ACHIEVEMENTS IN PARIS
If we had time to trace all the events in Fulton’s life during these busy
years, they would tell us that the way to fame is by slow plodding. When
we read about great men we ought to remember that they did not rise like
rockets from the darkness but by slow, patient effort climbed into the
light of fame.
During the year 1797 Fulton was encouraged, by the acceptance of his plan
to build a canal from Paris to Dieppe and Cambrai, to move from England
to France. He had earlier visited France to study the art treasures in
famous galleries, but his journey this time assumed quite another aspect,
for the two countries had been at war for four years. At this time,
however, they enjoyed a short armistice, or period of peace, and Fulton
took the opportunity to obtain a passport from the Directory, or French
Governing Board.
He began about this time to try to devise a way to end warfare between
nations,—a dream enjoyed by many kindly men of this day, who have formed
the Tribunal for Universal Peace at the Hague. With this thought in mind
he planned to protect the seas, those vast waterways between continents.
He urged Free Trade between nations, and wrote a paper on the subject
to define his views. It shows how deeply he had studied that world-wide
problem.
The age in which Fulton lived provided the tools to shape his life.
When a boy, he had heard of the horrors of battles during the War of
the Revolution, and had experienced later the joys of peace. Fulton
was an ardent Republican and believed in the right of a people to rule
their nation. When Great Britain began to lay claim to “supremacy on the
sea” the statesmen of America felt some alarm. Not only had their ships
to fear naval prowess, but there were pirates, whose plunderings were
related with horror. These conditions caused Fulton to realize that the
highways of the oceans must be made safe so that all the nations of the
world could live in peace without fear of one another.
In 1798 Fulton wrote to a friend:
“A free trade, or in other words, a free ocean, is particularly
Important to America. I would ask anyone if all the American
difficulties during this war is not owing to the Naval systems
of Europe and a licensed Robbery on the ocean? how then is
America to prevent this? Certainly not by attempting to build
a fleet to cope with the fleets of Europe, but if possible by
Rendering the European fleets useless.”
From the foregoing we learn the reason for the secret invention he had
in mind during the years he spent in France. Robert Fulton planned to
build a boat to descend beneath the water, which should carry masses of
gunpowder to be placed wherever desired. These bombs, as we would call
them, could be set by time-clocks so that they would later discharge
their fire. We are familiar enough with submarines, now that they are in
use in our own and other navies, but how impossible such a contrivance
seemed in Fulton’s day! He called his invention “torpedo,” a name which
has since been universally used for all such submarine vessels. He had
his inspiration for the name from a strange fish of which he had read in
the travels of Sir Thomas Herbert, where it was described as a “Torpædo
or Cramp Fish” which, when the explorer and his companion took in their
hands, alarmed them so greatly that they trembled; for “it let forth a
cold breath upon them, so they would be so frightened that they would let
it go.” You will see that Fulton’s strange boat, like this fish, was to
let forth a strange breath of fire upon its enemies. He chose the name
well.
This dreadful machine of war seemed indeed a curious instrument to bring
peace. His plan was to manufacture so deadly a weapon of warfare that no
nation would dare to enter into a battle on the seas.
Fulton had to tarry three weeks at Calais before his passport arrived.
With this he soon reached Paris.
He found the city gay and happy, with all remembrance of warfare put away.
He sought lodgings at an excellent hotel where he was fortunate in
meeting an American gentleman, Joel Barlow by name, and his wife. Between
the three there arose a lifelong friendship of rare intimacy. Fulton was
always happy in the selection of friends, in this instance particularly,
for Barlow was a man of considerable distinction in literature,
statesmanship, and philosophy. Fulton was a young man of agreeable
presence and attractive manner and Mr. and Mrs. Barlow became greatly
interested in him. When they moved into their own house, having no son of
their own, they invited Fulton to live with them, and the friendship so
strengthened that for seven years Fulton remained, almost as a son, in
their home.
Mr. Barlow had been American Minister to Algiers, where he made important
treaties and accomplished valuable diplomatic service in what was then
a very difficult field. He was a man of wealth, and when released from
office at the embassy, he moved to Paris where he could establish a home
and live among his books and papers; for he was an industrious writer of
political and historical essays.
Barlow interested himself in strengthening the friendliness between the
United States and France. He knew the great men of both countries and by
his side Fulton found genuine inspiration. He immediately set himself
to the task of making drawings and plans to secure a patent for his
Inclined Plane for Canal Navigation, which was duly granted on the 14th
of February, 1798,—a pleasant valentine!
Again Fulton wrote to Napoleon and to other great men describing the
invention,—in fact, the emperor was to hear much of the American inventor
from this time on.
No sooner was he settled in Mr. Barlow’s home than Fulton commenced
the study of the French language, and later German and Italian. As
his need arose, in the development of his inventions, he also studied
higher mathematics, chemistry, perspective drawing and physics. He was
twenty-nine years of age at this time but was wise enough to know that
“one is never too old to learn.”
Of course he needed money and naturally he took up his brush to earn
it. About this time he painted several portraits, one a fine likeness
of his good friend Joel Barlow. West had probably given him letters of
introduction to the artists of Paris, for Fulton was soon at home among
them. Vanderlyn made a charming pencil sketch of Fulton; and Houdon, the
famous sculptor, who had visited America with Benjamin Franklin, carved
a marble bust of Fulton which is now preserved in the Louvre. During the
Hudson-Fulton Celebration, this bust was reproduced in bronze for the New
York Historical Society and also for the Metropolitan Museum.
The great men of the world are always the busiest. Fulton accomplished
much during the fifty years of his life. He was never idle, and he made
each day count for something. This is a good rule to remember, for so
many days are likely to slip by without real result. The sum total of a
life’s work is only the mere addition of many so-called “small” duties.
Fulton still remembered his dear old mother in the distant farm-home
of Pennsylvania, and in 1799 sent her so delightful a letter, with a
present of thirty-six guineas, that you will want to read this proof
of his faithful affection; and, perhaps, smile a little over his merry
pleasantries about the French ladies, and his sturdy preference for the
ladies of his own land.
PARIS, July 2, 1799.
MY DEAR MOTHER;
Still Europe holds me, not by ties of affection but by the
bonds of business with which I am ever so much engaged that I
have not had time even to fall in love: And now having arrived
at the age of 32 years the ladies of my acquaintance, who,
good creatures, are much concerned for my future happiness
and honour, begin to fear that I shall die an Old bachelor;
hence with eyes full of regard and the sweetest arguments they
persuade me to avoid so miserable an end: In my own mind I have
determined to avoid it but it is my intention to reserve all my
affections for some amiable American whose customs and manners
I prefer to anything I have yet seen in Europe. You will now
ask when shall this be,—when will I return. This I will no
longer promise because having promised frequently without being
able to perform there is not much reliance in them: But still I
hope the time is not distant when I will step into your little
neat room, in one corner of which perhaps you have my picture,
the only donation which I then had in my power to present,
because being my own work it was attended with very little
expense.
But in this letter I send you _thirty six_ pictures of the
late King of France, known in America by the name of French
guineas; these, my dear mother, I hope will be of use to you,
and help to take some weight of cares off your weight of years.
And each year I will endeavor to aid you in proportion to my
circumstances.
I am in excellent health, six feet high and thin; this being
thin I think rather an advantage because it suffers (allows) a
man to be active. I would not be loaded with the quantity of
fat which some gentlemen are obliged to carry into company, not
for their whole estate.…
To Mr. Smith, my Sisters, Brothers in law and friends, remember
me with love and friendship, and believe me everything which is
right in an affectionate son,
ROBERT FULTON.
Fulton’s mother died during this year, 1799, in the Pennsylvania
farm-house, and it is doubtful whether his letter reached her. If it did,
the thirty-six guineas, the “pictures of the late King of France,” and
the happy letter, with its promise of home-coming, must have gladdened
her heart.
Before we take up the story of the submarine torpedo-boat work,—as
difficult as that of his later invention of steam navigation,—let us
recall another venture which Fulton made, along quite another line. Upon
his arrival in Paris he had noticed the gayety and joyousness of the
French and he decided to appeal to these happy people with a new form of
amusement, a painted panorama.
It is only necessary to remind ourselves of the astounding popularity,
in our day, of moving-pictures, to realize how fortunate Fulton was in
his plan to amuse the people of Paris. A Scotchman, Robert Barker, had
painted a panorama of the city of Edinburgh, to exhibit in London in
1789. Possibly Fulton had seen this exhibit, for it had proved highly
successful; at any rate, he applied for a French patent, which was
granted in April, 1799, to “Robert Fulton of the United States” for a
term of ten years.
Fulton’s panorama was almost twice as large as the Scotchman’s. He
secured a plot of ground in a central part of the city, and built a
loft, in circular shape, upon it. The queer-looking building attracted
immediate attention. In it Fulton hung the huge canvas, and his
industrious hand painted the startling scene, “The Destruction of
Moscow,” a scene of pillage and devastation, such as Benjamin West had
taught him to depict. The subject was attractive to the people, who were
considering rumors of war, and they flocked in crowds to view the fiery
representation. The entrance fee was a franc and a half, so money began
to pour into Fulton’s empty purse. So noted did the panorama become
that a popular song of the day was sung in the streets extolling its
excellence. One cannot but wonder whether Fulton himself, perhaps at
Barlow’s suggestion, wrote the words to advertise the new amusement.
We can almost fancy that we see and hear the care-free crowd, strolling
through the street, where now an arcade called “Passage des Panoramas”
marks the place, singing the popular air as they crowded to the door
of entrance, just as people flock to-day to an inexpensive and novel
entertainment. Fulton was indeed a clever man to have adapted Barker’s
London success to the people of the French capital. Here is one verse of
the song, with its translation:
“Paris pas plus grand que cela
Jouit de succès légitime
Un savant vous le montrera
Pour un franc cinquante centimes
Et tout le monde donne ou donnera
Dans le pano, pano, panorama.”
(Paris more than any place
Rejoices in a lawful success.
A clever man will show it to you
For one franc fifty centimes.
And everybody goes or is going
To the pano, pano, panorama.)
This business venture proved very successful but Fulton was so busy with
greater affairs that he could not long give his personal attention to
its supervision. In December of that year he sold the patent rights to
an American who carried on the business for several years. Other scenes
replaced the original “Moscow,” possibly Fulton painted them; at any
rate, he kept an interest in the business, and in 1801 took out a second
patent for improvements in panoramas.
But Fulton longed to give to humanity something better than mere
amusement,—he wanted to help them with their work, to make traveling
easier, and, if possible, to banish warfare. His experiences with his
submarine torpedo-boat will be told in the next chapter.