[68:A]The following is a translation of the letter above referred to:"Rocheford, 13th July, 1815."Your Royal Highness,"A victim to the factions which distract my country, and to the enmity of the greatest powers of Europe, I have terminated my political career, and I come, like Themistocles, to throw myself upon the hospitality of the British people. I put myself under the protection of their laws, which I claim from your royal highness, as the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my enemies."Napoleon."
[68:A]The following is a translation of the letter above referred to:
"Rocheford, 13th July, 1815."Your Royal Highness,"A victim to the factions which distract my country, and to the enmity of the greatest powers of Europe, I have terminated my political career, and I come, like Themistocles, to throw myself upon the hospitality of the British people. I put myself under the protection of their laws, which I claim from your royal highness, as the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my enemies."Napoleon."
"Rocheford, 13th July, 1815.
"Your Royal Highness,
"A victim to the factions which distract my country, and to the enmity of the greatest powers of Europe, I have terminated my political career, and I come, like Themistocles, to throw myself upon the hospitality of the British people. I put myself under the protection of their laws, which I claim from your royal highness, as the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my enemies.
"Napoleon."
[88:A]However tyrannical the orders of Lord Castlereagh might have been, we cannot help remarking on the petty pleasure Sir Hudson took in executing them, even to the very letter. It was this kind of conduct in Napoleon's jailer that gave rise to the following distich:"Sir Hudson Lowe, Sir Hudson Lowe,By name, and ah!BY NATURE SO!"Napoleon himself said of this governor, "I have had to do with men of all countries; I never saw any who had so bad a physiognomy, and a more execrable conversation. He writes with the intention of being amicable. That is a contrast to the ignoble vexations that are daily imagined. There is something sinister in all this." Without contradicting the repeated asseverations of Sir Hudson Lowe, that he only acted according to instructions, we must say, that any man of honour should rather have resigned his office than have executed them; for they were not only unnecessary to the security of Napoleon, but they were alsoILLEGAL. But Sir Hudson did not possess moral courage; he was captious and mistrustful, and was not at all calculated for the delicate offices he had to perform; he created his own fears, and lost his understanding in endeavouring to foresee misfortune. Count Lascases thus writes of him:"The noble-minded English beside us," says the Count, "as well as those who merely visited the island, used to say that our treatment would experience a great and blessed change when the new governor appeared, &c. &c. This new Messiah at length came; but, gracious God!—the word escapes involuntarily from my pen,—it was an executioner, agens-d'arme, whom they had sent. On his appearance, every thing assumed a dark and gloomy aspect; every appearance of external respect, and all the forms prescribed by a due regard to decency, which had hitherto been observed, at once disappeared; every day since has been to us a day of greater pain and more insulting treatment; he has narrowed still farther the boundaries prescribed to us, and even endeavoured to interfere with our domestic economy; he has strictly interdicted all intercourse with the natives, and even prohibited all society with officers of his own nation; he has ordered our residence to be surrounded with ditches and palisades; he has increased the number of soldiers, and endeavoured to make prisons within prisons; he has surrounded us with objects of affright, and reduced us to close custody. The emperor remains almost always in his prison, and no longer leaves his apartment. The few audiences which he has given to that officer have been highly disagreeable and oppressive to him; he has put an end to them, and determined not to see the governor any more. 'I had just grounds,' he observed, 'to complain of the Admiral, though he had at least a heart; but this man has not even a vestige of the character of an Englishman, he is nothing but a low Siciliansbirro.' Sir Hudson Lowe pleads the instructions of his minister in justification of himself, with respect to all these complaints; if this justification is well founded, his instructions are most barbarous; but he can bear witness, at the same time, that he endeavours to carry them into execution in a barbarous manner."
[88:A]However tyrannical the orders of Lord Castlereagh might have been, we cannot help remarking on the petty pleasure Sir Hudson took in executing them, even to the very letter. It was this kind of conduct in Napoleon's jailer that gave rise to the following distich:
"Sir Hudson Lowe, Sir Hudson Lowe,By name, and ah!BY NATURE SO!"
"Sir Hudson Lowe, Sir Hudson Lowe,By name, and ah!BY NATURE SO!"
Napoleon himself said of this governor, "I have had to do with men of all countries; I never saw any who had so bad a physiognomy, and a more execrable conversation. He writes with the intention of being amicable. That is a contrast to the ignoble vexations that are daily imagined. There is something sinister in all this." Without contradicting the repeated asseverations of Sir Hudson Lowe, that he only acted according to instructions, we must say, that any man of honour should rather have resigned his office than have executed them; for they were not only unnecessary to the security of Napoleon, but they were alsoILLEGAL. But Sir Hudson did not possess moral courage; he was captious and mistrustful, and was not at all calculated for the delicate offices he had to perform; he created his own fears, and lost his understanding in endeavouring to foresee misfortune. Count Lascases thus writes of him:
"The noble-minded English beside us," says the Count, "as well as those who merely visited the island, used to say that our treatment would experience a great and blessed change when the new governor appeared, &c. &c. This new Messiah at length came; but, gracious God!—the word escapes involuntarily from my pen,—it was an executioner, agens-d'arme, whom they had sent. On his appearance, every thing assumed a dark and gloomy aspect; every appearance of external respect, and all the forms prescribed by a due regard to decency, which had hitherto been observed, at once disappeared; every day since has been to us a day of greater pain and more insulting treatment; he has narrowed still farther the boundaries prescribed to us, and even endeavoured to interfere with our domestic economy; he has strictly interdicted all intercourse with the natives, and even prohibited all society with officers of his own nation; he has ordered our residence to be surrounded with ditches and palisades; he has increased the number of soldiers, and endeavoured to make prisons within prisons; he has surrounded us with objects of affright, and reduced us to close custody. The emperor remains almost always in his prison, and no longer leaves his apartment. The few audiences which he has given to that officer have been highly disagreeable and oppressive to him; he has put an end to them, and determined not to see the governor any more. 'I had just grounds,' he observed, 'to complain of the Admiral, though he had at least a heart; but this man has not even a vestige of the character of an Englishman, he is nothing but a low Siciliansbirro.' Sir Hudson Lowe pleads the instructions of his minister in justification of himself, with respect to all these complaints; if this justification is well founded, his instructions are most barbarous; but he can bear witness, at the same time, that he endeavours to carry them into execution in a barbarous manner."
[94:A]Sir Hudson Lowe is, doubtless, the person here alluded to by the emperor; but he would not have dared to act as he did if such tyrannical and unfeeling conduct had been against Lord Castlereagh's approbation.
[94:A]Sir Hudson Lowe is, doubtless, the person here alluded to by the emperor; but he would not have dared to act as he did if such tyrannical and unfeeling conduct had been against Lord Castlereagh's approbation.
[94:B]Particularly his eloquent and manly "Appeal to the Parliament of Great Britain, on the case of the Emperor Napoleon."
[94:B]Particularly his eloquent and manly "Appeal to the Parliament of Great Britain, on the case of the Emperor Napoleon."
[97:A]Plutarch assigns him three different deaths; but Livy tells us, that Hannibal drank poison, which he always carried about with him, in case he should be taken by surprise.
[97:A]Plutarch assigns him three different deaths; but Livy tells us, that Hannibal drank poison, which he always carried about with him, in case he should be taken by surprise.
[107:A]More particularly the affair of the bondholders. His lordship also strenuously exerted himself to prevent any public inquiry into the cruel death of the Princess Charlotte.
[107:A]More particularly the affair of the bondholders. His lordship also strenuously exerted himself to prevent any public inquiry into the cruel death of the Princess Charlotte.
[116:A]The treatment and death of Napoleon, the funeral of the late queen, the conduct of the ministers and soldiers on that occasion, the murders at Cumberland Gate, the dismissal of Sir Robert Wilson for an attempt to stop the scene of bloodshed, formed but a portion of the black catalogue of their misdeeds.
[116:A]The treatment and death of Napoleon, the funeral of the late queen, the conduct of the ministers and soldiers on that occasion, the murders at Cumberland Gate, the dismissal of Sir Robert Wilson for an attempt to stop the scene of bloodshed, formed but a portion of the black catalogue of their misdeeds.
[187:A]How well has part of this prediction been fulfilled by the people of 1832! May the rest be speedily accomplished!
[187:A]How well has part of this prediction been fulfilled by the people of 1832! May the rest be speedily accomplished!
[188:A]See motion for a new writ for the Borough of St. Mawes, in the room of Francis Horner, esq., deceased.
[188:A]See motion for a new writ for the Borough of St. Mawes, in the room of Francis Horner, esq., deceased.
[240:A]How lamentably is this fact illustrated by the present Whig minister,—thedisinterestedEarl Grey,—who has added to the burdens of his country, by places and pensions to his own family alone, more than sixty-two thousand pounds annually!!!
[240:A]How lamentably is this fact illustrated by the present Whig minister,—thedisinterestedEarl Grey,—who has added to the burdens of his country, by places and pensions to his own family alone, more than sixty-two thousand pounds annually!!!
THE END.
Printed byW. H. Stevenson, 5, Whiskin Street, Clerkenwell.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTESPage 2 is blank in the original.The following corrections have been made to the text:Page 1: Of meaner vice and villains[original has villians]Page 47: When the queen came from Dover[original has Dovor] to townPage 138: In the month of April, Mr.[period missing in original] BroughamPage 144: 'behind the arras,'[original has double quote]Page 149: [quotation mark missing in original]"Then,"modestlyadded the presidentPage 161: amongst the nymphs of Berkeley-row[original has Berkely-row]Page 191:Sir,—You[original has Yor] are requestedPage 214: where[original has were] it was supposed he had been woundedPage 219: the Bishop of Llandaff (Dr. Copleston),[comma missing in original] the prebendsPage 228: bank of Ransom, Morland, and Hammersley[original has Hammersly]Page 263: presented this anomalous, inconsistent[original has inconsistant][94:A] had been against Lord Castlereagh's[original has Castereagh's]
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The following corrections have been made to the text:
Page 1: Of meaner vice and villains[original has villians]Page 47: When the queen came from Dover[original has Dovor] to townPage 138: In the month of April, Mr.[period missing in original] BroughamPage 144: 'behind the arras,'[original has double quote]Page 149: [quotation mark missing in original]"Then,"modestlyadded the presidentPage 161: amongst the nymphs of Berkeley-row[original has Berkely-row]Page 191:Sir,—You[original has Yor] are requestedPage 214: where[original has were] it was supposed he had been woundedPage 219: the Bishop of Llandaff (Dr. Copleston),[comma missing in original] the prebendsPage 228: bank of Ransom, Morland, and Hammersley[original has Hammersly]Page 263: presented this anomalous, inconsistent[original has inconsistant][94:A] had been against Lord Castlereagh's[original has Castereagh's]
Page 1: Of meaner vice and villains[original has villians]
Page 47: When the queen came from Dover[original has Dovor] to town
Page 138: In the month of April, Mr.[period missing in original] Brougham
Page 144: 'behind the arras,'[original has double quote]
Page 149: [quotation mark missing in original]"Then,"modestlyadded the president
Page 161: amongst the nymphs of Berkeley-row[original has Berkely-row]
Page 191:Sir,—You[original has Yor] are requested
Page 214: where[original has were] it was supposed he had been wounded
Page 219: the Bishop of Llandaff (Dr. Copleston),[comma missing in original] the prebends
Page 228: bank of Ransom, Morland, and Hammersley[original has Hammersly]
Page 263: presented this anomalous, inconsistent[original has inconsistant]
[94:A] had been against Lord Castlereagh's[original has Castereagh's]