22 JANUARY 1943, Page 14

NAPOLEON AND HUDSON LOWE

Stn,—In his " Marginal Comment " Mr. Harold Nicolson says: " There are few of us who do not regret Hudson Lowe." I am afraid he is right. The " few " are those who know the truth of the Napoleon- Lowe case. Careful scholars have investigated the deliberately concocted legend of St. Helena, but their complete refutation of the story and their vindication of a most unjustly abused public servant will never catch up the flying start which the legend has gained in the public mind.

Napoleon himself confessed the truth, but even that was not sufficient to dispose of a picturesque story which took in even Lord Rosebery.— Yours truly, IAN MACALISTER. The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, S.W. 1.

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