€ Historical Eulogy on the Marquis De Laplace. 



I cannot undertake to point out here the series of his labors, and 

 the discoveries that have been the fruits of them. The enumeration 

 only, however rapid it may be, would exceed the limits which I am 

 bound to prescribe to myself. Besides his researches on the secular 

 equation of the moon, and the no less difficult and no less important 

 discovery of the cause of the great inequalities of Jupiter and of 

 Saturn, we have to cite his admirable theorems on the libration of the 

 satellites of Jupiter. We must recal his analytical works on the 

 ebb and flow of the sea and show the immense extent which he has 

 given to this question. 



There is no important point of physical astronomy which was not 

 to him the object of deep study and discussion. He submitted to 

 calculation most of the physical conditions which his predecessors 

 had ornitted. In the question already so complex, of the form 

 and of the motion of the earth's rotation, he has considered the 

 effect of the presence of waters distributed between the continents, 

 of the compression of the interior strata, of the secular diminution of 

 the dimensions of the globe. 



In this ensemble of researches, we must, above all, notice those 

 which relate to the stability of great phenomena ; no object is more 

 worthy of the meditation of philosophers. Thus we have observed 

 that the causes, whether casual or constant, which trouble the equilib- 

 rium of the seas, are subject to limits which cannot be surpassed. 

 The specific gravity of the waters being much less than that of the 

 solid earth, it thence results, that the oscillations of the ocean are al- 

 ways comprised between very narrow limits ; which would not take 

 place, were the fluid spread over the globe much heavier. In gen- 

 eral, nature holds in reserve, preserving and ever present forces, which 

 act as soon as trouble commences, and with the greater power in 

 proportion to the increased magnitude of the aberration. They de- 

 lay not to reestablish the wonted order. We find in all parts of the 

 universe this preserving power. The form of the great planetary or- 

 bits, and their inclinations, vary and change in the course of centuries; 

 but these changes are limited. The principal dimensions subsist. 

 This immense assemblage of celestial bodies oscillates around a 

 mean state, towards which it is always carried back. All is disposed 

 for order, perpetuity, and harmony. 



In the primitive and liquid state of the terrestrial globe, the heaviest 

 particles are drawn nearest the center ; and this condition has deter- 

 mined the stability of the seas. 



