IT rarely happens that a man of science fills so large a space in the public eye as M. Arago; and still more rarely does it occur that the estimate made by the public in general of the merits of a savant is independent of, and in discordance with, the judgment of the world of science. Such is, however, the case with the eminent subject of this notice.

Whence arises the far-extended fame of Monsieur Arago? Whence is it that neither the name of the immortal author of the Mecanique Celeste, nor of the founder of modern Chemistry,* who fell under the revolutionary axe, nor even that of Newton himself, ever filled so many mouths, nor resounded in so many ears of contemporaries, notwithstanding the i'mmeasurable and unquestioned superiority of their labors, and the imperishable renown which has followed their memories? The universal popularity of Arago, with all who are capable of reading throughout Europe, is sufficient to explain the existence of a swarm of envious detractors, who, did they possess the same ability to render their acquirements attractive to the crowd, would not scruple to resort to the same means to accomplish this which they revile in M. Arago. These persons maintain that M. Arago is a scientific charlatan on a gigantic scale, resorting to means of notoriety foreign to true science; that his reputation is spurious, and that he has arrogated a position to which nothing that he has written or discovered has given him a just title; that if it depended on M. Arago alone, physical science would have been stationary for the last half century; that with vast material means at his disposition to conduct great investigations in natural science, he has originated nothing; that, at the head of the greatest Observatory in Europe Greenwich excepted-he has not furnished to the astronomical world a single important observation; that his closet has been as barren as his Observatory; and that while his contemporaries have been exploring one great natural law after another, augmenting by their profound speculations the great store of physical

knowledge, not a single great phenomenon has been solved, not a single law of nature has been developed, in the study of M. Arago.

On the other hand, the crowd of M. Arago's admirers and partisans, which, truly speaking, includes all well-informed classes in every part of Europe, exclusive of those who by profession are devoted to the prosecution of science, boldly maintain that their idol is the first of living savans, and carrying their admiration to fanaticism, place him on a level with the greatest of names that have been registered in the archives of science.

There is a class, whose suffrage in such a case is infinitely more precious than either of these, and whose favorable verdict would exhale a more grateful perfume to this "philosopher of the people" himself than even the far-sounding applause of that multitude whose favor he has so eminently conciliated. This class is that of the high and undisputed celebrities of science; of those whose researches, discoveries and inventions have "raised them above the atmosphere of envy; whose works have already laid the vast basis of their future fame, and who look on their contemporaries with serenity, and to posterity with the security of being remembered, for the solid contributions which they have made to the general stock of human science; who are admitted to have put their shoulders effectually to the wheel, and to have advanced the human mind in its progress towards the knowledge of those laws by which the Maker of the Universe has inscribed his character on the face of Nature.” What do these high and mighty intelligences say,-what do they think of the perpetual Secretary of the Institute?

That their judgment is out of all harmony with the estimate of the admiring multitude is perfectly known to every one who has moved among them, and had an opportunity of being acquainted with their sentiments. That it is in accordance with the open detractors of M. Arago and the cavilers at his popularity, is far

from the truth. It cannot be denied, however, that the peculiar qualities of mind and taste to which, mainly, M. Arago is indebted for his extensive popularity, are little valued by the magnates of science; and that those productions of his pen which have been most widely circulated, and have most contributed to that popularity, go for very little, we might almost say, for less than nothing, in the estimate which these notabilities make of scientific merit. In a word, among these M. Arago stands much lower than the first, or even the second, rank; but still they do not sink him to that depth of obscurity in which his declared opponents place him. Many of these, generously admitting his admirable talents, and the incontestible advantage of combining with scientific acquirements the accomplishments of a man of letters, reproach him, nevertheless, with deserting the more exalted regions of science, with toying idly with curious but unimportant questions, with attaching undue weight to facts which strike common eyes by their singularity, but which lead to no results of importance to science. They take exception to him, in that he assumes the position and authority of an astronomer, without being a mathematician, that he devotes to inferior and comparatively frivolous labors the time which ought to be either consecrated to original researches, or to the production of some systematic work, which might justify the supremacy assigned to him by his present admirers, by securing for him a portion at least of the suffrages of posterity.

Let us take a glance at the past career of this most popular of savans. Arago is now in his sixty-first year, having been born in 1786, in the small town of Estagel, near Perpignan. It has been said, and repeated in more than one published notice, that in his boyhood he evinced a singular slowness of faculty, having been unable to read at the age of fourteen. This is, however, an error. The father of Arago, who held a public employment at Perpignan, took particular care of his education, and his intellectual advance ment was at least equal to that of other children. His early instruction was derived from the College of Perpignan, from whence he was transferred to Montpellier, to prepare for admission to an institution which had then just started into being, in the midst of the revolutionary convulsions, and which has since attain

ed so high a celebrity-the Polytechnic School. He was admitted to this establishment in 1804, being then eighteen. After passing through the course of study in this Institution with high distinction, he was appointed to the office of Secretary to the Board of Longitude, from whence he was invited by Napoleon to form part of the Commission (whose labors have since become so memorable) which was sent to Spain to complete the measurement of the Arc of the Meridian, extending from Dunkirk to Barcelona. In this work he was associated with M. Biot.

The precise object of this mission was to continue the measurements which had been made in France by MM. Delam bre and Méchain, as far as Barcelona, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and thence to the Balearic Isles. M. Chaix and Rodriguez, two Spanish savans, were united with MM. Biot and Arago by the government of that country. A Spanish national ship was placed at the disposition of the Commission, to which a safe conduct was granted by the English government, then rendered necessary by the

war.

Philosophers are citizens of the world, placed under the sacred safeguard of all civilized states, no matter how hostile may be their national relations.

One of the first grand operations was the establishment of a triangle connecting the Island of Yvice with the coast of Spain. The base of this triangle measured thirty-five, and one of its sides forty-one leagues. MM. Biot and Arago were posted at its vertex, pitched on the summit of one of the most lofty peaks of Catalonia, whence they communicated by signals with M. Rodriguez, stationed on the summit of Mount Campuey, in the Island of Yvice. In these mountain solitudes the savans passed several months, prosecuting their labors with enthusiasm, exposed to all the vicissitudes of the seasons. The storms so common in these elevated regions often broke over them, and displaced their tents, and deranged their observatories. On such occasions, Arago showed indefatigable activity and perseverance. At length, in the spring of 1807, the principal observations being completed, M. Biot returned to Paris, to direct the laborious arithmetical calculations which were necessary to deduce, from the data supplied by the observations, the final result. Meanwhile M. Arago continued the labors necessary to carry on the Meridional Arc. For this purpose, he sailed with M. Rodriguez for

Majorca, where a signal station was established, on the summit of Mount Galatzo, to communicate with that previously erected on Mount Campuey, in Yvice, so as to measure the arc connecting these two points.

At this moment, however, an untoward event occurred. War broke out between France and Spain, and while the Commissioners were quietly pursuing the observations, a report became current among the Majorcan peasantry that the signal lights which were exhibited at night upon the mountain (by means of which the necessary observations were made) were intended to invite the enemy to the island. The people accordingly rose, and rushed in armed bands to Mount Galatzo, crying, Death to the Frenchman! Arago had just sufficient time to assume the disguise of a peasant, and to collect the notes of his observations, when the mob arrived, among whom he immediately mixed without being recognized, owing to his perfect fluency in the Spanish language, and especially to his familiarity with the dialect of Catalonia. He made his way thus in safety to the coast of the island, where he was received on board the Spanish vessel which brought him there. Being solicitous for the safety of the instruments which were left on the Galatzo, he had intrusted them to the care of the peasants who had been engaged there in his service, and on sending afterwards a detachment of soldiers for them, they were recovered, without injury or loss.

The captain of the Spanish vessel, on board of which Arago was received after his escape from the Galatzo, not daring openly to protect him in the face of the exasperated populace, caused him to be conducted to the fortress of Belver on the Island, where he was detained as a prisoner, and thereby protected for several months, during which the fanatical monks of the neighboring convents constantly endeavored to induce the soldiers guarding the place, as well by bribes as threats, to surrender their prisoner to the fury of the mob. At length, through the earnest and incessant solicitations of his colleague, M. Rodriguez, the government Junta ordered him to be set at liberty; and he hired a fishing-boat in which, manned by a single sailor, he was transported with his astronomical apparatus and other baggage to Algiers.

There he was received by the French Consul, through whose means he was embarked on board an Algerine frigate

bound for Marseilles. This vessel prosecuting her voyage had neared the French coast, which was in full view, when a Spanish privateer which was cruising off these coasts came up with her, seized on her, and Arago became once more a prisoner. He was now conducted with the crew of the captured frigate to Fort de Rosas, and exposed to all the miseries of the rudest captivity. The Dey of Algiers, however, when informed of the insult offered to his flag made such energetic remonstrances with the Spanish authorities that the prisoners were liberated, and allowed to sail for Marseilles without further molestation.

The misfortunes of this eventful voyage were not, however, yet permitted to terminate. Before reaching Marseilles the vessel encountered a terrible northwest storm, by which she was driven close to the shores of Sardinia. Here another peril menaced her. Algiers was then at war with Sardinia. To gain the shore would be to pass again into captivity. To augment the evil the vessel was found to have sprung a leak, and to be taking water rapidly. It was nevertheless decided, as the lesser of the impending evils, to run the vessel on the African coast where, in a disabled state and almost sinking, she landed at Bougie, three days journey from Algiers.

Arago had scarcely set foot on shore when he learned that the Dey, who had before protected and sent him to his country, had been murdered in an insurrection that had lately broken out, and was replaced by another. The Algerines, on boarding the vessel, seized the cases containing the astronomical instruments, under the persuasion that they contained treasure. After many fruitless remonstrances and vain protestations, our philosopher determined to repair immediately to Algiers, and invoke the protection of the new sovereign. Assuming the costume of a Bedouin, and taking a Marabout as a guide, he accordingly set out on foot, and crossing Mount Atlas, reached Algiers. Here having laid his case before the new Dey, his astonishment and discomfiture may be imagined, on finding that the only reply to his remonstrances was an order that his name should be entered on the roll of slaves, and that he should be sent on service in the capacity of interpreter on board the Algerine corsairs.

At length, owing to the earnest interference of the French Consul, the savant

obtained his release, recovered his instruments, and for the third time embarked in a vessel of war for Marseilles. A fatality, however, even still seemed to cling to him. An English frigate was now encountered, which barred the entrance of the French harbor, and coming up with the vessel, bearing the philosopher, peremptorily ordered it to sail to Minorca and surrender itself. Happily, however, the captain, urged by Arago, for whom a fourth captivity may be supposed to have offered but few attractions, made a feint of complying, and making a sudden tack availed himself of a favorable wind, and ran into the port of Marseilles without being overtaken by the enemy.

On arriving in Paris after so much personal suffering, and escaping so many perils, it may well be believed that the young savant was joyfully received by his friends and colleagues. A rule of the Institute, relating to the age at which persons were eligible to be members, was relaxed for the occasion, and now at three and twenty Arago was admitted as a member of that distinguished body. The Emperor named him to a professorship in the Polytechnic School, where he continued to deliver lectures on Geology until the year 1831.

Notwithstanding the courtier-like observance which Napoleon is known to have so vigorously exacted from those around him, and more especially from those who had known him before his elevation, and the southern frankness, amounting almost to bluntness, which is inseparable from Arago, yet the Emperor was always warmly attached to him; and it was even said, that after the disaster of Waterloo, when he contemplated an exile in America, where he professed the intention of devoting the remainder of his life to history and the cultivation of science, he designed to invite Arago to join him there as the companion of his labors and the guide of his researches.

After the Revolution of July, M. Arago was returned to the Chamber of Deputies by the Electoral College of his native place, Perpignan, and in 1831 took his seat on the extreme left. His political opinions went to the limit of radicalism; and few, indeed, doubt that he would have much more gladly sat in the senate of a republic than in the chambers of a constitutional monarchy. At all events he at once assumed a position, and joined a party in the Chamber, which

placed an impassable barrier between himself and the court. This was unfortunate for M. Arago, and not less so for the country. The public usefulness of the Savant has been undoubtedly impaired by the violence and unsuccessful excesses of the politician. Ranked under the banners of extreme radicalism with his friends, Dupont de l'Eure and the late Lafitte, he has signalized himself by an unrelaxing opposition and bitter hostility to every government under the present dynasty, and has uniformly opposed every ministerial measure. He was one of the subscribing deputies to the celebrated Comte-rendre, the consequence of which was the utter dissolution of the extreme party to which he was attached.

The same intemperate vehemence of character which transported M. Arago into the ranks of a political section of the Chamber, which moderate men declined to support, has unhappily marked all his memorable speeches and reports with a certain bitterness of spirit which has in a great measure deprived them of their effect, and stripped them of a part of that authority and respect with which everything emanating from so distinguished a savant would be otherwise received. In his most remarkable speeches, observes one of his panegyrists, especially in his celebrated Report on Railways, his speech against classical studies, and some others, there is a certain spirit of sharp, exclusive and aggressive irritation, which seems to hurl defiance at the majority of the Chamber, and has unhappily deprived of their due effect views and opinions, which, presented in a temperate spirit and with the moderation becoming the character and functions of the speaker, would have produced on the house the effect which such profound, lucid and practical arguments ought to have in such an assembly.

If the career of M. Arago, as a politician, has been such as to impair his public efficiency on the one hand, it must be admitted that it affords a proof of his disinterestedness, and of the disregard of his own personal interests compared with what he conceives to have been his public duty, which is the more creditable to him, inasmuch, as it is a rare if not solitary instance of that kind of independence evinced by a man of that class so placed. It is a melancholy but unquestionable truth, that men of science and letters, who are generally sprung from the ranks of the people, are ready,