EULOGY OiN QUETELET. 



Abstract of an Essay upox uis Life and Wouks, by Ed. Maili.y. 



[Translated for the Smithsonian Institution from the Annuaire de VAcademie royale of Belgium for 1875.] 



Lambert Adolphe Quetelet was boru at Ghent on the 22d of February, 

 1796. He was educated at the Ijceum of his native town, and early 

 showed that nature had endowed him, not only with a vivid imagina- 

 tion and a mind of power, but also with the precious gift of indomitable 

 perseverance. He carried away all the prizes of his school, and at the 

 same time wrote poetry which attracted considerable attention. He 

 also manifested a talent for art, and a drawing of his gained the first 

 prize at the lyceum of Ghent in 1812. 



Having lost his father when only seven years of age, and his family 

 not being able to support him, he was obliged, as soon as he had com- 

 pleted his course at the lyceum, to enter, as a teacher, the institution 

 for public instruction at Audenarde. Here he remained a year, teach- 

 ing mathematics, drawing, and grammar; he was then given a master- 

 ship in his native town. In 1815 the lyceum at Ghent, by order of the 

 municipal council, was converted into a university, and Quetelet was ap- 

 pointed professor of mathematics. He received his nomination on his 

 nineteenth birthday. There was nothing brilliant in the lot which had 

 thus far fallen to him, but it secured the means of existence, and left 

 him at liberty to devote himself to art, literature, and science. 



His most intimate companion, with whom he shared all bis tastes, 

 was G. Dandelin, who had been his fellow-pupil at the lyceum. The 

 two friends at one time appear to have been seized with a dramatic 

 furor, and, with the assistance of a distinguished musician, composed a 

 grand prose opera in one act, called ''■John the Second, or Charles the 

 Fifth, in the tcalls of Ghent." It was represented in the theater of Ghent, 

 on the 18th of December, 181G. Its success appears to have been moder- 

 ate, since it was only played twice, and was withdrawn on the plea that it 

 excited the galleries too much. Be this as it may, with it ended the 

 dramatic career of the authors. They had, however, in preparation, 

 two other pieces. The Two Troubadours and The Jester, but before the com- 

 pletion of these Dandelin was appointed second lieutenant of engineers, 

 and ordered to Namur, while Quetelet was won back to the pursuit of 

 science through the influence of his associate. Professor Garnier. 



In 1819 he passed his examination and received the degree of Doctor 

 of Science, the first conferred by the new university. In honor of the 

 event he gave a banquet, which was attended by many of the public 

 functionaries, as well as the professors and pupils of the university. 



