134 MEMOIR OF C. F. BEAUTEMPS-BEAUPRE. 



the Piiofc ile France : " It completes the satisfnction 1 feci at having brought 

 to a successful close so considerable a Avoik as that which I now submit to the 

 Academy, that never in the course of tAventy campaigns, amidst the innumerable 

 dangers which beset our coasts, have I had to deplore the loss of one of my 

 comiades by any accident of the sea." Nor was he less emphatic in acknowb 

 edging the zeal and science of those who had taken part in his labors, and we 

 feel that it was with equal pride and pleasure that he took another occasion to 

 say : " Practical knowledge may advance, and methods be hereafter improved, 

 but we believe ourselves fully justilied in afllnning, that under no circumstances 

 can greater zeal be exerted than has been displayed by all our fellow-laborers." 

 Hence, when Louis Philippe, in 1844, named him grand officer of the legion of 

 honor, the entire corps of bydrographical engineers felt themselves recompensed 

 in the person of their venerable chief. 



Kindness of disposition did not preclude, in the case of our colleague, great 

 firmness of character, as was abundantly manifested amidst the vexatious in- 

 separable from labors like his; especially was his constancy of purpose proved 

 by a circumstance which would have discouraged most others. Although he 

 embarked young, and at the outset was tossed for two successive years on the 

 most stormy seas, he ceased not at any time to be subject to sea-sickness, and 

 it was amidst sufferings from this malady, which so completely subdues the 

 stoutest spirits, that for fifty years it devolved on him to measure angles with 

 the nicest precision, and note the details of soundings, while exposed on slight 

 vessels to the waves which often SAA'ept oA'cr himself and his drawings ; yet he 

 paid uo attention to these things, and disliked to have his infirmity observed by 

 others. To his assistants, however, his sufferings could not be unknown, and 

 must have contributed to the sympathetic affection with which he was regarded 

 by those, whether officers or mariners, with whom his labors brought him into 

 contact. 



It was indeed natural that, with such a character as his, M. Beautemps- 

 Beaupre should be L.ved by all who approached him, and it may be readily 

 imagined that the 25tli September, 1S4S, which witnessed his official retirement, 

 was, for the depot of marine and the whole corps of hydrographic engineers, a 

 day of undisscmbled regret. Equally may we conclude that it was a day of 

 festivity when, Pebruar}' 2, 1853, M. Ducos, minister of marine, came, in the 

 name of the Emperor and in the presence of the corps of engineers, to inaugurate 

 the bust of our colleague in the grand gallery of the depot, whose invaluable 

 documents have in great part been collected by himself or under his orders, or 

 at least by the methods with which he has endowed hydrography. On this 

 interesting occasion. Admiral Mathieu, the worthy and learned director of tlie 

 depot, ])ronounced a discourse, from which I must content myself Avith trans- 

 cribing the; following passage: "In having constantly before our eyes the ven- 

 erable features of lum who was once our chief, and who has created that admi- 

 rable liydrograj)liic science which is the torch of navigation, Ave shall recall 

 without ceasing his vast and conscientious labors, his useful counsels, his devo- 

 tion to duty, his rigid probity, and at every moment of the day, so to speak, avc 

 shall pay him the tribute of respect and gratitude due to him by so many titles." 

 "To this address M. Ducos cordially responded : "This bust," he said, in closing 

 his remarks, "is entitled to our respect, fV)r it is that of M. Beautemps-Bcaupn'', 

 £0 much endeared to the naA'igators of all nations and of every sea. In dedi- 

 cating this effigy of the man of science, whom you justly consider the founder 

 of the depot of marine, in the place Avhich has been the Avitness of the labors of 

 his long career, it Avould seem to be no strained metaphor Avhich should liken 

 this tribute of your regard and veneration to one of those beacons erected by 

 his counsels and exertions by Avhich you Avould ingeniously recall to his suc- 

 cessors the modest point of departure, and the glorious point of success AA'hich 

 they too may realize." The bust is perfect in its resemblance, faithfully repro- 



