BUFFIER, CLAUDE (1661-1737), French philosopher, historian, and educationalist, was born in Poland of French par ents, who returned to France and settled at Rouen. He taught in the college of the Jesuits in Paris, where he spent the rest of his life. He seems to have been an admirable teacher, with a great power of lucid exposition. His principal work is the Traite des Verites Premieres He anticipated the spirit and methods as well as many of the results of Reid and the Scottish school. Voltaire described him as "the only Jesuit who has given a reason able system of philosophy." He wrote also Elements de Metaphysique (1724), a "French Grammar on a new plan," and a number of historical essays. Most of his works appeared in a collected form in 1732, and an English translation of the Traite was published in 1780.