Page:Life of Napoleon Bonaparte.pdf/24

24 Napoleon meanwhile, after his abdication, spent six melancholy days at Malmaison, and, on the 29th of June, set out for Rochefort, which he reached on 3d July, with several carriages laden with valuables. He intended to have embarked for America, but the port was so closely blockaded by an English squadron, that it was impossible for him to escape. After some hesitation, he resolved to throw himself on British generosity, and sent a letter to Captain Maitland of the Bellerophon, addressed to the Prince Regent, concluding with these words, "I put myself under the protection of the British laws, and claim it from your Royal Highness as the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my enemies."

Next day he went on board the Bellerophon, which immediately sailed for England. It had already been determined that he should be removed to St. Helena, and, in spite of his vehement remonstrances, he was transferred to the Northumberland, which sailed for that island, and arrived there on the 16th November.

His captivity was not destined to be of long duration. The recollection of his lost greatness, aggravated a hereditary tendency to cancer in the stomach, of which he died on 5th May, 1821. His body, after lying in state, was interred 8th May, in the military dress he usually wore when alive, in a spot pointed out by himself, shaded by weeping willows, where a simple stone was placed over his remains.