Berlin, of which he was appointed perpetual president. He contributed
many valuable papers to its memoirs. His patron, the Duke of
Brunswick-Lunenberg, died in 1678, and was succeeded by Ernest-Augustus,
first Elector of Hanover, on whose issue by the Electress Sophia the
crown of England was settled. Leibnitz continued in the Elector’s
service till his death. This took place from gout, November 14, 1716, at
Hanover. The real life of such a man is in his character and writings.
With regard to the first, the account of Fontenelle is as follows. He
had a strong constitution, ate a good deal, drank little, and never
undiluted liquors. When alone, he always took his meals as his studies
permitted. His chair was frequently his only bed, and in this way he is
said to have sometimes passed whole months. He made notes of all he
read, not to preserve them, but to fix the contents on his memory; for
when once written, they were finally laid aside. He communicated freely
with all classes of men, and could entirely divest himself of his
character of a philosopher. His correspondence was immense; he answered
every one who wrote, however small the pretext for addressing him. He
was of a gay humour, easily excited to anger, and easily appeased. He
lived at great expense, but had preserved and hid two years’ amount of
his salary. The securing of this treasure gave him great uneasiness; and
upon this slight ground he has been charged with avarice. He was never
married: it is said that he contemplated such a connexion at the age of
fifty, but that the lady desired time to consider. “This,” says his
biographer, “gave M. Leibnitz the same opportunity, and he continued
unmarried.”
The number and variety of characters in which Leibnitz is known will not
permit us to say much upon each subject. His public life was that of a
jurist. His ‘History of Brunswick’ was continued by M. Echard; who
supplied Fontenelle with the necessary information for his _éloge_. In
youth he was a poet; and he is said in one day to have made three
hundred Latin verses without a single elision. But the Leibnitz of our
day is either the mathematician or the metaphysician.
In the first of these two characters he is coupled in the mind of the
reader with Newton, as the co-inventor of what was called by himself the
Differential Calculus, and by Newton the Method of Fluxions. Much might
be instanced which was done by him for the pure sciences in other
respects; but this one service, from its magnitude as a discovery, and
its notoriety as the cause of a great controversy, has swallowed up all
the rest.
Leibnitz was in London in 1673, and from that time began to pay
particular attention to mathematics. He was in correspondence with
Newton, Oldenburg, and others, on questions connected with _infinite
series_, and continued so more or less till 1684, when he published his
first ideas on the Differential Calculus in the Leipzic Acts. But it is
certain that Newton had been in possession of the same powers under a
different name, from about 1665. The English philosopher drops various
hints of his being in possession of a new method, but without explaining
what it was, except in one letter of 1672, of which it was afterwards
asserted that a copy had been forwarded to Leibnitz in 1676. Leibnitz
published both on the Differential and Integral Calculus before the
appearance of Newton’s Principia in 1687; and indeed before 1711, the
era of the dispute, this new calculus had been so far extended by
Leibnitz and the Bernoullis, that it began to assume a shape something
like that in which it exists at the present day. In the first edition of
the Principia, Newton expressly avows that he had, ten years before
(namely, about 1677), informed Leibnitz that he had a method of drawing
tangents, finding maxima and minima, &c.; and that Leibnitz had, in
reply, actually communicated his own method, and that he (Newton) found
it only differed from his own in symbols. This passage was, not very
fairly, suppressed in the third edition of the Principia, which appeared
in 1726, alter the dispute; and the space was filled up by an account of
other matters. It was obvious that, on the supposition of plagiarism, it
only gave Leibnitz a year to infer, from a hint or two, his method,
notation, and results.
Some discussion about priority of invention led Dr. Keill to maintain
Newton’s title to be considered the sole inventor of the fluxional
calculus. Leibnitz had asserted that he had been in possession of the
method eight years before he communicated it to Newton. He appealed to
the Royal Society, of which Newton was President, and that body gave
judgment on the question in 1712. Their decision is now worth nothing;
firstly, because it only determined that Newton was the _first_
inventor, which was not the whole point, and left out the question
whether Leibnitz had or had not stolen from Newton; secondly, because
the charge of plagiarism is insinuated in the assertion that a copy of
Newton’s letter, as above mentioned, had been sent to Leibnitz. Now they
neither prove that he had received this letter in time sufficient to
enable him to communicate with Newton as above described, or, if he had
received it, that there was in it a sufficient hint of the method of
fluxions. The decision of posterity is, that Leibnitz fairly invented
his own method; and though English writers give no strong opinion as to
the fairness with which the dispute was carried on, we imagine that
there are few who would now defend the conduct of their predecessors.
Whoever may have had priority of invention, it is clear that to Leibnitz
and the Bernoullis belongs the principal part of the superstructure, by
aid of which their immediate successors were enabled to extend the
theory of Newton; and thus Leibnitz is placed in the highest rank of
mathematical inventors.
The metaphysics of Leibnitz have now become a by-word. He is
pre-eminent, among modern philosophers, for his extraordinary fancies.
His monads, his pre-established harmony, and his best of all possible
worlds, are hardly caricatured in the well-known philosophical novel of
Voltaire. If any thinking monad should find that the pre-established
harmony between his soul and body would make the former desire to see
more of Leibnitz as a metaphysician, and the latter able to second him,
we can inform him that it was necessary, for the best of all possible
universes, that Michael Hansch should in 1728 publish the whole system
at Frankfort and Leipzic, under the title, ‘Leibnitzii Principia
philosophica more geometrico demonstrata;’ and also that M. Tenneman
should give an account of this system, and M. Victor Cousin translate
the same. It is not easy to give any short description of the contents,
nor would it be useful. A school of metaphysicians of the sect of
Leibnitz continued to exist for some time in Germany, but it has long
been extinct.
The mathematical works of Leibnitz were collected and published at
Geneva in 1768. His correspondence with John Bernoulli was also
published in 1745, at Lausanne and Geneva. It is an interesting record,
and exhibits him in an amiable light. He gives his friend a check for
his manner of speaking of Newton, at the time when the partizans of the
latter were attacking his own character, both as a man and a discoverer.
He says (vol. ii. p. 234), “I thank you for the animadversions which you
have sent me on Newton’s works; I wish you had time to examine the
whole, which I know would not be unpleasant even to himself. But in so
beautiful a structure, _non ego paucis offendar maculis_.” He also says
that he has been informed by a friend in England, that hatred of the
Hanoverian connexion had something to do with the bitterness with which
he was assailed; “Non ab omni veri specie abest, eos qui parum Domui
Hanoveranæ favent, etiam me lacerare voluisse; nam amicus Anglus ad me
scribit, videri aliquibus non tam ut mathematicos et Societatis Regiæ
Socios in socium, sed ut _Toryos in Whigium_ quosdam egisse.” (Vol. ii.
p. 321.)
[Illustration:
_Engraved by C. E. Wagstaff_
CARDINAL XIMENES.
_From a Picture in the Florence Gallery._
Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.
_London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
]
[Illustration]
XIMENES.
Gonzales Ximenes de Cisneros, Primate and Regent of Spain, was born at
Tordelaguna, in Castile, in 1437. He was descended of an ancient family,
long settled at Cisneros in the kingdom of Leon, and was baptized
Gonzales after an ancestor who was one of the most renowned knights of
his day: the name of Francis, by which he is commonly known, he assumed
in after-life, in honour of the saint whose monastic rule he embraced.
But though he was of honourable descent, neither rank nor wealth were
stepping-stones to his preferment. His father supported a large family
upon the income of his humble office of collector of tenths, payable to
the king by the clergy: but his own studious disposition, and the
facilities then afforded by the universities to poor scholars, raised
him out of the obscurity in which his lot appeared to be cast. At the
schools of Alcala, and at the University of Salamanca, he studied
philosophy, theology, canon and civil law; and his proficiency soon
enabled him to support himself, by teaching others. Having completed his
education he undertook a journey to Rome, hoping there to find a readier
field for the exercise of his talents than at home. Poor and friendless,
he maintained himself by pleading in the Spanish causes which came
before the Court of the Consistory; and he was already rising into
eminence, when, hearing of his father’s death, and the distress of his
family, he abandoned his flattering prospects and returned to Spain.
It appears that he had taken holy orders during his abode at Rome, for
before his departure Sixtus IV. bestowed on him a reversionary grant of
the first benefice which should fall vacant. This proved to be Uceda;
and he immediately produced his letters and took possession. The
Archbishop of Toledo, who had already promised the living, was highly
offended at this exercise of what in truth was a most objectionable
prerogative of the Holy See. He not only dispossessed, but imprisoned
for six years, Ximenes, who remained firm in the assertion of his
rights. At the end of that time the prelate yielded. Ximenes soon
exchanged Uceda for a chaplaincy in the cathedral of Siguenza. Here he
applied himself to the pursuit of theology, and laid the foundation of
that Hebrew and Chaldaic learning which bore such noble fruit in
after-life. He gained the warm friendship of his bishop, the Cardinal
Mendoza, who, in 1483, appointed him grand vicar of the diocese. In that
office he distinguished himself by integrity and talents for business,
as he had before by piety and learning. And the fairest prospect of
advancement was open to him, when all at once he resolved to quit the
world, and to devote himself wholly to religious meditation.
He embraced the strictest rule of the Franciscan order, with a zeal to
which the general example of his brethren gave no countenance. He
retired to the secluded monasteries of Castagnar and Salceda, and in the
forests which surrounded them, devoted himself wholly to prayer, the
study of the Scriptures, and the mortification of the flesh. He thus
gained the reputation of uncommon sanctity, and there seems to be no
reason to think that his asceticism was defiled by any trace of
hypocrisy. But his friend the Cardinal saw that he was fitted for still
better things, and regretting his departure from active life, expressed
a belief that he would ultimately be raised to much higher dignity, to
the great advantage of the Church. And, in truth, the Cardinal, who had
been raised from the see of Siguenza to the primacy of Spain, the
Archbishopric of Toledo, did much to fulfil his own prediction. He
introduced Ximenes to the Queen Isabella, who was then in want of a
confessor, and she readily listened to his recommendation, and appointed
Ximenes to the vacant office. He would fain have declined it, urging
that he had been called to the cloister from active life to attend to
his own salvation; that what was demanded would withdraw him from his
proper vocation; and that a sovereign above all persons needed a
religious guide, not only of good intentions, but of experience and
wisdom. The Queen smiled as she assured him, that if he had formerly
been directed to solitude, he was now summoned to court, and that if he
would take charge of her conscience, she would be answerable for having
chosen him to do so. And he consented, on condition that he should be
required to attend her only when called by the duties of his office.
This was in 1492. The austerity of his life and the wildness of his
aspect caused him, when he appeared, to be compared by the gay
frequenters of the court to an old Egyptian hermit come out from the
desert.
Moved by the hope of advancing the temporal interests of their order,
his monastic brethren now appointed him their provincial. They widely
mistook his character. He accepted the proffered dignity, moved chiefly
by the hope that it would furnish him with an excuse for more frequent
absence from court; and he employed his power in striving to reform the
corruptions which abundant wealth had introduced among them. His own
life was in strict adherence to the self-denial which he recommended to
others. In his visitations he travelled on foot from convent to convent,
accompanied by one brother, Francis Ruyz, whom he had selected for his
constant companion, as uniting the qualifications of a lively temper and
sound health, with learning, modesty, and trustworthiness. For their
sustenance they depended upon alms, and in the trade of begging Ximenes
was very unsuccessful. Ruyz used to remonstrate on the misapplication of
his talents. “Your Reverence will let us die of hunger; you were not
meant for this profession. God gives each of us his talents: do you pray
for me, and I will beg for you. Your Reverence may be made to give, but
certainly not to ask.” Visiting Gibraltar in one of these tours, he was
strongly possessed by the desire of going to preach the gospel in
Africa. On this subject he consulted a female devotee, who had the
reputation of enjoying divine revelations in visions, and was dissuaded
by her from prosecuting the scheme.
The Primate Mendoza died at the end of 1494. In their last interview, he
urged his sovereign not to entrust the vast revenues of his see to any
one connected with the highest nobility, esteeming its power to be even
dangerous to the crown, when knit by family ties to great feudal
influence. Isabella listened to his advice, and after much hesitation
pitched on Ximenes to be his successor. Aware of his feelings, she kept
her intentions secret until letters confirmatory of the appointment
arrived from the Pope. These without preface she put into his hands.
Reading the address, “To our venerable brother Ximenes, Archbishop elect
of Toledo,” “Madam,” he said, “these letters are not for me;” and he
rose abruptly and quitted the royal presence. Six months elapsed before
he was induced to accept the proffered dignity, in virtue of a direct
injunction from the Pope. He was consecrated October 11, 1495.
Rank and wealth made no difference in the manners of the ascetic monk.
He continued to live upon the coarsest fare, to wear the humble dress of
his order, to sleep on the ground, or on a bed as hard, and to travel on
an ass, or on foot. And Pope Alexander VI. thought it necessary to send
a letter to him, with the very unusual exhortation to cultivate the
pomps and vanities of the world a little more, for the sake of the
church of which he was so exalted a member. Ximenes obeyed, and probably
became convinced of the propriety of the counsel, as he became more
engaged in civil government. He assumed even a more gorgeous state than
his predecessors, but he still practised his usual self-denial in
private; he slept and fared as hardly as before, and wore a haircloth
under his episcopal robes. He was exemplary in the discharge of his
public duties; liberal even to an extreme in relieving the daily
necessities of the poor, and in contributing to charitable, useful, and
religious undertakings; diligent in promoting the welfare of the people
to the full extent of his almost regal power, by repressing extortion
and peculation, whether in courts of law, or the collection of the
revenue, by providing for the due administration of justice,
ecclesiastical and civil, and by exercising a strict superintendence
over the conduct of the parochial clergy. To the cry of the wretched his
ears were always open; he hated oppression; and if an injured vassal
complained against the highest noble in the land, he was ready to grant
justice, if the matter lay within his jurisdiction, or, if not, to carry
the complaint before the Queen. And his zeal and energy carried to a
happy conclusion the arduous undertaking of reforming the Franciscan
brotherhood, upon which he succeeded in enforcing a new system of
regulations in 1499, after a most obstinate resistance.
We may here mention with unmixed praise one of the Archbishop’s
charitable undertakings. It was an institution for the education of the
daughters of indigent nobles, on such principles, according to the words
of our authority, as should train them to the fit discharge of their
duties towards their families and towards society. A fund, afterwards
increased by the Spanish monarchs, was set apart to provide them with
marriage portions. We may here trace the original of the celebrated
establishment of St. Cyr.
His principal work was the establishment of a university at Alcala,
where he himself received his early education. The foundation-stone was
laid by himself in 1498; the buildings were completed, and the first
course of lectures given, in 1508. For a model he took the university of
Paris; he endowed it richly, and collected men distinguished for their
learning from all parts of Europe, to fill the professorial chairs. Here
he undertook the great work of publishing the first Polyglot Bible, the
Complutensian, as it is called, from the Latin name of Alcala, where it
was printed, which will exist for ages as a noble specimen of the
Archbishop’s piety, munificence, and zeal for learning. The four first
volumes contain the Old Testament in the Hebrew—the Septuagint version,
with a Latin translation—the Vulgate, as corrected by St. Jerome—and the
Chaldee Paraphrase, with a Latin translation. The fifth and sixth
volumes contain the Greek Testament and the Vulgate. The printing of
this great undertaking commenced in 1502, and was not completed till
1517, shortly before the death of Ximenes, who, when the last volume was
brought to him, is reported by his earliest biographer, after an
ejaculation of pious thanksgiving, to have addressed the bystanders in
these words:—“Many high and difficult undertakings I have carried on in
the service of the State, yet, my friends, there is nothing for which I
more deserve congratulation than for this edition of the Scriptures,
which lays open, in a time of much need, the fountain-head of our holy
religion, whence may be drawn a far purer strain of theology than from
the streams which have been turned off from it.” But owing to a
hesitation at the Court of Rome, how far the criticism of the Scriptures
should be encouraged, the Bible was not given to the world till 1522.
Only about 600 copies were printed. The price fixed on it was six and a
half ducats. The epistle dedicatory to Leo X. is by Ximenes himself: the
preface, according to Dr. Dibdin, is by another hand. The most learned
Hebrew and Greek scholars who could be procured were employed in the
collation of manuscripts; and it may be noted that for seven Hebrew MSS.
the sum of 4000 golden crowns was paid. These with other treasures of
learning, which were deposited with the University of Alcala, about the
middle of the last century were sold to a firework-maker as lumber. The
whole cost of the work, which was defrayed by Ximenes, is said to have
exceeded 50,000 gold crowns.
In 1498 the Archbishop was summoned to Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, to deliberate on the means to be used for the conversion of
the Moors. Inflamed by zeal, he had recourse to means which show the
wisdom of the serpent more than the simplicity of the dove. He began
with the priests and doctors of the law, and strove by kindness and
attention, mixed with religious discussion, to dispose them to adopt the
Christian faith. The priests led over the people in such flocks, that,
in one day, the anniversary of which was observed as a festival,
December 18, 1499, upwards of 3000 persons were baptized by aspersion in
Granada. That the Archbishop should have believed in the sincerity of
these wholesale conversions is not credible; he probably thought that a
hypocritical worship of the true God was a less evil than sincere
idolatry. The inquisition was charged with the superintendence of the
souls of these nominal Christians, and the relapse from that faith which
they never embraced was punished according to the mercy of that
irresponsible tribunal. The dread and indignation produced by these
measures led to a revolt, which was quelled, however, under the guidance
of the Archbishop.
The same desire of making Christians any how appears in the measures
adopted on this occasion. The inhabitants of the quarter in which the
tumult broke out were declared guilty of high treason, and offered their
choice of death or conversion. They embraced the latter; and the other
Granadans, to the number of 150,000, followed their example. But these
severities drove the most resolute spirits to that last insurrection,
related with so much interest in Washington Irving’s ‘Chronicles of
Granada;’ which terminated in the expatriation of the remnant who abided
in their national creed. But however unapostolic the Archbishop’s mode
of conversion may have been, his zeal and ability in instructing and
rendering truly Christian those who submitted to the outward forms of
the religion is said to have been admirable.
His conduct towards the unhappy natives of the West Indies was less
exceptionable. He did his utmost not only for their conversion, but to
protect them from the cruel exactions of the Spanish settlers.
The excellent Isabella of Castile died November 26, 1504. According to
the tenor of his beloved mistress’s will, Ximenes steadily maintained
the claim of Ferdinand, her husband, to the regency of the kingdom
during the minority of Charles V. After the death of the Archduke
Philip, September 25, 1506, he renewed his exertions to determine the
Castilians in favour of Ferdinand’s claim to the regency, in preference
to the Emperor Maximilian, Charles V.’s paternal grandfather; being
satisfied that, notwithstanding the ancient jealousy between Castile and
Arragon, the former would be better governed by a prince intimately
acquainted with its circumstances and interests than by a stranger.
Ferdinand, who was then engaged at Naples, owed his success in this
matter to Ximenes; and showed his gratitude by procuring for him the
rank of Cardinal, with the title of Cardinal of Spain, together with the
office of Grand Inquisitor.