96 A RUTIILESS MOB.

successively endeavoured to induce him to settle
within their realms. To all these flattering over-
tures he remained indifferent. His love for “ La
Belle France” was carried, according to his French
biographer, “jusqu’ a lexaltation,” and he would
serve no other country but his own.

The Revolution at length arrived, and Adanson
saw himself stripped of all he possessed. The loss
which he took most to heart was that of his garden,
in which, for many years, he had delighted to
carry on his experiments in the cultivation of
plants and vegetables. He had especially devoted
his care to the production of a great number of
varieties in the mulberry, and he mourned as he
beheld these treasures cut down by the hands of
the mob. In spite of the destitution to which he
was reduced, he retained his composure and con-
tinued his labours; on a reduced scale indeed, for
he had only a small, inconvenient, and unwhole-
some abode, and a little plot of ground for a
garden, which was of such narrow dimensions that
the amiable enthusiast was obliged to satisfy him-
self with the representatives, so to speak, of each
of his fameltes.

He would probably have remained long for-
gotten, had not the Institute, at the time of its
formation, invited him to join its ranks. Te re-
plied that it was not in his power to comply with