with Marshal Bertrand’s house, were all considered as P ^ ° f Lo g-
wood farm, and the former, used as barns and
a state of ruin until the year 1858, when it,^ with t h e r f e of The
Tomb was purchased by the Emperor Napoleon the Third, with a
v iew o f restoring the last residence of his illustrious uncle, and
guarding from further desecration that spot m the little gree
valley so lonely and so distant, yet so sacred to the hearts of all
true Frenchmen. Three officers, with a party of Engineers were
sent out from France to carry out these resteatio^ ; ? ^ d^ e"
large sum of money was expended ; and f | | under
at Lonswood, and the “ Valley ot tne aomu,
the immediate charge of a non-commissioned officer residmg a ^
and an officer who rents and occupies a portion of the
House ” Very great care was exercised, m rebuilding
S S I to restore it as near as possible to its state when occupied
by the Emperor, and as much of the old materials as could be
J e d were again employed. A great difficulty, however, appeared
towards the completion-not a scrap or vestige of the origmalwall-
■j i rtino qg fn +heir design papers remained, and no clue as to their ae g or colour could be
o bLned; when a remarkable instance occurred
iectionable habit of Englishmen carrying away relics, ^m g turned
to useful account. Aware of the difficulty experienced by the
engineer in this respect, I mentioned it in conversation in pre
J n T o f an officer who had just arrived at the Island onthis
wav home from India. This officer had visited Longwood th y
years previously, and carefully preserved a scrap of paper from the
wall of each room ; he kindly placed these specimens at ^ d^ p os
of the French officer, who sent them to Paris, where new papers
exactly resembling the original, were manufactured^an
St Helena Thus restored, unfurnished, but n . ,
executed white marble buet of the Emperor P ^ » ” ¡ ¡ ¡ ¿ J P
where he breathed his last, now stands Longw
The tomb, where his h o d , rested from the 8th of May 1821.
until the 15th of October, 1840, when it was removed to a han
some sarcophagus in the H6tel des Invalid«* m *S
accordance with his expressed wish, on the ba ^ frQm
t o m b e d S d and' guarded, so that no ruthless
h t d uow. » formerly, hacks cud chops away the rem am s.ftw o