Count Las Cases makes Captain Maitland proceed to assure him and Savary, that, "in his own private opinion, Napoleon would find in England all the respect and good treatment to which he could make any pretension; that there, the princes and ministers did not exercise the absolute authority used on the continent, and that the English people had a liberality of opinion, and generosity of sentiment, superior to that entertained by sovereigns." Count Las Cases states himself to have replied to the panegyric on England, by an oration in praise of Buonaparte, in which he described him as retiring from a contest which he had yet the means of supporting, in order that his name and rights might not serve as a pretext to prolong civil war. The Count, according to his own narrative, concluded by saying, that, "under all the circumstances, he thought the Emperor might come on board the Bellerophon, and go to England with Captain Maitland, for the purpose of receiving passports for America." Captain Maitland desired it should be understood, that he by no means warranted that such would be granted. "At the bottom of my heart," says Las Cases, "I never supposed the passports would be granted to us; but as the Emperor had resolved to remain in future a personal stranger to political events, we saw, without alarm, the probability that we might be prevented from leaving England; but to that point all our fears and suppositions were limited. Such, too, was doubtless the belief of Maitland. I do him, as well as the other officers, the justice to believe, that he was sincere, and of good faith, in the painting they drew us of the sentiments of the English nation."[180] The envoys returned to Napoleon, who held, according to Las Cases, a sort of council, in which they considered all the chances. The plan of the Danish vessel, and that of the chasse-marée, were given up as too perilous; the British cruiser was pronounced too strong to be attacked; there remained only the alternative of Napoleon's joining the troops, and renewing the war, or accepting Captain Maitland's offer by going on board the Bellerophon. The former was rejected; the latter plan adopted, and "then," says M. Las Cases, "_Napoleon wrote to the Prince Regent_."[181] The letter follows, but it is remarkable that the date is omitted. This is probably the reason why Count Las Cases did not discover that his memory was betraying him, since that date must have reminded him that the letter was written _before_, not _after_, the conference of the 14th July.