MEMOIR OF DAUBENTON. 203 



man of merit without some adversaries ; and those who 

 wish to do injury never fail to find some willing to pro- 

 tect them. 



Merit was so much the more fortunate in not giving 

 way on this occasion, that it was not of a nature to 

 strike the multitude. A modest and scrupulous observer 

 could neither captivate the vulgar, nor even philoso^ 

 phers who were unacquainted with natural history ; for 

 philosophers always judge of works which do not "belong 

 to their department like the vulgar, and the number of 

 naturalists was then very small. If Daubenton's work 

 had appeared alone, it would have remained in the 

 hands of anatomists and naturalists, who would have 

 appreciated it at its just value ; and their suffrages de- 

 termining that of the multitude, the latter would have 

 respected the author on their word, just as unknown 

 gods are the more revered the more impenetrable their 

 sanctuary. But, appearing by the side of the work of 

 his brilliant rival, that of Daubenton was taken into 

 the toilette of ladies and the cabinet of literary men ; 

 the comparison of his measured style and circumspect 

 progress, with the lively poetry and bold flights of his 

 rival, could not be to his advantage ; and the minute 

 details of dimensions and descriptions into which he 

 entered, could not remove from such judges the ennui 

 with which they were necessarily accompanied. 



Thus, when all the naturalists of Europe received, 

 with mingled gratitude and admiration, the results of 

 the immense labours of Daubenton ; when they gave to 



