Count Rumford has sent me a letter from Mannheim, dated the 13th of September. He had applied for leave to pass through France to England, but was refused. I suppose the French Government thought that he too would act the spy.[10]
He professes himself still uncertain whether he should not attempt the journey by the north of Germany, but I am myself pretty well satisfied that he will not. In the meantime he desires me to assure you that he will certainly contrive to send the paper on Heat before Christmas. The King and Queen of Sweden were then at Mannheim. He had been presented to and had dined with them.
Later he wrote:
Soho Square, September 29.
My last letter from Count Rumford was of July 31, but I have learned otherwise that he was at Geneva about the 20th of August, setting out for a tour to the icy mountains of Savoy. He has permission, therefore, to travel in that part of the French territory. Whether he will be allowed to return to England through France, or whether he will come at all, I do not yet know.
Whilst in Switzerland Rumford wrote ‘Some Observations on the Glaciers of Chamouni, and on the Propagation of Heat in Liquids.’ This paper was sent to the Royal Society, of which he was then vice-president, December 15. It was published in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for 1804.
On December 5, 1803, Sir C. Blagden again wrote to Rumford’s daughter:
All I can tell you about your father is this: He continued travelling with the French lady till about the middle of September, when she left him at Mannheim and returned to Paris. Your father had applied to the French Government for leave to come to England through France, but was refused. In consequence he remained at Mannheim till the middle of October, when, having by some means, I do not know how, induced the French Government to change their resolution, and allow him to travel in France, he set out for Paris; and I know that he was in that city on the 1st of November. In the last letter I received from him, which was written the day before he set out from Mannheim, he said that he had great hopes of being in England before the end of this year. Since that time I have heard nothing from him. He continues very intimate with the lady, but whether it will end in a marriage I cannot say. My own opinion is rather inclined to the negative, yet I have no good foundation for it.
Since this was written I have received a letter from your father, dated at Paris, November 11. By this it is evident that he expects to marry the French lady, though nothing is yet finally determined.
On March 12, 1804, he again writes from Liverpool:
The last account I received of your father was dated the 19th of January. He was then at Paris, very assiduous in his attentions to the French lady, with whom, indeed, he spent most of his time. But I believe she had not then determined to marry him, and I am still inclined to think she never will. In the meantime he is entirely losing his interest in the country. His residence at Paris this winter, whilst we were threatened with an invasion, is considered by everyone as very improper conduct, and his numerous enemies do not fail to make the most of it. He has quarrelled with Mr. Bernard and others of his old friends at the Royal Institution, and they do all they can to render him unpopular. Probably he has written to you more than once by American ships since his residence at Paris. To me he wrote on the 12th of November, about a fortnight after his arrival there. But I expect no other letter from him, as it would certainly be imprudent in him to keep up a correspondence with this country during his residence in France.
On January 22, 1804, Rumford wrote to his daughter: