The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
CRONJE'S LAND OF exile
A DesOlate Isle Impossible to Is
cape From.
The Same RiGOr Imposed Upon Ma
poIeon Not Likely TO Meet Boer
BE Guarded by the Ancestral Reg
imcnt of the NapoIeonic Period.

BE Guarded by the Ancestral Reg
imcnt of the NapoIconic Period
Cronje and a large number Of Beers are
to sail. prisoners. for St. Helena, and Pres
ident Kruger and the lonely island are
staring each other in the face over $500
miles of intervening land and ocean. The
world is wondering when they will meet.
Nearly eighty-fye 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 and
have fallen down. civilization has advanced
with giant strides. the face of society and
Of 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 Napoleon wore 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 its value as a
port of sail, and has since dwindled. The
population is somewhat smaller than il
Napoleon's day. and a 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 eco miles
away to the northwest. in the island OF
Ascension. Britain is 1900 miles distant,
and the Boer prisoners must cross 1000
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 Cronie's stay may be
a protracted one and if Kruger should be
exiled 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 habitsble
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 Emperors house The build
ing was surrounded nightly with 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 a means Of escape
for the ilustrious prisoner. Even the fish
ing boats were numbered and kept under
inspection.
II 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 lot
be great. Il will, in fact be rather as
natter Of convenience than safety that
Kruger may be sent to the island made 50
famous by the life and death there Of the
enemy Of Europe"
That the Emperor's house viii ever be
given over TO the old lion Of the Trans
vaal is scarcely probable. For many years
il 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-
ecratiou. and should Kruger go to ST.
Helena it is likely that be will be housed
in other quarters. 1t is not impossible
that Rosemerry may be utilized for that
purpose. RosemerTy is low. white, ram
bling spot situated upon the top cf high
hill, and surrounded by grove OF the
most beautiful trees and is the most pic
recently it's tenant was Prince DIM. a
great black general, who led a 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 TO
lowed by his deportation and that of all his
wives to St Helena and there he lived In
peace and plenty until it suited the pleas
ure of Downing Street to let him go. He
wore high collars and a swallow tail coat
when he returned TO Zuluand, and taught
his compatriots a few lessons wish they
had never before dreamed OF.
The Emperor Napoleon left the most
luxurious court in the world for LOngwood
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 the
loneliness, the eternal boredom OF such
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 &c make him IN
happy but sense OF defeat and a change
of home. and even those should rot trou-
BILE him greatly. for his Dutch phlegm vi
help him TO bear the first. while loneliness
is part OF the Boer life. Existence on
South African farm. such as has been
Kruger's lot during most Of his life. could
scarcelysb be a less isolated one than exile
in ST Helena. lie will have his wife. his
family his servants and horses. his Bible
a1d his trust in God, and between them all