116 CARNOT. 



does them a favour ; but if he speaks only to show off 

 his own learning, they do him a favour in listening." 



Modesty, moreover, is not a quality deserving of re- 

 spect and esteem, except in isolated individuals. Bodies 

 of men, and especially academies, would be guilty of a 

 fault, and would be wanting in a principal duty, if they 

 neglected to adorn themselves in the eyes of the public 

 with the legitimate claims they have earned to the 

 esteem, gratitude, and admiration of the world. The 

 more justly celebrated they are, the stronger is the 

 desire to belong to such institutions, and the more the 

 laborious efforts made to attain this aim turn to the 

 advantage of science, and to the glory of the human 

 mind. This thought has encouraged me, Gentlemen, to 

 unroll to your eyes, in all its details and in its true colours, 

 the very eventful, varied, and stormy life of Carnot. 

 For nearly two centuries the Academy of Sciences con- 

 scientiously has preserved the memory of the geometers, 

 the physicists, the astronomers, the naturalists, who 

 have rendered it illustrious. The name of the great 

 citizen who by his genius preserved France from foreign 

 dominion, has appeared to me to deserve being inscribed 

 with some solemnity in this glorious Pantheon. 



