180 
VARIETIES. 
Letter  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  and  Religion  to  Agassiz. 
Paris,  August  19,  1857. 
Sir, — A  chair  of  Palaeontology  is  vacant  at  the  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory of  Paris,  by  the  death  of  M.  d'Orbigny.  You  are  French  ;  you  have 
enriched  your  native  country  with  eminent  works  and  laborious  researches; 
you  are  a  corresponding  member  of  the  Institute.  The  Emperor  would  be 
happy  to  restore  to  France  a  distinguished  man  of  science,  a  renowned  Pro- 
fessor. I  offer  you,  in  his  name,  the  vacant  chair.  Your  country  will 
deem  herself  happy  in  recovering  one  of  her  children,  the  most  devoted 
to  science. 
Be  pleased  to  accept,  Sir,  the  assurance  of  my  sentiments  of  high  esteem. 
RotTLAND. 
Professor  Agassiz's  Reply. 
To  His  Excellency  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  and  Religion  at  Paris. 
Monsieur  le  Ministre, — After  having  passed  the  greater  part  of  my  life 
at  a  distance  from  the  great  centers  of  Science,  I  should  never  have  ex- 
pected to  receive  the  distinguished  honor  which  you  have  done  me,  by  offer- 
ing me,  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  the  chair  of  Pal  coon  to  J  ogy  at  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History  in  Paris. 
The  whole  world  considers  the  Jardin  dcs  Plantes  as  the  most  important 
establishment  in  existence  for  the  Natural  Sciences.  I  have  therefore  felt, 
the  liveliest  joy  in  reading  your  letter,  and  in  receiving,  by  your  offer,  the 
proof  so  precious  for  me,  that  I  am  not  forgotten  in  Europe.  Unfortunately, 
your  proposition  finds  me  unable  to  accept  it  ;  for  I  could  never  sever 
abruptly  the  ties  which  for  a  number  of  years  I  have  been  accustomed  to 
consider  as  binding  me,  for  the  remainder  of  my  days,  to  the  United 
States.  Moreover,  I  cannot  suppose  that  the  instruction  which  was  in- 
trusted to  M.  d'Orbigny  could  be  interrupted  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  permit  me  to  finish  certain  embryological  labors  which  I  have  undertaken. . 
with  a  view  of  comparisons  with  the  fossils  of  the  epochs  anterior  to  our 
own,  and  which  would  lose  all  their  interest  if  they  should  be  left  incom- 
plete. I  find  myself,  therefore,  under  the  painful  necessity  of  refusing  a 
position  which,  in  every  circumstance,  I  shall  always  regard  as  the  most 
brilliant  to  which  a  naturalist  can  aspire. 
It  may  appear  to  you  strange  that  I  should  allow  a  few  ovules  and  em- 
bryos to  weigh  in  the  balance  which  is  to  decide  for  the  remainder  of  my 
life ;  but,  doubtless,  it  is  to  this  absolute  devotion  to  the  study  of  nature 
that  I  am  indebted  for  the  confidence  of  which  you  have  just  given  me  a 
mark  as  signal  as  it  is  unexpected  ;  and  it  is  because  I  would  continue  to 
merit  this  confidence  for  the  future,  that  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  entering 
into  these  details.  Allow  me  also  to  correct  an  error  that  has  been  cir- 
culated in  reference  to  myself.  I  am  not  French.  Although  of  French 
origin,  my  family  has  been  Swiss  for  centuries,  and  I  myself,  though  ex- 
patriated for  more  than  ten  years,  have  not  ceased  to  be  Swiss. 
