MEMOIR OF LAMARCK. 59 



ance with the ideas which prevailed in science, 

 were not calculated to recommend him to those who 

 had the power of dispensing favours. When num- 

 berless infirmities, brought on by old age, had in- 

 creased his wants, nearly his whole means of support 

 consisted of a small income derived from his chair. 

 The friends of science, attracted by the high reputa- 

 tion which his botanical and zoological works had 

 conferred on him, witnessed this with surprise. It 

 appeared to them, that a government which protects 

 the sciences, ought to have provided for the wants 

 of a celebrated individual ; but their esteem for him 

 was doubled, when {hey saw the fortitude with which 

 the illustrious old man bore up against the assaults 

 both of fortune and of nature. They particularly 

 admired the devotedness which he inspired in such 

 of his children as remained with him. His eldest 

 daughter, entirely devoted to the duties of filial 

 affection for many years, never left him for an 

 instant, readily engaged in every study which might 

 supply his want of sight, wrote to his dictation a 

 portion of his last works, and accompanied and 

 supported him as long as he was able to take some 

 exercise. Her sacrifices, indeed, were carried to a 

 degree which it is impossible to express ; when the 

 father could no longer leave his room, the daughter 

 never left the house. When she afterwards did so, 

 for the first time, she was incommoded by the free 

 air, the use of which had been so long unfamiliar 

 to her. It is rare to see virtue carried to such a 

 degree, and it is not less so to inspire it to that 



