_
This correspondence forms one of the most interesting events in the life
of Bossuet; the letters, of which it consists, and the other written
documents, which relate to it, are highly interesting. We shall attempt
to present our readers with a short account--
1st. Of the circumstances which led to this correspondence;
2ndly. Of the Project of Reunion, delivered by Molanus, a Lutheran
Divine, and Bossuet's sentiments on that Project;
3dly. Of the intervention of Leibniz in the negotiation; and
4thly. Of the Project suggested by Bossuet, and the principal
reasons, by which he contended for its reception.
III. 1.
It appears that, towards the 17th century, the Emperor Leopold, and
several sovereign princes in Germany, conceived a project of re-uniting
the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches. The Duke of Brunswick, who had
recently embraced the Roman Catholic religion, and published his _Fifty
Reasons for his conversion_, (once a popular work of controversy), and
the Duke of Hanover, the father of the first prince of the illustrious
house, which now fills the throne of England, were the original
promoters of the attempt.
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