AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FRANCIS ARAGO. 193 



All ray remonstrances and those of my friends having been fruitless, 

 I announced to the honorable general that I should present myself in 

 the Place de I'Estrapade, whence the conscripts had to depart, in the 

 costume of a member of the Institute; and that thus I should march on 

 foot through the city of Paris. General Matthieu Dumas was alarmed 

 at the eifect which this scene would produce on the Emperor, himself a 

 member of the Institute, and hastened, under fear of my threat, to con- 

 lirm the decision of General Lacu6e. 



In the year 1809, I was chosen by the "conseil du perfectionnement" 

 of the Polytechnic School to succeed M. Monge, in his chair of analysis 

 aj)plied to geometry. The circumstances attending that nomination 

 have remained a secret ', I seize the first opportunity which offers itself 

 to me to make them known. 



M. Monge took the trouble to come to me one day, at the observatory, 

 to ask me to succeed him. I declined this honor, because of a pro])osed 

 journey which I was going to make into Central Asia with M. de Hum- 

 boldt. "You will certainly not set off for some months to come," said the 

 llustrious geometer ; " you could, therefore, take my place temporarily." 

 ''Your proposal," I replied, "flatters me infinitely; but I do not know 

 whether I ought to accept it. I have never read your great work on 

 partial differential equations ; I do not, therefore, feel certain that I 

 should be competent to give lessons to the pupils of the Polytechnic 

 School on such a difficult theory." " Try," said lie, " and you will find 

 that that theory is clearer than it is generally supposed to be." Accor- 

 dingly, I did try; and M. Monge's opinion appeared to me to be well 

 founded. 



The public could not comprehend, at that time, how it was that the 

 benevolent M. Monge obstinately refused to confide the deliver}^ of his 

 course to M. Biuet, (a private teacher under him,) whose zeal was well 

 known. It is this motive which I am going to reveal. 



There Avas then in the " Bois de Boulogne " a residence named the 

 Grey House, where there assembled around M. Coessin, the hig-h-priest 

 of a new religion, a number of adepts, such as Lesueur, the musician, 

 Colin, private teacher of chemistry at the school, M. Binet, &g. A report 

 from the prefect of police had signified to the Emperor that the frequent- 

 ers of the Grey House were connected with the Society of Jesuits. The 

 Emperor was uneasy and irritated at this. " Well," said he to M. Monge, 

 "there are your dear pupils become disciples of Loyola!" And on 

 Monge's denial, "Y^'ou deny it, " answered the Emperor; "well, then, 

 know that the private teacher of your course is in that clique." Every 

 one can understand that after such a remark, Monge could not consent 

 to being succeeded by M. Binet. 



Having entered the Academy, young, ardent, and impassioned, I took 

 much greater i:>art in the nominations than may have been suitable for 

 my position and my time of life. Arrived at an epoch of life whence I 

 examine retrospectively all my actions with calmness and impartiality, 



13 S 



