AN EMPEROR'S MANNERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8360, 13 September 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN EMPEROR'S MANNERS.

The most characteristic of Napoleon's habits was unremitting and most successful industry ; few such intense workers have ever been seen, and yet Ins physical strc Mi was never great, and he could not do v, lout a large amount of sleep—a peculiarity which had something to do with his ' dure to trace Bliicher on the 17th of 7 , . Sls. Bourrienne tells us :—

"His orders were that I should call him every morning at 7. I was, therefore, the first to enter Ids chamber; but very frequently when I awoke him he would turn himself and say, ' Ah, Bourrienne, lot me lie a little longer.' He, in general, slept seven hours out of the twenty-four, taking a short nap in the afternoon." Napoleon's general manner was brusque and abrupt, but when he tried to please he could almost fascinate. His conversation was full of strong sense, and occasionally rich with original thought; bub when ho bec.ime familiar he was often vulgar, made bad jokes and coarse expressions. He was nob respectful or courteous to women, and the sex have furnished his most bitter critics :—

Ho seldom said anything agreeable to females, and lie frequently addressed to them the rudest and most extraordinary remarks. To one lie would say, ' Heavens, how red your elbows are !' To another, ' What an ugly head-dress you have got!' He st id one day to the beautiful Duchess de Chevreuse, in presence of all the circle of the Tuileries, 'Ah! that's dr*' l *- "High; your hair is red.' ' Perhaps it is, plied the lady ; ' but this is the first i. * man ever told me so '"

Napoleon's natural taste in dress was simple ; in his proper sphere, at the head of his troops, the historic grey coat and the plain uniform of an officer of the Chasseurs of the Guard were in marked contrast with the gold lace and plumes of the generals and brilliant stall' around him. His attire on State occasions was, however, gaudy, and the imperial mantle and splendid court dress, it must be confessed, sat ill on him ; he had not the quiet dignity of a born king. There was a parvenu air, too, about the court of the Empire; republican soldiers and their low-born wives looked strange in the garb of the Rohans and de Noailles, and the pageant was wanting in grace and good taste. Bourrionne sneers at the pomp of the coronation : —

" I spent about an hour contemplating the proud and sometimes almost ludicrous demeanour of the new grandees of the Empire. I marked the maneuvering of the clergy, who, with Cardinal Belloy at their head, proceeded to receive the Emperor on his entrance into the church. . . . When the religious part of the ceremony terminated the church assumed, in some measure, the appearance of a profaned temple." Temple Bar.