[243] The claret, for example, was that of Carbonel, at £6 per dozen without duty. Each domestic of superior rank was allowed a bottle of this wine, which is as choice, as dear certainly, as could be brought to the table of sovereigns. The labourers and soldiers had each, daily, a bottle of Teneriffe wine of excellent quality.—S.
[244] Voice, &c., vol. ii., p. 76.
[245] "Sept. 19.—The Emperor examined a large basket-full of broken plate, which was to be sent next day to the town. This was to be for the future the indispensable complement for our monthly subsistence, in consequence of the late reductions of the governor. When the moment had come for breaking up this plate, the servants could not, without the greatest reluctance, bring themselves to apply the hammer to these objects of their veneration. This act upset all their ideas; it was to them a sacrilege, a desolation! Some of them shed tears on the occasion!!"—Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 184.
[246] "As I was waiting in the antechamber with the military secretary, I could hear, from the Emperor's tone of voice, that he was irritated. The audience was a very long, and a very clamorous one. On the governor's departure, I went to the garden, whither the Emperor had sent for me. 'Well, Las Cases,' said he, 'we have had a violent scene. I have been thrown quite out of temper! They have now sent me worse than a gaoler! Sir Hudson Lowe is a downright executioner; I received him to-day with my stormy countenance, my head inclined, and my ears pricked up. We looked most furiously at each other. My anger must have been powerfully excited, for I felt a vibration in the calf of my left leg. This is always a sure sign with me; and I have not felt it for a long time before.'"—Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 286.
[247] Las Cases, tom. i., p. 61.
[248] Las Cases, tom. ii., pp. 1-7.
[249] See ante, vol. ii., pp. [7] and [8], note.
[250] "Plays occupied our attention for the future; tragedies in particular. Napoleon is uncommonly fond of analyzing them, which he does in a singular mode of reasoning, and with a great deal of taste. He remembers an immense quantity of poetry, which he learned when he was eighteen years old, at which time, he says, he knew more than he does at present."—Las Cases, tom. i., p. 249.
[251] "Tragedy fires the soul, elevates the heart, and is calculated to generate heroes. Considered under this point of view, perhaps, France owes to Corneille a part of her great actions; and, had he lived in my time, I would have made him a prince."—Napoleon, tom. i., p. 250.
[252] "Napoleon is delighted with Racine, in whom he finds an abundance of beauties. He thinks but little of Voltaire, who, he says, is full of bombast and tinsel; always incorrect, unacquainted either with men or things, with truth or the sublimity of the passions of mankind."—Las Cases, tom. i., p. 249.