ire; mais comme l'on ne sauroit concevoir des
particules materielles qui puissent passer d'une de ces substances dans
l'autre, il faut abandonner ce sentiment. La voye de l'assistance
continuelle du Createur est celle du systeme des causes occasionnelles;
mais je tiens que c'est faire intervenir Deus ex machina, dans une chose
naturelle et ordinaire, ou selon la raison il ne doit concourir, que do
la maniere qu'il concourt a toutes les autres choses naturelles. Ainsi
il ne reste que mon hypothese; c'est-a-dire que la voye de l'harmonie.
Dieu a fait des le commencement chacune de ces deux substances de telle
nature, qu'en ne suivant que ces propres loix qu'elle a recues avec son
etre, elle s'accorde pourtant avec l'autre tout comme s'il y avoit une
influence mutuelle, ou comme si Dieu y mettoit toujours la main au-dela
de son concours general. Apres cela je n'ai pas besoin de rien prouver a
moins qu'on ne veuille exiger que je prouve que Dieu est assez habile
pour se servir de cette artifice,' &c.--LEIBNITZ, _Opera_, p. 133.
Berlin edition, 1840.

Leibnitz, as we have said, attempts to reconcile his system with
Christianity, and therefore, of course, this theory of the relation of
mind and body wears a very different aspect under his treatment, from
what it wears under that of Spinoza. But Spinoza and Leibnitz both agree
in this one peculiar conception in which they differ from all other
philosophers before or after them--that mind and body have no direct
communication with each other, and that the phenomena of them merely
correspond. M. de Careil says they both borrowed it from Descartes; but
that is impossible. Descartes held no such opinion; it was the precise
point of disagreement at which Spinoza parted from him; and therefore,
since in point of date Spinoza had the advantage of Leibnitz, and we
know that Leibnitz was acquainted with his writings, we must either
suppose that he was directly indebted to Spinoza for an obligation which
he ought to have acknowledged, or else, which is extremely improbable,
that having read Spinoza and forgotten him, he afterwards re-originated
for himself one of the most singular and peculiar notions which was ever
offered to the belief of mankind.

So much for the first point, which, after all, is but of little moment.
It is more important to ascertain whether, in the hands of Leibnitz,
this theory can be any better reconciled with what is commonly meant by
religion; whether, that is