Nor was the attention of Boscovich confined to the phybical and mathematical sciences. He had a wonderful facility in the composition of Latin verses; and such was his love for this species of amusement, that every incident, however trifling, called forth an offering to the muses. With such talents and ac quirements, the company of Boscovich was assidu ously courted' at Rome; and at every party to which he was invited, he shone, by the liveliness and flu ency of his conversation. With a pardonable vanity, which is not usual with men of profound genius, he often led the conversation of the company to the subject of his own studies, which he had a singular faculty of explaining to the most common capacities ; and he seemed to derive particular pleasure from the recitation of long passages of his own poetry. This happy talent of amusing a company with subjects of science, though it may have been possessed by other philosophers, was certainly exhibited for the first time in the manners of Boscovich. The habits of abstract thought and close reasoning, which a natural philoso pher must necessarily acquire, are utterly incompa tible tvith that quickness of association and• versati lity of thought, which are the principal sources of extemporaneous declamation. These. antisocial -ha bits, however, are less hostile to his colloquial efforts, than the nature of the subjects with•which the mind of the natural philosopher is principally conversant. While the study of history, poetry,. and the belles lettres, furnish numerous and interesting topics of general conversation, the man of science is prevent ed from introducing subjects which would be gene rally unintelligible, and is thus.denied. the opportu nity of displaying his knowledge and his talents, which is granted to those who cultivate literature and the fine arts. In what manner Boscovich over came these difficulties, it is not easy to discover ; but he must have possessed no ordinary confidence in his talents, and no ordinaryinfluence over the minds of others, who could fix the attention of a mixed com pany upon the abstract speculations of science and philosophy.
The fame which Boscovich now enjoyed was not confined within the limits of his native country. He was admitted, without solicitation, into most of the learned societies of Europe, and, without enjoying any of the substantial patronage of kings, he was ho noured with their invitations and their, praise. Pope Benedict XIV. consulted him on several subjects of civil engineering, and appointed him a member of a committee consisting of architects and mathemati cians, 'who were assembled from different parts of Italy, to examine the cupola of St Peter's, in which a rent had been perceived. The architects • and the mathematicians differed in their sentiments; but the latter, with Boscovich and the Marquis Poleni at • their head, finally prevailed. Boscovich proposed to strengthen the cupola by enclosing it in a circle of iron ; and this opinion being adopted, the Marquis reported it to the Pope, but unfortunately neglected to give Boscovich the merit of the suggestion. This
omission grievously offended the vanity of the Ma thematician, and conspired, 'along with other causes of mortification, •to make him resolve on Rome. About this time, John V. of Portugal had to survey Brazil, and to fix the boundaries between that country and the territories belonging to Spain. He applied to the general of the Jesuits for ten mathematicians to execute this plan ; and no sooner' did Boscovich hear of the project, than he offered to superintend the undertaking, and to:measure, at the same time, a degree of the meridian. The enlighten ed minister of Benedict XIV., unwilling that Italy should lose one of her greatest ornaments, appointed. Boscovich to correct the maps of the papal territories,. and to measure a degree of the meridian in Provided with excellent instruments, and assisted'by Christopher Maire, an English Jesuit, Boscovich began the undertaking about the end of the year ]750 ; and after two years labour, he extended meridian from Rome to Rimini, across the Apen nine chain, and found that the length of a degree in, the latitude of 43° was 56,979 toises. During the intervals of thii active employment, he was engaged: in completing his Elements of Conic Sections;, and . when travelling over the mountains, he is said tu have composed, on horse-back, his fine Latin poem, en titled, Ile Solis ac Lunar Dv'ectibus, " on the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon." An account of this survey was publised by Boscovich at Rome and Paris, along with some excellent dissertations on several subjects connected with his undertaking. At the comple tiOn of a service so full of labour and anxiety, Bosco vich was entitled to expect some adequate remunera tion, or some office that would have freed 'him from the drudgery of teaching. The Pope, however, who seems to have undervalued the national which he had just completed, presented him. with a gold box, and the paltry sum of 100 sequins.* In consequence of this blind parsimony, Boscovich was compelled to • resume •the labours of his mathematical professor ' ship.
A dispute respecting the draining of a lake, which,' about this time, originated between the Tuscan go vernment and the republic of Lucca, afforded a new opportunity for the exercise of BoscovIch's talents. A number of Mathematicians and commissioners had been appointed to decide the controversy ; but the commissioners having failed to appear, he repaired to Vienna to obtain the decision of Francis I. whose influence was paramount in Italy. At the Austrian capital he employed his poetical talents in celebrating the successes of Francis over Frederick the Great ; but his attention was chiefly directed to his new theory of natural philosophy, which he is said to have drawn up in the short space of thirty days, and which he published at Vienna in 1758, under the title of Theoria Philosophise Naturalis redacta ad unicam legem virium in natura existentium, a work of distinguished merit, which we shall have occa sion to consider at great length in the subsequent .article.