This effective satire on Louis XIV and his anti-German expansionism, written in Latin and translated into French by Leibniz himself, is beyond doubt his most brilliant and entertaining political work. The constant citation of scripture is probably intended as a parody of Bossuet's style, and the grotesque references to Grotius, Plato and others show what a nice sense of irony Leibniz possessed. More than once Leibniz' genuine rage at French excesses breaks through, and then the irony becomes grim. (The present translation follows Leibniz' own French version, as printed in the Academy Edition; but a few textual variants preserved in the Foucher de Careil edition have been interpolated.)

The majority of men having the habit of regarding their particular interest sooner than the public good, and the present sooner than the future, I am not surprised to see that there are men who see clearly that the salvation of the Church depends solely on the greatness of France, but who [yet] have more regard for the interest of their princes or of their own nation, than for the general good of Christendom, on the pretext of conserving the liberty of their country – which, however, they will not preserve against Ottoman arms, if France does not secure them against slavery. One could, however, pardon to some degree the indiscreet zeal which they show for their country, if they did not allow themselves to speak indignantly of the good intentions of the King [Louis XIV].