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importance.

As a French writer--an expert in this field of knowledge--has written
of Fleurieu, "he it was who prepared nearly all the plans for naval
operations during the war of 1778, and the instructions for the
voyages of discovery--those of Laperouse and Dentrecasteaux--for
which Louis XVI had given general directions; and to whose wise and
well-informed advice is due in large part the utility derived from
them." It was chiefly because of Fleurieu's knowledge of geography that
the King chose him to be the tutor of the Dauphin; and in 1790 he
became Minister of Marine.

Louis XVI and Fleurieu talked the subject over together; and the
latter, at the King's command, drew up a long memorandum indicating the
parts of the globe where an expedition of discovery might most
profitably apply itself.

The King decided (1785) that a voyage should be undertaken; two ships
of the navy, LA BOUSSOLE and L'ASTROLABE, were selected for the
purpose; and, on the recommendation of the Marquis de Castries--remember
Madame la Marquise!--Laperouse was chosen for the command.

All three of the men who ordered, planned and executed the voyage, the
King, the scholar, and the officer, were devoted students of the work
and writings of Cook; and copies of his VOYAGES, in French and English,
were placed in the library of navigation carried on board the ships for
the edification of the officers and crews. Over and over again in the
instructions prepared--several times on a page in some places--appear
references to what Cook had done, and to what Cook had left to be done;
showing that both King Louis and Fleurieu knew his voyages and
charts, not merely as casual readers, but intimately. As for Laperouse
himself, his admiration of Cook has already been mentioned; here it may
be added that when, before he sailed, Sir Joseph Banks presented him
with two magnetic needles that had been used by Cook, he wrote that he
"received them with feelings bordering almost upon religious veneration
for the memory of that great and incomparable navigator." So that, we
see, the extent of our great sailor's influence is not to be measured
even by his discoveries and the effect of his writings upon his own
countrymen. He radiated a magnetic force which penetrated far; down to
our own day it has by no means lost its stimulating energy.

In the picture gallery at the Palace of Versailles, there is an oil
painting by Mansiau, a copy of which may be seen in the Mi