The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 21 July 1822
“Cantley, July 21.
“. . . Well, I wonder whether you will be anything
like as much interested by O’Meara
and Buonaparte as I have been and am
still. I can think of nothing else. . . . I am perfectly satisfied
Buonaparte said all that
O’Meara puts into his mouth. Whether that is all
true is another thing. . . . There are parts of the conversations, too, which
are quite confirmed, or capable of being so, by evidence. For
instance—when O’Meara lent him the Edinburgh
Review, just come out, with a sketch of his life in it, he
expresses to O’Meara the greatest surprise at some
facts there stated, as he says he is sure they are, or were, only known to his
own family. It turns out the article in question was written by Allen, and the facts referred to were told to Lord Holland when at Rome by Cardinal Fesch. Again; the conversations which
Nap states to have taken place between him and young
de Staël, the latter says are
perfectly correct as to the periods and the subject of them, tho’ he
denies some of Nap’s statements in them to be true.
It is very difficult to predict what is to cause any permanent impression or
effect, but, judging from my own feelings, I shd. say these conversations of
Nap’s are calculated to produce a very strong
and very universal one upon very many subjects, and upon most people in future
times, as well as our own.”*
John Allen (1771-1843)
Scottish physician and intimate of Lord Holland; he contributed to the
Edinburgh Review and
Encyclopedia Britannica and published
Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in
England (1830). He was the avowed atheist of the Holland House set.
Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839)
Born in Corsica, he was Archbishop of Lyons (1802) and in 1803 he was appointed by
Napoleon ambassador to Rome.
Henry Richard Fox, third baron Holland (1773-1840)
Whig politician and literary patron; Holland House was for many years the meeting place
for reform-minded politicians and writers. He also published translations from the Spanish
and Italian;
Memoirs of the Whig Party was published in 1852.
Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821)
Military leader, First Consul (1799), and Emperor of the French (1804), after his
abdication he was exiled to Elba (1814); after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to St.
Helena (1815).
Barry Edward O'Meara (1770 c.-1836)
Naval surgeon who attended Napoleon on St. Helena; after his dismissal he published works
critical of the government, including
Napoleon in Exile: a Voice from St
Helena, 2 vols (1822).
Germaine de Staël (1766-1817)
French woman of letters; author of the novel
Corinne, ou L'Italie
(1807) and
De l'Allemagne (1811); banned from Paris by Napoleon, she
spent her later years living in Germany, Britain, and Switzerland.
