usually the compulsory specialization has caused it to become lop-sided making it unfit for other purposes. What's more， the increase in ready-made ideas and clichés and acquired methods incrusts it and reduces its scope to a sort of routine. Finally， it is exhausted by an excess of intellectual activity and diminished by the continuity of sedentary habits. It is just the opposite with those impulsive minds of uncorrupted blood and of a new stock. - Roederer， a competent and independent judge， who， at the beginning of the consular government， sees Bonaparte daily at the meetings of the Council of State， and who notes down every evening the impressions of the day， is carried away with admiration：[44]
"Punctual at every sitting， prolonging the session five or six hours， discussing before and afterwards the subjects brought forward， always returning to two questions， 'Can that be justified？[45]' 'Is that useful？' examining each question in itself， in these two respects， after having subjected it to a most exact and sharp analysis； next， consulting the best authorities， the pasts， experience， and obtaining information about bygone jurisprudence， the laws of Louis XIV. and of Frederick the Great. . . . Never did the council adjourn without its members knowing more than the day before； if not through knowledge derived from him， at least through the researches he obliged them to make. Never did the members of the Senate and the Legislative Corps， or of the tribunals， pay their respects to him without being rewarded for their homage by valuable instructions. He cannot be surrounded by public men without being the statesman， all forming for him a council of state.""What characterizes him above them all，" is not alone the penetration and universality of his comprehension， but likewise and especially "the force， flexibility， and constancy of his attention. He can work eighteen hours at a stretch， on one or on several subjects. I never saw him tired. I never found his mind lacking in inspiration， even when weary in body， nor when violently exercised， nor when angry. Inever saw him diverted from one matter by another， turning from that under discussion to one he had just finished or was about to take up.
The news， good or bad， he received from Egypt， did not divert his mind from the civil code， nor the civil code from the combinations which the safety of Egypt required. Never did a man more wholly devote himself to the work in hand， nor better devote his time to what he had to do. Never did a mind more inflexibly set aside the occupation or thought which did not come at the right day or hour， never was one more ardent in seeking it， more alert in its pursuit， more capable of fixing it when the time came to take it up."He himself said later on：[46]
"Various subjects and affairs are stowed away in my brain as in a chest of drawers. When I want to take up any special business I shut one drawer and open another. None of them ever get mixed， and never does this incommode me or fatigue me. If I feel sleepy I shut all the drawers and go to sleep."Never has brain so disciplined and under such control been seen， one so ready at all times for any task， so capable of immediate and absolute concentration. Its flexibility[47] is wonderful， "in the instant application of every faculty and energy， and bringing them all to bear at once on any object that concerns him， on a mite as well as on an elephant， on any given individual as well as on an enemy's army.
. . . When specially occupied， other things do not exist for him；it is a sort of chase from which nothing diverts him." And this hot pursuit， which nothing arrests save capture， this tenacious hunt， this headlong course by one to whom the goal is never other than a fresh starting-point， is the spontaneous gait， the natural， even pace which his mind prefers.
"I am always at work，" says he to Roederer.[48] "I meditate a great deal. If I seem always equal to the occasion， ready to face what comes， it is because I have thought the matter over a long time before undertaking it. I have anticipated whatever might happen. It is no spirit which suddenly reveals to me what I ought to do or say in any unlooked-for circumstance， but my own reflection， my own meditation.
. . . I work all the time， at dinner， in the theatre. I wake up at night in order to resume my work. I got up last night at two o'clock.
I stretched myself on my couch before the fire to examine the army reports sent to me by the Minister of War. I found twenty mistakes in them， and made notes which I have this morning sent to the minister， who is now engaged with his clerks in rectifying them." -His associates weaken and sink under the burden imposed on them and which he supports without feeling the weight. When Consul，[49] "he sometimes presides at special meetings of the section of the interior from ten o'clock in the evening until five o'clock in the morning. .
