Justin E. H. Smith

From a Letter to Peter the Great on the Division of the Sciences

[From V. I. Ger'e, Сборник писемъ и мемориаловъ Лейбница относящихся к России и Петру Великому, Saint Petersburg, 1873, No. 244 § XV. Includes note: Оригиналъ написанный не рукою Лейбница хранится въ Моск. Арх. И. Д. Напеч. у Поссельта въ: "Pet. d. Gr. und Lb.," p. 226, i.e.: "The original, not written in Leibniz's own hand, is located in the Moscow Archive I. D. Printed in Posselt, Peter der Grösse und Leibniz, Tartu, 1848." MS undated. Trancribed here only in part. To read the original German, click 'keep reading' below.]

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Creatures are either pure spirits, which are investigated by

Pneumatica

or they are spirituo-corporeal, or merely corporeal. Spirituo-corporeal creatures are either: I myself, or other people. I can only recognize myself through soul and body. The soul has two principal powers, namely, understanding and will. Now what the understanding is, what its errors are, and how it is to be improved, how I am to investigate the truth and communicate it to others, is taught by

Logica.

The evil of the will, its nefarious inclinations, and how to set it right is taught by

Ethica.

Knowledge of my body, with respect to its temperament, conservation, and structure, is taught by

Medicina et Chirurgia.

Other people are either dead or living. Knowledge of the dead, and of what they accomplished during their life is shown by

Historia.

Knowledge of those still living makes it possible for me to give to others what they are owed, and to conduct myself wisely with them; this is shown by

Jus naturae et Politica.

Bodily creatures are either above me in the heavens; knowledge of these is taught by

Astronomia;

or they are alongside me on the earth; knowledge of these is taught by 'earth-description' or

Geographia.

Construction, both of ships as well as of houses and settlements, is taught by the building art or

Architectura.

The art of determining the dimensions of such things is the 'measuring-art', or

Geometria,

whose ground and foundation is the reckoning art, or

Arithmetica.

And that people may be comfortable in their houses and on their property and in their ships, to this contributes

Mechanica.

On land and in the water, as well as in the air, there are all sorts of creatures, whose species and characteristics are taught by

Physica.

And the dissolution of these creatures is shown by the art of separation or

Chymia.

And so that men do not grow tired as a result of their continual labor, they are able to refresh themselves by means of the art of tones or

Musica.

If, now, a man wishes to communicate what he has learned to others, he needs to know a number of tongues, and if they are properly taught in a very short time he will have mastered [these]

Linguae.

Letter to Ryazan Metropolitan Stefan Iavorskii, 22 November, 1712

[From V. I. Ger'e, No. 183. Stefan Iavorskii (1658-1722) was the Metropolitan of Ryazan and a graduate of the Kiev-Mogyla College, from which the great Ukrainian philosopher Hryhorii Skovoroda would issue in the following century. Iavorskii composed at least one major philosophical work, which I have yet to locate, entitled Философское состязание [A Philosophical Contention], presented to the Kiev College in 1693-94. According to the Большая Энциклопедия Русского Народа, in this work Iavorskii defends a version of 'Second Scholasticism', which recognizes matter and form as two equal principles of created beings, in contrast with Thomism's absolutization of form. For Iavorskii, form, which is understood as the idea and possibility of a thing, exists in matter itself and is dependent on it. Iavorskii was suspected by many of being a secret convert to Catholicism, and of being a member of the Jesuit order. This may be in part due to his early life in Galicia. It is not clear whether Leibniz knew of Iavorskii's philosophical work when he wrote this letter. What is clear is that Leibniz considers it expedient to flatter Iavorskii and to lavishly praise the Orthodox church in order to advance his true interest, which is to obtain samples of the various minority languages of the Russian empire. For the original Latin, click 'continue reading' below.]

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To the most worthy Metropolitan of Ryazan.

Most Illustrious and Venerable Sir,

As I understand that you are prominent no less for your erudition than for your authority in the Russian Empire, and, at the command of your great monarch, I think of you, Sir, not so much in connection with the promotion of the sciences, as with the illustration of the histories and antiquities of the Russians, I hope to gain acquaintance with, and presume to take recourse to, your work, to the extent that you are in possesion of either published works or ancient manuscripts, whence your ancient histories derive their certainty. One of the more ancient of your books, called the Paterikon, has been mentioned to me, and in it the ancient ecclesiastical history of the Russian people is touched upon. I hope by your generosity both to come to know [better] and to be able to obtain this book and others of this sort.

I do not doubt moreover but that in the renowned monasteries of Russia there exist many excellent codices of the Greek fathers, nor yet but that there exist printed works and other literary works that are too little known in our Europe, which in the interest not only of your glory, but also of the public utility, must not remain hidden forever, but one day should be brought to light. Thus I write for the purpose of obtaining the indices of the pubished books and manuscripts that you have, but, what's more, I imagine it will be of worth to come to know [your] living libraries,[and] the men enlightened by learning in your nation or your region.

I dare moreover to reveal to you, eminent Sir, another wish of mine, which pertains to knowing the origins of peoples, but also, moreover, to the propagation of the true faith among men, and to the exaltation of divine glory, and in this respect it may be hoped that you will be glorified the more. It is known that in your great empire, and within its most extensive boundaries, there are many languages that are entirely different from Slavonic. To have specimens of each of them will be useful, and for it to be indicated where [each] nation has its base, and where its boundaries are, whether they be rivers or otherwise.

The origins and migrations of nations is first of all, of course, known by nothing more clearly than by languages, and great Scythia, the greater part of which belongs to the Russian ruler, is known to have given rise to the ancient Yakutians [Sacas], Parthians, Gets, Massagets, Alans, Huns, Khazars, Bulgarians, Cumanians, and the Hungarians themselves. And I understand now that there even exist regions of your empire in which the Hungarian language flourishes, not only this side of the Caspian Sea, as is commonly supposed, but also towards it. Moreover, the more useful specimens of the language will be the Catechisms, which at the same time will be able to push the peoples along towards the true faith and piety that are being taught, as well as the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed; these are to be written in the language of the people who are to be converted, with each language [also] written in Russian characters, and with a Russian version inserted between the lines, which allows [for it to be read] word for word.

These specimens from the Catechism will, rightly, lead to [the composition of] a concise dictionary in which the most frequently used nouns and verbs of a language, as well as numbers and similar elements, will be included. And all such dictionaries should be easily produced both in the Russian capital, Moscow, as well as in the principal cities of the provinces, and in distant places through the work of interpreters and of other experienced people, and they will make a step towards the conversion of [these] nations, while moreover teaching us about their origins and about the relations between them.

That these [proposals] are approved by your Great Monarch, I have been given to know as if by the oracle of a first-hand report, I therefore expect that you, who are solicitous of God's glory and of the salvation of the people, will be in agreeement.

...

Farewell, and may you continue to excel in your work. Sent

22 November 1712.

On the Declination of the Magnet and the Determination of Longitude

[From a 1716 letter to Peter the Great, in В. И. Герье, Сборник писемъ и мемориаловъ Лейбница относящихся к России и Петру Великому (Санкт-Петербург, 1873), No. 239. Includes note: "Оригиналъ хранится въ Моск. Арх. И. Д. Напечатанъ у Поссельта въ: "Peter d. Gr. und Lb.," p. 214," i.e.: "The original is kept in the Moscow Archive I. D. Printed in Moritz Fedorovich Posselt, Peter der Grösse und Leibniz (Tartu, 1843), 214. To read the original German, click 'keep reading' below.]

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It is well known that in most places the magnetic needle does not face the North, but rather generally tends somewhat to the East or the West, and does so to differing degrees in different places.

One also finds a variation such that the declination [of the magnet] changes everywhere to some extent from year to year, and thus must be observed anew from time to time.

Now many such observations have been made made at sea, as well as on land, now and again, in France, England, Germany, and Italy, and this work is being continued. But such observations are still lacking of the northern locations in Europe and Asia, [and these] gaps could be filled in by instituting [observations] in the great Russian Empire. 

If, now, your Great Majesty the Tsar should wish to permit these to be carried out, they would bring about a great contribution to the improvement of seafaring, and would be of help to all maritime voyagers.

Those who would carry out the investigations of the declination of the magnet could at the same time undertake other investigations which could contribute to the description of the geography and of the natural features of the regions, and to divide up the provinces [by means of surveying]. 

If by bringing together the observations of the declination of the magnet in most places, made at sea and on land in various nations at a given time, as for example in the year 1718, one could plot these on a globe and on maritime maps, and could draw the magnetic lines, so that a line goes through all of the places of a [single] declination, with the result that now the magnet will not decline at all to the East or the West, or will so so only by one or two degrees.

Whoever is at sea and makes two observations, first of all of the Latitude or height of the pole, and then of the declination of the magnet, would only have to look for the line on the magnetic globe where the magnet has the relevant declination, and to follow the line to the place where it comes underneath the present elevation of the pole, in order to determine his location. 

This could then serve, by repetition, [to determine] Longitude, for although the declination changes, nevertheless, if, by the implementation of a program by Your Great Majesty the Tsar, as well as by the leaders of England, Holland, and France, such observations could be made anew from time to time, then new magnetic maps or globes would only need to be made every 5 or 6 years, which could then serve for as long a time. And thus it would be just as good as if the secret of longitude were revealed. And just as the calendar is of use for only a year, such maps would give satisfaction for 5 or 6 years.

And there is no doubt that, with time, a certain order will become apparent in the variation itself, and posterity will finally arrive at a greater knowledge of this mystery, so that new observations will no longer have to be made so frequently, but instead the variation will be able to be seen in advance, in which case the long-studied problem of Longitude would have its much sought-after solution.

Finally, since the parliament of Great Britain has recently adopted a certain resolution concerning the matter of Longitude, perhaps it would be useful to effectuate a certain arrangement with his Royal Highness of Great Britain, which, should it be in keeping with the most worthy intentions of His Great Majesty the Tsar, could, through the intermediation of the Secretary of State Mr. Stanhope, who presumably will be in contact with his Royal Highness, be brought about by me.