Lord Chancellor being among them, a questionable point whether in
the last campaign we had been at war with France; whether, on the
contrary, we had not assumed the character of an ally of France against
him. And, on the supposition that we had been at war with France, a
second question was raised by Lord Ellenborough, the Chief-justice,
"what rights result on principle from a state of war, as against all the
individuals of the belligerent nations--rights, whatever they may be,
seldom, if ever, enforced against individuals, because individuals
hardly ever make war but as part of an aggregate nation." The
question--as, after consultation with Lord Ellenborough and his own
brother, Sir William Scott, it finally appeared to Lord Eldon, on whom
the Prime-minister naturally depended, as his chief legal counsellor,
though in its political aspect he judged for himself--was, firstly,
"whether it could possibly be inconsistent with justice or the law of
nations that, till some peace were made by treaty with some person
considered as Napoleon's sovereign, or till some peace were made with
himself, we should keep him imprisoned in some part of our King's
dominions." And, secondly, "whether there were any person who could
possibly be considered his sovereign, after the treaty of 1814 had
clothed him with the character of Emperor of Elba, with imperial dignity
and imperial revenue." Lord Liverpool himself, however, raised another
question: whether, by his invasion of France, he had not forfeited his
right to be regarded as an independent sovereign; resting this doubt on
a suggestion which, among others, he proposed to the Lord Chancellor,
that "at Elba he enjoyed only a limited and conditional sovereignty,
which ceased when the condition on which he held it was violated."

This last suggestion, it must be confessed, appears untenable, as
totally inconsistent with the language of the Treaty of Fontainebleau,
under the provisions of which Napoleon became sovereign of Elba, and
which does not contain a single article which bears out the opinion that
his sovereignty was limited or conditional. On the contrary, the words
of the treaty expressly agree that "Elba should form during his life a
separate principality, which should be possessed by him in full
sovereignty and property."

There is no need to discuss the views of Blucher. On the news of
Napoleon's landing at Frejus reaching the plenipotentiaries assembled at
the Congress of Vien