"NAPOLEON SET FREE"

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2387, 17 February 1915, Page 6

"NAPOLEON SET FREE"

MIDNIGHT CEREMONIAL AT ST. HELENA

A WEIRD SCENE

The French Chamber of Deputies recently appropriated 20,000 f. for tho purpose of beginning the restoration of tho ruins of Lougwood House, on tho island of St. Helena, where tho great Napoleon was exiled and died. This has refreshed the memories of a number of Frenchmen, and brought to light many unpublished documents and personal reminiscences. M. Albert Calmot has written a book entitled 'Nanoleon Set Free.' This has not yet been formally published, but tho first two chaptors havo appeared as articles in 'La Bevue.' They furnish a veryvivid impression of tho exhumation of Napoleon's remains and their embarkation for Franco in 18-10 for final burial in Paris.

"On Octobcr 15 of that year—to bo accurate, a little after midnight on tho evening of the 14th—tho twenty-fifth anniversary of the arrival of Napoleon at St. Helena on tho British ship Northumberland, tho work of exhumation was begun. Former Grand Marshal Bertrand and General Gourgaud, with their men, Forfet and Coursot,' spent tho evening with tho hospitable Dickson family, who occupied the nearest residence to 'The Tomb.' General BerLrand had lived in this house, a quarter of a century before. We begin to quote at the point where the writer describes the lantern-lit journey to tho tomb,' says the 'American Renew.'

" 'The night was cold and damp, a real St. Helena night. The eternal storm that beats its rooky coast rolled groaning and sobbing into the stony ravine. . . . There must often be veritable Walpurgis nights on St. Helena. This night, while damp and misty, was made somewhat less lugubrious by the faint moonlight. /. . At tlie beginning of the steep, rocky path leading to the valley they were halted by the sharp order of the sentinel. Gourgaud, having made himself known, was permitted to pass on into the domain of the dead. The most profound silence ' reigned. Nothing but the heavy mist and the tajig o.f tbo cypress trees that clutched the throat.'

The Imperial Remains. "At midnight sharp all those who were permitted to witness the exhumation of the imperial remains were admitted to the enclosure. Besides the French commander, there were General Gourgaud, Baron Emaivul de Las-Casas, former Valet de Chambre, Marchand, the Abbe Coquereau, with two cliur boys, the commanders of the ships Belle Poule, Favorite and Oreste, the physician Guillard, commissioned to make the medica] report, and the old servants from Longwood. Besides these there were the Chief Justice of the island, the old storekeeper who had furnished the funeral paraphernalia nineteen years before, and a locksmith. The work of exhumation began- at a quarter after midnight, and from thence on the little group of Frenchmen 'stood tense, a prey to the deepest embtion.' " 'In the dead silence of the night the first dry strokes of the pick-axes fell. In the centre of the' group a uniformed figure, the English commander, brilliant in gold lace, is seen now and again by the light of the torch'es held by a dozen of the soldiers of the 91st Infantry Regiment. The mist has become a fine rain, and everyone stands shivering. The Frenchmen reverently bond down to pick up relics, the flowers and plants growing thickly around tho grave.

" 'l'ho first flagstones are soon removed, and the wrought iron grille that has protected the sepulchre from defacement through nineteen long years is prised out. It falls on the sodden ground with a dull sound of chains. Mr. Darling, the storekeeper, points out the stone covering the head. " 'Finally the long, narrow stone that covers ' the casket is discovered. Suddenly some, forgetting the solemnity of the occasion,'break the silence by conversation, and are gravely reminded, in English, by Captain Alexander, that scarcely six inches separate them from Napoleon's coffin.

" 'Now day begins to break, and casts A sad white light upon the impressvie scene. Fifty men, after long and heavy labour, succeed in removing the last huge flagstone, and at half after nine o'clock the casket is revealed.' Suddenly memory flies back to that morning in May, nineteen years before, when tho same casket with its precious burden was lowered into the grave. Many who had shared the Emperor's captivity were there theu, as ■ they were now. Bertrand, Marchand, the servitors' and the inmates of Longwood. The gentle Madame Bertrand, who had knelt at at the edge of the grave, weeping bitterly, had long since gone to her eternal rest, but many of the English officers and tho storekeeper Darling were there, and in those far-off days, as now, a Driest stood blessing tho remains.

. After Nineteen Years. "Strange to relate, it is the same workman who had soldered the casket in 1821 who now, with hammer and chisel, works tho covers off. How those blows shake the nerves of the Frenchmen standing by! Tho fear of what might be discovered augments tho tension to breaking point. At last the last cover is removed. Those who aro to identify Napoleon come forward and gazo spell bound. Reverently Dr. Guilford begins to roll up the silken covering that still hides the body. It is really Napoleon himself who' appears to those who knew him, not an unrecognisable skeleton, nor a mere handful of dust.

" 'Gourgand sobs aloud at tho sight of tho beloved chief. "One must have loved the Emperor as I did to understand all the emotion that wrunr my heart when we saw tho well-remr ii<; .r----ed features of our hero!" . On ; at pale, chill morning, under tbo flap' ing tent, Napoleon, lying in tho meal' askefc in tho ebouy sarcophagus over from France, seems but asieep. Tho features, intact, show but little alteration at tho nose and check bones; tho head, close-cropped, looked ''verv large, and the- noble forehead prominent. .The mouth retains its . beautiful curve, and almost its snile, disclosing threo perfect white troth. He wears tho green uniform of, .he Chasseurs. Tho buttons are blackened, bub ,the red trimmings seem like new. Tho cordon of Legion d'Honncur and tho cross of tho Legion and tho Iron Crown shino upon tho breast. Tho .gold epaulettes are slightly tarnished, and tho tall riding boots broken at to too, showing part of tho foot g :aming whito. His white buckskins n tl wellknown hat aro there, also tl silvor urn containing tbo heart. T'\ right hand is almost hidden at his .. le, but tho loft, supple, almost lifelike ljss on his broast Just as Marshal ,>itniud had placed it alter having raisol it for the last time to his lips.

"0 Miracle of Doatlil" " '0 miracle of (loath I" exclaims tho writer. "lloro wns Napoleon,, neither destroyed b,v lying through niiiotmm luiiir yours in, t.h(> dampost spot of Urn island, noiUioi' chnngtMi nor ngod Uy time, which jiono who survived hint could oseapo. lloro wns tho Emperor still looking youthful, ,11ml hero worn liortrnnd, 11 venerable, white-haired Hum, ami oven liotircnml now turning " 'TIIO obouy casket is linn|lv closed and tho niortiil remains of tho I'huperor lioruo in state to whom the French ves-t-els wcro anchored. 'l'hero invnited I'riiico Joinvillo at tho houd of his stuff.

At half after three o'clock in the afternoon, Governor Middlemore consigned the body of Napoleon, in all due form, to the son of King Louiß Phillipe. As soon as the casket was placed on board- tho flagship Belle Poule, a magnificent Imperial flag, fashioned by tho deft fingers of the young ladies of Jamestown, was hoisted, and simultaneously all tho fleet unfurled its national colours.

" 'It.was not a funoral cortege;' 1 that which bore the Emperor • back to Franco, but'a glorious and joyful return of Napoleon, liberated, to his home.' "