Eloge of' Bar mi Cuvier. 353 



hiding to the feelings of sincere gratitude and admiration which 

 M. Cuvier entertained towards that individual. More sensible 

 than any other of the errors into which his illustrious predeces- 

 sor had fallen, and having even exposed these as often as he 

 thought advantage would arise from so doing, he was at the 

 same time so fully alive to the incalculable obligations which 

 science owed him, from the impulse it had received from his ex- 

 tensive and persevering labours, combined with the brilliancy of 

 his eloquence, that he never lost an opportunity of doing hon- 

 our to his memory. He has said, while celebrating the elo- 

 quence of another, although of a less illustrious character : ' That 

 science, from its very nature, was making daily progress ; that 

 every observer was in possession of a richer store of facts than 

 his predecessors, and could do something towards the improve- 

 ment of systems, but that great writers had equal claims to im- 

 mortality.' 



The advancement to which he contributed so much, never 

 led him to despise the efforts of those who had gone before him, 

 and his opinion on this subject cannot be better expressed than 

 in a passage of one of his eloges : — " Half a century will pro- 

 duce a change in all, and it is very likely before that period 

 elapse, that we shall have become antiquated in the eyes of the 

 rising generation ; inducements for us to keep in mind the 

 respectful gratitude due to our predecessors, and also, not to 

 reject without examination the new ideas of. an enthusiastic 

 youth, which, if they are just, will prevail against all the efforts 

 of the present age to suppress them.*" 



This disposition of gratitude for the past and encouragement 

 for the future, derived its principal origin from the soundness 

 of M. Cuvier's judgment, and the philosophical impartiality 

 which was one of the distinguishing features of his character. 

 These qualities, we ought to confess, had probably been fostered 

 by his education in Germany, a country remarkable for honour- 

 able feeling; where every subject is studied, and elaborately inves- 

 tigated, with inexhaustible patience and conscientiousness, and 

 where learning is held in the highest estimation. There M. 

 Cuvier acquired the useful habit of hearing and investigating 

 every thing with patience ; along with a love for labour, his 

 natural uprightness and perseverance were likewise increased ; 



VOL. XIV. NO. XXVIII. APRIL 1833. Z 



