word of honour to Lowe that he was
not the bearer of any paper, pamphlet, or letter from Longwood.
Furthermore, we hear nothing of these secret letters afterwards; and
he allowed nearly four months to elapse in England before he wrote to
Marie Louise. The theory referred to above seems quite untenable in
face of these facts.[581]

How, then, are we to explain Gourgaud's conduct at St. Helena and
afterwards? Now, in threading the mendacious labyrinths of St. Helena
literature it is hard ever to find a wholly satisfactory clue; but
Basil Jackson's "Waterloo and St. Helena" (p. 103) seems to supply it
in the following passage:

"To finish about Gourgaud, I may add that on his reaching England,
after one or two interviews with the Under-Secretary of State, he
fell into the hands of certain Radicals of note, who represented
to him the folly of his conduct in turning against Napoleon; that,
as his adherent, he was really somebody, whereas he was only
ruining himself by appearing inimical. In short, they so worked
upon the poor weak man, that he was induced to try and make it
appear that he was still _l'homme de l'Empereur:_ this he did by
inditing a letter to Marie Louise, in which he inveighed against
the treatment of Napoleon at the hands of the Government and Sir
H. Lowe, which being duly published, Gourgaud fell to zero in the
opinion of all right-minded persons."

This seems consonant with what we know of Gourgaud's character: frank,
volatile, and sensitive, he could never have long sustained a policy
of literary and diplomatic deceit. He was not a compound of Chatterton
and Fouche. His "Journal" is the artless outpouring of wounded vanity
and brings us close to the heart of the hero-worshipper and his hero.
At times the idol falls and is shivered but love places it on the
shrine again and again, until the fourth anniversary of Brienne finds
the spell broken. Even before he leaves St. Helena the old fascination
is upon him once more; and then Napoleon seeks to utilize his devotion
for the purpose of a political mission. Gourgaud declines the _role_
of agent, pledges his word to the Governor, and keeps it; but, thanks
to British officialism or the seductions of the Opposition,
hero-worship once more gains the day and enrolls him beside Las Cases
and Montholon. This we believe to be the real Gourgaud, a genuine,
lovable, but flighty being, as every page of his "Journal" s