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subject. But yourself, sir, a physicist of the greatest reputa- 
tion, and who have taken quite a different direction in science 
not attempted by any other, must know very -well how difficult 
it is, even for those who sincerely wish the triumph of truth, 
to leave ideas and old practices in which they have grown up. 
To attain this result we must have confidence in ourselves. 
New ideas, however clear and judicious they may be, are 
never adopted immediately, but by degrees, so that those who 
are occupied with the same question, already explained by 
their predecessors, fancy themselves the discoverers and 
authors. After several generations, however, when the tomb 
is closed above all, historians and commentators will re- 
establish the truth of the facts and render them due justice. 
“ Mr. Faraday, your fellow-countryman, gave me that 
great satisfaction, and his powerful testimony has paid me 
more than I ever could hope, for the oblivion with which 
several of my contemporaries wished to cover me, who 
endeavoured to uphold one another without attaining any- 
thing but ridicule, the public always being just and free from 
prejudice, even if the question is above their intelligence. 
“ Let us console ourselves, sir, should our efforts rest in 
obscurity and not be valued as we suppose just; let us be 
assured that those who will follow us will know how to sift 
the true from the false, that they will adopt the one and 
reject the other ; and that, if the opinions we have exhibited 
are just and exact, they will be duly valued one day. But 
we shall not complain for the present to see our reputation 
injured by errors we have incurred, perhaps at the first 
moment, for these errors will have the definitive result of 
classing us according to merit in the history of science. 
“ I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, 
“ Sir, 
“ Your most obedient humble Servant, 
“ Skguin, Aine.” 
