Yuri,
Thank you for these links! I was pleased to discovered that some issues
of "Le moniteur" exist now as google book.
As my previous message (it was close but not similar to Marcel
Claessen's one) has not been posted, I will be pleased to add some
further comments and corrections to your answer and to Hayek's quotation
as well.
The point I wished to make in my first message was that "volumes" in
Condorcet's discours presumably did not mean books as "literary
composition" but rather registers and I presumed (wrongly) it was a
reminiscence of August 4, 1789 when the Etats Generaux abolished the
seignerial rights. Actually Condorcet referred to June 19, 1790 when the
Constituent Assembly abolished the nobility titles. Two years later, on
April 13, 1792, the Church reform decided by the Assembly was rejected
by the Pope and the relationship between the King and the Assembly
deteriorated (the King was to flee from France on June 20 - see Sofia
Coppola's movie "Marie Antoinette").
I understand Condorcet's proposal as a measure intended to prevent the
re-establishment of the nobility whereas Hayek's quotation has an
autodaf=E9 flavour. It's my view that this quotation provides no evidence
of Condorcet's intolerance or any relationship between "historical
sense" and "intolerance" but probably Hayek saw it differently.
By the way, le Moniteur universel was not the "official gazette" but the
text of Condorcet's speech is probably correct.
(below the original text by Condorcet and my own translation).
Today Reason burns the innumerable volumes which attest the vanity of
a caste. Other vestiges remain in public and private libraries. They
must be involved in a common destruction
C'est aujourd'hui l'anniversaire de ce jour m=E9morable o=F9 l'Assembl=E9e
constituante, en d=E9truisant la noblesse, a mis la derni=E8re main =E0
l'=E9difice de l'=E9galit=E9 politique. Attentifs =E0 imiter un bel exemple,
vous l=92avez poursuivie jusque dans les d=E9p=F4ts qui servent de refuge=E0
son incorrigible vanit=E9. C'est aujourd'hui que dans la capitale la
raison br=FBle au pied de la statue de Louis XIV, les immenses volumes qui
attestaient la vanit=E9 de cette caste. D=92autres vestiges subsistent
encore dam les biblioth=E8ques publiques, dam les chambres des comptes,
dans les archives des chapitres =E0 preuve et dans les maisons des
g=E9n=E9alogistes; il faut envelopper ces d=E9p=F4ts dans une destruction
commune ; vous ne ferez point garder aux d=E9pens de la nation ce ridicule
espoir qui semble menacer l'=E9galit=E9. Il s'agit de combattre la plus
ridicule mais la plus incurable de toutes les passions: en ce moment
m=EAme elle m=E9dite encore le projet de deux chambres, ou d'une distinction
de grands propri=E9taires, si favorable =E0 ces hommes qui ne cachent plus
combien l'=E9galit=E9 p=E8se =E0 leur nullit=E9 personnelle. Je propose en
cons=E9quence de d=E9cr=E9ter que tous les d=E9partements sont autoris=E9s=E0
br=FBler les titres qui se trouvent dans les divers d=E9p=F4ts. L'Assembl=E9e,
apr=E8s avoir d=E9cr=E9t=E9 l'urgence, adopte =E0 l'unanimit=E9 le projet de d=E9cret de M. Condorcet.
It is today the anniversary of this memorable day when the Constituent
Assembly, by destroying the nobility, put the last hand at the building
of the political equality. Attentive to imitate a beautiful example, you
continued up to the deposits which are used as refuge for its
incorrigible vanity. It is today that in the capital reason burns, at
the foot of Louis XIV's statue, the immense volumes which attested the
vanity of this caste. Other vestiges still remain in the public
libraries, in the chamber of accounts, [..] and in the houses of
genealogists; it is necessary to envelop these deposits in a common
destruction; you will not let the nation pays to keep this ridiculous
hope which seems to threaten the equality. It is a matter of fighting
the most ridiculous but most incurable of all passions. In this moment,
it still contemplates the project of two chambers or of a distinction
for great landowners, so favorable to these men who do not hide any more
how much the equality weighs heavy on their personal nullity. I propose
consequently to decree that all the departments are authorized to burn
the titles which are in the various depositories. The Parliament, after
having decided the urgency, unanimously adopts the project of decree of
Mr. Condorcet.
Alain Alcouffe
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