CON ' • v - . 
<xUh which pontifical ambition had inundated or fullied 
the church—'.lie fecrets of the laity delivered up by con- 
feffion to the intrigues and pafiions of priefts—God him- 
lelf fcarcely retaining a puny fhare in adorations laviflied 
on bread and men, bones and (latues. Luther announced 
to the aftonilhed nations, that thefe offenfive inftitutions 
were not Chriftianity, but its corruptions; and that, to 
be faithful to the religion of Jefus Clirift, it was necef- 
fary to begin by abjuring that of his minifters. He em¬ 
ployed alike the weapons of logic and learning, and the 
no lei’s powerful fhafts of ridicule. It was no longer as 
in the times of the Albigefe and of Hufs, whofe doc- 
• trine, unknown beyond the limits of their own churches, 
was fo eafily calumniated. The vernacular books of the 
new apoltles vifited every village of the empire, while 
their Latin works roufed all Europe from the infamous 
dumber luperinduced by fuperftition. In this chapter 
fome objections to an univerfal language employed by 
the learned only, are well ftated : it would tend to em¬ 
body the lettered, as in China, into a tyrannical prieft- 
hood. 
The ninth period extends to the inftitution of the 
French republic, and gives occafion to fome important 
reflections on the opinions which have prepared its ori¬ 
gin. In enumerating fome diftinguiflied. teachers of in¬ 
fidelity, the name of Collins occurs, a writer now fo little 
regarded in this country, that his works, though much 
noticed in his lifetime, have never been collected. 
The tenth and concluding feCtion ventures to antici¬ 
pate the future progrefs of the human mind; to repre¬ 
sent wealth, inltruCtion, virtue, and liappinefs, as diffu¬ 
sing themfelves more and more equally among an impro¬ 
ved race of men, in confequence of the more equitable 
inftitutions of government, of which the revolution of 
France is to exhibit both the pattern-and the forge. The 
expectation of this millennium ought to be the reward of 
the difinterefted philofopher. Its contemplation is for 
him an afylum, whither the remembrance of his perfecu- 
tors cannot purfue: where, dwelling in thought with 
men re-eftablifhed in the rights and dignity of their na¬ 
ture, he forgets thofe whom cupidity, or fear, or envy, 
torments. There he in truth exiits amid his equals; in 
an elyfium which his reafon created, and which his love 
of human kind embellifhes with the pureft enjoyments. 
The fortunes and talents of Condorcet are fo cele¬ 
brated, that any work written by him muff at this time 
attraft general attention. A hefitation to admire with 
enthufiafm is likely to be ranked among the carpings 
of party prejudice. Yet, to own the truth, Condorcet 
appears to us gifted rather with an ingenious and fubtile 
than with a clear and ftrong mind. His eloquence has 
a glittering fliewy famenefs, not the fluctuation that 
Sweeps away when it Swells. His information is rather 
univerfal than profound. His opinions Seem calt in the 
general mould of the French left, not chizelled with 
the bold hand of original genius. Kis patriotifm has a 
tinCture of illiberality, and his philofophy of intolerance. 
Yet there are few perfons who will not derive from his 
writings both entertainment and inltruCtion. 
A molt Severe charge is brought againlt Condorc. , by 
an emigrant writer, Count Tilly, which accufes him of 
having been inllrumental to the murder of his friend and 
benefaCtor -the duke de la Rochefoucauld. We fltould 
hope and indeed infer, as moll others have done, from 
the virulence and feverity with which this charge is 
brought, and unfupported by any evidence, that it is 
wholly unfounded. 
About the end of the year 1786, Condorcet married 
Marie Louife Sophie de Grouchy, whofe youth, wit, and 
beauty, were lels attractive in the eyes of a philofopher, 
than the tender and courageous anxiety with which Ihe 
watched the couch and affuaged the fufferings of the fon 
of the president Du Faty, who had been bitten by a mad 
dog. r I his union was fatal, however, to- his repofe ; it 
tempted him into the dangerous road of ambition; and 
Vol. W No. 353. 
CON 57 
the idea of providing, in high life, for a wife and daugh¬ 
ter, induced him to leek for offices which once he would 
have defpifed. Newton was matter of the mint, Condor¬ 
cet was commiffioner of the national treafory. 
CONDO'RE, or Pulo Condore, an illand intheEaf- 
tern-Indian fea, about twenty leagues from the coaft of 
Cochin-china. The illand is fertile, with an excellent, 
harbour, which induced the Englilh Ealt-India company 
to form a fettlement here in 1702 ; but a quarrel .happen¬ 
ing, molt of the faCtory were murdered by the Cochin- 
chinefe, and the re ft expelled in the year 1705. This 
illand was vifited by lord Macartney as he failed to China, 
and is thus defcribed by fir George Staunton : “ It has 
the advantage of convenient anchoring-places in either 
monfoon. Our fquadron accordingly dapped, on the 
17th of May, in a fpacious bay on the eallern fide of its 
fouthern extremity, as the water Ihoaled there to five fa¬ 
thoms and a half, occafioned by a bank which ftretches 
acrofs two-thirds of the entrance. It was found after¬ 
wards, that beyond the bank there is a fafe paffage to ihe 
inner part of the bay, the north of which is Iheltered by 
a fmall illand lying to the eaftward. The whole of the 
bay is formed by four fmall ifiands, which approach fo 
nearly to each other, as to appear, from feveral points, 
to join. They all feem to be the rude fragments of pri¬ 
mitive mountains, feparated from the great continent in 
the lapfe of time. The principal illand is eleven or twelve 
miles in length, and about three in breadth. It is in the 
form of 3 crefcent, and confifts of a ridge of peaked hills. 
Its latitude, fts calculated from a meridional obfervation, 
is 8° 40' north from the equator; and its longitude, ac¬ 
cording to a good chronometer, is 105 0 55' eaft from 
Greenwich. The Englifn had a fettlement here, until 
the beginning of the eighteenth century, when fome 
Mala foldiers in their pay, in refentment for fome un- 
juliifiable treatment, murdered their luperiors, with the 
exception of a very few who efcaped off the illand, where 
no Europeans have fince refided. At the bottom ol the 
bay was a village fituated dole to a fine fandy beach, witii 
a long range of cocoa-nut trees before it, and it was de¬ 
fended from the north-eaft by a reef of coral rocks, within 
which was good anchorage for fmall veffels. A party went 
on.lhore from lord Macartney's fquadron, with the pre¬ 
caution of being armed, as large canoes were efpied within 
the reef, which might have been Mala pirates. Sever;'.! 
of the inhabitants came to the beach, and with the ap¬ 
pearance of much uibanity of manners welcomed them 
on-fliore, and conduced them to the houfe of their chief. 
It was a neat bamboo cabin, larger than the reft. The 
floor was elevated a few feet above the ground, and ftrewed 
with mats, on which were affembledas many men as the 
place could hold. It was apparently on the occafion of 
fome feftival, or pleafurable meeting. There was in one 
of the apartments an altar decorated with images, and 
the partitions hung with figures of monftrous deities; 
but the countenances and deportment of the people con¬ 
veyed no idea of religious awe, and no perfon was feen 
in the pofture of prayer or adoration. A few fpears (food 
againlt the wall with their points downwards, together 
with fome matchlocks and a fwivel-gun. The drels of 
thefe people was compofed chiefly of blue cotton worn 
loofely about them ; and their flat faces and little eyes de¬ 
noted a Chinefe origin or relation. Several long flips of 
paper, hanging from the ceiling, were covered with co¬ 
lumns of Chinefe writing. One of the interpreters, who 
was of the party, could not, however, in any degree, un¬ 
derhand their con verlation; but, when the words were 
written, they inftantly became intelligible to him. Though 
their colloquial language was altogether different from 
what is fpoken in China, yet the charadlers were all Chi¬ 
nefe; and the faft was clearly afcertained on this occa¬ 
fion, that thofe characters have an equal advantage with 
Arabic numbers, of which the figures convey the fame 
meaning wherever known ; whereas the letters of other 
languages denote not things, but elementary found-.' 
Q ” whieft 
