CONDORCET: A BIOGRAPHY. 223 



to self-sacrifice. These qualities obviated the necessity of circumlo- 

 cution and long negotiation. "Madana," said MM. Boyer and Pinel, 

 " we wish to save a proscript." " Is he an honest man ; is he virtuous ? " 

 "Yes, madam." "In that case, let him come!" "We will tell you his 

 name." "You can tell me that later; lose not a moment; while we 

 speak together, your friend may be arrested." 



That same evening Condorcet intrusted his life to a woman whose 

 existence even a few hours before was unknown to him. 



Condorcet was not the first fugitive received at No. 21 ; one other had 

 preceded him there. Madam Vernet never consented, in regard to this un- 

 known, to satisfy the natural curiosity of the family of our confrere. Even 

 in 1830, after nearly thirty-seven years had elapsed, her answers to the 

 pressing questions of Madam O'Connor never passed beyond vague 

 generalities. The refugee, she said, was a great enemy of the revolution ; 

 he lacked firmness, was frightened by the least noise in the street, and 

 did not quit his retreat until after the 9th Thermidor. The excellent 

 woman added, with a smile and some sadness, " Since that time I have 

 not seen him ; how do you suppose I can recollect his name." 



Our confrere had hardly entered his retreat in Servandoni street, 

 when he became a prey to the most cruel mental torture. His income 

 was seized; he could not dispose of a straw belongiug to him. For 

 himself, personally, he did not suffer on this account, for Madam Ver- 

 net provided for his necessities ; with this incomparable woman to as- 

 sist an unfortunate was so much a matter of duty, that afterward, when 

 the family of the illustrious secretary became opulent, they endeavored 

 in vain, with repeated and constantly-renewed efforts, to induce her to 

 receive some remuneration. 



But, safe himself, " Where," thought the illustrious academician, "will 

 she live who is so unfortunate as to bear my name to-day, when every 

 noble woman, and much more every wife of a proscript, is excluded from 

 the capital ?" " Trust to the resources of a devoted wife." JNIadam Con- 

 dorcet managed to come into Paris every morning with the purveyors 

 of the markets. " But how will she support herself?" still demanded our 

 confrere in his uneasy solicitude. It seemed, in fact, impossible that a 

 lady delicately reared, accustomed to be served and not to serve others, 

 could gain by her own exertions sufficient maintenance for herself, her 

 young daughter, her sick sister, and an old housekeeper. But the ap- 

 parently impossible was soon in fact accomplished. The need of some 

 representation of the lineaments of relations and friends is never greater 

 than during a revolution. Madam de Condorcet passed her days in 

 making portraits now in the prisons, and these were the most in demand; 

 now in the silent retreats the charitable secured for the proscribed; in 

 the brilliant drawing-rooms, or in the modest habitations of citizens of all 

 classes who considered themselves threatened by approaching danger. 

 The skill of Madam Condorcet also rendered much less vexatious, much 

 less perilous, the frequent raids of detachments of the revolutionary 



