6 Biographical Notice of the Abbe Haiiy. 



lege of Cardinal Lemoine. As soon as he was informed of 

 the fate of his master, he ran instantly to implore all those 

 -who he thought might have some influence, to endeavour to 

 save him. An order was at length obtained for his deliver- 

 ance. M-. Geoffroy ran with it to St Firmin ; but he was 

 late. Haiiv was so tranquil that nothing could induce him to 

 go out on that day. The next day he was taken out almost 

 by force, — and the day after was the 2d of September ! 



It is very remarkable, that, after the massacre from which 

 Hairy had been so providentially rescued, he met with no fur- 

 ther disturbance. One day only he was compelled to appear 

 at the review of his battalion, but he was soon dismissed on 

 account of' his bad figure. This was nearly all that he knew, 

 or at least all that he saw of the Revolution. At the time at 

 which the convention was acting with the greatest violence, he 

 was named one of the commissioners of weights and measures, 

 and keeper of the cabinet of mines. When Lavoisier was ar- 

 rested, when Borda and Delambre were deposed, Haiiy alone 

 could write in their favour, and he hesitated not to do it: he, 

 an unregistered priest, performing every day his ecclesiastical 

 functions ! At such an epoch, his impunity was more surpris- 

 ing even than his courage. 



At the death of Daubenton, the public voice designated 

 Haiiy as his successor. The votes of the Academy were, 

 however, in favour of Dolomieu, probably on account of the 

 extreme modesty of Hairy. But the former was at that time 

 under arrest, contrary to the rights of nations, in the dun- 

 geons of the Neapolitan government ; and the only evidence 

 of his being alive was a few lines written upon the margin of 

 a book with a splinter of wood, and the smoke of his lamp, 

 which the ingenuity and humanity of an Englishman had 

 bribed the jailor to transmit to his friend. These lines, as well 

 as his works, pleaded powerfully in his favour, and the mem- 

 ber who urged his election with the greatest zeal was Haiiy 

 himself. It might have been expected that such testimonials 

 of esteem, rendered by such men, would have softened the ri- 

 gour of Dolomicu's treatment ; but how many persons are there 

 in power, who, when blinded by a momentary passion, take no 

 pains to inform themselves of the opinion of their fellow-crea- 



