HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC THEORY. 269 



or be thrust forward by his friends, and after having done his 

 work by many struggles, another struggle must be made for 

 the reward. 



The following letter, written by Dr. William Henry, his 

 intimate friend the celebrated chemist, was sent along with 

 the formal application to government. Its beauty and truth 

 demand for it a place in every memoir of Dalton. 



DR. HBNRY TO C. BABBAGE. 



" Mr. Dalton never had, nor was ever given to expect any 

 reward or encouragement whatsoever from government, and 

 having been in habits of unreserved communication with him 

 for more than thirty years, I can safely aver that it never 

 occurred to him to seek it. He has looked for his reward to 

 purer and nobler sources ; to a love of science for its own sake ; 

 to the tranquil enjoyments derived from the exercise of his 

 faculties, in the way most congenial to his tastes and habits, 

 and to the occasional gleams of more lively pleasure, which 

 have broken in upon his mind, when led to the discovery of 

 new facts, or the deduction of important general laws. By 

 the moderation of his wants and the habitual control over his 

 desires, he has been preserved from worldly disappointments, 

 and by the calmness of his temper and the liberality of his 

 views, he has escaped those irritations that too often beset men 

 who are over anxious for the possession of fame, and are im- 

 patient to grasp prematurely the benefits of its award. For 

 a long series of years he bore neglect and sometimes even con- 

 tumely, with the dignity of a philosopher, who though free 

 from anything like vanity or arrogance, yet knows his own 

 strength, estimates correctly his own achievements, and leaves 

 to the world, generally although sometimes slowly just, the 

 final adjudication of his fame.. Among the numerous honours 

 that have since been conferred on him by the best judges of 

 scientific merit in this and other countries, not one has been 

 sought by him. They have been without exception spon- 



