The Young Teacher. 53 



we at last see him at the goal of all his desires and 

 ambition, and from this on until the end, in all the 

 positions he held it was always Agassiz, the teacher, 

 that was pre-eminent. He was the father of modern 

 natural history, and did more to popularise the study 

 and interest the masses in the secrets of nature than 

 any other man or men of his time. Agassiz's fame 

 was now international and well established, and his 

 return to Neuchatel created no little excitement. 

 His first lecture in his new position was " Upon the 

 Relations between the Different Branches of Natural 

 History and the then Prevailing Tendencies of all the 

 Sciences.'' It was delivered in the hall of the Hotel 

 de Ville, November 12, 1832, and was listened to by 

 a large and attentive audience. It is interesting to 

 note that this lecture had an immediate effect upon 

 the people. As he rose and stood before his audi- 

 ence this first night we may well imagine that he felt 

 some little trepidation ; if so, he soon mastered this, 

 words and sentences falling from his lips, which 

 kept his listeners spell-bound ; they had never heard 

 the subject so clearly and forcibly presented. The 

 young teacher was tall and handsome, and his fine 

 face all animation, his cheery reassuring smile, his 

 beaming eyes and enthusiasm created at once a 

 response in his audience. 



Neuchatel soon came to be considered a scienti- 

 fic centre, and a decided interest in science was 

 awakened among the people. To this M. Coulon 

 contributed not a little, aiding Agassiz in the forma- 

 tion of a scientific museum and in the accumulation 

 of specimens of various kinds. 



