,this ebook was transcribed by ,les     
,bowler4            ,,pascal            
,,by                                    
,,principal ,,tulloch                   
,,william ,,blackwood ,,and ,,sons      
,,edinburgh ,,and ,,london              
#ahgh4--,,reprint1 #ahhb                
,all ,rights reserved                   
,,prefatory ,,note4      ,the           
translations in this volume are chiefly 
my own2 but ,i have also taken          
expressions and sentences freely from   
others--and especially from ,dr         
,m',crie1 in his translation of the     
#8,provincial ,letters'--when they      
seemed  to convey well the sense of the 
original4  ,it would be impossible to   
distinguish in all cases between what is
 my own and what ,i have borrowed4  ,the
 #8,provincial ,letters' have been      
translated at least four times into     
,english4  ,the translation of ,dr      
,m',crie1 published in #ahdf1 is the    
most  spirited4  ,the #8,penses' were   
translated by the ,rev4 ,edward ,craig1 

,a4,m4  ,oxon41 in #ahbe1 following the 
,french edition of #ahai1 which again   
followed that of ,bossut in #aggi4  ,a  
new translation1 both of the            
#8,letters' and #8,penses1' by ,george  
,pearce1 ,esq4--the latter after the    
restored text of ,m4 ,faugre--appeared  
in #ahdi and #ahej4                     
,j4 ,t4          ,,contents4            
,,chap4                                 
,,page                 ,,introduction   
#a             ,i4  ,,pascal',s ,,family
 ,,and ,,youth                          
#e            ,,ii4  ,,pascal',s        
,,scientific ,,discoveries              
#be           ,,iii4  ,,pascal ,,in     
,,the ,,world                           
#eb            ,,iv4  ,,port ,,royal    
,,and ,,pascal',s ,,later ,,years       
#gd             ,v4  ,,the              
#8,,provincial ,,letters'               
#ajc            ,,vi4  ,,the            
#8,,pens,,es'                           
#aeg    ,,introduction4      ,there are 
few names which have become more        

classical in modern literature  than    
that of ,blaise ,pascal4  ,there is     
hardly any name more famous at once  in 
literature1 science1 and religion4  ,cut
 off at the early age of                
thirty-nine--the fatal age of genius--he
 had long before attained  pre-eminent  
distinction as a geometer and discoverer
 in physical science2  while the rumour 
of his genius as the author of the      
#8,provincial ,letters1'  and as one of 
the chiefs of a notable school of       
religious thought1 had  spread far and  
wide4  ,his writings continue to be     
studied for the  perfection of their    
style and the vitality of their         
substance4  ,as a  writer1 he belongs to
 no school1 and is admired simply for   
his greatness  by ,encyclopedist and    
,romanticist1 by ,catholic and          
,protestant alike1--by  men like        
,voltaire and ,condorcet and            
,sainte-,beuve1 no less than by men     
like ,bossuet1 ,vinet1 and ,neander4    
,his #8,penses' have been carefully     

restored1 and re-edited with minute and 
loving faithfulness in our time  by     
editors of such opposite tastes and     
tendencies as ,m4 ,prosper ,faugre1  ,m4
 ,havet1 and ,m4 ,victor ,rochet4       
,cousin considered it one of the glories
  of his long intellectual career that  
he had first led the way to the         
remarkable restoration of ,pascal's     
remains4  ,of all the illustrious names 
which group themselves around ,port     
,royal1 it is ,pascal alone1 and        
,racine--who was more its pupil1 but    
less its representative--whose genius   
can be said to survive1 and to invest it
 with an undying lustre4    ,pascal's   
early death1 the reserve of his friends 
under the assaults which  the           
#8,provincial ,letters' provoked1 and   
his very fame1 as a writer1 have  served
 in some degree to obscure his          
personality4  ,to many a modern  reader 
he is little else than a great name4    
,the man is hidden away  behind the     
author of the #8,penses1' or the        

defender of ,port ,royal4  ,some  might 
even say that his writings are now more 
admired than studied4  ,they  have been 
so long the subject of eulogy that their
 classical character is  taken for      
granted1 and the reader of the present  
day is content to look  at them from a  
respectful distance rather than         
spontaneously study them  for himself4  
,there may be some truth in this view4  
,pascal is certainly1  like many other  
great writers1 far more widely known    
than he is  understood or appreciated4  
,the old1 which are still the common1   
editions  of the #8,penses1' have also  
given a certain commonplace to his      
reputation4  ,it were certainly a worthy
 task to set him more clearly  before   
our age both as a man and as a writer4  
,it is no easy task1 however1 to do     
this2 and to tell the full story of     
,pascal's life is no longer possible4   
,its records1 numerous as they are1  are
 incomplete2 all fail more or less at an
 interesting point of his  career4      

,they leave much unexplained2 and the   
most familiar confidences  of his       
sisters and niece1 who have preserved   
many interesting details  regarding him1
 have not entirely removed the veil from
 certain aspects of  his character4     
,the well-known life by ,madame ,prier1 
his elder sister1  is of course the     
chief authentic source of his biography4
  ,it was written  shortly after his    
death1 although not published for some  
time later2 and  nothing can be more    
lively1 graphic1 and yet dignified1 than
 its  portraiture of his youthful       
precocity1 and1 again1 of the devotions 
and  austerities of his later years4    
,but it leaves many gaps unsupplied4    
,like other memoirs of the kind1 it is  
written from a somewhat  conventional   
point of view4  ,no one1 as ,m4 ,havet  
says1 was nearer to him  in all senses  
of the expression1 or could have given a
 more true and  complete account of all 
the incidents in his life2 but she was  
not only  his sister1 but his           

enthusiastic friend and admirer1 in     
whose eyes he was  at once a genius and 
a saint--a man of ,god1 called to a     
great mission4  ,it  was from a         
consciousness of this mission1 and the  
full glory of his  religious fame1 that 
she looked back upon all his life2 and  
the lines in  which she draws it are    
coloured1 in consequence1 too gravely   
and  monotonously4  ,certain particulars
 she drops out of sight altogether4     
,these are to be found scattered here   
and there1 sometimes in his own         
letters1 more frequently in the letters 
of his younger sister1  ,jacqueline1 and
 in a supplementary memoir1 written by  
his niece1  ,marguerite ,prier1 all of  
which have been carefully published in  
our  time1 and made accessible to any   
reader4 #c  ,the researches of ,m4      
,cousin1 ,m4 ,faugre1 and ,m4 ,havet1   
the curious and interesting monograph   
of ,m4 ,llut1 #d;a have thrown light on 
various points2 while the copious       
portraiture of ,sainte-,beuve #d;b has  

given to the whole an animation and  a  
desultory charm which no ,english pen   
need strive to imitate4    ,my only     
hope1 as my aim1 will be in this little 
volume to set before the  ,english      
reader perhaps a more full and connected
 account of the life and  writings of   
,pascal than has yet appeared in our    
language1 freely availing  myself of all
 the sources ,i have indicated4  ,and if
 long and loving  familiarity with a    
subject--an intimacy often renewed both 
with the  #8,provincial ,letters' and   
the #8,penses'--form any qualification  
for such a  task1 ,i may be allowed to  
possess it4  ,it is now nearly thirty   
years  since the study of ,neander first
 drew me to the study of ,pascal2 and ,i
  ventured1 with the confidence of      
youth1 to draw from the #8,penses1'     
which  had then recently appeared in the
 new and admirable edition of ,m4       
,faugre1 the outlines of a ,christian   
,philosophy4 #d;c  ,i shall venture on  
no such ambition within the bounds of   

this volume2 but ,i trust ,i may be     
able to bring together the story of     
,pascal's life1 controversy1 and        
thought in such a manner as to lead     
others to the study of a writer truly   
great in the imperishable grandeur and  
elevation of his ideas1 no less  than in
 the exquisite finish and graces of his 
style4          ,,chapter ,i4           
,,pascal',s ,,family ,,and ,,youth4     
,blaise ,pascal was born at             
,clermont-,ferrand on the #aith ,june   
#afbc4  ,he  belonged to an old         
,auvergne family1 ,louis ,,xi4 having   
ennobled one of its  members for        
administrative services as early as     
#adgh1 although no use was  made of the 
title1 at least in the seventeenth      
century4  ,the family  cherished with   
more pride its ancient connection with  
the legal or  #8,parliamentary'         
institutions of their country4 #e       
,pascal's grandfather1  ,martin ,pascal1
 was treasurer of ,france2 and his      
father1 tienne1 after  completing his   

legal studies in ,paris1 acquired the   
position of ,second  ,president of the  
,court of ,aides at ,clermont4  ,in the 
year #afah he married  ,antoinette      
,begon1 who became the mother of four   
children1 of whom three  survived and   
became distinguished4  ,madame ,pascal  
died in #afbf or #afbh2  #f;a and two   
years afterwards 7in #afcj7 tienne      
,pascal abandoned his  professional     
duties1 and came to ,paris1 in order    
that he might devote  himself to the    
education of his children4    ,soon     
after the ,pascal family settled in     
,paris1 their character and  endowments 
seem to have attracted a widespread     
interest4  ,if not superior  to the     
,arnaulds1 they were no less remarkable4
  ,they did not escape the  penetrating 
eye of ,richelieu1 who1 as he looked    
upon the father with his  son1 then     
fifteen years of age1 and his two       
daughters1 was so struck by  their      
beauty that he exclaimed1 without       
waiting for their formal  introduction  

to him1 that he would like to make      
something great of  them4 #f;b  tienne  
,pascal was a man not only of official  
capacity1 but  of keen intellectual     
instincts and aspirations4  ,he shared  
eagerly in the  scientific enthusiasm of
 his time4  ,a letter by him addressed  
to the  ,jesuit ,nol shows that the vein
 of satire1 half pleasant1 half severe1 
which reached such perfection in the    
famous #8,letters' of his son1 was not  
unknown to the father4  ,the careful and
 systematic education which he  gave to 
his son would alone have stamped him as 
a man of remarkable  intelligence4      
,gilberte1 ,pascal's elder sister and   
biographer1 exerted an influence upon   
his character only second to that of his
 father4  ,she married her cousin1  ,m4 
,prier1 also of a ,parliamentary family1
 and ,counsellor of the ,court of       
,aides at ,clermont4  ,she was alike    
beautiful and accomplished1 a student   
of mathematics1 philosophy1 and history4
 #g  ,for a time she shared in  the     

enjoyments of the world1 like other     
persons of her age and condition2  but  
the same impulses of religious          
enthusiasm which animated the rest of   
her family led to her practical         
abandonment of the world while still    
young4  ,the memoirs which she composed1
 both of her brother and sister1  and   
her letters1 all indicate a high        
intelligence and a mingled dignity1     
sweetness1 and restraint of character1  
which made her their best  counsellor   
and friend4    ,the younger sister1     
,jacqueline1 has been made a special    
study by ,m4  ,cousin amongst the       
#8,illustrious ,women of the            
,seventeenth ,century4'  ,she  was      
beautiful as her sister1 and a child of 
genius like her brother4  ,she  began to
 compose verses at the age of eight1 and
 in her eleventh year  assisted in the  
composition and the acting of a comedy  
in five acts1  which was a subject of   
universal talk in ,paris4  ,her powers1 
both as an  actor and a verse-maker1    

made a wonderful reputation at the time1
 which1  as we shall see1 was highly    
serviceable to her after4  ,her verses1 
it  must be confessed1 are somewhat     
artificial and hollow2 but her letters1 
and1 more remarkable than either her    
verses or her letters1 her  #8,thoughts'
 on the #8,mystery of the ,death of     
,christ1' are in some respects  very    
fine1 and might even claim a place      
beside some of those of her  brother4   
,they are equally elevated in tone1 and 
pervaded by the same  subtle1           
penetrating1 radiant mysticism1 the same
 rapture of  self-sacrificing           
aspiration1 though lacking the glow of  
inward fire and  exquisite charm of     
style which marked the author of the    
#8,penses4'  ,noble-minded and full of  
genius1 she was yet without his depth   
and power  of feeling1 or his skill and 
finish as an author4  ,in #afdf she     
came1  along with her brother1 and      
greatly through his influence1 strongly 
under  the power of religion2 and in    

#afeb1 after her father's death1 she    
renounced the world1 and became one of  
the ,sisters of ,port ,royal4  ,she     
died amidst the persecution of the      
,sisters in #affa1 a year before her    
brother4    ,in ,paris the elder ,pascal
 became a centre of men of congenial    
intellectual tastes with himself1 and   
his house a sort of rendezvous for  the 
mathematicians and the physicists of the
 time4  ,among them were  ,descartes1   
,gassendi1 ,mersenne1 ,roberval1        
,carcavi1 and ,le ,pailleur2 and  from  
the frequent reunion of these men is    
said to have sprung the ,academy  of    
,sciences founded in #afff4  ,it is     
interesting to notice that it was  into 
this same society that ,hobbes was      
introduced on his first and second      
visits to ,france1 when he accompanied  
the future ,duke of ,devonshire there   
as tutor4  ,with ,father ,mersenne and  
,gassendi especially he formed a warm   
friendship1 which sheds an interest over
 his life4  ,possibly in some of  these 

reunions the author of the #8,leviathan'
 may have encountered the  young        
,pascal1 and joined in the half         
admiration and half incredulity  which  
his wonderful powers had begun to       
excite4    ,there never certainly was a 
more singular story of youthful         
precocity  than that which ,madame      
,prier has given of her brother1        
accustomed as we  have become to such   
stories in the lives of eminent men4    
,detecting the  remarkable powers of the
 boy1 his father had formed very        
definite  resolutions as to his         
education4  ,his chief maxim1 ,madame   
,prier says1  was always 8to keep the   
boy above his work40  ,and for this     
reason he did  not wish him to learn    
,latin till he was twelve years of age1 
when he  might easily acquire it4  ,in  
the meantime1 he sought to give him a   
general idea of grammar--of its rules1  
and the exceptions to which these  rules
 are liable--and so to fit him to take  
up the study of any language  with      

intelligence and facility4  ,he         
endeavoured further to direct his  son's
 attention to the more marked phenomena 
of nature1 and such  explanations as he 
could give of them4  ,but here the son's
 perception  outstripped the father's   
power of explanation4  ,he wished 8to   
know the  reason of everything20 and    
when his father's statements did not    
appear to  him to give the reason1 he   
was far from satisfied4        8,for he 
had always an admirable perspicacity in 
discerning what was      false2 and it  
may be said that in everything and      
always truth was the      sole object of
 his mind4  ,from his childhood he could
 only yield to      what seemed to him  
evidently true2 and when others spoke of
 good      reasons1 he tried to find    
them for himself4  ,he never quitted a  
subject until he had found some         
explanation which satisfied him40       
,once1 among other occasions1 he was so 
interested in the fact that the  sound  
emitted by a plate lying on a table when

 struck1 suddenly ceased on  the plate  
being touched by the hand1 that he made 
an inquiry into sound  in general1 and  
drew so many conclusions that he        
embodied them in a  8well-reasoned0     
treatise4  ,at this time he was only    
twelve years of age4    ,at the same age
 he gave still more astonishing evidence
 of his precocious  scientific          
capacities4  ,his father1 perceiving his
 strong scientific  bent1 and desirous  
that he should first of all acquaint    
himself with  languages before the      
absorption of the severer1 but more     
engrossing1  study seized him1 had      
withdrawn from his sight all            
mathematical books1  and carefully      
avoided the subject in the presence of  
his son when his  friends were present4 
,this1 as might be expected1 only       
quickened the  curiosity of the boy1 who
 frequently begged his father to teach  
him  mathematics1 and the father        
promised to do so as a reward when he   
knew  ,latin and ,greek1 which he was   

then learning4  ,piqued by this         
resistance1  the boy asked one day1     
8,what mathematical science was1 and of 
what it  treated80  ,he was told that   
its aim was to make figures correctly1  
and to  find their right relations or   
proportions to one another4  ,he began1 
says  his sister1 to meditate during his
 play-hours on the information thus     
communicated to him4        8,and being 
alone in a room where he was accustomed 
to amuse himself1      he took a piece  
of charcoal and drew figures upon the   
boards1 trying1      for example1 to    
make a circle perfectly round1 a        
triangle of which      the sides and    
angles were equal1 and similar figures4 
,he succeeded      in his task1 and then
 endeavoured to determine the proportion
 of the      figures1 although so       
careful had his father been in hiding   
from him      all knowledge of the kind1
 that he did not even know the names of 
the      figures4  ,he made names for   
himself1 then definitions1 then axioms1 

and finally demonstrations2 and in this 
way had pushed his researches      as   
far as the thirty-second proposition of 
the first book of ,euclid40      #aj    
,at this point a #8surprise' visit of   
his father arrested him in his task1    
although so absorbed was he in it1 that 
he did not at first recognise his       
father's presence4  ,the older ,pascal1 
having satisfied himself of the         
astonishing achievement which the       
youthful mathematician had worked out   
for himself in solitude1 ran with tears 
of joy to communicate the fact to  his  
friend ,m4 le ,pailleur4  ,it was agreed
 betwixt them that such an  aptitude for
 science should no longer be balked1 and
 the lad was  furnished with the means  
of pursuing his mathematical studies4   
,before he  had completed his sixteenth 
year he had written the famous treatise 
on  ,conic ,sections which excited the  
8mingled incredulity and astonishment0  
of ,descartes4 #aa    ,the happiness of 
,pascal's home was suddenly interrupted 

by an unforeseen  calamity4  ,on coming 
to ,paris1 his father had invested his  
savings in  bonds upon the ,hotel de    
,ville4  ,the ,government1 impoverished 
by wars and  extravagance1 reduced the  
value of these revenues1 with the result
 of  creating discontent and calling    
forth expostulation from the            
disappointed  annuitants4  ,some of them
 met together1 and1 among others1 tienne
  ,pascal1 and gave such vent to their  
feelings as to alarm the ,government4   
,richelieu took summary means of        
asserting his authority and silencing   
the  disturbers4  ,the meeting was      
denounced as seditious1 and a warrant   
issued  to arrest the offenders and     
throw them into the ,bastille4  tienne  
,pascal1 having become apprised of the  
hostile designs of the ,cardinal1       
contrived to conceal himself at first in
 ,paris1 and afterwards took  refuge in 
the solitude of his native district4    
,his children were left  without his    
care1 and plunged in the greatest       

sorrow4  ,at intervals1  indeed1 he     
contrived to see them in secret1 and is 
said even to have  nursed ,jacqueline   
through a severe attack of the smallpox1
 which impaired  her hitherto remarkable
 beauty4  ,but all the pleasant         
companionship which  he had enjoyed as  
their instructor1 and the centre of a   
group of  intellectual friends1 was at  
an end4  ,he could only visit his home  
by  stealth4    ,at this crisis         
7,february #afci7 ,richelieu took a     
fancy to have ,scudry's  tragi-comedy of
 8,l',amour ,tyrannique0 acted before   
him by young girls4  ,the ,court lady   
who undertook the management of the     
piece appealed to  ,jacqueline ,pascal1 
whose accomplishments as a girl-actor   
were well known1  to assist in its      
performance4  ,she was then thirteen    
years of age4  ,the  elder sister1 who1 
in the enforced absence of the father1  
was acting as  the head of the family1  
replied1 with feeling1 that 8they did   
not owe any  favour to ,m4 le ,cardinal1

 who had not acted kindly towards them40
  ,the  request1 however1 was pressed1  
in the hope that some good might come   
out  of the affair to the family1 and   
,jacqueline was allowed to appear4  ,the
  result was all that could be          
anticipated4  ,the ,cardinal1 charmed by
 the  grace and accomplishment of her   
acting1 received her cordially when she 
ventured to approach him with a petition
 on behalf of her father1 thrown  into a
 form of verses similar to many which   
she had already composed4  ,the verses  
have been preserved with her other      
pieces1 and have been thus              
rendered3--#ab        8,o marvel not1   
,armand1 the great1 the wise1      ,if  
,i have failed to please thine ear1     
thine eyes2      ,my sorrowing spirit1  
torn by countless fears1      ,each     
sound forbiddeth save the voice of      
tears4      ,with power to please thee  
wouldst thou me inspire8--      ,recall 
from exile now my hapless sire40    ,she
 has herself described1 in an           

interesting letter to her father1 #ac   
the whole incident1 and the result of   
her intercession4  ,having told how  the
 ,cardinal had been previously well     
prepared1 and had the true state of  the
 case explained in reference to her     
father1 who appears to have been  in no 
degree to blame in the agitation which  
called forth the displeasure  of the    
,government1 she says that--        8,m4
 le ,cardinal appeared to take great    
pleasure in the      representation1    
especially when ,i spoke4  ,he laughed  
very much1 as      did the whole        
company4  ,when the comedy was finished1
 ,i descended      from the theatre with
 the design of speaking to ,madame      
d',aiguillon      the same lady who had 
already interested herself in the       
business4      ,but as the ,cardinal    
seemed about to leave1 ,i approached him
 directly1      and recited to him the  
verses ,i send you4  ,he received them  
with      extraordinary affection and   
caresses more than you can imagine2 for 

at first1 when ,i approached1 he cried1 
#8,voil la petite ,pascal6'      ,then  
he embraced me and kissed me1 and while 
,i said my verses he      continued to  
hold me in his arms1 and kissed me each 
moment with      great satisfaction4    
,and then when ,i was done he said1     
#8,yes2 ,i grant      to you all that   
you ask2 write to your father that he   
may return with      safety4'           
,thereupon ,madame d',aiguillon         
approached1 and addressed the           
,cardinal4  #8,it is truly well1 sir1   
that you do something for this      man4
  ,i have heard him spoken of as a      
thoroughly honest and learned      man1 
and it is a pity he should remain       
unemployed4  ,then he has a son      who
 is very learned in mathematics1        
although as yet only fifteen      years 
of age4'  ,the ,cardinal assured me once
 more that ,i might tell      you to    
return in all safety2 and as he seemed  
in such good humour1 ,i      asked him  
further that you might be allowed       

yourself to pay your      thanks and    
respects to his ,eminence4  ,he said you
 would be welcome2      and then1 with  
other discourse1 repeated1 #8,tell your 
father1 when he      returns1 to come   
and see me4'  ,this he said three or    
four times4      ,after this1 as ,madame
 d',aiguillon was going away1 my sister 
went      forward to salute her4  ,she  
received her with many caresses1 and    
inquired for our brother1 whom she said 
she wished to see4  ,it was      this   
that led to his introduction to the     
,duchess1 who paid him many             
compliments on his scientific           
attainments4  ,we were then conducted to
      a room1 where we had a magnificent
 collation of dried sweetmeats1         
fruits1 lemonade1 and such things4      
,here the ,duchess renewed her          
caresses in a manner you will hardly    
believe4  ,in short1 ,i cannot      tell
 how much honour ,i received1 for ,i am 
obliged to write as      succinctly as  
possible4  ,i am greatly obliged to ,m4 

de ,moudroy for      all the trouble he 
has taken1 and ,i beg you will be so    
good as write      to him by the first  
post to thank him1 for he well deserves 
it4  ,as      for me1 ,i esteem myself  
extremely happy to have in any way      
assisted      in a result which must    
give you satisfaction40    ,this letter 
was written from ,paris on the #dth     
,april #afci1 when ,jacqueline  ,pascal 
was therefore only fourteen years of    
age4  ,it is in all respects a          
remarkable and interesting production1  
both for the glimpse it gives of  the   
great ,cardinal in his hours of ease1   
and its revelation of  ,jacqueline's own
 character1--her dramatic cleverness1   
her firmness and  wisdom in assailing   
the ,cardinal with her prepared verses  
at the right  moment1 her self-conscious
 importance as the chief actor of such a
 scene1  and all the same1 her girlish  
enjoyment of the sweetmeats provided for
  her4  ,it is a pleasant enough        
picture2 and it deserves especially to  

be  noticed how prominently the         
scientific reputation of her brother1   
only  two years older than herself1 is  
already recognised4    ,the sequel was  
all that could have been desired4  ,the 
father hastened1 at  the summons of his 
daughter1 to pay his respects to        
,richelieu1 who gave  him a welcome     
reception4  8,i know all your merit10 he
 said4  8,i restore  you to your        
children1 and commend them to you4  ,i  
desire to do something  considerable for
 you40  ,within two years tienne ,pascal
 was1 in  consequence1 appointed        
,intendant of ,rouen1 where he settled  
with his  family in #afda4              
,disturbances had arisen in ,normandy at
 this time in  connection with the      
payment of taxes1 and the ,government1  
believing that  the ,parliament at      
,rouen had not acted with sufficient    
vigour1 took the  matter into their own 
hands1 and sent their officers to       
collect the  revenues of the province4  
#ae  tienne ,pascal's character and     

previous  labours in this capacity1 no  
less than his restoration to the        
,cardinal's  favour1 pointed him out as 
a man specially fitted for this work1   
which in  the circumstances was not     
unattended with danger4  ,the work in   
itself was  also harassing and          
troublesome2 and the youthful ,pascal1  
anxious to  assist his father1 had      
busied himself in the invention of a    
machine for  performing arithmetical    
calculations1 which made a great        
sensation at the  time4  ,ingenious as  
the machine was1 it came to little1 as  
we shall see  in the next chapter1 which
 will be devoted to a brief account of  
,pascal's  scientific discoveries4  ,in 
the meantime it will be better to       
confine  ourselves to the thread of his 
personal history up to the important    
epoch  which is known as his first      
conversion4    ,settled at ,rouen1 he   
pursued his studies with unremitting    
devotion1 and  with only too little     
regard for his health4  ,his elder      

sister1 who might  have won him         
occasionally to lighter pursuits1 was   
married to her cousin  ,m4 ,prier in    
#afda1 and two years afterwards went    
with him to ,clermont1  where her       
husband was appointed a ,counsellor in  
the ,court of ,aides4  ,jacqueline was  
absorbed in her own poetical studies1   
which received a  special impetus from  
the friendship of ,corneille1 who had   
returned at  this time to his native    
town4  ,the illustrious dramatist       
speedily sought  out the ,pascal family1
 and became one of their most intimate  
associates4  ,a prize being given every 
year for the best copy of verses on the 
8,conception of the ,virgin10 it was    
awarded to certain verses of            
,jacqueline's for the year #afdj4  ,when
 the announcement of the result was     
made she was absent1 but a friend of the
 family rose and returned thanks  in    
verse in the name of the youthful       
poetess--,pour une jeune muse  absente4 
,the friend was ,corneille1 whose       

impromptu lines on the  occasion1 along 
with those of ,jacqueline1 are still    
preserved4 #af  ,neither have much      
poetic merit1 but they recall an        
interesting incident4    ,a bright      
atmosphere of intellectual emulation and
 cheerful prospects  surrounds the      
family at this time4  ,but all the while
 it is evident1 from  ,madame ,prier's  
account1 that her brother was injuring  
his health greatly  in his undue        
assiduity in his scientific pursuits4   
,the attempts to  perfect the           
construction of his arithmetical machine
 seem especially to  have worn out his  
delicate frame1 and to have laid the    
foundation of the  nervous prostration  
from which he more or less suffered all 
his life  afterwards4  8,from the age of
 eighteen10 she says in a significant   
passage that her brother 8hardly ever   
passed a day without pain4  ,in the     
intermissions of his sufferings1        
however1 his spirit was such that he was
  constantly bent on some new           

discovery40 #ag    ,in the beginning of 
#afdf an accident happened which had    
important  consequences both to ,pascal 
and his sisters4  tienne ,pascal fell   
upon  the ice and severely sprained his 
foot4  ,during his confinement he was   
attended by two brothers who had        
acquired repute in the treatment of such
  injuries4  ,they were gentlemen of    
family in the neighbourhood1 who had    
devoted themselves to medicine and      
anatomy from benevolent instincts and   
the love of these studies4  ,both were  
disciples of a clergyman at  ,rouville1 
who was an enthusiastic pietist and     
friend of ,st ,cyran4  ,crowds  flocked 
to hear ,pastor ,guillebert whenever he 
preached1 and many were  stirred by his 
eloquence to devote themselves to pious 
and  philanthropical labours4  ,one of  
the brothers under this inspiring       
guidance built a hospital at the end of 
his park1 and gave his children  to the 
service of the ,church in various       
capacities4  ,the other brother1  who   

had no children1 provided beds in the   
hospital and attended the sick  poor4   
,the character and conversation of these
 men made a deep impression upon  the   
,pascal family4  ,hitherto esteemed     
pious1 they had not yet made  religion  
an anxious concern in their lives4      
,madame ,prier says expressly  of her   
brother that he had been 8preserved by  
the special protection of  ,god from all
 youthful vices1 and1 what was still    
more remarkable in the  case of a mind  
of such strength and pride1 he had never
 yielded to any  libertinism of thought1
 but had always limited his curiosity to
 natural  inquiries40  ,he attributed1  
according to her statement1 this        
religious  sobriety of mind to the      
instructions and example of his father1 
who had a  great respect for religion1  
and who had impressed upon him from his 
infancy the maxim1 8that whatever is the
 object of faith cannot be the  object  
of reason1 and still less the subject of
 it40  ,he had seen1 in his  father1 the

 combination of scientific attainment   
with a strong reasoning  power1 and the 
maxim therefore fell with weight from   
his lips4  ,and so1  when he listened to
 the discourses of free-thinkers1 young 
as he was--        8,he remained unmoved
 by them1 and simply looked upon them as
 men who      had adopted the false     
principle that the human reason is above
      everything1 and who know nothing  
of the real nature of faith2 so that    
this spirit1 so great and inquisitive1  
which searched so carefully      for the
 reason of everything1 was at the same  
time submissive as a      child to all  
the truths of religion1 and this        
submissive simplicity      predominated 
in him through his whole life40 #ah     
,this is a significant extract in more  
ways than one4  ,in the meantime we     
quote it as indicating the religious    
atmosphere of ,pascal's home1 and the   
pious temper which marked him from the  
first4  ,but as yet religion had  not   
taken hold of him with an absorbing     

enthusiasm4  ,it had its place in  his  
thoughts1 and this a deeply respectful  
place2 but now1 about his  twenty-third 
year1 in communication with the two     
friends we have  mentioned1 and under   
the same influence which had moved them 
so deeply1  it began to lay hold of him 
more powerfully4  ,he and his father and
  sisters read eagerly the books of ,st 
,cyran1 and of ,jansen1 the ,bishop of  
,ypres1 whose name became so conspicuous
 in connection with ,port ,royal4  ,a   
discourse by the latter on 8,the        
,reformation of the ,inward ,man10 and  
also  ,arnauld's 8,manual on ,frequent  
,communion10 are supposed to have       
specially  impressed him4  ,in the      
language of his sister--                
8,providence led him to the study of    
such pious writings while he was        
not yet twenty-four years of age2 and   
,god so enlightened him by this         
course of reading1 that he came to      
realise that the ,christian             
religion obliges us to live only for    

,god1 and to have no other object       
besides ,him4  ,so clear and necessary  
appeared this truth to him1 that      he
 gave up for a time all his researches1 
renounced all other      knowledge1 and 
applied himself alone to the #8one thing
 needful'      spoken of by our ,lord40 
,this event is spoken of by ,pascal's   
biographers as his 8first  conversion10 
and it appears to have been attended not
 only with a zealous  consecration of   
his own powers to the service of        
religion1 but moreover1  as often       
happens in the case of youthful         
enthusiasm1 with a warm  determination  
against all who seemed to him to be     
acting at variance with  the true faith4
  8,although10 as his sister says1 8he  
had made no special  study of scholastic
 theology1 he was not ignorant of the   
judgments of the  ,church against the   
heresies invented by human subtlety4    
,all indications  of heretical opinion  
excited his indignation1 and ,god gave  
him at this  time an opportunity of     

testifying his zeal on behalf of        
religion40  ,she  then adds in          
illustration the following story3--     
8,there was at ,rouen at this time a man
 who taught a new philosophy      which 
attracted the curious4  ,my brother1    
pressed by two of his young             
friends1 accompanied them to hear this  
man2 but they were greatly              
surprised when they found1 in           
conversation with him1 that he drew     
consequences from his philosophy at     
variance with the decisions of      the 
,church4  ,he sought to prove by his    
arguments that the body of      ,jesus  
,christ was not formed of the blood of  
the ,holy ,virgin1 but of      some     
other matter specially created1 and     
several other like subjects4      ,they 
pointed out to him his error1 but he    
remained firm in his      opinions4     
,thereupon1 taking into consideration   
how dangerous it was      to leave the  
instruction of youth in the hands of a  
man with such      erroneous opinions1  

they resolved1 after previously         
informing him of      their intention1  
to denounce him if he continued in his  
errors4  ,so      it happened2 for he   
despised their advice1 and in such a    
manner1 as      to leave them no        
alternative but to denounce him to ,m4  
du ,bellay1      #bj who was then       
discharging episcopal functions in the  
diocese of      ,rouen for the          
,archbishop4  ,m4 du ,bellay sent for   
the man1 and having      interrogated   
him1 was deceived by an equivocal       
confession of faith      which he wrote 
and subscribed4  ,otherwise he made     
little account of      the affair as    
reported by the three young men4        
,however1 when they      saw the        
confession of faith1 they at once       
recognised its defects1 and      entered
 into communication with the ,archbishop
 himself1 who1 having      examined into
 the matter1 saw its gravity1 and sent  
in writing a      special order to ,m4  
du ,bellay to make the man retract all  

the points      of which he was accused1
 and to receive nothing from him except 
by      communication of his accusers4  
,the order was carried out1 and the     
result was that he appeared in the      
council of the ,archbishop and          
renounced all his errors--it may be said
 sincerely1 for he never      showed any
 anger towards those who had engaged in 
the affair1 so as      to lead one to   
suppose that he had been himself        
deceived by the false      conclusions  
which he had drawn from false           
principles4  ,it was made      plain    
that his accusers had no design of      
injuring him1 but only of               
undeceiving him1 and so preventing him  
from seducing the young1 who      were  
incapable of distinguishing the true    
from the false in such      subtle      
questions40    ,this story reflects     
somewhat doubtfully on ,pascal's        
fairness and good  sense1 even as told  
by ,madame ,prier4  ,but it has not been
 left in the  vagueness in which it     

stands in her narrative4  ,m4 ,cousin   
published for  the first time full      
details regarding it in the volume by   
which he may be  said to have initiated 
the new researches into the life and    
writings of  ,pascal4  ,these details1  
which fill more than forty pages of     
appendix to  ,m4 ,cousin's volume1 #ba  
are no longer of any interest in        
themselves2 but  they enable us to      
understand more clearly the conduct of  
,pascal and his  two friends4           
,unhappily they deepen rather than      
lighten the shade which  the story      
throws upon ,pascal's intemperate zeal4 
,the name of the accused  teacher was   
,jacques ,forton1 a ,capucin monk1 known
 as the ,pre ,st ,ange4  ,he taught no  
new philosophy2 but he had communicated 
to ,pascal or his  friends1 in private  
conversation specially desired by them1 
certain  theological opinions which he  
had espoused4  ,these1 as given in the  
statement of the case signed by ,pascal 
and his two friends1 mainly  concern    

such abstruse subjects as the relation  
of reason and faith1 and  the           
possibility of demonstrating the        
doctrine of the ,trinity as the  source 
of all other knowledge4  ,the curious   
question as to the  constitution of the 
body of ,jesus occupies only a          
subordinate place4  ,the  monk1 as shown
 in the whole proceedings1 was evidently
 more of a  speculative dreamer than a  
heretic--a man fond of disputation about
  matters beyond his comprehension4  ,it
 is mentioned by the three youthful     
zealots1 in the rcit bearing their      
signature1 that as they were about  to  
part with him1 8after the accustomed    
civilities10 he was careful to  let them
 know that he advanced the points in    
dispute1 not as dogmas1 but  merely as  
propositions or thoughts for discussion1
 the fruit of his own  reasonings4      
,there is no reason to doubt that       
,pascal's conduct on this occasion arose
  entirely from honest zeal4  ,he       
thought religion compromised by the     

strange reasonings which he had heard4  
,there is as little doubt1  however1    
that his zeal outran his discretion4    
,he showed a determination  to pursue   
the matter amounting to persecution4    
,the worthy priest had  evidently no    
intention of promulgating heresy2 for he
 is glad1 when  called upon1 of an      
opportunity of proving his orthodoxy4   
,with this view  he produced1 side by   
side with the articles of accusation1   
passages from  a former volume of his   
which had been printed with official    
sanction4  ,pascal still demurred1 even 
with this evidence before him4  ,a      
second  declaration was obtained from   
the priest1 and the bishop refused to go
  further4  ,the sympathies of the      
community were evidently against the    
youthful zealots2 and finally ,pascal's 
father1 convinced that enough had  been 
done to vindicate the truth1            
successfully interposed as mediator4    
#bc;a    ,pascal's health about this    
period appears to have undergone a      

change for  the worse4  ,he suffered    
from excessive headache and great       
internal heat  and pain4  ,a singular   
characteristic of his malady was his    
inability to  swallow water unless it   
was heated1 and even then only drop by  
drop4  ,he  was the subject1 also1 of a 
remarkable paralytic seizure thus       
described  by his niece3--        8,he  
fell10 she says1 8into a very           
extraordinary state1 as the result      
of his great application to his         
scientific studies2 for the senses      
7les esprits7 having mounted strongly to
 the brain1 he became in a      manner  
paralysed from the waist downwards4     
,his legs and feet grew      cold as    
marble2 and they were obliged every day 
to put on socks      soaked in brandy in
 order to try and restore heat in his   
feet4  ,at      the same time the       
physician interdicted him from all      
study40 #bc;b    ,m4 ,llut #bc;c        
explains at length this attack of       
,pascal's as a well-known  form of      

dynamical paralysis1 of a similar nature
 with hypochondria and  hysteria1       
proceeding from a disordered state of   
the nervous affections1  the result of  
overwork acting upon a delicate         
organisation4  ,the result  is          
temporary1 as distinguished from the    
paralysis arising from organic  lesion1 
but indicates a highly susceptible      
constitution1 the ready prey  of        
melancholy and imaginative exaggeration1
 to which1 in ,m4 ,llut's  opinion1     
,pascal was more or less liable during  
the remaining years of his  life4       
,,chapter ,,ii4  ,,pascal',s            
,,scientific ,,discoveries4             
,pascal's scientific studies may be said
 to have begun with the remarkable      
incident of his youth already related1  
when he elaborated for himself1 in  a   
solitary chamber without books1         
thirty-two propositions of the first    
book of ,euclid4  ,on the other hand1   
these studies may be said to have       
extended to his closing years1 when 7in 

#afeh and #afei7 he reverted to the     
abstruser mathematics1 and made the     
cycloid a subject of special  thought4  
,but his scientific labours were in the 
main concentrated in the  eight or ten  
years of his life which followed the    
removal of the family  to ,rouen4  ,it  
will be convenient1 therefore1 to notice
 these labours and  discoveries in a    
single chapter here1 which will1 at the 
same time1 carry  on the main history of
 his life during these years4  ,all that
 can be  expected from the present      
writer is a slight sketch of this part  
of the  subject1 which indeed is all    
that would be interesting to the general
  reader4    ,at the age of sixteen     
,pascal had already acquired a          
scientific  reputation4  ,he is spoken  
of by the ,duchess d',aiguillon1 in the 
interview  with ,richelieu in which she 
pleaded the cause of the exiled father1 
as  8very learned in mathematics20 and  
when his sister presented him after  the
 dramatic representation on that        

occasion1 the ,duchess gave him 8great  
commendation for his scientific         
attainments40 #bf;a  ,when allowed by   
his  father to pursue the natural bent  
of his genius1 he made extraordinary    
progress4  ,he was still only twelve    
years of age1 but ,euclid's ,elements1  
as soon as put into his hands1 were     
mastered by him without any             
explanation4  ,by-and-by he began to    
take an active part in the scientific   
discussions which took place at his     
father's house2 and his achievement  in 
,conic ,sections has been already       
narrated4    ,descartes's incredulity   
was not without reason2 but there is no 
room to  doubt the fact4  ,the little   
treatise1 #8,pour les ,coniques1' still 
survives4  ,it bears the date of #afdj1 
and occupies only six pages4 #bf;b      
,after a very clear statement of his    
subject1 the writer modestly            
concludes3--        8,we have several   
other problems and theorems1 and several
      consequences deducible from the   

preceding2 but the mistrust which ,i    
have of my slight experience and        
capacity does not permit me to          
advance more till my present effort has 
passed the examination of      able men 
who may oblige me by looking at it4     
,afterwards1 if they      think it has  
sufficient merit to be continued1 we    
shall endeavour to      push our studies
 as far as ,god will give the power to  
conduct them40    ,it is interesting to 
notice the beginning of relations       
betwixt ,descartes  and ,pascal1        
considering the jealousy that afterwards
 arose betwixt them4  ,there is         
something of this feeling from the first
 in the older  philosopher1 who was now 
in the forty-fourth year of his age1 and
 in the  full zenith of his great       
reputation4  ,he appears to have been   
greatly  fascinated by ,pascal's        
peculiar powers2 but the men were of too
 marked  individuality of character1 and
 too divergent in intellectual sympathy 
and personal aspiration1 to appreciate  

each other fully4    ,pascal's next     
achievement was the invention of an     
arithmetical machine1  chiefly prompted 
by a desire to assist his father in his 
official duties  at ,rouen4  ,he has    
given us no description of this machine 
from his own  pen4  ,in the 8,avis0     
addressed to all whose curiosity was    
excited by it1  he excuses himself from 
this task by the natural remark that    
such a  description would be useless    
without entering into a number of       
technical  details unintelligible to the
 general reader2 and that an actual     
inspection of it1 combined with a brief 
viv voce explanation1 would be  far more
 satisfactory than any lengthened       
account in writing4  ,there is  an      
elaborate description1 however1 of the  
machine1 by ,diderot1 in the  first     
volume of the #8,encyclopdie1' which is 
reprinted in the collection  of         
,pascal's scientific works4  ,pascal's  
main difficulties occurred1 not  in     
connection with the invention itself1   

which he seems to have very soon        
perfected according to his own          
conception1 but with the construction of
  the instrument after he had mentally  
worked it out in all its details4       
,these difficulties proved so great1 and
 so many imperfect specimens of  the    
instrument were made1 that1 in order to 
secure both his reputation  and his     
interest1 he acquired in #afdi a special
 8privilge du ,roi10 which  confined the
 manufacture of the machine to himself1 
and such workmen as  he should employ   
and sanction4  ,all others1 8of whatever
 quality and  condition10 were          
prohibited from 8making it1 or causing  
it to be made1 or  selling it40  ,but   
neither these precautions nor the merits
 of the  invention itself1 which were   
admitted by all competent judges1 were  
of  avail to make the instrument a      
practical success4  ,many men of        
mathematical and mechanical genius in   
different countries have applied        
themselves to the same task4  ,the      

celebrated ,leibnitz is said to have    
constructed a machine excelling         
,pascal's in ingenuity and power4  ,in  
our  own time1 ,mr ,babbage's wonderful 
achievement in the same direction       
attracted wide attention1 and has been  
lavishly eulogised by ,sir ,david       
,brewster and others3--        8,while  
all previous contrivances10 says ,sir   
,david1 #bh;a 8performed      only      
particular arithmetical operations1     
under a sort of copartnery      between 
the man and the machine1 the            
extraordinary invention of ,mr          
,babbage actually substitutes mechanism 
in the place of man4  ,a      problem is
 given to the machine1 and it solves it 
by computing a long      series of      
numbers following some given law4  ,in  
this manner it      calculates          
astronomical1 logarithmic1 and          
navigation tables1 as well      as      
tables of the powers and products of    
numbers4  ,it can integrate1      too1  
innumerable equations of finite         

differences2 and1 in addition to        
these functions1 it does its work       
cheaply and quickly2 it corrects        
whatever errors are accidentally        
committed1 and it prints all its        
calculations40    ,notwithstanding this 
brilliant picture1 the great expense and
 the  complications involved in the     
construction of such an instrument have 
seriously interfered with its success4  
,it is said that ,mr ,babbage's         
machine1 much more his marvellous       
analytic engine1 have never yet been    
properly constructed4 #bh;b    ,pascal  
fortunately turned his thoughts into a  
new and more fruitful  channel4  ,we    
have now to contemplate him as one of an
 illustrious band  associated in a great
 discovery in physical science4  ,before
 his time  considerable progress had    
been made towards a knowledge of        
atmospheric  pressure4  ,galileo and his
 pupil ,torricelli had both been busy   
with the  subject4  ,to ,pascal1        
however1 remains the glory of carrying  

successfully  to a conclusion the       
suggestion of ,torricelli1 and of       
verifying the  results which he had     
indicated4  ,here1 as in almost all such
 discoveries1  it is found that         
different minds have been actively      
pursuing the same or  similar lines of  
thought and observation1 and controversy
 has arisen as  to the exact merits of  
each2 but ,pascal has himself so        
candidly explained  #bi;a how far he was
 indebted to his great ,italian         
predecessors1 and how  far he made      
original experiments of his own1 that   
both his relation to  them and his own  
work stand clearly apparent4    ,it had 
been found by the engineers engaged in  
the construction of  fountains for      
,cosmo dei ,medici in ,florence that    
they could not raise  water in an       
ordinary pump more than thirty-two feet 
above the reservoir4  ,the water1 having
 reached this height1 would rise no     
higher4  ,galileo was  appealed to for a
 solution of the difficulty4 #bi;b      

,imbued with the  ancient notion that   
,nature abhors a vacuum1 and that this  
was1 as then  prevalently believed1 the 
explanation of the water following the  
elevation of the piston in the pump1 the
 philosopher replied in effect  that    
there were limits to the action of this 
principle1 and that ,nature's           
abhorrence of a vacuum did not extend   
beyond thirty-two feet4  ,he was        
himself1 it need hardly be said1        
dissatisfied with such a reply1 and     
accordingly he invited his pupil1       
,torricelli1 to investigate the subject4
  ,the latter very soon found that the  
weight of the water was concerned in    
the result4  ,he made experiments with a
 heavier fluid--mercury--and            
ascertained that a column of mercury    
enclosed in a tube three feet in  length
 hermetically sealed at the lower end1  
and closed with the finger  at the top1 
on being inserted in a basin of the same
 liquid and the  finger withdrawn1 stood
 at a height of about #bh inches in the 

basin4  ,as  the specific gravities of  
water and mercury were in the ratio of  
#cb feet  and #bh inches1 he was led to 
the conclusion that the water in the    
pump  and the mercury in the tube at    
these respective heights exerted the    
same  pressure on the same base1 and    
that both were of course counterbalanced
  by a determinate force4  ,but what was
 this force8  ,he had learned from      
,galileo that the air was a heavy fluid1
 and he was carried1 therefore1         
directly to the further conclusion that 
the weight of the atmosphere was  the   
counteracting cause in both cases2 in   
the one1 pressing upon the  reservoir   
from which the water was drawn--and in  
the other1 on the  surrounding mercury  
in the basin4  ,he published his        
experiments and  researches in #afde1   
but dying soon afterwards1 his          
conclusions remained  unverified4       
,the fame of ,torricelli's experiments  
had reached ,paris as early as #afdd1   
before their formal publication4  ,some 

one1 ,pascal says1 had communicated     
them to ,father ,mersenne--both a       
religious and scientific intimate1 as we
  have already seen1 of the ,pascal     
family4  ,mersenne had tried the        
experiments for himself1 at first       
without success1 but soon with better   
fortune1 after he had been to ,rome and 
had learned more fully about them4      
8,the news of these having reached      
,rouen in #afdf1 where ,i then was10    
says  ,pascal1 #ca 8,i made the ,italian
 experiment1 founding on ,mersenne's    
account1 with great success4  ,i        
repeated it several times1 and in this  
manner satisfying myself of its         
accuracy1 ,i drew certain conclusions   
from  it1 for the proof of which ,i made
 new and very different experiments in  
presence of four or five hundred people 
of all sorts1 and amongst others1  five 
or six ,jesuit fathers of the ,college  
of ,rouen40  ,when his  experiments     
became known in ,paris1 he adds1 they   
were confounded with  those which had   

been made in ,italy1 and the result was 
that some  attributed to him a credit   
which was not his due1 while others1 8by
 a  contrary injustice10 were disposed  
to take away the credit of what he had  
really done4    ,it was with the view of
 placing the matter in a clear light1   
and  vindicating his own share in the   
train of experiments which had been     
made1 that he published in #afdg his    
8,nouvelles ,expriences touchant le     
,vide10 the first of his hydrostatical  
treatises4  ,he was at pains to  explain
 the distinction betwixt his own        
experiments and those which had  been   
made in ,italy2 and not content with    
this1 he added in express words1  in an 
8avis au lecteur10 that he 8was not the 
inventor of the original  experiment1   
but that it had been made in ,italy four
 years before40  ,so  little1 indeed1   
did ,pascal borrow directly from        
,torricelli1 or seek to  appropriate the
 fruits of his researches1 that he was  
as yet ignorant of  the explanation     

which the ,italian had suggested of the 
phenomenon so  fully established4  ,he  
saw1 of course1 that the old maxim of   
,nature  abhorring a vacuum had no solid
 foundation2 but he tried to account for
  the vacuum above the water and the    
mercury by such a supposition as the    
following3--        8,that it contained 
no portion of either of these fluids1 or
 of any      matter appreciable by the  
senses2 that all bodies have a          
repugnance      to separate from a state
 of continuity1 and admit a vacuum      
between      them2 that this repugnance 
is not greater for a large vacuum than a
      small one2 that its measure is a  
column of water about #cb feet in       
height1 and that beyond this limit a    
great or small vacuum is formed         
above the water with the same facility1 
provided that no foreign      obstacle  
interfere to prevent it40    ,pascal's  
treatise1 while still retaining so much 
of the old traditional  physics1 was    
made an object of lively attack by the  

,jesuit ,rector of the  ,college of     
,paris1 ,stephen ,nol4  ,pascal replied 
to him at first directly2  and then in  
answer to a second attack--and so far   
also in answer to a  treatise by the    
,jesuit1 entitled 8,le ,plein du ,vide10
 published in #afdh--;he  made a more   
elaborate statement in a letter         
addressed to ,m4 le ,pailleur1  and in a
 further letter addressed to ,father    
,nol in the same year4  ,there  can     
hardly be any doubt that this was the   
commencement of ,pascal's  hostile      
relations with the ,jesuits4  ,on their 
part1 they failed not to  remember in   
after years1 and in a more serious      
struggle1 that he was an  old enemy2    
whilst he on his part probably drew     
something of the  contemptuous scorn    
which he poured upon them from the      
recollection of  their obstinate        
ignorance in matters of science4        
,meanwhile1 in defending himself from   
the attacks of ignorance1 ,pascal did   
not fail to open his own mind to fuller 

scientific light4  ,as soon as the      
explanation of ,torricelli was          
communicated to him1 he accepted it     
without  hesitation1 and resolved to    
carry out a further series of           
experiments  with the view of verifying 
this explanation1 and of banishing for  
ever  the scholastic nonsense of        
,nature's abhorrence of a vacuum4  ,if  
the  weight of the air was really the   
cause which sustained the height of the 
mercury in the ,torricellian tube1 he   
saw at once that this height would  vary
 at different elevations1 according to  
the varying degree of  atmospheric      
pressure at these elevations4  ,he      
proceeded accordingly to  test the      
result2 but the higher levels around    
,rouen were too  insignificant to enable
 him to draw any decisive inference4    
,accordingly1  he communicated with his 
brother-in-law in ,auvergne with the    
view of  having an adequate experiment  
made during an ascent of the ,puy de    
,dme1  which rises in the neighbourhood 

of ,clermont to a height of about #cjjj 
feet4  ,the state of his own health     
prevented him from conducting the       
experiment personally1 and ,m4 ,prier   
was detained by professional  avocations
 from undertaking it immediately4  ,but 
at length1 in ,september  #afdh1 the    
experiment was carried out successfully1
 and the results  communicated to       
,pascal4  ,i cannot do better than quote
 the account of  this important event as
 rendered by an eminent scientific      
authority1 #cc  from ,m4 ,prier's own   
recital of the facts in his letter to   
,pascal3--        8,on the morning of   
,saturday1 the #aith ,september1 the day
 fixed for      the interesting         
observation1 the weather was unsettled2 
but about      five o'clock the summit  
of the ,puy de ,dme began to appear     
through      the clouds1 and ,prier     
resolved to proceed with the experiment4
  ,the      leading characters in       
,clermont1 whether ecclesiastics or     
laymen1 had      taken a deep interest  

in the subject1 and had requested ,prier
 to      give them notice of his plans4 
,he accordingly summoned his friends1   
and at eight in the morning there       
assembled in the garden of the          
,pres ,minimes1 about a league below the
 town1 ,m4 ,bannier1 of the      ,pres  
,minimes2 ,m4 ,mosnier1 canon of the    
cathedral church2 along with      ,,mm4 
la ,ville and ,begon1 counsellors of the
 ,court of ,aides1 and ,m4 la           
,porte1 doctor and professor of medicine
 in ,clermont4  ,these five             
individuals were not only distinguished 
in their respective      professions1   
but also by their scientific            
acquirements2 and ,m4 ,prier            
expresses his delight at having been on 
this occasion associated with      them4
  ,m4 ,prier began the experiment by    
pouring into a vessel #af lb4      of   
quicksilver1 which he had rectified     
during the three preceding      days4   
,he then took two glass tubes1 four feet
 long1 of the same      bore1 and       

hermetically sealed at one end and open 
at the other2 and      making the       
ordinary experiment of a vacuum with    
both1 he found that      the mercury    
stood in each of them at the same level 
and at the height      of #bf inches #c 
lines4  ,this experiment was repeated   
twice1 with the      same result4  ,one 
of these glass tubes1 with the mercury  
standing in      it1 was left under the 
care of ,m4 ,chastin1 one of the        
,religious of      the ,house1 who      
undertook to observe and mark any       
changes in it that      might take place
 during the day2 and the party already  
named set out      with the other tube  
for the summit of the ,puy de ,dme1     
about #ejj      toises 7a toise is about
 six feet in length7 above their first  
station4  ,before arriving there1 they  
found that the mercury stood at      the
 height of #bc inches and #b lines--no  
less than #c inches and #a line         
lower than it stood at the ,minimes4    
,the party were #8struck with           

admiration and astonishment at this     
result2' and #8so great was their       
surprise that they resolved to repeat   
the experiment under various            
forms4'  ,the glass tube1 or the        
barometer1 as we may call it1 was       
placed in various positions on the      
summit of #8the mountain'--sometimes    
in the small chapel which is there2     
sometimes in an exposed and             
sometimes in a sheltered position2      
sometimes when the wind blew1 and       
sometimes when it was calm2 sometimes in
 rain1 and sometimes in a      fog3 and 
under all these various influences1     
which fortunately took      place during
 the same day1 the quicksilver stood at 
the same height      of #bc inches #b   
lines4  ,during their descent of the    
mountain they      repeated the         
experiment at ,lafon-de-l',arbre1 an    
intermediate      station1 nearer the   
,minimes than the summit of the ,puy1   
#8and they      found the mercury to    
stand at the height of #be inches--a    

result with      which the party was    
greatly pleased1' as indicating the     
relation      between the height of the 
mercury and the height of the station4  
,upon reaching the ,minimes1 they found 
that the mercury had not      changed   
its height1 notwithstanding the         
inconstancy of the weather1      which  
had been alternately clear1 windy1      
rainy1 and foggy4  ,m4 ,prier           
repeated the experiments with both the  
glass tubes1 and found the      height  
of the mercury to be still #bf inches #c
 lines4  ,on the      following morning 
,m4 de la ,marc1 priest of the ,oratory1
 to whom ,m4      ,prier had mentioned  
the preceding results1 proposed to have 
the      experiment repeated at the top 
and bottom of the towers of ,notre ,dame
      in ,clermont4  ,he accordingly    
yielded to his request1 and found the   
difference to be #b lines4  ,upon       
comparing these observations1 ,m4       
,prier obtained the following results1  
showing the changes in the      altitude

 of the mercurial column corresponding  
to certain differences      of altitude 
of position3--        ,difference of    
altitude4        ,changes in the height 
of the mercury4        ,toises4         
,lines4        #ejj                     
#cg        #aej                         
#ae        #bg                          
#b        #g                            
,when ,pascal received these results1   
all the difficulties were      removed2 
and perceiving from the two last        
observations in the      preceding table
 that #bj toises1 or about #abj feet1   
produce a change      of #b lines1 and  
#g toises1 or #db feet1 a change of  a  
line1 he made      the observation at   
the top and bottom of the tower of ,st  
,jacques de      la ,boucherie1 which   
was about #bd or #be toises1 or about   
#aej feet      high1 and he found a     
difference of more than #b lines in the 
mercurial      column2 and in a private 
house #ij steps high he found a         
difference of       a line4 4 4 4       

,after this important experiment was    
made1 ,pascal      intimated to ,m4     
,prier that different states of the     
weather would      occasion differences 
in the barometer1 according as it was   
cold1 hot1      dry1 or moist2 and in   
order to put this opinion to the test of
      experiment1 ,m4 ,prier instituted 
a series of observations1 which he      
continued from the beginning of #afdi   
till ,march #afea4  ,corresponding      
observations were made at the same time 
at ,paris and at ,stockholm by      the 
,french ambassador1 ,m4 ,chanut1 and    
,descartes2 and from these it           
appeared that the mercury rises in      
weather which is cold1 cloudy1 and      
damp1 and falls when the weather is hot 
and dry1 and during rain and      snow1 
but still with such irregularities that 
no general rule could      be           
established4  ,at ,clermont the         
difference between the highest and      
the lowest state of the mercury was #a  
inch #c lines2 at ,paris the      same2 

and at ,stockholm #b inches #b lines40  
,from the account here presented of     
these researches1 there is no           
difficulty in determining the exact     
credit due to ,pascal on the one hand1  
and his ,italian predecessors on the    
other4  ,he completed what they had     
begun1 and verified what they had       
indicated4  ,as the ,abb ,bossut has    
expressed it1 ,galileo proved that air  
was a heavy fluid2 ,torricelli          
conceived that its weight was the cause 
of the suspension of the water in  a    
pump and the mercury in a tube4  ,pascal
 demonstrated that this was the  fact4  
,no one was more anxious than ,pascal   
himself that ,torricelli should  be     
acknowledged as the real discoverer of  
the principle which it was left  to him 
to establish by the test of experiment4 
,he claimed1 however1 his  own definite 
share in the discovery1 both as having  
carried on a series  of independent     
experiments1 and as having converted    
what he himself calls  the 8conjecture0 

of ,torricelli into an established fact4
  ,it was painful  to him1 therefore1 to
 have this share denied1 and even open  
accusations  made against him that he   
had appropriated1 without               
acknowledgment1 the  results of         
,torricelli's researches4  ,this        
accusation was made in certain  theses  
of philosophy maintained in the ,jesuit 
,college of ,montferrand in  #afea1 and 
dedicated to ,pascal's own friend1 ,m4  
de ,ribeyre1 first  president at the    
,court of ,aides at ,clermont4          
,pascal's name was not  indeed mentioned
 in these theses2 but there could be no 
doubt of the  allusion made to 8certain 
persons loving novelty0 who claimed to  
be the  inventors of a definite         
experiment of which ,torricelli was the 
real  author4  ,it was this accusation  
which drew from ,pascal his letter to   
,m4  ,ribeyre1 bearing the date of #abth
 ,july of the same year1 in which he has
  described1 with admirable lucidity and
 temper1 his relations to the whole     

subject4  ,in this letter he distinctly 
says that the ,italian experiments  were
 known in ,france from the year #afdd2  
that they were repeated in  ,france by  
several persons in several places during
 #afdf2 that he himself  had made1 as we
 have already seen1 definite experiments
 in #afdg1 and  published the results in
 the same year2 and that he had then not
  mentioned the name of ,torricelli1    
because1 while he knew that the         
experiments were made in ,italy four    
years before1 he did not then know  that
 the experimenter was ,torricelli2 but  
that so soon as he learned this         
fact--which he and his friends were so  
eager to know1 that they sent a  special
 letter of inquiry to ,rome--he was     
8ravished with the idea that the        
experimenter was so illustrious a       
genius1 whose mathematical writings1    
already well known1 surpassed those of  
all antiquity40  ,he says1 in           
conclusion1 that it was only in the same
 year 7#afdg71 after the  publication of

 his own researches1 that he learned    
8the very fine  thought0 of ,torricelli 
concerning the cause of all the effects 
which had  been attributed to the horror
 of a vacuum4  ,but 8as this was only a 
conjecture as yet unverified10 he then1 
with the view of ascertaining the  truth
 or falsehood of it1 conceived the plan 
of the experiments carried  out by ,m4  
,prier at the top and the foot of the   
,puy de ,dme4  8,it is  true1 sir10 he  
adds1 8and ,i say it boldly1 that this  
series of  experiments was my own       
invention2 and therefore ,i may say that
 the new  knowledge thus acquired is    
entirely due to me40    ,to this letter 
,m4 ,ribeyre made a satisfactory and    
touching reply4  ,he  expresses         
disapproval of the allusion of the      
,jesuit father1 but as the  discourse   
was otherwise free from offence1 he was 
willing to attribute it  to a           
8pardonable emulation among savants10   
rather than to any intention  of        
assailing ,pascal4  ,he makes1 in short1

 the best excuse he can for the         
,jesuit1 and hastens to assure ,pascal  
that his reputation needed no           
justification3--        8,your candour  
and your sincerity are too well known to
 admit any      belief that you could do
 anything inconsistent with the virtuous
      profession apparent in all your   
actions and manner4  ,i honour and      
revere your virtue more than your       
science2 and as in both the one and     
the other you equal the most famous of  
the age1 do not think it      strange   
if1 adding to the common esteem which   
all have of you1 a      friendship      
contracted many years ago with your     
father1 ,i subscribe      myself yours10
 etc4    ,but ,pascal had to sustain    
suspicion and attack in a quarter more  
formidable than that of the ,jesuit     
fathers at ,montferrand4  ,we have      
already spoken of the rather unhappy    
commencement of relations between  him  
and ,descartes4  ,farther on we get a   
more pleasant glimpse of these          

relations1 in a letter from ,jacqueline 
,pascal to ,madame ,prier1 dated  #beth 
,september #afdg1 and apparently shortly
 after ,pascal had retired to  ,paris1  
along with his younger sister1 leaving  
their father for some time  still at    
,rouen4  ,this letter is so interesting1
 both in its bearing on  the question   
which arose between ,descartes and      
,pascal1 and in itself1 as  giving the  
only account we have of personal        
intercourse between these two           
illustrious men1 that we present it     
almost entire3--        8,i have delayed
 writing to you10 ,jacqueline says1     
addressing her      sister1 #ci;a       
8because ,i wished to tell to you at    
length of the      interview of ,m4     
,descartes and my brother1 and ,i had no
 leisure      yesterday to say that on  
the evening of ,sunday last ,m4 ,habert 
#ci;b      came1 accompanied by ,m4 de  
,montigny1 a gentleman of ,brittany1    
with      the view of letting me know1  
in the absence of my brother1 who was at

      church1 that ,m4 ,descartes1 his  
compatriot and good friend1 had         
expressed a strong desire to see my     
brother1 for the sake of the      great 
esteem in which both he and my father   
were everywhere held1 and      that he  
begged to be allowed to wait upon him   
next day at nine      o'clock in the    
morning1 if this would not inconvenience
 him1 whom he      knew to be an        
invalid4  ,when ,m4 de ,montigny        
proposed this1 ,i felt      hindered    
from giving a definite answer1 because  
,i knew that my      brother was        
reluctant to force himself to           
conversation1 especially in      the    
morning4  ,nevertheless1 ,i did not     
think it right to refuse1 so we         
arranged that he should come at         
half-past ten next day4  ,along with    
,m4 ,habert and ,m4 de ,montigny there  
were also a young man in the dress      
of a priest1 whom ,i did not know1 ,m4  
de ,montigny's son1 and two or          
three other young people4  ,m4 de       

,roberval1 whom my brother had          
informed of the intended visit1 was also
 present4  ,after some      civilities1 
talk fell upon the instrument probably  
that which ,pascal      had used in the 
experiments1 which was very much        
admired1 while ,m4      de ,roberval    
showed it4  ,then they spoke of the idea
 of a vacuum2 and      ,m4 ,descartes1  
on hearing of the experiments1 and being
 asked what he      thought was within  
the tube 7dans la seringue71 said with  
great      seriousness that it was some 
subtle matter1 to which my brother      
replied what he could4  ,m4 ,roberval1  
believing that my brother had           
difficulty in speaking1 took up the     
reply to ,m4 ,descartes with some       
heat1 yet with perfect civility4  ,m4   
,descartes answered with some           
harshness that he would talk to my      
brother as much as he wished1           
because he spoke with reason1 but not to
 any one who spoke with      prejudice4 
,thereupon1 finding from his watch it   

was mid-day1 he      rose1 being engaged
 to dine at the ,faubourg ,saint        
,germain4  ,m4      ,roberval also rose1
 in such a way that ,m4 ,descartes      
conducted him to      a carriage1 where 
the two were alone1 and battled at one  
another more      strongly than         
playfully1 as ,m4 ,roberval1 who        
returned here after      dinner1 told   
us4 4 4 4  ,i have forgotten to tell you
 that ,m4      ,descartes1 annoyed at   
seeing so little of my brother1 promised
 to      return next day at eight       
o'clock4 4 4 4  ,he desired this1 partly
 to      consult regarding my brother's 
illness1 as to which1 however1 he did   
not communicate anything of importance1 
only he counselled him to      remain in
 bed every day as long as he could till 
he was tired1 and to      take plenty of
 soup4  ,they spoke of many other       
things1 for he was      here till eleven
 o'clock1 but ,i cannot tell you more   
particularly      what they said1 as ,i 
was not present on this occasion4  ,we  

were      prevented during the whole day
 from making him take his early bath4   
,he had found it give him a little      
headache1 but that was because he       
had taken it too late2 and ,i believe   
the bleeding at the foot on      ,sunday
 had done him good1 for on ,monday he   
conversed freely and      strongly all  
day--in the morning with ,m4 ,descartes1
 and after dinner      with ,m4 de      
,roberval1 with whom he argued for a    
long time on many      things1 both     
belonging to theology and physics1 and  
yet he took no      further harm than   
perspiring much1 and slept rather sound 
during the      night40    ,the         
revelations of this letter are very     
curious4  ,the respectful desire  of    
,descartes1 already so distinguished1 to
 make ,pascal's acquaintance1  and to   
enter into conversation with him2 his   
resentment of ,roberval's  interference1
 and their earnest altercation1         
prolonged in the carriage  after leaving
 ,pascal's house2 the evidently serious 

character of ,pascal's  maladies1 and   
the watchful attention of his sister4   
,it is clear through  all that          
,descartes had been busily occupied with
 the same physical  problems as ,pascal1
 and that he was somewhat jealous of the
 results  towards which ,pascal and his 
friends were tending4  ,evidently there 
was a  certain measure of unfriendliness
 between ,roberval and ,descartes4  ,i  
am  unable1 however1 to see any traces  
of a coterie surrounding ,pascal and    
inimical to ,descartes1 as ,m4 ,cousin  
suggests4 #da  ,if such a coterie       
existed at this time in ,paris1 of which
 the 8hasty and jealous ,roberval0  was 
the centre1 and which delighted in      
8abusing ,descartes1 and attacking  him 
on all sides10 ,jacqueline's frank and  
lively letter seems enough to  show that
 while ,roberval was ,pascal's friend   
and ,descartes's disputant1  there was  
nothing in the meantime between         
,descartes and ,pascal but  courteous   
friendliness and a cordial feeling of   

mutual respect4    ,descartes1 however1 
in his retirement at ,stockholm1 plainly
 cherished the  impression that         
,roberval's intimacy with ,pascal       
prevented the latter from  doing full   
justice to his scientific position and  
suggestions2 and having  as yet heard   
nothing1 in ,june #afdi1 of the special 
results of ,pascal's  experiments on the
 ,puy de ,dme in the preceding year1 he 
wrote to his  friend ,carcavi to let him
 know about these4        8,i pray you1 
let me know of the success of an        
experiment which ,pascal      is said to
 have made on the mountains of          
,auvergne4 4 4 4  ,i had the      right 
to expect this of him rather than of    
you1 because it was ,i who      advised 
him two years ago to make the           
experiment1 and who assured him         
that1 although ,i had not made it1 ,i   
had no doubt of its success4  ,but      
as he is the friend of ,m4 ,roberval1   
who professes not to be mine1      ,i   
have some reason to think he follows the

 passions of his friend40      #db;a    
,that letter was immediately            
communicated to ,pascal by ,carcavi1 who
 was  his intimate associate no less    
than ,roberval4  ,but it seems to have  
elicited no reply4  ,bossut #db;b says  
that he despised it4  ,on the other     
hand1 ,descartes's biographer and       
eulogist1 ,baillet1 blames ,pascal for  
having carefully kept out of view       
,descartes's name in all the accounts of
  his discoveries2 and produces an array
 of passages from ,descartes's  letters1
 showing plainly that his mind was in   
the line of discovery  finally verified 
by the experiments in ,auvergne4 #dc;a  
,it may be granted  beyond doubt this   
was the case4  ,it would ill become any 
admirer of  ,pascal to detract from the 
glory of ,descartes4  ,but it must be   
held no  less firmly1 that in the       
personal question raised by ,descartes's
 letter1  the balance of evidence is all
 in favour of ,pascal4  ,there are no   
indications that the two men ever met   

save on the occasion so frankly         
described by his sister ,jacqueline4    
,before this ,pascal had not only been  
busy with the subject1 but says         
distinctly that he had meditated the    
experiment finally made on the ,puy de  
,dme from the time that he  published   
his first researches4 #dc;b  ,it was    
not1 indeed1 till about six  weeks after
 ,descartes's visit1 or on the #aeth    
,december #afdg1 that he  communicated  
with ,m4 ,prier regarding these         
experiments1 and his earnest  desire    
that they should be made2 and it was not
 till the following  ,september1 or     
about a year after ,descartes's visit1  
that they were  actually made4  ,but it 
is incredible that ,pascal could have   
written as he  did if he had really1 for
 the first time1 been indebted to       
,descartes for  the suggestion4         
,descartes's name is not mentioned in   
his correspondence  with ,m4 ,prier1 nor
 in any of his writings on the subject2 
and the delay  in making the experiments

 is sufficiently explained by the facts 
stated  by himself1 that they could only
 be made effectually at some place of   
greater elevation than he could         
command--such as 8,clermont1 at the foot
 of  the ,puy de ,dme0--and by some     
person1 such as ,m4 ,prier1 on whose    
knowledge and accuracy he could rely4   
,if we add to this the force of the     
statement already quoted from his letter
 to ,m4 ,ribeyre1 four years            
afterwards1 or in #afea1 that he claimed
 the experiments as entirely 8his  own  
invention10 and that he did so 8boldly10
 the case seems put beyond  all         
doubt--unless we are to suppose the     
author of the #8,provincial ,letters'   
and the #8,thoughts' capable of wilful  
suppression of the truth4  ,on the      
other hand1 it is unnecessary to        
attribute to ,descartes anything beyond 
a  mistaken opinion of the value of     
certain statements which he had no doubt
  made to ,pascal1 and possibly some    
confusion of memory4  ,and that this is 

not an unwarranted view appears from    
what he says in a subsequent letter  to 
,m4 ,carcavi1 on the #agth ,august of   
the same year1 #afdi--that he was       
greatly interested in hearing of the    
success of the experiments1 having  two 
years before besought ,pascal to make   
them1 and assured him of                
success--because the supposed           
explanation was one1 he adds1 8entirely 
consistent with the principles of my    
philosophy1 apart from which he         
,pascal1 would not have thought of it1  
his own opinion being quite  contrary40 
#dd  ,this may or may not be true4      
,pascal certainly held as  long as he   
could to the old maxim of 8,nature's    
abhorrence of a vacuum40  8,i do not    
think it allowable10 he says in his     
letter to ,m4 ,prier1 8to  depart       
lightly from maxims handed down to us by
 antiquity1 unless  compelled by        
invincible proofs40  ,but the notions of
 ,descartes on the  subject of a vacuum 
were at least as confused as those      

originally held by  ,pascal4 #de;a  ,it 
is absurd1 therefore1 to suppose that   
the latter could  have been indebted to 
the principles of the ,cartesian        
philosophy--not to  say that this is a  
very different suggestion from that of  
the former  letter1 that ,descartes     
himself had advised the experiment to be
 made4  ,evidently the older philosopher
 wrote under vague and somewhat inflated
  ideas of the value of his labours and 
his conversation with ,pascal2 while    
the latter1 again1 absorbed in his own  
thoughts on the subject1 and            
unconscious that he had received any    
special impulse from ,descartes or  his 
philosophy1 naturally made no mention of
 his name4  ,his silence when           
,descartes's accusation was communicated
 to him indicates the same  somewhat    
lofty reserve and confidence in the     
independence of his own  researches1    
rather than any contempt4  ,he felt too 
sure of his position  to think of       
defending himself1 or of repelling what 

he no doubt regarded  as not so much a  
deliberate assault on the value of his  
own work1 as an  exaggerated estimate by
 the other of his share in that work4   
,pascal's researches regarding          
atmospheric pressure conducted him      
gradually to the examination of the     
general laws of the equilibrium of      
fluids4 #de;b  ,it had been already     
determined that the pressure of a  fluid
 on its base is as the product of the   
base multiplied by the height  of the   
fluid1 and that all fluids press equally
 on all sides of the  vessels enclosing 
them4  ,but it still remained to        
determine exactly the  measure of the   
pressure1 in order to deduce the general
 conditions of  equilibrium4  ,with the 
view of ascertaining this1 ,pascal made 
two unequal  apertures in a vessel      
filled with fluid1 and enclosed on all  
sides4  ,he  then applied two pistons to
 these apertures1 pressed by forces     
proportional to the respective          
apertures1 and the fluid remained in    

equilibrio4  8,having established this  
truth by two methods equally  ingenious 
and satisfactory1 he deduced from it the
 different cases of the  equilibrium of 
fluids1 and particularly with solid     
bodies1 compressible  and               
incompressible1 when either partly or   
wholly immersed in them40        8,but  
the most remarkable part of his treatise
 on the #8,equilibrium of               
,fluids1'0 continues ,sir ,david        
,brewster1 from whose exposition we     
quote1 #df;a 8and one which of itself   
would have immortalised him1 is      his
 application of the general principle to
 the construction of what      he calls 
the #8mechanical machine for multiplying
 forces1' #df;b--an      effect which1  
he says1 may be produced to any extent  
we choose1 as      one may by means of  
this machine raise a weight of any      
magnitude4      ,this new machine is the
 ,hydrostatic ,press1 first introduced  
by our      celebrated countryman1 ,mr  
,bramah4        8,pascal's treatise on  

the weight of the whole mass of air     
forms the      basis of the modern      
science of ,pneumatics4  ,in order to   
prove that      the mass of air presses 
by its weight on all the bodies which it
      surrounds1 and also that it is    
elastic and compressible1 a balloon     
half filled with air was carried to the 
top of the ,puy de ,dme4  ,it           
gradually inflated itself as it         
ascended1 and when it reached the       
summit it was quite full and swollen1 as
 if fresh air had been blown      into  
it2 or what is the same thing1 it       
swelled in proportion as the      weight
 of the column of air which pressed upon
 it diminished4  ,when      again       
brought down1 it became more and more   
flaccid1 and1 when it      reached the  
bottom1 it resumed its original         
condition4  ,in the nine      chapters  
of which the treatise consists1 he shows
 that all the      phenomena or effects 
hitherto ascribed to the horror of a    
vacuum1      arise from the weight of   

the mass of air2 and after explaining   
the      variable pressure of the       
atmosphere in different localities1 and 
in      its different states1 and the   
rise of the water in pumps1 he          
calculates that the whole mass of air   
round our globe weighs                  
#h1ihc1hhi1ddj1jjj1jjj1jjj ,french      
pounds4        8,having thus completed  
his researches respecting elastic and   
incompressible fluids1 ,pascal seems to 
have resumed with a fatal               
enthusiasm his mathematical studies3    
but1 unfortunately for science1         
several of the works which he composed  
have been lost4  ,others1      however1 
have been preserved1 which entitle him  
to a high rank      amongst the greatest
 mathematicians of the age4  ,of these1 
his      #8,trait du ,triangle          
,arithmtique1' his #8,tractatus de      
,numericis      ,ordinibus1' and his    
#8,problemata de ,cycloide1' are the    
chief4  ,by      means of the           
,arithmetical ,triangle1 an invention   

equally ingenious      and original1 he 
succeeded in solving a number of        
theorems which it      would have been  
difficult to demonstrate in any other   
way1 and in      finding the            
coefficients of different terms of a    
binomial raised to      an even and     
positive power4  ,the same principles   
enabled him to lay      the foundation  
of the doctrine of probabilities1 an    
important branch      of mathematical   
science1 which ,huyghens1 a few years   
afterwards1      improved1 and which the
 ,marquis la ,place and ,m4 ,poisson    
have so      greatly extended4  ,these  
treatises1 with the exception of that on
 the      ,cycloid1 were composed and   
printed in the year #afed1 but were not 
published till #affh1 after the death of
 the author40    ,pascal's discoveries  
as to the cycloid belong to a later     
period of his  life1 after he had long  
forsaken the scientific studies which   
engrossed  him at this time1 and had    
become an inmate of ,port ,royal4  ,but1

 as we  have already said1 it is well to
 complete our view of his scientific    
labours in a single chapter4    ,during 
an access of severe toothache which1 in 
#afeh1 deprived him of  sleep1 his      
thoughts fastened on certain problems   
connected with the  cycloid4  ,fermat1  
,roberval1 and ,torricelli had all been 
occupied with the  subject1 and made    
some definite progress in ascertaining  
its properties4  ,but much still        
remained to be done1 and especially to  
resolve the  problems connected with it 
in a 8general and uniform manner40      
8,pascal10  says ,bossut1 8devised      
within eight days1 and in the midst of  
cruel  sufferings1 a method which       
embraced all the problems--a method     
founded  upon the summation of certain  
series1 of which he had given the       
elements  in his writings accompanying  
his #8,trait du ,triangle ,arithmtique4'
  ,from  this discovery there was only a
 step to that of the ,differential and  
,integral ,calculus2 and it may be      

confidently presumed that1 if ,pascal   
had  proceeded with his mathematical    
studies1 he would have anticipated      
,leibnitz and ,newton in the glory of   
their great invention40    ,having      
communicated the result of his          
geometrical meditation to the ,duc  de  
,roannez and some of his other religious
 friends1 they conceived the  design of 
making it subservient to the triumph of 
religion4  ,pascal  himself was an      
illustrious example that the highest    
mathematical genius  and the humblest   
,christian piety might be united2 but in
 order to give  clat to such an example1
 his friends proposed to propound       
publicly the  questions solved by the   
great ,port ,royalist in his moments of 
suffering1  and to offer prizes for the 
best solutions given of them4  ,this    
they did  in ,june #afeh4  ,a programme 
was published making the offer of prizes
 of  forty and twenty pistoles1 for the 
best determination of the area and the  
centre of gravity of any segment of the 

cycloid1 and the dimensions and  centres
 of gravity of solids and half and      
quarter solids which the same  curve    
would generate by revolving round an    
abscissa and an ordinate4  ,the         
programme was put forth in the name of  
,amos ,dettonville1 the anagram of      
,pascal's assumed name as the writer of 
the #8,provincial ,letters4'  ,huyghens1
 ,sluzsius1 a canon of the ,cathedral of
 ,lige1 and ,wren1 the  architect of ,st
 ,paul's1 sent in partial solutions of  
the problems--those  of ,wren especially
 attracting the interest of both ,fermat
 and ,roberval4  ,but ,wallis1 of       
,oxford1 and ,lalloure1 a ,jesuit of    
,toulouse1 were the only  two           
competitors who treated all the problems
 proposed4  ,it was held that  they had 
not completely succeeded in solving     
them2 and ,dettonville  published his   
own solution in an elaborate letter     
addressed to ,m4  ,carcavi1 and in a    
treatise on the subject4  ,carcavi was  
an old friend of  ,pascal's father as   

well as of himself2 and being a lawyer  
as well as a  mathematician1 the        
arrangement of the affair seems to have 
been intrusted  to him4  ,this did not  
save him1 however1 from attacks by the  
disappointed  candidates1 who accused   
him of unfairness2 and ,leibnitz has    
given his  decision that both ,wallis   
and ,lalloure1 in the treatises which   
they  published1--which did not1        
however1 appear till after              
,pascal's1--had  succeeded in solving   
the problems4  ,upon such a point we    
cannot pretend  to judge2 but it may be 
safely said that the design of the ,duc 
de ,roannez  was hardly realised in the 
issue4  ,it was sufficiently proved1    
indeed1  that ,pascal1 in the midst of  
all his austerities and devotional      
exercises1 was the same ,pascal who had 
held his own both with ,descartes  and  
with the ,jesuits4  ,but the life of    
thought which survived in him no  sooner
 touched the outer world of intellectual
 ambition1 than it flamed  forth into   

something of the passion of controversy 
which his pen had  already kindled in   
another direction4  ,religion is best   
vindicated1 not  in the strifes of      
science1 but by the beauty of its own   
activities4    ,pascal's labours on the 
cycloid may be said to bring to a close 
his  scientific career4  ,there is still
 one invention1 however1 of a very      
practical kind1 associated with the very
 last months of his life4  ,amongst the 
letters of ,madame ,prier1 there is one 
of date ,march #bd1  #affb1 addressed to
 ,m4 ,arnauld de ,pompone #ej--;a nephew
 of the great  ,arnauld--in which she   
gives a lively description of the       
success of an  experiment 8dans         
l'affaire des carrosses40  ,the affair  
was nothing less  than the trial on     
certain routes in ,paris of what is now 
known as an  8omnibus20 and the idea of 
such conveyances for the                
public--8carrosses   cinq sols10 as they
 were called--is attributed to ,pascal4 
,it is certain  that the privilege of   

running 8carrosses  cinq sols0 was      
granted to  ,pascal's friend1 the ,duc  
de ,roannez1 and to other noblemen1 by  
royal  patent1 in ,january #affb1--;and 
that the experiment1 as described by    
,madame  ,prier1 was made with great    
success in the following ,march1 and    
that  ,pascal had an active interest in 
the undertaking4  ,his sister tells that
  he had mortgaged his share of its     
first year's profits in order to        
provide for the poor at ,blois2 #ea and 
a note from his own hand1  appended to  
his sister's letter1 shows with what    
eagerness he entered  into the affair   
and hailed its success4  ,it is singular
 to connect the  name of ,pascal1 and   
that1 too1 during the last sad months of
 his life1  with so world-wide a        
commonplace as the omnibus4             
,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,pascal ,,in ,,the   
,,world4      ,pascal's health1 we have 
seen1 was very delicate4  ,his labours  
to perfect  his arithmetical machine had
 seriously impaired it4  ,the attack of 

partial paralysis1 described by his     
niece1 seems to have taken place in  the
 early summer of #afdg4  ,as soon as he 
was able1 he removed to ,paris1  where  
we find him settled with his younger    
sister in ,september of the  same year4 
,it was on the twenty-fifth of this     
month that ,jacqueline  writes from     
,paris of ,descartes's memorable visits4
  ,one of the motives of  his change of 
residence was no doubt to consult the   
best physicians of  the day2 and        
,descartes1 who1 amongst his other      
numerous gifts1 had some  skill in      
medicine1 made his second visit to him  
partly as a physician4  8,he came in    
part10 says ,jacqueline1 8to consult as 
to my brother's  illness40  ,he appears 
to have given him very sound advice1    
which1  unfortunately1 ,pascal did not  
follow--8to lie in bed as much as he    
could1  and take strong soup40  ,on the 
contrary1 he was 8bled1 bathed1 and     
purged10 after the usual medical routine
 of the time1 apparently without  any   

good effects1 or any alleviation of his 
sufferings4    ,the father also returned
 to ,paris in ,may #afdh4  ,the         
,provincial  ,parliament1 with regained 
authority1 had exacted the recall of the
  ,intendants appointed by the ,court4  
tienne ,pascal's services were          
remunerated by the dignity of a         
,counsellor of ,state1 and he was set at
  liberty to rejoin his children4  ,it  
was at this period that the struggle    
took place betwixt father and daughter  
as to the latter's determination  to    
choose a religious life4  ,encouraged by
 her brother after his access  of zeal  
at ,rouen1 ,jacqueline was gradually    
more and more drawn towards  piety4     
,after their settlement in ,paris they  
went frequently together to  the ,church
 of ,port ,royal de ,paris1 to listen to
 the sermons of ,m4  ,singlin1 whose    
touching pictures of the beauty and     
perfection of the  ,christian life awoke
 in the youthful enthusiast the desire  
of entering  ,port ,royal4  ,she opened 

personal communications with the sainted
 head of  the ,house1 the ,mre          
,anglique1 and also with ,m4 ,singlin1  
who recognised  in her all the marks of 
a true vocation1 but who would not allow
 her to  proceed further without her    
father's consent and approval4  ,the    
brother  at this time strongly          
sympathised with her aspirations1 and   
favoured  them4  ,on the father's       
arrival in ,paris1 the design of his    
daughter was  imparted to him4  ,he was 
greatly surprised and moved by the      
proposition--pleased1 on the one hand1  
by his daughter's devotion1 and yet     
deeply wounded by the idea of parting   
with her4  ,he took time for            
consideration1 and at length made up his
 mind that it was impossible to  give   
his consent4  ,not only so1 but he      
strongly blamed his son1 who had  broken
 the matter to him1 for encouraging his 
sister's design without  first          
ascertaining whether it would be        
agreeable to himself1 and he seems  for 

the time to have felt so much distrust  
in them both1 that he  instructed an old
 domestic1 who had been with them from  
their youth1 to  watch over their       
actions4  ,this is the narrative of     
,madame ,prier2 #ed;a  and the          
unpleasantness which arose out of this  
event appears also implied  in          
,jacqueline's letter to her sister in   
the spring of the same year4  #ed;b     
,in #afdi the ,pascal family left ,paris
 for ,auvergne1 and seem to have        
remained there for about a year and a   
half4  ,madame ,prier says nothing  of  
this visit1 so far as her brother is    
concerned1 beyond the fact that  he     
accompanied ,jacqueline and her father4 
,the likelihood1 however1 is1  that the 
visit was in some degree prompted by a  
regard for ,pascal's  health4  ,he had  
made in ,paris some progress towards    
recovery1  notwithstanding the severity 
of his treatment4  ,but he was still far
 from  well1 and it was judged          
necessary1 8in order to re-establish him

  entirely1 that he should abandon every
 sort of mental occupation1 and  seek1  
as much as he could1 opportunities of   
amusing himself40  ,her  brother1 she   
adds1 was very reluctant to take this   
advice1 8because he  saw its danger40   
,at length1 however1 he yielded1        
8considering himself  obliged to do all 
he could to restore his health1 and     
because he thought  that trivial        
amusements could not harm him4  ,so he  
set himself on the  world40  ,when this 
definite change in ,pascal's life began 
is left  uncertain1 but there are       
indications that he had largely         
abandoned his  studies in #afdi and the 
following year4  ,during these years    
there is  nothing from his pen4  ,the   
interval between the 8recital0 of the   
experiments on the ,puy de ,dme 7#afdh71
 and his letter to ,m4 ,ribeyre1 #abth  
,july #afea1 is blank in any record of  
scientific or literary labour4  ,this   
is not conclusive1 of course1 that he   
was idle2 but taken in connection  with 

the remarks of his sister1 and the      
retirement to ,auvergne1 it  suggests   
that the family may have sought there1  
in rural isolation and  domestic        
reunion1 the means of entirely          
withdrawing ,pascal from his  severer   
studies1 and the scientific companions  
who were constantly  prompting them in  
,paris4  ,it may be1 also1 that the     
father sought the  means of withdrawing 
,jacqueline from the neighbourhood of   
,port ,royal1 and  from the equally     
exciting associations to her connected  
with that  neighbourhood4    ,of        
,pascal's life at this time in ,auvergne
 we know nothing1 or next to  nothing4  
,there is1 indeed1 a single trace1 of   
which the most has been  made1 in the   
,memoirs of ,flchier1 describing his    
stay at ,clermont in #affe  and #afff1 a
 few years after ,pascal's death4  ,in  
these ,memoirs1 ,flchier  relates an    
anecdote of a young lady 8who was the   
,sappho of the country10  and greatly   
beloved by all the beaux esprits of the 

time4  ,amongst  others1 8,m4 ,pascal1  
who had then acquired so much           
reputation1 and another  savant1 were   
continually with this belle savante40   
,it is difficult  to know what to make  
of this vague if piquant anecdote4      
,some of ,pascal's  more religious      
admirers have even been scandalised by  
it1 and have tried  to show that it     
could not refer to the author of the    
#8,penses4'  ,m4  ,cousin and other     
parties have emphasised it too much4 #ee
  ,there seems  no reason to doubt that 
the anecdote relates to the younger     
,pascal--it  cannot reasonably be       
supposed to relate to his father4  ,nor 
is there any  ground to suppose that    
,pascal was less likely to be interested
 in a  beautiful and accomplished       
demoiselle than any other young man of  
his  age4  ,on the contrary1 there is   
some reason to think him at this time   
peculiarly susceptible to the charms of 
female companionship4  ,the  passing    
glimpse which the story gives of his    

occupations in ,auvergne1 and  the      
comparative brightness and leisure in   
which it seems to set his life  for a   
little1 are pleasing4  ,it suggests the 
idea that the change to the  country had
 worked successfully1 and that with rest
 and retirement from  ,paris his health 
had greatly benefited4    ,it is a very 
different picture we get of the once    
brilliant ,jacqueline4  ,if her father  
had cherished any hopes of restoring her
 again to the  world1 he was destined to
 disappointment4  ,with her conversion  
at ,rouen1  and her association with ,m4
 ,singlin and ,port ,royal1 her old life
 seems  entirely to have died out4      
,even her old pleasure in making verses 
was  renounced at the bidding of ,port  
,royal4  ,she was told 8that it was a   
talent of which ,god would not take any 
account--it was necessary to bury  it10 
and this although she only exerted it   
now in the service of religion  and the 
,church4  ,while ,madame ,prier has     
given us no details1 and1  indeed1 no   

facts whatever1 of her brother's life at
 this time1 she has  given us a minute  
picture of ,jacqueline's austerities4   
,in everything  save in name she had    
already become a nun4  ,she wore a dress
 approaching  as nearly as possible to a
 religious habit2 she fasted and kept   
vigils2  she spent her whole time either
 in the house alone1 absorbed in        
religious  ecstasy1 or abroad in works  
of active charity2 in every way she made
 it  plainly to be known that it was    
only her father's wish that kept her in 
the world at all4    ,after a stay in   
,auvergne of seventeen months1 the      
family returned to  ,paris in ,november 
#afej4  ,there we still read of the     
pious labours and  devotion of          
,jacqueline--little or nothing of her   
brother4  ,how far the  leisure of      
country life may have weaned him from   
his old pursuits1 how  far the world had
 begun to exercise a new attraction over
 him1 we learn  nothing4  ,it is evident
 from his letter to ,m4 ,prier on his   

father's  death1 nearly a year after    
this1 that he still cherished strongly  
his  religious convictions4  ,yet there 
is nothing in all this time to tell of  
his religious profession2 and ,madame   
,prier plainly does not care to  dwell  
upon it1 but hurries forward to the     
later and more edifying period  of his  
career4  ,the impression is left upon us
 that worldly distractions  had already 
begun to influence his life4    ,these  
distractions rapidly acquired force     
after the father's death in the  autumn 
of #afea 7,september74  ,the devoted    
,jacqueline attended his last  moments  
with assiduous tenderness2 but no sooner
 was the event over than  she renewed   
her determination to enter ,port ,royal4
  ,the issue cannot be  so well         
described as in ,madame ,prier's        
words3--        8,being ill10 she says1 
8,i was unable to leave ,paris till the 
end of      ,november4  ,in this        
interval1 my brother1 who was greatly   
afflicted1      and had received much   

consolation from my sister1 imagined    
that her      affection would make her  
remain with him at least a year4 4 4 4  
,he      spoke to her on the subject1   
but in such a manner as to convey the   
impression that she would not so far    
contradict him for fear of              
redoubling his grief4  ,this led her to 
dissemble her intention till      our   
arrival4  ,then she told me that her    
resolution was fixed to adopt      a    
religious life as soon as our respective
 shares of the father's      property   
were arranged4  ,she would1 however1    
spare my brother by      leading him to 
suppose she only meditated a retreat6   
,with this view1      she disposed of   
everything in my presence2 our shares   
were settled on      the last day of    
,december2 and she fixed upon the #dth  
of ,january for      carrying out her   
decision4  ,on the evening before1 she  
begged me to      say something to my   
brother1 that he might not be taken by  
surprise4      ,i did so with all the   

precaution ,i could2 but although ,i    
hinted that      it was only a retreat1 
with the view of knowing something of   
the sort      of life1 he did not fail  
to be deeply touched4  ,he withdrew very
 sad      to his chamber without seeing 
my sister1 who was then in a small      
cabinet where she was accustomed to     
retire for prayer4  ,she did not        
come out till my brother had left1 as   
she feared his look would go to      her
 heart4  ,i told her for him what words 
of tenderness he had      spoken2 and   
after that we both retired4  ,though ,i 
consented with all      my heart to what
 my sister was doing1 because ,i thought
 it was for      her the highest good1  
the greatness of her resolution         
astonished and      occupied my mind so 
that ,i could not sleep all night4  ,at 
seven      o'clock1 when ,i saw that my 
sister was not up1 ,i concluded that she
      was no longer sleeping1 and feared
 that she might be ill4                 
,accordingly1 ,i went to her bed1 where 

,i found her still fast asleep4         
,the noise ,i made awoke her2 she asked 
me what o'clock it was4  ,i told        
her2 and having inquired how she was1   
and if she had slept well1 she      said
 she was very well1 and that she had    
slept excellently4  ,so she      rose1  
dressed1 and went away1 doing this1 as  
everything else1 with a                 
tranquillity and equanimity             
inconceivable4  ,we said no adieu for   
fear      of breaking down4  ,i only    
turned aside when ,i saw her ready to   
go4      ,in this manner she quitted the
 world on the #dth ,january #afeb1 being
      then exactly twenty-six years and 
three months old40 #eh    ,our readers  
will not grudge this extract1 so        
touching in its simplicity4  ,what a    
living picture does it give us of this  
remarkable family6--the  elder sister's 
wakeful anxiety--the younger's calm     
determination--the  brother's           
half-suppressed yet deeply-moved        
tenderness--the proud and  sensitive    

reserve of all the three4  ,jacqueline's
 firmness was heroic1  but her heart was
 full of concern4  ,she had escaped the 
half-authoritative1 half-supplicating   
entreaties of her brother1 and  found   
refuge for her long-cherished           
solicitudes of heart in the bosom of    
,port ,royal1 and the strong counsels   
both of the ,mre ,anglique and the  ,mre
 ,agns4  ,but after a while this did not
 satisfy her4  ,when the time  came to  
make her profession1 she was anxious to 
do so1 not merely with  her own consent1
 but with her brother's4  ,and          
accordingly1 she addressed  him in the  
following ,march a remarkable letter1 in
 which1 while reminding  him that she   
was her own mistress to do as she wished
 in a matter so  seriously affecting her
 life1 she yet prayed him to give her a 
kindly  greeting in her solemn act1 and 
to come to the ceremony of her taking   
the  vows4  ,the letter breathes at once
 the affection of a sister and the      
passion of a saint1--the proud firmness 

so characteristic of the family1  with a
 charming sweetness1 blending entreaty  
with command4  ,she signs  herself      
already 8,sister of ,sainte ,euphmie10  
the name which she adopted  as an inmate
 of ,port ,royal1 addressing her brother
 for the most part with  the grave      
formal 8you10 but now and then relapsing
 into the old familiar  8thou10 as if   
she were still in the family home4      
8,do not take that away10 she says1 #ei 
8which you cannot give4  ,if      it is 
true that the world has preserved some  
impressions of the      friendship which
 it showed for me when ,i was with it1  
please ,god this      should not turn me
 from quitting it1 nor you from         
consenting to my      doing so4  ,this  
ought rather to be my glory1 and your   
joy1 and that      of all my true       
friends1 as showing the strength of my  
,god1 and that      it is not the world 
which quits me1 but ,i that quit the    
world1 and      that the effort which it
 makes to retain me is to be regarded as

 only      a visible punishment of the  
complacency with which ,i formerly      
regarded it1 and which it now pleases   
,god to give me power to resist4      4 
4 4  ,do not hinder those who do well2  
and do well yourself2 or if      you    
have not the strength to follow me1 at  
least do not hold me back4      ,do not 
render me ungrateful to ,god for the    
grace which ,he has given      to one   
whom you love4 4 4 4  ,i wait this proof
 of your brotherly      friendship1 and 
pray you to come to my divine betrothal1
 which will      take place1 ,god       
helping1 on ,trinity ,sunday4  ,i wrote 
also to my      faithful one her sister 
,gilberte4  ,i beg you to console her1  
if      there is need1 and encourage    
her4  ,it is only for the sake of form  
that ,i ask you to be present at the    
ceremony2 for ,i do not believe      you
 have any thought of failing me4  ,be   
assured that ,i must renounce      you  
if you do40    ,the result of this      
moving appeal was to bring her brother  

to her side4        8,he came the       
following day very much put out10 she   
says1 8with a bad      headache1 the    
result of my letter1 yet also very much 
softened1 for      instead of the two   
years which he had formerly insisted on1
 he wished      me merely to wait till  
,all ,saints' ,day4  ,but seeing me firm
 not to      delay1 yet willing to give 
him some further time to think over the 
matter1 he melted entirely1 and         
expressed pity for the trouble which    
had made me delay so long a result which
 ,i had so long and so      ardently    
desired4  ,he did not return at the     
appointed time2 but ,m4      d',andilly1
 at my request1 had the goodness to send
 for him on      ,saturday1 and         
undertook the matter with so much       
warmth1 and yet      skill1 that he     
consented to everything we wished40 #fj 
,jacqueline gained her point so far2 but
 painful difficulties still  remained1  
the story of which she herself has also 
told us4 #fa  ,while  eager to be       

admitted to the full privileges of her  
vocation1 she did not  wish to enter    
,port ,royal empty-handed4  ,she thought
 herself free to endow  it with the     
share of her father's fortune which had 
fallen to her1 and  seems not to have   
doubted her brother's and sister's      
concurrence in this  act of liberality4 
,but they1 on the contrary1 were both   
for a time  deeply offended that she    
should apparently prefer strangers to   
her own  kindred4  ,they took the matter
 8in an entirely secular manner40  ,this
  greatly grieved her in turn2 and1     
balked at once in her wishes and her    
sisterly trust1 she pictures in the most
 lively colours the distress she        
endured4  ,la ,mre ,agns consoled her in
 her disappointment1 and sought to      
carry her thoughts beyond the mere      
chagrin which so obviously mingled  with
 her higher feeling4  ,her own somewhat 
resentful obstinacy gradually  yielded  
to the pure passivity of resignation--so
 strong in its seeming  weakness--which 

the sister of ,arnauld preached to her4 
,at length she is  content to make no   
further demands upon her brother4  ,he  
and ,madame  ,prier shall do as they    
wish2 the money would not be blessed    
unless it  came from free hearts1 and   
was given for the love of ,god4  ,she is
 willing  even to be received           
gratuitously as a sister--a feeling     
evidently not  without its bitterness4  
,her submission became1 as may be       
guessed1 her  triumph2 a result probably
 not unforeseen by the deeper experience
 of ,la  ,mre ,agns and ,m4 ,singlin4   
,when her brother--8he who had most     
interest in the affair0--at last came to
  see her1 she endeavoured to meet him  
as the ,mother advised4  8,but1 with    
all her effort0 she could not hide the  
sadness of her heart4        8,this10   
she says1 8was so unlike my usual       
manner1 that he perceived      it at    
once2 and there was no need of an       
interpreter to explain the      cause1  
for though ,i put on the best face ,i   

could1 he easily guessed      that it   
was his own conduct which was the cause 
of my uneasiness4      ,all the same1 he
 was desirous of making the first       
complaint2 and then      ,i learned that
 both he and my sister felt themselves  
much aggrieved      by what ,i had      
written4  ,he dwelt on this1 but could  
hardly go on1      seeing ,i made no    
complaint on my side4  ,otherwise1 ,i   
could have      destroyed by a single   
word all his reasons60    ,a true family
 trait6  ,the result of all was1 that   
,pascal yielded to the  tender          
resignation of his sister what he had   
refused to her arguments4  ,he was so   
8touched10 she says1 8with confusion1   
that he resolved to put  the whole      
affair in order10 and to undertake      
himself any risks or charges  that it   
might involve4    ,but the heads of the 
,house required to be satisfied1 no less
 than  ,jacqueline4  ,they were not     
disposed to accept any gift which was   
not  freely and piously given4          

,accordingly1 before the final          
disposition of  the property was made1  
,la ,mre ,anglique took care that       
,pascal should  understand the matter   
anew from the ,port-,royalist point of  
view4  ,st  ,cyran had taught them that 
they were never 8to receive anything for
 the  house of ,god but that which came 
from ,god40  ,even he was not a little  
surprised1 according to the statement of
 his sister1 at all this                
scrupulousness--8the manner in which we 
deal with such matters20 and the  men of
 business whose presence was necessary  
on the occasion are  represented as     
astonished beyond measure4  8,they had  
never seen business  done in such a     
way40  ,at length1 however1 all was     
completed4  ,pascal  professed the      
genuineness of his motives1 and only    
regretted that it was  not in his power 
to do more4    ,if this narrative mainly
 concerns ,jacqueline ,pascal1 it serves
 to throw  light upon the character and 
life of her brother at this time4  ,in  

the  course of her 8relation10          
,jacqueline1 or her interlocutor ,la    
,mre ,agns1  makes frequent allusion to 
,pascal's 8worldly life40  ,when she is 
vexed  that he will not carry out her   
desires in the matter of the dowry1 she 
is  reminded that she had far more      
reason to be distressed by the 8faults  
and  infidelities0 into which he had    
fallen towards ,god4 #fc;a  ,he is      
represented as being so much engrossed  
with the vanities and amusements  of the
 world as to prefer his own pleasure and
 advantage to the good of a  religious  
community or the pious gratification of 
his sister4  ,it was  only by some      
miracle that it could be otherwise2 and 
there was no reason  to 8expect a       
miracle of grace in a person like him40 
#fc;b  ,all the means  at his command   
were hardly sufficient to enable him to 
live in the world  8like others of his  
condition10 and the associates with whom
 he was known  to be mingling4 #fc;c    
,plainly at this time ,pascal was       

abandoned by ,port ,royal4  ,he had 8set
  himself10 as his sister briefly says1 
8on the world40  ,as his niece more     
particularly indicates1 #fc;d he had    
given himself up to the amusements  of  
life4  ,unable to study1 the love of    
leisure and of fashionable society  had 
gradually gained upon him4  ,at first he
 was moderate in his worldly            
enjoyments2 but a taste for them        
insensibly sprang up and carried him far
  away from his old associations and the
 pious severities of his former  life4  
,after his father's death this change   
was more clearly marked4  ,he  was      
master of his own affairs1 and he       
plunged more freely into the  pleasures 
of society1 although always1 it is      
distinctly said1 8without  any vice or  
licentiousness40  ,all this1 his niece  
adds1 was very grievous  to her aunt    
,jacqueline1 who grieved in spirit at   
seeing him who had been  the means of   
making her learn the nothingness of the 
world return to its  vanities4    ,too  

much is not to be made of such          
statements1 or the still stronger       
expressions of ,jacqueline herself in   
her letters regarding her brother's     
final conversion4  ,when she speaks of  
8wretched attachments0 binding him  to  
the world1 and of his being still       
8haunted by the smell of the mud  which 
he had embraced with such empressement10
 #fd we are to remember  that she speaks
 not only out of the severity of her own
 youthful  judgment1 7and what judgment 
is so severe at times as that of youth87
 but  out of the mouth of ,port ,royal4 
,she condemns a world which was no doubt
  bad enough1 but of which she knew     
nothing4  ,her allusions to the         
8grandeur0 of her brother's life and    
similar indications have led            
,sainte-,beuve and others to speak of   
his extravagance at this time4  ,he is  
supposed not only to have lived in the  
world1 but to have lived in a  style    
above his means--the companion of men of
 higher social position than  himself1  

profuse in their habits and expenditure4
  ,that he lived in the  midst of       
society of this kind can hardly be      
doubted4  ,it is more doubtful  how far 
his own habits had become those of an   
extravagant man of the  world4  ,his    
chief companion was one who remained    
bound to him through all  the rest of   
his life1 ,pascal's influence having    
drawn him also from the  world when the 
time of his own change came4  ,this was 
the ,duc de ,roannez1  a young man of   
fewer years than himself1 who seems to  
have possessed many  attractive         
qualities4  ,he was devoted to          
,pascal--could hardly 8bear him  out of 
his sight10 as ,marguerite ,prier       
says--and ,pascal warmly returned  his  
friendship4  ,it seems as if they had   
lived together a good deal1 or  at least
 that ,pascal spent the most of his time
 with the young ,duke2 and  it was in   
his house and society no doubt that he  
tasted the joys and  perils of that     
fashionable and luxurious life of which 

his sister speaks  so bitterly4 #fe;a   
,it was a life1 after all1 of           
thoughtless enjoyment  rather than of   
any deeper folly4  ,both men were as yet
 very young--the  ,duke only twenty-two 
years of age1 and ,pascal twenty-eight4 
,after his  simple and severe training1 
and the society of his ,jansenist       
friends1 it  must have been a change    
full of excitement1 possibly of moral   
danger1 to  the once enthusiastic       
student2 for the society of the time was
 charged  with the elements both of     
sceptical and moral indifference4  ,it  
has been  even said that 8no society was
 ever more grandly dissolute0 than that 
of  the ,fronde1 8when women like ,la   
,barette #fe;b and ,la ,couronne took   
the  lead in the least discreet         
pleasures40    ,among the men whom      
,pascal evidently met at the hotel of   
the ,duc de  ,roannez1 and with whom he 
formed something of a friendship1 was   
the  well-known ,chevalier de ,mr1 whom 
we know best as a tutor of ,madame de   

,maintenon1 and whose graceful but      
flippant letters still survive as a     
picture of the time4  ,he was a gambler 
and libertine1 yet with some  tincture  
of science and professed interest in its
 progress4  ,in his  correspondence     
there is a letter to ,pascal1 in which  
he makes free in a  somewhat ridiculous 
manner with the young geometrician      
already so  distinguished4  ,other names
 still less reputable--those of ,miton  
and  ,desbarreaux1 for example--have    
been associated with ,pascal during this
  period4  ,miton was undoubtedly an    
intimate ally of ,de ,mr1 and amidst    
all his dissoluteness1 made pretensions 
to scientific knowledge and  attainments
 as a writer4  ,desbarreaux was a       
companion of both1 but of a  still lower
 grade--a man of open profligacy1 and a 
despiser of the rites  of the ,church4  
,along with ,miton and other boon       
companions1 he is spoken  of as betaking
 himself to ,st ,cloud for carnival     
during the ,holy ,week4  #ff  ,the truth

 would seem to be that all these men    
came across ,pascal's  path at this     
time1 and were more or less known to    
him4  ,his allusions to  both ,miton and
 ,desbarreaux in the ,penses imply this4
  ,there is a certain  familiarity of   
knowledge indicated in the very         
heartiness with which he  assails       
them--speaking of ,miton as 8hateful10  
#fg;a and of ,desbarreaux as  having    
renounced reason and made himself a     
8brute40  #fg;b  ,but it is  against all
 probability1 no less than against all  
the facts known to us1  to suppose that 
,pascal had more connection with such   
men than meeting  them in the society in
 which he moved during these years1 and 
becoming  well acquainted with the      
intellectual and moral atmosphere which 
they  breathed4  ,it may be too much to 
say1 with ,faugre1 that he was then     
consciously imbibing the experience to  
be afterwards utilised in his  great    
work1 or that it was the principles     
professed by these men which  gave him  

the first idea of such a work2 but we   
may certainly say that the  knowledge of
 them1 as well as all the knowledge he  
acquired at this time1  served to deepen
 and extend his moral intuitions1 and to
 give a finer  point to many of his     
,thoughts4  ,and no student of ,pascal  
can doubt that  8if his feet touched for
 a moment the dirt of this dissolute    
society1 his  divine wings remained     
unsoiled40 #fg;c    ,a more interesting 
point than any1 however1 still remains  
in connection  with this period of his  
life4  ,it was now1 or soon after1 that 
,pascal  must have composed the         
8,discours sur les ,passions de         
l',amour10 one of the  most exquisite   
fragments which have come from his      
pen1--remarkable both in  itself and in 
the circumstances of its discovery by   
,m4 ,cousin about  thirty years ago4    
,m4 ,cousin has himself related these   
circumstances in  minute detail1 and    
with a certain self-elation4 #fg;d      
,according to ,m4  ,faugre1 there was no

 particular difficulty1 and therefore no
 particular  merit1 in the discovery4   
,the fragment was clearly indexed in a  
catalogue  of the ,pascal ,,mss4 in the 
well-known ,state library of ,paris as  
follows3  8,discours sur les ,passions  
de l',amour1 par ,m4 ,pascal10 and again
 in the  body of the volume the fragment
 was entitled1 8,discours1 etc41 on     
l'attribue  ,m4 ,pascal40  ,the         
genuineness of the fragment seems       
admitted  on all hands4  8,in the first 
line10 says ,cousin1 8,i felt ,pascal1  
and my  conviction of its authorship    
grew as ,i proceeded--his ardent and    
lofty  manner1 half thought1 half       
passion1 and that speech so fine and    
grand1 an  accent which ,i would        
recognise amongst a thousand40 #fh;a    
8,the soul and  thought of ,pascal10    
says ,faugre1 8shine everywhere in the  
pages1 steeped  in a melancholy at once 
chaste and ardent40  #fh;b    ,the      
following extracts may give some idea of
 this remarkable paper4  ,it  commences 

in an abstract1 aphoristic manner not   
uncommon with ,pascal3--        8,man is
 born to think2 he is never a moment    
without thinking4  ,but      pure       
thought1 which1 if it could be          
sustained1 would make him happy1        
fatigues and prostrates him4  ,he could 
not live a life of mere      thought2   
movement and action are necessary to    
him4  ,he must be      agitated by the  
passions1 whose sources he feels deep   
and strong in      his heart4  ,the     
passions most characteristic of man1 and
 which      embrace most others1 are    
love and ambition4  ,they have no       
affinity1      yet they are often       
united2 together1 they tend to weaken if
 not      destroy each other4  ,for     
however grand the human spirit1 it is   
only      capable at once of one great  
passion4  ,when love and ambition meet1 
each therefore falls short of what it   
would otherwise be4  ,age               
determines neither the beginning nor the
 end of these two passions4      ,they  

are born with the first years1 they     
continue often to the last40            
8,man finds no full scope for love in   
himself1 yet he loves4  ,it is          
necessary1 therefore1 for him to seek an
 object of love elsewhere4      ,this he
 can only find in beauty4  ,but as he   
himself is the most      beautiful      
creature that ,god has made1 he must    
find in himself the      type of that   
beauty which he seeks elsewhere4  ,this 
defines and      embodies itself in the 
difference of sex4  ,a woman is the     
highest      form of beauty4  ,endowed  
with mind1 she is its living and        
marvellous      personation4  ,if a     
beautiful woman wishes to please1 she   
will always      succeed4  ,the         
fascinations of beauty in such a case   
never fail to      captivate1 whatever  
man may do to resist them4  ,there is a 
spot in      every heart which they     
reach40        8,love is of no age2 it  
is always being born4  ,the poets tell  
us so1      and hence we represent it as

 a child4  ,it creates intelligence1 and
      feeds upon intelligence4 4 4 4    
,we exhaust our power of gratifying it  
every day1 and yet every day it is      
necessary to renew its                  
gratification40        8,man in solitude
 is an incomplete being2 he needs       
companionship for      happiness4  ,he  
seeks this commonly in a like condition 
with his own1      because habits of    
desire and opportunity in such a case   
are most      readily found by him4     
,but sometimes he fixes his affections  
on an      object far beyond his rank1  
and the flame burns the more intensely  
that he is forced to conceal it in his  
own bosom4  ,when we love one      of   
elevated condition1 ambition may at     
first coexist with affection4      ,but 
love soon becomes the master4  ,it is a 
tyrant which suffers no      rival2 it  
must reign alone4  ,every other emotion 
must subserve and      obey its         
dictates4  ,a high attachment fills the 
heart more completely      than a common

 and equal one4  ,small things are      
carried away in the      great capacity 
of love40        8,the pleasure of      
loving1 without daring to say anything  
of one's      love1 has its pains1 but  
also its sweetnesses4  ,with what       
transport      do we regulate all our   
actions with the view of pleasing one   
whom we      infinitely value6 4 4 4    
,the fulness of love sometimes          
languishes1      receiving no succour   
from the beloved object4  ,then we fall 
into      misery2 and hostile passions1 
lying in wait for the heart1 tear it in 
a thousand pieces4  ,but anon a ray of  
hope--the very least it may             
be--raises us as high as ever4          
,sometimes this comes from mere         
dalliance1 but sometimes also from an   
honest pity4  ,how happy such a         
moment when it comes60        8,the     
first effect of love is to inspire a    
great respect4  ,we revere      whom we 
really love4  ,this is right1 and we    
know nothing in the world      so grand 

as this4 4 4 4  ,in love we forget      
fortune1 parents1 friends1      and the 
reason of this is that we imagine we    
need nothing else than      the object  
of our love4  ,the heart is full2 there 
is no room for care      nor            
disquietude4  ,passion is then          
necessarily in excess2 there is a       
plenitude in it which resists the       
commencement of reflection4  ,yet       
love and reason are not to be opposed1  
and love has always reason      with it1
 although it implies a precipitation of 
thought which carries      us away      
without due examination4  ,otherwise we 
should be very      disagreeable        
machines4  ,do not exclude reason from  
love1 therefore2      they are truly    
inseparable4  ,the poets are wrong in   
representing love      as blind4  ,it is
 necessary to take away his veil1 and   
give him      henceforth the joy of     
sight40        8,it is not merely the   
result of custom1 but a dictate of      
nature1 that      man should make the   

first advances in love4 4 4 4  ,great   
souls      require an inundation of     
passion to disturb and fill them2 but   
when      they begin to love1 they love 
supremely4 4 4 4  ,when we are away from
      the object of our love we resolve 
to do and say many things1 but when     
we are present we hesitate4  ,the       
explanation is1 that at a distance      
the reason is undisturbed1 but in       
presence of the beloved object it       
is strangely moved4  ,in love we fear to
 hazard lest we lose all4  ,it      is  
necessary to advance1 yet who can tell  
to what point8  ,we tremble      always 
till we reach this point1 and yet       
prudence does not help us to      keep  
it when we have found it4 4 4 4  ,there 
is nothing so      embarrassing as to be
 in love1 and see something in our      
favour      without daring to believe in
 it4  ,hope and fear rage within us1 and
      the last too often triumphs40     
,the question arises1 ,what             
interpretation are we to put on these   

chaste  yet glowing sentences8  ,it     
seems hardly possible to believe that   
they  were not penned out of some real  
experience4  ,pascal was not the man to 
busy himself in writing an imaginary    
essay on such a subject4  ,nothing  can 
be conceived less like the sketch of a  
mere moral analyst standing  outside the
 passion he describes4  ,there may be a 
tendency here and there  to             
over-analysis1 and to the balancing of  
antitheses now on one side and  now on  
the other2 but there is the breath of   
true passion all through the  piece1 and
 touching1 as with fire1 many of its    
many fine utterances4  ,who  was then1  
conceivably1 the object of ,pascal's    
affections8  ,we have it on  the        
authority of his niece that at this     
time1 when he lived so much as  the     
companion of the ,duc de ,roannez1 he   
contemplated marrying and  settling in  
the world4 #ga  ,this1 and the          
indications of the piece  itself1 have  
led to the conjecture that he was in    

love with the sister of  his friend4    
,charlotte ,gouffier de ,roannez was    
then about sixteen years  of age1       
endowed with captivating graces of form 
and manner1 animated by a  sweet        
intelligence and by that charm of       
spiritual sympathy so likely to  prove  
attractive to a man like ,pascal4       
,occupying rooms in the house of  his   
friend1 who1 we have seen1 could not    
bear him out of his sight1  ,pascal and 
,mademoiselle de ,roannez were          
necessarily much in each other's        
society4  ,what so natural as that he   
should fall in love1 and overlooking    
all disparity of rank1 cherish the      
secret hope of a union with one so      
gifted and beautiful8--or why may not   
ambition have mingled with his love1  as
 he himself implies1 and carried him for
 a time into a dreamland from  which all
 shadows fell away8    ,it is impossible
 to do more than form conjectures in    
such a matter4  ,to  ,m4 ,faugre nothing
 seems more probable4  ,m4 ,cousin      

resents the  supposition as derogatory  
to ,pascal1 and as utterly inconsistent 
with the  usages of the age of ,louis   
,,xiv4  ,but even were it impossible1   
according  to the usages of the time1   
that ,pascal should have ever married   
,mademoiselle de ,roannez1 this is no   
proof that he may not have fallen in    
love with her4  ,there is much in this  
paper that favours the idea1 that  while
 ,pascal loved deeply he yet never told 
his love2 and the social  obstacles1    
which for a time may have seemed to him 
surmountable1 at last  may have shut out
 all hope from his heart4  ,many causes 
might unite to do  this1 even supposing 
his love was returned4  ,it is certain  
that he  continued the warm friend1 not 
only of the ,duc de ,roannez1 but of his
  sister2 and in after-years a          
correspondence was established betwixt  
them  implying the highest degree of    
mutual esteem and confidence4  ,we have 
only the letters of ,pascal2 nothing is 
known of those of ,mademoiselle de      

,roannez2 the rigidity of the ,jansenist
 copyists have given us only  extracts  
even of the former4  ,all trace of      
earthly passion1 if it ever  existed1   
has gone from the pious page in which   
the ,jansenist saint sets  forth his    
exhortations4  ,yet it argues no common 
interest1 that ,pascal  should pause in 
the midst of his conflict with the      
,jesuits to advise and  direct his      
former companion2 and ,faugre professes 
that even before he  had read the       
#8,discours' he could trace a 8tender   
solicitude0--more than  the mere impulse
 of ,christian charity--beneath all the 
grave severity of  his religious        
phrases4    ,the fate of ,mademoiselle  
de ,roannez was not a happy one4  ,after
  vacillating for some time between the 
cloister and the world--obeying the     
guidance of ,pascal1 either directly or 
through ,madame ,prier1 and even        
passing through her novitiate at ,port  
,royal with 8extraordinary              
fervour0--she was persuaded to marry and

 become the ,duchesse de la  ,feuillade4
  ,but her marriage proved unfortunate4 
,her children died  young2 her own      
health broke down2 she herself at length
 died under an  operation1 bequeathing a
 legacy to ,port ,royal1 which had      
remained  entwined with all dearest     
associations4  ,whether ,pascal and she 
had loved  each other or not1 this      
sacred ,home bound their best thoughts  
together1  and serves to recall their   
highest aspirations4    ,it falls to us 
now to describe how ,port ,royal claimed
 the heart of  ,pascal1 and called forth
 the chief activities of his remaining  
years4          ,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,port 
,,royal ,,and ,,pascal',s ,,later       
,,years4      ,whatever day-dreams      
,pascal may have cherished1 8,god called
 him10 as his  sister says1 8to a great 
perfection40  ,it was not in his nature 
to be  satisfied with either the        
enchantments or the ambitions of the    
world4  ,all the while that he mixed in 
the luxurious society of ,paris1 and    

seemed  merely one of its thoughtless   
throng1 there were throbs within him of 
a  higher life which could not be       
stilled4  ,his conscience reproached him
  continually amidst all his amusements1
 and left him uneasy even in the  most  
exulting moments of the love that filled
 his heart4  ,this is no  hypothetical  
picture1 but one suggested by himself in
 conversation with  his sister4  ,she   
tells us from her retreat how her       
brother came to see  her1 fascinated by 
the steadfastness of her faith1 in      
contrast with his  own indifference and 
vacillation4  ,formerly it was his zeal 
which had  drawn her to higher thoughts4
  ,now it is the attraction of her piety
  which sways him1 and leaves him       
unhappy amidst all the seductions of the
  society in which he mingles4  8,god   
made use of my sister10 says ,madame    
,prier1 8for the great design1 as ,he   
had formerly made use of my brother1    
when ,he desired to withdraw my sister  
from her engagements in the world40     

,the severe ,jacqueline tells with      
unfaltering breath the story of her     
brother's spiritual anxieties4  ,she had
 ceased herself to have any  worldly    
thoughts4        8,she led10 says       
,madame ,prier1 8a life so holy1 that   
she edified the      whole house3 and in
 this state it was a special pain to her
 to see      one to whom she felt       
herself indebted1 under ,god1 for the   
grace which      she enjoyed1 no longer 
himself in possession of these graces3  
and as      she saw my brother          
frequently1 she spoke to him often1 and 
finally      with such force and        
sweetness1 that she persuaded him1 as he
 had at      first persuaded her1       
absolutely to abandon the world40       
,writing to her sister on the #beth of  
,january #afee1 she says that ,pascal   
came to see her at the end of the       
previous ,september4        8,at this   
visit he opened himself to me in such a 
manner as moved my      pity1 confessing
 that in the midst of his exciting      

occupations1 and      of so many things 
fitted to make him love the world--to   
which we had      every reason to think 
him strongly attached--he was yet       
forcibly moved      to quit all2 both by
 an extreme aversion to its follies and 
amusements1 and by the continual        
reproach made by his conscience4  ,he   
felt himself detached from his          
surroundings in such a manner as he     
had never felt before1 or even          
approaching to it2 yet1 otherwise1 he   
was in such abandonment that there was  
no movement in his heart to      ,god4  
,though he sought ,him with all his     
power1 he felt that it was      more his
 own reason and spirit that moved him   
towards what he knew to      be best1   
than any movement of the ,divine        
,spirit4  ,if he only had the           
,divine sentiments he once had1 he      
believed himself1 in his present        
state of detachment1 capable of         
undertaking everything4  ,it must be1   
therefore1 some wretched ties #gf which 

still held him back1 and      made him  
resist the movements of the ,divine     
,spirit4  ,the confession      surprised
 me as much as it gave me joy2 and      
thenceforth ,i conceived      hopes that
 ,i had never had1 and thought ,i must  
communicate with you      in order to   
induce you to pray on his behalf4  ,if  
,i were to relate      all the other    
visits in detail1 ,i should be obliged  
to write a      volume2 for since then  
they have been so frequent and so long1 
that ,i      was wellnigh engrossed by  
them4  ,i confined myself to watching   
his      mood without attempting unduly 
to influence him2 and gradually ,i saw  
him so growing in grace that ,i would   
hardly have known him4  ,i      believe 
you will have the same difficulty1 if   
,god continues ,his work2               
especially in such wonderful humility1  
submission1 diffidence1                 
self-contempt1 and desire to be nothing 
in the esteem and memory of      men4   
,such he is at present4  ,god alone     

knows what a day will bring      forth40
    ,finally1 after many visits and     
struggles with himself1 especially as to
  his choice of a spiritual guide1 he   
became an inmate of ,port ,royal des    
,granges1 under the guidance of ,m4 de  
,saci4  ,the questions betwixt him and  
his sister as to his selection of a     
confessor or director are very  curious1
 revealing1 as they do1 the quiet       
self-possessed decision of the  one1 the
 scruples of the other1 and the proud   
self-respect of both4  ,as  to one of   
,pascal's difficulties1 she says1       
without misgiving--8,i saw  clearly that
 this was only a remnant of independence
 hidden in the depth  of his heart1     
which armed itself with every weapon to 
ward off a  submission which yet in his 
state of feeling must be perfect40  ,m4 
,singlin was willing to assist the      
sister with his advice1 but was         
reluctant himself1 in his weak state of 
health1 to assume full  responsibilities
 towards the brother4  ,jacqueline      

herself appeared to him  the best       
director her brother could have for the 
time2 and there is a  charming blending 
of humility and yet assumption in the   
manner in which  she relates this1 and  
speaks of 8our new convert40  ,but      
finally there is  found in ,m4 de ,saci 
a director 8with whom he is delighted1  
for he comes  of a good stock0 7dont it 
est tout ravi1 aussi est-il de bonne    
race74    ,pascal first sought          
retirement in a residence of his own in 
the country4  ,it is particularly       
mentioned amongst the reasons for his   
withdrawal from  ,paris1 that the ,duc  
de ,roannez1 8who engaged him almost    
entirely10 was  about to return there4  
,unable to find everything to his wish1 
however1  in his own house1 8he obtained
 a chamber or little cell among the     
,solitaries of ,port ,royal10 from which
 he wrote to his sister with extreme    
joy that he was lodged and treated like 
a prince1 8according to ,st  ,bernard's 
judgment of what it was to be a prince40

  ,it is still  ,jacqueline's pen which 
reports all this to ,madame ,prier4     
,she continues  in the same letter3--   
8,he joins in every office of the       
,church from ,prime to ,compline1       
without feeling the slightest           
inconvenience in rising at five o'clock 
in the morning2 and as if it was the    
will of ,god that he should join        
fasting to watching1 in defiance of all 
the medical prescriptions      which had
 forbidden him both the one and the     
other1 he found that      supper        
disagreed with him1 and was about to    
give it up40 #gg    ,such is the story  
of ,pascal's final conversion and       
retirement from the  world4             
,jacqueline's details fill in the       
briefer sketch of ,madame ,prier1  and  
both tell the story at first hand4      
,none could have known so well as  they 
did all the circumstances4  ,it is      
remarkable1 therefore1 that  neither of 
them says anything of the well-known    
incident1 emphasised by  ,bossut as the 

mainly exciting cause of his great      
change3--        8,one day10 it is said1
 8in the month of ,october #afed1 when  
he went1      according to his habit1 to
 take his drive to the bridge of        
,neuilly      in a carriage and four1   
the two leading horses became restive at
 a      part of the road where there was
 a parapet1 and precipitated            
themselves into the ,seine4             
,fortunately1 the first strokes of their
      feet broke the traces which       
attached them to the pole1 and the      
carriage was stayed on the brink of the 
precipice4  ,the effect of      such a  
shock on one of ,pascal's feeble health 
may be imagined4  ,he      swooned away1
 and was only restored with difficulty1 
and his nerves      were so shattered   
that long afterwards1 during sleepless  
nights and      during moments of       
weakness1 he seemed to see a precipice  
at his      bedside1 over which he was  
on the point of falling40    ,this      
alarming incident1 which comes from     

nearly contemporary tradition1  no doubt
 contributed to ,pascal's retirement    
from the world1 and no less  probably   
also a strange vision he had at this    
time1 to which we shall  afterwards     
advert4  ,but it is peculiarly          
interesting to trace the inner  history 
of ,pascal's great change4  ,evidently1 
from what his sister says1  his mind had
 been for some time very ill at ease in 
the great world in  which he lived4     
,how far this was the working of his old
 religious  convictions continually     
renewing their influence through the    
conversation  of his sister1 how far it 
was mere weariness and disgust with the 
frivolities of fashionable life1 and how
 far it may have been baffled  hope and 
the disenchantments of a broken dream of
 love1 we cannot clearly  tell4  ,all   
may have moved him1 and brought him to  
that strange state of  isolation which  
she describes from his own account4     
,but plainly the  world-weariness       
preceded the fresh dawn of divine       

strength in his heart2  and there is a  
tone of hopelessness in speaking of his 
detachment from  all the things         
surrounding him1 which favours the      
thought that some new  and unwonted     
smart had entered into his life1 and    
driven him forth to the  quiet shelter1 
where at length he found his old peace  
with ,god1 and the  great mission to    
which ,god had called him4              
99 99 99 99 99    ,the monastery of     
,port ,royal1 in which his sister had   
already found a  home1 remains indelibly
 associated with ,pascal4  ,it was      
founded in the  beginning of the        
thirteenth century1 in the reign of     
,philip ,augustus2 and  a later         
tradition claimed this magnificent      
monarch as the author of its  foundation
 and of its name4  ,it is said that one 
day he wandered into the  famous valley 
during the chase1 and became lost in its
 woods1 when he was  at length          
discovered near to an ancient chapel of 
,st ,lawrence1 which was  much          

frequented by the devout of the         
neighbourhood1 and that1 grateful       
because the place had been to him a     
,port ,royal or royal refuge1 he        
resolved to build a church there4  ,but 
this is the story of a time when1  as it
 has been said1 8royal founders were in 
fashion40  ,more truly1 the  name is    
considered to be derived from the       
general designation of the fief  or     
district in which the valley lies1      
,porrois--which1 again1 is supposed  to 
be a corruption of ,porra or ,borra1    
meaning a marshy and woody  hollow4     
,the valley of ,port ,royal presents to 
this day the same natural features      
which attracted the eye of the devout   
solitary in the seventeenth  century4   
,some years ago ,i paid a               
long-wished-for visit to it4  ,it lies  
about eighteen miles west of ,paris1 and
 seven or eight from ,versailles1  on   
the road to ,chevreuse4  ,as the        
traveller approaches it from            
,versailles1 the long lines of a level  

and somewhat dreary road1 only  relieved
 by rows of tall poplar-trees1 break    
into a more picturesque  country4  ,an  
antique mouldering village1 with quaint 
little church1 its  grey lichen-marked  
stones brightened by the warm sunshine  
of a ,september  day1 and the straggling
 vines drooping their pale dusty leaves 
over the  cottage-doors1 made a welcome 
variety in the monotonous landscape4    
,how  hazy yet cheerful was the         
brightness in which the poor mean houses
 seemed  to sleep6  ,after this the road
 swept down a long declivity1 crowned on
  one side by an irregular outline of   
wood1 and presenting here and there     
broken and dilapidated traces of former 
habitations4  ,the famous valley  of    
,port ,royal lay before us4  ,it was a  
quiet and peaceful yet gloomy  scene4   
,the seclusion was perfect4  ,no hum of 
cheerful industry enlivened  the        
desolate space4  ,an air rather as of   
long-continued neglect rested on  ruined
 garden and terraces1 on farmhouse and  

dovecot1 and the remains as  of a chapel
 nearer at hand4  ,the more minutely the
 eye took in the scene1  the more sad   
seemed its wasted recesses and the few  
monuments of its  departed glories4     
,the stillness as of a buried past lay  
all about1 and  it required an effort of
 imagination to people the valley with  
the sacred  activities of the           
seventeenth century4    ,a rough wooden 
enclosure has been erected on the site  
of the high altar  surmounted by a      
cross4  ,it contained a few memorials1  
amongst the most  touching of which were
 simple portraits of ,arnauld1 ,le      
,maitre1 ,de ,saci1  ,quesnel1 ,nicole1 
,pascal1 the ,mre ,anglique1 the ,mre   
,agns1 ,jacqueline  ,pascal1 and ,dr    
,hanlon the physician4  ,two portraits  
of the ,mre ,agns  particularly         
impressed me4  ,the lines of the face   
were exquisitely  touching in their     
gentle bravery and patience4  ,as ,i    
looked at the noble  and sweet          
countenances grouped on the bare        

unadorned walls1 the sacred  memories of
 the place rose vividly before my mind4 
,it was here alone  that the recluses   
from the neighbouring ,grange met the   
sainted  sisterhood1 and mingled with   
them the prayers and tears of penitence4
  ,otherwise they dwelt apart1 each in  
diligent privacy1 intent on their  works
 of education or of charity4  ,all the  
ruin and decay and somewhat  dreary     
sadness of the scene could not weaken my
 sense of the beautiful  life of thought
 and faith and hope and love that had   
once breathed there2  and never before  
had ,i felt so deeply the enduring      
reality of the  spiritual heroism and   
self-sacrifice1 the glory of suffering  
and of  goodness1 that had made the spot
 so memorable4    ,the monastery was    
founded1 not by ,philip ,augustus1 but  
by ,matthieu1 first  ,lord of ,marli1 a 
younger son of the noble house of       
,montmorency4  ,having  formed the      
design of accompanying the crusade      
proclaimed by ,innocent ,,iii4  to the  

,holy ,land1 he left at the disposal of 
his wife1 ,mathilde de  ,garlande1 and  
his kinsman1 the ,bishop of ,paris1 a   
sum of money to devote  to some pious   
work in his absence4  ,they agreed to   
apply it to the  erection of a monastery
 for nuns in this secluded valley1 that 
had  already acquired a reputation for  
sanctity in connection with the old     
chapel dedicated to ,st ,lawrence1 which
 attracted large numbers of             
worshippers4  ,the foundations of the   
church and monastery were laid in       
#abjd4  ,they were designed by the same 
architect who built the ,cathedral  of  
,amiens1 and ere long the graceful and  
beautiful structures were seen  rising  
in the wilderness4  ,the nuns belonged  
to the ,cistercian order4  ,their dress 
was white woollen1 with a black veil2   
but afterwards they  adopted as their   
distinctive badge a large scarlet cross 
on their white  scapulary1 as the symbol
 of the 8,institute of the ,holy        
,sacrament40    ,the abbey underwent the

 usual history of such institutions4    
,distinguished at first by the          
strictness of its discipline and the    
piety  of its inmates1 it became        
gradually corrupted with increasing     
wealth1  till1 in the end of the        
sixteenth century1 it had grown         
notorious for  gross and scandalous     
abuses4  ,the revenues were squandered  
in luxury2 the  nuns did what they      
liked2 and the extravagances and        
dissipations of the  world were repeated
 amidst the solitudes which had been    
consecrated to  devotion4  ,but at      
length its revival arose out of one of  
the most obvious  abuses connected with 
it4  ,the patronage of the institution1 
like that of  others1 had been          
distributed without any regard to the   
fitness of the  occupants1 even to girls
 of immature age4  ,in this manner the  
abbey of  ,port ,royal accidentally fell
 to the lot of one who was destined by  
her  ardent piety to breathe a new life 
into it1 and by her indomitable and     

lofty genius to give it an undying      
reputation4    ,jacqueline ,marie       
,arnauld--better known by her official  
name1 ,la ,mre  ,anglique--was appointed
 abbess of ,port ,royal when she was    
only eight  years of age4  ,she was     
descended from a distinguished family   
belonging  originally to the old        
noblesse of ,provence1 but which had    
migrated to  ,auvergne and settled      
there4  ,of vigorous healthiness1 both  
mental and  physical1 the ,arnaulds had 
already acquired a merited position and 
name  in the annals of ,france4  ,in the
 beginning of the sixteenth century it  
found its way to ,paris in the person of
 ,antoine ,arnauld1 ,seigneur de la     
,mothe1 the grandfather of the heroine  
of ,port ,royal4  ,m4 de la ,mothe1 as  
he was commonly called1 was endowed with
 the energetic will1 and with  more than
 the usual talents1 of his family4  ,he 
was specially known as  ,procureur-gnral
 to ,catherine de ,mdicis2 but1 as he   
himself said1 he  wore 8a soldier's coat

 as well as a lawyer's robe40  ,he was a
 ,huguenot1  and nearly perished in the 
,bartholomew massacre4  ,he had eight   
sons1  every one of whom more or less   
achieved distinction in the service of  
their country2 but his second son and   
namesake peculiarly inherited his       
father's legal talents1 and became his  
successor in the office of              
,procureur-gnral4  ,he more than        
rivalled his father's forensic success2 
and many traditions survive of his great
 eloquence1 and of the  pre-eminent     
ability with which he pleaded on behalf 
of the ,university of  ,paris for the   
expulsion of the ,jesuits from ,france1 
under suspicion of  having instigated an
 attempt on the life of ,henri ,,iv4 in 
#aeic4  ,this  great effort has been    
called the 8original sin0 of the        
,arnauld family  against the ,jesuit    
order1 which was never forgiven4  ,his  
eloquence  produced such an impression1 
that it is said the judges rose in their
  seats to listen to his speech1 while  

crowds assembled at the closed doors  of
 the ,court to catch its partial echoes4
  ,and yet1 like some other great       
speeches1 it cannot now be read without 
weariness4    ,antoine ,arnauld married 
the youthful daughter of ,m4 ,marion1   
the  ,avocat-gnral1 who became a mother 
while still only a girl of fifteen1  but
 who grew into a noble and large-hearted
 woman1 full of deeds of piety  and     
charity4  ,in all1 the couple had twenty
 children1 and felt1 as may be          
imagined1 the pressure of providing for 
so many4  ,out of this pressure  came   
the remarkable lot of two of the        
daughters4  ,the benefices of the       
,church were a fruitful field of        
provision1 and the avocat-gnral1 the    
maternal grandfather of the children1   
had large ecclesiastical influence4     
,the result was the appointment not only
 of one daughter to the abbey of  ,port 
,royal1 but also of a younger sister1   
,agns1 only six years of age1  to the   
abbey of ,st ,cyr1 about six miles      

distant from ,port ,royal4              
,difficulties1 not without reason1 were 
found in obtaining the papal  sanction  
to such appointments2 but these were at 
last overcome by means1  it is said1    
more creditable to ,m4 ,arnauld's       
ability than to his  integrity4    ,at  
the age of eleven1 in the year #afjb1   
,anglique was installed ,abbess of      
,port ,royal4  ,her sister took the veil
 at the age of seven4  ,united in the   
nursery1 they had also spent some months
 together at the abbey of ,st ,cyr1  in 
preparation for their solemn office4    
,they were of marked but very           
contrasted characters4  ,the elder      
inherited the strong will and dominant  
energy of her race4  ,as yet1 and for   
some time afterwards1 without any       
religious bias1 she contemplated her    
prospects with a quiet and proud        
consciousness of responsibility4  ,the  
younger sister was of a softer and  more
 submissive nature4  ,she shrank from   
her high position1 saying that  an      

abbess had to answer to ,god for the    
souls of her nuns1 and she was  sure    
that she would have enough to do to take
 care of her own4  ,anglique  had no    
such scruples4  ,she was glad to be an  
abbess1 and was resolved  that her nuns 
should thoroughly do their duty4  ,these
 sayings have been  preserved in the    
memoirs of the family1 and are supposed 
to indicate  happily the firm1          
persistent spirit and legislative       
capacity of the one  sister1 in contrast
 with the passive rather than active    
strength1 and  milder yet no less       
enduring purpose1 of the other4    ,the 
remarkable story of ,anglique's         
conversion by the preaching of a        
,capucin friar in #afjh1 her strange    
contest with her parents which          
followed1 the strengthening impulses in 
different directions which her          
religious life received1 first from the 
famous ,st ,francis de ,sales1 and      
finally1 and especially1 from the no    
less remarkable ,abb de ,st ,cyran1  all

 belong to the history of ,port ,royal1 
and cannot be detailed here4  ,it  is a 
touching and beautiful story1 which can 
never lose its interest4  ,it  is only  
necessary that we draw attention to the 
temporary removal of the  ,abbess with  
her nuns to ,paris in the year #afce1   
and to the settlement in  the valley1   
during their absence from it1 of the    
band of ,solitaries whose  piety and    
genius1 no less than the heroic devotion
 of the sisterhood1  have shed such a   
glory around it4  ,it was the spiritual 
influence of ,st  ,cyran which          
overflowed in this direction4  ,the     
religious genius of this  remarkable    
man1 of whom we shall speak more        
particularly in the next  chapter1 laid 
its spell upon the social life around   
him1 and brought to  his feet some of   
the most able and distinguished young   
men of the time4  ,the elder brother of 
,anglique and ,agns ,arnauld1 known as  
,m4 d',andilly1  was amongst his devoted
 friends2 and it was through him that   

,st ,cyran  first became connected with 
,port ,royal4  ,d',andilly was married1 
and a  courtier--a busy man in the      
political circles of his day2 but he had
 long  bowed before the force of ,st    
,cyran's religious convictions1 and     
finally  he too abandoned the world1 and
 sought the retirement of ,port ,royal1 
whither three of his nephews had        
preceded him2 and a younger and yet more
  distinguished brother1 the namesake of
 his father1 soon followed him4  ,it    
was ,d',andilly who said of ,st ,cyran1 
8,i was under such obligations to him   
that ,i loved him more than life40  ,on 
the other hand1 ,st ,cyran said of  him1
 8,he has not the virtue of a saint or  
an anchorite1 but ,i know no man  of his
 condition who is so solidly virtuous40 
,the brotherhood of ,port ,royal had its
 beginning in #afcg with the  conversion
 of two of the nephews of ,d',andilly   
and the ,mre ,anglique1  children of    
,arnauld's eldest daughter1 who had     
married unhappily and been  soon        

separated from her husband4  ,these     
grandsons of ,arnauld are known as  ,m4 
le ,maitre and ,m4 de ,sercourt1 the    
former of whom1 like his ancestors1  had
 greatly distinguished himself at the   
bar4  ,the latter was no less           
distinguished as a soldier4  ,in the    
midst of worldly success1 they  forsook 
everything and gave themselves to a life
 of religious retirement1  in which they
 were by-and-by joined by a younger and 
still more  remarkable brother1 known as
 ,m4 de ,saci1 trained for the ,church1 
and  already mentioned in connection    
with ,pascal's conversion4  ,he became  
,pascal's spiritual director1 and held  
with him the famous conversation on     
,epictetus and ,montaigne4  ,to the same
 group of men belonged ,singlin1 of     
whom we have heard so much in former    
pages1 and ,lancelot and ,fontaine2     
above all1 ,antoine ,arnauld1 the       
youngest of the large ,arnauld family1  
and  the most indefatigable of them all4
  ,singlin was a favourite of ,st       

,cyran1  and his successor in the office
 of spiritual director to the monastery1
  as ,de ,saci was again the successor  
of ,singlin in the same capacity4  ,he  
was a man of less ability and knowledge 
than many of the others1 the son  of a  
wine merchant1 who did not begin his    
religious studies till a  comparatively 
late period1 but of a very direct and   
simple character1 and  well skilled in  
the mysteries of the conscience1 which  
made him a  spiritual power in the      
community4  ,he was withal of singular  
humility1  and would fain have retired  
from the office of ,confessor when ,st  
,cyran  was set at liberty in #afdc     
after his long imprisonment2 but neither
 then  nor afterwards1 on his           
illustrious friend's death1 was he      
allowed to do  so4  ,st ,cyran warned   
him that he could not fly from the      
duties of such a  position without      
incurring the guilt of disobedience4    
,de ,saci seems to  have been especially
 remarkable for his quiet               

self-possession and  cautious insight   
into character4  ,his brother1 ,le      
,maitre1 brings out in a  curious manner
 the contrast between his own impetuous 
character and the  leisurely efficiency 
of ,de ,saci's temper4  ,as they sat at 
their evening  meal--8a very modest     
collation0--        8,he had hardly     
begun his supper when mine was already  
half digested4      4 4 4  ,of quick and
 warm disposition1 ,i had seen the end  
of my      portion almost as soon as the
 beginning2 it rapidly disappeared2 and 
as ,i was thinking of rising from the   
table1 ,i saw my brother ,de ,saci1     
with his usual coolness and gravity1    
take a little piece of apple1      peel 
it quietly1 cut it leisurely1 and eat it
 slowly4  ,then1 after      having      
finished1 he rose almost as light as he 
had sat down1 leaving      untouched    
nearly all his very moderate portion4   
,he went away as if      he were quite  
satisfied1 and even appeared to grow fat
 upon fasts40      #hg    ,claude       

,lancelot was the schoolmaster of the   
community1 and represents to  us perhaps
 more fully than any other name its     
famous system of education4  ,fontaine  
was one of its chief memoir writers1    
from whom we derive so much  of our     
knowledge of the society2 while the     
younger ,arnauld1 of whom we  shall     
afterwards speak1 ,nicole1 and the      
subject of our present sketch1          
represent its philosophical and literary
 activity4    ,such was the company to  
which ,pascal joined himself in #afee4  
,they had  been settled in divers       
places1--at first1 in #afcg1 when they  
were still  only a few disciples        
gathered around ,st ,cyran1 in the      
immediate  neighbourhood of ,port ,royal
 de ,paris2 and then1 when driven from  
this  after their great head's          
imprisonment1 for a short time at a     
place called  ,fert ,milon2 and then1   
finally1 in #afci1 at ,port ,royal des  
,champs4  ,here  they made a great      
change for the better by their assiduous

 industry4  ,they drained the marshy    
valley1 cleared it of its overgrowth of 
brushwood1 and converted it into a      
comparatively smiling and salubrious    
abode4  ,on the return of the sisterhood
 from ,port ,royal de ,paris in #afdh1  
the nuns found the place improved beyond
 their expectations4  ,the  conventual  
buildings had been repaired1 and the    
church kept in good  preservation4  ,the
 bells of the church tower pealed a     
welcome2 a large  concourse of the      
neighbouring poor assembled in the      
courtyard to greet  them2 while the     
,solitaries--one of their number1 a     
priest1 bearing a  cross--waited at the 
church door to enter with them1 and     
swell with their  voices the ,te ,deum  
with which they celebrated their return4
  ,after this  they parted1 a few of the
 brotherhood repairing to a house which 
had been  taken for them in ,paris1 but 
others retiring to the well-known farm  
on  the hill known as ,les ,granges4    
,there was1 of course1 the strictest    

seclusion maintained in the nunnery1 as 
before1 and the inmates of ,les         
,granges were wellnigh as completely    
severed from it as the brethren who     
retired to ,paris4    ,the mode of life 
of the ,solitaries was simple in the    
highest degree4  ,they wore no          
distinctive dress4  ,their wants were   
supplied by the barest  necessaries in  
the shape of lodging and furniture4     
,from early morning1  three ,a4,m41 to  
night1 they were occupied in works of   
piety1 charity1 or  industry4  ,they met
 in the chapel after their private      
devotions to say  matins and lauds1 a   
service which occupied about an hour and
 a half1  after which they kissed the   
earth in token of a common lowliness1   
and  sought each his own room for a     
time4  ,the round of devotion thus      
commenced was continued with a steady   
uniformity1--,prime at half-past six2   
,tierces at nine1 and after this a daily
 ,mass2 ,sexte at eleven2 ,nones at     
two2 ,vespers at four2 and ,compline    

closing the series at a quarter-past    
seven4 #hi  ,the ,gospel and ,epistles  
were read daily2 and sometimes  during  
or after dinner the ,lives of the       
,saints4  ,they dined together2 and  a  
walk thereafter formed the sole         
recreation of the day4  ,two hours in   
the morning1 and two in the afternoon1  
were devoted to work in the fields  or  
in the garden by those who were able for
 such tasks4  ,confession and  communion
 were frequent1 but no uniform rule was 
enforced4  ,in this1 as  in fasting and 
austerities generally1 each recluse was 
left to his own  free will2 and1 as will
 be seen in ,pascal's case1 there was no
 need to  stimulate the morbid desire   
for bodily mortification4               
99 99 99 99 99    ,it was in the last   
month of #afed that ,pascal's final     
conversion and  adhesion to ,port ,royal
 took place4  ,his mind for some time   
before had  been greatly agitated1 as   
already explained--filled with disgust  
of the  world and all its enjoyments4   

,then had come the accident at the      
,bridge  of ,neuilly1 and about the same
 time1 or a little later1 a remarkable  
vision or ecstasy which he has himself  
described1 and which has given  rise to 
a good deal of useless speculation4     
,during life he never spoke  of this    
matter1 unless it may have been to his  
confessor2 #ij but after  his death two 
copies of a brief writing were found    
upon him1--the one  written on parchment
 enclosing the other written on paper1  
and carefully  stitched into the clothes
 that he had worn day by day4  ,it is   
beyond  question that ,pascal must have 
been deeply touched by the event1       
whatever  may have been its precise     
nature1 the memorial of which he had    
thus  preserved4  ,the footnote shows   
the writing in the original1 as printed 
by  ,m4 ,faugre3 there are some         
variations in the copies1 but it seems  
most  correctly given as below4  ,it may
 be translated as follows3--            
99 99 99 99 99                          

,the year of grace #afed4    ,monday    
#bc;d ,november1 day of ,st ,clement1   
pope and martyr1 and others in          
the martyrology4                  ,vigil
 of ,st ,chrysogone1 martyr and others4 
,from about half-past ten o'clock in the
 evening till about half-past           
twelve4                                 
,fire4                 ,god of ,abraham1
 ,god of ,isaac1 ,god of ,jacob1        
,not of philosophers and of savants4    
,certitude4  ,certitude4  ,sentiment4   
,joy4  ,peace4                          
,god of ,jesus ,christ                  
,my ,god and your ,god4                 
,thy ,god will be my ,god--             
,oblivion of the world and of all save  
,god4              ,he is found only by 
the ways taught in the ,gospel4         
,grandeur of the human soul4      ,just 
,father1 the world hath not known ,thee1
 but ,i have known ,thee4               
,joy1 joy1 joy1 tears of joy4           
,i have separated myself from ,him--    
,they have forsaken ,me1 the fountain of

 living water4                          
,my ,god1 will you forsake me8--        
,oh1 may ,i not be separated from ,him  
eternally6         ,this is life        
eternal1 that they know ,thee the only  
true ,god1                      and ,him
 whom ,thou hast sent1 ,j4-,c4          
,jesus ,christ--                        
,jesus ,christ--   ,i have separated    
myself from ,him2 ,i have fled1         
renounced1 crucified ,him4              
,oh that ,i may never be separated from 
,him6            ,he is only held fast  
by the ways taught in the ,gospel4      
,renunciation total and sweet1          
etc4 #ia                                
99 99 99 99 99    ,it is difficult to   
make much of this document4  ,are we to 
suppose that  ,pascal1 on the #bc;d of  
,november #afed1 thought he saw a       
vision1 revealing  to him the truth of  
,christianity1 and the vanity of        
philosophy and the  world8  ,even if    
,pascal did this1 our estimate of the   
matter could hardly  be much affected4  

,but there is no evidence that he       
himself attached a  supernatural        
character to the incident4  ,he felt1 no
 doubt1 that a real  revelation had come
 to him1 that his mind had been lifted  
in spiritual  ecstasy away from the love
 of all that for a time had hid from him
 the  presence of ,god and of a higher  
world4  ,the moment of this blessed     
experience had been sacred to him4  ,he 
had tried to trace it in these  broken  
characters1 and in seasons of doubt or  
depression he may have  sought to awaken
 a new fervour of faith and love by     
their contemplation4  ,this seems all   
the natural meaning of the incident2    
but1 as some have  endeavoured to attach
 to it a supernatural importance1 so    
others1 in whom  the idea not only of   
the supernatural but of the spiritual   
only excites  contempt1 have tried to   
give to it a purely superstitious       
character4  ,it  was ,condorcet who     
first applied to the paper the epithet  
of ,pascal's  8,amulette20 and ,llut has

 adopted the epithet1 and written a     
volume more  or less relating to it4    
,he supposes the vision to have occurred
 to  ,pascal on the evening of the day  
when the event at ,neuilly had upset his
  nervous system--always easily         
disturbed--and brought before him a     
frightful  picture of his alienation    
from ,god1 and the piety of his early   
manhood4  ,facts mingled with the dreams
 of his excited imagination4  ,he saw   
the  horses plunging over the precipice1
 and an abyss seemed to open beside     
him--the abyss of eternity2 when1 lo6   
from the depths of the abyss there      
appeared a globe of fire 7un globe de   
feu7 encircled with the ,cross2  and the
 irresistible impulse was stirred in him
 to throw aside the world  for ever1 and
 embrace ,god1--8,not the ,god of       
philosophers or of savants10  but 8the  
,god of ,abraham1 of ,isaac1 of         
,jacob--the ,god of ,jesus ,christ10    
from whom he had been severed1 but from 
whom he felt he never more would  be    

severed2 abiding in ,him in 8sweet and  
total renunciation0 of all else4  ,the  
idea1 of course1 is that ,pascal's dream
 or vision was the result of  physical  
derangement2 and it may be safely       
granted that if the reality at  all     
corresponded to ,llut's imaginary       
picture1 this is its natural            
explanation4  ,the story of the 8vision0
 and the 8abyss0 are thus made1  not    
without a certain appearance of         
probability1 to fit into one another1   
and both into the accident at ,neuilly2 
and a certain congruity of  external and
 internal alarm is hence given to the   
great crisis of  ,pascal's life4        
,unhappily1 however1 there is a lack of 
evidence regarding  the accident itself1
 #id and1 still more1 the accompanying  
story of the  abyss seen by ,pascal at  
his side1 which must make the reader    
cautious who  has no theory to support4 
,voltaire1 in his usual manner1 made the
 most  of ,pascal's supposed delusions4 
8,in the last years of his life10 he    

said1 8,pascal believed that he had seen
 an abyss by the side of his            
chair1--need we on that account have the
 same fancy8  ,i1 too1 see an  abyss1   
but it is in the very things which he   
believed that he had  explained40  ,he  
quotes also the authority of ,leibnitz  
for the statement  that ,pascal's       
melancholy had led his intellect        
astray--a result1 he adds1  not at all  
wonderful in the case of a man of such  
delicate temperament  and gloomy        
imagination4  ,but ,voltaire was not    
precise here1 as in other  matters about
 ,pascal4  ,he understood him too little
 to be a good judge of  his mental      
peculiarities4  ,all that ,leibnitz     
really said was1 that  ,pascal1 8in     
wishing to fathom the depths of         
religion1 had become  scrupulous even to
 folly40 #ie    ,whatever explanation we
 may give of the supposed incidents     
attending  ,pascal's conversion1 there  
never was a more absurd fancy than that 
,pascal's mind suffered any eclipse in  

the great change that came to him4  ,he 
may have been credulous1 he may have    
been superstitious4  ,the miracle  of   
the ,holy ,thorn may be an evidence of  
the one1 and the unnatural  asceticism  
of his later years a proof of the other4
  ,but to speak of the  author of the   
#8,provincial ,letters1' of the problems
 on the ,cycloid1 and  finally of the   
#8,penses1' as if his intellect had     
suffered from his  conversion1 is to use
 words without meaning4  ,all his       
noblest writings  were the product of   
his religious experience1 and he never  
soared so high  in intellectual and     
literary achievement as when moving on  
the wings of  spiritual indignation or  
of spiritual aspiration4    ,the whole  
interest of ,pascal's life from this    
period is concentrated in  his          
writings--first the #8,provincials1' and
 then the #8,penses1' to which we       
devote separate chapters4  ,there was   
only the interval of a year between  his
 conversion and the commencement of his 

great controversy1 and little  is known 
of how he passed his time during this   
interval4  ,he seems to  have remained  
chiefly at ,port ,royal under the       
guidance of ,m4 de ,saci1 and  to have  
felt an unwonted measure of happiness in
 his triumph over the  world and in the 
possession of his own quiet thoughts4   
,we have seen how  he spoke of being    
treated 8like a prince10 and even his   
health seemed to  improve1              
notwithstanding the regularity and      
severity of his religious  devotions4   
,he communicated his feelings of elation
 to his sister1 who  replied 7#aith     
,january #afee7 that she was delighted  
to find him 8gay in  his solitude10 as  
she never was at his happiness in the   
world4  8,notwithstanding10 she adds1   
8,i do not know how ,m4 de ,saci adapts 
himself  to so light-hearted a penitent1
 who professes to find compensation for 
the vain joys and amusements of the     
world in joys somewhat more  reasonable1
 and jeux d'esprit more allowable1      

instead of expiating them  by perpetual 
tears40    ,how long ,pascal's pious    
elation continued is not said1 nor have 
we any  further details of his religious
 life at ,port ,royal4  ,he never       
absolutely  took up his abode there as  
one of the ,solitaries1 and could       
therefore say  in his sixteenth         
,provincial ,letter1 without more than  
an innocent  equivocation1 that he 8did 
not belong to ,port ,royal40  ,he was   
still found  there1 however1 in the     
beginning of the following year 7#afee71
 when the  affair of ,m4 ,arnauld and   
the ,sorbonne was approaching its       
crisis1 and the  idea of his famous     
letters was started in a meeting1 to be 
afterwards  mentioned1 between him and  
,arnauld and ,nicole4  ,after this1     
during the  publication of the          
#8,letters1' ,pascal seems chiefly to   
have resided in  ,paris1 probably with a
 view to the greater facilities he      
enjoyed there in  prosecuting his       
assaults upon the ,jesuits1 which       

continued till the  spring of #afeg4    
,during the following year he was busy  
with the great  idea of a work in       
defence of religion1 suggested partly by
 his own  intellectual activity1 but    
partly also by a special incident at    
,port  ,royal which made a great        
impression upon him4    ,this was the   
famous 8miracle0 of the ,holy ,thorn4   
,madame ,prier's  daughter1 ,marguerite 
,prier--the same to whom we are indebted
 for  interesting memorials of her      
uncle's life--had become1 with her      
sister1 a  pupil at ,port ,royal4  ,she 
suffered from an apparently incurable   
disease  of the eye1 fistula            
lachrymalis4  ,on a sudden she was      
reported to be  entirely cured1 and the 
cure was attributed to the touch of a   
relic which  had been brought to the    
abbey by a priest1--a supposed thorn    
from the  crown of ,christ4  ,it is     
remarkable that the ,mre ,anglique was  
somewhat  slow of belief as to the      
8miracle10 and that she marvelled the   

world  should make so much of it4  ,but 
it secured the credence of ,pascal1 and 
became a great fact in the history of   
,port ,royal1 staying for a time the    
hand of persecution1 and pointing1 as   
its friends believed1 to the  visible   
interposition of heaven4  ,how could the
 accusations against ,port  ,royal be   
true1 seeing what ,god ,himself had done
 on its behalf8  8,this  place1 which   
men say is the devil's temple1 ,god     
makes ,his house4  ,men  declare that   
its children must be taken out of it1   
and ,god heals them  there4  ,they are  
threatened with all the furies2 ,god    
loads them with ,his  favours40  ,this  
was ,pascal's own language on the       
subject1 #ig and there  can be no doubt 
that the supposed miracle deeply        
affected him4  ,he was  8sensibly       
touched10 it is said1 8by such a grace1 
regarding it as  virtually done to      
himself1 seeing it was done to one so   
near to him in  kindred1 and who was his
 spiritual daughter in baptism40  ,he   

was  penetrated by a great joy1 and much
 occupied by the thought of what had    
happened1 and the general subject of    
miracles4  ,there was in this manner    
awakened in him 8the extreme desire of  
employing himself on a work in          
refutation of the principles and false  
reasonings of the atheists40  8,he  had 
studied them10 his sister continues1    
8with great care1 and applied  his whole
 mind to search out the means of        
convincing them4  ,his last year  of    
work was entirely occupied in collecting
 divers thoughts on this  subject40     
,unhappily1 in the course of #afeh      
,pascal's old illness returned with     
redoubled severity1 and the last four   
years of his life became in  consequence
 years of great languor and interruption
 of his projected  work4  ,the practice 
of continuous composition failed him4   
,hitherto he  had been wont to develop  
his thoughts completely1--to write them 
out1 as  it were1 mentally before       
committing them to paper2 but now he    

began the  habit of transferring his    
ideas rapidly1 and sometimes            
imperfectly1 to  manuscript1 as they    
arose in his mind4  ,in many cases1 if  
not in all1  these first sketches       
remained as originally made1 without any
 revision or  further reconstruction2   
and from the mass of papers accumulated 
in this  manner during these years the  
#8,penses' were formed--the story of    
whose  publication will be afterwards   
told4  ,strangely1 it was in this very  
year1 during a fit of severe toothache1 
apparently connected with his  general  
illness1 that ,pascal began his         
wonderful series of problems on  the    
cycloid1 showing how fresh and          
unimpaired his scientific genius        
remained under all the changes of his   
health and of his main intellectual     
interests4    ,the last years of        
,pascal's life1 in their deep suffering1
 and in their  many traits of pious     
resignation and self-denial1 have been  
fully  sketched by ,madame ,prier4  ,we 

do not think it necessary to repeat the 
sketch here1 touching and beautiful as  
in some respects it is4  ,it is         
impossible to read her simple and       
earnest narrative without emotion1 and  
yet the emotion is apt to evaporate in  
translation4  ,it is impossible1  also1 
to avoid the feeling that1 with all the 
tenderness and humility of  ,pascal's   
later years1 there mingle a strange     
pride in his very  austerities1 and     
something of the nature of religious    
mania1 which1  beautiful as may be the  
forms it sometimes takes1 is yet in its 
spirit1  and in not a few of its        
excesses1 essentially unlovely4         
,pascal's care of  the poor1 his love of
 them--8to serve the poor in a spirit of
 poverty0 was  what appeared to him     
8most agreeable to ,god0--his wish to   
die among them1  to be carried to the   
,hospital for ,incurables1 and breathe  
his last there2  the story of his rescue
 of the poor girl who asked alms from   
him on the  streets2 his unparalleled   

patience1 and even gladness1 in         
suffering1 so  that he seemed to welcome
 it and bind it about him as a garment2 
his  wonderful humility and yet his     
noble courage at the last in the matter 
of  the ,formulary1--all this goes to   
the heart of the reader4  ,it must be a 
cold heart that is not moved by the     
picture of a great soul striving 8to    
renounce all pleasure and all           
superfluities10--to copy literally1 like
 ,st  ,francis1 the portrait of his     
,master4  ,but here1 as everywhere1 the 
human  copy falls infinitely short of   
the divine ,original4  ,there is the    
loveliness of a true human life beneath 
all the picture of suffering  presented 
to us in the ,gospels4  ,all the hues of
 natural feeling have  gone out of the  
last years of ,pascal4  ,he not only    
bore suffering--he  preferred it2 and he
 boldly justified his preference4       
8,sickness10 he  said1 8is the natural  
state of the ,christian2 it puts us in  
the condition  in which we always ought 

to be40  ,in this spirit he strove to   
deaden any  sensation of pleasure in his
 food1 in the attentions of his         
relatives and  friends1 even in his     
studies4  ,he could not bear to see his 
sister  caressing her children2 there   
seemed to him harm in even saying that a
  woman was beautiful2 the married state
 was a 8kind of homicide or rather      
,deicide40  ,he thought it wrong that   
any one should find pleasure in         
attachment to him1 for he 8was not the  
final object of any being1 and had  not 
wherewith to satisfy any40  ,so jealous 
was he of any surprise of  pleasure1 of 
any thought of vanity or complacency in 
himself and his  work1 that he wore a   
girdle of iron next his skin1 the sharp 
points of  which he pressed closely when
 he thought himself in any danger1      
especially in such moments of           
intercourse with the world as he still  
sometimes allowed himself4    ,such     
details are neither interesting in      
themselves nor do they present  ,pascal 

in his highest character4  ,one cannot  
help feeling that1 touching  as ,madame 
,prier's narrative is1 there must have  
been1 even in the ,pascal  of later     
years1 more than she has drawn for us4  
,one glimpse we get1 but  not in her    
pages1 of a more natural temper1 when he
 withstood his  ,jansenist friends in   
the matter of subscribing the ,formulary
 demanded  from the ,port ,royalists4   
,he had himself previously been willing 
to  subscribe1 with certain             
restrictions1 when his sister           
,jacqueline alone  stood out in her     
resistance to what she deemed a         
treasonable betrayal of  the cause4     
,she signed at last1 but against her    
conscience1 and1 so to  speak1 with her 
blood4  ,she died immediately           
afterwards1 the first victim  of the    
signature1 as she has been called1 and  
bequeathing a letter to her             
fellow-sufferers on the subject4        
,whether inspired by her words or not1  
,pascal took a firm stand against any   

further concessions1 and in a famous    
interview with ,arnauld1 ,nicole1 and   
,sainte-,marthe1 he argued the point    
with such strength and vehemence that he
 fell fainting to the ground4  #aja     
,this was in the end of #affa1 when his 
sufferings were fast drawing to a       
close4  ,in the previous summer1 when at
 ,clermont1 he had written to  ,fermat  
that he was so weak as to be 8unable to 
walk without a stick1 or  to hold       
himself on horseback40  ,his weakness   
had grown apace1 and in ,june  #affb he 
was seized with his last illness4  ,it  
was necessary that his  sister should   
nurse him1 and this could only be done  
by his removal to  her house1 for he had
 given up his own house to a poor       
family1 one of  whose children had taken
 smallpox1 and he would allow neither   
the child  to be removed nor his sister 
to run the risk of carrying infection to
 her  children4  ,he left his own home  
for hers1 therefore1 on the #bgth of    
,june1  and never returned4  ,three days

 after his removal he was seized with a 
violent colic1 which deprived him of all
 sleep4  ,his physicians at first  were 
not alarmed1 as his pulse continued     
good1 but gradually pain and            
sleeplessness wore him out4  ,he        
confessed both to the cur of the  parish
 and to his friend ,sainte-,marthe1 one 
of the directors of the  community4  ,he
 wished1 as we said1 to die in the      
,hospital for ,incurables  amongst the  
poor1 but in his state of weakness it   
was impossible to  gratify this wish4   
,after the administration of the last   
sacrament1 which  he received with      
tearful emotion1 he thanked the cur1 and
 exclaimed1  8,may ,god never leave me60
  ,these were his last words4           
,convulsions having  returned1 he       
expired on the #aith of ,august #affb4  
,it is unnecessary to attempt any       
estimate of ,pascal's character4  ,the  
reader must draw it for himself in the  
light of these pages4  ,with all        
enthusiasm for its grandeur and unity of

 purpose1 and that moral and            
intellectual elevation which it         
everywhere shows1 it may be found       
lacking  in breadth and variety1 and    
that familiar interest and charm which  
strangely often come from the           
contemplation of human weakness rather  
than  of human strength4  ,there is     
certainly less to love in him than to   
admire--less to call forth delight than 
respect4  ,the play of natural          
individuality is hidden behind lines of 
lofty distance1 and latterly of         
,jansenist severity4  ,a proud1 ascetic1
 and worn figure seems to rise  before  
us2 but strangely ,pascal's portrait1 as
 known to us1 conveys no  idea of       
asceticism4  ,the face is full-fleshed  
and expressive1 like the  face of a     
child1 with large ripe lips and open    
eyes of wonder1--a portrait  which      
suggests the companion of the ,duc de   
,roannez in his years of  pleasure1     
rather than the weary and pain-worn     
penitent of ,port ,royal4  #ajb         

,,chapter ,v4  ,,the #8,,provincial     
,,letters4'      ,pascal's #8,letters to
 a ,provincial' represent a great       
controversy1 the  nature of which it is 
necessary to explain4  ,they are1 at the
 same time1  the most perfect expression
 of his literary genius1 and touch      
theological  questions with such an     
inimitable grace and felicity of        
expression as to  have awakened a       
universal intellectual interest4  ,it   
may be hard to  justify this interest by
 any analysis of their contents1 or by  
such  extracts as can be given from     
them4  ,no ,english can convey the      
exquisite  fitness of ,french polemical 
expression in its highest form1 its     
mingled  force and delicacy1 its        
keenness and yet its lightness4  ,we    
shall1  however1 endeavour to give as   
clearly as we can an account1 first1 of 
the  controversy out of which the       
#8,letters' originated1 and then of the 
consummate skill with which ,pascal     
conducted it4    ,m4 de ,st ,cyran is   

not merely one of the chief figures     
connected with ,port  ,royal3 he was the
 fountain-head of its special power4    
,to his influence  and teaching it was  
indebted for its chief glory and its    
most terrible  sufferings4  ,jean       
,baptist du ,vergier d',hauranne1 better
 known by the  above official           
designation1 was of noble family4  ,he  
was born at ,bayonne  in #aeha1 and     
early devoted himself to the study of   
theology at ,louvain  and ,paris4       
,while a student1 he is supposed to have
 first made the  acquaintance of        
,cornelius ,jansen1 and to have begun   
with him that  co-operation which was   
destined to bear such remarkable fruits4
  ,their  intimacy was one based on     
spiritual affinity and a common         
enthusiasm4  ,for ,jansen was the son of
 poor peasants1 without even a surname4 
,his  father is only known as ,jan      
,ottosen1 or ,john the son of ,otto2 as 
the son  in his turn was ,cornelius     
,jansen1 or the son of ,john4  ,jansen  

was the  younger of the two friends1    
having been born in #aehe2 but he       
appears to  have exercised a powerful   
influence over his older companion4     
,the great  bond of their union and     
common enthusiasm was the study of ,st  
,augustine4  ,for the purpose of        
pursuing this study undisturbed1 they   
retired to the  seaside near ,bayonne1  
and here they established themselves in 
scholastic  seclusion4  ,smitten with   
the desire of attaining theological     
truth1 they  found the ,schoolmen       
constantly appealing to ,st ,augustine  
as their  authority1 and they           
consequently resolved to examine this   
authority for  themselves1 and so ascend
 to what they believed to be the source 
of their  favourite science4  ,had they 
taken only one step further1 they would 
have  approached ,protestantism2 and as 
it was1 the favourite charge which the  
,jesuits afterwards made against them   
was1 that they were ,calvinists in      
disguise4  ,unconsciously they were so1 

notwithstanding all their  disclaimers4 
,the ,jesuits were unscrupulous2 but    
their penetration here1  as in many     
other cases1 was not at fault4  ,the    
doctrines so warmly  espoused by ,jansen
 and ,st ,cyran were the old doctrines  
of grace1 which  ,calvin and they alike 
borrowed from ,st ,augustine1 and he in 
his turn  found in the ,epistles of ,st 
,paul4 #aje  ,and the controversy which 
their  labours were destined once more  
to awaken in the bosom of the ,catholic 
,church was nothing else than the old   
dispute which1 since the days of        
,augustine and ,pelagius1 had more than 
once already agitated it4    ,the       
fellow-students continued their studies 
near ,bayonne for five years4  ,so      
closely did they work1 that ,jansen is  
said to have spent days and  nights in  
the same chair1 snatching only brief    
intervals of rest4  ,a game  at         
battledore and shuttlecock occasionally 
relieved their vigils2 but no  serious  
employment divided their attention with 

the arduous task upon  which they had   
entered1 of mastering and digesting the 
principles of the  ,augustinian         
theology4  ,the ,bishop of ,bayonne     
offered preferment to  ,d',hauranne1 and
 there were projects of settling ,jansen
 also at the head  of a college2 but it 
was not till some time afterwards that  
either of  them entered upon official   
labours4  ,they were left during those  
years to  the uninterrupted studies     
which subsequently resulted in the great
 work  of ,jansen4  ,the system of      
theological thought associated with his 
name  was then definitely matured4      
,it is beyond our province to sketch the
 career of these fellow-students1  one  
of whom became the chief spiritual      
director of ,port ,royal1 and the  other
 its great theological centre4  ,the    
abbey of ,st ,cyran was the only        
preferment which ,d',hauranne ever      
accepted1 notwithstanding ,richelieu's  
repeated offers of a bishopric4  ,he was
 content to exercise from his  monastic 

seclusion an influence far more powerful
 than that of any bishop  of his day4   
,and so penetrating and dangerous did   
this influence seem to  the great       
,minister whose efforts to bind him to  
his side had so often  failed1 that he  
at length shut him up in ,vincennes     
7,may #afch74  ,here he  remained in    
close confinement for more than four    
years2 but even from  this gloomy       
retreat the impression of his great     
personal power was spread  abroad1 and  
felt in many quarters as steadily as    
before4  ,he survived his  release only 
a few months4  ,his long imprisonment   
had broken down his  health2 and        
although the enthusiasm of his spirit   
was strong as ever1 his  weakened body  
was no longer able to answer to its     
demands4  ,he could  hardly 8hold       
himself up10 and a slight attack of     
illness carried him off4    ,st ,cyran's
 chief strength seems to have lain in a 
concentrated enthusiasm  and quiet      
strength of will which enabled him to   

hold his own against all  opposition1   
and to subdue other minds larger than   
his own to his  purposes4  ,when the    
,prince de ,cond interceded for him     
after his arrest1  ,richelieu's reply   
was3 8,do you know of whom you are      
speaking8  ,that man  is more dangerous 
than six armies4  ,i say that attrition 
with  confession is necessary3 he       
believes that contrition is necessary4  
#ajf  ,and in the affair of ,monsieur's 
marriage all ,france has given way  to  
me1 and he alone has the hardihood to   
oppose it40  ,against all  enticements  
and assaults alike he set a proud and   
firm faith in his own  mission--a       
patience sublime in its calmness1 and in
 the unwavering  consciousness of       
,divine right on his side4  8,i am      
careful to complain of  nothing10 he    
said in his imprisonment4  8,i am ready 
to remain here a  hundred years2 to die 
here1 if ,god will4  ,i am ready for    
whatever ,he  designs--for action or for
 suffering40  ,the same faith and quiet 

assurance  gave him his marvellous      
influence over others1 and that         
fascination which  made him a power in  
the cultivated society of ,paris4  ,all 
the ,arnauld  family more or less owned 
his influence2 and it was his teaching  
mainly  that peopled ,port ,royal with  
the ,solitaries who have made it so     
illustrious4    ,the life and work of   
,jansen seem at first far removed from  
,port ,royal4  ,he returned to ,louvain 
after his sojourn at ,bayonne1 and      
became a  professor of theology in its  
famous university1 on whose behalf he   
was  employed in several political      
negotiations with the ,spanish ,court4  
,finally he was appointed ,bishop of    
,ypres1 in which capacity he is chiefly 
known in the ecclesiastical world4  ,his
 fame1 however1 rests not on any        
political or ecclesiastical labours1 but
 on the results flowing from his        
original studies at ,bayonne4  ,he never
 forgot his devotion to ,st  ,augustine4
  ,he is said to have read the whole of 

his writings ten times1  and the        
treatises against the ,pelagians not    
less than thirty times4  ,the  fruit of 
all this studious devotion was his work 
known briefly as the  #8,augustinus1'   
#ajg published two years after his death
 7in #afdj74  ,nothing could have seemed
 more innocent or laudable than the     
attempt by a  bishop of the ,church to  
set forth the doctrine of ,st           
,augustine4  ,the book  professed to    
have been undertaken in a humble spirit4
        8,i have avoided error where ,i 
could10 says the author2 8for the cases 
in which ,i could not1 ,i implore the   
reader's pardon4 4 4 4  ,let the        
knowledge of my sincerity make amends   
for the simplicity of my error4      ,i 
know that if ,i have erred1 it is not in
 the assertion of ,catholic      truth1 
but in the statement of the opinion of  
,st ,augustine2 for ,i      have not    
laid down what is true or false1 what is
 to be held or      rejected according  
to the faith of the ,catholic ,church1  

but only what      ,augustine taught and
 declared was to be held40    ,a task of
 such a character1 carried out in such a
 spirit1 might have  seemed a harmless  
one4    ,but the ,jesuits had long      
marked both ,st ,cyran and ,jansen as   
theological  foes1 opposed to their     
special doctrines4  ,they endeavoured   
therefore1  first of all1 to prevent the
 publication of ,jansen's work2 and     
failing in  this1 they directed all     
their efforts to procure a condemnation 
of the  book from the ,court of ,rome4  
8,never10 it has been said1 8did any    
book  receive a more stormy welcome4    
,within a few weeks of its appearance   
the  ,university1 the ,jesuits1 the     
executors of ,jansen1 the printer of the
  #8,augustinus1' the ,spanish governor 
of the ,low ,countries1 and the ,papal  
,nuncio were engaged in a warfare of    
pamphlets1 treatises1 pasquinades1      
pleadings1 synods1 audiences1 which it  
would be impossible to set forth  in    
historical sequence40 #ajh  ,in the     

midst of all this1 ,jansen's old        
fellow-student received the book1 in the
 preparation of which he also had  had  
some share1 in his prison at ,vincennes1
 as if an echo of his own  thoughts4    
8,it would last as long as the ,church10
 he said4  8,after ,st  ,paul and ,st   
,augustine1 no one had written          
concerning grace like ,jansen40    ,the 
,jesuits were resolved in their         
hostility4  ,they knew that the book1   
while assuming a historical form1 and   
professing in the main to represent  the
 doctrine of ,augustine as directed     
against the errorists of his own  time1 
had a side reference to the 8opinions of
 certain modern authors10  understood to
 be well-known theologians of their own 
school4  ,this was in  fact acknowledged
 in an appendix4  ,unable any longer to 
wreak their  vengeance on the author    
himself1 they were resolved to put his  
work under  ban2 and accordingly1 a     
,bull was obtained from ,rome in the    
summer of  #afdb1 condemning ,jansen by 

name1 and declaring that the            
#8,augustinus'  contained 8many         
propositions already condemned0 by the  
,holy ,see4  ,it was  doubted whether   
the ,pope1 ,urban ,,viii41 designed to  
go the length  announced in the bull1   
and the terms of the condemnation were  
rumoured to  have been inserted by a    
,papal officer in the interests of the  
,jesuits4  ,the ,universities of        
,louvain and ,paris therefore did not   
take any steps to  carry out the        
condemnation4  ,they remained spectators
 of the controversy  which raged around 
them1 in which the ,archbishop of ,paris
 on one side1  and the youngest of the  
,arnauld family on the other1 were      
conspicuous4    ,antoine ,arnauld was   
the last of the twenty children born to 
the great  parliamentary orator and     
,catherine ,marion his wife1 of whom we 
have  already spoken4  ,his nephews1 ,le
 ,maitre and ,de ,saci1 were so near his
 own  age1 that they were accustomed to 
call him familiarly le petit oncle4     

,early consecrated to theological       
studies by the influence of ,st ,cyran  
and  his mother1 he espoused zealously  
the ,augustinian doctrines4  ,a splendid
  prospect seemed opening before him1   
had he chosen to enter the ,church and  
pursue an ecclesiastical career in the  
ordinary manner4  ,but while  thirsting 
for theological distinction1 he had     
scruples about his vocation  to the holy
 office4  ,he overcame his scruples so  
far as to become a  priest2 but not only
 would he not accept the benefices      
placed within his  reach by powerful    
friends--he insisted on resigning such  
as he held4  ,he  even disposed of his  
patrimony for the benefit of ,port      
,royal1 preserving  only as much as     
would provide him with the bare         
necessaries of life4  ,he  became a     
doctor in #afda1 and already1 in #afdc1 
the interest of the whole  theological  
world was aroused by his treatise1 #8,of
 ,frequent ,communion4'    ,the aim of  
this treatise1 as of all ,arnauld's     

writings1 was  anti-,jesuitical4  ,he   
set forth1 backed by the authority of   
8,fathers1  ,popes1 and ,councils10 the 
necessity of spiritual preparation for  
the ,holy  ,communion1 in opposition to 
the formula which had been boldly       
advanced by  more than one ,jesuit      
teacher1 that 8the more we are devoid of
 divine  grace1 the more ought we to    
seek ,jesus ,christ in the ,eucharist40 
,the  commotion made by the publication 
shows how grave was the need for it4    
,on the one hand it was warmly welcomed1
 many pious bishops and doctors         
testifying approbation of its contents2 
on the other hand it was  violently     
assailed4  ,the ,jesuit pulpits         
resounded with abuse of it and of  its  
author4  ,all ,paris was disturbed by   
the noise which it made4  8,there  must 
be a snake in the grass somewhere10 it  
was wittily remarked1 8for  the ,jesuits
 were never so excited when only the    
glory of ,god was at  stake40  ,the     
learned ,petavius1 and even the ,prince 

de ,cond1 did not  disdain to mingle in 
the combat4  ,for a time ,arnauld seemed
 to triumph1  but finally the influence 
of ,rome was brought against him1 and he
 was  glad to take refuge in            
concealment--the first of the many      
concealments  into which his incessant  
polemical activity drove him in the     
course of  his long life4  ,he never    
abated his opposition4  ,he had no      
sooner retired  from one controversy1   
than he reappeared in some other4  ,his 
energy knew  no bounds1 his love of     
fighting no pause4  ,when in his old age
 his friend  and fellow-student ,nicole 
advised him to rest4  8,rest60 he said2 
8have ,i  not all eternity to rest in80 
,it was a matter of course that when the
 great ,jansenist controversy  began1   
,arnauld should be found in the van of  
it4  #8,an ,apology for ,jansen'        
appeared from his pen in #afdd1 and a   
second #8,apology' in the following     
year4  ,it seemed for a time as if the  
,jesuits would be foiled in their       

efforts to secure the effectual         
condemnation of the book4  ,but at      
length  one of their number1 ,nicolas   
,cornet1 ,syndic of the ,faculty of     
,theology at  ,paris1 collected its     
essential heresy in the shape of seven  
propositions4  ,these propositions were 
afterwards reduced to five2 and at      
length1 on the  #cast of ,may #afec1 a  
formal condemnation of them was obtained
 from the  ,court of ,rome4  ,there was 
no longer any doubt as to the attitude  
of the  ,holy ,see4  ,all the           
propositions were declared to be        
distinctly heretical1  and the first and
 the fifth1 moreover1 to be blasphemous 
and impious4  ,this result was not      
reached without much debate and delay4  
,no sooner had  ,cornet's propositions  
appeared than ,arnauld assailed them and
 all who  supported them4  ,a           
congregation of four cardinals and      
eleven theological  assessors had been  
appointed to examine them in the end of 
the year #afea4  ,they had taken1       

therefore1 a year and a half to their   
work1 and the  sentence at length issued
 was intended to bring the long warfare 
to a  close4  ,in point of fact it      
kindled a fresh fire1 and opened1 if not
 a  larger1 yet a more vital            
controversy4  ,arnauld retired willingly
 before a  new writer summoned by       
himself into the field1 and girded with 
his  blessing as he went forth to the   
encounter4    ,the five propositions1   
which were professed to be extracted    
from ,jansen's  book1 and as such were  
condemned by the ,papal ,bull of #cast  
,may #afec1 are  so intimately connected
 with the #8,provincial ,letters' as to 
claim a place  in our pages4  ,they are 
as follows3--        ,i4  ,there are    
divine commandments which good men1     
although willing1      are unable to    
obey2 and the grace by which these      
commandments are      possible is also  
wanting in them4        ,,ii4  ,no      
person1 in the state of fallen nature1  
is able to resist      internal grace4  

,,iii4  ,in order to render human       
actions meritorious or otherwise1       
liberty from necessity is not required1 
but only liberty from      constraint4  
,,iv4  ,the semi-,pelagians1 while      
admitting the necessity of prevenient   
grace--or grace preceding all           
actions--were heretics1 inasmuch as they
      said that this grace was such as  
man could1 according to his will1       
either resist or obey4        ,v4  ,the 
semi-,pelagians also erred in saying    
that ,christ died or shed      ,his     
blood for all men universally4    ,it   
would be needless for us to touch these 
propositions1 even by way of            
explanation4  ,we have endeavoured to   
state them from the original ,latin  as 
clearly as we can1 so that they may bear
 some definite meaning even to  the     
non-theological reader4  ,but their very
 statement bristles with  controversy1  
and the half-extinct meanings of old    
questions that go to  the root of       
,christian thought lie hid in their     

language4  ,all the  propositions were  
condemned without reserve1 but two      
points were left  unsettled4  ,it was   
not asserted that the propositions were 
to be found in  the #8,augustinus1' and 
that they were condemned in the sense in
 which  ,jansen held them1 and in no    
other4  ,the course of the controversy  
and the  fate of ,port ,royal in the end
 mainly turned upon these points4       
,the ,papal ,bull condemning the five   
propositions was speedily published in  
,france1 and the triumph of the ,jesuits
 was undisguised4  ,a great blow had    
been struck1 and for a time all seemed  
inclined to bow before it4  ,political  
reasons combined with others to give    
effect to the ,papal  verdict4          
,cardinal ,mazarin1 in possession of the
 favour of the  ,queen-mother1 had      
imprisoned his enemy1 ,cardinal de      
,retz1 who had so long  waged in the    
intrigues and wars of the ,fronde a     
restless conflict with  them2 and as the
 latter in his prosperity had shown a   

certain favour for  ,port ,royal1 this  
was enough to stimulate1 on the part of 
,mazarin1 an  interest on behalf of the 
,jesuits4  ,yet he was reluctant to move
 actively  against the ,jansenists4  ,m4
 d',andilly still had his ear in matters
 of  ,state1 and by his intervention and
 that of others the project of an       
armistice was for a time entertained4   
,port ,royal was to keep silence1 if    
its enemies did not push their triumph  
to an extremity4  ,even the             
indefatigable ,arnauld seems to have    
promised to be quiet4  ,but the         
,jesuits were too conscious of their    
power1 and too relentless in their      
hostility1 to pause in their            
determination to crush their opponents4 
,they had recourse both to gibes and to 
active persecution4  ,they printed  an  
almanac with the figure of ,jansen as   
frontispiece1 flying in the guise  of a 
winged devil before the ,pope and the   
king into the arms of the  ,huguenots4  
,they assailed the ,duc de ,liancourt1  

and refused him  absolution in his own  
parish church1 for no other reason but  
that he was  on friendly relations with 
,port ,royal1 and would not withdraw1 at
 their  demand1 his granddaughter from  
its protection4  ,this affair1 which    
appears to have been deliberately       
planned1 caused a great sensation1 and  
became1 strangely1 the indirect occasion
 of the #8,provincial ,letters4'        
,indignant at such an outrage1 ,arnauld 
was no longer to be restrained4  ,he    
rushed before the public with a pamphlet
 under the title1 8,letter of a  ,doctor
 of the ,sorbonne to a ,person of       
,condition1 concerning an event  which  
has recently happened in a parish of    
,paris to a ,nobleman of the  ,court1   
,february #bd1 #afee40  ,the ,letter    
opened with an expression of his  wish  
to dispute no more2 but as              
,sainte-,beuve hints1 the avowed desire 
of  peace plunged him all the more into 
war4  ,his letter called forth  numerous
 replies4  ,he responded by a 8,second  

,letter10 in the shape of a  volume4    
,in this letter his enemies seemed to   
see his fate written4  ,they  extracted 
from it two propositions which in their 
view clearly  contravened the ,papal    
verdict--namely1 #ast1 that he had      
expressed doubts  whether the five      
propositions condemned as heretical were
 in ,jansen's  book at all2 and #b;d1   
that he had really reproduced the first 
of the five  condemned propositions in  
one of his own statements1 that         
according to  both the ,gospel and the  
,fathers1 ,st ,peter1 a just man1 was   
wanting in  grace when he fell4  ,this  
was nothing but undisguised ,jansenism1 
and his  accusers in the ,sorbonne      
rallied for his overthrow4  ,a meeting  
was  summoned to consider the letter1   
and to judge it and the author4    ,the 
details of the proceedings would weary  
the reader4  ,it is sufficient  to say  
that1 notwithstanding the concessions   
wrung from ,arnauld1 some of  which were
 humiliating enough1 he was condemned on

 the first point 7,jan4  #afef7--the    
great question of 8fait10 in contrast to
 the question of  8droit10 involved in  
the second statement as to grace being  
wanting to ,st  ,peter in his fall4     
,his condemnation1 however1 was mainly  
secured by the  introduction of a number
 of monks who swelled the majority      
against him1  and the legality of whose 
vote was challenged by many members4    
,but1 as  ,pascal afterwards said1 8it  
was easier to find monks than           
arguments40  ,the second and doctrinal  
point received professedly more         
deliberate  discussion4  ,the sittings  
regarding it were protracted till the   
close of  the month1 the #bith of       
,january4  ,but the result was really   
forestalled4  ,the restriction laid on  
free debate was such as to lead no fewer
 than  sixty doctors to withdraw1       
protesting to ,parliament against the   
interference with their rights4  ,their 
protest1 however1 came to nothing4      
,sentence was finally passed1 against   

not only ,arnauld1 but all who  adhered 
to him or espoused his opinions4  ,the  
victim1 with his usual  adroitness1     
escaped his pursuers1 and went once more
 into a concealment  which all their    
vigilance could not penetrate4  ,two    
days after the  censure he wrote to one 
of his nieces1 8,i am in very close     
hiding1 and by  ,god's grace without    
trouble or disquiet40  8,would you like 
me to tell you  where ,m4 ,arnauld is   
hidden80 inquired a lady of the         
gendarmes who were  searching her house 
for traces of him4  8,he is safely      
hidden here10  pointing to her heart2   
8arrest him if you can40    ,it was in  
the interval betwixt the first and      
second judgment of the  ,sorbonne that  
the first of the #8,provincial ,letters'
 appeared4  ,the story  is1 #aaf;a that 
during the course of the process        
,arnauld1 ,nicole1 and  ,pascal1 along  
with ,m4 ,vitart1 the steward of the    
,duc de ,luynes 7to whom  ,arnauld's    
second ,letter had been addressed71 and 

other friends1 were met  in secrecy at  
,port ,royal des ,champs4  ,their       
conversation turned to the  pending     
case1 and the misapprehensions and      
prejudices which prevailed in  the      
public mind regarding it4  ,it was felt 
that some effort should be  made to     
clear away these prejudices1 and to     
diffuse right information in  a popular 
form4  ,arnauld1 ever ready with his    
pen1 was prepared himself  to undertake 
this task2 and in a few days afterwards 
he read to his  friends a long and      
serious paper in vindication of his     
position4  ,but his  friends were not   
moved as he expected4  ,his pen1        
powerful in its own  sphere1 was not    
fitted to tell upon the popular mind2   
and his audience  were too honest to    
conceal their disappointment4  ,arnauld1
 in his turn1  frankly acknowledged the 
truth forced upon him4  8,i see you do  
not find  my paper what you wished1 and 
,i believe you are right10 he said2 and 
then1 turning all at once to ,pascal1 he

 said1 8,but you1 who are young1  who   
are clever1 #aaf;b you ought to do      
something40  ,the effect was not  lost  
upon ,pascal4  ,he divined with his     
genuine literary instinct exactly  what 
was required in the circumstances1      
although distrusting his power to       
produce it4  ,he promised1 however1 to  
make an attempt1 which his friends      
might polish and put in shape as they   
thought fit4  ,next day he produced  8,a
 ,letter written to a ,provincial by one
 of his friends40  ,the ,letter was     
unanimously pronounced exactly what was 
required1 and ordered to be  printed4   
,it appeared on the #bc;d ,january      
#afef2 and a second followed six  days  
later4    ,nothing could have been      
happier or more admirably suited for    
their  purpose than those ,letters4     
,they took up the subject for the first 
time  in a light intelligible to all4   
,they brought to play upon it not only a
  penetrating and rapid intelligence1   
but a brightness of wit1 and a  dramatic

 creativeness1 which made the ,sorbonne 
and its parties1 the  ,jansenists and   
their friends1 alive before the reader4 
,never was the  triumph of genius over  
mere learned labour more complete4      
,arnauld1 as he  listened to them1 must 
have felt his own thoughts spring up    
before him  into a living shape1 hardly 
less startling to himself than to his   
opponents4    ,addressing his friend in 
the country1 the author expresses his   
surprise  at what he has come to learn  
of the character of the disputes        
dividing  the ,sorbonne3--        8,we  
have been imposed upon10 he says4  8,it 
was only yesterday that ,i      was     
undeceived4  ,until then ,i had thought 
that the disputes of the      ,sorbonne 
were really important1 and deeply       
affected the interests of      religion4
  ,the frequent convocation of an       
assembly so illustrious as      that of 
the ,theological ,faculty of ,paris1    
attended by so many      extraordinary  
and unprecedented circumstances1 induced

 such high      expectations that one   
could not help believing the business to
 be of      extraordinary importance4   
,you will be much surprised1 however1   
when      you learn from this letter the
 upshot of the grand demonstration4  ,i 
can explain the matter in a few words1  
having made myself perfectly      master
 of it40    ,two questions1 he says1    
were under examination--8the one a      
question of  fact1 the other a question 
of right40    ,he explains the question 
of fact as consisting in the point      
whether ,m4  ,arnauld was guilty of     
temerity in expressing his doubts as to 
the  propositions being in ,jansen's    
book after the bishops had declared that
  they were4  ,no fewer than seventy-one
 doctors undertook his defence1         
maintaining that all that could         
reasonably be asked of him was to say   
that 8he had not been able to find them1
 but that if they were in the  book1 he 
condemned them there40        8,some10  
he continues1 8even went a step farther1

 and protested that1      after all the 
search they had made in the book1 they  
had never      stumbled upon these      
propositions1 and that they had1 on the 
contrary1      found sentiments entirely
 at variance with them4  ,they then     
earnestly      begged that if any doctor
 present had discovered them1 he would  
have      the goodness to point them    
out2 adding that what was so easy could 
not be reasonably refused1 as that would
 be the surest way to silence      all  
objectors1 ,m4 ,arnauld included4  ,but 
this they have always      refused to   
do4  ,so much for the one side4         
8,on the other side are eighty secular  
doctors1 and some forty      mendicant  
friars1 who have condemned ,m4          
,arnauld's proposition1      without    
choosing to examine whether he has      
spoken truly or      falsely--who1 in   
fact1 have declared that they have      
nothing to do with      the veracity of 
his proposition1 but simply with its    
temerity4      ,besides these were      

fifteen who were not in favour of the   
censure1 and      who are called        
,neutrals40    ,having thus stated the  
question of fact1 and the balance of    
parties  regarding it1 ,pascal dismisses
 it at once1 important as it proved in  
the  after-history of ,port ,royal4     
8,as to the issue of the question of    
fact1 ,i own ,i give myself very        
little concern4  ,it does not affect my 
conscience in the least      whether ,m4
 ,arnauld is presumptuous or the        
reverse2 and should ,i be      tempted  
from curiosity to ascertain whether     
these propositions are      contained in
 ,jansen1 his book is neither so very   
scarce nor so very      large but that  
,i can read it all through for my own   
enlightenment      without consulting   
the ,sorbonne at all40    ,only1 while  
himself hitherto inclined to believe    
with common report that  the            
propositions were in ,jansen1 he was now
 almost led to doubt that they  were so 
from the absurd refusal to point them   

out4  ,in this respect he  fears the    
censure will do more harm than good4    
8,for1 in truth1 people  have become    
sceptical of late1 and will not believe 
things till they see  them40    ,but the
 point being in itself so frivolous1 he 
hastens to take up the  question of     
right1 as touching the faith4  ,and here
 the play of the  dialogue begins3--    
8,you and ,i supposed that the question 
here was one involving the      deepest 
principles of grace1 as to whether it is
 given to all men1 or      whether it is
 efficacious of itself4  ,but truly we  
were deceived4      ,you must know ,i   
have become a great theologian in a     
short time1 and      you will see the   
proofs of it40    ,he describes1 then1  
how he had made a visit to a doctor of  
the ,sorbonne1  who was his neighbour1  
and one of the most zealous opponents of
 the  ,jansenists1 to inquire into the  
controversy4  ,he asked him why the     
question as to grace should not be set  
at rest by a formal decision that       

8grace is really given to all08  ,but he
 received a rude rebuff1 and was  told  
that this was not the point4  8,there   
were those on his side who held  that   
grace is not given to all1 and even the 
examiners themselves had  declared1 in a
 full meeting of the ,sorbonne1 that    
this opinion was  problematical40  ,this
 was1 in fact1 his own view2 and he     
confirmed it by  what he said was a     
celebrated passage of ,st ,augustine1   
8,we know that  grace is not given to   
all men40  ,he was equally unfortunate  
in his second  inquiry4  ,his neighbour1
 opposed as he was to ,jansenism1 would 
not  condemn the doctrine of efficacious
 grace4  ,the doctrine1 on the          
contrary1 was quite orthodox1 was held  
by the ,jesuits1 and had even been      
defended by himself in his thesis at the
 ,sorbonne4  ,the inquirer is           
confounded1 and ventures to ask then in 
what ,m4 ,arnauld's heresy  consisted8  
8,in this10 replies his friend1 8that he
 does not acknowledge  that the just    

have the power of obeying the           
commandments of ,god in the  way in     
which we understand it40  ,having got to
 what he supposes the  8heart of the    
affair10 he posts off to a ,jansenist   
acquaintance1 8a very  decent man       
notwithstanding40  ,but if he was       
puzzled before1 he is still  more       
puzzled when he hears the worthy        
,jansenist declare that it is no  heresy
 to hold that 8all the just have always 
the power of obeying the  ,divine       
commandments40  ,confounded by such a   
reply1 he felt that he had  been too    
plain-spoken with both ,jansenist and   
,molinist4 #abj  ,there must  be        
something more in this dispute than he  
understood2 and if not1 there  was no   
reason why there should not now be peace
 in the ,church and the  ,sorbonne4  ,he
 returned to the ,molinist1 whom he had 
first visited1 with  this assurance4    
,the ,jansenists1 he said1 were quite at
 one with the  ,jesuits as to the power 
of the righteous always to obey the     

commandments  of ,god4        8,all very
 well10 said he1 8but you must be a     
theologian to see the      gist of the  
matter4  ,the difference between us is  
so subtle that we      can hardly make  
it out ourselves4  ,it is quite beyond  
your      understanding4  ,suffice it   
for you to know that the ,jansenists    
will      indeed say that the just have 
always the power of obeying the         
commandments--this is not the point in  
dispute2 but they will not say      that
 this power is proximate4  ,that is the 
point40    ,mystified more than ever by 
this new and unknown expression1 of     
which he  could get no explanation1 the 
inquirer now returned to his ,jansenist 
friend to demand of him if he admitted  
it4  8,do you admit the proximate       
power80 was all that he could say to    
him4  ,he had charged his memory        
carefully with the expression1 all the  
more that he did not understand  it4    
,the ,jansenist smiled1 and said coldly1
 8,tell me in what sense you  use the   

expression1 and ,i will tell you what ,i
 believe about it40  ,but  this was just
 what he could not do4  ,so he gave the 
haphazard answer1  that he used it 8in  
the sense of the ,molinists40  8,which  
of the  ,molinists80 was the rejoinder4 
8,all of them together1 as being one    
body1  and having one and the same      
mind10 was the second answer at random3 
upon  which he is assured he is very ill
 informed2 that the ,molinists1 instead 
of being at one1 are hopelessly divided1
 but that being united in the  design to
 ruin ,m4 ,arnauld1 they have all agreed
 to use this term1  understanding it in 
different senses1 and so by an apparent 
agreement to  form a compact body in    
order to crush him more confidently4    
,the ingenuous inquirer hesitates to    
believe in such wickedness4  ,he        
professes himself to be animated by a   
pure desire of understanding the        
subject1 and asks still that the        
mysterious word proximate may be        
explained to him4  ,his ,jansenist      

friend professes a willingness to       
enlighten him1 but says that his        
explanation would be liable to          
suspicion4  ,he must have recourse to   
those who invented the expression1  and 
is referred to a ,m4 le ,moine1 on the  
one hand1 as representing the           
,molinists or ,jesuits2 and a ,father   
,nicolai as representing the ,dominicans
  or 8,new ,thomists40  ,both of these  
were real characters3 the former a      
doctor of the ,sorbonne1 and a violent  
anti-,jansenist1 who had written on  the
 subject of grace2 the latter a         
,dominican1 who is said1 however1 by    
,nicole to have abandoned the principles
 of his order and embraced              
,pelagianism4  ,the bewildered seeker   
after theological knowledge resorts1    
not to these worthies themselves1 with  
whom he professes to have no            
acquaintance1 but to certain disciples  
of theirs4  ,in this manner he gets  a  
definition of 8proximate power10 from   
which it is apparent that1 while  the   

,jesuits and ,dominicans are only agreed
 in using the same  expression--the     
meanings they put into it being entirely
 different--the  ,jansenists and        
,dominicans agree in substance1 while   
only differing in the  use of words4    
,the passage in which the result of his 
successive  interviews is described is  
one of the happiest in the letter4  ,on 
receiving from the ,dominicans1 whom he 
terms 8,jacobins10 from their           
association with the ,rue de ,st        
,jacques1 where the first ,dominican    
convent  in ,paris was erected1 an      
explanation of the doctrine of grace1 he
  exclaims3--        8,capital6  ,so1   
according to you1 the ,jansenists are   
,catholics1 and ,m4      le ,moine a    
heretic2 for the ,jansenists say that   
the just have the      power of praying1
 but that further efficacious grace is  
necessary--and      this is what you    
also approve4  ,m4 le ,moine1 however1  
says that the      just may pray without
 efficacious grace--and this you        

condemn4  #8,ay1'      they replied1    
#8but ,m4 le ,moine calls this power    
proximate power4'      #8,but what is   
this1 my father1' ,i exclaimed in turn1 
#8but to play with      words--to say   
that you agree as to the common terms   
you employ1 while      your sense is    
quite different8'  ,to this they made no
 reply2 and at      this very point the 
disciple of ,m4 le ,moine1 with whom ,i 
had      consulted1 arrived by what     
seemed to me a lucky and extraordinary  
conjuncture4  ,but ,i afterwards found  
that these meetings were not            
uncommon2 that1 in fact1 they were      
continually mixing the one with      the
 other4  ,i addressed myself immediately
 to ,m4 le ,moine's disciple3      #8,i 
know one1' said ,i1 #8who maintains that
 the just have always the      power of 
praying to ,god1 but that nevertheless  
they never pray      without an         
efficacious grace which determines them1
 and which is not      always given by  
,god to all the just4  ,is such a one a 

heretic8'      #8,wait1' said my doctor2
 #8you take me by surprise4  ,come1     
gently4      ,distinguo4  ,if he calls  
this power proximate power1 he is a     
,thomist1 and yet a ,catholic2 if not1  
he is a ,jansenist1 and therefore      a
 heretic4'  #8,he calls it1' said ,i1   
#8neither the one nor the other4'       
#8,he is a heretic then1' said he2 #8ask
 these good fathers4'  ,it was          
unnecessary to appeal to them1 for      
already they had assented by a nod      
of their heads4  ,but ,i insisted4      
#8,he refuses to use the word           
proximate1 because no one can explain it
 to him4'  ,whereupon one of      the   
fathers was about to give his definition
 of the term1 when he was               
interrupted by ,m4 le ,moine's disciple4
  #8,what6' said he2 #8do you wish      
to recommence our quarrels8  ,have we   
not agreed never to attempt an          
explanation of this word proximate1 but 
to use it on both sides      without    
saying what it means8'  ,and to this the

 ,jacobin assented4  ,i      saw at once
 into their plot1 and rising to quit    
them1 ,i said1 #8,of a      truth1 my   
fathers1 this is nothing1 ,i fear1 but a
 quibble2 and      whatever may come of 
your meetings1 ,i venture to predict    
that when      the censure is passed1   
peace will not be restored4 4 4  ,surely
 it is      unworthy1 both of the       
,sorbonne and of theology1 to make use  
of      equivocal and captious terms    
without giving any explanation of them4 
,tell me1 ,i entreat you1 for the last  
time1 fathers1 what ,i must      believe
 in order to be a ,catholic8'  #8,you   
must say1' they all cried      at once1 
#8that all the just have the proximate  
power4' 4 4 4  #8,what      necessity   
can there be1' ,i argued1 #8for using a 
word which has      neither authority   
nor definite meaning8'  #8,you are an   
opinionative      fellow1' they replied4
  #8,you shall use the word1 or you are 
a      heretic1 and ,m4 ,arnauld also2  
for we are the majority1 and if         

necessary we can bring the ,cordeliers  
into the field and carry the      day4'0
    ,the second ,letter1 entitled 8,of  
,sufficient ,grace10 is exactly in the  
same  vein3--        8,just as ,i had   
sealed my last letter10 the writer      
opens1 8,i received      a visit from   
our old friend1 ,m4 ,n---1 a most       
fortunate circumstance      for the     
gratification of my curiosity4  ,for he 
is thoroughly informed      in the      
questions of the day1 and up to all the 
secrets of the      ,jesuits1 at whose  
houses1 including those of the leading  
men1 he is a      constant visitor40    
,using his friend conveniently as an    
informant1 ,pascal proceeds to explain  
to the ,provincial the question of      
sufficient grace as betwixt the         
,jesuits1 ,jansenists1 and ,dominicans4 
,the amusement of the ,letter  consists 
in the manner in which he brings out1 as
 before1 the substantial  identity in   
opinion of the ,dominicans and          
,jansenists1 notwithstanding the        

junction of the former with the ,jesuits
 to oppress the latter4  ,the  ,jesuits 
hold the old ,pelagian doctrine that    
grace is given to all1  dependent for   
its efficacy upon the free will of the  
recipient4  ,this is  with them         
sufficient grace4  ,the ,jansenists     
follow ,st ,augustine1 and  will not    
allow any grace to be sufficient which  
is not also  efficacious4  ,what is the 
view of the ,dominican8--        8,it is
 rather an odd one10 he says2 8for while
 they agree with the      ,jesuits in   
allowing a sufficient grace given to all
 men1 they      nevertheless hold that  
with this grace alone men cannot act1   
but      require further from ,god an   
efficacious grace which determines      
their will to action1 and which is not  
given to all40    ,in short1 this grace 
is sufficient without being so4  ,it    
bears the  same name as the grace of the
 ,jesuits1 but in reality the ,dominican
  doctrine is that of the ,jansenists1  
that men require efficacious grace in   

order to pious action4  ,what is the    
meaning of all this jumble of  opinion8 
,simply1 that the ,dominicans are too   
powerful to be quarrelled  with4  ,the  
,jesuits are content that they should so
 far use the same  language with them4  
8,they do not insist upon their denying 
the necessity of efficacious      grace4
  ,this would be to press them too far4 
,people should not      tyrannise over  
their friends2 and the ,jesuits have    
really gained      enough4  ,but the    
world is content with words2 and so the 
name of      sufficient grace being     
received on all sides1 though in        
different      senses1 none except the  
most subtle theologians can dream that  
the      expression does not signify the
 same to the ,jacobins and the ,jesuits2
      and the result will show that the 
latter are not the greatest dupes40     
,this conclusion becomes the subject of 
conversational by-play1 similar to  that
 of the first ,letter3--        8,i went
 straight10 adds the writer1 8to the    

,jacobins1 at whose door ,i      found a
 good friend of mine1 a great           
,jansenist--for you must know ,i        
have friends amongst all parties--who   
was inquiring for another      father1  
different from the one ,i wanted4  ,but 
,i persuaded him to      accompany me1  
and asked for one of my ,new ,thomist   
friends4  ,he was      delighted to see 
me again4  #8,ah1 well1' ,i said to him1
 #8it seems it      is not enough that  
all men have a proximate power by which 
they can      never act with effect2    
they must also have a sufficient grace1 
with      which they can act just as    
little4  ,is not this the opinion of    
your      school8'  #8,yes1' said the   
good father1 #8and ,i have this very    
morning      been maintaining this in   
the ,sorbonne4  ,i spoke my full        
half-hour2      and had it not been for 
the sand-glass1 ,i bade fair to reverse 
the      unlucky proverb which          
circulates in ,paris--8,he votes with   
his cap      merely by nodding his      

assent1 without speaking like a monk of 
the      ,sorbonne40'  #8,and what about
 your half-hour and your sand-glass8'   
said ,i4  #8,do they shape your         
discourses by a certain measure8'       
#8,yes1' said he1 #8for some days past4'
  #8,and do they oblige you to          
speak half an hour8'  #8,no1 we may     
speak as shortly as we like4'  #8,but   
not1' ,i said1 #8as much as you like4   
,what a capital rule for the            
ignorant--what an excellent excuse for  
those who have nothing worth            
saying6  ,but to come to the point1 my  
father--this grace which is      given  
to all1 is it sufficient8'  #8,yes1'    
said he4  #8,and yet it has no          
effect without efficacious grace8'      
#8,quite true1' said he4  #8,and        
all men have the sufficient1 but not all
 the efficacious8'      #8,exactly so4' 
#8,that is to say1' ,i urged1 #8that all
 have enough      grace1 and yet not    
enough--that there is a grace which is  
sufficient1 and yet does not suffice4   

,in good sooth1 my father1      that is 
subtle doctrine4  ,have you forgotten1  
in quitting the world1      what the    
word sufficient means8  ,do you not     
remember that it      includes          
everything necessary for acting8 4 4 4  
,how1 then1 do you      leave it to be  
said1 that all men have sufficient grace
 for acting1      while you confess that
 another grace is absolutely necessary  
for      acting1 and that all have not  
this8 4 4 4  ,is it a matter of         
indifference to say that with sufficient
 grace we can really act8'              
#8,indifference6' said he2 #8why1 it is 
heresy--formal heresy4  ,the            
necessity of efficacious grace for      
effective action is a point of          
faith4  ,it is heresy to deny this4'    
#8,where1 then1 are we now8 and         
what side must ,i take8  ,if ,i deny    
sufficient grace1 ,i am a ,jansenist4   
,if ,i admit it1 like the ,jesuits1 so  
that efficacious grace is no      longer
 necessary1 ,i shall be a heretic1 you  

say4  ,and if ,i admit it1      as you  
do1 so that efficacious grace is still  
necessary1 why ,i sin      against      
common-sense1 ,i am a blockhead1 say the
 ,jesuits4  ,what can ,i      do in this
 dilemma1 of being a blockhead1 a       
heretic1 or a ,jansenist8      ,to what 
a strait are we come1 if it is only     
,jansenists1 after all1      who are at 
variance with neither faith nor reason1 
and who preserve      themselves both   
from folly and error8'0    ,the         
,dominican1 in short1 is made to appear 
very ridiculous in his union  with the  
,jesuits4  ,clearly he fights on their  
side against the ,jansenists  at the    
expense of his honesty and consistency4 
,he is confounded by a  parable         
representing the absurdity of his       
position4        8#8,it is all very easy
 to talk1' was all he could say in      
reply4  #8,you      are an independent  
and private person2 ,i am a monk1 and in
 a      community4  ,do you not         
understand the difference8  ,we depend  

upon      superiors2 they depend upon   
others4  ,they have promised our votes1 
and what would you have me to do8'  ,we 
understood his allusion1 and            
remembered how a brother monk had been  
banished to ,abbeville for a            
similar cause40    ,the writer is       
disposed to pity the monk as he relates 
with a melancholy  tone how the         
,dominicans1 who had from the time of   
,st ,thomas been such  ardent defenders 
of the doctrine of grace1 had been      
entrapped into making  common cause with
 the ,jesuits4  ,the latter1 availing   
themselves of the  confusion and        
ignorance introduced by the             
,reformation1 had disseminated  their   
principles with great rapidity1 and     
become masters of the popular  belief2  
while the poor ,dominicans found        
themselves in the predicament of  either
 being denounced as ,calvinists1 and    
treated as the ,jansenists then  were1  
or of falling into the use of a common  
language with the ,jesuits4  ,what other

 course was open to them in such a case 
than that of saving the  truth at the   
expense of their own credit6 and while  
admitting the name of  sufficient grace1
 denying1 after all1 that it was        
sufficient6  ,that was  the real history
 of the business4    ,this pitiful story
 of the ,new ,thomist awakens a         
respondent pity in the  writer4  ,but   
his ,jansenist companion is roused to   
indignant  remonstrance3--        8,do  
not flatter yourselves10 he exclaims1   
8that you have saved the      truth4    
,if it had no other protector than you1 
it would have perished      in such     
feeble hands4  ,you have received into  
the ,church the name of      its enemy1 
and this is to receive the enemy itself4
  ,names are      inseparable from      
things4  ,if the term sufficient grace  
be once      admitted1 you may talk     
finely about only understanding thereby 
a      grace insufficient2 but this will
 be of no avail4  ,your explanation     
will be held as odious in the world1    

where men speak far more      sincerely 
of less important things4  ,the ,jesuits
 will triumph4  ,it      will be their  
sufficient grace1 and not yours--which  
is only a      name--which will be      
accepted4  ,it will be theirs1 which is 
the reverse      of yours1 that will    
become an article of faith40    ,in vain
 the ,new ,thomist proclaims his        
readiness to suffer martyrdom  rather   
than allow this1 and to maintain the    
great doctrine of ,st ,thomas  to the   
death4  ,his allusion to the importance 
of the doctrine only calls  forth more  
severely the indignant eloquence of the 
,jansenist1 and he  brings the ,letter  
to a close in a passage which forestalls
 the graver and  loftier tone of the    
later ,letters4        8,confess1 my    
father1 that your order has received an 
honour which it      ill discharges4    
,it abandons that grace which has been  
intrusted to      it1 and which has     
never been abandoned since the creation 
of the      world4  ,that victorious    

grace which was expected by patriarchs1 
predicted by prophets1 introduced by    
,jesus ,christ1 preached by ,st         
,paul1 explained by ,st ,augustine1 the 
greatest of the ,fathers1      embraced 
by his followers1 confirmed by ,st      
,bernard1 the last of the      ,fathers1
 sustained by ,st ,thomas1 the ,angel of
 the ,schools1      transmitted by him  
to your order1 maintained by so many of 
your      fathers1 and so gloriously    
defended by your monks under ,popes     
,clement      and ,paul--that           
efficacious grace which was left in your
 hands as a      sacred deposit1 that it
 might always1 in a sacred and enduring 
order1      find preachers to proclaim  
it to the world till the end of         
time--finds      itself deserted for    
interests utterly unworthy4  ,it is time
 that      other hands should arm       
themselves in its quarrel4  ,it is time 
that      ,god should raise up intrepid 
disciples to the ,doctor of ,grace1 who1
      strangers to the entanglements of 

the world1 should serve ,god for the    
sake of ,god4  ,grace may no longer     
count the ,dominicans among her         
defenders2 but she will never want      
defenders1 for she creates them      for
 herself by her own almighty strength4  
,she demands pure and      disengaged   
hearts1 nay1 she herself purifies and   
delivers them from      worldly         
interests inconsistent with the truths  
of the ,gospel4      ,consider well1 my 
father1 and take heed lest ,god remove  
the      candle-stick from its place1   
and leave you in darkness and dishonour 
to punish the coldness which you have   
shown in a cause so important      to   
,his ,church40    ,the first two        
,letters are closely connected4  ,they  
deal with the special  question between 
,arnauld and the ,sorbonne4  ,a short   
8,reply from the  ,provincial0 is       
interposed between the second and third4
  ,this reply may  be supposed to be a  
part of the device employed by ,pascal  
to arouse  public attention and         

circulate the ,letters4  ,the friend in 
the country  tells how they have excited
 universal interest4  ,everybody has    
seen them1  heard them1 and believed    
them4  ,they are valued not merely by   
theologians1 but men of the world1 and  
ladies1 have found them  intelligible   
and delightful reading4  ,this is no    
exaggerated picture of  the sensation   
which they produced4  ,their success was
 prodigious1 and  increased with every  
successive ,letter4  ,in an atmosphere  
charged with  the theological spirit1   
yet wearied with the dulness of         
theological  controversy1 ,pascal's mode
 of treating the subject came as a      
breath of  new life4  ,here was one who 
was evidently no mere theologian--who   
knew  human nature as well as ,divine   
truth4  ,his clear and penetrating      
intellect saw at once the many aspects  
of the dispute lying deep in the  human 
interests and passions engaged2 and as  
he touched these one by one1  and by    
subtle and vivid strokes brought them to

 the front--as ,molinist1  ,new         
,thomist1 and ,jansenist appeared upon  
the scene1 and showed in their  natural 
characters what play of dramatic life   
was moving under all the  dulness of the
 debate at the ,sorbonne--there was a   
universal outcry of  welcome4  ,the     
,letters passed from hand to hand4  ,the
 post-office reaped a  harvest of       
profit2 copies went through the whole   
kingdom4        8#8,you can have no idea
 how much ,i am obliged to you for the  
,letter      you sent me1' writes a     
friend to a lady2 #8it is so very       
ingenious1      and so nicely written4  
,it narrates without narrating4  ,it    
clears up      the most intricate       
matters possible2 its raillery is       
exquisite2 it      enlightens those who 
know little of the subject1 and imparts 
double      delight to those who        
understand it4  ,it is an admirable     
apology2 and      if they would take it1
 a delicate and innocent censure4  ,in  
short1      the ,letter displays so much

 art1 so much spirit1 and so much       
judgment1 that ,i burn with curiosity to
 know who wrote it4'0    ,this is the   
report of the ,provincial2 and if it is 
,pascal himself who  speaks1 he had     
little idea that his own badinage would 
be echoed by  grave critics1 in         
after-years1 as not in excess of the    
actual merit of  his productions4  8,the
 best comedies of ,molire10 says        
,voltaire1 8have  not more wit than the 
first ,provincial ,letters40  ,it must  
be admitted  that the brightness of the 
wit is somewhat dimmed after the lapse  
of two  centuries4  ,even the genius of 
,pascal fails to lighten all the        
tortuous  absurdities of controversies  
so purely verbal1 and there is an       
occasional  baldness in the clever      
device of pitting ,molinist1 ,new       
,thomist1 and  ,jansenist against one   
another4  ,the professed artlessness of 
the speeches  is at times too apparent4 
,but nothing1 upon the whole1 can be    
finer than  the address with which this 

is done2 the changes of scene and the   
turns  of the dialogue are managed with 
admirable felicity2 there is an         
exquisite fitness and ,socratic point in
 all the evolutions of the  argument1   
which we feel even now when we see so   
clearly behind the  scenes1 and know    
that ,molinist and ,new ,thomist must   
have had a good deal  more to say for   
themselves4  ,we have only to imagine   
the atmosphere of  the ,sorbonne1 or the
 wider social atmosphere throughout     
,france in the  seventeenth century1    
impregnated to its core by a subtle     
controversial  ecclesiasticism1 to      
realise the impression made by 8the     
,small ,letters40  ,the question        
everywhere was1 ,who could have written 
them8  ,there seems at  first to have   
been no suspicion of ,pascal4  ,he had  
previously only been  known as a        
scientific writer2 and the secret was1  
of course1 jealously  guarded4          
,although planned at ,port ,royal des   
,champs1 he did not remain  there while 

engaged in their composition4  ,he      
repaired1 as we have  already said1 to  
,paris1 and after a while took up his   
abode 8at a little  inn opposite to the 
,jesuit ,college of ,clermont1 just     
behind the  ,sorbonne40  ,here he lodged
 with his brother-in-law1 ,m4 ,prier1   
who had  lately come to ,paris2 and     
here1 too1 the latter was visited by    
,pre  ,defrtat1 a ,jesuit and distant   
relative1 who came to tell him that the 
suspicions of the ,society were         
beginning to point to ,pascal4  ,all the
  while ,pascal was busy in the room    
below2 and1 8behind the closed curtains 
of the bed by the side of which they    
were talking1 a score of fresh          
impressions of the seventh ,letter were 
laid out to dry40 #acb    ,pascal       
rejoiced in his incognito4  ,it was not 
till the controversy had  somewhat      
advanced that he assumed the pseudonym  
,louis de ,montalte4  ,the  third       
,letter he closed mysteriously with the 
letters ,e4 ,a4 ,a4 ,b4 ,p4 ,a4 ,f4  ,d4

 ,e4 ,p41 which have been interpreted to
 mean 8,et ancien ami ,blaise  ,pascal1 
,auvergnat1 fils de tienne ,pascal40    
,there can be no doubt that  he took a  
distinct pleasure in the anonymous      
wounds which he inflicted4  ,he had a   
certain love of controversy from the    
beginning1 a feeling of  self-assertion 
when he took up a cause1 and a personal 
ambition to  triumph in it1 which       
carried him forward1 and which come out 
with almost  painful vividness in the   
closing letters4    ,the rage of the    
,jesuits may be imagined4  ,at first    
they hardly knew  whether to laugh with 
the world or to be indignant4  ,the     
first ,letter was  read in the          
dining-hall of the ,sorbonne itself4    
,some were amused1 others  greatly      
provoked4  ,but1 as the ,letters        
proceeded1 there was no room for  any   
feeling but indignation4  ,it was so    
difficult to set forth any direct  reply
 to productions mingling such a subtle  
irony with grave attack4  ,they could   

only say of them1 as they afterwards    
more formally did--,les  menteurs       
immortelles4  ,of the first ,letters it 
is said that #fjjj copies  were printed2
 but1 as they were easily passed from   
hand to hand1 this  gives no idea of the
 numbers who actually read them4  ,their
 fame grew  with each successive issue4 
,more than #aj1jjj copies were printed  
of the  seventeenth ,letter2 and        
editions of the earlier ones were so    
frequently  reprinted1 that it can no   
longer be told which belonged really to 
the  first edition4    ,it is           
impossible1 and would be useless1 for us
 to attempt any description  of the     
whole series of ,letters4  ,we have     
thought it right to dwell at  some      
length on the first two1 because they   
enter so directly into the  controversy 
betwixt ,pascal's friends and the       
,sorbonne1 and because they  are really1
 in some respects1 the cleverest1 if not
 the most valuable4  ,the third ,letter1
 on the 8,censure of ,m4 ,arnauld10 and 

again1 the three  concluding ,letters1  
#acc are closely connected with the     
first two4  ,their object1 in one form  
or another1 is the defence of the       
,jansenist  doctrine1 and of the ,port  
,royalists1 as its supporters4  ,the    
intervening  twelve ,letters stand quite
 by themselves4  ,they open up the whole
 subject  of the moral theology of the  
,jesuits1 and constitute the most       
powerful  assault probably ever directed
 against it4  ,the subject is one which1
 in  a volume like this1 we can only    
touch upon1 and this more with the view 
of drawing out the marked literary      
features of ,pascal's assault1 than of  
meddling with the merits of the         
controversy which he waged so           
relentlessly4  ,in the meantime1 we must
 wind up1 as briefly as possible1  the  
more personal aspects of the            
controversy4    ,between the date of the
 second and the third ,letter1 the      
process before  the ,sorbonne had been  
finished1 and ,m4 ,arnauld's censure    

pronounced4  ,the  third ,letter deals  
with this censure4  ,the writer         
represents the long  preparation for it1
 the manner in which the ,jansenists had
 been denounced  as the vilest of       
heretics1 8the cabals1 factions1 errors1
 schisms1 and  outrages with which they 
have been so long charged40  ,who would 
not have  thought1 in such              
circumstances1 that the 8blackest heresy
 imaginable0  would have come forth     
under the condemning touch of the       
,sorbonne8  ,all  ,christendom waited   
for the result4  ,it was true that ,m4  
,arnauld had  backed up his opinions by 
the clearest quotations from the        
,fathers1  expressing apparently the    
very things with which he had been      
charged4  ,but points of difference     
imperceptible to ordinary eyes would no 
doubt be  made clear under the          
penetration of so many learned doctors4 
,thoughts of  this kind kept everybody  
in a state of breathless suspense       
waiting for  the result4  8,but1 alas6  

how has the expectation been balked6    
,whether  the ,molinist doctors have not
 deigned to lower themselves to the     
level of  instructing us1 or for some   
other secret reason1 they have done     
nothing  else than pronounce the        
following words3 #8,this proposition is 
rash1  impious1 blasphemous1 deserving  
of anathema1 and heretical6'0    ,it was
 not to be wondered at1 in the          
circumstances1 that people were in a    
bad humour1 and were beginning to think 
that after all there may have  been no  
real heresy in ,m4 ,arnauld's           
proposition4  ,a heresy which could  not
 be defined1 except in general terms of 
abuse1 seemed at the least  doubtful4   
,the writer is puzzled1 as usual1 and   
has recourse to 8one of  the most       
intelligent of the ,sorbonnists0 who had
 been so far neutral in  the discussion1
 and whom he asks to point out the      
difference betwixt ,m4  ,arnauld and the
 ,fathers4  ,the 8intelligent0          
,sorbonnist is amused at the  navet of  

the inquiry4  8,do you fancy10 he says1 
8that if they could  have found any     
difference they would not have pointed  
it out80  ,but why1  then1 pursues the  
ingenuous inquirer1 should they in such 
a case pass  censure8--        8#8,how  
little you understand the tactics of the
 ,jesuits6' is the      answer4  #8,how 
few will ever look into the matter      
beyond the fact that      ,m4 ,arnauld  
is condemned6  ,let it be only cried in 
the streets1 8,here      is the         
condemnation of ,m4 ,arnauld60  ,this is
 enough to give the      ,jesuits a     
triumph with the unthinking populace4   
,this is the way in      which they live
 and prosper4  ,now it is by a catechism
 in which a      child is made to       
condemn their opponents2 now by a       
procession1 in      which ,sufficient   
,grace leads ,efficacious ,grace in     
triumph2 and      by-and-by by a comedy1
 in which the devils carry off ,jansen2 
sometimes by an almanac2 and now by this
 censure4'  ,the truth is1      that it 

is ,m4 ,arnauld himself1 and not merely 
his opinions1 that are      obnoxious4  
,even ,m4 le ,moine himself admitted    
#8that the same      proposition would  
have been orthodox in the mouth of any  
other2 it is      only as coming from   
,m4 ,arnauld that the ,sorbonne have    
condemned it4'      4 4 4  ,here is a   
new species of heresy10 concludes the   
writer4  8,it      is not the sentiments
 of ,m4 ,arnauld that are heretical1 but
 only his      person4  ,it is a case of
 personal heresy4  ,he is not a heretic 
for      anything he has said or        
written1 but simply because he is ,m4   
,arnauld4      ,this is all they can say
 against him4  ,whatever he may do1     
unless he      cease to exist he will   
never be a good ,catholic4  ,the grace  
of ,st      ,augustine will never be the
 true grace while he defends it4  ,it   
would      be all right were he only to 
combat it4  ,this would be a sure       
stroke1      and almost the only means  
of establishing it and destroying       

,molinism4      ,such is the fatality of
 any opinions which he embraces40    ,in
 the three concluding ,letters1 as we   
have said1 ,pascal reverts to the       
special subject of ,jansenism and ,port 
,royal4  ,these ,letters are            
considerably longer than the opening    
ones4  ,it is of the sixteenth1 in      
fact1 that he makes the well-known      
remark1 that 8it was very long because  
he had no time to make it shorter40     
,upon the whole1 also1 these ,letters   
are less happy in style and manner4  ,it
 is evident that ,pascal1 if he  gave   
blows which made his opponents and the  
opponents of ,port ,royal  wince1 also  
received some bruises in return4  ,the  
shamelessness of the  attacks made upon 
his friends and himself1 contemptible as
 they were in  their nature1 left scars 
upon a mind and temper so sensitive and 
reserved  as his4  ,the 8insufferable   
audacity0 with which 8holy nuns and     
their  directors0 had been charged with 
disbelieving the mysteries of the faith 

was 8a crime which ,god alone was       
capable of punishing40  ,to bear such a 
charge required a degree of humility    
equal to that of the nuns               
themselves--to believe it1 8a degree of 
wickedness equal to that of their       
wretched defamers40  ,as for himself1 it
 seemed enough to say of him that  he   
belonged to ,port ,royal1 as if it were 
only at ,port ,royal that there  could  
be found those capable of defending the 
purity of ,christian  morality4  ,he    
knew and honoured the work of the pious 
recluses who had  retired to that       
monastery1 although 8he had never had   
the honour of  belonging to them40  ,and
 in the seventeenth ,letter he says3--  
8,i have no more to say than that ,i am 
not a member of that community1      and
 to refer you to my letters1 in which ,i
 have declared that #8,i am a           
private individual2' and again in so    
many words that #8,i am not of          
,port ,royal4' 4 4 4  ,you may touch    
,port ,royal if you choose1 but you     

shall not touch me4  ,you may turn      
people out of the ,sorbonne1 but        
that will not turn me out of my         
lodging40    ,these statements1 of      
course1 are to be received as so far a  
part of the  disguise under which       
,pascal pursued his task4  ,it was true 
that he had no  official connection with
 ,port ,royal1 that he was under no rule
 to live in  its retirements1 and that  
he was only occasionally found there4   
,he was  singularly free1 8without      
engagements1 entanglement1 relationship1
 or  business of any kind40  ,all the   
same he was a ,port ,royalist in        
sympathy  and community of opinion4     
,the interests of ,port ,royal were his 
interests1 and its friends his friends4 
,his own sister was one of its  zealous 
inmates4  ,there is a certain force1    
therefore1 in the taunt that  ,pascal1  
in 8unmasking the duplicity of the      
,jesuits1 did not hesitate to  imitate  
it40  ,his statements are not beyond the
 licence accorded to those  who would   

drive an enemy off the scent1 and       
shelter themselves within an  anonymity 
which they have chosen to assume2 but   
they are none the less  artful and      
misleading4  ,they justify themselves as
 the fence of the  littrateur1 hardly as
 the armour of the moralist4  ,but the  
truth is1  that long before this ,pascal
 had warmed to his work as a            
controversialist4  ,he was determined to
 give no advantage1 and to spare  no    
weapons within the bounds of decency1   
that might make the ,jesuits feel  the  
force of his assault4  ,their accusation
 of heresy especially  exasperated him4 
8,when was ,i ever seen at ,charenton80 
#ach he says in the seventeenth         
,letter1 addressed to the ,jesuit       
,father ,annat4  8,when have ,i failed  
in      my presence at mass1 or in my   
,christian duty to my parish church8    
,what act of union with heretics1 or of 
schism with the ,church1 can      you   
lay to my charge8  ,what council have ,i
 contradicted8  ,what ,papal            

constitution have ,i violated8  ,you    
must answer1 father2 else--you      know
 what ,i mean40    ,the ,jansenist      
doctrine of grace1 as we have already   
explained1 approached  indefinitely the 
doctrine of ,calvin4  ,both were derived
 from ,augustine2  and ,st ,thomas1 as  
his interpreter1 handed on to the       
sixteenth and  seventeenth centuries the
 precious deposit4  ,the line of thought
 was  continuous1 and it was not easy to
 break it at ,calvin1 and isolate him as
  a heretic1 while holding to other     
teachers as ,catholic and orthodox4     
,this was the dilemma of the ,new       
,thomists1 so pithily expressed by one  
of  themselves in the second ,letter4   
,but it was also ,pascal's own dilemma2 
and the consciousness which he and his  
friends had of the nearness of the      
,jansenist doctrine to that of ,calvin1 
made them all the more sensitive  under 
the charge of heresy4  ,the ,jesuits had
 art enough to see the  advantages which
 came from this association4  ,the ,port

 ,royalists and  ,pascal failed in the  
magnanimity which clung to a truth no   
less because  it was identified with an 
abused name4  ,they insisted upon       
distinguishing  between the tenets of   
,jansen and ,calvinism4  ,if what the   
,papal decree  meant and the ,sorbonne  
meant in the condemnation of the        
,jansenist  proposition was that they   
condemned the doctrines of ,calvin1 then
 they  were all agreed4--,jesuits1      
,jansenists1 and ,port ,royalists4      
8,was that all you meant1 father80 asks 
,pascal in his concluding      ,letter4 
8,was it only the error of ,calvin that 
you were so anxious to      get         
condemned under the name of #8the sense 
of ,jansen'8  ,why did you      not tell
 us this sooner8 you might have saved   
yourself a world of      trouble2 for we
 were all ready without the aid of bulls
 or briefs to      join with you in     
condemning that error4 4 4 4  ,now1 when
 you have      come the length of       
declaring that the error which you      

oppose is the      heresy of ,calvin1 it
 must be apparent to every one that they
 the      ,port ,royalists are innocent 
of all error2 for so decidedly hostile  
are they to this1 the only error with   
which you charge them1 that      they   
protest by their discourses1 by their   
books1 by every mode1 in      short1 in 
which they can testify their sentiments1
 that they condemn      that heresy with
 their whole heart1 and in the same     
manner in which      it has been        
condemned by the ,thomists1 whom you    
acknowledge without      scruple to be  
,catholics40    ,the professed point of 
difference stated in the same           
,letter--namely1 that  the ,thomists and
 ,sorbonnists 7and of course the ,port  
,royalists with them7  held that        
efficacious grace is resistible1 while  
,calvin held that it was                
irresistible--may or may not hold in    
reference to special expressions of     
,calvin4  ,but there is nothing1 upon   
the whole1 stronger in ,calvin than     

there is in ,augustine on the subject of
 grace2 and on the other hand1 an       
8efficacious grace10 which is           
8resistible0--which the human heart can 
accept or repel at will--seems open to  
all the ironical play which  ,pascal    
directs so skilfully in his first       
,letters against the ,jesuit  doctrine  
of a sufficient grace which is not yet  
sufficient4  ,the truth  is1 that apart 
from verbal subtleties1 which ,pascal   
could handle no less  familiarly1 only  
far more skilfully1 than his            
adversaries1 there is no  rational      
position intermediate between the       
,pelagian doctrine 7which is  also      
substantially the ,aristotelian7 of free
 will and moral habit1 and  the         
,augustinian doctrine of ,divine grace  
and spiritual inspiration4  ,the  source
 of character is either from within the 
character itself1 which has  power to   
choose good and to be good if it will1  
or it is from a higher  source--the     
grace of ,god1 and the power of a       

,divine ordination4  ,these are  the    
only real lines of controversy4  ,the   
,christian thinker may decline          
controversy on such a subject           
altogether1 acknowledging that the      
mystery  of character is in its roots   
beyond our ken1--that we know not1 and  
in the  nature of the case cannot know1 
where the ,human ends and the ,divine   
begins4  ,in such a case there is no    
room for argument4  ,but we cannot  with
 consistency step off one line on to the
 other4  ,in other words1 we  cannot    
logically abuse ,calvin while we hold   
with ,augustine1 or profess to  revere  
,st ,thomas while we abuse ,jansen4     
,but it is more than time to turn from  
this side of the #8,provincial          
,letters4'  ,this was the controversy   
out of which they sprang--which  mingles
 itself most with the personality of    
,pascal--and hence it has  claimed a    
somewhat detailed treatment4  ,the great
 subject to which the  intervening and  
chief portion of the ,letters is        

directed is not1 indeed1  more important
 in itself1 but it is more diversified1 
and more  practically interesting4      
,here1 however1 ,pascal was more        
obviously  performing a task than in the
 other ,letters4  ,he was speaking less 
out of  his heart4  ,having grappled    
with the ,jesuits1 and noticed their    
tactics  in the affair of the ,sorbonne1
 he is led to look into their whole     
system4  ,he takes up their books and   
studies them1 in part at least2 while   
his  friends ,nicole and ,arnauld also  
study them for him4  ,and the result is 
the remarkable and memorable assault    
contained in his thirteen               
,letters--from the fourth to the        
sixteenth--directed against all the main
  principles of the ,jesuit system4     
,it would lead us quite away from our   
purpose to enter into the range of  this
 great controversy1 or to endeavour to  
estimate its value1 or the  merits of   
the attack and defence on particular    
points4  ,the subject is  one by itself1

 more or less entering into the whole   
question of morals1  and especially the 
immense fabric of casuistry or moral    
theology built up  by successive        
teachers in the ,jesuit schools4        
,trained1 as he was1 a  devout disciple 
of the ,roman ,church1 enthusiastic on  
behalf of its  doctrines and preachers1 
,pascal had apparently no knowledge of  
the  details of ,jesuit doctrine and    
morality before he began his task of    
inquiry and assault4  ,austere and      
simple in his own principles of virtue1 
direct and unbending in his modes of    
action1 he was evidently appalled by    
the study of the ,jesuit system1 and the
 endless complexities of  compromise and
 evasion which it presented4  ,in       
seizing1 as he did  everywhere1 upon the
 immoral aspects of the system1 and     
touching them  with the most graphic    
colours of exposure1 he cannot be said  
to be  unfair2 for the materials with   
which he dealt were all abundant in     
their  writings4  ,his quotations may be

 sometimes taken at random1 and may set 
forth1 without any of the alleviating   
shades surrounding them in their  proper
 context1 special points as parts of a  
general sequence of thought4  ,they     
were1 no doubt1 often furnished to him  
by ,nicole or ,arnauld1 who  hunted them
 through the immense volumes of         
casuistical divinity in which  they were
 contained4  ,but there is no reason to 
suppose that in any case  he has been   
guilty of misquotation1 or that he has  
attributed sentiments  to the ,jesuit   
doctors not to be found in them4  ,this 
is very much his own  statement3--      
8,i have been asked if ,i have myself   
read all the books which ,i have        
quoted4  ,i answer1 ,no4  ,if ,i had    
done so1 ,i must have passed a great    
part of my life in reading very bad     
books2 but ,i have read ,escobar        
twice through1 and ,i have employed some
 of my friends in reading the           
others4  ,but ,i have not made use of a 
single passage without having           

myself read it in the book from which it
 is cited1 without having      examined 
the subject of which it treats1 and     
without having read what      went      
before and followed1 so that ,i might   
run no risk of quoting an      objection
 as an answer1 which would have been    
blameworthy and      unfair40    ,no    
doubt this is true4  ,there is all1 and 
more than all1 that ,pascal  quoted to  
be found in the ,jesuit writings1 and   
his own language is not  too strong in  
speaking of much that he quotes as      
8abominable40  ,notwithstanding1 it may 
be said that the effect of his          
representation is  a certain unfairness 
towards the ,jesuits4  ,he presses them 
at a cruel  advantage when he insists   
upon developing from his own point of   
view1 or  still more from the mouth of  
some of their too simple followers1 all 
the  practical consequences of their    
special rules4  ,the system of casuistry
  was one not solely of ,jesuitical     
invention4  ,it was the necessary       

outgrowth of the radical ,roman         
principle of ,confession4  ,nay1 it     
flourished to some extent within the    
,protestant ,church itself in the       
seventeenth century1 as the writings of 
two very different men1 ,jeremy  ,taylor
 and ,richard ,baxter1 show4  ,once     
admit the principle of directing  the   
conscience by external rather than      
internal authority1 and you lay a       
foundation upon which any amount of     
folly1 and even crime1 may be built  up4
  ,this was the general principle of    
,jesuitism as a system of  education2   
but it came to it from the ,church which
 ,pascal1 no less than  the ,jesuits1   
revered4  ,nay1 it was in its general   
character a principle  as characteristic
 of ,port ,royal as of ,loyola and his  
followers4  ,there is  the enormous     
difference1 no doubt1 that the ethics of
 ,port ,royal were  comparatively       
faithful to the essential principles of 
morality which  ,nature and the ,gospel 
alike teach--that its practical excesses

 were quite  in a different direction   
from the laxity of the ,jesuits4  ,but  
two things  are to be remembered1 not in
 favour of the ,jesuits1 but in         
explanation of  their excesses3 #ast1   
that they aimed1 as ,pascal himself     
points out1 at  governing the world1 and
 not merely a sect--that their whole    
idea of the  ,church in relation to the 
world was different from that of the    
,port  ,royalists2 and #b;d1 that their 
system of morals not merely rested on a 
wrong and dangerous principle 7which    
,pascal's no less did71 but had been    
endlessly developed in their schools by 
many inferior hands4  ,this was         
,pascal's great weapon against them1 and
 so far it was quite a legitimate       
weapon1 as he himself claimed4  ,as none
 of their books could appear  without   
sanction1 the ,order was more or less   
responsible for all the  frightful      
principles set forth in some of these   
books4  ,all the same1 it  is not to be 
presumed that such a system of moral1 or

 rather immoral1  consequences was      
deliberately designed by the ,society4  
,pascal himself  exempts them from such 
a charge4  8,their object10 he says1 8is
 not the  corruption of manners2 4 4 4  
but they believe it for the good of     
religion  that they should govern all   
consciences1 and so they have           
evangelical  or severe maxims for       
managing some sorts of people1 while    
whole  multitudes of lax casuists are   
provided for the multitude that prefer  
laxity40 #add;a  ,the ,jesuit system of 
morality1 in short1 was the growth  of  
the ,jesuit principle of accommodation1 
added on to the ,roman principle  of    
external authority4  ,looking at        
morality entirely from without1 as an   
artificial mode of regulating life and  
society for the supreme good of  the    
,church1 the ,jesuit casuists were      
driven1 under the necessities of  such a
 system1 from point to point1 till all  
essential moral distinction  was lost in
 the mechanical manipulations of their  

schools4  ,whatever  happened1 no man or
 woman was to be lost to the ,church2   
the complications  of human interest and
 passion were to be brought within its  
fold and  smoothed into some sort of    
decent seeming1 rather than cast beyond 
its  pale and made the prey of its      
enemies4 #add;b  ,the task was a        
hopeless  one4  ,in the pages of ,pascal
 the ,jesuits too obviously make a      
deplorable  business both of religion   
and morality4  ,but they were as much   
the  victims as the authors of a system 
which ,rome had sanctioned1 and which   
came directly from the claims which it  
made to govern the world not  merely by 
spiritual suasion1 but by external      
influence4  ,jesuitism may be  bad1 and 
the ,jesuit morality exposed by ,pascal 
abominable1 but the one  and the other  
are the natural outgrowth of a ,church  
which had become a  mechanism for the   
regulation of human conduct1 rather than
 a spiritual  power addressing freely   
the human heart and conscience4    ,our 

space will not admit of an analysis of  
the thirteen ,letters dealing  with the 
,jesuits1 and we can hardly give any    
quotations from them4  ,suffice it to   
say1 that ,pascal passes in the fourth  
,letter to a direct  assault upon the   
,society4  8,nothing can equal the      
,jesuits10 the ,letter  begins4  8,i    
have seen ,jacobins1 doctors1 and all   
sorts of people2 but  such a visit as ,i
 have made today baffles everything1 and
 was necessary  to complete my knowledge
 of the world40  ,he then describes his 
visit to a  very clever ,jesuit1        
accompanied by his trusty ,jansenist    
friend1 and  gradually unfolds from the 
mouth of the former the whole system of 
moral  theology which had grown up in   
the ,jesuit schools1--their notions of  
8actual grace10 or the necessity of a   
special conscious knowledge that an  act
 is evil1 and ought to be avoided1      
before we can be said to be guilty  of  
sin in committing the act2 their famous 
doctrines of probabilism and  of        

directing the intention1 and all the    
consequences springing out of  them4    
,nothing can be more ingenious than the 
manner in which the ,jesuit  is led     
forward to unfold point after point of  
his hateful system1 as if  it were one  
of the greatest boons which had ever    
been invented for  mankind1 until from  
concession to concession he is plunged  
into the most  horrible conclusions1 and
 the ,jansenist can stand the           
disclosures no  longer1 but breaks forth
 in the end of the tenth ,letter into a 
powerful  and eloquent denunciation of  
the doctrines to which he has been      
listening4    ,any lighter vein that may
 have lingered in the ,letters is       
abandoned from  this point4  ,pascal    
ceases to address his friend in the     
country2 the  playful interchange that  
sprang from the idea of a third party1  
to whom  ,pascal was supposed to be     
merely reporting what he had heard1     
occurs no  more4  ,he turns to the      
,jesuit fathers directly1 and addresses 

them1 as if  unable any longer to       
restrain his indignation1 commencing the
 eleventh  ,letter with an admirable    
defence of his previous tone1 and of the
 extent  to which he had used the weapon
 of ridicule in assailing them1 and     
passing on to reiterate his charges1 and
 to repel the calumnies with  which they
 had assailed him and his ,port         
,royalist friends4  ,the reader  may    
weary1 perhaps1 for a little1 as he     
threads his way through the  successive 
accusations1 and the monotonous train of
 evil principles which  underlies them  
all1 more or less4  ,he may wish that   
,pascal had gone to  the roots of the   
system more completely1 and had laid    
bare its germinal  falsehood1 instead of
 heaping detail upon detail1 and always 
adding a  darker hue to the picture     
which he draws4  ,but any such mode of  
treatment  would not half so well have  
served his purpose4  ,his audience were 
not  prepared for any philosophy of     
exposure1 still less for any attack upon

  the essential principles of the       
,church2 he himself did not see how the 
successive laxities which he fixes with 
his poignant satire1 or sets in  the    
light of his withering scorn1 spring    
from a vicious conception of            
,christianity and of the office of the  
,church4  ,he does what he does1        
however1 with exquisite effect2 and the 
,jesuit ,order1 many and powerful  as   
have been its opponents1 never before   
nor since felt itself more  keenly and  
unanswerably assailed4  ,many of them   
were forced to laugh at  the picture of 
their own follies1 and the immoral      
nonsense which  distilled from the lips 
of ,father ,bauny and others1 in        
explanation or  defence of their        
practices4  8,read that10 says the      
confidential ,jesuit  who expounds to   
,pascal their system3 8it is #8,the     
,summary of ,sins1' by  ,father ,bauny2 
the fifth edition1 you see1 which shows 
that it is a good  book4  #8,in order to
 sin1' says ,father ,bauny1 #8it is     

necessary to know  that the thing we    
wish to do is not good4'0  8,a capital  
commencement10  ,i remarked4  8,yet10   
said he1 8only think how far envy will  
carry some  people4  ,it was on this    
very passage that ,m4 ,hallier1 before  
he became  one of our friends1 quizzed  
,father ,bauny1 saying of him #8,ecce   
qui tollit  peccata mundi--,behold the  
man who taketh away the sins of the     
world4'0  #adg  ,then after an elaborate
 description of all that goes to make a 
sin--        8#8,o my dear sir1' cried  
,i1 #8what a blessing this will be to   
some      friends of my acquaintance6   
,you have never1 perhaps1 in all your   
life met with people who have fewer sins
 to account for6  ,in the      first    
place1 they never think of ,god at all1 
still less of praying to      ,him2 so  
that1 according to ,m4 le ,moine1 they  
are still in a state of      baptismal  
innocence4  ,they have never had a      
thought of loving ,god1 or      of being
 contrite for their sins2 so that1      

according to ,father ,annat1      they  
have never committed sin through the    
want of charity and      penitence4 4 4 
4  ,i had always supposed that the less 
a man thought      of ,god the more he  
sinned2 but from what ,i see now1 if one
 could only      succeed in bringing    
himself not to think of ,god at all1    
everything      would be peace with him 
in all time coming4  ,away with your    
half-and-half sinners who have some love
 for virtue6  ,they will be      damned 
every one of them4  ,but as for your    
out-and-out sinners1      hardened and  
without mixture1 thorough and determined
 in their evil      courses1 hell is no 
place for them4  ,they have cheated the 
devil by      stern devotion to his     
service6'0 #adh    ,it is in hits like  
these1 everywhere scattered throughout  
the earlier  letters1 to which no       
translation can do justice1 and which   
lose half  their edge by being separated
 from their context1 that the wit of    
,pascal  shines4  ,a more delicate1 and 

at the same time more scathing irony1   
cannot be conceived4  ,he hits with the 
lightest stroke1 and in the most        
natural manner1 yet his lash cuts the   
flesh1 and leaves an intolerable  smart4
  ,all that could be said in answer was1
 that his representations  were lies4   
,they were conscious exaggerations1 no  
doubt1 as all satirical  representations
 are4  ,this is of their very nature4   
,but the extent to  which they told1 and
 the bitterness of the feeling which    
they excited at  the time1 and have     
continued to excite amongst the ,jesuits
 and their  friends1 show how much truth
 there was in them4  ,nothing can be    
more  pitiful and less satisfactory than
 mere complaints of their falsehood4    
,such complaints were hardly to have    
been expected from any other quarter    
than the ,jesuits themselves4  ,yet even
 ,chateaubriand1 in his new-born  zeal  
for the ,church1 could say of their     
author1 8,pascal is only a  calumniator 
of genius4  ,he has left us an immortal 

lie40    ,of the graver part of the     
,letters1 the following are the only    
extracts  that our space will permit3-- 
,,jesuit ,,laxity ,,and ,,christian     
,,indignation4          8,such is the   
way in which our teachers have          
discharged men from the      #8painful' 
obligation of actually loving ,god4     
,and so advantageous a      doctrine is 
this1 that our ,fathers ,annat1         
,pintereau1 ,le ,moine1 and ,a4         
,sirmond even1 have defended it         
vigorously when assailed by any one4    
,you have only to consult their answers 
in the #8,moral ,theology2' that      of
 ,father ,pintereau1 in particular      
7second part71 will enable you to       
judge of the value of this dispensation 
by the price which it has      cost1    
even the blood of ,jesus4  ,this is the 
crown of such a      doctrine40  7,a    
quotation is then given from ,father    
,pintereau to the      effect that it is
 a characteristic of the new            
,evangelical law1 in      contrast to   

the ,judaical1 that 8,god has lightened 
the troublesome and      arduous        
obligation of exercising an act of      
perfect contrition in      order to be  
justified407  8#8,o father1' said ,i1   
#8no patience can stand      this any   
longer4  ,one cannot hear without horror
 such sentiments as ,i      have been   
listening to4'  #8,they are not my      
sentiments1' said the      monk4  #8,i  
know that well2 but you have expressed  
no aversion to them2      and far from  
detesting the authors of such maxims1   
you cherish esteem      for them4  ,do  
you not fear that your consent will make
 you a      participator in their guilt8
  ,was it not sufficient to allow men so
      many forbidden things under cover 
of your palliations8  ,was it           
necessary to afford them the occasion of
 committing crimes that even      you   
cannot excuse by the facility and       
assurance of absolution which      you  
offer them8 4 4 4  ,the licence which   
your teachers have assumed      of      

tampering with the most holy rules of   
,christian conduct amounts to      a    
total subversion of the ,divine law4    
,they violate the great      commandment
 which embraces the law and the         
prophets2 they strike at      the very  
heart of piety2 they take away the      
spirit which giveth life4      ,they say
 that the love of ,god is not necessary 
to salvation2 they      even go the     
length of professing that this          
dispensation from loving      ,god is   
the special privilege which ,jesus      
,christ has brought into the      world4
  ,this is the very climax of impiety4  
,the price of the blood      of ,jesus1 
the purchase for us of a dispensation   
from loving ,him6      ,before the      
incarnation we were under the necessity 
of loving ,god4      ,but since ,god has
 so loved the world as to give ,his only
 ,son for it1      the world1 thus      
redeemed by ,him1 is discharged from    
loving ,him6      ,strange theology of  
our time6--to take away the anathema    

pronounced by      ,st ,paul against    
those 8who love not the ,lord ,jesus    
,christ20 to blot      out the saying of
 ,st ,john1 that 8he that loveth not    
abideth in      death20 and the words of
 ,jesus ,christ ,himself1 8,he that     
loveth me not      keepeth not my       
commandments60  ,in this manner those   
who have never      loved ,god in life  
are rendered worthy of enjoying ,him    
throughout      eternity4  ,behold the  
mystery of iniquity accomplished6  ,open
 your      eyes1 my father2 and if you  
have remained untouched by the other    
distortions of your ,casuists1 let this 
last by its excess compel you      to   
abandon them4'0 #aej;a        ,,defence 
,,of ,,ridicule ,,as ,a ,,weapon ,,in   
,,controversy4          8,what1 my      
fathers6 must the imaginations of your  
doctors pass for      faithful verities8
  ,must we not expose the sayings of    
,escobar1 #aej;b      and the fantastic 
and unchristian statements of others1   
without being      accused of laughing  

at religion8  ,is it possible you have  
dared to      repeat anything so        
unreasonable8 and have you no fear that 
in blaming      me for ridiculing your  
absurdities1 you were merely furnishing 
me      with a fresh subject of arousing
 attack1 and of pointing out more       
clearly that ,i have not found in your  
books any subject of laughter      which
 is not in itself intensely ridiculous2 
and that in making a      jest of your  
moral maxims1 ,i am as far from making a
 jest of holy      things as the        
doctrine of your ,casuists distant from 
the holy      doctrine of the ,gospel8  
,in truth1 sirs1 there is a vast        
difference      between laughing at     
religion and laughing at those who      
profane it by      their extravagant    
opinions4  ,it were an impiety to fail  
in respect      for the great truths    
which the ,divine ,spirit has revealed2 
but it      would be no less impiety of 
another kind to fail in contempt for    
falsehoods which the spirit of man has  

opposed to them4 4 4 4  ,just      as   
,christian truths are worthy of love and
 respect1 the errors which      oppose  
them are worthy of contempt and hatred3 
for as there are two      things in the 
truths of our religion--a divine beauty 
which renders      them lovable1 and a  
holy majesty which renders them         
venerable2 so      there are two things 
in such errors--an impiety which makes  
them      horrible1 and an impertinence 
which renders them ridiculous40 #aea;a  
,many examples from the ,scriptures and 
the ,fathers are then quoted in  defence
 of the practice of directing ridicule  
against error2 and he  closes with a    
singularly appropriate passage from     
,tertullian3 8,nothing is  more due to  
vanity than laughter2 it is the ,truth  
properly that has a  right to laugh1    
because she is cheerful--and to make    
sport of her enemies1  because she is   
sure of victory40        8,do you not   
think1 my fathers1 that this passage is 
singularly      applicable to our       

subject8  ,the letters which ,i have    
hitherto written      are #8only a      
little sport before the real combat4'   
,as yet ,i have been      only playing  
with the foils1 and #8rather indicating 
the wounds that      might be given you 
than inflicting any4'  ,i have merely   
exposed your      sayings to the light1 
without commenting on them4  #8,if they 
have      excited laughter1 it is only  
because they are so laughable in        
themselves4'  ,these sayings come upon  
us with such surprise1 it is            
impossible to help laughing at them2 for
 nothing produces laughter      more    
than surprising disproportion between   
what one hears and what      one        
expects4  ,in what other way could the  
most of these matters be      treated8  
for1 as ,tertullian says1 #8,to treat   
them seriously would be      to sanction
 them4'0 #aea;b        ,,appeal         
,,against ,,the ,,jesuits4              
8,too long have you deceived the world1 
and abused the confidence      which men

 have put in your impostures4  ,it is   
high time to vindicate      the         
reputation of so many people whom you   
have calumniated2 for what              
innocence can be so generally           
acknowledged as not to suffer           
contamination from the daring aspersion 
of a society of men scattered           
throughout the world1 who1 under        
religious habits1 cover irreligious     
minds2 who perpetrate crimes as they    
concoct slanders--not against1      but 
in conformity with1 their own maxims8   
,no one can blame me1      surely1 for  
having destroyed the confidence which   
you might otherwise      have inspired1 
since it is far more just to vindicate  
for so many      good people whom you   
have decried1 the reputation for piety  
they      deserved1 than to leave you a 
reputation for sincerity which you have 
never merited4  ,and as the one could   
not be done without the other1      how 
important was it to make the world      
understand what you really      are4    

,this is what ,i have begun to do2 but  
it will require time to      complete   
the work4  ,the world1 however1 shall   
hear of you1 my      fathers1 and all   
your policy will not avail to shelter   
you4  ,the very      efforts you make to
 ward off the blow will only serve to   
convince the      least enlightened that
 you are afraid1 and that1 smitten in   
your own      consciences by my charges1
 you have had recourse to every         
expedient      to prevent exposure40    
#aeb    ,the effect of the #8,provincial
 ,letters' was not only to alarm the    
,jesuits1  but the ,church4  ,the       
scandal of their exposure was so deeply 
felt1 that  the curs of ,paris and      
,rouen appointed committees to          
investigate the  accuracy of ,pascal's  
quotations1 and the result of their     
investigation  was entirely in ,pascal's
 favour4  ,this led ultimately to the   
matter being  carried before a ,general 
,assembly of the clergy of ,paris1      
which1 however1  declined to give any   

formal decision4  ,in the meantime1 an  
#8,apology for  the ,casuists' was      
published by a ,jesuit of the name of   
,pirot1 of such a  character as to      
increase rather than abate the scandal1 
and a new  controversy gathered around  
this publication4  ,the ,sorbonne took  
up the  question1 and1 after            
examination1 condemned ,pirot's ,apology
 7,july #afeh7  as they had formerly    
done ,arnauld's propositions1 and       
ultimately it was  included by ,rome in 
the #8,index ,expurgatorius1' along with
 the #8,provincial  ,letters1' to which 
it was designed as a reply4  ,while the 
question was  before the ,sorbonne1 the 
curs of ,paris published various        
writings1  under the name of #8,facta1' 
in support of the conclusions to which  
they  had come4  ,these writings were   
prepared in concert with ,pascal and his
  friends1 and the second and fifth are 
ascribed entirely to his pen4  ,it  is  
even said that he looked upon the       
latter1 in which he drew a parallel     

betwixt the ,jesuits and ,calvinists 7to
 the disadvantage of the  ,protestants71
 as the best thing he ever did4 #aec    
,long after ,pascal's  death 7in #afid7 
an elaborate answer appeared1 by ,father
 ,daniel1 to the  #8,provincial         
,letters1' under the title of           
#8,entretiens de ,clandre et  d',eudoxe 
sur les ,lettres au ,provincial2' but   
notwithstanding a certain  amount of    
learning and apparent candour1 the reply
 made no impression  upon the public4   
,even the ,jesuits themselves felt it to
 be a failure4  8,father ,daniel10 it   
was said1 8professed to have reason and 
truth on his  side2 but his adversary   
had in his favour what goes much farther
 with  men1--the arms of ridicule and   
pleasantry40  ,as late as #ahea an      
edition of  the #8,letters' appeared by 
the ,abb ,maynard1 accompanied by a     
professed  refutation of their          
misstatements4  ,but the truth is1      
,pascal's work is  one of those which   
admit of no adequate refutation4  ,even 

if it be  granted that he has           
occasionally made the most of a         
quotation1 and  brought points together 
which1 taken separately in their        
connection1 have  not the offensive     
meaning attributed to them1 this touches
 but little the  reader who has enjoyed 
their exquisite raillery or has been    
moved by  their indignant denunciation4 
,the real force of the ,letters lies in 
their wit and eloquence--their mingled  
comedy and invective4  ,they may be     
parried or resented--they can never be  
refuted4    ,we have already quoted     
,voltaire's saying1 8,the best comedies 
of ,molire  have not more wit than the  
first ,provincial ,letters40            
8,bossuet10 he  added1 8has nothing more
 sublime than the concluding ones40     
,they were  regarded by him as 8models  
of eloquence and pleasantry10 as the    
8first  work of genius0 that appeared in
 ,french prose4  ,when ,bossuet himself 
was  asked of what work he would most   
wish to have been the author1 he        

answered1 8,the #8,provincial           
,letters4'0  ,madame de ,svign writes of
 them  7,dec4 #ba1 #afhi73 8,how        
charming they are6 4 4 4  ,is it        
possible to have a  more perfect style1 
an irony finer1 more delicate1 more     
natural1 more  worthy of the ,dialogues 
of ,plato8 4 4 4  ,and what seriousness 
of tone1  what solidity1 what eloquence 
in the last eight ,letters60  ,our      
,gibbon  attributed to the frequent     
perusal of them his own mastery of      
8grave and  temperate irony40  ,boileau 
pronounced them 8unsurpassed0 in ancient
 or  modern prose4  ,encomiums could    
hardly go higher1 and yet the language  
of  ,perrault is in a still higher      
strain3 8,there is more wit in these    
eighteen ,letters than in ,plato's      
,dialogues2 more delicate and artful    
raillery than in those of ,lucian2 and  
more strength and ingenuity of          
reasoning than in the orations of       
,cicero40  ,their style especially is   
beyond all praise4  ,it has 8never been 

surpassed1 nor perhaps equalled40       
,there may be1 as there is apt to be in 
all such concurrent verdicts1 a  strain 
of excess4  ,the duller ,english sense  
may not catch all the finer  edges of a 
style which it may yet feel to be       
exquisite in its general  clearness1    
harmony1 and point2 the absurdities of  
verbal argument and of  ,jesuit         
sophistry may sometimes pall upon the   
attention1 and hardly raise  a smile at 
this time of day4  ,it is the fate of   
even the finest polemical  literature to
 grow dead as it grows old2 yet none can
 doubt the  immortality of the genius   
which has so long given life to such a  
controversy1 and charmed so many of the 
highest judges of literary form4  ,it is
 not for any ,englishman to challenge   
the verdict of a ,frenchman in a  matter
 of style4    ,pascal himself evidently 
thought highly of his success4  ,he     
liked the  controversy1 its excitement1 
and the applausive echo which followed  
each  ,letter4  ,like every true artist1

 he felt the joy and yet the gravity of 
his work4  ,he took up his pen with a   
pleasurable sense of mastery1 and  yet  
he wrote some of the ,letters six or    
seven times over4  ,he spared no  pains1
 yet he never wearied4  ,all his        
intellectual life for the time was      
thrown into the controversy1 and his    
most finely-tempered strokes made  music
 in his own mind1 while they carried    
confusion to his adversaries  and       
triumph to his friends4  ,the sensation 
made by the ,letters was1 of  course1   
mainly confined to ,france2 but the     
nervous ,latinity of ,nicole  soon      
communicated something of the same      
sensation to a wider circle4  #aef      
,pascal has himself told us that he     
never repented having written  them1 nor
 8the amusing1 agreeable1 ironical      
style0 in which they were  written4     
,even the condemnation of the ,papal    
,see1 abject in some respects  as was   
his devotion to his ,church1 did not    
move him on this point4  ,he  left on   

record1 amongst his ,thoughts1 the      
following solemn declaration3  8,,if    
,,my ,,letters ,,are ,,condemned ,,in   
,,rome1 ,,what ,i ,,condemn ,,in ,,them 
,,is ,,condemned  ,,in ,,heaven4  ,,ad  
,,tuum1 ,,domine ,,jesu1 ,,tribunal     
,,appello40          ,,chapter ,,vi4    
,,the #8,,pens,,es4'      ,from         
,pascal's finished work we turn to his  
unfinished ,remains4  ,the one  will    
always be regarded as the chief monument
 of his literary skill1 and  of the     
executive completeness of his mind4     
,but the other is the worthier  and     
nobler tribute to the greatness of his  
soul1 and the depth and power  of his   
moral genius4  ,few comparatively now   
read the #8,provincial ,letters'  as a  
whole2 fewer still are interested in the
 controversy which they  commemorate4   
,but there are hardly any of higher     
culture--none certainly  of higher      
thoughtfulness--to whom the #8,penses'  
are not still attractive1  and who have 
not sought in them at one time or       

another some answer to the  obstinate   
questionings which the deeper scrutiny  
of human life and  destiny is ever      
renewing in the human heart4  ,no answer
 may have been  found in them1 but every
 spiritual mind must have so far met in 
the  author of the #8,penses' a kindred 
spirit which1 if it has seen no farther 
than others1 has yet entered keenly upon
 the great quest1 and traversed  with a 
singular boldness the great lines of    
higher speculation that  8slope through 
darkness up to ,god40    ,the literary  
history of the #8,penses' is a very     
curious one4  ,they first  appeared in  
the end of #affi1 in a small duodecimo  
volume1 with the  appropriate motto1    
8,pendent opera interrupta40  ,their    
preparation for the  press had been a   
subject of much anxiety to ,pascal's    
friends4  ,what is  known as the 8,peace
 of the ,church0--a period of temporary 
quiet and  prosperity to ,port          
,royal--had begun in #affc2 and it was  
important that  nothing should be done  

by the ,port ,royalists to disturb this 
peace4  ,it  had been agreed1 therefore1
 that all passages bearing on the       
controversy  with the ,jesuits and the  
,formulary should be omitted2 but beyond
 this  ,madame ,prier desired that the  
volume should only contain what         
proceeded  from her brother1 and in the 
precise form and style in which it had  
left  his hand4  ,she evidently lacked  
full confidence in the ,committee of    
,editors1 of whom the ,duc de ,roannez  
was the chief1 notwithstanding their    
professions of strict adherence to the  
manuscripts4  ,the volume at last       
appeared1 with a preface by her own son1
 and no fewer than nine  8approbations10
 signed amongst others by three bishops1
 one archdeacon1  and three doctors of  
the ,sorbonne4    ,unhappily ,madame    
,prier had too much cause for alarm4    
,editors and  ,approvers alike had      
claimed the liberty1 not only of        
arranging but of  modifying both the    
matter and the style of the #8,penses1' 

and this  notwithstanding a statement in
 the preface that1 in giving1 as they   
professed to do1 only 8the clearest and 
most finished0 of the fragments1  they  
had given them as they found them1      
without adding or changing  anything4   
8,these fragments10 says ,m4 ,faugre1   
8which sickness and death  had left     
unfinished1 suffered1 without ceasing to
 be immortal1 all the  mutilation which 
an exaggerated prudence or a misdirected
 zeal could  suggest1 with the view not 
only of guarding their orthodoxy1 but of
  embellishing their style--the style of
 the author of the #8,provincials'60    
8,there are not10 he adds1 8twenty      
successive lines which do not present   
some alteration1 great or small4  ,as   
for total omissions and partial         
suppressions1 they are without number40 
,m4 ,cousin is equally emphatic4        
8,there are10 he says1 8examples of     
every kind of alteration--alteration of 
words1 alteration of phrases1           
suppressions1 substitutions1 additions1 

arbitrary compositions1 and1 what is    
worse1 decompositions more arbitrary    
still40    ,it is impossible to defend  
the first editors of the #8,penses4'    
,but it  should be remembered that their
 task was one not only of theological   
perplexity1 but of great literary       
difficulty4  ,pascal's manuscripts were 
a mere mass of confused papers1         
sometimes written on both sides1 and in 
a  hand for the most part so obscure and
 imperfectly formed as to be  illegible 
to all who had not made it a special    
study4  ,the papers were  pasted or     
bundled together without any natural    
connection1 parts  containing the same  
piece being sometimes intersected and   
sometimes  widely separated from one    
another4  ,if the editors1 therefore1   
did their  work ill1 it was partly no   
doubt from incompetency1 but partly from
 its  inherent difficulty1 and from the 
fact that being so near to ,pascal they 
could hardly appreciate the feelings of 
the modern critic as to the  sacredness 

of his style1 and of all that came from 
his pen4    ,the edition of #affi       
continued to be reprinted with little   
alteration for  a century4  ,various    
additional fragments were brought to    
light1  especially the famous           
conversation between ,de ,saci and      
,pascal regarding  ,epictetus and       
,montaigne2 but the form of the         
fragments remained  unchanged4  ,it was 
not till the edition of ,condorcet in   
#aggf that they  can be said to have    
undergone any new rdaction4  ,unhappily 
,pascal  suffered in the hands of the   
,encyclopedists1 as he had previously   
suffered in the hands of the ,jansenists
 and the ,sorbonne4  ,the first  editors
 had expunged whatever might seem at    
variance with orthodoxy4  ,condorcet    
suppressed or modified whatever partook 
of a too lofty  enthusiasm or a too     
fervent piety4  ,it became a current    
idea among the  ,encyclopedists that the
 accident at ,neuilly had affected      
,pascal's brain4  ,we have already seen 

how ,voltaire spoke of this2 and he     
directed an early  attack 7#agcd7 upon  
the doctrine of human nature contained  
in the  #8,penses4'  ,now1 in his old   
age1 he hailed ,condorcet's edition1 and
  reissued it two years later1 with an  
,introduction and ,notes by himself4    
,in the following year1 #aggi1 appeared 
the elaborate and well-known  edition of
 ,pascal's works by the ,abb ,bossut1   
accompanied by an admirable  8,discours 
sur la ,vie et les ,ouvrages de         
,pascal40  ,in this edition the  remains
 are found for the first time in some   
degree of completeness4  ,all  the      
fragments published by ,port ,royal1 and
 all those subsequently brought  to     
light by ,des ,molets and others1 are   
included and arranged in a new  order4  
,but meritorious as were ,bossut's      
editorial labours as a whole1  they did 
not attempt any restoration of the      
#8,penses' to their original  text2 and 
even the new fragments published by him 
were not left  untouched4  ,he embodied1

 for example1 the famous conversation   
with ,de  ,saci1 but without giving ,de 
,saci's part of the dialogue4  ,in      
short1 he  reproduced1 as ,m4 ,havet    
says1 all the faults of the first       
editors1 and  made others of his own4   
,this is the more remarkable that he is 
said to  have had in his possession a   
copy of the original manuscripts4       
,condorcet1 however1 consulted the      
original manuscripts themselves1        
without any thought of doing justice to 
,pascal's text4    ,so matters remained 
till #ahdb1 when ,m4 ,cousin published  
his famous ,report  on the subject to   
the ,french ,academy4  ,the ,french     
public then found to  their astonishment
 that1 with so many editions of the     
#8,penses1' they had  not the #8,penses'
 themselves4  ,while philosophers had   
disputed as to his  ideas1 and critics  
admired his style1 the veritable ,pascal
 of the  #8,penses' had all the time    
lain concealed in a mass of manuscripts 
in the  ,national ,library4  ,such a    

story1 it may be imagined1 did not lack 
any  force in the manner in which ,m4   
,cousin told it2 and an eager desire    
arose  for a new and complete edition of
 the fragments4  ,cousin had prepared   
the  way1 but he did not himself        
undertake this task1 which was reserved 
for  ,m4 ,faugre1 whose great edition   
appeared two years later1 in #ahdd4     
,nothing can deprive ,m4 ,faugre of the 
credit of being the first editor of  a  
complete and authentic text of the      
#8,penses4'    ,other editions of       
distinctive merit have since appeared2  
and it may be  admitted that1 in the    
natural reaction from the laxity of     
former  editions1 he gave a too literal 
transcript of the manuscripts1 including
  some things of little importance1 and 
others more properly belonging to  an   
edition of the #8,provincial ,letters'  
than of the #8,penses4'  ,but1  whether 
it be the result of early association or
 of greater familiarity  with ,m4       
,faugre's pages1 ,i own still a         

preference for this edition1 while      
admitting the admirable perspicuity and 
intelligence of many of ,m4  ,havet's   
notes1 and the splendour of the edition 
of ,m4 ,victor ,rochet1 the  most recent
 7#ahgc7 that has come under my notice4 
,the principle observed by ,m4 ,faugre  
is strongly defended in his preface4    
,he allowed himself no discretionary    
powers of emendation1 because 8the      
limits of such a power might10 he says1 
8be too easily overstepped1 and  would  
have left room for belief that greater  
liberties had been taken  than was      
actually the case40  8,the manuscripts10
 he adds1 8have been  read1 or rather   
studied1 page by page1 line by line1    
syllable by  syllable1 to the end2 and1 
with the exception of illegible words   
7which1  however1 are carefully         
indicated71 they have passed completely 
into the  present edition40    ,so far1 
this principle has been adhered to by   
subsequent editors4  ,there  has been no
 further tampering with ,pascal's words1

 but more or less  latitude has been    
taken in publishing all the manuscript  
details1 and  especially in the         
arrangement of the several fragments4   
,faugre fancied  that he could trace in 
,pascal's own notes the indication of an
 interior  arrangement1 into which the  
several parts of his proposed work in   
defence  of religion were intended to   
fall2 and he has grouped the fragments  
in  his second volume according to these
 supposed indications4  ,m4 ,havet does 
not think that it is possible any longer
 to discover the true order of  the     
fragments4  ,he does not believe that   
any such order existed in the  author's 
own mind4  ,he had a general design1 and
 certain great divisions2  a preface was
 sketched here1 and a chapter there2 but
 in throwing his  thoughts upon paper as
 they presented themselves to him1 he   
did not stop  to assort them1 or to     
bring them into any fitting connection4 
,what  ,pascal himself did not do1 ,m4  
,havet does not think it possible any   

editor  can do4  ,accordingly1 he recurs
 to the old1 if somewhat arbitrary1     
arrangement of ,bossut1 as the most     
familiar and useful4  ,m4 ,rochet       
follows an elaborate arrangement1       
professedly founded on the original     
plan of ,pascal1 as sketched by himself 
in the conversation reported by  his    
nephew in the preface to the primary    
edition of the fragments4  ,he          
considers that all the ,thoughts find   
their natural place in this plan and  in
 no other4  ,but ,m4 ,rochet's          
classifications are1 partly at least1   
inspired by his own ecclesiastical      
tendencies2 and he is far from just to  
the labours of ,m4 ,faugre1 and the real
 light and order which these  labours   
introduced into the development of      
,pascal's ideas4    ,it is unnecessary  
for us to attempt to hold the balance   
between ,pascal's  several editors1 or  
to say which of them has most justice on
 his side4  ,of two things there can be 
no doubt3 first1 that any special       

arrangement  of the #8,penses1' so as to
 give the idea of a connected book in   
defence  of religion1 is1 so far1       
arbitrary--the work1 that is to say1 of 
the  editor rather than of the author2  
and secondly1 that there is no          
difficulty1 from the original preface   
and otherwise1 of gathering the  general
 order of ,pascal's ideas1 and the      
method which appeared to him the  true  
one of meeting the irreligion of his    
day1 and vindicating the divine  truth  
of ,christianity--points which shall    
afterwards come before us4    ,the      
special question raised by ,m4 ,cousin  
as to ,pascal's scepticism will  also be
 best discussed in its true order1 in   
connection with such  passages as have  
suggested it4  ,considering ,pascal's   
traditionary  reputation as the defender
 of religion1 there was a character of  
surprise  in this question1 that forced 
a lively debate1 as soon as it was      
raised1  in ,france and ,germany1 and   
even ,england4  ,vinet and ,neander both

 joined  in it2 and the two lectures    
delivered by the latter before the      
,royal  ,academy of ,sciences in ,berlin
 in #ahdg1 are highly deserving of      
perusal by  all students of philosophy4 
#afd  ,but the issue is an absurd one1  
before  the combatants are agreed as to 
the meaning of the word ,scepticism1 and
  before the reader has before him the  
views of ,pascal1 and the manner in     
which he defines his own attitude in    
relation to what he considered the  two 
great lines of thought opposed to       
,christianity4  ,when we are in         
possession of his own statements1 we may
 find that much of the indignant        
rhetoric of ,m4 ,cousin is beside the   
question1 and that1 although ,pascal    
was certainly no ,cartesian1 and has    
used some strong and rash expressions   
about the weakness of human reason1     
neither is he a sceptic in any usual    
sense4  ,he has1 in fact1 defined his   
own position with singular clearness    
and force4    ,but before turning to his

 views on these higher subjects1 it will
 be well  to present our readers with   
some of ,pascal's more miscellaneous and
  general ,thoughts4  ,in doing so1 it  
is not necessary1 in such a volume as   
this1 that we indicate throughout the   
edition from which we take our          
quotations4  ,we shall quote from the   
editions of ,faugre or ,havet1 as may   
be most convenient1 and take them in    
such order as suits our own purpose  of 
exhibiting ,pascal's mind as clearly as 
we can4  ,for the same reason1  we shall
 give such passages as appear to us not 
always the most just or  accurate in    
thought1 but the most characteristic or 
representative of the  veritable        
,pascal1 whose true words were so long  
concealed from the world4  ,we cannot do
 better1 in the first instance1 than    
note what so great a  mathematician has 
to say of geometry and the 8mathematical
 mind10  compared with the naturally    
acute mind 78l'esprit de finesse071     
betwixt  which he draws an interesting  

parallel4  ,the fragment on the         
8,mathematical0 or 8,geometric ,mind0   
was1 with the exception of a brief      
passage given by ,des ,molets #afe in   
#agbh1 originally published1 although   
with numerous suppressions1 in          
,condorcet's edition of the #8,penses4' 
,it  appeared for the first time in its 
complete form1 and under its proper     
title1 in ,faugre's edition1 along with 
its natural pendant1 the  closely-allied
 fragment1 entitled 8,l',art de         
,persuader40  ,we give a few  passages  
from the first fragment3--        8,we  
may have three principal objects in the 
study of truth--one to      discover it 
when we seek it1 another to demonstrate 
it when we      possess it1 and a third 
and last to discriminate it from the    
false      when we examine it4 4 4 4    
,geometry excels in all three1 and      
especially in the art of discovering    
unknown truths1 which it calls          
analysis4 4 4  ,there is a method which 
excels geometry1 but is      impossible 

to man1 for whatever transcends geometry
 transcends us      in natural science1 
as he explains elsewhere4  ,this is the 
method      of defining everything and  
proving everything4 4 4  ,a fine method1
      but impossible2 since it is       
evident that the first terms that we    
wish      to define1 suppose precedent  
terms necessary for their               
explanation--and that the first         
propositions that we wish to prove1     
suppose others which precede them2 and  
so it is clear we can never      arrive 
at absolutely first principles4  ,in    
pushing our researches to      the      
utmost1 we necessarily reach primitive  
words that admit of no      further     
definition1 and principles so obvious1  
that they require no      proof4  ,man  
can never1 therefore1 from natural      
incompetency1 possess      an absolutely
 complete science4 4 4 4  ,but geometry1
 while inferior      in its aims1 is    
absolutely certain within its limits4   
,it neither      defines everything1 nor

 attempts to prove everything1 and must1
 so      far1 yield its pretension to be
 an absolute science2 but it sets out   
from things universally admitted as     
clear and constant1 and is              
therefore perfectly true1 because in    
consonance with nature4  ,its           
function is not to define things        
universally clear and understood1       
but to define all others2 and not to    
attempt to prove things      intuitively
 known to men1 but to attempt to prove  
all others4      ,against this1 the true
 order of knowledge1 those alike err who
      attempt to define and to prove    
everything1 and those who neglect       
definition and demonstration where      
things are not self-evident4  ,this     
is what geometry teaches perfectly4  ,it
 attempts no definition of      such    
things as space1 time1 motion1 number1  
equality1 and      the like1 because    
these terms designate so naturally the  
things which      they signify1 that any
 attempt at making them more clear ends 

in      making them more obscure4  ,for 
there is nothing more futile than the   
talk of those who would define primitive
 words4 #aff        4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4     
8,in geometry the principles are        
palpable1 but removed from common       
use4 4 4 4  ,in the sphere of natural   
wit or acuteness1 the principles        
are in common use and before all        
eyes--it is only a question of having   
a good view of them2 for they are so    
subtle and numerous1 that some      are 
almost sure to escape observation4 4 4 4
  ,all geometers would be      men of   
acuteness if they had sufficient        
insight1 for they never      reason     
falsely on the principles recognised by 
them4  ,all fine or      acute spirits  
would be geometers if they could fix    
their thoughts on      the unwonted     
principles of geometry4  ,the reason why
 some finer      spirits are not        
geometers is1 that they cannot turn     
their attention      at all to the      
principles of geometry2 but geometers   

fail in finer      perception1 because  
they do not see all that is before them1
 and      being accustomed to the plain 
and palpable principles of geometry1    
and never reasoning until they have well
 ascertained and handled      their     
principles1 they lose themselves in     
matters of intellectual      subtlety1  
where the principles are not so easily  
laid hold of4  ,such      things are    
seen with difficulty2 they are felt     
rather than seen4      ,they are so     
delicate and multitudinous that it      
requires a very      delicate and neat  
sense to appreciate them4 4 4 4  ,so it 
is as rare      for geometers to be men 
of subtle wit as it is for the latter to
 be      geometers1 because geometers   
like to treat these nicer matters       
geometrically1 and so make themselves   
ridiculous2 they like to      commence  
with definition1 and then go on to      
principles--a mode which      does not  
at all suit this sort of reasoning4  ,it
 is not that the mind      does not take

 this method1 but it does so silently1  
naturally1 and      without conscious   
art4  ,the perception of the process    
belongs only to      a few minds1 and   
those of the highest order4 4 4 4       
,geometers1 who      are only geometers1
 are sure to be right1 provided the     
subject come      within their scope1   
and is capable of explanation by        
definition and      principles4         
,otherwise they go wrong altogether1 for
 they only judge      rightly upon      
principles clearly set forth and        
established4  ,on the      other hand1  
subtle men1 who are only subtle1 lack   
patience1 in      matters of speculation
 and imagination1 to reach first        
principles      which they have never   
known in the world1 and which are       
entirely      beyond their beat4 4 4 4  
8,there are different kinds of sound    
sense4  ,some succeed in one order      
of things1 and not in another1 in which 
they are simply extravagant4      4 4 4 
,some minds draw consequences well from 

a few principles1      others are more  
at home in drawing conclusions from a   
great variety      of principles4  ,for 
example1 some understand well the       
phenomena of      water1 with reference 
to which the principles are few1 but the
      results extremely delicate1 so    
that only very great accuracy of mind   
can trace them4  ,such men would        
probably not be great geometers1        
because geometry involves a multitude of
 principles1 and because the      mind  
which may penetrate thoroughly a few    
principles to their depth      may not  
be at all able to penetrate things which
 combine a multitude      of principles4
 4 4 4  ,there are two sorts of mind3   
the one fathoms      rapidly and deeply 
the consequences of principles--this is 
the      observant and accurate mind2   
the other embraces a great multitude of 
principles1 without confounding         
them--and this is the mathematical      
mind4  ,the one is marked by energy and 
accuracy1 the other by      amplitude4  

,but the one may exist without the      
other4  ,the mind may be      powerful  
and narrow1 or it may be ample and      
weak40 #afh    ,few of ,pascal's        
,thoughts are more interesting than     
those on 8,eloquence  and ,style40  ,so 
great a master of the art of expression 
had naturally  something to say on these
 subjects4        8,continued eloquence 
wearies4  ,princes and kings amuse      
themselves      sometimes2 they are not 
always upon their thrones--they tire of 
these4      ,grandeur must be laid aside
 in order to be realised4               
8,eloquence is a picture of thought2 and
 thus those who1 after having      drawn
 a picture1 still go on1 make a tableau 
and not a likeness4        8,eloquence  
is the art of saying things in such a   
manner--first1 that      those to whom  
they are addressed can understand them  
without trouble      and with pleasure2 
and secondly1 that they may be          
interested in them      in such a way   
that their amour propre may lead them   

gladly to      reflect upon them4  ,it  
consists1 therefore1 in a correspondence
      established between the mind and  
heart of the hearers on the one         
side1 and the thoughts and expressions  
used on the other1 and so      implies a
 close study of the human heart in order
 to know all its      springs1 and to   
find the due measures of speech to      
address to it4  ,it      must confine   
itself1 as far as possible1 to the      
simplicity of nature1      and not make 
great what is small1 nor small what is  
great4  ,it is not      enough that a   
thing be fine1 it must be               
fitting1--neither in excess      nor    
defect40        8,eloquence should      
prevail by gentle suasion1 not by       
constraint4  ,it      should reign1 not 
tyrannise4        8,there are some who  
speak well1 and who do not write well4  
,the      place--the assembly--excites  
them1 and draws forth their mind more   
than      they ever experience without  
such excitement40        8,those who    

make antitheses by forcing the sense are
 like men who make      false windows   
for the sake of symmetry4  ,their rule  
is not to speak      correctly1 but to  
make correct figures40        8,there   
should be in eloquence always what is   
true and real2 but that      which is   
pleasing should itself be the real40    
8,when we meet with the natural style we
 are surprised and delighted1      for  
we expected to find an author1 and we   
find a man2 whilst those of      good   
taste who in looking into a book think  
to find a man1 are      altogether      
surprised to find an author4  ,plus     
poetice quam humane      locutus es4    
,they honour nature most who teach her  
that she can      speak best on all     
subjects--even on theology40            
8,there are men who always dress up     
nature4  ,no mere king with them1       
but an august monarch4  ,no ,paris1 but 
the capital of the kingdom4      ,there 
are places in which it is necessary to  
call ,paris ,paris2      others1 where  

we must call it the capital of the      
kingdom40        8,when in composition  
we find a word repeated1 and on trying  
to      correct it find it so suitable  
that a change would spoil the sense1    
it is better to let it alone4  ,this    
stamps it as fitting1 and it is a       
stupid feeling which does not recognise 
that repetition in such a      case is  
not a fault2 for there is no universal  
rule4        8,the meaning itself       
changes with the words which express it4
  ,the      meaning derives its dignity 
from the words1 instead of imparting it 
to them40        8,the last thing that  
we discover in writing a book is to know
 what to      put at the beginning4     
8,when a discourse paints a passion or  
effect naturally1 we find in            
ourselves the truth of what we hear1    
which was there without our      knowing
 it1 so that we are led to like the man 
who discovers so much      to us4  ,for 
he does not show us his own good1 but   
ours2 and this good      turn makes him 

lovable4  ,besides that1 the community  
of intelligence      we have with him   
necessarily inclines the heart towards  
him4        8,let none allege that ,i   
have said nothing new4  ,the arrangement
 of      the matter is new4  ,when we   
play at tennis1 both play with the same 
ball2 but one plays better than the     
other4  ,they might as well accuse      
me of using old words1 as if the same   
thoughts differently arranged      would
 not form a different discourse2 just as
 the same words      differently        
arranged express different thoughts4    
8,there is a definite standard of taste 
and beauty1 which consists in      a    
certain relation between our nature--it 
may be weak or strong1 but      such as 
it is--and the thing that pleases us4   
,all that is formed to      this        
standard delights us1--house1 song1     
writing1 verse1 prose1 women1      buds1
 rivers1 trees1 rooms1 dress1 etc4  ,all
 that is not formed by      this        
standard disgusts men of good taste4    

8,i never judge of the same thing       
exactly in the same manner4  ,i         
cannot judge of my work in the course of
 doing it4  ,i must do as      painters 
do1 place myself at a distance from it1 
but not too far4      ,how then8  ,you  
may guess40    ,we do not look to       
,pascal especially for worldly insight1 
or for that  sharp knowledge of men that
 make the sayings of clever social      
writers  like ,rochefoucauld or ,horace 
,walpole memorable1 if not always wise  
or  kind4  ,but there are many of the   
,thoughts which show that the penitent  
of  ,port ,royal had looked with clear  
observant eyes below the surface of     
,paris society1 and that he had a deep  
sense not only of the moral but the     
social weaknesses of humanity4          
8,when passion leads us towards         
anything1 we forget duty2 as we like a  
book we read it1 while we ought to be   
doing something else4  ,in order      to
 be reminded of our duty1 it is         
necessary to propose to do              

something that we dislike2 then we      
excuse ourselves on the ground      that
 we have something else to do1 and so we
 recollect our duty by      this means4 
8,how wisely are men distinguished by   
their exterior rather than by      their
 interior qualifications6  ,which of us 
two shall take the lead8      ,which    
shall yield precedence8  ,the man of    
less talent8  ,but ,i am as      clever 
as he4  ,then we must fight it out4     
,but he has four lackeys      and ,i    
have only one4  ,that is a visible      
difference4  ,we have only to      count
 the numbers4  ,it is my place then to  
give way1 and ,i am a fool      to      
contest the point4  ,in this way peace  
is kept1 which is the      greatest of  
blessings4        8,there is a great    
advantage in rank1 which gives to a man 
of eighteen      or twenty a degree of  
acceptance1 publicity1 and respect which
      another can hardly obtain by merit
 at fifty4  ,it is a gain of thirty     
years without any trouble4              

8,respect for others requires you to    
inconvenience yourself4  ,this          
seems foolish1 yet it is very proper4   
,it seems to say1 ,i would      gladly  
inconvenience myself if you really      
required me to do so1      seeing ,i am 
ready to do so without serving you4     
8#8,this is my dog1' say children2      
#8that sunny seat is mine4'  ,there     
is the beginning and type of the        
usurpation of the whole earth4          
8,this ,i is hateful4  ,you1 ,miton1    
#aga merely cover it1 you do not        
take it away2 you are therefore always  
hateful4  ,not at all1 you say2      for
 if we act obligingly to all men1 they  
have no reason to hate us4      ,so far 
true1 if there was nothing hateful in   
the ,i itself but the      displeasure  
which it gives4  ,but if ,i hate it     
because it is      essentially unjust1  
because it makes itself the centre of   
everything1      ,i shall hate it       
always4  ,in short1 this ,i has two     
qualities3 it is      unjust in itself1 

in that it makes itself the centre of   
everything2      it is an annoyance to  
others1 in that it would serve itself by
 them4      ,each ,i is the enemy1 and  
would be the tyrant1 of all others4     
8,he who would thoroughly know the      
vanity of men has only to consider      
the causes and effects of love4  ,the   
cause is a je ne sais quoi1 an          
indefinable trifle--the effects are     
monstrous4  ,if the nose of             
,cleopatra had been a little shorter1 it
 would have changed the      history of 
the world4        8,you have a bad      
manner--#8excuse me1 if you please4'    
,without the      apology ,i should not 
have known that there was any harm done4
      ,begging your pardon1 the #8excuse
 me1' is all the mischief4        8,do  
you wish men to speak well of you8      
,then never speak well of      yourself4
        8,the more mind we have1 the    
more do we observe men of original mind4
      ,it is your commonplace people    
that find no difference betwixt one man 

and another4        8,it is the contest 
that delights us1 and not the victory4  
,it is the      same in play1 and the   
same in search for truth4  ,we love to  
watch in      argument the conflicts of 
opinion2 but the plain truth we do not  
care      to look at4  ,to regard it    
with pleasure1 we must see it gradually 
emerging from the contest of debate4    
,it is the same with passions3      the 
struggle of two contending passions has 
great interest1 but the      dominance  
of one is mere brutality4        8,the  
example of chastity in ,alexander has   
not availed in the same      degree to  
make men chaste1 as his drunkenness has 
to make them      intemperate4  ,men are
 not ashamed not to be so virtuous as   
he2 and it      seems excusable not to  
be more vicious4  ,a man thinks he is   
not      altogether sunk in the mud when
 he follows the vices of great men4     
8,i have spent much time in the study of
 the abstract sciences1 but      the    
paucity of persons with whom you can    

communicate on such      subjects1 gave 
me a distaste for them4  ,when ,i began 
to study man1 ,i      saw that these    
abstract studies are not suited to him1 
and that in      diving into them ,i    
wandered farther from my real object    
than those      who were ignorant of    
them1 and ,i forgave men for not having 
attended      to these things4  ,but ,i 
thought at least ,i should find many    
companions in the study of mankind1     
which is the true and proper      study 
of man4  ,i was mistaken4  ,there are   
yet fewer students of man      than of  
geometry4        8,people in general are
 called neither poets nor geometers1    
although      they have all that in     
them1 and are capable of being judges of
 it4      ,they are not specifically    
marked out4  ,when they enter a room1   
they      speak of the subject on hand4 
,they do not show a greater aptitude    
for one subject than another1 except as 
circumstances call out their            
talents4 4 4 4        8,it is poor      

praise when a man is pointed out on     
entering a room as      being a clever  
poet2 a bad mark that he should only be 
referred to      when the question is as
 to the merit of some verses4 4 4 4     
8,man is full of wants1 and likes those 
who can satisfy them4  #8,such a        
one is a good mathematician1' it may be 
said4  ,but then ,i must be      doing  
mathematics2 he would turn me into a    
proposition4  ,another is a      good   
soldier2 he would take me for a besieged
 place4  ,give me your      true man of 
general talents1 who can adapt himself  
to all my needs4        8,if a man sets 
himself at a window to see the          
passers-by1 and ,i      happen to pass1 
can ,i say that he set himself there to 
see me8  ,no2      for he does not think
 of me in particular4  ,but if a man    
loves a      woman for her beauty1 does 
he love her8  ,no2 for the smallpox1    
which will destroy her beauty without   
killing her1 will cause him to      love
 her no more4  ,and if any one loves me 

for my judgment or my      memory1 does 
he really love me8  ,no2 for ,i may lose
 those qualities      without ceasing to
 be4  ,where1 then1 is this me1 if it is
 neither      in soul nor body8         
8,how is it that a lame man does not    
anger us1 but a blundering mind         
does8  ,is it that the cripple admits   
that we walk straight1 but a            
crippled mind accuses us of limping8    
,epictetus asks also1 ,why are we       
not annoyed if any one tells us that we 
are unwell in the head1 and      yet are
 angry if they tell us that we reason   
falsely or choose      unwisely8  ,the  
reason is1 that we know certainly       
nothing ails our      head1 or that we  
are not crippled in body4  ,but we are  
not so certain      that we have chosen 
correctly4        8,all men naturally   
hate one another4        8,desire and   
force are the source of all our         
actions--desire of our      voluntary1  
force of our involuntary actions4       
8,men are necessarily such fools1 that  

it would be folly of another      kind  
not to be a fool4        8,to make a man
 a saint1 grace is absolutely necessary2
 and whoever      doubts this does not  
know what a saint is1 nor what a man is4
        8,the last act is always        
tragedy1 whatever fine comedy there may 
have      been in the rest of life--,we 
must all die alone40        8,there can 
only be two kinds of men3 the righteous1
 who believe      themselves sinners2   
and sinners1 who believe themselves     
righteous4        8,unbelievers are the 
most credulous2 they believe the        
miracles of      ,vespasian to escape   
believing the miracles of ,moses4       
8,atheists should speak only of things  
perfectly clear1 but it is not          
perfectly clear that the soul is        
material4        8,atheism indicates    
force of mind1 but only up to a certain 
point40    ,some of the foregoing       
,thoughts #agd may appear to our readers
 sufficient  to warrant the charge of   
scepticism1 already adverted to4        

,pascal  certainly speaks at times both 
of human life and human reason in a     
contemptuous manner4  ,even             
,rochefoucauld could hardly express     
himself  more bitterly than he does now 
and then when he fixes his clear gaze   
upon  the folly1 the vanity1 the        
weaknesses which make up man's customary
 life1  and the deceits which he        
practises upon himself and his fellows4 
,all the  world seems to him at such    
times 8in a state of delusion40  ,if    
there is  truth1 it 8is not where men   
suppose it to be40  ,the majority are to
 be  followed1 not 8because they have   
more reason1 but because they have more 
force40        8,the power of kings is  
founded on the reason and on the folly  
of the      people1 but chiefly on their
 folly4  ,the greatest and most         
important      thing in the world has   
weakness for its basis1 and the basis is
      wonderfully secure1 for there is  
nothing more certain than that          
people will be weak4 4 4 4  ,our        

magistrates well understand this        
mystery4 4 4 4  ,save for their crimson 
robes1 ermine1 palaces of      justice1 
fleur-de-lis1 they would never have     
duped the world4  ,where      would the 
physician be without his #8cassock and  
mule1' and the      theologian without  
his #8square cap and flowing garments'8 
,these vain      adornments impress the 
imagination1 and secure respect4  ,we   
cannot      look at an advocate in his  
gown and wig without a favourable       
impression of his abilities4  ,the      
soldier alone needs no disguise1        
because he gains his authority by actual
 force1 the others by      grimace40    
,in such sentences1 as well as in some  
previously quoted1 the cynicism of  both
 ,hobbes and ,montaigne seems to speak4 
,man is really a fool1 and  society     
rests upon force4  ,the further down we 
go1 we come1 not to any  natural rights1
 or essential principles of justice1    
which reason is  capable of judging1 but
 only to a mass of customs built up out 

of selfish  instincts1 and controlled by
 external influence4  ,pascal repeats   
,montaigne over and over again1 and     
seems to make many of his cynicisms  his
 own4  ,this is not to be denied4       
8,montaigne is right4  ,custom should   
be followed because it is custom1 and   
because it is found to be  established1 
without inquiry whether it be reasonable
 or not40  ,yet he  puts in a caveat1 as
 we shall see more fully afterwards1    
just when he  seems most to have        
identified himself with the             
representative of  scepticism4  ,in     
blindly following custom1 he reserves   
8those matters  which are not contrary  
to natural or divine right20 and the    
root of  custom1 even in the popular    
mind1 he believes to be a dim sense of  
justice4  ,again1 in a similar vein1 he 
asks1 8,why follow ancient laws and     
ancient opinions8  ,are they wiser8     
,no4  ,but they stand apart from        
present interests2 and thus take away   
the root of difference40  ,here1  as so 

often1 the moralist supplants the       
sceptic1 and suggests a higher  thought1
 while seeming to approve of a          
superficial ,pyrrhonism4    ,it is easy1
 in one sense1 to make out a case of    
scepticism against  ,pascal4  ,he always
 writes strongly4  ,there is passion in 
all his thought4  ,he had a strong and  
deep sense of human weakness1 and       
incapacity to  attain the highest truth4
  ,he spoke of the philosophy of        
,descartes  without respect4  ,with most
 of the ,port ,royalists1 indeed1 he    
seems to  have concurred in the         
,cartesian doctrine of automata1 #agf   
strangely  revived in our day by        
,professor ,huxley4  ,but he repudiated 
the notion of  8subtle matter10 and even
 spoke of it with contempt 7dont il se  
moquait  fort74  8,he could not bear10  
his niece tells us1 in a passage often  
quoted and emphasised1 8the ,cartesian  
manner of explaining the formation  of  
all things40  8,i cannot forgive        
,descartes10 he said4  8,he would       

willingly in all his philosophy have    
done without ,god1 if he could2 but  he 
could not get on without letting him    
give the world a fillip to set it       
agoing3 after that1 he has nothing more 
to do with ,god40  ,whether he had      
studied ,descartes or not1 he evidently 
did not share the enthusiasm of         
,arnauld and others for his philosophy4 
,he even spoke of it as 8useless1       
uncertain1 and troublesome--nay1 as     
ridiculous40 #agg  ,he has added1 in    
that brusque1 rapid1 forceful style     
characteristic of many of his           
,thoughts1 that 8he did not think the   
whole of philosophy worth an hour's     
trouble40  ,again3 8,to set light by    
philosophy is the true philosophy40     
,when we look at such expressions1 and  
many others1 it is not to be  wondered  
at that ,pascal has been accused of     
scepticism4  ,as he could not  forgive  
,descartes1 so ,cousin cannot forgive   
him for his depreciation of  ,descartes4
  ,one who saw nothing in ,cartesianism 

or philosophy in general  beyond what   
these rash sentences1 freshly restored  
in all their audacity1  declare1 could  
be nothing but an 8enemy of all         
philosophy40    ,it is impossible not to
 feel that there is some ground for this
  accusation1 and that1 if we were to   
draw our knowledge of ,pascal merely    
from such passages1 ,cousin makes out   
something of a case against him4  ,but  
many other passages1 hardly less        
emphatic1 must make every candid  reader
 pause before he comes to any definite  
conclusion on the subject1  if it is    
necessary to come to such a conclusion  
at all4  ,it must never be  forgotten   
that we have nowhere the complete mind  
of ,pascal2 that it was  of the very    
nature of thoughts rapidly dashed upon  
paper--as the very form  of many we have
 quoted clearly indicates they were--to 
be one-sided and  often extravagant4    
,pascal1 of all men1 is not to be       
measured by his  strong expressions4    
,his intellectual nature1 while         

profound1 was narrow  and intense4  ,he 
put his whole soul into what moved him  
for the time2 and  a certain excess of  
passionate intellectual emotion         
evidently speaks in  some of the most   
striking of the #8,penses4'  ,we may    
imagine how in  some--perhaps in        
many--cases they would have been toned  
down had he lived  to revise and        
refashion them into a harmonious whole4 
,that interior  elaboration1--8a kind of
 second creation of genius10 as ,m4     
,faugre  says--which no one else may    
venture upon1--would undoubtedly have   
come from  his own masterly hand1 if it 
had been given him to bring fragment to 
fragment1 and to fit them together into 
a complete fabric4  ,it would be a  hard
 thing to judge any student1 and        
especially a student like ,pascal1 by   
the scattered notes of his library      
table2 and precious as these fragments  
are1 we must remember that this is their
 character1 and nothing else4  ,the fact
 that we now have them in all their     

native hardiesse makes this  caution not
 the less but all the more necessary4   
,in passing on to consider more         
particularly ,pascal's philosophical and
  religious attitude1 we shall see more 
fully the bearing of these remarks4     
,pascal1 in point of fact1 embraces many
 points of view2 and1 if he leans       
sometimes to scepticism1 he sees also   
the strong side of what he calls        
dogmatism or rational philosophy4  ,the 
very exaggerations of his  language1 now
 on this side and now on that1 show that
 he himself is more  than either1 as his
 own words bear4  8,it is necessary10 he
 says1 8to have  three qualities--those 
of the ,pyrrhonist1 of the geometrician 
7the  dogmatist71 and of the humble     
,christian4  ,these unite with and      
attemper  one another1 so that we doubt 
when we should1 we aim at certainty when
 we  should1 and we submit when we      
should40  ,he certainly thought that he 
had  found a surer road to truth than   
either ,dogmatism or ,pyrrhonism4       

,whether  he succeeded in doing so will 
appear as we proceed4    ,the famous    
conversation with ,de ,saci1 when he    
entered ,port ,royal1 must be  taken as 
the chief key to ,pascal's own          
philosophical attitude4  ,there is      
nowhere in any of the ,thoughts so      
complete an exhibition of his point of  
view2 and all the editors who have most 
entered into ,pascal's                  
spirit--,sainte-,beuve1 ,faugre1 and    
,havet alike--have recognised its       
importance4  ,it is really1 as ,havet   
says1 of the nature of an  introduction 
to the #8,penses4'    ,in this          
conversation ,pascal signalises what he 
believes to be the two  great opposing  
systems of human philosophy at all      
times2 the rational1  dogmatic1 or      
,stoical1 on the one hand--the          
sceptical1 or ,epicurean1 on the  other4
  ,he takes ,epictetus as the           
representative of the one2 ,montaigne as
  the representative of the other4  ,in 
depicting dogmatism at other times1  he 

seems to have ,descartes especially in  
view2 but in speaking of  scepticism and
 ,pyrrhonism 7which is his own          
expression71 it is always  ,montaigne   
that he has before him4  ,montaigne is  
,pyrrhonist par  excellence2 and        
undoubtedly the famous ,essays had      
greatly fascinated  ,pascal1 like many  
others in his generation4  ,he was      
constantly drawn to  them as embodying  
one1 and that a deep1 phase of his own  
experience4  ,he  felt his own thought  
expressed in many pages of ,montaigne1  
and had that  favour for the ,essays    
that every thoughtful man has for the   
book that  makes his own experience     
alive1 and brings it clearly before him4
  ,but he  has1 at the same time1 made  
plainly intelligible his own differences
 from  ,montaigne1 and marked with his  
usual boldness the limitations of his   
thought4  ,if ,pascal is ,pyrrhonist1 he
 is certainly not ,pyrrhonist after  the
 manner of ,montaigne1 deeply as he     
responds to many of the notes of  the   

,essays1 and at times seems to make them
 his own4    ,the conversation with ,de 
,saci took place in #afed1 when ,pascal 
first went  to ,port ,royal des ,champs1
 and ,de ,saci became his spiritual     
director4  ,we  owe its preservation to 
,fontaine1 from whose manuscript        
#8,memoirs' it was  extracted1 and first
 published in #agbh by ,des ,molets4    
,after all the  labour of ,faugre1      
,havet believes himself to have given   
for the first  time the correct text of 
the conversation from the original print
 of ,des  ,molets1 based on ,fontaine's 
manuscripts1 rather than from the text  
of the  #8,memoirs' as afterwards       
published4  ,fontaine describes in his  
nave  manner the impression made by     
,pascal upon ,de ,saci1 and how the     
brilliancy  of power which had charmed  
all the world could not be hidden within
 the  shades of ,port ,royal4  ,ignorant
 of the ,fathers of the ,church1 he had 
found by his own mental and spiritual   
penetration the very truths to be  met  

with in them2 and ,de ,saci seemed to   
see another ,st ,augustine before  him  
in the wonderful talk of the gifted     
penitent4  ,it was his practice in      
dealing with his penitents to adapt his 
conversation to their peculiar  powers4 
,if he spoke with ,m4 ,champagne1 for   
example1 he talked with him  of         
painting4  ,if he saw ,m4 ,hamon1 he    
inquired about the art of medicine4  ,if
 it was the surgeon of the place1 he had
 something to say of surgery4  ,all was 
designed to lead the thoughts from all  
human things up to ,god4  ,with ,pascal1
 therefore1 it was philosophy upon which
 his conversation  fell1 to try the     
depths of his mind1 and see what special
 direction he  needed4  8,pascal told   
him that the two books most familiar to 
him were  ,epictetus and ,montaigne1 and
 he lavished great praise on both4  ,m4 
de  ,saci had always wished to read     
these two authors1 and asked ,m4 ,pascal
 to  explain them fully40               
8,epictetus10 said ,pascal1 8is one of  

the philosophers of the world      who  
have best known the duties of man4      
,above all things1 he would      have   
man regard ,god as his chief object--to 
be persuaded that ,he      governs all  
things with righteousness--to submit to 
,him cordially1 and      to follow ,him 
willingly1 as having made all things    
with perfect      wisdom4  ,such a      
disposition would stay all complaints   
and murmurs1      and prepare the human 
mind to bear quietly the most           
troublesome      events4  #8,never say1'
 he observes 7,enchirid4 #aa71 #8,i have
 lost that2      say rather1 ,i have    
restored it4  ,my son is dead2 ,i have  
surrendered      him4  ,my wife is dead2
 ,i have given her up4'  ,and so of     
every other      good4 4 4 4  ,while its
 use is permitted1 regard it as a good  
belonging to others1 as a traveller does
 in an inn4  ,you should not      wish1'
 he adds1 #8that things be as you       
desire1 but you should desire      them 
to be as they are4' 4 4 4  ,it is your  

duty to play well the part      assigned
 to you1 but to choose the part is the  
act of ,another4  ,have      always     
death before your eyes1 and the evils   
which are least      supportable1 and   
you would never think meanly of         
anything1 nor desire      anything in   
excess4  ,he shows in a thousand ways   
what is the duty of      man4  ,he      
wishes him to be humble1 to conceal his 
good resolutions1      especially in    
their beginnings1 that he may carry them
 out in secret4      ,nothing is so     
ruinous to them as publicity4  ,he never
 ceases to      repeat that the whole   
duty and desire of man ought to be to   
acknowledge the will of ,god1 and to    
follow it4        8,such were the lights
 of this great mind1 who has so well    
understood      the duties of man4  ,i  
venture to say1 that he would have      
deserved to      be adored if he had    
only known as well human weakness2 but  
in order      to do this1 he must have  
been ,god ,himself4  ,mere man as he    

was1 after      having so well explained
 human duty1 he loses himself in the    
presumption of human capacity4  ,he     
avers that ,god has given to every      
man the means of acquitting himself of  
all his obligations2 that such          
means are always within his own power1  
that happiness is to be sought      by  
things within our reach1 since ,god has 
given us them for this very      end4   
,he points out in what our freedom      
consists3 goods1 life1 esteem      are  
not in our power1 and therefore do not  
lead to ,god2 but none can      force   
the mind to believe what is false1 nor  
the will to love that      which will   
make it miserable4  ,these two powers   
are therefore free2      and by these we
 can render ourselves perfect--know ,god
 perfectly1 love      ,him1 obey ,him1  
please ,him--vanquish all vices1 acquire
 all virtues1      and so make ourselves
 holy1 and the fellows of ,god4  ,these 
principles1 truly diabolic in their     
pride1 lead to other errors--such       

as that the soul is a portion of the    
,divine substance1 that grief and       
death are not evils1 that we may kill   
ourselves when we are in such           
trouble that we may believe ,god summons
 us1 etc4        8,as for ,montaigne--of
 whom you wish me also1 my dear sir1 to 
speak--being born in a ,christian       
country1 he makes profession of the     
,catholic religion1 and so far there is 
nothing peculiar about him4      ,but in
 the search for a system of morals      
dictated by reason without      the     
light of faith1 he has to lay down his  
principles on this      supposition1 and
 to consider man apart from revelation4 
,he conceives      things in such a     
universal uncertainty that doubt itself 
is seized      with uncertainty1 and    
doubts whether it doubts4  ,his         
scepticism      returns upon itself in a
 perpetual circle without repose1       
opposing      equally those who maintain
 that all is uncertain1 and those who   
maintain that nothing is1 so utterly    

indisposed is he to any fixity4      ,in
 this doubt which doubts itself1 and    
this ignorance which is      ignorant of
 itself1 is to be found the essence of  
his thought4  ,he      cannot express it
 by any positive term2 for if he was to 
say that he      doubts1 he betrays     
himself by making it certain that he    
doubts2 and      this being formally    
against his intention1 he can only      
explain      himself by an              
interrogation4  ,not wishing to say1 ,i 
do not know1 he      can only ask1 ,what
 do ,i know8  ,he has made this his     
device1 putting      it under a pair of 
balances1 which1 weighted in each scale 
by a      contradiction1 hangs in       
perfect equilibrium4  ,in other words1  
he is      pure ,pyrrhonist4  ,this is  
the point round which turn all his      
discourses and all his essays4  ,this is
 the only thing which he      leaves    
fixed1 although he may not always keep  
it before him4 4 4 4        8,it is in  
this humour1 fluctuating and variable as

 it is1 that he      combats with an    
invincible firmness the heretics of his 
time1 who      assumed to know the      
exclusive sense of ,scripture4  ,from   
the same      point of view he thunders 
vigorously against the horrible impiety 
of      those who dare to be certain    
that there is no ,god6  ,he attacks them
      especially in the #8,apology for  
,raymond de ,sebonde4'  ,having         
voluntarily set aside revelation1 and   
abandoned themselves to their           
natural light--all faith set aside--he  
asks them on what authority      they1  
who know not the essential reality of   
anything1 dare to judge      of that    
,sovereign ,being who is infinite by    
,his very definition4  ,he      demands 
upon what principles they rest1 and     
presses them to point      them out4    
,he examines all that they bring        
forward1 and so searches      them by   
his wonderful penetration as to show the
 hollowness of what      passes for the 
most clear and established truths4  ,he 

inquires if the      soul knows anything
 whatever--if it knows itself2 whether  
it is      substance or accident1 body  
or spirit2 what is each of these things1
      and if there is anything belonging
 to some order different from           
either2 if the soul knows its own body2 
if it knows what matter is1      or can 
distinguish the innumerable varieties of
 body produced from      matter2 how it 
can reason if it is material1 and how it
 can be united      to a special body1  
and feel its passions if it be          
spiritual4  ,when      did it begin to  
be1 with the body or before1 and if it  
ends with it      or not8 4 4 4 4  ,the 
ideas of ,god and truth are inseparable1
 and if      the one is or is not1 if   
the one is certain or uncertain1 the    
other      is necessarily the same4     
,who knows if the common sense 7le sens 
commun7 which we take as a judge of the 
truth is really this1      designed for 
such a purpose8  ,who knows what truth  
is1 and how can we      be sure of      

having it without knowing it8  ,who     
knows even what ,being      is1 since it
 is impossible to define it2 and in     
trying to do so1 it      is necessary to
 presuppose the very idea itself1 and   
say it is8 4 4      4        8,i        
confess1 sir1 ,i might look with joy    
upon the manner in which the      author
 invincibly crumples up proud reason    
with its own arms4  ,i      could love  
with my whole heart the minister of so  
mighty a vengeance      if1 as a        
faithful disciple of the ,church1 he had
 followed its moral      guidance4  ,but
 he acts1 on the contrary1 like a pagan1
 concluding      that we ought to       
abandon care for others and dwell in    
peace1 gliding      lightly over such   
subjects lest we lose ourselves in them1
 and taking      that to be true and    
good which at first appears to be so4   
,this is      why he follows everywhere 
the evidence of the senses and the      
notions      of the community4 4 4 4    
,in this manner1 he says1 there is      

nothing      extravagant in his conduct4
  ,he does as others do4  ,whatever they
 do      in the foolish thought that    
they are following the true good1 he    
does      from another principle1 that  
as the probabilities 7vraisemblances7   
are equally on one side and the other1  
so example and convenience      carry   
the day with him4  ,he mounts his horse 
like any one else--not as      a        
philosopher--because the horse allows   
him to do so1 but without      thinking 
there is any right in the matter1 and   
not knowing whether      the horse1 on  
the contrary1 may not be entitled to    
make use of him4      ,he puts          
constraint to himself in order to shun  
certain vices2 and      even guards     
marriage faithfully1 merely on account  
of the disorder      which would        
otherwise follow4 4 4 4        8,i      
cannot dissemble that in reading        
,montaigne1 and comparing him with      
,epictetus1 ,i find in them the two     
greatest defenders of the most          

celebrated sects of the world1 who      
profess to follow reason rather         
than revelation4  ,we must follow one or
 other4  ,either there is a ,god        
and a ,sovereign ,good1 or this is      
uncertain1 and all is                   
uncertain1--whether there is any true   
good or not4 4 4 4        8,the error in
 both is1 in not seeing that the present
 state of man      differs from that in 
which he was created4  ,the one1        
observing only      the traces of his   
primitive grandeur1 and ignoring his    
corruption1      has treated human      
nature as if it were whole1 without any 
need of a      ,redeemer--this leads to 
the height of pride2 the other1 sensible
 of      man's present misery1 and      
ignorant of his original dignity1 treats
      human nature as necessarily weak  
and irreparable1 and thus1 in           
despair of attaining any true good1     
plunges it into a depth of              
baseness40 #ahe    ,these two states1   
,pascal goes on to argue1 must be taken 

together before  the truth can be       
reached4  ,apart1 they give a false     
picture of man2 and  generate on the one
 hand pride1 on the other hand          
immorality4  ,it is only  the ,gospel   
which unites them1 in a right manner1   
8by a divine art40  ,it  brings together
 the opposites1 and explains1 by a      
wondrous1 truly  heavenly way1 how they 
may coexist1 not as attributes of the   
same  subject1 as systems of human      
philosophy have made them1 but as       
different  endowments--the one of       
nature1 the other of grace4  8,behold   
the new and  surprising union which ,god
 alone could teach and alone accomplish1
 and  which is only an image and an     
effect of the ineffable union of two    
natures in the one person of the        
,god-man40    ,in these latter          
sentences--which we have been obliged1  
for the sake of  brevity1 to            
compress--we have the suggestion of     
,pascal's philosophy both  of human     
nature and of ,divine revelation4  ,he  

recurs over and over again  to the same 
idea1 that man is great and yet weak1   
full of capacity and  yet miserable1 and
 that the ,gospel alone holds the key to
 this enigma of  human nature4  ,this1  
more than any other1 is the pervading   
thought round  which all the others     
gather4        8,this twofoldness       
7duplicit710 he says1 8is so visible1   
that some      have conceived that man  
must have two souls--a simple subject   
appearing to them incapable of such and 
so sudden variations2 an                
immeasurable presumption on the one     
hand1 a horrible abasement on the       
other4  ,in spite of all the miseries   
which cleave to us1 and hold us1      as
 it were1 by the throat 7nous tiennent  
la gorge71 there is      within us an   
irrepressible instinct which exalts us4 
,the greatness      of man is so visible
 that it may be deduced from his very   
misery4      ,his very miseries prove   
his greatness4  ,they are the miseries  
of a      great lord1 of a dethroned    

sovereign4  ,the greatness of man       
consists      in his knowledge of his   
misery4  ,a tree does not know itself to
 be      miserable4 4 4 4  ,he is       
miserable--the fact is beyond question2 
but he      is great in knowing it40    
#ahf    ,again1 reverting to the very   
same line of thought1 as in the         
conversation  with ,de ,saci--          
8,philosophers have propounded          
sentiments not at all adapted to the    
twofold condition of man4  ,they have   
sought to inspire emotions of      pure 
greatness2 but this is not man's        
condition4  ,they have sought on        
the other hand to inspire sentiments of 
mere baseness2 but neither is      this 
man's condition4  ,man needs abasement1 
not of nature1 however1      but of     
penitence2 not that he remain degraded1 
but that he may rise      to greatness4 
,he needs to feel within him the emotion
 of      greatness1--not of merit1      
however1 but of grace4 4 4 4  ,two sects
 have      sprung out of this conflict  

between reason and sense in man4  ,the  
one1 in renouncing passion1 has aspired 
to divinity2 the other1 in              
renouncing reason1 has sunk to mere     
brutality4 4 4 4  ,the principles       
of the respective philosophies are so   
far true--,pyrrhonism1 ,stoicism1       
,atheism even4  ,but the conclusions are
 false1 because the opposite            
principles are equally true4 4 4 4  ,we 
labour under an incapacity of           
demonstrating all things invincible to  
,dogmatism4  ,we have an innate         
idea of truth invincible to all         
,pyrrhonism4 4 4 4  ,nature confounds   
the ,pyrrhonist1 and reason the         
,dogmatist20--    or1 as the passage was
 originally written1--        8,we      
cannot be ,pyrrhonists without violating
 nature2 we cannot be      ,dogmatists  
without renouncing nature40 #ahg        
,these and other passages sufficiently  
show ,pascal's relation to  philosophy1 
and to ,pyrrhonism in particular4  ,he  
is no enemy of  philosophy1 but he      

certainly does not believe it capable of
 explaining  the riddle of human nature4
  ,he is so far from being a ,pyrrhonist
 in the  sense of resting on            
,pyrrhonism1 that he seeks to mount on  
its shoulders  to a higher truth4  ,nay1
 he clearly recognises that man has an  
inborn  faculty for truth which not all 
the contradictions of his experience can
  belie4  ,we may and must doubt as to  
many things2 but there are principles   
lying at the root of human life which   
are invincible to all doubt4  ,we  can  
demonstrate many things2 but there are  
natural realities beyond our  power of  
demonstration4  ,on the side of sense1  
all things seem to  fluctuate and waver 
in uncertainty2 on the side of mere     
intellect we soon  cross the limit of   
our powers4  ,but ,humanity is more than
 either sense or  intellect4  ,there is1
 as he believes1 a primitive endowment  
of spiritual  instinct in man1 which    
looks forth upon a higher world of      
reality4  ,repeatedly1 and in various   

applications1 he recurs to these three  
radical  sides or elements of ,humanity2
 8the sensible--the intellectual1 or the
  exercise of reason left to itself--and
 the spiritual or divine40  ,pascal     
despairs of a philosophy which is either
 a mere generalisation of  sensible     
experience1 or which aims at            
demonstrating everything from a  purely 
rational point of view2 but he is so far
 from resting in mere  intellectual     
doubt1 that he tries to find a ground   
for human certitude in  a deeper stratum
 of ,humanity than either sense or what 
he calls 8reason40  ,neander and others 
have vindicated for him a supreme       
position as a  philosopher on this very 
account4  ,with them he is not only no  
sceptic1  but he stands forth among the 
men who have specially vindicated the   
claims of ,humanity as endowed with the 
divine attributes of 8spirit0 and       
8will0--the men of 8full mental         
healthiness0 who have recognised in man 
a  free spiritual life no less than a   

life of sense and intellect4  ,this may 
or may not be4  ,but the mere fact that 
,pascal has aimed at a deeper  ground of
 certitude1 whether he has made it clear
 or not1 and whether or  not he has     
spoken with undue depreciation of other 
sources of knowledge1  should be enough 
to vindicate him from the charge of even
 philosophical  scepticism4  ,in the    
following passage he has explained his  
views more  fully4  ,more than any      
other1 perhaps1 it may be taken as the  
text of his  philosophy4        8,we    
discover truth10 he says1 8not only by  
reasoning1 but by feeling      7le cur72
 and it is in this latter manner that we
 discover first      principles--and in 
vain does reasoning1 which has no share 
in their      production1 try to combat 
these principles4  ,the ,pyrrhonists1   
who      attempt this1 labour in vain4  
,we know that we are not deceived1      
however incapable we may be of proving  
so by any power of reasoning4      ,this
 incapacity only demonstrates the       

weakness of our reasoning      faculty1 
and not the incertitude of all our      
knowledge1 as they      pretend4  ,nay1 
our knowledge of first principles1 such 
as the ideas      of space1 time1       
motion1 number1 is as certain as any    
obtained      by reasoning4  ,it is1 in 
fact1 upon such conclusions of feeling  
and      instinct that ,reason must     
ultimately rest and base all its        
arguments4      ,we feel that there are 
three dimensions in space1 and that     
numbers      are infinite2 and reason   
hence demonstrates that there are no two
      square numbers the one of which is
 double the other4  ,principles are     
felt1 propositions deduced1 and both    
with certitude1 although in             
different ways4  ,and it is as absurd   
for the #8reason' to demand of      the 
#8heart' proofs of its first principles 
before asserting them1 as      it would 
be for the #8heart' to demand of the    
#8reason' a feeling of      all         
propositions that she demonstrates      

before accepting them4  ,this           
weakness1 therefore1 should only serve  
to humble reason in its desire      to  
make itself judge of everything1 but by 
no means to moderate the      certitude 
of our conviction1 as if reason were    
alone capable of      instructing us40  
#ahi    ,there may be something to      
object to in ,pascal's mode of          
expression in the  above passage4       
,cousin has made the most of his        
confusion of 8reason0 and               
8reasoning0--8la raison0 and 8le        
raisonnement40  ,the expression 8le     
cur10  by which he designates the higher
 faculty of intuition1 may be inadequate
  and misleading--complex and disturbing
 in its association4  ,but withal1  his 
attitude in favour of a ground of       
certainty in human knowledge is         
unmistakable4  ,so far he is not only   
not with ,montaigne1 but he is  clearly 
against him4  ,the rights of nature1 as 
he says1 rise up against  the           
,pyrrhonist4  ,they make themselves     

good4  ,and however strongly ,pascal    
may draw the picture of human weakness1 
and all the contrarieties which  our    
nature encloses1 he does not mean by    
this to strike at the roots of  all     
knowledge1 and leave man a prey to      
helpless doubt4  ,he means merely  to   
shake the throne of rational security1  
and to show that no conclusions  of mere
 philosophy can reach all the exigencies
 of man's condition4  ,his  analysis of 
human nature is the analysis of a       
moralist1 and not of a  psychologist or 
rational philosopher4  ,he looks at man 
always as a  spiritual being4  ,it is   
his spiritual capacity which alone makes
 him  great1 and yet intensifies all the
 lower contradictions of his nature4    
,it is 8thought alone which makes man's 
greatness40  ,a man can be  conceived   
8without hands or feet or head1 but not 
without thought40        8,the          
possession of the earth would not add to
 my greatness4  ,as to      space1 the  
universe encloses and absorbs me as a   

mere point1 but by      thought ,i      
embrace it4 4 4 4  ,man is but a reed1  
the feeblest of      created things--but
 one possessing thought 7un roseau      
pensant74  ,it      needs not that the  
universe should arm itself to crush him4
  ,a      breath1 a drop of water1      
suffices for his destruction4  ,but were
 the      whole universe to rise against
 him1 man is yet greater than the       
universe1 since man knows that he dies4 
,he knows the universe      prevails    
against him4  ,the universe knows       
nothing of its power40      #aij    ,it 
is hardly possible to speak more        
eloquently of the dignity of human      
nature4  ,and if it is the same voice   
which speaks in such pathetic or it  may
 be harsh tones of human weakness and   
misery1 and the disproportions  of our  
natural life1 it is the very            
consciousness of greatness that         
inspires the consciousness of misery4   
,looking from such a height of  human   
dignity1 he sees all the depths of human

 baseness4  ,it is this  higher spirit  
which consecrates ,pascal as a moralist4
  ,has he rebuked the  presumptions of  
humanity8 has he called upon proud      
reason to humble  itself8 has he gibed  
human philosophy1 and even gloried for a
 moment in  the contradictions of       
empiricism8  ,it is never that he may   
laugh at man1  or that he may rest in   
the mere contemplation of his follies or
  extravagances1 but because he himself 
profoundly realised the height and  the 
depth of his being--the grandeur to     
which he could rise1 or to which  ,god  
could raise him1 and the baseness and   
miseries to which he could  sink4       
,doubtless1 as with all concentrated and
 meditative natures1 ,pascal  delights  
to dwell on the weaker and gloomier side
 of humanity4  ,this was  partly the    
result of his ,jansenist leanings1 but  
mainly it came from his  own intense    
reality of feeling4  ,it was bred of his
 austere sadness of  heart1 and is found
 to run as a note of profound           

constitutional  melancholy through all  
his letters1 and all his life1 as well  
as his  ,thoughts4  ,in the view of     
eternity1 and of the awful issues       
involved in  religion1 the common life  
and pursuits of man seemed to him not   
only  frivolous1 but criminal4  ,he     
looked forth1 therefore1 on this common 
life  with eyes not only of tears1 but  
of displeasure4  ,he seemed even at     
times  to derive something of stern     
satisfaction from its very follies and  
absurdities4  ,but this is only the     
temporary mood of the profound  moralist
 touched to his heart by pangs that he  
cannot resist4  ,his true  view of life 
is never cynical1--but always grave1 if 
bitter--and hopeful1  if stern4         
,pascal's supposed philosophical        
scepticism admits of something of the   
same explanation4  ,he has not only no  
wish to disturb the fundamental         
verities of human thought1 but he       
endeavours to fix them in an            
ineradicable instinct or universal      

8sense10 against which all the  assaults
 of ,pyrrhonism must break4  ,but the   
while he is himself deeply  moved by the
 perplexities of human reason4          
,although no ,pyrrhonist in  thought1 he
 knows too well in experience the depths
 of ,pyrrhonism4  ,his  mind is one of  
those to be met with in all ages1 which1
 while it clings  to faith1 and is even 
strong in the assertion of faith's      
claims1 is yet  in certain moments      
utterly distracted by doubt4            
,constantly searching the  foundations  
of human knowledge1--sifting them as    
with lighted glance1--they  seemed to   
him at times to crumble away before him4
  ,nothing remained  fixed to his       
piercing look4  ,as few minds have      
experienced1 he felt the  awful darkness
 which encloses all mortal aspiration1  
and the keenest  audacities of human    
speculation4  ,the incapacities of human
 reason at  such times overwhelmed him1 
and left him hopeless1 or1 still worse1 
in a  half-derisive mood4  ,and these   

moods1 as well as his clearer and more  
elaborate thoughts1 hastily transferred 
to paper1 are found amongst his  notes4 
,it is quite impossible to vindicate his
 consistency1 and it is  not in the     
least necessary to do this1 as already  
explained2 while we  feel bound to      
maintain that his higher mood is his    
true mood1 and that  the ,pascal of the 
#8,penses'--the veritable ,pascal--is to
 be judged1 not by  his weakness but by 
his strength2 by his moments of clear   
mental sanity  and insight1 and not by  
his moments of despair or of derisive   
mockery of  all human philosophy4       
,this seems to us the true light in     
which to regard the famous wager-essay  
on the existence of ,god1 which has been
 a scandal even to some of his  greatest
 admirers4  ,it is impossible to defend 
this essay on any  principle of sound   
philosophy4  ,either there is a ,god or 
there is not4  ,which side of the       
question shall we take8  8,reason10 he  
says1 8cannot  decide40  ,the fact1 he  

means1 cannot be demonstrated according 
to his  customary use of the word       
reason4  ,but if it cannot1 there must  
yet be a  balance of reason1 and proof  
on one side or the other4  ,and the only
 fair  and manly issue of such a        
question must be1 ,on which side lies   
this  balance8  ,a valid theistic       
conclusion can be found in no other way1
 and  least of all in any calculation of
 chances1 or balance of self-interest4  
,and yet it is this last which ,pascal  
has put forward with such prominence  in
 this famous essay4  8,wager10 he says4 
8,if you win1 you win  everything2 if   
you lose1 you lose nothing4  ,wager1    
then1 without  hesitation1 that ,god    
exists4 4 4 4  ,on one side is an       
eternity of life1  of infinite          
blessedness to be gained1 and what you  
stake is finite4 4 4 4  ,our proposition
 is1 that the finite is to be vested in 
a wager1 in which  there is an equal    
chance of gain and loss1 and infinitude 
to gain40  ,the play was hardly worthy  

of ,pascal1 and the #8mystery of the    
game' could  certainly never be         
unravelled in any such way4  ,but not a 
few minds like  ,pascal's--with deep    
spiritual intuitions and yet a craving  
for scientific  certainty constantly    
mocking these intuitions--have felt in a
 similar  manner the hazard of the great
 question1 and may have said to         
themselves1  8,we must take our stand1  
and this is the side which weighs in the
  balance4  ,we can lose nothing2 we may
 gain everything40  ,the mood is not  a 
lofty one1 and it is no higher in       
,pascal than in any one else2 but  there
 are moments of terrible doubt1 when the
 soul is so borne away on  the surge of 
the sceptical wave that rises from the  
depth of all human  speculation1 that it
 can only cling to the ,divine by an    
effort of will1  and with something of  
the gamester's thought that this is the 
winning  side6  ,the thought may be     
shallow and poor in itself1 but in such 
cases  it comes not out of the shallows 

but out of the depths of a mind torn by 
distracting doubts in the face of the   
dreadful problems of life4    ,out of   
the same depth of spiritual experience  
and trenchant moral  analysis comes all 
that is true and valuable in his        
so-called #8,apology4'  ,that the       
#8,penses' were more or less designed to
 form such an ,apology--to  be woven    
into the plan of a treatise in defence  
of the ,christian  religion--seems      
beyond doubt4  ,he had himself1         
according to the statement  of his      
nephew1 unfolded such a plan to his     
friends1 in a lengthened  conversation  
about the year #afeg or #afei4  ,they   
were charmed with the  loftiness of his 
design1 and listened to his exposition  
of it for two or  three hours with      
unabated interest4  ,he was to commence 
with an analysis  of human nature1 and  
to advance from the contemplation of its
 mysteries1  obscurities1 and           
perplexities1 to the consideration of   
the various  methods1 philosophical and 

religious1 by which reason had          
endeavoured to  meet the difficulties of
 thought and life4  ,after explaining   
the  inconclusiveness and absurdities of
 these methods--represented by the      
diverse philosophies and religions of   
the world--he was to call attention  to 
the ,jewish religion1 and the           
superiority which it presents to all    
others1 both in the extraordinary       
circumstances of its history1 and in    
the revelation which it gives of one    
,god1 ,creator and ,governor of the     
world1 and of the origin of man--his    
primitive innocence and fall4  ,the     
idea of the fall1 which was a central   
one in all ,pascal's thoughts1 was  to  
be fully expounded1 in its own character
 and as 8the source not only  of        
whatever is most inexplicable in man's  
nature1 but also of a multitude  of     
things1 external to him1 of which he    
knows not the causes40  ,from the  fall 
he was to pass to the hopes of          
deliverance revealed in the ,old        

,testament1 and especially the lofty    
conception which it gives of ,god as a  
,god of love1 a feature peculiar to it1 
and 8which he deemed the essence  of    
true religion40    ,from such general   
considerations--of the nature of        
prolegomena or  8preparation0 for the   
reader's mind--he proceeded to furnish a
 brief view  of 8the positive proofs of 
the truths he wanted to                 
establish1--proofs  derived from the    
authenticity of the books of ,moses1    
especially the  miracles they record1   
the figures and types they embody40  ,he
 then went  on more at length to prove  
the truth of religion from prophecy1    
which he  is represented as having      
studied deeply1 and certain views of    
which1 8of  a nature wholly original10  
he explained with great clearness4      
,finally1  8after going through the     
books of the ,old ,testament10 he       
advanced to  those of the ,new1 8and    
deduced from them his crowning proofs of
 the  truths of the ,gospel40  ,he began

 with ,christ1 whose divine mission he  
already supposed to be established by   
the argument from prophecy1 and  added  
additional force of evidence from ,his  
resurrection1 ,his miracles1  ,his      
doctrines1 and the tenor of ,his life2  
then from the character and  mission of 
the apostles2 and lastly1 from the style
 and manner of the ,new  ,testament     
books1 and especially of the ,gospels1  
8the multitude of  miracles1 martyrs1   
and the saints10--in a word1 from all   
8by which the  ,christian religion is so
 triumphantly established40    ,it is   
needless to say how imperfectly this    
design was ever accomplished2  and no   
ingenuity of restoration can make of    
,pascal's apologetic plan  anything but 
a mass of imperfect fragments4  ,yet he 
has left us a  definite series of       
,thoughts on the ,jewish religion1 on   
,miracles1 ,figures1  and ,prophecy1 and
 also on ,jesus ,christ and the general 
character of the  ,christian religion4  
,in these ,thoughts1 it must be         

admitted1 there is but  little to reward
 our study in comparison with those of a
 more  introductory and philosophical   
nature4  ,pascal's genius was in no     
degree  historical1 and but slightly    
critical--not to mention that the very  
idea  of historical criticism had not   
emerged in his time1 nor long           
afterwards4  ,while realising so        
profoundly the perplexities of human    
experience1 he  has no conception of the
 difficulties that beset historical     
tradition2  nor do his habits of        
scientific investigation1 and the       
natural severity  and logical rigour of 
his mind1 seem to have suggested to him 
any  misgivings as to the prevalence of 
miraculous agency in the world4  ,the   
perfect faith with which he accepted the
 8miracle0 of the ,holy ,thorn is a     
sufficient indication of his state of   
mind in this respect1 and how ready  he 
was to accept evidence the very idea of 
which merely excites a smile  of wonder 
in the modern mind4    ,it cannot be    

said1 therefore1 to be any matter of    
regret that ,pascal did  not live to    
complete the historical portion of his  
projected work1--what  he seems himself1
 from the report of his friends1 to have
 considered the  main structure of the  
defence he intended to rear on behalf of
 the  religion so dear to him4  ,he     
expended his real strength on the       
portico to  the designed temple4  ,his  
genius fitted him to deal with this1 and
 with  this alone1 in any adequate      
manner4  ,his moral analysis1 at once   
keen and  veracious1 enabled him not    
only to lay bare all the                
8disproportions0 of  humanity1 but1     
moreover1 to unfold the adaptation of   
,christianity as a  spiritual system to 
meet and remedy these disproportions4   
,this is the  real 8apologetic0 work of 
the #8,penses1' and the only one for    
which  ,pascal's mind pre-eminently     
fitted him4  ,he sees in the ,gospel a  
,divine  ,power which is capable of     
ministering to man's higher wants--a    

power of  infinite compassion towards   
human weakness and misery1 of infinite  
help  for the one and remedy for the    
other4  ,the ,christian religion1       
according  to him1 alone 8understands at
 once man's greatness and degradation1  
and  the reason of both the one and the 
other40  8,it is equally important for  
man to know his capacity of being like  
,god and his unworthiness of ,him4  ,to 
know of ,god without knowing his misery1
 or to know his misery without  knowing 
the ,redeemer1 who alone can deliver him
 from it1 is alike  dangerous4  ,the one
 knowledge constitutes the pride of the 
philosopher1  the other the despair of  
the atheist4  ,man must therefore have  
the double  experience1 and so it has   
pleased ,god to reveal it4  ,this the   
,christian  religion does2 in this it   
consists40  ,again3 8,christ is the     
centre in  which alone we find at once  
,god and our misery4  ,in ,him alone we 
have a  ,god whom we must approach      
without pride1 and before whom we may   

yet bow  without despair40  ,in another 
and more lengthened passage he brings   
the  two ideas of human corruption and  
divine redemption closely together1 the 
one as supplementary of the other1 and  
expressly emphasises the  perfection    
with which ,christianity fits so to     
speak1 into all the wards  of the human 
enigma1--in comparison with every system
 of human philosophy4        8,without  
divine knowledge10 he says1 8what have  
men been able to do      save to exalt  
themselves in the consciousness of their
 original      greatness1 or abase      
themselves in the view of their present 
weakness8      ,unable to see the whole 
truth1 they have never attained to      
perfect      virtue4  ,one class        
considering nature as incorrupt1 another
 as      irreparable1 they have been    
alternately the victims of pride or     
sensuality--the two sources of all vice4
 4 4 4  ,if1 in one case1 they          
recognised man's excellence1 they       
ignored his corruption2 and so1 in      

escaping indulgence1 they lost          
themselves in pride4  ,in the other     
case1 in acknowledging his weakness they
 ignored his dignity1 and1      while   
escaping vanity1 plunged into despair4  
,hence the diverse sects      of ,stoics
 and ,epicureans1 of ,dogmatists and    
,academicians1 etc4  ,the               
,christian religion alone can reconcile 
these discrepancies and cure      both  
evils1 not by expelling the one by the  
other1 according to the      wisdom of  
this world1 but by expelling both the   
one and the other by      the simplicity
 of the ,gospel4  ,for it teaches the   
just that while it      elevates them   
even to be partakers of the divine      
nature1 they still      carry with them 
in this lofty state the source of all   
their      corruption1 making them      
during life subjects of error1 misery1  
death1      and sin4  ,at the same time1
 it proclaims to the most impious that  
they are capable of becoming partakers  
of a ,redeemer's grace4  ,by      thus  

warning those whom it justifies1 and    
consoling those whom it      condemns1  
it tempers with just measure fear and   
hope1 through the      twofold capacity 
in all of grace and sin2 so that it     
abases      infinitely more than reason1
 yet without producing despair1 and     
exalts infinitely more than natural     
pride1 yet without puffing              
up1--plainly showing that it alone is   
exempt from all error and wrong1        
and possesses the power at once of      
instructing and correcting men4         
,who1 then1 can withhold his belief in  
this revelation1 or refuse to      adore
 its celestial light8  ,for is it not   
more clear than day that we      feel in
 ourselves the ineffaceable traces of   
divine excellence8  ,and      it is     
equally clear that we experience every  
hour the effects of our      fall and   
ruin4  ,what1 then1 comes to us from all
 this chaos and wild      confusion1 in 
a voice of irresistible conviction1 but 
the      irrefragable truth of both     

those sides of humanity80 #aii    ,this 
passage conveys very clearly at once the
 gist of ,pascal's philosophy  and the  
chief merit of his line of ,christian   
apology4  ,the two cannot be  separated4
  ,they run constantly into one another4
  ,he was a ,christian  apologist in so 
far as he was a ,christian philosopher2 
and those who  reject his line of       
,christian defence1 will also reject his
 whole mode of  thought4  ,to him the   
only solution of human perplexity in    
thought and  life is ,christ4  ,he is   
the 8object and centre of all things1 in
 whom  alone all contradictions are     
reconciled40  ,this is the conclusion of
 his  intelligence1 and not of his      
despair4  ,whatever may be the traces of
  scepticism in his intellectual nature1
 it is doing him great injustice to     
represent his acceptance of             
,christianity as a mere refuge from     
uncertainty4  ,he is a totally different
 man from ,huet1 with whom ,cousin  has 
ventured to compare him in this respect4

  ,he never dallies on the  surface2    
mere traditionalism has but a slight    
hold of him4  ,he is a  ,christian not  
because he has been taught              
,christianity1 or because the  ,church  
as a divine institution claims his      
allegiance4  ,all these  influences may 
have affected him1 and given a turn to  
his mind2 but they  do not touch the    
essence of his thoughts4  ,anything he  
does say of the  external claims of     
,christianity has but little weight4    
,it is out of the  depths of his own    
spiritual experience that his faith is  
born4  ,it is a  voice within him1 a    
conflicting cry of weakness and         
aspiration going up  everywhere from    
humanity1 that find their answer in     
,christ4  ,there is the  enigma of man  
on the one side1 to him otherwise       
hopeless1 and ,christ on  the other1    
holding the keys of the enigma in ,his  
hand4  ,the solution  appeared to him   
perfect1 according to his study and     
analysis of the  problem--the           

twofoldness that he found in man1 of    
divine dignity on the  one hand1 and    
frivolous1 sensual degradation on the   
other4  ,both facts1  he says1 are      
equally clear and certain4  ,man's fall 
from a state of  divine innocence alone 
explains them2 and the ,gospel alone    
recognises the  one side as well as the 
other of human nature1 and provides a   
,power  capable of restoring its true   
balance and rectifying all its disorder4
  ,he felt in himself the might of this 
power healing all the wounds of his  own
 heart1 and binding up the shreds of his
 ,christian efforts 8to do  justly1 and 
love mercy1 and walk humbly with ,god40 
,whether we agree with  all his         
analyses1 or recognise all the          
adaptations which he describes1 it  is  
impossible not to feel that they were   
living to him1 and that he saw  in      
,christianity not merely a refuge for   
the disappointed heart1 but a  true     
philosophy of life--the only 8sure and  
sound philosophy10 as ,justin  ,martyr  

had found long before him4    ,it is in 
the same spirit that he writes in many  
of his later #8,penses4'  ,some of the  
passages already quoted are in fact     
taken from the chapter  8,on the        
,christian ,religion10 which appears to 
have been intended to form  one of the  
concluding chapters of his ,apology4    
,but he repeats over and  over again the
 same strain--that the present condition
 of man is only  intelligible in the    
light of the ,christian revelation1 and 
that this  revelation alone answers to  
all man's necessities4  ,christ has not 
only  proclaimed a higher truth to man1 
which man is bound to accept under      
penalties of default4  ,this tone is    
also found sometimes1 but  comparatively
 seldom4  ,the prevailing note is1 that 
there is an admirable  fitness between  
the two--the mysteries of human nature  
witnessing to the  divine veracity of   
the ,gospel1 and the ,gospel again      
holding the only key  to these          
mysteries1 and the only power of        

unravelling them and restoring  them to 
their divine original4  8,jesus         
,christ10 he says1 8is for all men2     
,moses for one people40  8,the knowledge
 of ,god without a knowledge of our     
misery produces pride2 that of our      
misery without ,god leads to despair4   
,the knowledge of ,jesus is the means by
 which we at once find ,god and our     
misery40  8,without ,jesus ,christ man  
is sunk in vice and misery4 4 4 4  ,in  
,him is all our virtue and felicity40   
,of the more directly apologetic        
#8,penses' of ,pascal there are many of 
great significance and interest1 slight 
as may be the value of his  general     
historical argument1 so far as this can 
be traced4  ,wherever he  trusts to his 
own clear judgment and profound         
penetration1 he throws out  sentences   
weighty with meaning1 and capable of    
being expanded into trains  of argument4
  ,our shortening space warns us that   
our quotations must come  to an end2 but
 the reader may thank us for drawing his

 attention to the  following3--         
8,even when ,epictetus had discovered   
the right way1 he could only say      to
 man1 #8,you follow a wrong one4'  ,he  
shows that there is another1      but he
 does not lead to it4 4 4 4  ,jesus     
,christ alone leads to      it--via1    
veritas4        8,jesus ,christ has     
spoken great things so simply that they 
seem to      have cost ,him little      
thought--and yet so fitly that we see   
well what      ,his thought was40  ,this
 combination of clearness and navet is  
admirable4        8,the apostles were   
either deceived or deceivers2 either    
supposition      is full of difficulty4 
8,what right have they to say1 #8,it is 
impossible that we should rise          
again'8  ,which is the more difficult to
 be--to be born1 or to be      raised   
from the dead8  ,is it less difficult to
 come into being than      to return to 
being8  ,custom 7experience7 renders the
 one easy to us2      the want of custom
 makes the other seem impossible4  ,but 

this is a      popular way of judging4  
8,who taught the evangelists the        
qualities of a truly heroic soul1       
that they should paint it to such       
perfection in ,jesus ,christ8  ,why     
have they made ,him weak in ,his agony8 
,did they not know how to      describe 
a death of fortitude8  ,assuredly2 for  
it is the same ,st ,luke      paints ,st
 ,stephen's death as so much braver than
 that of ,jesus      ,christ4  ,they    
have made ,him capable of fear before   
the necessity of      death had come1   
then entirely calm and brave4  ,but when
 they show ,him      in trouble1 the    
trouble comes from ,himself2 in the face
 of men ,he      remains unmoved4       
8,the highest achievement of reason is  
to recognise that there is an           
infinity of things which surpass its    
powers4        8,if we submit everything
 to reason1 our religion would have     
nothing      mysterious or supernatural4
  ,if we violate the principles of      
reason1      our religion will be absurd

 and ridiculous4        8,there are two 
extremes--to exclude reason1 and to     
admit only reason4        8,it is your  
own consent1 and the steady voice of    
your own reason1 and      not that of   
others1 which must make you believe4    
8,if antiquity was the rule of faith1   
the ancients were without a      rule4  
8,let them say what they will1 it must  
be confessed that the ,christian        
religion is something astonishing4      
#8,that is because you were born in     
it1' they say4  ,so far from this1 ,i am
 on my guard against it on this         
very account1 lest this incline me      
unduly to it4  ,but though ,i was       
born in it1 the facts are not the less  
as ,i find them40    ,true to his whole 
conception of religion as the free      
choice of the heart  and will1 ,pascal  
does not find any special difficulty in 
the fact of so  many rejecting          
,christianity4  ,it is of its very      
nature that it cannot be  forced on any 
mind4  ,the ,god of the ,gospel can only

 be reached by faith4  ,to all without  
faith1 or the inner eye to see ,him1 ,he
 is a ,deus  absconditus1 8a ,god who   
hides himself40  ,in one of his letters 
to  ,mademoiselle de ,roannez1 he dwells
 upon this idea1 which also continually 
recurs in his ,thoughts3--        8,if  
,god continually revealed ,himself to   
man1 faith would have no      value2 we 
could not help believing4  ,if ,he did  
not reveal ,himself1      there could be
 no such thing as faith4  ,while hiding 
,himself1 ,he yet      reveals ,himself 
to those who are willing to be ,his     
servants4 4 4 4      ,all things hide a 
mystery4  ,all are a veil which conceal 
,god4  ,the      ,christian must        
recognise ,him in all4 4 4 4  ,there is 
light enough for      those who wish to 
see1 but darkness enough for those who  
are of an      opposite disposition4 4 4
 4  ,for ,god would rather move the will
 than      the intellect4  ,perfect     
clearness would cure the one1 but injure
 the      other40    ,and so this great 

mind comes round once more to its       
central thought1 that  religion is born 
not of science1 but of love and faith4  
,christianity  appeared to ,pascal      
divine--as the only true interpreter of 
human  experience2 and where this       
experience bore no witness to it1 and   
found no  blessing in it1 the fault and 
the misery were its own4  ,the divine   
light  was not gone because men did not 
see it1 when they were not willing to   
see it4  ,this may seem a hard          
saying1--a paradox of faith rejoicing in
 its  own illumination1 rather than an  
utterance of reason challenging the     
world4  ,but can a divine appeal ever go
 further8  ,christian apology has  its  
own sphere1 no less than science2 and   
the evidence which the one  desiderates 
is not the supreme life and power of the
 other4  ,it may not  on this account be
 the less satisfactory or the less      
rational when the  whole life of        
humanity is looked at4    ,if we ask    
ourselves1 in conclusion1 what is the   

chief charm of the  #8,penses1' we feel 
inclined to answer1--their touching     
reality4  ,they are  the utterances of  
one who thought not only deeply but     
passionately4  ,a  strange thrill of    
personal emotion runs through them all1 
animating them  with vitality1 even when
 one-sided or extravagant4  ,one of his 
own  countrymen #bjd has said of ,pascal
 that it was his mission to do for      
theology what ,socrates did for         
philosophy--to bring it down from heaven
 to  earth4  ,and certainly there is the
 breathing movement as of a human heart 
through his whole writings4  ,more than 
anything else1 it is this vitality      
combined with his exquisite literary art
 which sets him above all his  friends  
and contemporaries--,arnauld1 ,de ,saci1
 ,le ,maitre1 ,nicole1 or  ,fontaine4   
,still1 when we read the #8,provincial  
,letters' or the #8,penses1'  we feel   
ourselves in communion with a living    
writer who knew how to light  up with an
 immortal touch both the follies of     

ecclesiasticism and the  struggles of a 
solitary spirit after truth4  ,the      
tenderness of a genuine  insight mingles
 with all the sublimity and severe      
reserve of the thought1  and so we get  
close to a true soul1 distant as ,pascal
 himself in some  respects remains to   
us4  ,the play of human feeling which we
 miss in the  man moves in his writings1
 and touches our hearts with an         
ineffable  sympathy1 even when we remain
 unconvinced or unenlightened4          
,,end ,,of ,,pascal4          ,,notes4  
#c  ,lettres1 ,opuscules1 et ,mmoires de
 ,madame ,prier et de ,jacqueline1      
,surs de ,pascal1 et de ,marguerite     
,prier1 sa nice2 publis sur les         
,manuscrits originaux1 par ,m4 ,p4      
,faugre4  ,paris1 #ahde4    #d;a        
,jacqueline ,pascal1 par ,m4 ,victor    
,cousin4  ,troisime d4  #ahef4  ,llut1  
,l',amulette de ,pascal4  ,paris1 #ahdf4
    #d;b  ,sainte-,beuve4  ,port ,royal4
  ,tom4 ii4 iii4  ,mr ,beard1 in his two
  volumes on ,port ,royal1 gives an     

excellent sketch of ,blaise and         
,jacqueline  ,pascal1 in which he has   
made a diligent use of all the recent   
,french  authorities on the subject4    
#d;c  ,british ,quarterly ,review1      
,august #ahej4    #e  ,the ,provincial  
,parliaments in ,france before the      
,revolution  discharged within a        
definite area the same judicial and     
administrative  functions as the        
,parliament of ,paris2 but they were    
always regarded as  offshoots of the    
latter1 and subordinate to its supreme  
direction4  ,they  possessed no lawful  
political powers4  ,lalanne1            
,dictionnaire ,historique1  ,art4       
8,parl410 p4 #adba4  ,the 8,court of    
,aides10 according to the same          
authority1 p4 #cb1 decided in the last  
resort civil and criminal processes     
relating to subsidies1 assessments1 and 
taxes in general1 and  superintended the
 collection of the royal revenues4      
#f;a  ,gilberte ,pascal--,madame        
,prier--says1 in her life of her        

brother1  #afbf4  ,marguerite ,prier1   
her daughter1 ,pascal's niece1 says     
#afbh4  ,cousin 7,b4 ,pascal71 ,app4 ,i4
 #cae4  ,faugre1 ,lettres1 ,opuscules1  
etc41 p4  #dai4    #f;b  ,cousin1       
,jacqueline ,pascal1 p4 #bc4    #g      
,memoir by ,marguerite ,prier1 her      
daughter1 quoted by ,cousin1 ibid41  p4 
#bd4  8,do not think10 adds ,cousin1    
8that this portrait is embellished3  the
 austere ,marguerite flatters no one2   
and if she1 a ,jansenist1 says  that her
 mother was beautiful1 we may be sure   
that she was very much so40    #aj      
8,the exterior angle of a triangle is   
equal to the two interior and  opposite 
angles2 and the three interior angles   
are together equal to two  right        
angles40    #aa  ,baillet1 ,vie de      
,descartes1 liv4 ,v4 c4 v4 p4 #ci4      
#ab        8,ne vous tonnez pas1        
incomparable ,armand1      ,si j'ai mal 
content vos yeux et vos oreilles2       
,mon esprit agit de frayeurs sans       
pareilles      ,interdit  mon corps et  

voix et mouvement4      ,mais pour me   
rendre ici capable de vous plaire1      
,rappelez de l'exil mon misrable pre40  
#ac  ,cousin1 ,jacqueline ,pascal1 pp4  
#gb-ge4    #ae  ,the ,intendant was a   
special ,royal ,commissioner1 sent into 
the  provinces to watch over the        
administration of justice and the       
finances4    #af  ,see ,cousin1         
,jacqueline ,pascal1 pp4 #gh-hj4    #ag 
,m4 ,llut's volume 7already referred to7
 deserves special attention  in its     
bearing on ,pascal's health1 and the    
character of his sufferings4  ,he lays  
great stress on ,pascal's highly-strung 
nervous constitution1 in  connection    
both with the precocity of his genius1  
his physical  sufferings1 his religious 
susceptibility1 and the profound        
melancholy  which affected his later    
years4  ,the study is very interesting  
in some  respects1 but is overstrained  
in its physiological details and        
imaginary  analysis4    #ah  ,madame    
,prier1 ,vie de ,pascal4    #bj  ,a     

disciple and friend of ,franois de      
,sales1 who had been bishop of  ,bellay 
or ,belley1 but had at this time        
demitted his bishopric for the  ,abbey  
of ,aulney-,havet4    #ba  ,the         
documents containing these details are  
found among the ,pascal  ,,mss4 in the  
,national ,library at ,paris1 having    
been given by ,marguerite  ,prier to one
 of the ,guerrier family1 by whose care 
so many interesting  memorials of       
,pascal have been preserved4  ,see      
,faugre1 ,int4 to ,ed4 of  ,penses1     
xlvi4-ix4    #bc;a  ,cousin1 app4 #cib4 
#bc;b  ,faugre1 ,lettres1 ,opuscules1   
etc41 p4 #deb4  ,it is difficult to     
make out the exact chronological        
sequence of some of the facts mentioned 
by ,pascal's sister and niece4  ,but a  
special accession of ill-health1        
according to both1 seems to have        
followed his conversion at ,rouen1 and  
to  have been amongst the causes of his 
removal to ,paris in #afdg4    #bc;c    
,pp4 #acd-acg4    #bf;a  ,jacqueline    

,pascal1 p4 #gc4    #bf;b  uvres de     
,blaise ,pascal1 t4 #d4  ,paris1 #ahai4 
#bh;a  ,north ,british ,review1 ,august 
#ahdd1 p4 #bif4    #bh;b  ,i owe this   
information to the kindness of my       
friend1 ,professor  ,tait of ,edinburgh4
  ,he further informs me that 8of late  
years the  calculating machine of ,m4   
,scheutz has been employed in the       
production of  many valuable tables     
almost hopelessly beyond the power of   
mere mental  calculation20 and that a   
very simple and ingenious machine1 known
 as the  ,arithmomtre of ,m4 ,thomas1 is
 to be found in the office of almost    
every  engineer and actuary4    #bi;a   
,letter to ,m4 ,ribeyre1 uvres1 t4 iv4  
#bi;b  ,the illustrious ,italian was    
then advanced in years4  ,he died in    
,january #afdb4    #ca  uvres1 t4 iv4   
pp4 #afj1afa4    #cc  ,sir ,d4          
,brewster1 in an article on ,pascal's   
,writings and ,discoveries  in ,north   
,brit4 ,rev41 ,aug4 #ahdd4  ,sir        
,david's account is almost literally    

translated from ,m4 ,prier's letter to  
,pascal1 of date ,september #bb1 #afdh1 
and embodied in ,pascal's 8,rcit de la  
grande ,exprience de l'quilibre  des    
,liqueurs10 first published in #afdh4   
#ci;a  ,cousin1 ,jacqueline ,pascal1 p4 
#id4    #ci;b  8,evidently10 says       
,cousin1 8,m4 ,habert de ,montmor1 the  
,mcenas of  the savants of the time40   
#da  ,blaise ,pascal4  ,prface de la    
nouvelle d41 ,p4 #df4  uvres1 t4 i4     
#ahdi4    #db;a  ,jus mihi esset hoc    
ipsum ab ipso potius quam a te          
expectare1 ideo  quod ego ipsi1 jam     
biennium effluxit1 auctor fuerim ejus   
experimenti  faciendi1 eumque certum    
reddiderim1 nec de successu non         
dubitare1  quamquam id experimentum     
nunquam fecerim4  ,verum quoniam ,d4 ,r4
 amicitia  junctus est qui mihi ultro   
adversatus 4 4 4 non sine ratione       
credendum  est eum sequi passiones amici
 sui4--,descartes1 ,epist4              
,amstelodami1 #afhc4    #db;b  ,discours
 sur la ,vie et les ,ouvrages de        

,pascal1 p4 xviii4    #dc;a  ,any reader
 curious as to how far ,descartes had   
advanced in this  matter may consult    
,montucla1 ,histoire des ,mathmatiques1 
vol4 vi4 p4 #bje4  ,montucla1 no less   
than ,baillet1 writes with a clear bias 
in ,descartes's  favour4    #dc;b  ,rcit
 de la grande ,exprience de l'quilibre  
des ,liqueurs4  uvres1 t4 iv4 p4        
#cja--8;,je mditai des lors l'exprience 
dont je fais voir  ici le ,rcit40    #dd
  ,intererat mea id rescire1 ipse enim  
petii ab illo1 jam exacto  biennio1 ut  
id faceret1 eumque pulchri successus    
certum reddidi1 quod  esset omnino      
conforme meis ,principiis1 absque quo   
nunquam de eo  cogitasset1 eo quod      
contrari tenebatur sententi4--,ep4      
lxix41 ibid4    #de;a  ,professor ,tait1
 article 8,vacuum10 ,chambers's         
,encyclopedia4    #de;b  ,these further 
researches are expounded in two         
treatises1 #8,de  l'quilibre des        
,liqueurs1' and #8,de la ,pesanteur de  
l',air1' supposed to  have been written 

in #afec1 but not published till #affc1 
after the  author's death4    #df;a     
,north ,british ,review1 ,august #ahdd4 
,sir ,david in the main  translates from
 ,m4 ,bossut's 8,discours40    #df;b    
uvres1 t4 iv4 p4 #ahg4    #ej  ,faugre1 
,lettres1 etc41 p4 #hj4    #ea  ,vie de 
,pascal4    #ed;a  ,cousin1 ,vie de     
,jacqueline1 p4 #dc4    #ed;b  ,ibid41  
p4 #aja4    #ee  ,b4 ,pascal1 app4 vii4 
p4 #dia4    #eh  ,vie de ,jacqueline4   
#ei  ,cousin's ,jacqueline1 p4 #ahi4    
#fj  ,cousin's ,jacqueline1 p4 #afa4    
#fa  ,relation de la ,sur ,jacqueline de
 ,sainte-,euphmie ,pascal  ,port        
,royal1 #aj ,juin #afec--;a long        
narrative1 extending to about #ej pages 
of  ,cousin's volume4  ,see also        
,lettres1 ,opuscules1 etc41 ed4 by      
,faugre1 pp4  #agg-bbb4    #fc;a        
,relation de la ,sur ,jacqueline1 etc41 
p4 #ahb4    #fc;b  ,ibid41 p4 #ahg4     
#fc;c  ,ibid41 p4 #aid4    #fc;d        
,mmoire1 ,faugre1 p4 #dec4    #fd       
,jacqueline ,pascal1 pp4 #bcg1 #bdd4    

#fe;a  ,marguerite ,prier says that     
,pascal had always a room at the ,duc de
  ,roannez's1 and that he stayed there  
frequently1 although he had a house  of 
his own in ,paris4    #fe;b  ,llut1 p4  
#bcd4  ,women throughout this time took 
the lead1 and were  never so active1    
even in ,french politics4  8,beautiful1 
witty1 and  dissolute1 they brought into
 public affairs their frivolous ideas1  
and  sacrificed to their vanity their   
honour and that of their houses40--,la  
,valle1 ,hist4 des ,franais1 t4 iii4 p4 
#aie1 quoted in ,kitchin's ,hist4 of    
,france1 vol4 iii4 p4 #aad4    #ff      
,llut1 p4 #bch4    #fg;a  ,penses1 d4 de
 ,m4 ,faugre1 t4 i p4 #aig4    #fg;b    
,ibid41 t4 ii p4 #ia4    #fg;c  ,faugre1
 ,introduction4    #fg;d  ,blaise       
,pascal1 ,app4 ,no4 #g4    #fh;a        
,blaise ,pascal1 ,app4 ,no4 #g4    #fh;b
  ,introd4 to ,ed4 of ,penses4    #ga   
,il prit la rsolution de suivre le train
 commun du monde1  c'est--dire de       
prendre une charge et se                

marier4--,faugre1 p4 #dec4    #gf       
8,d'horribles attaches0--an expression  
already alluded to1 which has  given    
rise to a good deal of                  
speculation4--,jacqueline ,pascal1      
,cousin1 p4  #bcg4    #gg  ,cousin1     
,jacqueline ,pascal1 pp4 #bcf-bda4      
#hg  ,fontaine1 vol4 i4 p4 #ced4    #hi 
,see ,beard's ,port ,royal1 vol4 i4 pp4 
#bjg1 #bjh4    #ij  ,recueil d',utrecht1
 quoted by ,maynard1 vol4 i4 p4 #gh4    
#ia                               ,l'an 
de grce #afed4     ,lundi #bc novmbre1  
jour de ,st ,clment1 pape et martyr1 et 
autres au                               
martyrologe4                  ,veille de
 ,st ,chrysogone1 martyr et autres4     
,depuis environ dix heures et demie du  
soir jusques environ minuit et          
demi4                                   
,feu4                 ,dieu d',abraham1 
,dieu d',isaac1 ,dieu de ,jacob1        
,non des philosophes et de savants4     
,certitude4  ,certitude4  ,sentiment4   
,joie4  ,paix4 #ib                      

,dieu de ,jsus-,christ                  
,deum meum et ,deum vestrum4            
,ton ,dieu sera mon ,dieu--             
,oubli du monde et de tout hormis ,dieu4
        ,il ne se trouve que par les    
voies enseignes dans l',evangile4       
,grandeur de l'me humaine4         ,pre 
juste1 le monde ne t'a point connu1 mais
 je t'ai connu4                         
,joie1 joie1 joie1 pleurs de joie4      
,je m'en suis spar--                    
,dereliquerunt me fontem aqu viv4       
,mon ,dieu me quitterez-vous8--         
,que je n'en sois pas spar ternellement6
            ,cette est la vie ternelle  
qu'ils te connaissent seul              
vrai ,dieu et celui que tu as envoy1    
,j4-,c4                                 
,jsus ,christ--                         
,jsus ,christ--             ,je m'en    
suis spar2 je l'ai fui1 renonc1 crucifi4
                       ,que je n'en sois
 jamais spar6       ,il ne se conserve  
que par les voies enseignes dans        
l',evangile4                            

,renonciation totale et douce1          
etc4    #ib  ,in the parchment copy1    
8,certitude1 joie1 certitude1 sentiment1
 vue1  joie40    #id  ,the evidence of  
an anonymous ,,ms4 in the collection of 
,p4 ,guerrier1  grandnephew of ,pascal1 
in which the story is told on the       
authority of two  friends of the ,pascal
 family1 ,m4 ,arnoul de ,st ,victor and 
,m4 le ,pierre de  ,barillon4  ,the     
evidence for the story of the abyss is  
not even  contemporaneous4  ,it comes   
from an ,abb ,boileau1 unconnected with 
the  poet of that name1 who first told  
it in a volume of letters published in  
#agcg4    #ie  ,leibnitziana1 quoted by 
,sainte-,beuve1 t4 iii4 p4 #bhf4    #ig 
,penses1 t4 ii4 p #gf1 #b;d ed41 ,havet4
    #aja  ,recueil d',utrecht1 ,maynard1
 vol4 i4 p4 #eee4    #ajb  ,the most    
authentic portrait of ,pascal is        
probably that prefixed by  ,m4 ,faugre  
to his edition of the #8,penses4'  ,the 
sketch1 in red chalk1  was found amongst
 the papers of ,m4 ,domat1 an eminent   

advocate1 and one of  ,pascal's         
well-known friends4  ,it bears below an 
inscription by ,domat's  son--8,portrait
 de ,m4 ,pascal fait par mon pre0--and  
is supposed to  represent him in his    
earlier years1 when he studied natural  
philosophy  along with his friend4      
#aje  ,the following genealogy1 from a  
,jesuit source1 represents not  unfairly
 the origin of ,jansenism and ,port     
,royalism as a theological  system3     
8,paulus genuit ,augustinum2 ,augustinus
 ,calvinum2 ,calvinus  ,jansenium2      
,jansenius ,sancyranum2 ,sancyranus     
,arnaldum et fratres ejus40  ,the sequel
 will show how earnestly ,pascal        
disclaims ,calvinism4    #ajf           
8,attrition0 is a scholastic term for   
the first acute emotions of  the grace  
of repentance4  8,contrition0 denotes   
the grace in a more  advanced stage of  
development4    #ajg  ,the full title   
is1 8,cornelii ,jansenii ,episcopi      
,iprensis  ,augustinus3 seu doctrina ,s4
 ,augustini de human natur sanitate1    

gritudine1 medicin1 adversus ,pelagianos
 et ,massilienses40    #ajh  ,beard's   
,port ,royal1 vol4 i4 p4 #bdc4    #aaf;a
  ,recueil d',utrecht1 p4 #bga4  ,see   
also ,sainte-,beuve1 vol4 iii4 p4  #ecf4
    #aaf;b  ,curieux in the sense1 says 
,sainte-,beuve1 of bel-esprit1  amateur4
    #abj  ,a name applied to the        
,jesuits after ,louis ,molina1 a        
,spanish ,jesuit  7#aece-afjj71 whose   
8,scientia ,media10 akin to the         
,arminian doctrine of  ,divine          
foreknowledge1 was very famous in its   
day4    #acb  ,beard's ,port ,royal1    
vol4 i4 p4 #bga4  ,founded on ,recueil  
d',utrecht1  p4 #bgh1 and               
,sainte-,beuve1 t4 ii4 p4 #eee4    #acc 
,m4 ,sainte-,beuve connects only the two
 concluding ,letters with the  first    
two1 but the sixteenth ,letter also1    
upon the whole1 as a direct  defence of 
,jansen and ,port ,royal1 may be said to
 connect itself with  these rather than 
with the intervening series assailing   
the ,jesuits4  ,there were eighteen     

,letters in all published by ,pascal1   
but there is a  brief fragment of a     
nineteenth ,letter supposed to be also  
from his pen1  and a farther ,letter    
from the pen of ,m4 le ,maitre on the   
,inquisition1  commonly printed along   
with the others4    #ach  ,after the    
,edict of ,nantes 7#aeih71 the          
,protestants were permitted  to assemble
 for worship at ,charenton1 a small town
 about four miles from  ,paris4         
#add;a  ,letter ,v4    #add;b  8,the    
grand project of our ,society10 ,pascal 
makes his ,jesuit  informant say        
7,letter ,,vi471 8is for the good of    
religion1 never to  repulse any one1 let
 him be what he may1 and so avoid       
driving people to  despair40    #adg    
,letter ,,iv4    #adh  ,letter ,,iv4    
#aej;a  ,letter ,x4    #aej;b  8,who is 
,escobar80 ,pascal represents himself as
 inquiring in the  fifth ,letter4  8,not
 know ,escobar80 cries the monk2 8the   
member of the  ,society who compiled a  
,moral ,theology from twenty-four of our

 fathers40  ,this book1 which ,pascal   
says he 8read twice through10 was the   
great  repository from which he gathered
 the details of ,jesuit doctrine which  
he  exposes with such minuteness4       
,escobar1 like so many of the chief     
,jesuit  writers1 was a ,spaniard1 born 
at ,valladolid in #aehi4  ,his name     
became a  sort of proverb in connection 
with their casuistical system1 and      
8escobarder0 came to signify 8to palter 
in a double sense40    #aea;a  ,letter  
,,xi4    #aea;b  ,ibid4    #aeb  ,letter
 ,,xv4    #aec  ,this is                
,sainte-,beuve's statement 7t4 iii4 p4  
#ach71 repeated by ,mr  ,beard1 and     
founded apparently on ,nicole4    #aef  
,nicole's translation into ,latin of the
 #8,provincial ,letters1' in            
preparation for which he is said to have
 read repeatedly over all the  plays of 
,terence1 appeared at ,cologne in #afeh1
 about a year after their  completion4  
#afd  ,these lectures will be found1    
translated by the writer of the  present

 volume1 in ,kitto's ,journal of ,sacred
 ,literature1 ,april-,october1  #ahdi4  
#afe  ,in his ,mmoires de ,littrature et
 d',histoire4    #aff  ,faugre1 i4 pp4  
#abc-abi4    #afh  ,faugre1 i4 pp4      
#adi-aeb4    #aga  ,see p4 #ff4    #agd 
,chiefly from ,penses                   
,diverses4--,faugre's ed41 vol4 i4 pp4  
#agg-bdb4    #agf  ,the following       
passage from ,fontaine's ,memoirs1      
quoted by ,cousin  7,b4 ,pascal1 p4     
#acb71 gives an interesting and lively  
glimpse of the  philosophical discourses
 at ,port ,royal4  ,it may not be       
without some  application to the modern 
no less than the original ,cartesian    
doctrine4  8,how many little agitations 
raised themselves in this desert        
touching the  human science of          
philosophy and the new opinions of ,m4  
,descartes6  ,as ,m4  ,arnauld in his   
hours of relaxation conversed on these  
subjects with his  more intimate        
friends1 the excitement spread on every 
side1 and the  solitude1 in the hours of

 social intercourse1 resounded with     
these  discussions4  ,there was hardly a
 solitary who did not talk of           
#8automata4'  ,to beat a dog was no     
longer a matter of any moment4  ,the    
stick was laid  on with the utmost      
indifference1 and a great fool was made 
of those who  pitied the animals1 as if 
they had any feeling4  ,they said they  
were  only clockwork1 and that the cries
 they uttered when they were beaten     
were no more than the noise of some     
little spring that had been moved1  and 
that all this involved no sensation4    
,they nailed the poor animals  upon     
boards by the fore-paws1 in order to    
dissect them while still alive1  and to 
see the circulation of the blood1 which 
was a great subject of  discussion4     
,the chateau of the ,duc de ,luynes was 
the source of all these  curious        
inquiries1 and a source that was        
inexhaustible4  ,there they  talked     
incessantly1 and with admiration1 of the
 new system of the world  according to  

,m4 ,descartes40    #agg  ,fragment sur 
la ,philosophie de ,descartes4    #ahe  
,havet1 i4 pp4 cxxiv-cxxxiii    #ahf    
,faugre1 ii4 pp4 #ha1 #hb4    #ahg      
,faugre1 ii4 pp4 #ia1 #ib1 #ii1 #ajd4   
#ahi  ,faugre1 p4 #ajh4    #aij         
,faugre1 p4 #hd4    #aii  ,faugre1 ii4  
pp4 #acf1 #acg4    #bjd  ,the lamented  
,prvost ,paradol1 tudes sur les         
,moralistes ,franais4