Abstract
IT seems on first thoughts rather a strange proceeding to publicly celebrate the centenary of the death of a great man, especially when that death was a murder. But this is what the Paris Geographical Society have arranged to do to-morrow in the case, not of any of their own explorers or navigators, but in the case of England's greatest exploring navigator, Captain James Cook, who was murdered 100 years ago to-morrow by the natives of the Sandwich Islands. But we know that the generous-minded Frenchmen do not intend to rejoice at the death of this great man, as they would do were it his birth they intended to commemorate. Cook, they know, was one of the greatest of geographical explorers, and it is quite natural and commendable that the Society, in their enthusiasm for their science and its promoters, should wish in some way to show their reverence for a man like Cook on the centenary of his remarkable death. Cook, and with him England, owed some gratitude to the French, whose government of the time, though at war with this country, generously gave instructions to their war-ships and colonial governors, not only not to molest Cook in his pursuit of knowledge, but to render him all reasonable assistance. It is obvious that only about every third generation can take part in celebrating the centenary of a man's birth, and it is natural, therefore, that those of the intermediate generation who count him among their heroes, should take advantage of the occurrence of the centenary of his death to show their appreciation of his greatness. In Cook's case birthday and death-day were only about half a century apart, the date of the former being October 27, 1728.
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Captain Cook . Nature 19, 334–335 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/019334a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019334a0