"THE SURRENDER OF NAPOLEON."
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]
SIR, With regard to your notice in the Spectator of June 18th of the interesting new edition of Maitland's "Surrender of Napoleon," I may state that Maitland was stationed off Rochefort in 1815 by the order of my father, the late Vice-Admiral the Honourable Sir Henry Hotham, then in command of the British Squadron off the West Coast of France. An excellent letter from my father's Flag-Captain (Senhouse) to his wife appeared in Macmillan's Magazine of September, 1897, detailing as an eye-witness how my father and Senhouse visited Napoleon on the ' Bellerophon' ou July 15th, 1815, and how Napoleon was received on board my father's flagship Superb' the next day. I may perhaps be permitted to say here that a sentence occurs in the above- mentioned letter which is quoted by Lord Rosebery in his " Napoleon : the Last Phase," but which does not appear in the copy of Senhouse's letter which I have in my possession. It is as follows :—" After two short meetings, both Hotham the Admiral, and Senhouse the Flag-Captain, felt all their pre- judices evaporate. The Admiral and myself—writes Senhouse-- have both discovered that our inveteracy has oozed out like the courage of Acres in ` The Rivals.' " The above sentence must have been somehow interpolated in the letter before it was sent to Macmillan. Indeed, the words " two short meet, ings " are sufficiently refuted by the description of the only two long and interesting interviews between Napoleon and my father so graphically described in Senhouse's letters. Any- how, any one who was acquainted with my father's pro- fessional career would know at once that neither he nqr Senhouse could ever have given expression to such craven non- sense. I have seen it stated, —1 forget where :—" It is said that history repeats itself : most indubitably is this the case where accuracy is in question. I doubt if any greater nonsense and untruths have ever been written about a great man than about Napoleon." But " my people love to have it so."-1 am,
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