attributes of a gentleman. Suited to intercourse the most
delicate, though the delight of savants; modest in his
conversation, simple in his actions, his superiority is evident,
but he never makes one feel it." He lived a century, apparently
because it was too much trouble to die. When the weight of years
made it too much trouble to live, he simply stopped. "I do not
suffer, my friends, but I feel a certain difficulty in existing,"
were his last words. With this model of serene tranquillity, who
analyzed the emotions as he would a problem in mathematics, and
reduced life to a debit and credit account, it is easy to
understand the worldly philosophy of the women who came under his
influence.

But while Mme. de Lambert had a calm and equable temperament, and
loved to surround herself with an atmosphere of repose, she was
not without a fine quality of sentiment. "I exhort you much more
to cultivate your heart," she writes to her son, "than to perfect
your mind; the true greatness of the man is in the heart." "She
was not only eager to serve her friends without waiting for their
prayers or the humiliating exposure of their needs," said
Fontenelle, "but a good action to be done in favor of indifferent
people always tempted her warmly . . .. The ill success of some
acts of generosity did not correct the habit; she was always
equally ready to do a kindness." She has written very delicately
and beautifully of friendships between men and women; and she had
her own intimacies that verged upon tenderness, but were free
from any shadow of reproach. Long after her death, d'Alembert,
in his academic eulogy upon de Sacy, refers touchingly to the
devoted friendship that linked this elegant savant with Mme. de
Lambert. "It is believed," says President Henault, "that she was