The History of Napoleon Buonaparte

Among the visitors now alluded to was Captain Basil Hall: and he has, perhaps, presented the world with the most graphic sketch of Napoleon as he appeared on such occasions at Longwood. "Buonaparte" (says this traveller) "struck me (Aug. 13, 1817) as differing considerably from all the pictures and busts I had seen of him. His face and figure looked much broader and more square—larger, indeed, in every way, than any representation I had met with. His corpulency, at this time reported to be excessive, was by no means remarkable. His flesh looked, on the contrary, firm and muscular. There was not the least trace of colour in his cheeks; in fact, his skin was more like marble than ordinary flesh. Not the smallest wrinkle was discernible on his brow, nor an approach to a furrow on any part of his countenance. His health and spirits, judging from appearances, were excellent; though, at this period, it was generally believed in England that he was fast sinking under a complication of diseases, and that his spirits were entirely gone. His manner of speaking was rather slow than otherwise, and perfectly distinct: and he waited with great patience and kindness for my answers to his questions. The brilliant and sometimes dazzling expression of his eye could not be overlooked. It was not, however, a permanent lustre, for it was only remarkable when he was excited by some point of particular interest. It is impossible to imagine an expression of more entire mildness, I may almost call it of benignity and kindliness, than that which played over his features during the whole interview. If, therefore, he was at this time out of health and in low spirits, his power of self-command must have been even more extraordinary than is generally supposed; for his whole deportment, his conversation, and the expression of his face, indicated a frame in perfect health, and a mind at ease."

These favourable reports from seemingly impartial witnesses, lent new wings to the tale of Sir Hudson Lowe's oppression; and perhaps the exile of St. Helena continued to fill a larger space in the eye of the world at large, than had ever before fallen to the lot of one removed for ever, to all appearance, from the great theatre of human passions. It was then that Lord Byron thus apostrophised him:

And it was then that an English nobleman of high rank, who throughout manifested especial interest in the fortunes of Napoleon, inscribed his statue (in the gardens of Holland House) with the lines of Homer:

In ordinary times, the course of Napoleon's life at Longwood appears to have been as follows. He rose early, and, as soon as he was out of bed, either mounted on horseback, or began to dictate some part of the history of his life to Montholon or Gourgaud. He breakfasted à la fourchette, sometimes alone, sometimes with his suite, between 10 and 11 o'clock; read or dictated until between 2 and 3, when he received such visitors as he chose to admit. He then rode out, either on horseback or in his carriage, for a couple of hours, attended generally by all his suite; then read or dictated again until near eight, at which hour dinner was served. He preferred plain food, and ate plentifully. A few glasses of claret, less than an English pint, were taken during dinner; and a cup of coffee concluded the second and last meal of the day, as the first. A single glass of champagne, or any stronger wine, was sufficient to call the blood into his cheek. His constitutional delicacy of stomach, indeed, is said to have been such, that it was at all times actually impossible for him to indulge any of the coarser appetites of our nature to excess. He took, however, great quantities of snuff. A game of chess, a French tragedy read aloud, or conversation, closed the evening. The habits of his life had taught him to need but little sleep, and to take this by starts; and he generally had some one to read to him after he went to bed at night, as is common with those whose pillows are pressed by anxious heads.

Napoleon was elaborately careful of his person. He loved the bath, and took it at least once every day. His dress at St. Helena was generally the same which he had worn at the Tuileries as Emperor—viz. the green uniform, faced with red, of the chasseurs of the guard, with the star and cordon of the Legion of Honour. His suite to the last continued to maintain around him, as far as was possible, the style and circumstance of his court.

As early as the battle of Waterloo, reports were prevalent in France that Napoleon's health was declining; yet we have already seen that, so late as April, 1817, no symptom of bodily illness could be traced in his external appearance. From this time, however, his attendants continued to urge, with increasing vehemence, the necessity of granting more indulgence, in consequence of the shattered condition of his constitution: and, although such suggestions were, for obvious reasons, listened to at first with considerable suspicion, there can be little doubt now, that in this matter the fame of Longwood spake truth.

Dr. Arnott, an English physician, already referred to, who attended on Napoleon's death-bed, has informed us that he himself frequently reverted to the fact, that his father died of scirrhus of the pylorus. "We have high authority" (says this writer) "that this affection of the stomach cannot be produced without a considerable predisposition of the parts to disease. If, then, it should be admitted that a previous disposition of the parts to this disease did exist, might not the depressing passions of the mind act as an exciting cause? It is more than probable that Napoleon Buonaparte's mental sufferings in St. Helena were very poignant. By a man of such unbounded ambition, and who had once aimed at universal dominion, captivity must have been severely felt. I can safely assert, that any one of temperate habits, who is not exposed to much bodily exertion, night air, and atmospherical changes, may have as much immunity from disease in St. Helena as in Europe; and I may, therefore, further assert, that the disease of which Buonaparte died was not the effect of climate."—It is added, that out of all Napoleon's family, which, including English and Chinese servants, amounted to fifty persons, only one individual died during the five years of their stay in St. Helena, and this man, an Italian major-domo, had brought the seeds of consumption with him from Europe.

In March, 1817, Lord Holland made a solemn appeal to the British Parliament on the subject of Napoleon's treatment, and was answered by Lord Bathurst—in such a manner that not one could be found to second him. The intelligence of this appears to have exerted a powerful influence on the spirits of the captive. It was about the 25th of September 1818, that his health began to be affected in a manner sufficient to excite alarm in Dr. O'Meara, who informed him, that unless he took regular exercise out of doors (which of late he had seldom done), the progress of the evil would be rapid. Napoleon declared, in answer, that he would never more take exercise while exposed to the challenge of sentinels. The physician stated, that if he persisted, the end would be fatal. "I shall have this consolation at least," answered he, "that my death will be an eternal dishonour to the English nation, who sent me to this climate to die under the hands of...." O'Meara again represented the consequences of his obstinacy. "That which is written, is written," said Napoleon, looking up, "our days are reckoned."

Shortly after this, O'Meara—being detected in a suspicious correspondence with one Holmes, Napoleon's pecuniary agent in London—was sent home by Sir Hudson Lowe; and, Napoleon declining to receive any physician of the governor's nomination instead, an Italian, by name Antommarchi, was sent out by his sister Pauline. With this doctor there came also two Italian priests, whose presence Napoleon himself had solicited, and selected by his uncle, Cardinal Fesch.

His obstinate refusal to take bodily exercise might have sprung in some measure from internal and indescribable sensations. To all Antommarchi's medical prescriptions, he opposed the like determination. "Doctor," he said (14th October 1820), "no physicking; we are a machine made to live; we are organised for that purpose, and such is our nature; do not counteract the living principle—let it alone—leave it the liberty of self-defence—it will do better than your drugs. Our body is a watch, intended to go for a given time. The watchmaker cannot open it, and must work at random. For once that he relieves or assists it by his crooked instruments, he injured it ten times, and at last destroys it."

With the health of Napoleon his mind sank also. Some fishes in a pond in the garden at Longwood had attracted his notice; a deleterious substance happened to mix with the water—they sickened and died. "Everything I love," said Napoleon, "everything that belongs to me—is stricken. Heaven and mankind unite to afflict me." Fits of long silence and profound melancholy were now frequent. "In those days," he once said aloud, in a reverie, "In those days I was Napoleon. Now I am nothing—my strength, my faculties forsake me—I no longer live, I only exist."

When Sir Hudson Lowe was made aware of the condition of the captive, he informed the government at home; and by his Majesty's desire, authority was immediately given for removing to St. Helena from the Cape, any medical officer on whom Napoleon's choice might fall. This despatch did not, however, reach St. Helena, until Napoleon had breathed his last.

About the middle of April, 1821, the disease assumed such an appearance, that Dr. Antommarchi became very anxious to have the advice of some English physician, and the patient at length consented to admit the visits of Dr. Arnott, already referred to. But this gentleman also was heard in vain urging the necessity of medical applications. "Quod scriptum scriptum," once more answered Napoleon; "our hour is marked, and no one can claim a moment of life beyond what fate has predestined."

From the 15th to the 25th of April, Napoleon occupied himself with drawing up his last will—in which he bequeathed his orders, and a specimen of every article in his wardrobe, to his son. On the 18th he gave directions for opening his body after death, expressing a special desire that his stomach should be scrutinised, and its appearances communicated to his son. "The vomitings," he said, "which succeed one another without interruption, seem to show that of all my organs the stomach is the most diseased. I am inclined to believe it is attacked with the disorder which killed my father—a scirrhus in the pylorus—the physicians of Montpelier prophesied it would be hereditary in our family." He also gave directions to the priest Vignali as to the manner in which he wished his body to be laid out in a chambre ardente (a state-room lighted with torches). "I am neither an atheist," said Napoleon, "nor a rationalist; I believe in God, and am of the religion of my father. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of that church, and receive the assistance which she administers."

On the 3rd of May it became evident that the scene was near its close. The attendants would fain have called in more medical men; but they durst not, knowing his feelings on this head: "Even had he been speechless," said one of them, "we could not have brooked his eye." The last sacraments of the church were now administered by Vignali. He lingered on thenceforth in a delirious stupor. On the 4th the island was swept by a tremendous storm, which tore up almost all the trees about Longwood by the roots. The 5th was another day of tempests; and about six in the evening, Napoleon—having pronounced the words "tête d'armée," passed for ever from the dreams of battle.

On the 6th of May the body being opened by Antommarchi, in the presence of five British medical men, and a number of the military officers of the garrison, as well as Bertrand and Montholon, the cause of death was sufficiently manifest. A cancerous ulcer occupied almost the whole of the stomach.

Napoleon desired in his will, that his body should be buried "on the banks of the Seine; among the French people, whom he had loved so well." Sir Hudson Lowe could not, of course, expect the King of France to permit this to take place; and a grave was prepared among some weeping willows beside a fountain, in a small valley called Slane's, very near to Longwood. It was under the shade of these willows that the Exile had had his favourite evening seat; and it was there he had been heard to say, that if he must be interred in St. Helena, he would prefer to lie.

The body of the Emperor, clad in his usual uniform, was now exposed to the public view, and visited accordingly by all the population of the island. The soldiers of the garrison passed the couch slowly, in single file; each officer pausing, in his turn, to press respectfully the frozen hand of the dead. On the 8th, his household, the governor, the admiral, and all the civil and military authorities of the place, attended him to the grave—the pall spread over his coffin being the military cloak which he wore at Marengo. The road not being passable for carriages, a party of English grenadiers bore Napoleon to his tomb. The admiral's ship fired minute guns, while Vignali read the service of his church. The coffin then descended amidst a discharge of three volleys from fifteen cannon; and a huge stone was lowered over the remains of one who needs no epitaph.

Napoleon confessed more than once at Longwood that he owed his downfall to nothing but the extravagance of his own errors. "It must be owned," said he, "that fortune spoiled me. Ere I was thirty years of age, I found myself invested with great power, and the mover of great events." No one, indeed, can hope to judge him fairly, either in the brilliancy of his day or the troubled darkness of his evening, who does not task imagination to conceive the natural effects, on a temperament and genius so fiery and daring, of that almost instantaneous transition from poverty and obscurity to the summit of fame, fortune, and power. The blaze which dazzled other men's eyes, had fatal influence on his. He began to believe that there was something superhuman in his own faculties, and that he was privileged to deny that any laws were made for him. Obligations by which he expected all besides to be fettered, he considered himself entitled to snap and trample. He became a deity to himself; and expected mankind not merely to submit to, but to admire and reverence, the actions of a demon. Well says the Poet,

His heart was naturally cold. His school-companion, who was afterwards his secretary, confesses that, even in the spring of youth, he was very little disposed to form friendships.[75] To say that he was incapable of such feelings, or that he really never had a friend, would be to deny to him any part in the nature and destiny of his species.—No one ever dared to be altogether alone in the world.—But we doubt if any man ever passed through life, sympathising so slightly with mankind; and the most wonderful part of his story is, the intensity of sway which he exerted over the minds of those in whom he so seldom permitted himself to contemplate anything more than the tools of his own ambition. So great a spirit must have had glimpses of whatever adorns and dignifies the character of man. But with him the feelings which bind love played only on the surface—leaving the abyss of selfishness untouched. His one instrument of power was genius; hence his influence was greatest among those who had little access to observe, closely and leisurely, the minutiæ of his personal character and demeanour. The exceptions to this rule were very few.

Pride and vanity were strangely mingled in his composition. Who does not pity the noble chamberlain that confesses his blood to have run cold when he heard Napoleon—seated at dinner at Dresden among a circle of crowned heads—begin a story with, When I was a lieutenant in the regiment of La Fere? Who does not pity Napoleon when he is heard speaking of some decorations in the Tuileries, as having taken place "in the time of the king, my uncle?"[76]

This last weakness was the main engine of his overthrow. When he condescended to mimic all the established etiquettes of feudal monarchy—when he coined titles and lavished stars, and sought to melt his family into the small circle of hereditary princes—he adopted the surest means which could have been devised for alienating from himself the affections of all the men of the revolution, the army alone excepted, and for re-animating the hopes and exertions of the Bourbonists. It is clear that thenceforth he leaned almost wholly on the soldiery. No civil changes could after this affect his real position. Oaths and vows, charters and concessions, all were alike in vain. When the army was humbled and weakened in 1814, he fell from his throne, without one voice being lifted up in his favour. The army was no sooner strengthened, and re-encouraged, then it recalled him. He re-ascended the giddy height, with the daring step of a hero, and professed his desire to scatter from it nothing but justice and mercy. But no man trusted his words. His army was ruined at Waterloo; and the brief day of the second reign passed, without a twilight, into midnight.

We are not yet far enough from Buonaparte to estimate the effects of his career. He recast the art of war; and was conquered in the end by men who had caught wisdom and inspiration from his own campaigns. He gave both permanency and breadth to the influence of the French Revolution. His reign, short as it was, was sufficient to make it impossible that the offensive privileges of caste should ever be revived in France; and, this iniquity being once removed, there could be little doubt that such a nation would gradually acquire possession of a body of institutions worthy of its intelligence. Napoleon was as essentially, and irreclaimably, a despot, as a warrior; but his successor, whether a Bourbon or a Buonaparte, was likely to be a constitutional sovereign. The tyranny of a meaner hand would not have been endured after that precedent.

On Europe at large he has left traces of his empire, not less marked or important. He broke down the barriers everywhere of custom and prejudice; and revolutionised the spirit of the Continent. His successes and his double downfall taught absolute princes their weakness and injured nations their strength. Such hurricanes of passion as the French Revolution—such sweeping scourges of mankind as Napoleon Buonaparte, are not permitted but as the avengers of great evils, and the harbingers of great good. Of the influence of both, as regards the continent, it may be safely said—that even now we have seen only "the beginning of the end." The reigning sovereigns of Europe are, with rare exceptions, benevolent and humane men; and their subjects, no less than they, ought to remember the lesson of all history—that violent and sudden changes, in the structure of social and political order, have never yet occurred, without inflicting utter misery upon at least one generation.

It was England that fought the great battle throughout on the same principle, without flinching; and, but for her perseverance, all the rest would have struggled in vain. It is to be hoped that the British nation will continue to see, and to reverence, in the contest and in its result, the immeasurable advantages which the sober strength of a free but fixed constitution possesses over the mad energies of anarchy on the one hand, and, on the other, over all that despotic selfishness can effect, even under the guidance of the most consummate genius.

INDEX

• Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, in Egypt, 164
• Aberdeen, Earl of, 399
• Aboukir, battle of, 95;
• Turks defeated at, 107
• Acre, siege of, 101, 102
• Alexander, Emperor of Russia, resents the murder of the Duke d'Enghien, 210;
• stimulates King of Prussia against Napoleon, 211;
• meets Napoleon at Tilsit, 254
• Alexandria captured by French, 89;
• battle of, 164
• Allies approach Paris, 420;
• their proclamation, 427;
• enter Paris, 429;
• refuse to treat with Napoleon, 430;
• resolved to restore Louis XVIII., 430
• Almeida, siege of, 327
• Aloys Reding, 178
• Alps, passage of the, 143-145
• Alvinzi, Marshal, opposes Napoleon, 50, et seq.
• Amiens, peace of, 166, 168;
• rupture of treaty of, 187
• Ancona occupied by French, 61
• Andalusia, Dupont marches into, 279
• Andreossi, General, 30
• Antommarchi, Dr., 501
• Arcola, Napoleon's narrow escape at, 54;
• three battles at, 52-54
• Arnott, Dr., 493, 500
• Asperne, battle of, 300, 301
• Augereau, General, 24, 44, 61;
• made Marshal, 207
• Austerlitz, battle of, 223
• Austria, Venice handed over to, 75;
• declares war against France, 296, 382

• Badajos taken by Lord Wellington, 329
• Bagrathion, General, 344;
• death of, 347
• Baird, General, 165
• Barclay de Tolly, 337
• Barras, 20, 21
• Bassano, battle of, 48
• Bavaria, Elector of, created King, 225
• Bautzen, battle of, 379
• Baylen, battle of, 279
• Beauharnois, Eugene, first meeting with Napoleon, 22:
• appointed Viceroy of Italy, 209;
• marries daughter of King of Bavaria, 225
• Beauharnois, Hortense, marries Louis Buonaparte, 310;
• her intrigues, 314
• Beauharnois, Josephine, first meeting with Napoleon, 22;
• marries Napoleon, 23;
• her influence, 23, 310;
• her court at Montebello, 74;
• her extravagance, 134;
• divorced, 309;
• her death, 437
• Beaulieu, 26, 27;
• superseded by Wurmser, 42
• Bennigsen, General, 244-252
• Beresina, passage of the, 365
• Berlin decrees, 240
• Bernadotte, his conduct on 18th Brumaire, 119;
• made Marshal, 207;
• created Prince of Corvo, 226;
• elected Crown Prince of Sweden, 317;
• Napoleon's conduct towards, 332;
• lands in Germany, 375
• Berri, Duke of, 458
• Berthier made Marshal, 207;
• created Prince of Neufchatel, 226
• Bertrand, General, 438
• Bessieres, made Marshal, 207;
• death of, 377
• Blucher, General, opposes Napoleon, 374, et seq.;
• at Ligny and Waterloo, 466, et seq.
• Borodino, battle of, 347
• Boulogne, flotilla of, 166, 191
• Bourbons, restoration of, 435
• Bourienne, De, 4, 7, 67, 105
• Braganzas, flight of the, 267
• Brienne, battle of, 407
• Brueyes, Admiral, 94, 95
• Brumaire, revolution of 18th, 119
• Buonaparte, Charles, 1
• Buonaparte, Eliza, made Princess of Lucca. 226
• Buonaparte, Jerome, made King of Westphalia, 255
• Buonaparte, Joseph, made King of Naples, 225;
• made King of Spain, 274;
• leaves Madrid, 280;
• civil commander of Paris, 406;
• flight from Paris, 423
• Buonaparte, Louis, made King of Holland, 226;
• deposed by Napoleon and retires to Gratz, 314
• Buonaparte, Lucien, president of Council of Five Hundred, 115;
• conduct on 19th Brumaire, 121;
• his pamphlet, 158;
• ambassador to Spain, 159;
• quits France for England, 323
• Buonaparte, Napoleon, birth and parentage, 1;
• education at Brienne, 3, 4;
• at Paris, 5;
• appointed second lieutenant of artillery, 6;
• political views, 6;
• made captain of artillery, 6;
• De Bourienne's description of, 7;
• first military service, 8;
• commands artillery at Toulon, 9;
• wounded at Toulon, 12;
• surveys Mediterranean coast fortifications, 14;
• chief of battalion in army of Italy, 15;
• is superseded, 15;
• in love with Mdlle. Clery, 16;
• at Paris, 16;
• refuses to go to La Vendée, 16;
• name erased from list of officers, 16;
• asks to be sent to Turkey, 16;
• commands artillery brigade, 17;
• commands army of interior, 21;
• meets Josephine, 22;
• marries Josephine, 23;
• commands army of Italy, 24;
• at Monte Notte, 27;
• at Millesimo, 27;
• at Mondovi, 28;
• dictates peace to Sardinia, 28;
• crosses the Po, 30;
• at the bridge of Lodi, 31;
• enters Milan, 33;
• seizes works of art, 34;
• suspected by the Directory, 35;
• crosses the Mincio, 36;
• escapes capture at Valleggio, 37;
• besieges Mantua, 38;
• insults Venice, 39;
• peace with Sicily, 39;
• grants respite to Pope, 40;
• seizes Leghorn and enters Florence, 40;
• policy in Italy, 41;
• at battle of Lonato and narrow escape, 44, 45;
• defeats Wurmser, 45;
• marches on Mantua, 46;
• at Roveredo, 47;
• at Primolano and Bassano, 48;
• escapes capture at Arcola, 49;
• sends expedition to Corsica, 50;
• at Arcola, 52;
• life saved by Muiron, 54;
• forms new Italian republics, 55;
• at battle of Rivoli, 57;
• grants terms to Mantua, 60;
• wars against the Pope, 61;
• treaty of Tollentino, 63;
• at battle of Tagliamento, 65;
• treaty of Leoben, 67;
• conquers Venice, 69;
• offered bribes, 70;
• discovers Pichegru's intrigues, 70;
• at Montebello, 74;
• treaty of Campo-Formio, 75;
• at congress at Rastadt, 78;
• returns to Paris, 79;
• conduct in Paris, 79, 80;
• appointed to command army for invasion of England, 83;
• opinion of projected invasion, 84;
• suggests seizure of Malta and invasion of Egypt, 85;
• forms troop of "Savans," 86;
• at Toulon, 86;
• embarks for Egypt, 87;
• captures Malta, 88;
• escapes Nelson and takes Alexandria, 89;
• conduct in Egypt, 89-92;
• at the Pyramids, 93;
• enters Cairo, 94;
• administration in Egypt, 96;
• remarks on battle of Aboukir, 96;
• quells insurrection at Cairo, 98;
• explores isthmus of Suez, 99;
• visits Mount Sinai and explores Red Sea, 99;
• marches for Syria, 99;
• captures El-Arish, Gazah and Jaffa, 100;
• orders massacre of prisoners, 100;
• besieges Acre, 101;
• rescues Junot at Nazareth and Kleber at Mount Tabor, 102;
• retreats to Jaffa, 104;
• massacres Turkish prisoners, 104;
• arrives at Alexandria and defeats Turks at Aboukir, 107;
• embarks for France, 109;
• instructions to Kleber, 109, 110;
• occupations on voyage, 113;
• lands at Frejus, 114;
• reception by Directory in Paris, 114;
• conduct on 18th Brumaire, 118;
• commands troops in Paris, 118;
• enters Council of Five Hundred, 121;
• dissolves Council and establishes provisional consulate, 123;
• at the Luxembourg, 124;
• re-opens churches, 126;
• pacifies Chouans, 127;
• made Chief Consul, 129;
• occupies the Tuileries, 131;
• writes to King of England, 136;
• at Dijon, 142;
• crosses the Alps, 143;
• takes St. Bard, 146;
• enters Milan, 149;
• at Marengo, 151;
• establishes Cisalpine Republic, 154;
• arrives in Paris, 155;
• attempted assassination, 157;
• conduct towards the Pope, 162;
• prepares to invade England, 165;
• peace with England, 166;
• his court, 169;
• allows emigrants to return, 169;
• re-establishes Catholic religion, 170;
• concordat with Pope, 171;
• institutes Legion of Honour, 175;
• First Consul for life, 176;
• Grand Mediator of Helvetic Republic, 178;
• sends expedition to St. Domingo, 178;
• banishes negroes, 180;
• negotiates with Louis XVIII., 183;
• arrests English subjects, 187;
• seizes Hanover and Naples, 189;
• prepares to invade England, 190;
• conspiracy against him, 194;
• condemns the Duke d'Enghien, 198;
• declared Emperor, 206;
• at Boulogne and Aix-la-Chapelle, 207;
• crowned in Notre Dame, and at Milan, 208;
• heads army in Germany, 212;
• enters Vienna, 215;
• at Austerlitz, 221;
• offers Hanover to Prussia, 224;
• confers crowns on his relatives, 226;
• at Jena, 234;
• exactions in Prussia, 238;
• robs monument of Frederick the Great, 239;
• issues decrees of Berlin, 240;
• takes Warsaw, 244;
• at battle of Preuss-Eylau, 247;
• meets Russian Emperor at Tilsit, 254;
• his administration in France, 259-264;
• relations with Spain, 265, et seq.;
• at Erfurt, 288;
• at Vittoria, 289;
• at Samosierra, 290;
• takes Madrid and abolishes Inquisition, 292;
• leaves Spain, 295;
• in Germany, 296;
• at battle of Eckmuhl, 297;
• wounded at Ratisbonne, 298;
• takes Vienna, 298;
• at Asperne and Essling, 301;
• at Wagram, 302;
• attempted assassination, 305;
• decree against the Pope, 306;
• concludes peace with Austria, 307;
• divorces Josephine, 311;
• marries Maria Louisa, 312;
• deposes his brother Louis, 314;
• annexes Holland, 315;
• birth of his son, 320;
• prepares for war with Russia, 324;
• at Dresden, 336;
• at Dantzick, 337;
• address to his army, 337;
• passes the Niemen, 340;
• at Wilna, 341;
• marches for Moscow, 344;
• at battle of Borodino, 346;
• enters Moscow, 348;
• at the Kremlin, 349;
• retreats from Moscow, 355;
• at Verreia, 357;
• at Smolensko, 358;
• sufferings of his army, 358;
• passes the Beresina, 365;
• quits his army, 367;
• arrives in Paris, 368;
• his military preparations, 372;
• heads his army in Saxony, 376;
• at battle of Lutzen, 377;
• enters Dresden, 377;
• at Bautzen, 379;
• agrees to an armistice, 380;
• interview with Metternich, 381;
• at battle of Dresden, 387;
• at battle of Leipsig, 390;
• at battle of Hanau, 394;
• returns to Paris, 394;
• his obstinacy, 398;
• dissolves Legislative Senate, 401;
• releases the Pope and Ferdinand VII., 401;
• announces the invasion of France, 404;
• leaves Paris, 406;
• life saved at battle of Brienne, 407;
• at battle of La Rothiere, 407;
• his expedition to the Marne, 409;
• at Nangis, 410;
• dismisses Victor, 411;
• at battle of Montereau, 411;
• refuses to sign peace preliminaries, 412;
• at Troyes, 413;
• repulsed at Soissons, 414;
• at battles of Craonne and Laon, 414;
• captures Rheims, 415;
• his remarkable energy, 416;
• distrusted at Paris, 419;
• at St. Dizier, 419;
• Macdonald's advice to him, 424;
• at Fontainebleau, 425;
• throne declared empty, 431;
• he abdicates, 432;
• abdication accepted, 434;
• paroxysm of illness, 435;
• bids his officers and guards farewell, 436;
• sails from Frejus for Elba, 439;
• conduct and occupations at Elba, 440, et seq.;
• intrigues of his friends, 445;
• escapes from Elba and lands at Cannes, 447;
• reaches Gap, 448;
• proclamation to the army and nation, 448, 449;
• at Grenoble and Lyons, 450;
• resumes functions of civil government, 452;
• enters Paris, 454;
• prepares for war, 457;
• schemes to regain his wife and son, 459;
• publishes "Additional Act." 463;
• at the Champ de Mai, 464;
• heads his army on Belgian frontier, 466;
• passes the Sambre at Charleroi, 468;
• defeats Blucher at Ligny, 470;
• at the battle of Waterloo, 473-476;
• is defeated and flees to Charleroi, 476;
• reaches Paris, 477;
• his second abdication, 479;
• is sent to Malmaison, 481;
• at Rochefort, 482;
• negotiates with Captain Maitland, 483;
• letter to the Prince Regent of England, 484;
• embarks in the Bellerophon, 485;
• interview with Lord Keith at Torbay, 485;
• ordered to St. Helena, 485;
• his protest, 486;
• sails on Northumberland for St. Helena, 490;
• arrival there, 491;
• resides at The Briars, 491;
• removes to Longwood, 491;
• complaints against English Government, 492;
• and against Sir Hudson Lowe, 495;
• manner of life at Longwood, 499;
• health failing, 500;
• refuses to take exercise, 501;
• draws up his will, 502;
• his death, 502;
• his burial, 503
• Buonaparte, Pauline, marries Prince Borghese, 226;
• her intrigues at Elba, 445
• Buonapartes, the, banished from Corsica, 8
• Burrard, General Sir H., 283
• Busaco, battle of, 319
• Byron, Lord, quoted, 143, 497, 498, 504

• Cairo, surrender of, 93;
• English occupy, 165
• Calder, Sir Robert, 216
• Cambaceres, 126
• Campbell, Sir Neil, 439, 445
• Campo-Formio, treaty of, 75
• Canning, Mr., quoted, 218
• Carnot, 20;
• made minister of war, 126;
• Napoleon's opinion of, 133;
• in opposition to Napoleon, 104, 206;
• governor of Antwerp, 404;
• minister of war, 457;
• assists at the Champ de Mai, 463
• Cartaux, 10
• Castaños, General, 279
• Castiglione, battle of, 45
• Castlereagh, Lord, 408
• Caulaincourt, 207, 368, 408, 426, 431
• Ceracchi plans assassination of Napoleon, 157
• Champ de Mai, 464
• Charles, Archduke of Austria, 65
• Charles IV. of Spain abdicates, 271
• Chateaubriand, his tract, 427
• Cherasco, armistice of, 28
• Chouans, submission of, 127
• Cintra, convention of, 283
• Cisalpine Republic, 175
• Ciudad Rodrigo, blockade of, 327;
• capture of, 329
• Clery, Mademoiselle, 16
• Clichy, Royalist Club of, 72
• Coalition against France, 210;
• against English commerce, 259
• Cobentzel at Campo-Formio, 75, 76
• Code Napoleon projected, 173;
• Napoleon's dictum of the, 261
• Col di Tende, 15
• Collingwood, Admiral, at Trafalgar, 219
• Concordat, the, 170;
• rejected by bishops, 171
• Confederation of the Rhine, 226
• Congress at Rastadt, 78;
• at Prague, 380
• Conscription in France, 262
• Constitution of the year VIII., 128, 129
• "Continental System," the, 240
• Convention of Cintra, 283
• Copenhagen, battle of, 163;
• British expedition to, 258
• Corsica, 1, 7, 8, 50
• Coruña, battle of, 294
• Cossacks attack French, 356
• Craonne, battle of, 414
• Culm, battle of, 387

• Dalrymple, Sir Hew, 283
• D'Angouleme, Duke, capitulates, 458
• D'Angouleme, Duchess, heroic conduct of, 458
• Danican, General, 19
• Dantzick taken by French, 249
• D'Argenteau, 26, 27
• D'Artois, Count, 156
• Davidowich, at Roveredo, 46
• Davoust made Marshal, 207;
• his conduct at Hamburg, 377
• D'Enghien, Duke, arrested, 196;
• murdered, 199;
• reflections thereon, 201
• Dennewitz, battle of, 388
• D'Entraigues, Count, 70
• De Pradt, Abbé, 368, 430
• Desgenettes, 105
• Dessaix, General, Napoleon's opinion of, 150;
• killed at Marengo, 153
• Detention of English travellers in France, 187
• Directory, the, ask Napoleon's aid, 72;
• their jealousy of him, 82;
• oppose grant of estate to him, 218
• Doppet, cowardice of, at Toulon, 12
• Dresden, battle of, 387
• Dubois, death of, 47
• Dufour, Colonel, 146
• Dugommier, General, 13
• Dumanoir, Commodore, 218
• Dupont marches into Andalusia, 279;
• surrenders at Baylen, 280
• Duroc, death of, at Bautzen, 379

• Eckmuhl, battle of, 297
• Education under Napoleon, 261
• Egypt, French expedition to, 86;
• Napoleon's administration in, 96;
• English expedition to, 164;
• conquered from France, 165
• El Arish taken by French, 100
• Elba, Napoleon at, 439, et seq.
• Elgin, Lord, sagacity of, 205
• Emigrants allowed to return to France, 169
• England, Napoleon's letter to King of, 136;
• treaty of peace with, 166;
• rupture of treaty, 187
• Erfurt, conferences at, 288, 289
• Essling, battle of, 301
• Etruria, Napoleon's treatment of Queen of, 326

• Fatalism, Napoleon's tendency to, 23
• Fayette, La, his recall, 126
• Ferdinand VII., abdication of, 271;
• prisoner at Valençay, 326;
• released, and re-enters Spain, 401, 402
• Ferrara, Archbishop of, 46
• Fersen, Count, conduct of Napoleon towards, 78
• Fesch, Cardinal, remonstrates with Napoleon, 336
• Flotilla of Boulogne, 165, 191
• Fombio, battle of, 31
• Fontainebleau, treaty of, 266;
• Napoleon abdicates at, 435
• Fouché, Napoleon's character of, 133;
• Josephine demands his dismissal, 311;
• in disgrace, 322;
• made governor of Rome, 322;
• his memorial against the war with Russia, 335;
• joins Napoleon on his return from Elba, 455;
• corresponds with Louis XVIII. at Ghent, 468;
• advises Napoleon to escape to America, 481
• Fox, Mr., and Napoleon, 168, 229
• Frankfort, declaration of Allies at, 398
• Francis, Emperor of Germany, his interview with Napoleon, 224
• Friedland, battle of, 251
• Fructidor, revolution of 18th, 73
• Fuentes d'Onor, battle of, 327

• Gazah, capture of, 100
• Genoa, revolution of, 72;
• siege of, 147
• Georges Cadoudal, conspiracy of, 194;
• trial and condemnation of, 203
• Godoy, Manuel, his intrigues, 266;
• arrested, 269
• Gourgaud, General, 494
• Grenville, Lord, 137
• Grossbeeren, battle of, 388
• Guiche, Duchess of, 156

• Hall, Captain Basil, 497
• Hamburg, Davoust's cruelties at, 377
• Hanau, battle of, 394
• Hanover seized by French, 189
• Haugwitz, Count, 222, 224
• Helvetic Republic, 177
• Hesse Cassel, Landgrave of, 244
• Hofer and his followers, massacre of, 299, 300
• Hohenlinden, battle of, 160
• Holland, annexed to France, 315;
• revolution of, 396
• Hospitallers of St. Bernard, Napoleon's visit to, 144
• Hullin, General, 197, 198
• Hundred Days, the, 436, et seq.
• Hutchinson, General, succeeds Sir Ralph Abercrombie, 164

• Inquisition abolished by Napoleon, 292
• Invasion of England, scheme for, 190

• Jaffa, capture of, 100;
• garrison massacred, 100;
• Turkish prisoners massacred at, 104
• Jena, battle of, 235
• Joubert, 57
• Jourdan, Marshal, enters Germany, 42;
• in Spain, 382
• Junot, coolness of, at siege of Toulon, 14;
• marches on Portugal, 267

• Kellerman made Marshal, 207
• Kleber, General, rescued by Napoleon, 102;
• left in command of army in Egypt, 109;
• his assassination, 164
• Kosciusko, 243
• Kutusoff, General, commands Russian army, 345, et seq.

• Labedoyere, Colonel, 449, 480
• Landshut, battle of, 297
• Lannes at Placenza, 30;
• wounded at Acre, 103;
• made Marshal, 207;
• killed at Asperne, 302
• Laon, battle of, 415
• La Rothiere, battle of, 407
• Law of Hostages repealed, 125
• Le Clerc, 122, 123, 179
• Lefebre Desnouettes, 278, 280, 281
• Leghorn seized by Napoleon, 40
• Legion of Honour instituted, 175
• Leipsig, battle of, 390-392
• Leoben, treaty of, 67
• Licence System, 325
• Lodi, passage of bridge of, 32
• Lonato, battle of, 44
• Loretto, French enter, 61:
• image of Virgin at, 61;
• Holy House at, 62
• Louvre, Gallery of the, 34
• Louis XVIII., his letter to Napoleon, 155;
• Napoleon's proposition to, 182;
• his restoration, 441;
• quits Paris and retires to Ghent, 454
• Lowe, Sir Hudson, 494-497
• Luneville, treaty of, 160
• Lutzen, battle of, 377

• Macdonald, General, 112, 384, 454
• Mack, General, surrender of, at Ulm, 213, 214
• Madrid occupied by Murat, 269;
• massacre of, 272;
• surrender of, 292
• Mahomet, Napoleon's admiration of, 91
• Maitland, Captain, 483, 490
• Mallet, conspiracy of, 371
• Malo-Yaraslovetz, battle of, 355, 356
• Malta, Napoleon suggests seizure of, 85;
• surrenders to French, 88;
• surrenders to English, 155
• Mamelukes, description of, 90
• Mantua, siege of, 38;
• surrender of, 60
• Marengo, battle of, 151
• Maria Louisa, Archduchess of Austria, marries Napoleon, 312;
• quits Paris and retires to Blois, 422
• Marmont crosses the Rhine, 212
• Massena, General, in Italy, 139;
• his retreat from Portugal, 327
• Mehrfeldt, General, 391
• Menou, General, 19, 165
• Metternich, Prince, his interview with Napoleon, 381
• Milan occupied by French, 33;
• decrees against English commerce, 259
• Millesimo, battle of, 27
• Mincio, passage of the, 36
• Miollis, General, occupies Rome, 306
• Modena, Duke of, offers bribe to Napoleon, 70
• Moncey made Marshal, 207
• Mondovi, battle of, 28
• Montebello, battle of, 149
• Monte Notte, battle of, 27
• Montmartre, battle of, 423
• Moore, Sir John, commands army in Portugal, 286;
• advances into Spain, 293;
• retreat and death at Coruña, 294
• Moreau, his retreat through the Black Forest, 42;
• Napoleon's suspicions of, 193;
• his arrest, 195;
• exiled, 203;
• returns and joins allies, 385;
• his death, 386
• Morla, Governor of Madrid, 292
• Mortier seizes Hanover, 189;
• made Marshal, 207
• Moscow, French enter, 348;
• burning of, 349;
• French retreat from, 355
• Muiron, at Toulon, 12;
• saves Napoleon's life, 54
• Murat, his conduct on Day of the Sections, 20;
• marries Caroline Buonaparte, 134;
• made Marshal, 207;
• occupies Madrid, 269;
• created King of Naples, 274;
• his rash expedition, 460;
• takes refuge in France, is seized and executed, 460

• Napier, Colonel, quoted, 272, 274, 276
• Naples, Queen of, her journey to Russia, 161;
• seized by French, 189
• "Napoleon's Grotto," 2
• National Convention, the, 17
• Naumburg, capture of, 233
• Negroes banished from France, 180
• Nelson, Lord, at Alexandria, 74;
• at Aboukir, 95;
• at Copenhagen, 163;
• at Trafalgar, 217
• Ney, Marshal, at Clagenfurt, 214;
• at battle of Borodino, 347;
• retreats from Smolensko, 360;
• "the bravest of the brave," 364;
• his treason, 453;
• at Waterloo, 476;
• at Paris, 480
• Niemen, passage of the, 341
• Nile, French army march up, 91
• Northern confederacy against England, 162

• Ocaña, battle of, 303
• O'Meara, Dr., 500
• Ossian, Napoleon's favourite poet, 5

• Palafox, General, 280
• Palm, the bookseller, murder of, 231
• Paoli, General, 7
• Passage of the Po, 31;
• of the Mincio, 36
• Pavia, insurrection of, 36
• Paul, Emperor of Russia, admires Napoleon, 161;
• assassinated, 163
• Peltier, trial of, 182
• Perignon made Marshal, 207
• "Philadelphes," Society of, 371
• Pichegru, Napoleon's monitor, 4;
• listens to the Bourbons' proposals, 70;
• arrested and exiled, 73;
• returns, 195;
• arrested in Paris, 195;
• found dead in prison, 202
• Piedmont conquered, 28
• Pitt, Mr., death of, 229
• Po, passage of the, 31
• Poles, Napoleon's conduct towards, 338
• Polytechnic School, 173
• Pope, the, buys respite of Napoleon, 40;
• negotiates with Napoleon, and concludes treaty at Tollentino, 62;
• restored by England, 161;
• arrested by Miollis, 306;
• sent to Fontainebleau, 307;
• released, 401
• Popham, Admiral Sir Home, court-martialled, 253
• Prague, congress at, 380;
• congress dissolved, 382
• Presburg, treaty of, 224
• Preuss-Eylau, battle of, 247
• Primolano, battle of, 48
• "Prince of the Peace," 266
• Prussia, makes peace with Napoleon, 224;
• accepts Hanover from him, 225;
• declares war against France, 232, 373;
• Queen of, Napoleon's treatment of, 255
• Pultusk, battle of, 245
• Pyramids, battle of the, 93

• Quasdonowich, 43, 44, 48
• Quatre-bras, battle of, 468

• Raab, battle of, 299
• Rastadt, battle of, 78;
• murder of French commissioners at, 111
• Ratisbonne, taken by French, 297
• Red Sea explored by Napoleon, 99
• Reign of Terror, the, 9
• Revolution of the 18th Fructidor, 73
• Rhine, confederation of the, 226
• Riosecco, battle of, 278
• Rivoli, battle of, 57
• Robespierre, fall of, 17
• Rome seized by Miollis, 306;
• King of, 320
• Rostophchin burns Moscow, 349
• Roveredo, battle of, 47
• Rumbold, Sir George, 205
• Russia, French relations with, 323;
• Napoleon's invasion of, 340

• "Sacred Band," the, 19
• St. Bard, capture of, 146
• St. Bernard, passage of the Great, 143-145
• St. Domingo, French expedition to, 178
• St. George, battle of, 59
• St. Helena, Napoleon at, 491, et seq.
• Salamanca, battle of, 330
• Samosierra, passage of the, 290
• Saorgio, surrender of, 15
• "Savans" accompany army in Egypt, 86, 92, 94
• Savary quoted, 99;
• at trial of Duke d'Enghien, 198
• Schill, Colonel, 299
• Schoenbrunn, treaty of, 307
• Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, 41, 191, 494
• Sebastiani, his memorial, 183
• Sections, Day of the, 21
• Serrurier made Marshal, 207
• Sheridan, Mr., quoted, 185
• Sieyes, Abbé, 115-119, 127, 130, 463
• Smith, Sir Sydney, at Acre, 101;
• Napoleon's hatred of, 103
• Smolensko, battle of, 359
• Soult, Marshal, in Spain, 290
• Stabbs, his attempt to assassinate Napoleon, 305
• Staël, Madame de, 80, 169
• Suchet, Marshal, defeats Blake, 303;
• defeats O'Donnell, 318
• Suez, Napoleon explores isthmus of, 99
• "Sun of Austerlitz," 223
• "Suns of Napoleon," 87
• Sweden, revolution in, 316
• Swiss Cantons, Napoleon's letter to, 178

• Tacitus, Napoleon's chosen author, 5
• Tactics, Napoleon's military, 25
• Tagliamento, battle of, 65
• Talaveyra, battle of, 303
• Talleyrand, his character, 133;
• created Prince of Benevento, 227;
• corresponds with the Bourbons, 421;
• his billet to Alexander of Russia, 421
• Talma, early associate of Napoleon, 16
• Taxation under Napoleon, 263
• Tilsit, treaty of, 255
• Tollentino, treaty of, 62
• Torres Vedras, Wellington at, 319
• Toulon, siege of, 9-14
• Toussaint l'Ouverture, 179
• Trafalgar, battle of, 217-219
• Tugend-bund, the, 288
• Tyrol, peasants revolt in, 299

• Ulm, surrender of, by Mack, 213, 214
• Usher, Captain, 439

• Vandamme, surrender of, 387
• Vendemaire, the 13th, 20
• Venice threatened by Napoleon, 38;
• neutrality of, 64;
• conquered by Napoleon, 69;
• handed over to Austria, 75
• Victor, Marshal, 149, 303
• Vienna taken by French, 313, 298;
• congress at, 456
• Villeneuve, Admiral, 217
• Vimiero, battle of, 283
• Vincovo, battle of, 354
• Vittoria, battle of, 382
• Volney, 171

• Wagram, battle of, 303
• Wahlstadt, battle of, 388
• Walcheren, expedition to, 304
• Warsaw taken by French, 244;
• Grand Duchy of, 255
• Waterloo, battle of, 472-477
• Wellesley, Sir Arthur, commands British army in the Peninsula, 281;
• lands in Mondego Bay, 282;
• defeats French at Roriça, 283;
• defeats Junot at Vimiero, 283;
• lands at Lisbon, 303;
• defeats Soult, 303;
• at Talaveyra, 303;
• created Lord Wellington, 304;
• retreats to lines of Torres Vedras, 319;
• at Fuentes d'Onor, 327;
• captures Ciudad Rodrigo, 329;
• takes Badajos, 329;
• at Salamanca, 330;
• at Vittoria, 382;
• interview with Blucher, 470;
• at battle of Waterloo, 472-477
• Westphalia, new kingdom of, 255
• Whitelocke, General, repulsed at Buenos Ayres, 253, 254
• Whitworth, Lord, confers with Napoleon, 185
• Wilna, Napoleon at, 341
• Wilson, Sir Robert, 105, 184
• Wirtemberg, Elector of, made king, 225
• Witzingerode taken prisoner, 357;
• interview with Napoleon, 357
• Wordsworth, Mr., quoted, 177, 179, 180, 191
• Wright, Captain, 195, 203 (note)
• Wurmser, General, 42, et seq.

• Yarmouth, Lord, 230

• Zaragossa, siege of, 281
• Znaim, armistice of, 302