The Pensees (Footnotes)

NOTES

The following brief notes are mainly based on those of M. Brunschvicg. But those of MM. Faugère, 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 règle.

[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 Scudéry, entitled Artamène 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.

[Pg 274]

[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 Æon dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro,
Et potis est forma vincere uterque deos.
Blande puer, lumen quod habes concede parenti,
Sic tu cæcus 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 Maître.—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 répandre: "Dieu qui répand des aveuglements et des ténèbres sur les passions illégitimes." 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 Traité 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.

[Pg 275]

[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 læta 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 Traité 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. Næ 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[Pg 276] 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. Cæsar 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 Médée, II, vi, and Rodogune, I, v.

[77] P. 48, l. 22. In omnibus requiem quæsivi.—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.[Pg 277]

[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.[Pg 278]

[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 gratæ principibus vices.—Horace, Odes, III, xxix, 13, cited by Montaigne, Essais, i, 42. Horace has divitibus instead of principibus.[Pg 279]

[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, Suasoriæ, 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 Æmilius.—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.[Pg 280]

[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. Deliciæ meæ, 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 fænum.—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 judæorum. 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 Lodève.

[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. Faugère 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 adhæret, 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.[Pg 281]

[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 Pensées, 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.[Pg 282]

[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[Pg 283] were the old Roman prophetesses. Their predictions were preserved in three books at Rome, which Tarquinius Superbus had bought from the Sibyl of Erythræ. 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. (Θεὸς), etc.—Eusebius, Hist., lib. v, c. 8.

[232] P. 178, l. 22. And he took that from Saint Irenæus.—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 Manichæos, 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.[Pg 284]

[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 Cæsarem.—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. Excæca.—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.[Pg 285]

[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 Judæa, 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 Collège 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.[Pg 286]

[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. Judæi 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 Périer, 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 quæ, 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 prædixi 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 vineæ meæ, 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 François Xavier, the friend of Ignatius Loyola, became a Jesuit.

[354] P. 253, l. 9. Væ 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[Pg 287] 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 Angélique, 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 Pensées 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.