39 
absolute dispensation it would not concede ; and Cauchy was less 
likely to move towards the opposite party than they towards him. 
With an obstinacy quite puerile, to use M. Biot’s phrase, he 
doubled on their path at every turn they took to encompass him. 
His resolve rendered all their efforts hopeless; and finally his ap- 
pointment was cancelled. Those only who know what Cauchy was 
capable of, will be able to estimate the loss astronomy has sustained 
from this untoward event. 
In 1848 France saw another revolution, and a new republican 
government. Oaths were now dispensed with, and M. Cauchy re- 
sumed his Chair of Mathematics in the Faculty of Sciences. But the 
events of the 2d December 1851 once more unseated him. Again, 
the scientific men of France (to their infinite credit be it recorded) 
used every effort to induce the newly constituted authorities to make 
his an exceptional case, and dispense with every formality. At first 
without success ; but after a while, when the Emperor had become 
securely established in his government, he had the good sense to 
cause M. Cauchy to be restored to his chair, fettered by no condi- 
tions. Whether from conscientious scruples or otherwise, it is cer- 
tain M. Cauchy never appropriated to his own use one farthing of 
his salary. The whole was devoted to deeds of charity. As the 
dispenser of blessings to the poor, he knew neither monarchists nor 
republicans. In the neighbourhood of Sceaux, where he resided, he 
was the prime mover in every labour of love. On one occasion the 
mayor remonstrated with him on the prodigality of his beneficence. 
His reply was, “ Be not concerned ; I am only the channel ; it is 
the Emperor that pays the money,” alluding to his salary as pro- 
fessor. 
The scientific character of M. Cauchy requires no exposition. I 
am content to adopt the judgment of a competent authority, the 
Dean of Ely, pronounced nearly a quarter of a century ago, which 
will be fully confirmed by future eulogists. “ M. Cauchy,” he says, 
“ is justly celebrated for his almost unequalled command over the 
language of analysis.” 
With the private life of a scientific man the biographer has pro- 
perly little to do. But in the present instance, the brilliant virtues 
of the Christian shine so brightly upon his genius, that the latter, 
dazzling as it is, fails to eclipse the former. M. Cauchy’s labours 
