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This page intentionally left blank
 PHYSICS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Tools developed by statistical physicists are of increasing importance in the anal-

ysis of complex biological systems. Physics in Molecular Biology discusses how
physics can be used in modeling life. It begins by summarizing important biolog-
ical concepts, emphasizing how they differ from the systems normally studied in
physics. A variety of subjects, ranging from the properties of single molecules to the
dynamics of macro-evolution, are studied in terms of simple mathematical models.
The main focus of the book is on genes and proteins and how they build interactive
systems. The discussion develops from simple to complex phenomena, and from
small-scale to large-scale interactions.
This book will inspire advanced undergraduates and graduates of physics to
approach biological subjects from a physicist’s point of view. It requires no back-
ground knowledge of biology, but a familiarity with basic concepts from physics,
such as forces, energy, and entropy is necessary.

Kim Sneppen is Professor of Biophysics at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical

Physics (NORDITA) and Associate Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copen-
hagen. After gaining his Ph.D. from the University of Copenhagen, he has been
research associate at Princeton University, Assistant Professor at NORDITA and
Professor of Physics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He
has lectured and developed courses on the physics of biological systems and math-
ematical biology, and has also organized several workshops and summer schools
on this area. Professor Sneppen is a theorist whose research interests include coop-
erativity in complex systems, the dynamics and structure of biological networks,
evolutionary patterns in the fossil record, and the cooperative behavior of genetic
switches and heat shock response of living cells.

Giovanni Zocchi is Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of

California, Los Angeles. Following his undergraduate education at the Univer-
sità di Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, he obtained his Ph.D. in Physics
from the University of Chicago. He has worked in diverse areas of complex sys-
tem physics at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, and the Niels Bohr Institute,
Copenhagen, before his current position at UCLA. He has taught courses on intro-
ductory biophysics at the Niels Bohr Institute and currently teaches biophysics at
advanced undergraduate and graduate level. Professor Zocchi is an experimentalist;
his present research is focused on understanding and controlling conformational
changes in proteins and DNA.
PHYSICS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

KIM SNEPPEN & GIOVANNI ZOCCHI

  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo

Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521844192

© K. Sneppen and G. Zocchi 2005

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of

relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published in print format 2005

- ---- eBook (NetLibrary)

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- --- hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of s
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
 Contents

Preface page vii

Introduction 1
1 What is special about living matter? 4
2 Polymer physics 8
3 DNA and RNA 44
4 Protein structure 77
5 Protein folding 95
6 Protein in action: molecular motors 127
7 Physics of genetic regulation: the λ-phage in E. coli 146
8 Molecular networks 209
9 Evolution 245
Appendix Concepts from statistical mechanics
and damped dynamics 280
Glossary 297
Index 308

v
 Preface

This book was initiated as lecture notes to a course in biological physics at

Copenhagen University in 1998–1999. In this connection, Chapters 1–5 were devel-
oped as a collaboration between Kim Sneppen and Giovanni Zocchi. Later chapters
were developed by Kim Sneppen in connection to courses taught at the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology at Trondheim (2001) and at Nordita and the
Niels Bohr Institute in 2002 and 2003.
A book like this very much relies on feedback from students and collaborators.
Particular thanks go to Jacob Bock Axelsen, Audun Bakk, Tom Kristian Bardøl,
Jesper Borg, Petter Holme, Alexandru Nicolaeu, Martin Rosvall, Karin Stibius,
Guido Tiana and Ala Trusina. In addition, much of the content of the book is the
result of collaborations that have been published previously in scientific journals.
Thus we would very much like to thank:
r Jesper Borg, Mogens Høgh Jensen and Guido Tiana for collaborations on polymer collapse
modeling;
r Terry Hwa, E. Marinari and Lee-han Tang for collaborations on DNA melting;
r Audun Bakk, Jacob Bock, Poul Dommersness, Alex Hansen and Mogens Høgh Jensen
for collaborations on protein folding models and models of discrete ratchets;
r Deborah Kuchnir Fygenson and Albert Libchaber for collaborations on nucleation of
microtubules and inspiration;
r Erik Aurell, Kristoffer Bæk, Stanley Brown, Harwey Eisen and Sine Svenningsen for
collaborations on λ-phage modeling and experiments;
r Ian Dodd, Barry Egan and Keith Shearwin for collaborations on modeling the 186 phage;
r Jacob Bock, Mogens Høgh Jensen, Sergei Maslov, Petter Minnhagen, Martin Rosvall,
Guido Tiana and Ala Trusina for ongoing collaborations on the properties of molecular
networks, and modeling features of complex networks;
r Sergei Maslov and Kasper Astrup Eriksen on collaborations on large-scale patterns of
evolution within protein paralogs in yeast;
r Per Bak and Stefan Bornholdt for collaborations on macro-evolutionary models, quan-
tifications of large-scale evolution, and modeling evolution of robust Boolean networks.

vii
viii Preface

Kim Sneppen is particularly grateful for the hospitality of KITP at the University
of California, Santa Barbara, where material for part of this book was collected
during long visits at programs on Physics in Biological Systems in winter/spring
2001 and 2003.

I, Kim, thank my infinitely wise and beautiful wife Simone for patience and love
throughout this work, and my children Ida, Thor, Eva and Albert for putting life
into the right perspective.
 Introduction

This book covers some subjects that we find inspiring when teaching physics stu-
dents about biology. The book presents a selection of topics centered around the
physics/biology/chemistry of genes. The focus is on topics that have inspired math-
ematical modeling approaches. The presentation is rather condensed, and demands
some familiarity with statistical physics from the reader. However, we attempted
to make the book complete in the sense that it explains all presented models and
equations in sufficient detail to be self-contained. We imagine it as a textbook for
the third or fourth years of a physics undergraduate course.
Throughout the book, in particular in the introductions to the chapters, we have
expressed basic biology ideas in a very simplified form. These statements are meant
for the physics student who is approaching the biological subject for the first time.
Biology textbooks are necessarily more descriptive than physics books. Our sim-
plified statements are meant to reduce this difference in style between the two
disciplines. As a consequence, the expert may well find some statements objection-
able from the point of view of accuracy and completeness. We hope, however, that
none is misleading. One should think of these parts as first-order approximations
to the more complicated and complete descriptions that molecular biology text-
books offer. On the other hand, the physical reasoning that follows the simplified
presentation of the biological system is detailed and complete.
The book is not comprehensive. Large and important areas of biological physics
are not discussed at all. In particular we have not ventured into membrane physics
and transport across membranes, signal transmission along neurons and sensory
perception, to mention a few examples. While there are already excellent books
and reviews on all these subjects, the reason for our limited choice of topics is
more ambitious. The basic physics ideas that are relevant for molecular biol-
ogy can be learned on a few specific examples of biological systems. The ex-
amples were chosen because we find them particularly suited to illustrate the
physics.

1
2 Introduction

We have chosen to place the focus on genes, DNA, RNA and proteins, and in
particular how these build a functional system in the form of the λ-phage switch.
We further elaborate with some larger-scale examples of molecular networks and
with a short overview of current models of biological evolution. The overall plan of
the book is to proceed from simple systems toward more complex ones, and from
small-scale to large-scale dynamics of biological systems.
Chapter 1 gives some impression of important ideas in biology. To be more
precise, the chapter summarizes those concepts which, we think, strike a physicist
who approaches the field, either because they have no counterpart in physics, or, on
the contrary, because they are all too familiar. The chapter grew out of discussions
with biologists, and we normally use it as a first introductory lecture when we
give the course. Of the subsequent chapters, we regard Chapter 7 on the λ-phage in
E. coli as especially central: it deals with the interplay between elements introduced
earlier in the book, and it contains a lot of the physics reasoning that the book is
meant to teach.
In Chapter 2 we describe the physics of polymer conformations, emphasizing the
interplay between energy and entropy and examining both the behavior of extended
polymers and how compact configurations may be reached. In the next chapters
we introduce and discuss the most important biological polymers: DNA, RNA and
proteins. Although the covalent bonds forming the polymer backbone have binding
energies G > 1 eV, the form and function of these biomolecules is associated to
the much weaker forces perpendicular to the polymer backbone. These interactions
are of order kB T , and it is the combined effect of many of these forces that forms
the functional biomolecule. In Chapters 3–5 we characterize the stability of DNA,
RNA and proteins, with emphasis on the cooperativity responsible for this stability.
Biological molecules can be used for various types of computations. Chapter 3
includes a section on DNA computation and DNA manipulation in the laboratory.
This is in part a continuation of Chapter 2 (reptation), and also an introduction to
the computational aspects of molecular replication (the PCR reaction). Chapters
4–6, on the other hand, focus on proteins and protein folding and thus the functional
aspects are left to subsequent chapters. In this book we have addressed in consider-
able detail one of these aspects, namely how a protein may control the production
of another protein (Chapter 7). As we explain in Chapter 7, genetic control in-
volves mechanisms associated to both equilibrium statistical mechanics and to the
timescales involved in complex formation and disruption. Topics in this chapter
include a discussion of cooperativity, of target location by diffusion, of timescales
in a cell and of stability of expressed genetic states.
Chapter 7 also forms a microscopic foundation for the large-scale properties of
molecular networks, which we discuss in Chapter 8. Chapter 8 thus continues the
subject of genetic regulation and molecular networks, in part by venturing into the
 Introduction 3

heat shock mechanism. This shows that protein folding is also a control mechanism
in a living cell, and it introduces a type of genetic regulation that was not treated in
the previous chapter: σ sub-units of RNAp, which control the expression of larger
classes of genes. Chapter 8 also discusses the larger-scale properties of genetic
regulatory networks, introducing a few recent physics attempts at modeling these.
Chapter 9 discusses evolution, with emphasis on the interplay between random-
ness and selection from the smallest to the largest scales. The chapter introduces
concepts such as neutral evolution, hill climbers and co-evolution, and uses these
concepts to discuss questions related in part to the concept of punctuated equilib-
rium, and in part to the origin of life in the form of autocatalytic networks. Thus
Chapter 9 introduces some simple models that allow us to discuss the nature of
the history leading to the emergence of life, and in particular aims at stressing
the importance of interactions and stochastic events on all scales of the biological
hierarchy.
In the Appendix we have a short introduction to statistical mechanics, including
the fluctuation–dissipation theorem and the Kramers escape problem; it is meant
to render the book self-contained from the point of view of the physics.
 1
What is special about living matter?
Kim Sneppen & Giovanni Zocchi

Life is self-reproducing, persistent (we are ∼ 4 × 109 years old), complex (of the
order of 1000 different molecules make up even the simplest cell), “more” than the
sum of its parts (arbitrarily dividing an organism kills it), it harvests energy and
it evolves. Essential processes for life take place from the scale of a single water
molecule to balancing the atmosphere of the planet. In this book we will discuss
the modeling and physics associated, in particular, to the molecules of life and how
together they form something that can work as a living cell. First we briefly review
some basic concepts of living systems, with emphasis on what makes biological
systems so different from the systems that one normally studies in physics.
Conceptually, molecular biology has provided us with a few fundamen-
tal/universal mechanisms that apply over and over. Some concepts, like evolution,
do not have counterparts in physics. Others, like the role of stochastic processes,
are, on the contrary, quite familiar to a physicist.

(1) Biology is the result of a historical process. This means that it is not possible to
“explain” a biological system by applying a few fundamental laws in the same way
that is done in physics. A hydrogen atom could not be different from what it is, based
on what we know of the laws of nature, but an E. coli cell could. In evolution, it is much
easier to modify existing mechanisms than to invent new ones. Thus on evolutionary
timescales nearly everything comes about by cut and paste of modules that are already
working. We will end the book with a chapter dedicated to evolutionary concepts and
models.
(2) The molecules of life are polymers. At the molecular scale, life is made of polymers:
DNA, RNA and proteins. Even membranes are built of molecules with large aspect
ratios. Perhaps mechanics at the nano-scale can work only with polymers, molecules
that are kept together by strong forces along their backbone, while having the property
of forming specific structures by utilizing the much weaker forces perpendicular to the
backbone. In molecular biology we witness nano-mechanics at work with polymers.
We will discuss polymers in Chapter 2, and thereby introduce concepts necessary

4
 What is special about living matter? 5

for understanding DNA (Chapter 3), proteins (Chapters 4–5) and polymers in action
(Chapter 6).
(3) Genetic code. Information is maintained on a one-dimensional, double-stranded DNA
molecule, which will be discussed in Chapter 3. Thus the one-dimensional nature of
the information mirrors the one-dimensional nature of the polymers that make life
work. The DNA strands open for copying and transcribing, by separating the double-
stranded DNA into two single strands of DNA that each carry the full information.
The copying is done by DNA polymerase using the complementarity of base pairs.
Similarly the genetic code is read by RNA polymerase and ribosomes that again use
the matching of complementary base pairs to translate codons into amino acids. This
is usually summarized in terms of the central dogma

DNA → RNA → protein (1.1)

This is highly simplified: proteins modify other proteins, and most importantly proteins
provide both positive and negative feedback on all the arrows in (1.1). If one has only
DNA in a test tube, nothing happens. One needs proteins to get DNA → RNA, etc.
Then Eq. (1.1) should be supplemented at least by an arrow from protein to DNA.
Thus it is not always clear where the start of this loop is, and the whole scheme has to
be extended to the complicated molecular networks discussed in Chapter 8.
(4) Computation. A living cell is an incredible information-processing machine: an
E. coli transcribes about 5 × 106 genes during 1/2 h, i.e. about 10 Gb/h of informa-
tion. All this within a 1 µm3 cell, coded by about 5 × 106 base pairs. The information
density far outnumbers that in any computer chip, and even a million E. coli occupy

A T

C G

T A

G C
T A
T A
A T
A T
C G
T A
G C

Figure 1.1. Information in life is maintained one-dimensionally through a double-

stranded polymer called DNA. Each polymer strand in the DNA contains exactly
the same information, coded in form of a sequence of four different base pairs.
Duplication occurs by separating the strands and copying each one. This interplay
between memory and replication opened 4 billion years of complex history.
6 What is special about living matter?

much less space than a modern CPU, thus beating PCs on computation speed as well.
The levels of computation in a living system increase when one goes to eukaryotes and
especially to multi-cellular organisms (where each cell must have encoded awareness
of its social context also). The simplest organisms (e.g. the prokaryote M. pneumono-
miae with 677 genes) can manage essentially without transcription control. Larger
genome size prokaryotes typically need a number of control units that grow with the
square of number of genes. We discuss modeling of processes within living cells in
Chapter 7 and, to some extent, also in Chapters 6 and 8.
(5a) Life is modular. It is build of parts that are build of parts, on a wide range of scales.
This facilitates robustness: if a process doesn’t work, there are alternative routes to
replace it. Molecular-scale examples include the secondary, tertiary and quaternary
structures of proteins (complexes of proteins); they may include network modules,
such as sub-cellular domains, that each facilitate an appropriate response to external
stimuli. Most importantly, the minimum independent living module is the cell.
(5b) Life is NOT modular. Life is more than the sum of its parts. Removing a single protein
species often leads to death for an organism. Another observation is that the number of
regulatory proteins for prokaryotes increases with the square of the number of proteins
that should be regulated. Thus regulatory networks are an integrated system, and not
modular in any simple way. This is the subject for the chapter on networks.
(6) Stochastic processes play an essential role from molecules to cells; in particular,
they include mechanisms driven by Brownian noise, trial-and-error strategies, and the
individuality of genetically identical cells owing to their finite number of molecules.
An example of a trial-and-error mechanism is microtubule growth, attachment and
collapse (see Chapter 6). Individuality of cells has been explored by individual cell
measurements of gene expression, and variability of cell fate has been associated
with fluctuations in gene expressions. An example of such stochasticity includes the
lysis–lysogeny decision in temperate phages; see Chapter 7.
(7) Biological physics is “kB T -physics”. The relevant energy scale for the molecular
interactions that control all biological mechanisms in the cell is kB T , where T is room
temperature and k is the Boltzmann constant (kB NA = R, where NA is Avogadro’s
number and R is the gas constant; 1 kB T = 4.14 × 10−14 ergs = 0.62 kcal/mole at
T = 300 K ). This is not true for most of the systems described in a typical physics
curriculum, for example:
r the hydrogen atom, with an energy scale ∼ 10 eV, whereas kB Troom  1/40 eV;
r binding energies of atoms in metals; covalent bonds: energy ∼ 1 eV;
r macroscopic objects (pendulum, billiard ball), where even a 1 mg object moving
with a speed of 1 cm/s has an energy ∼ 10−10 J ∼ 109 eV (1 eV = 1.602 × 10−19 J).
The approach is therefore different. For example, in the solid state one starts with a
given structure and calculates energy levels. Thermal energy may be relevant to kick
carriers in the conduction band, but kB T is not on the brink of destroying the ordered
structure.
Soft-matter systems often self-assemble in a variety of structures (e.g. amphiphilic
molecules in water form micelles, bilayers, vesicles, etc.; polypeptide chains fold to
 Further reading 7

form globular proteins). These ordered structures exist in a fight against the disruptive
effect of thermal motion. The quantity that describes the disruptive effect of thermal
motion is the entropy S, a measure of microscopic disorder that we review in the
Appendix. So for these systems energy and entropy are both equally important, and
one generally considers a free energy F = E − T S. The language and formalism of
thermodynamics are effective tools in describing these systems. For example: free-
energy differences are just as “real” as energy differences; therefore entropic effects
can result in actual forces, as we discuss in Chapter 2.

Further reading
Berg, H. C. (1993). Random Walks in Biology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Boal, D. H. (2002). Mechanics of the Cell. Cambridge University Press.
Bray, D. (2001). Cell Movements: From Molecules to Motility. Garland Publishing.
Crick, F. H. C. (1962). The genetic code. Sci. Amer. 207, 66–74; Sci. Amer. 215, 55–62.
Eigen, M. (1992). Steps Towards Life. Oxford University Press.
Godsell, D. (1992). The Machinery of Life. Springer Verlag.
Gould, S. J. (1991). Wonderful Life, The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. Penguin.
Howard, J. (2001). Mechanics of Motor Proteins and the Cytoskeleton. Sinauer Associates.
Kauffman, S. (1993). The Origins of Order. Oxford University Press.
Lovelock, J. (1990). The Ages of Gaia. Bantam Books/W. W. Norton and Company Inc.
Pollack, G. H. (2001). Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life. Ebner & Sons Publishers.
Ptashne, M. & Gann, A. (2001). Genes & Signals. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Raup, D. (1992). Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck? Princeton University Press.
Schrödinger, E. (1944). What is Life? Cambridge University Press.
 2
Polymer physics
Kim Sneppen & Giovanni Zocchi

Living cells consist of a wide variety of molecular machines that perform work
and localize this work to the proper place at the proper time. The basic design idea
of these nano-machines is based on a one-dimensional backbone, a polymer. That
is, these nano-machines are not made of cogwheels and other rigid assemblies of
covalently interlocked atoms, but rather are based on soft materials in the form
of polymers – i.e. one-dimensional strings. In fact most of the macromolecules
in life are polymers. Along a polymer there is strong covalent bonding, whereas
possible bonds perpendicular to the polymer backbone are much weaker. Thereby,
the covalent backbone serves as a scaffold for weaker specific bonds. This opens
up the possibility (1) to self-assemble into a specific functional three-dimensional
structure, (2) to allow the machine parts to interact while maintaining their identity,
and (3) to allow large deformations. All three properties are necessary ingredients
for parts of a machine on the nano-scale. In this chapter we review the general
properties of polymers, and thus hope to familiarize the reader with this basic
design idea of macromolecules.
Almost everything around us in our daily life is made of polymers. But despite
the variety, all the basic properties can be discussed in terms of a few ideas. Some
of these properties are astounding: consider a metal wire and a rubber band. The
metal wire can be stretched about 2% before it breaks; its elasticity comes from
small displacements of the atoms around a quadratic energy minimum. The rubber
band, on the other hand, can easily be stretched by a factor of 4. Clearly its elasticity
must be based on an entirely different effect (it is in fact based on entropy); see also
Fig. 2.1.
Polymers are long one-dimensional molecules that consist of the repetition of
one or a few units (the “monomers”) bound together with covalent bonds. You
can think of beads on a string. Figure 2.2 shows three examples; the first two are
synthetic polymers, the third represents the primary structure of proteins. What is
radically different between these molecules and all others is that the number of

8
 Polymer physics 9
One-dimensional backbone

Three-dimensional structure

Figure 2.1. Illustration of the self-healing properties of a device with a one-

dimensional backbone. Thermal or other fluctuations may dislodge a single el-
ement, but if attached to a backbone it typically will move back into the correct
position (from Hansen & Sneppen, 2004).

CH2 CH2 CH2 CH2 polyethylene

CH2 CH CH2 CH PVC

Cl Cl

R1 O R3 polypeptide

CH NH C CH

NH C CH NH C

O R2 O

Figure 2.2. Examples of polymers.

monomers, N , is large, typically N ∼102 −104 (but note that for DNA N can be
∼108 ). The single most dramatic consequence is that the molecule becomes flexible.
We normally think of the relative motion of atoms within a small molecule, say
CO2 , in terms of vibrational modes. A polymer, however, can actually bend like a
string! There are more consequences. Perpendicular to the strong (covalent) forces
along the one-dimensional backbone, weaker forces may come into play; forces
that would be insignificant if the atoms were not brought together by the backbone
bonds. But given that the backbone forces these monomers together, the cooperative
10 Polymer physics
Polymerization

CH2 CH2 + CH2 CH2 CH3 CH2 CH CH2

Polycondensation

O O

R1 C OH + OH R2 R1 C O R2

+ H2O

Figure 2.3. How polymers are formed.

Figure 2.4. One mechanism for polymer flexibility: bond rotations.

binding of many of these weaker forces, both within the same molecule and between
different molecules, allows the enormous number of specific interactions found in
the biological world.
In this chapter we will study the simplest polymers, consisting of many identical
monomers (“homopolymers”). This allows us to gain insight into the interplay
between the one-dimensional polymer backbone and the possible three-dimensional
conformations of the molecule.
Polymers are formed by polymerization (e.g. polyethylene) or by polyconden-
sation (e.g. polypeptides); see Fig. 2.3. The single most important characteristic
of polymers is that they are flexible. The simplest mechanism for their flexibil-
ity comes from rotations around single bonds. Figure 2.4 shows three links of,
say, a polyethylene chain; the C atoms are at the vertices and the segments depict
the C–C bonds. The bond angle θ is fixed, determined by the orbital structure of
the carbon, but φ rotations are allowed. As a result, on a scale much larger than the
monomer size a snapshot of the polymer chain may look as depicted on the right in
the figure, i.e. a coil with random conformation. For other polymers, for example
double-stranded DNA, the chemical structure does not allow bond rotations as in
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
replied with princely indignation, that if honour were banished from
every other residence, it ought to find refuge in the breasts of kings.
Luther was permitted to retire from the diet; but he had not
proceeded far on his return when he was surprised by a number of
armed men, and carried away into captivity. It was an act of friendly
violence. A temporary concealment was thought necessary for his
present security, and he was hastily conveyed to the solitary Castle
of Wartenburg. In the mean time the assembly issued the
declaration known in history as the “Edict of Worms,” in which the
Reformer was denounced as an excommunicated schismatic and
heretic; and all his friends and adherents, all who protected or
conversed with him, were pursued by censures and penalties. The
cause of papacy obtained a momentary, perhaps only a seeming
triumph, for it was not followed by any substantial consequences;
and while the anathematized Reformer lay in safety in his secret
Patmos, as he used to call it, the Emperor withdrew to other parts of
Europe to prosecute schemes and interests which then seemed far
more important than the religious tenets of a German Monk.
While Luther was in retirement, his disciples at Wittemberg, under
the guidance of Carlostadt, a man of learning and piety, proceeded
to put into force some of the first principles of the Reformation. They
would have restrained by compulsion the superstition of private
masses, and torn away from the churches the proscribed images.
Luther disapproved of the violence of these measures; or it may also
be, as some impartial writers have insinuated, that he grudged to
any other than himself the glory of achieving them. Accordingly,
after an exile of ten months, he suddenly came forth from his place
of refuge, and appeared at Wittemberg. Had he then confined his
influence to the introduction of a more moderate policy among the
reformers, many plausible arguments might have been urged in his
favour. But he also appears, unhappily, to have been animated by a
personal animosity against Carlostadt, which was displayed both
then and afterwards in some acts not very far removed from
persecution.
The marriage of Luther, and his marriage to a nun, was the event of
his life which gave most triumph to his enemies, and perplexity to
his friends. It was in perfect conformity with his masculine and
daring mind, that having satisfied himself of the nullity of his
monastic vows, he should take the boldest method of displaying to
the world how utterly he rejected them. Others might have acted
differently, and abstained, either from conscientious scruples, or,
being satisfied in their own minds, from fear to give offence to their
weaker brethren; and it would be presumptuous to condemn either
course of action. It is proper to mention that this marriage did not
take place till the year 1525, after Luther had long formally rejected
many of the observances of the Roman Catholic Church; and that
the nun whom he espoused had quitted her convent, and renounced
her profession some time before.
The war of the peasants, and the fanaticism of Munster and his
followers, presently afterwards desolated Germany; and the papal
party did not lose that occasion to vilify the principles of the
reformers, and identify the revolt from a spiritual despotism with
general insurrection and massacre. It is therefore necessary here to
observe, that the false enthusiasm of Munster was perhaps first
detected and denounced by Luther; and that the pen of the latter
was incessantly employed in deprecating every act of civil
insubordination. He was the loudest in his condemnation of some
acts of spoliation by laymen, who appropriated the monastic
revenues; and at a subsequent period so far did he carry his
principles, so averse was he, not only from the use of offensive
violence, but even from the employment of force in the defence of
his cause, that on some later occasions he exhorted the Elector of
Saxony by no means to oppose the imperial edicts by arms, but
rather to consign the persons and principles of the reformers to the
protection of Providence. For he was inspired with a holy confidence
that Christ would not desert his faithful followers; but rather find
means to accomplish his work without the agitation of civil disorders,
or the intervention of the sword. That confidence evinced the perfect
earnestness of his professions, and his entire devotion to the truth of
his principles. It also proved that he had given himself up to the
cause in which he had engaged, and that he was elevated above the
consideration of personal safety. This was no effeminate enthusiasm,
no passionate aspiration after the glory of martyrdom! It was the
working of the Spirit of God upon an ardent nature, impressed with
the divine character of the mission with which it was intrusted, and
assured, against all obstacles, of final and perfect success.
As this is not a history of the Reformation, but only a sketch of the
life of an individual reformer, we shall at once proceed to an affair
strongly, though not very favourably, illustrating his character. The
subject of the Eucharist commanded, among the various doctrinal
differences, perhaps the greatest attention; and in this matter Luther
receded but a short space, and with unusual timidity, from the faith
in which he had been educated. He admitted the real corporeal
presence in the elements, and differed from the church only as to
the manner of that presence. He rejected the actual and perfect
change of substance, but supposed the flesh to subsist in, or with
the bread, as fire subsists in red-hot iron. Consequently, he
renounced the term transubstantiation, and substituted
consubstantiation in its place. In the mean time, Zuinglius, the
reformer of Zuric, had examined the same question with greater
independence, and had reached the bolder conclusion, that the
bread and wine are no more than external signs, intended to revive
our recollections and animate our piety. This opinion was adopted by
Carlostadt, Œcolampadius, and other fathers of the Reformation,
and followed by the Swiss Protestants, and generally by the free
cities of the Empire. Those who held it were called Sacramentarians.
The opinion of Luther prevailed in Saxony, and in the more northern
provinces of Germany.
The difference was important. It was felt to be so by the reformers
themselves; and the Lutheran party expressed that sentiment with
too little moderation. The Papists, or Papalins (Papalini), were alert
in perceiving the division, in exciting the dissension, and in inflaming
it, if possible, into absolute schism; and in this matter it must be
admitted, that Luther himself was too much disposed by his
intemperate vehemence to further their design. These discords were
becoming dangerous; and in 1529, Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, the
most ardent among the protectors of the Reformation, assembled
the leading doctors of either party to a public disputation at
Marpurg. The particulars of this conference are singularly interesting
to the theological reader; but it is here sufficient to mention, without
entering into the doctrinal merits of the controversy, that whatever
was imperious in assertion and overbearing in authority, and
unyielding and unsparing in polemical altercation, proceeded from
the mouth and party of Luther; that every approach to humility, and
self-distrust, and mutual toleration, and common friendship, came
from the side of Zuinglius and the Sacramentarians. And we are
bound to add, that the same uncompromising spirit, which precluded
Luther from all co-operation or fellowship with those whom he
thought in error (it was the predominant spirit of the church which
he had deserted) continued on future occasions to interrupt and
even endanger the work of his own hands. But that very spirit was
the vice of a character, which endured no moderation or concession
in any matter wherein Christian truth was concerned, but which too
hastily assumed its own infallibility in ascertaining that truth. Luther
would have excommunicated the Sacramentarians; and he did not
perceive how precisely his principle was the same with that of the
church which had excommunicated himself.
Luther was not present at the celebrated Diet of Augsburg, held
under the superintendence of Charles V. in 1530; but he was in
constant correspondence with Melancthon during that fearful period,
and in the reproofs which he cast on the temporizing, though
perhaps necessary, negotiations of the latter, he at least exhibited
his own uprightness and impetuosity. The ‘Confession’ of the
Protestants, there published, was constructed on the basis of
seventeen articles previously drawn up by Luther; and it was not
without his counsels that the faith, permanently adopted by the
church which bears his name, was finally digested and matured.
From that crisis the history of the Reformation took more of a
political, less of a religious character, and the name of Luther is
therefore less prominent than in the earlier proceedings. But he still
continued for sixteen years longer to exert his energies in the cause
which was peculiarly his own, and to influence by his advice and
authority the new ecclesiastical system.
He died in the year 1546, the same, as it singularly happened, in
which the Council of Trent assembled, for the self-reformation and
re-union of the Roman Catholic Church. But that attempt, even had
it been made with judgment and sincerity, was then too late. During
the twenty-nine years which composed the public life of Luther, the
principles of the Gospel, having fallen upon hearts already prepared
for their reception, were rooted beyond the possibility of extirpation;
and when the great Reformer closed his eyes upon the scene of his
earthly toils and glory, he might depart in the peaceful confidence
that the objects of his mission were virtually accomplished, and the
work of the Lord placed in security by the same heaven-directed
hand which had raised it from the dust.
 RODNEY.

This eminent officer was descended from a younger branch of an

ancient family, long resident in the county of Somerset. His father
lived at Walton upon Thames, where George Brydges Rodney,
afterwards Lord Rodney, was born, February 19, 1718. He received
the rudiments of his education at Harrow School, from which he was
removed when only twelve years old, and sent to sea. He gained
promotion rapidly, being made Lieutenant in February, 1739, and
Captain in 1742. He was still farther fortunate in being almost
constantly employed for several years. In the Eagle, of sixty guns,
Captain Rodney bore a distinguished part in the action fought by
Admiral Hawke with the French fleet, off Cape Finisterre, October 14,
1747. The year after he was sent out with the rank of Commodore,
as Governor and Commander-in-Chief on the Newfoundland station,
where he remained till October, 1752.
Returning to England, he took his seat in Parliament for the borough
of Saltash, and was successively appointed to the Fougueux, of
sixty-four guns, the Prince George, of ninety, and the Dublin, of
seventy-four guns. In the last-named ship he served under Admiral
Hawke in the expedition against Rochefort in 1757, which failed
entirely, after great expense had been incurred, and great
expectations raised; and he assisted at the capture of Louisburg by
Admiral Boscawen in 1758. He was raised to the rank of Rear-
Admiral, May 19, 1759, after twenty-eight years of active and almost
uninterrupted service.
In July following he was ordered to take the command of a squadron
destined to attack Havre, and destroy a number of flat-bottomed
boats, prepared, it was supposed, to assist a meditated invasion of
Great Britain. This service he effectually performed.

Engraved by E. Scriven.

LORD RODNEY.

From a Picture by Sir

Joshua Reynolds
in his Majesty’s Collection
at St. James’s Palace.

Under the Superintendance

of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.

London, Published by
Charles Knight, Pall Mall
East.
He was soon raised to a more important sphere of action, being
named Commander-in-Chief at Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands,
in the autumn of 1761. No naval achievement of remarkable
brilliance occurred during the short period of his holding this
command: but the capture of the valuable islands of Martinique, St.
Lucia, and Grenada, bears testimony to the efficiency of the fleet
under his orders, and the good understanding between the land and
sea forces employed in this service. He was recalled on the
conclusion of peace in 1763. Eight years elapsed before he was
again called into service; a period fruitful in marks of favour from the
crown, though barren of professional laurels. He was created a
Baronet soon after his return; he was raised by successive steps to
the rank of Vice-Admiral of the Red; and he was appointed Governor
of Greenwich Hospital. This office he was required to resign on being
again sent out to the West Indies as Commander-in-Chief at Jamaica
in 1771. This was a period of profound peace: but the duties of
peace are often more difficult, and require more moral courage for
their discharge, than those of war. It is one of Rodney’s best claims
to distinction, that he suffered none under his command, or within
the sphere of his influence, to neglect their duties with impunity:
and in the mode of carrying on naval affairs then practised in the
West Indies, he found much ground for immediate interference, as
well as for representation and remonstrance to his superiors at
home. He earnestly desired to obtain the government of Jamaica;
but on a vacancy occurring in 1773, another person was appointed;
and he was recalled, and struck his flag at Portsmouth, September
4, 1774.
The next four years of Sir George Rodney’s life were much harassed
by pecuniary embarrassment. The habits of a sailor’s life are
proverbially unsuited to strict economy: and moving, when at home,
in the most fashionable society of London, it is no wonder that his
expenses outran his professional gains. He was compelled to retire
to Paris, where he remained until the American war afforded a
prospect of his being called into active service again. In May, 1778,
he was promoted to the rank of Admiral of the White: but it was not
till the autumn of 1779 that he was gratified by being re-appointed
to the command on the Barbadoes station. He sailed from Plymouth
December 29, to enter on the final and crowning scene of his glory.
At this time Spain and France were at war with England. The
memorable siege of Gibraltar was in progress, and a Spanish fleet
blockaded the Straits. The British navy was reduced unwarrantably
low in point of disposable force; and was farther crippled by a spirit
of disunion and jealousy among its officers, arising partly perhaps
from the virulence of party politics, and partly from the misconduct
of the Admiralty, which threatened even worse consequences than
the mere want of physical force. By this spirit Sir George Rodney’s
fleet was deeply tainted, to his great mortification and the great
injury of the country. At first, however, every thing appeared to
prosper. The fleet consisted of twenty-two sail of the line, and eight
frigates. Before Rodney had been at sea ten days, he captured
seven Spanish vessels of war, with a large convoy of provisions and
stores; and on January 16, near Cape St. Vincent, afterwards made
memorable by a more important action, he encountered a Spanish
fleet commanded by Don Juan de Langara, of eleven ships of the
line and two frigates. The superiority of the British force rendered
victory certain. Five Spanish ships were taken, and two destroyed;
and had not the action been in the night, and in tempestuous
weather, probably every ship would have been captured. These at
least are the reasons which Rodney gave in his despatches, for not
having done more: in private letters he hints that he was ill-
supported by his captains. Trifling as this success would have
seemed in later times, it was then very acceptable to the country;
and the Admiral received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament.
The scandalous feeling of jealousy of their commander, ill-will to the
ministry, or whatever other modification of party spirit it was, which
could prevent brave men (and such they were) from performing
their duty to the utmost in the hour of battle, broke out again with
more violence when Rodney next came within sight of the enemy.
This was near Martinique, April 17, 1780, about a month after his
arrival in the West Indies. The French fleet, commanded by the
Comte de Guichen, was slightly superior in force. Rodney’s intention
was to attack the enemy’s rear in close order and with his whole
strength; but his captains disobeyed his orders, deranged his plan,
and careless of the signals for close action, repeatedly made, kept
for the most part at cautious distance from the enemy. His own ship,
the Sandwich, engaged for an hour and a half a seventy-four and
two eighty-gun ships, compelled them to bear away, and broke
completely through the enemy’s line. Not more than five or six ships
did their duty. Had all done it, the victory over De Grasse might have
been anticipated, and the end of the war accelerated perhaps by two
years. In his despatches Rodney censured the conduct of his
captains; but the Admiralty thought proper to suppress the passage.
In his private letters to Lady Rodney, he complains bitterly. One only
of his captains was brought to trial, and he was broken. That ampler
justice was not done on the delinquents, is to be explained by the
difficulty of finding officers to form courts martial, where almost all
were equally guilty. But this partial severity, with the vigorous
measures which the Admiral took to recall others to their duty,
produced due effect, and we hear no more of want of discipline, or
reluctance to engage. For this action Rodney received the thanks of
the House of Commons, with a pension for himself and his family of
£2000 per annum.
Nothing of importance occurred during the rest of the spring; and
De Guichen having returned to Europe, Rodney sailed to New York,
to co-operate, during the rainy season in the West Indies, with the
British forces engaged in the American war. In November he
returned to his station. In the course of the autumn he had been
chosen to represent Westminster without expense, and had received
the Order of the Bath. The commencement of the following year was
signalized by acts of more importance. The British ministry had been
induced to declare war against Holland; and they sent out immediate
instructions to Rodney, to attack the possessions of the states in the
West Indies. St. Eustatius was selected for the first blow, and it
surrendered without firing a shot. Small and barren, yet this island
was of great importance for the support which it had long afforded
to the French and Americans under colour of neutrality, and for the
vast wealth which was captured in it. In the course of the spring,
Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, with the French island of St.
Bartholomew, were also taken.
In the autumn, Rodney returned to Europe for the recovery of his
health. He was received with distinguished favour by the King, and
with enthusiasm by the people, and during his stay, was created
Vice-Admiral of Great Britain, in the place of Lord Hawke, deceased.
He returned in the middle of January, being invested with the
command of the whole West Indies, not merely the Barbadoes
station, as before. The situation of affairs at this time was very
critical. The French fleet, commanded by the Comte de Grasse,
consisted of thirty-three sail[6] of the line, two fifty-gun ships and
frigates, with a large body of troops, and a train of heavy cannon on
board. A powerful Spanish fleet was also in the West Indies. It was
intended to form a junction, and then with an overwhelming force of
near fifty sail of the line, to proceed to Jamaica, conquer that
important island, and one by one to reduce all the British colonies.

6. Or thirty-four, according to the official list found on board the

Ville de Paris after the engagement.
The French quitted Fort Royal Bay, in Martinique, April 8, 1782.
Intelligence was immediately brought to the British fleet at St. Lucia,
which lost no time in following them. In a partial action on the 9th,
two of the French ships were, disabled. A third was crippled by
accident on the night of the 11th. Thus, on the morning of the 12th,
the decisive day, the French line was reduced to thirty or thirty-one
ships, and numerically the British fleet was stronger: but this
difference was more than compensated by the greater weight of
metal in the French broadside, which was calculated by Sir Charles
Douglas to have exceeded the British by 4396 pounds. On that
morning, about seven o’clock, Rodney bore down obliquely on the
French line, and passed to leeward of it on the opposite tack. His
own ship was the eighteenth from the van: and the seventeen
leading ships having pushed on and taken their position each
abreast of an enemy, Rodney, in the Formidable, broke through the
line between the seventeenth and eighteenth ships, engaged the
Ville de Paris, De Grasse’s flag-ship, and compelled her to strike. The
battle was obstinately fought, and lasted till half-past six in the
evening. The loss of the British in killed and wounded was severe,
but disproportionately less than that of the French. Seven ships of
the line and two frigates fell into the hands of the victors.
This battle ruined the power of the allied fleets in the West Indies,
and materially contributed to the re-establishment of peace, which
was concluded in January, 1783. Many other circumstances have
combined to confer celebrity upon it. It restored to Britain the
dominion of the ocean, after that dominion had been some time in
abeyance; it proved the commencement of a long series of most
brilliant victories, untarnished by any defeat on a large scale; and it
was the first instance in which the manœuvre of breaking through
the enemy’s line, and attacking him on both sides, had been
practised. The question to whom the merit of this invention, which
for many years rested with Lord Rodney, is due, has of late been
much canvassed before the public. It has been claimed for Mr. Clerk,
of Eldin, author of a treatise on Naval Tactics, and for Sir Charles
Douglas, Captain of the Fleet, who served on board the Formidable,
and is said to have suggested it, as a sudden thought, during the
action. The claim of Mr. Clerk appears now to be generally
disallowed. The evidence in favour of each of the other parties is
strong and conflicting; and as we have not space to discuss it, we
may be excused for not expressing any opinion upon it. The claims
of Sir Charles Douglas have been advanced by his son, Sir Howard
Douglas, in some recent publications: the opposite side of the
question has been argued in the Quarterly Review, No. 83. It has
also been repeatedly discussed in the United Service Magazine. It
would appear, however, at all events, that as the final judgment and
responsibility rested with the Admiral, so also should the chief
honour of the measure: and it is certain that the gallant and
generous officer for whom this claim has been advanced, rejected all
praise which seemed to him in the least to derogate from the glory
of his commanding officer.
A change of ministry had taken place in the spring; and one of the
first acts of the Whigs, on coming into office, was to recall Rodney,
who had always been opposed to them in politics. The officer
appointed to succeed him had but just sailed, when news of his
decisive and glorious victory arrived in England. The Admiralty sent
an express, to endeavour to recall their unlucky step; but it was too
late. Rodney landed at Bristol, and closed his career of service,
September 21, 1782. He was received with enthusiasm, raised to the
peerage by the title of Baron Rodney, and presented with an
additional pension of £2000 per annum. From this time he lived
chiefly in the country, and died May 23, 1792, in the seventy-fifth
year of his age. He was twice married, and left a numerous family to
inherit his well-earned honours and rewards.
The life of Lord Rodney, published by General Mundy, is valuable, as
containing much of his official and private correspondence. The
former proves that his views as a Commander-in-Chief were
enlarged, judicious, and patriotic; the latter is lively and affectionate,
and shows him to have been most amiable in domestic life. Memoirs
of his life and principal actions will be found in most works on naval
history and biography.
Monument of Lord Rodney
in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
 LAGRANGE.

Joseph Louis Lagrange was born at Turin, January 25th, 1736. His
great-grandfather was a Frenchman, who entered into the service of
the then Duke of Savoy; and from this circumstance, as well as his
subsequent settlement in France, and his always writing in their
language, the French claim him as their countryman: an honour
which the Italians are far from conceding to them.

Engraved by Robt. Hart.

LA GRANGE.

From a Bust in the Library

of the
 Institute of France.

Under the Superintendance

of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.

London, Published by
Charles Knight, Pall Mall
East.

The father of Lagrange, luckily perhaps for the fame of his son, was
ruined by some unfortunate speculation. The latter used to say, that
had he possessed fortune, he should probably never have turned his
attention to the science in which he excelled. He was placed at the
College of Turin, and applied himself diligently and with enthusiasm
to classical literature, showing no taste at first for mathematics. In
about a year he began to attend to the geometry of the ancients. A
memoir of Halley in the Philosophical Transactions, on the superiority
of modern analysis, produced consequences of which the author
little dreamed. Lagrange met with it, before his views upon the
subject had settled: and immediately, being then only seventeen
years old, applied himself to the study of the modern mathematics.
Before this change in his studies, according to Delambre[7], after it,
according to others, but certainly while very young, he was elected
professor at the Royal School of Artillery at Turin. We may best
convey some notion of his early proficiency, by stating without detail,
that at the age of twenty-three we find him—the founder of an
Academy of Sciences at Turin, whose volumes yield in interest to
none, and owe that interest principally to his productions,—a
member of the Academy of Sciences at Berlin, an honour obtained
through the medium of Euler, who shortly after announced him to
Frederic of Prussia as the fittest man in Europe to succeed himself,—
and settling, finally, a most intricate question[8] of mathematics,
which had given rise to long discussions between Euler and
D’Alembert, then perhaps the two first mathematicians in Europe. He
had previously extended the method of Euler for the solution of
what are called isoperimetrical problems, and laid the foundation for
the Calculus of Variations, the most decided advance, in our opinion,
which any one has made since the death of Newton.

7. Éloge de Lagrange, Mémoires de l’Institut. 1812.

8. The admissibility of discontinuous functions into the integrals

of partial differential equations.
In 1764 he gained the prize proposed by the Academy of Sciences
for an Essay on the Libration of the Moon; and in 1766, that for an
Essay on the Theory of the Satellites of Jupiter. In the former of
these we find him, for the first time, using the principle of virtual
velocities, which had hitherto remained almost a barren truth, but
which he afterwards made, in conjunction with the principle known
after the name of D’Alembert, the foundation of the whole of
mechanical science.
In 1766, Euler, intending to return to St. Petersburg, resigned the
situation which he held at the Court of Berlin, that of director of the
physico-mathematical class of the Academy of Sciences. Frederic
offered this place to D’Alembert, who refused it for himself, but
joined with Euler in recommending Lagrange. The King of Prussia
acceded to their suggestion, and Lagrange was invited to establish
himself at Berlin, with a salary equivalent to 6,000 francs.
Lagrange remained at Berlin till after the death of Frederic. He here
married a lady who was related to him, and who came from Turin at
his request. She died after a lingering illness of several years,
marked by the most unceasing attention on the part of her husband,
who abandoned his pursuits to devote himself entirely to her during
her illness. Nevertheless the period of his sojourn at Berlin is
perhaps the brightest of a life, most years of which, from the age of
eighteen to that of seventy, were sufficient to ensure a lasting
reputation. He here laid the foundation of his Theory of Functions, of
his general method for determining the secular variations of the
planetary orbits; and here he wrote his Mécanique Analytique.
At the death of Frederic, he found that science was no longer
treated with the same respect at the Court of Berlin. He had found
from the commencement of his stay there, that foreigners were
looked upon with dislike, and his spirits had not recovered the loss of
his wife. Many advantageous offers were made to him by different
courts, and among the rest by that of France. Mirabeau, who was
then at Berlin, first pointed out to the ministers of Louis XVI. the
acquisition which was in their power. Lagrange removed to Paris in
1787, and remained there till his death.
He was then weary of his pursuits, and it is said that his Mécanique
Analytique, which he had sent from Berlin to be printed in Paris, lay
unopened by himself for more than two years after its publication in
1788. He employed himself in the study of ecclesiastical and other
history, of medicine, botany, and metaphysics. When the discoveries
of the chemists changed the theory and notation of their science, or
rather created a science where none existed before, he threw
himself upon the new study with avidity, and declared that they had
made it easy; as easy as algebra.
In 1792, being then fifty-six years of age, he married Mlle.
Lemonnier, daughter of the astronomer of that name, and daughter,
grand-daughter, and niece of members of the Academy of Sciences.
This lady well deserves honourable mention in every memoir of
Lagrange, for the affectionate care which she took of his declining
years.
When, after the subversion of the monarchy, a commission was
appointed to examine into the system of weights and measures,
Lagrange was placed at its head. In this post he continued, not
being included in the purification, which three months after its
formation, deprived the commission of the services of Laplace,
Coulomb, Brisson, Borda, and Delambre. He took no part in politics,
and appears to have given no offence to any party; hence, when the
government of Robespierre commanded all foreigners to quit France,
an exception was made in his favour by the committee of public
safety. All his friends had advised him to retire from the country; and
the fate of Lavoisier and Bailly was sufficient to show that scientific
talents of the most useful character were no protection. He now
regretted that he had not followed their advice, and even meditated
returning to Berlin. He did not, however, put this scheme in
execution; and as the Normal and Polytechnic Schools were
successively founded, he was appointed to professorships in both.
His Leçons, delivered to the former institution, appear in their
published series, and among them we find the Leçons sur la Théorie
des Fonctions, which has since appeared as a separate work.
It is almost needless to say, so well as the public know how science
was encouraged under the Consulate and the Empire, that Lagrange
received from Napoleon every possible respect and distinction. The
titles of senator, count of the empire, grand cordon of the legion of
honour, &c. were given to him. It is also gratifying to be able to add
that his abstinence from political engagements has left his memory
unstained by such imputations as, we know not how justly, rest
upon that of Laplace. We might have omitted to state that he
belonged to all the scientific academies of Europe; but that it is
necessary, for the sake of the scientific reputation of this country, to
correct an inadvertence into which the able author of the ‘Life of
Lagrange,’ in the Biographie Universelle, appears to have fallen. He
states that Lagrange was not a member of the Royal Society of
London[9]. The fact is, that he was elected in 1798, and his name
continued on the list of foreign members all the remainder of his life.

9. Les principales sociétés savantes de L’Europe, celle de Londres

exceptée, s’empressèrent de décorer de son nom la liste de
leurs membres.
About the end of March, 1813, Lagrange was seized with a fever,
which caused his death. He had previously been subject to fits of
fainting, in the last of which he was found by Madame Lagrange,
having fallen against the corner of a table. He preserved his senses
to the last, and on the 8th of April conversed for more than two
hours with M.M. Monge, Lacepède, and Chaptal, who were
commissioned by the Emperor to carry him the grand cordon of the
order of the Réunion. He then promised them, not thinking himself
so near his end, full details of his early life. Unfortunately this
promise remains unfulfilled, as he died on the 10th of April, in his
seventy-eighth year. His father had died some years before him at
the age of ninety-five, having had eleven children, all of whom,
except the subject of this memoir, and one other, died young.
Lagrange himself had no children. His private character, as all
accounts agree in stating, was most exemplary. His manners were
peculiarly mild, and though occasionally abstracted and absent, he
was fond of society, particularly that of the young. In the earlier part
of his life he was attacked in an unworthy manner by Fontaine, who
at the same time boasted of some discovery which he attributed to
himself. Lagrange replied with the urbanity which always
accompanied his dealings with others, and while he overthrew the
claim of his opponent, he repaid his incivility by the compliment of
admitting that his talents were such as would have enabled him to
attain the discovery, if it had not been previously made. Such
moderation is rare, and as might be expected, it was accompanied
by the utmost modesty in speaking of himself. In the latter half of
his life, it would have been affectation in him to have denied his own
powers, or spoken slightingly of his own discoveries; nor do we find
that he ever did so. In giving opinions or explanations, he broke off
the moment he found that his ideas were not as clear or his
knowledge as definite, as he had thought when he begun;
concluding abruptly with Je ne sais pas, Je ne sais pas. Among his
studies, music found a place; but, though pleased with the art, he
used to assert that he never heard more than three bars: the fourth
found him wrapped in meditation, and by his own account, he solved
very difficult problems in these circumstances. He would, therefore,
as M. Delambre remarks, measure the beauty of a piece of music by
the mathematical suggestions which he derived from it; and his
arrangement of the great masters would be not a little curious.
He never would allow a portrait of himself to be taken. A very well
executed bust, which is now in the Library of the Institute, was
made from a sketch by a young Italian artist, sent by the Academy
of Turin. From this bust our portrait is engraved.
Of the character of Lagrange as a philosopher, no description, in so
few words, can be better than that of M. Laplace: “Among the
discoverers who have most enlarged the bounds of our knowledge,
Newton and Lagrange appear to me to have possessed in the
highest degree that happy tact, which leads to the discovery of
general principles, and which constitutes true genius for science.
This tact, united with a rare degree of elegance in the manner of
explaining the most abstract theories, is the characteristic of
Lagrange.” This power of generalization distinguishes all that he has
written, and the student of the Mécanique Analytique is amazed
when he comes to a chapter headed “Equations Différentielles pour
la solution de tous les problèmes de Dynamique,” which, on
examination, he finds equally applicable, and equally applied, to the
vibrations of a pendulum or the motion of a planet. On the exquisite
symmetry of his notation and style, we need not enlarge: the
mathematician either is acquainted with it, or should become so with
all speed; and others will perhaps only smile at the notion of one set
of algebraical symbols possessing more elegance or beauty than
another.
The separate works of Lagrange are—1. Mécanique Analytique, the
second edition of which he was engaged upon when he died; the
first edition was published in 1788. 2. Théorie des Fonctions
Analytiques, a system of Fluxions on purely algebraical principles;
first edition, 1797; second edition, 1813. 3. Leçons sur le Calcul des
Fonctions; first published separately in 1806. 4. Résolution des
Equations numériques; three editions, in 1798, 1808, and 1826. To
give only a list of his separate memoirs would double the length of
this life: they will be found in the Miscellanea Taurinensia, tom. i.-v.,
and 1784–5; Memoirs of the Berlin Academy, 1765–1803; Recueils
de l’Académie des Sciences de Paris, 1773–4, and tom. ix.; Mémoires
des Savans Etrangers, tom. vii. and x.; Mémoires de l’Institut, 1808–
É
9; Journal de l’École Polytechnique, tom. ii. cahiers 5, 6, tom. viii.
cahier 15; Seánces des Écoles Normales; and Connoissance des
Tems, 1814, 1817.

Engraved by Jas. Mollison.

VOLTAIRE.

From an original Picture by

Largillière
in the collection of the
Institute of France.

Under the Superintendance

of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.

London, Published by
Charles Knight, Pall Mall
East.
 VOLTAIRE.

François Marie Arouet, who is commonly known by his assumed

name, De Voltaire, was born at Châtenay, near Sceaux, February 20,
1694. He soon distinguished himself as a child of extraordinary
abilities. The Abbé de Châteauneuf, his godfather, took charge of the
elements of his education, and laboured successfully to improve the
talents of his ready pupil without much regard to his morals. At three
years old the future champion of infidelity had learned by heart the
Moisade, an irreligious poem of J. B. Rousseau. These lessons were
not forgotten at college, where he passed rapidly through the usual
courses of study, and alarmed his Jesuit preceptors by the
undisguised licence of his opinions. About this time some of his first
attempts at poetry obtained for him the notice of Ninon de l’Enclos;
and when the Abbé de Châteauneuf, who had been the last in her
long list of favourites, introduced him at her house, she was so
pleased with the promising talents of the boy, that she left him by
will a legacy of 2,000 francs to purchase books. The Ecole de Droit,
where Arouet next studied, was much less suited to his disposition
than the College of Louis le Grand. In vain his father urged him to
undertake the drudgery of a profession: the Abbé was a more
agreeable monitor, and under his auspices the young man sought
with eagerness the best Parisian society. At the suppers of the Prince
de Conti, he became acquainted with wits and poets, acquired the
easy tone of familiar politeness, and distinguished himself by the
delicacy of his flatteries, and the liveliness of his repartee. In 1713
he went to Holland as page to the French ambassador, the Marquis
de Châteauneuf. This place had been solicited by his father in the
hope of detaching him from dissipated habits. But little was gained
by the step, for in a short time he was sent back to his family, in
consequence of an intrigue with a Mlle. Du Noyer, whose mother, a
Protestant refugee at the Hague, gained her living by scandal and
libels, and on this occasion thought something might be got by
complaining to the ambassador, and printing young Arouet’s love-
letters. He was, however, not easily discouraged. He endeavoured to
interest the Jesuits in his affairs, by representing Mlle. Du Noyer as a
ready convert, whom it would be Catholic charity to snatch from the
influence of an apostate mother. This manœuvre having failed, he
sought a reconciliation with his father, who remained a long while
implacable; but touched at last by his son’s entreaties to be
permitted to see him once more, on condition of leaving the country
immediately afterwards for America, he consented to receive him
into favour. Arouet again attempted legal studies, but soon
abandoned them in disgust. The Regency had now commenced; and
among the numerous satires directed against the memory of Louis
XIV., one was attributed to him. The report caused him a year’s
imprisonment in the Bastille. Soon afterwards he changed the name
of Arouet for that of Voltaire. “I have been unhappy,” he said, “so
long as I bore the first: let us see if the other will bring better
fortune.” It seemed indeed that it did so, for in 1718 the tragedy of
Œdipe was represented, and established the reputation of its author.
It had been principally composed in the Bastille, where he also laid
the foundation of his Henriade, which occupied the time he could
spare from amorous and political intrigue, until 1724. Desiring to
publish it, he submitted the poem to some select friends, men of
severe taste, who met at the house of the President de Maisons.
They found so many faults that the author threw the manuscript into
the fire. The President Hénault rescued it with difficulty, and said,
“Young man, your haste has cost me a pair of best lace ruffles: why
should your poem be better than its hero, who was full of faults, yet
none of us like him the worse?” Surreptitious copies spread rapidly,
and gained for the author much both of celebrity and envy. But it
displeased two powerful classes: the priests were apprehensive of its
religious, the courtiers of its political, tendency; insomuch that the
publication was prohibited by government, and the young king
refused to accept the dedication. Soon after this, Voltaire was sent
again to the Bastille, in consequence of a quarrel with the Chevalier
de Rohan: and on his liberation, he was banished to England. There
he remained three years, perhaps the most important era of his life,
for it gave an entirely new direction to his lively mind. Hitherto a wit,
and a writer of agreeable verse, he became in England a
philosopher. Returning to France in 1726, he brought with him an
admiration of our manners, and a knowledge of our best writers,
which visibly influenced his own compositions and those of his
contemporaries. He now published several poetical and dramatic
pieces with variable success; but he was more than once forced to
quit Paris by the clamour and persecution of his enemies. After the
failure of one of his plays, Fontenelle and some other literary
associates seriously advised him to abandon the drama, as less
suited to his talent than the light style of fugitive poetry in which he
had uniformly succeeded. He answered them by writing Zaire, which
was acted with great applause in 1732. He had already published his
history of Charles XII.: that of Peter the Great was written much
later in life. The Lettres Philosophiques, secretly printed at Rouen,
and rapidly circulating, increased his popularity, and the zeal of his
enemies. This work was burnt by the common hangman. About this
time commenced that celebrated intimacy with Emilie Marquise du
Châtelet, which for nearly twenty years stimulated and guided his
genius. Love made him a mathematician. In the studious leisure of
Cirey, under the auspices of “la sublime Emilie,” he plunged himself
into the most abstract speculations, and acquired a new title to fame
by publishing the Elements of Newton in 1738, and contending for a
prize proposed by the Academy of Sciences. At the same time he
produced in rapid succession Alzire, Mahomet, and Merope. His fame
was now become European. Frederic of Prussia, Stanislaus, and
other sovereigns honoured him, or were honoured by his
correspondence. But the perpetual intrigues of his enemies at home
deprived him of repose, and even at Cirey he was not always free
from troubles and altercations. Upon the death of Madame du
Châtelet, in 1749, he accepted the often urged invitation of Frederic,
and took up his residence at the Court of Berlin. But the friendship
of the king and the philosopher was not of long duration. A violent
quarrel with the geometrician, Maupertuis, who was also living under
the protection of Frederic, ended, after some ineffectual attempts at
accommodation, in Voltaire’s departure from Frederic’s society and
dominions (1753). He had just published his Siècle de Louis XIV.,
which was shortly followed by the Essai sur les Mœurs. After a few
more wanderings, for the versatility of his talent seemed to require a
corresponding variety of abode, Voltaire finally fixed himself at
Ferney, near Geneva, in the sixty-fifth year of his eventful life, and
began to enjoy at leisure his vast reputation. From all parts of
Europe strangers undertook pilgrimages to this philosophic shrine.
Sovereigns took pride in corresponding with the Patriarch, as he was
called by the numerous sect of free-thinkers, and self-styled
philosophers, who looked up to him as their teacher and leader. The
Society of Philosophers at Paris, now employed in their great work,
the Encyclopædia, which, from the moment of its ill-judged
prohibition by the government had assumed the character of an
antichristian manifesto, looked up to Voltaire as the acknowledged
chief of their party. He furnished some of the most important articles
in the work. His whole mind seemed now to be bent on one object,
the subversion of the Christian religion. Innumerable miscellaneous
compositions, different in form, and generally anonymous, indeed
often disavowed, were marked by this pernicious tendency. “I am
tired,” he is reported to have said, “of hearing it repeated that twelve
men were sufficient to found Christianity: I will show the world that
one is sufficient to destroy it!” Half a century has elapsed, and the
event has not justified the truth of this boast: he mistook his own
strength, as many other unbelievers have done. These impious
extravagances were not, however, the only occupation of the twenty
years which intervened between Voltaire’s establishment at Ferney
and his death. In the defence of Sirven, Lally, Labarre, Calas, and
others, who at several times were objects of unjust condemnation by
the judicial tribunals, he exerted himself with a zeal as indefatigable
as it was meritorious. Ferney, under his protection, grew to a
considerable village, and the inhabitants learned to bless the
liberalities of their patron. His mind continued to be embittered by
literary quarrels, the most memorable being that with J. J. Rousseau,
commemorated in his poem, entitled ‘Guerre Civile de Genève’
(1768). He hated this unfortunate exile, as a rival, as an enthusiast,
and as a friend, comparatively speaking, to Christianity. Nor were
these his only disquietudes. The publication of the infamous poem of
La Pucelle, which he suffered in strict confidence to circulate among
his intimate friends, and which was printed by the treachery of some
of them, gave him much uneasiness. For its indecency and impiety
he might not have cared: but all who had offended him, authors,
courtiers, even the king and his mistress, were abused in it in the
grossest manner, and Voltaire had no wish to provoke the arm of
power. He had recourse to his usual process of disavowal, and as he
could not deny the whole, he asserted that the offensive parts had
been intercalated by his enemies. In other instances his zeal outran
discretion, and affected his comforts by producing apprehension for
his safety. Sometimes a panic terror of assassination took possession
of him, and it needed all the gentleness and assiduities of his
adopted daughter, Madame de Varicourt, to whom he was tenderly
attached, to bring back his usual levity of mind. At length, in 1778,
Voltaire yielding to the entreaties of his favourite niece, Madame
Denis, came to Paris, where at the theatre he was greeted by a
numerous assemblage in a manner resembling the crowning of an
Athenian dramatic poet, more than any modern exhibition of popular
favour. Borne back to his hotel amidst the acclamations of
thousands, the aged man said feebly, “You are suffocating me with
roses.” He did not indeed long survive this festival. Continued study,
and the immoderate use of coffee, renewed a strangury to which he
had been subject, and he died May 30, 1778. He was interred with
the rites of Christian worship, a point concerning which he had
shown some solicitude, in the Abbaye de Scellières. In 1791 his
remains were removed by the Revolutionists, and deposited with
great pomp in the Pantheon.
It is difficult within our contracted limits to give an accurate
character of Voltaire. In versatility of powers, and in variety of
knowledge, he stands unrivalled: but he might have earned a better
and more lasting name, had he concentrated his talents and
exertions on fewer subjects, and studied them more deeply. It has
been truly and wittily observed that “he half knew every thing, from
the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall; and he wrote of
them all, and laughed at them all.” Of the feeling of veneration,
either for God or man, he seems to have been incapable. He thought
too highly of himself to look up to any thing. Capricious, passionate,
and generally selfish, he was yet accessible to sudden impulses of
generosity. He was an acute rather than a subtle thinker. Perhaps in
the whole compass of his philosophical works there is not to be
found one original opinion, or entirely new argument; but no man
ever was endowed with so happy a facility for illustrating the
thoughts of others, and imparting a lively clearness to the most
abstruse speculations. He brought philosophy from the closet into
the drawing-room. Eminently skilled to detect and satirize the faults
and follies of mankind, his love of ridicule was too strong for his love
of truth. He saw the ludicrous side of opinions in a moment, and
often unfortunately could see nothing else. His alchymy was directed
towards transmuting the imperfect metals into dross. All enthusiasm,
eagerness of belief, magnifying of probabilities through the medium
of excited feeling, all that makes a sect as well in its author as its
followers, these things were simply foolish in his estimation. It is
impossible to gather from his works any connected system of
philosophy: they are full of contradictions; but the pervading
principle which gives them some form of coherence is a rancorous
aversion to Christianity. As a Deist believing in a God, “rémunérateur
vengeur,” but proscribing all established worship, Voltaire occupies a
middle position between Rousseau on the one hand, who, while he
avowed scepticism as to the proofs, professed reverence for the
characteristics of Revealed Religion, and Diderot on the other, with
his fanatical crew of Atheists, who laughed not without reason at
their Patriarch of Ferney, for imagining that he, whose life had been
spent in trying to unsettle the religious opinions of mankind, could
fix the point at which unbelief should stop. The dramatic poems of
Voltaire retain their place among the first in their language, but his
other poetical works have lost much of the reputation they once
enjoyed. He paints with fidelity and vividness the broad lineaments
of passion, and excels in that light, allusive style, which brings no
image or sentiment into strong relief, and is therefore totally unlike
the analytic and picturesque mode of delineation, to which in this
country, and especially in this age, we are apt to limit the name and
prerogatives of imagination. As a novelist, he has seldom been
equalled in wit and profligacy. As an historian, he may be considered
one of the first who authorized the modern philosophizing manner,
treating history rather as a reservoir of facts for the illustration of
moral science, than as a department of descriptive art. He is often
inaccurate, and seldom profound, but always lively and interesting.
On the whole, however the general reputation of Voltaire may rise or
fall with the fluctuations of public opinion, he must continue to
deserve admiration as
“The wonder of a learned age; the line
Which none could pass; the wittiest, clearest pen;
The voice most echoed by consenting men;
The soul, which answered best to all well said
By others, and which most requital made.”—Cleveland.
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