REPORT ON THE HOSPITALS. 157 
the Tribunal of the Marshals of France for having broken 
his word of honour. 
But, I may be allowed here to remark, superior men 
have always had the privilege of upsetting, by the mere 
influence of their name, the obstacles that routine, preju- 
dices, and jealousy wished to oppose to the progress and 
the union of souls. 
REPORT ON THE HOSPITALS. 
Scientific tribunals, which should pronounce in the first 
instance while awaiting the definitive judgment of the 
public, were one of the requisites of our epoch; and thus, 
without any formal prescription of its successive regula- 
tions, the Academy of Sciences has been gradually led 
on to appoint committees to examine all the papers that 
have been presented to it, and to pronounce on their 
novelty, merit, and importance. This labour is generally 
an ungrateful one, and without glory, but talent has im- 
mense privileges ; entrust Bailly with those simple 
Academical Reports, and their publication becomes an 
event. 
M. Poyet, architect and comptroller of buildings in 
Paris, presented to Government in the course of the 
year 1785, a paper wherein he strove to establish the 
necessity of removing the Hotel Dieu, and building a new 
hospital in another locality. This document, submitted 
by order of the king to the judgment of the Academy, 
gave rise, directly or indirectly, to three deliberations. 
The Academic Commissioners were, Lassone, Tenou, 
Tillet, Dareet, Daubenton, Bailly, Coulomb, Laplace, 
and Lavoisier. It was Bailly, however, who constantly 
held the pen. His reports have been honoured with a 
great and just celebrity. The progress of science would 
