The Washington herald., 1914-03-22
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away in my brain as In a chest of draw
ers. When l take up any special busi-
ness / shut one drawer and open another.
None of them ever get mixed, and never
does this incommode me or fatigue me-
and fall asleep
Yet this Titan did not really have great
physical vigor. He was seldom well.
often in pain and generally walked up
IN the morning unrefreshed and de-
pressed. He was subject to dizziness.
nervous spasms, and fainting spells,
which led to the suspicion that he was
epileptic like Caesar. Mahomet. and some
other great geniuses in history.
But he detested medicine. Believe
me" he insisted to a physician. I'VE
had better leave of all these remedies
Life is a fortress which We know moth
ing about. Why throw obstacles in the
way of its defense? Its own means are
superior TO all the apparatus of the lab
oratories. All your fifty mixtures are
good for nothing Medicine is a coriec-
tion OF uncertain prescriptions the re-
suits of which taken collectively are
more fatal than useful to mankind Wa
ter. air and cleanliness are the Chief ar
ticles in my pharmacopia.'
His strength lay in his mind rather
N''e1' iiA OOhys III
nerves rather than in his muscles When
his mental and nervous organizations
rebelled against his tyranny. he relapsed
into sheer idleness for days together. He
liked to lie for two hours in a steaming
bath and keep turning on the hot water,
until the secretary who sat by reading
TO him could no longer see the print
through the vapor that filled the ROOM
Meneval says that in his idling moods
he sometimes lolled about on the sofa or
sat on the desk and even on the knee of
his secretary. talking disjointedly of
himself. his fancies. his plans. Again
he read aloud or declaimed poetry. He
had fits of going through the palace
singing and, Tourrienne exclaimed, God
knows how badly he sang
A Career for Every Talent.
Under Napoleon the government ceased
TO be a government by faction, and
France no longer was a prey to the bit
ter strife between the ins and the outs
He coined for the new era that alIuring
~atchword, "a career open to every tai
cnt.' and rightly calculated that no
body is interested in overthrowing a gov
ernment in which all the deserving are
employed"
When the task Of organizing the nation
fell upon him he knew almost no one in
the country except soldiers. He had to
spy out statesmen as he had spied out
the lay of the land in his military cam
paigns in strange countries. He pros
pected for human gifts as another might
prospect for gold mines.
inviting the written opinions OF politi-
cal leaders he shewdly siftod out the
men Of ability and integrity. When
asked to be shown mans book for the
purpose OF estimating his worth he was
told that it would b. n useless test. since
the volume was only a translation But
he persisted, never mind; III read the
preface"
His eye and his intuition seldom de-
ceived him. and men soon lost their
to try to foist a ISnave upnn
him. All stood in terror OF his glance.
which shot through them like an X-ray,
and a foreign diplomat is said 10 have
adopted colored glasses to screen his
soul from that searching gaze
Il do not know you,' he said TO a !
member Of his cabinet: "but I was told |
you are the honestest man in the mag.
istracy and that is why selected you |
for minister of justice" Gaudin, whom |
he chose for minister OF finance served
the Napoieonic era; Talley-
rand remained minister OF foreign affairs (
as long as fair weather lasted Maret, \
of state. and Berthier minister |
Of war, served for years.
Once he had chosen he held to- men |
while shred of them remained; and bore |
with mediocrity and even betrayal be-
yond the point where patience in a ruler |
ceases to be virtue. He framed for him
self the motto: There Is no fool that is
not good enough for something: there is |
no intelligence equal to everything" Men
rated as incompetent surprised their
friends with the latent abilities which /
he drew out of them. II have a lucky
hand" he chuckled. Those on whom I |
ay it become fit for anything"
1t was his belief and boast above all |
that he was the peasants consul. "If
Louis XIV" he said. had not been born
4 King. he would have-been a great man
but he did not know mankind; he could
not know them for he pever knew mis-
This man kneF what the peo-
pie needed, for had he hot Just sprung
from among them? Had he not only yes
terday gnawed the crust of poverty and |
lungered In the very streets Of ParisG
His great passion was to reunite the i
French people OF all classes and, re- :.
,ardless of their past differences, to call 4
ntG the government the ablest men in
he nation. He found $4,000 Frenchmen
n exile as aristocrats or priests. while !
Next Sunday-A Z