Marie-Henri Ducrotay de Blainville. 209 
himself for this to his own mind, he attributed to the rigour of 
principle what was nothing else than an error of judgment. 
He was then in possession of the privileges, sufficiently 
real, which attended success. This did’ not lessen his 
pretensions. He brought them with him into this Academy, 
in spite of the warning which Fontenelle has given us,— 
“Here we desire that all should be simple, that no one 
should believe himself pre-engaged to be in the right; that 
no system should predominate, but that the avenues to truth 
should always remain open.” 
This liberty of being in the right (d@’avoir raison), of 
which he had too well learnt to exercise the entire powers 
in his professorship, appeared intolerable when it applied to 
him in his individual capacity. In replying with such deci- 
sive authority, M. de Blainville forgot that he had descended 
from his chair, and that in this place all the seats were 
equal. ‘‘ Undoubtedly,” said one of his associates, the judi- 
cious historian whom I have quoted, ‘‘ undoubtedly the in- 
vestigation of truth requires, in the Academy, the liberty of 
contradiction ; but every society requires a certain degree of 
respect to be observed in contradiction, and he did not re- 
member that the Academy is a society. We did not fail to 
be sufficiently aware of his merits in spite of his manners ; 
but some degree of equity was necessary, and it is always 
better that men should be spared.” 
These attempts at justice were only exerted by M. de 
Blainville, to enlighten and rouse to a sense of duty those 
around him, and to inspire his versatile but inactive col- 
leagues and academicians. Henceforth, adopting an extreme 
resolution, he seemed to say to himself— | 
. Mon dessein 
Hst de rompre en visiére a tout le genre humain. 
He deserted our assemblies; and, like a new Aleestes, to 
find— 
Sur la terre un endroit écarté 
Ou d’étre homme d’honneur on eit la liberté, 
he barricaded himself more securely in the recesses of his 
cabinet. 
M. de Blainville had undertaken to give, in a great work 
VOL. LVII. NO. CXIY.— OCTOBER 1854. 0 
