The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
CRONJE'S Land OF EXILE
A Desolate Isle Impossible TO Es-
cape From.
The Same RiGOr Imposed Upon Ma
pOieOn Not Likely to Meet Boer
Commanding GencrnIs-They VIII
BE Guarded by the Ancestral Reg
imcnt of the NapoIeonic Period.

/ miles of intervening land and ocean. The
world is wondering when they will meet.
Nearly eighty-hve years have gone since
another leader of men gazed across the sea
| toward the same fateful spot, and in all
| that stretch of time it has changed but
| little. Empires have been raised up ami
| have fallen down, civilization has advanced
with giant strides, the face of society and
CT the world has been changed, but the
people of the lonely isle have gone on dig
ging their potatoes and feeding their goats
as though there were nothing in the world
| besides.
The house in which Ns..Hleon were out
the last years of his life still stands, much
as it was in the May days Of 1921 when
| the man who was once master of Europe
| lay dying behind the drawn blinds. The
| little capital itself has not greatly altered.
During the later years, when the way to
! India still lay around the Cape of Good
Hope. the colony prospered and grew in
numbers, but with the opening of the
Suez Canal jamestown lost it's value as a
/ port of sail. and has since dwindled. The
4
| Napoleon's day, and vast prepOnderance
| OF the people are of negro blood. Includ-
( ing all races, it numbers but 4 116 souls.
and in 1894 there were but Il marriages.
In all the South Atlantic Ocean there
are few islands inhabited by white people
| which are so desolate and none which is
/ so lonely. The nearest land is T00 miles
away to the northwest, in the island Of
Ascension. Britain is 1000 miles distant,
"A ~ Do >
miles of salt sea before reaching its
shores.
| The mass of the prisoners will, Of course
/ not remain in the island after the war has
| been concluded, but Cronje's stay may be
protracted one, and if Kruger should be
exled he would be likely TO end his days
there, as Napoleon did
\ Comparison of imprisonment.
The French Emperor was sent to st.
| Helena because the British regarded it as
the most remote SPOT in the habitable
world, and therefore as the place from
which escape would be most difficult. Ma
<poleon had menaced the worlds peace by
escaping from Elba. His captors wished
to be certain that there should be no re-
currence of such a danger. But in Kru
gers case the same fear will moi exist.
The British Government kept an entire
regiment of soldiers encamped within
mile of the Emperor's house. The build
ing was surrounded nightly with a Gordon
of troops. Every goat path leading to the
sea was occupied by a sentinel. When the
Emperor walked abroad a red coat was
near by The sea was patroled By ships of
war and every incoming vessel was watch
ed lest she might prove means of escape
for the illustrous prisoner Even the fish
ing boats we're numbered and KEEP: under
inspection.
1t is not probable however. that the i'm
prisonment Of Kruger would be SO rigor-
Gus. The danger of escape would not be
so great for fewer and less powerful peo-
pie would be interested in his freedom.
and in case he were able TO compass his
own flight his power for offence would not
be great. Il will in fact, be rather as a
rlatter of convenience than safety that
Kruger may be sent to the island made so
famous by the life and death there Of the
enemy of Europe" '"'' '''r''t
That the Emperor's house will ever be
given over TO the-old lion of the Trans
vaal is scarcely probable. For many years
ii has been kept vacant in consideration
of the sentiment of the French nation.
When England and France were more
friendly, in the days OF the Third Ma
poleon, the house was given over to the
French Government. and most of the fur
niture and ornaments were carried over
seas and distributed as relics in many
cities. The building itself has ever since
remained in charge of a French official,
who preserves it in perfect repair The
draperies upon the walls are the same
which Napoleon saw there and in his bed
room is a bust of the Emperor crowned
with laurel.
That any less exalted captive should
ever live there would seem almost des-
ecration. and should Kruger go 10 st.
Helena it is likely that he will be housed
n other quarters. 1t is not impossible
that Rosemerry may be utilized for that
purpose Rosemary is a low, white, ram
ming spot. situated upon the top Ct high
hill, and surrounded by grove of the
most beautiful trees. and is the most pic
turesuue spot on the island. Until quite
recently its tenant was Prince DIM. a
great black general who led Zulu army
against the British only to find, as Kruger
and Cronje have discovered. that the
march OF England is difficult and danger
Gus to Cbstruct. Dini's overthrow was fo'-
lowed by his deportation and that of all his
wives TO St. Helena, and there he lived In
peace and plenty until il suited the pleas
ure of Downing Street to let him go. He
wore high collars and a swallow tail coat
when he returned 10 Zululand and taught
his compatriots a few lessons wEirh they
The Emperor Napoleon left the most
luxurious court in the world for Long-ood.
which had once been used as a barn by
the East India Company. He had delighted
in every comfort that wealth and influence
could secure. The most beautiful women
and the most brilliant men in Europe had
been gathered about him. and he had held
the worlds leading strings in his hand.
No fate for such a man could have been
more terrible than exile to the quiet. TIE
loneliness, the eternal boredom of such a
place as St Helena.
But with Kruger the conditions will be
different. His manner Of life has always
been simple. He gives up no life of lux
ury. He has no brilliant court, no Intel
lectual pursuits, no vast power to regret |
There will be nothing to make him un-
happy but a sense OF defeat and a chang
of home, and even those should rot trou-
BILE him greatly. for his Dutch phlegm viii
help him to bear the first. while loneliness |
is part of the Boer life. Existence on a
South African farm. such as has been
Kruger's lot during most Of his life. could
scarceiyfbe a less isolated one than exile |
in St Helena. He will have his wife his
family, his servants. and horses his Bible !
ald his trust in God. and between them all |
he will doubtless pass his declining years
in happiness and peace.
Napoleon had none of these. except his |
servants and horses, ard he would not ride |
the latter because an English officer al |
ways insisted on riding near him. Napo- |
leon. therefore, was unhappy. lie abused |
Lnngwood because it was very much less |
comfortable than Malmaison, although any |
ordinary American citizen would have re- |
garded it as a mansion. He was dissatis- |