The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



does not enable him to go back beyond the 

 second generation of his ancestry, this touch- 

 ing passage, full of modesty and filial feel- 

 ing: "The populace has no history. Stran- 

 gled by the present, it cannot give its mind 

 to cherishing the memories of the past." Yet 

 how instructive would those records be. 



Let us bow our heads before this child of 

 the peasantry who labours so unremittingly 

 and drives so deep a furrow; let us bow our 

 heads before this humble primary school- 

 master who seeks to uplift himself, not as 

 so many have done, by futile political agi- 

 tation or the criminal fatuities of irreligion, 

 but solely by virtue of knowledge and per- 

 sonal worth. 



We shall see later on with what vindictive 

 energy Fabre scourges the pseudo-scientists, 

 " hateful malefactors," maufatan de malur, 

 who, In the name of a false science, rob 

 men^s souls of the true and ancient Chris- 

 tian faith, thereby leading society toward 

 the most terrible catastrophes. For the mo- 

 ment our only desire Is to do homage to our 

 worthy schoolmasters in the person of one 

 of their old comrades who has become one of 

 our greatest national glories. There are 

 others, too, among us who have exalted by 

 their virtues or their talents the humble na- 

 ii6 



