6 Historical Eulogy on the Marquis De Laplace. 
I cannot undertake to point out here the series of his labors, and 
the discoveries that have been the fruits of them. The enumeration 
only, however rapid it may be, would exceed the limits which I am 
bound to prescribe to myself. Besides his researches on the secular 
equation of the moon, and the no less difficult and no less important 
discovery of the cause of the great inequalities of Jupiter and of 
Saturn, we have to cite his admirable theorems on the libration of the 
satellites of Jupiter. We must recal his analytical works on the 
ebb and flow of the sea and show the immense extent which he has 
given to this question. 
There is no important point of physical astronomy which was not 
to him the object of deep study and discussion. He submitted to 
calculation most of the physical conditions which his predecessors 
had omitted. In the question already so complex, of the form 
and of the motion of the earth’s rotation, he has considered the 
effect of the presence of waters distributed between the continents, — 
of the compression of the interior strata, of the secular diminution of 
the dimensions of the globe. 
In this ensemble of researches, we must, above all, notice those 
which relate to the stability of great phenomena; no object is more 
worthy of the meditation of philosophers. ‘Thus we have observed 
that the causes, whether casual or constant, which trouble the equilib- 
rium of the seas, are subject to limits which cannot be surpassed. 
The specific gravity of the waters being much less than that of the 
solid oo it thence results, that the oscillations of the ocean are al- 
d between very narrow limits; which would not take 
ie hae were the fluid spread over the globe much heavier. In gen- 
eral, nature holds in reserve, preserving and ever present forces, which 
act as soon as trouble commences, and with the greater power in 
proportion to the increased magnitude of the aberration. They de- 
lay not to reestablish the wonted order. We find in all parts of the 
universe this preserving power. The form of the great planetary or- 
bits, and their inclinations, vary and change in the course of centuries; 
but these changes’ are limited. ‘The principal dimensions subsist. 
This immense assemblage of celestial bodies oscillates around a 
mean state, towards which it is always carried back. All is disposed 
for order, perpetuity, and harmony. 
In the primitive and liquid state of the terrestrial globe, the heaviest 
particles are drawn nearest the center; and this condition has deter- 
mined the stability of the seas. 
