BONAPARTE. NAPOLEON I. 



BONAPARTK. NAPOLKON I. 



sot 



OM division of the Prussian army, which gave him full employment. 

 whiU the other l'rui*n divisions were marching on to Waterloo. lli 

 orders wen to follow the Prussians, and attack them wherever he met 

 thorn. (Grouchy, ' Observation*.') Napoleon seems to bare under- 

 rated the strength of the Prussians, when be thought Grouohy'a oorpa 

 sufficient to keep in check the whole of their army. 



The battle of Waterloo finally closed a war, or rather a succession 

 of war*, which bad luted with little interruption for twenty-three 

 yean, beginning with 1792. As to these wan, Napoleon is only 

 strictly accountable for those that took plaoa after he had attained 

 supreme power in Frauoe ; in some of them, such as tho-e of Spain 

 and of Russia, he was decidedly the aggressor. Whether he did not 

 likewise give sufficient provocation to those which Austria, England, 

 and Prussia waged against him, the reader must judge for himself. 

 Hi* determination to be the dictator, the umpire of all Europe, left 

 no chance of national independence to any one country. Had he 

 subjected all Europe, he would hare reverted to his old scheme of the 

 conquest of the east. Even bis peace establishment, supposing him 

 ever to have been at peace, was to consist of an army of 800,000 men, 

 besides 400,000 of reserve. (If onthulon's ' Memoirs of Napoleon,' 

 ToL i.) During the ten yean of the empire, be raised by conscription 

 two millions one hundred and seventy-three thousand men, of whom 

 two-think, at the least, perished in foreign lands or were maimed 

 for life. 



After the defeat of Wsterloo, Napoleon having given his brother 

 Jerome directions to rally the remains of his army, hurried back to 

 Paris. The houe of representatives declared itself permanent, and 

 demanded his abdication. Lucien appeared before the house, and 

 spoke eloquently of the former services of his brother, and of the 

 claims which he had on the gratitude of France. " We have followed 

 your brother," answered Lafayette, " over the tanda of Africa, and 

 through the froien deserts of Russia; the whitened bones of French- 

 men scattered over every part of the globe bear witness to our long 

 fidelity to him," Lucien msde no impression on the assembly. He 

 advised his brother to dissolve the chamber ; Napoleon refused : " It 

 would be the signal," he said, " of civil war." The house of peers 

 had adopted the same views a* the lower house. There was but one 

 man, it was openly stated, between France and peace. Napoleon 

 signed his second abdication on the 22nd of June ; but this time it 

 was of his own accord, and against the advice of his intimate friends, 

 Carnot, Lucien, 4c. (' Re'ponse de Lucien aux Meuioires de Lamarque,') 

 The abdication was in favour of his son, Napoleon II. A provisional 

 government was appointed by the chambers, and they required that 

 Napoleon should leave France, and embark at Koohefort for the 

 United States. General Becker was appointed to escort him to 

 Itochrfort, where he arrived on the 3rd of July. All this did not 

 take place however without many violent altercations in the chambers, 

 and much raluctanw on the part of Nspoleon, The allies, who 

 entered Paris on the 7th of July, refused to acknowledge Napoleon's 

 right * abdicate in favour of his son, and on the following day 

 Loui* XV1IL re-entered the capital and resumed the government 



Napoleon at Rochefort, seeing that the whole country aronnil him 

 was submitting to the Bourbons, and finding that ho had no chance of 

 escaping by sea, through the vigilance of the English cruisers 

 stationed along the coast, sent Count Las Cases and Savary to Captain 

 MaiUand, who commanded the English ship Bellerophon,' to ask for 

 leave to proceed to America, either in a French or a neutral vessel. 

 CapUin Maitland replied, " That hU instructions forbade this ; but 

 that if Napoleon chose to proceed to England he would take him 

 there on board the ' Bellerophon,' without however entering into any 

 promise as to the reception he might meet with there, as be was in 

 total ignorance of the intentions of the British government as to his 

 futun disposal." (Captain Maitland'* statement of the whole trans- 

 action.) This offer was made by Captain Maitland in his second 

 interview with Las Cases, on the 14th of July; and Napoleon had 

 already, the day before, written a letter, addressed to the Prince 

 RefSBt of England, raying that "he came like Themistocles, to claim 

 the bospiulity of the British people, and the protection of its law.." 



aptaui MaiUand offered to dispatch General Oourgaud to Englan.l 



with this litter immediately, repeating at the same time to him "that 



not authorised to stipulate as to the reception of Bonaparte in 



EngUnd, whtn h. mu . t consider himself at the disposal of the prlnc* 



On the 16th Nspoleon wont on board the Bellerophon ' 



with his suite: s Captain Maitland advanced to meet him on the 



quarter-deck. Napoleon said to him, I come to place myself under 



. ' r ?T?' ? yoor princ * * Dd TOU ' Uwm -" n th" 2 * hip 



sntarsd Torbay. On the 81st of July Admiral Lord Keith and Sir 



Hsniy Bunbory, under secretary of state, cams on board the IV-ll.- 



ropboo, to announce to him the final resolution of the British 



gOT.rnin.nt-that the island of 81 Helena should be his future 



*"*'* PUon protested against this determination ; said he 



jaot a prisoner of war ; that be came as a voluntary passenger on 



board the Bellerophon ;' that be wished to be sllowe-I torroiajn in 



Sr' 1 * private citiien, Ac. On the 8th of August however 



oUon frankly acknowledged to Captain MaiUand, that "he had 



rtainly made no eoodMion. on coming on board to. Bellerophon/ 



h*l only claimed hospitality, and that he had no reason to 



complain of the captain's conduct, which had been that of a man of 



honour." On the 7th Napoleon removed from the ' Bellerophon ' to 

 the ' Northumberland,' Sir George Cockbnrn's dug-hip, which WM 

 appointed to carry him to St Helena. (For the particulars of liona- 

 parte'i voyage, his lauding at St. Helena, his residence, first at liriars 

 and afterward* at Longwood, of his altercations with .Sir U. Cockburu, 

 and afterwards with Sir Hudson Lowe, we must refer our reader* to 

 the minute work of Count Las Cases, and the 'HUtory of the Captivity 

 of Napoleon at St. Helena, from the Letters and Journals of the late 

 Lieut-Gen. Sir Hudson Lowe,' 3 vols. 8vo, 1853.) Ho lauded at St 

 Helena on the 16th of October 1815. 



By a convention signed at Paris, 20th of August 1815, between 

 Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, the custody of Napoleon's 

 person was intrusted to the British government, and commissioner* 

 were appointed by Russia, Austria, and France to reside at St Helena 

 to look after his safe detention. In July IMC, General Sir Hudson 

 Lowe arrived at St Helena as governor of the island. From the very 

 first interview Bonaparte behaved uncivilly, or rather insultingly, t<> 

 that officer, and this treatment was repeated with aggravation at every 

 subsequent opportunity. One of Napoleon's great grievances was his 

 being styled General Bonaparte; another, his not being allowed to 

 i-tnill about the island unattended by a British officer. He was 

 allowed a space measuring eight and afterwards twelve miles in cir- 

 cumference round Longwood, through which he might range at his 

 pleasure ; beyond these limits he was to be accompanied by an officer, 

 liut the real grievance was that of being detained as a prisoner at 

 all. The governor however had no power to remedy these subjects 

 of complaint Various minor matters of dispute with the governor 

 were laid bold of by Bonaparte and his attendants, as if with the 

 view of keeping alive on interest in the public mind in favour of the 

 exile of St Helena. We cannot enter into the particulars of this 

 petty system of warfare, in which, as it generally happens, both parties 

 may have occasionally been in the wrong. But it is impossible to 

 read even Napoleon's statements, made through Las Cases, Sautini, 

 Autotuuiarchi, Ac., without perceiving that there wns a determination 

 on his part not to be pleased with anything the governor could <lj t'.>r 

 him, unless he had disobeyed his orders; while on the other h.iii'l 

 Sir Hudson Lowe appears to have born a man of an unaccommodating 

 temper, with a good deal of the iLvlitary martinet in his habits. 

 Napoleon's mind was in a state of irrigation whenever it recurred to 

 the subject of his confinement, whiuh made him querulou 

 peevish. Ho seems also to have had, almost to the last some latent 

 hope of making his escape. In other respects the particulars of hi* 

 life and conversations at St Helena are highly interesting. He could 

 be very agreeable towards visitors who were admitted to pay their 

 respects to him, as we may see from Mr. Ellis'* and Captain Hall's 

 accounts of their interviews with him. In September 1818, Napo- 

 leon's health began to be visibly affected, but he would take no medi- 

 cines. Ho also refuged to ride out, ai advised, because he would not 

 submit to the attendance of a British officer. In September 1819, 

 Dr. Antommarchi, of the University of Pisa, came to St Helena as 

 physician to Napoleon. Two clergymen camo also from Italy to act 

 as his chaplain*. Towards the end of 1820 ho grew worse, and 

 remained in a weak state until the following Apnl, when the disease 

 assumed an alaru ing character. It was then that Bonaparte said that 

 he believed it wi.s the same disorder which killed his father, namely 

 a scirrhus in the pylorus ; and he desii e<l 1 >r. Autommarchi to examine 

 his stomach after his death. He made his will, leaving largo bequests 

 to his friends and attendants (' Testament de Napoleon '). and on the 

 3rd of May 1821, the chaplain Vignali administered to him extreme 

 unction. Napoleon stated " that he believed in God, and was of the 

 religion of his father : that he was born a Catholic, and would fulfil 

 all the duties of the Catholic church." On the 5th of May, after 

 being some time delirious, he breathed his last about eleven minutes 

 before six o'clock in the evening. The following day the body was 

 opened by Dr. Autommarchi, in presence of several British staff and 

 medical officer*, when a large ulcer was found to occupy the greater 

 part of the stomach. On the 8th of May his remains were interred 

 with military honours in Slane's Valley, near a fountain overhung by 

 weeping willows. This had been a favourite spot with Napoleon. 

 The procession was followed to the grave by the governor, the admiral, 

 Napoleon's attendants, and all the civil and military authorities. The 

 grave was afterwards inclosed by a railing, and a sentry kept on duty 

 to guard the spot In May 1840 the government of Louis Philippe 

 made an application to the British government to permit the removal 

 of the body of Napoleon to France. The request was at once acceded 

 to ; and a hope expressed that " the promptness of the answer might 

 be considered in Frauoe u a desire to blot out the but trace of those 

 national animosities which during the life of the emperor armed 

 I'.n/l mil and France against each other." An expedition was imme- 

 diately fitted out and placed under the command of the Prince de 

 Joiuville, with whom wore associated several of the latest and most 

 devoted of Napoleon's followers Bortraud, Qourgaud, the younger 

 Las Cases, and Marohand the emperor's valet On opening the colliu 

 the features though somewhat changed were perfectly recognisable. 

 The body was received in Paris with unbounded marks of popular 

 feeling; and on the 16th of December 1840 it was deposited with 

 extraordinary pomp in the Hotel de< Invalides. 



We have dealt here merely with the outward acts of Napoleon 



