While thus teaching one minister to cherish commerce, and another to respect legality, the Emperor listened to Champagny, who lost no chance of advising the encouragement of neutral trade; and these three ministers--Champagny, Fouché, and Montalivet--found a strong ally in the Minister of the Treasury, Mollien, who has left the recorded opinion that the Imperial system of commercial restriction was “the most disastrous and the most false of fiscal inventions.”[165] The bias of Decrès, the Minister of Marine, may be inferred from a story told by Marshal Marmont,[166] who, coming to Paris at the close of 1809, called on his old friend and talked with the enthusiasm of a successful soldier about the Emperor. “Well, Marmont,” replied Decrès, “you are pleased at being made a marshal; you see everything in bright colors. Do you want me to tell you the truth and to unveil the future? The Emperor is mad--absolutely mad! He will upset us all, and everything will end in a terrible disaster.” Taken in connection with King Louis’ attitude in Holland, the Cabinet opposition of December, 1809, amounted to rebellion against Napoleon’s authority. At the Cabinet council of December 20 Montalivet made a written report on the subject of American cotton, which threw so much blame on the Imperial policy as to call a written contradiction from Napoleon. “An American vessel,” the Emperor replied the next day,[167] “coming from Louisiana to France will be well received here, no act of the government forbidding the admission of American ships into French ports.” The Americans, he explained, had prohibited commerce with France while permitting it with Holland, Spain, and Naples; and in consequence “his Majesty has used his right of influence over his neighbors because he was unwilling that they should be treated differently from France, and he has sequestered the ships destined for their ports;” but no such provision had been made against American ships entering French ports. Naturally piqued at an Imperial assertion that he had shown ignorance of facts that deeply concerned his department, Montalivet sent to the Treasury for information, with which, a few days afterward, he routed the Emperor from the field. Unable to answer him, Napoleon referred his report to Gaudin, Minister of Finance, with a curious marginal note, which showed--what his ministers evidently believed--that the Emperor understood neither the workings of his own system nor the laws of the United States:-- “Referred to the Minister of Finance to make me a report on this question: (1) How is it conceivable that American ships come from America in spite of the embargo? (2) How distinguish between ships coming from America and those coming from London?” Armstrong obtained immediate and accurate knowledge of this struggle in council. Only a week after the Emperor wrote his note on the margin of Montalivet’s report, Armstrong sent home a despatch on the subject:[168]--