Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume 2 (of 2): Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess CharlotteHamilton, Anne, Lady
History
Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume 2 (of 2): Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte
Hamilton, Anne, Lady
Caroline, Queen, consort of George IV, King of Great Britain, 1768-1821; George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820 -- Relations with courts and courtiers; George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830 -- Relations with courts and courtiers; Great Britain -- Court and courtiers -- History -- 18th ce
"The treaty of the 2nd August and the British bill in parliament call
the emperor, 'Napoleon Bonaparte,' and do not give him the title of
general. The title of General Bonaparte is doubtless eminently glorious;
the emperor bore it at Lodi, at Castiglione, at Rivoli, at Arcola, at
Leoben, at the Pyramids, at Aboukir; but for seventeen years he has
borne that of first consul and of emperor. It would be to allow that he
has not been either first magistrate of the republic, or sovereign of
the fourth dynasty. Those who think that nations are mere flocks, which
belong, _by divine right_, to certain families, are not in the spirit of
the age, nor even in that of the English legislature, which several
times changed the order of its dynasty, because great changes that had
taken place in opinions, in which the reigning princes did not
participate, had rendered them inimical to the welfare and to a great
majority of that nation. FOR KINGS ARE ONLY HEREDITARY MAGISTRATES, WHO
EXIST BUT FOR THE WELFARE OF NATIONS, AND NOT NATIONS FOR THE
SATISFACTION OF KINGS. It was the same spirit of hatred which ordained
that 'the Emperor Napoleon should not write or receive any letter,
unless it was opened and read by the English ministers and the officers
of St. Helena.' He has thus been denied the possibility of receiving
news from his mother, his wife, his son, his brothers; and when,
desirous of avoiding the inconvenience of seeing his letters read by
subaltern officers, he wished to send letters sealed to the Prince
Regent, the answer was, that they could only undertake to let open
letters pass; that 'such were the instructions of the ministry.' This
measure needs not be reflected on; it will give strange ideas of the
spirit of the administration which dictated it; _it would even be
disclaimed at Algiers_! Letters have arrived for general officers of the
emperor's suite; they were unsealed, and were remitted to you; you did
not communicate them, because they had not passed through the channel of
the English ministry. It was necessary to make them travel over again
4000 leagues, and those officers had the pain of knowing that there
existed on this rock, news from a wife, a mother, children, which they
were not to know for six months. The heart rises at this!! We were not
allowed to subscribe for the Morning Chronicle, the Morning Post, and
some French journals. Some odd numbers of the Times were now and then
sent to Longwood. Upon the demand made on board the Northumberland, some
books were sent, but all those relative to transactions of late years
were carefully withheld. It was afterwards wished to correspond with a
London bookseller, in order to have direct means of obtaining some books
that were wanted, and those which related to the events of the day: this
was prevented. An English author having performed a voyage in France,
and having printed it in London, took the trouble to send it you, that
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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