Page - 215 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

215The Expeditio litteraria ad Polum Arcticum of the sting was taken out of the poem, however, when he as editor took the liberty of altering the phrase into “everything that was visible in the sky.”18 In the continuation of the reverse trip, Hell and Sajnovics followed exactly the same route as in the previous year—through Christiania, Fredrikshald, Go- thenburg, Helsingborg, and Helsingør—to Copenhagen, which they finally reached on October 17. Here, they stayed until May 22 the next year, meanwhile engaging extensively with local men of learning as well as with members of the nobility and the royal family. By the time Hell began writing his official paper on the Venus transit obser- vation, the chief goal of the expedition had indeed been accomplished. Not only Hell but also Sajnovics were soon honored with memberships of the two royal scientific societies in the realm, in Trondheim and Copenhagen, respec- tively. Yet, the Venus transit expeditionists allowed themselves no rest on their laurels, but systematized and checked the results of their wide-ranging obser- vations and experiments by consulting the available expertise and stock of literature in the capital. Spending their nights in the house of the Austrian embassy, they had living quarters comfortable and peaceful enough to enable them to work on the wealth of information they had gathered and to compose scientific works that—as they hoped—would bring them lasting fame. While in Copenhagen, Hell and Sajnovics regularly visited the sessions of the Royal Society of Sciences, which were held at the residence of Minister Thott. Three long reports and a comparatively short one were produced and presented to the society in this period. Beginning with the official Venus transit report (read during three sessions in November–December 1769),19 there fol- lowed a famous “Demonstration That the Language of the Hungarians and the Lapps Is the Same” by Sajnovics (three sessions in January–February 1770),20 a “New Theory of the Aurora Borealis” by Hell (five sessions in March 1770),21 and finally, “The Geographical Latitude of Several Places” (manuscript submitted in May 1770).22 In each of these papers, all subsequently printed and distrib- uted through respected Danish and Habsburg publication outlets, the two Je- suits made sure to emphasize that the texts in question were really just sections 18 Hell, “Observationes astronomicae latitudinum […],” 361. For details, see Aspaas, “Astron- omy, Latinity, Enlightenment.” 19 Protocol of meetings, archives of Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabers Selskab (dkdvs), entries November 17, November 24, and December 1, 1769. 20 dkdvs, entries January 26, and February 2 and 9 1770. 21 dkdvs, entries March 2, 9, 16, 25, and 28, 1770. 22 Latitudines geographicae locorum Finmarchiae, Nordlandiae, Norwegiae et Sueciae obser­ vationibus astronomicis definitae à Maximiliano Hell (manuscript, National Library of Norway, MS 4o 16).