JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 195 



cordially invited Audubon to dine, went on study- 

 ing a small lizard. " Great men show politeness in 

 a particular way," says Audubon ; " they receive 

 you without much demonstration ; a smile suffices 

 to assure you that you are welcome, and keep 

 about their avocations as if you were a member of 

 the family." 



Cuvier made a report of Audubon's work to the 

 Academy of Sciences. He said, "It may be de- 

 scribed in a few words as the most magnificent 

 monument which has yet been erected to ornithol- 

 ogy. . . . Formerly the European naturalists were 

 obliged to make known to America the riches she 

 possessed. ... If that of Mr. Audubon should be 

 completed, we shall be obliged to acknowledge that 

 America, in magnificence of execution, has sur- 

 passed the world." 



Audubon also made the acquaintance of Baron 

 Humboldt, Geoff roy Saint-Hilaire, and of Gerard, 

 the painter, who said, " You are the king of orni- 

 thological painters. We are all children in France 

 or Europe. Who would have expected such things 

 from the woods of America ! " 



After two months in Paris, he returned to Lon- 

 don, and soon sailed for America. Once on his 

 native soil, he says, " My heart swelled with joy, 

 and all seemed like a pleasant dream at first ; but 

 as soon as the reality was fairly impressed on my 

 mind, tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. I 

 clasped my hands, and fell on my knees, and, 

 raising my eyes to heaven, I offered my thanks to 



