s 
fiafm ; and was aftonifhed at the great pro- 
grefs he had made in fo fhort a time, and 
at the expertnefs he had attained in the moft 
dificult aftronomical calculations. La- 
lande therefore expreffed to Méchain his 
entire fatisfa€tion, and promifed him, that 
if he continued to devote him'elf to the ftu- 
dy of aftronomy with the fame diligence 
and effect, he would provide farther for 
him, and procure for him fome appoint- 
ment in that department. This encou- 
ragement gave redoubled ardor to the dili- 
gence of Méchain. Ina fhort time he had 
made himfelf mafter of all Lalance’s ele- 
mentary Book cf Aftronomy, and not only 
acquired a knowledge of all the theories, 
but likewife a great exvertne(s in calcula- 
ting echipfes of the fun amd moon and of 
the planets. Lalande employed him in 
many fuch calculations. For the aftreno- 
mer Darquier of Touloufe he l:kewife 
made many calculations, reduced his obfer- 
vations, drewrefults from them, and com- 
pared them with the aftroncmical Tables. 
In the year 1772, Lalande called our 
Kiccha n to Paris, and procured for him 
the place of an Aftronome-hydrographe in 
the archive of maos and charts, or Dzpet 
dela Marine, at Verlatiles, 1s which the 
elebrated geographer Rizzi-Zanconi then 
held the «fhce of Caef-hydrographe. But 
unluckily at this pericd, the moft hef- 
tile difputes exifted between the Min:if- 
ter and the Infpector of this Defét, who 
wus always an oficier général oi the marine. 
fntrigues had furrounded the Minifter ; 
birth, relaticnthip and ceurt-favor, which 
under the late French Government, then 
rapidly haflening to its deitruStion, weie 
tie only valid merits, had raifed men to- 
tally unqualified to the higheft and moft 
lucrative place in the Depot. The having 
the ignorant creatures of the Minuier thus 
tmperiouily forced upon him, had fo im- 
bittered the Infpector-general of that 
department, that he totally abfented 
himielf from it. Thefe difagreeable cir- 
cumitances, and the extreme {mallnefs of 
the falary of an Afreuome-hydrographe, 
rendered Méchain’s fituation both unpiea- 
fant and precarious, as from the ill-humour 
of an ervaged and omnipotent minifier the 
difclution of the whole office might hourly 
be expected. Méchain therefore gave in 
his refignation, with the approbation of 
Lalande, who recommended him to a very 
lucrative tutorfhip in the houfe of Madame 
de la Popeliniere; where he was enabled 
to fpare more from his income towards 
effifting his unfortunate and indigent rela- 
tions. 
It was now intended to give to the De- 
jetdela Marine quice anew organization. 
Memoirs of Mechain. 
[Sept. 1, 
Méchain was offered his former place, with 
the promife of foon having his falary in- 
crealed. But he fhewed no great inclina- 
ticn to accept it, as he placed no confidence 
in this promife, nor in the duration of the 
new conflitution of the Depot. Zannoni 
himfelf came to Paris to perfuade him; 
but it was not till after the Chefa@’ Efcadre 
Marquis de Chabert had been appointed 
infpector of the Depot, that he was pre- 
vailed upon by the repeated and flattering 
invitations of thatnobleman. He removed 
to Verfailles, and filled his former place 
undifturbed 18 months, greatly to the fa- 
tistaction of his fuperiors. 
At the acceffion of the unfortunate Louis 
XVI. the difplaced Infpector of the Depot, 
who had been the new king’s inftruétor in 
marine affairs, recovered, his former great 
authority. The Minifter, his mortal ene- 
my was difgraced ; and he in his turn dif- 
pleced his creature, the Marquis of Cha- 
bert, to whom he leit only tne ticle of an 
Adjun&, which at the fame time was be- 
fLowed on the Chevalier de Fleuricu, a cap- 
tain of che navy. 
No fooner was the reftored Ifpe&tor re- 
eftablithed in power, than he began to make 
a total change in the department under his 
controul; he drove from their pofts Zan- 
neni and all thofe employed under him. 
This misfortune likewife befeil our Mé- 
chain, becaufe he was a protegé of Lalande, 
Chabert and Zannoni, men whom the 
Infpeétor moriaily hazed as friends of the 
late Minifter. Thus was Méchain again 
without employment. Buta few days atter, 
the new In{peétor fent for him, and declared 
to him that he had been induced, not in 
coniequence of any reprefentations made 
in his favour, but folely of his own accord, 
and from the perfonal efteem which he en- 
tertained for his diftinguifhed merit, to re- 
quelt his acceptance of his former place in 
the Depot ;—and that, on account of his 
great abilities and valuable knowledge, he 
had not only doubled his falary, but in- 
fured the continuance of it to him by a 
royal drevét.* That he had difmificd him 
for a (hort time, merely for the purpofe of 
proving to Lalande and Chabert, that he 
would fuffer none of their creatures to b& 
forced upon him, and that, without any re- 
gard to favor or patronage, he would, from 
is own Know!edge of ther perional merit, 



* Under the monarchical Government of 
France, there was a great difference between 
place-men @ érever, and thofe without. The . 
former were in the fervice of the king; but 
the latter depended entirely on the will of the 
leads of the dfferent offices, who could ap- 
point and difmifs them at pleafure. : 
appoint 
