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members of the congregation awake with a stick and that church services at Easter
lasted practically all day. Officers had the right to enter houses to see that the chim-
nies were properly maintained and that a lantern was kept ready. The Frenchmen,
as Roman Catholics, were not permitted to hold religious services in public, this
being forbidden by the strong Lutheran law. The Frenchmen had brought an inter-
preter but were able to converse directly with the mayor, the governor, the rector,
and the local school-teacher in Latin. It was the teacher who had suggested the
surveying route and triangulation points, and by the end of their stay some
Frenchmen had learned enough Finnish to get by.
Two residents of Tornio were particularly affected by the expedition- the
Planström daughters, Elizabeth and Christine. When Maupertuis and his colleagues
returned to France, the two women traveled with them, survived the journey's many
dangers, and became Roman Catholics. Christine eventually entered a convent,
disturbed, one can surmise, because after a passionate
affaire
Maupertuis lost inter-
est in her; a love poem from Maupertuis to her survives, written, presumably on the
spot in Lapland during Arctic long summer days, cold weather and the aurora. Its
literary merit is suggested by the Lesley Murdin translation given here in the over-
blown, mawkish spirit of the original. Christine's sister, Elizabeth, married a
Frenchman, M. de Pelletot. There was talk that perhaps the main motivation of her
husband in marrying her was associated with her substantial dowry, and, indeed, in
1761 the marriage ended in an unhappy divorce. She had to fight a hard battle for
the right to acquire alimony (3,000 livres per year) to support her and her one son,
and in the end, she too took to a convent at Rouen.
Ideas
Poem for Christine by Pierre Maupertuis, translation by Lesley Murdin
Dans les frimas
Here we must go
De ces climats
Where the icy winds blow
Christine nous enchante:
Christine can entrance us:
Oui, tous le lieux
Yes, the sun can rise
Où sont tes yeux
In the fire of your eyes
Sont la zone brûlante.
Where warm light dances.
L'astre du jour
Staying under this star
A ce séjour
The gloom stretches far
Refuse la lumière;
And blots out the light;
Et tes attraits
But all the action
Sont désormais
Of your attraction
L'astre qui nous éclaire.
Makes our star radiant bright.
Le soleil luit:
Summer brings light
Des jours sans nuit,
Days without night,
Bientôt il nous destine;
With that we are serene;
Mais ces longs jours
But these long days
Seront trop courts
To sing her praise
Passés près de Christine.
Are too short for Christine.
