404 Biographical Account of [Junk, 



tome ii. page 173)> " that there is at this moment an acquisition 

 worthy of t!ie kin^ of France, the illustrious Lagrange, the greatest 

 mathematician who has appeared since Newton, and who in every 

 point of view is the nirin that has tin; most astonished me ; — La- 

 grange, the wisest, and periiaps the only practical philosojihcr that 

 ever existed, meritorious by his undisturbable wisdom, his manners, 

 his conduct ; the object of the most tender respect of the small 

 number of men with whom he associates ; — Lagrange is misunder- 

 stood ; every thing leads him to leave a country where nothing can 

 excuse the crime of being a foreigner, and where in fact lie is 

 merely tolerated. Prince Cardito de LaflVedo, Neapolitan minister 

 at Copenhagen, offered him the n)ost flattering conditions on the 

 part of his sovereign. The Grand Duke, the King of Sardinia, in- 

 vite him eagerly; but all their proposals would be easily obliterated 

 by ours. I am very eager to see this proposal rpade, because I 

 consider it as noble, and because I tenderly love the man who is 

 the object of it. I have induced M. Lagrange not to accept imme- 

 diately the proposals made to him, and to wait till he receives ours.'' 

 The author whom we quote appears to fear the opposition of M. 

 Breteuil ; but, according to M. Lagrange himself, it was the Abbe 

 Marie who proposed it to M. BreteuiJ, who on all occasions antici- 

 pated tlie desires of tlie Academy of Sciences, presented the de- 

 mand to Louis XVI, and induced him to agree to it. 



The successor of Frederick, although he did not much interest 

 himself in the sciences, made some difficulty in allowing a philoso- 

 pher to depart whom his predecessor had invited, and whom he 

 honoured with his particular esteem. After some delay, M. La- 

 grange obtained liberty to depart. It was stipulated that he should 

 still give some metnoirs to the Berlin Academy. The volumes of 

 1/92, 1793, and 1803, show that he faithfully kept his promise. 



It v>-as in 1/87 that M. Lagrange came to Paris to take his seat 

 in the Academy of Sciences, of which he had been a foreign 

 member for 15 years. To give him the right of voting in all their 

 deliberations, this title was changed into that of veleran pensionary. 

 His new associates showed themselves hai)py and proud in possess- 

 ing him. I'he Queen treated him with regard, and considered him 

 as a German. He had been vecom mended to her from Vienna. 

 He obtained a lodging in the Louvre, where he lived happy till the 

 Revolution. 



The satisfaction which he enjoyed did not show itself outwardly. 

 Always affable and kincj when interrog;ited, he himself spoke but 

 little, and appeared absent and melancholy. Often in companies 

 which must have been suitable to his taste, among the rnost distin- 

 guisiied men of all countries v.ho met at the house of the illustrious 

 Lavoisier, I liave seen him dreaming, as it were, with his head 

 against a window, where however nothing attracted liis attention. 

 He remained a stranger to what was passing around him. He 

 acknowledged himself tiiat his enthusiasm was gone, that lie had 

 lo t his tasie for uiatheuiatics. When informed that a mathematician 



