44 Memoir of the late Francis Baily, Esq.^ F.R.S.f Sj-c. 



historical statement. There seems, however, no reason to 

 doubt that the ech'pse of 610 b.c. is, in fact, the true eclipse 

 of Thales. It seems extraordinary that neither Professor Olt- 

 manns, who investigated the eclipse of Thales about two years 

 subsequently, and who came to the same conclusion, nor M. 

 Saint Martin, who read an elaborate memoir on the same sub- 

 ject to the French Institute in 1821, should have made any 

 mention of this very remarkable paper of Mr. Baily. 



* The Epitome of Universal History,' of which mention has 

 already been made, was published in 1813, and intended to 

 accompany an Historical Chart published the year before, an 

 extension and improvement of Dr. Priestley's, in which the 

 political alterations of territory are represented through the 

 whole of history. It is an easy and useful work of reference, 

 in which the number and accuracy of the dates, and the utility 

 of the appended tables, are especially valuable. There can 

 be little doubt that the object of this work was much less to 

 produce a book than to systematize and concinnate the author's 

 own knowledge. When such a task is undertaken by a mind 

 at once vigorous in its grasp, and simple, practical and natural 

 in its points of view, it can hardly fail to result in a picture of 

 the subject where all the parts are truly placed, and easily ap- 

 prehended by the general reader. The chart with its expla- 

 nation, forming a distinct work, was in considerable request, 

 and went through three editions in five years. 



About the 22nd of January, 1814, occurred the celebrated 

 fraud of De Beranger, that being the assumed name of an im- 

 postor employed to bring important but false intelligence from 

 the scene of war abroad, for the purpose of influencing the 

 price of the British funds. The imposture was so adroitly 

 managed that many bargains were made on the strength of 

 this intelligence, and much confusion caused. In the detec- 

 tion and exposure of this fraud Mr. Baily had a considerable 

 share, and was appointed by the committee of the Stock Ex- 

 change to get up the evidence against the perpetrators, — a 

 task which he is said to have performed in so masterly a man- 

 ner, that no more complete and conclusive chain of evidence 

 was ever produced in a court. The result of these inquiries, 

 and the steps taken in consequence, were made the subject of 

 three Reports of the above-mentioned committee, drawn up 

 by him, and printed in that and the subsequent year. 



From this time astronomy appears to have been continually 

 engaging more and more of his attention. The subject of 

 eclipses and occultations with their connected calculations, 

 together with that of the improvement of the Nautical Alma- 

 nac, which, whatever might be said on specific points, had 



