Napoleon in Exile, a Voice from St. Helena Volume 2 of 2

11TH.—NAPOLEON COMPLAINED OF RHEUMATIC PAINS and slight headache, which he attributed, and with reason, to the dampness of the climate and the house. “Every evening,” said he, “when I leave my little sitting-room, where there is a fire, and enter my sleeping-room, where there is none, I experience a sensation as if I were going into a damp cellar. If it were not for the room that Cockburn built, which is light, any, and built of dry wood, where I walk about and exercise, I should have been under ground before now. But that is, I suppose, what your oligarchy wants, and is of piece with their treatment of the prisoners in the pontons, an act the most cruel as well as the most impolitic that was ever practiced. Nothing ever done by your ministers enraged the French and other nations against them so much as their system of pontons. If humanity were out of the question, good policy ought to have made them treat prisoners well. It is incredible what effect the good treatment of prisoners in France had upon other nations, especially the Russians and Germans, I often experienced it to my advantage, as thousands of them threw down their arras, who otherwise would have fought desperately, saying, ‘We will go into Bourgogne to drink good wine.’”

I observed, that latterly in the prison-ships in England there was less mortality than amongst those confined in the depots on shore, which was a proof that they were not ill-treated, because sickness and deaths always followed the ill treatment of prisoners. Napoleon replied, “The most barbarous and unnatural measure ever adopted by one nation against another, was that of putting poor wretches who were not brought up to the sea, on board of ships, there to remain ten or twelve years without stirring out or walking upon the grass, exposed to the stink of the mud at low water, and huddled up as they were. It was a crying injustice, and one which, marker, will yet be revenged upon the English nation. Of the prisoners in France, I, will their own consent formed battalions of pioneers, who labored on the fortresses and other public works, for which they were paid a certain sum daily. Amongst them, there were some English. Directly afterwards, a letter was sent by order of the English government, to know if it v/ere true that Englishmen were made to work as pioneers, expressing great anger, and desiring that it might be immediately put a stop to. I ordered an answer to be returned, stating, that an offer had been made to all the prisoners in France, that a certain number of them would be permitted to volunteer to work as pioneers, for which they would receive so much pay daily. That it was not made to the English in particular. No force was employed, and that some English, amongst others, had volunteered to work, for which they were paid; that I begged the English government would do the same with any prisoners of mine who would volunteer. However, they would not allow the Frenchmen to work; I suppose your oligarchy was afraid they would disseminate their principles of equality amongst the people of England.”

He then made some remarks upon the Manuscrit venu de Helene, and observed, that there was such an ignorance of chronological events displayed in it, such as putting the battle of

Jena after Tilsit, and others of a similar nature, and so many mistakes as to time and place, that it would make a corporal in the old French army laugh. “Notwithstanding this,” added he, “it was written by a man of esprit* though in several passages he appears not to have had sense coming. In some places, his assertion of the motives which actuated me is correct. What he says on the subject of my nobility is correct. What he says about my intentions and wishes to do away with everything which had been established since Charlemagne, is also right. That the nobility I formed was that of the people is true, as I took the son of a peasant, and made him a duke or a marshal, when I found that he had talents. That I wanted to introduce system of general equality, is true, and that every person should be eligible to every situation, provided he had talents to fill it, whatever his birth might be. That I wanted to do away with all the ancient prejudices of birth is also correct. That I labored to establish a government of the people, which, though her was still that of the people, is also true. That I ought to have deposed for my own security, when I had it in my power, the house of Brandenburgh, and all the ancient orders of sovereigns; and that they almost always combined against and attacked me, is also right. Probably I ought to have done so, and I should have succeeded. It is true that I wished to establish a government of the people. It is a work which will much displease the oligarchy, because they do not wish that any person, except one of themselves, should be eligible for any important situation. With their will, birth and not talents or capability should regulate the choice. A worse a more despotic or unforgiving government than an oligarchy never existed. Offend them once, you are never pardoned, and no treatment can be toe cruel for you when in their power. The pamphlet is written with that lightness peculiar to Frenchmen, and consequently contains many mistakes. The Edinburgh Review will find out directly that I am not the author of it. La Revue d’ Edinburgh le coulera en bas. They will take it to pieces as I have done. The editors of it will probably make similar remarks to those in the notes, I made yesterday, probably not so strong, in consequence of not being so well acquainted with the secrets as I am, I see by the sketch they have published of my life, that they take pains to ascertain the truth. Most of it is true; and it is difficult for me to imagine from whence they had their information on some parts of my early life, which were very little known to any except to my own family.”

Speaking about the badness of the house, and the offer said to have been made by Sir Hudson Lowe to build a new one, Napoleon observed that he had only refused the offer of making additions to the present wretched old house of Longwood, and the design to build another on that miserable situation. “The governor,” said he, “asked me if I had heard that wood had arrived to build a new house, but that I must not believe that a house had been sent out; that I might perhaps have seen such an assertion in the papers; but that only materials had come out. I told him that I did not believe what I saw in the papers; more especially anything relating to myself. He said, that if I made choice of a spot to build a house upon, I might have it but on

condition that it was approved of by him; without which I could not have it where I pleased. I was not so silly as not to have known this before. He then made an offer of building additions, but with a very bad grace. I told him, that I did not wish to subject myself to the inconvenience of having workmen continually to annoy me with their noise. That the English government ought to provide me with a house already built, and not one to be built. After this, he wrote a letter to Montholon on the same subject, who replied by ray desire, that if he intended to build a new house for us, let it be built in a place where there was shade and water. Nothing could be more plain than this. It is a fine prospect certainly that he now holds out. With all the activity of Cockburn, the construction of a new house would take three years, and with this man, I dare say six; and that a house might be healthy, it ought not to be inhabited for eighteen months after being built. I shall be dead long before that time. This I also told him. Plantation House is the only one in the island fit for me. The governor having a house himself in town, could easily retire there for six months, until the improvements were made here, and having the command of everything himself, without being obliged to ask permission from anybody, he could soon render this habitable for some months in the year, which is all that it is adapted for. He could retire to town in the winter season.”

Napoleon then said, that the English servants in the house had laughed at the French for eating lentils, and asserted, that in England they fed horses with what the French eat here. He laughed very heartily while saying this; and at an anecdote which I related about Dr. Johnson, who, I informed him, had, in, the first edition of his English dictionary, defined oats to be “food for horses in England, and for men in Scotland.”

Count Montholon called Captain Blakeney and myself this day to look at the state of his apartments. The rooms, especially the countess’s bedroom, the children’s room, and bath-room, were certainly in a shocking state, from the extreme humidity of the place. The walls were covered with green fur and mold; damp and cold to the touch, notwithstanding the fires which were constantly kept In them. I never saw a human habitation in a more moldy or humid state, in which opinion the orderly officer agreed.

8th —Saw Napoleon, who informed me, that after I had left him yesterday, he had found himself very unwell with head-ache and general pains in his limbs; and had taken a warm bath, which had been very beneficial to him.

He was in very good spirits, spoke for a long time about the Manascrit de St. Helene, and observed, that it must have been written on a person who had heard him reason, and was acquainted with his tide? He added, that he thought he knew the author, whom he tipped to be a man who had figured in the revolution, and now lived retired.

He asked many questions about the number of bottles of wine we had...