Page:Biographies of Scientific Men.djvu/203

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BERTHELOT
157

he never lost his tenderness of heart. Madame Berthelot, it may be said, was all in all to him. He had often said that if she died he would not long survive her. But no one thought his prophecy would he realized so suddenly. His death is a great loss for the scientific world and for France, but it is a still greater loss for his friends.

Berthelot had a good heart in other circles than those of his own family. Although the most influential man of science in France, he greatly appreciated and aided the work of others. As an example of his goodness, it may be stated, en passant, that he presented over forty of the author's memoirs to the Académie des Sciences, all of which have been published in the Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. Dozens, yea hundreds, of scientists owe Berthelot a deep debt of gratitude.

His public works will best attest his fame,
Whilst private worth adds value to his name.

Most of the honours awarded to men of science were bestowed upon Berthelot: besides these he was a Grand-Croix de la Légion d'Honneur (an order founded by Napoleon I.); Grand-Croix de l'Ordre Royal de Charles III. of Spain; Grand-Croix de l'Ordre Royal de l'Étoile de Roumanie; and he possessed other orders. Berthelot was made a senator for life. Life members of the French Senat are now fast dying out, and will become as extinct as the dodo.

Berthelot commenced his career in 1851—eight days before Louis Napoleon overthrew the Constitution by a coup d'état, and to commemorate the fiftieth anni-