as not sitting when the decision of the
government was taken, and that, when it met on February 1, 1816, that
decision was virtually irrevocable. We know, however, that the first
question was fully considered by the allied powers and the British
ministry before his place of exile was fixed, and Great Britain
undertook the custody of his person. The view which prevailed was that,
after his escape from Elba, he could neither be treated as an
independent sovereign nor as a subject of the French king, but must be
regarded as a public enemy who had fallen into the hands of one among
several allied powers. Accordingly, it was by their joint mandate that
he remained the prisoner of Great Britain, and was to be under the joint
inspection of commissioners appointed by the other powers. Still the
minds of Liverpool, Ellenborough, and Sir William Scott, judge of the
court of admiralty, were not altogether easy on the legal aspect of the
case, which Eldon reviewed in an elaborate and exhaustive memorandum.
His conclusion was that Napoleon's position was quite exceptional, that
he could not rightly be made over to France as a French rebel, but was a
prisoner of war at the disposal of the British government, both on the
broad principles of international law, and under the express terms of
his surrender, as reported officially by Captain Maitland of the
_Bellerophon_.

It was thought expedient, however, to pass an act of parliament in the
session of 1816 for the purpose of setting at rest any objections which
might afterwards be raised. This measure was introduced on March 17 by
Lord Castlereagh, who defended it on grounds of national justice and
national policy. It met with no opposition in the house of commons, but
Lords Holland and Lauderdale criticised it in the house of lords, not
as sanctioning a wrong to Napoleon, but as implicitly admitting the
right of other powers to join in arrangements for his custody. Little
attention was then bestowed by parliament or the public on the moral
aspect of his life-long detention at St. Helena, the restrictions to be
there imposed upon his liberty, or the provision to be made for his
comfort. Yet these subjects have ever since exercised the minds of
myriads both in England and France, and have given birth to a copious
literature for more than three generations.

FOOTNOTES:

[61] For the movements of June 15, 16, see Chesney, _Waterloo Lectures_,
pp. 70-137; Ropes, _The Campaign of Waterloo