This is part of a series where we are translating the memoirs of Napoleon’s supposed last mistress, Mme. de Montholon. When we last left off, Napoleon’s suite was deciding what option to take regarding their exile.
[Savary, Duke of Rovigo and Las Cases boarded] the Bellerophon to know from Captain Maitland if he would receive the Emperor on board freely. Captain Maitland's response was that: “Nothing in his instructions provided for the approach to be taken with him; but that he would take it upon himself to receive on board the Emperor and his suite and to transport them to a harbor of England.”
Here arose a very serious question. The Duke of Rovigo and M. de Las Cases said to the Emperor that Captain Maitland had added: · "And that he replied on his honor that, if British hospitality was refused to the Emperor, His Majesty would be free to go wherever he wanted.”
On the contrary, Captain Maitland (1) declared in a publication on this subject that he had not added a word to the answer I just reported.
He does not appear to have made any commitment in this regard; but it is true that he loudly expressed "his conviction that the English government would not violate the sacred rights of hospitality and that violating them would be a crime that English honor would reject with indignation".
The Emperor summoned in council the general officers of his suite, as well as M. de Las Cases. He posed the questions: "If it were appropriate in the state of things to confide in the English government; or to attempt by force, with the Saale and the Medusa, to pass through the English framework, or to embark in secret on board the Danish tide-boat, he would go alone with one of his officers, to run the so perilous chances of sailing two thousand leagues in such a boat.”
Following the council, in which each gave his opinion, the Emperor decided to confide in British generosity. General Lallemand and General Montholon spoke out against this course of action: the Emperor, astonished at this dissent, ordered them to de-
(1) Maitland is the family name of the Lauderdal family, a noble and illustrious house in Scotland. (N. from A.) - Sir Frederic Lewis Maitland, born in Rankeillour, in 1779, died near Bombay in 1839, commanded the Bellérophon in 1815, when Napoleon arrived at Rochefort and asked him to lead him to America, which Maitland says he refused. We have about this about him: A relation concerning the embarkation and the stay of the emperor Napoleon aboard the ship the Bellérophon, translated into French by Parisot (Paris, 1826).
Savary, the Duke of Rovigo.
Cela fait partie d'une série où nous traduisons les mémoires de la supposée dernière maîtresse de Napoléon, Mme. de Montholon. La dernière fois que nous nous sommes arrêtés, la suite de Napoléon décidait quelle option prendre concernant leur exil.
