He asked and obtained from government the sum of 40,000
livres, in order to construct his machine. It then became clear
what sort of balloon he had contrived. He united in one machine
the two modes previously made use of in aerostation. Underneath
a balloon filled with hydrogen gas, he suspended a Montgolfiere,
or a balloon filled with hot air from a fire. It is difficult to
understand what was his precise object in making this
combination, for his ideas seem to have been confused upon the
subject. It is probable that, by the addition of a Montgolfiere,
he wished to free himself from the necessity of having to throw
over ballast when he wished to ascend and to let off this gas
when he wished to descend. The fire of the Montgolfiere might,
he probably supposed, be so regulated as to enable him to rise or
fall at will.
This mixed system has been justly blamed. It was simply "putting
fire beside powder," said Professor Charles to Roziers; but the
latter would not listen, and depended for everything on his own
intrepidity and scientific skill of which he had already given so
many proofs. There were, perhaps, other reasons for his
unyielding obstinacy. The court that had furnished him with the
funds for the construction of the balloon pressed him, and he
himself was most ambitious to equal the achievement of Blanchard,
who was the first to cross the Channel, on the 7th of January,
1785.
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