D'ALEMBERT. 387 



" found himself refreshed with rest."* Greater tran- 

 quillity is possessed by none than by geometricians. 

 Even under severe privations this is observed. The 

 greatest of them all, certainly the greatest after New- 

 ton, was an example. Euler lost his sight after a long 

 expectation of this calamity, which he bore with per- 

 fectly equal mind ; both in the dreadful prospect and 

 the actual bereavement, his temper continued as cheer- 

 ful as before, and his mind, fertile in resources of every 

 kind, supplied the want of sight by ingenious mechan- 

 ical devices, and by a memory more powerful even 

 than before, f He furnishes an instance to another 

 purpose. Thoughtless and superficial observers have 

 charged this science with a tendency to render the 

 feelings obtuse. Any pursuit of a very engrossing or 

 absorbing kind may produce this temporary effect; 

 and it has been supposed that men occasionally ab- 

 stracted from other contemplations, are particularly 

 dull of temper. But no one ever had more warm 

 or kindly feelings than Euler, whose chief delight 

 was in the cheerful society of his grand- children, 

 to his last hour, and whose chief relaxation from 



* Page 131. 



f My late learned and esteemed friend, Mr. Gough, of Kendal, was 

 another example of studies being pursued under the same severe depriva- 

 tion but he had never known the advantages of sight, having lost his 

 eyes when an infant, and never had any distinct recollection of light. He 

 was an accomplished mathematician of the old school, and what is more 

 singular, a most skilful botanist. His prodigious memory resembled 

 Euler's, and the exquisite acuteness of his smell and touch supplied in a 

 great measure the want of sight. He would describe surfaces as covered 

 with undulations which to others appeared smooth and even polished. 

 His ready sagacity in naming any plant submitted to his examination was 

 truly wonderful. I had not only the pleasure of his acquaintance, but I 

 have many particulars respecting his rare endowments, from another 

 eminent mathematician, who unites the learning of the older with that of 

 the modern school, my learned friend and neighbour, Mr. Slee, of Tirrel. 

 A detailed account of Mr. Gough's case, by Mr. Slee and Professor Whe- 

 well (a pupil of his), would be most curious and instructive. Euler's 

 memory was such, that he could repeat the jEneid, noting the words that 

 begin and end each page. Mr. Gough also was an excellent classical 

 scholar. 



