To Lord Kelvin   23 April 1893

Melbourne 23/4/93

To the Right Honorable Lord Kelvin, D.C.L., L.L.D., P.R.S. &c &c1

 

May I approach your Lordship on a subject entirely in the interests of science, of which you as the present occupant of what once was Sir Isaac Newtons chair,2 are the renowned leader in the British Empire. The favor, sought by me, is one, which I never asked for during the 30 years of high privilege of belonging to the R S.

Would your Lordship then take with your honored Councillors into Consideration for reward from the science-throne of Britain, the high claims of the renowned Physicist, the Geheim-Rath Prof Dr Knoblauch, the present President of the Acad. Caes. Leop. Carol. Nat. Curioso[r.]3 in Halle. It is purposeless to enlarge on the merits of this great man and on his elevated Position as representative of a Society almost as aged as the R.S.

Could you honor this great Investigator by some distinction either on the foreign list or as the Recipient of a medal, when the next opportunity arises? Prof Knoblauch is long beyond the zenith of life, so that perhaps divine providence has not destined him to continue long his earthly career, and thus to enjoy long the tokens of appreciations, yet to be bestowed on him.4

Reverently your

Ferd von Mueller

 

It is too late now to offer your Lordship my felicitation directly in being raised by our gracious Sovereign to the Peerage.5 But may I say, that when as Past-President of the Austral Assoc. for Advancem. of Science, I had to instal his Excellency Sir Rob. Hamilton, LLD., the late Governor of Tasmania, to the Presidency,6 I alluded gratulatorily in my speech, to the event, then just telegraphed, that so worthy a tribute had been made by the Crown of Britain as to confer on your Lordship for the incalculable science-services rendered the dignity of hereditary Nobility!

Gladly do I share in the movements in memory of my late friend Sir Rich. Owen and in homage to Sir John Lawes and Prof Gilbert

MS annotation: 'Officers'.
i.e. the presidency of the Royal Society of London.
Academia Caesarea Leopoldino-Carolina Naturae Curiosorum.
Knoblauch was neither elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society nor awarded one of the Society's medals. See also M to W. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 October 1892.
William Thomson was raised to the peerage as Baron Kelvin of Largs in the New Year's honours list of January 1892.
James Hector, the retiring President of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, was ill and unable to attend the Association's meeting in Hobart in 1892. M therefore chaired the meeting of the General Council on 5 January, and installed Sir Robert Hamilton that evening as the new President. M's speech on this occasion was not published in the official report of the meeting.

Please cite as “FVM-93-04-23,” 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 29 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/93-04-23