352 Prof. Boole'3 Account of the late John Walsh of Cork. 



of letters which had been received by him, in reply to his appli- 

 cationsj from different learned societies. The most interesting 

 of these conveys a report by Poisson and Cauchy on one of his 

 papers submitted to the Academy of Sciences. That report 

 points out clearly what I have already had occasion to remark in 

 other instances, that Mr. Walsh's supposed discoveiy, in so far 

 as it was true, was not original. In a subsequent report by 

 Poisson upon another communication, that great analyst, refer- 

 ring to the fonner one, stated explicitly that Mr. Walsh's papers 

 did not merit the attention of the Academy. 



Certainly Mr. Walsh had no right to complain of the treat- 

 ment which he received from the French Academy. Alluding, 

 however, to their rejection of his first ])aper, he observes in his 

 MS. memoir on the Calculus of Variations, — 



^'Such was the commencement of a controversy, or rather 

 persecution, scarcely yet known to exist, but which will hereafter 

 be recorded as one of the most memorable seras in the history of 



human knowledge It [the paper] merited a more profound 



consideration of its contents than M. Poisson thought well to 

 bestow on them; an error of which M. Poisson was not aware 

 of the consequences, as affecting in the future history of science 

 not only his own character, and the character of the institution 

 of which he is a member, but that of the age in which he lives.'' 



From the scientific societies of his own country and of the 

 United Kingdom, Mr.Walsh received less attention than from the 

 French Academy. The latter stated the grounds upon which 

 his communications were declined; the former simply declined 

 them. To establish the rule of propriety in such cases is not 

 easy, but I am disposed to think that it would favour the course 

 adopted by the French Institute rather than our own. It would 

 seem in the case of societies, as of individuals, to be the right 

 course to speak the ti*uth in its simplicity and integrity. To do 

 this would not entail the further obligation to answer unmeaning 

 objections, or engage in controversy, nor would occasion often 

 arise to exercise the right of declining further discussion ; for 

 it is not to be presimied that all who are mistaken in opinion 

 are therefore captious and unreasonable. Probably there are 

 many cases in which a simple and candid statement of the nature 

 of the error into which an author has fallen would at once pro- 

 duce conviction. In such cases it would be kind as well as just 

 to convey the information required. Tliere is indeed too much 

 reason to fear that Mr. Walsh's case was not one of this nature ; 

 still it is possible that the sense of neglect and injustice under 

 which he laboured might by such little attentions have been mi- 

 tigated, and that a more wholesome feeling might have arisen in 

 his breast than that which he appears to have indulged. 



