But surely you are not English, sir? I understood that
every Englishman in France was under lock and key ever since the breach
of the treaty of Amiens.'
'No, I am not English,' he answered, 'I am an American. My name is
Robert Fulton, and I have to come to these receptions because it is the
only way in which I can keep myself in the memory of the Emperor, who is
examining some inventions of mine which will make great changes in naval
warfare.'
Having nothing else to do I asked this curious American what his
inventions might be, and his replies very soon convinced me that I had
to do with a madman. He had some idea of making a ship go against the
wind and against the current by means of coal or wood which was to be
burned inside of her. There was some other nonsense about floating
barrels full of gunpowder which would blow a ship to pieces if she
struck against them. I listened to him at the time with an indulgent
smile, but now looking back from the point of vantage of my old age I
can see that not all the warriors and statesmen in that room--no, not
even the Emperor himself--have had as great an effect upon the history
of the world as that silent American who looked so drab and so
commonplace among the gold-slashed uniforms and the Oriental dresses.
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