I had a violent emotion, even to tears
Royal Asiatic Society article on Thomas Manning. He was an Englishman stuck in France after Treaty of Amiens broke, but Napoleon allowed him to return to England so he could go to China. Manning learned Chinese and hoped to travel in China but wasn’t allowed very far; however he went to Tibet and met the Dalai Lama (age 9). On the way back to England, his ship stopped at St. Helena and Napoleon agreed to see Manning out of curiosity because he’d seen the Dalai Lama. His audience with Napoleon is described by Betsy Balcombe in her book. This archive has letters written by Manning that aren’t scanned. Frustrating!
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/12e0f276-1ac4-3e1c-a6fd-682977c1b5a3?terms=bonaparte&component=497ee416-d758-3c85-988c-95a3513c5383
















