240 ST. HELENA 



inwards, having the appearance of an inverted pyramid. The 

 lowest part was chambered to receive the coffin, and one large 

 stone covered the chamber. It was said that this covering was 

 taken from the floor of the kitchen at Longwood, where it had 

 been used as a hearthstone in front of the fireplace, though why 

 it should have been removed for such a purpose it is difficult to 

 comprehend, for the island is not deficient of the requisite material. 

 The remaining space was to be filled up with solid masonry clamped 

 together with bands of iron. These precautions, it appeared, 

 were intended to prevent the removal of the body, as much at 

 the request of the French as of the Governor of the island. Di- 

 vested of the associations connected with his fame, Napoleon's 

 funeral at St. Helena was a simple, though heartfelt, affair. His 

 long agony on that sunburnt rock commanded the reverence of 

 every beholder. Consequently, on the 9th, all the inhabitants 

 and visitors on the island flocked to the line of march. Like many 

 others, I selected a prominent position on the shoulders of a hill 

 from whence the solemn procession could be traced, as it threaded 

 its way through the gorges and ravines of this picturesque place, 

 on its way to the grave. The coffin was borne upon the shoulders 

 of English Grenadiers, and followed by the soldiers who had con- 

 tributed more towards his downfall than those of any other nation. 

 Their solemn tread and grave deportment contrasted strongly 

 with the heartfelt sorrow of Count Montholon and General Bertrand, 

 who bore the hero's pall. Madame Bertrand followed next, in 

 tears, and then came Lady Lowe and her daughters, in mourning ; 

 the officers of the English man-of-war next, and then the officers 

 of the army, the Governor- General and Admiral Lambert closing 

 the rear. The 66th and 2Oth Regiments of Infantry, the Artillery 

 and the Marines were stationed on the crests of the surrounding 

 hills ; and when the body was lowered into the tomb, three rounds 

 of eleven guns were fired. And thus the great soldier of France 

 received the last tribute of respect in honour of his achievements, 

 from the hands of his most constant, but, as he described them, 

 the most generous of his enemies. 



The last years of Napoleon's life, except so far as they derived 

 a gloomy and awful importance from the remembrance of his 

 terrific career of blood and power, were as insignificant as his first. 

 He could neither act upon, nor be acted upon, by the transactions 

 of the world. He seemed to be buried alive, kept as he was in close 

 custody by a power, with whose strength it was useless to cope, 

 and whose vigilance there was little chance of eluding. 



On the following morning the sounds of labour were heard from 

 every quarter of the Free Trader, and the long-drawn songs of the 

 mariners were rising in the cool quiet of the early dawn. Then 

 commenced the heavy toil which lifts the anchor from its bed ; 

 the ship, once more released, from her hold upon the land stood 

 across the Atlantic for England, and long ere noon the sun-blistered 

 rock of St. Helena was shut out from our view by the rising waters 

 in which it seemed to submerge. And thus ended the " memorable 



