THIRD PERIOD. 103 



In i8i5, when we were condemned a second 

 time to receive the visit of those strangers, return- 

 ing with more hostile intentions, there was rea- 

 son to fear that the cabinet would be emptied of 

 a great part of its contents ; and that the Museum 

 of natural history, like that of the fine arts, 

 would be obliged to restore most of the objects 

 obtained by contributions from conquered coun- 

 tries. In fact the magnificent cabinet of the 

 Statholder was reclaimed ; and M.Brugmann was 

 sent to Paris, to receive and transport it. This 

 mission caused the liveliest solicitude lo the ad- 

 ministrators of the Museum : by the restoration 

 of those objects the series would have been in- 

 terrupted, and the collection left incomplete. 

 M. Brugmann was too enlightened a man not to 

 perceive, that they would no longer possess the 

 same value when detached; and that in the gal- 

 leries of Paris they would be more useful even 

 to foreign naturalists. But he was obliged to exe- 

 cute the orders of his sovereign, and could only 

 observe the utmost delicacy in his proceedings, 

 listen to every plan of conciliation, and plead the 

 cause of science, in defending that of the Mu- 

 seum. In this dilemma the professors addressed 

 themselves to M. De Gagern, minister plenipo- 

 tentiary of Holland, who alone could suspend 

 M. Brugmann's operations, and obtain a revoca- 



