The Relations between Fellows of the Royal Society and French Men of Science when France and Britain Were at War

The Relations between Fellows of the Royal Society and French Men of Science when Franceand Britain Were at WarAuthor(s): G. R. de BeerSource: Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 9, No. 2 (May, 1952), pp. 244-299Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3087217 .

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244

THE RELATIONS BETWEEN FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY AND FRENCH MEN OF SCIENCE WHEN FRANCE AND BRITAIN WERE AT WAR

By G. R. DE BEER, F.R.S.

CORRESPONDENCE DURING HOSTILITIES

IN the days when only soldiers and sailors fought, it was accepted practice that men of learning and men of science should continue to com-

municate with each other, whatever the state, of peace or war, that might at the time prevail between the nations to which they belonged. When Henry Oldenburg, Secretary of the Royal Society, was arrested and sent to the Tower in i667 ' for dangerous designes and practises ', it was supposed by Pepys that the reason was 'for writing news to a virtuoso in France, with whom he constantly corresponds in philosophical matters'; in which case Oldenburg would have been a singularly unfortunate man. Dr McKie 1 has shown in these pages that the probable reason for Oldenburg's detention was that he had criticised the conduct of the war on the part of the King, and there is nothing to suggest that governments paid any more attention to the correspondence exchanged between men of science in times of war than to that of anybody else.

Indeed, the men of science of Great Britain and of France remained constantly on good terms and in correspondence, whether their nations were at war, or not. For instance, there is a letter from Tournefort 2 to Hans Sloane written during the war of the League of Augsburg in which the war is treated as an irrelevant nuisance. Sloane had just returned from his voyage to Jamaica.

[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort to Hans Sloane.] 3

'Vous voulez bien Monsieur et cher amy que je vous temoigne la ioye que iay de ce que vous etes arrive a londres, iaprehendois mille dangers

1 Douglas McKie (I949). 'The arrest and imprisonment of Henry Oldenburg', Notes and Records, 6, 28.

2Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (i656-I708); born at Aix-en-Provence; botanist. 3 Brit. Mus., Sloane MSS. 4036, f. 84. This and subsequent quotations from MSS. in

the British Museum are made by kind permission of the Trustees.



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pour vous et je ne s~aurois vous exprimer presentement lexcez de mon contentement, je vous repons que si la guerre finissoit bientot iirois vous ambrasser de tout mon coeur, mais en attendant ce bienheureux temps je vous conjure au nom de toute la botaniq de nous donner promptement la relation de vostre voyage et de faire part au public de tant de belles choses que vous avez remarque dans la jamaique si javois une occasion favorable je vous envoyerois quelques bagatelles que iay ramasse en Espagne et en Portugal mais cest si peu de chose aupres des thresors que vous aportez damerique que iay honte de vous en parler au nom de dieu encore une fois donnez nous en la relation et vous comblerez de plaisir

Vostre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur

[Tournefort] A Paris ce I7 juin I690 bevez je vous prie a ma sante avec Mr. Scherard' 4

Tournefort wrote another letter to Sloane during Marlborough's Wars from which it is clear that the only effect of the hostilities was to make more difficult the exchange of objects of scientific interest.

[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort to Hans Sloane.] 5

'Monsieur et cher ami Je suis ravi de trouver cette occasion pour vous ecrire car jetois fort

embarrassed de le faire depuis la declaration de la guerre. Jay un grand recueil de plantes qui est destine pour vous. ce sont celles quejay trouvees au levant et que jai sechees assez proprement mais je ne say comment vous les faire tenir. je crois qu'il vaut mieux les garder jusques a la paix ou jusques au retablissement du commerce. en attendant je vous prie de vouloir accepter deux exemplaires du catalogue des plantes que jai observees dans mon dernier voyage. Je lay intitule Corollarium institutionum Rei herbariae et l'ai adresse a Mr Sherard pour vous le remettre. Jay apris avec bien de la joie que le cabinet de Mr Charlton 6 etoit passe entre vos mains. Si vous avez quelque piece superflue vous me ferez plaisir de me le com- muniquer et surtout sur les mineraux, petrifications, et coquilles. je

4 William Sherard (i659-I728); F.R.S. I720; had studied botany under Tournefort. 5 Brit. Mus., Sloane MSS. 4036, f. 77. 6 William Chariton or Courten (i642-I702), whose collections had been acquired by

Sloane.



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travaille presentement a mettre au net la relation de mon voyage de levant et la ferai imprimer le plutot que je pourrai. Ensuite je donnerai mon Histoire de plantes rares qui est fort avance. Le P. Plumier 7 va faire imprimer le catalogue de toutes celles qu'il a veues en Amerique ce sera un beau recueil. Jay perdu mon anguillara dans mon voyage. si vous l'avez double faites m'en part si vous plait car on n'en trouve point a Paris. Je suis de tout mon coeur

Monsieur Votre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur

Tournefort a Paris ce 24janvier I703.'

ELECTIONS DURING WARS

During the century and a half that elapsed between the foundation of the Royal Society and the downfall of Napoleon, Englishmen and Frenchmen were at war for an aggregate of over sixty years, but this did not prevent the Royal Society from electing Frenchmen, or the Academie des Sciences in Paris from electing Britons, actually during the periods of hostilities.

The following is a list of Frenchmen, other than refugees in Britain, elected into the Fellowship of the Royal Society during the various wars

War of Devolution: Pierre Petit.8 War of the Spanish Succession: Claude Bourdelin.9 War of the Austrian Succession: Voltaire ; 10 Jean Masson, Chevalier de

Besse ; 11 Jean-Marie-Francois du Parc, Marquis de Locmaria et du Guerand; 12 Claude, Abbe Sallier ; 13 Jean-Baptiste de Montesquieu; 14

7Charles Plumier (I646-I706) ; born at Marseilles, died near Cadix; botanist and traveller.

8 Pierre Petit (i598-?) ; born at Montlucon; F.R.S. I667; mathematician. 9 Claude Bourdelin (I667-I7II); born at Senlis; F.R.S. I703 ; M.D. 10 Fran~ois-Marie-Arouet de Voltaire (I694-I778) ; born in Paris; F.R.S. I743. 11Jean Masson, Chevalier de Besse; F.R.S. I743.

12Jean-Marie-Francois du Parc, Marquis de Locmaria et du Guerand (I658-I7II); F.R.S. I744.

13 Claude, Abbe Sallier (I658-I76I); born at Saulieu; F.R.S. I744; philologist. 14Jean-Baptiste Secondat de Montesquieu (I7i6-?); born at Martillac; F.R.S. I744.



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Germain Boifrand; 15 Henri-Franqois Le Dran ; 16 Louis-Guillaume Monnier; '7 Claude-Marie, Abbe Guyon; 18 Louis de Beaufort; 19 Jean-Baptiste de la Chapelle.20

Seven Years War: Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille 21 Jean-Joseph Le Sue 22 Francois-Henri, Marquis de Turbilly; 23 Louis-Paul Abeille.24

War of American Independence: Pierre-Marie Broussonet.25 Napoleonic War: Cuvier; 26 Lacepede.21

The return of the compliment is just as interesting, and the following is a list of Englishmen, Scotsmen Welshmen and Irishmen, elected as Corres- pendents or Foreign Associates of the Academie Royale des Sciences or of its successor, the First Class of the Institut National, during periods of hostilities:

War of the Spanish Succession: Sir Hans Sloane; 28 Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke.29

War of the Austrian Succession: Andrew Gordon; 30 James Bradley.31 Seven Years War: Peter Templeman.32

"I Germain Boifrand (i667-I754); born at Nantes; F.R.S. I745 ; architect. 16 Henri-Fran~ois Le Dran (I685-I770) ; F.R.S. I745 ; surgeon. 17 Louis-Guillaume Monnier (I7I7-I799); born in Paris; F.R.S. I745; M.D.,

botanist. 18 Claude-Marie, Abbe Guyon (i699-I77I); born at Lons-le-Saunier; F.R.S. I746

historian. 19 Louis de Beaufort; F.R.S. I746. 20Jean-Baptiste de la Chapelle (I710I792); born in Paris; F.R.S. I747; marine

engineer. 21 Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (I7I3-I762); born at Rum'y; F.R.S. I760; astronomer. 22Jean-Joseph Le Sue, F.R.S. I760; surgeon. 23 Fran~ois-Henri, Marquis de Turbilly (I7I2-I762); born at La Fleche; F.R.S. I762;

agriculturalist. 24 Louis-Paul Abeille (I7I9-i807); born at Toulouse; F.R.S. I762; agriculturalist. 25 Pierre-Marie Broussonet (I76I-I785) ; born at Montpellier; F.R.S. I782 ; naturalist. 26 Georges-Leopold-Chretien-Dagobert, baron Cuvier (I773-i826); born at

Montb6liard; F.R.S. i8o6; zoologist. 27 Bernard-Germain-Etienne de la Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacepede (I756-i825);

born at Agen; F.R.S. i8o6; zoologist. 28 Sir Hans Sloane (i660-I753) ; F.R.S. i685, P.R.S. I727-I74I; Associate of the

Acade'mie I709. 29 Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke (i656-I733); F.R.S. i685, P.R.S. i689-

I690; Associate of the Academie I7II. 30 Andrew Gordon (I7I2-I75I); Correspondent of the Acade'mie I748. 31James Bradley (I693-I762) ; F.R.S. I7i8 ; Associate of the Acade'mie I748. 32 Peter Templeman (I7II-I769); Correspondent of the Acade'mie I762.



248

War of the French Revolution: Sir Joseph Banks; 33 Neville Maskelyne.34 Napoleonic War: Sir Charles Blagden; 35 Edward Jenner ; 36 James

Watt; 37 Richard Kirwan; 38 Alexander Dalrymple; 39 Sir Everard Home ; 40 Sir Humphry Davy.41

RELEASE OF CAPTURES

Further examples of the spirit of good understanding which prevailed between British and French men of science despite hostilities of their Governments, are to be found in their correspondence and in their efforts to obtain the release of natural history specimens or even of men, captured by the other side. One of the first of these cases is seen in a draft of a letter from Sloane to Tournefort written during the War of the Spanish Succession in which Sloane deplores the fact that some curiosities and seeds which he had sent to Tournefort had apparently been seized, and hopes that he may get them restored.

[Hans Sloane toJoseph Pitton de Tournefort.] 42

[Undated] 'Il y a quelques mois que je me donna l'honneur de vous envoyer une

boette de curiosites et semences qui vous etoient addressees des Isles de L'Amerique prises par un de nos vaisseaus de Guerre. Je suis fache que cela soit egare comme je l'apprends par Monsr. L'Abbe Bignon 43 que j'avois price de vous le faire tenir de ma part. J'espere encore par des recherches que je fais de le retrouver & de vous le faire rendre. En attendant sous la

33 Sir Joseph Banks (I743-I820) ; F.R.S. I766, P.R.S. I778-I820; Associate of the Institut i8oi.

34Neville Maskelyne (I732-i8II) ; F.R.S. I758 ; Associate of the Instinit I802. 35 Sir Charles Blagden (I748-I820); F.R.S. I772; Correspondent of the Institut I804. 36 Edward Jenner (I749-I823) ; F.R.S. I789 ; Correspondent of the Institut i8o8,

Associate i 8 I I. 37James Watt (I736-i8ig) ; F.R.S. I785 ; Correspondent of the Institut i8o8, Associate

I8I4. 38Richard Kirwan (I735-i8I2) ; F.R.S. I780; Correspondent of the Institut i8o8. 39 Alexander Dalrymple (I737-I808) ; F.R.S. I77I ; Correspondent of the Institut i8ii. 40 Sir Everard Home (I756-i832) ; F.R.S. I787; Correspondent of the Institut I8I3. 41 Sir Humphry Davy (I778-i8ig) ; F.R.S. I803, P.R.S. I820-I827; Correspondent

of the Institut I8I3.

42 Brit. Mus., Sloane MSS. 4039, f. 78. 43Jean-Paul Bignon (i662-I743) ; President of the Academie Royale des Sciences;

F.R.S. I734.



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protection de Monsr. Le Duc D'Aumont je vous envoy 45 Sortes de semences nouvellement apportees de la Chine & du Japon. Ce sont les premieres que jai receives du Japon & sont les fleurs & herbes potageres & d'usage dans ce pais La. Je connois bien la le Lablab Alpini 44 qui croit en Egypte & le Sesame 45 & quelques courges & Amaranthies la Moutarde 46 & les Mala insana.47 Mais la pluspart me sont absolumt. inconnues & peutetre celles la sont elles differentes des autres que nous avons veues. Comme ces semences sont fraiches & que vostre gout a legard de ces sortes des choses et votre grand merite mest connu depuis longtemps je vous les envoye comme un tribut qui vous est du a vous, Mr. qui avez tant fait pour L'avancement des lettres & particulierement de la botanique & de notre profession. Je prie dieu qu'il vous conserve encore long temps pour ces & d'autres biens publics & suis avec un tres grand respect

Vostre tres humble, & [tres obeissant Serviteur Hans Sloane]

A return of the compliment is seen in a letter from Duhamel du Monceau,48 F.R.S., Inspector-General of the French Navy, to John Ellis,49 F.R.S., written in I757, at the start of the Seven Years War, relating to the return into English hands of some natural history specimens which had been captured by a French ship. It runs as follows:

[Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau toJohn Ellis] 50

'Paris I757. 22 May. 'Je profite avec grand plaisir Monsieur de l'occasion du celebre professeur

qui vous remettra cette lettre pour repondre a celle que j'ay revue de vous il y a peu de jours. Je puis vous assurer qu'il n'y avoit aucun papier dans les caisses qui m'ont ete remises, neanmoins pour plus grande security je vais ecrire au Capitaine Corsaire qui me les a envoy lequel se fera un plaisir

44 Lablab alpina= Dolichos lablab L. 45 Sesame= Sesamum indicum L. 46 Moutarde =Brassica sp. 47 Mala insana=Atropa belladonna L. 48 Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau (I700-I782); born and died in Paris; F.R.S.

I734; statesman and botanist. 49John Ellis (I705-I776); F.R.S. I754. 50 Linn. Soc. Lond.; Ellis MSS., reproduced by kind permission of the President and

Council of the Linnean Society of London. See S. Savage: Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of the Linnean Society of London, Part 4, Calendar of the Ellis Manuscripts, I948,

p. i6. MAY I952 R



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de me les remettre s'il en a et en ce cas je me feray un devoir de vous les faire parvenir le plutot qu'il me sera possible.

Les graines que nous avons receu M Bernard de Jussieu et moy sont principalement du Tulipier du Magnolia, du Cupressus foliis acacia deciduis, du Laurier, du Palmier de Marais, du Tupela, du Clethra, du Cephalanthus, du Pavia qui etoit absolument pourri, un peu de Chionanthus &c et autres graines d'arbre que M Bernard de Jussieu assure etre en grande quantity dans vos jardins. ce qui fait que je me Suis content d'en adresser une petite quantity 'a M Collinson de celles qui m'ont paru les mieux con- ditionnez; je me recommande fort "a vous pour les arbres de pleine terre et particulierement pour le Galeria. comme M le professeur doit repasser par la france peut-etre se pourrat-il charger de me remettre ce que vous aurez a m envoyer.

J'ay l'honneur d etre avec toute la sincerity possible Monsieur

Votre tries humble et tries obeissant serviteur A Monsieur Duhamel du Monceau

Monsieur Ellis de la Societe Royale, "a Londres.'

Opportunities for exchanging these courtesies were, unfortunately, to be only too frequent, especially in the wars of the French Revolution, and a curious fate befell the collections made by M. de la Billardiere 51 on the expedition sent out by the French Government in I79I under the command of d'Entrecasteaux 52 to find La Perouse.53 In I794 these collections, which were in charge of the chevalier de Rossel,64 were captured in Javanese waters by the British Navy, and Rossel himself was brought to London on i November I795. There, he protested against the seizure of his collections on the grounds that he had entered a harbour in Java unaware that hostilities had broken out between Great Britain and Holland, since the latter country had only very recently been overrun by France. The British Government admitted the validity of Rossel's contentions, but,

51Jacques-Julien de Labillardiere (I755-I834) ; born at Alen~on, died in Paris ; author of Relation du voyage a la recherche de la Pe'rouse, Paris an 8; traveller and botanist.

52Joseph-Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux (I739-I793); born at Aix-en-Provence, died at sea offJava ; sailor.

53Jean-Francois de Galaup de La Perouse (I74I-? I788) ; born near Albi, died mysteriously in the South Seas, near Vanikoro ; navigator.

54 Elizabeth-Paul-Edouard, chevalier de Rossel (1765-i829) ; born at Sens; sailor.



251

instead of sending the collections back to France, placed them at the disposal of the exiled Louis XVIII who was then in Courland. Meanwhile, the collections which included mineralogical, entomological, and botanical specimens, were deteriorating from damp in the British Customs, where they were put into order by the Comte de Bournon,55 a French refugee then in England. Louis XVIII instructed the duc d'Harcourt his Ambassador to present the collections to the Queen of England. The following correspondence refers to this matter:

[SirJoseph Banks to Major William Price.] 56

'March 3 ISt. 'My dear Sir,

In consequence of my sending on Tuesday morng. to Harcourt House, in order to learn whether orders were left for my having admission to see the Collection there during Ld. Harcourt's absence, I received a letter from the Duke de Harcourt from whence I understand that the Collection in question consists of the whole curiosities collected on board the Discovery ships that were commanded by M D'entre Castreau and that they are offered as a present to the Queen by the King of France.

I yesterday received a message that orders had been sent for my admission to the apartments in Harcourt House where the Collection is lodged, and I consequently attended this day in order to see and examine them.

They consist of a vast Herbarium collected in all the places in which the ship touched, a large collection of dried Birds, a considerable number of dried Lizards and Snakes, some Fish in spirits, and some insects said to be much damaged which are not at Harcourt House.

The collection of Plants bears testimony of an industry all but indefatigable in the Botanists who were employed, the chief of whom I am sorry to say was the principle fomenter of the Mutiny which took place in the ships built upon the strongest Jacobin Principles.

I counted near 350 quires of paper containing specimens, and there are 3 or 4 large boxes besides in which the dried Plants are packed together so

55Jacques-Louis, Comte de Bournon (I75o-i825); born at Metz; F.R.S. i802;

mineralogist. 56Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. X, fol. 29. This and subsequent quotations

from the MSS. in the British Museum (Natural History) are made by kind permission of the Trustees.



252

close that they probably contain as many specimens as the quires of paper, the largest part of these are in good preservation, and doubtless would form a very valuable Herbarium, as many of the Countries that have been visited are almost or entirely unknown to Europeans.

As the duplicates, which are in a manner innumerable, would serve no purpose but to encumber Her Majesty, I shall with pleasure, if I am honoured with her Royal commands, undertake to select for her Majesty a complete collection of one good specimen of each species; but as the individual specimens from whence they are to be taken cannot consist of less than io,ooo, every one of which must be separately examined, I dare not undertake to complete the work in less than a year from the present time.

The Birds are in tolerable preservation, and many of them extremely beautiful; if Her Majesty chuses to make a collection I would by all means advise her to accept of them; there are about I200, many of them quite new, the cost, however, of stuffing them, of placing them when stuffed in proper attitudes, and providing Glass cases to contain them would amount to several hundred pounds.

The Snakes and Lizards are dried, they might be mixed among the Birds, as some of them are not only curious but as handsome as such reptiles can be. The Fishes are in spirits ; I saw very few of them.

The Insects are at the house of the Count de Bournon he tells me there are some beautiful ones that would mix very well in the Collection of Birds and Snakes.

Provided, as I conclude is likely to be the case, that Her Majesty does not chuse to encumber herself with the stuffed animals, a word from her would probably direct the Duc de Harcourt's attention towards the British Museum, where if they were placed they would become a national ornament and promote materially the knowledge of natural History.

Nothing of all the things I saw at Harcourt House seems to me likely to make an acceptable addition to His Majesties Collection, but I cannot refrain from saying that another part of the Cargo appears particularly proper to be placed in the magnificent Library at the Queen's house, I mean the Charts of the Voyage, which are very interesting, and the sketches, for I have seen no finished drawings of the Natural History; these are at the Admiralty where the Charts cannot any longer be necessary to the office, because they have been already copied, and where the natural history must be considered as mere rubbish. Was the Duke de Harcourt to ask for these things, no doubt they would be immediately returned to him, and I am sure no place is so proper to receive them as His Majestie's Library,



253

where men of real science have always had access, in a manner that does honor to the Kings liberal mind, and the proper discrimination of his Librarian.

SIR JOSEPH BANKS, P R S.

From an engraving of the portrait by Thomas Phillips.

Be so good as to request of my friend Colonel Greville to acquaint the King that I have this day received from Boston the news of His Majesties Spring wheat being on board a Coaster bound for London, and that I shall be very ready to execute any commands I may be honor d with in



254

order to facilitate its quick passage from London to Windsor, whenever it arrives, which I hope may happen in a few days.

Believe me, My dear Sir, with infinite regard and esteem Very faithfully Yours,

[Jos. Banks.]'

[Major William Price to SirJoseph Banks] 57

'Queen's Lodge, Windsor, April ist, 1796.

'Dear Sir, The Queen most readily embraces the offer you have so obligingly

made to her of selecting a complete Collection of one good specimen of each species of Plants, and for which Her Majesty will be very thankful: but Her Majesty wishes to have nothing to do with any other part of the Collection. In case his Majesty should wish to have the Charts etc., I will give your letter to Mr. R. Greville to shew him.-I am, Dear Sir,

Your most faithful humble Servt.

William Price.'

[SirJoseph Banks to Major William Price.] 58

'April 2nd. 'My dear Sir,

I beg you will return my grateful thanks to the Queen for the honor Her Majesty has done me in accepting my humble services on this occasion; it will be necessary that the whole of the Collection of Plants should be brought to my house in order that I may be enabled to do my duty by selecting the best of every species for Her Majesty, which I shall do with zeal and diligence. Ld H. will no doubt as soon as Her Majestys pleasure is made known to him give the necessary information to the Duke de Harcourt.

Jos. Banks.'

Since the Queen accepted only the botanical specimens, the remainder of the Collections was for disposal. Louis XVIII left this decision to the

67 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. X, fol. 34. 58 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. X, fol. 35.



255

duc d'Harcourt who, in his turn left it to de Bournon. This gentleman decided that the best use that could be made of the remainder of the collection was to present it to Banks as a token of the esteem in which he was held by the French refugees, which was done.

Meanwhile the French Government applied to the British Government for the release of the collections, which it could, of course, not grant, having already allocated them to Louis XVIII. The French Government then applied directly to Banks, 'ayant lFair de ne pas se douter, un seul instant, que son credit ne ffit suffisant pour obtenir ce qu'elle d'siroit.' 59 This application had the following result:

[Sir Joseph Banks to Major William Price.] 60

Aug. 4. 1796. 'My dear Sir,

Since I had the honour of writing to you on the subject of the Collections of Curiosities offered by the Duc d'Harcourt as a present to the Queen, the whole of the business relating to those things has taken a very different turn. I sincerely hope it will not be productive of any disappointment to Her Majesty, and I feel it my duty to do all in my power to obviate as much as I am able all possibility of that being the case.

When the Collection was offered to the Queen, it was supposed by all who were concerned in making the offer that it belonged to the present King of France, and it was believed that the late King of France interested himself personally in directing the outfit of the Voyage, and that His Majesty actually employed in his own service the persons engaged to make Collections.

An application having since been made by the directory of France, requesting that the Collection might be returned to the Collector, M. de Billardiere, in the same manner as M. Ulloa's 61 Papers were returned to him when captured by an English Vessel, in order that he might be enabled to publish his Observations for the advancement of knowledge, as M. Ulloa had done; farther enquiry was made, in the course of which it appeared that the late King of France took no particular interest in the outfit of the

59 Catalogue de la collection mine'ralogique du Comte de Bournon, Londres, i8I3, p. xxviii- 6O Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. X, fol. 6o. 61 Antonio de Ulloa (I7i6-I795); F.R.S. I746; Spanish statesman, soldier and

scientist.



256

expedition, in which M. de Billardiere sailed, and that the mistake of his Majesties's having so done probably originated in the fact of his actually having done so in the Voyage of the unfortunate M. de Peyrouse, who, it is confidently said, was honored with private instructions in the King's own handwriting.

Under the view of this business his Majesties Ministers have thought it necessary for the honor of the British nation and for the advancement of Science that the right of the Captors to the Collection should on this occasion be wav'd and that the whole should be returned to M. de Billardiere, in order that he may be enabled to publish his Observations on Natural History in a complete manner.

You will easily see, my dear Sir, that by this determination the right of the Duc d'Harcourt to make a present of the Collection to the Queen is entirely done away, and that it would bring a discredit on this Country if the whole Collection unimpaired in the smallest degree, is not actually returned.

By this Her Majesty will lose an acquisition to her herbarium, which I very much wished to see deposited there, but the National character of Great Britain will certainly gain much credit for holding a conduct towards Science and Scientific men liberal in the highest degree.

Have the goodness, My dear Sir, to state these matters to the Queen on the first convenient opportunity, and do me the farther favour of acquainting me as soon as you can with Her Majesty's pleasure on the subject, add if you please that it is in my power I verily believe to make an addition to Her Majesties Collection as valuable at least as the one in question, that I shall feel myself honored in the extreme if I have permission to do so, and that in case I am so fortunate, I will the moment I return from my annual journey to Lincolnshire, undertake the business of preparing and arranging the plants in such manner as I think the most likely to render them worthy the honor I solicit for them, and for me.

J. Banks. To Majr. Price,

Aug. 4th 1796.'

It is a measure of the forcefulness of Banks's attitude in favour of science, as well as of the esteem in which his views were held by the British Govern- ment, that he was in this way able to reverse the decision of the British Government in spite of the fact that by so doing, a dis-service was done to the Queen and to Louis XVIII who was regarded as the rightful King of



257

France. It was in these circumstances that Banks was able to write the following to his friend de Jussieu.62

[Sir Joseph Banks to Antoine-Laurent deJussieu.]63 'Aug. ioth. 1796.

'Sir, The pleasure I received on seeing again your hand writing after so long

an interval of interruption, was, I can assure you, very sincere. Heaven send that the agitations which have so long distressed your Country have at last finally subsided ! the love of science which manifests itself with so much brilliancy among you is a good omen; may every thing good beside follow in due course, and rapid succession is my sincere wish !

I have infinite pleasure in telling you that our Government granted without, I believe, a moment's hesitation, a Passport to M. Baudin,64 and that they have at last, after some months solicitation, acceded to my wishes respecting M. de Billardieres Collection. I hope within a few days to deliver to M. Charretid 65 the whole that I was able to collect together, I believe all that came to England; a monument to his indefatigable industry that does him immortal honor.

I confess I wish much to learn from his specimens some of those discoveries in the natural order of plants which he must have made, but it seemed to my feelings dishonorable to avail myself even of the opportunity I had of examining them: I of course did not look them over; all will be returned to him. I shall not retain a leaf, a flower, or a Botanical idea of his Collection, for I have not possessed myself of any thing at all of his, that fortune committed to my custody.

However this nation may have appeared to you in a state of calm compared to the Political hurricane you have undergone, it has not been in this state of quiet favourable to the process of Science; little has been done nor will much be effected till the reign of peace returns. The only book

62 Antoine-Laurent deJussieu (I748-i836); born at Lyons, died in Paris; F.R.S. i829;

Director of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle; botanist. 63 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. X, fol. 63. 64 Nicolas Baudin (I75o-i8o3) ; born at Ile de Re, died at Ile de France (Mauritius);

botanist and traveller; he led scientific expeditions to India and the West Indies; and he will be met with again in charge of the French expedition to Australia.

65 M. Charretie; French Commissary in England for the purpose of negotiating an exchange of prisoners.



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that interests you much I send to you, it is published by theE. India Company and possibly may bring some Genera under your inspection that you have not before seen: the fructifications are delineated with accuracy, and if the work goes on, and it seems probable that it will, the Company will do themselves honor, and Science will receive advantage. We have now near 1200 drawings, among which the Grasses and Palms seem to me the most valuable.

Adieu, my dear Sir, think kindly of me; whatever the fortune of War may be, Science and those who possess the liberal views of it which you have ever done will be the nearest to the heart of one who is with distinguished consideration and unvaried esteem

Your most hble Servant, J. Banks.'

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE ROYAL SOCIETY AND THE INSTITUT NATIONAL

There were no provisions against ' communicating with the enemy', and, on both sides of the Channel, men of science realized the desirability of opening and maintaining communications with each other, as the following letters will show. It will be remembered that after the suppression of the Academie Royale des Sciences by the revolutionary Convention on 8 August 1793, that body had only recently been resuscitated under the title of Institut National, by an article of the Constitution of 22 August 1795. The organization of the Institut was laid down by the law of 25 October 1795, and its First Class, representing physical and mathematical sciences, held its first meeting in the Louvre on 27 December I795.66 A French commissary, Monsieur Charretie, had come to England to negotiate on the possibility of an exchange of prisoners, and it was to him that Banks wrote.

[Sir Joseph Banks to M. Charretie] 66a

4 February, 1797.

'I have taken all possible pains to find a way of obtaining from Paris the Scientific Journals published there, especially those that have an account of the proceedings of the Institut National, but hitherto without success.

66 This information is contained in Index Bibliographique des Membres et Correspondants de l'Acaditmie des Sciences de 1666 a 1939, Paris I939.

66aSutro Library, San Francisco, California; Banks Manuscripts, p. II3 of MS. ' Sir Joseph Banks and the Exploration of Africa, I788-i820.' Communicated through the kindness of Mr Homer V. Rutherford.



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I trouble you therefore with this letter, thinking it not improbable that by your intercourse leave may be granted for these Journals to be sent to me and that by the Communication with Paris which you have, whatever that may be, I might occasionally be furnished with them. It would be far better for me to have them sent now and then, tho' many be received at the same time, than to remain without any knowledge of the proceedings of our Brethren in Paris, who are, like us, laboring in the Vinyard of science.

I send you a copy of the list of the Royal Society to show you that the title of Membre d'Institut National is added to all such persons as belong to this institution as far as we know.

[Joseph Banks]'

Next, Banks sought the approval of the Prime Minister.

[SirJoseph Banks to Mr. William Pitt.] 66b

'Soho Square, March 17, 1797.

'Sir Joseph Banks presents his respectful comps to Mr. Pit, & requests the honor of a few minutes conversation with him at any time that may best suit Mr. Pit's convenience, on the subject of opening a communication with Paris for the reception of the Literary Productions of the Members of the Institut National & other scientific persons, some of which are highly interesting to the Royal Society, & for sending in return the Philosophical Transactions, the Greenwich Observations, &c., which have not been sent for some years past. Sir Jo8 has an opportunity of doing this by the means of M. Charretie, Commissary here for the Exchange of Prisoners, if Mr. Pit has no objection to the measure, but wishes for an opportunity of explaining the particulars.'

On the very next day Banks wrote to M. Charretie:

[SirJoseph Banks to M. Charretie'.] 67

'Soho Square, March i8, 1797.

'Sir, I lose not a moment in returning to you my best thanks for the zealous

and effectual steps you have taken to open an intercourse between the 66b Brit. Mus. (Nat. Listt) Banks Corr., vol. X, fol. II5. 67 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. X, fol. ii6.



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Institut National and the Royal Society; such communications cannot be but of material use to the progress of Science, and may also lay the foundation of a better understanding between the two Countries in future than unfortunately for both has of late years taken place.

I hope our Ministers, to whom I have applied for an audience on the subject, will not throw difficulties in the way of its continuance; and I have reason to expect that they will not.

The moment I have my instructions from them I will write fully to you in answer to M. Allamant's obliging paragraph, which you were pleased to communicate to me in your last, in the mean time, I forward to you by the Bearer those volumes of the Philosophical Transactions which M. Lalande 68 mentions as not having been received in the usual course of presents, and also copies of the Greenwich observations in the same predica- ment for the Institut, the National Library and the Observatory.

I return, at the same time, with many thanks, the Books you were so good as to lend to me some days ago, from the perusal of which both myself and several of my friends have received great satisfaction.

I am, Sir, with real esteem and regard

Your faithful and obedient Jos. Banks.'

In spite of the critical phase that hostilities had entered-Bonaparte was fighting his first Italian campaign-it was still possible for Englishmen and Scotsmen to travel in France. In the summer of 1796 Alexander Douglas,69 of Kelso, found himself with his wife in Switzerland, unable to pursue their journey as they had planned on account of the war which then encircled Switzerland on most sides. Douglas therefore wrote directly to Citoyen Charles Delacroix,70 Ministre des Relations Exte'rieures in Paris, to ask for a passport for himself, his wife and suite, and to be allowed to travel through France to Calais on his return to England, because his wife's health was frail and he dreaded the consequences of her travelling by a longer route. In a letter dated 26 Messidor, an 4, the French Minister granted the

68Joseph-Jerome Le Franqois de Lalande (I732-i807); born at Bourg, died in Paris; F.R.S. I763 ; astronomer.

69 Notes of a Journey from Berne to England through France made in the Year 1796. By A. D., Kelso, n.d.

70 Charles de la Constant Delacroix (I740-I8o5) ; born in Champagne, died at Bordeaux ; statesman, father of Eugene Delacroix the painter.



26i

passport; and Mr Douglas and his family entered France on 3 September I796, spent some days in Paris, and sailed from Calais on 28 September.

In the following year, when Bracy Clark 71 made his way to Lausanne after having been captured at sea by a French ship, it was perfectly normal for an application to be made on his behalf on 30 November I797 to Citoyen Talleyrand,72 Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres, for Clark to be allowed to travel through France to see the veterinary establishments in that country. The whole of Switzerland was invaded by the French shortly afterwards, and it is not known if Clark's application was granted. It is known, however, that he was back in England by the summer of I799.73

THE CAPTIVITY OF DOLOMIEU

In that same year 1799, Deodat de Dolomieu,74 who had been a member of the scientific staff accompanying Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt, sailed back to France but was captured at Taranto on 20 March, and imprisoned by the Government of the Kingdom of Naples under very harsh conditions. The reasons for this were that Dolomieu was a Knight of Malta, and it was (falsely) alleged that he had facilitated the capture of the island by the French. Banks heard of this in the following letter addressed to him by the Commissioner of the French Government in England for exchange of prisoners of war.

[Citoyen Nion to SirJoseph Banks.] 75 ' Londres, le i8 sept. I799.

'Nion, Commissaire du Gouvernemennqt fraais en Angleterre 'a Monsieur le chevalier Banks, President de la Societe royale a Londres.

'Monsieur, Je viens de recevoir une depeche de mon Gouvernement dont j'ai

l'honneur de vous envoyer copie: j'y joint trois lettres et un paquet qui 71 Bracy Clark (I77i-i860); born at Chipping Norton; founder of modern veterinary

practice. 72 Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord (I754-i838); statesman. 73 G. R. de Beer: Un Anglais temoin de la revolution Vaudoise, Revue Historique

Vaudoise, vol. 57, I949, p. 83. 74 Deodat-Guy-Sylvain-Tancrede Gratet de Dolomieu (I75o-i8oi); born at Dolomieu

(Isere) ; geologist. 75 MS. in the library of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, quoted by kind

permission of the Director, M. Roger Heim.



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vous sont adresses par 1'institut national de France. Le tout vous parviendra par la voice du Transport office qui veut bien se charger de vous le faire passer, votre absence de Londres m'ayant prive de vous le remettre moi- meme.

Qu'il me soit permis, Monsieur, de joindre mes instances 'a celles des

DEODAT DE DOLOMIEU

From the drawing and engraving by Fremy.

savants estimables qui vous parlent en faveur du malheureux Dolomieu. Avant que les evenements politiques m'eussent porter aux fonctions qui m'occupent, j'avais aussi employee plus de 35 ans de ma vie a l'Etude des sciences exactes. Elles font meme encore le charme de tous les instants dont je peux disposer, et a ce titre, l'infortune qui est l'objet de cette lettre m'inspire d'autant plus d'interet.

Si le Cen. Dolomieu etait prisonnier de 1'Angleterre, votre Gouvernement m'a donned depuis i6 mois que je reside aupres de lui, trop de preuves de sa



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loyaute, de son exactitude a remplir les conditions du Cartel d'Echanges que j'ai conclu avec lui, pour que le renvoi en France de ce savant souffrit la moindre difficult. Mais Dolomieu est dans les fers du Roi de Naples, et ma position actuelle ne me met pas a meme d'avoir de rapports avec le Ministre de cette Cour a Londres. C'est donc a vous, Monsieur, a qui j'ai reccours dans cette occasion en vous priant de vouloir bien employer vos bons offices et votre credit pour que l'Ambassadeur du Roi de la Grande Bretagne a Naples, soit charge de reclamer la liberty du malheureux prisonnier dont il s'agit.

Chez tous les peuples civilises les fureurs, les desordres de la guerre ont semble epargner les hommes qui par leurs lumieres ont honored l'EspNe humaine. Leurs connaissances les rendant utiles a tous, le monde entier est leur Patrie, tous les savants de l'univers sont leurs amis, leurs protecteurs.

Si vous daignez, Monsieur, faire dans la circonstance present l'application de cette doctrine que est bien dans votre coeur, j'en suis assure, le succes de ma demande est certain, et je vois dejaN les fers de mon compatriot brises.

J'ai l'honneur d'etre avec une respectueuse consideration, Monsieur,

Votre tries humble serviteur. Nion.'

No sooner had Banks received this news than, with as little delay as possible, he took what steps he could with the British Government, with Sir William Hamilton,76 then Ambassador in Naples, with Lady Hamilton,77 then a favourite with the Queen of Naples, and with Lord Nelson, then a favourite with Lady Hamilton. The following is the text of Banks's letter to Hamilton.

[Sir Joseph Banks to Sir William Hamilton.] 78

Nov. 8 I 799. 'My dear Sir William,

It is now long since I have written to you or had the pleasure of receiving a Letter from you. I have therefore the greater satisfaction in saluting you under better circumstances and in pleasanter times than those which have passed away, and in hoping sincerely that the intercourse which is now

76 Sir William Hamilton (o730-i803); F.R.S. I766. 77 Emma Hart (I76i ?-i8i5). 78 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XI, fol. 313.



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opened between us may never again be interrupted by the success of our enemies.

The more immediate object of this Letter is the present situation of Dolomieu: he is confin'd, as I am told, by the Government of Naples under a charge which we here find it difficult to comprehend, and is in some danger of being tried as a Criminal, tho' his situation appears to a common observer clearly to be that of a Prisoner of War.

You have no idea how much sensation his confinement has made in the Literary world here, and how anxious men of Science feel in all parts of Europe for his Liberation: in my little way of correspondence I have already had more than 30 signatures of men of Letters, anxiously enquiring whether it is possible anything can be done to save him.

Whatever Dolomieu has done while under the command of Bonaparte by that General's order, surely cannot be considered as Criminal: who is there who can, or ought to resist the command of the General of the army to which he is attach'd ? and if he does resist the commands of a man, whose vengeance has hitherto uniformly preceded his justice, and in whose breast mercy (as appears by his conduct in Syria) has no place, what can he expect ? Our favorite English Laws, my dear Sir William, The Law of reason and laws of nations agree to throw a veil over crimes committed under the influence of irresistible power; and surely the power of Bonaparte at the head of his Egyptian army, stained with the innocent blood of half Italy, hungering and thirsting for the treasures of the Order of Malta must be admitted as irresistible.

That Dolomieu has long ago devoted himself to Science is well known: in the pursuit of it he has brav'd the danger of Calabrian Banditti, and encountered a thousand other difficulties which very few other men would have voluntarily subjected themselves to: that his reason for going to Egypt was scientific and not political, I have no doubt ; and that he is at this moment animated by a sincere wish to advance human knowledge; and that he is able from his observations in Egypt to do it much service, is clear; where then can be the objection to release him ? Should he be inclined to Political interference, what can his influence do ? He is not among those who have grasp'd at power, or is he ever likely to obtain it: no mischief can then accrue from his release ; but, if the gratitude of thousands of learned men whose eyes are now steadily fix'd on his situation and its circumstance is an object to the King of Naples, or to you, it may be immediately secured by this measure. Solicit his release then, my dear Sir William, and try to obtain his liberty; you have obliged me on a



265

thousand occasions, as I am willing to testify; and I hope I have been ever ready to obey your commands with zeal; but there is nothing I have ever ask'd of you in which I have taken a tenth part of the interest I now feel in the hopes of Dolomieu's being by your means restored to the service of science, and his Egyptian Observations being rescued from the Oblivion of an untimely grave.

[Jos: Banks]'

In the following letter, which was addressed to Lady Hamilton it is easy to identify the Gallant Admiral.

[SirJoseph Banks to Lady Hamilton.] 79

Nov. 8 I 799. 'My dear Lady Hamilton,

I have ever been convinc'd of your friendly disposition towards me; but the readyness of my friend, Sir Wm, to anticipate on all occasions my wishes has been so constant hitherto that I have never before been under the necessity of putting your Ladyship's friendship to the tryal.

Now, however, a business has occurred which cannot, I am convinced, be effected unless both your influences are united in soliciting it. If it is possible to engage the Gallant Admiral to join the Trio, which is in the power of no one but yourself, what may I not hope in every thing from the warmth of your friendship ? If the debilitating climate which you have lately inhabited has not damp'd its ardor.

What I wish for is the liberation of Dolomieu, who for the honor of the Kingdom of Naples, ought to be Liberated; because he is and must [be] considered as a Prisoner of War, and cannot be made answerable by the Law of nations for actions done by him under the order of his Com- mander in Chief. I need not trouble you with details on the subject, as Sir William will, no doubt, shew you my Letter to him, by which you will find how lively an interest the scientific persons in Europe take in his fate.

Allow me, my dear Lady, to be indebted to you for a favor which no one but yourself can effect: your influence is, as it ought to be, unbounded. Gloriously as you are now circumstanc'd, having at least a third part of the merit of replacing the Crown on the head of their Sicilian Majesties, undertake the business with your usual spirit: it will be for the honor of the court of Naples, for the advancement of Science, for the benefit of humanity,

79Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XI, fol. 3P6. MAY I952 S



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and will fix an indelible obligation on one who has the honor of signing himself

with sincere regard and real esteem, your faithfull Hble Servant

[Jos Banks.]'

Meanwhile, Dolomieu's sister, Mnie Alexandrine de Dree wrote the following letter to Banks on her own accord:

[Mme de Dre'e to Sir Joseph Banks.]80

'Paris, I3 Nivose an 8. [2 January I800]

'Je profite, monsieur le Chevalier, de l'ocasion [sic] que me procure le depart de Mr le Chevalier Barclai,81 pour vous offrir les temoignages sinceres de la reconnaissance de toute une famille et de la mienne en particu- lier sur le vif interet que vous avez daigne prendre au sort cruel de mon frere Dolomieu.

Plusieurs exemples donnes par votre gouvernement avoient appris que dans les ames vraiment grandes, les actes de generosity ne sont pas restreintes par les querelles politiques, et nous ne pouvions douter de voir accueillir l'objet de nos voeux, les soins de faire connaitre l'injustice dont mon frere a ete la victime etant confines a l'homme dont la philosophic et les sciences s'honorent egalement, aussi avons nous eu des esperances des l'instant que nous avons su que vous aviez bien voulu prendre a coeur les interets de ce savant.

L'estimable Mr. Barclai qui n'a su se venger que par des bienfaits et qui nous a temoigne le plus grand interest pour mon frere, vous apprendra la maniere loyale avec laquelle le gouvernement fran~ais vient d'agir envers plusieurs strangers qui pouvoient etre regards comme otages, et surtout envers Mr de Caradoli, secretaire de la legation Napolitaine dont l'echange avait ete proposee contre Dolomieu.

Nous ne doutons pas que ces nouvelles circonstances presentees par une grande puissance a la cour de Naples, ne doivent influer sur le sort de notre malheureux naturalist dont 1'innocence ne peut plus etre un probleme.

80 MS. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 81 Sir Robert Barclay, bart. (1755-I839), had been taken prisoner by the French in

I798 and tried for his alleged complicity in a mission to Hamburg, but acquitted and released on i9 November I799.



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Veuillez donc, Monsieur, lui continuer vos bons offices, et croire qu'il m'est doux de vous offrir avec les sentiments de la profonde estime qui vous est acquise, le tribut de ma reconnaissance.

de Dree. nee Dolomieu.'

Shortly afterwards, Banks reported to the French Commissioner in England on the steps which he had taken to obtain Dolomieu's release. He also gave some information which he thought would interest the Institut National. The French Translation of this letter is as follows:

[SirJoseph Banks to Citoyen Nion.] 82

' Soho Square, 8 janvier i8oo.

'Au Cen Nion, Commissaire du Gouvernement francais, en Angleterre.

' Mr Ayant ete retenu au lit depuis tries longtemps, je n'ai pu vous informer qu'apres avoir eu le plaisir de vous voir, je n'ai point perdu de temps pour ecrire a Naples et que j'ai ete assez heureux pour que mes lettres fussent envoyees avec les depeches du Gouvernement peu de jours apres qu'elle ont ete ecrites. J'ai tout lieu de croire qu'elles sont en ce moment parvenues a leur destination.

J'ai ecrit en meme temps a Sir William et a Lady Hamnilton avec l'6nergie et le zele dont je suis capable en les priant d'interceder le roy de Naples en faveur de Dolomieu et d'engager lord Nelson, s'il est possible, de se joindre a cette demande aupres de sa majesty Sicilienne.

Je ne puis assurer quel sera le resultat: des personnes de peu de consequences ont quelquefois amene a leur fm des evenements importans. Tout ce que je puis vous dire, c'est qu'aucuns moiens imaginables n'ont ete ni ne seront omis de ma part tant qu'il y aura la moindre apparance de pouvoir etre utile a Dolomieu et de remplir les desirs de mes amis de l'Institut. Ils seront bien aise d'apprendre que M. Homeman,83 voyageur de l'Association Africaine qui a recu le traitement le plus doux de votre Premier Consul Bonaparte, au Caire, a reussi de se rendre de cette Place a Fezzan. II a passe la Sierva et s'est assure en suivant les traces des Ruines des murailles qui ont entoure le petit batiment observe par M. Brown 84 pour avoir ete

82 MS. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 83 Friedrich Konrad Hornemann (1772-c. 1800); author of Travels from Cairo to

Mourzouk, &c., London, i802. 84 William George Brown (1768-i813) ; oriental traveller.



268

reellement le temple de Jupiter Hammon. Horneman est retourne de Fezzan a Tripoli, d'oui il a renvoye son journal que nous sommes impatients de voir. I1 se disposait a partir en novembre pour le sud et avoit l'espoir de visiter Tombouctou, Housa, Ashna, ainsi que toutes les grandes villes d'Afrique, au nord de la riviere Joliba ou Gulbi, qu'il consider etre le department de son voyage et o u il a l'intention de rester 3 ou 5 ans.

Quand vous croirez pouvoir envoyer 'a Paris les Transactions philoso- phiques et autres livres de literature que j'ai pour l'Institut, je vous les adresserai: il y a, je pense, plus d'un an qu'il n'en a ete expedite d'ici pour eux.

Je suis, Mr. avec regard et respect votre, etc., Joseph Banks.

Pour traduction, signed Guillaume. Pour copie conforme,

Le chef de la 6e division du Ministere de la Marine et des Colonies,

Bonjour.'

The Neapolitan authorities continued to be inexorable, and on 2 May i8oo, six members of the Institut National, belonging to several of its Classes took the opportunity of a request which they made for facilities for a French scientific expedition to the far east to appeal to Banks as President of the Royal Society to intercede on Dolomieu's behalf.

[Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu and others to Sir Joseph Banks.] 85

'Paris, le 26 floral an VIII. [2 May i800.]

'Sir Joseph Banks, President de la Societe royale de Londres.

'L'Institut national de France a desire de voir commencer tries promptement plusieurs voyages lointains utiles au progress des connaissances humaines. Son voeu a ete accueilli par notre Gouvernement, qui vient de donner les ordres necessaires pour faire preparer le plus tot possible des expeditions dirigees par d'habiles marins ainsi que par des savants eclaires et qui va faire aupres du Gouvernement de votre pays les demarches propres "a obtenir pour nos batiments des passeports ou des sauf-conduits. L'Institut national a pense que c'etait precisement dans le moment ou la guerre pese

86 MS. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.



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encore sur le globe, que les amis de l'humanite devaient travailler pour elle, en reculant les limites des sciences et des arts utiles, par des entreprises semblables a celles qui ont immortalise les grands navigateurs de nos deux nations et les savants illustres qui, Monsieur, ont parcouru les terres ou les mers pour etudier la nature avec le plus de success.

Notre haute estime pour vous, Monsieur le Chevalier, et pour vos Confreres, les membres de la Societe Royale, ne nous a pas permis de douter que vous ne partageassiez nos sentiments a cet regard. Nous nous empressons donc de vous prier de vouloir bien, comme membre des plus distingues de la republique des lettres, vous interesser aupres de votre Gouvernement et avec le zele que vous ont touj ours inspire les travaux utiles " l'espece humaine, pour le renouvellement de ces marques de respect envers les sciences que nos deux nations ont donnees plus d'une fois et par consequent pour la prompte expedition des passeports qui vont etre demands.

Nous ne pouvons nous entretenir avec vous de sciences et d'humanite, sans recommender de nouveau et le plus vivement possible a toute votre solicitude, notre celebre confrere Dolomieu, qui depuis plus d'un an languit, contre le droit des gens, dans une captivity d'autant plus affreuse qu'il est prive de tout moyen d'ecrire, de lire, et de connaitre le grand interet qu'il fait eprouver a l'Europe savante et a presque tous les gouvernements. Nous ne doutons pas que vous ne renouvelliez vos instances en faveur de ce naturalist si recommendable a tous regards, et nous attendons le plus heureux success de la juste influence dont vous jouissez.

Nous vous prions, Monsieur le Chevalier, d'agreer le temoignage de la haute consideration et de tous les sentiments que vous inspired.

Jussieu,86 Camus,87 Laplace,88 Bougainville,89 Fleurieu,90 Dutheil,91 Lacepede.92'

This letter was transmitted to Banks through the good offices of the French Commissioner in London, M. Otto,93 with the following covering letter:

86 See footnote 62. 87 Armand-Gaston Camus (i740-i804). 88 See footnote ii0. 89 Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (i72I9-81i); F.R.S. I756. 90 Charles-Pierre Claret, Comte de Fleurieu (I73 8-I8i0). 91 Franqois-Jean-Gabriel La Porte Du Theil (i742-i8i5). 92 See footnote 27. 93 Louis-Guillaume Otto, Comte de Mosloy (I754-i8I7).



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[Louis-Guillaume Otto to Sir Joseph Banks. ]94

' Londres le 20 Prairial an 8 de la Republique Francaise.

9 June i8oo.

Le Commissaire de la Republique Francaise en Angleterre,

A Monsieur le chevalier Banks, President de la Societe Royale des Sciences.

'Monsieur le Chevalier, L'Institut National de France me charge de vous remettre la lettre, ci

jointe, qui a pour objet de demander votre appui pour obtenir des lettres de recommendation et les passeports necessaires pour deux batimens Francais, prets a partir pour continuer les decouvertes utiles que vos Navigateurs font dans leurs voyages autour du Globe. Je viens de faire ofliciellement la meme demande pres de Votre Governement.

Je suis charge aussi de vous remercier des demarches que vous aves deja faites en faveur du malheureux Dolomieu. Vous verres par les lettres ci jointes qui m'ont ete communiquees par le Ministre de la Marine, que ce savant est toujours dans la position la plus penible et la plus alarmante. I1 importe a la Republique des lettres, que les Observations et decouvertes precieuses de cet homme justement celebre ne Soient point perdues pour ses contemporains, et c'est avec la plus grande confiance en Votre humanity et en Votre zele pour les Sciences, que je vous recommande de nouveau ses interets.

J'ai l'honneur d' etre avec la plus haute consideration, Monsieur

Votre tries humble et tries obeissant Serviteur

Otto.'

As has already been seen, Banks had taken action to help Dolomieu six months previously, and returned the following answer:

[Sir Joseph Banks to Louis-Guillaume Otto. Draft written on the back of the letter from Louis-Guillaume Otto to Sir Joseph Banks, dated 9June, i8oo.]95

94 MS. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 95 MS. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.



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'Sir, 'June 13 In Obedience to the request of my friends the Commissioners of the

National Institute instructed by their Government with the charge of recommending voyages of discovery likely to promote the progress of usefull sciences I have made immediate application to the King's Ministers here and am happy to say that I find in them every proper disposition to promote as all men of education ought to do the increase and improvement of human knowledge by whatever nation it may be undertaken. I cannot therefore assume any merits to myself for disposing them to a compliance they on their own accord readily have given to the general Plan. If however any difficulties occurr in the arrangements of the Passports I will most willingly use my utmost endeavors & promote arrangements on that head satisfactory to the National Institute provided they do not interfere with the necessary precautions which every nation must adopt for the security of their Colonies and the consequent prosperity of the Realm.

Respecting the melancholy situation of that valuable and worthy man Le Chevr. Dolomieu, beg them to be assured that no measures have been or will be left untried by me which seem likely to foster his Liberation or in any degree to administer consolation to his distress. I am sorry to say that hitherto I have been completely unsuccessful at which I am not surprised when I consider how feeble an effect the efforts of an individual wholly unconnected with Political Pursuits can be expected to produce, and even however willing and desirous the English Cabinet may be and I verily believe they really are to do service to a man who has deserved so well from the literary world, and however certain it [is] that they would, were he a prisoner to England immediately offer to him his liberty, their interference with a distant Court, whatever it may have been, or, still may be, can only be carried on with the most correct delicacy and the most guarded precaution and cannot be pressed with any vigor lest zeal or interference in a case that does not directly concern them would give disgust to a power whose friendship they at present cultivate with great care and attention. I beg however to assure my much respected friends of the National Institute that my efforts will continue and be made without any diminution of their energy in every direction where I can be [hopeful] of any degree of success and that they will not cease as long as a valuable man who is the object of them continues in a situation capable of profiting by the endeavours of his friends to serve him.'



272

The French translation of this letter, forwarded to the Institut National by the French Ministry of Marine and Colonies was as follows:

[SirJoseph Banks to Cen Louis-Guillaume Otto.] 96

' Soho Square, le I3 juin i8oo.

'Sir Joseph Banks, President de la Societe royale de Londres au Cen Otto, Commissaire de la Republique francaise en Angleterre.

'Mr, conformement a la demande de mes amis de l'Institut national, charges par leur Gouvernement de faire connaitre les voyages de decouvertes propres a reculer les limites des sciences, je me suis de suite adresse aux Ministres de S.M. et c'est avec plaisir que je puis dire que je les ai trouves tries disposes a faciliter (ainsi que le doivent les hommes instruits) acquisition des connoissances humaines quelque soit la nation qui s'en occupe. Je ne me ferai donc pas un merite d'avoir procure un assentiment qu'ils ont donned de leur propre mouvement. Si cependant il s'elevoit quelques difficulties dans la redaction des passeports, je ferai tous mes efforts pour que les arrangements qui seront pris soient conformes aux intentions de l'Institut national; pourvu toutefois qu'elles s'accordent avec les precautions que chaque nation doit prendre pour la su'rete de ses colonies et pour l'interet de son Gouvernement.

Relativement a la malheureuse situation dans laquelle l'habile et respectable Dolomieu se trouve en ce moment, je prie mes arnis d' etre bien convaincus que j'ai employee et employerai tous les moiens qui me paraitront pouvoir lui procurer sa liberty ou au moins quelque soulagement dans son infortune. Je suis fache d'avoir a ajouter que jusqu'a present mes demarches ont ete infructueuses: je n'en suis pas surpris en considerant le peu de success qu'on doit attendre des efforts d'un individu qui est absolument hors de la carriere politique. D'ailleurs quelques soient l'intention et le desir des ministres de S.M. Britannique d' etre utiles a un homme qui a si bien merite de la Republique des lettres (et je crois qu'a cet regard leur desir est sincere) et quelque filt leur empressement de le faire mettre en liberty s'il etoit prisonnier en Angleterre, ce n'est qu'avec beaucoup de circonspection et de management qu'ils peuvent faire usage de leur mediation pres d'une cour eloignee, et ils n'en peuvent presser 1'effet avec vigueur, dans la crainte que leur entremise dans une affaire qui ne les concerne pas directement, ne

96 MS. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.



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deplaise a une puissance dont ils cultivent en ce moment l'amitie avec beaucoup d'attention. Je prie cependant mes respectables amis de l'Institut national d' etre assures que je continuerai sans relache et avec le meme zele a diriger mes efforts vers tous les points d'oui je pourrai esperer quelque success, tant que l'homme de merite qui en est l'objet sera dans une situation ou les bons offices de ses amis pourront lui Atre utiles.

J'ai l'honneur d' etre avec consideration et respect, etc. Banks.

Pour copie conforme, Le chef de la 6e division de minister de la marine et des colonies,

Bonjour.'

Finally, there is a draft of a letter from Banks to an unspecified lady who had apparently added her voice to the chorus of appeals in favour of Dolomieu.

[SirJoseph Banks to (?).]97

[undated: i8oo] 'Madam

My Feeble endeavours to break the Chains of the meritorious Dolomieu have not been wanting nor will my mind I hope ever remain inactive where there are hopes of Releiving Genius when oppressed from the Tyranny of those who know not how to estimate its value.

From you Madam I have received my Reward the Portrait you have sent me revives in my worn out frame the Remembrance of what Beauty effected upon it when it was endowed with sensibility of youth and the idea that form is in your case endowd with the mind of a Muse has given me some idea of Perfection inhabiting this Lower world.

Accept then madam this Effusion of Gratitude for the Pleasure I have receivd in viewing your Portrait & reading your voices & believe me

with sincere Gratitude & perfect admiration

Your most humble Servt. J.B.'

Banks failed to obtain Dolomieu's release, but he succeeded in procuring an amelioration of the conditions of Dolomieu's detention and a reduction of the severity of his confinement. Dolomieu was aware of the efforts

"I MS. in possession of G. R. de Beer.



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which the British were making on his behalf, and deeply gratified. He was eventually released at the end of March i8oi, as a result of one of the first conditions laid down by Napoleon for an armistice. As soon as Banks heard this good news, he wrote to Dolomieu a letter which is of interest not only because it outlines the steps which he had taken, but also because Banks was at pains to show that the Royal Society as a body took no part in the activities in which the Fellows, as private persons, had been so diligent. At the same time Banks made no attempt to hide his admiration for the manner in which the French Government and Napoleon supported science. The letter is as follows:

[SirJoseph Banks to De'odat de Dolomieu.] 98

'Soho Square, July i6th, i8oi. Sir,

I seize with pleasure the opportunity which the return of Mr. de Drais 99 affords me, of congratulating you on your safe arrival in your own Country, on the re-establishment of your health, and, more particularly, on your having escaped the persecution which the ill judged conduct of the Court of Naples subjected you to.

I felt anxiously desirous to assist in bringing about your liberation; and, as I had the good fortune to enjoy an intimate acquaintance with Sir Wm and Lady Hamilton, and I trust some share of Lord Nelson's friendship, I took every measure in my power, and used every argument that I could suggest, to interest these my Friends to sollicit your release; and they did, I am sure, their utmost endeavours to obtain it. Their applications to the Government of Naples as well as to the King and Queen were numerous and pressing ; and, altho' I was grieved to learn that nothing was obtained by their intercession, except that your confinement was rendered less strict and severe, I was consoled by finding that their endeavours did not cease, and that, even after they returned to England, your hard fate was the subject of Letters from Lady Hamilton to the Queen of Naples, then in Germany.

Tho', Sir, your unfortunate situation caused a visible regret in all men of Science here, who were acquainted with the active part you have always taken in promoting the increase of human knowledge, and tho' all of them in their private capacities, I have no doubt, did all in their power to promote an interference of our Government in your favour, yet, Sir, it is necessary I

98 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XII, fol. 240. 99 Monsieur de Dree was Dolomieu's brother-in-law.



27$

should inform you that the Royal Society, as a body, took no measure whatever, or indeed ever publickly took cognizance of your situation; we in England, Sir, are as firmly attached to Royal Government as you can be to Republican; and, whatever our private wishes might be, we did not think it proper or decent to speculate upon the conduct of a King, whose motives we could not be acquainted with; or, as a public body, to take matters of a political nature in any shape under our consideration. I hope and trust therefore that you have not in any public manner noticed your belief of the Royal Society having, as a body, interfered in your favour; as I am quite sure you have no well grounded reason for such an opinion.

I shall be glad, Sir, to hear that you have resumed your pen; and the more so if you employ it in illustrating the Geology of Egypt; the treasure of knowledge which you have brought fiom thence must be invaluable; for, as that Country is now likely to be again abandoned to its illiterate and uncivilized inhabitants, ages may pass away before Science again gains an opportunity of investigating the things you have seen and are able to describe. We English, tho' much attached to Science, have not, as your Chief Consul did, sent learned men with our Army; our successes therefore, if Heaven should favour us with success, will be productive of political advantages only, while Science, unthought of by Rulers, must look to France alone for having blended Learning with her Arms and gathered knowledge beneficial to the whole race of men with those Laurels which to our Commanders will be the fruitless ornament of successful valour.

I am Sir, with much consideration and regards

Your faithful and humble Servant Jos: Banks.'

In gratitude to Banks for his endeavours and in spite of the fact that the war was still in progress, the First Class of the Institut National elected him a Foreign Associate on 26 December i8oi. Of the five remaining seats for Foreign Associates which were vacant before i803, four were allotted to Englishmen: Maskelyne, Priestley, Herschel, and Cavendish.

Shortly after his release, Dolomieu made a journey through the Alps in the summer of i 8oi, and near Lausanne he met James Watt,100 the younger, who was on his way to Paris. As Dolomieu's biographer remarks, 'Le gouvernement francais, qui croit que les nations peuvent bien se faire la

100James Watt the younger (1769-i848); F.R.S. i820; son of the inventor of the steam-engine.



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guerre, sans que les sciences y prennent part, lui a donned un passport pour se rendre a Paris.' 101

THE PEACE OF AMIENS

Such, then, was the state of scientific opinion when in 1802 the prospect of peace between Great Britain and France led a number of Englishmen to cross the Channel even before the peace of Amiens was officially signed (on 25 March 1802), so great was their eagerness to revisit places from which they had been excluded by ten years of war. Among these was Sir Charles Blagden,102 F.R.S., who sailed from Dover and landed at Calais on i8 March I802.

The ties which united Blagden to France were strong and numerous. In I783 he had visited Lavoisier in his laboratory, told him about Cavendish's experiments, and had seen Lavoisier's triumphant demonstration of the composition of water.'03 In I787 he had accompanied Cassini de Thury,104 Mechain,105 and Le Gendre 106 back from England to France to help with the trigonometric observations whereby the difference in longitude between the meridians of Greenwich and of Paris was measured.107 In I792 Blagden had seen Paris just before the massacre of the Tuilleries, and had had difficulty in getting out of the city.108 Most of the French men of science were personally known to him, and it is therefore not surprising that he should have taken an early opportunity of visiting them after so long a period of enforced separation.

101 Quoted from T. C. Bruun-Neergaard: Journal du dernier voyage du Cen. Dolomieu dans les Alpes, Paris, an i0-1802.

102 Sir Charles Blagden (I748-i820) ; F.R.S. I772; Secretary of the Royal Society I784-I797; chemist and physiologist.

103 Blagden's letters on this subject will appear shortly in these pages, edited by Dr Douglas McKie.

104Jacques-Dominique Cassini de Thury (I748-i845); F.R.S. I789; Director of the Observatoire.

105 Pierre-Franqois-Andre Mechain (I744-i804); born at Laon, died at Castellon de la Plana (Spain); F.R.S. I789; astronomers.

106 Adrien-Marie Le Gendre (I752-i833) ; born and died in Paris ; F.R.S. I789; geometrician.

107 G. R. de Beer: Some Letters of Sir Charles Blagden, Notes and Records, 8, i95i, P. 255.

108 G. R. de Beer: Some Letters of Sir Charles Blagden, Notes and Records, 8, I95I, p. 257; and G. R. de Beer: The Diary of Sir Charles Blagden, Notes and Records, 8, I95I, p. 65.



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Blagden's impressions of his visit to France are contained in his manu- script Diary which is preserved in the Archives of the Royal Society, but is difficult to decipher. In addition, however, he wrote regularly to Sir Joseph Banks, and copies of these letters are preserved in the British Museum (Natural History).

In these letters, Blagden gave Banks detailed accounts of the meetings of the First Class of the Institut National, as well as news of his friends Berthollet,109 Laplace,110 Lacepede,111 Lalande,112 Lagrange,113 Mechain,114 Biot,115 Cuvier,116 Broussonet,117 and many others, including the younger James Watt who was still in Paris.

Of great interest are Blagden's remarks on his meetings with Napoleon, then First Consul. Napoleon was very assiduous in his inquiries after Banks and his health, and whether he was coming to Paris. He also informed Blagden of his intention to propose the award of a prize for discoveries in 'galvanism' in which he was deeply interested, as in many other matters such as the platypus which Banks had presented to the Paris Museum. Always keen on cementing the friendship between French and British men of science, Blagden suggested to Banks that it would be very politic if a pair of live kangaroos were presented to the First Consul, to adorn the park of his residence at St Cloud. Altogether, Napoleon made such a deep impression on Blagden as a patron of science that in his letter of 25 May i802, Blagden told Banks that 'I should recommend the choosing him a fellow of the R[oyal] S [ociety] in the most honourable manner that could be done '.118 The archives of the Royal Society are silent about the candi- dature of Bonaparte, Napoleon.

109 Claude-Louis Berthollet (I748-i822); born at Talloire (Annecy); died at Arcueil; F.R.S. I789; chemist.

110 Pierre-Simon Laplace (I749-i827); born at Beaumont-en-Auge, died at Arcueil; F.R.S. I789; chemist.

111 See footnote 27. 112 See footnote 68. 3Joseph-Louis Lagrange (I736-i813); born at Turin, died in Paris; F.R.S. I79I;

mathematician. 114 See footnote io5. 115 Jean-Baptiste Biot (I774-i862) ; born and died in Paris; F.R.S. i8i5 ; physicist;

Rumford medallist of the Royal Society i840. 11" Georges-Leopold-Chretien-Frederic-Dagobert, baron Cuvier (I769-i832) ; born at

Montbeliard, died in Paris; F.R.S. i8o6; naturalist. 117 Pierre-Auguste-Marie Broussonet (I76i-i807); born and died in Montpellier;

F.R.S. I782; naturalist. 118 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Listt) Banks Corr., vol. XIII, fol. I28.



278

There are many homely touches in Blagden's letters, as in that of 8 May i802 in which he described his presentation to Josephine 'who after a few general expressions, began to talk to me about Mrs. Damer 119 and Miss Berry; 120 she spoke of the former's talent for statuary, and mentioned with approbation the busts of Lord Nelson and Mr. Charles Fox; and said, that, though she had not seen those Gentlemen herself, yet that friends of hers who knew them had assured her that the busts were extremely like. I then said, that you had informed me that Mrs. Damer was making up a parcel of seeds to send her. She replied, that she had spoken to Mrs. Damer of her taste for plants, and that the seeds would be acceptable. Be so good as to communicate this conversation to Mrs. Damer, as a proof that the people here are not ignorant of her talents in the manner Miss Berry supposed.' 121

Blagden returned to England on 5 May i803, and it was as well for him that he did so, for on i8 May war broke out afresh and on 22 May Napoleon issued an order that all Englishmen in France between the ages of i8 and 6o were to be detained as prisoners of war. Napoleon also showed personal animosity against Blagden, for Laplace told Richard Chenevix,122 F.R.S., 'that the first Consul was convinced that I had been a spy of the English Government, and was very angry with him and Berthollet for the good reception they gave me '*123 Napoleon even went so far as to claim that he could prove this, and that ' le premier Consul avait dit des choses devant Mr. B.- seul, et qu'il les avait ensuite vues dans les papiers Anglais, etc.'.124 Against this, as Blagden was able to point out to Banks, ' the first Consul never spoke to me alone; two or more other persons were always partaking of the conversation or within hearing; consequently I could not think myself bound to secrecy, much less responsible that nothing of what he said should be known. Some of his observations, however, I have never divulged; but solely from an apprehension that the knowledge of them might do mischief.' Blagden's French friends did not abandon him, for in the following year he was elected a Correspondent of the Institut National.

119 Anne Seymour Darner, nee Conway (I749-i828) sculptress. 120 Mary Berry (I763-I852) ; diarist and journalist. 121 This disproves the passage in Extracts from the Journal and Correspondence of Miss Berry

(London i866), vol. II, p. i87. 122 Richard Chenevix (I774-i830) ; F.R.S. i8oi ; chemist. 123 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XIV, fol. ISO. 124 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Listt) Banks Corr., vol. XIV, fol. I57.



279

THE INTERNMENT OF ENGLISHMEN

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the earth, British and French men of science were cooperating on excellent terms. Largely at the instigation of Banks, Captain Matthew Flinders,125 R.N., had set out in the Investigator with Robert Brown,126 F.R.S., to survey the coasts of Australia in July i8oi. A French expedition had also set out for the same waters, under Nicolas Baudin,127 in the ships Le Geiographe and Le Naturaliste. On 8 April i802, Flinders met Baudin in Encounter Bay, and as the French ships' companies were suffering badly from scurvy and other sickness, he suggested that they should put in to Port Jackson and refresh themselves. There, every facility was given them to recover, and to refit and repair their ships. Baudin's gratitude was expressed in an open letter which he addressed to the French Governors of Isle de France (Mauritius) and Reunion, and of which twelve copies were left with Governor King at Port Jackson, with the names left blank so as to be entered later in favour of any British Captain who was making the passage home. It is one of the harsh ironies of history, and a dark page in the records of Anglo-French cultural relations, that Captain Matthew Flinders himself, bearing one of Baudin's letters, ignorant of the fact that war had broken out again, on his return to England in the Cumberland, 29 tons, short of water and provisions, put in to Isle de France on iS December i803, and was detained as a prisoner by General Decaen for seven years, until i3 June i8io. Nor should blame fall too heavily on Decaen, who only did his duty as he saw it.

Presently, Baudin's ship Le Naturaliste, laden with all the specimens of natural history which had been collected, returned to France, and on entering the English Channel was intercepted on 27 May i803, by the British ship La Minerve, and taken into Portsmouth Harbour. It was released on 6 June at the express orders of the Admiralty.

But if the news of the interception of the Le Naturaliste contributed to determine Decaen to detain Flinders, the news of its release was instrumental in enabling another Briton, Dr Charles Maclean, to leave France. On 5 July i803 Maclean wrote to the GrandJuge asking for permission to leave France,

125 Captain Matthew Flinders, R.N. (I774-i8I4); hydrographer. 126 Robert Brown (I773-i858) ; F.R.S. i8ii ; botanist. 127 See footnote 64.



280

and he had the good fortune to meet by chance a French naval surgeon whom he had known in Batavia ten years before, when Maclean was a surgeon in Sir Charles Mitchell's squadron and the Frenchman was a prisoner of war. Maclean had been able to help and treat a number of French prisoners, and his friend, who accompanied him, said to the Grand Juge, 'Monsieur, il [Maclean] a sauve la vie a trois cents Francois' ; to which the Grand Juge replied, ' C'est tries bien, Monsieur', and Maclean obtained his freedom and passport. He sailed from Bordeaux and at the end of December landed at Deal where he was regarded with the utmost suspicion by the English coastguards.128

Meanwhile, Banks had been approached by M. Fourcroy 129 to obtain facilities from the British Government and the East India Company to allow M. Godon to travel. His reply will show some of the difficulties with which he had to contend, and how anxious he was that the good relations which had prevailed between British and French scientists during the Republican war should continue during the Napoleonic struggle.

[SirJoseph Banks to Antoine Fourcroy.] 130

'Soho Square May 4 I803. Sir,

I have postponed my answer to your favour very long, because I was unwilling to tell you that I was not able to prevail either upon my Govern- ment or on the East India Company to allow the Person recommended by you to travel in the Countries he wishes to visit.

Without their permission my Letters of Recommendation can be of no avail to him, but, will certainly give offence to my Government. I have therefore presumed in soliciting permission, in hopes I should be able in time to prevail; but I now find I have no means.

The Publication of Sebastiani's 131 account of his Mission in the East

128 Charles McLean: An excursion in France and other parts of the continent of Europe, London, I804.

129 Antoine Fourcroy (I755-I809) ; born and died in Paris; chemist. 130 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XIV, fol. 79. '3' Franqois-Horace-Bastien Sebastiani (I772-I85i) ; born at Bastia, died in Paris;

general; leader of a mission to Tripoli, Turkey and Syria.



28i

and the appointment of engineers under the character of commercial agents, has destroyed all confidence in the recommendation of a Frenchman. I was in hopes that I should have been attended to when I professed that I could procure the testimony of my Literary friends at Paris that M. Godon is not an engineer, a person enabled by education to Communicate intelligence of the strength or weakness of Military posts; but I found I was in no degree attended to; and you may be sure, Sir, that the conduct of your chief Consul in continuing to violate the spirit of the treaty of Amiens, while he so furiously complains of England for delaying to carry the Letter of it into execution, here has not rendered my hopes of success more sanguine.

I beg, Sir, however, that you will be assured that I do not think the conduct of the chief of a nation when he wishes to go to war ought to compromise the more enlightened individuals of it, and that we, Literary Persons, ought not to hate each other because the armies of our respective nations may shed each others' blood. We wait the contest without a fear of being subdued: your chief Consul has seen us act on the defensive in Syria, and your Generals have seen us act on the offensive in Egypt and neither, I think, will hold in contempt our Military character; and for numbers we can certainly bring forward more upon our own soil than the chief Consul can land upon it; and we are now convinced, that, until a Descent upon England has been tried, Europe cannot hope to enjoy any degree of Tranquility or England a general and satisfactory peace.

I beg, Sir, however, that you will be assured that, whatever may happen between our rulers my regard for my Literary friends, will be kept entire, and no pains spared by me to carry on with them the necessary communications, which were so happily kept up during the later Period of the Last war.

[Jos: Banks]'

Banks did not have to wait long for an opportunity of following up his fair words with good deeds, as will be seen from the following reply to Faujas de St Fond.'32

132 Barthelemy Faujas de St.-Fond (I74i-i8i9); born at Montelimar; geologist.

MAY I952 T



282

[SirJoseph Banks to Barthelemy Faujas de St Fond.] 133

'Soho Square, July 29th i803. 'Dear Sir,

On receipt of your, Favor respecting the capture of the Plates belonging to comparative anatomy of Cetacea, I instantly wrote to Yarmouth, requesting my Correspondent to enter into a negociation for the purchase of them, undertaking to advance the money that may be required.

I agree with you and Mr. Jansen,134 that, as they are plates without letter press, the value to the possessors is very small, possibly the Captors may take some time before they sell them at a reasonable price; but I am confident I shall at least procure them on fair terms, in which case I will send them as soon as an opportunity offers, under any direction which Mr. Jansen or you may furnish me with.

Mr. Dechamps, the Companion of La Billiardiere on board L'Entre- casteaux ship arrived here, a prisoner, as Broussonet 135 will have informed you-I have great pleasure in telling you that, as soon as our Government heard of the Capture, they gave order, that, if any part of the collection should be deemed by the Captors too valuable to be abandoned on the part of their Crews, those things should be purchased at the expense of Government, and returned gratis to M. Dechamps.

I have had much trouble in collecting his Property together, owing to the absence of Captors, and mistakes that have arisen between the Custom House of Portsmouth and London. At present I hope I have got the whole safe in the Custom House of London, in which case it will be forwarded by the first opportunity to Calais.

I am Sir, Your faithful Servant,

Joseph Banks.'

Shortly afterwards, Banks found occasion to write to M. Delambre 136 a letter which shows that, notwithstanding political friction, the relations between the Royal Society and the Institut National were as cordial as ever.

133 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XIV, fol. 1o1. 134 Henri Jansen (174i-i812) ; born at the Hague, died in Paris; bookseller anidl

librarian to Talleyrand, and official Censor of France. 135 See footnote 117. 136 Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre (1749-i822); born at Amiens, died in Paris; F.R.S.

I791 ; astronomer.



283

[Sir Joseph Banks to Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre.1 137

'Soho Square, Jan. 30 i804. Sir, The letter with which you honoured me in the name of the National

Institute of France, though dated the ist Brumaire Year XII, did not come to my hands till the 9th ofJanuary following.

On the part of the Royal Society I thank you, and the first class of the Institute for your efforts to shorten the captivity of Mr. Osborn.138 That Gentleman conceives himself to have been set free in consequence of his having completed the sixtieth year of his age; but your exertions, no doubt, contributed essentially to remove the obstacles which might otherwise have retarded his obtaining the necessary passports. I have no full list of the Englishmen detained in France; but if there should be any other Member of the Royal Society, still kept prisoner under a decree manifestly subversive of the mutual interest of civilized nations, allow me to claim your good offices in their favour also.

My best acknowledgments are due to you, Sir, and to the class, for your flattering remembrance of my endeavours to serve such learned Frenchmen as stood in need of assistance. It has, indeed, been always my wish to promote the scientific intercourse among nations, notwithstanding any political divisions which might subsist between them; and, during the late peace, I neglected no opportunity of drawing closer the connexion between the Members of the National Institute and of the Royal Society. It is my desire and intention to persevere in the same plan of conduct, as far as is consistent with a due regard to my own character and that of my friends. But, if I cannot maintain a correspondence with learned Englishmen in France, without being accused of employing them for political objects; and if Gentlemen of known reputation and honour cannot visit your country for the purpose of giving and receiving scientific information, without being exposed, on every turn of public affairs, to the vile imputation of acting as spies (a baseness of which I am and I confidently believe Sir Charles Blagden equally is incapable) it will be impossible for me either to preserve a constant intercourse of good offices between the men of science in the two nations, or to ensure for learned Frenchmen, who may come to England, those marked attentions and civilities, which it is my wish that they should receive in time of war as well as peace.

137 MS. in the possession of G. R. de Beer.

"38JoJhr Osborn; F.R.S. 1777; diplomatist.



284

There is among the English detained in France a young Gentleman, Mr. Robert Ferguson,139 whose pursuits are very much directed to scientific objects. He is not yet a Fellow of the Royal Society, but will certainly be chosen into that Body as soon as he can return home. If his liberty could be obtained, it would be considered here as a favour to scientific men, and a great compliment to the Royal Society.

I have the honour to be Sir, with due respect and esteem,

Yours faithful Colleague J.B.

P.S. Mr. Robert Ferguson of Raith in Scotland, the Gentleman alluded to above, has, I understand, obtained permission to remain at Paris and may be heard of at Messrs. Perregaux.' 140

On the same day Banks drafted another letter to the President of the French Institut National which must rank as one of the most remarkable ever written from a member of one belligerent nation to another. At the time, Napoleon was threatening to invade England from Boulogne, and Trafalgar was to be fought in the following year. Yet the Frenchman was sending corrections for the Nautical Almanac, and the Englishman was sending to the Frenchman copies of this indispensable instrument for navigation.

[Sir Joseph Banks to Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre.1 141

'Jan. 30 i804.

Sir I have great pleasure in obeying your Command by sending the nautical

almanac for i807. the last that has been published I will not fail to furnish you with the future ones as they shall be published I am obligd to you for the correction you have been so good as to furnish me with in that of i8o6 which has been communicated to the Royal Observatory.

There is among the English detaind in France a Mr. Edwd Pigot who has some astronomical knowledge he has written a paper on that subject

139 Robert Ferguson; F.R.S., I805. 140 Alphonse Claude-Charles-Bernardin Perregaux (I75o-i8o8) ; born at Neuchatel,

died in Paris; banker and Regent of the Bank of France. 141 MS. in the possession of G. R. de Beer.



285

which he wishes to be forwarded to the Royal Society if you Sir could give him any assistance in forwarding it I shall be obliged to you.

[Jos: Banks]'

Yet another letter was drafted on 30 January i804, addressed to Robert Ferguson.

[Sir Joseph Banks to Robert Ferguson.] 142

'Jan 30 i804 Sir

A circumstance having happend which puts it into my power without any impropriety on my part, to apply to the first class of the National institute for your Liberation I have taken the Earliest means of availing my self of this opportunity of fulfilling your wishes in this Respect expressed in your letter to Mr. Coats.

You yourself are better able than I can be to appreciate the probability of my application being successful. I confess I do not myself entertain any sanguine hopes but be assured in that should I succeed it will give me sincere satisfaction to have been of use to a Gentleman who by the attention he has paid to Science in the early part of his life gives a fair hope that a portion of his time will in Future be devoted to the cultivation & improvement of useful knowledge.

[Jos. Banks.]

I send enclosed a copy of my Letter to the President of the Institut the original I have forwarded by a Flag of truce to Morlaix in case that should have been Receivd I must Request that you will not present this Copy.

Will you be so good as to tell M. Deschamps who you will hear of at the Jardin des Plantes that if our Flag of Truce goes from the Thames I will do my best to send his things in it.'

Meanwhile, James Forbes,'43 F.R.S., who had been detained in Paris in May i803, was sent to Verdun with the other British prisoners. From there he wrote to the president of the Institut National, asking for his release' 44

142 MS. in the possession of G. R. de Beer. 143James Forbes (I749-I8I9) ; F.R.S. i803. 144 Quoted fromJames Forbes: Letters from France written in the years 1803 and 1804,

London, i8o6.



286

'To M. Carnot,'45 President of the National Institute, at Paris. Sir,

In consequence of a letter I have just received from a member of the Royal Society in England, I take the liberty of enclosing a copy of one sent to him by our worthy president Sir Joseph Banks; in which he says that he intends writing to you to intreat your interest in my behalf, by obtaining an order for my return to England. Verdun, April II, I804.'

Shortly afterwards, he received the following reply :146

Institut National, Classe des Sciences Physiques et Mathematiques.

Paris, le i9 Floreal, An I2 de la Republique Francaise.

A Monsieur James Forbes, de la Societe Royale et de celle des Antiquaires de Londres.

Je m'empresse de vous annoncer, Monsieur, que la Classe s'est interessee pour vous aupres du Ministre de la Guerre, et qu'elle a appuye votre demande de tous les motifs qu'elle pouvait puiser, dans votre age, dans vos travaux scientifiques et surtout dans la reciprocite que meritent les services rendus par le Chevalier Banks, et par la Societe Royale aux Francais qui ont ete dans le cas de reclamer leur protection. Si les reclamations de la Classe ont le meme success que pour MM. Osborn et Ferguson je me haterai de vous en faire part.

J'ai l'honneur de vous saluer G. Cuvier,'47 Secretaire.'

On I7 Prairial, an I2 (5 June I804), Napoleon authorized Forbes's release, and he sailed from Morlaix and landed at Dartmouth on 25 July I804. Banks's gratitude is expressed in a letter which he addressed to the French Institute:

145 Lazare-Nicolas-Marguerite Carnot (1753-I823) ; born at Nolay (C6te-d'Or), died at Magdeburg ; statesman, soldier and mathematician.

146 See footnote I44. 147 See footnote ii6.



287

[SirJoseph Banks to the Institut National.] 148

'Soho Square, London, Aug. 22 i804.

'Sir, I take the opportunity of Prince Pignatelli's 149 return, to send to you

the Transactions of the Royal Society for the Institute. Also a Parcel of the Transactions of the Irish Academy, which I have

received from their Secretary with a Letter from him. I am much indebted to the Prince for taking these articles under his protection, as I am sensible it must be a troublesome charge, because Mr. Livingston,'50 to whom I purposed it when he left England, declined to undertake it.

I beg my brethren of the Institute will accept the sincere thanks of the Royal Society, as well as my own, for the liberation of our Fellow, Mr. Forbes,"5' who arrived here in excellent health and full of gratitude to your body, who have so effectually pleaded the cause of science and estab- lished a Precedent in his case, which no doubt will continue in use among all civilized nations.

Mr. Ferguson,152 who is also so deeply indebted to the institute, has not yet experienced the completion of the good offices intended him. I need not, however, bring this circumstance to the memory of my friends, as I am certain it will not escape from their frequent recollection.

Another case, however, has occurred, in which I am again under the necessity of soliciting the powerful interference of your most respectable body in favour of Capt. Flinders,153 Commander of H.B.M. Ship Investigator, who was sent on the business of discovering in i8oi, and had the good fortune to meet both Mr. Baudin 154 and Mr. Hamelin 55 in New Holland, while they were employed in the execution of a similar undertaking....'

Shortly afterwards, Banks had the pleasure of writing to M. de Lacepede, 56 and, as usual, the announcement of the release of a Frenchman from England was made the vehicle for requesting the release of an English-

148 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XV, fol. 54. 149 Francesco Pignatelli (I732-i8I2) ; Neapolitan General. 150 Robert R. Livingston (I746-i8I3); born in New York City; United States

Ambassador to France. 151 See footnote I43. 152 See footnote I39. 153 See footnote I25. 154 See footnote 64. 155Jacques-Felix-Emmanuel Hamelin (I768-i839); born at Honfleur, died in Paris;

sailor. 156 See footnote 27.



288

man from France. Banks was also able to refer to the elections of Cuvier and Lacepede into the Fellowship of the Royal Society which had recently taken place. This letter was carried by the released Frenchman to whom Banks wrote as follows:

[Sir Joseph Banks to M. Rivaud.] 157

'Soho Square, May 24 i8o6. 'Sir,

I have great pleasure in congratulating you on your liberation. I sincerely hope you will have a good voyage and speedy arrival among your friends, and a fortunate meeting with all whom you love and respect. Allow me to request that you will deliver the enclosed as soon as you can to my good friend, the senator La Cepede. I have stated to him in what manner he may confer a lasting obligation on me, and do not doubt his exerting himself to accomplish it.

I am Sir, Your most faithful Servant

Jos. Banks.'

[Sir Joseph Banks to Bernard de Lacepede.] 158

'Soho Square, London May 24, i8o6.

Sir, I had great pleasure in soliciting the liberation of your relation, M. de

Rivaud, the Bearer of this: he wrote to me from the place where he was confined as soon as he arrived, and gave me reason to expect I should hear from you on his account, but, Sir, I did not think it necessary to wait for your Letter. I have therefore seized a fortunate opportunity of restoring him to his liberty and to his Friends.

If you, Sir, can procure for me in Exchange for him The Rev. Francis Henry Egerton,159 now on his Parole at Paris, and well known to M. de Taleyrand, you will do me a particular favour, his brother, Lord Bridg- water, is a particular friend of mine, and I have other reasons for fixing upon him as the Man whose liberty I most wish for.

157 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XVI, fol. 268. 158 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XVI, fol. 272. 159 Rev. Francis Henry Egerton (I756-i829) ; F.R.S. I78i ; afterwards 8th Earl of

Bridgewater.



289

I have another request to make, which is that a young Man, the son of a Merchant at Boston near my estate, now only i8 years old, may be assisted in procuring a passport from the Grand Judge, without which he cannot leave the country, he was detained with the rest of the English when quite a boy, sent to France for his education, and has not tho' he has frequently attempted it been yet able to procure the proper Passport owing to his youth, his inexperience, and his want of friends. His name is Thomas Gee, he is under the care of M. Verdier at Rostrenen in the Department du Nord.

I have forwarded the Diplomas of yourself and M. Cuvier as F.R.S. by Col. Faujas, who has been exchanged by Gen. Ernaud in the West Indies I conclude he will have delivered them before M. de Rivaud arrives.

I am Sir Your obt hble Servant

Jos: Banks.'

On the same day Banks had the pleasure of writing to another Frenchman whose release he had helped to obtain, Capitaine Milius.160 This letter is also worth quoting because it shows how great were the efforts which Banks made to secure the release of Matthew Flinders.

[SirJoseph Banks to Capitaine Milius.] 161

'Soho Square, London, May 24, i8o6. Sir, It gives me inexpressible pleasure to feel myself, under the favor of my

Government, the fortunate instrument of restoring to his Friends a Man so well spoken of by every person who had the pleasure of his acquaintance in New South Wales as Captain Milius certainly is. To contribute in any shape to the liberation of a Man who has been employed by his Country in a Voyage of Discovery will always be an important object in my estimation ; but in your case, when the character of a Discoverer is joined to that of a man who defended the ship in which he was taken with more than

160 Pierre Bernard Milius (I773-i829); born at Bordeaux, died at Bourbonne; sailor; captured in Ireland in I796 and freed in I799; second in command of Baudin's expedition to Australia; sailed Le Ge'ographe back to France after Baudin's death; captured by H.M.S. Phoenix after a very stubborn fight in i8o5.

161 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XVI, fol. 269.



290

usual Galantry, and whose amiable manners have attached to him a number of my friends, the pleasure of restoring to him his liberty is trebly valuable.

It must, however, occur to you that the gratitude whatever its amount may be, which you feel on this occasion may be exerted by you in a manner not a little pleasing to yourself, and at the same time infinitely pleasing to me. Capt. Flinders, who put into the Island of Reunion [recte: Ile de France-Mauritius] with Letters of recommendation from Capt. Baudin, who was sailing homewards in a vessel of not more than 30 tons, who was ignorant of the war, and who was in actual want of water and provisions, has been detained there under a groundless pretence of having come in as a spy, and is still detained there as a Malefactor.

You, Sir, who know the Man, and who are aware of the nature of his Expedition, one of the most hazardous that has succeeded, will readily give him credit for his honesty ; his business was to solicit another ship in the place of the Investigator that was condemned; he had no view whatever of doing any other thing, and it was quite impossible for him to take a survey of the harbour he was entering, half as good as those already published; had he been desirous, which he certainly was not, of so doing.

To my friends of the Institute I must request you to state such facts as you know, and such opinions as you yourself can form of the state of Capt. Flinders' detention. Your Emperor is, I know, of a most honourable disposition, always inclined to justice, never erring from it unless under the influence of misinformation, and a determined friend to science; he must have been misled by false accusations, and may, I am sure, be induced to enquire more particularly into the matter ; if he does, the result is certain to be the liberation of our friend, to the honor of the French Nation and of those who direct its National conduct.

I have also a private request to make of you, in which I am confident my friends in Paris, who are not a few, will assist. I have a young friend, the son of a Merchant at Boston, near my Estate, who was detained with the other English while quite a boy sent to France for his Education; he has at various times attempted to procure leave to go home, but has never been able to obtain the Passport of the Grand Judge, without which he cannot pass the Frontier.

He is now only i8 years of age: his name is Thomas Gee: he resides at Rostrenen in the Department of the North, under the care of M. Verdier. If the Passport of the Grand Judge can be obtained for him, which surely cannot be very difficult, it will lay me under no small obligation.

Wishing you, Sir, a prosperous Voyage, and safe return to your Native



291

Country, and a happy meeting with your family and friends I beg you to believe me

Yours very faithfully very humble Servant,

Jos. Banks.'

BANKS S DIFFICULTIES WITH HIS MAJESTY S GOVERNMENT

At the same time, Banks was sometimes confronted with the vexation that his requests for the release of French prisoners by the British Govern- ment were turned down for reasons which did not appear valid, or for no reason. The following document in the collection of copies of Banks's correspondence bears no superscription and may not have been a letter addressed to anybody, but a minute or memorandum prepared by Banks for his own use and guidance.162 It strikes a sadly familiar note in the experience of some applicants to government departments, probably in all countries:

[Memorandum by Sir Joseph Banks.] 'Since the time that on the mere suspicion of my having interfered

improperly in the exchange of Prisoners by procuring the liberation of Capt. Milius, on Parole, I received a Letter from Lord H.[owick] 163 couched in terms that did his Lordship no credit, and that drew from me a reply not less unpleasant than his letter was to me: by this correspondence however I was clearly taught that Government wholly discountenanced all kinds of interferences from me in the case of Prisoners of war taken under arms, and did not approve with Cordiality my interference even in the case of detained Persons.

Was I countenanced as I think I ought to have been, in extending as much as possible the influence I have over the literary men in that country, a body now much attended to, I think I could have done much, but in that case I must have been allowed some influence in this country, enough to have enabled me to solicit with effect similar favor for Frenchmen confined here; this, however, which was never allowed me in a liberal stile, is now wholly withdrawn from me by Lord Howicks's means; & I am now entirely deprived of the power of being useful; for I now decline to interfere without the immediate consent of Government, even in the case of Persons detained.

October 4, i8o6.' 162 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XVI, fol. 33I. 163 Charles Grey, Viscount Howick, afterwards 2nd Earl Grey (I764-i845) ; then

first Lord of the Admiralty.



292

Meanwhile, Lord Radnor 164 who had in vain attempted to obtain the release from captivity in France of Lord and Lady Shaftesbury, had turned to Banks in the hope that he, with his immense influence among French savants, might achieve this object. It is, therefore, not surprising to find Lord Radnor asking Lord Howick for an explanation of the affront given to Banks. Lord Howick replied to Lord Radnor to say that it was all the result of a mistake and that ' I can have no objection to the use of any influence Sir Joseph may possess for the purpose of obtaining the release of any of our Countrymen'. Lord Radnor informed Banks of this welcome change, and Banks replied as follows, in a letter which placed the whole case squarely before him:

[Sir Joseph Banks to Lord Radnor.] 165

'My Lord, It gives me satisfaction to learn from your Lordship's letter that Lord

Howick considers the supposition of having discountenanced my endeavours to obtain through the medium of my Literary friends in France the liberation upon Parole of Englishmen detained there, as having originated in a mistake, after that declaration his Lordship will, no doubt join his endeavours to mine for the rectifying that part of the mistake which still remains unaltered, and constitutes the chief obstacle to my future proceedings on this subject.

I some time ago requested, at the desire of Persons high in office, the liberation of Mr. Egerton and of Capt. Flinders; and had been indulged, as I thought, with the credit of having obtained here the freedom of Capt. Milius and a French surgeon. Mr. Egerton and Capt. Flinders 166 were immediately set free, and a third person in whose fate my friends knew I took a personal interest was liberated at the same time ; but I was requested to obtain in return the freedom of the French purser a prisoner here.

My request for the release of this purser, which I concluded Lord Howick would have granted to me with pleasure, was the subject on which the mistake in Question originated: it was refused to me in unpleasant terms: no hopes were given me that I should be able to obtain his freedom in future; and in point of fact he still remains a prisoner here.

164Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor (I750-I828). 165 Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Banks Corr., vol. XVI, fol. 336. 166 There is a curious mistake here, Capt. Matthew Flinders was not set free until i8io.

It is possible that Banks may have received erroneous information, or that confusion of names was made by the copyist of the correspondence.



293

Unless this request and more than this is acceded to on the part of Government, I can see no hopes that my Literary friends who have now obtained for me ten English prisoners at the least, will continue to perform the unpleasant task of soliciting the restoration of Prisoners there with any Energy. I wrote to Mr. Marsden,167 as soon as your Lordship's first Letter came to my hands, and requested he would sound Mr. T. Grenville 168

on this head; but I have not yet received his answer: it is likely that Mr. Grenville, tho' unacquainted with the particulars of this Transaction between Lord H. and me, will adhere to Lord Howick's measure, unless his Lordship will request him to alter it.

Whether your Lordship will choose to interfere farther on this delicate subject must be left to your own discretion. I can only add that I feel myself infinitely desirous of assisting Lord Shaftesbury : that I have little doubt of being able to procure his Lordships liberation, if Government will give me their decided countenance; but that from the tenor of the letters which I have very lately received, I entertain no hopes of being able to effect anything more in France, unless I have the full and complete cooperation of his Majesty's Ministers in the business, which, as I have no favour of any sort or description to ask for in return or any view but mere motives of good will, I do not myself see any reason why they should refuse to grant to me.

[Jos: Banks]

Meanwhile, scientific information continued to cross the Channel in spite of the war as the following letter from Banks to HaUy 169 shows:

[SirJoseph Banks to ReneL'-Just Hafiy.] 170 [undated: I809]

Sir The books you were so good as to forward to me arrivd safe & I immed-

iately deliverd to the Count de Bournon & to Mr. Greville the Copies intended for them.

For the third copy I beg sir you will accept my best thanks I have lookd it over with great satisfaction & I have infinite Pleasure in Observing that

167 William Marsden (I754-I836) ; F.R.S. I783 ; 2nd Secretary to the Admiralty. 168 Thomas Grenville (I755-I846); President of the Board of Control; founder of

the Grenville Library. 169 Ren -Just, Abbe Hafiy (I743-I822); mineralogist. 170 MS. in the possession of G. R. de Beer.



294

my Geological friends who read in my Library have not yet ceasd to employ themselves in Perusing it & that they pay a due tribute of applause to the eminent Talents & Patient application which have enabled you to bring your interesting Theory to the Practical Perfection it has now attaind.

I am Sir Your Obligd hble Servt

[Jos. Banks.] C. Haiiy Membre d Institut National

a L'Ecole des Mines a Paris.'

The book referred to in this letter is preserved in the library of the Department of Minerals in the British Museum (Natural History) ; it bears the inscription " a Sir Joseph Banks, homages de l'auteur ", and is entitled Tableau Comparatif des Resultats de la Cristallographie et de l'Analyse Chimique relativement a la Classification des Mineraux, par M. l'Abbe Haiiy, Paris i809.

There is a draft of another letter from Banks to an unknown Frenchman which probably dates from a slightly earlier period

[SirJoseph Banks to (?).] 171 [undated.]

Sir If the Royal Society of London was accustomd as the Royal academy of

Paris was to undertake the Revisal of new publications & to give opinions on their merits which is not the case I should have had great Pleasure too I am sure in transmitting their Report of your book to yourself as I can have no doubt that it would have done justice to your Talents & the interesting enterprise in which you have employd them.

As it is I can only say to you that the Royal Society employ themselves intirely in promoting material knowledge the avowd Principle of their incorporation & have not either lately or at any former period under [taken] the office of Reviewing the merits of authors.

I beg you sir to accept my thanks for the copy which you have been so good as to give me which I value as a Token of your friendship.

I am Sir Your very hble Servt.

[Jos. Banks] Please give my respects to my friend M. Delalande 172 when you see him.'

171 MS. in the possession of G. R. de Beer. 172 See footnote 68.



295

JENNER S PASSPORTS

While Banks persevered valiantly in his efforts to keep science and men of science above the arena of hostilities, he was supported by an unofficial ally of even greater prestige than himself

Nowhere could the good relations between British and French men of science find better expression than in the esteem in which Edward Jenner 173

was held. In i804 one of the Napoleonic series of medals was struck in his honour, and in i8o5 Jenner addressed himself directly to Napoleon to ask for the release of two of his friends, Mr William Thomas Williams who was detained at Nancy, and Dr John Wickham, detained at Geneva.174 The following is the text of this remarkable letter from a private British citizen to the Emperor of the French, written at a very bitter moment of the war.

[EdwardJenner to Napoleon I] 175 Sire,

Having by the blessing of Providence made a discovery of which all nations acknowledge the beneficial effects, I presume upon that plea alone, with great deference, to request a favour from your Imperial Majesty, who early appreciated the importance of vaccination and encouraged its propa- gation, and who is universally admitted to be the patron of the arts.

My humble request is that your Imperial Majesty will graciously permit two of my friends, both men of science and literature, to return to England: one, Mr. William Thomas Williams, residing at Nancy; the other, Dr. Wickham, at present at Geneva. Should your Imperial Majesty be pleased to listen to the prayer of my petition, you will impress my mind with sentiments of gratitude never to be effaced.

I have the honour to be, with the most profound deference and respect, Your Imperial Majesty's

Most obedient and humble servant, Edward Jenner.

Berkeley, Gloucestershire, February' i8o5.'

173Edward Jenner (I749-I823); F.R.S. I789; see G. R. Cameron: 'Edward Jenner ', Notes and Records, 7, 43, I950.

174J. A. Nixon: British Prisoners released by Napoleon at Jenner's Request. Proc. Roy. Soc. of Medicine, 32, 877, I939.

175 Life of EdwardJenner. J. Baron, London, I 832, vol. 2, p. '87.



296

This was the occasion on which legend relates that Napoleon was about to brush aside the petition handed to him, when the Empress Josephine drew his attention to the signature which it bore, whereupon Napoleon is said to have exclaimed, 'Ah ! Jenner. On ne peut rien refuser 'a cet homme'. Whether this be a true account or not, the important fact remains that Williams and Wickham were released in July i 8o6.

Voltaire once referred to his election into the Fellowship of the Royal Society as providing him with the best possible naturalization papers; 176 but there is another case of the private papers of an English Scientist acquiring an official international character. So high did Jenner stand in the estimation of the civilized world, that he was in a position to issue passports which had greater validity than those issued by governments. Professor J. A. Nixon has recorded the wording of such a document: 177

' I hereby certify that Mr. A. - who is the bearer of this, and who is about to sail from the port of Bristol on board the Adventure, Captain Vesey, for the island of Madeira, has no other object in view than the recovery of his health.

Edward Jenner Member of the N.I. of France.

Berkeley, Gloucestershire, July, I8i0.'

To this young man's father Jenner added a note:

' I beg you to put this letter in your son's possession; and should the ship in which he sails, through the chance of war be captured by a French commander, I trust he will, at my solicitation, show Mr. A. every indulgence in his power: and that if he will cause it to be made known to the French Government, it will obtain for him a speedy release. I feel the more confident of the Emperor's kindness in this case, as his Majesty has hitherto been pleased to lend a favourable ear to my petitions on behalf of British captives.'

Sometimes a favourable response by Napoleon to Jenner's intercession was frustrated by the mislaying of papers in French government departments, and this appears to have been the fate of the petitions in favour of Nathaniel Garland and Francis Gold which were granted by Napoleon in December i809, but Gold was not released until i8i2, nor Garland until i8I4.

176 G. R. de Beer: 'Voltaire, F.R.S.', Notes and Records, 8, 252, i95i. 177 See footnote I74.



297

Another letter from Jenner to Napoleon asks quite openly for the release of a belligerent Englishman.

[EdwardJenner to Napoleon LI 177a Sire, My Relation Mr. Milman, Captain of Infantry in the service of his

Britannic Majesty, is detain'd as a Prisoner of War at Verdun. May I presume to implore your Majesty to grant him the great favour of being permitted to return to England ? Vaccination, of which I have been the fortunate Discoverer, and for which Invention I have lately been pronounced by your Minister one of the greatest Benefactors of Mankind, has been practic'd no less to the great increase of the population of your Empire than to the preservation of the valuable life of your Son, the Heir to it.

I humbly presume, Sire, on these considerations to solicit the liberty of one Individual, whose restoration to his Family by your Majesty's indulgence will be deem'd a favour which no Time will efface from the memory of

Sire Your Majesty's

most obedient and

most humble Servant

Edward Jenner Berkeley, Gloucestershire

Decembr. iith I8I3

It is distressing to observe that Jenner's influence with Napoleon was stronger than with the Prince Regent, for when he tried to obtain a remission for Capitaine Husson, brother of Dr Husson, who had assisted in obtaining the release of British prisoners in France, he was at first unsuccessful, although it is understood that his second application was favourably received.

177a Transcribed from facsimile reproduction in Academie de Medecine: ' Centieme anniversaire de la mort de Jenner.' Paris, I923, plate 6. The original autograph is in the Biblioteca Civica, Turin. Communicated through the kindness of Mr W. R. Le Fanu, Librarian of the Royal College of Surgeons.

MAY I952 U



298

DAVY AND FARADAY IN FRANCE

It will have been noted how great was the attention which Napoleon paid to the subject of ' galvanism', and that he instituted a prize for out- standing research in this field. It is therefore of great interest that in i8o8 the Institut National awarded the prize to Sir Humphry Davy,178 on account of the Bakerian Lecture, published in the Philosophical Transactions for the previous year.

The desperate struggle between Napoleon and the rest of Europe was drawing to its inevitable close in i8I3, when the French armies were falling back in Germany, and, in Spain, Wellington was about to cross the frontier and invade France. That was the time when Sir Humphry Davy evinced a desire to visit the extinct volcanoes in the centre of France and the live vents in the neighbourhood of Naples.179 When the scientific importance of the studies on the decomposition of alkalies and earths was explained to Napoleon, he immediately ordered that a passport should be issued to Davy, Lady Davy, her waiting-maid, and Davy's secretary and valet, Michael Faraday.180

The party landed at Morlaix from Plymouth on i9 October i8i3 and its members were promptly arrested by the local French authorities who could not bring themselves to believe that their passport was genuine. After reference to Paris and a week's delay, Davy and his companions were released and arrived in Paris on 29 October. On 2 November, Davy attended a meeting of the First Class of the Institut National and sat on the right hand of the president. On I 3 November, Davy was invited to dine at the anniversary dinner of the Societe Philomatique, and there met Ampere, Brogniart,182 Cuvier, Chevreul,183 Dulong,184 Dumeril,185 Gay-Lussac,186

178 Sir Humphry Davy (I778-I829) ; F.R.S. I803, P.R.S. I820-I827.

l79John Ayrton Paris: The Life of Sir Humphry Davy, London, i831. 180 Michael Faraday (I79i-i 867) ; F.R.S. I 824. 181 Andre-Marie Ampere (I775-i836) ; born at Lyons, died at Marseilles; F.R.S.

i827. 182 Alexandre Brogniart (I770-I847) ; geologist. 183 Michel-Eugene Chevreul (I786-i889) ; born at Angers, died in Paris; F.R.S.

I 826 ; chemist. 184 Pierre-Louis Dulong (I785-i838) ; born at Rouen, died in Paris ; F.R.S. 1826;

chemist. 185 Andre-Marie-Constant Dumeril (I774-i860); born at Amiens, died in Paris;

anatomist. 186 Louis-Joseph Gay-Lussac (I778-I85so); born at Saint-Leonard (Limousin), died in

Paris ; F.R.S. i8i5 ; chemist.



299

Humboldt,187 Thenard,188 and some others of the most distinguished French men of science. The toast of the Royal Society was drunk, as was that of the Linnean Society of London. Out of solicitude for the patriotic susceptibilities of their guest, the members refrained from toasting the Emperor, which was a compliment most dangerous for themselves.

Faraday's journal 189 relates that on 23 November, ' MM Ampere, Clement, and Desormes 190 came this morning to show Sir H. Davy a new substance, discovered two years ago'. This was iodine. He goes on to say,' 8 December. I went today with Sir H. Davy to L'Ecole Polytechnique, the national school of chemistry, to hear the lecon given to the scholars. It was delivered by M. Gay-Lussac.'

On 30 November, Davy and Lady Davy were introduced to the ex- empress Josephine at Malmaison; and on i3 December, Davy was elected a corresponding member of the First Class of the Institut National. On 29 December his party left Paris for Montpellier, and stayed there for a month before continuing into Italy.

As Davy's biographer John Ayrton Paris was forced to admit,191 ' It would be an act of literary dishonesty to assert that Sir H. Davy returned the kindness of the savans of France, in a manner which the friends of Science could have expected and desired ! ' His manners were bad and he showed a regrettable lack of consideration for his hosts, who, in spite of being men of science, were nevertheless his enemies. But the time was happily not long in coming when that adjective could no longer be applied to French and British men of science, and is now and forever unthinkable.

187 Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (I769-i859); born and died in Berlin; F.R.S. i8i5 ; traveller and naturalist.

188 Louis-Jacques Thenard (I777-i857); born near Neuchatel (Aube), died in Paris; F.R.S. i824; chemist.

189 The Life andJournals of Michael Faraday, edited by H. Bence Jones, London, i870. 190 Charles-Bernard Desormes (I777-i862); born at Dijon, died in Verberie (Oise);

chemist. 191 See footnote I79.



Documents

The Relations between Fellows of the Royal Society and French Men of Science when France and Britain Were at War