The omnipotence of governments to mould the destinies of peoples, the possibility of the creation of enlightened governments, and the indefinite progress of enlightenment--all articles of his belief--were the terms of an argument of the sorites form, which it was a simple matter to develop in his brief treatise.
But we must not do him injustice.

He was a much more considerable thinker than posterity for a long time was willing to believe.

It is easy to ridicule some of his projets, and dismiss him as a crank who was also somewhat of a bore.

The truth, however, is that many of his schemes were sound and valuable.

His economic ideas, which he thought out for himself, were in advance of his time, and he has even been described by a recent writer as "un contemporain egare au xviii siecle." Some of his financial proposals were put into practice by Turgot.