216 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



separate house and establishment. In manner of speech, in habits, 

 and in outlook she was so unchanged from the time of her youth in 

 Corsica that it might well have seemed as if she had never left Ajaccio. 

 She tried to have Pons removed from his post, to be replaced by a Cor- 

 sican. When two companies, one Genoese the other Corsican, com- 

 peted for a monopoly in Elba in respect to the export of minerals, 

 she worked to secure the privilege for the Corsican. Her servants, her 

 cooking, her mode of life were Italian. She rarely invited anyone 

 to her table, and rarely went out except to spend her evenings with her 

 son. Napoleon's sister, the Princess Borghese, "the nymph Pauline" 

 was of quite another type. She was in spirit a Pagan Greek. Not- 

 withstanding the manifold scandals of her private life she was loyally 

 devoted to her brother and her generous and impulsive nature possessed 

 great charm. She could not be happy without trying to make those 

 about her happy. At the Mulini she turned a former stable into a 

 theatre and trained a company of amateur players. The little theatre 

 has now relapsed into its primitive condition. 



It was a strange gathering of people whom Napoleon collected 

 about him. General Drouot, the director of military affairs, was a 

 man of great rectitude of character. He was very devout and, to the 

 surprise, almost to the scandal, of his fellow officers, carried the Bible 

 with him and constantly read it. As a soldier Drouot was something 

 of a martinet. He had, indeed, his softer side and, though he was 

 already becoming a grey-haired veteran, he fell in love with a young 

 Elban lady. When, however, he wrote to his mother to announce his 

 happiness, her reply was- to forbid the marriage, and filial piety led 

 him to obey the admonition. The feelings of the jilted young lady 

 were soothed and in the end she made a prosperous union. Every 

 kind of person haunted Porto Ferraio. Old companions in arms came 

 looking for work; persons with grievances threw petitions into Napo- 

 leon's carriage ; one woman threw herself under the feet of his horse to 

 ensure attention; women of rank, some of them English, came to see 

 and admire the great man ; courtesans came to ogle him ; and assassins, 

 dressed sometimes as officers or priests, lay in wait to kill him. Less 

 and less as time went on did Elba seem to be the island of the blessed. 



At first, however. Napoleon seemed perfectly content in Elba. 

 For more than two years he had scarcely known rest. After the strain 

 and horror of the Russian campaign, after the succession of terrible 

 battles with the allies which had followed and which had brought his 

 ruin in the end, Elba may well have seemed a paradise of quiet for a 

 tired man. Exhausted nature craved for repose and repose was all 

 the more delightful because he had come to Elba in the beauty of the 

 spring time. But we all know that for men accustomed to active life 



