g, beautiful, and gifted Mme. de Condorcet had its
roots in the old order of things. During the ministry of Necker it was
in come degree a rival of the Salon Helvetique, and included many of the
same guests; later it became a rendezvous for the revolutionary party.
The Marquis de Condorcet was not only philosopher, savant, litterateur,
a member of two academies, and among the profoundest thinkers of his
time, but a man of the world, who inherited the tastes and habits of the
old noblesse. His wife, whom he had married late in life, was Sophie de
Grouchy, sister of the Marechal, and was noted for remarkable talents,
as well as for surpassing beauty. Belonging by birth and associations to
the aristocracy, and by her pronounced opinions to the radical side of
the philosophic party, her salon was a center in which two worlds met.
In its palmy days people were only speculating upon the borders of an
abyss which had not yet opened visibly before them. The revolutionary
spirit ran high, but had not passed the limits of reason and humanity.
Mme. de Condorcet, who was deeply tinged with the new doctrines,
presided with charming grace, and her youthful beauty lent an added
fascination to the brilliancy of her intellect and the rather grave
eloquence of her conversation. In her drawing room were gathered men
of letters and women of talent, nobles and scientists, philosophers and
Beaux Esprits. Turgot and Malesherbes represented its political side;
Marmontel, the Abbe Morellet, and Suard lent it some of the wit and
vivacity that shone in the old salons. Literature, science, and the
arts were discussed here, and there was more or less reading, music, or
recitation. But the tendency was towards serious conversation, and the
tone was often controversial.

The character of Condorcet was a sincere and elevated one. "He loved
much and he loved many people," said Mlle. de Lespinasse. He aimed at
enlightening and regenerating the world, not at overturning it; but,
like many others, strong souls and true, he was led from practical
truth in the pursuit of an ideal one. His wife, who shared his political
opinions, united with them a fiery and independent spirit that was not
content with theories. Her philosophic tastes led her to translate Adam
Smith, and to write a fine analysis of the "Moral Sentiments." But the
sympathy of which she spoke so beautifully, and which gave so living
a force to the philosophy it illuminated, if not directed by b