2 14 Memoir of Charles Alexander Lesueur. 



morning of the 12th of December, 1846, in the 68th year of 



his age. 



The disposition of Mr. Lesueur was social and amicable; and 

 knowing how to accommodate himself to circumstances, he every 

 where met that welcome which his simple, unobtrusive manners 

 could not fail to secure. Accustomed, from early life, to abstemi- 

 ousness, his economical habits became confirmed, when the means 

 of indulgence were placed within his reach. But although little 

 inclined to self-gratification, he was liberal to others, even in 

 cases where prudence would justify reserve. On departing from 

 France for America, he placed all his disposable means in the 

 hands of his father, among which resources was included the 

 pension that was granted to him by the French government, 

 after his return from the voyage to New Holland. At the death 

 of his father, which took place not long after his establishment in 

 Philadelphia, an attorney was chosen to manage his pecuniary 

 concerns in France; it being his intention to create a fund, to 

 which he might have recourse in case of need. It does not ap- 

 pear that he gave himself much concern with respect to this agen- 

 cy ; and on his return to Paris he had the mortification to find 

 that the agent had betrayed his trust, by appropriating to the use 

 of his own family the entire fund, which amounted to the sum of 

 forty thousand francs! The feelings of Lesueur were sorely tried 

 at this event ; and the wrong was the more sensible, as it was 

 perpetrated under the guise of friendship. Notwithstanding this 

 heavy loss, at a time of life too, when the infirmities of age be- 

 gan to be felt, he had still a remnant left, the produce of his in- 

 dustry, which modicum he shared with a brother, whose neces- 

 sities were greater than his own. 



At the base of Cape la Heve there is a small valley, in the 

 centre of which the humble spire of the Church of Saint Adresse 

 strikes the view of the voyager, as he directs his course for the 

 port of Havre. Within the precincts of this rural temple repose 

 the remains of Charles Alexander Lesueur: an appropriate rest- 

 ing place for the ashes of one, who, after many wanderings in 

 distant regions, was permitted by Divine Providence, to breathe 



his last sigh in the bosom of his family, and amidst those very 



scenes which had awakened the aspirations of his youthful heart 

 It was the design of Peron and Lesueur to publish an extensive 

 work upon the Medusa, after the completion of the History of 

 the voyage to Terra Austral is. The death of Peron interrupted 

 the project ; but Lesueur subsequently issued a programme of this 

 work, with specimens of the plates engraved and colored after his 

 beautiful drawings. It is probable that the great expense attend- 

 ing such an undertaking, was the cause of its being abandoned. 



The following is a list of the writings of Lesueur. 

 1. In the "Annates du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle," years 1809 

 and 1810, volumes 14 and 15, conjointly by Peron and Lesueur: 





