THE SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM 103 



firmation of a secret hope, of the truth of which I 

 felt more and more convinced, namely, that my re- 

 searches were opening up new horizons to the study 

 of medicine. 



"I even hastened to frame under glass that hon- 

 orary degree which bore witness to the decision of 

 your faculty, and I adorned the wall of my private 

 office with it. Today the sight of this same parch- 

 ment has become odious to me, and I feel that it is 

 an insult to have my name, with the qualification of 

 virum clarissimum which you bestowed upon it, 

 placed under the auspices of a name condemned 

 henceforth to the execration of my country, that of 

 rex Guilelmus. 



"While protesting loudly my profound respect 

 towards you and all the other celebrated professors 

 who signed their names at the foot of the document 

 representing the decision of the members of your 

 order, I must still obey the voice of my conscience 

 and beg you to erase my name from the archives of 

 your Faculty and to take back this diploma as a 

 sign of the indignation aroused in a French savant 

 by the barbarity and hypocrisy of the man who, 

 for the sake of satisfying a criminal pride, obsti- 

 nately insists upon the massacre of two great na- 

 tions. 



"Since the conference of Ferrieres France has 

 sought for the respect of human dignity, and Prus- 



