DOC.
359
FEBRUARY
1912 261
collaborate
with
you.
For
we
know
very
well how
you
approach
with
lively
interest
all
questions
in
physics,
in all
areas,
and how
good
you
are
at
imbuing
them
with
new
life
and
shedding
new
light
on
them.
Van der
Waals,[5]
who
is
a
member of the board of
trustees,
and
who,
as
the
only physicist
on
the
board, is to
have
a
decisive
say
in
the
matter,
is
also
of the
opinion
that
it
is
you,
and
you
alone,
whom
we
must
now
think
about
as
first in line.
As for
me
personally,
I cannot tell
you
how
enticing
the
prospect
of
maintaining
a
constant contact with
you
at
work
would
be
for
me.
If
it
were
granted
to
me
to welcome
you
here
as my successor
and
as
my colleague
at
one
and the
same
time,
it
would be
the
fulfillment
of
a
wish
that
I have
long
cherished
in
private
but
have not
been free
to
voice
before. When
one
gets
older,
and
one's
creative
powers
gradually
decline,
one
admires
all
the
more
the
cheerful, enthusiastic, creative
urge
of
a
younger person,
and
for
that
reason
it would be
extremely
appealing
to
me
to
hear
a
great
deal about
your
work
and
thoughts,
all
the
more so
because
I
am sure
that,
just
as
until
now,
the
scientific
relationship
between the
two of
us
would also
be,
at
the
same
time,
a warm
and
friendly
one.
I
know,
of
course,
that there
may
be circumstances
that
could
make
all
of
this
just
a
beautiful dream.
But for
the
present
I want
to
banish
all
doubt and
give myself
over
to the
hope
that
our
wishes
can
be fulfilled.
If
you
could tell
me
that
you are willing
to
consider
a
call
to Leiden,
then
we
will
immediately
take further
steps
and
try
to
see
to it
that
a
quite
definitive
proposal is
made
to
you.
Of
course,
it is
not
absolutely
certain that
we
will succeed in
this,
but
it
can
be
considered
highly
probable.
Once
we
have achieved
that,
we
would,
of
course,
appreciate
it
very
much
if
you
immediately
said
"yes";
but
if
you
then
want
more
time for
deliberation,
we
will not
press
you
all
too
much.
There
is
one
more thing,
also
of
importance,
that
I
must
mention. To
wit:
the
starting
salary
of
an
Ordinary
Professor here
is
4000
gulden,
and is
raised
to
5000
gulden
after
5 years,
and
to
6000
gulden
after another
5
years.
There
is
no
further
income,
such
as
for
lectures
or
examinations.
Right
now
I will
not
say anything
about
the business
of
pensions (retirement,
and widows' and
orphans' pensions); perhaps
they
are
already
known to
you
from
Utrecht.[6]
Of
course,
I will
gladly provide
whatever further
information
on
this
or any
other
matter
you
request. Hoping
for
a quick
reply
from
you,
even
if it
is
only
a
preliminary
one,
I
remain
.
.
.
etc.
.
.
.