Napoleon Bonaparte was a man of the enlightenment – he may have paid lip service to democracy BUT as well as overhauling the financial system and creating the Bank of France, the introduction of his Code Civil de Francais in 1804 replaced a mish mash of Roman, Customary and Canon laws which applied across France and brought about a major change in the legal status of individuals. As the Encyclopedia Britannica says, “Under the code all citizens are equal: primogeniture, hereditary nobility, and class privileges are extinguished; civilian institutions are emancipated from ecclesiastical control; freedom of person, freedom of contract, and inviolability of private property are fundamental principles.” and, “…it has been the main influence in the 19th-century civil codes of most countries of continental
He also began a program of public works and sowed the seeds for universal education with the implementation of the Lycée system in 1801.
Napoleon was a man of science and encouraged the development of studies in all areas of the sciences. He even developed a mathematical theorem about equilateral triangles which is known as Napoleon’s Theorem. His expedition to
Although some critics of Napoleon write off this period as a time of waste, death and destruction and the beginning of the end for
Napoleon’s first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais formerly of Martinique was a gifted amateur naturalist who, perhaps because she had grown up amongst exotic species, being fascinated by the newly discovered species from Australasia, began establishing them along with every other variety of plant that she could obtain at her chateau Malmaison which was on the outskirts of Paris.
Although many plants were sourced from the Labillardiere collection and despite ongoing war with
Not content with growing these plants for her own amusement Josephine wanted to spread them all over
Almost 30% of the images in this publication portrayed Australian flora. While not devaluing the line drawings in Labillardiere’s book or Redoute’s earlier prints it should be noted that the images in Jardin de la Malmaison are probably the first published artistic impressions of these plants. Executed originally as brilliantly coloured paintings they were subsequently produced as prints, engraved under Redoute’s direction, by François Noël Sellier using a method called stipple engraving which, for the first time allowed for the subtle tones of the paintings to be reproduced by the printer. It would be a long time before the unusual forms of the Australian flora made another appearance in the art of
Little is known of the fate of the plants at Malmaison after Josephine’s death but the extensive parks and gardens were eventually subdivided and sold off. I have been told that Acacia continues to grow easily in the forests around the area that was Malmaison and it is reported that escaped kangaroos from Josephine’s garden have now become a problem in that area.
The dearth of information about these plants and those at the Jardin de Plantes and of Joséphine’s plans to distribute plants to every Département in
Josephine’s fascination with new and exotic plant species was to have unforseen consequences for the local environment. As we are now discovering, all plants naturally exist in surroundings which control their existence in balance with other local species. Once removed from this situation to another environment their future becomes unpredictable.
Known to the French as Mimosa, the delicate phyllodes and fragrant perfume of the Acacia was to become even more popular than it was with the English. It became an essential part of the perfume industry and was widely planted in the south along the
The first mimosa to be planted in the south of
One might draw similar comparisons with the transplanting of European culture to the environs of the Pacific or other non-European countries. If one disregards the politics behind the European expansion of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and considers the environmental impact of the process of cultural transportation one is left with a great sadness for the loss of biological diversity. Not only the loss of plant and animal species but also that of human cultural diversity.
Baudin’s previously noted comments to Governor King regarding the ‘…transporting on a soil where the crimes and diseases of Europeans were unknown all that could retard the progress of civilisation…’ show an understanding that, no matter where one stands on issues such as the “Black Wars”, can only be seen as prophetic. Not only has the aboriginal population been decimated but much of our flora and fauna have likewise been depleted.
Today boulevards along the
Bibliography
Banks, Joseph Banks' florilegium, Alecto Historical Editions, Shoeburyness
Baudin Nicolas personal letter to Governor King, Historical Records of N.S.W. Vol 5, 1803-05
Beaglehole J C, The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks 1768-1771, Vol II Angus and Robertson Ltd, Sydney, 1963.
Brown Anthony J, Ill-starred Captains: Flinders and Baudin, Crawford House publishing,
Duyker E. A French Garden in Tasmania in Pacific Journeys, Cropp et al Eds., Victoria University Press, Wellington 2005
Duyker E, Citizen Labillardière: A Naturalist's Life in Revolution and Exploration, Miegunyah Press,
Fornasiero, Jean. Monteath, Peter. West-Sooby, Jean (eds), Encountering Terra Australis, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, South Australia. 2004
Kent, HRH Princess Michael of, Josephine’s Garden, www.princessmichael.com/articles/19_1.html
Murray Robert, Sydney ’s Brush with Bonaparte, Quadrant, Volume XLVIII Number 1 - January-February 2004
Ryan. T. Le Presidente des Terres Australes in The Journal of Pacific History, Vol 37 No. 2, 2002
Stephens Ann (ed), Visions of a Republic: The Work of Lucien Henry, Powerhouse Publishing, Sydney 2001
Walker James R Early
Wolf-Achim Dr. Roland, Acacia World, www.acacia-world.net/index.html
Wikipedia Napoleon ! of
Wikisource contributors, The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911), Wikisource, The Free Library.
Britannica 2001 Standard Edition CD-ROM, 1994-2000. Britannica.com Inc
[1] Australian Acacias in Europe, Lecture by Wolf-Achim Roland http://www.acacia-world.net/html/lecture_melbourne.html 230606
[1] Mimosa – Introduction to
[1]Napoleonic Code, Britannica 2001 Standard Edition CD-ROM, 1994-2000. Britannica.com Inc. 120307
[2] Anthony J Brown, Ill-starred Captains: Flinders and Baudin, op cit. p26 Burdened with twenty two more officers, midshipmen and scientists than requested, many through patronage and many of whom were unsuited to a long sea voyage Baudin was to find this a much more troublesome voyage than his previous missions. Like his second in command Emmanuel Hamelin the captain of his sister ship the Naturaliste Baudin had earned his promotion under the Republic and several of his officers and a number of the scientific staff were to show little respect for a self made man and a self taught naturalist; despite his obvious talent proven though his previous exploits during the war with England and as a leader of botanising missions. Difficulties provisioning in
[3] Wikipedia Napoleon ! of
[4] Duyker E op cit p32
[5] Jill, Duchess of
[6] HRH Princess Michael of
No comments:
Post a Comment