609 



Warden's' Letters on Napoleon. 



"In the course of your practice, and on 

 your conscience, liow niarty patients 

 have you killed?" — U is not unlikely that 

 I luokcil a iittie siirprizcd ; but i culnily 

 answered, •' My conscience does not ac- 

 cuse me of having caused tl»e dcaili of 

 any one." He laughed, and continued, 

 "I imagine tliat physicians may mistake 

 diseases: that ihey may sometimes do too 

 luuch, at other times too little. After 

 you have treated a case that has termi- 

 nated fatally, have you not reflected with 

 yourself, and said — VVell, il I had not 

 bled, or, vice vers^, if I had bled this man, 

 he would have recovered; oi, if he had 

 not consulted a physician at all, he might 

 have been now alive." 1 made no reply, 

 and he continued his questions. — 



♦♦Which do you think are the best 

 suri^eons, the French or the Rnnlish?" — 

 "The English undoubtedly." — "But 

 wherefore?''— " Because our schools are 

 better. There is more system in our 

 education; and the examination is such 

 as (o establish the fitness o\ any candi- 

 date for the profession before lie is regu- 

 larly admitted mto it," — "But, in point 

 of practice, will you not allow that the 

 Jiench surgeons have the itdvantnge of 

 you?" — "In practice, general, the French 

 are empirics, though they do not vend 

 nostrums like our quacks in England. 

 They are, in fact, more guided by ex- 

 perience than theory. But you, sir, have 

 «»abled my brethren in the English army 

 to be tolerable proficients in field prac- 

 tice." Napoleon smiled at my reply, 

 and immediately proceeded to a ques- 

 tion, which, though it is not altogether 

 disconnected with the former subject, I 

 did not expect. It was il'is-^" Who is 

 your first physician in London?'' — " That 

 is an enquiry which I did not expect, and 

 camiot take upon myselt to answer ; there 

 are so many physicians of eminence 

 there, that it would be hazardous to men- 

 tion a favourite name."— "But have you 

 no particular person in the profession 

 who takes the lead?"— ♦'No, indeed; 

 there are, il is true, fashionable physi- 

 cians who have their run for a season or 

 two, or even three; but I could not give 

 the preference to one wi'hout doing in- 

 justice to fifty. 1 could, 1 think, more 

 particularly distinguish eminent sur- 

 geons."— " Wliat is the general fte?" 

 ♦♦That fiequeiiilj depends on the rank 

 and fortune of the patient."-" VVhat is 

 the highest ih..t you have ever known?* 



«>1 really cannot give a precise answer 



to that question: no particular sum in 

 that way at present occurs to me. 

 Handsome fortunes are suinetimes ac- 



quired by practice in a Tew years; bujt 

 that falls to the lot of but few, whom 

 particular circumstances, and distia* 

 giiishcd patronai;e, ns well as prolessinndi-, 

 skill, have raised into great celebrity."— » 

 ♦•When Corvisart attended my wife, 

 the Empress M:iria Louisa, on the birth 

 of my son, he was ordered three (hoUf^ 

 sand Napoleons. I wished, at one timt^ 

 that the Empress should be bled, ac- 

 cording to your practice, hat Corvisart 

 refused ; she was in a very full habit. 

 You are much emfiloyed on shore, are 

 you not, as "ell as on hoard of ships?" — . 

 ♦'I am sometimes asked to visit the y>9n 

 tients of my friends."— " Do they paj, 

 you well?" — "I never yet accepted of & 

 fee. While I ■•erve, I am satisfied with 

 my pay."—" What does your king allow 

 you?" — '♦Two hundred and twenty 

 pounds a year." — "You have been aft 

 your life at sea, have you not?" — "I 

 liitve, indeed; and duringa spac« of nearly 

 twenty years." — "Does your king pro». 

 vide for you afterwards?" — "Yea, sir, hq 

 does. At the expiration of six years' ser* 

 vice, he allows me, provided I am nolongec 



in employ, shillings a day: but that 



sum is not encreased for any subsequent 

 service, until I have compleated thirty 

 years." — That,! think, is not an adequate 

 remuneration." — "I think so too, gene- 

 ral; however, I have no right to com- 

 plain, because [ knew the conditions be* 

 fore I engaged; and, in England, we are 

 never obliged to do so against our incli- 

 nations." — "Is it not very expensive 

 living in the Island of St. Helena?"—. 

 " Very much so : a stranger cannot board 

 under thirty shillings a day." — " How^ 

 then, do you contrive to live?" — "At 

 present by the hospitality of a very kind 

 and generous (Viend ; and, occasionally, 

 I have recourse to the fare of the Nor- 

 tlmmberland." He continued Ins ques- 

 tions, and I my replies, as you will per- 

 ceive. ♦'The army must be an enor- 

 mous expence to your government, is it 

 not.>" — '♦ Not more, I trust, than it can 

 maintain. It is, 1 fancy, greater than 

 the navy." ♦'But from wh;it Cause ?"—• 

 ♦'The expence of the army is oftentimes, 

 and indeed necessarily increased, I con- 

 ceive, from its local situation." — " AntJ 

 why not the navy?" "The latter is 

 merely stationary, and the former more 

 or less permanent," — "Is not England 

 more attached to its navy than its army?'! 

 — '♦The navy is certainly considered as 

 its more natural, essential, and effectual 

 delence; but the army will soinelir<ies 

 raise its bead very high, and be regarded 

 with a rival favour when it is crowned, 



as 



