Page - 371 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

371Coping with Enlightenments journey the prior of the cathedral of Veszprém, Pál Kiss. In this country swarm- ing with men of superior learning (invariably good Catholics, several of them directly emerging from a Jesuit background), even the common man is distin- guished by a keen “interest in mathematics”—as in the case of the innkeeper of the village of Szered, for example: this Hungarian counterpart of the Tyro- lean farmer Anich, whose mathematical prowess had been used as a proof for the excellence of Catholic education by Hell a decade earlier, was watching in admiration Hell drawing a meridian line with a stick on the floor of his house.95 At the end of the account, Hell, as it were, sighs in relief: “Thus my tour of Hun- gary for the improvement of astronomy and geography […] and for the greater glory of God is completed.”96 That the latter phrase was also the motto of the temporarily defunct Society of Jesus is noteworthy. Decision-makers in the im- perial center may have turned hostile to the tradition of science represented by Hell and his attempts to find new institutional bulwarks for it by sponsoring an academy of sciences. But these traditions seemed—or at least were represent- ed by him—to flourish in the province of the realm that he called his “father- land” (Patria mea),97 with a powerful and generous patron, and a substantial rank-and-file of dedicated scholars. Finally, there is the issue of cross-disciplinary engagement and appropriation. Hell informs his readers about an excursion that he has made, at the request of von Jacquin, to the town of Jászapáti98 to verify rumors of a special, edible plant. The edible plant did indeed exist; he brought some specimens back to Vienna for further scrutiny by the head of the botanical garden. In a self-assured aside filling more than two pages, he adds that he had known about the plant since his stay in Transylvania, where it proliferated to such an extent that he presumed it to be well known to bota- nists. Furthermore, he also took the opportunity to gather several other exotic specimens as a service to von Jacquin, thereby placing himself on a par with the famous explorer with respect to the natural kingdom, at least in regard of endemic Hungarian plants.99 95 Hell, “Observationes astronomicae latitudinum geographicarum,” 167 (flawed pagination: correctly 276). It may be worth noting that the village was located on the estates of the bishop’s brother, Count Ferenc Eszterházy (1715–85), head of the Hungarian Court Chan- cery, another important patron of culture and an enlightened improver of his estates— and an opponent of Josephian centralization. Hell stresses that the “elegantly construct- ed” inn itself was also built thanks to his support. 96 Hell, “Observationes astronomicae latitudinum geographicarum,” 289. 97 Hell, “Observationes astronomicae latitudinum geographicarum,” 278. 98 Or “Jasz-Apáthy,” as Hell spells it; in contrast to practices earlier established for the Ephe­ merides, the Hungarian name form is highlighted, with the Latin explanation “the town of Jaszigia near the river Tybiscus [Tisza]” added in smaller characters. 99 Hell, “Observationes astronomicae latitudinum geographicarum,” 282–84.