138 



MEMOIRS OF 



of Bourges, and was delivered at the distribution of prizes 

 in the protestant school of Arnieres. 



" My dear children, the faithful followers of our church 

 have spared sufficient from their own wants to build a 

 school for you, and to afford you all that is desirable for your 

 instruction. The academy (of Bourges) has associated 

 itself with them in this work of devotion and self-sacrifice ; 

 it has already done much, and will do still more, by appeal- 

 ing in your behalf to the benevolent protection of the uni- 

 versity. You see, my dear children, that you have friends 

 and benefactors every where. But. alas ! he is no more 

 he who held the first rank among them ! A premature 

 death has snatched him from science, from literature, from 

 your brethren, from us, from all mankind. The whole of 

 the learned world deplores his loss. You are too young, 

 my children, to have heard him spoken of in our village, 

 but the great man who tried to do you so much good, who 

 unceasingly thought of you, was called George Cuvier. Re- 

 collect this name, and mention it every day in the prayers 

 that you address to heaven. He has often written to me, 

 'Do not, Monsieur le Recteur, lose sight of our school at 

 Arnieres les Bourges. I recommend the scholarsof it to you 

 as my brothers, as my best friends. Instil into them submis- 

 sion to their parents, respect for the property of others, candour 

 and justice. These are the virtues and duties of all religions. 

 Let benevolence and affection reign between them and the 

 children who inhabit the same village, and who, like them, 

 live by their labours in the fields. God loves and protects 

 them all with equal goodness ; with the same hand he blesses 

 the sweat of their brow, and their harvests ; let them, 

 therefore, behave towards each other like children of the 

 same father.' 



" My conscience tells me. that towards you, my children, 

 and all the young people confided to my care, 1 have ful- 

 filled my duties, and most especially the views of your pro- 

 tector, the great man whom we lament. This place is very 

 humble, my voice is very feeble for the praise of such a life. 

 The eulogium of George Cuvier, of the same religion as 

 yours, will often appear in your books, and will be pronounced 

 by our learned bodies and our most celebrated orators. 

 However, a word sincerely uttered within these walla to the 



