In February, 1771, Buffon was alarmingly ill, and, unknown to him, the king, Louis XV., nominated a Count d’Angiviller, to succeed in the administration of the Museums and Jardin de Roi. Buffon recovered, and found out this little job, and was naturally annoyed at the indecent haste of putting a man in his place at such a crisis; but he was most indignant when he knew who the man was—an ignoramus and court favourite, a perfectly incompetent man. It is said that Louis XV. on this occasion, to compensate Buffon for his annoyance, raised the Montbard property to the holding of a count. Certainly he ordered the sculptor, Pajon, to erect a full-sized statue of Buffon in the garden during his absence, and to put the inflated inscription on it, “His genius equals the majesty of nature.” Buffon resented this, and he wrote to the President de Ruffey: “I thank you for the part you have taken in procuring this statue, which I neither required nor solicited, and which would have done me greater honour if it had been erected after my death. I have always thought that a wise man should rather fear envy then value glory; all this has been done without consulting me.” Some years afterwards an architect, who was employed in embellishing some of the buildings in the Jardin du Roi, wished to compliment Buffon, but this simple-minded, scientific man stated, “I cannot agree to any expenditure which will contribute to my personal glory, and I had nothing to do with the statue they erected to me.” In writing to Madame Necker, he showed how exactly he understood the French court, and appreciated its praises: “I passed the whole of yesterday and the day before in making observations and notes on a most important project presented to the king, relating to the planting of 100,000 fir trees for the masts of the navy. I would not grudge the time if my advice were likely to be useful and valued and taken; but in the high circle where you have not cared about remaining, they do sometimes consult competent men, and end, invariably, by following the advice of the ignorant.” Buffon lived for many years after these troubles, and gained fresh laurels. Those which will last the longest were the results of his charming descriptions of the habits of animals. At last, at the age of eighty-one years, he died, full of honours, his last words addressed to his son being, “My son, never leave the path of virtue and honour; it is the true road to happiness.”