It is devotion which he exacts, and, by devotion,
he means the irrevocable and complete surrender "of the entire person,
in all his sentiments and opinions." According to him, writes a witness,
"one must abandon every old habit, even the most trifling, and be
governed by one thought alone, that of his will and interests."[1261]
For greater security, his servitors ought to extinguish in themselves
the critical sense. "What he fears the most is that, close to him or far
off, the faculty of judging should be applied or even preserved."

"His idea is a marble groove," out of which no mind should
diverge.[1262] Especially as no two minds could think of diverging
at the same time, and on the same side, their concurrence, even when
passive, their common understanding, even if kept to themselves, their
whispers, almost inaudible, constitute a league, a faction, and, if they
are functionaries, "a conspiracy." On his return from Spain he declares,
with a terrible explosion of wrath and threats,[1263] "that the
ministers and high dignitaries whom he has created must stop expressing
their opinions and thoughts freely, that they cannot be otherwise than
his organs, that treason has already begun when they begin to doubt,
and that it is under full headway when, from doubt, they proceed
to dissent." If, against his constant encroachments, they strive to
preserve a last refuge, if they refuse to abandon their conscience
to him, their faith as Catholics or their honor as honest men, he is
surprised and gets irritated. In reply to the Bishop of Ghent, who, in
the most respectful manner, excuses himself for not taking a second
oath that is against his conscience, he rudely turns his back, and
says, "Very well, sir, your conscience is a blockhead!"[1264] Portalis,
director of the publishing office,[1265] having received a papal
brief from his cousin, the Abbe d'Astros, respected a confidential
communication; he simply recommended his cousin to keep this document
secret, and declared that, if it were made public, he would prohibit
its circulation; by way of extra precaution he notified the prefect
of police. But he did not specially denounce his cousin, have the man
arrested and the document seized. On the strength of this, the Emperor,
in full council of state, apostrophizes him to his face, and, "with one
of those looks which go straight through one,"[1266] declares that he
has committed "the vilest of perfidies"; he bestows on him for ha