1822.] New Patents and Me i 
position in which the enemy would 
have found themselves, would have 
been worth an army to me. 
Will it now be credited that the man 
who had combined and arranged all the 
parts of this great manoeuvre, should 
have been prevented entirely from see¬ 
ing the execution of it by his own 
fault? This fact however is establish¬ 
ed by evidence. 
Without any political necessity, but 
solely to tranquillize the empress, I 
dispatched a courier to her with a de¬ 
tailed plan of all the operations which 
I was about to put in force. Unfortu¬ 
nately this courier fell into the hands 
of the enemy, and with him all iny dis¬ 
patches. This misfortune cost me a 
throne! 
We now hasten to close this interest¬ 
ing volume by a few extracts under the 
head of 44 Waterloo 
I began the campaign by successes; 
the inconceivable battle of Waterloo 
destroyed all, except what was not per¬ 
mitted to mortals to deprive me of, 
viz : the great actions of my brilliant 
career. 
Were I not an enemy to fatalism, I 
should believe that Waterloo was writ¬ 
ten from all eternity to the advantage 
of the English and the Prussians. We 
commenced the battle like warriors ac¬ 
customed to conquer, but one half of 
our army terminated it like militia, 
who stood fire for the first time. Were 
I to live for ages, when speaking of 
Waterloo, I should never alter my opi¬ 
nion. 
Wellington in that day, passed from 
one extremity to the other. He had 
posted his army in such a manner as 
to have rendered it liable to have been 
eut to pieces even to the last soldier. 
Marshal Ney who immediately per¬ 
ceived it, told me, that probably the 
English general had betted in London, 
?.hanical Inventions. 533 
that he should be defeated at Mont St. 
Jean. However, the Prussians came 
up and circumstances were no longer 
the same. The allies gained a complete 
victory. In point of easy glory the 
English general was fully gratified. He 
was indebted to the Prussians for his 
commission of a 44 great captain;” and it 
only remains for him to prove his title 
to it. I ought to have the more credit 
for what I say in this respect, as I al¬ 
ways took pleasure in rendering jus¬ 
tice to those generals who fought against 
me. 
It only remains for me to make a de¬ 
claration to my age and to posterity, 
and one which I do with the most 
heartfelt pleasure. 
If I have displayed in misfortune a 
rare firmness, a constancy superior to 
the evil intentions of my oppressors, 
these great qualities are not entirely 
owing to the force of my mind: but 
friendship comes in for its share in the 
stoicism of which I have given proof! 
Bertrand, the Montholons, Las-Casas, 
Gourgaud, Marchafld, and in fine, ge¬ 
nerally all those who followed me to 
the rock of exile, what have they not 
done in order to render my residence 
more supportable ? What have they 
not imagined to extend over my mis¬ 
fortunes the veil of hope ? They did 
not always abuse my patience; but 
from time to time, I took delight in the 
sweet illusions which they created. 
These were so many happy moments 
snatched from the mass of my sorrows. 
Who will recompence these heroes of 
fidelity? Mankind? I doubt it. My 
consort or my son? Will the power 
be left them? It is then to Him who go¬ 
verns the universe, to whom I bequeath 
this sacred duty: if He be what I love 
to believe, the incomparable devotion 
of my generous friends will receive an 
incomparable reward. 
NEW PATENTS AND MECHANICAL INVENTIONS. 
To<George Shoobridge, of Hounds- 
ditch, and WILLIAM SHOOBRIDGE, 
of Mar den, Kent, for a Substitute for 
Flax, or Hemp, and for Manufac¬ 
turing the same. —Feb. 1820. 
HE substitute for flax or hemp 
here proposed, is the fibrous sub¬ 
stance which nature produces between 
the pith or core, and the outer bark or 
rind of the hop-bind, and the said 
fibrous substance is separated from the 
said pith or core, and from the said bark 
or rind, and is manufactured or made 
fit for the purposes to which flax or 
hemp are applied, in the following 
manner:— 
First, We take the hop-binds in their 
green state immediately after the hops 
have been gathered, and we cut them 
into lengths of about four feet (or more 
or less,) and when so cut into lengths, 
we tie them up in bundles of any size 
convenient to be handled, and not too 
large for the depth of the water into 
which 
