10 MEMOIRS OF 



judgment Oil the matter contained in it, which judgment was 

 always strictly adopted by his disciples. He was even then 

 remarkable for his declamatory powers, and on the anni- 

 versary fete of the sovereign of Montbeliard. Duke Charles 

 of Wiirtemberg, he composed an oration in verse, on the 

 prosperous state of the principality, and delivered it fresh 

 from his pen, in a firm manly tone, which astonished the 

 whole audience. Like most of the young people at Mont- 

 beliard, whose talents rendered them worthy of it, and 

 whose parents were not possessed of fortune, he was destined 

 for the church. A free school had been founded for such 

 boys at Tubingen, where they received a first-rate education. 

 But the chief of the Gymnase at Montbeliard, who had 

 never forgiven the young Cuvier for some childish tricks, 

 changed his destin}^ by placing his composition in the third 

 rank, when the pupils presented their themes for places. 

 George Cuvier felt that his production was equally good 

 with those which had hitherto been judged worthy of the 

 first rank, and at the important moment, when his station 

 at college depended on his success, he was, for no conscious 

 fault, kept back. He became disgusted, and abandoned all 

 thoughts of Tubingen, to which place he was only desirous 

 of going as a means of pursuing his studies ; and, fre- 

 quently, in after-life, he expressed himself most happy at 

 ihe changes which resulted from this piece of injustice. 



Informed of the progress of the young Cuvier, and hear- 

 ing the highest encomiums of him from the Princess, his 

 sister, the Duke Charles, uncle to the present king of Wiir- 

 temberg, when on a visit to Montbeliard, sent for him, and, 

 after having asked him several questions, and examined his 

 drawings, declared his intention of taking him under his 

 special favour, and sending him to the University of Stutt- 

 gard free of expense, there to enter into his own Academy, 

 called the Academic Caroline. He was then only fourteen, 

 but, in consecjuence of the preparation he had undergone at 

 the Gymnase of Montbeliard, he was able to take his place 

 among the most celebrated students of the Academy. He, 

 at this age then, quitted the paternal roof for the first time : 

 he was sent among strangers without having an idea of 

 the establishment he was about to enter ; and even in his 

 latest years he often said, that he could not recall to memo* 



