see, they resume the same
excesses against those who refuse to wear the white cockade.". At about
a league from Aix the Emperor and his retinue found horses and an escort
of gendarmerie to conduct them to the chateau of Luc.
The Princess Pauline was at the country residence of M. Charles, member
of the Legislative Body, near the castle of Luc. On hearing of the
misfortunes of her brother she determined to accompany him to the isle of
Elba, and she proceeded to Frejus to embark with him. At Frejus the
Emperor rejoined Colonel Campbell, who had quitted the convoy on the
road, and had brought into the port the English frigate the 'Undaunted'
which was appointed to convey the Emperor to the place of his
destination. In spite of the wish he had expressed to Colonel Campbell
he manifested considerable reluctance to go on board. However, on the
28th of April he sailed for the island of Elba in the English frigate, in
which it could not then be said that Caesar and his fortune were
embarked.
[It was on the 3d of May 1814 that Bonaparte arrived within sight of
Porto-Ferrajo, the capital of his miniature empire; but he did not
land till the nest morning. At first he paid a short visit
incognito, being accompanied by a sergeant's party of marines from
the Undaunted. He then returned on board to breakfast, and at about
two o'clock made his public entrance, the 'Undaunted' firing a royal
salute.]
In every particular of his conduct he paid great attention to the
maintenance of his Imperial dignity. On landing he received the keys of
his city of Porto-Ferrajo, and the devoirs of the Governor, prefect, and
other dignitaries, and he proceeded immediately under a canopy of State
to the parish church, which served as a cathedral. There he heard Te
Deum, and it is stated that his countenance was dark and melancholy, and
that he even shed tears.
One of Bonaparte's first cares was to select a flag for the Elbese
Empire, and after some hesitation he fixed on "Argent, on a bend gules,
or three bees," as the armorial ensign of his new dominion. It is
strange that neither he nor any of those whom he consulted should have
been aware that Elba had an ancient and peculiar ensign, and it is still
more remarkable that this ensign should be one singularly adapted to
Bonaparte's situation; being no more than "a wheel,--the emblem," says
M. Bernaud, "of the vicissitudes of human life, which the Elbese had
borrowed from the
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