BARON CUVIER. 263 



and that the breath of envy will no longer dare 

 to mingle with the testimonials of admiration 

 which are to be heard on all sides. 



There is yet another sort of reproach, which 

 the inventors of systems overthrown by M. Cu- 

 vier have dared to bring against him. These, 

 wounded by self-love, or contradicted in some 

 cherished fancy, have not feared to attribute to 

 pride, or even to a feeling of jealousy, very far 

 from his noble heart, the reserve with which he 

 admitted certain explanations of the phenomena 

 of nature, and the resistance he offered to limited 

 or defective theories, the errors and insufficiency 

 of which, his penetration and profound know- 

 ledge instantly led him to discover. This resist- 

 ance, however, was one of the most beautiful 

 parts of his character, for it proved his love of 

 truth, and the ardour with which he knew how 

 to defend it, even at the expense of his own tran- 

 quillity; and he fearlessly exposed himself to 

 personal enmity, in order to turn students away 

 from such views, the inevitable result of which 

 was, to stop the progress of science, by giving 

 a false direction to the minds of those engaged 

 in her cause. Speaking of theories in general, he 

 said, a little before his death, " I have sought, I 

 have set up some myself, but I have not made 



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