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This is the fourth of four volumes, which can be found at Project
Gutenberg here:

   Volume I        http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53967
   Volume II       http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53968
   Volume III      http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53969
   Volume IV       http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53970

[Illustration:

  _Rob^t. Cooper Scul^t._

  COUNT DE LAS CASES.
]




                                MEMOIRS
                                   OF
                            THE LIFE, EXILE,
                                  AND
                             CONVERSATIONS,
                                 OF THE
                           EMPEROR NAPOLEON.

                                   BY

                        THE COUNT DE LAS CASES.


                             A NEW EDITION.


                             WITH PORTRAITS

                   AND NUMEROUS OTHER EMBELLISHMENTS.


                                VOL. IV.


                                LONDON:
                      PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN,
 BY RICHARD BENTLEY; BELL AND BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH; J. CUMMING, DUBLIN:
                          AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

                                -------

                              MDCCCXXXVI.

            ANDOVER: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY B. BENSLEY.

[Illustration:

  NAPOLEON’S HUMANITY.

  London: Published for HENRY COLBURN, December, 1835.
]




                                MEMOIRS

                                   OF

                         THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.


      REMOVAL OF FOUR PERSONS OF OUR ESTABLISHMENT.--RECOLLECTIONS
                      OF THE EMPEROR’S EARLY LIFE.

Oct. 18, 1816.—I did not see the Emperor until five o’clock, when he
sent for me to attend him in the drawing-room. He continued indisposed;
but he had been engaged all the morning in dictating to the Grand
Marshal. He summoned all the persons of his suite in succession. He was
low-spirited and heavy; but at the same time there was a certain
restlessness about him. He sought to amuse himself in various ways. He
first tried chess, then dominos, and then chess again; but he was at
length compelled to return to his chamber, finding it impossible to sit
up. The state of the weather, joined to the vexations to which we are
exposed, concur in producing torments almost beyond endurance. The
weather has an effect on the nerves, and the persecutions that are
heaped upon us are still worse to bear. Every word uttered by the
Governor increases our misery. To-day he had signified his intention of
removing four of our establishment, which has been the cause of general
lamentation among the household: the individuals singled out for removal
regret their separation from their companions; while those who are to
remain are tormented by the fear of speedily sharing the same fate. We
compared Sir Hudson Lowe to Scylla, devouring the four companions of
Ulysses.

The Governor has informed me that he also intends removing my servant,
who is an inhabitant of the island, and with whom I am very well
satisfied. He is doubtless afraid that the man will become too much
attached to me. He proposes to send me a servant of his own choosing, a
favour for which I feel very grateful, though I have no intention of
availing myself of the kind offer.

At dinner the Emperor ate but little. During the dessert, however, his
spirits revived a little, and we began to converse on the events of his
early life. This is a subject on which he delights to dwell, and which
always affords him a source of new and lively interest. He repeated many
of the particulars which I have already related at different times. He
said that he loved to go back to that happy age when all is gaiety and
enjoyment;—that happy period of hope and rising ambition, when the world
first opens before us, and the mind fondly cherishes every romantic
dream. He spoke of his regiment, and the pleasures he had enjoyed when
he first mingled in society. On mentioning the different balls and fêtes
which he had attended in his youthful days, he described one as having
been particularly splendid. “But,” said he, “at that time my notions of
splendour were very different from what they now are.”

Alluding to the date of certain circumstances, he observed that it would
be difficult for him to divide his life year by year. We observed that
if he would only date the events of four or five years, we could easily
take all the rest upon ourselves. He reverted to his military _début_ at
Toulon, the circumstances that first called him into notice, the sudden
ascendency which he acquired by his first successes, and the ambition
with which they inspired him: “And yet,” said he, “I was far from
entertaining a high opinion of myself. It was not till after the battle
of Lodi that I conceived those lofty notions of ambition which were
confirmed in Egypt, after the victory of the Pyramids and the possession
of Cairo. Then,” said he, “I willingly resigned myself to every
brilliant dream.”

The Emperor had become very cheerful and talkative, and he did not
retire until midnight. We looked upon this as a sort of resuscitation.

                       MADAME DE GENLIS’ NOVELS.

19th.—Our four proscripts, namely, the Pole, Santini, Archambault, and
Rousseau, left us about the middle of the day. In an hour they sailed
for the Cape with a brisk wind.

About three o’clock the Emperor sent for me. He was in the drawing-room,
and he desired to have Madame de Genlis’ novels brought to him. He read
a few pages aloud; but he soon laid down the books, observing that they
told him nothing. It was not so with me: the few pages that I had just
heard touched many tender strings. They presented a picture of the
elegant society of Paris, detailed the names of streets and monuments,
described familiar conversations, and retraced well-known portraits: all
this produced a forcible impression on me. The realities exist, I myself
exist, and yet we are separated, by distance, time, and, doubtless, by
eternity! I could at this moment look with indifference on pleasure and
gaiety; but the recollection of persons and places, which had thus been
revived, filled me with feelings of deep melancholy and regret.

The Grand Marshal now arrived, and the Emperor dictated to him till
dinner-time.

In the evening the Emperor asked for the Arabian Nights; but he was
unable to read, and soon laid aside the book.

               VALUATION OF THE BOOKS SENT OUT TO US.—THE
               GRAND MARSHAL COMES TO LIVE NEARER TO US.

20th.—I spent the day in estimating the value of the books sent to us
from London, and for which an enormous sum is claimed from the Emperor.
Our valuation did not amount to even half that sum.

The Emperor did not appear in the drawing-room until a moment before
dinner; he had not, he said, seen any body the whole day; he had sought
for diversion, and found it in continued application. After dinner he
again took up the Arabian Nights.

The Grand Marshal and his family have this day left Hut’s Gate, their
first residence, which was situated about one league from Longwood. They
have at last taken possession of their new house, by which means we are
now nearly under the same roof. This was quite an event for them and for
us.

EXPEDITION OF ST. LOUIS IN EGYPT.—OUR FEMALE AUTHORS.—MADAME DE
  STAEL.—THE WRITERS INIMICAL TO NAPOLEON WILL BITE AGAINST GRANITE.

21st.—I went after breakfast to see Madame Bertrand. She was so confined
at Hut’s Gate that she will have no cause to regret being shut up within
our enclosure, and we shall be very great gainers by it. For my part it
seemed to me as if I had found part of my family.

Our limits become every day more circumscribed. The number of sentries
is augmented, every thing reminds us incessantly of our horrible prison.

The Emperor said to me, whilst he was dressing, “that he was determined
to apply, once more, regularly to his occupations, which had been
interrupted by the late ill-treatment from our horrible Governor.” I
urged him to do so with all my might, as well for his own sake as for
ours, and for France and History.

The weather was too bad to allow the Emperor to take the air. He went
into his library, and looked over the History of the Crusades by
Michaud, and the Memoirs of Joinville. He then went to the drawing-room,
and conversed for some time longer; particularly respecting the servant
whom they wish to take from me, the one they intend to give me, &c.

The Governor will only give for the Emperor’s plate a sum more than one
fifth less than the plate is valued at in Paris, and yet he will neither
allow any competition for the sale of it in the Island, nor of its being
taken to London!...

The unfortunate people that have been shipped for the Cape will be fed
like common sailors. I have heard, on this occasion, that the same thing
took place on board the Northumberland, and that the Emperor’s servants
had not had any indulgence more than the common sailors, except by
paying for it.

After dinner the Emperor read, in Joinville, an account of the
expedition of St. Louis in Egypt. He analysed it, pointing out its
defects, and comparing the movements and the plan of that Expedition
with the plan adopted by himself; concluding that “if he had acted in
the same manner as St. Louis had done, he should undoubtedly have shared
the same fate.”

The Emperor retired early and sent for me. The conversation again fell
upon his excursions in Egypt, and in Syria. Matilda, a novel, by Madam
Cottin, the scene of which is laid in those countries, being
incidentally mentioned, led the Emperor to take a review of our female
authors. He spoke of Madame Roland and her Memoirs, of Madame de Genlis,
of Madame Cottin, whose Claire d’Albe he had just been reading, and of
Madame de Staël. He spoke at length about the latter, and repeated in
part what has already been said. Speaking of her exile, he said: “Her
house had become quite an arsenal against me; people went there to be
dubbed knights. She endeavoured to raise enemies against me and fought
against me herself. She was at once Armida and Clorinda.” Then, summing
up his arguments as he was wont to do, he said: “After all, it cannot be
denied that Madame de Staël is a very distinguished woman, endowed with
great talents and possessing a considerable share of wit. She will go
down to posterity. It was more than once hinted to me, in order to
soften me in her favour, that she was an adversary to be feared, and
might become a useful ally; and certainly if, instead of reviling me as
she did, she had spoken in my praise, it might no doubt have proved
advantageous to me; for her position and her abilities gave her an
absolute sway over the saloons, and their influence in Paris is well
known.” He then added, “Notwithstanding all that she has said against
me, and all that she will yet say, I am certainly far from thinking or
saying that she has a bad heart: the fact is, that she and I have waged
a little war against each other, and that is all.” Then taking a review
of the numerous writers who have declaimed against him, he said: “I am
destined to be their food, but I have little fear of becoming their
victim; they will bite against granite; my history is made up of facts,
and words alone cannot destroy them. In order to fight against me
successfully, somebody should appear in the lists armed with the weight
and authority of facts on his side. If such a man as the great
Frederick, or any other man of his cast, were to take to writing against
me, it would be a different thing; it would then, perhaps, be time for
me to begin to be moved; but as for all other writers, whatever be their
talent, their efforts will be vain. My fame will survive: and when they
wish to be admired, they will sound my praise.”

             CARE TAKEN OF THE WOUNDED IN THE ARMIES.—BARON
                  LARREY.—CHARACTERISTIC CIRCUMSTANCE.

22nd—23d. The weather has been very bad. The Emperor, suffering greatly
from the tooth-ache, and having a swelled cheek, has not been able to go
out for the last two days. I have spent the greatest part of them with
him, in his apartment, or in the drawing-room, which he has converted
into a promenade, by opening the doors of communication from one to the
other.

Amongst the various subjects of our conversation, he once told me
certain things which he had heard, and at which I much rejoiced. Nothing
can give a more striking proof of the horrors of our situation than the
importance which I attached to them. But every thing is in proportion to
the situation in which we are placed.

At another time, the Emperor expressed his regret at being so lazy with
respect to the English language. I told him that he now knew as much of
it as he wanted. He could read all books; it was now only necessary to
reduce the whole to a regular system—but, were the rule and compass fit
things for him?

After going through several subjects of conversation, the Emperor spoke
of Baron Larrey, on whom he passed the highest encomium, saying that
Larrey had left the impression on his mind of a truly honest man; that
to science he united, in the highest degree, the virtue of active
philanthropy: he looked upon all the wounded as belonging to his family;
every consideration gave way before the care which he bestowed upon the
hospitals. “In our first campaigns under the Republic, which have been
so much calumniated,” said the Emperor, “a most fortunate revolution
took place in the surgical department, which has since spread to all the
armies of Europe; and to Larrey it is, in great measure, that mankind is
indebted for it. The surgeon now shares the dangers of the soldier: it
is in the midst of the fire that he devotes his attentions to him.
Larrey possesses all my esteem and my gratitude,” &c.

This favourable impression seems clearly to have occupied Napoleon’s
mind in his last moments; for he has left Larrey a mark of his
remembrance, with this honourable testimony “_The most virtuous man that
I have known_.” On reading these words, I concluded that some peculiar
circumstance must have produced this most magnificent expression of
esteem, and the following is the result of my inquiries.

After the battles of Lützen, Wurtzen, and Bautzen, the victorious
Napoleon sent for the surgeon (Larrey), to ascertain, as usual, the
number of the wounded, and the state in which they were. They happened
to be, on this occasion, considerably more numerous than at other times
and in other engagements. The Emperor was surprised at this
circumstance, and endeavoured to explain the cause of it. M. Larrey
thought that, independently of local causes, it might be found in the
great number of soldiers who had fought on that day for the first time,
and who were, on that account, more awkward in their movements, and less
expert in avoiding danger. The Emperor, whose mind was extremely
pre-occupied by this affair, was not satisfied with this explanation,
and made inquiries elsewhere. As there were, at that moment, several
persons who were heartily tired of war; who would have wished for peace
on any conditions; and who would not have been sorry to see the Emperor
compelled to make it, whether from the effect of calculation or
conviction; the Emperor was told, in answer to his inquiries, that the
immense number of wounded ought not to be a matter of surprise; that the
greatest proportion of them were wounded in the hand, and they had
inflicted the wound on themselves, in order to be disabled from
fighting. The Emperor was thunderstruck at this information; he repeated
his inquiries, and found them attended with the same result; he was in a
state of despair. “If it be thus,” he exclaimed, “notwithstanding our
success, our situation is hopeless: France will be delivered up
defenceless to the barbarians.” And turning over in his mind by what
means he should put a stop to this contagion, he ordered all the wounded
of a certain description to be put on one side; and named a commission,
composed of surgeons, with Larrey at their head, to examine their
wounds, resolved to punish most severely those who should be found to
have been so cowardly as to mutilate themselves. M. Larrey, still
unwilling to believe in this voluntary self-mutilation, which, in his
opinion, was a stain on the honour of the army and of the nation,
appeared before the Emperor to state his opinion once more to him. But
Napoleon, incensed at his obstinacy, which some persons had taken care
to magnify in his eyes, said to him, with severity, “Sir, you will make
your observations to me officially;—go and fulfil your duty.”

Baron Larrey immediately applied to the business, but in a solemn
manner; he followed up the most trifling details, and therefore
proceeded slowly, whilst various motives rendered many persons impatient
to