LIFE AND WRITINGS OP BECLARD. 11 



the meditations of the most learned men. B6clard preferred 

 the merit of making truth shine, it mattered not from what 

 quarter it proceeded, to the dazzling glory of being an inven- 

 tor. He was unaffectedly the greatest admirer of Bichat, and 

 if he has often been obliged to controvert his opinions, it was 

 because the interest and the advancement of the science de- 

 manded it. 



The same distinction which has been made between Bos- 

 suet and Massillon, might be established between Bichat and 

 Beclard. The Bishop of Meaux was one day preaching 

 to an illustrious auditory ; Massillon, who was listening to 

 him, said, " This is very well, I admire him ; but, if I were 

 in his place, I should preach otherwise." Such was the con- 

 duct of Beclard with respect to Bichat. Cooler and less en- 

 thusiastic, he came after him, as it were, to correct the errors 

 which had passed unnoticed by the inventive genius of that 

 great man. Let us therefore cease to establish between them 

 a comparison which does not permit us to judge of either, ac- 

 cording to his respective merit. They are only to be consid- 

 ered singly, and then their individual merit will cause us to 

 admire them the more. 



It is in consequence of this plan of reform and improve- 

 ment, that Beclard first published a new edition of Bichat's 

 General Anatomy, with a volume of additions, and in the 

 same spirit of improvement, he afterwards brought to light 

 his Elements of General Anatomy, a work remarkable for 

 its clearness, the great number of truths it contains, the ex- 

 tensive plan on which it was written, and the immense erudi- 

 tion therein displayed. This work has been compared to the 

 Manual of General, Descriptive and Pathological Anatomy of 

 Meckel. It is very true that the French anatomist has been 

 sometimes benefited by this great collection of facts more or 

 less interesting ; but how much the imitator has surpassed his 

 original ; with what art he has avoided those German ideas, 

 those hypothetical explanations, and those often far fetched 

 analogies with which the General Anatomy of Meckel is in- 

 terspersed. On the other hand, the work of Beclard is com- 

 pared to that of Bichat, the enchanting style of which is con- 



