[160] "Napoleon was seized with extreme agitation; he seemed to be consumed by the fires which surrounded him. He traversed his apartments with quick steps. Short and incoherent exclamations burst from his labouring bosom."--SÉGUR, tom. ii., p. 45. [161] "Napoleon caused the man to be interrogated in his presence. He had executed his commission at the signal given by his chief. The gestures of the Emperor betokened disdain and vexation. The wretch was hurried into the first court, where the enraged grenadiers despatched him with their bayonets."--SÉGUR, tom. ii., p. 46. [162] "I saw Napoleon pass by, and could not, without abhorrence, behold the chief of a barbarous expedition evidently endeavouring to escape the decided testimony of public indignation, by seeking the darkest road. He sought it, however, in vain. On every side the flames seemed to pursue him; and their horrible and mournful glare, flashing on his guilty head, reminded me of the torches of the Eumenides pursuing the destined victims of the Furies."--LABAUME, p. 206. [163] Ségur, tom. ii., p. 49. [164] Karamzin, a Russian historian of eminence, whose works were expressly excepted from the censorship by the late Emperor Alexander.--See _Histoire de l'Empire de Russie_, traduit par St. Thomas, Jauffret, et de Divoff. [165] "On his re-entering the Kremlin, a few houses scattered among the ruins were all that was left of the mighty Moscow. The suburbs were sprinkled with Russians of both sexes, covered with garments nearly burned. They flitted like spectres among the ruins; squatted in the gardens, some of them were scratching up the earth in quest of vegetables; while others were disputing with the crows for the relics of the dead animals which the army had left behind."--SÉGUR, tom. ii., p. 54. [166] "Amidst the dreadful storm of men and elements which was gathering around him, his ministers and his aides-de-camp saw him pass whole days in discussing the merits of some new verses which he had received, or the regulations for the Comédie Française at Paris, which he took three evenings to finish. As they were acquainted with his deep anxiety, they admired the strength of his genius, and the facility with which he could take off or fix the whole force of his attention on whatever he pleased. It was remarked, too, that he prolonged his meals, which had hitherto been so simple and so short. He seemed desirous of stifling thought by repletion. He would pass whole hours, half reclined, as if torpid, and awaiting, with a novel in his hand, the catastrophe of his terrible history."--SÉGUR, tom. ii., p. 67-87.