MAUPERTUiS. 
liii for 1746, a discourse upon the laws of 
motion ; which Kcenig was not content 
with attacking, but attributed to Leibnitz. 
Manpertuis, stung with tlie imputation of 
plagiarism, engaged the academy of Berlin 
to call upon him for his proof; which Kcenig 
failing to produce, his name was struck put 
of the academy, of which he was a member. 
Several pamphlets were the consequence 
of this measure ; and Voltaire, for some 
reason or other, engaged in the quarrel 
against Manpertuis. We say, for some rea- 
son or other, because Manpertuis and Vol- 
taire w'ere apparently upon the most amica- 
ble terms ; and the latter respected the for- 
mer as his master in the matliematics. Vol- 
taire, upon this occasion, exerted all his wit 
and satire against him ; and upon the 
whole was so much transported beyond 
what was thought right, that he found it 
expedient, in 1753, to quit the court of 
Prussia. 
Our philosopher’s constitution had long 
been considerably impaired by the great fa- 
tigues of various kinds in which his active 
mind had involved turn ; though from the 
amazing hardships he had undergone, in his 
northern expedition, most of his bodily suf- 
ferings may be traced. The intense-sharp- 
ness of the air could only be supported by 
means of strong liquors ; which helped but 
to lacerate his lungs, and to bring on a 
spitting of blood, which began at least 
twelve years before he died. Yet still his 
mind seemed to enjoy the greatest vigour ; 
for the best of his writings were produced, 
and most sublime ideas developed, during 
tjie time of his confinement by sickness, 
when he was unable to occupy his presidial 
chair at the academy. He took several 
journies to St. Malo, during the last years of 
his life, for the recovery of his health ; and 
though he always received benefit by 
breathing his native air, yet still upon his re- 
turn to Berlin, his disorder likewise returned 
with greater violence. 
His last journey into France was under- 
taken in the year 1757 ; when he was 
obliged, soon after his arrival there, to quit 
his favourite retreat at St. Malo, on ac- 
count of the danger and confusion which 
that town was thrown into by the arrival 
of the English in its neighbourhood. From 
thence he went to Bourdcaux, hoping there 
to meet with a neutral ship to carry him to 
Hamburgh, in his way back to Berlin ; but 
being disappointed in that hope, he went to 
Toulouse, where he remained seven months. 
He had then thoughts of going to Italy, in 
hopes a milder climate would restore him to 
health; but finding himself grow worse, he 
rather inclined towards Germany, and went 
to Neufchatel, where for three months, he 
enjoyed the conversation of Lord Maris- 
chal, with whom he had formerly been 
much connected. At length he arrived at 
Basil, Oct. 16, 1758, where he was received 
by his friend Bernoulli and his family with 
the utmost tenderness and affection. He 
at first found himself much better here than 
he had been at Neufchatel ; but this amend- 
ment was of short duration ; for as the 
winter approached his disorder returned, 
accompanied by new and more alarming 
symptoms. He languished here many 
months, during which he was attended by 
M. de la Condamine, and died in 1759, at 
61 years of age. 
The works which he published were col- 
lected into 4 vols. 8vo. published at Lyons 
in 1756, where also a new and elegant edi- 
tion was printed in 1768. These contain 
the follow'ing works : 1. Essay on Cosmo- 
logy. — 2. Discourse on the different Figures 
of the Stars. — 3. Essay on Moral Philoso- 
phy. — 4. Philosophical Reflections upon the 
Origin of Languages, and the Signification 
of Words. — 5. Animal Physics, concerning 
Generation, &c. — 6. System of Nature, or 
the Formation of Bodies. — 7. Letters on 
various Subjects. — 8. On the Progress 
of the Sciences. — 9. Elements of Geogra- 
phy. — -10. Account of the Expedition to 
the Polar Circle, for determining the Figure 
of the Earth ; or the Measure of the Earth at 
the Polar Circle. — 11. Account of a Journey 
into the Heart of Lapland, to search for an 
ancient Monument. — 12. On the Comet of 
1742. — 13. Various Academical Discourses, 
pronounced in the French and Prussian 
Academies. — 14. Dissertation upon Lan- 
guages. — 15. Agreement of the different 
Laws of Nature, which have hitherto ap- 
peared incompatible. — 16. Upon the Laws 
of Motion. — 17. Upon tlie Laws of Rest. — 
18. Nautical Astronomy. — 19. On the Pa- 
rallax of the Moon. — 20. Operations for de- 
termining the Figure of the Earth, and the 
Variations of Gravity. — 21. Measure of a 
Degree of the Meridian at the Polar 
Circle. 
Besides these works, Manpertuis was au- 
thor of a great multitude of interesting pa- 
pers, particularly tliose printed in the Me- 
moirs of the Paris and Berlin Academies, far 
too numerous here to mention, viz. in the 
Memoirs of the Academy at Paris from th'e 
year 1724 to 1749 ; and in those of the 
