APPOINTED TO THE CHAIR OF ANALYSIS. 85 
produce on the Emperor, himself a member of the Insti- 
tute, and hastened, under fear of my threat, to confirm 
the decision of General Lacuée. 
In the year 1809, I was chosen by the “ conseil du 
perfectionnement” of the Polytechnic School, to succeed 
M. Monge, in his chair of Analysis applied to Geometry. 
The circumstances attending that nomination have re- 
mained a secret; I seize the first opportunity which offers 
itself tome to make them known. 
M. Monge took the trouble to come to me one day, at 
the Observatory, to ask me to succeed him. I declined 
this honour, because of a proposed journey which I was 
going to make into Central Asia with M. de Humboldt. 
“You will certainly not set off for some months to come,” 
said the illustrious geometer; “ you could, therefore, take 
my place temporarily.” “ Your proposal,” I replied, 
“flatters me infinitely; but I do not know whether I 
ought to accept it. I have never read your great work 
on partial differential equations ; I do not, therefore, feel 
certain that I should be competent to give lessons to the 
pupils of the Polytechnic School on such a difficult the- 
ory.” “Try,” said he, “and you will find that that 
theory is clearer than it is generally supposed to be.” 
Accordingly, I did try ; and M. Monge’s opinion appeared 
to me to be well founded. 
The public could not comprehend, at that time, how it 
was that the benevolent M. Monge obstinately refused to 
confide the delivery of his course to M. Binet, (a private 
teacher under him,) whose zeal was well known. It is 
this motive which I am going to reveal. 
There was then in the “ Bois de Boulogne” a resi- 
dence named the Grey House, where there assembled 
round M. Coessin, the high-priest of a new religion, a 
