vexed by it?  I am not concerned with that, so I continue my narrative.  The Emperor was tenacious of old habits; he preferred, as we have already seen, being served by me in preference to all others; nevertheless, it is my duty to state that his servants were all full of zeal and devotion, though I had been with him longest, and had never left him.  One day the Emperor asked for tea in the middle of the day.  M. Seneschal was on duty, consequently made the tea, and presented it to his Majesty, who declared it to be detestable, and had me summoned.  The Emperor complained to me that they were trying to poison him (this was his expression when he found a bad taste in anything); so going into the kitchen, I poured out of the same teapot, a cup, which I prepared and carried to his Majesty, with two silver-gilt spoons as usual, one to taste the tea in the presence of the Emperor, and the other for him.  This time he said the tea was excellent, and complimented me on it with a kind familiarity which he deigned at times to use towards his servants.  On returning the cup to me, he pulled my ears, and said, “You must teach them how to make tea; they know nothing about it.”  De Bourrienne, whose excellent Memoirs I have read with the greatest pleasure, says somewhere, that the Emperor in his moments of good humor pinched the tip of the ears of his familiars.  I myself think that he pinched the whole ear, often, indeed, both ears at once, and with the hand of a master.  He also says in these same Memoirs, that the Emperor gave little friendly slaps with two fingers, in which De Bourrienne is very moderate, for I can bear witness in regard to this matter, that his Majesty, although his hand was not large, bestowed his favors much more broadly; but this kind of caress, as well as the former, was given and received as a mark of particular favor, and the recipients were far from complaining then.  I have heard more than one dignitary say with pride, like the sergeant in the comedy,—­

   “Sir, feel there, the blow upon my cheek is still warm.”

In his private apartments the Emperor was almost always cheerful and approachable, conversing freely with the persons in his service, questioning them about their families, their affairs, and even as to their pleasures.  His toilet finished, his appearance suddenly changed; he became grave and thoughtful, and assumed again the bearing of an emperor.  It has been said, that he often beat the people of his household, which statement is untrue.  I saw him once only give himself up to a transport of this kind; and certainly the circumstances which caused it, and the reparation which followed, ought to render it, if not excusable, at least easily understood:  This is the incident, of which I was a witness, and which took place in the suburbs of Vienna, the day after the death of Marshal Lannes.  The Emperor was profoundly affected, and had not spoken a word during his toilet.  As soon as he was dressed he asked for his horse; and as an unlucky chance would