Historical Eulogy on the Marquis De Laplace. 3 



which he has left to us under the name of the Mecanique Celeste: 

 and his immortal work carries it as far beyond that of Ptolemy, as 

 the analytical science of the moderns surpasses the elements of 

 Euclid. 



Time, which alone dispenses, with justice, literary glory ; which 

 consigns to oblivion all contemporary mediocrity; perpetuates the re- 

 membrance of great works. These only, carry to posterity the 

 character of each age. Thus the name of Laplace will live in all 

 ages. But, and I hasten to say it, enlightened and faithful history 

 will never separate his memory from that of the other successors of 

 Newton. She will unite the illustrious names of D'Alembert, of 

 Clairaut, of Euler, of Lagrange, and of Laplace. I limit myself 

 merely to cite here the great geometers whom the sciences have 

 lost ; — and whose researches have had for their common object the 

 perfection of physical astronomy. 



To give a just idea of their works it is necessary to compare them ; 

 but the limits necessary to this discourse oblige me to reserve a part 

 of this discussion for the collection of our Memoirs. 



****** 



Since Euler, Lagrange has contributed the most to found the math- 

 ematical analysis. It has become, in the writings of these two great 

 geometers, a distinct science, and the only one of mathematical the- 

 ories of which we can say that it is completely and rigorously demon- 

 strated. Alone, among all these theories, is it satisfied by itself; it 

 enlightens all others, and is so necessary to them, that, deprived of 

 its aid, they can remain but imperfect. 



Lagrange was born to invent and to enlarge all the sciences of cal- 

 culation. In whatever condition fortune had placed him, whether 

 peasant or prince, he would have been a great geometer : he would 

 have become so necessarily, and without any effort ; a thing which 

 we cannot say of all those, even among the first ranks, who have 

 excelled in this science. 



If Lagrange had been contemporary with Archimedes and with 

 Conon, he would have shared the glory of the most memorable dis- 

 coveries. At Alexandria, he would have been the rival of Dio- 

 phantus. 



The distinctive trait of his genius consists in the unity and in the 

 greatness of his views. In every thing he confined himself to a sim- 

 ple, just, and very elevated thought. His principal work, the Me- 

 canique Analytique can be denominated the Mecanique Philo- 



