_Paris, February 26, 1802._
Referring to an expression made use of in my letter of the 16th of
December last,[1] you ask me "What the sciences, or rather the
_savans_ or men of science, have done for this people?" With the
assistance of a young Professor in the _Collège de France_, who bids
fair to eclipse all his competitors, it will not be difficult for me
to answer your question.
Let me premise, however, that the _savans_ to whom I allude, must not
be confounded with the philosophers, called _Encyclopædists_, from
their having been the first to conceive and execute the plan of the
_Encyclopædia_. These _savans_ were DIDEROT, D'ALEMBERT, and
VOLTAIRE, all professed atheists, who, by the dissemination of their
pernicious doctrine, introduced into France an absolute contempt for
all religion. This infidelity, dissolving every social tie, every
principle between man and man, between the governing and the
governed, in the sequel, produced anarchy, rapine, and all their
attendant horrors.
At the beginning of the revolution, every mind being turned towards
politics, the Sciences were suddenly abandoned: they could have no
weight in the struggle which then occupied every imagination.
Presently their existence was completely forgotten. Liberty formed
the subject of every writing and every discourse: it seemed that
orators alone possessed the power of serving her; and this error was
partly the cause of the calamities which afterwards overwhelmed
France. The greater part of the _savans_ remained simple spectators
of the events which were preparing: not one of them openly took part
against the revolution. Some involved themselves in it. Those men
were urged by great views, and hoped to find, in the renewal of
social organization, a mean of applying and realizing their theories.
They thought to master the revolution, and were carried away by its
torrent; but at that time the most sanguine hopes were indulged. If
the love of liberty be no more than a phantom of the brain, if the
wish to render men better and happier be no more than a matter of
doubt, such errors may be pardoned in those who have paid for them
with their life.
It is in the recollection of every one that the National Convention
consisted of two parties, which, under the same exterior, were
hastening to contrary ends: the one, composed of ignorant and
ferocious men, ruled by force; the other, more enlightened,
maintained its ground by address. The former, restless possessors of
absolute power, and determined to grasp at every thing for preserving
it, strove to annihilate the talents and knowledge which made them
sensible of their humiliating inferiority. The others, holding the
same language, acted in an opposite direction. But being obliged, in
order to preserve their influence, never to shew themselves openly,
they employed their means with an extreme reserve, and this
similarity at once explains the good they did, the evil they
prevented, and the calamities which they were unable to avert.
At that time, France was on the very brink of ruin. _Landrecies_, _Le
Quesnoy_, _Condé_ and _Valenciennes_ were in the power of her
enemies. _Toulon_ had been given up to the English, whose numerous
fleets held the dominion of the seas, and occasionally effected
debarkations. This country was a prey to famine and terror; _La
Vendée_, _Lyons_, and _Marseilles_ were in a state of insurrection.
No arms, no powder; no ally that could or would furnish any; and its
only resource lay in an anarchical government without either plan or
means of defence, and skilful only in persecution. In a word, every
thing announced that the Republic would perish, before it could enjoy
a year's existence.
In this extremity, two new members were called to the Committee of
Public Welfare. These two men organized the armies, conceived plans
of campaign, and prepared supplies.
It was necessary to arm nine hundred thousand men; and what was most
difficult, it was necessary to persuade a mistrustful people, ever
ready to cry out "treason!" of the possibility of such a prodigy. For
this purpose, the old manufactories were comparatively nothing;
several of them, situated on the frontiers, were invaded by the
enemy. They were revived every where with an activity till then
unexampled. _Savans_ or men of science were charged to describe and
simplify the necessary proceedings. The melting of the church-bells
yielded all the necessary metal.[2] Steel was wanting; none could be
obtained from abroad, the art of making it was unknown. The _Savans_
were asked to create it; they succeeded, and this part of the public
defence thus became independent of foreign countries.
The exigencies of the war had rendered more glaring the urgent
necessity of having good topographical maps, and the insufficiency of
those in use became every day more evident. The geographical
engineers, which corps had been suppressed by the Constituent
Assembly, were recalled to the armies, and although they could not,
in these first moments, give to their labours the necessary extent
and detail, they nevertheless paved the way to the great results
since obtained in this branch of the art military. Nothing is more
easy than to destroy; nothing is so difficult, and, above all, so
tedious as to reconstruct.
The persons then in power had likewise had the prudence to preserve
in their functions such pupils and engineers in the civil line as
were of an age to come under the requisition. Whatever might be the
want of defenders, it was felt that it requires ten years' study to
form an engineer; while health and courage suffice for making a
soldier. This disastrous period affords instances of foresight and
skill which have not always been imitated in times more tranquil.
The Sciences had just rendered great services to the country. They
were calumniated; those who had made use of them were compelled to
defend them, and did so with courage. A circumstance, equally
singular and unforeseen, occasioned complete recourse to be had to
their assistance.
An officer arrived at the Committee of Public Welfare: he announced
that the republican armies were in presence of the enemy; but that
the French generals durst not march their soldiers to battle, because
the brandies were poisoned, and that the sick in the hospitals,
having drunk some, had died. He requested the Committee to cause them
to be examined, asked for orders on this subject, and wished to set
off again immediately.
The most skilful chymists were instantly assembled: they were ordered
to analyze the brandies, and to indicate, in the course of the day,
the poison and the remedy.
These _savans_ laboured without intermission, trusting only to
themselves for the most minute details. Scarcely was time allowed
them to finish their operations, when they were summoned to appear
before the Committee of Public Welfare, over which ROBESPIERRE
presided.
They announced that the brandies were not poisoned, and that water
only had been added to them, in which was slate in suspension, so
that it was sufficient to filter them, in order to deprive them of
their hurtful quality.
ROBESPIERRE, who hoped to discover a treason, asked the Commissioners
if they were perfectly sure of what they had just advanced. As a
satisfactory answer to the question, one of them took a strainer,
poured the liquor through it, and drank it without hesitation. All
the others followed his example. "What!" said ROBESPIERRE to him, "do
you dare to drink these poisoned brandies?"----"I durst do much
more," answered he, "when I put my name to the Report."
This service, though in itself of little importance, impressed the
public mind with a conception of the utility of the _savans_, a
greater number of whom were called into the Committee of Public
Welfare. There they were secure from subaltern informers, with which
France abounded. Having concerns only with the members charged with
the military department, who were endeavouring to save them, they
might, by keeping silence, escape the suspicious looks of the tyrants
of the day. There was then but one resource for men of merit and
virtue, namely, to conceal their existence, and cause themselves to
be forgotten.
In the midst of this sanguinary persecution, all the means of defence
employed by France, issued from the obscure retreat where the genius
of the Sciences had taken refuge.
Powder was the article for which there was the most urgent occasion.
The soldiers were on the point of wanting it. The magazines were
empty. The administrators of the powder-mills were assembled to know
what they could do. They declared that the annual produce amounted to
three millions of pounds only, that the basis of it was saltpetre
drawn from India, that extraordinary encouragements might raise them
to five millions; but that no hopes ought to be entertained of
exceeding that quantity. When the members of the Committee of Public
Welfare announced to the administrators that they must manufacture
seventeen millions of pounds of powder in the space of a few months,
the latter remained stupified. "If you succeed in doing this," said
they, "you must have a method of making powder of which we are
ignorant."
This, however, was the only mean of saving the country. As the French
were almost excluded from the sea, it was impossible to think of
procuring saltpetre from India. The _savans_ offered to extract all
from the soil of the Republic. A general requisition called to this
labour the whole mass of the people. Short and simple directions,
spread with inconceivable activity, made, of a difficult art, a
common process. All the abodes of men and animals were explored.
Saltpetre was sought for even in the ruins of Lyons; and soda,
collected from among the ashes of the forests of La Vendée.
The results of this grand movement would have been useless, had not
the Sciences been seconded by new efforts. Native saltpetre is not
fit for making powder; it is mixed with salts and earths which render
it moist, and diminish its activity. The process employed for
purifying it demanded considerable time. The construction of
powder-mills alone would have required several months, and before
that period, France might have been subjugated. Chymistry invented
new methods for refining and drying saltpetre in a few days. As a
substitute for mills, pulverized charcoal, sulphur, and saltpetre
were mixed, with copper balls, in casks which were turned round by
hand. By these means, powder was made in twelve hours; and thus was
verified that bold assertion of a member of the Committee of Public
Welfare: "Earth impregnated with saltpetre shall be produced," said
he, "and, in five days after, your cannon shall be loaded."
Circumstances were favourable for fixing, in all their perfection,
the only arts which occupied France. Persons from all the departments
were sent to Paris, in order to be instructed in the manufacture of
arms and saltpetre. Rapid courses of lectures were given on this
subject. They contributed little to the general movement, which had
saved the Republic, but they had an effect no less important, that of
bringing to light the astonishing facility of the French for
acquiring the arts and sciences; a happy gift which forms one of the
finest features in the character of the nation.
Notwithstanding so many services rendered by the Sciences, the
learned were not less persecuted; the most celebrated among them were
the most exposed. The venerable DAUBENTON, the co-operator in the
labours of BUFFON, escaped persecution only because he had written a
work on the improvement of sheep, and was taken for a simple
shepherd. COUSIN was not so fortunate; yet, in his confinement, he
had the stoicism to compose works of geometry, and give lessons of
physics to his companions of misfortune.
LAVOISIER, that immortal character, whose generosity in promoting the
progress of science could be equalled only by his own enlightened
example in cultivating it, was also apprehended. As one of the
Commissioners for fixing the standard of weights and measures, great
hopes were entertained that he might be restored to liberty. Measures
were taken with that intention; but these were not suited to the
spirit of the moment. The commission was dissolved, and LAVOISIER
left in prison. Shortly after, this ever to be lamented _savant_ was
taken to the scaffold. He would still be living, had his friends
acted on the cupidity of the tyrants who then governed, instead of
appealing to their justice.
About this period, some members of the Convention having introduced a
discussion in favour of public instruction, it was strongly opposed
by the revolutionary party, who saw in the Sciences nothing but a
poison which enervated republics. According to them, the finest
schools were the popular societies. To do good was then impossible,
and to shew an inclination to do it, exposed to the greatest danger
the small number of enlightened men France still possessed.
In this point of view, every thing was done that circumstances
permitted. A military school was created, where young men from all
the departments were habituated to the exercise of arms and the life
of a camp. It was called _L'École de Mars_. Its object was not to
form officers, but intelligent soldiers, who, spread in the French
armies, should soon render them the most enlightened of Europe, as
they were already the most inured to the hardships of war.
Thus, a small number of men, whose conduct has been too ill
appreciated, alone retarded, by constant efforts, the progress of
barbarism and struggled in a thousand ways against the oppression
which others contented themselves with supporting.
At length, the bloody throne, raised by ROBESPIERRE, was overthrown:
hope succeeded to terror; and victory, to defeat. Then, the Sciences,
issuing from the focus in which they had been concentered and
concealed, reappeared in all their lustre. The services they had
rendered, the dangers which had threatened them, were felt and
acknowledged. The plan of campaign, formed by the scientific men,
called to the Committee of Public Welfare, had completely succeeded.
The French armies had advanced on the rear of those of the allies,
and, threatening to cut off their retreat, not only forced them to
abandon the places they had taken, but also marched from conquest to
conquest on their territory.
The means of having iron, steel, saltpetre, powder, and arms, had
been created during the reign of terror. The following were the
results of this grand movement at the beginning of the third year of
the Republic.
Twelve millions of pounds of saltpetre extracted from the soil of
France in the space of nine months. Formerly, scarcely one million
was drawn from it.
Fifteen founderies at work for the casting of brass cannon. Their
annual produce increased to 7000 pieces. There existed in France but
two establishments of this description before the revolution.
Thirty founderies for iron ordnance, yielding 13,000 pieces per year.
At the breaking out of the war, there were but four, which yielded
annually 900 pieces of cannon.
The buildings for the manufacture of shells, shot, and all the
implements of artillery, multiplied in the same proportion.
Twenty new manufactories for side-arms, directed by a new process.
Before the war, there existed but one.
An immense manufactory of fire-arms established all at once in Paris,
and yielding 140,000 muskets per year, that is, more than all the old
manufactories together. Several establishments of this nature formed
on the same plan in the different departments of the Republic.
One hundred and eighty-eight workshops for repairing arms of every
description. Before the war, there existed but six.
The establishment of a manufactory of carbines, the making of which
was till then unknown in France.
The art of renewing the touch-hole of cannon discovered, and carried
immediately to a perfection which admits of its being exercised in
the midst of camps.
A description of the means by which tar, necessary for the navy, may
be speedily extracted from the pine-tree.
Balloons and telegraphs converted into machines of war.
All the process of the arts relative to war simplified and improved
by the application of the most learned theories.
A secret establishment formed at Meudon for that purpose. Experiments
there made on the oxy-muriate of potash, on fire-balls, on
hollow-balls, on ring-balls, &c.
Great works begun for extracting from the soil of France every thing
that serves for the construction, equipment, and supplies of ships of
war.
Several researches for replacing or reproducing the principal
materials which the exigencies of the war had consumed, and for
increasing impure potash, which the making of powder had snatched
from the other manufactories.
Simple and luminous directions for fixing the art of making soap, and
bringing it within reach of the meanest capacity.
The invention of the composition of which pencils are now made in
France, the black lead for which was previously drawn from England;
and what was inappreciable in those critical circumstances, the
discovery of a method for tanning, in a few days, leather which
generally required several years' preparation.
In a word, if we speak of the territorial acquisitions, which were
the result of the victories obtained by means of the extraordinary
resources created by the men of science, France has acquired an
extent of 1,498 square leagues, and a population of 4,381,266
individuals; namely, Savoy, containing 411,700 inhabitants; the
County of Nice, 93,166; Avignon, the _Comtat Venaissin_, and Dutch
Flanders, 200,500; Maëstricht and Venloo, 90,000; Belgium, 1,880,000;
the left bank of the Rhine, 1,658,500; Geneva and its territory,
40,000; and Mulhausen, 7,200.
P.S. Paris is now all mirth and gaiety; in consequence of the revived
pleasures of the Carnival. I shall not give you my opinion of it till
its conclusion.
[Footnote 1: See Vol. I. Letter XXXIV.]
[Footnote 2: The bells produced 27,442,852 pounds of metal. This
article, valued at 10 _sous_ per pound, represents 15 millions of
francs (_circa_ £625,000 sterling). A part served for the fabrication
of copper coin, the remainder furnished pieces of ordnance.]