Napoleon's Imprisonment.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 42, 20 February 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

Napoleon's Imprisonment.

MEMOIRS OF COUNT BALMAIN.

"For ,God's sake, madam, let me rest I" 'is the distressful cry one,of the best of our old caricaturists put into the mouth of Dr Johnson's ghost, reproaching a quondam friend for her Miterary industry. Such an entreaty must ever be made in vain, for, living or dead, the illustrious are the natural prey of a very large part of the " world of letters." On the memory of Napoleon alone, three or four generations of writers, to say nothing of printers, publishers, booksellers; and makers of penu, inks, and paper, have thriven handsomely. So successfully have they mingled fact, fiction, and hypothesis that their hero remains more enigmatical than ever. It is round the closing scenes of Napoleon's career, when he was detained a prisoner in the island of St Helena, that fancy has spun her most elaborate webs. • The eagle was caged at length, and the world impatiently demanded the secret of those wings that had so easily attained the zenith. In response a hundred willing'pen's leaped at once to paper. Everybody competent to express an opinion, and a still larger number notoriously incompetent,, were, supposed to have said their say. The testimony, however, of one of the principal eye-witnesses, the witness better'pliced probably than any other for impartially describing events, seems to have been unaccountably overlooked, at any rate, in its entirety. It is that of Count Balmain, the Russian Commissioner, who spent more than four consecutive years in St Helena. Napoleon, though confined on a British island and guarded by British bayonets, was officially considered to be the prisoner of the , European powers collectively. To j emphasise'this view, France, Austria, I and Russia each nominated a Commissioner, whose duty it was to report to his particular Sovereign all that i came within his cognisance. Princes, more than > their subjects, perhaps, were deeply interested, in learning what manner of- man this really was who could purloin kingdoms and juggle'with crowns as baser spirits do with dice. ' ' tl COUNT BALMAIN'S INSTRUCTIONS.

Of itbe .three Commissioners,-the Frenchman, the Marquis de Montchenu—"Old Munch Enough," as the English sailors significantly paraphrased his name—apart from other considerations, was too prejudiced against the " little Corsican upstart" for his testimony to be worth, muoh. ■ The Austrian, Baron yon Stunner, seems to have been the tspe of the ordinary professional third-rate diplomatist, .self sufficient and dull withal,-land very soon had to be reprimanded by his own Government for his indiscretions. The third, Count Balmain, the Russian representative, - is, .however, universally admitted to have been the right man in the right place, and was the only one of the three who succeeded in, carrying out the object of his mission. His instructions'from Nesselrode, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, were that he should maintain a purely passive attitude.

. " You will observe everything and render an account of everything. In your dealings with the British officials you will be guided by the conciliatory spirit which tbe bonds of friendship and alliance between the two Courts impose. In your dealings with Bonaparte you will keep the middle course required by such a delicate situation, while not forgetting the sonsideration due to him personally. You will neither seek nor avoid occasions to see him, and, in this respect, will implicitely obey whatever rules tbe Governor lays down. You will make daily notes of whatever you may learn concerning him, especially committing to writing all that is noteworthy in hi 3 converaa tions either with yourself, with tbe other Commissioners, or with any one else. An exact journal, kept with oare and regularity, cannot but furnish history with materials of the greatest interest." Count Balmain scrupulously fol lowed these instructions to the best of bis ability, and at every opportunity sent voluminous reports to St. Petersburg. By one of those lucky chances that occasionally occur, I have been put in possession of Count Balmain's original minute-books containing, in his own hand-writing, duplicates of all the reports he penned during hia residence in St. Helena, " the perusal of which, I am pleased and proud to hear," he writes to Nesselrode, " has been found interesting by the Emperor" (of Russia). A STORM OF QUESTIONS. Before one has read half-a-dozen pages of the paper—browned by time, with the watermark " 1815" staring from the middle of the sheet—eight or ten decades of years have disappeared. Waterloo was fought yesterday ; Europe is yet stupefied with the clash of arms and the booming echoes of the cannonade that has been going on almost uninterruptedly for a quarter of a century ; monarchs are nervously testing the equilibrium of their crowns ; while humbler folk can still scarcely persuade themselves that their lives and belongings are henceforth secure. The interest of

the universe centres in a small island ; out in the middle of the ocean, in which one man of diminutive stature but commanding aspect, who has been the chief figure all through the late commotion, is guarded by thousands of troops. " Tell us what you see. What is ' he* doing ? How does ' he' look, dress, walk, talk?..'.' What does •he 1 eat and drink ? Was that a smile or a sneer that flitted across 'his' face. . . . .?" The few privileged spectators, of whom Count Balmain was one, were almost deafened by the storm of questions that came echoing across the water. It was not Balmain|s province, nor was it, apparently, his ambition, to make literature, yet from his plain, unvarnished recital of facts, the moral figure, not of the demigod, but of the man, Napoleon Bonaparte in adversity, stands out infinitely more vividly than from far more ambitious narratives. Though a Russian subject, Balmain was of Scotch descent, spoke and wrote half a dozen languages, possessed in a bigh degree tact, judgment,. savoirvivrc and savoir faire, and could regard men and things from an absolutely dispassionate standpoint. Whatever either of pettiness or greatness he thinks he detects in Napoleon is noted down with the same impartiality as he employs in criticising Sir Hudson Lowe, the Governor, who has been held up to suoh universal opprobrium, even by hia own countrymen.

Sir Hudson Lowe tries his best to satisfy Napoleon ; treats him with respect and consideration; uncomplainingly puts up with his rudeness ; tolerates his whims; does, in fact, the impossible. But to Napoleon he will never seem anything but a scourge. There is too much incompatibility of temper between the two men. To sum up the situation in a phrase, the man who knows only how to command is in the power of him who knows only how to obey.. And there is thus no sort of annoyance that the prisoner has not inflicted on the Governor."

All Count Balmain's letters are written in a similarly independent strain, and in their ensemble they throw a new and vivid light on one of the most thrilling and most passionately discussed incidents in history.

On the 18th of June, 1816, the frigate the Newcastle, with Count Balmain on board, reached St. Helena. As the bleak, bare-looking rock rose precipitously before his eyes out of the waves of the Atlantic, the feelings of the Russian Commissioner, it may be assumed, were far from enviable. No doubi; all the terrible stories he had heard in London about the hardships he would be called upon to endure rushed into bis mind, particularly the sort of certificate which Sir Alexander Beatson, the late Governor of St. Helena, had furnished to the Austrian Commissioner regarding the expenses, of life there. The concluding paragraph of this document was specially calculated to alarm him. "As regards the privations which the Commissioners will have to undergo—these are too numerous to set forth. They will have to make up. their minds to renounce almost everything, and especially those social pleasures which are so easily obtainable in Europe. The sacrifices they will be called upon to undertake will extend even to their food, wbieh will be far different horn -what they have been accustomed to. They will rarely be able to obtain fresh meat." In his first despatch to Count Neseelrode, written on board the Newcastle, Count Balmain was, therefore, diplomatically discreet. Ten days later he penned his first circumstantial despatch to Count Nesselrode, which ran as follows :— A DULL BUT SUITABLE PRISON. " As it is hardly possible to give a description of St. Helena in any way different from tbose current in Europe, I will content myself by repeating once more that it is of all places on the face of the earth the dullest, the most isolated, the most inaccessible, the easiest to defend, and most difficult to attack, the most inhospitable, the poorest, the most expensive, but, above all, the most suitable for the use to which it has now been put. This gives a general notion of what the place is.

"Every expedition against the island from without is foredoomed to failure; so much, I believe, I may already assert with confidence. The first and greatest^ obstacles are tbose placed by Nature herself, while the English Government is ceaselessly* adding fresh means of defence, the greater number of which appear to me to be useless.

"Three infantry regiments, five companies of artillery, and a detachment of dragoons, for the service of a somewhat numerous staff, form the principal part of the garrison. Two frigates, one of them of fifty guns, and several brigs and sloops protect the island on the side cf the sea. The number of cannon placed both on the coast and in the interior of the island is terrifying. Sir Hudson Lowe has promised to give me, at an early date, the exact number of his troops, as well as a military plan of the island. I will not fail to enclose both in one of my succeeding reports. " The strictest discipline has been established on all points for both the

direofc and indirect surveillance of Bonaparte. During the day a pass from the Governor is necessary to walk in certain directions. At night it is impossible to go anywhere without knowing the countersign. In whatever direction one looks nothing but sentries, military posts, and patrols are to be seen. " The ex-Emperor occupies the pavilion of the Lieu ten ant-Governor at Long-wood ; an extent of ground several miles in circumference is at hia disposal, and within these limits he enjoys perfect freedom. Even the guards only approach it after sunset, when the house is surrounded until the following morning. Should Napoleon desire to pass out of the enclosure, which is always surrounded by a cordon of troops and camps, and is defended by a park of artillery, he is followed by an officer, who never loses sight of him. MEASURES OF SECURITY. All those who wish to enter the enclosure, no matter on what pretext, must be furnished with an extraordinary permit. On the sea the rules, are still more stringent. The i day that our vessel appeared before , the anchorage of St. James's one of I the batteries of the fort fired a ball i of 24 at us because Admiral Malcolm had ommitted to send someone on shore to announce his arrival. After ! the evening gun no vessel of any I description is permitted either to leave port or move from its position. There are officers whose sole duty it is to make themselves acquainted with every vessel and look after it during the night. " This state of things has deprived St. Helena of one of its greatest resources, its fishery. Fishing can now only be carried on, during, the day time, and the consequence is that fish is becoming as scarce as fresh meat.

I am somewhat averse, sir, to risk an opinion upon all these measures of security, but I must admit that I' have considerable difficulty in realising their true utility. An island completely out off from the rest of the world, which can only be reaohed when the wind is in one particular direction, on which a landing can only be affected at one spot, on which the rooks, piled one upon another, form preoipices at every step, might, it seems to me, be guarded by some simpler and more economical methods.

" I will now tell your Excellenoy something about Bonaparte himself. His mental condition varies a great deal, though usually be is in a somewhat bad temper. This, however, in no way affects him physically. He is invariably in good health, and has, apparently, many years of life in front of him.

"No one has.yet been able to divine whether he is resigned to his fate or whether he still entertains some hope. It is said that he counts very much on the Opposition in England to get him away from Bt. Helena. What is certain is that he continue? to protest against his arrest, and insists upon being treated at Longwood as if he were still the Emperor. Bertrand, Montholm, Las Cases, Gourgaud, and the whole1 of his suit pay him, as they did formerly, the greatest honors. NAPOLEON'S DAILY OCCUPATIONS. "He usually receives those strangers who desire to see him, but he gives no dinners nor parties, and never leaves his enclosure. The preßence of the English officer who has always to accompany him incommodes him and makes him suffer. For a similar reason he avoids in bis walks the milfary posts and sentries. He rises at raid-day, breakfasts, occupies himself with various matters in his own apartment until about three o'clock; at four o'clock he admits those persons whose visits have been announced, after which he either goes for a walk or drives in a landau with six horses. Very rarely he rides. " He dines at eight, not remaining at table, for more than about threequarters of an hour ; bas a game of reversi, goes to bed, and, during the night, usually rises several times to work. He ia writing bis history with the assistance of the ' Moniteur,* and also is learning English. | " His conversation would be inter-; eating if one could follow it, for he let 3 himself go when he is taken in the right way. Habitually, however, he sees none but his Frenchmen, and anything he has said to the English en passant, with the exception perhaps, of Admiral Cockburn, ia either altered by their national vanity or proves nothing whatever.

" General Lowe treats him with all possible regard, and even to a certain extent, humors him in his mania for playing the Emperor. In spite of this Bonaparte dislikes him, and has only seen him a few times. "He appears rather to single out Admiral Malcolm, who plays the role of bon enfant to perfection, though, in reality, he will not any more than the other does, swerve from the line of conduct that has been traced out for him. I may add, as a somewhat curious circumstance, that he has at last put off his uniform and adopted a hunting suit." Fearing that his letter was too long, Balmain concluded at this point, comprising what else he had to say in a second report dated on the same day, 29th of June, 1816.—* Daily Mail."