202 EULOGY OX ARTHUR AUGUSTE DE LA RIVE. 



coustitutioii of Geueva. And wlien his term of ofiQce was completed, 

 he resigned entirely all share in the government of his country. 



He could not forgive a revolution which could tempt from the culture 

 of intelligence the vigorous offspring of noble and opulent families, to 

 immerse them in business affairs. The recognized superiority of his 

 native city over many others greater in extent and population, he ex- 

 plained, not by its position upon the shores of Lake Lemau, nor by the 

 beauty of its surroundings, nor yet by its great trade in watches. He 

 attributed all its Importance to the brilliant assembly of thinkers, phi- 

 losophers, writers, and savants who had rendered it illustrious. Vol- 

 taire, Itousseau, INIadame de Stael, for instance, would never be forgot- 

 ten ; and tbe beautiful investigations of Charles Bonnet in natural phi- 

 losophy ; the discoveries of Tremblay in regard to polyps ; of the blind 

 Huber concerning bees, and his son in respect to the habits of the ant ; 

 the Alpine journeys of Horace Benedict de Saussure, one of the found- 

 ers of geological science ; the works of Senebier and of Theodore de 

 Saussure upon the physiology of plants, could not be effaced from the 

 great book of human knowledge without injuring the intellectual pros- 

 l)ects of future ages. The academy and the venerable ecclesiastic com- 

 pany had been the soul of Geneva, and he could not see without un- 

 easiness their influence diminish. He was right. Alexander victorious 

 did not save Macedonia from forgetfulness ; Athens, so often invaded, 

 has survived her misfortunes, and will always live in the memory of 

 man. War may make slaves and reduce to impotency the limbs of the 

 vanquished, but she cannot touch the human mind nor the imprint it 

 leaves upon the religion, philosophy, letters, science, and art of its 

 masters. 



Geneva, like Florence, considered that her real existence lay in the 

 noble minds that made her famous, but the fears of Be La Eive for her 

 future were without foundation. To the wise generation of the last 

 century and the commencement of the present, to which he belonged, 

 has succeeded a people full of vigor and worthy to occupy the palace 

 raised by the ])rovident city in honor of science. In this privileged 

 country, thanks to the example of our associate and of his assistant 

 laborers, as well as to the liberal institutions inspired by him, the youth- 

 ful representatives of noble and ancient families are more ready to look 

 upon fortune as a means of advancing knowledge than to value learning 

 as an assistance in the acquirement of material prosperity. 



The interests of Auguste De La Kive were not all centered in Geneva. 

 A large share of his thoughts and affections were reserved for Presinge, 

 an estate of considerable extent, ancient tenure of the dukes of Savoy. 

 The family of La Kive had been in possession of this patriarchal domain 

 for several centuries, and for generations the surrounding agricultural 

 population were benefited by the influence of its amiable representa- 

 tives. Gaspard De La Kive and his son no doubt did much to foster the 



