19

corner of the field upon which full light has not yet been shed. 'One circumstance,' says he, 'remains to be noticed. Of the last three years of Napoleon's life we know scarcely anything. From the departure of Gourgaud in March 1818 to the end of May 1821 we know practically nothing. We know what the English outside reported. We have an authorised, but not very trustworthy, record from within. But, in reality, we know nothing.'

Now it is no ignoble curiosity that makes one wish to draw the veil further aside. There is nothing tempting in the tittletattle which circles so busily about the privacy of the great. But, knowing how Napoleon bore himself in his power, one longs to follow him reverently among the shadows. Come and see how a Marshal of France dies!' cried Ney in the supreme agony of Waterloo; yet death came not then, nor, when it came a little later, was it one befitting a Marshal of France; but we are privileged to see how an Emperor of the French draws near to death.

The following extracts are from unpublished letters and journals of English ladies and gentlemen. The originals were collected after Napoleon's death and copied into three books by Miss Margaretta Pleydell, whose great-grand-niece, Miss Dorothy Mansel-Pleydell, has been at the pains of making a fresh copy with a view to publication. As they cover the period indicated by Lord Rosebery as wanting in record, it is thought that the present is a fitting opportunity to lay the most interesting passages before the public.

I.

[Sir George Bingham, K.C.B., commanded the 53rd Regiment, which remained in garrison at St. Helena during the first three years of Napoleon's captivity. He sailed with Napoleon in the Northumberland and kept a diary during the voyage, from which the following extracts have been made.]

Monday, August 7th, 1815.-Early in the morning the luggage of Napoleon came on board, and several servants and persons of his suite to prepare the cabin that was to receive him. About 2 o'clock he left the Bellerophon and came alongside the Northumberland, accompanied by Lord Keith. The guard turned out and presented arms, and all the officers stood on the quarter-deck to receive Lord Keith. Napoleon chose to take the

compliment to himself. He was dressed in a plain green uniform, with plain epaulets, white kerseymere waistcoat and breeches, silk stockings, and small gold shoebuckles; his hair out of powder and rather greasy; his person corpulent; his neck short, and his tout ensemble not at all giving an idea that he had been so great, or in fact was such an extraordinary man.

He bowed at first coming on deck, and having spoken to the Admiral,' asked for the Captain of the ship. In passing towards the cabin he inquired who I was. The Captain introduced me; he then inquired the number of the regiment where I had served, and if the 53rd was to go to St. Helena with him. He then repeated to an officer of artillery the same questions. From him he passed to Lord Lowther, to whom he addressed several questions, after which he retired to the cabin. The Admiral, who was anxious that he should as early as possible be brought to understand that the cabin was not allotted to him solely, but was a sort of public apartment, asked Lord Lowther, Mr. Lyttleton, and myself to walk in. Napoleon received us standing. The Lieutenants of the ships were brought in and introduced, but not one of them spoke French; so they bowed and retired, and we remained. Mr. Lyttleton, who spoke French fluently, answered his questions; after we were tired of standing we retired. Half an hour afterwards he came on deck and entered into conversation with Mr. Lyttleton; he spoke with apparent freedom and great vivacity, but without passion. He rather complained of his destination, saying it had been his intention to have lived in a retired manner in England, had he been permitted to have done so. He replied freely to several questions put to him by Mr. Lyttleton relative to what had happened in Spain and other parts. This interesting conversation lasted at least an hour, at the end of which we retired.

At six o'clock dinner was announced; he ate heartily, taking up both fish and meat frequently with his fingers; he drank claret out of a tumbler mixed with a very little water. Those of his attendants who were received at the Admiral's table were Bertrand (Grand Marshal), the Countess his wife, Montholon (General of Brigade and A.D.C.), and Las Cases, wearing the uniform of a Captain in the Navy, but called a Councillor of State. The discourse was on general and trifling subjects, after which he talked to the Admiral about Russia and its climate, and of 'Sir George Cockburn.

Moscow without seeming to feel the subject; he spoke as if he had been an actor only, instead of the author of all those scenes which cost so much bloodshed.

We rose immediately after dinner, and the Admiral begged me to attend Napoleon. He walked forward to the forecastle, where the men of the 53rd Regiment and the Artillery were on the booms. They rose and took off their caps as he passed; he appeared to like the compliment, and said he was formerly in the Artillery. I answered, 'Yes, you belonged to the Regiment De La Fère,' on which he pinched my ear with a smile, as if pleased to find I knew so much of his history. He walked for some time, and then asked us in to play cards; we sat down to vingt-un.

He showed me his snuffbox, on which were inlaid four silver antique coins, with a gold one on the side. Madame Bertrand told me he had found these himself at Rome. He did not play high at cards, and left about fifty francs to be distributed amongst the servants. The latter part of the evening he appeared thoughtful, and at a little past ten he retired for the night.

Tuesday 8th.-The weather was squally, and there was a heavy sea; most of the party were affected by the motion of the vessel. Napoleon did not make his appearance.

Wednesday 9th.-Napoleon at dinner asked many questions, but appeared in low spirits. He brightened up afterwards, and came on deck, and asked if among the midshipmen there were any who could speak French; one of them had been at Verdun, and understood it a little. The Captain of Marines appeared on deck; he inquired who he was, and where he had served; when he told him he had been at Acre, he appeared particularly pleased. He talked a good deal with this officer, walking the deck with his hands behind him. At eight o'clock he retired to the cabin and played cards, at which he lost, and observed that good fortune. had of late forsaken him. About ten o'clock he retired for the night.

Thursday 10th.-Napoleon did not appear till dinner-time; he was affected by the motion of the vessel, and said very little. He made an attempt to play at cards, but was obliged to give it up and retire early.

Friday 11th.-Blowing weather, and Bonaparte invisible the whole day.

Saturday 12th.-Napoleon made his appearance early, and looked better than usual; he walked the deck, supporting himself

on my arm.

How little did I ever think, when I used to consider him one of the first generals in the world, that he would ever have taken my arm as a support! He spoke but little at dinner. but conversed half an hour afterwards with the Admiral. At cards this evening he was evidently affected with the motion of the ship, and retired early.

Sunday 13th.--The Chaplain dined with the Admiral. Napoleon asked a number of questions relative to the reformed religion. He did not display much knowledge of the tenets of our Church, or of the English history at the period of the Reformation.

He played with his attendants at cards as usual: the English did not join.

Monday 14th.-Napoleon asked at dinner a number of questions relative to the Cape, and whether any communication was carried on by land with any other part of Africa by means of caravans. His information on these, as well as on other topics connected with geography, appeared very limited; and he asked questions that any well-educated Englishman would have been ashamed to have done. The evening passed off with cards as usual.

Tuesday 15th.-Napoleon's birthday. The Admiral complimented him on the occasion, and his attendants appeared in dress uniforms.

After dinner a long conversation took place, which turned on the intended invasion of England. He asserted that it was always his intention to have attempted it. For this purpose he sent Villeneuve with his fleet to the West Indies, with orders to refresh at one of the French isles, to return without loss of time, and immediately to push up the Channel, taking with him the Brest fleet as he passed. It was supposed that this trip would have withdrawn the attention of our fleets. Twenty thousand men were ready at Boulogne to embark at a moment's notice. Under cover of this fleet he calculated he could have debarked this army in twenty-four hours.

The landing was to have taken place as near London as possible; he was to have put himself at the head of it, and have

In 1805, Villeneuve was ordered to take the Toulon fleet to the West Indies, in order to lure Nelson, who had been watching him for eighteen months, across the Atlantic. Villeneuve, giving Nelson the slip in March, obtained a start of six weeks with eighteen sail of the line. Nelson followed with ten sail of the line, and upon his approach to Martinique Villeneuve declined battle and returned to Europe.

made a push for the capital. He added: 'I put all to the hazard; I entered into no calculation as to the manner in which I was to return; I trusted all to the impression the occupation of the capital would have occasioned. Conceive then my disappointment when I found that Villeneuve, after a drawn battle with Calder, had stood for Cadiz-he might as well have gone back to the West Indies. I made one further attempt to get my fleet into the Channel; but Nelson destroyed it at the battle of Trafalgar, and I then, as you know, fell with my whole force on Austria, who was unprepared for this sudden attack, and you remember how well I succeeded.'

At cards this evening he was successful, winning nearly eighty napoleons; he evidently tried to lose it again. He was in good spirits at the idea of success on his birthday, having been always of an opinion that some days are more fortunate than others. It was nearly eleven o'clock when he left the card-table.

Wednesday 16th.--Bonaparte did not appear till dinner-time; he was in good spirits, and asked as usual a variety of questions. After dinner, in his walk with the Admiral, he was quite loquacious, having, besides his usual allowance of wine (two tumblers of claret), drunk one of champagne, and some bottled beer. He said he apprehended that the means of sending him to St. Helena might have fatal consequences; he hinted that the people of France and Italy were so much attached to him that they might revenge it by the massacre of the English; he acknowledged, however, that he thought his life safe with the English, which it might not have been had it been entrusted to the Austrians or Prussians.

Of this life he appears tenacious; one of his valets de chambre sleeps constantly in his apartment; nor does it appear, either from his own accounts or those of his attendants, that he was very prodigal of it at the battle of Waterloo, certainly the most interesting one of his life, and on which his future destiny turned. Not one of his personal staff was wounded, and had he been in the thickest of the fight, as Wellington was, they could not have escaped. But to return to the conversation. He said that after the Austrian war Beauharnais and the people about him told him it was

'Eugène de Beauharnais, step-son of Napoleon, Viceroy of Italy and Prince of Venice; strange advice to come from the son of Josephine!