asylum with the British. Next morning his envoys returned to the
Bellerophon. Maitland said he would willingly take Napoleon to England,
but could take no responsibility for what happened there; nevertheless,
determined to have the kudos of taking this fabulous prize, he insinuated
to the envoys that all would be well. It was only after hearing a highly
favourable report from his envoys that the Emperor decided to trust his
person to the British; Maitland later dishonestly claimed that the envoys
had come to him with the formal offer of surrender, without any pre
conditions.
A final council met to approve the Emperor's decision. He was
supremely ill-advised on this occasion. Gulled by Maitland's honeyed
words, his followers also grievously underrated British rancour towards
the 'ogre' and imagined they would be bound by the 'sacred laws of
hospitality'. From London's vantage point things looked very different.
Here was the man who had forced them to rack up the National Debt
almost to ruinous levels so as to raise Europe in arms against him.
Expenditure to the Allies during the Hundred Days had rocketed sky
high, with a £5 million flat payment to the Allies, plus a further £I
million to get the Russians to march west and an extra £z8o,ooo to
induce Austria to campaign in Italy. Altogether Britain disbursed £7
million for what turned out to be a four-day campaign, a ruinous rate of
money-for-armies exchange.
On 13 July Napoleon wrote a famous letter to the Prince Regent, in
which he expressed his naive hope that, at worst, he would be subjected
to English civil law:
Your Royal Highness,
Exposed to the factions which distract my country and to the enmity of
the greatest powers of Europe, I have ended my political career, and I
come, like Themistocles, to throw myself on the hospitality of the
English people; I put myself under the protection of their laws, which I
claim from Your Royal Highness as the most powerful, the most
constant, and the most generous of my enemies.
Napoleon.On 15 July the Emperor travelled out to the Bellerophon on the brig
Epervier. On the seven-day voyage to England, Maitland treated
Napoleon with every courtesy and consideration, never revealing the true
attitude of the British government, which he knew to be harsh and
unyielding. Both on the Bellerophon and on the flagship Superb,
commanded by Maitland's superior officer Admiral Hotham, the
Emperor was treated like royalty. He won the respect and affection of the