The Press.
London, England, 1853-07-02 00:00:00

Yittraturt.

History of the Captirity of Napoleon at St.
Helena. By William Forayth. 3 vols.
London: Murray.

IT would have been better for Sir Hudson
Lowe's ►rivate peace of mind and public rrl►u-
tation had this explanation been published
much earlier : such was the sound advice given
thirty years ago by Lord Bathurst, when the
action against Mr. O'Meara broke down, not
from its merits, but because also brought too
late. In these cases plaintiffs must be ready,
calumny must be combated with facts, ere the
disease becomes chronic. Sir Hudson, who
had not the pen of a ready writer, and was
conscious of his own rectitude, and the approval
of his Government, by too long treating the
libels with contempt, paid the penalty of
standing mute: these uncontradieted state-
ments were wafted over the world by political
and party malice,until his branded name became
a byword of Europe, synonymous with the
gaoler and the tormentor. The prolonged sug-
gestion of the false, and suppression of truth,
raised prejudices even inLord Liverpool's mind
►cad Scott, Alison, and Lord Campbell confirmed
rather than reversed the unfavourable verdict.
Difficult as it is to unsettle opinions, settled
and familiar as household words, truth is great,
and, appearing even in the eleventh hour, must
ultimately prevail. A fatality of accidents has
delayed the publication of this " emphatically
true narrative ;" Sir Hudson had entrusted the
editorship of his tardy self-vindication to Sir
Harris Nicolas, by whose and his own death new
delays arose. The collected materials at last
were handed to Mr. Forsyth, who, in the spirit
of Hortensius, has stated and tr►ed the issue
giving a true verdict according to the
evidence. The original ►aid official papers to
be grappled with were appalling ; the diary
alone of Sir Hudson amounting to thirty-four
fblio volumes. At least the antidote equalled
the bane, and the means of contradiction were
commensurate with the masses of calumny put
forth by the 0' Meatus and " pests of literature,"
who have poisoned the sources of history, and
deliberately and systematically disseminated
falsehood. The most interesting episode in
modern annals has at last become an accom-
plished and historical fact. Every document is
here printed at full length; thus the entire story
is told in one work, with no necessity of recur-
rence to other authorities. The length and
number of these necessary papers may occa-
sionally be tedious, but their pith or marrow
is more interesting than any romance, so much
stranger is truth than fiction.
- - -

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Sir Hudson, the governor, cradled in the
camp, had seen varied service, and especially
in Italy, where his command of the Rangers
of Corsica made him master of the language
and Machiavellianism of the natives. He felt
fully the responsibility of his difficult and un
gracious duty of watching over the safe custody
of one whose escape from Elba hail set Europe
in flames, and, in spite of accumulated provo-
cations, he discharged " his arduous trust with
strict fidelity, discretion, and humanity," com-
bining secure detention with every practicable
indulgence. His shortcomings appear to have
arisen more from manner than meaning, from
some want of very delicate tact and good taste :
thus his kindly-intentioned invitation of Napo-
leon to dinner, which was repulsed with such
scornful derision, was a mistake. His eye,
again, microscopic by nature, and necessarily
sharpened by his very office, occasionally mag-
nified molehills into mountains, as when he
suspected treason in the colour of green beans
and haricots btanca : yet these volumes demon
strate how seldom he suspected wrongfully.
His situation from first to last partook of the
turnkey ; and when, after the death of his pri-
soner, he was made a scapegoat, few had the
moral courage to reopen the past or stand up
for an unpopular man. Those who, unfortu-
nately, have a case and a grievance, become
bores to their friends, and doubly so to foes. So
when the Whigs, who had hallooed on every
cabal cry and calumny, came into power,
Sir Hudson died neglected, without place or
pension, and poor indeed, his good name
filched front him, to be restored only now
when praise or blame is indifferent.

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