"-- "With him, everything was means or aims; spontaneity, whether for good or for evil, was entirely absent." No law, no ideal and abstract rule, existed for him; "he examined things only with reference to their immediate usefulness; a general principle was repugnant to him, either as so much nonsense or as an enemy." Now, if we contemplate Guerin's portrait,[1134] we see a spare body, whose narrow shoulders under the uniform wrinkled by sudden movements, the neck swathed in its high twisted cravat, the temples covered by long, smooth, straight hair, exposing only the mask, the hard features intensified through strong contrasts of light and shade, the cheeks hollow up to the inner angle of the eye, the projecting cheek-bones, the massive, protuberant jaw, the sinuous, mobile lips, pressed together as if attentive, the large, clear eyes, deeply sunk under the broad, arched eyebrows, the fixed, oblique look, as penetrating as a rapier, and the two creases which extend from the base of the nose to the brow, as if in a frown of suppressed anger and determined will.

Add to this the accounts of his contemporaries[1135] who saw or heard the curt accent or the sharp, abrupt gesture, the interrogating, imperious, absolute tone of voice, and we comprehend how, the moment they accosted him, they felt the dominating hand which seizes them, presses them down, holds them firmly and never relaxes its grasp.
Already, at the receptions of the Directory, when conversing with men, or even with ladies, he puts questions "which prove the superiority of the questioner to those who have to answer them."[1136] "Are you married ?" says he to this one, and "How many children have you ?"to another.

To that one, "When did you come here ?" or, again, "When are you going away?
He places himself in front of a French lady, well-known for her beauty and wit and the vivacity of her opinions, "like the stiffest of German generals, and says: 'Madame, I don't like women who meddle with politics!'" Equality, ease, familiarity and companionship, vanish at his approach.

Eighteen months before this, on his appointment as commander-in-chief of the army in Italy, Admiral Decres, who had known him well at Paris,[1137] learns that he is to pass through Toulon: "I at once propose to my comrades to introduce them, venturing to do so on my acquaintance with him in Paris.

Full of eagerness and joy, I start off.
The door opens and I am about to press forwards," he afterwards wrote, "when the attitude, the look, and the tone of voice suffice to arrest me.