552 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



origin. My family has been Swiss for cen- 

 turies, and spite of my ten years' exile I am 

 Swiss still." 



The correspondence did not end here. A 

 few months later the offer was courteously re- 

 newed by M. Kouland, with the express con- 

 dition that the place should remain open for 

 one or even two years to allow time for the 

 completion of the work Agassiz had now on 

 hand. To this second appeal he could only 

 answer that his work here was the work not of 

 years, but of his life, and once more decline 

 the offer. That his refusal was taken in good 

 part is evident from the fact that the order of 

 the Legion of Honor was sent to him soon 

 after, and that from time to time he received 

 friendly letters from the Minister of Public 

 Instruction, who occasionally consulted him 

 upon general questions of scientific moment. 



This invitation excited a good deal of in- 

 terest among Agassiz's old friends in Europe. 

 Some urged him to accept it, others applauded 

 his resolve to remain out of the great arena of 

 competition and ambition. Among the latter 

 was Humboldt. The following extract is from 

 a letter of his (May 9, 1857) to Mr. George 

 Ticknor, of Boston, who had been one of 

 Agassiz's kindest and best friends in Amer- 



