1870—1872 197 



have said more, however, on a subject which he often took 

 up in private : the utility of pure science in daily experience. 

 With his own special gift of generalization, he could have ex- 

 pounded the progress of all kinds due to the workers who, by 

 their perseverance in resolving difficult problems, have brought 

 about so many precious and unexpected results. Few men in 

 France realized at that time that laboratories could be the 

 vestibule of farms, factories, etc. ; it was indeed a noble task, 

 that of proving that science was intended to lighten the burden 

 of humanity, not merely to be applied to devastation, carnage, 

 and hatred. 



Pasteur was in the midst of these philosophical reflections 

 when he received the following answer from the principal of 

 the Faculty of Medicine of Bonn : 



"Sir, the undersigned, now Principal of the Faculty of 

 Medicine of Bonn, is requested to answer the insult which you 

 have dared to offer to the German nation in the sacred person 

 of its august Emperor, King Wilhelm of Prussia, by sending 

 you the expression of its entire contempt." — Dr. Maurice 

 Naumann. 



"P.S. — Desiring to keep its papers free from taint, the 

 Faculty herewith returns your screed." 



Pasteur's reply contained the following : "I have the honour 

 of informing you, Mr. Principal, that there are times when 

 the expression of contempt in a Prussian mouth is equivalent 

 for a true Frenchman to that of Virum clarissimum which you 

 once publicly conferred upon me." 



After invoking in favour of Alsace-Lorraine, Truth, of 

 Justice, and the laws of humanity, Pasteur added in a post- 

 script — 



"And now, Mr. Principal, after reading over both your 

 letter and mine, I sorrow in my heart to think that men who 

 like yourself and myself have spent a lifetime in the pursuit of 

 truth and progress, should address each other in such a fashion, 

 founded on my part on such actions. This is but one of the 

 results of the character your Emperor has given to this war. 

 You speak to me of taint. Mr. Principal, taint will rest, you 

 may be assured, until far-distant ages, on the memory of those 

 who began the bombardment of Paris when capitulation by 

 famine was inevitable, and who continued this act of savagery 

 after it had become evident to all men that it would not advance 

 by one hour the surrender of the heroic city." 



