ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF PARIS. 349 



what Colbert performed for yavaiits aud for science'? What Ilichelieu liad been 

 for the Academic francaisc, that was Colbert for the Academy of Sciences. 

 We have noticed his grand idea of a general and nnivers^al academy, an insti- 

 tute such as we now possess. I find in every page of the Elogcs of Fontenelle, 

 traces of that assiduous, active, comprehensive solicitude Avhich Colbert mani- 

 fested for the sciences; a solicitude which, in a statesman, was then so great a 

 novelty. 



" M. Colbert," says Fontenelle, "favored letters, induced thereto, not only by 

 his natural inclination, but a wise policy. He kneAv that the sci<mces and arts 

 oven alone suffice to render a reign glorious ; that they extend the language of 

 a nation more, perhaps, than conquests; that they confer the empire of intellect 

 and of industry equally flattering and useful; that they attract a multitude of 

 strangers, who enrich the country by their curiosity, adopt its habits, and attach 

 themselves to its interests. For many centuries, the University of l*aris has 

 not contributed in a less degree to the grandeur of the capital than the residence 

 of its kings. To M. Colbert we owe the lustre to which letters have attained, 

 the rise of this Academy, of that of inscriptions, of the Academies of painting, 

 sculpture and architecture, the new favors obtained from the king by the French 

 Academy, the impression of a great number of excellent books at the expense 

 of the royal press, a vast augmentation of the Bihliothcqzie du Roi, or rather 

 of the public treasury of the learned, an infinitude of such works as great 

 authors and skilful artisans only accord to the caresses of ministers and princes, 

 a taste for the beautiful and refined evei-ywhere difiused and continually gath- 

 ei-iug strength." — Eloge of the Ahhe Gallois. 



Here we have Colbert painted, after the manner of Fontenelle, by facts. The 

 following are some of these facts, chosen among many others, for Fontenelle 

 forgets none of them. His particular eulogies of different savants seem the 

 general and continued eulogy of this great minister. 



" If any new book of reputation or discovery of moment came to light, Col- 

 bert was soon apprized of it, and the recompense was not long deferred. The 

 liberalrLies of the king were extended even to foreign merit, and sometimes 

 sought out in the very depths of the north a savant surprised to find that he 

 was known." 



Homberg visited Paris when he was young, and, as sometimes happens with 

 young men who visit Paris, for some time evaded the injunctions of his father 

 to return. "At last," says Fontenelle, "the father grew impatient and his 

 commands more pressing. Homberg prepared to obey, and was about entering 

 the carriage, when M. Colbert sent to require his presence on the part of the 

 king. This minister, believing that persons of eminent merit are a benefit to 

 the state;, made such advantageous offers to induce him to stay, that Homberg 

 asked for some little time to form a decision, and finally determined to remain." 



About 1682, a young geometer, then quite unknown, had resolved in a feli- 

 citous manner a problem which had been recently propounded. " Forthwith," 

 says Fontenelle, " M. Colbert, who had spies to discover hidden or rising merit, 

 disinterred M. Rolle in the (extreme obscurity in which he lived, and bestowed 

 on him a gratuity which became afterwards a settled pension." 



Charles II, king of England, had sent to Louis XIV two repeating watches, 

 the first which had been seen in France. These watches, which could only be 

 opened by a secret artifice, got out of order, and it was necessary to repair 

 them. But, how to open them ? After some vain eftorts, the horolugist of the 

 kuig (" with a courage," says Fontenelle, "not unworthy of remembrance") 

 told M. Colbert that he knew a young Carmelite who was capable of effecting 

 it. The watches were, therefore, given to this young Carmelite, who promptly 

 opened them, and, moreover, repaired them, without knowing that they were 

 the king's. "Some time after," says Fontenelle, "an order arrives from the 

 uiinister, directing M. S>.'bastieu to come to him at seven o'clock in the mom- 



