1. I had put in the text une vÉritable JournÉe des Eperons,^[2] and must not omit to state what led to its being expunged.

The Emperor who alone knew I kept a journal at St. Helena, one day expressed a wish that I should read a few pages to him: on coming to this expression, inadvertently thrown in, he suddenly exclaimed, “What have you done! Erase, erase, sir, quickly! Une JournÉe des Eperons! what a calumny! Ah! unfortunate army! brave men! you never fought better!” Then after a pause of a few moments, he added in a tone expressive of deep feeling:—“We had some base wretches amongst us! May heaven forgive them! But as to France, will she ever recover from the effects of that ill-fated day!”

2. In allusion to the battle of Guinegatte, fought near Boulogne in 1513, between the army of Henry VIII. and that of France. The French were completely routed on this occasion, and the celebrated Bayard taken prisoner while covering the retreat; this was so precipitate that the day was ever after styled La JournÉe des Eperons (or day of spurs), because as stated by contemporary historians, the French army made more use of their spurs than lances.—Editor.

3. On my return to Europe, chance threw the following documents in my way, relative to the above circumstance. I transcribe them here, because I believe they are unknown to the public. They have been copied from the originals, and require no commentary.

Copy of a letter from the Commission of Government to Marshal Prince d’Eckmuhl, Minister at War.

Sir,—Such is the state of affairs that it is indispensable for Napoleon to decide on departing, and proceeding to the Isle of Aix. If he does not determine to do so on your notifying to him the annexed resolutions, you are to cause him to be watched at Malmaison, to prevent his escape. For this purpose, you will place a requisite portion of gendarmerie and troops of the line at the disposal of General Becker, so as to guard all the avenues leading to Malmaison in every direction. You will give orders to the chief inspector of gendarmerie to this effect. These measures must be kept as secret as possible.

This letter is intended for yourself; but General Becker, who will be charged with delivering the resolutions to Napoleon, will receive particular instructions from your Excellency, and inform Napoleon that they have been drawn up with a view to the interest of the state, and for the safety of his person; that their prompt execution is indispensable; and, finally, that his future interests make them absolutely necessary.

Copy of the resolutions entered into by the Commission of Government, extracted from the Minutes of the department of the Secretary of State.

The Commission of Government resolves as follows:

Art. I. The Minister of Marine shall give orders for two frigates to be prepared at Rochefort, to convey Napoleon Bonaparte to the United States. Art. II. Should he require it, a sufficient escort shall attend him to the place of embarkation under the orders of Lieutenant-general Becker, who will be instructed to provide for his safety.

Art. III. The Director-general of Posts will, on his part, give the necessary orders relative to the relays.

Art. IV. The Minister of Marine will issue the requisite orders for insuring the immediate return of the frigates, after the disembarkation.

Art. V. The frigates are not to quit Rochefort before the arrival of the safe-conducts.

Art. VI. The Ministers of Marine, War, and Finances, are each charged with the execution of that part of the present resolutions which concerns them respectively.

By order of the Commission of Government, the Assistant Secretary of State.

Copy of the Duke of Otranto’s letter to the Minister at War.

Sir,—I transmit to you a copy of the letter I have just written to the Minister of Marine, relative to Napoleon. A perusal of it will convince you of the necessity of giving orders to General Becker not to separate himself from the person of Napoleon, whilst the latter remains in the roads of Aix.

Copy of the letter to the Minister of Marine alluded to in the foregoing.

Sir,—The Commission reminds you of the instructions it transmitted to you an hour ago. The resolutions must be executed as prescribed by the Commission yesterday; and according to which, Napoleon Bonaparte will remain in the roads of Aix until the arrival of his passports.

The welfare of the State, which cannot be indifferent to him, requires that he should remain there until his fate and that of his family has been definitively regulated. Every means will be employed to render the result of the negotiation satisfactory to him. The honour of France is interested in it; but, in the mean time, all possible precautions must be taken for the personal security of Napoleon, and that he does not quit the place which is temporarily assigned him.

The President of the Commission of Government.

Letter from the Minister at War to General Becker.

Sir,—I have the honour of transmitting to you the annexed resolutions which the Commission of Government charges you to notify to the Emperor Napoleon; observing to his Majesty that circumstances are so imperious as to make it indispensable he should decide on setting out for the Isle of Aix. These resolutions, observes the Commission, have been made as much for the safety of his person, as for the interest of the state, which must ever be dear to him.

If his Majesty does not make up his mind, on these resolutions being notified to him, it is the intention of the Commission of Government that the necessary steps shall be taken to prevent the escape of his Majesty and every attempt against his person.

I have to repeat, General, that these resolutions have been adopted for the interest of the state, and for the personal safety of the Emperor; also, that the Commission of Government considers their prompt execution as indispensable for the future welfare of his Majesty and his family.

I have the honour to be, &c.

N. B. The above letter remained without any signature; at the moment of sending it off, the Prince of Eckmuhl observed to his secretary, “I will never sign this letter—sign it yourself, that will be sufficient.” The secretary found himself equally incapable of putting his name to such a communication. Was it sent or not?—This is a point which I cannot decide.

4. The following is the Emperor’s Itinerary during the journey:—Left Paris on the 29th June, and slept at Rambouillet; at Tours on the 30th; and at Niort on the 1st July. Left Niort on the 2nd, and reached Rochefort on the 3rd; remained there till the 8th; embarked on board the Bellerophon on the 15th.

5. The name of one of the frigates destined to receive Napoleon on board.—Ed.

6. Small vessels, not unlike luggers, and usually employed as coasting-vessels in France.—Ed.

7. While on our passage to St. Helena, Admiral Cockburn placed his library at our disposal. One of our party in turning over the leaves of a volume of the EncyclopÆdia Britannica, found a letter from La Rochelle, addressed to the commanding officer of the English squadron: it contained, word for word, the whole of our affair relative to the Danish ship; the moment of her projected departure, future intentions, &c. We passed this letter from hand to hand, taking care that it should be replaced where first discovered. It gave us very little information; we were aware of the understanding which existed both in and out of France, but were desirous of seeing a proof of it so much to the point. How did this letter happen to get on board the Northumberland? Captain Maitland had doubtless, when transferring us to that ship, also delivered up the documents concerning our capture. This was the letter which occasioned so much alarm on the part of the Captain, relative to the supposed escape of the Emperor, soon after my embarkation.

8. The following is a document which the above circumstance contributes to render still more precious: it is an order of the day, issued by the First Consul to his guard, against suicide.

“The Grenadier Gobain has committed suicide from love: he was in other respects an excellent soldier. This is the second incident of the same nature that has occurred in the corps within a month.

“The first Consul directs it to be inserted in the order-book of the Guard:—

“That a soldier ought to know how to vanquish the pangs and melancholy of the passions; that there is as much true courage in bearing up against mental sufferings with constancy, as in remaining firm on the wall of a battery.

“To give ourselves up to grief without resistance, or to kill ourselves to escape affliction, is to abandon the field of battle before the victory is gained.”

9. There is, however, one of these proofs which I am now at liberty to disclose. While walking in the stern-gallery with the Emperor, at the usual hour, he drew from under his waistcoat, still conversing on a totally different subject, a species of girdle, which he handed to me, saying, “Take care of that for me;” without interrupting him, I placed it under my own waistcoat. The Emperor told me, soon after, that it contained a diamond necklace, worth two hundred thousand francs, which Queen Hortensia forced him to accept on his leaving Malmaison. After our arrival at St. Helena I frequently spoke of returning the necklace, but never received any reply. Having ventured to mention the subject again when we were at Longwood, Napoleon drily asked, “Does it annoy you?”—“No, Sire,” was my answer;—“Keep it then,” said he. From wearing the girdle so long, the necklace became as it were identified with my person; and I thought so little about it that it was not till some days after my being torn from Longwood, and by the merest accident, it recurred to my memory; when I shuddered at the idea of depriving the Emperor of such a resource. For how would it be possible now to make restitution? I was in the most rigorous confinement, surrounded by gaolers and sentinels, so that all communication was impracticable. I vainly endeavoured to contrive a plan; time pressed; only a few days were left, and nothing could be more distressing than thus to quit the island. In this predicament, I resolved to run all risks. An Englishman, to whom I had often spoken, came to the prison on a particular errand—and it was under the eyes of the Governor himself, or one of his most confidential agents whom he brought, that I ventured to communicate my wishes.

“I think you are a man of principle,” said I, “and I am going to put it to the test;—though with nothing injurious or contrary to your honour—merely a rich deposit to be restored to Napoleon. If you accept the charge, my son will put it into your pocket.”

He answered only by slackening his pace; my son, whom I had prepared for the scene, followed him, and the necklace was transferred into this man’s possession, almost in sight of the military attendants. Before quitting the island, I had the inexpressible satisfaction of knowing that the necklace had reached the hands of the Emperor. How gratifying to the heart are the recollection and recital of such a trait on the part of an enemy, and under such circumstances!

10. This paragraph was in such a state in the manuscript as to excite doubts; and I was on the point of suppressing it: I must therefore state my reasons for its insertion. What is my object? chiefly to leave materials behind me. When I indicate how these were collected, and say that I obtained them from a mere conversation—that I may have disfigured them in thus suddenly seizing their sense—when I admit their probable inaccuracy, and place the reader in the way of rectifying my errors—have I not sufficiently fulfilled my object and duty?

11. Verified at the Royal Library: the manuscript being really there, and the play itself printed.

12. Also verified at the Royal Library, where the account of the sacking of Rome is deposited, but by Jacopo Buonaparte, and not Niccolo. Jacopo was a contemporary and an eye-witness of the event: his manuscript was printed for the first time at Cologne, in 1756; and the volume actually contains a genealogy of the Buonapartes, which is carried back to a very remote period, and describes them as one of the most illustrious houses of Tuscany.

The above genealogy presents a fact which is certainly of a very singular nature: it is that of the first Buonaparte having been exiled from his country as a Ghibeline. Was it, then, the destiny of his family, in all times, and at every epoch, that it must yield to the influence of the Guelfs!

The Cologne editor sometimes writes Buonaparte, and at others, Bonaparte.

This Signor Niccolo Buonaparte, named in the text as the historian, is only the uncle; he is, however, mentioned in the genealogy as a very distinguished man of letters, and as having founded the class of jurisprudence in thethe University of Pisa.

13. On my return to Europe, I did not fail to inquire for the invaluable deposit, and hastened to suggest the importance of making another copy to Prince Joseph, in order to become still more sure of its existence. What was my grief to hear that this historical monument had been mislaid, and that no person knew what had become of it! Into whose hands can it have fallen? May they know how to appreciate such a collection, and preserve it for history!

14. These lines were dictated by the Emperor himself:—how and when will be hereafter explained.

15. Dictated by the Emperor.

16. The Emperor has, in his will, paid a tribute of gratitude to the representative Gasparin, for the special protection he received from him.

He has honoured with a similar tribute General Duteil, the head of his School of Artillery, and General Dugommier, for the attention and kindness he had experienced from them.

17.

18. The deposit at the house of Lafitte.

On the Emperor’s second abdication, somebody who loved him for his own sake, and who knew his improvident disposition, eagerly enquired whether any measures had been taken for his future support. Finding that no provision had been made, and that Napoleon remained absolutely destitute, a contribution was made, and four or five millions were raised for him, of which M. Lafitte became the depositary.

At the moment of his departure from Malmaison, the solicitude of Napoleon’s real friends was not less serviceable to him.—An individual, aware of the disorder and confusion of our situation, wished to ascertain whether the little treasure had been forwarded to its destination. What was his astonishment on learning that the carriage in which it had been placed was left in a coach-house at Malmaison. A new difficulty arose: the key of the coach-house was not to be found; and the embarrassment occasioned by this unexpected circumstance delayed our departure for some moments. M. Lafitte wished immediately to give the Emperor a receipt for the sum; but Napoleon would not accept it—saying, “I know you, M. Lafitte—I know that you did not approve of my government: but I consider you as an honest man.”

M. Lafitte seems to have been doomed to be the depositary of the funds of unfortunate Monarchs. Louis XVIII., on his departure for Ghent, also placed a considerable sum of money in his hands. On Napoleon’s arrival, on the 20th of March, M. Lafitte was sent for by the Emperor, and questioned respecting the deposit, which he did not deny. On his expressing his apprehension lest a reproach should be intended to be conveyed in the questions which had been put to him;—“None,” said the Emperor: “that money belonged personally to the King, and private affairs are totally distinct from political matters.”

19. After my removal from Longwood, Sir Hudson Lowe, who had seized my papers, looked over this Journal, with my permission. He, of course, met with parts which were very displeasing to him; and he said to me: “What a pretty legacy you are preparing for my children, Count!”—“That is not my fault,” replied I; “it depends only on yourself to render it otherwise; I shall be happy to have reason to strike out any thing respecting you, as I did the other day with regard to Sir Robert Wilson.” Upon which he asked me what I had written about Sir Robert, and I pointed out the place. After reading all that had been written, and my reasons for cancelling it, he said, with a thoughtful and mortified air: “Yes, I see; but I can’t tell what to make of it; for I know Wilson well, and he has proved himself a warm friend of the Bourbons.”

We leaped for joy when we heard of the deliverance of Lavalette. Some one observed, that his deliverer, Wilson, could not be the same individual who had written so many offensive things concerning the Emperor. “And why not?” said Napoleon. “You“You know but little of men, and the passions that actuate them. What leads you to suppose that Sir Robert Wilson is not a man of enthusiasm and violent passions, who wrote what he then believed to be true? And while we were enemies we contended with each other; but in our present adversity he knows better: he may have been abused, and deceived, and may be sorry for it; and he is perhaps now as sincere in wishing us well as he formerly was in seeking to injure us.”

Either sagacity or chance so happily led the Emperor to this conclusion that it may be said he was enabled to read character at a distance. Sir R. Wilson was indeed the man who wrote against Napoleon. Vexed to see a great people deprived of their natural rights, he reproached the allies as bitterly as though they had imposed chains on himself, and no one has manifested stronger indignation at the treatment of Napoleon, or testified a more ardent wish to see it end.

20. The most valuable information respecting these two immortal campaigns will doubtless be furnished by the collection of the orders of the day, and the daily correspondence of the General-in-chief with the Generals and Commissaries of his army. Several volumes of them have been published by Pankouke, under the title of “Correspondance inÉdite, officielle et confidentielle de NapolÉon Bonaparte, &c.” They will altogether furnish the most excellent and useful lessons to the students of the military art.

21. A cameo of Augustus, a mere sketch, but admirably designed. Napoleon gave it to General Andreossi, who was a great collector of antiquities; but M. Denon, who was at that time absent, having afterwards seen this cameo, was struck with its resemblance to Napoleon, who then had the stone returned to him and kept it. It afterwards fell into the possession of Josephine, and M. Denon does not know what has since become of it. (This information was furnished to me by M. Denon since my return to France.)

22.

23. It is said, that a codicil in the Emperor’s will, which, however, must remain secret, completely confirms the above conjectures.

24. In this spirit, and in imitation of the example of other bodies, a plan of Address to the King was drawn up in the name of the Officers of the Emperor’s Household. It was in substance as follows:—

“Sire—The undersigned, who formed a part of the household of the Emperor Napoleon, solicit from your Majesty the favour of particular attention.

“Heirs to the duties of their fathers, they were, at a former period, faithful defenders of the throne; many of them followed your Majesty through long years of exile, into a foreign land, and sealed their devotedness by the forfeiture of their patrimony.

“It was precisely these well-known principles, and this acknowledged conduct, which constituted their claim, and called attention to them, when it was in contemplation to raise up a new throne and to surround it with adherents.

“The expectations of him who rallied us around him were not, could not be, disappointed: we fulfilled our new duties with honour and fidelity. These sentiments, Sire, the surest pledges of every other, would be sufficient to secure our own esteem, if it were possible for us to remain in indolent retirement. But what good and loyal Frenchman would desire a state of absolute repose? And yet, should any of us feel ourselves, through motives of delicacy, reduced to await, in silence, our appointment to new duties, might not our motive be misconstrued? On the other hand, might not the feelings of those also be misunderstood who, yielding to the impulse of their hearts, eagerly hastened to receive the favours of your Majesty?

“Such, Sire, is the peculiar and delicate situation in which we are placed: but all our embarrassments will cease, if your Majesty deign to lend an ear to our Address. Your royal heart will feel the delicacy of the impulse by which we are guided at this moment, and will accept our sincere wishes to serve your Majesty and our country with our accustomed zeal and fidelity.”

It was difficult to obtain signatures to so moderate an Address. Would it be believed, that this candid and authentic avowal of our past functions, and the use of the phrase “Emperor Napoleon,” in particular, were held as objections to it? Every one found fault with it according to his humour. Such were the sentiments of the day. Only seventeen signatures could be collected. Eighteen or twenty persons promised to add their names when the list should amount to twenty-five; but nobody would assist in completing that number. Two of those, who had already signed it, thinking they had put their hand to a document which they did not well understand, their sole intention having been to solicit the confirmation of their appointments, even went so far as to erase their signatures. The original copy of this document must be either at Paris or Versailles, in the hands of one of the persons who signed it.

25. This may appear incredible. Indeed I myself feel doubts now when I read over the statement. But I know that when the subject was spoken of one day at dinner at Longwood, it underwent much discussion, and I noted down on paper what was then admitted to be the correct account. Besides, many individuals who accompanied the Emperor are still living: and the fact may be ascertained.

26. This fact is corroborated by authentic documents, which exhibit proofs more positive than might be expected. (See Situation de l’ Angleterre, par M. de MontvÉran.)

It is obvious from this statement, that in the year 1801, in France, twenty-six out of a million of inhabitants were condemned to death; and that in 1811, ten years after, the number of condemned had diminished two-thirds, leaving the proportion of only nine to a million.

In England, on the contrary, where, in 1801, the number of criminals condemned to death was 212 out of a million of inhabitants, the amount increased by more than one half; there being in 1811, 376 out of a million.

It is worthy of observation that the condemnations in England, compared with those in France, were as 376 to 9, or as 42 to 1.

The report of the state of mendicity in France, compared with that of the parish poor in England, also presents a prodigious difference: the French list, in 1812, exhibiting only 30,000 individuals out of 43 millions of inhabitants; while in England, in the same year, a fourth of the population, or 4,250,000 poor, were thrown upon the parishes.—(MontvÉran.)

27. Dr. O’Meara of the Northumberland.

28.

29. General Gourgaud entertained the greatest affection for his mother and sister, and was equally beloved by them. To such a length did he carry his regard for them that in his letters he even described St. Helena as a delightful place, in order to ease their anxiety on his account. In his letters he talked of nothing but groves of orange and lemon-trees, and perpetual Spring; in short, every thing that a romantic imagination could suggest. The English Ministers, however, blushed not, subsequently, to turn against him these innocent misrepresentations, the offspring of his filial solicitude!

30. General Kirchner was a very distinguished officer of engineers; he was brother-in-law to Marshal Lannes, who had chosen him on account of his courage and capacity.

31. The following is extracted from the Campaign of Saxony in 1813, by Baron Odeleben, an eye-witness of the circumstance; under date of the 10th of August, at the time of the resumption of hostilities, two or three months after the death of Duroc.

“During the march from Reichenbach to Gorlitz, Napoleon stopped at Makersdorf, and shewed the King of Naples the place where Duroc fell. He summoned to his presence the proprietor of the little farm on which the Grand Marshal died, and assigned to him the sum of 20,000 francs; 4000 of which were for a monument in honour of the deceased, and 16,000 for the proprietor of the house and his wife. The donation was consummated in the evening, in the presence of the rector and the judge of Makersdorf: the money was counted out before them, and they were charged to get the monument erected.”

32. It is mentioned in the Memoirs of M. Larre, as a phenomenon, or at least something remarkable, that the pressure of circumstances during the retreat from Saint-Jean-d’Acre, having rendered it necessary to reduce the food of the sick to some plain thin biscuits, and their dressings to some brackish water, these invalids traversed sixty leagues of Desert without accidents, and with so much advantage that the greater part found themselves well when they arrived in Egypt. He attributes this species of prodigy to the exercise, direct or indirect, to the dry heat of the Desert, and above all to the joy of returning to a country which had become a sort of new home to the soldiers.