130 THE LIFE OF PASTE I'H 



which are inherent to protracted efforts, the thought of France 

 upheld ray courage. I associated her greatness with the great- 

 ness of Science. 



' By erecting a statue to Olivier de Serres, the illustrious 

 eon of the Vivarais, you give to France a noble example; you 

 Bhow to all that you venerate great men and the great things 

 they have accomplished. Therein lies fruitful seed ; you have 

 gathered it. may your sons see it grow and fructify. I look 

 back upon the time, already distant, when, desirous of respond- 

 ing to the suggestions of a kind and illustrious friend, I left 

 Paris to study in a neighbouring Department the scourge which 

 was decimating your magnaiierics. For five years I struggled 

 to obtain some knowledge of the evil and the means of pre- 

 venting it; and, after having found it, I still had to struggle 

 to implant in other minds the convictions I had aequir. 



' All that is past and gone now, and I can speak of it with 

 moderation. I am not often credited with that characteristic, 



/and yet I am the most hesitating of men, the most fearful of 

 responsibility, so long as I am not in possession of a proof. 

 But when solid scientific proofs confirm my convictions, no 

 consideration can prevent me from defending what I hold to 

 be true. k 



"A man whose kindness to me was truly paternal (Biot) 

 had for his motto : Per via* rectus. I congratulate myself that 

 I borrowed it from him. If 1 had been more timid or more 

 doubtful in view of the principles 1 ha 1 established, many 

 points of science and of application might have remained 

 obscure and subject to endless discussion. The hypothesis of 

 spontaneous generation would still throw its veil over m 

 questions. Your nurseries of silkworms would be under the 

 ay of charlatanism, with no gu the production of good 



1. Tl ■ cination of charbon, destined to \ 

 culture from immense losses, would be misunderstood and 

 rejected as a dangerous practice. 



' Where are now all the contradictions? They pass away, 



• and Truth remains. After an interval of fifteen years, you 

 now rendi r it a rmhle testimony. I therefore feel a deep joy 

 in seeing my efforts understood and celebrated in an impulse 

 of sympathy which will remain in my memory and in that of 

 my family as a glorious recollection." 



itenr WSJ not allowed to return at once to his laboraf 

 The agricultnrs ai nary surgeons of Nimes, who had 



