gee: 
of the Academie des Sciences wifhed to ob- 
tain him the appointment of fecretary to 
that diftinguifhed fociety; and though - 
at the eleétion in 1771, Condorcet had 
the majority of votes, yet the nobility of 
his birth and the exertions of d’Alembert 
probably contributed very effentially’ to 
fecure him the preference. Bailly was at 
length recompenfed by the Academze Fran- 
coife, by being appointed on February 
26th, 1784, the fucceflor of Treffan. 
In 1775 the firft volume of his great 
work, L’Hifioire del Affronomie made its’ 
appearance: In this his tatte for litera- 
ture, and his {cientific {kill moft happily 
united to produce a work at once agree- 
able and important, abounding with 
learned differtations, luminous ideas and 
brilliant defcriptions, adapted to advance 
the knowledge and the love of aftronomy, 
and probably of more advantage to that 
{cience in procuring it profelytes, than 
profound tredtifes fo rarely fought tor, 
and {till more rarely underftood. 
I Hijioire de 0 Afironomie, though not a 
reatife on this fcience, is fo elementary, fo 
fimple, and fo agreeable, as in a great 
meafure to conceal its difficulties, and 
difplay to the greateft advantage its at- 
tractions and beauties. 
Bailly prefented his book to Voltaire, 
who, ‘in his letter of thanks propofed a 
few objeGtions: this introduced a corre- 
fpondence from which refulted two in- 
terefting volumes ; his Letire fur Porigine , 
des Sciences, and his Lettre fur P Ailaniide 
de Platon, and on the ancient hiftory of 
Afia, publifhed in 1777 and 1779. 
4 
‘Voltaire could with difficulty believe 
the exiftence of this deftroyed and for- 
gotten people; the predeceffors and en- 
lighteners of all others. His opinion 
was, that the Bramins, who have taught 
us fo many things, were the authors of 
philofophy and the ‘{ciences, whereas 
Bailly looked upon them only as the de- 
pofitaries. 
With regard to the Atlantis of Plato, 
we are politively informed by Plutarch 
that it was amere fable, and Mr. Bartoli 
in his Reflexions Impartiales, publifhed in 
1780, maintains it to be merely an alle- 
gorical defcription of the misfortures of 
Athens. (Journal des Savans, January 
3781.) The prefent is mot a ht place 
for the difcuffion of this ancient queftion ; 
it is fufficient to fay that Bailly treated it 
with equal learning and tatte. 
In 178x and 1782 he compofed a great 
work on the *¢ Origin of Fables and Ancient 
Religions, abounding with erudition and 
information, the publication of which will - 
oth intereft the learned, and de honour ta 
| Eloge of Bailly, ty Lalande: 
285 
the author. He did not entirely adopt the 
allegorical fyftem of the ancient traditions 
which Citizen Dupuis has fo vittoriouily 
eftablifhed in the Fournal des Savans of 
1779 and z78c, and in his other works. 
His notions on this fubject were eftablifh- 
ed, his party was taken, and notwith- 
ftanding all my efforts, I was unable to 
perfuade him. to adopt what appeared to 
me to be the truth. IJregretted alfo the 
time employed by him in refearches and 
difcuffions, rather curious and -wfeful, 
to the detriment of aftronomy, a fubject 
which he was fo well able to illuftrate. 
His opinion on the ancient ftate of 
Afia, were very fimilar to thofe of Buffon, 
which are to be found on that part of 
his work which treats of the cooling of 
the earth, a circumftance which caufed 
an intimate acquaintance between them, 
till the eletion of Maury to the Acade- 
mie Frangoile caufed an irrevocable dif- 
agreement. Bailly not only denied his 
vote to a man for whom he had no efteem, 
but even refufed to abfent himfelf from 
the Academy on the day of eleétion; and 
from this time no further conneétion fub- 
fitted between thefe celebrated, men, one 
of whiom withed to be the mafter, and the 
other chofe to be independent. 
Bailly had been engaged by his hiftory’ 
of aftronomy, in very deep hiftorical re- 
fearches, which the Academie des Infcrip- 
tions and Belles Lettres exprefled their ap- 
probation ~of, by eleGting him a member 
in £785. Thus he fhared with Fontenelle 
the fingular honour of being at the fame 
time a member of the three great acade-~ 
mies, and certainly furpafled him in his 
acquaintance with ancient learning. 
His <¢ Hiffory of India and Oriental Af- 
tronomy,’ which appeared in 1787, well 
juftified the choice of the academy, for it 
demanded a multitude of refearches which 
no one was capable of making to an equal 
extent with himfelf, fince they required 
not only preat erudition, but a va{t va- 
riety of calculations, to which men of 
letters are feldom equal. 
The animal magnetifm of Mefmer, as 
practifed by Deflon in 1784, occafioned 
a moft extraordinary and unaccountable 
agitation at Paris. In order to fatisty 
the curiofity of the public on this fubject, 
a number of phyhcians were nominated 
by the king, and of natural philofophers 
by the academy: Bailly was one ot the 
commifhoners, and was chofen by the reft 
to draw up their report. It occupied 108 
pages in octavo, and engaged his princi- 
pal attention for a confiderable tune, for 
ig was an important faét in the hittory of 
the errers of the human mind, and a moft 
extraer 
