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the throne of God and the Lamb, beckon us away to their sublime, their perfect, their everlasting fellowship. May all your sufferings, by the grace of God, be the means of preparing you for that society, and then will you confess that you have not had one too many. That this may be

the case, is the

prayer

of

Your affectionate

J. A. J.

MEMOIR OF BARON CUVIER.

BARON CUVIER, the father of the subject of the following memoir, was a Protestant Peer of France, who, by the force of genius, diligence, and virtue, rose from a comparatively obscure origin, to be one of the most distinguished men of modern times. He combined, as he ascended in life, the seemingly incompatible characters of a profound philosopher and an active statesman. Such were the powers of his mind, and so great was the versatility of his genius, that in whatever situation he was placed, his superiority was soon acknowledged by his associates and competitors. His greatest celebrity was derived from his extensive researches, valuable discoveries, and immortal works in the department

of natural history, comparative anatomy, and especially in the subject of fossil geology. As a statesman, it is a striking proof of his abilities and his moderation, and some think of his somewhat too great flexibility of politics, that he made himself acceptable to the despotic Napoleon, to the weak and bigoted Bourbons, and the liberal government of Louis Philippe; by all of whom he was engaged in official functions for his country. "Those who have known this great man," says a writer in the Edinburgh Review, "and have followed him through his brilliant and diversified career, will not charge us with overstrained panegyric, when we say that in all the lists of fame which we have enumerated, he not only attained a pre-eminent distinction, but acquired a reputation in each, which might have gratified the ambition of any common aspirant for fame.

"In the splendid museum of natural his

tory and comparative anatomy, which he almost created, we shall see him in the character of an indefatigable collector, a judicious classifier, and a skilful anatomist. As a lecturer on the same subject in the Jardin des Plantes, and in the College of France, he shone as a successful teacher, and enchanted crowded audiences by the magic of his eloquence. As a secretary to the Institute, he acquired by his Eloges the reputation of the most learned, and eloquent, and powerful writer of his day. As a systematic author, his unwearied research, his lucid arrangement, and his pleasing, perspicuous, and nervous style, placed him above the philosophical naturalists of every age. As an original inquirer, his discoveries in fossil geology have raised him to the highest distinction, and given birth to new trains of research which are fast disclosing to us the structure of our planet, and the nature of the convulsions

with which it has been so often shaken. As Minister of Public Instruction, as Chancellor of the University, and Inspector General of Education, he conferred on the colleges of France and on her schools, on her religious and charitable establishments, the richest and most enduring benefits: and as a statesman charged with high legislative functions, he obtained for the French people many valuable ameliorations of their laws, and many solid improvements in their political institutions.

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In 1818, CUVIER was elected a member of the French Academy, an honour which he owed to the eloquent Eloges he had read in the Institute; and in the same year he was offered the ministry of the Interior, but upon political considerations, to which he could not accede. In 1819, he was appointed President of the Comité de l'Interieur, belonging to the Council of State, and he was soon after created a Ba

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