A reader’s note
This document is Dr Barry O'Meara's first account following his dismissal from St Helena. O'Meara's relationship with Hudson Lowe, the British governor on the island, had become extremely strained and had degenerated to such an extent that the latter finally ordered his departure on 25 July, 1818.
The publication quickly became popular with an English public curious to find out more about the island's illustrious prisoner. Hudson Lowe had already come in for criticism for his fussy and heavy-handed handling of the situation, but the Anglo-Irish doctor's account provided further support for a public opinion that was beginning to find sympathy for the exiled ex-emperor's plight.
The pamphlet to which the title refers to, and which serves as a basis for O'Meara's refutation (“Facts illustrative of the treatment of Napoleon Bonaparte“), was published in London in 1819 by a certain Theodore Hook. Hook was an English civil servant who, whilst employed in the treasury on the island of Mauritius, had been accused of embezzlement. In November 1818, on his way back to England to stand trial, he spent three weeks on the island of St Helena. Upon his arrival in England, he realised that he could make some money from his short stopover, and in doing so set the cat amongst the pigeons by depicting Napoleon and his companions as surly and intensely difficult towards the British authorities. The French translation of this pamphlet was published by Pillet in the same year but bore the slightly more descriptive and inviting title of “Carnet d'un voyageur ou recueil de notes curieuses sur la vie, les occupations, les habitudes de Buonaparte à Longwood, sur les principaux habitans de Sainte Hélène, la description pittoresque de cette île, etc., prises sur les lieux, dans les derniers mois de 1818” (“A traveller's notebook, or a collection of curious remarks on the life, occupations, and habits of Buonaparte at Longwood, on the principal inhabitants on St Helena, the picturesque description of this island, etc., compiled in person during the last months of 1818“).
In refuting Hook's arguments, O'Meara was also able to lay out his own defence in response to the accusations levelled by Lowe and, to a certain extent, believed by the general public.
Some of the content that featured in this volume reappeared in “Napoleon in exile”, published in 1822, a year after Napoleon's death.
Bibliography
O'Meara (Barry), An exposition of some of the transactions, that have taken place at St-Helena, since the appointment of Sir Hudson Lowe as governor of that island; in answer to an anonymous pamphlet entitled “Facts illustrative of the treatment of Napoleon Bonaparte”, & corroborated by various official documents, correspondence, [London]: [James Ridgway], 1819. – XVIII-230 p.
O'Meara, (Barry-Edward, doctor), Relation des événements arrivés à Sainte-Hélène, postérieurement à la nomination de Sir Hudson-Lowe, au gouvernement de cette île, en réponse à une brochure anonyme [par Théodore E. Hook], intitulée : “Faits démonstratifs des traitements qu'on fait éprouver à Napoléon Bonaparte”, confirmée par une correspondance et des documents officiels, etc…, Paris : , Chaumerot Jeune, 1819 July
[Hook, (Theodore Edward)] Facts illustrative of the treatment of Napoleon Bonaparte at Sainte-Helena, being the result of minute inquiries and personal research in that island, London: W. Stockdale, 1819
[Hook, (Theodore Edward)] Carnet d'un voyageur ou recueil de notes curieuses sur la vie, les occupations, les habitudes de Buonaparte à Longwood, sur les principaux habitans de Sainte Hélène, la description pittoresque de cette île, etc., prises sur les lieux, dans les derniers mois de 1818, Paris : Pillet aîné, 1819, avec trois vues coloriées de l'ancienne et de la nouvelle maison de Bonaparte, dessinées d'après nature