@. Ampère et l'histoire de l'électricité 

Dear Sir
 
 Whenever I open my writing book I am ashamed to see your last kind 
letter of Septr last remaining there unanswered but at the same time I have always the excuse 
at hand of having nothing important to write to you about and having no right to disturb you 
except about things of importance. 
 I have however at last passed over this argument and 
am determined to thank you without farther delay for your continual kindness and for the good 
offices which I am sure I am indebted to you for at the Royal Academy of Sciences. The honor 
conferred on me by that body is so far beyond what I had any right to expect that I cannot 
return my thanks to it and my friends in it as I ought to do and have little more to do than 
accept it with gratitude & in silence.
 I am now to beg for information from you which 
perhaps you will do me the kindness to send at any convenient opportunity. I am sorry to say 
there is no hurry for it on my part because of my incapacity. I wish to ask you whether in the 
event of my writing any more papers of a respectable kind it would not be a matter of propriety 
and duty in me to send one to the Royal Academy of Sciences as a token of gratitude for the 
mark of distinction they have bestowed upon me - whether it would be acceptable - and what 
would become of it - I beg you to understand I do not promise to do this because I am not sure 
I shall ever do any thing more worth describing and because also the next paper I may produce 
is claimed by the Royal Society but if I should be fortunate enough to have two papers more 
then I should like to do as I have hinted above provided it be proper.
 I was a little 
startled the other day by one of the numbers of the Annales de Chimie. In the account it gives 
of the proceedings of the Academy of Sciences for Septr 15th 1823. it mentioned that MM. 
Braconnot & Hatchett [Hachette] were elected Corresponding Members in the Section of 
Chemistry (1) and I was afraid I had been assuming those honors which belonged really to 
another and though M. Braconnot deserved them more than I did, I should have been sorry to have 
resigned such a prise. However the Official Letters sent to me by Baron Cuvier and also an 
announcement in the following Number of the Annales de Chimie of my letter of thanks to the 
Academy for the honor it had done me (2) satisfied me that it had been a mistake of the press 
& that I had not done wrong in assuming the title.
 I beg with this letter to 
introduce Dr. Symes to you. He is a friend's friend and is very anxious to know what you have 
done in France with the new vegetable alkalies. I have encouraged my friend to hope that you 
will introduce Dr. Symes to M. Barruel who I suppose has an immense store of practical 
information on the subject.
 Whenever you honor me with another letter, pray let me know 
how I may direct send or otherwise convey to you. I know not whether I shall ever have the 
pleasure of seeing you at Paris but I please myself with the expectation.
 
 I have 
the Honor to be
 Dear Sir 
 Your Very Obliged & faithful Servant
 
 M. 
Faraday
 

Lettre publiée dans Frank A. J. L. James (ed.). The Correspondence of Michael Faraday, London: IEE, vol. 1 (1811-1831), 1991, Letter 223, pp. 337-339

Source de l'édition électronique de la lettre : JAMES, A. J. L. Franck (ed.). The Correspondence of Michael Faraday, London: IEE, vol. 1 (1811-1831), 1991, Letter 223, pp. 337-339   Autre source de la lettre : original manuscrit Philadelphie, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Simon Gratz Collection, Case 12, Box 8, under Michael Faraday [note de Franck JAMES]

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Lien de référence : http://www.ampere.cnrs.fr/amp-corr941.html