Il6 NOTES OF CONVERSATIONS [1814. 



upon a work that had been referred to it ; and there 

 was nothing' particularly striking- in his statements. 

 But I was a good deal struck with the concise and 

 clear report of another member, General Carnot. He 

 said the work which had been referred to his commis- 

 sion consisted of tilings which fell under two several 

 descriptions. One portion was of little or no value, 

 and that was new. The other had some value, but 

 that Avas not new. He hardly had any more to ob- 

 serve ; but tliis was decisive. 



I called upon the General, and was most kindly 

 received. I had several long interviews with him, 

 and discussed many subjects, both political and mathe- 

 matical; of the former we talked over the affairs of 

 the day, in which he took naturally a great interest, 

 having exposed himself to a prosecution for an able 

 pamphlet which he had published soon after the Re- 

 storation."'" But of course it was much more interest- 

 ing to hear him upon the times in which he had played 

 so great a part, and his views of certain subjects of 

 science on which he had written. I deemed it right 

 on this occasion to make an exception to my rule of 

 never takin^ 1 a note of any conversation. This was 



O J 



the only exception I ever made to my rule, for where 

 I had an official duty to perform, it of course could 

 not apply. Unless to Romilly, I never showed this 

 conversation; indeed, it was written in French, and 

 but for Ills encouragement as to the language, I should 

 not have been disposed to keep it. However, it was 

 sent to Brougham, and having been found a year or 



* ' Memorial of Monsieur Turnot, Lieutenant-General in the French 



army, Knight of the Order of Si Louis, Member of the Legion of Honour 

 and of the Institute of France. Addressed to His Most Christian Ma- 

 jesty, Louis XVJII.' Translated by Louis Goldsmith. London: 1814. 



