I departed highly pleased with the professor and his lecture,
and paid him a visit the same evening. His manners in private
were even more mild and attractive than in public; for there was
a certain dignity in his mien during his lecture, which in his
own house was replaced by the greatest affability and kindness.
He heard with attention my little narration concerning my
studies, and smiled at the names of Cornelius Agrippa and
Paracelsus, but without the contempt that M. Krempe had
exhibited. He said, that "these were men to whose indefatigable
zeal modern philosophers were indebted for most of the
foundations of their knowledge. They had left to us, as an
easier task, to give new names, arrange in connected
classifications, the facts which they in a great degree had been
the instruments of bringing to light. The labours of men of
genius, however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in
ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind." I
listened to his statement, which was delivered without any
presumption or affectation; and then added, that his lecture had
removed my prejudices against modern chemists; and I, at the
same time, requested his advice concerning the books I ought to
procure.
"I am happy," said M. Waldman, "to have gained a disciple; and
if your application equals your ability, I have no doubt of your
success. Chemistry is that branch of natural philosophy in
which the greatest improvements have been and may be made; it is
on that account that I have made it my peculiar study; but at
the same time I have not neglected the other branches of
science. A man would make but a very sorry chemist, if he
attended to that department of human knowledge alone. If your
wish is to become really a man of science, and not merely a
petty experimentalist, I should advise you to apply to every
branch of natural philosophy, including mathematics."