230 Martins, on the Life and Labors of De Candolle. 



he had published a treatise for the instruction of the public, on 

 occasion of a disturbance among the people arising from the dear- 

 ness of potatoes. In his report upon the project of introducing re- 

 strictions on the trade with France by way of retaliation, he de- 

 veloped the principles of true freedom of trade in his peculiarly 

 lucid manner. His influence in the representative council was 

 great. It was grounded on a high opinion of his character, as 

 well as of his extraordinary talents, and on an eloquence which 

 expressed his inward convictions with the fire of sudden inspi- 

 ration. As a citizen and member of the council, De Candolle 

 pursued steadily but one object ; that of bringing opinions into 

 harmony, of always drawing more closely the bonds of unity 

 among the citizens of Geneva. He exerted himself to convince 

 his numerous friends, often of different political parties, that ex- 

 treme opinions could not find room in a small republic ; and that 

 reciprocal sacrifices were often required for the good of the 

 country." 



Gentlemen ! It may perhaps appear at first sight irrelevant to 

 the present occasion, to enter so much into detail respecting De 

 Candolle's influence as a citizen and magistrate. Yet I find my- 

 self called upon to do so on many accounts. In the first place, 

 we thus learn to appreciate the whole power of a mind, which 

 could combine with an almost inconceivable productiveness in its 

 own science so great a power for quite different affairs. We 

 may also obtain additional points of comparison, which may place 

 both aspects of De Candolle's character in a peculiar light. This 

 warm devotion to his republican country, this self-sacrificing at- 

 tachment to its interests, is a trait in which he resembles the sages 

 and philosophers of classic antiquity. As Aristotle found time 

 in the midst of his numerous works on physics, natural history, 

 and philosophy, to write others on politics ; as nearly all the Gre- 

 cian philosophers, in addition to their widely different pursuits, 

 were also practical or theoretical statesmen, so we find the citizen 

 of the small Swiss canton, penetrated with ideas and feelings 

 which belong to him only as a citizen of this inconsiderable spot 

 of earth ; he, the same man whose writings, composed in either 

 the Latin or French language, are read from the Ganges to the 

 Mississippi. We cannot escape the thought, that so active a de- 

 votion to the interests of the community could only exist in the 

 mind of a learned man in whom the ancient associations of re- 



