LEIBNITZ. 



431 



it was for their interest to elect the prince of Neuburg 

 king, in preference to any of tlie other candidates. 

 At the suggestion of Boinebtirg, he was now named 

 an electoral counsellor, and chancellor of justice; but 

 this business could not satisfy a mind thirsting for 

 knowledge. He continued his literary labours, and 

 published his Theoria Motus. abstracti, and Theoria 

 Motus concreti (L671, two physical inquiries, re- 

 markable only for the boldness of their views), and 

 also his Sacrosancta Trinitas, per nova Argumenta 

 logica defensa, a work directed against the attacks 

 of the Pole Wissowatius, on the doctrine of the 

 Trinity. In the mean time, the literary splendour of 

 Paris had attracted his attention, and he willingly 

 undertook to accompany the young Boineburg thither 

 (1672). The distractions of this capital did not draw 

 him from his studies. He applied himself particularly 

 to mathematics, and enjoyed the acquaintance of the 

 celebrated Huygens, whose expectations lie answered 

 by the invention of an arithmetical machine, similar to 

 that of Pascal. His patron, Boineburg, died 1 673, and 

 Leibnitz, who had nothing to detain him longer in 

 Paris, declined the place of pensioner in the academy, 

 as it would have been necessary for him to embrace 

 the catholic religion, and went to England, where he 

 became acquainted with Wallis, Bayle, Oldenburg, 

 and Newton. He then applied to the duke of Bruns- 

 wick-Luneburg, who gave him the office of counsel- 

 lor, and a pension, with permission to extend his 

 residence in foreign countries at his pleasure. 

 Availing himself of this permission, he returned to 

 Paris, where he spent fifteen months, devoted 

 entirely to mathematics, and then returned, by the 

 way of England and Holland, to Hanover, where he 

 arrived 1676, and immediately entered upon the 

 superintendence of the library, which was his princi- 

 pal duty. Here he soon published his treatise De 

 Jure Suprematus ac Legationis Principum Germanice, 

 and laboured, with great zeal, to effect the publication 

 of the Acta Eruditorum. On the death of the duke 

 of Brunswick, his successor commissioned Leibnitz 

 to write the history of his house. In order to consult 

 the documents necessary for that purpose, Leibnitz 

 went (1687) to Vienna, and (as the old counts of 

 Liguria, Tuscany, and Este were sprung from the 

 same source as the house of Brunswick) thence to 

 Italy. The three years which he spent in making 

 these tours of investigation, supplied him with an 

 immense mass of diplomatic and political materials, 

 the smallest portion of which appeared in the work 

 he had undertaken : the remainder was published in 

 1693 and 1700, under the title Codex Juris Gentium 

 diplomat icus, and Mantissa Codicis. At the same 

 time, he employed himself in arranging the materials 

 which he had collected for his historical undertak- 

 ing, and, after having published an essay on the 

 connexion between the houses of Brunswick and 

 Este, which procured him the appointments of privy 

 counsellor of justice, and historiographer, he gave to 

 the world (1707 11) Scriptores Rerum Brunsvicen- 

 sium (3 volumes, folio). But this important work 

 was only a preparatory step. The history itself was 

 never published : the outline only was found among 

 his papers after his death, and published in the Acta 

 Eruditorum for 1717. According to this plan, we 

 should have had a general account of the primitive 

 condition, not only of Germany, but of the whole 

 world, in conformity with the views given by Leib- 

 nitz in his Protogaea. (See the Acta Eruditorum for 

 1693.) The Accessiones historicee, and the Disqui- 

 sitio de Origine Prancorum, were published at Han- 

 over, in 1715. As Leibnitz displayed a profound 

 knowledge of history in the above-mentioned works, 

 so he showed a no less intimate acquaintance with 

 theology, ir bis attempts at forming a plan for I 



re-uniting the Protestants and Catholics, in which he 

 spent much fruitless labour, in conjunction with 

 Molanus and Bossuet. Among his plans for the good 

 of mankind, may be mentioned his exertions to invent 

 a universal character, and a common philosophical 

 language (pasigraphy) . His labours in another 

 scientific undertaking were better rewarded. The 

 elector of Brandenburg (afterwards Frederic I., king 

 of Prussia) requested his advice in the establishment 

 of the royal academy of sciences at Berlin, and, 

 when the institution was completed, according to his 

 plan, the elector made him president of the academy 

 (1700.) Leibnitz furnished a great part of the papers 

 in the Miscellanea Berolinensia, which the new 

 academy published in 1710. On the death of th 

 king, three years after, his successor having little, 

 taste for the sciences, Leibnitz foresaw the fall of the 

 society, and therefore hastened to Vienna, to obtain 

 for it the protection of the emperor Charles VI. His 

 efforts were unsuccessful, although he got a most 

 flattering ( reception from the emperor, who had 

 already conferred on him the dignities of baron, anil 

 of aulic counsellor, with a pension of 2000 florins. 

 He also had an interview with the czar Peter, at 

 Torgau (1711), who, in return for his advice con- 

 cerning the civilization of his vast empire, conferred 

 on him the title of privy counsellor, with a pension 

 of 1000 roubles. Loaded with honours, he crowned 

 his literary fame by his celebrated Essaide Theo- 

 dicee (1710), in which he maintained the doctrines 

 of pre-established harmony and optimism, and which 

 was followed (1715) by his Essai sur V Entendemenl 

 humain. The life of this individual, so highly 

 favoured by fortune, was not entirely free from cala- 

 mity. His unfortunate controversy with Newton, 

 concerning the discovery of the differential calculus, 

 and the pains of the gout, imbittered the close of 

 his active life. He died in his seventieth year, No- 

 vember 14, 1716. His monument, constructed in the 

 form of a temple, bears the simple inscription Ossa 

 Leibnitii. 



Leibnitz was of the middle size, thin, but of firm 

 health, with an habitual stoop. His hair was black 

 in his youth, but labour early rendered it white ; and 

 his eyes, which were short-sighted, were strong, 

 even in old age. He had a pleasing countenance, a 

 warm temperament, and as much animation in his 

 delivery as he had in his labours. He studied during 

 nearly the whole night, and often took his sleep in 

 his chair, which is preserved in the library at Hano- 

 ver. Reading every thing, without distinction, he 

 contented himself with making short extracts, on 

 little pieces of paper, which he kept in different 

 compartments, though his memory was so excellent 

 that he had little need to refer to them. His corre- 

 spondence, which extended even to China, together 

 with the other relations which he maintained with 

 different classes of men, took up a great part of his 

 time. In his intercourse with others, he was easy, 

 without arrogance or jealousy ; irritable, but quickly 

 reconciled. His expenses were very moderate, and 

 his enemies reproached him with avarice. He was 

 totally negligent of his domestic affairs, and was never 

 married. 



The spirit of the age, the study of the older 

 systems of philosophy, among which the Grecian had 

 occupied much of his attention, and, above all, the 

 mathematical turn of his mind, combined to produce 

 his peculiar system of philosophy. He expected to 

 reform philosophy by giving it this direction, and he 

 hoped to establish its principles in such a manner 

 that the strife between different parties would cease 

 of itself. On this account, he was in favour of ration- 

 alism (q. v.), in the sense in which it was maintained 

 by Plato, and the system of demonstration, which 



