The Baroque Cycle - The System Of The World Part 59

"As do I," said Newton easily, and then sat down-with conspicuous stiffness-in the side chair indicated by Caroline. Now it was Caroline in the big throne-like armchair next the globe, symmetrically flanked by Newton and Leibniz. Waterhouse prowled about the dim periphery, like a furtive librarian or, as it were, a philosophick Butler.

Caroline broke the ice-which was pa.s.sing thick and cold-with small talk of the last days' events in London. Were the rumors true?

This was just just the gambit to use on Sir Isaac, who desired more than anything to set the new Dynasty's mind at ease about the coinage of their Realm. the gambit to use on Sir Isaac, who desired more than anything to set the new Dynasty's mind at ease about the coinage of their Realm.

"Jack Shaftoe is ours!" he proclaimed. "The Coiner shall coin no more in this this world." world."

"If our understanding of the thing is correct," said Caroline, "then this is momentous news indeed, and I am surprised I have not heard more of it."

"Ah, but your royal highness, I did not know you were in London until I stepped over the threshold of this room-otherwise your royal highness should have been notified within the hour of Mr. Shaftoe's arrest."

"That is not what I meant. I refer to the fact that we have not heard anything of it from Grub Street."

"He was taken in the back room of a certain Clubb, only a few minutes' walk from here, frequented by Tories-many of whom, you may be sure, are sorely embarra.s.sed. Certain Whigs would make political hay of it-and presently shall shall. I bear most of the men of this Clubb no ill-will and did not wish to expose them to obloquy. The true villain of the piece is a certain Tory Lord who was the first man in England for a time-"

"I know who you mean."

"He may deserve exposure and shame, but this is not to be achieved without grave embarra.s.sment to the entire Realm. The matter is delicate-" and here Isaac looked, uncharacteristically, to one who would know more about it: Daniel Waterhouse, Lord Regent. may deserve exposure and shame, but this is not to be achieved without grave embarra.s.sment to the entire Realm. The matter is delicate-" and here Isaac looked, uncharacteristically, to one who would know more about it: Daniel Waterhouse, Lord Regent.

Daniel responded by raising his voice in the direction of a side door of the library, which stood ajar. "Bring it in," he commanded.

The door was drawn open by some unseen servant. Another servant, a butler, came in gripping a tray mostly covered by a blue velvet cushion. Bedded in that were two ingots of metal, deeply wrought with intricate circular depressions, made so that they could be clapped together like a huge locket. These were borne over to the Princess so that she could inspect them; Newton and Leibniz stole sidelong glances. "It is my honor," said Daniel, "to present to your royal highness the Seals that are used by His Majesty's Secretary of State on his official correspondence. Until yesterday these were, of course, in the possession of my lord Bolingbroke. But as your royal highness may have heard, Bolingbroke has decided to spend more time with his family."

"Yes-in France," said Caroline drily.

"He was last seen southbound at a speed normally seen only among men who have been projected from high cliffs," Daniel allowed. "Of course, being a man of honor, he first gave the Seals of his former office to one of His Majesty's Regents. I had the privilege of catching them when they slipped from his sweaty and trembling hands, and now present them to your royal highness. They are your family property. You may take them back to Hanover or-"

"They shall be ever so much more useful here," said Caroline. "You and the other Regents will look after them, won't you?"

"We shall consider it our honor and our privilege, highness."

"Very well. Then since Bolingbroke appears to have departed the stage, I would that these be set aside, and I would hear more of Jack Shaftoe. Did he fight?"

The butler backed away and set the Seals on a library table near Daniel, then backed out of the room bowing. This gave Newton some moments to frame a response. Isaac, who until now had been at pains to respond instantly to the Princess's every word and gesture, bated for a moment before answering. Daniel searched his face and thought he perceived a quiver of triumph-a rare self-indulgence for a Puritan. He was sitting at the right hand of the Princess of Wales telling the tale of how he'd caught the arch-villain Jack the Coiner, and, as a soupcon, the Seals of his most terrible persecutor had been brought in as a sort of trophy. Only Bolingbroke's scalp on a stick would have given satisfaction more complete.

"Fight? No. Rather, he feigned a sort of boredom, or so I am told by the bailiffs who arrested him."

"Boredom?"

"Yes, highness, as if he had known all along that he was walking into a trap."

"Is he in the Tower of London, then?"

Isaac could not prevent a patronizing smile from spreading across his face. "As Mr. Shaftoe is a traitor and an important one, your royal highness antic.i.p.ates, correctly, that he shall be held in the Tower. In this case, however, there are extenuating circ.u.mstances that have dictated a less conventional accommodation. Jack the Coiner and his gang seized the Tower complex in an elaborate coup de main coup de main some months ago. It was hushed up, explained away. But the fact is that he did it; from which we may conclude that he had, and has, many confederates among the people who dwell there, and that he knows its secrets all too intimately. Effective control of the Tower is still vested in Charles White, captain of the King's Messengers, and he is an old crony of Bolingbroke." some months ago. It was hushed up, explained away. But the fact is that he did it; from which we may conclude that he had, and has, many confederates among the people who dwell there, and that he knows its secrets all too intimately. Effective control of the Tower is still vested in Charles White, captain of the King's Messengers, and he is an old crony of Bolingbroke."

"I should have thought the Regents might have found another man for such a position," said Caroline, shifting her attention to Daniel.

"In England such changes are not made lightly or swiftly," said Daniel, "and rarely without cause. We have no firm evidence against Mr. White-though this might change-"

"If Jack talks to us, and tells us what he knows," Newton concluded.

"I see," said Caroline, "which is yet another reason to keep him out of the Tower, and out of the Power, of Charles White. Where then is he?"

"He is in Newgate Prison," said Newton, "and others of his gang are in Fleet Prison. We deemed it wisest not to put all of them together in one building."

"Indeed," said Caroline, looking a little dismayed. "But is Newgate not a very common pit? Can he be kept close in such a place?"

"Newgate is several prisons lumped into one," said Daniel. "The most notorious part of it is indeed an execrable dungeon. But connected with it is the Press-Yard and Castle, where Persons of Quality are held, if they can afford it."

"We are paying the Gaolers of Newgate to keep him in an apartment there, heavily ironed," Newton announced.

"Can Jack not pay them even more?"

"Perhaps. But if they collude in his escape, the gaolers lay themselves open to charges of High Treason. And, working as they do at Newgate, and discoursing with Jack Ketch every day, they know better than most what is the penalty for that that crime." crime."

"I thank you, Sir Isaac, and Dr. Waterhouse, for acquainting me with these things," said Caroline, in a tone of voice, and with a shift of posture, that made it plain that this part of the conversation was at an end. "Now I would hear of matters far more important." She settled back in her chair, letting its padded arms support her elbows, and as she talked, her right hand strayed over to rest upon the antique globe and nudge it this way and that in its felt-lined cradle. Her pose recalled that of a Monarch with one hand on an Orb, though the other hand seemed to be missing its Sceptre. "As you may know, Sir Isaac, I have known Baron von Leibniz for many years, and learned from him much of what I know of Mathematicks, Metaphysicks, and the younger discipline of Natural Philosophy. Concerning the first of these, reports have reached me of an unpleasant dispute concerning the origin of the Calculus. The particulars are tedious. Lesser minds, confronted with such complexities, have seized on simple explanations. One such is that you stole the calculus from Freiherr von Leibniz; another is that he stole it from you. I find both of these hypotheses unconvincing."

During Caroline's remarks Daniel had observed a change in the weather pa.s.s across Isaac's face. If he had expected lavish thanks and praise, he had been disappointed; Caroline had found the news of Jack and Bolingbroke interesting but, in the end, not all that remarkable. 'Twas as if the exhausted and bloodied Knight had dragged a pair of freshly slain dragons into the forecourt of the Princess's castle, and after a look-see and a polite question or two, she had gone back to filing her nails. Isaac had been irked for a moment, then resigned himself to it. 'Twas ever thus, for Isaac. Everything he had done had been under-appreciated and over-criticized. The pink flush of victory, which earlier had been so plain on his face, had vanished, to be replaced by the visage he was used to wearing: gray and stiff as the figurehead on a worn-out ship.

"Your royal highness knows Leibniz better than I," said Newton. "As you have confided your view in me, highness, I shall accept it, and say nothing against it, either here, or in public. Of course, I have no power to compel other philosophers to adopt that, or any other, view."

"Then let us wash our hands of the Calculus Dispute and move on to Metaphysicks and Natural Philosophy. For I have long suspected-and Dr. Waterhouse will support me on this-that the Calculus Dispute was really an epiphenomenon of a far more profound, interesting, and momentous debate. Baron von Leibniz has served my House well as court philosopher; Sir Isaac, I trust, is desirous of doing likewise."

"It is chief among my aspirations, highness," Newton responded. This elicited a slight eye-roll from Leibniz, who glanced toward Daniel for support, but Daniel affected not to notice, and remained grave of aspect.

"I wonder if any royal House in the history of this world has enjoyed the distinction of being served, at the same time, by two such eminent philosophers! It is a rare thing, and I mean to make the most of it. You are both Christians, believers in a living and active G.o.d. You both hold that humans are made in G.o.d's image, possessing free will. In Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy, your interests run on very similar lines. And yet there is between you a schism as deep as that between Scylla and Charybdis-a fundamental divergence of views that makes it impossible for you to collaborate with each other. Which were not such a bad thing, perhaps, if I were still Princess of Ansbach or some other tiny place, and you, sir, a Librarian and you, sir, a Vicar. But I am Princess of Wales. The House you both now serve is a great one-some would say, second only to the House of Bourbon. If the philosophy of that House is confused, why, it shall have dreadful consequences, dificult to foretell. A year ago, I asked Dr. Waterhouse to journey hither from Boston, that we might go to work healing this breach. That you, Sir Isaac, and you, Baron von Leibniz, are here together in this room now, is all his doing; but he did it at my command. His part in the thing is done and he has my grat.i.tude forever. Your Your parts, gentlemen, begin now." parts, gentlemen, begin now."

"Highness," said Newton, "I am grateful to you for having stated with such clarity the truth truth of my views on G.o.d, the human spirit, and free will. For Baron von Leibniz, I am sorry to report, has disseminated the slander that I am some sort of Atheist. While it is true that I reject the doctrine of the Trinity, please know that I do so only out of a belief that the h.o.m.oousian doctrine promulgated at the Council of Nicaea was an error, a straying from what Christians had believed until then, and ought to believe now-" of my views on G.o.d, the human spirit, and free will. For Baron von Leibniz, I am sorry to report, has disseminated the slander that I am some sort of Atheist. While it is true that I reject the doctrine of the Trinity, please know that I do so only out of a belief that the h.o.m.oousian doctrine promulgated at the Council of Nicaea was an error, a straying from what Christians had believed until then, and ought to believe now-"

"Any person who seeks slander slander need not look so far afield, nor delve so deep!" Leibniz exclaimed, rising to his feet so forcefully that he had to take half a step toward Newton to steady himself. "I saved this man's life three days ago, and gossip has already reached my ears that I am guilty of need not look so far afield, nor delve so deep!" Leibniz exclaimed, rising to his feet so forcefully that he had to take half a step toward Newton to steady himself. "I saved this man's life three days ago, and gossip has already reached my ears that I am guilty of a.s.saulting a.s.saulting him! These willful distortions, sir, do nothing to bring us nigher true Philosophy!" him! These willful distortions, sir, do nothing to bring us nigher true Philosophy!"

"I cannot imagine any slander more base than that I am an Atheist!" returned Newton. Because of his ribs, it was much more difficult for him to rise from his chair, but now he got his walking-stick under his folded hands as if he were about to give it a go.

"An Atheist? No. Never would I spread such a calumny-on my honor! But spreading doctrines that incline others toward Atheistical views spreading doctrines that incline others toward Atheistical views is another matter. Of that you are, I regret to say, culpable." is another matter. Of that you are, I regret to say, culpable."

"Can one believe the incoherence of the man?!" Newton burst out, and regretted it, for it hurt to speak so vehemently. As long as his ribs were complaining anyway, he rose to his feet, then continued the outburst in a voice distorted by pain. "I am not an Atheist, he claims to admit-then he turns around and accuses me of spreading Atheism! It is typical of his slippery discourse, his slippery metaphysics!"

They were interrupted, but only for a moment, by a thud emanating from the floor between them. For Princess Caroline, disgruntled and bored, had used the palm of her hand to roll the globe up out of its cradle and over the rim of the felt-padded Great Circle that held it captive. It had tumbled to the rug between Newton and Leibniz. She put a foot up on it-a most undignified posture, for a Princess-and began to roll it back and forth idly as the argument went on.

"I do not think it is the least bit slippery," said Leibniz. "You may be the most sincere Christian in the world, sir, but if you publish doctrines that are obscure, incoherent, contradictory, and impossible for readers to follow, why, they may go a-stray in their thinking and tend towards doctrines you would never espouse."

"This is how you make amends for a false accusation of Atheism-by saying my life's work is incoherent and contradictory? Pray do not make any more such apologies, sirrah, or I I shall have to make amends to shall have to make amends to you you by challenging you to a duel!" by challenging you to a duel!"

Princess Caroline gave the globe a hard shove, and it rolled for a few yards across the carpet and scored a goal, as it were, in a large fireplace that accounted for most of one wall of the room. The hearth was slightly lower than the floor of the room, so the globe lodged there, and came to a stop between two andirons. "That globe will never do, for a modern Monarch," she announced. "When the Prince of Wales and I move to this house, it shall have to be replaced by a new one, with more of geography and fewer of monsters and mermaids. One that shall be ready to receive Lines of Longitude whensoever that Roger Comstock finds someone to award his Prize to." She rose now to her feet, and Newton and Leibniz, finally remembering their manners, turned to track her as she walked toward the fireplace. First, though, she wrenched a burning taper from a chair-side candelabrum. "As a rule I am averse to burning things found in Libraries, but this must be reckoned no loss at all, compared to the damage that the two of you are inflicting on Philosophy by your bickering." She bent her knees and executed a graceful descent until she was sitting on the floor beside the hearth, skirts arranged around her. "I see things sometimes, in dreams or in day-dreams-some of them I quite fancy, for they seem to carry meaning. Those I remember, and think back on. There is one such vision that has got stuck in my head, quite as melodies often do, and I can't seem to get rid of it. I shall try to do justice to it thusly." And she reached out with the candle and let its flame lave the underside of the globe. The globe was of wood, and too heavy to catch fire readily; but paper gores printed with images of continents had been pasted over it. The paper caught fire, and a ragged flame-ring began to spread, consuming the cartographer's work and leaving behind it a blackened and featureless sphere. "Sophie kept trying to tell me, before she died, that a new System of the World was being made. Oh, it is not a terribly novel thing to say. I know, and Sophie knew, that the third volume of your Principia Mathematica Principia Mathematica bears that name, Sir Isaac. Since she died, I have become quite convinced that she was correct-and moreover that the System is to be born, not at Versailles, but here-that this shall be its Prime Meridian, and all else shall be reckoned, and ruled, from here. It is a pleasing notion that there is to be such a System, and that I might play some small part in being its midwife. I think of the globe, with its neat parallels and meridians, as the Emblem of this System-what the Cross is to Christianity. But I am troubled by the vision of such a Globe in flames. What you are looking at here is a poor rendition of it; in my nightmares, it is ever so much more lovely and dreadful." bears that name, Sir Isaac. Since she died, I have become quite convinced that she was correct-and moreover that the System is to be born, not at Versailles, but here-that this shall be its Prime Meridian, and all else shall be reckoned, and ruled, from here. It is a pleasing notion that there is to be such a System, and that I might play some small part in being its midwife. I think of the globe, with its neat parallels and meridians, as the Emblem of this System-what the Cross is to Christianity. But I am troubled by the vision of such a Globe in flames. What you are looking at here is a poor rendition of it; in my nightmares, it is ever so much more lovely and dreadful."

"What do you suppose that vision signifies, highness?" asked Daniel Waterhouse.

"That this System, if it is set up wrong, might be doomed from the start," said Caroline. "Oh, it shall be a wonder to behold at first, and all shall marvel at its regularity, its oeconomy, and the ingenuity of them who framed it. Perhaps it shall work as planned for a decade, or a century, or more. And yet if it has been made wrong at the beginning, it shall burn, in the end, and my vision shall be realized in a manner infinitely more destructive than this this." She gave the smoking globe a nudge. It had been wholly scoured by the flames and become a trackless black orb.

Daniel now stepped over and gave her a hand up. "I do not concern myself so much," said Caroline, turning toward Leibniz and Newton, "with bankers, merchants, clock-makers, or Longitude-finders, and their roles in the creation of this System. Or even with Astronomers and Alchemists. But I am terribly concerned with my Philosophers, for if they they get it wrong, then the System get it wrong, then the System is is flawed, and flawed, and shall shall burn, in the end. Stop your bickering and get to work." burn, in the end. Stop your bickering and get to work."

"As it pleases your highness," said Sir Isaac. "What would you have us work on?"

"Baron von Leibniz may be on to something," said Caroline, "which is that, though you, and most other Fellows of the Royal Society, are true Christians, and believers in Free Will, the very doctrines and methods that the Royal Society has promulgated have caused many to question the existence of G.o.d, the divinity of Christ, the authority of the Church, the premise that we have souls endowed with Free Will. Why, Dr. Waterhouse himself has lately given me the lamentable news that he has quite abandoned all such doctrines."

This earned Daniel perturbed and puzzled looks from Newton and Leibniz. All he could do, in the face of such disapproval from such minds, was make a frail smile and shrug. Caroline continued, "As so much of civilization is rooted in those beliefs, this strikes me as one way in which our System of the World might be set up wrongly and thus self-doomed. Neither you, Sir Isaac, nor you, Baron von Leibniz, sees the slightest contradiction between your Faith and the true and fearless pursuit of Natural Philosophy. But you differ radically in how you reconcile the one with the other. If you two cannot manage it, no one can; and so I would like for you to work on that, that, if you please." if you please."

"Your royal highness's discourse concerning the System of the World, and the threat of its running awry at some future time, puts me in mind of a thing I do not understand in the philosophy of Sir Isaac Newton," Leibniz began. "Sir Isaac describes that System by which the heavenly bodies are kept in their gyres, and made to orbit round and round forever. Fine. But he seems to say that G.o.d, who created this system and set it in motion, must from time to time reach in and tinker with it, as a horologist adjusts the workings of his clock. As if G.o.d lacked the foresight, or the power, to make it a perpetual motion."

"You are over-reacting to a pa.s.sage from my Opticks Opticks that is really not all that important," Isaac began. that is really not all that important," Isaac began.

"On the contrary, sir, it is very important indeed, if it is wrong, if it is wrong, and puts wrong ideas in people's heads!" and puts wrong ideas in people's heads!"

"Then as you are at such pains to correct my errors, Herr Leibniz, let me return the favor in kind. This similitude, likening the universe to a clock, and G.o.d to a horologist, is faulty. A horologist is presented with certain laws or facts of nature, viz. that weights descend towards the center of the earth and springs push back when deflected. Taking these as givens, he hacks away at his bench to produce some mechanism that exploits these properties in a more or less ingenious way. Ones who are more ingenious, make clocks that require adjustment less often, and one who was perfect would, I suppose, make one that would never need it at all. But G.o.d does not merely compose the objects and forces that were given to Him, but is Himself the Author of those objects and forces. Author, and preserver. Nothing happens in this world without His government and His inspection. Think of Him not as a watch-maker but as a King. Suppose there were a Kingdom where all things ran forever in an orderly and regular way without the King ever having to attend, make judgments, or exercise his powers. If it were, in sum, so ordered that the King could be removed from it without any diminution, then he would be a King only in name, and not deserving of the respect and loyalty of his subjects."

"Like the G.o.d of Spinoza," said Caroline, "if I am following your similitude correctly."

"Indeed, highness. And so if Baron von Leibniz is of the view that the world can go on forever without the continual inspection and governance of G.o.d, why, then, I say that it is his his philosophy that shall incline men towards Atheism." philosophy that shall incline men towards Atheism."

"That is not not my view, as I think you know," said Leibniz equably. "I believe that G.o.d takes part in the world's workings at every moment-but my view, as I think you know," said Leibniz equably. "I believe that G.o.d takes part in the world's workings at every moment-but not not in the sense of mending it when it has gone awry. To say otherwise is to say G.o.d makes mistakes, and changes His mind. Instead of which I believe in a pre-established harmony, reflecting that G.o.d has foreseen all, and provided for it." in the sense of mending it when it has gone awry. To say otherwise is to say G.o.d makes mistakes, and changes His mind. Instead of which I believe in a pre-established harmony, reflecting that G.o.d has foreseen all, and provided for it."

To which Sir Isaac was about to make some rejoinder when he was interrupted by Daniel. "This, I believe, is the least interesting topic that the two of you could debate. It is really an argument about the signification of certain words, and the applicability of certain metaphors: the clock-maker, the King, et cetera et cetera."

Both Leibniz and Newton were pressing their lips together to keep all of their objections and rejoinders from bursting forth in a Pandoran onslaught. Rather than see the rest of the day devoted to the aftermath, Daniel turned to Princess Caroline and continued, without letup: "Or to put it another way: your royal highness, are you willing to stipulate that Sir Isaac and Baron von Leibniz both believe in a G.o.d who is aware of and active in the Universe? And that this G.o.d, in framing the Universe, was not chargeable of any errors?"

"Indeed, Dr. Waterhouse, it is plain to see that both of them believe as much-though I wish you you would believe it, too." would believe it, too."

"I am not really a partic.i.p.ant, highness, so let us leave my views out of the reckoning."

"On the contrary, Dr. Waterhouse," said the Princess, "every philosophical dialogue I have ever read, requires one interlocutor who is of a Skeptickal habit of mind-"

"Or of a Stupid," Daniel put in.

"Be he Skeptickal, Stupid, or both, the others try to win him over to their view of things." Caroline had suddenly gone all flushed and girlish, and looked to Newton and Leibniz for their support in the venture. Phant'sying she saw what she wanted, she turned back to the bemused Daniel, who was saying: "Am I to understand that the purpose of the discussion is now to subject me to a religious conversion religious conversion?"

"You are the one who complained, a moment ago, of feeling Stupid," said Caroline, a bit miffed. "So listen, and be enlightened." are the one who complained, a moment ago, of feeling Stupid," said Caroline, a bit miffed. "So listen, and be enlightened."

"I am yours to command, highness, and ready for Enlightenment. But I'd have you know that my Stupidity and my Skepticism are two sides of the same coin, and are of a very particular kind, which is carefully thought out. John Locke was of the same mind, and set it down in words better than I ever could. To go into it here would be half an hour's digression; suffice it to say, that as a result of being near men like Newton and Leibniz, men like Locke and I are all too keenly aware of the limits of our own intellects, and the dullness of our own senses. And not only of ours but of most other people's, too. And as a result of studying Natural Philosophy we have got glimmerings of the immensity and complexity of the Universe that were not available to anyone until of late, and are known only to a few now. The imbalance between the grand mysteries of the Universe as opposed to our own feeble faculties, leads us to set very modest expectations as to what we shall and shan't be able to understand-and makes us pa.s.sing suspicious of anyone who propounds dogma or seems to phant'sy he has got it all figured out. Having said which I must concede that if anyone anyone can figure it all out, it would be these two; and so I'll listen, provided they confine their discussion to topics that are can figure it all out, it would be these two; and so I'll listen, provided they confine their discussion to topics that are interesting interesting."

"And what would you denominate interesting, Doctor Waterhouse?" asked the Princess.

"The two labyrinths."

Caroline and Leibniz both smiled; Newton looked stormy. "I do not know what this is meant to signify."

"Doctor Leibniz mentioned to me long ago that there are two sorts of intellectual labyrinths into which all thinking people are sooner or later drawn," said Caroline. "One is the composition of the continuum, which is to say, what is matter made of, what's the nature of s.p.a.ce, et cetera et cetera. The other is the problem of free will: Do we have a choice in what we do? Which is like saying, do we have souls?"

"I'll agree with Baron von Leibniz at least to this point: these are interesting questions, and so many spend so much time thinking on them that the similitude of a labyrinth is well taken."

Daniel reminded them, "The Princess has requested that this discussion be productive of a better System of the World. I put it to you that the latter question-free will, and the spirit-is, as far as that goes, the more important. Myself, I am comfortable with the notion that we are Machines made of Meat, that there's no more free will in us than there is in a cuckoo-clock, and that the spirit, soul, or whatever you want to call it, is a faery-tale. Many who study Natural Philosophy will arrive at the same conclusion, unless the two of you find a way of convincing them otherwise. Her royal highness seems to be of the view that such beliefs, if they should be imbued into the new System that her House is erecting, shall lead to the realization of her nightmare. So, if I am to be Simplicio in this dialogue, pray explain how it is that there may be such a thing as free will, and a spirit that may do as it pleases, unbound by the Mathematick Mathematick laws of our Mechanical Philosophy." laws of our Mechanical Philosophy."

"Well, if you put it that way, it's an old problem," said Leibniz. "Descartes saw straight away that Mechanical Philosophy might spell trouble for free will, in that it led to a new sort of predestinationism-not rooted in theology, like that of the Calvinists, but rather growing out of the simple fact that matter obeys predictable laws." rooted in theology, like that of the Calvinists, but rather growing out of the simple fact that matter obeys predictable laws."

"Yes," said Daniel, "and then he got it all wrong, by putting the soul in the pineal gland."

"I'd rather say he got it wrong before before then, by dividing the universe into matter, and cogitation," Leibniz said. then, by dividing the universe into matter, and cogitation," Leibniz said.

"And I'd say he got it wrong even before then, by supposing that there was a problem," said Newton. "There's nothing wrong in recognizing that part of the universe is a pa.s.sive mechanism, and part of it is active and thinking. But Monsieur Descartes, seeing what was done to Galileo by the Papists, was in such terror of the Inquisition that his resolve failed."

"Very well, in any case we agree that Descartes perceived a problem, and came up with a wrong answer," said Daniel. "Does either of you have a better one to offer up? Sir Isaac, it sounds as if you deny the very existence existence of any such problem." of any such problem."

"You may read Principia Mathematica Principia Mathematica without finding discourse of souls, spirits, cogitation, or what-have-you," said Isaac. "It is about planets, forces, gravity, and geometry. I do not address, and certainly do not pretend to solve, the riddles that so confounded Monsieur Descartes. Why should we attempt to frame hypotheses about such matters?" without finding discourse of souls, spirits, cogitation, or what-have-you," said Isaac. "It is about planets, forces, gravity, and geometry. I do not address, and certainly do not pretend to solve, the riddles that so confounded Monsieur Descartes. Why should we attempt to frame hypotheses about such matters?"

"Because if you you do not, Sir Isaac, others, of less brilliance, will; and they will frame the wrong ones," Caroline said. do not, Sir Isaac, others, of less brilliance, will; and they will frame the wrong ones," Caroline said.

Newton bristled. "My work on gravity and opticks has brought me a kind of fame, which is a thing I never sought, nor wanted. It has done me nothing good, and much bad-as now, when I am expected to utter profundities on topics far afield from what I have chosen to study."

"So says the public Sir Isaac Newton," said Daniel, "Author of Principia Mathematica, Principia Mathematica, and Master of the Mint. But this is a private gathering, which might benefit from the partic.i.p.ation of the and Master of the Mint. But this is a private gathering, which might benefit from the partic.i.p.ation of the private private Sir Isaac: the author of the Sir Isaac: the author of the Praxis Praxis."

"Praxis has not been published," Isaac pointed out, "and not because I have deemed it somehow has not been published," Isaac pointed out, "and not because I have deemed it somehow private private but because 'tis yet unfinished, and so not fit to talk of." but because 'tis yet unfinished, and so not fit to talk of."

"What is Praxis Praxis?" Caroline inquired.

"What Principia Mathematica Principia Mathematica was to Mechanical Philosophy, was to Mechanical Philosophy, Praxis Praxis would be to Alchemy," said Isaac. would be to Alchemy," said Isaac.

"A laconic answer! May we hear more?"

"If I may say so, highness," said Daniel, "Sir Isaac learned early that anything he openly professed was liable to come under attack, to his great aggravation and embarra.s.sment, and so became chary of professing anything until he had got it perfect, and made it impervious. Praxis Praxis is not ready yet." is not ready yet."

"Then it seems I shall not have any satisfaction whatsoever!" said Caroline, a bit poutingly.

"Which is entirely my fault, for having mentioned Praxis, Praxis," Daniel hastened to say. "But I had a reason for doing it, which was to say that, though the public the public Sir Isaac might profess not to see the problem that so captured the attention of Descartes, I believe that Sir Isaac might profess not to see the problem that so captured the attention of Descartes, I believe that the private the private Sir Isaac has been working on just that problem." Sir Isaac has been working on just that problem."

"As I state quite plainly in Principia Mathematica, Principia Mathematica," said Isaac, in a bit of a high clarion self-righteous tone, "it is not my intention, in that work, to consider the causes and seats of Force. That gravity exists, and acts at a distance, is taken as a given. Why and how it does so are not considered. I would not be human if I did not have some curiosity as to what gravity was, and how it works; and even if 'twere otherwise, Baron von Leibniz and his Continental supporters would never allow me a moment's peace on the matter. So, yes! I would understand Force. I have toiled at it. The ignorant have styled my toils Alchemy."

At this Daniel threw him an irritated look, which Isaac, to his credit, did not fail to notice. "C'est juste!" "C'est juste!" Isaac said. "It's not Isaac said. "It's not wrong wrong to call this work Alchemy, but that word, so laden with the baggage of centuries, doesn't do justice to it." to call this work Alchemy, but that word, so laden with the baggage of centuries, doesn't do justice to it."

"May I ask a question about your research in this area-however you choose to denote it?" Leibniz asked.

"Provided it contains no hidden barbs or spryngs," Isaac allowed.

Leibniz now achieved the difficult feat of rolling his eyes, heaving a great sigh of exasperation, and voicing his question all at the same time. "If I understand what 'force' means, in your metaphysicks-"

"Which is the only coherent definition of 'force' that I know of!" Newton slipped in, glancing at the Princess.

Leibniz, with some visible straining, affected a saintly mien during this. "It appears to mean some invisible influence, acting across what you think of as the vacuum of s.p.a.ce at infinite speed, which causes objects to accelerate-even though nothing seems to be touching them."

"Setting aside your strangely hedged and qualified way of talking about 'vacuum' and 's.p.a.ce,' that is a reasonable description of gravitational force," Newton allowed.