248 • Biographical Account of [Apri 



mena of gravitation by the mechanical principle of impulse, a 

 problem which very early in life occupied his attention, and 

 which it was the great aim of all his exertions, and the height of 

 his ambition to resolve. 



Little need be added with respect either to the intellectual 

 or moral character of Le Sage, as they may both be easily appre- 

 ciated from the above sketch of his life. He possessed some 

 requisites for a genius of the highest order ; he had originality 

 of invention, an unusual power of abstraction, and a sufficient 

 command over his mental faculties, when they were in a perfectly 

 vigorous state : but he seems to have wanted that strength of 

 judgment, and that firmness of decision, which might have 

 enabled him to profit by his other talents. Nothing can offer a 

 more remarkable example of this state of character than the 

 circumstance of his passing a long life, continually meditating 

 upon his theory, attaching the utmost importance to it, and 

 most firmly convinced of its truth, yet never venturing to an- 

 nounce it to the world, either because he could not bring it into 

 what he considered a perfect state, or because he conceived that 

 there were few individuals qualified or disposed to comprehend 

 it. The moral qualities of Le Sage stand at least as high as his 

 intellectual ; but, like them, they possessed many singular traits. 

 Owing to his defective memory, he was very much in the habit 

 of putting down his thoughts in writing as they occurred, and he 

 has consequently left us many remarks of a singular nature, 

 which he made upon his own character and dispositions. He 

 was a man who scrupulously adhered, on all occasions, to what 

 he thought just and true ; he was without guile, without reserve, 

 except that of modesty, and without artifice. He was timid and 

 diffident to an extraordinary degree, and had not a single spark 

 of what can be called ambition, except with respect to the fate 

 of his favourite theory. His feeble constitution, and the cruel 

 restraint by which he was weighed down for nearly 30 years of 

 his life, must have contributed to increase, or, perhaps, almost to 

 produce these defects or peculiarities ; and the station which he 

 held in society was not of that kind to enable him to counteract 

 their effect by any external advantages. He was perfectly sen- 

 sible of his deficiencies, and seems to have been conscious of 

 possessing mental powers and energies which had not the 

 means of properly expanding themselves ; yet there was an habi- 

 tual resignation in all his feelings, which led him to submit with 

 composure, if not with cheerfulness, to what seemed inevitable. 

 His submissive and subdued spirit led him frequently to draw 

 advantages from his misfortunes, and of this he has left us a 

 curious specimen in the supposed benefits which he deduced 

 from his want of memory : of these he pointed out three ; 1 . 

 That not being able to shine in society, he was secured from 

 vanity; 2. Not being able to impose upon other men, he was 

 secured from falsehood; 3. From absolutely forgetting injuries, 



