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Show a iiPEWS mn acitait in the Stirring life of Napoleon jaunted bj His Servant-Pecnli- gritiea ottle Great General, 5)!E OF THEM ABE LITTLE OWN e Valet was With Trance's Idol for Fif- m Years-Why He Did Not . Accompany Him to Elba. jfopoleon had a Belgian valet who for jfteen years was lu constant attendance fwnhim,and who admired him to tho aiot the chapter. This man wrote, or fessea to write, memoirs of his master, it octavo volumes of about 300 pages each. - 5icn appeared In 1830. The work has .auk into oblivion. While not lifting a jjcer to dress himself, Napoleon dispensed mth assistance ia undressing, but he flung lis garments all over the room his watch (ometimes missing the table or bed at ffbich it was aimed and falling broken on tie floor. 1 As to dress, he despised dandies, never Tore ring8 Bnd abominated scents, except m de Cologne, with which he was often rubbed and which was his npecifio for " braises. When coat tails became shorter leBtuck to the old fashion until Constant rot the tailor to shorten them by imperceptible impercep-tible gradations. He disliked tightly fitting clothes, found a new hat uncomfortable ibotigh lined with silk and wadding and stuck to an old hat us long as possible. He put on every morning a clean white waist-cojt.with waist-cojt.with knee breeches to match he never wore trousers; but as he habitually wiped I lis pen on his breeches, after three or four washings they were done with. NAPOLEON'S PLAYFULNESS. Constant denies, however, tho common story of his keeping snuff loose in his I fraistcoat pocket; he always used a snutl-boi, snutl-boi, and though he frequently took a pinch, he simply held it to his nose and then dropped all or nearly all on the floor. His snuff injured the carpet, not his waistcoat. waist-coat. A pinch of snuff was not tho sole kind of pinch in which Napoleon indulged. He nwas addicted to playfully pinching people's peo-ple's ears, not merely the lobe as commonly stated, but the whole oar, and sometimes u both ears at once. The better the humor be was in the harder the grip. He also administered friendly slaps on the cheek, bard enough sometimes to cause the effect of a blush. As to demonstrations of anger, e, Constant never but once saw him strike. An undergroom had put on the wrong addle, and Napoleon had no sooner mounted mount-ed than the horse reared and threw him. The bead groom coming up at the moment, the emperor give him a lash in the face with his whip, but presently being told that the poor man deeply felt the humiliation, humilia-tion, he sent for and soothed him, presenting present-ing him a few days afterward with 3,000 francs, He was not a graceful equestrian, and every horse he rode had to undergo a I special training, that it might not resent lashes on the head and ears, fidgeting in 1 the saddle, or being pulled up sharp while at full gallop. BE WAS NO tPICUEE. ' Latterly he had always Arabian horses, and it is pleasant to hear that his favorite Styrie, after the Marengo campaign, passed the rest of his life in ease and luxury. He did not care for the chase, but hunted just anough to keep np royal traditions. Con- ttant denies that he was ever won nded by a wild boar, as asserted in the Memorial de Ete. Helena, He did not shoulder his gun veil, and never fired without blackening tag his arm, to which eau de Cologne had to be applied. r: Napoleon was no epicure. He usually drank nothing but diluted Chambertiu, and was no judge of wine. He liked plain dishes boiled or roast chicken, tmutton chops, grilled neck of mutton,, haricot beans or lentils. His table manners were not very refined. Ho would use his fingers in lieu of fork or Spoon, and would dip his broad in the Bauce, the dish being then passed round the guests, who had to dispense dis-pense with squeamishness. The bread had to be particularly good. He ate fast, quitted the table in twelve minutes, leaving Josephine and the company com-pany to take their time. When he dined alone he commonly took only eight or ten minutes. Indigestion was the natural consequence con-sequence of his speed, and he had sometimes some-times to stretch, himself at full length on the carpet till the pain abated. He detested de-tested physic and professed to disbelieve in it, a subject of playful discussion with his doctors. Constant never knew him obliged to keep his bed a whole day. He was very sensitive to cold, and had fires and warm beds nearly all the year. WHY HE WENT TO ELBA ALONE. How was it that Constant did cot accompany accom-pany so kind a master to Elba? He was blamed for it, but his version is this: Ho bad agreed to go, and Napoleon gave him 100,000 francs, bidding him to bury the money in his small farm near Fontaine-bleau, Fontaine-bleau, that it might serve for his family. A few days afterward Gen. Bertrand told bim the emperor had found his accounts 100,000 francs short. Constant explained hat had passed, but Bertrand came back ith a message that the emperor had no recollection of giving him a present. Constant Con-stant thereupon went and dug up the money, finding it after some difficulty and in terror lest it should have been stolen. Bertrand took the money, but Constant as so chagrined at the emperor having allowed Bertrand to think he had embezzled embez-zled tho sum that he sent word to the emperor em-peror that he should not accompany hira. Napoleon sent a message, wishing him to go, and offering him 300,000 francs, but Constant was obstinate, though no sooner bad his master started than he repented Waving behind. v Constant added that tha japeror was not off endetf, for on returning from Elba, looking over tho pension list Wd seeing Constant's name, he said he had wne well to remain in France, and he ordered or-dered his pension to be increased. Content Con-tent was not summoned to Paris during Hundred Days, and never saw Napoleou again. , Whether we accept this version or not It is a pitiful ending to fifteen years' con-ttant con-ttant intercourse. It seems quite possible 'bat Napoleon, in the tumult of reflection a his full, had forgotten the gift mado to ai old servant, whose comparative poverty fends to confirm his asseverations that ha never accepted bribes. Constant died in obscurity in 1845. Temple Bar. |