174 THE LIFE OF PASTEUR 



This was a period not of rest, but of a great calm, with 

 regular work under a pure sky. Whilst waiting for hatching 

 time, Pasteur continued to dictate to his wife the book he had 

 mentioned to J. B. Dumas in a letter from St. Hippolyte le Fort. 

 But the projected little book was changing its shape and grow- 

 ing into a two-volume work full of facts and documents. It 

 was ready to publish by April, 1870. 



When the moment for hatching the seed had arrived, Pasteur 

 distributed twenty-five ounces among the tenants and kept 

 twenty-five ounces for himself. An incident disturbed these 

 days of work : a steward, who had by him an old box of 

 Japanese seed, sold this suspicious seed with the rest. The 

 idea that confiding peasants had thus been swindled sent 

 Pasteur beside himself ; in his violent anger he sent for this 

 steward, overwhelmed him with reproaches and forbade him 

 ever to show his face before him again. 



'The Marshal," wrote Dumas to Pasteur, "has told me 

 of the swindles you have come across and which have upset 

 you so much. Do not worry unreasonably ; if I were you I 

 would merely insert a line in a local paper : ' M. Pasteur is 

 only answerable for the seeds he himself sells to cultivators.' " 

 Those cultivators soon were duly edified. The results of the 

 seeding process were represented by a harvest of cocoons which 

 brought in, after all expenses were paid, a profit of 22,000 

 francs, the first profit earned by the property for ten years. 

 This was indeed an Imperial present from Pasteur ; the 

 Emperor was amazed and delighted. 



The Government then desired to do for Pasteur what had 

 been done for Dumas and Claude Bernard, that is, give him a 

 seat in the Senate. His most decided partisan was the com- 

 petitor that several political personages suggested against him : 

 Henri Sainte Claire Deville. Deville wrote to Mme. Pasteur 

 in June : " You must know that if Pasteur becomes a Senator, 

 and Pasteur alone, you understand — for they cannot elect two 

 chemists at once ! — it will be a triumph for your friend — a 

 triumph and an unmixed pleasure." 



The projected decree was one of eighteen then in prepara- 

 tion. The final list — the last under the Emipre — where Emile 

 Augier was to represent French literature was postponed from 

 day to day. 



Pasteur left Villa Vicentina on July 6, taking with him the 

 gratitude of the people whose good genius he had been for 



