308 Documents in Commemoration of Baron Cuvier. 



In the midst of so busy a life, he was far from neglecting the at- 

 tractive accomplishments of social intercourse ; his conversation, some- 

 times grave and solemn, sometimes keen and v^^itty, always just, cir- 

 cumspect and original, iconstituted the ornament of the saloon and 

 the charms of intimacy. He was a warm, sincere and faithful friend. 

 He gained the hearts and affections of those who surrounded him, 

 and the skill with which he directed the efforts of others towards their 

 proper end, was not one of the least of the causes of his remarka- 

 ble success. His perseverance in friendship, his gratitude towards 

 those who contributed to his youthful advancement, his moderation 

 in all disputes, the devotedness with which he inspired all his de- 

 pendents, are testimonies of those qualities of the heart and explan- 

 atory of that moral empire which can be obtained only by depth and 

 sincerltyof feeling. He was associated with hearts worthy of his own ; 

 his wife, his daughter in law, angels of kindness, of grace and resig- 

 nation in his misfortune, lived only to render him happy. His brother, 

 a man of distinction, and who could have appeared still more so had 

 he not been placed by the side of a giant, was his true and faith- 

 ful friend. His domestic life, which might have been so happy, was 

 greatly troubled. Three sons in their minority, preceded him to the 

 tomb, and his daughter, a model of grace and virtue, was taken from 

 him when on the eve of a hymeneal union which promised the greatest 

 happiness. Of the four children of his wife by a former marriage, 

 and whom he had adopted in a true paternal spirit, two were re- 

 moved by death at an age in which dangers appeared to be past 

 and hopes brightening into reality. Oh ! what balms to a wounded 

 mind, what consolation in trouble is the love of labor, the love of 

 truth and of public good ! How numerous are the friends that I 

 could name, were I permitted to go beyond the circle of natural ties 

 in which so many claimed his affection, who were dear to him and 

 who loved him tenderly. The homage rendered to the moral quali- 

 ties of Cuvier might, I am sensible, appear like exaggeration. He 

 who draws this hasty outline was a friend of thirty four years' stand- 

 ing, and who held his heart in higher honor even than his celebrity, 

 but although he writes this in tears, he has conscientiously described, 

 very imperfectly indeed, but with truth, the traits of that eminent 

 man whose loss Europe now deplores. — Bib. Univ. Jlvril^ 1832, 



