216 LEIBNIZ: PHILOSOPHICAL PAPERS AND LETTERS. its infalibility, since you have not proved it, and long discussion would be necessary to reach the end. Let us return to what is more certain. This is that we must love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. tis in this that the law consists; itis ia this that true active faith also consists, in conformity to the teaching of Jesus Christ. For he has taught us this great secret; he has been not only the preceptor but also the redeemer of mankind. The divinity which dwells in the human nature of Jesus Chri hhas established reunion between God and men. There is no salvation at all except Jesus Christ. .. You call yourself an apostolic missionary, and we call ourselves evangelicals. Let us agree with the evangelist and apostle Saint John, who proclaimed nothing but this charity full of faith, and this divine love which enlightens through good deeds, and we shall have enough to save ourselves and to win souls. Po. Lhave received no instruction from Rome about that. However, I approve your reasons in part, and I shall have a little more consideration for them in the future than have in the past, But you who have thought so well about the divine love, carry out your promise as well. You have agreed with me that the first thing which we should ‘seek, after this love, is the true church. This is the true union of all the living members of Jesus Christ; in@ word, itis the universal charity. Th, Iyou putit on that basis, Lam already one of you. But it seems to me that you demand something more which I can hardly grant you. You wish us to be convinced of a great number of new and doubiful things and to condemn absolutely all who dare to doubt them. Besides, you are too ceremonious, and you engage souls with so many superfluous cares that they turn away from him who ought to be their chief care. All this hurts this universal charity, it seems to me, But here is the inn; we can speak more at our ease after we have refreshed ourselves a little from the fatigues of the journey. IL, DIALOGUE BETWEEN POLIDORE AND THEOPHILE ‘Theophile. Thave found you somewhat changed for some time, my dear Polidore, and it seems to me that your usual gaiety is lacking. Yet your affairs are prospering, your prudence has been helped by fortune, and you lack none of the things which men seck with such eagerness. You have wealth, you have acquired fame, and God has given you so vigorous a constitution that we may hope to enjoy you for many more years. So Icannot understand the cause of thechange which I observe. Polidore. Tknow that you love me, Theophile, and Iesteem you enough to enlighten you. I will tell you then, that what you sec in me is not sadness but an indifference ‘which I feel about many'of the things which once appealed to me. Now that I have attained the things I wanted, I have come to recognize their vanity, and finding myself at the peak of the joys to which men aspire here below, I recognize better than ever the imperfection of human nature, which is incapable of solid happiness. You know that sross lusts do not much move me, but @ short time ago I found more and more that the most refined pleasures of the mind are only pleasing deceptions which disappear ‘when closely examined, Is there anything on earth to which great spirits are more sensitive than glory and the immortality of name which we like to imagine? And yot ‘what good will they do me when I am reduced to dust? These reasons will not keep me from doing things worthy of approbation, for itis my habit to do them and Icould hhardly do otherwise, but I shall no longer exert myself to acquire so chimerical an immortality. My intellectual curiosity is thus diminished by half; I no longer enjoy theHANOVER TO THE ITALIAN SOURNEY, 1676-87 217 beauties of nature and of art; and I find even less satisfaction in beautiful discourses, for they often consist only in an outburst of well-arranged words, And though I recognize that there aro solid sciences like mathematics and mechanics, I observe that these are of use only to those who make a profession of them, for they take too much ‘work. Since we shall lose the fruits ofall our labors in a moment, let us not embarrass ourselves with anything whatever but follow an easy path of life and arm ourselves with difference against the deceptive charms of enterprise. Th. Lam sorry for you, Polidore, for I see that you are depriving yourself of the sreatest satisfaction of life just when you are in the best circumstances to enjoy it. But [am still more sorry for the public and for posterity, which will be deprived of the great and excellent things you planned at a time when your affairs did not permit you to carry them out. It makes me wonder at the conduct of men, who seek only what is far off. But I perceive only that you have changed your maxims, that you no longer believe that you are under obligation to trouble yourself for the public, and find it ridiculous to work for a time when you will no longer exist. Yet I believe that you would judge otherwise if you were convinced that there is a great monarch of the Universe, who takes everything done forthe public as done for himself; and that if you ‘were convinced of the immortality of our souls, then you would take an interest in the state of future centuries, ‘Po. Ifyou are speaking to me as a theologian, I shall stop, for I submit tothe faith. ‘But if you are limiting yourself to philosophical boundaries, I see great reasons for doubting these beautiful things, which serve only to soften our misery by false hopes. admit that I should like to be one of those who are happy through their errors, but since I see clearly that they are errors, tno longer rests with me but to turn my eyesaway. Th. But you, who have such excellent knowledge and have so often admired the ‘wisdom of nature, can you doubt a governing providence when you consider the ‘machine of the universe, which moves with such regulasity? Po. It seems to me no great wonder that the sun, turning about its center, carries ‘with it the liquid matter which surrounds it and is called ether and that this in turn also carries along some great balls called planets, which float in this ether and follow its ‘motion with greater or less speed in proportion to their solidity and distance. And since they meet with no resistance, we need not be astonished that their periods are regular, with no noticeable change for a long period of time. Th. What you say is reasonable, Once assume the motion of this ether as well as the balls of diferent solidity and volumearound the sun, and the res follows mechanically. But tell me how it happens that there isa sun, ether, and planets. Could not the world have been made in an entirely different way? And who has made things this particular way? Assuming even the choice ofthese bodies explained, whence comes the principle of motion which we observe in them’. {in a Jong discussion Theophile brings Polidore to assent at last to Leibniz’s prin ciple of the maximum compossible determination of existence, on the simplest assump- tions.) Th. See now if what we have just discovered ought not to be called God. Po. The reasoning is excellent and sound, and I am most surprised. After this Twill not woniler at the marvelous structure of organic bodies, the smallest part of which surpasses in craftsmanship all the machines Which man can invent, But it seems that this wisdom, which reveals such economy in each animal or organic body considered For raforences seep. 220218 LEIBNIZ: PHILOSOPHICAL PAPERS AND LETTERS. separately, has Jeft them afterward to attack each other in the greatest confusion imaginable. A wretched sheep is torn apart by a wolf, a pigeon falls prey to some ‘vulture, the poor flies are exposed to the malice of spiders, and men themselves ~ what fa tyranny they exercise over the other animals, and even among themselves they are ‘more than wolves and more than vultures. What appearance of order is there in all this? Or rather, since we have agreed on the sovereign wisdom of the Author of things, ‘we mustsay that he cares not at all for what we call justice and that he takes pleasure destruction as we take pleasure in hunting the beasts which prey on each other. Indivi- duals must give way; there is room only for the species, some of which subsist through the misfortune of others. And we in our folly are presumptuous enough to imagine ‘that he will exempt us from these universal cycles by means of an immortality which is ‘without example in nature and is all the more incredible, since a beginning must be followed by an end. Th. Your argument is plausible, and many persons of intelligence are unfortu- nately impressed by it, but thank God, there is a way of meeting it. We have agreed that God made everything in the greatest perfection of which the universe is capable. Consequently each thing in it, or will have, as much perfection as it is capablo of claiming in proportion to what it already has, without doing violence to other things. But since pleasure is nothing but the feeling of an increase of perfection, it follows that God will give all creatures as much pleasure as they are capable of, so that those who are reasonable find themselves as happy as possible, consistent with the harmony of the universe, which demands that when the books are balanced there must be found the greatest petfection and the greatest happiness possible in the whole. Perhaps this is impossible without the misery of some who deserve it. ‘Now of all the creatures which surround us, itis only the spirit of man which is capable of a true happiness. It can be said that the difference between God and man. is only one of more of less, though the ratio is infinite. Man demonstrates truths; he invents machines and is capable of containing within himself the perfections of the things whose ideas he conceives; he knows the great God, he honors him, he loves him, and he imitates him. He exercises dominion over some things with a detachment and an clevation like that of God, though his decisions meet with obstacles in their exect- tion. One can say that with regard to the perfection of sprit, there is at Ieast as much fference between man and the other creatures in relation to God as there is between God and man. In shor, there is some community between God and men. For since both are reasonable and have some commerce with each other, they compose a City which must be governed in the most perfect manner. This is why, if God is sovereign wisdom, as his admirable works show, and if wisdom secks perfection everywhere insofar as itis possible, we cannot doubt that the most perfect beings and those who ‘most nearly approach God are the ones most considered in nature, and that God concerned for their happiness in preference to everything else. Finaly, this is possible, and the order of the universe does not oppose it. It is true that our bodies are subject to the impact of other bodies and hence to dissolution. But the sou! is a substance entirely different from matter and space and hence cannot be destroyed. And since this i so, itis capable of subsisting and of being happy inspite of the destruction in the world. Provided that God leaves it memory and thoughts, the soul can be happy and. ‘unhappy, punished and rewarded, according to the laws of this City of which God is the monarch,HANOVER TO THE ITALIAN JOURNEY, 1676-87 219 Po. Your reasons are effective and permit no reply, and I admit that I am moved by thom, all the more since you have most remarkably anticipated the objections of those ‘who believe that all souls must be reunited to the sou! of the universe, as the body is lost in the general mass. Fors you have well said, that which is once a body apart will always remain so and carry out its own functions in such 2 manner that it will be united with something else. Besides, this union of souls with the universal soul con- sists in a play on words only, which mean nothing, for souls are not like raindrops oF brooklets which return to the ocean. If this comparison were good, it could still be said that each atom of the raindrop does not cease to subsist in the ocean as well and that souls as well never cease to have each its own thoughts when reunited to the universal soul of God. Un the following section Theophile gains Potidore’s assent to the view that the will of God, the universal monarch, is reflected in the kingdom of spirits] Th, Since you have acknowledged this great point, let us draw its practical conse- quences. Firs, it follows that the world is governed in such a way that a wise person ‘who is well informed will have nothing to find fault with and can find nothing more to desire. Second, every wise man ought to be content, not only out of necessity as if he were compelled to be pationt, but with pleasure and a kind of extreme satisfaction, knowing that everything happens in such a way that the interests of each individual ‘person who is persuaded of this truth will be achieved with every possible advantage, For when God admits us a little further into his secrets than he has until now, then ‘among other surprises, there will be that of secing the wonderful inventions which he has used to make us happy beyond our possible conception. Third, we ought to love God above all things, since we find everything with greater perfection in him than in things themselves, and since his goodness provides us with our whole power. For itis by this goodness that we obtain everything we can wish for our happiness. Fourth with, these opinions we can be happy in advance here below, before enjoying everything which God has prepared for us; those who are discontent, on the other hand, expose themselves to losing voluntarily everything that God has tried to give them. It can be said that this resignation of our will to that of God, whom we have every reason to trust, follows from the truly divine love, whereas our dissatisfaction and even our disappointment in mundane matters contain something of hatred toward God, which is the ultimate of misery. Fifth, we ought to give witness of the supreme love which we bear toward God through the charity we owe to our neighbor. And we ought to make every effort imaginable to contribute something to the public good. For itis God who is the Lord; itis to him that the public good pertains as his own. And all that we do unto the least of these, his subjects, whom he has the goodness to treat as brothers, we hhave done unto him; all the more will he receive as brother whoever contributes to the general good. Sith, we must try to perfect ourselves as much as we can, and especially the mind, which is properly what we call ourself. And since perfection of mind con- sists in the knowledge of truth and the exercise of virtue, we should be persuaded that those who in this life have had the best entrance into eternal truths and the most transparent and clearest knowledge of God's perfection, and as a result have loved him more and witnessed with more ardor for the general good, will be suscoptible of greater happiness in the life to come, For finally, nothing is neglected in nature; nothing is lost with God; all our hairs are numbered, and not.a glass of water will be forgotten; gui ad justitiam erudiunt multos fulgebunt quasi stellae’; no good action ‘For references see p. 22020 LEIBNIZ: PHILOSOPHICAL PAPERS AND LETTERS without reward, no evil one without some punishment; no perfection without a series of others unto infinity. Po. Most truly beautiful and generous maxims! I see that they directly combat this indifference into which I should have plunged without your help. ... You have restored ‘me to life, my dear Theophile, for the sluggish and negligent life which I was about to lead was worth no more than death. Now my vigor returns; [shall go back to my plans. see that virtue and glory are not chimeras. I recognize that the general lament about the misery of life poisons our satisfaction and strangely deceives us, Instead we must remember that we are the most perfect and happiest of all known creatures, or at least that it takes only us to become So. Felices nimitm sua qui bona norint. Hereafter let us no longer complain of nature; let us love this God who has so loved us, and know once for all that the knowledge of great truths, the exercise of divine love and charity, the efforts which one can make for the general good — by assuaging the ills of ‘men, contributing to the happiness of life, advancing the scionoss and arts and every- thing that serves to acquire a true glory and immortalize oneself through good deeds — all these are pathways to this felicity, which lead us as far as we are capable of going toward God and which we may take asa kind of apotheosis.” REFERENCES } Nicolas Steno (1638-87) vas a Danish anatomist and physician of distinction who had abandoned his science upon entering the church in 1667. Lelbniz had more regard for bls past science than for his present theology. On his biological achievements sce F. Nordenskiold, ‘The History of Biology, New York 1928, pp. 155-58. His paleontological studies are reflected in Lefbnie's own stadiesin the Harz Mountains, reported in the Protogaea. This paragraph and what follows echo the wel-known controversy whic Richeliu's Catechism (1637) had aroused. Poliander proposes essentially the view there formulated, which ‘was attacked by Seguenot and other early Jansenists. * Onthospirit of the phrase‘ la mode’ see Hazard, op cit 1, 81-82. 4 Leibniz had waitten ‘to judge’ but struckitand substituted to rule. « “They who lead many into righteousness shall shine forth as stars. * Most blessed they who know their own good.” 7 Baruzi comments on the evidences of religious exaltation inthe last two speeches, reflected ven in the handwriting ofthe manuscript itself, which overflows its margins. Of the last page he says: "The appearance of this page is admirable. Very few periods. The rhythm is visible even in the writing” The ease with which Leibniz slips ito scriptaral phrases should refute the opinion that he was unfamiliar with the Bible.