The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-24
Centenary of
 Napoleon's Great
 Greeting in England

If Emperor William should be talk en prisoner to England, it is safe to say that he would be greeted with curses, hoots and .Inaledictions, and that he would need a large bodyguard tto protect him from the wrath of the people. When the vanquished Napo- leon reached England, however, the imperial captive had no reason to fear the vengeance of the mob. Instead he was greeted more as friend and a cOnquering hero than as an enemy and defeated general.
 It was just one hundred years ago today on July 24, 1915, that the Eng s1ish nan-of-war Be1lerophon arrived at Torbay. It was most novel and impressive scene which greeted the eyes of the Corsican. On the day of his arrival more than a thousand boats, including every available craft in the vicinity, fIoated around the Bellerophon, and more than ten thousand pairs of eyes were fixed up- on the vessel in the hope of catching a sight of the imperial guest. When the deposed monarch of Europe ap- peared on deck the officers and sea men, without orders and moved by a common impulse, uncovered their heads. When Napoleon advanced to the thunderous exclamation there was not a single note of hatred or anger. Practically all Of the spectators un- covered and remained so as long as Napoleon was in sight. For days thereafter these scenes were repeated, and people gathered from all over England to cheer the all too ce1e- brated a parsonage.
 Napoleon was very cheerful in those days. for he believed the popular ap- plause was a good omen for the fu-l ture. and he yielded to the il1usory hope that thes British government r-s land, under some strict but not op- pressive surveillance. The defnonstra- tions had just the opposite effect, however, for they proved that Napo- 1eon's power over the imaginations of men had as strong an appeal as ever Official England was alarmed by these popular manifestai of good will toward the man who had 50 recently fought Englishmen at Waterloo, and Napo1eon's fate, therefore uncertain. was sealed.
 On the last day of July Sir Henry Bunbury, an Under- Secretary of State, went on board the BeI1erophon to communicates to Napoleon the official sentence of his banishment to St. Helena. The ex-Emperor received the news calmly and with dignity, but with solemn energy he protested against the right of the British government so to dispose of him.
 
 throw myself upon the hospitality of your nation. I am not a prisoner of war, and if was I have a right to be treated according to the laws of na- tions. If had been told that was to be a prisoner. T would not have come. To take me to the island of St. Helena would be- my sentence of death. demand to be received as an English citizen Let the Prince Re- gent place me under any superintend- ence he thinks proper, in a country house in the center of England, thirty leagues from every seaport. Let a commissioned officer attend me to examine my correspondence, and re- port my actions. St. Helena to one of my habits and constitution would be death. I am accustomed to ride twenty miles a day. What would, I do on that little rock at the end Of the world ? Your government by this act will be disgraced in the eyes of Europe Even your people will blame it. You found me free send me back again Replace me in the condition in which was, or permit me to go to America