MEMOIR OF CUVIER. 47 



perfectly calm and resigned, much more so than 

 those around him, and he permitted his intimate 

 friends to be with him to the very last. " It was 

 thus," writes Baron Pasquier, " that I was a witness 

 of his dying moments. Four hours before his death, 

 I was in that memorable cabinet where the happiest 

 hours of his life had been spent, and where I had 

 seen him surrounded with so much homage, enjoying 

 his well-merited success ; he caused himself to be 

 carried thither, and wished that his last breath should 

 be drawn there. His countenance was in a state ot 

 perfect repose, and never did his noble head appear 

 to me more beautiful, or worthy of admiration ; no 

 alteration of a too sensible or painful kind had yet 

 taken place, only a little weakness and difficulty in 

 supporting himself being observable. I held tbe 

 hand which he had extended to me, while he said, 

 in a voice scarcely articulate, " You see what a dif- 

 ference there is between the man of ^Tuesday and 

 the man of Sunday." From this time the paralysis 

 of the nerves of volition rapidly spread, and no re- 

 sources of his physicians could stay its progress. 

 Fever commenced, the lungs became too much af- 

 fected rightly to perform their functions, and he ex- 

 pired gradually, apparently without pain and with- 

 out a struggle. 



So closed the noble career of this great naturalist, 

 deeply regretted by his relatives and nearer friends 

 for his private virtues, and leaving Europe deprived 

 of one of her brightest ornaments. It will be difficult 



I 



