Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/252

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CONDAMINE


210


OONDILLAC


a permanent rectorship is vacated. Those passing the examination once are counted worthy, in point of learning, for appointment to any permanent rector- ship falling vacant within a given period, usually not more than six years, after such an examination. Should they wish" to enjoy a like title after that period, success in another examination is required.

Canada has no permanent rectorships. As a conse- quence, the manner of appointing rectors of parishes is subject to the discretion of the bishops. (Gignac, Comp. Juris eccl. ad usum cleri Canadensis, Quebec, 1901, De Personis, p. 355.) In England no concursus is held to determine appointments to permanent rec- torships (Taunton, The Law of the Church, London, 1906, p. 231). According to the decree of the Synod of Maynooth held in 1900, legislation similar to that of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore was adopted for determining appointments to parishes in the vari- ous dioceses of Ireland. Since 1895 the law of the concursus obtains also in the Commonwealth of Aus- tralia (Second Plen. Council of Australia, No. 47 sqq.). The acts of diocesan and provincial councils, sessions of Roman Congregations, and papal conclaves testify that the Trident ine legislation concerning the concur- sus has long prevailed in Italy. The same regulations were introduced into Spain and Portugal in the six- teenth century; they obtain also in South America. While the observance of the law was general through- out France before the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury, changed conditions long since led to its abro- gation in that country (Duliallet, Journal de droit canon., 1891, 452-74). In Belgium the Synod of Mechlin (1570) adopted the Tridentine regulations, but since then, save for Liege, the earlier freedom of episcopal collation has returned (Vering, 471). At present, German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Prassian bishops base their appreciation of a candidate's learn- ing on the results of general examinations at regular intervals. Exception being made for minor differ- ences, the above-described regulations govern the ex- aminations in those countries. The consideration of other necessary qualifications is made whenever a vacancy occurs and an appointment follows. While in other places bishops may use their own discretion in appointing rectors, the Holy See bespeaks even in such places all possible conformity to the spirit of the Tri- dentine law. It may be added that in Austria, since Joseph II, the State has insisted on the parochial con- cursus, and has embodied it in art. 24 of the Concor- dat.

Smith. Elemfjils of Ecdesiastical Law (New York, 1887), I. 647; Baart. Legal Formulary (New York, 1898), 100 sqq.; Taunton, The Law of the Church (London, 1906), 227-31; Ojetti, Synopsis Rerum Moralium et juris pontificii (Prato, 1904); Les6tre, La paroisse (Paris. 1906); Diendorfer in Kirchenlez., s.v. Concurs; Lingg, Gesch. des tridentinischen Pfarrconcurses (Bamberg, 1880); Bouix, De Parocho (Paris, 1855). 355; Analecia juris ponlif. (Paris, 1867), 969; Archiv f. kalh. KirchenrechI, II. 385; Vering, Lehrbuch des Kirchenrechls.

J. D. O'Neill.

Condamine, Charles-Marie de la, explorer and physicist, b. at Paris, 28 January, 1701 ; d. there 4 Feb- ruary, 1774. After a brief military career he turned to scientific pursuits and explored the coasts of Africa and Asia Minor on the Mediterranean. In 1735, he was .selected to direct an expedition to the equatorial regions of South America in order to determine the form of the earth by measuring a meridian and thup establishing the flattening of our globe towards the poles. His companions were Pierre Bouguer and Louis Godin des Odonais. Two officers of the Spanish marine, Jorge Ju.an and Antonio de Ulloa, represented the Government of Spain on the voyage and also made independent observations in the interior. Condamine went to Ecuador and there began his labours, making a fairly accurate triangulation of the mountainous parts and the western sections of Ecuador. On this occasion he discovered that tall mountains deflect the


pendulum by their attraction. He remained eight years in South America, then returned to France, where he was chosen member of the Academy of Sciences and of the French Academy and received the cross of Saint Lazarus. While Condamine on account of his ambition and inclination to controversy was a disagreeable character, as an explorer and physicist he stands very high. The topographical work per- formed by him or under his direction suffered from the relative imperfections of the instruments in use in his time, but the results obtained were astonishing. Not only in physiography and physical geography, but in other branches also his expedition opened a new per- spective to investigation. It was the starting point for more extensive explorations of tropical America. The countries he visited became and remained there- after, classical ground in the annals of natural science. It is claimed that he introduced caoutchouc into Eu- rope, and he also tried to introduce inoculation for smallpox into France.

Interest in Condamine centring in his South American work, books on that expedition become the prominent source of in- formation regarding the most important period of his Ufe; es- pecially hia own writings, chief of which were: Journal du voy- age fait par ordre du Roi a Vequateur (Paris, 1751); Relation abregee d'un voyage dans Vinterieur de V Amerique meridionale (Paris, 1745; 2d ed., 1778); Histoire des pyramides de Quito (Paris, 1751). Frequent referenc&s are found in the works of Humboldt, also, de Ulloa and Juan, Relacion historica del viage d la America Meridional hecho de orden de S. Mag. para medir algunos grades de meridiano terrestre (Madrid, 1748).

Ad. F. Bandelier.

Condillac, Etienne Bonnot de, a French philoso- pher, b. at Grenoble, 30 September, 1715; d. near Beaugency (Loiret), 3 August, 1780. He was the brother of the Abb6 de Mably and was himself Abbe of Mureaux. Thanks to the resources of his benefice, he was able to follow his natural inclinations and devote himself wholly to study, for which purpose he retired into solitude. About 1755 he was chosen pre- ceptor of the Duke of Parma, the grandson of Louis XV, for whom he wrote his "Cours d'etudes". The education of the prince being completed, Condillac was elected in 1768 to succeed the Abb6 d'Olivet as a member of the French Academy. He was present but once at the sessions — on the day of his reception — and then retired to his estate of Flux near Beau- gency where he spent the remainder of his days.

From an intellectual point of view, Condillac's life may be divided into two periods. During the first he simply developed the theories of Locke. He pub- lished in 1746 his " Essai sur 1' origine des connais- sanccshumaines" which is a summary of Locke's "ISs- say concerning Human Understanding", and in 1749 his "Traits des systemes" wherein he attacks the in- nate ideas and abstract systems of Descartes, Male- branche, Leibniz, Spinoza, and Boursier. The latter period, devoted to more original work, begins with the Trait(5 des sensations" in 1754, the central idea of which is to renew the human vmderstanding by a fun- damental analysis of the first data of mental experience in man's conscious life. In 1755 he published his "Traits des animaux", a sequel to the "Traits des sensations"; and then his "Cours d'etudes" which includes "Grammaire", "L'Art d'^crire", "L'Art de raisonner", "L'Art de penser", "L'histoire g^n^rale des hommes et des empires ", edited in 13 vols., Parma, 1769-1773. This w.as placed on the Index in 1836. In 1776 appeared his book on " Le commerce et le gouvernement consid(?r& relativement I'un i I'autre" in which he exposes his principles of the right to prop- erty and his theory of economics. In 1780, a few months before his death, he published his "Logique", an ele- mentary treatise composed at the request of the council of public instruction of Poland. His "Langue des oalculs" was published imfinished only after his death in the first complete edition of his works (23 vols., Paris, 1798).

Condillac starts with Locke's empiricism, but Locke,