Ministers had decided on St. Helena by July 28th.  Their decision was clinched by a Memorandum of General Beatson, late Governor of the island, dated July 29th, recommending St. Helena, because all the landing places were protected by batteries, and the semaphores recently placed on the lofty cliffs would enable the approach of a rescue squadron to be descried sixty miles off, and the news to be speedily signalled to the Governor’s House.  Napoleon’s appeal and protests were accordingly passed over; and, in pursuance of advice just to hand from Castlereagh at Paris, Ministers decided to treat him, not as our prisoner, but as the prisoner of all the Powers.  A Convention was set in hand as to his detention; it was signed on August 2nd at Paris, and bound the other Powers to send Commissioners as witnesses to the safety of the custody.[538]

His departure from Plymouth was hastened by curious incidents.  Crowds of people assembled there to see the great man, and shoals of boats—­Maitland says more than a thousand on fine days—­struggled and jostled to get as near the “Bellerophon” as the guard-boats would allow.  Two or three persons were drowned; but still the swarm pressed on.  Many of the men wore carnations—­a hopeful sign this seemed to Las Cases—­and the women waved their handkerchiefs when he appeared on the poop or at the open gangway.  Maitland was warned that a rescue would be attempted on the night of the 3rd-4th; and certainly the Frenchmen were very restless at that time.  They believed that if Napoleon could only set foot on shore he must gain the rights of Habeas Corpus.[539] And there seemed some chance of his gaining them.  Very early on August 4th a man came down from London bringing a subpoena from the Court of King’s Bench to compel Lord Keith and Captain Maitland to produce the person of Napoleon Bonaparte for attendance in London as witness in a trial for libel then pending.  It appears that some one was to be sued for a libel on a naval officer, censuring his conduct in the West Indies; and it was suggested that if he (the defendant) could get Napoleon’s evidence to prove that the French ships were at that time unserviceable, his case would be strengthened.  An attorney therefore came down to Plymouth armed with a subpoena, with which he chased Keith on land and chased him by sea, until his panting rowers were foiled by the stout crew of the Admiral’s barge.  Keith also found means to let Maitland know how matters stood early on the 4th, whereupon the “Bellerophon” stood out to sea, her guard-boat keeping at a distance the importunate man with the writ.