1882—1884 165 



the world; and when death strikes down a man of genius, 

 France is ready to weep as for one of her own children. This 

 noble spirit of solidarity was brought home to me when I heard 

 some of you speak feelingly of the death of the illustrious 

 chemist, J. B. Dumas, a celebrated member of all your 

 Academies, and only a few years ago an eloquent panegyrist of 

 your great Faraday. It was a bitter grief to me that I had to 

 leave Paris before his funeral ceremony ; but the hope of render- 

 ing here a last and solemn homage to that revered master 

 helped me to conquer my affliction. Moreover, gentlemen, men 

 may pass, but their works remain ; we all are but passing guests 

 of these great homes of intellect, which, like all the Universities 

 who have come to greet you in this solemn day, are assured of 

 immortality." 



Pasteur, having thus rendered homage to J. B. Dumas, and 

 having glorified his country by his presence, his speech and the 

 great honours conferred on him, would have returned home at 

 once ; but the undergraduates begged to be allowed to entertain, 

 the next day, some of those men whom they looked upon as 

 examples and whom they might never see again. 



Pasteur thanked the students for this invitation, which filled 

 him with pride and pleasure, for he had always loved young 

 people, he said, and continued, in his deep, stirring voice : 



"Ever since I can remember my life as a man, I do not 

 think I have ever spoken for the first time with a student with- 

 out saying to him, 'Work perseveringly ; work can be made 

 into a pleasure, and alone is profitable to man, to his city, to 

 his country.' It is even more natural that I should thus speak 

 to you. The common soul (if I may so speak) of an assembly of 

 young men is wholly formed of the most generous feelings, being 

 yet illumined with the divine spark which is in every man as 

 he enters this world. You have just given a proof of this 

 assurance, and I have felt moved to the heart in hearing you 

 applaud, as you have just been doing, such men as de Lesseps, 

 Helmholtz and Virchow. Your language has borrowed from 

 ours the beautiful word enthusiasm, bequeathed to us by the 

 Greeks : ev 0eo?, an inward God. It was almost with a 

 divine feeling that you just now cheered those great men. 



' One of those of our writers who have best made known 

 to France and to Europe the philosophy of Eobert Eeid and 

 Dugald Stewart said, addressing young men in the preface of 

 one of his works : — 



c c 2 



