British would give a safe-conduct to the Emperor or whether they were
determined to block his passage to the U.S.A. Maitland knew how the
wind blew from London but could not resist the opportunity of landing
such a prestigious prize. He therefore dissembled and, without commit
ting himself overtly, hinted that asylum in England would be possible. He
stalled until he could get instructions from the Admiralty; as expected,
these were uncompromising. Maitland therefore suggested that while
London took time to come to a final decision (he disguised from the
French the fact he had already received his orders), Napoleon's entourage
should think carefully about the question of asylum. It was pure
machiavellianism on the part of an ambitious man.
Later on 10 July Napoleon called a council to discuss what to do.
Bertrand, Las Cases, Gourgaud and Savary argued for seeking asylum in
England; Montholon and Lallemand urged a return to the Army. Never a
believer in democracy, the Emperor went with majority opinion this time
as it accorded with his own secret wishes: he reiterated that he would not
be the cause of a single cannon-shot in France. But what finally clinched
matters was when the desperate option of trying to run the blockade was
also ruled out. The captain of the Meduse sent a message that he was
prepared to engage the Bellerophon in close combat. Naturally the Royal
Navy ship would be victorious, but in the meantime the Saale could have
cleared for America. Napoleon was initially excited by the proposal, but
Philibert, captain of the Saale and senior to Captain Ponee on the Meduse
refused to have any part of the plan, fearful of what the Bourbons might
do to him afterwards.
Angered by Philibert's attitude, Napoleon left the Saale again and
landed on the lie d' Aix. There a new idea was hatched. It was suggested
that six naval officers should put to sea with Napoleon in a whaleboat,
hail the first merchant ship they encountered on the high seas, and
charter it to go to the U.S.A. This seemed too far-fetched to the
Emperor, but he was running out of maritime options, as Baudin, the
captain who had offered to take him from a Gironde port, responded to
fu rther overtures by saying he would take the Emperor alone and not his
court. The dismayed courtiers, fearful of Bourbon revenge, pleaded with
Napoleon not to abandon them. He therefore turned down the Baudin
idea, as also a last minute plea from Joseph, who arrived at the lie d' Aix
on the morning of 13 July, that he return and put himself at the head of
the Army. Joseph in his very last interview with his brother played a truly
fraternal role by urging him to get away to America and offering to
impersonate him until he was safely at sea.
At midnight on 13 July Napoleon finally made his decision to seek
marcin
(Marcin)
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