ron by Louis XVIII., who repeatedly summoned him to assist in the Cabinet Councils. He was appointed in 1822, Grand Master of the Faculties of Protestant Theology in the University; and in the Committee of the Interior, he was soon afterwards charged with the management of the affairs of all the different religions in France, except the Catholic. At the Coronation of Charles x. he officiated as one of the Presidents of the Council of State, and in 1836, he received the decoration of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.

"These and other trophies of distinction which now almost overburthened him, were far from being a suitable preparation for the heavy blow which was about to strike him at the heart. His only daughter, CLEMENTINE CUVIER, now his only child, after surmounting the dangers of a sickly infancy, had been reinstated in the bloom of health, and had reached the winter of

Her acquire

her twenty-second year. ments in profound studies were adorned with every accomplishment of her sex; and she united in a singular degree, all the charms of physical, intellectual, and moral beauty. The loveliness of her person, and the elegance of her manners, were enchased in the fine gold of an ardent yet humble piety, and encircled with all the graces of a charitable and sympathizing spirit; and amid the universal admiration which such a character commanded, she courted and she earned, the blessings of the poor, the ignorant, and the afflicted. About the close of 1826, the first symptoms of a fatal disease showed themselves in her delicate constitution. Her health, however, was so completely re-established, that in the beginning of 1828, arrangements were made for her marriage with an individual of her own choice, who was in every respect worthy of her love. The ceremony was

fixed for the 25th of August; but before the end of July her former disease returned with redoubled force, and terminated fatally on the 28th of September. Her parents were overwhelmed with grief, and her bridal chaplet withering in the embrace of her funeral wreath, was to one disconsolate heart an image of still greater agony. Distracted with his loss, CUVIER sought and found in the most absorbing studies, some alleviation of his sorrows; but though with this view he enforced upon himself the most intense and continued labour, yet on the occasion of his first discharge of a public duty, when this high pressure of his mental power was for a time removed, his feelings burst forth in uncontrollable grief. It has been related by an eye-witness, says Mrs. Lee, his memorialist, that at the first sitting of the Comité de l'Interieur, at which he presided after this event, and from which he absented

himself two months, he resumed the chair with a firm and placid expression of countenance; he listened attentively to all the discussions of those present; but when it became his turn to speak, and sum up all that had passed, his firmness abandoned him, and his first words were interrupted by tears. The great legislator gave way to the bereaved father; he bowed his head, covered his face with his hands, and was heard to sob bitterly. A respectful and profound silence reigned through the whole assembly; all present had known Clementine, and therefore all could understand and excuse this deep emotion. At length Cuvier raised his head, and uttered these few simple words-"Pardon me, gentlemen, I was a father, and I have lost. all." Then, with a violent effort, he resumed the business of the day with his usual perspicuity, and pronounced judg

ment with his ordinary calmness and justice."

Cuvier lived at the Jardin des Plantes for nearly forty years, surrounded by the objects which engrossed so great a portion of his thoughts, and there received every Saturday the men of science of Paris, and all others who visited that Capital from any part of the world. Professors and pupils met in his rooms to listen with instruction and delight to his conversation, for he was accessible to all. Although compelled to be a very rigid economist of his time, he was so good-natured and considerate, that if any person who had business to transact with him, called at an unexpected hour, he never sent him away, saying that one who lived so far off had no right to deny himself.

But I advance to the closing scene, which in all probability was accelerated by the withering influence of secret grief