352 THE LIFE OF PASTEUR 



which are inherent to protracted efforts, the thought of France 

 upheld my courage. I associated her greatness with the great- 

 ness of Science. 



" By erecting a statue to Olivier de Serres, the illustrious 

 son of the Vivarais, you give to France a noble example ; you 

 show to all that you venerate great men and the great things 

 they have accomplished. Therein lies fruitful seed ; you have 

 gathered it, may your sons see it grow and fructify. I look 

 back upon the time, already distant, when, desirous of respond- 

 ing to the suggestions of a kind and illustrious friend, I left 

 Paris to study in a neighbouring Department the scourge which 

 was decimating your magnaneries . For five years I struggled 

 to obtain some knowledge of the evil and the means of pre- 

 venting it; and, after having found it, I still had to struggle 

 to implant in other minds the convictions I had acquired. 



" All that is past and gone now, and I can speak of it with 

 moderation. I am not often credited with that characteristic, 

 and yet I am the most hesitating of men, the most fearful of 

 responsibility, so long as I am not in possession of a proof. 

 But when solid scientific proofs confirm my convictions, no 

 consideration can prevent me from defending what I hold to 

 be true. 



41 A man whose kindness to me was truly paternal (Biot) 

 had for his motto : Per vias rectas. I congratulate myself that 

 I borrowed it from him. If I had been more timid or more 

 doubtful in view of the principles I had established, many 

 points of science and of application might have remained 

 obscure and subject to endless discussion. The hypothesis of 

 spontaneous generation would still throw its veil over many 

 questions. Your nurseries of silkworms would be under the 

 sway of charlatanism, with no guide to the production of good 

 seed. The vaccination of charbon, destined to preserve agri- 

 culture from immense losses, would be misunderstood and 

 rejected as a dangerous practice. 



" Where are now all the contradictions? They pass away, 

 and Truth remains. After an interval of fifteen years, you 

 now render it a noble testimony. I therefore feel a deep joy 

 in seeing my efforts understood and celebrated in an impulse 

 of sympathy which will remain in my memory and in that of 

 my family as a glorious recollection." 



Pasteur was not allowed to return at once to his laboratory. 

 The agricultors and veterinary surgeons of Nimes, wLo had 



