i824.] Memoir 0/ the late M. Delambre, 



appointed, along with Mechain, to mea- 

 sure an arc of the meridian between 

 Dunkirk and Barcelona, an operation 

 which, though otten interruplcd by Ihc 

 events of the revolution, was finished in 

 the most successful manner in 1795. An 

 account of tliis great undertaking he 

 afterwards published in his Methodes 

 Aiiali/thjues pour la determination d'uii 

 Arc du 3IerJdie:i, one volume 4to. 1799, 

 and in his Base du Systeme Metrique 

 decimal, which appeared in three 

 volumes quarto, from 180G to 1814. 

 These valuable works could not fail to 

 obtain the highest approbation from the 

 Institute ; and accordingly that learned 

 body decreed to him, in 1810, one of the 

 decennial prizes which had been insti- 

 tuted by Bonaparte. But, as the em- 

 peror refused to deliver the prizes which 

 lie had himself establisiied, Delambre 

 obtained only the honour of its adjudi- 

 cation. 



Previous to tiiis measurement, the 

 French academicians had not distin- 

 guished themselves in the practical 

 parts of astronomy. Among the mem- 

 bers of the Academy which were sent to 

 measure an arc of the meridian in Lap- 

 land, the Abbe Outhier is said to have 

 been the only one of them who under- 

 stood the method of taking correspond- 

 ing altitudes with the quadrant which 

 was then used. The results of the mea- 

 sarcment were such as might have been 

 expected, under such circumstances. 

 Even Lagrange, whom Bonaparte used 

 to call le Racine de la Geometric, was so 

 little acquainted with tiie practical part 

 of aslronomy, that he requested Lalande 

 to explain to him the use of the Zenith 

 Sector and the Mural Quadrant. 



Delambre had therefore peculiar 

 merit in executing, in so superior a man- 

 ner, the great trigonometrical operations 

 which were entrusted to him ; and he is 

 entitled also to the still higher praise of 

 having set an example whicii has been 

 followed by so many of the other 

 nations of Europe. In 1795, M. 

 Delambre was appointed one of tiie 

 members of the Board of Longitude, and 

 a member of the First Class of the Insti- 

 tute of I'rance. When Bonaparte be- 

 came Fir.st Consul, Delambre was 

 appointed Inspector-General of Studies; 

 and, in this capacity, he organised the 

 Lyceum of Moulins in 1802, and that of 

 Lyons in 1803, in a manner wiiich 

 nliected the highest credit on his intelli- 

 gence and good feelings. 



Ill 1807, npon the death of his pre- 

 ceptor and friend Lalande, Delambre 



139 



was appointed Professor of Astronomy 

 in tiie College of France. In this situa- 

 tion, he found himself associated with his 

 former master M. Delille, who had been 

 appointed to the ])rofcssorship of Latin 

 Poetry, This eminent poet, who was 

 now old and blind, was obliged to ap- 

 point a deputy to discharge the duties 

 of his office. In 1812, when he had 

 been particularly indisposed, and when 

 great fears had been entertained for his 

 life, he made an unexpected recovery, 

 and resolved to give the first h cture at 

 the opening of the course. Although 

 the lecture did not begin till one o'clock, 

 the doors of the lecture-room were 

 closely beset so early as eleven, and the 

 other professors found themselves de- 

 serted. The crowd iiad become so great 

 at twelve, that the soldiers who guarded 

 the entrance were pushed from their 

 places, and the crowd fdled tlie lecture- 

 room. On this interesting occasion, the 

 old blind poet was led to tlic chair by 

 his favourite pupil Delambre, and by 

 M. Lefevre Gineau. 



In the year 1808, M. Delambre was 

 appointed Treasurer of the Imi)erial 

 University ; and upon the return of the 

 Bourbon family, he was nominated iu 

 1814 a member of the Royal Council of 

 Public Instruction, a place which he 

 lost in 1815. 



At the creation of the Legion of 

 Honour by the Bourbons, M. Delambre 

 was made a member of that order. He 

 was ajjpointed Chevalier of St. Michael 

 in 1817; an Ofiicer of the Legion of 

 Honour in 1821 ; and a long time belorc 

 he was created a Hereditary Chevalier, 

 with a dotation, which was decreed as a 

 national reward. In (he midst of these 

 honours, Delambre was carried oflfroni 

 his friends on the 19th of August, 1822, 

 in the seventy-third year of his age. An 

 eloge, full of eloquence and tine feeling, 

 was pronounced over his tomb by Baron 

 Cn vier, in the name of the Institute ; and 

 a similar mark of respect was paid to his 

 memory by the College of France and 

 the Board of Longitude. 



The great extent of the labours of 

 Dcliimbre will be seen fmni the list of 

 his « ritings which accom|)anics this no- 

 tice ; biit the full value of Itiem ciui only 

 be appreciated by those who arc pro- 

 foundly acquainted with the subjects of 

 whicii they treat. The services whicli 

 he rendered to astronomical science, 

 though not gilded with any brilliant 

 discovery, possess a value far beyoiul 

 those which are characterised princi- 

 pally by their novelty. His I'ablcs or 



tiie 



