172 Eloge of Baron Cuvier. 



the carriage which conveyed him from one place to another, and 

 when he returned home, either from his lectures, or from a meet- 

 ing of Council, or of the Academy, he crossed the apartment 

 which was occupied by his family, and, after some words of 

 courtesy and friendship, ran in haste to shut himself up in that 

 particular cabinet set apart for the occupation he had at the time 

 in view. This he did not leave till the hour of dinner, and 

 generally entered the dining-room with the book he had been 

 reading in his hand, which he seldom laid aside till he had 

 finished the page or article begun. A few minutes after dinner 

 he returned to his cabinet, and, if no other avocation interfered, 

 he remained there till eleven o'clock. He then went to the 

 apartment of Madame Cuvier, where he listened for an hour to 

 the reading I have already mentioned, — of some work of ancient 

 or modern literature, either of a light or serious kind. This re- 

 laxation he enjoyed much, as it afforded him the most refreshing 

 repose after the labours of the day. During the last year of his 

 life, he had in this way caused to be read to him nearly all the 

 works of Cicero. 



What, then, could be wanting to render such a man as happy 

 as our nature admits of in this world ? His greatest distress, 

 alas ! had its origin in what ought to have been the source of 

 his greatest happiness. In the enjoyment of a companion whose 

 qualities were most calculated to excite his esteem and love, he 

 had become the father of four children. These he loved with 

 the warmest affection, and they were successively taken from 

 him. We witnessed the agony of his distress during the 

 illness of the last that died, and have seen him under the 

 pressure of his sore bereavement. It was a daughter, endowed 

 with all the gifts which Nature could bestow ; worthy, in short, 

 of such parents. She was on the point of forming an alliance 

 which promised future happiness, when she was carried off by 

 one of those diseases of the breast, whose ravages are so terrible. 

 Two days after this event, he who has the honour to address 

 you entered the gallery to which M. Cuvier had retired, and 

 the spectacle which presented itself, was one of the most affect- 

 ing which can be witnessed by any one, who is in a condition to 

 understand and admire the scenes in which human nature re- 

 veals itself in all the energy of which it is susceptible. His 



