LIFE OF SADI CARNOT. 27 



this matter than ability, but he was weary of 

 garrison life. The stay in small fortresses to 

 which the nature of his work confined him did 

 not offer sufficient resources to his love of study. 

 Then he hoped, and his hope was realized, that a 

 request for a furlough would be obtained without 

 difficulty, and would insure him the leisure that 

 he sought. In spite of the friendly opposition of 

 some chiefs of the engineer corps, testifying to a 

 sincere regret at the removal from their register 

 of a name which had gained honor among them, 

 Sadi came to Paris to take the examination, and 

 was appointed lieutenant on the staff, January 20, 

 1819. 



He hastened to obtain his furlough, and availed 

 himself of it to lead, in Paris and in the country 

 round about Paris, a studious life interrupted but 

 once, in 1821, by a journey to Germany to visit our 

 father in his exile at Magdeburg. We had then 

 the pleasure of passing some weeks all three to- 

 gether. 



When, two years later, death took from us this 

 revered father and I returned alone to France, I 

 found Sadi devoting himself to his scientific studies, 

 which he alternated with the culture of the arts. 

 In this way also, his tastes had marked out for 

 him an original direction, for no one was more 



