



n 



MEMOIRS 



BARON CUVIER. 



INTRODUCTION. 



s I enter upon the subject of this volume, I would 



<o my readers the motives which have induced me 



it, in order to prevent that appearance of presump- 



.vhich may naturally be laid to the charge of an un- 



ned person, who attempts to write the life of so illustrious 



ivant. 



When death has torn from us those whom we have most 

 'd and revered, and the overwhelming 1 bitterness of grief 

 ast, the first feeling which awakens us from our sorrow 

 ihe desire to uphold the memory, and to make known to 

 *ii men the virtues of the being enshrined in our hearts ; a 

 feeling which springs, not only from an honest pride in 

 doing justice to one who is no more, but from a desire that 

 posterity should benefit by the example. Rousing myself, 

 then, from the stunning grief which at first assailed me, I 

 eagerly sought all the public notices which appeared in 

 England concerning the Baron Cuvier, in the hope of find- 

 ing something equal to his high deserts ; but though all did 

 him the justice of placing him above every other natu- 

 ralist, not one spoke of his talents as a legislator, and all 

 equally neglected his private character. This, and the 

 almost universal incorrectness of detail, no doubt proceeded 

 from ignorance rather than intention ; yet. disappointed as 

 I was that my countrymen should have so little known and 

 appreciated one of the most admirable persons of our time, 

 nothing, at that moment, could be further from my thoughts 

 than to supply the deficiencies by my own pen. 



