Louis PASTEUR begs for the national reward promised by Napoleon III.

Louis Pasteur (1822.1895)

Autograph letter signed to the Minister of Public Works, Roger Charles de Larcy.

A page in-4°.

Paris. December 30, 1873.

« The Emperor proposed that a national reward be awarded to me. »

After the fall of the Second Empire, Pasteur begged that the national reward promised by Napoleon III would finally be awarded to him.

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“Mr. Minister, I have the honor to send you, attached, a note on my work. This is the occasion on which I take this liberty. On July 19, 1869, at the Palace of St Cloud, at the Council of Ministers, the Emperor proposed that a national reward be awarded to me in recognition of the services I had rendered to Science and Industry.

The war and its disastrous consequences stopped the execution of this project. However, I must recall that I was included on the list of senators appointed on July 27, 1870. Mr. Thiers, at the time he left power, was on the eve of realizing the Emperor's thoughts. Mr. de Fourtou, Minister of Public Education, was kind enough to assure me of the attention he would devote to studying this matter.

I have the honor to ask you, Mr. Minister, to take an interest in it yourself and to take the trouble to read the printed note that I attach to this letter. Please accept, Mr. Minister, the tribute of my respect. L. Pasteur, member of the Academy of Sciences. »

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Tinted with courtesy, Pasteur's admiration for the imperial family and particularly for Napoleon III, its protector, was real. At the same time, the Emperor nourished an undeniable scientific curiosity, the two men established links until the fall of the Empire, serving the interests of each.

Pasteur learned, in 1869, that Napoleon III had just appointed him senator for life for services rendered to Science. This flattering title did not see the light of day: signed on July 27, 1870, the decree scheduled for August 15 did not have time to be published in the Official Journal. The fall of the regime distresses the scholar: “I am broken by pain, all my illusions have vanished. Despite the vain and stupid clamors of the streets and all the cowardly failures of recent times, the Emperor can confidently await the judgment of posterity. His reign will remain as one of the most glorious in our history.”

Despite the political disappearance of Napoleon III, Pasteur received, in the following years, numerous honorary distinctions: Copley Medal (1874), Legion of Honor (1878), election to the veterinary academy of France (1879), election to the French Academy (1882), …