MEMOIR OF CUVIER. 49 



form some estimate of his character. In all his 

 iu^stigations of nature, he was a strict observer ofr 

 tacts, he perseveriiigly wrought till he had obtained 

 them, never drew his conclusions till he had done 

 this, and he never let slip an opportunity, even the 

 most trifling, of acquiring knowledge. It is to this 

 rigid search after truth, that we may attribute the 

 comparatively few errors which occur in his volumi- 

 nous writings, which at his death amounted to 212 

 published papers, memoirs, and separate works. He 

 never allowed himself to be carried away by the 

 power of his imagination, or by theories. Of the 

 latter he remarked, " I have sought and have set up 

 some myself, but I have riot made them known, be- 

 cause I have ascertained that they were false, as are 

 all ttiose which have been published up to this day,"* 

 a sweeping dismissal to our modern systems and 

 system-makers. " I affirm still more," he continues. 

 " for I say that, in the present state of science, it is 

 impossible to discover any, and that is why I con- 

 tinue to observe, and why I openly proclaim my ob- 

 servations." 



In his political and administrative duties, the same 

 course was pursued ; facts and the truth were acquir- 

 ed, and the subject was impartially handled for the 

 best interests of the community. Although often 

 obliged to yield to the impetuosity of the multitude, 

 he was an enemy to hasty changes made in compli- 

 ance with tJae spirit of the times. " Give," says he, 

 * Mrs Lee, p. 263. 



