372 Sm CHAPtLES WHEATSTOlSrE. 



emy and of tlie Chamber of Deputies; and an elaborate INIemolr of 

 his life and Avritings was communicated to tlie Revue des Deux 

 Mondes (November, 1875) by his life-long friend, M. Duvergier de 

 Hauranue, iu which ample justice was done to him as an eminent 

 writer, a religious pliilosopher, and a constant and able supporter of 

 liberal principles. 



The United States Minister to France (Mr. Washburne), in a pub- 

 lished despatch to the State Department at Washington (18 June, 

 1875), after alluding to the friendship which M. de Remusat had 

 always manifested for our country and its institutions, speaks of him 

 as follows: "To quick intelligence and rare culture he united the 

 simplest manners and most unaffected modesty. His genial disposi- 

 tion, the graces of his spirit, and the charm of his conversation, left 

 upon all the impression of his purity and worth as a citizen, his 

 accomplishments as a statesman, and his fidelity, honesty, and patriot- 

 ism as a public servant. The love of France was the hope and 

 inspiration of his life. . . . Though always holding liberal opinions, his 

 inclinations were monarchical ; but, yielding to the logic of events and 

 the demands of circumstances, it was his judgment that the Republic 

 was the oidy form of Government that could give peace and safety to 

 France." 



He was elected a member of this Academy on the 12th of Novem- 

 ber, 1873. 



SIR CHARLES WHEATSTONE. 



Charles Wiieatstone was born at Gloucester, in the year 1802. 

 His early education appears to have been very limited ; but he dis- 

 played, as a boy, a strong taste for mechanics, and especially for the 

 construction or modification of musical instruments. He began his 

 scientific career with the study of acoustics, and made numerous original 

 experiments and researches, his first paper appearing in the " Annals 

 of Philosophy," in 1823. For some years he was a dealer in musical 

 instruments ; but he soon began to direct his attention to other sub- 

 jects, and in 1834: published the results of a series of experiments on 

 the velocity of electricity, made with apjtaratus constructed for him by 

 the late Mr. Joseph Saxton, of Washington. The progress of science 

 has shown that Wheatstone's experiments led him to conclusions wliich 

 were in some respects untenable; but his paper was received with 

 acclamation, and certainly gave a decided im2)ulse to the science of 



