A A 4 2 1 |8 |9 3 I £ 25 AN APPEAL TO THE $arltament of (great Bwattt, ON THE CASE OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON IX FRENCH AND ENGLISH. BY COUNT LAS CASES. LONDON: PRINTED FOR JAMES RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY. 1819. PlUCE 2«. J. M'Creery, Printer. Black-Hoise-Ctmrt, London. * «*^ IM1H C hi IftMVKRSlTY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BAJtBAiU AVERTISSEMENT NOTICE DE FROM THE CCtJtteur angioteu €nsltsf) Ctittor- A-PEINE deporte de Ste Helene, le Comte de las Cases, a son arrivee au Cap de Bonne Esperance, traca a la hate un projet de pe- tition au Parlement d'An- gleterre,concernant l'illus- tre prisonnier qu'il venoit de laisser a Longwood. II l'adressa, en depit dela sur- veillance dont il etoit 1'ob- jet, a un membre distingue de la legislature brittan- nique, en le suppliant de vouloir bien faire donnera cet ecrit la contexture el les formes voulues; mais soit qu'il arrivat trop tard pour la session ; soit qu'il presentat des inconveni- ents a celui auquel il etoit adresse; soit en fin qu'il ne lui soit pas par- venu, il n'en a jamais ete question. Des circonstances parti- As soon as the Count de las Cases reached the Cape of Good Hope, after hav- ing been sent away from St. Helena, his first care was to sketch out the heads of a petition to the Parliament of Great Bri- tain, stating the situa- tion of the illustrious cap- tive he had quitted at Longwood. In spite of the strict watch kept over him, he found means to send away this paper to the address of a distin- guished member of the British legislature, entreat- ing him to reduce the same to the form requisite for its being presented to Parliament. Whether it arrived too late for the ses- sion, or obstacles occur- red to the individual who was requested to present it, or whether it never reached its destination, the fact is, nothing has been heard of it up to this day. Circumstances having, • • IV AVERTISSEMENT. culieres en ayant fait tom- ber, des les premiers terns, une copie authentique en nos mains, et voyant qu'on donne aujourd'hui a divers documents de la meme source une publicite que la discussion de la Cham- bre des Communes du 14 Mai dernier avoit rendu indispensable; nous n' he- sitons pas de notre cote a publier cette piece, sans crainte d'etre desavouee par celui qui la traca ; parceque nous ne sommes guides en cela que par l'unique intention de ser- vir ses vues, en fesant par- venir cet ecrit a la connois- sance de nos representans, au moment, surtout, ou leur reunion prochaine offre plus de chances pour qu'il soit pris par eux en haute et digne considera- tion. Pour plus d'exactitude, nous avons cru devoir conserver le texte original a cote de notre traduction. from the first, placed in our hands an authentic copy of this paper, and seeing that publicity has been given to other docu- ments derived from the same source, a publicity rendered indeed indispen- sable by the nature and turn of the discussions in the House of Commons on the 14th of May last; we feel no hesitation in pub- lishing the present, and are without fear of being dis- avowed by the author of it, since we are influenced by the sole desire of for- warding his views in caus- ing its contents to come to the knowledge of our representatives, at a mo- ment when their impend- ing meeting offers the most probable chance of its be- ing taken into considera- tion. London, §th Oct. 1818. Londres, 9*""* 1818. PRO JET DE PETITION AU Jparlement trgngleterre. DRAUGHT OF A PETITION TO THE PARLIAMENT OF <£teat Svttattu Cup de Bonne Esperance, 1817. Un simple individu, uu foible etranger, ose elever sa voix au milieu de vous, Representansdu Peuple d' Angleterre ; mais il vous invoque au nom de l'hu- manite, de la justice, au nom fie votre gloire. Par- leroit-il en vain? Pour- roit-il n'etre pas ecoute? Jete hors de St. Ilelene; enleve d'aupres du plus grand monument des vicis- situdes humaines cjui lut jamais, je me traine vers vous pour vous peindre sa situation, ses souffrances. Cape of Good Hope, 1817. A HUMBLE individual, a helpless stranger, dares to raise his voice in the midst of you, the representatives of the people of Great Bri- tain. His call upon you is in the name of huma- nity, of justice, and of your own glory. Shall he call in vain ? Shall he not be heard ? Cast out from St. He- lena, forced away from the side of him who stands the greatest monument of hu- man vicissitudes, that the world has ever yet pre- sented ; I have struggled to approach you, that I may set before you the picture of his situation and sufferings. B / 2 Arrache soudaincment d'aupres de lui, et sans qu'il ait ete possible de le prevoir; prive de toute communication, mes pa- roles, mes idees, ne seront que de moi : elles n'auront d'autre source que mon cceur. Peut-etre 1'ame altiere de celui qui en est 1'objet s'irritera-t-eLle de la demarche que j'entre- prends en ce moment ; pensant qu'ici bas, il ne doit, il ne pent appeler de ses griefs qu'a Dieu seul. Peut-etre me demandera- t-il, qui m'a commis les soins et le bien-etre de sa vie? N'importe. Mon a- mour pour lui aura cause ma foiblesse. Je me sens deja trop loin de son he- roique influence- mon cceur ne peut plus renfermer les maux dont il a ete le te- moin : ils s'ouvrent un pas- sage, ils m'arrachent des cris. Vous avez banni dans les deserts de 1'ocean, ce- lui dont la magnanime con fiance venoit librement et par choix vivre au mi- lieu de vous sous la pro- tection de vos lois qu'il avoit cru toutes puissantes. Torn suddenly away from his presence, without its being possible for me to foresee such event ; de- prived of all communica- tion with him ; my words, my ideas, can be only my own ; they flow from no other source than my heart. Perhaps the lofty soul of him who is the object of them, may feel offended by the measure now taken ; thinking, that here below he neither ought or could appeal for the redress of his injuries, but to God alone. He may perhaps demand of me, who has intrusted to me the care and guardianship of his life and interests ? — It mat- ters not. My love of him will have been the cause of my fault. I already feel that I am too far beyond the influence of his heroic soul j my heart is no longer able to confine within itself the evils it has witnessed ; they force an utterance, and extort these com- plaints from me. You have banished to deserts, surrounded by the ocean, him whose high- minded confidence induc- ed him to come freely and of his own choice to live in the midst of you, under the protection of your Sans doute vous ne cher- chates dans votre determi- nation que ce qui voussem- bloit utile? Vous ne pre- tendites pas etrejustes? autrement on vous deman- deroit: qui l'avoit mis en votre pouvoir? qui vous avoit donne le droit de le juger? Sur quoi l'avez- vous condamne ? Qui avez- vous entendu dans sa de- fense ? Mais vous avez porte une loi . . . elle existe, je la respecte. Je ne suis point qualifie pour discu- ler le principe. Je con- tiendrai tout murmure ; mon protet ne sortira pas de mon coeur. Vous n'en- tendrez ici que les maux dont on accompagne vos decisions, et contre vos in- tentions sans doute. RepresentansdelaGrande Bretagne, vous avez dit ne vouloir que vous as- surer de la personne de 1'Empereur Napoleon, et garantir sa detention. Cel objet rempli, vous avez en- tendu qu'on prodiguat. tout ce qui pourrqit adoucir, al- laws, which he had been taught to believe were all-powerful. In the de- cision you came to, you cannot deny but that you have had in view only that which appeared the most suitable to your own inte- rests. You could never have intended to be just; otherwise you would be asked, who placed him in your power? Who con- stituted you his judges ? Upon what grounds have you condemned him ? Who have you heard in his de- fence ? But a law has been passed by you .... it is in force; 1 respect it. I am not qualified to discuss the principle of it. I shall not allow a single murmur tq escape me ; my protest shall be confined to my own breast. You shall only learn from me the evils which have accompa- nied your decision; evils, without doubt, contrary tq your intentions. Representatives of Great Britain, you have said that you only wished to ensure yourselves of the person of the Emperor Napoleon, and warrant his sale cus- tody. That object being fulfilled, it was your inten- tion that every thing should leger ce que vous avez pense 1'ccuvre, l'obligation de la politique: tels out ete ['esprit, la lettre de vos lois, les expressions de vos debate, les voeux de votre nation, les sentiments de son honnenr. Eh-bien il n'est parvenu a l'illustre Captif sur son affreux ro- cher, que la partie severe de vos intentions : heureux, toutefois encore, si elles n'avoient pas ete outre passees. Mais les images qui eonronnent sou ilesont inoins epais et moins som- bres que les peines morales et phisiques qu'on amon- celle sur sa tete. Sous le pretexte vain d'apprehen- tions purement imagi- h aires, chaque jour a vu de nouvelles restraintes. Son ame fiere a devore chaque jour de nouveaux outrages. Tout exercice lui est devenu impossible; toutes visiles, toutes con- versations se sont trouvees a-peu-pres interdites. Ainsi les privations de toute es- pece, les contrarietes de toute nature, se joignent pour lui a 1'insalubrite mor- telle d'un climat tout a la fbis humide et brulantj a la lade monotonie d'un ciel sans couleurs ni saisons. On ressere a chaque instant d'une manic-re eft'rayante le ■ be done that could ame- liorate and soften what you looked upon as an act of political necessi- ty : such were the letter of your laws, the ex- pressions of your debates, the wishes of the nation, and the sense of its ho- nour. Well, then, no- thing has reached the illus- trious Captive, upon his frightful rock, but thesevere part of your intentions: happy indeed for him would it have been, if even this had not been exceed- ed. But the clouds that envelope his abode are less dark and gloomy than the mental and bodily inflic- tions which have been heaped upon his devoted head. Under the vain pretence of apprehensions, plainly fantastical, each succeeding day witnesses some new restraint upon him. Each day his high mind has some fresh out- rage to sustain. All exer- cise is now made impos- sible for him ; all visits, all conversation, have been nearly put a stop to. Thus are privations of every kind, and obstacles of every nature added to the deadly unhealthiness of a climate, at once both damp and scorching ; to the in- 5 cercle de sa vie. II est re- duit a garder sa chambre. On va lui donner la mort. • • • • Avez-vous done voulu toutes ces choses? non sans doute; et quels motifs pour- roient les justifier? La crainte d'une evasion ? Mais qu'on reunisse des militaires, des marins, des juges capables! qu'on con- suite leurs lumieres! qu'on s'instruise de leurs opi- nions ! et qu'on cesse de livrer un tel objet a l'arbi- traire d'un seul homme, qui, pouvant prendre ses terreurs pour guide, ne s'occupera chaque jour qu'a combattre jusqu'aux phantomes que pourra lui creerson imagination frap- pee; sans songer qu'il ne peut detruire toutes les chances, et parvenir a la derniere qu'en donnant la mort. A Longwood on tient toute evasion pour impos- sible, on n'y songe pas. Certes chacun y voudroit accomplir l'entreprise au prix de sa vie. La mort sipid and wearisome mo- notony of a sky, in which neither the variation of co- lour or season are to be discerned. Every day they draw closer and closer, in a frightful degree, the nar- row circle within which his life goes round. He is now reduced to keep his room. The death hlow will soon be given .... Was it your intention that all these things should take place? Doubtlessly not; for what motives could justify them ? The fear of an escape ? Only call together the officers of land and sea, those the most capable of judg- ing ! — let them be con- sulted ! — let their opinion be heard! — and let not such an object be any lon- ger left to the guidance of the arbitrary will of a sin- gle man, who being en- abled to take his own ter- rors for his rule, may oc- cupy himself, day after day, combating every phantom his panic-struck imagination can raise, without reflecting that the last chance cannot, after all, be fenced out but by the death of the captive. At Longwood escape is believed to be out of the question; it is never look- paroitroit douce pour un si glorieux resultat. Mais comment tromper des of- ficieisen consiante surveil- lance, echapper a des sol- dats bordant le rivage; descendre des rocs a pic, se jeter potirainsi dire a la nage dans le vaste ocean ; franchir une premiere ligne de bateaux, une seconde de vaisseaux de guerre; lorsqu'on est domine de tous les sommets, qu'on pent etre environne, suivi de signaux a chaque in- stant, et dans toutes les directions. Et sur quelles embarquations se hasarde- roit-on ? II n'en existe point a portee du rivage. Sur quel batiment cherche- roit-on un refuge? II n'en est de pres, ni de loin. Tout etranger, tout national raeme devient la proie de vos croiseurs, s'ils s'appro- chent sans d'urgents mo- tifs de File maudite. Avec de telles precau- tions et de telles circon- stances, Tile entiere n'est- elle done pas une prison suflisamment sure? devroit- il etre necessaire d'y en- cercler sans cesse des pri- ed to. There can be no doubt but that every one there would accomplish the adventure at the price of his life. Death would be sweet in the attainment of so glorious a result But how are we to deceive the officers constantly on the watch ; escape the sol- diers which line the shore; descend the pointed rocks ; throw ourselves into the midst of the vast ocean ; clear a first line of boats, and a second of men of war, while we are over- looked from all the heights, can be surrounded, and followed by signals at eve- ry step and in every direc- tion. To what vessels are we to trust ourselves ? There is not one within reach of the shore. In what ship could we take shelter ? There are none, far or near. Every foreign vessel, and even those of your own nation, are made the prey of your cruizers, if they approach, without the most pressing motives, the accursed island. Under such circumstan- ces, and with such pre- cautions, the whole island is surely of itself a suffi- cient prison ? Can it be necessary to be continual- ly forming circles within sons dans des prisons ? Et si, circles of prisons ? And if, ce qui est impossible, tant which is impossible, so de difficultes pouvoient manydifficulties could ever £tre vaincues, l'immensite be surmounted, theimmen- des mers, la presque tota- sityofsea, nearly the whole lite des terres ne demeu- of the earth, — do these not rent-elles pas encore une still remain a new prison? nouvelle prison ? Or, qui pourroit porter Now, what could induce des hommes dans leur bon men in their sound senses, sens a rever d'aussi ridi- to think of such absurd at- cules efforts ? qui pourroit tempts ? What could give induire dans Longwood a rise to such foolishly des- des pensees si follement de- perate thoughts in the sesperees. Aussi l'Empe- minds of the inmates of reur Napoleon en est tou- Longwood ? In truth, the jours aux memes projets, Emperor Napoleon re- aux memes desirs qu'il ex- mains always faithful to prima lorsqu'il vint avec the same projects he had confiance librement et de in view, and forms the bonne foiz.M milieu devous, same wishes which he ex- " Une retraite et du repos pressed when he came sous la protection de vos with confidence, freely and lois positives ou de celles in good faith, among you: de l'Amerique." Voila ce " An asylum and repose qu'il vouloit, voila ce under your own positive qu'il veut encore: ce qu'il laws, or those of Ame- demandetoujours. rica." This was what he Si done I'iledeSt.Helene wished then, and this is par sa nature n'est pas deja what he wishes for yet: and une prison suffisante; si that which he never ceases elle n'a pas l'avantage de to demand, faire concourir la surete If, then, the Island of avec les indulgences j alors St. Helena is not a sufii- on a trompe votre choix cient prison in itself; if et vos intentions. A quoi it does not combine the bon nous envoyer mourir advantage of security with miserablement dans un cli- the indulgences intended, mat qui n'est pas lenotre? you have been deceived in A quoi bon toutes vos the choice, and your in- depenses additionclles? A tentions frustrated ? What 8 quoi bon votre nombreuse garnjson ct son grand etat- major? A quoi bon votre etablissement de nier ? A quoi bon les genes qu'on ' impose au commerce de c< tte ile malheureuse ? II ttoit taut de points dans vos dominations Euro- pean nes, ou vous pouviez nous garder sans frais, et ou nous nous serions esti- mes moins malheureux. Si cette ile au contraire s par sa nature et a l'aide des precautions exprimees ci-dessus, presentoit en elle-meme tout ce que la sagesse, la prudence hu- inaines peuvent croire nc- cessaire ; alors toutes ad- ditions aggravantes ne seroient-elles pas autant de vexations inutiles, d'actes tvranniques et barbares, executes contre votre in- tention ? Car vous n'avez pu vouloir qu'on torturat Napoleon; qu'on le fit mourir a coup d'epingle; et pourtant il n'est que trop vrai qu'il perit par des blessures incessantes de < liaque jour,cliaqueheure, cbaque minute. purpose could it answer to send us to perish miser- ably in a climate not our own ? To what purpose all your additional expenses? To what end your numer- ous garrison, and its large staff? To what end your marine establishment ? To what end the restraints under which the commerce of this devoted island has been laid ? You had so many spots in your Euro- pean dominions, where you could have kept us without expense, and where we should have deemed our- selves less unfortunate. If this Island, on the other hand, of its own na- ture, assisted by the pre- cautions which we have noticed above, presented all that human wisdom and foresight could think necessary for the safe cus- tody of the captive; must not all aggravating addi- tions be so many useless, vexatious, tyrannical, and barbarous acts, contrary to your intentions ? For you never could have intended that Napoleon should be tortured ; that he should be goaded to death by inches; and yet it is but too true that he is actually perishing by wounds, in- flicted unceasingly from Si vous n'avez voulu voir en lui qu'un simple prisonnier; et non l'objet de l'ostracisme des rois, roi lui meme; si vous n'avez pretend u lui donner qu'une prison ordinaire, et non choisir un lieu ou Ton put adoucir l'irregularite de son exil: si on n'a voulu le confier qu'a un geolier et non a un officier d'un grade eminent, qui par ses habitudes des affaires et du monde sut allier ce qu'il doit a la surete du captif avec le respect et les egards qu'il commande; si on n'a voulu suivre que la haine, la vengeance et toutes les passions etroites et vulgaires ; si on n'a voulu enfin que confier au climat la mort de l'illustre ennemi, charger la nature d'un acte qu'on n'osoitpas ( xecuter soi-meme ; si on a voulu tout cela, je m'ar- n'te, je n'ai plus rien a dire, je n'ai deja que trop (lit. Mais si dans It* sens de voire Bill meme, vous avez voulu entourer votre arte politique, comme vous I'avez fait en effet, de tOUtes les intentions d'une nation grande, no- ble, honorable 3 je puis day to day, from hour to hour, from minute to mi- nute. But, if you have intend- ed to regard him only as a mere prisoner, and not as the object of the ostra- cism of kings, himself a king; if you have only meant to find him a com- mon gaol, and not to chuse him a place in which the irregularity of his exile might be softened ; if you have only meant to entrust him to a gaoler, and not to an officer of distinguished rank, who by his know- ledge of the world and its affairs, knew how to unite what was due to the safe custody of his captive, with the respect and attentions which the situation of the captive commanded ; if you have only wished to gratify hatred, vengeance, and all the vulgar passions of narrow minds ; if, in fact, you have only wished to entrust to the climate the death of your illustri- ous enemy, to charge na- ture with a deed you have not dared to execute your- selves ; if this has been what you have had in view, I stop here, — I have no more to say, — what I have al- ready said is too much. 15ut, if according to the 10 continue!*, car vous aurez voulu tout le bien que peut permettre la circonstance. Vous aurez interdit tout le mal que ne comniandoit pas la necessite. Vous n'avez pas voulu qu'on privat le prisonnier de tout exercice, en lui imposant inutilement des conditions ou des formes, qui eussent fait de cette jouissance un tourment : vous n'avez pas voulu qu'on lui prescrivit la na- ture de ses paroles, la lon- gueur de ses phrases: vous n'avez pas voulu qu'on res- treignit son enceinte pri- mitive, sous pretexte qu'il ne fesoit pas un usage journalier de son etendue: vous n'avez pas voulu qu'on le forcat de se re- duire a sa chambre, pour ne pas se trouver au milieu des retranchemens et des palissades dont on entoure ridiculement son jardin, &c. &c. &c. meaning of the words of your Bill itself, you have wished to guard and co- ver your political act, as in fact you have done, by expressing the whole of the intentions of a great, generous, and honourable nation ; I may proceed ; for as you have willed all the good which the cir- cumstance admitted of ; so you would have forbid- den all the evil which wa» not enforced by necessity. You could not have meant that the prisoner should be deprived of all exercise, by the useless im- position of conditions and forms, which turned that enjoyment into a torment ; — you could not have meant that the nature of his words was to be pre- scribed to him, as well as the length of his phrases ; — you could not have intended that the first bounds assigned to him should have been narrow- ed, under the pretence that he did not use them every day to the full extent; — you could not have meant that he should be obliged to confine himself to his room, not to find himself entangled among the en- trenchments and palisa- does with which they have 11 Or, toutes ces choses ex- istent. Elles se sont suc- cedees chaque jour, bien qu'elles soient jugees inu- tiles, et que beaucoup de vos compatriotes les con- damnent et en gcmissent. Vous n'avez pas voulu qu'au grand detriment de sa sante et de ses aises, il fut condamne a une mau- vaise, petite, incommode demeure, tandis que l'au- torite en auroit de grandes et de belles a la ville et a la campagne qui eussent ete beaucoup plus com- modes, plus convenables, eussent same l'envoi du fa- meux palais, ou pour par- ler plus correctement, de 1'immense quantite de ma- driers bruts pourissant au- jourd'hui sans emploi sur le rivage, parcequ'on a trouve qu'il faudroit de sept a buit ans pour ac- complir la batisse projet- tee; vous n'avez pas voulu qu'en depit des sommes que vous y consacrez, les necessites de la vie, toutes les subsistances fournies journellement a Longwood fussent du dernier rebut, lorsqu'il en existeroit pour d'autresde la meilleure qua- lite. Vous n'avez pas von* ridiculously surrounded his garden, &c. &c. &c. Yet all this has taken place. Each of these things has succeeded day after day to the other, notwith- standing their being all deemed useless ; and that many of your countrymen condemn and lament them. You did not mean that he should be condemned to dwell in a small, bad, in- convenient abode, at the expense of his health and comfort, while the autho- rities of the Island had at their disposal such as were roomy and handsome, both in the town and country, and which would have been more commodious and suitable, would have spared the sending out that palace which has been so much talked of; or to speak more correctly, the im- mense mass of timber which now lies rotting un- employed upon the shore, because it was found that it would requireseven oreight years to raise the projected building; — you did not intend, that in spite of the sums you have allotted to that purpose, that the ne- cessaries of life, all the ar- ticles of subsistence fur- nished daily at Long- wood, should be the mere n In qu'on poussat ['outrage vis-a-vis de Napoleon jus- qu'a vouloir le forcer de disinter les petits details de sa depense ; qu'on Je sommat de fournir mi sur- plus qu'il ne possedoit pas, ou qu'a defaut on le inena- cat de reductions impos- sibles ; qu'on le fotcat de s'ecrier dans son indigna- tion dele laisser tranquille, qu'il ne demandoit rien, que quand il auroit faim il iroit s'asseoir au milieu de ces braves, dont il ap- percevoit les tentes au loin, lesquels ne repousseroient pas le plus vieux soldat de 1 Europe : vous n'avez pas voulu que Napoleon se trouvat contraint par la de vendre son argenterie, piece-a-piece, afin de sub- venir a ce qui lui manque cbaque mois; et qu'il se trouvat reduit a accepter ce que des serviteurs fi- deles etoient assez heureux pour pouvoir deposer a ses pieds. refuse of their kind, while those of a superior quality were found for other peo- ple ; — you did not wish that they should wound the feelings of Napoleon, by forcing him to discuss and enter into the most trilling details of his house- hold expenditure ; that he should be called upon to supply a surplus while he did not possess the means wherewith ; or in default, that he should be threat- ened with reductions that could not be made without starvation ; that he should be goaded to indignation, and irritated till he ex- claimed, " that he only wished to be left in peace, that he asked for no- thing; that when hungry he should go and seat him- self in the middle of the brave soldiers, whose tents were in view, who would not turn away the oldest soldier in Europe ;" — you did not mean, that by such treatment, Napoleon should be reduced to sell his plate, piece by piece, in order to supply the de- ficiency of each month ; and be brought to accept the mite which his faith- ful servants were fortunate enough to be enabled to lay at his feet. 13 O Anglais ! est-ce ainsi qu'on pent traiter en votre nom celui qui a gouverne l'Europe, dispose de tant de Couronnes, cree tant de Rois ! ne craignez-vous pas le cri de l'histoire; et si jamais el le ven oit a graver: — " lis l'ont trompe pour s'en saisir, et puis ont mar- chande son existence." — Souffrirez-vous qu'on com- promette a ce point vos sentiments, votre caractere, votre honneur? est-ce done la votre Bill, vos inten- tions ? et quel rapport de si inconvenables mesures ont-elles avec la surete ? Vous n'avez pas voulu que l'autorite ce fit une etude puerile et barbare dans ses paroles, ses regle- ments et ses actes, de rap- peler sans cesse ce qu'il eut ete delicat de ne men- tionner jamais: en nous repetant cliaque jour que nous nous abusons estran- gement stir notre position, en interdisant severement tout respect inusite ; < n punissant meme, nous a-t-on dit, celoi en qui I'habitude I'auroit la: <■ echapper ; en restreignant les journair: qui nous par- vienncnt, a ceux qui pour- Englishmen ! is it thus that they can treat in your name, he who has govern- ed Europe, disposed of so many crowns, created so many kings ? Do you not dread the voice of history ; and if ever she should record in her pages, " They have deceived him, to get him into their power, and then setapriceon his existence!" Could you bear to have your feelings, your charac- ter, your honour, brought into question in such man- ner ? Was this what you meant by your Bill ? What relation can such inde- cent measures have with the safe custody of the prisoner ? You could not have in- tended that the chief au- thority of the Island should be displaying a puerile and barbarous affectation, in eternally recalling, by words, regulations, and acts, tbat which it would have been more delicate never to mention at all : in reminding us every day that we were deceiving ourselves strangely in re- gard to our real position, in forbidding in the seve- rest manner, any unac- customed mark of respect; nay, even in punishing, as we were told, those who 14 roient nous etre Ies plus desagreables; en nous pro- curant volontiers les libel- les, et soustrayant ou re- tenant, au contraire, les ouvragesbienveillants. En- fin en nous imposant la forme litterale de la decla- ration par laquelle nous achettions l'esclavage et le bonheur de soigner un ob- jet revere ; en nous con- traignant d'y admettre des denominations contraires a nos habitudes et a nos lois, se servant ainsi de nos propres mains, pour de- grader l'objet auguste que nous entourions. Et toute- fois nous avons du le faire, parceque sur notre refus universe!, nous avons ete menaces d'etre arraches tous a notre doux emploi, jetes aussitot sur un bati- ment, et deportes au Cap de Bonne Esperance. De quelle interet ces cruelles et tyranniques mesures peuvent-elles etre a la su- rete ? made use of such unguard- edly, and from former ha- bits; in confining the jour- nals that were permitted to come to us, to those only which might be the most unpleasant to us; in readily procuring for us any libels against us, and in keeping back and de- priving us of any publica- tions which were favour- able to us. Finally, in binding us down by the letter of the form of the declaration by which we purchased thv, bondage and the happiness of being per- mitted to devote ourselves to the care of the ob- ject we revered; by oblig- ing us to admit in that declaration of denomina- tions, contrary to our cus- toms and our laws, thus making use of our own hands to degrade the au- gust object to whose ser- vice we had dedicated our- selves. Nor did our duty permit us to act otherwise ; for upon our unanimous re- fusal, we were all threaten- ed to be torn away from an employment so dear to us ; hurried immediately on board ship, and trans- ported to the Cape of Good Hope. In what way could such unfeeling and tyrannical measures 15 On croira avec peine que Napoleon s'informant s'il pouvoit ecrire au Prince Regent, I'autorite ait repondu qu'on ne lais- seroit passer sa lettre qu'en cas qu'elle fut ouverte, on qu'on l'ouvriroit pour en prendreconnoissance. Pro- cede que reprouve la rai- son, egalement injurieux aux deux augustes per- sonnes. Ste. Helene avoit ete choisi pour nous, avoit-il ete dit, afin que nous pussionsy jouir d'une cer- taine liberie et de quelques indulgences. Mais nous ne pouvons parler a per- sonne. II nous est inter- ditd'ecrire aaucun. Nous sommes restreints dans nos plus petits details domes- tiques. Des fosses, des retranchements entourent nos demeures ; une auto- rite sans controle nous jgouverne, et Ton avoit choisi Ste. Helene pour nous procurer quelqu'in- dulgence ! Mais quelle prison en Angleterre eftt done pu etre pire pour nous? Certcs il n'en est aucune aujourd'hui qui ne nous scmblat un bienfait. be useful to the safe cus- tody of the captive ? It will hardly be cre- dited, that when Napo- leon enquired if he might write a letter to the Prince Regent, he was answered by the chief authority of the Island, that the letter would only be permitted to go if it was open, or else that it would be open- ed, that the contents might be verified. A proceeding against all reason, and one equally derogatory to both the august personages. St. Helena, it has been said, was selected for us, in order that we might enjoy a certain degree of liberty, and be allowed some indulgences. But we are not allowed to speak to any one. It is forbid- den us to write to any one. We are restrained in the minutest of our domestic details. Ditches and en- trenchments surround our dwellings ; an authority without control disposes of us, and yet we are told that St. Helena was chosen that we might have some indulgences ! What prison can there be in England which would have been worse for us ? Certainly there is not one at this hour which would not ap- 1(3 Nous nous trouvcrions en terreChretienne, nous res- pirerions l'air Europeen ; une autorite superieure, contradictoire, nous met- troit ;i l'abri des ressenti- ments personnels, de ['irri- tation du moment, ou meme du defaut de juge- ment. II a ete insinue, ou meme interdit aux oflieiers de votre nation, de ne pas se presenter devant celui dont ils surveillent la garde ; il a ete defend u aux Anglois meme,quelque soit le rang et la confiance qu'ils pos- sedent, de nous approeher et de s'entretenir avec nous sans des formalites qui e- quivalent a une interdic- tion, dans la crainte que nous leurdepeignissions les mauvais traitements dont on nous accable. Precau- tion inutile a la surete, mais qui prouve l'anxieuse attention qu'on met a nous empecher de faire parvenir la verite. On nous a fait un crime de nos efforts a ce sujet, comme si devous la faire parvenir, surtout quand elle interesse votre honneur, votre caractere, n'etoit pas bien meriter de vous. pear a benefit to us. We should find ourselves in a Christian country, we should breathe the air of Europe ; a superior and controling authority would secure us from per- sonal resentment, from the irritation of the moment, from wrong-headed acts. It has been hinted to, even positively ordered the officers of your nation, not to present themselves be- fore him whose custody they superintend ; it has been even forbidden to other English, whatever might be their rank or the confidence they were entitled to, to come near us, or hold conversation with us, but upon con- ditions which were equi- valent to an interdict, for fear we should repre- sent the ill treatment which we suffered : a precaution totally useless in regard to our sale custody, but which sufficiently evinces the anxious attention paid to prevent the truth from getting abroad. Our efforts on this head have been treated as criminal acts; as if the causing the truth to be laid before you in a case where your honour and character are at stake, were not doing you a 17 Certes vous n'avez pas voulu qu'on portat la ty- rannie sur nos pensees et nos sentiments an point de nous insinuer que si nous continuions a nous expri- mer Iibrement dans nos lettres a nos parents, a nos amis, nous serions arraches d'aupresdeNapoleon,etde- portes hors de l'ile, circon- stance qui a precisement amene ma deportation, en me portant a faire passer clandestinement les lettres memes que j'avois d'abord destinees pour le gouver- neur, et que je lui aurois envoyees sans son inquie- tante insinuation : insinu- ation gratuitement tyran- nique, puisque ces lettres etoient envoyees ouvertes aux ministres, accompa- gneesaubesoin des notes de Tautorite locale ; qu'elles pouvoient etre retenues par les ministres si elles etoient inconvenables, ou livrees m£me aux lois si elles etoient criminelles, et que dans tons les cas elles de- voient avoir le merite a b-ursyenx d'etre un moyen de plus d'obtenir la vmte. real service, and deserving well. Certainly it was never your intention, that the tyranny over our thoughts and feelings should be car- vied the length of its be- ing hinted to us, that if we persevered in expressing ourselves freely in corres- pondence with our rela- tives and friends, we should be forced away from Napo- leon, and carried out of the Island. It was exactly this circumstance which caused my being sent out of the Island, by inducing me to convey clandestine- ly, those very letters, which I had originally intended the governor should see, and that 1 should certainly have sent him, if it had not been for this vexatious and meddling interference of his. An interference gra- tuitously tyrannical, as our letters were sent open to the ministers accompanied, when required, by the notes of the authorities of the island ; and as they might be retained by the mini- ster if they were not pro- per, or given up to the course of the law if cri- minal ; and at all events they must have had this merit in the eyes of those ministers, that they were 18 Certcs vous n'avez pas vouln que ceux qui avoient obtenu la faveur de de- meurer aupres de Napo- leon, se trouvassent en de- dans des lois pour leur se- verite, et fussent jetes en dehors pour leurs bien- faits. C'est pourtant ce qui nousaete positivement signifie. Vous n'avez pas voulu qu'on saisit mes pa- piers les plus secrets et les plus sacres, et que bien que je les eusse fait parcourir sommairement pour en laisser connoitre la nature, on m'en separat, on me refusat d'y apposer mon sceau. Vous n'avez pas voulu qu'on se fit sur ma personne un jeu barbare de ce qu'il y a de plus saint et de plus sacre parmi vous. Qu'au mepris de mes constantes reclama- tions d'etre rendu a la libeite ou livre aux tribu- naux ; qu'en depit de mes offres repetees de me soumettre volontairement d'avance a toutes les pre- cautions meme arbitrages qu'on voudroit m'imposer en Angleterre, on meretint captif a Ste. Helene; on m'enVoya de cette ile au Cap de Bonne Esperance, pour me faire revenir, avec one mean more for coming at truth. Certainly you could ne- ver have intended, that those who had been al- lowed the favour of attend- ing on Napoleon, should experience all the penal- ties and restraints of laws, but be deprived of their benefit and protection. This is, however, what has been distinctly sig- nified to us. You could not have intended that my most secret and mostsacred- ly private papers should be seized ; and though I allowed them to be cur- sorily inspected, that the nature of their contents might be known, they were taken from me, and I was not even allowed to put my seal on them. You did not intend that they should, in my person, make a barbarous sport of all that is held most holv and sacred among yourselves. That in spite of my con- stant applications to be either set at liberty, or consigned over to the courts of law ; in spite of my repeated offers to sub- mit myself voluntarily be- forehand to all, even the most arbitrary precautions that they might require to impose upon me in Eng- 19 le terns, du Cap vers Ste. Helene. Me promenant ainsi prisonnier sur la vaste etendue des mers, dans de freles batiments, au grand detriment de la sante de mon fils, dont la vie etoit en danger ; au peril de la mienne qu'on a afflige d'mfirmites qui doivent m'accompagner au tom- beau, si toutefois elles ne m'y precipitent avant le terns. Vous n'avez pas vouhi, qu'arrive au Cap l'autorite m'y retint arbitrairement, sans discussion, sans exa- men, sans information ; et m'y fit secher dans les an- goises dela douleur; del'at- tente et du desespoir, sous le pretexte ridicule d'en- voyer a 2000 lieues, de- mander a mes juges natu- rels, auxministresauxquels je sollicitois si vivement d'etre livre; si Ton feroit bien de m'envoyer a eux, en executant deja sur moi, par ce Beul fait, une sen- tence mille Ibis plus ter- rible, que ne sauroit etre celle de tous les juges: Savoir, de me priver du- rant plusieurs mois de ma C2 land, they detained me a prisoner at St. Helena ; they sent me from that Island to the Cape of Good Hope, afterwards to bring me back again from the Cape, within reach of St. Helena. Paradin^meabout this vast extent of sea in crazy vessels, to the great injury of the health of my son, whose life was endan- gered by it ; to the ruin of my constitution which they have afflicted with infirmi- ties that will accompany me to the grave, if they do not bring me there before my time. You could not have in- tended, that when arrived at the Cape, the authori- ties of the place should de- tain me there arbitrarily, without discussion, exa- mination, or information, and should keep me in the agonies of vexation, anxie- ty, and despair, under the ridiculous pretence of send- ing 2000 leagues, to ask of my natural judges, of the ministers, into whose hands I so earnestly solicited to be delivered, whether it would be doing right to •end me to them ; and by so doing, executing in fact upon me, a sentence a thousand-fold more ter- rible than that which my 20 liberte ; de me retenir tout ce temscaptif aux extremi- tes de l:v terre, separe de ma famille, de mes amis, de mes interets,de tous mes sentiments; consumantpe- niblement dans le desert, Ie pen de jours qui me res- tent. Certes sous l'empire des lois positives, on ne sauroit se jouer tyran- niquement ainsi de la li- berte, de la vie, du bon- heur des individus. O Anglois, si de tels actesdemeuroientimpunis, vos belles lois ne seroient plusqu'un vain nom ! vous porteriez la terreur aux ex- tremites de la tene, et il ne seroit plusni liberte, lit justice au milieu de vous. Tels sont les griefs que javois a vous faire con- noitre, et qui sout develop- pes avec d'autres encore, daus une lettre ci-jointe* judges could have con- demned me to: namely, in inflicting upon me the privations of several months confinement; keeping me all that time a prisoner at the extremity of the earth, separated from my family, my friends, from my con- cerns, and all that could interest me; and wasting the short time that is yet allotted me in a desert. Certainly, under the do- minion of positive laws, there could not be a more cruel example of trifling with the life and happi- ness of an individual, than this. If acts like these, Oh, Englishmen ! are to go unpunished, your boasted laws are but an empty sound ! You may carry the terror of your arms to the confines of the world, but among you there will be neither liberty or justice. - These are the grievances that I had to make known to you, and which are sta- ted, together with others, in the subjoined letter,* * Cetle lettre ne nous est ja- * This letter has never reach- mai» parvenue. 11 est a croire ed us. It is supposed to he the que c'tst le document qu'on puh- document now publishing under he en ce moment sous Ie titre de the title of the " Grievances of Griefs de hongwood, adresses a Longwood," addressed to Sir Sir FI. Lowe par le Comte de Hudson Lowe by the Count de Las Ca»es. Las Case*. 21 qu'en quittant Ste. Helene put by me, into the pos- j'ai remise a l'autorite, dans session of the authorities of l'espoir qu'elle pourroit lui the place on quitting St. faire faire un retour surelle Helena, in the hope that meme. these might be induced to return to a sense of duty, and change their line of conduct. Beaucoup de ces griefs Many of the things here eussent merite, peut-etre, complained of, might as que nous ne voulussions well have been, perhaps, pas les appercevoirj toute- passed over unobserved; fois je me suis fait la vio- I have, however, made lence de vous les exposer; it my duty, notwithstand- il n'en est pas de si petits ing my repugnance, to de- qui n'interesse votre hon- tail them to you ; there is neur ! not one of them, however insignificant, that does not concern your honour. Et quelles peuvent etre What could have been les causes de pareilles me- thecausesofmeasuressuch suresrd'ou peuvent venir as these? From whence ces graduelles attaques, could these graduated at- ces incessantes aggrava- tacks upon us, these in- tions? comment les aura-t- cessant and goading aggra- on justifiees ? nous l'igno- vations have come? How rons. can they have been pro- voked ? For tliis we are unable to account. Ce n'est pas dureste Those in power at St. qu'a Ste. Helene l'autorite Helena, do not pretend to conteste le peril de la sank- dispute the perilous state du captif, l'lmminentdan- of the health of the Cap- ger de sa vie, la probable tive, the imminent danger et prompte issue d'un t< I of his life, the probable and rtat de choses. "Mais speedy issue of such a slate " c'est 1 u i qui l'aura you- of things ; but content "Id," se contente-t-on themselves with coolly ob- d'observerfroideim nt," ce serving, "that it is his "sera sa fautc." Mais own desire, and that it will y prend-on bien garde ? be his own fault." Hut 22 Confessor que Napoleon cherche la mort, n'est-ce pas confessed qu'on lui rend la vie intolerable? M D'ailleurs," continue-t- on, " pourquoi se refuser a " prendre Fexercice neces- " saire, parcequ'un offi- " cier doit aceompagner ? " Qu'a done cette forma- " lite de si heurtant, de si "penible? pourquoi s'ob- " stiner a en faire vne si " grande afTaire?" Mais qui pent se croire le droit de juger des sensations de 1'illustre victime? Napo- leon se prive et se tait. Que veut-on de plus ? Du reste, on l'a repete cent fois ; ce n'est ni la couleur de l'habit, ni la difference de nation qui cree la re- pugnance, mais la nature de la chose en elle-meme, et ses effets inevitables. Si dans un pareil exercice le benefice du corps demeu- roit de beaucoup au dessous des souffrances de l'esprit, cet exercice seroit-il un avantage ? " Mais," insinue-t-on encore, (caril n'est pas une ni'-rne cchelle pour tous are thev aware, that to ad- mitthat Napoleon seeks to rid himself of life, is to ad- mit that they have made it insupportable to him. Then they add, " Why " does he refuse to take " the necessary exercise " because he is to be ac- " companied by an officer? " What is there so offen- " sive or so painful in this " formality ? Why perse- " vere in makinjr this so O " important a point?" But who has a righ to say that it belongs to him to ap- portion the feelings of the illustrious Captive? Napo- leon bears his privations, and suffers not a word to escape him. What more would they have of him ? But it has been observed by us all a hundred times over; it is not the colour of the coat,nor thedifferenceofthe nation, that excites the re- pugnance; but the nature of the thing itself, and its inevitable effects. If in this way of taking exer- cise, the benefit received by the body, would be far inferior to the pain suf- fered by the mind ; could such exercise have any sa- lutary effect ? But then it is said by others, (for all minds and all feelings are not gradu- 23 les esprits et tous les sen- timents,) " pourquoi des " egards si recherches, des " attentions, des soins si " extraordinaires ? Apres '* tout, c'est un captif " de distinction peut-etre, " mais qu'est-il done de " plus? quels seroient ses " titres?" Ce qu'il est ? quels sont ses titres ? Je vais le ra- conter. " Napoleon est la pre- miere, la plus etonnante destinee de 1'histoire. C'est 1'homme de la Re- nommee, celui des pro- diges, le heros des siecles, son nom est dans toutes les bouches, ses actes agitent toutes les imagi- nations, sa carriere de- meure sans parallcle. Quand Cesar medita de governer sa patrie, Cesar en etoit deja le premier par sa naissance, ses richesses. Quand Alex- andre entreprit de sub- juguer l'Asie, Alexandre etoit roi et 6 Is d'un roi qui avoit prepare ses succes. Mais Napoleon, s'elancant de la fonle pour gouverner le monde, se presente seul, sans autres auxiliaires que son genie. Ses premiers pas dans la carriere sont au- tant dc mervcilles. II se ated on the same scale) ; " Why such refined de- " Terence, such extraordi- " nary attention and in- " dulgence? After all, we " may allow him to be a " captive of distinction, " but what is he more ? " What may his claims " be?" What he is ; what his claimsare; I will herestate. " The destiny of Napo- leon is the first and most astonishing in the re- cords of history. He is the child of Fame, the atchiever of prodigies, the Hero of ages ; his name is in all mouths, his deeds rouse the ima- ginations of all men, his career remains without a parallel. When Caesar meditated the seizing on the government of his country, Caesar was al- ready the first in it, by his birth and by his wealth : when Alexan- der undertook the subju- gation of Asia, Alexan- der was a king, and the son of a king who had paved the way lor his son's success. But Na- poleou, advancing from the crowd to govern the world, presents himself alone, with no auxiliary 24 " couvre aussitot de lau- " riers immortels, et regne I* des cet instant sur tous M les csprits. Idole de ses 5* soldats, dont il a porte la " gloire jusqu'aux nues, " espoir de la patrie qui " dans ses angoises pres- " sent deja qu'il sera son " Liberateur ; et cette at- " tente n'est point trom- " pee. A sa voix expi- " rante, Napoleon inter- " rompantses mislerieuses '* destinees accourt des 1' rives du Nil ; il traverse " les mers au risque de sa " liberte et de sa reputa- " tion ; il aborde seul aux €< plages francaises ; on " tressaillede le revoir, des " acclamations, l'allegresse " publique, Je triomphe, " le transportent dans la " capitale. A sa vue les " factions se courbent, les 11 partis se confondent; il " gouverne,etlarevolution " est enchainee. ct Le seul poids de l'opi- " nion, la seule influence cc d'un homme, ont tout • v CC (( ft cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc t( »< cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ft cc t( cc cc but his genius. The first steps in his career are so many wonders. He at once covers him- self with the immor- tal laurels of victory, and from that instant reigns over the minds of everyone: he is the idol of the soldiers, whose glory he has carried to the highest pitch ; the hope of his country, which in the agonies of distress, feels that he is to be her preserver; and her ex- pectation is not deceiv- ed. At her voice, ex- piring in the midst of dangers, Napoleon breaking off in his mys- terious destiny, hastens from the shores of the Nile, traverses the seas at the peril of being made a prisoner, and, forfeiting his reputation, reaches alone, the shores of France ; the sight of him electrifies the na- tion; acclamations, pub- lic joy, and triumphs, accompany him to the capital. At the sight of him, the factious bow their heads ; parties unite; he governs; re- volution ceases. " The mere weight of opinion, the influence of a single man brought 2.5 << <: " fait. II n'a pas ete be- soin de combattre; pas une goute de sang n'a " coulee, et ce ne sera pas <( la seule fois qu'un tel " prodige signalera sa vie. " A sa voix les princi- " pes desorganisateurs s'e- W vanouissent, les playes " se ferment, les souillures " s'effacent, la creation " semble encore une fois '* sortir du cahos. " Toutes les folies revo- " lutionnaires disparois- " sent, les seules grandes " et belles vei ites demeu- " rent. Napoleon ne con- " noit aucun parti ; aucun " prejuge n'entache son " administration. Toutes " les opinions, toutes les " sectes, tous les talents *' se groupent autour de " lui. Un nouvel ordre de " choses commence. La M nation respire et lebenit, " les peuples 1'adrnirent, " les rois le respectent, et " Ton estheureux ; Ton va '.' s'honorer de nouveau " d'etre francois. u Bientot on l'eleva sur " le trone : il devint Em- " pereur. Chacun connoit " le reste. On sait de quel " about all this. It did " not require a combat ; " not one drop of blood was " spilled ; and it was not " the only time that the " same prodigy has marked " the career of Napoleon. " At his voice disorgan- " ising principles vanish; " the wounds of the coun- ee, ledoute une injure, mi outrage a vos institutions, a vos moeurs, a toute voire po- pulation. Seroit-ce la surete de l'Europe ? Mais les \erites de circonstance n'ont qu'un terns, et ce nVst qu'au vulgaire qu'il ap- partient de les perpetuer, de les mettre en avant, longtems apres quVlies m'existent plus. Napoleon, dans sa toute-pmssance, pouvoit etre lVffroi de l'Europe. Reduit a sa seule personne, il ne peut plus en etre que I'etounement, la meditation. Et en bonne foi, que pourroit-il au- jourd'hui, meme avec du pouvoir, contre la surete de la Russie, celle de l'Au- triche, de la Prusse, la votre ? Enfin, seroit-ce ses arri- eres penseesqu'on pourroit craindre? Mais Napoleon n'en a d'autres aujourd'- hui que celles du repos. A ses propres yeux, dans sa propre bouche, saprodigi- euse carriere a deja toute la distance des siecles. II ne se croit plus de ce under the force of existing circumstances; the law of necessity. Can it be your internal peace ? Such a thought would be insanity, such a doubt an injury, an out- rage to your institutions, to your morals, and to your population. Can it be the general safety of Europe ? But truths that depend upon circumstance, are only so for their day, and it is only for the vulgar to make them perpetual, or to ad- vance them after they have, in reality, ceased to exist. Napoleon, in the omni- potence of his dominion, might have been the terror of Europe. Reduced now to his single person, he can only be the subject of won- der, and of meditation. And, in good earnest, what could he do at this day against the safety of either Russia, Austria, Prussia, or your own. Finally, can it be the fear of any of his after- thoughts or views? But Napoleon indulges at this time of day no other than those of repose and quiet. In his own eyes, from his own mouth, his wonderful career is as if whole ages had passed by it. He no 36 monde; ses destinees sont accomplies. Pour une ame d'u le telle elevation, Je pouvoir n'a cle prix que pour conduire a la celebri- te, a la gloire. Or, quel mo;tel en accumula da- vantage sur sa tete ? La mesure n'en semble-t-elle pas au dessusderimagina- tiuii des hommes ? Ses re- vers meme, n'en ont-ils pas ete pour lui des sources aboudantes? Existe-t-il rien de comparable au re- tour de Tile d'Elbe? Et plus tard, quelle apotheose que les regrets d'un grand peuple ? Parmi vous, un grand nombre avez tra- verse nos provinces, peue- tre dans nos foyers : vous connoissez nos secrets, no? sentiments. Si la patrie lui etoit moins chere que la gloire, qu'auroit-il a clearer apres ce qu'il a laisse en arriere ? Son age avance, sa sante perdue, le degout des vicissitudes, peut-etre celui des hommes, la sa- tiete surtout des grands objets qu'on poursuit ici has, ne lui laisse plus rien de neuf aujourd'hui,de de- sirable, qu'un asyle tran- quille, un heureux etdoux repos. II vous les demande, Anglais, et vous les lui de- vez ; vous les devez a l'he- roique magnanimite avec longer believes himself of this world; his destiny is completed. For a soul of this stamp, power has no other value than when it leads to renown and glory. What mortal has ever ac- cumulated so great a share? Does not the measure of it seem beyond the imagina- tion of man? His very reverses, have not these even been abundant sour- ces of it to him ? Is there any thing that can be deemed the parallel of his return from Elba? And by and by, the deification of his memory in the re- grets of a great nation. Among you many have traversed our provinces, and visited our homes. You are acquainted with the secrets of our hearts, our feelings. If his country were less dear to him than his glory, what could he have to desire alter what he has left behind him ? His advanced age, his ruined health, the disgust of vicissitudes, and proba- bly also of men themselves ; and, above all, the satiety of the great objects which are the pursuits of us here below, leave him at this time nothing new to de- sire, but a quiet retreat and peaceful abode. Eng- 37 laquelle il vous donna la preference sur tous ses autres ennemis. Sachez, osez, veuillez etre justes. Rappelez-le, et vous aurez consacre la seule gloire qui semble manquer a votre condition presente. Les admirateurs, les vrais amis de vos libertes et de vos lois l'attendent de vous; ils le reclament. Vousavez mis en defaut ceux qui se plaisent a vanter tous les biens qui decoulent de votre belle constitution. — " Ou est done," disentles ad versa ires, avec une ironie triomphante, " cette " generosite, cette eleva- " tiou de sentiment, cette " inflexibilite de piinci- " pes, cette moralite pub- " lique, cette force d'opi- " nioti que vous nous disiez " cbez cepeuple libreetre 'J en quelque sorte ^upeii- '* eure a la souverainete '.' meme ? Ou sont les " fruits tant vantes de ce " sol classique des institu- " tions liberales? Tout ce M pompeux echaflaudage, s } ces peinturesiinaginaires, " ont done disparu devant " les dangers qu'avoit fait " conrir mi seul homme, " ou bien encore devant la •' baine et la vengeance " qu'il a laissees apres lui. " Et qu'auroit fait de plus lishmen, this is what he asks from your hands, and it is due from you to him ; it is due to the magnani- mous preference which he gave to you above all his other enemies. Learn then, have the courage, deter- mine to be just. Recall him, and you will have ac- quired the only remaining portion of glory which seems wanting to you in your present situation. The admirers, the true friends of your laws and liberty, expect this from you ; they claim it. You have perplexed those who took delight in extolling the benefits derived from your admirable constitu- tion. ?f Where" (say its ad- versaries, with triumphant irony,) " are we to find " that generosity, that high " feeling, that unbending " principle, that public " morality, that power of " opinion, which you tell y us towers among this " free people, as it were, " above sovereignty itself? " Wbereare the so boasted " fruits of that classic soil "of liberal institutions? " All this pompous parade, " theseimaginary displays, " have disappeared before " the dangers caused by a " single man, or perhaps 38 ce pouvoir absolu que nous defendons et que vous decriez tant ? ileut fait moins peut-etre, mais bien surement il n'eut pas pu faire da- vantage. II se fut montre sensible sans doute a la noble et magnanime con- fiance de son ennemi; ou s'il se fut decide parce- que la chose lui eut ete utile, il eut mis dumoins plus d'energie, de fran- chise, d'elevation dans son injustice. II ne se fat pas abaisse, pour pal- lier son tort aux yeux des peuples, a y associer gratuitement ses voisins. II eutevite surtout de se laisser envelopper dans ce dilemme accablant, ou quand vous avez con- clu votre inique traite d'ostracisme, la victime n'etoit pas encore en votre pouvoir, et vous avez eu la lachete de lui tendre la main pour vous en saisir ; ou vous la te- niez deja, et vous avez sacrifie votre gloire, l'honneur de votre pays, la saintete, la majeste de vos lois, a des sollicita- tions etrangeres." An- glois, pour pouvoir repon- dre, vos amis sont obliges de se retourner vers vous ; ils attendent Pour before the mere feelings which vengeance and hatred have left behind. What then would have been done by that des- potic power which we defend, and you so strongly decry ? It would probably have done less, but certainly it could not have done more. It would without doubt have shewn itself sensi- ble of the noble and magnanimous confi- dence of its enemy ; or if it had decided accord- ing to its own interest only, it would have shewn more energy, more frankness, and a higher mind in its injus- tice. It would never have debased itself in order to palliate the in- jury in the eyes of the world, to associate gra- tuitously its neighbours in the deed. Above all, it would have avoided to let itself be brought into this overwhelming di- lemma, that, when it concluded the iniqui- tous treaty of ostracism, the victim was not yet in its power, and it has had the baseness to hold out its hand to him, that it might seize on his person ; or 39 moi, malgre une funeste " else it already had him experience de deux ans, " in its power, and it has telle est encore ma confi-