BUFFON, George Louis le Clerc, Count of, a celebrated naturalist, was born at Montbard, in Burgundy, on the 9th of September 1707. His father, Benjamin le Clerc, was a counsellor of the parliament of Dijon, and the son was destined to the same office, if science had not drawn him away from the law. He studied at Dijon; and his eager activity, his acuteness, penetration, and robust constitution, fitted him to pursue business and pleasure with equal ardour. His early passion was for astronomy, and the young Le Clerc was seldom without Euclid in his pocket. At the age of twenty he went with an English nobleman (the young Duke of Kingston) and his tutor to Italy; but he overlooked the choicest remains of art, and amidst the ruins of an elegant and luxurious people he first felt the charms of natural history, of which he afterwards proved the zealous and successful admirer. On his return to France he fought, on some accidental quarrel, with an Englishman, whom he wounded, and was obliged to retire to Paris, where he translated Newton’s Fluxions from the Latin, and Hales’s Statics from the English, into the French language. He afterwards went to England at the age of twenty-five, and remained there about three months. This concluded his travels. At the age of twenty-one he succeeded to the estate of his mother, which was valued at about 300,000 livres, or L.12,000 sterling; and he was one of those whose easy or affluent circumstances urge them on to literary pursuits, and clear the path of some of its thorns. Perhaps this was the period of his retirement to Montbard, where he spent much time, and where his leisure was little interrupted; for whilst he resided in the capital, his office of intendant of the king’s garden and cabinet occupied much of his time. He loved company much, and was partial to the fair; but he loved fame more. He spent fourteen hours every day in study; yet when we examine the extent of his knowledge and the number of his works, we wonder at his having executed so much even in that time. At five in the morning he retired to a pavilion in his vast gardens, and he was then inaccessible. This was, as Prince Henry of Prussia called it, the cradle of natural history; but she was indifferently accommodated. The walls were naked; and an old writing-table, with pen, ink, and paper, and an elbow chair of black leather, were the only furniture of his study. His manuscripts were in a cabinet in another building, and he went occasionally from one to the another. The eras of Buffon’s works are pretty well known. When each was finished it was put aside, in order that he might forget it, and afterwards return to it with the severity of a critic. He was anxious to render it perspicuous; and if those to whom he read his works hesitated a moment, he changed the passage. The works of others he often read like Magliabechi, confining himself to the titles, the contents, and the most interesting parts; but he perused M. Neckars Compte Rendu, and the Administration of the Finances, at length, and spoke of them with no little enthusiasm. His favourite authors were Fenelon, Montesquieu, and Richardson.

M. de Buffon’s conversation was unadorned, rarely animated, but sometimes very cheerful. He was exact in his dress, particularly in arranging his hair. He sat long at table, and then seemed at his ease. His conversation was at this time unembarrassed, and his guests had frequently occasion to notice some happy turn of phrase, or some' deep reflection. His complaisance was very considerable. He loved praise, it is true, and even praised himself; but it was with such frankness, and with so little contempt of others, that it was never disagreeable. Indeed, when we consider the extent of his reputation, the credit of his works, and the attention with which they were always received, we need not wonder that he was sensible of his own value. It would perhaps have displayed a stronger mind to have concealed it. His father lived to the age of ninety-three, and almost adored his son; his grandfather to that of eighty-seven; and the subject of the present article exceeded eighty. He died in April 1788. Fifty-six stones were found in his bladder; and if he had consented to the operation of lithotomy, he might probably have lived longer. He left one son, who, near a high tower in the gardens of Montbard, erected a low column, with an inscription, to his memory. This son fell a victim to the tyranny of Robespierre during the reign of terror in France.