ning of course his fears and his
circumspection, kept the wounds of jealousy and distrust continually
open and angry.

There were moments, however, in which Napoleon appeared, to persons
likely to influence public feeling in Europe by their reports, in
attitudes of a far different description. When strangers of eminence
(generally officers on their way to or from India), halting at St.
Helena, requested and obtained permission to pay their respects at
Longwood, Napoleon received them, for the most part, with the ease and
dignity of a man superior to adversity. It was by these worthier
exhibitions that the fallen Emperor earned the lofty eulogy of Byron:

"--Well thy soul hath brooked the turning tide,
With that untaught innate philosophy,
Which, be it wisdom, coldness, or deep pride,
Is gall and wormwood to an enemy.
When the whole host of hatred stood hard by,
To watch and mock thee shrinking, thou hast smiled
With a sedate and all-enduring eye;
When Fortune fled her spoiled and favourite child,
He stood unbowed beneath the ills upon him piled."

Among the visitors now alluded to was Captain Basil Hall: and he has,
perhaps, presented the world with the most graphic sketch of Napoleon as
he appeared on such occasions at Longwood. "Buonaparte" (says this
traveller) "struck me (Aug. 13, 1817) as differing considerably from all
the pictures and busts I had seen of him. His face and figure looked
much broader and more square--larger, indeed, in every way, than any
representation I had met with. His corpulency, at this time reported to
be excessive, was by no means remarkable. His flesh looked, on the
contrary, firm and muscular. There was not the least trace of colour in
his cheeks; in fact, his skin was more like marble than ordinary flesh.
Not the smallest wrinkle was discernible on his brow, nor an approach to
a furrow on any part of his countenance. His health and spirits, judging
from appearances, were excellent; though, at this period, it was
generally believed in England that he was fast sinking under a
complication of diseases, and that his spirits were entirely gone. His
manner of speaking was rather slow than otherwise, and perfectly
distinct: and he waited with great patience and kindness for my answers
to his questions. The brilliant and sometimes dazzling expression of his
eye could not be overlooked. It was not, however, a permanent lustre,
for it was only remarkable wh