y reconcile himself to the situation in which he was
likely to remain, and turn his powerful faculties upon some study or
pursuit worthy of their energy, and capable of cheating captivity of
half its bitterness. These anticipations were not realised.

The accusations brought by the prisoner and his instruments against the
government of England, in regard to the accommodations at Longwood, the
arrangements concerning the household establishment, and the regulations
adopted with a view to the security of his person, have been so often
answered in detail, that we may spare ourselves the pain of dwelling on
transactions little worthy of filling a large space in the story of
Napoleon. It being granted that it was necessary to provide against the
evasion of Buonaparte; that the protracted separation from him of his
wife and son (not, at any rate, the act of England, but of Austria) was
in itself justified by obvious political considerations; and that
England would have given good reason of offence to the King of France,
had she complied with Napoleon's repeated demands, to be styled and
treated as Emperor--if these things be granted, we do not see how even
the shadow of blame can attach to the much-abused ministers, on whom
fortune threw one of the most delicate and thankless of all offices. His
house was, save one (that of the governor), the best on the island: from
the beginning it was signified that any alterations or additions,
suggested by Napoleon, would be immediately attended to; and the
framework of many apartments was actually prepared in England, to be
sent out and distributed according to his pleasure. As it was, Napoleon
had for his own immediate personal accommodation, a suite of rooms,
consisting of a saloon, an eating-room, a library, a billiard-room, a
small study, a bedroom, and a bathroom; and various English gentlemen,
accustomed to all the appliances of modern luxury, who visited the exile
of Longwood, concur in stating that the accommodations around him
appeared to them every way complete and unobjectionable. He had a good
collection of books, and the means of adding to these as much as he
chose. His suite consisted in all of five gentlemen and two ladies: the
superior French and Italian domestics about his own person were never
fewer than eleven; and the sum allowed for his domestic expenditure was
L12,000 per annum--the governor of St. Helena, moreover, having
authority to draw on the treasury for any l