208 ST. HELENA 



I was under the protection of the British people. If their Govern- 

 ment, in giving orders to the Bellerophon to receive me and my 

 suite, only meant to entrap me, it has forfeited its honour, and 

 tarnished its flag. If this act is put into execution, it will 'be in 

 vain that the English boast of their fidelity, their laws and their 

 liberty. British faith will be obscured by the hospitality of the 

 Bellerophon. I appeal to history, whether an enemy, who, after 

 having for twenty years waged war against the English people, 

 comes deliberately, in his misfortunes, to seek an asylum under the 

 protection of their laws, can give a more convincing proof of his 

 esteem and confidence ; but how have the English answered such 

 confidence and magnanimity ; they pretended to extend a friendly 

 hand to this enemy, and when he relied on their good faith they 

 sacrificed him. 

 On board the Bellerophon at sea, August 4, 1815. 



Napoleon. 



The British Government— for " Napoleon " its inveterate 

 enemy— determined by the express wishes of the Prince 

 Regent to furnish him in his exile with every possible com- 

 fort, so an order was given by Earl Bathurst to one of the 

 large London houses. It included every kind of furniture, 

 linen, glassware, clothes, musical instruments and music 

 he could need for a period of three years. No stipulation 

 was made as to price, everything was to be of a pure and 

 simple elegance, this reservation only being made, that no 

 ornament or initial letter should appear on anything. The 

 order was to be completed in six weeks, and four hundred 

 men were employed to execute the same in the given time. 

 Report on finished work says : — 



The whole has been executed in British materials ; the chairs 

 and tables are formed of the finest British oak, inlaid with polished 

 brass ; the breakfast service is of Wedgewood's most beautiful 

 pale blue composition, with a white cameo device in relief, modelled 

 by Flaxman, in best style ■ the dinner service is white and gold, 

 the centre of each plate, dish, etc., containing an elegantly executed 

 landscape of British scenery ; the glass, of the finest quality, is 

 plainly but elegantly cut, with a fancy border of stars supported 

 .by fluted pillars ; the table cloths and napkins are of the finest 

 damask ; the evening service is white and gold ; the Imperial 

 plate rendering it unnecessary to furnish him with a service of 

 British manufacture ; but a few dozens of spoons and other minor 

 articles of that description, to meet the wear and tear of domestic 

 accidents, form a part of the present supply. The cushions and 

 curtains are of light blue silk, with a black border and small black 

 wreaths. Some are of blue with a rich yellow border. Both the 

 colours and styles of this part of the furniture, and indeed of the 



