THE LAST HOME OF NAPOLEON

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 26

THE LAST HOME OF NAPOLEON

Termites, the so-called white ants, are attacking the wooden foundations of Longwood, Napoleon's house at St. Helena, says "The Times." The house and the land round it, together with the site of Napoleon's temporary grave, belong to the French Government. They constitute a national shrine,- thougli visited by few Frenchmen today owing to the difficulties of access.

Special timber and building material for reconstruction and repair are beini? carried to St. Helena in the Jeanne d'Arc, the school-ship of the French Navy, together with supplies of an antitermite designed |to preserve wood against this form of attack.

Longwood was occupied by Napoleon from 1815 till his death in 1821. It has been, the property of the French Government since May 7, 1858. As the result of efforts initiated by Napoleon 111, it was bought, together with the Vallee dv Tombeau (Napoleon's temporary resting place till the transfer to France in 1840), from the British Government for 178,565 francs- Already before that it had begun to fall into disrepair, as was only to be expected of a house so ill-adapted to its purposes. Researches into its history undertaken by. members of the French Society "Les Amis de Sainte Helene" tell us that it was originally built in 1755 as a barn for an experiment in agriculture on the height called Longwood, 1500 ft above sea level, and converted into a dwelling house when the experiment failed. Before the advent of Napoleon it had been used as a summer resort by the family of the Deputy Governor, and it was hastily put in some sort of repair for the Emperor's reception on December 10, 1815. it was built mainly of wood, with wooden attics arid no cellars, and the furniture and fittings were of a very inferior quality. It-has never been intended that this ramshackle dwelling should serve as anything more than a temporary home for the exile, and the construction of a new house was undertaken Napoleoa died before it was completed, and when the island was given back to the Honourable East India Company. to whom it had originally belonged,

Longwood was transformed into a farmhouse. The new building fell into ruin, the outhouses were allowed to rot, and the contents of the housa were dispersed. During this period Longwood suffered terrible dilapidation; the Emperor's salon became a stable, and the gardens, which, in thp bitterness of exile and ennui, he' had tended with his own hands, alternately with loving care and frenzied distrac tion, returned to prairie. So it remained until acquired by France. Once again it was taken in hand, and great efforts were made to restore it to the condition in which it had been during Napoleon's occupation of it. .- The restoration was begun in 1858 and completed in 1060, and cost the French Government 20,000 francs.

During the years that followed s representative of France was almost always in residence. But owing to the lack of other accommodation the caretaker was obliged to use the hous.; as his dwelling, while for want of a permanent fund for its upkeep Longwood gradually lapsed back into disrepair, the gardens once more reverting to Nature. By 1911 the wallpapers which had been matched with such care when the restoration was under taken were-reported by the guardian to be peeling off, and the bouse had begun \o show signs of the ravages of time and weather. Owing to agitation in the Chamber, money was granted by Parliament in 1913 and essential repairs were carired out between 1914 and 1916. A permanent annual vote for upkeep was thenceforth included in the estimates for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 1928 M. de Hauterive, the wellknown Napoleonic authority, visited^ the island and published his observa-1 tions. ' As the result the society "Les Amis de Sainte Helenc," which had been formed under the presidency o£ Mlie. Las Cases, made representations to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who ordered a complete restoration to be made. Quarters were built for the caretaker, the house was transformed into a Napoleon museum, and the three little gardens were once again restored, to their former condition.