In all that relates to oriental affairs, Napoleon departed materially from the common opinions which are derived from the books usually regarded as authorities. He said that on this subject he entertained ideas peculiar to himself, though perhaps they were not very well defined; and that his expedition to Egypt had brought about this result in his mind.
“But to return to Voltaire,” said he, “it is astonishing how ill his dramas are adapted for reading.—When criticism and good taste are not cheated by pomp of diction and scenic illusion, he immediately loses a thousand per cent. It will scarcely be believed,” continued he, “that, at the time of the Revolution, Voltaire had superseded Corneille and Racine. The beauties of these two great dramatists lay dormant, until the First Consul again brought them into notice.”
The Emperor spoke truly. It is very certain that when he brought us back to civilization, he at the same time restored us to good taste. He revived our national dramatic and lyric master-pieces—even those which had been proscribed for political reasons. Thus Richard Cœur-de-Lion was again brought upon the stage, though a tender interest had as it were consecrated it to the Bourbons.
“Poor Gretry,” said the Emperor, “had long urged me to permit the performance of the opera. It was rather a dangerous experiment, and a violent uproar was predicted. The representation however went off without any unpleasant circumstances, and I ordered it to be repeated for a week or a fortnight in succession, until the public were completely tired of it. The charm being broken, Richard continued to be played like any ordinary piece, until the time when the Bourbons in their turn prohibited it, because it excited an interest in my favour.”
This strange vicissitude has, it is said, since been renewed with regard to the drama of Prince Edward the Pretender. The Emperor prohibited the piece on account of the Bourbons, and the Bourbons have recently proscribed it on account of the Emperor.
MY VISIT TO PLANTATION HOUSE.—SIR HUDSON LOWE’S INSINUATIONS.—HIS FIRST ILL-NATURED TRICK.—NAPOLEON’S PROCLAMATIONS.—HIS POLICY IN EGYPT.—HIS CONFESSION OF AN ILLEGAL ACT.
26th.—I went to pay my first visit to Plantation-House. I thought Lady Lowe a pretty and amiable woman, though there was something of the actress about her. Sir Hudson Lowe married a short time before his departure from Europe, for the express purpose, it is said, of having his wife to assist him in doing the honours of the colony. I understand that this lady was the widow of an officer of the regiment which Sir Hudson Lowe formerly commanded, and the sister of a colonel killed at Waterloo.