THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GENIUS 157 



glory. In according me a homage which is ren- 

 dered only to the illustrious dead, you are 

 usurping in advance the judgment of posterity. 



"Will posterity ratify your decision, and 

 ought you not, Monsieur the Mayor, have pru- 

 dently advised the municipal council not to 

 pass such a hasty resolution? 



"But having made my protest, gentlemen, 

 against this public proof of an admiration 

 which I do not deserve, allow me to say that I 

 am touched and moved to the bottom of my 

 soul. Your sympathetic tribute has united in 

 this commemorative tablet the two great things 

 which have formed at once the passion and the 

 charm of my life: my love of science and my 

 attachment to the paternal hearth. 



"Oh! my father and my mother! oh! my 

 dear lost ones, who lived so modestly in this 

 little house, it is you to whom I owe every- 

 thing! Your enthusiasm, my valiant mother, 

 you passed on to me. If I have always asso- 

 ciated the greatness of science with the great- 

 ness of my native land, it is because I was im- 



