Written by Madame Lavoisier

My husband, who has been so dear to me all these years, is silenced by the crude device of the revolution, the formidable guillotine. His death on May 8, 1794 has affected me quite dreadfully. I cannot help but think that it is my fault, as it is through his connection to me and the Ferme that he has met such an end. Since then, I have suffered the intolerable silence and loneliness that is the life of a widow, and often reflect upon much happier times when my husband was alive and we would share moments of scientific englightenment. Since my husband's death, things have settled down quite a lot, and this Thermidorean Reaction appears to be a period of peace and stability, for which I am grateful. If only my husband could have lived through those crude times of the great massacre of Monsieur Robspierre! Although my husband had asked me to maintain this scientific journal for him after his death so that he could continue to enlighten people with his presence and discoveries, the memory of this journal strikes me so hard that it unsettles me and brings tears to my eyes. Forgive me if I have not been keeping the public informed and for not respecting my husband's wishes. Yet I write today, partly to come to terms with my grief, but mainly to document a singular event. Only a few days before, one and a half years after his death, I received a letter from the French government informing me that my husband had been exonerated. Inside the parcel were his personal belongings and a brief note: "To the widow of Lavoisier, who was falsely convicted."I do not know how to respond to this peculiar event: should I feel enraged that my husband, so greatly wronged, is only remembered by such few unmeaningful words, or should I take satisfaction in knowing that people now admit thier mistake in wrongfully persecuting him? Either way, I have decided to end this public scientific journal once and for all, in the hopes the my silence will not deter those who have admire Antoine Lavoisier's scientific accomplishments. I am depending on everyone to remember him after his death and to let his legacy live on in you memories as a supporter of the people and an intelligent man of science, wronged and killed. He will forever live on in my heart as my dear husband, my love, and my partner in the pursuits of the mysteries of mankind.