two  nations  must  meet  in  endeavouring  to  reach  the
high  goal  common  to  both,  that  these  sentiments  will
be  kindled  again  into  life  and  activity  ;  and  thus  the
feeling  of  fraternity  in  science,  which  can  never  be
entirely  extinguished,  will  gradually  contribute  to
mitigate  the  bitterness  with  which  the  deeply-
wounded  national  pride  of  the  French  is  filled  by  the
consequences  of  the  war  they  have  forced  upon  us."

In  speaking  of  Liebig's  character,  it  is  delightful
to  remember  the  absence  of  anything  like  personal
vanity.  Few  scientific  men,  probably,  have  been
equally  loaded — I  might  almost  say  overwhelmed —
with  honours.  Scarcely  an  academy  or  learned
society  that  did  not  consider  it  an  honourable  duty
to  elect  him  a  member  long  before  he  had  reached
middle  life.  The  highest  scientific  distinctions  which
England,  France,  and  Germany  can  bestow,  the
Copley  medal,  the  Foreign  Associateship  of  the
French  Institute,  the  order  pour  le  merit  e,  were  in
his  possession.  Thankfully  as  he  had  accepted  these
honours,  they  had  so  little  changed  the  simplicity  of
his  character  that  many  of  his  intimate  friends  were
ignorant  of  his  having  received  them.  His  feelings
as  to  such  outward  tokens  of  approbation  are  well
expressed  in  a  letter  addressed  to  his  friend,  Thomas
Graham,  on  the  occasion  of  his  receiving  from  this
country  a  gift  of  honour,  which  he  highly  appreciated.
When,  in  1852,  Liebig  left  his  professorship  in
Giessen  for  the  purpose  of  accepting  an  academical
position  in  Munich,  his  friends  in  England  associated,


THE    FAKADAY    LECTURE.  133

under  the  auspices  of  Thomas  Graham,  in  order
to  present  him  with  a  mark  of  recognition.
