Essays on Theodicy

OF MR. LEIBNIZ.

Forms a project to write a Treatise on the style of Justus Lipsius and his imitators.

useful. He conceived of one among others on Criticism In this context, "Criticism" refers to the scholarly art of evaluating, authenticating, and interpreting historical texts., to which we are told more important occupations prevented him from putting the finishing touches; perhaps also, when in the later course of his life he found moments to complete this Work, the fear of compromising his reputation, already so well established in so many respects, turned him away from it. It concerned one of those delicate discussions for which it is not enough to bring erudition and wit; it required, besides that, a great familiarity with the Criticism of ancient Latin Authors, and a certain "bloom" of Literature A term for refined literary elegance or stylistic polish., which can be lacking in even the greatest men, and which is usually lacking in those from Mr. Leibniz’s country Referring to the perceived lack of stylistic refinement in 17th-century German academic writing compared to French or Italian scholarship., or which they do not yet know how to employ with as much art as men perhaps less learned do in other Climates. I shall explain myself more openly, by taking up the matter from a bit further back.

Character of Justus Lipsius, and his faults.

There are few Men of Letters of whom as much good and evil has been said as of Justus Lipsius Justus Lipsius (1547–1606) was a towering figure of the late Renaissance, a Flemish scholar who revived Stoicism and edited the works of Tacitus and Seneca.. For some time, he was regarded as the Oracle of the Low Countries Low Countries: A historical region in coastal northwestern Europe, roughly corresponding to the modern Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg., and not only Grammarians and Philosophers, but also Statesmen paid him a kind of cult. Gradually, steps that were at least imprudent, and a bigotry pushed too far (a) for one to

(a) As for example, his hypocritical submission to the Court of Rome, his affected devotion, etc. Lipsius was famously controversial for his frequent changes of religion between Catholicism and Lutheranism/Calvinism to suit his employment.

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