6 LOUIS PASTEUR 



Soon after the birth of Louis Pasteur the family 

 moved to the little village of Arbois which was des- 

 tined to be their permanent home. Here the father 

 established a tannery which yielded a very modest 

 income. The parents were hard-working and 

 frugal, but they gave their children such educa- 

 tional advantages as the village afforded. Louis 

 went to the primary school and then to the little 

 college of Arbois where he worked diligently 

 enough, but without attaining any special distinc- 

 tion. The father wishing to improve upon his own 

 limited education, worked along with his son, help- 

 ing him as best he could with his lessons in the 

 evening. A quiet, industrious, studious home, this 

 maison Pasteur, devoted to the inculcation of ster- 

 ling virtues of character, — a home in which the 

 father and the mother, different as they were in 

 temperament, were strongly attached to each other, 

 and solicitous above all else for the welfare of their 

 children. Jean Joseph Pasteur was ambitious that 

 his son become a scholar. If only Louis could at- 

 tain the station of professor in some small French 

 college, what more in the way of worldly advance- 

 ment could be desired? Doubtless the sturdy sol- 

 dier used to meditate on his son's prospects during 

 his Sunday walks which he was in the habit of 



