—­[Bourrienne does not exaggerate this excellent quality of the worthy Cambaceres.  When Beugnot was sent to administer the Grand Duchy of Berg, Cambaceres said to him, “My dear Beugnot, the Emperor arranges crowns as he chooses; here is the Grand Duke of Berg (Murat) going to Naples; he is welcome, I have no objection, but every year the Grand Duke sent me a couple of dozen hams from his Grand Duchy, and I warn you I do not intend to lose them, so you must make your preparations” . . . .  I never once omitted to acquit myself of the obligation, and if there were any delay, . . his Highness never failed to cause one of his secretaries to write a good scolding to my house steward; but when the hams arrived exactly, his highness never failed to write to my wife himself to thank her.

This was not all; the hams were to come carriage free.  This petty jobbery occasioned discontent, . . . and it would not have cost me more to pay the carriage.  The Prince would not allow it.  There was an agreement between him and Lavalette (the head of the Posts), . . .  And my Lord appeared to lay as much stress on the performance of this treaty as on the procuring of the ham, (Beugnot, tome i. p. 262).

Cambaceres never suffered the cares of Government to distract his attention from the great object of life.  On one occasion, for example, being detained in consultation with Napoleon beyond the appointed hour of dinner—­it is said that the fate of the Duc d’Enghien was the topic under discussion—­he was observed, when the hour became very late, to show great symptoms of impatience sod restlessness.  He at last wrote a note which he called a gentleman usher in waiting to carry.  Napoleon, suspecting the contents, nodded to an aide de camp to intercept the despatch.  As he took it into his hands Cambaceres begged earnestly that he would not read a trifling note upon domestic matters.  Napoleon persisted, and found it to be a note to the cook containing only the following words, “Gardez les entremetes—­les rotis sont perdue.”  When Napoleon was in good humor at the result of a diplomatic conference he was accustomed to take leave of the plenipotentiaries with, “Go and dine Cambaceres.”  His table was in fact an important state engine, as appears from the anecdote of the trout sent to him by the municipality of Geneva, and charged 300 francs in their accounts.  The Imperial ‘Cour des Comptes’ having disallowed the item, was interdicted from meddling with similar municipal affairs in future (Hayward’s Art of Dining, p. 20).]

At the commencement of 1801 Fulton presented to Bonaparte his memorial on steamboats.  I urged a serious examination of the subject.  “Bah!” said he, “these projectors are all either intriguers or visionaries.  Don’t trouble me about the business.”  I observed that the man whom he called an intriguer was only reviving an invention already known, and that it was wrong to reject the scheme without examination.  He would not listen to me; and thus was adjourned, for some time, the practical application of a discovery which has given such an important impulse to trade and navigation.