10 Historical Eulogy on the Marqus De Laplace. 
History will unite the names of Berthollet and of Chaptal to that 
of Laplace. Their undertakings have always had for their object 
and for their result the enlargement of sciences the most important 
and the most difficult to acquire. 
The gardens of Berthollet, at his mansion of Arcueil, * were not 
separated from those of Laplace. Sad remembrances, deep regrets 
have rendered illustrious this enclosure. It was there that Laplace re- 
ceived celebrated strangers and men of wealth, from whom science 
had derived or expected some benefactions ; but above all, those whom 
a pious zeal attached to the sanctuary of sciences. Some com- 
menced their career, others were soon to finish it. He entertained 
them all with an extreme politesse. He even carried it so far, as to 
have inspired the belief with those who knew not the whole extent of his 
genius, that he could himself reap some fruit from their undertakings. 
In citing the mathematical works of Laplace, we ought especially 
to make some remarks upon the depth of his researches and the im- 
portance of his discoveries. His works are distinguished still by 
another character, that all readers have appreciated. I wish to speak 
of the literary merit of his compositions. That which bears the 
title of Systeme du monde is remarkable for the elegant simplicity of 
style, and the purity of language. There was still no example 
of this kind of productions; but we should form of it a very incor- 
rect idea, were we to think we should be able to acquire the knowl- 
edge of the phenomena of the heavens in such writings. The sup- 
pression of signs appropriate to the language of calculation, cannot 
contribute to its clearness, or render the reading more easy. The 
work is a perfectly regular exposition of the results of a study the 
most profound—it is an ingenious summary of the principal discov- 
eries. The precision of style, the choice of methods, the grandeur 
of the subject, give a remarkable interest to this vast tablet; but. its 
real use is to recall to geometers, theorems, the demonstration of 
which was already known to them. It is, to speak correctly, a table 
of the contents of a mathematical treatise. 
The purely historical works of Laplace have another object. 
He therein presents to geometers, with a wonderful ability, the 
march of the human mind in the discovery of the sciences. 
* Arcueil—So called from the arches or arcades of the aqueduct which the Ro- 
mans there built: part of the aqueduct is now pice The remainder was rebuilt 
and finished, in order, as is believed, to carry water to the palace of Luxembourg. 
Louis XIII laid the first stone on the 17th of July, vy, It was finished 1624. 
sé me agheduc @Arcueil fournit aux fontains de Paris cinquant sept pouces 
cubes @ eau. 
