12 MEMOIRS oF 



departments belonging to the government of his country 5 

 but the pecuniary embarrassments of his parents rendered 

 it impossible for him to wait two or three years, till an op- 

 portunity of appointing him should occur to the Duke. 

 The disordered state of the finances in France was so great, 

 that even the payment of his father's pension had ceased, 

 and he was consequently forced to enter into a career wholly 

 different to his own wishes, or to the views of his patron. 

 Duke Frederick, who was governor of Montbeliard, under 

 his brother, Duke Charles, retired to Germany, and in him 

 M. Cuvier lost one of his most able protectors ; and every 

 hope of better times failing, he determined to undertake 

 the office of tutor, an idea in some measure familiar to him. 

 as Montbeliard had long supplied instructors to the young 

 nobles of Russia. To Russia, however, he had no wish to 

 proceed, for his lungs, always delicate, were rendered still 

 weaker by close application to his studies, and he sought an 

 appointment in a more genial climate. Such a step was 

 deemed by his companions, considering his already acquired 

 honours, his extraordinary talents, and great attainments, 

 desperate ; but he was again to prove, that that which at 

 first appears a severe misfortune often becomes a stepping- 

 stone to future fame and success ; for, in a manner com- 

 pelled to accept that which in every way appeared unwor- 

 thy of him, M. Cuvier, by so doing, laid the foundation for 

 the cosmopolitan honours which attended his after years. 

 We are now to behold him, then, arriving at Caen in Nor- 

 mandy, in July, 1 788, and stationing himself in a Protes- 

 tant family for the education of the only son, and althougii 

 not quite nineteen years of age. in possession of that varie- 

 ty and depth of knowledge which was so soon to ripen into 

 the great savant ; " bringing with him from Germany that 

 love of labour, that depth of reflection, that perseverance, 

 that uprightness of character, from which he never swerved. 

 To these admirable foundations for glory, he afterwards 

 added that remarkable clearness of system, that perfection 

 of method, that tact of giving only what is necessary, in 

 short, that elegant manner of summing up the whole, 

 which particularly distinguishes the French writers : the 

 whole superstructure was completed by the most perfect 

 modesty, and that respect for his own esteem, without which 



