Melbourne Botanic Garden,
23. March 63
Sir Henry,
I have the honor to inform your Excellency that his Majesty the Emperor of France has been graciously pleased to confer on me the Knighthood of the Legion of Honor,1 and beg leave to enquire, whether as an officer of Her Britannic Majesty's Government I am entitled to accept this high mark of distinction, intended by the Imperial French Sovereign.2
I have the honor to be,
your Excellency's very humble and obedient servant
Ferd. Mueller.
His Excellency
Sir Henry Barkly,
K.C.B
Barkly, in Despatch 19, noted that he had written to M stating that
no subject of Her Majesty is at liberty to accept or wear any Foreign Order unless by Royal License under Sign Manual, but I pointed out that this Regulation might not be held applicable to him as an Alien born, although naturalised within the limits of this Colony.
Having taken the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty both here and in South Australia, he considers himself however "a British Subject", and is desirous that under any circumstances his case shall be submitted to your Grace's favourable consideration; and I have much pleasure therefore in stating, that from his Reputation as a Scientific man, which has already procured him many distinctions, including that of a Fellow of the Royal Society, — no less than from his highly honorable character in private life, I know of no one more deserving the special intervention of the Crown, if the restrictions imposed on its Military and Naval Servants in regard to acceptance of Foreign Orders are ever relaxed in the case of Civilians.'
The Despatch was transmited to the Foreign Office for advice on 30 May (CO 309/63, f. 227), although the case was considered by the Colonial Office to be 'irregular in every respect'.
An official of the Foreign Office wrote to the Colonial Office on 3 June 1863 (CO 309/65, Correspondence, Original, Secretary of State, Offices and Individuals, 1863, f. 122):
I have laid before Lord Russell your letter of the 30th ultimo, inclosing Copy of a Despatch from the Governor of Victoria with an application from Dr. Müller, the Government Botanist of that Colony, for Permission to accept the Decoration of the Legion of Honour which has been offered to him by the Emperor of the French.
Lord Russell directs me to state to you in reply, for the information of the Duke of Newcastle, that by § 3 of the Queen's Regulations respecting Foreign Orders, he is precluded from entertaining an application of this kind unless it reaches him either through the Minister of the Sovereign who confers the Order, or thro' the British Minister accredited at the Court of such Sovereign.
But even if the present application had been made thro' one of the appointed Channels, Lord Russell would have been unable to recommend Her Majesty to comply with it, because the case of Dr. Müller does not come within the terms of § 2 of the Regulations.
It has moreover been held that the Regulations apply to persons holding Office under the British Government, whether they are British born Subjects or not.
The Colonial Office despatch No 5 to the new Governor, Charles Darling, (draft dated 19 July 1863 in CO 309/65, f, 124), enclosed a copy of the Foreign Office reply, with the request that the Governor 'explain to Dr. Mueller the reasons set forth in Earl Russell's letter which preclude H.M's Government from granting Dr, Mueller's leave to accept the decoration'.
For a discussion of the Regulations respecting Foreign Orders, see notes to C. Darling to Duke of Newcastle, 22 February 1864 (in this edition as M64-02-22).
Please cite as “FVM-63-03-23d,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 8 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/63-03-23d