BARON CUVIER. 35 



who were well acquainted with the Abb6, and 

 who, by their presentation, gave him an oppor- 

 tunity of profiting by the merits of M. Cuvier. 



The return of Napoleon for a while banished 

 the new counsellor from his dignity, but he was 

 retained by the Emperor in the Imperial Uni- 

 versity. After the hurricane of the Hundred 

 Days it became necessary to remodel both the 

 Royal and Imperial Universities, and a pro- 

 visional superintendence was deemed necessary. 

 A committee of public instruction was created 

 to exercise the powers formerly belonging to 

 the grand master, the council, the chancellor, 

 and the treasurer of the University. M. Cu- 

 vier made a part of this committee, and was at 

 once appointed to the chancellorship, which 

 office he retained till his death, under the most 

 difficult circumstances, in the midst of the most 

 opposite prejudices, and notwithstanding the 

 most inveterate resistance offered to him as a 

 Protestant. The Jesuitical tendency of those in 

 power augmented the difficulties that a wise and 

 disinterested man must at all times meet with, 

 in trying to do good, and to prevent evil ; but 

 when that man was of a different religion, it may 

 easily be imagined in how delicate a situation 

 he must have been often placed, and how greatly 

 D 2 



