This blog began in parallel with that of Michel Dancoisne Martineau - and from time to time I have commented on postings he has made.
I think it is worth drawing attention to his latest post : some pictures of a reception at Longwood - his blog must have the best collection of images of St Helena online - and a speech in English outlining a formal agreement with S.H.G. (St Helena Government).
Last year we celebrated the 150 years of the purchase of the properties by Napoleon III from Queen Victoria. Today the properties are administered by the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Which means Longwood House is considered a property and not a “museum”. Our yearly budget is for the maintenance of the property. We therefore have to seek third party sponsors to be able to offer the service of a museum. We are fortunate to have with us this evening Viviane and Jean Huet who are just, such sponsors. Three years ago they sponsored the replica of the birdcage made by the Chinese for Napoleon. This replica was perfectly recreated by Jeffrey Stevens and his team. This is an example of how third party sponsorship to Longwood House benefits not only the French Properties but also the island economy. .. there is two other major project : the reconstruction of the general’s apartment into a proper multifunctional building and the International exhibition I would like to see happen for the 200 years anniversary of Napoleon on St-Helena island.
The memorandum of understanding we are going to sign is, in fact, a confirmation of a long standing partnership between the St. Helena Government and the French Properties who share the same ambitions of prosperity for the island through Tourism and Heritage.
Interesting to read about the bird cage which was the subject of some discussion on Roel's blog. I was pleased also to see a picture of a familiar Saint on the lawns of Longwood. Not so long ago she and her husband visited us in Manchester and I made their visit the subject of a posting, Two Saints in Manchester . For reasons I cannot fathom, it seems to be one of the most frequently visited pages on the blog.
Anyway congratulations to Michel for his determination to involve the Saints in the French Properties, which are of vital importance to the future of St Helena. One of these days I hope the British Government will formally recognise his achievements in the way in which it recognised those of his predecessor.
Mourning Ring carrying lock of Napoleon's hair, created in 1822 for Sir John Soane.
The lock of hair was presented to Sir John by none other than Betsy Balcombe:
Knowing how much Mr. Soane esteems the reliques of great men Miss E. Balcombe presents him with a lock of Bonaparte’s hair received by her from the hands of that great Personage.
The ring has a French inscription which reads (in translation): This lock of hair of Napoleon Buonaparte was presented to John Soane Esquire by Miss Elizabeth Balcombe. It also has the words Prier Pour Moi.
The ring which was left by Sir John to his family, has now, after 170 years absence, returned to the Sir John Soane Museum in London. Its former owner, an English Napoleonist, who bought it in an auction at Christie's earlier in 2009, agreed to sell it to the Museum. It has been on display in the North Drawing Room since November, and will remain there until the end of March 2010.
Sir John Soane, RA (1753 – 1837).
The son of a bricklayer, he became one of England's most distinguished neo-classical architects.
He was best known for designing the Bank of England. Among his other works were the design of the State Dining Room of 10 Downing Street and also the Dining Room of 11 Downing Street.
After his death his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields became Sir John Soane's Museum.
According to the Director of the Museum, Soane had a horrible fascination with Napoleon!
Among the Napoleonic items he collected, and which are now in the museum are a number of busts of Napoleon, Napoleon's pistols and two miniature portraits : one which was probably the first image of him to appear in England, and the second by Isabey depicting him on Elba just before his final fall from power.
In his guide book Soane referred to Napoleon unequivocally as that Great Man. He saw no contradiction between his admiration of Napoleon and his own patriotism. Soane empathised with Napoleon's relatively humble origins, and was fascinated by his genius, his personality, his sense of destiny, his achievements and his ultimate failure.
As an architect he particularly admired Napoleon's reconstruction of Paris which he contrasted with the unplanned sprawl that characterised London. When Napoleon died he recorded privately When shall we look upon his like again!
As anyone who has looked through this blog will by now appreciate, Sir John was not alone in nineteenth century Britain in his fascination with and admiration for Napoleon. What intrigues me is why so many Britons now seem so uncomfortable about this!
This engraving was perhaps the first image of Napoleon to appear in England (in 1797).
The Sir John Soane Museum contains a small oil painting done in the same year by Francesco Cossia. I have no means of knowing whether this engraving is based on Cossia's painting or that of another artist.
Soane thought that his painting was commissioned by Josephine and was the work of Francesco Goma. He was wrong on both counts.
Unfortunately it seems impossible to get an image of either of the miniatures in the Soane Museum. Both are relatively unknown works. Looks as if a visit is called for.
William Makepeace Thackeray ( 1811 – 1863)
satirist, novelist, author of Vanity Fair.
His mother sent him home to England to go to school in 1816. He could only have been five. That's how Empires were built.
On the way the ship stopped in St. Helena, and the very young Thackeray was taken to look at Napoleon:
my black servant took me a long walk over rocks and hills until we reached a garden, where we saw a man walking. "That is he," said the black man: "that is Bonaparte! He eats three sheep every day, ...
Thackeray lived in Paris for a number of years from the age of 21, and was an irreverent witness to the events at Les Invalides in December 1840.
His account of Napoleon's second funeral was written in the form of letters to "Miss Smith" from Michael Angelo Titmarsh!
For him "history is writen on fig leaves" - historians know little and write even less - and Napoleon's second funeral was sheer humbug!
men have, as it were, entered into a compact among themselves to pursue the fig leave-system a outrance, and to cry down all who oppose it. Humbug they will have. Humbugs themselves, they will respect humbugs.
Some magnificent religious ceremonies of this nature are at present taking place in France ..
He mocked the stories in the newspapers about the dangers to any English citizens in Paris:
It was said in the newspapers, that Lord Granville had despatched circulars to all the English residents in Paris, begging them to keep their homes. The French journals announced this news, and warned us charitably of the fate intended for us. Had Lord Grenville written? Certainly not to me. Or had he written to all except me? And was I the victim - the doomed one? - to be seized directly I showed my face in the Champs Elysees, and torn in pieces by French patriotism to the frantic chorus of the 'Marseillaise'?
Overall I found it an enjoyable read - amusing and well written, but a chauvinistic caricature of the French nation which probably went down well in England at the time and probably would still appeal to some for the same reason:
this great hot-headed, gallant, boasting, sublime, absurd French nation
the French hate us .. there never was such a hollow humbug in the world as the French alliance. Men get a character for patriotism in France merely by hating England.
the French propensity towards braggadocio ..
In support of his thesis Thackeray described the English woman who attended the ceremony in Les Invalides. He and everyone else knew she was English, she wore a plaid cloak with a rose-coloured plush bonnet; a bonnet was never made or worn so in any other country.
To the delight of the crowd the lady was moved from seat to seat, like a chicken escaping from a clown in a pantomime: a source of amusement and delight to onlookers, but probably not to the chicken or the clown.
Half an hour's delightful amusement did this lady give us all. I was glad, however, at the end of the day to see the old pink bonnet over a very comfortable seat ..
A metaphor for the Anglo-French alliance perhaps.
One of the prized paintings in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
The painting was produced at the request of an Englishman, Arthur George, 3rd Earl of Onslow, a collector of Napoleonic memorabilia.
Apparently he was walking in the Louvre with Delaroche when they stopped before the famous David painting, which he said was over dramatic, and he asked Delaroche to produce a more realistic painting - or so the story goes.
In the event Delaroche produced two versions - one went across the Atlantic and is now in the Louvre. The other went to the Earl of Onslow and ultimately to the Liverpool gallery. Queen Victoria also acquired a copy.
The Walker's comentary notes
Perhaps surprisingly, there were many admirers of Napoleon in Britain, associating his memory either with enlightened progress in opposition to reactionary monarchy or alternatively with military genius. His brutal suppression of nations, huge military losses and genocidal colonial policy were somehow glossed over.
Clearly I do not share the writer's surprise. Nineteenth century upper class Englishmen had a very different view of the world from us. They rated military prowess rather more highly than we do, and some, like Churchill, rather regretted the passing of an age in which they could fight wars against other Europeans, rather than against the lesser races. Most would certainly not have dreamed of criticising Napoleon for his colonial policies, and indeed it would have been rather hypocritical for them to have done so!
Apparently Delaroche's painting was not to everyone's taste. A reviewer for the Athenaeum commented that it had a truth
which will be dear to those who exalt the Dutch School for like qualities into the foremost rank of excellence. But the lofty and daring genius that led the humble Lieutenant of Ajaccio to be ruler and arbiter of the destinies of the larger part of Europe will be sought in vain by M. Delaroche.
Personally I prefer this painting to the David image - but then I have always admired the Dutch school - probably a result of my Roundhead East Anglian origins! Probably explains the colour (or lack of it) of this blog.
Anne Seymour Damer, sculptress (1748-1828). Among her works were busts of Fox and Nelson.
Her husband had committed suicide after only 7 years of marriage, probably more because of his ruinous gambling debts than marital unhappiness.
She never remarried, and was the subject of gossip because of her close relationships with other women and her rather masculine style of dress.
Among her friends were Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire and Lord and Lady Hamilton. She was with Lady Hamilton when Nelson arrived in Naples after his victory in the Battle of the Nile, and as his their friendship, and presumably his relationship with Lady Hamilton developed, he soon agreed to sit for her.
She became a keen supporter of Fox, and of the Foxite Whigs who tended to oppose the war with France and to support American Independence. Fox agreed to sit for her after she and Georgiana had campaigned for him in an election.
On a visit to France in 1803 she met Madame de Stael, Mademe Recamier, Napoleon's mother, the Empress Josephine (whom she had met previously) and at last, to her great delight, Napoleon himself.
Having waited for some time to present her bust of Charles James Fox to Napoleon, she seized the opportunity after his flight from Elba. The fact that England and France were technically at war did not stop her. So this indefatigable lady of some 66 years delivered the bust to Napoleon at the Elysee Palace on May 1st 1815, not long before Waterloo.
According to a notice that appeared in the Times, Napoleon told her that if Fox had lived there would have been peace, that the debt of England would have been less than a million, and that many thousands of men would still be alive.
Her gestue was evidently not universally popular. In the same edition of the Times, the Moniteur reported that some idiotical English woman presented to the Corsican the Bust of Charles James Fox.
In return Napoleon gave her an enamelled snuff box, with his portrait on the lid, set in a circle of 27 diamonds.
Napoleon arrived in England before Mrs Damer got back - although of course he was not allowed to land. Her friend, Miss Berry wrote somewhat disapprovingly to her on July 23 1815:
You little thought that your friend at Paris would be in England before yourself, and that your bust may return to that country it never ought to have left, without going out of the possession of the person to whom you gave it.
Clearly Miss Berry thought that Napoleon would be allowed to stay in England: strict confinement and security for his person seems all that is thought of for him she wrote.
She left the snuff box to the British Museum.
At least one other Napoleonic snuff box is there - that which he left in his will to Lady Holland, a snuff box which had been given to him by the Pope.
The bust is now at Malmaison.
Lady Holland's Snuff Box - a brief note
Napoleon seems to have given or tried to give at least four snuff boxes to English people in gratitude for their kindnesses to him. As well as the two covered here he presented one to Dr Arnott who attended him in his last days, and he gave another to the Rev Boys for burying Cipriani, who was of course a Roman Catholic.
Rev Boys reluctantly felt he had to decline it because of Hudson Lowe's strict policy against accepting gifts from Napoleon.
Lady Holland was advised by Lord Carlyle to decline hers.
Lady, reject the gift! 'tis tinged with gore!
Those crimson spots a dreadful tale relate;
It has been grasp'd by an infernal Power;
And by that hand which seal'd young Enghien's fate.
To which Lord Byron had delivered a typical riposte.
LADY, accept the box a hero wore,
In spite of all this elegiac stuff:
Let not seven stanzas written by a bore,
Prevent your Ladyship from taking snuff!
