On returning from our ride, we breakfasted in the garden. In the evening, whilst we were taking an airing in the calash, and making what we called the double round, we beguiled the time in making an estimate of the expenses of a man possessing an income of 150,000 livres in Paris. The Emperor said that a sixth of that sum should go for the stables, a fourth for the table, &c. I have already said that he was fond of making such calculations, which he always had the art of placing in a new and unexpected light.
The conversation led us to some details worthy of remark on the civil list and the expenses of the Emperor’s household. The following are amongst those I have remembered:
One million was allowed for the table, and yet the expense of the Emperor’s own dinner did not exceed one hundred francs a day. It had never been found possible to manage to give him his dinner hot; for, when once engaged in his closet, it was impossible to know when he would leave it. Therefore, when the hour of dinner arrived, a fowl was put on the spit for him every half hour; and it has sometimes happened that dozens have been roasted before that which has finally been set before him.
The conversation now turned upon the advantages of a good administration of finances. The Emperor spoke highly of the talents of Messrs. de Mollien and Labouillerie, in that branch. M. de Mollien, in particular, had put the treasury on the footing of a simple banking-house; and the Emperor had continually under his eyes, in a small book for that purpose, a complete statement of the revenue, the receipt, expenditure, arrears, resources, &c.
The Emperor had in his cellars at the Tuileries, he added, as much as 400 millions in gold, which were entirely his own property; so much so indeed that no other account of it existed but in a small book in the hands of his private Treasurer. All this treasure disappeared by degrees, and was applied to the expenses of the Empire, particularly at the time of our disasters. “How could I think,” said he, “of keeping anything for myself! I had identified myself with the nation.” He further added that _he_ had sent 2000 millions in specie into France, without reckoning what private individuals might have brought on their own account.