238 MEMOIRS OF 



using all the energy and reasoning he could 

 command, and leaving nothing undone to put a 

 stop to the measure. Thus far he had only to 

 act in strict accordance with the rank he held in 

 the state, but the interference of another body 

 placed him in a more painful situation. The 

 Academic Fran^aise, of which he was so dis- 

 tinguished a member, determined to interfere in 

 this question ; and it became a matter of consi- 

 deration and dispute, whether a purely learned 

 assembly had any right to join itself to party, 

 and intermeddle with affairs of state. M. Cuvier 

 was of opinion, that it entirely lost sight of its 

 proper character by so doing ; that it would 

 thus endanger the harmony of the members 

 among themselves ; that it destroyed its oppor- 

 tunities of usefulness by not retaining its inde- 

 pendence of politics, and completely overstepped 

 the legal boundary, by presenting a petition from 

 a body, which privilege in France is only accorded 

 to individuals. These motives alone (for he dared 

 not listen to the detestation he felt for the cause 

 of this step on the part of the Academy) in- 

 duced him to employ all his eloquence to prevent 

 the petition from being presented to the King. 

 He unhesitatingly exposed the inconveniences, the 

 hateful bearings of such a law ; but he persisted 



