It must be recorded that Maillane had cordially united with Sérignan, and that poetry and science were at one in celebrating the fame of the man who has justly been called the poet of entomology.
Such, in its most salient features, was the festival which consecrated, a little late in the day, one of our purest national glories.
This homage had not the ephemeral character of most jubilees, even scientific ones. It [[363]]found more than one echo, and had an aftermath throughout the country. We will not insist further upon the eager, enthusiastic interest extended by the public to the new edition of the Souvenirs, and the publication of La Vie des Insectes and Les Mœurs des Insectes, which are volumes of selected extracts from the Souvenirs, nor even on the decoration of the Legion of Honour which so justly raised to the rank of officer him who had been a simple chevalier for forty years.
But we must refer at somewhat greater length to the three proofs of admiration which must have found their way most surely to his heart.
The first, to which we have already alluded, came from the highest literary authority of France, and, we might say, of the world. In his report on the literary prizes awarded by the Académie Française, M. Thureau-Dangui devoted the following passage to our friend:
I have reserved to the last the largest of our direct prizes, the Neé prize, awarded to the author of the Souvenirs entomologiques, M. Jean-Henri Fabre. He cannot, at all events, be accused of indiscreet solicitation. In his hermitage at Sérignan, where he has pursued a long life of toil, a life so modest that despite the most wonderful discoveries [[364]]it was for a long time a life of obscurity, M. Fabre gave not a thought to the Académie Française, which is all the better pleased to show that it was thinking of him.
M. Fabre has, indeed, too clear a vision and too sane a mind not to perceive the problems of a philosophical order which arise from the wonderful data of his discoveries. At every step, in the mysterious domain of instinct, reason cannot fail to divine, beyond the little kingdom explored by observation, the unfathomable secrets of creation.
To all, even to those who believe themselves least interested in matters of natural history, I cannot refrain from saying: “Read these narratives; you will appreciate their charm, their geniality, their simplicity, their life; you will fall in love with this delightful science, which is pursued day after day in the beautiful summer weather, “to the song of the Cicadæ;” this science which is truly Latin, Virgilian at times, which goes hand in hand with poetry, which is so imbued with love that it sometimes seems as though there arose, from these humble entomological souvenirs, a strophe of the canticle of created things.”[1]
A mark of homage, which, indeed, adds nothing to the fame of the celebrated laureate of the Institute and so many other learned Academies, but which deserves mention here because it certainly touched a fibre of the old scientist’s heart which all the rest might have [[365]]failed to stir, is that which was accorded him by the little Society which gathers about the belfry of Rodez the intellectual élite of his own country-side.
The records of the Société des lettres, sciences et arts de l’Aveyron contain, in the minutes of the session of the 27th October 1910, a communication from the president of the Society which closes with the words:
In order to associate ourselves in some fashion with the unanimous bestowal of honours and eulogy of which this venerable old man is at present the recipient, we propose to accord him the title of honorary member. It is the highest distinction at our disposal, and we think he will accept it with sympathy.
Needless to say that the whole assembly accepted their president’s proposal with enthusiasm and by acclamation. Some time later the famous naturalist wrote to the Society, through his present biographer, a touching letter of thanks, in which he said, among other things, that, coming from his own country, this distinction had been very precious to him. The delicate feeling expressed in these words gives us to hope that the contribution to the work of reparation which we have sought to make will not be without some value in his eyes. [[366]]