infidel had gone out of fashion. His project remained unknown to the public until it was
discovered by Napoleon when he occupied Hanover in 1803, four years after his own abortive
Egyptian expedition. In 1672, in connection with this scheme, Leibniz went to Paris, where he
spent the greater part of the next four years. His contacts in Paris were of great importance for his
intellectual development, for Paris at that time led the world both in philosophy and in
mathematics. It was there, in 1675-6, that he invented the infinitesimal calculus, in ignorance of
Newton's previous but unpublished work on the same subject. Leibniz's work was first published
in 1684, Newton's in 1687. The consequent dispute as to priority was unfortunate, and
discreditable to all parties.
Leibniz was somewhat mean about money. When any young lady at the court of Hanover married,
he used to give her what he called a "wedding present," consisting of useful maxims, ending up
with the advice not to give up washing now that she had secured a husband. History does not
record whether the brides were grateful.
In Germany Leibniz had been taught a neo-scholastic Aristotelian philosophy, of which he
retained something throughout his later life. But in Paris he came to know Cartesianism and the
materialism of Gassendi, both of which influenced him; at this time, he said, he abandoned the
"trivial schools," meaning scholasticism. In Paris he came to know Malebranche and Arnauld the
Jansenist. The last important influence on his philosophy was that of Spinoza, whom he visited in
- He spent a month in frequent discussions with him, and secured part of the Ethics in
manuscript. In later years he joined in decrying Spinoza, and minimized his contacts with him,
saying he had met him once, and Spinoza had told some good anecdotes about politics.
His connection with the House of Hanover, in whose service he remained for the rest of his life,
began in 1673. From 1680 onwards he was their librarian at Wolfenbüttel, and was officially
employed in writing the history of Brunswick. He had reached the year 1005 when he died. The
work was not published till 1843. Some of his time was spent on a project for the reunion of the
Churches, but this proved abortive. He travelled to Italy to obtain evidence that the Dukes of
Brunswick were connected with the Este family. But in spite of these services he was left behind
at Hanover when George I became king of England, the chief reason being that his quarrel with
Newton had