PIERRE EUGENE MARCELLIN BERTHELOT 



1827-1907 l 



MARCELLIN BERTHELOT was a native of Paris, born on 

 October 25, 1827, in a flat looking on to the Rue du 

 Mouton, situated in the Place de Greve, now, owing to the 

 activity of Baron Haussmann, the Place de l'H6tel-de- 

 Ville. His father, a doctor of medicine, was a member of 

 the sect of the Jansenists, a small branch of the Gallic 

 Catholic Church. He was a serious man, impatient with 

 the folly of his concitoyens, and somewhat depressed by 

 the poverty and sufferings of his patients. The ' Church 

 of Faith ' had its own Liturgy, and the congregation joined 

 in singing psalms and hymns. Many of the prdtres 

 were among Dr. Berthelot's patients, and young Berthelot 

 must often have listened to discussions on the attempts, 

 ultimately successful, to substitute the Roman for the 

 Gallic liturgy. Dr. Berthelot was married in 1826, shortly 

 after starting practice. His wife was a lively, bright 

 woman, who transmitted her features to her son. 



At that time, Charles the Tenth was on the throne. 

 The allied powers had involved France in a Gouverne- 

 ment de Cures ; and it was part of the State Ceremonial 

 to form a procession, which was headed by the Holy 

 Sacrament and the Papal Nuncio, a cardinal in red, from 

 the Tuileries, to Notre Dame and back, and in which the 

 King, the Queen, the Dauphin (who, according to Madame 



1 A notice which appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society for 

 1907. 



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