1822—1843 9 



arrival from Besancon of 200 grenadiers, four squadrons of 

 light cavalry, and a small battery of artillery sent to reduce the 

 rebels. The sous-prefet of Poligny having asked the rioters 

 who were their leaders, they answered with one voice, " We 

 are all leaders." A few days later the great, the good news 

 was published in all the newspapers : " Arbois, Lyons, and 

 Paris are pacified." The Arboisians called their neighbours 

 " the Braggarts of Salins," probably with the ingenious inten- 

 tion of turning such a well-deserved accusation from them- 

 selves. 



Louis Pasteur, whose mind already had a serious bent, 

 preferred to these recent anecdotes such historical records as 

 that of the siege of Arbois under Henry IV, when the Arbois- 

 ians held out for three whole days against a besieging army of 

 25,000 men. His childish imagination, after being worked 

 upon by these stories of local patriotism, eagerly seized upon 

 ideals of a higher patriotism, and fed upon the glory of the 

 French people as represented by the conquests of the Empire. 



He watched his parents, day by day working under dire neces- 

 sity and ennobling their weary task by considering their 

 children's education almost as essential as their daily bread ; 

 and, as in all things the father and mother took an interest in 

 noble motives and principles, their material life was lightened 

 and illumined by their moral life. 



One more friend, the headmaster of Arbois college, M. 

 Eomanet, exerted a decisive influence on Louis Pasteur's 

 career. This master, who was constantly trying to elevate 

 the mind and heart of his pupils, inspired Louis with great 

 admiration as well as with respect and gratitude. Romanet 

 considered that whilst instruction doubled a man's value, educa- 

 tion, in the highest sense of the word, increased it tenfold. 

 He was the first to discover in Louis Pasteur the hidden spark 

 that had not yet revealed itself by any brilliant success in the 

 hardworking schoolboy. Louis' mind worked so carefully that 

 he was considered slow ; he never affirmed anything of which 

 he was not absolutely sure ; but with all his strength and 

 caution he also had vivid imaginative faculties. 



Eomanet, during their strolls round the college playground, 

 took pleasure in awakening with an educator's interest the 

 leading qualities of this young nature — circumspection and 

 enthusiasm. The boy, who had been sitting over his desk 



