276 FRESNEL. 
which they might claim as a sacred debt, as soon as 
their dignity would become compromised. 
I have already mentioned how much the duties of 
examiner at the Ecole Polytechnique endangered the 
health of Fresnel; how desirable it became that his wish 
for aless laborious situation should be attained. The 
incontestable superiority of his scientific claims, the with- 
drawal of all competitors, the behaviour of one of our 
honourable colleagues, one of the first geometers of the 
age; and lastly, the active conduct of M. Becquey, 
who, on every occasion, treated Fresnel with the kind- 
ness of a father, had smoothed over many obstacles. 
The minister on whose decision the appointment de- 
pended had himself, during his youth, béen occupied 
with the study of the sciences in a distinguished degree ; 
he had even kept up the taste for them; he desired to 
see our colleague, and from that moment his nomination 
seemed sure; for the reserved manner of Fresnel, the 
sweetness of his character, the unaffected modesty of his 
language, conciliated instantly the goodwill even of those 
who did not understand his works ; but, alas, in the train 
of civil discords, to how many mistakes are we not ex- 
posed, if we proceed to judge of that which will be from 
that which ought to be. How many little circumstances, 
paltry interests, heterogeneous elements, come in and 
mix themselves with affairs the most simple, and prevail 
over rights the most incontestable. For my own part, I 
cannot say on what occasion the Minister of the Interior, 
addressing himself to the royalist volunteer of the Droéme, 
put the following question, clearly intimating that his 
nomination depended on the answer he gave: “Sir, are 
you truly on our side?” “If I understand rightly, 
Monseigneur, I should answer that there exists no one 
