{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46921/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46921","id":"gutenberg_46921","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46921","summary":null,"tags":["Apologetics -- Early works to 1800","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church -- Apologetic works -- Early works to 1800","Catholic Church -- Doctrines -- Early works to 1800"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE\n\n  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n  One superscript was converted to lowercase '23rd'.\n\n  Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been\n  corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within\n  the text and consultation of external sources.\n\n  More detail can be found at the end of the book.\n\n\n\n\n  _THE THOUGHTS OF\n  BLAISE PASCAL._\n\n  [Illustration: (Colophon.)]\n\n\n\n\n  _THE THOUGHTS\n\n  OF\n\n  BLAISE PASCAL_\n\n  [Illustration: (Frontispiece--Blaise Pascal.)]\n\n\n\n\n  _THE THOUGHTS OF\n\n  BLAISE PASCAL_\n\n  _TRANSLATED FROM THE TEXT OF\n\n  M. AUGUSTE MOLINIER_\n\n  _BY\n\n  C. KEGAN PAUL_\n\n  _Pendent opera interrupta_\n\n  [Illustration: (Colophon.)]\n\n  _LONDON_\n\n  _KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO._\n\n  _MDCCCLXXXV_\n\n\n\n\n  _CONTENTS._\n\n                                                            PAGE\n\n  _PREFACE_                                                  vii\n\n  _GENERAL INTRODUCTION_                                       1\n    Pascal's Profession of Faith                               2\n    General Introduction                                       3\n    Notes for the General Introduction                        11\n\n  _THE MISERY OF MAN WITHOUT GOD_                             15\n    Preface to the First Part                                 17\n    Man's Disproportion                                       19\n    Diversion                                                 33\n    The Greatness and Littleness of Man                       43\n    Of the Deceptive Powers of the Imagination                51\n    Of Justice, Customs, and Prejudices                       61\n    The Weakness, Unrest, and Defects of Man                  73\n\n  _THE HAPPINESS OF MAN WITH GOD_                             89\n    Preface to the Second Part                                91\n    Of the Need of Seeking Truth                              95\n    The Philosophers                                         105\n    Thoughts on Mahomet and on China                         115\n    Of the Jewish People                                     119\n    The Authenticity of the Sacred Books                     125\n    The Prophecies                                           131\n    Of Types in General and of their Lawfulness              157\n    That the Jewish Law was Figurative                       167\n    Of the True Religion and its Characteristics             179\n    The Excellence of the Christian Religion                 183\n    Of Original Sin                                          191\n    The Perpetuity of the Christian Religion                 197\n    Proofs of the Christian Religion                         203\n    Proofs of the Divinity of Jesus Christ                   213\n    The Mission and Greatness of Jesus Christ                225\n    The Mystery of Jesus                                     231\n    Of the True Righteous Man and of the True Christian      237\n    The Arrangement                                          253\n    Of Miracles in General                                   257\n    Jesuits and Jansenists                                   273\n    Thoughts on Style                                        301\n    Various Thoughts                                         307\n\n  _NOTES_                                                    317\n\n  _INDEX_                                                    339\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThose to whom the Life of Pascal and the Story of Port Royal are\nunknown, must be referred to works treating fully of the subject,\nsince it were impossible to deal with them adequately within the\nlimits of a preface. Sainte-Beuve's great work on Port Royal,\nespecially the second and third volumes, and \"Port Royal,\" by Charles\nBeard, B.A., London, 1863, may best be consulted by any who require\nfull, lucid, and singularly impartial information.\n\nBut for such as, already acquainted with the time and the man, need a\nrecapitulation of the more important facts, or for those who may find\nan outline map useful of the country they are to study in detail, a\nfew words are here given.\n\nBlaise Pascal was born at Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne, on June 19,\n1623. He sprung from a well-known legal family, many members of which\nhad held lucrative and responsible positions. His father, Etienne\nPascal, held the post of intendant, or provincial administrator,\nin Normandy, where, and at Paris previously, Pascal lived from the\nage of sixteen to that of twenty-five; almost wholly educated by\nhis father on account of his precarious health. His mother died\nwhen he was eight years old. Etienne Pascal was a pious but stern\nperson, and by no means disposed to entertain or allow any undue\nexaltation in religion, refusing as long as he lived to allow his\ndaughter Jaqueline to take the veil. But he had the usual faiths and\nsuperstitions of his time, and believing that his son's ill-health\narose from witchcraft, employed the old woman who was supposed to\nhave caused the malady to remove it, by herbs culled before sunrise,\nand the expiatory death of a cat. This made a great impression on his\nson, who in the \"Thoughts\" employs an ingenious argument to prove\nthat wonders wrought by the invocation of the devil are not, in the\nproper sense of the term, miracles. At any rate the counter-charm was\nincomplete, as the child's feeble health remained feeble to the end.\n\nIntellectually, Blaise Pascal grew rapidly to the stature and\nstrength of a giant; his genius showing itself mainly in the\ndirection of mathematics; at the age of fifteen his studies on conic\nsections were thought worthy to be read before the most scientific\nmen of Paris, and in after years of agonizing pain mathematical\nresearch alone was able to calm him, and distract his mind from\nhimself. His actual reading was at all times narrow, and his\nscholarship was not profound. In 1646, his father, having broken\nhis thigh at Rouen, came under the influence of two members of the\nJansenist school of thought at that place, who attended him in his\nillness, and from that time dated the more serious religious views\nof the family. Jaqueline was from the first deeply affected by the\nmore rigorous opinions with which she came in contact. Forbidden to\nenter the cloister, she lived at home as austere a life as though she\nhad been professed, but after her father's death won her brother's\nreluctant consent to take the veil at Port Royal, and became one of\nthe strictest nuns of that rigid rule.\n\nBlaise Pascal went through a double process of conversion. When the\nfamily first fell under Jansenist influence he threw himself so\nearnestly into the study of theology that he seriously injured his\nfrail health, and being advised to refrain from all intellectual\nlabour, he returned to the world of Paris, where his friends the\nDuc de Roannez, the Chevalier de M\u00e9r\u00e9 and M. Miton were among the\nbest known and most fashionable persons. His father's death put him\nin possession of a fair fortune, which he used freely, not at all\nviciously, but with no renunciation of the pleasures of society.\nThere is some evidence of a proposal that he should marry the Duc\nde Roannez' sister, and no doubt with such a scheme before him he\nwrote his celebrated \"Discours sur les Passions de l'Amour.\" This,\nhowever, resulted only in the conversion of the duke and his sister,\nthe latter of whom for a time, the former for the whole of his life,\nremained subject to the religious feelings then excited.\n\nIn the autumn of 1654, whether after deliverance in a dangerous\naccident, or from some hidden cause of which nothing can now be even\nsurmised, there came a second sudden conversion from which there was\nno return. That hour wrought a complete change in Pascal's life;\nausterity, self-denial, absolute obedience to his spiritual director,\nboundless alms-giving succeeded to what at most had been a moderate\nand restrained use of worldly pleasure, and he threw himself into the\nlife, controversy and interests of Port Royal, with all the passion\nof one who was not only a new convert, but the champion of a society\ninto which those dearest to him had entered even more fully than he.\nHe became, for a time, one of the solitaries of Port Royal before the\nclose of that same year.\n\nThe Cistercian Abbey of Port Royal des Champs was situated about\neighteen miles from Paris. It had been founded early in the\nthirteenth century, and would have faded away unremembered but for\nthe grandeur of its closing years. The rule of the community had been\ngreatly relaxed, but it was reformed with extreme rigour by Jaqueline\nArnauld, its young abbess, known in religion as La M\u00e8re Ang\u00e9lique.\nThe priest chosen as Director of the community was Jean du Vergier\nde Hauranne, Abb\u00e9 de St. Cyran, a close friend of Cornelius Jansen,\nBishop of Ypres. They had together devoted themselves to the study of\nSaint Augustine; and the \"Augustinus,\" the work to which Jansen gave\nhis whole life, was planned with the assistance of St. Cyran. Certain\npropositions drawn from this work were afterwards condemned, and the\ncontroversy which raged between the two schools of the Jesuits and\nthe Jansenists divided itself into two parts, first, whether the\npropositions were heretical, and secondly, whether as a fact they\nwere contained in, or could fairly be deduced from, Jansen's book.\nThe strife, which raged with varying fortunes for many years, need\nnot here detain us.\n\nAfter the reform of Port Royal, and when the Society, however\nassailed and in danger, was at the height of its renown, the whole\nestablishment consisted of two convents, the mother house of Port\nRoyal des Champs, and one in Paris to which was attached a school for\ngirls. To Port Royal des Champs, as to a spiritual centre, and to be\nunder the guidance of the three great directors, who in succession\nruled the abbey, M. de St. Cyran, M. Singlin, and M. de Saci, there\ncame men and women, not under monastic vows, but living for a time\nthe monastic or even the eremitical life. The women, for the most\npart, had rooms in the convent, the men built rooms for themselves\nhard by, or shared between them La Grange, a farm belonging to the\nabbey. It need scarcely be said that in so strict a community the\nsexes were wholly separate; a common worship, and the confidence of\nthe same confessor, together with similarity of views in religion,\nwere the ties which bound together the whole society.\n\nWhen Pascal formally joined Port Royal, the Abbey and all that\nwas attached to it greatly needed aid from without. A Bull in\ncondemnation of Jansen had been gained from the Pope, and a\nFormulary, minimising its effect as far as possible, was drawn up\nby the General Assembly in France, which was ultimately accepted by\nPort Royal itself. But if the Port Royalists minimized the defeat,\nand, with great intellectual dexterity, showed that the condemned\npropositions were not in precise terms what they had held, and were\nnot in Jansen's book, their adversaries exaggerated the victory. A\nconfessor in Paris refused absolution to a parishioner because he\nhad a Jansenist living in his house, and had sent his grand-daughter\nto school at Port Royal. Antoine Arnauld, known as Le Grand Arnauld,\nbrother of La M\u00e8re Ang\u00e9lique, himself in danger of condemnation by\nthe Sorbonne, drew up a statement of the case intended to instruct\nthe public on the points in dispute. On reading this to the Port\nRoyal solitaries before printing it, he saw that it would not do,\nand turning to Pascal, who had then been a year under M. Singlin's\ndirection, he suggested to him as a younger man with a lighter pen\nto see what he could do. The next day Pascal produced the first of\nthe \"Provincial Letters,\" or to give it the correct title, \"A Letter\nwritten to a Provincial by one of his friends.\" In these Letters\nPascal formed his true style, and took rank at once among the great\nFrench writers. They contributed largely to turn the scale of feeling\nagainst his adversaries; they, and an occurrence in which he saw the\nvisible finger of God, saved Port Royal for a time. But the history\nof the \"Provincial Letters\" must be read elsewhere, as must also in\nits fulness the miracle of the Holy Thorn, on which a few words are\nneeded.\n\nThe \"Provincial Letters\" were in course of publication, but M.\nArnauld had been condemned by the Sorbonne just as the first was\nissued, and his enemies said he was excommunicated, which was not\ntechnically true; he was in danger of arrest, and was in hiding; the\nsolitaries of Port Royal were almost all dispersed; the schools were\nthinned of their pupils and on the point of closing, the confessors\nwere about to be withdrawn and the nuns sent to various other\nconvents, when the miracle took place. Marguerite Perier, a child\nof ten years old, daughter of Pascal's elder sister, was one of the\npupils at Port Royal in Paris, not as yet dismissed to her home. She\nwas tenderly nursed by the nuns for an ulcer in the lachrymal gland,\nwhich had destroyed the bones of the nose, and produced other horrors\nof which there is no need to speak. A relic of the Saviour, one of\nthe thorns of his crown of mockery, which had been intrusted to the\nnuns, was specially venerated during a service in its honour, and as\nit would seem was passed from hand to hand in its reliquary. When the\nturn of the scholars came, Sister Flavia, their mistress, moved by a\nsudden impulse said, \"My child, pray for your eye,\" and touched the\nulcer with the reliquary. The child was cured, and the effect on the\ncommunity was immediate. The remaining solitaries were not dispersed,\nsome of those who had gone returned, the confessors were not removed,\nthe school was not closed, and Port Royal was respited.\n\nThe miracle was to Pascal at once a solemn matter of religion and\na family occurrence; he took henceforward as his cognizance an eye\nencircled with a crown of thorns and the motto _Scio cui credidi_, he\njotted down various thoughts on the miracle, and the manner in which\nas it seemed to him God had by it given as by \"a voice of thunder\"\nhis judgment in favour of Port Royal, and he sketched a plan of a\nwork against atheists and unbelievers. In the year between the spring\nof 1657, and that of 1658, the last year of his good health, if that\ncan be called good which was at best but feeble, he indicated the\nplan, and wrote the most finished paragraphs of his intended work.\nThe detached thoughts which make up the bulk of it were scribbled,\nas they occurred to him during the last four years of his life, on\nscraps of paper, or on the margin of what he had already written,\noften when he was quite incapable of sustained employment. Many were\ndictated, some to friends, and some to a servant who constantly\nattended him in his illness.\n\nTowards the end of his life he was obliged to move into Paris again,\nwhere he was carefully nursed by his sister Madame Perrier, to whose\nhouse he was moved at the last, where he died on August 9th, 1662, at\nthe age of thirty-nine, having spent his last years in an ecstasy of\nself-denial, of charity, and of aspiration after God.\n\n\nNot for six years after his death were his family and friends able\nto consider in what form his unfinished work should be given to the\nworld. Then Port Royal had a breathing space, what was known as\nthe Peace of the Church was established by Clement IX., and it was\nconsidered that the time had come to set in order these precious\nfragments. The duty of giving an author's works to the world as he\nleft them was little understood in those days, and the Duc de Roannez\neven suggested that Pascal's whole work should be re-written on the\nlines he had laid down. Some editing was, on all hands, allowed to\nbe needful; thus the arrangement of chapters, and the fragments to\nbe included in chapters, were matter for fair discussion. But the\ncommittee of editors went further, and even when the text had been\nsettled by them, it had to undergo a further censorship by various\ntheologians. Finally, in January, 1670, the \"Pens\u00e9es\" appeared as a\nsmall duodecimo, with a preface by the Perrier family, and no mention\nof Port Royal in the volume.\n\nFor a full account of this and other editions, the reader must be\nreferred to the preface to M. Molinier's edition, Paris, 1877-1879,\nand to that of M. Faug\u00e8re, Paris, 1844.\n\nM. Victor Cousin was the first to draw attention to the need of a\nnew edition of Pascal in 1842. He showed that great liberties had\nbeen taken with and suppressions made in the text, and the labour\nto which he invited was first undertaken by M. Prosper Faug\u00e8re. M.\nHavet adopting his text departed from his arrangement, reverted in\ngreat measure to that of the old editors, and accompanied the whole\nby an excellent commentary and notes, 2nd edition, Paris, 1866. M.\nMolinier has again consulted the MSS. word for word, and while in a\ndegree following M. Faug\u00e8re's arrangement has yet been guided by his\nown skill and judgment. It must always be remembered that each editor\nmust necessarily follow his own judgment in regard to the position\nhe should give to fragments not placed by the writer. But provided\nthat an editor makes no changes merely for the sake of change and\nthat he loyally enters into the spirit of his predecessors, each new\ncomer, till the arrangement is finally fixed, has a great advantage.\nSuch an editor is M. Molinier, and in his arrangement the text of\nPascal would seem to be mainly if not wholly fixed; so that for the\nfirst time we have not only Pascal's \"Thoughts,\" but we have them\napproximately arranged as he designed to present them to his readers.\n\nThe course of an English translator is clear; his responsibility is\nconfined to deciding which text to follow, he has no right to make\none for himself. In the present edition, therefore, M. Molinier's\ntext and arrangement are scrupulously followed except in two places.\nIn regard to one, M. Molinier has himself adopted a different\nreading in his notes made after the text was printed, the second is\nan obvious misprint. Pascal's \"Profession of Faith,\" or \"Amulet,\"\nis transferred from the place it occupies in M. Molinier's edition\nto serve as an introduction to the work, striking as it does the\nkey-note to the \"Thoughts.\"\n\nPascal's quotations from the Bible were made of course from the\nVulgate, but very often indeed from memory, and incorrectly, while he\noften gave the substance alone of the passage he used. No one version\nof the Bible therefore has been used exclusively, but the Authorised\nVersion and the Douai or Rheims versions have been used as each in\nturn most nearly afforded the equivalent of the quotations made by\nPascal.\n\nThe notes are mainly based on those of MM. Faug\u00e8re, Havet, and\nMolinier.\n\n\n\n\n_GENERAL INTRODUCTION._\n\n\n\n\nPASCAL'S PROFESSION OF FAITH.\n\n[Illustration:(Small crucifix.)]\n\n                      This year of Grace 1654,\n          Monday, November 23rd, day of Saint Clement, pope\n              and martyr, and others in the martyrology,\n            Eve of Saint Chrysogonus, martyr, and others;\n                From about half past ten at night, to\n                      about half after midnight,\n                                Fire.\n              God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,\n                 Not of the philosophers and the wise.\n                Security, security. Feeling, joy, peace.\n                         God of Jesus Christ\n                     _Deum meum et Deum vestrum._\n                       Thy God shall be my God.\n             Forgetfulness of the world and of all save God.\n                 He can be found only in the ways taught\n                            in the Gospel.\n                      Greatness of the human soul.\n             O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee,\n                         but I have known thee.\n                      Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.\n                    I have separated myself from him.\n                   _Dereliquerunt me fontem aqua viv\u00e6._\n                  My God, why hast thou forsaken me?...\n               That I be not separated from thee eternally.\n              This is life eternal: That they might know thee\n      the only true God, and him whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ,\n                              Jesus Christ,\n                              Jesus Christ.\n  I have separated myself from him; I have fled, renounced, crucified him.\n                    May I never be separated from him.\n            He maintains himself in me only in the ways taught\n                              in the Gospel.\n                       Renunciation total and sweet.\n                                   etc.\n\n\n\n\n_GENERAL INTRODUCTION._\n\n\nLet them at least learn what is the Religion they assail, before they\nassail it. If this religion claimed to have a clear view of God, and\nto possess it openly and unveiled, then to say that we see nothing in\nthe world which manifests him with this clearness would be to assail\nit. But since on the contrary it affirms that men are in darkness and\nestranged from God, that he has hidden himself from their knowledge,\nthat the very name he has given himself in the Scriptures is _Deus\nabsconditus_; and if indeed it aims equally at establishing these\ntwo points, that God has set in the Church evident notes to enable\nthose who seek him in sincerity to recognise him, and that he has\nnevertheless so concealed them that he can only be perceived by those\nwho seek him with their whole hearts; what advantages it them, when,\nin their professed neglect of the search after truth, they declare\nthat nothing reveals it to them? For the very obscurity in which they\nare, and for which they blame the Church, does but establish one of\nthe points which she maintains, without affecting the other, and far\nfrom destroying, establishes her doctrine.\n\nIn order to assail it they ought to urge that they have sought\neverywhere with all their strength, and even in that which the Church\nproposes for their instruction, but without avail. Did they thus\nspeak, they would indeed assail one of her claims. But I hope here to\nshow that no rational person can thus speak, and I am even bold to\nsay that no one has ever done so. We know well enough how men of this\ntemper behave. They believe they have made great efforts for their\ninstruction, when they have spent a few hours in reading some book\nof Scripture, and have talked with some Ecclesiastic on the truths\nof the faith. Whereupon they boast that they have in vain consulted\nbooks and men. But indeed I will tell them what I have often said,\nthat such carelessness is intolerable. We are not here dealing with\nthe light interest of a stranger, that we should thus treat it; but\nwith that which concerns ourselves and our all.\n\nThe immortality of the soul is a matter of so great moment to us,\nit touches us so deeply, that we must have lost all feeling if we\nare careless of the truth about it. Our every action and our every\nthought must take such different courses, according as there are or\nare not eternal blessings for which to hope, that it is impossible to\ntake a single step with sense or judgment, save in view of that point\nwhich ought to be our end and aim.\n\nThus our first interest and our first duty is to gain light on\nthis subject, whereon our whole conduct depends. Therefore among\nunbelievers, I make a vast difference between those who labour with\nall their power to gain instruction, and those who live without\ntaking trouble or thought for it.\n\nI can have nothing but compassion for all who sincerely lament their\ndoubt, who look upon it as the worst of evils, and who, sparing no\npains to escape it, find in that endeavour their principal and most\nserious occupation.\n\nBut as for those who pass their life without thought of the ultimate\ngoal of life, who, solely because they do not find within themselves\nthe light of conviction, neglect to seek it elsewhere and to examine\nthoroughly whether the opinion in question be among those which are\npopularly received with credulous simplicity, or among those which,\nalthough in themselves obscure, have yet a solid and indestructible\nbasis,--of those, I say, my thoughts are very different.\n\nThis neglect of a matter in which themselves are concerned, their\neternity, and their all, makes me angry rather than compassionate; it\nastonishes and terrifies me, it is to me something monstrous. I do\nnot say this out of the pious zeal of a spiritual devotion. I mean\non the contrary that such a feeling should spring from principles of\nhuman interest and self-love; and for this we need see no more than\nwhat is seen by the least enlightened persons.\n\nWe need no great elevation of soul to understand that here is no\ntrue and solid satisfaction, that all our pleasures are but vanity,\nour evils infinite, and lastly that death, which threatens us every\nmoment, must infallibly and within a few years place us in the dread\nalternative of being for ever either annihilated or wretched.\n\nNothing is more real than this, nothing more terrible. Brave it out\nas we may, that is yet the end which awaits the fairest life in the\nworld. Let us reflect on this, and then say if it be not certain that\nthere is no good in this life save in the hope of another, that we\nare happy only in proportion as we approach it, and that as there is\nno more sorrow for those who have an entire assurance of eternity, so\nthere is no happiness for those who have not a ray of its light.\n\nAssuredly then it is a great evil thus to be in doubt, but it is\nat least an indispensable duty to seek when we are in such doubt;\nhe therefore who doubts and yet seeks not is at once thoroughly\nunhappy and thoroughly unfair. And if at the same time he be easy and\ncontent, profess to be so, and in fact pride himself thereon; if even\nit be this very condition of doubt which forms the subject of his\njoy and boasting, I have no terms in which to describe a creature so\nextravagant.\n\nWhence come such feelings? What delight can we find in the\nexpectation of nothing but unavailing misery? What cause of boasting\nthat we are in impenetrable darkness? How can such an argument as the\nfollowing occur to a reasoning man?\n\n\"I know not who has sent me into the world, nor what the world is,\nnor what I myself am; I am terribly ignorant of every thing; I know\nnot what my body is, nor my senses, nor my soul, nor even that part\nof me which thinks what I say, which reflects on all and on itself,\nyet is as ignorant of itself as of all beside. I see those dreadful\nspaces of the universe which close me in, and I find myself fixed\nin one corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am set in\nthis place rather than elsewhere, nor why this moment of time given\nme for life is assigned to this point rather than another of the\nwhole Eternity which was before me or which shall be after me. I see\nnothing but infinities on every side, which close me round as an\natom, and as a shadow which endures but for an instant and returns\nno more. I know only that I must shortly die, but what I know the\nleast is this very death which I cannot avoid.\n\n\"As I know not whence I come, so I know not whither I go; only this I\nknow, that on departing this world, I shall either fall for ever into\nnothingness, or into the hands of an offended God, without knowing\nwhich of these two conditions shall eternally be my lot. Such is my\nstate, full of weakness and uncertainty; from all which I conclude\nthat I ought to pass all the days of my life without thought of\nsearching for what must happen to me. Perhaps I might find some ray\nof light in my doubts, but I will not take the trouble, nor stir a\nfoot to seek it; and after treating with scorn those who are troubled\nwith this care, I will go without foresight and without fear to make\ntrial of the grand event, and allow myself to be led softly on to\ndeath, uncertain of the eternity of my future condition.\"\n\nWho would wish to have for his friend a man who should thus speak;\nwho would choose him rather than another for advice in business; who\nwould turn to him in sorrow? And indeed to what use in life could we\nput him?\n\nIn truth, it is the glory of Religion to have for enemies men so\nunreasoning, whose opposition is so little dangerous to her, that it\nthe rather serves to establish her truths. For the Christian faith\ngoes mainly to the establishment of these two points, the corruption\nof nature, and the Redemption by Jesus Christ. Now I maintain that\nif these men serve not to demonstrate the truth of Redemption by the\nholiness of their morals, they at least serve admirably to show the\ncorruption of nature by sentiments so unnatural.\n\nNothing is so important to man as his condition, nothing so\nformidable to him as eternity; and thus it is not natural there\nshould be men indifferent to the loss of their being, and to the\nperil of an endless woe. They are quite other men in regard to all\nelse; they fear the veriest trifles, they foresee them, they feel\nthem; and the very man who spends so many days and nights in rage\nand despair for the loss of office or for some imaginary insult to\nhis honour, is the same who, without disquiet and without emotion,\nknows that he must lose all by death. It is a monstrous thing to see\nin one and the same heart and at the same time this sensibility to\nthe meanest, and this strange insensibility to the greatest matters.\nIt is an incomprehensible spell, a supernatural drowsiness, which\ndenotes as its cause an all powerful force.\n\nThere must be a strange revolution in the nature of man, before he\ncan glory at being in a state to which it seems incredible that any\nshould attain. Experience however has shown me a large number of\nsuch men, a surprising fact did we not know that the greater part of\nthose who meddle with the matter are not as a fact what they declare\nthemselves. They are people who have been told that the manners of\ngood society consist in such daring. This they call shaking off\nthe yoke, this they try to imitate. Yet it would not be difficult\nto convince them how much they deceive themselves in thus seeking\nesteem. Not so is it acquired, even among those men of the world\nwho judge wisely, and who know that the only way of worldly success\nis to show ourselves honourable, faithful, of sound judgment, and\ncapable of useful service to a friend; because by nature men love\nonly what may prove useful to them. Now in what way does it advantage\nus to hear a man say he has at last shaken off the yoke, that he\ndoes not believe there is a God who watches his actions, that he\nconsiders himself the sole master of his conduct and accountable for\nit only to himself. Does he think that thus he has brought us to\nhave henceforward confidence in him, and to look to him for comfort,\ncounsel and succour in every need of life? Do they think to delight\nus when they declare that they hold our soul to be but a little wind\nor smoke, nay, when they tell us so in a tone of proud content? Is\nthis a thing to assert gaily, and not rather to say sadly as the\nsaddest thing in all the world?\n\nDid they think on it seriously, they would see that this is so great\na mistake, so contrary to good sense, so opposed to honourable\nconduct, so remote in every respect from that good breeding at which\nthey aim, that they would choose rather to restore than to corrupt\nthose who might have any inclination to follow them. And indeed if\nthey are obliged to give an account of their opinions, and of the\nreasons they have for doubts about Religion, they will say things\nso weak and base, as rather to persuade the contrary. It was once\nhappily said to such an one, \"If you continue to talk thus you will\nreally make me a Christian.\" And the speaker was right, for who would\nnot be horrified at entertaining opinions in which he would have such\ndespicable persons as his associates!\n\nThus those who only feign these opinions would be very unhappy were\nthey to put force on their natural disposition in order to make\nthemselves the most inconsequent of men. If, in their inmost hearts,\nthey are troubled at their lack of light, let them not dissemble:\nthe avowal will bring no shame; the only shame is to be shameless.\nNothing betrays so much weakness of mind as not to apprehend the\nmisfortune of a man without God, nothing is so sure a token of an\nevil disposition of heart as not to desire the truth of eternal\npromises, nothing is more cowardly than to fight against God. Let\nthem therefore leave these impieties to persons who are so ill-bred\nas to be really capable of them, let them at least be men of honour\nif they cannot be Christians, and lastly, let them recognise that\nthere are but two classes of men who can be called reasonable; those\nwho serve God with their whole heart because they know him, or those\nwho seek him with their whole heart because they know him not.\n\nBut as for those who live without knowing him and without seeking\nhim, they judge themselves to deserve their own care so little, that\nthey are not worthy the care of others, and it needs all the charity\nof the Religion they despise, not to despise them so utterly as to\nabandon them to their madness. But since this Religion obliges us\nto look on them, while they are in this life, as always capable of\nilluminating grace, and to believe that in a short while they may\nbe more full of faith than ourselves, while we on the other hand\nmay fall into the blindness which now is theirs, we ought to do for\nthem what we would they should do for us were we in their place, and\nto entreat them to take pity on themselves and advance at least a\nfew steps, if perchance they may find the light. Let them give to\nreading these words a few of the hours which otherwise they spend\nso unprofitably: with whatever aversion they set about it they may\nperhaps gain something; at least they cannot be great losers. But if\nany bring to the task perfect sincerity and a true desire to meet\nwith truth, I despair not of their satisfaction, nor of their being\nconvinced of so divine a Religion by the proofs which I have here\ngathered up, and have set forth in somewhat the following order....\n\nBefore entering upon the proofs of the Christian Religion, I find it\nnecessary to set forth the unfairness of men who live indifferent to\nthe search for truth in a matter which is so important to them, and\nwhich touches them so nearly.\n\nAmong all their errors this doubtless is the one which most proves\nthem to be fools and blind, and in which it is most easy to confound\nthem by the first gleam of common sense, and by our natural feelings.\n\nFor it is not to be doubted that this life endures but for an\ninstant, that the state of death is eternal, whatever may be its\nnature, and that thus all our actions and all our thoughts must take\nsuch different courses according to the state of that eternity, as to\nrender it impossible to take a single step with sense and judgment,\nsave in view of that point which ought to be our end and aim.\n\nNothing is more clear than this, and therefore by all principles of\nreason the conduct of men is most unreasonable if they do not alter\ntheir course. Hence we may judge concerning those who live without\nthinking of the ultimate goal of life, who allow themselves to be\nguided by their inclinations and their pleasures without thought or\ndisquiet, and, as if they could annihilate eternity by turning their\nminds from it, consider only how they may make themselves happy for\nthe moment.\n\nYet this eternity exists; and death the gate of eternity, which\nthreatens them every hour, must in a short while infallibly reduce\nthem to the dread necessity of being through eternity either nothing\nor miserable, without knowing which of these eternities is for ever\nprepared for them.\n\nThis is a doubt which has terrible consequences. They are in danger\nof an eternity of misery, and thereupon, as if the matter were not\nworth the trouble, they care not to examine whether this is one of\nthose opinions which men in general receive with a too credulous\nfacility, or among those which, themselves obscure, have yet a solid\nthough concealed foundation. Thus they know not whether the matter be\ntrue or false, nor if the proofs be strong or weak. They have them\nbefore their eyes, they refuse to look at them, and in that ignorance\nthey choose to do all that will bring them into this misfortune if\nit exist, to wait for death to verify it, and to be in the meantime\nthoroughly satisfied with their state, openly avowing and even making\nboast of it. Can we think seriously on the importance of this matter\nwithout being revolted at conduct so extravagant?\n\nSuch rest in ignorance is a monstrous thing, and they who live in it\nought to be made aware of its extravagance and stupidity, by having\nit revealed to them, that they may be confounded by the sight of\ntheir own folly. For this is how men reason when they choose to live\nignorant of what they are and do not seek to be enlightened. \"I know\nnot,\" say they....\n\n\n\n\n_NOTES_\n\n_FOR THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION._\n\n\nTo doubt is then a misfortune, but to seek when in doubt is\nan indispensable duty. So he who doubts and seeks not is at\nonce unfortunate and unfair. If at the same time he is gay and\npresumptuous, I have no terms in which to describe a creature so\nextravagant.\n\n\nA fine subject of rejoicing and boasting, with the head uplifted\nin such a fashion.... Therefore let us rejoice; I see not the\nconclusion, since it is uncertain, and we shall then see what will\nbecome of us.\n\n\nIs it courage in a dying man that he dare, in his weakness and agony,\nface an almighty and eternal God?\n\n\nWere I in that state I should be glad if any one would pity my folly,\nand would have the goodness to deliver me in despite of myself!\n\n\nYet it is certain that man has so fallen from nature that there is in\nhis heart a seed of joy in that very fact.\n\n\nA man in a dungeon, who knows not whether his doom is fixed, who has\nbut one hour to learn it, and this hour enough, should he know that\nit is fixed, to obtain its repeal, would act against nature did he\nemploy that hour, not in learning his sentence, but in playing piquet.\n\nSo it is against nature that man, etc. It is to weight the hand of\nGod.\n\n\nThus not the zeal alone of those who seek him proves God, but the\nblindness of those who seek him not.\n\n\nWe run carelessly to the precipice after having veiled our eyes to\nhinder us from seeing it.\n\n\nBetween us and hell or heaven, there is nought but life, the frailest\nthing in all the world.\n\n\nIf it be a supernatural blindness to live without seeking to know\nwhat we are, it is a terrible blindness to live ill while believing\nin God.\n\n\nThe sensibility of man to trifles, and his insensibility to great\nthings, is the mark of a strange inversion.\n\n\nThis shows that there is nothing to say to them, not that we despise\nthem, but because they have no common sense: God must touch them.\n\n\nWe must pity both parties, but for the one we must feel the pity born\nof tenderness, and for the other the pity born of contempt.\n\n\nWe must indeed be of that religion which man despises that we may not\ndespise men.\n\n\nPeople of that kind are academicians and scholars, and that is the\nworst kind of men that I know.\n\n\nI do not gather that by system, but by the way in which the heart of\nman is made.\n\n\nTo reproach Miton, that he is not troubled when God will reproach him.\n\n\nIs this a thing to say with joy? It is a thing we ought then to say\nwith sadness.\n\n\nNothing is so important as this, yet we neglect this only.\n\n\nThis is all that a man could do were he assured of the falsehood of\nthat news, and even then he ought not to be joyful, but downcast.\n\n\n... Suppose an heir finds the title-deeds of his house. Will he say,\n\"Perhaps they are forgeries?\" and neglect to examine them?\n\n\nWe must not say that this is a mark of reason.\n\n\nTo be so insensible as to despise interesting things, and to become\ninsensible to the point which most interests us.\n\n\nWhat then shall we conclude of all these obscurities, if not our own\nunworthiness?\n\n\n\n\n_THE MISERY OF MAN WITHOUT GOD_;\n\n_OR_\n\n_THAT NATURE IS NATURALLY CORRUPT_.\n\n\n\n\n_PREFACE TO THE FIRST PART._\n\n\nTo speak of those who have treated of the knowledge of self, of the\ndivisions of Charron which sadden and weary us, of the confusion of\nMontaigne; that he was aware he had no definite system, and tried\nto evade the difficulty by leaping from subject to subject; that he\nsought to be fashionable.\n\nHis foolish project of self-description, and this not casually and\nagainst his maxims, since everybody may make mistakes, but by his\nmaxims themselves, and by his main and principal design. For to say\nfoolish things by chance and weakness is an ordinary evil, but to say\nthem designedly is unbearable, and to say of such that....\n\n\n_Montaigne._--Montaigne's defects are great. Lewd expressions. This\nis bad, whatever Mademoiselle de Gournay may say. He is credulous,\n_people without eyes_; ignorant, _squaring the circle, a greater\nworld_. His opinions on suicide and on death. He suggests a\ncarelessness about salvation, _without fear and without repentance_.\nSince his book was not written with a religious intent, it was not\nhis duty to speak of religion; but it is always a duty not to turn\nmen from it. We may excuse his somewhat lax and licentious opinions\non some relations of life, but not his thoroughly pagan opinions on\ndeath, for a man must give over piety altogether, if he does not at\nleast wish to die like a Christian. Now through the whole of his book\nhe looks forward to nothing but a soft and indolent death.\n\n\nWhat good there is in Montaigne can only have been acquired with\ndifficulty. What is evil in him, I mean apart from his morality,\ncould have been corrected in a moment, if any one had told him he was\ntoo prolix and too egoistical.\n\n\nNot in Montaigne, but in myself, I find all that I see in him.\n\n\nLet no one say I have said nothing new, the disposition of my matter\nis new. In playing tennis, two men play with the same ball, but one\nplaces it better.\n\nIt might as truly be said that my words have been used before. And if\nthe same thoughts in a different arrangement do not form a different\ndiscourse, so neither do the same words in a different arrangement\nform different thoughts.\n\n\n\n\n_MAN'S DISPROPORTION._\n\n\nThis is where our intuitive knowledge leads us. If it be not true,\nthere is no truth in man; and if it be, he finds therein a great\nreason for humiliation, because he must abase himself in one way\nor another. And since he cannot exist without such knowledge, I\nwish that before entering on deeper researches into nature he\nwould consider her seriously and at leisure, that he would examine\nhimself also, and knowing what proportion there is.... Let man\nthen contemplate the whole realm of nature in its full and exalted\nmajesty, and turn his eyes from the low objects which hem him\nround; let him observe that brilliant light set like an eternal\nlamp to illumine the universe, let the earth appear to him a point\nin comparison with the vast circle described by that sun, and let\nhim see with amazement that even this vast circle is itself but a\nfine point in regard to that described by the stars revolving in\nthe firmament. If our view be arrested there, let imagination pass\nbeyond, and it will sooner exhaust the power of thinking than nature\nthat of giving scope for thought. The whole visible world is but an\nimperceptible speck in the ample bosom of nature. No idea approaches\nit. We may swell our conceptions beyond all imaginable space, yet\nbring forth only atoms in comparison with the reality of things.\nIt is an infinite sphere, the centre of which is every where, the\ncircumference no where. It is, in short, the greatest sensible mark\nof the almighty power of God, in that thought let imagination lose\nitself.\n\nThen, returning to himself, let man consider his own being compared\nwith all that is; let him regard himself as wandering in this remote\nprovince of nature; and from the little dungeon in which he finds\nhimself lodged, I mean the universe, let him learn to set a true\nvalue on the earth, on its kingdoms, its cities, and on himself.\n\nWhat is a man in the infinite? But to show him another prodigy no\nless astonishing, let him examine the most delicate things he knows.\nLet him take a mite which in its minute body presents him with\nparts incomparably more minute; limbs with their joints, veins in\nthe limbs, blood in the veins, humours in the blood, drops in the\nhumours, vapours in the drops; let him, again dividing these last,\nexhaust his power of thought; let the last point at which he arrives\nbe that of which we speak, and he will perhaps think that here is the\nextremest diminutive in nature. Then I will open before him therein\na new abyss. I will paint for him not only the visible universe, but\nall that he can conceive of nature's immensity in the enclosure of\nthis diminished atom. Let him therein see an infinity of universes\nof which each has its firmament, its planets, its earth, in the\nsame proportion as in the visible world; in each earth animals, and\nat the last the mites, in which he will come upon all that was in\nthe first, and still find in these others the same without end and\nwithout cessation; let him lose himself in wonders as astonishing in\ntheir minuteness as the others in their immensity; for who will not\nbe amazed at seeing that our body, which before was imperceptible in\nthe universe, itself imperceptible in the bosom of the whole, is now\na colossus, a world, a whole, in regard to the nothingness to which\nwe cannot attain.\n\nWhoso takes this survey of himself will be terrified at the thought\nthat he is upheld in the material being, given him by nature, between\nthese two abysses of the infinite and nothing, he will tremble at the\nsight of these marvels; and I think that as his curiosity changes\ninto wonder, he will be more disposed to contemplate them in silence\nthan to search into them with presumption.\n\nFor after all what is man in nature? A nothing in regard to the\ninfinite, a whole in regard to nothing, a mean between nothing and\nthe whole; infinitely removed from understanding either extreme. The\nend of things and their beginnings are invincibly hidden from him in\nimpenetrable secrecy, he is equally incapable of seeing the nothing\nwhence he was taken, and the infinite in which he is engulfed.\n\nWhat shall he do then, but discern somewhat of the middle of things\nin an eternal despair of knowing either their beginning or their end?\nAll things arise from nothing, and tend towards the infinite. Who\ncan follow their marvellous course? The author of these wonders can\nunderstand them, and none but he.\n\nOf these two infinites in nature, the infinitely great and the\ninfinitely little, man can more easily conceive the great.\n\nBecause they have not considered these infinities, men have rashly\nplunged into the research of nature, as though they bore some\nproportion to her.\n\nIt is strange that they have wished to understand the origin of all\nthat is, and thence to attain to the knowledge of the whole, with\na presumption as infinite as their object. For there is no doubt\nthat such a design cannot be formed without presumption or without a\ncapacity as infinite as nature.\n\nIf we are well informed, we understand that nature having graven her\nown image and that of her author on all things, they are almost all\npartakers of her double infinity. Thus we see that all the sciences\nare infinite in the extent of their researches, for none can doubt\nthat geometry, for instance, has an infinite infinity of problems\nto propose. They are also infinite in the number and in the nicety\nof their premisses, for it is evident that those which are finally\nproposed are not self-supporting, but are based on others, which\nagain having others as their support have no finality.\n\nBut we make some apparently final to the reason, just as in regard to\nmaterial things we call that an indivisible point beyond which our\nsenses can no longer perceive any thing, though by its nature this\nalso is infinitely divisible.\n\nOf these two scientific infinities, that of greatness is the\nmost obvious to the senses, and therefore few persons have made\npretensions to universal knowledge. \"I will discourse of the all,\"\nsaid Democritus.\n\nBut beyond the fact that it is a small thing to speak of it simply,\nwithout proving and knowing, it is nevertheless impossible to do so,\nthe infinite multitude of things being so hidden, that all we can\nexpress by word or thought is but an invisible trace of them. Hence\nit is plain how foolish, vain, and ignorant is that title of some\nbooks: _De omni scibili_.\n\nBut the infinitely little is far less evident. Philosophers have much\nmore frequently asserted they have attained it, yet in that very\npoint they have all stumbled. This has given occasion to such common\ntitles as _The Origin of Creation_, _The Principles of Philosophy_,\nand the like, as presumptuous in fact though not in appearance as\nthat dazzling one, _De omni scibili_.\n\nWe naturally think that we can more easily reach the centre of\nthings than embrace their circumference. The visible bulk of the\nworld visibly exceeds us, but as we exceed little things, we think\nourselves more capable of possessing them. Yet we need no less\ncapacity to attain the nothing than the whole. Infinite capacity\nis needed for both, and it seems to me that whoever shall have\nunderstood the ultimate principles of existence might also attain\nto the knowledge of the infinite. The one depends on the other, and\none leads to the other. Extremes meet and reunite by virtue of their\ndistance, to find each other in God, and in God alone.\n\nLet us then know our limits; we are something, but we are not all.\nWhat existence we have conceals from us the knowledge of first\nprinciples which spring from the nothing, while the pettiness of that\nexistence hides from us the sight of the infinite.\n\nIn the order of intelligible things our intelligence holds the same\nposition as our body holds in the vast extent of nature.\n\nRestricted in every way, this middle state between two extremes is\ncommon to all our weaknesses.\n\nOur senses can perceive no extreme. Too much noise deafens us, excess\nof light blinds us, too great distance or nearness equally interfere\nwith our vision, prolixity or brevity equally obscure a discourse,\ntoo much truth overwhelms us. I know even those who cannot understand\nthat if four be taken from nothing nothing remains. First principles\nare too plain for us, superfluous pleasure troubles us. Too many\nconcords are unpleasing in music, and too many benefits annoy, we\nwish to have wherewithal to overpay our debt. _Beneficia eo usque\nl\u00e6ta sunt dum videntur exsolvi posse; ubi multum antevenere, pro\ngratia odium redditur._\n\nWe feel neither extreme heat nor extreme cold. Qualities in excess\nare inimical to us and not apparent to the senses, we do not feel but\nare passive under them. The weakness of youth and age equally hinder\nthe mind, as also too much and too little teaching....\n\nIn a word, all extremes are for us as though they were not; and we\nare not, in regard to them: they escape us, or we them.\n\nThis is our true state; this is what renders us incapable both of\ncertain knowledge and of absolute ignorance. We sail on a vast\nexpanse, ever uncertain, ever drifting, hurried from one to the other\ngoal. If we think to attach ourselves firmly to any point, it totters\nand fails us; if we follow, it eludes our grasp, and flies from\nus, vanishing for ever. Nothing stays for us. This is our natural\ncondition, yet always the most contrary to our inclination; we burn\nwith desire to find a steadfast place and an ultimate fixed basis\nwhereon we may build a tower to reach the infinite. But our whole\nfoundation breaks up, and earth opens to the abysses.\n\nWe may not then look for certainty or stability. Our reason is always\ndeceived by changing shows, nothing can fix the finite between the\ntwo infinites, which at once enclose and fly from it.\n\nIf this be once well understood I think that we shall rest, each in\nthe state wherein nature has placed him. This element which falls to\nus as our lot being always distant from either extreme, it matters\nnot that a man should have a trifle more knowledge of the universe.\nIf he has it, he but begins a little higher. He is always infinitely\ndistant from the end, and the duration of our life is infinitely\nremoved from eternity, even if it last ten years longer.\n\nIn regard to these infinites all finites are equal, and I see not why\nwe should fix our imagination on one more than on another. The only\ncomparison which we can make of ourselves to the finite troubles us.\n\nWere man to begin with the study of himself, he would see how\nincapable he is of proceeding further. How can a part know the\nwhole? But he may perhaps aspire to know at least the parts with\nwhich he has proportionate relation. But the parts of the world are\nso linked and related, that I think it impossible to know one without\nanother, or without the whole.\n\nMan, for instance, is related to all that he knows. He needs place\nwherein to abide, time through which to exist, motion in order to\nlive; he needs constituent elements, warmth and food to nourish him,\nair to breathe. He sees light, he feels bodies, he contracts an\nalliance with all that is.\n\nTo know man then it is necessary to understand how it comes that he\nneeds air to breathe, and to know the air we must understand how it\nhas relation to the life of man, etc.\n\nFlame cannot exist without air, therefore to know one, we must know\nthe other.\n\nAll that exists then is both cause and effect, dependent and\nsupporting, mediate and immediate, and all is held together by a\nnatural though imperceptible bond, which unites things most distant\nand most different. I hold it impossible to know the parts without\nknowing the whole, or to know the whole without knowing the parts in\ndetail.\n\nI hold it impossible to know one alone without all the others, that\nis to say impossible purely and absolutely.\n\nThe eternity of things in themselves or in God must also confound\nour brief duration. The fixed and constant immobility of Nature in\ncomparison with the continual changes which take place in us must\nhave the same effect.\n\nAnd what completes our inability to know things is that they are in\ntheir essence simple, whereas we are composed of two opposite natures\ndiffering in kind, soul and body. For it is impossible that our\nreasoning part should be other than spiritual; and should any allege\nthat we are simply material, this would far more exclude us from the\nknowledge of things, since it is an inconceivable paradox to affirm\nthat matter can know itself, and it is not possible for us to know\nhow it should know itself.\n\nSo, were we simply material, we could know nothing whatever, and if\nwe are composed of spirit and matter we cannot perfectly know what is\nsimple, whether it be spiritual or material. For how should we know\nmatter distinctly, since our being, which acts on this knowledge, is\npartly spiritual, and how should we know spiritual substances clearly\nsince we have a body which weights us, and drags us down to earth.\n\nMoreover what completes our inability is the simplicity of things\ncompared with our double and complex nature. To dispute this point\nwere an invincible absurdity, for it is as absurd as impious to\ndeny that man is composed of two parts, differing in their nature,\nsoul and body. This renders us unable to know all things; for if\nthis complexity be denied, and it be asserted that we are entirely\nmaterial, it is plain that matter is incapable of knowing matter.\nNothing is more impossible than this.\n\nLet us conceive then that this mixture of spirit and clay throws us\nout of proportion....\n\nHence it comes that almost all philosophers have confounded different\nideas, and speak of material things in spiritual phrase, and of\nspiritual things in material phrase. For they say boldly that bodies\nhave a tendency to fall, that they seek after their centre, that\nthey fly from destruction, that they fear a void, that they have\ninclinations, sympathies, antipathies; and all of these are spiritual\nqualities. Again, in speaking of spirits, they conceive of them as\nin a given spot, or as moving from place to place; qualities which\nbelong to matter alone.\n\nInstead of receiving the ideas of these things simply, we colour them\nwith our own qualities, and stamp with our complex being all the\nsimple things which we contemplate.\n\nWho would not think, when we declare that all that is consists of\nmind and matter, that we really understood this combination? Yet it\nis the one thing we least understand. Man is to himself the most\nmarvellous object in Nature, for he cannot conceive what matter is,\nstill less what is mind, and less than all how a material body should\nbe united to a mind. This is the crown of all his difficulties,\nyet it is his very being: _Modus quo corporibus adh\u00e6ret spiritus\ncomprehendi ab homine non potest et hoc tamen homo est_.\n\nThese are some of the causes which render man so totally unable\nto know nature. For nature has a twofold infinity, he is finite\nand limited. Nature is permanent, and continues in one stay; he is\nfleeting and mortal. All things fail and change each instant, he\nsees them only as they pass, they have their beginning and end, he\nconceives neither the one nor the other. They are simple, he is\ncomposed of two different natures. And to complete the proof of our\nweakness, I will finish by this reflection on our natural condition.\nIn a word, to complete the proof of our weakness, I will end with\nthese two considerations....\n\n\nThe nature of man may be considered in two ways, one according to\nits end, and then it is great and incomparable; the other according\nto popular opinion, as we judge of the nature of a horse or a dog,\nby popular opinion which discerns in it the power of speed, _et\nanimum arcendi_; and then man is abject and vile. These are the two\nways which make us judge of it so differently and which cause such\ndisputes among philosophers.\n\nFor one denies the supposition of the other; one says, _He was not\nborn for such an end, for all his actions are repugnant to it_; the\nother says, _He cannot gain his end when he commits base deeds_.\n\nTwo things instruct man about his whole nature, instinct and\nexperience.\n\n\n_Inconstancy._--We think we are playing on ordinary organs when we\nplay upon man. Men are organs indeed, but fantastic, changeable,\nand various, with pipes not arranged in due succession. Those who\nunderstand only how to play upon ordinary organs make no harmonies on\nthese. We should know where are the....\n\n\n_Nature._--Nature has placed us so truly in the centre, that if we\nalter one side of the balance we alter also the other. This makes me\nbelieve that there is a mechanism in our brain, so adjusted, that who\ntouches one touches also the contrary spring.\n\n\n_Lustravit lampade terras._--The weather and my moods have little\nin common. I have my foggy and my fine days within me, whether my\naffairs go well or ill has little to do with the matter. I sometimes\nstrive against my luck, the glory of subduing it makes me subdue it\ngaily, whereas I am sometimes wearied in the midst of my good luck.\n\n\nIt is difficult to submit anything to the judgment of a second\nperson without prejudicing him by the way in which we submit it. If\nwe say, \"I think it beautiful, I think it obscure,\" or the like, we\neither draw the imagination to that opinion, or irritate it to form\nthe contrary. It is better to say nothing, so that the other may\njudge according to what really is, that is to say, as it then is,\nand according as the other circumstances which are not of our making\nhave placed it. We at least shall have added nothing of our own,\nexcept that silence produces an effect, according to the turn and\nthe interpretation which the other is inclined to give it, or as he\nmay conjecture it, from gestures or countenance, or from the tone of\nvoice, if he be a physiognomist; so difficult is it not to oust the\njudgment from its natural seat, or rather so rarely is it firm and\nstable!\n\n\nThe spirit of this sovereign judge of the world is not so independent\nbut that it is liable to be troubled by the first disturbance about\nhim. The noise of a cannon is not needed to break his train of\nthought, it need only be the creaking of a weathercock or a pulley.\nDo not be astonished if at this moment he argues incoherently, a fly\nis buzzing about his ears, and that is enough to render him incapable\nof sound judgment. Would you have him arrive at truth, drive away\nthat creature which holds his reason in check, and troubles that\npowerful intellect which gives laws to towns and kingdoms. Here is a\ndroll kind of god! _O ridicolosissimo eroe!_\n\n\nThe power of flies, which win battles, hinder our soul from action,\ndevour our body.\n\n\nWhen we are too young our judgment is at fault, so also when we are\ntoo old.\n\nIf we take not thought enough, or too much, on any matter, we are\nobstinate and infatuated.\n\nHe that considers his work so soon as it leaves his hands, is\nprejudiced in its favour, he that delays his survey too long, cannot\nregain the spirit of it.\n\nSo with pictures seen from too near or too far; there is but one\nprecise point from which to look at them, all others are too near or\ntoo far, too high or too low. Perspective determines that precise\npoint in the art of painting. But who shall determine it in truth or\nmorals?\n\n\nWhen I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the\neternity before and after, the small space which I fill, or even can\nsee, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces whereof I know\nnothing, and which know nothing of me, I am terrified, and wonder\nthat I am here rather than there, for there is no reason why here\nrather than there, or now rather than then. Who has set me here? By\nwhose order and design have this place and time been destined for\nme?--_Memoria hospitis unius diei pr\u00e6tereuntis_.\n\n\nIt is not well to be too much at liberty. It is not well to have all\nwe want.\n\n\nHow many kingdoms know nothing of us!\n\nThe eternal silence of these infinite spaces alarms me.\n\n\nNothing more astonishes me than to see that men are not astonished\nat their own weakness. They act seriously, and every one follows his\nown mode of life, not because it is, as a fact, good to follow, being\nthe custom, but as if each man knew certainly where are reason and\njustice. They find themselves constantly deceived, and by an amusing\nhumility always imagine that the fault is in themselves, and not in\nthe art which all profess to understand. But it is well there are so\nmany of this kind of people in the world, who are not sceptics for\nthe glory of scepticism, to show that man is thoroughly capable of\nthe most extravagant opinions, because he is capable of believing\nthat his weakness is not natural and inevitable, but that, on the\ncontrary, his wisdom comes by nature.\n\nNothing fortifies scepticism more than that there are some who are\nnot sceptics. If all were so, they would be wrong.\n\n\nTwo infinites, a mean. If we read too quickly or too slowly, we\nunderstand nothing.\n\n\nToo much and too little wine. Give a man none, he cannot find truth,\ngive him too much, the same.\n\n\nChance gives thoughts, and chance takes them away; there is no art\nfor keeping or gaining them.\n\nA thought has escaped me. I would write it down. I write instead,\nthat it has escaped me.\n\n\nIn writing down my thought it now and then escapes me, but this\nreminds me of my weakness, which I constantly forget. This teaches\nme as much as my forgotten thought, for my whole study is to know my\nnothingness.\n\n\nAre men so strong, as to be insensible to all which affects them? Let\nus try them in the loss of goods or honour. Ah! the charm is worked.\n\n\nTo fear death out of danger, and not in danger, for we must be men.\n\nSudden death is the only thing to fear, therefore confessors live in\nthe houses of the great.\n\n\nWe know ourselves so little, that many think themselves near death\nwhen they are perfectly well, and many think themselves well when\nthey are near death, since they do not feel the fever at hand, or the\nabscess about to form.\n\n\nWhy is my knowledge so restricted, or my height, or my life to a\nhundred years rather than to a thousand? What was nature's reason for\ngiving me such length of days, and for choosing this number rather\nthan another, in that infinity where there is no reason to choose one\nmore than another, since none is preferable to another?\n\n\nThe nature of man is not always to go forward, it has its advances\nand retreats.\n\nFever has its hot and cold fits, and the cold proves as well as the\nhot how great is the force of the fever.\n\n\nThe inventions of men from age to age follow the same plan. It is the\nsame with the goodness and the wickedness of the world in general.\n\n_Plerumque grat\u00e6 principibus vices._\n\n\nThe strength of a man's virtue must not be measured by his occasional\nefforts, but by his ordinary life.\n\n\nThose great spiritual efforts to which the soul sometimes attains are\nthings on which it takes no permanent hold. It leaps to them, not as\nto a throne, for ever, but only for an instant.\n\n\nI do not admire the excess of a virtue as of valour, unless I see at\nthe same time the excess of the opposite virtue, as in Epaminondas,\nwho had exceeding valour and exceeding humanity, for otherwise we do\nnot rise, but fall. Grandeur is not shown by being at one extremity,\nbut in touching both at once, and filling the whole space between.\nBut perhaps this is only a sudden motion of the soul from one to the\nother extreme, and in fact it is always at one point only, as when a\nfirebrand is whirled. Be it so, but at least this marks the agility\nif not the magnitude of the soul.\n\n\nWe do not remain virtuous by our own power, but by the counterpoise\nof two opposite vices, we remain standing as between two contrary\nwinds; take away one of these vices, we fall into the other.\n\n\nWhen we would pursue the virtues to their extremes on either side,\nvices present themselves, which insinuate themselves insensibly\nthere, in their insensible course towards the infinitely great, so\nthat we lose ourselves in vices, and no longer see virtues.\n\n\nIt is not shameful to man to yield to pain, and it is shameful to\nyield to pleasure. This is not because pain comes from without\nus, while we seek pleasure, for we may seek pain, and yield to it\nwillingly without this kind of baseness. How comes it then that\nreason finds it glorious in us to yield under the assaults of\npain, and shameful to yield under the assaults of pleasure? It is\nbecause pain does not tempt and attract us. We ourselves choose it\nvoluntarily, and will that it have dominion over us. We are thus\nmasters of the situation, and so far man yields to himself, but in\npleasure man yields to pleasure. Now only mastery and empire bring\nglory, and only slavery causes shame.\n\n\nAll things may prove fatal to us, even those made to serve us, as\nin nature walls may kill us and stairs may kill us, if we walk not\naright.\n\nThe slightest movement affects all nature, the whole sea changes\nbecause of a rock. Thus in grace, the most trifling action has effect\non everything by its consequences; therefore everything is important.\n\n\nProvided we know each man's ruling passion we are sure of pleasing\nhim; yet each man has his fancies, contrary to his real good, even in\nthe very idea he forms of good; a strange fact which puts all out of\ntune.\n\n\nWhen our passions lead us to any act we forget our duty. If we\nlike a book we read it, when we should be doing something else.\nBut as a reminder we ought to propose to ourselves to do something\ndistasteful; we then excuse ourselves that we have something else to\ndo, and thus remember our duty.\n\n\nSneezing absorbs all the faculties of the soul, as do certain bodily\nfunctions, but we do not draw therefrom the same conclusions against\nthe greatness of man, because it is against his will. And if we make\nourselves sneeze we do so against our will. It is not in view of\nthe act itself, but for another end, and so it is not a mark of the\nweakness of man, and of his slavery to that act.\n\n\nScaramouch, who thinks of one thing only.\n\nThe doctor, who speaks for a quarter of an hour after he has said all\nhe has to say, so full is he of the desire of talking.\n\nThe parrot's beak, which he dries though it is clean already.\n\n\nThe sense of falseness in present pleasures, and our ignorance of the\nvanity of absent pleasures, are the causes of inconstancy.\n\n\nHe no longer loves the person he loved ten years ago. I can well\nbelieve it. She is no longer the same, nor is he. He was young, and\nso was she; she is quite different. He would perhaps love her still\nwere she what she then was.\n\n\nReasons, seen from afar, appear to restrict our view, but not when we\nreach them; we begin to see beyond.\n\n\n... We look at things not only from other sides, but with other eyes,\nand care not to find them alike.\n\n\nDiversity is so ample, that all tones of voice, all modes of walking,\ncoughing, blowing the nose, sneering. We distinguish different kinds\nof vine by their fruit, and name them the Condrieu, the Desargues,\nand this stock. But is this all? Has a vine ever produced two bunches\nexactly alike, and has a bunch ever two grapes alike? etc.\n\nI never can judge of the same thing exactly in the same way. I cannot\njudge of my work while engaged on it. I must do as the painters,\nstand at a distance, but not too far. How far, then? Guess.\n\n\n_Diversity._--Theology is a science; but at the same time how many\nsciences! Man is a whole, but if we dissect him, will man be the\nhead, the heart, the stomach, the veins, each vein, each portion of a\nvein, the blood, each humour of the blood?\n\nA town, a champaign, is from afar a town and a champaign; but as we\napproach there are houses, trees, tiles, leaves, grass, emmets, limbs\nof emmets, in infinite series. All this is comprised under the word\nchampaign.\n\n\nWe like to see the error, the passion of Cleobuline, because she is\nnot aware of it. She would be displeasing if she were not deceived.\n\n\nWhat a confusion of judgment is that, by which every one puts himself\nabove all the rest of the world, and loves his own advantage and the\nduration of his happiness or his life above those of all others.\n\n\n\n\n_DIVERSION._\n\n\nDiversion.--When I have set myself now and then to consider the\nvarious distractions of men, the toils and dangers to which they\nexpose themselves in the court or the camp, whence arise so many\nquarrels and passions, such daring and often such evil exploits,\netc., I have discovered that all the misfortunes of men arise from\none thing only, that they are unable to stay quietly in their own\nchamber. A man who has enough to live on, if he knew how to dwell\nwith pleasure in his own home, would not leave it for sea-faring\nor to besiege a city. An office in the army would not be bought so\ndearly but that it seems insupportable not to stir from the town, and\npeople only seek conversation and amusing games because they cannot\nremain with pleasure in their own homes.\n\nBut upon stricter examination, when, having found the cause of all\nour ills, I have sought to discover the reason of it, I have found\none which is paramount, the natural evil of our weak and mortal\ncondition, so miserable that nothing can console us when we think of\nit attentively.\n\nWhatever condition we represent to ourselves, if we bring to our\nminds all the advantages it is possible to possess, Royalty is the\nfinest position in the world. Yet, when we imagine a king surrounded\nwith all the conditions which he can desire, if he be without\ndiversion, and be allowed to consider and examine what he is, this\nfeeble happiness will never sustain him; he will necessarily fall\ninto a foreboding of maladies which threaten him, of revolutions\nwhich may arise, and lastly, of death and inevitable diseases; so\nthat if he be without what is called diversion he is unhappy, and\nmore unhappy than the humblest of his subjects who plays and diverts\nhimself.\n\nHence it comes that play and the society of women, war, and offices\nof state, are so sought after. Not that there is in these any real\nhappiness, or that any imagine true bliss to consist in the money won\nat play, or in the hare which is hunted; we would not have these as\ngifts. We do not seek an easy and peaceful lot which leaves us free\nto think of our unhappy condition, nor the dangers of war, nor the\ntroubles of statecraft, but seek rather the distraction which amuses\nus, and diverts our mind from these thoughts.\n\nHence it comes that men so love noise and movement, hence it comes\nthat a prison is so horrible a punishment, hence it comes that the\npleasure of solitude is a thing incomprehensible. And it is the great\nsubject of happiness in the condition of kings, that all about them\ntry incessantly to divert them, and to procure for them all manner of\npleasures.\n\nThe king is surrounded by persons who think only how to divert the\nking, and to prevent his thinking of self. For he is unhappy, king\nthough he be, if he think of self.\n\nThat is all that human ingenuity can do for human happiness. And\nthose who philosophise on the matter, and think men unreasonable\nthat they pass a whole day in hunting a hare which they would not\nhave bought, scarce know our nature. The hare itself would not free\nus from the view of death and our miseries, but the chase of the\nhare does free us. Thus, when we make it a reproach that what they\nseek with such eagerness cannot satisfy them, if they answered as on\nmature judgment they should do, that they sought in it only violent\nand impetuous occupation to turn their thoughts from self, and that\ntherefore they made choice of an attractive object which charms and\nardently attracts them, they would leave their adversaries without a\nreply. But they do not so answer because they do not know themselves;\nthey do not know they seek the chase and not the quarry.\n\nThey fancy that were they to gain such and such an office they would\nthen rest with pleasure, and are unaware of the insatiable nature of\ntheir desire. They believe they are honestly seeking repose, but they\nare only seeking agitation.\n\nThey have a secret instinct prompting them to look for diversion\nand occupation from without, which arises from the sense of their\ncontinual pain. They have another secret instinct, a relic of the\ngreatness of our primitive nature, teaching them that happiness\nindeed consists in rest, and not in turmoil. And of these two\ncontrary instincts a confused project is formed within them,\nconcealing itself from their sight in the depths of their soul,\nleading them to aim at rest through agitation, and always to imagine\nthat they will gain the satisfaction which as yet they have not, if\nby surmounting certain difficulties which now confront them, they may\nthereby open the door to rest.\n\nThus rolls all our life away. We seek repose by resistance to\nobstacles, and so soon as these are surmounted, repose becomes\nintolerable. For we think either on the miseries we feel or on those\nwe fear. And even when we seem sheltered on all sides, weariness, of\nits own accord, will spring from the depths of the heart wherein are\nits natural roots, and fill the soul with its poison.\n\n\nThe counsel given to Pyrrhus to take the rest of which he was going\nin search through so many labours, was full of difficulties.\n\n\nA gentleman sincerely believes that the chase is a great, and even a\nroyal sport, but his whipper-in does not share his opinion.\n\n_Dancing._--We must think where to place our feet.\n\n\nBut can you say what object he has in all this? The pleasure of\nboasting to-morrow among his friends that he has played better\nthan another. Thus others sweat in their closets to prove to the\nlearned world that they have solved an algebraical problem hitherto\ninsoluble, while many more expose themselves to the greatest perils,\nin my judgment as foolishly, for the glory of taking a town. Again,\nothers kill themselves, by their very application to all these\nstudies, not indeed that they may grow wiser, but simply to prove\nthat they know them; these are the most foolish of the band, because\nthey are so wittingly, whereas it is reasonable to suppose of the\nothers, that were they but aware of it, they would give over their\nfolly.\n\nA man passes his life without weariness in playing every day for a\nsmall stake. Give him each morning, on condition he does not play,\nthe money he might possibly win, and you make him miserable. It will\nbe said, perhaps, that he seeks the amusement of play, and not the\nwinnings. Make him then play for nothing, he will not be excited over\nit, and will soon be wearied. Mere diversion then is not his pursuit,\na languid and passionless amusement will weary him. He must grow\nwarm in it, and cheat himself by thinking that he is made happy by\ngaining what he would despise if it were given him not to play; and\nmust frame for himself a subject of passion and excitement to employ\nhis desire, his wrath, his fear, as children are frightened at a face\nthey themselves have daubed.\n\nWhence comes it that a man who within a few months has lost his\nonly son, or who this morning was overwhelmed with law suits and\nwrangling, now thinks of them no more? Be not surprised; he is\naltogether taken up with looking out for the boar which his hounds\nhave been hunting so hotly for the last six hours. He needs no more.\nHowever full of sadness a man may be, he is happy for the time, if\nyou can only get him to enter into some diversion. And however happy\na man may be, he will soon become dispirited and miserable if he be\nnot diverted and occupied by some passion or pursuit which hinders\nhis being overcome by weariness. Without diversion no joy, with\ndiversion no sadness. And this forms the happiness of persons in high\nposition, that they have a number of people to divert them, and that\nthey have the power to keep themselves in this state.\n\nTake heed to this. What is it to be superintendent, chancellor, first\npresident, but to be in a condition wherein from early morning a vast\nnumber of persons flock in from every side, so as not to leave them\nan hour in the day in which they can think of themselves? And if they\nare in disgrace and dismissed to their country houses, though they\nwant neither wealth nor retinue at need, they yet are miserable and\ndesolate because no one hinders them from thinking of themselves.\n\nThus man is so unhappy that he wearies himself without cause of\nweariness by the peculiar state of his temperament, and he is so\nfrivolous that, being full of a thousand essential causes of\nweariness, the least thing, such as a cue and a ball to strike with\nit, is enough to divert him.\n\n\n_Diversions._--Men are charged from infancy with the care of their\nhonour, their fortunes, and their friends, and more, with the care\nof the fortunes and honour of their friends. They are overwhelmed\nwith business, with the study of languages and bodily exercises;\nthey are given to understand that they cannot be happy unless their\nhealth, their honour, their fortune and that of their friends be in\ngood condition, and that a single point wanting will render them\nunhappy. Thus we give them business and occupations which harass them\nincessantly from the very dawn of day. A strange mode, you will say,\nof making them happy. What more could be done to make them miserable?\nWhat could be done? We need only release them from all these cares,\nfor then they would see themselves; they would think on what they\nare, whence they come, and whither they go, and therefore it is\nimpossible to occupy and distract them too much. This is why, after\nhaving provided them with constant business, if there be any time to\nspare we urge them to employ it in diversion and in play, so as to be\nalways fully occupied.\n\n\nHow comes it that this man, distressed at the death of his wife and\nhis only son, or who has some great and embarrassing law suit, is not\nat this moment sad, and that he appears so free from all painful and\ndistressing thoughts? We need not be astonished, for a ball has just\nbeen served to him, and he must return it to his opponent. His whole\nthoughts are fixed on taking it as it falls from the pent-house, to\nwin a chase; and you cannot ask that he should think on his business,\nhaving this other affair in hand. Here is a care worthy of occupying\nthis great soul, and taking away from him every other thought of the\nmind. This man, born to know the Universe, to judge of all things, to\nrule a State, is altogether occupied and filled with the business of\ncatching a hare. And if he will not abase himself to this, and wishes\nalways to be highly strung, he will only be more foolish still,\nbecause he wishes to raise himself above humanity; yet when all is\nsaid and done he is only a man, that is to say capable of little and\nof much, of all and of nothing. He is neither angel nor brute, but\nman.\n\nOne thought alone occupies us, we cannot think of two things at once;\na good thing for us from a worldly point of view, but not as regards\nGod.\n\n\n_Diversion._--Death is easier to bear without the thought of it, than\nis the thought of death without danger.\n\n\n_Diversion._--Men, unable to remedy death, sorrow, and ignorance,\ndetermine, in order to make themselves happy, not to think on these\nthings.\n\nNotwithstanding these miseries, man wishes to be happy, and wishes\nfor happiness only; unable to wish otherwise, he knows not how to\ngain happiness. For this he must needs make himself immortal; but\nunable to effect this, he sets himself to avoid the thought of death.\n\n\nThe miseries of human life are the cause of all this; having a\nperception of them men take to diversion.\n\n\n_Diversion._--If man were happy he would be the more so the less he\nwas diverted, like the Saints and God.\n\nYes: but is not the power of being pleased with diversion in itself\na happiness? No; for that comes from elsewhere and from without, so\nit is dependent, and therefore liable to be troubled by a thousand\naccidents, which make afflictions inevitable.\n\n\n_Misery._--The one thing which consoles us for our miseries is\ndiversion, yet this itself is the greatest of our miseries. For\nthis it is which mainly hinders us from thinking of ourselves, and\nwhich insensibly destroys us. Without this we should be weary, and\nweariness would drive us to seek a more abiding way out of it. But\ndiversion beguiles us and leads us insensibly onward to death.\n\n\nThis is all they have been able to discover to console them in so\nmany evils. But it is a miserable consolation, since it does not\nserve for the cure of the evil, but simply for the concealment of\nit for a short time, and its very concealment prevents the thought\nof any true cure. Thus by a strange inversion of man's nature he\nfinds that the weariness which is his most sensible evil, is in\nsome measure his greatest good, because more than any thing else it\ncontributes to make him seek his true healing, and that the diversion\nwhich he regards as his greatest good is in fact his greatest evil,\nbecause more than any thing else it prevents his seeking the remedy\nfor his evils. Both of these are admirable proofs of man's misery and\ncorruption, and at the same time of his greatness, since man is only\nweary of all things, and only seeks this multitude of occupations\nbecause he has the idea of a lost happiness. And not finding this in\nhimself, he seeks it vainly in external things, without being able to\ncontent himself, because it is neither in us, nor in the creature,\nbut in God alone.\n\n\n_Thoughts._--_In omnibus requiem qu\u00e6sivi._\n\nWere our condition truly happy we need not turn our minds from it in\norder to become happy.\n\nA little matter consoles us, because a little matter afflicts us.\n\n\nStrife alone pleases us and not the victory. We like to see beasts\nfighting, not the victor furious over the vanquished. We wish only to\nsee the victorious end, and as soon as it comes, we are surfeited. It\nis the same in play, and in the search for truth. In all disputes we\nlike to see the clash of opinions, but care not at all to contemplate\ntruth when found. If we are to see truth with pleasure, we must see\nit arise out of conflict.\n\nSo in the passions, there is pleasure in seeing the shock of two\ncontraries, but as soon as one gains the mastery it becomes mere\nbrutality. We never seek things in themselves, but only the search\nfor things. So on the stage, quiet scenes which raise no emotion are\nworthless, so is extreme and hopeless misery, so are brutal lust and\nexcessive cruelty.\n\n\nContinuous eloquence wearies.\n\nPrinces and kings sometimes unbend. They are not for ever on\ntheir thrones, where they grow weary. Grandeur to be felt must be\nabandoned, continuity in any thing is displeasing. Cold is pleasant,\nthat we may seek warmth.\n\n\n_Weariness._--Nothing is so insupportable to man as to be completely\nat rest, without passion, without business, without diversion,\nwithout study. He then feels his nothingness, his loneliness, his\ninsufficiency, his dependence, his weakness, his emptiness.\n\nAt once, from the depth of his soul, will arise weariness, gloom,\nsadness, vexation, disappointment, despair.\n\n\n_Agitation._--When a soldier complains of his work, or a ploughman,\netc., force them to be idle.\n\n\n_Diversion._--Is not the royal dignity itself so truly great as to\nmake its possessor happy by the mere contemplation of what he is?\nMust he be diverted from this thought like ordinary people? I see\nwell enough that a man may be made happy by diverting him from the\nthought of his domestic sorrows so that he apply all his care to\nexcel in dancing. But will it be the same with a king, and will he be\nhappier if he devote himself to these idle amusements rather than to\nthe contemplation of his greatness? And what more satisfactory object\ncan he offer to his mind? Might it not be to lessen his content that\nhe occupy his soul in thinking how to suit his steps to the cadence\nof an air, or how to throw a bar skilfully, rather than allow it to\nenjoy peacefully the contemplation of the majesty which wraps him\nround? Let us make the experiment, let us leave a king all alone,\nwithout any gratifications of sense, or any occupation for the mind,\nwithout companions, reflecting on himself at leisure, and it will be\nseen that a king without diversion is a man full of miseries. This is\ntherefore carefully avoided, and there are always about the persons\nof kings a great number of people who watch to see that diversion\nsucceeds to business, and look after their every hour of leisure to\nfurnish them with pleasures and games, so that no vacancy may be\nleft in life; that is, they are surrounded with persons who take\nwonderful pains that the king is never alone and able to think of\nself, knowing well that he will be miserable, king though he is, if\nhe think of self.\n\nIn all this I am not speaking of Christian kings as Christians, but\nsimply as kings.\n\n\nMen busy themselves in pursuing a ball or a hare, and this is the\npleasure even of kings.\n\n\nC\u00e6sar, as it seems to me, was too old to set about amusing himself\nwith the conquest of the world. Such a pastime was good for Augustus\nor Alexander, who were still young men, and these are difficult to\nrestrain, but C\u00e6sar should have been more mature.\n\n\nThe weariness we experience in leaving occupations to which we are\nattached. A man lives with pleasure in his home, but if he see a\nwoman who charms him, or if he take pleasure in play for five or\nsix days, he is miserable if he return to his former mode of life.\nNothing is more common than that.\n\n\n_Frivolity._--It is plain that the frivolity of the world is so\nlittle known, that it is a strange and surprising thing to say it is\nfoolish to seek for greatness, and this is great cause for wonder.\n\n\nWhoso does not see the frivolity of the world is himself most\nfrivolous. And indeed all see it save young people, who are engaged\nin turmoil, diversion, and the thought of the future. But take away\ntheir diversion and you will see them consumed with weariness; then\nthey feel their nothingness without knowing it. For it is indeed to\nbe unhappy to be intolerably sad as soon as we are reduced to the\nthought of self, without any diversion.\n\n\n\n\n_THE GREATNESS AND LITTLENESS OF MAN._\n\n\nGreatness, _Littleness_.--The more light we have, the more greatness\nand the more baseness we discover in man.\n\nOrdinary men....\n\nThe more cultivated....\n\nPhilosophers.\n\nThey astonish ordinary men.\n\nChristians. They astonish Philosophers.\n\nWho then will be surprised to see that Religion only makes us know\ndeeply what we already know in proportion to our light.\n\n\n_For Port Royal. Greatness and Littleness._\n\nLittleness being correlative to greatness, and greatness to\nlittleness, some have inferred man's littleness all the more because\nthey have taken his greatness as a proof of it, and others have\ninferred his greatness with all the more force, because they have\ninferred it from his littleness; all that the one party was able\nto say for his greatness having served only as an argument of his\nlittleness to others, because we are low in proportion to the height\nfrom which we have fallen, and the contrary is equally true. So that\nthe one party returns on the other in an endless circle, for it is\ncertain that in measure as men possess light the more they discern\nboth the greatness and the littleness of man. In a word, man knows he\nis little. He is then little because he is so; but he is truly great\nbecause he knows it.\n\n\nMan knows not in what rank to place himself. He has evidently gone\nastray and fallen from his true place, unable to find it again.\nDisquieted and unsuccessful he seeks it everywhere in impenetrable\ndarkness.\n\n\nThough we see all the miseries which close upon us and take us by the\nthroat, we have an irrepressible instinct which raises us.\n\n\n_The greatness of Man._--We have so great an idea of the human soul\nthat we cannot bear to be despised, or to lie under the disesteem of\nany soul, and all the happiness of men consists in that esteem.\n\n\nThe search after glory is the greatest vileness of man. Yet it is\nalso the greatest mark of his excellence, for whatever riches he may\nhave on earth, whatever health and advantage, he is not satisfied if\nhe have not the esteem of men. He rates human reason so highly that\nwhatever privileges he may have on earth, he is not content unless\nhe stand well in the judgment of men. This is the finest position in\nthe world, nothing can turn him from this desire, which is the most\nindelible quality of the human heart.\n\nAnd those who most despise men, and place them on the level of the\nbrutes, still wish to be admired and believed by men, and are in\ncontradiction with themselves through their own feelings; their\nnature, which is stronger than all else, convincing them of the\ngreatness of man more powerfully than reason convinces them of their\nvileness.\n\n\nThe vileness of man in that he submits himself to the brutes, and\neven worships them.\n\n\nInstinct and reason, marks of two natures.\n\n\nDescription of man. Dependence, desire of independence, bodily needs.\n\n\nContradiction. To despise existence, to die for nothing, to hate our\nexistence.\n\n\nMan is neither angel nor brute, and the misfortune is that whoever\nwould play the angel plays the brute.\n\n\nIf man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God?\n\nIf man is made for God, why is he so contrary to God?\n\n\nContraries. Man is naturally credulous and incredulous, timid and\nrash.\n\n\n_A corrupt nature._--Man does not act by reason, which constitutes\nhis essence.\n\n\nThe nature of man is his whole nature, _omne animal_.\n\nThere is nothing we cannot make natural, nothing natural we cannot\nlose.\n\n\nThe true nature being lost, all becomes natural. As the true good\nbeing lost, all becomes truly good.\n\n\n_Misery._--Solomon and Job best knew, and have best spoken of\nhuman misery; the former the most fortunate, the latter the most\nunfortunate of men; the one knowing by experience the vanity of\npleasure, the other the reality of evil.\n\n\nIt is dangerous to prove to man too plainly how nearly he is on\na level with the brutes without showing him his greatness; it is\nalso dangerous to show him his greatness too clearly apart from his\nvileness. It is still more dangerous to leave him in ignorance of\nboth. But it is of great advantage to show him both.\n\n\nHow comes it that we have so much patience with those who are maimed\nin body, and so little with those who are defective in mind? Because\na cripple recognises that we have the true use of our legs, but the\nfool maintains that we are they whose understanding halts; were it\nnot so we should feel pity and not anger.\n\nEpictetus puts it yet more strongly: \"How comes it that we are not\nangry if a man says we have an headache, but are angry if told we use\na weak argument or make a wrong choice?\" The reason of this is that\nwe are quite certain we have no headache, or are not lame, but we are\nnot equally sure that our judgment is correct. So having no assurance\nbut that we see with our whole powers of sight, we are startled and\nconfounded when another with equal powers sees the exact opposite,\nespecially when a thousand others laugh at our decision; for then\nwe must prefer our light to that of so many others, a daring and\ndifficult matter. There is never this contradiction in feeling as to\na cripple.\n\nMan is so framed that by dint of telling him he is a fool he believes\nit, and by dint of telling it to himself he makes himself believe it.\nFor man holds a secret communing with himself, which it behoves him\nwell to regulate: _Corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia prava_. We must\nkeep silent as much as possible, and converse with ourselves only of\nGod, whom we know to be true, and thus we persuade ourselves of truth.\n\n\nI will not suffer him to rest on himself, nor on another, so that\nbeing without a resting place or repose....\n\n\nIf he exalt himself I humble him, if he humble himself I exalt\nhim, and ever contradict him, till he comprehend that he is an\nincomprehensible monster.\n\n\nThe greatness of man consists in thought.\n\n\n_A thinking reed._--Not from space must I seek my dignity, but from\nthe ruling of my thought. I should have no more if I possessed whole\nworlds. By space the Universe encompasses and swallows me as an atom,\nby thought I encompass it.\n\n\nMan is but a reed, weakest in nature, but a reed which thinks. It\nneeds not that the whole Universe should arm to crush him. A vapour,\na drop of water is enough to kill him. But were the Universe to crush\nhim, man would still be more noble than that which has slain him,\nbecause he knows that he dies, and that the Universe has the better\nof him. The Universe knows nothing of this.\n\n\nAll our dignity therefore consists in thought. By this must we raise\nourselves, not by space or duration which we cannot fill. Then let us\nmake it our study to think well, for this is the starting-point of\nmorals.\n\n\nThe greatness of man is great in that he knows he is miserable. A\ntree does not know that it is miserable.\n\nIt is therefore little to know ourselves little, and it is great to\nknow ourselves little.\n\nThus his very infirmities proves man's greatness. They are the\ninfirmities of a great lord, of a discrowned king.\n\n\nThe greatness of man is so evident that it is even proved by his\nlittleness. For what in animals is nature we call in man littleness,\nwhereby we recognise that his nature being now like that of animals\nhe is fallen from a better nature which once was his.\n\nFor what man ever was unhappy at not being a king, save a discrowned\nking? Was Paulus Emilius unhappy at being no longer consul? On the\ncontrary, all men thought him happy in having filled that office,\nbecause it was involved in it that it should be but temporary. But\nPerseus was thought so unhappy in being no longer king, because the\ncondition of royalty involved his being always king, that it was\nthought strange he could bear to live. No man thinks himself unhappy\nin having but one mouth, but any man is unhappy if he have but one\neye. No man was ever grieved at not having three eyes, but any man is\ninconsolable if he have none.\n\n\n_Perseus, King of Macedon._--Paulus Emilius reproached Perseus for\nnot killing himself.\n\n\nThere is no misery apart from sensation. A ruined house is not\nmiserable. Man only is miserable. _Ego vir videns._\n\n\nIt is then thought which makes man's being, and without this we\ncannot conceive him. What is it in us which feels pleasure? The hand?\nThe arm? The flesh? The blood? We see that it roust be something\nimmaterial.\n\n\nI can easily conceive a man without hands, feet, head, for it is only\nexperience which teaches us that the head is more necessary than the\nfeet. But I cannot conceive a man without thought; he would be a\nstone or a brute.\n\n\nMan is evidently made for thought, this is his whole dignity and his\nwhole merit; his whole duty is to think as he ought. Now the order of\nthought is to begin with self, and with its author and its end.\n\nNow of what thinks the world? Never of these things, but of dancing,\nplaying the lute, singing, making verses, tilting at the ring, etc.,\nof fighting, making ourselves kings, without thinking what it is to\nbe a king, or what to be a man.\n\n\n_Thought._--The whole dignity of man lies in thought But what is this\nthought? how foolish it is!\n\n\nThought is then in its nature admirable and incomparable. It must\nhave strange defects to be despicable, but it has these, and so\nnothing is more ridiculous.\n\nHow great it is in essence, how vile in defects!\n\n\n_Contraries._ _After having shown the vileness and the greatness of\nman._--Let man now estimate his value. Let him love himself, because\nhe has a nature capable of good, but let him not therefore love\nthe vileness which exists in that nature. Let him despise himself,\nbecause this capacity is void, but let him not therefore despise his\nnatural capacity. Let him hate himself, let him love himself: he has\nin himself the power of knowing the truth and being happy, and yet\nhas found no truth either permanent or satisfactory.\n\nI would then lead man to the desire of finding it; to be free from\npassions and ready to follow it where he may find it, knowing how his\nknowledge is obscured by the passions. I would that he should hate\nin himself the desires which bias his judgment, that they may neither\nblind him in making his choice, nor obstruct him when he has chosen.\n\n\nI blame equally those who take on themselves to praise man, those\nwho take on themselves to blame him, and those who merely amuse\nthemselves; I can approve those only who seek with tears.\n\n\nThe stoics say, \"Retire within yourselves, there will you find your\nrest;\" which is not true. Others say, \"Go out of yourselves, seek\nyour happiness in diversion;\" nor is that true, for sickness may come.\n\nHappiness is neither without us nor within us; it is in God, both\nwithout us and within us.\n\n\n\n\n_OF THE DECEPTIVE POWERS OF THE IMAGINATION_.\n\n\n_Of the deceptive powers_.--Man is only a subject full of natural\nerror, which is indelible without grace. Nothing shows him the truth,\neverything deceives him. These two principles of truth, reason and\nthe senses, in addition to the fact that they are both wanting in\nsincerity, reciprocally deceive each other. The senses trick the\nreason by false appearances, and gain from reason in their turn the\nsame deception with which they deceive; reason avenges herself. The\npassions of the soul trouble the senses, and make on them false\nimpressions. They lie and deceive, outvying one another.\n\nBut beyond those errors which come by accident, and by a lack of\nintelligence, with these heterogeneous faculties.... _To begin thus\nthe chapter on the deceptive powers_.\n\n\n_Imagination._--This is that deceitful part of man, the mistress of\nerror and falsity, the more knavish that she is not always so, for\nshe would be an infallible rule of truth, if she were an infallible\nrule of lying. But being for the most part false, she gives no mark\nof her character, stamping the true and the false with the same die.\n\nI speak not of fools, but of the wisest men, and it is among them\nthat imagination has the great gift of persuasion. Reason protests in\nvain, for she can make no true estimate.\n\nThis proud potentate, who loves to rule and domineer over her enemy,\nreason, has established in man a second nature in order to show her\nwide-spread influence. She makes men happy and miserable, sound and\nsick, rich and poor; she obliges reason to believe, doubt and deny;\nshe dulls the senses, or sharpens them; she has her fools and wise;\nand nothing vexes us more than to see that she fills her votaries\nwith a satisfaction far more full and entire than does reason. Those\nwhose imagination is active feel greater complacency than the truly\nwise can reasonably allow themselves to feel. They look down on\nother men as from the height of empire, they argue with assurance\nand confidence, others with diffidence and fear, and this gaiety\nof countenance often gives the former an advantage in the minds of\ntheir hearers; such favour do the imaginary wise find from judges\nlike-minded. Imagination cannot make fools wise, but it makes them\ncontent, and so triumphs over reason, which can only make its friends\nmiserable; the one covers them with glory, the other with shame.\n\nWhat but this faculty of imagination dispenses reputation, assigns\nrespect and veneration to persons, works, laws, and the great? How\nvalueless are all the treasures of earth without her consent!\n\nYou would say that this magistrate whose reverend age commands the\nrespect of a whole people is swayed by pure and lofty reason, that he\njudges all causes according to their true nature, unmoved by those\nmere accidents which only affect the imagination of the weak. See him\ngo to sermon with devout zeal, strengthening his firm and impartial\nreason by the ardour of his divine love. He is ready to listen with\nexemplary respect. The preacher appears; but if nature have given him\na hoarse voice or a comic face, if his barber have shaven him ill, or\nif his clothes be splashed more than is wont, then however great the\ntruths he announces, I wager that our statesman lose his gravity.\n\nSet the greatest philosopher in the world on a plank really wider\nthan he needs, but hanging over a precipice, and though reason\nconvince him of his security, imagination will prevail. Many will\nscarce bear the thought without a cold sweat.\n\nI will not name all its effects. Every one knows that the sight of\ncats, and rats, or the crushing of a coal, etc., may quite unhinge\nthe reason. The tone of voice will affect the wisest and change the\nwhole force of a speech or a poem.\n\nLove or hate will change the aspect of justice, and an advocate\nretained with a large fee has an increased confidence in the right\nof the cause he pleads, while the assurance of his demeanour commends\nit to the judges, duped in their turn by appearances. How ridiculous\nis reason, swayed by a breath in every direction!\n\nI should have to enumerate almost every action of men who seldom\nstagger but under her shocks. For reason has been forced to yield,\nand the wisest reason accepts as her own those principles which the\nimagination of men has everywhere casually introduced.\n\nOur magistrates are well aware of this mystery. Their scarlet robes,\nthe ermine in which they wrap themselves like furred cats, the halls\nin which they administer justice, the _fleurs-de-lis_, and all their\naugust apparatus are most necessary; if the doctors had not their\ncassocks and their mules, if the lawyers had not their square caps,\nand their robes four times too wide, they would never have duped the\nworld, which cannot resist so authoritative an appearance. Soldiers\nalone are not disguised after this fashion, because indeed their part\nis the more essential, they establish themselves by force, the others\nby fraud.\n\nSo our kings seek out no disguises. They do not mask themselves in\nstrange garments to appear such, but they are accompanied by guards\nand halberdiers. Those armed puppets who have hands and power for\nthem alone, those trumpets and drums which go before them, and those\nlegions round about them, make the firmest tremble. They have not\ndress only, but power; we need an highly refined reason to regard as\nan ordinary man the Grand Turk, in his superb seraglio, surrounded\nwith forty thousand janissaries.\n\nWe cannot even see an advocate in his long robe and with his cap on\nhis head, without an enhanced opinion of his ability.\n\nIf magistrates had true justice, and if doctors had the true art of\nhealing, they would have no need of square caps, the majesty of these\nsciences were of itself venerable enough. But having only imaginary\nknowledge, they must take these instruments, idle, but striking to\nthe imagination with which they have to deal, and by that in fact\nthey gain respect.\n\nImagination is the disposer of all things, it creates beauty, justice\nand happiness, and these are the world's all. I should much like to\nsee an Italian work, of which I know the title only, but such a title\nis worth many books: _Della opinione Regina del mondo_. I accept the\nbook without knowing it, save the evil in it, if there be any.\n\nThese are for the most part the effects of that deceptive faculty,\nwhich seems to have been given us expressly to lead us into necessary\nerror. Of error however we have many other sources.\n\nNot only are old impressions capable of deceiving us, the charms of\nnovelty have the same power. Hence arise all the disputes of men,\nwho charge each other either with following the false impressions\nof childhood or of running rashly after new. Who rightly keeps a\nmiddle way? Let him appear and make good his pretensions. There is\nno principle, however natural to us even from childhood, which may\nnot be made to pass for a false impression either of education or of\nsense.\n\n\"Because,\" say some, \"you have believed from childhood that a box\nwas empty when you saw nothing in it, you have therefore believed\nthe possibility of a vacuum. This is an illusion of your senses,\nstrengthened by custom, which science must correct.\" \"Because,\" say\nothers, \"you were taught at school that there is no such thing as\na vacuum, your common sense, which clearly comprehended the matter\nbefore, is corrupted, and you must correct this false impression by\nreturning to your primitive nature.\" Which has deceived you, your\nsenses or your education?\n\nDiseases are another source of error. They impair our judgment and\nour senses, and if the more violent produce a sensible change, I\ndo not doubt that slighter ailments produce each its proportionate\nimpression.\n\nOur own interest is again a wonderful instrument for putting out our\neyes in a pleasant way. The man of greatest probity can not be judge\nin his own cause; I know some who that they may not fall into this\nself love are, out of opposition, thoroughly unjust. The certain way\nof ruining a just cause has been to get it recommended to these men\nby their near relatives.\n\nJustice and truth are two such subtle points, that our instruments\nare too blunt to touch them accurately. If they attain the point\nthey cover it so completely that they rest more often on the wrong\nthan the right.\n\n\nThere is internecine war in man between the reason and the passions.\n\nIf he had only reason without passions....\n\nIf he had only passions without reason....\n\nBut having both he must have continual strife, since he cannot be at\npeace with one unless he be at war with the other. Hence he is always\ndivided against and contrary to himself.\n\n\nThe habit of seeing kings accompanied by guards, drums, officers\nand all those things which mechanically incline man to respect and\nterror, causes their countenance, when now and then seen alone, and\nwithout these accompaniments, to impress respect and terror on their\nsubjects, because our thought cannot separate their personality from\nthose surroundings with which it is ordinarily joined. And the world\nwhich does not know that the effect arises from habit, believes that\nit arises from natural force, and hence come such expressions as:\n\"The character of Divinity is imprinted on his countenance,\" etc.\n\n\nThe power of kings is based both on the reason and the folly of the\npeople, and mainly on their folly. The greatest and most important\nmatter in the world has weakness for its foundation, and this\nfoundation is admirably sure, for there is nothing more sure than\nthis, that the people will be weak. What is founded on sound reason\nis very ill founded, as the value of wisdom.\n\n\nThe chancellor is grave, and clothed with ornaments, for his position\nis unreal. Not so the king, he has power and nothing to do with\nimagination. Judges, doctors, etc., depend solely on imagination.\n\n\nEmpire founded on opinion and imagination lasts some time, the rule\nis gentle and willingly accepted; that founded on power lasts for\never. Thus opinion is, as it were, queen of the world, but power is\nits tyrant.\n\nPower is the queen of the world, not opinion, but opinion makes use\nof power.\n\nPower creates opinion. Gentleness is beautiful, as we think. Why?\nBecause he who goes to extremes will be alone, and I will make a\nstronger cabal of people who will say it is inexpedient.\n\n\nThe cords attached by the respect of man for man, are, for the most\npart, cords of necessity, for there must be different degrees, all\nmen wishing to rule, but not all being able to do so, though some are\nable.\n\nLet us suppose then we see men beginning to form a society. They will\nno doubt fight till the stronger party gets the better of the weaker,\nand a dominant party is constituted. But so soon as this is once\nsettled, the masters not wishing that the strife should continue,\ndeclare that the power in their hands shall be transmitted as they\nplease, some placing it in the choice of the people, others in the\nsuccession of birth, etc.\n\nAnd here imagination begins to play her part. Till now power has\nconstrained facts, now power is upheld by imagination in a certain\nparty, in France that of the nobles, in Switzerland that of the\nburgesses, etc.\n\nThe cords therefore which bind the respect of men to any given man\nare the cords of imagination.\n\n\nOur imagination so enlarges the present by dint of continually\nreflecting on it, and so contracts eternity, by never reflecting on\nit, that we make a nothing of eternity and an eternity of nothing;\nand all this has such living roots in us, that all our reason cannot\nsuppress them, and that....\n\n\nThe imagination enlarges little objects so as to fill our soul with\nits fantastic estimate, and by a rash insolence belittles the great\nto its own measure, as when it speaks of God.\n\n\nThings which have the greatest hold on us, as the concealing\nour small possessions, are often a mere nothing. It is a nothing\nwhich our imagination magnifies into a mountain, another turn of\nimagination would make us discover its nothingness without difficulty.\n\n\nTwo faces which resemble each other, neither of which alone causes\nour laughter, make us laugh, when together, by their resemblance.\n\n\nChildren who are frightened at the face they have daubed are mere\nchildren, but how shall one who is so weak when a child grow truly\nstrong as he grows old? We only change our fancies.\n\n\nAll that is brought to perfection by progress perishes also by\nprogress. All that has been weak can never be absolutely strong. It\nis in vain to say, \"He has grown, he has changed.\" He is also the\nsame.\n\n\nMy fancy makes me hate a man who breathes hard when he is eating.\nFancy has great weight. Will you profit by yielding to this weight\nbecause it is natural? No; but by resisting it.\n\n\n_Prejudice leading into error._--It is a deplorable thing to see all\nmen deliberating on means alone, and not on the end. Every man thinks\nhow he may acquit himself in his condition, but as for the choice of\ncondition or of country, chance gives them to us.\n\nIt is a pitiable thing, to see so many Turks, heretics and infidels,\nfollow the way of their fathers for the simple reason that each has\nbeen told it is the best. And that fixes for each man his condition,\nlocksmith, soldier, etc.\n\nTherefore savages would care nothing for Provence.\n\n\n_Ferox gens, nullam esse vitam sine armis rati._ They love death\nrather than peace, other men love death rather than war.\n\nEvery opinion may be held in preference to life, of which the love\nseems so strong and so natural.\n\n\n_Thoughts._--All is one, all is diverse. How many natures in that of\nman, how many vocations! And by what a chance does each man take\nordinarily what he has heard praised. A well turned heel.\n\n\n_The heel of a slipper._--How well this is turned, here is a clever\nworkman, how brave is this soldier! Such is the source of our\ninclinations and of the choice of conditions. How much this man\ndrinks, how little that man! That is what makes men sober or drunken,\nsoldiers, cowards, etc.\n\n\n_Glory._--Admiration spoils everything from infancy. How well said,\nhow well done, how clever he is! etc.\n\nThe children of Port Royal, who are not urged with this spur of envy\nand glory, become careless.\n\n\n_Glory._--The brutes have no admiration for each other. A horse does\nnot admire his companion. Not but that they have their rivalries in\na race, but that entails no consequences, for once in the stable the\nheaviest and most ill-formed does not yield his oats to another,\nas men would expect from others in their own case. Their virtue is\nsatisfied with itself.\n\n\nFirst degree: to be blamed for doing evil, and praised for doing\ngood. Second degree: to be neither praised nor blamed.\n\n\nBrave deeds are most estimable when hidden. When I see some of these\nin history they please me much. But after all they have not been\nwholly hidden, since they have become known. And though all has been\ndone to hide them that could be done, the little whereby they have\nappeared has spoiled all, for what was finest in them was the desire\nto hide them.\n\n\nWe are not content with the life we have in ourselves and in our\nown being, we wish to live an imaginary life in the idea of others,\nand to this end we strive to make a show. We labour incessantly to\nembellish and preserve this imaginary being, and we neglect the true.\nAnd if we have either calmness, generosity, or fidelity, we hasten to\nlet it be known, that we may attach these virtues to that imaginary\nbeing; we would even part with them for this end, and gladly become\ncowards for the reputation of valour. It is a great mark of the\nnothingness of our own being that we are not satisfied with the one\nwithout the other, and that we often renounce one for the other. For\nhe would be infamous who would not die to preserve his honour.\n\n\n_Vocations._--The sweetness of glory is so great that join it to what\nwe will, even to death, we love it.\n\n\nEvil is easy, and its forms are infinite; good is almost unique. But\na certain kind of evil is as difficult to find as what is called\ngood; and often on this account this particular kind of evil gets\npassed off as good. There is even needed an extraordinary greatness\nof soul to attain to it as well as to good.\n\n\nWe are so presumptuous that we would fain be known by the whole\nworld, even by those who shall come after, when we are no more. And\nwe are such triflers that the esteem of five or six persons about us\ndiverts and contents us.\n\n\nVanity is so anchored in the heart of man that a soldier, a\ncamp-follower, a cook, a porter makes his boasts, and is for having\nhis admirers; even philosophers wish for them. Those who write\nagainst it, yet desire the glory of having written well, those who\nread, desire the glory of having read; I who write this have, may be,\nthis desire, and perhaps those who will read it....\n\n\nIn towns through which we pass we care not whether men esteem us, but\nwe do care if we have to live there any time. How long is needed? A\ntime in proportion to our vain and fleeting life.\n\n\nThe condition of man; inconstancy, weariness, unrest.\n\n\nWhoever will know fully the vanity of man has but to consider the\ncauses and the effects of love. The cause is an unknown quantity, and\nthe effects are terrible. This unknown quantity, so small a matter\nthat we cannot recognise it, moves a whole country, princes, armies,\nand all the world.\n\nCleopatra's nose: had it been shorter, the face of the world had been\nchanged.\n\n\nNothing better shows the frivolity of men than to consider what are\nthe causes and what the effects of love, for all the universe is\nchanged by them. Cleopatra's nose.\n\n\n_Frivolity._--The cause and the effects of love. Cleopatra.\n\n\nPride is a counterpoise, and turns the scale against all woes. Here\nis a strange monster, a very visible aberration. Behold him fallen\nfrom his place, and anxiously seeking it. That is what all men do.\nLet us see who has found it.\n\n\n_Contradiction._--Pride is a counterpoise to all miseries. Man either\nconceals them, or if he display them, glories in the knowledge of\nthem.\n\n\n_Of the desire of being esteemed by those with whom we are._--Pride\nhas a natural possession of us in the midst of our miseries, errors,\netc. We can even lose our life with joy, if men will but talk of it.\n\nVanity, play, hunting, visiting, false pretences, a lasting name.\n\n\n_Pride._--Curiosity is mere frivolity. For the most part we want to\nknow only for the sake of talking. People would not make voyages if\nthey were never to speak of them, for the sole pleasure of seeing,\nwithout hope of ever communicating their impressions.\n\n\n\n\n_OF JUSTICE, CUSTOMS, AND PREJUDICES._\n\n\nOn what shall man found the economy of the world which he would\nfain govern? If on the caprice of each man, all is confusion. If on\njustice, man is ignorant of it.\n\nCertainly had he known it, he would not have established the maxim,\nmost general of all current among men, that every one must conform to\nthe manners of his own country; the splendour of true equity would\nhave brought all nations into subjection, and legislators would not\nhave taken as their model the fancies and caprice of Persians and\nGermans instead of stable justice. We should have seen it established\nin all the States of the world, in all times, whereas now we see\nneither justice nor injustice which does not change its quality\nupon changing its climate. Three degrees of latitude reverse all\njurisprudence, a meridian decides what is truth, fundamental laws\nchange after a few years of possession, right has its epochs, the\nentrance of Saturn into the Lion marks for us the origin of such and\nsuch a crime. That is droll justice which is bounded by a stream!\nTruth on this side of the Pyrenees, error on that.\n\nIt is admitted that justice is not in these customs, but that it\nresides in natural laws common to every country. This would no\ndoubt be maintained with obstinacy if the rash chance which has\ndisseminated human laws had lighted upon even one that is universal,\nbut the singularity of the matter is that owing to the vagaries of\nhuman caprice there is not one.\n\nTheft, incest, infanticide, parricide, all have found a place among\nvirtuous actions. Can there be any thing more absurd than that a\nman should have the right to kill me because he lives across the\nwater, and because his prince has a quarrel with mine, although I\nhave none with him? There are no doubt natural laws, but fair reason\nonce corrupted has corrupted all. _Nihil amplius nostrum est; quod\nnostrum dicimus, artis est. Ex senatus consultis, et plebiscitis\ncrimina exercentur. Ut olim vitiis, sic nunc legibus laboramus_.\n\nFrom this confusion it results that one declares the essence\nof justice to be the authority of the legislator, another, the\nconvenience of the sovereign, another, existing custom, and this is\nthe most sure; nothing which follows reason alone is just in itself,\nall shifts and changes with time; custom creates equity, by the\nsimple reason that this is received. It is the mystical foundation\nof its authority, whoever carries it back to first principles\nannihilates it. Nothing is so faulty as those laws which correct\nfaults. Whoever obeys them because they are just, obeys an imaginary\njustice, not law in its essence; it is altogether self-contained, it\nis law and nothing more. Whoever will examine its motive will find\nit so feeble and so slight that if he be not used to contemplate the\nmarvels of human imagination, he will wonder that a single century\nhas gained for it so much pomp and reverence. It is the art of\ndisturbance and of revolution to shake established customs, sounding\nthem to their source, to mark their want of authority and justice. We\nmust, it is said, return to the primitive and fundamental laws of the\nState, abolished by unjust custom. It is a game wherein we are sure\nto lose all; in this balance nothing would be true, yet the people\neasily lends an ear to such talk as this. They shake off the yoke as\nsoon as they recognise it, and the great profit by its ruin, and by\nthe ruin of those who have too curiously examined recognised customs.\nThis is why the wisest of law givers said that it was often necessary\nto cheat men for their good, and another, a good politician, _Quum\nveritatem qua liberetur ignoret, expedit quod fallatur_. We ought not\nto feel the truth that law is but usurpation; it was once introduced\nwithout reason, and has become reasonable; it is necessary to cause\nit to be regarded as eternal and authoritative, and to conceal the\nbeginning if we do not wish it should soon come to an end.\n\n\nI have passed much of my life believing that justice existed, and in\nthis I did not deceive myself, for there is justice according as God\nhas willed to reveal it to us. But I did not take it so, and in that\nI deceived myself, for I believed that our justice was essentially\njust, and that I had that whereby I was able to know and judge of\nit. But I so often find that my right judgment was at fault, that at\nlast I have begun to distrust myself, and then others. I saw in all\ncountries that men change, and thus after many changes of judgment\nconcerning true justice, I recognised that our nature was a continual\nchange, and I have not changed since; were I to change I should but\nstrengthen my opinion. The sceptic Archesilas became a dogmatist.\n\n\nThe most unreasonable things in the world become most reasonable,\nbecause of the unruly lives of men. What is less reasonable than to\nchoose the eldest son of a queen to guide a state? for we do not\nchoose as steersman of a ship that one of the passengers who is of\nthe best family. Such a law would be ridiculous and unjust; but since\nthey are so themselves, and ever will be, it becomes reasonable and\njust. For would they choose the most virtuous and able, we at once\nfall to blows, since each asserts that he is the most virtuous and\nable. Let us then affix this quality to something which cannot be\ndisputed. This man is the king's eldest son. That is clear, and there\nis no dispute. Reason can do no better, for civil war is the worst of\nevils.\n\n\nMen of unruly lives assert that they alone follow nature, while those\nwho are orderly stray from her paths; as passengers in a ship think\nthat those move who stand upon the shore. Both sides say the same\nthing. There must be a fixed point to enable us to judge. The harbour\ndecides the question for those who are in the vessel, but where can\nwe find the harbour in morals?\n\n\nWhen all moves equally, nothing seems to move, as in a ship. When all\ntend to vice, none appears to do so. Whoever stops draws attention to\nthe onward movement of others, as does a fixed point.\n\nJustice is what is established, and thus all our established laws are\nnecessarily held to be just without being examined, because they are\nestablished.\n\n\n_Justice._--As fashion makes what is agreeable, so it makes what is\njust.\n\n\nOur natural principles are but principles of custom. In children\nnatural principles are those which they have received from the habits\nof their fathers, as hunting in animals.\n\nA different custom will produce different natural principles. This\nexperience testifies, and if there are some natural principles\nineradicable by custom, so are there some customs opposed to nature\nineradicable by nature, or by a second custom. This depends on\nconstitution.\n\n\nFathers fear that the natural love of their children may be effaced.\nNow what sort of thing is that nature which is liable to be effaced.\nCustom is a second nature which destroys the former. But what is\nnature, for is not custom natural? I am greatly afraid that nature\nitself may be only our first custom, as custom is second nature.\n\n\nMontaigne was wrong: custom should only be followed because it is\ncustom, and not because it is reasonable or just; but most men follow\nit for the simple reason that they think it just. Otherwise they\nwould not follow it though it were the custom, for our only desire is\nto be subjected to reason or to justice. Without this, custom would\npass for tyranny, but the empire of reason and justice is no more\ntyrannical than that of choice. These are principles natural to man.\n\nIt is then good to obey laws and customs because they are laws, but\nwe ought to know that there is neither truth nor justice to introduce\ninto them, that we know nothing about these, and can therefore only\nfollow what is recognised, and thus we should never transgress them.\nBut most men cannot receive this doctrine, and since they believe\nthat truth can be found, and that it resides in law and custom, they\nbelieve these laws, and take their antiquity as a proof of their\ntruth, and not merely of their authority apart from truth. Thus they\nobey the laws, but are liable to revolt when these are shown to be\nof no value; and this may be proved of all of them, looked at from a\ncertain point of view.\n\n\n_Injustice._--The authority of the judge is not given him for his\nsake, but for that of the judged. It is dangerous to say this to the\npeople, but the people have too much faith in you; that will not harm\nthem, and may serve you. You must then say it openly. _Pasce oves\nmeas_, not _tuas_. You owe me pasturage.\n\n\n_Injustice._--It is dangerous to say to the people that the laws\nare not just, for men obey them only because they think them just.\nTherefore it is necessary to say at the same time that they must\nbe obeyed because they are laws, as superiors must be obeyed, not\nbecause they are just, but because they are superiors. All sedition\nis averted, if this principle be established and it be understood\nwhat is rightly the definition of justice.\n\n\nIf God gave us masters direct from himself, how heartily ought we to\nobey them! Circumstances and necessity are infallible masters.\n\n\nCustom is our nature. Whoever is accustomed to the faith believes\nin it, can no longer even fear hell, and believes in nothing else.\nWhoever accustoms himself to believe that the king is terrible ...\netc. Who doubts then that our soul, being accustomed to see number,\nspace, and motion, believes that and nothing else?\n\n\n_Veri juris_; we have it no longer; had we it, we should not take the\nmanners of our country as our rule of justice.\n\nHere, not finding justice, we fall back on force, etc.\n\n\nIt is a ridiculous thing to consider that there are people in the\nworld who, having renounced all the laws of God and nature, have\nyet made laws for themselves which they exactly obey, as, for\ninstance, the soldiers of Mahomet, thieves, heretics, etc., and thus\nlogicians....\n\nIt seems as though their licence must be without limit or barrier,\nsince they have broken down so many that are just and holy.\n\n\n_Weakness._--The whole employment of men is to gain wealth; yet\nthey have no title to show that they justly possess it but human\ncaprice, nor have they power to hold it securely. It is the same with\nknowledge, of which disease deprives us. We are incapable both of\ntruth and of goodness.\n\n\nThe Swiss are offended if they are called noble, and bring proof of\ntheir plebeian race that they may be judged worthy of office.\n\n\nWhen the question is of judging whether we ought to make war and kill\nso many men, condemning so many Spaniards to death, there is only one\nman who is the judge, and he an interested party; there ought to be a\nthird, and he disinterested.\n\n\n\"Why do you kill me?--What! Do not you live on the other side of the\nstream, my friend? If you lived on this side I should be an assassin,\nand it were unjust to kill you in this fashion, but since you live on\nthe other side, I am a brave soldier, and it is just.\"\n\n\n_Justice, Power._--It is just that what is just should be obeyed, it\nis of necessity that what is strongest should be obeyed.\n\nJustice without power is unavailing, power without justice is\ntyrannical. Justice without power is gainsaid, because the wicked\nalways exist, power without justice is condemned. We must therefore\ncombine justice and power, making what is just strong, and what is\nstrong just.\n\nJustice is subject to dispute, power is easily recognised and cannot\nbe disputed. Thus we cannot give power to justice, because power has\narraigned justice, saying that justice is unjust, and she herself\ntruly just; so since we are unable to bring about that what is just\nshould be strong, we have made the strong just.\n\n\nThe sole universal rules are the laws of the country in ordinary\naffairs, and the law of the majority in others. And this comes from\nthe power which is in them.\n\nThus it comes that kings, whose power is of another kind, do not\nfollow the majority of their ministers.\n\nNo doubt equality of goods is just, but since they are unable to\nbring about that power should obey justice, people have judged it\nright to obey power; not being able to add power to justice they\nhave justified power, so that justice and power should coalesce, and\npeace, the sovereign good, result.\n\n\nDo we follow the majority because they have more reason? No; but\nbecause they have more power.\n\nDo we follow ancient laws and opinions because they are more sound?\nNo; but because they stand alone and take from us the root of\ndiversity.\n\n\n_Summum jus, summa injuria._\n\nThe way of the majority is the best way, because it is plain, and has\npower to make itself obeyed; yet it is the opinion of the least able.\n\nIf men could have done so, they would have placed power in the hands\nof justice, since we cannot deal with power as we please, because it\nis a tangible quality, while justice is a spiritual quality of which\nwe dispose as we please, they have placed justice in the hands of\npower, and thus that is called just which we are forced to obey.\n\nThence arises the right of the sword, for the sword gives a true\nright.\n\nOtherwise we should see violence on one side and justice on the\nother. The end of the twelfth _Provincial_.\n\nThence the injustice of the Fronde, which raises its so-called\njustice against power.\n\nIt is not the same in the Church, for there is true justice and no\nviolence.\n\n\n_Injustice._--That presumption should be joined to insignificance is\nextreme injustice.\n\n\nTyranny consists in the desire of universal rule outside its sphere.\n\nThere are different societies, in which are the strong, the fair,\nthe judicious, the devout, in which each man rules at home, not\nelsewhere. Sometimes they meet, and the strong and the fair contend\nfor the mastery, foolishly, for their mastery is each in a different\nkind. They do not agree, and their fault is that each aims at\nuniversal dominion. None can obtain this, not even power, which is\nof no avail in the realm of the wise; she is only mistress of our\nexternal actions.\n\n_Tyranny._--Thus the following expressions are false and tyrannical:\n\"I am beautiful, therefore I should be feared; I am strong, therefore\nI should be loved. I am....\"\n\nTyranny is the wishing to have in one way what can only be had in\nanother. Divers duties are owing to divers merits, the duty of love\nto the pleasant, of fear to the strong, of belief to the wise.\n\nThese duties should be paid, it is unjust to refuse them, unjust also\nto require others. In the same way it is false and tyrannous to say,\n\"He is not strong, therefore I will not esteem him; he is not clever,\ntherefore I will not fear him.\"\n\n\nIt is necessary that men should be unequal. True; but that being\ngranted, the door is open, not only to the greatest domination, but\nto the greatest tyranny.\n\nIt is necessary to relax the mind a little, but that opens the door\nto extreme dissipation.\n\nWe must mark the limits.--There are no fixed boundaries in these\nmatters, law wishes to impose them, but the mind will not bear them.\n\n\n_Mine, Thine._--\"This is my dog,\" say poor children, \"that is my\nplace in the sunshine.\" Here is the beginning and the image of the\nusurpation of the whole earth.\n\n\nGood birth is a great advantage, for it gives a man a chance at the\nage of eighteen, making him known and respected as an ordinary man is\non his merits at fifty. Here are thirty years gained at a stroke.\n\nIt is the result of power and not of custom. For those who are able\nto originate are few, the greater number will only follow, and refuse\nglory to those inventors who seek it by their inventions. And if they\npersist in wishing to gain glory, and in despising those who do not\noriginate, the others will give them ridicule and would fain give\nthem blows. Let no one then pride himself on this subtle capacity, or\nelse let him keep his content to himself.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--It is strange that men would not have me\nhonour a man clothed in brocade, and followed by seven or eight\nfootmen! Yet he will have them give me the strap if I do not salute\nhim. This custom is a power. It is the same with a horse in fine\ntrappings compared with another. It is odd that Montaigne does not\nsee what difference there is, wonders that we find any, and asks the\nreason. \"Indeed,\" he says, \"how comes it,\" etc....\n\n\nWhen power attacks craft, when a mere soldier takes the square cap of\na first president, and flings it out of the window.\n\n\n_Injustice_.--Men have found no means to gratify their sensuality\nwithout wrong to others.\n\n\nThe greatness of man even in his sensuality, to have known how to\nextract from it an admirable code, and to have drawn from it a\npicture of love to others.\n\n\n_Greatness._--The reasons of effects mark the greatness of man, in\nhaving formed so fair an order out of sensuality.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--Sensuality and power are the source of all\nour actions; sensuality causes those which are voluntary, power the\ninvoluntary.\n\n\nFrom sensuality men have found and drawn excellent rules of policy,\nof morals, and of justice.\n\nBut after all, this evil root of man, this _figmentum malum_, is only\nhidden, it is not removed.\n\nAll men by nature hate each other. They have used sensuality as best\nthey could to make it serve the public weal, but this is only a\nfeint, and a false image of charity, for at bottom it is but hate.\n\n\nTo pity the unfortunate is not contrary to sensuality, rather is\nit easy to render this evidence of friendship, and to gain the\nreputation of a tender heart, without giving.\n\nThe people have very sound opinions, for instance:\n\n1. In having preferred diversion and hunting to poetry. The half\neducated deride this, and are triumphant over the folly of the\nworld, but the people are right by a reason which the others do not\nunderstand.\n\n2. In distinguishing men by outward marks, as birth or wealth. The\nworld is again triumphant in showing how unreasonable this is, yet it\nis thoroughly reasonable. Savages laugh at an infant king.\n\n3. In taking offence at a blow, or in desiring glory so strongly.\n\nBut it is very desirable, on account of the other essential goods\nwhich are joined to it, and a man who has received a blow without\nresenting it is overwhelmed with abuse and indignity.\n\n4. In working for an uncertainty, in going on a sea voyage, in\nwalking over a plank.\n\n\n_Sound opinions of the people._--Civil wars are the greatest of all\nevils. They are certain, if we try to reward desert, for all will say\nthey deserve. The evil to fear from a fool who succeeds by right of\nbirth, is neither so great nor so certain.\n\n\n_Sound opinions of the people._--To be well dressed is not altogether\nfoolish, for it proves that a great number of people work for us. It\nshows by our hair, that we have a valet, a perfumer, etc.; by our\nband, our thread, our trimming, etc. Now it is not merely superficial\nnor simply outward show to have many arms at our disposal.\n\nThe more arms we have the stronger we are. To be well dressed is to\nshow our power.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--Continual alternation of _pro_ and _con._\n\nWe have then shown that man is frivolous, by the estimation he has of\nnon-essentials. And all these opinions are destroyed. We have next\nshown that all these opinions were perfectly sound, and that thus all\nthese frivolities being well founded, the people are not so frivolous\nas is said. And thus we have destroyed the opinion which destroyed\nthat of the people.\n\nBut we must now destroy this last proposition, and show that it\nremains always true that the people are frivolous, though its opinions\nare sound, because it does not feel the truth where it is, and\nplacing it where it is not, its opinions are always very false and\nvery unsound.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--It is, then, true to say that all men are\nunder an illusion, for even though the opinions of the people be\nsound, they are not so as they hold them, for they think that truth\nis where it is not. Truth is indeed in their opinions, but not at the\npoint where they imagine it.\n\nThus, it is true that we should honour men of birth, but not because\ngood birth is in itself an advantage, etc.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--Gradation. The people honours persons of\nhigh birth. The half-educated despise them, saying that birth is\nnot a personal, but a chance advantage. The educated honour them,\nnot from the motives of the people, but from another motive. Devout\npersons of more zeal than knowledge despise them, in spite of that\nconsideration which makes them honoured by the educated, because they\njudge by a new light arising from their piety. But true Christians\nhonour them by a still higher light. So there is a succession of\nopinions for and against, according to the measure of our light.\n\n\nHow rightly do men distinguish by exterior rather than by interior\nqualities! Which of us twain shall take the lead? Who will give place\nto the other? The least able? But I am as able as he is. We should\nhave to fight about that. He has four footmen, and I have but one;\nthat is something which can be seen; there is nothing to do but to\ncount; it is my place to yield, and I am a fool if I contest it. So\nby this means we remain at peace, the greatest of all blessings.\n\n\nDeference is shown by submitting to personal inconvenience. This\nis apparently foolish but really just, for it is to say, \"I would\ncertainly put myself to inconvenience did you need it, since I do so\nwhen it can be of no service to you.\" Respect, moreover, is for the\npurpose of marking distinctions of rank. Now if it showed respect to\nbe seated in an arm-chair, we should pay respect to every body, and\nthus no distinction would be made, but being put to inconvenience we\ndistinguish very well.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--We should keep our own secret thoughts, and\njudge of all by those, while speaking like every one else.\n\n\n_King and tyrant._--I too will have my secret thoughts. I will take\ncare on every journey.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--Epictetus. Those who say \"You have a\nheadache,\" this is not the same thing. We are assured of health, and\nnot of justice, and indeed his own was folly.\n\nYet he believed it demonstrable when he said, \"it is either in our\npower or it is not.\"\n\nBut he did not see that it is not in our power to regulate the heart,\nand he was wrong to draw this conclusion from the fact that some were\nChristians.\n\n\n_The reason of effects._--It is owing to the weakness of man that so\nmany things are esteemed beautiful, as to be well skilled in playing\nthe lute.\n\nIt is only an evil because of our weakness.\n\n\n\n\n_THE WEAKNESS, UNREST, AND DEFECTS OF MAN._\n\n\n_The Misery of Man._--We care nothing for the present. We anticipate\nthe future as too slow in coming, as if we could make it move faster;\nor we call back the past, to stop its rapid flight. So imprudent\nare we that we wander through the times in which we have no part,\nunthinking of that which alone is ours; so frivolous are we that\nwe dream of the days which are not, and pass by without reflection\nthose which alone exist. For the present generally gives us pain;\nwe conceal it from our sight because it afflicts us, and if it be\npleasant we regret to see it vanish away. We endeavour to sustain\nthe present by the future, and think of arranging things not in our\npower, for a time at which we have no certainty of arriving.\n\nIf we examine our thoughts, we shall find them always occupied with\nthe past or the future. We scarcely think of the present, and if we\ndo so, it is only that we may borrow light from it to direct the\nfuture. The present is never our end; the past and the present are\nour means, the future alone is our end. Thus we never live, but hope\nto live, and while we always lay ourselves out to be happy, it is\ninevitable that we can never be so.\n\n\nWe are so unhappy that we cannot take pleasure in a thing, save on\ncondition of being troubled if it turn out ill, as a thousand things\nmay do, and do every hour. He who should find the secret of rejoicing\nin good without being troubled at its contrary evil, would have hit\nthe mark. It is perpetual motion.\n\n\nOur nature exists by motion; perfect rest is death.\n\n\nWhen we are well we wonder how we should get on if we were sick,\nbut when sickness comes we take our medicine cheerfully, into that\nthe evil resolves itself. We have no longer those passions and that\ndesire for amusement and gadding abroad, which were ours in health,\nbut are now incompatible with the necessities of our disease. So then\nnature gives us passions and desires in accordance with the immediate\nsituation. Nothing troubles us but fears, which we, and not nature,\nmake for ourselves, because fear adds to the condition in which we\nare the passions of the condition in which we are not.\n\nSince nature makes us always unhappy in every condition, our desires\npaint for us a happy condition, joining to that in which we are, the\npleasures of the condition in which we are not, and were we to gain\nthese pleasures we should not therefore be happy, because we should\nhave other desires conformable to this new estate.\n\nWe must particularize this general proposition....\n\n\nWhat difference in point of obedience is there between a soldier\nand a Carthusian? For both are alike under rule and dependent, both\nengaged in equally irksome labours. But the soldier always hopes to\nbear rule, and though he never does so, for even captains and princes\nare always slaves and dependents, he ever hopes and ever works to\nattain mastery, whereas the Carthusian makes a vow never to be aught\nelse than dependent. Thus they do not differ in their perpetual\nservitude, which is the same always for both, but in the hope which\none always has, the other never.\n\n\nThe example of Alexander's chastity has not made so many continent\nas that of his drunkenness has made intemperate. It is not shameful\nto be less virtuous than he, and it seems excusable to be no more\nvicious. We do not think ourselves wholly partakers in the vices\nof ordinary men, when we see that we share those of the great, not\nconsidering that in such matters the great are but ordinary men. We\nhold on to them by the same end by which they hold on to the people,\nfor at whatsoever height they be, they are yet united at some\npoint to the lowest of mankind. They are not suspended in the air,\nabstracted from our society. No, doubly no; if they are greater than\nwe, it is because their heads are higher; but their feet are as low\nas ours. There all are on the same level, resting on the same earth,\nand by the lower extremity are as low as we are, as the meanest men,\nas children, and the brutes.\n\n\nGreat men and little have the same accidents, the same tempers, the\nsame passions, but one is on the felloe of the wheel, the other near\nthe axle, and so less agitated by the same revolutions.\n\n\nWould he who had enjoyed the friendship of the King of England, the\nKing of Poland, and the Queen of Sweden have thought he should come\nto want, and need a retreat or shelter in the world?\n\n\nMan is full of wants, and cares only for those who can satisfy them\nall. \"Such an one is a good mathematician,\" it is said. But I have\nnothing to do with mathematics, he would take me for a proposition.\n\"This other is a good soldier.\" He would treat me as a besieged city.\nI need then an honourable man who can lend himself generally to all\nmy wants.\n\n\nMen say that eclipses presage misfortune, because misfortunes are\ncommon, so that as evil often happens they often divine it; whereas\nto say that they presage happiness would often prove false. They\nattribute happiness only to rare planetary conjunctions, and thus\nthey seldom fail in their divination.\n\n\nWe are fools if we rest content with the society of those like\nourselves; miserable as we are, powerless as we are, they will not\naid us, we shall die alone. We ought therefore to act as though we\nwere alone, and should we in that case build superb mansions, etc.?\nWe should search for truth unhesitatingly, and if we refuse it, we\nshow that we value the esteem of men more than the search for truth.\n\n\nThe last act is tragic, how pleasantly soever the play may have run\nthrough the others. At the end a little earth is flung on our head,\nand all is over for ever.\n\n\nI feel that I might not have been, for the 'I' consists in my\nthought; therefore I, who think, had not been had my mother been\nkilled before I had life. So I am not a necessary being. Neither\nam I eternal nor infinite, but I see plainly there is in nature a\nnecessary being, eternal and infinite.\n\n\nAs duchies, kingships, and magistracies are real and necessary,\nbecause power rules all, these exist every where and always. But\nsince it is only caprice which makes one or another duke or king, the\nrule is not constant, and may vary, etc.\n\n\nCromwell was about to ravage the whole of Christendom, the royal\nfamily had been brought to nought, and his own dynasty for ever\nestablished, but for a little grain of sand in his bladder. Rome\nherself began to tremble under him, but this scrap of gravel\nhaving got there, he dies, his family falls from power, peace is\nestablished, and the king restored.\n\n\n_Scepticism._--Excessive or deficient mental powers are alike accused\nof madness. Nothing is good but mediocrity. The majority has settled\nthat, and assails whoever escapes it, no matter by which extreme. I\nmake no objection, would willingly consent to be in the mean, and\nI refuse to be placed at the lower end, not because it is low, but\nbecause it is an extreme, for I would equally refuse to be placed at\nthe top. To leave the mean is to leave humanity. The greatness of the\nhuman soul consists in knowing how to keep the mean. So little is it\nthe case that greatness consists in leaving it, that it lies in not\nleaving it.\n\n\nDiscourses on humility give occasion for pride to the boastful, and\nfor humility to the humble. Those on scepticism give occasion for\nbelievers to affirm. Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely\nof chastity, few of scepticism doubtingly. We are but falsehood,\nduplicity and contradiction, using even to ourselves concealment and\nguile.\n\n\nThere are vices which only take hold of us by means of others, and\nthese, like branches, fall with the removal of the trunk.\n\n\nFor we must not mistake ourselves, we have as much that is automatic\nin us as intellectual, and hence it comes that the instrument by\nwhich persuasion is brought about is not demonstration alone. How few\nthings are demonstrated! Proofs can only convince the mind; custom\nmakes our strongest proofs and those which we hold most firmly, it\nsways the automaton, which draws the unconscious intellect after it.\nWho has demonstrated that there will be a to-morrow, or that we shall\ndie; yet what is more universally believed? It is then custom that\nconvinces us of it, custom that makes so many men Christians, custom\nthat makes them Turks, heathen, artisans, soldiers, etc. Lastly, we\nmust resort to custom when once the mind has seen where truth is,\nin order to slake our thirst, and steep ourselves in that belief,\nwhich escapes us at every hour, for to have proofs always at hand\nwere too onerous. We must acquire a more easy belief, that of custom,\nwhich without violence, without art, without argument, causes our\nassent and inclines all our powers to this belief, so that our soul\nnaturally falls into it. It is not enough to believe only by force\nof conviction if the automaton is inclined to believe the contrary.\nBoth parts of us then must be obliged to believe, the intellect by\narguments which it is enough to have admitted once in our lives,\nthe automaton by custom, and by not allowing it to incline in the\ncontrary direction. _Inclina cor meum, Deus._\n\n\nThe intellect believes naturally, and the will loves naturally, so\nthat for lack of true objects, they must needs attach themselves to\nthe false.\n\n\n_Eritis sicut dii, scientes bonum et malum._--Every one plays the god\nin judging whether anything be good or bad, and in being too much\nafflicted or rejoiced at circumstances.\n\n\nEven if people have no interest in what they say, it must not\ntherefore be certainly concluded they are not lying, for there are\nthose who lie simply for lying's sake.\n\n\nMen are of necessity so mad, that not to be mad were madness in\nanother form.\n\n\nWe cannot think of Plato and Aristotle, save in professorial robes.\nThey were honest men like others, laughing with their friends,\nand when they amused themselves with writing the _Laws_ or the\n_Politics_, they did it as a pastime. That part of their life was\nthe least philosophic and the least serious; the most philosophic\nwas to live simply and quietly. If they wrote on politics it was as\nthough they were laying down rules for a madhouse, and if they made\nas though they were speaking of a great matter, it was because they\nknew that the madmen to whom they spoke fancied themselves kings and\nemperors. They entered into their views in order to make their folly\nas little harmful as possible.\n\n\nThe most important affair in life is the choice of a trade, yet\nchance decides it. Custom makes men masons, soldiers, tilers. \"He is\na good tiler,\" says one, \"and soldiers are fools.\" But others: \"There\nis nothing great but war, all but soldiers are rogues.\" We choose our\nprofessions according as we hear this or that praised or despised\nin our childhood, for we naturally love truth and hate folly. These\nwords move us, the only fault is in their application. So great is\nthe force of custom that out of those who by nature are only men,\nare made all conditions of men. For some countries are full of\nmasons, others of soldiers, etc. Nature is certainly not so uniform.\nCustom then produces this effect and gains ascendency over nature,\nyet sometimes nature gets the upper hand, and obliges man to act by\ninstinct in spite of all custom, whether good or bad.\n\n\nMen by nature are tilers and of all callings, except in their own\nclosets.\n\n\nWe never teach men to be gentlemen, but we teach them everything\nelse, and they never pique themselves so much on all the rest as on\nknowing how to be gentlemen. They pique themselves only on knowing\nthe one thing they have not learnt.\n\n\nPeople should not be able to say of a man, he is a mathematician,\nor a preacher, or eloquent, but he is a gentleman; that universal\nquality alone pleases me.--When you think of a man's book as soon as\nyou see himself, it is a bad sign. I would rather that none of his\nqualities should be recognised till you meet them, or have occasion\nto avail yourself of them. _Ne quid nimis_, for fear some one quality\ngain the mastery and stamp the man. Let not people think of him as an\norator, unless oratory be in question, then let them think of it.\n\n\nNo man passes in the world as an expert in verse unless he hang\nout the sign of a poet, a mathematician, etc. But people who are\ngenerally accomplished need no sign and scarce recognise any\ndifference between the trade of a poet and that of an embroiderer.\n\nPeople of general accomplishment are not called poets or\ngeometricians, etc., though they are so, and judges of all these. You\ndo not guess what they are. When they enter a society they join in\nthe general conversation. They do not exhibit one quality rather than\nanother, except when they have to make use of it. Then we remember\nit, for it is natural to such characters that we do not say of them\nthat they are fine speakers when it is not a question of oratory, and\nthat we give them the praise of eloquence if occasion call for it.\n\nIt is false praise then to say of a man as soon as he enters a\nsociety that he is a clever poet, and it is a bad sign when a man is\nnever called on to give his opinion on such a subject as verse.\n\n\n_Inconstancy._--Things have different qualities, and the soul\ndifferent inclinations; for nothing is simple which presents itself\nto the soul, and the soul never presents itself simply to any\nsubject. Hence it comes that men laugh and weep at the same thing.\n\n\nGreatness of establishment, respect for establishment.\n\nThe pleasure of the great is to be able to make people happy.\n\nThe property of riches is to be given liberally.\n\nThe property of each thing should be sought out. The property of\npower is to protect.\n\n\nSaint Augustine saw that we labour for an uncertainty, at sea,\nin a battle, etc.; he did not see the doctrine of chances, which\ndemonstrates that we must do so. Montaigne saw that we are disgusted\nat a distorted mind, and that custom can do all things, but he did\nnot see the reason of that effect.\n\nAll these men saw the effects, but did not see the causes; in\nrelation to those who have discovered the causes they are as those\nwho have only eyes are in regard to those who have intellect. For the\neffects are as it were sensible, and the causes are visible only to\nthe intellect. And though these effects too are apprehended through\nreason, yet is it in relation to the reason which apprehends causes,\nas the bodily senses are to the intellect.\n\n\nSuppose a man puts himself at a window to see the passers by. If I\npass I cannot say that he stood there to see me, for he does not\nthink of me in particular. Nor does any one who loves another on\naccount of beauty really love that person, for the small-pox, which\nkills beauty without killing the person, will cause the loss of\nlove. Nor does one who loves me for my judgment, my memory, love me,\nmyself, for I may lose those qualities without losing my identity.\nWhere then is this 'I' if it reside not in the body nor in the soul,\nand how love the body or the soul, except for the qualities which do\nnot make '_me_,' since they are perishable? For it is not possible\nand it would be unjust to love the soul of a person in the abstract,\nand whatever qualities might be therein. So then we do not love a\nperson, but only qualities. We should not then sneer at those who are\nhonoured on account of rank and office, for we love no one save for\nborrowed qualities.\n\n\nTime heals all pain and misunderstanding, because we change and are\nno longer the same persons. Neither the offender nor the offended are\nany more themselves. It is like a nation which we have angered and\nmeet again after two generations. They are Frenchmen still, but not\nthe same.\n\n\n_Inconstancy and singularity._--To live only by labour, and to reign\nover the most powerful state in the world, are very opposite things.\nThey are united in the person of the grand Sultan of the Turks.\n\nIt pleases us to say 'Prince' to a king, because it lessens his\nquality.\n\n\n_Epigrams of Martial._--Men like malice, but not against one-eyed\nmen, nor against the unfortunate, but against the fortunate and\nproud. Those who think otherwise make a mistake.\n\nFor concupiscence is the source of all our movements, and humanity,\netc.\n\nWe must please those whose feelings are humane and tender.\n\nThat epigram about the two one-eyed people is valueless, for it\nbrings them no consolation, and only gives a point to the author's\nglory. All that is merely for the sake of the author is valueless.\n_Ambitiosa recidet ornamenta._\n\n\nI put it down as a fact that if all men knew what each said of the\nother, there would not be four friends in the world. This is evident\nfrom the quarrels which arise from indiscreet reports made from time\nto time.\n\n\nThose who are always hopeful in adversity, and rejoice in good\nluck, are suspected of being glad of failure should they not be\ncorrespondingly depressed under bad luck; they are delighted to find\npretexts for hoping, in order to show that they are interested, and\nto hide by the joy they pretend to feel that which they really feel\nat the ill success of the affair.\n\n\nMalignity when it has reason on its side becomes proud, and displays\nreason in all its splendour.\n\nIf austerity or a rigid choice have not found the true good, and we\nmust needs return to follow nature, it becomes proud by reason of\nthis return.\n\n\nA maker of epigrams,--a bad man.\n\n\nDo you wish men to believe good of you? Then say none.\n\n\nWe ought to be much obliged to those who tell us of our faults, for\nthey mortify us, they teach us we have been despised, they do not\nprevent our being so in the future, for we have many other faults\nwhich are despicable. They prepare for us the exercise of correction,\nand freedom from a fault.\n\n\nIf we would reprove with success, and show another his mistake, we\nmust see from what side he views the matter, for on that side it is\ngenerally true, and admitting that truth, show him the side on which\nit is false. He will be satisfied, for he will see that he was not\nmistaken, only that he did not see all sides. Now, no one is vexed\nat not seeing every thing. But we do not like to be mistaken, and\nthat perhaps arises from the fact that man by nature cannot see\neverything, and that by nature he cannot be mistaken in the side he\nlooks at, since what we apprehend by our senses is always true.\n\n\nI passed a long time in the study of the abstract sciences, and was\nmuch discouraged at finding how few were my fellow-students. When I\nbegan the study of man I saw that these abstract sciences were not\nfit for him, and that I was wandering more from my true state in\ninvestigating them, than others in ignoring them. I forgave their\nscanty knowledge. But I thought at least to find many fellow-students\nin the study of man, and that this was the real study which befits\nus. I was deceived, for there are still fewer than those who study\nmathematics. It is only for want of knowing how to pursue this\nstudy that we seek others. But is it not that even here is not the\nknowledge that man should have, and that it is better for him to be\nignorant of himself in order to be happy?\n\n\n_The Vanity of Knowledge._--The knowledge of external things will not\nconsole me for my ignorance of ethics in time of affliction, but the\nscience of morals will always console me for my ignorance of external\nknowledge.\n\n\nThere are plants on the earth, we see them, but they could not be\nseen from the moon. On these plants are hairs, and in these hairs\ntiny animals, but beyond that, nothing more. O, presumption! Compound\nbodies are made up of elements, but not the elementary bodies\nthemselves. O presumption! Here is a fine distinction. We must not\nassert the existence of what we cannot see, we must then say what\nothers say, but not think with them.\n\n\nThe world's judgment is right, for it is in that condition of natural\nignorance which is man's best wisdom. The sciences have two extremes\nwhich meet. The first is that pure natural ignorance in which every\nman is born. The other extreme is that reached by great minds,\nwho having run through all that men can know, find that they know\nnothing, and again come round to the same ignorance from which they\nstarted; but this is a learned ignorance, conscious of itself. Those\nbetween the two, who have left their natural ignorance and not been\nable to reach the other, have some tincture of this vain knowledge,\nand assume to be wise. These trouble the world, and judge all things\nfalsely. The people and the wise make up the world; these despise it,\nand are despised; they judge ill of all things, and the world rightly\njudges of them.\n\n\nNature has made all her truths self-contained. Our art encloses them\none within another, but that is not according to nature. Each holds\nits own place.\n\n\n_Spongia solis._--When we see the same effect invariably recur we\nconclude there is in it a natural necessity, as that there will be\na to-morrow, etc. But nature often gives us the lie, and will not\nsubject herself to her own rules.\n\n\nNature always begins the same things again, years, days, and hours,\nand in like manner spaces and numbers follow each other, end without\nend. So is made a sort of infinity and eternity, not that any thing\nof these is infinite and eternal, but these finite entities are\ninfinitely multiplied.\n\nThus as it seems to me the number which multiplies them alone is\ninfinite.\n\n\nNature imitates herself. A seed sown in good ground brings forth\nfruit. A principle cast into a good mind brings forth fruit.\n\nNumbers imitate space, which is of an wholly different nature.\n\nAll is made and guided by one and the same master, root, branch and\nfruits; principles and consequences.\n\n\nNature works by progress, _itus et reditus_. It goes and returns,\nthen it goes further, then twice as much backwards, then more forward\nthan ever, etc.\n\nSo is it with the tide of the sea, and so apparently with the course\nof the sun.\n\n\nEvery one is all in all to himself, for he being dead, all is dead to\nhim. Hence it comes that each man believes that he is all to all. We\nought not to judge of nature by ourselves, but by it.\n\n\nSelf is hateful. You Miton, conceal self, but do not thereby destroy\nit, therefore you are still hateful.\n\n--Not so, for in acting as we do, to oblige every body, we give no\nreason for hating us.--True, if we only hated in self the vexation\nwhich it causes us.\n\nBut if I hate it because it is unjust, and because it makes itself\nthe centre of all, I shall always hate it.\n\nIn one word Self has two qualities, it is unjust in its essence\nbecause it makes itself the centre of all, it is inconvenient to\nothers, in that it would bring them into subjection, for each 'I' is\nthe enemy, and would fain be the tyrant of all others. You take away\nthe inconvenience, but not the injustice, and thus you do not render\nit loveable to those who hate injustice; you render it loveable only\nto the unjust, who find in it an enemy no longer. Thus you remain\nunjust and can please none but the unjust.\n\n_Of Self-love._--The nature of self-love and of this human 'I' is to\nlove self only, and consider self only. But what can it do? It cannot\nprevent the object it loves from being full of faults and miseries;\nman would fain be great and sees that he is little, would fain be\nhappy, and sees that he is miserable, would fain be perfect, and sees\nthat he is full of imperfections, would fain be the object of the\nlove and esteem of men, and sees that his faults merit only their\naversion and contempt. The embarrassment wherein he finds himself\nproduces in him the most unjust and criminal passion imaginable, for\nhe conceives a mortal hatred against that truth which blames him and\nconvinces him of his faults. Desiring to annihilate it, yet unable to\ndestroy it in its essence, he destroys it as much as he can in his\nown knowledge, and in that of others; that is to say, he devotes all\nhis care to the concealment of his faults, both from others and from\nhimself, and he can neither bear that others should show them to him,\nnor that they should see them.\n\nIt is no doubt an evil to be full of faults, but it is a greater evil\nto be full of them, yet unwilling to recognise them, because that\nis to add the further fault of a voluntary illusion. We do not like\nothers to deceive us, we do not think it just in them to require more\nesteem from us than they deserve; it is therefore unjust that we\nshould deceive them, desiring more esteem from them than we deserve.\n\nThus if they discover no more imperfections and vices in us than\nwe really have, it is plain they do us no wrong, since it is not\nthey who cause them; but rather they do us a service, since they\nhelp us to deliver ourselves from an evil, the ignorance of these\nimperfections. We ought not to be troubled that they know our faults\nand despise us, since it is but just they should know us as we are,\nand despise us if we are despicable.\n\nSuch are the sentiments which would arise in a heart full of equity\nand justice. What should we say then of our own heart, finding in\nit an wholly contrary disposition? For is it not true that we hate\ntruth, and those who tell it us, and that we would wish them to have\nan erroneously favourable opinion of us, and to esteem us other than\nindeed we are?\n\nOne proof of this fills me with dismay. The Catholic religion does\nnot oblige us to tell out our sins indiscriminately to all, it allows\nus to remain hidden from men in general, but she excepts one alone,\nto whom she commands us to open the very depths of our heart, and to\nshow ourselves to him as we are. There is but this one man in the\nworld whom she orders us to undeceive; she binds him to an inviolable\nsecrecy, so that this knowledge is to him as though it were not. We\ncan imagine nothing more charitable and more tender. Yet such is the\ncorruption of man, that he finds even this law harsh, and it is one\nof the main reasons which has set a large portion of Europe in revolt\nagainst the Church.\n\nHow unjust and unreasonable is the human heart which finds it hard\nto be obliged to do in regard to one man what in some degree it were\njust to do to all men. For is it just that we should deceive them?\n\nThere are different degrees in this dislike to the truth, but it may\nbe said that all have it in some degree, for it is inseparable from\nself-love. This false delicacy causes those who must needs reprove\nothers to choose so many windings and modifications in order to avoid\nshocking them. They must needs lessen our faults, seem to excuse\nthem, mix praises with their blame, give evidences of affection and\nesteem. Yet this medicine is always bitter to self-love, which takes\nas little as it can, always with disgust, often with a secret anger\nagainst those who administer it.\n\nHence it happens, that if any desire our love, they avoid doing us a\nservice which they know to be disagreeable; they treat us as we would\nwish to be treated: we hate the truth, and they hide it from us; we\nwish to be flattered, they flatter us; we love to be deceived, they\ndeceive us.\n\nThus each degree of good fortune which raises us in the world removes\nus further from truth, because we fear most to wound those whose\naffection is most useful, and whose dislike is most dangerous. A\nprince may be the by-word of all Europe, yet he alone know nothing\nof it. I am not surprised; to speak the truth is useful to whom it\nis spoken, but disadvantageous to those who speak it, since it makes\nthem hated. Now those who live with princes love their own interests\nmore than that of the prince they serve, and thus they take care not\nto benefit him so as to do themselves a disservice.\n\nThis misfortune is, no doubt, greater and more common in the higher\nclasses, but lesser men are not exempt from it, since there is always\nan interest in making men love us. Thus human life is but a perpetual\nillusion, an interchange of deceit and flattery. No one speaks of us\nin our presence as in our absence. The society of men is founded on\nthis universal deceit: few friendships would last if every man knew\nwhat his friend said of him behind his back, though he then spoke in\nsincerity and without passion.\n\nMan is then only disguise, falsehood, and hypocrisy, both in himself\nand with regard to others. He will not be told the truth, he avoids\ntelling it to others, and all these tendencies, so far removed from\njustice and reason, have their natural roots in his heart.\n\n\n\n\n_THE HAPPINESS OF MAN WITH GOD_;\n\n_OR_,\n\n_THAT THE SCRIPTURE SHOWS A\nREDEEMER._\n\n\n\n\n_PREFACE TO THE SECOND PART._\n\n\nTo speak of those who have treated of this subject.\n\nI wonder at the boldness with which these persons undertake to speak\nof God, in addressing their words to the irreligious. Their first\nchapter is to prove Divinity by the works of nature. I should not be\nastonished at their undertaking if they addressed their argument to\nthe faithful, for it is certain that those who have a lively faith\nin their heart see at once that all that exists is none other than\nthe work of the God whom they adore. But for those in whom this light\nis extinguished, and in whom we desire to revive it, men destitute\nof faith and grace who, seeking with all their light whatever they\nsee in nature to lead them to this knowledge, find only clouds and\ndarkness,--to tell them they need only look at the smallest things\nwhich surround them in order to see God unveiled, to give them as\nthe sole proof of this great and important subject, the course of\nthe moon and planets, and to say that with such an argument we have\naccomplished the proof; is to give them ground for belief that the\nproofs of our Religion are very feeble. Indeed I see by reason and\nexperience that nothing is more fitted to excite contempt.\n\nNot after this fashion speaks the Scripture, which knows better than\nwe the things of God. It says, on the contrary, that God is a God who\nhides himself, and that since nature became corrupt, he has left men\nin a blindness from which they can only escape by Jesus Christ, and\nexcept through him we are cut off from all communication with God.\n_Nemo novit Patrem, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare._\n\nThis is what Scripture indicates when it says in so many places that\nthose who seek God find him. It is not of a light like the sun at\nnoonday that they thus speak. No one says that those who seek the\nsun at noonday, or water in the sea shall find them, and thus it\nfollows that the evidence for God is not of that kind. Therefore it\nsays to us elsewhere: _Vere tu es Deus absconditus_.\n\n\nThe metaphysical proofs of God are so apart from man's reason, and so\ncomplicated that they are but little striking, and if they are of use\nto any, it is only during the moment that the demonstration is before\nthem, but an hour afterwards they fear they have been mistaken.\n\n_Quod curiositate cognoverint, superbia amiserunt._\n\nSuch is the outcome of the knowledge of God gained without Jesus\nChrist, for this is to communicate without a mediator with the God\nwhom they have known without a mediator.\n\nInstead of which those who have known God by a mediator know their\nown wretchedness.\n\n\nJesus Christ is the goal of all, and the centre to which all tends.\nWho knows him knows the reason of all things.\n\nThose who go astray only do so from failing to see one of these\ntwo things. It is then possible to know God without knowing our\nwretchedness, and to know our wretchedness without knowing God; but\nwe cannot know Jesus Christ without knowing at the same time God and\nour wretchedness.\n\nTherefore I do not here undertake to prove by natural reasons either\nthe existence of God or the Trinity, or the immortality of the soul,\nnor anything of that sort, not only because I do not feel myself\nstrong enough to find in nature proofs to convince hardened atheists,\nbut also, because this knowledge without Jesus Christ is useless\nand barren. Though a man should be persuaded that the proportions\nof numbers are immaterial truths, eternal, and dependent on a first\ntruth in whom they subsist, and who is called God, I should not\nconsider him far advanced towards his salvation.\n\nThe God of Christians is not a God who is simply the author of\nmathematical truths, or of the order of the elements, as is the\ngod of the heathen and of Epicureans. Nor is he merely a God who\nprovidentially disposes the life and fortunes of men, to crown his\nworshippers with length of happy years. Such was the portion of the\nJews. But the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,\nthe God of Christians, is a God of love and consolation, a God who\nfills the souls and hearts of his own, a God who makes them feel\ntheir inward wretchedness, and his infinite mercy, who unites himself\nto their inmost spirit, filling it with humility and joy, with\nconfidence and love, rendering them incapable of any end other than\nhimself.\n\n\nAll who seek God apart from Jesus Christ, and who rest in nature,\nfind no light to satisfy them, but form for themselves a means of\nknowing God and serving him without a mediator. Thus they fall either\ninto atheism, or into deism, two things which the Christian religion\nalmost equally abhors.\n\n\nThe God of Christians is a God who makes the soul perceive that\nhe is her only good, that her only rest is in him, her only joy\nin loving him; who makes her at the same time abhor the obstacles\nwhich withhold her from loving him with all her strength. Her two\nhindrances, self-love and lust, are insupportable to her. This God\nmakes her perceive that the root of self-love destroys her, and that\nhe alone can heal.\n\n\nThe knowledge of God without that of our wretchedness creates pride.\nThe knowledge of our wretchedness without that of God creates\ndespair. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the middle way, because in\nhim we find both God and our wretchedness.\n\n\n\n\n_OF THE NEED OF SEEKING TRUTH._\n\n\n_Second Part. That man without faith cannot know the true good, nor\njustice._\n\nAll men seek happiness. To this there is no exception, what different\nmeans soever they employ, all tend to this goal. The reason that\nsome men go to the wars and others avoid them is but the same desire\nattended in each with different views. Our will makes no step but\ntowards this object. This is the motive of every action of every man,\neven of him who hangs himself.\n\nAnd yet after so many years, no one without faith has arrived at\nthe point to which all eyes are turned. All complain, princes and\nsubjects, nobles and commons, old and young, strong and weak, learned\nand ignorant, sound and sick, of all countries, all times, all ages,\nand all conditions.\n\nA trial so long, so constant and so uniform, should surely convince\nus of our inability to arrive at good by our own strength, but\nexample teaches us but little. No resemblance is so exact but\nthat there is some slight difference, and hence we expect that\nour endeavour will not be foiled on this occasion as before. Thus\nwhile the present never satisfies, experience deceives us, and from\nmisfortune to misfortune leads us on to death, eternal crown of\nsorrows.\n\nThis desire, and this weakness cry aloud to us that there was once\nin man a true happiness, of which there now remains to him but the\nmark and the empty trace, which he vainly tries to fill from all that\nsurrounds him, seeking from things absent the succour he finds not in\nthings present; and these are all inadequate, because this infinite\nvoid can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is\nto say, only by God himself.\n\nHe only is our true good, and since we have left him, it is strange\nthat there is nothing in nature which has not served to take his\nplace; neither the stars, nor heaven, earth, the elements, plants,\ncabbages, leeks, animals, insects, calves, serpents, fever,\npestilence, war, famine, vices, adultery, incest. And since he has\nlost the true good, all things can equally appear good to him, even\nhis own destruction, though so contrary to God, to reason, and to the\nwhole course of nature.\n\nSome seek good in authority, others in research and knowledge, others\nin pleasure. Others, who indeed are nearer the truth, have considered\nit necessary that the universal good which all men desire should\nnot consist in any of those particular matters which can only be\npossessed by one, and which if once shared, afflict their possessor\nmore by the want of what he has not, than they gladden him by the\njoy of what he has. They have apprehended that the true good should\nbe such as all may possess at once, without diminution, and without\nenvy, and that which none can lose against his will. And their reason\nis that this desire being natural to man, since it exists necessarily\nin all, and that all must have it, they conclude from it....\n\n\n_Infinite, nothing._--The soul of man is cast into the body, in which\nit finds number, time, dimension; it reasons thereon, and calls this\nnature or necessity, and cannot believe aught else.\n\nUnity joined to infinity increases it not, any more than a foot\nmeasure added to infinite space. The finite is annihilated in\npresence of the infinite and becomes simply nought. Thus our\nintellect before God, thus our justice before the divine justice.\nThere is not so great a disproportion between our justice and that of\nGod, as between unity and infinity.\n\nThe justice of God must be as vast as his mercy, but justice towards\nthe reprobate is less vast, and should be less amazing than mercy\ntowards the elect.\n\nWe know that there is an infinite, but are ignorant of its nature.\nAs we know it to be false that numbers are finite, it must therefore\nbe true that there is an infinity in number, but what this is we know\nnot. It can neither be odd nor even, for the addition of an unit can\nmake no change in the nature of number; yet it is a number, and every\nnumber is either odd or even, at least this is understood of every\nfinite number.\n\nThus we may well know that there is a God, without knowing what he is.\n\nWe know then the existence and the nature of the finite, because we\nalso are finite and have dimension.\n\nWe know the existence of the infinite, and are ignorant of its\nnature, because it has dimension like us, but not limits like us. But\nwe know neither the existence nor the nature of God, because he has\nneither dimension nor limits.\n\nBut by faith we know his existence, by glory we shall know his\nnature. Now I have already shown that we can know well the existence\nof a thing without knowing its nature.\n\nLet us now speak according to the light of nature.\n\nIf there be a God, he is infinitely incomprehensible, since having\nneither parts nor limits he has no relation to us. We are then\nincapable of knowing either what he is or if he is. This being so,\nwho will dare to undertake the solution of the question? Not we, who\nhave no relation to him.\n\nWho then will blame Christians for not being able to give a reason\nfor their faith; those who profess a religion for which they cannot\ngive a reason? They declare in putting it forth to the world that it\nis a foolishness, _stultitiam_, and then you complain that they do\nnot prove it. Were they to prove it they would not keep their word,\nit is in lacking proof that they are not lacking in sense.--Yes, but\nalthough this excuses those who offer it as such, and takes away from\nthem the blame of putting it forth without reason, it does not excuse\nthose who receive it.--Let us then examine this point, and say \"God\nis, or he is not.\" But to which side shall we incline? Reason can\ndetermine nothing about it. There is an infinite gulf fixed between\nus. A game is playing at the extremity of this infinite distance in\nwhich heads or tails may turn up. What will you wager? There is no\nreason for backing either one or the other, you cannot reasonably\nargue in favour of either.\n\nDo not then accuse of error those who have already chosen, for you\nknow nothing about it.--No, but I blame them for having made, not\nthis choice, but a choice, for again both the man who calls 'heads'\nand his adversary are equally to blame, they are both in the wrong;\nthe true course is not to wager at all.--\n\nYes, but you must wager; this depends not on your will, you are\nembarked in the affair. Which will you choose? Let us see. Since\nyou must choose, let us see which least interests you. You have two\nthings to lose, truth and good, and two things to stake, your reason\nand your will, your knowledge and your happiness; and your nature has\ntwo things to avoid, error and misery. Since you must needs choose,\nyour reason is no more wounded in choosing one than the other. Here\nis one point cleared up, but what of your happiness? Let us weigh the\ngain and the loss in choosing heads that God is. Let us weigh the\ntwo cases: if you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.\nWager then unhesitatingly that he is.--You are right. Yes, I must\nwager, but I may stake too much.--Let us see. Since there is an equal\nchance of gain and loss, if you had only to gain two lives for one,\nyou might still wager. But were there three of them to gain, you\nwould have to play, since needs must that you play, and you would be\nimprudent, since you must play, not to chance your life to gain three\nat a game where the chances of loss or gain are even. But there is\nan eternity of life and happiness. And that being so, were there an\ninfinity of chances of which one only would be for you, you would\nstill be right to stake one to win two, and you would act foolishly,\nbeing obliged to play, did you refuse to stake one life against three\nat a game in which out of an infinity of chances there be one for\nyou, if there were an infinity of an infinitely happy life to win.\nBut there is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to win, a\nchance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what\nyou stake is finite; that is decided. Wherever the infinite exists\nand there is not an infinity of chances of loss against that of gain,\nthere is no room for hesitation, you must risk the whole. Thus when a\nman is forced to play he must renounce reason to keep life, rather\nthan hazard it for infinite gain, which is as likely to happen as the\nloss of nothingness.\n\nFor it is of no avail to say it is uncertain that we gain, and\ncertain that we risk, and that the infinite distance between the\ncertainty of that which is staked and the uncertainty of what\nwe shall gain, equals the finite good which is certainly staked\nagainst an uncertain infinite. This is not so. Every gambler stakes\na certainty to gain an uncertainty, and yet he stakes a finite\ncertainty against a finite uncertainty without acting unreasonably.\nIt is false to say there is infinite distance between the certain\nstake and the uncertain gain. There is in truth an infinity between\nthe certainty of gain and the certainty of loss. But the uncertainty\nof gain is proportioned to the certainty of the stake, according to\nthe proportion of chances of gain and loss, and if therefore there\nare as many chances on one side as on the other, the game is even.\nAnd thus the certainty of the venture is equal to the uncertainty\nof the winnings, so far is it from the truth that there is infinite\ndistance between them. So that our argument is of infinite force, if\nwe stake the finite in a game where there are equal chances of gain\nand loss, and the infinite is the winnings. This is demonstrable, and\nif men are capable of any truths, this is one.\n\nI confess and admit it. Yet is there no means of seeing the hands at\nthe game?--Yes, the Scripture and the rest, etc.\n\n--Well, but my hands are tied and my mouth is gagged: I am forced to\nwager and am not free, none can release me, but I am so made that I\ncannot believe. What then would you have me do?\n\nTrue. But understand at least your incapacity to believe, since your\nreason leads you to belief and yet you cannot believe. Labour then\nto convince yourself, not by increase of the proofs of God, but by\nthe diminution of your passions. You would fain arrive at faith, but\nknow not the way; you would heal yourself of unbelief, and you ask\nremedies for it. Learn of those who have been bound as you are, but\nwho now stake all that they possess; these are they who know the way\nyou would follow, who are cured of a disease of which you would be\ncured. Follow the way by which they began, by making believe that\nthey believed, taking the holy water, having masses said, etc.\nThus you will naturally be brought to believe, and will lose your\nacuteness.--But that is just what I fear.--Why? what have you to lose?\n\nBut to show you that this is the right way, this it is that will\nlessen the passions, which are your great obstacles, etc.--\n\nWhat you say comforts and delights me, etc.--If my words please you,\nand seem to you cogent, know that they are those of one who has\nthrown himself on his knees before and after to pray that Being,\ninfinite, and without parts, to whom he submits all his own being,\nthat you also would submit to him all yours, for your own good and\nfor his glory, and that this strength may be in accord with this\nweakness.\n\n_The end of this argument._--Now what evil will happen to you in\ntaking this side? You will be trustworthy, honourable, humble,\ngrateful, generous, friendly, sincere, and true. In truth you will no\nlonger have those poisoned pleasures, glory and luxury, but you will\nhave other pleasures. I tell you that you will gain in this life, at\neach step you make in this path you will see so much certainty of\ngain, so much nothingness in what you stake, that you will know at\nlast that you have wagered on a certainty, an infinity, for which you\nhave risked nothing.\n\n\n_Objection._--Those who hope for salvation are so far happy, but they\nhave as a counterpoise the fear of hell.\n\n_Answer._--Who has most reason to fear hell, the man who is in\nignorance if there be a hell, and who is certain of damnation if\nthere be; or he who is certainly convinced that there is a hell, and\nhas a hope of being saved if there be?\n\n\n\"I would soon have given up pleasure,\" say they, \"had I but faith.\"\nBut I say to you, \"you would soon have faith did you leave off your\npleasures. Now it is for you to begin. If I could, I would give you\nfaith. I cannot do this, nor discover therefore if what you say is\ntrue. But you can easily give up pleasure, and discover if what I say\nis true.\"\n\n\n_Probabilities._--We must live differently in the world, according to\nthese different suppositions:\n\n1. That we could always remain in it. 2. That it is certain we cannot\nremain here long, and uncertain if we shall remain here an hour. This\nlast supposition is the case with us.\n\n\n_Instability._--It is horrible to feel all that we possess slipping\naway from us.\n\n\nBy the law of probabilities you are bound to take pains to seek the\ntruth; for if you die without adoring the true source of all things\nyou are lost. \"But,\" say you, \"had he willed that I should adore him,\nhe would have left me tokens of his will.\" He has done so, but you\nneglect them. Seek them then, it is well worth your while.\n\n\n_Dungeon._--I admit that it is not necessary to fathom the opinion of\nCopernicus, but this:\n\nIt is all our life is worth to know if the soul be mortal or immortal.\n\n\n_Fascinatio nugacitatis._--In order that passion may do no hurt, we\nshould act as though we had but a week to live.\n\nIf we ought to give a week we ought to give our whole life.\n\n\nIn short, what is it you promise me if not ten years of self-love\nspent in trying hard to please without success, besides the troubles\nwhich are certain? For ten years is the probability.\n\n\nLet us imagine a number of men in chains, all condemned to death, of\nwhom some are strangled every day in the sight of the others, while\nthose who remain see their own condition in that of their fellows,\nand wait their turn looking at each other sorrowfully and without\nhope. This is an image of the lot of man.\n\n\nWe must know ourselves, and if that does not serve to discover truth,\nit at least serves to regulate our lives, and there is nothing more\njust.\n\n\nThere are but three classes of persons: those who having found God,\nserve him; those who not having found him, diligently seek him; those\nwho not having found him, live without seeking him. The first are\nhappy and wise, the last are unhappy and fools, those between are\nunhappy, but they are wise.\n\n\nIt is certain that there is no good without the knowledge of God,\nthat only as we approach him are we happy, and that the ultimate good\nis to know him certainly; that we are unhappy in proportion as we are\nremoved from him, and that the greatest evil would be certainty of\nthe opposite.\n\n\nThe ordinary world has the power of not thinking about what it does\nnot choose to think about. \"Do not reflect on those passages about\nthe Messiah,\" said the Jew to his son. So our people often act. Thus\nfalse religions are preserved, and the true also, as regards many\npeople.\n\nBut there are those who have not thus the power of preventing\nthought, and who think the more the more we forbid them. These get\nrid of false religions, and of the true also, if they do not find\nsolid reasons.\n\n\nIf we ought to do nothing save on a certainty, we ought to do nothing\nfor Religion, for this is not certain. But how much we do on an\nuncertainty, as sea voyages, battles! I say then if this be the case\nwe ought to do nothing at all, for nothing is certain, and that\nthere is more certainty in Religion than that we shall see another\nday, for it is not certain that we shall see to-morrow, but it is\ncertainly possible that we shall not see it. We cannot say so much\nabout Religion. It is not certain that it is, but who will dare to\nsay that it is certainly possible that it is not? But when we work\nfor to-morrow, therefore for the uncertain, we act reasonably.\n\nFor we should work for the uncertain by the doctrine of chances\nalready laid down.\n\n\nWe know truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart, and\nit is from this last that we know first principles; and reason,\nwhich has nothing to do with it, tries in vain to combat them. The\nsceptics who desire truth alone labour in vain. We know that we do\nnot dream, although it is impossible to prove it by reason, and this\ninability shows only the weakness of our reason, and not, as they\ndeclare, the general uncertainty of our knowledge. For our knowledge\nof first principles, as _space_, _time_, _motion_, _number_, is as\ndistinct as any principle derived from reason. And reason must lean\nnecessarily on this instinctive knowledge of the heart, and must\nfound on it every process. We know instinctively that there are three\ndimensions in space, and that numbers are infinite, and reason then\nshows that there are no two square numbers one of which is double\nof the other. We feel principles, we infer propositions, both with\ncertainty, though by different ways. It is as useless and absurd for\nreason to demand from the heart proofs of first principles before it\nwill admit them, as it would be for the heart to ask from reason a\nfeeling of all the propositions demonstrated before accepting them.\n\nThis inability should serve then only to humiliate reason, which\nwould fain judge of all things, but not to shake our certainty, as if\nonly reason were able to instruct us. Would to God, on the contrary,\nthat we never needed reason, and that we knew every thing by instinct\nand feeling! But nature has denied us this advantage, and has on the\ncontrary given us but little knowledge of this kind, all the rest can\nbe acquired by reason only.\n\nTherefore those to whom God has given Religion by an instinctive\nfeeling, are very blessed, and justly convinced. But to those who\nhave it not we can give it only by reasoning, waiting for the time\nwhen God shall impress it on their hearts, without which faith is\nhuman only, and useless for salvation.\n\n\nThose to whom God has given Religion by an instinctive feeling are\nvery blessed, and quite convinced. But as for those who have it not,\nwe can give it them only by reasoning, waiting for the time when\nGod himself shall impress it on their heart, without which faith is\nuseless for salvation.\n\n\nIs then the soul too noble a subject for the feeble light of man? Let\nus then abase the soul to matter, and see if she knows whereof is\nmade the very body which she animates, and those others which she\ncontemplates and moves at her will. On this subject what have those\ngreat dogmatists known who are ignorant of nothing?\n\n_Harum sententiarum._\n\nThis would no doubt suffice if reason were reasonable. She is\nreasonable enough to admit that she has never found anything stable,\nbut she does not yet despair of reaching it; on the contrary, she is\nas ardent as ever in the search, and is sure that she has in herself\nall the necessary powers for this conquest.\n\nWe must therefore make an end, and after having examined these powers\nin their effects, recognise what they are in themselves, and see if\nreason has power and grasp capable of seizing the truth.\n\n\nThe Preacher shows that man without God is wholly ignorant, and\nsubject to inevitable misery. For to will and to be powerless is to\nbe miserable. Now he wills to be happy, and to be assured of some\ntruth, yet he can neither know, nor not desire to know. He cannot\neven doubt.\n\n\nThis is what I see and what troubles me. I look on all sides, and\nsee nothing but obscurity, nature offers me nothing but matter for\ndoubt and disquiet. Did I see nothing there which marked a Divinity I\nshould decide not to believe in him. Did I see every where the marks\nof a Creator, I should rest peacefully in faith. But seeing too much\nto deny, and too little to affirm, my state is pitiful, and I have\na hundred times wished that if God upheld nature, he would mark the\nfact unequivocally, but that if the signs which she gives of a God\nare fallacious, she would wholly suppress them, that she would either\nsay all or say nothing, that I might see what part I should take.\nInstead of this, in my present state, ignorant of what I am, and of\nwhat I ought to do, I know neither my condition nor my duty. My heart\nis wholly bent to know where is the true good in order to follow it,\nnothing would seem to me too costly for eternity.\n\n\n\n\n_THE PHILOSOPHERS._\n\n\nThe principal arguments of the sceptics--to omit those of less\nimportance--are that we have no certainty of the truth of these\nprinciples apart from faith and revelation, save so far as we\nnaturally perceive them in ourselves. Now this natural perception is\nno convincing evidence of their truth, since, having no certainty\napart from faith, whether man was created by a good God, by an evil\ndemon, or by chance, it may be doubted whether these principles\nwithin us are true or false or uncertain according to our origin.\n\nAnd more than this: That no one has any certainty, apart from faith,\nwhether he wake or sleep, seeing that in sleep we firmly believe we\nare awake, we believe that we see space, figure, and motion, we are\naware of the lapse and measure of time; in a word we act as though we\nwere awake. So that half of our life being passed in sleep, we have\nby our own avowal, no idea of truth, whatever we may suppose. Since\nthen all our sentiments are illusions, who can tell but that the\nother half of life wherein we fancy ourselves awake be not another\nsleep somewhat different from the former, from which we wake when we\nfancy ourselves asleep?\n\nAnd who doubts that if we dreamt in company, and if by chance men's\ndreams agreed, which is common enough, and if we were always alone\nwhen awake, we should believe that the conditions were reversed?\nIn a word, as we often dream that we dream, and heap vision upon\nvision, it may well be that this life itself is but a dream, on\nwhich the others are grafted, from which we wake at death; having\nin our lifetime as few principles of what is good and true, as\nduring natural sleep, the different thoughts which agitate us being\nperhaps only illusions like those of the flight of time and the vain\nfantasies of our dreams....\n\nThese are the principal arguments on one side and the other, setting\naside those of less importance, such as the talk of the sceptics\nagainst the impressions of custom, education, manners, climate, and\nthe like; and these though they influence the majority of ordinary\nmen, who dogmatise only on vain foundations, are upset by the least\nbreath of the sceptics. We have only to see their books if we are\nnot convinced on this point, and we shall soon become assured of it,\nperhaps only too much.\n\nI pause at the only strong point of the dogmatists, namely, that\nspeaking sincerely and in good faith we cannot doubt of natural\nprinciples.\n\nAgainst this the sceptics set in one word the uncertainty of our\norigin, which includes that of our nature. Which the dogmatists have\nbeen trying to answer ever since the world began.\n\nSo then war is opened among men, in which each must take a side,\nranging himself either for dogmatism or for scepticism, since\nneutrality, which is the part of the wise, is the oldest dogma of the\nsceptical sect. Whoever thinks to remain neutral is before all things\na sceptic. This neutrality is the essence of the sect; who is not\nagainst them is pre-eminently for them. They are not for themselves,\nthey are neutral, indifferent, in suspense as to all things,\nthemselves included.\n\nWhat then shall man do in such a state? Shall he doubt of all, doubt\nwhether he wake, whether you pinch him, or burn him, doubt whether\nhe doubts, doubt whether he is? We cannot go so far as that, and\nI therefore state as a fact that there never has been a perfect\nfinished sceptic; nature upholds the weakness of reason, and prevents\nits wandering to such a point.\n\nShall he say on the contrary that he is in sure possession of truth,\nwhen if we press him never so little, he can produce no title, and is\nobliged to quit his hold?\n\nWhat a chim\u00e6ra then is man! how strange and monstrous! a chaos, a\ncontradiction, a prodigy. Judge of all things, yet a weak earth-worm;\ndepositary of truth, yet a cesspool of uncertainty and error; the\nglory and offscouring of the Universe.\n\nWho will unravel such a tangle? This is certainly beyond the power\nof dogmatism and scepticism, and all human philosophy. Man is\nincomprehensible by man. We grant to the sceptics what they have so\nloudly asserted, that truth is not within our reach nor to our taste,\nthat her home is not on earth but in heaven, that she dwells within\nthe breast of God, and that we can only know her so far as it pleases\nhim to reveal her. Let us then learn our true nature from truth\nuncreate and incarnate.\n\nNature confounds the sceptics, and reason the dogmatists. What then\nwill become of you, O men! who by your natural reason search out your\ntrue condition? You can neither avoid both these sects nor live in\neither.\n\nKnow then, proud man, how great a paradox thou art to thyself. Bow\ndown thyself, weak reason; be silent, thou foolish nature; learn that\nman is altogether incomprehensible by man, and learn from your master\nyour true condition which you ignore. Hear God.\n\nFor in a word, had man never been corrupt he would innocently and\nsecurely enjoy truth and happiness. And had man never been other than\ncorrupt he would have no idea of virtue or blessedness. But wretched\nas we are, and even more than if there were no greatness in our\ncondition, we have an idea of happiness and cannot attain it, we feel\nan image of truth and possess a lie only, alike incapable of absolute\nignorance and of certain knowledge, so manifest is it that we once\nwere in a degree of perfection from which we have unhappily fallen!\n\nYet it is an astonishing thing that the mystery most removed from\nour knowledge, that of the transmission of sin, should be a thing\nwithout which we can have no knowledge of ourselves. For it is\ncertain that nothing more shocks our reason than to say that the sin\nof the first man rendered those culpable, who, being so distant from\nthe source, seem incapable of participation in it. This transfusion\ndoes not only seem to us impossible, but even most unjust, for there\nis nothing so repugnant to the rules of our miserable justice as to\ndamn eternally an infant incapable of will, for a sin in which he\nseems to have so scanty a share, that it was committed six thousand\nyears before he was in being. Certainly nothing shocks us more\nrudely than this doctrine, and yet without this mystery, the most\nincomprehensible of all, we are incomprehensible to ourselves. The\ntangle of our condition takes its plies and folds in this abyss, so\nthat man is more inconceivable without the mystery than the mystery\nis inconceivable to man.\n\nWhence it appears that God, willing to render the difficulty of our\nbeing unintelligible to us, has concealed the knot so high, or rather\nso low, that we cannot reach it; so that it is not by the arrogant\nexertion of our reason, but by the simple submission of reason, that\nwe can truly know ourselves.\n\nThese foundations solidly established on the inviolable authority\nof Religion make us understand that there are two truths of faith\nequally constant--the one, that man in his state at creation or in\nthat of grace is elevated above the whole of nature, made like unto\nGod and sharer of his divinity--the other, that in the state of\ncorruption and sin he has fallen from his former state and is made\nlike unto the brutes. These two propositions are equally fixed and\ncertain. The Scripture declares this plainly to us when it says in\nsome places: _Delici\u00e6 me\u00e6 esse cum filiis hominum. Effundam spiritum\nmeum super omnen carnem. Dii estis, etc.;_ and in other places,\n_Omnis caro f\u00e6num. Homo assimilatus est jumentis insipientibus et\nsimilis factus est illis. Dixi in corde meo de filiis hominum_....\nEccles. iii.\n\nBy which it clearly appears that man by grace is made like unto God,\nand a sharer in his divinity, and that without grace he is like the\nbrute beasts, etc.\n\n\n_Scepticism._--I shall here write my thoughts without order, yet\nnot perhaps in undesigned confusion, that is true order, which will\nalways denote my object by its very disorder.\n\nI should do too much honour to my subject if I treated it with order,\nbecause I wish to show that it is incapable of it.\n\n\n_Scepticism._--All things here are true in part, and false in part.\nEssential truth is not thus, it is altogether pure and true. This\nmixture dishonours and annihilates it. Nothing is purely true, and\ntherefore nothing is true, understanding by that pure truth. You will\nsay it is true that homicide is an evil, yes, for we know well what\nis evil and false. But what can be named as good? Chastity? I say no,\nfor then the world would come to an end. Marriage? No, a celibate\nlife is better. Not to kill? No, for lawlessness would be horrible,\nand the wicked would kill all the good. To kill then? No, for that\ndestroys nature. Goodness and truth are therefore only partial, and\nmixed with what is evil and false.\n\n\nWere we to dream the same thing every night, this would affect us as\nmuch as the objects we see every day, and were an artisan sure to\ndream every night, for twelve hours at a stretch, that he was a king,\nI think he would be almost as happy as a king who should dream every\nnight for twelve hours at a stretch that he was an artisan.\n\nShould we dream every night that we were pursued by enemies, and\nharassed by these painful phantoms, or that we were passing all our\ndays in various occupations, as in travelling, we should suffer\nalmost as much as if the dream were real, and should fear to sleep,\nas now we fear to wake when we expect in truth to enter on such\nmisfortunes. And, in fact, it would bring about nearly the same\ntroubles as the reality.\n\nBut since dreams are all different, and each single dream is\ndiversified, what we see in them affects us much less than what we\nsee when awake, because that is continuous, not indeed so continuous\nand level as never to change, but the change is less abrupt, except\noccasionally, as when we travel, and then we say, \"I think I am\ndreaming,\" for life is but a little less inconstant dream.\n\n\n_Instinct, reason._--We have an incapacity of proof which no\ndogmatism can overcome. We have an idea of truth, which no scepticism\ncan overcome.\n\n\nNothing more strengthens scepticism than that some are not sceptics;\nwere all so, they would be in the wrong.\n\n\nThis sect draw their strength from their enemies more than from their\nfriends, for the weakness of man appears much more in those who are\nnot, than in those who are conscious of it.\n\n\n_Against scepticism._--We suppose that we all conceive of things in\nthe same way, but it is a gratuitous supposition, of which we have\nno proof. I see indeed that the same words are applied on the same\noccasions, and that every time two men see a body change its place,\nthey both express their view of the same object by the same word,\nboth saying that it has moved, and from this sameness of application\nwe have a strong conviction of a sameness of idea; but this, though\nit may be enough to justify us in wagering the affirmative, is not\nfinally or completely convincing, since we know that we often draw\nthe same conclusions from different premisses.\n\nThis is enough, at any rate, to confuse the matter, not that it\nwholly extinguishes the natural light which assures us of these\nthings; the academicians would have won, but this obscures it, and\ntroubles the dogmatists to the glory of the sceptical cabal, which\nconsists in this ambiguous ambiguity, and in a certain doubtful haze,\nfrom which our doubts cannot take away all the light, nor our natural\nlight banish all the darkness.\n\n\n_Good sense._--They are obliged to say, \"You do not act in good\nfaith; we are not asleep,\" etc. How I like to see this proud reason\nhumiliated and suppliant. For this is not the language of a man whose\nright is disputed, and who defends it with the mailed power of his\nhand. He does not trifle by saying that men are not acting in good\nfaith, but he punishes this bad faith with might.\n\n\nIt may be that there are true demonstrations, but it is not certain.\nThus this proves nothing but that it is not certain that all is\nuncertain, to the glory of scepticism.\n\n\n_Ex senatus consultis et plebiscitis scelera exercentur._\n\n_Nihil tam absurde dici potest quod non dicatur ab aliquo\nphilosophorum. Quibusdam destinatis sententiis consecrati qu\u00e6 non\nprobant coguntur defendere._\n\n_Ut omnium rerum sic litterarum quoque intemperanti\u00e2 laboramus._\n\n_Id maxime quemque decet quod est cujusque suum maxime._\n\n_Hos natura modos primum dedit._\n\n_Paucis opus est litteris ad bonam mentem._\n\n_Si quando turpe non sit, tamen non est non turpe quum id a\nmultitudine laudetur._\n\n_Mihi sic usus est, tibi ut opus est facto, fac._\n\n\nThe falsity of those philosophers who do not discuss the immortality\nof the soul. The falsity of their dilemma in Montaigne.\n\n\nIt is beyond doubt that the mortality or immortality of the soul must\nmake an entire difference in morals; yet philosophers have treated\nmorality independently of the question. They discuss to pass the time.\n\nPlato, to dispose towards Christianity.\n\n\nThe soul is immaterial. Philosophers have subdued their passions.\nWhat matter could do that?\n\n\nAtheists should say things which are perfectly clear, but it is not\nperfectly clear that the soul is material.\n\n\nAtheism is a mark of strength of mind, but only to a certain degree.\n\n\n_Against those philosophers who believe in God without Jesus\nChrist._--They believe that God alone is worthy to be loved and\nadmired, and they have desired to be loved and admired of men, and\nknow not their own corruption. If they feel themselves full of\nfeelings of love and adoration, and if they find therein their chief\njoy, let them think themselves good, and welcome! But if they find\nthemselves averse from him, if they have no inclination but the wish\nto establish themselves in the esteem of men, and if their whole\nperfection consists not in constraining, but yet in causing men to\nfind their happiness in loving them, I say that such a perfection is\nhorrible. What! they have known God, and have not desired solely that\nmen should love him, but that men should stop short at loving them.\nThey have wished to be the object of the voluntary joy of men.\n\nAll the principles of sceptics, stoics, atheists, etc. are true; but\ntheir conclusions are false, because the opposite principles are also\ntrue.\n\n\nBut perhaps the subject goes beyond the reach of reason. We will\ntherefore examine what she has to say on questions within her powers.\nIf there be anything to which her own interest must have made her\napply herself most seriously, it is the search after her sovereign\ngood. Let us see then in what these strong and clearsighted souls\nhave placed it, and whether they agree.\n\nOne says that the sovereign good consists in virtue, another in\npleasure, another in the knowledge of nature, another in truth:\n_Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_, another in total\nignorance, another in indolence, others in neglect of appearances,\nanother in the lack of wonder, _nihil mirari prope res una qu\u00e6 possit\nfacere et servare beatum_, the true sceptics in their indifference,\ndoubt and perpetual suspense, and others, more wise, think they can\nfind a better way. And this is all we get from them!\n\nWe must needs see if this fine philosophy has gained nothing certain\nfrom a research so lengthy and so wide, at least perhaps the soul has\nlearned to know herself. We will hear the rulers of the world on this\nmatter. What have they thought of her substance?\n\nHave they been more happy in fixing her seat?\n\nWhat have they discovered about her origin, duration and departure?\n\n\n_Search for the true good._--Ordinary men place their good in fortune\nand external goods, or at least in amusement. Philosophers have shown\nthe vanity of all this, and have placed it where best they could.\n\n\nPhilosophers reckon two hundred and eighty-eight sovereign goods.\n\n\n_The sovereign good. Dispute about the sovereign good._--_Ut\nsis contentus temetipso et ex te nascentibus bonis._ There is a\ncontradiction, for finally they advise suicide. Ah! happy life\nindeed, from which we are to free ourselves as from the plague.\n\nIt is well to be weary and harassed by the useless search after the\ntrue good, that we may stretch our arms to the Redeemer.\n\n\n_Conversation._--Great words: Religion. I deny it.\n\n_Conversation._--Scepticism aids Religion.\n\n\n_Philosophers._--We are full of matters which take us out of\nourselves.\n\nOur instinct suggests that we must seek our happiness outside\nourselves; our passions hurry us abroad, even when there are no\nobjects to excite them. The objects outside us tempt and call us,\neven when we do not think of them. And thus it is in vain for\nphilosophers to say, \"Enter into yourselves, and you will find your\ngood there;\" we believe them not, and those who believe them are the\nmost empty and the most foolish.\n\n\nThis civil war between reason and passion divides those who desire\npeace into two sects, the one, of those who would renounce their\npassions and become gods, the other, of those who would renounce\ntheir reason and become brute beasts.--Des Barreaux.--But neither\nhas succeeded, and reason still exists, to condemn the baseness\nand injustice of the passions, and to trouble the repose of those\nwho give themselves over to their sway, and the passions are still\nvigorous in those who desire to renounce them.\n\n\n_The Stoics._--They conclude that what has been done once may be done\nalways, and that because the desire of glory gives some degree of\npower to those possessed by it, others can easily do the same.\n\nThese are the movements of fever, which health cannot imitate.\n\nEpictetus concludes that since there are consistent Christians all\nmen can easily be so.\n\n\nThe three kinds of lust have made three sects, and philosophers have\ndone no other thing than follow one of the three lusts.\n\n\nWhat the Stoics propose is so difficult and so idle.\n\nThe Stoics lay down that all who are not at the highest degree of\nwisdom are equally frivolous and vicious, as those who are in two\ninches under water....\n\n\n_Philosophers._--A fine thing to cry to a man who does not know\nhimself, that of himself he should come to God. And a fine thing also\nto say to a man who knows himself.\n\n\n\n\n_THOUGHTS ON MAHOMET AND ON CHINA._\n\n\n                     Jesus Christ.\n          Heathens.       |        Mahomet.\n                  \\       |       /\n                   \\      |      /\n                    \\ Ignorance /\n                       of God.\n\n_The foundation of our faith._--The heathen religion has no\nfoundation at the present day. We are told that it once had such a\nfoundation by the voice of the oracles, but what are the books which\ncertify this? Are they worthy of credence on account of the virtue of\ntheir writers, have they been kept with such care that we may feel\ncertain none have tampered with them?\n\nThe Mahomedan religion has for its foundation the Koran and Mahomet.\nBut was this prophet, who was to be the last hope of the world,\nforetold? What mark has he that every other man has not who chooses\nto call himself prophet? What miracles does he himself tell us that\nhe wrought? What mystery has he taught? Even according to his own\ntradition, what was the morality, what the happiness he offered?\n\nThe Jewish religion must be differently regarded in the tradition of\nthe sacred books and in the tradition of the people. Its morality\nand happiness are ridiculous in the tradition of the people, but\nadmirable in that of their saints. The foundation is admirable, it\nis the most ancient book in the world, and the most authentic, and\nwhereas Mahomet, in order to ensure the lasting existence of his\nbook forbade men to read it, Moses with the same object commanded\neveryone to read his. And it is the same with all religions, for the\nChristianity of the sacred books is quite different to that of the\ncasuists.\n\nOur religion is so divine that another divine religion is only the\nfoundation of it.\n\n\n_The difference between Jesus Christ and Mahomet._--Mahomet was not\nforetold; Jesus Christ was foretold.\n\nMahomet that he slew; Jesus Christ that he caused his own to be slain.\n\nMahomet forbade reading; the apostles ordered it.\n\n\nIn fact the two systems are so contrary that if Mahomet took the way,\nhumanly speaking, to succeed, Jesus Christ took, humanly speaking,\nthe way to perish. And instead of concluding from Mahomet's success\nthat Jesus Christ might well have succeeded, we should rather say\nthat since Mahomet succeeded, Jesus Christ ought to have perished.\n\n\nThe Psalms are chanted throughout all the world.\n\nWho renders testimony to Mahomet? Himself. Jesus Christ wills that\nhis testimony to himself should be of no avail.\n\nThe quality of witnesses demands that they should exist always and\neverywhere, and the wretch stands alone.\n\n\n_The falsity of other religions._--Mahomet had no authority. His\nreasons ought to be most cogent, having nothing but their own force.\n\nWhat does he say then in order to make us believe him?\n\n\nAny man can do what Mahomet did, for he wrought no miracles, he was\nconfirmed by no prophecies. No man can do what Jesus Christ did.\n\n_Against Mahomet._--The Koran is not more of Mahomet than the Gospel\nis of Saint Matthew, for it is cited by many authors from age to age.\nEven its very enemies, Celsus and Porphyry, never disavowed it.\n\nThe Koran says that Saint Matthew was an honest man. Therefore\nMahomet was a false prophet for calling honest men wicked, or for\nnot admitting what they have said of Jesus Christ.\n\n\nIt is not by the obscurities in Mahomet which may be interpreted in\na mysterious sense, that I would have him judged, but in what he\nspeaks clearly, as of his paradise, and the rest, he is ridiculous.\nAnd because what is clear is so absurd, it is not just to take his\nobscurities for mysteries.\n\nIt is not the same with the Scripture. It may be admitted that in it\nare obscurities as strange as those of Mahomet, but much is admirably\nclear, and prophecies are manifestly fulfilled. The cases are not the\nsame. We must not confound and compare things which only resemble\neach other in their obscurity, and not in that clearness, which\nshould induce us to reverence the obscurities.\n\n\nSuppose two persons tell foolish stories, one whose words have a\ntwo-fold sense, understood only by his own followers, the other which\nhas only the one sense, a stranger not being in the secret, who hears\nthem both speak in this manner, would pass on them a like judgment.\nBut if afterwards in the rest of their conversation one speak with\nthe tongue of angels, and the other mere wearisome common-places, he\nwill judge that the one spoke in mysteries and not the other; the\none having sufficiently shown that he was incapable of absurdity,\nand capable of being mysterious, the other that he is incapable of\nmystery, and capable of absurdity.\n\nThe Old Testament is a cipher.\n\n\n_History of China._--I believe those histories only, whose witnesses\nlet themselves be slaughtered.\n\nIt is not a question of seeing this in bulk. I say there is in it a\nsomething to blind and something to enlighten.\n\nIn this one word I destroy all your reasoning. \"But China obscures,\"\nyou say, and I answer, \"China obscures, but there is light to be\nfound; seek it.\"\n\nThus all that you say makes for one of these designs, and not at all\nagainst the other. So this serves, and does no harm.\n\nWe must then look at this in detail, the papers must be laid on the\ntable.\n\n\nAgainst the history of China, the historians of Mexico. The five\nsuns, of which the last is but eight hundred years old.\n\n\n\n\n_OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE._\n\n\nI see the Christian Religion founded on an earlier Religion, and this\nis what I find of positive fact.\n\nI do not here speak of the miracles of Moses, of Jesus Christ, and\nof the Apostles, because they do not at first seem convincing, and\nbecause I only wish here to adduce in evidence all those foundations\nof the Christian Religion which are beyond a doubt, and on which\ndoubt cannot be cast by any person soever. It is certain that we see\nin many places in the world a peculiar people, separated from all\nother peoples of the world, which is called the Jewish people.\n\nI see then a mass of religions in many countries, and in all times,\nbut they neither please me by their morality, nor convince me by\ntheir proofs. Thus I should equally have refused the religion of\nMahomet and of China, of the ancient Romans and of the Egyptians, for\nthe sole reason, that none having more marks of truth than another,\nnor any thing which necessarily decides me, reason cannot incline to\none rather than the other.\n\nBut while I consider this vacillating and strange variety of morals\nand beliefs at different times, I find in one corner of the world a\npeculiar people, separated from all other nations upon earth, the\noldest of all, and whose histories are earlier by many ages than the\nmost ancient in our possession.\n\nI find then this great and numerous people, sprung from a single\nman, who adore one God, and guide themselves by a law, given them\nas they say, by his own hand. They maintain that to them alone in\nthe world God has revealed his mysteries, that all men are corrupt\nand under the wrath of God, are all abandoned to their senses and\nimagination, whence arise the strange errors and continual changes\namong them, both of religions and of manners, whereas this nation\nremains unshaken in its conduct: but that God will not leave other\nnations in darkness for ever, that there will come a Saviour for\nall, that they are in the world to announce his coming, that they\nwere expressly formed to be the forerunners and heralds of this\ngreat advent, and to call on all nations to join with them in the\nexpectation of this Redeemer.\n\n\n_Advantages of the Jewish people._--In this search the Jewish people\nat first attracts my attention by a number of wonderful and singular\nthings which appear among them.\n\nI see first that they are a people wholly composed of brethren, and\nwhereas all others are formed by the assemblage of an infinity of\nfamilies, this, though so prodigiously fruitful, has sprung from one\nman only, and being thus all one flesh, and members one of another,\nthey form a powerful state consisting of one family, a fact without\nexample.\n\nThis family or nation is the most ancient known to men, a fact which\nseems to invest it with a peculiar veneration, especially in regard\nto our present enquiry, because if God has during all time revealed\nhimself to men, these are they from whom we must learn the tradition.\n\nThis people is not peculiar only by their antiquity, but also\nremarkable by their duration, which has been unbroken from their\norigin till now. For while the nations of Greece and Italy, of\nLaced\u00e6mon, Athens and Rome, and others who came after, have long been\nextinct, these still remain, and in spite of the endeavours of many\npowerful princes who have a hundred times striven to destroy them,\nas their historians testify, and as we can easily understand by the\nnatural order of things during so long a space of years, they have\nnevertheless been preserved, and extending from the earliest times\nto the latest, their history comprehends in its duration all our\nhistories.\n\nThe Law by which this people is governed is at once the most ancient\nlaw in the world, the most perfect, and the only one which has\nbeen kept without interruption in a state. This is what Josephus\nexcellently shows, against Apion, as does Philo the Jew in many\nplaces, where they point out that it is so ancient that the very name\nof _law_ was only known by the men of old more than a thousand years\nafterwards, so that Homer, who has treated the history of so many\nStates, has not once used the word. And it is easy to judge of the\nperfection of the Law by simply reading it, for it plainly provides\nfor all things with so great wisdom, equity and judgment, that the\nmost ancient legislators, Greek and Roman, having had some glimpse\nof it, have borrowed from it their principal laws, as appears by\nthose called Of the Twelve Tables, and by the other proofs given by\nJosephus.\n\nYet this law is at the same time severe and rigorous beyond all\nothers in respect to their religious worship, constraining the\npeople, in order to keep them in their duty, to a thousand peculiar\nand painful observances, on pain of death. Whence it is a most\nastonishing fact, that it has been constantly preserved during many\nages by a people so rebellious and impatient, while all other states\nhave changed their laws from time to time, although they are far more\nlenient.\n\nThe book containing this law, the first of all laws, is itself the\nmost ancient book in the world, those of Homer, Hesiod and others\ndating from six or seven hundred years later.\n\n\n_Falsity of other religions._--They have no witnesses; this people\nhas them. God challenges other religions to produce such marks. Is.\nxliii. 9,--xliv. 8.\n\n\nThis is fact. While all philosophers separate into different sects,\nthere is found in one corner of the world, a people, the most ancient\nin the world, declaring that all the world is in error, that God has\nrevealed to them the truth, that they will abide always on the earth.\nIn fact, all other sects come to an end, this one still endures,\nand has done so for four thousand years. They assert that they hold\nfrom their ancestors that man has fallen from communion with God, is\nentirely separated from God, but that he has promised to redeem them,\nthat their doctrine shall always exist on the earth;\n\nThat their law has a twofold sense, that during sixteen hundred years\nthey have had people whom they believed prophets foretelling both the\ntime and the manner;\n\nThat four hundred years after they were scattered everywhere in\norder that Jesus Christ should be everywhere announced, Jesus Christ\ncame in the manner and time foretold;\n\nThat the Jews have since been scattered abroad under a curse, yet\nnevertheless still exist.\n\n\nThe creation and the deluge being past, and God not intending any\nmore to destroy the world, nor to create it anew, nor to give any\nsuch great proofs of himself, he began to establish a people on the\nearth, formed of set purpose, which should last until the coming of\nthat people whom Messiah should mould by his spirit.\n\n\nThe Jews who were called to subdue the nations and their kings were\nslaves of sin, and the Christians whose calling has been to be\nservants and subjects, are free children.\n\n\nThe devil troubled the zeal of the Jews before Jesus Christ, because\nhe would have been their salvation, but not since.\n\nThe Jewish people mocked of the Gentiles, the Christian people\npersecuted.\n\n\n_Republic._--The Christian and even the Jewish Republic has only had\nGod for master, as Philo the Jew notices, _On Monarchy_.\n\nWhen they fought, they did so for God alone, their chief hope was in\nGod alone, they considered their towns as belonging to God, and they\nkept them for God. I Chron. xix. 13.\n\n\nThe sceptre was not interrupted by the carrying away into Babylon,\nbecause the return was promised and foretold.\n\n\nA single phrase of David or of Moses, as for instance that God will\ncircumcise the heart, enables us to judge of their spirit. If all\nthe rest of their language were ambiguous, and left it doubtful\nwhether they were philosophers or Christians, one single sentence of\nthis kind would determine all the rest, as one sentence of Epictetus\ndetermines the character of the rest to be the contrary. So far we\nmay be in doubt, but not afterwards.\n\n\nWhile the prophets were for maintaining the law, the people were\nnegligent, but since there have been no more prophets, zeal has taken\ntheir place.\n\nThe zeal of the Jewish people for the law, especially since there\nhave been no more prophets.\n\n\nMaccabees after they had no more prophets. The Masorah after Jesus\nChrist.\n\n\n\n\n_THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE SACRED BOOKS._\n\n\n_The Premiss._--Moses was a man of genius. If then he ruled himself\nby his reason, he should say nothing clearly which was directly\nagainst reason.\n\nSo all the apparent weaknesses are strength. Example: the two\ngenealogies in Saint Matthew and Saint Luke. What can be more clear\nthan that this was not concerted?\n\n\n_Proof of Moses._--Why should Moses make the lives of men so long,\nand their generations so few?\n\nBecause it is not the length of years, but the number of generations\nwhich renders matters obscure.\n\nFor truth is impaired only by the change of men. And yet Moses places\ntwo things, the most memorable that can be imagined, that is to say\nthe creation and the deluge, so near that we can reach from one to\nthe other.\n\n\n_Another proof._--The longevity of the patriarchs, instead of\ncausing the loss of past history, was the rather serviceable for its\npreservation. For if we are not always well instructed in the history\nof our ancestors, it is because we have never lived much with them,\nand because they are often dead before we have ourselves attained the\nage of reason. But when men lived so long, children lived long with\ntheir parents, and long conversed with them. Now, their conversation\ncould only be of the history of their ancestors, since to that all\nhistory was reduced, and men did not study science or art, which now\ntake up so much of our daily discourse. We see also that at that time\nmen took special care to preserve their genealogies.\n\n\nShem, who saw Lamech, who saw Adam, saw also Jacob, who saw those who\nsaw Moses; therefore the deluge and the creation are true. This is\nconclusive among certain people who clearly understand it.\n\n\nJosephus conceals the shame of his nation.\n\nMoses does not conceal his own shame nor....\n\n_Quis mihi det ut omnes prophetent?_\n\nHe was tired of the people.\n\n\nWhen the creation of the people began to stand at a distance, God\nprovided a single contemporary historian, and appointed a whole\npeople as the guardians of this book, in order that the history might\nbe the most authentic in all the world, that all men might learn a\nthing so necessary to know, yet so impossible to be known in any\nother way.\n\n\nIf the story in Esdras is credible, then it must be believed that\nScripture is Holy Scripture. For this story is founded only on the\nauthority of those who allege that of the Seventy, which shows that\nthe Scripture is holy.\n\nTherefore if the tale be true, we find our proof therein, if not\nwe have it elsewhere. Thus those who would ruin the truth of our\nReligion, founded on Moses, establish it by the same authority by\nwhich they attack it. Thus by this providence it still exists.\n\n\n_On Esdras._--The story that the books were burnt with the temple\nshown to be false by The Book of Maccabees. _Jeremiah gave them the\nlaw._\n\nThe story that he recited the whole by heart. Josephus and Esdras\nnote _that he read the book_. Baronius, Ann. 180. _Nullus penitus\nHebr\u00e6orum antiquorum reperitur qui tradiderit libros periisse et per\nEsdram esse restitutos, nisi in IV. Esdr\u00e6._\n\nThe story that he changed the letters.\n\nPhilo, _in Vita Moysis_: _Illa lingua ac charactere quo antiquitus\nscripta est lex, sic permansit usque ad LXX_.\n\nJosephus says the Law was in Hebrew when it was translated by the\nSeventy.\n\nUnder Antiochus and Vespasian, when they wished to abolish the books,\nand when there was no prophet, they could not do so. And under the\nBabylonians when there had been no persecution, and when there were\nso many prophets, would they have allowed them to be burnt?\n\nJosephus derides the Greeks who would not allow....\n\n\nTertullian.--_Perinde potuit abolefactam eam violentia cataclysmi\nin spiritu rursus reformare, quemadmodum et Hierosolymis Babylonia\nexpugnatione deletis, omne instrumentum Judaic\u00e6 literatur\u00e6 per Esdram\nconstat restauratum._ Lib. I. _De Cultu femin._ cap. iii.\n\nHe says that Noah might as easily have restored by the spirit the\nbook of Enoch, destroyed by the deluge, as Esdras have restored the\nScriptures lost during the Captivity.\n\n\u0398\u03b5\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc7 \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 \u039d\u03b1\u03b2\u03bf\u03c5\u03c7\u03bf\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03cc\u03c3\u03bf\u03c1 \u03b1\u1f30\u03c7\u03bc\u03b1\u03bb\u03c9\u03c3\u03af\u1fb3 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03bb\u03b1\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c6\u03b8\u03b1\u03c1\u03b5\u03b9\u03c3\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd\n\u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u1ff6\u03bd, \u1f10\u03bd\u03ad\u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u03c5\u03c3\u03b5  \u1f18\u03c3\u03b4\u03c1\u1fb7 \u03c4\u1ff7 \u1f31\u03b5\u03c1\u03b5\u1fd6 \u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c6\u03c5\u03bb\u1fc6\u03c2 \u039b\u03b5\u03bf\u1f76 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2 \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03b3\u03b5\u03b3\u03bf\u03bd\u03cc\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd\n\u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c6\u03b7\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c0\u03ac\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2 \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03be\u03ac\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03bb\u03b1\u1ff7\n\u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03b4\u03b9\u1f70 \u039c\u03c9\u03c3\u03ad\u03c9\u03c2 \u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03bf\u03b8\u03b7\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03bd. He alleges this to prove that it is not\nincredible that the Seventy should have explained the holy Scriptures\nwith that uniformity which we admire in them. Euseb. lib. v. Hist.\ncap. 8. And he took that from Saint Iren\u00e6us.\n\nSaint Hilary in his preface to the Psalms says that Esdras arranged\nthe Psalms in order.\n\nThe origin of this tradition comes from the Book of Esdras.\n\n_Deus glorificatus est, et Scriptur\u00e6 ver\u00e6 divin\u00e6 credit\u00e6 sunt,\nomnibus eandem et eisdem verbis et eisdem nominibus recitantibus\nab initio usque ad finem, uti et pr\u00e6sentes gentes cognoscerent\nquoniam per inspirationem Dei interpretat\u00e6 sunt Scriptur\u00e6, et non\nesset mirabile Deum hoc in eis operatum, quando in ea captivitate\npopuli qu\u00e6 facta est a Nabuchodonosor corruptis Scripturis et\npost septuaginta annos Jud\u00e6is descendentibus in regionem suam, et\npost deinde temporibus Artaxexis Persarum regis inspiravit Hesdr\u00e6\nsacerdoti tribus Levi pr\u00e6teritorum prophetarum omnes rememorare\nsermones et restituere populo eam legem qu\u00e6 data est per Moysen._\n\n\n_Against the Story in Esdras_, II. Maccab. 2. Josephus,\n_Antiquities_, II. 1.--Cyrus took occasion from the prophecy of\nIsaiah to release the people. The Jews held property in peace under\nCyrus in Babylon, therefore they might well have the Law.\n\nJosephus, in the whole history of Esdras, says not a single word of\nthis restoration.--II. Kings, xvii. 37.\n\n\nScripture has provided passages of consolation and warning for every\ncondition of life.\n\nNature seems to have done the same thing by her two infinities,\nnatural and moral, for we shall always have those who are higher and\nlower, who are more and less able, who are noble and in low estate,\nin order to abate our pride, and raise our lowliness.\n\n\n_Order, against the objection that the Scripture has no order._--The\nheart has its own order; the mind too has its own, which is by\npremisses and demonstrations, that of the heart is wholly different.\nIt were absurd to prove that we are worthy of love by putting forth\nin order the causes of love.\n\nJesus Christ and Saint Paul use the order of charity, not of the\nintellect, for they wish to warm, not to teach; the same with Saint\nAugustine. This order consists mainly in digressions on each point\nwhich may illustrate the main end, and keep it ever in view.\n\n\nGod and the Apostles foreseeing that the seed of pride would cause\nheresies to spring up, and not wishing to give them occasion to arise\nby defining them, have placed in the Scripture and the prayers of the\nChurch contrary words and sentences to produce their fruit in time.\n\nSo in morals he gives charity to produce fruits contrary to lust.\n\nHe who knows the will of his master will be beaten with more stripes,\nbecause of the power he has by his knowledge. _Qui justus est\njustificetur adhuc_, because of the power which he has by justice.\nFrom him who has received most will the greatest account be demanded,\nbecause the aid received has given him greater power.\n\nThere is an universal and essential difference between the actions of\nthe will and all other actions.\n\nThe will is one of the chief organs of belief, not that it forms\nbelief, but that things are true or false according to the side on\nwhich we view them. The will which chooses one side rather than the\nother turns away the mind from considering the qualities of all that\nit does not like to see, thus the mind, moving in accord with the\nwill, stays to look at the side it chooses, and so judges by what it\nsees.\n\n\nAll things work together for good to the elect, even the obscurities\nof Scripture, which they honour because of what is divinely clear.\nAnd all things work together for evil to the reprobate, even what is\nclear, which they blaspheme because of the obscurities they do not\nunderstand.\n\n\nHow many stars have telescopes discovered for us which did not exist\nfor the philosophers of old. Men have roundly taken holy Scripture to\ntask in regard to the great multitude of stars, saying: \"We know that\nthere are only a thousand and twenty-two.\"\n\n\nThe meaning changes according to the words which express it. The\nmeaning receives its dignity from words instead of giving it. We must\nseek examples of this.\n\n\nWords differently arranged have different meanings, and meanings\ndifferently arranged produce different effects.\n\n\n\n\n_THE PROPHECIES._\n\n\nThe prophecies are the strongest proofs of Jesus Christ. For these\ntherefore God has made the most provision; since the event which has\nfulfilled them is a miracle existing from the birth of the Church\nto the end. Therefore God raised up prophets during sixteen hundred\nyears, and during four hundred years afterwards he dispersed all\nthese prophecies with all the Jews, who bore them into all regions of\nthe world. Such was the preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ,\nwhose Gospel exacting belief from every man made it necessary not\nonly that there should be prophecies to inspire this belief, but that\nthese prophecies should be spread throughout the whole world, so that\nthe whole world should embrace it.\n\n_Prophecies._--If one man alone had made a book of predictions\nconcerning Jesus Christ, both as to the time and the manner of\nhis coming, and if Jesus Christ had come in agreement with these\nprophecies, the fact would have had infinite force.\n\nBut in this case there is much more. Here is a succession of men\nfor the space of four thousand years, who without interruption or\nvariation, follow one another in foretelling the same event. Here is\na whole people announcing it, existing for four thousand years, to\ntestify in a body their certainty, from which they cannot be diverted\nby all the threatenings and persecutions brought to bear against\nthem; this is in a far greater degree important.\n\n\nBut it was not enough that the prophecies existed, they needed also\ndistribution through all places, and preservation through all time.\nAnd in order that this agreement might not be taken as an effect of\nchance, it was necessary it should be foretold.\n\nIt is much more glorious for the Messiah that they should be\nspectators and even instruments of his glory, beyond the fact that\nGod had preserved him.\n\n\n_Proof._--Prophecy with accomplishment.\n\nThat which preceded, and that which followed Jesus Christ.\n\n\nThe prophecies concerning the Messiah are mingled with some\nconcerning other matters, so that neither the prophecies of the\nMessiah should be without proof, nor the special prophecies without\nfruit.\n\n\n_Non habemus regem nisi C\u00e6sarem._ Therefore Jesus Christ was the\nMessiah, because they had no longer any king but a stranger, and\nbecause they would have no other.\n\n\nThe eternal kingdom of the race of David, II. Chron., by all the\nprophecies, and with an oath. And it was not temporally accomplished.\nJer. xxxiii. 20.\n\n\nZeph. iii. 9.--\"I will give my words to the Gentiles, that all may\nserve me with one consent.\"\n\nEzekiel xxxvii 25.--\"My servant David shall be their prince for ever.\"\n\nExodus iv. 22.--\"Israel is my first born.\"\n\n\nWe might easily think that when the prophets foretold that the\nsceptre would not depart from Judah until the advent of the eternal\nking, they spoke to flatter the people, and that their prophecy was\nproved false by Herod. But to show that this was not their meaning,\nand that on the contrary they well knew that the temporal kingdom\nshould cease, they said they would be without a king, and without a\nprince, and for a long time. Hosea iii. 4.\n\n\n_Prophecies._--That Jesus Christ will sit on the right hand till God\nhas put his enemies under his feet.\n\nTherefore he will not subject them himself.\n\n\nThe time of the first advent was foretold, the time of the second\nis not so, because the first was to be secret, the second must be\nglorious, and so manifest that even his enemies will recognise it.\nBut as his first coming was to be obscure, and to be known only of\nthose who searched the Scriptures....\n\n\nThe prophecies must be unintelligible to the wicked, Daniel xii. 10,\nHosea xiv. 9, but intelligible to those who are well instructed.\n\nThe prophecies which represent him poor, represent him master of the\nnations.--Is. lii. 16, etc liii. Zech. ix. 9.\n\nThe prophecies which foretell the time foretell him only as master of\nthe Gentiles and suffering, and not as in the clouds nor as judge.\nAnd those which represent him thus as judge and in glory do not\nspecify the time.\n\n\nDo you think that the prophecies cited in the Gospel were reported to\nmake you believe? No, but to prevent your believing.\n\n\n_Prophecies._--The time was foretold by the state of the Jewish\npeople, by the state of the heathen world, by the state of the\ntemple, by the number of years.\n\nIt is daring to predict the same affair in so many ways. It was\nnecessary that the four idolatrous or pagan monarchies, the end of\nthe kingdom of Judah, and the seventy weeks should coincide, and all\nthis before the second temple was destroyed.\n\n\n_Prophecies._--The seventy weeks of Daniel are equivocal in the term\nof commencement, because of the terms of the prophecy, and in the\nterm of conclusion because of the differences in the chronologists.\nBut all this difference extends only to two hundred years.\n\n\nWe understand the prophecies only when we see the events occur, thus\nthe proofs of retreat, discretion, silence, etc., are evidence only\nto those who know and believe them.\n\nJoseph so interior in a law so exterior.\n\nExterior penances dispose to interior, as humiliations to humility.\nSo the....\n\n\nThe more I examine them the more I find truths in them, both in those\nwhich preceded and those which followed, both the synagogue which\nwas foretold, and the wretches who adhere to it, and who, being our\nenemies, are admirable witnesses of the truth of these prophecies,\nwherein their misery and even their blindness is foretold.\n\nI find this sequence, our Religion wholly divine in its authority, in\nits duration, in its perpetuity, in its morality, in its conduct, its\ndoctrine, and its effects.\n\nThe frightful darkness of the Jews foretold. _Eris palpans in\nmeridie. Dabitur liber scienti literas, et dicet: Non possum legere._\n\n\nHosea i. 9. \"Ye shall not be my people and I will not be your God,\"\nwhen you are multiplied after the dispersion. \"In the places where it\nwas said: Ye are not my people, I will call them my people.\"\n\n\n_Predictions._--That under the fourth monarchy, before the\ndestruction of the second temple, before the dominion of the Jews was\ntaken away, and in the seventieth week of Daniel, while the second\ntemple was still standing, the Gentiles should be instructed, and\nbrought to the knowledge of the God worshipped by the Jews, that\nthose who loved him should be delivered from their enemies, and\nfilled with his fear and love.\n\nAnd it came to pass that under the fourth monarchy, before the\ndestruction of the second temple, etc, the Gentiles in crowds\nworshipped God and lived an angelic life. Maidens dedicated their\nvirginity and their life to God, men gave up their pleasures, what\nPlato was only able to effect upon a few men, chosen and instructed\nto that end, a secret force, by the power of a few words, now wrought\nupon a hundred million ignorant men.\n\nThe rich left their wealth, children left the luxurious homes of\ntheir parents to go into the austerity of the desert, etc., according\nto Philo the Jew. All this was foretold long ages ago. For two\nthousand years no Gentile had worshipped the God of the Jews, and at\nthe time foretold, the crowd of Gentiles worshipped this only God.\nThe temples were destroyed, the very kings bowed themselves under the\ncross. All this was of the Spirit of God spread abroad upon the earth.\n\n\n_Holiness._--_Effundam spiritum meum._--All nations had been in\nunbelief and lust; the whole world was now ablaze with love. Princes\nquitted their state, maidens suffered martyrdom. This power sprang\nfrom the advent of Messiah, this was the effect and these the tokens\nof his coming.\n\n\n_Predictions._--It was foretold that in the time of Messiah he would\ncome and establish a new covenant, such as should make them forget\nthe coming out from Egypt, Jer. xxiii. 5, Is. xliii. 16, that he\nwould put his Law not in externals, but in the heart, that Jesus\nChrist would put his fear, which had been only from without, in the\nmidst of the heart. Who does not see the Christian law in all this?\n\n\n_Prophecies._--That the Jews would reject Jesus Christ, and would\nthemselves be rejected of God because the choice vine brought\nforth only wild grapes; that the chosen people should be disloyal,\nungrateful, incredulous, _populum non credentem et contradicentem_;\nthat God would strike them with blindness, and that in full mid-day\nthey would grope like blind men; that his messenger should go before\nhim.\n\n\n\"... Then shall a man no more teach his neighbour, saying, There is\nthe Lord, _for God will make himself felt by all, your sons shall\nprophesy_. _I will put my spirit and my fear in your heart._\"\n\nAll that is the same thing. To prophesy is to speak of God, not by\noutward proofs, but by a feeling interior and direct.\n\n\n_Prophecies._--_Transfixerunt_, Zech. xii. 10.\n\nThat there should come a deliverer to crush the demon's head, and to\nfree his people from their sins, _ex omnibus iniquitatibus_. That\nthere should be a new and eternal covenant, and a new and eternal\npriesthood after the order of Melchisedek, that the Christ should be\nglorious, powerful, mighty, and yet so miserable that he would not\nbe recognised, nor taken for what he is, but be rejected and slain,\nthat his people which denied him should be no more his people, that\nthe idolaters would receive him and trust in him, that he would quit\nZion to reign in the centre of idolatry, that the Jews should exist\nfor ever, that he would spring from Judah, and at a time when there\nshould be no longer a king.\n\n\nThat Jesus Christ would be small in his beginnings, and afterwards\nwould increase. The little stone of Daniel.\n\n\nThat he would teach men the perfect way,\n\nAnd never has there come before him nor after him any man who has\ntaught anything divine approaching this.\n\n\nThat then idolatry would be overthrown, that the Messiah would cast\ndown all idols, and would bring men into the worship of the true God.\n\nThat the idol temples would be overthrown, and that among all\nnations and in all places of the world men would offer to God a pure\nsacrifice, not of beasts.\n\nThat he would be king of the Jews and Gentiles. And we see this king\nof Jews and Gentiles oppressed by both, both equally conspiring\nhis death, we see him bear rule over both, destroying the worship\nestablished by Moses in Jerusalem its centre, where he placed his\nearliest Church, as well as the worship of idols in Rome its centre,\nwhere he placed his chief Church.\n\n\nNo Gentile from Moses to Jesus Christ according to the Rabbis\nthemselves. The crowd of the Gentiles after Jesus Christ believed in\nthe books of Moses and observed their essence and spirit, casting\naway only what was useless.\n\n\n_Omnis Jud\u00e6a regio, et Jerosolomit\u00e6 universi et\nbaptisabantur._--Because of all the conditions of men who came there.\n\nThese stones _can_ become the children of Abraham.\n\n\nIs. i. 21. Change of good into evil and the vengeance of God.\n\nIs. x. 1. _V\u00e6 qui condunt leges iniquas._\n\nIs. xxvi. 20. _Vade populus meus, intra in cubicula tua, claude ostia\ntua super te, abscondere modicum ad momentum, donec pertranseat\nindignatio._\n\nIs. xxviii. 1. _V\u00e6 coron\u00e6 superbi\u00e6._\n\n_Miracles._.--Is. xxxiii. 9. _Luxit, et elanguit terra: confusus est\nLibanus, et obsorduit, etc._\n\n_Nunc consurgam, dicit Dominus: nunc exaltabor, nunc sublevabor_.\n\nIs. xl. 17. _Omnes gentes quasi non sint._\n\nIs. xli. 26. _Quis annunciavit ab exordio ut sciamus: et a principio\nut dicamus: Justus es?_\n\nIs. xliii. 13. _Operabor, et quis avertet illud?_\n\nJer. xi. 21. _Non prophetabis in nomine Domini, et non morieris in\nmanibus nostris._\n\n_Propterea h\u00e6c dicit Dominus._\n\nJer. xv. 2. _Quod si dixerint ad te: Quo egrediemur? dices ad eos:\nH\u00e6c dicit Dominus: Qui ad mortem, ad mortem: et qui ad gladium,\nad gladium: et qui ad famem, ad famem: et qui ad captivitatem, ad\ncaptivitatem._\n\nJer. xvii. 9. _Pravum est cor omnium, et inscrutabile: quis cognoscet\nillud?_ that is to say, who can know all its evil, for it is already\nknown to be wicked. _Ego Dominus scrutans cor, et probans renes._\n\n_Et dixerunt: Venite et cogitemus contra Jeremiam cogitationes, non\nenim peribit lex a sacerdote, neque sermo a propheta._\n\nJer. xvii. 17. _Non sis tu mihi formidini, spes mea tu in die\nafflictionis._\n\n\nTrust in exterior sacrifices.\n\nJer. vii. 14. _Faciam domui huic, in qua invocatum est nomen meum,\net in qua vos habetis fiduciam: et loco, quem dedi vobis et patribus\nvestris, sicut feci Silo._\n\nExterior sacrifice is not the essential point.\n\n_Tu ergo noli orare pro populo hoc._\n\nJer. vii. 22. _Quia non sum locutus cum patribus vestris, et\nnon pr\u00e6cepi eis in die, qua eduxi eos de Terra \u00c6gypti, de verbo\nholocautomatum, et victimarum._\n\n_Sed hoc verbum pr\u00e6cepi eis, dicens: Audite vocem meam, et ero vobis\nDeus, et vos eritis mihi populus: et ambulate in omni via, quam\nmandavi vobis, ut bene sit vobis. Et non audierunt._\n\nExterior sacrifice is not the essential point.\n\nJer. xi. 13. _Secundum numerum enim civitatum tuarum erant dii tui\nJuda: et secundum numerum viarum Jerusalem posuisti aras confusionis.\nTu ergo noli orare pro populo hoc._\n\nA multitude of doctrines.\n\nIs. xliv. 20. _Neque dicet: Forte mendacium est in dextera mea._\n\nIs. xliv. 21, etc. _Memento horum Jacob, et Israel, quoniam servus\nmeus es tu. Formavi te, servus meus es tu Israel, ne obliviscaris\nmei._\n\n_Delevi ut nubem iniquitates tuas, et quasi nebulam peccata tua:\nrevertere ad me, quoniam redemi te._\n\nxliv. 23, 24. _Laudate c\u00e6li, quoniam misericordiam fecit Dominus:...,\nquoniam redemit Dominus Jacob, et Israel gloriabitur. H\u00e6c dicit\nDominus redemptor tuus, et formator tuus ex utero: Ego sum Dominus,\nfaciens omnia, extendens c\u00e6los solus, stabiliens terram, et nullus\nmecum._\n\nIs. liv. 8. _In momento indignationis abscondi faciem meam parumper a\nte, et in misericordia sempiterna misertus sum tui: dixit redemptor\ntuus Dominus._\n\nIs. lxiii. 12. _Qui eduxit ad dexteram Moysen brachio majestatis su\u00e6,\nqui scidit aquas ante eos, ut faceret sibi nomen sempiternum._\n\n14. _Sic adduxisti populum tuum ut faceres tibi nomen glori\u00e6._\n\nIs. lxiii. 16. _Tu enim pater noster, et Abraham nescivit nos, et\nIsrael ignoravit nos._\n\nIs. lxiii. 17. _Quare ... indurasti cor nostrum ne timeremus te?_\n\nIs. lxvi. 17. _Qui sanctificabantur, et mundos se putabant ... simul\nconsumentur, dicit Dominus._\n\nJer. ii. 35. _Et dixisti: Absque peccato et innocens ego sum: et\npropterea avertatur furor tuus a me._\n\n_Ecce ego judicio contendam tecum, eo quod dixeris: Non peccavi._\n\nJer. iv. 22. _Sapientes sunt ut faciant mala, bene autem facere\nnescierunt._\n\nJer. iv. 23, 24. _Aspexi terram, et ecce vacua erat, et nihili: et\nc\u00e6los, et non erat lux in eis._\n\n_Vidi montes, et ecce movebantur: et omnes colles conturbati sunt._\n\n_Intuitus sum, et non erat homo: et omne volatile c\u00e6li recessit.\nAspexi, et ecce Carmelus desertus: et omnes urbes ejus destruct\u00e6 sunt\na facie Domini, et a facie ir\u00e6 furoris ejus._\n\n_H\u00e6c enim dicit Dominus: Deserta erit omnis terra, sed tamen\nconsummationem non faciam._\n\nJer. v. 4. _Ego autem dixi: Forsitan pauperes sunt et stulti,\nignorantes viam Domini, judicium Dei sui._\n\n_Ibo ad optimates, et loquar eis: ipsi enim cognoverunt viam Domini:\net ecce magis hi simul confregerunt jugum, ruperunt vincula. Idcirco\npercussit eos leo de silva, pardus vigilans super civitates eorum._\n\nJer. v. 29. _Numquid super his non visitabo, dicit Dominus? aut super\ngentem hujuscemodi non ulciscetur anima mea?_\n\nJer. v. 30. _Stupor et mirabilia facta sunt in terra:_\n\nJer. v. 31. _Prophet\u00e6 prophetabant mendacium, et sacerdotes\napplaudebant manibus suis: et populus meus dilexit talia: quid igitur\nfiet in novissimo ejus?_\n\nJer. vi 16._H\u00e6c dicit Dominus: State super vias, et videte, et\ninterrogate de semitis antiquis, qu\u00e6 sit via bona, et ambulate in\nea: et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris. Et dixerunt: Non\nambulabimus._\n\n_Et constituti super vos speculatores. Audite vocem tub\u00e6. Et\ndixerunt: Non audiemus._\n\n_Ideo audite Gentes, quanta ego faciam eis. Audi terra: Ecce ego\nadducam mala, etc._\n\nJer. xxiii. 15._A prophetis enim Hierusalem egressa est pollutio\nsuper omnem terram._\n\nJer. xxiii. 17. _Dicunt his, qui blasphemant me: Locutus est Dominus,\nPax erit vobis, et omni qui ambulat in pravitate cordis sui,\ndixerunt: Non veniet super vos malum._\n\nThe Jews witnesses for God. Is. xliii. 9, xliv. 8.\n\n_Prophecies accomplished._--Malachi i. 11. The sacrifice of the Jews\nrejected, and the sacrifice of the Gentiles, even out of Jerusalem,\nand in all places.\n\n--Moses before his death foretold the calling of the Gentiles, Deut.\nxxxii. 21, and the reprobation of the Jews.\n\nMoses foretold what would happen to each tribe.\n\n_Prophecy._--Amos and Zechariah. They sold the just one, and\ntherefore were not recalled.\n\n--Jesus Christ betrayed.\n\nThey shall no more remember Egypt. See Is. xliii. 16-19, Jerem.\nxxiii. 7.\n\nThe Jews shall be scattered abroad. Is. xxvii. 6. A new law. Jer.\nxxxi. 31.\n\nMalachi. Grotius.--The second temple glorious. Jesus Christ will come\nto it. Haggai ii. 7-10.... The calling of the Gentiles. Joel ii. 28.\nHos. ii. 24. Deut. xxxii. 21. Mal. i. 11.\n\n\nMoses first taught the Trinity, original sin, the Messiah.\n\nDavid was a great witness.\n\nA king, good, merciful, a fair soul, a fine mind, powerful. He\nprophesied, and his wonders came to pass. This is infinite.\n\nHe had only to say that he was the Messiah, had he been vain enough,\nfor the prophecies are clearer about him than about Jesus Christ. The\nsame with Saint John.\n\n\n_Special predictions._--They were strangers in Egypt without any\nprivate possessions, in that country or in any other, when Jacob\ndying and blessing his twelve children declared to them that they\nshould possess a great land, and foretold in particular to the family\nof Judah that the kings who would one day govern them should be of\nhis race, and that all his brethren should be subject to him.\n\nThis same Jacob disposing of the future land as though he were its\nmaster, gave a portion to Joseph more than to the others. \"I give\nthee,\" said he, \"a portion more than to thy brethren.\" And blessing\nhis two children, Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Joseph had presented to\nhim, the elder, Manasseh, on his right, and the young Ephraim on his\nleft, he put his arms cross-wise, and placing his right hand on the\nhead of Ephraim, and the left on Manasseh, he blessed them thus. And\nwhen Joseph represented to him that he was preferring the younger he\nanswered him with admirable decision, \"I know it well, my son, I know\nit, but Ephraim shall increase in a way quite other than Manasseh.\"\nThis has been in fact so true in the result that, being alone almost\nas abundant as the two entire lines which compose a whole kingdom,\nthey have been usually called by the name of Ephraim alone.\n\nThis same Joseph when dying commanded his children to bear his bones\nwith them into that land to which they did not come for two hundred\nyears afterwards.\n\nMoses, who wrote all these things so long before they happened,\nhimself made for each family the partition of the land before they\nentered it, as though he had been master of it.\n\nHe gave them judges to divide it, he prescribed the entire political\nform of government which they should observe, the cities of refuge\nwhich they should build, and....\n\n\nDaniel ii. \"All thy sooth-sayers and wise men cannot show unto thee\nthe secret which thou hast demanded.\n\n\"But there is a God in heaven, who can do so, and he has revealed in\nthy dream the things which shall be in the latter days.\" _This dream\nmust have caused him great uneasiness._\n\n\"And it is not by my own wisdom that I have knowledge of this secret,\nbut by the revelation of this same God who has discovered it to me,\nto make it manifest in thy presence.\n\n\"Thy dream was of this kind. Thou sawest a great image, high and\nterrible, which stood before thee. His head was of gold, his breast\nand his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass. His legs\nof iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.\n\n\"Thus thou sawest till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote\nthe image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay and brake them to\npieces.\n\n\"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold,\nbroken to pieces together, and the wind carried them away, but this\nstone which smote the image became a great mountain, and filled\nthe whole earth. This is the dream, and now I will give thee the\ninterpretation.\n\n\"Thou who art the greatest of kings, and to whom God has given a\npower so extended that thou art renowned among all people, art the\ngolden head of the image which thou hast seen.\n\n\"But after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and\nanother of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.\n\n\"But the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, and even as iron\nbreaketh in pieces, and subdueth all things, so this empire shall\nbreak in pieces and bruise.\n\n\"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of clay and part of\niron, the kingdom shall be divided; and it shall be partly strong and\npartly broken.\n\n\"But as iron cannot be firmly mixed with clay, so they who are\nrepresented by the iron and by the clay, cannot cleave one to another\nthough united by marriage.\n\n\"Now in the days of these kings will God raise up a Kingdom, which\nshall never be destroyed, nor ever be delivered up to another people.\n\n\"It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it\nshall stand for ever, according as thou sawest that the stone was\ncut out of the mountain without hands, and that it fell from the\nmountain, and brake in pieces the iron, the clay, the silver and\nthe gold. This is what God has revealed to thee of the things\nwhich must come in the fulness of time. This dream is true and the\ninterpretation thereof is faithful. Then Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his\nface towards the earth, etc.\"\n\n\nDaniel viii. \"Daniel having seen the combat of the ram and of the\nhe-goat, who vanquished him and ruled over the earth, whereof the\nprincipal horn being broken four others came up towards the four\nwinds of heaven, and out of one of them came forth a little horn,\nwhich waxed exceeding great toward the South and toward the East, and\ntoward the land of Israel, and it waxed great, even to the host of\nheaven, and it cast down some of the stars, and stamped upon them,\nand at last overthrew the prince, and by him the daily sacrifice was\ntaken away and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.\n\n\"This is what Daniel saw. He asked the explanation and a voice cried\nin this manner, 'Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.'\nAnd Gabriel said,\n\n\"The ram which thou sawest is the king of the Medes and Persians, and\nthe he-goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that is between\nhis eyes is the first king of this monarchy.\n\n\"Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms\nshall stand up out of the nation, but not with his strength.\n\n\"Now in the latter time of their kingdom when iniquities shall be\ngrown up, there shall arise a king insolent and strong, but his power\nshall be not his own. To him all things shall succeed after his will,\nand he shall destroy the holy people, and through his policy also he\nshall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall destroy many.\nHe shall also stand up against the Prince of Princes, but he shall\nperish miserably, and nevertheless by a violent hand.\"\n\nDaniel ix. 20.\n\n\"As I was praying God with all my heart, and confessing my sin and\nthe sin of all my people, and prostrating myself before God, even\nGabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, came to\nme and touched me about the time of the evening oblation, and he\ninformed me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee\nthat thou mightest understand. At the beginning of thy prayer I came\nto show thee that which thou didst desire, for thou art greatly\nbeloved: therefore understand the matter and consider the vision.\nSeventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy\ncity, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and\nto abolish iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness; to\naccomplish the vision and the prophecies, and to anoint the Most Holy.\n\n\"After which this people shall be no more thy people, nor this city\nthe holy city. The times of wrath are passed and the years of grace\nshall come for ever.\n\n\"Know therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the\ncommandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the\nPrince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the\nstreet shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.\"\n\nThe Hebrews were accustomed to divide numbers, and to place the\nsmaller first, so that seven and sixty-two make sixty-nine. Of this\nseventy there will then rest the seventieth: that is to say the seven\nlast years of which he will speak next, and after these sixty-two\nweeks which have followed the seven first, the Christ should be\nkilled, and a people would come with its prince, who should destroy\nthe city, and the sanctuary, and overwhelm all, and the end of that\nwar will accomplish the desolation. Christ shall be killed after the\nsixty-nine weeks, that is to say, in the last week.\n\n\"Now one week, which is the seventieth, which remains, shall confirm\nthe covenant with many, and in the midst of the week, that is to say\nthe last three years and a half, he shall cause the sacrifice and the\noblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall\nmake it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined\nshall be poured upon the desolate.\"\n\nDaniel xi. The angel said to Daniel:\n\n\"There shall stand up yet,\"--after Cyrus, under whom all this still\nis,--\"three kings in Persia,\"--Cambyses, Smyrdis, Darius;--\"and the\nfourth,\"--Xerxes, who shall then come,--\"shall be far richer than\nthey all, and far stronger, and shall stir up all his people against\nthe Greeks, and a mighty king shall stand up,\"--Alexander,--\"that\nshall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And\nwhen he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be\ndivided in four parts toward the four winds of heaven,\"--see also\nvii. 6 vii. 8--\"but not to his posterity, and his successors shall\nnot equal his power, for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for\nothers beside these,\"--his four principal successors.\n\n\"And the king--Ptolemy son of Lagos,--of the south,\"--Egypt,--\"shall\nbe strong,--but one of his princes shall be strong above\nhim,\"--Seleucus king of Syria,--\"and his dominion shall be a great\ndominion,\"--Appian says that he was the most powerful of Alexander's\nsuccessors.\n\n\"And in the end of years they shall join themselves together, and\nthe king's daughter of the South,\"--Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy\nPhiladelphus, son of the other Ptolemy--\"shall come to the king of\nthe North to make peace between these princes\"--to Antiochus Deus,\nking of Syria and of Asia, son of Seleucus Lagidas.\n\n\"But neither she nor her seed shall have a long authority, for she\nand they that sent her and they that brought her, and her children\nand her friends, shall be delivered to death,\"--Berenice and her son\nwere killed by Seleucus Callinicus.\n\n\"But out of a branch of her roots\"--Ptolemy Euergetes was the son of\nthe same father as Berenice--\"shall one stand up in his estate, who\nshall come with an army into the land of the king of the north, and\nshall put all under subjection, and carry captives into Egypt their\ngods, their princes, their gold, their silver, and all their precious\nspoils, and shall continue many years when the king of the North can\ndo nought against him.\"--If he had not been called into Egypt by\ndomestic reasons, says Justin, he would have entirely ruined Seleucus.\n\n\"And thus he shall return into his kingdom, but his sons shall be\nstirred up and shall prepare an exceeding great multitude\"--Seleucus\nCeraunus, Antiochus the Great.\n\n\"And their army shall come and overthrow all, whereat the king of\nthe South being moved with choler, shall come forth and fight with\nhim and conquer,\"--Ptolemy Philopator against Antiochus the Great at\nRaphia--\"and his troops shall become insolent, and his heart shall be\nlifted up,\"--this Ptolemy desecrated the temple--Josephus--\"and he\nshall cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be strengthened\nby it.\n\n\"For the king of the North\"--Antiochus the Great--\"shall return\nwith a greater multitude than before,\"--in the reign of the young\nPtolemy Epiphanes--\"and then a great number of enemies shall stand\nup against the king of the south, also the apostates and robbers of\nthy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they\nshall perish\"--those who abandon their religion to please Euergetes,\nwhen he will send his troops to Scopas. For Antiochus will again take\nScopas and conquer them.\n\n\"And the king of the North shall destroy the fenced cities and the\narmies of the south shall not withstand, and all shall yield to his\nwill. He shall stand in the land of Israel and it shall yield to him.\n\n\"And thus he will think to render himself master of all the empire of\nEgypt,\"--despising the youth of Epiphanes, says Justin.\n\n\"And for that he will make alliance with him and give his\ndaughter,\"--Cleopatra, in order that she may betray her husband. On\nwhich Appian says that doubtful of being able to make himself master\nof Egypt by force, because of the protection of the Romans, he wished\nto attempt it by craft. \"He would fain corrupt her, but she shall not\nstand on his side, neither be for him. After this shall he turn his\nface unto the isles,\"--that is to say, the sea-ports,--\"and shall\ntake many,\"--as Appian relates.\n\n\"But a prince shall oppose his conquests and cause the reproach\noffered by him to cease,\"--Scipio Africanus, who stopped the progress\nof Antiochus the Great because he offended the Romans in the person\nof their allies.--\"He will return into his kingdom and perish and be\nno more.\"--He was killed by his soldiers.\n\n\"And he who stands in his place shall be a tyrant, a raiser of taxes\nin the glory of the kingdom,\" that is the people, Seleucus Philopator\nor Soter, the son of Antiochus the Great--\"but within a few days he\nshall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle;\n\n\"And in his place shall stand up a vile person, unworthy of the\nhonour of the kingdom, but he shall come in by skilful flatteries.\n\n\"All armies shall bend before him, he will conquer them, and even the\nprince with whom he has made a league. For having renewed the league\nwith him, he will deceive him, and come in with a few tribes into\nhis province, calm and without fear. He will take the best places,\nand shall do that which his fathers have not done, and ravage on all\nsides. He will forecast devices, during his time.\"\n\n\nThe zeal of the Jews for their law and their temple. Josephus and\nPhilo the Jew _ad Caium_.\n\nWhat other people has so great a zeal, but for them it was a\nnecessity.\n\nJesus Christ foretold as to the time and the state of the world. The\nleader taken from the thigh, and the fourth monarchy.\n\nHow fortunate we are to have such light amid such darkness.\n\nHow grand it is to see by the eye of faith, Darius and Cyrus,\nAlexander, the Romans, Pompey and Herod working, though\nunconsciously, for the glory of the Gospel!\n\n\nHow grand to see by the eye of faith the histories of Herod, of\nC\u00e6sar....\n\n\n_The reprobation of the Jews and conversion of the Gentiles._--Isaiah\nlxv. \"I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them\nthat sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that\ndid not call upon my name.\n\n\"I have spread out my hands all the day unto an unbelieving people,\nwhich walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;\na people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that\nsacrificeth to idols, etc.\n\n\"These shall be scattered like smoke in the day of my wrath, etc.\n\n\"Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers will I gather,\nand will requite you according to your works.\n\n\"Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and\none saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it.\n\n\"So will I take a seed of Jacob and Judah to possess my mountains,\nand mine elect and my servants shall inherit it, and my fertile and\nabundant plains, but I will destroy all others, because you have\nforgotten your God to follow strange gods. I have called you and you\nhave not answered, I have spoken and you have not heard, and you have\nchosen the things which I forbade.\n\n\"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye\nshall be hungry; my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed;\nmy servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry and howl\nfor vexation of spirit.\n\n\"And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the\nLord shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name, that he\nwho blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in God, etc.;\nbecause the former troubles are forgotten.\n\n\"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former\nthings shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.\n\n\"But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for,\nbehold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I\nwill rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of\nweeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying....\n\n\"Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I\nwill hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion\nshall eat straw like the ox: and dust shall be the serpent's meat.\nThey shall not hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain.\"\n\nIs. lvi. \"Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for\nmy salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.\n\n\"Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that keepeth\nmy salvation and holdeth his hand from doing any evil.\n\n\"Neither let the strangers, that have joined themselves to the Lord,\nsay, God will separate me from his people. For thus saith the Lord:\nWhoso will keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me,\nand take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine\nhouse a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will\ngive them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off....\n\n\"Therefore is judgment far from us: we wait for light, but behold\nobscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the\nwall like the blind: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are\nin desolate places as dead men.\n\n\"We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for\njudgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.\"\n\nIsaiah lxvi. 18. \"But I know their works and their thoughts: I come\nthat I may gather all nations and tongues, and they shall see my\nglory.\n\n\"And I will set a sign among them, and I will send of them that shall\nbe saved unto the nations, to Africa, to Lydia, to Italy, to Greece,\nand to the people that have not heard my name, neither have seen my\nglory. And they shall bring your brethren.\"\n\nJer. vii. _Reprobation of the Temple._\n\n\"But go ye to Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what\nI did to it for the wickedness of my people. And now, because ye have\ndone all these works, saith the Lord, I will do unto this house, in\nwhich my name is called upon, wherein ye trust, and unto the place\nwhich I gave to your priests, as I have done to Shiloh.\" For I have\nrejected it and made myself a temple elsewhere.\n\n\"And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your\nbrethren, the whole seed of Ephraim.\" Rejected absolutely.\n\n\"Therefore pray not thou for this people.\"\n\nJer. vii. 21. \"What avails it you to add sacrifice to sacrifice? For\nI spake not unto your fathers, when I brought them out of the land\nof Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing\ncommanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and\nye shall be my people. For it was only after they had sacrificed to\ngolden calves that I gave myself sacrifices to turn into good an evil\ncustom.\" Jer. vii. 4. \"Trust not in lying words, saying, The temple\nof the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are\nthese.\"\n\n\n_Proofs by the Jews._--Captivity of the Jews without restoration.\nJeremiah xi. 11. \"I will bring evil on Judah which they shall not be\nable to escape.\"\n\n_Types._--Isaiah v. \"The Lord had a vineyard from which he looked for\ngrapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. I will therefore uproot and\ndestroy it, the earth shall produce nothing but thorns, and I will\nforbid the heaven....\n\n\"The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel, and the men of\nJudah his pleasant plant. I looked that they should do justice, and\nthey bring forth only iniquities.\"\n\nIsaiah viii. \"Sanctify the Lord with fear and trembling, and let him\nbe your fear; but he shall be for a stone of stumbling and for a rock\nof offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare\nto the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble\nagainst that stone, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be\ntaken, and perish. Hide my words and cover my law for my disciples.\n\n\"And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house\nof Jacob.\"\n\nIsaiah xxix. \"Be astonished, and wonder, O people of Israel; waver\nand stagger: be drunken, but not with wine; stagger, but not with\nstrong drink. For the Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of deep\nsleep. He will shut up your eyes: he will cover your prophets\nand princes that see visions.\" Daniel xii. \"The wicked shall not\nunderstand, but the wise shall understand.\" Hosea, the last chapter,\nthe last verse, after many temporal blessings says: \"Who is wise, and\nhe shall understand these things,\" etc.\n\n\"And the visions of all the prophets are become unto you as a book\nthat is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, and who\ncan read: and he saith, I cannot read it; for it is sealed: And when\nthe book is delivered to him that is not learned, he saith, I am not\nlearned.\n\n\"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people with their lips\ndo honour me, but have removed their heart far from me,\"--there is\nthe reason and the cause, for they adore God in their heart, and\nunderstand the prophecies,--\"and their fear toward me is taught by\nthe precept of men.\n\n\"Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do among this people a\nmarvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall\nperish, and the understanding....\"\n\n_Prophecies._ _Proof of divinity._ Isaiah xli.\n\n\"Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye\nare gods: and we will incline our heart unto your words. Teach us the\nthings that have been from the beginning and prophecy those that are\nto come.\n\n\"By this we shall know that ye are gods. Yea, do good, or do evil, if\nyou can. Come now and let us reason together.\n\n\"Behold, ye are of nothing, and an abomination, etc. Who hath\ndeclared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that\nwe may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea,\nthere is none that declareth the future.\"\n\nIs. xlii. \"I am the Lord: and my glory will I not give to another. I\nhave foretold the former things which have come to pass, and declare\nthose which are to come. Sing a new song to God in all the earth.\"\n\n\"Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and see not, and the\ndeaf that have ears and hear not. Let all the nations be gathered\ntogether. Who among them and their Gods can declare this, and shew\nus former things, and things to come? Let them bring forth their\nwitnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It\nis truth.\n\n\"Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have\nchosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he.\n\n\"I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed wonders in your\neyes: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.\n\n\"For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all\ntheir nobles. I am the Lord, your sanctifier and creator.\n\n\"I have made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; I am\nhe that destroyed for ever the powerful enemies who have resisted you.\n\n\"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of\nold.\n\n\"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye\nnot know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in\nthe desert.\n\n\"This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my\npraise, etc.\n\n\"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own\nsake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us\nplead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. Thy\nfirst father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against\nme.\" Is. xliv. \"I am the first and the last, saith the Lord. Whoso\nwill equal himself to me, let him declare the order of things since I\nformed the first peoples, and the things which are to come. Fear ye\nnot, have I not declared all these things, ye are my witnesses.\"\n\n\n_Prophecy of Cyrus_--\"Because of Jacob whom I have chosen I have\ncalled thee by thy name,\" \"Come and let us reason together. Who has\ndeclared this from ancient time, and foretold things to come? have\nnot I, the Lord.\"\n\nIs. xlvi. \"Remember the former things of old, and know that there is\nnone like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient\ntimes the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall\nstand, and I will do all my pleasure.\"\n\nIs. xlii. 9. \"Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new\nthings do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.\"\n\nIs. xlviii. 3. \"I have declared the former things from the beginning;\nand I shewed them; and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou\nart obstinate, that thy spirit is rebellious, and thy brow brass; I\nhave even before it came to pass shewed it thee: lest thou shouldst\nsay, that it was the work of thy Gods and the effect of their\ncommands.\n\n\"Thou hast seen all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed\nthee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst\nnot know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even\nbefore the day when thou heardst them not; lest thou shouldst say,\nBehold, I knew them.\n\n\"Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time\nthat thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldst deal very\ntreacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.\"\n\n\n--_Prophecies._ _In Egypt._--_Pugio Fidei_, 659. _Talmud._\n\nIt is a tradition among us that when the Messiah shall come, the\nhouse of God, destined for the dispensation of his word, shall be\nfull of filth and impurity, that the wisdom of the scribes shall be\ncorrupt and rotten; that those who fear to sin shall be reproved by\nthe people, and treated as fools and madmen.\n\n\nIs. xlix.\n\n\"Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far: The Lord\nhath called me by my name even from the womb of my mother; he hath\nhid me in the shadow of his hand, he hath made my words like a sharp\nsword, and said: Thou art my servant, in whom I will be glorified.\nAnd I said, Lord, have I laboured in vain? have I spent my strength\nfor nought? yet is my judgment with thee, O Lord, and my work before\nthee. When the Lord, who has formed me from the womb of my mother to\nbe wholly for himself, in order to bring Jacob and Israel again to\nhim, said unto me: Thou shalt be glorious in my sight, and I will\nbe thy strength. It is a light thing that thou shouldst convert the\ntribes of Jacob; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles,\nthat thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. These\nare the things which the Lord hath said to him that humbleth his soul\nto him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers. Princes\nand kings shall worship thee because the Lord is faithful that hath\nchosen thee.\n\n\"Again the Lord said unto me: I have heard thee in the days of\nsalvation and of mercy, and I have established thee for a covenant of\nthe people, and to cause thee to inherit the desolate nations, that\nthou mayest say to those who are in chains: Go forth, and to those\nthat are in darkness: Come into the light, and possess these abundant\nand fertile lands. They shall no more labour, nor hunger, nor thirst,\nneither shall the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them\nshall lead them, even by the springs of waters shall he guide them,\nand make the mountains plain before them. Behold, the peoples shall\ncome from all parts, from the East and from the West, from the North\nand from the South. Let the heaven give glory to God, let the earth\nrejoice, for it hath pleased the Lord to comfort his people, and he\nwill have mercy on the poor who hope in him.\n\n\"Yet Sion hath dared to say: The Lord hath forsaken and hath\nforgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should\nnot have compassion on the son of her womb, but if she forget, yet\nwill I not forget thee, O Sion. I will bear thee always between my\nhands, and thy walls shall be ever before me. Thy builders are come,\nthy destroyers shall go forth of thee. Lift up thy eyes round about,\nand see all these are gathered together, to come to thee: as I live,\nsaith the Lord, thou shall be clothed with all these as with an\nornament, thy deserts, and thy desolate places, and the land of thy\ndestruction shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,\nand the children of thy barrenness shall still say in thy ears: the\nplace is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in. And thou shall\nsay in thy heart: Who hath begotten these? I was barren and brought\nnot forth, led away, and captive: and who hath brought up these? I\nwas destitute and alone: and these, where were they? And the Lord\nshall say: Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will\nset up my standard to the people. And they shall bring thy children\nin their arms, and in their bosoms. And kings shall be thy nursing\nfathers, and queens thy nursing mothers: they shall worship thee with\ntheir face toward the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of thy\nfeet. And thou shall know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be\nconfounded that wait for him. Shall the prey be taken from the strong\nand mighty? But even if the captivity be taken away from the strong:\nnothing can hinder me to judge those that have judged thee, and thy\nchildren I will save. And all flesh shall know, that I am the Lord\nthy Saviour, and thy Redeemer the mighty One of Jacob.\n\n\"Thus saith the Lord: What is this divorcement, wherewith I have put\naway the synagogue, and why have I delivered it into the hands of\nyour enemies; is it not for your iniquities and your transgressions\nthat I have put it away?\n\n\"For I came, and no man would receive me, I called and none would\nhear. Is my arm shortened that I cannot save?\n\n\"Therefore will I show the tokens of my anger, I will clothe the\nheavens with darkness, and will make sackcloth their covering.\n\n\"The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know\nhow to uphold by word him that is weary. He hath wakened my ear, and\nI have heard him as a master.\n\n\"The Lord hath revealed his will and I was not rebellious.\n\n\"I gave my body to the smiters, and my cheeks to outrage, I hid\nnot my face from shame and spitting, but the Lord has helped me,\ntherefore I was not confounded.\n\n\"He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me, and accuse\nme of sin, since God himself is my protector?\n\n\"All men shall pass and be consumed by time, let those that fear the\nLord hearken to the words of his servant, let him that languisheth in\ndarkness put his trust in the Lord. But as for you, you do but set\nalight upon you the wrath of God, you walk upon the coals and among\nthe flames you have kindled. This ye have of my hand, ye shall perish\nin sorrow.\n\n\"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek\nthe Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of\nthe pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and\nunto Sarah that bare you: for I called him when he was alone, and\nchildless, and increased him. For the Lord has comforted Zion: and\nhas heaped on her blessings and consolations.\n\n\"Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, for a law shall\nproceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of\nthe Gentiles.\"\n\nAmos viii. The prophet having enumerated the sins of Israel, said\nthat God had sworn to take vengeance on them.\n\nHe saith also: \"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the\nLord, that the sun shall go down at mid-day, and I will make the\nearth dark in the day of light: And I will turn your feasts into\nmourning, and all your songs into lamentation.\n\n\"You shall have sorrow and suffering, and I will make the sorrow as\nthe mourning of an only son, and the latter end thereof as a bitter\nday. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will send forth a\nfamine into the land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water,\nbut of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall move from sea to\nsea, and from the North to the East: they shall go about seeking the\nword of the Lord, and shall not find it.\n\n\"In that day their fair virgins, and their young men shall faint\nfor thirst. They that have followed the idols of Samaria, and sworn\nby the god of Dan; who have followed the worship of Beersheba; they\nshall fall, and shall rise no more.\"\n\nAmos iii. 2. \"Of all nations of the earth, I have chosen you only to\nbe my people.\"\n\nDaniel xii. 7. Daniel having described all the extent of Messiah's\nreign, says, \"All these things shall be done when the dispersion of\nmy people shall be accomplished.\"\n\nHaggai ii. 3. \"You who compare this second house with the glory of\nthe first and despise it. Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, saith\nthe Lord, and take courage O Jesus the high priest, and take courage,\nall ye people of the land, and cease not to work. The word that I\ncovenanted with you when you came out of the land of Egypt stands\nyet: and my spirit shall be in the midst of you: Lose not hope. For\nthus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet one little while, and I will move\nthe heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land,\"--a mode of\nspeech to denote a great and extraordinary change. \"And I will move\nall nations: and the desired of all nations shall come: and I will\nfill this house with glory: saith the Lord.\n\n\"The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord,\"--that is\nto say, it is not by that that I will be honoured, as it is said in\nanother place. All the beasts of the field are mine, what good is\nit to me that they are offered me in sacrifice?--\"Greater shall be\nthe glory of this latter house than of the first, saith the Lord of\nhosts: and in this place I will establish my house, saith the Lord.\"\n\n\"According to all that you desired of the Lord God in Horeb in the\nday of the assembly, saying, Let us not hear again the voice of the\nLord, neither let us see this fire any more, that we die not. And\nthe Lord said unto me, Their prayer is just. I will raise them up a\nprophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my\nwords in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall\ncommand him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not\nhearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require\nit of him.\"\n\nGenesis xlix. \"Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, and\nthou shall vanquish thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow\ndown before thee. Judah, lion's whelp, thou art gone up to the prey,\nO my son, and art couched as a lion, and as a lioness awakened.\n\n\"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between\nhis feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the\npeople be.\"\n\n\n\n\n_OF TYPES IN GENERAL AND OF THEIR LAWFULNESS._\n\n\n_Proof of the two Testaments at once._--To prove both the Testaments\nat one stroke we need only see if the prophecies in one are\naccomplished in the other.\n\nTo examine the prophecies we must understand them.\n\nFor if we believe they have only one sense it is certain that Messiah\nhas not come; but if they have two senses, it is certain that he has\ncome in Jesus Christ.\n\nThe whole question then is to know if they have two senses....\n\nThat the Scripture has two senses, which Jesus Christ and his\nApostles have given, the following are the proofs:\n\n1. Proof by Scripture itself.\n\n2. Proofs by the Rabbis. Moses Maimonides says that it has two faces,\nand that the prophets have prophesied Jesus Christ only.\n\n3. Proofs by the Cabala.\n\n4. Proofs by the mystical interpretation which the rabbis themselves\nhave given to the Scripture.\n\n5. Proofs by the principles laid down by the rabbis that there are\ntwo senses, that there are two advents of the Messiah; one in glory,\nand one in humiliation, according to their deserts; that the prophets\nhave prophesied of Messiah only. The Law is not eternal, but must\nchange when Messiah comes; that then they shall no more remember the\nRed Sea; that the Jews and the Gentiles shall be mingled.\n\n\nIt is as those among whom there is a certain secret language.\n\nThose who do not understand it can see in it only a foolish sense.\n\n\n_Typical._--The figures of a sword, a shield.\n\n_Potentissime._\n\n\nTo change the type, because of our weakness.\n\n\n_Types._--The prophets prophesied by figures of a girdle, a beard and\nburnt hair, etc.\n\n\nTwo errors: 1, to take all literally; 2, to take all spiritually.\n\n\nThe veil which is upon these books for the Jews is there also for bad\nChristians, and for all who do not hate themselves.\n\nBut those who truly hate themselves are in a disposition to\nunderstand the Scriptures and to know Jesus Christ.\n\n\n_Types_.--To show that the Old Testament is only figurative, and\nthat by temporal possessions the prophets understood others, this\nis the proof: 1, that this were unworthy of God; 2, that their\ndiscourses express very clearly the promise of temporal possessions,\nand that they say nevertheless that their discourses are obscure,\nand that their sense will not be understood. Whence it appears that\nthis secret sense is not that which they openly expressed, and that\nconsequently they meant to speak of other sacrifices, of another\ndeliverer, etc. They say that they will be understood only in the\nfulness of time. Jer. xxxiii.\n\nThe third proof is that their discourses are contradictory and\ndestroy each other, so that if we think they did not mean by the\nwords law and sacrifice aught else than those of Moses, there is a\ngross and obvious contradiction. Therefore they meant something else,\noccasionally contradicting themselves in the same chapter.\n\nNow to understand the sense of an author....\n\n\n_A type brings with it absence and presence, pleasure and pain._\n\nA cipher with a double sense, one clear, and in which it is said that\nthe sense is hidden....\n\n\nA portrait brings with it absence and presence, pleasure and pain.\nThe reality excludes absence and pain.\n\n_Types._--To know if the law and the sacrifices are real or\nfigurative, we must see if the prophets in speaking of these things\nlimited their view and their thoughts to them, so that they saw only\nthe old covenant; or if they saw in them somewhat else of which they\nwere the semblance, for in a portrait we see the thing figured. For\nthis we need only examine what they say.\n\nWhen they speak of it as eternal, do they mean that same covenant\nwhich they elsewhere say will be changed; so of the sacrifices, etc.?\n\nA cipher has two senses. If we intercept an important letter in which\nwe see an obvious meaning, wherein it is nevertheless declared that\nthe sense is veiled and obscure, that it is concealed, so that the\nletter might be read without discovering it, and understood without\nunderstanding, we can but think that here is a cipher with a double\nsense, and all the more if we find manifest contradictions in the\nliteral sense. How greatly we ought to value those who interpret\nthe cipher, and explain to us the hidden sense, especially if the\nprinciples they extract are wholly natural and clear. This is what\nJesus Christ did, and the Apostles. They broke the seal, he rent\nthe veil, and revealed the spirit. They have thereby taught us that\nman's enemies are his passions; that the Redeemer is to be spiritual\nand his reign spiritual; that there are to be two advents, one in\nlowliness to abase the proud, the other in glory to exalt the humble;\nthat Jesus Christ is God and man.\n\nThe prophets said clearly that Israel would be always the beloved of\nGod, that the law would be eternal, they have said also that their\nmeaning would not be understood, and that it was veiled.\n\n\n_Types._--When the word of God, which cannot lie, is false literally,\nit is true spiritually. _Sede a dextris meis_, is false literally,\ntherefore it is true spiritually.\n\nIn these expressions God is spoken of after the manner of men, and\nthis means only that the intention which men have in giving a seat\nat their right hand, God will also have. It is then a mark of the\nintention of God, not of his mode of carrying it out.\n\nThus when it is said \"God has received the odour of your incense\nand will in return give you a fat land,\" this means that the same\nintention which a man will have, who, pleased with your perfumes,\nwill give you a fat land, God will have towards you, because you have\nhad towards him the same intention as a man has for him to whom he\noffers a sweet savour. So _iratus est_, a jealous God, etc., for the\nthings of God being inexpressible, they cannot be said otherwise. And\nthe Church uses them still: _Quia confortavit seras_, etc.\n\n\nDifference between dinner and supper.\n\nIn God the word differs not from the intention, for he is true, nor\nthe word from the effect, for he is powerful, nor the means from the\neffect, for he is wise. Bern. _ult. sermo in Missam_.\n\nAug., _de Civit._ v. 10. This rule is general. God can do all, except\nthose things which if he could do he would not be almighty, as dying,\nbeing deceived, lying, etc.\n\nMany evangelists for the confirmation of the truth. Their differences\nare useful.\n\nThe Eucharist after the Lord's Supper. Truth after the type.\n\nThe ruin of Jerusalem, a type of the ruin of the world, forty years\nafter the death of Jesus.\n\n\"I know not\" as a man or as an ambassador. Matt. xxiv. 36.\n\nJesus condemned by the Jews and the Gentiles.\n\nThe Jews and the Gentiles figured by the two sons.\n\nAug. _de Civit._ xx. 29.\n\n\nThe figures of the Gospel for the state of the sick soul are sick\nbodies, but because one body cannot be sufficiently sick to express\nit well, several are needed. Thus there are the deaf, the dumb, the\nblind, the paralytic, the dead Lazarus, the possessed; all this\ntogether is in the sick soul.\n\nIsaiah, li. The Red Sea an image of the Redemption.\n\n\"_Ut sciatis quod filius hominis habet potestatem remittendi peccata,\ntibi dico: Surge._\"\n\nGod, willing to show that he was able to form a people holy with an\ninvisible holiness, and to fill them with an eternal glory, made\nvisible things. As nature is an image of grace, he has done in the\nexcellences of nature what he would accomplish in those of grace, in\norder that men might judge that he could make the invisible since he\nmade the visible so well.\n\nThus he saved this people from the deluge, he has raised them up from\nAbraham, redeemed them from their enemies, and caused them to enter\ninto rest.\n\nThe object of God was not to save them from the deluge, and raise up\na whole people to Abraham, only in order to bring them into a fat\nland.\n\nAnd so grace itself is but the figure of glory, for it is not the\nultimate end. It was symbolised by the law, and itself symbolises\ngrace, but it is the figure of it, and the origin or cause.\n\nThe ordinary life of man is like that of the saints. They all seek\ntheir satisfaction, and differ only in the object wherein they place\nit; they call those their enemies who hinder them, etc. God then has\nshown the power which he has to give invisible possessions, by the\npower which he has shown over things visible.\n\n\nAnd yet this covenant, made to blind some and enlighten others,\nmarked in those very men whom it blinded the truth which should be\nrecognised by others. For the visible possessions which they received\nfrom God were so great and so divine that it certainly appeared he\nwas able to give them those which are invisible, as well as a Messiah.\n\nFor nature is an image of grace, and visible miracles are the image\nof the invisible. _Ut sciatis, tibi dico: Surge._\n\nIsaiah, li., says that Redemption will be as the passage of the Red\nSea.\n\nGod then has shown by the deliverance from Egypt, and from the sea,\nby the defeat of the kings, by the manna, by the whole genealogy of\nAbraham, that he was able to save, to send down bread from heaven,\netc., so that the people at enmity with him is the type and the\nrepresentation of the very Messiah whom they know not, etc.\n\nHe has then shown us at last that all these things were only types,\nand what is true freedom, a true Israelite, true circumcision, true\nbread from heaven, etc.\n\nIn these promises each man finds what he chiefly desires, temporal\npossessions or spiritual, God or the creatures; but with this\ndifference, that those who therein seek the creatures find them, but\nattended by many contradictions, with a prohibition against loving\nthem, with the injunction to worship God only, and to love him only,\nwhich is the same thing, and finally that the Messiah came not for\nthem; whilst on the contrary those who therein seek God find him,\nwithout any contradiction, with the injunction to love him only,\nand that the Messiah came in the time foretold, to give them the\npossessions which they ask.\n\nThus the Jews had miracles and prophecies, of which they saw the\naccomplishment, and the teaching of their law was that they should\nlove and worship God alone; it was also perpetual. Thus it had\nall the marks of the true religion, as indeed it was, but we must\ndistinguish between the teaching of the Jews, and the teaching of\nthe Jewish law. Now the teaching of the Jews was not true, although\nit had miracles and prophecy and perpetuity, because it had not this\nfurther point, the worship and love of God only.\n\n\n_The reason of types._\n\nThey had to deal with a carnal people, and to render them the\ndepositary of a spiritual covenant.\n\nTo give faith in the Messiah it was necessary there should have been\nantecedent prophecies, in the charge of persons above suspicion,\ndiligent, faithful, singularly zealous, and known to all the world.\n\nThat all this might be accomplished, God chose this carnal people,\nto whom he entrusted the prophecies which foretell the Messiah as a\ndeliverer, and as a dispenser of those carnal possessions which the\npeople loved. And thus they have had an extraordinary zeal for their\nprophets, and, in sight of the whole world, have had charge of these\nbooks which foretell their Messiah, assuring all the nations that he\nshould come, and in the manner foretold in their books, which they\nheld open to all the world. But this people deceived by the poor and\nignominious advent of the Messiah have been his most cruel enemies.\nSo that they, who were of all nations in the world the least open to\nthe suspicion of favouring us, the most scrupulous and most zealous\nthat can be named for their law and their prophets, have kept the\nrecords incorrupt.\n\n\nTherefore the prophecies have a hidden and spiritual sense, which\nthis people hated, under the carnal sense which they loved. Had the\nspiritual sense been disclosed, it being such as they were unable to\nlove, or even to bear, they would not have been zealous to preserve\ntheir books and their ceremonies; and if they had loved these\nspiritual promises, and had preserved them incorrupt till Messiah\ncame, their witness would have had no force, because they had been\nhis friends. Therefore it was well that the spiritual sense should\nbe concealed; but on the other hand, had the sense been so hidden as\nnot to be at all apparent, it could not have served as a proof of the\nMessiah. What then was done? In a crowd of passages the spiritual was\nconcealed under the temporal sense, and has been clearly revealed in\na few; again, the time and the state of the world were so clearly\nforetold that the sun is not so evident. And in some passages this\nspiritual sense is so dearly expressed that no less a blindness than\nthat which the flesh imposes on the spirit when enslaved, can keep us\nfrom discerning it.\n\nSee then what God has done. This sense is concealed under another\nin an infinite number of passages, in some, though rarely, it is\nrevealed, yet so that the passages in which it is concealed are\nequivocal, and can suit both senses, while those in which it is\ndisclosed are unequivocal, and can agree with the spiritual sense\nalone.\n\nSo that this cannot lead us into error, and could only be\nmisunderstood by so carnal a people.\n\nFor when possessions are promised in abundance, what could\nhinder them from understanding the true possessions, save their\ncovetousness, which limited the sense to the good things of this\nworld? But those whose only good was in God referred the sense to\nhim alone. For there are two qualities which divide the will of man,\ncovetousness and charity. Not that covetousness cannot coexist with\nfaith in God, nor charity with worldly possessions, but covetousness\nuses God, and enjoys the world, while the opposite is the case with\ncharity.\n\nNow the end we pursue gives names to things. All which hinders the\nattainment of this end, is said to be at enmity with us. Thus the\ncreatures, however good, are the enemies of the just, when they turn\nthem aside from God, and God himself is the enemy of those whose\ngreed he opposes.\n\nHence the word enemy being interpreted according to the end\nproposed, the just understood by it their passions, and the carnal\nunderstood the Babylonians, so that the term is obscure only for the\nunrighteous. And this is what Isaiah says: _Signa legem in electis\nmeis_, and that Jesus Christ shall be a stone of stumbling. But,\n\"Blessed are they who shall not be offended in him!\" Hosea, xiv. 9,\nsays excellently: \"Where is the wise, and he shall understand these\nthings. The just shall know them, for the ways of God are right, but\nthe transgressors shall fall therein.\"\n\nSo that those who rejected and crucified Jesus Christ, being offended\nat him, are the same people who bear the books which witness of him,\nand which say that he will be rejected and a stumbling stone, so that\ntheir refusal has given an additional mark that it is he, and he has\nbeen proved both by the just Jews who received him, and the unjust\nJews who rejected him, both of whom were foretold.\n\n\nOne of the main reasons why the prophets put a veil on the spiritual\npossessions which they promised under the figure of temporal\npossessions is, that they had to do with a carnal people whom they\nmust make the keepers of the spiritual covenant.\n\n\nJesus Christ, prefigured by Joseph, the beloved of his father, sent\nby his father to visit his brethren, etc., innocent, sold by his\nbrethren for twenty pieces of silver, and thereby becoming their\nlord, their saviour, the saviour of strangers, and the saviour of\nthe world; all which had not been brought about but for the plot for\nhis destruction, their sale and rejection of him.\n\nIn prison Joseph innocent between two criminals; Jesus Christ on\nthe cross between two thieves. Joseph foretold deliverance to the\none, and death to the other, from the same omens. Jesus Christ saves\nthe elect, and condemns the reprobate after the same crimes. Joseph\nforetold only, Jesus Christ acts. Joseph asked of him who is saved to\nbe mindful of him when he has come into his glory, and he whom Jesus\nChrist saved asked that he would remember him when he came into his\nKingdom.\n\n\n_Types._--Saviour, father, sacrificer, sacrifice, food, king, wise,\nlawgiver, afflicted, poor, having to create a people, which he must\nlead and nourish, and bring into the land.\n\n\nFascination.--_Somnum suum. Figura hujus mundi._\n\nThe Eucharist.--_Comedes panem tuum. Panem nostrum._\n\n_Inimici Dei terram lingent._ The sinners lick the dust, that is to\nsay, love earthly pleasures.\n\nThe Old Testament contained the types of future joy, and the New\ncontains the means of attaining it.\n\nThe types were of joy, the means of penitence, and nevertheless the\nPaschal Lamb was eaten with bitter herbs, _cum amaritudinibus_.\n\n_Singularis sum ego donec transeam._ Jesus Christ before his death\nwas almost the only martyr.\n\n\nTo speak against too greatly figurative expressions.\n\n\nThere are some types clear and demonstrative, but others which seem\nfar-fetched, and which bring proof only to those already persuaded.\nThese may seem like the sayings of the Apocalyptics. But the\ndifference is that these have none which are not doubtful, so that\nnothing is so unjust as to pretend that theirs are as well founded as\nsome of ours, for they have none so demonstrative as some of ours.\nThere is no comparison possible. We have no right to compare and\nconfound things because they agree in one point, while they are so\ndifferent in another. What is clear in things divine forces us to\nrevere what is obscure.\n\n\nI do not say that the _mem_ is a mystery.\n\n\nWe may not attribute to the Scripture the sense which it has not\nrevealed to us that it contains. Thus, to say that the closed _mem_\nof Isaiah means six hundred, has not been revealed. It might be said\nthat the final _tsad\u00e9_ and the _he deficientes_ signify mysteries.\nBut we are not allowed to say so, and still less to say this is the\nway of the philosopher's stone. But we say that the literal sense is\nnot the true sense, because the prophets said so themselves.\n\n\n_Extravagances of the Apocalyptics, Preadamites, Millenarians,\netc._--Whoever would found extravagant opinions on the Scripture will\nfor instance found them on the fact that:\n\nIt is said that \"This generation shall not pass away till all these\nthings be fulfilled.\" On that I will say that after that generation\nwill come another generation, and so in constant succession.\n\nThe Second Book of Chronicles speaks of Solomon and the King as if\nthey were two different persons. I say that they were two.\n\n\n_Against those who misuse passages of Scripture, and who are puffed\nup when they find one which seems to favour their error._\n\nThe chapter for Vespers, on Passion Sunday, the prayer for the King.\n\nExplanation of these words: \"He that is not with me is against me.\"\nAnd these others: \"He that is not against you is with you.\" A person\nwho says: I am neither for nor against; we ought to answer him....\nOne of the Antiphons for Vespers at Christmas: _Exortum est in\ntenebris lumen rectis corde_.\n\n\n\n\n_THAT THE JEWISH LAW WAS FIGURATIVE._\n\n\n_Contradiction._--It is not possible to give a good expression to\na portrait save by bringing all contraries into harmony, and it is\nnot enough to dwell upon a series of accordant qualities, without\nreconciling the contraries. To understand the meaning of an author we\nmust harmonise all the contrary passages.\n\nThus, to understand Scripture, we must find a sense in which all\nthe contrary passages are reconciled; it is not enough to have one\nwhich agrees with many consonant passages, but we must find one which\nreconciles even dissonant passages.\n\nEvery author has a sense in which all the contradictory passages\nagree, or he has no meaning at all. The latter cannot be said of\nScripture and the prophets, which assuredly abound in good sense. We\nmust then seek for a meaning which harmonises all contraries.\n\nThe true sense then is not that of the Jews, but in Jesus Christ all\ndissonances are brought into harmony.\n\nThe Jews could not make the cessation of the royalty and principality\nforetold by Hosea accord with the prophecy of Jacob.\n\nIf we take the law, the sacrifices, the kingdom as realities, we\ncannot reconcile all the passages. Of necessity then they are but\nfigures. We cannot even reconcile the passages of the same author,\nnor of the same book, nor sometimes of the same chapter, which\nabundantly denotes what was the meaning of the author. As when\nEzekiel, chap. xx., says that man will live by the commandments of\nGod and will not live by them.\n\n\nIt was not lawful to sacrifice elsewhere than at Jerusalem, the\nplace which the Lord had chosen, nor even to eat the tithes in any\nother place. Deut. xii. 5, etc.; Deut. xiv. 23, etc.; xv. 20; xvi.\n2-15.\n\nHosea foretold that the Jews should be without king, without prince,\nwithout sacrifice and without idols, which is accomplished at this\nday, since they are not able to make a lawful sacrifice out of\nJerusalem.\n\n_Types._--If the law and the sacrifices are the truth it must be\npleasing to God, and not displeasing to him. If they are figures they\nmust be both pleasing and displeasing.\n\nNow through the whole of Scripture they are both pleasing and\ndispleasing. It is said that the law shall be changed, that the\nsacrifice shall be changed, that they shall be without law, without\na prince and without sacrifices, that a new covenant shall be made,\nthat the law shall be renewed, that the precepts which they have\nreceived are not good, that their sacrifices are abominations, that\nGod has required none of them.\n\nIt is said, on the contrary, that the law shall abide for ever, that\nthe covenant shall be eternal, that sacrifice shall be eternal, that\nthe sceptre shall never depart from among them, because it shall not\ndepart from them till the coming of the eternal King.\n\nNow are all these passages obviously literal? No. Are they obviously\ntypical? No, they are obviously either real or typical. But the first\nset, which bar a literal interpretation, prove that the whole are\ntypical.\n\nAll these passages together cannot apply to the thing signified, all\ncan apply to the type, therefore they are not spoken of the thing\nsignified, but of the type.\n\n_Agnus occisus est ab origine mundi._ A sacrificing judge.\n\n\n_Types._--God willing to form to himself an holy people, whom he\nshould separate from all other nations, whom he should deliver from\ntheir enemies, and should establish in a place of rest, has not\nonly promised this, but has foretold by his prophets the time and\nthe manner of his coming. And yet, to confirm the hope of his elect\nthrough all ages, he made them to see it in a figure, but never left\nthem without assurances of his power and of his will to save them.\nFor at the creation of man, Adam was the witness, and the guardian\nof the promise made concerning the Saviour who should be born of the\nwoman, when men were still so near the creation that they could not\nhave forgotten their creation and their fall. When those who had seen\nAdam were no longer in the world, God sent Noah, whom he saved, and\ndrowned the whole earth by a miracle which marked sufficiently both\nthe power which he had to save the world, and the will which he had\nto do so; and to raise up of the seed of the woman him whom he had\npromised.\n\nThis miracle was enough to confirm the hope of men. The memory of the\ndeluge being fresh among men while Noah was still living, God made\npromises to Abraham, and while Shem was still living God sent Moses,\netc....\n\n\n_Types._--God, willing to deprive his own of perishable possessions,\nmade the Jewish people in order to show that this arose from no lack\nof power.\n\n\nThe Jews had grown old in these earthly thoughts, that God loved\ntheir father Abraham, his flesh, and all that would spring from it;\nthat for this reason he had multiplied them, and set them apart\nfrom all other peoples, without allowing them to intermingle; that\nwhen they were languishing in Egypt he brought them out with many\nwonderful signs in their favour; that he fed them with manna in the\nwilderness, and brought them out into a very fat land; that he gave\nthem kings and a well-built temple, there to offer beasts before\nhim, by the shedding of whose blood they were purified; that at last\nhe would send Messiah to make them masters of the whole world, and\nforetold the time of his coming.\n\nThe world having grown old in these carnal errors, Jesus Christ came\nat the time foretold, but not with the expected glory, and therefore\nmen did not think it was he. After his death Saint Paul came to teach\nthat all these things had happened in figures, that the Kingdom of\nGod was not in the flesh, but in the spirit; that the enemies of\nmen were not the Babylonians, but the passions; that God delighted\nnot in temples made with hands, but in a pure and contrite heart;\nthat bodily circumcision was unprofitable, but that of the heart was\nneeded; that Moses gave them not that bread from heaven, etc.\n\nBut God, not willing to disclose these things to a people unworthy\nof them, yet nevertheless willing to foretell them, in order that\nthey might be believed, foretold the time dearly, and expressed the\nthings sometimes clearly, but generally in figures, so that those who\nloved the emblems might rest in them, and those who loved the things\nfigured might see them therein.\n\nAll that tends not to charity is figurative.\n\nThe sole aim of the Scripture is charity.\n\nAll which tends not to that only end is figurative, for since there\nis but one end, all which does not refer to it in express terms is\nfigurative.\n\nGod has so varied that sole precept of charity to satisfy our\ncuriosity, which seeks for diversity, by that diversity which still\nleads us to the one thing needful. For one only thing is needful, yet\nwe love diversity, and God satisfies both by these diversities, which\nlead to the one thing needful.\n\nThe Jews so loved the mere shadows, and waited for them so entirely,\nthat they misunderstood the substance, when it came in the time and\nmanner foretold.\n\nThe rabbis take the breasts of the Spouse for figures, as they do\nevery thing which does not express the only aim they had, that of\ntemporal good.\n\nAnd Christians take even the Eucharist as a type of the glory for\nwhich they strive.\n\n\nCharity is no figurative precept. It is horrible to say that Jesus\nChrist, who came to take away the figure and establish the truth,\ncame only to establish the type of charity and take away the existing\nreality.\n\nIf the light be darkness, what must the darkness be?\n\n\nWhen David foretold that Messiah would deliver his people from their\nenemies, we may believe that these according to the flesh were the\nEgyptians, and then I know not how to show that the prophecy was\nfulfilled. But we may well believe also that the enemies were their\nsins, for in truth the Egyptians were not their enemies, and their\nsins were. This word enemies is therefore equivocal.\n\nBut if he say, as in fact he does elsewhere, that he will save his\npeople from their sins, as do also Isaiah and others, the ambiguity\nis removed, and the double sense of enemies is reduced to the single\nsense of iniquities. For if he had sins in his mind he might well\ndenote them by the word enemies, but if he thought of enemies, he\ncould not designate them by the word iniquities.\n\nNow Moses, David, and Isaiah employ the same terms. Who will say then\nthat they have not all the same meaning, and that the sense of David\nwhich is plainly that of iniquities when he spoke of enemies, is not\nthe same as that of Moses when speaking of enemies.\n\nDaniel prays that the people may be delivered from the captivity of\ntheir enemies, but he was thinking of sins, and to show this, he\nsays that Gabriel came to tell him that his prayer was heard, and\nthat there were only seventy weeks to wait, after which the nation\nwould be delivered from iniquity, that sin would have an end, and the\nRedeemer, the Most Holy, should bring in eternal righteousness, not\nlegal, but eternal.\n\n\nThe Jews had a doctrine of God as we have one of Jesus Christ, and\nconfirmed by miracles; they were forbidden to believe every worker of\nmiracles, and more, they were ordered to have recourse to the chief\npriests, on whom only they should rely.\n\nThus, in regard to their prophets, they had all those reasons which\nwe have for refusing to believe the workers of miracles.\n\nAnd yet they were very blameworthy in refusing the prophets because\nof their miracles, and had not been blameworthy had they not seen the\nmiracles. _Nisi fecissem, peccatum non haberent._\n\nTherefore all belief rests on miracles.\n\n\nWhoever estimates the Jewish religion by its coarser minds will\nknow it but ill. It is to be seen in the sacred books, and in the\ntradition of the prophets, who have made it plain enough that they\ndid not understand the law according to the letter. So our Religion\nis divine in the Gospel, in the Apostles, and in tradition, but\nridiculous in those who corrupt it.\n\nThe Messiah, according to the carnal Jews, was to be a mighty\ntemporal prince. Jesus Christ, according to carnal Christians, has\ncome to dispense us from the love of God, and to give us sacraments\nwhich shall operate without our concurrence. This is no more the\nChristian religion than was the other the Jewish.\n\nTrue Jews and true Christians have always expected a Messiah who\nshould inspire them with the love of God, and by that love should\nmake them triumph over all their enemies.\n\n\nThe carnal Jews hold a midway place between Christians and Pagans.\nThe Pagans know not God, and love this world only. The Jews know the\ntrue God, and love this world only. Christians know the true God,\nand love not the world. Jews and Pagans love the same good. Jews and\nChristians know the same God.\n\nThe Jews were of two kinds, one having merely Pagan, the other having\nChristian affections.\n\n\nThe carnal Jews understood neither the greatness nor the humiliation\nof Messiah as foretold by their prophecies. They misunderstood him in\nhis foretold greatness, as when he said that Messiah should be lord\nof David, through his son, and that he was before Abraham who yet had\nseen him. They did not believe him so great as to be eternal, and\nso too they misunderstood him in his humiliation and in his death.\nMessiah, said they, abideth for ever, and this man has said that he\nshall die. They believed him then neither mortal nor eternal, and\nthey only looked in him for a carnal greatness.\n\n\n_Typical._--God availed himself of the lust of the Jews to make them\navail for Jesus Christ.\n\n\n_Typical._--Nothing is so like charity as covetousness, and nothing\nis so contrary to it. Thus the Jews, full of possessions which\nflattered their covetousness, were very like Christians and very\ncontrary. And by this means they had the two qualities which were\nnecessary to them, to be very like the Messiah in order to be figures\nof him, and very contrary that they might not be suspected witnesses.\n\n\n_Antiquity of the Jews._--What difference there is between book and\nbook. I am not surprised that the Greeks made the Iliad, nor the\nEgyptians and the Chinese their histories.\n\nWe have only to see how this comes about. These fabulous historians\nare not contemporaneous with the facts they narrate. Homer writes a\nromance, which he puts forth as such, and which is received as such,\nfor no one supposed that Troy or Agamemnon existed more than did the\ngolden apple. So he thought not of making a history, but solely a\nbook to amuse; he is the only man who wrote in his time, the beauty\nof his work has made it last, every one learns it and talks of it, we\nare bound to know it, and we each get it by heart. Four hundred years\nafterwards the witnesses of these things are no more, no one knows of\nhis own knowledge if it be fable or history; he has only learnt it\nfrom his ancestors, and this may pass for true.\n\n\n_The sincerity of the Jews._--They preserve with faithfulness and\nzeal the book in which Moses declares that they have been all their\nlife ungrateful to God, and that he knows they will be still more so\nafter his death; that he therefore calls heaven and earth to witness\nagainst them, and that he has taught them enough.\n\nHe declares that finally God, being angry with them, would scatter\nthem among all the nations of the earth, that as they have angered\nhim, in worshipping gods who were not their God, so he will provoke\nthem by calling a people which is not his people, and wills that\nall his words shall be eternally preserved, and that his book shall\nbe placed in the Ark of the Covenant to serve for ever as a witness\nagainst them.\n\nIsaiah says the same thing, xxx. 8.\n\n\nHowever, they have kept at the cost of their life this very book\nwhich dishonours them in so many ways. This is a sincerity which has\nno example in the world, and no root in nature.\n\n\nEvery history which is not contemporaneous is open to suspicion, thus\nthe books of the Sibyls and Trismegistus and so many others which\nhave been credited by the world are false, and found to be false in\ncourse of time. It is not so with contemporaneous authors.\n\nThere is a great difference between a book written by a private man,\nand dispersed among a whole people, and a book which itself creates a\npeople. We cannot doubt that the book is as old as the people.\n\n\nThe sincerity of the Jews.\n\nDefective and final letters.\n\nSincere against their honour, and dying in its defence; this has no\nexample in the world's history, and no root in nature.\n\n\nThey are visibly a people expressly formed to serve as witnesses to\nthe Messiah, Isaiah xliii. 9; xliv. 8, they bear the books, and love\nthem while they understand them not. And all this was foretold, that\nGod's judgments might be entrusted to them, but as a sealed book.\n\n\n_Types._--When once the secret is disclosed it is impossible not to\nsee it If the Old Testament be read in this light, we shall see if\nthe sacrifices were real; if the fatherhood of Abraham was the true\ncause of the friendship of God; that the promised land was not the\ntrue place of rest. These were then but types. If in the same way we\nexamine all those ordained ceremonies, and all those commandments\nwhich are not of charity, we shall see that they are types.\n\nAll these sacrifices and ceremonies were then either figures or\nabsurdities. But there are things which are clear, and yet too lofty\nfor us to think them absurdities.\n\n\nAdam _forma futuri_. Six days to form the one, six ages to form the\nother. The six days which Moses represents for the formation of\nAdam, are but the representation of the six ages to form Jesus Christ\nand the Church. If Adam had not sinned, and Jesus Christ had not\ncome, there had been only one covenant, only one age of men, and the\ncreation would have been represented as done at one single time.\n\n\nThe six ages, the six Fathers of the six ages, the six miracles at\nthe opening of the six ages, the six mornings at the opening of the\nsix ages.\n\n\n_Types._--The Jewish and Egyptian peoples were visibly foretold by\nthe two men whom Moses met, the Egyptian beating the Jew, Moses\navenging him and slaying the Egyptian while the Jew was ungrateful.\n\n\nThe conversion of the Egyptians, Isaiah xix. 19. An altar in Egypt to\nthe true God.\n\n\nThe sabbath was only a sign, Exodus xxxi. 13, and in memory of\nthe deliverance from Egypt. Deut. v. 19. Therefore it is no more\nnecessary, for we ought to forget Egypt.\n\nCircumcision was only a sign, Gen. xvii. 13, therefore it came to\npass that in the desert they were not circumcised, because they could\nnot be confounded with other peoples, and after Jesus Christ came it\nwas no longer needful.\n\n\nThose who ordained these sacrifices knew their uselessness, and those\nwho have declared their uselessness, ceased not to practise them.\n\n\nYour name shall be accursed to my elect, and I will give them another\nname.\n\nHarden their heart. How? By flattering their lust, and making them\nhope to accomplish it.\n\n\n_Fac secundum exemplar quod tibi ostensum est in monte._\n\nThe Jewish religion then was formed on its likeness to the truth\nof the Messiah, and the truth of the Messiah was recognised by the\nreligion of the Jews which was the figure of it.\n\nAmong the Jews the truth was only prefigured. In heaven it is\nrevealed.\n\nIn the Church it is hidden, yet recognised by its correspondence with\nthe type.\n\nThe type was made according to the truth, and the truth is recognised\naccording to the type.\n\nSaint Paul says himself that people would forbid to marry, and he\nhimself speaks to the Corinthians, in a way which is a trap. For if\na prophet had said the one, and Saint Paul had afterwards said the\nother, he would have been accused.\n\n\n_Typical._--Make all things like unto the pattern which was showed\nthee in the mount. On which Saint Paul says that the Jews shadowed\nforth heavenly things.\n\n\n_Typical._ The key of the cipher. _Veri adoratores. Ecce agnus Dei\nqui tollit peccata mundi._\n\n\n_That the law was typical. Types._--The letter kills. All happened in\na figure. This is the cipher which Saint Paul gives us. Christ must\nsuffer. An humiliated God. Circumcision of the heart, a true fast, a\ntrue sacrifice, a true temple. The prophets indicated that all these\nmust be spiritual.\n\nNot the meat which perishes, but that which perishes not.\n\nYou shall be free indeed. Then the former liberty was only a type of\nliberty.\n\nI am the true bread from heaven.\n\n\n_Particular types._-- A double law, double tables of the law, a\ndouble temple, a double captivity.\n\n\nThe Synagogue did not perish because it was a type, but because it\nwas no more than a type it fell into servitude. The type subsisted\ntill the reality came, in order that the Church should be always\nvisible, either in the representation which promised it, or in the\nsubstance.\n\n\nIn the time of the Messiah the people were divided. Those that were\nspiritual embraced the Messiah, the carnal remained to serve as\nwitnesses of him.\n\n\n\n\n_OF THE TRUE RELIGION AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS._\n\n\n_For Port Royal. The Beginning, after having explained the\nincomprehensibility._--Since the greatness and the vileness of man\nare so evident, it is necessary that the true religion should declare\nboth that there is in man some great principle of greatness, and a\ngreat principle of vileness.\n\nIt must therefore explain these astonishing contradictions.\n\nIn order to make man happy, it must show him that there is a God;\nthat we ought to love him; that our true happiness is to be in him,\nour sole evil to be separated from him; it must recognise that we\nare full of darkness which hinders us from knowing and loving him;\nand that thus, as our duties oblige us to love God, and our lusts\nturn us from him, we are full of injustice. It must explain to us\nour opposition to God and to our own good; it must teach us the\nremedies for these infirmities, and the means of obtaining them. We\nmust therefore examine all the religions of the world from this point\nof view, and see if there be any other than the Christian which is\nsufficient for this end.\n\nShall it be that of the philosophers, who proposed as the only good\nthe good which is in ourselves? Is this the true good? Have they\nfound a remedy for our evils? Is the pride of man cured by equalling\nhim with God? Have those who would level us to the brutes, or the\nMahomedans who present us with pleasures of the world as the sole\ngood, even in eternity, found any remedy for our lusts? What religion\nthen will teach us to cure our pride and our lust? What religion will\nteach us our good, our duty, the infirmity which turns us from it,\nthe cause of this infirmity, the remedies which can cure it, and the\nmeans of obtaining those remedies? All other religions have failed,\nlet us see what the wisdom of God can do.\n\n\"Look neither for truth,\" she says, \"nor consolation from men. I am\nshe who framed you, and who alone can teach you what you are. But\nyou are not now in the state in which I framed you. I created man\nholy, innocent, perfect; I filled him with light and intelligence;\nI communicated to him my glory and my wondrous acts. The eye of man\nbeheld then the majesty of God; he was not then in the darkness which\nblinds him, nor subject to death and the miseries which afflict him.\nBut he could not bear so great a glory without falling into pride.\nHe would make himself his own centre, and independent of my aid. He\nwithdrew himself from my rule; and when he made himself equal to me\nby the desire of finding his happiness in himself, I gave him over to\nself. Then setting in revolt the creatures that were subject to him,\nI made them his enemies; so that man is now become like the beasts,\nand removed from me until there scarce remains to him a confused ray\nof his Creator, so far has all his knowledge become extinguished or\ndisturbed. His senses, never the servants, and often the masters of\nreason, have carried him astray in pursuit of pleasure. All creatures\neither torment or tempt him; and have dominion over him, either as\nthey subdue him by their strength, or as they melt him by their\ncharms, a tyranny more terrible and more imperious.\n\n\"Such is the present state of man. There remains to him some feeble\ninstinct of the happiness of his primitive nature, and he is plunged\nin the misery of his blindness and his lusts, which have become his\nsecond nature.\n\n\"From this principle which I have here laid open to you, you may\ndiscern the cause of those contradictions which, while they astonish\nall men, have divided them among such various opinions. Now mark all\nthe movements of greatness and glory which the trials of so many\nmiseries are unable to stifle, and see if the cause of them must not\nbe in another nature....\"\n\n_For Port Royal to-morrow. Prosopop\u00e6a._--\"It is in vain, O men, that\nyou seek from yourselves the remedy for your miseries. All your\nlight can only enable you to know that not in yourselves will you\nfind truth or good. The Philosophers promised you these, but gave\nthem not. They neither apprehend what is your true good nor what\nis....\n\n\"How could they then apply remedies to your diseases, since they did\nnot even know them? Your chief maladies are pride, which alienates\nyou from God, and lust, which binds you down to earth; and they do\nnought else but nourish one or the other of these disorders. If they\npresented God as your end it was only done to gratify your pride; by\nmaking you think that you are by nature like him and conformed to\nhim. Those who saw the extravagance of such an assertion did but set\nyou on an opposite precipice, by tempting you to believe that your\nnature was of a piece with that of the beasts, and by inclining you\nto seek your good in the lusts which are shared by brutes. This is\nnot the way to cure you of your unrighteousness, which these sages\nnever knew. I alone can teach you who you are....\n\n\"If you are united to God it is by grace, not by nature.\n\n\"If you are abased it is by penitence, not by nature. So this twofold\ncapacity....\n\n\"You are not in the state wherein you were created.\n\n\"These two states being presented to you, you cannot but recognise\nthem.\n\n\"Follow your own movements, observe yourselves, and see if you do not\ntrace the lively characters of these two natures.\n\n\"Could so many contradictions be found in a subject that was simple?\"\n\n\nI do not mean that you should submit your belief to me without\nreason, neither do I aim at your subjection by tyranny. I do not\naim at giving you a reason for everything. And to reconcile these\ncontradictions, I wish to make you see by convincing proofs, those\ndivine tokens in me, which will assure you who I am and will verify\nmy authority by wonders and proofs which you cannot reject; so that\nyou may then have a reasonable belief in what I teach you, when you\nfind no other ground for refusing it, but that you cannot know of\nyourselves whether it is true or not.\n\n\nThe true nature of man, his true good, true virtue and true religion\nare things of which the knowledge is inseparable.\n\n\n_After having understood the whole nature of man._--That a religion\nmay be true, it must show knowledge of our nature. It must know its\ngreatness and meanness, and the cause of both. What religion but the\nChristian has shown this knowledge?\n\n\nThe true religion teaches our duties; our weaknesses, pride and lust;\nand the remedies, humility and mortification.\n\nThe true religion must teach greatness and misery; must lead to the\nesteem and despising of self; to love and to hate.\n\n\nThe note of true religion must be that it obliges man to love his\nGod. This is very right, and yet no other religion than ours has thus\ncommanded; ours has done so. It must also be cognizant of man's lust\nand weakness, ours is so. It must have applied remedies for these\ndefects; one is prayer. No other religion has asked of God the power\nto love and obey him.\n\n\nIf there be one only origin of all things, there must be one only\nend of all things; all by him, all for him. The true religion then\nmust teach us to adore him only, and to love him only. But since we\nfind ourselves unable to adore what we know not, or to love aught but\nourselves, the same religion which instructs us in these duties must\ninstruct us also of this inability, and teach us also the remedies\nfor it. It teaches us that by one man all was lost, and the bond\nbroken between God and us, and that by one man the bond has been\nrepaired.\n\nWe are born so contrary to this love of God, and it is so necessary\nthat we must be born sinful, or God would be unjust.\n\n\nEvery religion is false which as to its faith does not adore one God\nas origin of all things, and as to its morals does not love one sole\nGod as the object of all things.\n\n\nIn every religion we must be sincere, true heathens, true Jews, true\nChristians.\n\n\n\n\n_THE EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION._\n\n\nWhen I see the blindness and the misery of man, when I survey the\nwhole dumb Universe, and man without light, left to himself, and\nlost, as it were, in this corner of the Universe, not knowing who\nhas placed him here, what he has come to do, what will become of\nhim when he dies, and incapable of any knowledge whatever, I fall\ninto terror like that of a man who, having been carried in his sleep\nto an island desert and terrible, should awake ignorant of his\nwhereabouts and with no means of escape; and thereupon I wonder how\nthose in so miserable a state do not fall into despair. I see other\npersons around me, of like nature, I ask them if they are better\ninformed than I am, and they say they are not; and thereupon these\nmiserable wanderers, having looked around them, and seen some objects\npleasing to them, have given and attached themselves to these. As\nfor me, I cannot attach myself to them, and considering how strongly\nappearances show that there is something else than what is visible\nto me, I have sought to discover whether this God have not left some\nimpress of himself.\n\nI see many contrary religions, and consequently all false but one.\nEach wishes to be believed on its own authority, and menaces the\nunbeliever, but I do not therefore believe them. Every one can say\nthe same, and every one can call himself a prophet. But I see the\nChristian religion fulfilling prophecy, and that is what every one\ncan not do.\n\n\nWithout this divine knowledge what could men do but either uplift\nthemselves by that inward conviction of their past greatness\nstill remaining to them, or be cast down in view of their present\ninfirmity? For, not seeing the whole truth, they could not attain\nto perfect virtue. Some considering nature as incorrupt, others as\nincurable, they could not escape either pride or idleness, the two\nsources of all vice; since they cannot but either abandon themselves\nto it by cowardice, or escape it by pride. For if they were aware\nof the excellency of man, they were ignorant of his corruption, so\nthat they very easily avoided idleness, but only to fall into pride.\nAnd if they recognized the infirmity of nature, they knew not its\ndignity, so that though they might easily avoid presumption, it was\nonly to plunge into despair.\n\nThence come the various sects of the Stoics and Epicureans, the\nDogmatists, Academicians, etc. The Christian religion alone has\nbeen able to cure these two distempers, not so as to drive out the\none by the other according to the wisdom of the world, but so as to\nexpel them both by the simplicity of the Gospel. For it teaches the\nrighteous that it lifts them even to a participation of the divine\nnature; that in this exalted state they still bear within them the\nfountain of all corruption, which renders them during their whole\nlife subject to error and misery, to death and sin; and at the same\ntime it proclaims to the most wicked that they can receive the grace\nof their Redeemer. Thus making those tremble whom it justifies, and\nconsoling those whom it condemns, religion so justly tempers fear\nwith hope by means of that double capacity of grace and of sin which\nis common to all, that it abases infinitely more than reason alone,\nyet without despair; and exalts infinitely higher than natural pride,\nyet without puffing up: hereby proving that alone being exempt\nfrom error and vice, it alone has the office of instructing and of\nreforming men.\n\nWho then can withhold credence and adoration to so divine a light?\nFor it is clearer than day that we feel within ourselves indelible\ncharacters of goodness; and it is equally true that we experience\nevery hour the effects of our deplorable condition. This chaos then,\nthis monstrous confusion, does but proclaim the truth of these two\nstates, with a voice so powerful that it cannot be resisted.\n\n\nThe Philosophers never prescribed feelings proper to these two\nstates.\n\nThey inspired motions of simple greatness, and that is not the state\nof man.\n\nThey inspired motions of simple vileness, and that is not the state\nof man.\n\nThere must be motions of abasement, yet not from nature, but from\npenitence, not to rest in them, but to go onward to greatness. There\nmust be motions of greatness, not from merit, but from grace, and\nafter having passed through abasement.\n\n\nThis double nature of man is so evident, that there are those who\nhave imagined us to have two souls.\n\nOne single subject seemed to them incapable of so great and sudden\nvariations from unmeasured pride to an horrible dejection of spirit.\n\n\nAll these contradictions which seemed to have taken me further from\nthe knowledge of religion, are what most rapidly led me into truth.\n\n\nDid we not know ourselves full of pride, ambition, lust, weakness,\nmisery and injustice, we were indeed blind. And if knowing this we\ndid not desire deliverance, what could be said of a man.... What then\ncan we feel but esteem for that Religion which is so well acquainted\nwith the defects of man, and desire for the truth of a religion which\npromises remedies so precious.\n\n\nThe corruption of reason is shown by the number of differing and\nextravagant customs; it was necessary that truth should come in order\nthat man should no longer live in himself.\n\n\n_Incomprehensible._--Not all that is incomprehensible is therefore\nnon existent. Infinite number. An infinite space equal to a finite.\n\n_It is incredible that God should unite himself to us._--This\nconsideration is drawn only from the view of our vileness. But if it\nbe sincere, follow it as far as I have done, and recognise that we\nare in fact so vile as to make us by ourselves incapable of knowing\nwhether his mercy may not render us capable of him. For I would\nknow how this animal, who is aware of his weakness, has the right\nto measure the mercy of God and set to it bounds suggested by his\nfancy. He knows so little what God is that he does not even know\nwhat himself is, and troubled with the view of his own state, boldly\ndeclares that God cannot render man capable of communion with him.\n\nBut I would ask if God demands aught else from him than to know him\nand to love him, and why, since man is by nature capable of love and\nknowledge, he believes that God cannot make himself known and loved\nby him. He certainly knows at least that he is, and that he loves\nsomething. Therefore if he see anything in his darkness, and if\namong the things of earth he find any subject of his love, why, if\nGod impart to him some ray of his essence, should he not be capable\nof knowing and of loving him in the manner in which it shall please\nhim to communicate himself to us? There must be then an intolerable\narrogance in these sort of arguments, though they seem founded on\napparent humility, which is neither sincere nor reasonable, unless it\nmakes us confess that not knowing of ourselves what we are, we can\nlearn it from God alone.\n\n\nFor myself, I declare that so soon as the Christian religion reveals\nthe principle that human nature is corrupt and fallen from God, my\neyes are opened to see everywhere the characters of this truth: for\nnature is such that she everywhere indicates, both within man and\nwithout him, a God whom he has lost and a corrupt nature.\n\n\nWhatever may be said, it must be conceded that the Christian religion\nhas something astonishing in it. Perhaps someone will say: \"This\nis because you were born in it.\" It may be: then I stiffen myself\nagainst it by this very reason, for fear this prejudice should bias\nme; but although I am born in it I cannot but find it so.\n\n\nThe whole course of things must have for its object the establishment\nand the grandeur of Religion: that there should be implanted in men\nsentiments conformable to its precepts, and in a word, that it\nshould be so completely the aim and the centre to which all things\ntend, that whoever understands its principles can give an explanation\nas of human nature in particular, so in general of the whole order of\nthe world.\n\n\nOur religion is wise and foolish. Wise, because it is the most\nlearned, and the most founded on miracles, prophecies, etc. Foolish,\nbecause it is not all this which causes us to belong to it; this\nmakes us indeed condemn those who are not of it, but is not the cause\nof belief in those who are. It is the cross that makes them believe,\n_ne evacuata sit crux_. And thus Saint Paul, who came with wisdom\nand signs, says that he came neither with wisdom nor with signs, for\nhe came to convert. But those who come only to convince may say that\nthey come with wisdom and with signs.\n\n\nThat religion, great as she is in miracles, with holy and blameless\nFathers, learned and great witnesses, with martyrs and kings, as\nDavid, and Isaiah, a prince of the blood; great as she is in science,\nafter having displayed all her miracles and all her wisdom, rejects\nit all, and says she has neither wisdom nor signs, but only the cross\nand foolishness.\n\nFor those, who by these signs and that wisdom have deserved your\nbelief, and who have proved to you their character, declare to you\nthat nothing of all this can change you, and render you capable of\nknowing and loving God, but the power of the foolishness of the cross\nwithout wisdom and signs, and not the signs without this power. Thus\nour Religion is foolish when we consider the effective cause, wise\nwhen we consider the wisdom which has prepared it.\n\n\nHow strange is Christianity! It enjoins man to acknowledge himself\nvile, even abominable, and enjoins him to aspire to be like God.\nWithout such a counterpoise, this elevation would make him horribly\nvain, or that vileness would make him terribly abject\n\n\nMisery counsels despair, pride counsels presumption.\n\n\nThe incarnation shows man the greatness of his misery by the\ngreatness of the remedy of which he stood in need.\n\n\nNot a vileness such as renders us incapable of good, nor a holiness\nexempt from evil.\n\n\nNo doctrine is more suited to man than this; for it teaches him his\ndouble capacity of receiving and losing grace, because of the double\nperil to which he is always exposed, of despair and of pride.\n\n\nNo other religion has enjoined hate of self. No other religion\nthen can be pleasing to those who hate themselves, and who seek a\nBeing wholly to be loved. And these, if they had never heard of the\nreligion of an humiliated God, would embrace it at once.\n\n\nNo other has recognised that man is of all creatures the most\nexcellent. Some, having apprehended the reality of his excellence,\nhave blamed as mean and ungrateful the low opinion which men\nnaturally have of themselves, and others, well aware how real is this\nvileness, have treated with haughty ridicule those sentiments of\ngreatness which are no less natural to man.\n\n\"Lift your eyes to God,\" say these, \"see him in whose image you are,\nwho has made you to worship him. You can make yourselves like unto\nhim; wisdom will equal you to him if you will follow it.\" But others\nsay: \"Bend your eyes to the earth, poor worm that you are, and look\nupon the brutes your comrades.\" What then will man become? Will he\nequal God or the brutes? What an awful gulf! What then shall we be?\nWho does not see from all this that man has gone astray, that he has\nfallen from his place, that he seeks it with disquiet, that he cannot\nregain it? And who shall direct him, since the greatest men have not\navailed?\n\n\nWhat men could scarcely know by their greatest light, this Religion\nhas taught to babes.\n\n\nOther religions, as those of heathendom, are more popular since they\nconsist only in externals, but they have no effect on the educated. A\npurely intellectual religion would be more adapted to the educated,\nbut it would be of no use to the people. The Christian religion alone\nis fitted for all, being composed of externals and internals. It\nelevates the people to interior acts, it abases the proud to external\nrites, and it is not complete without both, for the people must\nunderstand the spirit which is in the letter, and the educated must\nsubmit their spirit to the letter.\n\n\nPhilosophers have consecrated vices in attributing them to God\nhimself, Christians have consecrated virtues.\n\n\n\n\n_OF ORIGINAL SIN._\n\n\nThere are two truths of faith equally sure: the one, that man in the\nstate of creation, or in that of grace, is raised above all nature,\nis made like unto God and is a sharer in divinity; the other, that\nin the state of corruption and sin, he has fallen from the higher\nstate and is made like unto the beasts. These two propositions are\nequally firm and certain. The Scripture declares it plainly, as when\nit says in certain places: _Delici\u00e6 me\u00e6, esse cum filiis hominum.\nEffundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem. Dii estis, etc._; and when\nit says in others: _Omnis caro f\u00e6num. Homo comparatus est jumentis\ninsipientibus, et similis factus est illis. Dixi in corde meo de\nfiliis hominum, ut probaret eos Deus et ostenderet similes esse\nbestiis, etc._\n\n\nThe wicked, who abandon themselves blindly to their passions, without\nthe knowledge of God, and without taking the trouble to seek him,\nthemselves confirm this foundation of the faith which they attack,\nthat the nature of man is corrupt. And the Jews, who so obstinately\nassail the Christian religion, again confirm that other foundation of\nthe same faith which they assail, namely, that Jesus Christ is the\ntrue Messiah, who has come to redeem men, and deliver them from the\ncorruption and misery in which they were, as much by the condition\nin which we see them at this day, and which was foretold by the\nprophets, as by these same prophecies which they possess and keep so\ninviolably as the tokens whereby the Messiah is to be recognised.\n\n\nI would ask them if it is not true that they themselves confirm this\nfoundation of the faith they assail, which is that the nature of man\nis corrupt.\n\n\nMarton sees indeed that nature is corrupt, and that men are opposed\nto honourable conduct, but he knows not why they cannot fly higher.\n\n\nThe meaning of the words _good_ and _evil_.\n\n\nOriginal sin is foolishness to men, but it is admitted to be so. This\ndoctrine must not then be reproached with want of reason, since I\nadmit that it has no reason. But this foolishness is wiser than all\nthe wisdom of men, _sapientius est hominibus_. For without this how\ncan we say what man is? His whole state depends on this imperceptible\npoint, and how should it be perceived by his reason, since it is a\nthing against reason, and since reason, far from finding it out by\nher own ways, revolts from it when it is offered her?\n\n\nThere is nothing on earth which does not show either human misery or\ndivine mercy; either the weakness of man without God, or the power of\nman with God.\n\n\nThus the whole universe teaches man, either that he is corrupt,\nor that he is redeemed; every thing teaches him his greatness or\nhis misery; the abandonment by God is shown in the heathen, the\nprotection of God is shown in the Jews.\n\n\nNature has her perfections to show that she is the image of God, and\nher defects to show that she is no more than his image.\n\nMen being unaccustomed to form merit, but only to recompense it when\nthey find it formed, judge of God by themselves.\n\n\nWhen we wish to think of God, there is a something which turns us\naside, and tempts us to think on other subjects; all this is evil and\nborn with us.\n\n\nLust has become natural to us, and has made our second nature. Thus\nthere are two natures in us, one good, the other evil.--Where is\nGod? Where you are not, and the kingdom of God is within you.--_The\nRabbis._\n\n\nIt is then true that everything instructs man concerning his\ncondition, but the statement must be clearly understood, for it is\nnot true that all reveals God, and it is not true that all hides\nhim. But it is true both that he hides himself from those who tempt\nhim, and that he reveals himself to those who seek him, because men\nare both unworthy and capable of God; unworthy by their corruption,\ncapable by their original nature.\n\n\nWe cannot conceive the glorious state of Adam, nor the nature of his\nsin, nor the transmission of it to us. These things took place under\nthe conditions of a nature quite different to our own, transcending\nour present capacity.\n\nThe knowledge of all this would be of no use in helping us to escape\nfrom it, and all we need know is that we are miserable, corrupt,\nseparate from God, but ransomed by Jesus Christ, and of this we have\non earth wonderful proofs.\n\nThus the two proofs of corruption and redemption are drawn from the\nwicked, who live indifferent to religion, and from the Jews who are\nits irreconcilable enemies.\n\n\nAll faith consists in Jesus Christ and in Adam, and all morality in\nlust and in grace.\n\n\nShall he only who knows his nature know it only to his misery? Shall\nhe alone who knows it be alone miserable?\n\nHe must not see nothing whatever, nor must he see so much as to\nbelieve he possesses it, but he must see enough to know that he has\nlost it; for to be aware of loss he must see and not see, and that is\nprecisely the state in which he is by nature.\n\n\nWe wish for truth, and find in ourselves only uncertainty.\n\nWe seek after happiness, and find only misery and death.\n\nWe cannot but wish for truth and happiness, and we are incapable\nneither of certainty nor of happiness. This desire is left to us, as\nmuch to punish us as to make us feel whence we are drawn.\n\n\nWill it be asserted that because men have spoken of righteousness\nas having fled from the earth, therefore they knew of original\nsin?--_Nemo ante obitum beatus est._--That therefore they knew death\nto be the beginning of eternal and essential happiness?\n\n\nThe dignity of man while innocent consisted in using and having\ndominion over the creatures, but now in separating himself from them,\nand subjecting himself to them.\n\n\n_Source of contradictions._--A God humbled, even to the death of the\ncross, a Messiah by his death triumphing over death. Two natures in\nJesus Christ, two advents, two states of human nature.\n\n\n_Of original sin.--Ample tradition of original sin according to the\nJews._\n\nOn the word in Genesis, viii. 21. The imagination of man's heart is\nevil from his youth.\n\nR. Moses Haddarschan: This evil leaven is placed in man from the time\nthat he is formed.\n\n_Massechet Succa_: This evil leaven has seven names in Scripture.\nIt is called evil, an unclean prepuce, an enemy, a scandal, a heart\nof stone, the north wind; all this signifies the malignity which is\nconcealed and ingrained in the heart of man.\n\n_Midrasch Tillim_ says the same thing, and that God will free the\ngood nature of man from the evil.\n\nThis malignity is renewed every day against man, as it is written,\nPsalm xxxvii. The wicked watcheth the just, and striveth to kill him,\nbut God will not abandon him.\n\nThis malignity tries the heart of man in this life, and will accuse\nhim in the other.\n\nAll this is found in the _Talmud_.\n\n_Midrasch Tillim_ on Ps. iv.: \"Stand in awe and sin not.\" Stand in\nawe and be afraid of your lust, and it will not lead you into sin.\nAnd on Ps. xxxvi. \"The wicked has said in his heart: Let not the fear\nof God be before me.\" That is to say that the malignity natural to\nman has said that to the wicked.\n\n_Misdrasch el Kohelet_: \"Better is a poor and a wise child than an\nold and foolish king who cannot foresee the future.\" The child is\nvirtue, and the king is the malignity of man. It is called king\nbecause all the members obey it, and old because it is in the heart\nof man from infancy to old age, and foolish because it leads man in\nthe way of perdition which he does not foresee.\n\nThe same thing is in _Misdrasch Tillim_.\n\n_Bereschist Rabba_ on Ps. xxxv.: \"Lord, all my bones shall bless\nthee, who deliverest the poor from the tyrant.\" And is there a\ngreater tyrant than the evil leaven? And on Proverbs xxv., \"If thine\nenemy be hungry, feed him.\" That is to say, if the evil leaven\nhunger, give him the bread of wisdom of which speaks Prov. ix., and\nif he be thirsty, give him the water of which speaks Isaiah lv.\n\n_Misdrasch Tillim_ says the same thing, and that the Scripture in\nthat passage speaking of our enemy, means the evil leaven, and that\nin giving it that bread and that water, we heap coals of fire on his\nhead.\n\n_Misdrasch Kohelet_ on Ecclesiastes ix. \"A great king besieged a\nlittle city.\" This great king is the evil leaven, the great engines\nwith which he surrounds it are temptations, and there has been found\na poor wise man who has delivered it, that is to say virtue.\n\nAnd on Ps. xli. \"Blessed is he that considereth the poor.\"\n\nAnd on Ps. lxxviii. The spirit goeth and returneth not again, whereof\nsome have taken occasion of error concerning the immortality of the\nsoul; but the sense is that this spirit is the evil leaven, which\naccompanies man till death, and will not return at the resurrection.\n\nAnd on Ps. ciii. the same thing.\n\nAnd on Ps. xvi.\n\n\n_Chronology of Rabbinism._\n\nThe citations of pages are from the book _Pugio_.\n\nPage 27, R. Hakadosch, _anno_ 200, author of the Mischna or vocal\nlaw, or second law.\n\nCommentaries on the Mischna, _anno_ 340:\n\n  The one, _Siphra_.\n    _Barajetot._\n    _Talmud Hierosol._\n    _Tosiphtot._\n\n_Bereschit Rabah_, by R. Osaiah Rabah, commentary on the Mischna.\n\n_Bereschit Rabah, Bar Naconi_, are subtle and agreeable discourses,\nhistorical and theological. The same author wrote the books called\nRabot.\n\nA hundred years after the _Talmud Hierosol. anno_ 440, was made the\n_Babylonian Talmud_, by R. Ase, by the universal consent of all the\nJews, who are necessarily obliged to observe all that is contained\ntherein.\n\nThe addition of R. Ase is called the _Gemara_, that is to say the\ncommentary on the _Mischna_.\n\nAnd the _Talmud_ as a whole comprises the _Mischna_ and the _Gemara_.\n\n\n\n\n_THE PERPETUITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION._\n\n\n_Perpetuity._--That religion has always existed on earth, which\nconsists in believing that man has fallen from a state of glory\nand of communion with God into a state of sorrow, penitence, and\nestrangement from God, but that after this life we shall be restored\nby a Messiah who was to come. All things have passed away, and this\nhas subsisted for which are all things.\n\nMen in the first age of the world were carried away into every\nkind of misconduct, and yet there were holy men, as Enoch, Lamech\nand others, who awaited with patience the Christ promised from the\nbeginning of the world. Noah saw the evil of men at its height; and\nhe was found worthy to save the world in his person, by the hope of\nthe Messiah of whom he was the type. Abraham was compassed round\nabout by idolaters, when God revealed to him the mystery of the\nMessiah, whom he greeted from afar. In the days of Isaac and Jacob\nabomination was spread over the whole earth, but these holy men\nlived in faith, and Jacob dying and blessing his children, cried in\na transport which made him break off his discourse, \"I await, O my\nGod, the Saviour whom thou hast promised. _Salutare tuum expectabo,\nDomine_.\" The Egyptians were infected both with idolatry and magic,\neven the people of God were led astray by their example. Yet Moses\nand others saw him whom they saw not, and adored him, looking to\nthe eternal gifts which he was preparing for them. The Greeks and\nLatins then enthroned false deities, the poets made a hundred divers\ntheologies, the philosophers separated into a thousand different\nsects, and yet in the heart of Jud\u00e6a were always chosen men who\nforetold the advent of this Messiah, known to them alone. He came\nat length in the fulness of time, and since then, notwithstanding\nthe birth of so many schisms and heresies, so many revolutions in\ngovernment, such great changes in all things, this Church, adoring\nhim who has ever been adored, has subsisted without a break. It is a\nwonderful, incomparable and wholly divine fact, that this Religion\nwhich has ever endured, has ever been assailed. A thousand times has\nit been on the eve of an universal ruin, and whenever it has been in\nthat state God has restored it by extraordinary manifestations of\nhis power. This is marvellous, so also that it has survived without\nyielding to the will of tyrants. For it is not strange that a State\nsubsists when its laws sometimes give way to necessity, but that....\n\n\nStates would perish if they did not often make their laws bend to\nnecessity, but Religion has never suffered this or practised it. And\nindeed there must be either compromise or miracles. There is nothing\nunusual in being saved by yielding, and strictly speaking this is\nnot endurance, besides in the end they perish utterly: there is none\nwhich has endured a thousand years. But that this Religion, although\ninflexible, should always have been maintained, shows that it is\ndivine.\n\n\nThe religion which alone is contrary to our nature, to common sense,\nand to our pleasures, is that alone which has always existed.\n\n\nThe science which alone is contrary to common sense and human nature,\nis that alone which has always subsisted among men.\n\n\n_To show that the true Jews and the true Christians have one and\nthe same Religion._--The religion of the Jews seemed to consist\nessentially in the fatherhood of Abraham, in circumcision, sacrifices\nand ceremonies, in the ark, in the temple at Jerusalem, and lastly,\nin the Law, and the Covenant with Moses.\n\nI say that it consisted in none of these, but solely in the love of\nGod, and that all else was rejected by him;\n\nThat God did not accept the posterity of Abraham;\n\nThat the Jews if they transgressed were to be punished like\nstrangers. Deut. viii. 19. \"If thou at all forget the Lord thy God,\nand walk after other gods, I testify against you this day that ye\nshall surely perish as the nations which God has destroyed before\nyou.\"\n\nThat strangers if they loved God were to be received by him as the\nJews. Isaiah lvi. 3. \"Let not the stranger say, The Lord will not\nreceive me.--The strangers that join themselves unto the Lord God\nto serve him and love him, will I bring unto my holy mountain, and\naccept their sacrifices, for mine house is an house of prayer.\"\n\nThat the true Jews ascribed all their merit to God, and not to\nAbraham. Isaiah lxiii. 16. \"Doubtless thou art our Father, though\nAbraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. Thou art\nour Father and our Redeemer.\"\n\nMoses himself said that God would not accept the person of any.\n\nDeut. x. 17. \"God,\" said he, \"accepteth neither persons nor\nsacrifices.\"\n\nThat the circumcision commanded was that of the heart. Deut. x.\n16; Jeremiah iv. 4. \"Be ye circumcised in heart. Cut off the\nsuperfluities of your heart, harden not your hearts, for your God is\na great God, strong and terrible, who accepteth not the person of\nany.\"\n\nThat God said he would one day do it. Deut. xxx. 6. \"God will\ncircumcise thine heart, and thy children's heart, that thou mayest\nlove him with all thine heart.\"\n\nThat the uncircumcised in heart should be judged.\n\nJer. ix. 26. For God will judge the uncircumcised peoples, and all\nthe people of Israel, because he is uncircumcised in heart.\n\nThat the exterior is nothing in comparison of the interior. Joel. ii.\n13. _Scindite corda vestra_, etc. Isaiah lviii. 3,4, etc.\n\nThe love of God is commanded in the whole of Deuteronomy, Deut. xxx.\n19: \"I call heaven and earth to witness that I have set before you\ndeath and life, that you may choose life, and that you may love God,\nand obey him, for God is your life.\"\n\nThat the Jews, for lack of their love, should be rejected for their\ncrimes, and the Gentiles chosen in their stead.\n\nHosea i. 10.\n\nDeut. xxxii. 20. \"I will hide myself from them in view of their\nlatter sins, for they are a froward generation. They have provoked\nme to anger by things which are no gods, and I will provoke them\nto jealousy by a people which is not my people, by an ignorant and\nfoolish nation.\"\n\nIsaiah lxv. 1. That temporal goods are false, and that the true good\nis to be united to God.\n\nPsalm cxliii. 15. That their feasts were displeasing to God.\n\nAmos v. 21. That the sacrifices of the Jews were displeasing to God.\n\nIsa. lxvi. 1-3; l. 11; Jerem. vi. 20.\n\nDavid, _Miserere_. Even on the part of the good, _Expectavi_.\n\nPsalm xlix. 8-14. That he has established them only for their\nhardness. Micah, admirably, vi. 6-8.\n\nI. Kings xv. 22; Hosea vi. 6.\n\nThat the sacrifices of the Gentiles should be accepted of God, and\nthat God would none of the sacrifices of the Jews. Malachi i. 11.\n\nThat God would make a new covenant with the Messiah, and that the Old\nshould be disannulled. Jer. xxxi. 31.\n\n_Mandata non bona._ Ezek. xx. 25.\n\nThat the old things should be forgotten. Isa. xliii. 18, 19; lxv. 17,\n18.\n\nThat the ark should come no more to mind. Jer. iii. 15, 16.\n\nThat the temple should be rejected. Jer. vii. 12-14.\n\nThat the sacrifices should be rejected, and purer sacrifices\nestablished. Malachi i. 11.\n\nThat the order of Aaron's priesthood should be rejected and that of\nMelchizedek introduced by the Messiah. _Dixit Dominus._\n\nThat this sacrifice should be eternal. _Ib._\n\nThat Jerusalem should be rejected, and Rome admitted.\n\nThat the name of the Jews should be rejected and a new name given.\nIsa. lxv. 15.\n\nThat this new name should be more excellent than that of the Jews,\nand eternal. Isa. lvii. 5.\n\nThat the Jews should be without prophets, Amos, without a king,\nwithout princes, without sacrifice, without an idol.\n\nThat the Jews should nevertheless always remain a people. Jer. xxxi.\n36.\n\n\n_Perpetuity._--Men have always believed in a Messiah. The tradition\nfrom Adam was still fresh in Noah and in Moses. After these the\nprophets bore witness, at the same time foretelling other things\nwhich being from time to time fulfilled in the eyes of all,\ndemonstrated the truth of their mission, and consequently that of\ntheir promises touching the Messiah. Jesus Christ worked miracles,\nand the Apostles also, who converted all the Gentiles; and the\nprophecies being thus once accomplished, the Messiah is for ever\nproved.\n\n\n... On that account I reject all other religions.\n\nIn that I find an answer to all objections.\n\nIt is just that a God so pure should only disclose himself to those\nwhose hearts are purified.\n\nTherefore that religion is lovable to me, and I find it sufficiently\nauthorized by so divine a morality, but I find yet more....\n\nI find it a convincing fact that since the memory of man has lasted,\nit was constantly declared to men that they were universally corrupt,\nand that a Redeemer should come;\n\nThat it was not one man who said it, but an infinity of men, and\na whole nation lasting for four thousand years, prophesying, and\ncreated for that very purpose.... So I stretch out my arms to my\nRedeemer, who having been foretold for four thousand years, has come\nto suffer and to die for me on earth at the time and under all the\ncircumstances which had been foretold, and by his grace I await death\nin peace, in the hope of being eternally united to him; yet I live\nwith joy, whether in the good which it pleases him to bestow on me,\nor in the ill which he sends for my good, and which he has taught me\nto bear by his example.\n\n\nThe Synagogue preceded the Church, the Jews preceded the Christians,\nthe prophets foretold the Christians, Saint John foretold Jesus\nChrist.\n\n\nNo religion but our own has taught that man is born in sin; no sect\nof philosophers ever said this, therefore none has said the truth.\n\nNo sect or religion has always existed on earth, except the Christian\nreligion.\n\n\nThe Christian religion is that alone which renders man lovable and\nhappy at once. Living in the world he cannot be lovable and happy at\nthe same time.\n\n\nIn all times either men have spoken of the true God, or the true God\nhas spoken to men.\n\nThere are two foundations, one interior and the other exterior, grace\nand miracles, and both are supernatural.\n\n\n\n\n_PROOFS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION._\n\n\n_Proofs of Religion._\n\nMorals--Doctrine--Miracles--Prophecies--Figures.\n\n\n_Proof_--1. The Christian religion having established itself so\nstrongly, yet so quietly, whilst contrary to nature.--2. The\nsanctity, the dignity, and the humility of a Christian soul.--3. The\nwonders of holy Scripture.--4. Jesus Christ in particular.--5. The\napostles in particular.--6. Moses and the prophets in particular.--7.\nThe Jewish people.--8. The Prophecies.--9. Perpetuity. No religion\nhas perpetuity.--10. The Doctrine, which explains all.--11. The\nsanctity of this law.--12. By the course of the world.\n\nIt is beyond doubt that after considering what is life and what is\nreligion we cannot refuse to act on the inclination to follow it, if\nit comes into our heart, and it is certain there is no ground for\njeering at those who follow it.\n\n\n_The general conduct of the world towards the Church._--God willing\nboth to blind and enlighten.--The event having proved that these\nprophecies were divine, the remainder ought to be believed, and hence\nwe see that the order of the world is on this manner.\n\nThe miracles of the creation and the deluge being forgotten, God\nsent the law and the miracles of Moses, the prophets who prophesied\nparticular things, and to prepare an abiding miracle he prepares\nprophecies and their fulfilment. But as the prophecies might be\nsuspected he wishes to make them beyond suspicion, etc.\n\n\n... But even those who seem most opposed to the glory of religion are\nnot in that respect useless for others. We draw from them the first\nargument, that here is something supernatural, for a blindness of\nthat kind is not natural, and if their folly renders them so opposed\nto their own good, it will serve to guarantee others against it, by\nthe horror of an example so deplorable, and a folly so worthy of\ncompassion.\n\n\n... Men revile what they do not understand. The Christian religion\nconsists in two points. It is of equal moment to men to know them\nboth, and equally dangerous to ignore either. And it is equally of\nGod's mercy that he has given marks of both.\n\nYet they take occasion to conclude that one of these points does not\nexist from that which is intended to make them certain of the other.\nThose sages who have said there is a God have been persecuted, the\nJews were hated, and still more the Christians. They saw by the light\nof nature, that if there be a true religion on earth, the course of\nall things must tend to it as to a centre. And on this ground they\nventure to revile the Christian religion because they misunderstand\nit. They imagine that it consists simply in the adoration of a God\nconceived as great, powerful and eternal; which is in fact deism,\nalmost as far removed from the Christian religion as atheism, its\nexact opposite. And hence they infer the falsehood of our religion,\nbecause they do not see that all things concur to the establishment\nof this point, that God does not manifest himself to man with all the\nevidence which is possible.\n\nBut let them conclude what they will against deism, they can conclude\nnothing on that account against the Christian religion, which\nproperly consists in the mystery of the Redeemer, who, uniting in\nhimself the two natures human and divine, has withdrawn men from the\ncorruption of sin that he might in his divine person reconcile them\nto God.\n\nTrue religion then teaches these two truths to men, that there is\na God whom they are capable of knowing, and that there is such\ncorruption in their nature as to render them unworthy of him. It is\nof equal importance to men that they should apprehend the one and the\nother of these points, and it is alike dangerous for man to know God\nwithout the knowledge of his own worthlessness, and to know his own\nworthlessness without the knowledge of the Redeemer who may deliver\nhim from it. To apprehend the one without the other begets either the\npride of philosophers, who knew God, but not their own wretchedness;\nor the despair of atheists, who know their own wretchedness, but not\nthe Redeemer. And as it is alike necessary for man to know these\ntwo points, so it is alike of the mercy of God to have given us the\nknowledge. The Christian religion does this; it is in this that it\nconsists. Let us herein examine the order of the world, and see if\nall things do not tend to establish these two main points of our\nReligion.\n\n\nIt is a remarkable fact that no canonical writer has ever employed\nnature to prove God. All tend to make him be believed. David, Solomon\nand others have never said: \"There is no vacuum, therefore there is a\nGod.\" They must have been cleverer than the cleverest in after days\nwho have all used this argument.\n\nThis is well worth considering.\n\n\nIf it be a mark of weakness to prove God by nature, despise not the\nScripture for not doing so: if it be a mark of power to know these\ncontradictions, value the Scriptures on that account.\n\n\nWhat! Do you not say yourself that the sky and the birds prove\nGod?--No.--And does not your religion say so?--No. For however it may\nbe true in a sense for some souls to whom God has given this light,\nit is nevertheless false in regard to the majority.\n\n\nThink you it is impossible that God is infinite, without\nparts?--Yes.--I will then make you see something which is infinite\nand indivisible. A point moving everywhere with infinite swiftness,\nfor it is in all places, and is whole and entire in each situation.\n\nPerhaps this effect of nature, which seems to you impossible\nbeforehand, may teach you to know that there may be others also which\nyou know not as yet. Do not then draw this conclusion from your\napprenticeship, that nothing remains for you to know, but rather that\nan infinity remains for you to know.\n\n\nIt is incomprehensible that there should be a God, and\nincomprehensible that there should not be; that there should be a\nsoul in the body, and that we should have no soul; that the world\nshould have been created, and that it should not, etc.; that original\nsin should be, and that it should not be.\n\n\nIf we choose to say that man is too little to merit communion with\nGod, we must be indeed great to form a judgment on the subject.\n\n\nThe Eternal is for ever, if he is at all.\n\n\nBut it is impossible that God should ever be the end, if he is not\nthe beginning. We look above, but lean upon the sand, and the earth\nwill melt, and we shall fall whilst looking towards heaven.\n\n\n_Objection._ The Scripture is plainly full of matters which were not\ndictated by the Holy Spirit.\n\n_Answer._ Then they do no harm to faith.\n\n_Objection._ But the Church has decided that all is of the Holy\nSpirit.\n\n_Answer._ I answer two things: 1. That the Church has never so\ndecided; 2. That if she should so decide it might be maintained.\n\n\nMy God! what trash is all this talk: \"Has God made the world but\nto condemn it? will he ask so much of creatures so weak?\" etc.\nScepticism is the remedy for this evil, and will lower this vanity.\n\n\nGod has willed to redeem mankind and to open salvation to those who\nseek him. But men render themselves so unworthy of it, that it is\njust that God should refuse to some because of their hardness of\nheart what he grants to others out of a mercy not their due. Had it\nbeen his will to overcome the stubbornness of the most hardened, he\ncould have rendered them unable to doubt the truth of his essence, in\nrevealing himself manifestly to them as he will appear at the last\nday, amid thunderings and lightnings, and so great a convulsion of\nnature, that the dead will rise again, and the blindest shall see\nhim.\n\nNot thus willed he to appear in his gentle advent, because since so\nmany men make themselves unworthy of his mercy, he willed to leave\nthem deprived of the good which they refuse. It had not then been\njust that he should appear in a manner plainly divine, and wholly\ncapable of convincing all men, but neither had it been just that he\nshould come in so hidden a manner as not to be recognised of those\nwho sincerely sought him. He has willed to reveal himself wholly to\nthese, and thus willing to appear openly to those who seek him with\ntheir whole heart, and to hide himself from those who fly him with\nall their heart, he has so tempered the knowledge of himself as to\ngive signs of himself visible to those who seek him, and obscure to\nthose who seek him not.\n\nThere is enough light for those who wish earnestly to see, and enough\nobscurity for those of a contrary mind.\n\n\nTherefore let men recognise the truth of religion in the very\nobscurity of religion, in the little light we have of it, and in our\nindifference to the knowledge of it.\n\n\nThe prophecies, the very miracles and proofs of our Religion, are\nnot of such a nature that we can say they are absolutely convincing.\nBut they are also of such a kind, that none can say that it is\nunreasonable to believe in them. Thus there is both evidence and\nobscurity to enlighten some and blind others; but the evidence\nis such that it surpasses or at least equals the evidence to the\ncontrary, so that it is not reason which can determine us not to\nfollow it, and therefore it can only be lust and malice of heart. And\nby this means there is evidence enough to condemn, and not enough to\nconvince; so it appears in those who follow it, that it is grace and\nnot reason which causes them to follow it; and in those who fly it,\nit is lust, not reason, which causes them to fly it.\n\n\nWho can help admiring and embracing a religion which thoroughly knows\nthat which we recognise more and more in proportion to our light?\n\n\n_That God has willed to hide himself._--If there were only one\nReligion God would certainly be manifest; so also if there were no\nmartyrs but in our own Religion.\n\nGod being thus hidden, every religion which does not say that God\nis hidden is not the true religion, and every religion which does\nnot show the reason of it is unedifying. Our religion does all this:\n_Vere tu es Deus absconditus_.\n\n\nReligion is so great a thing, that it is right that those who will\nnot take the trouble to seek if it be obscure should be deprived of\nit. Why then should any complain, if it be such as to be found by\nseeking?\n\n\nThe obscurity would be too great, if truth had not visible signs.\nThis is a marvellous one, that it has always been preserved in a\nChurch and a visible assembly. The clearness would be too great if\nthere were only one opinion in this Church, but to recognise what is\ntrue is only to see what has always existed, for it is certain that\ntruth has always existed, and that nothing false has been always in\nexistence.\n\n\nRecognise then the truth of religion even in the obscurity of\nreligion, in the little light we have of it, and in the indifference\nwe have to its knowledge.\n\n\nGod chooses rather to sway the will than the intellect. Perfect\nclearness would be useful to the intellect but would harm the will.\nTo humble pride.\n\n\nWere there no obscurity man would not be sensible of his corruption;\nwere there no light man would despair of remedy. Thus it is not only\njust, but useful for us, that God should be partly hidden and partly\nrevealed, because it is equally dangerous for man to know God without\nthe knowledge of his misery, and to know his misery without the\nknowledge of God.\n\n\nIf the mercy of God is so great that his teaching is salutary even\nwhen he hides himself, what great light may we not expect when he\nreveals himself?\n\n\nWe shall understand nothing of the works of God if we do not take it\nas a principle that he has willed to blind some and enlighten others.\n\n\nWhat say the prophets of Jesus Christ? That he will be manifestly\nGod? No: but that he is a God truly hidden, that he will be\nmisunderstood; that none would think it was he; that he would be a\nstone of stumbling on which many would fall, etc. Let us no longer\nthen be reproached with want of clearness, since we make profession\nof it.\n\nBut, it is said, there are obscurities.--And without that, no one\nwould have stumbled at Jesus Christ, which is one of the formal\nannouncements of the prophets: _Exc\u00e6ca_....\n\n\nInstead of complaining that God is hidden, you will give him thanks\nfor having revealed so much of himself; and you will give him thanks\nagain for not having revealed himself to the proudly wise, who are\nunworthy to know so holy a God.\n\nTwo sorts of persons know: those whose heart is humble, and who love\nlowliness, whatever their order of intellect, whether high or low,\nand those who have understanding enough to see the truth, whatever\nopposition they may feel to it.\n\n\nI may well love total darkness, but if God keep me in a state of\nsemi-obscurity, this partial darkness is unpleasant to me, and\nbecause I do not see in it the advantages of total darkness it\npleases me not. This is a fault, and a proof that I am making an idol\nof darkness apart from God's order. Now his order alone is to be\nworshipped.\n\n\nDid the world exist to instruct man concerning God, his divinity\nwould shine out incontestably from every part of it, but as it exists\nonly by Jesus Christ, and for Jesus Christ, and to instruct men\nconcerning their corruption and their redemption, proofs of these two\ntruths start up everywhere.\n\nWhat is seen does not denote either the total exclusion or the\nmanifest presence of divinity, but the presence of a God who hides\nhimself. All bears this character.\n\n\nHad nought of God ever appeared, this eternal deprivation would have\nbeen equivocal, and might as well be interpreted of the total absence\nof divinity, as of man's unworthiness to know him; but by occasional\nand not continual appearances he has taken away all ambiguity. If he\nhave appeared once, he is for ever, and thus it must be concluded\nboth that there is a God, and that men are unworthy of him.\n\n\nGod, that he may reserve to himself alone the right to instruct us\nand that he may render the difficulty of our being unintelligible to\nus, has hidden the knot so high, or rather so low, that we cannot\nreach it. So that it is not by the efforts of our reason, but by the\nsimple submission of our reason, that we can truly know ourselves.\n\n\nWisdom sends us to childhood: _nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli_.\n\n\n\"A miracle,\" says one, \"would strengthen my faith.\" He says so when\nhe does not see one. Reasons seen from afar seem to limit our view,\nbut as we reach them we begin to see beyond. Nothing stops the\nactivity of our spirit. There is no rule, we say, which has not its\nexception, no truth so general but that there is a side on which it\nis lacking. If it be not absolutely universal, we have a pretext for\napplying the exception to the matter in hand, and for saying: _This\nis not always true, hence there are cases in which it is not so. It\nonly remains to show that this is one of them._ And we must be very\nawkward or unlucky if we do not find one some day.\n\n\n_Contradictions._\n\nInfinite wisdom and wisdom of Religion.\n\n\nContradiction is a bad mark of truth.\n\nMuch that is certain is contradicted.\n\nMuch that is false passes without contradiction.\n\nContradiction is not a mark of falsehood, nor the want of\ncontradiction a mark of truth.\n\n\nThere is a pleasure in being in a vessel beaten about by a storm,\nprovided we are certain it will not founder. The persecutions which\ntry the Church are of this kind.\n\nThe history of the Church should rightly be called the history of\ntruth.\n\n\nThose who find difficulties of belief seek an excuse in the unbelief\nof the Jews. \"If it was so clear,\" say they, \"why did not the Jews\nbelieve?\" And they almost wish the Jews had believed, that they\nmight not be deterred by the example of their refusal. But their\nvery unbelief is the foundation of our faith. We should be much less\ndisposed to believe if they were on our side. We should then have a\nfar more ample pretext. This is the wonderful point, to have made the\nJews great lovers of the things foretold, and great enemies of their\naccomplishment.\n\n\nWhat could the Jews, his enemies, do? Receiving him they give proof\nof him by that reception, for then the Messiah is acknowledged by\nthose to whom was committed the expectation of his coming; rejecting\nhim they prove his truth by that rejection.\n\n\n_On the fact that the Christian Religion does not stand alone._--This\nis so far from being a reason against believing it the true one that,\non the contrary, it proves it to be so.\n\n\nThose who love not the truth take as a pretext that it is contested,\nand that a multitude deny it; and thus their error comes from this\nalone, that they love neither truth nor charity. So they are without\nexcuse.\n\n\nThe wicked who profess to follow reason, ought to be extremely strong\nin reason.\n\nWhat then do they say?\n\nDo we not see, say they, beasts live and die like men, and Turks\nlike Christians? They have their ceremonies, their prophets, their\ndoctors, their saints, their religious, as well as we, etc. _But how\nis this contrary to the Scripture? Does it not say all this?_\n\nIf you care but little to know the truth, here is enough for your\npeace. But if you desire to know it with your whole heart, this is\nnot enough, look to the details. This would suffice for a question in\nphilosophy, but not here, where your all is concerned. And yet, after\na slight meditation of this kind, we shall go off to amuse ourselves,\netc. We should acquaint ourselves with this religion; even if it does\nnot disclose the reason for such obscurity, it will perhaps teach it\nto us.\n\n\nIf God had permitted one only Religion, it would have been too easily\nrecognised. But when we look at it near we can easily see the true\nthrough the confusion.\n\n\n\n\n_PROOFS OF THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST._\n\n\n_Perpetuity._--Let it be considered that from the beginning of the\nworld the expectation or the worship of the Messiah has subsisted\nwithout a break; that there have been men who said that God had\nrevealed to them the future birth of a Redeemer who should save his\npeople; that afterwards came Abraham saying he had had a revelation\nthat the Messiah was to spring from him by a son who should be born;\nthat Jacob declared that of his twelve sons the Messiah would spring\nfrom Judah; that Moses and the prophets then came to declare the\ntime and the manner of his advent; that they said their law was only\nprovisional till that of the Messiah, that it should last till then\nbut the other should endure eternally; that thus either their law or\nthat of the Messiah, of which it was the promise, would be always\nupon earth; that in fact it has always endured; that at last Jesus\nChrist has come with all the circumstances foretold. How wonderful is\nthis!\n\n\nThe two most ancient books in the world are those of Moses and Job,\nthe one a Jew, the other a Gentile, both of whom regard Jesus Christ\nas their common centre and object: Moses in reporting the promises of\nGod to Abraham, Jacob, etc., and his prophecies. And Job, _Quis mihi\ndet ut, etc. Scio enim quod redemptor meus vivit, etc._\n\n\nI believe that Joshua was the first of God's people who had this\nname, as Jesus Christ was the last of God's people.\n\n\nWhat man had ever so great renown! The whole Jewish people foretold\nhim before his coming. The Gentile world worships him after his\ncoming. The two worlds, Gentile and Jewish, regard him as their\ncentre.\n\nYet what man ever had less enjoyment of his renown! Of thirty-three\nyears he spent thirty in retirement. For three years he passed as\nan impostor, the priests and rulers rejected him, his friends and\nkinsmen despised him. At the end he died, betrayed by one of his own\ndisciples, denied by another, abandoned by all.\n\nWhat part then had he in all this renown? Never man had more glory,\nnever man more ignominy. All this renown was for our sakes, to enable\nus to recognise him, he took none of it for himself.\n\n\n_Office of Jesus Christ._--He alone was to produce a great people,\nelect, holy, and chosen, to lead it, to nourish it, to bring it into\na place of rest and holiness, to make it holy to God, to make it the\ntemple of God, to reconcile it to God, to save it from the wrath of\nGod, to deliver it from the slavery of sin, which visibly reigns in\nman, to give laws to this people, to engrave these laws on their\nheart, to offer himself to God for them, to sacrifice himself for\nthem, to be a victim without spot, himself the priest, needing to\noffer himself, his body and his blood, and yet to offer bread and\nwine to God....\n\n\nAfter many persons had come before, at last came Jesus Christ,\nto say: \"Here am I and this is the hour, that which the prophets\nhad said was to come in the fulness of time. I tell you what my\napostles will do. The Jews shall be cast out, Jerusalem shall be soon\ndestroyed, and the Gentiles shall enter into the knowledge of God. My\napostles shall do this after you have slain the heir of the vineyard.\"\n\nThen the Apostles said to the Jews, \"You shall be accursed,\" and to\nthe Gentiles, \"You shall enter into the knowledge of God;\" and that\ncame to pass. _Celsus laughed at it._\n\n\nThen Jesus Christ came to tell men that they had no enemies but\nthemselves, that their passions cut them off from God, that he\ncame to destroy these, and give them his grace to unite them all\nin an holy Church, that he came to call into this Church Gentiles\nand Jews, that he came to destroy the idols of the former and the\nsuperstition of the latter. To this all men are opposed, not only\nby the natural opposition of lust; but above all, the kings of the\nearth, as had been foretold, gathered together to destroy this\nreligion in its infancy. _Quare fremuerunt gentes. Reges terr\u00e6\nadversus Christum._\n\nAll that was great on earth was united together, the learned, the\nwise, the kings. The first wrote, the second condemned, the last\nslew. Yet notwithstanding all these oppositions, these men, so simple\nand so weak, resisted all these forces, subduing even the mighty, the\nlearned and the wise, and removed idolatry from all the earth. And\nall this was done by the power which had foretold it\n\n\nAnd prediction crowns all this, so that none may say that chance has\ndone it all.\n\nWhosoever having only a week to live, does not perceive that belief\nis the right side to take, and that all this is not a stroke of\nchance....\n\nNow were we not slaves to passion, a week and a hundred years would\nseem one and the same thing.\n\n\nThe prophets foretold, and were not foretold. The saints were\nforetold, but were not foretellers. Jesus Christ was foretold and\nforeteller.\n\n\nIf I had never heard anything of the Messiah, yet after the admirable\npredictions of the course of the world which I see accomplished, I\nsee that it is divine. And if I knew that these same books foretold a\nMessiah, I should be certain that he would come. And seeing that they\nplace his time before the destruction of the second temple, I should\nsay that he had come.\n\n\n_Ingrediens mundum._\n\nStone upon stone.\n\nThat which preceded, that which followed. All the Jews still exist,\nand are wanderers.\n\n\nWhy did not Jesus Christ come in a visible manner, instead of drawing\nproof from the prophecies which went before him?\n\nAnd why did he cause himself to be foretold in figures?\n\n\nGod, to enable the Messiah to be recognised by the good and\nunrecognised by the wicked, caused him to be so foretold. If the\nmanner of the Messiah had been clearly foretold there had been no\nobscurity, even for the wicked. If the time had been obscurely\nforetold, there had been obscurity even for the good, for their\ngoodness of heart would not have made them understand, for instance,\nthat the closed _mem_ means six hundred years. But the time has been\nforetold clearly and the manner in figures only.\n\nBy this means the wicked, mistaking the promised for material\nblessings, have gone astray, in spite of clear indications of the\ntime, and the good have not gone astray; for the interpretation of\nthe promised blessings depends on the heart, wont to call that _good_\nwhich it loves, but the interpretation of the promised time does not\ndepend on the heart. Thus the clear prediction of the time, and the\nobscure intimation of the blessings, deceives only the wicked.\n\n\nIf Jesus Christ had come only for sanctification, the whole of\nScripture and all things would tend to this end, and it would be easy\nto convince unbelievers. If Jesus Christ had come only to blind,\nall his conduct would be confused, and we should have no means of\nconvincing unbelievers. But as he came _in sanctificationem et in\nscandalum_, as says Isaiah, we cannot convince unbelievers, and they\ncannot convince us; but by that very fact we overcome them because we\nsay that there is nothing in his conduct conclusive on one side or\nthe other.\n\n\nJesus Christ has come to blind those who saw clearly, and to give\nsight to the blind; to heal the sick and let the sound perish; to\ncall sinners to repentance and justification, and leave the just in\ntheir sins; to fill the hungry with good things and to send the rich\nempty away.\n\n\nWe can have nothing but veneration for a man who clearly foretells\nevents which take place, and who declares his design both to blind\nand to enlighten, and who mixes obscurities among the clear things\nwhich happen.\n\n\n_During the life of the Messiah.--\u00c6nigmatis._--Ezek. xvii.--His\nforerunner. Malachi ii.\n\nHe will be born an infant. Is. ix. 6.\n\nHe will be born at Bethlehem. Micah v. He will appear chiefly in\nJerusalem, and will spring from the family of Judah and of David.\n\nHe will blind the learned and the wise, Is. vi 8, 29, and preach the\nGospel to the poor and the lowly, will open the eyes of the blind,\nrestore health to the sick, and bring light to those who languish in\ndarkness. Is. lxi.\n\nHe must show the perfect way, and be the teacher of the Gentiles. Is.\nlv.\n\nThe prophecies must be unintelligible to the wicked, Dan. xii., Hos.\nxiv. 10, but intelligible to those who are well instructed.\n\nHe must be the precious corner stone. Is. xxviii. 16.\n\nHe must be the stone of stumbling and offence. Is. viii.\n\nJerusalem must dash against this stone.\n\nThe builders must reject this stone. Ps. cxvii. 22.\n\nGod will make of this stone the head of the corner.\n\nAnd this stone will grow into a mountain, and fill the whole earth.\nDan. ii.\n\nThus he must be rejected, disowned, betrayed, sold, Zach. xi. 12,\nspit upon, buffeted, mocked, afflicted in a thousand ways, be given\ngall to drink, Ps. lxviii., pierced, Zach. xii., his feet and his\nhands pierced, killed, and lots cast upon his vesture.\n\nHe must rise again, Ps. xv., the third day. Hos. vi. 3.\n\nHe must ascend to heaven to sit on the right hand. Ps. cx.\n\nThe kings will arm themselves against him. Ps. ii.\n\nBeing on the right hand of the Father, he will have victory over all\nhis enemies.\n\nThe kings of the earth, and all nations shall worship him. Is. lx.\n\nThe Jews will remain as a nation. Jer.\n\nThey will be dispersed, without kings, etc., Hos. iii; without\nprophets. Amos;\n\nWaiting for salvation and finding it not. Is.\n\nThe calling of the Gentiles by Jesus Christ. Is. lii., Ps. lxxi.\n\n\nThe Jews in slaying him that they might not receive the Messiah,\nstamped him with the final proof of his Messiahship.\n\nAnd by continuance in denial, they made themselves unimpeachable\nwitnesses; and in slaying him, and continuing to reject him, they\nhave fulfilled the prophecies.\n\n\nThe word _Galilee_, which the Jewish rabble pronounced as if by\nchance, in their accusation of Jesus Christ before Pilate, gave\nPilate a reason for sending Jesus Christ to Herod, so that the\nmystery was accomplished, that he should be judged by Jews and\nGentiles. Chance was apparently the cause that the mystery was\naccomplished.\n\n\nThe conversion of the Gentiles was only reserved for the grace of\nthe Messiah. The Jews so long opposed them without success; all that\nSolomon and the prophets had said was useless. Wise men like Plato\nand Socrates could not persuade them.\n\n\nIf this was so clearly foretold to the Jews, why did they not believe\nit, or why were they not exterminated for resisting what was so clear?\n\nI answer first: it was foretold both that they would not believe what\nwas so clear, and that they would not be exterminated. And nothing is\nmore glorious to the Messiah, for it is not enough that there should\nbe prophets, they must be kept above suspicion. Now, etc.\n\n\nHad the Jews been all converted by Jesus Christ, we should have none\nbut doubtful witnesses, and had they been entirely destroyed we\nshould have had no witnesses at all.\n\n\nThe Jews rejected him, but not all. The saints receive him, but not\ncarnal men. Yet this is far from being against his glory, it is the\nlast stroke which perfects it. The argument on their side, the only\none which is found in the Talmud and the rabbinical writings, is that\nJesus Christ has not subdued the nations sword in hand, _gladium\ntuum, potentissime_. Is this all they can allege? Jesus Christ has\nbeen slain, they say, he was subdued, he has not had dominion over\nthe heathen by his power, he has not distributed the spoil among us,\nhe does not give riches. Is this all they have to allege? This is\nthe very point wherein he seems to me so lovable. I would none of\nsuch an one as they represent. It is plain that his life only hinders\nthem from receiving him, by their refusal they become irreproachable\nwitnesses, and what is more, they thereby fulfil the prophecies.\n\n\nThere are those who see clearly that man has no other enemy than\nlust, which turns him from God, and not God, and that there is no\nother good but God, not a fat land. Let those who believe that the\ngood of man is in the flesh, and evil that which turns him away from\nsensual pleasures, besot themselves with them and die in them. But\nthose who seek God with their whole heart, whose only ill is not to\nsee him, whose only desire is to possess him, whose only enemies are\nthose who would turn them from him, who are afflicted when they are\nsurrounded and overwhelmed by such enemies, may take comfort, for I\ndeclare to them this joyful news: there is for them a Redeemer, whom\nI will show them; I will show them that there is for them a God, and\nI will not show him to others. I will show them that a Messiah has\nbeen promised, who will deliver them from their enemies, and that\none has come to deliver them from their iniquities, not from their\nenemies.\n\n\nIt is a wonderful thing, and worthy of all attention, to see the\nJewish nation existing so many years in constant misery, it being\nnecessary as a proof of Jesus Christ, both that they should exist\nto be his witnesses, and should be miserable because they crucified\nhim, and though to be miserable and to exist, are contradictory, this\nnation still exists in spite of its misery.\n\n\nWhen Nebuchadnezzar carried away the people, for fear they should\nbelieve that the sceptre had departed from Judah, they were assured\nbeforehand that they would be but a short time in captivity, and\nwould be restored.\n\nThey were never without the comfort of their prophets, or the\npresence of their kings. But the second destruction is without\npromise of restoration, without prophets, without kings, without\ncomfort, without hope, for the sceptre is taken away for ever.\n\n\n_Proofs of Jesus Christ._--To have been captive with the assurance of\ndeliverance in seventy years was no true captivity. But now they are\ncaptives without hope.\n\nGod has promised them that even though he should disperse them to\nthe ends of the earth, nevertheless if they were faithful to the law\nhe would gather them together. They are now very faithful to it, yet\nremain oppressed.\n\n\n_Blindness of Scripture._--The Scripture, say the Jews, says that we\nknow not whence Christ should come.\n\nJohn vii. 27 and xii 34.\n\nThe Scripture says that Christ abideth for ever, and he said that\nhe should die. Therefore, says Saint John, they believed him not,\nthough he had done so many miracles, that the word of Isaiah might be\nfulfilled: _He hath blinded them, etc._\n\n\n_Contradictions._--The sceptre until Messiah come. Without king or\nprince.\n\nThe eternal law, changed.\n\nThe eternal covenant, a new covenant.\n\nThe good law, evil precepts, Ezekiel xx.\n\n\nApparent discord of the Evangelists.\n\n\n_Proofs of Jesus Christ._\n\nWhy the book of Ruth was preserved.\n\nWhy the story of Tamar.\n\n\nThe genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament is intermixed with\nso many that are useless, that it cannot be distinguished. If Moses\nhad kept only the register of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, that had\nbeen too plain. If he had not marked that of Jesus Christ, it had not\nbeen plain enough. But after all, whoso looks closely sees that of\nJesus Christ distinctly traced through Tamar, Ruth, etc.\n\n\nJesus Christ in an obscurity--as the world calls obscurity--so great,\nthat the historians who wrote only the important matters of States\nhardly perceived him.\n\n\n_On the fact that neither Josephus, nor Tacitus, nor other\nhistorians, have spoken of Jesus Christ._--So far from this being any\nargument against, it is rather one for us. For it is certain that\nJesus Christ has existed, that his religion has made a great noise,\nand that these people were not ignorant of it; thus it is plain that\nthey designedly concealed it, or perhaps that they did speak of it,\nand what they said has been suppressed or altered.\n\n\nWhen Augustus learnt that Herod's own son was among the children\nunder the age of two years whom he had commanded to be slain, he said\nthat it was better to be Herod's pig than his son. Macrob. _Saturn_.\nLib. ii., c. 4.\n\n\nMacrobius, on the Innocents slain by Herod.\n\n\n_Prophecies._--Great Pan is dead.\n\n\nHerod believed to be the Messiah. He had taken away the sceptre of\nJudah, but he was not of Judah. This was held by a considerable sect.\n\nBoth Barcoseba and another received by the Jews. And the rumour which\nwas everywhere in those times. Suetonius, Tacitus, Josephus.\n\nIn what sort should Messiah come, seeing that by him the sceptre\nshould be eternally in Judah, and at his coming the sceptre should\ndepart from Judah?\n\nTo the end that seeing they should not see, and understanding they\nshould not understand, nothing could be better done.\n\nCurse of the Greeks against those who count periods of time.\n\n\n_Proofs of Jesus Christ._--Jesus Christ said great things so simply\nthat he seems not to have considered them, and yet so tersely that\nit is clear he had considered them. This clearness joined with\nsimplicity is wonderful.\n\n\nWho taught the evangelists the qualities of an entirely heroic soul,\nthat they should paint it so perfectly in Jesus Christ? Why did they\ndescribe him weak in his agony? Did they not know how to paint a\nsteadfast death? No doubt they did, for the same Saint Luke paints\nthe death of Saint Stephen as braver than that of Jesus Christ.\n\nThey describe him therefore as capable of fear before the need of\ndying came, and then wholly strong.\n\nBut when they represent him as so afflicted, it is when he afflicts\nhimself, and when men afflict him, then is he wholly strong.\n\n\nThe style of the Gospel is wonderful in many ways, and in this among\nothers, that it contains no invectives against the executioners and\nenemies of Jesus Christ. The historians do not rail against Judas,\nPilate, nor any of the Jews.\n\nIf this modesty of the evangelical writers had been simulated, as\nwell as many other traits of a beautiful character, and they had\nonly simulated it to attract observation, even if they had not dared\nto draw attention to it themselves, they would not have failed to\nprocure friends, who would have remarked on it to their advantage.\nBut as they acted thus without dissimulation, and from perfectly\ndisinterested motives, they pointed it out to no one, and I believe\nthat many points of this kind have never been noticed till now, which\nis an evidence of how dispassionately all was done.\n\n\nThe apostles were either deceived or deceivers. Both hypotheses are\ndifficult; for it is not possible to mistake a man raised from the\ndead....\n\nWhile Jesus Christ was with them, his presence might sustain them,\nbut after that, what gave them force to act if he did not appear to\nthem?\n\n\n_Proof of Jesus Christ._--The supposition that the apostles were\ndeceivers is thoroughly absurd. Suppose we follow it out, and imagine\nthese twelve men assembled after the death of Jesus Christ, making\na plot to say that he was risen again. By this they attack all\nearthly powers. The heart of man is strangely inclined to fickleness\nand change, swayed by promises and by wealth. Had one of these men\ncontradicted themselves under these temptations, nay more, had they\ndone so in prison, in torture and in death, they were lost. Let that\nbe followed out.\n\n\n  Hypothesis that the apostles were deceivers.\n  The time clearly.\n  The manner obscurely.\n  Five typical proofs.\n        1,600 prophets.\n  2,000\n          400 scattered.\n\n\n_Atheists._--What reason have they to say it is not possible to rise\nagain? Which is the more difficult, to be born or to rise again; that\nthat which has never been should be, or that what has been should be\nagain? Is it more difficult to come into being than to return to it?\nHabit causes the one to seem easy to us, the want of habit causes the\nother to seem impossible. The popular way of judging.\n\nWhy should not a virgin bear a child? does not a hen lay eggs without\na cock? What distinguishes these outwardly from others? and who has\ntold us that the hen may not form the germ as well as the cock?\n\n\nWhat have they to say against the resurrection, or against the\nchild-bearing of the Virgin? which is the more difficult; to produce\na man or an animal, or to reproduce it? And if they had never seen\nany species of animal, could they guess that they were not produced\nwithout connection with each other?\n\n\nHow I hate these follies of not believing in the Eucharist, etc....\nIf the Gospel be true, if Jesus Christ be God, what difficulty is\nthere?\n\n\nIt is impiety not to believe in the Eucharist on the ground that we\ndo not see it.\n\n\n\n\n_THE MISSION AND GREATNESS OF JESUS CHRIST._\n\n\nWe know God only by Jesus Christ. Without this mediator all communion\nwith God is taken away, by Jesus Christ we know God. All who have\nthought to know God, and to prove him without Jesus Christ, have\nhad but feeble proofs. But for proof of Jesus Christ we have\nthe prophecies, which are solid and palpable proofs. And these\nprophecies, accomplished and proved true by the event, mark the\ncertainty of these truths, and consequently the divinity of Jesus\nChrist. In him then, and by him we know God; apart from him, and\nwithout the Scripture, without original sin, without a necessary\nmediator, foretold and come, we could not absolutely prove God, nor\nteach sound doctrine and sound morality. But by Jesus Christ, and\nin Jesus Christ we prove God and teach morality and doctrine. Jesus\nChrist is then the true God of men.\n\nBut we know at the same time our misery, for this God is none other\nthan he who repairs our misery. Thus we can only know God well by\nknowing our sins. Therefore those who have known God without knowing\ntheir misery, have not glorified him, but have glorified themselves.\n_Quia non cognovit per sapientiam, placuit Deo per stultitiam\npr\u00e6dicationis salvos facere._\n\n\nNot only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves\nby Jesus Christ alone. We know life and death by Jesus Christ alone.\nApart from Jesus Christ we know not what is our life, nor our death,\nnor God, nor ourselves.\n\nThus without the Scripture, which has Jesus Christ alone for its\nobject, we know nothing, and see only obscurity and confusion in the\nnature of God, and in our own nature.\n\n\nWithout Jesus Christ man must be plunged in vice and misery; with\nJesus Christ man is free from vice and misery, in him is all our\nvirtue and all our happiness. Apart from him is nought but vice and\nmisery, error and darkness, death and despair.\n\n\nWithout Jesus Christ the world would not exist, for it could only be\neither destroyed, or a very hell.\n\n\nIt is not only impossible but useless to know God without Jesus\nChrist. They have not withdrawn from him, but drawn near; they have\nnot abased themselves, but....\n\n_Quo quisque optimus est, pessimus, si hoc ipsum, quod sit optimus,\nascribat sibi._\n\n\nThe Gospel only speaks of the virginity of the Virgin up to the time\nof the birth of Jesus Christ. All with reference to Jesus Christ\n\n\nJesus Christ, whom the two Testaments regard, the Old as its end, the\nNew as its model, both as their centre.\n\n\nScepticism is the truth. For, after all, men before Jesus Christ did\nnot know either where they were or if they were great or little. And\nthose who said one or the other knew nothing about it, and guessed\nwithout reason and by chance, yet they always erred in excluding one\nor the other.\n\n_Quod ergo ignorantes qu\u00e6ritis, Religio annuntiat vobis._\n\n\nIf Epictetus had seen the way with certainty he would have said to\nmen: \"You follow a false road\"; he shows that there is another, but\nhe does not lead there; it is the way of willing what God wills;\nJesus Christ alone leads thither, _via_, _veritas_.\n\n\nJesus Christ did nothing but teach men that they were lovers of\nthemselves, that they were slaves, blind, sick, miserable, and\nsinners, that he would deliver them, enlighten, bless, and heal them,\nthat this would be brought about by hatred of self, and by following\nhim through poverty and the death of the cross.\n\n\nAn artisan who speaks of riches, a lawyer who speaks of war, or of\nkingship, etc., but the rich man rightly speaks of riches, a king\nspeaks slightingly of a great gift he has just made, and God rightly\nspeaks of God.\n\n\nHosea iii.\n\nIsaiah xlii, xlviii., liv., lx., lxi. The last verse. I have foretold\nit long since, that they might know that it is I.\n\nJaddus to Alexander.\n\n\nMan is not worthy of God, but he is not incapable of being rendered\nworthy.\n\nIt is unworthy of God to unite himself to miserable man, but it is\nnot unworthy of God to raise him from his misery.\n\n\nThe infinite distance between body and mind is a figure of the\ninfinitely more infinite distance between mind and charity, for this\nis supernatural.\n\nAll the splendour of greatness has no lustre for those who seek\nunderstanding.\n\nThe greatness of men of understanding is invisible to kings, to the\nrich, to conquerors, and to all the great according to the flesh.\n\nThe greatness of wisdom, which has no existence save in God, is\ninvisible to the carnal and to men of understanding. These are three\norders differing in kind.\n\nMen of great genius have their empire, their glory, their grandeur,\ntheir victory, their lustre, and do not need worldly greatness, with\nwhich they have nothing to do. They are seen, not by the eye, but by\nthe mind; and that is enough.\n\nThe saints have their empire, their glory, their victory, their\nlustre, and want no glory of the flesh or of the mind, with which\nthey have nothing to do, for these add nothing to them neither do\nthey take away. They are seen of God and the angels, and not by the\nbodily eye, nor by the curious spirit; God suffices them.\n\nArchimedes without worldly pomp would have had the same reverence. He\nfought no battles for the eye to gaze on, but he left his discoveries\nto all minds. O! how brilliant was he to the mind.\n\nJesus Christ, without riches, and without any exterior manifestation\nof science, is in his own order of holiness. He gave forth no\nscientific inventions to the world, he never reigned; but he was\nhumble, patient, holy; holy before God, terrible to devils, without\nspot of sin. O! in what great pomp, and with what transcendent\nmagnificence did he come to the eyes of the heart, which discern\nwisdom.\n\nIt would have been needless for Archimedes, though of princely birth,\nto have played the prince in his books on geometry.\n\nIt would have been needless to our Lord Jesus Christ for the purpose\nof shining in his kingdom of holiness, to come as kings come; but he\ndid come in the glory proper to his order.\n\nIt is most unreasonable to be offended at the lowliness of Jesus\nChrist, as if this lowliness were in the same order as was the\ngreatness which he came to display. Let us consider this greatness\nin his life, in his passion, in his obscurity, in his death, in the\nchoice of his disciples, in their desertion of him, in the secrecy of\nhis resurrection, and the rest, and it will seem so vast as to give\nno room for offence at a lowliness in another order.\n\nBut there are those who can only admire carnal as though there were\nno mental greatness, and others who only admire mental greatness, as\nthough there were not infinitely greater heights in wisdom.\n\nAll bodies, the firmament, the stars, the earth and the kingdoms\nthereof, are not comparable to the lowest mind, for mind knows all\nthese, and itself; the body nothing.\n\nAll bodies together and all minds together, and all they can effect,\nare not worth the least motion of charity. This is of an order\ninfinitely more exalted.\n\nFrom all bodies together, we cannot extract one little thought:\nthis is impossible and in another order. From all bodies and minds\nit is impossible to produce a single motion of true charity, it is\nimpossible, it is in another and a supernatural order.\n\n\nThe Jews, in testing if he were God, have shown that he was man.\n\n\nThe Church has had as much difficulty in showing that Jesus Christ\nwas man, against those who denied it, as in showing that he was God.\nAnd the evidences were equally great.\n\n\nJesus Christ is a God to whom we draw near without pride, and before\nwhom we abase ourselves without despair.\n\n\nJesus Christ for all, Moses for a people.\n\nThe Jews were blessed in Abraham. \"I will bless those that bless\nthee.\" But all nations are blessed in his seed.\n\n_Parum est ut_, etc. Isaiah.\n\n_Lumen ad revelationem gentium._\n\n_Non fecit taliter omni nationi_, said David in speaking of the Law.\nBut in speaking of Jesus Christ it must be said: _Fecit taliter omni\nnationi_.\n\nSo it is the property of Jesus Christ to be universal; even the\nChurch offers the sacrifice only for the faithful. Jesus Christ\noffered that of the cross for all.\n\n\nThe victory over death. What advantageth it a man that he gain the\nwhole world and lose his own soul? He that will save his soul shall\nlose it.\n\nI am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil. Lambs took not away\nthe sins of the world, but I am the lamb who take away sins. Moses\ngave you not that bread from heaven. Moses has not led you out of\ncaptivity, and made you truly free.\n\n\n_Types._--Jesus Christ opened their mind to understand the Scriptures.\n\nThere are two great revelations.\n\n1. All things happened to them in figures: _vere Israelit\u00e6, vere\nliberi_, true bread from heaven.\n\n2. A God humbled to the cross. It was necessary that Christ should\nsuffer and enter into glory, that he should conquer death by death.\nTwo advents.\n\n\nThe types of the completeness of redemption, as that the sun gives\nlight to all, denote only completeness, but they figuratively imply\nexclusions, as the Jews elected to the exclusion of the Gentiles\ndenote exclusion.\n\n\nJesus Christ the Redeemer of all.--Yes, for he has offered, like\na man who has ransomed all who willed to come to him. It is the\nmisfortune of those who die on the way, but as far as he is\nconcerned, he offers them redemption.--That holds good in the\nexample, where he who ransoms and he who hinders from dying are two,\nbut not in Jesus Christ, who does both one and the other.--No, for\nJesus Christ in his quality of Redeemer, is not perhaps master of\nall, and thus so far as in him lies, he is the Redeemer of all.\n\n\nJesus Christ would not be slain without the forms of justice, for it\nis much more ignominious to die by justice than by an unjust sedition.\n\n\nThe elect will be ignorant of their virtues and the reprobate of the\ngreatness of their crimes. \"Lord, when saw we thee an hungered or\nathirst?\" etc.\n\nJesus Christ would none of the testimony of devils, nor of those who\nwere not called, but of God and John the Baptist.\n\n\nJesus Christ says not that he is not of Nazareth, to leave the wicked\nin their blindness; nor that he is not the son of Joseph.\n\n\nThe calling of the Gentiles by Jesus Christ.\n\nThe ruin of the Jews and heathen by Jesus Christ.\n\n\n\n\n_THE MYSTERY OF JESUS._\n\n\nJesus suffered in his passion the torments which men inflicted on\nhim, but in his agony he suffered torments which he inflicted on\nhimself: _turbare semetipsum_. This is a suffering from no human, but\nan almighty hand, and he who bears it must also be almighty.\n\nJesus sought some comfort at least in his three dearest friends, and\nthey were asleep. He prayed them to watch with him awhile, and they\nleft him with utter carelessness, having so little compassion that it\ncould not hinder their sleeping even for a moment. And thus Jesus was\nleft alone to the wrath of God.\n\nJesus was without one on the earth not merely to feel and share his\nsuffering, but even to know of it; he and heaven were alone in that\nknowledge.\n\nJesus was in a garden, not of delight as the first Adam, in which he\ndestroyed himself and the whole human race; but in one of agony, in\nwhich he saved himself and the whole human race.\n\nHe suffered this sorrow and this desertion in the horror of night.\n\nI believe that Jesus never complained but on this single occasion,\nbut then he complained as if he could no longer restrain his extreme\nsorrow. \"My soul is sorrowful, even unto death.\"\n\nJesus sought companionship and consolation from men. This was the\nonly time in his life, as it seems to me; but he received it not, for\nhis disciples were asleep.\n\nJesus will be in agony even to the end of the world. We must not\nsleep during that time.\n\nJesus in the midst of this universal desertion, even that of his\nown friends chosen to watch with him, finding them asleep, was\nvexed because of the danger to which they exposed, not him, but\nthemselves; he warned them of their own safety and of their good,\nwith a heartfelt tenderness for them during their ingratitude, and\nwarned them that the spirit is willing and the flesh weak.\n\nJesus, finding them still sleeping, unrestrained by any consideration\nfor themselves or for him, had the tenderness not to wake them but to\nlet them sleep on.\n\nJesus prayed, uncertain of the will of his Father, and feared death;\nbut so soon as he knew it he went forward to offer himself to death:\n_Eamus. Processit._ John.\n\nJesus asked of men, and was not heard.\n\nJesus, while his disciples slept, wrought their salvation. He has\nwrought that of each of the just while they slept both in their\nnothingness before their birth, and in their sins after their birth.\n\nHe prayed only once that the cup should pass away, and then with\nsubmission; but twice that it should come if need were.\n\nJesus was weary.\n\nJesus, seeing all his friends asleep and all his enemies wakeful,\ngave himself over entirely to his Father.\n\nJesus did not regard in Judas his enmity, but God's order, which he\nloves and admits, since he calls him friend.\n\nJesus tore himself away from his disciples to enter into his agony;\nwe must tear ourselves from our nearest and dearest to imitate him.\n\nJesus being in agony and in the greatest sorrow, let us pray\nlonger....\n\nConsole thyself, thou wouldest not seek me hadst thou not found me.\n\nI thought of thee in mine agony, such drops of blood I shed for thee.\n\nIt is tempting me rather than proving thyself, to think if thou\nwouldest act well in a case which has not occurred, I will act in\nthee if it occur.\n\nLet my rules guide thy conduct; see how I have led the Virgin and the\nsaints who have let me act in them.\n\nThe Father loves all that I do.\n\nMust I ever shed the blood of my humanity and thou give no tears?\n\nThy conversion is my affair; fear not and pray with confidence as for\nme.\n\nI am present with thee by my word in the Scriptures, by my Spirit\nin the Church and by inspiration, by my power in the priest, by my\nprayer in the faithful.\n\nPhysicians will not heal thee, for thou wilt die at last. But it is I\nwho heal thee and make the body immortal.\n\nSuffer chains and bodily servitude, I deliver thee now only from what\nis spiritual.\n\nI am to thee more a friend than such or such an one, for I have done\nfor thee more than they; they have not borne what I have borne from\nthee, they have not died for thee as I have done in the time of thine\ninfidelities and thy cruelties, and as I am ready to do and do in my\nelect and at the Holy Sacrament.\n\nIf thou knewest thy sins thou wouldest lose heart.--I shall lose it\nthen O Lord, for on thy word I believe their malice.--No, for I by\nwhom thou learnest it can heal thee of them, and what I tell thee\nis a sign that I will heal thee. As thou dost expiate them, thou\nwilt know them, and it will be said to thee: \"Behold, thy sins are\nforgiven thee!\"\n\nRepent then for thy secret sins, and for the hidden malice of those\nwhich thou knowest.\n\nLord, I give thee all.--\n\nI love thee more ardently than thou hast loved thine uncleannesses,\n_ut immundus pro luto_.\n\nTo me be the glory, not to thee, thou worm of earth.\n\nAsk thy director, when my own words are to thee occasion of evil, or\nvanity, or curiosity.\n\nI see the depths which are in me of pride, curiosity and lust. There\nis no relation between me and God, nor Jesus Christ the Just One. But\nhe has been made sin for me, all thy scourges are fallen upon him. He\nis more abominable than I, and far from abhorring me he holds himself\nhonoured that I go to him and succour him.\n\nBut he has healed himself, and still more will he heal me.\n\nI must add my wounds to his, and join me to him, and he will save me\nin saving himself.\n\nBut this must not be put off to a future day.\n\nDo little things as though they were great, because of the majesty of\nJesus Christ who does them in us, and who lives our life; do great\nthings as though they were small and easy, because of his omnipotence.\n\n\n_The Sepulchre of Jesus Christ._--Jesus Christ was dead, but seen on\nthe Cross. He was dead, and hidden in the sepulchre.\n\nJesus Christ was buried by the saints alone.\n\nJesus Christ worked no miracles at the sepulchre.\n\nOnly the saints entered it.\n\nThere, not on the Cross, Jesus Christ took a new life.\n\nIt is the last mystery of the passion and the redemption.\n\nJesus Christ had no where to rest on earth but in the sepulchre.\n\nHis enemies only ceased to persecute him at the sepulchre.\n\n\nI consider Jesus Christ in all persons and in ourselves. Jesus Christ\nas a father in his father, Jesus Christ as a brother in his brethren,\nJesus Christ as poor in the poor, Jesus Christ as rich in the rich,\nJesus Christ as doctor and priest in priests, Jesus Christ as\nsovereign in princes, etc. For by his glory he is all that is great,\nsince he is God; and he is by his mortal life all that is miserable\nand abject. Therefore he has taken this wretched state, to enable him\nto be in all persons, and the model of all conditions.\n\n\nThe false justice of Pilate only caused the suffering of Jesus\nChrist; for he caused him to be scourged by his false justice, and\nthen slew him. It would have been better that he had slain him at\nfirst. Thus is it with those who are falsely just. They do good works\nor evil to please the world, and show that they are not altogether\nof Jesus Christ, for they are ashamed of him. Then at last in great\ntemptations and on great occasions, they slay him.\n\n\nIt seems to me that Jesus Christ after his resurrection allowed his\nwounds only to be touched: _Noli me tangere_. We must unite ourselves\nto his sufferings only.\n\n\nAt the Last Supper he gave himself in communion as one about to die;\nto the disciples at Emmaus as one risen from the dead; to the whole\nChurch as one ascended into heaven.\n\n\nCompare not thyself with others, but with me. If thou findest me not\nin those with whom thou comparest thyself, thou comparest thyself\nwith him that is abominable. If thou findest me there compare thyself\nto me. But who is it that thou dost compare? Thyself, or me in thee?\nIf it be thyself it is one that is abominable; if it be me thou\ncomparest me to myself. Now I am God in all.\n\nI speak and often counsel thee because thy Guardian can not speak to\nthee, for I will not that thou shouldest lack a guide.\n\nAnd perhaps I do so at his prayers, and thus he leads thee without\nthy seeing it.\n\nThou wouldest not seek me unless thou didst possess me.\n\nTherefore be not troubled.\n\n\nBe comforted; it is not from yourself that you must expect it; but on\nthe contrary, expecting nothing from yourself, you must await it.\n\n\nPray that ye enter not into temptation. It is dangerous to be\ntempted, and those alone are tempted who do not pray.\n\n_Et tu conversus confirma fratres tuos._ But before, _conversus Jesus\nrespexit Petrum_.\n\nSaint Peter asked permission to strike Malchus, and struck before\nhaving the answer; Jesus Christ answered afterwards.\n\n\nI love poverty because he loved it. I love wealth because it gives\nthe power of helping the miserable. I keep my troth to everyone;\nrendering not evil to those who do me wrong; but I wish them a lot\nlike mine, in which I receive neither good nor evil from men. I try\nto be just, true, sincere, and faithful to all men; I have a tender\nheart for those to whom God has more closely bound me; and whether I\nam alone or seen of men I place all my actions in the sight of God,\nwho shall judge them, and to whom I have consecrated them all.\n\nSuch are my opinions, and each day of my life I bless my Redeemer\nwho has implanted them in me, who has transformed me, a man full of\nweakness, misery, and lust, of pride and ambition, into a man exempt\nfrom all these evils, by the power of his grace, to which all the\nglory is due; since of myself I have only misery and sin.\n\n\n\n\n_OF THE TRUE RIGHTEOUS MAN AND OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN._\n\n\n_Members. To begin with that._--To regulate the love which we owe\nto ourselves, we must imagine a body full of thinking members, for we\nare members of the whole, and see how each member should love itself,\netc....\n\n\nIf the feet and the hands had each a separate will they could only be\nin their order in submitting this separate will to the primary will\nwhich governs the whole body. Apart from that they are in disorder\nand misfortune, but in willing only the good of the body they find\ntheir own good.\n\n\n_Morality._--God having made the heavens and the earth, which cannot\nfeel the happiness of their being, he has been pleased to make\nbeings who should know it, and who should compose a body of thinking\nmembers. For our members do not feel the happiness of their union,\nof their admirable intelligence, of the care which nature has taken\nto infuse into them a mind, and to make them grow and endure. How\nhappy would they be if they could see and feel it. But in order to\nthis they must needs have intelligence to know it, and good will\nto consent to that of the universal soul. For if, having received\nintelligence, they used it to retain nourishment for themselves\nwithout allowing it to pass to the other members, they would be not\nonly unjust but also miserable, and would hate rather than love\nthemselves, their blessedness as well as their duty consisting in\ntheir consent to the guidance of the general soul to which they\nbelong, who loves them better than they love themselves.\n\n\nTo be a member, is to have neither life, being, nor movement save by\nthe spirit of the body, and for the body; the separate member, seeing\nno longer the body to which it belongs, has only a waning and dying\nexistence. Yet it believes it is a whole, and seeing not the body\non which it depends, it believes it depends only on self and wills\nto constitute itself both centre and body. But not having in itself\na principle of life, it only goes astray, and is astonished in the\nuncertainty of its being; fully aware that it is not a body, yet not\nseeing that it is a member of a body. Then when at last it arrives at\nthe knowledge of self, it has returned as it were to its own home,\nand loves itself only for the body's sake, bewailing that in the past\nit has gone astray.\n\nIt cannot by its nature love aught else, if not for itself and to\nsubject it to self, since each thing loves itself above all. But in\nloving the body it loves itself, because it has no being but in it,\nby it, and for it. _Qui adh\u00e6ret Deo unus spiritus est._\n\nThe body loves the hand, and the hand, if it had a will, should love\nitself in the same proportion as that in which it is loved by the\nsoul. All love beyond this is unjust.\n\n_Adh\u00e6rens Deo unus spiritus est._ We love ourselves because we are\nmembers of Jesus Christ. We love Jesus Christ because he is the body\nof which we are members. All is one, one is in the other, like the\nThree Persons.\n\n\nThe examples of the noble deaths of the Laced\u00e6monians and others\nscarce touch us, for what good do they to us? But the example of the\ndeath of the martyrs touches us, for they are our members. We have\na common tie with them, their resolution can form ours, not only by\nexample, but because it has perhaps merited ours. There is nothing\nof this in the examples of the heathen; there is no bond between us.\nAs we do not become rich by seeing a rich stranger, but by seeing a\nfather or a husband who is so.\n\n\nWe must love God only, and hate self only.\n\nIf the foot had always been ignorant that it belonged to the body,\nand that there was a body on which it depended, if it had only had\nthe knowledge and the love of self, and if it came to know that it\nbelonged to a body on which it depended, what regret, what confusion\nfor the past life, for having been useless to the body from which its\nwhole life was derived, which would have reduced it to nothing if it\nhad rejected it and separated it from itself, as it held itself apart\nfrom the body. What prayers for its preservation in the body, with\nwhat submission would it allow itself to be governed according to\nthe will which rules the body, even to consent, if need be, that it\nshould be cut off, or it would lose its character of member. For each\nmember must be content to perish for the body, for which alone the\nwhole exists.\n\n\nTo ensure the happiness of the members, they must have one will, and\nsubmit it to the body.\n\n\nIt is false that we are worthy of the love of others, it is unjust\nthat we should desire it. If we were born reasonable and impartial,\nknowing ourselves and others, we should not give this bias to our\nwill. But we are born with it; we are therefore born unjust, for all\ntends to self. This is contrary to all order. We should look to the\ngeneral advantage, and the inclination to self is the beginning of\nall disorder, in war, in politics, in economy, and in man's own body.\n\nThe will therefore is depraved. If the members of natural and civil\ncommunities tend towards the well-being of the body, the communities\nthemselves should tend to the welfare of another more general body of\nwhich they are members. We should therefore look to the whole. We are\ntherefore born unjust and depraved.\n\n\nHe who hates not in himself his self-love, and that instinct which\nleads him to make himself a God, is indeed blinded. All must see\nthat nothing is so opposed to justice and truth. For it is false\nthat we deserve this, and it is unjust and impossible to attain it,\nsince all demand the same. Manifestly then injustice is innate in us,\nfrom which we cannot free ourselves, yet from which we ought to free\nourselves.\n\nBut no religion has pointed out that this is a sin, or that we are\nborn in it, or that we are bound to resist it, or has thought of\noffering us a cure.\n\n\nIt is unjust that any should attach themselves to me, even though\nthey do it with pleasure, and voluntarily. I should deceive those\nin whom I aroused this desire, for I am not the final end of any,\nnor have I that which can satisfy them. Am I not about to die? And\nthus the object of their attachment will die. Thus as it would\nbe blameworthy in me to cause a falsehood to be believed, though\nI should gently insinuate it, though it should be believed with\npleasure, and though it should give me pleasure; in like manner it\nis blameworthy in me if I make myself beloved, and if I draw persons\nto attach themselves to me. I ought to warn those who are ready to\nconsent to a lie, that they should not believe it, whatever advantage\naccrues to me from it; and in the same way that they should not\nattach themselves to me; for they ought to spend their life and their\npains in pleasing God, or in seeking him.\n\n\nSelf-will never will be satisfied, though it should have power for\nall it would; but we are satisfied from the moment we renounce it.\nWithout it we cannot be discontented, with it we cannot be content.\n\n\nTo hate self, and to seek a truly lovable being to love, is therefore\nthe true and only virtue, for we are hateful because of lust. But as\nwe cannot love what is outside us, we must love a being which is in\nus, yet not ourselves, and that is true of each and all men. Now the\nuniversal Being is alone such. The Kingdom of God is within us; the\nuniversal good is within us, is our very selves, yet not ourselves.\n\n\nIf there be a God we ought to love him alone, and not the creatures\nof a day. The reasoning of the wicked in the _Book of Wisdom_ is\nonly founded on the non-existence of God. \"Given that there is no\nGod,\" say they, \"let us take delight in the creature. It is because\nthere is nothing better.\" But were there a God to love they would not\nhave come to this conclusion, but to the contrary. And this is the\nconclusion of the wise: \"There is a God, therefore we ought not to\ntake delight in the creature.\"\n\nTherefore all that leads us to attach ourselves to the creature is\nevil, because it hinders us from serving God if we know him, and from\nseeking him if we know him not. Now we are full of lust. Therefore we\nare full of evil, therefore we should hate ourselves and all which\nurges us to attach ourselves to aught but God only.\n\n\nThat we must love one God only is a thing so plain, that no miracles\nare needed to prove it.\n\nThat is a good state of the Church in which it is upheld by God alone.\n\n\nTwo laws suffice to regulate the whole Christian republic better than\nall political laws.\n\n\n_Against those who trusting in the mercy of God live carelessly,\nwithout doing good works._--As the two sources of our sins are pride\nand indolence, God has revealed to us two of his attributes for their\ncure, mercy and justice. The property of justice is to abase our\npride, however holy may be our works, _et non intres in judicium,\netc._; and the property of mercy is to combat indolence by exciting\nto good works, according to that passage: \"The goodness of God leads\nto repentance,\" and that other of the Ninevites: \"Let us do penance\nto see if peradventure he will pity us.\" Thus mercy is so far from\nauthorising slackness, that it is on the contrary the quality which\nformally assails it, so that instead of saying: \"Were there not mercy\nin God, we must make every effort after virtue,\" we should say, on\nthe contrary, that because there is mercy in God we must make every\neffort.\n\n\nThe world exists for the exercise of mercy and judgment, not as if\nmen were in it as they came from the hands of God, but as the enemies\nof God, to whom he gives by grace light enough to return, if they\nwill seek him and follow him, and to punish them, if they refuse to\nseek him and follow him.\n\n\nWe implore the mercy of God, not that he may leave us in peace in our\nvices, but that he may free us from them.\n\n\nThere are but two kinds of men, the righteous, who believe themselves\nsinners, and sinners, who believe themselves righteous.\n\n\n_There are two kinds of men in each religion._--Among the heathen,\nworshippers of beasts, and the worshippers of the one God revealed by\nnatural religion.\n\nAmong the Jews, the carnal and the spiritual, who were the Christians\nof the old law.\n\nAmong the Christians, those coarser ones, who are the Jews of the new\nlaw.\n\nThe carnal Jews looked for a carnal Messiah, and the coarser\nChristians believe that the Messiah has dispensed them from the love\nof God. True Jews and true Christians adore a Messiah who makes them\nlove God.\n\n\nCarnal Jews and the heathen have their miseries, and Christians also.\nThere is no Redeemer for the heathen, for they do not even hope for\none. There is no Redeemer for the Jews, who hope for him in vain.\nThere is a Redeemer only for the Christians.\n\n\nThe lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, pride, etc.\n\nThere are three orders of things: the flesh, the spirit, and the will.\n\nThe carnal are the rich and kings, who have the body as their object.\n\nEnquirers and men of science, who have mind for their object.\n\nThe wise, who have right for their object.\n\nGod must reign over all, and all must be referred to him. In things\nof the flesh lust reigns especially, in men of intellect curiosity\nespecially, in wisdom pride especially.\n\nNot that a man may not boast of wealth or knowledge, but there is no\nroom for pride, for in granting that a man is learned there will be\nno difficulty in proving to him that he is wrong to be proud. Pride\nfinds its proper place in wisdom, for it cannot be granted to a man\nthat he has made himself wise and that he is wrong to be proud of\nit. For that is just. Now God alone gives wisdom, and therefore _qui\ngloriatur in Domino, glorietur_.\n\n\nAll that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the\neyes, or the pride of life; _libido sentiendi, libido sciendi,\nlibido dominandi_. Woe to the accursed land which these three rivers\nof flame enkindle rather than moisten. Happy they who are on these\nrivers, not overwhelmed nor carried away, but immovably fixed upon\nthe floods, not standing, but seated, and on a firm and sure base,\nwhence they rise not before the dawn; but where, having rested in\npeace, they stretch forth their hands to him who will lift them\nup, and cause them to stand firm and upright in the porches of the\nheavenly Jerusalem, where pride may no more assail nor cast them\ndown; and who yet weep, not to see all those perishable things\ncrumble which the torrents sweep away, but at the remembrance of\ntheir dear country, that heavenly Jerusalem, which they remember\nwithout ceasing while the days of their exile are prolonged.\n\n\nThe rivers of Babylon rush and fall and sweep away.\n\nO holy Sion, where all is firm and nothing falls.\n\nWe must sit upon the floods, not under them or in them, but on them;\nnot standing but seated, being seated to be humble, and above them in\nsecurity. But in the porches of Jerusalem we shall stand.\n\nLet us see if our pleasure is stable or transitory, if it pass away,\nit is a river of Babylon.\n\n\nThere are few true Christians, I say this even in regard to faith.\nThere are many who believe, but from superstition. There are many who\nbelieve not, out of reckless living; few are between the two.\n\nI do not include here those whose morality is true holiness, nor\nthose whose belief springs from the heart.\n\n\nIt is not a rare thing to have to blame the world for too much\ndocility, it is a vice as natural as unbelief, and as pernicious.\nSuperstition.\n\n\nAbraham took nothing for himself, but only for his servants; so the\njust man takes for himself nothing of the world, nor of the applause\nof the world, but only for his passions, which he uses as their\nmaster, saying to the one, 'Go,' and to another, 'Come.' _Sub te erit\nappetitus tuus._ The passions thus subdued are virtues. God himself\nattributes to himself avarice, jealousy, anger; and these are virtues\nas well as kindness, pity, constancy, which are also passions. We\nmust treat them as slaves, and leaving to them their food hinder the\nsoul from taking any of it. For when the passions gain the mastery\nthey are vices, then they furnish nutriment to the soul, and the soul\nfeeds on it and is poisoned.\n\n\nThe just man acts by faith in the smallest things; when he blames his\nservants, he wishes for their conversion by the spirit of God, and\nprays God to correct them; for he expects as much from God as from\nhis own blame, and he prays God to bless his corrections. And so with\nall his other actions.\n\n\nOf all that is in the world he takes part only in what is unpleasant,\nnot in what is pleasant. He loves his neighbours, but his charity\ndoes not restrict itself within these bounds, but flows out to his\nenemies, and then to those of God.\n\n\nThis is common to ordinary life and that of the saints, that all\nendeavour after happiness, and differ only in the object in which\nthey place it. Both call those their enemies who hinder them from\nattaining it.\n\nWe should judge of what is good or bad by the will of God, who cannot\nbe either unjust or blind; and not by our own will, which is always\nfull of malice and error.\n\n\nJoh. viii. _Multi crediderunt in eum. Dicebat ergo Jesus: \"Si\nmanseritis..., vere mihi discipuli eritis, et veritas liberabit\nvos.\" Responderunt: Semen Abrahae sumus et nemini servimus unquam._\n\nThere is a great difference between disciples and true disciples.\nThey are recognised by saying to them that the truth will make them\nfree; for if they answer that they are free, and that it is in their\npower to come out of slavery to the devil, they are indeed disciples,\nbut not true disciples.\n\n\n\"Might I but see a miracle,\" men say, \"I would become a Christian.\"\nHow can they be sure they would do that of which they are ignorant?\nMen imagine that conversion consists in making of the worship of God\nsuch a transaction and way of life as they picture to themselves.\nTrue conversion consists in the annihilation of self before that\nuniversal Being whom we have so often provoked, and who might with\njustice destroy us at any moment; in recognising that we can do\nnought without him, and have merited nothing from him but his wrath.\nIt consists in knowing that there is unconquerable opposition between\nus and God, and that without a mediator there could be no communion\nwith him.\n\n\n_Comminutum cor._ Saint Paul. There is the Christian character.\n_Albe vous a nomm\u00e9, je ne vous connais plus._ Corneille. That is the\ninhuman character. The human character is the contrary.\n\n\nWith how little pride a Christian believes himself united to God,\nwith how little abasement does he rank himself with the worms of\nearth. What a way is this to receive life and death, good and evil.\n\n\nIt is true there is difficulty in entering into a devout life, but\nthis difficulty does not arise from the religion which begins in us,\nbut from the irreligion which is still there. If our senses were\nnot opposed to penitence, and if our corruption were not opposed to\nthe purity of God, there would be nothing in this painful to us. We\nsuffer only in proportion as the vice which is natural to us resists\nsupernatural grace; our heart feels torn asunder by these conflicting\nefforts, but it would be most unjust to impute this violence to God,\nwho draws us, instead of attributing it to the world, which holds us\nback. As a child which a mother tears from the robbers' arms, in the\nanguish it suffers should love the loving and legitimate violence\nof her who procures its liberty, and detest only the imperious and\ntyrannical violence of those who retain it unjustly. The most cruel\nwar which God can make against men in this life is to leave them\nwithout that war which he came to bring. \"I came to bring war,\" he\nsays, and to inform them of this war, \"I came to bring fire and the\nsword.\" Before him the world lived in a false peace.\n\n\nThe exterior must be joined to the interior to obtain aught from God,\nthat is to say, we must kneel, pray with the lips, etc., in order\nthat proud man, who would not submit himself to God, should now be\nsubject to the creature. To expect succour from these externals is\nsuperstition, to refuse to join them to interior acts is pride.\n\n\n_External works._--There is nothing so perilous as that which is\npleasing to God and to man; for those conditions which are pleasing\nto God and man, have one side which is pleasing to God, and another\nwhich is pleasing to man; as the greatness of Saint Theresa. That\nwhich was pleasing to God was her profound humility under her\nrevelations, what was pleasing to men was her light. And thus we\ntorment ourselves to imitate her discourses, thus thinking to imitate\nher condition, and thereby to love what God loves, and to place\nourselves in a state which God loves.\n\nIt is better not to fast, and be thereby humbled, than to fast and be\npuffed up therewith.\n\nThe pharisee and the publican.\n\n\nWhat will memory avail me if it be alike hurtful and helpful, since\nall depends upon the blessing of God, who gives only to things done\nfor him according to his rules and in his ways, the manner being thus\nas important as the thing, and perhaps more; since God can bring good\nout of evil, and because without God we bring evil out of good.\n\n\nThe hope which Christians have of possessing an infinite good is\nmingled with actual enjoyment as well as with fear; for it is not\nas with those who should hope for a kingdom, of which they being\nsubjects would have nothing; but they hope for holiness, and freedom\nfrom injustice, of which they possess somewhat.\n\n\nNone is so happy as a true Christian, none so reasonable, none so\nvirtuous, none so amiable.\n\n\nWe remove ourselves from God only by removing ourselves from love.\n\nOur prayers and our virtues are abomination before God if they are\nnot the prayers and the virtues of Jesus Christ. And our sins will\nnever be the object of the mercy, but of the justice of God, if they\nare not those of Jesus Christ.\n\nHe has adopted our sins, and has admitted us into covenant with him,\nfor virtues are his own, and sins are strange to him; while virtues\nare strange to us, and sins are our own.\n\nLet us change the rule which we have hitherto adopted for judging\nwhat is good. We have had our own will as our rule in this respect,\nlet us now take the will of God, all that he wills is good and right\nto us, all that he wills not is evil.\n\nAll that God allows not is forbidden; sins are forbidden by the\ngeneral declaration that God has made, that he allows them not.\nOther things which he has left without general prohibition, and\nwhich for that reason are said to be permitted, are nevertheless not\nalways permitted; for when God removes any one of them from us, and\nwhen, by the event, which is a manifestation of the will of God, it\nappears that God allows not that we should have a thing, that is then\nforbidden to us as sin, since the will of God is that we should not\nhave one more than the other. There is this sole difference between\nthese two things, that it is certain God will never allow sin, while\nit is not certain that he will never allow the other. But so long\nas God allows it not, we must look upon it as sin, so long as the\nabsence of God's will, which alone is all goodness and all justice,\nrenders it unjust and evil.\n\n\nTrue Christians nevertheless submit to folly, not because they\nrespect folly, but the commandment of God, who for the punishment of\nmen has put them in subjection to their follies. _Omnis creatura\nsubjecta est vanitati. Liberabitur._ Thus Saint Thomas explains the\npassage in Saint James on giving place to the rich, that if they do\nit not in the sight of God the commandment of religion is set at\nnaught.\n\n\nAll great amusements are dangerous to the Christian life, but among\nall those which the world has invented none is so much to be feared\nas the theatre. It is so natural and so delicate a representation\nof the passions that it moves them, and makes them spring up in our\nheart, above all that of love, principally when it is represented as\nvery chaste and very honourable. For the more innocent it seems to\ninnocent souls, the more are they capable of being touched by it; its\nviolence pleases our self-love, which at once forms the desire of\ncausing the same effects which we see so well represented, and at the\nsame time we make for ourselves a conscience founded on the honour of\nthe feelings which we see there. And this extinguishes the fear of\npure souls which imagine there is no harm to purity in loving with a\nlove which seems to them so moderate.\n\nThus we leave the theatre with our heart so full of all the beauty\nand tenderness of love, the soul and the mind so persuaded of\nits innocence, that we are fully prepared to receive its first\nimpressions, or rather to seek occasion to let them be born in the\nheart of some one, in order that we may receive the same pleasures\nand the same sacrifices which we have seen so well depicted in the\ntheatre.\n\n\nThe circumstances in which it is easiest to live according to the\nworld are those in which it is most difficult to live according to\nGod, and _vice vers\u00e2_. Nothing is so difficult according to the world\nas the religious life; nothing is more easy according to God. Nothing\nis easier than to live in great office and great wealth according to\nthe world; nothing is more difficult than to live in them according\nto God, and not to take part in them and love them.\n\n\nThose who believe without having read the Old and New Testaments, do\nso because they have a saintly frame of mind, with which all that\nthey hear of our Religion agrees. They feel that a God has made them;\ntheir will is to love God only, their will is to hate themselves\nonly. They feel that they have no power of themselves, that they are\nunable to come to God, and if God come not to them, they can have\nno communion with him. And they hear our Religion declare that men\nmust love God only, and hate self only, but that all being corrupt,\nand unfit for God, God made himself man to unite himself to us. No\nmore is needed to convince men who have such a disposition and have a\nknowledge of their duty and of their incompetence.\n\n\nThose whom we see to be Christians without the knowledge of the\nprophecies and evidences, are able to judge of their religion as well\nas those who have that knowledge. They judge of it by the heart, as\nothers by the understanding. God himself inclines them to believe,\nand thus they are effectually persuaded.\n\nI admit that one of those Christians who believe without proof is not\nperhaps qualified to convince an infidel who will say the same of\nhimself; but those who know the proofs of religion can prove without\ndifficulty that such a believer is truly inspired by God, though he\ncannot prove it himself.\n\nFor God having said by his prophets, who are beyond a doubt prophets,\nthat in the reign of Jesus Christ he will spread his spirit abroad\namong all nations, that the young men and maidens and the children of\nthe Church will prophesy, there is no doubt that the spirit of God is\nupon these, and not upon the others.\n\n\nWonder not to see simple souls believe without reasoning. God gives\nto them the love of him, and the hate of self, he inclines their\nheart to belief. No man will ever believe with true and saving faith\nif God incline not the heart, but each will believe as soon as he\ninclines it And this is what David knew well: _Inclina cor meum,\nDeus, in testimonia tua_.\n\n\nRomans iii. 27: Boasting is excluded, by what law? Of works? no, but\nby that of faith. Therefore faith is not in our power, like the\nworks of the law, and it is given us in another way.\n\n\nFaith is a gift of God, do not suppose us to say it is a gift\nof reason. Other religions do not say this of their faith, they\nproffered only reason as a means of attaining to it, which after all\ndoes not lead to it.\n\n\nFaith, it is true, says what the senses do not say, but not the\ncontrary of what they perceive. It is above them, not contrary to\nthem.\n\n\nI am envious of those whom I see professing the true faith, but\nliving and abusing a gift of which it seems to me I should make a\nvery different use.\n\n\nThe law imposed what it did not bestow; grace bestows that which it\nimposes.\n\n\nThe law has not destroyed Nature, but has instructed it; grace has\nnot destroyed the law, but has called it into action.\n\nFaith received at baptism is the source of the whole life of the\nChristian and of the converted.\n\n\nWe make an idol of truth itself, for truth apart from charity is not\nGod, it is his image and idol, which we must neither love nor adore;\nstill less must we love and adore its opposite, which is falsehood.\n\n\nSubmission and use of reason, in which consists true Christianity.\n\n\nThe last process of reason is to recognise that there is an infinity\nof things which transcend it; it is but weak if it does not go so far\nas to know that.\n\nAnd if natural things transcend it, what shall we say of the\nsupernatural?\n\n\n_Submission._--We must know when to doubt, when to feel certain,\nwhen to submit. Who fails in this understands not the force of\nreason. There are those who offend against these three rules, either\nby accepting everything as evidence, for want of knowing what\nevidence is; or by doubting everything, for want of knowing when to\nsubmit; or by yielding in everything, for want of knowing when to use\ntheir judgment.\n\n\nThere are three means of belief; reason, habit, inspiration. The\nChristian religion, which only has reason, does not admit as her true\nchildren those who believe without inspiration; not that she excludes\nreason or habit, rather the contrary, but it is necessary to open\nthe mind to proofs, to confirm ourselves by habit, and then to offer\nourselves humbly to inspiration, which alone can produce a true and\nsalutary effect. _Ne evacuetur crux Christi._\n\n\nThere are two ways of urging the truths of our religion; one by the\nforce of reason, the other by the authority of the speaker.\n\nWe use not the last, but the first. We do not say: \"You must believe\nthis, for the Scripture which says so is divine,\" but we say: You\nmust believe for such and such a reason, which are weak arguments,\nsince reason bends itself to all.\n\n\nIf we submit all to reason our religion will have nothing in it\nmysterious or supernatural. If we violate the principles of reason,\nour religion will be absurd and ridiculous.\n\n\nSaint Augustine. Reason would never submit if it did not judge that\non some occasions submission is a duty.\n\nIt is then right that it should submit, when it judges that it ought\nto submit.\n\n\nPiety is different from superstition.\n\nTo carry piety as far as superstition is to destroy it.\n\nHeretics reproach us with this superstitious submission. This is to\ndo that with which they reproach us.\n\nThere is nothing so conformable to reason as the disavowal of reason.\n\nTwo excesses: to exclude reason, and to admit reason only.\n\n\nSuperstition and lust. Scruples, evil desires, evil fear.\n\nFear, not such as arises from a belief in God, but that which springs\nfrom doubt whether he is or is not. True fear comes from faith, false\nfear from doubt. True fear is allied to hope, because it is born of\nfaith, and because men hope in the God in whom they behave; false\nfear is allied to despair, because they fear the God in whom they do\nnot believe. The one class fears to lose him, the other fears to find\nhim.\n\n\nA person said to me one day that when he came from confession he\nfelt great joy and confidence. Another said to me that he was still\nfearful, whereupon I thought that these two together would make one\ngood man, and that each was so far wanting in that he had not the\nfeelings of the other. The same is often true in other matters.\n\n\nThe knowledge of God is very far from the love of him.\n\n\nWe are not wearied of eating and sleeping every day, because hunger\nand drowsiness are renewed; without that we should be weary of them.\nThus without the hunger of spiritual things we grow weary of them.\nHunger after righteousness, the eighth beatitude.\n\n\nThe conduct of God, who disposes all things gently, is to put\nreligion into the mind by reason, and into the heart by grace. But to\nwill to put it into the mind and heart by force and menace is not to\nput religion there, but terror, _terrorem potius quam religionem_.\n\n\n\n\n_THE ARRANGEMENT._\n\n\n_First part_: Misery of man without God.\n\n_Second part_: The happiness of man with God.\n\nOr. _First part_: That Nature is naturally corrupt.\n\n_Second part_: That the Scripture shows a Redeemer.\n\n\n_The arrangement by dialogues._--What ought I to do? I see only\nobscurity everywhere. Shall I believe that I am nothing, shall I\nbelieve that I am God?\n\nAll things change and succeed each other.--You are mistaken; there\nis....\n\n\nA letter to lead to the search after God.\n\nAnd then to cause him to be sought for among the philosophers,\nsceptics and dogmatists, who trouble all who seek them.\n\n\nTo pity those atheists who seek, for are they not unhappy enough?--To\nrail against those who make a boast of it.\n\n\nTo begin by pitying unbelievers, they are miserable enough by their\ncondition. We ought not to revile them except where it may be\nserviceable, but it does them harm.\n\n\n_The arrangement._ A letter of advice to a friend to lead him to\nseek, and he will answer: What is the good of seeking, since nothing\ncomes to light.--Then to answer him: \"Do not despair.\"--And he will\nanswer that he would be glad to find some light, but that according\nto this very Religion, thus to believe, will be of no use to him: and\nthat therefore he would as soon not seek. And to answer to that: The\nmachine.\n\n\n_The arrangement._ After the letter _that we ought to seek God_,\nto write the letter on _the removal of obstacles_; which is the\ndiscourse on the machine, on preparing the machine, on seeking by\nreason.\n\n\n_The letter which shows the use of proofs by the machine._ Faith is\ndifferent from proof; the one is human, the other the gift of God.\n_Justus ex fide vivit._ It is this faith that God himself puts into\nthe heart, of which the proof is often the instrument, _fides ex\nauditu_; but this faith is in the heart, and makes us say not _scio_,\nbut _credo_.\n\n\nIn the letter _on Injustice_ may come the absurdity of the rule\nthat the elder takes all. My friend, you were born on this side the\nmountain, it is therefore just that your elder brother should take\nall.\n\n\n_The arrangement._--Why should I take on myself to divide my moral\nqualities into four rather than into six? Why should I rather\nestablish virtue in four, in two, in one? Why into _Abstine et\nsustine_ rather than into _Follow nature_, or, _Conduct your private\naffairs without injustice_, as Plato, or anything else?\n\nBut there, you will say, is everything contained in one word. Yes,\nbut that is useless, if not explained, and when we begin to explain\nit, as soon as the precept is opened which contains all the others,\nthey issue in that first confusion which you wished to avoid. Thus\nwhen they are all enclosed in one they are concealed and useless, as\nin a box, and never appear but in their natural confusion. Nature has\nestablished them all without enclosing one in the other.\n\n\n_The arrangement._--Men despise Religion, they hate it, and fear it\nmay be true. To cure this we must begin by showing that Religion is\nnot contrary to reason; then that it is venerable, to give respect\nfor it; then to make it lovable, to make good men hope that it is\ntrue; then to show that it is true.\n\nVenerable because it knows man well, lovable because it promises the\ntrue good.\n\n\n_The arrangement._--I should be far more afraid of making a mistake\nmyself, and of finding that the Christian religion was true, than of\nnot deceiving myself in believing it true.\n\n\n_The arrangement._--_After_ corruption to say: \"It is right that\nthose who are in that state should know it, both those who are\ncontented with it, and those who are discontented; but it is not\nright that all should see Redemption.\"\n\n\n_The arrangement._--To see what is clear and indisputable in the\nwhole state of the Jews.\n\n\nTo the chapter on _Fundamentals_ must be added that on _Things\nfigurative_ touching the reason of types. Why Jesus Christ was\nforetold at his first coming, why foretold obscurely as to the manner.\n\n\nA letter, on the folly of human knowledge and philosophy.\n\nThis letter before _Diversion_.\n\n\n_The arrangement._--I might well have taken this discourse in some\nsuch order as the following: To show the vanity of every state of\nlife, to show the vanity of ordinary lives, and then the vanity of\nphilosophic lives, sceptics, stoics; but the order would not have\nbeen kept. I know a little what it is, and how few people know it. No\nhuman science can keep it. Saint Thomas did not keep it. Mathematics\nkeep it, but these are useless by reason of their depth.\n\n\nWithout examining each particular occupation it will be enough to\nclass them under Diversion.\n\n\n\n\n_OF MIRACLES IN GENERAL._\n\n_THE MIRACLE OF THE HOLY THORN._\n\n\n_The beginning._--Miracles are the test of doctrine, and doctrine is\nthe test of miracles.\n\nOf these there are false and true. There must be a mark whereby to\nknow them, or they would be useless.\n\nNow they are not useless, and are on the contrary fundamental Now\nit must be that the rule which he gives us be such as shall not\nimpair the proof afforded by true miracles to the truth, which is the\nprincipal end of miracles.\n\nMoses has given two; that the prediction does not come to pass, Deut.\nxviii., and that they do not lead to idolatry, Deut. xiii.; and Jesus\nChrist one.\n\nIf doctrine regulate miracles, miracles are useless for doctrine.\n\nIf miracles regulate....\n\n_Objection to the rule._\n\nDiscrimination between times. One rule in Moses's day, another at\npresent.\n\n\nMiracle. An effect which exceeds the natural force of the means\nemployed, and non-miracle an effect not exceeding the natural force\nof the means employed. Thus those who heal by invocation of the devil\nwork no miracle, for that does not exceed the natural power of the\ndevil But....\n\n\nThe combinations of miracles.\n\nA second miracle may suppose a first, but a first cannot suppose a\nsecond.\n\n\nNo one has ever suffered martyrdom for the miracles he says he has\nseen; the folly of men would perhaps go as far as martyrdom, for\nthose which the Turks believe by tradition, but not for those they\nhave seen.\n\n\nWere there no false miracles there would be certainty.\n\nWere there no rule to test them, miracles would be useless, and there\nwould be no reason for belief.\n\nNow, humanly speaking, there is no human certainty, but reason.\n\n\nIt is said: _Believe the Church_, but it is not said: _Believe in\nMiracles_, because the last is natural and not the first. The one had\nneed of a precept, not the other.\n\n\n_Miracles._--How I hate those who make men doubt of miracles.\nMontaigne speaks of them as he should in the two passages. In one we\nsee how careful he is, yet in the other he believes, and laughs at\nunbelievers.\n\nHowever it may be, the Church has no proofs if they are right.\n\n\nMontaigne against miracles.\n\nMontaigne for miracles.\n\n\n_The reason why men do not believe._\n\nJoh. xii. 37. _Cum autem tanta signa fecisset, non credebant in eum,\nut sermo Isaye impleretur. Excecavit, etc._\n\n_H\u00e6c dixit Isaias, quando vidit gloriam ejus, et locutus est de eo._\n\n--_Jud\u00e6i signa petunt, et Gr\u00e6ci sapientiam qu\u00e6runt._\n\n_Nos autem Jesum crucifixum._\n\n_Sed plenum signis, sed plenum sapientia._\n\n_Vos autem Christum non crucifixistis, et religionem sine miraculis\net sine sapientia._\n\nThe ground of disbelief in true miracles is want of charity. Joh.\n_Sed vos non creditis quia non estis ex ovibus._ The ground of belief\nin false miracles is want of charity.\n\n2 Thess. ii.\n\nThe foundation of religion. This is miracle. Does God then speak\nagainst miracles, against the foundations of the faith which we have\nin him?\n\nIf there be a God, faith in God must exist on earth. Now the miracles\nof Jesus Christ are not foretold by Antichrist, but the miracles\nof Antichrist are foretold by Jesus Christ. Thus if Jesus Christ\nwere not the Messiah he would have certainly led into error, but\nAntichrist could not certainly lead into error.\n\nWhen Jesus Christ foretold the miracles of Antichrist, did he think\nof destroying faith in his own miracles?\n\nMoses foretold Jesus Christ, and commanded to follow him; Jesus\nChrist foretold Antichrist, and forbade to follow him.\n\nIt was impossible that in the time of Moses any should assert their\nfaith in Antichrist, who was unknown to them, but it is easy in the\ntime of Antichrist to believe in Jesus Christ, already known.\n\nThere is no reason to believe in Antichrist which there is not to\nbelieve in Jesus Christ, but there are reasons for believing in Jesus\nChrist, which do not exist for the other.\n\n\n_Title: How it happens that men believe so many liars, who say they\nhave seen miracles, and do not believe any of those who say they have\nsecrets to make men immortal or render them young again._--Having\nconsidered how it happens that men have believed so many impostors,\nwho pretend they have remedies, often to the length of putting their\nlives into their hands, it appears to me that the true cause is that\nthere are true remedies. For it would not be possible there should\nbe so many false, to which so much credence is given, were there\nnone true. Were there no remedy for any evil, and were all diseases\nincurable, it is impossible that men should ever have imagined that\nthey could give remedies, and still more impossible that so many\nothers should have believed those who boasted that they had them.\nJust as if a man boasted that he could prevent death, no one would\nbelieve him because there is no example of this. But as there are a\nnumber of remedies which are approved as true, even by the knowledge\nof the greatest men, the belief of men is thereby inclined; and\nsince the thing was known to be possible, it has been therefore\nconcluded that it was. For the public as a rule reasons thus: A thing\nis possible, therefore it is; because the thing cannot be denied\ngenerally, since there are particular effects which are true, the\npeople, who cannot discriminate which among particular effects are\ntrue, believe them all. This is the reason that so many false effects\nare attributed to the moon, because there are some true, such as the\ntide.\n\nIt is the same with prophecies, miracles, divination by dreams,\ncasting lots, etc. For if in all these matters nothing true had ever\ntaken place, nothing of them had ever been believed; and so instead\nof concluding that there are no true miracles, because so many are\nfalse, we must on the contrary say that there are certainly true\nmiracles because there are false, and that the false only exist\nbecause some are true. We must reason in the same way about Religion,\nfor it would not be possible that men should have imagined so many\nfalse religions had there not been one that is true. The objection to\nthis is that savages have a religion, but we answer that they have\nheard speak of the true, as appears by the deluge, circumcision,\nSaint Andrew's cross, etc.\n\n\nHaving considered how it comes that there are so many false miracles,\nfalse revelations, castings of lots, etc., it has appeared to me\nthat the real cause is that there are true ones, for it would not be\npossible that there should be so many false miracles unless there\nwere true, nor so many false revelations unless there were true,\nnor so many false religions unless there were one that is true. For\nif all this had never been, it is impossible that men should have\nimagined it, and still more impossible that so many others should\nhave believed it. But as there have been very great things which are\ntrue and as they have been believed by great men; this impression\nhas been produced, that almost everybody has been made capable of\nbelieving the false also; and thus instead of concluding that there\nare no true miracles since there are so many false, we must on the\ncontrary say that there are true miracles since there are so many\nfalse, and that false miracles only exist for the reason that there\nare true; so also that there are false religions only because there\nis one that is true.--The objection to this is that savages have a\nreligion. But this is because they have heard speak of the true,\nas appears by Saint Andrew's cross, the deluge, the circumcision,\netc.--This comes from the fact that the spirit of man, finding\nitself inclined to that side by truth, becomes therefore susceptible\nof all the falsehoods of that....\n\n\nI should not be a Christian were it not for the miracles, said Saint\nAugustine.\n\n\nBut for the miracles there would have been no sin in not believing in\nJesus Christ.\n\n\nIt is not possible to believe reasonably against miracles.\n\n\nMiracles have so great a force that it was needful that God should\nwarn us not to credit them against him, clear as it may be that there\nis a God; without this they would have been able to disturb.\n\nAnd thus so far from these passages, Deut. xiii., making against the\nauthority of miracles, nothing more marks their force. The same with\nAntichrist; \"to seduce if it were possible even the very elect.\"\n\n\nAbraham and Gideon are above revelation.\n\nThe Jews blinded themselves in judging of miracles by the Scripture.\nGod has never left his true worshippers.\n\nI prefer to follow Jesus Christ than any other, because he has\nmiracle, prophecy, doctrine, perpetuity, etc.\n\nThe Donatists. No miracle which obliged them to say it was the devil.\n\nThe more we specialise God, Jesus Christ and the Church.\n\n\nJesus Christ worked miracles, then the apostles, and the early saints\nin great number, because the prophecies not being yet fulfilled,\nbut only in the way of fulfilment by them, miracles were their only\nwitness. It was foretold that the Messiah should convert the nations,\nand this prophecy could not be fulfilled without the conversion of\nthe nations. Nor could the nations be converted to Messiah unless\nthey saw the final effect of the prophecies concerning him. Till\ntherefore he died and rose again, and had converted the nations, all\nwas not fulfilled, wherefore miracles were needed during that time.\nWe now need no more miracles against the Jews, for the fulfilment of\nprophecy is an enduring miracle.\n\n\nProphecy is not called _miracle_, as Saint John speaks of the first\nmiracle in Cana, then of what Jesus Christ said to the woman of\nSamaria, revealing to her all her hidden life. Then he healed the\ncenturion's son, and Saint John calls this the second sign.\n\n\nJesus Christ has verified that he was the Messiah, never in verifying\nhis doctrine by Scripture and the prophecies, but always by his\nmiracles.\n\nHe proves by a miracle that he remits sins.\n\nRejoice not that you work miracles, said Jesus Christ, but rather\nthat your names are written in heaven.\n\nIf they believe not Moses, neither will they believe one risen from\nthe dead.\n\nNicodemus recognised by his miracles, that his doctrine was of God.\n_Scimus quia venisti a Deo, magister, nemo enim potest facere qu\u00e6 tu\nfacis, nisi Deus fuerit cum eo._ He judged not of the miracles by the\ndoctrine, but of the doctrine by the miracles.\n\n\nHere is no country for truth, she wanders unknown among men. God has\ncovered her with a veil which leaves her unrecognised by those who\nhear not her voice; the way is open for blasphemy even against those\ntruths which are at the least very apparent. If the truths of the\nGospel are published, the contrary is also published, and questions\nare obscured, so that the people cannot discern, and they ask us,\n\"What have you to make you believed rather than others? what sign\ndo you give? you have words only, so have we, if you have miracles,\ngood.\" That doctrine must be supported by miracle is a truth of which\nthey make a pretext to blaspheme against doctrine. And if miracles\nhappen, it is said that miracles are not enough without doctrine, and\nthat is another way of blaspheming against miracles.\n\nJesus Christ healed the man born blind, and worked many miracles\non the sabbath day, and thus he blinded the Pharisees who said that\nmiracles must be tested by doctrine.\n\n\"We have Moses, but as for this man, we know not whence he is.\" It\nis wonderful that you know not whence he is, and yet he works such\nmiracles.\n\nJesus Christ spoke neither against God, nor against Moses.\n\nAntichrist and the false prophets foretold by both Testaments, will\nspeak openly against God, and against Jesus Christ, who is not\nhidden. Whoever will be a secret enemy, God will not permit that he\nwork miracles openly.\n\nIn a public dispute where the two parties declare themselves on the\nside of God, of Jesus Christ, or the Church, there have never been\nmiracles on the side of the false Christians, while the other party\nhas remained without miracle.\n\n\"He hath a devil,\" John x. 21. \"And others said, Can a devil open the\neyes of the blind?\"\n\nThe proofs which Jesus Christ and the Apostles draw from Scripture\nare not decisive, for they say only that Moses foretold that a\nprophet would come; but they do not thereby prove that Jesus Christ\nwas that prophet, which is the whole question. These passages, then,\nserve only to show that we are not contrary to Scripture, and that\nthere is no contradiction, not that there is accord. Now this is\nenough, there is no contradiction; and there are miracles.\n\nIt follows, then, that he judged miracles to be certain proofs of\nwhat he taught, and that the Jews were bound to believe him. And as a\nfact, it was the miracles especially which made the unbelief of the\nJews so blameworthy.\n\nThere is a reciprocal duty between God and men. We must forgive him\nthis saying: _Quid debui_. \"Accuse me,\" said God in Isaiah.\n\nGod must accomplish his promises, etc.\n\nMen owe it to God to receive the Religion which he sends them. God\nowes it to men not to lead them into error. Now they would be led\ninto error, if the workers of miracles should announce a doctrine\nwhich did not appear visibly false to the light of common sense, and\nif a greater worker of miracles had not already given warning not to\nbelieve in them.\n\nThus if there were division in the Church, and the Arians, for\nexample, who no less than Catholics said they were founded on\nScripture, had worked miracles, and the Catholics had worked none,\nmen had been led into error.\n\nFor, as a man, who announces to us the secret things of God is not\nworthy to be believed on his private testimony, and on that very\nground the wicked doubt him; so when a man as a sign of the communion\nwhich he has with God raises the dead, foretells the future, moves\nthe seas, heals the sick, there is none so wicked as not to yield,\nand the incredulity of Pharaoh and the Pharisees is the effect of a\nsupernatural hardening.\n\nWhen, therefore, we see miracles and doctrine not open to suspicion\nboth on one side, there is no difficulty. But when we see miracles\nand suspicious doctrine on the same side we must see which is the\nclearest. Jesus Christ was suspected.\n\nBarjesus was blinded. The power of God is above that of his enemies.\n\nThe Jewish exorcists were beaten by devils, who said, \"Jesus we know,\nand Paul we know, but who are ye?\"\n\nMiracles are for doctrine, and not doctrine for miracles.\n\nBut if miracles are true we cannot persuade men of all doctrine, for\nthat will not come to pass: _Si angelus_....\n\n_Rule._ We must judge of doctrine by miracles, we must judge of\nmiracles by doctrine. All this is true, but there is no contradiction.\n\nFor we must distinguish the times.\n\nYou are glad to know general rules, thinking by that to introduce\ndifficulties, and render all useless. We shall stop you, my good\nfather; truth is one, and strong.\n\nIt is impossible from the duty God owes us, that a man, concealing\nhis evil doctrine, and only allowing the good to appear, pretending\nthat he is in conformity with God and the Church, should work\nmiracles to insinuate insensibly a false and subtle doctrine. This\ncannot be.\n\nStill less, that God who knows the heart, should work miracles in\nfavour of such an one.\n\n\nThere is much difference between temptation and leading into error.\nGod tempts, but he leads not into error. To tempt is to present\noccasions which impose no necessity; if we love not God we shall do a\ncertain thing. To lead into error, is to place a man in a necessity\nof forming and following false conclusion.\n\n\nThis is what God cannot do, which nevertheless he would do, if in an\nobscure question he wrought miracles on the side of falsehood.\n\n\nIn the Old Testament, when they would turn you from God, in the New\nwhen they would turn you from Jesus Christ.\n\nSuch are the occasions on which we exclude certain miracles from\ncredence. There need be no other exclusions.\n\nBut it does not therefore follow that they had the right to exclude\nall the prophets who came to them. They would have sinned in not\nexcluding those who denied God, and would also have sinned in\nexcluding those who denied him not.\n\nSo soon, then, as we see a miracle we should at once either acquiesce\nor have signal marks against it. We must see if it denies either a\nGod, or Jesus Christ, or the Church.\n\n\nMiracles avail not for conversion, but for condemnation. I P. ix.\n113, a. 10, ad. 2.\n\n\n_Si tu es Christus, dic nobis._\n\n_Opera qu\u00e6 ego facio in nomine patris mei, h\u00e6c testimonium perhibent\nde me._\n\n_Sed non vos creditis quia non estis ex ovibus meis. Oves mei vocem\nmeam audiunt._\n\nJoh. vi. 30. _Quod ergo tu facis signum ut videamus, et credamus\ntibi? Non dicunt: Quam doctrinam pr\u00e6dicas?_\n\n_Nemo potest facere signa qu\u00e6 tu facis, nisi Deus fuerit cum illo._\n\n2 Mach. xiv. 15. _Deus qui signis evidentibus suam portionem\nprotegit._\n\n_Volumus signum videre de c\u0153lo tentantes eum._ Luc. xi. 16.\n\n_Generatio prava signum qu\u00e6rit; sed non dabitur._\n\n_Et ingemiscens ait; Quid generatio ista signum qu\u00e6rit._ Marc. viii.\n12. They asked a sign with a bad intent. _Et non poterat facere._\nAnd nevertheless he promises them the sign of Jonah, the great and\nincomparable evidence of his resurrection.\n\n_Nisi videritis signa non creditis._ He does not blame them for not\nbelieving without there having been miracles, but without their\nhaving been themselves witnesses of them.\n\nAntichrist _in signis mendacibus_, says St Paul. 2 Thess. ii.\n\n_Secundum operationem Satan\u00e6. In seductione ii qui pereunt eo quod\ncharitatem veritatis non receperunt ut salvi fierent. Ideo mittet\nillis Deus operationem erroris ut credant mendacia._\n\nAs in the passage of Moses: _Tentat enim vos Deus, utrum diligatis\neum_.\n\n_Ecce pr\u00e6dixi vobis, vos ergo videte._\n\n\nThe Church has three kinds of enemies, the Jews, who have never\nbeen of her body; the heretics, who have withdrawn from it; and bad\nChristians, who rend her from within.\n\nThese three different kinds of enemies generally assail her in\ndifferent ways, but here they assail her in the same fashion. As they\nare all without miracles, and as the Church has always had miracles\nagainst them, they have all had the same interest in eluding them;\nand all avail themselves of this pretext, that we must not judge of\ndoctrine by miracles, but of miracles by doctrine. There were two\nparties among those who heard Jesus Christ, those who followed his\ndoctrine by reason of his miracles; others who said.... There were\ntwo parties in the time of Calvin. There are now the Jesuits, etc.\n\n\nMiracles are the test in doubtful matters, between Jew and Gentile,\nJew and Christian, catholic and heretic, slanderer and slandered,\nbetween the two crosses.\n\nBut miracles would be useless to heretics, for the Church, authorised\nby miracles which have already obtained credence, tells us that they\nhave not the true faith. There is no doubt that they are not in it,\nbecause the first miracles of the Church exclude belief in theirs.\nThus there is miracle against miracle, and the first and greatest are\non the side of the Church.\n\n\n_Controversy._ Abel, Cain;--Moses, the Magicians;--Elijah, the false\nprophets;--Jeremiah, Hananiah;--Micaiah, the false prophets;--Jesus\nChrist, the Pharisees;--Saint Paul, Barjesus;--the Apostles,\nthe Exorcists;--the Christians and the infidels;--Catholics,\nheretics;--Elijah, Enoch, Antichrist.\n\nIn the trial by miracles truth always prevails. The two crosses.\n\n\nMiracles are no longer needful, because they have already been. But\nwhen we listen no more to tradition, when the pope alone is proposed\nto us, when he has been taken by surprise, and when the true source\nof truth, which is tradition, is thus excluded, the pope, who is its\nguardian, is thus prejudiced, truth is no longer allowed to appear;\nthen, since men speak no longer of truth, truth herself must speak to\nmen. This is what happened in the time of Arius.\n\n\nReligion is adapted to every kind of intellect. Some consider\nonly its establishment, and this Religion is such that its very\nestablishment is enough to prove its truth. Some trace it as far as\nthe apostles; the more learned go back to the beginning of the world;\nthe angels see it better still, and from earlier time.\n\n\n1. Objection. _An angel from heaven._\n\nWe must not judge of truth by miracles, but of miracles by truth.\n\nTherefore miracles are useless.\n\nNow they serve, and cannot be against the truth.\n\nTherefore what Father Lingende says, that God will not allow a\nmiracle to lead into error....\n\nWhen there shall be a dispute in the same Church, miracle will decide.\n\n2. Objection.\n\n_But Antichrist will work miracles._\n\nThe Magicians of Pharaoh did not lead into error. Thus on Antichrist\nwe cannot say to Jesus Christ: You have led me into error. For\nAntichrist will work them against Jesus Christ, and thus they cannot\nlead into error. Either God will not permit false miracles, or he\nwill procure greater.\n\nIf in the same Church a miracle should occur on the side of those in\nerror, men would be led into error.\n\nA schism is visible, a miracle is visible. But a schism is more a\nmark of error than a miracle is a mark of truth, therefore a miracle\ncannot lead into error.\n\nBut apart from schism the error is not so visible as the miracle is\nvisible.\n\nTherefore miracle may lead into error.\n\n_Ubi est Deus tuus?_--Miracles show him and are a light to him.\n\nJoh. vi. 26. _Non quia vidisti signum, sed quia saturati estis._\n\nThose who follow Jesus Christ because of his miracles honour his\npower in all the miracles which it produces. But those who, making\nprofession to follow him because of his miracles, only follow him\nindeed because he consoles them and satisfies them with worldly\ngoods, disparage his miracles when they are contrary to their own\nconvenience.\n\nJoh. ix: _Non est hic homo a Deo, quia sabbatum non custodit_. _Alii:\nQuomodo potest homo peccator h\u00e6c signa facere?_\n\nWhich is the most clear?\n\nThis house is not of God, for they do not there believe that the five\npropositions are in Jansenius.\n\nOthers: This house is of God, for in it strange miracles are done.\n\nWhich is the most clear?\n\n_Tu quid dicis? Dico quia propheta est.--Nisi esset hic a Deo, non\npoterat facere quidquam._\n\n\nThere is much difference between not being for Jesus Christ, and\nsaying it, and not being for Jesus Christ, yet feigning to be so. The\none party can work miracles, not the others, for it is clear that the\none party are against the truth, but not that the others are; and\nthus miracles are the more clear.\n\n\n\"If you believe not in me, believe at least in the miracles.\" He puts\nthem forward as the strongest.\n\nHe had said to the Jews as well as to the Christians, that they\nshould not always believe the prophets; but nevertheless the\npharisees and scribes made much of his miracles, and tried to show\nthat they were false or worked by the devil, since they were bound to\nbe convinced, if they admitted that these were of God.\n\n\nWe are not in these days obliged so to discriminate. Yet it is very\neasy to do so; those who deny neither God nor Jesus Christ work no\nmiracles which are not quite certain.\n\n_Nemo facit virtutem in nomine meo, et cito possit de me male loqui._\n\nBut we have not to use this discrimination. Here is a sacred relic,\nhere is a thorn from the crown of the Saviour of the world, on whom\nthe prince of this world has no power, which works miracles by the\nimmediate power of the blood that was shed for us. Thus God has\nhimself chosen this house wherein openly to show forth his power.\n\nHere are not men who work miracles by an unknown and doubtful virtue,\nobliging us to a difficult discrimination; it is God himself, it is\nthe instrument of the passion of his only Son, who being in many\nplaces chose this, and made men come from all sides, there to receive\nmiraculous succour in their weaknesses.\n\n\nIf the devil were to favour the doctrine which destroys him, he would\nbe divided against himself, as Jesus Christ said. If God favoured\nthe doctrine which destroys the Church, he would be divided against\nhimself. _Omne regnum divisum._\n\nFor Jesus Christ acted against the devil, and destroyed his empire\nover the heart, of which exorcism is the figure, to establish the\nkingdom of God. And so he adds: _Si in digito Dei, regnum Dei ad vos_.\n\nEither God has confounded the false miracles or he has foretold them,\nand both by the one and the other he has raised himself above the\nsupernatural in regard to us, and has raised us also.\n\n\nJer. xxiii. 32. The _miracles_ of the false prophets. In the Hebrew\nand Vatable they are called _trifles_.\n\n_Miracle_ does not always mean miracle. 1 Kings xiv. 15. _Miracle_\nsignifies _fear_, and is the same in Hebrew.\n\nThe same plainly in Job xxxiii. 7.\n\nSo in Isaiah xxi. 4. Jeremiah xliv. 12.\n\n_Portentum_ means _images_, Jer. l. 38, and it is the same in Hebrew\nand Vatable. Isaiah viii. 18. Jesus Christ says that he and his will\nbe in _miracles_.\n\n\nJesus Christ said that the Scriptures bear witness of him, but he did\nnot show in what respect.\n\nEven the prophecies could not prove Jesus Christ during his life,\nand thus if miracles had not sufficed without doctrine, men would\nnot have been blameworthy who did not believe in him before his\ndeath. Now those who did not believe in him during his life were\nsinners, as he says himself, and without excuse. Therefore they must\nhave resisted a conclusive proof. Now they had not our proof, but\nonly miracles, therefore miracles are enough when doctrine is not\ncontrary, and they ought to be believed.\n\nJohn vii. 40. _Controversy among the Jews as among Christians of our\nday._ The one party believed in Jesus Christ, the other believed not,\nbecause of the prophecies which said he should be born in Bethlehem.\nThey should have enquired more diligently whether he was not. For\nhis miracles being convincing, they ought to have been quite certain\nof these alleged contradictions of his doctrine to the Scripture,\nand this obscurity did not excuse, but blinded them. Thus those who\nrefuse to believe miracles in our day on account of an alleged but\nunreal contradiction, are not excused.\n\nWhen the people believed on him because of his miracles, the\npharisees said: \"This people, which doeth not the law, is accursed,\nbut there is none of the princes or the pharisees who has believed on\nhim, for we know that out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.\" Nicodemus\nanswered, \"Doth our law judge any man before it heareth him?\"\n\n\nJudges xiii. 23. \"If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not\nhave shewed us all these things.\"\n\nHezekiah, Sennacherib.\n\nJeremiah, Hananiah, the false prophet, died in seven months.\n\n2 Macc. iii. The temple, ready for pillage, miraculously\nsuccoured.--2 Macc. xv.\n\n1 Kings xvii. The widow to Elijah, who had restored her son. \"By this\nI know that thy words are true.\"\n\n1 Kings xviii. Elijah, with the prophets of Baal.\n\nNever in a contention concerning the true God or of the truth of\nReligion has any miracle happened on the side of error and not of\ntruth.\n\n\n_Miracle._--The people believe this of themselves, but if the reason\nmust be given you....\n\nIt is troublesome to be an exception to the rule. We ought strictly\nto hold the rule and oppose the exception, yet as it is certain there\nare exceptions to every rule, we ought with this strictness to be\njust.\n\n\nIs it not enough that miracles are done in one place, and that God's\nprovidence is shown on one people?\n\nGood breeding goes so far as to have no politeness, and true piety to\nhave politeness for others.\n\nThis is not well bred.\n\n\nThe incredulous are the most credulous. They believe the miracles of\nVespasian in order that they may not believe those of Moses.\n\n\n_On the Miracle._--As God has made no family more happy, he should\nalso find none more grateful.\n\n\n\n\n_JESUITS AND JANSENISTS._\n\n\nThe Church has always been assailed by contrary errors, but perhaps\nnever at the same time, as now; and if she suffer more because of the\nmultiplicity of errors, she receives this advantage from it, that\nthey destroy each other.\n\nShe complains of both, but much the most of the Calvinists, because\nof the schism.\n\nIt is certain that many of the two opposite parties are deceived;\nthey must be disabused.\n\nFaith embraces many truths which seem contradictory. _There is a time\nto laugh, and a time to weep, etc._ _Responde, ne respondeas, etc._\n\nThe source of this is the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ.\n\nAnd also the two worlds. The creation of a new heaven and a new\nearth, a new life, a new death, all things double, and the same names\nremaining.\n\nAnd finally, the two natures which are in the righteous man, for they\nare the two worlds, and a member and image of Jesus Christ. And thus\nall the names suit them, righteous, sinners; dead though living,\nliving though dead, elect, reprobate, etc.\n\nThere are then a great number of truths in faith and in morals, which\nseem contrary to each other, which yet all subsist together in a\nwonderful order.\n\nThe source of all heresies is the exclusion of some of these truths.\n\nAnd the source of all the objections made by heretics against us is\nthe ignorance of some of these truths.\n\nAnd for the most part it happens that, unable to conceive the\nrelation of two opposite truths, and believing that admission of one\ninvolves the exclusion of the other, they embrace the one and exclude\nthe other, thinking that we on the other hand.... Now exclusion is\nthe cause of their heresy, and ignorance that we hold the other truth\ncauses their objections.\n\n1st example: Jesus Christ is God and man. The Arians, unable to\nreconcile these things which they believe incompatible, say that he\nis man, and so far they are Catholics. But they deny that he is God,\nand so far they are heretics. They assert that we deny his humanity,\nand so far they are ignorant\n\n2nd example, on the subject of the Holy Sacrament. We believe that\nthe substance of bread being changed, and consubstantially that of\nthe body of our Lord Jesus Christ is therein really present. That is\none truth. Another is that this sacrament is also a figure of that of\nthe cross and of glory, and a commemoration of the two. That is the\nCatholic faith, which comprehends these two truths which seem opposed.\n\nThe heresy of our day, not conceiving that this sacrament contains\nat one and the same time both the presence of Jesus Christ and a\nfigure of his presence, that it is a sacrifice and a commemoration of\na sacrifice, believes that neither of these truths can be admitted\nwithout, by this very reason, the exclusion of the other.\n\nThey adhere to this only point, that this sacrament is figurative,\nand so far they are not heretics. They think that we exclude this\ntruth, hence it comes that they found so many objections on those\npassages of the Fathers which assert it. Lastly they deny the\npresence, and so far they are heretics.\n\n3rd example. Indulgences.\n\nTherefore the shortest way to hinder heresies is to teach all truths,\nand the surest means of refuting them is to declare them all. For\nwhat will the heretics say?\n\nIf the ancient Church was in error, the Church is fallen; if she is\nso now it is not the same thing, for she has always the superior\nmaxim of tradition from the hand of the ancient Church; and thus this\nsubmission and conformity to the ancient Church prevails and corrects\nall. But the ancient Church did not postulate the future Church, and\ndid not regard her, as we postulate and regard the ancient.\n\n\nAll err the more dangerously because they follow each a truth, their\nfault is not that they follow an error, but that they do not follow\nanother truth.\n\n\nThat which hinders us in comparing what formerly took place in the\nChurch with what we now see, is that we are wont to regard Saint\nAthanasius or Saint Theresa and others as crowned with glory, and\nacting in regard to us as gods. Now that time has cleared our vision\nwe see that they are so. But when this great saint was persecuted he\nwas a man called Athanasius, and Saint Theresa was a nun. \"Elias was\na man like ourselves and subject to the same passions as ourselves,\"\nsays Saint Peter, to disabuse Christians of that false notion that\nwe must reject the examples of the saints as disproportioned to our\nstate. They were saints, say we, they are not like us. What was the\ncase then? Saint Athanasius was a man called Athanasius, accused of\nmany crimes, condemned by such and such a council for such and such\na crime. All the bishops assented to it, and at last the pope. What\ndid they say to those who resisted his condemnation? That they were\ndisturbing the peace, that they were creating a schism, etc.\n\nFour lands of persons: zeal without knowledge, knowledge without\nzeal, neither knowledge nor zeal, zeal and knowledge. The first three\ncondemned him, the last absolved him, were excommunicated by the\nChurch and yet saved the Church.\n\n\nThe three notes of Religion: perpetuity, a good life, miracles.\n\nThey destroy perpetuity by probability, good life by their morality,\nmiracles in destroying either their truth or their consequence.\n\nIf we believe them, the Church has nothing to do with perpetuity, a\nholy life, or miracles.\n\nHeretics deny them or deny the consequences; they do the same. But\nthose must be devoid of sincerity who deny them or again have lost\ntheir senses if they deny the consequences.\n\n\n_Perpetuity._--Is your character founded on Escobar?\n\nPerhaps you have reasons for not condemning them; it is enough that\nyou approve of those I address to you on the subject.\n\nWould the pope be dishonoured by gaining his light from God and\ntradition; and does it not dishonour him to separate him from this\nsacred union and....\n\nTertullian: _Nunquam Ecclesia reformabitur._\n\nPerpetuity.\n\nMolina.\n\nNovelty.\n\nHeretics have always assailed these three notes which they have not.\n\n\nThose wretches, who have obliged me to speak on the foundations of\nReligion.\n\nSinners purified without penitence, just men sanctified without\ncharity, all Christians without the grace of Jesus Christ, God\nwithout power over the will of men, a predestination without mystery,\na redemption without certainty.\n\n\nSinners without penitence, just men without charity, a God without\npower over the wills of men, a predestination without mystery.\n\n\nThose who love the Church complain that they see morals corrupted,\nbut laws at least exist. But these corrupt the laws. The model is\nspoiled.\n\n\nThere is a contradiction; for on the one side they say tradition must\nbe followed, and would not dare disavow it, and on the other they\nwill say whatever pleases them. The former will always be believed\nin, and indeed it would be going against them not to believe it.\n\n\n_Politics._--We have found two obstacles to the design of comforting\nmen. The one the interior laws of the Gospel, the other the exterior\nlaws of the State and of Religion.\n\nWe are masters of the one set of laws, the others we have dealt with\nin this wise: _Amplienda, restringenda, a majori ad minus._\n\n_Junior._\n\n\n_Generals._--It is not enough for them to introduce such morals into\nour churches, _templis inducere mores_. Not only do they wish to be\ntolerated in the Church, but as though they had become the stronger,\nthey would expel those who are not of them....\n\nMohatra. He who is astonished at this is no theologian.\n\nWho would have told your generals that the time was so near when they\nwould give laws to the Church universal, and would call the refusal\nof such disorders war, _tot et tanta mala pacem_.\n\n\nThey cannot have perpetuity, and they seek universality; therefore\nthey make the whole Church corrupt, that they may be saints.\n\n\nYou abuse the credence which the people has in the Church, and make\nthem believe untruth.\n\n\nI suppose that men believe the miracles:\n\nYou corrupt Religion either in favour of your friends, or against\nyour enemies. You dispose of all at your will.\n\n\nSo that if it be true on the one hand that some lax religious, and\nsome corrupt casuists, who are not members of the hierarchy, are\nsteeped in these corruptions, it is on the other hand certain that\nthe true pastors of the Church, who are the true depositories of the\ndivine word, have preserved it unchangeably against the efforts of\nthose who have striven to ruin it.\n\nAnd thus the faithful have no pretext to follow that laxity which is\nonly offered them by the stranger hands of these casuists, instead of\nthe sound doctrine which is presented to them by the fatherly hands\nof their own pastors. And the wicked and heretics have no reason to\nput forward these abuses as marks of the defective providence of\nGod over his Church, since the Church having her true existence in\nthe body of the hierarchy, it is so far from the present condition\nof things being a proof that God has abandoned her to corruption,\nthat it has never so plainly appeared as at the present day that God\nvisibly defends her from corruption.\n\nFor if some of these men, who by an extraordinary vocation have\nmade profession of retirement from the world, and have adopted\nthe religious dress, that they might live in a more perfect state\nthan ordinary Christians, have fallen into disorders which horrify\nordinary Christians, and have become among us what the false prophets\nwere among the Jews; this is a private and personal matter, which we\nmust indeed deplore, but from which we can conclude nothing against\nthe care which God takes for his Church; since all these things\nare so clearly foretold, and it has been long since announced that\ntemptations would arise on account of such persons, so that when we\nare well instructed we see therein rather the notes of the guidance\nof God than his forgetfulness in regard to us.\n\n\nYou are ignorant of the prophecies if you do not know that all this\nmust needs happen, princes, prophets, pope, and even the priests.\nAnd yet the Church must abide. By the grace of God we are not so far\ngone. Woe to these priests. But we hope that God will of his mercy\ngrant us that we be not among them.\n\n2 Saint Peter ii. False prophets in the past the image of the future.\n\n\nIs _Est and non est_ received in faith as well as in miracles, and is\nit inseparable in the others?...\n\nWhen Saint Xavier works miracles....\n\nSaint Hilary.--These wretches who have obliged us to speak of\nmiracles.\n\n_V\u00e6 qui conditis leges iniquas._\n\nUnjust judges, make not your laws on the moment, judge by those which\nare established, and by yourselves.\n\nTo weaken your adversaries you disarm the whole Church.\n\nIf they say that our safety depends on God, they are heretics.\n\nIf they say they are under obedience to the pope, that is hypocrisy.\n\nIf they are ready to assent to all the articles, that is not enough.\n\nIf they say that no man should be killed for an apple, they assail\nthe morality of Catholics.\n\nIf miracles are wrought among them, it is no mark of holiness, but\nrather a suspicion of heresy.\n\n\nThe hardness of the Jesuits therefore surpasses that of the Jews,\nsince those refused to believe Jesus Christ innocent only because\nthey doubted if his miracles were of God. But on the contrary, though\nthe Jesuits cannot doubt that the Port Royal miracles were of God,\nthey still continue to doubt the innocency of that house.\n\n\nMen never commit evil so fully and so gaily as when they do so for\nconscience sake.\n\n\nExperience shows us a vast difference between devoutness and goodness.\n\n\nThe two contrary reasons. We must begin with that; without that we\nunderstand nothing and all is heretical; in the same way we must\neven add at the close of each truth that the opposite truth is to be\nremembered.\n\n\nIf there was ever a time in which it were necessary to make\nprofession of two contraries, it is when we are reproached for\nomitting one. Therefore the Jesuits and the Jansenists are wrong in\nconcealing them, but the Jansenists most, for the Jesuits have better\nmade profession of the two.\n\nM. de Condran. There is, he says, no comparison between the union\nof the saints and that of the Holy Trinity. Jesus Christ says the\nopposite.\n\n\nThat we have treated them as kindly as is possible while keeping\nourselves in the mean, between the love of truth and the duty of\ncharity.\n\nThat piety does not consist in never opposing our brethren, it would\nbe very easy, etc.\n\nIt is false piety to keep peace to the prejudice of the truth. It is\nalso false zeal to keep truth and wound charity.\n\nNeither have they complained.\n\nTheir maxims have their time and place.\n\nHe will be condemned indeed who is so by Escobar.\n\nTheir vanity tends to grow out of their errors.\n\nConformed to the fathers by their faults, and to the martyrs by their\nsufferings.\n\nMoreover they do not disavow any of....\n\nThey had only to take the passage, and disavow it.\n\n_Sanctificavi pr\u00e6lium._\n\nM. Bourseys. At least they cannot disavow that they are opposed to\nthe condemnation.\n\n\nI have re-read them since, for I had not known them....\n\n\nThe world must be blind indeed if it believe you.\n\n\nIf men knew themselves, God would heal and pardon. _Ne convertantur,\net sanem eos, et dimittantur eis peccata._ Isaiah. Matt. xiii.\n\n\nTruth is so obscure in these days, and falsehood so established, that\nunless we love the truth we shall be unable to know it.\n\n\nAs Jesus Christ remained unknown among men, so his truth remains\namong ordinary opinions without external difference. Thus the\nEucharist among ordinary bread. All faith consists in Jesus Christ\nand in Adam, and all morals in lust and in grace.\n\n\n\"I have reserved me seven thousand.\" I love the worshippers unknown\nto the world and even to the prophets.\n\n\nTo trust in forms is superstition, but to refuse to submit to forms\nis pride.\n\n\nAs peace in States has for its sole object the safe preservation\nof the property of the people, so the peace of the Church has for\nits sole object the safe preservation of truth, her property and\nthe treasure where her heart is. And as to allow the enemy to enter\ninto a State, and pillage without opposition, for fear of troubling\nrepose, would be to work against the good of peace, because peace,\nbeing only just and useful for the security of property, it becomes\nunjust and harmful when it suffers property to be destroyed, while\nwar in the defence of property becomes just and necessary. So in the\nChurch, when truth is assailed by the enemies of faith, when men\nwould tear it from the heart of the faithful, and cause error to\nreign there, to remain in peace is rather to betray than to serve\nthe Church, to ruin rather than defend. And as it is plainly a crime\nto trouble peace where truth reigns, so is it also a crime to rest\nin peace when truth is destroyed. There is then a time when peace is\njust, and another when it is unjust. And it is written that there\nis a time for peace and a time for war, and it is the interest of\ntruth to discern them. But there is not a time for truth and a time\nfor error, and it is written, on the contrary, that the truth of God\nabideth for ever; and this is why Jesus Christ, who said that he came\nto bring peace, said also that he came to bring war. But he did not\nsay that he came to bring both truth and falsehood. Truth is then the\nfirst rule and the ultimate end of things.\n\n\nAs the two principal interests of the Church are the preservation\nof the piety of the faithful and the conversion of heretics, we are\noverwhelmed with grief at the sight of factions now arising, to\nintroduce those errors which more than any others may close for ever\nagainst heretics the entrance into our communion, and fatally corrupt\nthose pious and catholic persons who remain to us. This enterprise,\nmade at the present day so openly against those truths of Religion\nmost important for salvation, fills us not only with displeasure, but\nalso with fear and even terror, because, besides the feeling which\nevery Christian must have of these disorders, we have further an\nobligation to remedy them, and to employ the authority which God has\ngiven, to cause that the peoples which he has committed to us, etc.\n\n\nWe must let heretics know, who gain advantage from the doctrine of\nthe Jesuits, that it is not that of the Church ... the doctrine of\nthe Church, and that our divisions separate us not from the altar.\n\nThey hide themselves in the crowd, and call numbers to their aid.\n\nTumult.\n\n\nIn corrupting the bishops and the Sorbonne, if they have not had the\nadvantage of making their judgment just, they have had that of making\ntheir judges unjust. And thus, when in future they are condemned,\nthey will say _ad hominem_ that they are unjust, and thus will refute\ntheir judgment. But that does no good. For as they cannot conclude\nthat the Jansenists are rightly condemned because they are condemned,\nso they cannot conclude then that they themselves will be wrongly\ncondemned because they will be so by corruptible judges. For their\ncondemnation will be just, not because it will be given by judges\nalways just, but by judges just in that particular, which will be\nshown by other proofs.\n\n\nThese are the effects of the sins of the peoples and of the Jesuits,\ngreat men have wished to be flattered, the Jesuits have wished to be\nloved by the great. They have all been worthy to be given up to the\nspirit of lying, the one party to deceive, the others to be deceived.\nThey have been greedy, ambitious, pleasure loving: _Coacervabunt tibi\nmagistros_.\n\n\n_The Jesuits._\n\nThe Jesuits have wished to unite God and the world, and have gained\nonly the scorn of God and the world. For, on the side of conscience\nthis is plain, and on the side of the world they are not good\npartisans. They have power, as I have often said, but that is in\nregard to other religious. They will have interest enough to get a\nchapel built, and to have a jubilee station, not to make appointments\nto bishoprics and government offices. The position of a monk in\nthe world is a most foolish one, and that they hold by their own\ndeclaration.--Father Brisacier, the Benedictines.--Yet ... you yield\nto those more powerful than yourselves, and oppress with all your\nlittle credit those who have less power for intrigue in the world\nthan you.\n\n\n_Venice._--What advantage will you draw from it, except the princes'\nneed of it, and the horror the nations have had of it. If these had\nasked you and, in order to obtain it, had implored the assistance of\nall Christian princes, you might have boasted of this importunity.\nBut not that during fifty years all the princes have exerted\nthemselves for it in vain, and that it required such a pressing need\nto obtain it\n\n\nIf by differing we condemned, you would be right. Uniformity without\ndiversity is useless to others, diversity without uniformity is\nruinous for us. The one injures us without; the other within.\n\n\nWe ought to hear both parties, and on this point I have been careful.\n\nWhen we have heard only one party we are always on that side, but\nthe adverse party makes us change, whereas in this case the Jesuit\nconfirms us.\n\nNot what they do, but what they say.\n\nThey cry out against me only. I am content I know whom to blame for\nit.\n\nJesus Christ was a stone of stumbling.\n\nCondemnable, condemned.\n\n\nJesus Christ never condemned without a bearing. To Judas: _Amice, ad\nquid venisti_? To him who had not on the wedding garment, the same.\n\n\nUnless they give up probability their good maxims are as little holy\nas the bad. For they are founded on human authority, and thus if they\nare more just they will be more reasonable, but not more holy, they\ntake after the wild stock on which they are graffed.\n\nIf what I say serves not to enlighten you, it will aid the\npeople.--If these hold their peace, the stones will cry out.\n\nSilence is the greatest persecution; the saints never held their\npeace. It is true that a vocation is needed, it is not from the\ndecrees of the Council that we must learn whether we are called, but\nfrom the compulsion to speak. Now after Rome has spoken, and we\nthink that she has condemned the truth, and they have written it,\nand the books which have said the contrary are censured; we must cry\nso much the louder the more unjustly we are censured, and the more\nviolently they try to stifle speech, until there come a pope who\nlistens to both sides, and who consults antiquity to do justice.\n\nSo good popes will find the Church still in an uproar.\n\nThe Inquisition and the Society are the two scourges of the truth.\n\nWhy do you not accuse them of Arianism? For if they have said that\nJesus Christ is God, perhaps it is not with a natural meaning, but as\nit is said: _Dii estis_.\n\nIf my Letters are condemned at Rome, what I condemn in them is\ncondemned in heaven.\n\n_Ad tuum, Domine Jesu, tribunal appello._\n\nYou are yourselves corruptible.\n\nI feared that I had written ill when I saw myself condemned, but the\nexample of so many pious writings makes me believe the contrary.\nGood writing is no longer permitted, so corrupt or ignorant is the\nInquisition.\n\nIt is better to obey God than men.\n\nI have neither fear nor hope. Not so the bishops. Port Royal fears,\nand it is a bad policy to dissolve the community, for they will fear\nno longer and will inspire greater fear.\n\nI fear not even your censures, ... if they be not founded on those of\ntradition.\n\nDo you censure all? What, even my respect?--No.--Say then, what it\nis, or you will do nothing, since you do not point out the evil, and\nwhy it is evil. And this is what they will have some trouble to do.\n\n\nUnjust persecutors of those whom God visibly protects.\n\nIf they reproach you with your excesses they speak as do the heretics.\n\nIf they say that the grace of Jesus Christ separates us, they are\nheretics.\n\nIf miracles are wrought, it is the mark of their heresy.\n\nEzekiel,\n\nThey say, these are the people of God who thus speak.\n\nHezekiah,\n\nMy reverend father, all this was done in figures. Other religions\nperish, this one perishes not.\n\nMiracles are more important than you think, they have served for the\nfoundation, and will serve for the continuance of the Church till the\ncoming of Antichrist, till the end.\n\nThe two witnesses.\n\nIn the Old Testament and the New, miracles are wrought in connection\nwith types. Salvation or an useless thing, if not to show that we\nmust submit to the creature.--Figure of the sacraments.\n\nThe synagogue was a figure and so it perished not, and it was only\nthe figure and so it has perished. It was a figure which contained\nthe truth, and so it subsisted till it contained the truth no longer.\n\n\nThe exaggerated notion which you have of the importance of your\nsociety has made you establish these horrible ways. It is very plain\nthat it has made you follow the way of slander, since you blame in\nme as horrible the same impostures which you excuse in yourselves,\nbecause you regard me as a private person, and yourselves as _imago_.\n\nIt plainly appears that your praises are follies, by those which are\ncrazy, as the privilege of the uncondemned.\n\nIs this giving courage to your children to condemn them when they\nserve the Church?\n\nIt is an artifice of the devil to turn in another direction the arms\nwith which these people used to combat heresies.\n\nYou are bad politicians.\n\nThe history of the man born blind.\n\nWhat says Saint Paul? Does he constantly speak of the bearing of\nprophecies? No, but of his miracles.\n\nWhat says Jesus Christ? Does he expound the bearing of the\nprophecies? No, his death had not fulfilled them; but he says, si non\nfecissem: believe the works.\n\n_Si non fecissem qu\u00e6 alius non fecit._\n\nThese wretches who have obliged us to speak of miracles!\n\nAbraham and Gideon confirmed faith by miracles.\n\nThere are two supernatural foundations of our wholly supernatural\nReligion, the one visible, the other invisible.\n\nMiracles with grace, miracles without grace.\n\nThe synagogue, which has been treated with love as a figure of the\nChurch, and with hatred because it was only the figure, has been\nrestored, being about to fall when it was well with God, and thus a\nfigure.\n\nThe miracles prove the power which God has over hearts by that which\nhe exercises over the body.\n\nThe Church has never approved a miracle among heretics.\n\nMiracles are a support of religion. They have been the test of Jews,\nof Christians, of saints, of innocents, and of true believers.\n\n\nA miracle among schismatics is not much to be feared, for schism\nwhich is more evident than miracle, evidently marks their error; but\nwhen there is no schism, and error is in question, miracle is the\ntest.\n\nJudith. God speaks at length in their extreme oppression.\n\nIf because charity has grown cold the Church is left almost without\ntrue worshippers, miracles will raise them up.\n\nThis is one of the last effects of grace.\n\nIf only a miracle were wrought among the Jesuits!\n\nWhen a miracle deceives the expectation of those in whose presence\nit occurs, and when there is a disproportion between the state of\ntheir faith and the instrument of the miracle it must lead them to\nchange; but with you it is the opposite. There would be as much\nreason in saying that if the Eucharist raised a dead man one ought\nto turn Calvinist rather than remain a Catholic. But when he crowns\nthe expectation, and those who have hoped that God would bless the\nremedies see themselves cured without remedies....\n\n_The wicked._--No sign was ever given on the part of the devil\nwithout a stronger sign on the part of God, at least unless it were\nforetold that this would be so.\n\n\nThese nuns, amazed at what is said, that they are in the way of\nperdition, that their confessors are leading them to Geneva, and\nteach them Jesus Christ is not in the Eucharist, nor on the right\nhand of the Father, know all this to be false, and offer then\nthemselves to God in that state. _Vide si via iniquitatis in me est._\nWhat happens thereupon? The place, which is said to be the temple of\nthe devil, God makes his own temple. It is said that the children\nmust be taken away, God heals them there. It is said to be hell's\narsenal, God makes of it the sanctuary of his graces. Lastly, they\nare threatened with all the furies and all the vengeance of heaven,\nand God loads them with favours. Those must have lost their senses,\nwho therefore believe them in the way of perdition.--_We have,\nwithout doubt, the same tokens as Saint Athanasius._--\n\nThe five propositions were equivocal; they are so no longer.\n\n\nWith so many other signs of piety they have that of persecution also,\nwhich is the best mark of piety.\n\n\nBy showing the truth we gain belief for it, but by showing the\ninjustice of ministers, we do not correct it. Conscience is made\nsecure by a demonstration of falsehood; our purse is not made secure\nby the demonstration of injustice.\n\nMiracles and truth are both needful, as we have to convince the whole\nman, body and soul alike.\n\n\nIt is good that their deeds should be unjust, for fear it should not\nappear that the Molinists have acted justly. Thus there is no need to\nspare them, they are worthy to commit them.\n\n\n_The Church, the Pope._--Unity, plurality. Considering the Church as\nunity, the pope its head, is as the whole; considered as plurality,\nthe pope is only a part of it. The Fathers have considered the Church\nnow in this way, now in that, and thus they have spoken in divers\nways of the pope.\n\nSaint Cyprian, _sacerdos Dei_.\n\nBut in establishing one of these two truths, they have not excluded\nthe other.\n\nPlurality which cannot be reduced to unity is confusion. Unity which\ndepends not on plurality is tyranny.\n\nThere is scarce any where left but France in which it is allowable to\nsay that a council is below the pope.\n\nWe may not judge of what the pope is by some words of the Fathers--as\nthe Greeks said in a council, important rules--but by the acts of the\nChurch and the Fathers, and by the canons.\n\nUnity and plurality: _Duo aut tres in unum_. It is an error to\nexclude one of the two, as the papists do who exclude plurality, or\nthe Huguenots who exclude unity.\n\n\nThe pope is chief, who else is known of all, who else is recognised\nby all? Having power to insinuate himself into all the body, because\nhe holds the leading shoot, which extends itself everywhere.\n\nHow easy to cause this to degenerate into tyranny. This is why Jesus\nChrist has laid down for them this precept: _Vos autem non sic_.\n\n\nGod works not miracles in the ordinary conduct of his Church. It\nwould be a strange miracle, did infallibility reside in one, but that\nit should dwell in a multitude appears so natural that the ways of\nGod are concealed under nature, as all his other works.\n\n\nMen desire certainty, they like the pope to be infallible in faith,\ngrave doctors to be infallible in morals, in order to have certainty.\n\n\nThe pope hates and fears men of science, who are not at once\nsubmissive to him.\n\n\nKings are masters of their own power, not so the popes.\n\n\nWhenever the Jesuits take the pope unawares, they will make all\nChristendom perjured.\n\nIt is very easy to take the pope unawares, because of his\noccupations, and the trust which he has in the Jesuits, and the\nJesuits are very capable of taking him unawares by means of calumny.\n\n\nThe five propositions condemned, yet no miracle, for truth was not\nattacked, but the Sorbonne and the bull.\n\nIt is impossible that those who love God with all their heart, should\nmisunderstand the Church, which is so evident.\n\nIt is impossible that those who love not God should be convinced of\nthe Church.\n\n\nLet us look to the discourses on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th of the\nJansenist. They are lofty and grave.\n\nWe would not make a friend of either.\n\nThe ear only is consulted because the heart is wanting.\n\nBeauty of omission, of judgment.\n\nThe rule is that of honourable conduct.\n\nPoet and not honourable man.\n\n\nThese men want heart.\n\nWe would not make a friend of him.\n\nFor this name of honourable man.\n\n\n_Canonical._--The heretical books in the early age of the Church\nserve to prove the canonical.\n\n\n_Heretics._--Ezekiel. All the heathens spake evil of Israel, and the\nProphet did the same, yet the Israelites were so far from having a\nright to say to him, \"You speak as the heathen,\" that he made it his\nstrongest point that the heathens said the same as he.\n\n\nThose are feeble souls who know the truth, and uphold it only so far\nas their interest is concerned, but beyond that abandon it.\n\n\nAnnat. He makes the disciple without ignorance, and the master\nwithout presumption.\n\n\nThere is such great disproportion between the merit which he thinks\nhe has and his stupidity, that it is hard to believe he mistakes\nhimself so completely.\n\n\nAnd will this one scorn the other?\n\nWho should scorn? Yet he scorns not the other, but pities him.\n\n\nPort Royal is surely as good as Voltigerod.\n\nSo far as your proceeding is just according to this bias, so far is\nit unjust on the side of Christian piety.\n\n\n_Montalte._--Lax opinions are so pleasing to men, that it is strange\nthat theirs displease. It is because they have exceeded all bounds;\nand more, there are many persons who see the truth, yet cannot attain\nto it; but there are few who do not know that the purity of religion\nis contrary to our corruptions. It is absurd to say that eternal\nreward is offered to the morals of Escobar.\n\n\nBut is it _probable_ that _probability_ gives certainty?--Difference\nbetween rest and security of conscience. Nothing but truth gives\ncertainty. Nothing gives rest but a sincere search after truth.\n\n\n_Probability._ They have oddly explained certainty, for after having\nestablished that all their ways are sure, they no longer call that\nsure which leads to heaven without danger of not arriving thereby,\nbut that which leads there without danger of going out of the road.\n\n\nNow probability is necessary for the other maxims, as for that of the\nfriend and the slanderer.\n\n_A fructibus eorum_, judge of their faith by their morals.\n\nProbability is little without corrupt means, and means are nothing\nwithout probability.\n\nThere is pleasure in being able to do good, and in knowing how to do\ngood, _scire et posse_. Grace and probability give this pleasure, for\nwe can render our account to God in reliance upon their authors.\n\n\n_Probability._\n\nEveryone can impose it, none can take it away.\n\n\n_Probable._--If as bad reasons as these are probable, all would be so.\n\n1. Reason. _Dominus actuum conjugalium._ Molina.\n\n2. Reason. _Non potest compensari._ Lessius.\n\nTo oppose not with holy, but with abominable maxims.\n\nThey reason as those who prove that it is night at midday.\n\nBauny, the burner of barns.\n\n... The Council of Trent for priests in mortal sin: _quam primum_....\n\n\n_Probable._--Let us see if we seek God sincerely, by the comparison\nof things we love.\n\nIt is probable that this meat will not poison me.\n\nIt is probable that I shall not lose my law suit if I do not bring it.\n\nIf it were true that grave authors and reasons would suffice, I say\nthat they are neither grave nor reasonable. What! a husband may\nmake profit of his wife according to Molina. Is the reason he gives\nreasonable, and the contrary one of Lessius reasonable also?\n\nWould you dare thus to trifle with the edicts of the King, as by\nsaying that to go for a walk in a field and wait for a man is not to\nfight a duel;\n\nThat the Church has indeed forbidden duelling, but not taking a walk?\n\nAnd usury too, but not....\n\nAnd simony, but not....\n\nAnd vengeance, but not....\n\nAnd unnatural crime, but not....\n\nAnd _quam primum_, but not....\n\n\nTake away _probability_, and you can no longer please the world, give\n_probability_, and you can no longer displease it.\n\n\n_Universal._--Morals and language are special but universal sciences.\n\n_Probability._--The zeal of the saints to seek the truth, was useless\nif the probable is certain.\n\nThe fear of the saints who have always followed the surest way.\n\nSaint Theresa having always followed her confessor.\n\n\n_Probability._--They have some true principles, but they abuse them.\nNow the abuse of truth should be as much punished as the introduction\nof falsehood.\n\nAs if there were two hells, one for sins against charity, the other\nfor sins against justice.\n\n\nMen who do not keep their word, without faith, without honour,\nwithout truth, double hearted, double tongued, like the reproach once\nflung at that amphibious creature in the fable, who kept itself in a\ndoubtful position between the fish and the birds.\n\nIt is of importance to kings and princes to be supposed pious, and\ntherefore they must take you for their confessors.\n\n\n_State super vias et interrogate de semitis antiquis, et ambulate\nin eis. Et dixerunt: Non ambulabimus, sed post cogitationem nostram\nibimus._ They have said to the nations: Come to us, we will follow\nthe opinions of the new authors, reason shall be our guide, we\nwill be as the other nations who follow each their natural light.\nPhilosophers have....\n\nAll religions and sects in the world have had natural reason for a\nguide. Christians alone have been obliged to take their rules from\nwithout themselves, and to acquaint themselves with those which Jesus\nChrist left to men of old time to be transmitted to the faithful.\nThis constraint is wearisome to these good fathers. They desire like\nthe rest of the world to have liberty to follow their imaginations.\nIn vain we cry to them, as the prophets to the Jews of old: \"Enter\ninto the Church, enquire of the ways which men of old have left to\nher, and follow those paths.\" They have answered, as did the Jews,\n\"We will not walk in them, but we will follow the thoughts of our\nhearts;\" and they have said, \"We will be as the nations round about\nus.\"\n\n\nCan it be any thing but the desire to please the world which makes\nyou find things probable? Will you make us believe that it is truth,\nand that if duelling were not the fashion, you would find it probable\nthey might fight, looking at the matter in itself?\n\n\nThe whole society of their casuists cannot give assurance to a\nconscience in error, and therefore it is important to choose safe\nguides.\n\nThus they will be doubly guilty, both in having followed ways which\nthey should not follow, and in having hearkened to teachers to whom\nthey should not hearken.\n\n\nCasuists submit the decision to corrupt reason, and the choice of\ndecisions to corrupt will, so that all that is corrupt in the nature\nof man may help to rule his conduct.\n\n\nThey allow lust free play, and restrict scruples, whereas they should\ndo the exact contrary.\n\n\nMust we slay in order that the wicked may cease to be? This is\nto make two wicked instead of one. _Vince in bono malum._ Saint\nAugustine.\n\n\nThe servant does not know what the master does, for the master tells\nhim only the act and not the purpose; this is why he is so often\nslavishly obedient and often sins against the purpose. But Jesus\nChrist tells us the purpose.\n\nAnd you destroy this purpose.\n\n\nArt thou less a slave because thy master loves and caresses thee?\nThou art indeed well off, slave. Thy master caresses thee, he will\npresently beat thee.\n\n\nThose who wrote thus in Latin speak in French.\n\nThe evil having been done of patting these things in French, we ought\nto do the good of condemning them.\n\nThere is one only heresy, which is differently explained in the\nschools and in the world.\n\n\n_On confessions and absolutions without signs of regret._ God looks\nat the heart alone, the Church looks at outward actions; God absolves\nas soon as he sees penitence in the heart, the Church when she\nsees it in works. God will make a Church pure within, which puts\nto confusion by its interior and perfect spiritual holiness the\ninterior impiety of proud philosophers and Pharisees, and the Church\nwill make an assembly of men whose external morals are so pure that\nthey put to confusion heathen morals. If some are hypocrites, but so\nwell disguised that she does not recognise their venom, she bears\nwith them, for though they are not accepted of God, whom they cannot\ndeceive, they are of men, whom they deceive. And thus she is not\ndishonoured by their conduct which appears holy. But you will have it\nthat the Church should judge neither of the heart, for that belongs\nto God alone, nor of works, because God looks at the heart alone; and\nso taking away from her all choice of men, you retain in the Church\nthe most debauched and those who so greatly dishonour her, that the\nsynagogues of the Jews and the sects of the philosophers would have\ncast them out as unworthy, and have abhorred them as impious.\n\n\nGod has not willed to absolve without the Church. As she has part\nin the offence he wills that she should have part in the pardon. He\nassociates her with this power as kings their parliaments; but if she\nbinds or looses without God, she is no more the Church, as in the\ncase of parliament. For even if the king have pardoned a man, it is\nnecessary that it should be ratified; but if the parliament ratifies\nwithout the king, or refuses to ratify on the order of the king, it\nis no more the parliament of the king, but a revolutionary body.\n\n\nThe Church teaches and God inspires, both infallibly. The operation\nof the Church serves only to prepare for grace or for condemnation.\nWhat it does suffices for condemnation, not for inspiration.\n\nThe Church has in vain established these words, anathema, heresies.\nThey are used against herself.\n\n\nIt is not absolution only which remits sins by the Sacrament of\nPenance, but contrition, which is not a true contrition if it does\nnot frequent the sacrament.\n\nThus, again, it is not the nuptial benediction which hinders sin in\ngeneration, but the desire of begetting children for God, which is no\ntrue desire except in marriage.\n\nAnd as a contrite man without the sacrament is more disposed for\nabsolution than an impenitent man with the sacrament, so the\ndaughters of Lot, for instance, who had only the desire for children,\nwere more pure without marriage than married persons without desire\nfor children.\n\n\n_Casuists._--Much almsgiving, reasonable penance; even when we cannot\nassign what is just, we see plainly what is not. It is strange that\ncasuists believe they can interpret this as they do.\n\nPeople who accustom themselves to speak ill and to think ill.\n\nTheir great number, far from marking their perfection, marks the\ncontrary.\n\nThe humility of one makes the pride of many.\n\n\nThey make a rule of the exception. If the ancient fathers gave\nabsolution before penance; do this only as an exception. But of the\nexception you make a rule without exception, so that you will not\neven have it that the rule is exceptional.\n\n\nPriest still who will, as under Jeroboam.\n\nIt is a horrible thing that they submit to us the discipline of the\nChurch in our days as so excellent that it is made a crime to wish to\nchange it Formerly it was infallibly good, and it was found it might\nbe changed without sin, and now, such as it is, we ought not to wish\nit changed!\n\nIt has indeed been allowed to change the custom of not making priests\nsave with such great circumspection, that there were scarcely any\nwho were worthy, yet we are not allowed to complain of the custom\nwhich makes so many who are unworthy.\n\n\nTwo sorts of people place things on the same level, as feasts and\nworking days, Christians and priests, all sins among themselves, etc.\nTherefore the one set conclude that what is bad for priests is so\nfor Christians, and the other that what is not bad for Christians is\npermissible for priests.\n\n\nThe Jansenists are like the heretics in the reformation of their\nmorals, but you are like them in evil.\n\n\nSuperstition to believe propositions, etc.\n\nFaith, etc.\n\n\nIf Saint Augustine came at this day, and was as little authorised as\nhis defenders, he would do nothing. God governs his Church well, in\nthat he sent him before with authority.\n\n\nGrace is needed to make a man into a saint, and if any man doubt this\nhe knows not what is a saint, nor what is a man.\n\n\nThe motions of grace, hardness of heart, external circumstances.\n\n\nGrace will ever be in the world, and nature also, so that grace is\nin some sort natural. Thus there will be always Pelagians, always\nCatholics, always strife.\n\nBecause the first birth constitutes the one, and the grace of\nregeneration the other.\n\n\nIt will be one of the confusions of the damned to see themselves\ncondemned by their own reason, by which they have thought to condemn\nthe Christian religion.\n\n\nWhen it is said that Jesus Christ died not for all, you take\nadvantage of a defect inherent in men who immediately apply this\nexception to themselves, which is to favour despair instead of\nturning men from it to favour hope. For so we accustom ourselves to\ninterior virtues by exterior customs.\n\n\nThere is heresy in always explaining omnes by 'all,' and heresy in\nnot explaining it sometimes by 'all.' _Bibite ex hoc omnes_, the\nHuguenots are heretics in explaining it by 'all.' _In quo omnes\npeccaverunt_, the Huguenots are heretics in excepting the children of\nthe faithful. We must then follow the Fathers and tradition to know\nwhen to do so, since there is heresy to be feared on one side or the\nother.\n\n\n_A point of form._--When Saint Peter and the apostles consulted about\nthe abolition of circumcision, when it was a question of acting in\ncontradiction to the law of God, they did not consult the prophets,\nbut considered simply the reception of the Holy Spirit in the persons\nuncircumcised. They judged it more certain that God approved those\nwhom he filled with his spirit, than it was that the law must be\nobserved.\n\nThey knew that the end of the Law was none other than the Holy\nSpirit, and thus as men certainly had this without circumcision,\ncircumcision was not needful.\n\n\nBut to preserve pre-eminence to himself he gives prayer to whom he\npleases.\n\nWhy God has established prayer.\n\n1. To communicate to his creatures the dignity of causality.\n\n2. To teach us from whom our virtue comes.\n\n3. To make us deserve other virtues by work.\n\n_Objection._ But we believe that prayer comes from ourselves.\n\nThis is absurd, for since before we have faith, we cannot have\nvirtues, how should we have faith? Is there a greater distance\nbetween infidelity and faith than between faith and virtue?\n\n_Merit._ This word is ambiguous.\n\n_Meruit habere Redemptorem._\n\n_Meruit tam sacra membra tangere._\n\n_Digna tam sacra membra tangere._\n\n_Non sum dignus, qui manducat indignus._\n\n_Dignus est accipere._\n\n_Dignare me._\n\nGod is only bound according to his promises.\n\nHe has promised to do justice to prayer, he has never promised prayer\nonly to the children of promise.\n\n\n_Si_ does not mark indifference. Malachi, Isaiah.\n\nIsaiah. _Si volumus_, etc.\n\n_In quacumque die._\n\n\n_Ne timeas, pusillus grex. Timore et tretmore.--Quid ergo? Ne timeas,\nmodo timeas._\n\nFear not, provided you fear, but if you fear not, then fear.\n\n_Qui me recipit, non me recipit, sed eum qui me misit._\n\n_Nemo scit neque Filius._\n\n_Nubes lucida obumbravit._\n\nSaint John was to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and\nJesus Christ was to sow division. In this there is no contradiction.\n\n\nThe effects _in communi_ and _in particulari_. The semi-Pelagians err\nin saying of _in communi_ what is true only _in particulari_, and the\nCalvinists in saying _in particulari_ what is true _in communi_. So\nit seems to me.\n\n\nSaint Augustine has said expressly that power would be taken away\nfrom the righteous. But it is by chance that he said it, for it\nmight have been that the chance of saying it did not occur. But\nhis principles make us see that when the occasion for it presented\nitself, it was impossible he should not say so, or that he should say\nanything to the contrary. It is then rather that he was forced to\nsay it, when the occasion offered itself, than that he said it, the\noccasion having offered itself, the one being of necessity, the other\nof chance. But the two are all that we could ask.\n\n\n_The end_. Are we certain? Is this principle certain? Let us examine.\n\n\nThe testimony of a man's self is naught Saint Thomas.\n\n\nThe image alone of all these mysteries has been openly showed to the\nJews and by Saint John the forerunner, and then the other mysteries,\nto mark that in each man as in the world at large this order must be\nobserved.\n\n\nIt is, in technical language, _wholly_ the body of Jesus Christ, but\nit cannot be said to be the _whole_ body of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe union of two things without change cannot enable us to say that\none becomes the other.\n\nThus the soul is united to the body, the fire to the fuel, without\nchange.\n\nBut change is necessary to make the form of the one become the form\nof the other.\n\nThus the union of the Word to man.\n\nBecause my body without my soul would not make the body of a man,\nthen my soul united to any matter whatsoever would make my body.\n\nIt distinguishes for me the necessary condition with a sufficient\ncondition, the union is necessary, but not sufficient.\n\nThe left arm is not the right.\n\nImpenetrability is a property of matter.\n\nIdentity of number in regard to the same time requires the identity\nof matter.\n\nThus if God united my soul to a body in China, the same body, _idem\nnumero_ would be in China.\n\nThe same river which runs there is _idem numero_ as that which runs\nat the same time in China.\n\n\n\n\n_THOUGHTS ON STYLE._\n\n\nEloquence is an art of saying things in such a manner, 1, that those\nto whom we speak can hear them without pain, and with pleasure; 2,\nthat they feel themselves interested, so that self-love leads them\nmore willingly to reflect upon what is said. It consists therefore\nin a correspondence which we endeavour to establish between the mind\nand the heart of those to whom we speak on the one hand, and, on the\nother, the thoughts and the expressions employed; this supposes that\nwe have thoroughly studied the heart of man so as to know all its\nsprings, and to find at last the true proportions of the discourse we\nwish to suit to it. We should put ourselves in the place of those who\nare to listen to us, and make experiment on our own heart of the turn\nwe give to our discourse, to see whether one is made for the other,\nand whether we can be sure that our auditor will be as it were forced\nto yield. So far as possible we must confine ourselves to what is\nnatural and simple, not aggrandise that which is little, or belittle\nthat which is great. It is not enough that a phrase be beautiful, it\nmust be fitted to the subject, and not have in it excess or defect.\n\n\nEloquence is painted thought, and thus those who, after having\npainted it, add somewhat more, make a picture, not a portrait.\n\n\n_Eloquence._--We need both what is pleasing and what is real, but\nthat which pleases must itself be drawn from the true.\n\n\nEloquence, which persuades by gentleness, not by empire, as a tyrant,\nnot as a king.\n\n\nThere is a certain pattern of charm and beauty which consists in a\ncertain relation between our nature, such as it is, whether weak or\nstrong, and the thing which pleases us.\n\nWhatever is formed on this pattern delights us, whether house, song,\ndiscourse, verse, prose, woman, birds, rivers, trees, rooms, dresses,\netc.\n\nWhatever is not made on this pattern displeases those who have good\ntaste.\n\nAnd as there is a perfect relation between a song and a house which\nare made on a good pattern, because they are like this unique\npattern, though each after its kind, there is also a perfect relation\nbetween things made on a bad pattern. Not that the bad is unique, for\nthere are many; but every bad sonnet, for instance, on whatever false\npattern it is constructed, is exactly like a woman dressed on that\npattern.\n\nNothing makes us understand better the absurdity of a false sonnet\nthan to consider nature and the pattern, and then to imagine a woman\nor a house constructed on that pattern.\n\n\nWhen a natural discourse paints a passion or an effect, we feel in\nour mind the truth of what we read, which was there before, though we\ndid not know it, and we are inclined to love him who makes us feel\nit. For he has not made a display of his own riches, but of ours, and\nthus this benefit renders him pleasant to us, besides that such a\ncommunity of intellect necessarily inclines the heart to love.\n\n\nAll the false beauties which we blame in Cicero have their admirers\nand in great number.\n\n\nThe last thing we decide on in writing a book is what shall be the\nfirst we put in it.\n\n\n_Language._--We ought not to turn the mind from one thing to another\nsave for relaxation, at suitable times, and no other, for he that\ndiverts out of season wearies, and he who wearies us out of season\nrepels us, and we simply turn away. So much it pleases our wayward\nlust to do the exact contrary of what those seek to obtain from us\nwho give us no pleasure, the coin for which we will do whatever we\nare asked.\n\n\nWhen we meet with a natural style, we are charmed and astonished, for\nwe looked for an author, and we found a man. But those who have good\ntaste, and who seeing a book expect to find a man, are altogether\nsurprised to find an author: _plus poetice quam humane locatus es_.\nThose pay great honour to nature, who show her that she is able to\ndiscourse on all things, even on theology.\n\n\nLanguages are ciphers, where letters are not changed into letters,\nbut words into words, so that an unknown language can be deciphered.\n\n\nWhen in a discourse we find words repeated, and in trying to\ncorrect them find we cannot change them for others without manifest\ndisadvantage, we must let them stand, for this is the true test;\nour criticism came of envy which is blind, and does not see that\nrepetition is not in this place a fault, for there is no general rule.\n\n\n_Miscellaneous. Language._--Those who force words for the sake of\nantitheses are like those who make false windows for symmetry.\n\nTheir rule is not to speak accurately, but in accurate form.\n\n\nTo put a mask on nature and disguise her. No more King, pope, bishop,\nbut _sacred majesty_, no more Paris, but _the capital of the Kingdom_.\n\nThere are places in which we should call Paris, Paris, and others in\nwhich we ought to call it the capital of the Kingdom.\n\n\nThere are those who speak well and write ill. Because the place and\nthe audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than would\nhave been produced without that warmth.\n\n\n_Miscellaneous._--A figure of speech, \"I should have wished to apply\nmyself to that.\"\n\n\nThe _aperitive_ virtue of a key, the _attractive_ virtue of a crook.\n\n\nTo guess. _The part that I take in your sorrow._ The Cardinal did not\nchoose to be guessed.\n\n_My mind is disquieted within me._ I am disquieted is better.\n\n\n_To extinguish the torch of sedition_, too luxuriant.\n\n_The restlessness of his genius._ Two striking words too much.\n\n\nA coach _upset_ or _overturned_, according to the meaning.\n\n_Spread abroad_, or _upset_, according to the meaning.\n\nThe argument by force of M. le M. over the friar.\n\n\nSymmetry.\n\nIs what we see at one glance.\n\nFounded on the fact that there is no reason for any difference.\n\nAnd founded also on the face of man.\n\nWhence it comes that symmetry is only wanted in breadth, not in\nheight or depth.\n\n\nSceptic, for obstinate.\n\nDescartes useless and uncertain.\n\nNo one calls another a courtier but he who is not one himself, a\npedant save a pedant, a provincial but a provincial, and I would\nwager it was the printer who put it on the title of _Letters to a\nProvincial_.\n\n\nThe chief talent, that which rules all others.\n\n\nIf the lightning were to strike low-lying places, etc., poets, and\nthose whose only reasonings are on things of that nature would lack\nproofs.\n\n\n_Poetical beauty._--As we talk of poetical beauty, so ought we to\ntalk of mathematical beauty and medical beauty; yet we do not use\nthose terms, because we know perfectly the object of mathematics,\nthat it consists in proofs, and the object of medicine, that it\nconsists in healing, but we do not understand wherein consists charm\nwhich is the object of poetry. We do not know what is the natural\nmodel to be imitated, and for want of that knowledge we invent a set\nof extravagant terms, \"_the golden age_, _the wonder of our times_,\n_fatal_,\" etc., and fall this jargon poetic beauty.\n\nBut if we imagine a woman on that pattern, which consists in saying\nlittle things in great words, we shall see a pretty girl bedecked\nwith mirrors and chains absurd to our taste, because we know better\nwherein consists the charm of woman than the charm of verse. But\nthose who do not know, would admire her in such trimmings, and in\nmany villages she would be taken for the queen, wherefore sonnets\nmade on such a pattern have been called _The Village Queens_.\n\n\nThose who judge of a work without rule are in regard to others as\nthose who possess a watch are in regard to others. One says, \"it was\ntwo hours ago,\" another, \"it is only three-quarters of an hour.\" I\nlook at my watch and say to the one, \"you are weary of us,\" and to\nthe other, \"time flies fast with you, for it is only an hour and\na half.\" And I laugh at those who say that time goes slowly with\nme, and that I judge by fancy. They do not know that I judge by my\nwatch.\n\n\n\n\n_VARIOUS THOUGHTS._\n\n\n_Mathematics, Tact._--True eloquence makes light of eloquence, true\nmorality makes light of morality, that is to say, the morality of the\njudgment makes light of the morality of the intellect, which has no\nrules.\n\nFor perception belongs to judgment, as science belongs to the\nintellect. Tact is the part of judgment, mathematics of the intellect.\n\nTo make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.\n\nThe nourishment of the body is little by little, too much nourishment\ngives little substance.\n\n\nThere is an universal and essential difference between the actions of\nthe will and all others.\n\nThe will is one of the principal organs of belief, not that it forms\nbelief, but because things are true or false according to the side\nfrom which we regard them. The will, pleased with one rather than the\nother, turns the mind from the consideration of that which has the\nqualities it cares not to see, and thus the intellect, moving with\nthe will, stays to regard the side it loves, and thus judges by what\nit sees.\n\n\nThe heart has its reasons, which reason knows not, as we feel in a\nthousand instances. I say that the heart loves the universal Being\nnaturally, and itself naturally, according as it gives itself to\neach, and it hardens itself against one or the other at its own will.\nYou have rejected one and kept the other, does reason cause your love?\n\nIt is the heart which is conscious of God, not the reason. This then\nis faith; God sensible to the heart, not to the reason.\n\n\nReason acts slowly and with so many views, on so many principles,\nwhich it ought always to keep before it, that it constantly slumbers\nand goes astray, from not having its principles at hand. The heart\ndoes not act thus, it acts in a moment, and is always ready to act.\nWe must then place our faith in the heart, or it will be always\nvacillating.\n\n\nMen often mistake their imagination for their heart, and they believe\nthey are converted as soon as they think of being converted.\n\n\nThose who are accustomed to judge by the heart do not understand\nthe process of reasoning, for they wish to understand at a glance,\nand are not accustomed to seek for principles. And others on the\ncontrary, who are accustomed to reason by principles, do not at all\nunderstand the things of the heart, seeking principles and not being\nable to see at a glance.\n\n\nIf we wished to prove those examples by which we prove other things,\nwe should have to take those other things to be examples. For as we\nalways believe the difficulty is in the matter we wish to prove, we\nfind the examples clearer and aids to demonstration.\n\nThus when we wish to demonstrate a general proposition, we must\ngive the rule special to a case, but if we wish to demonstrate a\nparticular case, we must begin with the particular rule. For we\nalways find the thing obscure which we wish to prove, and that clear\nwhich we employ as proof; for when a matter is proposed for proof\nwe first fill ourselves with the imagination that it is therefore\nobscure, and on the contrary that what is to prove it is clear, and\nso we understand with ease.\n\n\nFar from believing a thing because you have heard it, you ought to\nbelieve nothing without having put yourself in the same position as\nif you had never heard it.\n\nWhat should make you believe is your own assent to yourself, and the\nconstant voice of your reason, not that of others.\n\nBelief is so important!\n\nA hundred contradictions might be true.\n\nIf antiquity were the rule of faith then the men of old time had no\nrule. If general consent, if men had perished....\n\nFalse humility is pride.\n\nLift the curtain.\n\nYou may try as you please. You must either believe, or deny, or doubt.\n\nHave we then no rule?\n\nWe judge that animals do well what they do. Is there no rule whereby\nto judge men?\n\nTo deny, to believe, and to doubt well are to a man what paces are to\na horse.\n\n\nMemory is necessary for every operation of the reason.\n\n\nMemory and joy are feelings, and even mathematical propositions\nbecome so, for reason makes what is felt natural, and natural\nfeelings are effaced by reason.\n\n\nAll our reasoning is reduced to yielding to feeling.\n\nBut fancy is like yet contrary to feeling, so that we cannot\ndistinguish between these contraries. One man says that my feeling is\nfancy, another that his fancy is feeling. We must have a rule. Reason\noffers herself, but she is pliable in all directions, and so there is\nno rule.\n\n\nReason commands us much more imperiously than a master, for in\ndisobeying the one we are unhappy, and in disobeying the other we are\nfools.\n\n\nWhen we are accustomed to use bad reasons for proving natural\neffects, we do not wish to receive good reasons even when they are\ndiscovered. An example may be taken from the circulation of the\nblood, to give a reason why the vein swells below the ligature.\n\n\nWe are usually better persuaded by reasons which we have ourselves\ndiscovered, than by those which have come into the mind of others.\n\n\nM. de Roannez said: \"Reasons come afterwards, but at first a thing\npleases or shocks me, without my knowing the reason, and yet it\ndispleased me for the reason which I only discover later.\" But I\nbelieve, not that he was displeased for those reasons which he\nafterwards discovered, but that those reasons were only discovered\nbecause the thing was displeasing.\n\n\n_The difference between the mathematical mind and the practical\nmind._--In the one the premisses are palpable, but removed from\nordinary use, so that from want of habit it is difficult to look in\nthat direction, but if we take the trouble to look, the premisses are\nfully visible, and we must have a totally incorrect mind if we draw\nwrong inferences from premisses so plain that it is scarce possible\nthey should escape our notice.\n\nBut in the practical mind the premisses are taken from use and wont,\nand are before the eyes of every body. We have only to look that way,\nthere is no difficulty in seeing them; it is only a question of good\neyesight, but it must be good, for the premisses are so numerous and\nso subtle, that it is scarce possible but that some escape us. Now\nthe omission of one premiss leads to error, thus we must have very\nclear sight to see all the premisses, and then an accurate mind not\nto draw false conclusions from known premisses.\n\nAll mathematicians would then be practical if they were\nclear-sighted, for they do not reason incorrectly on premisses known\nto them. And practical men would be mathematicians if they could\nturn their eyes to the premisses of mathematics to which they are\nunaccustomed.\n\nThe reason therefore that some practical men are not mathematical\nis that they cannot at all turn their attention to mathematical\npremisses. But the reason that mathematicians are not practical is\nthat they do not see what is before them, and that, accustomed to\nthe precise and distinct statements of mathematics and not reasoning\ntill they have well examined and arranged their premisses, they are\nlost in practical life wherein the premisses do not admit of such\narrangement, being scarcely seen, indeed they are felt rather than\nseen, and there is great difficulty in causing them to be felt by\nthose who do not of themselves perceive them. They are so nice and\nso numerous, that a very delicate and very clear sense is needed\nto apprehend them, and to judge rightly and justly when they are\napprehended, without as a rule being able to demonstrate them in an\norderly way as in mathematics; because the premisses are not before\nus in the same way, and because it would be an infinite matter to\nundertake. We must see them at once, at one glance, and not by\nprocess of reasoning, at least up to a certain degree. And thus it\nis rare that mathematicians are practical, or that practical men\nare mathematicians, because mathematicians wish to treat practical\nlife mathematically; and they make themselves ridiculous, wishing to\nbegin by definitions and premisses, a proceeding which this way of\nreasoning will not bear. The mind does indeed the same thing, but\ntacitly, naturally and without art, in a way which none can express,\nand only a few can feel.\n\nPractical minds on the contrary, being thus accustomed to judge at a\nglance, are amazed when propositions are presented to them of which\nthey understand nothing and the way to which is through sterile\ndefinitions and premisses, which they are not accustomed to see thus\nin detail, and therefore are repelled and disheartened.\n\nBut inaccurate minds are never either practical or mathematical.\nMathematicians who are only mathematicians have exact minds, provided\nall things are clearly set before them in definitions and premisses,\notherwise they are inaccurate and intolerable, for they are only\naccurate when the premisses are perfectly clear.\n\nAnd practical men, who are only practical, cannot have the patience\nto condescend to first principles of things speculative and abstract,\nwhich they have never seen in the world, and to which they are wholly\nunaccustomed.\n\n\nThere are various kinds of good sense, there are some who judge\ncorrectly in a certain order of things, and are lost in others.\n\nSome are able to draw conclusions well from a few premisses, and this\nshows a penetrative intellect.\n\nOthers draw conclusions well where there are many premisses.\n\nFor instance, the first easily understand the laws of hydrostatics,\nwhere the premisses are few, but the conclusions so nice, that only\nthe greatest penetration can reach them. And these persons would\nperhaps not necessarily be great mathematicians, because mathematics\nembrace a great number of premisses, and perhaps a mind may be so\nformed that it searches with ease a few premisses to the bottom,\nyet cannot at all comprehend those matters in which there are many\npremisses.\n\nThere are then two kinds of mind, the one able to penetrate\nvigorously and deeply into the conclusions of certain premisses,\nand these are minds true and just. The other able to comprehend a\ngreat number of premisses without confusion, and these are the minds\nfor mathematics. The one kind has force and exactness, the other\ncapacity. Now the one quality can exist without the other, a mind may\nbe vigorous and narrow, or it may have great range and no strength.\n\n\nWhen we do not know the truth of a thing, it is not amiss that there\nshould be a common error to fix the mind of men, as for instance the\nmoon, to which is attributed the change of seasons, the progress\nof diseases, etc. For the principal malady of man is that restless\ncuriosity about matters which he can not understand, and it is not so\nbad for him to be mistaken, as to be so idly curious.\n\nThe way in which Epictetus, Montaigne, and Salomon de Tultie wrote,\nis the most usual, the most insinuating, the most easily remembered,\nand the most often quoted; because it is wholly composed of thoughts\nwhich arise out of the ordinary conversations of life. As when a man\nspeaks of the vulgar error that the moon is the cause of all, we\nnever fail to say that Salomon de Tultie says, that when we know not\nthe truth of a matter, it is well there should be a common error,\netc; which is the thought above.\n\n\nTo write against those who plunged too deep into science. Descartes.\n\n\nDescartes.\n\nWe must say in general: \"This is made by figure and motion for it is\ntrue.\" But to say what these are, and to compose the machine, is\nridiculous, for it is useless, uncertain, and painful. And if it were\ntrue we do not think that all philosophy is worth one hour of pain.\n\n\nI cannot forgive Descartes.\n\n\nIf an animal did by mind what it does by instinct, and if it spoke\nby mind what it speaks by instinct, in hunting, and warning its\ncompanions that the quarry is found or lost, it would certainly also\nspeak in regard to those things which affect it more strongly, as\nfor instance, \"Gnaw me this cord which hurts me, and which I cannot\nreach.\"\n\n\nThe story of the pike and frog of Liancourt. They do it always and\nnever otherwise, nor any other thing of mind.\n\n\nThe calculating machine works results which approach nearer to\nthought than any thing done by animals, but it does nothing which\nenables us to say it has any will, as animals have.\n\n\nWhen it is said that heat is only the motion of certain molecules,\nand light the _conatus recedendi_ which we feel, we are surprised.\nAnd shall we think that pleasure is but the buoyancy of our spirits?\nWe have conceived so different an idea of it, and these sensations\nseem so removed from those others which we say are the same as those\nwith which we compare them. The feeling of fire, the warmth which\naffects us in a manner wholly different from touch, the reception of\nsound and light, all this seems to us mysterious, and yet it is as\nmaterial as the blow of a stone. It is true that the minuteness of\nthe spirits which enter into the pores touch different nerves, yet\nnerves are always touched.\n\n\nWhat is more absurd than to say that inanimate bodies have passion,\nfear, horror, that insensible bodies, without life, and even\nincapable of life, have passions, which presuppose at least a\nsensitive soul to feel them, nay more, that the object of their\nterror is a vacuum? What is there in a vacuum which should make them\nafraid? What can be more base and more ridiculous? Nor is this all;\nit is said they have in themselves a principle of motion to avoid a\nvacuum. Have they arms, legs, muscles, nerves?\n\n\nHow foolish is painting, which draws admiration by the resemblance of\nthings of which we do not admire the originals.\n\n\nIn the same way that we injure the understanding we injure the\nfeelings also.\n\nThe feelings and the understanding are formed by society, and are\nperverted by society. Thus good or bad society forms or perverts\nthem. It is then of the first importance to know how to choose in\norder to form and not to pervert them, and we cannot make this choice\nif they be not already formed and not perverted. Thus a circle is\nformed, and happy are those who escape it.\n\n\nHave you never seen persons, who, in order to complain of the little\nyou make of them, bring before you the example of people in high\nposition who esteem them? To such I answer, \"Show me the merit by\nwhich you have charmed these persons, and I will esteem you too.\"\n\n\nThe world is full of good maxims. All that is needed is their right\napplication. For instance, no one doubts that we ought to risk our\nlives for the common weal, and many do so. But for Religion, none.\n\n\nNature diversifies and imitates, art imitates and diversifies.\n\n\nThe more intellect we have ourselves, the more originality do we\ndiscover in others. Ordinary people find no difference between men.\n\n\nSince we cannot be universal, and know all that is to be known of\neverything, we should know a little of everything. For it is far\nbetter to know something of all than to know the whole of one thing,\nthis universality is the best. If we can have both, still better,\nbut if we must choose, let us choose the first. The world feels and\nacts on this, and the world is often a good judge.\n\n\nCertain authors speaking of their works, say: \"My book, my\ncommentary, my history, etc.\" They are like the middle-class people\nwho have a small house of their own, and have \"my house\" always on\nthe tongue. They would do better to say: \"Our book, our commentary,\nour history, etc.\"; because there is in them generally more of other\npeople's than their own.\n\n\nA true friend is so great an advantage, even for the greatest lords,\nin order that he may speak well of them, and uphold them in their\nabsence, that they ought to do all that is possible to have one. But\nthey should choose well, for spite of all they may do for fools,\nwhatever good these say of them would be useless, and they would not\neven speak well of them if they found themselves in the minority, for\nthey are without authority. And thus they would abuse them in company.\n\n\n\"You are ungraceful, excuse me, I beg.\" Without that excuse I had not\nknown there was aught amiss. \"With reverence be it spoke....\" The\nonly evil is the excuse.\n\n\nI always dislike such compliments as these: _I have given you a great\ndeal of trouble._ _I fear I am tiring you._ _I fear this is too\nlong._ For we either have our audience with us, or we provoke them.\n\n\nRivers are roads which move and carry us whither we wish to go.\n\n\nIn every action we must look beyond the action at our past, present\nand future state, and at others whom it affects, and see the\nrelations of all these things. And then we shall be very careful.\n\n\nIn every dialogue and discourse we ought to be able to say to those\nwho are offended, \"Of what do you complain?\"\n\n\nThere are many people who listen to the sermon as they listen to\nvespers.\n\n\nWhen a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.\n\n\n\n\n_NOTES._\n\n\n\n\n_NOTES._\n\n\nP. 2. _Pascal's Profession of Faith._ A few days after Pascal's\ndeath, a servant discovered this profession sewed into a fold of his\nmaster's waistcoat, _pourpoint_. It was written on parchment, with a\ncopy on paper. His family believed that he had carefully placed this\nin each new garment, desiring to have always about him the memorial\nof the great spiritual crisis.\n\nP. 3, l. 32. _Dereliquerunt me._ Jer. li. 13.\n\nP. 3. _General Introduction._ In this are apparently two drafts of\nthe same preface, the second beginning with the paragraph \"Before\nentering,\" p. 9, l. 6. M. Faug\u00e8re was the first to recognize the true\ncharacter of this sketch, which has borne various titles. The Port\nRoyal edition called it: \"Against the Indifference of Atheists;\"\nCondorcet headed it: \"On the Need of Concern for the Proofs of a\nFuture Life;\" Bossut: \"On the Need of a Study of Religion.\" See note\non p. 61.\n\nP. 3, l. 8. _Deus absconditus._ Is. xlv. 15. _Vere tu es Deus\nabsconditus, Deus Israel salvator._\n\nP. 11. _Notes for the General Introduction._ The fragments following\nare thus arranged by Molinier as having been in his judgment intended\nfor and many of them expanded in the preceding Preface.\n\nP. 12, l. 23. _Miton_ was a man of fashion at Paris, a friend of\nPascal's friend, the Chevalier de M\u00e9r\u00e9.\n\nP. 17. _Preface to the First Part._ This is Pascal's own title to the\nsection.\n\nP. 17, l. 2. _Charron_, Pierre, was born at Paris in 1541. He was a\nfriend of Montaigne, whose philosophy he adopted. His _Trait\u00e9 de la\nSagesse_, Bordeaux, 1601, is the work of whose elaborate divisions\nPascal complains.\n\nP. 17, l. 12. _Montaigne's defects._ Mademoiselle de Gournay,\nMontaigne's adopted daughter, defends the Essayist in regard to this\nmatter, in the preface to her edition of the Essays, Paris, 1595.\n\nP. 17, l. 14. _people without eyes._ Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch.\nxii.\n\nP. 17, l. 15. _squaring the circle_. _Ib._, l. ii. ch. xiv.\n\nP. 17, l. 15. _a greater world._ Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. xii.\n\nP. 17, l. 16. _on suicide and on death._ _Ib._, l. i. ch. iii.\n\nP. 17, l. 17. _without fear and without repentance._ _Ib._, l. iii.\nch. ii.\n\nP. 19. _Man's Disproportion._ Pascal's own title.\n\nP. 19, l. 34. _the centre of which is every where, the circumference\nno where._ Voltaire attributed this famous saying to the\npseudo-Tim\u00e6us of Locris, an abridgement of Plato's _Tim\u00e6us_, but in\nneither work is the whole sentence to be found. The saying, however,\nis not originally Pascal's. It is probably borrowed from Mlle. de\nGournay's preface to her edition of Montaigne, Paris, 1635, and was\ntaken by her from Rabelais, bk. iii. ch. 13, where it is attributed\nto Hermes Trismegistus. M. Havet, who gives these, and many more\ndetails, finally traces it, on the authority of Vincent de Beauvais,\n1200-1264, to Empedocles.\n\nP. 21, l. 36. _I will discourse of the all._ This saying of\nDemocritus is taken by Pascal from Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch.\nxii.\n\nP. 22, l. 4. _De omni scibili._ The title given to nine hundred\npropositions, put forth at Rome by Pico della Mirandola, then aged\ntwenty-three, in 1486.\n\nP. 22, l. 8. _The Principles of Philosophy._ Descartes wrote a work\nwith this title, _Principia Philosophi\u00e6_.\n\nP. 22, l. 38. _Beneficia eo usque lata sunt._ Tacitus, _Ann._ lib.\niv. c. xviii. Taken by Pascal from Montaigne, _Essais_, l. iii. ch.\nviii.\n\nP. 24, l. 27. _And what completes our inability._ Compare for the\nwhole of the passage on matter and spirit, Descartes, _Discours de la\nM\u00e9thode_.\n\nP. 25, l. 34. _Modus quo corporibus adh\u00e6ret spiritus._ S. Aug. _De\nCivitate Dei_, xxi. 10. Taken by Pascal from Montaigne, _Essais_, l.\nii. ch. xii.\n\nP. 26, l. 31. _Lustravit lampade terras._ The full couplet is\n\n    _Tales sunt hominum mentes, quali pater ipse\n    Jupiter auctiferas lustravit lampade terras_.\n\nS. Aug. _De Civitate Dei_, v. 8, a translation by Cicero of two\nlines in the _Odyssey_, xviii. 136. The quotation is borrowed from\nMontaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. xii.\n\nP. 27, l. 20. _a fly is buzzing._ Borrowed from Montaigne, _Essais_,\nl. iii. ch. xiii.\n\nP. 27, l. 26. _flies which win battles._ Montaigne relates that the\nPortuguese besieging the town of Tamly were obliged to raise the\nsiege on account of the clouds of flies. _Essais_, l. ii. ch. xii.\n\nP. 28, l. 12. _Memoria hospitis unius diei pr\u00e6tereuntis._ Lib. Sap.\nv. 14.\n\nP. 30, l. 4. _Plerumque grat\u00e6_, altered from Hor. _Carm._ iii. 29, v.\n13. _plerumque grat\u00e6_ divitibus _vices_.\n\nP. 30, l. 13. _Epaminondas._ The example is taken from Montaigne,\n_Essais_, l. ii. ch. xxxvi.\n\nP. 31, l. 22. _Sneezing absorbs all the faculties._ A paraphrase of a\npassage in Montaigne, _Essais_, l. iii. ch. v.\n\nP. 31, l. 28. _Scaramouch_. One of the traditional parts in Italian\nComedy, at that time played by the well-known actor Tiberio Fiorelli,\nwhom Pascal had probably seen.\n\nP. 31, l. 29. _The doctor_, also a common character in Italian\nforces. Moli\u00e8re has borrowed from the Italian stage his doctor,\nso often a pedant and a fool, of whom le docteur Pancrace, in _Le\nMarriage Forc\u00e9_, is perhaps the most notable example, though that\ncomedy was produced after the death of Pascal.\n\nP. 32, l. 11. _the Condrieu, the Desargues._ Gerard Desargues was\na mathematician at Condrieu on the Rhone, who had been Pascal's\nteacher. Among the Muscat grapes grown at Condrieu, Pascal\ndistinguishes a special variety of Desargues, and among these a\nparticular vine.\n\nP. 32, l. 28. _the Passion of Cleobuline._ In _Artam\u00e8ne, on le\nGrand Cyrus_, the celebrated romance of Mademoiselle de Scudery,\nCleobuline, princess, afterwards queen of Corinth, is one of the\nprincipal characters. She is represented as in love with Myrinthe,\none of her subjects, but \"she loved him without thinking of love; and\nremained so long in her error, that when she became aware of it, her\naffection was no longer in a condition to be overcome.\"\n\nP. 33. _Diversion._ Under this heading Pascal comprises not only\ntrivial occupations, and the distractions of idle society, but all\nwhich, save truth alone, can form the study or the research of man.\nThe main idea of the chapter is borrowed from Montaigne, _Essais_, l.\niii. chap. x.\n\nP. 35. l. 17. _The counsel given to Pyrrhus._ _Ib._, l. i. ch. xliii.\n\nP. 36, l. 11. _as children are frightened at a face._ Borrowed from\nMontaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. iii., and Montaigne in his turn\nborrowed it from Seneca, _Ep._ 24.\n\nP. 36, l. 28. _superintendent._ Of finances. The last who held this\noffice was Fouquet, still in office when this was written. He was\ndismissed in disgrace in 1661.\n\nP. 36, l. 29. _first president._ Of the Parliament of Paris.\n\nP. 36, l. 32. _dismissed to their country houses._ At that date, and\nfor a long time afterwards, a Minister of State rarely fell from\nOffice without receiving a _Lettre de cachet_ which banished him to\nthe seclusion of his country estate.\n\nP. 39, l. 17. _In omnibus requiem qu\u00e6sivi._ Eccles. xxiv. 7.\n\nP. 40, l. 9. _will arise weariness._ Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, l.\niii.\n\nP. 41, l. 7. _C\u00e6sar was too old._ See Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch.\nxxxiv.\n\nP. 43. _The Greatness and Littleness of Man._ The title suggested by\nPascal, in many passages of the autograph MS.\n\nP. 43, l. 11. _for Port Royal._ The letters A. P. R. occur in several\nplaces in Pascal's MS. It is generally thought that they mean _\u00e0\nPort-Royal_, and are intended to indicate subjects to be developed\nlater in _conf\u00e9rences_ or lectures at that house.\n\nP. 45, l. 1. _Man is neither angel nor brute._ This is closely\nborrowed from Montaigne, _Essais_, l. iii. ch. xiii.\n\nP. 46, l. 15. _Corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia prava._ 1 ad Cor. xv.\n33, but the Vulgate reading has _mala_.\n\nP. 47, l. 18. _Paulus Emilius._ The example is taken from Montaigne,\n_Essais_, l. i. ch. xix. See also Cic. _Tuscul._ v. 40.\n\nP. 47, l. 31. _Ego vir videns_, Lament, iii. 1. _Ego vir videns\npaupertatem meam in virga indignationis ejus._\n\nP. 51. _Of the deceptive powers_, etc. This is Pascal's own title for\nthis section.\n\nP. 51, l. 14. _Imagination._ Pascal uses this word in an extended\nsense already given to it by Montaigne, and means that faculty by\nwhich we attribute a value to those things which in fact have none.\n\nP. 53, l. 11. _furred cats._ Rabelais, bk. v. ch. 11.\n\nP. 54, l. 2. _Della Opinione._ No work is known under this name.\nPascal possibly means a work of Carlo Flosi, _L'Opinione tiranna,\nmoralmente considerata ne gli affari del mondo_, Mondovi, 1690. But\nit is not certain that this edition is the reprint of a work extant\nbefore Pascal wrote.\n\nP. 54, l. 27. _Diseases are another source of error._ Taken from\nMontaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. xii.\n\nP. 56, l. 20. _in Switzerland that of the burgesses._ This may be\ncompared with p. 66, l. 6. In the majority of Swiss towns every\ncandidate for municipal office must needs possess the freedom of the\ntown, but the intention was not to set aside those of noble birth, as\nPascal supposes, but foreigners, and those of other towns, each of\nwhich was considered as a separate state.\n\nP. 57, l. 27. _would care nothing for Provence._ Compare Montaigne,\n_Essais_, l. i. ch. xxii. \"_C'est par l'entremise de la coustume que\nchascun est contant du lieu o\u00f9 nature l'a plant\u00e9: et les sauvages\nd'Escosse n'ont que faire de la Touraine, ny les Scythes de la\nThessalie._\"\n\nP. 57, l. 28. _Ferox gens._ Livy, l. xxxiv. c. 17.\n\nP. 58. l. 20. _Brave deeds._ Borrowed from Montaigne, _Essais_, l. i.\nch. xl.\n\nP. 61. _Of Justice_, etc. These fragments, now among the best known\nof Pascal's Thoughts, but for the most part brought to notice in the\nEdition of Bossut, 1779, have their present arrangement and title\nfrom Molinier.\n\nP. 61, l. 30. _Nihil amplius._ These sentences, borrowed from\nMontaigne, are quoted, the first of them wrongly, from Cicero, _De\nFinibus_, v. 21; the second from Seneca, _Ad Lucilium_, _Ep._ 95;\nthe third from Tacitus, _Annales_, iii. 25. Compare with the whole\npassage Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. xii. and l. iii. ch. xiii.\n\nP. 62, l. 29. _Quum veritatem._ S. Aug., _De Civit. Dei_, iv. 31.\nFrom Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. iii.\n\nP. 62, l. 27. _the wisest of law givers._ Socrates, in the _Republic_\nof Plato.\n\nP. 63, l. 9. _Archesilas._ Born at Pitane in \u00c6olis of a Scythian\nfather, about 300 B.C. He was founder of the School known as the\nSecond Academy. See Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. iii.\n\nP. 64, l. 19. For all that is here said on Custom, see Montaigne,\n_Essais_, l. i. ch. xxii.\n\nP. 65, l. 7. _Pasce oves meas._ Joh. xxi. 17. The words are those\ntaken as the foundation of papal authority. You owe me pasturage,\n_i.e._ you owe me justice.\n\nP. 65, l. 30. _the soldiers of Mahomet, thieves, heretics._ Pascal\nboldly joins heretics and thieves, for those who did not hold his\ncreed appeared to him as men _sans foi ni loi_, faithless and\nlawless. In his eyes a Turk was scarce a man. See the _Provincial\nLetters_, let. xiv. \"_Sont-ce des religieux et des pr\u00eatres qui\nparlent de cette sorte? Sont-ce des Chr\u00e9tiens? Sont-ce des Tures?\nSont-ce des demons?_\" And _Thoughts_, p. 211, l. 30. \"Do we not see\nbeasts live and die like men, and Turks like Christians.\"\n\nP. 66, l. 6. _The Swiss._ See note on p. 56, l. 20.\n\nP. 66, l. 10. _condemning so many Spaniards to death._ Possibly an\nallusion to the battle of the Dunes, 1659, which led to the Peace\nof the Pyrenees, so long desired by all but Spain, then obliged to\nconsent.\n\nP. 67, l. 13. _Summum jus, summa injuria._ Charron, _Trait\u00e9 de la\nSagesse_, etc. ch. xxvii. art. 8.\n\nP. 67, l. 26. _The end of the Twelfth Provincial._ The following is\nthe passage to which Pascal alludes. \"_C'est une etrange et longue\nguerre que celle o\u00f9 la violence essaye d'opprimer la v\u00e9rit\u00e9. Tons\nles efforts de la violence ne peuvent affaiblir la v\u00e9rit\u00e9, et ne\nservent qu'\u00e0 la relever davantage. Toutes les lumi\u00e8res de la v\u00e9rit\u00e9\nne peuvent rien pour arr\u00eater la violence et ne font que l'irriter\nencore plus ... la violence et la v\u00e9rit\u00e9 ne peuvent rien l'une sur\nl'autre._\"\n\nP. 67, l. 27. _The Fronde._ This was the name given to the party\nwhich rose against Mazarin and the Court during the minority of Louis\nXIV., and plunged France into civil war.\n\nP. 69, l. 10. _give me the strap._ This is no exaggeration, since\nfifty years after Pascal wrote, Voltaire was beaten by the servants\nof the Duc de Rohan.\n\nP. 69, l. 12. _It is odd that Montaigne._ _Essais_, l. i. ch. xlii.\n\nP. 69, l. 16. _When power attacks craft._ _Satyre Menipp\u00e9e_, Harangue\ndu Sire de Rieux: \"_il n'y a ny bonnet quarr\u00e9, ny bourlet, que je ne\nface voler_.\"\n\nP. 69, l. 30. _figmentum malum._ Ps. ciii. 13. _Quomodo miseretur\npater filiorum, misertus est Dominus timentibus se: Quoniam ipse\ncognovit figmentum nostrum._\n\nP. 70, l. 14. _Savages laugh at an infant king._ Pascal is alluding\nto the story in Montaigne, _Essais_, l. i. ch. xxx., of the savages\npresented to Charles IX. at Rouen, who were astonished to see bearded\nmen obey a child.\n\nP. 72, l. 16. _Epictetus._ See p. 45, l. 30, in order to understand\nthis somewhat enigmatic fragment. In the next paragraph is an\nallusion to the passage in which Epictetus says, l. iv. ch. 7, that\nthe philosopher may well be constant and detached from life by\nwisdom, as were the Galil\u00e6ans by their fanaticism.\n\nP. 73. _Weakness, unrest, and defects of man._ The arrangements of\nthese fragments under this title is Molinier's.\n\nP. 73, l. 1. _We anticipate the future._ Compare Montaigne, _Essais_,\nl. i. ch. iii.\n\nP. 74, l. 28. _Alexander's chastity._ To attribute this virtue to\nAlexander is strange, but no doubt the circumstance in Pascal's\nthought was his generous conduct to the family of Darius, after the\nbattle of Issus.\n\nP. 75, l. 12. _the King of England._ Probably Charles II., then\nliving in exile, rather than Charles I. The King of Poland was Jean\nCasimir, driven from his throne by Charles X. of Sweden, after the\nbattle of Warsaw in 1656. The Queen of Sweden was Christina, daughter\nof Gustavus Adolphus, who abdicated in favour of her cousin, Charles\nX., in 1654.\n\nP. 75, l. 29. _we shall die alone_, \"on mourra seul.\" It is a curious\ninstance of the fact how little Pascal is known in England, that\nKeble having quoted this sentence wrongly, probably from memory, in\nthe first edition of the _Christian Year_, as \"Je mourrai seul,\" it\nhas remained uncorrected and apparently unnoticed to this day.\n\nP. 76, l. 12. _Cromwell._ As Charles II. was restored in 1660, this\nfragment was written about that date, two years before Pascal's\ndeath. Cromwell's death did not arise from the cause stated in the\ntext.\n\nP. 77, l. 8. _the automaton._ The expression of Descartes and his\nschool for the animal body.\n\nP. 77, l. 25. _Inclina cor meum, Deus._ Ps. cxix. 36. \"_Inclina cor\nmeum in testimonia tua, et non in avaritiam._\"\n\nP. 77, l. 30. _Eritis sicut dii._ Gen. iii. 5.\n\nP. 79, l. 30. _men laugh and weep at the same thing._ The thought is\nfrom Charron, _Trait\u00e9 de la Sagesse_, l. i. ch. xxxviii.\n\nP. 80, l. 35. _the grand Sultan._ None of Pascal's editors have\ndiscovered whence he drew this purely fictitious description of the\nSultan.\n\nP. 81, l. 9. _That epigram about the two one-eyed people._ This is\nnot Martial's. It is found in _Epigrammatum Delectus_, published by\nPort Royal in 1659.\n\n    _Lumine Acon dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro,\n      Et potis est forma vincere uterque Deos.\n    Blande puer, lumen quod habes concede parenti;\n      Si tu c\u00e6cus Amor, sic erit illa Venus._\n\nP. 81, l. 12. _Ambitiosa recidet ornamenta._ Horace, _De Arte\nPoetica_, v. 447.\n\nP. 83, l. 22. _Spongia solis._ The spots on the sun. Du Cange\nexplains _spongia_ by _macula_. Pascal seems to mean that the spots\non the sun prepare us for its total extinction; that the sun will\neventually expire, so that, contrary as it seems to the course of\nnature, there will come a day when there will be no sun.\n\nP. 89. The title given to this second part is furnished by Pascal. In\nthe first part he has wished to prove the fallen state of man, and\nhis weakness; he now maintains that man may be restored by faith in\nJesus Christ, and the practice of religion.\n\nP. 91, l. 26. _Nemo novit._ Matt. xi. 27. _Et nemo novit Filium nisi\nPater: neque Patrem quis novit, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius\nrevelare._\n\nP. 92, l. 3. _Vere tu es._ Is. xlv. 15, see p. 3, l. 8.\n\nP. 92, l. 10. _Quod curiositate cognoverint._ Probably cited from\nrecollection of Saint Augustine, but the passage is not verbally to\nbe found.\n\nP. 96, l. 6. _neither the stars._\n\n    _Porrum et c\u00e6pe nefas violare et frangere morsu\n    O sanctas gentes, quibus h\u00e6c nascuntur in hortis\n    Numina!_     Juvenal, _Sat._ xv. 9.\n\nSee also Montaigne, _Essais_, l. i. ch. xlii.\n\nP. 97, l. 28. _stultitiam._ 1 Cor. i. 19.\n\nP. 101, l. 12. _the opinion of Copernicus._ Pascal no doubt refers\nto a passage in Montaigne, _Essais_, l. ii. ch. xii., in which he\nabstains from deciding between the rival systems of astronomy.\nPascal, however, had no doubt on the matter himself, as is plain from\nthe passage on Galileo in the Eighteenth _Provincial_.\n\nP. 101, l. 16. _Fascinatio nugacitatis._ Lib. Sap. iv. 12.\n_Fascinatio enim nugacitatis obscurat bona._ See note on p. 165.\n\nP. 102, l. 12. _So our people often act._ F\u00e9n\u00e9lon, _Lettre \u00e0 l'Ev\u00eaque\nd'Arras_, says, \"_Toutes les difficult\u00e9s s'evanouissent sans peine\ndes qu'on a l'esprit gueri de la pr\u00e9somption. Alors suivant le r\u00e8gle\nde Saint Augustin_, Epist. ad Hier., _on passe sur tout ce que l'on\nn'entend pas, et on s'edifie de tout ce qu'on entend_.\"\n\nSee also _De Imitatione Christi_, l. i. ch. v.\n\nP. 104, l. 4. _Harum sententiarum. Harum sententiarum qu\u00e6 vera sit\nDeus aliquis viderit._ Cic. _Tuscul._ i. 11.\n\nP. 104, l. 14. _The Preacher shows._ The precise thought as Pascal\nhas it here is not easy to find in Ecclesiastes. It is probably a\nreminiscence of Eccles. viii. 17.\n\nP. 105. _The Philosophers._ The title of this chapter is that\ngiven by Molinier to the collection of fragments contained in it.\nA few expressions and thoughts are from Montaigne, many more from\nDescartes, _Discours de la M\u00e9thode_.\n\nP. 108, l. 16. _Delici\u00e6 me\u00e6._ Prov. viii. 31.\n\nP. 108, l. 17. _Effundam spiritum._ Joel ii. 28.\n\nP. 108, l. 17. _Dii estis_, Ps. lxxxii. 6.\n\nP. 108, l. 18. _Omnis caro f\u0153num._ Is. xl. 6.\n\nP. 108, l. 18. _Homo assimilatus est._ Ps. xlix. 20.\n\nP. 108, l. 20. _Dixi in corde meo._ Eccl. iii. 18.\n\nP. 110, l. 28. _Ex senatus consultis._ Seneca, _Ep._ xcv., sec. 30.\n\nP. 110, l. 29. _Nihil tam absurde._ Cic. _De Divia._ ii. 58.\n\nP. 110, l. 32. _Ut omnium rerum._ Seneca, _Ep._ cvi. But the real\nreading is _Quemadmodum--omnium rerum_.\n\nP. 110, l. 34. _Id maxime._ Cic. _De Off._ i. 31.\n\nP. 110, l. 35. _Hos natura modos._ Virg. _Georg._ ii. 20.\n\nP. 111, l. 4. _Mihi sic usus est._ Ter. _Hea._ i. 1, 28.\n\nP. 111, l. 6. _falsity of their dilemma in Montaigne._ _Essais_, l.\nii. ch. xii. \"_Si l'\u00e2me est mortelle, il est absurde de craindre la\nmort, si elle est immortelle elle ne peut aller qu'en s'ameliorant._\"\n\nP. 112, l. 11. _Felix qui potuit._ Virg. _Georg._ ii. l. 489.\n\nP. 112, l. 13. _nihil mirari._ Hor. _Epist._ 1, vi. l. 1. The whole\npassage is,\n\n    _Nil admirari prope res est una, Numici,\n    Solaque, qu\u00e6 possit facere et servare beatum_.\n\nP. 113, l. 15. _two sects._ Epicureans and Stoics.\n\nP. 113, l. 17. _Des Barreaux._ Jacques Desbarreaux was an Epicurean\npoet born at Paris in 1602, died in 1673, who in his poems paraded\nhis unbelief. Curiously enough, his only extant verses were written\nwhen he lay ill, and are addressed to God.\n\nP. 113, l. 28. _Epictetus concludes._ _Encheiridion_, iv. 7.\n\nP. 113, l. 30. _three sects._ Pascal no doubt refers the _libido\nsentiendi_ to the Epicureans, the _libido dominandi_ to the Stoics,\nand the _libido sciendi_ to the dogmatic schools of Plato and\nAristotle, of which Cicero always speaks as though they taught one\nand the same philosophy.\n\nP. 114, l. 3. _two inches under water_, are equally drowned with\nthose who are at the bottom.\n\nP. 115. The fragments collected in this chapter are here placed by\nMolinier according to the plan which Pascal had traced out for his\nwork, in which after he had laid the various philosophical systems\nbefore his supposed unbeliever, he brought forward for examination\nthe other religions.\n\nP. 115, l. 20. _forbade men to read it._ It is not known whence\nPascal obtained this statement, which is a complete mistake.\n\nP. 116, l. 15. _Jesus Christ wills that his testimony to himself\nshould be of no avail._ John v. 31. \"If I bear witness of myself, my\nwitness is not true.\"\n\nP. 116, l. 30. _The Koran says that Saint Matthew._ The Koran does\nnot name Saint Matthew, but says in general terms that Mahomet\nregarded the apostles of Jesus as holy.\n\nP. 117, l. 27. _whose witnesses let themselves be slaughtered._\nAfter this Pascal had written, but erased the words \"which of the\ntwo is most to be blamed, Moses or China?\" and these aid us in the\nexplanation of this enigmatic passage. The Jesuits had established\nthemselves in China at the end of the sixteenth century, and when\nPascal wrote their missions were in a flourishing state. They\nhad studied the language, history, and literature of China. But\nthe difficulty presented itself of reconciling the cosmogony and\nchronology of the Bible with those of the Chinese sages. It is\nprobable that this passage was inspired by a private conversation\nwith some one who had read letters from a missionary, for no book on\nthe subject appears to have existed in Pascal's day.\n\nP. 118, l. 4. _The five suns_, etc. Montaigne, from whom this is\ntaken, _Essais_, l. iii. ch. iv., probably borrowed it from some\nSpanish book now forgotten.\n\nP. 119. _Of the Jewish People._ This position in his intended\ntreatise, before the sections on the Sacred Books and on Prophecy, is\nthat which Pascal himself designed for his remarks on the Jews.\n\nP. 123, l. 5. _The Masorah._ The unwritten tradition of the Jews.\n\nP. 126, l. 9. _Quis mihi det._ Num. xi. 29. The true reading is,\n_Quis tribuat ut omnis populus prophetet_.\n\nP. 126, l. 17. _If the story in Esdras is credible._ In the 14th\nChapter of the Second Book of Esdras God appears to Esdras in a bush,\nand orders him to assemble the people and deliver the message. Esdras\nreplies, \"I will go as thou hast commanded me, and reprove the people\nwhich are present, but they that shall be born afterward who shall\nadmonish them?... _For thy law is burnt_, therefore no man knoweth\nthe things that are done of thee, or the works that shall begin.\nBut if I have found grace before thee, send the Holy Ghost into me,\nand I shall write all that hath been done in the world since the\nbeginning.\" ... Then God ordered him to take five scribes, to whom\nfor forty days he dictated the ancient law.\n\nThe authenticity of this story, coming into conflict as it does with\nmany passages of the prophets, and specially with Jeremiah, appeared\nopen to such grave doubts, that at the Council of Trent the last book\nof Esdras, called in the Catholic Church, Esdras IV., by Protestants\nEsdras II., was then rejected from the Canon.\n\nP. 126, l. 27. _Jeremiah gave them the law._ See 2 Maccabees, ch. xi.\n\nP. 128, l. 31. _Qui justus est justificetur adhuc._ Apocal. xvii. 4.\n\nP. 129, l. 18. _a thousand and twenty-two._ This was the number of\nstars comprised in the Catalogue of Ptolemy, according to the system\nof Hipparchus.\n\nP. 132, l. 9. _Non habemus regem nisi C\u00e6sarem._ Job. xx. 15.\n\nP. 134, l. 12. _Eris palpans in meridie._ Incorrectly quoted from\nDeut. xxviii. 29.\n\nP. 134, l. 13. _Dabitur liber._ Incorrectly quoted from Is. xxix. 12.\n\nP. 135, l. 6. _Effundam spiritum meum._ Is. xliv. 2.\n\nP. 135, l. 21. _populum non credentem._ Is. lxv. 2.\n\nP. 136, l. 2. _ex omnibus iniquitatibus._ Probably a remembrance of\nIs. xliv. 22. _Delevi ut nubem iniquitates tuas._\n\nP. 136, l. 13. _The little stone._ Dan. ii. 34.\n\nP. 136, l. 33. _Omnis Jud\u00e6a regio._ Incorrectly quoted from Matt.\niii. 5.\n\nP. 137, l. 3. _These stones can become._ Matt. iii. 9.\n\nP. 140, l. 15. _Grotius._ The allusion is no doubt to his work, _De\nVeritate Religionis Christian\u00e6_, which appeared in 1662.\n\nP. 143, l. 6. _the king of the Medes and Persians_ is Darius\nCodomanus; the King of the Greeks, Alexander. The four kings are,\nSeleucus, King of Syria; Ptolemy, King of Egypt; Lysimachus, King of\nThrace, and Cassander, King of Macedonia, after the battle of Ipsus,\n301 B.C.\n\nP. 143, l. 12. This paragraph refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, King of\nSyria, who died 164 B.C. See the account of his death, 1 Macc. c. 6.\n\nP. 145, l. 1. _And in the end of years._ The marriage of Antiochus\nTheos with Berenice took place about 247 B.C. Berenice was\nassassinated by Seleucus Ceraunos soon afterwards, and the war\nbetween Ptolemy Euergetes and the King of Syria lasted during almost\nall the reign of the latter. Syria regained the ascendancy only after\nthe death of Ptolemy Euergetes in 222 B.C.\n\nP. 145, l. 26. _Raphia._ The Battle of Raphia was gained by Ptolemy\nPhilopator over Antiochus the Great, 217 B.C.\n\nP. 145, l. 36. _Euergetes_, a mistake for Epiphanes.\n\nP. 147, l. 2. _The leader taken from the thigh._ A literal\ntranslation of Gen. xlix. 10. _Non auferetur sceptrum de Juda, et dux\nde femore ejus._\n\nP. 152, l. 26. _Pugio Fidei._ The work so called, which Pascal first\nspecifies in this place, is one of which he made great use in all his\nspeculations on the fulfilment of Prophecy, and on the meaning of\nthe Hebrew letters, etc. The book, of which the full title is _Pugio\nFidei adversus Mauros et Jud\u00e6os_, was written in 1278 by Raymond\nMartin, a Catalonian monk. It remained almost unknown for four\nhundred years, and was first printed in 1651. It was, therefore, as\nit were, a new book when Pascal became acquainted with it. Under the\nname Mauri the author assails not the Koran nor Mahomet, but Arabic\nphilosophy.\n\nP. 161, l. 2. _Ut sciatis quod filius hominis._ Marc. ii. 10-11. The\nwords of Jesus to the paralytic.\n\nP. 164, l. 16. _Signa legem in electis meis._ Is. viii. 16, where the\nVulgate has _discipulis_.\n\nP. 165, l. 15. _Fascination._ _i.e._, _Fascinatio nugacitatis_,\nsee p. 101, l. 16. The blindness produced by the love of temporal\npossessions, or as the A. V. translates it, \"the bewitching of\nnaughtiness.\"\n\nP. 165, l. 15. _Somnum suum._ Ps. lxxvi. 5. _Turbati sunt omnes\ninsipientes corde. Dormierunt somnum suum: et nihil invenerunt omnes\nviri divitiarum in manibus suis._\n\nP. 165, l. 15. _Figura hujus mundi._ 1 ad Cor. vii. 31. _Et qui\nutuntur hoc mundo, tanquam non utantur: pr\u00e6terit enim figura hujus\nmundi._\n\nP. 165, l. 16. _Comedes panem tuum._ Deut viii. 9. _Panem nostrum._\nLuc. xi. 3.\n\nP. 165, l. 17. _Inimici Dei terram lingent._ Ps. lxxii 8. The Psalm\nis of Solomon, _Inimici ejus terram lingent_.\n\nP. 165, l. 22. _cum amaritudinibus._ Ex. xii. 8, where the Vulgate\nhas _cum lactucis agrestibus_.\n\nP. 165, l. 24. _Singularis sum ego._ Ps. cxli. 10, where the true\nreading is \"_singulariter_.\"\n\nP. 165, l. 34. _We have no right._ The following is the explanation\nof this and the next two paragraphs: In Is. ix. 6, a prophecy which\nthe Rabbis apply to Messiah, and Christian interpreters to Jesus, are\nthe words: _Parvulus enim natus est nobis ... multiplicabatur ejus\nimperium._ In the Hebrew words representing this latter clause, the\n_closed mem_, a letter ordinarily employed only at the end of a word,\noccurs where an _open mem_ should be used. From this orthographic\nmistake the Rabbis have concluded that Messiah would be born of a\nvirgin, _ex virgine clausa_. Moreover, as the _closed mem_ in Hebrew\nwriting means six hundred, the Rabbis supposed that Messiah was to\ncome six hundred years after Isaiah. The _final tsad\u00e9_ has the same\nvalue as the _closed mem_.\n\nP. 166, l. 8. _the way of the philosopher's stone_, no doubt the way\nof _finding_ the philosopher's stone. The dreams of the alchemists\non this subject were early mingled with those of the Rabbis on the\nMessiah. Nor had the Cabbala lost all credit in Pascal's days. In\n1629 Robert Fludd, in Latin De Fluctibus, an Englishman, educated\nat Oxford, and a Fellow of the College of Physicians, published at\nFrankfort his _Medicina Catholica_. In this, sect 1. pt. ii. b. 1.\nch. i. he speaks of sicknesses and healing as both sent from God by\nangelic intermediaries, and that all angelic natures are summed up\nin the great angel Mittatron, whom the Scriptures call Wisdom. In a\nfurther passage he says that in him whom the Cabalists call Mittatron\nothers recognise Messiah, and quotes the passage of Isaiah in which\noccurs the _closed mem_.\n\nIn Reuchlin's book _De Arte Cabalistica_ the _open mem_ is said to\nrepresent the sphere of Jupiter, and the _closed mem_ the sphere of\nMars.\n\nP. 166, l. 12. _Apocalyptics._ Interpreters of the Apocalypse.\n\nP. 166, l. 13. _Preadamites._ Those who hold that Adam was the\nprogenitor of the Jews only, and not of the whole human race.\n\nP. 166, l. 13. _Millenarians._ The believers in the reign of Christ\non earth for a thousand years.\n\nP. 166, l. 19. The allusion is probably to 2 Paralip. i. 14. _Et\nfecit eos esse in urbibus quadrigarum, et cum rege in Jerusalem._\n\nP. 166, l. 31. _Exortum est lumen._ Ps. cxii. 4. But the word _corde_\ndoes not appear in the Vulgate.\n\nP. 168, l. 30. _Agnus occisus est._ Apoc. xiii. 8.\n\nP. 170, l. 23. _the breasts of the Spouse._ Song of Songs, iv. 5.\n\nP. 171, l. 32. _Nisi fecissem._ A partial citation of Joh. xv. 24.\n\nP. 174, l. 32. _Adam forma futuri_, ad Rom. v. 14.\n\nP. 175, l. 7. _the six mornings._ This passage is taken from S.\nAug. _De Genesi contra Manich\u00e6os_, i. 23. Pascal probably intending\nto write _les six orients_, dawns or mornings, his amanuensis has\nwritten _les six arians_, a source of much misunderstanding. The six\nmornings are, the creation; the deliverance from the Ark; the call of\nAbraham; the carrying away into Babylon; the preaching of Jesus.\n\nP. 175, l. 29. _Fac secundum exemplar._ Exod. xxv. 40, but the\nVulgate has _monstratum_.\n\nP. 176, l. 9. _Saint Paul says._ 1 Cor. vii.; 1 Tim. iv. 3.\n\nP. 176, l. 14. _On which Saint Paul says._ Heb. viii. 5.\n\nP. 176, l. 16. _Veri adoratores._ Joh. iv. 23. _Ecce agnus Dei._ Joh.\ni. 29.\n\nP. 187, l. 11. _ne evacuata sit crux._ 1 ad Cor. i. 17. _ut non\nevacuetur crux Christi._\n\nP. 187, l. 12. _says that he came neither with wisdom nor with\nsigns._ See however 2 Cor. xii. 12. \"Truly the signs of an apostle\nwere wrought among you in all patience, _in signs_ and wonders and\nmighty deeds.\"\n\nP. 191, l. 7. _Delici\u00e6 me\u00e6._ Prov. viii. 31. _Effundam._ Joel, ii.\n28. _Dii estis._ Ps. lxxxii. 6. _Omnis caro f\u0153num._ Is. xl. 6. _Homo\ncomparatus est._ Ps. xlix. 20. _Dixi in corde._ Eccles. iii. 18.\n\nP. 192, l. 3. _Marton._ Probably a mistake of the amanuensis for\nMiton. See p. 12, l. 22.\n\nP. 192, l. 10. _Sapientius est hominibus._ 1 ad Cor. i. 25.\n\nP. 194, l. 5. _Nemo ante obitum beatus est._ Ovid, _Met._ iii. 136.\nThe passage runs:--\n\n                      _Dicique beatus\n    Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet._\n\nP. 194, l. 19. The citations from the Rabbis are taken from the\n_Pugio Fidei_.\n\nP. 195, l. 36. _Chronology of Rabbinism._ The chronology here given\nis in many points at variance with modern scholarship.\n\nP. 197, l. 19. _Salutare tuum expectabo._ Gen. xlix. 18.\n\nP. 200, l. 12. _Miserere._ The first word of Ps. li., \"_Miserere mei\nDeus_.\" _Expectavi._ The first word of Ps. xl., \"_Expectans expectavi\nDominum_.\"\n\nP. 200, l. 29. _Dixit Dominus._ The first words of Ps. cx.\n\nP. 209, l. 11. _Exc\u00e6ca._ Is. vi. 10.\n\nP. 210, l. 13. _nisi efficiamini._ Matt, xviii. 3.\n\nP. 213, l. 21. _Quis mihi det ut._ Job, xix. 23-25.\n\nP. 215, l. 5. _Quare fremuerunt gentes._ Ps. ii. 1, 2.\n\nP. 215, l. 30. _Ingrediens mundum._ Probably a recollection of the\nmeaning, but not the words, of Heb. i. 6.\n\nP. 215, l. 31. _Stone upon stone._ Mark, xiii. 2.\n\nP. 216, l. 23. _in sanctificationem et in scandalum_, a partial\nquotation of Isaiah, viii. 14.\n\nP. 217, l. 3. _\u00c6nigmatis._ The word nowhere appears, but the allusion\nis no doubt to 1 ad Cor. xiii. 12. _Videmus nunc per speculum in\n\u00e6nigmate, tunc autem facie ad faciem._\n\nP. 219, l. 3. _gladium tuum._ Ps. xlv. 3. _Accingere gladio tuo super\nfemur tuum, potentissime._\n\nP. 220, l. 21. _He hath blinded them._ Is. vi. 10.\n\nP. 221, l. 22. _Great Pan is dead._ Plutarch _De Oraculis_.\n\nP. 221, l. 26. _Barcoseba_, or Barcochebas, a Jewish impostor who\nclaimed to be the Messiah, A.D. 135.\n\nP. 222, l. 3. _Curse of the Greeks_, no doubt against those Heretics\nwho tried to discover the exact date of the end of the world.\n\nP. 225, l. 19. _Quia non cognovit._ The quotation is modified from\n1 ad Cor. i. 21, and with the important omission of the final word\n\"_credentes_.\"\n\nP. 226, l. 24. _Quod ergo ignorantes qu\u00e6ritis._ Adapted from Act. Ap.\nxvii. 23. _Quod ergo ignorantes colitis ego annuncio vobis._\n\nP. 226, l. 28. _via, veritas._ Joh. xiv. 6.\n\nP. 227, l. 12. _Jaddus to Alexander._ Jaddus was the Jewish High\nPriest, who on Alexander's invasion of Syria refused to aid him.\nThereupon Alexander marched on Jerusalem. Jaddus came out to meet him\nin processional pomp, when the conqueror prostrated himself at his\nfeet, saying he had seen such a man in a dream, who had promised him\nthe Empire of Asia.\n\nP. 228, l. 14. _Archimedes, though of princely birth._ Plutarch says\nthat Archimedes was of a family allied to that of Hiero, King of\nSyracuse.\n\nP. 229, l. 11. _I will bless those that bless thee._ Gen. xii. 3.\n_Benedicam benedicentibus tibi._\n\nP. 229, l. 13. _Parum est ut._ Is. xlix. 6. _Parum est ut sis mihi\nservus ad suscitandas tribus Jacob et faeces Israel convertendas.\nEcce dedi te in lucem gentium._\n\nP. 229, l. 15. _Non fecit taliter._ Ps. cxlvii. 20.\n\nP. 230, l. 8. _Jesus Christ the Redeemer of all._ \"_Jesu Redemptor\nomnium_\" is the first verse of the Christmas Vesper Hymn.\n\nP. 230, l. 21. _Lord, when saw we thee an hungered?_ Matt. xxv. 34.\n\nP. 231. _The Mystery of Jesus._ This fragment has only been included\nby more recent editors. But it exists in the autograph MS., and\nunquestionably forms a part of the intended work.\n\nP. 231, l. 3. _turbare semetipsum._ Joh. xi. 33. In the text\n_turbavit seipsum_.\n\nP. 232, l. 9. _Eamus. Processit._ A recollection of Joh. xviii. 4,\nbut the word _eamus_ does not occur in the verse, being borrowed from\nthe account in Matt. xxvi. 46.\n\nP. 233, l. 25. _ut immundus pro luto._ Possibly a reminiscence and\nmisquotation of 2 Pet. ii. 22. _Sus lota in volutabro luti._\n\nP. 234, l. 33. _Noli me tangere._ Joh. xx. 17.\n\nP. 235, l. 21. _Et tu conversus._ Luc. xxii. 32. _Conversus Jesus._\n_ib._ 61. _before_ should be \"after.\"\n\nP. 238, l. 16. _Qui adh\u00e6ret Deo._ 1 ad Cor. v. 17. _Qui autem adh\u00e6ret\nDomino unus spiritus est._\n\nP. 238, l. 28. _because it has perhaps merited ours._ See Bossuet's\nCatechism. _Qu'entendez vous par la Communion des Saints? J'entends\nprincipalement la participation qu'ont tous les fid\u00e8les au fruit des\nbonnes \u0153uvres les uns des autres._\n\nP. 240, l. 28. _Book of Wisdom._ Ch. ii. 6. But the sense only, and\nnot the words, is given.\n\nP. 241, l. 16. _et non intres in judicium._ Ps. cxliii. 2.\n\nP. 241, l. 19. _The goodness of God._ Rom. ii. 4.\n\nP. 241, l. 20. _Let us do penance._ Jonah, iii. 9. But the sense\nonly, not the words, is quoted.\n\nP. 243, l. 2. _qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur._ 1 ad Cor. i. 31.\n\nP. 243, l. 4. _libido sentiendi._ From Jansenius, _De statu natur\u00e6\nlaps\u00e6_, ii. 8.\n\nP. 243, l. 5. _Woe to the accursed land._ This and the following\nparagraphs are taken from Saint Augustine's commentary on Ps.\ncxxxvii., _Super flumina Babylonis_.\n\nP. 244, l. 1. _Abraham took nothing for himself._ Gen. xiv. 24.\n\nP. 244, l. 5. _Sub te erit appetitus tuus._ Gen. iv. 7.\n\nP. 244, l. 29. _Multi crediderunt._ Joh. viii. 30-33.\n\nP. 245, l. 17. _Comminutum cor._ No doubt a misquotation of Ps. li.\n_cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies_.\n\nP. 245, l. 18. _Albe vous a nomm\u00e9._ Corneille, _Horace_, act ii. sc.\n3.\n\nP. 248, l. 1. _Omnis creatura subjecta est vanitati._ Eccles. iii.\n19, but the true reading is \"_cuncta subjacent vanitati_.\"\n\nP. 249, l. 33. _Inclina cor meum._ Ps. cxix. 36.\n\nP. 251, l. 13. _Ne evacuetur crux Christi._ 1 ad Cor. i. 17.\n\nP. 253. _The Arrangement._ Scattered here and there in Pascal's MS.\nwere a number of notes concerning the plan, form, and matter of his\nintended treatise, many of them marked with the word \"_Ordre_.\" These\nare gathered together by recent editors, and some others which seem\nto cohere with them added, but Molinier's arrangement, as well as\nthat of Faug\u00e8re, is necessarily somewhat arbitrary.\n\nP. 254, l. 6. _Justus ex fide vivit._ Habac. ii. 4. Ad Rom. i. 17.\n\nP. 254, l. 8. _fides ex auditu._ Ad Rom. x. 17.\n\nP. 254, l. 14. _divide my moral qualities into four._ The classical\ndivision of ancient philosophy was into four: prudence, temperance,\njustice, magnanimity.\n\nP. 254, l. 16. _Abstine et sustine._ The Stoic formula.\n\nP. 257. _The Miracle of the Holy Thorn._ Marguerite Perier, Pascal's\nniece, aged ten, was cured of lachrymal fistula on March 24, 1656,\nafter touching the diseased part with a reliquary containing a thorn\nfrom the Saviour's crown. This was at the time that Port Royal was\nsuffering deeply from persecution, and was considered by many a\nsignal mark of the favour of heaven. The Jesuits did not deny the\nmiracle, but the conclusions drawn from it.\n\nP. 257, l. 20. _those who heal by invocation of the devil._ Pascal,\nwhen a child, was supposed both to have been made ill and restored to\nhealth by a witch. He desires to show that this was no miracle.\n\nP. 258, l. 9. _Believe the Church._ Matt. xviii. 17.\n\nP. 258, l. 13. _Montaigne._ Cf. _Essais_, i. 26.\n\nP. 258, l. 23. _Jud\u00e6i signa petunt._ 1 ad Cor. i. 22.\n\nP. 258, l. 25. _Sed plenum signis._ This and the following one are\nnot to be found. Pascal is probably citing Saint Paul from memory.\n\nP. 258, l. 29. _Sed vos non creditis._ Joh. x. 26.\n\nP. 261, l. 5. _Saint Augustine._ Pascal does not appear to refer to\nany single passage, but to the general teaching of Saint Augustine.\nBut see especially _De Civit. Dei_, xxii. 9.\n\nP. 262, l. 19. _Scimus quia venisti a Deo._ Joh. iii. 2.\n\nP. 263, l. 3. _We have Moses._ John ix. 21.\n\nP. 263, l. 30. _Quid debui._ Is. v. 4. _Quid est quod debui facere\nvine\u00e6 me\u00e6 et non feci ei._\n\nP. 264, l. 16. _Barjesus was blinded._ Acts xiii. 6-11.\n\nP. 264, l. 22. _Si angelus._ A reference to ad Gal. i. 8.\n\nP. 264, l. 28. _my good father._ Probably Father Annat. See p. 289,\nl. 28.\n\nP. 265, l. 21. _1 P. ix. 113, a. 10, ad. 2._ These signs refer to\nthe Summa of Saint Thomas Aquinas here quoted, and mean _Parte 1,\nqu\u00e6stione 113, articulo 10, ad objectionem 2_.\n\nP. 265, l. 22. _Si tu es Christus._ Luc. xxii. 66.\n\nP. 265, l. 23. _Opera qu\u00e6 ego facio._ Joh. v. 36.\n\nP. 265, l. 25. _Sed non vos creditis._ Joh. x. 26.\n\nP. 265, l. 29. _Nemo potest facere signa._ Joh. iii. 2.\n\nP. 265, l. 34. _Generatio prava._ Matt. xii. 39.\n\nP. 266, l. 5. _Nisi videritis signa non creditis._ Joh. iv. 48.\n\nP. 266, l. 9. _Secundum operationem Satan\u00e6._ 2 ad Thess. ii. 9.\n\nP. 266, l. 12. _Tentat enim vos Deus._ Deut. xiii. 3.\n\nP. 266, l. 14. _Ecce pr\u00e6dixi vobis._ Matt. xxiv. 25.\n\nP. 267, l. 26. _Father Lingende._ Claude de Lingendes, 1591-1660, was\na Jesuit preacher. His sermons were published in 1666.\n\nP. 268, l. 11. _Ubi est Deus tuus._ Ps. xlii. 3.\n\nP. 268, l. 22. _do not believe that the five propositions are in\nJansenius._ To explain this fully would need a far longer note than\ncan here be given. It may be said shortly that the allusion is to\nthe \"Augustinus\" of Cornelius Jansen, Bishop of Ypres. Two questions\narose: first, whether the propositions condemned were heretical, and\nsecond, whether if heretical they were in Jansen's book. The second\nassertion was that which the nuns of Port Royal refused to make. They\nhad not read the book, and could not affirm that of which they were\nignorant. The five propositions were on the Doctrines of Grace and\nFree Will.\n\nP. 268, l. 27. _Tu quid dicis._ These are partial quotations from\nJoh. iv. 19, etc.\n\nP. 269, l. 9. _Nemo facit virtutem._ Marc. ix. 38, but incorrectly.\nThe true reading is _Nemo est enim qui faciat_.\n\nP. 269, l. 25. _Omne regnum divisum._ Matt. xii. 25.\n\nP. 269, l. 28. _Si in digito Dei._ Luc. xi. 20.\n\nP. 269, l. 35. _Vatable_, who died in 1517, was professor of Hebrew\nat the Coll\u00e9ge Royal established by Francis I. In 1539 Robert Etienne\npublished an edition of the Latin Bible of Leo of Modena--Rabbi\nJehuda--to which he added under Vatable's name, notes which were\nnot really Vatable's, but borrowed from various writers of the\nReformation. These notes were condemned by the Sorbonne. The Bible\nknown as that of Vatable contains the Hebrew, the Vulgate Version,\nand that of Rabbi Jehuda.\n\nP. 271, l. 23. _miracles of Vespasian._ Tacitus, _Hist._ iv. 81.\n\nP. 273. _Jesuits and Jansenists._ A collection of fragments on these\nsubjects, which perhaps might be considered rather as an appendix to,\nor notes for the _Provincial Letters_, than a part of the _Thoughts_,\nproperly so called. But they form part of the autograph MS.\n\nP. 273, l. 9. _There is a time to laugh._ Eccles. iii. 4. _Responde,\nne respondeas._ Prov. xxvi. 4.\n\nP. 275, l. 9. _Elias was a man like ourselves._ Quoted by memory as\nfrom Saint Peter, but really from Saint James, v. 17.\n\nP. 275, l. 14. _accused of many crimes._ Athanasius was accused of\nrape, of murder, and of sacrilege. He was condemned by the Councils\nof Tyre, A.D. 335, of Arles, A.D. 353, and of Milan A.D. 355. Pope\nLiberius, after having long refused to ratify the condemnation, was\nsaid to have finally done so A.D. 357. But this is disputed by recent\nauthorities. For Athanasius we are of course here to read Jansenius\nand Arnauld; for Saint Theresa, la m\u00e8re Ang\u00e9lique or la m\u00e8re Agn\u00e8s;\nfor Liberius, Clement IX.\n\nP. 275, l. 33. _Antonio Escobar y Mendoza._ The Spanish Jesuit whose\nsystem of morals was so severely handled by Pascal in the _Provincial\nLetters_. He is among those whose names have given rise to a word:\n\"_escobarderie_\" is a synonym for equivocation.\n\nP. 276, l. 6. _Molina_, Louis, a Spanish Jesuit, born 1535, died\n1601. The Jansenists accused his Commentary on the Summa of Saint\nThomas Aquinas of favouring a lax morality.\n\nP. 277, l. 4. _Mohatra._ \"The contract Mohatra, by which a man buys\ncloth at a dear rate and on credit, to re-sell it at once to the same\nperson cheaply for ready money.\" Eighth _Provincial_.\n\nP. 278, l. 21. _Est and non est._\n\nP. 278, l. 26. _V\u00e6 qui conditis leges iniquas._ Is. x. 1. But the\nVulgate reads _V\u00e6 qui condunt_.\n\nP. 279, l. 22. _M. de Condran._ No doubt Charles de Condren,\n1588-1641, doctor of the Sorbonne, and second General of the French\nOratory, a society of priests founded by Cardinal de B\u00e9rulle at Paris\nin 1611.\n\nP. 280, l. 7. _Sanctificavi pr\u00e6lium._ Mic. iii. 5.\n\nP. 280, l. 12. _Ne convertantur._ Is. vi. 10.\n\nP. 282, l. 21. _Coacervabunt tibi magistras._ 2 ad Tim. iv. 3, where\nthe Vulgate has \"_sibi_.\"\n\nP. 282, l. 28. _not to make appointments to bishoprics._ But a few\nyears after this Fathers La Chaise and Le Tellier, as Confessors to\nthe King, had this power in their hands.\n\nP. 282, l. 31. _Father Brisacier_, born 1603, a Jesuit, and a warm\nopponent of Jansenism. He wrote _Le Jans\u00e9nisme confondu_, and several\nminor works. He is constantly quoted in the _Provincial Letters_.\n\nP. 283, l. 1. _Venice._ The Jesuits had just returned to Venice in\n1657, having been expelled thence in 1606.\n\nP. 283, l. 22. _Amice, ad quid venisti._ Matt. xxvi. 50.\n\nP. 283, l. 24. _probability_, or, technically, probabilism.\nProbabilism teaches that it is permissible to act on an opinion which\nis less probable than the opinion opposed to it so long as there is\na solid ground for regarding it as probable _in itself_. Thus, if\nout of three moral theologians of recognised authority, two give it\nas their opinion that a certain course of conduct is unlawful, while\nthe third asserts it to be lawful, probabilism permits the adoption\nin practice of the third opinion in opposition to the other two. A\nconfessor would therefore have no right to forbid it under pain of\nsin.\n\nP. 284, l. 12. _Dii estis._ Ps. lxxxii. 6.\n\nP. 284, l. 13. _If my Letters are condemned at Rome._ The _Provincial\nLetters_ were condemned at Rome, Sept. 6, 1657.\n\nP. 285, l. 22. _imago._ An allusion to the famous panegyric on the\nJesuits called, \"_Imago primi s\u00e6culi_.\" See Fifth _Provincial_.\n\nP. 285, l. 36. _Si non fecissem qu\u00e6 alius non fecit._ Jon. xv. 24.\n\nP. 286, l. 31. _These nuns._ The nuns of Port Royal were called upon\nto sign the Formula which declared that the Five Propositions were\n_in Jansenius_.\n\nP. 287, l. 4. _Vide si via iniquitatis in me est._ Ps. cxxxix. 24.\n\nP. 287, l. 15. _they are so no longer_, i.e. since the miracle.\n\nP. 288, l. 18. _Vos autem non sic._ Luc. xxii. 26.\n\nP. 289, l. 28. _Annat_, 1590-1670, a Jesuit priest, Provincial of\nthe Order, and Confessor to Louis XIV., 1654-1670. He wrote the\nwell-known book, _Le Rabat-joie des Jans\u00e9nistes_, 1666, and to him\nwere addressed Pascal's Seventeenth and Eighteenth _Provincials_.\n\nP. 290, l. 9. _Montalte._ Louis de Montalte was the pseudonym adopted\nby Pascal as the writer of the _Provincial Letters_.\n\nP. 290, l. 26. _A fructibus eorum._ Matt. vii. 16.\n\nP. 291, l. 6. _Lessius_, Leonard, a Jesuit born at Brecht, near\nAntwerp, 1554, died 1623, a pupil of Suarez. He was censured by the\nFaculty of Louvain in 1584. He wrote, among others, a treatise, _De\nlicito usu \u00e6quivocationum et mentalium restrictionum_.\n\nP. 291, l. 9. _Bauny._ Pascal in his Eighth _Provincial_ quotes an\nopinion of Father Bauny on the question of restitution to be made by\none who has caused the burning of his neighbour's barn.\n\nP. 291, l. 10. _quam primum._ A reference to the rule that if a\npriest personally disqualified from saying Mass on account of any\nmortal sin is yet obliged to do so for the sake of his parishioners,\nit is sufficient that he make an act of contrition, and as soon as\npossible \"_quam primum_\" seek the Sacrament of Penance.\n\nP. 292, l. 18. _State super vias._ A partial quotation from Jer. vi.\n16.\n\nP. 293, l. 20. _Vince in bono malum._ Ad Rom. xii. 21.\n\nP. 297, l. 5. _Bibite ex hoc omnes._ Matt xvii. 27.\n\nP. 297, l. 7. _In quo omnes peccaverunt._ Ad Rom. v. 12.\n\nP. 298, l. 10. _Ne timeas, pusillus grex._ Luc. xii. 32.\n\nP. 298, l. 13. _Qui me recipit._ Matt. x. 40.\n\nP. 298, l. 14. _Nemo scit neque Filius._ Luc. x. 22.\n\nP. 298, l. 15. _Nemo lucida obumbravit._ Matt. xvii. v.\n\nP. 303, l. 6. _plus poetice quam humane locutus es._ Petronius, c.\n90, where the words have not the turn that Pascal here gives them.\n\nP. 304, l. 2. _The part that I take in your sorrow._ The Chevalier\nde M\u00e9r\u00e9, in his _Discours de la Conversation_, says, that he had\nbeen witness to a bet, that on opening a letter of condolence the\nset phrase condemned above would occur, and that the lady to whom\nthe letter was addressed could not help laughing in spite of her\ndistress. Pascal's note is against writing mere formal phrases which\ncan thus be easily guessed. The Cardinal is Mazarin.\n\nP. 304, l. 9. _M. le M._ Le Maistre, Antoine, 1608-1658. The allusion\nis to _Les Plaidoyers et Harangues_ de M. le Maistre, Paris, 1657. On\nthe first page of Plaidoyer VI., _Pour un fils mis en religion par\nforce_, we find \"_Dieu qui r\u00e9pand des aveuglements et des t\u00e9n\u00e8bres\nsur les passions ill\u00e9gitimes_,\" and Pascal probably refers to this\npassage as one in which the word _r\u00e9pandre_ could not be replaced by\n_verser_.\n\nP. 305, l. 23. _I judge by my watch._ Mlle. Perier says, that Pascal\nalways wore a watch attached to his left wrist-band.\n\nP. 309, l. 27. _An example may be taken from the circulation of the\nblood._ Apparently taken from Descartes, _Discours de la M\u00e9thode_,\npt. v., in which Descartes speaks of Harvey's discovery.\n\nP. 309, l. 33. _M. de Roannez._ Gouffier, Duc de Roannez, was a\nfriend of Pascal, some seven or eight years younger than he. He was a\ndevoted adherent of Port Royal, and died unmarried.\n\nP. 312, l. 23. _Salomon de Tultie._ An anagram for Louis de Montalte,\nsee p. 290, l. 9.\n\nP. 313, l. 11. _The story of the pike and frog._ This story has\nhitherto escaped research.\n\nP. 313, l. 17. _conatus recedendi._ Centrifugal force.\n\nP. 316, l. 3. _When a strong man armed._ Luke xi. 21.\n\n\n\n\n_INDEX._\n\n\n\n\n_INDEX._\n\n\n  Abel and Cain, 267\n\n  Abraham, 197\n\n  ---- stones can become the children of, 137\n\n  ---- promises made to, 169\n\n  ---- foretold the coming of the Messiah, 213\n\n  ---- above revelation, 261\n\n  Absolutions without signs of regret, 294, 295\n\n  Academicians, 110, 184\n\n  Action, we must look beyond the, at our past, 315\n\n  Actions, virtuous, all crimes have found place among, 61\n\n  Acuteness, loss of, 100\n\n  Adam, 126\n\n  ---- witness of the Messiah, 169, 174\n\n  ---- his glorious state, 193\n\n  ---- tradition from, 201\n\n  ---- the first and the second, 231\n\n  Admiration spoils everything, 58\n\n  Advent of Jesus Christ, 133\n\n  Advents, the two, characters of each of them, 132\n\n  Agamemnon, 173\n\n  Age, its influence on judgment, 27\n\n  Agitation, in seeking repose we are only seeking, 34\n\n  Agony of Jesus Christ, 231\n\n  ---- ---- lasts even to the end of the world, 231\n\n  Alexander, compared to C\u00e6sar, 41\n\n  ---- his chastity, 74\n\n  ---- and his successors, foretold by Daniel, 144\n\n  ---- working unconsciously for the Gospel, 147\n\n  ---- Jaddus and, 227\n\n  Amos, translation of a passage in, 155\n\n  Ananias, 271\n\n  Animals, mind and instinct of, 313\n\n  Annat, Father, 289\n\n  Antichrist, his miracles foretold by Jesus Christ, 259\n\n  ---- he will speak openly against God, 263\n\n  ---- conclusions we may draw from his miracles, 267\n\n  Apocalyptics, the, 166\n\n  Apostles, their miracles, 119\n\n  ---- foresaw heresies, 128\n\n  ---- gave us the key to interpretation of the Old Testament, 159\n\n  ---- hypotheses that they were deceived or deceivers, 223\n\n  ---- and Exorcists, 267\n\n  Apple, the golden, 173\n\n  Archesilas, the sceptic, 63\n\n  Archimedes, his greatness, 228\n\n  Arians, their doctrine, 274\n\n  Aristotle, 78\n\n  Arius, the miracles of his time, 267\n\n  Artisan, an, who dreams, 109\n\n  Astrology, folly of, 75\n\n  Atheism, often produced by a false knowledge of the world's judgment, 7\n\n  ---- mark of force of mind only to a certain degree, 111\n\n  Atheists, carelessness of, monstrous, 4\n\n  ---- two kinds of, 4\n\n  ---- their reasoning, 5\n\n  ---- are despicable, 8\n\n  ---- feelings they should inspire in true Christians, 8, 12\n\n  ---- ought to say things perfectly clear, 111\n\n  ---- their objections against the Resurrection, 223\n\n  ---- to pity and revile, 253\n\n  Athens, 120\n\n  Atom, man is but an, 5\n\n  Augustin, Saint, quoted, 80, 160\n\n  ---- what he says of miracles, 261\n\n  ---- authority of his opinion, 296\n\n  Augustus compared to Julius C\u00e6sar, 41\n\n  ---- what he said on hearing of the Massacre of the Innocents, 221\n\n  Authors, their vanity misplaced, 315\n\n  ---- how to understand the meaning of, 167\n\n\n  Babylon, carrying away into, 122\n\n  ---- the rivers of, 243\n\n  Babylonians, the, 127\n\n  Barcoseba, 221\n\n  Barjesus, 264\n\n  Barreaux, Des, 113\n\n  Bauny, Father, quoted, 291\n\n  Beatitude, the eighth, 252\n\n  Beauty, to love on account of, is not love, 80\n\n  ---- certain kind of, which suits our nature, 301\n\n  ---- poetical, what is meant by this, 304\n\n  Belief, three means of, 251\n\n  ---- labour to come to, 99\n\n  ---- what should be the rule of, 308\n\n  Benedictines, the, 282\n\n  Bible, the most ancient book, 120\n\n  Birth an advantage, 71\n\n  Blame and praise, 58\n\n  Blood, circulation of the, taken as an example, 309\n\n  Bodily functions, 31\n\n  Body, relation of, to its members, 237\n\n  Bourseys, M., 280\n\n  Brave deeds, which are the most estimable, 58\n\n  Brisacier, Father, 282\n\n  Brutes, no admiration for each other, 58\n\n\n  Cabala, proofs of Jesus Christ by the, 157\n\n  C\u00e6sar, Julius, 147\n\n  ---- compared to Augustus and Alexander, 41\n\n  Calvin, 266\n\n  Calvinists, their errors, 298\n\n  Canonical books, proved by the heretical, 289\n\n  Carnal, those who are, 242\n\n  Carthusian compared to a soldier, 74\n\n  Casuists, the faithful cannot reasonably follow their maxims, 277\n\n  ---- cannot assure an erring conscience, 293\n\n  ---- with reference to the reason and the will, 293\n\n  ---- allow free action to lust, 293\n\n  ---- their doctrines, 295\n\n  Catholics and heretics, 267\n\n  Celsus, 116, 214\n\n  Champaign, taken as a comparison, 32\n\n  Chancellor, taken as an example, 55\n\n  Chances, doctrine of, 80, 98\n\n  Characters, Christian and human, 245\n\n  Charity and lust, 128\n\n  ---- sole aim of the Scripture, 170\n\n  ---- is not a figurative precept, 170\n\n  ---- supernatural distance of mind from, 227\n\n  ---- its superiority to minds and bodies, 228\n\n  ---- truth without, is but the image of God, 250\n\n  Charron, estimate of his work, 17\n\n  Children frightened at the face they have daubed, 57\n\n  China, 299\n\n  ---- thoughts on, 115\n\n  ---- history of, 117\n\n  ---- religion of, 119\n\n  Chinese, their histories, 173\n\n  Choice, that we must make a, between belief and unbelief, reasons for\n        each alternative, 98\n\n  Christ, contradictory predictions concerning, 136\n\n  ---- promised and awaited from the beginning of the world, 197\n\n  ---- came in the fulness of time, 197\n\n  Christianity, in what it consists, 250\n\n  ---- changes wrought at its coming, 134\n\n  ---- elevates and abases man, 187\n\n  Christians astonish philosophers, 43\n\n  ---- true, 71\n\n  ---- are the free children of God, 122\n\n  ---- should look on themselves as members of a body, 237\n\n  ---- how the example of the martyrs touches a true, 238\n\n  ---- two kinds of, 242\n\n  ---- there are few true, 243\n\n  ---- their hopes are mingled with enjoyment and fear, 246\n\n  ---- happiness and virtues of true, 247\n\n  ---- should unite themselves to Jesus Christ in order not to be hateful\n        to God, 247\n\n  ---- true, submit to folly, 247\n\n  ---- why they believe without having read the Gospels, 248\n\n  ---- who believe without proofs cannot persuade an infidel, though\n        persuaded themselves, 249\n\n  Church, true justice found in the, 67\n\n  ---- prefigured by the Synagogue, 176\n\n  ---- dangers it has run, 198\n\n  ---- the, when persecuted is like a vessel beaten about by a storm, 211\n\n  ---- that is a good state of the, in which it is upheld by God alone,\n        241\n\n  ---- her miracles against her enemies, 266\n\n  ---- ancient and modern, influence of tradition, 274\n\n  ---- comparison of what took place in ancient, and now, 275\n\n  ---- defended by God against corruption, 277\n\n  ---- unity and plurality of the, power of the Pope, 287\n\n  ---- judges of men by outward actions, 294\n\n  ---- power of the, in confession, compared to that of parliament, 294\n\n  ---- teaches, but God inspires, 294\n\n  ---- discipline of the, needs reform, 295\n\n  Cicero, false beauties we admire in, 302\n\n  ---- quoted, 110\n\n  Circumcision only a sign, 175\n\n  Clearness, why religion does not possess it, 3\n\n  Cleobuline, a character in a romance, 32\n\n  Cleopatra, the nose of, 60\n\n  Communing, secret, of man with himself, 46\n\n  Compliments, dislike of, 315\n\n  Composition of a work, 302\n\n  Concupiscence, source of all our movements, 81\n\n  Condition, our desires paint for us a happy, 74\n\n  Condran, M. de, his opinions, 279\n\n  Condrieu, the grapes of, 32\n\n  Confession, auricular, defence of, 85\n\n  ---- joy and confidence felt after, 252\n\n  Confessors of the great, 29\n\n  Conscience, evil done sometimes by, 279\n\n  Contradiction in man, 44, 60, 181\n\n  ---- does not prove that a thing is false, 210\n\n  ---- apparent, in Scripture, examples, 168\n\n  ---- between different passages of Scripture, 220\n\n  Contrition is necessary in penitence, absolution not enough, 295\n\n  Conversion, in what it consists, 245\n\n  Copernicus, 101\n\n  Corneille, quoted, 245\n\n  Corruption of nature, one of the establishments of the Christian\n        religion, 6\n\n  ---- of man, proved by the wicked and the Jews, 191\n\n  ---- those in, should know it, 255\n\n  Covenant, foretold by Daniel, 144\n\n  ---- announced by Scripture, 168\n\n  Craft, when power attacks it, 69\n\n  Creatures, we should not attach ourselves to them, 240\n\n  Cripples do not irritate us, 45\n\n  Cromwell, reflections on his death, 76\n\n  Cross, by it alone can we be saved, 187\n\n  Curiosity is mere frivolity, 60\n\n  Custom, a power, 69\n\n  ---- belief arising from, 77\n\n  ---- how established, may be upset, 62\n\n  ---- the creator of, 62\n\n  ---- a second nature which destroys the former, 64\n\n  ---- must be followed, 64\n\n  ---- is our nature, 65\n\n  ---- sways the automaton, which draws the intellect after, 77\n\n  ---- how useful to accustom us to truth, 77\n\n  ---- leads to a choice of occupation, 78\n\n  Cypher, types are a, with a double sense, 158\n\n  ---- of the Scripture as given us by Saint Paul, 176\n\n  Cyrus, 128, 147, 151\n\n\n  Damned, the, condemned by their own reason, 296\n\n  Dancing, why pursued, 35\n\n  Daniel, the seventy weeks of, their calculation, 133, 143\n\n  ---- the little stone of, 136\n\n  ---- explanation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in, 141\n\n  ---- vision of the ram and he-goat in, 142\n\n  ---- his prophecy, 171\n\n  Darius, King of the Persians, 144\n\n  David, a single phrase of, 122\n\n  ---- the kingdom of his race foretold by all the prophets, 132\n\n  ---- witness of Christ, 140\n\n  ---- foretold the Messiah, 170\n\n  Death, to be dreaded by those who are careless of religion, 5\n\n  ---- Montaigne's opinions on, 17\n\n  ---- fear of, 29\n\n  ---- the thought of, is harder to bear than death itself, 38\n\n  ---- feared Death, 232\n\n  Degrees, why there are different, among men, 56\n\n  Deism, almost as far removed from Christianity as atheism, 204\n\n  Deluge is a miracle, 169\n\n  Democritus, quoted, 21\n\n  Demonstration, not the only means of persuasion, 79\n\n  Demonstrations, not certain that there are true, 110\n\n  _De omni scibili_, title of a thesis of Pico della Mirandola, 22\n\n  Desargues, the grapes of, 32\n\n  Descartes useless and uncertain, 304\n\n  ---- criticism of his opinions on the machine, 312\n\n  Despair, knowledge of our wretchedness without that of God creates, 93\n\n  Devoutness, different to goodness, 279\n\n  Devil, the, troubled the zeal of the Jews, 122\n\n  ---- what is done by invocation of, no miracle, 257\n\n  ---- Jesus Christ destroyed the empire of the, over the heart, 269\n\n  Dialogues, the arrangement by, 253\n\n  Disciples and true disciples, difference between, 244\n\n  Discourse, natural, inclined to love him who makes a, 302\n\n  Discourses on humility, 76\n\n  Disease, source of error in man, 54\n\n  Disesteem, the fear we have of, of others, 44\n\n  Disproportion of man, 19\n\n  Disputes, ended by miracles, 267\n\n  Diversion, 33\n\n  ---- is all that men can do for happiness, 34\n\n  ---- why men seek it, 34\n\n  ---- is the greatest of our miseries, 38\n\n  ---- the search for, proves that men are not happy, 38\n\n  ---- what is meant by, 255\n\n  Diversity, root of, 67\n\n  ---- and uniformity, 283\n\n  Divinity, proof of, by works of nature, 91\n\n  Docility, too much, is a vice as natural as unbelief, 243\n\n  Doctor, the, a character in the drama, 31\n\n  Doctrine, a test of miracles, 257\n\n  ---- a false, cannot be proved by miracles, 264\n\n  Doctrines, a multitude of, 138\n\n  Dogmatists, their opinion on natural principles, 106\n\n  Donatists, have no miracles, 261\n\n  Doubt in religion is a great evil, 5\n\n  Drama, life treated as a, 75\n\n  Dream, life compared to a, 109\n\n  Duties, divers, owed to divers merits, 68\n\n\n  Eclipses, why it is said they presage misfortune, 75\n\n  Egyptians, their religion, 119\n\n  ---- mean iniquities in the Bible, 171\n\n  ---- their histories, 173\n\n  ---- their conversion foretold by Isaiah, 175\n\n  Elect, all things work together for good to the, 129\n\n  Elijah and the false prophets, 267\n\n  Eloquence, continuous, wearies, 39\n\n  ---- definition of, to be eloquent we must study the heart of man, 301\n\n  ---- is painted thought, 301\n\n  ---- there are those who speak well and write ill, 303\n\n  Enemies, what must be understood by this word in the prophecies,\n        164, 170\n\n  England, King of, 75\n\n  Enquirers and the wise, 242\n\n  Epaminondas as an example of valour and humanity, 30\n\n  Epictetus, 72, 226\n\n  ---- his method of writing, 312\n\n  Epicureans, 92\n\n  Epigrams, a maker of, 81\n\n  Equality of goods is just, 67\n\n  Error, common, sometimes useful to calm the curiosity of man, 312\n\n  Escobar, 275, 280\n\n  Esdras, the story in, 126\n\n  ---- discussion on the book of, 126\n\n  Establishment, greatness of, 79\n\n  Eucharist, the, 165\n\n  ---- a type of glory, 170\n\n  ---- folly of not believing in the, reason, 224\n\n  ---- wholly the body of Jesus Christ, 299\n\n  Eusebius, quoted on Esdras, 127\n\n  Evangelists painted in Jesus Christ an heroic soul, 222\n\n  Evidence for God, not in nature, 92\n\n  Evil is easy, 59\n\n  Examples, those which are taken as proof are often more difficult than\n        what they are meant to prove, 308\n\n  Exception, troublesome to be an, to the rule, 271\n\n  Excuses sometimes bad, 315\n\n  Exorcists, Jewish, beaten by devils, 264\n\n  Experience, 26\n\n  Expressions, false and tyrannical, examples of, 68\n\n  Ezekiel, spoke evil of Israel, like the heathens, 289\n\n\n  Faith, habit of, 65\n\n  ---- man without, cannot know the true good or justice, 95\n\n  ---- that we must give up pleasure in order to gain, 100\n\n  ---- wherein it consists, 193, 280\n\n  ---- is not in our power, 249\n\n  ---- is a gift of God, 250\n\n  ---- above the senses, but not contrary to them, 250\n\n  ---- received at baptism source of the whole life of the Christian, 250\n\n  ---- embraces contradictory truths, why, 273\n\n  ---- Pascal's profession of, 235\n\n  Falsehood, man is only, duplicity, and contradiction, 76\n\n  Fancy, called feeling by some, 309\n\n  Fascination, 101, 165\n\n  Faults, we should recognise them, 85\n\n  Fear, to, and not to fear, 298\n\n  ---- a true, is born of faith, 252\n\n  ---- false, comes from doubt, 252\n\n  Feeble souls, 289\n\n  Figurative, that the Jewish law was, 167\n\n  Finite, the, annihilated in presence of the infinite, 96\n\n  Flattery, consequent on our desire not to know the truth, 86\n\n  Fly, enough to render man incapable of sound judgment, 27\n\n  Fool, a man believes he is a, by dint of telling him so, 46\n\n  Forms, their value, 280\n\n  Foundation, supernatural of our, 286\n\n  ---- of our faith, 115\n\n  France, 56\n\n  Francis Xavier, Saint, 278\n\n  Frenchman, the, 80\n\n  Friend, important to have a true, and to choose him well, 315\n\n  Friendship only exists by concealment of truth, 86\n\n  Frivolity of the world, little known, 41\n\n  Fronde, injustice of the, 67\n\n  Fundamentals, chapter on, 255\n\n  Future, our thoughts occupied with the, 73\n\n\n  Galilee, the word, pronounced by chance, caused the accomplishment of\n        a mystery, 218\n\n  Genealogies, the two, of Jesus Christ, 125\n\n  Genealogy of Jesus Christ in Old Testament designedly mixed with\n        others, 220\n\n  Gentiles, their conversion foretold by Jesus Christ, 136, 214\n\n  ---- prophecy of Isaiah on conversion of, 147, 148\n\n  ---- conversion of the, reserved for the grace of the Messiah, 218\n\n  Gentlemen, we never teach men to be, 78\n\n  ---- universal quality to be, 79\n\n  Germans, the, 61\n\n  Glory, the search after, is a mark of the vileness and excellence of\n        man, 44\n\n  ---- sweetness of, 59\n\n  God, a, who hideth himself, 3\n\n  ---- the greatest sensible mark of the power of, 19\n\n  ---- unites in himself two infinites, 22\n\n  ---- in, alone is our happiness, 39\n\n  ---- the, of the Christians, who he is, 92\n\n  ---- dangers which those run who seek, apart from Jesus Christ, 93\n\n  ---- of Christians the only good, the only rest of the soul is in him,\n        93\n\n  ---- we may well know, without knowing what he is, 97\n\n  ---- that there is less risk in wagering that there is a, than that\n        there is not, 98\n\n  ---- man without, is in ignorance and misery, 104\n\n  ---- of the philosophers, 111\n\n  ---- man of himself cannot come to, 114\n\n  ---- alone is master of the Jews, 122\n\n  ---- foresaw heresies, 128\n\n  ---- sometimes spoke by figures, 160\n\n  ---- the power of, shown by his conduct to Jewish people, 161\n\n  ---- idea of, that the true religion, should present, 179\n\n  ---- the Christian religion commands that we should love and follow,\n        182\n\n  ---- that in spite of our vileness it is not incredible that, should\n        unite himself to us, 185\n\n  ---- reveals himself to, and hides himself from man, 193\n\n  ---- infinite, without parts, 205\n\n  ---- if, is the end he is the beginning, 206\n\n  ---- why, was hidden in his first advent, 207\n\n  ---- that, willed to hide himself, and that the religion which says so\n        is true, 208\n\n  ---- chooses rather to sway the will than the intellect, 208\n\n  ---- why, has permitted many religions to exist, 212\n\n  ---- impossible and useless to know, without Jesus Christ, 226\n\n  ---- speaks rightly of God, 227\n\n  ---- we must love, only, 238\n\n  ---- we should spend our life either in pleasing or in seeking, 240\n\n  ---- exercises at once his mercy and his judgment to the world, 241\n\n  ---- has come to bring war among men, 246\n\n  ---- what is pleasing to, is usually displeasing to man, 246\n\n  ---- forbids some things implicitly, and not explicitly, 247\n\n  ---- can alone give faith to Christians, 249\n\n  ---- knowledge and love of, 252\n\n  ---- cannot lead men into error by miracles, 263\n\n  ---- cannot favour a doctrine which destroys the Church, 269\n\n  ---- foretold the disorders which the Church would undergo, 278\n\n  ---- heals those who know him, 280\n\n  ---- no sign ever given by Devil without a stronger sign on the part\n        of, 286\n\n  ---- the heart is conscious of, not the reason, 307\n\n  Good, almost unique, 59\n\n  ---- philosophers do not know what is the true, 181\n\n  ---- and evil, meaning of the words, 192\n\n  Good birth, its advantages, 68\n\n  Good breeding, 271\n\n  Good sense, argument against scepticism, 110\n\n  Gospel, prophecies cited in the, their use, 133\n\n  ---- the kings of old worked unconsciously for the glory of the, 147\n\n  ---- figures of the, their application, 160\n\n  ---- all the, has reference to Jesus Christ, 226\n\n  Grace, its action on man, 108\n\n  ---- the figure of glory, 161\n\n  ---- law, and nature, 250\n\n  ---- needed to make a man a saint, 296\n\n  ---- opposed to nature, 296\n\n  Grandeur to be felt must be abandoned, 40\n\n  Great men and little have the same accidents, 75\n\n  ---- are allied to the people, 74\n\n  Greatness, infinity of, most obvious to the senses, 21\n\n  ---- and littleness of man, 43\n\n  ---- of man consists in knowing he is miserable, 47\n\n  ---- of man even in sensuality, 69\n\n  ---- of the human soul consists in knowing how to keep the mean, 76\n\n  ---- has no lustre for those who seek understanding, 227\n\n  Greece, 120\n\n  Greek legislators, 121\n\n  Greeks, 197, 222\n\n  Grotius, 140\n\n\n  Haggai, his prophecy, 156\n\n  Happiness of man, in what it consists, 49\n\n  ---- all men seek, 95\n\n  ---- there was once in man a true, 95\n\n  ---- of man with God, 89\n\n  ---- common aim of ordinary men and of saints, but their ideals are\n        different, 244\n\n  Happy, why man cannot be, 74\n\n  Hatred of self necessary, 238\n\n  ---- ---- the true and only virtue, 240\n\n  Heart and reason, comparison between actions of, 307\n\n  ---- those who judge by the, do not understand the process of\n        reasoning, 308\n\n  ---- the, we know truth by, as well as by reason, 102\n\n  ---- believes for its own reasons, 307\n\n  Heat, what it is, 313\n\n  Hebrews, the, their manner of counting, 144\n\n  Heel of a slipper, 58\n\n  Hell, fear of, 100\n\n  Heresies, the source of all, 273\n\n  ---- the way to hinder, 274\n\n  ---- various, 297\n\n  ---- foreseen by God, 128\n\n  Heresy, exclusion of a truth a source of, 274\n\n  Heretics, the Jesuits hinder their conversion, 281\n\n  Herod, 147, 218, 221\n\n  Hesiod, the book of, 121\n\n  Hilary, Saint, 127, 278\n\n  History, all that is not contemporaneous is open to suspicion, 174\n\n  Holy Sacrament, Catholic and heretical doctrines on, 274\n\n  Holy Thorn, the miracle of the, 257\n\n  ---- conclusion to be drawn from the miracle of the, 269\n\n  Homer, quoted, 120\n\n  Homer's writings, romances, 173\n\n  Huguenots, their errors concerning the Pope, 288\n\n  Hunting, sought for the diversion, 34\n\n  ---- is a royal sport, 35\n\n\n  \"I,\" the, consists in my thought, 76\n\n  ---- where does it reside, 80\n\n  ---- each, the enemy of all others, 84\n\n  Identity of number and matter, 299\n\n  Ignorance, natural, is the best wisdom of man, 83\n\n  ---- of man, 104\n\n  Iliad, the, 173\n\n  Illusion, all men under an, 71\n\n  Imaginary life, the, 58\n\n  Imagination, deceptive powers of the, 51\n\n  ---- faculty of, 51\n\n  ---- described, 51\n\n  ---- great complacency of the active, 52\n\n  ---- enlarges little objects and belittles the great, 56\n\n  ---- cords of, 56\n\n  Immortality of the soul, importance to be sure of this, 101\n\n  Impiety, ill-bred people only incapable of, 8\n\n  Impressions, old, man deceived by, 54\n\n  Inability of man to attain good, 95\n\n  Incapacity to prove truth, 109\n\n  Incarnation, the, shows man the greatness of his misery, 188\n\n  Incomprehensible, things which appear such, 205\n\n  Inconstancy of man, 26\n\n  ---- its causes, 31\n\n  ---- examples of, 79\n\n  Indifference, unfairness of men who live in, as to the truth, 9\n\n  Indifferent, the, in religion not to be despised, 8\n\n  Indulgences, 274\n\n  Inequality is necessary among men, but opens the door to tyranny, 68\n\n  Infallibility would be a strange miracle, 288\n\n  Infinite, nothing, 96\n\n  ---- ignorant of the nature of the, and why, 96\n\n  Injustice of self-love, 239\n\n  ---- that others should attach themselves to us, 240\n\n  ---- letter on, 254\n\n  Innocents, Massacre of the, 221\n\n  Inquisition, the, and the Society, 284\n\n  Insensibility of man, 12\n\n  Instability, 101\n\n  Instinct and experience, 26\n\n  ---- we have an, which raises us, 44\n\n  ---- and reason, marks of two natures, 44\n\n  Intellect, the, believes naturally, 77\n\n  Intelligence, place of human, in the order of intelligible things, 22\n\n  Interest, our own, is a source of error, 54\n\n  Iren\u00e6us, Saint, 127\n\n  Isaac, 197\n\n  Isaiah, translation of a passage of, 147\n\n  ---- translation of several prophecies of, 150\n\n  ---- foretold the Messiah, 154\n\n  ---- foretold that miracles would not be believed, 258\n\n  Italy, 120, 148\n\n\n  Jacob, 126\n\n  ---- his death-bed prophecy, 140\n\n  ---- foretold the coming of Jesus Christ, 197\n\n  Jaddus, 227\n\n  Jansenists, and the ancient saints, 275\n\n  ---- heretics, and Jesuits, 296\n\n  Jansenius, 268\n\n  Jeremiah, his prophecy concerning the reprobation of the Temple and\n        the sacrifices, 149\n\n  ---- and Hananiah, 267\n\n  ---- explanation of a word in, 270\n\n  Jesuits and Jansenists, 273\n\n  ---- destroy the three notes of religion, 275\n\n  ---- are like heretics, 275\n\n  ---- corrupt the laws of the Church, 276\n\n  ---- corrupt religion, 277\n\n  ---- compared to false prophets, 278\n\n  ---- their injustice and hypocrisy, 278\n\n  ---- their hardness greater than that of the Jews, 279\n\n  ---- vanity of the, 280\n\n  ---- in corrupting their judges they make them unjust, 282\n\n  ---- given up to the spirit of lying, 282\n\n  ---- exaggerated notion they have of their importance, 285\n\n  ---- it is good that their deeds should be unjust, 287\n\n  ---- their lax opinions displeasing because they have exceeded all\n        bounds, 290\n\n  ---- duplicity of the, 292\n\n  ---- have abandoned the old rules and follow reason, compared to the\n        unbelieving Jews, 292\n\n  Jesus Christ, redemption by, one of the fundamentals of religion, 6\n\n  ---- apart from, man has no communion with God, 91\n\n  ---- the goal of all, and the centre to which all tends, 92\n\n  ---- knowledge of, 93\n\n  ---- difference between, and Mahomet, 116\n\n  ---- no man can do what, did, 116\n\n  ---- foretold by the Jewish people, 122\n\n  ---- used the order of charity, not of the intellect, 128\n\n  ---- foretold and announced by prophecies, 131\n\n  ---- small in his beginnings, 136\n\n  ---- betrayed, 140\n\n  ---- foretold as to the time and the state of the world, 147\n\n  ---- has given us the interpretation of the Old Testament cipher, 159\n\n  ---- prefigured by Joseph, 164\n\n  ---- in, all dissonances of Scripture are brought to harmony, 167\n\n  ---- according to carnal Christians, 172\n\n  ---- announced by Adam, 174\n\n  ---- proofs of the divinity of, 213\n\n  ---- came with all the circumstances foretold, 213\n\n  ---- no man has had so great renown, none enjoyed it less, 214\n\n  ---- all the glory of, for our sakes, to enable us to recognise him, 214\n\n  ---- the office of, 314\n\n  ---- foretold and foreteller, 215\n\n  ---- why, did not come in a visible manner, why in figures, 216\n\n  ---- has come to sanctify and to blind, 216\n\n  ---- we can have nothing but veneration for, 216\n\n  ---- special prophecies regarding, 217\n\n  ---- is the more to be loved in not having done as the rabbis said, 219\n\n  ---- not known by contemporary writers, 221\n\n  ---- clearness and simplicity of the language of, 222\n\n  ---- why, was weak in his agony, 222\n\n  ---- centre of the two Testaments, 226\n\n  ---- has made known to men their misery, and given the remedy, 226\n\n  ---- greatness and lowliness of, 228\n\n  ---- for all, 229\n\n  ---- compared to Moses, 229\n\n  ---- the redeemer of all, 230\n\n  ---- would not have the testimony of devils, 230\n\n  ---- why he would be put to death with the forms of justice, 230\n\n  ---- leaves the wicked in their blindness, 230\n\n  ---- alone in his agony, 231\n\n  ---- only once complained, 231\n\n  ---- considered in all persons and in ourselves, 234\n\n  ---- how, gives himself in communion, 234\n\n  ---- words of, to man, 235\n\n  ---- has adopted our sins, and admitted us into covenant with him, 247\n\n  ---- worked miracles as witnesses of the prophecies, 261\n\n  ---- has verified by his miracles that he was the Messiah, 262\n\n  ---- without the miracles not blameworthy not to believe in, 270\n\n  ---- the two natures of, source of contradictions, 273\n\n  ---- all faith consists in, and in Adam, 280\n\n  ---- came to bring war, 281\n\n  ---- a stone of stumbling, 283\n\n  ---- never condemned without a hearing, 283\n\n  ---- appeal to his tribunal from that of the Pope, 284\n\n  ---- did not die for all, heresy of, 296\n\n  Jews, their situation in the midst of the world, 119\n\n  ---- their expectation of a Redeemer, 120\n\n  ---- the most ancient nation known to men, 120\n\n  ---- sprung from one man only, 120\n\n  ---- declared that all the world is in error, 121\n\n  ---- were slaves of sin, 122\n\n  ---- their dispersion, bore the prophecies into all regions of the\n        world, 131\n\n  ---- were a carnal people, 162\n\n  ---- their religion the true, 162\n\n  ---- the prophecies interpreted by the, according to their carnal\n        instincts, 163\n\n  ---- their refusal of Christ has given an additional mark of him, 164\n\n  ---- their explanation of Scripture defective, 167\n\n  ---- type of the chosen people, 169\n\n  ---- loved the shadow and misunderstood the substance, 170\n\n  ---- hold a midway place between Christians and pagans, 172\n\n  ---- two kinds of, 172\n\n  ---- antiquity of the, 173\n\n  ---- sincerity of the, proved by the care with which they preserved\n        the Bible, 173\n\n  ---- formed to serve as witnesses of the Messiah, 174\n\n  ---- prove Christianity by their present condition, 191\n\n  ---- the religion of the true, is the same as that of Christians, 198\n\n  ---- in slaying Messiah afforded a final proof of him, 218\n\n  ---- their perpetuity and miserable state prove Jesus Christ, 219\n\n  ---- their second destruction will never end, 220\n\n  ---- bound to believe the miracles of Jesus Christ, 263\n\n  ---- the hardness of the Jesuits surpasses that of the, 279\n\n  Job knew the misery of man, 45\n\n  ---- the book of, regards Jesus Christ as centre and object, 213\n\n  John Baptist, Saint, 140, 230\n\n  ---- and Jesus Christ, 201\n\n  Jonah, a sign of the resurrection, 266\n\n  Joseph, son of Jacob, ordered that he should not be buried in Egypt, 141\n\n  Josephus on the Jewish law, 120\n\n  Joshua, the first of God's people who had this name, 213\n\n  Judas, Jesus did not regard in, his enmity, 232\n\n  Judge, authority of the, 65\n\n  Judgment, instability of the, 27\n\n  ---- confusion of the judgment of man, 32\n\n  ---- and the intellect, 307\n\n  Justice, what is the essence of, 62\n\n  ---- what is, 67\n\n  ---- of God, 96\n\n  ---- influenced by imagination and the passions, 53\n\n  ---- and truth, man cannot attain them, 54\n\n  ---- man is ignorant of, 61\n\n  ---- changes with the climate, 61\n\n  ---- human is not the true justice, 62\n\n  ---- is what is established, 64\n\n  ---- the false, of Pilate, 234\n\n  ---- of God, which abases the pride of man, 241\n\n  Just man, takes for himself nothing of the world, 244\n\n  ---- compared to Abraham, 244\n\n  ---- acts by faith in the smallest things, 244\n\n  ---- takes part only in unpleasant things, 244\n\n\n  King without diversion is full of miseries, 40\n\n  ---- man a discrowned, 47\n\n  ---- whence comes the respect paid a, 55\n\n  ---- on what the power of a, is based, 55\n\n  ---- and tyrant, 72\n\n  ---- what is the happiness of a, 34\n\n  Kingships, duchies, and magistracies real and necessary, 76\n\n  Knowledge of God our only good, 96\n\n  ---- intuitive, where it leads us, 19\n\n  ---- we should have of ourselves, 101\n\n  Koran, foundation of the Mahomedan religion, 115\n\n  ---- and St. Matthew, 116\n\n\n  Laced\u00e6mon, 120\n\n  Laced\u00e6monians, 238\n\n  Lamech, 126, 197\n\n  Language, examples of too careful, 304\n\n  Latins, 197\n\n  Latitude, three degrees of, 61\n\n  Law, instance in which the, was justly violated, 297\n\n  ---- of the Jews, served as model for the best laws of antiquity, 121\n\n  ---- ---- severe and rigorous as to religious worship, 121\n\n  ---- ---- is figurative, 167\n\n  ---- Christian, foretold by the prophets, 135\n\n  ---- and grace, 250\n\n  ---- and nature, 250\n\n  Laws, natural, there is not a single universal, 61\n\n  ---- why we follow ancient, 67\n\n  Lessius, 291\n\n  Letters, arrangement by, 253\n\n  Liancourt, the frog and the pike of, 313\n\n  Liars, some are, simply for lying's sake, 77\n\n  Life, the frailest thing in the world, 12\n\n  ---- its short duration, 28\n\n  ---- the last act of, 75\n\n  ---- a perpetual illusion, 86\n\n  ---- compared to a dream, 105\n\n  ---- religious, both easy and difficult, 248\n\n  Lingende, Father, 267\n\n  Littleness of man, what we call nature in animals is, 47\n\n  Logicians, 65\n\n  Love, why it changes its object, 32\n\n  ---- shows the frivolity of man, 60\n\n  ---- representation of, at the theatre, 248\n\n  ---- source of faith, 289\n\n  Lust, threefold division of, 243\n\n  ---- the three kinds of, have made three sects, 113\n\n  Lusts, compared to three rivers, 243\n\n  Lute, to be skilled in playing the, 72\n\n\n  Machine, letter which shows the use of proofs by the, 254\n\n  ---- of Descartes; defects of this hypothesis, 312\n\n  ---- the calculating, compared to animals, 313\n\n  Macrobius, 221\n\n  Mad, men are of necessity, 78\n\n  Magistrate, taken as an example of influence of imagination, 52\n\n  ---- the pomp with which they are surrounded, 53\n\n  Mahomet, the soldiers of, 65\n\n  ---- thoughts on, 115\n\n  ---- foundation of his religion, 115\n\n  ---- difference between Jesus Christ and, 116\n\n  ---- forbade reading, 116\n\n  ---- renders testimony to himself, 116\n\n  ---- his doctrine is ridiculous, 117\n\n  ---- religion of, 119\n\n  Maimonides, Moses, 157\n\n  Malchus, 235\n\n  Man, his ignorance, 5\n\n  ---- his destiny, 6\n\n  ---- unfairness of, in living indifferent to Religion, 9\n\n  ---- blindness of, 12\n\n  ---- worthlessness of, 13\n\n  ---- comparison between, and nature, 19\n\n  ---- presumption of, in wishing to know nature, 21\n\n  ---- thinks he is able to comprehend the infinitely little, 22\n\n  ---- must not look for certainty or stability, 23\n\n  ---- in order to know himself should know all that is in relation to\n        him, 24\n\n  ---- the two natures of, bodily and spiritual, excludes us from the\n        knowledge of nature, 24\n\n  ---- stamps with his complex being all simple things, 25\n\n  ---- twofold manner of considering the nature of, 26\n\n  ---- nature has placed, in the centre of things, 26\n\n  ---- all is fatal to, even those things made to serve him, 31\n\n  ---- whence comes his happiness, 33\n\n  ---- is surrounded with all that may divert him, 37\n\n  ---- cannot think of two things at once, 38\n\n  ---- seeks diversion as a remedy for his evils, 39\n\n  ---- knows not in what rank to place himself, 43\n\n  ---- cannot bear to be despised, 42\n\n  ---- vileness of, in that he submits himself to the brutes, 44\n\n  ---- neither angel nor brute, 45\n\n  ---- should know his greatness and his vileness, but not one without\n        the other yet is contrary to God, 45\n\n  ---- is only a reed, but a reed which thinks, 46\n\n  ---- has fallen from a better nature, 47\n\n  ---- whole dignity of, lies in thought, 48\n\n  ---- what he should desire, 48\n\n  ---- is ignorant of true justice, 61\n\n  ---- is incapable of truth and of goodness, 66\n\n  ---- is full of wants, and cares only for those who can satisfy them,\n        75\n\n  ---- the honourable, 75\n\n  ---- is not a necessary being, 76\n\n  ---- automatic as well as intellectual, 77\n\n  ---- only disguise, falsehood, and hypocrisy, 87\n\n  ---- his defects and his incapacity, 106\n\n  ---- that he has fallen from his former state, 108\n\n  ---- is full of matters which take him out of self, 113\n\n  ---- ordinary life of, like that of the saints, 161\n\n  ---- can be happy only in loving God and in union with him, 179\n\n  ---- moral diseases of, 181\n\n  ---- isolation, blindness, and misery of, 183\n\n  ---- double nature of, 185\n\n  ---- should know his defects, and esteem that religion which promises\n        precious remedies, 185\n\n  ---- should conform his sentiments to religion, 186\n\n  ---- his two states of grace and corruption proved from Scripture, 191\n\n  ---- his dignity while innocent and now, 194\n\n  ---- without Jesus Christ is in vice and misery, 226\n\n  ---- before Jesus Christ knew nothing of himself, 226\n\n  ---- is not worthy of God, but not incapable of being rendered worthy,\n        227\n\n  ---- often mistakes his imagination for his heart, 308\n\n  ---- cannot understand certain effects of nature,313\n\n  Martial, 81\n\n  Marton, 192\n\n  Martyrs, why the example of their deaths touches us, 238\n\n  Masorah, the, 123\n\n  Mathematics and the practical mind, 310\n\n  Matter cannot know itself, 24\n\n  Mediator, God cannot be known without a, 92\n\n  ---- without a, there can be no communion between God and man, 245\n\n  Mediocrity, nothing good but, 76\n\n  Mem, discussion on the subject, 166\n\n  Members, relation of the, to the body, 237\n\n  ---- the body formed of thinking, 237\n\n  ---- must have the same will as the body, 239\n\n  Memory is necessary for every operation of the reason, 309\n\n  Men, naturally hate each other, 70\n\n  ---- epigram upon one-eyed, 81\n\n  Mercy of God, its greatness, 208\n\n  ---- calls to repentance, 241\n\n  ---- why we implore, 241\n\n  Merit, man's judgment of, 192\n\n  ---- an ambiguous word, 297\n\n  Messiah, that the, should mould a new people by his spirit, 122\n\n  ---- effect and tokens of the coming of the, 135\n\n  ---- that the, would convert the Gentiles and cast down all idols, 136\n\n  ---- what the rabbis expected of him, 157\n\n  ---- that, would deliver his people from their enemies, what this\n        means, 170\n\n  ---- the carnal Jews' understanding as to the, 172\n\n  ---- actual state of the Jews proves Jesus Christ the true, 191\n\n  Mexico, the historians of, 118\n\n  Millenarians, their extravagances, 166\n\n  Mind and body, union of, a mystery to man, 25\n\n  Mind, infinite distance between body and, 227\n\n  Mine, thine, 68\n\n  Miracles, in general, 257\n\n  ---- all belief rests on, 171\n\n  ---- strengthen faith, 210\n\n  ---- not needed to prove that we must love God, 241\n\n  ---- the importance of, rules to recognise them, 257\n\n  ---- are the test of doctrine, 257\n\n  ---- unbelief in, foretold, 258\n\n  ---- that the existence of false, proves that there are true, 259\n\n  ---- Jesus Christ verified that he was the Messiah by his, 262\n\n  ---- of Jesus Christ and the apostles prove that the prophecies are\n        accomplished, 262\n\n  ---- never wrought in favour of error, 263\n\n  ---- when we are justified in excluding certain, 265\n\n  ---- are the test in doubtful matters, 266\n\n  ---- against miracle, 266\n\n  ---- of Port Royal prove the innocency of that house, 279\n\n  ---- not much to be feared among schismatics, 286\n\n  Misery of man without God, 15\n\n  ---- man is only happy in not thinking of his, 38\n\n  ---- diversion is our greatest, 38\n\n  Mites, taken as an example, 20\n\n  Miton, 12, 84\n\n  Molina, 276, 291\n\n  Monks, their position in the world foolish, 282\n\n  Monster, man is an incomprehensible, 46\n\n  Montaigne, his defects and qualities, 17\n\n  ---- his opinion on custom, 64\n\n  ---- for and against miracles, 258\n\n  Morality, in what it consists, 193\n\n  ---- of the judgment and of the intellect, 307\n\n  Morals, science of, 82\n\n  ---- Jesuits judge of their faith by their, 290\n\n  ---- a special but universal science, 292\n\n  Moses commanded every one to read his books, 115\n\n  ---- a man of genius, 125\n\n  ---- the proof of the truth of, 125\n\n  ---- foretold the calling of the Gentiles and the reprobation of the\n        Jews, 140\n\n  ---- his teaching, 140\n\n  ---- his declarations against the Jews, 173\n\n  ---- his mystical sense of the Creation, 174\n\n  ---- compared with Jesus Christ, 229\n\n  ---- his rules for judging miracles, 257\n\n  Motion, our nature exists by, 73\n\n\n  Natural principles are but principles of custom, 64\n\n  Nature offers nothing but matter for doubt and disquiet, 104\n\n  ---- comparison between Scriptures and, 128\n\n  ---- is an image of grace, 161\n\n  ---- perfections and defects of, 192\n\n  ---- canonical writers have never employed, to prove God, 205\n\n  ---- law, and grace, 250\n\n  ---- use of bad reasons for proving effects of, 309\n\n  ---- the feelings and language of atheists contrary to, 6\n\n  ---- man should consider, seriously and at leisure, 19\n\n  ---- majesty and greatness of, 19\n\n  ---- greatness in the infinitely little, 20\n\n  ---- has her double infinity from author of, 21\n\n  ---- immobility of, compared to us, 24\n\n  ---- reasons why man cannot know, 25\n\n  ---- of man a continual change, 63\n\n  ---- is not always subject to her own rules, 83\n\n  ---- imitates herself, 83\n\n  Nebuchadnezzar, dream of, 141\n\n  Nicodemus recognised Jesus Christ by his miracles, 262\n\n  ---- the answer of, to the Pharisees, 270\n\n  Ninevites, repentance of, 241\n\n  Noah, witness of the Messiah, 169\n\n\n  Office of Jesus Christ, 214\n\n  Offices, why men seek them, 33, 34\n\n  Old Testament, a cipher, 117\n\n  Opinion, queen of the world, 54\n\n  Opinions of the people sound, 70\n\n  Organs, men compared to, 26\n\n  Order, against the objection that the Scripture has no, 128\n\n  ---- of charity and the intellect, 128\n\n  Outward marks, men distinguished by them, 70\n\n\n  Pain, not shameful to man to yield to, 30\n\n  Painting, foolishness of, 314\n\n  Parrot, as an example, 31\n\n  Parties, we should hear both, 283\n\n  Passions, their influence on man, 31\n\n  ---- the pleasure of, in seeing the shock of two contraries, 39\n\n  ---- of the soul trouble the senses, 51\n\n  ---- internecine war between reason and the, 55\n\n  ---- the enemies of man, 169\n\n  ---- how they become vices, 224\n\n  Pattern, good and bad, 302\n\n  Paul, Saint, used the order of charity, not of the intellect, 128\n\n  ---- taught that all things had happened in figures, 169\n\n  ---- explanation of Old Testament types by, 176\n\n  ---- his opinions on marriage, 176\n\n  Paulus Emilius, an example, 47\n\n  Peace, the sovereign good, result of coalescence of justice and power,\n        67\n\n  ---- should not be observed to the prejudice of truth, 279\n\n  ---- in the Church, when pernicious and unjust, 281\n\n  Pelagians and Catholics will always exist, 296\n\n  Penances, exterior and interior, 134\n\n  ---- exterior, dispose to interior, 134\n\n  People, most, follow custom because they think it just, 64\n\n  ---- dangerous to say to, that laws are not just, 65\n\n  ---- have very sound opinions, 70\n\n  Perpetuity of the worship of the Messiah, 213\n\n  ---- of the Jewish law preserved by Jesus Christ, 213\n\n  Perseus, King of Macedon, 47\n\n  Persians, the, 61\n\n  Persons, three kinds of, in religion, 101\n\n  Pharaoh, magicians of, 267\n\n  Philosophers, they speak of material things in spiritual phrase and\n        _vice vers\u00e2_, 25\n\n  ---- do not know our nature when they blame the search after diversion,\n        34\n\n  ---- falsity of those, who do not discuss the immortality of the soul,\n        111\n\n  ---- against those, who believe in God without Jesus Christ, 111\n\n  ---- their weakness, 179, 180\n\n  ---- have consecrated vices, 189\n\n  Philosophy, human, incapable of explaining man, 106\n\n  Pictures, rules for perspective, 27\n\n  Piety, differs from superstition, 251\n\n  Plato, 254\n\n  Play, why sought after, 33\n\n  ---- remarks on, 35\n\n  Pleasure, shameful to man to yield to, 30\n\n  Poet, the trade of a, 79\n\n  Poland, the king of, 75\n\n  _Portentum_, meaning of the word, 270\n\n  Pompey, 147\n\n  Pope, whence he has his light, 276\n\n  ---- his power in the Church to be considered in two ways, 288\n\n  ---- may easily be taken unawares by the Jesuits, 288\n\n  Porphyry, 116\n\n  Port Royal, children of, 58\n\n  ---- bad policy to dissolve the community of, 284\n\n  Power, tyrant of the world, 55\n\n  ---- creates opinion, 56\n\n  ---- without justice is tyrannical, 66\n\n  ---- why above justice, 67\n\n  ---- result of, 69\n\n  Practical and mathematical mind, difference between, 310\n\n  Prayer, why God has established, 297\n\n  Preacher, the, 104\n\n  Preadamites, their extravagances, 166\n\n  Present, we care nothing for the, 73\n\n  President, first, 69\n\n  Presumption of man, 59\n\n  ---- joined to insignificance, 67\n\n  Pride, a counterpoise to all miseries, 60\n\n  ---- makes us wish to be esteemed, 60\n\n  ---- knowledge of God without that of our wretchedness creates, 92\n\n  ---- finds its proper place in wisdom, 242\n\n  Primogeniture, 63\n\n  ---- absurdity of, 254\n\n  Principles, all, may pass for false impressions, 54\n\n  ---- our natural, are but principles of custom, 64\n\n  ---- first, are known by the heart, 102\n\n  ---- arguments of the sceptics in truth of some, 105\n\n  ---- all the, of sceptics, stoics, atheists, are true, but their\n        conclusions are false, 111\n\n  Prison, why so horrible a punishment, 34\n\n  Probability of the Jesuits, influence of the doctrine of, 283\n\n  ---- incapable of assuring the conscience, 290\n\n  ---- corruptness of the doctrine, 290\n\n  Progress, all that is brought to perfection by, perishes also by it, 57\n\n  ---- nature works by, 84\n\n  Promises of God in the Old Testament, each finds in them what he most\n        desires, 162\n\n  Proofs, metaphysical, of God, 92\n\n  ---- of our religion not absolutely convincing, but reasonable enough\n        for those who wish to believe, 208\n\n  Prophecies, the strongest proof of Jesus Christ, 131\n\n  ---- dispersed with the Jews throughout the world, 131\n\n  ---- their preservation and agreement, 131\n\n  ---- concerning Messiah, 132\n\n  ---- unintelligible to the wicked, 133\n\n  ---- understood only when the events occur, 133\n\n  ---- accomplished, 140\n\n  ---- a proof of divinity, 150\n\n  ---- two senses of, 157\n\n  ---- confirmed by miracles, 171\n\n  ---- special, of Jesus Christ, 217\n\n  Prophecy is not called miracle, 262\n\n  Prophets, their part among the Jews, 123\n\n  ---- their words had a double sense, 132\n\n  ---- prophesied by figures, 158\n\n  ---- their discourses were contradictory, 158\n\n  ---- foretold the Christians, 201\n\n  ---- what they say of Jesus Christ, 209\n\n  ---- declared the advent of Messiah, 213\n\n  ---- foretold, and were not foretold, 215\n\n  Propositions, the five, 268\n\n  Provence, 57\n\n  Provincial Letters, censures of the, not founded on tradition, 284\n\n  Pyrenees, 61\n\n  Pyrrhus, 35\n\n\n  Rabbinism, chronology of, cited from the _Pugio Fidei_, 195\n\n  Rabbis, proofs given to the Scriptures as to Jesus Christ by the, 157\n\n  ---- figures they employ, 170\n\n  ---- their doctrines on original sin, 194\n\n  ---- their objections against Jesus Christ, 219\n\n  Reason, is the essence of man, 43\n\n  ---- the senses deceive the, 51\n\n  ---- yields to imagination, 53\n\n  ---- internecine war between the passions and, 55\n\n  ---- not a guide to first principles, 102\n\n  ---- is weak, but would judge of all things, 103\n\n  ---- civil war between passion and, 113\n\n  ---- its corruption, 185\n\n  ---- can truly know ourselves by submission of our, 210\n\n  ---- acts slowly, 307\n\n  ---- its power over us, 309\n\n  Reasoning, all our, reduced to yielding to feeling, 309\n\n  Redeemer, a, only for Christians, 242\n\n  ---- Christian religion consists in the mystery of the, 204\n\n  Redemption, proofs of the, drawn from the wicked and the Jews, 193\n\n  ---- not right that all should see, 255\n\n  Red Sea, an image of the Redemption, 161\n\n  Reed, a thinking, 46\n\n  Religion, the true, and its characteristics, 179\n\n  ---- explains the contradictions in man, 179\n\n  ---- must show knowledge of our nature, 182\n\n  ---- the note of true, 182\n\n  ---- false proves that there is a true, 260\n\n  ---- need to learn the Christian, before assailing it, 3\n\n  ---- makes us know deeply the greatness and the baseness of man, 43\n\n  ---- what it is, 97\n\n  ---- is not certain, 102\n\n  ---- more enforced by feeling than by reason, 103\n\n  ---- founded on the Jewish religion, 119\n\n  ---- divine or ridiculous, 172\n\n  ---- excellence of the Christian, 183\n\n  ---- others but the Christian, false, 183\n\n  ---- wise and foolish, 187\n\n  ---- other than Christian, equal man sometimes to God and sometimes to\n        the brutes, 188\n\n  ---- perpetuity of the Christian, 197\n\n  ---- which has always existed is that which is contrary to nature, 198\n\n  ---- we should look to the details of, 312\n\n  ---- two ways of urging the truth of our, 251\n\n  ---- at once venerable and loveable, 254\n\n  ---- miracle the foundation of, 258\n\n  ---- the three notes of, 275\n\n  ---- Jewish, to be differently regarded in tradition of its sacred\n        books and in the tradition of the people, 115\n\n  ---- is the figure of the Messiah, 176\n\n  ---- Mahomedan, its foundation, 115\n\n  ---- heathen, no foundation, 115\n\n  Religions, pagan, have no marks of truth, 119\n\n  Religions, that there are some lax, this proves nothing against\n        religion, 277\n\n  Repose, men think they seek, but only seek agitation, 34\n\n  Reprobate, all things work for evil for the, 129\n\n  Republic, Christian and Jewish, have only had God for master, 122\n\n  ---- ---- its laws, 241\n\n  Respect of men for each other, 55\n\n  ---- what it is for, 72\n\n  Rest, secret instinct which leads men to seek, 35\n\n  ---- complete, is insupportable, why, 40\n\n  Righteous man, the two natures in the, 273\n\n  Rivers are moving roads, 315\n\n  Roannez, M. de, 309\n\n  Roman legislators, 121\n\n  Romans, religion of the, 119\n\n  Rome began to fear Cromwell, 76\n\n  ---- chief church of Christ, 136\n\n  ---- must not stifle speech, 284\n\n  Royalty, without diversion, is unhappy, 33\n\n  Rule, to judge a work we need a, 305\n\n  ---- special and particular, 308\n\n  ---- man must have a, of faith, 309\n\n  Ruth, book of, 220\n\n\n  Sabbath, only a sign, 175\n\n  Sacrifices, exterior, not essential, 138\n\n  ---- of the Jews and Gentiles, 140\n\n  ---- uselessness of the, 75\n\n  Saints, foretold, but not foretellers, 215\n\n  ---- their greatness and their empire, 227\n\n  ---- their union, 279\n\n  Salomon de Tultie, pseudonym of Pascal, utility of his manner of\n        writing, 312\n\n  Salvation, Jesus Christ has wrought the, of the just, while they slept,\n        232\n\n  Savages, 70\n\n  Scaramouch, as an example, 31\n\n  Sceptic, never has been a perfect finished, 106\n\n  Sceptical cabal, 111\n\n  Scepticism, its reasonings, 108\n\n  ---- aids religion, 113\n\n  ---- remedy for vanity, 206\n\n  ---- is true, for men before Jesus Christ knew nothing, 226\n\n  Sceptics, indifference of the, 112\n\n  ---- labour in vain, 103\n\n  ---- principal arguments of the, drawn from the uncertainty of our\n        natural principles, 105\n\n  ---- lesser arguments of the, 106\n\n  Schism, a mark of error, 268\n\n  Science, infinite in its research and its premisses, 21\n\n  ---- abstract, not fit for man, 82\n\n  Scripture, knows God better than we, 91\n\n  ---- compared to the Koran, difference between the books, 116\n\n  ---- has provided passages for all conditions of life, 128\n\n  ---- why contrary sentences are found in, 128\n\n  ---- obscure and clear, 129\n\n  ---- has two senses, 157\n\n  ---- against those who misuse passages of, 166\n\n  ---- manner of understanding that contradictory passages of, must\n        agree, 167\n\n  ---- superiority of, over the most ancient books of other peoples, 173\n\n  ---- preserved by the Jews, and is a witness of their sincerity, 173\n\n  ---- full of matters not dictated by the Holy Spirit, 206\n\n  ---- without the, we know nothing of the nature of God nor our own\n        nature, 226\n\n  Self, hatred of, necessary, 238\n\n  ---- is hateful, 84\n\n  Self-love, its nature, 84\n\n  ---- how it should be regulated, 237\n\n  ---- source of all confusion, 239\n\n  Seneca, quotations from, 110\n\n  Sensation, no misery apart from, 47\n\n  Sense of the prophecies always the same, 171\n\n  ---- there are various kinds of good, 311\n\n  Senses deceive the reason, 51\n\n  Sensuality, men have drawn rules from, 69\n\n  ---- manner in which it is used, 70\n\n  Sepulchre of Jesus Christ, 234\n\n  Sermon, how some people listen to the, 316\n\n  Servant, relation to his master, 293\n\n  Shem, 126, 169\n\n  Ship, as an example, 63\n\n  Sibyls, books of the, 174\n\n  Sickness, resignation of man in time of, 74\n\n  Silence is the greatest persecution, 283\n\n  Simplicity of things compared to our double and complex nature, 25\n\n  Sin, all is, that is repugnant to the will of God, 247\n\n  ---- original, 192\n\n  ---- mystery of the transmission of, 107\n\n  ---- foolishness of original, to man, 192\n\n  ---- tradition of original, according to the Jews, 194\n\n  Sincerity, a necessary quality of every religion, 182\n\n  Sinners, enemies of God, 165\n\n  Sins, called enemies by David, 171\n\n  ---- the two sources of, 241\n\n  Six days and the six ages of the world, 174\n\n  Sleep, life compared to, 105\n\n  Sneezing absorbs all the faculties of the soul, 31\n\n  Society, a beginning of, 56\n\n  Socrates, 218\n\n  Solitude, the pleasure of, incomprehensible, 34\n\n  Sonnet, a bad, comparison of, 302\n\n  Sorbonne, corrupted by the Jesuits, 282\n\n  Soul, immortality of the, 4, 111\n\n  ---- is immaterial, 111\n\n  ---- how little she knows herself, 112\n\n  Sovereign good, philosophers do not agree as to the, 112\n\n  ---- ordinary men's idea of, 112\n\n  Space, numbers imitate, 84\n\n  Spaniards, 66\n\n  Sphere, infinite, 19\n\n  Spirit, of men easily disturbed, 27\n\n  _Spongia solis_, 83\n\n  State of man, his weakness and uncertainty; nothing so important to\n        man as his condition, 5, 6\n\n  Stoics, 49\n\n  ---- what they propose is difficult and idle, 113\n\n  Stream may decide justice or injustice, 66\n\n  Strife alone pleases, not the victory, 39\n\n  Study of man, why so few undertake it, 82\n\n  Style, thoughts on, 301\n\n  ---- effect a natural, produces, we find a man instead of an author, 303\n\n  ---- examples of bad, 304\n\n  Submission of the reason, only by this can we truly know ourselves,\n        108, 250\n\n  Suetonius, 221\n\n  Suicide, advised by certain philosophers, 112\n\n  Sun, course of the, 84\n\n  Suns, the five, of Mexico, 118\n\n  Superstition, piety compared with, 251\n\n  Sweden, queen of, 75\n\n  Sword, the right of the, 67\n\n  Symmetry, definition of, 304\n\n  Synagogues, a type of the Church, 176\n\n\n  Tacitus, 221\n\n  Talmud, its predictions of the Messiah, 152\n\n  ---- date of composition of, 196\n\n  Temple, its reprobation prophesied by Jeremiah, 149\n\n  Tennis, 37\n\n  Tertullian, 127\n\n  Testaments, proof of the two, at once, 157\n\n  ---- proof that the Old, is figurative, 158\n\n  ---- Old and New, their relations, 165\n\n  ---- sacrifices and ceremonies of Old, either figures or absurdities,\n        174\n\n  Thamar, story of, 220\n\n  Theatre, dangers of the, for the Christian soul, 248\n\n  Theology, taken as an example of diversity, 32\n\n  Theresa, Saint, her double greatness, 246\n\n  ---- what she was when alive and now, 275\n\n  Thought, greatness of man consists in, 46\n\n  ---- makes man's being, 47\n\n  ---- the whole dignity of man lies in, 48\n\n  ---- great in essence, vile in defects, 48\n\n  Thoughts, spring up by chance, 29\n\n  ---- escape us in writing, 29\n\n  Tide of the sea, 84\n\n  Time, our imagination enlarges the present, 56\n\n  Towns through which we pass, 59\n\n  Trades, choice of, 78\n\n  Transmission of sin, without this mystery we could not know ourselves,\n        107\n\n  Trent, Council of, 291\n\n  Truth, there is no, in man, 19\n\n  ---- we hate, and those who tell it us, 85\n\n  ---- necessity of seeking, 95\n\n  ---- we know, by the heart as well as by reason, 102\n\n  ---- is not within our reach, nor to our taste, 107\n\n  ---- we have an idea of, which scepticism cannot overcome, 109\n\n  ---- has visible signs, 208\n\n  ---- makes us free, 245\n\n  ---- opposite truth to be remembered with a, 279\n\n  ---- unable to know, unless we love truth, 280\n\n  ---- the first rule and ultimate end of things, 281\n\n  Truths of religion, necessity of seeking, 3\n\n  Turk, the Grand, 53\n\n  Turks, their example alleged by the wicked, 211\n\n  ---- miracles of the, 258\n\n  ---- grand sultan of the, 80\n\n  Twelve tables, law of the, 121\n\n  Types in general, their lawfulness, 157\n\n  ---- unintelligible to the Jews and bad Christians, 158\n\n  ---- understood only in the fulness of time, 158\n\n  ---- compared to a portrait, 159\n\n  ---- the word of God false literally, true spiritually, 159\n\n  ---- of Old Testament only figures, 162\n\n  ---- the reason of, 162\n\n  ---- of Christ, 165\n\n  ---- different kinds of, some seem far-fetched, 165\n\n  ---- reason for the use of, 170\n\n  ---- of Old Testament either figures or absurdities, 174\n\n  ---- made according to the truth, 176\n\n  ---- particular, 176\n\n  ---- the utility of, 216\n\n  Tyranny, in what it consists, 68\n\n\n  Unbelievers, we should pity them, 253\n\n  ---- useful for the glory of religion, 203\n\n  ---- revile that which they do not understand, 204\n\n  Uncertainty, what we do for an, 102\n\n  ---- of condition of man, 23\n\n  Understanding, greatness of men of, invisible to the great, 227\n\n  Unhappiness natural to man's condition, makes him seek diversion, 33\n\n  ---- proof of man's, 73\n\n  Union of mind and body a mystery to man, 28\n\n  ---- of the Word to man, 299\n\n  Universe, how inferior and superior to man, 46\n\n  ---- the whole, teaches man, either of his corruptness or redemption,\n        192\n\n  Usurpation of the whole earth, beginning and image of, 68\n\n\n  Vacuum, an example taken from our notion of, 54\n\n  ---- absurdity of the saying that nature abhors a, 313\n\n  Vanity of pleasure, 5\n\n  Vatable, 269, 270\n\n  Venice, the Jesuits and, 283\n\n  Vespasian, persecution of, 127\n\n  ---- miracles of, 271\n\n  Vices, why we are indulgent to the, of the great, 74\n\n  ---- certain, have hold on us only by means of others, 77\n\n  Victory pleases less than strife, why, 39\n\n  Virgin birth, weakness of the argument against the, 223\n\n  Virtue may be excessive, 30\n\n  ---- is the result of two opposite vices in counterpoise, 30\n\n  Vocations, 59\n\n\n  War, why men seek, 34\n\n  ---- internecine, in man, between the reason and his passions, 55\n\n  ---- civil, is the worst of evils, 63, 70\n\n  ---- decided by an interested party, 66\n\n  Weakness of man, 28, 66\n\n  ---- ---- cause of so many esteemed beauties, 72\n\n  ---- unrest, and defects of man, 73\n\n  Weariness of Jesus, 232\n\n  ---- inevitable in all conditions, 35\n\n  ---- is man's most sensible evil and his greatest good, 39\n\n  ---- arises from loss of occupation, 40\n\n  Well dressed, not altogether foolish to be, 70\n\n  Wicked, the, reasoning of, in the Book of Wisdom, 240\n\n  ---- prove the corruption of human nature by their conduct, 191\n\n  ---- who profess to follow reason, 211\n\n  Will, difference between the actions of the, and other actions, 129\n\n  ---- is depraved in wishing for the love of others, 239\n\n  ---- self, we must renounce it in order to be happy, 240\n\n  ---- of God, we should judge of what is good or bad according to the,\n        244\n\n  ---- one of the principal organs of belief, 307\n\n  Wine, too much and too little, 29\n\n  Wisdom, greatness of, invisible to the carnal, 227\n\n  ---- God alone gives, 243\n\n  Words, meaning changes according to the, 129\n\n  World, vanity of the, 48\n\n  ---- judges things rightly, 83\n\n  ---- avoids thinking of what it does not choose to think about, 102\n\n  ---- indicates the presence of a God who hides himself, 209\n\n  ---- would not exist without Jesus Christ, 226\n\n  ---- difference in living according to the, and to God, 248\n\n  ---- is full of good maxims, we only need their right application, 314\n\n  Worshippers, unknown, 280\n\n  Worthlessness of man, 13\n\n\n  Xerxes, 144\n\n\n  Zeal of the Jewish people, 122\n\n\n\n\n_CHISWICK PRESS:--C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE._\n\n\n\n\n  TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE\n\n  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n  One superscript was converted to lowercase '23rd'.\n\n  Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been\n  corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within\n  the text and consultation of external sources.\n\n  Except for those changes noted below, misspelling by the author,\n  and inconsistent or archaic usage, has been retained. For example,\n  infinites, infinities; premiss; any thing, anything; every body,\n  everybody.\n\n  p. v 'General Introduction 3' inserted in the ToC.\n  p. 23 'flies us' replaced by 'flies from us'.\n  p. 36 'face themselves' replaced by 'face they themselves'.\n  p. 36 'superintendant' replaced by 'superintendent'.\n  p. 39 'any thing thing else' replaced by 'any thing else'.\n  p. 51 'outvieing' replaced by 'outvying'.\n  p. 71 'people is' replaced by 'people are'.\n  p. 112 'have gained' replaced by 'has gained'.\n  p. 122 'people was' replaced by 'people were'.\n  p. 127 'De Cultu f\u00e6min.' replaced by De Cultu femin.'\n  p. 172 'though his son' replaced by 'through his son'.\n  p. 227 'artizan' replaced by 'artisan'.\n  p. 246 'if be alike' replaced by 'if it be alike'.\n  p. 319 Note for 'P. 12' moved after note for 'P. 11'.\n  p. 322 'Ecclus.' replaced by 'Eccles.'.\n  p. 333 Note for 'P. 238'; 'principalment' replaced by 'principalement'.\n  p. 338 Note for 'P. 304'; accents added to r\u00e9pand, t\u00e9n\u00e8bres and\n           r\u00e9pandre.\n  p. 338 Note for 'P. 309'; 'Discours sur la M\u00e9thode' replaced by\n           'Discours de la M\u00e9thode'.\n\n  INDEX:\n  Two entries for 'Chances, doctrine of' combined into one.\n  Entry for 'Heresies'; 'tha way' replaced by 'the way'.\n  Entry for 'Laws'; 'isngle' replaced by 'single'.\n  Entry for 'Man cannot bear'; 'depised' replaced by 'despised'.\n  Entry for 'Thamar'; refers to 'Tamar' in the text.","title":"The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":117540}