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 haveut 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.

[206] P. 151, l. 2. Noli me tangere.—John xx, 17.

[207] P. 156, l. 14. Vere discipuli, etc.—Allusions to John viii, 31, i, 47; viii, 36; vi, 32.

[208] P. 158, l. 41. Signa legem in electis meis.—Is. viii, 16. The text of the Vulgate is in discipulis meis.

[209] P. 159, l. 2. Hosea.—xiv, 9.

[210] P. 159, l. 13. Saint John.—xii, 39.

[211] P. 160, l. 17. Tamar.—Genesis xxxviii, 24-30.

[212] P. 160, l. 17. Ruth.—Ruth iv, 17-22.

[213] P. 163, l. 13. History of China.—A History of China in Latin had been published in 1658.

[214] P. 164, l. I. The five suns, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 6.

[215] P. 164, l. 9. Jesus Christ.—John v, 31.

[216] P. 164, l. 17. The Koran says, etc.—There is no mention of Saint Matthew in the Koran; but it speaks of the Apostles generally.

[217] P. 165, l. 35. Moses.—Deut. xxxi, 11.

[218] P. 166, l. 23. Carnal Christians.—Jesuits and Molinists.

[219] P. 170, l. 14. Whom he welcomed from afar.—John viii, 56.

[220] P. 170, l. 19. Salutare, etc.—Genesis xdix, 18.

[221] P. 173, l. 33. The Twelve Tables at Athens.—There were no such tables. About 450 B.C. a commission is said to have been appointed in Rome to visit Greece and collect information to frame a code of law. This is now doubted, if not entirely discredited.

[222] P. 173, l. 35. Josephus.—Reply to Apion, ii, 16. Josephus, the Jewish historian, gained the favour of Titus, and accompanied him to the siege of Jerusalem. He defended the Jews against a contemporary grammarian, named Apion, who had written a violent satire on the Jews.

[223] P. 174, l. 27. Against Apion.—ii, 39. See preceding note.

[224] P. 174, l. 28. Philo.—A Jewish philosopher, who lived in the first century of the Christian era. He was one of the founders of the Alexandrian school of thought. He sought to reconcile Jewish tradition with Greek thought.

[225] P. 175, l. 20. Prefers the younger.—See No. 710.

[226] P. 176, l. 32. The books of the Sibyls and Trismegistus.—The Sibyls were the old Roman prophetesses. Their predictions were preserved in three books at Rome, which Tarquinius Superbus had bought from the Sibyl of Erythrae. Trismegistus was the Greek name of the Egyptian god Thoth, who was regarded as the originator of Egyptian culture, the god of religion, of writing, and of the arts and sciences. Under his name there existed forty-two sacred books, kept by the Egyptian priests.

[227] P. 177, l. 3. Quis mihi, etc.—Numbers xi, 29. Quis tribuat ut omnis populus prophetet?

[228] P. 177, l. 25. Maccabees.—2 Macc. xi, 2.

[229] P. 177, l. 7. This book, etc.—Is. xxx, 8.

[230] P. 178, l. 9. Tertullian.—A Christian writer in the second century after Christ. The quotation is from his De Cultu Femin., ii, 3.

[231] P. 178, l. 16. (Theos), etc.—Eusebius, Hist., lib. v, c. 8.

[232] P. 178, l. 22. And he took that from Saint Irenaeus.—Hist., lib. x, c 25.

[233] P. 179, l. 5. The story in Esdras.—2 Esdras xiv. God appears to Esdras in a bush, and orders him to assemble the people and deliver the message. Esdras replies that the law is burnt. Then God commands him to take five scribes to whom for forty days He dictates the ancient law. This story conflicted with many passages in the prophets, and was therefore rejected from the Canon at the Council of Trent.

[234] P. 181, l. 14. The Kabbala.—The fantastic secret doctrine of interpretation of Scripture, held by a number of Jewish rabbis.

[235] P. 181, l. 26. Ut sciatis, etc.—Mark ii, 10, 11.

[236] P. 183, l. 29. This generation, etc.—Matthew xxiv, 34.

[237] P. 184, l. 11. Difference between dinner and supper.—Luke xiv, 12.

[238] P. 184, l. 28. The six ages, etc.—M. Havet has traced this to a chapter in St. Augustine, De Genesi contra Manichaeos, i, 23.

[239] P. 184, l. 31. Forma futuri.—Romans v, 14.

[240] P. 186, l. 13. The Messiah, etc.—John xii, 34.

[241] P. 186, l. 30. If the light, etc.—Matthew vi, 23.

[242] P. 187, l. 1. Somnum suum.—Ps. lxxvi, 5.

[243] P. 187, l. 1. Figura hujus mundi.—1 Cor. vii, 31.

[244] P. 187, l. 2. Comedes panem tuum.—Deut. viii, 9. Panem nostrum, Luke xi, 3.

[245] P. 187, l. 3. Inimici Dei terram lingent.—Ps. lxxii, 9.

[246] P. 187, l. 8. Cum amaritudinibus.—Exodus xii, 8. The Vulgate has cum lacticibus agrestibus.

[247] P. 187, l. 9. Singularis sum ego donec transeam.—Ps. cxli, 10.

[248] P. 188, l. 19. Saint Paul.—Galatians iv, 24; I Cor. iii, 16, 17; Hebrews ix, 24; Romans ii, 28, 29.

[249] P. 188, l. 25. That Moses, etc.—John vi, 32.

[250] P. 189, l. 3. For one thing alone is needful.—Luke x, 42.

[251] P. 189, l. 9. The breasts of the Spouse.—Song of Solomon iv, 5.

[252] P. 189, l. 15. And the Christians, etc.—Romans vi, 20; viii, 14, 15.

[253] P. 189, l. 17. When Saint Peter, etc.—Acts xv. See Genesis xvii, 10; Leviticus xii, 3.

[254] P. 189, l. 27. Fac secundum, etc.—Exodus xxv, 40.

[255] P. 190, l. 1. Saint Paul.—1 Tim. iv, 3; 1 Cor. vii.

[256] P. 190, l. 7. The Jews, etc.—Hebrews viii, 5.

[257] P. 192, l. 15. That He should destroy death through death.—Hebrews ii, 14.

[258] P. 192, l. 30. Veri adoratores.—John iv, 23.

[259] P. 192, l. 30. Ecce agnus, etc.—John i, 29.

[260] P. 193, l. 15. Ye shall be free indeed.—John viii, 36.

[261] P. 193, l. 17. I am the true bread from heaven.—Ibid., vi, 32.

[262] P. 194, l. 27. Agnus occisus, etc.—Apoc. xiii, 8.

[263] P. 194, l. 34. Sede a dextris meis.—Ps. cx, 1.

[264] P. 195, l. 12. A jealous God.—Exodus xx, 5.

[265] P. 195, l. 14. Quia confortavit seras.—Ps. cxlvii, 13.

[266] P. 195, l. 17. The closed mem.—The allusions here are to certain peculiarities in Jewish writing. There are some letters written in two ways, closed or open, as the mem.

[267] P. 199, l. 1. Great Pan is dead.—Plutarch, De Defect. Orac., xvii.

[268] P. 199, l. 2. Susceperunt verbum, etc.—Acts xvii, 11.

[269] P. 199, l. 20. The ruler taken from the thigh.—Genesis xlix, 10.

[270] P. 208, l. 6. Make their heart fat.—Is. vi, 10; John xii, 40.

[271] P. 209, l. 1. Non habemus regem nisi Caesarem.—John xix, 15.

[272] P. 218, l. 17. In Horeb, etc.—Deut. xviii, 16-19.

[273] P. 220, l. 34. Then they shall teach, etc.—Jeremiah xxxi, 34.

[274] P. 221, l. 1. Your sons shall prophesy.—Joel ii, 28.

[275] P. 221, l. 20. Populum, etc.—Is. lxv, 2; Romans x, 21.

[276] P. 222, l. 25. Eris palpans in meridie.—Deut. xxviii, 29.

[277] P. 222, l. 26. Dabitur liber, etc.—Is. xxix, 12. The quotation is inaccurate.

[278] P. 223, l. 24. Quis mihi, etc.—Job xix, 23-25.

[279] P. 224, l. 1. Pray, etc.—The fragments here are Pascal's notes on Luke. See chaps. xxii and xxiii.

[280] P. 225, l. 20. Excaeca.—Is. vi, 10.

[281] P, 226, l. 9. Lazarus dormit, etc.—John xi, 11, 14.

[282] P. 226, l. 10. The apparent discrepancy of the Gospels.—To reconcile the apparent discrepancies in the Gospels, Pascal wrote a short life of Christ.

[283] P. 227, l. 13. Gladium tuum, potentissime.—Ps. xlv, 3.

[284] P. 228, l. 25. Ingrediens mundum.—Hebrews x, 5.

[285] P. 228, l. 26. Stone upon stone.—Mark xiii, 2.

[286] P. 229, l. 20. Jesus Christ at last, etc.—See Mark xii.

[287] P. 230, l. 1. Effundam spiritum meum.—Joel ii, 28.

[288] P. 230, l. 6. Omnes gentes ... eum.—Ps. xxii, 27.

[289] P. 230, l. 7. Parum est ut, etc.—Is. xlix, 6.

[290] P. 230, l. 7. Postula a me.—Ps. ii, 8.

[291] P. 230, l. 8. Adorabunt ... reges.—Ps. lxxii, 11.

[292] P. 230, l. 8. Testes iniqui.—Ps. xxv, 11.

[293] P. 230, l. 8. Dabit maxillam percutienti.—Lamentations iii, 30.

[294] P. 230, l. 9. Dederunt fel in escam.—Ps. lxix, 21.

[295] P. 230, l. 11. I will bless them that bless thee.—Genesis xii, 3.

[296] P. 230, l. 12. All nations blessed in his seed.—Ibid., xxii, 18.

[297] P. 230, l. 13. Lumen ad revelationem gentium.—Luke ii, 32.

[298] P. 230, l. 14. Non fecit taliter, etc.—Ps. cxlvii, 20.

[299] P. 230, l. 20. Bibite ex hoc omnes.—Matthew xxvi, 27.

[300] P. 230, l. 22. In quo omnes peccaverunt.—Romans v, 12.

[301] P. 230, l. 26. Ne timeas pusillus grex.—Luke xii, 32.

[302] P. 230, l. 29. Qui me, etc.—Matthew x, 40.

[303] P. 230, l. 32. Saint John.—Luke i, 17.

[304] P. 230, l. 33. Jesus Christ.—Ibid., xii, 51.

[305] P. 231, l. 5. Omnis Judaea, etc.—Mark i, 5.

[306] P. 231, l. 7. From these stones, etc.—Matthew iii, 9.

[307] P. 231, l. 9. Ne convertantur, etc.—Mark iv, 12.

[308] P. 231, l. 11. Amice, ad quid venisti?—Matthew xxvi, 50.

[309] P. 231, l. 31. What is a man, etc.—Luke ix, 25.

[310] P. 231, l. 32. Whosoever will, etc.—Ibid., 24.

[311] P. 232, l. 1. I am not come, etc.—Matthew v, 17.

[312] P. 232, l. 2. Lambs took not, etc.—See John i, 29.

[313] P. 232, l. 4. Moses.—Ibid., vi, 32; viii, 36.

[314] P. 232, l. 15. Quare, etc.—Ps. ii, 1, 2.

[315] P. 233, l. 8. I have reserved me seven thousand.—1 Kings xix, 18.

[316] P. 234, l. 27. Archimedes.—The founder of statics and hydrostatics. He was born at Syracuse in 287 B.C., and was killed in 212 B.C. He was not a prince, though a relative of a king. M. Havet points out that Cicero talks of him as an obscure man (Tusc, v, 23).

[317] P. 235, l. 33. In sanctificationem et in scandalum.—Is. viii, 14.

[318] P. 238, l. 11. Jesus Christ.—Mark ix, 39.

[319] P. 239, l. 7. Rejoice not, etc.—Luke x, 20.

[320] P. 239, l. 12. Scimus, etc.—John iii, 2.

[321] P. 239, l. 25. Nisi fecissem ... haberent.—Ibid., xv, 24.

[322] P. 239, l. 32. The second miracle.—Ibid., iv, 54.

[323] P. 240, l. 6. Montaigne.—Essais, ii, 26, and iii, 11.

[324] P. 242, l. 9. Vatable.—Professor of Hebrew at the College Royal, founded by Francis I. An edition of the Bible with notes under his name, which were not his, was published in 1539.

[325] P. 242, l. 19. Omne regnum divisum.—Matthew xii, 25; Luke xi, 17.

[326] P. 242, l. 23. Si in digito ... vos.—Luke xi, 20.

[327] P. 243, l. 12. Q. 113, A. 10, Ad. 2.—Thomas Aquinas's Summa, Pt. I, Question 113, Article 10, Reply to the Second Objection.

[328] P. 243, l. 18. Judaei signa petunt, etc.—I Cor. i, 22.

[329] P. 243, l. 23. Sed vos, etc.—John x, 26.

[330] P. 246, l. 15. Tu quid dicis? etc.—John ix, 17, 33.

[331] P. 247, l. 14. Though ye believe not, etc.—John x, 38.

[332] P. 247, l. 25. Nemo facit, etc.—Mark ix, 39.

[333] P. 247, l. 27. A sacred relic.—This is a reference to the miracle of the Holy Thorn. Marguerite Perier, Pascal's niece, was cured of a fistula lachrymalis on 24 March, 1656, after her eye was touched with this sacred relic, supposed to be a thorn from the crown of Christ. This miracle made a great impression upon Pascal.

[334] P. 248, l. 23. These nuns.—Of Port-Royal, as to which, see note on page 110, line 16, above. They were accused of Calvinism.

[335] P. 248, l. 28. Vide si, etc.—Ps. cxxxix, 24.

[336] P. 249, l. 1. Si tu, etc.—Luke xxii, 67.

[337] P. 249, l. 2. Opera quae, etc.—John v, 36; x, 26-27.

[338] P. 249, l. 7. Nemo potest, etc.—John iii, 2.

[339] P. 249, l. 11. Generatio prava, etc.—Matthew xii, 39.

[340] P. 249, l. 14. Et non poterat facere.—Mark vi, 5.

[341] P. 249, l. 16. Nisi videritis, non creditis.—John iv, 8, 48.

[342] P. 249, l. 23. Tentat enim, etc.—Deut. xiii, 3.

[343] P. 249, l. 25. Ecce praedixi vobis: vos ergo videte.—Matthew xxiv, 25, 26.

[344] P. 250, l. 7. We have Moses, etc.—John ix, 29.

[345] P. 250, l. 30. Quid debui.—Is. v, 3, 4. The Vulgate is Quis est quod debui ultra facere vineae meae, et non feci ei.

[346] P. 251, l. 12. Bar-jesus blinded.—Acts xiii, 6-11.

[347] P. 251, l. 14. The Jewish exorcists.—Ibid., xix, 13-16.

[348] P. 251, l. 18. Si angelus.—Galatians i, 8.

[349] P. 252, l. 10. An angel from heaven.—See previous note.

[350] P. 252, l. 14. Father Lingende.—Claude de Lingendes, an eloquent Jesuit preacher, who died in 1660.

[351] P. 252, l. 33. Ubi est Deus tuus?—Ps. xiii, 3.

[352] P. 252, l. 34. Exortum est, etc.—Ps. cxii, 4.

[353] P. 253, l. 6. Saint Xavier.—Saint Francois Xavier, the friend of Ignatius Loyola, became a Jesuit.

[354] P. 253, l. 9. Vae qui, etc.—Is. x, I.

[355] P. 253, l. 24. The five propositions.—See Preface.

[356] P. 253, l. 36. To seduce, etc.—Mark xiii, 22.

[357] P. 254, l. 6. Si non fecissem.—John xv, 24.

[358] P. 255, l. 11. Believe in the Church.—Matthew xviii, 17-20.

[359] P. 257, l. 14. They.—The Jansenists, who believed in the system of evangelical doctrine deduced from Augustine by Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638), the Bishop of Ypres. They held that interior grace is irresistible, and that Christ died for all, in reaction against the ordinary Catholic dogma of the freedom of the will, and merely sufficient grace.

[360] P. 258, l. 4. A time to laugh, etc.—Eccles. iii, 4.

[361] P. 258, l. 4. Responde. Ne respondeas.—Prov. xxvi, 4, 5.

[362] P. 260, l. 3. Saint Athanasius.—Patriarch of Alexandria, accused of rape, of murder, and of sacrilege. He was condemned by the Councils of Tyre, Aries, and Milan. Pope Liberius is said to have finally ratified the condemnation in A.D. 357. Athanasius here stands for Jansenius, Saint Thersea for Mother Angelique, and Liberius for Clement IX.

[363] P. 261, l. 17. Vos autem non sic.—Luke xxii, 26.

[364] P. 261, l. 23. Duo aut tres in unum.—John x, 30; First Epistle of St. John, V, 8.

[365] P. 262, l. 18. The Fronde.—The party which rose against Mazarin and the Court during the minority of Louis XIV. They led to civil war.

[366] P. 262, l. 25. Pasce oves meas.—John xxi, 17.

[367] P. 263, l. 14. Jeroboam.—I Kings xii, 31.

[368] P. 265, l. 21. The servant, etc.—John xv, 15.

[369] P. 266, l. 4. He that is not, etc.—Matthew xii, 30.

[370] P. 266, l. 5. He that is not, etc.—Mark ix, 40.

[371] P. 266, l. 11. Humilibus dot gratiam.—James iv, 6.

[372] P. 266, l. 12. Sui eum non, etc.—John i, 11, 12.

[373] P. 266, l. 33. We will be as the other nations.—I Sam. viii, 20.

[374] P. 268, l. 19. Vince in bono malum.—Romans xii, 21.

[375] P. 268, l. 26. Montalte.—See note on page 6, line 30, above.

[376] P. 269, l. 11. Probability.—The doctrine in casuistry that of two probable views, both reasonable, one may follow his own inclinations, as a doubtful law cannot impose a certain obligation. It was held by the Jesuits, the famous religious order founded in 1534 by Ignatius Loyola. This section of the Pensees is directed chiefly against them.

[377] P. 269, l. 22. Coacervabunt sibi magistros.—2 Tim. iv, 3.

[378] P. 270, l. 3. These.—The writers of Port-Royal.

[379] P. 270, l. 15. The Society.—The Society of Jesus.

[380] P. 271, l. 15. Digna necessitas.—Book of Wisdom xix, 4.



INDEX

The figures refer to the numbers of the Pensees, and not to the pages.

ABRAHAM, took nothing for himself, 502; from stones can come children unto, 777; and Gideon, 821

Absolutions, without signs of regret, 903, 904

Act, the last, is tragic, 210

Adam, compared with Christ, 551; his glorious state, 559; forma futuri, 655

Advent, the time of the first, foretold, 756

Age, influences judgment, 381; the six ages, 654

Alexander, the example of his chastity, 103

Amusements, dangerous to the Christian life, 11

Animals, intelligence and instinct of, 340, 342

Antichrist, miracles of, foretold by Christ, 825; will speak openly against God, 842; miracles of, cannot lead into error, 845

Apocalyptics, extravagances of the, 650

Apostles, hypothesis that they were deceivers, 571; foresaw heresies, 578; supposition that they were either deceived or deceivers, 801

Aquinas, Thomas, 61, 338

Arcesilaus, the sceptic, became a dogmatist, 375

Archimedes, greatness of, 792

Arians, where they go wrong, 861

Aristotle, and Plato, 331

Arius, miracles in his time, 831

Athanasius, St., 867

Atheism, shows a certain strength of mind, 225

Atheists, who seek, to be pitied, 190; ought to say what is perfectly evident, 221; objections of, against the Resurrection and the Virgin Birth, 222, 223; objection of, 228

Augustine, St., saw that we work for an uncertainty, 234; on the submission of reason, 270; on miracles, 811; his authority, 868

Augustus, his saying about Herod's son, 179

Authority, in belief, 260

Authors, vanity of certain, 43

Automatism, human, 252

Babylon, rivers of, 459

Beauty, a certain standard of, 32; poetical, 33

Belief, three sources of, 245; rule of, 260; of simple people, 284; without reading the Testaments, 286; the Cross creates, 587; reasons why there is no, in the miracles, 825

Bias, leads to error, 98

Birth, noble, an advantage, 322; persons of high, honoured and despised, 337

Blame, and praise, 501

Blood, example of the circulation of, 96

Body, nourishment of the, 356; the, and its members, 475, 476; infinite distance between mind and, 792

Brutes, no mutual admiration among the, 401

Caesar, compared with Alexander and Augustus, 132

Calling, chance decides the choice of a, 97

Calvinism, error of, 776

Canonical, the heretical books prove the, 568

Carthusian monk, difference between a soldier and a, 538

Casuists, true believers have no pretext for following their laxity, 888; submit the decision to a corrupted reason, 906; cannot give assurance to a conscience in error, 908; allow lust to act, 913

Causes, seen by the intellect and not by the senses, 234

Catholic, the, doctrine, of the Holy Sacrament, 861

Ceremonies, ordained in the Old Testament, are types, 679

Certain, nothing is, 234

Chance, according to the doctrine of chance, one should believe in God, 233; and work for an uncertainty, 234; and seek the truth, 236; gives rise to thoughts, 370

Chancellor, the position of the, uneral, 307

Character, the Christian, the human, and the inhuman, 532

Charity, nothing so like it as covetousness, 662; not a figurative precept, 664; the sole aim of the Scripture, 669

Charron, the divisions of, 62

Children, frightened at the face they have blackened, 88; of Port-Royal, 151; illustration of usurpation from, 295

China, History of, 592, 593

Christianity, alone cures pride and sloth, 435; is strange, 536; consists in two points, 555; evidence for, 563; is wise and foolish, 587

Christians, few true, 256; without the knowledge of the prophecies and evidences, 287; comply with folly, 338; humility of, 537; their hope, 539; their happiness, 540; the God of, 543

Church, history of the, 857; the, in persecution, like a ship in a storm, 858; when in a good state, 860; has always been attacked by opposite errors, 861; the, and tradition, 866; absolution and the, 869; the Pope and the, 870; the, and infallibility, 875; true justice in the, 877; the work of the, 880; the discipline of the, 884; the anathemas of the, 895

Cicero, false beauties in, 31

Cipher, a, has a double meaning, 676, 677; key of, 680; the, given by St. Paul, 682

Circumcision, only a sign, 609; the apostles and, 671

Clearness, sufficient, for the elect, 577; and obscurity, 856

Cleobuline, the passion of, 13

Cleopatra, the nose of, 162; and love, 163

Compliments, 57

Conditions, the easiest, to live in, according to the world and to God, 905

Condolences, formal, 56

Confession, 100; different effects of, 529

Contradiction, 157; a bad sign of truth, 384

Conversion, the, 470; of the heathen, 768

Copernicus, 218

Cords, the, which bind the respect of men to each other, 304

Correct, how to, with advantage, 9

Cripple, why a, does not offend us, and a fool does, 80

Cromwell, death of, 176

Custom, is our nature, 89; our natural principles, principles of, 92; a second nature, 93; the source of our strongest beliefs, 252

Cyrus, prediction of, 712

Damned, the, condemned by their own reason, 562

Daniel, 721; the seventy weeks of, 722

David, a saying of, 689; the eternal reign of the race of, 716, 717

Death, easier to bear without thinking of it, 166; men do not think of, 168; fear of, 215, 216; examples of the noble deaths of the Lacedaemonians, 481

Deference, meaning of, 317

Deeds, noble, best when hidden, 159

Deism, as far removed from Christianity as atheism, 555

Democritus, saying of, 72

Demonstrations, not certain that there are true, 387

Descartes, 76, 77, 78, 79

Devil, the, and miracle, 803; the, and doctrine, 819

Disciples, and true disciples, 518

Discourses, on humility, 377

Diseases, a source of error, 82

Disproportion of man, 72

Diversion, reason why men seek, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 168, 170

Docility, 254

Doctor, the, 12

Doctrine, and miracles, 802, 842

Dogmatism, and scepticism, 434

Dream, life like a, 386

Duty, and the passions, 104

Ecclesiastes, 389

Eclipses, why said to foretoken misfortune, 173

Ego, what is the, 323; consists in thought, 469

Egyptians, conversion of the, 724

Elect, the, ignorant of their virtues, 514; all things work together for good to the, 574

Eloquence, 15, 16, 25, 26

Emilius, Paulus, 409, 410

Enemies, meaning of, in the prophecies, 570, 691

Epictetus, 80, 466, 467

Error, a common, when advantageous, 18

Esdras, the story in, 631, 632, 633

Eternity, existence of, 195

Ethics, consoles us, 67; a special science, 911

Eucharist, the, 224, 512, 788

Evangelists, the, painted a perfectly heroic soul in Jesus Christ, 799

Evil, infinite forms of, 408

Examples, in demonstration, 40

Exception, and the rule, 832, 903

Excuses, on, 58

External, the, must be joined to the internal, 250

Ezekiel, spoke evil of Israel, 885

Faith, different from proof, 248; and miracle, 263; and the senses, 264; what is, 278; without, man cannot know the true good or justice, 425; consists in Jesus Christ, 522

Fancy, effects of, 86; confused with feeling, 274

Faults, we owe a great debt to those who point out, 534

Fear, good and bad, 262

Feeling, and reasoning, 3, 274; harmed in the same way as the understanding, 6

Flies, the power of, 366, 367

Friend, importance of a true, 155

Fundamentals, the two, 804

Galilee, the word, 743

Gentiles, conversion of the, 712; calling of the, 713

Gentleman, the universal quality, 35; man never taught to be a, 68

Glory, 151, 401; the greatest baseness of man is the pursuit of, 404

God, the conduct of, 185; is infinite, 231, 233; infinitely incomprehensible, 233; we should wager that there is a, 233; a Deus absconditus, 194, 242; knowledge of, is not the love of Him, 280; two kinds of persons know, 288; has created all for Himself, 314; the wisdom of, 430; must reign over all, 460; we must love Him only, 479; not true that all reveals, 556; has willed to blind some and to enlighten others, 565, 575; foresaw heresies, 578; has willed to hide Himself, 584; formed for Himself the Jewish people, 643; the word does not differ from the intention in, 653; the greatness of His compassion, 847; has not wanted to absolve without the Church, 869

Godliness, why difficult, 498

Good, the inquiry into the sovereign, 73, 462

Gospel, the style of the, admirable, 797

Grace, unites us to God, 430, 507; necessary to turn a man into a saint, 508; the law and, 519, 521; nature and, 520; morality and, 522; man's capacity for, 523

Great, the, and the humble have the same misfortunes, 180

Greatness, the, of man, 397, 398, 400, 409; constituted by thought, 346; even in his lust, 402, 403; and wretchedness of man, 416, 417, 418, 423, 430, 443

Haggai, 725

Happiness, all men seek, 425; is in God, 465

Happy, in order to be, man does not think of death, 169

Hate, all men naturally, one another, 451

Heart, the, has its reasons, 277; experiences God, 278; we know truth, not only by the reason, but also by the, 282; has its own order, 283

Heresy, 774; source of all, 861

Heretics, and the three marks of religion, 843, 844; and the Jesuits, 890

Herod, 178, 179

Hosts, the three, 177

Image, an, of the condition of men, 199

Imagination, that deceitful part in man, 82; enlarges little objects, 84; magnifies a nothing, 85; often mistaken for the heart, 275; judges, etc., appeal only to the, 307

Inconstancy, in, 112, 113

Infinite, the, of greatness and of littleness, 72; and the finite, 233

Injustice, 214, 191, 293, 326, 878

Instability, 212

Intellect, different kinds of, 2

Isaiah, 712, 725

Jacob, 612, 710

Jansenists, the, are persecuted, 859; are like the heretics, 886

Jeremiah, 713, 818

Jesuits, the, unjust persecutors, 851; hardness of the, 853; and Jansenists, 864; impose upon the Pope, 881; effects of their sins, 918; do not keep their word, 923

Jesus Christ employs the rule of love, 283; is a God whom we approach without pride, 527; His teaching, 544; without, man must be in misery, 545; God known only through, 546; we know ourselves only through, 547; useless to know God without, 548; the sepulchre of, 551; the mystery of, 552; and His wounds, 553; genealogy of, 577; came at the time foretold, 669; necessary for Him to suffer, 678; the Messiah, 719; prophecies about, 730, 733, 734; foretold, and was foretold, 738; how regarded by the Old and New Testaments, 239; what the prophets say of, 750; His office, 765; typified by Joseph, 767; what He came to say, 769, 782; came to blind, etc., 770; never condemned without hearing, 779; Redeemer of all, 780; would not have the testimony of devils, 783; an obscurity, 785, 788; would not be slain without the forms of justice, 789; no man had more renown than, 791; absurd to take offence at the lowliness of, 792; came in sanctificationem et in scandalum, 794; said great things simply, 796; verified that He was the Messiah, 807; and miracles, 828

Jews, their religion must be differently regarded in the Bible and in their tradition, 600; and is wholly divine, 602; the carnal, 606, 607, 661, 746; true, and true Christians have the same religion, 609; their advantages, 619; their antiquity, 627; their sincerity, 629, 630; their long and miserable existence, 639; the, expressly made to witness to the Messiah, 640; earthly thoughts of the, 669; were the slaves of sin, 670; their zeal for the law, 700, 701; the devil troubled their zeal, 703; their captivity, 712; reprobation of the, 712; accustomed to great miracles, 745; the, but not all, reject Christ, 759; the, in slaying Him, have proved Him to be the Messiah, 760; their dilemma, 761

Job and Solomon, 174

John, St., the Baptist, 775

Joseph, 622, 697, 767

Josephus, 628, 786

Joshua, 626

Judgment, the, and the intellect, 4; of another easily prejudiced, 105

Just, the, act by faith, 504

Justice, the, of God, 233; relation of, to law and custom, 294, 325; and might, 298, 299; determined by custom, 309; is what is established, 312

King, the, surrounded by people to amuse him, 139; a, without amusement, is full of wretchedness, 142; why he inspires respect, 308; and tyrant, 310; on what his power is founded, 330

Knowledge, limitations of man's, 72; of ourselves impossible, apart from the mystery of the transmission of sin, 434; of God and of man's wretchedness found in Christ, 526

Koran, the, 596

Lackeys, afford a means of social distinction, 318, 319

Language, 27, 45, 49, 53, 54, 59, 648

Law, the, and nature, 519; the, and grace, 521; the, of the Jews, the oldest and most perfect, 618

Laws, the, are the only universal rules, 299; two, rule the Christian Republic, 484

Liancourt, the frog and the pike of, 341

Life, human, a perpetual illusion, 100; we desire to live an imaginary, 147; short duration of, 205; only, between us and heaven or hell, 213

Love, nature of self-, 100, 455; causes and effects of, 162, 163; nothing so opposed to justice and truth as self-, 492

Lusts, the three, 458, 460, 461

Machine, the, 246, 247; the arithmetical, 340

Macrobius, 178, 179

Magistrates, make a show to strike the imagination, 82

Mahomet, 590; without authority, 594; his own witness, 595; a false prophet, 596; is ridiculous, 597; difference between Christ and, 598, 599; religion of, 600

Man, full of wants, 36; misery of, without God, 60, 389; disproportion of, 72; a subject of error, 83; naturally credulous, 125; description of, 116; condition of, 127; disgraceful for, to yield to pleasure, 160; despises religion, 187; lacks heart, 196; his sensibility to trifles, 197; a thinking reed, 347, 348; neither angel, nor brute, 358; necessarily mad, 414; two views of the nature of, 415; does not know his rank, 427; a chimera, 434; the two vices of, 435; pursues wealth, 436; only happy in God, 438; does not act by reason, 439; unworthy of God, 510; is of two kinds, 533; holds an inward talk with himself, 535; without Christ, must be in vice and misery, 545; everything teaches him his condition, 556

Martial, epigrams of, 41

Master and servant, 530, 896

Materialism, on, 72, 75

Members, we are, of the whole, 474, 477, 482, 483

Memory, intuitive, 95; necessary for reason, 369

Merit, men and, 490

Messiah, necessary that there should be preceding prophecies about the, 570; the, according to the carnal Jews and carnal Christians, 606; the, has always been believed in, 615; and expected, 616; prophecies about the, 726, 728, 729; Herod believed to be the, 752

Mind, difference between the mathematical and the intuitive, 1; and body, 72, 792; natural for it to believe, 81; the, easily disturbed, 366

Miracles, and belief, 263; a test of doctrine, 802, 842, 845; definition of, 803; necessary, 805; Christ and 807, 810, 828, 833, 837, 838; Montaigne and, 812, 813; the reason people believe false, 816, 817; the, of the false prophets, 818; false, 822, 823; their use, 824; the foundation of religion, 825, 826, 850; no longer necessary, 831; the miracle of the Holy Thorn, 838, 855; the test in matters of doubt, 840; one mark of religion, 843

Misery, diversion alone consoles us for, and is the greatest, 171; proves man's greatness, 398; we have an instinct which raises us above, 411; induces despair, 525

Miton, 192, 448, 455

Montaigne, 18; criticism of, 62, 63, 64, 65; 220, 234, 325, 812, 813

Moses, 577, 592, 623, 628, 688, 689, 751, 802

Nature has made her truths independent of one another, 21; and theology, 29; is corrupt, 60; has set us in the centre, 70; only a first custom, 93; makes us unhappy in every state, 109; imitates herself, 110; diversifies, 120; always begins the same things again, 121; our, consists in motion, 129; and God, 229, 242, 243, 244; acts by progress, 355; the least movement affects all, 505; perfections and imperfections of, 579; an image of grace, 674

Nebuchadnezzar, 721

Novelty, power of the charms of, 82

Obscurity, the, of religion shows its truth, 564; without, man would not be sensible of corruption, 585

Opinion, the queen of the world, 311

Outward, the Church judges only by the, 904

Painting, vanity of, 134

Passion, makes us forget duty, 104; we are sure of pleasing a man, if we know his ruling, 106; how to prevent the harmful effect of, 203

Patriarchs, longevity of, 625

Paul, St., 283, 532, 672, 682, 852

Pelagians, the semi-, 776

Penitence, 660, 922

People, ordinary, have the power of not thinking of that about which they do not want to think, 259; sound opinions of the people, 313, 316, 324

Perpetuity, 612, 615, 616

Perseus, 410

Persons, only three kinds of, 257; two kinds of, know God, 288

Peter, St., 671, 743

Philosophers, the, have confused ideas of things, 72; influence of imagination upon, 82; disquiet inquirers, 184; made their ethics independent of the immortality of the soul, 219, 220; have mastered their passions, 349; believe in God without Christ, 463; their motto, 464; have consecrated vices, 503; what they advise, 509; did not prescribe suitable feelings, 524

Piety, different from superstition, 255

Pilate, the false justice of, 790

Plato, 219, 331

Poets, 34, 38, 39

Pope, the, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 879, 881

Port-Royal, 151, 838, 919

Prayer, why established, 513

Predictions of particular things, 710; of Cyrus, 712; of events in the fourth monarchy, 723; of the Messiah, 728, 730

Present, we do not rest satisfied with the, 172

Presumption of men, 148

Pride, 152, 153, 406

Probability, the Jesuitical doctrine of, 901, 907, 909, 912, 915, 916, 917, 919, 921

Proofs, of religion, 289, 290; metaphysical, of God, 542

Prophecies, the, entrusted to the Jews, 570; the strongest proof of Christ, 705; necessarily distributed, 706; about Christ, 709, 726, 730, 732, 735; proofs of divinity, 712; in Egypt, 725

Prophets, the, prophesied by symbols, 652; their discourses obscure, 658; their meaning veiled, 677; zeal after the, 702; did not speak to flatter the people, 718; foretold, 738

Propositions, the five, 830, 849 Purgatory, 518

Provincial Letters, the, 52, 919

Pyrrhus, advice given to, 139

Rabbinism, chronology of, 634

Reason and the imagination, 82; and the senses, 83; recognises an infinity of things beyond it, 267; submission of, 268, 269, 270, 272; the heart and, 277, 278, 282; and instinct, 344, 395; commands us imperiously, 345; and the passions, 412, 413; corruption of, 440

Reasoning, reduces itself to yielding to feeling, 274

Redemption, the Red Sea an image of the, 642; the completeness of the, 780

Religion, its true nature and the necessity of studying it, 194; sinfulness of indifference to it, 195; whether certain, 234; suited to all kinds of minds, 285; true, 470, 494; test of the falsity of a, 487; two ways of proving its truths, 560; the Christian, has something astonishing in it, 614; the Christian, founded upon a preceding, 618; reasons for preferring the Christian, 736; three marks of, 843; and natural reason, 902

Republic, the Christian, 482, 610

Rivers, moving roads, 17

Roannez, M. de, a saying of, 276

Rule, a, necessary to judge a work, 5

Sabbath, the, only a sign, 609

Sacrifices, of the Jews and Gentiles, 609

Salvation, happiness of those who hope for, 239

Scaramouch, 12

Scepticism, 373, 376, 378, 385, 392, 394; truth of, 432; chief arguments of, 434

Sciences, vanity of the, 67

Scripture, and the number of stars, 266; its order, 283; has provided passages for all conditions of life, 531; literal inspiration of, 567; blindness of, 572; and Mahomet, 597; extravagant opinions founded on, 650; how to understand, 683, 686; against those who misuse passages of, 898

Self, necessary to know, 66; the little knowledge we have of, 175

Sensations, and molecules, 368

Senses, perceptions of the, always true, 9; perceive no extreme, 72; mislead the reason, 83

Silence, eternal, of infinite space, 206; the greatest persecution, 919

Sin, original, 445, 446, 447

Sneezing, absorbs all the functions of the soul, 160

Soul, immortality of the, 194, 219, 220; immaterial, 349

Spongia solis, 91

Stoics, the, 350, 360, 465

Struggle, the, alone pleases us, 135

Style, charm of a natural, 29

Swiss, the, 305

Symmetry, 28

Synagogue, the, a type, 645, 851

Talent, chief, 118

Temple, reprobation of the, 712

Testaments, proof of the two, at once, 641; proof that the Old is figurative, 658; the Old and the New, 665

Theology, a science, 115

Theresa, St., 499, 867, 916

Thought, one, alone occupies us, 145; constitutes man's greatness, 346; and dignity, 365; sometimes escapes us, 370, 372

Time, effects of, 122, 123

Truth, nothing shows man the, 83; different degrees in man's aversion to, 100; the pretext that it is disputed, 261; known by the heart, 282; we desire, 437; here is not the country of, 842; obscure in these times, 863

Types, 570, 642, 643, 644, 645, 656, 657, 658, 669, 674, 678, 686; the law typical, 646, 684; some, clear and demonstrative, 649; particular, 651, 652, 653; are like portraits, 676, 677; the sacrifices are, 679, 684

Tyranny, 332

Understanding, different kinds of, 2

Universe, the relation of man to the, 72; his superiority to it, 347

Vanity, is anchored in man's heart, 150; effects of, 151, 153; curiosity only, 152; little known, 161; love and, 162, 163; only youths do not see the world's, 164

Variety, 114, 115

Vices, some, only lay hold on us through others, 102

Virtues, division of, 20; measure of, 352; excess of, 353, 357; only the balancing of opposed vices, 359; the true, 485

Weariness, in leaving favourite pursuits, 128; nothing so insufferable to man as, 131

Will, natural for the, to love, 81; one of the chief factors in belief, 99; self-, will never be satisfied, 472; is depraved, 477; God prefers to incline the, rather than the intellect, 580

Words, and meanings, 23, 50; repeated in a discourse, 48; superfluous, 49, 59

Works, necessity to do good, 497; external, 499

World, the, a good judge of things, 327; all the, under a delusion, 335; all the, not astonished at its own weakness, 314; all good maxims are in the, 380; the, exists for the exercise of mercy and judgment, 583

Transcribers' note

Text in greek transliterated and enclosed in '+' signs in the following places: Pensees 70, 631 Footnote 231

Numbered anchors changed to letter anchors for the four footnotes in the introduction.

All the notes at the end of the text were numbered and appropriate anchors inserted in the text.

Note No. 54 on page 28 has the wrong line number and is positioned two notes after where it should be. Corrected the position.

"judgment" was consistently used throughout the text.

Page Pensee Details 9 32 "beauty whch consists" - Typo for "which". Corrected. 37 121 "that is infinite" - Added a period at the end of the sentence. 46 154 Mismatched brackets in original text. 75 260 "youself" - corrected to "yourself". 86 301 "It is because they have more reason?" - As in image. 129 463 "feel ull of feelings" - Typo corrected to "feel full of feelings". 133 479 "the worst that can can happen" - deleted one "can". 134 484 Supplied missing period at the end. 158 570 "those whose whose only good" - deleted one "whose" 162 587 "they come with wisdom and with signs." - Typo corrected to "they come with wisdom and with signs." 165 598 "Jesus Christ caused His wn to be slain." - Typo corrected to "Jesus Christ caused His own to be slain." 170 612 "Salutare taum expectabo, Domine." - As in image. 181 641 "but it they have" - Typo corrected to "but if they have". 282 Endnote 210. - "P. 158, l. 13. Saint John. xii, 39." -Corrected to ""P. 159, l. 13. Saint John. xii, 39." 286 Endnote 331. "Though ye believe not, ect. John x, 38." -Corrected to "Though ye believe not, etc. John x, 38."

THE END