Memoir of Dr. Thomas Young. 411 



signal of this slow reparation was given. I should add, 

 that at an earlier period, when the doctrine of interferences 

 had made no proselytes, either in England or upon the 

 continent, Young found in his own family one who under- 

 stood it, and whose vote was sufficient to console him for- 

 the disdain of the public. The individual whom I shall 

 here point out as entitled to the gratitude of all the philo- 

 sophers of Europe, will excuse me for finishing my indis- 

 cretion. 



In the year 1816, 1 made a tour in England with my scien- 

 tific friend, M. Gay Lussac. Fresnel had then begun his 

 brilliant and scientific career, by his memoir on diffraction. 

 This work, which in our opinion contained a capital expe- 

 riment, irreconcilable with the Newtonian theory of light, 

 became the first object of our conversation with Dr. Young. 

 We were astonished at the numerous limitations which he 

 made to our eulogies, when at last he declared that the ex- 

 periment of which we thought so much had been described 

 since 1807, in his Treatise on Natural Philosophy. This 

 assertion did not appear to us well founded. It led to a 

 long and minute discussion. Mrs. Young was present, but 

 appeared to take no part in it. But as we knew that a fear 

 truly puerile of passing for learned women — the fear of 

 being designated by the ridiculous title of blue stockings, 

 renders English ladies very reserved in presence of stran- 

 gers, our want of a knowledge of the world only struck us 

 when Mrs. Young hurriedly left the room. We began to 

 apologise to her husband, when we saw her re-enter, car- 

 rying under her arm a huge quarto. It was the first volume 

 of the Treatise on Natural Philosophy . She placed it on 

 the table, opened it at page 787, without saying a word, 

 and pointed to a figure where the curvilinear direction of 

 diffracted bands, on which the discussion rested, was theo- 

 retically established. 



I hope I shall be pardoned for entering into these minute 

 details. Have not too many examples already accustomed 

 the public to consider obscurity, injustice, persecution and 

 misery as the natural reward of those who honourably spend 

 their time in developing the human mind? Let us not for- 

 get, then, the exceptions, when they are presented to us. 

 If we wish youth to devote himself with ardour to intellec- 



