"You are at the head of the committee which the government sent to M. d'Eslon's house, in order to witness the evidence of my discovery, and to judge its efficacy. When Mr. d'Eslon approached me and when I saw fit to let him glimpse a few elements of the system of my knowledge, I made him give his word of honor that he would never make public, without first having obtained my permission, the small number of new ideas that I might confide in him. M. d'Eslon has since signed a statement in which he recognizes that animal magnetism is my property, and that to make use of it without my consent is to be guilty of an offense as odious as it is punishable. However, in spite of his oaths and the statement which he signed, M. d'Eslon has not only dared to use my property for himself, but he has found men who were not afraid to share the spoils of my discoveries with him. Thirty-six doctors, from what I have been told, came to him looking for a system of knowledge about which he should be silent, and which he could not impart to them without breaking a code of honor... Like you, Monsieur, the world is my judge; and if the good that I have done can be forgotten, and the good that I wish to do can be obstructed, then I will have posterity to avenge me."