Fulton’s wise and diplomatic friends, Barlow, Monge and Laplace, must have been absent when the above tactless lines were penned. That they were the actual handwork of Fulton himself would seem to indicate that he was actuated by a momentary burst of impatience, and that in his haste to give vent to his feelings, he did not wait for his secretary to write the letter in French. What was in consequence almost inevitable, happened. Admiral Decrès, as Minister of Marine, reported adversely on Fulton’s plans. Fulton’s letter, of course, had not served to overcome the settled objection of a sailor to mechanical innovation. CHAPTER IV NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE Nautilus reconstructed and tested at Brest (1801). Reports to Monge, Laplace and Volney. Great expectations. Final rejection (1802). Partnership with Robert R. Livingston. Work begun on steamboat. British Admiralty aware of his submarine accomplishment. Induced to return to England (May, 1804). The always faithful Monge and Laplace came once more to the aid of their temperamental friend. They personally intervened with the First Consul, and actually succeeded in persuading him to authorize the reconstruction of the Nautilus in spite of the adverse professional opinion of the Minister. He appointed a new commission to investigate, naming MM. Monge, Laplace and Volney. The last, unlike the first two, was not a scientist. He was an eminent scholar, a great traveller and member of the Institute. He had visited the United States five years previously and had written a book on its climate and soil. He narrowly escaped the guillotine, was created a count under the Empire, and a peer of France after the restoration. He died in 1820. With the encouragement induced by the naming of this friendly commission, Fulton at once began his task. The Nautilus was transported from Havre to Brest and there refitted with the alterations and improvements that occurred to Fulton as the result of the Havre experiments. On July 3rd, 1801, he made his first plunge at Brest in his improved boat. This time he was accompanied by three men instead of two as on the previous occasions. An account of what he did at Brest is preserved in a manuscript copy of a report that he made to the commissioners. This report was published by Mrs. Sutcliffe in her book on the “Clermont” but it is so graphic that with Mrs. Sutcliffe’s consent it is reprinted in full exactly as Fulton wrote it: Paris 22^d, fructidore An 9 Robert Fulton to the citizens Monge, La Place and Volney, members of the National Institute, and Commissioners appointed by the first Consul to promote the invention of Submarine Navigation—