condorcet: a biography. 207 



terms. Wliat must be my reply ? The most posith'e deuial of the charge : 

 Condorcet never pretended that the prayer was not by Vauvenargues ; 

 he said very clearly, on the contrary, that it was. Can there be possibly 

 such a thing as an anti-philosophical falsehood ? 



At the end of one of his best eulogies, that of Franklin, our confrere 

 blames very severely those persons who regulate their conduct upon 

 the maxim, old but of low morality, the end justifies the means, and 

 denounces indignantly all success obtained by falsehood or perfidy. 

 The actions of Condorcet were in accordance with these noble senti- 

 ments ; his life was one long contest, but he never had recourse to arms 

 obtained through disloyalty and untruth. 



Formerly every nomination to the French Academy was an event, 

 especially when men of the court were to be admitted. Condorcet took 

 part more than once in the debates these occasions produced, but never 

 allowed any consideration for rank to outweigh claims founded on true 

 literary merit. When Saint-Lambert requested him to inform Turgot 

 that the French Academy desired to give him a mark of its esteem and 

 to nominate him in the place of the Duke of Saint Aignan, Condorcet, 

 although he desired greatly that his friend should become a member 

 of the Academy, very plainly advised him to decline the nomination 

 if his acceptance should cause any one making literature a profession to 

 be rejected by the court, which was at that time always consulted before 

 the election of a member. Our confrere thus manifested his true esteem 

 and profound respect for the love of letters. 



His counsel was addressed to one worthy to ap[)reciate it. Tnrgot did 

 even more than his friend had advised. Here is his answer : " Thank 

 for me M. de Saint-Lambert. At this time it would not be suitable 

 for me to draw upon me the eyes of the public for any other purposes 

 than the affairs of ray ministry. I think there should be an effort made 

 to elect La Harpe. If this does not succeed, why should not the Acad- 

 emy take the Abbe Barthelemy "? And there is M. Chabauon ; not to con- 

 sider his claims to the nomination seems to me to be treating him very 

 severely. He is not, whatever may be said, without talent. They were 

 not always so i)articular." 



Perhaps in our time affairs are conducted as nobly; but even if this is 

 so, I do not regret these citations, for they prove that our fathers were 

 at least as worthy as ourselves. 



Condorcet entered into competition in 17S2 for the place of Saurin in 

 the French Academy, and carried the nomination by only one vote over 

 Bailly, the other candidate. The contest over the election was very 

 warm, d'Alembert representing one side and Buffon the other. La 

 Harpe gives some idea of the zeal manifested since he tells us that when 

 the issue of the votes was declared d'Alembert cried out before the 

 whole Academy: "I am more pleased to have gained this victory than 

 I would be if I had found the quadrature of the circle." 



