8 MEMOIRS OF 



ers she had preferred, and whoever placed a bouquet of red 

 stocks in his study or his room, was sure to be rewarded by 

 his most affectionate thanks for bringing him what he call- 

 ed " the frvou rite flower." But this well-judging parent 

 did not confine her cares to his health alone ; she devoted 

 herself equally to the formation of his mind, and Avas 

 another proof of the influence that a mothers early atten- 

 tions frequently shed over the future career of her son. 

 She guided him in his religious duties, taught him to read 

 fluently at the age of four years, took him every morning 

 to an elementary school, and, although herself ignorant of 

 Latin, so scrupulously made him repeat his lessons to her, 

 that he was always better prepared with his tasks than any 

 other boy at the school. She made him draw under her 

 own inspection ; and, by constantly furnishing him with 

 the best works on history and general literature, nurtured 

 that passion for reading, that ardent desire for knowledge, 

 which became the principal spring of his intellectual exis- 

 tence. As he advanced in drawing, his progress was super- 

 intended by one of his relations, an architect in the town of 

 Montbeliard ; and he successively passed through all the 

 exercises of this first school, repeating the usual catechisms, 

 the psalms of David, and the sonnets of Drelincourt, cVC; 

 with the utmost facility. At ten years of age he was placed 

 in a higher school, called the Gymnase, where, in the space 

 of four years, he profited by every branch of education 

 there taught, even including rhetoric. He had no difliiculty 

 in acquiring Latin and Greek, and he was constantly at the 

 head of the classes of history, geography, and mathematics. 

 The history of mankind was, from the earliest period of his 

 life, a subject of the most indefatigable application ; and 

 long lists of sovereigns, princes, and the driest chronologi- 

 cal facts, once arranged in his memory were never forgot- 

 ten. He also delighted in reducing maps to a very small 

 scale, which, when done, were given to his companions; and 

 his love of reading was so great, that his mother, fearing the 

 effect of so much application to sedentary pursuits, frequent- 

 ly forced him to seek other employments. When thus 

 drivBn, as it were, from study, he entered into boyish sports 

 with equal ardour, and was foremost in all youthful recrea- 

 tions. It was at this age that his taste for natural history 



