leaving he had all the expenses of himself and of his household paid, made presents to his hosts, and gave gratuities to the servants of the house.  On Sunday the Emperor had mass celebrated by the curate of the place, giving always as much as twenty napoleons, sometimes more, and regulating the gift according to the needs of the poor of the parish.  He asked many questions of the cures concerning their resources, that of their parishioners, the intelligence and morality of the population, etc.  He rarely failed to ask the number of births, deaths, marriages, and if there were many young men and girls of a marriageable age.  If the cure replied to these questions in a satisfactory manner, and if he had not been too-long in saying mass, he could count on the favor of his Majesty; his church and his poor would find themselves well provided for; and as for himself, the Emperor left on his departure, or had sent to him, a commission as chevalier of the Legion of Honor.  His Majesty preferred to be answered with confidence and without timidity; he even endured contradiction; and one could without any risk reply inaccurately; this was almost always overlooked, for he paid little attention to the reply, but he never failed to turn away from those who spoke to him in a hesitating or embarrassed manner.  Whenever the Emperor took up his residence at any place, there were on duty, night and day, a page and an aide-decamp, who slept on sacking beds.  There was also constantly in attendance, in an antechamber, a quartermaster and sergeant of the stables prepared to order, when necessary, the equipages, which they took care to keep always in readiness to move; horses fully saddled and bridled, and carriages harnessed with two horses, left the stables on the first signal of his Majesty.  These attendants were relieved every two hours, like sentinels.

I said above that his Majesty liked prompt replies, and those which showed vivacity and sprightliness.  I will give two anecdotes in support of this assertion.  Once, while the Emperor was holding a review on the Place du Carrousel, his horse reared, and in the efforts his Majesty made to control him, his hat fell to the ground; a lieutenant (his name, I think, was Rabusson), at whose feet the hat fell, picked it up, and came out from the front ranks to offer it to his Majesty.  “Thanks, Captain,” said the Emperor, still engaged in quieting his horse.  “In what regiment?”—­“Sire?” asked the officer.  The Emperor, then regarding him more attentively, and perceiving his mistake, said to him, smiling, “Ah, that is so, monsieur; in the Guard.”

The new captain received the commission which he owed to his presence of mind, but which he had in fact well earned by his bravery and devotion to duty.