168 EULOGY ON AMPERE. 



every reason to expect from one of tlie most subtle and profound minds 

 ever created from the so rare union of the spirit of detail with the 

 powers of generalization. This idea did not originate with me. I dis- 

 covered it sometimes unveiled, sometimes veiled, in everj^ P'^ge of Am- 

 pere's correspondence with the frieuds of his youth. Each day our as- 

 sociate, unfortunately, weighed iu the balance what he had done and 

 what he should have done, aud each day the results of this examina- 

 tion increased his intense sadness. 



You now know the secret of what embittered his whole life ; of his 

 desire to have inscribed on his tomb the brief but most expressive epi- 

 taph, also selected by a celebrated Swedish minister — 



Happy at last ! (Tandem felix.) 



DEATH OF AMP£:RE. 



Ampere left Paris in a snffering condition, August 17, 183G. His 

 friends, notwithstanding, were full of hope and confidence, inspired by 

 the thought that a southern climate had once before restored liim to 

 health. But M. Bredin, who had joined him at Saint-Etienne, did not 

 share this delusion. The learned superintendent of the veterinary 

 school of Lyons discovered in Ampere's appearance unmistakable symp- 

 toms of decay; his whole face seemed changed, even the bony outline 

 of the profile. All that remained unchanged about him was, and this 

 was exerting the most fatal influence on his already shattered condi- 

 tion, the enthusiastic and absorbing interest he evinced in everything, 

 north, south, east, or west, that could possibly ameliorate the present 

 condition of the human race. The racking cough which was weakening 

 our friend by slow degrees, his painfully changed voice, his increas- 

 ing feebleness, all demanded silence and absolute rest, even those least 

 interested in him would hesitate to make him utter ten words ; yet when 

 M. Bredin decliued to enter into a minute and difficult decision on the 

 proposed changes in the second volume of the Essay on the Fhilosophy 

 and Classification of the Sciences^ Ampere became most violently excited, 

 " My health, my health !" he exclaimed. '' To talli of my health ! There 

 should be no questions between us but those of eternal truth." These 

 exclamations were succeeded by a profound development of the delicate 

 subtle links, imperceptible to the generality of men which unite the dif- 

 ferent sciences. Then passing beyond the conditions at last conceded 

 by M. Bredin, Ampere, kindling with enthusiasm, summoned to his 

 presence, for more than hour, all who, in ancient or modern times, have 

 influenced, for good or for evil, the lives of their fellow-beings. This vio- 

 lent effort exhausted him, and increased his illness during the remainder 

 of the journey. On reaching Marseilles, the city of his affections, which 

 once before had restored him to life, and which had overwhelmed his 

 son with so many warm-hearted kindnesses, he seemed in an almost 

 hopeless condition. The tender and respectful attentions of all the 

 functionaries of the college and those of a skillful physician produced a 



