demanded that Napoleon Bonaparte appear as a witness. A writ of habeas
corpus was obtained, requiring Napoleon's presence in court on ro
November.
But while the Bellerophon was anchored off Plymouth, Lord Keith,
Commander-in-Chief of the Channel fleet, was sent to the Emperor with
the British government's answer. On 31 July Keith informed Napoleon
that he was to be exiled to St Helena, where he would be treated, not as
an Emperor, but as a retired general on half pay. Napoleon protested
bitterly against this sentence, pointing out that he had come on board the
Bellerophon voluntarily and that Britain's perfidious action would destroy
her reputation in the civilized world. If he was a prisoner, he wanted to
know the basis for this in international law, and if Britain assumed legal
rights over him, it followed that he was entitled to due legal process. He
wrote a formal protest: 'I am not the prisoner but the guest of England. If
the government, in ordering the captain of the Bellerophon to receive me,
as well as my suite, desired only to set a trap, it has forfeited its honour
and sullied its flag.' As for the insult in addressing him merely as
'General Bonaparte', he remarked: 'They may as well call me Arch
bishop, for I was head of the Church as well as the army.'
But events were moving away from Napoleon and his supporters. On 2
August, the Allies rubberstamped the British action in the Convention of
Paris. Later an Act of Indemnity was passed through Parliament, in
which the government virtually admitted it had no legal basis for
detaining Napoleon on St Helena. The Admiralty, warned that Bona
parte's supporters were trying to serve a writ of habeas corpus, ordered
Maitland to put to sea from Plymouth and cruise off Start Point, where
he was to rendezvous with the ship taking the prisoner to St Helena.
Maitland sailed on 4 August and after three days at sea transferred the
Emperor to the Northumberland, under the command of Admiral
Cockburn, which was to make the long run to St Helena. On 9 August
the Prometheus of the age began the voyage to the lonely rock where he
was to be chained for the rest of his life.
marcin
(Marcin)
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