122 EMINENT NATURALISTS. 



t unity of advancing his fortunes should be presented 

 to the Duke, Cuvier was obliged to accept the offer 

 of M. Parrot, a countryman, and become a private 

 tutor in a Protestant family. Those who knew his 

 extraordinary talents considered the office as a lament- 

 able waste of his powers ; but here, again, that which 

 was considered a serious misfortune proved a stepping- 

 stone to fame and success. In July, 1788, Cuvier 

 arrived at Caen, in Normandy, as private tutor in 

 the family of Count cVHericy, for the education of 

 his son. In this situation he remained until 1794. 

 On arriving at Caen, he brought with him that 

 love of labour, that depth of reflection, perseverance, 

 and uprightness of character, from which he never 

 swerved. To these admirable foundations for renown 

 he afterwards added that remarkable clearness of 

 system, perfection of method, and tact of giving 

 only what is necessary, followed by that elegant 

 summing up of the whole which particularly 

 distinguishes the French writers : the whole was 

 completed by the most perfect modesty and that 

 respect for his own esteem without which talents 

 become the medium of traffic for the mere accpiire- 

 ment of wealth. Whilst with the Count's family, 

 Cuvier saw all the nobility of the surrounding 

 country, and acquired the forms and manners of the 

 best society. It may be said that, engaged as he 

 was as a private tutor in a retired district at the 

 age of twenty-one, he laid the foundation of that 

 fame which was to fill the world, and to reach to 

 distant ages. 



