LATOUR D'AUVERGNE. 109 



short, that it was requisite, from the character of gener- 

 osity with which you are animated, that I should allow 

 some gratification to my companions in travel and in 

 fatigue ! " Be pleased to remember, Gentlemen, that the 

 journey, the eclat, the gratifications amounted altogether 

 to 13,320 francs ; do not forget that it was one of the 

 ministers, inspecting armies who was going to decide on 

 the fate of his country, who spoke thus, and you will 

 agree with me, I think, that if the world is improving, it 

 is not in economy. 



The Treasury did not know under what form to record 

 the 10,680 francs returned by Carnot ; but it was not the 

 first essay on the part of our colleague : by searching 

 back to the epochs when he inspected the Republican 

 armies, as representative of the people, the Clerks of 

 Finance found in their registers the forms they sought, 

 and these occurred as often as Carnot had executed simi- 

 lar missions. 



The name of Carnot would still present itself to my 

 mind if, after so many instances furnished by history in 

 all countries, it were yet required to prove that an ardent 

 mind can be allied to cold and reserved manners. Un- 

 doubtedly, no one ever had a right to say of him, as 

 D'Alembert said of one of the old secretaries of our 

 Academy : He is a volcano covered with snow ; but I 

 may be allowed to show at least, that our colleague's con- 

 ceptions often had a certain something in them that went 

 direct to the heart, touching, moving, electrifying ; some- 

 thing, in short, stamped with an indefinable seal, never 

 borne by the works of heartless men, of men whose facul- 

 ties have no concentration of mind. Two more citations, 

 and my thesis will be proved. 



Latour of Auvergne, born of the Turenne family, did 



