1878] WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. 539 



It is not social position, popularity, extended authorship, 

 or success as an instructor in science, which entitles to mem- 

 bership, but actual new discoveries; nor are these sufficient 

 if the reputation of the candidate is in the slightest degree 

 tainted with injustice or want of truth. Indeed, I think that 

 immorality and great mental power actually exercised in 

 the discovery of scientific truths are incompatible with each 

 other, and that more error is introduced from defect in moral 

 sense than from want of intellectual capacity. 



Please accept my warmest thanks for the kind expressions 

 of sympathy you have extended to me during this period of 

 my illness, and for your personal partiality in refusing to 

 accept my resignation as president of the Academy. I shall 

 be thankful if a beneficent Providence extends my life dur- 

 ing another year and grants me the privilege of greeting 

 j'^ou again in a twelvemonth from this time — as successful 

 laborers in the fields of science, 



I can truly say that I entertain for each member of the 

 Academy a fraternal sympathy, and rejoice at every step he 

 makes in the development of new truths. 



With my best wishes for your safe return to your homes, 

 and for a rich harvest of scientific results in the ensuing year, 

 I now bid you an affectionate farewell. 



END. 



