THE 



AMERICAN 

 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 



Art. I. — Historical Eulogy on the Marquis De Laplace, delivered 

 at a public session of the Royal Academy of Sciences, June 15, 

 1829; by M. Baron Fourier.* 



Translated for this Journal, by F, Furber, Boston, Mass. 



The name of Laplace has resounded in all parts of the world 

 where the sciences are honored. His memory, however, cannot re- 

 ceive a more worthy homage than the unanimous tribute of the ad- 

 miration and the tears of the illustrious body whose labors and glory 

 he has shared. He consecrated his life to the study of the greatest 

 objects which can occupy the human mind. 



The wonders of the heavens, the lofty questions of natural philoso- 

 phy, the ingenious and profound combinations of mathematical analy- 

 sis, all the laws of the universe, were presented to his thoughts for more 

 than sixty years, and his efforts crowned by immortal discoveries. 



It was remarked, from his earliest studies, that he was endowed 

 with a prodigious memory ; all the occupations of the mind were 

 easy to him. He rapidly acquired a sufficiently extended acquaint- 

 ance with the ancient languages, and also cultivated different branches 

 of literature. Every thing interested the rising genius, every thing 

 could unfold it. His first success was in theological studies ; he 

 treated with talent, and with an extraordinary sagacity, the most dif- 

 ficult points of controversy. 



We are ignorant by what happy deviation Laplace passed from 

 scholastic to high geometry. This last science, which scarcely ad- 

 mits of any division, attracted and fixed his attention. After that, 

 he abandoned himself, without reserve, to the impulse of his genius, 

 and felt keenly that a residence in the capital had become to him 

 necessary. D'Alembert then enjoyed all the eclat of his fame. He 



* This gentleman, our readers are probably well aware, has been dead for some 

 time. He himself possessed no ordinary scientific talents. — Ed. 



Vol. XXV.-~No. L 1 " 



