360 History of Astronomy for the Year 1805. 
upon his banker *, which M. de Chabert, however, would 
not make use of. He lost his sight suddenly in 1800; and 
this misfortune can only be attributed’ to bis excessive labour 
in calculating observations. Having retarned to Paris in 
1802, he was received in the most distinguished manner by 
those heroes of France who were best acquainted with his 
talents and bravery. He received a pension in the month of 
December 1804: he was elected a member of the Board of 
Longitude, and would have been included in the reorgan- 
ization of the Institute in 1803, had there been a vacant 
place. On the 4th of January 1805 he presented to the 
Board of Longitude a chart of Greece, with the particulars 
of the coast; and I trust we shall find many useful things 
among bis immense collection of materials. Although blind, 
he never ceased bis labours: he generally wrote or dictated 
until nine o’clock every evening; and when M. Nevev, his 
secretary, left him, he always felt regret. We have many 
times found his memoir useful in the, geographical, discus - 
sions of the assembly. Some days previous to his death he 
asked me for sume observations which I had received from 
Spain, in order to compare them with his own; and two 
days before his death he desired some passages of his Me- 
moirs upon Pensacola, in Spain, where he laboured in 1768, 
to be read to him. Whenever his journals are published, 
the world will be astonished at his ardour, his accuracy, his 
Jabours, his dangers, and the presence of mind with which 
he remedied al] the inconvenient circumstances that opposed 
his pursuits. ; 
An inflammation of the Jungs carried him off in nine 
days; but he died without pain, consoled by religion and 
adored by a beloved family. > 
He married, in 1771, mademeiselle Tascher, the daughter 
of a gentleman at Coire, in the Grisons, and sister of a 
Jate president, who was intendant of the Isles-du-Vent, and 
* It is presumed Lalande has mistaken Dr. Maskelyne for sir Joseph Banke 
in this account; for he lived almost the whole time either with sir Joseph 
er at his expense. Dr. Maskelyne was always very civil to him, and the 
marquis usually spent about a month at the royal observatory every summer 
during his stay in England, 
who 
