Longwood was certainly far from being a suitable abode; but a word from Napoleon would have led to the erection of the new house on a site that he chose to indicate.  The materials had all been brought from England; but the word was not spoken until a much later time; and the inference is inevitable that he preferred to remain where he was so that he could represent himself as lodged in cette grange insalubre.[582] The third of the Longwood household to depart was the surgeon, O’Meara.  The conduct of this British officer in facilitating Napoleon’s secret correspondence has been so fully exposed by Forsyth and Seaton that we may refer our readers to their works for proofs of his treachery.  Gourgaud’s “Journal” reveals the secret influence that seduced him.  Chancing once to refer to the power of money over Englishmen, Napoleon remarked that that was why we did not want him to draw sums from Europe, and continued:  “Le docteur n’est si bien pour moi que depuis que je lui donne mon argent.  Ah! j’en suis bien sur, de celui-la!"[583] This disclosure enables us to understand why the surgeon, after being found out and dismissed from the service, sought to blacken the character of Sir Hudson Lowe by every conceivable device.  The wonder is that he succeeded in imposing his version of facts on a whole generation.

The next physician who resided at Longwood, Dr. Stokoe, was speedily cajoled into disobeying the British regulations and underwent official disgrace.  An attempt was then made, through Montholon, to bribe his successor, Dr. Verling, who indignantly repelled it and withdrew from his duty.[584]

There can be no doubt that Napoleon found pleasure in these intrigues.  In his last interview with Stuermer, the Austrian Commissioner at St. Helena, Gourgaud said, in reference to this topic:  “However unhappy he [Napoleon] is here, he secretly enjoys the importance attached to his custody, the interest that the Powers take in it, and the care taken to collect his least words.”  Napoleon also once remarked to Gourgaud that it was better to be at St. Helena than as he was at Elba.[585] Of the same general tenour are his striking remarks, reported by Las Cases at the close of his first volume: 

“Our situation here may even have its attractions.  The universe is looking at us.  We remain the martyrs of an immortal cause:  millions of men weep for us, the fatherland sighs, and Glory is in mourning.  We struggle here against the oppression of the gods, and the longings of the nations are for us....  Adversity was wanting to my career.  If I had died on the throne amidst the clouds of my omnipotence, I should have remained a problem for many men:  to-day, thanks to misfortune, they can judge of me naked as I am.”

In terseness of phrase, vividness of fancy, and keenness of insight into the motives that sway mankind, this passage is worthy of Napoleon.  He knew that his exile at St. Helena would dull the memory of the wrongs