()2 Notes on the Life of Arago. 



Seine, to which he was elected in 1840. The period is too 

 recent to be forgotten when he appeared before the world in 

 a still more prominent manner, and in the decline of his use- 

 ful life he was flung into the midst of the revolutionary tem- 

 pest. The republicanism of Arago had nothing sanguinary 

 or violent in it. He was named member of the Provisional 

 Government, and Minister of War and Marine ad interim, 

 and exerted himself to stem the flood which rolled on with so 

 much violence. From the first moment he did his best to 

 allay the passions of the multitude, but without effect. His 

 labours during that terrible but brief period which began 

 with the flight of the royal family and closed with the tre- 

 mendous struggle of June, gave him a shock from which he 

 never totally recovered. His double capacity as Minister of 

 War and of Marine, and his alleged want of acquaintance 

 with the details of those departments, form one of the most 

 amusing passages in the memoir of " Jerome Paturot," which, 

 I presume, is in the recollection of those who read the sati- 

 rical productions of the period. Whatever may have been his 

 qualifications for ministerial functions, his courage as a citizen 

 was not doubted. In the midst of the horrible carnage of the 

 days of June he marched at the head of the troops against 

 the barricades of the 12th arrondissement, and exhausted 

 every effort, but in vain, to stop the slaughter. His name, 

 once so popular in that quarter, had lost all its influence ; 

 and it is said the insurgents directed their fire against him, 

 when, advancing alone to a barricade, and waving a white 

 flag, he implored the infuriated multitude to consent to terms 

 of peace. That deadly struggle put an end to the political 

 career of Arago. Broken down morally and physically, he 

 never again assumed a prominent position ; and, though he 

 still retained his place in the National Assembly, he gave his 

 vote in silence. His altered features, and his form once so 

 stately, but now bowed down less by age than by sorrow, 

 gave token of his sad disappointments. 



The coup d'etat of the 2d of December completed the de- 

 struction of all his fond illusions. Summoned as a public 

 functionary to take the oaths to the new government, he re- 

 fused, and prepared to resign the place he had occupied in the 



