64 VOLTAIRE. 



dustry and his accuracy. It is indeed so free from 

 errors, although it is by no means a superficial account 

 of the Newtonian philosophy, that, with the limited 

 knowledge of mathematics which Voltaire possessed, 

 we can hardly conceive his having avoided mistakes, 

 and must therefore suppose that either 'Sgravesande, 

 with whom he passed some time at Leyden, while the 

 work was in the press, or Kcenig, who was then living 

 at Cirey, must have gone over and revised it. There 

 is no greater mistake than theirs who call the f Ele- 

 ments' a flimsy or superficial work. The design of it 

 is not to enter minutely into the profound investiga- 

 tions of the ' Principia,' or to follow all the exqui- 

 site inductive processes of the ' Optics/ but to give 

 the great truths unfolded in both these immortal 

 works, with a certain portion of the evidence on which 

 they rest, so that the reader unacquainted with the 

 mathematics beyond the mere definitions, and perhaps 

 one or two of the elementary propositions in geo- 

 metry, may be able to form an accurate notion of the 

 reasoning that supports the mighty system. The 

 design is this ; that design is executed ; and the power 

 of explaining an abstract subject in easy and accurate 

 language, language not in any way beneath the dig- 

 nity of science, though quite suited to the comprehen- 

 sion of uninformed persons, is unquestionably shown 

 in a manner which only makes it a matter of regret 

 that the singularly gifted author did not carry his 

 torch into all the recesses of natural philosophy. It 

 must be added, that, beside explaining the discoveries 

 of Newton, he has given an equally clear view of the 

 science as it stood before those great changes were 



