much astonishment: "If, notwithstanding, the people withhold from calling a convention to pronounce if the throne should be continued, if the inheritance for a short number of years is divided between two conventions, royalty, in this case, is not essentially contrary to the rights of citizens." He made allusion also to the rumor which had been circulated, as to his being appointed tutor to the dauphin, and said that, in this case, he would be more likely to teach him how to pass from the throne.

This appearance of indecision did not please the republicans, and offended the royalists. The latter were still more wounded when a pamphlet was circulated over Paris, witty and satirical, though written by so grave a hand. In this, Condorcet was probably the echo and secretary of the young society which frequented his salon. The pamphlet was entitled A Letter from a Young Mechanic, who, for a moderate sum, engaged to make an excellent constitutional king. "This king," he said, "will admirably perform all the duties of royalty; will walk at ceremonies; will seat itself becomingly; will go to mass; and even,

by means of a certain spring, will take the list of ministers designated by majority from the hands of the President of the Assembly. My king will not be dangerous to liberty; and even, by carefully repairing him, he will be eternal, which is still better than being hereditary. He could even be declared inviolate without injustice, and said to be infallible without absurdity."

It was a remarkable thing, that this grave, middle-aged man, who was embarking a jest on the ocean of the revolution, never hid from himself the dangers by which he would be surrounded. Full of faith for mankind in the far-off future, he had less of it for the present; he did not attempt to conceal from himself his situation; he was fully aware of the dangers which surrounded him. He feared them, not for himself (for he had voluntarily given up his life), but for this adored wife, and young child, born at the sacred moment of July. For several months, he had informed himself secretly of the port by which, if forced to fly, he could enable his family to escape, and he chose that of Saint Valery. All was put off, and the event approached nearer and nearer. It reached

Condorcet; this man, formerly so prudent, became reckless in the height of the Reign of Terror. Author of the plan of the Constitution in '92, he violently attacked the Constitution of '93, and was forced to seek an asylum from proscription.

CHAPTER XI.

FINISHED.-MADAME DE CONDORCET. (1794.)

"Love is as strong as death." And perhaps it was in these times of death it found its triumph; for death adds to love a something sharp, yet dazzling; bitter, yet divine, which is not felt here below. Who has not said a hundred times, whilst reading the fearless travels of Louvet over France in search of his beloved, particularly when reunited by fate in the hiding-place in Paris, or in the cavern on the Jura, they fell fainting, entirely overcome, into each other's arms: "Oh, death, if thou hast the power of increasing a hundredfold, of transfiguring the joys of life at such a time, thou hast truly the keys of heaven!"

Love saved Louvet; but it killed Desmoulins by strengthening him in his heroism; and it was not entirely unconnected with the death of Condorcet.

The 6th of April, 1794, Louvet re-entered Paris, to see Lodoiska; Condorcet left it, in order to diminish the dangers of his Sophie.

At least, this is the only explanation that can be found of the flight of the proscribed, in causing him to leave his asylum.

To believe the report that Condorcet left Paris simply to see the country, attracted by the spring weather, is not only a strange, but improbable and trifling explanation. In order that the reason may be well understood, we must explain the situation of this family.

Madame de Condorcet, the young, beautiful, and virtuous wife of an illustrious proscribed, old enough to be her father, by the seizure and confiscation of her property, was in a state of complete destitution, and neither of them possessed the means of flight. Their friend Cabanis applied to two medical students, who have since become very celebrated, Pinel and Boyer. Condorcet was placed by them in a kind of public house, kept by a woman called Vernet, near the Luxembourg, who took a few boarders; this lady was perfection. A Montagnard, who lodged in the house, was kind and discreet, meeting Condorcet every