MEMOIR OF PELTIER. 169 



ber; the other by M. Frdderio Gerard, wlio had known him but a few years, but 

 to whom the time, short though it was, had sutiiced to give a just appreciation of 

 his qualities. These discourses were as follows : 



DISCOURSE OF M. MILXE EDWARDS. 



" It is not in the midst of the sad scenes smTounding the tomb that we can give 

 ourselves up to the cold estimations of science, and judge impartially the works 

 of a man who has long been our colleague. I shall not then endeavor to recall 

 here all that J\I. Peltier has done for the advancement of human knowledge, nor 

 to expound the ingenious views which led him to explain and reproduce, by 

 single experiments in the laboratory, the most sublime phenomena of which the 

 atmosphere is the scat. Historians of science will have the grateful task of regis- 

 tering his worlvs, and will gladly render him the praise which is his due. But 

 before the earth-clods close over his remains let me be permitted to pay to his 

 memory this last tribute of I'cspect, in the name of a body of men whose watch- 

 words are studij and friendship. The Philomathic Society will long honor the 

 memor}' of JM. Peltier. We will not forget the frequent and interesting com- 

 munications in which he has given account of his curious researches, and his 

 name will be often cited among us when we wish to place before the eyes of our 

 rising generation examples of disinterested love of science and patient perseve- 

 rance in the ]Mn-suit of knowledge, which may excite them to emulation. The 

 recital of his life will be i)re-cminently instructive to those who, in the beginning 

 of their career, feel discouraged by their isolation, and fear that they can, unsup- 

 ported, acquire neither fame nor fortune. They will see from the example of M. 

 Peltier how, with firm will and undaunted spirit, a young man alone in the world, 

 and without resource except such as is furnished by a powerful organization, can 

 triumph over the numberless obstacles by which he is surrounded, and conquer, lit- 

 tle by little, all that is wantiug — instruction, wealth, and fame, all well acquired. 



" Such, indeed, has been the life of M. Peltier; and had not death so ruthlessly 

 come prematurely to interrupt the course of his labors, so strongly impressed with 

 the seal of origiuality, he would have received the reward due to his merit, for 

 doubtless his peers would soon have chosen him to be one of the representatives 

 of that science he cultivated with such eclat. 



" When in a few days our society resumes her labors, she will learn with grief 

 the loss that I now so deeply deplore ; and on the list of members which she most 

 ]'egrets and loves will be inscribed the name of Peltier beside those other illus- 

 tiious names, Dulong, Fresnel, and Savart." 



DISCOURSE OF M. FRfiDERIC GERARD. 



^'It is a noble thought that gathers around a grave the friends of him whose 

 remains are to be laid therein ; it is the last homage we can render to his mem- 

 ory ; and the words pronounced over his coffin, resting deeply engraved in the 

 mind, are an instructive lesson to all who hear them. 



" If a pompous eulogium is expected for those who have performed glorious 

 actions, a few simple and touching words are the fittest tribute to the memory of 

 that man who has applied himself to the art of living well, and has consecrated 

 his leisure hours and all his mind to the advancement of knowledge. 



'' Such was he whom death has taken from us before the time at which he usu- 

 ally strikes those who have passed the critical period of life. 



''A few words on his earliest years will show what there was of noble in this 

 man's life, and will be the highest eulogium we could pronounce over his tomb. ■ 



" Born at Ham, in 1785, in mediocre condition, but of an honest and intelligent 

 father, Jean Charles Athanase Peltier was placed, at the age of fifteen 3-ears, 

 under the care of a German clock-maker living at Saint Quentin — a hard, unmer- 

 ciful man. It was at this time that France in arms battled against all Europe ; 



