ALEMBERT. 
of the oscillations of the air, and the propa- 
gation of sound, had been but imperfectly 
given by the mathematicians who preceded 
him ; and these were his masters or his rivals. 
In the year 1749 he furnished a method of 
applying his principle to the motion of any 
body of a given figure. He also resolved 
the problem of the precession of the equi- 
noxes; determining its quantity, and ex- 
plaining the phenomenon of the nutation 
of the terrestrial axis discovered by Dr. 
Bradley. . 
In 1752, D’Alembert published a treatise 
on the “ Resistance of Fluids,” to which he 
gave the modest title of an “ Essay though 
it contains a multitude of original ideas and 
new observations. About the same time he 
published, in the Memoir? of the Academy 
of Berlin, “ Researches concerning the In- 
tegral Calculus,” which is greatly indebted 
to him for the rapid progress it has made in 
the present century. 
While the studies of D’Alembert were con- 
fined to mere mathematics, he was little 
known or celebrated in his native country. 
Hisconnections were limited to a small so- 
ciety of select friends. But his cheerful con- 
versation, his smart and lively sallies, a hap- 
py method at telling a story, a singular mix- 
ture of malice of speech with goodness of 
heart, and of delicacy of wit with simplicity 
of manners, rendering him a pleasing and 
interesting companion, his company began 
to be much sought after in the fashionable 
circles. His reputation at length made its 
way to the throne, and rendered him the 
object of royal attention and beneficence. 
The consequence was a pension from govern- 
ment, which he owed to the friendship of 
count D’Argenson. 
But the tranquillity of D’Alembert was 
abated when his fame grew more extensive, 
and when it was known beyond the circle of 
his friends, that a fine and enlightened taste 
for literature and philosophy accompanied 
his mathematical genius. Our author’s eu- 
logist ascribes to envy, detraction, &c. all 
the opposition and censure that D’Alembert 
met with on account of the famous Ency- 
clopedic, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, 
in conjunction with Diderot. None surely 
will refuse the well-deserved tribute of ap- 
plause to the eminent displays of genius, 
judgment, and true literary taste, with which 
D’Alembert has enriched that great work. 
Among others, the Preliminary Discourse 
he has prefixed to it, concerning the rise, 
progress, connections, and affinities of all 
the branches of human knowledge, is per- 
VOL I- 
haps one of the most capital productions the 
philosophy of the age can boast of. 
Some time alter this, D’Alembert publish- 
ed his “ Philosophical, Historical, and Phi- 
lological Miscellanies.” These were follow- 
ed by the “ Memoirs of Christiana, Queen of 
Sweden in which D’Alembert shewed that 
he was acquainted with the natural rights of 
mankind, and was bold enough to assert 
them. His “ Essay on the Intercourse of Men 
of Letters with Persons high in Rank and 
Office,” wounded the former to the quick, as 
it exposed to the eyes of the public the igno- 
miny of those servile chains which they 
feared to shake otf, or were proud to wear, 
A lady of the court hearing one day the 
author accused of having exaggerated the 
despotism of the great, and the submission 
they require, answered slyly, “ If he had 
consulted me, I would have told him still 
more of the matter.” 
D’Alembert gave elegant specimens of his 
literary abilities in his translations of some 
select pieces of Tacitus. But these occupa- 
tions did not divert him from his mathemati- 
cal studies : for about the same time he en- 
riched the Encyclopedic with a multitude of 
excellent articles in that line, and composed 
his “ Researches on several Important Points 
of the System of the World,” in which he 
carried to a higher degree of perfection the 
solution of the problem concerning the per- 
turbations of the planets, that had several 
years before been presented to the Acade- 
my. In 1759 he published his “ Elements 
of Philosophy a work much extolled as 
remarkable for its precision and perspicuity. 
The resentment that was kindled (and the 
disputes that followed it) by the article 
Geneva, inserted in the Encyclopedic, are 
well known. D’Alembert did not leave 
this field of controversy with flying colours. 
Voltaire was an auxiliary in the contest : but 
as he had no reputation to lose, in point of 
candour and decency ; and as he weakened 
the blows of his enemies, by throwing both 
them and the spectators into fits of laughter, 
the issue of the war gave him little uneasi- 
ness. It fell more heavily on D’Alembert ; 
and exposed him, even at home, to much 
contradiction and opposition. It was on this 
occasion that the late King of Prussia offered 
him an honourable asylum at his court, and 
the office of president of his academy : and 
the king was not Offended at D’Alembert’s 
refusal of these distinctions, but cultivated 
an intimate friendship with him during the 
rest of his life. He had refused, some time 
before this, a proposal made by the Empress 
