"I believe more and more," he said, "that there is a certain genius which has never yet been out of our Europe, or, at least, has not gone far out of it." This genius, clear, correct, precise, the genius of method and analysis, the genius of Descartes, which was at a later period that of Buffon and of Cuvier, was admirably expounded and developed by Fontenelle for the use of the ignorant.

He wrote for society, and not for scholars, of whose labors and discoveries he gave an account to society.

His extracts from the labors of the Academy of Science and his eulogies of the Academicians are models of lucidness under an ingenious and subtle form, rendered simple and strong by dint of wit.

"There is only truth that persuades," he used to say, "and even without requiring to appear with all its proofs.

It makes its way so naturally into the mind, that, when it is heard for the first time, it seems as if one were merely remembering." Equitable and moderate in mind, prudent and cold in temperament, Fontenelle passed his life in discussion without ever stumbling into disputes.