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Réflexions sur la Révolution de 1688, et sur celle du 10 août 1792. Par Condorcet

1792-09 Subjects: History, Politics and government, Revolutions Forms: Essays Translation Status: Source-text French Dunkirk, Paris URL

Contributions

Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet
author

Related resources

has translation
Reflections on the English Revolution of 1688, and that of the French, August 10, 1792. By Condorcet. Translated from the French translation has other edition

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Notes

Composed within a month of the events of 10 August, Condorcet assumes the role of defender of the Revolution in this 20-page pamphlet. For Condorcet, it was no longer a private matter for France but concerned the whole of Europe, whose solidarity with the Revolution, he now sought to ensure.

According to A. Owen Aldridge, two versions of this were printed in Paris and one in Dunkirk. None carry the name of a publisher, suggesting a private printing. It was immediately translated into English and published in The Star and Evening Advertiser, the first daily evening newspaper in the world, founded in 1788 by the publishers John Murray and William Lane. It was then spun off as a stand-alone pamphlet in London (Ridgway) and as part of a composite pamphlet with other texts in Manchester (Falkner). There appears to be no information on the translator or how it found its way into the pages of The Star.

Condorcet uses this pamphlet to argue the case for similarities between the revolutions in England and France, suggesting they shared much in common. For Paine, as set out in both parts of Rights of Man (1791-92), the two events were fundamentally different.

It is worth noting that despite this difference of historical interpretation, Condorcet shared similar political principles and ideals with Paine. Both men believed that good government should be based on natural rights and equality, and that it should be simple with a democratically functioning legislature.

See A. Owen Aldridge, 'Condorcet, Paine and Historical Method', in Condorcet Studies 1, ed. Leonora Cohen Rosenfield (Humanities Press, 1984).