Note 166 — Chapter LX
Reading edition
"Amidst the dreadful storm of men and elements which was gathering around him, his ministers and his aides-de-camp saw him pass whole days in discussing the merits of some new verses which he had received, or the regulations for the Comédie Française at Paris, which he took three evenings to finish. As they were acquainted with his deep anxiety, they admired the strength of his genius, and the facility with which he could take off or fix the whole force of his attention on whatever he pleased. It was remarked, too, that he prolonged his meals, which had hitherto been so simple and so short. He seemed desirous of stifling thought by repletion. He would pass whole hours, half reclined, as if torpid, and awaiting, with a novel in his hand, the catastrophe of his terrible history."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 67-87.