130 LAPLACE. 



Down of the name which she bears, did not hesitate about pecuniary 

 considerations. A small proi)erty uear Pont I'Eveque was about to 

 change hands, and the proceeds were to have been applied so that 

 Frenchmen should not be deprived of the satisfaction of exploring the 

 treasures of theMecauique C61este through the medium of the vernacu- 

 lar tongue. 



" The republication of the complete works of Laplace rested upon an 

 equally sure guarantee. Yielding at once to filial affection, to a noble 

 feeling of patriotism, and to the enthusiasm for brilliant discoveries 

 which a course of severe study inspired, General Laplace had long since 

 qualified himself for becoming the editor of the seven volumes which 

 are destined to immortalize his father. 



" There are glorious achieveinents of a character too elevated, of a 

 luster too splendid, that they should continue to exist as objects of pri- 

 vate property. Upon the state devolves the duty of preserving them 

 from indifference and oblivion, of continually holding them up to atten- 

 tion, of diffusing a knowledge of them through a thousand channels ; 

 in a word, of rendering them subservient to the public interests. 



" Doubtless the minister of public instruction was influenced by these 

 considerations when, upon the occasion of a new edition of the works of 

 Laplace having become necessary, he demanded of you to substitute the 

 great French family for the personal family of the illustrious geometer. 

 We give our full and unreserved adhesion to this proposition. It springs 

 from a feeling of patriotism, which will not be gainsaid by any one iu 

 this assembly." 



In fact, the Chamber of Deputies had only to examine and solve this 

 single question : "Are the works of Laplace of such transcendent, such 

 exceptional merit that their republication ought to form the subject of 

 deliberation of the great powers of the state ? An opinion prevailed 

 that it was not enough merely to appeal to public notoRiety, but that it 

 was necessary to give an exact analysis of the brilliant discoveries of 

 Laplace in order to exhibit more fully the importance of the resolution 

 about to be adopted. Who could hereafter propose on any similar occa- 

 sion that the chamber should declare itself without discussion when a 

 desire was felt, i)revious to voting in favor of a resolution so honorable 

 to the memory of a great man, to fathom, to measure, to examine mi- 

 nutely and from every point of view monuments such as the Mecanique 

 Celeste and the Exposition du Systeme du Monde ? It has ai)peared to 

 me that the report drawn up in the name of a committee of one of the 

 three great powers of the state might worthily close this series of bio- 

 graphical notices of eminent astronomers."* 



The Marquis de Laplace, peer of France, one of the forty of the French 

 Academy, member of the Academy of Sciences and of the Bureau dcs 

 Longitudes, an associate of all the great academies or scientific societies 



*" The author hero refers to the series of biographies contained iu tome III of the Notices 

 Biographiques. — TUAKSLATOR. 



