The Public And The
Journals Took A Lively Interest In The Enterprise; And The Author Of One
Of The World's
Great stories, Bernardin de Saint Pierre, from his
experience of tropical life in the island where Paul and Virginia lived
And loved, lectured at the Institute on the dietetic regime which ought
to be observed by Captain Baudin and his men.* (* Moniteur, 16th
Vendemiaire.) But however valuable his advice may have been, it was sadly
disregarded.
A livelier function was a banquet given to Baudin at the Hotel de la
Rochefoucauld, in Paris, on the 7th Fructidor, by the Societe de
l'Afrique Interieure. It was attended by several leading members of the
Institute, and an account of it was accorded over a column of space in
the Moniteur.* (* 22nd Fructidor.) Baudin was seated between Bougainville
and Vaillant, an African traveller. There was music, and song, and a long
toast list, with many eloquent speeches. Baudin submitted the toast of
Bonaparte, "First Consul of the French Republic and protector of the
expedition"; Jussieu proposed the progress of the sciences; the company
drank to the "amelioration of the lot of savage races, and may their
civilisation result from the visit which the French are about to pay to
them"; and the immortal memory of La Perouse was honoured in silence. The
last toast appropriately expressed the wish that the whole company might
reassemble in the same place on the return of the expedition, "inspired
by the purest zeal for the progress of the sciences and of
enlightenment." A short poem was also recited, which it is worth while to
rescue from the inaccessibility of the Moniteur file:
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