great idea of himself, such as Pius VII., or the Emperor Alexander.
In this case, his conversational tone is that of a caressing,
expansive, amiable familiarity; he is then before the footlights, and
when he acts he can play all parts, tragedy or comedy, with the same
life and spirit whether he fulminates, insinuates, or even affects
simplicity. When he is with his generals, ministers, and principal
performers, he falls back on the concise, positive, technical business
style; any other would be harmful. The keen mind only reveals itself
through the brevity and imperious strength and rudeness of the accent.
For his armies and the common run of men, he has his proclamations and
bulletins, that is to say, sonorous phrases composed for effect, a
statement of facts purposely simplified and falsified,[65] in short,
an excellent effervescent wine, good for exciting enthusiasm, and an
equally excellent narcotic for maintaining credulity,[66] a sort of
popular mixture to be distributed just at the proper time, and whose
ingredients are so well proportioned that the public drinks it with
delight, and becomes at once intoxicated. - His style on every
occasion, whether affected or spontaneous, shows his wonderful
knowledge of the masses and of individuals; except in two or three
cases, on one exalted domain, of which he always remains ignorant, he
has ever hit the mark, applying the appropriate lever, giving just the
push, weight, and degree of impulsion which best accomplishes his
purpose. A series of brief, accurate memoranda, corrected daily,
enables him to frame for himself a sort of psychological tablet
whereon he notes down and sums up, in almost numerical valuation, the
mental and moral dispositions, characters, faculties, passions, and
aptitudes, the strong or weak points, of the innumerable human beings,
near or remote, on whom he operates.