350 Eloge of Baron Cuvier, 



portant accession to the high gratification which he must at this 

 moment have felt, from the flattering reception he met with in 

 one of the most enlightened cities of the world, from men who 

 may be considered the best judges of the merit which they 

 honoured. In 1819 he was made President of the section of 

 the Interior in the Council of State. From the moment that 

 he entered upon this presidency, the duties of which were so 

 important and laborious, he never left it till his death. 



In 1824, when a minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs was ap- 

 pointed, and the place filled by a Bishop who had been previous- 

 ly Grand Master of the University, the duties of the latter 

 office, as far as they related to Protestant Theology, were ex- 

 clusively intrusted to M. Cuvier, by whom they continued to be 

 performed ever afterwards. In 1827, the superintendence of 

 that department of the administration of the interior relating to 

 forms of worship not Catholic was conferred on him ; and, final- 

 ly, he was raised to the peerage about the close of the year 18^1. 



We have now, gentlemen, taken a rapid survey of the series 

 of situations which M. Cuvier filled, and the titles which he 

 bore ; and this hasty summary will give you an idea of the ex- 

 tent and laborious nature of his employments. On taking a re- 

 view of them, it is natural to suppose that the almost incessant 

 demands on his attention made by his public duties in the ad- 

 ministration — so many journeys undertaken in the service of the 

 University, together with an assiduous attendance on the sittings 

 of the Council of State, and the Committee of the Interior— 

 must have interfered with his scientific pursuits ; but this supposi- 

 tion cannot be entertained, when we enumerate the works whicli 

 he published or undertook during the same period, nor when we 

 recollect the splendid lectures, which were interrupted only by 

 his death. It may even have been of advantage that his atten- 

 tion was occasionally diverted from his favourite studies. A 

 mind of such deep reflection required some moments of relaxa- 

 tion, and this he could only enjoy by a change of mental occu- 

 pations. He needed something of a less engrossing nature to 

 refresh his faculties ; but what was of a useful character could 

 alone furnish the conditions necessary to secure his attachment. 

 The Committee of the Interior, of which he was president, af- 



