388 JOSEPH FOURIER. 



and the elegance of his lectures soon procured for him 

 the unanimous applause of the fastidious and numerous 

 audience which was confided to him. 



When he attained the height of his scientific and lite- 

 rary glory, Fourier used to look back with pleasure 

 upon the year 1794, and upon the sublime efforts which 

 the French nation then made for the purpose of organiz- 

 ing a Corps of Public Instruction. If he had ventured, 

 the title of Pupil of the original Normal School would 

 have been beyond doubt that which he would have 

 assumed by way of preference. Gentlemen, that school 

 perished of cold, of wretchedness, and of hunger, and 

 not, whatever people may say, from certain defects of 

 organization which time and reflection would have easily 

 rectified. Notwithstanding its short existence, it im- 

 parted to scientific studies quite a new direction which 

 has been productive of the most important results. In 

 supporting this opinion at some length, I shall acquit 

 myself of a task which Fourier would certainly have 

 imposed upon me, if he could have suspected, that with 

 just and eloquent eulogiums of his character and his 

 labours there should mingle within the walls of this 

 apartment, and even emanate from the mouth of one 

 of his successors, sharp critiques of his beloved Normal 

 School. 



It is to the Normal School that we must inevitably 

 ascend if we would desire to ascertain the earliest public 

 teaching of descriptive Geometry, that fine creation of 

 the genius of Monge. It is from this source that it has 

 passed almost without modification to the Polytechnic 

 School, to foundries, to manufactories, and the most hum- 

 ble workshops. 



The establishment of the Normal School accordingly 



