table, with some books, at the foot of which lay in confusion upon the carpet a heap of those which he had already perused, and at the opposite side of the sofa was suspended Isabey’s portrait of the Empress Maria Louisa, holding her son in her arms.  In front of the fireplace stood Las Cases with his arms folded over his breast and some papers in one of his hands.  Of all the former magnificence of the once mighty Emperor of France nothing remained but a superb wash-hand-stand containing a silver basin and water-jug of the same metal, in the lefthand corner.”  The object of Napoleon in sending for O’Meara on this occasion was to question him whether in their future intercourse he was to consider him in the light of a spy and a tool of the Governor or as his physician?  The doctor gave a decided and satisfactory answer on this point.

“During the short interview that this Governor had with me in my bedchamber, one of the first things he proposed was to send you away,” said Napoleon to O’Meara, “and that I should take his own surgeon in your place.  This he repeated, and so earnest was he to gain his object that, though I gave him a flat refusal, when he was going out he turned about and again proposed it.”

On the 11th a proclamation was issued by the Governor, “forbidding any persons on the island from sending letters to or receiving them from General Bonaparte or his suite, on pain of being immediately arrested and dealt with accordingly.”  Nothing escaped the vigilance of Sir Hudson Lowe.  “The Governor,” said Napoleon, “has just sent an invitation to Bertrand for General Bonaparte to come to Plantation House to meet Lady Moira.  I told Bertrand to return no answer to it.  If he really wanted me to see her he would have put Plantation House within the limits, but to send such an invitation, knowing I must go in charge of a guard if I wished to avail myself of it, was an insult.”

Soon after came the Declaration of the Allies and the Acts of Parliament authorising the detention of Napoleon Bonaparte as a prisoner of war and disturber of the peace of Europe.  Against the Bill, when brought into the House of Lords, there were two protests, those of Lord Holland and of the Duke of Sussex.  These official documents did not tend to soothe the temper or raise the spirits of the French to endure their captivity.

In addition to the misery of his own captivity, Napoleon had to contend with the unmanageable humours of his own followers.  As often happens with men in such circumstances, they sometimes disagreed among themselves, and part of their petulance and ill-temper fell upon their Chief.  He took these little incidents deeply to heart.  On one occasion he said in bitterness, “I know that I am fallen; but to feel this among you!  I am aware that man is frequently unreasonable and susceptible of offence.  Thus, when I am mistrustful of myself I ask, should I have been treated so at the Tuileries?  This is my test.”