CONDORCET. 55 
attention was not, however, entirely abforbed in thefe 
recondite ftudies. He pubhftied, about this time, an ano¬ 
nymous pamphlet, intitled, A Letter to a Theologian,-in 
which he replied with keen (atire to the attacks made by 
the author of die Three Centuries of Literature againft 
the philofophical fe£t : “ but (lubjoins his biographer, La 
Lande) he puffied the matter fame what too far; for, ad¬ 
mitting the julfnefs of his fyftem, it were more prudent to 
confine within the circle of the initiated, .thofe truths 
which are dangerous for the multitude, who cannot re¬ 
place by found principles what they would lofe of fear, 
of confolation, and of hope.” 
On the 10th of June, 1773, being made perpetual fecre- 
tary of the academy of fciences, he difeharged that im¬ 
portant trull with great ability, and uncommon reputa¬ 
tion. The duties of his office required him to write the 
lives of the deceafed academicians, which he performed 
with diligence, judgment, and univerfal applaufe; and 
what fpecies of compofition is capable of being rendered 
fo extenfively ufeful as biography ? In the molt infinu- 
ating form it conveys inftrufition ; and, bellowing vita¬ 
lity and action on the rules of conduit and on the leffons 
of virtue, it fires the bread with the noblelt emulation. 
The life of a philofopher muftalfo include a portion’of the 
hiltory of fcience. We there trace the fucceffive fteps 
which led to difeoveries, and learn to eftimate the value 
of thole acquifitions by the efforts that were made, and 
the obftacles that were furmounted. The literati of France 
have long excelled in the fuperior compofition of eloges : 
but thole of Condorcet are of a very fuperior call. .Re¬ 
plete with information and genuine fcience, they main¬ 
tain a dignified impartiality, and difplay vigour of ima¬ 
gination with boldnefs and energy of itiie. The intrepi¬ 
dity with which he uttered the fentiments of truth and 
of freedom, could not have been expected from the mouth 
of an academician under an abfolute monarchy. Befides 
the'eloges, which properly belonged to his province, Con- 
dorcet pubiifhed, in a feparate volume, the lives of thofe 
faajanis, who, having died before the renewal of the aca¬ 
demy in 1699, did not fall in with the plan of Fontenelle. 
The fuppreffiem of the hiltory of the academy, or the re¬ 
gular abltraCts of the printed memoirs* which be effected 
In 1783, afforded him more leifure. In 1787 appeared, 
yet without a name, his account of Turgot; an inefti- 
mable piece, which, in developing, the beneficent views 
of a virtuous and enlightened miniltet, exhibits the neareft 
abllraCfiof the principles of political economy that is ex¬ 
tant in any language. Nearly about the fame time, he 
compol'ed that elegant life which is prefixed to the fiplen- 
did edition of the works of Voltaire. Conaorcet had been 
elefted member of the Academie Frar,$aife in 1782; and his 
reputation as a fine writer was fo well eftabliffied, that 
bookfeliers were felicitous to cover their undertakings 
with the fanftion of his name. He promifed an additional 
volume to the tranflation of Euler’s Letters to a German 
PrinceTs, but it was never finifhe.d. The part which was 
printed, amounting only to one hundred and twelve pages, 
contains the elements of the calculation of probabilities, 
and a curious plan of a dictionary, in which objects Ihould 
be arranged by their qualities merely. A new tranflation 
of Smith’s celebrated Wealth of Nations was like wile an¬ 
nounced with the notes of Condorcet, though he was 
never heartily engaged about it. On equally flight 
grounds, his name was lent to the Bibliothcque de I'Homme 
Public ; and the facility of his temper laid him but too 
■open, at this period, to fuch diiingenuous arts. Thefe 
literary purfuits did not entirely feduce Condorcet from 
more profound Audies. At the inftigation of Turgot, he 
fought to apply analyfis to queftions of politics and mo¬ 
rality. His firit Memoir on Probabilities was read to the 
academy in 1781. He afterward extended his refearches 
to the confideration of elections, applying the rules of al¬ 
gebra to determining the probability of decilions by vote, 
of Tales, and fucceffions ; and, digefting thofe remarks and 
calculations into a fyftematic Ihape, he publifhed, in 1785 
a quarto volume, containing the elements of a new and 
important fcience. 
It is eafy to conceive the intereft that Condorcet would 
take in the fuccefs of the French revolution. Aware of 
the prodigious influence of newfpapers, he contributed 
largely to the Journal de Paris, and,the Chronique , which 
acquired great celebrity from the elegance of his pen; 
and not very long before his death, he began, in concert 
with the famous Skyes, a journal offocinl inltruCtion. In 
1791, lie wrote a pamphlet in favour of republican go¬ 
vernment, which procured him a feat in the legiflative 
affembly, and the academy permitted him ftill to retain 
the office of fecretary. He adted with that party which 
had Vergniaux, Genionne, Gaudet, and,Ifnard, for its 
advocates, and which has been called Rolandift, Briffo- 
tine, and Girondift. He drew up a manifeflo on thefub- 
jeft of the war, menaced by the crowned heads; and a 
very ample and excellent report on public inftruStion, 
which has in part been lately adopted by the councils of 
France. He was an early member of the jacobin club 
that afitive inftrument of the revolution : but, perceiving 
the progreflive ferocity of its meafures, he forfook it in 
March 1792. On the 13th of Auguft, when the king was 
conduced to the temple, Condorcet was named by the 
affembly to draw up a juftificatory memorial addreffed to 
all Europe. At the diffolution of that affembly, he was 
chofen deputy to the national convention, and for fome 
time added a diftinguiffied part in its deliberations. He 
was at the head of the committee appointed to prepare 
the plan of a republican conAitution : but, in the mean¬ 
while, the faftion of the mountain, with a peculiar energy 
of charafter, was rapidly acquiring Arength. The report 
of the committee was coldly received; was even treated 
with contempt; and, on the 31ft of May, 1793, Robe- 
fpierre completely triumphed. The Briffotins were ar- 
reAed, outlawed, difperfed ; and Condorcet, having voted 
againA the death of the king, was involved in the pro- 
feription. For fome months, he obtained an afylum at 
Paris in the houfe of a lady who was ignorant of his per- 
fon, but commiferated his lot. Nothing, however, could 
elude the vigilance of the tyrant. Menaces of a drift 
domiciliary vifit compelled him at lalt, in March 1794., 
to quit his concealment. Under the difguife of a Pro¬ 
vencal countrywoman, he efcaped the barriers, and paffed 
the firft night on the plain of Montrouge. On the next 
morning, he repaired to the houfe of an old friend at 
Fontenai, who moft unfortunately had gone to Paris, and 
was not expefteef to return for rwo days. In this de¬ 
plorable ftate of fufpence did Condorcet pafs one night in 
a quarry, and another under a tree in the fields. On the 
third day, exhauAed by hunger, fatigue, and anguifh, and 
fcarcely able to drag himfelf along, he was returning to 
the houfe of his friend, when he law him approach, was 
recognized, and received with open arms. But, as they 
both feared left Condorcet’s enquiries atlhis friend’s houie 
fhould have raifed fufpicions ; and as, at any rate, it was 
not advifable for them to make their entrance together in 
the day-time, they agreed that Condorcet fhould Aay in 
the fields till dufk, and then be let in by a back-door. It 
was at this critical moment that imprudence threw hin» 
oft' his guard. The forlorn exile, after having patiently 
borne hunger and third: for three fucceffive days and 
nights, without fo much as approaching an inn, now 
found himfelf iricapable of waiting a few hours longer, 
at the end of which all his fufferings were to iu'ofide in the 
bolom of friendAiip. Tranl'ported with this happy pro- 
fpeft, and foregoing all caution, which tiil then feemed 
to have become habitual to him, he entered an inn at 
Clamars, and called for an ommelette. His female attire, 
his dirty cap, and dong beard, his pale meagre counte¬ 
nance, and the ravenous appetite with which he devoured 
the viftuals, could not fail to excite the curiofity and fuf- 
picion of the people, who gave notice of the circumftance 
to the police. A member of the revolutionary commit¬ 
tee of Clamar demanded his paffport, led him away to the 
committee, 
1 
