me so ill, and who act from hatred. The admiral strove to excuse the governor, and declared that he knew it was the intention of the English government to treat me well, and that there must be some mistake or misconception, which would be rectified. I told him, that you English were great égoïstes, very fond of excusing each other, and of praising your country and yourselves; but that to strangers, every thing was justifiable. I spoke to him about the detention of the French prisoners, and the reception of the prisoners who had broken their parole, of which I had been accused. I explained, that the English were the first to begin;" here Napoleon gave an explanation similar to that which appears in a preceding part of the work. "I then published in the Moniteur, the names of several English who had violated their parole and escaped, before any Frenchman had done the same. For it was much easier to escape in France than in England, as the English prisoners were allowed great liberty, and much more space than the French were in England. But the fact is, that your ministers hate me, because I acted vigorously, and always retaliated upon them. When they blockaded France, I blockaded England, and I always made reprisals, which they had not been accustomed to under the feeble government of the Bourbons, whom they used to insult at their pleasure. I told him that the English would hereafter repent of having prosecuted the war with so much hatred against me. If they had left me in France, after my return from Elba, all Europe would have been quiet, France contented, no internal commotions, nor hatred against the English, for forcing on the nation a king whom they detested. The revolutionary spirit which exists now against the actual government of France, may find its way to England, and if so, there is no knowing how it may terminate."

"I told him also," continued Napoleon, "that I had been well pleased at the capture of Copenhagen, because it made bitter enemies of the Danes, without injuring me. For it was not ships that I wanted, but naval officers and seamen who were all left behind to man my vessels. I also informed him, that the capture

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and robbery of the Spanish frigates pleased me; as it caused you to be hated in Spain, where you might have been and were popular before, and besides, was unworthy of a great nation. I told him that I did not receive

money direct from Spain. That I got bills upon Vera Cruz, which certain agents sent by circuitous routes, by Amsterdam, Hamburg, and other places, to London, (as I had no direct communication.) The bills were discounted by merchants in London, to whom ten per cent., and sometimes a premium, was paid as their reward. Bills were then given by them upon different bankers in Europe for the greatest part of the amount, and the remainder in gold, which last was brought over to France by the smugglers. Even for the equipping my last expedition, a great part of the money was raised in London." I asked if he meant that, after his Teturn from Elba? He replied, "yes, that last expedition."

66 that

"I told the admiral," continued Napoleon, you had been the first violaters of the peace of Amiens; that your ministers, who boast so much of not having acknowledged me as emperor, were so conscious, themselves, of having been the violaters of the treaty, that they offered, through Lord Whitworth, to give thirty millions of francs, and to assist, as much as lay in their power, to make me king of France, if I would consent to the English retaining Malta." I took the liberty of asking to whom the proposal had been made? "To Malouet, who was minister to Louis a short time ago," replied the emperor, "My answer to this offer was, 'Tell Lord Whitworth, that I will owe nothing to strangers, or to their interference. If the French nation do not, of themselves, create me king, foreign influence shall never be employed by me to obtain it.' The fact is, that your ministers always deceived the people by false and artful representations, and are of the opinion expressed by the great Lord Chatham, that if England acted towards France with justice for twentyfour hours, she would be ruined.'

"The admiral," continued Napoleon, " is very well informed about the history of the last years; is really

an Englishman, and sticks up for his country whenever he can; but notwithstanding, he could not contradict several of the assertions I made to him, because they were incontrovertible facts. He returned frequently to the proposed interview with the ambassador, which he is most desirous should take place. I am convinced, that no good would arise from it. I wish," added he, "that he should know my sentiments on these matters." I remarked, that perhaps his refusing to see the ambassador, might be construed into an insult to the British government, and to the nation, which he represented. Napoleon replied, "It cannot admit of such a construction. He is not sent as an ambassador to St. Helena. He was ambassador to the Emperor of China, and at St. Helena can only appear in his private capacity. Consequently, there is no necessity for his being introduced by the governor. If he wants to see me, let him go to Bertrand, without being accompanied by any of the governor's people, then we will see about it. However, I think it would be better for both, that it should not take place. For if I receive him, I must put on an appearance of cheerfulness, and clothe my face with smiles; as it is contrary to my custom to receive any person otherwise. Then, I must either be obliged to make complaints to a stranger of the barbarous treatment I receive here, which is lessening to the dignity and character of a man like me; or else, I must furnish an opportunity to this governor, to fill the ambassador's head with lies, and make him observe, that I am so well treated, that I have made no complaints, that I want for nothing, that for me on a tous les égards possibles, and enable him to write home a bulletin of falsehoods, with an appeal to the ambassador in proof of the truth of them. So that it would place me in an aukward dilemma, and one which it would be better to avoid,"

He was very anxious in his inquiries about Captain Meynell, who was very dangerously ill. General Montholon much better.

I showed him the naval Chronicle, in which there was a long article about the death of Captain Wright. "No person," said Napoleon, "asserts positively that

he had seen him murdered; and the principle evidence who testifies to the belief of it, was a man who was himself in prison. Let him be asked for what crime he was thrown into a jail. It is not a place for honest people, or for those whose testimony could be relied upon. If I had acted properly, I should have ordered Wright to be tried by a military commission as a spy, and shot within twenty-four hours, which by the laws of war I was entitled to do. What would your ministers, or even your parliament have done to a French captain that was discovered landing assassins in England to murder King George? If I had, in retaliation of the assassins sent to murder me, sent others to murder *** and the Bourbon princes, what would have been done to the captain of the vessel who had landed them in England, if he were taken? They would not have been so lenient as I was with Wright. They would have had him tried and executed sur le champ.”

7th.-Napoleon very particular in inquiring about Captain Meynell, whose death he observed would grieve him, as he had l'air d'un brave homme. Had some more conversation with him relative to the prisoners made at the commencement of the war. I said, that I believed he had demanded that the ships as well as the prisoners made in them should be given up in exchange for those detained in France. He replied, that he did not recollect that he had demanded the ships. "The only reason," added he, "that your government would give as a right for detaining them as prisoners was, that they had always done so in preceding wars, and that it would be lessening to the dignity of the government to give them up, or to consider as prisoners of war those who had been detained by me in France. To this, I answered, that they had always done so, because they had to deal with imbéciles, and people who knew not how to act vigorously, and were afraid to retaliate. As to the exchange of prisoners, I offered to effect it in the following manner, viz. to send three thousand men, consisting of two thousand Spaniards and Portuguese, and one thousand English to a certain place, there to be exchanged for three thousand French, and so on un

till all were exchanged. Your government would not consent to this, but required that all the English should be exchanged at first; though the others were your allies, and were taken fighting by your side. As soon as the French prisoners in England heard of this proposal, they wrote over the strongest letters possible, protesting against, and praying me not to consent to such terms, alleging, that as soon as your ministers had got all the English prisoners, amounting I believe to ten thousand, they would under some pretext break off the exchange ;* and that they (the French prisoners) who were already treated badly enough, would then be subjected to every species of brutality and ill treatment, as the English would no longer be afraid of reprisals. What I most regret," added he, "and am most to blame for is, that during my reign, I had not caused the English prison. ers to be put on board of pontons, and treated exactly as you treated mine in England. Indeed, I had given orders to have it done, and to place them in ships in the Scheldt. Décres, the minister of marine, though he hated you as much as a man could do, opposed it on the ground of the expense, the difficulty of effecting, it and other reasons. There were numbers of reports also from your transport board, testifying the good treat ment which the prisoners enjoyed, which imposed upon me for a time; but, as I found out from the prisoners themselves afterwards, they were filled with lies, like the reports that are sent from this island. I was also so much occupied with affairs of a more important nature, that I forgot it." I took the liberty of observing, that I hoped he did not credit what he saw in Pillet's libel. "No, no," replied Napoleon. "I believe no exaggerated statement of the kind. I reason from the testimonies of the prisoners themselves and from the circumstances. In the first place, it was le comble du

I have some recollection (although I cannot find it in my jour nal) that Napoleon also told me that he had proposed to the English minister that both powers should simultaneously land their respective prisoners in such ports in England and France as might have been previously agreed upon, which proposal was not agreed to by his majesty's ministers.