112 ; CARNOT. 
rough block of stone that covered the body of the jirst 
Grenadier of France. 
I return thanks, Gentlemen, to M. de Savary, the ven- 
erable old man, who, a witness of the touching scene near 
Oberhausen, has allowed me to draw it from oblivion, and 
thus to unite in one mutual sentiment, the admirable 
army of Austerlitz with the admirable armies of the Re- 
public. I am happy also, that names which are dear to 
you, that the names of two of our old colleagues, that the 
names of Latour d’Auvergne and of Carnot, happen to 
occupy so noble a place in this patriotic reminiscence ! 
Great employments, like great heights, usually occasion 
a vertigo in the heads of those who reach them suddenly. 
This man thinks that by pageantry and prodigality he 
ought to make people forget the years he has passed in 
mediocrity and constraint. That man becomes disdainful 
and insolent, harsh and churlish, and thus revenges him- 
self on the unfortunate people who have now to solicit 
him, for the disdain, the arrogance, the brutality that he 
had to undergo when he had to solicit them. A crowd of 
names of individuals suggest themselves to fill up this 
sketch, in case any one should dispute its fidelity. Do 
not suppose, however, that by passing over some mush- 
rooms so lightly, I intend to constitute myself the advo- 
cate of privilege ; I wish to prove, on the contrary, by 
the example of Carnot, that minds of a certain tempera- 
ment can resist contagion. 
Six months after the coup d'état, on the 18th Fructi- 
dor, Carnot is officially accused to the Council of the 
Five Hundred of having had frequent and intimate com- 
munications with Pichegru, at a time when that general, 
a member of the Legislative Body, soiled his brilliant 
military reputation by his intrigues. Carnot denies such 
