(Bernard de), a celebrated French author, was born in 1657, and died in 1756, when he was near 100 years old. He discharged the trust of perpetual secretary to the Academy of Sciences above 40 years with universal applause; and his History of the Academy of Sciences throws a great light upon their memoirs, which are very obscure. The eloges which he pronounced on the deceased members of the academy, have this peculiar merit, that they excite a respect for the sciences as well as for the author. In his poetical performances, and the Dialogues of the Dead, the spirit of Voltaire was discernible, though more extended and more philosophical. His Plurality of Worlds, is a work singular in its kind: the design of which was to present that part of philosophy to view in a gay and pleasing dress. In his more advanced years, he published comedies, which, though they showed the elegance of Fontenelle, were little fitted for the stage; and An Apology for Des Cartes's Vortices. M. de Voltaire, who declares him to have been the most universal genius the age of Louis XIV. produced, says, "We must excuse his comedies, on account of his great age; and his Cartesian opinions, as they were those of his youth, when they were universally received all over Europe."