26th December, 1816, three months afterwards. But you have several times insinuated, that you believe yourself authorized to re-establish them at any moment, as well as others equally unreasonable. The restrictions of the 9th October, 1816, contain other articles of the same extravagant nature, which are not suspended. Fresh restrictions which you made on the 14th March, 1817, prescribe that we are not to quit the extent of a road twelve feet wide. It would thence result, that if the emperor were to quit that road, or enter into any house, the sentries might fire upon him. The emperor ought not to recognize such ignoble treatment. Several Englishmen of distinction, at present in the island, on that passage being read to them, (not being acquainted with the restrictions of the 9th October, 1816, and of the 14th March, 1817,) reproached the emperor for sacrificing his health by not going out; but as soon as those restrictions were made known to them, their opinions changed, and they declared that no man of honour could act differently; and that, without pretending to compare themselves with him, they would in such a case have done as he did.

I added, that if you wished to consult the officers who are in this colony, there is not one among them who does not regard the restrictions of the 9th October, 1816, and those of the 14th March, 1817, as unjust, useless, and oppressive; and that all in the emperor's place would act as he did, holding such conditional leave to go out as an absolute prohibition.

I had also the honour to tell you, that according to the terms of the bill in parliament of the 11th April, 1816, you have not a right to make restrictions; that the bill grants that right only to the government, which cannot delegate it even to one of its ministers, and still less to an individual officer; that Lord Bathurst in his speech, in the month of March, in the House of Peers, declared that you had made no new restriction, that all his correspondence had been in favour of the detained persons, and that you had the same instructions as your predecessor; that your predecessor had adapted the restrictions of government to local circumstances, in a

manner, if not convenient, at least tolerable; that things remained in this state for nine months, during which time the emperor used to go out, received even some English officers at his table, and sometimes had in his society the officers and inhabitants of the island; that this order of things was not changed by an act of your government; that during those nine months, no inconvenience took place, and that nothing can have authorized you to substitute for an order of things so reasonable, that which you have established; that the emperor would go out, ride on horseback, and resume the same way of life, if you would restore things to the state they were in at the time of your arrival; that in default of this, you would be responsible for the results of the restrictions of the 9th of October, 1816, and the 14th of March, 1817, which you have no right to make, and which, to the emperor, are equivalent to an absolute prohibition to quit his apartments.

You told me, sir, that the emperor's room was too small, that Longwood House was altogether bad, as you had declared it to be to your government; that the emperor having had a tent erected last year, because there was no alley where he could walk in the shade, you proposed to establish a soldier's wooden barrack near the the house, where the emperor might take his walks: I undertook to make known to him your proposition. He considered this offer as a mockery, (those were his words,) and analogous to the conduct pursued for these two years. If the house where he is, be inconvenient, why has he been left there for these two years, and why do they not give him one of those in the island, situated in the midst of gardens, trees, shade, and water? Why leave him upon this uncultivated point, exposed to the winds, and having nothing that can contribute to the preservation of life.

Let me be allowed, sir, to point out to your observation, that if you do not suppress the restrictions of the 9th of October, 1816, and of the 14th of March, 1817, and if you do not re-establish things as they were in the time of the admiral, the emperor cannot go out. He considers, and will consider, that determination as a de

sire on your part to occasion his death. He is entirely at your disposal. You can make him die of sickness; you can make him die of hunger; it would be a favour to make him die by a musket-shot.

If you assemble the military and naval officers of this place, and the principal officers of health, there is not one of them but will tell you that your restrictions are disgraceful, and that a man of honour would sooner die than acknowledge them; that they are of no avail to the security of the detention; that they are illegal. The text of the bill, and the speech of your minister, cannot leave any kind of doubt on this point. The medical officers will tell you that there is no more time to be lost; that in three or four weeks perhaps it will be too late; and although this great prince be abandoned by fortune, and there is an open field for calumnies and li bels in Europe, yet a cry of indignation will be raised amongst all people ; for there are here several hundreds of persons, French, English, and foreigners, who will bear witness to all that has been done to put an end to the life of this great man.

I have, sir, always spoken to you to this effect, more or less forcibly. I shall speak to you of it no more, for denials, subtilties, and arguments, are very useless.

The question lies in two words; do you or do you not wish to kill the emperor? If you persist in your conduct you will yourself have answered in the affirmative; and unhappily, the object will probably be attained after some months of agony.

Permit me, in concluding, to answer, on behalf of the officers who are with the emperor, and also on my own, to your letters of the 29th and 26th July last.Sir, you misunderstand our character: menaces have no power over us. For twenty years we have braved every danger in his service. By remaining voluntarily at St. Helena, in the horrible situation in which we are, and exposed to the strangest proceedings, we sacrifice to him more than our own lives and those of our families. Insensible to your menaces and your insinuations, we shall continue to fulfil our duty; and if there were any

subjects of complaint against us before your government, we do not doubt that the Prince Regent, Lord Liverpool, and so many estimable men who form it, would know very well how to appreciate them. They know the respect due to the holy ministration which we fulfil; and even had we to apprehend persecution, we should adhere to our maxim, "Do your duty, come what may."*

Letter from Count Bertrand to his eminence Cardinal Fesch, announcing the Death of Cipriani.

Longwood, 22nd March, 1818.

MY LORD, M. Cipriani, the emperor's maître d'hôtel died at Long wood on the 27th February last, at four o'clock in the afternoon. He was buried in the protestant churchyard of this place, and the ministers of that church have paid the same duties to him as they would have done to a person of their own sect. Care has been taken to insert in the extrait mortuaire which I shall send you, (but for which an extract from my letter may now serve,) that he died in the bosom of the Apostolical and Roman church. The minister of this place. would willingly have assisted the deceased, and this last would have desired a catholic priest; but as we have none here, he appeared not to wish a minister of another religion. I should be happy if you would make us acquainted with the rites of the catholic church upon this subject, and if it be permitted that an English minister should administer to a dying catholic. We cannot praise

* Fais ce que tu dois ; advienne que pourra.

too much the good spirit and the zeal which the ministers of religion of this place have manifested on this occasion. Cipriani died of an inflammation of the bowels. He expired on Friday, and on the preceding Sunday he had attended without any forboding of it. A child belonging to one of Count Montholon's servants died a few days before at Longwood. A femme de chambre died a few days ago of the same complaint. It is the effect of the bad climate of this place, where very few men grow old. Liver complaints, dysenteries, and inflammations of the bowels, carry off many victims amongst the natives, but especially amongst Europeans. We felt in this circumstance, and feel daily, the want of a minister of our religion. You are our bishop, we wish that you would send us a French or Italian priest. Be so good as to select a man of information under the age of forty, and who is not prejudiced by anti-gallican principles.

M. Pieron has undertaken the office of maître d'hôtel; but he has been extremely ill, and although now convalescent, is still in a bad state. The cook is in a similar situation. It would be necessary that either you, or Prince Eugene, or the empress, should send a maître d'hôtel, and a French or Italian cook out of those who have served in the emperor's household, or in those of his family.

Your eminence will find added to this, 1st. Papers A. and B., which were found in M. Cipriani's portefeuille. 2nd. A pin which he was in the habit of wearing, and which I have thought proper to send for his wife. 3rd. The account of what is owing to him, amounting to the sum of 8,287 francs, or 345l. 58. 10d., with a bill of exchange to be paid to his heirs. Knowing that you take care of his son, and that his daughter is with Madame, the emperor defers securing an independence to his two children, until he is made acquainted with the amount of the property left by Cipriani, who, it appeared, had large funds in Genoa.

I shall not afflict you by speaking of the emperor's health, which is very unsatisfactory. It has not, however, become worse since the hot season. I think that