Wtirden's Letters 



pagnte and support erroneous, and even 

 viulent, opinions; but the love of justice 

 iiiid of truth forms the genuine character 

 of nil Kiii^lishman.''' — " Nevertheless,'' 

 lie observed, "you appear to hniidte my 

 character rather rouglily : and more so, 

 since I have been in your power." My 

 candid sentiments and unreserved lan- 

 guage appeared, however, to meet my 

 auditor*^ approbation ; and he asked mci 

 to my great surprire, if I remenibercd 

 the history of Citptain Wright. — I an- 

 swered, *' Perfectly well ; and it is a pre- 

 vailing; opinion in Enf>land, that you or- 

 dered hini to be murdered in the Temple." 

 —With the utmost rapidity of speech, 

 he replied, "for wliut ohjeci? Of all 

 men he was the person whom I should 

 liave inoi-t desired to live. Whence 

 cpuld I have procured so valuable an 

 evidence as he would have proved on the 

 trial of the conspirators in and about 

 Paris. The heads of it he himself had 

 landed on the French coast." My cu- 

 riosity was at this inomeiit such as to be 

 betrayed in my looks.— " Listen," con- 

 tinued Napoleon, " ami you shall hear. 

 Tlie English brig of war, commanded by 

 Captain Wright, was employed by your 

 government in landing traitors and spies 

 on the west coast of France. ' Seventy 

 of the number had actually reached 

 Paris; and, so mysterious were their pro- 

 ceedings, so veiled in impenetrable con- 

 cealment, that although General Ryal, of 

 the Police, gave me this information, the 

 name or place of their resort could not be 

 discovered. I received daily assurances 

 tliat my life would be attempted, and, 

 though I did not give entire credit to 

 them, I took every precaution for my 

 preservati'm. The brig was afterwards 

 taken near L'Orieiit, with Captain 

 ^Vright, its commander, who was carried 

 before the prefect of the department of 

 Klorbeau, at Vaniies: General Julian, 

 then prefect, had accompanied me in 

 the expedition to Egypt, and recognised 

 Cafitsifi Wright on tlie first view of him. 

 Intelligence of this circumstance was in- 

 stantly iraiismiited lo Paris; and instruc- 

 tions were expeditiously returned to in- 

 terrogate the crew, separately, and 

 transfer their testimonies to the minister 

 of police. 'I'he purport of their exami- 

 nation was at fir^jt very unsatisfactory; 

 but, at Icitgih, on the examiimtion of one 

 of the crew, some light was thrown on 

 the subject. He stated that the brig 

 iiad lauded several Frenchmen, and 

 aitiong.theiii he particularly remembered 

 «i)«,a very merry follow, who was called 

 Bick£iff:a. Xbus a qlu^ wfis found that 



on NapoIeon» .^01 



led to the discovery of a plot, which, had 

 it succeeded, wi>uld have thrown the 

 French nation, a second time, into a 

 state of revolution. — Captain Wright 

 was accordingly conveyed to Paris, and 

 confined in the Temple; there to reiriain 

 till it was found convenient to biing tha 

 formidable accessaries of this treasnnabia 

 design to trial. The law of France 

 would have subjected Wright to ths 

 punishment of death : but he was of 

 minor consideration. My grand object 

 was to secure the principals, and I con- 

 sidered the English captain's evidence of 

 the utmost consequence towards coW' 

 pleating my object." — He again and agaitf 

 most solemnly asserted, that Captain 

 Wright died, in the Temple, by his owh* 

 hand, as described in the Moniteur, anti 

 at a much earlier period than has been 

 generally believed. — At the same timel 

 he stated, that his assertion was foundea 

 on documents which he bad since eii" 

 amined. The cause of this enquiry arose 

 from the visit, I think he said, of Lord 

 Ebrington to Elba, and he odded, "that 

 nobleman appeared to be perfectly satisi' 

 fied with the account which was givcyk , 

 him of this mysterious business." "'■■' 



And now, to my utter astonishment, ti^' 

 entered upon the event of the Dufx' 

 D'Engkiai's death. This was a topic 

 that could not be expected; and particu> 

 larly by me, as tl>ere appeared eveit* 

 among hiirfollowers, who were always o»j' 

 tip-toe to be his apologists, nil evasive^ 

 silence or contradictory statements,wheiwi 

 ever this afflicting event became t|)B/ 

 subject of enquiry, which had occasipij- j 

 ally happened, during the course of outr' 

 voyage. Here Napoleon becanie very 

 animated, and often raised himself on the ' 

 sofa, where he had hitherto remained in a 7 

 reclining posture. The interest attached 

 to the subject, and the energy of his de-rr 

 livery, combined to impress the tenop-qf 

 his narrative so strongly on my miiid, thav 

 you need not doubt the accuracy of thisj;,' 

 representation of ir.-i-He began as foL" 

 lows. ' ■■■■' , ^'.Jl*^ 



" At this eventful period of my life, I 

 had succeeded in restoring' order an4, 

 tranquillity to a kingdom torn asunder by*" 

 faction, and deluged in blood. Tha^^,''' 

 nation had placed me at their head, X '^ 

 came not as your Cromwell did, or yout^^ 

 Third Richard. No such iliiiig.— .Tr'^' 

 found a crown in the kennel 5 I cleansed '\ 

 it from Its filth, and placed it on my headi!- ," 

 My safety now became iieceisary,topre^ ^jj 

 serve that tianquilhty so recently re-'*' 

 stored ; and, liitherto, so sati8factorJI»*^* 

 piesecved^Bs the lending charafters of.^i'>, 

 / . V /ia{,oji 



