My predominant idea, how-
" ever, particularly after my marriage, was to
" give it up to Austria as an indemnity for Gal-
" licia, on the re-establishment of Poland, with
." all its consequences, as a separate and inde-
" pendent kingdom. Not that I cared upon
" whose head, whether on that of a friend, an
" enemy, or an ally, the crown was placed, pro-
" vided the thing was effected. The results were
" indifferent to me. I have, my dear Las Cases;
" formed vast and numerous projects, all unques-
" tionably for the advancement of reason and the
" welfare of the human race. I was dreaded as
" a thunderbolt; I was charged with having a
" hand of iron; but the moment that hand had
" struck the last blow, every thing would have
" been softened down for the happiness of all.
" How many millions would have poured their
" benedictions on me, both then and in future
" times ! But how numerous, it must be confess-
", ed, the fatal misfortunes whreh were accumu-
." lated and combined to effect my overthrow,
¦ft at the end of my career! My unhappy mar-

38 MY RESIDENCE WITH {July,
¦' riage ; the perfidies Which resulted from it ; that
" villainous affair of Spain, from which I could
" not disengage myself; that fatal war with Rus-
" sia, which occurred through a misunderstand-
" ing; that horrible rigour of the elements, which
" devoured a whole army;  and then, the
" whole universe against me ! . . . . Is it not won-
" derful, that I was still able to make so long a
" resistance, and that I was more than once on
" the point of surmounting every danger and
" emerging from that chaos more powerful than
" ever ?  O ! destiny of man ! — What is hu-
" man wisdom, human foresight!"- — And then
abruptly adverting to my report, he said, " I
*' observed, that you travelled over a great num-
" ber of departments. Did your mission last
"long? Was your journey agreeable? Was it
" of real benefit to you? Did you collect much
" information? Were you enabled to form a cor-
" rect judgment on the state of the country, on
" that of public opinion? &c. &c.
" I now recollect, that I selected you precisely,
" because you had just returned from your mis-
" sion to Illyria, and I found in your report seve-
" rai things, which made a strong impression
" upon me; for it is surprising, how many circum-
" stances at present are every day brought back
" to my memory, which, at the time, struck me
" with respect for you, and which, by a singular fa-
" tality, were immediately afterwards completely

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 39
" forgotten. When any appointments were about
" to take place to those special and confidential
" missions, the decree, with blanks for the names,
" was laid before me, and I filled them up with
" persons of my own selection — I must have
" written your name with my own hand."
" Sire," I replied, " there never was, perhaps,
" a mission more agreeable and satisfactory in
" every point of view. I commenced it early in
" the spring, and proceeded from Paris to Tou*-
" Ion, and from Toulon to Antibes, following the
"line of coast and occasionally diverging into the
" interior. I travelled nearly thirteen hundred
" leagues, but unfortunately the time was short.
" The minister, in his instructions, had strictly
" limited the period to three, or at most, to four
" months. It would be difficult for me to give
" an adequate description of all the delight, en-
." joyments, and advantages which I derived from
" the journey. I was a member of your council,
" an officer of your household. I was every
" where considered as one of your missi dominici,
" and was received with suitable respect. The
" more I behaved with discretion, moderation,
" and simplicity, visiting myself the high func-
*' tionaries, whose attendance I was authorized
" to require, the more I was treated with defer-
•" ence and complaisance. For one, who shewed
f' any distrust, pr betrayed any symptom of ill-
" humour or envy ; for I afterwards learnt from

40 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
" themselves, that my character, as a nobleman,
" emigrant, and chamberlain, formed three cer-
" tain grounds for reprobation; for one, I repeat,
" who looked upon me with a jealous eye, I found
" many others whose communications were alto-
" gether unreserved, even upon objects, respect-
" ing which I should not have presumed to make an
" inquiry. They assured me, that they took plea-
" sure in unbosoming themselves to me with per-
" feet openness, that they viewed my situation,
" near the person of the sovereign, as a favourable
" medium, and considered me as the confessor
" upon whom they relied for transmitting their
" most secret thoughts to the Most High, &c. &c.
" The more I endeavoured to convince them, that
" they were mistaken with regard to my situa-
" tion and the nature of my mission, the more
" they were confirmed in the contrary opinion.
"In so short a period, what a lesson for me
" on mankind ! There were none of these high
" functionaries who did not differ from each other
" with regard to the views, means, and designs of
"all the objects under consideration; and yet
" they were all men, selected with care, of tried
" ability, and generally possessed of a great deal
" of merit. Persons in private life, also, looked
" up to me as to a ray of providence, and applied
" to me either publicly or in secret. How many
" things did I not learn? How numerous the de-
" nunciations and accusations, communicated to

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 41
me ! What a multitude of local abuses, of petty
intrigues disclosed to me !
" Altogether unacquainted with affairs, and
until then absolutely ignorant of official pro
ceedings, I made use of that peculiar opportu
nity to obtain information. I did not fail to
make myself acquainted with all the objects
and particular circumstances of every party.
I was not apprehensive of shewing my igno
rance to the first who presented themselves,
for I was thus enabled to qualify myself for dis
cussing business with the others.
" It is true, Sire, that my special mission was
restricted to the mendicity establishments and
the houses of correction; but feeling, as I did,
all the want of a stock of knowledge, fit to ren
der myself useful to the council of state, and
taking advantage of my appointment, I con
nected with it, of my own accord, the minute
inspection of prisons, hospitals, and beneficent
institutions, and I also took a survey of all our
ports and squadrons.
" How magnificent the combination which thus
presented itself to my view ! I every where be
held the most perfect tranquillity and complete
confidence in the government ; every hand,
every faculty, every branch of industry was
employed ; the soil was embellished by the
flourishing state of agriculture, it was the finest
time of the year; the roads were excellent;

48 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
(l public works were carried on almost in every
" quarter; — the canal of Aries, the noble bridge
" of Bordeaux, the works of Rochefort, the ca-
" nals from Nantes to Brest, to Rennes, to Saint
" Malo; the foundation of Napoleon town, in-
" tended to be the key of the whole peninsula of
" Britanny; the magnificent works of Cherbourg,
" those of Antwerp, sluices, moles, or other im-
" provements in most of the towns of the channel.
" Such is the sketch of what I saw.
" On another side, the ports of Toulon, Roche-
" fort, L'Orient, Brest, Saint Malo, Havre, and
" Antwerp, displayed an extraordinary degree
"of activity; our roads were filled with ves-
" seis, and the numbers increased daily; our
" crews were training in spite of every obstacle,
" and our young conscripts were becoming good
" seamen, fit for future service. I, who belonged
" to the old naval establishment, was astonished
" at every thing I saw on board, so very great
" were the improvements made in the art, and so
" far did they exceed, in every point of view, all
" that I had witnessed.
" The squadrons belonging to the different
" ports got under sail every day, and executed
" their regular manoeuvres like the parades of
" garrisons, and all this took place within sight
" of- the English, who thought it a ridiculous
" farce, without foreseeing the danger with which
they were threatened ; for, never at any period,

c

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 48
' was our navy more formidable, nor our ships
' more 'numerous. We already had upwards
' of 100 afloat or on the stocks, and we made
' daily additions to the number. The officers
' were excellent, and animated with zeal and
' ardour. I had no idea whatever of the forward
' state of our preparations, before I witnessed it
' in person, and should not have believed it, were
' I not confidently assured of the fact.
" With respect to the mendicity establish-
' ments, the special object of my mission, your
' intentions, Sire, had been ill understood, and
' the plan was altogether unsuccessful. In most
' of the departments, mendicity not only re-
' mained with all its defects, but no steps what-
' ever had been taken for its annihilation. The
' fact was, that several prefects, far from mak-
' ing the establishments a terror to the mencli-
' cants, had merely considered them as a refuge
' for the poor. Instead of holding out confine-
' ment as a punishment, they caused it to be
' sought after as an asylum, and thus the lot of
' the persons shut up in them might be envied
' by the hard-working peasantry of the neigh-
' bourhood. France might, in that way, have been
* covered with similar establishments, which,
' however full, would not have diminished the
' number of mendicants, who commonly make a
' trade of begging, and follow it in preference.
' I was, however, enabled to judge, that the ex-

44 MY RESIDENCE AVITH [July,
" tirpation of the evil was possible, and the exam-
" pie of some departments, in which the prefects
" had taken a better view of the subject, was
" sufficient to produce that conviction. There
" were a few in which it had entirely disap-
" peared. " It is an observation which makes an imme-
" diate and striking impression, that all other
" things fairly averaged, mendicity is much more
" rare in those parts, which are poor and barren,
" and much more common in those, which are
" fruitful and abundant. It is also infinitely
" more difficult to effect its destruction in the
" places where the clergy have enjoyed superior
" wealth and power. In Belgium, for instance,
" mendicants were seen to derive honour from
" their trade, and boast of having followed it for
" several generations. These claims belonged
" peculiarly to them, and that country was ac-
" cordingly the rendezvous of mendicity." " But
" I am not surprised at it," resumed the Emperor,
" the difficulty of this important consideration
" consists entirely in discriminating accurately
" between the poor man who commands our re-
" spect, and the mendicant who ought to excite
" our indignation ; besides, our religious oddities
" confound these two classes so completely, that
" they seem to make a merit, a kind of virtue of
" mendicity, and to encourage it by the promise
" of heavenly rewards. The mendicants are, in

lSltf.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 45
' reality, neither more nor less, than monks au petit
' pied, and that such is the fact is evident from the
' mendicant monks being so classed in the voca-
' bulary. How was it possible, for such ideas not
' to produce confusion in the mind, and disorder
' in society ? A great number of saints have been
' canonized, whose only apparent merit was
' mendicity. They seem to have been trans-
' planted to Heaven, for that, which, considered
' as a matter of sound police, ought to have sub-
' jected them to castigation and confinement in
' this world. This would not, however, have
' prevented them from being worthy of Heaven.
' But go on."—" It was not, Sire, without emo-
' tion that I observed the details of the charitable
' establishments. In contemplating the anxiety,
' the cares, the ardent charity of so many sym-
' pathetic hearts, I was enabled to ascertain that
' we were far from yielding the palm, whatever
' might be the consideration, to any other peo-
' pie, and that we merely had less ostentation,
' and made less use of artificial means to enhance
' our merits. The South above all, and Langue-
' doc in particular, displayed a zeal and animation
' of which it would be difficult to form an ade-
' quate conception. The hospitals and alms-houses
' were every where numerous and well attended
' to. The foundlings had increased tenfold since
' the revolution and I instantly ascribed it to
' the corruption of the times ; but I was desired

46 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
' to remark, and constant reflection convinced
' me of the truth, that the result was, on the
' contrary, to be attributed to very satisfactory
' causes. I was assured, that formerly the found-
' lings were so wretchedly taken care of, and so
' badly fed, that the whole of their population
' was diminutive, sickly, and short-lived, and
' that from seven to nine perished out of ten;
' while at present their food, cleanliness, and the
' care taken of them in every respect are such, that
' nearly all of them are preserved, and constitute
' a fine race of children. They are thus indebted
' for their numbers solely to their own preserva-
' tion. Vaccination has also contributed, in an
' immense proportion, to their increase. These
' children are now treated with such attention
' as to give rise to a singular abuse. Mothers,
' even in easy circumstances, are tempted to ex-
' pose their infants ; they afterwards apply at
' the hospital, and under a charitable pretence,
' offer to bring up one themselves ; it is their
' own which is restored to them, with the benefit
' of a small allowance. All this is carried on
' through the favour of the agents themselves, and
' often for the purpose of obtaining a trifling pen-
' sion for one of their relations. Another abuse
' of this kind and not less extraordinary, was that
' which I observed in Belgium, of persons get-
' ting their names entered a long time before,
' for the purpose of entitling them to send their

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 4?
' children to the hospital. Any young couple,
' on their marriage, strove to get their names
( entered for vacancies, which fell to them some
' years afterwards, as a matter of right, it was a
' part of the marriage arrangement."- — ¦" O Jesus !
' Jesus ! " exclaimed the Emperor, shrugging up
his shoulders and laughing, " and after this make
' laws and regulations ! " — " But with regard to
' the prisons, Sire, they were almost uniformly
' the scenes of horror and real misery, the shame
' and disgrace of our provinces, absolute sinks of
' corruption, abominable intrenchments, which
' I was obliged to pass through with the utmost
' haste, or from which I was driven back in spite
' of all my exertions. I had formerly visited cer-
' tain prisons in England, and indulged in a
' smile at the kind of luxury which I observed
( in them, but it was quite a different thing with
' respect to ours, and my indignation was excited
' by the contrary extreme. There are no offences,
' I might even say Crimes, that are not sufficiently
' punished by such habitations, and those, who
' leave them, should not, in strict justice, have
' any further expiation to make. Yet after all,
' those confined in them were merely under a
' simple accusation, while those who had been
' found guilty, the real criminals, and hardened
' villains, had their special prisons, their houses
' of correction, where they were, perhaps, too
' well taken care of; and even in the latter case,

48 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
" the honest day-labourer might have reason to
" envy their lot, and make comparisons injurious
" to providence and society. Another striking
" inconsistency was observable in these houses
"of correction; it was the amalgamation, the
" habitual mixture of all the classes upon whom
" sentence had been passed. Some being im-
" prisoned for small offences only for a year, and
" others for fifteen, twenty years, or for life, on
" account of the dreadful crimes they had perpe-
" trated, it necessarily followed, that they would
" be all reduced to one moral level, not by the
" amelioration of the latter, but rather by the
" corruption of the former.
" What struck me also very forcibly in La
" Vendee and the adjacent country was, that
" madmen had increased there, perhaps, tenfold
" more than in any other part of the empire, and
" that individuals were detained in the mendi-
" city establishments and other places of confine-
" ment, who were treated as vagabonds, or likely
" to become so, and who having been taken up in
" their childhood, had no knowledge of their pa-
." rents or origin. Some of them had wounds on
" their persons, but were ignorant how they had
" been inflicted. They were marks which had,
" no doubt, been made upon them in their in-
" fancy. The opportunity of employing these
" individuals, who had not acquired a single so-
" cial idea, has been suffered to pass by; they

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 49
"are now unfit, for any purpose." — "Ah!" ex
claimed the Emperor, "this is civil war. and its
" hideous train; its inevitable consequences and its
" certain fruits ! If some leaders make fortunes,
" and extricate themselves from danger, the
" dregs of the population are always trodden
" under foot, and become the victims of every ca-
" lamity!" " With respect to other.matters, I found in the
"" aggregate of these establishments, a consider-
" able number of persons who, I was told, whe-
" ther right or wrong, were prisoners of state,
" and were kept in custody by order of the high,
*' the intermediate, or the low police.
"I listened to all those prisoners, I heard
¦*' their complaints, and received their petitions,
" certainly, without any engagement on my part;
" for I had no right to contract any, and besides,
" I was perfectly aware, that having heard their
" own testimony only, I could not attach guilt to
" any person. With the exception, however, of
"some notorious villains, they did not really, in
*' general, deserve more at farthest than the cora-
" mon punishments of the correctional police.
" I found among them, in the prisons of Rennes, a
" boy between twelve and fourteen, who had, when
" only a few months old, been taken with a band
" of Chauffeurs. They. had been all executed, and
" the child had remained there ever since, without
*'. any decision on his case. His moral capabili-
Vol. III. Part V. h

m MY RESIDENCE WITH [*%»
' ' ties may be easily appreciated. He never sasr,
**¦' knew, or heard any but villains ; €hey- were the
" only kind of people of whose existence he wsas
" able to form an idea.
•** At Mont Saint- Michel, a woman, whose name
" I have forgotten, particularly attracted my at-
" tention. She had rather a pretty face,, pleasing
" manners, and a modest deportment. She had
" been imprisoned fourteen years, having taken
" a very active part in the troubles of La Vendie,
" and constantly accompanied her husband, who
*** was the chief of a battalion of insurgents, and
" whom she succeeded, after his death, in the
" command. The wretchedness she suffered, and
" -the tears she shed, had sensibly impaired 'her
" charms. I assumed a severe air during the
" recital of her misfortunes, but it was put on
" for the purpose Of concealing the emotions she
" excited. She had, by the kindness of her man-
" necs and her other qualifications, created a
" kind of empire over the vulgar and depraved
" women that were about her. She had devoted
" herself to the care of the sick; the prison infir-
" mary was entrusted to her, and she was be-
" loved by every one.
" With the exception of that woman, a few
" priests, and two or three old Chouan spies,
" the rest exhibited but a filihy compound of
" disgusting or extravagant depravity.
"' I met with a married man, with an annual in-

}ffl&.% THE 7EMPER0R -TOAPiOLl&ON. 51
" scomeof 1 1^000 iivres, evidently confined in eon-
" sequence of his wife's intrigues, after the manne
" of the ancient lettres de cachet; and with pro
" stitutes, who assayed me they were detained,
" snot as a punishment for the indiscriminate pro-
" fusion of their favours, but »out of spite for want
" of complaisance for a single person. They told
" me lies, or they did not; but in either case
" ought they to be honoured with the title of
" prisoners of state, to be maintained at the ex-
" pease of two francs a day, and to be made sub-
*" servient in rendering the government odious
" and ridiculous ? Finally, I met with an un-
" happy man in a town of Belgium, who had
" married one of those girls for whom the muni-
" cipalities provide marriage portions on vgceat
" occasions. He was inprisoned for having stolen,
" as I was informed, the portion, because he had
" negleeted to e&yn it. He was positively re-
" quired to acquit himself of that important debt,
" and he as positively refused. He was, perhaps.;
" snequired to do that, which was not in his,
" power, &c. &c.
" Immediately upon my return to Paris, I
" called on M. Real, prefect of police of the dis-
" trict I had just revisited. I considered it my
" duty, I said, to communicate to him, in a
"friendly manner, the result of my observations.
" I must do him justice ; for whether he was
" very far from feaving a bad heart, whether he

52 MY RESIDENCE WITH tJulf'
"was impressed with my plain dealing, or affected
" perhaps, Sire, by the magic influence of your
" uniform, he thanked me, observed that I was
" doing him a real service, and assured me, that
" he would take immediate steps for relieving
" and redressing, such were his words, the cases
" I had laid before him. Meeting him, however,
" a few days afterwards at an assembly, he said,
" with apparent grief, ' That is an unfortunate
" business, and very unfavourable to your Amazon,
" (he alluded to General Mallet's rash enter-
" prise,) which I thought myself capable of
" doing a few days ago of my own accord. I
" cannot now pretend to undertake it without an
" order from a superior quarter.' — I do not know
" how the thing ended."
The Emperor dwelt some time on the abuses
I had pointed out, and then concluded : " In the
" first place, in order to proceed regularly, it was
" incumbent upon you to ascertain, whether your
" information was well grounded, and to hear
" the evidence against the persons accused ; and
" then it must be frankly admitted, that abuses
" are inherent in every human establishment.
" You see, that almost every thing, of which you
" complained, was committed by the very per-
" sons, who were expressly entrusted with the
" means of prevention. Can a remedy be pro-
" vided, when it is impossible to see what passes
" every where ? There is something" like a kind

1816.] the EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 53
' of net-work, which, extended on flat grounds,
' envelops the lower classes. . A mesh must be
' broken and discovered by a fortunate observer
' like you, before any thing of the matter is known
' in the upper regions. Accordingly, one of my
' dreams would have been, when the grand
' events of war were completely terminated, and
' I returned to the interior in tranquillity and
' at ease," to look out for half a dozen, or a
' dozen, of real good philanthropists, of those
' worthy men who live but to do good. I should
' have distributed them through the empire
' which they would have secretly inspected for
' the purpose of making their report to me. They
' would have been the spies of virtue! They
' would have addressed themselves directly to
' me, and would have been my confessors, my
' spiritual directors, and my decisions with them,
'would have been. my good works in secret.
' My grand occupation, when at full leisure, and
' at the height of my power, would have been
' the amelioration of every class of society. I
' should have descended to the details of indivi-
' dual comfort, and had I found no motive for
• that conduct in my natural disposition, I should
' have been actuated by the spirit of calculation ;
' for after the acquisition of so much glory, what
' other means would have been left to me to
' make any addition to it ? It was, because I
' was well aware, that that swarm of abuses

54. MY RESIDENCE WITH LM^>
" necessarily existed, because I wished for! the
" presentation of my subjects, and was desirous
" of throwing every impediment in the way of
" subordinate and intermediate tyranny, that I
" conceived my system, of state prisons, adapted
" toanycrisis that might occur. "; — "Yes, Sire, but
" it was far from: being well received in our
" saloons, and did not a little contribute to make
" you unpopular. An outcry was every where
" raised against the new bastiles, against the re-
" newal of lettres de cachet."- — " I know it very
" well, "said the Emperor, "the outcry was echoed
* ' by all Europe, and rendered me odious . And yet,
" observe how powerful the influence of words;
*c envenomed by perfidy! The whole of the dis-
" content was principally occasioned by the pre-
" posterous title of my decree, which escaped me
"from distraction*, or some other cause; for in
" the main; I contend, that the law itself was an
" eminent service, and rendered individual liberty
" more complete and certain in France than) in
" any other country of Europe.
" Considering the crisis, from; which we had
" emerged, the factions by which we had been
" divided, and the plots which had' been laid,
" and were still contriving-, imprisonment became
"indispensable. It was, in fact, a benefit; for
*' it superseded the scaffold. But I was desirous
¦*' of sanctioning it by legal enactments, and of
'-'" placing it beyond the reaeh of caprice, of urbr-

1$*&0 TH?, e-jjp^r^^ NAPOLEON. 3»
" teary power, of hatred, and of vengseance'.
" Nobody, according to my law, could be fcn-
" prisoned and detained as a prisoner o£ state;
" without the decision of my privy council, which
" consisted of sixteen persons ; the first,, the most
"* independent and most distinguished characters
'*of the state. What unworthy feeling would
" have dared to expose itself to the detection of
*" such a tribunal t Had I not voluntarily de-
" prired myself of the power of consigning indi-
tr viduals to prison? None could be detainer!
" beyond a year, without afresh decision of the
" privy council, and four votes out of sixteen.
" were sufficient to effect his. release. Two
" counsellors of state were bound to attend to
"the statements of the prisoners, and, became
¦" from that. moment, their zealous advocates; with.
"""the privy council. These prisoners were also
" under the protection of the Committee of indi-
" vidua! liberty, appointed by the Senate, which
" was the object of public derisiom merely be-
" cause it made no parade of its labours, and
" their results. Its services, however, were
" great; for it would argue a defective know-
" ledge of mankind to: suppose, that Senators,
" who had nothing to expect from ministers, and
""who were their equals in rank, would not naakfe
"" use of their prerogative to oppose and attack
" them ; whenever the importance of the case
" called for their interferences. It must als*©* fete

5« MY RESIDENCE WITH [JulK»
" considered, that I. had assigned the superin-
" tendance of the prisoners of the police of the
" prisons to the tribunals, which, from that in-
" stant, paralized the exercise of every kind- of
" arbitrary authority, belonging to the other
" branches of administration, and their numerous
"subordinate agents. After such precautions,
" I do not hesitate to maintain, that civil liberty
" was as effectually secured by that law in France
"as it could possibly be. The public miscon-
" ceived, or pretended to misconceive that truth;
" for it is necessary for us Frenchmen to murmur
" at every thing and on every occasion.
" The fact is that at the time of my downfal, the
" state prisons scarcely Contained 250 individuals;
" and I found nine thousand in them, when I
" became Consul. It will appear from the list
" of those who were imprisoned, and upon an
" examination into the causes and motives of
" their confinement, that almost every one of
" them deserved death, and would have been
" sentenced to it by regular process of law; and
" it consequently follows, that their imprisonment
•" was, on my part, a benefit conferred upon them.
" Why is there nothing published against me on
"this subject at present? Where are the serious
"grievances to be found with which I am re-
" proached? There are none in reality. If some
" of the prisoners afterwards made a merit of
" their sufferings with the King, on account of

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 57
" their exertions in his favour, did they not by
" that- proceeding pronounce their own sentence
" and attest my justice ? For what may seem a
" virtuous action in the King's eye, was incon-
" testably' a crime under me ; and it was only
" because I was repugnant to the shedding of
" blood on account of political crimes, and be-
" cause, such trials would have but tended to the
" continuance of commotion and perplexity in
" the heart of the country, that I commuted the
" punishment for simple detention.
" I repeat it, the French were, at my era, the
" freest people of all Europe, without even ex-
" cepting the English; for in England, if any
" extreme danger causes the suspension of the
" Habeas . Corpus act, every individual may be
" sent to prison at the mere will of ministers,
" who are not called upon to justify their mo-
" tives, or give an explanation of their conduct.
" My law was very differently restricted." He
concluded with saying; — "And then at last, if,
" in spite of my good intention, and notwith-
" standing my utmost care, all that you have just
" said, and no doubt, many other things, were
" well founded, it must not still be considered
" so easy a task, as it is thought, to create a
" beneficial establishment for a nation. It is
" a remarkable circumstance, that the countries,
" which have been separated from us, have re-
" gretted the laws, with which I governed them.

58 MY RESIDENCE WITH \MAf.
" This is a homage paid to thei* supeti©3*ity.
" The real, the only mode of passing a decisive
" sentence upon me with regard to their defects,
" would be to shew the existence of a better code
" in any other country ! New times are drawing
*' near, it will be seen," &c. &c. <
About five o'clock, I was told by the Grand
Marshal, who had just left the Emperor, that he
wished to see me. He had staid at home the
whole of the day. I found him engaged in exa
mining the new billiard table. He was appre
hensive that the weather was too damp for walk
ing, and he played at chess until dinner. In the
evening, he read us Crebillon's Atrie et Thyeste*
That piece seemed horrible to us; we; found it
disgusting, and by no means of atragic cast. The
Emperor could not finish; it.
Egypt. — Saint- Jean a" Acre. — The Desert. — Jhec-
dbtes, fyc. fyc.
21st.: — About three o'clock the Emperor called
for his calash.. He sent for me, and we walked
together to the bottom of the wood where he had
ordered the; carriage to take him up. I had some
particulars of no great moment to communicate,
which personally concerned him. .-«,..
We observed, in the course of our ride, two
vessels under sail for the island*.

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 59»
At dinner the Emperor seemed very fond of
conversation. He had been just employed on his
campaign of Egypt, which he had, for some time,
neglected, and which, he said, would be as inter
esting as an episode of romance. In speaking
of his position at Saint-Jean d'Acre, he observed : —
" The position which I occupied in the- middle
" of Syria, with 12,000 men only, was, it must be
" admitted, a very enterprizing measure. I was
<c at the distance of 500s leagues from Desaix, who
" formed the other extremity of my army. It
" has been related by Sydney Smith, that I lost
" 18,000 men before Saint- Jean d'Acre, although
" my army consisted but of 12,000. An obscure
" person M  who had just gone through his
" exercises, at college, as it seemed, who knows
" nothing' of what he describes, and whpse only
" talent is that of tacking some sentences toge-
" ther, with a view, no doubt, of converting
" them to his emolument, the brother, however,
" of one, whom I have loaded with favours, and
" who was one of my council of state, has re-
" cently published something on that subject, on
" which I have cast a glance, and which vexes
" me on account of its silliness and the gloomy
" tint it endeavours to shed on the glory and ex-
" ploits of that army, &c. &c.
"Had I been master of the sea, I should have
"• been master of the East, and the thing was so
" practicable, that it failed only through the* sta pi-

60 MY RESIDENCE WITH {.3^7i
dity or bad conduct of some officers of the
navy. " Volney, who travelled in Egypt before the
revolution, had stated his opinion, that that
country could not be occupied without three
great wars against England, the Grand Signior,
and the inhabitants. Thelatter, in particular,
seemed difficult and terrible to him. He was
altogether mistaken in that respect, for it gave
us no trouble. We had even succeeded in
making, friends of the inhabitants, in the course
of a short time, and of connecting their cause
with ours. A handful of Frenchmen had then
been sufficient to conquer that fine country,
which they ought never to have lost. We had
actually accomplished prodigies in war and in
politics. Our undertaking was altogether dif
ferent from the crusades ; the crusaders were
innumerable and hurried on by fanaticism. My
army, on the contrary, was very small, and the
soldiers were so little inclined to the enter-
prize, that they were frequently tempted to
carry off the. colours and return. I had, how
ever, succeeded in familiarizing them with the
country, which supplied every thing in abund
ance, and at so cheap a rate, that I was one
time on the point of placing them on half pay
for the purpose of laying by the other half for
them. I had acquired such an ascendency
over them, that I had it in my power, by a

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 61
' simple order of the day, to convert them to
* Mahometanism. They would have treated it as
' a joke, the population would have been gratified,
' and the Christians of the East themselves would
' have considered themselves gainers, and ap-
' proved of it, as they knew that we could not
' act better for them and for ourselves.
" The English were struck with consternation
'at seeing us in possession of Egypt. We ex-
' posed to Europe the certain means of wresting
' India from them. They have not yet dismissed
' their apprehensions, and they are in the right.
' If 40 or 50,000 European families ever succeed
' in establishing their industry, • laws, and go-
' vernment in Egypt, India will be more effec-
' tually lost to the English by the commanding
' influence of circumstances, than by the force
' of arms."
In the course of the evening, the grand Marshal
put the Emperor in mind of one of his conver
sations with Monge, the mathematician, at Cute-
kie, in the midst of the desert. " What do you
"think of all this, citizen Monge?" said Napo
leon. — "Why, citizen general," answered Monge,
"T think, if there are ever seen in this place as
" many equipages as at the Opera house, there
"must be some wonderful revolutions on the
" globe." The Emperor laughed very heartily
at the recollection. He had, however, he ob
served, a carriage with six horses on the spot.

liS 3HY RESIDENCE WITH "P<%>
It was unqnestaenalbly the first of the kind that
travelled over the desert, and accordingly it very
much surprised the Arabs.
The -Emperor remarked, ;that the desert always
had a peculiar influence on his feelings. He had
never crossed it without being subject to a cer
tain emotion. It seemed to him, he said, the
image of immensity : it shewed no boundaries,
and had neither beginning nor end ; it was an
ocean on terra nrma. His imagination was de
lighted with the sight, and he took pleasure in
drawing owe attention to the observation that
Napoleon meant Lion of the desert ! 
The Emperor also told us, that when he was in
Syria, it was a settled opinion at Cairo, that be
never would beseen there again, and he noticed
the thievery and impudence of a little Chinese,
who was one of his servants. " It was," said
he, " a little deformed dwarf, whom Josephine
" once took ,a fancy to at Paris. He was the
" only Chinese in France, and was generally
" placed behind her carriage. She took him to
" Italy, but as he was in the constant habit of
"pilfering, she wished to -get rid of him. With
*' that view, I put him on board of my Egyptian
"expedition. Egypt was a lift to him balf-way
" on his journey. This little monster was en-
" trusted with the care of my cellar, and I had
" no sooner crossed the desert, than he sold, at a
" very low price, 2,000 bottles of delicious claret.

Wa.Q$ THE EMPEJRGB, NAPOLS0N. 68
" Has only object was to make money, and lie
" was convinced, that I should never come back.
*' He was not at all disconcerted at my return,
*' but came eagerly to meet me, and acquainted
" me, as he said, like a faithful servant, with the
*' loss of my wine. The robbery was so glaring,
" that he was himself compelled to confess it. I
** was much urged to have him hanged, but I re-
" fused, because, in every sense of justice, I
" ought to have done as much to those in em-
" broidered clothes, who had knowingly bought
" and drank the wine. I contented myself with
" discharging and sending him to Suez, where he
" was at liberty to do what he pleased."
With respect to this topic I must observe, that
we were induced, in this place, to give momentary
credit to a very singular coincidence. We were
informed a few months ago, that on board one of
the Chinese traders, which were then off the
island, on their return to Europe, there was .a
Chinese, who said, he had been in the Emperor's
service in Egypt. The Emperor instantly ex
claimed, that it was his little thief, whose story
I have just told ; but it was, in fact, a cook that
had belonged to Kleber.
The Emperor put a sudden stop to the conver
sation, and with more gaiety than usual, turning
to Madame Bertrand, said with a smile, " When
" will you be at your apartments in the Tuileries ?
" When will you give your splendid dinners to

64 -r MY- RESIDENCE WITH

[July,

" the ambassadors ? But you will be obliged, at
" least, I am told so, to have new furniture, for
"it is reported, that the fashion has entirely
" changed in that country." The conversation
then naturally turned on ! the magnificence and
luxury, which we had witnessed under the
Emperor.
Paternal advice — Remarkable conversation — Cagliostro;
Mesmer, Gall, Lavater, fyc.
22d. — The Emperor came to my apartment about
10 o'clock, and took me out to walk. We all
breakfasted under the trees. The weather was
delightful, and the heat, though intense, whole
some. The Emperor ordered his calash, two of
us were with him, and the third accompanied us
on horseback. The Grand Marshal could not
attend. The Emperor recurred to some misun
derstanding, which had taken place among us
a few days before. He took a view of our situa
tion and our natural wants; — " You are bound,"
said he, " when you are one day restored to the
" world, to consider yourselves as brothers, on
" my account. My memory will dictate - this
" conduct to you. Be so, then, from this mo-
" ment!" He next described how we might be
of mutual advantage to each other, the sufferings
we had it in our power to alleviate, &c. &c. It
was, all at once, a family and moral lesson, alike

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.

65

distinguished for excellent sentiment and prac
tical rules of conduct. It ought to have been
written in letters of gold. It lasted nearly an
hour and a quarter, and will, I think, never be
forgotten by any of us. For myself, not only
the principles and the words, but the tone, the
expression, the action, and above all, the entire
affection with which he. delivered them, will never
be erased from my mind.
About five o'clock, the Emperor entered my
apartment, where I was employed, with my son,
on the sketch of the battle of Areola. He had
something to say to me and I followed him to
the garden, where he resumed, at great length*
the conversation that had taken place in the
calash 
We now dined in the old topographical cabinet^
adjoining that of the Emperor and the apartment
formerly occupied by Montholon's family, which,.
with the help of the books and shelves lately.
received from England, was converted into a
tolerable library.
As the damage done by the fire in the saloon
was long in repairing, we were obliged to con
tinue at table in our new dining-room until the
Emperor withdrew. This circumstance, how
ever, gave additional interest to the conversation.
The Emperor was very communicative to-day.
The conversation turned on dreams, presenti
ments,- and foresights, which the English call
Vol. III. Part V. p

6& MY RESIDENCE WITH '[July*
second sight. We employed every common-place-
topic, ordinarily connected with these objects,
and came at last to speak of sorcerers and ghosts.
The Emperor concluded with observing ; " All*
" these quackeries, and as many others, such as
" those of Cagliostro, Mesmer, Gall, and Lavater,
" &c. &c, are destroyed by this sole and simple
"argument; All that may exist, but it does not
" exist. " Man is fond of the marvellous ; it has for him
w irresistible fascinations ; he is ever ready to
" abandon that, which is near at hand, to run after
" that, which is fabricated for him. He volun-
" tarily lends himself to his own delusions. The
" truth is, that every thing about us is a wonder.
"" There is nothing which can be properly called
" a phenomenon. Every thing in nature is a phe-
" nomenon. My existence is a phenomenon. The
" wood that is put in the fire-place and warms
'" me, is a phenomenon ; that candle there* which
" gives me light, is a phenomenon. All the first
" causes, my understanding, my faculties, are
" phenomena; for they all exist and we cannot
" define them. I take leave of you here," said
he, " and lo ! I am at Paris, entering my box
*' at the opera. I bow to the audience ; I
"hear the acclamations; I see the performers;
" I listen to the music. But if I can bound over
"the distance from Saint Helena, why should I
" not bound over the distance of centuries ? Why

1816.]

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 67

' should I not see the future as well as the past?
' Why should the one be more extraordinary,
' more wonderful than the other ? The only rea-
' son is, that it does not exist. This is the argu-
' ment which will always annihilate, without the
' possibility of reply, all visionary wonders. All
' these quaGks deal in very ingenious specula-
' tions ; their reasoning may be just and seduc-
' tive ; but their conclusions are false, because
' they are unsupported by facts.
" Mesmer and Mesmerism have never recovered
' from the blow dealt at them by Bailly's report
' in the name of the Academy of Sciences. Mes-
£ mer produced effects upon a person by mag-
' netizing him to his face, yet the same person,
' magnetized behind, without, his knowing it,
' experienced no effect, whatever. It was there-
' fore, on his part, an error of the imagination, a
( debility of the senses ; it was the act of the
' somnabule, who, at night runs along the roof
' without danger, because he is not afraid; but
' who would break his neck in the day, because
' his senses would confound him.
" I once attacked the quack Puysegur, on his
' somnabulism, at one of my public audiences.
' He wished to assume a very lofty tone ;
' brought- him down to his proper level with only
' these words. If your doctrine is so instructive,,
' let it tell us something new !• Mankind will, no
' doubt, make a very considerable progress ia
r2

68 MY RESIDENCE WITH [JuIy*
" the next 200 years, let it specify any single'
" improvement, which is to take place within that'
" period ! Let it tell me what I shall do within
" the" following week ! Let it ascertain the num-
" bers of the lottery, which will be drawn to-'*
" morrow! &c. &c.
" I behaved in the same manner to Gall, and'
" contributed very much to the discredit of his'
" theory. Corvisart Was his principal follower.'
" He, and all who resemble him, had a great at-'
" tachment to materialism, which was calculated
*( to strengthen their theory and influence. But
" nature is not so barren. Were she so elumsy-
"as to make herself known by external forms,'
" we should go to work more promptly and ac-
" quire a greater degree of knowledge. Her'
" secrets are more subtle, more delicate, more
" evanescent, and have hitherto escaped the most'
" minute researches. We find a great genius in
" a little hunch back, and a man, with a fine
" commanding person, turns out to be a stupid
" fellow. A big head with a large brain is some-
" times destitute of a single idea, while a small
" brain is found to possess a vast understanding.
" And observe the imbecility' of Gall. He attri-
" butes to certain protuberances, propensities
" and crimes, which are not inherent in nature,
" which arise solely from society and the com-
" pact of mankind. What becomes of the pro-
" tuberance, denoting thievery, where there is no

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 69
" property to steal; — of that indicating drunken-
•" ness, where there are- no fermented liquors, and
"" of that characterising ambition, where there is
" no social establishment?
"The same remarks apply to that egregious
" charlatan, Lavater, with his physical and moral
" relations. Our credulity lies in the defect of our
¦" nature. It is inherent in us to wish for the
'"" acquisition of positive ideas, when we ought,
¦" on the contrary, to be carefully on our guard
" against them. We scarcely look at a man's
¦" features, before We undertake to ascertain his
" character. We should be wise enough to repel
" the idea and to neutralize those deceitful appear-
" ances. I was robbed by a person who had
" grey eyes, and from that moment am I never to
" look at grey eyes without the idea of the fear of
" being robbed ? It was a weapon, that wounded
" me, and of that I am apprehensive wherever I
" see it, but was it the grey eyes that robbed
" me ? Reason and experience, and I have been
" enabled to derive great benefit from both, prove,
" that all those external signs are so many lies ;
"that we cannot be too strictly on our guard
"against them, and that the only true way of
" appreciating and gaining a thorough knowledge
" of mankind is by trying and associating with
" them. After all, we meet with countenances
"so hideous, it must be allowed," (and as an
instance he described one ; it was that of . the

70 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
governor), "that the most powerful understanding
" is confounded, and condemns them in spite of
"itself."
Singular jiccummiilation of Contrarieties, Sfc. Sf c.
,23d. — The Emperor called upon me about three
o'clock. He wished to take a walk. He had a
gloomy look, and had suffered much since yester
day. He was seriously affected by the intense
heat during his ride in the calash. He had ob
served a new door which was making without,
and which would have altered the whole interior
of the topographical cabinet, and of Madame
Montholon' s former apartment. He had not been
consulted on the occasion, and was sensibly af
fected at it. He sent instantly for the person who
had given the directions, and the bad reasons he
sassigned served only to vex him still more. We
were desirous of taking a walk, but it seem
ed decided that every tiling was to irritate
and put him in ill humour that evening. He saw
some English officers on his way, and turned aside
from them almost in anger, observing, that shortly
it would be impossible for him, to put his foot out
of doors. A few paces off he was joined by the
Doctor, who came to tell Mm, unseasonably
enough, of some arrangements that were making
for him, the Emperor, and to ask his opinion on
the subject. It was one of the topics, which, per-

¦*S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 71
haps, hurt his feelings most. He made no answer,
his ordinary resource against disappointment, but
this time he kept silent with a fretfulness he could
not conceal. He came up with the carriage, and
got in.; but on our way we met with some more
English officers, and then he suddenly ordered
the coachman to drive off, at a gallop, in another
direction. The new opening, however, which had been
made in the house without his knowledge, and
which he found so inconvenient, still sat heavy on
his heart. He was about to lighten the load by a
lively playfulness with the wife of the person who
had ordered it, an d who happened to be in
the calash. " Ah," said he, " are you there?
" You are in my power; you shall pay the pe
" nalty. The husband is the guilty person ; it is
" the wife that shall answer for him." But instead
of accommodating herself to the sense in which
the words were uttered, which she might have
done without the least inconvenience, and with
the certainty of a satisfactory result, she persisted
in making lame excuses for her husband, and re
peating reasons, which served but to revive his
dissatisfaction. Finally, to fill up the chapter of
cross purposes, one of us, on discovering the tents
of the camp, informed him that the evolutions and
manoeuvres of the preceding day were in celebra
tion of one of the great victories gained by the
English in Spain, and that the regiment which

72 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
executed them, had been very nearly destroyed in
battle. " A regiment, Sir, is never destroyed by
" the enemy ; it is immortalized," was his only an
swer. It is true, that it was delivered very dryly.
For myself, I meditated in silence on this ac
cumulation of contrarieties, which struck with
redoubled blows in so short a time. It was a
precious moment for an observer. I estimated
the torments they were calculated to produce,
and I remarked, with admiration, the few he suf
fered to escape. I said to myself, this is the in
tractable man, this the tyrant ! It might have been
said, that he knew what was passing in my mind,
for, when we left the calash, and were a few paces
before the others, he said to me in a low tone,
" If you like to study mankind, learn how far
" patience can go, and all that one can put up
" with," &c. &c.
On his return, he called for tea; I had never
seen him take any. Madame de Montholon was,
for the first time, in possession of her new saloon.
He wished to see it, and observed that she would
be much better accommodated than us all. He
called for fire, and played at chess with several
of us successively. He gradually resumed his
natural state, and ate a little at dinner, which
completely restored him. He indulged in con
versation, and again reverted to his early years,
which always possessed fresh charms for him. He
spoke a great deal of his early acquaintances, and

1816.] the EMPEROR. NAPOLEON.

73

of the difficulties some of them had in obtaining
admission to him after his elevation, and observ
ed, " that if the threshold of his palace was impas-
" sable, it was in spite of himself. What then,"
said he, " must be the situation of other sovereigns
" in that respect?" &c. &c.
We continued the conversation until eleven,
without noticing the lateness of the hour.
Madame de B  — Details, fyc. — Anecdotes
respecting the Emigrants.
24th. — To-day the Emperor tried the billiard-
table -which, had been just laid down, and went
out, but the weather being very damp, he return
ed almost immediately.
He conversed with me in his apartment, before
dinner, on the emigrants, and the name of Ma
dame de B . . . ., who had been dame da-
tours to Madame, and was very conspicuous in
the commencement of our affairs, was mentioned.
The Emperor observed, " But is not this Madame
" de B . . . . a very dangerous woman?" —
" Certainly not," I replied ; " she is, on the con-
" trary, one of the best women in the world, with
" a great deal of wit, and an excellent judgment."
" If that is the case," said the Emperor, " she
" must have much cause to complain of me.. This
" is the painful consequence of false representa-
" tions ; she was pointed out as a very dangerous

74

MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,

** character." — " Yes, Sire, you made her very
" unhappy. Madame de B . . . . placed all
" her happiness in the charms of society, and
" vou banished her from Paris. I met with her
" in one of my missions, confined within her pro-
" vince, and pining away with vexation, yet she
" expressed no resentment against your Ma-
" jesty, and spOke of you with great moderation,"
"Well, then! why did you not come to me, and
" set me right ?" — " Ah, Sire, your character was
" then so little known to us, compared with what
" I know it to be at present, that I should not
" have dared to take it upon myself. But I will
" mention an anecdote of Madame de B . . . .
" when at London, during the high tide of our
" emigration, which will make you better ac-
" .quainted with her than any thing I could say.
" At the time when you were declared Consul, a
" person, just arrived from Paris, was invited to
" a small party at her house. He engrossed the
" attention of the company, in consequence of all
" the particulars he had to communicate respeet-
" ing a place, which interested us eo very mate-
" rially. He was asked several 'questions re-
"" specting the Consul. He can not, said he,
" live long, he is so yellow as to inspire delight.
"" These were his words. He grew more ani-
'*' mated by degrees, and gave as a toast — the
" death of the First Consul ! Oh, horrible! was
** the instantaneous exclamation of Madame

J28L6.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 75
de B . . . . What, drink to the death -of a
human being ! For shame ! I will give a much
better one; the King's health !"
" Well," said the Emperor, " I repeat, that she
was very ill used by me, in consequence of the
representations, which were made to me. She
had been described to me as a person fond -of
political intrigues, and remarkable for the
bitterness of her sarcasms. And this puts me
in mind of an expression which is perhaps
wrongly attributed to her, but which struck me,
however, solely on account of its wit. I was
assured, that a distinguished personage, who
was very much attached to her, was seized
with a fit of jealousy, for which she clearly
proved she had given no cause. He persisted,
however, and observed, that she ought to know
that the wife of Caesar should be free from sus
picion. Madame de B . . . . replied, that the
remark contained two important mistakes ; for
it was known to all the world that she was not
his wife, and that he was not Csesar."
After dinner, the Emperor read to us parts of
the comedies of the Dissipateur and the Glorieux,
but he was so little pleased with them, that he
left off; they did not possess a sufficient degree of
interest. He suffered severely in his right side.
It was the effect of the dampness with which he
had been affected during his morning walk, and

76

MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,

we were not without apprehensions of its being
a symptom of the common malady in these scorch
ing climates.
On my return home, I found a letter from
England, with a parcel, containing some articles
for my toilet. The Griffin ship of war had just
arrived from England.
• The Emperor receives Letters from his Family. — Con
versation with the Admiral. — The Commissioners of the
Allied Powers.
25th. — About nine o'clock, I received from the
Grand Marshal three letters for the Emperor. They
were from Madame Mere, the Princess Pauline,
and Prince Lucien. The latter was enclosed in
one, addressed to me from Rome, by Prince
Lucien, dated the 6th of March. I also received
two from my agent in London.
The Emperor passed the whole of the morning
in reading the papers from the 25th of April to the
13th of May. They contained accounts of the
death of the Empress of Austria, of the proroga
tion of the French Chambers, of Cambrone's ac
quittal, and the sentence passed upon General
Bertrand, &c. &c. He made many remarks upon
all these subjects.
About three, Admiral Malcolm requested to be
presented to the Emperor. He brought him a
series of the Journal des Debats to the 13th of

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 77
May. The Emperor desired me to introduce him,
and he conversed with him nearly three hours.
He gave great pleasure to the Emperor, who
traated him, from the first moment, with a great
deal of freedom and good nature, as if he had
been an old acquaintance. The Admiral was en
tirely of his opinion with respect to a great num
ber of subjects. He admitted, that it was ex
tremely difficult to escape from Saint Helena, and
he could see no inconvenience in allowing him to
be at large in the island. He considered it ab
surd, that Plantation-house had not been given up
to the Emperor, and felt, but only since his ar
rival, he confessed, that the title of general might
be offensive. It struck him, that Lady Loudon's
conduct had been ridiculous here, and would be
laughed at in London. He thought, that the go
vernor had good intentions, but did not know how
to act. Ministers had, in his opinion, been em-'
harassed with respect to the Emperor, but enter
tained no hatred against him ; they did not know
how to dispose of him. Had he remained in Eng
land, he would have been, and was still a terror
to the Continent; he would have been too dan
gerous and efficient an instrument in the hands of
Opposition, &c. &c. He was apprehensive, how
ever, that all these circumstances put together
would detain us here a long time ; and he ex
pressed his confidence, that it was the intention of
Ministers, . with the exception of the necessary

78r MY RESIDENCE WITH [July»
precautions to prevent his escape, that Napoleon
should be treated with every possible indulgence.
at Saint Helena, &c. &c. He delivered himself
upon all these points, in so satisfactory a mannar,
that the Emperor discussed the business with him,
with as little warmth, as if it was perfectly indif
ferent to him.
At one moment, the Emperor produced a sen
sible effect upon him ; it was, when, alluding to
the commissioners, he pointed out the impossi
bility of receiving them. " After all, Sir," said
he, " you and I are men. I appeal to you, Is.
" it possible, that the Emperor of Austria, whose
" daughter I married, who implored, that unioni
"on his knees, who retains my wife and my son,
" should send me his commissioner, without a
" line for myself, without the smallest scrap of
" a bulletin with respect to my son's health ?¦
" Can I receive him with consistency? Can I
" have any thing to communicate to him ? I may
" say the same thing of the commissioner sent
" by Alexander, who gloried in calling himself
" my friend, with whom, indeed, I carried on
" political wars, but had no personal quarrel.
" It is a fine thing to be a sovereign, but we are
"not on that account the less entitled to be
" treated as men ; I lay claim to no other cha-
" racier at present ! Can they all be destitute of
" feeling? Be assured, Sir, that when I object
" to the title of Genera^ I am not offended. I

1&16.J THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 79
" decline it merely, because it would be an ac-
" knowledgment, that I have not been Emperor;
" and, in this respect, I advocate the honour of
" others more than my own. I advocate the
" honour of those with whom, I have been, in
" that rank, connected by treaties, by family and
" political alliances. The only one of these
" commissioners, whom, I might, perhaps, re-
" ceive, would be that of Louis XVIII., who
" owes me nothing. That commissioner was a
" long time my subject, he acts merely in cou-
" formity to circumstances, independent of his
"option ; and I should accordingly receive him
" to-morrow, were I not apprehensive of themis-
" representations, that would take place, and of
" the false colouring; that would be given to the
" circumstance," &c. &c.
After dinner, the Emperor again alluded to the
time of his consulate, to the numerous conspira
cies which had been formed against- him, to the
celebrated persons of that period;, &c: I have
already noticed these topics at considerable;
length. The conversation lasted until one o'clock
in the morning, a very extraordinary hour for us.
The Emperor's Court — Expenses,, savings, hunting and
shooting establishment, mews, pages, service of honour, tyc.
26th — 28th. Our usual mode of living, — an
airing in the carriage in the middle of the day ;
conversation at night.

80

MY RESIDENCE WITH [Juty>

On the 27th the Emperor received for a mo
ment, a colonel, a relation of the family of Walsh
Serrent, who was on his return from the Cape
in the Haycomb, and was to sail next day for
Europe. He had been governor of Bourbon,
and entertained us with many agreeable particu
lars respecting that island.
After dinner, the conversation turned on the
old and new court, with their arrangements, ex
penses, etiquette, &c. &c. I have already men
tioned most of these points in another place, and
many of them were repeated on the present occa
sion. I pass over what would seem but a literal
repetition. The Emperor's court was, in every relation,
much more magnificent than any thing seen up
to that period, and yet, said he, the expense was
infinitely less. That vast difference was caused
by the suppression of abuses, and by the introduc
tion of order and regularity into the accounts.
His hunting and shooting establishment, with the
exception of some useless and ridiculous particu
lars, he observed, as that of falconry and some
others, was as splendid, as numerous, and as
striking, as that of Louis XVI., and the annual
disbursement, he assured us, was but 400, 000
franks, while the King's amounted to seven mil
lions. His table was regulated according to the
same system. Duroc had, by his regularity and
strictness, done wonders in that respect. Under

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 61
the kings, the palaces did not continue furnished,
and the same articles were transferred from one
palace to another; the people belonging to the
court had no furniture allowed them, and every
one was obliged to look out for himself. Under
him, on the contrary, there was not a person in
attendance, who did not find himself provided as
comfortably, or even more so, with every thing
that was necessary or suitable in the apartment
assigned to him, than in his own house.
The Emperor's mews cost three millions, the
expense of the horses was averaged at 3,000
francs a horse yearly. A page cost from 6 to
8,000 francs. That establishment, he observed,
was perhaps the most expensive belonging to the
palace, and accordingly the education of the pages
and the care taken of them, were the subject of
just encomium. The first families of the empire
were solicitous to place their children on it, and
the inducements were irresistible.
With respect to the etiquette of the court, the
Emperor said, he was the first who had separated
the service of honour (an expression invented
under him) from that which was absolutely ne
cessary. He had dismissed every thing that was
laborious and substantial, and substituted what
was nominal and ornamental only. " A king," he
said, " is not to be found in nature, he is the
" mere creature of civilization. There are no
" naked kings ; they must all be dressed," &c.
Vol, III. Part V. g

82 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July»
The Emperor remarked, that it was impossible
for any one to be better informed of the nature
and relation of all these matters than himself;
because they had been all regulated by him, ac
cording to the precedents of past times, from
which he had lopped off whatever was ridiculous,
and preserved every thing that seemed suit
able, &c.
The conversation lasted until after eleven o'clock.
It had been kept up with tolerable spirit ; and the
Emperor again observed on leaving us, that, after
all, we must be a good-natured kind of people
to be able to lead so contented a life at Saint
Helena.
Fresh Instance of the Governor's Malignity, tyc. — Desperate
Project of Santini, the Corsican.
29th. -^-The weather had been badfor some days ;
the Emperor took advantage of a fine moment to
examine a tent, which the admiral had, in a very
handsome manner, ordered to be raised for his
accommodation by his ship's crew, having heard
him complain, in the course of conversation, of
the want of shade and of the impossibility of en
joying himself in the air out of his apartment.
The Emperor conversed with the officer and men
Who were putting the last hand to the work, and
ordered a napoleon to be given to each of the
seamen.

,1816.] the Emperor napoleon. 8$
We learnt to-day, that the lastvessel had brought
a book on the state of public affairs for the Em
peror, written, as it was said, by a member of
parliament. It had been sent by the author him
self, and the following words were inscribed in
letters of gold on the outside, — To Napoleon the
¦Great. This circumstance induced the Governor
to retain the work, a rigour, on his part, which
formed a singular contrast with his eagerness to
supply us with libels, that spoke so disrespect
fully of the Emperor.
• During dinner the Emperor, turning, With a
stern look, to one of the servants in waiting,
exclaimed, to our utter consternation ; "So
" then, assassin, you resolved to kill the Gover-
" nor! — Wretch! — If such a thought ever again
" enters your head, you will have to do with
" me; you will see how I shall behave to you."
And then addressing himself to us, he said,
<c Gentlemen, it is Santini, there, who deter-
" mined to kill the Governor. That rascal was
" about to involve us in a sad embarassment. I
" found it necessary to exert all my authority,
" all my indignation to restrain him."
With the view of explaining this extraordinary
transaction, it is necessary for me to observe,
that Santini, who was formerly usher of the Em
peror's cabinet, and whose extreme devotion had
prompted him to follow his master and serve him,
no matter, he said, in what capacity, was -a Cor-
G 2

64 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
sican of deep feeling and a warm imagination.
Enraged at the Governor's bad usage, no longer
able to bear with patience the affronts he saw
heaped upon the Emperor, exasperated at the
decline of his health, and affected himself with
a distracting melancholy, he had, for some time,
done no work in the house, and under pretence of
procuring some game for the Emperor's table,
his employment seemed to be that of shooting in
the neighbourhood. In a moment of confidence,
he told his countryman Cypriani, that he had
formed the project, by the means of his double
barrelled piece, of killing the Governor, and then
putting an end to himself. And all, said he, to rid
the world of a monster.
Cypriani, who knew his countryman's charac
ter, was shocked at his determination, and com
municated it to Several other servants. They all
united in entreating him to lay aside his design,
but their efforts, instead of mitigating, seemed
but to inflame his irritation. They resolved then
to discover the project to the Emperor, who had
him instantly brought before him : " And it was
" only," he told me some time afterwards, " by
'•" imperial, by "pontifical authority, that I finally
" succeeded in making the scoundrel desist alto-
" gether from his project. Observe for a moment
" the fatal consequences he was about to pro-
" duce. I should have also passed for the mur-
" derer, the assassin of the Governor, and in reality

1816!] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 8S
" it would have been very difficult to destroy
" such an impression in the mind of a great num-
" ber of people."
The Emperor read to us La Mort de Pomp^e,
which was stated in the journals to be the subject
of general interest at Paris, on account of its
political allusions. And this gave rise to the
remark, that government had been obliged to
forbid the representation of Richard, and that,
certainly on the fifth and sixth of October, Louis
XVI. little thought of its ever being prohibited
for its allusions to another. " The fact is,
" that times are wonderfully changed," said the
Emperor. 30th. — The Emperor, after a few turns in the
garden, went to General Gourgaud's apartment,
where he was a long time employed, with his
compasses and crayon, in ascertaining the dimen
sions of the coast of Syria, and the plan of Saint
Jean d'Acre, which the general was to execute.
In marking some points about Saint Jean d'Acre,
he said ; — " I passed many unpleasant moments
" there." In the evening we had Le Mariage de Figaro,
which entertained and interested us much more
than we had been led to expect. " It was," ob
served the Emperor, in shutting the book, " the
" revolution already put into action,'"

86 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July/
La Harpe 's M6lanie.^-Nuns.—Convents,-~-Monks of Lw
Trappe. — The French Clergy.
31. — The weather was horrible, and the Em-.
peror found great difficulty in going to Madame,
de Montholon's saloon. He amused himself for
some time in reading the Thousand and One
Nights, and afterwards perceiving a volume of
the Moniteur, on which M. de Montholon was
then employed, and which Jay open in the part
relative to the negociations for a maritime armis
tice in 1800, his whole attention was absorbed by
them for upwards of an hour.
After dinner the Emperor read first La Mere
Coupable, in which we felt interested and next,,
the Melanie of La Harpe, which he thought
wretchedly conceived and very badly executed.,
" It was," he said, " a turgid declamation, in
" perfect conformity with the taste of the times,
" founded in fashionable calumnies and absurd
" falsehoods. When La Harpe wrote that piece,
" a father certainly had not the power of forcing
" his daughter to take the veil; the laws would
" never have allowed it. This play, which was
" performed at the beginning of the revolution,
" was solely indebted for its success to the mo-.
" mentary caprice of public opinion. Now, that
" the inducement is over, it would be a wretched
" performance! La Harpe's characters are all

1816.] the EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 87
" unnatural. He should not have attacked de-
" fective institutions with defective weapons."
The Emperor said, that La Harpe had so com
pletely failed in his object with regard to his own
impressions, that all his feelings were in favour
of the father, while he was shocked at the daugh
ter's conduct. He had never seen the perform
ance, without being tempted to start from his
seat and call out to the daughter; " You have
tf but to say. No, and we will all take your part;
" you will find a protector in every citizen."
He observed, that when he was on service with
his regiment, he had often witnessed the cere
mony of taking the veil. " It was a ceremony
" very much attended by the officers, and which
" raised our indignation, particularly, when the
" victims were handsome. We ran in crowds to
" it, and our attention was alive to the slightest
" incident. Had they but said, No, we should
" have carried them off sword in hand. It is
" consequently false, that violence was employed :•
" the only means used were the acts of seduc-
" tion. Those, upon whom they were practised,
" were kept, not unlike recruits, They were
" exposed to the blandishments and exhortations
" of the nuns, the abbess, the spiritual director,.
" and the bishop, to the examination of the civil
" officer, and finally to public view. Thus every
" thing seemed to concur in prevailing upon them
" to make the sacrifice."

8g MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
The Emperor declared that he was an enemy
to convents in general, as useless, and productive
of degrading inactivity. He allowed, however,
in another point of view, that certain reasons
might be pleaded in their favour. The best mezzo
termine, and he had adopted it, was, in his opi
nion, that of tolerating them, of obliging the
members to become useful, and of recognizing
annual vows alone.
The Emperor complained, that he had not been
allowed time enough to complete his institutions.
It had been his intention to enlarge the establish
ments of Saint Denis and Ecouen, for the pur-
pose of giving an asylum to the widows of sol
diers, or women advanced in years, &c. &c.
"And then," he added, " it must also be allowed,
"that there were characters and imaginations of
" all kinds ; that compulsion ought not to be used
" with regard to persons of an eccentric turn,
" provided their oddities were harmless, and that
" an empire, like France, might and had a right
" to have houses for madmen, called trappistes.
" With respect to the latter," he observed, " that
" if any one ever thought of inflicting upon others
" the discipline which they practised, it would be
" justly considered a most abominable tyranny,
" and that it might, notwithstanding, constitute
"the delight • of him who voluntarily exercised
"it on himself.  This is man, these
" his fantastical pursuits, or his folly! ... He

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. t-'gg-
" had tolerated the monks of Mount Cenis, but
" these, at least," he added, "were useful, very
" useful, and might be even called heroical."
The Emperor expressed himself in his council '
of state in the following words, when the organiz
ation of the university was about to take place :
It is my opinion, that the monks would be far
the best body for communicating instruction,
were it possible to keep them under proper
control, and to shake off their dependence
upon a foreign master. I am disposed to be
favourable to them. I should, perhaps, have
had the power to reinstate them in their
establishments, but they have made the thing-
impossible. The moment I do any thing for
the clergy, they give me cause to repent it. I
do not complain of the old established clergy,
for with them I am sufficiently satisfied ; but
the young priests are brought up in a gloomy
fanatical doctrine ; there is nothing Gallican in
the young clergy.
" I have nothing to say against the ancient,
the old bishops. They have shewn themselves
grateful for what I did for religion ; they have
realized my expectations.
" Cardinal de Boisgelin was a man of sense, a
virtuous character, who had "faithfully adopted
me.
" The Archbishop of Tours, Barral, a man of
great acquirements, and who was of essential

90 MY RESIDENCE WITH [July,
service to us in our differences with the Pope,
was always very much attached to me.
" The worthy cardinal du Belloy, and the vir
tuous Bishop Roquelaure, had a sincere affec
tion for me.
" I made no difficulty whatever in placing
Bishop Beausset among the dignitaries of the
university, and I am convinced, that he was
one of those, who, in that capacity, most sin
cerely conducted themselves in conformity
with my views.
" All these ancient bishops possessed my con
fidence, and none of them deceived me. It is
not a little singular, that those I had the great
est cause to complain of, were precisely those
whom I had chosen myself; so very true is it,
that the holy unction, in approximating us to
Heaven, does not deliver us from the infirmi
ties of the earth, from its irregularities, its ob
scenities, its turpitudes," &c. &c.
The conversation next turned upon the want of
priests in France, on the obligation of employing
them at the age of 16, and the difficulty, even the
impossibility of finding any at 21, &c. &c.
It was the Emperor's wish that they should be
ordained at a more advanced age. The answer of
the bishops and the Pope himself was, " It is very
" well : your reasons are very just ; but if you wait
" for that period, you will find none to ordain,
" and yet you admit that you are in want of them,"

1816."} THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.

91

" I have, no doubt," observed the EmperOr,
" that, after me, other principles will be adopted.
" A conscription of priests and nuns will, per-
" haps, be seen in France, as a military conscrip-
" tion was seen in my time. My 'barracks will,
" perhaps, be turned into convents and semi-
" naries. Thus the world runs on. Poor peo-
" pie! In spite of all your knowledge, all your
" wisdom, you continue like simple individuals,
" the slaves of fashionable caprice."
It was nearly one o'clock in the morning before
the Emperor retired. It was, he said, a real vic
tory over tediousness, and a great relief for the
want of sleep.
Mane Antoinette. — The Manners of Versailles. — Anecdote,
— Beverley. — Diderot's Pere de Familie.
August 1. — The weather was dreadful. About
three o'clock, the Grand Marshal came to look for
me ; but as I had at that moment ventured out, I
was not to be found. It was on account of some
English, whom he had to present to the Emperor.
The Emperor sent for me at five ; he was in a
bad humour, and not a little so, he said, on my
account. The visit of the English, the bad
weather, the want of the saloon and an interpreter,
had all combined to vex him.
He was reading the Veillees du Chateau,
which, he observed, were tiresome, and he left
them for the tales of Margaret, Queen of Navarre,

DC MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
He afterwards adverted to Versailles ; the court,
the Queen, Madame Campan, and the King, were
the principal subjects of his remarks, and he said
many things, some of which I have already noticed.
He concluded' with observing, that Louis XVI.
would have been a perfect pattern in private life,
but that he had been a wretched King ; and that
the Queen would no doubt have been, at all times,
the ornament of every circle, but that her levity,
her inconsistencies, and want of capacity, had not
a little contributed to promote and accelerate the
catastrophe. She had, he remarked, deranged the
manners of Versailles ; its ancient gravity and strict
etiquette were transformed into the free and easy
prettinesses and absolute tittle-tattle of a private
party. No man of sense and importance could
avoid the jests of the young courtiers, whose
natural disposition for raillery was sharpened by
the applauses of a young and beautiful sovereign.
One of the most characteristic anecdotes of that
day was told. A gallant and worthy German
general arrived atParis, with a special recommend
ation to the Queen, on the part of the Emperor
Joseph, her brother. The Queen thought she
could not do him a greater favour, than that of
inviting him to one of her private parties. He
found himself, it may be easily imagined, a little
out of his element in such company, but it was
every one's wish to treat him with marked respect,
and he was obliged to take a leading part in the

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 93
conversation. He was unfortunate in the selec
tion of his topics, and in his manner of intro
ducing them. He talked a great deal about his
white mare, and his grey mare, upon which he
set the highest value. The subject gave rise to a
number of arch inquiries on the part of the young
courtiers, respecting a thousand frivolous points,
which he had the good nature to answer, as if
they were matters of importance. In conclusion,
one of them asked which of the two he preferred :
" Really," answered the general with peculiar sig
nificance, " I must confess, that, if I were in the
" day of battle on my white mare, I do not be-
" lieve I should dismount to get on my grey one."
At length he made his bow, and the bursts of
laughter, that followed, may be easily conceived.
The conversation took another turn after his de
parture ; the attractions of white and brown beau
ties were long and ingeniously canvassed, and the
Queen having asked one of the party which he
preferred, he instantly assumed a grave air, and
imitating the solemn tone of the , Austrian, an
swered, " Really, Madame, I must confess, that
" if I were in the day of battle on  "
" Enough," observed the Queen, " spare us the
" remainder."
After dinner he read Beverley and the Pere de
Familie to us. The latter, in particular, excited
his animadversion. To us it seemed a paltry pro
duction. What most amused the Emperor, as he

94 MY RESIDENCE WITH LAug-
said, was that it belonged to Diderot, that Cory-
phceus of the philosophers, and the Encyclopedia.
All it contained was, he said, false and ridicu
lous. The Emperor entered into a long examin
ation of the details, and concluded with saying,
" Why reason with a madman in the height of a,
" raging fever? It is remedies, and a decisive
" mode of treatment, of which he stands in.need.
" Who does not know, that the only safeguard
" against love is flight? When Mentor wishes to
" secure Telemachus, he plunges him into the
" sea. When Ulysses endeavours to preserve
" himself from the Syrens, he gets himself tied
" fast, after having stopped the ears of his com-
" panions with wax," &c. &c.
Historical Sketch of the Emigration to Coblentz.—-
Anecdotes, fyc.
2d.— Uninterrupted bad weather, with heavy
rains. The Emperor was not well ; he felt his
nerves very much irritated.
He sent for me to breakfast with him. During
the whole of breakfast, and a long time afterwards,
the conversation again turned on the emigration.
I have already remarked, that he often brought
me back to the subject. His enquiries to day
were directed to the particulars of what had
passed at Coblentz, to our situation, our disposi
tion, pur organization, our views, and our re
sources, and at the end of all my answers, he con-

1S16.]

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 95

eluded, observing; " you have already several
" times acquainted me with a considerable part
" of those things, and yet I do not retain them,
" because you communicate them without regu-
" larity. Reduce them to a consistent historical
" summary. How could you be better employed
" in this place ? And then, my dear Las Cases,
" you will have a piece ready at hand for your
" journal." It was Dido's demand of iEneas, and
I too might have exclaimed, Infandum, regina,
jubes  I executed, however, the
sketch as completely as my memory and judg
ment enabled me, for the subject began to grow
stale, and I was, at that time, very young. I
give it as I read it, a short time afterwards, to
Napoleon. " Sire, after the famous events, which over-
" threw the Bastile, and set all France in agita-
" tion, most of our princes, who found themselves
" implicated in the consequences, fled from the
" country with the sole view, at that period, of
" securing their personal safety. They were soon
" after joined by persons of considerable rank,
"and by a number of young men ; the former,
" induced by the relations which they had with
" them, and the latter by a persuasion, that the
" measure of itself indicated, in some degree, a
" striking, generous, and decided devotedness.
" When a certain number were collected, the
" idea suggested itself of converting to a political

96 MY RESIDENCE WITH- [Aug.
' end, that, which until then, had been produced
' by zeal and chance alone. It was thought, that
' if, with the assistance of these junctions, a kind
' of small power could be created, it might be
* enabled to react, with advantage, on the inte-
' rior, become a lever there to insurrection, make
' an impression on the public mind, and restrain
' popular commotion ; while it would be, with-
' out, a title or pretext for applying to foreign
' powers, and claiming their attention. This was
'the origin of the emigration; and it is confi-
' dently stated, that this grand idea was con-
' ceived by M. de Calonne, as he passed through
' Switzerland, in the suite of one of our princes,
' who was on his way from Turin to Germany.
" The first meeting was held at Worms, under
' the Prince de Cond6. The most celebrated
' was that at Coblentz, under the King's two
' brothers, one of whom came from Italy, where
' he had at first found an asylum in the court of
' the King of Sardinia, his father-in-law, and the
' other arrived by the way of Brussels, after
' escaping the arrests, which had made a captive
' of Louis XVI. at Varennes.
" I was one of the first who assembled at
' Worms. The number about the prince was
' scarcely fifty when I arrived. In the entire
' effervescence of youth and with the first in-
' spiration of what was noble, I hastened to
' Worms with the most innocent simplicity of

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 97
heart. My reading and my prayer each morn
ing consisted of a chapter of Bayard. I ex
pected, on reaching Worms, to be, at the very
least, seized and embraced by so many brothers
in arms ; but to my great surprise, (and it was
my first lesson on mankind), instead of this af
fectionate reception, I and a companion were,
all at once, examined and observed, for the
purpose of having it ascertained, that we were
not spies. We were afterwards carefully sounded
with regard to our interest, our views, and the
pretensions by which we might have been
actuated, and finally great pains were taken
to prove to us, and to make the prince perceive,
(and this plan was renewed on every fresh ar
rival), that our numbers increased greatly, and
exceeded, no doubt, already, the places and
favours he had to confer. My companion was
so shocked, that he proposed to me to return
instantly to Paris.
" We, who composed the assemblage, in order
to make ourselves useful or to acquire impor
tance, undertook, three or four of us by turns,
to form a kind of regular guard about the
Prince's person night and day ; for we dreamt
already but of conspiracies and assassination,
so very powerful and redoubtable did we think
ourselves, and when relieved on this kind of
voluntary guard, we had the honour of being-
admitted to the Prince's table. Three genera-
Vol. III. Part V. h

98 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" tions of Cond6 constituted the glory of the
" family, a singular circumstance, which was re-
" newed with a more striking effect in the army
" of Conde, in which the grandfather fought in
" the centre, while the son and grandson com-
" manded the right and left, where they were, I
" believe, both wounded, and on the same day.
" The Princess of Monaco had followed the
" Prince of Cond6; he married her afterwards,
" but she then governed and did the honours
" of his establishment. We had the opportunity
" of hearing at that table, some of the guests
" assert and re-assert to the Prince, that we
" were already more than enough to enter France ;
" that his name and a white handkerchief were
" sufficient ; that the star of Conde' was about to
" shine forth once more; that the occasion was sin-
" gularly happy, and that it was necessary to seize
"upon it; and I would not pledge myself, that
" adulation was not pushed so far as to suggest
" very interested personal views to the Prince..
" Worms, from the nature of its meeting, and
" the character of its chief, always evinced more
" regularity, more austerity of discipline than
" Coblentz, where there was a display of more
" agitation, luxury, and pleasure. Worms was
" accordingly called the camp, and Coblentz the
" town or the court.
" The importance of the leader was in propor-
" tion to the force under his command, and of
" this the Prince of Conde' was so .sensible, that

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 99
he never saw any one leave him without re
gret, and remembered it a long time. I was
not, on that account, the less eager to go to
Coblentz, the moment it acquired a certain
degree of splendour. I had relations and friends
there, and it was, besides, more attractive by
greater magnificence, activity, and grandeur;
Coblentz became in a short time afocus of foreign
and domestic intrigues, Two distinct parties
might be observed there ; MM. d'Avaray, de
Jaucourt, and some others, were the confiden
tial friends, the advisers or the ministers of
Monsieur, now Louis XVIII. The Bishop of
Arras, the Count de Vaudreuil, and others, were
those of Monseigneur, the Count d'Artois ; and
it was confidently stated, that, even then, these
princes manifested distinctly enough the same
political differences which, it is pretended,
have since characterized them, M. de Breteuil,
resident at Brussels, and charged, according
to his own declaration, with unlimited powers
by Louis XVI., had formed a third party, and
added to the complication of our affairs.
" M. de Calonne was relied on for our financial
department, and the old Marshal de Broglie
and the Marshal de Castries were at the head of
our military establishment. The brave and able
M, de Bounty, who had left France after the
affair of Varennes, found it impossible to re-
H 2

100 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" main with us, and followed King Gustavus III.
" to Sweden.
" The emigration had, however, assumed a
" grand character, thanks to the care employed
" for its propagation. Agents had traversed the
" provinces, circulars had been distributed in the
" mansions and country-seats, summoning every
" gentleman to join the princes, and act in co-
" operation with them for the security of the altar
" and the throne, the revenge of their honour,
" and the recovery of their rights. An absolute
" crusade had been preached, and with so much
" more effect, as it made an impression on minds
" disposed to attend to it. Among the whole of
" the nobility and privileged classes there was
" not a single person, who did not feel himself
" cut to the quick by the decrees of the assembly.
" All, from him who filled the highest rank to
" the lowest country squire, had been deprived
" of what they held most dear ; for the former
" had lost his title and his vassals, and the latter
" had seen his turret and his pigeon-house in-
" suited, and his hares shot. Accordingly, the
" movement to begin the journey was immediate
" and universal ; it could not be abandoned under
" the penalty of dishonour;1 and the women were
" directed to send spindles to those who hesitated,
" or were too tardy. Whether then from passion,
" pusillanimity, or a point of honour, the emi-

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 101
gration became a real infection; multitudes
rushed furiously beyond the frontiers ; and what
contributed not a little to increase the evil, was
the means employed by the leaders of the revo
lution to promote it in secret, while they affected
to oppose it in public. They declaimed, in
vague terms, against it from the tribune, it is
true, but they took great care that all the pas
sages should be left open. Did the zeal of the
emigrants slacken ? The declaimers became
more violent, and it was decided that the bar
riers should be strictly guarded. Then those
who had been left behind were reduced to
despair, because they had not taken advantage
of the favourable moment. But, accidentally,
or from inattention, the barriers were again
opened, and they were passed with eagerness
by those who were determined not to expose
themselves to another disappointment. It was
by this dextrous management that the assembly
assisted its enemies in plunging themselves into
the abyss.
" The able men of the faction had, from the
beginning, conceived that such a measure
would deliver them from the heterogeneous
parties that checked their progress, and that
the property of all these voluntary exiles would
secure to them incalculable resources. The
officers thought they did wonders in stealing
away from their regiments, while the leaders

102 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" of the revolution, on their part, excited the
"soldiers to revolt, in order to force them to it.
" They got rid by these means, of enemies who'
" were highly dangerous, and obtained, on the
" contrary, in the non-commissioned officers,
" zealous co-operators, who became heroes in the
" national cause ; it was they who furnished great
" captains, and who beat all the veteran troops
" of foreign powers.
" The consequence was, that Coblentz collected'
" all that was illustrious belonging to the Court in
" France, and all that was opulent and distin-
" guished belonging to the provinces. We were
" thousands, consisting of every branch, uniform,
" and rank of the army; we peopled the town
" and overran the palace. Our daily assemblages
"" about the persons of the princes, seemed like
" so many splendid festivals. The Court was
" most brilliant, and our princes were so effec-
" tually its sovereigns that the poor Elector was
" eclipsed and lost in the midst of us, which in-
" duced a person to observe to him, very plea-
" santly, one day, whether from perfect simpli-
" city or keen raillery, that, among all those'
" who thronged his palace, he was the only
" stranger. " During the grand solemnities, we occasionally
" had public galas ; and the respectable inhabit-
" ants were permitted to take a view of the tables.
" We then exulted at witnessing the admiration'

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 103'
" expressed by the people of the country for the
" pleasing countenance and chivalrous appearance
" of Monseigneur the Count d'Artois, and we were
" proud of the homage paid by them to the ac-
" quirements and talents of Monsieur. It was
" worth while to see with what arrogance we
" paraded with us, as it were, the whole dig-
" nity, the lustre of our monarchy, and, above all,
" the superiority of our sovereign and the ele-
" vation of our princes. His Majesty the King,
" was the expression which we pompously used
" in the German circles to designate the King of
" France ; for that was, or ought to be, in our opi-
" nion, his title in point of pre-eminence with
" respect to all Europe. The Abb6 Maury, whom
" we had at first received with acclamation, but
" who, by the by, lost much of our esteem in a
" very short time, had discovered, he assured us,
" that such was his right and his prerogative.
" Shall I give another instance of overweening
" pride and conceit?
" At a later period, during our greatest disas-
" ters, and when our cause was completely ruined,
" an Austrian officer, of superior rank, charged
" with despatches for the Court of London, invited
" to dinner several of our officers, with whom he
" had formerly been connected on the Continent.
" After dinner, and very near the time when every
" truth comes out, the company began to talk poli-
" tics, and he happened to say that, on his departure

104 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
( from Vienna, one of the principal subjects of eon -
' versation was the marriage of Madame Royale
' (now Duchess d'Angouleme) with the Archduke
' Charles, who at that moment enjoyed great
' celebrity. ' But it is impossible !' observed one
' of his French guests. ' And why V ' Because
' it is not a suitable marriage for Madame.' —
' 'How!' exclaimed the Austrian, seriously of-
' fended, and almost breathless, ' His Royal High-
' ness Monseigneur, the Archduke Charles ! not
' a suitable marriage for your Princess ?' ' Oh !
' no, Sir, it would be but a garrison marriage
' for her !'
" Besides, these lofty pretensions were instilled
' into us with our education ; they belonged to
' us as national sentiments, and our princes were
' not exempt from them. With us the King's
' brothers disdained the title of Royal Highness,
' they had the pretension of addressing all the
' sovereigns by the title of brother ; the rest of
' the system was carried on in a proportionate
' way, and there was accordingly but one feeling
' in Europe, against our Versailles manners, and
' the presumption of our princes.
" Gustavus III. said, at Aix-la- Chapelle —
' ' Your Court of Versailles was not.accessible ; it .
' indulged too much in haughtiness and ridicule.
' When I was there, there was scarcely any
' attention paid to me, and, when I left it, I
' brought away the titles of booby and blockhead.'

1816.] • THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 105
" The Duchess of Cumberland, who was mar-
" ried to the King of England's brother, had to
" complain, at the same time and in the same city,
" that the Princess de Lamballe did not grant her
" the honours of the folding doors.
" The old Duke of Gloucester complained, on
" his own account, at a later period in London, of
" one of our princes of the blood, and added,
" that the Prince of Wales laughed heartily, be-
" cause he, the Prince of Wales, addressing the
" same Prince by the title of Monseigneur, the
" latter studiously endeavoured to model his lan-
" guage so as not to return the compliment.
" At Coblentz, however, when our circum-
" stances were altered, our princes condescended
" to change their manners in that respect, and to
" let themselves down to the level of the foreign
" princes. They were then with the Elector of
" Treves, a Prince of Saxony, their mother's
" brother, whom, by way of parenthesis, we were
" at that time eating up, and who was afterwards
" deprived of his possessions on our account.
" They condescended to call him their uncle, and
" he was allowed to call them his nephews. It is
" confidently stated that he said to them one day,
" ' It is to your misfortunes that I am indebted for
" such affectionate expressions ; at Versailles you
" would have treated me as plain M. FAbbe, and
" it is not certain that you would have received
" my visits every day.' It was added, that he

106 MY RESIDENCE WITH * [Aug.
" spoke the truth, and that they had given me-
" lancholy proofs of it to his brother, the Count
" de Luzace, who was present.
" The princes generally passed their evenings'
" in the company of their intimate friends. One
" of them was, most of the time, at the house of
" Madame de Polastron, to whom he paid at-
" tentions that were justified by her constancy
" and her behaviour. Frequent attempts were'
" made to destroy the intimacy, but in vain, for
" Madame de Polastron was above all the cabals
" employed for the purpose; and, in addition to'
" her amiable manners and excellent conduct,
" was completely disinterested, and carefully
" avoided all interference in political affairs. She'
" saW but very little company. I was indebted
" to a female relative for the pleasure of being
" admitted to it ; but, as it was necessary to with-
" draw before the prince's arrival, I never had the
" honour of seeing him there.
" Monsieur passed his evenings at Madame de
" Balby's, dame d'atours to Madame. Madame
" de Balby, who was lively, witty, a warm friend
" and a determined enemy, attracted all the most
" distinguished characters. It was an honour to
" be admitted to her house, which was the centre
" of taste and fashion. Monsieur sometimes re-
" mained there until a late hour; and when, after
" the crowd had slipped away and the cirele was
" contracted, he happened to be communicative,

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 107
" it must be confessed that he was as superior to
" us by the charms of his conversation as by his
" rank and dignity.
" JSo much for our manner of living and our
" outward appearance at Coblentz ; this was the
" fair side of our situation ; but we were less
" happy in a political point of view — that was the
" degrading side."
" Good !" said the Emperor, " I accordingly
" begin to find your drawing-room details too'
" long. This is, however, excusable in you.
" The subject is a pleasing one to you. You were
" then young ; but go on."
" Sire, the whole of our number was but <L
" noble and brilliant mob, . and presented the
" image of complete confusion. It was anarchy
" striving without, to establish, it was said, order
" within — a real democracy struggling for the re-
" establishment of its aristocracy. We presented,
" on a small scale, and merely with a few shades
" of difference, a copy of every thing that
" was passing in France. We had among us
" zealous adherents to our ancient forms, and
" ardent admirers of novelty ; we had our con-
" stitutionalists, our intolerants, and our mode-
" rates. We had our empirics, who sincerely
" regretted that they had not made themselves
" masters of the King's person, for the purpose of
" acting with violence in his name, or who frankly
" avowed that they entertained the design of

108 MY RESIDENCE WITH CAuS-
declaring his incapability. Finally, we had also
our jacobins, who wished, on their return, to
kill, to burn, to destroy every thing, &c. &c.
" No direct authority was exercised over the
multitude by our princes.— They were our so
vereigns, it was true, but we were very unruly
subjects, and very easily irritated. We mur
mured on every occasion, and it was particu
larly against those who joined us last that our
common fury was directed. It was, we de
clared, so much glory and good fortune of
which they deprived our exploits and our
hopes. Those who were once admitted con
sidered every subsequent arrival too late. It
was maintained, that all merit on that score was
at an end. If aU were continued to be received
in the same way, the whole of France would
soon be on our side, and there would no longer
be any person to punish, &c. &c.
" Denunciations of every kind, and from every
quarter, were then showered down upon those
who joined us. A Prince de Saint- Maurice, son
of the Prince de Montbarey, found it impossible
to resist the storm, although he had the formal
support of every distinguished character, and
that of the prince himself, who deigned to
employ supplication in his favour, and said,
'Alas! gentlemen, who is there that has not
faults to reproach himself with in the revolu
tion? I have been guilty of several, and by

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 109
your oblivion of them, you have given me the
right of interceding for others.' This did not
spare M. de Saint-Maurice the necessity of mak
ing his escape as soon as possible. His crime
was that of having belonged to the society of the
friends of the negroes, and of having been vio
lently attacked in the midst of us by a gentle
man of Franche Comte, who denounced M. de
Saint-Maurice for having caused his mansions
to be burnt. It was, however, discovered, a few
days afterwards, that the brawling assailant had
no mansion, and was neither from Franche Com t6,
nor a gentleman : he was a mere adventurer.
" M. de Cazales, who had filled France and
Europe with the celebrity of his eloquence and
courage in the national assembly, had, notwith
standing, lost the popular favour at Coblentz.
When he arrived at Paris, a report was .spread
among us, that the princes would not see him,
or would give him an ungracious reception.
We collected eighty natives of Languedoc to
be, in opposition to his own wishes, a kind of
escort to him. M. de Cazales was the honour
of our province ; we conducted him to the
princes, by whom he was well received.
" A deputy of the third estate who had highly
distinguished himself in the constituent assem
bly by his attachment to royalty, was among
us. One of our princes, addressing him one
day in the crowd, said, * But, Sir, explain to

110 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" me then. — You are so worthy a man, how could
" you, at the time, take the oath of the jeu de
" paumeV The deputy, struck dumb by the
" attack, at first stammered out, that he had been
" taken unawares .... that he did not foresee
" the fatal consequences . . . . : But promptly
" recovering himself, he replied with vivacity : ' I
" shall, however, observe to Monseigneur, that
" it was not that which led to the ruin of the
" French monarchy, but in fact the union of
" the nobility, which joined us in consequence
" of the very persuasive letter written by Mon^
" seigneur.' — ' Stop there,' exclaimed the prince,
" touching him gently on the stomach, ' be cool,
" my dear Sir; I did not intend to vex you by
" that question.'
" Something like a system of regularity, whe-
" ther good or bad was, however, adopted in the
" course of time. We were classed by corps
" and by provinces; we had cantonments as-
" signed to us, and were supplied with arms.
" The king's body-guards were again formed,
" clothed, equipped, and paid, arid soon became
"a superb corps in appearance and discipline.
" The coalition of Auvergne and the marine corps,
" part on fopt and part on horseback, attracted
" peculiar notice by its discipline, knowledge,
" and union. Our resignation and self-denial
" could not be too much admired. Each officer
" Was henceforth but a private soldier, subject to

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON, 111
' exercises and fatigues, very contrary to his
' former manner of life, and exposed to the
' greatest privations, for there was no pay, and
' many of that number had shortly no resource
' to depend on, hut the contributions of their
' more fortunate comrades. We deserved a bet-
' ter fate, or to speak more correctly, we were
' worthy of a better enterprize. All the officers
' belonging to the same regiments had been col-
' lected together in separate bodies, in order that
' they might be ready to take the command of
' their soldiers, who would not fail to join them,
' as we thought, on their first seeing them. Such
' was our delusion ! It was from a similar motive,
' that the gentlemen were classed according to
' their respective provinces, no doubt being en-
' tertained of their efficient influence over the
' mass of the population. Our weakness con-
' sisted in the conviction that we continued to
' be desired, respected, and adored.
" All these bodies were publicly exercised and
' manoeuvred, and the diplomatic remonstrances
' which were made on the subject were an-
' swered with a confident assurance, that no
' such thing, existed, or that it certainly should
' be prevented. We had generals nominated,
' a staff formed, and every thing, which dis-
' tinguishes head quarters, even to the office
' of grand provost, arranged. Our princes
were gradually surrounded with all- that con-

112 MY RESIDENCE WITH [AuS-
' stitutes a real government. They had minis-
• ters for the affairs of the moment, and even
' for France, when we should return, so certain
' and near at hand did that time appear.
" M. de Lavilleurnois, who was afterwards so
' much talked of, with respect to the share he had
' in a royalist conspiracy, and who died at Sinna-
' mary, in consequence of the events ofFructidor,
' was intrusted with the administration of the
' police. He set off at an early period to perform
' its duties clandestinely at Paris. He had con-
' ceived a sincere affection for me, and was deter-
' mined to make me his son-in-law. He made use
' of the most urgent arguments to induce me to
' follow him ; but I refused; I disliked the nature
' of his office. Otherwise, what different com-
' binations in my destiny !
" We had also direct relations with almost every
' court. The princes had envoys at them, and
' received theirs at Coblentz. Monseigneur, the
' Count d'Artois, visited, I think, Vienna, but I
' can state with certainty that he was at Pilnitz.
' The nobility, in a body, addressed a letter to
'Catherine, from whom we received M. de
' Romansoff as ambassador. That Empress saw,
' with pleasure, the storm that was rising in
' the south of Europe ; she cheerfully augmented
' a conflagration, which might prove very favour-
' able to her views, without putting her to . any
( expense, and she accordingly shewed herself

1816.]

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 113

' zealous in her sentiments, and ardent in her
' promises. She did not despair, in that crisis,
' of making a dupe of Gustavus III., whose con-
' tiguous activity was troublesome to her ; she
' had prevailed upon him, it is said, to undertake
' the crusade, by flattering him with the rank
' of generalissimo. I do not know if this
' prince, who certainly was a very superior cha-
' racter for his time, and possessed a great share
' of understanding and talent, suffered himself to
' be deluded by her. It is, however, undeniable,
' that he displayed great attachment to our cause,
' and announced his wish to take the field in
' person. When he left Aix la Chapelle to ar-
' range his ultimate measures for that purpose in
' Sweden, I heard him say, on taking leave- of
' the Princess de Lamballe, ' You will see me
' again shortly, but I am, notwithstanding,
' obliged, on my own account, to adhere to cer->
' tain proceedings, to certain measures of caution ;
' for the part I have to play is of a very delicate
' nature. Know, that I who am desirous of re-
' turning to fight at the head of your aristocrats
' in France, am, at home, the first democrat of
' the country.'
"We also received envoys from Louis XVI.-^
' who presented public messages in reprobation -
7 of our conduct, and were admitted to confiden-
' tial conferences, on subjects, perhaps, essen-'
' tially , different. , At least we acted as if that
Vol. III. Part V. i

114 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug:
"had been the case; openly declaring that' he
" was a captive, and that we Ought to take no
" notice of any of his orders ; that we were bound
" to take every thing he Was compelled to say in
" a contrary sense, and that, when he exhorted
" us to peace, he was, in reality, calling upon us
" to go to War. It is accordingly my Opinion,
" that we were Very fatal to the tranquillity of the
" unfortunate monarch, and that we had our
" special share in the pardon, which he be-
" qUeathed by his will in favour of his friends,
" who, by an indiscreet zeal, as he observes, did
" him so much injury.
" Our emigration, however, was prolonged in
" spite of all the promises which Were made to
" us, and of all the hopes with which our fancy ,
" was flattered. With what illusions, What idle
"tales, what absurdities was our impatience
" mocked ! whether those who invented theiri
" anticipated our disappointment, or were them
selves deceived. It was pleasantly calculated
" that, according to our letters and gazettes, we
" had, in less than eighteen months, raised nearly
" two millions of men, who were On their march,'
" although we ourselves had seen none of them."
" But those initiated in the mystery, assured Us,
" in special confidence that these troops marched'
" only by night, for the purpose of more effectually
" surprising the "democrats, Or that they passed
" in the day-time Only by platoons and^ without"

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 115
" uniform ; or told us some other story of a
" similar kind. On the other hand, we shewed
" each other a heap of letters from all countries
" and the best sources, written in an enigmatical
" style, and which were thought to be intel-
" ligible to us alone. One was acquainted that
" 50,000 Bohemian crystals had been just sent
" off for his country ; another was informed of an
" approaching consignment of 10,000 pieces of
" Saxon porcelain; and a third received intelli-
" gence, that 25,000 bales of cocoa would be ad-
" dressed to him, with other fooleries of the same
" kind. " How was it possible, I now enquire, that
" men of understanding, for there certainly were
" a great many among the number, that ancient
" ministers, who had governed us, and others,
" who were destined to succeed them, should be
" gulled by such wretched stuff, or that the plain
" good sense, which we possessed as a multitude,
" did not make us laugh in their faces ? But no;
" we were not the less convinced, that we were
" near the accomplishment of our hopes; that the
" moment was at hand, that it would infallibly
" happen; that we had only to show ourselves";
" that we were eagerly expected, and that all
" would fall prostrate at our feet."
Here the Emperor, who had often interrupted me
With laughter and raillery, said, in a very serious
tone, "How Very faithful is the picture yOu have
1 1

116 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" drawn? I recognise a crowd of your friends in
" it : Truly, my dear Las Cases, and I say it
" without meaning any offence to you, vapour-
" ing, credulity, inconsistency, stupidity itself,
" might be said, in spite of all their wit, to
" be their special lot. When I occasionally
"wished to be amused, and divested myself of
" all reserve, for the purpose of giving them full
" scope, and encouraging their confidence in me,
" I have heard, in the Tuileries, under the Con-
" sulate and the Empire, things no less ridicu-
" lous than those which you now notice. None
" of them ever entertained a doubt of any thing.
" The love of the French for their kings was cen-
" tered, they assured me, in my person. I could
" henceforth do what I pleased ; I had a right to
" use my power ; I should never meet with any
" other obstacle but a handful of incorrigible per-
" sons who were the detestation of all. That
" counter-revolution so much dreaded, observed
" another, was but child's play to me ; I had
" effected it with the utmost ease. And (will
" this be believed?) ' the only thing wanting to
" it,' said he, in an insinuating tone, ' is the sub-
" stitution of the ancient white colour, for those
" which have done us so much injury in all
" countries.' The ideot! That was the only
" blot, which he could find in our escutcheon.
" I laughed our of sheer pity, although I felt some
" difficulty in restraining my feelings, but for his

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 117
" part, his sincerity was unquestionable ; he was
" fully persuaded, that he spoke as I thought;
" and still more so, that the generality thought
" as he did.* But go on."
" The appearance of the Duke of Brunswick at
* It is certainly an inherent weakness in our nature to deceive
ourselves with respect to the sentiments that are entertained of
us by others. At Coblentz, where we threw away so much
money, where so many amiable and brilliant young men, more to
be dreaded, no doubt, from aa excess than a want of education,
filled every house, and visited every family, it Wiis natural to
believe that we should be beloved, and accordingly we thought
ourselves adored. Well ! at the time of my exile at the Cape
of Good Hope, I was placed by a singular chance under the
guard of an inhabitant of Coblentz, who had witnessed the
brilliant moments of our emigration. I felt great pleasure in
renewing the subject with him. We could not have any secrets
on that head to conceal from one another ; twenty-five years
had elapsed. Well, then, " you were not absolutely hated,"
said he, " but our real affection was reserved for your adver-
" saries, for their cause was ours. Liberty had slipped in
" among us through you. There in the midst of you, even un-
" der your eyes, we had formed clubs, and God knows how often
" we laughed in them at your expense, &c. &c." And it hap
pened to him more than once, he assured me, when m'ngled
with the crowd, which resounded with acclamations a< we
passed, to shout with a considerable number of his comrades,
" Lon°- live the French princes, and may they drink a little in
" the Rhine! You spoke of the reception we gave you," said he,
" it was that which we gave to CuUir:e which you should have
" seen ! There you would have had an opportunity of appre-
" ciatino- our real sentiment?. We ra-i with enthusiasm to meet
" him- we crowne.l his soldiers; a great number of us enlisted
" in his armv, and several of them became generals. As for
" me, I roiled Ih; opportur -ity of making my fortune."

118 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug,
" Coblentz, and the arrival of the King of Prussia
"atthe head of his troops, were great subjects
" of joy and expectation for the whole of the emi-
" gration. Heaven opens at length before us!
" was our exclamation, and we are about to re-
" turn to the land of promise. It was, however,
" the opinion of persons of judgment and expe-
" rience from the beginning, that our struggle
" would have the same result as all those that
" resembled it in history, and that we should be
" but instruments and pretexts for foreigners, who
" only pursued their private interest, and enter-
" tained no feeling for us.
" M. de Cazales, who had, in a short time,
"been much improved, expressed himself to
" that effect with much energy. We beheld,
" with delight, the Prussians, as they filed off
" through the streets of Coblentz, on their march
" to our frontiers. ' Foolish boys,' he exclaimed,
" you admire, with enthusiasm, those troops and
(i all their train. You rejoice at their march ; you
" ought rather to shudder at it, For my own
" part, I should wish to see these soldiers, to the
" last man of them, plunged in the Rhine. Un-
" happy are they who incite foreigners to in
vade their country ! O my friends, the French
"nobility will not survive this atrocity! They
" will have the affliction of expiring far from the
'¦' places of their birth. I am more guilty than any
" other, for I see it, and yet I act like all the rest;

1&16,] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 119
"but my only excuse is, that I cannot prevent
" the catastrophe. I repeat, unhappy they who
". call in foreigners, and trust in them against their
" country.' " How wise and oracular these last words !
"Facts would have speedily convinced us of
". their truth, had we been less infatuated, or had
" the multitude been capable of reasoning and
" acting with propriety ; but we .were destined
"*.to enrich history with one of those lessons,
" that are most entitled to the meditation of
" mankind. We might be estimated at 2Q or
" 25,000 men under arms ; and certainly, such
" a force filled with ardour and devotion, fighting
" for its own interests, maintaining an under-
" standing with the sympathetic elements of the
" interior, acting against a nation, shaken to its
" foundation, and convulsed by the agitation of
" new rights, not yet established, and but imper-
" fectly understood, might be capable of striking
" decisive blows. But it was not upon our
" strength, our success, our activity, that the
"foreigners relied for the ' attainment of their
"views. Accordingly, under the pretence of
" employing that influence and of directing its
" operation, as they said, against several points
'* at once, they annihilated us by parcelling out our
'* numbers, and by making, as it were, prisoners of
" us in the middle of their different corps. In this
"way, 6,000 of us, under the Prince of Conde,

120 'MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" were marched against Alsace ; 4,000 under the
" Duke de Bourbon were to act in Flanders, and
" from 12 to 15,000 continued in the centre under
" command of the King's two brothers, to co-
" operate in the invasion of Champagne.
" It had been the plan and wish of our princes,
" that Monsieur, as heir to the crown and the
" natural representative of Louis XVI., con-
" sidering his captivity, should proclaim himself
"regent of the kingdom, the moment he set foot
" on the French territory ; that he should march
"with his emigrants at the head of the-expe-
" dition, and that the; allies, in his rear, should
" be considered only as our auxiliaries. But the
" allies treated the plan with derision, and con-
" fined us to a station. at their tail, under the
"orders and at the will and pleasure of the
" generalissimo, Brunswick, who caused us to
" be preceded by the most absurd of manifestoes;
" from the ridicule and odium of which, how-
" ever, he at least preserved us.
" It is but just, however, to acknowledge, that
" this treatment had not escaped the foresight of
" some experienced and better advised heads
"among us. They had accordingly suggested,
" it was said, in the council of the princes, that
" we should throw ourselves, before the arrival
" of the allies, on some point of France and
'•' maintain a civil Avar there by ourselves. Others
'•' more desperate, or more ardent, were of opi-'

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 131
" nion, that we should nobly seize upon the
" states of the Elector of Treves, our bene-
" factor; occupy the town and fortress of
\" Coblentz, and establish there a central point
" of rallying, or of support, independent of the
" Germanic body'; and when we exclaimed
" against tsuch perfidy and ingratitude, their
" answer was; — ' Desperate evils called for des-
" perate remedies.' It is impossible to say, what
" might have been the result of such reso-
" lutions, which were, however, more consistent
" with the bold spirit of enterprize that cha
racterizes the present times, than with the
" state of manners as they then existed. They
" were, therefore, unattended to, and besides the
" opportunity had slipped by, we were too
" closely involved in the midst of foreigners ; we
" were already in their power, and our destiny
" was to be fulfilled! . . .
" The multitude of us was far from foresee-
" ing the calamities, that were to attend us.
" We began our march in high spirits. There
" was not one of us, who. did not expect to be,
" within^ fifteen days from that moment, at
" home, triumphant in the midst of his sub-
" missive, humiliated and increased vassals. Our
" confidence would not have endured a single ob-
" servation or doubt upon that head. Of this
" I am about to give an instance, which though
" personal with respect to myself, and very

122 • MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" trifling in itself, will not be the less characte-
" ristic with respect to us. all. We were marching
if through~the city of Treves ; one of my grand
" uncles had, during the war of the succession,
" been the governor for Louis XIV.. while we re-
" tained possession of it. I went to see his tomb,
" which is in a chapel, belonging to the .Carthu-
" sians of that town. The ardour of my youth
" and the emotion of the moment, determined
" me to erect a small monument to his memory
'.' with a superb inscription, suitable to the ck>
" cumstances. I entertained no doubt of exe-
" cuting my wish. The good friars were of a
" different way of thinking ; the prior wished me
" to arrange the matter with the abbe, a kind
" of bishop, and of German bishop. t His reserve
" and coldness, in spite of his numerous coats of
"- arms, prepossessed me very much against him,
" when I communicated my < chivalrous < project;
"but when, after some circumlocution,, he de-
" clared, that under the present circumstances . . ,
-" prudence . . . discretion .... if the French
"were to enter the place. ... At these last
"words, my indignation was extreme; it was
" such, that I did not wait to utter a single
'.' word in reply. I instantly hurried away,
" with a mingled laugh of contempt and anger,
" convinced that I had left the most horrible
"jacobin in existence behind me ; and nothing,
" but my natural generosity and respect for

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 123
" my own character, could have prevented me
" calling in my comrades, who would have cer-
" tainly pulled down the chapel. But alas!
"the abbot saw farther than I did! Three
" weeks had not elapsed, before the republicans
" were in Treves, the poor abbe put to flight,
" and the ashes of my good uncle profaned by
"the infidels.
" But we had scarcely engaged in full oper-
" ations ; we had hardly set foot on French
" ground; before it became no difficult matter,
" except in cases of stupidity and blindness, to
" comprehend, that it actually might be just
" possible, that we had been the dupes of our
" own folly. We found ourselves in the midst
" of the Prussians, who fettered, all our move-
" ments; we could hot take a step in advance,
" to the right or left, without their permission,
" and they never granted it, Our subsistence,
" all our resources, depended solely upon their-
"will; we had the shame of presenting our-
" selves as slaves on the soil, where we aspired
" to reign.
"As to our countrymen, instead of receiv-
" ing us as their deliverers, as we had been
" convinced they would, they only gave us proofs
" of dislike and aversion, With the exception
" of a few country gentlemen or others who
" joined us, the whole mass of the population
" fled at- our approach ; we were treated as ene-

124 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" mies, with the look of reproach and the stern
" silence of reprobation. They seemed to say to
" us, 'Do you not shudder then at thus staining
" your country's soil ? Are you not Frenchmen
" by birth ? Do your hearts then make no appeal
" to you in favour of your native land ? You say
"you are wronged; but what wrong, what in-
" jury ever gave to a son the right or the feeling
" to tear open the bosom of a mother? . . . We
" are told, that in ancient times a fiery patrician,
" Coriolanus, was infamous enough to fight
" against his country, but he had at least the
" merit of uniting elevated sentiments with his
" furious passion ; he came forward with a vic-
" torious arm; he imposed his own conditions;
" he was not dragged along at the tail of bar-
" barous foreigners ; he commanded them, and
" he also suffered himself to be moved to com-
" passion. Can you be unsusceptible of that
" tenderness, and do you not tremble at our
" maledictions, which will be perpetuated on
" you by our children ? And, even in that case,
" whatever may be your success, it will not equal
" your sorrow ! You pretend to come for the
" purpose of governing, and you will have brought
" your masters with you.'
" We were quartered in town at Verdun and
" at Estain. Some of my comrades and myself
" were lodged in a handsome house, but all the
" furniture and all the proprietors had disap-

1«16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 125
" peared, with the exception of two very pretty
" young ladies, who put us in possession of it.
" This last circumstance seemed a favourable
" omen, we took the opportunity of remarking
" it to them, and were desirous of ingratiating
" ourselves by our politeness and attentions.
" ' Gentlemen,' said one of the two amazons in
" rather a sharp tone, ' we have remained, be-
" cause we have felt we had the courage to tell
" you face to face, that our lovers are in arms
" against you, and that they have our prayers
" at least as much as our hearts.' This was in-
" telligible language, we wished for no more of
" it, and even shifted our quarters to another
" house. " Be it as it may, we were at length in France,
" and in the rear of that Prussian army, which
" pushed forward its brilliant successes, leaving
" us three or four marches behind. And whether
" their object was to turn us into ridicule, be-
". cause we had assured them, that all the towns
" would throw open their gates on our appear-
" ance, or to free themselves from our imporhir
" nities, they charged us with the siege of Thion-
" ville. We made our approaches, and by a fan-
" tastical singularity, the marine corps found
" itself precisely opposed to the national volun-
" teers of Brest. When they recognised each
" other, it is impossible to describe the volley of

126 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" invectives and insults that was instantly ex-
" changed. " Thionville is, however, as it is knoWn, one of
" the strongest places, and we found the reduc-
" tion of it impossible by our limited means,
" for we Were in want of every thing ; and it
" absolutely required an important negOcia-
" tion to obtain two 24-pounders from the
" Austrians at Luxembourg. After a great
"deal of solicitation and hesitation, the two
" pieces were at length brought in triumph, and
" it was with that formidable train, that we sum-
" moned the place, and fired at night, in pure
" waste Of powder, some hundreds of cannon
" shot. On my return from emigration, having
" fallen by Chance into company with General de
" Wimphen who Commanded the fortress, he
" asked me, ' what could have been our intention,
" or the meaning of the jest we had thus attempted
" to play off.' ' It was done, I believe,' said I,
" because reliance was placed Upon you.' ' But
" even had that been the case," said he, * you
" still ought to have furnished me with an ex-
" cuse for surrendering; you could not expect,
" that I should solicit you to attack me.' ' Every
" thing was on a proportionate scale, the slightest
" sally spread confusion through all our forces, the
" most trifling circumstance Was an event with us ;
*' the cause was obvious ; we were unacquainted

1816-.] the Emperor napoleon. 127
" with every thing, and accordingly, putting
" courage aside, I do not scruple to believe, that
" a hundred picked men of the imperial guard
" would have routed the whole of our army".
" Happily, our adversaries were as ignorant as
" ourselves, all were pigmies then, although in a
" very short time giants were found every where.
" We remainedvery discontented with all this^
" under our tents and on our bad straw ; but a
" la Francaise, We found relief in our gaiety; our
" ill humour evaporated in puns and jests. All
" our principal officers had nicknames, there was
" not one, to our commander in chief, the
" venerable Marshal de Broglie, who escaped
" us, and this puts me in mind of a circumstance,
" which gave rise to a nickname for one of his
" lieutenants, of which he never got rid." (Should
any of my comrades in the field ever read this, it
may even now excite a laugh.) ""
" At the moment of a sally, which, as usual,
" made us very uneasy, every one pressed for-
" ward. We had two small pieces of cannon,
" which we had bought, and which, for want of
" horses, Were drawn by the Officers of artillery
" themselves;" " Well!" observed the Emperor,
" I might myself have been attached to these
" very pieces, and yet what different combina-
" tions in our destinies and in those of the world!
" For it is incontestable that 1 have given an im-

128 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" pulse and direction to it, emanating solely from
" myself. But go on."
" Sire, our two small pieces were in progress
" along the highway, when the general officer of
" the day arrived at full gallop, and stopped with
" indignation at the sight of our little cannOn, as
" they were drawn towards the fortress, with the
" breech in advance.- — ' How,' exclaimed he, ' are
" these really gentlemen, who draw their cannon
" in this manner against the enemy ? And, if he
" were actually to present himself, how could
• " yOu contrive to fire upon him ?' He persisted
" in his blunder, refusing to comprehend what
" the officers of artillery strove by every pos-
" sible means to explain ; that such was the man-
" ner of acting every where, and that unless he
" had some new invention to communicate, there
" was no other mode to be adopted. From that
" moment we dubbed him by a nickname, by
" which he soon became universally known.
" But all this burlesque was soon exchanged
" for what was serious in the extreme; the scene
" shifted, as it were, by magic, and our misfor-
" tunes burst upon us in an instant. Whether
" from treachery, weakness, political interest, or
" sickness in his army, from the real superiority
•' of force, or the mere dexterity of the French
" general, the King of Prussia entered into secret
" negociation with him, suddenly faced about,

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. J39
"and marching to the frontier, evacuated the
" French territory. A most dreadful storm now
" burst over our heads ; words are inadequate
" to express the scandalous treatment we expe-
" rienced, as well as the just indignation, which
" could not fail to animate every generous heart
"against our allies, the Prussians. Our princes
" degraded, disavowed, insulted by them; our
" equipages, our most necessary effects, even
" our linen, plundered; our persons ill-used: and
" thus we were basely driven and thrust beyond
" the frontiers by our friends, our allies ! ! !
" For my part, sinking under the fatigue of
" too long marches in the mud, and under tor-
" rents of rain; bending under a musquet and
" a load of accoutrements, hurtful only to my-
" self, I took advantage of my privelege as a
" volunteer, to leave the ranks, and effect my re-
" treat as well as I could. I proceeded, as
" occasion served ; I never sought the common
"halting place; I .took refuge in the nearest
"farm-yard, and whether it was my own peculiar
" good fortune, or because the peasants were in
" reality kind, and not exasperated against us, I
" passed the frontier without any unlucky acci-
" dent. It was not until some time afterwards,
" that I was enabled to form a correct estimate
"of the whole extent of the danger to, which I
" had exposed myself, when I read in the papers,
" that from fifteen to eighteen of us, stragglers
Vol. III. Part V. k

iho * - MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" like myself, and some of whom stood near me
"" in the ranks, had been seized, dragged to Paris,
"" and executed in pubhc, in a kind of auto-da-fe,
""and as it were, by way of expiation.
' "As soon as we were out of Franee, we
"received' notice to disband, but the intimation
; "" was superfluous, for that measure was rendered
" absolutely indispensable by our wants, and the
" deprivation of every necessary article. We
"*' dispersed ourselves, trusting our way to chance,
" with despair and rage for our companions.
" We travelled as fugitives, the greater part of
¦"the time on foot, and some almost naked, over
' "the scenes of our past splendour and luxury ;
" happy when the doors were not shut in our
" faces ; when we did not receive a brutal repulse !
"For one instant, we were officially driven from
"every quarter; we were prohibited from re-
" 'siding in, or from entering all 'the neigh-
" bouring states ; we were compelled to take
" refuge in distant countries, and to exhibit,
" throughout Europe, the spectacle of our mise-
" Ties, which ought to have been a grand moral
"*' and political lesson to the people, to the great,
"and to Kings."
" The exploits of the French exacted, however,
"from foreigners, a cruel expiation of the i'n-
¦"¦" dignities with ; which they overwhelmed us;
"whilst, on our part, we: experienced a kind
" of consolation in seeing the honour of the

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. $i!Sl
" emigration take refuge in the army, of Conde,
" which displayed itself to public view, .and in-
" scribed itself in history, as a model of loyalty,
" valour, and constancy.
"Such, Sire, is that; too celebrated era, t-fthat
" fatal, determination, which, with, respect toaa
"great number, can be considered only as the
".delusion of youth tand inexperience. J&one,
" however, but* themselves,: possess the right of
" reproaching them with the error. The senti-
" ments, by which they were actuated, were so
"pure, so natural, so generous, that they might
"even, were it necessary, derive honour from
" them ; and these dispositions, , I must say, :be-
" longed to? the mass of which we consisted, sand
"more particularly to that crowd -of country
"gentlemen, who, sacrificing all and expecting
"nothing, without fortune as well as withosut
" hope, displayed a devotion truly heroic, be-
" cause, its only aim was the performance -»©f
"duties, which they held -to be sacred. • In
" other respects, our defect lay: in our political
" education, which did not teach us to -distin-
" guish our duties, and, made. us dedicate to the
" prince alone what belonged to the country at
" large. Accordingly, in future times, when
" hostile passions; shall be extinct, when notisaces
"ishall be left of jarring interests or of party
"infatuation and fury, what was doubtful with us,
"will be positive and clear to others ; , what was
K 2

132 MY RESIDENCE WJTH [Aug.
> " excusable or even allowable in us, who were
" situated between an ancient order of things, that
" was on the point of terminating, and a new one
" that was about to commence, will be considered
" highly culpable in those in possession of esta-
" blished doctrines. Among them, the following
" will be held as articles of faith : — 1st. That the
" greatest of all crimes is the introduction of a
" foreign power into the heart of one's country.
" 2dly. Thatthe sovereignty cannot be erratic,
• " but that it is inseparable from the territory,
" and remains attached to the mass of citizens.
" 3dly. That the country qannot be transported
" abroad ; but that it is immutable and entire on
" the settled soil, which has given us birth, and
" which contains the bones of our ancestors.
" Such are the grand maxims, and many others
" besides, which will remain the offspring of our
" emigration. Such the great truths, which will
" be collected from our calamities!"
" Very well ! " exclaimed the Emperor, " very
" well ! This is what is called being free from
" prejudices ! These are real philosophical views !
" And it will be said of you, that you were
" enabled to convert to your advantage the les-
" sons of time and adversity."
" Sire, during our stay on board of the Nor-
" thumberland, and the leisure hours of our
"passage, the English alluded more than once
" to this delicate topic. Misled by the war,

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 133
" which they had carried on with fury against
" us, as well as by the maxims, with which the
" interest of the moment filled their journals,
" even in opposition to their national doctrines,
" they conversed about the merits of the emigra-
" tion, and the virtues they had witnessed; and
" condemned the nation for having resisted it.
" But when the arguments became too compli-
" cated, or we were desirous of putting a sudden
" stop to them, we gained our point with a single
" word. We merely said to them : — ' Go back
" to the period of your own revolution ; imagine
" James II. threatening you from the opposite
" shore, and under French' banners ; although
" surrounded by faithful subjects, what would
" you have done ? And if Louis XIV. had brought
" him back to London at the head of 50,000
" French, who should have afterwards main-
" tained garrisons in your country, what would
" have been your feelings ? ' — ' Ah ! . . . . But . . . . '
" Ah !  ' they exclaimed, endeavouring to
" find out some difference, but not being able to
" discover it, they laughed, and were silent."
" And, in fact," said the Emperor, " there was
" not a word to be said in reply." He then
occupied himself, with his accustomed rapidity
and talent, in taking a review of the different
objects I had noticed, and stopped to reflect
on the absurdity, the inconsistency,' the great

13* MY RESIDENCE WTTH : [Aug.
mistake of our emigration, and the real injuries'
if had done to France, to the King,: and to our
selves. " You have established, and consecrated"
" in political France," he observed, "aisepara-"
"tion similar- to that which the. Catholics and'
'"Protestants introduced into religious Europe; '
' ' and to what calamities < has it not given rise?
"I had succeeded in destroying its results, but
"are they not on the point of , being revived ? "
He next ' developed the means he had" taken to
annihilate that plague, the precautions he had*
been forced to adopt, and. the effects which he
had in view. How every thing that fell from his
tongue was changed ' in its appearance ;. — how
every thing seemed magnified in my eyes in pro
portion as he discussed the subject ! " And
'"what," he remarked, "a peculiar singularity
" in my situation, was, that in the whole7of those
"'transactions. I held the helm myself constantly
"in. the midst of rooks. Every one, judging
" according to his , own standard, attributed to
"passion, to simple prejudice, or to littleness,
" what in me, however, was but the consequence
" of pro found, views, of grand conceptions, and
"the most elevated state maxims. It might
"have been said, that I reigned only over pig-
" mies with respect to intellectual talent. I was
" comprehended by none. The national party
" felt only jealousy and resentment at what they

1S16/| THE, EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 135
" saw me do in favour of the emigrants, v and the .
"latter, on theiir part, were persuaded 7that J
" sought only to gain fresh lustre by their assist-;
" ance. Poor people! ...
" I obtained, however, my object, in spite of
" reciprocal infatuation and prejudice, and I had
" the satisfaction of leaving every thing quiet in
" port, when I lanched out to sea in pursuit, of
" my grand enterprises."
N. B. —Having mentioned, since. my return to>
Europe, these expressions of Napoleon, to a great
offieer of the crown, who had: often the honour of
conversing with him in private (Le Comtede S . . . .),
he related to me, in his turn, a conversation pre-;
cisely on the same subject. Its coincidence with-
what has been just read, is so very, striking as ton
induce me to insert it here. The Emperor said -
to him one day : "What, think you, is my reason >
" for endeavouring to have about me the great »
" names of the ancient monarchy?" — " Perhaps, *«
" Sire, for the splendor of your throne, and for
" the purpose of keeping up certain appearances- >
" in. the eyes of Europe." — ¦" Ah! That is just
" like you, with your pride and your prejudices ¦¦>
" of rank ! Well then ! learn, that my victories *
" and my power are much better recommend-
" ations for me in Europe than all your great
", names, and that my apparent predilection for-
"them does me a great deal, of injury, and'
"'renders me very unpopular at home. You

186 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" attribute to narrow views what relates to those
" of a very extensive scope. I am engaged in
"renovating a society, a nation, and the elements
"I am obliged to employ are altogether re-
" pugnant in their nature. The nobility and the
" emigrants are but a point on the mass, and
" that mass is hostile to them, and continues
" very much exasperated against them; it hardly
" forgives me for having recalled them. For my
" own part, I considered it as a duty; but if I
" suffer them to continue as a body, they may
" one day be serviceable to foreign powers,
" prove injurious to us, and subject themselves
"to great dangers. My object then, is to dis-
" solve their union, and to render them inde-
" pendent of each other. If I place some of
" them about my person, in the different branches
" of administration, and in the army, it is for the
" purpose of consolidating them with the mass,
" and of managing so as to reduce all classes
" into a whole ; for I am mortal, and if I should
" happen to"- leave you before that fusion was,
"accomplished, you would soon see what dis-
" asters would arise from these heterogeneous
" parts, and the dreadful perils of which certain
" persons might become the victims ! Thus, then,
" Sir, my views are all connected with humanity
" and elevated political considerations, and, in no
" respect, with vain and silly prejudices."
When I observed to the person who related

1816.]. THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON, 137
this anecdote, how little we were acquainted at
the Tuileries with Napoleon's real character, and
the grand and excellent qualities of his soul and
heart, he answered, that, for his own part, he
had been personally more fortunate, and that he
would give me a proof of it, which he selected
out often: " The Emperor shewed himself, one
" day, in his privy council, very much incensed
" against General La F  , whom he attacked
" with great severity, and whose opinions and
" principles, he said, were capable of effecting
" the complete dissolution of a state; becoming
" animated by degrees, he, at length, put him-
" self into a real passion. I was present as a
" member of the council ; I had been recently
"admitted, and was little fashioned to the
" Emperor's manners, and although stopped by
" the two members placed next to me, I under-
" took to speak in defence of the accused,
" asserting, that he had been calumniated with
" the Sovereign, and that he lived quietly on
" his estate, with personal opinions which were
" productive of no ill effect whatever. The
" Emperor, still in a passion, resumed the charge
" for the purpose of pressing it with vehemence ;
" but at the end of five or six words, he stopped
" short, and addressing himself to me, said :
" ' But he is your friend, Sir, and you are
" right .... I had forgotten it  Let us speak
" of something else.' ' And why,' I asked, ' did

138 ¦ MY RESIDENCE WITH- [Aug.
"' you not make us acquainted with all this at
"the time?' — By a fatality which would seem >
" to belong to Napoleon's; atmosphere, whether.
" from prejudice or otherwise, the impression on
" our minds was, that it could only be told to !
"'bis intimate friends; for whoever had said
" much about! it, would only have passed for a
" clumsy romancer of a courtier, who told not
"what he believed, to be, true, but what he con-*
" ceived best suited to obtain favour and re-
" wards." "
Since I' have mentioned this great officer of'
the crown, who is 'no less distinguished by the '
graces of his mind and the amenity of his man- "
ners, than by his exalted character, I shall
notice: one of his answers to Napoleon* re
markable for its ingenious and delicate flattery.
The Emperor, at one of his levees, having been •>
obliged to wait some time for his - appearance, •¦
attacked him on his arrival, openly, in the pre- -
sence of all. It happened to be precisely at the
time, when five or six kings (and among others,
those of Bavaria, Saxony, and Wurtemberg,) were -
at Paris. " Sire," replied ther guilty courtier,
" I have, no doubt, a million of excuses, to make"
" to your Majesty, but at this time, one is not
" at perfect liberty to go through the streets as »
"one pleases. I: just now, had the: misfortune
"to get into a crowd of kings, from which I- »
" found it impossible to extricate. myself sooner.-

1816.] THE? EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 189
" This, Sire, was the cause of my, delay."
Every one smiled, and the Emperor contented
himself with saying, in a very softened tone of
voice :,'S Whatever; Sir, may be the cause, take
".proper precautions for the future, and above
" all, never make:me wait again."
It
Ndpoleonts Sentimental Journey. — Public Spirit of the
Time.^-Events of the 10th of August.,
3d. — The weather is somewhat improved ;
the Emperor attempted to take a walk in th-e-j
garden. General Bjngham.and the Colonel of.
the 53d requested to see the Emperor, who
kept them rather, long., . The appearance of the )
Governor put us all to flight. General Bingham -,
disappeared, and, for our part; we went to the 1
wood, for the purpose of keeping away from the'
spot. The Emperor j during his walk; conversed aj
great deal about a journey, which he took to
Burgundy in the beginning: of the revolution*
This he calls his Sentimental Journey , to Nuitz..,
He supped. there with his comrade Gassendi, at
that time captain in the same regiment, and .
who was advantageously married to the daughter «.
of a physician of/ the place. The young tra- •
veller soon: remarked the difference: of political'
opinion between, the father and son-in-law;'
the gentleman, Gassendi, was, of course, an*

40 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
aristocrat, and the physician a flaming patriot.
The latter found in the strange guest a powerful
auxiliary, and was so delighted with him, that
the following day at dawn he paid him a visit
of acknowledgment and sympathy. The appear
ance of a young officer of artillery, with good. lo
gical reasoning and a ready tongue, was, observed
the Emperor, a precious and rare accession to the
place. It was easy for the traveller to perceive,
that he made an impression in his favour. It was
Sunday, and hats were taken off to him from the
bottom of the street. His triumph, however, was
not without a check. He went to sup at the
house of a Madame Maret or Muret, where an
other of his comrades, V  , seemed to be
comfortably established. Here the aristocracy
of the canton were accustomed to* meet, although
the mistress was but the wife of a wine merchant,
but she had great property and the most polish
ed manners ; she was, said the Emperor, the
duchess of the place. All the gentlefolks of the
vicinity were to be found there. The young
officer was caught, as he remarked, in a real
wasp-hole, and it was necessary for him to fight
his way out again. The contest was unequal.
In the very heat of the action, the mayor was
announced. " I believed him to be an assistance
" sent to me by Heaven in the critical moment,
" but he was the worst of all my opponents. I
"see this villainous fellow now before me in his

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 141
" fine Sunday clothes, fat and bloated, in a large
" crimson coat ; he was a miserable animal. I
" was happily preserved by the generosity of the
" mistress of the house, perhaps by a secret sym-
" pathy of opinion. She unceasingly parrifed
" with her wit the blows which were dealt at
" me; and was a protecting shield on which the
" enemy's weapons struck in vain. She guard -
" ed me from every kind of wound, and I have
" always retained a pleasing recollection of the
" services I received from her in, that species
" of skirmish.
" The same diversity of opinions," said the
Emperor, " was then to be met with in every
"part of France. In the saloons, in the streets,
" on the highways, in the taverns, every one
" was ready to take part in the contest, and no-
" thing was easier than for a person to form an
" erroneous estimate of the influence of parties
" and opinion, according to the local situation in
" which he was placed. Thus a patriot might
" easily be deceived, when in the saloons, or
" among an assembly of officers, where the ma
jority was decidedly against him ; but the in-
" stant he was in the street, or among the sol-
" diers, he found himself in the midst of the en-
" tire nation. The sentiments of the day suc-
" ceeded even in making proselytes among the
" officers themselves, particularly after the cele-
" brated oath to the Nation, the Law, and the King.

142 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" " Until that time," continued the Emperor, ''had
" I> received an order-to point: my cannon against
"the people, I have no doubt, that custom, pre
judice, education, and the name of the King,
"would have induced me to obey; but the
" national oath once taken, this would have
" ceased, and I should have acknowledged; the
' ' nation only. My natural propensities thence-
" forth harmonized with my duties, cand'hap-
" pily accorded with all the metaphysics of the
" assembly. The patriotic officers, however,
" it must be allowed, constituted but the smaller
"number; but with the soldiers, as a lever, they
" led the regiment and imposed the law. The
" comrades ofthe opposite party, and the.prin-
" cipals'themselves, had recourse to us in every
" moment of the crisis. I remember, for instance,
" having rescued from the furyof , the populace a
" brother offieer, whose crime consisted in singing
- "from1 the windows of our dining saloon the cele-
" brated romance of O Richard! O mon Roi! I
" had little ndtion then, that that air would one
"day be also proscribed' in the same manner on
"my account. Just so, on the 10th of August,
" when I saw the' palace of the Tuileries . carried
"by force and the person of the King seized
" upon, I was certainly very far from thinking
"'that I shoUld replace him, and that that palace
" would be my place of residence."
In dwelling upon the events ofthe :10th Of

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 143
August, he said; " I was, during that horrible
" epoch, at Paris, in lodgings in the Rue du Mail,
" Place des Victoires. On hearing the sound of
" the tocsin, and the news which were circulated
"ofthe assault upon the Tuileries, I ran to the
" Carousel, to the house of Fauielet, the brother
" of Bourienne, who kept 'a furniture warehouse.
" He had been my comrade at the military school
" of Brienne. It was from that. house, which,
" by the by, I was never afterwards able to
"find in consequence of the great alterations
"effected there, that I saw all the particulars
"of the attack. Before I reached the Carou-
" sei, I had been met by a group of hideous look-
" ing men, carrying a bead at the end of a pike.
" Seeing me tolerably well dressed, With the ap-
"' pearance of a gentleman, they called upon me to
' '- shout Vive la Nation ! which, as it may be easily
" believed, I did without hesitation.
" The palace was attacked by the- vilest rabble.
" The King had unquestionably for his defence as
"many troops as the convention afterwards had
" on the 13th Vendemiaire, and the enemies Of
" the latter were much more disciplined and
"' formidable. The greater part of the national
" guard shewed themselves favourable to the
" King; this justice is due to them."
Here the grand marshal observed, "that he ac-
" taally belonged to one of the*battalions that
"evinced the most determined devotion. He

144 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" was several times on the point of being massa-
" cred as he returned alone to his residence." We
remarked, on our part, that in general the na
tional guard of Paris had constantly displayed
the virtues of its class ; the love of order, de-
votedness to authority, the dread of plunder,
and the detestation of anarchy ; and that also
was the Emperor's opinion.
" The palace being forced, and the King receiv-
" ed within the bosom of the assembly," continu
ed he, "I ventured to penetrate into the garden.
" Never since has any of my fields of battle given
" me the idea of so many dead bodies, as I was
"impressed with by the heaps of the Swiss;
" whether the smallness of the place seemed to
" increase the number, or that it was the result of
" the first impression I experienced of that na-
" ture. I saw well dressed women commit the
" grossest indecencies on the dead bodies ofthe
" Swiss. I went through all the coffee-houses
" in the neighbourhood of the assembly ; the irri-
" tation was every where extreme ; fury was in
" every heart and shewed itself in every coun-
" tenaHce, although the persons thus inflamed
" Were far from belonging to the class of the po-i
" pulace ; and all these places must necessarily
" have been frequented daily by the same visitors,
" for although I had nothing particular in my
" dress, or perhaps it was because my face was
" more calm, it was easy for me to perceive, that

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 145
" I excited many hostile and distrustful looks, as
" some one unknown or suspected."
Masked balls. — Madame de Me'grigny. — Piedmont and the
Piedmontese. — Canals of France. — Dreams on Paris.—
Versailles. — Fontainebleau, fyc.
4th. — The weather was much improved. The
Emperor ordered his calash, and walked very far
until it took him up.
The conversation turned upon masked balls, of
which the Emperor was peculiarly fond and fre
quently called for them. He was then always
sure of a certain rendezvous which never failed
to take place. He was, he said, regularly ac
costed every year, by the same mask, who re
minded him of old intimacies, and ardently en
treated to be received and admitted at court.
The mask was a most amiable, kind, and
beautiful woman, to whom many persons were
certainly much indebted. The Emperor, who
continued to love her, always answered ; — " I do
" not deny, that you are charming, but reflect a
" little upon your situation ; be your own judge
" and decide. You have two or three husbands,
" and children by several of your lovers. It
" Would have been thought a happiness to bave
" shared in the first fault ; the second would
" have caused pain, but still it might be par-
" doned ; but the sequel — and then, and then ! . . .
" Be the Emperor and judge ; what would yow
Vol. Ill, Part V. h

146 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" do in my place, T who am bound to revive and
" maintain a certain decorum." The beautiful
suitor either did not reply, or said; — ¦" at least
" do not deprive me of hope;" " and deferred her
" claims of happiness to the following year. And
" each of us," sai'd the, Emperor, " was punctual
• " at the new rendezvous."
The Emperor took great pleasure in getting
himself insulted at these balls. He laughed
heartily at Cambaceres, one day at being told
by a Madame de St. D . . . ., " that there were
" people at the ball who ought to be turned out,
" and that they certainly could not have got ad-
" mittance without stolen tickets."
Another time, he forced the tender and timid
Madame de Megrigny to rise and retire in anger,
and with tears in her eyes, complaining that the
freedom, allowed at a masked ball, had, in her
instance, been sadly abused. The Emperor had
just put her in mind of a very remarkable fa
vour, which he had formerly granted to her, and
added, that every one thought she had paid for it
by the exercise ofthe lord's right. " But there'
" was," said the Emperor, " nobody but myself
" who could say so, without insulting her; be-
" cause, although such was the report, I was
"certain of its falsehood." The following is an
account of the circumstance.
When the Emperor was on his way to be
crowned at Milan, he slept at Troyes. The au-

1816.] THE EMPEROR VAFOLE0N. 147
thorities were presented to him ; and with them
was a young lady, on the point of being married,
with a petition, intreating his protection and as
sistance. As the Emperor Was, besides, desirous
of doing something, which might produce a good
effept, and prove agreeable to the country; the
circumstance appeared favourable, and he took
advantage of it with all imaginable grace. The
young lady (Madame de Megrigny) belonged to
the first families of this province, but which had
been completely ruined by the emigration. She
had scarcely returned to the miserable abode of
her parents, when a page arrived with the Em
peror's decree, which put them in possession of
30,000 francs rent or more. The effect of such a
proceeding may be well imagined. However, as
the young lady was very charming and perfectly
handsome, it was decided, that her fascinations
had some share in his gallantry, although he left
the town a few hours afterwards, and never
thought more of the thing ; but the general opinion
was not a jot altered on that account. It is well
known, how stories are formed ; and as she mar
ried one of his equerries, and had consequently
come to court, all this had been so well mingled
together, that when she was appointed sub-
governess to the King of Rome, the choice shocked
for a moment, the austere Madame de Montes
quieu, who suspected, said the Emperor, that it
was but a mere arrangement.

148 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
The Emperor said, that he renewed at Turin,
in the person of Madame de Lascaris, the gra
cious gallantry exercised at Troyes ; and that in
both instances he had reason to be gratified with
the fruits of his liberality. The two families
gave every possible proof of attachment and
gratitude.. We inquired what might have been the senti
ments of Piedmont with regard to himself. He
had, he said, a particular affection for that pro
vince. M. de Saint-Marsan, on whose fidelity he
relied to the end, had assured him at the period
of our reverses, that the country would shew it
self one of his best provinces.
" In fact," continued the Emperor, "thePied-
" montese do not like to be a small state ; their
" king Was a real feudal lord, whom it was ne-
" cessary to pay court to, or to dread. He had
" more power and authority than I, who, as Em-
" peror of the French, was but a supreme ma-
" gistrate, bound to see the laws executed, and
" incompetent to dispense with them, Had I it
" in my power to prevent the arrest of a courtier
' ' for debt? Could I have put a stop to the re-
" gular action of the laws, no matter upon whom
" they operated ?" &c. &c.
During the Conversation at dinner, the Em
peror inquired whether the quantity of river
water which flowed into the Mediterranean and
the Black Sea, had been calculated. This led

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 149
him to express a wish, that a calculation of the
fluvial water of our Europe should be made, and
that the proportion contributed by each torrent
and water-fall, should be ascertained. He re
gretted much, that he had not presented that
series of scientific questions. That was, he ob
served, his grand system, did any useful, curious
or interesting question suggest itself to him ; " I
" proposed, at my levees, or in my familiar com-
" munications, analogous questions to my mem-
" bers of the institute, with orders to resolve
" them. The solution became the subject of
" public inquiry ; it was analyzed, contested,
" adopted and rejected ; and there is nothing
" which cannot be accomplished in this way.
"It is the grand lever of improvement for a
" great nation, that posseses a great deal of in-
" telligence, and a great deal of knowledge."
The Emperor also observed on this subject,
that geography had never been so successfully
cultivated as at present, and that his expeditions
had contributed somewhat to its improvement.
He afterwards noticed the canals, which he had
caused to be made in France, and particularly
mentioned that from Strasburg to Lyons, in
which, he hoped sufficient progress had been
made, to induce others to complete it. He
thought, that out of thirty millions, twenty-four
must have been already expended.
" Communications are now established in the

150 MT RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" interior from Bordeaux to Lyons and Paris.
" I had constructed a great number of canals,
" and projected a great many more." One of us
having observed, that a proposal for the construc
tion of a very useful canal had been submitted
to the Emperor ; but that measures had been
taken to deceive him, for the purpose of prevent
ing his acceptance of the offer. " Without doubt,"
said the Emperor, " the plan must have appeared
" advantageous only on paper; but I suppose it
" would have been necessary to advance money,
" which was drawn from me with difficulty,"—
" No, Sire,, the refusal was but the effeet of ah
"intrigue. Your majesty was deceived."' "It was
" impossible with respect to such a subject, YoU
" speak without sufficient information," " But I
" am confident of it. I was acquainted with
" the plan, the offers and the subscribers; my
" relations had put down their names for con-
" siderable suins. The intended object was
" the union of the Meuse with the Marne. The
" extent of the canal would have been less than
" seven leagues." " But you do not tell us all, it
" was, perhaps, required, that I should grant
" away immense national forests in the environs,
" which I should not have agreed to." "No, Sire,
" the whole was an intrigue of your board of
" bridges and roads." "But even then, it was ne-
" cessary for them to allege some reasons, some
" appearance of public interest. What reasons

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 151
" did they assign?" "Sire, that the profits would
" have been too considerable." " But in that
" case the plan ought to have been submitted to
" me in person, and I would have carried it into'
" execution. I repeat, that you are not justified
" by the facts ; you are speaking now to a man
" upon the very subject, which constantly en-
" gaged his attention. The board of bridges and
" roads were, on their part, never happier than
" when they were employed. There never was
" an individual, who proposed the construction
" of a bridge, that was not taken at his word. If
" he asked for a toll for twenty-five years, I was
" disposed to grant him one for thirty. If
" it cost me nothing, it was a matter of indiffer-
" ence whether it would prove useful. It was
" always a capital with which I enriched the soil.
" Instead of rejecting proposals for canals, I
" eagerly courted them. But, my dear Sir, there
" are no two things that resemble each other so
" little as the conversation of a saloon, and the
" consideration of an administrative council. The
" projector is always right in a saloon; his pro-
" jects would be magnificent and infallible, if he
" were listened to, and if he can, by some little
" contrivance, but connect the refusal, under
" which he suffers, with some bottles of wine,
" with some intrigue carried on by a wife or a
" mistress, the romance is complete, and that is
" what you probably heard. But an administra-
" tive eouncil is not to be managed so, because it

152 . MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
comes to no decision but on facts and accurate
measurement. What is the canal you men
tioned ? I cannot be unacquainted with it." —
Sire, fronT the Meuse to the Marne, a distance
of seven leagues only." "Very well ! my dear
Sir, it is from the Meuse to the Aisne you mean
to say, and it would have been less than seven
leagues. I shall soon recollect all about it ;
there is, however, , but one little difficulty to
overcome, and that is, that at this very instant
it is doubtful whether the project be practic
able. There, as in other places, Hippocrates
says yes, and Galen says no. Tarbe maintained,
that it was impossible, and denied, that there
was a sufficiency of water at the points of se
paration. I repeat, that you are speaking: to
him, who, of all others is the most attentive to
these objects, more especially in the: environs
of Paris. It was the subject of my perpetual
dreams, to render Paris the real capital of
Europe. I sometimes wished it, for instance, to
become a city with a population of two, three,
or four millions, in a word, something fabulous,
colossal, unexampled until our days, and with
public establishments suitable, to its popula
tion." Some one having then observed, that if Heaven
had allowed the Emperor to reign sixty . years,
as it had Louis XIV., he would have left many
grand monuments. " Had Heaven but granted
" me twenty years, and a little more leisure," re-

1S1«.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 153
sumedthe Emperor with vivacity, " ancient Paris
" would have been sought for in vain ; not a trace
" of it would have been left, and I should have
" changed the face of France. Archimedes pro-
" mised every thing, provided he was supplied
" with a resting place for his lever ; I should have
" done as much, wherever I could have found a
" point of support for my energy, my perse-
" verance, and my budgets ; a world might be
" created with budgets. I should have displayed
" the difference between a constitutional Em-
" peror and a King of France. The Kings of
" France have never possessed any administrative
" or municipal institution. They have merely
" shown themselves great lords who ruined their
" men of business.
" The nation itself has nothing in its character,
" but what is transitory and perishable. Every
" thing is done for the gratification of the moment
" and of caprice, nothing for duration 
" That is our motto, and it is exemplified by our
" manners in France. Every one passes his life
" in doing and undoing; nothing is ever left be-
" hind. Is it not unbecoming, that Paris should
" not possess even a French theatre, or an opera
' ' house, in any respect worthy of its high claims ?
" I have often set myself against the feasts
" which the city of Paris wished to give me.
" They consisted of dinners, balls, artificial fire-
" works, at an expense of 4, 6, and 800,000 francs;

154 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" the preparations for which obstructed the:
" public for several days, and which afterwards'
" cost as much to take away as they had in their
" construction. I proved, that with these idle
" expenses, they might have erected lasting and
" magnificent monuments. ....
" One must have gone through as much as I
" have, in order to be acquainted with all the
" difficulty of doing good. If the business re-
" lated to chimneys, partitions, and furniture for
" some individuals in the imperial palaces, the
"work was quiek and- effectual ; but if it was
" necessary to lengthen the garden ofthe Tuileries;
"to render some quarters wholesome, to clean
" some sewers, and to accomplish a task bene-
" ficial to the public, in which some particular
" person had no direct interest, I found it're-
" quisite to exert all the energy of my character,
" to write six, ten letters a day, and to get into
" a downright passion. It was in this way, that
" I laid out as much as 30 millions in sewers, for
" which no body will ever thank me. I pulled
" down a property of 17 millions in houses in
" front ofthe Tuileries, for the purpose of form-
" ing the Carousel, and throwing open the Louvre.
" What I did is immense; what I had resolved to
" do, and what I projected, were still much more
" so. A person then remarked, that the Emperors
labours had not been limited either to Paris or to

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 15S
France, but that almost every town in Italy sup
plied instances of his creative powers. Every
where one travelled, at the foot as well as on the
top of the Alps, on the sands of Holland, on the
banks of the Rhine, Napoleon, always Napoleon
was to be seen.
In consequence of this remark, he observed^
that he had determined on draining the Pontine
marshes; " Csesar," he said, " was about to ini-
" dertakeit, when he perished." And returning
to France, " The kings, he said, had too many
*¦' country houses and useless objects. Any im-
" partial historian will be justified in blaming
" Louis XIV. for his excessive and idle expendi-
" ture at Versailles, involved as he was in wars,
" taxes, and calamities. He exhausted himself
** for the purpose of forming after all but a
" bastard town." The Emperor then analyzed
the advantages of an administrative town, that is
to say, calculated for the union of the different
branches of administration, and they seemed to
him truly problematical.
I have here great cause to regret, that I did not
note down the series of those reasons, they were
so numerous, so ingenious ! At present, I am
precluded by the fidelity, which is due to my
narrative, from attempting to throw them into any
kind of order. This is, however, a regret, which
I have unfortunately but too frequent occasions
to renew. If numerous breaks are perceived in

156 MY RESIDENCE WITH -[Aug.
the Emperor's reasoning, and more particularly in
the connection of his explanations ; it is because,
at Saint Helena, I took my notes in a hasty man
ner, and. trusted to my memory for the proper
understanding and arrangement of them at a
seasonable time, or also because I contented my
self with abbreviations and hieroglyphic signs.
I also knew, that I was at the source, but now I
find, that the meaning has escaped my memory,
or that I can no longer trace it in my own signs.
This must be my excuse for many omissions.
The Emperor did not conceal his opinion, that
the capital was not, at times, a fit residence for
the sovereigns ; but in another point of view,
Versailles was not suitable to the great, the mini
sters and the courtiers. Louis XIV. therefore
committed a fault, if he undertook to build Ver
sailles solely for the residence of the kings, when
Saint Germain was, in every respect, ready for the
purpose ; nature seemed to have made it express
ly for the real residence of the kings of France.
Napoleon himself had committed faults in that
respect. He ought, for instance, to have given
up Compiegne, and he regretted having celebrated
his marriage there instead of selecting Fontaine-
bleau. " That," said he, in repeating the word
Fontainebleau, " is the real abode of kings, the
" house for centuries ; it is not, perhaps, strictly
" speaking, an architectural palace; but it is,
" unquestionably, well calculated and .perfectly

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 157
" suitable. It was certainly the most com-
" modious and the most happily situated in
" -Europe for the sovereign," &c.
He then took a review of the capitals he had
visited, of the palaces he had seen, and claimed
a decided superiority in our favour. Fontaine-
' bleau, he further added, was'also, at the same
time, the most suitable political and military
situation. The Emperor reproached himself with
the sums he had expended on Versailles, but yet
it was, he said, necessary to prevent it from
falling into ruins. The destruction of a con
siderable part of that palace was a subject of
consideration, during the revolution ; it was
proposed to take away the middle, and thus to
separate the two sides. " It would have been of
" essential service to me," he observed,; " for
" nothing is so expensive or so truly useless as
" thismultitude of palaces; and if, notwithstand-
" ing, I undertook that of the King of- Rome, it
" was because I had views peculiar to myself;
" and besides, in reality, I never thought of doing
" more than preparing the ground. There I
" should have stopped.*
* All the world knows, or ought to have known (if, by a fa
tality, altogether peculiar to Napoleon, the greater part of his
most commendable actions had not been, at the time, stifled "
under the -weight of malignity and libels), the history of that
miserable hut, wedged in within the circumference of the palace
of the King of Rome ; the proprietor of which demanded sue-

158 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" My errors, in disbursements of this kind,
" could not, after all, be very great. They were,
" thanks to my budgets, observed- and neces^
" sarily corrected every year, and could never
" exceed a small part of the expense occasioned
" by the original fault."
The Emperor assured us, that he experienced
every possible difficulty in making his system of
budgets intelligible, and in carrying if into execu-
" tion. Whenever a plan to the amount of thirty
"millions, which suited me, was proposed;
" granted, was my answer, but to be wound up
" in twenty years, that is to say, at 1500,000
" francs a-year. So far, all went on very smoothly ;
" but what am I to get, I added, for my first year ?
" For if my expenditure is to be divided into
" parts, it is, however, my determination to have
" the result, the work entire and complete. In
" this manner, I wished at first for a recess, an
" apartment, no matter what, but something per-
" feet for my 1500,000 francs. The architects
" seemed resolved not to comprehend my mean-
cessively ten, twenty, fifty, and one hundred times its real value.
When he reached that ridiculous price, the Emperor, from whom
directions in that respect, were taken, suddenly commanded a
stop to be put to all further bargains, exclaiming, that that
•yvretched stall in the midst of all the magnificence of the palace
of the King of Rome, should be, after all, the Vine of Nabalh,
the jnost decisive testimony of his justipe, the noblest trophy of
b.is reign.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 159
"ing pit narrowed their expansive views and
" their grand effects. They would, at once, have
" Willingly erected a whole facade, which must
" have remained for a long time useless, and
" thus involved me in immense disbursements,
•" which, if interrupted, Would have swallowed
" up every thing.
" It was in that manner, which Was peculiar
" to myself, and in spite of so many political
" and military obstacles, that I executed so
" many undertakings. I had added forty millions
" to the Crown effects, of which four millions,
" at least, consisted of silver plate. How many
" palaces .have I not repaired ? Perhaps, too
" many ; I return to that subject. Thanks to
" my mode of acting, I was enabled to inhabit
" Fontainebleau, within one year after the repairs
" were begun, and it cost me no more than
" 5 or 600,000 francs. If I have since expended
" six millions on it, that was merely the result
" of six years. It would have cost me much
" more in the course of time. My principal
" object was to make the expense light and
"imperceptible, and to give durability to the
«' work. " During my visits to Fontainebleau," said the
Emperor, " from, 12 to 1500 persons were in-
" yited and lodged, with every convenience,
" upwards of 3,000 might be entertained, at din-
" ner, and this cost the Sovereign veryfittle, in

160 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" consequence of the admirable order and re-
" gUlarity established by Duroc. More than
" twenty' or five-and- twenty princes, dignitaries,
" or ministers were obliged to keep their house-
" holds there.
" I disapproved of the building of Versailles;
" but in my notions respecting Paris, and they
" were occasionally gigantic, I thought of making
" it useful and of converting it, in the course of
" time, into a kind of fauxbourg, an adjacent site^
" a point of view from the grand capital ; and
" for the purpose of more effectually appro-
" priating it to that end, I had conceived a plan,
" of which! had a description sketched out.
" It was my intention to expel from its beaU-
" tiful thickets those nymphs, the productions
" of a wretched taste, and those ornaments a la
" Turcaret, and to replace them by panoramas,
" in masonry, of all the capitals, into which we
"had entered victorious, and of all the cele-
" brated battles, which had rendered our arms
" illustrious. It would have been a collection
"of so many eternal monuments of our triumphs
" and our national glory, placed at the gate of
"the capital of Europe, which necessarily could
" not fail of being visited by the rest of the
" world." Here he suddenly left off, and began
reading le Distrait, but lie almost instantly laid
it aside, whether from the agitation of his own
thoughts, or from a nervous cough, with which

ISlft] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON, J61
he had, for a short time, been, often '; affected
after dinner. He certainly gets considerably
worse, and his health is altogether declining.
Plan of ft History of Europe. — '-Selim HI. — Forces of a
Turkish Sultan. — The Mamelukes. — On the Regency.
5th. — The Emperor did not go out until after
five o'clock. He was in pain, and had taken a
bath, where he remained too long, in consequence
of the arrival of Sir H. Lowe, as he would not
leave it, until the Governor disappeared.
The Emperor had read, while in the bath, two
volumes of the Ottoman History. He had con
ceived the idea, and regretted that he had been
unable to execute it, of having all the histories
of Europe, since Louis XIV., composed on the
very documents, belonging to our foreign affairs,
which contained the official reports of all the
ambassadors. " My reign," he observed, " would have been
" a perfect epoch for that object. The supe-
" riority of France, its independence, and re-
" generation, enabled the actual government to
" make such a publication, without inconve-
" nience. It would have resembled the publica-
" tion of ancient , history. Nothing could have
" been more valuable."
He next adverted to Sultan Selim III. ; to
whom, he said, he once wrote: " Sultan, come
Vol. 1IL Prrt v. m

I6fc MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
"forth from thy seraglio ; place thyself at the
"head of thy troops -, and renew the glorious
"'days of thy monarchy."
" Selim, the Louis XVI. of the Turks," said
the Emperor, " who was very muGh attached
" and very favourable to us, contented himself
" with answering, that the advice was excellent
" for the first princes of his dynasty ; but that
f ' the manners of those times were very different ;
" and that such a conduct would, at present,
" be unseasonable, and altogether unprOduc-*
" tive."The Emperor added, however, that nobody
knew how to calculate, with certainty* the energy
of the sudden burst, which might be produced
by a Sultan of Constantinople, Who was capable
of placing himself at the head of his people, of
infusing new spirits into them> and of exciting
that fanatical multitude to action-, At a later*
period, he observed, that, for his own part, if
he had been able to unite the Mamelukes with
his French, he should have considered himself
the master of the world. " With that chosen
"handful, and the rabble," he added, with a
smile, "recruited on the spot, to be expended'
" in the hour of need, I know nothing that'
"could have resisted me. Algiers trembled'
" at it.
" 'But should your Sultan,' said/one day, the
" Dey of Algiers to the French Consul^ ' ever take

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEO-V. 163
" it into his head to pay us a visit, what safety
" could we hope for? For he has defeated the
" Mamelukes.' The Mamelukes," observed the
Emperor, " were, in fact, objects of veneration
" and terror throughout the east ; they were
"looked upon as invincible until our time."
The Emperor, while waiting for dinner in the
midst of us, opened a book, which lay at his side
on the couch ; it was the Regency. He stigma*
tized it as one of the most abominable eras of our
annals ; and was vexed, that it had been de
scribed with the levity of the age, and not with
the severity of history. It had been strewed
with the flowers of fashionable life, and set off
with the colouring of the graces, instead of
having been treated with exact justice. The
Regency, he observed, had been, in reality, the
reign of the depravity of the heart, of the liber
tinism of the mind, and of the most radical im
morality of every species. It was such, he said,
that he believed in all the horrors and abomina*
tions with which the manners of the regent were
reproached in the bosom of his own family ;
while he did not give credit to the stories told of
Louis XV., who, although plunged in the foulest
and "most frightful debauchery, did not, however,
leave any grounds to justify his belief in snch
shocking and monstrous indulgencies ; and, he
vindicated him very satisfactorily from certain im*-
putations, which would have seriously affected
M 2

164 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
the person of one of his (Napoleon's) former aidesr
de-camp. He considered the epoch of the regent
to have been the overthrow of every kind of pro
perty, the destruction of public morals. Nothing
had been held sacred either in manners or in prin
ciples. The regent was personally overwhelmed
with infamy. In the affair of the legitimated
princes, he had been guilty of the lowest base
ness, and of great abuse of authority. The king
alone could sanction such a decision, and he, the
regent, had felt pleasure in gratuitously dis
honouring himself in the person of his wife* the
natural daughter of Louis XIV., whom he had
found it his interest, however, to marry* while
that king was on the throne, &c. &c.
6th. — As we wished to try the tent, which was
just finished, the table was laid there, and we in
vited the English officers, who had superintended
the work, to breakfast with us.
The Emperor sent for me to his apartment ; he
dressed himself, and when he went out, I accom
panied him to the bottom of the wood, where we
walked for some time. He entered into the con
sideration of some important objects ......
&c. &c*
* I have already felt it necessary to observe, that in preparing
ray journal at Longwood, circumspection and prudence often
required me to give a mysterious turn of expression to my
thoughts; At present, in consequence of the length of time
that has elapsed, since I mnde my notes, and of the different

1816.] THE EMPEROR* NAPOLEON. 163
The Emperor returned to the calash for the
purpose of ordering it to be in readiness, and we
resumed our walk, until it took us up. On our
return, the Emperor visited the tent, and said a
few words, expressive of his satisfaction to the
officer and seamen, who were employed in putting
the last hand to it.
' Campaigns of Italy, ^c. — Epoch of 1815, S;c. — Gusta
vus III. — Gustavus IV. — Bernadotte. — Paid I.
7th. ^— After breakfasting in the tent, the Em
peror took a fancy to review some chapters of the
Campaigns of Italy ; he sent for my son, whose
foot was at length much better, and whose eyes
were in an improved state. He finished the chap
ter's of Pavia and Leghorn. He afterwards walked
towards the bottom of the wood, having ordered
the carriage to follow. On the way, the Em
peror said, that he considered the campaigns of
Italy and Egypt as completely finished, and in a
fit state to be given to the public, and it would,
no doubt, he remarked, be a very agreeable pre
sent to the French and Italians ; it was the record
of their glory and their rights, &c. He did not
situations in which I have been placed, I find many things which
I am no longer able to explain to my satisfaction. For instance,
there were in this place initials and other characters, of the true
meaning of which, I cannot, notwithstanding every possible effort,
form the slightest idea.

166 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
think, however, that he ought to put his name to
it, and he repeated, that the different epochs of
his memoirs would.consecrate those of his faithful
companions, &c.
On the arrival of the calash, the conversation,
continuing on the same subject, he was earnestly
pressed to finish 1815; and its importance, inter
est, and results, were warmly canvassed. " Very
" well!" said he, with a smile, " I must give my-
" self up to it entirely, it is a pleasure to be en-
" couraged ; but it is also requisite to go to work
" with a proper temper. We are surfeited here
" with disgust and trickery ; we seem to be
" envied the air we breathe."
He returned to his apartment, and I followed
him, when a conversation peculiarly interesting
and remarkable took place. • It related to Gusta
vus III., to Sweden, to Russia, to Gustavus IV.,
to Bernadotte, to PaulL, &c. &c.
I have said, that, at Aix-la- Chapelle, Gustavus
III. lived among us as a simple individual under
the name of le Comte de Haga. He constituted
the charm of society, by the vivacity of his wit
and the interest he imparted to his recitals. I
had heard from his own mouth his famous revolu
tion of 1772, and I was in the happiest situation
to obtain a thorough knowledge of that epoch of
the history of Sweden. I was, at the same time,
very well acquainted with a Baron de Spreng-
porten, who, after having displayed great zeal for

JSl«f) THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 167
Gustavus, had the misfortune to go to Russia,
and return at the head of foreigners to' fight
against his country. The consequence was, that
sentence of death had been passed upon him in
Sweden. He was also at Aix-la-Chapelle at the
moment, and had banished himself from it, out
of courtesy, he said, on the arrival of Gustavus.
He had not, however, removed farther off than
half a league, so that all I heard the King say
in the evening, was controverted, modified, or
confirmed for me the next morning at breakfast
by the Baronl He had enjoyed a. very consider
able, share of that Prince's confidence, and he
communicated the most numerous and minute
particulars, as positive facts, respecting the ro
mance of the birth of Gustavus IV., who had
been represented as altogether unconnected by
blood with Gustavus III., according to his full
knowledge and his own desire.
The Emperor observed, that this same Spreng-
porten had been actually sent to him as envoy by
Paul, at the time of his consulate. With respect
to Gustavus IV., he said, that that Prince had
on his appearance in the world, announced him
self as a hero, and had terminated his career
merely as a madman,; and that he had distil
guished himself in his early days by some very
remarkable traits. While, yet under age, he was
seen to insult Catharine by the refusal of her
grand-daughter, at the moment even, when that

163 MY RESIDENCE 'WITH {Aug.
great Empress, seated on her throne, and suiv
rounded by her court, waited only for him to
celebrate the marriage ceremony.
At a later period, he had insulted Alexander,
in no less marked a manner, by refusing, after
Paul's catastrophe, one of the new Emperor's
officers entrance into his territory, and by an
swering to the official complaints addressed to
him on this subject, that Alexander ought not to
be displeased, that he, Gustavus, who still wept
for the assassination of his father, should shut the
entrance of his states against one of those, ac
cused by the public voice of having immolated
his (Alexander's).
" On my accession to the sovereignty," said the
Emperor, " he declared himself my great antago-
" nist; it might have been supposed, that nothing
" short of renewing the exploits of the great Gus-
" tavus Adolphus would have satisfied him. He
" ran over the whole of Germany, for the purpose
" of stirring up enemies against me. At the time
"ofthe catastrophe ofthe Duke d'Enghein, he
V swore he would exact vengeance in person-, and
" at a later period, he insolently sent back the
'.' black eagle to the King of Prussia, because the
" latter had accepted my legion of honour,
"&C..&C. " His fatal moment at length arrived; a con-
" spnacy, of no common kind, tore him from the
" throne and transported himout of his states.

1S16.] THE. EMPEROR' NAPOLEON,

t&.)

" The unanimity evinced against him is, no doubt,
" a proof of the wrongs he had committed. I am
" ready to admit, that he was inexcusable and
" even mad, but it is, notwithstanding, extra-
" ordinary and unexampled, that, in that crisis,
" a single sword was not drawn in his defence,
"whether from affection, from gratitude, from
" virtuous feeling, or even from mere simplicity,
" if it must be so ; and truly, it is a circumstance,
" which does little honour to the atmosphere of
" Kings." >
This prince tossed about and deceived by the
English, who wished to make him their instru
ment, and repulsed by his relatives, seemed deter
mined to renounce the world; and as 'if he had
felt his existence disgraced by his contempt of
mankind and his disgust at things, he voluntarily
lost himself altogether in the crowd.
The Emperor said, that, after the battle of
Leipsic, he had been informed on the part ' of
Gustavus, that he had no doubt been his enemy a'
long time; but that, for a long time, he (Napo
leon) was of all 'Others the sovereign of whom he
had the least to complain, and that, for along
time also, his only sentiments with regard to him,
were those of admiration and sympathy ; that his
actual misfortunes permitted him to express his
feeling's without restraint; that he offered to be
his aide-de-camp, and requested an -asylum in
France. " I was affected," observedthe Emperor ;'

170 MY RESIDENCE WITH IAug-
" but I soon reflected, that if I received him, my
" dignity would be pledged to make exertions in
" his favour. Besides, I no longer ruled the
" world, and then common minds would not fail
" to discover in the interest I took for him, an
" impotent hatred against Bernadotte ; finally,
" Gustavus had been dethroned by the voice of
" the people, and it was the voice of the people
" by which I had been elevated. In taking up
" his cause, I should have been guilty of incon-
" sistency in my own conduct, and have acted
" upon discordant principles. In short, I dread-
" ed, lest I should render affairs more compli-
" cated than they were, and silenced my feelings
'¦' of generosity. I caused him to be answered,
** that I appreciated what he offered me, and that
" I was sensible of it, but that the political in"
" terest of France did not allow me to indulge in
" my private feelings, and that it even imposed
" upon me the painful task of refusing, for the
" moment, the asylum which he asked. That he
" would, however, greatly deceive himself, if he
" supposed me to entertain any other sentiments
" than those of extreme good will and sincere
" wishes for his happiness, &c. &c.
" Some time after the expulsion of Gustavus,
" while the succession to the crown was vacant,,
" the Swedes, desirous of recommending them-
" selves to me and securing the protection of
" France, asked me to give them a King. My

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 171
" attention was, for an instant, turned to the vice-
" roy ; but it would have been necessary for him
"to change his religion, which I deemed beneath
" my dignity and that of all those who belonged
" to me. Besides, I did not think the political
" result sufficiently important to excuse an ac-
" tion, so contrary to our manners. I attached,
" however, too much value to the idea of seeing
" the throne of Sweden in possession of a French-
" man. It was, in my situation, a puerile senti-
." ment. The real King, according1 to my politi-
" cal system and the true interests of France, was
" the King of Denmark, because I should then
" have governed Sweden by the influence of my
" simple contact with the Danish provinces.
" Bernadotte was elected, and he was indebted
" for his elevation to his wife, the sister-in-law of
" my brother Joseph, who then reigned at Madrid.
" Bernadotte, affecting great dependance on
" me, came to ask for my approbation, protesting,
" with too visible an anxiety, that he would not
" accept the crown, unless it was agreeable to
" me. " I, the elected monarch ofthe people, had to
" answer, that I could not set myself against the
" elections of other people. It was what I told
" Bernadotte, whose whole attitude betrayed the
" anxiety, excited by the expectation of my
" answer. I added, that he had only to take ad-
" vantage ofthe good will of which he had been

1'?$ ' MT RESIDENCE WITH LAug-
"the object1; that I wished to be considered as
" having had no weight in his election, but that
" it had my approbation and my best wishes. I
" felt, however, shall I say it, a secret instinct,
" Avhich made the thing disagreeable and painful.'
" Bernadotte was, in fact, the serpent, which I
" nourished in my bosom ; he had scarcely left
" us, when he clung to the system of our enemies,
" and we were obliged to watch and dread him!
" At a later period, he was one of the great ac-
" tive causes 'of our calamities; it was he who
" gave to our enemies the key of our political
" system and communicated the tactics of our
"armies; it was he, who pointed out to them the
" way to the sacred soil ! In vain, would he excuse
" himself by saying, that in accepting the crowii
" of Sweden, he was thenceforth bound to be a
" Swede only ; pitiful excuse, valid only with
" those of the populace and the vulgar that are
" ambitious. In taking a wife, one does not re-
" nounce his mother, still less is he bound to
"transfix her bosom and tear out -her entrails.
" It is said, that he afterwards repented, that is
" to say, when it was no longer time, and when
" the mischief was done. The fact is, that in
" finding himself once more among us, he per-
" ceived, that opinion exacted justice of him; he
" felt himself struck with death. Then, the film
" fell from his eyes ; for it is not known to what
" dreams his presumption and his vanity might

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 1;S
" have incited him in his blindness," &c. &c. ¦ And
at the end of this and many other things besides,
I presumed to observe to him, as a very fantasti
cal and extraordinary matter of chance, that the
soldier Bernadotte, elevated to a crown, for which
protestanism was a necessary qualification, was
actually born a protestant, and that his son,
destined, on that account, to reign over the
Scandinavians, presented himself in the midst of
them precisely with the national name of Oscar,
" My dear Las Cases," replied the Emperor, " it
" is because that chance, so often cited, of which
" the ancients made a deity, which astonishes us
" every day and strikes us every instant, does not,
" after all, appear so singular, so capricious, so
" extraordinary, but in consequence of our ig-
" norance of the secret and altogether natural
" causes, by which it is produced, and yet this
"single combination is sufficient to create the
" marvellous and give birth to mysteries. Here,
" for instance, with respect to the first point, that
" of having been born of a protestant, let not the
" honour of that circumstance be assigned to
" chance ; blot that out. With regard to the se-
" cond, the name of Oscar ; it was I, who was
" his godfather, and when I gave him the name, I
" was raving mad with Ossian ; it presented itself
" of course very naturally. You now see how
" simple that is which so greatly astonished you,"
&c. &c;

174 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
At the end of this conversation, the EmperOr
returned to Paul ; he talked ofthe passionate fits
brought upon him by the perfidy of the English
ministry. He had been promised Malta, the mo-5
ment it was taken possession of, and accordingly,
he was in great haste to get himself nominated
grand-master. Malta reduced, the English mini
sters denied that they had promised it to him.'
It is confidently stated, that on the reading of this
shameful falsehood, Paul felt so indignant, that
seizing the dispatch, in full council, he ran his
sword through it, and ordered it to be sent back
in that condition, by way of answer. " If it be a
" folly," said the Emperor, "it must be allowed,
'*' that it is the folly of a noble soul ; it is the in-
" dignation of virtue, which was incapable, until
*"** then, of suspecting such baseness."
At the same time, the English ministers, treating
with us for the exchange of prisoners, refused to
include, ont he same scale, the Russian prisoners'
taken in Holland, who were in the actual service
and fought for the sole cause of the English.
" I had," said the Emperor, " hit upon the bent
" of Paul's character. I seized time by the fore-
" lock ; I collected these Russians ; I clothed
" them and sent them back to him without any
" expense. From that instant, that generous heart
" was altogether devoted to me ; and as I had ho
" interest in opposition to Russia, and should
" never have spoken or acted but with justice,

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON- 17$
"there was no doubt, but that I should have
" been enabled, for the future, to dispose of the
" Cabinet of St. Petersburgh. Our enemies were
" sensible of the danger, and it has been thought
" that this good will of Paul proved fatal to
" him ; it well might have been the case ; for
" there are Cabinets, with whom nothing is
" sacred." N. B. — It has been already mentioned, that
the Emperor complained, that the Prince de
Ponte-Corvo (Bernadotte) was scarcely in Swe
den, before he had occasion to distrust and
counteract his schemes. The following'' letter is
a decisive proof of this assertion, and also con
tains an important exposition of the continental
system.
" Tuileries, August 8, 1811. <
" Monsieur, the Prince Royal of Sweden, youi*
private correspondence has reached me ; I have
appreciated, as a proof of the sentiments of
friendship you entertain for me, and as a testi
mony of the loyalty of your character, the com
munications which you' make to me. There is
no political reason, which prevents me from an
swering you.
" You appreciate, without doubt, the motives
of my decree of the 21st of November, 1806. It
prescribes no laws to Europe. It merely traces
the steps, that are to be followed, to reach the

176 MY RESIDENCE WITH. - [Aug.
same end ; the treaties, which I have signed,
constitute the remainder. The right of blockade,
which England has arrogated to herself, is as in^ •
juiious to the commerce of Sweden and as hostile
to the honour of her flag, as it is injurious to
the commerce of the French Empire and to the
dignity of its power. I will even assert, that
the domineering pretensions of England are still
more offensive with regard to Sweden ; for your
commerce is more maritime than continental ;
the real strength of the kingdom of Sweden con
sists as much in the existence of its navy, as in
the existence of its army.
" The developement of the forces of France
is altogether continental. I have been enabled
to create, within my states, an internal trade,
which diffuses subsistence and money from the
extremities to the centre of the empire, by the
impulse given to agricultural and manufacturing
industry, and by the rigorous prohibition of fo
reign productions. This state of things is such,
that it is impossible for me to decide, whether
French commerce would have much to gain by
peace with England.
" The maintenance, observance, or adoption of
the decree of Berlin is, therefore, I am bold
enough to say it, more in the interests of Sweden
and of Europe, than in the particular interests of
France. " Such are the reasons, which my ostensible

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 177;
pblicy-: may set up against the ostensible policy
of England. The secret reasons that influence
England are the following : She does, not desire
peace; she has rejected all the overtures which
I have caused to be made to her; her commerce
and her territory are enlarged by war; she is
apprehensive of restitutions ; she will not con
solidate the new system by a treaty ; she does ;¦
not wish that FraHce should be powerful. I wish
for peace, I wish for it in its perfect, state, be
cause peace alone can give solidity ( to new .
interests, and states created by conquest.., I
think, that on this, point, your Royal Highness
oughthot to differ in opinion, fi?om me.
" I have a great number- of ships; I have no
seamen; "I cannot carry on the cOntest with r
England for the purpose of . compelling her to-
make peace ; nothing but the continental system
can prove successful. In this respect, I expe- •
riencer' no obstacle on the part of Russia and r
Prussia;- their commerce can only be a gainer by
the prohibitive system. .>,.-. •>
"Your cabinet is composed of ' enlightened
men. There is dignity and . patriotism in the':
Swedish nation. The influence of your Royal
Highness in the Government is generally ap- '
proved: you -Will experience few impediments r
in1 withdrawing your ^people from a mercantile1
submission to a foreign nation. Do not suffer •
yourself to^be caught by the too tempting baits which
Vol. III. Part V. n

1?8£ MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
England may<- hold out to you. The future will
prove to you, that, whatever may be therevo-
lutions, which time must produce, the Sovereigns
of Europe will establish prohibitive laws, which
willieave them masters in their own dominions,
" The third article of the treaty of the 21st of
February, 1802, corrects the incomplete stipula
tions of the treaty of Fredericsham. It must be
rigorously observed in every point, which relates*
to colonial commodities. You tell me, that you
cannot do without these commodities, and that
ftom the want of their introduction, the revenue
of your customs is diminished. I will give you
twenty millions of colonial productions, which I
have at Hamburgh ; you will give me twenty
millions of iron. You will have no specie to
export from Sweden. Give up these productions
to merchants; they will pay the import duties ;
you will get rid of your iron; this- will, answer
my-purpose. I am in want: of iron at Antwerp,
and T know not what to da with the English
commodities. " Be; faithful to the treaty of the 24th of Feb
ruary: drive the English smugglers from the
roads of Gottenburg ; drive them from the coasts,
where they carry on an open trade : I give you
my word, that I will, on my part, scrupulously
observe the conditions of that, treaty. I shall
oppose the attempts of your neighbours* to ap
propriate to themselves your continental possesr

1816.] The EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 179
siotts. If you fail in your engagements, I shall
consider myself released from mine.
"It is my wish to be always on an amicable
understanding with your Royal Highness ; I
shall hear with pleasure your communication of
this answer to his Swedish' Majesty > whose good
intentions Ihave constantly appreciated.
" My minister for foreign affairs- will return an
official answer to the last note, which the Comte
d'Essen has submitted for my perusal.
" This letter having no other end, &c. &c.
" NAPOLEON/'
Napoleon's Patrimonial Vine, fyc — His Nurse, Sfe. — His<
Paternal Roof. — Tears of Josephine during Wurmser's
Skirmishes in the Environs of Mantua.
8th. — I went to the Emperor's apartment about
eleven o'clock. He was dressing himself, and
looking over, with his valet, some samples of
perfumery and scents, received from England.
He enquired about them all, did not know one of
them, and laughed heartily at his gross ignorance,
as he called it. He wished to breakfast in the
tent, and we all assembled there.
He complained of the bad quality of the wine ;
and called upon his maitre-d'h6tel, Cipriani, who
is- a Cofsican, to prove, that they had much
better in their country. He said, he had re
ceived, as part of his patrimony, the first vine in
N 2

180 . MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
the island, in size and productiveness. It, was
called I'Esposajta, and he felt it his duty, he said,
not to mention it but with gratitude. It was to
that vine, that he was indebted, in his youth, for
his visits to Paris ; it was that which supplied the
expenses of his vacations. We asked him, what
was to become of it. He told us, that he had
long ago disposed of it, in favour of his nurse, to
whom, he was convinced, he had given about
one hundred and twenty thousand francs in lands,
and houses in the island. He had even resolved
to, give her his patrimonial house; but finding it
too much above her situation, he had made a
present of it to the Romalino family, his nearest
relatives by his mother's side, on condition, that
they should transfer their habitation to his nurse. *
* The patrimonial house of Napoleon, his cradle, at present
actually in the possession of M. Romalino, member of the
Chamber of Deputies, has remained, as it may be thought, an
object of eager curiosity and great veneration to travellers and
military men. f
I am assured by eye-witnesses, that, on the arrival of every
regiment in Corsica, it becomes the object of a spectacle, con
stantly renewed. The soldiers instantly run to it in crowds,
and obtain admission with a certain degree of authority. It
might be said, that they believe themselvs entitled to it as a
right. Once admitted, every one conducts himself according to
the warmth of his feeling ; one raises his hands to heaven, as
-)- Having obtained a view of this house, we have placed it, for the
gratification of our readers' curiosity, at the head ofthe Third Part.
Note ofthe English Editor.

1S16.] TH£ EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 181
In a word, he had, he said, made a great lady
of her. She had come to' Paris at the time of
the coronation, and had an audience of the Pope
for upwards of an hour and a half. " Poor
" Pope," exclaimed the Emperor, " he must
"have had a good deal of spare time! She
" was, however, extremely devout. Her hus-
" band was a coasting trader of the island. She
" gave great pleasure at the Tuileries, and en-
" chanted the family by the vivacity of her
" language and her gestures. The empress
" Josephine made her a present of some dia-
" monds." After breakfast, , the Emperor, faithful to -his
resolution of yesterday, proceeded with his work.
He finished the chapter of Castigiione, and then
went to the ¦. wood, with the intention of waiting
for the calash. In continuance of the conversa-.
tion, which had been brought on by the chapter,
he related, that Josephine had left Brescia with
him, and had thus commenced the campaign
against. Wurmser., Arrived at Verona, she had
witnessed the first shots that were fired. When
she returned to Castel-Nuovo, and saw the
wounded as they passed, she was desirous, of
being at Brescia ; but she found herself stopped
he looks about him, another falls on his knees, a third kisses the
floor, and a fourth bursts into tears. There are some who seem
to be seized by a fit of insanity. Something similar is said of the
tomb of the great Frederic. ' Such is the influence of heroes,

182 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
by the enemy, who was already at Ponte-Marco.
In the anxiety and agitation of the moment, she
was seized with fear, and wept a great deal, on
quitting her husband, who exclaimed, when em
bracing her, and with a kind of inspiration,
" Wurmser shall pay dearly for those tears which
"he causes thee!" She was obliged to pass
in her carriage very close to the fortifications
of Mantua. She was fired- upon from the place,
and one of her suite was even wounded ! She
traversed the Po, Bologna, Ferrara, and stopped
at Lucca, attended by dread and the unfavour
able reports, which were usually spread around
our patriotic armies ; but she was internally
supported by her extreme confidence in her
husband's good fortune.
Such was, however, already the opinion of
Italy, observed the Emperor, and the sentiments
impressed by the French General, that in spite
of the crisis of the moment, and of all the false
reports which accompanied him, his wife was re
ceived at Lucca by the Senate, and treated by it
with the same respect as a very great princess.
It came to compliment her, and presented her
with the oils of honour. It had reason to applaud
itself for that conduct. A short time afterwards,
the couriers announced the prodigious achieve
ments of her husband, and the annihilation of
Wurmser. The Emperor returned to the saloon forthe

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. T8S
first time since the fire. Jt is gradually furnished
with artioles sent expressly from London, which
make it a little more tolerable. .After dinner,
the Emperor began with reading Turcaret, with
which, he said, notwithstanding all its wit, he
felt himself disgusted, in consequence of its vul
garity ; but it bore, he remarked, the impression
of Le Sage. He then took up TAvocat Paterin,aud
was much amused with its genuine comic force.
9th. — The Emperor breakfasted in the tent,
and revised the chapter of the Brenta. At three
o'clock, he took an airing in the calash. The
Governor called during our ride. It was<under-
stood, that he wished to speak to the Emperor
on the celebration of the Prince Regent's birth
day, which is to take place next Monday, the
12th inst., and to give him notice of the -salutes
and vollies, that are to he fired on the occasion
at the camp, situated so closely to us. It is said,
on the other .hand, that he ' has ;given directions
for supplying- the Emperor's table only, and that
each of us is to be put upon a particular allow
ance, as he ffnds the expense very much beyond
his. credit. We shall see, however.
Catherine II. — ^Imperial Guards. — Paul I. £fc. — Projects
on India, §c.
10th. — The Emperor was indisposed and took
a bath. At three he walked out and. called for
the carriage. He had just. read the history of

184 .'MY RESIDENCE WITH . 7 [Aug.
.Catherine. " She was/'hcsaid, " a commanding
" Woman.; she was worthy of having a beard uppn
" her chin. The catastrophes of Peter and that
" of Paul, were seraglio^ revolutions, the work of
"janissaries. ; These palace- soldiers are terrible,
" and dangerous in proportion as the Sovereign
" is absolute. , 'My imperial <• guard might also
" have become fatal,, under any one but my-
"self." ... .......
The Emperor said, that he and Paul hadheen
®n the best terms together. At the time of his
murder, in-v which the public /spared .neither
his relations nor his allies, he had concerted! a
plan with him, at that very moment, for an, expe
dition to India, and he would have certainly/pre-
vailed upon him to carry it into execution. Paul
wrote. to him very often, and at great length.
His first communication was curious and original.
" Citizen First .Consul,", (he had written to him
with his own hand,). " I do not discuss the merits
." ofthe rights of man; but when a nation places
"at its head a man of distinguished merit: and
" worthy of esteem, it has a government, and
" France has, henceforth, one in my eyes,"&c &c'.
On our return, we found the Admiral and his
lady ; the Emperor took them into the calash and
made another tour. He afterwards walked, for
some time, with Lady Malcolm, to whom he be
haved in a most gracious manner.
• After dinner, the Emperor turned over the

1S16.] THE, EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 185
leaves of two volumes of the Theatre Francais,
without being able to find any thing 'capable of
fixing his attention. • ' . *
The. Emperor Bishop, fyc. — Had never suffered in his
Stomach.
11th. — -After our breakfast in the tent and a
few turns in the garden, the Emperor read, for
the last time, the chapter of Arcole.
During our ride in the calash, somebody-ob
served that it was Sunday. " We should have
" mass," said the Emperor, " if we were in a
" Christian country, if we had a priest ; and that
" would have engaged us for an instant during
" the day. I have been always fond . of the
" sound ofthe bells in the country. We should,"
he added in a gay tone, " resolve upon choosing a
" priest among us ; — the curate of Saint-Helena."
— But how ordain him, it was said, without a
bishop ? — " And am I not one," replied the Em
peror, " have I not been anointed with the same
" oil, consecrated in the same manner?^ Were
" not Clovis and his successors anointed, at the
" time, with the formula of Rex Christique sacer-
" dos? Were they not, in fact, real bishops ? Was
" not the subsequent suppression of that formula
"caused by the jealousy and policy of the
" bishops and popes ?" &c. &c.
I did not eat at dinner, the Emperor wished to
know the cause. I had a severe pain in my

186 MY RESIDENCE WITH £Aug.
stomach, a complaint to which I said Iwas very
subject. "lam more fortunate than you, "ihe
observed. "I have not, during my life, iplt
" any pain in my head or an my stomach." The
Emperor often repeated what he had said, and
he has pronounced these same words perhaps ten,
twenty, or thirty times, in the midst of us at dif
ferent moments.* Campaign of 1809, ^'Src'.<Sfe.
12th. — -The Emperor passed the morning in his
bath, reading the Journals des Debats of March
and April, received yesterday by way of the
Cape. The Emperor was very much occupied
with them ; they produced a great "degree of agi
tation in his system.
* I commonly pass over all details of this kind, on account' of
their minuteness, unless an occasion for their utility presents
itself, andunfortunately I have not time to look for, or to give
rise to, such occasions. The trifling circumstance, however,
which I relate here, acquires but too great a value by the nature
of the death' and the protracted and terrible agonies of the im
mortal victim, who expired under the triple tortures of body,
mind, and heart. He would have had much less to endure from
the hands of cannibals ! . . . . And these sufferings and these
torments were coldly reserved for him by a barbarous admini
stration, whieh, by that proceeding, has stained the annals of a
people so justly renowned for the elevation of their sentiments
and their sympathy with misfortune I . . . . But a sad and pain
ful celebrity will attach to the names . of the . executioners of
Napoleon. The indignation of the generous hearts of every
age and of every country strikes them for ever with eternal re
probation !

1816,.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 187
In general, since the Emperor had received
books, and particularly the Moniteurs, he conti
nued much more at home ; "he scarcely went
abroad; he no longer used a horse, nor even the
calash ; he hardly took the air for a few moments
in the garden; he was not the better for it, his
features and his health underwent a visible alter
ation. I found him to-day -reading1 Les Croisades de
Michaud which he left to run over Les Memoires
de Bezenval. He stopped at the duel between
the Comte d'Artois and the Due de Bourbon.
He found the details curious, but they seemed to
be very remote from us. "It is difficult," he ob
served, " to see times so close to each other and
" manners so different."
In the course of this day's conversations, the
Emperor happened to repeat, what I have
mentioned elsewhere, that his finest manoeuvre
had been at Eckmuhl, without, however, speci
fying it any further. *
* Here M. De Las Cases, availing himself of Napoleon's
striking allusions to the battle of Eckmuhl, introduces a review
of jthij. celebrated campaign of 1S09, compiled . from- an unpub
lished work by an officer of high .rank in the imperial guard.
In consequence, however, of its length aud its want of immediate
connection with the main objects of the Journal, we are induced
to pass it over. English Editor.

188 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug'
On the War with Russia.— Fatalities, fyc. — M. de Talley
rand, §c. — The Corinna of Madame de Sta'el. — M.
Necker, fyc.
13th. — At an early hour in the morning, I. ac
companied the Emperor very far into the wood;
he conversed for upwards of an hour, on the si
tuation of France,, and then reverted to the per
sons who had betrayed him, and the numerous fa
talities which had hurried him along ; to the
perfidious . security caused by his marriage with
Austria ; to the infatuation of the Turks who made
peace precisely when they ought to have made
war ; to that of Bernadotte, who was , actuated
by his self-love and his resentment, rather than
by his real grandeur and stability ; to a season
rigorous beyond measure, and even to the superio
rity of talent, evinced by M. de Narbonne, who,
discovering the designs of Austria, compelled her
to take active measures. Finally, he. reverted to
the successes of Lutzen and Bautzen, which by
bringing back the king of Saxony to Dresden,
put him, Napoleon, in possession of the hostile
signatures of Austria, and deprived her of all
further subterfuge. " What an unhappy concur-
" rence !" he exclaimed in a most expressive
tone, " and yet," he continued, " the day after the
" battle of Dresden, Francis had already sent a
" person to treat. It was necessary, that Van-

1816,'J THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 189
" damme's disaster should happen at a given mo-
" ment, to second, as it were, the decree of
"fate." M. de Talleyrand, to whose conduct the Em
peror frequently alluded, for the purpose of dis
covering, he said, when he had really began to
betray him, had strongly urged him to make
peace, on his return from Leipsic. " I must," he
observed, " do him that justice. He found fault
" with my speech to the senate, but warmly ap-
" proved of that, which I made to the legislative
" body. He uniformly maintained, that I de-
" ceived myself with respect to the energy of the
" nation ; that it would not co-operate with
" mine, and that it was requisite for me to ar-
" range my affairs by every possible sacrifice.
" It appears, that he was then sincere. I never,
" from my own experience, found Talleyrand elo-
" quent or persuasive. He dwelt a great deal,
" and a long time on the same idea. Perhaps
" also, as our acquaintance was of old date, he
" behaved in a peculiar manner to me. He was,
" however, so skilful in his evasions and ram-
". blings, that after conversations which lasted
" several hours, he has gone away, frequently
" avoiding the explanations and objects I ex-
" pected to obtain from him on his coming in."
.sWith regard to the affairs of the moment and
to the contents of the [last journals which de
scribed France [in a constantly increasing agita-

ISO MY RESIDENCE WITH [Augi
tion, the result was;, that the chances of the future
seemed indefinite* multiplied, and inexhaustible
for all Europe, and that there existed, at that
instant, an incontrovertible fact, communicated
to us from all quarters, that nobody in Europe;
considered himself in a permanent situation'.
Every one seemed to apprehend or to foresee new
events, &c.
The Emperor kept me to breakfast with him
in the tent. He afterwards sent for the Corinna
of Madame de Stael, and read some chapters of
it. He said he could not get through it. Ma
dame de Stael had drawn so complete a likeness
of herself, in her heroine, that she had succeeded
in convincing him that it was herself; " I see her,"
said he, "I hear hery I feel her, I wish to avoid
" her, and I threw away the book. I had a better
" impression of this work on my memory, than
"what I feel at present. Perhaps, it is because,
""at the time, I read it with my thumb, as M'
" l'Abbe de Pradtingeniously says* andhotwith-
" out some truth I shall, however, persevere;
" I am determined to se6L the end * of it ; I still *
"think, that it was not destitute- of some inter-"'
"est. Yet L cannot- forgive Madame de Stael for
"- having undervalued the French in her romance." '
" The family of Madame de Stael is unquestion-
" ably a very singular one ! Her father, hermb"-
"ther and herself, all three on their knees, rega-
" ling each other with reciprocal incense, for the

1S16.]: THE EMTEROR NAPOLEON. 191;
"-better edification and mystification of the
" public. Madame de Stael may, notwithstand-
" ing, exult in. surpassing her noble parents,
"when she presumed to write, that her senti-
" ments for her father were such, that she detect-
" ed herself in being jealous of her mother.
" Madame de Stael,"he continued, "was ardent
"in her passions, vehement and extravagant . in
" her expressions. This is what was read by the
" police, while she was under its superintendence.
" ' I am far from you ;' (she was probably writing
" to> her husband,) ' come instantly ; — I com-
'• mand ;— I insist upon it; I am on my knees ;
" my daughter is- beside me ; I: beseech you,
"come; — if you hesitate, I shall kill her first,
" and then myself ;— You alone will be guilty of
" our destruction,.' " &c. —
She had, said the Emperor, combined all her
efforts and all her means to make an impression
on the general of the army Of Italy; without any:
knowledge of hum she wrote to him, when: far'
off; she- tormented him when present. If she
was to be believed, the* union of genius with a
little insignificant Creole, incapable of appre
ciating or comprehending him, was a monstrosity.
Unfortunately, the general's only answer was an
indifference, which women never forgive, and
which, indeed, he; remarked with a smile, is
hardly to be forgiven.
On his arrival at Paris, he was folldwed:with
the same eagerness, but he maintained^ on his

192 . .MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
part, the same reserve, the same silence. Madame
de Stael resolved, however, to extract some
Words from him and to struggle with the con
queror of Italy, attacked him face to face, at the
grand entertainment, given by M. de Talleyrand,
minister for foreign affairs, to the victorious "ge
neral. She challenged him in the middle of' a
numerous circle, to tell her who was the greatest
woman in the world, whether, dead or living.
" She, who has had most children," answered Na
poleon, with great simplicity. Madame de Stael
was, at first, a little disconcerted, and endeavour
ed to recover herself by observing," that it was
reported that he was not very fond of women.
" Pardon me, Madame," again replied Napoleon,
" I am very fond of my wife."
The general of the army of Italy, said the Em
peror, might, no doubt, have excited the en
thusiasm of, the Genevese Corinna to its highest
pitch; but he dreaded her political perfidy and
her proverbial intemperance ; he was, perhaps, in
the wrong. The heroine had, however, been too
eager in her pursuit and too often discouraged,
not to become a violent enemy. " She insti-
" gated the person, who was then under her in-
" fluence, and he," observed the Emperor, " did
" not enter upon the business in a very honourable
" manner. On the appointment of the Tribunate,
" he employed the most pressing solicitations
"with the first ConsUl to be nominated, a mem-
" ber. At eleven o'clock at night, he was on his

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 193
" knees ; but at midnight, when the favour was
" granted, he was already erect and almost in an
" insulting attitude. The first meeting of the Tri-
" bunes was a splendid occasion for his invectives
" against me. At night, Madame de Stael's hotel
" was illuminated. She crowned her Benjamin
" in the middle of a brilliant assembly, and pro-
" claimed him a second Mirabeau. This farce,
" which was ridiculous enough, was followed
" by more dangerous plans. At the time ofthe
" concordat, against which Madame de Stael
" was violently inflamed, she united at once
" against me the aristocrats and the republicans;
" you have, she exclaimed, but a single moment
" left ; to-morrow the tyrant will have forty
" thousand priests at his disposal."
" Madame de Stael,"«aid Napoleon, " having at
" length tired out my patience" was sent into exile.
" Herfather had seriously offended me before, at
" the time of the campaign of Marengo. I wished
" to see him on my way, and he struck me merely
" as a dull bloated college tutor. Shortly after-
" wards, and with the hope, no doubt, of again
" appearing, by my help, in public life, he pub-
" lished a pamphlet, in which he proved, that
" France could neither be a republic, nor a
" monarchy. What it might be," : remarked
the Emperor, " was not sufficiently evident.
" In that work, he called the First Consul,
" the necessary man, &c. &c. Lebrun replied to
Voi,. III. Part V. o

194 MY RESIDENCE WITH r[Ailg.
' him, in a letter of four pages, in his admirable
' style, and with all his powers of sarcasm ; he
' asked him, whether he had not done sufficient
' mischief to France, and whether his pretensions
' to govern her again, were not exhausted by his
' experiment of the constituent assembly.
"Madame de Stael, in her disgrace, carried
' on hostilities with the one hand, arid suppli-
' cated with the other. She was informed, on
' the part of the First Consul, that he left her
' the universe for the theatre of her achieve-
' ments ; that he resigned the rest of the World
' to her, and only reserved Paris for himself,
' which he forbade her to approach. But Paris
' was precisely the object of Madame de StaeTs
'wishes. No matter; the Consul was invariably
'inflexible. Madame de Stael, however, oc-
' casionally renewed her attempts. Under the
' empire, she wished to be lady of the palace.
' Yes or no might certainly be pronounced ; but
' by what means could Madame de Stael be kept
' quiet in a palace?" &c. &c.
After dinner, the Emperor read the Horatii,
and was frequently interrupted by our bursts of
admiration. Never did Corneille appear grander,
more noble, more nervous to us than on our
rock. .

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 19*
mooting Party at St. Helena, $c.—Eve of ihe lbth
of August, $c.
14. The Emperor went out early. He sent
for me before nine o'clock. His intention was to
inount his horse, and endeavour to get a shot at
some partridges, which we saw every time we
were in the carriage ; but which never let any
one with a fowling piece come near them. The
Emperor walked on for the purpose of placing
himself in a convenient situation, but the part
ridges were no longer to be found. He was soon
fatigued, and got on .„ horseback, observing, that
pur shooting party was not exactly after the
fashion of those of Rambouillet and Fontaine
bleau. We breakfasted, on our return, in the
tent; the Emperor placed little Tristan, whom
he saw crossing the meadow, at table, and was
much amused with him during the whole of the
repast. After breakfast, the Emperor had the chapter
of Rivoli read over again to him, and finished it.
We had gone through three fourths of it, when
the governor being announced, we made a pre
cipitate retreat from the tent, and each of us took
refuge in his den. The Emperor 'was less in
clined than any other person to let himself be
seen : his conversations with the governor are by
far too disagreeable and painful to him; " I am de-
" termined," he said, "to have no more to 4o with
o2

196 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" him. Harsh remarks escape me, which affect
" my character and my dignity ; nothing should
" fall from my mouth but what is kind and com-
" plimentary." He found himself fatigued with
his exercise in the morning, and took a bath.
About five o'clock, he took a turn in the calash,
the weather was delicious.
The Governor had expressed an earnest desire
to see the Emperor ; he wished, he said, to
speak with him on business. It is suspected,
that it was to tell him, that he had no more
money, that he had exhausted all, and that he
no longer knew how to act ; a matter of perfect
indifference to the Emperor, who would not
have failed, once more, to entreat to be let alone.
The Emperor played at chess, before dinner,
in the saloon ; he had taken some punch. It
was late when I arrived ; he told me, on entering,
to take my share of the punch ; but it was
observed, that there were no more glasses. " O
" yes," said he; handing me his, " and he will
" drink out of it, I am sure." He then added,
" This is the English fashion ; is it not? In our
" country one seldom drinks after any one but
" one's mistress."
It was remarked, during dinner, that it was
the eve ofthe 15th of August; the Emperor then
observed; " Many healths will be drank to-
" morrow, in Europe, to St. Helena. There are
" certainly . some sentiments, some wishes, that

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 197
" will traverse the ocean." He had entertained
the same thought in the morning, when on horse
back, and had said the same things to me.
After dinner, Cinna ; — Corneille seems divine.
The Emperor's Birth-Day.
15th. — This day, the 15th of August, was the
Emperor's birth-day. We had determined to
wait upon him, in a body, about eleven o'clock.
He disappointed Us by appearing gaily at our
doors at nine. The weather was mild ; he went
to the garden, and we all assembled there in
succession. The Grand Marshal, with his wife
and children, joined us. The Emperor, sur
rounded by his faithful servants, breakfasted in
the large and beautiful tent, which is a real and
happy acquisition. The temperature was fine,
and he himself cheerful and fond of conversation.
He seemed, for some instants, to participate in
our sentiments and wishes. He desired, he said,
to pass the whole day in the midst of us.
Accordingly, we continued together, and spent
the time in conversation, in different pursuits, in
walking, and in riding in the carriage.
Polytechnic School suppressed, fyc— Indecency of the
. English Journals. — Ice Machine.
16th. —My son and I went, at a very early
hour, to the tent, where the Emperor continued
employed on different chapters of the campaign

198 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
of Italy until two "o'clock, when, the Governor
being announced, he retired, muttering, " The
" wretch, I believe, envies me the air I breathe."
During breakfast, he had called for the Journal
des Dehats, which contained the organization . of
the academies ; he wished to see the names of
the members, who had been expelled from the
Institute. This led him to revert to the sup
pression of the Polytechnic school, which was
said to be useless and dangerous; The English
journal, which we had received, was not of that
opinion. It maintained, that the suppression
alone was more valuable to the enemies of France
than a signal victory, and that nothing could
more decidedly prove the real pacific sentiments
and the extreme moderation of the dynasty,
which then governed France, &c. &c. It also
stated several other things.
Somebody remarked, upon this subject, that
the English papers shewed a malevolence to the
French Government, which extended to coarse
ness and indecency.
Lord or Lady Holland had, with a peculiar
degree of attention, sent to Longwood, for the
Emperor's use, a newly invented machine,
adapted to the formation of ice. It was delivered
to us to-day, through the intervention of Admiral
Malcolm. The Emperor went out about five
o'clock, and was desirous of witnessing the
experiment; the Admiral was present, but the
experiment proved very imperfect.

1816.] ihe EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 199
The Emperor, after some time, took a walk,
accompanied by the Admiral, and the convers
ation turned upon a variety of subjects; it was
maintained in the. most affable and friendly man
ner on the part of the Emperor.
Religious Ideas of Napoleon. — Bishop of Nantez (de Voisin),
— The Pope. — Liberties of the Galilean Church. — Anec
dotes. — Concordat of Fontainebleau.
17th,- — While the Emperor was at breakfast in
the tent, two persons described the excesses
which they had witnessed in the army, and which
had not come .to his knowledge. They noticed
the numerous violations of his orders, the violent
abuses of authority, and other outrages besides.
The Emperor listened*; but some were so shock
ing, that he could not, he said, give credit to
them and observed; " Come, gentlemen, these
" are libels."
The wind was very violent ; it blew a tempest
with occasional showers of rain. The wetness
obliged the Emperor to go in again.
After dinner Zaire and the beautiful scenes of
(Edipe were read, among which he particularly
pointed out that of the discovery, which he pro
nounced the finest and the most finished of the
drama. In: speaking of priests and religion, the con
versation led the Emperor to say ; " Man enter
ing into life asks himself: From whence do I

200 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.-
"come? What am I? Whither am I to go?
" These are so many mysterious questions, which
" urge us on to religion. We eagerly embrace it ;
"we are attracted by our natural propensity;
" but as we advance in knowledge our course is
" stopped. Instruction and history are the great
" enemies of religion, deformed by human imper-
" fection. Why, we ask ourselves, is the religion
" of Paris, neither that of London nor of Berlin?
" Why is that of Petersburgh different from that
" of Constantinople ? Why is the latter, different
" from that of Persia, ofthe Ganges and of China ?
" Why is the religion of ancient times different
" from that of our days? Then reason is sadly
" staggered; it exclaims, O religions, religions!
" the children of man !  We very properly
" believe in God, because every thing around us
" proclaims him, and the most enlightened minds
" have believed in him ; not only Bossuet, whose
" profession it was, but also Newton and Leibnitz,
" who had nothing to do with it. But we know
" not what to think of the doctrine, that is taught
" us, and we find ourselves like the watch which
" goes, without knowing the watchmaker that
" made it. And observe a little the stupidity of
" those who educate us; they should keep away
"from us the idea of paganism and idolatry;
" because their absurdity excites the first exer-
" cise of our reason, and prepares us for a resist-
" ance to passive -belief; and they bring us up,

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 201
" notwithstanding, in the midst of the Greeks
" and Romans, with their myriads of divinities.
" Such, for my own part, has literally been the
" progress of my understanding. I felt the ne-
" cessity of belief; I did believe, but my belief
" Was shocked and undecided, the moment I ac-
" quired knowledge and began to reason; and
" that happened to me, at so early an age as
" thirteen. Perhaps, I shall again believe impli-
" citly ; God grant I may. I shall certainly
" make no resistance, and I do not ask a greater
" blessing; it must, in my mind, be a great and
" real happiness.
" In violent agitations, however, and in the
" casual suggestions of immorality itself, the ab-
" sence of that religious faith has never, I assert,
" influenced me in any respect, and I never
" doubted the existence of God; for, if my reason
" was inadequate to comprehend it, my mind was
" not the less disposed to adopt it. My nerves
" wOre in sympathy with that sentiment.
" When I seized on the helm of affairs, I had
" already fixed ideas of all the primary elements
"by which society is bound together; I had
" weighed all the importance of religion; I was
" convinced, and I determined to re-establish it.
" But the resistance I had to overcome, in
" restoring Catholicism, would scarcely be cre-
" dited. I should have been more willingly
" followed, had I hoisted the standard of pro-

202 - MY RESIDENCE WITH .... [Aug.
' testantism. This reluctance was carried so;
' far, that in the Council of State, where I found
' great difficulty in getting the Concordat
' adopted, several yielded only in forming a plan
' to extricate themselves from it. ' Well!' they
' said to one another, * let us turn protectants,
' and that will not affect us/ It is unquestion->
' able, that in the disorder to which I succeeded,
' that on the ruins where I was placed, I was
' at liberty to: choose between Catholicism and
' protestantism ; and it may also be said, with
' truth, that the general disposition, at the
' moment, Was quite in favour of the latter ; but,
'besides my real adherence to the ' religion - in
' which I was born, I had the most important
' motives to influence my decision. What should
' I have gained by proclaiming protestantism ?
' I should have created two great parties, very
' nearly equal, in France, when I wished for the
¦ existence of none at all ; I should have revived
' the fury of religious disputes, when their total
' annihilation Was called for by the light of the
' century, and my own feelings. These two
'parties wOuld, by their mutual distractions,
' have destroyed France, and rendered her the
' slave of Europe, When I had the ambition to
' make her the mistress of it. By the help of
' Catholicism I attained, much more effectually,
' all the grand results I had in View. In the
' interior, at home, the smaller number was

1816."} THE. EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 203-
"swallowed up by the greater, and I relied
" upon my treating the former with such an
" equality, that there would be shortly no motive
" for marking the difference. Abroad, the Pope
'.' was bound to me by Catholicism ; and with my
" influence, : and our forces in Italy, I did not
" despair, sooner or later, by some means or
" another, of .obtaining for myself the direction
" of that Pope, and from that time, what -an
" influence! What a lever of opinion on the rest
" of the world ! " &c. &c. And he concluded
with saying: " Francis I. was really in a state
" to adopt protestantism, at jts birth, and
" declare himself the head of it in Europe..
" Charles V.,. his rival, was the zealous champion
" of Rome, because he considered that measure
" as an additional means to assist him in his
" project of enslaving Europe. Was not that
" circumstance alone sufficient to point out to.
" Francis the necessity of taking care of his
" independence ; but he abandoned the greater
" to run after the lesser advantage. He perse-
" vered in pursuing his imprudent designs on,
" Italy, and with the intention of paying court
" to the Pope, he,burnt protestants at Paris.
"Had Francis I. embraced Lutheranism, which
" is favourable to royal supremacy, he would
"have preserved France from the dreadful re-
" ligious convulsions brought on, at later periods,
" by the Calvinists, whose efforts, altogether re-

204 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" publican, were on the point of subverting the
"throne, and dissolving our noble monarchy.
" Unfortunately, Francis I. was ignorant of all
" that, for he could not allege his scruples for
" an excuse ; he who entered into an alliance
"with the Turks, and brought them into the'
" midst of us. It was precisely because he was
" incapable of extending his views so far. The
" folly of the time ! The extent of feudal intellect !
" Francis I. was, after all, but a hero for tilts
" and tournaments, and a gallant for the drawing-"
" room, one of those pigmy great men.
" The Bishop of Nantez (De Voisin), said the
" Emperor, made me a real Catholic by the effi-
" cacy of his arguments, by the excellence of
" his morals and by his enlightened toleration.
" Marie Louise, whose confessor he was, consulted
" him once on the obligation of abstaining from"
" meat on Fridays. — 'At what table do you dine,
" asked the Bishop ?' — * At the Emperor's.' ' Do
" you give all the orders there V— ' No.' ' You
" cannot, then, make any alteration in it; would'
" he do it himself?' — ' I am inclined to think
" not.' ' Be obedient then, and do not provoke
" a subject for scandal. Your first duty is to
" obey, and make him respected ; you will riot
" be in want of other means to amend your life,'
" and to suffer privations in the eyes of God.'
" He also behaved in the same way with re-
" spect to a public communion, which some per-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 305
" sons put into Marie Louise's, head to celebrate
"> on Easter-day. She would not, however, con
's sent, without the advice of her prudent con-
" fessor, who dissuaded her from it by similar
" arguments. What a difference, said the Em-
" peror, had she been worked upon by a fanatic !
" What quarrels, what disagreements might he
" not have caused between us i What mischief
" might he not have done, in the circumstances
"in which I was placed!
The Emperor remarked to us, " that the
" bishop of Nantez had lived with Diderot, in
" the midst of unbelievers, and had uniformly
" conducted himself with consistency; he was
" ready with an answer to every one ; and above
" all, he had the good sense to abandon every
" thing that was not maintainable, and to strip
" religion of every thing which he might not be
" capable of defending. — He was asked, ' has not
" an animal, which moves, combines, and thinks,
" a soul?' 'Why not,' was his answer. 'But
" whether does it go? For it is not equal to ours.'
" 'What is that to you? It dwells, perhaps, in
" limbo.' He used to retreat within the last in-
" trenchments, even within the fortress itself, and
" there he reserved excellent means for defending
" himself. He argued better than the Pope whom
" he often confounded. He was the firmest pillar,
" among our bishops, of the Gallican liberties.
" He was my oracle, my luminary ; in religious

$06 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
' matters, - he possessed my unbounded confi-
' dence. For, in my quarrels "with the Pope,
' it was my first care, whatever intriguers and
'marplots in cassocs may say, not" to touch
' upon any dogmatic point : I Was so steady in
' this conduct, that the instant this gOod and
' venerable bishop of Nantez said to me, ' take
' care, there you are grappling with a dogma,' I
' immediately turned off from the course I was
' taking, to return to it by other Ways, without
' amusing* myself by entering into dissertations
' with him, or by seeking even to comprehend
' his meaning, and as I had not let him into my
' secret,! how amazed must he not have been at
' the circuits I made ! How whimsical, obsti-
' nate, capricious, and incoherent- must I not have
' appeared to him ! It was because I had an
' object m view, and he was unacquainted with
'it. " The Popes could not forgive Us our liberties
' of the Gallican church. The four famous pro-
' positions of Bossuet, in particular, provoked
" their resentment. It was, in their opinion, a
"" real hostile manifesto, and they- accordingly
" considered us at least as much out of the pale
" of the church as the protestants. They thought
" us as guilty as them, perhaps more so, and if
" they did not overwhelm us with their ostensive
"thunders, it was becausethey dreaded the con-
¦" sequences— our separation. The example of

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 207
" England was before them. They did not wish
" to cut off their right arm with their own hand,
•" but they were constantly on the watch for a
"favourable opportunity, they trusted to time
"for it. They are, no doubt, on" the. point of
" believing, that it has now actually happened.
•" They will, however, be again disappointed by
" the light of the century and the manners of the
" times. .
".Some time before my coronation," said the
Emperor, " the Pope wished to see me, and made
' it a .point to visit me himself. He had made
' many concessions. He had come to Paris for
' the purpose of crowning me, he consented not
' to place the crown, on my head, he dispensed
' with the ceremony of the public communion,
' he had, therefore, inhis opinion, many compen-
* sations to expect in return. . He had accord -
' ingly at first, dreamt of Romagna and the Le-
' gations, and. he began to suspect that he should
' be obliged to give up all that. He then loWer-
' ed his pretensions to a very trifling favour, as
' he called it, my signature to an ancient docu-
' ment, a worn-out rag, which he held from Louis
' XIV. 'Do me that favour, said he, in fact, it
' signifies nothing.' 'Cheerfully, most holy fa-
' ther, and the thing is doner if it be feasible.'
' It was, however, a declaration, in which Louis
' XIV. at the close of his life, seduced by Ma-
" dame de Maintenon* or .prevailed upon by his

208 MY RESIDENCE WITH. [Aug..
" confessors, expressed his disapprobation ofthe
" celebrated articles of 1682,the foundations of the
" liberties ofthe Gallican church. The Emperor
" shrewdly replied, that he had not, for his own
"part, any personal objection, but that, it was
" requisite for him, as a matter of form, to speak
"to the bishops about it ; on which the Pope re-
" peatedly observed, that such a communication
" was, by no means necessary, and that the thing
" did not deserve to make so much noise. 'I
"shall never,' he remarked, 'shew, the sig-
" nature, it shall be kept as secret as that of
" Louis XIV.' ' But if it signifies nothing,' said
" Napoleon, 'what use is there for my signature ?
" And if any signification can be drawn from it,
"lam bound by a sense of propriety to consult
" my doctors.' "
With the view, however, of avoiding the im
putation of a constant refusal of every request,
the Emperor wished to seem rather inclined to
grant the favour. " The Bishop of Nantez and
" the other bishops, who were really French,
" came to me in great haste. They were furious,
" and watched me," said the Emperor, "as they
" would have watched Louis XIV. on his death-
" bed, to prevent him from turning protestant.
" The Sulpicians were called in ; they were
" Jesuits au petit pied, they strove to find out my
" intention, and were ready to do whatever I
"wished." The Emperor concluded with ob-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 209
serving ;— " The Pope had dispensed with the
" public communion in my favour, and it is by
" his determination in that respect, that I form my
" opinion of the sincerity of his religious belief.
" He had held a congregation of cardinals for
"the purpose of settling the ceremonial. The
" greater number warmly insisted upon my taking
" the communion in public, asserting the great
" influence of the example on the people, and the
" necessity of my holding it out. The Pope, on
" the contrary, fearful lest I should fulfil that
" duty as if I were going through one of the
" articles of M. de Segur's program, looked
" upon it as a sacrilege, and Was inflexible in
" opposing it. ' Napoleon,' he observed, ' is not
" perhaps a believer ; the time will, no doubt,
" come, in which his faith will be established, and
" in the meantime, let us not burthen his con-
" science or our own.'
" In his Christian charity, for he really is a
" worthy, mild, and excellent man, he never once
" despaired of seeing me a penitent at his tri-
" bunal ; he has often let his hopes and thoughts
" on that subject escape him. We sometimes
" conversed about it in a pleasant and friendly
"manner. ' It will happen to you, sooner or
"later,' said he, with an innocent tenderness of
"expression ; ' yoU will be converted by me or
" by others, and you will then feel how great the
" content, the satisfaction Of your own heart,' &c.
Vol. III. Part V. v

210 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
' In the mean time, my influence over him was
' such, that I drew from him, by the mere power
' of my conversation, that famous concordat of
' Fontainebleau, in which he renounced the tem-
' poral sovereignty, an act, on account of which,
' he has since shown that he dreaded the ju.dg-
' ment of posterity, or rather the reprobation of
' his successors. He had no sooner signed than
' he felt the stings of repentance. He was to
' have dined the following day with me in public ;
' but at night, he was, or pretended to be ill.
' The truth is, that immediately after I left him,
' he again fell into the hands of his habitual
' advisers, who drew a terrible picture of the
' error he had committed. Had we been left by
' ourselves, I might have done what I pleased
' with him ; I should have governed the religious
' with the same facility that I did the political
' world. He was, in truth, a lamb, a good man in
' every respect, a man of real worth, whom I es-
' teem and love greatly, and who, on his part, is, I
' am convinced, not altogether destitute of interest
' with regard to me. You will not see him make
' any severe complaints against me, nor prefer,
' in particular, any direct and personal accus-
' ation against me, no more than the other sove-
' reigns. There may, perhaps, be some vague
' and vulgar declamations against ambition and
' bad faith, but nothing positive and direct ; be-
' cause statesmen are well aware, that when the

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 211
" hour of libels is past, no one would be allowed to
" prefer a public accusation without corroborative
" proofs, and they have none of these to produce;
" such will be the province of history. On the
" other hand, there will be at most, but some
" wretched chroniclers, shallow enough to take
" the ravings of clubs, or intrigues, for authentic
" facts, or some writers of memoirs, who, de-1
" ceived by the errors of the moment, will be
" dead, before they are enabled to. correct their
" mistakes, &c. &c.
" When the Teal particulars of my disputes with
" the Pope shall be made public, the World will
" be surprised at the extent of my patience, for
" it is known, that I was not of a very enduring
" temper. When he left me, after my coronation,
" he felt a secret disgust at not having obtained
" the compensations he thought he had deserved.
" But, however grateful I might have been in other
" respects, I could not, after all, make a traffic of
" the interests of the empire by way of acquit-
" ting my own obligations, and, I was, be-
" sides, too proud to exhibit a seeming acknow-
" ledgment, that I had purchased his kindnesses.
" He had hardly set his foot on the soil of Italy,
" when the intriguers and mischief-makers, the
" enemies of France, took advantage of the dis-
" position he was in, to govern his conduct, and
" from that instant every thing was hostile on his
" part. He no longer was the gentle, the peace*
p 2

212 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
' able Chiaramonti, that worthy bishop of Imola;
' who had at so early a period shown himself
' worthy of the enlightened state of the century.
' His signature was thenceforth affixed to acts
' only which characterised the Gregories and
' Bonifaces more than him. Rome became the
' focus of all the plots hatched against us. I
' strove in vain, to bring him back by the force of
' reason, but I found it impossible to ascertain his
' sentiments. Our wrongs became so serious,
' and the insults offered to us were so ostensible,
' that I was imperiously called upon to act, in my
' turn. I, therefore, seized upon his fortresses,
' I took possession of some provinces, and I
' finished by occupying Rome itself, at the same
' time declaring and strictly observing that I held
' him sacred in his spiritual capacity, which was
' far from being satisfactory to him. A crisis,
' however, presented itself; it was believed, that
' fortune had abandoned me at Essling, and mea-
' sures were in immediate readiness for exciting
' the population of that great capital to insurrec-
' tion. The officer, who commanded there,
' thought that he could escape the danger only
' by getting rid of the Pope, whom he sent for-
' ward on his journey to France. That measure
' was carried into effect without my orders, and
' was even in direct opposition to my views. I
' despatched instant orders for stopping the Pope,
' wherever he might be met with, and he was kept

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 213
" at Savona, where he was treated with every
" possible care and attention ; for I wished to
" make myself feared, but not to ill-treat him ; to
" bend him to my views, not to degrade him; —
" I entertained very different projects! This re-
" mbval served only to inflame the spirit of re-
" sentment and intrigue. Until then, the quarrel
" had been but temporal ; the Pope's advisers, in
" the hope of re-establishing their affairs, involved
"it in all the jumble of spirituality. I then found
" it necessary to carry on the contest with him
" on that head ; I had my council of conscience,
" my ecclesiastical councils, and I invested my
" imperial courts with the power of deciding in
"cases of appeal from abuses; for my soldiers
" could be of no further use in all this ; I felt it
" necessary to fight the Pope with his own wea-
" pons. To his men of erudition, to his sophists,
" his civilians, and his scribes, it was incumbent
" upon me to oppose mine.
" An English plot was laid to carry him off
" from Savona; it was of service to me, I caused
" him to be removed to Fontainebleau ; but that
" was to be the period of his sufferings, and the
" regeneration of his splendor. All my grand
" views were accomplished in disguise and mys-
" tery ; — I had brought things to such a point, as
" to render the developement infallible, without
" any exertion, and in a way altogether natural.
" It was accordingly consecrated by the Pope in

214 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" the famous concordat of Fontainebleau, in spite
" even of my disasters at Moscow. What then
" would have been the result, had I returned
" victorious and triumphant ? I had consequently
" obtained the separation, which was so desirable,
" ofthe spiritual from the temporal, which is so
" injurious to his Holiness, and the commixture
" of which produces disorder in society in the
" name and by the hands of him, who ought
" himself to be the centre of harmony; and from
" that time, I intended to exalt the Pope beyond
" measure, to surround him with grandeur and
" honours. I should have succeeded in suppres-
" sing all his anxiety for the loss of his temporal
"power; I should have made an idol of him;
" he would have remained near my person. Paris
" would have become the capital of Christendom,
" and I should have governed the religious
" as well as the political world. It was an ad-
" ditional means of binding tighter all the fede-
" rative parts of the empire, and of preserving
" the tranquillity of every thing placed without
it. I should have had my religious as well as
" my legislative sessions ; my councils would
" have constituted the representation of Chris-
" tianity, and the Popes would have only been
ft the presidents. I should have called together
" and dissolved those assemblies, approved and
" published their discussions as Constantine and
" Charlemagne had done ; and if that supremacy

tt

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 213
" had escaped the Emperors, it was, because they
" had committed the fault of letting the spiritual
" heads reside at a remote distance from them,
" who took advantage of the weakness of the
" princes, or of the critical events, to shake off
" their dependence and enslave them in their
" turn. " But" resumed the Emperor, " to accomplish
" that object, I had found it requisite to manoeuvre
" with a great deal of dexterity ; above all, to
" conceal my real way of thinking, to give a di-
" rection, altogether different to general opinion,
", and to feed the public with vulgar trifles for the
" purpose of more effectually concealing the im-
" portance and depth of my secret design. I ae-
" cordingly experienced a kind of satisfaction in
^ " finding myself accused of barbarity towards the
" Pope, and of tyranny in religious matters.
" Foreigners, in particular, promoted my wishes
" in this respect by filling their wretched libels
" with invectives against my pitiful ambition,
" whichf according to them, had driven me
" to devour the miserable patrimony of Saint
" Peter, &c. &c. But I was perfectly, aware,
" that public opinion would again declare itself
" in my favour at home, and that no means could
" exist abroad for disconcerting my plan. What
" measures would not have been employed for
" its prevention, had it been anticipated at a sea-
" sonable period, for how vast its future ascend-

216 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" ency over all the Catholic countries, and how
" great its influence even upon those that are not
" so, by the co-operation ofthe members of that
" religion who are spread throughout these coun-
" tries, &c. &c. <
" The Emperor said, that this deliverance from
" the Court of Rome, this legal union, the con-
" troul of religion in the hands ofthe sovereign,
" had been, for a long time, the constant object
" of his meditations and his wishes. England,
" Russia, the northern crowns, and part of Ger-
" many, are, he said, in possession of it. Venice
" and Naples had enjoyed it. No government
" can be carried on without it ; a nation is other-
" wise, every instant, affected in its tranquillity,
" its dignity, its independence. But the task," he
added, " was very difficult ; at every step I was
" alive to the danger. I was induced to think,
" that once engaged in it, I should be abandoned
" by the nation. I more than once sounded and
" strove to elicit public opinion, but in vain, and
" I have been enabled to convince myself that I
" never should have had the national co-opera-
" tion." And this explains a sally, which I had
witnessed. The Emperor perceiving, at one of those grand
Sunday audiences, which were very numerously
attended, the Archbishop of Tours (de Barral)
addressed him in a very elevated tone; "Well!
" Your Grace, how do our affairs with the Pope

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 217
" go on ?— 'Sire, the deputation of your bishops is
" about to set out for Savona.' Very well ! en-
" deavour to make the Pope listen to reason ;
" prevail upon him to conduct himself with pru-
" dence ; otherwise, the consequences will be
" unpleasant. Tell him plainly, that lie is no
" longer in the times of the Gregories, and that I
" am not a Debonnaire. He has the example of
" Henry the VIII., and without his wickedness.
" I possess more strength and power than he had.
" Let him know, that whatever part I may take,
" I have 600,000 Frenchmen in arms, who, in
" every contingency will march with me, for me,
" and as myself. The peasantry and mechanics
" look to me alone and repose unlimited confi-
" dence in me. The prudent and enlightened
" part ofthe intermediate class, those who take
" care of their interest, and wish for tranquillity
" will follow me ; the only class favourable to
" him will be the meddling and talkative, who,
" will forget him at the end of ten days, to chat
" upon some fresh subject."
And as the, archbishop, who betrayed his em-
barassment by his countenance, was about to
stammer out some words, the Emperor added in
a very softened tone ;. " You are unacquainted
" with all this ; I participate in your doctrines ;
" I honour your piety; I- respect your charac-
" ter !"
The Emperor, I now understand him perfectly,

218 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
had, no doubt, merely thrown out those observ
ations in order, that we might give effect to them
in other places ; but he deceived himself with
respect to our dispositions, or at least to those
of the palace. Some, the least reflecting part,
were decided and loud in censuring his conduct
on these occasions ; others, with the best inten
tions, were extremely cautious not to let a word
of it transpire, least it should prove injurious to
him in the public opinion ; for such was, in
general, our misconception, our singular manner
of understanding and explaining the Emperor's
meaning, that although without any bad design,
and solely through levity, incoherency, or for
fashion's sake, instead of making him popular!,
we were, perhaps, the very persons, who did
him most injury. I very well remember, that
the morning, when that famous concordat of Fon
tainebleau unexpectedly appeared in theMoniteur,
some persons confidentially assured each other in
the saloons of Saint Cloud, that nothing was less
authentic than that document, and that it was a
base fabrication ; others whispered, that it was,
no doubt, genuine in the main points, but that it
had been extracted from the Pope by the Em
peror's anger and violence. And this was so well
described, that I should not be surprized, were
the happy dramatic episode of Napoleon, at Fon
tainebleau, dragging the father of the faithful by
his white hair, not supplied by the imagination of

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 219
the poetical proser who wrote it, but caught up
from the mouths ofthe courtiers and even of the
Emperor's servants themselves; yet this is the
way in which history is written !
IVarm Conversation with the Governor, in the Admiral's
Presence.
K-ith. — The weather was most dreadful during
the whole of the night and day. About three
o'clock, the Emperor took advantage of its clear
ing up a little and went out. He came to my
apartment, and we called on General Gourgaud
who was indisposed. We then visited Madame
de Montholon, who followed us to the garden.
The Emperor was in excellent spirits, which en
livened the conversation. He undertook to per
suade Madame de Montholon to make a general
confession, particularly insisting upon her setting
out with her first sin. " Come," said he, " speak
" out without apprehension, do not let our neigh -
" bour constrain you ; consider him merely as
" your confessor ; we shall forget it all in a quar-
" ter of an hour afterwards," &c. &c.
And I really believe he would have succeeded
in persuading her, when the governor unfortu
nately came t6 interrupt so pleasant a scene ; he
made his appearance, and the Emperor to avoid
receiving him, hastily took shelter in the bottom
of the wood. We were joined in a fow instants
by M. de Montholon, who acquainted the

220 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug'
Emperor, that the governor and the admiral ear
nestly requested the honour of speaking with
him. He thought that some communication was
to be made on their part and returned to the gar
den, where he received them.
We remained behind, with the governor's offi
cers. The conversation soon became animated
on the part of the Emperor, who, as he walked
between the governor and the admiral, almost
uniformly addressed himself to the latter, even
when he spoke to the former. We continued at
too great a distance to hear any thing distinctly ;
but I have since learnt, that he again repeated, and
with, perhaps, more energy and warmth, all that
he had said to him in the preceding convers
ations. i
In consequence of the favourable explanations,
which the Admiral, who acted the part of me
diator, laboured to give of the Governor's inten
tions, the Emperor observed : " The faults of
" M. Lowe proceed from his habits of life. He
" has never had the command of any but foreign
" deserters, of Piedmontese, Corsicans, and Sici-
" lians, all renegadoes, and traitors to their
" country ; the dregs and scum of Europe. If
" he had commanded Englishmen ; if he were
" one himself, he would shew respect to those
" who have a right to be honoured." In another
instance, the Emperor declared, that there was
a moral courage, as necessary as courage on the

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 221
field of battle ; that M. Lowe did not exercise it
here with regard to us, in dreaming only of our
escape, rather than in employing the only real,
prudent, reasonable, and sensible means for pre
venting it. The Emperor also told him, that,
although his body was in the hands of evil-
minded men, his soul was as lofty and inde
pendent as when at the head of ,400,000 men, or
on the throne, when he disposed of kingdoms.
To the article respecting the reduction of our
expenses, and the money which was asked of the
Emperor, he answered ; " All those details are
" very painful to me ; they are mean. You
" might place me on the burning pile of Monte-
" zuma or Guatimozin without extracting from
" me gold, which I do not possess. Besides,
" who asks you for any thing ? Who entreats
" you to feed me ? When you discontinue
" your supply of provisions, those brave soldiers,
" whom you see there/' pointing, with his hand,
to the camp of the 53d, " will take pity on me ;
" I shall go place myself at the grenadier's table,
" and they will not, I am confident, drive away
" the first, the oldest soldier of Europe."
The Emperor having reproached the Governor
with having kept some books, which were ad
dressed to him, he answered, that he had done
so in consequence of their having been sent under
the address of Emperor. "And who," replied
the Emperor, with emotion, "-gave you the right

222 MY RESIDENCE WITH f[Aug.
" of disputing that title ? In a few years, your
" Lord Castlereagh, your Lord Bathurst, and all
" the others; — you, who speak to me, — will be
" buried in the dust of oblivion, or if your names
" be remembered, it will be only on account of
" the indignity with which you have treated me,
" while the Emperor Napoleon shall, doubtless,
" continue for ever the subject, the ornament of
" history, and the star of civilized nations. Your
" libels are of no avail against me ; you have
" expended millions on them ; what have they
"produced? Truth pierces through the clouds,
" it shines like the sun, and like it, is im^
" perishable." The Emperor admitted that he had, during
this conversation, seriously and repeatedly offend
ed Sir Hudson Lowe ; and he also did him
the justice to acknowledge, that Sir Hudson
Lowe had not precisely shewn, in a single instance,
any want of respect ; he had contented himself
with muttering, between his teeth, sentences
which were not audible. He once said, that he
had solicited his recal, and the Emperor observed,
that that was the most agreeable word he could
possibly have said. He also said, that we endea
voured to blacken his character in Europe, but that
our conduct, in that respect, was a matter of indif
ference to him. The only failure, perhaps, said the
Emperor, on the part of the Governor, and which
was trifling, compared with the treatment he had

.816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 223
received, was the abrupt way in which he
retired, while the Admiral withdrew slowly, and
With numerous salutes. " The Admiral was
" precisely' then," observed the Emperor, in a
gay tone of voice, " what the Marquis de Gallo
" was at the time of my rupture of Passeriano,"
&c. &c. An allusion to one of the chapters of
the campaign of Italy, which he had dictated
to me.
The Emperor remarked, that, after all, he had
to reproach himself with that scene. " I must
" see this officer no more ; he makes me fly into
"a violent passion; it is beneath my dignity;
" expressions escape me which would have been
" unpardonable at the Tuileries; if they can at
" all be excused here, it is because I am in his
" hands, and subject to his power."
After dinner, the Emperor caused a letter to
be read, in answer to the Governor, who had
officially sent the treaty of the 2d of August, by
which the allied Sovereigns stipulated for; the
imprisonment of Napoleon. Sir Hudson Lowe, by
the same conveyance, asked to introduce the fo
reign commissioners to Longwood;-.The Emperor
had, in the course of the day, dictated the letter
to Monsieur de Montholon. It was his wish>
that every one of us should propose his objec
tions, and state his opinions. It seemed to us a
master-piece of dignity, energy, and sound rea
soning.

224 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
The Conversation with the Governor again noticed, fyc. —
Effect of the Libels against Napoleon. — Treaty of Fon
tainebleau. — The Work of General S  n.
19th. — The weather continued as dreadful as
we had ever seen it. It has been, for several
days, like one of our equinoctial storms in Europe.
The Emperor exposed himself to it to come to
my apartment about ten o'clock ; in going out
he struck one of his legs against a nail near the
door; his stocking was torn halfway down the
leg ; happily, the skin was only scratched. He
Was obliged to return to change. " You owe
"me a pair of stockings," he said, while his valet
de chambre was putting on another pair; "a
" polite man does not expose his visitors to such
" dangers in his apartments. You are lodged
" too much like a seaman ; it is true, that- is not
" your fault. I thought myself careless about
" these matters, but you actually surpass me." —
" Sire," I answered, " my merit is not great, no
" choice is left me. Lam truly a hog in its mire,
" I must confess; but as your Majesty says, it
" is not altogether my fault."
We went into the garden, when it had cleared
up for a moment. The Emperor reverted to the
conversation which he had yesterday with the
Governor, in the Admiral's presence, and again
reproached himself with the violence of his ex
pressions. " It would have been more worthy of

1816,] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 225
" me, more consistent and more dignified, to have
" expressed all these things with perfect com-
" posure ; they would, besides, have been more
"impressive." He recollected, in particular, a
name which had escaped him against M. Lowe
(scribe d'etat-major), which must have shocked
him, and the more so because it described the
truth, and that, we know, is always offensive.
" I have myself," said the Emperor, " experienced
" that feeling in the island of Elba. When I ran
" over the most infamous libels, they did not
"• affect me even in the slightest manner. When
" I was told or read, that I had Strangled, poisoned,
" ravished; that I had massacred my sick ; that
" my carriage had been driven over my wounded ;
" I laughed out of commiseration. How often did
" I not then say to Madame; ' Make haste, my
" mother, come and see the savage, the man-tiger,
" the devour er of the human-race ; come and admire
" the fruit of your womb ! ' But when their was
" a slight approach to truth, the effect was no
" longer the same, I felt the necessity of defending
" myself; I accumulated reasons for my justifi-
" cation, and even then, it never happened, that
" I was left without some traces of a secret tor-
" ment. My dear Las Cases, this is man !"
The Emperor passed from this subject to his
protestation against the treaty of the 2d of Au
gust, which had been read to us after dinner. I
presumed to ask him, whether, after noticing in
Vol. III. Part V. «

226 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
a conspicuous manner, the acknowledgment of
his title of Emperor by the English, during their
negociations at. Paris and Ohatillon, he had not
forgotten that, which they must have made On
the treaty of Fontainebleau, and which, it struck
me was omitted. " It was,", he quickly replied,
"done on purpose; I have nothing to do with
" that treaty ; I disclaim it ; I am far from boast*
*' ing of it, I am rather ashamed of it. It was dis-
"*> cussed for me. I was betrayed by N .... ,
"who brought it to me. If I had .'been then
" willing to treat with common sense, I should
" have obtained the kingdom of Italy, Tuscany,
" or Corsica, &c. &c. all that I could have desired.
" My decision was the result of a fault inherent
" in my character, a caprice on my part, a real
" constitutional excess. I was seized with a dis-
" like and contempt of every thing around me, I
" was affected with the same feeling for fortune,
" which I took delight in out-facing. I cast
"my eye on a spot of land, where I might be
"uncomfortable and take advantage of the
" mistakes that might be made. I fixed upon
" the island of Elba. It was the act of a soul
" of rock. I am, no doubt, my dear Las Cases,
" of a very singular disposition,1 but we should
" not be extraordinary, were we not of a peculiar
"mould; I am a piece of rock, lanched into
" space ! You will not, perhaps, easily believe
" me, but I do not regret my grandeur; you see

1816,] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 227
me slightly affected by what I have lost." "And
why, Sire," I observed, " should I not believe
you? What have you to regret? .... The
life of man is but an atom in the duration of
history, but with regard to your majesty, the
one is already so full, that you scarcely ought
to take any interest but in the other ; if your
body suffers here, your memory is enriched a
hundred-fold. Had it been your lot to end
your days in the bosom of uninterrupted pros
perity, how many grand and striking' circum
stances would have passed away unknown!
You yourself, Sire, have assured me of this,
and I have remained impressed with the force
of that truth. Not a day, in fact, passes in
which those, who were your enemies, do not
repeat with us, who are your faithful servants,
that you are unquestionably greater here than
in the Tuileries. And even on this rock to which
you have been transplanted by violence and
perfidy, do you not still command ? Your
jailors, your masters, are at your feet, your
soul captivates every one that comes near
you; you shew yourself what history repre
sents Saint Louis, in the chains of the Saracens,
the real master of his conquerors. Your irre
sistible ascendency accompanies you here*.
We, who are all about you, Sire, entertain this
opinion of you ; the Russian commissioner ex
pressed the same sentiment, we are assured,
Q2

228 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" the other day, and it is felt by those who
" guard y oil. . . . What have you to regret ?"
On our return the Emperor, in spite of the
storm, ordered his breakfast in the tent, and kept
me with' him. The water did not' penetrate ;
the only inconvenience was a considerable degree
of moisture ; but the squalls of wind and rain
whirled round us, 4 and vented themselves far
before us/ towards the bottom of the valley ;
the spectacle was not destitute of beauty.
The Emperor retired about two o'clock ; he
sent for me some time afterwards to his cabinet.
"I have," said he, laying, down the book,
"just read General S— :— n ; he is a madman, a
" hair-brained fellow, he writes nonsense. He
" is, however, after all, readable and amusing ; he
" cuts up, dissects, judges, and pronounces sen-
" tence upon men and things. He does not
" hesitate to give advice, in several instances, to
" Wellington, and asserts, that he ought to have
" made some campaigns under Kleber, &c.
" Kleber was no doubt a great general, but the
" notice taken of Soult is not precisely the best
" part of the book ; he is much better as an ex-
" cellent director, as a good war minister."
" This S — - — n," he continued, " deserted from
" the camp at Boulogne, with all my secrets, to
" the English ; that might have been attended
" With serious consequences. S— — n was a
" general officer; his conduct was dreadful and

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 229
' unpardonable. But observe how a man in the
' moment of revolution may be a bad character,
' impudent, and shameless. I found him, on my
' return from the island of Elba, he waited for
' me with confidence, and wrote a long letter in
' which he attempted to make me his dupe. The
' English, he said, were miserable creatures ; he
' had been a long time among them ; he was ac-
' quainted with their means and resources, and
' could be very useful to me. He knew that, I
' was too magnanimous, too great to reniem-
' ber the wrongs I had suffered from him, &c. I.
' ordered him to be arrested, and as he had been
' already tried and condemned, I am at a loss to
' know why he was not shot. Either there was
' not time to carry his sentence into effect, or he
' was forgotten. There can be no forbearance,
' no indulgence for the general, who has the in-
' famy to prostitute himself to a foreign power."
The grand marshal came in ; the Emperor,
after continuing the conversation for some time,
took him away to play at chess. He suffered
much from the badness of the weather.
After dinner he read Le Tartufe ; but he was so
fatigued, that he could not get through it. He *
kid down the book, and after paying a just tribute
of eulogy to Moliere, he concluded in a manner
which we little expected. " The whole of the
" Tartufe" he remarked, is, "unquestionably,
" finished with the hand of a master, it is one of the

230 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" chefs d'oeuvre of an inimitable writer* This piece
" is, however, marked with such a character, that
" I am not at all surprized, its appearance should
" have been the subject of interesting negocia-
" tions at Versailles, and of a great deal of hesita-
" tion on the part of Louis XIV. If I have a
"right to be astonished at any thing, it is at his
" allowing it to be performed. It holds out> in
" my mind, devotion under such odious colours ;
" a certain scene presents so decisive a situation,
" so completely indecent, that for my own part,
" I do not hesitate to say, if the comedy had been
" written in my time, I would not have allowed
" it to be represented." The Baroness de S., . , ., £fc.
20th.- — About four o'clock, I attended the Em
peror, according to his orders, in the billiard
room- The weather still continued dreadful ; it
did not allow him to set his foot out of doors, and
he was, he said, notwithstanding", driven from his
apartment and the saloon by the smoke. He
found my countenance, he remarked, quite cast
down ; it was with the most lively indignation,
and he wished to know the cause of it.
" Two or three years," I said, " have passed
" since a clerk in the war office, a very worthy
" mart, as far as I know, used to come to my
" house to give my son lessons in writing arid in
" Latin. He had a daughter, whom he wished
" to make a governess, and begged us to reeom-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 931
" mend her, should an occasion present itself.
" Madame Las Cases sent for her ; she was
" charming, and in every respect highly attrac-
" tive. From that moment, Madame Las Cases
" invited her occasionally to her house, with the
" view of introducing her into the world, and ob-
" taining some acquaintances for her who might
" prove useful. But how strange ! this young
"person, our acquaintance, our obliged friend,
" is actually at this moment, the Baroness de
"St..., the wife of one ofthe Commissioners
"of the allied powers, who arrived nearly a
" month since, in the island.
" Your Majesty may judge of my surprize, and
" of all my joy at this singular caprice of fortune.
" I am then about to have, I said to myself, positive,
" particular, and even secret information respect-
" ing every thing that interests me. Several days
" passed without any communication, but without
" any anxiety, and even with some satisfaction on
' ' my part. For, I thought the greater the caution,
" the, more I had to expect. At length hurried on
" by my impatience, I sent three or four days ago
" my servant to Madam de S  ; I had de-
" scribed her, very properly, and as an inhabitant
" of the island he found no difficulty in gaining
" admittance. He returned shortly with an an-,
". swer from Madam de S . . . . , that she did not
" know the person who had sent him. I might,
" under every circumstance, be still induced to

232 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
' think/that this was an excess of prudence, and
' that she was unwilling to place confidence in one
' unknown to her. But this very day, I received
'notice from the governor, not to attempt to
' form any secret connexion in the island, that I
' ought to be aware of the danger to which I ex-
' posed myself, and that the attempt with which
' he reproached me was not a matter of doubt ;
' for he was put in possession of it by the very
' person to whom I had addressed myself. Your
' Majesty now knows what has confounded me.
' To find so villanous a charge in a quarter
' where I had a right to expect some interest in
* my affairs, and even gratitude, has irritated me
' beyond measure; I am no longer the same
' person." The Emperor laughed in my face ; " How little
' do you know of the human heart ! What ! her
' father was your son's tutor, or something of that
'kind ; she enjoyed your wife's protection when
' she was in want of it, and she is become a Ger-
' man baroness ! But, my dear Las Cases, you
' are the person whom she dreads most here,
' who lay her most under constraint ; she did
' not even see your wife at Paris, and besides,
' this mischievous Sir Hudson Lowe may have
' been delighted with giving an odious turn to
' the thing ; he is so artful, so malignant." .....
And he then began again to laugh at me and my
anger.

1816] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 233
After dinner the Emperor resumed his reading
of the Tartufe, which he had not finished yester
day, and there was enough left for to-day. The
Emperor was quite dejected; the bad weather
has a visible effect upon him.
Corvisard. — Anecdotes ofthe Saloons of Paris.,
21st. — The weather as horrible as ever.— We
are seriously incommoded with the Wet in our
apartments ; the rain penetrates every where.
The governor's secretary brought me a letter
from Europe ; it communicated a few moments
of real happiness ; it contained the recollections
and good wishes of my dearest friends. I went
and read it to the Emperor.
The Emperor suffered seriously from the bad
ness of the weather. He went to his saloon about
four o'clock ; he thought he had the fever, and
found himself much depressed; he called for
some punch, and played a few games of chess
with the- grand marshal. The doctor is arrived
from the town. The two vessels just arrived came
from the Cape; One of them is the Podargus^
which left Europe ten days after the Griffin ; the
Other, a small frigate on her way from India to
Europe. There was, it was said, a letter for the
Emperor Napoleon, but it was not delivered, and
we did not know from whom it came.
After dinner it was said, that the medicines ih
the island were exhausted,- and it was remarked,

2S4 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
that the Emperor could not be accused of having
contributed to it. This led him to observe, that
he did not recollect having ever taken any medi
cine at the Tuileries. He had had three blisters
at once, and he had stopped them without taking
any. He received a serious wound at Toulon ; it
was he said, like that of Ulysses, by which his
old nurse knew him again ; he had. recovered, .
altogether without taking physic. One of us taking
the liberty to say; " If your majesty had the dy-
" sentary to-morrow, would you still reject all
" kind of medicine ?" The Emperor answered ;
" At present that I am tolerably well, I answer,
" yes, without hesitation ; . but if I got very ill, I
"should, perhaps, alter my mind, and should
" then feel that kind of conversion, which is pro-
" duced on a dying man through the fear of the
" devil." He again mentioned his incredulity in
physic, but he did not think so, he said, of sur
gery. He had three times commenced a course
of anatomical study ; but he had been always in
terrupted by business and disgust. " On a cer-
" tain occasion and at the end of a long discus-
" sion, Corvisard, . desirous of speaking to me
" with his proofs in hand, was so abominable and
" filthy as to bring a stomach, wrapped up in his
" " pocket handkerchief to Saint Cloud, and I was
" instantly compelled, at that horrible sight, to
" cast up all I had in mine."
The Emperor attempted, after dinner, to read

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 285
a comedy, but he was so fatigued and suffered so
much, that he was forced to stop and retire about
nine o'clock. He made me follow him, and as he
felt no inclination to sleep, he said; " Come, my
" dear Las Cases, let us see; let us have a story
" about your fauxbourg Saint Germain, and let us
" endeavour to laugh at it, as if we were listening
" to the Thousand and One Nights' Tales!"—
" Very well, Sire; there was formerly one of
"your Majesty's chamberlains, who had a grand
" uncle, who was very old, very old indeed, . . ; .
" and I remember your Majesty telling us the
" story of a heavy German officer, who, taken
"prisoner at the opening of the campaign of
" Italy, complained that a young conceited fellow
" had been sent to command, against them, who
" spoiled the profession, and made it intolerable.
" Well! we had precisely his likeness among us ;
" it was the old grand-uncle, who was still dress-
" ed nearly in the costume of Louis XIV. He
" showed off, whenever you sent accounts of any
" extraordinary achievements on the other side
" of the Rhine ; your bulletins of Ulm and Jena
" operated upon him like so many revulsions of
" bile. He was far from admiring you. You
" also spoiled the profession in* his opinion. He
" had, he frequently said, made the campaigns
" of the Marshal de Saxe, which indeed were
" prodigies in war, and had not been sufficiently
" appreciated. ' War was, no doubt, thett an art,

236 MV RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
' but now ! ! ! ' he remarked, shrugging up his
' shoulders . . . . ' In our time, we carried on war
' with great decorum ; we had our mules ; we
' were followed by our canteens ; we had our
' tents ; we lived well ; we had even plays per-
' formed at head-quarters ; the armies approached
' each other; admirable positions were occu-
' pied ; a battle took place ; a siege was oc-
' casionally carried on, and afterwards we went
'into winter- quarters, to renew our operations
' in the Spring. That is,' he exclaimed, with
' exultation, ' what may be called making war !
' But now, a whole army disappears before
' another in a single battle, and a monarchy is
' overturned ; a hundred leagues are run over in
' ten days ; as for sleeping and eating, they are
' out of the question. Truly, if you call that
' genius, I am, for my own part, obliged to ac-
' knowledge, that I know nothing about it ; and
' accordingly, you excite my pity, when I hear
' you call him a great man.' "
The Emperor burst into fits of laughter, par
ticularly when the mules and canteens were men
tioned. He then added; " you were of course
" accustomed to say a great many foolish things
" about me."—" O yes, Sire, and in vast abund-
" ance." " Very well ! We are alone; nobody
" will intrude ; tell me some more of them." " A
" fine gentleman, who had formerly been a cap-
" tain of cavalry, and who seemed perfectly satis-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 237
" fied with his own person and accomplishments,
" was introduced to a select society where I was
" present. ' I come,' he said, ' from the plain des
" Sablons. I have just seen our Ostrogoth man-
" oeuvre.' That, Sire, was your Majesty. ' He
" had two or three regiments which he threw
" into confusion upon each other, and they
" were all lost in some bushes. I would
" have taken him and all his men prisoners
" with fifty maitres (formerly troopers) only.
" An usurped reputation!' he exclaimed. ' Ac-
" cordingly, Moreau was always of opinion,
" that he would fail in Germany. A war with
" Germany is talked of; if it take place, we shall
" see how he will extricate himself. He will
" have justice done to him.'
" The war took place, and your Majesty sent
" us in a very few days the bulletin of Ulm and
"that of AusterlitZj &c; our fine gentleman
" again made his appearance in the same com-
" pany, and for the instant, we could not, not-
*" withstanding our malevolence, help crying out
" all in the same breath ; ' And your fifty maitres!'
" 'Oh! truly,' said he, ' it is impossible to com-
" prehend the thing ; this man triumphs over
" every obstacle; fortune leads him by the hand,
" and besides, the Austrians are so awkward ;
" such fools !'"....
The Emperor laughed heartily, and wished for
some anecdote still more absurd. " That would

238 .' MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" indeed, Sire, be very difficult. I recollect,
" however, an old dowager, who to the day of
" her death obstinately refused to give credit to
" any of your successes in Germany. When Ulm,
" Austerlitz, and your entrance into Vienna were
" mentioned in her., presence ; — ' So you be-
" lieve all that,' said she, shrugging.up her ehoul-
" ders. ' It is all his fabrication. He would not
" presume to set a foot in Germany ; be assured,
" that he is still behind the Rhine, where he is
"perishing from fear, and sends us those silly
," stories : you will learn in time, that I am not
" to be imposed upon.' "
And these stories being over, the Emperor
sent me away, saying .; " What are they, doing,
" what must they say, at present ? I am certainly
" now giving them a fine opportunity."
22d. — This was a day of real mourning for me,
it was the first, since our departure from France,
in which I did not see the Emperor. I was the
only one, in consequence of fortunate circum
stances, who, until now, had enjoyed that hap
piness. His sufferings were great, and ' his
seclusion complete. He did not wish- to see a
single person.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 239

The Emperor continues ill. — Remarkable Official Docu
ment, addressed to Sir Hudson Lowe.
23d.— The weather has continued wet and
rainy. About half- past three, the Emperor, sent
for me to his chamber. He was dressing him
self; he had been very seriously indisposed, but
thanks to his mode of treating himself, he said,
and to his hermetical seclusion of the preceding
day, his complaint was over. He was again
well. I dared to express my sincere grief; I had
inscribed, Isaid, an unhappy day in my journal;
I should have marked it in red ink. And when
he learned what it was ; " What, in fact," he
said, " is it the only day, since we left France,
" in which you have not seen riie? . . .And you
" are the only one! . .. . " And after some
seconds of silence, he added, in atone peculiarly
adapted to make, me amends, if that were pos
sible ; " But, my dear Las Cases, if you set
" such a value on it, if you consider it of so
" much moment, • why did you not come and
"knock at my door? I am not inaccessible to
" you." The Doctor was introduced*; he assured us
that the Governor had. promised never again to
set foot at LongwoOd. It was ironically observed

240 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
by one of us, that he began to make himself
agreeable. The Emperor then went to his library, where
a long letter I had written to Rome *, was read
to him by my son. He was driven out by the
wet, and, on his way to the saloon and billiard-
room, he was tempted by the sight of the steps
to walk a little. " I know," he said, " I am
". doing what is not prudent." Happily, the wet
weather forced him to return almost instantly.
He took a seat in the saloon, where there was a
good fire, called for some orange-leaf ptisan, and
played some games of chess.
After dinner, the Emperor read Marmontel's
tales, and stopped at that of the self-styled philo
sopher. He still coughed a great deal, and again
called for some of the same ptisan. He entered
into a long and most interesting review of Jean
Jaques, of his talents, his influence, his eccen
tricities, his private vices, &c. He retired at ten
o'clock. I regret very much, that I cannot now
recollect the particulars relative to all these
objects. In the course of the day M. de Montholon
addressed the following official answer to the
Governor, who had sent a letter, respecting the
* It was my letter to Prince Lucien, since so celebrated in
the history of my persecutions, and which will be found in its
proper place.

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 241
commissioners of the allied powers, and the
embarrassed state of his finances. It is the letter,
which I have already noticed, the 18th of this
month. OFFICIAL DOCUMENT.
" General, — I have received the treaty of the
2d of August, 1815, concluded between his
Britannic Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, the
Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia,
which was annexed to your letter. of the, 23d -of
July. " The Emperor Napoleon protests against the
purport of that treaty ; he is not the prisoner of
England. After having placed his abdication in
the hands of the representatives of the nation,
for the benefit of the constitution, adopted by
the French people, and in favour of his son, he
proceeded voluntarily and freely to England, for
the purpose of residing there, as a private person,
in retirement, under the protection of the British
laws. The violation of all laws cannot con
stitute a right in fact. The person of the Em
peror Napoleon is in the power of England;
but neither, as a matter of fact, nor of right, has
it been, or is it, at present, in the power of
Austria, Russia, and Prussia ; even according to
the laws and customs of England, which has
never included, in its exchange, of prisoners,
Russians, Austrians, Prussians, Spaniards, or
Vol. III. Part V. r

242' MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug\
Portuguese, although united to these powers
by treaties of alliance, and making war con
jointly with them. The Convention of the 2d of
August, made fifteen days after the Emperor
Napoleon had arrived in England, cannot, as
a matter of right, have any effect ; it merely
presents the spectacle of the coalition of the
four principal powers of Europe, for the op
pression of a single man ; a coalition which
the opinion of every people disavows, as do
all the principles of sound morality. The
Emperors of Austria and Russia, and the King
of. Prussia not possessing, either in fact or by
right, any power over the person of the Emperor
Napoleon, were incapable of enacting any thing
with regard to him. If the Emperor Napoleon
had been in the power of the Emperor of
Austria, that prince would have remembered
the , relations formed by religion and nature
between a father and a son, relations which
are never violated with impunity. He would
have remembered that, four times, Napoleon
re-established him on his throne ; at Leoben,
in 1797, and at Luneville in 1801, when his
armies were under the walls of Vienna ; at Pres-
burg in 1806, and at Vienna in 1809, when his
armies were in possession of the capital and of
three fourths of the monarchy. That, prince
would have remembered the protestations which
he made to him at the bivouac of Moravia in

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 243
1806, and at the interview at Dresden ill 1812.
If the person of the Emperor Napoleon had
been in the power of the Emperor Alexander, he
would have remembered the ties of friendship,
contracted at Tilsit, at Erfurth, and during twelve
years of daily intercourse ; he would have re
membered the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon
the day subsequent to the, battle of Austerlitz-,
when having it in his power to take him prisoner
with the remains of his army, he contented him
self with his word, and let him effect his retreat ;
he would have remembered the dangers to which
the Emperor Napoleon personally exposed him
self to extinguish the fire of Moscow and preserve
that capital for him ; unquestionably that prince
would not have violated the duties of friendship
and gratitude' towards a friend in distress. If the'
person of the Emperor Napoleon had been even
in power of the King of Prussia, that sovereign
would not have forgotten that it was optional
with the Emperor, after the battle of Friedland,
to place another prince on the throne of Berlin ;
he would not have forgotten, in the presence of a
disarmed enemy, the protestations of devotedness
and the sentiments which he expressed to him in
1812, at the interviews at Dresden. It is, accord
ingly, evident from the 2d and 5th articles of the
said treaity, that being incapable of any influence
whatever over the fate, and the person of the
Emperor Napoleon, who is not in their power,
K 2

244 my residence with [Aug.
these princes refer themselves in that respect
to the future conduct of his Britannic Majesty,
who undertakes to fulfil all obligations.
" These princes have reproached the Emperor
Napoleon with preferring the protection of the
English laWs to theirs. The false ideas which the
Emperor Napoleon entertained of the liberality of
the English laws, and of the influence of a great,
generous, and free people on its government,
decided him in preferring the protection of these
laws to that of his father-in-law, or of his old
friend. The Emperor Napoleon always would
have been able to obtain the security of what relat
ed personally to himself, whether by placing him
self again at the head of the army of the Loire, or
by putting himself at the head of the army of the
Gironde, commanded by General Clauzel; but
looking for the future only to retirement and to
the protection of the laws of a free nation, either
English or American, all stipulations appeared
useless to him. He thought, that the English
people would have been more bound by his
frank conduct, which was noble and full of con
fidence, than it could have been by the most
solemn treaties. He has been deceived, but this
delusion will for ever excite the indignation of real
Britons, and with the present as well as future
generations, it will be a proof of the perfidy of
the English administration. Austrian and Rus
sian commissioners are arrived at Saint Helena ;

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 245
if the object of their mission be to fulfil part of
the duties, which the Emperors of Austria and
Russia have contracted by the treaty ofthe 2d of
August, and to take care, that the English agents,
in a small colony, in the middle ofthe Ocean, do
not fail in the attentions, due to a prince, connected
with them by the ties of affinity, and by so many
relations, the characteristics of these two so
vereigns will be recognized in that measure.
But you, Sir, have asserted, that these commis
sioners possessed neither the right nor the power
of giving any opinion on whatever may be trans
acted on this rock.
" The English ministry have caused the Em
peror Napoleon to be transported to Saint Helena,
two thousand leagues from Europe. This rock,
situated under the tropic at the distance of five
hundred leagues from every kind of continent is,
in that latitude, exposed to a devouring heat ; it
is, during three-fourths ofthe year, covered with
clouds and mists, it is at once the dryest and
wettest country in the world. This is the most
inimical climate to the Emperor's health. It is
hatred which dictated the selection of this resid
ence as well as the instructions, given by the Eng
lish ministry to the officers, who command in this
country ; they have been ordered to call the Em
peror Napoleon, General, being desirous of com
pelling him to acknowledge, that he never reigned
in France, which decided him not to take an incog-

246 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
nito title, as he had determined, in quitting France.
First magistrate for life, under the title of first-
consul, he concluded the preliminaries of London
and the treaty of Amiens with the king of Great
Britain. He received as ambassadors, Lord
Cornwallis, Mr. Merry, and Lord Whitworth,
who resided in that quality at his court. He
sent to the King of England, Count Otto and Ge
neral Andreossi, who resided -as, ambassadors at
the Court of Windsor. When, after the ex
change of letters between the ministers for
foreign affairs belonging to the two monarchies,
Lord Lauderdale came to Paris, provided
with full powers from the King of England,
he treated with the plenipotentiaries provided
with full powers from the Emperor Napoleon,
and resided several months at the court of the
Tuileries. When, afterwards, at Chatillon,
Lord Castlereagh signed the ultimatum, which
the allied powers presented to, the plenipoten
tiaries of the Emperor Napoleon, he thereby,
recognized the fourth dynasty. That ultima
tum was more advantageous than the treaty of
Paris; but France was required to renounce
Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine, which
was contrary to the propositions of Frankfort
and to the proclamations of the allied powers;
and was also contrary to the oath by which, at
his, consecration,, the Emperor had sworn the in
tegrity of the empire. The Emperor then thought

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 247
these national limits, were necessary to the
security of France as well as to the equilibrium
of Europe ; he thought that the French nation,
in the circumstances under which she found
herself, ought rather to risk every chance of war
than to give them up. France would have ob
tained that integrity, and with it preserved her
honour, had not treason contributed to the suc
cess of the allies. The treaty of the 2d of
August, and the bill of the British parliament
style the Emperor, Napoleon Buonaparte, and
give him only the title of General. The title of
General Buonaparte is, no doubt, eminently glo
rious; the Emperor bore it at Lodi, at Castig-
lione, at Rivoli, at Arcole, at Leoben, at the
Pyramids, at Aboukir; but for seventeen years
he has borne that of First Consul and of Em
peror; it would be an admission, that he has
been neither first magistrate of the republic,.
nor sovereign of the fourth dynasty. Those,
who think that nations are flocks, which, by
divine right, belong to some families, are neither
of the present age, nor of the spirit of the English
legislature, which has several times changed the
succession of its dynasties, because the great
alterations occasioned by opinions, in which
the reigning princes did not participate, had
made them enemies to the happiness of the
great majority of that nation. For kings are but
Hereditary magistrates, who exist but for the

348- MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.-
happiness of nations, and not nations for the
satisfaction of kings. It is the same spirit of
hatred, which directed that the Emperor Na
poleon should not write, nor receive any letter
without its being opened and read by the Eng
lish ministers and the officers of Saint Helena.
He has, by that regulation, been interdicted the
possibility of receiving intelligence from his mo
ther, his wife, his son, his brothers ; and when,
wishing to free himself from the inconvenience of
having his letters read by inferior officers, he de
sired to send sealed letters to the Prince Regent,
he was told, that open letters only could be taken
charge of and conveyed, and that such were the
instructions of the ministry. That measure stands
in need of no comment ; it will suggest strange
ideas of the spirit of the administration by which
it was dictated ; it would be disclaimed even at
Algiers ! Letters have been received for general
officers in the Emperor's suite ; they were opened
and delivered to you ; you have retained them,
because they had not been transmitted through
the medium ofthe English ministry ; it was found
necessary to make them travel four thousand
leagues over again, and these officers had the'
misfortune to know, that there existed on this
rock news from their wives, their mothers, and
their children, and that they could not be put in
possession of it, in less than six months ! ! ! — The
heart revolts. Permission could not be obtained

18 L6] "THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 249
to subscribe to the Morning Chronicle, to the
Morning Post, or to some French journals : some
broken numbers of the Times have been occa
sionally sent to Longwood. In consequence of
the demand made on board ofthe Northumberland,
some books have been sent, but all those,, which
relate to the transactions of late years, have been
carefully kept back. It was since intended to
open a correspondence with a London bookseller
for the purpose of being directly supplied With
books which might be wanted, and with those re
lative to the events of the day; that intention was
frustrated. An English author having published
at London, an account of his travels in France,
took the trouble to send it, as a present to the
Emperor, but you did not think yourself author
ized to deliver it to him, because it had not reach
ed you through the channel of your government.
It is also said, that other books, sent by their
authors have not been delivered, because the ad
dress of some was, — To the Emperor Napoleon,
and of others,— To Napoleon the Great. The
English ministry are not authorized to order any
of these; vexations. The law, however unjust,
considers the Emperor Napoleon as a prisoner of
war ; but prisoners of war have never been pro
hibited from subscribing to the journals, or
receiving books that are printed ; such a prohibi
tion is exercised only in the dungeons of the
inquisition,

250 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
"The island of St. Helena is ten leagues in
circumference; it is every where inaccessible;
the coast is guarded by brigs, posts within sight
of each other are placed on the shore, and all
communication with the sea is rendered imprac
ticable. There is but one small town, James
Town, where the vessels anchor, and from which
they sail. In order to prevent the escape of an
individual, it is sufficient to guard the coast by
land and sea. By interdicting the interior of the
island, one object only can be in view, that of
preventing a ride of eight or ten miles, which it
would be possible to take on horseback, and the
privation of which, according to the consultations
of medical men, is abridging the Emperor's days.
" The Emperor has been placed at Longwood,
which is exposed to every wind ; a barren piece
of ground, uninhabited, Avithout water, and in-
Capable of any kind of cultivation. The space
contains about 1200 uncultivated fathoms. At the
distance of 11 or 1200 fathoms, a camp was
established on a small eminence ; another has
been since placed nearly at the same distance in
an opposite direction, so that in the inter.se heat
of the tropic, whatever way the eye is directed,
nothing is seen but encampments. Admiral
Malcolm, perceiving the utility of which a tent
would be to the ' Emperor in that situation, has
had one pitched by his seamen at the distance of
twenty paces from the house ; it is the only spot

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 251
in which shade is to be found. The Emperor,
has, however, every reason to be satisfied with
the spirit which animates the officers and soldiers
of the gallant 53d, as he had been with the crew
of the Northumberland. Longwood house was
constructed to serve as a barn to the company's
farm ; some apartments were afterwards made in
it by the Deputy-Governor of the island ; he
used it for a country-house ; but it was, in no
respect, adapted for a residence. During the
year it has been inhabited, it has been always in
want of repair, and the Emperor has been con
stantly exposed to the inconvenience and un-
wholesomeness of a house, in which workmen are
employed. His bedchamber is too small to con
tain a bedstead of ordinary size ; but every kind
of building at Longwood would prolong the in
convenience arising from the workmen eniployed .
There are, however, in this wretched island, some
beautiful situations, with fine trees, gardens, and
tolerably good houses, among others Plantation
House; but you are prevented by the positive
instructions of the ministry from granting this
house, which would have saved a great deal of
expense laid out in building, at Longwood, huts
covered with pitched paper, which are no longer
of any use. You have prohibited every kind of
intercourse between us and the inhabitants of the
island ; you have, in fact, converted Longwood
House into a secret prison ; you have even thrown

S52 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
difficulties in the way of our communication with
the officers of the garrison. The most anxious
care would .seem to be taken to deprive us of the
few resources afforded by this miserable country,
and we are no better off here than we should be on
Ascension Rock. During the four months you
have been at St. Helena, you have, Sir, rendered
the Emperor's condition worse. It was observed
to you by Count Bertrand, that you violated the
law of your legislature, that you trampled upon
the privileges of general officers, prisoners of war.
You answered, that you knew nothing but the
letter of your instructions, and that they were
still worse than your conduct appeared to us.
I have the honour, &c. &c.
(Signed) Count de Montholon.
" P. S. — I had, Sir, signed this letter, when I
received yours of the 17th, to which you annex
the estimate of an annual sum of 20,000/. sterling,
which you consider indispensable to meet the ex
penses of the establishment of Longwood, after-
having made all the reductions which you have
thought possible. The consideration of this es
timate can, in no respect, concern us ; the Em
peror's table is scarcely supplied with what is
necessary ; all the provisions are of a bad quality
and four times dearerthan at Paris. You require
a fund of twelve thousand pounds sterling from
the Emperor, as your government only allows you

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 253
eight thousand pounds for all these expenses. I
have had the honour of telling you, that the Em
peror had no funds; that no letter had been
received or written for a year, and that he was
altogether unacquainted with what is passing or
what may have passed in Europe. Transplanted
by violence to this rock, at the distance of two
thousand leagues, without being able to receive
or to write any letter, he now finds himself at the
discretion of the English agents. The Emperor
has uniformly desired and still desires to provide
himself for all his expenses of every nature, and
he will do so, as speedily as you shall give possi
bility to the means, by taking off the prohibition,
"T
laid upon the merchants of the island, of carrying
on his correspondence, and releasing it from all
kind of inquisition on your part or on that of any
of your agents. The moment the EmperOr's wants
shall be known in Europe, the persons who in
terest themselves for him, will transmit the neces
sary funds for his supplies.
" The letter of Lord Bathurst, which you have
communicated to me, gives rise to strange ideas !
can your ministers then be so ignorant as not to
know, that the spectacle of a great man struggling
with adversity is the most sublime of spectacles ?
Can they be ignorant, that Napoleon at Saint
Helena, in the midst of persecutions of every kind,
against which his serenity is his only shield, is
greater, more sacred, more venerable than on the

254 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
first throne of the world, where he was, so long*
the arbiter of Kings ? Those, who, fail in re
spect to Napoleon, thus situated, merely degrade
their own character and the nation which they
represent ! "

My English Family. — Just Debt of Gratitude to the Eng*
lish on the part of the Emigrants, $$c.-^General JouberU
— Petersburg. — Moscow; the Fire, — Projects of Na
poleon, had he returned victorious.
24th. — I went, at two o'clock, to the Emperor,
in his apartment. He had sent for my atlas in
the morning. I found him finishing his examin
ation of the map of Russia, and of that part of
America adjoining the Russian establishments.
He had suffered, and coughed .a great deal,*
during the night. The weather had, however,,
assumed a mild appearance. While he was
dressing to go out, he often dwelt upon the happy
idea of the atlas, the merit of its execution,, and
the immensity of its contents. He concluded, as-.
usual, with saying ; " What a collection! What
" details ! How complete in all its parts!"
The Emperor went to the garden. I told him,
that I had written,, in the morning, to England,
and answered the letter which I had read to him
two or three days. ago. " Your English family,"
he then observed, " seem to be very good kind

1816.] THE; EMPEROR NAPQLEON. 255
" of people; they are very fond of yOu, and you
" appear very much attached to them." I an
swered; " Sire, I took care of them in Francej
" during their ten years of captivity, and they
" had taken care of me in England, during my
" ten years of emigration. It is altogether the
" hospitality of the ancients which we exer-
" cise towards each other. I rely upon them*
" in every respect, and they are ac liberty to
" dispose of all I possess." " This," said he,
"is a very happy connexion. How did you
" obtain it? To what are you indebted for it?"
I then told him how I became acquainted with
this family.
"Never was the plank, by the assistance of
" which an unfortunate person, after shipwreck,
" preserved his life, dearer to him than this
"family is to me. There are, Sire, no favours,
" no treasures, which, can compensate the kind-.
" nesses I have received from it, and the hap-
" piness it has conferred upon me.
" When the horrible excesses of our revolution
"compelled us to take refuge in England, our
" emigration produced the liveliest sensation in
" that country ; the arrival of so many illus-
" trious exiles, their past fortunes, and their
" actual forlorn condition, were impressed on
" every mind, and filled every heart. , They be-
" came the subject of consideration in political
"assemblies, in places of divine worship, in

256 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
fashionable circles, and in private families.
' That catastrophe agitated every class,' and ex-
' cited every sympathy. We were surrounded
' by a generous and feeling multitude. We were
' the objects ofthe most delicate attentions, and
' of the most substantial favours. Such; it must
' be acknowledged, was the affecting sight held
' out by a vast portion of English society, even-
' in spite of the difference of opinions. It is a
' testimony due from our gratitude to the truth
' of history.
" I was then at London with a cousin of my
' name, whose situation at the court of Ver-
' sailles, had enabled her to be of some service
' to the most distinguished persons in Europe,
' where she was a lady of honour to the Princess
' Lamballe, who was herself sub-intendant ofthe
' Queen's household. That turned out a for-
' tunate circumstance for our family. My cousin
'.experienced proofs of the greatest benevolence;
' a great number of persons were eager in making
' a tender of their services, and, among others,
' a certain young couple. The wife was charming,
' and distinguished for the elegance and nobleness
' of her manners ; the husband was of an easy
' temper, of a mild and honourable character.
' Their house was almost instantly open to my
' cousin, and to all her relations, who had every
' reason to find themselves as much at their ease
' there, as if they J had been in their own families.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 25?
" This worthy couple took every occasion
'to oblige, and to be of use to our refugees.
' Their house was frequented by the most distin-
' guished emigrants. A great number of us
' there contracted a debt of gratitude, which,
' notwithstanding all its extent, I should not de-
' spair of paying, were I alone left to discharge
' it. I shall leave it as a legacy to my children,
' who, if they resemble me, will look upon it as
' sacred, and deem themselves happy in re-
' deeming the obligation. i
" Elevation of soul, and the emotions of a
' French heart, characterized the conduct of
' Lady, . , . When the Prince of Conde, (arrived
' at London,) was looking for a country residence,
' she sent me to offer him the superb mansion
' she possessed, in the county of Durham. The
' Prince, after, hearing the particulars, having
' remarked, that it would, no doubt, cost him
'the ransom of a King, was agreeably surprised
' at learning, that it was presented to him by
' a French woman, who would, she said, consider
' that she had received an inestimable price,
' should a Conde condescend to inhabit it. He
' went, instantly, to express his acknowledg-
' ments in person.
" This family visited Paris after the peace of
' Amiens, and it was in its bosom, and through
' its protection, that I was enabled, a. few days
Vol. III. Part V. s

258 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
' sooner* to breathe the air of my country. I
' was exempted, through its means, from the
' tedious and painful formalities required from
' me by the act of amnesty on the frontier, and
' I felt it my duty to provide for their accom-
' modation at Paris, with much more facility
' and less inconvenience than they could have
' done themselves. I had also the happiness,
' when the measure for detaining the English
' residents was carried into effect, and this family
' was placed among the number* of alleviating,
' in my turn, their condition^ and becoming their
' security. " We were, at length, separated by time and
' circumstances ; but they have lost nothing in
' my recollection ; and the needle, is less con-
' stant to the pole, and less faithful in its
' guidance, than are my thoughts, and my gra-
' titude, with respect to those good and valuable
' friends. Such, Sire, is what your Majesty is
' pleased to call my English family."
We had, however, during my relation, walked
to the stable, and called for the calash. The
Emperor ordered it to take us up at the bottom
of the wood. We waited for it a long time,
because Madame de Montholon was seized with
a sudden indisposition. Her husband came to
apologize for the delay, and the Emperor made
him get in.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 259
The conversation turned, during our ride, upon
General Joubert, whose brother-in-law and aid-
de-camp M. de Montholon had been.
" Joubert," said the Emperor, " entertained a
" high veneration for me; he deplored my ab-
" sence at every reverse experienced by the re-
" public, during the expedition to Egypt. He
" was, at that time, at the head of the army of
" Italy ; he had taken me for his model, aspired
" to imitate my plans, and attempted to accom-
" plish nothing less than what I afterwards effected
" in Brumaire: he had, however, the jacobins to
" assist him. The measures and intrigues of that
" party, to place the means of executing that
" grand enterprise in his power, had raised him
" to the command in Italy, after the disasters of
" Scherer; of that Scherer, who was an ignorant
" peculator, and deserving of every censure.
" But Joubert was killed at Novi, in his first
" rencounter with Suwarrow ; any attempt of
"his, at Paris, would have failed; he had not
" yet acquired a sufficient degree of glory, of
" consistency and maturity. He was, by nature,
" calculated for all these acquirements, but, at
" that moment, he was not adequately formed ;
" he was still too young, and that enterprise was
" then beyond his ability."
The following is the General's portrait, drawa
by the Emperor, for his campaigns of Italy, and
£f Which I have recovered the sketch.
s 2

260 MY RESIDENCE WITH ' [Aug.
Joubert, born in the department of the Ain, in
ancient Bressa, had gone through a course of
studies for the bar. He was induced by the re
volution to turn his thoughts to the military art ;
he served in the army of Italy and was there pro
moted to the rank of General of Brigade. He was
tall and thin, and seemed naturally of a feeble con
stitution ; but he had exercised it by severe fatigues
in the Alps, and had inured it to hardship. He was
intrepid, vigilant, extremely active, and marched
always at the head of his columns. He was made
General in the room of Vaubois, whose corps d'armee
he commanded. He gained a great deal of honour
in the campaign of Leoben, commanding the left
wing, which he led to effect a junction with the
main body of the army from the mountains of the
Tyrol through the defiles of the Putherstal. He
was very warmly attached to Napoleon, who en
trusted him with the presentation ofthe lost stand
ards taken by the army of Italy, to the Directory.
Having remained at Paris during the campaign of
Egypt, he married the daughter of the senator
Semonville, who afterwards became the wife of
General Macdonald. That marriage involved him
in the intrigues of the Manege, and got him ap
pointed Commander in chief of the army of Italy
after Scherer's defeat. He was killed at the
battle of Novi. He might have acquired great
celebrity. The Emperor Was only able to take one round ;

1S1G.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 261
he found himself too much fatigued, and was far
from being well.
At half past eight o'clock, the Emperor ordered
me to be called. He told me, he had been obliged
to take a bath, and thought he was a little feverish.
He felt he had suddenly caught cold, but he no
longer coughed since he was in the bath. He con
tinued for a long time in the water. He dined in
it, and a small table was laid for me at the side of
it. The Emperor reverted to the history of Russia.
" Had Peter the Great," he asked, " acted with
" wisdom in founding a capital at Petersburgh at
" so vast an expense ? Would not the results have
" been greater, had he expended all his money at
"Moscow? What was his object? Hadheaccom-
" plished it ?" I replied ; " if Peter had remained
" at Moscow, his nation would have continued
" Muscovite, a people altogether Asiastic; it was
" necessary that it should be displaced for its re-
" form and alteration. He had, therefore, selected
" a position on the very frontiers, wrested from
" the enemy, and in founding his capital, and ac-
" cumulating all his strength, he rendered it in-
" vulnerable; he connected himself with European
" society; he established his power in the Baltic
" sea, by which he could with ease prevent his
" natural enemies, the Poles and Swedes, from
" forming alliances, when they stood in need of
" them, with the nations situated behind them,"
&c. &c,

263 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug,
The Emperor said, " he was not altogether
" satisfied with these reasons. However, it may
" be," he observed, " Moscow has disappeared,
" and who can compute the wealth that has been
" swallowed up there? Let us contemplate Paris
" with the accumulation of centuries, of works
" and of industry. Had its capital, for the 1400
" years it has existed, increased but a million a
" year, what sums ! Let us connect with that the
" warehouses, the furniture, the union of sciences
" and the arts, the complete establishments of
" trade and commerce, &c. &c, and this is the
" picture of Moscow, and yet all that vanished in
" an instant! What a catastrophe ! Does not the
" bare idea of it make one shudder 1 ... I do not
" think it could be re-established at the expense
" of two thousand millions."
He expatiated at great length on all these
events, and let a word escape him, which was
too characteristic, not to be specially noted down
by me. The name of Rostopchin having been
pronounced, I presumed to remark, that the
colour at that time given to his patriotic action,
had very much surprized me, for he had interest
ed me instead of exciting my indignation, and
even much more, that I had envied him ! . . . .
To which the Emperor replied with singular viva
city, and with a kind of contraction which betray
ed vexation ; " If many at Paris had been capable
" of reading and feeling it in that way, believe me

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 263
"I should have applauded it? But I had no
" choice left me." Resuming the subject of
Moscow, he said : 
"¦ Never with all the powers of poetry, have
l( the fictions ofthe burning of Troy equalled the
" reality of that of Moscow. The city was of
" wood, the wind was violent ; all the pumps
" had been carried off. It was literally an ocean
" of fire. Nothing had been saved from it; our
" march was so rapid, our entrance so sudden.
" We found even diamonds on the women's toilets,
" they had fled so precipitately. They wrote to us
" in a short time afterwards, that they had sought
" to escape from the first bursts of a dangerous
" soldiery ; that they recommended their pro-
" perty to the generosity of the conquerors, and
" would not fail to reappear in the course of a
" few days to solicit their kindnesses and testify-
" their gratitude.
" The population was far from having plotted
" that atrocity. Even they themselves delivered
" up to us three or four hundred criminals,
" escaped from prison, who had executed it."
" But, She, may I presume to ask, if Moscow
" had not been burnt, did not your Majesty
'" intend to establish your quarters there ?" " Cer-
" tainry," answered the Emperor, " and I should
" then have held up the singular spectacle of an
" army wintering in the midst of a hostile nation,
" pressing upon it from all points; it would have

264 MY RESIDENCE WITH, [Aug.
' been the ship caught in. the ice. You would
' have been in France without any intelligence
' from me for several months ; but you would
' have remained quiet, you would have acted
' wisely ; Cambaceres would, as usual, have
' conducted affairs in my name, and all would
' have been as orderly, as if I had been present.
' The winter, in Russia, would have weighed
' heavy on every one, the torpor would have
' been general. The spring also would have re-
' vived for all the world. All would have been
' at once on their legs, and it is well known, that
' the French are as nimble as any others.
"On the first appearance of fine weather, I
' should have marched against the enemy, I
' should have beaten them ; I should have been
' master of their empire. Alexander, be as-
' sured, would not have suffered me to pro-
' ceed so far. He would have agreed to all the
' conditions which I might have dictated, and
' France would then have begun to enjoy all her
' advantages. And truly, my success depended
' upon a mere trifle. For I had undertaken the
' expedition to fight against armed men, not
' against nature in the violence of her wrath. I
' defeated armies, but I could not conquer the
' flames, the frost, stupefaction, and death ! . . .
' I was forced to yield to fate. And, after all,
' how unfortunate for France — indeed for all
' Europe !

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 265
" Peace, concluded at Moscow, would have
" fulfilled and wound up my hostile expeditions.
"It would have been, with respect to the
" grand cause, the term of casualties and the
" commencement of security. A new horizon, new
" undertakings, would have unfolded themselves,
" adapted, in every respect, to the well-being
" and prosperity of all. The foundation of the
" European system would have been laid, and
" my only remaining task would have been its
" organization. " Satisfied on these grand points, and every
" where at peace, I should have also had my
" congress and my holy alliance. These are plans
" which were stolen from me. In that assembly
" of all the sovereigns,' we should have discussed
" our interest in a family way, and settled our
" accounts with the people, as a clerk does with
" his master.
" The cause of the age was victorious, the re-
" volution accomplished ; the only point in ques-
" tion was to reconcile it with what it had not
" destroyed. But that task belonged to me ; I
" had for a long time been making preparations
" for it, at the expense, perhaps, of my popularity.
" No matter. I became the arch of the old and
" new alliance, the natural mediator between the
" ancient and modern order of things. I main-
" tained the principles and possessed the confid-
" ence of the one ; I had identified myself with

266 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
'*" the other. I belonged to them both ; I should
" have acted conscientiously in favour of each:
,f My glory would have consisted in my equity."
And, after having enumerated what he would
have proposed between sovereign and sovereign,
and between sovereigns and their people, he con
tinued; " Powerful as we were all that we
" might have conceded, would have appeared
" grand. It would have gained us the gratitude
" ofthe people. At present, what they may ex-
" tort, will never seem enough to them, and they
" will be uniformly distrustful and discontented."
He next took a review of what he would have
proposed for the prosperity, the interests, the
enjoyments and the well-being of the European
confederacy. He wished to establish the same
principles, the same system every where. An
European code; a court of European appeal,
with full powers to redress all wrong decisions,
as our's redresses at home those of our tribunals.
Money of the same value but with different coins ;
the same weights, the same measures, the same
laws, &c. &c.
" Europe would soon in that manner," he said,
"have really been but the same people, and
" every one, who travelled, would have every
" where found himself in one common country."
He would have required, that all the rivers
should be navigable in common ; that the seas
should be thrown open ; that the great standing

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 267
armies should, in future, be reduced to the single
establishment of a guard for the sovereign, &c. &c.
In fine, a crowd of ideas fell from him, the
greater part of which were new; some of the
simplest nature, others altogether sublime, rela
tive to the different political, civil, and legislative
branches, to religion, to the arts, and commerce :
they embraced every subject.
He concluded: " On my return to France, in
' the bosom of my country, at once great, power-
' ful, magnificent, at peace and glorious, I would
' have proclaimed the immutability of bounda-
' ries, all future wars, purely defensive; all new
' aggrandizement, anti-national. I would have
' associated my son with the empire ; my dicta--
' torship would have terminated, and his consti-
' tutional reign commenced. . . .
" Paris would have been the capital of the
' world, and the French the envy of nations ! . . .
" My leisure and my old age would have been
' consecrated, in company with the Empress,
' and, during the royal apprenticeship of my son,
'- in visiting, with my own horses, like a plain
' country couple, every corner of the empire ;
' in receiving complaints, in redressing wrongs,
' in founding monuments, and in doing good
' every where and by every means ! . . , These
' also, my dear Las Cases, were among my
' dreams ! ! !"
The Emperor conversed a great deal about the

268' MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
interior of Russia, of the prosperity of which, he
said, we had no idea. He dwelt, at great length,
upon Moscow, which had, under every point of
view, much surprized him, and might bear a com
parison with all the capitals of Europe, the greater
number of which it surpassed. Here unfortu
nately I can find but bare outlines in my notes,
which it is impossible for me, at present, to fill up.
He was particularly struck with the gilded
spires of Moscow, and it was that which induced
him, on his return, to have the dome of the In
valids regilded ; he intended to embellish many
other edifices at Paris in the same manner.
N. B.- — As the city of Moscow seems to have
been so different from the idea, which we have
generally entertained of it in our Western world,
I am inclined to think, that a description of it
in this place, supplied by an eye-witness, a dis
tinguished person, attached to the expedition,
will not prove disagreeable. It is by Baron
Larrey, principal surgeon to the grand army. I
take it from a work of that celebrated character,
(les Memoires de la Chirurgie Militaire) in no
great circulation, on account, perhaps, of its pe
culiarly scientific nature.
The relation begins at the moment when the
French army was setting out on its march from
Moscow, after the battle of Mozaisk or of Mos-
kowa. " We were hardly a few miles off from Mozaisk,

1S16.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 269
when we were all surprised at finding ourselves,
notwithstanding the vicinity of the spot to one of
the greatest capitals of the world, on a sandy,
arid, and completely desert plain. The mournful
aspect of that solitude, which discouraged the
soldiers, seemed an omen of the entire abandon
ment of Moscow, and of the misfortunes which
awaited us in that city, from the opulence of
which we had promised ourselves such advantages.
" The army marched, with difficulty, over that
tract. The horses were harassed, and exhausted
with hunger and thirst, for water was as rare as
forage. The men had also a great deal to suffer.
They were, in fact, overwhelmed with fatigue,
and in want of all subsistence. The troops had
not, for a long time, received any rations, and the
small quantity of provisions found at Mozaisk,
was only sufficient for the young and old guard.
A considerable number of the former corps fell
victims to their abuse of Chenaps (the brandy of
the country). They were observed to quit their
comrades a few paces, to totter, whirl round, and
afterwards fall on their knees or sit down involun
tarily; they remained immoveable in that atti
tude, and expired shortly afterwards, without
uttering a single complaint. These young men
were predisposed to the pernicious effects of that
liquor by languor, privations, and excessive fa
tigue. . " We arrived, however, on the evening of the

270 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
14th of September, in one of the fauxbourgs of
Moscow; we there learnt, that the Russian army
had, in its passage through the city, carried off
all the citizens and public functionaries, some of
the low classes and some servants alone were left ;
so that in going through the principal streets of
that great city, which we entered the following
morning, we scarcely met any one ; all the houses
Were completly abandoned. But what very much
surprised us, was to see the fire break out in
several remote quarters, where none of our troops
Jiad yet been, and particularly in the bazar of the
Kremlin, an immense building, with porticoes
which have some resemblance to those of the
Palais Royal at Paris.
" After what we had witnessed on our passage
through little Russia, we were astonished at the
vastness of Moscow, at the great number of
churches and palaces which it contained, at the
beautiful architecture of those edifices, at the
Commodious disposition of the principal houses,
and all the objects of luxury which were found in
the greater part of them. The streets in general
Were spacious, regular, and well laid out. No
thing had the appearance of discordance through-
Out that city. Every thing announced its wealth,
and the immense trade it carried on in the produc
tions of the four quarters of the world.
" The variety displayed in the construction of
the palaces, houses, and churches* was an infinite

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 371
addition to the beauty of the city. There were
places, which, by the peculiar kind of architecture
of the different edifices, indicated the nations that
generally inhabited them ; thus, the residence of
the Franks, Chinese, Indians, and Germans^ was
easily distinguished. The Kremlin might be
considered the citadel of Moscow; it is in the
centre of the town, situated on an eminence suf
ficiently elevated, surrounded by a wall with
bastions, and flanked, at regular distances, by
towers, mounted with cannon. The bazar, which
has been already noticed, usually filled with the
merchandize of India and valuable furs, had be
come the prey of the flames, and the only articled
preserved were those which had been laid up ill
the vaults, where the soldiers penetrated, after the
fire that consumed the whole of the exterior of
that beautiful edifice. The palace of the Em*
perors, that of the senate, the archives, the arsenal*
and two very ancient temples, occupy the rest
of the Kremlin. These different monuments of a
rich species of architecture, form a magnificent
appearance about the parade. One might imagine
one's self transported to the public place of ancient
Athens, where the Areopagus and the temple of
Minerva on one side, and the academy and the
arsenal on the other, were the objects of admir
ation. A cylindrical tower presents itself between
the two temples, in the shape of a column, known
by the name of Yvan's tower ; it is rather an

273 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug. .
Egyptian minaret, within which several bells of
different sizes, are hung. At the bottom of this
tower, one is seCn of a prodigious magnitude,
which has been noticed by all the historians.
The whole of the city and its environs are seen
from the top of the towers, they present them
selves to the eye in the form of a star, with four
forked branches. The city assumes a most pictur
esque appearance from the variegated colours of
the roofs of the houses, and from the gold and
silver expended on the domes and tops of the
belfries, of which there is a considerable number.
Nothing can equal the richness of one of the
temples or churches of the Kremlin (it was the
sepulchre of the Emperors) ; its walls are covered
with plates of vermilion, five or six lines thick, on
which the history of the Old and New Testaments
is represented in relievo ; the lustres and candela-
bras of massy silver, were particularly remarkable
for their extraordinary proportions.
" The hospitals to which my attention was pe
culiarly directed, are worthy of the most civilized
nation in the world ; I class them as military and
civil. The grand military hospital is divided into
three parts, forming altogether a parallelogram.
The principal part was constructed on the side of
a great road, opposite to an immense barrack,
which may be compared to the military school at
Paris. Two lateral buildings, by cutting it at
right angles, inclose the court, which communi-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 273',
cates with a fine and extensive garden appropri
ated to the use of the sick. The front of this build
ing, which is two stories high, consists of a portico,
with columns of the composite order. At the
entrance, is a spacious lobby, where the doors of
the wards on the ground-floor correspond with
each other, and a large and magnificent stair-case
leads to the upper stories. The wards occupy
the entire length ofthe building, and the windows
on each side reach from the ceiling to the floor ;
they are made with double sashes, as is customary
throughout Russia, and are completely closed in
winter ; stoves are placed in the inside at suitable
distances. The wards contain four rows of beds
of the same kind, separated by the requisite space
for wholesomeness ; each row consists of fifty beds,
and the total number may be estimated. at more
than three thousand ; the hospital contains four
teen principal wards of very nearly the same ex
tent. The offices, pharmacy, kitchen, and other
establishments, are very commodiously situated
in separate places at a convenient distance from
the wards.
" The civil hospitals are equally entitled to
notice. The four principal are those of Chereme-
tow, Galitzin, Alexander, and the Foundlings.
" The first, remarkable for its shape, its struc
ture, and its internal arrangements, was used to
receive the sick and wounded belonging to the
guard. Vol. III. Part V. t

«74 MY RESIDENCE WITH1 ^Aug.
" The hospital which is three stories high, is
built in the form of a crescent ; the requisite
Offices are situated in the rear. A beautiful por
tico, projecting from the centre of the half-moon,
forms the entrance of a chapel in the middle of
the edifice ; the chapel surmounted with a dome,
is the central point of all the wards, and contains
the mausoleum of the prince who founded the
hospital ; it is ornamented with columns in stucco,
with statues and beautiful pictures. The phar
macy is one of the finest and best supplied I
know. " The Foundling hospital situated on the banks
of the Moscowa, and protected by the cannon
6f the Kremlin, is indisputably the largest and
noblest establishment of the kind in Europe. It
consists of two divisions of- buildings ; the first,
Where the entrance is placed, is appropriated to
the residence of the governor, who is selected
from the old generals of the army, of the board
of management, of the medical officers, and of
all those employed in the service of the hospital.
The second forms a perfect square. Inthe centre
of the court> which is very spacious, is a re
servoir, that supplied the whole of the establish
ment with water from the river. Each of the
sides is composed of four great floors, round
Which is a regular corridor, not very broad, yet
sufficiently spacious for the admission of air, and
the accommodation of the individuals who pass

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 276
through it. The wards ocupy the remainder of
the breadth, and the whole extent of each wing
of the building. There are two rows of beds
withcurtains in each ward, their size corresponds
with that of the children ; the boys are kept se
parate, from the girls, and the greatest cleanliness
and regularity are observed.
" We had scarcely taken possession of the
town, and succeeded in extinguishing the fire,
kindled by the Russians in the most beautiful
quarters, when in consequence of two principal
causes, the flames again broke Out in the most
violent manner, spread rapidly from one street
to another, and involved the whole place in one
common.ruin. The first of these causes is justly
reported to have been the desperate resolution of
a certain class of Russians, who were said to have
been confined in the prisons, the doors of which
were thrown open on the departure of the army ;
these wretches, whether incited by superior au
thority, or by their own feelings, with the view, no
doubt, of plunder, openly ran from palace to
palace, and from house to house, setting fire to
every thing that fell in their way. The French
patroles, although numeroUs and on the alert,
were unable to prevent them. I saw several of
those miscreants taken in the act ; lighted matches
and combustibles were found in their possession.
The pain of death inflicted upon those caught in
the actual commission of the atrocity, made no
T 2

276 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
impression on the others, and the fire raged three
days and three nights without interruption ; the
houses were pulled down in vain by our soldiers,
the flames quickly spread themselves over the
vacant space, and the , buildings thus insulated
were set on fire in the twinkling of an eye. The
second cause must be attributed to the violence
of the equinoctial winds which are always very
powerful in those parts, and by means of which
the conflagration increased and extended its ra
vages with extraordinary activity.
" It would be difficult, under any circum
stances, to imagine a picture more horrible than
that with which our eyes were afflicted. It was
more particularly during the night, between the
18th and 19th of September, the period when
the fire was at the highest pitch, that its con
sequences presented a terrific spectacle; the
weather was fine and dry, the wind continuing
to blow from East to North, or from North to
East. During that night, the dreadful image of
which will never be effaced from my recollection,
the whole of the city was on fire. Large co
lumns of flames of various colours shot up from
every quarter, entirely covered the horizon, and
diffused a glaring light and a scorching heat at
a considerable distance. These masses of fire,
driven on by the violence of the winds, were ac
companied in their rise and. rapid movement by
a dreadful whizzing and by thundering explo-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 277
sions, the result of the combustion of gunpow
der, saltpetre, oil, resin, and brandy, with which
the greater part of the houses and shops had been
filled. The varnished iron plates which covered
the buildings, were torn off by the effect of the
heat, and carried to a great distance ; very large
pieces of beams and rafters made of fir, seized by
the flames, were thrown an immense way off, and
contributed to extend the conflagration to houses
which were considered the least exposed, on ac
count of the distance. Every one was struck with
terror and consternation. The guard, with the
head quarters and the staff of the army, was
transferred from the Kremlin and the town, and
a camp was established at Petrowski, a castle
belonging to Peter the Great, on the road to
Petersburg. I remained with a very small num
ber of my comrades, in a house built Of stone,
which stood alone, and was" situated on the top
of the quarter of the Franks close to the
Kremlin. I was there enabled to observe all
the phenomena of that tremendous conflagration.
We had sent our equipage to the camp, and kept
ourselves constantly on the look out, to be pre
pared for or to prevent danger.
The lower classes, who had remained at Mos
cow, driven from house to house by the fire,
ejaculated the most lamentable cries ; extremely
anxious to preserve what was most valuable to
them, they loaded themselves with packages,

278 MY RESIDENCE WITH CAug-
which they could hardly sustain; and which they
frequently abandoned to escape from the flames.
The women, impelled by a very natural feeling of
humanity, carried one or two children on their
shoulders, and dragged the others along by the
hand, and in order to avoid the death which
threatened them on every side, they ran, with
their petticoats tucked up, to take shelter in the
corners of the streets and squares ; but they were
soon compelled, by the intenseness of the heat,
to abandon those spots and to fly with precipita
tion every way that was open to them, some
times without being able to extricate themselves
from that kind of labyrinth in which many of
them experienced a miserable end. I saw old
men, whose long beards had been caught by the
flames, drawn on small carts by their own chil
dren, who endeavoured to rescue them from that
real Tartarus.
"As for our soldiers, tormented with hunger
and thirst, they exposed themselves to every
danger to obtain in the cellars and shops which
were on fire, eatables, wines, liquors, or any other
article more or less useful. They were seen run
ning through the streets, pell-mell, with the
broken-hearted inhabitants, carrying away every
thing they could snatch from the ravages of this
dreadful conflagration. At length, in the course
of eight or ten days, this immense and superb
city was reduced to ashes, with the exception of

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. «79
the Kremlin palace, some large houses, and all the
churches : these edifices are built of stone.
" This calamity threw the army into great con
sternation, and was a presage to us of more serious
misfortunes. We all thought that we should no
longer find either subsistence, cloth, or any other
necessary for equipping the troops, and of which
we were in the most pressing want. Could a
more dismal idea suggest itself to our imagin
ation ? The head quarters were, however, after
the fire, again established at the Kremlin, and
the guard sent to some houses of the Franks
quarter, which had been preserved. Every one
resumed the exercise of his duties.
" Magazines of flour, meal, salt fish, oil, wine
and liquors, were discovered by dint of persever
ance. Some were served out to the troops, but
there was too great a wish to spare or hoard up
these articles, and that excess of precaution,.
which is sometimes a mere pretext, induced us to
burn or leave behind us, in the end, provision of
every kind, from which we might have derived
the greatest advantages, and which would have
even been sufficient for the wants of the army for
more than six months, had we remained at Mos
cow. The same conduct was pursued with re
gard to the stuffs and furs, which ought to have
been immediately worked up for the purpose of
supplying our troops with all the clothing capable
;o.f preserving them,, as much as possible, from

280 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
the inclemency of the cold that was at hand.
The soldiers, who never think of the future, far
from obviating, on their part and for their own
interests, that defect of precaution, were solely
engaged in collecting the wines, the liquors, and
all the gold and silver articles they could find,
and despised every other consideration.
" This unexpected abundance, which was
owing to the indefatigable researches of the
troops, was attended with a bad effect on their
discipline and on the health of those who were
intemperate. That motive alone ought to have
made us hasten our departure for Poland. Mos
cow became a new Capua to our army. The
enemy's generals flattered ours with the hopes' of
peace ; the preliminaries were to be signed from
day to day. Clouds of Cosacks, however, covered
our cantonments and carried off every day a great
number. of our foragers. General Kutusoff was
collecting the wreck of his army and strengthening
himself with the recruits, that joined him from all
parts. Imperceptibly and under various preten
ces of pacification, his advanced posts drew near
to ours. Finally, the i period of negociation had
arrived, and it was at the moment in which the
French ambassador was to obtain a first decision,
that Prince Joachim's corps d'armee was sur
rounded. It was with difficulty that our general,
the ambassador, surmounted the obstacles which
were opposed to his return to Moscow. Several

1816] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 281
parties of our troops and some pieces of cannon
had been already carried off. The different corps
of this advanced guard, which were at first dis
persed, were, notwithstanding, rallied, broke the
Russian column that hemmed them in, took up a
favourable position and charged successively the
enemy's numerous cavalry, which they repulsed
with vigour, retaking part of the artillery and
some of the soldiers made prisoners in the first
onset. At length the arrival .of General Lauriston
and of the wounded, was to us, at head quarters,
a confirmation, that hostilities would be resumed.
Orders were immediately given for the sudden
departure of the army ; the drum beat to arms,
and all the corps prepared to execute that preci
pitate movement. Some provisions were hastily
collected and the march commenced on the 19th
of October."
On the Coronation, t$c. — Decrees of Berlin and Milan. —
The Grand Cause of the Hatred of the English.
25th. — The weather has become fine in every
respect. The Emperor breakfasted in the tent and
sent for us. all. The conversation turned upon
the ceremonies of the coronation. He asked for
information from one of us, who had been present,
but was unable to satisfy him. He made the
same inquiries of another, but the latter had not
seen it ? " Where were you then at that time?"

282 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
asked the Emperor— "at Paris, Sire." "Howthen !
" you did not see the coronation!" — " no, Sire."
The Emperor then casting a side glance at him,
and taking him by the ear, said ; "Were you so
" absurd as to carry your aristocracy to that
" point?" — " But Sire, my hour was not come." —
"But at least you saw the retinue?' — "Ah!
" Sire, had my curiosity prevailed, I should have
" hastened to witness what was most worthy
" and most interesting to be seen. I had, how-.
" ever, a ticket of admission, and I preferred pre-
" senting it to the English lady, whom I lately
" mentioned to your Majesty, and who, by way
" of parenthesis, caught a cold there, that nearly
" killed her. For my own part I remained quiet-
" ly at home". " Ah, that is too much for me to
" put up with," said the Emperor, " the villan-
" ous aristocrat ! How ! And you were really
" guilty of such an absurdity ?" "Alas! I was,"
replied the accused, "and yet here I am near
" you, and at Saint Helena." The Emperor
smiled, and let go the ear.
After breakfast, a captain of the English ar
tillery, who had been six years at the Isle of
France, called upon me. He was to sail, for
Europe the next day. He entreated me in a
thousand ways to procure him the happiness of
seeing the Emperor. He would, he said, give all
he had in the world for such a favour ; his gra*
titude would be boundless, &c.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 283
We conversed together for a long time ; the
Emperor was taking his round in the calash. On
his return, I was happy enough to realize the
English officer's wishes. The Emperor received
him for upwards of a quarter of an hour ; his joy
was extreme, as he was aware that the favour
became every day more rare. Every thing about
the Emperor had struck him, he declared, in a
most extraordinary manner ; his features, his af
fability, the sound of his voice, his expressions,
the questions he had asked ; he was, he ex
claimed, a hero, a god! 
The weather was delightful. The Emperor
continued to walk in the garden in the midst of
us. He entered into the consideration of the
failure of a negociation, undertaken by one of
us; a business which the Emperor had judged
very easy, but which turned out to be of the
most delicate nature for the person entrusted
with it. The object of it was to prevail upon
some English officers to publish a certain paper
in England.
The Emperor expressed his disapprobation of
the failure in his usual mode of reasoning, and
with the intelligence and point that are familiar
to him ; he was, however, very much disappointed
at it ; his observations were rather strong ; he
pushed them to a degree of ill humour, of which
the person he found fault with, had never, perhaps,
before, received any proofs. At length, he con-

284 . MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
eluded with saying; " After all, Sir, would you
" not have accepted yourself, what you proposed
" to others, had you been in their place?" "No,
" Sire."—" Why not? Well then," he added, in
a tone of reproof, " you should not be my mi-
" nister of police." " And your Majesty would
" be in the right," quickly replied the other; who
felt himself vexed in his turn ; "I feel no in-
" clination whatever for such an office." The '
Emperor seeing him enter the saloon, a little
before dinner, said; "Ah! there is our little
" officer of police! Come, approach, my little
" officer of police;" and he pinched his ear. Al
though hours had passed since the warm convers
ation took place, the Emperor recollected it ; - he
knew the person, who, had been the object of it
was full of sensibility, and it was evident, that he
wisLed to efface the impression it had made upon
him. These are' characteristic shades, and those
which arise from the most trifling causes, are the
most natural and the most marked.
After dinner, the Emperor was induced, by
the turn which the conversation took, to review
the special subject of his maritime dispute with
England. " Her pretensions to blockade on
" paper," he observed, " produced my famous
"Berlin decree. The British council, hi' a fit
" of passion, issued its orders; it established a
" right of toll on the seas. I instantly replied
" by the celebrated- Milan decrees, which de-

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 285
" nationalized every flag that yielded obedience
" to the English acts ; and it was then thatthe war
"became, in England, truly personal. Every
" one connected with trade was enraged against
" me. England was exasperated at a struggle
" and energy, of which she had no example. She
" had uniformly found those, who had preceded
" me, more complaisant."
The Emperor explained, on a later occasion,
the means, by which he had forced the Americans
to make war against the English. He had, he
said, discovered the way of connecting their in
terests with their rights ; for people, he remarked^
fight much more readily for the former than for
the latter.
At present, the Emperor was in expectation,
he said, of some approaching attempt on the part
of the English, on the sovereignty of the seas, for
the establishment of the right of universal toll,
&c. &c. " It is," said he, " one of the principal
" resources left them for discharging their debts,
" for extricating themselves from the abyss into
" which they are plunged; in a word, of getting
" rid of their embarassments. If they have
" among them an enterprizing genius, a man of
" a strong intellect, they will certainly undertake
" something of that kind. Nobody is powerful
" enough to oppose it and they set up their claim
" with a species of justice. They may plead in
" its justification, that it was for the safety of

286 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" Europe they involved themselves in difficulties ;
" that they succeeded, and that they are entitled
"to some compensation. And then, the only
" ships of war in Europe are theirs. They reign,
" in fact, at present, over the seas. There is an
" end to the existence of public rights, when the
" balance is broken, &c. &c.
" The English may now be omnipotent, if they
" will but confine themselves to their navy. But
" they will endanger their superiority, compli-
" cate their affairs, and insensibly lose their im-
" portance, if they persevere in keeping soldiers
" on the continent."
Account of the Campaign of Waterloo dictated by, Napoleon.
26th. — The Emperor went out early in the
morning, even before seven o'clock ; he did not
wish to disturb any of us. He was occupied
with his work in the garden and in the tent, where
he sent for us all to breakfast with him. He con
tinued there until two o'clock.
At dinner he conversed a great deal about our
situation in the island. He would not, he said,
leave Longwood ;. he did not care for any visitors ;
but he was desirous we should take some diver
sion, and find out some means of amusement. ,It
would, he said, be a pleasure to him to see us
more lively in our motions and indulge more
freely in our enjoyments, &c.
The relation of the battle of Waterloo, Which

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 287
the Emperor had dictated to General Gourgaud,
was read by his desire. What pages ! They are
sickening. ... The destinies of France sus
pended by so slight a thread !!!-...
This production was published in Europe in
1820. The measures contrived to transmit it
clandestinely from Saint Helena proved success
ful, in spite of every kind of vigilance. The
instant, this relation of Waterloo appeared in the
world, nobody was deceived with regard to its
author. . An exclamation burst from every quarter,
that Napoleon alone was capable of describing in
that manner, and it is confidently stated, that his
antagonist expressed himself precisely in that
way. What nOble chapters ! It would be impos
sible to attempt an analysis of them, or to pretend
to convey their excellence in terms adequate to
their merits. We literally transcribe, however,
in this place, the last pages, containing, in the
shape of a summary, nine observations of Napo
leon, on the faults, with which he has been
reproached in that campaign.
They are points, which will possess classical
duration, and we have been of opinion^ that our
readers would not be displeased at again finding
here objects, which become, every time the occa
sion presents itself, the subject of earnest and
important discussions.
We shall preface these observations with a
description, also of Napoleon's dictation, ofthe

288 MY RESIDENCE WITH . [Aug
resources which France still possessed after the
loss of the battle,
" The situation of France was critical, but not
desperate, after the battle of Waterloo. Every
preparatory measure had been taken, on the
supposition of the failure of the attack upon
Belgium. 70,000 men were rallied on the 27th,
between Paris and Laon ; from 25 to 30,000,
including the depots of the guard, were on their
march from Paris and the depots ; General Rapp,
with 25,000 men, chosen troops, was expected
on the Marne, , in the beginning of July ; all the
losses sustained in the materiel of the artillery
had been repaired. Paris, alone, contained 500
pieces of field artillery, and only 170 had been
lost. Thus an army of 120,000 men, equal
to that which had passed the Sombre on the
15th, with a train of artillery, consisting of 350
pieces of cannon, would cover Paris by the 1st
of July. That capital possessed, independently
of these means, for its defence, 36,000 men of
the national guard, 30,000 marksmen, 6000 can-
noniers,. 600 battering cannon, formidable en
trenchments on the right bank of the Seine, and,
in a few days, those of the left bank would have
been entirely completed. The Anglo^Dutch and
Prusso-Saxon armies weakened, however, by the
loss of 80,000 men, and no longer exceeding
140,000, could not" cross the Somme with more
than 90,000 men; they- would have to wait,

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 289
there for the co-operation of the Austrian and
Russian armies, which could not be on the-
Marne before the 15th of July. Paris had, con
sequently, five-and-twenty days to prepare for
its defence, to complete the arming of its in
habitants, its fortifications, its supplies of pro
visions, and to draw trOops from every point of
France. Even by the 15th of July, not more
than 30 or 40,000 men could have arrived on the
Rhine. The mass of the Russian and Austrian
armies could not take the field before a later
period. Neither arms, nor ammunition, nor
officers were wanting in the capital ; the number
of men carrying musquets might be easily aug
mented to 80,000, and the field artillery could
be increased to 600 pieces.
" Marshal Suchet, in conjunction with General
Lecourbe, would have had, at the same time, up
wards of 30,000 men, before Lyons, independently
of the garrison of that city, which would have been
well armed, well supplied with provisions, and
well protected by entrenchments. The defence
of all the strong places was secured ; they were
commanded by chosen officers, and garrisoned
by faithful troops. Every thing migli*, be re
paired, but decision, energy, and firmness, on
the part of the officers, of the government, of the
chambers, and of the whole nation, were neces
sary ! ! ! It was requisite, that she should be
animated by the sentiment of honour, of glory,
Vol. III. Part V. v

MY RESIDENCE WITH [Att:

o"

of national independence ; that she should fix her
eyes upon Rome, after the battle of Cannae, and
not ' upon Carthage*, after that of Zama ! ! ! If
France had elevated herself to that height, she
would have been invincible. Her people contained
more of the military elements than any other
people in the world. The materiel of war existed
in abundance, and was adequate to every want.
" On the 21st of June, Marshal Blucher and
the Duke of Wellington entered the French ter
ritory at the head of two columns. On the 22d,
the powder magazine took fire at Avesne, and
the place surrendered. On the 24th, the Prus
sians entered Guise, and the Duke of Wellington
was at Cambray. He was at Peronne on the
26th. During the whole of this time, the places
on the first, second, and third line of Flanders
were invested. The two generals learned, how
ever, on the 25th, the Emperor's abdication
which had taken place the 22d, the insurrection
of the chambers, the discouragement occasioned
by these circumstances in the army, and the
hopes excited among our internal enemies. From
that moment, they thought only of marching
upon the capital, under the walls of which they
arrived at the latter end of June, with less than
90,000 men; an enterprize that would have
proved fatal to them, and drawn on their total
ruin, had they hazarded it in the presence of
Napoleon; but that Prince had abdicated!!!

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 291
The troops of the line at Paris, consisting of more
than 6000 men of the depots of the guard, the
fusiliers of the national guard, chosen from
among the people of that great capital, were
devoted to him ; they had it in their power to
exterminate the domestic enemy ! ! ! But in order
to explain the motives which regulated his con
duct, in that important crisis, which was attended
with such fatal results, both for him and for
France, the relation must be resumed from an
earlier period.
First Observation. — " The Emperor has been
reproached, 1st, With haying resigned the dic
tatorship, at the moment, when France stood
most in nee4 °f a dictator ; 2d, With having
altered the constitutions of the empire, at a mo
ment, when it was necessary to think only of
preserving it from invasion ; 3d, With having
permitted the Vendeans to be alarmed, who had,
at first, refused to take arms against the imperial
government ; 4th, With having assembled the
chambers, when he ought to have assembled the
army; 5th, With having abdicated and- left, France
at the mercy of a divided and inexperienced
assembly ; for, in fine, if it be true, that it was
impossible for the Prince to save the country
without the confidence of the nation, it is not less
true, that the nation could not, in these critical
circumstances, preserve either its happiness or its
independence without Napoleon.

V 3

292 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
! " We shall make no reflections on subjects
which have been minutely canvassed, and treated
of at length, in the tenth book.
Second Observation. — " The art, with which the
movements of the different bodies of the army
were concealed from the enemy's knowledge, on
the opening of the campaign, cannot be too at
tentively remarked. Marshal Blucher and the
Duke of Wellington were surprized ; they saw
nothing, knew nothing, of the operations which
were carrying on near their advanced posts.
" In order to attack the two hostile armies,
the French might have out-flanked their right or
left, or penetrated their centre. In the first case,
they might have advanced by the way of Lisle,
and fallen in With the Anglo-Dutch army ; in the
secOnd, they might have moved forward by Givet
and Charlemont, and have fallen in with the
Prusso-Saxon army. These two armfos would
have remained united, since they must have been
pressed the one upon the other, from the right to
the left, and from the left to the right. The Em
peror adopted the plan of covering his movements
with the Sambre, and piercing the line ofthe two
armies at Charleroi, their point of junction, exe
cuting his manoeuvres with rapidity and skill. He
thus discovered in the secrets of the art means to
supply the place of 100,000 men, of whom he
stood in need. The plan was executed with bold
ness and prudence.

1816] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 293
Third Observation. — " The character of several
generals had been affected by the events of 1814 ;
they had lost somewhat of that spirit, of that re
solution, and that confidence, by which they had
gained so much glory, and so much contributed
to the success of former campaigns.
" 1st, — On the 15th of June, the third corps
was to march at three o'clock in the morning,
and arrive at Charleroi at ten ; it did not arrive
until three o'clock in the afternoon.
" 2dly, — The same day the attack on the
woods in front of Fleurus, which had been or
dered at four in the afternoon, did not take place
until seven. Night came on before the troops
could enter Fleurus, where the commander in
chief had intended to establish his head quarters
the same day. The loss of seven hours was very
vexatious on the opening of a campaign.
" 3dly, — Ney received orders to advance on
the. 16th with 43,000 men, who composed the
left under his command, in front of Quatre-Bras,
to take up a position there at the break of day,
and even to entrench himself; he hesitated, and
lost eight hours. The Prince of Orange, with only
9000 men, retained, on the 16 th until three
o'clock in the afternoon, that important posi
tion. When at length, the Marshall received
at twelve o'clock at noon the order dated from
Fleurus, and saw, that the Emperor was on
#ie point of attacking the Prussians, he ad-

294 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
vaneed against Quatre-Bras, but only with half
his force, leaving the other half to cover his
retreat at the distance Of two leagues in the
i*ear ; he forgot it until six in the evening, When
he felt the want of it for his oWn defence. In the
other campaigns, that General would have made
himself master of the position in front of Quatre-
Bras at six o'clock in the morning ; he would
have touted attd captured the whole of the Belgic
division, and either titrtted the Prussian army by
sending a detachment by the toad of Namur to fall
oh the rear of their line of battle, or by the rapidity
of his movements on the toad of Gemiapes, he
Would have surprized and destroyed the Bruns
wick division On its march, and the fifth English
division as it advanced from Brussels. He Would
have afterwards marched to meet the third and
fourth English divisions, which Were advancing by
the Way of Nivelles,; and were both destitute of
Cavalry and 'artillery > and overwhelmed With fa
tigue. Ney, who was always first in the heat of
battle, forgot the troops that were not directly
engaged. The courage Which a commander in
dhief Should display is different from that of a
general of division, as that of the latter is marked
by a distinct shade from the bravery of a captain
of grenadiers.
" 4thly,— The advanced guard of the French
army did not arrive oh the 16th, in front of Water*
lob, until six o'clock in the evening ; it would have

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 296
arrived at three but for some vexatious hesita
tions. The Emperor was very much mortified at
the delay, and, pointing at the- sun, exclaimed,
" what would I not now give to have the power
of Joshua, and stop its movement for two hours !•'
Fourth Observation.^—" The French soldier never
displayed more bravery, cheerfulness, and enthu
siasm ; he was animated with the sentiment of
his superiority over all the soldiers of Europe.
His confidence in the Emperor was altogether
unabated, it had, perhaps, increased ; but he
was suspicious and distrustful of his other com
manders. The treasons of 1814 were always in
his thoughts, and he was uneasy at every move
ment, which he did not understand ; he thought
he was betrayed. Atthe moment, when the first
cannon shots were firing near Saint Amand, an
old corporal approached the Emperor and said ;
" Sire, beware of General Soult ; be assured that
" he is a traitor." — ¦" Fear nothing," replied the
Emperor, " I can answer for him as for myself* "
In the middle of the battle, an officer informed
Marshal Soult, that General Vandamme had gone
over to the enemy, and that his soldiers demanded
with loud cries, that the Emperor should be made
acquainted with it. At the close of the battle,
a dragoon, with his sabre covered with blood,
galloped up to him crying* "Sire, come instantly
" to the division, General Dhenin is haranguing
" the dragoons to go over to the enemy." " Did

296 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
" you hear him ?" " No, Sire, but an officer,
" who is looking for you, saw him and ordered
•' me to tell your Majesty." During this time,
the gallant General Dhenin, received a cannon
shot which carried off one of his thighs, after he
had repulsed the enemy's charge.
" On the 14th in the evening, Lieutenant-Ge-
neral B . . . . .Colonel C  , and V  , an
officer of the staff, deserted and went over to the
enemy. Their names will be held in execration
as long as the French people shall constitute a
nation. The uneasy feelings of the troops had
been considerably aggravated by that desertion.
It appears nearly certain, that the cry of sauve qui
peut was raised among the soldiers of the fourth
division of the first corps the evening of the battle
of Waterloo, when Marshal BlUcher attacked the
village of La Haye. That village was not defended
as it ought to have been. It is equally probable,
that several officers, charged with the communi
cation of orders, disappeared. But if some officers
deserted, not & single private was guilty of that
crime. Several killed themselves on the field of
battle where they lay wounded, when they learned
the defeat of the army.
Fifth Observation. — " In the battle of the 17th,
the French army was divided into three bodies ;
69,000 men under the Emperor's command,
marched against Brussels by the way of Charle-
roi; 34,000, under the command of Marshal

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 297
Grouchy, directed their operations against that
capital by the way of Wavres, in pursuit of the
Prussians; 7 or 8000 men remained on the field
of battle at Ligny, of whom 3000 belonging to
Girard's division were employed in assisting the
wounded, and in forming a reserve for any un
expected casualty at Quatre-Bras, and 4 or 5000
continued with the forces of reserve at Fleurus
and at Charleroi. The 34,000 men under the
command of Marshal Grouchy, with 108 pieces of
cannon, were sufficient to drive the Prussian rear
guard from any position it might take up to press
upon the retreat of the conquered army, and to
keep it in check. It was a glorious result of the
victory of Ligny, to be thus enabled to oppose
34,000 men to an army, which had consisted of
120,000. The 69,000 men, under the Emperor's
command were sufficient to beat the Anglo-Dutch
army, composed of 90,000. The disproportion,
which existed on the 15th between the two belli
gerent masses in the relation of one to two, was
materially changed, and it no longer exceeded
three to four. Had the Anglo-Dutch army de
feated the 69,000 men opposed to it, Napoleon
might have been reproached with having ill-cal
culated his measures ; but it is undeniable, even
from the enemy's admission, that unless General
Blucher had arrived, the Anglo-Dutch army would
have been driven from the field of battle between
eight and nine o'clock at night. If Marshal Blucher

298 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
had not arrived at eight with his first and second
corps, the march on Brussels, with two columns,
during the battle of the 17th, would have been
attended with several advantages. The left Would
have pressed upon and kept in check the Anglo-
Dutch army; the right, under the command of
Marshal Gronchy, would have pursued and re
strained the operations ofthe Prusso-Saxon army;
and in the evening, the whole of the French army
would have effected its junction on a line of less
than five leagues from Mont Saint Jean to Wavres,
with its advanced posts on the edge of the forest.
But the fault committed by Marshal Grouchy, in
stopping on the 17th, at Gehibloux, having march
ed scarcely two leagues in the course of the day,
instead of pushing on three leagues more in front
of WaVres, was aggravated and rendered irrepar
able by that which he committed the following
day, the 18th, in losing twelve hours, and arriving
at four o'clock in the afternoon in front of Wavres,
when he should have been there at six in the
morning. " 1st, — Grouchy, charged with the pursuit of
Marshal Blucher, lost sight of him for twenty-
four hours, from four o'clock in the afternoon of
the 17th, until a quarter past twelve at noon on
the 18th.
" 2dly, — The movement of the cavalry on the
plain, while General Bulow's attack was not
yet repulsed, proved a distressing accident. It

1816*] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 299
W&s the intention of the Commander irt chief to
order that movement, but not until an hour later,
and then it was to have been sustained by the
sixteen battalions of infantry . belonging to the
guard, with one hundred pieces of cannon.
" 3dly, — The horse grenadiers and the dragoons
of the guard, under the command of General
Guyot, engaged without orders. Thus at five in
the afternoon, the army found itself without a re
serve of cavalry. If at half past eight, that re
serve had been in existence, the storm which
swept all before it on the field of battle would
have been dispersed* the enemy's charges of ca
valry driven back* and the two armies would have
slept on the field, notwithstanding the successive
arrivals of General Bulow and Marshal Blucher ;
the advantage would also have been in favour of
the French army, as Marshal Grouchy 's 34*000
men, With 108 pieces of cannon, were fresh troops
bivouacked on the field of battle. The enemy's
two armies would have placed themselves in the
night under cover of the forest of Soignes. The
constant practice in every battle Was for the horse
grenadiers and the dragoons ofthe guard never
to lose sight of the Emperor, and never to make a
charge but in consequence of an order verbally
given by that Prince to the General* who com
manded them.
" Marshal Mortier, who was Commander in
chief of the guards, gave up the command on the

300 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
15th, at Beaumont, just as hostilities were on the
point of commencing, and no one was appointed
in his stead, which was attended with several in
convenient results.
Sixth Observation. — " 1st, The French army
manoeuvred on the right of the Sambre, on the
13th and 14th. It encamped, the night between
the 14th and 15th, within half a league of the
Prussian advanced posts ; and yet Marshal Blucher
had no knowledge of it, and when on the morning
of the 15th, he learned at his head-quarters at
Namur, that the Emperor had entered Charleroi,
the Prusso- Saxon army was still cantoned over
an extent of thirty leagues ; two days were neces
sary for him to effect the junction of his troops.
It was his duty, from the 15th of May, to advance
his head quarters to Fleurus, to concentrate the
cantonments of his army within a radius of eight
leagues with his advanced posts on the Meuse
and Sambre. His army might then have been
assembled at Ligny on the 15th at noon, to await
in that position the attack of the French army,
or to march against it in the evening of the 15th,
for the purpose of driving it into the Sambre.
" 2dly,— Yet, notwithstanding this surprise of
Marshal Blucher, he persisted in the project of
collecting his troops on the heights of Ligny,
behind Fleurus, exposing himself to the hazard
of being attacked before the arrivalof his army.
On the morning ofthe 16th he had collected but

1816J THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. Sol
two corps d'armee, and the French army was
already at Fleurus. The third corps joined in
the course of the day, but the fourth, commanded
by General Bulow, was unable to present itself in
time for the battle. Marshal Blucher, the instant
he learned the arrival of the French at Charleroi,
that is to -say, on the evening of the 15th, ought
to have assigned as a point of junction for his
troops, neither Fleurus nor Ligny, which were
under the enemy's cannon, but Wavres, which
the French could not have reached until the 17th.
He would have also had the whole ofthe 16th,
and the night between the 16th and 17th, to effect
the total junction of his army.
" 3dly, — After having lost the battle of Ligny,
the Prussian General instead of making his re
treat on Wavres, ought to have effected it upon
the army of the Duke of Wellington, whether at
Quatre-Bras where the latter had maintained
himself, or at Waterloo. The whole of Marshal
Blucher's retreat on the morning of the 17th, was
contrary to common sense, since the tWo armies,
which were, on the evening of the 16th, little
more than three miles from each other, and had
a fine road for their point of communication, in
consequence of which their junction might have
been considered as effected, found themselves, on
the evening of the 17th, separated by a distance of
nearly twelve miles, and intercepted by defiles
and impassable ways.

302 MY RESIDENCE WITH [AjJg,
" The Prussian General was guilty of a breach
Of the three grand rules of war ; 1st, To maintain
his cantonments near each other; 2dly, To as
sign a point of junction where his troops can all
assemble before those ofthe enemy; 3dly, To
operate his retreat upon his reinforcements.
Seventh Observation,. — " 1st, The Duke of Wel
lington was surprised in his cantonments ; he ought
to have concentrated them the 15th of May, at eight
leagues about Brussels, and maintained advanced
guards on the roads opening from Flanders. The
French army was for three days manoeuvring close
upon his advanced posts ; it had commenced hos
tilities four and twenty hours ; its head quarters
had been twelve hours at Charleroi, and yet the
English General was at Brussels, ignorant of what
Was passing, and all the cantonments of his army
were still in full security, extended over a space
of more than twenty leagues.,
" 2dly, — The Prince of Saxe -Weimar, who be
longed to the Anglo-Dutch army, was on the
16th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, in position
before Frasne, and knew that the French army
was at Charleroi. If he had immediately des
patched an aide-de-camp to Brussels, he would
have arrived there at six in the evening ; and yet
$ie Duke of Wellington was not informed, that
(he French army was at Charleroi until eleven at
night. He thus lost five hours in a crisis, and
against a man, which rendered the loss of a single
hour highly important.

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 803
" 3dly, — The infantry, cavalry, and artillery of
that army, were in cantonments so remote from
each other, that the infantry was engaged at
Waterloo without cavalry or artillery, which ex
posed it to considerable loss, since it was obliged
to form in close columns to make head against
the charges of the cuirassiers, under the fire of
fifty pieces of cannon. These brave men were
slaughtered without cavalry to protect, or artil^
lery to avenge them. As the three branches of
an army cannot, for an instant, dispense with
each other's assistance, they should be always
cantoned and placed in a way to be of mutual ser
vice to each other.
" 4thly, — The English General, although sur
prized, assigned Quatre-Bras, which had been,
for the last four and twenty hours in possession Of
the French, as the rallying point of his army.
He exposed his troops to partial defeats as they
gradually arrived ; the danger which they incur
red, was still more considerable since they pre
sented themselves, without artillery and without
cavalry ; he delivered up his infantry to his enemy
piece-meal, and destitute of the assistance of the
two other branches. He should have fixed upon
Waterloo for his point of junction; he would
then have had the day of the 16 th, and the night
between the 16th and 17th, an interval quite suffi
cient, to collect the whole of his army, infantry,
cavalry, and artillery. The French could not

304 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
have arrived until the 17th, and would have found
all his troops in position.
Eighth Observation. — " 1st, The English Ge
neral fought the battle of Waterloo on the 18th,
that measure was contrary to the interests of his
nation, to the general system of war adopted
by the allies, and to all the rules of war. It
was not the interest of England, who wants so
many men to recruit her annies of India, of her
American colonies,, and her. vast establishments,
to expose herself, with a generous vivacity, to a
sanguinary contest in which she might lose the
only army she had, and expend, at the very least,
her purest blood. The plan. of the allies conr
sisted in operating in a mass and in avoiding' all
partial actions. Nothing was more contrary to
their interests and their plan, than to expose the
success of their cause in a doubtful . battle . with
a nearly equal force, in which all the probabili
ties were against them. If the Anglo-Dutch
army1 had been destroyed at Waterloo, of what
use to the allies would have been the great num
ber of armies, that were preparing to cross the
Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees.
" 2dly, — The English General in accepting the
battle of Waterloo, placed his reliance on the
co-operation of the Prussians, but that co-oper
ation could not be carried into effect until the
afternoon; he therefore continued exposed, alone
from four o'clock in the morning untiLfive in the

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 305
afternoon, that is' to say, for thirteen hours; no
battle lasts generally more than six hours; that
co-operation Was therefore an illusion.
" But, if he relied upon the co-operation ofthe
Prussians, he must have supposed, that the whole of
the French army was opposed to him, and he must
consequently have undertaken to defend his field
of battle, during thirteen hours, with 90,000 men
of different nations, against an army of 104,000
French. That calculation was evidently false ; he
could nOt have maintained himself three hours ; the
battle would have been decided by eight o'clock
in the morning, and the Prussians would have
arrived only to be taken in flank. Both armies
would have been destroyed in one battle. If he
calculated, that apart of the French army had,
conformably to the rules of war, pursUed the
Prussian army, he ought, in that case, to be con
vinced that he could receive no assistance from it,
and that the Prussians, beaten at Lintz, with the
loss of from 25, to 30,000 men on the field of
battle, and 20,000 scattered and dispersed over
the country, and pursued by from 35, to 40,000
victorious French, would not have risked any
fresh operation, and would have considered them
selves scarcely sufficient to maintain a defensive
position. In that case, the Anglo-Dutch army
alone would have to sustain the shock of 69;000
French during the whole Of the 18th, and there
is no Englishman who will not agree, that the
Vol. III. Part V. x

306 %MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
result of that struggle t could not be doubtful*
and that their army was not constituted So as to
be capable of sustaining the attack Of the im
perial army for four hours.
" During the whole, of the night between the
17th and 18th, the weather was horrible, and
the roads were impassable until nine o'clock , in
the morning. This loSs of six hours from the
break of day was entirely in the enemy's. favour,;
but could the English General stake the. fate
of such a struggle upon the weather which
happened in the night between the 17th and
18th?/ Marshal Grouchy, with 34,000 men, and
1.80 pieces of. cannon found the secret, which
one would suppose, was not to be found, of not
being in the engagement of the 18 th, either on
the field of battle of Mont Saint Jean or on
Wavres. But had that Marshal pledged himself
to the English General to be led astray in so
strange a manner? The conduct of Marshal
Grouchy was as unexpected, as that his. army
should, on its march, be swallowed up by an
earthquake. Let us recapitulate. If Marshal
Grouchy had been on the field of battle of Mont
Saint Jean, as he was supposed to be by the
English General and the Prussian General, during
the whole night between the 17 th and 18th, and
all the ttiofning of the 18th, and the weather had
allowed the French army to be drawn up in order
of battle at four o'clock in the morning:, the

1S16.J THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 807
Anglo-Dutch army would have been dispersed and
cut to pieces before seven ; its ruin would have
been complete ; and if the weather had not al
lowed the French army to range itself iri order
of battle until ten, the fate of the Anglo-Dutch
army would have been decided before one o'clock
at noon ; the remains of it would have been
driven either beyond the forest or in the direction
of Hal* and there would have been quite time
enough in the afternoon to go and meet Marshal
Blucher, and treat him in a similar manner
If Marshal Grouchy had encamped in front of
Wavres in the night between the 17 th and 18th,
no detachment could have been sent by the Prus
sians to save the English army, which must have
been completely beaten by the 69,000 French
opposed to it. ,
" 3dly.^-The position of Mont Saint Jean was
ill chosen. The first requisite of a field of battle
is to be without defiles in its rear. The English
General derived no advantage, during the battle,
from his numerous cavalry; he did not think,
that he ought to be and would be attacked on
the left; he believed that the attack would be
made on his right. Notwithstanding the diver
sion operated in his favour by General Bulow's
30,000 Prussians, he would have twice effected
his retreat* during the battle, had that measure
been possible. Thus* in reality* how strange and
capricious are human events ! the bad choice of

308 MY RESIDENCE WITH [Aug.
his field of battle, which prevented all possibility
of retreat, was the cause of his success ! ! !
Ninth Observation. — " It may be asked, what
then should have been the conduct of the English
General after the battle of Ligny, and the en
gagement of Quatre Bras? On this point, pos
terity will not entertain two opinions ; he ought,
in the night between the 17th and 18th, to have
crossed the forest of Soignes, by the road of
Charleroi; the Prussian army ought also to have
crossed it by the road of Wavres; the armies
would have effected a junction by break of day
in Brussels ; left their rear guards for the defence
of the forest, gained some days in order to give
time to the Prussians, dispersed after the battle
of Ligny, to join their army; reinforced themselves
with fourteen English regiments, which were in
garrison in the fortresses of Belgium, or had been
just landed at Ostend on their return from Ame
rica, and let the Emperor of the French manoeuvre
as he pleased.
" Would he, with an army of 100,000 men have
traversed the forest of Soignes to attack in an
open country the two united armies, consisting of
more than 200,000 men, and in position ? It would
have certainly been the most advantageous thing
that could have happened to the allies. Would
he have been contented with taking up a position
himself? He could not have long remained in an
inactive state, since 300,000 Russians, Austrians,

1816.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 309
Bavarians, &c. were on their march to the Rhine
they would have been in a few weeks on the
Marne, which would have compelled him to
hasten to the assistance of his capital. It was
then, that the Anglo-Prussian army ought to
march and effect its junction with the allies,
under the walls of Paris. It would have exposed
itself to no risk, suffered no loss, and haVe acted
conformably to the interests of the English na
tion, and the general plan of carrying on the war
adopted by the allies, and sanctioned by the rules
of the military art. From the 15th to the 18th
the Duke of Wellington invariably manoeuvred,
as his enemy wished ; he executed nothing which
the latter apprehended he would. The English
infantry was firm and solid ; the cavalry might
have conducted itself better; the Anglo-Dutch
army was twice saved, in the course of the day,
by the Prussians, the first time before three
o'clock, by the arrival of General Bulow with
30,000 men, and the second time by the arrival
of Marshal Blucher with 31,000 men. In that
battle, 69,000 French beat 120,000 men; the
victory was wrested from them, between eight
and nine, by 150,000 men.
" Let the feelings of the people of London be
imagined, had they been doomed to hear of the
destruction of their army, and the prodigal waste
of their purest blood, in support of the cause of

SlO RESIDENCE WITH NAPOLEON. [Aug. 1816.
kings against that of the people, of privileges
against equality, of the oligarchs against the
liberals, and of the principles of the holy alliance
against those of the sovereignty of the people ! ! ! "

INDEX TO
THE FIFTH PART.

August. Account of the disturbances ofthe tenth of August,
related by the Emperor, who had witnessed them, 144.
B. . . . (Madame de.) The Emperor imagined her to be ma
lignant : he is completely undeceived, 73. — Anecdote relating
to the First Consul, 74.
Babhal, (De, Archbishop of Tours.) The Emperor described
him as a man of extensive information, 89.— Is addressed by
the Emperor at one of his Sunday audiences, on the transac
tions with the Fope, 216.
Bbaumabchais. Napoleon always kept him at a distance,
on account of his character, notwithstanding his brilliant
talents, 2.
Beausset, (De, Bishop of Aries) The Emperor's opinion of, 90.
Bernadotte. Elected in Sweden, on account of his wife, sister
to King Joseph's consort, 171. — One of the main causes of
our misfortunes, by giving the enemy the key to our policy
and to the tactics of our armies, &e.  On returning
amongst us, perceived that public opinion was justly unfavor
able to him, 172. — Letter addressed to him by Napoleon', on
the continental system, 175.
Berthier, (Prince of Neufehatel) His private life. Napoleon
pressed him to marry 5 Madame V  induced him to marry
a princess of Bavaria, 21.— Berthier's despair, 22.
Boisgelin, (Cardinal) The Emperor described him as a man
of talent and probity, 89.
Calonne, (M. de.) One of the causes of the emigration, 96. —
The financial oracle ofthe emigrants, 99.
Campaigns op Italy and Egypt. According to the Emperor,
the chapters relating thereto would be highly agreeable to the
French and Italians, 165. — They would immortalize the names
of his companions in glory, 166.
Catherine II. (Empress of Russia.) Described by the Em
peror as a commanding woman, worthy of a beard, 184.
Cazales, (M. de.) His arrival at Coblentz, 109.-r-Judicious ob
servations on the passage of the Prussians through Coblentz,
118.

312 INDEX.
Cherbourg. Account of the works at that port, 2.
Clergy. The Emperor was satisfied with the old clergy, 89. —
None of the ancient bishops betrayed his confidence. — Had
to complain only of those whom he had himself appointed, 90.
Convents. Nuns and Monksv— The taking of the veil, a cere
mony formerly much attended by young officers , &c. 87. —
The Emperor unfavorable to convents. — Admitted, neverthe
less, that an empire like France might and ought to have a
few hospitals for lunatics called trappistes, 88. — Called the
monks of mount Cenis extremely useful, and even heroic. —
Thought that monks would be by far the best teachers of
youth, if they could be withdrawn from a foreign jurisdiction,
and attached to the government, 89.
Diderot's Pere de Familie. The Emperor's remarks on, 93.
Du Belloy, (Cardinal.) The Emperor's opinion of, 90. .
Egypt. Remark by the Emperor on St. Jean d'Acre, 59. —
Volney's errors. — A handful of Frenchmen had proved suffi
cient to conquer that fine country, 60. — The English trembled
on seeing us in possession of Egypt ; it was the true way to
deprive them of India. — If forty or fifty thousand European
families should ever establish their industry, laws, and admi
nistration in Egypt, India would thenccfortli.be lost to the
English, more by the force of circumstances than by that of
arms, 61.
Emigration. The Emperor requests an historical sketch of that
of Coblentz. — Its origin, 95. — Assemblages at Worms and
Coblentz, 96. — One called the camp, the other the town,, and
the court, 98. — From twenty to twenty-five thousand emi
grants in arms are parcelled out into three corps ; six thousand
under the Prince de Conde' against Alsace; four thousand under
the Duke de Bourbon, in Flanders ; and from twelve to fifteen
thousand, under the king's brothers, against Champagne, 119.
— Plans for the commencement of the campaign, 120. — The
emigrants sent to the rear of the Prussian army. — Set to be
siege Thionville. — Curious particulars, 125. — Pleasantries,
anecdotes, &c. 127-
English. Their attentions to the emigrants, 255. — Enraged at
the Berlin and Milan decrees. Not accustomed to such energy.
2S5. — Napoleon declared the English might now be pre-emi
nent, if they would confine themselves to their ships, 286.
Etiquette. That of St. Helena, 30. — At the Tuileries the Em
peror said he was the first that had separated the service, of
honour from that of necessity., — "A king," he said, " does not
exist in nature, but only in civilization ; there are no naked
kings ; there can be none but: dressed ones," 81.
Fauboubij, St, Gehmain. The Emperor said he had arranged
matters ill with this Faubourg : he hail done either loo much
or too little, 24,— Anecdotes, 2S5.

INDEX. 313
Fontainebleau, (Palace of) The Emperor's opinion, who
thought highly of it, 1 56.
Gall. His system exposed by Napoleon, 68.
Grassini, (The beautiful Madame.) Anecdote, 20.
Guard, National, of Paris. Constantly evinced the yirtues'of
its station ; the love of order, devotion to authority, the fear
of pillage, and the hatred of anarchy, 144.
Gustavus III. (King of Sweden.) Was to have been the ge
neralissimo of the troops intended to support the emigrants. —
Declared his desire of fighting in person. — His expressions on
taking leave of the Princess de. Lamballe, 113. — Lived as a
private individual at Aix-la- Chapelle, under the name of Count
Haga, 166.
Gustavus IV. (King of Sweden.) The Emperor said he had at
the commencement of his career, given himself out for a hero,
but had ended it like a madman. — Had insulted Catherine the
Great when a youth, and the Emperor Alexander at a subse
quent period, 167- — Declared himself the great antagonist of
the, Emperor. — Dethroned by his subjects, 168. — After the
battle of Leipsic, offered his services to Napoleon as an aide-
de-camp, and requested an asylum in France, 169.
Illyria. It never was Napoleon's intention to keep it. — It was,
when in our hands, a vanguard in the heart of Austria ; a sen
tinel at the gates of Vienna, to force its cabinet to act honestly.
The Emperor only took it as a pledge, and had several plans
respecting it ; he thought of restoring it in exchange for G*l-
licia, 30.
Josephine, (The Empress.) Witnessed the commencement of
the campaign against Wurmser. — Wept much on leaving her
husband, who embraced her, saying, as if by inspiration,
"Wurmser shall pay dearly for those tears." — Obliged to pass
near Mantua, and fired on from the walls. —Received at Lucca
by the senate, and treated like a great princess, 182.
Joubert, (General) Had a profound veneration for Napoleon.
Took him for his model, — His death. — His portrait by Napo
leon, 259.
La Harpe. The Emperor considered his M^lanieill conceived :
vicious institutions are not to be attacked with vicious wea
pons, 86. :
Las Cas*,,s, (Count) His mission concerning the depots of
mendicity, 39. — Prosperity of France, 41. — Depots of mendi
city, 43. — Hospitals, 45. — Prisons, 47— Historical sketch of
Coblentz, 95.— Found himself at the Cape of Good Hope, in
the. custody of an inhabitant of Coblentz, 117.
Lavat na. The falsehood of his system, 69.
Louis XVI. According to Napoleon the most exeraplary of
private individuals, but a very poor king, 92.
Lowe, (Sir Hudson) Governor of St. Helena.) The1 Emperor

314 INDEX.
tells him, he thinks him capable of anything; that he is a
greater affliction to the captives than -all' the miseries of their
barren rock, 18. — Withholds a book sent to the Emperor by
an English Member of Parliament, because it was addressed,
in gold letters, to Napoleon the Great, 83. — Had never com-*
minded any but foreign deserters, the dregs and scum of
Europe, 220. — Very harshly treated by the Emperor on his
last visit, 22?. ;
Marie Antoinette. Napoleon says she would have been at
any time the ornament of private society ; but her levity, in
consistency, and limited capacity, had contributed, not a little,
to accelerate the catastrophe of the monarchy, 92. — Anecdote,
93.
Megrigny, (Madame de.) Teazed by the Emperor at a
masked ball, 146.
Mesmer. His system exposed, 67.
Mendicity. Remarks on depots, 43. — Much less common' in
poor and barren provinces than in rich abundant countries. —
The Emperor's observations, 44.— Benevolent establish
ments, 45.
Moli^re. The Emperor's opinion of the Tartufe, 229.
Moscow. His expressions on the burning of Moscow, 262. — *¦
Said the fictions on the burning of Troy were far from coming
up to the reality of that of Moscow, 263. — Description of
Moscow, and the conflagration, 268.
Napoleon, — His ideas respecting Cherbourg, 8. — Scheme of a
maritime war. — Thought to end it by a battle of Actium, 10.
¦ — Felt no repugnance towards the Commissioners of the Allies
at St. Helena ; not even toward the French Commissioner ;
he was French, an indestructible claim, in his sight, 19,— .On
his debut in Italy, excited an universal enthusiasm and ambi
tion.— -His fortune lay in his prudence.. — Madame Grassini,
20. — Madame V  , 21. — Said he had arranged matters ill
with the Faubourg St. Germain : that he had done too much
or too little, 24. — Collected ancient names about him ; those
which figured in French.history, as a means of speedily giving
the sanction of antiquity to modern institutions. — His first
idea had been to marry a French woman, which his ministers
prevented, by urging motives of policy, 26. — Reasons for his
' resumption of. monarchial forms, crosses, ribbons, &e. 28. —
Etiquette at Longwood, 29. — Convinced that the extirpation
of mendicity was possible, 32. — His intentions respecting
Illyria, 36. — Fatalities accumulated against him towards the
end of his career, 37- — His own observations on his law of
the . state prisons, 54.- — Positively asserted that the French
were in his time the freest nation in all Europe. — All the na
tions separated from the empire regret the loss of the laws by
which he formerly governed them, 57. — In his expedition to

INDEX. 315
Egypt, if he had been master of the sea, he would have been
master of the East, 59. — Had gained such an influence over
bis soldiers, that a mere order of the day would have sufficed
to induce them all to turn Mahometans, 61. — The desert had
always possessed charms to him. — The word Napoleon sig
nifies Lion of the Desert, 62, — Anecdote of a Chinese, 63.' —
Says to those about him that on returning into the world, they
were destined to become brothers for his sake, 64. — On
dreams and presentiments ; Cagliostro, Mesmer, Gall, Lava-
ter, &c. 66. — Accumulated vexations, 70.— Conversation with
Admiral Malcolm. Ought not sovereigns' to possess hearts ?
Iu defending his title of Emperor, he was defending the
honour of other sovereigns, 7S, — His court the most thagnifi-
cent ever seen, 80. — Expenses of his hunt ; table ; stable de
partment ; pages, 81, — -Convents; nuns; trappists; monks,
86. — Said he had never done any thing for the clergy but
they had given him cause to repent it, 89. — Had met with
reason to complain of the bishops he had himself appointed,
only; and not of the ancient bishops, 90. — Thought that after
his time, conscriptions of priests and nuns would perhaps be
seen in France instead of those of soldiers ; and the barracks
would be turned into convents and seminaries, 91. — Histori
cal sketch of the emigration, 95. — Things were ascribed to
mere prejudices, personal inclinations, and littleness in the
Emperor, which arose in reality only from profound views,
grand conceptions, and state maxims of the most elevated
description, 134. — His conversation with Count S . . . . on the
emigres, 135. — ^Sentimental journey to Nuitz, 139. — Before
the oath to the nation, the law, and the king, if he had re
ceived orders to turn his cannon against the people, he had no
doubt but that he should have obeyed ; but when he had once
taken the national oath, he would have regarded the people
only, 142. — An eye witness of the tenth of August. — Particu
lars thereof, 143, — Very fond of masked balls. — Addressed at
one every year by the same mask, who reminded him of
former intimacies, 145. — Liked to get himself affronted there.
Anecdotes, 146. — Favours conferred by him on several private
families, 147 •¦ — When any useful, curious or interesting idea
occurred to him, a question was proposed to the members of
the institute, who adopted or rejected it, 149. — Had construct
ed a great number of canals ; and projected many more, 150.
-i- Wished to have made Paris the capital of Europe, 152 ; —
Had Heaven permitted him to reign twenty years longer, a'nd
allowed him a litjtle leisure, h^ would have changed the face
of France— A world might be created by means of budgets,
153,— Often refused the fetes which the city of Paris wished
to give him ; proved that this useless expenditure would suffice
to erect magnificent durable monuments. All his power was

316 INDEX.
requisite to enable him to do good. Expended as much as
thirty millions in sewers for which no one will give him any
credit, 154. — At the foot as well as at the summit of the Alps,
on the sands of Holland, and on the banks of the Rhine, Na
poleon appears on every side. — -Thought of draining the Pon
tine marshes, 155. — Intended only to have prepared the
ground for the palace of the king of Rome, and wOuld have
proceeded no farther. — Anecdote. — Had found it extremely
difficult to make his system of budgets understood, 158. —
On his journies to Fontainebleau from twelveto fifteen hundred
persons were invited and accommodated with lodgings and
furniture; above three thousand people dined there, 159. —
Regretted that he had not had the histories of all the nations
in Europe, from the time of Louis XIV., drawn up from the
original documents in the foreign office. — Once wrote to
Selim, 161. — His answer, 162. — Had he been able, when in
Egypt, to unite the Mamelukes with his French troops, he
would have looked upon himself as master of the world, 16?.
— The Regency one of the most hideous periods of our an
nals, 163. — Gustavus IV. offers himself to Napoleon as his
aide-de-camp, 169. — The Swedes request him to give them a
king, 170, — Had over -rated the importance of having a
Frenchman ou the throne of Sweden, 171. — Felt an instinc
tive presentiment which rendered Bernadotte's election dis
agreeable to him, 1 72. — Had found a clue to the character of
the Emperor Paul, 174. — Letter to Bernadotte on his conti
nental system, 175. — His ^patrimonial vine; disposed of it
in favour of his nurse, 179. — Gave his patrimonial house to
the Romalino family, 180. — His nurse ; she came to Paris ;
charmed the whole family, and had a long interview with the
Pope, 181. — The soldiers of a palace terrible and dangerous.
During the consulate, Paul frequently wrote to him, 184. —
Often repeated that he had never felt either his head or
stomach, 185. — Fatalities of the campaign of Russia, 188. —
Addressed by Madame de Stael. The first womanin the world
is she who has had the most children, 192.— On religion, 199.
— Had met with great resistance in his endeavours to restore
the Catholic worship ; would have been more willingly fol
lowed if he had raised the protestant banner, 201. — Francis I.
well situated for adopting Protestantism, 203. — Remarks on
the Pope, 207. — Drew the famous Concordat of Fontainebleau
from him, merely by the force of his conversation, 210. — Tries
to persuade the Pope by arguments, but in vain, 212. — His
intentions with regard to religion and the Pope, in case he had
returned victorious from Moscow ; would have re-instated
the Pope, surrounded him with honours and splendour, and
made Paris the capital of the Christian world, 214. — The
legal directions of ecclesiastical affairs had always been the

INDEX. 317
object of his meditation and wishes, 216. — Warm convers
ation with the Governor, 219. — Said that should he be hungry,
he would go and take his seat at the table of the brave 53d.,
221. — Napoleon will remain the subject of history and the
star of civilized nations, 222. — Said that the most infamous
libels never hurt him, but when there was any thing ap
proaching to truth he instantly felt the desire to defend him
self, 225. — His protest against the treaty of the second of
August. — Had purposely omitted to mention the treaty of
Fontainebleau. — Said he disclaimed that treaty, and why. —
Called himself a piece of rock launched into space, 226. —
On general S  n's work, 228. — Opinion of the Tartufe,
229. — Did not remember having once taken medicine at
the Tuileries. — Had no faith in medicine. — Not so with re
spect to surgery. — Had thrice commenced courses of anatomy,
but business and disgust had interrupted them, 234. — Official
answer to the Governor concerning the Commissioners of the
Allies, and the embarrassments of his budget, 241. — On the
burning of Moscow, 262. — What he would have done if
Moscow had not been burnt, 263. — A peace made in Moscow
would have completed and terminated his warlike operations.
He would then have had his congress and his holy alliance.
Would have become the natural mediator between the old
and new orders of things, 264. — Would have placed his glory
in his equity. — Would have desired an European code, a court
of cassation for all Europe, the same money, the same weights
and measures, the same laws. — Europe would thus have be
come but one people, 265. — His dictatorship would have ter
minated, and the constitutional reign Of his son would have
commenced. — -Would have associated him with himself in the
empire. — Paris would have been the capital of the world, and
the French the envy of all nations. — His leisure would have
been spent in visiting every corner of the empire, with the
empress, and by easy journies, like a true country couple,
scattering benefits and creating monuments in every direction,
267. — His maritime quarrel with England, 284. — Had forced
the Americans to fight the English, by connecting their in
terest with their rights, 285. — Observations on the battle of
Waterloo, 286.
Navy. Napoleon's ideas and intentions with respect to the
ports of France, and to the Navy in general, ,12.
Paris. The Emperor wished to have made it the true capital
of Europe ; something fabulous, colossal, unknown before
our times, 152.
Paul I. (Emperor of Russia) His fury occasioned by the dis
honorable conduct of the English ministry. — His indignation
on the denial of the English that they had promised him

318 INDEX.
Malta. — Thrust his sword through the despatches of the Eng-
, lish ministry. — The English refusing to include in their ex
change, the Russian prisoners taken in Holland, in their ser
vice, Napoleon takes advantage of the circumstance, new
clothes them, and sends them back to Paul, who from that
moment is entirely devoted to him, 174. — It has been
thought, observed the Emperor, that this attachment was
fatal to him, 175.^0ften wrote to the First Consul, 184.
Pius VII. Was desirous of obtaining from Napoleon, as a re
compense for his coming to France and crowning him, his
signature to the declaration by Which Louis XIV. disapproved
of the famous articles of 16S2, the foundation, of the liberties
of the Gallican church, 207. — It was by the mere power of
his private conversation that, Napoleon drew from him the
celebrated Concordat of Fontainebleam — The Emperor con
sidered him a lamb, a really worthy man, whom he greatly
loved and esteemed, 210. — His change of proceedings, 212.
— Causes of his last journey to France, 213.
Piedmontese. The Emperor said he had a particular affection
for that province. — That the Piedmontese did not like to be
a small state, 148.
Prisons. Comforts of those of England.— Difference of ours
which are dreadful abodes. — Persons merely suspected placed
there amongst the greatest criminals, 47.— State prisoners,
54. — Napoleon's observations on his law of the state prisons,
55. — At the time of his fall they contained only two hundred
and fifty individuals. He found nine thousand state prisoners,
when he became Consul, 56.
• Puyseour. Attacked by the Emperor at one of his public au
diences ; refutation of magnetism aiid somnambulism, 67 <
Roquelaure, (Archbishop) The Emperor's opinion of, 90,
¦Russia. Napoleon ask* whether Peter the Great acted wisely
in founding a capital at Petersburg. Arguments on the sub-
. ject, 261.
Santini, (Usher of the Emperor's charttber) Wanted ta kill the
Governor, and himself afterwards. — The Emperor could not,
he said, divert him from his resolution without employing his
whole authority, imperial and pontifical^ 84.-
S  n, (General.) The Emperor's remarks on his work. —
He had deserted from the camp at Boulogne, carrying all
Napoleon's secrets to the English. — On Napoleon's returning
to the isle of Elba, wrote to the Emperor with a tender of his
services ; but was arrested and ought to have been shot, 228.
S. . . ., (Count.) Conversation with the Emperor, 135.— Proof
he gives of the great and excellent qualities and heart of Na
poleon, 137- — Anecdote of a crowd1 of kings, 138.
Selim III, (Emperor of the Turks) The Emperor once wrote
to him, 161. — His answer, 162.

INDEX. 319
Soult, (Marshal.) Described by the Emperor as an excellent
director, a good war-minister, 228.
Stael, (Madame de) Has described herself too faithfully in
her Corinna. — The Emperor displeased with her for having
decried the French in her romance, 190. — Ardent in her pas
sions. — Letter read by the police, 191. — Banished. — Fought
with one hand and solicited with the other — The First Consul
causes her to be informed, that he leaves her the whole uni
verse to carry on her operations in, with the exception of
Paris, which he reserves to himself, and forhids her to approach.
— Wished, during the imperial reign, to be a lady of the
bedchamber, 194.
S . . . . , (Baroness.) A Frenchwoman, wife to the Austrian Com
missioner at St. Helena, 230.
Talleyrand, (Prince) Urgently pressed the Emperor to make
peace after his return from Leipsic. — Blamed Napoleon's
speech to the senate. — Approved that to the legislative body.
— Constantly repeated to Napoleon that he deceived himself
with regard to the energy of the nation ; that it would not
second his efforts, but desert him, 189. — Tenth of August,
account of the disturbances of that day, by the Emperor,
who had witnessed them, 144.
Versailles. .•.Thft Emperor; satys U. was an error of Louis XIV.
to undertake the erection of Versailles, 155. — Napoleon blam
ed himself for the sums he had lavished, on that palace, 157.
— In his gigantic ideas with respect to Paris, thought to make
some use of it, to bring it in as a kind of suburb to the great
capital. — Instead of the nymphs of its groves, he would have
substituted panoramas of all the capitals which had been en
tered by our victorious troops, and of all the celebrated battles
which have added glory to the French arms, 160.
Voisins, (de, bishop of Nantes) Had rendered the Emperor
a true Catholic, through the prudence of his reasoning, his ex
cellent morality, and his enlightened tolerance. — His answer
to Marie Louise, who consulted him with respect to the ne
cessity of fasting on Fridays, and on a public communion at
Easter, 204. — Had been the firmest support of the liberties
of the Gallican church. — " He was my oracle, my light,"
said the Emperor ; "he possessed my implicit confidence in
religious matters," 206.
Waterloo. Observations on that battle, dictated by Napoleon,
286.

END OF THE FIFTH FART.

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