HIS RETURN TO PARIS. 435 



only till the 1st of May. It has been alleged that he 

 was recalled, because he refused to be accessory to the 

 deeds of terrorism which the minister of the hundred 

 days enjoined him to execute. The Academy will al- 

 ways be pleased when I collect together, and place on 

 record, actions which, while honouring its members, 

 throw new lustre around the entire" body. I even feel 

 that, in such a case, I may be disposed to be somewhat 

 credulous. On the present occasion, it was imperatively 

 necessary to institute a most rigorous examination. If 

 Fourier honoured himself by refusing to obey certain 

 orders, what are we to think of the minister of the inte- 

 rior from whom those orders emanated ? Now this min- 

 ister, it must not be forgotten, was also an academician, 

 illustrious by his military services, distinguished by his 

 mathematical works, esteemed and cherished by all his 

 colleagues. Well ! I declare, Gentlemen, with a satis- 

 faction which you will all share, that a most scrupulous 

 investigation of all the acts of the hundred days has not 

 disclosed a trace of anything which might detract from 

 the feelings of admiration with which the memory of 

 Carnot is associated in your minds. 



Upon quitting the Prefecture of the Rhone, Fourier 

 repaired to Paris. The Emperor, who was then upon 

 the eve of setting out to join the army, perceiving him 

 amid the crowd at the Tuileries, accosted him in a 

 friendly manner, informed him that Carnot would ex- 

 plan to him why his displacement at Lyons had become 

 indispensable, and promised to attend to his interest as 

 soon as military affairs would allow him some leisure 

 time. The second restoration found Fourier in the capi- 

 tal without employment, and justly anxious with respect 

 to the future. He, who, during a period of fifteen years, 

 administered the affairs of a great department ; who 



