¹ See American Art Association, The Notable Collection of Mr. Sidney G. Reilly of New York and London. Literary, Artistic and Historical Properties Illustrative of the Life of Napoleon (New York, 1921), an auction catalogue. A copy of this catalogue is in the Norton Collection (see footnote 2, infra); see John Hall Stewart, France, 1715-1815: A Guide to Materials in Cleveland (Cleveland, Ohio, 1942), item 4209.

² See John Hall Stewart, “The Norton Napoleon Collection,” The Journal of Modern History, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 (June, 1951), pp. 158-162.

³ The typewritten copy is not accurate.

⁴ An examination of Eldon's published papers fails to reveal that the document has been published, though it is possible that it may have appeared in some other connection. The comment anent the future should be of interest to students of the fate of the Nazi leaders.

⁵ John Scott, First Earl of Eldon (1751-1838), was a noted English jurist. Member of Parliament in 1782, he became Solicitor General in 1788, and Attorney General in 1793. In 1799 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and two years later he entered upon the duties of Lord High Chancellor, which office he held almost continuously until 1827. Conservative to the point of being a reactionary, he was known as “the doubting justice,” a reference to which fact appears in the present letter. Though undoubtedly influenced by personal sentiments in his attitude towards Napoleon, nevertheless his opinion shows a keen concern for legality of procedure.. In view of the nature of this document, it is of interest that his brother, William Scott, Baron Stowell (1745-1836), a judge of the High Court of Admiralty, was an outstanding authority on maritime and international law.

⁶ Robert Banks Jenkinson, Second Earl of Liverpool (1770-1828), became a Member of Parliament in 1790. Foreign Secretary under Addington (1801-1803), Home Secretary (1804-1806 and 1807-1809), and Secretary for War and the Colonies (1809-1812), he became Prime Minister in 1812, and held that position until 1827. He was one of the principal advocates of having Napoleon sent to St. Helena.

⁷ Henry, Third Earl of Bathurst (1762-1834), succeeded Liverpool as Secretary for War and the Colonies in 1812, and held that portfolio until 1827.

⁸ On March 13, 1815, the Great Powers of Europe issued a declaration against Napoleon. This was prompted by his escape from Elba, and it stated that “Napoleon Bonaparte is excluded from civil and social relations, and, as an Enemy and Disturber of the tranquillity of the World, that he has incurred public vengeance” (Anderson, Frank M., The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1901 (Minneapolis: H. W. Wilson Co., 1904), p. 468). Some two weeks later, “In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity,” they complemented this declaration with a treaty, reinforcing their alliance against Napoleon, “until Buonaparte shall have been put absolutely beyond the possibility of exciting disturbances and ofrenewing his attempts to seize upon the supreme power in France” (Anderson, op. cit., pp. 470-471). Waterloo sealed Napoleon's fate, and, following his “surrender” to Captain Maitland of H.M.S. Bellerophon on July 15, 1815, the British Government informed the Allies that it had decided to banish him to St. Helena. Unanimous in their approval of this plan, on Aug. 2 the Great Powers signed a treaty with Great Britain, committing Napoleon to her charge for such purpose. This is the treaty with which the present letter is concerned.

⁹ Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland (1777-839), Commander of H.M.S. Bellerophon, to whom Napoleon “surrendered” on July 15, 1815, and who turned him over to the Commander of H.M.S. Northumberland for transportation to St. Helena. See Maitland's Narrative of the Surrender of Buonaparte…(London, 1826).

¹⁰ Art. 2 of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, April 11, 1814, had permitted Napoleon to retain his titles and ranks for life (See Anderson, op. cit., p. 450); nevertheless, he was King, not Emperor of Elba!