26 MEMOIRS OF 



110 right to sink under the heav}^ load of grief imposed on 

 him. With the energy that might be expected from such 

 a character, he sought relief in his duties : and although 

 many a new furrow appeared on his cheek ; although his 

 beautiful hair rapidly changed to silvery whiteness ; though 

 the attentive observer might catch the suppressed sigh, and 

 the melancholy expression of the uplifted eye, no one of 

 his important offices remained neglected ; his scientific de- 

 votion even increased ; his numerous proteges received the 

 same fostering care, and he welcomed strangers to his house 

 with his wonted urbanity. It has been related by an eye- 

 witness, that, at the first sitting of the Comite de I'Interieur, 

 at which M. Cuvier presided after this event, and from 

 which he had absented himself two months, he resumed tlie 

 chair with a firm and placid expression oif countenance ; 

 he listened attentively to all the discussions of those pre- 

 sent ; but when it became his turn to speak, and sum up 

 all that had passed, his firmness abandoned him, and his 

 first words were interrupted b}^ tears ; the great legislator 

 gave way to the bereaved father, he bowed his head, covered 

 {lis face with his hands, and was heard to sob bitterly. A 

 respectful and profound silence reigned through the whole 

 assembly ; all present had known Clementine, and there- 

 fore all could understand and excuse this deep emotion. 

 At length M. Cuvier raised his head, and uttered these few 

 simple words : — " Pardon me, gentlemen ; I was a father, 

 and I have lost all ;" then, with a violent effort, he resumed 

 the business of the day with his usual perspicuity, and pro- 

 nounced judgment with his ordinary calmness and justice. 

 In the Ibllowing year (1828) appeared the first of a series 

 of twenty volumes on Ichthyology, a magnificent work, 

 accompanied by the most exquisite plates. In 1829, a se- 

 cond edition of the Regno Animal was published ; and it 

 is scarcely possible to imagine any thing finer than the force 

 of that mind, which could thus seek for solace under the 

 deepest affliction. These works were in progress long be- 

 fore the death of Mademoiselle Cuvier, and, we may safely 

 suppose, were not much retarded by that grievous event. 

 What was the state of the father's mind during the time of 

 her illness, may be gathered from a letter, published in the 

 second part of this volume. 



