366 LAPLACE. 



will be employed in reading your beautiful work." It 

 would appear that the words, the first six months, deprive 

 the phrase of the character of a common-place expression 

 of thanks, and convey a just appreciation of the impor- 

 tance and difficulty of the subject-matter. 



On the 5th Frimaire in the year XL, the reading of 

 some chapters of the volume, which Laplace had dedi- 

 cated to him, was to the general " a new occasion for re- 

 gretting, that the force of circumstances had directed him 

 into a career which removed him from the pursuit of 

 science." 



"At all events," added he, "I have a strong desire 

 that future generations, upon reading the Mecanique 

 Celeste, shall not forget the esteem and friendship which 

 I have entertained towards its author." 



On the 17th Prairial in the year XIIL, the general, 

 now become emperor, wrote from Milan : " The Mecan- 

 ique Celeste appears to me destined to shed new lustre on 

 the age in which we live." 



Finally, on the 12th of August, 1812, Napoleon, who 

 had just received the Traite du Calcul des Probabilites, 

 wrote from Witepsk the letter which we transcribe text- 

 ually : 



" There was a time when I would have read with in- 

 terest your Traite du Calcul des Probabilites. For the 

 present I must confine myself to expressing to you the sat- 

 isfaction which I experience every time that I see you give 

 to the world new works which serve to improve and ex- 

 tend the most important of the sciences, and contribute to 

 the glory of the nation. The advancement and the im- 

 provement of mathematical science are connected with 

 the prosperity of the state." 



I have now arrived at the conclusion of the task 



