Justin E. H. Smith

Some Poetry by Leibniz

This is from a letter in the LHv manuscripts, among the texts in the Ritterkatalog eventually to be included in Reihe VIII of the Akademie Edition. To see a scan of the original in the online Ritterkatalog, go here.

I have been working on transcribing the letter, but it is too messy towards the end for me to make out a clearly significant portion of the text. I am uncertain of the recipient and of the date, but judging from the handwriting and from the style it is almost certainly from the end of Leibniz's Paris period, 1675 or 1676.

The letter begins with a disarmingly sincere avowal of jealousy on Leibniz's part, at not having received letters from the addressee, whoever he or she (but almost certainly he) may be, while knowing nonetheless that a certain Abbé de Canisy, based in Normandy, continued to maintain an active correspondence with him or her (but almost certainly him).

It then moves on to an account of a letter Leibniz himself had sent to the same Abbé, in which he advises him of the importance of prohibiting the consumption of cider in Normandy and Brittany. He writes:

[J]e m'érigea en donneur d'avis, et je luy conseilla de faire défendre l'usage du Cidre, par ce que cette boisson estoit dangereuse, qu'elle n'estoit pas assez cuite par le soleil, et qu'elle faisoit monter a la teste certaines fumées grossieres capables de troubler les esprits des peuples. J'appuya cecy par des raisons et des experiences, et il faut qu'on les ait communiquées au Roy d'Angleterre, car c'est dépuis ce temps la qu'il a defendu l'usage public du Caffé, pour des motifs tous semblables.

[I set myself up as an advice-giver, and I encouraged him to have the consumption of cider outlawed, because this beverage was dangerous, because it was not sufficiently cooked by the sun, and because it caused certain heavy vapors, capable of troubling people's minds, to rise to the head. I backed this up with reasons and with evidence, and these must have been communicated to the king of England, for it is at that time that he prohibited the public consumption of coffee on similar grounds.]

Leibniz then confesses somewhat bashfully that he also included a poem in the letter to the abbot, intended to supplement the argument he had given against drinking cider:

J'avois adjouté des vers, qui contiennent mes raisons en racourcy. Les voicy, si vous les voyez dignes d'estre lûs.

[I added some verses, which include my reasons in abbreviated form. Here they are, if you consider them worthy of being read.]

So then, if you too consider them worthy of being read, here they are:

Normans enfoncez les tonneaux
Versez ce dangereux breuvage
Qui d'un peuple tranquille et sage
Peut faire un amas de brebaux.

L'air Breton est contagieux
Gardez vous d'en tirer l'haleine
Faites faire la quarantaine
Aux paysages audacieux.

On vous accorde assez d'esprit
Mais le Cidre en prend la partie,
Et en cas de quelque folie,
Dieu sçait si le reste suffit.

Mais j'y suis peut estre trompé
Et la nature toute sage
Vous fait encor un avantage
quand le vin vous est refusé.

Car si vous faites tant de bruit
Avec le surplus de souplesse
Avec le reste de finesse
Que le Cidre n'a pas détruit

Que feriez vous si la boisson
Estoit un peu plus genereuse,
La metamorphose est facheuse
Qui change un Normand en Gascon.

I've tried to translate the poem in a way that maintains at least a minimum of its poetic elements, in particular the enclosing rhyme scheme of the stanzas, while nonetheless giving first priority to the preservation of the general meaning:

Break your barrels, Normans,
Pour out this dangerous drink
Which transforms a people who think
Into a nation of morons.

The Breton air is contagious,
So content yourselves with breathing it,
Rather than thinking of leaving it
To suck something more outrageous.

You're endowed with adequate mind,
But on cider you've only a part left,
And God knows if you'll have enough art left,
To put paid to life's madness in kind.

But perhaps here I wrongly opine
And nature, with clear-sighted vantage,
Has seen to your nation's advantage
In refusing to let you drink wine.

For if you make so much noise,
With so much inborn ability,
With what's left of the natural agility
That the cider in large part destroys,

Then imagine if your flascons
Caused still greater a transformation,
And made of the great Normand nation
A mash more befitting Gascons.

Leibniz to Herzog Anton Ulrich, 1 September, 1711

In the hall at Salzdahlem where comedies are performed, instead of dinner theatre there could take place at mealtime a presentation of the power of the Great Tsar through a representation of his Empire with carved figures that variously serve this purpose and indicate the Tsar’s [military] victories. Its place would have to be on the floor of the hall so that water could be taken to and from it.

So that it should contain within it a new and special contrivance, the representation of the great Muscovite Empire should not be a mere surface, as in land-maps, but rather a true depiction of the heights and depths of the land, the source of the streams, showing their course and flow into the sea, to which end it should be ensured that the 5 seas are at the lowest [place], and the high land at the highest, and everything in between: namely, the White Sea with the flow of the Dvina, the Ob’, the Yenisei, and the Lena; the Baltic [Sea] with the in-flow of the Narva and the Duna; the Black [Sea] with the in-flow of the Volga; the Oriental or Japanese [Sea] with the in-flow of the Amur, which comes out of Muscovite Tartary.

One would be able to see there the peoples with their traditional garb, as well as the strange animals of each place, all the mountains and forests and otherwise the most important cities, with the boundaries and names of the provinces.

*

Es köndte bey einer Mahlzeit im Saal zu Salzdahlem, wo etwa Comoedien gespielet worden anstatt eines Schauessens die Macht des grossen Czars in der vorbildung seines Reichs vorgestellet, und dies mit allerhand sowohl dazu dienenden, als auf des Czars Siege zielenden Figuren ausgezieret werden. Der orth müste ein auf dem Boden befindlicher Saal seyn, damit man wasser ab und zuleiten könne.

Die Vorbildung des grossen Moscovitischen Reichs, damit Sie eine neue und besondere Erfindung in sich habe, solte nicht seyn eine blosse Ebene, wie die Land Carten, sondern eine wahre anzeige der Höhe und Vertiefung des Landes, der Ströhme ursprung, lauff und einfluss in das Meer anzudeuten, zu welchem ende zu sehen seyn solte, die 5 Meere zu unterst, und das hohe Land zu oberst, samt den Mittel: nehmlich das weisse Meer mit dem lauff der Dwina, des Oby, der Jenesea und Lena, das baltische mit dem Einfluss der Narva und Düna, das Schwarze mit dem Einfluss der Volga, das orientalische oder japanische mit dem Einfluss des Amur-stroms, so aus der Moscovitischen Tartarey hehr komt.

Es köndte dabey zu sehen seyn die Völker mit ihren trachten, auch frembde Thiere jedes orths, samt Bergen und Wäldern und sonderlich die vornehmste Städte, mit den Grenzen und Nahmen der Provinzen (addendum do a letter to Herzog Anton Ulrich, September 1, 1711, Ger’e No. 123, 169).

Leibniz to Peter the Great, 18 December, 1712

[Ger'e, No. 190. With note: Съ подлинника въ Моск. Арх. М. И. Д. Въ Ганнов. библиотеке хранится черновая этого письма, на которой помечено, что 26 iюля 1838 г. съ нея выдана копiя Жуковскому, сопровождавшому въ то время Е. В. Государя Наследника. English translation to follow.]

Allerdurchleuchtigster Grossmächtigster Czaar Allergnädigster Herr

Nachdem ich wieder verhoffen erfahren, dass die Ottomannische Pforte abermahl mit E. Gross Czaarischen Mt. zu brechen begriffen, und auch gegen Pohlen sich feindlich erzeige; so verursacht mein Eifer zu Dienst E. Mt. dass ich dero überschreibe, was ein sehr erfahrner und belobter General gegen mich gedacht, als bereits im vorigen Winter ein solcher Bruch besorget worden. Es bedünckte ihm nehmlich, dass Eure und des Königs zu Pohlen Mayt. mit aller dienlichen Macht so früh als müglich an den Fluss Niester oder Tyras sich zu sezen hätten, nicht weit von dem orth, wo König Uladislaus dem Sultan Osman in Person so glücklich wiederstanden. Man müste auch einige bequeme oerther zwischen dem Nieper und Niester wohl befestigen, und alle LebensMittel vor Menschen und Vieh theils zur Haupt armée, theils dahinein bringen lassen. Der Tartarische schwarm wäre durch eine gleichförmige leichte Reuterey zimlich in Zaum zu halten. Solte man nun einen solchen Post am Niester finden, welchen der Feind mit seinem Haupt corpo, wegen abgehender Subsistenz und ander Besorgniss, vermuthlich nicht leicht würde vorbeygehen noch hinter sich lassen dürffen; so wäre rahtsam sich daselbst wohl und weitläufig, mit gräben Brustwehr und flanquen zu veschanzen, und mit allem zu versehen; zumahl denen Türcken lange im felde zu stehen nicht wohl müglich.

Auff allen fall aber weil es kommen kan, dass man ins feld rücken müsste; wäre ein (so zu sagen) bewegliches retrenchement, nehmlich eine Wagenburg nöthig. Dann die Erfahrung gegeben, wie zu Zeiten die Türcken mit so dicken Hauffen eingedrungen, dass unsere bataillons erster und ander lini, als nicht hoch gnug, ganz zu boden getreten worden; darüber eine ganze Armée leicht zertrennet, und in Unordnung bracht werden kan. Dagegen ist nichts besser als ein Tabor oder Wagenburg, welche auch von alters hehr bey den Scythischen Völkern in ihren ebenen Feldern im gebrauch gewesen; da man ein unempfindliches hartes Holz der einbrechenden furi entgegensezet.

Weil aber bisweilen eine Wagenburg, wenn sie durchbrochen, zu deren so sie gebraucht verwirrung und untergang gedienet; wie dessen ein Exempel geben kan die schlacht so der Feldherr Johann Sobieski (hernach König) gegen die Türcken gewonnen; so vermeynte eben dieser General, dass sonderbare anstalten und vielfältige Vortheile zu guther Anordnung einer Wagenburg nöthig.

Es haben aber E. Mt. verständige Leute bey sich, die alles wohl ausfinden und veranstalten können. Und bin ich nicht ausser hofnugf, es werde diese der Türcken Friedbrüchigkeit mit Gottes Hülffe zu ihrem Verderben gereichen.

Ich bin ausser meiner profession diessmahl geschritten, weil ich nicht meine, sondern eines erfahrnen Kriegesmannes gedancken melden, und zugleich gelegenheit nehmen wollen, meinen Eifer zu dienst E. Mt. und meine erkentlichkeit zu bezeigen.

Sonsten habe annoch anfügen sollen; wofern iezo nicht müglich seyn solte den Krieg in Pommern und Meklenburg, (wie doch gleichwohl annoch hoffen will) zur decision zu bringen; so scheine doch es können die Sachen dergestalt gefasset werden; dass die Schweden in Teutschland gnugsam in Zaum zu halten, obschohn E. Mt. macht gänzlich, und die Pohlnische oder Sächss. gröstentheils, darauss gezogen würden.

Schliesslichen, habe sowohl an E. Mt. Generalfeldzeugmeister Herrn von Bruce, als an den jüngern H. Graf Golofkin, dero abgesandten zu Berlin bereits aus Dressden aussführlich geschrieben und gemeldet, worin ich aus E. Mt. Landen liecht und information zu dero Selbsteignen Dienst verlange.

Hoffe es werde solches zu E. Mt. oder dero Canzley Kundschaft kommen seyn.

Ich habe auch dem Herrn General de Bruce einen Brief an den H. Metropolit Ressanski zugestellet, darinn ich diesen ersuchet, sonderlich in einer Sach, so zu ausbreitung des Christlichen glaubens gereichen kan, nehmlich zu übersetzung der zehen geboth, des Vater Unser, und des Symboli Apostolici in die besondere Sprachen der Völcker, so in E. Mt. weitem Reich wohnen, oder daran grenzen, samt einem kleinen dictionariolo ieder Sprache, behülfig zu seyn. Wofern nun dieser vortreffliche geistliche E. Mt. willen diessfalls vernehmen möchte, ist kein Zweifel er würde umb so mehr an Hand zu gehen, sich eiferig erweisen.

Und ich verbleibe lebenszeit

E. Grossczaarischen Mayt.

allerunterthänigster Diener

G. W. Leibniz

Wien den 18 Dec. 1712.

An Seine Gross Czaarische Majestät allerunterthänigst.

Leibniz to Count Golovkin, 6 November, 1712

[Ger'e, No. 181, to read the original French, click 'keep reading' below]

To Count Golovkin, the Representative of the Tsar in Berlin

The prompt departure of Your Excellency from Dresden did not permit me to extend my thanks for all of the favors I received, nor to recommend myself for the continuation of these benefits. I am thus doing this by means of this letter, and as His Majesty the Tsar gracefully had the patent sent to me, and even the payment of my pension from last year, I beg Your Excellency once again to let the Great Chancellor know of all the thankfulness that I have towards him, and that I beg him to reserve for me the honor of his good graces.

I transmitted to the General Feldzeugmeister [Jacob Daniel] Bruce some desiderata that I hope to obtain from Russia itself. And here I have no particular interest of my own, but all of my requests serve toward the public good and toward the glory of His Majesty.

I requested some books from Russia and some notices concerning the state of research there, [and] some letters and books on the learned men of the country, so that I can communicate with them in the service of the Tsar.

But in particular I am requesting samples of all of the languages that are different from Slavonic that are found in the great Empire of the Tsar and in neighboring states. These samples would consist in a translation of the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed in each of the languages, written in Russian characters, with an interlinear Russian version written word-for-word below, and then a small vocabulary of each language, indicating the most frequently used words, the nouns, verbs, numbers, and so on, together with their meaning in Russian.

Now these samples would not only be glorious for the Empire of the Russians, in that they would mark its extent, but they would also have a clear usefulness, for by means of them we would learn the ancient origins, the relations, and the migrations of the peoples who make up the ancient History of Russia and also of other countries, whose inhabitants earlier emerged from greater Scythia, which is now subjugated in great part to the Great Tsar of the Russians, as for example the Parthians, the Alans, the Roxolani, the Huns, Bulgars, Avars, Khazars, Hungarians, and Cumans. In addition, this would constitute the beginning of the work of converting these people and of propagating the Christian faith. This is why I wrote to the Metropolitan of Ryazan, the merit of whose doctrine has been praised, and I hope that my desires will be favored by the supreme authority of His Majesty.

I also hope to know what has been discovered or might be discovered concerning that great question, whether America and Asia touch at the northeast corner [of Asia], or whether there is a sea between them. His Majesty could shine great light for the whole world concerning the things I have just noted, as for example the variations of the Magnet and other matters. And as I see that His Majesty the Tsar wishes that [works of] great learning be translated into Russian, I dare say that if I had the necessary additional assistance, one could produce a General Encyclopedia or quintessence of the sciences in the Russian language, which would perhaps surpass everything we have up until now in every other language. Therefore I beg Your Excellency to see to it that this letter, which I give myself the honor to write to you, Sir, be communicated to the Great Chancellor, and through him to the Great Tsar, so that his Majesty should see, more and more, my good will, and so that he should be able to favor it as it finds fitting. If there is anything you wish to let me know, Sir, I beg you to address it to M. Jablonski, the secretary to the King at Berlin, and I am...

Peter the Great to Herzog Anton Ulrich on the appointment of Leibniz to Privy Councillor

Вашей Светлости и Любви Тайнной Советникъ фонъ Лейбницъ приятное Ваше писанiе отъ 25 Окт. вручилъ намъ исправно и вящей словесно предлагалъ, что Вы ему въ коммиссiи дать изволили. Мы Вашей Светлости и Любви обязаны за доброе мненiе и намеренiе, которое Вы кнамъ и интересу нашему оказуете и мы на то его Лейбницево предложенiе наше мненiе письменно ему объявить указали, на что мы ссылаемся и ко оказанiю всехъ приятныхъ угодностей пребываемъ

12 Нояб. 1712

Петръ

*

The Privy Councillor von Leibniz, my Cherished and Esteemed sir, did duly give me your agreeable letter of 25 October, and also told me what you charged him to communicate. I am very attached to you, Cherished and Esteemed sir, for the good thoughts and intentions that You have shown in relation to me and my interests, and I have issued a command that an answer be given to Leibniz in written form concerning his proposal, to which I refer, and in fulfillment of all agreeable functions I remain

12 November, 1712

Peter

Desiderata from Russia

[Ger'e, No. 179. Includes note: "Съ оригинала въ Моск. Арх. М. И. Д. Заглавiе заимствовано нами изъ письма Лейбница къ посланику Головкину. Напечатано у Посс. стр. 235."] circa 1712.

Es wird verlanget:

1) Ein catalogus der Bücher, die in Russland heraus kommen, sowohl derer so sich in den officien finden, als anderer.

2) Nachricht von den griechischen oder Russischen Manuscripten, so in den Clöstern Russlands und sonst in selbigen Landen sich finden.

3) Register gelehrter Leute sowohl Russen als ausländer, so in Seiner Grossczarischen Mt. Diensten oder sonst in dero Landen.

4) Nachricht von dem Mann aus japonien der durch Sturm an der Siberischen Küste angelandet, von dem Herr Vinnius umbstände wissen soll; und wenn der Mann noch vorhanden, köndte man noch mehr davon erfahren.

5) Nachricht von den Leuten aus Siberien so nach Norden fortgereiset und endtlich in warme Länder gekommen seyn sollen.

6) Beförderung der Proben von den Sprachen des grossen Reichs Seiner Mt. und angrenzenden Lande, welche Proben im Vater Unser, glaube und zehen gebothen in iede Sprache versezet, samt einer Russischen Version interlineari, auch vocabulario brevi nominum verborum et numerorum bestehen köndten.

7) Es wird auch verlangt ein Russisch dictionarium, oder vocabularium.

8) Eine Slavonische Grammatik.

9) Alte Russische Historische Bücher.

10) Das Buch genant Paterikon.

11) Russische Bibel, insonderheit das neue Testament neuer edition.

12) Das officium divinum in Russisch.

13) Catechismus Russicus. 

*

It would be desirable to have:

1) A catalog of books that are published in Russia, both those that are found in the officies [of state], as well as others.

2) News of the Greek or Russian manuscripts that are found in the monasteries of Russia and in [neighboring] lands.

3) A register of the learned people, both Russians as well as foreigners, who are in the service of His Great Majesty the Tsar, or are in his country for another reason.

4) News of the man from Japan who landed in a storm on the Siberian coast, about whose circumstances Herr Vinnius wishes to know; and if the man is still present, one could learn still more from him.

5) News of the people from Siberia who travelled into the North and who are said in the end to have arrived in a warm country.

6) Transmission of samples of the languages of the kingdom of His Majesty, as well as bordering countries, which could consist in samples of the Our Father, beliefs and prayers, written down in each language, together with an interlinear Russian version, as well as a concise vocabulary of nouns, verbs, and numbers. 

7) I would also like to have a Russian dictionary or vocabulary.

8) A manual of Slavonic grammar.

9) Old Russian historical books.

10) The book called Paterikon.

11) The Russian Bible, in particular the New Testament, in a new edition.

12) The officium divinum in Russian.

13) The Russian catechism.

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.]

*

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.]

*

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.

From the Correspondence between G. W. Leibniz and J. G. Sparwenfeld, 1698-99

From V. I. Ger'e, Sbornik pisem i memorialov Leïbnitsa otnosyashchikhsya k Rossii i Petru Velikomu, Saint Petersburg, 1873. Nos. 34-39. To read the original French, click 'keep reading' below.

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Leibniz to Sparwenfeld, 13 July, 1698

What do you have to say, Sir, of the voyage of the Tsar of Muscovy, and of the grand plan he has to de-barbarianize his nation? Is this not something quite extraordinary?

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Leibniz to Sparwenfeld, 27 December, 1698

People criticize me when I attempt to take leave of the study of mathematics, and they tell me that I am wrong to abandon solid and eternal truths in order to study the changing and perishable things that are found in history and its laws.

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Leibniz to Sparwenfeld, 14 (24) March, 1699

The Tsar is without a doubt a great prince, and it is a great pity that domestic strife has recently forced him to resort to such terrible executions. It is reported that his principal aides, both ecclesiastical as well as secular, were obligated to take a direct part in the execution of some criminals. This is a custom that still retains a bit of the Scythian, and I am surprised that this does not put the churchmen in that country out of sorts. But this hardly matters; what I am afraid of is that such tortures, far from squelching the animosity, will in fact only sharpen them by a sort of contagion. The children, parents, and friends of those executed are left with a wounded spirit, and it is a dangerous maxim that says: oderint, dum metuant. I greatly hope that God will protect this prince and that his heir will achieve what he has begun, namely, to civilize the nation.

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Sparwenfeld to Leibniz, Amsterdam, 9 April, 1699

It is true, Sir, that the Tsar is a great warrior, and that he prefers to continue to make war rather than to make peace with the infidels. He was even not very happy with me, because I encouraged making peace with the Turks. It is certain that the domestic strife was very great during his absence, and that he was obligated to take a direct part in the execution of criminals. But there is nothing to fear from the friends of those executed, for the custom is to send the wives, children, and even all of the relatives of those who have been tortured to death to Siberia, or to some other far-away country. I learned many things about what happened in Moscow recently, and I believe, Sir, that you are also well informed. 

I believe that it is true that His Majesty the Tsar, when in Vienna, agreed to give the German Jesuits open passage to China across his territory; but I doubt, as you do, as to the outcome of this. 

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Sparwenfeld to Leibniz, Amsterdam, 5 July, 1699

 

Regarding what you said, Sir, about a certain Muscovite custom that reeks a bit of the Scythian, I cannot refrain from telling you that I recall being in a certain place, not far from the city of Novgorod in Muscovy, where I came across a mountain called Cholobgora, which is to say Slave Mountain, and at the foot of this mountain a small river called Cholobreca, or Slave River. And when I inquired as to the origin of this name, the inhabitants related that, a long time ago, the men of this place had left in order to make war in distant lands, and that after a long absence the women, having befriended the slaves and servants of their husbands, attempted to prevent the return of these latter into their own country. But the husbands beat and chased away these sevants using no other weapons than their whips. In a word, they related to me the whole story that we find in Justin about the Scythian slaves who fought against the return of their masters into their country. However, it must be noted, Sir, that these people understand neither Greek nor Latin, having no knowledge of antiquity. From which I conclude that this region around Novgorod was part of ancient Scythia, as you have remarked. 

G. W. Leibniz, "A Note on the Origins of the Slavic Tribes"

[from V. I. Ger'e, Sbornik pisem i memorialov Leibnitsa otnosyashchikhsya k Rossii i Petru Velikomu, Saint Petersburg, 1873. No. 144, pp. 210-213. To read the original German, please click 'keep reading' below.]

1712

I have recently investigated in depth the origin and the antiquity of the Slavonic peoples, and I find that in this task one has two means available: the languages that the people speak, and the old histories that are available about them. From the languages, one sees that the entire North, to the extent that it is known to us, can be divided into four principle groups, namely, the Tartars, the Sarmatians, the Finns, and the Germans.

Among the Tartars I include the Mughals, the Kalmucks, the inhabitants of ancient Turkey, Turkestan or Bukhara, the ancient Cumanians, and similar groups.

Among the Sarmatians I include all Slavonic peoples, who were called Sarmatas by the ancients, before anything was know of the Slavinis or Slavis. And ages ago they spread from the Volga and the Ob' almost all the way to the Vistula.

Among the Finns I include the Lapps, who were called Scritofinnos by the ancients, and other peoples of the same origins who extend to the North. 

Finally, the Germans have filled Sweden, Norway, and Denmark with their colonies, for the languages of such peoples are in fact certain dialects of the German language.  

Where these peoples, and particularly the Sarmatian peoples, come from goes beyond all [written] histories and it is difficult to say how they can be derived from the descendants of Noah. Learned people have indeed let their thoughts run freely on this subject, but it is no use dweling on all-too uncertain conjectures.

Homer, who is the most ancient pagan author we have, mentions the Cimmerians who live on the Black Sea. Herodotus mentions the Cimmerians, the Scythians, the Sarmatians (or Sauromats) Issedonus and Arimasporus, and other peoples from whose location and circumstances one could make all sorts of observations that might serve to clarify the origins of the Slavonic peoples. This will be handled more extensively elsewhere.

In the Roman period we gain more light [on the subject], and see that the Sarmatians were already at that time neighbors of the Germans, and that they extended far into Asia, as we gather from Tacitus, Ptolemy, and others.

It was indeed a group of Germans from the Baltic Sea or Prussia (which in Tacitus's time was the home of the Goths) that went throughout the land of the West Slavs (or the Antes) and Poland all the way to the Black Sea, and settled between the Don, the Dniepr, the Dniestr, and the Danube. They were however soon driven out by the Huns, in the time of Constantine the Great, compelled to cross over the Danube and to go over to the Roman Empire, as the Visigoths were invading France and Spain, and the Ostrogoths Italy. The power of the Huns reached its peak under Attila, who brought almost everything between the Caspian Sea and the Rhine under his authority. And one sees from the account given by Priscus, who lived at his court along with the embassy from Constantinople, that this was no brute, but a very reasonable ruler.

There are many arguments to show that the Huns are a Sarmatian, or, as is said today, a Slavonic people.

1) They moved over the Don towards the Dniepr, and so in fact inhabited [what is today] greater Russia.

2) There is today in Slavonic the word Huni, or Chuni in some old texts, which means 'rider', and it is known that the Sarmatians and the Huns were always on horseback.

3) There were only two languages at Attila's court, as Priscus relates: Gothic (that is, German) and Hunnic. If Hunnic had been something different from Slavonic, surely Slavonic would also have been noted, for at the time Attila was surrounded by Slavonic peoples. 

4) There are many words known to the ancients that were attributed to the Huns, and that are easy to understand in Slavonic.

5) The Huns who remained in Pannonia after Attila's time and who were first tempered by Charles the Great were a Slavonic nation, according to [?] Methodius, a Pannonian bishop who without doubt spoke Slavonic. Thus almost all of Upper Hungary and a great part of Lower Hungary spoke Slavonic, since after the invasion of the Hungarians (an entirely different nation that comes from deep within Tartary) under Emperor Arnulphus and his son, a great part of the remaining inhabitants preserved the Slavonic language.

After the Goths and the Huns, the so-called Slabini or Slavonians began to spread out in Europe during the time of Emperor Justinian I and later. They came from Poland and Russia, adopting mostly the lands that had been left by the Germans between the Elbe and the Eastern Sea, as well as Moravia and Bohemia, and extending into Croatia, Dalmatia, Slovenia, the Windic March, and all the way to the Adriatic Sea, and the Khazars are also to be included among the Slavonic peoples.

Finally, the Bulgarians (who come from the Volga region) [also] belong among the Slavonic peoples, as their language is spoken not only in Bulgaria, between Serbia and Thrace, but also a number of words from the ancient Bulgarians remain [in the Volga region [?]], such as Bogomili, who were a certain group of heretics, so called by the Bulgarians because they were always saying "God help us."

Last of all, in the ninth century of our era the Russians, who are presumably the ancient Roxolani (so powerful that they too besieged Constantinople), make their appearance. In order to be able to better judge from the ancient histories, one would have to have the ancient book that they possess called paterikon, as well as other monuments.

Various Remarks by Leibniz concerning Russia

From V. I. Ger'e (Guerrier), Sbornik pisem i memorialov Leibnitsa otnosyashchikhsya k Rossii i Petru Velikomu. Saint Petersburg, 1873. (Ger'e does not give a date of composition, but from the content this piece can be placed roughly between 1705 and 1712. Explanatory notes to follow soon.)

No. 42.

A thing of great curiosity is the Mammatovoi Kost [mammoth bone], which was dug out of the earth in Siberia. The inhabitants tell remarkable tales about it; in fact they say that they are the bones of an animal that dwells beneath the earth, and that surpasses in size all the animals that live above the earth.  In medicine they use it for the same purposes as that which is called the horn of the unicorn. A morsel was given to me which seemed to be genuine ivory, and those who are more experienced believe it to be elephant tooth, so that in the universal deluge, the teeth were carried there, and it is necessary that for a great period of time they become more and more woven into the earth.

Likewise the Adamovoi Kost or Adam's wood is obtained from the bowels of the earth on the way towards Arkhangelsk. It is blackish in color, like a stone in hardness, and with respect to its shape and its veins it recalls the branches of a tree. And the common opinion is that it is a petrified stone.

There is in Russia a fruit called a Naliva, which does not delight the appetite so much by the sweetness of its taste, but is greatly alluring to the sight, for it is translucent like woadstone. 

The root of the famous kidney vetch has been observed in Russia, growing in Siberia, as well as the Voltschnoi Koren, which is called [in Latin] the lupina radix [or wolf root], which is said to have the greatest [medicinal] virtue in healing wounds, and some claim that it is beneficial to chew it for the healing of wounds.

Among fish the sturgeon stands out, [as it is] considered among the Russian delicacies.  The head and the tail are so long that the body itself makes up barely half of the fish. It lacks scales, but is provided with a skin akin to that of an eel. Those sturgeons are most prized the interior of whose skin is golden.

The vichochol is a large aquatic mouse that gives off a pleasant odor. Its furs are placed in the case in which linen garments are kept, thanks to which they acquire their odor.

In Slavonic the word Scorbuti is a sort of illness kat' exochen, for in the Slavonic tongue Scorb means 'illness'. The Russians have a truly peculiar term for designating scurvy, which they call tsinga.

The city of Yaroslavl' is celebrated above all for its manufacture of marroquin rouge.

Because the Armenians are able to easily transfer goods obtained in Holland from the Baltic Sea, along the Volga, and into Persia, henceforth the Russians allow this route to no one, unless they are travelling from Persia through Russia to the Baltic Sea.

Previously bananas from India came as far as Moscow; now it is not permitted to transport them beyond Astrakhan.

From China they bring an artificial product, which is golden in color, aromatic, and similar to chalk in texture, [and] which is called Temzui, and reputed to be an excellent medicine for many illnesses.  The Bukharan Muslims, whose capital city is Samarkand, frequently go to Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia.  The Kalmuk Tatars lead horses to Moscow to be sold around the beginning of autumn. A herd of horses, called a tabun, can consist in 6, 8, or 12 thousand. They also sell their children to the Russians. Their religion is the same as that of the Mughal Tatars.

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"Request of the Dogs" (A I 3, N. 67)

[This is a satirical request written by G. W. Leibniz in early 1680 to his employer, the Duke of Hannover, ostensibly on behalf of the dogs residing at the royal court. Leibniz is responding to news of the invention, by Denis Papin, of the pressure cooker, which has been described as being capable of reducing even bones to a soft state in which they can be consumed by humans. For Papin's description of the machine, in the form of a report to the Royal Society of London, see A new digester or engine for softning bones containing the description of its make and use in these particulars: viz. cookery, voyages at sea, confectionary, making of drinks, chymistry, and dying: with an account of the price a good big engine will cost, and of the profit it will afford, by Denys Papin, London: Printed by J.M. for Henry Bonwicke, 1681. For the original version, please click "continue reading" below.]

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Request of the Dogs, presented to Mr. ..., French Agent General of Cuisine, and Secretary of State of this body for foreign affairs, currently located in his professional capacity at the court of Hannover.

We, the undersigned Dogs, the bloodhounds, greyhounds, the sleuth-hounds, the lapdogs, and other dogs, large and small, humbly beg your highness to hear, and to make to hear, our reasons for this important grievance.

Your Highness will no doubt recall, having read so widely and gained such fine knowledge, that the great Diogenes, called the Cynic or the 'canine' in view of the affection that he gave us, had the custom of declaring loudly that there was sometimes a greater difference from one dog to another, than there is between certain men and certain beasts.  Nevertheless, notwithstanding this great diversity among dogs, which makes them seem almost of different species, the entire body [of dogs] is now united in order to defend one of the most glorious rights our nation has ever had, and which they now wish to steal from us in an undertaking that will have very dangerous consequences. For we have learned from our correspondents, that a certain quidam [i.e., Papin] claims to be able to make bones soft and suitable for being eaten by men, without thereby spoling the flesh at all, and that said quidam wishes to send his cooking pots and his entire apparatus to the Court of Hannover so that they may be tried out there.  To which we have deemed it necessary to voice our opposition in a timely fashion. For although we can hardly believe it, and we should take it all for so much fanciful dreaming, nevertheless some malign demon of the canine race or of the human race, wishing to distrub the good understanding that has existed for all time between dogs and men, might have given the idea of this secret to this man, just as another demon no doubt gave the idea of gunpowder to a monk.  There is no room for wondering whether one might be able to call into question the right that we have to the bones that have been stripped of flesh, which have belonged to us since time immemorial without any man or beast undertaking to disturb us in our possession [of them]. Homer and the most ancient authors spoke in explicit terms; and the Scripture, when it says that one must not take bread away from children to give it to the dogs, did not however say such a thing about the bones, which they well knew to belong to us since the flood, that is to say since men began to eat the flesh of animals. And although we have relinquished the marrow to men for love of peace, this was only in order to better preserve for ourselves our right to the bones themselves, which was moreover only strengthened by this arrangement. Good God, how far does the covetousness of men reach, who sometimes do not content themselves with eating all that they have, but also have no shame in devouring our portion. But this gluttony might be punished severely by the guardian gods of our species, and by the great Sirius, or the celestial dog, who merited a place among the stars, [and who] will no doubt plead our cause before Jupiter, if men refuse to do us right. But Sirius himself could avenge the injustice of men for us by intensifying the heat of the dog days, of which he is the master, as you know in view of the great knowledge you have of astronomy. What's more, this new dish could have ill effects among men, and could turn them all into cynics, seeing that they are already today inclined towards impudence. 

After much reflection, we leave it to your prudence to consider whether it should be safe and advantageous to forever cut off ties in such a way with the dogs. You know (you who have read so much history) that a certain king, chased from his land, was brought back in the escort of two hundred dogs, who laid waste to the rebels. [You know too] that dogs have saved the lives of their masters, and that other dogs have avenged their masters' deaths. Finally, there are today cities that are guarded by dogs that would in the future be abandoned along with many others, if we are deprived of the better part of our salary. Hunting dogs will no longer attack, and will not pursue any beast; the other dogs will abandon their homes to the thieves, and the sheep to the wolves. And we little dogs of Boulogne, we will abandon our mistresses to the lovers who pursue them, and we will no longer bark at whatsoever they might undertake. And finally, there will be much disorder in the kitchens, and all you messieurs les chefs, you will often be left wanting for so much as a morsel of lamb: in denying us the bones, you will lose them along with the meat. This is why it is up to you others above all, as much as it is up to the meat carvers, whose art would be useless, if one were able to cut through the meat without concern for the bone, as one cuts through butter. For these reasons, we beseech Your Highness, upon much reflection, to deliberate in the General Assembly upon a matter of such importnce, and to despatch far away this innovator with his whole apparatus, and to forbid him from entering into all kitchens. And as for you, Monsieur, in particular, you will be so kind as to prevent him from meddling in the kitchen at Hannover. We, with all the respect of which dogs are capable,

the most humble sleeping dogs
of Your Highness:

for the hunting dogs, Lelaps

for the guard dogs, Mopse

for the lapdogs, Amarille

De Animalibus

1672-6; LH 037, 02. 123v.

(To see a scan of the original manuscript, please go here. To read the original Latin, please click 'continue reading' below.)

The true opinion of Descartes appears to have been that animals think. Also in the book on the Method of contraries he appears to say this, indeed so that he should be more satisfying to the theologians, whose judgment he feared.  In his final letter to Henry More he did not show himself to be in doubt, but in the book on the passions, which is among the last, he said of the brutes that perhaps they do indeed think. This Malebranche did not notice. Lord Tschirnhaus believed himself to be able to show that there are no animals that do not arise from other animals.  Fleas and lice of various sorts are produced in various animals; various animals are able to produce themselves, where no animals were before. Redi performed experiments, [and] if he had followed them through, he would have arrived at this. There are at length certain black spots in men’s nostrils, and if they are pressed a sort of worm can be squeezed out of them, a larva, and this is confirmed by the example of pediculosis, but these perhaps demonstrate as much.  Visible animals often arise from invisible ones that make the air full, from indetectible spiders [come] these webs that fly through the air, which are called vulgarly Mariengarn ['Mary's thread'].  Fevers from the matter that has passed from the veins into the tissue.  Of course the supply of nutriment brings about extravasation, as other causes do constantly.  From here, blood is either expelled, or it stagnates.  If this arrives at the heart, and there brings about a fright because of its unaccustomed nature, the consumed matter returns in due time, and from here arise intermittent fevers. Artificial fever, if you poke yourself with a needle in the thumb, where on account of the hardness of the skin matter is not expelled well, and thus is carried by the blood to the heart, and brings about a little fever.  (Thus the doubt, for what is outside the vessels does not return to the heart.)  In dysentery there arises from a certain irritating matter a motion that is contrary to the peristaltic motion of the intestines, and from here, if nature should become accustomed [to this], the man dies.  Nor indeed can the one motion be made to harmonize with the other, and an untimely expulsion follows, and one that is opposed to nutrition.  A simple cure, if a man should not depart from his chair, and if he is turned every two hours, remaining until something is expelled.  Thereagter, a little concealed, he will sweat, and finally he will accept a hot broth.  These [things] suffice[:] the elements expel the irritant, opium diminishes the irritation. You will cure fever without a febrifuge if you sweat thoroughly, bringing down the fever; a certain person (though unfortunately) sweat only a little prior to paroxysm.  By a violent paroxysm the fright ceases, [and] the sweating ceases, and a slight cold is felt.  Thereupon, in turn, heat and sweat [followed], and thus the fever ceased.  (Fevers arising from wounds are artificial.)  It is noteworthy how tuberculosis comes about.

A Method for Instituting a New, Invincible Militia

That Can Subjugate the Entire Earth, Easily Seize Control over Egypt, or Establish American Colonies

(1671, A IV i, 408-10. Translated here only in part. To see the corresponding Latin text, please click 'continue reading').

A certain island of Africa, such as Madagascar, shall be selected, and all the inhabitants shall be ordered to leave. Visitors from elsewhere shall be turned away, or in any event it will be decreed that they only be permitted to stay in the harbor for the purpose of obtaining water.  To this island slaves captured from all over the barbarian world will be brought, and from all of the wild coastal regions of Africa, Arabia, New Guinea, etc. To this end Ethiopians, Nigritians, Angolans, Caribbeans, Canadians, and Hurons fit the bill, without discrimination. What a lovely bunch of semi-beasts! But so that this mass of men may be shaped in any way desired, it is useful only to take boys up to around the age of twelve, as this is better than [attempting to] transform girls and adults.

In every race [genere], whoever is most trained in his squadron, which is to say among those who speak his language, shall challenge those who are the best trained in the other squadrons.  The people [gens] that wins that year shall be the leaders.  Thus they will be able to strike terrible blows with their very powerful curved swords, to hit targets with their slings, and to rip things apart with their lances.  They are to be trained to run races at such a speed as will be equal to that of horses. Which will come about first by pursuing them until they are able to touch the mane or the tail, and then freely [i.e., without horses].  They shall learn to swim first with the help of an outer shell or bladder, and thereafter without any covering; they will descend under the water after the example of diving bells, and they will learn the method of ascending and descending as they please. They shall learn to jump after the manner of the Tenerifeans, first jumping with the help of a lance, of the Springstecken, as far as human strength is able to reach, and afterwards without these. 

In the beginning they will alight from a higher place by the means of their lance touching the ground below; then they will leap horizontally on a level plane, and finally from below they will leap to the top. The will learn how to climb up smooth surfaces [per lubrica klettern], as the Japanese do on their cliffs, and as the gatherers of palm fronds among the Indians.  They shall become used to climbing however high their lance may be just by means of fixing their lances beneath them.  They will learn moreover to carry the greatest and strongest lances, like Achilles, and like other ancients.  Indeed, they shall learn to project them with great impetus towards a designated target, as well as of bringing one lance together with another if the one does not suffice for climing.  By means of this art they will easily conquer the mightiest European fortifications.  They will be able to walk on their lances, as on stilts [wie auff stelzen]. 

Letter to A. C. Gackenholtz, Doctor of Medicine. On Botanical Method.

(Dutens II ii 169-174. For the original Latin text, please go here.)

I. On the optimal method of classifying plants. II. On the optimal method of classifying in general. III. On the method of classifying of recent Botanists. IV. On the uses of plants. V. On a different method of classifying plants. VI. On Joachim Jungius’s method. VII.  On comparisons on plants made not only on the basis of their flowers. VIII. IX. X. On various important criteria in distinguishing plants. XI. On promoting the advancement of medicine, and on Ramazzini and Hoffmann’s achievements in this. 

23 April, 1701

I.I have well received your letters, which testify to a knowledge and an experience that are not vulgar, as well as to the affection you show for me.  I wanted moreover to respond from where I am, first of all in order to thank you, and second of all in order to explain my thoughts on certain points at somewhat greater length.  Clearly,from your arguments, you fully agree with me that we should not be obliged to classify plants from their flowers alone; you show, by the example that I mention of the roots, that they are capable of a great variety: and to these differentia can be added the juices of certain roots that you mention; and [of this sort] it is noteworthy what they say, that the genus of camphor is obtained from the root of the cinnamon tree. Certainly, I do not disapprove of the ingenious diligence of eminent men in botany, who have developed a method of classifying plants from their flowers; however, I wanted it to be considered that from the singular foundation of a division the matter is not acquitted, nor is the recess [?] of the botanical doctrine sufficiently explained by this one method. 

Note on Gout and 'the Vapors'

LH III 5, 56. To see the original French text, please go here. To see the original manuscript, please go here.

25 January 1676

Having come one morning to the home of Mons. the Abbey de Gravel, to go with him to St. Germain, he told me that he had just done a surgical operation on himself, against gout, by way of precaution.  I asked him what it was.  He said that his brother had learned in Germany that when one begins to be seized by gout, or to detect it, one must make incisions or scarifications at every new moon, as close to the true time of the new moon as possible, on the pad of the toe above where one begins to feel or to detect the affliction.  His brother began to have two cases; some time ago he made use of [the operation]; the affliction has not returned.  He has already felt there on occasion gout pains much more violent still than those his brother described.  He made use of the same remedy, and the affliction has not returned since.  There is nothing more reasonable than this.  For it is the lowest and the final part of the body, where the heaviest and most viscous and tartarous humours accumulate little by little, and finally harden, or at least swell up that part.  This is why one must give them air [vent]; this serves to move the blood from there, and to give them air [de l’air].  After the incision a ventouse must be applied.  The style of ventouses used by the Germans, with their little points, is much more comfortable; as for me, I remember hearing the same thing in Germany as a certain remedy against gout, even when it has just been detected.

The Organ of Taste (1686-9)

(LH III 5, 219. To view original Latin text, please click on "continue reading" below. To see the original manuscript, please go here.)

I believe that the organ of taste does more for the salubriousness and usefulness of food than is commonly perceived.  I observe withal that there is a great difference when I consume anything after another, provided that there is no pause. Yet nevertheless for the stomach there is less difference.  Wherefore in the Acts of the English,  a traveling Physician, I know not who,  returning if I am not mistaken from Jamaica, observes that there was a great difference whether water or vinous spirit  was drunk first, or both were drunk mixed together. I clearly observe in myself, indeed, that if I follow the consumption of something sweet such as milk by something acid, or vice versa, indeed if I should so much as bring it to my mouth, a certain unpleasant and almost harmful perturbation follows; if nevertheless I should interpose something in between, such as something that is salty and greasy, I sense nothing unpleasant or uncomfortable.  And yet in the stomach clearly everything is mixed together.  Accordingly the organ of taste decides to make use of what things are fitting for us and equally for it, and in this way it is offended by things that are less suitable in combination, and propagates this displeasure by a certain hidden ratio to the stomach itself, and to the intestines and to the entire constitution of our bodies. In this way it is evident that through the offices of the nerves and of the glands, we are maintained by the pleasing and vigorous things brought up to the mouth, indeed by odors taken in through the nostrils and by swallowing.

On the Origins of the Nations of Transylvania

(For the original Latin text, please click "continue reading")

[Originally published in G. W. Leibniz, Viri illvstratis Godefridi Gvil. Leibnitii epistolae ad diversos, theologici, ivridici, medici, philosophici, mathematici, historici et philologici argvmenti, e MSC. avetoris, evm annotationibvs svis primvm divvlgavit Christian. Kortholtvs (Lipsiae: svmtv B. C. Breitkoptii, 1734), 5-9.  Republished in an altered form in Gothofredi Guilelmii Leibnitii Opera Omnia. Ed. Louis Dutens. (Geneva, 1768), Tom. IV, Pars II, 206-80.  Translated here from Dutens.] 

14 September, 1697

I am very indebted to you not only for sending me as a gift your very clear notes on Beier’s Compendium of Theology, but also for communicating to me the Origins of the Nations of Transylvania, written by the Lord Valentinus Francus à Frankenstein, evidently an eminent man, which could liberate them [the nations of Transylvania] from their error, whereby they contrive distant origins, either from Charlemagne or indeed from the earlier times of the Dacian Saxons. Certainly, Charlemagne does not appear to have penetrated that far.  Authors relate that certain Saxons were transplanted from there into the regions beyond the Rhine, which Ludovicus Pius brought back, not to mention the very distant colonies, since the Saxons in Charlemagne’s infantry were not sent to fight against the Huns. Indeed the Goths, Gepids, Longobards, and other Germanic peoples settled in Pannonia, not to mention that it seems plausible that before the ancient Dacians --also known as Gets (if we are to believe Strabo and others)-- there was a Gothic or Germanic people there.  But whatever was German in that place, it may be supposed, was long since eradicated by the migrations of peoples, and the author’s demonstration must be affirmed, that the Germans who were residing there as guests were won over with privileges that were given by the Kings of Hungary --who were by now Christians-- and the cities were overfilled by the influx of merchants, workers, and certain military men, as in Prussia and Livonia, nevertheless with this difference, that they entered into those regions by force, whereas they were in truth invited to come to Hungary. 

It would be a good thing if certain charters could be obtained, by which the granting by King Andrei to the Saxon nation of the privilege of immunity could be more comprehensively illustrated than is done in Toppeltinus’s Origins of Transylvania (which I have available to me), p. 16 sq.  In this connection I am pleased that Lord Francus has corrected an error, and with great discrimination substituted ‘called’ for ‘given’. Indeed, the one expression declares them to be new guests; the other represents them as a sort of aboriginal people.  And it is a matter of the honor of the Saxons themselves, that they should not be believed to have been given their freedom in the manner of slaves, but that they be called by the promise of the preservation of the liberty that is instilled in them at birth.  It would have been worthwhile to know whether the monogram was suspended or imparted by the original privilege of the King, and by what means the witnesses to the charter, as is customary, agreed with it [?].  Now Toppeltinus neglects these things which, if we are to be able to obtain the works of [this] lucid man, should add a great deal to his favor. 

Indeed, the charter of King Andrei calls them not ‘Saxons’, but ‘Teutons’, and the well-known Hermannus, from whom we get ‘Hermannstadt’ [i.e., the German name for Sibiu],  is said to have been from Nuremberg, and it is well known besides that very often Germans are all indiscriminately called ‘Saxons’ by the Italians, the French, and other outsiders, after the appellation ‘Franks’ begins to be attributed to the French [Gallis], and the ensign of the rue, adopted no doubt belatedly by the inhabitants of Hermannstadt, appears to confirm the popular appellation and opinion.  Meanwhile I do not wish to deny that the Germans of Transylvania should be specifically referred back to the Saxons, especially if the dialect is known from which it will be more accurately determined whether it is cognate with the dialect of Westphalia or of Lower Saxony.  Thus I should like to have some examples of how the words are pronounced by the common people, as well as an index of provincial vocabularies, which, even if they are German, will nevertheless not be known by all Germans.  In this way indeed we will be better able to judge as concerns the origins and the dialect. 

But I should like to know rather more about the other inhabitants of Transylvania.  The Lord Author distinguishes the Szekers from the Hungarians, but Toppeltinus said that they have the same origins as other Hungarians.  This is something that will best be defined by language, whether indeed they be truly Hungarian, having mixed a great deal with foreigners, or whether they are Sarmatian, or Slavonic (which group I now take, in the same vein, as arising in the broadest sense with the Slavonic language), or whether indeed they come from another Scythian people.  Of the Wallachians, or Vlachs, everyone agrees that their language has much in common with Latin.  I have always suspected that there could remain in certain corners of Dacia some vestiges of the Cumanian language.  Now in the 13th century the Hungarian King received the Cumanians, and gave them a residence, even if afterwards, when the Tartar war erupted, the majority of them were annihiltaed.  Cumania moreover seems to have extended from the Hungarian dominions to the Black Sea. 

While the Lord Author says that in Wallachia and Moldavia the Ruthenian language is mixed with Latin, and in Bulgaria and in Mysia it is mixed with the Illyrian language, I should like to know what is meant by “Illyrian.”  This language is itself vulgarly called “Slavonic,” but I think another language than this is had in mind, as it has not previously been sufficiently distinguished from Ruthenian, while both are of the Slavonic genus. 

It is also most worthwhile to study the Gypsies in the same manner, who reside in some parts of Dacia.  The celebrated Wagenseil, in the recent appendix of the Nuremberg memorabilia, ingeniously and convincingly derived the Gypsies from Jews who had been expelled from all over Germany, and traced their language back to Hebrew.  But the author says that everywhere they make use of the same language, though through the use of dialects this language appears to be able to be divided into several more distinct ways of speaking.  Toppeltinus would have them observing the religion of the Greeks, and conducting a certain ceremony of baptism; clearly, there is nothing here that is suggestive of Judaism. 

Finally, it appears remarkable to me that, as Toppeltinus relates, the Transylvanian Saxons call themselves, at least, the Detschen, while however calling other Germans Mueser.  They themselves hold that Detschen comes from “Dacian,” while Mueser comes from the French “Monsieur.” But it may be that Detschen is nothing other than Deutschen.  What about Mueser, though?  I believe it is very far removed from the French Monsieur.  Now since Toppeltinus says: We understand the German language poorly; we are however scarcely distinguished from them, and adds that many French, Italian, Spanish, English, Turkish, and Tartar words have been noted in their speech, it would be most desirable to have a little dictionary of the language of the common people of German Transylvania, and to request that other examples as well be added, which would be genuine, rather than made to fit our own way of speaking. 

Since in the privilege of King Andrei mention is made of the Vlachs and of the Bissenians, and it is clear who the Vlachs are, the question arises as to what nation the Bissenians belong, whose forest was conferred by the King to the Teutons.   

The Human Body is a Sort of Machine (1680-82)

LH III 1, 2. For the original Latin text, please go here.  To view the original manuscript, please go here.)

THE DESCRIPTION OF A MACHINE IS BEST APPROACHED THROUGH ITS FINAL CAUSE.

The human body, like the body of any animal, is a sort of machine.  Any machine moreover is best defined in terms of its final cause, so that in the description of the parts it is therefore apparent in what way  each of them is coordinated with the others for the intended use. Thus one who is to describe a given clock will say that it is a Machine made to display equal divisions of time, and therefore the function of a clock-hand lies in its uniform motion for some period of time; and, further, he will say that for this motion a motive force is required, which arises from weight or from elastrum;  further, he will say that an impediment is required in order that the force should not be exercised suddenly (which may arise equally in the wheels as in the obstacle that moves back and forth); to such an extent, finally, he will say that a rule of uniformity is required, which is obtained in the first place from the elastic coil, or from the oscillations of some body, either heavy or elastic, or even from a certain period we have described elsewhere. 

THE AIM OF NATURE IN THE ANIMALS IT PRODUCES CAN BE CONSIDERED TO BE THAT OF CONSERVING, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AND WITH RESPECT TO ITS PARTICULAR SPECIES, A MACHINE OF PERPETUAL MOTION IN THE UNIVERSE

Though it be difficult moreover to determine the ends of things and the purpose of nature before the event, after something has been carried through to the end it is possible to determine what nature wished to do from what it did do.  Wherefore if we wish to bring together into one whole everything that nature aimed at insofar as is permitted to the admirable artifice of Animals, and to establish a sufficiently simple concept, which contains all the rest by means of consequences, we should say: the Bodies of Animals are Machines of perpetual motion, or, to put it more clearly, they are machines comparable to a certain fixed and singular species of perpetual organic motion that is always maintained in the world.  Thus for as long as there are spiders there will be weaving machines, for as long as there are bees there will be honey-producing machines, and for as long as there are squirrels there will be dancing machines.   Thus the aim of nature when it produces an animal is a perpetual-motion machine, as against the aim of the mechanists, who are seeking after perpetual motion by a useless labor, in order to obtain something like an animal that it is not necessary to feed.  On the other hand, this our definition of the animal may appear to resemble an enigma.  Indeed, if it be asked, what is a machine of perpetual motion?, not everyone will at once guess that the Animal is what is had in mind.  It is nevertheless not for this reason to be rejected; often indeed this very thing happens in these definitions --which are not nominal but real or causal-- whenever they are, evidently, sought from causes not immediately forthcoming.  It is thus apparent in what way, moreover, from this singular notion the entire composition of the animal follows straightaway (it is on the other hand granted that plants conserve their species while nevertheless lacking any notable motion, and machines do not have a species).