“Conqueror and Captive of the Earth art thou! 
    She trembles at thee still—­and thy wild name
    Was ne’er more bruited in men’s minds than now
    That thou art nothing, save the jest of Fame,
    Who woo’d thee once, thy vassal and became
    The flatterer of thy fierceness, till thou wert
    A god unto thyself—­nor less the same
    To the astounded kingdoms all inert,
    Who deemed thee for a time whate’er thou didst assert.”

And it was then that an English nobleman of high rank, who throughout manifested especial interest in the fortunes of Napoleon, inscribed his statue (in the gardens of Holland House) with the lines of Homer: 

    [Greek:  Ou gar po tethneken epi chthoni dios Odysseus,
    All’ eti po zoos kateryketai eurei ponto
    Neso en amphiryte; chalepoi de min andres echousin.][74]

In ordinary times, the course of Napoleon’s life at Longwood appears to have been as follows.  He rose early, and, as soon as he was out of bed, either mounted on horseback, or began to dictate some part of the history of his life to Montholon or Gourgaud.  He breakfasted a la fourchette, sometimes alone, sometimes with his suite, between 10 and 11 o’clock; read or dictated until between 2 and 3, when he received such visitors as he chose to admit.  He then rode out, either on horseback or in his carriage, for a couple of hours, attended generally by all his suite; then read or dictated again until near eight, at which hour dinner was served.  He preferred plain food, and ate plentifully.  A few glasses of claret, less than an English pint, were taken during dinner; and a cup of coffee concluded the second and last meal of the day, as the first.  A single glass of champagne, or any stronger wine, was sufficient to call the blood into his cheek.  His constitutional delicacy of stomach, indeed, is said to have been such, that it was at all times actually impossible for him to indulge any of the coarser appetites of our nature to excess.  He took, however, great quantities of snuff.  A game of chess, a French tragedy read aloud, or conversation, closed the evening.  The habits of his life had taught him to need but little sleep, and to take this by starts; and he generally had some one to read to him after he went to bed at night, as is common with those whose pillows are pressed by anxious heads.

Napoleon was elaborately careful of his person.  He loved the bath, and took it at least once every day.  His dress at St. Helena was generally the same which he had worn at the Tuileries as Emperor—­viz. the green uniform, faced with red, of the chasseurs of the guard, with the star and cordon of the Legion of Honour.  His suite to the last continued to maintain around him, as far as was possible, the style and circumstance of his court.