The jealousy between Bouguer and Condamine, which had already shewn itself in Peru, was again roused upon the arrival of the latter. The interest which he excited among the gay circles of Paris by the singularity of his travels, by the personal courage which had uniformly sustained him, and by his great powers of conversation, made his company very generally courted, while the mighty pretensions of Bouguer were in a great measure overlooked. To a person acquainted with human charac ter, this unequal distribution of praise would have occa sioned no uneasiness ; but Bouguer possessed little knowledge of the world, and he ceased to support the dignity of his character when he repined at the admira tion which was lavished upon his friend. Every person was capable of estimating the talents, and of being in structed by the conversation of an active and eloquent traveller like Condamine, while it is the lot of few to appreciate the immortal labours by which Bouguer has enriched the sciences. The dazzling recompeuce of specious talents and superficial acquirements perishes with the gay crowds by whom it is conferred ; but it is the splendid destiny of genius, that its rewards and its labours arc alike eternal. The one is like the gaudy arch which vanishes with the shower that gives it birth ; the other like the circle of the galaxy which keeps its place in the firmament, and shines with a sober but unextinguishable light.
When the quarrel between the two academicians was brought to a close, Condamine devoted his attention to the subject of an universal measure. lie proposed to employ as an unit the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds under the equator, a plan which was afterwards adopted at the Revolution.
In the year 1754, Condamine became a keen support er of the system of inoculation for the small pox, which had already been extensively practised in England and Holland. Ile published a Memoir on the subject, in the Memoirs of the Academy, and also a collection of papers upon the same subject.
In the year 1757, he undertook a journey to Italy for the benefit of his health, and upon his return to Paris he read to the Academy a paper, entitled Extrait d'un Journal de Voyage en Italic, which contained much curious information. Having employed himself when at Rome in fixing the dimensions of the principal Roman edifices, he was then led to an examination of the ancient measures of length, which he endeavoured to determine on the hypothesis, that every leading part of an ancient building would contain a round number of the given measure. His attention was also directed to the geog nostic structure of Italy, and he examined with care the remains of its extinct volcanoes, and the interesting phenomena exhibited by Vesuvius. In the course of his journey he obtained a dispensation to marry his own niece, a connection which tended greatly to promote his future happiness.
He was received a member of the Academy of In scriptions and Belles Lettres in 1760, and he contribut ed greatly to the last edition of the Dictionary. On this occasion he published Letters on Dictionaries and on Education.
In 1763 Condamine went to England. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society so early as the 15th December 1748, and he was now admitted on the 12th of May 1763.
Soon after his return from England, Condamine was attacked with a great insensibility in his extremities. He was now unfit for any laborious occupation, and he occasionally amused himself in the composition of poe try. Several of his tales in verse were published in the periodical journals, and likewise a translation of part of the ..Eneid of Virgil. In addition to the paralysis of his extremities, he was attacked with hernia, and he was unfortunately prevailed upon by an empiric, to attempt its cure by the application of caustics. He died, how ever, of the effect of the operation, 45 days after it was performed, on the 4th of February 1774, in the 73d year of his age.
M. Condamine was Knight of the Royal Military Order of Notre Dame and Mount Carmel, and of St Lazarus at Jerusalem. lie was elected a member of the academies of Petersburgh, Berlin, Bologna, Cortona, and Nancy, and he was honorary secretary to the Duke of Orleans.
The personal appearance of Condamine was by no means interesting. His !lice was greatly disfigured by the ravages of the small-pox, but his vivacity and fluency in conversation amply compensated for this defect in his bodily appearance. Condamine does not seem to have possessed tint of that inventive genius which craletic and extends the sciences by great and original views. Though he acquired a general knowledge of all the sciences, Net he did not attach himself with sufficient attention to any of them. The activity and ardour of his mind were constantly hurrying hint into labours which required the exercise of those great qualities. His mind was of a texture too chivalrous for the peaceful pursuits of science ; and we are strongly impressed with the opinion, that he forsook his own destiny lie exchanged the sword for the level and the plumb In estimating therefore the claims of Condamine upon posterity, we cannot deny him the praise of possessing a bold, active, and intrepid mind, which was constantly exerting itself for some great and important object, and which surmounted every danger and difficulty that ob structed its accomplishment. hisknowledge was ex tensive, and in some cases profound; rind as a writer, his style was easy, simple, and elegant. But he can lay no claim to those higher qualities of the mind which can alone conduct the philosopher into the Elysium of inven tion and discovery.