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Article LEIBNIZ AND SPINOZA. ← Page 7 of 25 →
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Leibniz And Spinoza.
connection which he had among Protestant dissenters . He attended regularly the ministry of one of the most eminent non-conformist divines , by his devout demeanour edified his co-Avorshippers , and Avas regarded as one of the pillars of the church ; the only fault Avas the too great austerity of his devotion . He supplied himself Avith a large number of the h -
ymn books used in the chapel , had his name and his address as a stockbroker printed in large letters in each , and handed them , or caused them to be handed , to all strangers in Avhose countenances and appearance he saAV consols Avritten . At last he Avas missed in his accustomed place ; his liabilities Avere enormous ; his debts colossal ; thousands on thousands that
had passed into his hands for the purposes of investment had never been otherwise invested than in his own pleasures ; and Avhen he had become a citizen of the far West , it transpired that his domestic relations had borne more resemblance to those of Solomon than real wisdom would have Avarranted;—yet was this man to be taken as a specimen of true reliion ?
g M . cle l'Esprit takes upon him to declare , that there is no such thing as either generosity or gratitude . To this strange assertion , Leibniz replies only in a few lines , deeming it too outrageous to require more ; and , indeed , men are in general so persuaded
both of the one and of the other , and AVith reason , too , that no appeal is so successful as an appeal to generosity , —no crime so detested as ingratitude . Why did Alexander treat the family of Darius as he did ? To obtain glory , says the Abbe . Well , there Avas something generous even in this . But had he no pleasure in the very act ?—Avas there nothing Avhich filled his
mind Avith a kingly glow of satisfaction at being able to lift up in some degree by his bounty those AVIIO Avere cast doAvn by his poAver ? Charity , again , is treated by the Abbe precisely in the same Avay . Men do good deeds to have praise one of another . To this there may be two answers . One is , that there is a vast amount of anonymous charity in the Avorld ; large sums are
given as Avell as small ones , but the name is withholden . Again ,. by far the largest portion of the good that is done here below is knoivn only to those who do it , and to those who are benefited by it . This is one answer : that the accusation is not true . But even with regard to those who do allow their names to be knownis there nothing to be clone by way of example ?—no
, command to the Christian to let his light shine before men , and to the folloAvers of all creeds , to SIIOAV by their acts that they are so in sincerity ? One very curious notion found in " The Art of knowing Mankind , " is , that our pity is only in reality expended on ourselves . We hope that others AAill show
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Leibniz And Spinoza.
connection which he had among Protestant dissenters . He attended regularly the ministry of one of the most eminent non-conformist divines , by his devout demeanour edified his co-Avorshippers , and Avas regarded as one of the pillars of the church ; the only fault Avas the too great austerity of his devotion . He supplied himself Avith a large number of the h -
ymn books used in the chapel , had his name and his address as a stockbroker printed in large letters in each , and handed them , or caused them to be handed , to all strangers in Avhose countenances and appearance he saAV consols Avritten . At last he Avas missed in his accustomed place ; his liabilities Avere enormous ; his debts colossal ; thousands on thousands that
had passed into his hands for the purposes of investment had never been otherwise invested than in his own pleasures ; and Avhen he had become a citizen of the far West , it transpired that his domestic relations had borne more resemblance to those of Solomon than real wisdom would have Avarranted;—yet was this man to be taken as a specimen of true reliion ?
g M . cle l'Esprit takes upon him to declare , that there is no such thing as either generosity or gratitude . To this strange assertion , Leibniz replies only in a few lines , deeming it too outrageous to require more ; and , indeed , men are in general so persuaded
both of the one and of the other , and AVith reason , too , that no appeal is so successful as an appeal to generosity , —no crime so detested as ingratitude . Why did Alexander treat the family of Darius as he did ? To obtain glory , says the Abbe . Well , there Avas something generous even in this . But had he no pleasure in the very act ?—Avas there nothing Avhich filled his
mind Avith a kingly glow of satisfaction at being able to lift up in some degree by his bounty those AVIIO Avere cast doAvn by his poAver ? Charity , again , is treated by the Abbe precisely in the same Avay . Men do good deeds to have praise one of another . To this there may be two answers . One is , that there is a vast amount of anonymous charity in the Avorld ; large sums are
given as Avell as small ones , but the name is withholden . Again ,. by far the largest portion of the good that is done here below is knoivn only to those who do it , and to those who are benefited by it . This is one answer : that the accusation is not true . But even with regard to those who do allow their names to be knownis there nothing to be clone by way of example ?—no
, command to the Christian to let his light shine before men , and to the folloAvers of all creeds , to SIIOAV by their acts that they are so in sincerity ? One very curious notion found in " The Art of knowing Mankind , " is , that our pity is only in reality expended on ourselves . We hope that others AAill show