Soon after our dinner party at Arcueil, we went to pay a morning visit to Madame de la Place. It was late in the day; but she received us in bed elegantly dressed. I think the curtains were of muslin with some gold ornaments, and the coverlet was of rich silk and gold. It was the first time that I had ever seen a lady receive in that manner. Madame Laplace was lively and agreeable; I liked her very much.
We spent a most entertaining day with M. and Madame Cuvier at the Jardin des Plantes, and saw the Museum, and everything in that celebrated establishment. On returning to the house, we found several people had come to spend the evening, and the conversation was carried on with a good deal of spirit; the Countess Albrizzi, a Venetian lady, of high acquirements, joined in it with considerable talent and animation. Cuvier had a very remarkable countenance, not handsome, but agreeable, and his manner was pleasing and modest, and his conversation very interesting. Madame de Staël having died lately, was much discussed. She was much praised for her good-nature, and for the brilliancy of her conversation. They agreed, that the energy of her character, not old age, had worn her out. Cuvier said, the force of her imagination misled her judgment, and made her see things in a light different from all the world. As a proof of this, he mentioned that she makes Corinne lean on a marble lion which is on a tomb in St. Peter's, at Rome, more than twenty feet high. Education was very much discussed. Cuvier said, that when he was sent to inspect the schools at Bordeaux and Marseilles, he found very few of the scholars who could perform a simple calculation in arithmetic; as to science, history, or literature, they were unknown, and the names of the most celebrated French philosophers, famed in other countries, were utterly unknown to those who lived in the provinces. M. Biot had written home, that he had found in Aberdeen not one alone, but many, who perfectly understood the object of his journey, and were competent to converse with him on the subject. Cuvier said such a circumstance constituted one of the striking differences between France and England; for in France science was highly cultivated, but confined to the capital. It was at M. Cuvier's that I first met Mr. Pentland, who made a series of physical and geological observations on the Andes of Peru. I was residing in Italy when I published my "Physical Geography" and Mr. Pentland[8] kindly undertook to carry the book through the press for me. From that time he has been a steady friend, ever ready to get me information, books, or anything I wanted. We became acquainted also with M. Gay-Lussac, who lived in the Jardin des Plantes, and with Baron Larrey, who had been at the head of the medical department of the army in Egypt under the first Napoleon.
At Paris I equipped myself in proper dresses, and we proceeded by Fontainebleau to Geneva, where we found Dr. Marcet, with whom my husband had already been acquainted in London. I, for the first time, met Mrs. Marcet, with whom I have ever lived on terms of affectionate friendship. So many books have now been published for young people, that no one at this time can duly estimate the importance of Mrs. Marcet's scientific works. To them is partly owing that higher intellectual education now beginning to prevail among the better classes in Britain. They produced a great sensation, and went through many editions. Her "Conversations on Chemistry," first opened out to Faraday's mind that field of science in which he became so illustrious, and at the height of his fame he always mentioned Mrs. Marcet with deep reverence.
Through these kind friends we became acquainted with Professors De Candolle, Prevost, and De la Rive. Other distinguished men were also presented to us; among these was Mr. Sismondi, author of the "History of the Italian Republics." Madame Sismondi was a Miss Allen, of a family with whom we were very intimate.
Some time after her return to England, my mother, desirous of continuing the study of botany, in which she had already attained considerable proficiency, wrote to M. De Candolle, asking his advice, and he sent her the following reply:—
LETTER FROM M. DE CANDOLLE TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.
Londres, 5 Juin, 1819.
Vous avez passé les premières difficultés de l'étude des plantes et vous me faites l'honneur de me consulter sur les moyens d'aller en avant; connaissant votre goût et votre talent pour les sciences les plus relevées je ne craindrai point de vous engager à sortir de la Botanique élémentaire et à vous élever aux considérations et aux études qui en font une science susceptible d'idées générales, d'applications aux choses utiles et de liaison avec les autres branches des connaissances humaines. Pour cela il faut étudier non plus seulement la nomenclature et l'échafaudage artificiel qui la soutient, mais les rapports des plantes entre elles et avec les élémens extérieurs, ou en d'autres termes, la classification naturelle et la Physiologie.