No date; received August 4th, in the Afternoon.
"I have been chased all day by a lawyer with a Habeas Corpus: he is landed at Cawsand, and may come off in a sailing-boat during the night; of course, keep all sorts of boats off, as I will do the like in whatever ship I may be in.
KEITH."
"Captain Maitland."
Buonaparte wrote another letter this evening to the Prince Regent, which I carried to Lord Keith, who again told me of his having been chased all day by a lawyer: who had first started him out of his own house, then followed him to the Tonnant, where he attempted to get in at one side, as his Lordship left her on the other; he afterwards pursued him towards Cawsand, but the Admiral being in a twelve-oared barge, out-rowed him, and gave him the slip round the Ramehead. It was on his return from this chase that he attempted to get on board the Bellerophon.
Buonaparte now confined himself entirely to his cabin, never coming on deck, or appearing at breakfast or dinner. He was not served from the table, but what he ate was prepared and carried in to him by Marchand, his favourite valet de chambre. Messrs Bertrand and Las Cases pa.s.sed much time with him; and this evening the protest was prepared, which will appear in the sequel.
On the morning of the 5th of August, the weather was overcast, with a strong breeze of wind, and the sea began to rise, much to the discomposure of my poor French guests. Soon after breakfast, my signal being made from the Tonnant, where Lord Keith had now hoisted his flag, I told General Bertrand that I was going to the Admiral, and would convey anything Buonaparte had to say to him. He requested I would wait until a letter or paper, then under preparation, was finished, which was intended for me, but a copy to be presented to Lord Keith. I waited nearly an hour, when he brought me Buonaparte"s protest. I delivered it to the Admiral, stating at the same time that I wished to have a copy; and was afterwards furnished with one by his Lordship"s secretary. I insert it here.
_Buonaparte"s Protest._
"Je proteste solennellement ici, a la face du Ciel et des hommes, contre la violence qui m"est faite, contre la violation de mes droits les plus sacres, en disposant par la force, de ma personne et de ma liberte.
"Je suis venu librement a bord du Bellerophon; je ne suis point prisonnier; je suis l"hote de l"Angleterre. J"y suis venu a l"instigation meme du Capitaine qui a dit avoir des ordres du Gouvernement de me recevoir, et de me conduire en Angleterre avec ma suite, si cela m"etoit agreable. Je me suis presente de bonne foi pour venir me mettre sous la protection des loix d"Angleterre. Aussitot a.s.sis a bord du Bellerophon, je fus sur le foyer du peuple Britannique. Si le Gouvernement, en donnant des ordres au Capitaine du Bellerophon, de me recevoir ainsi que ma suite, n"a voulu que tendre une embche, il a forfait a l"honneur et fletri son pavillon. Si cet acte se consommoit, ce seroit en vain que les Anglais voudroient parler a l"Europe de leur loyaute, de leur loix, et de leur liberte.
La foi Britannique _s"y trouvera perdue dans l"hospitalite du Bellerophon_. J"en appelle a l"histoire; elle dira qu"un ennemi qui fit vingt ans la guerre aux peuples Anglois, vint librement, dans son infortune, chercher un asile sous ses loix. Quelle plus eclatante preuve pouvait-il lui donner de son estime et de sa confiance? Mais comment repondit-on en Angleterre a une telle magnanimite?--On feignit de tendre une main hospitaliere a cet ennemi, et quand il se fut livre de bonne foi, on l"immola.
"Signe, NAPOLeON."
a bord du Bellerophon, 4 Aot, 1815.
TRANSLATION.
_Buonaparte"s Protest._
"I hereby solemnly protest, in the face of Heaven and of men, against the violence done me, and against the violation of my most sacred rights, in forcibly disposing of my person and my liberty. I came voluntarily on board of the Bellerophon; I am not a prisoner, I am the guest of England. I came on board even at the instigation of the Captain, who told me he had orders from the Government to receive me and my suite, and conduct me to England, if agreeable to me. I presented myself with good faith to put myself under the protection of the English laws. As soon as I was on board the Bellerophon, I was under shelter of the British people.
"If the Government, in giving orders to the Captain of the Bellerophon to receive me as well as my suite, only intended to lay a snare for me, it has forfeited its honour and disgraced its flag.
"If this act be consummated, the English will in vain boast to Europe of their integrity, their laws, and their liberty. British good faith will be lost in the hospitality of the Bellerophon.
"I appeal to History; it will say that an enemy, who for twenty years waged war against the English people, came voluntarily, in his misfortunes, to seek an asylum under their laws. What more brilliant proof could he give of his esteem and his confidence? But what return did England make for so much magnanimity? They feigned to stretch forth a friendly hand to that enemy; and when he delivered himself up in good faith, they sacrificed him.
"Signed, NAPOLEON."
"On board the Bellerophon, 4th August 1815."
On the above I shall only observe, that no snare had been laid, either on the part of His Majesty"s Government or mine. I was placed before Rochefort for the open purpose of preventing Buonaparte from making his escape from that port; and the exertions of myself and those under my command had been so completely successful, that the intention of forcing past the ships under my orders, as well as every other plan proposed, of which there appear to have been several, were abandoned as utterly hopeless. And so far was I from seeking communication with Napoleon, that all the flags of truce proceeding from him, were strongly reprobated by me, as improper, except in extraordinary cases, and were only resorted to when, as appears from Lord Keith"s letter of the 23rd of July, orders had been sent from Paris for his arrest, and when (as has since been proved) one or more intimations had been given by the officer commanding in Isle d"Aix, that, if he did not depart, he would be under the necessity of detaining him. Besides, it is now perfectly ascertained, that the determination of repairing to England was adopted at a consultation held by Buonaparte on the night of the 13th of July, when his letter to the Prince Regent was written; and Messrs Las Cases and Lallemand were sent on the morning of the 14th to discover if I would receive him on board the Bellerophon, and convey him to that country.
On the morning of the 6th of August, when walking the deck with Monsieur Las Cases, he for the first time mentioned, that he understood me to have a.s.sured him that the Emperor would be well received in England, and allowed to reside there. I replied, "I cannot conceive how you could so far misunderstand me, as I constantly, in my communications with you, stated that I could make no promises whatever: that I thought my orders would bear me out in receiving him on board, and conveying him to England; but even in doing that, I acted very much upon my own responsibility. You questioned me frequently, as to my private opinion; and as I was quite ignorant upon the subject, I could only say I had no reason to believe he would be ill received." It did not, however, require my a.s.sistance to raise the hopes of those about Buonaparte, respecting the manner in which he was to be received in England; as one of his followers, on the pa.s.sage home, asked me if I thought the Prince Regent would confer the order of the Garter upon him. If there was any misunderstanding, (which I cannot allow to have been the case,) Monsieur Las Cases has himself to blame. When he came on board of the Bellerophon for the purpose of treating, he concealed his knowledge of the English language; which, as I had considerable difficulty in expressing myself in French, could only be intended for the purpose of throwing me off my guard, that he might take advantage of any expressions that fell from me, or the officers I had always present at our meetings. Even after he was on board with Buonaparte, though he acknowledged he could read English, and always translated the newspapers for his master, he affected not to be able to speak it. What his actual knowledge of the language was, the following extract of a letter, from a friend of mine on board the Northumberland, dated at sea, August the 22nd, 1815, will show:
"I do not know, whether Las Cases ever let you know he could speak English; but this I can a.s.sure you, that he speaks it very near as well as Madame Bertrand, and can hold a conversation, or maintain an argument in it, with as much fluency as she can."
This forenoon, I had a long conversation with Buonaparte. He complained bitterly of the conduct of the British Government; and entered, at considerable length, into the state of his affairs when he determined upon the measure of repairing on board the Bellerophon.
"There still," said he, "was a large party in the South, that wished me to put myself at its head; the army behind the Loire was also desirous of my return. At ten o"clock of the night before I embarked, a deputation from the garrison of Roch.e.l.le waited upon me, with an offer to conduct me to the army; in addition to which, the troops that were in Rochefort, Bourdeaux, and Isle d"Aix, amounting to twelve thousand men, were at my disposal. But I saw there was no prospect of ultimate success, though I might have occasioned a great deal of trouble and bloodshed, which I did not choose should take place on my account individually;--while the Empire was at stake, it was another matter."
In the afternoon, Mr O"Meara, the surgeon, informed me that General Savary had made a proposal to him to accompany Buonaparte to St Helena as his medical attendant; Monsieur Maingaut, his surgeon, being a young man with whom he was little acquainted, having suffered so much from seasickness in the pa.s.sage from Rochefort, that he felt averse to undertaking another sea voyage. He consulted me as to the propriety of accepting the offer. I told him it must depend very much upon his own feelings; but if he had no dislike to it, he had better accept the proposal, on condition that our Government consented, and agreed to pay his salary; but, in that case, an official communication must pa.s.s, through me, to the Admiral on the subject. This was the first intimation I received of Buonaparte having made any arrangement towards complying with the notification he had received from our Government.
About nine A.M. a large ship was seen to leeward, which, on closing, proved to be the Northumberland. The whole squadron then stood in, and anch.o.r.ed to the westward of Berryhead. I went on board the Tonnant, and reported to Lord Keith that Buonaparte had at last made up his mind to move from the Bellerophon without force being used; and that Count Bertrand was desirous of seeing his Lordship, that he might make the necessary arrangements about the people who were to accompany him. By the Admiral"s directions, I returned to my ship and brought Monsieur Bertrand to him. Soon after Sir George c.o.c.kburn arrived, and they were shut up together for nearly two hours.
When I first went on board the Tonnant, I received a memorandum from Lord Keith, from which I give an extract; and at the same time a verbal intimation, that I should receive an order in writing the next day, to, remove Buonaparte, and such part of his suite as he might select, to the Northumberland.
Extract of a Memorandum from Admiral Viscount Keith, G.C.B., addressed to Captain Maitland, of H.M.S. Bellerophon, dated Tonnant, off the Start, 6th August, 1815.
"All arms of every description are to be taken from the Frenchmen of all ranks on board the ship you command; and they are to be carefully packed up and kept in your charge, while they remain on board the Bellerophon; and afterwards in that of the captain of the ship to which they may be removed."
While we were at dinner, Generals Bertrand and Montholon were employed making out lists of what would be required by the French officers and the ladies, to render them comfortable during their voyage to St Helena, which were despatched to Plymouth by Sir George c.o.c.kburn"s secretary.
In the course of the evening Lord Keith and Sir George c.o.c.kburn came on board the Bellerophon; when the latter was introduced to Buonaparte.
As soon as General Bertrand was at leisure, I told him I had orders to remove Napoleon to the Northumberland the following day, and also to take away the arms from him and his attendants, giving him to understand that they would be returned on their arrival at their destination. He seemed much hurt at being deprived of his arms, but said he would give directions for their being delivered; and I received them the next morning, with the exception of Buonaparte"s sword, which, by an order I subsequently received from Lord Keith, he was permitted to wear, when quitting the ship.
About half-past nine in the evening, Mons. Bertrand told me that Buonaparte was desirous of seeing me. On going into his cabin, he said, "Bertrand informs me you have received orders to remove me to the Northumberland; is it so?" I answered in the affirmative. "Have you any objection," he said, "to writing a letter to Bertrand, acquainting him of it; that I may have a doc.u.ment to prove that I was forced to quit the ship, and that my inclinations were not consulted." I replied, "I can have no objection to write such a letter, and shall do it this evening." I was then going to retire, when he requested me to remain, having more to say. "Your Government,"
he continued, "has treated me with much severity, and in a very different way from what I had hoped and expected, from the opinion I had formed of the character of your countrymen. It is true I have always been the enemy of England, but it has ever been an open and declared one; and I paid it the highest compliment it was possible for man to do in throwing myself on the generosity of your Prince: I have not now to learn, however, that it is not fair to judge of the character of a people by the conduct of their Government." He then went on, (alluding to the Government,) "They say I made no conditions.
Certainly I made no conditions; how could an individual enter into terms with a nation? I wanted nothing of them but hospitality, or, as the ancients would express it, "air and water." My only wish was to purchase a small property in England, and end my life there in peace and tranquillity. As for you, Capitaine," (the name by which he always addressed me) "I have no cause of complaint; your conduct to me has been that of a man of honour; but I cannot help feeling the severity of my fate, in having the prospect of pa.s.sing the remainder of my life on a desert island. But," added he with a strong emphasis, "if your Government give up Savary and Lallemand to the King of France, they will inflict a stain upon the British name that no time can efface." I told him, in that respect, they were under an erroneous impression; that I was convinced it was not the intention of his Majesty"s Ministers to deliver them up. "Je l"espere," "I hope so;" was his only reply.--I then took my leave of him for the night.
That I may not break in upon the occurrences of the 7th, I shall here insert the letter I wrote at Buonaparte"s request, and a copy of the orders under which I acted in removing him from the Bellerophon to the Northumberland.
"H.M.S. Bellerophon, Start Bay, 7th August, 1815.
"SIR,
"I beg to acquaint you that I have this day received orders from Lord Keith, Commander in Chief of the Channel Fleet, to remove General Buonaparte from the ship I command, to his Majesty"s ship Northumberland; and I have to request you will intimate the above to the General, that he may prepare for the removal.
"I likewise enclose a copy of an order respecting the arms of General Buonaparte and the whole of his attendants, and request you will give directions for their being delivered to me, that they may be disposed of as the order directs.
"I have the honour to be, &c. &c. &c.
FRED. L. MAITLAND."
"Lieut. General Count Bertrand."
Copy of the order alluded to.
"By the Right Hon. Viscount Keith, G.C.B., &c. &c. &c.
"You are hereby required and directed to deliver the persons, named below, into the charge of Rear Admiral Sir George c.o.c.kburn.
"Given on board the Tonnant, At anchor under Berryhead, 7th August, 1815.