I 80 Travels in France 



and on any others that tend either to instruct or please. I 

 accompanied them in their evening's promenade. She told me 

 that her brother, Monsieur de Poule, was a great farmer, who 

 had sowed large quantities of sainfoin, which he used for fatten- 

 ing oxen ; she was sorry he was engaged so closely in the muni- 

 cipal business at present that he could not attend me to his 

 farm. 



August i. Dined with Monsieur de Morveau by appoint- 

 ment; Monsieur Professeur Chausee and Monsieur Picardet of 

 the party. It svas a rich day to me ; the great and just reputa- 

 tion of Monsieur de Morveau, for being not only the first chemist 

 of France, but one of the greatest that Europe has to boast, 

 was alone sufficient to render his company interesting; but to 

 find such a man void of affectation, free from those airs of 

 superiority which are sometimes found in celebrated characters, 

 and that reserve which oftener throws a veil over their talents 

 as well as conceals their deficiencies for which it is intended — 

 was very pleasing. Monsieur de Morveau is a lively, conversable, 

 eloquent man, who, in any station of life, would be sought as 

 an agreeable companion. Even in this eventful moment of 

 revolution, the conversation turned almost entirely on chemical 

 subjects. I urged him, as I have done Dr. Priestley more than 

 once, and Monsieur La Voisier also, to turn his inquiries a little 

 to the application of his science to agriculture; that there was 

 a fine field for experiments in that line, which could scarcely fail 

 of making discoveries; to which he assented; but added that 

 he had no time for such inquiries: it is clear, from his conversa- 

 tion, that liis views are entirely occupied by the non-existence 

 of phlogiston, except a little on the means of establishing and 

 enforcing the new nomenclature. While we were at dinner a 

 proof of the New Encyclopaedia was brought him, the chemical 

 part of which work is printed at Dijon, for the convenience of 

 Monsieur de Morveau, I took the liberty of telling him that a 

 man who can devise the experiments which shall be most con- 

 clusive in ascertaining the questions of a science, and has talents 

 to draw all the useful conclusions from them, should be entirely 

 employed in experiments and their register; and if I was king, 

 or minister of France, I would make that employment so 

 profitable to him that he should do nothing else. He laughed, 

 and asked me, if I was such an advocate for working and such 

 an enemy to writing, what I thought of my friend Dr. Priestley. 

 And he then explained to the two other gentkmen that great 

 philosopher's attention to metaphysics and polemic divinity. 



