Warden'' s Letters 



end I was thinking how lo get rid of the 

 subject, which had a tendency to be nn 

 awkward one, as it mivht be addressed to 

 me. He, however, gave me no time, 

 and proceeded to draw comparisons he- 

 tweeit his late and his present ^iiardisin ; 

 but in a vein of pleasantry, as it ap- 

 peared, and with such a rapid succession 

 jof ideas, that I did not, by any means, 

 comprehend his expressions, ur the ob- 

 jects of them. 



ANOTirER. 



T happened to be at Longwood, wlien 

 Air, Raiilles, the late governor of Java 

 and his suite, obtained permission to vi'^it 

 ihe grounds at Lon|{wo<id. The anxiety 

 of that grntleinan to see Bonaparte was 

 extreme: his curiosity was a perlect rage, 

 and the utmost was done to accomplish 

 its gratificJitioii. In short, tiiongli iiulis- 

 posiiion might have been pleaded, an 

 hour was appointed by the ex-einperor 

 to receive the ex-governor ; and the latter 

 had not ivords to express his delight at 

 the manner in which he had been re* 

 ceived. 



In a short time' after Mr. Raffles had 

 taken leave, I received a message fmni 

 Napoleon to join him in the garden. On 

 my arrival there, I found him »urro)mded 

 by his whole suite, Mesdanies and Mes- 

 sieurs, with the carriage drawn up, sad- 

 dle-horses by it, and all ready for iinine. 

 diate departure. My appearance, how- 

 ever, disarranged their inieiuion : for, in- 

 stead of stepping into the carriage, the 

 principal person of the scene turned 

 round as if to address me. I bowed, re- 

 moved my hat from my head, and in- 

 stantly replaced it: while the marshals, 

 counts, and generals stood with their hats 

 under their arms. That circumstance 

 did not altogether disturb me; though 

 my gallantry was somewhat embarrns«ed 

 on account of the ladies, uhose petticoats 

 were blowing about them from a smart, 

 bnd rather unmannerly breeze, — "Do 

 you know," he said, "this governor of 

 Java ?" — ■' 1 know no more of him than 

 from the introduction of to-day." — " Do 

 you know any thing of that island ?"-— 

 "What I know of it is niertly fioin the 

 ioforcnation of others,"— -"'I'he Dutch 

 have represented it as a pestilential cli- 

 mate; but I believe that, a more favour, 

 able opinion is now entertaintd ot it," — 

 "I believe so: at least we have not found 

 il so bad as, fioni previous accounts, we 

 had reason to expect," — " Have you ever 

 seen a case of the plague ?"—" Never." 

 —"Do you know the disease?" — "My 



fitly knowledge of it proceeds Ironi what 

 iiavt ;ead,"— Xiie ariiiv ol %vpt 6uL 

 3 



on Napoleon. COf 



fered much by it; and I h.td soiue dif' 

 ticiilty in supporting die spirits of many 

 of those who remained free from it. Yet 

 for two years I contrived to keep my sol- 

 diers ignorant of what I myself knew. 



The disease can only he communicated 

 through the organs of respiration."-^— •£ 

 replied, that, "I liad understood actii^ 

 contact would convey H ,'*— -No ;" he said, 

 "I visited the hospital constantly, and 

 touched the bodies ot the sick to give 

 Confidence to their attendants; being 

 convinced by observation, that ihe dis- 

 ease could only be communicated by the 

 lungs. At the same time I always took 

 the (irf caution of visiting after a meal 

 and a few glasses of vnne ; placing myself 

 on the side of the int'ecied person from 

 v\Jiich the wind blew." — We must have 

 been at least twenty minutes in coiiver* 

 sation, with the suite in all the forinaiity 

 of attendance, when I thought it proper 

 to make some show of retiring; but he 

 would not take the hint, for a consi- 

 derable time. At length he made % 

 slight bow, and led Madame Bertrand ta 

 the carriage: he (ollowed; and I stood to 

 see them drive off. Observing, however, 

 that there was a vacant seat in the car- 

 riage, he liailed me to come and take a 

 ride vvith thetn: I, of course, accepted 

 the invitation; and I declare, if it had 

 been a party in a jaunting car to a couii* 

 try fair in Ireland, there would not have 

 been more miith, ease, and atfabiliiy. 



The carriage drove off at a (Orettlr 

 round pace, and the pleasantry of Na- 

 poleon seemed to keep pace with it. Hs 

 began to talk Kngliih; and, having 

 thrown his aim half round Madame Ber« 

 trand's neck, he exclaimed, addressing 

 himself to me, "This is my mistress • 

 O not mistress — yes, yes, this is my mis. 

 tress;" while the lady was endeavouring 

 to extricate herself, and the count her 

 husband bursting with laughter. He 

 then asked, if he had made a mistake* 

 andj being infotined of the English inter- 

 pretation of the word, he cried nut "O 

 110, no — I say, my frieiiil, niy love ; iio» 

 not love ; my friend, my frientj." The 

 fact was, that Madarne Bertrand had 

 been indisposed for several days, and lia 

 wished to rally her spirits, as well as to 

 give an unreserved ease to the conversa- 

 tion. In short, to use a well-known En- 

 glish phrase — he was ilie life of tlie 

 party. 



The circuitous windings of the lide at 

 Longwood may extend to five or »is 

 miles; and in our progress, with a Imlf- 

 comic half-serious countenance he 

 Oiik^d (his very uucxpecied question—, 



