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28 "During the night sessions 'many of the members succumb through lassitude, while the Minister of War falls asleep.' He gives them a shake and wakes them up. 'Come, come, citizens, let us bestir ourselves; it is only two o'clock, and we must earn the money the French people pay us.' Consul or Emperor, he demands of each Minister an account of the smallest details. It is not rare to see them leaving the council-room overcome with fatigue, due to the long interrogations to which he has subjected them; he disdains to take any notice of this, and talks about the day's work simply as a relaxation which has scarcely exercised his mind."

this work would be useless if it had not been backed by a mind which had an almost miraculous power both of absorbing and retaining facts and details.

"In each Ministerial department he knows more than the Ministers, and in each bureau he knows as much as the clerks. 'On his table lie reports of the positions of the forces on land and on water; he has furnished the plans of these, and fresh ones are issued every month.' Such is the daily reading he likes best. 'I have reports on positions always at hand: my memory for an