Chapter XVII: Appendix: Polemical Fragments (1)

856

_Clearness, obscurity._--There would be too great darkness, if truth had not visible signs. This is a wonderful one, that it has always been preserved in one Church and one visible assembly [of men]. There would be too great clearness, if there were only one opinion in this Church. But in order to recognise what is true, one has only to look at what has always existed; for it is certain that truth has always existed, and that nothing false has always existed.

857

The history of the Church ought properly to be called the history of truth.

858

There is a pleasure in being in a ship beaten about by a storm, when we are sure that it will not founder. The persecutions which harass the Church are of this nature.

859

In addition to so many other signs of piety, they[359] are also persecuted, which is the best sign of piety.

860

The Church is in an excellent state, when it is sustained by God only.

861

The Church has always been attacked by opposite errors, but perhaps never at the same time, as now. And if she suffer more because of the multiplicity of errors, she derives this advantage from it, that they destroy each other.

She complains of both, but far more of the Calvinists, because of the schism.

It is certain that many of the two opposite sects are deceived. They must be disillusioned.

Faith embraces many truths which seem to contradict each other. _There is a time to laugh, and a time to weep_,[360] etc. _Responde. Ne respondeas_,[361] etc.

The source of this is the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ; and also the two worlds (the creation of a new heaven and a new earth; a new life and a new death; all things double, and the same names remaining); and finally the two natures that are in the righteous, (for they are the two worlds, and a member and image of Jesus Christ. And thus all the names suit them: righteous, yet sinners; dead, yet living; living, yet dead; elect, yet outcast, etc.).

There are then a great number of truths, both of faith and of morality, which seem contradictory, and which all hold good together in a wonderful system. The source of all heresies is the exclusion of some of these truths; and the source of all the objections which the heretics make against us is the ignorance of some of our truths. And it generally happens that, unable to conceive the connection of two opposite truths, and believing that the admission of one involves the exclusion of the other, they adhere to the one, exclude the other, and think of us as opposed to them. Now exclusion is the cause of their heresy; and ignorance that we hold the other truth causes their objections.

1st example: Jesus Christ is God and man. The Arians, unable to reconcile these things, which they believe incompatible, say that He is man; in this they are Catholics. But they deny that He is God; in this they are heretics. They allege that we deny His humanity; in this they are ignorant.

2nd example: On the subject of the Holy Sacrament. We believe that, the substance of the bread being changed, and being consubstantial with that of the body of our Lord, Jesus Christ is therein really present. That is one truth. Another is that this Sacrament is also a type of the cross and of glory, and a commemoration of the two. That is the Catholic faith, which comprehends these two truths which seem opposed.

The heresy of to-day, not conceiving that this Sacrament contains at the same time both the presence of Jesus Christ and a type of Him, and that it is a sacrifice and a commemoration of a sacrifice, believes that neither of these truths can be admitted without excluding the other for this reason.

They fasten to this point alone, that this Sacrament is typical; and in this they are not heretics. They think that we exclude this truth; hence it comes that they raise so many objections to us out of the passages of the Fathers which assert it. Finally, they deny the presence; and in this they are heretics.

3rd example: Indulgences.

The shortest way, therefore, to prevent heresies is to instruct in all truths; and the surest way to refute them is to declare them all. For what will the heretics say?

In order to know whether an opinion is a Father's ...

862

All err the more dangerously, as they each follow a truth. Their fault is not in following a falsehood, but in not following another truth.

863

Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.

864

If there is ever a time in which we must make profession of two opposite truths, it is when we are reproached for omitting one. Therefore the Jesuits and Jansenists are wrong in concealing them, but the Jansenists more so, for the Jesuits have better made profession of the two.

865

Two kinds of people make things equal to one another, as feasts to working days, Christians to priests, all things among them, etc. And hence the one party conclude that what is then bad for priests is also so for Christians, and the other that what is not bad for Christians is lawful for priests.

866

If the ancient Church was in error, the Church is fallen. If she should be in error to-day, it is not the same thing; for she has always the superior maxim of tradition from the hand of the ancient Church; and so this submission and this conformity to the ancient Church prevail and correct all. But the ancient Church did not assume the future Church, and did not consider her, as we assume and consider the ancient.

867

That which hinders us in comparing what formerly occurred in the Church with what we see there now, is that we generally look upon Saint Athanasius,[362] Saint Theresa, and the rest, as crowned with glory, and acting towards us as gods. Now that time has cleared up things, it does so appear. But at the time when he was persecuted, this great saint was a man called Athanasius; and Saint Theresa was a nun. "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are," says Saint James, to disabuse Christians of that false idea which makes us reject the example of the saints, as disproportioned to our state. "They were saints," say we, "they are not like us." What then actually happened? Saint Athanasius was a man called Athanasius, accused of many crimes, condemned by such and such a council for such and such a crime. All the bishops assented to it, and finally the Pope. What said they to those who opposed this? That they disturbed the peace, that they created schism, etc.

Zeal, light. Four kinds of persons: zeal without knowledge; knowledge without zeal; neither knowledge nor zeal; both zeal and knowledge. The first three condemned him. The last acquitted him, were excommunicated by the Church, and yet saved the Church.

868

If Saint Augustine came at the present time, and was as little authorised as his defenders, he would accomplish nothing. God directs His Church well, by having sent him before with authority.

869

God has not wanted to absolve without the Church. As she has part in the offence, He desires her to have part in the pardon. He associates her with this power, as kings their parliaments. But if she absolves or binds without God, she is no longer the Church. For, as in the case of parliament, even if the king have pardoned a man, it must be ratified; but if parliament ratifies without the king, or refuses to ratify on the order of the king, it is no longer the parliament of the king, but a rebellious assembly.

870

_The Church, the Pope. Unity, plurality._--Considering the Church as a unity, the Pope, who is its head, is as the whole. Considering it as a plurality, the Pope is only a part of it. The Fathers have considered the Church now in the one way, now in the other. And thus they have spoken differently of the Pope. (Saint Cyprian: _Sacerdos Dei._) But in establishing one of these truths, they have not excluded the other. Plurality which is not reduced to unity is confusion; unity which does not depend on plurality is tyranny. There is scarcely any other country than France in which it is permissible to say that the Council is above the Pope.

871

The Pope is head. Who else is known of all? Who else is recognised by all, having power to insinuate himself into all the body, because he holds the principal shoot, which insinuates itself everywhere? How easy it was to make this degenerate into tyranny! That is why Christ has laid down for them this precept: _Vos autem non sic._[363]

872

The Pope hates and fears the learned, who do not submit to him at will.

873

We must not judge of what the Pope is by some words of the Fathers--as the Greeks said in a council, important rules--but by the acts of the Church and the Fathers, and by the canons.

_Duo aut tres in unum._[364] Unity and plurality. It is an error to exclude one of the two, as the papists do who exclude plurality, or the Huguenots who exclude unity.

874

Would the Pope be dishonoured by having his knowledge from God and tradition; and is it not dishonouring him to separate him from this holy union?

875

God does not perform miracles in the ordinary conduct of His Church. It would be a strange miracle if infallibility existed in one man. But it appears so natural for it to reside in a multitude, since the conduct of God is hidden under nature, as in all His other works.

876

Kings dispose of their own power; but the Popes cannot dispose of theirs.

877

_Summum jus, summa injuria._

The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the least able.

If men could have done it, they would have placed might in the hands of justice. But as might does not allow itself to be managed as men want, because it is a palpable quality, whereas justice is a spiritual quality of which men dispose as they please, they have placed justice in the hands of might. And thus that is called just which men are forced to obey.

Hence comes the right of the sword, for the sword gives a true right. Otherwise we should see violence on one side and justice on the other (end of the twelfth _Provincial_). Hence comes the injustice of the Fronde,[365] which raises its alleged justice against power. It is not the same in the Church, for there is a true justice and no violence.

878

_Injustice._--Jurisdiction is not given for the sake of the judge, but for that of the litigant. It is dangerous to tell this to the people. But the people have too much faith in you; it will not harm them, and may serve you. It should therefore be made known. _Pasce oves meas_,[366] non _tuas_. You owe me pasturage.

879

Men like certainty. They like the Pope to be infallible in faith, and grave doctors to be infallible in morals, so as to have certainty.

880

The Church teaches, and God inspires, both infallibly. The work of the Church is of use only as a preparation for grace or condemnation. What it does is enough for condemnation, not for inspiration.

881

Every time the Jesuits may impose upon the Pope, they will make all Christendom perjured.

The Pope is very easily imposed upon, because of his occupations, and the confidence which he has in the Jesuits; and the Jesuits are very capable of imposing upon him by means of calumny.

882

The wretches who have obliged me to speak of the basis of religion.

883

Sinners purified without penitence; the righteous justified without love; all Christians without the grace of Jesus Christ; God without power over the will of men; a predestination without mystery; a redemption without certitude!

884

Any one is made a priest, who wants to be so, as under Jeroboam.[367]

It is a horrible thing that they propound to us the discipline of the Church of to-day as so good, that it is made a crime to desire to change it. Formerly it was infallibly good, and it was thought that it could be changed without sin; and now, such as it is, we cannot wish it changed! It has indeed been permitted to change the custom of not making priests without such great circumspection, that there were hardly any who were worthy; and it is not allowed to complain of the custom which makes so many who are unworthy!

885

_Heretics._--Ezekiel. All the heathen, and also the Prophet, spoke evil of Israel. But the Israelites were so far from having the right to say to him, "You speak like the heathen," that he is most forcible upon this, that the heathen say the same as he.

886

The Jansenists are like the heretics in the reformation of morality; but you are like them in evil.

887

You are ignorant of the prophecies, if you do not know that all this must happen; princes, prophets, Pope, and even the priests. And yet the Church is to abide. By the grace of God we have not come to that. Woe to these priests! But we hope that God will bestow His mercy upon us that we shall not be of them.

Saint Peter, ii: false prophets in the past, the image of future ones.

888

... So that if it is true, on the one hand, that some lax monks, and some corrupt casuists, who are not members of the hierarchy, are steeped in these corruptions, it is, on the other hand, certain that the true pastors of the Church, who are the true guardians of the Divine Word, have preserved it unchangeably against the efforts of those who have attempted to destroy it.

And thus true believers have no pretext to follow that laxity, which is only offered to them by the strange hands of these casuists, instead of the sound doctrine which is presented to them by the fatherly hands of their own pastors. And the ungodly and heretics have no ground for publishing these abuses as evidence of imperfection in the providence of God over His Church; since, the Church consisting properly in the body of the hierarchy, we are so far from being able to conclude from the present state of matters that God has abandoned her to corruption, that it has never been more apparent than at the present time that God visibly protects her from corruption.

For if some of these men, who, by an extraordinary vocation, have made profession of withdrawing from the world and adopting the monks' dress, in order to live in a more perfect state than ordinary Christians, have fallen into excesses which horrify ordinary Christians, and have become to us what the false prophets were among the Jews; this is a private and personal misfortune, which must indeed be deplored, but from which nothing can be inferred against the care which God takes of His Church; since all these things are so clearly foretold, and it has been so long since announced that these temptations would arise from people of this kind; so that when we are well instructed, we see in this rather evidence of the care of God than of His forgetfulness in regard to us.

889

Tertullian: _Nunquam Ecclesia reformabitur._

890

Heretics, who take advantage of the doctrine of the Jesuits, must be made to know that it is not that of the Church [_the doctrine of the Church_], and that our divisions do not separate us from the altar.

891

If in differing we condemned, you would be right. Uniformity without diversity is useless to others; diversity without uniformity is ruinous for us. The one is harmful outwardly; the other inwardly.

892

By showing the truth, we cause it to be believed; but by showing the injustice of ministers, we do not correct it. Our mind is assured by a proof of falsehood; our purse is not made secure by proof of injustice.

893

Those who love the Church lament to see the corruption of morals; but laws at least exist. But these corrupt the laws. The model is damaged.

894

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

895

It is in vain that the Church has established these words, anathemas, heresies, etc. They are used against her.

896

The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth, for the master tells him only the act and not the intention.[368] And this is why he often obeys slavishly, and defeats the intention. But Jesus Christ has told us the object. And you defeat that object.

897

They cannot have perpetuity, and they seek universality; and therefore they make the whole Church corrupt, that they may be saints.

898

_Against those who misuse passages of Scripture, and who pride themselves in finding one which seems to favour their error._--The chapter for Vespers, Passion Sunday, the prayer for the king.

Explanation of these words: "He that is not with me is against me."[369] And of these others: "He that is not against you is for you."[370] A person who says: "I am neither for nor against", we ought to reply to him ...

899

He who will give the meaning of Scripture, and does not take it from Scripture, is an enemy of Scripture. (Aug., _De Doct. Christ._)

900

_Humilibus dat gratiam; an ideo non dedit humilitatem?[371]

Sui eum non receperunt; quotquot autem non receperunt an non erant sui?_[372]

901

"It must indeed be," says Feuillant, "that this is not so certain; for controversy indicates uncertainty, (Saint Athanasius, Saint Chrysostom, morals, unbelievers)."

The Jesuits have not made the truth uncertain, but they have made their own ungodliness certain.

Contradiction has always been permitted, in order to blind the wicked; for all that offends truth or love is evil. This is the true principle.

902

All religions and sects in the world have had natural reason for a guide. Christians alone have been constrained to take their rules from without themselves, and to acquaint themselves with those which Jesus Christ bequeathed to men of old to be handed down to true believers. This constraint wearies these good Fathers. They desire, like other people, to have liberty to follow their own imaginations. It is in vain that we cry to them, as the prophets said to the Jews of old: "Enter into the Church; acquaint yourselves with the precepts which the men of old left to her, and follow those paths." They have answered like the Jews: "We will not walk in them; but we will follow the thoughts of our hearts"; and they have said, "We will be as the other nations."[373]

903

They make a rule of exception.

Have the men of old given absolution before penance? Do this as exceptional. But of the exception you make a rule without exception, so that you do not even want the rule to be exceptional.

904

_On confessions and absolutions without signs of regret._

God regards only the inward; the Church judges only by the outward. God absolves as soon as He sees penitence in the heart; the Church when she sees it in works. God will make a Church pure within, which confounds, by its inward and entirely spiritual holiness, the inward impiety of proud sages and Pharisees; and the Church will make an assembly of men whose external manners are so pure as to confound the manners of the heathen. If there are hypocrites among them, but so well disguised that she does not discover their venom, she tolerates them; for, though they are not accepted of God, whom they cannot deceive, they are of men, whom they do deceive. And thus she is not dishonoured by their conduct, which appears holy. But you want the Church to judge neither of the inward, because that belongs to God alone, nor of the outward, because God dwells only upon the inward; and thus, taking away from her all choice of men, you retain in the Church the most dissolute, and those who dishonour her so greatly, that the synagogues of the Jews and sects of philosophers would have banished them as unworthy, and have abhorred them as impious.

905

The easiest conditions to live in according to the world are the most difficult to live in according to God, and vice versa. Nothing is so difficult according to the world as the religious life; nothing is easier than to live it according to God. Nothing is easier, according to the world, than to live in high office and great wealth; nothing is more difficult than to live in them according to God, and without acquiring an interest in them and a liking for them.

906

The casuists submit the decision to the corrupt reason, and the choice of decisions to the corrupt will, in order that all that is corrupt in the nature of man may contribute to his conduct.

907

But is it _probable_ that _probability_ gives assurance?

Difference between rest and security of conscience. Nothing gives certainty but truth; nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.

908

The whole society itself of their casuists cannot give assurance to a conscience in error, and that is why it is important to choose good guides.

Thus they will be doubly culpable, both in having followed ways which they should not have followed, and in having listened to teachers to whom they should not have listened.

909

Can it be anything but compliance with the world which makes you find things probable? Will you make us believe that it is truth, and that if duelling were not the fashion, you would find it probable that they might fight, considering the matter in itself?

910

Must we kill to prevent there being any wicked? This is to make both parties wicked instead of one. _Vince in bono malum._[374] (Saint Augustine.)

911

_Universal._--Ethics and language are special, but universal sciences.

912

_Probability._--Each one can employ it; no one can take it away.

913

They allow lust to act, and check scruples; whereas they should do the contrary.

914

_Montalte._[375]--Lax opinions please men so much, that it is strange that theirs displease. It is because they have exceeded all bounds. Again, there are many people who see the truth, and who cannot attain to it; but there are few who do not know that the purity of religion is opposed to our corruptions. It is absurd to say that an eternal recompense is offered to the morality of Escobar.

915

_Probability._--They have some true principles; but they misuse them. Now, the abuse of truth ought to be as much punished as the introduction of falsehood.

As if there were two hells, one for sins against love, the other for those against justice!

916

_Probability._[376]--The earnestness of the saints in seeking the truth was useless, if the probable is trustworthy. The fear of the saints who have always followed the surest way (Saint Theresa having always followed her confessor).

917

Take away _probability_, and you can no longer please the world; give _probability_, and you can no longer displease it.

918

These are the effects of the sins of the peoples and of the Jesuits. The great have wished to be flattered. The Jesuits have wished to be loved by the great. They have all been worthy to be abandoned to the spirit of lying, the one party to deceive, the others to be deceived. They have been avaricious, ambitious, voluptuous. _Coacervabunt tibi magistros._[377] Worthy disciples of such masters, they have sought flatterers, and have found them.

919

If they do not renounce their doctrine of probability, their good maxims are as little holy as the bad, for they are founded on human authority; and thus, if they are more just, they will be more reasonable, but not more holy. They take after the wild stem on which they are grafted.

If what I say does not serve to enlighten you, it will be of use to the people.

If these[378] are silent, the stones will speak.

Silence is the greatest persecution; the saints were never silent. It is true that a call is necessary; but it is not from the decrees of the Council that we must learn whether we are called, it is from the necessity of speaking. Now, after Rome has spoken, and we think that she has condemned the truth, and that they have written it, and after the books which have said the contrary are censured; we must cry out so much the louder, the more unjustly we are censured, and the more violently they would stifle speech, until there come a Pope who hears both parties, and who consults antiquity to do justice. So the good Popes will find the Church still in outcry.

The Inquisition and the Society[379] are the two scourges of the truth.

Why do you not accuse them of Arianism? For, though they have said that Jesus Christ is God, perhaps they mean by it not the natural interpretation, but as it is said, _Dii estis_.

If my Letters are condemned at Rome, that which I condemn in them is condemned in heaven. _Ad tuum, Domine Jesu, tribunal appello._

You yourselves are corruptible.

I feared that I had written ill, seeing myself condemned; but the example of so many pious writings makes me believe the contrary. It is no longer allowable to write well, so corrupt or ignorant is the Inquisition!

"It is better to obey God than men."

I fear nothing; I hope for nothing. It is not so with the bishops. Port-Royal fears, and it is bad policy to disperse them; for they will fear no longer and will cause greater fear. I do not even fear your like censures, if they are not founded on those of tradition. Do you censure all? What! even my respect? No. Say then what, or you will do nothing, if you do not point out the evil, and why it is evil. And this is what they will have great difficulty in doing.

_Probability._--They have given a ridiculous explanation of certitude; for, after having established that all their ways are sure, they have no longer called that sure which leads to heaven without danger of not arriving there by it, but that which leads there without danger of going out of that road.

920

... The saints indulge in subtleties in order to think themselves criminals, and impeach their better actions. And these indulge in subtleties in order to excuse the most wicked.

The heathen sages erected a structure equally fine outside, but upon a bad foundation; and the devil deceived men by this apparent resemblance based upon the most different foundation.

Man never had so good a cause as I; and others have never furnished so good a capture as you....

The more they point out weakness in my person, the more they authorise my cause.

You say that I am a heretic. Is that lawful? And if you do not fear that men do justice, do you not fear that God does justice?

You will feel the force of the truth, and you will yield to it ...

There is something supernatural in such a blindness. _Digna necessitas.[380] Mentiris impudentissime_ ...

_Doctrina sua noscitur vir_ ...

False piety, a double sin.

I am alone against thirty thousand. No. Protect, you, the court; protect, you, deception; let me protect the truth. It is all my strength. If I lose it, I am undone. I shall not lack accusations, and persecutions. But I possess the truth, and we shall see who will take it away.

I do not need to defend religion, but you do not need to defend error and injustice. Let God, out of His compassion, having no regard to the evil which is in me, and having regard to the good which is in you, grant us all grace that truth may not be overcome in my hands, and that falsehood ...

921

_Probable._--Let us see if we seek God sincerely, by comparison of the things which we love. It is _probable_ that this food will not poison me. It is _probable_ that I shall not lose my action by not prosecuting it ...

922

It is not absolution only which remits sins by the sacrament of penance, but contrition, which is not real if it does not seek the sacrament.

923

People who do not keep their word, without faith, without honour, without truth, deceitful in heart, deceitful in speech; for which that amphibious animal in fable was once reproached, which held itself in a doubtful position between the fish and the birds ...

It is important to kings and princes to be considered pious; and therefore they must confess themselves to you.

NOTES

The following brief notes are mainly based on those of M. Brunschvicg. But those of MM. Faugere, Molinier, and Havet have also been consulted. The biblical references are to the Authorised English Version. Those in the text are to the Vulgate, except where it has seemed advisable to alter the reference to the English Version.

[1] P. 1, l. 1. _The difference between the mathematical and the
intuitive mind._--Pascal is here distinguishing the logical or
discursive type of mind, a good example of which is found in
mathematical reasoning, and what we should call the intuitive type
of mind, which sees everything at a glance. A practical man of sound
judgment exemplifies the latter; for he is in fact guided by
impressions of past experience, and does not consciously reason from
general principles.

[2] P. 2, l. 34. _There are different kinds_, etc.--This is probably a
subdivision of the discursive type of mind.

[3] P. 3, l. 31. _By rule._--This is an emendation by M. Brunschvicg.
The MS. has _sans regle_.

[4] P. 4, l. 3. _I judge by my watch._--Pascal is said to have always
carried a watch attached to his left wrist-band.

[5] P. 5, l. 21. _Scaramouch._--A traditional character in Italian
comedy.

[6] P. 5, l. 22. _The doctor._--Also a traditional character in Italian
comedy.

[7] P. 5, l. 24. _Cleobuline._--Princess, and afterwards Queen of
Corinth, figures in the romance of Mademoiselle de Scudery, entitled
_Artamene ou le Grand Cyrus_. She is enamoured of one of her
subjects, Myrinthe. But she "loved him without thinking of love; and
remained so long in that error, that this affection was no longer in
a state to be overcome, when she became aware of it." The character
is supposed to have been drawn from Christina of Sweden.

[8] P. 6, l. 21. _Rivers are_, etc.--Apparently suggested by a chapter
in Rabelais: _How we descended in the isle of Odes, in which the
roads walk_.

[9] P. 6, l. 30. _Salomon de Tultie._--A pseudonym adopted by Pascal as
the author of the _Provincial Letters_.

[10] P. 7, l. 7. _Abstine et sustine._--A maxim of the Stoics.

[11] P. 7, l. 8. _Follow nature._--The maxim in which the Stoics summed
up their positive ethical teaching.

[12] P. 7, l. 9. _As Plato._--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 9.

[13] P. 9, l. 29. _We call this jargon poetical beauty._--According to
M. Havet, Pascal refers here to Malherbe and his school.

[14] P. 10, l. 23. _Ne quid nimis._--Nothing in excess, a celebrated
maxim in ancient Greek philosophy.

[15] P. 11, l. 26. _That epigram about two one-eyed people._--M. Havet
points out that this is not Martial's, but is to be found in
_Epigrammatum Delectus_, published by Port-Royal in 1659.

_Lumine AEon dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro,
Et potis est forma vincere uterque deos.
Blande puer, lumen quod habes concede parenti,
Sic tu caecus Amor, sic erit ilia Venus._

[16] P. 11, l. 29. _Ambitiosa recidet ornamenta._--Horace, _De Arte
Poetica_, 447.

[17] P. 13, l. 2. _Cartesian._--One who follows the philosophy of
Descartes (1596-1650), "the father of modern philosophy."

[18] P. 13, l. 8. _Le Maitre._--A famous French advocate in Pascal's
time. His _Plaidoyers el Harangues_ appeared in 1657. _Plaidoyer
VI_ is entitled _Pour un fils mis en religion par force_, and on
the first page occurs the word _repandre_: "_Dieu qui repand des
aveuglements et des tenebres sur les passions illegitimes._"
Pascal's reference is probably to this passage.

[19] P. 13, l. 12. _The Cardinal._--Mazarin. He was one of those
statesmen who do not like condolences.

[20] P. 14, l. 12. _Saint Thomas._--Thomas Aquinas (1223-74), one of the
greatest scholastic philosophers.

[21] P. 14, l. 16. _Charron._--A friend of Montaigne. His _Traite de la
Sagesse_ (1601), which is not a large book, contains 117 chapters,
each of which is subdivided.

[22] P. 14, l. 17. _Of the confusion of Montaigne._--The Essays of
Montaigne follow each other without any kind of order.

[23] P. 14, l. 27. _Mademoiselle de Gournay._--The adopted daughter of
Montaigne. She published in 1595 an edition of his _Essais_, and,
in a Preface (added later), she defends him on this point.

[24] P. 15, l. 1. _People without eyes._--Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[25] P. 15, l. 1. _Squaring the circle._--Ibid., ii, 14.

[26] P. 15, l. 1. _A greater world._--Ibid., ii, 12.

[27] P. 15, l. 2. _On suicide and on death._--Ibid., ii, 3.

[28] P. 15, l. 3. _Without fear and without repentance._--Ibid., iii.,
2.

[29] P. 15, l. 7. (730, 231).--These two references of Pascal are to the
edition of the _Essais_ of Montaigne, published in 1636.

[30] P. 16, l. 32. _The centre which is everywhere, and the
circumference nowhere._--M. Havet traces this saying to Empedocles.
Pascal must have read it in Mlle de Gournay's preface to her
edition of Montaigne's _Essais_.

[31] P. 18, l. 33. _I will speak of the whole._--This saying of
Democritus is quoted by Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[32] P. 18, l. 37. _Principles of Philosophy._--The title of one of
Descartes's philosophical writings, published in 1644. See note on
p. 13, l. 8 above.

[33] P. 18, l. 39. _De omni scibili._--The title under which Pico della
Mirandola announced nine hundred propositions which he proposed to
uphold publicly at Rome in 1486.

[34] P. 19, l. 26. _Beneficia eo usque laeta sunt._--Tacitus, _Ann._,
lib. iv, c. xviii. Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 8.

[35] P. 21, l. 35. _Modus quo_, etc.--St. Augustine, _De Civ. Dei_, xxi,
10. Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[36] P. 22, l. 8. _Felix qui_, etc.--Virgil, _Georgics_, ii, 489, quoted
by Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 10.

[37] P. 22, l. 10. _Nihil admirari_, etc.--Horace, _Epistles_, I. vi. 1.
Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 10.

[38] P. 22, l. 19. 394.--A reference to Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[39] P. 22, l. 20. 395.--Ibid.

[40] P. 22, l. 22. 399.--Ibid.

[41] P. 22, l. 28. _Harum sententiarum._--Cicero, _Tusc._, i, 11,
Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[42] P. 22, l. 39. _Felix qui_, etc.--See above, notes on p. 22, l. 8
and l. 10.

[43] P. 22, l. 40. 280 _kinds of sovereign good in
Montaigne._--_Essais_, ii, 12.

[44] P. 23, l. 1. _Part I_, 1, 2, _c_. 1, _section_ 4.--This reference
is to Pascal's _Traite du vide_.

[45] P. 23, l. 25. _How comes it_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 8.

[46] P. 23, l. 29. See Epictetus, _Diss._, iv, 6. He was a great Roman
Stoic in the time of Domitian.

[47] P. 24, l. 9. _It is natural_, etc.--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, i,
4.

[48] P. 24, l. 12. _Imagination._--This fragment is suggestive of
Montaigne. See _Essais_, iii, 8.

[49] P. 25, l. 16. _If the greatest philosopher_, etc. See Raymond
Sebond's _Apologie_, from which Pascal has derived his
illustrations.

[50] P. 26, l. 1. _Furry cats._--Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 8.

[51] P. 26, l. 31. _Della opinione_, etc.--No work is known under this
name. It may refer to a treatise by Carlo Flori, which bears a
title like this. But its date (1690) is after Pascal's death
(1662), though there may have been earlier editions.

[52] P. 27, l. 12. _Source of error in diseases._--Montaigne, _Essais_,
ii, 12.

[53] P. 27, l. 27. _They rival each other_, etc.--Ibid.

[54] P. 28, l. 31. _Nae iste_, etc.--Terence, _Heaut._, IV, i, 8.
Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 1.

[55] P. 28, l. 15. _Quasi quidquam_, etc.--Plin., ii, 7. Montaigne,
ibid.

[56] P. 28, l. 29. _Quod crebro_, etc.--Cicero, _De Divin._, ii, 49.

[57] P. 29, l. 1. _Spongia solis._--The spots on the sun. Pascal sees in
them the beginning of the darkening of the sun, and thinks that
there will therefore come a day when there will be no sun.

[58] P. 29, l. 15. _Custom is a second nature_, etc.--Montaigne,
_Essais_, i, 22.

[59] P. 29, l. 19. _Omne animal._--See Genesis vii, 14.

[60] P. 30, l. 22. _Hence savages_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 22.

[61] P. 32, l. 3. _A great part of Europe_, etc.--An allusion to the
Reformation.

[62] P. 33, l. 13. _Alexander's chastity._--Pascal apparently has in
mind Alexander's treatment of Darius's wife and daughters after the
battle of Issus.

[63] P. 34, l. 17. _Lustravit lampade terras._--Part of Cicero's
translation of two lines from Homer, _Odyssey_, xviii, 136.
Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

_Tales sunt hominum mentes, quali pater ipse
Jupiter auctiferas lustravit lampade terras._

[64] P. 34, l. 32. _Nature gives_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 19.

[65] P. 37, l. 23. _Our nature consists_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_,
iii, 13.

[66] P. 38, l. 1. _Weariness._--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[67] P. 38, l. 8. _Caesar was too old_, etc.--See Montaigne, _Essais_,
ii, 34.

[68] P. 38, l. 30. _A mere trifle_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 4.

[69] P. 40, l. 21. _Advice given to Pyrrhus._--Ibid., i, 42.

[70] P. 41, l. 2. _They do not know_, etc.--Ibid., i, 19.

[71] P. 44, l. 14. _They are_, etc.--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 38.

[72] P. 46, l. 7. _Those who write_, etc.--A thought of Cicero in _Pro
Archia_, mentioned by Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 41.

[73] P. 47, l. 3. _Ferox gens._--Livy, xxxiv, 17. Montaigne, _Essais_,
i, 40.

[74] P. 47, l. 5. _Every opinion_, etc.--Montaigne, ibid.

[75] P. 47, l. 12. 184.--This is a reference to Montaigne, _Essais_, i,
40. See also ibid., iii, 10.

[76] P. 48, l. 8. _I know not what (Corneille)._--See _Medee,_ II, vi,
and _Rodogune_, I, v.

[77] P. 48, l. 22. _In omnibus requiem quaesivi._--Eccles. xxiv, II, in
the Vulgate.

[78] P. 50, l. 5. _The future alone is our end._--Montaigne, _Essais_, i,
3.

[79] P. 50, l. 14. _Solomon._--Considered by Pascal as the author of
Ecclesiastes.

[80] P. 50, l. 20. _Unconscious of approaching fever._--Compare
Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 19.

[81] P. 50, l. 22. _Cromwell._--Cromwell died in 1658 of a fever, and
not of the gravel. The Restoration took place in 1660, and this
fragment was written about that date.

[82] P. 50, l. 28. _The three hosts._--Charles I was beheaded in 1649;
Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated in 1654; Jean Casimir, King of
Poland, was deposed in 1656.

[83] P. 50, l. 32. _Macrobius._--A Latin writer of the fifth century. He
was a Neo-Platonist in philosophy. One of his works is entitled
_Saturnalia_.

[84] P. 51, l. 5. _The great and the humble_, etc.--See Montaigne,
_Essais_, ii, 12.

[85] P. 53, l. 5. _Miton._--A man of fashion in Paris known to Pascal.

[86] P. 53, l. 15. _Deus absconditus._--Is. xiv, 15.

[87] P. 60, l. 26. _Fascinatio nugacitatis._--Book of Wisdom iv, 12.

[88] P. 61, l. 10. _Memoria hospitis_, etc.--Book of Wisdom v, 15.

[89] P. 62, l. 5. _Instability._--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 12.

[90] P. 66, l. 19. _Foolishness, stultitium._--I Cor. i, 18.

[91] P. 71, l. 5. _To prove Divinity from the works of nature._--A
traditional argument of the Stoics like Cicero and Seneca, and of
rationalist theologians like Raymond Sebond, Charron, etc. It is
the argument from Design in modern philosophy.

[92] P. 71, l. 27. _Nemo novit_, etc.--Matthew xi, 27. In the Vulgate,
it is _Neque patrem quis novit_, etc. Pascal's biblical quotations
are often incorrect. Many seem to have been made from memory.

[93] P. 71, l. 30. _Those who seek God find Him._--Matthew vii, 7.

[94] P. 72, l. 3. _Vere tu es Deus absconditus._--Is. xiv, 15.

[95] P. 72, l. 22. _Ne evacuetur crux Christi._--I Cor. i, 17. In the
Vulgate we have_ut non_ instead of _ne_.

[96] P. 72, l. 25. _The machine._--A Cartesian expression. Descartes
considered animals as mere automata. According to Pascal, whatever
does not proceed in us from reflective thought is a product of a
necessary mechanism, which has its root in the body, and which is
continued into the mind in imagination and the passions. It is
therefore necessary for man so to alter, and adjust this mechanism,
that it will always follow, and not obstruct, the good will.

[97] P. 73, l. 3. _Justus ex fide vivit._--Romans i, 17.

[98] P. 73, l. 5. _Fides ex auditu._--Romans x, 17.

[99] P. 73, l. 12. _The creature._--What is purely natural in us.

[100] P. 74, l. 15. _Inclina cor meum, Deus._--Ps. cxix, 36.

[101] P. 75, l. 11. _Unus quisque sibi Deum fingit._--See Book of Wisdom
xv, 6, 16.

[102] P. 76, l. 34. _Eighth beatitude._--Matthew v, 10. It is to the
fourth beatitude that the thought directly refers.

[103] P. 77, l. 6. _One thousand and twenty-eight._--The number of the
stars according to Ptolemy's catalogue.

[104] P. 77, l. 29. _Saint Augustine._--_Epist._ cxx, 3.

[105] P. 78, l. 1. _Nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli._--Matthew xviii, 3.

[106] P. 80, l. 20. _Inclina cor meum, Deus, in_....--Ps. cxix, 36.

[107] P. 80, l. 22. _Its establishment._--The constitution of the
Christian Church.

[108] P. 81, l. 20. _The youths and maidens and children of the Church
would prophesy._--Joel ii, 28.

[109] P. 83, l. 11. _On what_, etc.--See Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[110] P. 84, l. 16. _Nihil amplius ... est._--Ibid. Cicero, _De
Finibus_, v, 21.

[111] P. 84, l. 17. _Ex senatus ... exercentur._--Montaigne, _Essais_,
iii, 1. Seneca, _Letters_, 95.

[112] P. 84, l. 18. _Ut olim ... laboramus._--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii,
13. Tacitus, _Ann._, iii, 25.

[113] P. 84, l. 20. _The interest of the sovereign._--The view of
Thrasymachus in Plato's _Republic_, i, 338.

[114] P. 84, l. 21. _Another, present custom._--The doctrine of the
Cyrenaics. Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 13.

[115] P. 84, l. 24. _The mystical foundation of its
authority._--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 13. See also ii, 12.

[116] P. 85, l. 2. _The wisest of legislators._--Plato. See _Republic_,
ii, 389, and v, 459.

[117] P. 85, l. 4. _Cum veritatem_, etc.--An inexact quotation from St.
Augustine, _De Civ. Dei_, iv, 27. Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[118] P. 85, l. 17. _Veri juris._--Cicero, _De Officiis_, iii, 17.
Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, I.

[119] P. 86, l. 9. _When a strong man_, etc.--Luke xi, 21.

[120] P. 86, l. 26. _Because he who will_, etc.--See Epictetus, _Diss._,
iii, 12.

[121] P. 88, l. 19. _Civil wars are the greatest of evils._--Montaigne,
_Essais_, iii, 11.

[122] P. 89, l. 5. _Montaigne._--_Essais_, i, 42.

[123] P. 91, l. 8. _Savages laugh at an infant king._--An allusion to a
visit of some savages to Europe. They were greatly astonished to
see grown men obey the child king, Charles IX. Montaigne,
_Essais_, i, 30.

[124] P. 92, l. 8. _Man's true state._--See Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 54.

[125] P. 95, l. 3. _Omnis ... vanitati._--Eccles. iii, 19.

[126] P. 95, l. 4. _Liberabitur._--Romans viii, 20-21.

[127] P. 95, l. 4. _Saint Thomas._--In his Commentary on the Epistle of
St. James. James ii, 1.

[128] P. 96, l. 9. _The account of the pike and frog of Liancourt._--The
story is unknown. The Duc de Liancourt led a vicious life in
youth, but was converted by his wife. He became one of the firmest
supporters of Port-Royal.

[129] P. 97, l. 18. _Philosophers._--The Stoics.

[130] P. 97, l. 24. _Epictetus._--_Diss._, iv, 7.

[131] P. 97, l. 26. _Those great spiritual efforts_, etc.--On this, and
the following fragment, see Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 29.

[132] P. 98, l. 3. _Epaminondas._--Praised by Montaigne, _Essais_, ii,
36. See also iii, 1.

[133] P. 98, l. 17. _Plerumque gratae principibus vices._--Horace,
_Odes_, III, xxix, 13, cited by Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 42. Horace
has _divitibus_ instead of _principibus_.

[134] P. 99, l. 4. _Man is neither angel nor brute_, etc.--Montaigne,
_Essais_, iii, 13.

[135] P. 99, l. 14. _Ut sis contentus_, etc.--A quotation from Seneca.
See Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 3.

[136] P. 99, l. 21. _Sen._ 588.--Seneca, _Letter to Lucilius_, xv.
Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, I.

[137] P. 99, l. 23. _Divin._--Cicero, _De Divin._, ii, 58.

[138] P. 99, l. 25. _Cic._--Cicero, _Tusc_, ii, 2. The quotation is
inaccurate. Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.

[139] P. 99, l. 27. _Senec._--Seneca, _Epist._, 106.

[140] P. 99, l. 28. _Id maxime_, etc.--Cicero, _De Off._, i, 31.

[141] P. 99, l. 29. _Hos natura_, etc.--Virgil, _Georgics_, ii, 20.

[142] P. 99, l. 30. _Paucis opus_, etc.--Seneca, _Epist._, 106.

[143] P. 100, l. 3. _Mihi sic usus_, etc.--Terence, _Heaut._, I, i, 28.

[144] P. 100, l. 4. _Rarum est_, etc.--Quintilian, x, 7.

[145] P. 100, l. 5. _Tot circa_, etc.--M. Seneca, _Suasoriae_, i, 4.

[146] P. 100, l. 6. _Cic._--Cicero, _Acad._, i, 45.

[147] P. 100, l. 7. _Nec me pudet_, etc.--Cicero, _Tusc._, i, 25.

[148] P. 100, l. 8. _Melius non incipiet._--The rest of the quotation is
_quam desinet_. Seneca, _Epist._, 72.

[149] P. 100, l. 25. _They win battles._--Montaigne, in his _Essais_,
ii, 12, relates that the Portuguese were compelled to raise the
siege of Tamly on account of the number of flies.

[150] P. 100, l. 27. _When it is said_, etc.--By Descartes.

[151] P. 102, l. 20. _Arcesilaus._--A follower of Pyrrho, the sceptic.
He lived in the third century before Christ.

[152] P. 105, l. 20. _Ecclesiastes._--Eccles. viii, 17.

[153] P. 106, l. 16. _The academicians._--Dogmatic sceptics, as opposed
to sceptics who doubt their own doubt.

[154] P. 107, l. 10. _Ego vir videns._--Lamentations iii, I.

[155] P. 108, l. 26. _Evil is easy_, etc.--The Pythagoreans considered
the good as certain and finite, and evil as uncertain and
infinite. Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 9.

[156] P. 109, l. 7. _Paulus AEmilius._--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 19.
Cicero, _Tusc._, v, 40.

[157] P. 109, l. 30. _Des Barreaux._--Author of a licentious love song.
He was born in 1602, and died in 1673. Balzac call him "the new
Bacchus."

[158] P. 110, l. 16. _For Port-Royal._--The letters, A. P. R., occur in
several places, and are generally thought to indicate what will be
afterwards treated in lectures or conferences at Port-Royal, the
famous Cistercian abbey, situated about eighteen miles from Paris.
Founded early in the thirteenth century, it acquired its greatest
fame in its closing years. Louis XIV was induced to believe it
heretical; and the monastery was finally demolished in 1711. Its
downfall was no doubt brought about by the Jesuits.

[159] P. 113, l. 4. _They all tend to this end._--Montaigne, _Essais_,
i, 19.

[160] P. 119, l. 15. _Quod ergo_, etc.--Acts xvii, 23.

[161] P. 119, l. 26. _Wicked demon._--Descartes had suggested the
possibility of the existence of an _evil genius_ to justify his
method of universal doubt. See his _First Meditation_. The
argument is quite Cartesian.

[162] P. 122, l. 18. _Deliciae meae_, etc.--Proverbs viii, 31.

[163] P. 122, l. 18. _Effundam spiritum_, etc.--Is. xliv, 3; Joel ii,
28.

[164] P. 122, l. 19. _Dii estis._--Ps. lxxxii, 6.

[165] P. 122, l. 20. _Omnis caro faenum._--Is. xl, 6.

[166] P. 122, l. 20. _Homo assimilatus_, etc.--Ps. xlix, 20.

[167] P. 124, l. 24. _Sapientius est hominibus._--1 Cor. i, 25.

[168] P. 125, l. 1. _Of original sin._--The citations from the Rabbis in
this fragment are borrowed from a work of the Middle Ages,
entitled _Pugio christianorum ad impiorum perfidiam jugulandam et
maxime judaeorum_. It was written in the thirteenth century by
Raymond Martin, a Catalonian monk. An edition of it appeared in
1651, edited by Bosquet, Bishop of Lodeve.

[169] P. 125, l. 24. _Better is a poor and wise child_, etc.--Eccles.
iv, 13.

[170] P. 126, l. 17. _Nemo ante_, etc.--See Ovid, _Met._, iii, 137, and
Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 18.

[171] P. 127, l. 10. _Figmentum._--Borrowed from the Vulgate, Ps. ciii,
14.

[172] P. 128. l. 5. _All that is in the world_, etc.--First Epistle of
St. John, ii, 16.

[173] P. 128, l. 7. _Wretched is_, etc.--M. Faugere thinks this thought
is taken from St. Augustine's Commentary on Ps. cxxxvii, _Super
flumina Babylonis._

[174] P. 129, l. 6. _Qui gloriatur_, etc.--1 Cor. i, 31.

[175] P. 130, l. 13. _Via, veritas._--John xiv, 6.

[176] P. 130, l. 14. _Zeno._--The original founder of Stoicism.

[177] P. 130, l. 15. _Epictetus._--_Diss._, iv, 6, 7.

[178] P. 131, l. 32. _A body full of thinking members._--See I Cor. xii.

[179] P. 133, l. 5. _Book of Wisdom._--ii, 6.

[180] P. 134, l. 28. _Qui adhaeret_, etc.--1 Cor. vi, 17.

[181] P. 134, l. 36. _Two laws._--Matthew xxii, 35-40; Mark xii, 28-31.

[182] P. 135, l. 6. _The kingdom of God is within us._--Luke xvii, 29.

[183] P. 137, l. 1. _Et non_, etc.--Ps. cxliii, 2.

[184] P. 137, l. 3. _The goodness of God leadeth to repentance._--Romans
ii, 4.

[185] P. 137, l. 5. _Let us do penance_, etc.--See Jonah iii, 8, 9.

[186] P. 137, l. 27. _I came to send war._--Matthew x, 34.

[187] P. 137, l. 28. _I came to bring fire and the sword._--Luke xii,
49.

[188] P. 138, l. 2. _Pharisee and the Publican._--Parable in Luke xviii,
9-14.

[189] P. 138, l. 13. _Abraham._--Genesis xiv, 22-24.

[190] P. 138, l. 17. _Sub te erit appetitus tuus._--Genesis iv, 7.

[191] P. 140, l. 1. _It is_, etc.--A discussion on the Eucharist.

[192] P. 140, l. 34. _Non sum dignus._--Luke vii, 6.

[193] P. 140, l. 35. _Qui manducat indignus._--I Cor. xi, 29.

[194] P. 140, l. 36. _Dignus est accipere._--Apoc. iv, II.

[195] P. 141. In the French edition on which this translation is based
there was inserted the following fragment after No. 513:

"Work out your own salvation with fear."

Proofs of prayer. _Petenti dabitur._

Therefore it is in our power to ask. On the other hand, there is
God. So it is not in our power, since the obtaining of (the
grace) to pray to Him is not in our power. For since salvation
is not in us, and the obtaining of such grace is from Him,
prayer is not in our power.

The righteous man should then hope no more in God, for he ought
not to hope, but to strive to obtain what he wants.

Let us conclude then that, since man is now unrighteous since
the first sin, and God is unwilling that he should thereby not
be estranged from Him, it is only by a first effect that he is
not estranged.

Therefore, those who depart from God have not this first effect
without which they are not estranged from God, and those who do
not depart from God have this first effect. Therefore, those
whom we have seen possessed for some time of grace by this first
effect, cease to pray, for want of this first effect.

Then God abandons the first in this sense.

It is doubtful, however that this fragment should be included in
the _Pensees_, and it has seemed best to separate it from the
text. It has only once before appeared--in the edition of
Michaut (1896). The first half of it has been freely translated
in order to give an interpretation in accordance with a
suggestion from M. Emile Boutroux, the eminent authority on
Pascal. The meaning seems to be this. In one sense it is in our
power to ask from God, who promises to give us what we ask. But,
in another sense, it is not in our power to ask; for it is not
in our power to obtain the grace which is necessary in asking.
We know that salvation is not in our power. Therefore some
condition of salvation is not in our power. Now the conditions
of salvation are two: (1) The asking for it, and (2) the
obtaining it. But God promises to give us what we ask. Hence the
obtaining is in our power. Therefore the condition which is not
in our power must be the first, namely, the asking. Prayer
presupposes a grace which it is not within our power to obtain.

After giving the utmost consideration to the second half of this
obscure fragment, and seeking assistance from some eminent
scholars, the translator has been compelled to give a strictly
literal translation of it, without attempting to make sense.

[196] P. 141, l. 14. _Lord, when saw we_, etc.--Matthew xxv, 37.

[197] P. 143, l. 19. _Qui justus est, justificetur adhuc._--Apoc. xxii,
II.

[198] P. 144, l. 2. _Corneille._--See his _Horace_, II, iii.

[199] P. 144, l. 15. _Corrumpunt mores_, etc.--I Cor. xv, 33.

[200] P. 145. l. 25. _Quod curiositate_, etc.--St. Augustine, _Sermon
CXLI_.

[201] P. 146, l. 34. _Quia ... facere._--I Cor. i, 21.

[202] P. 148, l. 7. _Turbare semetipsum._--John xi, 33. The text is
_turbavit seipsum_.

[203] P. 148, l. 25. _My soul is sorrowful even unto death._--Mark xiv,
34.

[204] P. 149, l. 3. _Eamus. Processit._--John xviii, 4. But _eamus_ does
not occur. See, however, Matthew xxvi, 46.

[205] P. 150, l. 36. _Eritis sicut_, etc.--Genesis iv, 5.