mbre_, gives in his reminiscences a detailed account of the emperor's
habits, and writes as follows about his mode of dining: "The great
rapidity with which the emperor was accustomed to eat was frequently
very injurious to his health. One of the immediate effects of this habit
was, that he did not eat very cleanly. He liked to use his fingers
instead of a fork, and, indeed, instead of a spoon. Great care was taken
always to place a favorite dish before him. He partook of it in the
manner above described, dipping his bread into the sauce, which did not
prevent the other guests from eating of the same dish, or at least
such as wished to do so, and there were few who did not. I have even
seen some who pretended to regard this favorite dish as a way of
doing homage to the emperor. Napoleon's favorite dish was a sort of
chicken-fricassee, called, in honor of the conqueror of Italy,
'_fricassee a la Marengo_.'"--Constant, Memoires, vol. ii., p. 56.]

Napoleon's guests had done well in dining beforehand; for, as the
servants did not attend to them so quickly as to their master, and as
they, moreover, were not able to eat so fast as he, they would assuredly
have risen hungry from the table.[14]

[Footnote 14: The guests invited to the imperial table always dined
beforehand. The emperor, in the haste with which he ate, did not notice
that the others had no time to do so. Once, when he departed from the
table, and Eugene, his stepson, rose immediately after him, Napoleon
turned to him, and said:

"But you have had no time to eat?"

"Pardon me," replied the prince, "I dined beforehand."--"Memoires de
Constant," vol. ii., p. 55.]

"To horse, gentlemen!" exclaimed Napoleon. "Let us ride over to
Sans-souci, and do homage to the manes of the king who was a philosopher
and a great general at the same time."

The streets of Potsdam were deserted as the emperor and his brilliant
suite rode through them. All the windows were closed; the citizens were
nowhere to be seen; only a crowd of idle boys followed the imperial
cavalcade. The soldiers of the grand French army alone greeted the
emperor with joyous cheers outside of the city, where they were
encamped. Potsdam thought, perhaps, of its king, who had immortalized
it, and was sad and ashamed that those whom Frederick the Great had
routed in so glorious a manner at Rossbach now made their triumphal
entry into his capital.

Napoleon's brow was gloomy; this silence of the population