Page:The Library, volume 5, series 3.djvu/155

LEIBNITZ AS A LIBRARIAN. 143 broke down the wall of exclusiveness that had hitherto existed between the writers of the British, French and German nations. As early as the year 1670 Leibnitz wrote his ' Thoughts on Public Safety/ urging that the States of Europe should aim at being at peace with one another, and concentrate their forces against the Mahometans then strong foes to the general safety of the continent. He pointed out the advantages that would accrue to France by a conquest of Egypt, thus ante-dating Napoleon Bonaparte's scheme by more than a hundred years. This proposal was backed up by von Boineburg, and Louis XIV was approached by both of them. Leibnitz was summoned to Paris, but though the French king professed to take an interest in the scheme, he would not see the young diplomatist. The death of his patron von Boineburg was the means of cutting off Leibnitz from any hope of dis- tinction in this direction for the time being. He, therefore, whiled away his time in Paris in com- pany with Arnauld and other philosophers, visited London in 1673, where he got into touch with the group of enthusiasts who made the early history of the Royal Society, was elefted a Fellow of that body, and then returned to the Continent. Like many whose careers have been marked by brilliancy and versatility, Leibnitz found a diffi- culty in getting settled employment in the early years of his life. About the year 1676 he became hard pressed for a living and was compelled to look out for a fresh patron. Accordingly he wrote to the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, John