176 
.THE CENTENARY OF THE ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE. 
first article stating :—“ The Polytechnic School is suppressed, and in 
its place is created an Ecole Napoleonienne for the public services.” 
The school, however, was saved by the events of 1814. The hour of 
disasters sounded. Petty rancours and jealousies disappeared before 
the danger of the commonwealth; and the young cadets again shouted, 
“ Vive E Empereur /” and demanded to be led against the enemy. On 
the 21st March, together with several collegians who had joined them, 
and among whom was to be found Alfred de Vigny, the cadets of the 
Polytechnic defended the Barrier du Trone, and fought with heroism 
against the troops of the Prince of Wurtemburg. Among this band 
of gallant youths, fighting in the ranks, were Carnot, Enfantiu, Michel 
Chasles, etc. On the return from Elba, when the white flag of the 
Bourbons was taken from the Vendome column, there was immense 
excitement among tbe cadets, who hailed with delight the glorious 
arrival of Bonaparte in Paris, only to disappear for ever after the 
hundred days ! 
Full of reminiscences connected with the Imperial epoch, the school 
refused to rally to the .Restoration. The Royalists were wont to re¬ 
proach the school for following too closely the traditions of liberty, 
impiety, and even license. Meantime the re-awakening of industry, 
with the necessity for a period of peace and calm, required an institu¬ 
tion which might be a centre of instruction for young men, whose task 
it should be to apply science throughout the country and to labour for 
its renovation. A royal ordinance appeared on the 4th September, 
1816, suppressing the military regime in the school, which had caused 
General Eoy to declare that :—“ The Empire has transformed a nursery 
of savants into a seminary of warriors !” and re-organising the institu¬ 
tion by placing it under the protection of the Duke d’Angouleme. 
The usual acts of insubordination which had broken out under the 
Empire were re-commenced in a more pronounced fashion; and by 
such means the cadets obtained regular leave of absence on two days 
in the week, Sundays and Wednesdays. From this period may be 
dated the <e brimades ,> (hazing), the mystifications, initiations, etc., to 
which the juniors and “last-joined ” were forced to submit, as so-called 
conscritSj at the hands of the seniors, or anciens, the old cadets. This 
term of conscrit , although it was designated as humiliating by the then 
director, has, nevertheless, survived and come down to the present day. 
A code of laws, to which obedience was necessary, was also composed 
in this same year. It is the original of code X., still actively in force, 
which regulates the relations between themselves and with their pro¬ 
fessors. It begins thus :— 
(e j Uancien parte. Conscritj tiens ta langue captive 
Et prete a ses discours une oreille attentive .” 
At the death of the Duke de Berry, against whom there existed con¬ 
siderable personal animosity, a popular manifestation of joy took place 
at the school. On the 18th July, 1818, one of the bi-weekly holidays, 
in defiance of the prohibition issued by the authorities, the whole of the 
scholars betook themselves to the tomb of Monge, whose funeral had 
taken place on the previous day, and on it they deposited a bough of 
