THIRD PERIOD. 65 



but he wanted exact notions in science , and his 

 timid and melancholy character deprived him of 

 that knowledge of the world and that energy 

 of purpose, which are alike requisite for the exer- 

 tion of authority. Nevertheless, he was precisely 

 the man for the crisis : his quiet and retired life 

 shielded him from persecution, and his prudence 

 was a safeguard to the establishment. He busied 

 himself with the details of the garden , and was 

 careful not to take any step nor to make any 

 proposition , without consulting its principal in- 

 habitants. He presented several memoirs to the 

 ministry containing some very sound regulations, 

 concieved in a spirit of economy which circum- 

 stances rendered necessary. In each of these me- 

 moirs, of which we have a copy, we notice the 

 following words : After consulting the elders ; by 

 which term he designated the persons who had 

 been long attached to the establishment, though 

 without an official share in its administration. 



By retrenching every needless expenditure , he 

 provided funds for objects of avowed utility; and 

 built a hot-house , which now bears his name , in 

 continuation of that of the Peruvian cactus, behind 

 the labyrinth, and adjoining the terrace of the 

 rue du Jardin-du-Roi. 



The menagerie at Versailles being abandoned 

 and the animals likely to perish of hunger, M. Cou- 



