greatest precautions in order not to cut him. Happily this never
occurred. When by chance he did not speak, he remained immobile and
stiff as a statue, and could not be made to lower, nor raise, nor bend
his head to one side, as was necessary to accomplish the task easily. He
also had a singular fancy of having one half of his face lathered and
shaved before beginning the other, and would not allow me to pass to the
other side of his face until the first half was completely finished, as
the First Consul found that plan suited him best.

Later, when I had become his chief valet, and he deigned to give me
proofs of his kindness and esteem, and I could talk with him as freely
as his rank permitted, I took the liberty of persuading him to shave
himself; for, as I have just said, not wishing to be shaved by any one
except me, he was obliged to wait till I could be notified, especially in
the army, when his hour of rising was not regular. He refused for a long
time to take my advice, though I often repeated it. "Ah, ha, Mr. Idler!"
he would say to me, laughing, "you are very anxious for me to do half
your work;" but at last I succeeded in satisfying him of my
disinterestedness and the wisdom of my advice. The fact is, I was most
anxious to persuade him to this; for, considering what would necessarily
happen if an unavoidable absence, an illness, or some other reason, had
separated me from the First Consul, I could not reflect, without a
shudder, of his life being at the mercy of the first comer. As for him,
I am sure he never gave the matter a thought; for whatever tales have
been related of his suspicious nature, he never took any precaution
against the snares which treason might set for him. His sense of
security, in this regard, amounted even to imprudence; and consequently
all who loved him, especially those who surrounded him, endeavored to
make up for this want of precaution by all the vigilance of which they
were capable; and it is unnecessary to assert that it was this solicitude
for the precious life of my master which had caused me to insist upon the
advice I had given him to shave himself.

On the first occasions on which he attempted to put my lessons into
practice, it was even more alarming than laughable to watch the Emperor
(for such he was then); as in spite of the lessons that I had given him
with repeated illustrations, he did not yet know how to hold his razor.
He would seize it by the handle, and apply it