Various causes have been assigned for the hatred that Napoleon felt for Lowe.  His frequents taunts that he was no general, but only a leader of Corsican deserters, suggests one that has already been referred to.  It has also been suggested that Lowe was not a gentleman, and references have been approvingly made to comparisons of his physiognomy with that of the devil, and of his eye with “that of a hyaena caught in a trap.”  As to this we will cite the opinion of Lieutenant (later Colonel) Basil Jackson, who was unknown to Lowe before 1816, and was on friendly terms with the inmates both of Longwood and of Plantation House: 

“He [Lowe] stood five feet seven, spare in make, having good features, fair hair, and eyebrows overhanging his eyes:  his look denoted penetration and firmness, his manner rather abrupt, his gait quick, his look and general demeanour indicative of energy and decision.  He wrote or dictated rapidly, and was fond of writing, was well read in military history, spoke French and Italian with fluency, was warm and steady in his friendships, and popular both with the inhabitants of the isle and the troops.  His portrait, prefixed to Mr. Forsyth’s book, is a perfect likeness."[566]

If overhanging eyebrows, a penetrating glance, and rather abrupt manners be thought to justify comparisons with the devil or a hyaena, the art of historical portraiture will assuredly have to be learnt over again in conformity with impressionist methods.  That Lowe was a gentleman is affirmed by Mrs. Smith (nee Grant), who, in later years, when prejudiced against him by O’Meara’s slanders, met him at Colombo without at first knowing his name: 

“I was taken in to dinner by a grave, particularly gentlemanly man, in a General’s uniform, whose conversation was as agreeable as his manner.  He had been over half the world, knew all celebrities, and contrived without display to say a great deal one was willing to hear....  Years before, with our Whig principles and prejudices, we had cultivated in our Highland retirement a horror of the great Napoleon’s gaoler.  The cry of party, the feeling for the prisoner, the book of Surgeon O’Meara, had all worked my woman’s heart to such a pitch of indignation that this maligned name [Lowe] was an offence.  We were to hold the owner in abhorrence.  Speak to him, never!  Look at him, sit in the same room with him, never!  None were louder than I, more vehement; yet here was I beside my bugbear and perfectly satisfied with my position.  It was a good lesson."[567]

The real cause of Napoleon’s hatred of Lowe is hinted at by Sir George Bingham in his Diary (April 19th).  After mentioning Napoleon’s rudeness to Cockburn on parting with him, he proceeds: