The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-29 00:00:00

LITERAITIZE

HIS.TaRY OF THE CAPTIVITY OF NAPO-
LEON AT T. HELENA: By General Count
Montholon, 2 Vols.
EclY !f4cR Pftd better opportunities than Count Mont-
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figures in history. fle wiia tloitliet of the republic,
to the rank of Brigadier General at the etly ftge of
twenty-one, was a Minister Plenipotentiary at a Court
in Germany in 1012 and 1813, he was an attendant on
Napoleon at both his abdicatiotisi among the first to
Wait upon him at. the Palace of Elyt4s Bourbon, on the
21st of June, 1815, three days after the battle of Waterloo,
went with him to blalniaison, accompanied him in his
route to Rochefort, sailed with hits in the Bellerophon
to the shores of England, and, to use his owa words,
"shared the Captivity of the greatest man of modern
times, and relieved the agony of his martyrdom, by atten-
tions which Napoleon denominated filial." In 1816,
Montholon Was erased from the armyilist, banished from
the House of Peers, like Soult and others of the same
clasS, tintl lited in retirement and obscurity, till in an
evil hour he he6ame nil accomplice in the foolish and

mad attempt of Louis rfapoledn tel raise a commotion in
France, and became a second tithe it peisoner, though
against his will, in the Castle of Ham. Much has been
written about the captivity of Bonaparte, and by parties
too who had full access to documents and all the most
interesting details of his remarkable career have been
laid before the world, but the present work shows that
the mine is by no means exhausted, and that facts
will yet come out, which will remove many
of the mysteris which veiled parts of his character.
Mentholon, with occasional exceptions, relates events
with judicious impartiality; he does full justice to Cap-
tain Maitland, and the other officers and crew of the
Bellerophon; and if he expresses indignation at the con •
duct of Sir Hudson Lowe, he only follows the example of
most of his countrymen, and of a very large proportion
too of the people of the United Kingdom. The intro-
ductory part is full of melancholy interest, and we re-
gret to say, exhibits Carnot, Caulincourt, and Davoust—
for we put Fouch‘ out of the question—by no means in
a favourable light. We find no fault with them for
joining the provisional Government, and endeavouring
to make the best terms they could with Wellington and
Blucher, but their county) men and posterity will justly
condemn them for their rude treatment of a man who
had raised them to the highest ranks, and whom, but a
few days before they worshipped as the idol of their de-
votion. In the documents they signed as the provisional
Government, they at first styled their late master the
"Emperor," and " his Majesty," but they soon changed
their tone, and simply designated him Napoleon. And
what an outfit for the voyage of " Napoleon the Great" did
these men order some days previous to his departure
from Malmaison ! The Duke of Otranto (Fouche) sent
a verbal notice to General Bertrand that the " heads
of the Household Department were authorised, by virtue
of a decision of the Governmeut—that is of Caulineourt,
Savary, Carnot, &c., to deliver to him the following arti-
cles. Here follows the list of articles, among which are a
service of plate, consisting of twelve covers, six dozen
table napkins, twelve pairs of sheets, six dozen towels,
three saddles and bridles, some maps, and 100,000 f.
(4,0001.) for the general expense of baggage. "Such,"
says Montholon, " was the outfit for his exile, which
was allotted to the Emperor Napoleon by a man whom
he had created a Duke, and to whom he had given an
income of 200,000 f. (8,0001.) a year." But-these former
devoted servants of the Emperor were not singular—the
same spirit was displayed by multitudes of generals
and high dignitaries of the empire, who, when in the
anti-chamber of the hall occupied by the provisional
committee, they heard from General Beker that Bona-
parte had not left Malmaison, exclaimed in one general
cry, " Let him be off ! let him go ! we can undertake
nothing either for his personal advantage or for the
good of Paris." Never, in fact, was a man so con-
demned and deserted, and even robbed. If he had re-
mained much longer at Malmaison he would have been
left pennyless, for even men of the first rank scrupled
not to plunder him. We give the following extract in
proof :
" A case, containing some valuable snuff-boxes, adorned
with portraits set with diamonds, which had just been sent
by the High-Chamberlain, was placed by General Bertrand
on the chimney-piece of his chamber. During a few mo-
ments, in which he approached the window with the mes-
senger of M. de Montesquieu, only a single person en-
tered the room—but when General Bertrand recollected
the case, and went to look for it, it had disappeared.
This, however, is nothing in comparison with what
happened to the Emperor himself. One of his Ministers
had brought him some millions of negotiable paper,
canal shares, and other securities ; the Emperor having
counted them, placed them, in their cover, under one of the
cushions of his sofa. The Minister was followed by a man
whom the Emperor had been accustomed to receive in his
cabinet ever since the campaign in Italy; his rank, and the
high functions which he discharged, placed him beyond the
reach of accusation. No other person entered the cabinet
between that and the time in which the Emperor proceeded
to take up his papers, in order to place them in safety in his
bureau. He immediately perceived that they had been
touched, and were incomplete. Fifteen hundred thousand
francs had been abstracted. Who had taken them ? The
mystery was as great as in the case of the diamonds."

The condition of Napoleon at Malmaison must have been
in the highest degree melancholy and :wretched. With
a few exceptions, he knew not whom to trust ; he was
harassed with constant messages urging his departure,
and when he wished still to linger in that spot they tried
to frighten him away by causing an alarm of the ap-
proach of the Russians, and by burning and completely
destroying the bridge of Chatou, close to Malmaison.
He was at last with great reluctance, compelled to leave,
and proceed with all possible dispatch to Rochefort. The
account given by Montholon of the journey is full of in-
terest, as well as the whole proceedings at Rochefort
and the Isle of Aix, and at his embarkation on board the
Bellerophon, Montholon admits that Captain Maitland
made no promises, and gave no pledges of any kind as to
the disposal of his person, and states that when the Em-
peror, on reaching the deck, announced that he threw
himself on the protection of the laws of England, Captain
Maitland only answered by a low bow, and a few minutes
afterwards presented his officers to the Emperor. It is
to be regretted that details so full of interest are occa-
sionally disfigured by anecdotes and assertions utterly
improbable. We give two instances. While the Belle-
rophon was at anchor off Torbay, the greatest anxiety
was manifested by the captives to learn the decision of
the Privy Council as to the disposal of the Emperor.
At last the Duke of Rovigo received an account from
London which dissipated any illusion under which the
Emperor had hitherto laboured. Count Montholon then
adds:—

" The Privy Council had just held a deliberation on the
question, whether the terms of the proceedings of the Con-
gress of Vienna prevented England from delivering up the
Emperor to the vengeance of Louis XVIII. ; and the dis-
patches of the Duke of Wellington urged them to adopt
bloody and terrible determinations. The energetic opposi-
tion of the Duke of Sussex alone, saved England from the
infamoy of cmmitting an execrable crime."
The second instance is evidently as little entitled to
credit, and we believe is written only for effect in France.
In England the description of the scene, especially the
last part of it, will only excite ridicule :
" The instructions of Lord Bathurst, Minister of the Colo-
lonies, gave directions to subject the baggage to the most
minute examination, and required the surrender to the Ad-
miral of all money or articles of value in gold or diamonds;
our arms were to be demanded as from prisoners of war.
" This last point gave rise to one of those silent but su-
blime scenes, to which my pen is wholly unable to do jus-
tice, but the impressiveness of which every one will under-
stand by reading the simple but faithful narrative of what
tool/place.
" The Admirals had been received by the Emperor in the
state-cabin. Bertrand and myself stood behind, with our
backs to the stern windows.

" General Gourgaud remained by the starboard guns, pre-
pared for any event. The Emperor, a few feet in front of
us, appeared to expect that he had only to receive their
adieus, when Lord Keith, at length resigning himself to the
execution of an order which was at variance with the whole
of his long and brilliant military career, approached the Em-
peror, and said in a voice subdued by lively emotion—' Eng-
land demands your sword.'
" The Emperor by a convulsive movement placed his hand
upon that sword, which an Englishman dared to demand—
the terrible expression of the eye was his only reply ; never
had it been more powerful or more penetrating. The old
Admiral was astounded, his tall figure shrunk, his head,
white with years, fell upon his breast like that of a criminal
sinking beneath the sentence of his judge.
"The Emperor retained his sword.
" The two Admirals saluted the Emperor with a respect
accompanied by deep emotion, and withdrew, without utter-
ing a word to disturb the solemn impression which the scene
had made upon all beholders, English as well as French."

These, however, are but rare exceptions, for the author,
in general, relates facts with much impartiality, and
gives a deep interest even to those which have long been
before the public. The last adieu to France is admi-
rable, and far surpasses that of Mary Queen of Scots, so
striking in history :
" On the 9th of August, the Admiral gave orders for get-
ting under sail, and a few moments afterwards the whole
squadron was under weigh, tacking in order to get out of the
British Channel,
" Several times did the shores of France appear before our
eyes as a vague and formless shadow appears in a dream,
when the mind and thoughts are touched by a feverish im-
pression; but just as our hope of recognising or of seeing
distinctly some points of the coast was about to be realised,
the cursed signal to tack was to us as the awaking which de-
stroys the illusion of a pleasant dream.
" Once, however, while the Emperor was taking his accus-
tomed walk on the deck, the coast of Brittany threw off the
clouds which concealed it, and presented itself to our eyes, as
if to receive our last adieux. France 1 France ! was the
spontaneous cry which resounded from one end of the deck
to the other.
" The Emperor stood still, looked at the coast, and, taking
off his hat, said, with emotion—
" Farewell I Land of the brave, I salute thee ! Farewell !
France--Farewell !"
" The emotion was electric ; even the English involuntarily
uncovered themselves with religious respect."
The passing the Line too is graphic
On the 23d of September, 1815, we crossed the line, by,
one of those singular hazards which sometimes occur, at lati-
tude 0 min., longitude 0 min., declination 0 min.; that is to
say, the vessel, conducted by a west wind, which had blown
for several days, came under the line exactly at mid-day, at
the first meridian, and on the day of the equinox.
" The passage of the line occasions a great merry-making,
and a kind of saturnalia among the sailors; all is confusion
overturning of the natural order of things on board.
" The boatswain represents Neptune; he is sovereign for a
few hours, and no one is exempted by his rank from receiv-
ing baptism—a kind of grotesque homage to be rendered to
the monarch of the seas by any one who has not before
passed the line."
"Neptune exhibited towards us a very gracious respect ;
lie exempted us from the ceremonies of shaving and baptism ;
and when each of us, conducted by our godfathers for the
time being, was presented to him, he told us that we had too
often received the fire of baptism and of glory, to require
another baptism before becoming his friends; and when the
ceremony was concluded, he asked to be allowed the honour
of making acquaintance with the demi-god, called General
Bonaparte; the Emperor graciously consented to the presen-
tation, and gave, through the Grand Marshal, 500 napoleons
to Neptune, in order that he and all his court might drink to
his health; this was a signal for deafening hurras and cries
of ' Long Jive the Emperor Napoleon !' "
ChM ctetoils are chiefly contsined in the first yolume.