diff options
Diffstat (limited to '18269-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 18269-0.txt | 16361 |
1 files changed, 16361 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/18269-0.txt b/18269-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cb3a20 --- /dev/null +++ b/18269-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16361 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pascal's Pensées, by Blaise Pascal + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pascal's Pensées + +Author: Blaise Pascal + +Release Date: April 27, 2006 [EBook #18269] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PASCAL'S PENSÉES *** + + + + +Produced by John Hagerson, LN Yaddanapudi, Juliet Sutherland +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +PASCAL'S PENSÉES + + +INTRODUCTION BY +T. S. ELIOT + +_A Dutton Paperback_ + +New York +E. P. DUTTON & CO., INC. + + + + +_This paperback edition of "Pascal's Pensées" Published 1958 by E. P. +Dutton & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A._ + + +SBN 0-525-47018-2 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +It might seem that about Blaise Pascal, and about the two works on which +his fame is founded, everything that there is to say had been said. The +details of his life are as fully known as we can expect to know them; +his mathematical and physical discoveries have been treated many times; +his religious sentiment and his theological views have been discussed +again and again; and his prose style has been analysed by French critics +down to the finest particular. But Pascal is one of those writers who +will be and who must be studied afresh by men in every generation. It is +not he who changes, but we who change. It is not our knowledge of him +that increases, but our world that alters and our attitudes towards it. +The history of human opinions of Pascal and of men of his stature is a +part of the history of humanity. That indicates his permanent +importance. + +The facts of Pascal's life, so far as they are necessary for this brief +introduction to the _Pensées_, are as follows. He was born at Clermont, +in Auvergne, in 1623. His family were people of substance of the upper +middle class. His father was a government official, who was able to +leave, when he died, a sufficient patrimony to his one son and his two +daughters. In 1631 the father moved to Paris, and a few years later took +up another government post at Rouen. Wherever he lived, the elder Pascal +seems to have mingled with some of the best society, and with men of +eminence in science and the arts. Blaise was educated entirely by his +father at home. He was exceedingly precocious, indeed excessively +precocious, for his application to studies in childhood and adolescence +impaired his health, and is held responsible for his death at +thirty-nine. Prodigious, though not incredible stories are preserved, +especially of his precocity in mathematics. His mind was active rather +than accumulative; he showed from his earliest years that disposition to +find things out for himself, which has characterised the infancy of +Clerk-Maxwell and other scientists. Of his later discoveries in physics +there is no need for mention here; it must only be remembered that he +counts as one of the greatest physicists and mathematicians of all time; +and that his discoveries were made during the years when most scientists +are still apprentices. + +The elder Pascal, Étienne, was a sincere Christian. About 1646 he fell +in with some representatives of the religious revival within the Church +which has become known as Jansenism--after Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, +whose theological work is taken as the origin of the movement. This +period is usually spoken of as the moment of Pascal's "first +conversion." The word "conversion," however, is too forcible to be +applied at this point to Blaise Pascal himself. The family had always +been devout, and the younger Pascal, though absorbed in his scientific +work, never seems to have been afflicted with infidelity. His attention +was then directed, certainly, to religious and theological matters; but +the term "conversion" can only be applied to his sisters--the elder, +already Madame Périer, and particularly the younger, Jacqueline, who at +that time conceived a vocation for the religious life. Pascal himself +was by no means disposed to renounce the world. After the death of the +father in 1650 Jacqueline, a young woman of remarkable strength and +beauty of character, wished to take her vows as a sister of Port-Royal, +and for some time her wish remained unfulfilled owing to the opposition +of her brother. His objection was on the purely worldly ground that she +wished to make over her patrimony to the Order; whereas while she lived +with him, their combined resources made it possible for him to live more +nearly on a scale of expense congenial to his tastes. He liked, in fact, +not only to mix with the best society, but to keep a coach and +horses--six horses is the number at one time attributed to his carriage. +Though he had no legal power to prevent his sister from disposing of her +property as she elected, the amiable Jacqueline shrank from doing so +without her brother's willing approval. The Mother Superior, Mère +Angélique--herself an eminent personage in the history of this religious +movement--finally persuaded the young novice to enter the order without +the satisfaction of bringing her patrimony with her; but Jacqueline +remained so distressed by this situation that her brother finally +relented. + +So far as is known, the worldly life enjoyed by Pascal during this +period can hardly be qualified as "dissipation," and certainly not as +"debauchery." Even gambling may have appealed to him chiefly as +affording a study of mathematical probabilities. He appears to have led +such a life as any cultivated intellectual man of good position and +independent means might lead and consider himself a model of probity and +virtue. Not even a love-affair is laid at his door, though he is said to +have contemplated marriage. But Jansenism, as represented by the +religious society of Port-Royal, was morally a Puritan movement within +the Church, and its standards of conduct were at least as severe as +those of any Puritanism in England or America. The period of fashionable +society, in Pascal's life, is however, of great importance in his +development. It enlarged his knowledge of men and refined his tastes; he +became a man of the world and never lost what he had learnt; and when he +turned his thoughts wholly towards religion, his worldly knowledge was a +part of his composition which is essential to the value of his work. + +Pascal's interest in society did not distract him from scientific +research; nor did this period occupy much space in what is a very short +and crowded life. Partly his natural dissatisfaction with such a life, +once he had learned all it had to teach him, partly the influence of his +saintly sister Jacqueline, partly increasing suffering as his health +declined, directed him more and more out of the world and to thoughts of +eternity. And in 1654 occurs what is called his "second conversion," but +which might be called his conversion simply. + +He made a note of his mystical experience, which he kept always about +him, and which was found, after his death, sewn into the coat which he +was wearing. The experience occurred on 23 November, 1654, and there is +no reason to doubt its genuineness unless we choose to deny all mystical +experience. Now, Pascal was not a mystic, and his works are not to be +classified amongst mystical writings; but what can only be called +mystical experience happens to many men who do not become mystics. The +work which he undertook soon after, the _Lettres écrites à un +provincial_, is a masterpiece of religious controversy at the opposite +pole from mysticism. We know quite well that he was at the time when he +received his illumination from God in extremely poor health; but it is a +commonplace that some forms of illness are extremely favourable, not +only to religious illumination, but to artistic and literary +composition. A piece of writing meditated, apparently without progress, +for months or years, may suddenly take shape and word; and in this state +long passages may be produced which require little or no retouch. I have +no good word to say for the cultivation of automatic writing as the +model of literary composition; I doubt whether these moments _can_ be +cultivated by the writer; but he to whom this happens assuredly has the +sensation of being a vehicle rather than a maker. No masterpiece can be +produced whole by such means; but neither does even the higher form of +religious inspiration suffice for the religious life; even the most +exalted mystic must return to the world, and use his reason to employ +the results of his experience in daily life. You may call it communion +with the Divine, or you may call it a temporary crystallisation of the +mind. Until science can teach us to reproduce such phenomena at will, +science cannot claim to have explained them; and they can be judged only +by their fruits. + +From that time until his death, Pascal was closely associated with the +society of Port-Royal which his sister Jacqueline, who predeceased him, +had joined as a _religieuse_; the society was then fighting for its life +against the Jesuits. Five propositions, judged by a committee of +cardinals and theologians at Rome to be heretical, were found to be put +forward in the work of Jansenius; and the society of Port-Royal, the +representative of Jansenism among devotional communities, suffered a +blow from which it never revived. It is not the place here to review the +bitter controversy and conflict; the best account, from the point of +view of a critic of genius who took no side, who was neither Jansenist +nor Jesuit, Christian nor infidel, is that in the great book of +Sainte-Beuve, _Port-Royal_. And in this book the parts devoted to Pascal +himself are among the most brilliant pages of criticism that +Sainte-Beuve ever wrote. It is sufficient to notice that the next +occupation of Pascal, after his conversion, was to write these eighteen +"Letters," which as prose are of capital importance in the foundation of +French classical style, and which as polemic are surpassed by none, not +by Demosthenes, or Cicero, or Swift. They have the limitation of all +polemic and forensic: they persuade, they seduce, they are unfair. But +it is also unfair to assert that, in these _Letters to a Provincial_, +Pascal was attacking the Society of Jesus in itself. He was attacking +rather a particular school of casuistry which relaxed the requirements +of the Confessional; a school which certainly flourished amongst the +Society of Jesus at that time, and of which the Spaniards Escobar and +Molina are the most eminent authorities. He undoubtedly abused the art +of quotation, as a polemical writer can hardly help but do; but there +were abuses for him to abuse; and he did the job thoroughly. His +_Letters_ must not be called theology. Academic theology was not a +department in which Pascal was versed; when necessary, the fathers of +Port-Royal came to his aid. The _Letters_ are the work of one of the +finest mathematical minds of any time, and of a man of the world who +addressed, not theologians, but the world in general--all of the +cultivated and many of the less cultivated of the French laity; and with +this public they made an astonishing success. + +During this time Pascal never wholly abandoned his scientific interests. +Though in his religious writings he composed slowly and painfully, and +revised often, in matters of mathematics his mind seemed to move with +consummate natural ease and grace. Discoveries and inventions sprang +from his brain without effort; among the minor devices of this later +period, the first omnibus service in Paris is said to owe its origin to +his inventiveness. But rapidly failing health, and absorption in the +great work he had in mind, left him little time and energy during the +last two years of his life. + +The plan of what we call the _Pensées_ formed itself about 1660. The +completed book was to have been a carefully constructed defence of +Christianity, a true Apology and a kind of Grammar of Assent, setting +forth the reasons which will convince the intellect. As I have indicated +before, Pascal was not a theologian, and on dogmatic theology had +recourse to his spiritual advisers. Nor was he indeed a systematic +philosopher. He was a man with an immense genius for science, and at the +same time a natural psychologist and moralist. As he was a great +literary artist, his book would have been also his own spiritual +autobiography; his style, free from all diminishing idiosyncrasies, was +yet very personal. Above all, he was a man of strong passions; and his +intellectual passion for truth was reinforced by his passionate +dissatisfaction with human life unless a spiritual explanation could be +found. + +We must regard the _Pensées_ as merely the first notes for a work which +he left far from completion; we have, in Sainte-Beuve's words, a tower +of which the stones have been laid on each other, but not cemented, and +the structure unfinished. In early years his memory had been amazingly +retentive of anything that he wished to remember; and had it not been +impaired by increasing illness and pain, he probably would not have been +obliged to set down these notes at all. But taking the book as it is +left to us, we still find that it occupies a unique place in the history +of French literature and in the history of religious meditation. + +To understand the method which Pascal employs, the reader must be +prepared to follow the process of the mind of the intelligent believer. +The Christian thinker--and I mean the man who is trying consciously and +conscientiously to explain to himself the sequence which culminated in +faith, rather than the public apologist--proceeds by rejection and +elimination. He finds the world to be so and so; he finds its character +inexplicable by any non-religious theory; among religions he finds +Christianity, and Catholic Christianity, to account most satisfactorily +for the world and especially for the moral world within; and thus, by +what Newman calls "powerful and concurrent" reasons, he finds himself +inexorably committed to the dogma of the Incarnation. To the unbeliever, +this method seems disingenuous and perverse; for the unbeliever is, as a +rule, not so greatly troubled to explain the world to himself, nor so +greatly distressed by its disorder; nor is he generally concerned (in +modern terms) to "preserve values." He does not consider that if certain +emotional states, certain developments of character, and what in the +highest sense can be called "saintliness" are inherently and by +inspection known to be good, then the satisfactory explanation of the +world must be an explanation which will admit the "reality" of these +values. Nor does he consider such reasoning admissible; he would, so to +speak, trim his values according to his cloth, because to him such +values are of no great value. The unbeliever starts from the other end, +and as likely as not with the question: Is a case of human +parthenogenesis credible? and this he would call going straight to the +heart of the matter. Now Pascal's method is, on the whole, the method +natural and right for the Christian; and the opposite method is that +taken by Voltaire. It is worth while to remember that Voltaire, in his +attempt to refute Pascal, has given once and for all the type of such +refutation; and that later opponents of Pascal's Apology for the +Christian Faith have contributed little beyond psychological +irrelevancies. For Voltaire has presented, better than any one since, +what is the unbelieving point of view; and in the end we must all choose +for ourselves between one point of view and another. + +I have said above that Pascal's method is "on the whole" that of the +typical Christian apologist; and this reservation was directed at +Pascal's belief in miracles, which plays a larger part in his +construction than it would in that, at least, of the modern liberal +Catholic. It would seem fantastic to accept Christianity because we +first believe the Gospel miracles to be true, and it would seem impious +to accept it primarily because we believe more recent miracles to be +true; we accept the miracles, or some miracles, to be true because we +believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ: we found our belief in the miracles +on the Gospel, not our belief in the Gospel on the miracles. But it must +be remembered that Pascal had been deeply impressed by a contemporary +miracle, known as the miracle of the Holy Thorn: a thorn reputed to have +been preserved from the Crown of Our Lord was pressed upon an ulcer +which quickly healed. Sainte-Beuve, who as a medical man felt himself on +solid ground, discusses fully the possible explanation of this apparent +miracle. It is true that the miracle happened at Port-Royal, and that it +arrived opportunely to revive the depressed spirits of the community in +its political afflictions; and it is likely that Pascal was the more +inclined to believe a miracle which was performed upon his beloved +sister. In any case, it probably led him to assign a place to miracles, +in his study of faith, which is not quite that which we should give to +them ourselves. + +Now the great adversary against whom Pascal set himself, from the time +of his first conversations with M. de Saci at Port-Royal, was Montaigne. +One cannot destroy Pascal, certainly; but of all authors Montaigne is +one of the least destructible. You could as well dissipate a fog by +flinging hand-grenades into it. For Montaigne is a fog, a gas, a fluid, +insidious element. He does not reason, he insinuates, charms, and +influences; or if he reasons, you must be prepared for his having some +other design upon you than to convince you by his argument. It is +hardly too much to say that Montaigne is the most essential author to +know, if we would understand the course of French thought during the +last three hundred years. In every way, the influence of Montaigne was +repugnant to the men of Port-Royal. Pascal studied him with the +intention of demolishing him. Yet, in the _Pensées_, at the very end of +his life, we find passage after passage, and the slighter they are the +more significant, almost "lifted" out of Montaigne, down to a figure of +speech or a word. The parallels[A] are most often with the long essay of +Montaigne called _Apologie de Raymond Sébond_--an astonishing piece of +writing upon which Shakespeare also probably drew in _Hamlet_. Indeed, +by the time a man knew Montaigne well enough to attack him, he would +already be thoroughly infected by him. + + [A] Cf. the use of the simile of the _couvreur_. For comparing + parallel passages, the edition of the _Pensées_ by Henri Massis (_A + la cité des livres_) is better than the two-volume edition of + Jacques Chevalier (Gabalda). It seems just possible that in the + latter edition, and also in his biographical study (_Pascal_; by + Jacques Chevalier, English translation, published by Sheed & Ward), + M. Chevalier is a little over-zealous to demonstrate the perfect + orthodoxy of Pascal. + +It would, however, be grossly unfair to Pascal, to Montaigne, and indeed +to French literature, to leave the matter at that. It is no diminution +of Pascal, but only an aggrandisement of Montaigne. Had Montaigne been +an ordinary life-sized sceptic, a small man like Anatole France, or even +a greater man like Renan, or even like the greatest sceptic of all, +Voltaire, this "influence" would be to the discredit of Pascal; but if +Montaigne had been no more than Voltaire, he could not have affected +Pascal at all. The picture of Montaigne which offers itself first to our +eyes, that of the original and independent solitary "personality," +absorbed in amused analysis of himself, is deceptive. Montaigne's is no +_limited_ Pyrrhonism, like that of Voltaire, Renan, or France. He +exists, so to speak, on a plan of numerous concentric circles, the most +apparent of which is the small inmost circle, a personal puckish +scepticism which can be easily aped if not imitated. But what makes +Montaigne a very great figure is that he succeeded, God knows how--for +Montaigne very likely did not know that he had done it--it is not the +sort of thing that men _can_ observe about themselves, for it is +essentially bigger than the individual's consciousness--he succeeded in +giving expression to the scepticism of _every_ human being. For every +man who thinks and lives by thought must have his own scepticism, that +which stops at the question, that which ends in denial, or that which +leads to faith and which is somehow integrated into the faith which +transcends it. And Pascal, as the type of one kind of religious +believer, which is highly passionate and ardent, but passionate only +through a powerful and regulated intellect, is in the first sections of +his unfinished Apology for Christianity facing unflinchingly the demon +of doubt which is inseparable from the spirit of belief. + +There is accordingly something quite different from an influence which +would prove Pascal's weakness; there is a real affinity between his +doubt and that of Montaigne; and through the common kinship with +Montaigne Pascal is related to the noble and distinguished line of +French moralists, from La Rochefoucauld down. In the honesty with which +they face the _données_ of the actual world this French tradition has a +unique quality in European literature, and in the seventeenth century +Hobbes is crude and uncivilised in comparison. + +Pascal is a man of the world among ascetics, and an ascetic among men of +the world; he had the knowledge of worldliness and the passion of +asceticism, and in him the two are fused into an individual whole. The +majority of mankind is lazy-minded, incurious, absorbed in vanities, and +tepid in emotion, and is therefore incapable of either much doubt or +much faith; and when the ordinary man calls himself a sceptic or an +unbeliever, that is ordinarily a simple pose, cloaking a disinclination +to think anything out to a conclusion. Pascal's disillusioned analysis +of human bondage is sometimes interpreted to mean that Pascal was really +and finally an unbeliever, who, in his despair, was incapable of +enduring reality and enjoying the heroic satisfaction of the free man's +worship of nothing. His despair, his disillusion, are, however, no +illustration of personal weakness; they are perfectly objective, because +they are essential moments in the progress of the intellectual soul; and +for the type of Pascal they are the analogue of the drought, the dark +night, which is an essential stage in the progress of the Christian +mystic. A similar despair, when it is arrived at by a diseased character +or an impure soul, may issue in the most disastrous consequences though +with the most superb manifestations; and thus we get _Gulliver's +Travels_; but in Pascal we find no such distortion; his despair is in +itself more terrible than Swift's, because our heart tells us that it +corresponds exactly to the facts and cannot be dismissed as mental +disease; but it was also a despair which was a necessary prelude to, and +element in, the joy of faith. + +I do not wish to enter any further than necessary upon the question of +the heterodoxy of Jansenism; and it is no concern of this essay, whether +the Five Propositions condemned at Rome were really maintained by +Jansenius in his book _Augustinus_; or whether we should deplore or +approve the consequent decay (indeed with some persecution) of +Port-Royal. It is impossible to discuss the matter without becoming +involved as a controversialist either for or against Rome. But in a man +of the type of Pascal--and the type always exists--there is, I think, an +ingredient of what may be called Jansenism of temperament, without +identifying it with the Jansenism of Jansenius and of other devout and +sincere, but not immensely gifted doctors.[B] It is accordingly needful +to state in brief what the dangerous doctrine of Jansenius was, without +advancing too far into theological refinements. It is recognised in +Christian theology--and indeed on a lower plane it is recognised by all +men in affairs of daily life--that freewill or the natural effort and +ability of the individual man, and also supernatural _grace_, a gift +accorded we know not quite how, are both required, in co-operation, for +salvation. Though numerous theologians have set their wits at the +problem, it ends in a mystery which we can perceive but not finally +decipher. At least, it is obvious that, like any doctrine, a slight +excess or deviation to one side or the other will precipitate a heresy. +The Pelagians, who were refuted by St. Augustine, emphasised the +efficacy of human effort and belittled the importance of supernatural +grace. The Calvinists emphasised the degradation of man through Original +Sin, and considered mankind so corrupt that the will was of no avail; +and thus fell into the doctrine of predestination. It was upon the +doctrine of grace according to St. Augustine that the Jansenists relied; +and the _Augustinus_ of Jansenius was presented as a sound exposition of +the Augustinian views. + + [B] The great man of Port-Royal was of course Saint-Cyran, but any + one who is interested will certainly consult, first of all, the book + of Sainte-Beuve mentioned. + +Such heresies are never antiquated, because they forever assume new +forms. For instance, the insistence upon good works and "service" which +is preached from many quarters, or the simple faith that any one who +lives a good and useful life need have no "morbid" anxieties about +salvation, is a form of Pelagianism. On the other hand, one sometimes +hears enounced the view that it will make no real difference if all the +traditional religious sanctions for moral behaviour break down, because +those who are born and bred to be nice people will always prefer to +behave nicely, and those who are not will behave otherwise in any case: +and this is surely a form of predestination--for the hazard of being +born a nice person or not is as uncertain as the gift of grace. + +It is likely that Pascal was attracted as much by the fruits of +Jansenism in the life of Port-Royal as by the doctrine itself. This +devout, ascetic, thoroughgoing society, striving heroically in the midst +of a relaxed and easy-going Christianity, was formed to attract a nature +so concentrated, so passionate, and so thoroughgoing as Pascal's. But +the insistence upon the degraded and helpless state of man, in +Jansenism, is something also to which we must be grateful, for to it we +owe the magnificent analysis of human motives and occupations which was +to have constituted the early part of his book. And apart from the +Jansenism which is the work of a not very eminent bishop who wrote a +Latin treatise which is now unread, there is also, so to speak, a +Jansenism of the individual biography. A moment of Jansenism may +naturally take place, and take place rightly, in the individual; +particularly in the life of a man of great and intense intellectual +powers, who cannot avoid seeing through human beings and observing the +vanity of their thoughts and of their avocations, their dishonesty and +self-deceptions, the insincerity of their emotions, their cowardice, the +pettiness of their real ambitions. Actually, considering that Pascal +died at the age of thirty-nine, one must be amazed at the balance and +justice of his observations; much greater maturity is required for these +qualities, than for any mathematical or scientific greatness. How easily +his brooding on _the misery of man without God_ might have encouraged in +him the sin of spiritual pride, the _concupiscence de l'esprit_, and how +fast a hold he has of humility! + +And although Pascal brings to his work the same powers which he exerted +in science, it is not as a scientist that he presents himself. He does +not seem to say to the reader: I am one of the most distinguished +scientists of the day; I understand many matters which will always be +mysteries to you, and through science I have come to the Faith; you +therefore who are not initiated into science ought to have faith if I +have it. He is fully aware of the difference of subject-matter; and his +famous distinction between the _esprit de géométrie_ and the _esprit de +finesse_ is one to ponder over. It is the just combination of the +scientist, the _honnête homme_, and the religious nature with a +passionate craving for God, that makes Pascal unique. He succeeds where +Descartes fails; for in Descartes the element of _esprit de géométrie_ +is excessive.[C] And in a few phrases about Descartes, in the present +book, Pascal laid his finger on the place of weakness. + + [C] For a brilliant criticism of the errors of Descartes from a + theological point of view the reader is referred to _Three + Reformers_ by Jacques Maritain (translation published by Sheed & + Ward). + +He who reads this book will observe at once its fragmentary nature; but +only after some study will perceive that the fragmentariness lies in the +expression more than in the thought. The "thoughts" cannot be detached +from each other and quoted as if each were complete in itself. _Le cœur +a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point_: how often one has heard +that quoted, and quoted often to the wrong purpose! For this is by no +means an exaltation of the "heart" over the "head," a defence of +unreason. The heart, in Pascal's terminology, is itself truly rational +if it is truly the heart. For him, in theological matters, which seemed +to him much larger, more difficult, and more important than scientific +matters, the whole personality is involved. + +We cannot quite understand any of the parts, fragmentary as they are, +without some understanding of the whole. Capital, for instance, is his +analysis of the _three orders_: the order of nature, the order of mind, +and the order of charity. These three are _discontinuous_; the higher is +not implicit in the lower as in an evolutionary doctrine it would be.[D] +In this distinction Pascal offers much about which the modern world +would do well to think. And indeed, because of his unique combination +and balance of qualities, I know of no religious writer more pertinent +to our time. The great mystics like St. John of the Cross, are +primarily for readers with a special determination of purpose; the +devotional writers, such as St. François de Sales, are primarily for +those who already feel consciously desirous of the love of God; the +great theologians are for those interested in theology. But I can think +of no Christian writer, not Newman even, more to be commended than +Pascal to those who doubt, but who have the mind to conceive, and the +sensibility to feel, the disorder, the futility, the meaninglessness, +the mystery of life and suffering, and who can only find peace through a +satisfaction of the whole being. + + [D] An important modern theory of discontinuity, suggested partly by + Pascal, is sketched in the collected fragments of _Speculations_ by + T. E. Hulme (Kegan Paul). + +T. S. ELIOT. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + Page + INTRODUCTION By T. S. Eliot vii +SECTION +I. THOUGHTS ON MIND AND ON STYLE 1 +II. THE MISERY OF MAN WITHOUT GOD 14 +III. OF THE NECESSITY OF THE WAGER 52 +IV. OF THE MEANS OF BELIEF 71 +V. JUSTICE AND THE REASON OF EFFECTS 83 +VI. THE PHILOSOPHERS 96 +VII. MORALITY AND DOCTRINE 113 +VIII. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 152 +IX. PERPETUITY 163 +X. TYPOLOGY 181 +XI. THE PROPHECIES 198 +XII. PROOFS OF JESUS CHRIST 222 +XIII. THE MIRACLES 238 +XIV. APPENDIX: POLEMICAL FRAGMENTS 257 + NOTES 273 + INDEX 289 + + * * * * * + + +NOTE + +_Passages_ erased by Pascal are enclosed in square brackets, thus []. +_Words_, added or corrected by the editor of the text, are similarly +denoted, but are in italics. + +It has been seen fit to transfer Fragment 514 of the French edition to +the Notes. All subsequent Fragments have accordingly been renumbered. + + + + +SECTION I + +THOUGHTS ON MIND AND ON STYLE + + +1 + + +_The difference between the mathematical and the intuitive mind._[1]--In +the one the principles are palpable, but removed from ordinary use; so +that for want of habit it is difficult to turn one's mind in that +direction: but if one turns it thither ever so little, one sees the +principles fully, and one must have a quite inaccurate mind who reasons +wrongly from principles so plain that it is almost impossible they +should escape notice. + +But in the intuitive mind the principles are found in common use, and +are before the eyes of everybody. One has only to look, and no effort is +necessary; it is only a question of good eyesight, but it must be good, +for the principles are so subtle and so numerous, that it is almost +impossible but that some escape notice. Now the omission of one +principle leads to error; thus one must have very clear sight to see all +the principles, and in the next place an accurate mind not to draw false +deductions from known principles. + +All mathematicians would then be intuitive if they had clear sight, for +they do not reason incorrectly from principles known to them; and +intuitive minds would be mathematical if they could turn their eyes to +the principles of mathematics to which they are unused. + +The reason, therefore, that some intuitive minds are not mathematical is +that they cannot at all turn their attention to the principles of +mathematics. But the reason that mathematicians are not intuitive is +that they do not see what is before them, and that, accustomed to the +exact and plain principles of mathematics, and not reasoning till they +have well inspected and arranged their principles, they are lost in +matters of intuition where the principles do not allow of such +arrangement. They are scarcely seen; they are felt rather than seen; +there is the greatest difficulty in making them felt by those who do +not of themselves perceive them. These principles are so fine and so +numerous that a very delicate and very clear sense is needed to perceive +them, and to judge rightly and justly when they are perceived, without +for the most part being able to demonstrate them in order as in +mathematics; because the principles are not known to us in the same way, +and because it would be an endless matter to undertake it. We must see +the matter at once, at one glance, and not by a process of reasoning, at +least to a certain degree. And thus it is rare that mathematicians are +intuitive, and that men of intuition are mathematicians, because +mathematicians wish to treat matters of intuition mathematically, and +make themselves ridiculous, wishing to begin with definitions and then +with axioms, which is not the way to proceed in this kind of reasoning. +Not that the mind does not do so, but it does it tacitly, naturally, and +without technical rules; for the expression of it is beyond all men, and +only a few can feel it. + +Intuitive minds, on the contrary, being thus accustomed to judge at a +single glance, are so astonished when they are presented with +propositions of which they understand nothing, and the way to which is +through definitions and axioms so sterile, and which they are not +accustomed to see thus in detail, that they are repelled and +disheartened. + +But dull minds are never either intuitive or mathematical. + +Mathematicians who are only mathematicians have exact minds, provided +all things are explained to them by means of definitions and axioms; +otherwise they are inaccurate and insufferable, for they are only right +when the principles are quite clear. + +And men of intuition who are only intuitive cannot have the patience to +reach to first principles of things speculative and conceptual, which +they have never seen in the world, and which are altogether out of the +common. + + +2 + +There are different kinds of right understanding;[2] some have right +understanding in a certain order of things, and not in others, where +they go astray. Some draw conclusions well from a few premises, and this +displays an acute judgment. + +Others draw conclusions well where there are many premises. + +For example, the former easily learn hydrostatics, where the premises +are few, but the conclusions are so fine that only the greatest +acuteness can reach them. + +And in spite of that these persons would perhaps not be great +mathematicians, because mathematics contain a great number of premises, +and there is perhaps a kind of intellect that can search with ease a few +premises to the bottom, and cannot in the least penetrate those matters +in which there are many premises. + +There are then two kinds of intellect: the one able to penetrate acutely +and deeply into the conclusions of given premises, and this is the +precise intellect; the other able to comprehend a great number of +premises without confusing them, and this is the mathematical intellect. +The one has force and exactness, the other comprehension. Now the one +quality can exist without the other; the intellect can be strong and +narrow, and can also be comprehensive and weak. + + +3 + +Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the +process of reasoning, for they would understand at first sight, and are +not used to seek for principles. And others, on the contrary, who are +accustomed to reason from principles, do not at all understand matters +of feeling, seeking principles, and being unable to see at a glance. + + +4 + +_Mathematics, intuition._--True eloquence makes light of eloquence, true +morality makes light of morality; that is to say, the morality of the +judgment, which has no rules, makes light of the morality of the +intellect. + +For it is to judgment that perception belongs, as science belongs to +intellect. Intuition is the part of judgment, mathematics of intellect. + +To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher. + + +5 + +Those who judge of a work by rule[3] are in regard to others as those +who have a watch are in regard to others. One says, "It is two hours +ago"; the other says, "It is only three-quarters of an hour." I look at +my watch, and say to the one, "You are weary," and to the other, "Time +gallops with you"; for it is only an hour and a half ago, and I laugh +at those who tell me that time goes slowly with me, and that I judge by +imagination. They do not know that I judge by my watch.[4] + + +6 + +Just as we harm the understanding, we harm the feelings also. + +The understanding and the feelings are moulded by intercourse; the +understanding and feelings are corrupted by intercourse. Thus good or +bad society improves or corrupts them. It is, then, all-important to +know how to choose in order to improve and not to corrupt them; and we +cannot make this choice, if they be not already improved and not +corrupted. Thus a circle is formed, and those are fortunate who escape +it. + + +7 + +The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. +Ordinary persons find no difference between men. + + +8 + +There are many people who listen to a sermon in the same way as they +listen to vespers. + + +9 + +When we wish to correct with advantage, and to show another that he +errs, we must notice from what side he views the matter, for on that +side it is usually true, and admit that truth to him, but reveal to him +the side on which it is false. He is satisfied with that, for he sees +that he was not mistaken, and that he only failed to see all sides. Now, +no one is offended at not seeing everything; but one does not like to be +mistaken, and that perhaps arises from the fact that man naturally +cannot see everything, and that naturally he cannot err in the side he +looks at, since the perceptions of our senses are always true. + + +10 + +People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have +themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of +others. + + +11 + +All great amusements are dangerous to the Christian life; but among all +those which the world has invented there is none more to be feared than +the theatre. It is a representation of the passions so natural and so +delicate that it excites them and gives birth to them in our hearts, +and, above all, to that of love, principally when it is represented as +very chaste and virtuous. For the more innocent it appears to innocent +souls, the more they are likely to be touched by it. Its violence +pleases our self-love, which immediately forms a desire to produce the +same effects which are seen so well represented; and, at the same time, +we make ourselves a conscience founded on the propriety of the feelings +which we see there, by which the fear of pure souls is removed, since +they imagine that it cannot hurt their purity to love with a love which +seems to them so reasonable. + +So we depart from the theatre with our heart so filled with all the +beauty and tenderness of love, the soul and the mind so persuaded of its +innocence, that we are quite ready to receive its first impressions, or +rather to seek an opportunity of awakening them in the heart of another, +in order that we may receive the same pleasures and the same sacrifices +which we have seen so well represented in the theatre. + + +12 + +Scaramouch,[5] who only thinks of one thing. + +The doctor,[6] who speaks for a quarter of an hour after he has said +everything, so full is he of the desire of talking. + + +13 + +One likes to see the error, the passion of Cleobuline,[7] because she is +unconscious of it. She would be displeasing, if she were not deceived. + + +14 + +When a natural discourse paints a passion or an effect, one feels within +oneself the truth of what one reads, which was there before, although +one did not know it. Hence one is inclined to love him who makes us feel +it, for he has not shown us his own riches, but ours. And thus this +benefit renders him pleasing to us, besides that such community of +intellect as we have with him necessarily inclines the heart to love. + + +15 + +Eloquence, which persuades by sweetness, not by authority; as a tyrant, +not as a king. + + +16 + +Eloquence is an art of saying things in such a way--(1) that those to +whom we speak may listen to them without pain and with pleasure; (2) +that they feel themselves interested, so that self-love leads them more +willingly to reflection upon it. + +It consists, then, in a correspondence which we seek to establish +between the head and the heart of those to whom we speak on the one +hand, and, on the other, between the thoughts and the expressions which +we employ. This assumes that we have studied well the heart of man so as +to know all its powers, and then to find the just proportions of the +discourse which we wish to adapt to them. We must put ourselves in the +place of those who are to hear us, and make trial on our own heart of +the turn which we give to our discourse in order to see whether one is +made for the other, and whether we can assure ourselves that the hearer +will be, as it were, forced to surrender. We ought to restrict +ourselves, so far as possible, to the simple and natural, and not to +magnify that which is little, or belittle that which is great. It is not +enough that a thing be beautiful; it must be suitable to the subject, +and there must be in it nothing of excess or defect. + + +17 + +Rivers are roads which move,[8] and which carry us whither we desire to +go. + + +18 + +When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is of advantage that there +should exist a common error which determines the mind of man, as, for +example, the moon, to which is attributed the change of seasons, the +progress of diseases, etc. For the chief malady of man is restless +curiosity about things which he cannot understand; and it is not so bad +for him to be in error as to be curious to no purpose. + +The manner in which Epictetus, Montaigne, and Salomon de Tultie[9] +wrote, is the most usual, the most suggestive, the most remembered, and +the oftenest quoted; because it is entirely composed of thoughts born +from the common talk of life. As when we speak of the common error which +exists among men that the moon is the cause of everything, we never fail +to say that Salomon de Tultie says that when we do not know the truth +of a thing, it is of advantage that there should exist a common error, +etc.; which is the thought above. + + +19 + +The last thing one settles in writing a book is what one should put in +first. + + +20 + +_Order._--Why should I undertake to divide my virtues into four rather +than into six? Why should I rather establish virtue in four, in two, in +one? Why into _Abstine et sustine_[10] rather than into "Follow +Nature,"[11] or, "Conduct your private affairs without injustice," as +Plato,[12] or anything else? But there, you will say, everything is +contained in one word. Yes, but it is useless without explanation, and +when we come to explain it, as soon as we unfold this maxim which +contains all the rest, they emerge in that first confusion which you +desired to avoid. So, when they are all included in one, they are hidden +and useless, as in a chest, and never appear save in their natural +confusion. Nature has established them all without including one in the +other. + + +21 + +Nature has made all her truths independent of one another. Our art makes +one dependent on the other. But this is not natural. Each keeps its own +place. + + +22 + +Let no one say that I have said nothing new; the arrangement of the +subject is new. When we play tennis, we both play with the same ball, +but one of us places it better. + +I had as soon it said that I used words employed before. And in the same +way if the same thoughts in a different arrangement do not form a +different discourse, no more do the same words in their different +arrangement form different thoughts! + + +23 + +Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meanings +differently arranged have different effects. + + +24 + +_Language._--We should not turn the mind from one thing to another, +except for relaxation, and that when it is necessary and the time +suitable, and not otherwise. For he that relaxes out of season wearies, +and he who wearies us out of season makes us languid, since we turn +quite away. So much does our perverse lust like to do the contrary of +what those wish to obtain from us without giving us pleasure, the coin +for which we will do whatever is wanted. + + +25 + +_Eloquence._--It requires the pleasant and the real; but the pleasant +must itself be drawn from the true. + + +26 + +Eloquence is a painting of thought; and thus those who, after having +painted it, add something more, make a picture instead of a portrait. + + +27 + +_Miscellaneous. Language._--Those who make antitheses by forcing words +are like those who make false windows for symmetry. Their rule is not to +speak accurately, but to make apt figures of speech. + + +28 + +Symmetry is what we see at a glance; based on the fact that there is no +reason for any difference, and based also on the face of man; whence it +happens that symmetry is only wanted in breadth, not in height or depth. + + +29 + +When we see a natural style, we are astonished and delighted; for we +expected to see an author, and we find a man. Whereas those who have +good taste, and who seeing a book expect to find a man, are quite +surprised to find an author. _Plus poetice quam humane locutus es._ +Those honour Nature well, who teach that she can speak on everything, +even on theology. + + +30 + +We only consult the ear because the heart is wanting. The rule is +uprightness. + +Beauty of omission, of judgment. + + +31 + +All the false beauties which we blame in Cicero have their admirers, and +in great number. + + +32 + +There is a certain standard of grace and beauty which consists in a +certain relation between our nature, such as it is, weak or strong, and +the thing which pleases us. + +Whatever is formed according to this standard pleases us, be it house, +song, discourse, verse, prose, woman, birds, rivers, trees, rooms, +dress, etc. Whatever is not made according to this standard displeases +those who have good taste. + +And as there is a perfect relation between a song and a house which are +made after a good model, because they are like this good model, though +each after its kind; even so there is a perfect relation between things +made after a bad model. Not that the bad model is unique, for there are +many; but each bad sonnet, for example, on whatever false model it is +formed, is just like a woman dressed after that model. + +Nothing makes us understand better the ridiculousness of a false sonnet +than to consider nature and the standard, and then to imagine a woman or +a house made according to that standard. + + +33 + +_Poetical beauty._--As we speak of poetical beauty, so ought we to speak +of mathematical beauty and medical beauty. But we do not do so; and the +reason is that we know well what is the object of mathematics, and that +it consists in proofs, and what is the object of medicine, and that it +consists in healing. But we do not know in what grace consists, which is +the object of poetry. We do not know the natural model which we ought to +imitate; and through lack of this knowledge, we have coined fantastic +terms, "The golden age," "The wonder of our times," "Fatal," etc., and +call this jargon poetical beauty.[13] + +But whoever imagines a woman after this model, which consists in saying +little things in big words, will see a pretty girl adorned with mirrors +and chains, at whom he will smile; because we know better wherein +consists the charm of woman than the charm of verse. But those who are +ignorant would admire her in this dress, and there are many villages in +which she would be taken for the queen; hence we call sonnets made after +this model "Village Queens." + + +34 + +No one passes in the world as skilled in verse unless he has put up the +sign of a poet, a mathematician, etc. But educated people do not want a +sign, and draw little distinction between the trade of a poet and that +of an embroiderer. + +People of education are not called poets or mathematicians, etc.; but +they are all these, and judges of all these. No one guesses what they +are. When they come into society, they talk on matters about which the +rest are talking. We do not observe in them one quality rather than +another, save when they have to make use of it. But then we remember it, +for it is characteristic of such persons that we do not say of them that +they are fine speakers, when it is not a question of oratory, and that +we say of them that they are fine speakers, when it is such a question. + +It is therefore false praise to give a man when we say of him, on his +entry, that he is a very clever poet; and it is a bad sign when a man is +not asked to give his judgment on some verses. + + +35 + +We should not be able to say of a man, "He is a mathematician," or "a +preacher," or "eloquent"; but that he is "a gentleman." That universal +quality alone pleases me. It is a bad sign when, on seeing a person, you +remember his book. I would prefer you to see no quality till you meet it +and have occasion to use it (_Ne quid nimis_[14]), for fear some one +quality prevail and designate the man. Let none think him a fine +speaker, unless oratory be in question, and then let them think it. + + +36 + +Man is full of wants: he loves only those who can satisfy them all. +"This one is a good mathematician," one will say. But I have nothing to +do with mathematics; he would take me for a proposition. "That one is a +good soldier." He would take me for a besieged town. I need, then, an +upright man who can accommodate himself generally to all my wants. + + +37 + +[Since we cannot be universal and know all that is to be known of +everything, we ought to know a little about everything. For it is far +better to know something about everything than to know all about one +thing. This universality is the best. If we can have both, still better; +but if we must choose, we ought to choose the former. And the world +feels this and does so; for the world is often a good judge.] + + +38 + +A poet and not an honest man. + + +39 + +If lightning fell on low places, etc., poets, and those who can only +reason about things of that kind, would lack proofs. + + +40 + +If we wished to prove the examples which we take to prove other things, +we should have to take those other things to be examples; for, as we +always believe the difficulty is in what we wish to prove, we find the +examples clearer and a help to demonstration. + +Thus when we wish to demonstrate a general theorem, we must give the +rule as applied to a particular case; but if we wish to demonstrate a +particular case, we must begin with the general rule. For we always find +the thing obscure which we wish to prove, and that clear which we use +for the proof; for, when a thing is put forward to be proved, we first +fill ourselves with the imagination that it is therefore obscure, and on +the contrary that what is to prove it is clear, and so we understand it +easily. + + +41 + +_Epigrams of Martial._--Man loves malice, but not against one-eyed men +nor the unfortunate, but against the fortunate and proud. People are +mistaken in thinking otherwise. + +For lust is the source of all our actions, and humanity, etc. We must +please those who have humane and tender feelings. That epigram about two +one-eyed people is worthless,[15] for it does not console them, and only +gives a point to the author's glory. All that is only for the sake of +the author is worthless. _Ambitiosa recident ornamenta._[16] + + +42 + +To call a king "Prince" is pleasing, because it diminishes his rank. + + +43 + +Certain authors, speaking of their works, say, "My book," "My +commentary," "My history," etc. They resemble middle-class people who +have a house of their own, and always have "My house" on their tongue. +They would do better to say, "Our book," "Our commentary," "Our +history," etc., because there is in them usually more of other people's +than their own. + + +44 + +Do you wish people to believe good of you? Don't speak. + + +45 + +Languages are ciphers, wherein letters are not changed into letters, but +words into words, so that an unknown language is decipherable. + + +46 + +A maker of witticisms, a bad character. + + +47 + +There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the +audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of +without that warmth. + + +48 + +When we find words repeated in a discourse, and, in trying to correct +them, discover that they are so appropriate that we would spoil the +discourse, we must leave them alone. This is the test; and our attempt +is the work of envy, which is blind, and does not see that repetition is +not in this place a fault; for there is no general rule. + + +49 + +To mask nature and disguise her. No more king, pope, bishop--but _august +monarch_, etc.; not Paris--_the capital of the kingdom_. There are +places in which we ought to call Paris, Paris, and others in which we +ought to call it the capital of the kingdom. + + +50 + +The same meaning changes with the words which express it. Meanings +receive their dignity from words instead of giving it to them. Examples +should be sought.... + + +51 + +Sceptic, for obstinate. + + +52 + +No one calls another a Cartesian[17] but he who is one himself, a pedant +but a pedant, a provincial but a provincial; and I would wager it was +the printer who put it on the title of _Letters to a Provincial_. + + +53 + +A carriage _upset_ or _overturned_, according to the meaning _To spread +abroad_ or _upset_, according to the meaning. (The argument by force of +M. le Maître[18] over the friar.) + + +54 + +_Miscellaneous._--A form of speech, "I should have liked to apply myself +to that." + + +55 + +The _aperitive_ virtue of a key, the _attractive_ virtue of a hook. + + +56 + +To guess: "The part that I take in your trouble." The Cardinal[19] did +not want to be guessed. + +"My mind is disquieted." _I am disquieted_ is better. + + +57 + +I always feel uncomfortable under such compliments as these: "I have +given you a great deal of trouble," "I am afraid I am boring you," "I +fear this is too long." We either carry our audience with us, or +irritate them. + + +58 + +You are ungraceful: "Excuse me, pray." Without that excuse I would not +have known there was anything amiss. "With reverence be it spoken ...." +The only thing bad is their excuse. + + +59 + +"To extinguish the torch of sedition"; too luxuriant. "The restlessness +of his genius"; two superfluous grand words. + + + + +SECTION II + +THE MISERY OF MAN WITHOUT GOD + + +60 + +_First part_: Misery of man without God. + +_Second part_: Happiness of man with God. + +Or, _First part_: That nature is corrupt. Proved by nature itself. + +_Second part_: That there is a Redeemer. Proved by Scripture. + + +61 + +_Order._--I might well have taken this discourse in an order like this: +to show the vanity of all conditions of men, to show the vanity of +ordinary lives, and then the vanity of philosophic lives, sceptics, +stoics; but the order would not have been kept. I know a little what it +is, and how few people understand it. No human science can keep it. +Saint Thomas[20] did not keep it. Mathematics keep it, but they are +useless on account of their depth. + + +62 + +_Preface to the first part._--To speak of those who have treated of the +knowledge of self; of the divisions of Charron,[21] which sadden and +weary us; of the confusion of Montaigne;[22] that he was quite aware of +his want of method, and shunned it by jumping from subject to subject; +that he sought to be fashionable. + +His foolish project of describing himself! And this not casually and +against his maxims, since every one makes mistakes, but by his maxims +themselves, and by first and chief design. For to say silly things by +chance and weakness is a common misfortune; but to say them +intentionally is intolerable, and to say such as that ... + + +63 + +_Montaigne._--Montaigne's faults are great. Lewd words; this is bad, +notwithstanding Mademoiselle de Gournay.[23] Credulous; _people without +eyes_.[24] Ignorant; _squaring the circle,[25] a greater world_.[26] His +opinions on suicide, on death.[27] He suggests an indifference about +salvation, _without fear and without repentance_.[28] As his book was +not written with a religious purpose, he was not bound to mention +religion; but it is always our duty not to turn men from it. One can +excuse his rather free and licentious opinions on some relations of life +(730,231)[29]; but one cannot excuse his thoroughly pagan views on +death, for a man must renounce piety altogether, if he does not at least +wish to die like a Christian. Now, through the whole of his book his +only conception of death is a cowardly and effeminate one. + + +64 + +It is not in Montaigne, but in myself, that I find all that I see in +him. + + +65 + +What good there is in Montaigne can only have been acquired with +difficulty. The evil that is in him, I mean apart from his morality, +could have been corrected in a moment, if he had been informed that he +made too much of trifles and spoke too much of himself. + + +66 + +One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at +least serves as a rule of life, and there is nothing better. + + +67 + +_The vanity of the sciences._--Physical science will not console me for +the ignorance of morality in the time of affliction. But the science of +ethics will always console me for the ignorance of the physical +sciences. + + +68 + +Men are never taught to be gentlemen, and are taught everything else; +and they never plume themselves so much on the rest of their knowledge +as on knowing how to be gentlemen. They only plume themselves on knowing +the one thing they do not know. + + +69 + +_The infinites, the mean._--When we read too fast or too slowly, we +understand nothing. + + +70 + +_Nature_ ...--[Nature has set us so well in the centre, that if we +change one side of the balance, we change the other also. _I act._ Τά +ζῶα τρέχει. This makes me believe that the springs in our brain are so +adjusted that he who touches one touches also its contrary.] + + +71 + +Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; give +him too much, the same. + + +72 + +_Man's disproportion._--[This is where our innate knowledge leads us. If +it be not true, there is no truth in man; and if it be true, he finds +therein great cause for humiliation, being compelled to abase himself in +one way or another. And since he cannot exist without this knowledge, I +wish that, before entering on deeper researches into nature, he would +consider her both seriously and at leisure, that he would reflect upon +himself also, and knowing what proportion there is....] Let man then +contemplate the whole of nature in her full and grand majesty, and turn +his vision from the low objects which surround him. Let him gaze on that +brilliant light, set like an eternal lamp to illumine the universe; let +the earth appear to him a point in comparison with the vast circle +described by the sun; and let him wonder at the fact that this vast +circle is itself but a very fine point in comparison with that described +by the stars in their revolution round the firmament. But if our view be +arrested there, let our imagination pass beyond; it will sooner exhaust +the power of conception than nature that of supplying material for +conception. The whole visible world is only an imperceptible atom in the +ample bosom of nature. No idea approaches it. We may enlarge our +conceptions beyond all imaginable space; we only produce atoms in +comparison with the reality of things. It is an infinite sphere, the +centre of which is everywhere, the circumference nowhere.[30] In short +it is the greatest sensible mark of the almighty power of God, that +imagination loses itself in that thought. + +Returning to himself, let man consider what he is in comparison with all +existence; let him regard himself as lost in this remote corner of +nature; and from the little cell in which he finds himself lodged, I +mean the universe, let him estimate at their true value the earth, +kingdoms, cities, and himself. What is a man in the Infinite? + +But to show him another prodigy equally astonishing, let him examine the +most delicate things he knows. Let a mite be given him, with its minute +body and parts incomparably more minute, limbs with their joints, veins +in the limbs, blood in the veins, humours in the blood, drops in the +humours, vapours in the drops. Dividing these last things again, let him +exhaust his powers of conception, and let the last object at which he +can arrive be now that of our discourse. Perhaps he will think that here +is the smallest point in nature. I will let him see therein a new abyss. +I will paint for him not only the visible universe, but all that he can +conceive of nature's immensity in the womb of this abridged atom. Let +him see therein an infinity of universes, each of which has its +firmament, its planets, its earth, in the same proportion as in the +visible world; in each earth animals, and in the last mites, in which he +will find again all that the first had, finding still in these others +the same thing without end and without cessation. Let him lose himself +in wonders as amazing in their littleness as the others in their +vastness. For who will not be astounded at the fact that our body, which +a little while ago was imperceptible in the universe, itself +imperceptible in the bosom of the whole, is now a colossus, a world, or +rather a whole, in respect of the nothingness which we cannot reach? He +who regards himself in this light will be afraid of himself, and +observing himself sustained in the body given him by nature between +those two abysses of the Infinite and Nothing, will tremble at the sight +of these marvels; and I think that, as his curiosity changes into +admiration, he will be more disposed to contemplate them in silence than +to examine them with presumption. + +For in fact what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the +Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing +and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending the +extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden +from him in an impenetrable secret, he is equally incapable of seeing +the Nothing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he is +swallowed up. + +What will he do then, but perceive the appearance of the middle of +things, in an eternal despair of knowing either their beginning or their +end. All things proceed from the Nothing, and are borne towards the +Infinite. Who will follow these marvellous processes? The Author of +these wonders understands them. None other can do so. + +Through failure to contemplate these Infinites, men have rashly rushed +into the examination of nature, as though they bore some proportion to +her. It is strange that they have wished to understand the beginnings of +things, and thence to arrive at the knowledge of the whole, with a +presumption as infinite as their object. For surely this design cannot +be formed without presumption or without a capacity infinite like +nature. + +If we are well informed, we understand that, as nature has graven her +image and that of her Author on all things, they almost all partake of +her double infinity. Thus we see that all the sciences are infinite in +the extent of their researches. For who doubts that geometry, for +instance, has an infinite infinity of problems to solve? They are also +infinite in the multitude and fineness of their premises; for it is +clear that those which are put forward as ultimate are not +self-supporting, but are based on others which, again having others for +their support, do not permit of finality. But we represent some as +ultimate for reason, in the same way as in regard to material objects we +call that an indivisible point beyond which our senses can no longer +perceive anything, although by its nature it is infinitely divisible. + +Of these two Infinites of science, that of greatness is the most +palpable, and hence a few persons have pretended to know all things. "I +will speak of the whole,"[31] said Democritus. + +But the infinitely little is the least obvious. Philosophers have much +oftener claimed to have reached it, and it is here they have all +stumbled. This has given rise to such common titles as _First +Principles_, _Principles of Philosophy_,[32] and the like, as +ostentatious in fact, though not in appearance, as that one which blinds +us, _De omni scibili_.[33] + +We naturally believe ourselves far more capable of reaching the centre +of things than of embracing their circumference. The visible extent of +the world visibly exceeds us; but as we exceed little things, we think +ourselves more capable of knowing them. And yet we need no less capacity +for attaining the Nothing than the All. Infinite capacity is required +for both, and it seems to me that whoever shall have understood the +ultimate principles of being might also attain to the knowledge of the +Infinite. The one depends on the other, and one leads to the other. +These extremes meet and reunite by force of distance, and find each +other in God, and in God alone. + +Let us then take our compass; we are something, and we are not +everything. The nature of our existence hides from us the knowledge of +first beginnings which are born of the Nothing; and the littleness of +our being conceals from us the sight of the Infinite. + +Our intellect holds the same position in the world of thought as our +body occupies in the expanse of nature. + +Limited as we are in every way, this state which holds the mean between +two extremes is present in all our impotence. Our senses perceive no +extreme. Too much sound deafens us; too much light dazzles us; too great +distance or proximity hinders our view. Too great length and too great +brevity of discourse tend to obscurity; too much truth is paralysing (I +know some who cannot understand that to take four from nothing leaves +nothing). First principles are too self-evident for us; too much +pleasure disagrees with us. Too many concords are annoying in music; too +many benefits irritate us; we wish to have the wherewithal to over-pay +our debts. _Beneficia eo usque læta sunt dum videntur exsolvi posse; ubi +multum antevenere, pro gratia odium redditur._[34] We feel neither +extreme heat nor extreme cold. Excessive qualities are prejudicial to us +and not perceptible by the senses; we do not feel but suffer them. +Extreme youth and extreme age hinder the mind, as also too much and too +little education. In short, extremes are for us as though they were not, +and we are not within their notice. They escape us, or we them. + +This is our true state; this is what makes us incapable of certain +knowledge and of absolute ignorance. We sail within a vast sphere, ever +drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end. When we think to attach +ourselves to any point and to fasten to it, it wavers and leaves us; and +if we follow it, it eludes our grasp, slips past us, and vanishes for +ever. Nothing stays for us. This is our natural condition, and yet most +contrary to our inclination; we burn with desire to find solid ground +and an ultimate sure foundation whereon to build a tower reaching to the +Infinite. But our whole groundwork cracks, and the earth opens to +abysses. + +Let us therefore not look for certainty and stability. Our reason is +always deceived by fickle shadows; nothing can fix the finite between +the two Infinites, which both enclose and fly from it. + +If this be well understood, I think that we shall remain at rest, each +in the state wherein nature has placed him. As this sphere which has +fallen to us as our lot is always distant from either extreme, what +matters it that man should have a little more knowledge of the universe? +If he has it, he but gets a little higher. Is he not always infinitely +removed from the end, and is not the duration of our life equally +removed from eternity, even if it lasts ten years longer? + +In comparison with these Infinites all finites are equal, and I see no +reason for fixing our imagination on one more than on another. The only +comparison which we make of ourselves to the finite is painful to us. + +If man made himself the first object of study, he would see how +incapable he is of going further. How can a part know the whole? But he +may perhaps aspire to know at least the parts to which he bears some +proportion. But the parts of the world are all so related and linked to +one another, that I believe it impossible to know one without the other +and without the whole. + +Man, for instance, is related to all he knows. He needs a place wherein +to abide, time through which to live, motion in order to live, elements +to compose him, warmth and food to nourish him, air to breathe. He sees +light; he feels bodies; in short, he is in a dependent alliance with +everything. To know man, then, it is necessary to know how it happens +that he needs air to live, and, to know the air, we must know how it is +thus related to the life of man, etc. Flame cannot exist without air; +therefore to understand the one, we must understand the other. + +Since everything then is cause and effect, dependent and supporting, +mediate and immediate, and all is held together by a natural though +imperceptible chain, which binds together things most distant and most +different, I hold it equally impossible to know the parts without +knowing the whole, and to know the whole without knowing the parts in +detail. + +[The eternity of things in itself or in God must also astonish our +brief duration. The fixed and constant immobility of nature, in +comparison with the continual change which goes on within us, must have +the same effect.] + +And what completes our incapability of knowing things, is the fact that +they are simple, and that we are composed of two opposite natures, +different in kind, soul and body. For it is impossible that our rational +part should be other than spiritual; and if any one maintain that we are +simply corporeal, this would far more exclude us from the knowledge of +things, there being nothing so inconceivable as to say that matter knows +itself. It is impossible to imagine how it should know itself. + +So if we are simply material, we can know nothing at all; and if we are +composed of mind and matter, we cannot know perfectly things which are +simple, whether spiritual or corporeal. Hence it comes that almost all +philosophers have confused ideas of things, and speak of material things +in spiritual terms, and of spiritual things in material terms. For they +say boldly that bodies have a tendency to fall, that they seek after +their centre, that they fly from destruction, that they fear the void, +that they have inclinations, sympathies, antipathies, all of which +attributes pertain only to mind. And in speaking of minds, they consider +them as in a place, and attribute to them movement from one place to +another; and these are qualities which belong only to bodies. + +Instead of receiving the ideas of these things in their purity, we +colour them with our own qualities, and stamp with our composite being +all the simple things which we contemplate. + +Who would not think, seeing us compose all things of mind and body, but +that this mixture would be quite intelligible to us? Yet it is the very +thing we least understand. Man is to himself the most wonderful object +in nature; for he cannot conceive what the body is, still less what the +mind is, and least of all how a body should be united to a mind. This is +the consummation of his difficulties, and yet it is his very being. +_Modus quo corporibus adhærent spiritus comprehendi ab hominibus non +potest, et hoc tamen homo est._[35] Finally, to complete the proof of +our weakness, I shall conclude with these two considerations.... + + +73 + +[But perhaps this subject goes beyond the capacity of reason. Let us +therefore examine her solutions to problems within her powers. If there +be anything to which her own interest must have made her apply herself +most seriously, it is the inquiry into her own sovereign good. Let us +see, then, wherein these strong and clear-sighted souls have placed it, +and whether they agree. + +One says that the sovereign good consists in virtue, another in +pleasure, another in the knowledge of nature, another in truth, _Felix +qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_,[36] another in total ignorance, +another in indolence, others in disregarding appearances, another in +wondering at nothing, _nihil admirari prope res una quæ possit facere et +servare beatum_,[37] and the true sceptics in their indifference, doubt, +and perpetual suspense, and others, wiser, think to find a better +definition. We are well satisfied. + +_To transpose after the laws to the following title._ + +We must see if this fine philosophy have gained nothing certain from so +long and so intent study; perhaps at least the soul will know itself. +Let us hear the rulers of the world on this subject. What have they +thought of her substance? 394.[38] Have they been more fortunate in +locating her? 395.[39] What have they found out about her origin, +duration, and departure? 399.[40] + +Is then the soul too noble a subject for their feeble lights? Let us +then abase her to matter and see if she knows whereof is made the very +body which she animates, and those others which she contemplates and +moves at her will. What have those great dogmatists, who are ignorant of +nothing, known of this matter? _Harum sententiarum_,[41] 393. + +This would doubtless suffice, if reason were reasonable. She is +reasonable enough to admit that she has been unable to find anything +durable, but she does not yet despair of reaching it; she is as ardent +as ever in this search, and is confident she has within her the +necessary powers for this conquest. We must therefore conclude, and, +after having examined her powers in their effects, observe them in +themselves, and see if she has a nature and a grasp capable of laying +hold of the truth.] + + +74 + +A letter _On the Foolishness of Human Knowledge and Philosophy_. + +This letter before _Diversion_. + +_Felix qui potuit ... Nihil admirari._[42] + +280 kinds of sovereign good in Montaigne.[43] + + +75 + +Part I, 1, 2, c. 1, section 4.[44] + +[_Probability._--It will not be difficult to put the case a stage lower, +and make it appear ridiculous. To begin at the very beginning.] What is +more absurd than to say that lifeless bodies have passions, fears, +hatreds--that insensible bodies, lifeless and incapable of life, have +passions which presuppose at least a sensitive soul to feel them, nay +more, that the object of their dread is the void? What is there in the +void that could make them afraid? Nothing is more shallow and +ridiculous. This is not all; it is said that they have in themselves a +source of movement to shun the void. Have they arms, legs, muscles, +nerves? + + +76 + +To write against those who made too profound a study of science: +Descartes. + + +77 + +I cannot forgive Descartes. In all his philosophy he would have been +quite willing to dispense with God. But he had to make Him give a fillip +to set the world in motion; beyond this, he has no further need of God. + + +78 + +Descartes useless and uncertain. + + +79 + +[_Descartes._--We must say summarily: "This is made by figure and +motion," for it is true. But to say what these are, and to compose the +machine, is ridiculous. For it is useless, uncertain, and painful. And +were it true, we do not think all philosophy is worth one hour of pain.] + + +80 + +How comes it that a cripple does not offend us, but that a fool +does?[45] Because a cripple recognises that we walk straight, whereas a +fool declares that it is we who are silly; if it were not so, we should +feel pity and not anger. + +Epictetus[46] asks still more strongly: "Why are we not angry if we are +told that we have a headache, and why are we angry if we are told that +we reason badly, or choose wrongly?" The reason is that we are quite +certain that we have not a headache, or are not lame, but we are not so +sure that we make a true choice. So having assurance only because we see +with our whole sight, it puts us into suspense and surprise when another +with his whole sight sees the opposite, and still more so when a +thousand others deride our choice. For we must prefer our own lights to +those of so many others, and that is bold and difficult. There is never +this contradiction in the feelings towards a cripple. + + +81 + +It is natural for the mind to believe, and for the will to love;[47] so +that, for want of true objects, they must attach themselves to false. + + +82 + +_Imagination._[48]--It is that deceitful part in man, that mistress of +error and falsity, the more deceptive that she is not always so; for she +would be an infallible rule of truth, if she were an infallible rule of +falsehood. But being most generally false, she gives no sign of her +nature, impressing the same character on the true and the false. + +I do not speak of fools, I speak of the wisest men; and it is among them +that the imagination has the great gift of persuasion. Reason protests +in vain; it cannot set a true value on things. + +This arrogant power, the enemy of reason, who likes to rule and dominate +it, has established in man a second nature to show how all-powerful she +is. She makes men happy and sad, healthy and sick, rich and poor; she +compels reason to believe, doubt, and deny; she blunts the senses, or +quickens them; she has her fools and sages; and nothing vexes us more +than to see that she fills her devotees with a satisfaction far more +full and entire than does reason. Those who have a lively imagination +are a great deal more pleased with themselves than the wise can +reasonably be. They look down upon men with haughtiness; they argue with +boldness and confidence, others with fear and diffidence; and this +gaiety of countenance often gives them the advantage in the opinion of +the hearers, such favour have the imaginary wise in the eyes of judges +of like nature. Imagination cannot make fools wise; but she can make +them happy, to the envy of reason which can only make its friends +miserable; the one covers them with glory, the other with shame. + +What but this faculty of imagination dispenses reputation, awards +respect and veneration to persons, works, laws, and the great? How +insufficient are all the riches of the earth without her consent! + +Would you not say that this magistrate, whose venerable age commands the +respect of a whole people, is governed by pure and lofty reason, and +that he judges causes according to their true nature without considering +those mere trifles which only affect the imagination of the weak? See +him go to sermon, full of devout zeal, strengthening his reason with the +ardour of his love. He is ready to listen with exemplary respect. Let +the preacher appear, and let nature have given him a hoarse voice or a +comical cast of countenance, or let his barber have given him a bad +shave, or let by chance his dress be more dirtied than usual, then +however great the truths he announces. I wager our senator loses his +gravity. + +If the greatest philosopher in the world find himself upon a plank wider +than actually necessary, but hanging over a precipice, his imagination +will prevail, though his reason convince him of his safety.[49] Many +cannot bear the thought without a cold sweat. I will not state all its +effects. + +Every one knows that the sight of cats or rats, the crushing of a coal, +etc. may unhinge the reason. The tone of voice affects the wisest, and +changes the force of a discourse or a poem. + +Love or hate alters the aspect of justice. How much greater confidence +has an advocate, retained with a large fee, in the justice of his cause! +How much better does his bold manner make his case appear to the judges, +deceived as they are by appearances! How ludicrous is reason, blown with +a breath in every direction! + +I should have to enumerate almost every action of men who scarce waver +save under her assaults. For reason has been obliged to yield, and the +wisest reason takes as her own principles those which the imagination of +man has everywhere rashly introduced. [He who would follow reason only +would be deemed foolish by the generality of men. We must judge by the +opinion of the majority of mankind. Because it has pleased them, we must +work all day for pleasures seen to be imaginary; and after sleep has +refreshed our tired reason, we must forthwith start up and rush after +phantoms, and suffer the impressions of this mistress of the world. This +is one of the sources of error, but it is not the only one.] + +Our magistrates have known well this mystery. Their red robes, the +ermine in which they wrap themselves like furry cats,[50] the courts in +which they administer justice, the _fleurs-de-lis_, and all such august +apparel were necessary; if the physicians had not their cassocks and +their mules, if the doctors had not their square caps and their robes +four times too wide, they would never have duped the world, which cannot +resist so original an appearance. If magistrates had true justice, and +if physicians had the true art of healing, they would have no occasion +for square caps; the majesty of these sciences would of itself be +venerable enough. But having only imaginary knowledge, they must employ +those silly tools that strike the imagination with which they have to +deal; and thereby in fact they inspire respect. Soldiers alone are not +disguised in this manner, because indeed their part is the most +essential; they establish themselves by force, the others by show. + +Therefore our kings seek out no disguises. They do not mask themselves +in extraordinary costumes to appear such; but they are accompanied by +guards and halberdiers. Those armed and red-faced puppets who have hands +and power for them alone, those trumpets and drums which go before them, +and those legions round about them, make the stoutest tremble. They have +not dress only, they have might. A very refined reason is required to +regard as an ordinary man the Grand Turk, in his superb seraglio, +surrounded by forty thousand janissaries. + +We cannot even see an advocate in his robe and with his cap on his head, +without a favourable opinion of his ability. The imagination disposes of +everything; it makes beauty, justice, and happiness, which is everything +in the world. I should much like to see an Italian work, of which I only +know the title, which alone is worth many books, _Della opinione regina +del mondo_.[51] I approve of the book without knowing it, save the evil +in it, if any. These are pretty much the effects of that deceptive +faculty, which seems to have been expressly given us to lead us into +necessary error. We have, however, many other sources of error. + +Not only are old impressions capable of misleading us; the charms of +novelty have the same power. Hence arise all the disputes of men, who +taunt each other either with following the false impressions of +childhood or with running rashly after the new. Who keeps the due mean? +Let him appear and prove it. There is no principle, however natural to +us from infancy, which may not be made to pass for a false impression +either of education or of sense. + +"Because," say some, "you have believed from childhood that a box was +empty when you saw nothing in it, you have believed in the possibility +of a vacuum. This is an illusion of your senses, strengthened by custom, +which science must correct." "Because," say others, "you have been +taught at school that there is no vacuum, you have perverted your common +sense which clearly comprehended it, and you must correct this by +returning to your first state." Which has deceived you, your senses or +your education? + +We have another source of error in diseases.[52] They spoil the judgment +and the senses; and if the more serious produce a sensible change, I do +not doubt that slighter ills produce a proportionate impression. + +Our own interest is again a marvellous instrument for nicely putting out +our eyes. The justest man in the world is not allowed to be judge in his +own cause; I know some who, in order not to fall into this self-love, +have been perfectly unjust out of opposition. The sure way of losing a +just cause has been to get it recommended to these men by their near +relatives. + +Justice and truth are two such subtle points, that our tools are too +blunt to touch them accurately. If they reach the point, they either +crush it, or lean all round, more on the false than on the true. + +[Man is so happily formed that he has no ... good of the true, and +several excellent of the false. Let us now see how much.... But the most +powerful cause of error is the war existing between the senses and +reason.] + + +83 + +_We must thus begin the chapter on the deceptive powers._ Man is only a +subject full of error, natural and ineffaceable, without grace. Nothing +shows him the truth. Everything deceives him. These two sources of +truth, reason and the senses, besides being both wanting in sincerity, +deceive each other in turn. The senses mislead the reason with false +appearances, and receive from reason in their turn the same trickery +which they apply to her; reason has her revenge. The passions of the +soul trouble the senses, and make false impressions upon them. They +rival each other in falsehood and deception.[53] + +But besides those errors which arise accidentally and through lack of +intelligence, with these heterogeneous faculties ... + + +84 + +The imagination enlarges little objects so as to fill our souls with a +fantastic estimate; and, with rash insolence, it belittles the great to +its own measure, as when talking of God. + + +85 + +Things which have most hold on us, as the concealment of our few +possessions, are often a mere nothing. It is a nothing which our +imagination magnifies into a mountain. Another turn of the imagination +would make us discover this without difficulty. + + +86 + +[My fancy makes me hate a croaker, and one who pants when eating. Fancy +has great weight. Shall we profit by it? Shall we yield to this weight +because it is natural? No, but by resisting it ...] + + +87 + +_Næ iste magno conatu magnas nugas dixerit.[54] + +Quasi quidquam infelicius sit homini cui sua figmenta dominantur._[55] +(Plin.) + + +88 + +Children who are frightened at the face they have blackened are but +children. But how shall one who is so weak in his childhood become +really strong when he grows older? We only change our fancies. All that +is made perfect by progress perishes also by progress. All that has been +weak can never become absolutely strong. We say in vain, "He has grown, +he has changed"; he is also the same. + + +89 + +Custom is our nature. He who is accustomed to the faith believes in it, +can no longer fear hell, and believes in nothing else. He who is +accustomed to believe that the king is terrible ... etc. Who doubts then +that our soul, being accustomed to see number, space, motion, believes +that and nothing else? + + +90 + +_Quod crebro videt non miratur, etiamsi cur fiat nescit; quod ante non +viderit, id si evenerit, ostentum esse censet._[56] (Cic. 583.) + + +91 + +_Spongia solis._[57]--When we see the same effect always recur, we infer +a natural necessity in it, as that there will be a to-morrow, etc. But +nature often deceives us, and does not subject herself to her own rules. + + +92 + +What are our natural principles but principles of custom? In children +they are those which they have received from the habits of their +fathers, as hunting in animals. A different custom will cause different +natural principles. This is seen in experience; and if there are some +natural principles ineradicable by custom, there are also some customs +opposed to nature, ineradicable by nature, or by a second custom. This +depends on disposition. + + +93 + +Parents fear lest the natural love of their children may fade away. What +kind of nature is that which is subject to decay? Custom is a second +nature which destroys the former.[58] But what is nature? For is custom +not natural? I am much afraid that nature is itself only a first custom, +as custom is a second nature. + + +94 + +The nature of man is wholly natural, _omne animal_.[59] + +There is nothing he may not make natural; there is nothing natural he +may not lose. + + +95 + +Memory, joy, are intuitions; and even mathematical propositions become +intuitions, for education produces natural intuitions, and natural +intuitions are erased by education. + + +96 + +When we are accustomed to use bad reasons for proving natural effects, +we are not willing to receive good reasons when they are discovered. An +example may be given from the circulation of the blood as a reason why +the vein swells below the ligature. + + +97 + +The most important affair in life is the choice of a calling; chance +decides it. Custom makes men masons, soldiers, slaters. "He is a good +slater," says one, and, speaking of soldiers, remarks, "They are perfect +fools." But others affirm, "There is nothing great but war, the rest of +men are good for nothing." We choose our callings according as we hear +this or that praised or despised in our childhood, for we naturally love +truth and hate folly. These words move us; the only error is in their +application. So great is the force of custom that out of those whom +nature has only made men, are created all conditions of men. For some +districts are full of masons, others of soldiers, etc. Certainly nature +is not so uniform. It is custom then which does this, for it constrains +nature. But sometimes nature gains the ascendancy, and preserves man's +instinct, in spite of all custom, good or bad. + + +98 + +_Bias leading to error._--It is a deplorable thing to see all men +deliberating on means alone, and not on the end. Each thinks how he will +acquit himself in his condition; but as for the choice of condition, or +of country, chance gives them to us. + +It is a pitiable thing to see so many Turks, heretics, and infidels +follow the way of their fathers for the sole reason that each has been +imbued with the prejudice that it is the best. And that fixes for each +man his conditions of locksmith, soldier, etc. + +Hence savages care nothing for Providence.[60] + + +99 + +There is an universal and essential difference between the actions of +the will and all other actions. + +The will is one of the chief factors in belief, not that it creates +belief, but because things are true or false according to the aspect in +which we look at them. The will, which prefers one aspect to another, +turns away the mind from considering the qualities of all that it does +not like to see; and thus the mind, moving in accord with the will, +stops to consider the aspect which it likes, and so judges by what it +sees. + + +100 + +_Self-love._--The nature of self-love and of this human Ego is to love +self only and consider self only. But what will man do? He cannot +prevent this object that he loves from being full of faults and wants. +He wants to be great, and he sees himself small. He wants to be happy, +and he sees himself miserable. He wants to be perfect, and he sees +himself full of imperfections. He wants to be the object of love and +esteem among men, and he sees that his faults merit only their hatred +and contempt. This embarrassment in which he finds himself produces in +him the most unrighteous and criminal passion that can be imagined; for +he conceives a mortal enmity against that truth which reproves him, and +which convinces him of his faults. He would annihilate it, but, unable +to destroy it in its essence, he destroys it as far as possible in his +own knowledge and in that of others; that is to say, he devotes all his +attention to hiding his faults both from others and from himself, and he +cannot endure either that others should point them out to him, or that +they should see them. + +Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evil +to be full of them, and to be unwilling to recognise them, since that is +to add the further fault of a voluntary illusion. We do not like others +to deceive us; we do not think it fair that they should be held in +higher esteem by us than they deserve; it is not then fair that we +should deceive them, and should wish them to esteem us more highly than +we deserve. + +Thus, when they discover only the imperfections and vices which we +really have, it is plain they do us no wrong, since it is not they who +cause them; they rather do us good, since they help us to free ourselves +from an evil, namely, the ignorance of these imperfections. We ought not +to be angry at their knowing our faults and despising us; it is but +right that they should know us for what we are, and should despise us, +if we are contemptible. + +Such are the feelings that would arise in a heart full of equity and +justice. What must we say then of our own heart, when we see in it a +wholly different disposition? For is it not true that we hate truth and +those who tell it us, and that we like them to be deceived in our +favour, and prefer to be esteemed by them as being other than what we +are in fact? One proof of this makes me shudder. The Catholic religion +does not bind us to confess our sins indiscriminately to everybody; it +allows them to remain hidden from all other men save one, to whom she +bids us reveal the innermost recesses of our heart, and show ourselves +as we are. There is only this one man in the world whom she orders us to +undeceive, and she binds him to an inviolable secrecy, which makes this +knowledge to him as if it were not. Can we imagine anything more +charitable and pleasant? And yet the corruption of man is such that he +finds even this law harsh; and it is one of the main reasons which has +caused a great part of Europe to rebel against the Church.[61] + +How unjust and unreasonable is the heart of man, which feels it +disagreeable to be obliged to do in regard to one man what in some +measure it were right to do to all men! For is it right that we should +deceive men? + +There are different degrees in this aversion to truth; but all may +perhaps be said to have it in some degree, because it is inseparable +from self-love. It is this false delicacy which makes those who are +under the necessity of reproving others choose so many windings and +middle courses to avoid offence. They must lessen our faults, appear to +excuse them, intersperse praises and evidence of love and esteem. +Despite all this, the medicine does not cease to be bitter to self-love. +It takes as little as it can, always with disgust, and often with a +secret spite against those who administer it. + +Hence it happens that if any have some interest in being loved by us, +they are averse to render us a service which they know to be +disagreeable. They treat us as we wish to be treated. We hate the truth, +and they hide it from us. We desire flattery, and they flatter us. We +like to be deceived, and they deceive us. + +So each degree of good fortune which raises us in the world removes us +farther from truth, because we are most afraid of wounding those whose +affection is most useful and whose dislike is most dangerous. A prince +may be the byword of all Europe, and he alone will know nothing of it. I +am not astonished. To tell the truth is useful to those to whom it is +spoken, but disadvantageous to those who tell it, because it makes them +disliked. Now those who live with princes love their own interests more +than that of the prince whom they serve; and so they take care not to +confer on him a benefit so as to injure themselves. + +This evil is no doubt greater and more common among the higher classes; +but the lower are not exempt from it, since there is always some +advantage in making men love us. Human life is thus only a perpetual +illusion; men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our +presence as he does of us in our absence. Human society is founded on +mutual deceit; few friendships would endure if each knew what his friend +said of him in his absence, although he then spoke in sincerity and +without passion. + +Man is then only disguise, falsehood, and hypocrisy, both in himself and +in regard to others. He does not wish any one to tell him the truth; he +avoids telling it to others, and all these dispositions, so removed from +justice and reason, have a natural root in his heart. + + +101 + +I set it down as a fact that if all men knew what each said of the +other, there would not be four friends in the world. This is apparent +from the quarrels which arise from the indiscreet tales told from time +to time. [I say, further, all men would be ...] + + +102 + +Some vices only lay hold of us by means of others, and these, like +branches, fall on removal of the trunk. + + +103 + +The example of Alexander's chastity[62] has not made so many continent +as that of his drunkenness has made intemperate. It is not shameful not +to be as virtuous as he, and it seems excusable to be no more vicious. +We do not believe ourselves to be exactly sharing in the vices of the +vulgar, when we see that we are sharing in those of great men; and yet +we do not observe that in these matters they are ordinary men. We hold +on to them by the same end by which they hold on to the rabble; for, +however exalted they are, they are still united at some point to the +lowest of men. They are not suspended in the air, quite removed from our +society. No, no; if they are greater than we, it is because their heads +are higher; but their feet are as low as ours. They are all on the same +level, and rest on the same earth; and by that extremity they are as low +as we are, as the meanest folk, as infants, and as the beasts. + + +104 + +When our passion leads us to do something, we forget our duty; for +example, we like a book and read it, when we ought to be doing something +else. Now, to remind ourselves of our duty, we must set ourselves a task +we dislike; we then plead that we have something else to do, and by this +means remember our duty. + + +105 + +How difficult it is to submit anything to the judgment of another, +without prejudicing his judgment by the manner in which we submit it! +If we say, "I think it beautiful," "I think it obscure," or the like, we +either entice the imagination into that view, or irritate it to the +contrary. It is better to say nothing; and then the other judges +according to what really is, that is to say, according as it then is, +and according as the other circumstances, not of our making, have placed +it. But we at least shall have added nothing, unless it be that silence +also produces an effect, according to the turn and the interpretation +which the other will be disposed to give it, or as he will guess it from +gestures or countenance, or from the tone of the voice, if he is a +physiognomist. So difficult is it not to upset a judgment from its +natural place, or, rather, so rarely is it firm and stable! + + +106 + +By knowing each man's ruling passion, we are sure of pleasing him; and +yet each has his fancies, opposed to his true good, in the very idea +which he has of the good. It is a singularly puzzling fact. + + +107 + +_Lustravit lampade terras._[63]--The weather and my mood have little +connection. I have my foggy and my fine days within me; my prosperity or +misfortune has little to do with the matter. I sometimes struggle +against luck, the glory of mastering it makes me master it gaily; +whereas I am sometimes surfeited in the midst of good fortune. + + +108 + +Although people may have no interest in what they are saying, we must +not absolutely conclude from this that they are not lying; for there are +some people who lie for the mere sake of lying. + + +109 + +When we are well we wonder what we would do if we were ill, but when we +are ill we take medicine cheerfully; the illness persuades us to do so. +We have no longer the passions and desires for amusements and promenades +which health gave to us, but which are incompatible with the necessities +of illness. Nature gives us, then, passions and desires suitable to our +present state.[64] We are only troubled by the fears which we, and not +nature, give ourselves, for they add to the state in which we are the +passions of the state in which we are not. + +As nature makes us always unhappy in every state, our desires picture to +us a happy state; because they add to the state in which we are the +pleasures of the state in which we are not. And if we attained to these +pleasures, we should not be happy after all; because we should have +other desires natural to this new state. + +We must particularise this general proposition.... + + +110 + +The consciousness of the falsity of present pleasures, and the ignorance +of the vanity of absent pleasures, cause inconstancy. + + +111 + +_Inconstancy._--We think we are playing on ordinary organs when playing +upon man. Men are organs, it is true, but, odd, changeable, variable +[with pipes not arranged in proper order. Those who only know how to +play on ordinary organs] will not produce harmonies on these. We must +know where [_the keys_] are. + + +112 + +_Inconstancy._--Things have different qualities, and the soul different +inclinations; for nothing is simple which is presented to the soul, and +the soul never presents itself simply to any object. Hence it comes that +we weep and laugh at the same thing. + + +113 + +_Inconstancy and oddity._--To live only by work, and to rule over the +most powerful State in the world, are very opposite things. They are +united in the person of the great Sultan of the Turks. + + +114 + +Variety is as abundant as all tones of the voice, all ways of walking, +coughing, blowing the nose, sneezing. We distinguish vines by their +fruit, and call them the Condrien, the Desargues, and such and such a +stock. Is this all? Has a vine ever produced two bunches exactly the +same, and has a bunch two grapes alike? etc. + +I can never judge of the same thing exactly in the same way. I cannot +judge of my work, while doing it. I must do as the artists, stand at a +distance, but not too far. How far, then? Guess. + + +115 + +_Variety._--Theology is a science, but at the same time how many +sciences? A man is a whole; but if we dissect him, will he be the head, +the heart, the stomach, the veins, each vein, each portion of a vein, +the blood, each humour in the blood? + +A town, a country-place, is from afar a town and a country-place. But, +as we draw near, there are houses, trees, tiles, leaves, grass, ants, +limbs of ants, in infinity. All this is contained under the name of +country-place. + + +116 + +_Thoughts._--All is one, all is different. How many natures exist in +man? How many vocations? And by what chance does each man ordinarily +choose what he has heard praised? A well-turned heel. + + +117 + +_The heel of a slipper._--"Ah! How well this is turned! Here is a clever +workman! How brave is this soldier!" This is the source of our +inclinations, and of the choice of conditions. "How much this man +drinks! How little that one!" This makes people sober or drunk, +soldiers, cowards, etc. + + +118 + +Chief talent, that which rules the rest. + + +119 + +Nature imitates herself. A seed sown in good ground brings forth fruit. +A principle, instilled into a good mind, brings forth fruit. Numbers +imitate space, which is of a different nature. + +All is made and led by the same master, root, branches, and fruits; +principles and consequences. + + +120 + +[Nature diversifies and imitates; art imitates and diversifies.] + + +121 + +Nature always begins the same things again, the years, the days, the +hours; in like manner spaces and numbers follow each other from +beginning to end. Thus is made a kind of infinity and eternity. Not that +anything in all this is infinite and eternal, but these finite realities +are infinitely multiplied. Thus it seems to me to be only the number +which multiplies them that is infinite. + + +122 + +Time heals griefs and quarrels, for we change and are no longer the same +persons. Neither the offender nor the offended are any more themselves. +It is like a nation which we have provoked, but meet again after two +generations. They are still Frenchmen, but not the same. + + +123 + +He no longer loves the person whom he loved ten years ago. I quite +believe it. She is no longer the same, nor is he. He was young, and she +also; she is quite different. He would perhaps love her yet, if she were +what she was then. + + +124 + +We view things not only from different sides, but with different eyes; +we have no wish to find them alike. + + +125 + +_Contraries._--Man is naturally credulous and incredulous, timid and +rash. + + +126 + +Description of man: dependency, desire of independence, need. + + +127 + +Condition of man: inconstancy, weariness, unrest. + + +128 + +The weariness which is felt by us in leaving pursuits to which we are +attached. A man dwells at home with pleasure; but if he sees a woman who +charms him, or if he enjoys himself in play for five or six days, he is +miserable if he returns to his former way of living. Nothing is more +common than that. + + +129 + +Our nature consists in motion; complete rest is death.[65] + + +130 + +_Restlessness._--If a soldier, or labourer, complain of the hardship of +his lot, set him to do nothing. + + +131 + +_Weariness._[66]--Nothing is so insufferable to man as to be completely +at rest, without passions, without business, without diversion, without +study. He then feels his nothingness, his forlornness, his +insufficiency, his dependence, his weakness, his emptiness. There will +immediately arise from the depth of his heart weariness, gloom, sadness, +fretfulness, vexation, despair. + + +132 + +Methinks Cæsar was too old to set about amusing himself with conquering +the world.[67] Such sport was good for Augustus or Alexander. They were +still young men, and thus difficult to restrain. But Cæsar should have +been more mature. + + +133 + +Two faces which resemble each other, make us laugh, when together, by +their resemblance, though neither of them by itself makes us laugh. + + +134 + +How useless is painting, which attracts admiration by the resemblance of +things, the originals of which we do not admire! + + +135 + +The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory. We love to see animals +fighting, not the victor infuriated over the vanquished. We would only +see the victorious end; and, as soon as it comes, we are satiated. It is +the same in play, and the same in the search for truth. In disputes we +like to see the clash of opinions, but not at all to contemplate truth +when found. To observe it with pleasure, we have to see it emerge out of +strife. So in the passions, there is pleasure in seeing the collision of +two contraries; but when one acquires the mastery, it becomes only +brutality. We never seek things for themselves, but for the search. +Likewise in plays, scenes which do not rouse the emotion of fear are +worthless, so are extreme and hopeless misery, brutal lust, and extreme +cruelty. + + +136 + +A mere trifle consoles us, for a mere trifle distresses us.[68] + + +137 + +Without examining every particular pursuit, it is enough to comprehend +them under diversion. + + +138 + +Men naturally slaters and of all callings, save in their own rooms. + + +139 + +_Diversion._--When I have occasionally set myself to consider the +different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose +themselves at court or in war, whence arise so many quarrels, passions, +bold and often bad ventures, etc., I have discovered that all the +unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay +quietly in their own chamber. A man who has enough to live on, if he +knew how to stay with pleasure at home, would not leave it to go to sea +or to besiege a town. A commission in the army would not be bought so +dearly, but that it is found insufferable not to budge from the town; +and men only seek conversation and entering games, because they cannot +remain with pleasure at home. + +But on further consideration, when, after finding the cause of all our +ills, I have sought to discover the reason of it, I have found that +there is one very real reason, namely, the natural poverty of our feeble +and mortal condition, so miserable that nothing can comfort us when we +think of it closely. + +Whatever condition we picture to ourselves, if we muster all the good +things which it is possible to possess, royalty is the finest position +in the world. Yet, when we imagine a king attended with every pleasure +he can feel, if he be without diversion, and be left to consider and +reflect on what he is, this feeble happiness will not sustain him; he +will necessarily fall into forebodings of dangers, of revolutions which +may happen, and, finally, of death and inevitable disease; so that if he +be without what is called diversion, he is unhappy, and more unhappy +than the least of his subjects who plays and diverts himself. + +Hence it comes that play and the society of women, war, and high posts, +are so sought after. Not that there is in fact any happiness in them, or +that men imagine true bliss to consist in money won at play, or in the +hare which they hunt; we would not take these as a gift. We do not seek +that easy and peaceful lot which permits us to think of our unhappy +condition, nor the dangers of war, nor the labour of office, but the +bustle which averts these thoughts of ours, and amuses us. + +Reasons why we like the chase better than the quarry. + +Hence it comes that men so much love noise and stir; hence it comes that +the prison is so horrible a punishment; hence it comes that the pleasure +of solitude is a thing incomprehensible. And it is in fact the greatest +source of happiness in the condition of kings, that men try incessantly +to divert them, and to procure for them all kinds of pleasures. + +The king is surrounded by persons whose only thought is to divert the +king, and to prevent his thinking of self. For he is unhappy, king +though he be, if he think of himself. + +This is all that men have been able to discover to make themselves +happy. And those who philosophise on the matter, and who think men +unreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they would +not have bought, scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would not +screen us from the sight of death and calamities; but the chase which +turns away our attention from these, does screen us. + +The advice given to Pyrrhus to take the rest which he was about to seek +with so much labour, was full of difficulties.[69] + +[To bid a man live quietly is to bid him live happily. It is to advise +him to be in a state perfectly happy, in which he can think at leisure +without finding therein a cause of distress. This is to misunderstand +nature. + +As men who naturally understand their own condition avoid nothing so +much as rest, so there is nothing they leave undone in seeking turmoil. +Not that they have an instinctive knowledge of true happiness ... + +So we are wrong in blaming them. Their error does not lie in seeking +excitement, if they seek it only as a diversion; the evil is that they +seek it as if the possession of the objects of their quest would make +them really happy. In this respect it is right to call their quest a +vain one. Hence in all this both the censurers and the censured do not +understand man's true nature.] + +And thus, when we take the exception against them, that what they seek +with such fervour cannot satisfy them, if they replied--as they should +do if they considered the matter thoroughly--that they sought in it only +a violent and impetuous occupation which turned their thoughts from +self, and that they therefore chose an attractive object to charm and +ardently attract them, they would leave their opponents without a +reply. But they do not make this reply, because they do not know +themselves.[70] They do not know that it is the chase, and not the +quarry, which they seek. + +Dancing: we must consider rightly where to place our feet.--A gentleman +sincerely believes that hunting is great and royal sport; but a beater +is not of this opinion. + +They imagine that if they obtained such a post, they would then rest +with pleasure, and are insensible of the insatiable nature of their +desire. They think they are truly seeking quiet, and they are only +seeking excitement. + +They have a secret instinct which impels them to seek amusement and +occupation abroad, and which arises from the sense of their constant +unhappiness. They have another secret instinct, a remnant of the +greatness of our original nature, which teaches them that happiness in +reality consists only in rest, and not in stir. And of these two +contrary instincts they form within themselves a confused idea, which +hides itself from their view in the depths of their soul, inciting them +to aim at rest through excitement, and always to fancy that the +satisfaction which they have not will come to them, if, by surmounting +whatever difficulties confront them, they can thereby open the door to +rest. + +Thus passes away all man's life. Men seek rest in a struggle against +difficulties; and when they have conquered these, rest becomes +insufferable. For we think either of the misfortunes we have or of those +which threaten us. And even if we should see ourselves sufficiently +sheltered on all sides, weariness of its own accord would not fail to +arise from the depths of the heart wherein it has its natural roots, and +to fill the mind with its poison. + +Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause for +weariness from the peculiar state of his disposition; and so frivolous +is he, that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the least +thing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient to +amuse him. + +But will you say what object has he in all this? The pleasure of +bragging to-morrow among his friends that he has played better than +another. So others sweat in their own rooms to show to the learned that +they have solved a problem in algebra, which no one had hitherto been +able to solve. Many more expose themselves to extreme perils, in my +opinion as foolishly, in order to boast afterwards that they have +captured a town. Lastly, others wear themselves out in studying all +these things, not in order to become wiser, but only in order to prove +that they know them; and these are the most senseless of the band, since +they are so knowingly, whereas one may suppose of the others, that if +they knew it, they would no longer be foolish. + +This man spends his life without weariness in playing every day for a +small stake. Give him each morning the money he can win each day, on +condition he does not play; you make him miserable. It will perhaps be +said that he seeks the amusement of play and not the winnings. Make him +then play for nothing; he will not become excited over it, and will feel +bored. It is then not the amusement alone that he seeks; a languid and +passionless amusement will weary him. He must get excited over it, and +deceive himself by the fancy that he will be happy to win what he would +not have as a gift on condition of not playing; and he must make for +himself an object of passion, and excite over it his desire, his anger, +his fear, to obtain his imagined end, as children are frightened at the +face they have blackened. + +Whence comes it that this man, who lost his only son a few months ago, +or who this morning was in such trouble through being distressed by +lawsuits and quarrels, now no longer thinks of them? Do not wonder; he +is quite taken up in looking out for the boar which his dogs have been +hunting so hotly for the last six hours. He requires nothing more. +However full of sadness a man may be, he is happy for the time, if you +can prevail upon him to enter into some amusement; and however happy a +man may be, he will soon be discontented and wretched, if he be not +diverted and occupied by some passion or pursuit which prevents +weariness from overcoming him. Without amusement there is no joy; with +amusement there is no sadness. And this also constitutes the happiness +of persons in high position, that they have a number of people to amuse +them, and have the power to keep themselves in this state. + +Consider this. What is it to be superintendent, chancellor, first +president, but to be in a condition wherein from early morning a large +number of people come from all quarters to see them, so as not to leave +them an hour in the day in which they can think of themselves? And when +they are in disgrace and sent back to their country houses, where they +lack neither wealth nor servants to help them on occasion, they do not +fail to be wretched and desolate, because no one prevents them from +thinking of themselves. + + +140 + +[How does it happen that this man, so distressed at the death of his +wife and his only son, or who has some great lawsuit which annoys him, +is not at this moment sad, and that he seems so free from all painful +and disquieting thoughts? We need not wonder; for a ball has been served +him, and he must return it to his companion. He is occupied in catching +it in its fall from the roof, to win a game. How can he think of his own +affairs, pray, when he has this other matter in hand? Here is a care +worthy of occupying this great soul, and taking away from him every +other thought of the mind. This man, born to know the universe, to judge +all causes, to govern a whole state, is altogether occupied and taken up +with the business of catching a hare. And if he does not lower himself +to this, and wants always to be on the strain, he will be more foolish +still, because he would raise himself above humanity; and after all he +is only a man, that is to say capable of little and of much, of all and +of nothing; he is neither angel nor brute, but man.] + + +141 + +Men spend their time in following a ball or a hare; it is the pleasure +even of kings. + + +142 + +_Diversion._--Is not the royal dignity sufficiently great in itself to +make its possessor happy by the mere contemplation of what he is? Must +he be diverted from this thought like ordinary folk? I see well that a +man is made happy by diverting him from the view of his domestic sorrows +so as to occupy all his thoughts with the care of dancing well. But will +it be the same with a king, and will he be happier in the pursuit of +these idle amusements than in the contemplation of his greatness? And +what more satisfactory object could be presented to his mind? Would it +not be a deprivation of his delight for him to occupy his soul with the +thought of how to adjust his steps to the cadence of an air, or of how +to throw a [ball] skilfully, instead of leaving it to enjoy quietly the +contemplation of the majestic glory which encompasses him? Let us make +the trial; let us leave a king all alone to reflect on himself quite at +leisure, without any gratification of the senses, without any care in +his mind, without society; and we will see that a king without +diversion is a man full of wretchedness. So this is carefully avoided, +and near the persons of kings there never fail to be a great number of +people who see to it that amusement follows business, and who watch all +the time of their leisure to supply them with delights and games, so +that there is no blank in it. In fact, kings are surrounded with persons +who are wonderfully attentive in taking care that the king be not alone +and in a state to think of himself, knowing well that he will be +miserable, king though he be, if he meditate on self. + +In all this I am not talking of Christian kings as Christians, but only +as kings. + + +143 + +_Diversion._--Men are entrusted from infancy with the care of their +honour, their property, their friends, and even with the property and +the honour of their friends. They are overwhelmed with business, with +the study of languages, and with physical exercise;[71] and they are +made to understand that they cannot be happy unless their health, their +honour, their fortune and that of their friends be in good condition, +and that a single thing wanting will make them unhappy. Thus they are +given cares and business which make them bustle about from break of +day.--It is, you will exclaim, a strange way to make them happy! What +more could be done to make them miserable?--Indeed! what could be done? +We should only have to relieve them from all these cares; for then they +would see themselves: they would reflect on what they are, whence they +came, whither they go, and thus we cannot employ and divert them too +much. And this is why, after having given them so much business, we +advise them, if they have some time for relaxation, to employ it in +amusement, in play, and to be always fully occupied. + +How hollow and full of ribaldry is the heart of man! + + +144 + +I spent a long time in the study of the abstract sciences, and was +disheartened by the small number of fellow-students in them. When I +commenced the study of man, I saw that these abstract sciences are not +suited to man, and that I was wandering farther from my own state in +examining them, than others in not knowing them. I pardoned their little +knowledge; but I thought at least to find many companions in the study +of man, and that it was the true study which is suited to him. I have +been deceived; still fewer study it than geometry. It is only from the +want of knowing how to study this that we seek the other studies. But is +it not that even here is not the knowledge which man should have, and +that for the purpose of happiness it is better for him not to know +himself? + + +145 + +[One thought alone occupies us; we cannot think of two things at the +same time. This is lucky for us according to the world, not according to +God.] + + +146 + +Man is obviously made to think. It is his whole dignity and his whole +merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought. Now, the order of +thought is to begin with self, and with its Author and its end. + +Now, of what does the world think? Never of this, but of dancing, +playing the lute, singing, making verses, running at the ring, etc., +fighting, making oneself king, without thinking what it is to be a king +and what to be a man. + + +147 + +We do not content ourselves with the life we have in ourselves and in +our own being; we desire to live an imaginary life in the mind of +others, and for this purpose we endeavour to shine. We labour +unceasingly to adorn and preserve this imaginary existence, and neglect +the real. And if we possess calmness, or generosity, or truthfulness, we +are eager to make it known, so as to attach these virtues to that +imaginary existence. We would rather separate them from ourselves to +join them to it; and we would willingly be cowards in order to acquire +the reputation of being brave. A great proof of the nothingness of our +being, not to be satisfied with the one without the other, and to +renounce the one for the other! For he would be infamous who would not +die to preserve his honour. + + +148 + +We are so presumptuous that we would wish to be known by all the world, +even by people who shall come after, when we shall be no more; and we +are so vain that the esteem of five or six neighbours delights and +contents us. + + +149 + +We do not trouble ourselves about being esteemed in the towns through +which we pass. But if we are to remain a little while there, we are so +concerned. How long is necessary? A time commensurate with our vain and +paltry life. + + +150 + +Vanity is so anchored in the heart of man that a soldier, a soldier's +servant, a cook, a porter brags, and wishes to have his admirers. Even +philosophers wish for them. Those who write against it want to have the +glory of having written well;[72] and those who read it desire the glory +of having read it. I who write this have perhaps this desire, and +perhaps those who will read it ... + + +151 + +_Glory._--Admiration spoils all from infancy. Ah! How well said! Ah! How +well done! How well-behaved he is! etc. + +The children of Port-Royal, who do not receive this stimulus of envy and +glory, fall into carelessness. + + +152 + +_Pride._--Curiosity is only vanity. Most frequently we wish to know but +to talk. Otherwise we would not take a sea voyage in order never to talk +of it, and for the sole pleasure of seeing without hope of ever +communicating it. + + +153 + +_Of the desire of being esteemed by those with whom we are._--Pride +takes such natural possession of us in the midst of our woes, errors, +etc. We even lose our life with joy, provided people talk of it. + +Vanity: play, hunting, visiting, false shame, a lasting name. + + +154 + +[I have no friends] to your advantage]. + + +155 + +A true friend is so great an advantage, even for the greatest lords, in +order that he may speak well of them, and back them in their absence, +that they should do all to have one. But they should choose well; for, +if they spend all their efforts in the interests of fools, it will be of +no use, however well these may speak of them; and these will not even +speak well of them if they find themselves on the weakest side, for +they have no influence; and thus they will speak ill of them in company. + + +156 + +_Ferox gens, nullam esse vitam sine armis rati._[73]--They prefer death +to peace; others prefer death to war. + +Every opinion may be held preferable to life, the love of which is so +strong and so natural.[74] + + +157 + +Contradiction: contempt for our existence, to die for nothing, hatred of +our existence. + + +158 + +_Pursuits._--The charm of fame is so great, that we like every object to +which it is attached, even death. + + +159 + +Noble deeds are most estimable when hidden. When I see some of these in +history (as p. 184)[75], they please me greatly. But after all they have +not been quite hidden, since they have been known; and though people +have done what they could to hide them, the little publication of them +spoils all, for what was best in them was the wish to hide them. + + +160 + +Sneezing absorbs all the functions of the soul, as well as work does; +but we do not draw therefrom the same conclusions against the greatness +of man, because it is against his will. And although we bring it on +ourselves, it is nevertheless against our will that we sneeze. It is not +in view of the act itself; it is for another end. And thus it is not a +proof of the weakness of man, and of his slavery under that action. + +It is not disgraceful for man to yield to pain, and it is disgraceful to +yield to pleasure. This is not because pain comes to us from without, +and we ourselves seek pleasure; for it is possible to seek pain, and +yield to it purposely, without this kind of baseness. Whence comes it, +then, that reason thinks it honourable to succumb under stress of pain, +and disgraceful to yield to the attack of pleasure? It is because pain +does not tempt and attract us. It is we ourselves who choose it +voluntarily, and will it to prevail over us. So that we are masters of +the situation; and in this man yields to himself. But in pleasure it is +man who yields to pleasure. Now only mastery and sovereignty bring +glory, and only slavery brings shame. + + +161 + +_Vanity._--How wonderful it is that a thing so evident as the vanity of +the world is so little known, that it is a strange and surprising thing +to say that it is foolish to seek greatness! + + +162 + +He who will know fully the vanity of man has only to consider the causes +and effects of love. The cause is a _je ne sais quoi_ (Corneille),[76] +and the effects are dreadful. This _je ne sais quoi_, so small an object +that we cannot recognise it, agitates a whole country, princes, armies, +the entire world. + +Cleopatra's nose: had it been shorter, the whole aspect of the world +would have been altered. + + +163 + +_Vanity._--The cause and the effects of love: Cleopatra. + + +164 + +He who does not see the vanity of the world is himself very vain. Indeed +who do not see it but youths who are absorbed in fame, diversion, and +the thought of the future? But take away diversion, and you will see +them dried up with weariness. They feel then their nothingness without +knowing it; for it is indeed to be unhappy to be in insufferable sadness +as soon as we are reduced to thinking of self, and have no diversion. + + +165 + +_Thoughts._--_In omnibus requiem quæsivi._[77] If our condition were +truly happy, we would not need diversion from thinking of it in order to +make ourselves happy. + + +166 + +_Diversion._--Death is easier to bear without thinking of it, than is +the thought of death without peril. + + +167 + +The miseries of human life have established all this: as men have seen +this, they have taken up diversion. + + +168 + +_Diversion._--As men are not able to fight against death, misery, +ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, +not to think of them at all. + + +169 + +Despite these miseries, man wishes to be happy, and only wishes to be +happy, and cannot wish not to be so. But how will he set about it? To be +happy he would have to make himself immortal; but, not being able to do +so, it has occurred to him to prevent himself from thinking of death. + + +170 + +_Diversion._--If man were happy, he would be the more so, the less he +was diverted, like the Saints and God.--Yes; but is it not to be happy +to have a faculty of being amused by diversion?--No; for that comes from +elsewhere and from without, and thus is dependent, and therefore subject +to be disturbed by a thousand accidents, which bring inevitable griefs. + + +171 + +_Misery._--The only thing which consoles us for our miseries is +diversion, and yet this it the greatest of our miseries. For it is this +which principally hinders us from reflecting upon ourselves, and which +makes us insensibly ruin ourselves. Without this we should be in a state +of weariness, and this weariness would spur us to seek a more solid +means of escaping from it. But diversion amuses us, and leads us +unconsciously to death. + + +172 + +We do not rest satisfied with the present. We anticipate the future as +too slow in coming, as if in order to hasten its course; or we recall +the past, to stop its too rapid flight. So imprudent are we that we +wander in the times which are not ours, and do not think of the only one +which belongs to us; and so idle are we that we dream of those times +which are no more, and thoughtlessly overlook that which alone exists. +For the present is generally painful to us. We conceal it from our +sight, because it troubles us; and if it be delightful to us, we regret +to see it pass away. We try to sustain it by the future, and think of +arranging matters which are not in our power, for a time which we have +no certainty of reaching. + +Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied +with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present; and +if we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange the +future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our +means; the future alone is our end.[78] So we never live, but we hope to +live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we +should never be so. + + +173 + +They say that eclipses foretoken misfortune, because misfortunes are +common, so that, as evil happens so often, they often foretell it; +whereas if they said that they predict good fortune, they would often be +wrong. They attribute good fortune only to rare conjunctions of the +heavens; so they seldom fail in prediction. + + +174 + +_Misery._--Solomon[79] and Job have best known and best spoken of the +misery of man; the former the most fortunate, and the latter the most +unfortunate of men; the former knowing the vanity of pleasures from +experience, the latter the reality of evils. + + +175 + +We know ourselves so little, that many think they are about to die when +they are well, and many think they are well when they are near death, +unconscious of approaching fever,[80] or of the abscess ready to form +itself. + + +176 + +Cromwell[81] was about to ravage all Christendom; the royal family was +undone, and his own for ever established, save for a little grain of +sand which formed in his ureter. Rome herself was trembling under him; +but this small piece of gravel having formed there, he is dead, his +family cast down, all is peaceful, and the king is restored. + + +177 + +[Three hosts.[82]] Would he who had possessed the friendship of the King +of England, the King of Poland, and the Queen of Sweden, have believed +he would lack a refuge and shelter in the world? + + +178 + +Macrobius:[83] on the innocents slain by Herod. + + +179 + +When Augustus learnt that Herod's own son was amongst the infants under +two years of age, whom he had caused to be slain, he said that it was +better to be Herod's pig than his son.--Macrobius, _Sat._, book ii, +chap. 4. + + +180 + +The great and the humble have the same misfortunes, the same griefs, the +same passions;[84] but the one is at the top of the wheel, and the other +near the centre, and so less disturbed by the same revolutions. + + +181 + +We are so unfortunate that we can only take pleasure in a thing on +condition of being annoyed if it turn out ill, as a thousand things can +do, and do every hour. He who should find the secret of rejoicing in the +good, without troubling himself with its contrary evil, would have hit +the mark. It is perpetual motion. + + +182 + +Those who have always good hope in the midst of misfortunes, and who are +delighted with good luck, are suspected of being very pleased with the +ill success of the affair, if they are not equally distressed by bad +luck; and they are overjoyed to find these pretexts of hope, in order to +show that they are concerned and to conceal by the joy which they feign +to feel that which they have at seeing the failure of the matter. + + +183 + +We run carelessly to the precipice, after we have put something before +us to prevent us seeing it. + + + + +SECTION III + +OF THE NECESSITY OF THE WAGER + + +184 + +A letter to incite to the search after God. + +And then to make people seek Him among the philosophers, sceptics, and +dogmatists, who disquiet him who inquires of them. + + +185 + +The conduct of God, who disposes all things kindly, is to put religion +into the mind by reason, and into the heart by grace. But to will to put +it into the mind and heart by force and threats is not to put religion +there, but terror, _terorrem potius quam religionem_. + + +186 + +_Nisi terrerentur et non docerentur, improba quasi dominatio videretur_ +(Aug., Ep. 48 or 49), _Contra Mendacium ad Consentium_. + + +187 + +_Order._--Men despise religion; they hate it, and fear it is true. To +remedy this, we must begin by showing that religion is not contrary to +reason; that it is venerable, to inspire respect for it; then we must +make it lovable, to make good men hope it is true; finally, we must +prove it is true. + +Venerable, because it has perfect knowledge of man; lovable, because it +promises the true good. + + +188 + +In every dialogue and discourse, we must be able to say to those who +take offence, "Of what do you complain?" + + +189 + +To begin by pitying unbelievers; they are wretched enough by their +condition. We ought only to revile them where it is beneficial; but this +does them harm. + + +190 + +To pity atheists who seek, for are they not unhappy enough? To inveigh +against those who make a boast of it. + + +191 + +And will this one scoff at the other? Who ought to scoff? And yet, the +latter does not scoff at the other, but pities him. + + +192 + +To reproach Miton[85] with not being troubled, since God will reproach +him. + + +193 + +_Quid fiet hominibus qui minima contemnunt, majora non credunt?_ + + +194 + +... Let them at least learn what is the religion they attack, before +attacking it. If this religion boasted of having a clear view of God, +and of possessing it open and unveiled, it would be attacking it to say +that we see nothing in the world which shows it with this clearness. But +since, on the contrary, it says that men are in darkness and estranged +from God, that He has hidden Himself from their knowledge, that this is +in fact the name which He gives Himself in the Scriptures, _Deus +absconditus_;[86] and finally, if it endeavours equally to establish +these two things: that God has set up in the Church visible signs to +make Himself known to those who should seek Him sincerely, and that He +has nevertheless so disguised them that He will only be perceived by +those who seek Him with all their heart; what advantage can they obtain, +when, in the negligence with which they make profession of being in +search of the truth, they cry out that nothing reveals it to them; and +since that darkness in which they are, and with which they upbraid the +Church, establishes only one of the things which she affirms, without +touching the other, and, very far from destroying, proves her doctrine? + +In order to attack it, they should have protested that they had made +every effort to seek Him everywhere, and even in that which the Church +proposes for their instruction, but without satisfaction. If they talked +in this manner, they would in truth be attacking one of her pretensions. +But I hope here to show that no reasonable person can speak thus, and I +venture even to say that no one has ever done so. We know well enough +how those who are of this mind behave. They believe they have made great +efforts for their instruction, when they have spent a few hours in +reading some book of Scripture, and have questioned some priest on the +truths of the faith. After that, they boast of having made vain search +in books and among men. But, verily, I will tell them what I have often +said, that this negligence is insufferable. We are not here concerned +with the trifling interests of some stranger, that we should treat it in +this fashion; the matter concerns ourselves and our all. + +The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequence +to us, and which touches us so profoundly, that we must have lost all +feeling to be indifferent as to knowing what it is. All our actions and +thoughts must take such different courses, according as there are or are +not eternal joys to hope for, that it is impossible to take one step +with sense and judgment, unless we regulate our course by our view of +this point which ought to be our ultimate end. + +Thus our first interest and our first duty is to enlighten ourselves on +this subject, whereon depends all our conduct. Therefore among those who +do not believe, I make a vast difference between those who strive with +all their power to inform themselves, and those who live without +troubling or thinking about it. + +I can have only compassion for those who sincerely bewail their doubt, +who regard it as the greatest of misfortunes, and who, sparing no effort +to escape it, make of this inquiry their principal and most serious +occupations. + +But as for those who pass their life without thinking of this ultimate +end of life, and who, for this sole reason that they do not find within +themselves the lights which convince them of it, neglect to seek them +elsewhere, and to examine thoroughly whether this opinion is one of +those which people receive with credulous simplicity, or one of those +which, although obscure in themselves, have nevertheless a solid and +immovable foundation, I look upon them in a manner quite different. + +This carelessness in a matter which concerns themselves, their eternity, +their all, moves me more to anger than pity; it astonishes and shocks +me; it is to me monstrous. I do not say this out of the pious zeal of a +spiritual devotion. I expect, on the contrary, that we ought to have +this feeling from principles of human interest and self-love; for this +we need only see what the least enlightened persons see. + +We do not require great education of the mind to understand that here is +no real and lasting satisfaction; that our pleasures are only vanity; +that our evils are infinite; and, lastly, that death, which threatens us +every moment, must infallibly place us within a few years under the +dreadful necessity of being for ever either annihilated or unhappy. + +There is nothing more real than this, nothing more terrible. Be we as +heroic as we like, that is the end which awaits the noblest life in the +world. Let us reflect on this, and then say whether it is not beyond +doubt that there is no good in this life but in the hope of another; +that we are happy only in proportion as we draw near it; and that, as +there are no more woes for those who have complete assurance of +eternity, so there is no more happiness for those who have no insight +into it. + +Surely then it is a great evil thus to be in doubt, but it is at least +an indispensable duty to seek when we are in such doubt; and thus the +doubter who does not seek is altogether completely unhappy and +completely wrong. And if besides this he is easy and content, professes +to be so, and indeed boasts of it; if it is this state itself which is +the subject of his joy and vanity, I have no words to describe so silly +a creature. + +How can people hold these opinions? What joy can we find in the +expectation of nothing but hopeless misery? What reason for boasting +that we are in impenetrable darkness? And how can it happen that the +following argument occurs to a reasonable man? + +"I know not who put me into the world, nor what the world is, nor what I +myself am. I am in terrible ignorance of everything. I know not what my +body is, nor my senses, nor my soul, not even that part of me which +thinks what I say, which reflects on all and on itself, and knows itself +no more than the rest. I see those frightful spaces of the universe +which surround me, and I find myself tied to one corner of this vast +expanse, without knowing why I am put in this place rather than in +another, nor why the short time which is given me to live is assigned to +me at this point rather than at another of the whole eternity which was +before me or which shall come after me. I see nothing but infinites on +all sides, which surround me as an atom, and as a shadow which endures +only for an instant and returns no more. All I know is that I must soon +die, but what I know least is this very death which I cannot escape. + +"As I know not whence I come, so I know not whither I go. I know only +that, in leaving this world, I fall for ever either into annihilation or +into the hands of an angry God, without knowing to which of these two +states I shall be for ever assigned. Such is my state, full of weakness +and uncertainty. And from all this I conclude that I ought to spend all +the days of my life without caring to inquire into what must happen to +me. Perhaps I might find some solution to my doubts, but I will not take +the trouble, nor take a step to seek it; and after treating with scorn +those who are concerned with this care, I will go without foresight and +without fear to try the great event, and let myself be led carelessly to +death, uncertain of the eternity of my future state." + +Who would desire to have for a friend a man who talks in this fashion? +Who would choose him out from others to tell him of his affairs? Who +would have recourse to him in affliction? And indeed to what use in life +could one put him? + +In truth, it is the glory of religion to have for enemies men so +unreasonable: and their opposition to it is so little dangerous that it +serves on the contrary to establish its truths. For the Christian faith +goes mainly to establish these two facts, the corruption of nature, and +redemption by Jesus Christ. Now I contend that if these men do not serve +to prove the truth of the redemption by the holiness of their behaviour, +they at least serve admirably to show the corruption of nature by +sentiments so unnatural. + +Nothing is so important to man as his own state, nothing is so +formidable to him as eternity; and thus it is not natural that there +should be men indifferent to the loss of their existence, and to the +perils of everlasting suffering. They are quite different with regard to +all other things. They are afraid of mere trifles; they foresee them; +they feel them. And this same man who spends so many days and nights in +rage and despair for the loss of office, or for some imaginary insult to +his honour, is the very one who knows without anxiety and without +emotion that he will lose all by death. It is a monstrous thing to see +in the same heart and at the same time this sensibility to trifles and +this strange insensibility to the greatest objects. It is an +incomprehensible enchantment, and a supernatural slumber, which +indicates as its cause an all-powerful force. + +There must be a strange confusion in the nature of man, that he should +boast of being in that state in which it seems incredible that a single +individual should be. However, experience has shown me so great a +number of such persons that the fact would be surprising, if we did not +know that the greater part of those who trouble themselves about the +matter are disingenuous, and not in fact what they say. They are people +who have heard it said that it is the fashion to be thus daring. It is +what they call shaking off the yoke, and they try to imitate this. But +it would not be difficult to make them understand how greatly they +deceive themselves in thus seeking esteem. This is not the way to gain +it, even I say among those men of the world who take a healthy view of +things, and who know that the only way to succeed in this life is to +make ourselves appear honourable, faithful, judicious, and capable of +useful service to a friend; because naturally men love only what may be +useful to them. Now, what do we gain by hearing it said of a man that he +has now thrown off the yoke, that he does not believe there is a God who +watches our actions, that he considers himself the sole master of his +conduct, and that he thinks he is accountable for it only to himself? +Does he think that he has thus brought us to have henceforth complete +confidence in him, and to look to him for consolation, advice, and help +in every need of life? Do they profess to have delighted us by telling +us that they hold our soul to be only a little wind and smoke, +especially by telling us this in a haughty and self-satisfied tone of +voice? Is this a thing to say gaily? Is it not, on the contrary, a thing +to say sadly, as the saddest thing in the world? + +If they thought of it seriously, they would see that this is so bad a +mistake, so contrary to good sense, so opposed to decency and so removed +in every respect from that good breeding which they seek, that they +would be more likely to correct than to pervert those who had an +inclination to follow them. And indeed, make them give an account of +their opinions, and of the reasons which they have for doubting +religion, and they will say to you things so feeble and so petty, that +they will persuade you of the contrary. The following is what a person +one day said to such a one very appositely: "If you continue to talk in +this manner, you will really make me religious." And he was right, for +who would not have a horror of holding opinions in which he would have +such contemptible persons as companions! + +Thus those who only feign these opinions would be very unhappy, if they +restrained their natural feelings in order to make themselves the most +conceited of men. If, at the bottom of their heart, they are troubled at +not having more light, let them not disguise the fact; this avowal will +not be shameful. The only shame is to have none. Nothing reveals more an +extreme weakness of mind than not to know the misery of a godless man. +Nothing is more indicative of a bad disposition of heart than not to +desire the truth of eternal promises. Nothing is more dastardly than to +act with bravado before God. Let them then leave these impieties to +those who are sufficiently ill-bred to be really capable of them. Let +them at least be honest men, if they cannot be Christians. Finally, let +them recognise that there are two kinds of people one can call +reasonable; those who serve God with all their heart because they know +Him, and those who seek Him with all their heart because they do not +know Him. + +But as for those who live without knowing Him and without seeking Him, +they judge themselves so little worthy of their own care, that they are +not worthy of the care of others; and it needs all the charity of the +religion which they despise, not to despise them even to the point of +leaving them to their folly. But because this religion obliges us always +to regard them, so long as they are in this life, as capable of the +grace which can enlighten them, and to believe that they may, in a +little time, be more replenished with faith than we are, and that, on +the other hand, we may fall into the blindness wherein they are, we must +do for them what we would they should do for us if we were in their +place, and call upon them to have pity upon themselves, and to take at +least some steps in the endeavour to find light. Let them give to +reading this some of the hours which they otherwise employ so uselessly; +whatever aversion they may bring to the task, they will perhaps gain +something, and at least will not lose much. But as for those who bring +to the task perfect sincerity and a real desire to meet with truth, +those I hope will be satisfied and convinced of the proofs of a religion +so divine, which I have here collected, and in which I have followed +somewhat after this order ... + + +195 + +Before entering into the proofs of the Christian religion, I find it +necessary to point out the sinfulness of those men who live in +indifference to the search for truth in a matter which is so important +to them, and which touches them so nearly. + +Of all their errors, this doubtless is the one which most convicts them +of foolishness and blindness, and in which it is easiest to confound +them by the first glimmerings of common sense, and by natural feelings. + +For it is not to be doubted that the duration of this life is but a +moment; that the state of death is eternal, whatever may be its nature; +and that thus all our actions and thoughts must take such different +directions according to the state of that eternity, that it is +impossible to take one step with sense and judgment, unless we regulate +our course by the truth of that point which ought to be our ultimate +end. + +There is nothing clearer than this; and thus, according to the +principles of reason, the conduct of men is wholly unreasonable, if they +do not take another course. + +On this point, therefore, we condemn those who live without thought of +the ultimate end of life, who let themselves be guided by their own +inclinations and their own pleasures without reflection and without +concern, and, as if they could annihilate eternity by turning away their +thought from it, think only of making themselves happy for the moment. + +Yet this eternity exists, and death, which must open into it, and +threatens them every hour, must in a little time infallibly put them +under the dreadful necessity of being either annihilated or unhappy for +ever, without knowing which of these eternities is for ever prepared for +them. + +This is a doubt of terrible consequence. They are in peril of eternal +woe; and thereupon, as if the matter were not worth the trouble, they +neglect to inquire whether this is one of those opinions which people +receive with too credulous a facility, or one of those which, obscure in +themselves, have a very firm, though hidden, foundation. Thus they know +not whether there be truth or falsity in the matter, nor whether there +be strength or weakness in the proofs. They have them before their eyes; +they refuse to look at them; and in that ignorance they choose all that +is necessary to fall into this misfortune if it exists, to await death +to make trial of it, yet to be very content in this state, to make +profession of it, and indeed to boast of it. Can we think seriously on +the importance of this subject without being horrified at conduct so +extravagant? + +This resting in ignorance is a monstrous thing, and they who pass their +life in it must be made to feel its extravagance and stupidity, by +having it shown to them, so that they may be confounded by the sight of +their folly. For this is how men reason, when they choose to live in +such ignorance of what they are, and without seeking enlightenment. "I +know not," they say ... + + +196 + +Men lack heart; they would not make a friend of it. + + +197 + +To be insensible to the extent of despising interesting things, and to +become insensible to the point which interests us most. + + +198 + +The sensibility of man to trifles, and his insensibility to great +things, indicates a strange inversion. + + +199 + +Let us imagine a number of men in chains, and all condemned to death, +where some are killed each day in the sight of the others, and those who +remain see their own fate in that of their fellows, and wait their turn, +looking at each other sorrowfully and without hope. It is an image of +the condition of men. + + +200 + +A man in a dungeon, ignorant whether his sentence be pronounced, and +having only one hour to learn it, but this hour enough, if he know that +it is pronounced, to obtain its repeal, would act unnaturally in +spending that hour, not in ascertaining his sentence, but in playing +piquet. So it is against nature that man, etc. It is making heavy the +hand of God. + +Thus not only the zeal of those who seek Him proves God, but also the +blindness of those who seek Him not. + + +201 + +All the objections of this one and that one only go against themselves, +and not against religion. All that infidels say ... + + +202 + +[From those who are in despair at being without faith, we see that God +does not enlighten them; but as to the rest, we see there is a God who +makes them blind.] + + +203 + +_Fascinatio nugacitatis._[87]--That passion may not harm us, let us act +as if we had only eight hours to live. + + +204 + +If we ought to devote eight hours of life, we ought to devote a hundred +years. + + +205 + +When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the +eternity before and after, the little space which I fill, and even can +see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am +ignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at +being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather +than there, why now rather than then. Who has put me here? By whose +order and direction have this place and time been allotted to me? +_Memoria hospitis unius diei prætereuntis._[88] + + +206 + +The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me. + + +207 + +How many kingdoms know us not! + + +208 + +Why is my knowledge limited? Why my stature? Why my life to one hundred +years rather than to a thousand? What reason has nature had for giving +me such, and for choosing this number rather than another in the +infinity of those from which there is no more reason to choose one than +another, trying nothing else? + + +209 + +Art thou less a slave by being loved and favoured by thy master? Thou +art indeed well off, slave. Thy master favours thee; he will soon beat +thee. + + +210 + +The last act is tragic, however happy all the rest of the play is; at +the last a little earth is thrown upon our head, and that is the end for +ever. + + +211 + +We are fools to depend upon the society of our fellow-men. Wretched as +we are, powerless as we are, they will not aid us; we shall die alone. +We should therefore act as if we were alone, and in that case should we +build fine houses, etc.? We should seek the truth without hesitation; +and, if we refuse it, we show that we value the esteem of men more than +the search for truth. + + +212 + +_Instability._[89]--It is a horrible thing to feel all that we possess +slipping away. + + +213 + +Between us and heaven or hell there is only life, which is the frailest +thing in the world. + + +214 + +_Injustice._--That presumption should be joined to meanness is extreme +injustice. + + +215 + +To fear death without danger, and not in danger, for one must be a man. + + +216 + +Sudden death alone is feared; hence confessors stay with lords. + + +217 + +An heir finds the title-deeds of his house. Will he say, "Perhaps they +are forged?" and neglect to examine them? + + +218 + +_Dungeon._--I approve of not examining the opinion of Copernicus; but +this...! It concerns all our life to know whether the soul be mortal or +immortal. + + +219 + +It is certain that the mortality or immortality of the soul must make an +entire difference to morality. And yet philosophers have constructed +their ethics independently of this: they discuss to pass an hour. + +Plato, to incline to Christianity. + + +220 + +The fallacy of philosophers who have not discussed the immortality of +the soul. The fallacy of their dilemma in Montaigne. + + +221 + +Atheists ought to say what is perfectly evident; now it is not perfectly +evident that the soul is material. + + +222 + +_Atheists._--What reason have they for saying that we cannot rise from +the dead? What is more difficult, to be born or to rise again; that what +has never been should be, or that what has been should be again? Is it +more difficult to come into existence than to return to it? Habit makes +the one appear easy to us; want of habit makes the other impossible. A +popular way of thinking! + +Why cannot a virgin bear a child? Does a hen not lay eggs without a +cock? What distinguishes these outwardly from others? And who has told +us that the hen may not form the germ as well as the cock? + + +223 + +What have they to say against the resurrection, and against the +child-bearing of the Virgin? Which is the more difficult, to produce a +man or an animal, or to reproduce it? And if they had never seen any +species of animals, could they have conjectured whether they were +produced without connection with each other? + + +224 + +How I hate these follies of not believing in the Eucharist, etc.! If the +Gospel be true, if Jesus Christ be God, what difficulty is there? + + +225 + +Atheism shows strength of mind, but only to a certain degree. + + +226 + +Infidels, who profess to follow reason, ought to be exceedingly strong +in reason. What say they then? "Do we not see," say they, "that the +brutes live and die like men, and Turks like Christians? They have their +ceremonies, their prophets, their doctors, their saints, their monks, +like us," etc. (Is this contrary to Scripture? Does it not say all +this?) + +If you care but little to know the truth, here is enough of it to leave +you in repose. But if you desire with all your heart to know it, it is +not enough; look at it in detail. This would be sufficient for a +question in philosophy; but not here, where it concerns your all. And +yet, after a trifling reflection of this kind, we go to amuse ourselves, +etc. Let us inquire of this same religion whether it does not give a +reason for this obscurity; perhaps it will teach it to us. + + +227 + +_Order by dialogues._--What ought I to do? I see only darkness +everywhere. Shall I believe I am nothing? Shall I believe I am God? + +"All things change and succeed each other." You are mistaken; there +is ... + + +228 + +Objection of atheists: "But we have no light." + + +229 + +This is what I see and what troubles me. I look on all sides, and I see +only darkness everywhere. Nature presents to me nothing which is not +matter of doubt and concern. If I saw nothing there which revealed a +Divinity, I would come to a negative conclusion; if I saw everywhere the +signs of a Creator, I would remain peacefully in faith. But, seeing too +much to deny and too little to be sure, I am in a state to be pitied; +wherefore I have a hundred time wished that if a God maintains nature, +she should testify to Him unequivocally, and that, if the signs she +gives are deceptive, she should suppress them altogether; that she +should say everything or nothing, that I might see which cause I ought +to follow. Whereas in my present state, ignorant of what I am or of what +I ought to do, I know neither my condition nor my duty. My heart +inclines wholly to know where is the true good, in order to follow it; +nothing would be too dear to me for eternity. + +I envy those whom I see living in the faith with such carelessness, and +who make such a bad use of a gift of which it seems to me I would make +such a different use. + + +230 + +It is incomprehensible that God should exist, and it is incomprehensible +that He should not exist; that the soul should be joined to the body, +and that we should have no soul; that the world should be created, and +that it should not be created, etc.; that original sin should be, and +that it should not be. + + +231 + +Do you believe it to be impossible that God is infinite, without +parts?--Yes. I wish therefore to show you an infinite and indivisible +thing. It is a point moving everywhere with an infinite velocity; for it +is one in all places, and is all totality in every place. + +Let this effect of nature, which previously seemed to you impossible, +make you know that there may be others of which you are still ignorant. +Do not draw this conclusion from your experiment, that there remains +nothing for you to know; but rather that there remains an infinity for +you to know. + + +232 + +Infinite movement, the point which fills everything, the moment of rest; +infinite without quantity, indivisible and infinite. + + +233 + +_Infinite_--_nothing._--Our soul is cast into a body, where it finds +number, time, dimension. Thereupon it reasons, and calls this nature, +necessity, and can believe nothing else. + +Unity joined to infinity adds nothing to it, no more than one foot to an +infinite measure. The finite is annihilated in the presence of the +infinite, and becomes a pure nothing. So our spirit before God, so our +justice before divine justice. There is not so great a disproportion +between our justice and that of God, as between unity and infinity. + +The justice of God must be vast like His compassion. Now justice to the +outcast is less vast, and ought less to offend our feelings than mercy +towards the elect. + +We know that there is an infinite, and are ignorant of its nature. As we +know it to be false that numbers are finite, it is therefore true that +there is an infinity in number. But we do not know what it is. It is +false that it is even, it is false that it is odd; for the addition of a +unit can make no change in its nature. Yet it is a number, and every +number is odd or even (this is certainly true of every finite number). +So we may well know that there is a God without knowing what He is. Is +there not one substantial truth, seeing there are so many things which +are not the truth itself? + +We know then the existence and nature of the finite, because we also are +finite and have extension. We know the existence of the infinite, and +are ignorant of its nature, because it has extension like us, but not +limits like us. But we know neither the existence nor the nature of God, +because He has neither extension nor limits. + +But by faith we know His existence; in glory we shall know His nature. +Now, I have already shown that we may well know the existence of a +thing, without knowing its nature. + +Let us now speak according to natural lights. + +If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, having +neither parts nor limits, He has no affinity to us. We are then +incapable of knowing either what He is or if He is. This being so, who +will dare to undertake the decision of the question? Not we, who have no +affinity to Him. + +Who then will blame Christians for not being able to give a reason for +their belief, since they profess a religion for which they cannot give a +reason? They declare, in expounding it to the world, that it is a +foolishness, _stultitiam_;[90] and then you complain that they do not +prove it! If they proved it, they would not keep their word; it is in +lacking proofs, that they are not lacking in sense. "Yes, but although +this excuses those who offer it as such, and takes away from them the +blame of putting it forward without reason, it does not excuse those who +receive it." Let us then examine this point, and say, "God is, or He is +not." But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing +here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being +played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails +will turn up. What will you wager? According to reason, you can do +neither the one thing nor the other; according to reason, you can defend +neither of the propositions. + +Do not then reprove for error those who have made a choice; for you know +nothing about it. "No, but I blame them for having made, not this +choice, but a choice; for again both he who chooses heads and he who +chooses tails are equally at fault, they are both in the wrong. The true +course is not to wager at all." + +Yes; but you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked. Which +will you choose then? Let us see. Since you must choose, let us see +which interests you least. You have two things to lose, the true and the +good; and two things to stake, your reason and your will, your +knowledge and your happiness; and your nature has two things to shun, +error and misery. Your reason is no more shocked in choosing one rather +than the other, since you must of necessity choose. This is one point +settled. But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in +wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, +you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without +hesitation that He is.--"That is very fine. Yes, I must wager; but I may +perhaps wager too much."--Let us see. Since there is an equal risk of +gain and of loss, if you had only to gain two lives, instead of one, you +might still wager. But if there were three lives to gain, you would have +to play (since you are under the necessity of playing), and you would be +imprudent, when you are forced to play, not to chance your life to gain +three at a game where there is an equal risk of loss and gain. But there +is an eternity of life and happiness. And this being so, if there were +an infinity of chances, of which one only would be for you, you would +still be right in wagering one to win two, and you would act stupidly, +being obliged to play, by refusing to stake one life against three at a +game in which out of an infinity of chances there is one for you, if +there were an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain. But there is +here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain +against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is +finite. It is all divided; wherever the infinite is and there is not an +infinity of chances of loss against that of gain, there is no time to +hesitate, you must give all. And thus, when one is forced to play, he +must renounce reason to preserve his life, rather than risk it for +infinite gain, as likely to happen as the loss of nothingness. + +For it is no use to say it is uncertain if we will gain, and it is +certain that we risk, and that the infinite distance between the +_certainty_ of what is staked and the _uncertainty_ of what will be +gained, equals the finite good which is certainly staked against the +uncertain infinite. It is not so, as every player stakes a certainty to +gain an uncertainty, and yet he stakes a finite certainty to gain a +finite uncertainty, without transgressing against reason. There is not +an infinite distance between the certainty staked and the uncertainty of +the gain; that is untrue. In truth, there is an infinity between the +certainty of gain and the certainty of loss. But the uncertainty of the +gain is proportioned to the certainty of the stake according to the +proportion of the chances of gain and loss. Hence it comes that, if +there are as many risks on one side as on the other, the course is to +play even; and then the certainty of the stake is equal to the +uncertainty of the gain, so far is it from fact that there is an +infinite distance between them. And so our proposition is of infinite +force, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal +risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain. This is +demonstrable; and if men are capable of any truths, this is one. + +"I confess it, I admit it. But, still, is there no means of seeing the +faces of the cards?"--Yes, Scripture and the rest, etc. "Yes, but I have +my hands tied and my mouth closed; I am forced to wager, and am not +free. I am not released, and am so made that I cannot believe. What, +then, would you have me do?" + +True. But at least learn your inability to believe, since reason brings +you to this, and yet you cannot believe. Endeavour then to convince +yourself, not by increase of proofs of God, but by the abatement of your +passions. You would like to attain faith, and do not know the way; you +would like to cure yourself of unbelief, and ask the remedy for it. +Learn of those who have been bound like you, and who now stake all their +possessions. These are people who know the way which you would follow, +and who are cured of an ill of which you would be cured. Follow the way +by which they began; by acting as if they believed, taking the holy +water, having masses said, etc. Even this will naturally make you +believe, and deaden your acuteness.--"But this is what I am afraid +of."--And why? What have you to lose? + +But to show you that this leads you there, it is this which will lessen +the passions, which are your stumbling-blocks. + +_The end of this discourse._--Now, what harm will befall you in taking +this side? You will be faithful, honest, humble, grateful, generous, a +sincere friend, truthful. Certainly you will not have those poisonous +pleasures, glory and luxury; but will you not have others? I will tell +you that you will thereby gain in this life, and that, at each step you +take on this road, you will see so great certainty of gain, so much +nothingness in what you risk, that you will at last recognise that you +have wagered for something certain and infinite, for which you have +given nothing. + +"Ah! This discourse transports me, charms me," etc. + +If this discourse pleases you and seems impressive, know that it is +made by a man who has knelt, both before and after it, in prayer to that +Being, infinite and without parts, before whom he lays all he has, for +you also to lay before Him all you have for your own good and for His +glory, that so strength may be given to lowliness. + + +234 + +If we must not act save on a certainty, we ought not to act on religion, +for it is not certain. But how many things we do on an uncertainty, sea +voyages, battles! I say then we must do nothing at all, for nothing is +certain, and that there is more certainty in religion than there is as +to whether we may see to-morrow; for it is not certain that we may see +to-morrow, and it is certainly possible that we may not see it. We +cannot say as much about religion. It is not certain that it is; but who +will venture to say that it is certainly possible that it is not? Now +when we work for to-morrow, and so on an uncertainty, we act reasonably; +for we ought to work for an uncertainty according to the doctrine of +chance which was demonstrated above. + +Saint Augustine has seen that we work for an uncertainty, on sea, in +battle, etc. But he has not seen the doctrine of chance which proves +that we should do so. Montaigne has seen that we are shocked at a fool, +and that habit is all-powerful; but he has not seen the reason of this +effect. + +All these persons have seen the effects, but they have not seen the +causes. They are, in comparison with those who have discovered the +causes, as those who have only eyes are in comparison with those who +have intellect. For the effects are perceptible by sense, and the causes +are visible only to the intellect. And although these effects are seen +by the mind, this mind is, in comparison with the mind which sees the +causes, as the bodily senses are in comparison with the intellect. + + +235 + +_Rem viderunt, causam non viderunt._ + + +236 + +According to the doctrine of chance, you ought to put yourself to the +trouble of searching for the truth; for if you die without worshipping +the True Cause, you are lost.--"But," say you, "if He had wished me to +worship Him, He would have left me signs of His will."--He has done so; +but you neglect them. Seek them, therefore; it is well worth it. + + +237 + +_Chances._--We must live differently in the world, according to these +different assumptions: (1) that we could always remain in it; (2) that +it is certain that we shall not remain here long, and uncertain if we +shall remain here one hour. This last assumption is our condition. + + +238 + +What do you then promise me, in addition to certain troubles, but ten +years of self-love (for ten years is the chance), to try hard to please +without success? + + +239 + +_Objection._--Those who hope for salvation are so far happy; but they +have as a counterpoise the fear of hell. + +_Reply._--Who has most reason to fear hell: he who is in ignorance +whether there is a hell, and who is certain of damnation if there is; or +he who certainly believes there is a hell, and hopes to be saved if +there is? + + +240 + +"I would soon have renounced pleasure," say they, "had I faith." For my +part I tell you, "You would soon have faith, if you renounced pleasure." +Now, it is for you to begin. If I could, I would give you faith. I +cannot do so, nor therefore test the truth of what you say. But you can +well renounce pleasure, and test whether what I say is true. + + +241 + +_Order._--I would have far more fear of being mistaken, and of finding +that the Christian religion was true, than of not being mistaken in +believing it true. + + + + +SECTION IV + +OF THE MEANS OF BELIEF + + +242 + +_Preface to the second part._--To speak of those who have treated of +this matter. + +I admire the boldness with which these persons undertake to speak of +God. In addressing their argument to infidels, their first chapter is to +prove Divinity from the works of nature.[91] I should not be astonished +at their enterprise, if they were addressing their argument to the +faithful; for it is certain that those who have the living faith in +their heart see at once that all existence is none other than the work +of the God whom they adore. But for those in whom this light is +extinguished, and in whom we purpose to rekindle it, persons destitute +of faith and grace, who, seeking with all their light whatever they see +in nature that can bring them to this knowledge, find only obscurity and +darkness; to tell them that they have only to look at the smallest +things which surround them, and they will see God openly, to give them, +as a complete proof of this great and important matter, the course of +the moon and planets, and to claim to have concluded the proof with such +an argument, is to give them ground for believing that the proofs of our +religion are very weak. And I see by reason and experience that nothing +is more calculated to arouse their contempt. + +It is not after this manner that Scripture speaks, which has a better +knowledge of the things that are of God. It says, on the contrary, that +God is a hidden God, and that, since the corruption of nature, He has +left men in a darkness from which they can escape only through Jesus +Christ, without whom all communion with God is cut off. _Nemo novit +Patrem, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare._[92] + +This is what Scripture points out to us, when it says in so many places +that those who seek God find Him.[93] It is not of that light, "like the +noonday sun," that this is said. We do not say that those who seek the +noonday sun, or water in the sea, shall find them; and hence the +evidence of God must not be of this nature. So it tells us elsewhere: +_Vere tu es Deus absconditus_.[94] + + +243 + +It is an astounding fact that no canonical writer has ever made use of +nature to prove God. They all strive to make us believe in Him. David, +Solomon, etc., have never said, "There is no void, therefore there is a +God." They must have had more knowledge than the most learned people who +came after them, and who have all made use of this argument. This is +worthy of attention. + + +244 + +"Why! Do you not say yourself that the heavens and birds prove God?" No. +"And does your religion not say so?" No. For although it is true in a +sense for some souls to whom God gives this light, yet it is false with +respect to the majority of men. + + +245 + +There are three sources of belief: reason, custom, inspiration. The +Christian religion, which alone has reason, does not acknowledge as her +true children those who believe without inspiration. It is not that she +excludes reason and custom. On the contrary, the mind must be opened to +proofs, must be confirmed by custom, and offer itself in humbleness to +inspirations, which alone can produce a true and saving effect. _Ne +evacuetur crux Christi._[95] + + +246 + +_Order._--After the letter _That we ought to seek God_, to write the +letter _On removing obstacles_; which is the discourse on "the +machine,"[96] on preparing the machine, on seeking by reason. + + +247 + +_Order._--A letter of exhortation to a friend to induce him to seek. And +he will reply, "But what is the use of seeking? Nothing is seen." Then +to reply to him, "Do not despair." And he will answer that he would be +glad to find some light, but that, according to this very religion, if +he believed in it, it will be of no use to him, and that therefore he +prefers not to seek. And to answer to that: The machine. + + +248 + +_A letter which indicates the use of proofs by the machine._--Faith is +different from proof; the one is human, the other is a gift of God. +_Justus ex fide vivit._[97] It is this faith that God Himself puts into +the heart, of which the proof is often the instrument, _fides ex +auditu_;[98] but this faith is in the heart, and makes us not say +_scio_, but _credo_. + + +249 + +It is superstition to put one's hope in formalities; but it is pride to +be unwilling to submit to them. + + +250 + +The external must be joined to the internal to obtain anything from God, +that is to say, we must kneel, pray with the lips, etc., in order that +proud man, who would not submit himself to God, may be now subject to +the creature.[99] To expect help from these externals is superstition; +to refuse to join them to the internal is pride. + + +251 + +Other religions, as the pagan, are more popular, for they consist in +externals. But they are not for educated people. A purely intellectual +religion would be more suited to the learned, but it would be of no use +to the common people. The Christian religion alone is adapted to all, +being composed of externals and internals. It raises the common people +to the internal, and humbles the proud to the external; it is not +perfect without the two, for the people must understand the spirit of +the letter, and the learned must submit their spirit to the letter. + + +252 + +For we must not misunderstand ourselves; we are as much automatic as +intellectual; and hence it comes that the instrument by which conviction +is attained is not demonstrated alone. How few things are demonstrated? +Proofs only convince the mind. Custom is the source of our strongest and +most believed proofs. It bends the automaton, which persuades the mind +without its thinking about the matter. Who has demonstrated that there +will be a to-morrow, and that we shall die? And what is more believed? +It is, then, custom which persuades us of it; it is custom that makes +so many men Christians; custom that makes them Turks, heathens, +artisans, soldiers, etc. (Faith in baptism is more received among +Christians than among Turks.) Finally, we must have recourse to it when +once the mind has seen where the truth is, in order to quench our +thirst, and steep ourselves in that belief, which escapes us at every +hour; for always to have proofs ready is too much trouble. We must get +an easier belief, which is that of custom, which, without violence, +without art, without argument, makes us believe things, and inclines all +our powers to this belief, so that out soul falls naturally into it. It +is not enough to believe only by force of conviction, when the automaton +is inclined to believe the contrary. Both our parts must be made to +believe, the mind by reasons which it is sufficient to have seen once in +a lifetime, and the automaton by custom, and by not allowing it to +incline to the contrary. _Inclina cor meum, Deus._[100] + +The reason acts slowly, with so many examinations, and on so many +principles, which must be always present, that at every hour it falls +asleep, or wanders, through want of having all its principles present. +Feeling does not act thus; it acts in a moment, and is always ready to +act. We must then put our faith in feeling; otherwise it will be always +vacillating. + + +253 + +Two extremes: to exclude reason, to admit reason only. + + +254 + +It is not a rare thing to have to reprove the world for too much +docility. It is a natural vice like credulity, and as pernicious. +Superstition. + + +255 + +Piety is different from superstition. + +To carry piety as far as superstition is to destroy it. + +The heretics reproach us for this superstitious submission. This is to +do what they reproach us for ... + +Infidelity, not to believe in the Eucharist, because it is not seen. + +Superstition to believe propositions. Faith, etc. + + +256 + +I say there are few true Christians, even as regards faith. There are +many who believe but from superstition. There are many who do not +believe solely from wickedness. Few are between the two. + +In this I do not include those who are of truly pious character, nor all +those who believe from a feeling in their heart. + + +257 + +There are only three kinds of persons; those who serve God, having found +Him; others who are occupied in seeking Him, not having found Him; while +the remainder live without seeking Him, and without having found Him. +The first are reasonable and happy, the last are foolish and unhappy; +those between are unhappy and reasonable. + + +258 + +_Unusquisque sibi Deum fingit._[101] + +Disgust. + + +259 + +Ordinary people have the power of not thinking of that about which they +do not wish to think. "Do not meditate on the passages about the +Messiah," said the Jew to his son. Thus our people often act. Thus are +false religions preserved, and even the true one, in regard to many +persons. + +But there are some who have not the power of thus preventing thought, +and who think so much the more as they are forbidden. These undo false +religions, and even the true one, if they do not find solid arguments. + + +260 + +They hide themselves in the press, and call numbers to their rescue. +Tumult. + +_Authority._--So far from making it a rule to believe a thing because +you have heard it, you ought to believe nothing without putting yourself +into the position as if you had never heard it. + +It is your own assent to yourself, and the constant voice of your own +reason, and not of others, that should make you believe. + +Belief is so important! A hundred contradictions might be true. If +antiquity were the rule of belief, men of ancient time would then be +without rule. If general consent, if men had perished? + +False humanity, pride. + +Lift the curtain. You try in vain; if you must either believe, or deny, +or doubt. Shall we then have no rule? We judge that animals do well what +they do. Is there no rule whereby to judge men? + +To deny, to believe, and to doubt well, are to a man what the race is to +a horse. + +Punishment of those who sin, error. + + +261 + +Those who do not love the truth take as a pretext that it is disputed, +and that a multitude deny it. And so their error arises only from this, +that they do not love either truth or charity. Thus they are without +excuse. + + +262 + +Superstition and lust. Scruples, evil desires. Evil fear; fear, not such +as comes from a belief in God, but such as comes from a doubt whether He +exists or not. True fear comes from faith; false fear comes from doubt. +True fear is joined to hope, because it is born of faith, and because +men hope in the God in whom they believe. False fear is joined to +despair, because men fear the God in whom they have no belief. The +former fear to lose Him; the latter fear to find Him. + + +263 + +"A miracle," says one, "would strengthen my faith." He says so when he +does not see one. Reasons, seen from afar, appear to limit our view; but +when they are reached, we begin to see beyond. Nothing stops the +nimbleness of our mind. There is no rule, say we, which has not some +exceptions, no truth so general which has not some aspect in which it +fails. It is sufficient that it be not absolutely universal to give us a +pretext for applying the exceptions to the present subject, and for +saying, "This is not always true; there are therefore cases where it is +not so." It only remains to show that this is one of them; and that is +why we are very awkward or unlucky, if we do not find one some day. + + +264 + +We do not weary of eating and sleeping every day, for hunger and +sleepiness recur. Without that we should weary of them. So, without the +hunger for spiritual things, we weary of them. Hunger after +righteousness, the eighth beatitude.[102] + + +265 + +Faith indeed tells what the senses do not tell, but not the contrary of +what they see. It is above them and not contrary to them. + + +266 + +How many stars have telescopes revealed to us which did not exist for +our philosophers of old! We freely attack Holy Scripture on the great +number of stars, saying, "There are only one thousand and +twenty-eight,[103] we know it." There is grass on the earth, we see +it--from the moon we would not see it--and on the grass are leaves, and +in these leaves are small animals; but after that no more.--O +presumptuous man!--The compounds are composed of elements, and the +elements not.--O presumptuous man! Here is a fine reflection.--We must +not say that there is anything which we do not see.--We must then talk +like others, but not think like them. + + +267 + +The last proceeding of reason is to recognise that there is an infinity +of things which are beyond it. It is but feeble if it does not see so +far as to know this. But if natural things are beyond it, what will be +said of supernatural? + + +268 + +_Submission._--We must know where to doubt, where to feel certain, where +to submit. He who does not do so, understands not the force of reason. +There are some who offend against these three rules, either by affirming +everything as demonstrative, from want of knowing what demonstration is; +or by doubting everything, from want of knowing where to submit; or by +submitting in everything, from want of knowing where they must judge. + + +269 + +Submission is the use of reason in which consists true Christianity. + + +270 + +_St. Augustine._[104]--Reason would never submit, if it did not judge +that there are some occasions on which it ought to submit. It is then +right for it to submit, when it judges that it ought to submit. + + +271 + +Wisdom sends us to childhood. _Nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli._[105] + + +272 + +There is nothing so conformable to reason as this disavowal of reason. + + +273 + +If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious +and supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our +religion will be absurd and ridiculous. + + +274 + +All our reasoning reduces itself to yielding to feeling. + +But fancy is like, though contrary to feeling, so that we cannot +distinguish between these contraries. One person says that my feeling is +fancy, another that his fancy is feeling. We should have a rule. Reason +offers itself; but it is pliable in every sense; and thus there is no +rule. + + +275 + +Men often take their imagination for their heart; and they believe they +are converted as soon as they think of being converted. + + +276 + +M. de Roannez said: "Reasons come to me afterwards, but at first a thing +pleases or shocks me without my knowing the reason, and yet it shocks me +for that reason which I only discover afterwards." But I believe, not +that it shocked him for the reasons which were found afterwards, but +that these reasons were only found because it shocks him. + + +277 + +The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in a +thousand things. I say that the heart naturally loves the Universal +Being, and also itself naturally, according as it gives itself to them; +and it hardens itself against one or the other at its will. You have +rejected the one, and kept the other. Is it by reason that you love +yourself? + + +278 + +It is the heart which experiences God, and not the reason. This, then, +is faith: God felt by the heart, not by the reason. + + +279 + +Faith is a gift of God; do not believe that we said it was a gift of +reasoning. Other religions do not say this of their faith. They only +gave reasoning in order to arrive at it, and yet it does not bring them +to it. + + +280 + +The knowledge of God is very far from the love of Him. + + +281 + +Heart, instinct, principles. + + +282 + +We know truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart, and it is +in this last way that we know first principles; and reason, which has no +part in it, tries in vain to impugn them. The sceptics, who have only +this for their object, labour to no purpose. We know that we do not +dream, and however impossible it is for us to prove it by reason, this +inability demonstrates only the weakness of our reason, but not, as they +affirm, the uncertainty of all our knowledge. For the knowledge of first +principles, as space, time, motion, number, is as sure as any of those +which we get from reasoning. And reason must trust these intuitions of +the heart, and must base them on every argument. (We have intuitive +knowledge of the tri-dimensional nature of space, and of the infinity of +number, and reason then shows that there are no two square numbers one +of which is double of the other. Principles are intuited, propositions +are inferred, all with certainty, though in different ways.) And it is +as useless and absurd for reason to demand from the heart proofs of her +first principles, before admitting them, as it would be for the heart to +demand from reason an intuition of all demonstrated propositions before +accepting them. + +This inability ought, then, to serve only to humble reason, which would +judge all, but not to impugn our certainty, as if only reason were +capable of instructing us. Would to God, on the contrary, that we had +never need of it, and that we knew everything by instinct and intuition! +But nature has refused us this boon. On the contrary, she has given us +but very little knowledge of this kind; and all the rest can be acquired +only by reasoning. + +Therefore, those to whom God has imparted religion by intuition are very +fortunate, and justly convinced. But to those who do not have it, we can +give it only by reasoning, waiting for God to give them spiritual +insight, without which faith is only human, and useless for salvation. + + +283 + +_Order.--Against the objection that Scripture has no order._ + +The heart has its own order; the intellect has its own, which is by +principle and demonstration. The heart has another. We do not prove that +we ought to be loved by enumerating in order the causes of love; that +would be ridiculous. + +Jesus Christ and Saint Paul employ the rule of love, not of intellect; +for they would warm, not instruct. It is the same with Saint Augustine. +This order consists chiefly in digressions on each point to indicate the +end, and keep it always in sight. + + +284 + +Do not wonder to see simple people believe without reasoning. God +imparts to them love of Him and hatred of self. He inclines their heart +to believe. Men will never believe with a saving and real faith, unless +God inclines their heart; and they will believe as soon as He inclines +it. And this is what David knew well, when he said: _Inclina cor meum, +Deus, in ..._[106] + + +285 + +Religion is suited to all kinds of minds. Some pay attention only to its +establishment,[107] and this religion is such that its very +establishment suffices to prove its truth. Others trace it even to the +apostles. The more learned go back to the beginning of the world. The +angels see it better still, and from a more distant time. + + +286 + +Those who believe without having read the Testaments, do so because they +have an inward disposition entirely holy, and all that they hear of our +religion conforms to it. They feel that a God has made them; they desire +only to love God; they desire to hate themselves only. They feel that +they have no strength in themselves; that they are incapable of coming +to God; and that if God does not come to them, they can have no +communion with Him. And they hear our religion say that men must love +God only, and hate self only; but that all being corrupt and unworthy of +God, God made Himself man to unite Himself to us. No more is required to +persuade men who have this disposition in their heart, and who have this +knowledge of their duty and of their inefficiency. + + +287 + +Those whom we see to be Christians without the knowledge of the prophets +and evidences, nevertheless judge of their religion as well as those who +have that knowledge. They judge of it by the heart, as others judge of +it by the intellect. God Himself inclines them to believe, and thus they +are most effectively convinced. + +I confess indeed that one of those Christians who believe without proofs +will not perhaps be capable of convincing an infidel who will say the +same of himself. But those who know the proofs of religion will prove +without difficulty that such a believer is truly inspired by God, though +he cannot prove it himself. + +For God having said in His prophecies (which are undoubtedly +prophecies), that in the reign of Jesus Christ He would spread His +spirit abroad among nations, and that the youths and maidens and +children of the Church would prophesy;[108] it is certain that the +Spirit of God is in these, and not in the others. + + +288 + +Instead of complaining that God had hidden Himself, you will give Him +thanks for having revealed so much of Himself; and you will also give +Him thanks for not having revealed Himself to haughty sages, unworthy to +know so holy a God. + +Two kinds of persons know Him: those who have a humble heart, and who +love lowliness, whatever kind of intellect they may have, high or low; +and those who have sufficient understanding to see the truth, whatever +opposition they may have to it. + + +289 + +_Proof._--1. The Christian religion, by its establishment, having +established itself so strongly, so gently, whilst contrary to +nature.--2. The sanctity, the dignity, and the humility of a Christian +soul.--3. The miracles of Holy Scripture.--4. Jesus Christ in +particular.--5. The apostles in particular.--6. Moses and the prophets +in particular.--7. The Jewish people.--8. The prophecies.--9. +Perpetuity; no religion has perpetuity.--10. The doctrine which gives a +reason for everything.--11. The sanctity of this law.--12. By the course +of the world. + +Surely, after considering what is life and what is religion, we should +not refuse to obey the inclination to follow it, if it comes into our +heart; and it is certain that there is no ground for laughing at those +who follow it. + + +290 + +_Proofs of religion._--Morality, Doctrine, Miracles, Prophecies, Types. + + + + +SECTION V + +JUSTICE AND THE REASON OF EFFECTS + + +291 + +In the letter _On Injustice_ can come the ridiculousness of the law that +the elder gets all. "My friend, you were born on this side of the +mountain, it is therefore just that your elder brother gets everything." + +"Why do you kill me?" + + +292 + +He lives on the other side of the water. + + +293 + +"Why do you kill me? What! do you not live on the other side of the +water? If you lived on this side, my friend, I should be an assassin, +and it would be unjust to slay you in this manner. But since you live on +the other side, I am a hero, and it is just." + + +294 + +On what shall man found the order of the world which he would +govern?[109] Shall it be on the caprice of each individual? What +confusion! Shall it be on justice? Man is ignorant of it. + +Certainly had he known it, he would not have established this maxim, the +most general of all that obtain among men, that each should follow the +custom of his own country. The glory of true equity would have brought +all nations under subjection, and legislators would not have taken as +their model the fancies and caprice of Persians and Germans instead of +this unchanging justice. We should have seen it set up in all the States +on earth and in all times; whereas we see neither justice nor injustice +which does not change its nature with change in climate. Three degrees +of latitude reverse all jurisprudence; a meridian decides the truth. +Fundamental laws change after a few years of possession; right has its +epochs; the entry of Saturn into the Lion marks to us the origin of +such and such a crime. A strange justice that is bounded by a river! +Truth on this side of the Pyrenees, error on the other side. + +Men admit that justice does not consist in these customs, but that it +resides in natural laws, common to every country. They would certainly +maintain it obstinately, if reckless chance which has distributed human +laws had encountered even one which was universal; but the farce is that +the caprice of men has so many vagaries that there is no such law. + +Theft, incest, infanticide, parricide, have all had a place among +virtuous actions. Can anything be more ridiculous than that a man should +have the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of the +water, and because his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have none +with him? + +Doubtless there are natural laws; but good reason once corrupted has +corrupted all. _Nihil amplius nostrum est;[110] quod nostrum dicimus, +artis est. Ex senatus--consultis et plebiscitis crimina exercentur.[111] +Ut olim vitiis, sic nunc legibus laboramus._[112] + +The result of this confusion is that one affirms the essence of justice +to be the authority of the legislator; another, the interest of the +sovereign;[113] another, present custom,[114] and this is the most sure. +Nothing, according to reason alone, is just in itself; all changes with +time. Custom creates the whole of equity, for the simple reason that it +is accepted. It is the mystical foundation of its authority;[115] +whoever carries it back to first principles destroys it. Nothing is so +faulty as those laws which correct faults. He who obeys them because +they are just, obeys a justice which is imaginary, and not the essence +of law; it is quite self-contained, it is law and nothing more. He who +will examine its motive will find it so feeble and so trifling that if +he be not accustomed to contemplate the wonders of human imagination, he +will marvel that one century has gained for it so much pomp and +reverence. The art of opposition and of revolution is to unsettle +established customs, sounding them even to their source, to point out +their want of authority and justice. We must, it is said, get back to +the natural and fundamental laws of the State, which an unjust custom +has abolished. It is a game certain to result in the loss of all; +nothing will be just on the balance. Yet people readily lend their ear +to such arguments. They shake off the yoke as soon as they recognise it; +and the great profit by their ruin, and by that of these curious +investigators of accepted customs. But from a contrary mistake men +sometimes think they can justly do everything which is not without an +example. That is why the wisest of legislators[116] said that it was +necessary to deceive men for their own good; and another, a good +politician, _Cum veritatem qua liberetur ignoret, expedit quod +fallatur._[117] We must not see the fact of usurpation; law was once +introduced without reason, and has become reasonable. We must make it +regarded as authoritative, eternal, and conceal its origin, if we do not +wish that it should soon come to an end. + + +295 + +_Mine, thine._--"This dog is mine," said those poor children; "that is +my place in the sun." Here is the beginning and the image of the +usurpation of all the earth. + + +296 + +When the question for consideration is whether we ought to make war, and +kill so many men--condemn so many Spaniards to death--only one man is +judge, and he is an interested party. There should be a third, who is +disinterested. + + +297 + +_Veri juris._[118]--We have it no more; if we had it, we should take +conformity to the customs of a country as the rule of justice. It is +here that, not finding justice, we have found force, etc. + + +298 + +_Justice, might._--It is right that what is just should be obeyed; it is +necessary that what is strongest should be obeyed. Justice without might +is helpless; might without justice is tyrannical. Justice without might +is gainsaid, because there are always offenders; might without justice +is condemned. We must then combine justice and might, and for this end +make what is just strong, or what is strong just. + +Justice is subject to dispute; might is easily recognised and is not +disputed. So we cannot give might to justice, because might has gainsaid +justice, and has declared that it is she herself who is just. And thus +being unable to make what is just strong, we have made what is strong +just. + + +299 + +The only universal rules are the laws of the country in ordinary +affairs, and of the majority in others. Whence comes this? From the +might which is in them. Hence it comes that kings, who have power of a +different kind, do not follow the majority of their ministers. + +No doubt equality of goods is just; but, being unable to cause might to +obey justice, men have made it just to obey might. Unable to strengthen +justice, they have justified might; so that the just and the strong +should unite, and there should be peace, which is the sovereign good. + + +300 + +"When a strong man armed keepeth his goods, his goods are in +peace."[119] + + +301 + +Why do we follow the majority? It is because they have more reason? No, +because they have more power. + +Why do we follow the ancient laws and opinions? Is it because they are +more sound? No, but because they are unique, and remove from us the root +of difference. + + +302 + +... It is the effect of might, not of custom. For those who are capable +of originality are few; the greater number will only follow, and refuse +glory to those inventors who seek it by their inventions. And if these +are obstinate in their wish to obtain glory, and despise those who do +not invent, the latter will call them ridiculous names, and would beat +them with a stick. Let no one then boast of his subtlety, or let him +keep his complacency to himself. + + +303 + +Might is the sovereign of the world, and not opinion.--But opinion makes +use of might.--It is might that makes opinion. Gentleness is beautiful +in our opinion. Why? Because he who will dance on a rope will be +alone,[120] and I will gather a stronger mob of people who will say that +it is unbecoming. + + +304 + +The cords which bind the respect of men to each other are in general +cords of necessity; for there must be different degrees, all men wishing +to rule, and not all being able to do so, but some being able. + +Let us then imagine we see society in the process of formation. Men will +doubtless fight till the stronger party overcomes the weaker, and a +dominant party is established. But when this is once determined, the +masters, who do not desire the continuation of strife, then decree that +the power which is in their hands shall be transmitted as they please. +Some place it in election by the people, others in hereditary +succession, etc. + +And this is the point where imagination begins to play its part. Till +now power makes fact; now power is sustained by imagination in a certain +party, in France in the nobility, in Switzerland in the burgesses, etc. + +These cords which bind the respect of men to such and such an individual +are therefore the cords of imagination. + + +305 + +The Swiss are offended by being called gentlemen, and prove themselves +true plebeians in order to be thought worthy of great office. + + +306 + +As duchies, kingships, and magistracies are real and necessary, because +might rules all, they exist everywhere and always. But since only +caprice makes such and such a one a ruler, the principle is not +constant, but subject to variation, etc. + + +307 + +The chancellor is grave, and clothed with ornaments, for his position is +unreal. Not so the king, he has power, and has nothing to do with the +imagination. Judges, physicians, etc. appeal only to the imagination. + + +308 + +The habit of seeing kings accompanied by guards, drums, officers, and +all the paraphernalia which mechanically inspire respect and awe, makes +their countenance, when sometimes seen alone without these +accompaniments, impress respect and awe on their subjects; because we +cannot separate in thought their persons from the surroundings with +which we see them usually joined. And the world, which knows not that +this effect is the result of habit, believes that it arises by a natural +force, whence come these words, "The character of Divinity is stamped on +his countenance," etc. + + +309 + +_Justice._--As custom determines what is agreeable, so also does it +determine justice. + + +310 + +_King and tyrant._--I, too, will keep my thoughts secret. + +I will take care on every journey. + +Greatness of establishment, respect for establishment. + +The pleasure of the great is the power to make people happy. + +The property of riches is to be given liberally. + +The property of each thing must be sought. The property of power is to +protect. + +When force attacks humbug, when a private soldier takes the square cap +off a first president, and throws it out of the window. + + +311 + +The government founded on opinion and imagination reigns for some time, +and this government is pleasant and voluntary; that founded on might +lasts for ever. Thus opinion is the queen of the world, but might is its +tyrant. + + +312 + +Justice is what is established; and thus all our established laws will +necessarily be regarded as just without examination, since they are +established. + + +313 + +_Sound opinions of the people._--Civil wars are the greatest of +evils.[121] They are inevitable, if we wish to reward desert; for all +will say they are deserving. The evil we have to fear from a fool who +succeeds by right of birth, is neither so great nor so sure. + + +314 + +God has created all for Himself. He has bestowed upon Himself the power +of pain and pleasure. + +You can apply it to God, or to yourself. If to God, the Gospel is the +rule. If to yourself, you will take the place of God. As God is +surrounded by persons full of charity, who ask of Him the blessings of +charity that are in His power, so ... Recognise then and learn that you +are only a king of lust, and take the ways of lust. + + +315 + +_The reason of effects._--It is wonderful that men would not have me +honour a man clothed in brocade, and followed by seven or eight lackeys! +Why! He will have me thrashed, if I do not salute him. This custom is a +force. It is the same with a horse in fine trappings in comparison with +another! Montaigne[122] is a fool not to see what difference there is, +to wonder at our finding any, and to ask the reason. "Indeed," says he, +"how comes it," etc.... + + +316 + +_Sound opinions of the people._--To be spruce is not altogether foolish, +for it proves that a great number of people work for one. It shows by +one's hair, that one has a valet, a perfumer, etc., by one's band, +thread, lace, ... etc. Now it is not merely superficial nor merely +outward show to have many arms at command. The more arms one has, the +more powerful one is. To be spruce is to show one's power. + + +317 + +Deference means, "Put yourself to inconvenience." This is apparently +silly, but is quite right. For it is to say, "I would indeed put myself +to inconvenience if you required it, since indeed I do so when it is of +no service to you." Deference further serves to distinguish the great. +Now if deference was displayed by sitting in an arm-chair, we should +show deference to everybody, and so no distinction would be made; but, +being put to inconvenience, we distinguish very well. + + +318 + +He has four lackeys. + + +319 + +How rightly do we distinguish men by external appearances rather than by +internal qualities! Which of us two shall have precedence? Who will give +place to the other? The least clever. But I am as clever as he. We +should have to fight over this. He has four lackeys, and I have only +one. This can be seen; we have only to count. It falls to me to yield, +and I am a fool if I contest the matter. By this means we are at peace, +which is the greatest of boons. + + +320 + +The most unreasonable things in the world become most reasonable, +because of the unruliness of men. What is less reasonable than to choose +the eldest son of a queen to rule a State? We do not choose as captain +of a ship the passenger who is of the best family. + +This law would be absurd and unjust; but because men are so themselves, +and always will be so, it becomes reasonable and just. For whom will men +choose, as the most virtuous and able? We at once come to blows, as each +claims to be the most virtuous and able. Let us then attach this quality +to something indisputable. This is the king's eldest son. That is clear, +and there is no dispute. Reason can do no better, for civil war is the +greatest of evils. + + +321 + +Children are astonished to see their comrades respected. + + +322 + +To be of noble birth is a great advantage. In eighteen years it places a +man within the select circle, known and respected, as another would have +merited in fifty years. It is a gain of thirty years without trouble. + + +323 + +What is the Ego? + +Suppose a man puts himself at a window to see those who pass by. If I +pass by, can I say that he placed himself there to see me? No; for he +does not think of me in particular. But does he who loves someone on +account of beauty really love that person? No; for the small-pox, which +will kill beauty without killing the person, will cause him to love her +no more. + +And if one loves me for my judgment, memory, he does not love _me_, for +I can lose these qualities without losing myself. Where, then, is this +Ego, if it be neither in the body nor in the soul? And how love the body +or the soul, except for these qualities which do not constitute _me_, +since they are perishable? For it is impossible and would be unjust to +love the soul of a person in the abstract, and whatever qualities might +be therein. We never, then, love a person, but only qualities. + +Let us, then, jeer no more at those who are honoured on account of rank +and office; for we love a person only on account of borrowed qualities. + + +324 + +The people have very sound opinions, for example: + +1. In having preferred diversion and hunting to poetry. The half-learned +laugh at it, and glory in being above the folly of the world; but the +people are right for a reason which these do not fathom. + +2. In having distinguished men by external marks, as birth or wealth. +The world again exults in showing how unreasonable this is; but it is +very reasonable. Savages laugh at an infant king.[123] + +3. In being offended at a blow, on in desiring glory so much. But it is +very desirable on account of the other essential goods which are joined +to it; and a man who has received a blow, without resenting it, is +overwhelmed with taunts and indignities. + +4. In working for the uncertain; in sailing on the sea; in walking over +a plank. + + +325 + +Montaigne is wrong. Custom should be followed only because it is custom, +and not because it is reasonable or just. But people follow it for this +sole reason, that they think it just. Otherwise they would follow it no +longer, although it were the custom; for they will only submit to reason +or justice. Custom without this would pass for tyranny; but the +sovereignty of reason and justice is no more tyrannical than that of +desire. They are principles natural to man. + +It would therefore be right to obey laws and customs, because they are +laws; but we should know that there is neither truth nor justice to +introduce into them, that we know nothing of these, and so must follow +what is accepted. By this means we would never depart from them. But +people cannot accept this doctrine; and, as they believe that truth can +be found, and that it exists in law and custom, they believe them, and +take their antiquity as a proof of their truth, and not simply of their +authority apart from truth. Thus they obey laws, but they are liable to +revolt when these are proved to be valueless; and this can be shown of +all, looked at from a certain aspect. + + +326 + +_Injustice._--It is dangerous to tell the people that the laws are +unjust; for they obey them only because they think them just. Therefore +it is necessary to tell them at the same time that they must obey them +because they are laws, just as they must obey superiors, not because +they are just, but because they are superiors. In this way all sedition +is prevented, if this can be made intelligible, and it be understood +what is the proper definition of justice. + + +327 + +The world is a good judge of things, for it is in natural ignorance, +which is man's true state.[124] The sciences have two extremes which +meet. The first is the pure natural ignorance in which all men find +themselves at birth. The other extreme is that reached by great +intellects, who, having run through all that men can know, find they +know nothing, and come back again to that same ignorance from which they +set out; but this is a learned ignorance which is conscious of itself. +Those between the two, who have departed from natural ignorance and not +been able to reach the other, have some smattering of this vain +knowledge, and pretend to be wise. These trouble the world, and are bad +judges of everything. The people and the wise constitute the world; +these despise it, and are despised. They judge badly of everything, and +the world judges rightly of them. + + +328 + +_The reason of effects._--Continual alternation of pro and con. + +We have then shown that man is foolish, by the estimation he makes of +things which are not essential; and all these opinions are destroyed. We +have next shown that all these opinions are very sound, and that thus, +since all these vanities are well founded, the people are not so foolish +as is said. And so we have destroyed the opinion which destroyed that of +the people. + +But we must now destroy this last proposition, and show that it remains +always true that the people are foolish, though their opinions are +sound; because they do not perceive the truth where it is, and, as they +place it where it is not, their opinions are always very false and very +unsound. + + +329 + +_The reason of effects._--The weakness of man is the reason why so many +things are considered fine, as to be good at playing the lute. It is +only an evil because of our weakness. + + +330 + +The power of kings is founded on the reason and on the folly of the +people, and specially on their folly. The greatest and most important +thing in the world has weakness for its foundation, and this foundation +is wonderfully sure; for there is nothing more sure than this, that the +people will be weak. What is based on sound reason is very ill founded, +as the estimate of wisdom. + + +331 + +We can only think of Plato and Aristotle in grand academic robes. They +were honest men, like others, laughing with their friends, and when they +diverted themselves with writing their _Laws_ and the _Politics_, they +did it as an amusement. That part of their life was the least +philosophic and the least serious; the most philosophic was to live +simply and quietly. If they wrote on politics, it was as if laying down +rules for a lunatic asylum; and if they presented the appearance of +speaking of a great matter, it was because they knew that the madmen, to +whom they spoke, thought they were kings and emperors. They entered into +their principles in order to make their madness as little harmful as +possible. + + +332 + +Tyranny consists in the desire of universal power beyond its scope. + +There are different assemblies of the strong, the fair, the sensible, +the pious, in which each man rules at home, not elsewhere. And sometimes +they meet, and the strong and the fair foolishly fight as to who shall +be master, for their mastery is of different kinds. They do not +understand one another, and their fault is the desire to rule +everywhere. Nothing can effect this, not even might, which is of no use +in the kingdom of the wise, and is only mistress of external actions. + +_Tyranny_--... So these expressions are false and tyrannical: "I am +fair, therefore I must be feared. I am strong, therefore I must be +loved. I am ..." + +Tyranny is the wish to have in one way what can only be had in another. +We render different duties to different merits; the duty of love to the +pleasant; the duty of fear to the strong; the duty of belief to the +learned. + +We must render these duties; it is unjust to refuse them, and unjust to +ask others. And so it is false and tyrannical to say, "He is not strong, +therefore I will not esteem him; he is not able, therefore I will not +fear him." + + +333 + +Have you never seen people who, in order to complain of the little fuss +you make about them, parade before you the example of great men who +esteem them? In answer I reply to them, "Show me the merit whereby you +have charmed these persons, and I also will esteem you." + + +334 + +_The reason of effects._--Lust and force are the source of all our +actions; lust causes voluntary actions, force involuntary ones. + + +335 + +_The reason of effects._--It is then true to say that all the world is +under a delusion; for, although the opinions of the people are sound, +they are not so as conceived by them, since they think the truth to be +where it is not. Truth is indeed in their opinions, but not at the point +where they imagine it. [Thus] it is true that we must honour noblemen, +but not because noble birth is real superiority, etc. + + +336 + +_The reason of effects._--We must keep our thought secret, and judge +everything by it, while talking like the people. + + +337 + +_The reason of effects._--Degrees. The people honour persons of high +birth. The semi-learned despise them, saying that birth is not a +personal, but a chance superiority. The learned honour them, not for +popular reasons, but for secret reasons. Devout persons, who have more +zeal than knowledge, despise them, in spite of that consideration which +makes them honoured by the learned, because they judge them by a new +light which piety gives them. But perfect Christians honour them by +another and higher light. So arise a succession of opinions for and +against, according to the light one has. + + +338 + +True Christians nevertheless comply with folly, not because they respect +folly, but the command of God, who for the punishment of men has made +them subject to these follies. _Omnis creatura subjecta est +vanitati.[125] Liberabitur._[126] Thus Saint Thomas[127] explains the +passage in Saint James on giving place to the rich, that if they do it +not in the sight of God, they depart from the command of religion. + + + + +SECTION VI + +THE PHILOSOPHERS + + +339 + +I can well conceive a man without hands, feet, head (for it is only +experience which teaches us that the head is more necessary than feet). +But I cannot conceive man without thought; he would be a stone or a +brute. + + +340 + +The arithmetical machine produces effects which approach nearer to +thought than all the actions of animals. But it does nothing which would +enable us to attribute will to it, as to the animals. + + +341 + +The account of the pike and frog of Liancourt.[128] They do it always, +and never otherwise, nor any other thing showing mind. + + +342 + +If an animal did by mind what it does by instinct, and if it spoke by +mind what it speaks by instinct, in hunting, and in warning its mates +that the prey is found or lost; it would indeed also speak in regard to +those things which affect it closer, as example, "Gnaw me this cord +which is wounding me, and which I cannot reach." + + +343 + +The beak of the parrot, which it wipes, although it is clean. + + +344 + +Instinct and reason, marks of two natures. + + +345 + +Reason commands us far more imperiously than a master; for in disobeying +the one we are unfortunate, and in disobeying the other we are fools. + + +346 + +Thought constitutes the greatness of man. + + +347 + +Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking +reed. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapour, a +drop of water suffices to kill him. But, if the universe were to crush +him, man would still be more noble than that which killed him, because +he knows that he dies and the advantage which the universe has over him; +the universe knows nothing of this. + +All our dignity consists, then, in thought. By it we must elevate +ourselves, and not by space and time which we cannot fill. Let us +endeavour, then, to think well; this is the principle of morality. + + +348 + +_A thinking reed._--It is not from space that I must seek my dignity, +but from the government of my thought. I shall have no more if I possess +worlds. By space the universe encompasses and swallows me up like an +atom; by thought I comprehend the world. + + +349 + +_Immateriality of the soul._--Philosophers[129] who have mastered their +passions. What matter could do that? + + +350 + +_The Stoics._--They conclude that what has been done once can be done +always, and that since the desire of glory imparts some power to those +whom it possesses, others can do likewise. There are feverish movements +which health cannot imitate. + +Epictetus[130] concludes that since there are consistent Christians, +every man can easily be so. + + +351 + +Those great spiritual efforts, which the soul sometimes assays, are +things on which it does not lay hold.[131] It only leaps to them, not as +upon a throne, for ever, but merely for an instant. + + +352 + +The strength of a man's virtue must not be measured by his efforts, but +by his ordinary life. + + +353 + +I do not admire the excess of a virtue as of valour, except I see at the +same time the excess of the opposite virtue, as in Epaminondas,[132] who +had the greatest valour and the greatest kindness. For otherwise it is +not to rise, it is to fall. We do not display greatness by going to one +extreme, but in touching both at once, and filling all the intervening +space. But perhaps this is only a sudden movement of the soul from one +to the other extreme, and in fact it is ever at one point only, as in +the case of a firebrand. Be it so, but at least this indicates agility +if not expanse of soul. + + +354 + +Man's nature is not always to advance; it has its advances and retreats. + +Fever has its cold and hot fits; and the cold proves as well as the hot +the greatness of the fire of fever. + +The discoveries of men from age to age turn out the same. The kindness +and the malice of the world in general are the same. _Plerumque gratæ +principibus vices._[133] + + +355 + +Continuous eloquence wearies. + +Princes and kings sometimes play. They are not always on their thrones. +They weary there. Grandeur must be abandoned to be appreciated. +Continuity in everything is unpleasant. Cold is agreeable, that we may +get warm. + +Nature acts by progress, _itus et reditus_. It goes and returns, then +advances further, then twice as much backwards, then more forward than +ever, etc. + +The tide of the sea behaves in the same manner; and so apparently does +the sun in its course. + + +356 + +The nourishment of the body is little by little. Fullness of nourishment +and smallness of substance. + + +357 + +When we would pursue virtues to their extremes on either side, vices +present themselves, which insinuate themselves insensibly there, in +their insensible journey towards the infinitely little: and vices +present themselves in a crowd towards the infinitely great, so that we +lose ourselves in them, and no longer see virtues. We find fault with +perfection itself. + + +358 + +Man is neither angel nor brute, and the unfortunate thing is that he who +would act the angel acts the brute.[134] + + +359 + +We do not sustain ourselves in virtue by our own strength, but by the +balancing of two opposed vices, just as we remain upright amidst two +contrary gales. Remove one of the vices, and we fall into the other. + + +360 + +What the Stoics propose is so difficult and foolish! + +The Stoics lay down that all those who are not at the high degree of +wisdom are equally foolish and vicious, as those who are two inches +under water. + + +361 + +_The sovereign good. Dispute about the sovereign good._--_Ut sis +contentus temetipso et ex te nascentibus bonis._[135] There is a +contradiction, for in the end they advise suicide. Oh! What a happy +life, from which we are to free ourselves as from the plague! + + +362 + +_Ex senatus-consultis et plebiscitis_ ... + +To ask like passages. + + +363 + +_Ex senatus-consultis et plebiscitis scelera exercentur._ Sen. 588.[136] + +_Nihil tam absurde dici potest quod non dicatur ab aliquo +philosophorum._ Divin.[137] + +_Quibusdam destinatis sententiis consecrati quæ non probant coguntur +defendere._ Cic.[138] + +_Ut omnium rerum sic litterarum quoque intemperantia laboramus._ +Senec.[139] + +_Id maxime quemque decet, quod est cujusque suum maxime._[140] + +_Hos natura modos primum dedit._[141] Georg. + +_Paucis opus est litteris ad bonam mentem._[142] + +_Si quando turpe non sit, tamen non est non turpe quum id a multitudine +laudetur._ + +_Mihi sic usus est, tibi ut opus est facto, fac._[143] Ter. + + +364 + +_Rarum est enim ut satis se quisque vereatur._[144] + +_Tot circa unum caput tumultuantes deos._[145] + +_Nihil turpius quam cognitioni assertionem præcurrere._ Cic.[146] + +_Nec me pudet, ut istos, fateri nescire quid nesciam._[147] + +_Melius non incipient._[148] + + +365 + +_Thought._--All the dignity of man consists in thought. Thought is +therefore by its nature a wonderful and incomparable thing. It must have +strange defects to be contemptible. But it has such, so that nothing is +more ridiculous. How great it is in its nature! How vile it is in its +defects! + +But what is this thought? How foolish it is! + + +366 + +The mind of this sovereign judge of the world is not so independent that +it is not liable to be disturbed by the first din about it. The noise of +a cannon is not necessary to hinder its thoughts; it needs only the +creaking of a weathercock or a pulley. Do not wonder if at present it +does not reason well; a fly is buzzing in its ears; that is enough to +render it incapable of good judgment. If you wish it to be able to reach +the truth, chase away that animal which holds its reason in check and +disturbs that powerful intellect which rules towns and kingdoms. Here is +a comical god! _O ridicolosissimo eroe!_ + + +367 + +The power of flies; they win battles,[149] hinder our soul from acting, +eat our body. + + +368 + +When it is said that heat is only the motions of certain molecules, and +light the _conatus recedendi_ which we feel,[150] it astonishes us. +What! Is pleasure only the ballet of our spirits? We have conceived so +different an idea of it! And these sensations seem so removed from those +others which we say are the same as those with which we compare them! +The sensation from the fire, that warmth which affects us in a manner +wholly different from touch, the reception of sound and light, all this +appears to us mysterious, and yet it is material like the blow of a +stone. It is true that the smallness of the spirits which enter into the +pores touches other nerves, but there are always some nerves touched. + + +369 + +Memory is necessary for all the operations of reason. + + +370 + +[Chance gives rise to thoughts, and chance removes them; no art can keep +or acquire them. + +A thought has escaped me. I wanted to write it down. I write instead, +that it has escaped me.] + + +371 + +[When I was small, I hugged my book; and because it sometimes happened +to me to ... in believing I hugged it, I doubted....] + + +372 + +In writing down my thought, it sometimes escapes me; but this makes me +remember my weakness, that I constantly forget. This is as instructive +to me as my forgotten thought; for I strive only to know my nothingness. + + +373 + +_Scepticism._--I shall here write my thoughts without order, and not +perhaps in unintentional confusion; that is true order, which will +always indicate my object by its very disorder. I should do too much +honour to my subject, if I treated it with order, since I want to show +that it is incapable of it. + + +374 + +What astonishes me most is to see that all the world is not astonished +at its own weakness. Men act seriously, and each follows his own mode of +life, not because it is in fact good to follow since it is the custom, +but as if each man knew certainly where reason and justice are. They +find themselves continually deceived, and by a comical humility think it +is their own fault, and not that of the art which they claim always to +possess. But it is well there are so many such people in the world, who +are not sceptics for the glory of scepticism, in order to show that man +is quite capable of the most extravagant opinions, since he is capable +of believing that he is not in a state of natural and inevitable +weakness, but, on the contrary, of natural wisdom. Nothing fortifies +scepticism more than that there are some who are not sceptics; if all +were so, they would be wrong. + + +375 + +[I have passed a great part of my life believing that there was justice, +and in this I was not mistaken; for there is justice according as God +has willed to reveal it to us. But I did not take it so, and this is +where I made a mistake; for I believed that our justice was essentially +just, and that I had that whereby to know and judge of it. But I have so +often found my right judgment at fault, that at last I have come to +distrust myself, and then others. I have seen changes in all nations and +men, and thus after many changes of judgment regarding true justice, I +have recognised that our nature was but in continual change, and I have +not changed since; and if I changed, I would confirm my opinion. + +The sceptic Arcesilaus,[151] who became a dogmatist.] + + +376 + +This sect derives more strength from its enemies than from its friends; +for the weakness of man is far more evident in those who know it not +than in those who know it. + + +377 + +Discourses on humility are a source of pride in the vain, and of +humility in the humble. So those on scepticism cause believers to +affirm. Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity, few +doubtingly of scepticism. We are only falsehood, duplicity, +contradiction; we both conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves. + + +378 + +_Scepticism._--Excess, like defect of intellect, is accused of madness. +Nothing is good but mediocrity. The majority has settled that, and finds +fault with him who escapes it at whichever end. I will not oppose it. I +quite consent to put myself there, and refuse to be at the lower end, +not because it is low, but because it is an end; for I would likewise +refuse to be placed at the top. To leave the mean is to abandon +humanity. The greatness of the human soul consists in knowing how to +preserve the mean. So far from greatness consisting in leaving it, it +consists in not leaving it. + + +379 + +It is not good to have too much liberty. It is not good to have all one +wants. + + +380 + +All good maxims are in the world. We only need to apply them. For +instance, we do not doubt that we ought to risk our lives in defence of +the public good; but for religion, no. + +It is true there must be inequality among men; but if this be conceded, +the door is opened not only to the highest power, but to the highest +tyranny. + +We must relax our minds a little; but this opens the door to the +greatest debauchery. Let us mark the limits. There are no limits in +things. Laws would put them there, and the mind cannot suffer it. + + +381 + +When we are too young, we do not judge well; so, also, when we are too +old. If we do not think enough, or if we think too much on any matter, +we get obstinate and infatuated about it. If one considers one's work +immediately after having done it, one is entirely prepossessed in its +favour; by delaying too long, one can no longer enter into the spirit of +it. So with pictures seen from too far or too near; there is but one +exact point which is the true place wherefrom to look at them: the rest +are too near, too far, too high, or too low. Perspective determines that +point in the art of painting. But who shall determine it in truth and +morality? + + +382 + +When all is equally agitated, nothing appears to be agitated, as in a +ship. When all tend to debauchery, none appears to do so. He who stops +draws attention to the excess of others, like a fixed point. + + +383 + +The licentious tell men of orderly lives that they stray from nature's +path, while they themselves follow it; as people in a ship think those +move who are on the shore. On all sides the language is similar. We must +have a fixed point in order to judge. The harbour decides for those who +are in a ship; but where shall we find a harbour in morality? + + +384 + +Contradiction is a bad sign of truth; several things which are certain +are contradicted; several things which are false pass without +contradiction. Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the want of +contradiction a sign of truth. + + +385 + +_Scepticism._--Each thing here is partly true and partly false. +Essential truth is not so; it is altogether pure and altogether true. +This mixture dishonours and annihilates it. Nothing is purely true, and +thus nothing is true, meaning by that pure truth. You will say it is +true that homicide is wrong. Yes; for we know well the wrong and the +false. But what will you say is good? Chastity? I say no; for the world +would come to an end. Marriage? No; continence is better. Not to kill? +No; for lawlessness would be horrible, and the wicked would kill all the +good. To kill? No; for that destroys nature. We possess truth and +goodness only in part, and mingled with falsehood and evil. + + +386 + +If we dreamt the same thing every night, it would affect us as much as +the objects we see every day. And if an artisan were sure to dream every +night for twelve hours' duration that he was a king, I believe he would +be almost as happy as a king, who should dream every night for twelve +hours on end that he was an artisan. + +If we were to dream every night that we were pursued by enemies, and +harassed by these painful phantoms, or that we passed every day in +different occupations, as in making a voyage, we should suffer almost as +much as if it were real, and should fear to sleep, as we fear to wake +when we dread in fact to enter on such mishaps. And, indeed, it would +cause pretty nearly the same discomforts as the reality. + +But since dreams are all different, and each single one is diversified, +what is seen in them affects us much less than what we see when awake, +because of its continuity, which is not, however, so continuous and +level as not to change too; but it changes less abruptly, except rarely, +as when we travel, and then we say, "It seems to me I am dreaming." For +life is a dream a little less inconstant. + + +387 + +[It may be that there are true demonstrations; but this is not certain. +Thus, this proves nothing else but that it is not certain that all is +uncertain, to the glory of scepticism.] + + +388 + +_Good sense._--They are compelled to say, "You are not acting in good +faith; we are not asleep," etc. How I love to see this proud reason +humiliated and suppliant! For this is not the language of a man whose +right is disputed, and who defends it with the power of armed hands. He +is not foolish enough to declare that men are not acting in good faith, +but he punishes this bad faith with force. + + +389 + +Ecclesiastes[152] shows that man without God is in total ignorance and +inevitable misery. For it is wretched to have the wish, but not the +power. Now he would be happy and assured of some truth, and yet he can +neither know, nor desire not to know. He cannot even doubt. + + +390 + +My God! How foolish this talk is! "Would God have made the world to damn +it? Would He ask so much from persons so weak?" etc. Scepticism is the +cure for this evil, and will take down this vanity. + + +391 + +_Conversation._--Great words: Religion, I deny it. + +_Conversation._--Scepticism helps religion. + + +392 + +_Against Scepticism._--[... It is, then, a strange fact that we cannot +define these things without obscuring them, while we speak of them with +all assurance.] We assume that all conceive of them in the same way; but +we assume it quite gratuitously, for we have no proof of it. I see, in +truth, that the same words are applied on the same occasions, and that +every time two men see a body change its place, they both express their +view of this same fact by the same word, both saying that it has moved; +and from this conformity of application we derive a strong conviction of +a conformity of ideas. But this is not absolutely or finally convincing, +though there is enough to support a bet on the affirmative, since we +know that we often draw the same conclusions from different premisses. + +This is enough, at least, to obscure the matter; not that it completely +extinguishes the natural light which assures us of these things. The +academicians[153] would have won. But this dulls it, and troubles the +dogmatists to the glory of the sceptical crowd, which consists in this +doubtful ambiguity, and in a certain doubtful dimness from which our +doubts cannot take away all the clearness, nor our own natural lights +chase away all the darkness. + + +393 + +It is a singular thing to consider that there are people in the world +who, having renounced all the laws of God and nature, have made laws for +themselves which they strictly obey, as, for instance, the soldiers of +Mahomet, robbers, heretics, etc. It is the same with logicians. It seems +that their licence must be without any limits or barriers, since they +have broken through so many that are so just and sacred. + + +394 + +All the principles of sceptics, stoics, atheists, etc., are true. But +their conclusions are false, because the opposite principles are also +true. + + +395 + +_Instinct, reason._--We have an incapacity of proof, insurmountable by +all dogmatism. We have an idea of truth, invincible to all scepticism. + + +396 + +Two things instruct man about his whole nature; instinct and experience. + + +397 + +The greatness of man is great in that he knows himself to be miserable. +A tree does not know itself to be miserable. It is then being miserable +to know oneself to be miserable; but it is also being great to know that +one is miserable. + + +398 + +All these same miseries prove man's greatness. They are the miseries of +a great lord, of a deposed king. + + +399 + +We are not miserable without feeling it. A ruined house is not +miserable. Man only is miserable. _Ego vir videns._[154] + + +400 + +_The greatness of man._--We have so great an idea of the soul of man +that we cannot endure being despised, or not being esteemed by any soul; +and all the happiness of men consists in this esteem. + + +401 + +_Glory._--The brutes do not admire each other. A horse does not admire +his companion. Not that there is no rivalry between them in a race, but +that is of no consequence; for, when in the stable, the heaviest and +most ill-formed does not give up his oats to another, as men would have +others do to them. Their virtue is satisfied with itself. + + +402 + +The greatness of man even in his lust, to have known how to extract from +it a wonderful code, and to have drawn from it a picture of benevolence. + + +403 + +_Greatness._--The reasons of effects indicate the greatness of man, in +having extracted so fair an order from lust. + + +404 + +The greatest baseness of man is the pursuit of glory. But it is also the +greatest mark of his excellence; for whatever possessions he may have on +earth, whatever health and essential comfort, he is not satisfied if he +has not the esteem of men. He values human reason so highly that, +whatever advantages he may have on earth, he is not content if he is not +also ranked highly in the judgment of man. This is the finest position +in the world. Nothing can turn him from that desire, which is the most +indelible quality of man's heart. + +And those who most despise men, and put them on a level with the brutes, +yet wish to be admired and believed by men, and contradict themselves by +their own feelings; their nature, which is stronger than all, convincing +them of the greatness of man more forcibly than reason convinces them of +their baseness. + + +405 + +_Contradiction._--Pride counterbalancing all miseries. Man either hides +his miseries, or, if he disclose them, glories in knowing them. + + +406 + +Pride counterbalances and takes away all miseries. Here is a strange +monster, and a very plain aberration. He is fallen from his place, and +is anxiously seeking it. This is what all men do. Let us see who will +have found it. + + +407 + +When malice has reason on its side, it becomes proud, and parades reason +in all its splendour. When austerity or stern choice has not arrived at +the true good, and must needs return to follow nature, it becomes proud +by reason of this return. + + +408 + +Evil is easy, and has infinite forms; good is almost unique.[155] But a +certain kind of evil is as difficult to find as what we call good; and +often on this account such particular evil gets passed off as good. An +extraordinary greatness of soul is needed in order to attain to it as +well as to good. + + +409 + +_The greatness of man._--The greatness of man is so evident, that it is +even proved by his wretchedness. For what in animals is nature we call +in man wretchedness; by which we recognise that, his nature being now +like that of animals, he has fallen from a better nature which once was +his. + +For who is unhappy at not being a king, except a deposed king? Was +Paulus Æmilius[156] unhappy at being no longer consul? On the contrary, +everybody thought him happy in having been consul, because the office +could only be held for a time. But men thought Perseus so unhappy in +being no longer king, because the condition of kingship implied his +being always king, that they thought it strange that he endured life. +Who is unhappy at having only one mouth? And who is not unhappy at +having only one eye? Probably no man ever ventured to mourn at not +having three eyes. But any one is inconsolable at having none. + + +410 + +_Perseus, King of Macedon._--Paulus Æmilius reproached Perseus for not +killing himself. + + +411 + +Notwithstanding the sight of all our miseries, which press upon us and +take us by the throat, we have an instinct which we cannot repress, and +which lifts us up. + + +412 + +There is internal war in man between reason and the passions. + +If he had only reason without passions ... + +If he had only passions without reason ... + +But having both, he cannot be without strife, being unable to be at +peace with the one without being at war with the other. Thus he is +always divided against, and opposed to himself. + + +413 + +This internal war of reason against the passions has made a division of +those who would have peace into two sects. The first would renounce +their passions, and become gods; the others would renounce reason, and +become brute beasts. (Des Barreaux.)[157] But neither can do so, and +reason still remains, to condemn the vileness and injustice of the +passions, and to trouble the repose of those who abandon themselves to +them; and the passions keep always alive in those who would renounce +them. + + +414 + +Men are so necessarily mad, that not to be mad would amount to another +form of madness. + + +415 + +The nature of man may be viewed in two ways: the one according to its +end, and then he is great and incomparable; the other according to the +multitude, just as we judge of the nature of the horse and the dog, +popularly, by seeing its fleetness, _et animum arcendi_; and then man is +abject and vile. These are the two ways which make us judge of him +differently, and which occasion such disputes among philosophers. + +For one denies the assumption of the other. One says, "He is not born +for this end, for all his actions are repugnant to it." The other says, +"He forsakes his end, when he does these base actions." + + +416 + +_For Port-Royal.[158] Greatness and wretchedness._--Wretchedness being +deduced from greatness, and greatness from wretchedness, some have +inferred man's wretchedness all the more because they have taken his +greatness as a proof of it, and others have inferred his greatness with +all the more force, because they have inferred it from his very +wretchedness. All that the one party has been able to say in proof of +his greatness has only served as an argument of his wretchedness to the +others, because the greater our fall, the more wretched we are, and +_vice versa._ The one party is brought back to the other in an endless +circle, it being certain that in proportion as men possess light they +discover both the greatness and the wretchedness of man. In a word, man +knows that he is wretched. He is therefore wretched, because he is so; +but he is really great because he knows it. + + +417 + +This twofold nature of man is so evident that some have thought that we +had two souls. A single subject seemed to them incapable of such sudden +variations from unmeasured presumption to a dreadful dejection of +heart. + + +418 + +It is dangerous to make man see too clearly his equality with the brutes +without showing him his greatness. It is also dangerous to make him see +his greatness too clearly, apart from his vileness. It is still more +dangerous to leave him in ignorance of both. But it is very advantageous +to show him both. Man must not think that he is on a level either with +the brutes or with the angels, nor must he be ignorant of both sides of +his nature; but he must know both. + + +419 + +I will not allow man to depend upon himself, or upon another, to the end +that being without a resting-place and without repose ... + + +420 + +If he exalt himself, I humble him; if he humble himself, I exalt him; +and I always contradict him, till he understands that he is an +incomprehensible monster. + + +421 + +I blame equally those who choose to praise man, those who choose to +blame him, and those who choose to amuse themselves; and I can only +approve of those who seek with lamentation. + + +422 + +It is good to be tired and wearied by the vain search after the true +good, that we may stretch out our arms to the Redeemer. + + +423 + +_Contraries. After having shown the vileness and the greatness of +man._--Let man now know his value. Let him love himself, for there is in +him a nature capable of good; but let him not for this reason love the +vileness which is in him. Let him despise himself, for this capacity is +barren; but let him not therefore despise this natural capacity. Let him +hate himself, let him love himself; he has within him the capacity of +knowing the truth and of being happy, but he possesses no truth, either +constant or satisfactory. + +I would then lead man to the desire of finding truth; to be free from +passions, and ready to follow it where he may find it, knowing how much +his knowledge is obscured by the passions. I would indeed that he should +hate in himself the lust which determined his will by itself, so that it +may not blind him in making his choice, and may not hinder him when he +has chosen. + + +424 + +All these contradictions, which seem most to keep me from the knowledge +of religion, have led me most quickly to the true one. + + + + +SECTION VII + +MORALITY AND DOCTRINE + + +425 + +_Second part.--That man without faith cannot know the true good, nor +justice._ + +All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different +means they employ, they all tend to this end.[159] The cause of some +going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, +attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but +to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of +those who hang themselves. + +And yet after such a great number of years, no one without faith has +reached the point to which all continually look. All complain, princes +and subjects, noblemen and commoners, old and young, strong and weak, +learned and ignorant, healthy and sick, of all countries, all times, all +ages, and all conditions. + +A trial so long, so continuous, and so uniform, should certainly +convince us of our inability to reach the good by our own efforts. But +example teaches us little. No resemblance is ever so perfect that there +is not some slight difference; and hence we expect that our hope will +not be deceived on this occasion as before. And thus, while the present +never satisfies us, experience dupes us, and from misfortune to +misfortune leads us to death, their eternal crown. + +What is it then that this desire and this inability proclaim to us, but +that there was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to +him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from +all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not +obtain in things present? But these are all inadequate, because the +infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, +that is to say, only by God Himself. + +He only is our true good, and since we have forsaken Him, it is a +strange thing that there is nothing in nature which has not been +serviceable in taking His place; the stars, the heavens, earth, the +elements, plants, cabbages, leeks, animals, insects, calves, serpents, +fever, pestilence, war, famine, vices, adultery, incest. And since man +has lost the true good, everything can appear equally good to him, even +his own destruction, though so opposed to God, to reason, and to the +whole course of nature. + +Some seek good in authority, others in scientific research, others in +pleasure. Others, who are in fact nearer the truth, have considered it +necessary that the universal good, which all men desire, should not +consist in any of the particular things which can only be possessed by +one man, and which, when shared, afflict their possessor more by the +want of the part he has not, than they please him by the possession of +what he has. They have learned that the true good should be such as all +can possess at once, without diminution and without envy, and which no +one can lose against his will. And their reason is that this desire +being natural to man, since it is necessarily in all, and that it is +impossible not to have it, they infer from it ... + + +426 + +True nature being lost, everything becomes its own nature; as the true +good being lost, everything becomes its own true good. + + +427 + +Man does not know in what rank to place himself. He has plainly gone +astray, and fallen from his true place without being able to find it +again. He seeks it anxiously and unsuccessfully everywhere in +impenetrable darkness. + + +428 + +If it is a sign of weakness to prove God by nature, do not despise +Scripture; if it is a sign of strength to have known these +contradictions, esteem Scripture. + + +429 + +The vileness of man in submitting himself to the brutes, and in even +worshipping them. + + +430 + +_For Port Royal. The beginning, after having explained the +incomprehensibility._--The greatness and the wretchedness of man are so +evident that the true religion must necessarily teach us both that there +is in man some great source of greatness, and a great source of +wretchedness. It must then give us a reason for these astonishing +contradictions. + +In order to make man happy, it must prove to him that there is a God; +that we ought to love Him; that our true happiness is to be in Him, and +our sole evil to be separated from Him; it must recognise that we are +full of darkness which hinders us from knowing and loving Him; and that +thus, as our duties compel us to love God, and our lusts turn us away +from Him, we are full of unrighteousness. It must give us an explanation +of our opposition to God and to our own good. It must teach us the +remedies for these infirmities, and the means of obtaining these +remedies. Let us therefore examine all the religions of the world, and +see if there be any other than the Christian which is sufficient for +this purpose. + +Shall it be that of the philosophers, who put forward as the chief good, +the good which is in ourselves? Is this the true good? Have they found +the remedy for our ills? Is man's pride cured by placing him on an +equality with God? Have those who have made us equal to the brutes, or +the Mahommedans who have offered us earthly pleasures as the chief good +even in eternity, produced the remedy for our lusts? What religion, +then, will teach us to cure pride and lust? What religion will in fact +teach us our good, our duties, the weakness which turns us from them, +the cause of this weakness, the remedies which can cure it, and the +means of obtaining these remedies? + +All other religions have not been able to do so. Let us see what the +wisdom of God will do. + +"Expect neither truth," she says, "nor consolation from men. I am she +who formed you, and who alone can teach you what you are. But you are +now no longer in the state in which I formed you. I created man holy, +innocent, perfect. I filled him with light and intelligence. I +communicated to him my glory and my wonders. The eye of man saw then the +majesty of God. He was not then in the darkness which blinds him, nor +subject to mortality and the woes which afflict him. But he has not been +able to sustain so great glory without falling into pride. He wanted to +make himself his own centre, and independent of my help. He withdrew +himself from my rule; and, on his making himself equal to me by the +desire of finding his happiness in himself, I abandoned him to himself. +And setting in revolt the creatures that were subject to him, I made +them his enemies; so that man is now become like the brutes, and so +estranged from me that there scarce remains to him a dim vision of his +Author. So far has all his knowledge been extinguished or disturbed! The +senses, independent of reason, and often the masters of reason, have led +him into pursuit of pleasure. All creatures either torment or tempt him, +and domineer over him, either subduing him by their strength, or +fascinating him by their charms, a tyranny more awful and more +imperious. + +"Such is the state in which men now are. There remains to them some +feeble instinct of the happiness of their former state; and they are +plunged in the evils of their blindness and their lust, which have +become their second nature. + +"From this principle which I disclose to you, you can recognise the +cause of those contradictions which have astonished all men, and have +divided them into parties holding so different views. Observe, now, all +the feelings of greatness and glory which the experience of so many woes +cannot stifle, and see if the cause of them must not be in another +nature." + +_For Port-Royal to-morrow (Prosopopœa)._--"It is in vain, O men, that +you seek within yourselves the remedy for your ills. All your light can +only reach the knowledge that not in yourselves will you find truth or +good. The philosophers have promised you that, and have been unable to +do it. They neither know what is your true good, nor what is your true +state. How could they have given remedies for your ills, when they did +not even know them? Your chief maladies are pride, which takes you away +from God, and lust, which binds you to earth; and they have done nothing +else but cherish one or other of these diseases. If they gave you God as +an end, it was only to administer to your pride; they made you think +that you are by nature like Him, and conformed to Him. And those who saw +the absurdity of this claim put you on another precipice, by making you +understand that your nature was like that of the brutes, and led you to +seek your good in the lusts which are shared by the animals. This is not +the way to cure you of your unrighteousness, which these wise men never +knew. I alone can make you understand who you are...." + +Adam, Jesus Christ. + +If you are united to God, it is by grace, not by nature. If you are +humbled, it is by penitence, not by nature. + +Thus this double capacity ... + +You are not in the state of your creation. + +As these two states are open, it is impossible for you not to recognise +them. Follow your own feelings, observe yourselves, and see if you do +not find the lively characteristics of these two natures. Could so many +contradictions be found in a simple subject? + +--Incomprehensible.--Not all that is incomprehensible ceases to exist. +Infinite number. An infinite space equal to a finite. + +--Incredible that God should unite Himself to us.--This consideration is +drawn only from the sight of our vileness. But if you are quite sincere +over it, follow it as far as I have done, and recognise that we are +indeed so vile that we are incapable in ourselves of knowing if His +mercy cannot make us capable of Him. For I would know how this animal, +who knows himself to be so weak, has the right to measure the mercy of +God, and set limits to it, suggested by his own fancy. He has so little +knowledge of what God is, that he does not know what he himself is, and, +completely disturbed at the sight of his own state, dares to say that +God cannot make him capable of communion with Him. + +But I would ask him if God demands anything else from him than the +knowledge and love of Him, and why, since his nature is capable of love +and knowledge, he believes that God cannot make Himself known and loved +by him. Doubtless he knows at least that he exists, and that he loves +something. Therefore, if he sees anything in the darkness wherein he is, +and if he finds some object of his love among the things on earth, why, +if God impart to him some ray of His essence, will he not be capable of +knowing and of loving Him in the manner in which it shall please Him to +communicate Himself to us? There must then be certainly an intolerable +presumption in arguments of this sort, although they seem founded on an +apparent humility, which is neither sincere nor reasonable, if it does +not make us admit that, not knowing of ourselves what we are, we can +only learn it from God. + +"I do not mean that you should submit your belief to me without reason, +and I do not aspire to overcome you by tyranny. In fact, I do not claim +to give you a reason for everything. And to reconcile these +contradictions, I intend to make you see clearly, by convincing proofs, +those divine signs in me, which may convince you of what I am, and may +gain authority for me by wonders and proofs which you cannot reject; so +that you may then believe without ... the things which I teach you, +since you will find no other ground for rejecting them, except that you +cannot know of yourselves if they are true or not. + +"God has willed to redeem men, and to open salvation to those who seek +it. But men render themselves so unworthy of it, that it is right that +God should refuse to some, because of their obduracy, what He grants to +others from a compassion which is not due to them. If He had willed to +overcome the obstinacy of the most hardened, He could have done so by +revealing Himself so manifestly to them that they could not have doubted +of the truth of His essence; as it will appear at the last day, with +such thunders and such a convulsion of nature, that the dead will rise +again, and the blindest will see Him. + +"It is not in this manner that He has willed to appear in His advent of +mercy, because, as so many make themselves unworthy of His mercy, He has +willed to leave them in the loss of the good which they do not want. It +was not then right that He should appear in a manner manifestly divine, +and completely capable of convincing all men; but it was also not right +that He should come in so hidden a manner that He could not be known by +those who should sincerely seek Him. He has willed to make Himself quite +recognisable by those; and thus, willing to appear openly to those who +seek Him with all their heart, and to be hidden from those who flee from +Him with all their heart, He so regulates the knowledge of Himself that +He has given signs of Himself, visible to those who seek Him, and not to +those who seek Him not. There is enough light for those who only desire +to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition." + + +431 + +No other religion has recognised that man is the most excellent +creature. Some, which have quite recognised the reality of his +excellence, have considered as mean and ungrateful the low opinions +which men naturally have of themselves; and others, which have +thoroughly recognised how real is this vileness, have treated with proud +ridicule those feelings of greatness, which are equally natural to man. + +"Lift your eyes to God," say the first; "see Him whom you resemble, and +who has created you to worship Him. You can make yourselves like unto +Him; wisdom will make you equal to Him, if you will follow it." "Raise +your heads, free men," says Epictetus. And others say, "Bend your eyes +to the earth, wretched worm that you are, and consider the brutes whose +companion you are." + +What, then, will man become? Will he be equal to God or the brutes? What +a frightful difference! What, then, shall we be? Who does not see from +all this that man has gone astray, that he has fallen from his place, +that he anxiously seeks it, that he cannot find it again? And who shall +then direct him to it? The greatest men have failed. + + +432 + +Scepticism is true; for, after all, men before Jesus Christ did not know +where they were, nor whether they were great or small. And those who +have said the one or the other, knew nothing about it, and guessed +without reason and by chance. They also erred always in excluding the +one or the other. + +_Quod ergo ignorantes, quæritis, religio annuntiat vobis._[160] + + +433 + +_After having understood the whole nature of man._--That a religion may +be true, it must have knowledge of our nature. It ought to know its +greatness and littleness, and the reason of both. What religion but the +Christian has known this? + + +434 + +The chief arguments of the sceptics--I pass over the lesser ones--are +that we have no certainty of the truth of these principles apart from +faith and revelation, except in so far as we naturally perceive them in +ourselves. Now this natural intuition is not a convincing proof of their +truth; since, having no certainty, apart from faith, whether man was +created by a good God, or by a wicked demon,[161] or by chance, it is +doubtful whether these principles given to us are true, or false, or +uncertain, according to our origin. Again, no person is certain, apart +from faith, whether he is awake or sleeps, seeing that during sleep we +believe that we are awake as firmly as we do when we _are_ awake; we +believe that we see space, figure, and motion; we are aware of the +passage of time, we measure it; and in fact we act as if we were awake. +So that half of our life being passed in sleep, we have on our own +admission no idea of truth, whatever we may imagine. As all our +intuitions are then illusions, who knows whether the other half of our +life, in which we think we are awake, is not another sleep a little +different from the former, from which we awake when we suppose ourselves +asleep? + +[And who doubts that, if we dreamt in company, and the dreams chanced to +agree, which is common enough, and if we were always alone when awake, +we should believe that matters were reversed? In short, as we often +dream that we dream, heaping dream upon dream, may it not be that this +half of our life, wherein we think ourselves awake, is itself only a +dream on which the others are grafted, from which we wake at death, +during which we have as few principles of truth and good as during +natural sleep, these different thoughts which disturb us being perhaps +only illusions like the flight of time and the vain fancies of our +dreams?] + +These are the chief arguments on one side and the other. + +I omit minor ones, such as the sceptical talk against the impressions of +custom, education, manners, country, and the like. Though these +influence the majority of common folk, who dogmatise only on shallow +foundations, they are upset by the least breath of the sceptics. We have +only to see their books if we are not sufficiently convinced of this, +and we shall very quickly become so, perhaps too much. + +I notice the only strong point of the dogmatists, namely, that, speaking +in good faith and sincerely, we cannot doubt natural principles. Against +this the sceptics set up in one word the uncertainty of our origin, +which includes that of our nature. The dogmatists have been trying to +answer this objection ever since the world began. + +So there is open war among men, in which each must take a part, and side +either with dogmatism or scepticism. For he who thinks to remain neutral +is above all a sceptic. This neutrality is the essence of the sect; he +who is not against them is essentially for them. [In this appears their +advantage.] They are not for themselves; they are neutral, indifferent, +in suspense as to all things, even themselves being no exception. + +What then shall man do in this state? Shall he doubt everything? Shall +he doubt whether he is awake, whether he is being pinched, or whether he +is being burned? Shall he doubt whether he doubts? Shall he doubt +whether he exists? We cannot go so far as that; and I lay it down as a +fact that there never has been a real complete sceptic. Nature sustains +our feeble reason, and prevents it raving to this extent. + +Shall he then say, on the contrary, that he certainly possesses +truth--he who, when pressed ever so little, can show no title to it, and +is forced to let go his hold? + +What a chimera then is man! What a novelty! What a monster, what a +chaos, what a contradiction, what a prodigy! Judge of all things, +imbecile worm of the earth; depositary of truth, a sink of uncertainty +and error; the pride and refuse of the universe! + +Who will unravel this tangle? Nature confutes the sceptics, and reason +confutes the dogmatists. What then will you become, O men! who try to +find out by your natural reason what is your true condition? You cannot +avoid one of these sects, nor adhere to one of them. + +Know then, proud man, what a paradox you are to yourself. Humble +yourself, weak reason; be silent, foolish nature; learn that man +infinitely transcends man, and learn from your Master your true +condition, of which you are ignorant. Hear God. + +For in fact, if man had never been corrupt, he would enjoy in his +innocence both truth and happiness with assurance; and if man had always +been corrupt, he would have no idea of truth or bliss. But, wretched as +we are, and more so than if there were no greatness in our condition, we +have an idea of happiness, and cannot reach it. We perceive an image of +truth, and possess only a lie. Incapable of absolute ignorance and of +certain knowledge, we have thus been manifestly in a degree of +perfection from which we have unhappily fallen. + +It is, however, an astonishing thing that the mystery furthest removed +from our knowledge, namely, that of the transmission of sin, should be a +fact without which we can have no knowledge of ourselves. For it is +beyond doubt that there is nothing which more shocks our reason than to +say that the sin of the first man has rendered guilty those, who, being +so removed from this source, seem incapable of participation in it. This +transmission does not only seem to us impossible, it seems also very +unjust. For what is more contrary to the rules of our miserable justice +than to damn eternally an infant incapable of will, for a sin wherein he +seems to have so little a share, that it was committed six thousand +years before he was in existence? Certainly nothing offends us more +rudely than this doctrine; and yet, without this mystery, the most +incomprehensible of all, we are incomprehensible to ourselves. The knot +of our condition takes its twists and turns in this abyss, so that man +is more inconceivable without this mystery than this mystery is +inconceivable to man. + +[Whence it seems that God, willing to render the difficulty of our +existence unintelligible to ourselves, has concealed the knot so high, +or, better speaking, so low, that we are quite incapable of reaching it; +so that it is not by the proud exertions of our reason, but by the +simple submissions of reason, that we can truly know ourselves. + +These foundations, solidly established on the inviolable authority of +religion, make us know that there are two truths of faith equally +certain: the one, that man, in the state of creation, or in that of +grace, is raised above all nature, made like unto God and sharing in His +divinity; the other, that in the state of corruption and sin, he is +fallen from this state and made like unto the beasts. + +These two propositions are equally sound and certain. Scripture +manifestly declares this to us, when it says in some places: _Deliciæ +meæ esse cum filiis hominum.[162] Effundam spiritum meum super omnem +carnem.[163] Dii estis[164]_, etc.; and in other places, _Omnis caro +fænum.[165] Homo assimilatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis +factus est illis.[166] Dixi in corde meo de filiis hominum._ Eccles. +iii. + +Whence it clearly seems that man by grace is made like unto God, and a +partaker in His divinity, and that without grace he is like unto the +brute beasts.] + + +435 + +Without this divine knowledge what could men do but either become elated +by the inner feeling of their past greatness which still remains to +them, or become despondent at the sight of their present weakness? For, +not seeing the whole truth, they could not attain to perfect virtue. +Some considering nature as incorrupt, others as incurable, they could +not escape either pride or sloth, the two sources of all vice; since +they cannot but either abandon themselves to it through cowardice, or +escape it by pride. For if they knew the excellence of man, they were +ignorant of his corruption; so that they easily avoided sloth, but fell +into pride. And if they recognised the infirmity of nature, they were +ignorant of its dignity; so that they could easily avoid vanity, but it +was to fall into despair. Thence arise the different schools of the +Stoics and Epicureans, the Dogmatists, Academicians, etc. + +The Christian religion alone has been able to cure these two vices, not +by expelling the one through means of the other according to the wisdom +of the world, but by expelling both according to the simplicity of the +Gospel. For it teaches the righteous that it raises them even to a +participation in divinity itself; that in this lofty state they still +carry the source of all corruption, which renders them during all their +life subject to error, misery, death, and sin; and it proclaims to the +most ungodly that they are capable of the grace of their Redeemer. So +making those tremble whom it justifies, and consoling those whom it +condemns, religion so justly tempers fear with hope through that double +capacity of grace and of sin, common to all, that it humbles infinitely +more than reason alone can do, but without despair; and it exalts +infinitely more than natural pride, but without inflating; thus making +it evident that alone being exempt from error and vice, it alone fulfils +the duty of instructing and correcting men. + +Who then can refuse to believe and adore this heavenly light? For is it +not clearer than day that we perceive within ourselves ineffaceable +marks of excellence? And is it not equally true that we experience every +hour the results of our deplorable condition? What does this chaos and +monstrous confusion proclaim to us but the truth of these two states, +with a voice so powerful that it is impossible to resist it? + + +436 + +_Weakness._--Every pursuit of men is to get wealth; and they cannot have +a title to show that they possess it justly, for they have only that of +human caprice; nor have they strength to hold it securely. It is the +same with knowledge, for disease takes it away. We are incapable both of +truth and goodness. + + +437 + +We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. + +We seek happiness, and find only misery and death. + +We cannot but desire truth and happiness, and are incapable of certainty +or happiness. This desire is left to us, partly to punish us, partly to +make us perceive wherefrom we are fallen. + + +438 + +If man is not made for God, why is he only happy in God? If man is made +for God, why is he so opposed to God? + + +439 + +_Nature corrupted._--Man does not act by reason, which constitutes his +being. + + +440 + +The corruption of reason is shown by the existence of so many different +and extravagant customs. It was necessary that truth should come, in +order that man should no longer dwell within himself. + + +441 + +For myself, I confess that so soon as the Christian religion reveals the +principle that human nature is corrupt and fallen from God, that opens +my eyes to see everywhere the mark of this truth: for nature is such +that she testifies everywhere, both within man and without him, to a +lost God and a corrupt nature. + + +442 + +Man's true nature, his true good, true virtue, and true religion, are +things of which the knowledge is inseparable. + + +443 + +_Greatness, wretchedness._--The more light we have, the more greatness +and the more baseness we discover in man. Ordinary men--those who are +more educated: philosophers, they astonish ordinary men--Christians, +they astonish philosophers. + +Who will then be surprised to see that religion only makes us know +profoundly what we already know in proportion to our light? + + +444 + +This religion taught to her children what men have only been able to +discover by their greatest knowledge. + + +445 + +Original sin is foolishness to men, but it is admitted to be such. You +must not then reproach me for the want of reason in this doctrine, since +I admit it to be without reason. But this foolishness is wiser than all +the wisdom of men, _sapientius est hominibus_.[167] For without this, +what can we say that man is? His whole state depends on this +imperceptible point. And how should it be perceived by his reason, since +it is a thing against reason, and since reason, far from finding it out +by her own ways, is averse to it when it is presented to her? + + +446 + +_Of original sin.[168] Ample tradition of original sin according to the +Jews._ + +On the saying in Genesis viii, 21: "The imagination of man's heart is +evil from his youth." + +_R. Moses Haddarschan_: This evil leaven is placed in man from the time +that he is formed. + +_Massechet Succa_: This evil leaven has seven names in Scripture. It is +called _evil, the foreskin, uncleanness, an enemy, a scandal, a heart of +stone, the north wind_; all this signifies the malignity which is +concealed and impressed in the heart of man. + +_Midrasch Tillim_ says the same thing, and that God will deliver the +good nature of man from the evil. + +This malignity is renewed every day against man, as it is written, Psalm +xxxvii, 32: "The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay +him"; but God will not abandon him. This malignity tries the heart of +man in this life, and will accuse him in the other. All this is found in +the Talmud. + +_Midrasch Tillim_ on Psalm iv, 4: "Stand in awe and sin not." Stand in +awe and be afraid of your lust, and it will not lead you into sin. And +on Psalm xxxvi, 1: "The wicked has said within his own heart, Let not +the fear of God be before me." That is to say that the malignity natural +to man has said that to the wicked. + +_Midrasch el Kohelet_: "Better is a poor and wise child than an old and +foolish king who cannot foresee the future."[169] The child is virtue, +and the king is the malignity of man. It is called king because all the +members obey it, and old because it is in the human heart from infancy +to old age, and foolish because it leads man in the way of +[_perdition_], which he does not foresee. The same thing is in _Midrasch +Tillim_. + +_Bereschist Rabba_ on Psalm xxxv, 10: "Lord, all my bones shall bless +Thee, which deliverest the poor from the tyrant." And is there a greater +tyrant than the evil leaven? And on Proverbs xxv, 21: "If thine enemy be +hungry, give him bread to eat." That is to say, if the evil leaven +hunger, give him the bread of wisdom of which it is spoken in Proverbs +ix., and if he be thirsty, give him the water of which it is spoken in +Isaiah lv. + +_Midrasch Tillim_ says the same thing, and that Scripture in that +passage, speaking of the enemy, means the evil leaven; and that, in +[_giving_] him that bread and that water, we heap coals of fire on his +head. + +_Midrasch el Kohelet_ on Ecclesiastes ix, 14: "A great king besieged a +little city." This great king is the evil leaven; the great bulwarks +built against it are temptations; and there has been found a poor wise +man who has delivered it--that is to say, virtue. + +And on Psalm xli, 1: "Blessed is he that considereth the poor." + +And on Psalm lxxviii, 39: "The spirit passeth away, and cometh not +again"; whence some have erroneously argued against the immortality of +the soul. But the sense is that this spirit is the evil leaven, which +accompanies man till death, and will not return at the resurrection. + +And on Psalm ciii the same thing. + +And on Psalm xvi. + +Principles of Rabbinism: two Messiahs. + + +447 + +Will it be said that, as men have declared that righteousness has +departed the earth, they therefore knew of original sin?--_Nemo ante +obitum beatus est_[170]--that is to say, they knew death to be the +beginning of eternal and essential happiness? + + +448 + +[_Miton_] sees well that nature is corrupt, and that men are averse to +virtue; but he does not know why they cannot fly higher. + + +449 + +_Order._--After _Corruption_ to say: "It is right that all those who are +in that state should know it, both those who are content with it, and +those who are not content with it; but it is not right that all should +see Redemption." + + +450 + +If we do not know ourselves to be full of pride, ambition, lust, +weakness, misery, and injustice, we are indeed blind. And if, knowing +this, we do not desire deliverance, what can we say of a man...? + +What, then, can we have but esteem for a religion which knows so well +the defects of man, and desire for the truth of a religion which +promises remedies so desirable? + + +451 + +All men naturally hate one another. They employ lust as far as possible +in the service of the public weal. But this is only a [_pretence_] and a +false image of love; for at bottom it is only hate. + + +452 + +To pity the unfortunate is not contrary to lust. On the contrary, we can +quite well give such evidence of friendship, and acquire the reputation +of kindly feeling, without giving anything. + + +453 + +From lust men have found and extracted excellent rules of policy, +morality, and justice; but in reality this vile root of man, this +_figmentum malum_,[171] is only covered, it is not taken away. + + +454 + +_Injustice._--They have not found any other means of satisfying lust +without doing injury to others. + + +455 + +Self is hateful. You, Miton, conceal it; you do not for that reason +destroy it; you are, then, always hateful. + +--No; for in acting as we do to oblige everybody, we give no more +occasion for hatred of us.--That is true, if we only hated in Self the +vexation which comes to us from it. But if I hate it because it is +unjust, and because it makes itself the centre of everything, I shall +always hate it. + +In a word, the Self has two qualities: it is unjust in itself since it +makes itself the centre of everything; it is inconvenient to others +since it would enslave them; for each Self is the enemy, and would like +to be the tyrant of all others. You take away its inconvenience, but not +its injustice, and so you do not render it lovable to those who hate +injustice; you render it lovable only to the unjust, who do not any +longer find in it an enemy. And thus you remain unjust, and can please +only the unjust. + + +456 + +It is a perverted judgment that makes every one place himself above the +rest of the world, and prefer his own good, and the continuance of his +own good fortune and life, to that of the rest of the world! + + +457 + +Each one is all in all to himself; for he being dead, all is dead to +him. Hence it comes that each believes himself to be all in all to +everybody. We must not judge of nature by ourselves, but by it. + + +458 + +"All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the +eyes, or the pride of life; _libido sentiendi, libido sciendi, libido +dominandi._"[172] Wretched is the cursed land which these three rivers +of fire enflame rather than water![173] Happy they who, on these rivers, +are not overwhelmed nor carried away, but are immovably fixed, not +standing but seated on a low and secure base, whence they do not rise +before the light, but, having rested in peace, stretch out their hands +to Him, who must lift them up, and make them stand upright and firm in +the porches of the holy Jerusalem! There pride can no longer assail them +nor cast them down; and yet they weep, not to see all those perishable +things swept away by the torrents, but at the remembrance of their loved +country, the heavenly Jerusalem, which they remember without ceasing +during their prolonged exile. + + +459 + +The rivers of Babylon rush and fall and sweep away. + +O holy Sion, where all is firm and nothing falls! + +We must sit upon the waters, not under them or in them, but on them; and +not standing but seated; being seated to be humble, and being above them +to be secure. But we shall stand in the porches of Jerusalem. + +Let us see if this pleasure is stable or transitory; if it pass away, it +is a river of Babylon. + + +460 + +_The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, pride, etc._--There are +three orders of things: the flesh, the spirit, and the will. The carnal +are the rich and kings; they have the body as their object. Inquirers +and scientists; they have the mind as their object. The wise; they have +righteousness as their object. + +God must reign over all, and all men must be brought back to Him. In +things of the flesh lust reigns specially; in intellectual matters, +inquiry specially; in wisdom, pride specially. Not that a man cannot +boast of wealth or knowledge, but it is not the place for pride; for in +granting to a man that he is learned, it is easy to convince him that he +is wrong to be proud. The proper place for pride is in wisdom, for it +cannot be granted to a man that he has made himself wise, and that he is +wrong to be proud; for that is right. Now God alone gives wisdom, and +that is why _Qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur_.[174] + + +461 + +The three lusts have made three sects; and the philosophers have done no +other thing than follow one of the three lusts. + + +462 + +_Search for the true good._--Ordinary men place the good in fortune and +external goods, or at least in amusement. Philosophers have shown the +vanity of all this, and have placed it where they could. + + +463 + +[_Against the philosophers who believe in God without Jesus Christ_] + +_Philosophers._--They believe that God alone is worthy to be loved and +admired; and they have desired to be loved and admired of men, and do +not know their own corruption. If they feel full of feelings of love and +admiration, and find therein their chief delight, very well, let them +think themselves good. But if they find themselves averse to Him, if +they have no inclination but the desire to establish themselves in the +esteem of men, and if their whole perfection consists only in making +men--but without constraint--find their happiness in loving them, I +declare that this perfection is horrible. What! they have known God, and +have not desired solely that men should love Him, but that men should +stop short at them! They have wanted to be the object of the voluntary +delight of men. + + +464 + +_Philosophers._--We are full of things which take us out of ourselves. + +Our instinct makes us feel that we must seek our happiness outside +ourselves. Our passions impel us outside, even when no objects present +themselves to excite them. External objects tempt us of themselves, and +call to us, even when we are not thinking of them. And thus philosophers +have said in vain, "Retire within yourselves, you will find your good +there." We do not believe them, and those who believe them are the most +empty and the most foolish. + + +465 + +The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find +your rest." And that is not true. + +Others say, "Go out of yourselves; seek happiness in amusement." And +this is not true. Illness comes. + +Happiness is neither without us nor within us. It is in God, both +without us and within us. + + +466 + +Had Epictetus seen the way perfectly, he would have said to men, "You +follow a wrong road"; he shows that there is another, but he does not +lead to it. It is the way of willing what God wills. Jesus Christ alone +leads to it: _Via, veritas._[175] + +The vices of Zeno[176] himself. + + +467 + +_The reason of effects._--Epictetus.[177] Those who say, "You have a +headache;" this is not the same thing. We are assured of health, and not +of justice; and in fact his own was nonsense. + +And yet he believed it demonstrable, when he said, "It is either in our +power or it is not." But he did not perceive that it is not in our power +to regulate the heart, and he was wrong to infer this from the fact that +there were some Christians. + + +468 + +No other religion has proposed to men to hate themselves. No other +religion then can please those who hate themselves, and who seek a Being +truly lovable. And these, if they had never heard of the religion of a +God humiliated, would embrace it at once. + + +469 + +I feel that I might not have been; for the Ego consists in my thoughts. +Therefore I, who think, would not have been, if my mother had been +killed before I had life. I am not then a necessary being. In the same +way I am not eternal or infinite; but I see plainly that there exists in +nature a necessary Being, eternal and infinite. + + +470 + +"Had I seen a miracle," say men, "I should become converted." How can +they be sure they would do a thing of the nature of which they are +ignorant? They imagine that this conversion consists in a worship of God +which is like commerce, and in a communion such as they picture to +themselves. True religion consists in annihilating self before that +Universal Being, whom we have so often provoked, and who can justly +destroy us at any time; in recognising that we can do nothing without +Him, and have deserved nothing from Him but His displeasure. It consists +in knowing that there is an unconquerable opposition between us and God, +and that without a mediator there can be no communion with Him. + + +471 + +It is unjust that men should attach themselves to me, even though they +do it with pleasure and voluntarily. I should deceive those in whom I +had created this desire; for I am not the end of any, and I have not the +wherewithal to satisfy them. Am I not about to die? And thus the object +of their attachment will die. Therefore, as I would be blamable in +causing a falsehood to be believed, though I should employ gentle +persuasion, though it should be believed with pleasure, and though it +should give me pleasure; even so I am blamable in making myself loved, +and if I attract persons to attach themselves to me. I ought to warn +those who are ready to consent to a lie, that they ought not to believe +it, whatever advantage comes to me from it; and likewise that they ought +not to attach themselves to me; for they ought to spend their life and +their care in pleasing God, or in seeking Him. + + +472 + +Self-will will never be satisfied, though it should have command of all +it would; but we are satisfied from the moment we renounce it. Without +it we cannot be discontented; with it we cannot be content. + + +473 + +Let us imagine a body full of thinking members.[178] + + +474 + +_Members, To commence with that._--To regulate the love which we owe to +ourselves, we must imagine a body full of thinking members, for we are +members of the whole, and must see how each member should love itself, +etc.... + + +475 + +If the feet and the hands had a will of their own, they could only be in +their order in submitting this particular will to the primary will which +governs the whole body. Apart from that, they are in disorder and +mischief; but in willing only the good of the body, they accomplish +their own good. + + +476 + +We must love God only and hate self only. + +If the foot had always been ignorant that it belonged to the body, and +that there was a body on which it depended, if it had only had the +knowledge and the love of self, and if it came to know that it belonged +to a body on which it depended, what regret, what shame for its past +life, for having been useless to the body which inspired its life, which +would have annihilated it if it had rejected it and separated it from +itself, as it kept itself apart from the body! What prayers for its +preservation in it! And with what submission would it allow itself to be +governed by the will which rules the body, even to consenting, if +necessary, to be cut off, or it would lose its character as member! For +every member must be quite willing to perish for the body, for which +alone the whole is. + + +477 + +It is false that we are worthy of the love of others; it is unfair that +we should desire it. If we were born reasonable and impartial, knowing +ourselves and others, we should not give this bias to our will. However, +we are born with it; therefore born unjust, for all tends to self. This +is contrary to all order. We must consider the general good; and the +propensity to self is the beginning of all disorder, in war, in +politics, in economy, and in the particular body of man. The will is +therefore depraved. + +If the members of natural and civil communities tend towards the weal of +the body, the communities themselves ought to look to another more +general body of which they are members. We ought therefore to look to +the whole. We are therefore born unjust and depraved. + + +478 + +When we want to think of God, is there nothing which turns us away, and +tempts us to think of something else? All this is bad, and is born in +us. + + +479 + +If there is a God, we must love Him only, and not the creatures of a +day. The reasoning of the ungodly in the book of Wisdom[179] is only +based upon the non-existence of God. "On that supposition," say they, +"let us take delight in the creatures." That is the worst that can +happen. But if there were a God to love, they would not have come to +this conclusion, but to quite the contrary. And this is the conclusion +of the wise: "There is a God, let us therefore not take delight in the +creatures." + +Therefore all that incites us to attach ourselves to the creatures is +bad; since it prevents us from serving God if we know Him, or from +seeking Him if we know Him not. Now we are full of lust. Therefore we +are full of evil; therefore we ought to hate ourselves and all that +excited us to attach ourselves to any other object than God only. + + +480 + +To make the members happy, they must have one will, and submit it to the +body. + + +481 + +The examples of the noble deaths of the Lacedæmonians and others scarce +touch us. For what good is it to us? But the example of the death of the +martyrs touches us; for they are "our members." We have a common tie +with them. Their resolution can form ours, not only by example, but +because it has perhaps deserved ours. There is nothing of this in the +examples of the heathen. We have no tie with them; as we do not become +rich by seeing a stranger who is so, but in fact by seeing a father or a +husband who is so. + + +482 + +_Morality._--God having made the heavens and the earth, which do not +feel the happiness of their being, He has willed to make beings who +should know it, and who should compose a body of thinking members. For +our members do not feel the happiness of their union, of their +wonderful intelligence, of the care which has been taken to infuse into +them minds, and to make them grow and endure. How happy they would be if +they saw and felt it! But for this they would need to have intelligence +to know it, and good-will to consent to that of the universal soul. But +if, having received intelligence, they employed it to retain nourishment +for themselves without allowing it to pass to the other members, they +would hate rather than love themselves; their blessedness, as well as +their duty, consisting in their consent to the guidance of the whole +soul to which they belong, which loves them better than they love +themselves. + + +483 + +To be a member is to have neither life, being, nor movement, except +through the spirit of the body, and for the body. + +The separate member, seeing no longer the body to which it belongs, has +only a perishing and dying existence. Yet it believes it is a whole, and +seeing not the body on which it depends, it believes it depends only on +self, and desires to make itself both centre and body. But not having in +itself a principle of life, it only goes astray, and is astonished in +the uncertainty of its being; perceiving in fact that it is not a body, +and still not seeing that it is a member of a body. In short, when it +comes to know itself, it has returned as it were to its own home, and +loves itself only for the body. It deplores its past wanderings. + +It cannot by its nature love any other thing, except for itself and to +subject it to self, because each thing loves itself more than all. But +in loving the body, it loves itself, because it only exists in it, by +it, and for it. _Qui adhæret Deo unus spiritus est._[180] + +The body loves the hand; and the hand, if it had a will, should love +itself in the same way as it is loved by the soul. All love which goes +beyond this is unfair. + +_Adhærens Deo unus spiritus est._ We love ourselves, because we are +members of Jesus Christ. We love Jesus Christ, because He is the body of +which we are members. All is one, one is in the other, like the Three +Persons. + + +484 + +Two laws[181] suffice to rule the whole Christian Republic better than +all the laws of statecraft. + + +485 + +The true and only virtue, then, is to hate self (for we are hateful on +account of lust), and to seek a truly lovable being to love. But as we +cannot love what is outside ourselves, we must love a being who is in +us, and is not ourselves; and that is true of each and all men. Now, +only the Universal Being is such. The kingdom of God is within us;[182] +the universal good is within us, is ourselves--and not ourselves. + + +486 + +The dignity of man in his innocence consisted in using and having +dominion over the creatures, but now in separating himself from them, +and subjecting himself to them. + + +487 + +Every religion is false, which as to its faith does not worship one God +as the origin of everything, and which as to its morality does not love +one only God as the object of everything. + + +488 + +... But it is impossible that God should ever be the end, if He is not +the beginning. We lift our eyes on high, but lean upon the sand; and the +earth will dissolve, and we shall fall whilst looking at the heavens. + + +489 + +If there is one sole source of everything, there is one sole end of +everything; everything through Him, everything for Him. The true +religion, then, must teach us to worship Him only, and to love Him only. +But as we find ourselves unable to worship what we know not, and to love +any other object but ourselves, the religion which instructs us in these +duties must instruct us also of this inability, and teach us also the +remedies for it. It teaches us that by one man all was lost, and the +bond broken between God and us, and that by one man the bond is renewed. + +We are born so averse to this love of God, and it is so necessary that +we must be born guilty, or God would be unjust. + + +490 + +Men, not being accustomed to form merit, but only to recompense it where +they find it formed, judge of God by themselves. + + +491 + +The true religion must have as a characteristic the obligation to love +God. This is very just, and yet no other religion has commanded this; +ours has done so. It must also be aware of human lust and weakness; ours +is so. It must have adduced remedies for this; one is prayer. No other +religion has asked of God to love and follow Him. + + +492 + +He who hates not in himself his self-love, and that instinct which leads +him to make himself God, is indeed blinded. Who does not see that there +is nothing so opposed to justice and truth? For it is false that we +deserve this, and it is unfair and impossible to attain it, since all +demand the same thing. It is, then, a manifest injustice which is innate +in us, of which we cannot get rid, and of which we must get rid. + +Yet no religion has indicated that this was a sin; or that we were born +in it; or that we were obliged to resist it; or has thought of giving us +remedies for it. + + +493 + +The true religion teaches our duties; our weaknesses, pride, and lust; +and the remedies, humility and mortification. + + +494 + +The true religion must teach greatness and misery; must lead to the +esteem and contempt of self, to love and to hate. + + +495 + +If it is an extraordinary blindness to live without investigating what +we are, it is a terrible one to live an evil life, while believing in +God. + + +496 + +Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and +goodness. + + +497 + +_Against those who, trusting to the mercy of God, live heedlessly, +without doing good works._--As the two sources of our sins are pride and +sloth, God has revealed to us two of His attributes to cure them, mercy +and justice. The property of justice is to humble pride, however holy +may be our works, _et non intres in judicium_,[183] etc.; and the +property of mercy is to combat sloth by exhorting to good works, +according to that passage: "The goodness of God leadeth to +repentance,"[184] and that other of the Ninevites: "Let us do penance to +see if peradventure He will pity us."[185] And thus mercy is so far from +authorising slackness, that it is on the contrary the quality which +formally attacks it; so that instead of saying, "If there were no mercy +in God we should have to make every kind of effort after virtue," we +must say, on the contrary, that it is because there is mercy in God, +that we must make every kind of effort. + + +498 + +It is true there is difficulty in entering into godliness. But this +difficulty does not arise from the religion which begins in us, but from +the irreligion which is still there. If our senses were not opposed to +penitence, and if our corruption were not opposed to the purity of God, +there would be nothing in this painful to us. We suffer only in +proportion as the vice which is natural to us resists supernatural +grace. Our heart feels torn asunder between these opposed efforts. But +it would be very unfair to impute this violence to God, who is drawing +us on, instead of to the world, which is holding us back. It is as a +child, which a mother tears from the arms of robbers, in the pain it +suffers, should love the loving and legitimate violence of her who +procures its liberty, and detest only the impetuous and tyrannical +violence of those who detain it unjustly. The most cruel war which God +can make with men in this life is to leave them without that war which +He came to bring. "I came to send war,"[186] He says, "and to teach them +of this war. I came to bring fire and the sword."[187] Before Him the +world lived in this false peace. + + +499 + +_External works._--There is nothing so perilous as what pleases God and +man. For those states, which please God and man, have one property which +pleases God, and another which pleases men; as the greatness of Saint +Teresa. What pleased God was her deep humility in the midst of her +revelations; what pleased men was her light. And so we torment ourselves +to imitate her discourses, thinking to imitate her conditions, and not +so much to love what God loves, and to put ourselves in the state which +God loves. + +It is better not to fast, and thereby humbled, than to fast and be +self-satisfied therewith. The Pharisee and the Publican.[188] + +What use will memory be to me, if it can alike hurt and help me, and all +depends upon the blessing of God, who gives only to things done for Him, +according to His rules and in His ways, the manner being as important as +the thing, and perhaps more; since God can bring forth good out of evil, +and without God we bring forth evil out of good? + + +500 + +The meaning of the words, good and evil. + + +501 + +First step: to be blamed for doing evil, and praised for doing good. + +Second step: to be neither praised, nor blamed. + + +502 + +Abraham[189] took nothing for himself, but only for his servants. So the +righteous man takes for himself nothing of the world, nor the applause +of the world, but only for his passions, which he uses as their master, +saying to the one, "Go," and to another, "Come." _Sub te erit appetitus +tuus._[190] The passions thus subdued are virtues. Even God attributes +to Himself avarice, jealousy, anger; and these are virtues as well as +kindness, pity, constancy, which are also passions. We must employ them +as slaves, and, leaving to them their food, prevent the soul from taking +any of it. For, when the passions become masters, they are vices; and +they give their nutriment to the soul, and the soul nourishes itself +upon it, and is poisoned. + + +503 + +Philosophers have consecrated the vices by placing them in God Himself. +Christians have consecrated the virtues. + + +504 + +The just man acts by faith in the least things; when he reproves his +servants, he desires their conversion by the Spirit of God, and prays +God to correct them; and he expects as much from God as from his own +reproofs, and prays God to bless his corrections. And so in all his +other actions he proceeds with the Spirit of God; and his actions +deceive us by reason of the ... or suspension of the Spirit of God in +him; and he repents in his affliction. + + +505 + +All things can be deadly to us, even the things made to serve us; as in +nature walls can kill us, and stairs can kill us, if we do not walk +circumspectly. + +The least movement affects all nature; the entire sea changes because of +a rock. Thus in grace, the least action affects everything by its +consequences; therefore everything is important. + +In each action we must look beyond the action at our past, present, and +future state, and at others whom it affects, and see the relations of +all those things. And then we shall be very cautious. + + +506 + +Let God not impute to us our sins, that is to say, all the consequences +and results of our sins, which are dreadful, even those of the smallest +faults, if we wish to follow them out mercilessly! + + +507 + +The spirit of grace; the hardness of the heart; external circumstances. + + +508 + +Grace is indeed needed to turn a man into a saint; and he who doubts it +does not know what a saint or a man is. + + +509 + +_Philosophers._--A fine thing to cry to a man who does not know himself, +that he should come of himself to God! And a fine thing to say so to a +man who does know himself! + + +510 + +Man is not worthy of God, but he is not incapable of being made worthy. + +It is unworthy of God to unite Himself to wretched man; but it is not +unworthy of God to pull him out of his misery. + + +511 + +If we would say that man is too insignificant to deserve communion with +God, we must indeed be very great to judge of it. + + +512 + +It is, in peculiar phraseology, wholly the body of Jesus Christ, but it +cannot be said to be the whole body of Jesus Christ.[191] The union of +two things without change does not enable us to say that one becomes the +other; the soul thus being united to the body, the fire to the timber, +without change. But change is necessary to make the form of the one +become the form of the other; thus the union of the Word to man. Because +my body without my soul would not make the body of a man; therefore my +soul united to any matter whatsoever will make my body. It does not +distinguish the necessary condition from the sufficient condition; the +union is necessary, but not sufficient. The left arm is not the right. + +Impenetrability is a property of matter. + +Identity _de numers_ in regard to the same time requires the identity of +matter. + +Thus if God united my soul to a body in China, the same body, _idem +numero_, would be in China. + +The same river which runs there is _idem numero_ as that which runs at +the same time in China. + + +513 + +Why God has established prayer. + +1. To communicate to His creatures the dignity of causality. +2. To teach us from whom our virtue comes. +3. To make us deserve other virtues by work. + +(But to keep His own pre-eminence, He grants prayer to whom He pleases.) + +Objection: But we believe that we hold prayer of ourselves. + +This is absurd; for since, though having faith, we cannot have virtues, +how should we have faith? Is there a greater distance between infidelity +and faith than between faith and virtue? + +_Merit._ This word is ambiguous. + +_Meruit habere Redemptorem. + +Meruit tam sacra membra tangere. + +Digno tam sacra membra tangere. + +Non sum dignus.[192] + +Qui manducat indignus[193] + +Dignus est accipere.[194] + +Dignare me._ + +God is only bound according to His promises. He has promised to grant +justice to prayers; He has never promised prayer only to the children of +promise. + +Saint Augustine has distinctly said that strength would be taken away +from the righteous. But it is by chance that he said it; for it might +have happened that the occasion of saying it did not present itself. But +his principles make us see that when the occasion for it presented +itself, it was impossible that he should not say it, or that he should +say anything to the contrary. It is then rather that he was forced to +say it, when the occasion presented itself, than that he said it, when +the occasion presented itself, the one being of necessity, the other of +chance. But the two are all that we can ask. + + +514 + +The elect will be ignorant of their virtues, and the outcast of the +greatness of their sins: "Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, thirsty?" +etc.[195][196] + + +515 + +Romans iii, 27. Boasting is excluded. By what law? Of works? nay, but by +faith. Then faith is not within our power like the deeds of the law, and +it is given to us in another way. + + +516 + +Comfort yourselves. It is not from yourselves that you should expect +grace; but, on the contrary, it is in expecting nothing from yourselves, +that you must hope for it. + + +517 + +Every condition, and even the martyrs, have to fear, according to +Scripture. + +The greatest pain of purgatory is the uncertainty of the judgment. _Deus +absconditus._ + + +518 + +John viii. _Multi crediderunt in eum. Dicebat ergo Jesus: "Si +manseritis_ ... VERE _mei discipuli eritis, et_ VERITAS LIBERABIT VOS." +_Responderunt: "Semen Abrahæ sumus, et nemini servimus unquam."_ + +There is a great difference between disciples and true disciples. We +recognise them by telling them that the truth will make them free; for +if they answer that they are free, and that it is in their power to come +out of slavery to the devil, they are indeed disciples, but not true +disciples. + + +519 + +The law has not destroyed nature, but has instructed it; grace has not +destroyed the law, but has made it act. Faith received at baptism is the +source of the whole life of Christians and of the converted. + + +520 + +Grace will always be in the world, and nature also; so that the former +is in some sort natural. And thus there will always be Pelagians, and +always Catholics, and always strife; because the first birth makes the +one, and the grace of the second birth the other. + + +521 + +The law imposed what it did not give. Grace gives what is imposes. + + +522 + +All faith consists in Jesus Christ and in Adam, and all morality in lust +and in grace. + + +523 + +There is no doctrine more appropriate to man than this, which teaches +him his double capacity of receiving and of losing grace, because of the +double peril to which he is exposed, of despair or of pride. + + +524 + +The philosophers did not prescribe feelings suitable to the two states. + +They inspired feelings of pure greatness, and that is not man's state. + +They inspired feelings of pure littleness, and that is not man's state. + +There must be feelings of humility, not from nature, but from penitence, +not to rest in them, but to go on to greatness. There must be feelings +of greatness, not from merit, but from grace, and after having passed +through humiliation. + + +525 + +Misery induces despair, pride induces presumption. The Incarnation shows +man the greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy which he +required. + + +526 + +The knowledge of God without that of man's misery causes pride. The +knowledge of man's misery without that of God causes despair. The +knowledge of Jesus Christ constitutes the middle course, because in Him +we find both God and our misery. + + +527 + +Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we +humble ourselves without despair. + + +528 + +... Not a degradation which renders us incapable of good, nor a holiness +exempt from evil. + + +529 + +A person told me one day that on coming from confession he felt great +joy and confidence. Another told me that he remained in fear. Whereupon +I thought that these two together would make one good man, and that each +was wanting in that he had not the feeling of the other. The same often +happens in other things. + + +530 + +He who knows the will of his master will be beaten with more blows, +because of the power he has by his knowledge. _Qui justus est, +justificetur adhuc_,[197] because of the power he has by justice. From +him who has received most, will the greatest reckoning be demanded, +because of the power he has by this help. + + +531 + +Scripture has provided passages of consolation and of warning for all +conditions. + +Nature seems to have done the same thing by her two infinities, natural +and moral; for we shall always have the higher and the lower, the more +clever and the less clever, the most exalted and the meanest, in order +to humble our pride, and exalt our humility. + + +532 + +_Comminutum cor_ (Saint Paul). This is the Christian character. _Alba +has named you, I know you no more_ (Corneille).[198] That is the inhuman +character. The human character is the opposite. + + +533 + +There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who believe themselves +sinners; the rest, sinners, who believe themselves righteous. + + +534 + +We owe a great debt to those who point out faults. For they mortify us. +They teach us that we have been despised. They do not prevent our being +so in the future; for we have many other faults for which we may be +despised. They prepare for us the exercise of correction and freedom +from fault. + + +535 + +Man is so made that by continually telling him he is a fool he believes +it, and by continually telling it to himself he makes himself believe +it. For man holds an inward talk with his self alone, which it behoves +him to regulate well: _Corrumpunt bonos mores colloquia prava_.[199] We +must keep silent as much as possible and talk with ourselves only of +God, whom we know to be true; and thus we convince ourselves of the +truth. + + +536 + +Christianity is strange. It bids man recognise that he is vile, even +abominable, and bids him desire to be like God. Without such a +counterpoise, this dignity would make him horribly vain, or this +humiliation would make him terribly abject. + + +537 + +With how little pride does a Christian believe himself united to God! +With how little humiliation does he place himself on a level with the +worms of earth! + +A glorious manner to welcome life and death, good and evil! + + +538 + +What difference in point of obedience is there between a soldier and a +Carthusian monk? For both are equally under obedience and dependent, +both engaged in equally painful exercises. But the soldier always hopes +to command, and never attains this, for even captains and princes are +ever slaves and dependants; still he ever hopes and ever works to attain +this. Whereas the Carthusian monk makes a vow to be always dependent. So +they do not differ in their perpetual thraldom, in which both of them +always exist, but in the hope, which one always has, and the other +never. + + +539 + +The hope which Christians have of possessing an infinite good is mingled +with real enjoyment as well as with fear; for it is not as with those +who should hope for a kingdom, of which they, being subjects, would have +nothing; but they hope for holiness, for freedom from injustice, and +they have something of this. + + +540 + +None is so happy as a true Christian, nor so reasonable, virtuous, or +amiable. + + +541 + +The Christian religion alone makes man altogether _lovable and happy_. +In honesty, we cannot perhaps be altogether lovable and happy. + + +542 + +_Preface._--The metaphysical proofs of God are so remote from the +reasoning of men, and so complicated, that they make little impression; +and if they should be of service to some, it would be only during the +moment that they see such demonstration; but an hour afterwards they +fear they have been mistaken. + +_Quod curiositate cognoverunt superbia amiserunt._[200] + +This is the result of the knowledge of God obtained without Jesus +Christ; it is communion without a mediator with the God whom they have +known without a mediator. Whereas those who have known God by a mediator +know their own wretchedness. + + +543 + +The God of the Christians is a God who makes the soul feel that He is +her only good, that her only rest is in Him, that her only delight is +in loving Him; and who makes her at the same time abhor the obstacles +which keep her back, and prevent her from loving God with all her +strength. Self-love and lust, which hinder us, are unbearable to her. +Thus God makes her feel that she has this root of self-love which +destroys her, and which He alone can cure. + + +544 + +Jesus Christ did nothing but teach men that they loved themselves, that +they were slaves, blind, sick, wretched, and sinners; that He must +deliver them, enlighten, bless, and heal them; that this would be +effected by hating self, and by following Him through suffering and the +death on the cross. + + +545 + +Without Jesus Christ man must be in vice and misery; with Jesus Christ +man is free from vice and misery; in Him is all our virtue and all our +happiness. Apart from Him there is but vice, misery, darkness, death, +despair. + + +546 + +We know God only by Jesus Christ. Without this mediator all communion +with God is taken away; through Jesus Christ we know God. All those who +have claimed to know God, and to prove Him without Jesus Christ, have +had only weak proofs. But in proof of Jesus Christ we have the +prophecies, which are solid and palpable proofs. And these prophecies, +being accomplished and proved true by the event, mark the certainty of +these truths, and therefore the divinity of Christ. In Him then, and +through Him, we know God. Apart from Him, and without the Scripture, +without original sin, without a necessary Mediator promised and come, we +cannot absolutely prove God, nor teach right doctrine and right +morality. But through Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ, we prove God, +and teach morality and doctrine. Jesus Christ is then the true God of +men. + +But we know at the same time our wretchedness; for this God is none +other than the Saviour of our wretchedness. So we can only know God well +by knowing our iniquities. Therefore those who have known God, without +knowing their wretchedness, have not glorified Him, but have glorified +themselves. _Quia ... non cognovit per sapientiam ... placuit Deo per +stultitiam prædicationis salvos facere._[201] + + +547 + +Not only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves +only by Jesus Christ. We know life and death only through Jesus Christ. +Apart from Jesus Christ, we do not know what is our life, nor our death, +nor God, nor ourselves. + +Thus without the Scripture, which has Jesus Christ alone for its object, +we know nothing, and see only darkness and confusion in the nature of +God, and in our own nature. + + +548 + +It is not only impossible but useless to know God without Jesus Christ. +They have not departed from Him, but approached; they have not humbled +themselves, but ... + +_Quo quisque optimus est, pessimus, si hoc ipsum, quod optimus est, +adscribat sibi._ + + +549 + +I love poverty because He loved it. I love riches because they afford me +the means of helping the very poor. I keep faith with everybody; I do +not render evil to those who wrong me, but I wish them a lot like mine, +in which I receive neither evil nor good from men. I try to be just, +true, sincere, and faithful to all men; I have a tender heart for those +to whom God has more closely united me; and whether I am alone, or seen +of men, I do all my actions in the sight of God, who must judge of them, +and to whom I have consecrated them all. + +These are my sentiments; and every day of my life I bless my Redeemer, +who has implanted them in me, and who, of a man full of weakness, of +miseries, of lust, of pride, and of ambition, has made a man free from +all these evils by the power of His grace, to which all the glory of it +is due, as of myself I have only misery and error. + + +550 + +_Dignior plagis quam osculis non timeo quia amo._ + + +551 + +_The Sepulchre of Jesus Christ._--Jesus Christ was dead, but seen on the +Cross. He was dead, and hidden in the Sepulchre. + +Jesus Christ was buried by the saints alone. + +Jesus Christ wrought no miracle at the Sepulchre. + +Only the saints entered it. + +It is there, not on the Cross, that Jesus Christ takes a new life. + +It is the last mystery of the Passion and the Redemption. + +Jesus Christ had nowhere to rest on earth but in the Sepulchre. + +His enemies only ceased to persecute Him at the Sepulchre. + + +552 + +_The Mystery of Jesus._--Jesus suffers in His passions the torments +which men inflict upon Him; but in His agony He suffers the torments +which He inflicts on Himself; _turbare semetipsum_.[202] This is a +suffering from no human, but an almighty hand, for He must be almighty +to bear it. + +Jesus seeks some comfort at least in His three dearest friends, and they +are asleep. He prays them to bear with Him for a little, and they leave +Him with entire indifference, having so little compassion that it could +not prevent their sleeping even for a moment. And thus Jesus was left +alone to the wrath of God. + +Jesus is alone on the earth, without any one not only to feel and share +His suffering, but even to know of it; He and Heaven were alone in that +knowledge. + +Jesus is in a garden, not of delight as the first Adam, where he lost +himself and the whole human race, but in one of agony, where He saved +Himself and the whole human race. + +He suffers this affliction and this desertion in the horror of night. + +I believe that Jesus never complained but on this single occasion; but +then He complained as if he could no longer bear His extreme suffering. +"My soul is sorrowful, even unto death."[203] + +Jesus seeks companionship and comfort from men. This is the sole +occasion in all His life, as it seems to me. But He receives it not, for +His disciples are asleep. + +Jesus will be in agony even to the end of the world. We must not sleep +during that time. + +Jesus, in the midst of this universal desertion, including that of His +own friends chosen to watch with Him, finding them asleep, is vexed +because of the danger to which they expose, not Him, but themselves; He +cautions them for their own safety and their own good, with a sincere +tenderness for them during their ingratitude, and warns them that the +spirit is willing and the flesh weak. + +Jesus, finding them still asleep, without being restrained by any +consideration for themselves or for Him, has the kindness not to waken +them, and leaves them in repose. + +Jesus prays, uncertain of the will of His Father, and fears death; but, +when He knows it, He goes forward to offer Himself to death. _Eamus. +Processit_[204] (John). + +Jesus asked of men and was not heard. + +Jesus, while His disciples slept, wrought their salvation. He has +wrought that of each of the righteous while they slept, both in their +nothingness before their birth, and in their sins after their birth. + +He prays only once that the cup pass away, and then with submission; and +twice that it come if necessary. + +Jesus is weary. + +Jesus, seeing all His friends asleep and all His enemies wakeful, +commits Himself entirely to His Father. + +Jesus does not regard in Judas his enmity, but the order of God, which +He loves and admits, since He calls him friend. + +Jesus tears Himself away from His disciples to enter into His agony; we +must tear ourselves away from our nearest and dearest to imitate Him. + +Jesus being in agony and in the greatest affliction, let us pray longer. + +We implore the mercy of God, not that He may leave us at peace in our +vices, but that He may deliver us from them. + +If God gave us masters by His own hand, oh! how necessary for us to obey +them with a good heart! Necessity and events follow infallibly. + +--"Console thyself, thou wouldst not seek Me, if thou hadst not found +Me. + +"I thought of thee in Mine agony, I have sweated such drops of blood for +thee. + +"It is tempting Me rather than proving thyself, to think if thou wouldst +do such and such a thing on an occasion which has not happened; I shall +act in thee if it occur. + +"Let thyself be guided by My rules; see how well I have led the Virgin +and the saints who have let Me act in them. + +"The Father loves all that I do. + +"Dost thou wish that it always cost Me the blood of My humanity, without +thy shedding tears? + +"Thy conversion is My affair; fear not, and pray with confidence as for +Me. + +"I am present with thee by My Word in Scripture, by My Spirit in the +Church and by inspiration, by My power in the priests, by My prayer in +the faithful. + +"Physicians will not heal thee, for thou wilt die at last. But it is I +who heal thee, and make the body immortal. + +"Suffer bodily chains and servitude, I deliver thee at present only from +spiritual servitude. + +"I am more a friend to thee than such and such an one, for I have done +for thee more than they, they would not have suffered what I have +suffered from thee, and they would not have died for thee as I have done +in the time of thine infidelities and cruelties, and as I am ready to +do, and do, among my elect and at the Holy Sacrament." + +"If thou knewest thy sins, thou wouldst lose heart." + +--I shall lose it then, Lord, for on Thy assurance I believe their +malice. + +--"No, for I, by whom thou learnest, can heal thee of them, and what I +say to thee is a sign that I will heal thee. In proportion to thy +expiation of them, thou wilt know them, and it will be said to thee: +'Behold, thy sins are forgiven thee.' Repent, then, for thy hidden sins, +and for the secret malice of those which thou knowest." + +--Lord, I give Thee all. + +--"I love thee more ardently than thou hast loved thine abominations, +_ut immundus pro luto_. + +"To Me be the glory, not to thee, worm of the earth. + +"Ask thy confessor, when My own words are to thee occasion of evil, +vanity, or curiosity." + +--I see in me depths of pride, curiosity, and lust. There is no relation +between me and God, nor Jesus Christ the Righteous. But He has been made +sin for me; all Thy scourges are fallen upon Him. He is more abominable +than I, and, far from abhorring me, He holds Himself honoured that I go +to Him and succour Him. + +But He has healed Himself, and still more so will He heal me. + +I must add my wounds to His, and join myself to Him; and He will save me +in saving Himself. But this must not be postponed to the future. + +_Eritis sicut dii scientes bonum et malum._[205] Each one creates his +god, when judging, "This is good or bad"; and men mourn or rejoice too +much at events. + +Do little things as though they were great, because of the majesty of +Jesus Christ who does them in us, and who lives our life; and do the +greatest things as though they were little and easy, because of His +omnipotence. + + +553 + +It seems to me that Jesus Christ only allowed His wounds to be touched +after His resurrection: _Noli me tangere._[206] We must unite ourselves +only to His sufferings. + +At the Last Supper He gave Himself in communion as about to die; to the +disciples at Emmaus as risen from the dead; to the whole Church as +ascended into heaven. + + +554 + +"Compare not thyself with others, but with Me. If thou dost not find Me +in those with whom thou comparest thyself, thou comparest thyself to one +who is abominable. If thou findest Me in them, compare thyself to Me. +But whom wilt thou compare? Thyself, or Me in thee? If it is thyself, it +is one who is abominable. If it is I, thou comparest Me to Myself. Now I +am God in all. + +"I speak to thee, and often counsel thee, because thy director cannot +speak to thee, for I do not want thee to lack a guide. + +"And perhaps I do so at his prayers, and thus he leads thee without thy +seeing it. Thou wouldst not seek Me, if thou didst not possess Me. + +"Be not therefore troubled." + + + + +SECTION VIII + +THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION + + +555 + +... Men blaspheme what they do not know. The Christian religion consists +in two points. It is of equal concern to men to know them, and it is +equally dangerous to be ignorant to them. And it is equally of God's +mercy that He has given indications of both. + +And yet they take occasion to conclude that one of these points does not +exist, from that which should have caused them to infer the other. The +sages who have said there is only one God have been persecuted, the Jews +were hated, and still more the Christians. They have seen by the light +of nature that if there be a true religion on earth, the course of all +things must tend to it as to a centre. + +The whole course of things must have for its object the establishment +and the greatness of religion. Men must have within them feelings suited +to what religion teaches us. And, finally, religion must so be the +object and centre to which all things tend, that whoever knows the +principles of religion can give an explanation both of the whole nature +of man in particular, and of the whole course of the world in general. + +And on this ground they take occasion to revile the Christian religion, +because they misunderstand it. They imagine that it consists simply in +the worship of a God considered as great, powerful, and eternal; which +is strictly deism, almost as far removed from the Christian religion as +atheism, which is its exact opposite. And thence they conclude that this +religion is not true, because they do not see that all things concur to +the establishment of this point, that God does not manifest Himself to +men with all the evidence which He could show. + +But let them conclude what they will against deism, they will conclude +nothing against the Christian religion, which properly consists in the +mystery of the Redeemer, who, uniting in Himself the two natures, human +and divine, has redeemed men from the corruption of sin in order to +reconcile them in His divine person to God. + +The Christian religion, then, teaches men these two truths; that there +is a God whom men can know, and that there is a corruption in their +nature which renders them unworthy of Him. It is equally important to +men to know both these points; and it is equally dangerous for man to +know God without knowing his own wretchedness, and to know his own +wretchedness without knowing the Redeemer who can free him from it. The +knowledge of only one of these points gives rise either to the pride of +philosophers, who have known God, and not their own wretchedness, or to +the despair of atheists, who know their own wretchedness, but not the +Redeemer. + +And, as it is alike necessary to man to know these two points, so is it +alike merciful of God to have made us know them. The Christian religion +does this; it is in this that it consists. + +Let us herein examine the order of the world, and see if all things do +not tend to establish these two chief points of this religion: Jesus +Christ is the end of all, and the centre to which all tends. Whoever +knows Him knows the reason of everything. + +Those who fall into error err only through failure to see one of these +two things. We can then have an excellent knowledge of God without that +of our own wretchedness, and of our own wretchedness without that of +God. But we cannot know Jesus Christ without knowing at the same time +both God and our own wretchedness. + +Therefore I shall not undertake here to prove by natural reasons either +the existence of God, or the Trinity, or the immortality of the soul, or +anything of that nature; not only because I should not feel myself +sufficiently able to find in nature arguments to convince hardened +atheists, but also because such knowledge without Jesus Christ is +useless and barren. Though a man should be convinced that numerical +proportions are immaterial truths, eternal and dependent on a first +truth, in which they subsist, and which is called God, I should not +think him far advanced towards his own salvation. + +The God of Christians is not a God who is simply the author of +mathematical truths, or of the order of the elements; that is the view +of heathens and Epicureans. He is not merely a God who exercises His +providence over the life and fortunes of men, to bestow on those who +worship Him a long and happy life. That was the portion of the Jews. But +the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of +Christians, is a God of love and of comfort, a God who fills the soul +and heart of those whom He possesses, a God who makes them conscious of +their inward wretchedness, and His infinite mercy, who unites Himself to +their inmost soul, who fills it with humility and joy, with confidence +and love, who renders them incapable of any other end than Himself. + +All who seek God without Jesus Christ, and who rest in nature, either +find no light to satisfy them, or come to form for themselves a means of +knowing God and serving Him without a mediator. Thereby they fall either +into atheism, or into deism, two things which the Christian religion +abhors almost equally. + +Without Jesus Christ the world would not exist; for it should needs be +either that it would be destroyed or be a hell. + +If the world existed to instruct man of God, His divinity would shine +through every part in it in an indisputable manner; but as it exists +only by Jesus Christ, and for Jesus Christ, and to teach men both their +corruption and their redemption, all displays the proofs of these two +truths. + +All appearance indicates neither a total exclusion nor a manifest +presence of divinity, but the presence of a God who hides Himself. +Everything bears this character. + +... Shall he alone who knows his nature know it only to be miserable? +Shall he alone who knows it be alone unhappy? + +... He must not see nothing at all, nor must he see sufficient for him +to believe he possesses it; but he must see enough to know that he has +lost it. For to know of his loss, he must see and not see; and that is +exactly the state in which he naturally is. + +... Whatever part he takes, I shall not leave him at rest ... + + +556 + +... It is then true that everything teaches man his condition, but he +must understand this well. For it is not true that all reveals God, and +it is not true that all conceals God. But it is at the same time true +that He hides Himself from those who tempt Him, and that He reveals +Himself to those who seek Him, because men are both unworthy and capable +of God; unworthy by their corruption capable by their original nature. + + +557 + +What shall we conclude from all our darkness, but our unworthiness? + + +558 + +If there never had been any appearance of God, this eternal deprivation +would have been equivocal, and might have as well corresponded with the +absence of all divinity, as with the unworthiness of men to know Him; +but His occasional, though not continual, appearances remove the +ambiguity, If He appeared once, He exists always; and thus we cannot but +conclude both that there is a God, and that men are unworthy of Him. + + +559 + +We do not understand the glorious state of Adam, nor the nature of his +sin, nor the transmission of it to us. These are matters which took +place under conditions of a nature altogether different from our own, +and which transcend our present understanding. + +The knowledge of all this is useless to us as a means of escape from it; +and all that we are concerned to know, is that we are miserable, +corrupt, separated from God, but ransomed by Jesus Christ, whereof we +have wonderful proofs on earth. + +So the two proofs of corruption and redemption are drawn from the +ungodly, who live in indifference to religion, and from the Jews who are +irreconcilable enemies. + + +560 + +There are two ways of proving the truths of our religion; one by the +power of reason, the other by the authority of him who speaks. + +We do not make use of the latter, but of the former. We do not say, +"This must be believed, for Scripture, which says it, is divine." But we +say that it must be believed for such and such a reason, which are +feeble arguments, as reason may be bent to everything. + + +561 + +There is nothing on earth that does not show either the wretchedness of +man, or the mercy of God; either the weakness of man without God, or the +strength of man with God. + + +562 + +It will be one of the confusions of the damned to see that they are +condemned by their own reason, by which they claimed to condemn the +Christian religion. + + +563 + +The prophecies, the very miracles and proofs of our religion, are not of +such a nature that they can be said to be absolutely convincing. But +they are also of such a kind that it cannot be said that it is +unreasonable to believe them. Thus there is both evidence and obscurity +to enlighten some and confuse others. But the evidence is such that it +surpasses, or at least equals, the evidence to the contrary; so that it +is not reason which can determine men not to follow it, and thus it can +only be lust or malice of heart. And by this means there is sufficient +evidence to condemn, and insufficient to convince; so that it appears in +those who follow it, that it is grace, and not reason, which makes them +follow it; and in those who shun it, that it is lust, not reason, which +makes them shun it. + +_Vere discipuli, vere Israëlita, vere liberi, vere cibus._[207] + + +564 + +Recognise, then, the truth of religion in the very obscurity of +religion, in the little light we have of it, and in the indifference +which we have to knowing it. + + +565 + +We understand nothing of the works of God, if we do not take as a +principle that He has willed to blind some, and enlighten others. + + +566 + +The two contrary reasons. We must begin with that; without that we +understand nothing, and all is heretical; and we must even add at the +end of each truth that the opposite truth is to be remembered. + + +567 + +_Objection._ The Scripture is plainly full of matters not dictated by +the Holy Spirit.--_Answer._ Then they do not harm faith.--_Objection._ +But the Church has decided that all is of the Holy Spirit.--_Answer._ I +answer two things: first, the Church has not so decided; secondly, if +she should so decide, it could be maintained. + +Do you think that the prophecies cited in the Gospel are related to make +you believe? No, it is to keep you from believing. + + +568 + +_Canonical._--The heretical books in the beginning of the Church serve +to prove the canonical. + + +569 + +To the chapter on the _Fundamentals_ must be added that on _Typology_ +touching the reason of types: why Jesus Christ was prophesied as to His +first coming; why prophesied obscurely as to the manner. + + +570 + +_The reason why. Types._--[They had to deal with a carnal people and to +render them the depositary of the spiritual covenant.] To give faith to +the Messiah, it was necessary there should have been precedent +prophecies, and that these should be conveyed by persons above +suspicion, diligent, faithful, unusually zealous, and known to all the +world. + +To accomplish all this, God chose this carnal people, to whom He +entrusted the prophecies which foretell the Messiah as a deliverer, and +as a dispenser of those carnal goods which this people loved. And thus +they have had an extraordinary passion for their prophets, and, in sight +of the whole world, have had charge of these books which foretell their +Messiah, assuring all nations that He should come, and in the way +foretold in the books, which they held open to the whole world. Yet this +people, deceived by the poor and ignominious advent of the Messiah, have +been His most cruel enemies. So that they, the people least open to +suspicion in the world of favouring us, the most strict and most zealous +that can be named for their law and their prophets, have kept the books +incorrupt. Hence those who have rejected and crucified Jesus Christ, who +has been to them an offence, are those who have charge of the books +which testify of Him, and state that He will be an offence and rejected. +Therefore they have shown it was He by rejecting Him, and He has been +alike proved both by the righteous Jews who received Him, and by the +unrighteous who rejected Him, both facts having been foretold. + +Wherefore the prophecies have a hidden and spiritual meaning, to which +this people were hostile, under the carnal meaning which they loved. If +the spiritual meaning had been revealed, they would not have loved it, +and, unable to bear it, they would not have been zealous of the +preservation of their books and their ceremonies; and if they had loved +these spiritual promises, and had preserved them incorrupt till the time +of the Messiah, their testimony would have had no force, because they +had been his friends. + +Therefore it was well that the spiritual meaning should be concealed; +but, on the other hand, if this meaning had been so hidden as not to +appear at all, it could not have served as a proof of the Messiah. What +then was done? In a crowd of passages it has been hidden under the +temporal meaning, and in a few has been clearly revealed; besides that +the time and the state of the world have been so clearly foretold that +it is clearer than the sun. And in some places this spiritual meaning is +so clearly expressed, that it would require a blindness like that which +the flesh imposes on the spirit when it is subdued by it, not to +recognise it. + +See, then, what has been the prudence of God. This meaning is concealed +under another in an infinite number of passages, and in some, though +rarely, it is revealed; but yet so that the passages in which it is +concealed are equivocal, and can suit both meanings; whereas the +passages where it is disclosed are unequivocal, and can only suit the +spiritual meaning. + +So that this cannot lead us into error, and could only be misunderstood +by so carnal a people. + +For when blessings are promised in abundance, what was to prevent them +from understanding the true blessings, but their covetousness, which +limited the meaning to worldly goods? But those whose only good was in +God referred them to God alone. For there are two principles, which +divide the wills of men, covetousness and charity. Not that covetousness +cannot exist along with faith in God, nor charity with worldly riches; +but covetousness uses God, and enjoys the world, and charity is the +opposite. + +Now the ultimate end gives names to things. All which prevents us from +attaining it, is called an enemy to us. Thus the creatures, however +good, are the enemies of the righteous, when they turn them away from +God, and God Himself is the enemy of those whose covetousness He +confounds. + +Thus as the significance of the word "enemy" is dependent on the +ultimate end, the righteous understood by it their passions, and the +carnal the Babylonians; and so these terms were obscure only for the +unrighteous. And this is what Isaiah says: _Signa legem in electis +meis_,[208] and that Jesus Christ shall be a stone of stumbling. But, +"Blessed are they who shall not be offended in him." Hosea,[209] _ult._, +says excellently, "Where is the wise? and he shall understand what I +say. The righteous shall know them, for the ways of God are right; but +the transgressors shall fall therein." + + +571 + +Hypothesis that the apostles were impostors.--The time clearly, the +manner obscurely.--Five typical proofs. + + {1600 prophets. + 2000 { + { 400 scattered. + + +572 + +_Blindness of Scripture._--"The Scripture," said the Jews, "says that we +shall not know whence Christ will come (John vii, 27, and xii, 34). The +Scripture says that Christ abideth for ever, and He said that He should +die." Therefore, says Saint John,[210] they believed not, though He had +done so many miracles, that the word of Isaiah might be fulfilled: "He +hath blinded them," etc. + + +573 + +_Greatness._--Religion is so great a thing that it is right that those +who will not take the trouble to seek it, if it be obscure, should be +deprived of it. Why, then, do any complain, if it be such as can be +found by seeking? + + +574 + +All things work together for good to the elect, even the obscurities of +Scripture; for they honour them because of what is divinely clear. And +all things work together for evil to the rest of the world, even what is +clear; for they revile such, because of the obscurities which they do +not understand. + + +575 + +_The general conduct of the world towards the Church: God willing to +blind and to enlighten._--The event having proved the divinity of these +prophecies, the rest ought to be believed. And thereby we see the order +of the world to be of this kind. The miracles of the Creation and the +Deluge being forgotten, God sends the law and the miracles of Moses, the +prophets who prophesied particular things; and to prepare a lasting +miracle, He prepares prophecies and their fulfilment; but, as the +prophecies could be suspected, He desires to make them above suspicion, +etc. + + +576 + +God has made the blindness of this people subservient to the good of the +elect. + + +577 + +There is sufficient clearness to enlighten the elect, and sufficient +obscurity to humble them. There is sufficient obscurity to blind the +reprobate, and sufficient clearness to condemn them, and make them +inexcusable.--Saint Augustine, Montaigne, Sébond. + +The genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament is intermingled with +so many others that are useless, that it cannot be distinguished. If +Moses had kept only the record of the ancestors of Christ, that might +have been too plain. If he had not noted that of Jesus Christ, it might +not have been sufficiently plain. But, after all, whoever looks closely +sees that of Jesus Christ expressly traced through Tamar,[211] +Ruth,[212] etc. + +Those who ordained these sacrifices, knew their uselessness; those who +have declared their uselessness, have not ceased to practise them. + +If God had permitted only one religion, it had been too easily known; +but when we look at it closely, we clearly discern the truth amidst this +confusion. + +_The premiss._--Moses was a clever man. If, then, he ruled himself by +his reason, he would say nothing clearly which was directly against +reason. + +Thus all the very apparent weaknesses are strength. Example; the two +genealogies in Saint Matthew and Saint Luke. What can be clearer than +that this was not concerted? + + +578 + +God (and the Apostles), foreseeing that the seeds of pride would make +heresies spring up, and being unwilling to give them occasion to arise +from correct expressions, has put in Scripture and the prayers of the +Church contrary words and sentences to produce their fruit in time. + +So in morals He gives charity, which produces fruits contrary to lust. + + +579 + +Nature has some perfections to show that she is the image of God, and +some defects to show that she is only His image. + + +580 + +God prefers rather to incline the will than the intellect. Perfect +clearness would be of use to the intellect, and would harm the will. To +humble pride. + + +581 + +We make an idol of truth itself; for truth apart from charity is not +God, but His image and idol, which we must neither love nor worship; and +still less must we love or worship its opposite, namely, falsehood. + +I can easily love total darkness; but if God keeps me in a state of +semi-darkness, such partial darkness displeases me, and, because I do +not see therein the advantage of total darkness, it is unpleasant to me. +This is a fault, and a sign that I make for myself an idol of darkness, +apart from the order of God. Now only His order must be worshipped. + + +582 + +The feeble-minded are people who know the truth, but only affirm it so +far as consistent with their own interest. But, apart from that, they +renounce it. + + +583 + +The world exists for the exercise of mercy and judgment, not as if men +were placed in it out of the hands of God, but as hostile to God; and to +them He grants by grace sufficient light, that they may return to Him, +if they desire to seek and follow Him; and also that they may be +punished, if they refuse to seek or follow Him. + + +584 + +_That God has willed to hide Himself._--If there were only one religion, +God would indeed be manifest. The same would be the case, if there were +no martyrs but in our religion. + +God being thus hidden, every religion which does not affirm that God is +hidden, is not true; and every religion which does not give the reason +of it, is not instructive. Our religion does, all this: _Vere tu es Deus +absconditus._ + + +585 + +If there were no obscurity, man would not be sensible of his corruption; +if there were no light, man would not hope for a remedy. Thus, it is not +only fair, but advantageous to us, that God be partly hidden and partly +revealed; since it is equally dangerous to man to know God without +knowing his own wretchedness, and to know his own wretchedness without +knowing God. + + +586 + +This religion, so great in miracles, saints, blameless Fathers, learned +and great witnesses, martyrs, established kings as David, and Isaiah, a +prince of the blood, and so great in science, after having displayed all +her miracles and all her wisdom, rejects all this, and declares that she +has neither wisdom nor signs, but only the cross and foolishness. + +For those, who, by these signs and that wisdom, have deserved your +belief, and who have proved to you their character, declare to you that +nothing of all this can change you, and render you capable of knowing +and loving God, but the power of the foolishness of the cross without +wisdom and signs, and not the signs without this power. Thus our +religion is foolish in respect to the effective cause, and wise in +respect to the wisdom which prepares it. + + +587 + +Our religion is wise and foolish. Wise, because it is the most learned, +and the most founded on miracles, prophecies, etc. Foolish, because it +is not all this which makes us belong to it. This makes us indeed +condemn those who do not belong to it; but it does not cause belief in +those who do belong to it. It is the cross that makes them believe, _ne +evacuata sit crux_. And so Saint Paul, who came with wisdom and signs, +says that he has come neither with wisdom nor with signs; for he came to +convert. But those who come only to convince, can say that they come +with wisdom and with signs. + + + + +SECTION IX + +PERPETUITY + + +588 + +_On the fact that the Christian religion is not the only religion._--So +far is this from being a reason for believing that it is not the true +one, that, on the contrary, it makes us see that it is so. + + +589 + +Men must be sincere in all religions; true heathens, true Jews, true +Christians. + + +590 + + J. C. +Heathens __|__ Mahomet + \ / + Ignorance + of God. + + +591 + +_The falseness of other religions._--They have no witnesses. Jews have. +God defies other religions to produce such signs: Isaiah xliii, 9; xliv, +8. + + +592 + +_History of China._[213]-I believe only the histories, whose witnesses +got themselves killed. + +[Which is the more credible of the two, Moses or China?] + +It is not a question of seeing this summarily. I tell you there is in it +something to blind, and something to enlighten. + +By this one word I destroy all your reasoning. "But China obscures," say +you; and I answer, "China obscures, but there is clearness to be found; +seek it." + +Thus all that you say makes for one of the views, and not at all against +the other. So this serves, and does no harm. + +We must then see this in detail; we must put the papers on the table. + + +593 + +_Against the history of China._ The historians of Mexico, the five +suns,[214] of which the last is only eight hundred years old. + +The difference between a book accepted by a nation, and one which makes +a nation. + + +594 + +Mahomet was without authority. His reasons then should have been very +strong, having only their own force. What does he say then, that we must +believe him? + + +595 + +The Psalms are chanted throughout the whole world. + +Who renders testimony to Mahomet? Himself. Jesus Christ[215] desires His +own testimony to be as nothing. + +The quality of witnesses necessitates their existence always and +everywhere; and he, miserable creature, is alone. + + +596 + +_Against Mahomet._--The Koran is not more of Mahomet than the Gospel is +of Saint Matthew, for it is cited by many authors from age to age. Even +its very enemies, Celsus and Porphyry, never denied it. + +The Koran says Saint Matthew was an honest man.[216] Therefore Mahomet +was a false prophet for calling honest men wicked, or for not agreeing +with what they have said of Jesus Christ. + + +597 + +It is not by that which is obscure in Mahomet, and which may be +interpreted in a mysterious sense, that I would have him judged, but by +what is clear, as his paradise and the rest. In that he is ridiculous. +And since what is clear is ridiculous, it is not right to take his +obscurities for mysteries. + +It is not the same with the Scripture. I agree that there are in it +obscurities as strange as those of Mahomet; but there are admirably +clear passages, and the prophecies are manifestly fulfilled. The cases +are therefore not on a par. We must not confound, and put on one level +things which only resemble each other in their obscurity, and not in the +clearness, which requires us to reverence the obscurities. + + +598 + +_The difference between Jesus Christ and Mahomet._--Mahomet was not +foretold; Jesus Christ was foretold. + +Mahomet slew; Jesus Christ caused His own to be slain. + +Mahomet forbade reading; the Apostles ordered reading. + +In fact the two are so opposed, that if Mahomet took the way to succeed +from a worldly point of view, Jesus Christ, from the same point of view, +took the way to perish. And instead of concluding that, since Mahomet +succeeded, Jesus Christ might well have succeeded, we ought to say that +since Mahomet succeeded, Jesus Christ should have failed. + + +599 + +Any man can do what Mahomet has done; for he performed no miracles, he +was not foretold. No man can do what Christ has done. + + +600 + +The heathen religion has no foundation [at the present day. It is said +once to have had a foundation by the oracles which spoke. But what are +the books which assure us of this? Are they so worthy of belief on +account of the virtue of their authors? Have they been preserved with +such care that we can be sure that they have not been meddled with?] + +The Mahometan religion has for a foundation the Koran and Mahomet. But +has this prophet, who was to be the last hope of the world, been +foretold? What sign has he that every other man has not, who chooses to +call himself a prophet? What miracles does he himself say that he has +done? What mysteries has he taught, even according to his own tradition? +What was the morality, what the happiness held out by him? + +The Jewish religion must be differently regarded in the tradition of the +Holy Bible, and in the tradition of the people. Its morality and +happiness are absurd in the tradition of the people, but are admirable +in that of the Holy Bible. (And all religion is the same; for the +Christian religion is very different in the Holy Bible and in the +casuists.) The foundation is admirable; it is the most ancient book in +the world, and the most authentic; and whereas Mahomet, in order to make +his own book continue in existence, forbade men to read it, Moses,[217] +for the same reason, ordered every one to read his. + +Our religion is so divine that another divine religion has only been the +foundation of it. + + +601 + +_Order._--To see what is clear and indisputable in the whole state of +the Jews. + + +602 + +The Jewish religion is wholly divine in its authority, its duration, its +perpetuity, its morality, its doctrine, and its effects. + + +603 + +The only science contrary to common sense and human nature is that alone +which has always existed among men. + + +604 + +The only religion contrary to nature, to common sense, and to our +pleasure, is that alone which has always existed. + + +605 + +No religion but our own has taught that man is born in sin. No sect of +philosophers has said this. Therefore none have declared the truth. + +No sect or religion has always existed on earth, but the Christian +religion. + + +606 + +Whoever judges of the Jewish religion by its coarser forms will +misunderstand it. It is to be seen in the Holy Bible, and in the +tradition of the prophets, who have made it plain enough that they did +not interpret the law according to the letter. So our religion is divine +in the Gospel, in the Apostles, and in tradition; but it is absurd in +those who tamper with it. + +The Messiah, according to the carnal Jews, was to be a great temporal +prince. Jesus Christ, according to carnal Christians,[218] has come to +dispense us from the love of God, and to give us sacraments which shall +do everything without our help. Such is not the Christian religion, nor +the Jewish. True Jews and true Christians have always expected a Messiah +who should make them love God, and by that love triumph over their +enemies. + + +607 + +The carnal Jews hold a midway place between Christians and heathens. The +heathens know not God, and love the world only. The Jews know the true +God, and love the world only. The Christians know the true God, and love +not the world. Jews and heathens love the same good. Jews and Christians +know the same God. + +The Jews were of two kinds; the first had only heathen affections, the +other had Christian affections. + + +608 + +There are two kinds of men in each religion: among the heathen, +worshippers of beasts, and the worshippers of the one only God of +natural religion; among the Jews, the carnal, and the spiritual, who +were the Christians of the old law; among Christians, the +coarser-minded, who are the Jews of the new law. The carnal Jews looked +for a carnal Messiah; the coarser Christians believe that the Messiah +has dispensed them from the love of God; true Jews and true Christians +worship a Messiah who makes them love God. + + +609 + +_To show that the true Jews and the true Christians have but the same +religion._--The religion of the Jews seemed to consist essentially in +the fatherhood of Abraham, in circumcision, in sacrifices, in +ceremonies, in the Ark, in the temple, in Jerusalem, and, finally, in +the law, and in the covenant with Moses. + +I say that it consisted in none of those things, but only in the love of +God, and that God disregarded all the other things. + +That God did not accept the posterity of Abraham. + +That the Jews were to be punished like strangers, if they transgressed. +_Deut._ viii, 19; "If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk +after other gods, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely +perish, as the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face." + +That strangers, if they loved God, were to be received by Him as the +Jews. _Isaiah_ lvi, 3: "Let not the stranger say, 'The Lord will not +receive me.' The strangers who join themselves unto the Lord to serve +Him and love Him, will I bring unto my holy mountain, and accept therein +sacrifices, for mine house is a house of prayer." + +That the true Jews considered their merit to be from God only, and not +from Abraham. _Isaiah_ lxiii, 16; "Doubtless thou art our Father, though +Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. Thou art our +Father and our Redeemer." + +Moses himself told them that God would not accept persons. _Deut._ x, +17: "God," said he, "regardeth neither persons nor sacrifices." + +The Sabbath was only a sign, _Exod._ xxxi, 13; and in memory of the +escape from Egypt, _Deut._ v, 19. Therefore it is no longer necessary, +since Egypt must be forgotten. + +Circumcision was only a sign, _Gen._ xvii, 11. And thence it came to +pass that, being in the desert, they were not circumcised because they +could not be confounded with other peoples; and after Jesus Christ came, +it was no longer necessary. + +That the circumcision of the heart is commanded. _Deut._ x, 16; +_Jeremiah_ iv, 4: "Be ye circumcised in heart; take away the +superfluities of your heart, and harden yourselves not. For your God is +a mighty God, strong and terrible, who accepteth not persons." + +That God said He would one day do it. _Deut._ xxx, 6; "God will +circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, that thou mayest love +Him with all thine heart." + +That the uncircumcised in heart shall be judged. _Jeremiah_ ix, 26: For +God will judge the uncircumcised peoples, and all the people of Israel, +because he is "uncircumcised in heart." + +That the external is of no avail apart from the internal. _Joel_ ii, 13: +_Scindite corda vestra_, etc.; _Isaiah_ lviii, 3, 4, etc. + +The love of God is enjoined in the whole of Deuteronomy. _Deut._ xxx, +19: "I call heaven and earth to record that I have set before you life +and death, that you should choose life, and love God, and obey Him, for +God is your life." + +That the Jews, for lack of that love, should be rejected for their +offences, and the heathen chosen in their stead. _Hosea_ i, 10; _Deut._ +xxxii, 20. "I will hide myself from them in view of their latter sins, +for they are a froward generation without faith. They have moved me to +jealousy with that which is not God, and I will move them to jealousy +with those which are not a people, and with an ignorant and foolish +nation." _Isaiah_ lxv, 1. + +That temporal goods are false, and that the true good is to be united to +God. _Psalm_ cxliii, 15. + +That their feasts are displeasing to God. _Amos_ v, 21. + +That the sacrifices of the Jews displeased God. _Isaiah_ lxvi. 1-3; i, +II; _Jer._ vi, 20; David, _Miserere._--Even on the part of the good, +_Expectavi_. _Psalm_ xlix, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. + +That He has established them only for their hardness. _Micah_, +admirably, vi; 1 _Kings_ xv, 22; _Hosea_ vi, 6. + +That the sacrifices of the Gentiles will be accepted of God, and that +God will take no pleasure in the sacrifices of the Jews. _Malachi_ i, +II. + +That God will make a new covenant with the Messiah, and the old will be +annulled. _Jer._ xxxi, 31. _Mandata non bona. Ezek._ + +That the old things will be forgotten. _Isaiah_ xliii, 18, 19; lxv 17, +10. + +That the Ark will no longer be remembered. _Jer._ iii, 15, 16. + +That the temple should be rejected. _Jer._ vii, 12, 13, 14. + +That the sacrifices should be rejected, and other pure sacrifices +established. _Malachi_ i, II. + +That the order of Aaron's priesthood should be rejected, and that of +Melchizedek introduced by the Messiah. _Ps. Dixit Dominus._ + +That this priesthood should be eternal. _Ibid._ + +That Jerusalem should be rejected, and Rome admitted. _Ps. Dixit +Dominus._ + +That the name of the Jews should be rejected, and a new name given. +_Isaiah_ lxv, 15. + +That this last name should be more excellent than that of the Jews, and +eternal. _Isaiah_ lvi, 5. + +That the Jews should be without prophets (Amos), without a king, without +princes, without sacrifice, without an idol. + +That the Jews should nevertheless always remain a people. _Jer._ xxxi, +36. + + +610 + +_Republic._--The Christian republic--and even the Jewish--has only had +God for ruler, as Philo the Jew notices, _On Monarchy_. + +When they fought, it was for God only; their chief hope was in God only; +they considered their towns as belonging to God only, and kept them for +God. 1 _Chron._ xix, 13. + + +611 + +_Gen._ xvii, 7. _Statuam pactum meum inter me et te fœdere sempiterno +... ut sim Deus tuus...._ + +_Et tu ergo custodies pactum meum._ + + +612 + +_Perpetuity._--That religion has always existed on earth, which consists +in believing that man has fallen from a state of glory and of communion +with God into a state of sorrow, penitence, and estrangement from God, +but that after this life we shall be restored by a Messiah who should +have come. All things have passed away, and this has endured, for which +all things are. + +Men have in the first age of the world been carried away into every kind +of debauchery, and yet there were saints, as Enoch, Lamech, and others, +who waited patiently for the Christ promised from the beginning of the +world. Noah saw the wickedness of men at its height; and he was held +worthy to save the world in his person, by the hope of the Messiah of +whom he was the type. Abraham was surrounded by idolaters, when God made +known to him the mystery of the Messiah, whom he welcomed from +afar.[219] In the time of Isaac and Jacob abomination was spread over +all the earth; but these saints lived in faith; and Jacob, dying and +blessing his children, cried in a transport which made him break off his +discourse, "I await, O my God, the Saviour whom Thou hast promised. +_Salutare taum expectabo, Domine._"[220] The Egyptians were infected +both with idolatry and magic; the very people of God were led astray by +their example. Yet Moses and others believed Him whom they saw not, and +worshipped Him, looking to the eternal gifts which He was preparing for +them. + +The Greeks and Latins then set up false deities; the poets made a +hundred different theologies, while the philosophers separated into a +thousand different sects; and yet in the heart of Judæa there were +always chosen men who foretold the coming of this Messiah, which was +known to them alone. + +He came at length in the fullness of time, and time has since witnessed +the birth of so many schisms and heresies, so many political +revolutions, so many changes in all things; yet this Church, which +worships Him who has always been worshipped, has endured +uninterruptedly. It is a wonderful, incomparable, and altogether divine +fact that this religion, which has always endured, has always been +attacked. It has been a thousand times on the eve of universal +destruction, and every time it has been in that state, God has restored +it by extraordinary acts of His power. This is astonishing, as also that +it has preserved itself without yielding to the will of tyrants. For it +is not strange that a State endures, when its laws are sometimes made +to give way to necessity, but that ... (See the passage indicated in +Montaigne.) + + +613 + +States would perish if they did not often make their laws give way to +necessity. But religion has never suffered this, or practised it. +Indeed, there must be these compromises, or miracles. It is not strange +to be saved by yieldings, and this is not strictly self-preservation; +besides, in the end they perish entirely. None has endured a thousand +years. But the fact that this religion has always maintained itself, +inflexible as it is, proves its divinity. + + +614 + +Whatever may be said, it must be admitted that the Christian religion +has something astonishing in it. Some will say, "This is because you +were born in it." Far from it; I stiffen myself against it for this very +reason, for fear this prejudice bias me. But although I am born in it, I +cannot help finding it so. + + +615 + +_Perpetuity._--The Messiah has always been believed in. The tradition +from Adam was fresh in Noah and in Moses. Since then the prophets have +foretold him, while at the same time foretelling other things, which, +being from time to time fulfilled in the sight of men, showed the truth +of their mission, and consequently that of their promises touching the +Messiah. Jesus Christ performed miracles, and the Apostles also, who +converted all the heathen; and all the prophecies being thereby +fulfilled, the Messiah is for ever proved. + + +616 + +_Perpetuity._--Let us consider that since the beginning of the world the +expectation of worship of the Messiah has existed uninterruptedly; that +there have been found men, who said that God had revealed to them that a +Redeemer was to be born, who should save His people; that Abraham came +afterwards, saying that he had had a revelation that the Messiah was to +spring from him by a son, whom he should have; that Jacob declared that, +of his twelve sons, the Messiah would spring from Judah; that Moses and +the prophets then came to declare the time and the manner of His coming; +that they said their law was only temporary till that of the Messiah, +that it should endure till then, but that the other should last for +ever; that thus either their law, or that of the Messiah, of which it +was the promise, would be always upon the earth; that, in fact, it has +always endured; that at last Jesus Christ came with all the +circumstances foretold. This is wonderful. + + +617 + +This is positive fact. While all philosophers separate into different +sects, there is found in one corner of the world the most ancient people +in it, declaring that all the world is in error, that God has revealed +to them the truth, that they will always exist on the earth. In fact, +all other sects come to an end, this one still endures, and has done so +for four thousand years. + +They declare that they hold from their ancestors that man has fallen +from communion with God, and is entirely estranged from God, but that He +has promised to redeem them; that this doctrine shall always exist on +the earth; that their law has a double signification; that during +sixteen hundred years they have had people, whom they believed prophets, +foretelling both the time and the manner; that four hundred years after +they were scattered everywhere, because Jesus Christ was to be +everywhere announced; that Jesus Christ came in the manner, and at the +time foretold; that the Jews have since been scattered abroad under a +curse, and nevertheless still exist. + + +618 + +I see the Christian religion founded upon a preceding religion, and this +is what I find as a fact. + +I do not here speak of the miracles of Moses, of Jesus Christ, and of +the Apostles, because they do not at first seem convincing, and because +I only wish here to put in evidence all those foundations of the +Christian religion which are beyond doubt, and which cannot be called in +question by any person whatsoever. It is certain that we see in many +places of the world a peculiar people, separated from all other peoples +of the world, and called the Jewish people. + +I see then a crowd of religions in many parts of the world and in all +times; but their morality cannot please me, nor can their proofs +convince me. Thus I should equally have rejected the religion of Mahomet +and of China, of the ancient Romans and of the Egyptians, for the sole +reason, that none having more marks of truth than another, nor anything +which should necessarily persuade me, reason cannot incline to one +rather than the other. + +But, in thus considering this changeable and singular variety of morals +and beliefs at different times, I find in one corner of the world a +peculiar people, separated from all other peoples on earth, the most +ancient of all, and whose histories are earlier by many generations than +the most ancient which we possess. + +I find, then, this great and numerous people, sprung from a single man, +who worship one God, and guide themselves by a law which they say that +they obtained from His own hand. They maintain that they are the only +people in the world to whom God has revealed His mysteries; that all men +are corrupt and in disgrace with God; that they are all abandoned to +their senses and their own imagination, whence come the strange errors +and continual changes which happen among them, both of religions and of +morals, whereas they themselves remain firm in their conduct; but that +God will not leave other nations in this darkness for ever; that there +will come a Saviour for all; that they are in the world to announce Him +to men; that they are expressly formed to be forerunners and heralds of +this great event, and to summon all nations to join with them in the +expectation of this Saviour. + +To meet with this people is astonishing to me, and seems to me worthy of +attention. I look at the law which they boast of having obtained from +God, and I find it admirable. It is the first law of all, and is of such +a kind that, even before the term _law_ was in currency among the +Greeks, it had, for nearly a thousand years earlier, been +uninterruptedly accepted and observed by the Jews. I likewise think it +strange that the first law of the world happens to be the most perfect; +so that the greatest legislators have borrowed their laws from it, as is +apparent from the law of the Twelve Tables at Athens,[221] afterwards +taken by the Romans, and as it would be easy to prove, if Josephus[222] +and others had not sufficiently dealt with this subject. + + +619 + +_Advantages of the Jewish people._--In this search the Jewish people at +once attracts my attention by the number of wonderful and singular facts +which appear about them. + +I first see that they are a people wholly composed of brethren, and +whereas all others are formed by the assemblage of an infinity of +families, this, though so wonderfully fruitful, has all sprung from one +man alone, and, being thus all one flesh, and members one of another, +they constitute a powerful state of one family. This is unique. + +This family, or people, is the most ancient within human knowledge, a +fact which seems to me to inspire a peculiar veneration for it, +especially in view of our present inquiry; since if God had from all +time revealed Himself to men, it is to these we must turn for knowledge +of the tradition. + +This people is not eminent solely by their antiquity, but is also +singular by their duration, which has always continued from their origin +till now. For whereas the nations of Greece and of Italy, of Lacedæmon, +of Athens and of Rome, and others who came long after, have long since +perished, these ever remain, and in spite of the endeavours of many +powerful kings who have a hundred times tried to destroy them, as their +historians testify, and as it is easy to conjecture from the natural +order of things during so long a space of years, they have nevertheless +been preserved (and this preservation has been foretold); and extending +from the earliest times to the latest, their history comprehends in its +duration all our histories [which it preceded by a long time]. + +The law by which this people is governed is at once the most ancient law +in the world, the most perfect, and the only one which has been always +observed without a break in a state. This is what Josephus admirably +proves, _against Apion_,[223] and also Philo[224] the Jew, in different +places, where they point out that it is so ancient that the very name of +_law_ was only known by the oldest nation more than a thousand years +afterwards; so that Homer, who has written the history of so many +states, has never used the term. And it is easy to judge of its +perfection by simply reading it; for we see that it has provided for all +things with so great wisdom, equity, and judgment, that the most ancient +legislators, Greek and Roman, having had some knowledge of it, have +borrowed from it their principal laws; this is evident from what are +called the Twelve Tables, and from the other proofs which Josephus +gives. + +But this law is at the same time the severest and strictest of all in +respect to their religious worship, imposing on this people, in order to +keep them to their duty, a thousand peculiar and painful observances, on +pain of death. Whence it is very astonishing that it has been +constantly preserved during many centuries by a people, rebellious and +impatient as this one was; while all other states have changed their +laws from time to time, although these were far more lenient. + +The book which contains this law, the first of all, is itself the most +ancient book in the world, those of Homer, Hesiod, and others, being six +or seven hundred years later. + + +620 + +The creation and the deluge being past, and God no longer requiring to +destroy the world, nor to create it anew, nor to give such great signs +of Himself, He began to establish a people on the earth, purposely +formed, who were to last until the coming of the people whom the Messiah +should fashion by His spirit. + + +621 + +The creation of the world beginning to be distant, God provided a single +contemporary historian, and appointed a whole people as guardians of +this book, in order that this history might be the most authentic in the +world, and that all men might thereby learn a fact so necessary to know, +and which could only be known through that means. + + +622 + +[Japhet begins the genealogy.] + +Joseph folds his arms, and prefers the younger.[225] + + +623 + +Why should Moses make the lives of men so long, and their generations so +few? + +Because it is not the length of years, but the multitude of generations, +which renders things obscure. For truth is perverted only by the change +of men. And yet he puts two things, the most memorable that were ever +imagined, namely, the creation and the deluge, so near that we reach +from one to the other. + + +624 + +Shem, who saw Lamech, who saw Adam, saw also Jacob, who saw those who +saw Moses; therefore the deluge and the creation are true. This is +conclusive among certain people who understand it rightly. + + +625 + +The longevity of the patriarchs, instead of causing the loss of past +history, conduced, on the contrary, to its preservation. For the reason +why we are sometimes insufficiently instructed in the history of our +ancestors, is that we have never lived long with them, and that they are +often dead before we have attained the age of reason. Now, when men +lived so long, children lived long with their parents. They conversed +long with them. But what else could be the subject of their talk save +the history of their ancestors, since to that all history was reduced, +and men did not study science or art, which now form a large part of +daily conversation? We see also that in these days tribes took +particular care to preserve their genealogies. + + +626 + +I believe that Joshua was the first of God's people to have this name, +as Jesus Christ was the last of God's people. + + +627 + +_Antiquity of the Jews._--What a difference there is between one book +and another! I am not astonished that the Greeks made the Iliad, nor the +Egyptians and the Chinese their histories. + +We have only to see how this originates. These fabulous historians are +not contemporaneous with the facts about which they write. Homer +composes a romance, which he gives out as such, and which is received as +such; for nobody doubted that Troy and Agamemnon no more existed than +did the golden apple. Accordingly he did not think of making a history, +but solely a book to amuse; he is the only writer of his time; the +beauty of the work has made it last, every one learns it and talks of +it, it is necessary to know it, and each one knows it by heart. Four +hundred years afterwards the witnesses of these facts are no longer +alive, no one knows of his own knowledge if it be a fable or a history; +one has only learnt it from his ancestors, and this can pass for truth. + +Every history which is not contemporaneous, as the books of the Sibyls +and Trismegistus,[226] and so many others which have been believed by +the world, are false, and found to be false in the course of time. It is +not so with contemporaneous writers. + +There is a great difference between a book which an individual writes, +and publishes to a nation, and a book which itself creates a nation. We +cannot doubt that the book is as old as the people. + + +628 + +Josephus hides the shame of his nation. + +Moses does not hide his own shame. + +_Quis mihi det ut omnes prophetent?_[227] + +He was weary of the multitude. + + +629 + +_The sincerity of the Jews._--Maccabees,[228] after they had no more +prophets; the Masorah, since Jesus Christ. + +This book will be a testimony for you.[229] + +Defective and final letters. + +Sincere against their honour, and dying for it; this has no example in +the world, and no root in nature. + + +630 + +_Sincerity of the Jews._--They preserve lovingly and carefully the book +in which Moses declares that they have been all their life ungrateful to +God, and that he knows they will be still more so after his death; but +that he calls heaven and earth to witness against them, and that he has +[_taught_] them enough. + +He declares that God, being angry with them, shall at last scatter them +among all the nations of the earth; that as they have offended Him by +worshipping gods who were not their God, so He will provoke them by +calling a people who are not His people; that He desires that all His +words be preserved for ever, and that His book be placed in the Ark of +the Covenant to serve for ever as a witness against them. + +Isaiah says the same thing, xxx. + + +631 + +_On Esdras._--The story that the books were burnt with the temple proved +false by Maccabees: "Jeremiah gave them the law." + +The story that he recited the whole by heart. Josephus and Esdras point +out _that he read the book_. Baronius, _Ann._, p. 180: _Nullus penitus +Hebræorum antiquorum reperitur qui tradiderit libros periisse et per +Esdram esse restitutos, nisi in IV Esdræ._ + +The story that he changed the letters. + +Philo, _in Vita Moysis: Illa lingua ac character quo antiquitus scripta +est lex sic permansit usque ad LXX._ + +Josephus says that the Law was in Hebrew when it was translated by the +Seventy. + +Under Antiochus and Vespasian, when they wanted to abolish the books, +and when there was no prophet, they could not do so. And under the +Babylonians, when no persecution had been made, and when there were so +many prophets, would they have let them be burnt? + +Josephus laughs at the Greeks who would not bear ... + +Tertullian.[230]--_Perinde potuit abolefactam eam violentia cataclysmi +in spiritu rursus reformare, quemadmodum et Hierosolymis Babylonia +expugnatione deletis, omne instrumentum Judaicæ literaturæ per Esdram +constat restauratum._ + +He says that Noah could as easily have restored in spirit the book of +Enoch, destroyed by the Deluge, as Esdras could have restored the +Scriptures lost during the Captivity. + +(Θεὸς) ἐν τῆ ἐπὶ Ναβουχοδόνοσορ αἰχμαλωία τοῦ λαοῦ, διαφθαρεισῶν τῶν +γραφῶν ... ἐνέπνευσε Εσδρᾷ τῶ ἱερεἱ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Λευὶ τοῦς τῶν +προγεγονότων προφητῶν πάντας ἀνατάξασθαι λόγους, και ἀποκαταστῆσαι τῲ +λαω τὴν διὰ Μωυσέως νομοθίαν.[231] He alleges this to prove that it is +not incredible that the Seventy may have explained the holy Scriptures +with that uniformity which we admire in them. And he took that from +Saint Irenæus.[232] + +Saint Hilary, in his preface to the Psalms, says that Esdras arranged +the Psalms in order. + +The origin of this tradition comes from the 14th chapter of the fourth +book of Esdras. _Deus glorificatus est, et Scripturæ vere divinæ creditæ +sunt, omnibus eandem et eisdem verbis et eisdem nominibus recitantibus +ab initio usque ad finem, uti et præsentes gentes cognoscerent quoniam +per inspirationem Dei interpretatæ sunt Scripturæ, et non esset mirabile +Deum hoc in eis operatum: quando in ea captivitate populi quæ facta est +a Nabuchodonosor, corruptis scripturis et post 70 annos Judæis +descendentibus in regionem suam, et post deinde temporibus Artaxerxis +Persarum regis, inspiravit Esdræ sacerdoti tribus Levi præteritorum +prophetarum omnes rememorare sermones, et restituere populo eam legem +quæ data est per Moysen._ + + +632 + +_Against the story in Esdras, 2 Maccab._ ii;--Josephus, _Antiquities_, +II, i--Cyrus took occasion from the prophecy of Isaiah to release the +people. The Jews held their property in peace under Cyrus in Babylon; +hence they could well have the Law. + +Josephus, in the whole history of Esdras, does not say one word about +this restoration.--2 Kings xvii, 27. + + +633 + +If the story in Esdras[233] is credible, then it must be believed that +the Scripture is Holy Scripture; for this story is based only on the +authority of those who assert that of the Seventy, which shows that the +Scripture is holy. + +Therefore if this account be true, we have what we want therein; if not, +we have it elsewhere. And thus those who would ruin the truth of our +religion, founded on Moses, establish it by the same authority by which +they attack it. So by this providence it still exists. + + +634 + +_Chronology of Rabbinism._ (The citations of pages are from the book +_Pugio_.) + +Page 27. R. Hakadosch (_anno_ 200), author of the _Mischna_, or vocal +law, or second law. + +Commentaries on the _Mischna (anno_ 340): {The one _Siphra_. +_Barajetot_. _Talmud Hierosol_. _Tosiphtot_.} + +_Bereschit Rabah_, by R. Osaiah Rabah, commentary on the _Mischna_. + +_Bereschit Rabah, Bar Naconi_, are subtle and pleasant discourses, +historical and theological. This same author wrote the books called +_Rabot_. + +A hundred years after the _Talmud Hierosol_ was composed the _Babylonian +Talmud_, by R. Ase, A.D. 440, by the universal consent of all the Jews, +who are necessarily obliged to observe all that is contained therein. + +The addition of R. Ase is called the _Gemara_, that is to say, the +"commentary" on the _Mischna_. + +And the Talmud includes together the _Mischna_ and the _Gemara_. + + +635 + +_If_ does not indicate indifference: Malachi, Isaiah. + +Is., _Si volumus_, etc. + +_In quacumque die._ + + +636 + +_Prophecies._--The sceptre was not interrupted by the captivity in +Babylon, because the return was promised and foretold. + + +637 + +_Proofs of Jesus Christ._--Captivity, with the assurance of deliverance +within seventy years, was not real captivity. But now they are captives +without any hope. + +God has promised them that even though He should scatter them to the +ends of the earth, nevertheless if they were faithful to His law, He +would assemble them together again. They are very faithful to it, and +remain oppressed. + + +638 + +When Nebuchadnezzar carried away the people, for fear they should +believe that the sceptre had departed from Judah, they were told +beforehand that they would be there for a short time, and that they +would be restored. They were always consoled by the prophets; and their +kings continued. But the second destruction is without promise of +restoration, without prophets, without kings, without consolation, +without hope, because the sceptre is taken away for ever. + + +639 + +It is a wonderful thing, and worthy of particular attention, to see this +Jewish people existing so many years in perpetual misery, it being +necessary as a proof of Jesus Christ, both that they should exist to +prove Him, and that they should be miserable because they crucified Him; +and though to be miserable and to exist are contradictory, they +nevertheless still exist in spite of their misery. + + +640 + +They are visibly a people expressly created to serve as a witness to the +Messiah (Isaiah, xliii, 9; xliv, 8). They keep the books, and love them, +and do not understand them. And all this was foretold; that God's +judgments are entrusted to them, but as a sealed book. + + + + +SECTION X + +TYPOLOGY + + +641 + +_Proof of the two Testaments at once._--To prove the two at one stroke, +we need only see if the prophecies in one are fulfilled in the other. To +examine the prophecies, we must understand them. For if we believe they +have only one meaning, it is certain that the Messiah has not come; but +if they have two meanings, it is certain that He has come in Jesus +Christ. + +The whole problem then is to know if they have two meanings. + +That the Scripture has two meanings, which Jesus Christ and the Apostles +have given, is shown by the following proofs: + +1. Proof by Scripture itself. + +2. Proof by the Rabbis. Moses Maimonides says that it has two aspects, +and that the prophets have prophesied Jesus Christ only. + +3. Proof by the Kabbala.[234] + +4. Proof by the mystical interpretation which the Rabbis themselves give +to Scripture. + +5. Proof by the principles of the Rabbis, that there are two meanings; +that there are two advents of the Messiah, a glorious and an humiliating +one, according to their desert; that the prophets have prophesied of the +Messiah only--the Law is not eternal, but must change at the coming of +the Messiah--that then they shall no more remember the Red Sea; that the +Jews and the Gentiles shall be mingled. + +[6. Proof by the key which Jesus Christ and the Apostles give us.] + + +642 + +Isaiah, li. The Red Sea an image of the Redemption. _Ut sciatis quod +filius hominis habet potestatem remittendi peccata, tibi dico: +Surge._[235] God, wishing to show that He could form a people holy with +an invisible holiness, and fill them with an eternal glory, made visible +things. As nature is an image of grace, He has done in the bounties of +nature what He would do in those of grace, in order that we might judge +that He could make the invisible, since He made the visible excellently. + +Therefore He saved this people from the deluge; He has raised them up +from Abraham, redeemed them from their enemies, and set them at rest. + +The object of God was not to save them from the deluge, and raise up a +whole people from Abraham, only in order to bring them into a rich land. + +And even grace is only the type of glory, for it is not the ultimate +end. It has been symbolised by the law, and itself symbolises [_glory_]. +But it is the type of it, and the origin or cause. + +The ordinary life of men is like that of the saints. They all seek their +satisfaction, and differ only in the object in which they place it; they +call those their enemies who hinder them, etc. God has then shown the +power which He has of giving invisible blessings, by that which He has +shown Himself to have over things visible. + + +643 + +_Types._--God, wishing to form for Himself an holy people, whom He +should separate from all other nations, whom He should deliver from +their enemies, and should put into a place of rest, has promised to do +so, and has foretold by His prophets the time and the manner of His +coming. And yet, to confirm the hope of His elect, He has made them see +in it an image through all time, without leaving them devoid of +assurances of His power and of His will to save them. For, at the +creation of man, Adam was the witness, and guardian of the promise of a +Saviour, who should be born of woman, when men were still so near the +creation that they could not have forgotten their creation and their +fall. When those who had seen Adam were no longer in the world, God sent +Noah whom He saved, and drowned the whole earth by a miracle which +sufficiently indicated the power which He had to save the world, and the +will which He had to do so, and to raise up from the seed of woman Him +whom He had promised. This miracle was enough to confirm the hope of +men. + +The memory of the deluge being so fresh among men, while Noah was still +alive, God made promises to Abraham, and, while Shem was still living, +sent Moses, etc.... + + +644 + +_Types._--God, willing to deprive His own of perishable blessings, +created the Jewish people in order to show that this was not owing to +lack of power. + + +645 + +The Synagogue did not perish, because it was a type. But because it was +only a type, it fell into servitude. The type existed till the truth +came, in order that the Church should be always visible, either in the +sign which promised it, or in substance. + + +646 + +That the law was figurative. + + +647 + +Two errors: 1. To take everything literally. 2. To take everything +spiritually. + + +648 + +To speak against too greatly figurative language. + + +649 + +There are some types clear and demonstrative, but others which seem +somewhat far-fetched, and which convince only those who are already +persuaded. These are like the Apocalyptics. But the difference is that +they have none which are certain, so that nothing is so unjust as to +claim that theirs are as well founded as some of ours; for they have +none so demonstrative as some of ours. The comparison is unfair. We must +not put on the same level, and confound things, because they seem to +agree in one point, while they are so different in another. The +clearness in divine things requires us to revere the obscurities in +them. + +[It is like men, who employ a certain obscure language among themselves. +Those who should not understand it, would understand only a foolish +meaning.] + + +650 + +_Extravagances of the Apocalyptics, Preadamites, Millenarians, etc._--He +who would base extravagant opinions on Scripture, will, for example, +base them on this. It is said that "this generation shall not pass till +all these things be fulfilled."[236] Upon that I will say that after +that generation will come another generation, and so on ever in +succession. + +Solomon and the King are spoken of in the second book of Chronicles, as +if they were two different persons. I will say that they were two. + + +651 + +_Particular Types._--A double law, double tables of the law, a double +temple, a double captivity. + + +652 + +_Types._--The prophets prophesied by symbols of a girdle, a beard and +burnt hair, etc. + + +653 + +Difference between dinner and supper.[237] + +In God the word does not differ from the intention, for He is true; nor +the word from the effect, for He is powerful; nor the means from the +effect, for He is wise. Bern., _Ult. Sermo in Missam_. + +Augustine, _De Civit. Dei_, v, 10. This rule is general. God can do +everything, except those things, which if He could do, He would not be +almighty, as dying, being deceived, lying, etc. + +Several Evangelists for the confirmation of the truth; their difference +useful. + +The Eucharist after the Lord's Supper. Truth after the type. + +The ruin of Jerusalem, a type of the ruin of the world, forty years +after the death of Jesus. "I know not," as a man, or as an ambassador +(Mark xiii, 32). (Matthew xxiv, 36.) + +Jesus condemned by the Jews and the Gentiles. + +The Jews and the Gentiles typified by the two sons. Aug., _De Civ._, xx, +29. + + +654 + +The six ages, the six Fathers of the six ages, the six wonders at the +beginning of the six ages, the six mornings at the beginning of the six +ages.[238] + + +655 + +Adam _forma futuri_.[239] The six days to form the one, the six ages to +form the other. The six days, which Moses represents for the formation +of Adam, are only the picture of the six ages to form Jesus Christ and +the Church. If Adam had not sinned, and Jesus Christ had not come, there +had been only one covenant, only one age of men, and the creation would +have been represented as accomplished at one single time. + + +656 + +_Types._--The Jewish and Egyptian peoples were plainly foretold by the +two individuals whom Moses met; the Egyptian beating the Jew, Moses +avenging him and killing the Egyptian, and the Jew being ungrateful. + + +657 + +The symbols of the Gospel for the state of the sick soul are sick +bodies; but because one body cannot be sick enough to express it well, +several have been needed. Thus there are the deaf, the dumb, the blind, +the paralytic, the dead Lazarus, the possessed. All this crowd is in the +sick soul. + + +658 + +_Types._--To show that the Old Testament is only figurative, and that +the prophets understood by temporal blessings other blessings, this is +the proof: + +First, that this would be unworthy of God. + +Secondly, that their discourses express very clearly the promise of +temporal blessings, and that they say nevertheless that their discourses +are obscure, and that their meaning will not be understood. Whence it +appears that this secret meaning was not that which they openly +expressed, and that consequently they meant to speak of other +sacrifices, of another deliverer, etc. They say that they will be +understood only in the fullness of time (Jer. xxx, _ult._). + +The third proof is that their discourses are contradictory, and +neutralise each other; so that if we think that they did not mean by the +words "law" and "sacrifice" anything else than that of Moses, there is a +plain and gross contradiction. Therefore they meant something else, +sometimes contradicting themselves in the same chapter. Now, to +understand the meaning of an author ... + + +659 + +Lust has become natural to us, and has made our second nature. Thus +there are two natures in us--the one good, the other bad. Where is God? +Where you are not, and the kingdom of God is within you. The Rabbis. + + +660 + +Penitence, alone of all these mysteries, has been manifestly declared to +the Jews, and by Saint John, the Forerunner; and then the other +mysteries; to indicate that in each man, as in the entire world, this +order must be observed. + + +661 + +The carnal Jews understood neither the greatness nor the humiliation of +the Messiah foretold in their prophecies. They misunderstood Him in His +foretold greatness, as when He said that the Messiah should be lord of +David, though his son, and that He was before Abraham, who had seen Him. +They did not believe Him so great as to be eternal, and they likewise +misunderstood Him in His humiliation and in His death. "The Messiah," +said they, "abideth for ever, and this man says that he shall die."[240] +Therefore they believed Him neither mortal nor eternal; they only sought +in Him for a carnal greatness. + + +662 + +_Typical._--Nothing is so like charity as covetousness, and nothing is +so opposed to it. Thus the Jews, full of possessions which flattered +their covetousness, were very like Christians, and very contrary. And by +this means they had the two qualities which it was necessary they should +have, to be very like the Messiah to typify Him, and very contrary not +to be suspected witnesses. + + +663 + +_Typical._--God made use of the lust of the Jews to make them minister +to Jesus Christ, [who brought the remedy for their lust]. + + +664 + +Charity is not a figurative precept. It is dreadful to say that Jesus +Christ, who came to take away types in order to establish the truth, +came only to establish the type of charity, in order to take away the +existing reality which was there before. + +"If the light be darkness, how great is that darkness!"[241] + + +665 + +Fascination. _Somnum suum.[242] Figura hujus mundi._[243] + +The Eucharist. _Comedes panem_ tuum.[244] _Panem_ nostrum. + +_Inimici Dei terram lingent._[245] Sinners lick the dust, that is to +say, love earthly pleasures. + +The Old Testament contained the types of future joy, and the New +contains the means of arriving at it. The types were of joy; the means +of penitence; and nevertheless the Paschal Lamb was eaten with bitter +herbs, _cum amaritudinibus_.[246] + +_Singularis sum ego donec transeam._[247]--Jesus Christ before His death +was almost the only martyr. + + +666 + +_Typical._--The expressions, sword, shield. _Potentissime._ + + +667 + +We are estranged, only by departing from charity. Our prayers and our +virtues are abominable before God, if they are not the prayers and the +virtues of Jesus Christ. And our sins will never be the object of +[_mercy_], but of the justice of God, if they are not [_those of_] Jesus +Christ. He has adopted our sins, and has [_admitted_] us into union +[_with Him_], for virtues are [_His own, and_] sins are foreign to Him; +while virtues _[are]_ foreign to us, and our sins are our own. + +Let us change the rule which we have hitherto chosen for judging what is +good. We had our own will as our rule. Let us now take the will of +[_God_]; all that He wills is good and right to us, all that He does not +will is [_bad_]. + +All that God does not permit is forbidden. Sins are forbidden by the +general declaration that God has made, that He did not allow them. Other +things which He has left without general prohibition, and which for that +reason are said to be permitted, are nevertheless not always permitted. +For when God removed some one of them from us, and when, by the event, +which is a manifestation of the will of God, it appears that God does +not will that we should have a thing, that is then forbidden to us as +sin; since the will of God is that we should not have one more than +another. There is this sole difference between these two things, that it +is certain that God will never allow sin, while it is not certain that +He will never allow the other. But so long as God does not permit it, we +ought to regard it as sin; so long as the absence of God's will, which +alone is all goodness and all justice, renders it unjust and wrong. + + +668 + +To change the type, because of our weakness. + + +669 + +_Types._--The Jews had grown old in these earthly thoughts, that God +loved their father Abraham, his flesh and what sprung from it; that on +account of this He had multiplied them, and distinguished them from all +other nations, without allowing them to intermingle; that when they were +languishing in Egypt, He brought them out with all these great signs in +their favour; that He fed them with manna in the desert, and led them +into a very rich land; that He gave them kings and a well-built temple, +in order to offer up beasts before Him, by the shedding of whose blood +they should be purified; and that at last He was to send them the +Messiah to make them masters of all the world, and foretold the time of +His coming. + +The world having grown old in these carnal errors, Jesus Christ came at +the time foretold, but not with the expected glory; and thus men did not +think it was He. After His death, Saint Paul[248] came to teach men that +all these things had happened in allegory; that the kingdom of God did +not consist in the flesh, but in the spirit; that the enemies of men +were not the Babylonians, but the passions; that God delighted not in +temples made with hands, but in a pure and contrite heart; that the +circumcision of the body was unprofitable, but that of the heart was +needed; that Moses had not given them the bread from heaven, etc.[249] + +But God, not having desired to reveal these things to this people who +were unworthy of them, and having nevertheless desired to foretell them, +in order that they might be believed, foretold the time clearly, and +expressed the things sometimes clearly, but very often in figures, in +order that those who loved symbols might consider them, and those who +loved what was symbolised might see it therein. + +All that tends not to charity is figurative. + +The sole aim of the Scripture is charity. + +All which tends not to the sole end is the type of it. For since there +is only one end, all which does not lead to it in express terms is +figurative. + +God thus varies that sole precept of charity to satisfy our curiosity, +which seeks for variety, by that variety which still leads us to the one +thing needful. For one thing alone is needful,[250] and we love variety; +and God satisfies both by these varieties, which lead to the one thing +needful. + +The Jews have so much loved the shadows, and have so strictly expected +them, that they have misunderstood the reality, when it came in the time +and manner foretold. + +The Rabbis take the breasts of the Spouse[251] for types, and all that +does not express the only end they have, namely, temporal good. + +And Christians take even the Eucharist as a type of the glory at which +they aim. + + +670 + +The Jews, who have been called to subdue nations and kings, have been +the slaves of sin; and the Christians, whose calling has been to be +servants and subjects, are free children.[252] + + +671 + +_A formal point._--When Saint Peter and the Apostles deliberated about +abolishing circumcision, where it was a question of acting against the +law of God, they did not heed the prophets, but simply the reception of +the Holy Spirit in the persons uncircumcised.[253] + +They thought it more certain that God approved of those whom He filled +with His Spirit, than it was that the law must be obeyed. They knew that +the end of the law was only the Holy Spirit; and that thus, as men +certainly had this without circumcision, it was not necessary. + + +672 + +_Fac secundum exemplar quod tibi ostensum est in monte._[254]--The +Jewish religion then has been formed on its likeness to the truth of the +Messiah; and the truth of the Messiah has been recognised by the Jewish +religion, which was the type of it. + +Among the Jews the truth was only typified; in heaven it is revealed. + +In the Church it is hidden, and recognised by its resemblance to the +type. + +The type has been made according to the truth, and the truth has been +recognised according to the type. + +Saint Paul[255] says himself that people will forbid to marry, and he +himself speaks of it to the Corinthians in a way which is a snare. For +if a prophet had said the one, and Saint Paul had then said the other, +he would have been accused. + + +673 + +_Typical._--"Do all things according to the pattern which has been shown +thee on the mount." On which Saint Paul says that the Jews have shadowed +forth heavenly things.[256] + + +674 + +... And yet this Covenant, made to blind some and enlighten others, +indicated in those very persons, whom it blinded, the truth which should +be recognised by others. For the visible blessings which they received +from God were so great and so divine, that He indeed appeared able to +give them those that are invisible, and a Messiah. + +For nature is an image of Grace, and visible miracles are images of the +invisible. _Ut sciatis ... tibi dico: Surge._ + +Isaiah says that Redemption will be as the passage of the Red Sea. + +God has then shown by the deliverance from Egypt, and from the sea, by +the defeat of kings, by the manna, by the whole genealogy of Abraham, +that He was able to save, to send down bread from heaven, etc.; so that +the people hostile to Him are the type and the representation of the +very Messiah whom they know not, etc. + +He has then taught us at last that all these things were only types, and +what is "true freedom," a "true Israelite," "true circumcision," "true +bread from heaven," etc. + +In these promises each one finds what he has most at heart, temporal +benefits or spiritual, God or the creatures; but with this difference, +that those who therein seek the creatures find them, but with many +contradictions, with a prohibition against loving them, with the command +to worship God only, and to love Him only, which is the same thing, and, +finally, that the Messiah came not for them; whereas those who therein +seek God find Him, without any contradiction, with the command to love +Him only, and that the Messiah came in the time foretold, to give them +the blessings which they ask. + +Thus the Jews had miracles and prophecies, which they say fulfilled and +the teaching of their law was to worship and love God only; it was also +perpetual. Thus it had all the marks of the true religion; and so it +was. But the Jewish teaching must be distinguished from the teaching of +the Jewish law. Now the Jewish teaching was not true, although it had +miracles and prophecy and perpetuity, because it had not this other +point of worshipping and loving God only. + + +675 + +The veil, which is upon these books for the Jews, is there also for evil +Christians, and for all who do not hate themselves. + +But how well disposed men are to understand them and to know Jesus +Christ, when they truly hate themselves! + + +676 + +A type conveys absence and presence, pleasure and pain. + +A cipher has a double meaning, one clear, and one in which it is said +that the meaning is hidden. + + +677 + +_Types._--A portrait conveys absence and presence, pleasure and pain. +The reality excludes absence and pain. + +To know if the law and the sacrifices are a reality or a type, we must +see if the prophets, in speaking of these things, confined their view +and their thought to them, so that they saw only the old covenant; or if +they saw therein something else of which they were the representation, +for in a portrait we see the thing figured. For this we need only +examine what they say of them. + +When they say that it will be eternal, do they mean to speak of that +covenant which they say will be changed; and so of the sacrifices, etc.? + +A cipher has two meanings. When we find out an important letter in which +we discover a clear meaning, and in which it is nevertheless said that +the meaning is veiled and obscure, that it is hidden, so that we might +read the letter without seeing it, and interpret it without +understanding it, what must we think but that here is a cipher with a +double meaning, and the more so if we find obvious contradictions in the +literal meaning? The prophets have clearly said that Israel would be +always loved by God, and that the law would be eternal; and they have +said that their meaning would not be understood, and that it was veiled. + +How greatly then ought we to value those who interpret the cipher, and +teach us to understand the hidden meaning, especially if the principles +which they educe are perfectly clear and natural! This is what Jesus +Christ did, and the Apostles. They broke the seal; He rent the veil, and +revealed the spirit. They have taught us through this that the enemies +of man are his passions; that the Redeemer would be spiritual, and His +reign spiritual; that there would be two advents, one in lowliness to +humble the proud, the other in glory to exalt the humble; that Jesus +Christ would be both God and man. + + +678 + +_Types._--Jesus Christ opened their mind to understand the Scriptures. + +Two great revelations are these. (1) All things happened to them in +types: _vere Israëlitæ, vere liberi_, true bread from Heaven. (2) A God +humbled to the Cross. It was necessary that Christ should suffer in +order to enter into glory, "that He should destroy death through +death."[257] Two advents. + + +679 + +_Types._--When once this secret is disclosed, it is impossible not to +see it. Let us read the Old Testament in this light, and let us see if +the sacrifices were real; if the fatherhood of Abraham was the true +cause of the friendship of God; and if the promised land was the true +place of rest. No. They are therefore types. Let us in the same way +examine all those ordained ceremonies, all those commandments which are +not of charity, and we shall see that they are types. + +All these sacrifices and ceremonies were then either types or nonsense. +Now these are things too clear, and too lofty, to be thought nonsense. + +To know if the prophets confined their view in the Old Testament, or saw +therein other things. + + +680 + +_Typical._--The key of the cipher. _Veri adoratores._[258]--_Ecce agnus +Dei qui tollit peccata mundi._[259] + + +681 + +Is. i, 21. Change of good into evil, and the vengeance of God. Is. x, I; +xxvi, 20; xxviii, I. Miracles: Is. xxxiii, 9; xl, 17; xli, 26; xliii, +13. + +Jer. xi, 21; xv, 12; xvii, 9. _Pravum est cor omnium et incrustabile; +quis cognoscet illud?_ that is to say, Who can know all its evil? For it +is already known to be wicked. _Ego dominus_, etc.--vii, 14, _Faciam +domui huic_, etc. Trust in external sacrifices--vii, 22, _Quia non sum +locutus_, etc. Outward sacrifice is not the essential point--xi, 13, +_Secundum numerum_, etc. A multitude of doctrines. + +Is. xliv, 20-24; liv, 8; lxiii, 12-17; lxvi, 17. Jer. ii, 35; iv, 22-24; +v, 4, 29-31; vi, 16; xxiii, 15-17. + + +682 + +_Types_,--The letter kills. All happened in types. Here is the cipher +which Saint Paul gives us. Christ must suffer. An humiliated God. +Circumcision of the heart, true fasting, true sacrifice, a true temple. +The prophets have shown that all these must be spiritual. + +Not the meat which perishes, but that which does not perish. + +"Ye shall be free indeed."[260] Then the other freedom was only a type +of freedom. + +"I am the true bread from Heaven."[261] + + +683 + +_Contradiction._--We can only describe a good character by reconciling +all contrary qualities, and it is not enough to keep up a series of +harmonious qualities, without reconciling contradictory ones. To +understand the meaning of an author, we must make all the contrary +passages agree. + +Thus, to understand Scripture, we must have a meaning in which all the +contrary passages are reconciled. It is not enough to have one which +suits many concurring passages; but it is necessary to have one which +reconciles even contradictory passages. + +Every author has a meaning in which all the contradictory passages +agree, or he has no meaning at all. We cannot affirm the latter of +Scripture and the prophets; they undoubtedly are full of good sense. We +must then seek for a meaning which reconciles all discrepancies. + +The true meaning then is not that of the Jews; but in Jesus Christ all +the contradictions are reconciled. + +The Jews could not reconcile the cessation of the royalty and +principality, foretold by Hosea, with the prophecy of Jacob. + +If we take the law, the sacrifices, and the kingdom as realities, we +cannot reconcile all the passages. They must then necessarily be only +types. We cannot even reconcile the passages of the same author, nor of +the same book, nor sometimes of the same chapter, which indicates +copiously what was the meaning of the author. As when Ezekiel, chap, xx, +says that man will not live by the commandments of God and will live by +them. + + +684 + +_Types._--If the law and the sacrifices are the truth, it must please +God, and must not displease Him. If they are types, they must be both +pleasing and displeasing. + +Now in all the Scripture they are both pleasing and displeasing. It is +said that the law shall be changed; that the sacrifice shall be changed; +that they shall be without law, without a prince, and without a +sacrifice; that a new covenant shall be made; that the law shall be +renewed; that the precepts which they have received are not good; that +their sacrifices are abominable; that God has demanded none of them. + +It is said, on the contrary, that the law shall abide for ever; that +this covenant shall be for ever; that sacrifice shall be eternal; that +the sceptre shall never depart from among them, because it shall not +depart from them till the eternal King comes. + +Do all these passages indicate what is real? No. Do they then indicate +what is typical? No, but what is either real or typical. But the first +passages, excluding as they do reality, indicate that all this is only +typical. + +All these passages together cannot be applied to reality; all can be +said to be typical; therefore they are not spoken of reality, but of the +type. + +_Agnus occisus est ab origine mundi._[262] A sacrificing judge. + + +685 + +_Contradictions._--The sceptre till the Messiah--without king or prince. + +The eternal law--changed. + +The eternal covenant--a new covenant. + +Good laws--bad precepts. Ezekiel. + + +686 + +_Types._--When the word of God, which is really true, is false +literally, it is true spiritually. _Sede a dextris meis:_[263] this is +false literally, therefore it is true spiritually. + +In these expressions, God is spoken of after the manner of men; and +this means nothing else but that the intention which men have in giving +a seat at their right hand, God will have also. It is then an indication +of the intention of God, not of His manner of carrying it out. + +Thus when it is said, "God has received the odour of your incense, and +will in recompense give you a rich land," that is equivalent to saying +that the same intention which a man would have, who, pleased with your +perfumes, should in recompense give you a rich land, God will have +towards you, because you have had the same intention as a man has +towards him to whom he presents perfumes. So _iratus est_, a "jealous +God,"[264] etc. For, the things of God being inexpressible, they cannot +be spoken of otherwise, and the Church makes use of them even to-day: +_Quia confortavil seras_,[265] etc. + +It is not allowable to attribute to Scripture the meaning which is not +revealed to us that it has. Thus, to say that the closed _mem_[266] of +Isaiah signifies six hundred, has not been revealed. It might be said +that the final _tsade_ and _he deficientes_ may signify mysteries. But +it is not allowable to say so, and still less to say this is the way of +the philosopher's stone. But we say that the literal meaning is not the +true meaning, because the prophets have themselves said so. + + +687 + +I do not say that the _mem_ is mystical. + + +688 + +Moses (Deut. xxx) promises that God will circumcise their heart to +render them capable of loving Him. + + +689 + +One saying of David, or of Moses, as for instance that "God will +circumcise the heart," enables us to judge of their spirit. If all their +other expressions were ambiguous, and left us in doubt whether they were +philosophers or Christians, one saying of this kind would in fact +determine all the rest, as one sentence of Epictetus decides the meaning +of all the rest to be the opposite. So far ambiguity exists, but not +afterwards. + + +690 + +If one of two persons, who are telling silly stories, uses language with +a double meaning, understood in his own circle, while the other uses it +with only one meaning, any one not in the secret, who hears them both +talk in this manner, will pass upon them the same judgment. But if +afterwards, in the rest of their conversation one says angelic things, +and the other always dull commonplaces, he will judge that the one spoke +in mysteries, and not the other; the one having sufficiently shown that +he is incapable of such foolishness, and capable of being mysterious; +and the other that he is incapable of mystery, and capable of +foolishness. + +The Old Testament is a cipher. + + +691 + +There are some that see clearly that man has no other enemy than lust, +which turns him from God, and not God; and that he has no other good +than God, and not a rich land. Let those who believe that the good of +man is in the flesh, and evil in what turns him away from sensual +pleasures, [_satiate_] themselves with them, and [_die_] in them. But +let those who seek God with all their heart, who are only troubled at +not seeing Him, who desire only to possess Him, and have as enemies only +those who turn them away from Him, who are grieved at seeing themselves +surrounded and overwhelmed with such enemies, take comfort. I proclaim +to them happy news. There exists a Redeemer for them. I shall show Him +to them. I shall show that there is a God for them. I shall not show Him +to others. I shall make them see that a Messiah has been promised, who +should deliver them from their enemies, and that One has come to free +them from their iniquities, but not from their enemies. + +When David foretold that the Messiah would deliver His people from their +enemies, one can believe that in the flesh these would be the Egyptians; +and then I cannot show that the prophecy was fulfilled. But one can well +believe also that the enemies would be their sins; for indeed the +Egyptians were not their enemies, but their sins were so. This word, +enemies, is therefore ambiguous. But if he says elsewhere, as he does, +that He will deliver His people from their sins, as indeed do Isaiah and +others, the ambiguity is removed, and the double meaning of enemies is +reduced to the simple meaning of iniquities. For if he had sins in his +mind, he could well denote them as enemies; but if he thought of +enemies, he could not designate them as iniquities. + +Now Moses, David, and Isaiah used the same terms. Who will say then that +they have not the same meaning, and that David's meaning, which is +plainly iniquities when he spoke of enemies, was not the same as [_that +of_] Moses when speaking of enemies? + +Daniel (ix) prays for the deliverance of the people from the captivity +of their enemies. But he was thinking of sins, and, to show this, he +says that Gabriel came to tell him that his prayer was heard, and that +there were only seventy weeks to wait, after which the people would be +freed from iniquity, sin would have an end, and the Redeemer, the Holy +of Holies, would bring _eternal_ justice, not legal, but eternal. + + + + +SECTION XI + +THE PROPHECIES + + +692 + +When I see the blindness and the wretchedness of man, when I regard the +whole silent universe, and man without light, left to himself, and, as +it were, lost in this corner of the universe, without knowing who has +put him there, what he has come to do, what will become of him at death, +and incapable of all knowledge, I become terrified, like a man who +should be carried in his sleep to a dreadful desert island, and should +awake without knowing where he is, and without means of escape. And +thereupon I wonder how people in a condition so wretched do not fall +into despair. I see other persons around me of a like nature. I ask them +if they are better informed than I am. They tell me that they are not. +And thereupon these wretched and lost beings, having looked around them, +and seen some pleasing objects, have given and attached themselves to +them. For my own part, I have not been able to attach myself to them, +and, considering how strongly it appears that there is something else +than what I see, I have examined whether this God has not left some sign +of Himself. + +I see many contradictory religions, and consequently all false save one. +Each wants to be believed on its own authority, and threatens +unbelievers. I do not therefore believe them. Every one can say this; +every one can call himself a prophet. But I see that Christian religion +wherein prophecies are fulfilled; and that is what every one cannot do. + + +693 + +And what crowns all this is prediction, so that it should not be said +that it is chance which has done it. + +Whosoever, having only a week to live, will not find out that it is +expedient to believe that all this is not a stroke of chance ... + +Now, if the passions had no hold on us, a week and a hundred years would +amount to the same thing. + + +694 + +_Prophecies._--Great Pan is dead.[267] + + +695 + +_Susceperunt verbum cum omni aviditate, scrutantes Scripturas, si ita se +haberent._[268] + + +696 + +_Prodita lege._--_Impleta cerne._--_Implenda collige._ + + +697 + +We understand the prophecies only when we see the events happen. Thus +the proofs of retreat, discretion, silence, etc. are proofs only to +those who know and believe them. + +Joseph so internal in a law so external. + +Outward penances dispose to inward, as humiliations to humility. Thus +the ... + + +698 + +The synagogue has preceded the church; the Jews, the Christians. The +prophets have foretold the Christians; Saint John, Jesus Christ. + + +699 + +It is glorious to see with the eyes of faith the history of Herod and of +Cæsar. + + +700 + +The zeal of the Jews for their law and their temple (Josephus, and Philo +the Jew, _Ad Caïum_). What other people had such a zeal? It was +necessary they should have it. + +Jesus Christ foretold as to the time and the state of the world. The +ruler taken from the thigh,[269] and the fourth monarchy. How lucky we +are to see this light amidst this darkness! + +How fine it is to see, with the eyes of faith, Darius and Cyrus, +Alexander, the Romans, Pompey and Herod working, without knowing it, for +the glory of the Gospel! + + +701 + +Zeal of the Jewish people for the law, especially after there were no +more prophets. + + +702 + +While the prophets were for maintaining the law, the people were +indifferent. But since there have been no more prophets, zeal has +succeeded them. + + +703 + +The devil troubled the zeal of the Jews before Jesus Christ, because he +would have been their salvation, but not since. + +The Jewish people scorned by the Gentiles; the Christian people +persecuted. + + +704 + +_Proof._--Prophecies with their fulfilment; what has preceded and what +has followed Jesus Christ. + + +705 + +The prophecies are the strongest proof of Jesus Christ. It is for them +also that God has made most provision; for the event which has fulfilled +them is a miracle existing since the birth of the Church to the end. So +God has raised up prophets during sixteen hundred years, and, during +four hundred years afterwards, He has scattered all these prophecies +among all the Jews, who carried them into all parts of the world. Such +was the preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ, and, as His Gospel +was to be believed by all the world, it was not only necessary that +there should be prophecies to make it believed, but that these +prophecies should exist throughout the whole world, in order to make it +embraced by the whole world. + + +706 + +But it was not enough that the prophecies should exist. It was necessary +that they should be distributed throughout all places, and preserved +throughout all times. And in order that this agreement might not be +taken for an effect of chance, it was necessary that this should be +foretold. + +It is far more glorious for the Messiah that the Jews should be the +spectators, and even the instruments of His glory, besides that God had +reserved them. + + +707 + +_Prophecies._--The time foretold by the state of the Jewish people, by +the state of the heathen, by the state of the temple, by the number of +years. + + +708 + +One must be bold to predict the same thing in so many ways. It was +necessary that the four idolatrous or pagan monarchies, the end of the +kingdom of Judah, and the seventy weeks, should happen at the same time, +and all this before the second temple was destroyed. + + +709 + +_Prophecies._--If one man alone had made a book of predictions about +Jesus Christ, as to the time and the manner, and Jesus Christ had come +in conformity to these prophecies, this fact would have infinite weight. + +But there is much more here. Here is a succession of men during four +thousand years, who, consequently and without variation, come, one after +another, to foretell this same event. Here is a whole people who +announce it, and who have existed for four thousand years, in order to +give corporate testimony of the assurances which they have, and from +which they cannot be diverted by whatever threats and persecutions +people may make against them. This is far more important. + + +710 + +_Predictions of particular things._--They were strangers in Egypt, +without any private property, either in that country or elsewhere. +[There was not the least appearance, either of the royalty which had +previously existed so long, or of that supreme council of seventy judges +which they called the _Sanhedrin_, and which, having been instituted by +Moses, lasted to the time of Jesus Christ. All these things were as far +removed from their state at that time as they could be], when Jacob, +dying, and blessing his twelve children, declared to them, that they +would be proprietors of a great land, and foretold in particular to the +family of Judah, that the kings, who would one day rule them, should be +of his race; and that all his brethren should be their subjects; [and +that even the Messiah, who was to be the expectation of nations, should +spring from him; and that the kingship should not be taken away from +Judah, nor the ruler and law-giver of his descendants, till the expected +Messiah should arrive in his family]. + +This same Jacob, disposing of this future land as though he had been its +ruler, gave a portion to Joseph more than to the others. "I give you," +said he, "one part more than to your brothers." And blessing his two +children, Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Joseph had presented to him, the +elder, Manasseh, on his right, and the young Ephraim on his left, he put +his arms crosswise, and placing his right hand on the head of Ephraim, +and his left on Manasseh, he blessed them in this manner. And, upon +Joseph's representing to him that he was preferring the younger, he +replied to him with admirable resolution: "I know it well, my son; but +Ephraim will increase more than Manasseh." This has been indeed so true +in the result, that, being alone almost as fruitful as the two entire +lines which composed a whole kingdom, they have been usually called by +the name of Ephraim alone. + +This same Joseph, when dying, bade his children carry his bones with +them when they should go into that land, to which they only came two +hundred years afterwards. + +Moses, who wrote all these things so long before they happened, himself +assigned to each family portions of that land before they entered it, as +though he had been its ruler. [In fact he declared that God was to raise +up from their nation and their race a prophet, of whom he was the type; +and he foretold them exactly all that was to happen to them in the land +which they were to enter after his death, the victories which God would +give them, their ingratitude towards God, the punishments which they +would receive for it, and the rest of their adventures.] He gave them +judges who should make the division. He prescribed the entire form of +political government which they should observe, the cities of refuge +which they should build, and ... + + +711 + +The prophecies about particular things are mingled with those about the +Messiah, so that the prophecies of the Messiah should not be without +proofs, nor the special prophecies without fruit. + + +712 + +_Perpetual captivity of the Jews._--Jer. xi, 11: "I will bring evil upon +Judah from which they shall not be able to escape." + +_Types._--Is. v: "The Lord had a vineyard, from which He looked for +grapes; and it brought forth only wild grapes. I will therefore lay it +waste, and destroy it; the earth shall only bring forth thorns, and I +will forbid the clouds from _[raining]_ upon it. The vineyard of the +Lord is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant. I +looked that they should do justice, and they bring forth only +iniquities." + +Is. viii: "Sanctify the Lord with fear and trembling; let Him be your +only dread, and He shall be to you for a sanctuary, but for a stone of +stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin +and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and many among them +shall stumble against that stone, and fall, and be broken, and be +snared, and perish. Hide my words, and cover my law for my disciples. + +"I will then wait in patience upon the Lord that hideth and concealeth +Himself from the house of Jacob." + +Is. xxix: "Be amazed and wonder, people of Israel; stagger and stumble, +and be drunken, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink. +For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. He will +close your eyes; He will cover your princes and your prophets that have +visions." (Daniel xii: "The wicked shall not understand, but the wise +shall understand." Hosea, the last chapter, the last verse, after many +temporal blessings, says: "Who is wise, and he shall understand these +things, etc.?") "And the visions of all the prophets are become unto you +as a sealed book, which men deliver to one that is learned, and who can +read; and he saith, I cannot read it, for it is sealed. And when the +book is delivered to them that are not learned, they say I am not +learned. + +"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people with their lips do +honour me, but have removed their heart far from me,"--there is the +reason and the cause of it; for if they adored God in their hearts, they +would understand the prophecies,--"and their fear towards me is taught +by the precept of man. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a +marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; +for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and their understanding +shall be [hid]." + +_Prophecies. Proofs of Divinity._--Is. xli: "Shew the things that are to +come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: we will incline our +heart unto your words. Teach us the things that have been at the +beginning, and declare us things for to come. + +"By this we shall know that ye are gods. Yea, do good or do evil, if you +can. Let us then behold it and reason together. Behold, ye are of +nothing, and only an abomination, etc. Who," (among contemporary +writers), "hath declared from the beginning that we may know of the +things done from the beginning and origin? that we may say, You are +righteous. There is none that teacheth us, yea, there is none that +declareth the future." + +Is. xlii: "I am the Lord, and my glory will I not give to another. I +have foretold the things which have come to pass, and things that are to +come do I declare. Sing unto God a new song in all the earth. + +"Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and see not, and the deaf +that have ears and hear not. Let all the nations be gathered together. +Who among them can declare this, and shew us former things, and things +to come? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be +justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth. + +"Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen; +that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He. + +"I have declared, and have saved, and I alone have done wonders before +your eyes: ye are my witnesses, said the Lord, that I am God. + +"For your sake I have brought down the forces of the Babylonians. I am +the Lord, your Holy One and creator. + +"I have made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. I am He +that drowned and destroyed for ever the mighty enemies that have +resisted you. + +"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. + +"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not +know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the +desert. + +"This people have I formed for myself; I have established them to shew +forth my praise, etc. + +"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own +sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put in remembrance your +ingratitude: see thou, if thou mayest be justified. Thy first father +hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me." + +Is. xliv: "I am the first, and I am the last, saith the Lord. Let him +who will equal himself to me, declare the order of things since I +appointed the ancient people, and the things that are coming. Fear ye +not: have I not told you all these things? Ye are my witnesses." + +_Prophecy of Cyrus._--Is. xlv, 4: "For Jacob's sake, mine elect, I have +called thee by thy name." + +Is. xlv, 21: "Come and let us reason together. Who hath declared this +from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I, the +Lord?" + +Is. xlvi: "Remember the former things of old, and know there is none +like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times +the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I +will do all my pleasure." + +Is. xlii: "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do +I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them." + +Is. xlviii, 3: "I have declared the former things from the beginning; I +did them suddenly; and they came to pass. Because I know that thou art +obstinate, that thy spirit is rebellious, and thy brow brass; I have +even declared it to thee before it came to pass: lest thou shouldst say +that it was the work of thy gods, and the effect of their commands. + +"Thou hast seen all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee +new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know +them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; I have kept them +hidden from thee; lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them. + +"Yea, thou knewest not; yea, thou heardest not; yea, from that time that +thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou couldst deal very +treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb." + +_Reprobation of the Jews and conversion of the Gentiles._--Is. lxv: "I +am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought +me not; I said, Behold me, behold me, behold me, unto a nation that did +not call upon my name. + +"I have spread out my hands all the day unto an unbelieving people, +which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; a +people that provoketh me to anger continually by the sins they commit in +my face; that sacrificeth to idols, etc. + +"These shall be scattered like smoke in the day of my wrath, etc. + +"Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers, will I assemble +together, and will recompense you for all according to your works. + +"Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one +saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it [and the promise of +fruit]: for my servants' sake I will not destroy all Israel. + +"Thus I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah, an +inheritor of my mountains, and mine elect and my servants shall inherit +it, and my fertile and abundant plains; but I will destroy all others, +because you have forgotten your God to serve strange gods. I called, and +ye did not answer; I spake, and ye did not hear; and ye did choose the +thing which I forbade. + +"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye +shall be hungry; my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; my +servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry and howl for +vexation of spirit. + +"And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord +shall slay thee, and call His servants by another name, that he who +blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in God, etc., because +the former troubles are forgotten. + +"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former +things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. + +"But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for, +behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. + +"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people; and the voice of +weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. + +"Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I +will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall +eat straw like the bullock; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They +shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." + +Is. lvi, 3: "Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for +my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. + +"Blessed is the man that doeth this, that keepeth the Sabbath, and +keepeth his hand from doing any evil. + +"Neither let the strangers that have joined themselves to me, say, God +will separate me from His people. For thus saith the Lord: Whoever will +keep my Sabbath, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of +my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house a place and a name +better than that of sons and of daughters: I will give them an +everlasting name, that shall not be cut off." + +Is. lix, 9: "Therefore for our iniquities is justice far from us: we +wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in +darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind; we stumble at noon day +as in the night: we are in desolate places as dead men. + +"We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves; we look for +judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us." + +Is. lxvi, 18: "But I know their works and their thoughts; it shall come +that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall see my glory. + +"And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of +them unto the nations, to Africa, to Lydia, to Italy, to Greece, and to +the people that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory. And +they shall bring your brethren." + +Jer. vii. _Reprobation of the Temple_: "Go ye unto Shiloth, where I set +my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my +people. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, I +will do unto this house, wherein my name is called upon, wherein ye +trust, and unto the place which I gave to your priests, as I have done +to Shiloth." (For I have rejected it, and made myself a temple +elsewhere.) + +"And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your +brethren, even the seed of Ephraim." (Rejected for ever.) "Therefore +pray not for this people." + +Jer. vii, 22: "What avails it you to add sacrifice to sacrifice? For I +spake not unto your fathers, when I brought them out of the land of +Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this thing +commanded I them, saying, Obey and be faithful to my commandments, and I +will be your God, and ye shall be my people." (It was only after they +had sacrificed to the golden calf that I gave myself sacrifices to turn +into good an evil custom.) + +Jer. vii, 4: "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the +Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these." + + +713 + +The Jews witnesses for God. Is. xliii, 9; xliv, 8. + +_Prophecies fulfilled._--I Kings xiii, 2.--I Kings xxiii, 16.--Joshua +vi, 26.--I Kings xvi, 34.--Deut. xxiii. + +Malachi i, II. The sacrifice of the Jews rejected, and the sacrifice of +the heathen, (even out of Jerusalem,) and in all places. + +Moses, before dying, foretold the calling of the Gentiles, Deut. xxxii, +21, and the reprobation of the Jews. + +Moses foretold what would happen to each tribe. + +_Prophecy._--"Your name shall be a curse unto mine elect, and I will +give them another name." + +"Make their heart fat,"[270] and how? by flattering their lust and +making them hope to satisfy it. + + +714 + +_Prophecy._--Amos and Zechariah. They have sold the just one, and +therefore will not be recalled.--Jesus Christ betrayed. + +They shall no more remember Egypt. See Is. xliii, 16, 17, 18, 19. Jer. +xxiii, 6, 7. + +_Prophecy._--The Jews shall be scattered abroad. Is. xxvii, 6.--A new +law, Jerem. xxxi, 32. + +Malachi. _Grotius._--The second temple glorious.--Jesus Christ will +come. Haggai ii, 7, 8, 9, 10. + +The calling of the Gentiles. Joel ii, 28. Hosea ii, 24. Deut. xxxii, 21. +Malachi i, 11. + + +715 + +Hosea iii.--Is. xlii, xlviii, liv, lx, lxi, last verse. "I foretold it +long since that they might know that it is I." Jaddus to Alexander. + + +716 + +[_Prophecies._--The promise that David will always have descendants. +Jer. xiii, 13.] + + +717 + +The eternal reign of the race of David, 2 Chron., by all the prophecies, +and with an oath. And it was not temporally fulfilled. Jer. xxiii, 20. + + +718 + +We might perhaps think that, when the prophets foretold that the sceptre +should not depart from Judah until the eternal King came, they spoke to +flatter the people, and that their prophecy was proved false by Herod. +But to show that this was not their meaning, and that, on the contrary, +they knew well that this temporal kingdom should cease, they said that +they would be without a king and without a prince, and for a long time. +Hosea iii, 4. + + +719 + +_Non habemus regem nisi Cæsarem._[271] Therefore Jesus Christ was the +Messiah, since they had no longer any king but a stranger, and would +have no other. + + +720 + +We have no king but Cæsar. + + +721 + +Daniel ii: "All thy soothsayers and wise men cannot shew unto thee the +secret which thou hast demanded. But there is a God in heaven who can do +so, and that hath revealed to thee in thy dream what shall be in the +latter days," (This dream must have caused him much misgiving.) + +"And it is not by my own wisdom that I have knowledge of this secret, +but by the revelation of this same God, that hath revealed it to me, to +make it manifest in thy presence. + +"Thy dream was then of this kind. Thou sawest a great image, high and +terrible, which stood before thee. His head was of gold, his breast and +arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his +feet part of iron and part of clay. Thus thou sawest till that a stone +was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that +were of iron and of clay, and brake them to pieces. + +"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken +to pieces together, and the wind carried them away; but this stone that +smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. +This is the dream, and now I will give thee the interpretation thereof. + +"Thou who art the greatest of kings, and to whom God hath given a power +so vast that thou art renowned among all peoples, art the head of gold +which thou hast seen. But after thee shall arise another kingdom +inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear +rule over all the earth. + +"But the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, and even as iron +breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, so shall this empire break +in pieces and bruise all. + +"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of clay and part of +iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the +strength of iron and of the weakness of clay. + +"But as iron cannot be firmly mixed with clay, so they who are +represented by the iron and by the clay, shall not cleave one to another +though united by marriage. + +"Now in the days of these kings shall God set up a kingdom, which shall +never be destroyed, nor ever be delivered up to other people. It shall +break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for +ever, according as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the +mountain without hands, and that it fell from the mountain, and brake in +pieces the iron, the clay, the silver, and the gold. God hath made known +to thee what shall come to pass hereafter. This dream is certain, and +the interpretation thereof sure. + +"Then Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face towards the earth," etc. + +Daniel viii, 8. "Daniel having seen the combat of the ram and of the +he-goat, who vanquished him and ruled over the earth, whereof the +principal horn being broken four others came up toward the four winds of +heaven, and out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed +exceedingly great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the +land of Israel, and it waxed great even to the host of heaven; and it +cast down some of the stars, and stamped upon them, and at last +overthrew the prince, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and +the place of his sanctuary was cast down. + +"This is what Daniel saw. He sought the meaning of it, and a voice cried +in this manner, 'Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision,' And +Gabriel said: + +"The ram which thou sawest is the king of the Medes and Persians, and +the he-goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that is between +his eyes is the first king of this monarchy. + +"Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms +shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. + +"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when iniquities are come to +the full, there shall arise a king, insolent and strong, but not by his +own power, to whom all things shall succeed after his own will; and he +shall destroy the holy people, and through his policy also he shall +cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall destroy many. He shall +also stand up against the Prince of princes, but he shall perish +miserably, and nevertheless by a violent hand." + +Daniel ix, 20. "Whilst I was praying with all my heart, and confessing +my sin and the sin of all my people, and prostrating myself before my +God, even Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, came +to me and touched me about the time of the evening oblation, and he +informed me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee the +knowledge of things. At the beginning of thy supplications I came to +shew that which thou didst desire, for thou are greatly beloved: +therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks +are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the +transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to abolish iniquity, and +to bring in everlasting righteousness; to accomplish the vision and the +prophecies, and to anoint the Most Holy. (After which this people shall +be no more thy people, nor this city the holy city. The times of wrath +shall be passed, and the years of grace shall come for ever.) + +"Know therefore, and understand, that, from the going forth of the +commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the +Prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks." (The +Hebrews were accustomed to divide numbers, and to place the small first. +Thus, 7 and 62 make 69. Of this 70 there will then remain the 70th, that +is to say, the 7 last years of which he will speak next.) + +"The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. +And after three score and two weeks," (which have followed the first +seven. Christ will then be killed after the sixty-nine weeks, that is to +say, in the last week), "the Christ shall be cut off, and a people of +the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and +overwhelm all, and the end of that war shall accomplish the desolation." + +"Now one week," (which is the seventieth, which remains), "shall confirm +the covenant with many, and in the midst of the week," (that is to say, +the last three and a half years), "he shall cause the sacrifice and the +oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall +make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall +be poured upon the desolate." + +Daniel xi. "The angel said to Daniel: There shall stand up yet," (after +Cyrus, under whom this still is), "three kings in Persia," (Cambyses, +Smerdis, Darius); "and the fourth who shall then come," (Xerxes) "shall +be far richer than they all, and far stronger, and shall stir up all his +people against the Greeks. + +"But a mighty king shall stand up," (Alexander), "that shall rule with +great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand +up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided in four parts +toward the four winds of heaven," (as he had said above, vii, 6; viii, +8), "but not his posterity; and his successors shall not equal his +power, for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides +these," (his four chief successors). + +"And the king of the south," (Ptolemy, son of Lagos, Egypt), "shall be +strong; but one of his princes shall be strong above him, and his +dominion shall be a great dominion," (Seleucus, King of Syria. Appian +says that he was the most powerful of Alexander's successors). + +"And in the end of years they shall join themselves together, and the +king's daughter of the south," (Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy +Philadelphus, son of the other Ptolemy), "shall come to the king of the +north," (to Antiochus Deus, King of Syria and of Asia, son of Seleucus +Lagidas), "to make peace between these princes. + +"But neither she nor her seed shall have a long authority; for she and +they that brought her, and her children, and her friends, shall be +delivered to death." (Berenice and her son were killed by Seleucus +Callinicus.) + +"But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up," (Ptolemy +Euergetes was the issue of the same father as Berenice), "which shall +come with a mighty army into the land of the king of the north, where he +shall put all under subjection, and he shall also carry captive into +Egypt their gods, their princes, their gold, their silver, and all their +precious spoils," (if he had not been called into Egypt by domestic +reasons, says Justin, he would have entirely stripped Seleucus); "and he +shall continue several years when the king of the north can do nought +against him. + +"And so he shall return into his kingdom. But his sons shall be stirred +up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces," (Seleucus Ceraunus, +Antiochus the Great). "And their army shall come and overthrow all; +wherefore the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall +also form a great army, and fight him," (Ptolemy Philopator against +Antiochus the Great at Raphia), "and conquer; and his troops shall +become insolent, and his heart shall be lifted up," (this Ptolemy +desecrated the temple; Josephus): "he shall cast down many ten +thousands, but he shall not be strengthened by it. For the king of the +north," (Antiochus the Great), "shall return with a greater multitude +than before, and in those times also a great number of enemies shall +stand up against the king of the south," (during the reign of the young +Ptolemy Epiphanes); "also the apostates and robbers of thy people shall +exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall." (Those +who abandon their religion to please Euergetes, when he will send his +troops to Scopas; for Antiochus will again take Scopas, and conquer +them.) "And the king of the north shall destroy the fenced cities, and +the arms of the south shall not withstand, and all shall yield to his +will; he shall stand in the land of Israel, and it shall yield to him. +And thus he shall think to make himself master of all the empire of +Egypt," (despising the youth of Epiphanes, says Justin). "And for that +he shall make alliance with him, and give his daughter" (Cleopatra, in +order that she may betray her husband. On which Appian says that +doubting his ability to make himself master of Egypt by force, because +of the protection of the Romans, he wished to attempt it by cunning). +"He shall wish to corrupt her, but she shall not stand on his side, +neither be for him. Then he shall turn his face to other designs, and +shall think to make himself master of some isles," (that is to say, +seaports), "and shall take many," (as Appian says). + +"But a prince shall oppose his conquests," (Scipio Africanus, who +stopped the progress of Antiochus the Great, because he offended the +Romans in the person of their allies), "and shall cause the reproach +offered by him to cease. He shall then return into his kingdom and there +perish, and be no more." (He was slain by his soldiers.) + +"And he who shall stand up in his estate," (Seleucus Philopator or +Soter, the son of Antiochus the Great), "shall be a tyrant, a raiser of +taxes in the glory of the kingdom," (which means the people), "but +within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle. +And in his place shall stand up a vile person, unworthy of the honour of +the kingdom, but he shall come in cleverly by flatteries. All armies +shall bend before him; he shall conquer them, and even the prince with +whom he has made a covenant. For having renewed the league with him, he +shall work deceitfully, and enter with a small people into his province, +peaceably and without fear. He shall take the fattest places, and shall +do that which his fathers have not done, and ravage on all sides. He +shall forecast great devices during his time." + + +722 + +_Prophecies._--The seventy weeks of Daniel are ambiguous as regards +the term of commencement, because of the terms of the prophecy; and as +regards the term of conclusion, because of the differences among +chronologists. But all this difference extends only to two hundred +years. + + +723 + +_Predictions._--That in the fourth monarchy, before the destruction of +the second temple, before the dominion of the Jews was taken away, in +the seventieth week of Daniel, during the continuance of the second +temple, the heathen should be instructed, and brought to the knowledge +of the God worshipped by the Jews; that those who loved Him should be +delivered from their enemies, and filled with His fear and love. + +And it happened that in the fourth monarchy, before the destruction of +the second temple, etc., the heathen in great number worshipped God, and +led an angelic life. Maidens dedicated their virginity and their life to +God. Men renounced their pleasures. What Plato could only make +acceptable to a few men, specially chosen and instructed, a secret +influence imparted, by the power of a few words, to a hundred million +ignorant men. + +The rich left their wealth. Children left the dainty homes of their +parents to go into the rough desert. (See Philo the Jew.) All this was +foretold a great while ago. For two thousand years no heathen had +worshipped the God of the Jews; and at the time foretold, a great number +of the heathen worshipped this only God. The temples were destroyed. The +very kings made submission to the cross. All this was due to the Spirit +of God, which was spread abroad upon the earth. + +No heathen, since Moses until Jesus Christ, believed according to the +very Rabbis. A great number of the heathen, after Jesus Christ, believed +in the books of Moses, kept them in substance and spirit, and only +rejected what was useless. + + +724 + +_Prophecies._--The conversion of the Egyptians (Isaiah xix, 19); an +altar in Egypt to the true God. + + +725 + +_Prophecies._--_In Egypt._--_Pugio Fidei_, p. 659. _Talmud._ + +"It is a tradition among us, that, when the Messiah shall come, the +house of God, destined for the dispensation of His Word, shall be full +of filth and impurity; and that the wisdom of the scribes shall be +corrupt and rotten. Those who shall be afraid to sin, shall be rejected +by the people, and treated as senseless fools." + +Is. xlix: "Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken, ye people, from afar: +The Lord hath called me by my name from the womb of my mother; in the +shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and hath made my words like a sharp +sword, and said unto me, Thou art my servant in whom I will be +glorified. Then I said, Lord, have I laboured in vain? have I spent my +strength for nought? yet surely my judgment is with Thee, O Lord, and my +work with Thee. And now, saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to +be His servant, to bring Jacob and Israel again to Him, Thou shalt be +glorious in my sight, and I will be thy strength. It is a light thing +that thou shouldst convert the tribes of Jacob; I have raised thee up +for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the +ends of the earth. Thus saith the Lord to him whom man despiseth, to him +whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Princes and kings +shall worship thee, because the Lord is faithful that hath chosen thee. + +"Again saith the Lord unto me, I have heard thee in the days of +salvation and of mercy, and I will preserve thee for a covenant of the +people, to cause to inherit the desolate nations, that thou mayest say +to the prisoners: Go forth; to them that are in darkness show +yourselves, and possess these abundant and fertile lands. They shall not +hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for he +that hath mercy upon them shall lead them, even by the springs of waters +shall he guide them, and make the mountains a way before them. Behold, +the peoples shall come from all parts, from the east and from the west, +from the north and from the south. Let the heavens give glory to God; +let the earth be joyful; for it hath pleased the Lord to comfort His +people, and He will have mercy upon the poor who hope in Him. + +"Yet Sion dared to say: The Lord hath forsaken me, and hath forgotten +me. Can a woman forget her child, that she should not have compassion on +the son of her womb? but if she forget, yet will not I forget thee, O +Sion. I will bear thee always between my hands, and thy walls are +continually before me. They that shall build thee are come, and thy +destroyers shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and +behold; all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I +live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as +with an ornament. Thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy +destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, +and the children thou shalt have after thy barrenness shall say again in +thy ears: The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may +dwell. Then shalt thou say in thy heart: Who hath begotten me these, +seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing +to and fro? and who brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, +where had they been? And the Lord shall say to thee: Behold, I will lift +up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and +they shall bring thy sons in their arms and in their bosoms. And kings +shall be their nursing fathers, and queens their nursing mothers; they +shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the +dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall +not be ashamed that wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from the +mighty? But even if the captives be taken away from the strong, nothing +shall hinder me from saving thy children, and from destroying thy +enemies; and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord, thy Saviour and +thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. + +"Thus saith the Lord: What is the bill of this divorcement, wherewith I +have put away the synagogue? and why have I delivered it into the hands +of your enemies? Is it not for your iniquities and for your +transgressions that I have put it away? + +"For I came, and no man received me; I called and there was none to +hear. Is my arm shortened, that I cannot redeem? + +"Therefore I will show the tokens of mine anger; I will clothe the +heavens with darkness, and make sackcloth their covering. + +"The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how +to speak a word in season to him that is weary. He hath opened mine ear, +and I have listened to Him as a master. + +"The Lord hath revealed His will, and I was not rebellious. + +"I gave my body to the smiters, and my cheeks to outrage; I hid not my +face from shame and spitting. But the Lord hath helped me; therefore I +have not been confounded. + +"He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? who will be +mine adversary, and accuse me of sin, God himself being my protector? + +"All men shall pass away, and be consumed by time; let those that fear +God hearken to the voice of His servant; let him that languisheth in +darkness put his trust in the Lord. But as for you, ye do but kindle the +wrath of God upon you; ye walk in the light of your fire and in the +sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall +lie down in sorrow. + +"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the +Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit +whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah +that bare you: for I called him alone, when childless, and increased +him. Behold, I have comforted Zion, and heaped upon her blessings and +consolations. + +"Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me: for a law shall +proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the +Gentiles." + +Amos viii. The prophet, having enumerated the sins of Israel, said that +God had sworn to take vengeance on them. + +He says this: "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, +that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the +earth in the clear day; and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and +all your songs into lamentation. + +"You all shall have sorrow and suffering, and I will make this nation +mourn as for an only son, and the end therefore as a bitter day. Behold, +the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, +not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words +of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north +even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the +Lord, and shall not find it. + +"In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. They +that have followed the idols of Samaria, and sworn by the god of Dan, +and followed the manner of Beersheba, shall fall, and never rise up +again." + +Amos iii, 2: "Ye only have I known of all the families of the earth for +my people." + +Daniel xii, 7. Having described all the extent of the reign of the +Messiah, he says: "All these things shall be finished, when the +scattering of the people of Israel shall be accomplished." + +Haggai ii, 4: "Ye who, comparing this second house with the glory of the +first, despise it, be strong, saith the Lord, be strong, O Zerubbabel, +and O Jesus, the high priest, be strong, all ye people of the land, and +work. For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts; according to the word +that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit +remaineth among you. Fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet +one little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the +sea, and the dry land," (a way of speaking to indicate a great and an +extraordinary change); "and I will shake all nations, and the desire of +all the Gentiles shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, +saith the Lord. + +"The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord," (that is to +say, it is not by that that I wish to be honoured; as it is said +elsewhere: All the beasts of the field are mine, what advantages me that +they are offered me in sacrifice?). "The glory of this latter house +shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in +this place will I establish my house, saith the Lord. + +"According to all that thou desiredst in Horeb in the day of the +assembly, saying, Let us not hear again the voice of the Lord, neither +let us see this fire any more, that we die not.[272] And the Lord said +unto me, Their prayer is just. I will raise them up a prophet from among +their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and +he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come +to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he will +speak in my name, I will require it of him." + +Genesis xlix: "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, and +thou shalt conquer thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down +before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art +gone up, and art couched as a lion, and as a lioness that shall be +roused up. + +"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between +his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the +people be." + + +726 + +_During the life of the Messiah._--_Ænigmatis._--Ezek. xvii. + +His forerunner. Malachi iii. + +He will be born an infant. Is. ix. + +He will be born in the village of Bethlehem. Micah v. He will appear +chiefly in Jerusalem, and will be a descendant of the family of Judah +and of David. + +He is to blind the learned and the wise, Is. vi, viii, xxix, etc.; and +to preach the Gospel to the lowly, Is. xxix; to open the eyes of the +blind, give health to the sick, and bring light to those that languish +in darkness. Is. lxi. + +He is to show the perfect way, and be the teacher of the Gentiles. Is. +lv; xlii, 1-7. + +The prophecies are to be unintelligible to the wicked, Dan. xii; Hosea +xiv, 10; but they are to be intelligible to those who are well informed. + +The prophecies, which represent Him as poor, represent Him as master of +the nations. Is. lii, 14, etc.; liii; Zech. ix, 9. + +The prophecies, which foretell the time, foretell Him only as master of +the nations and suffering, and not as in the clouds nor as judge. And +those, which represent Him thus as judge and in glory, do not mention +the time. When the Messiah is spoken of as great and glorious, it is as +the judge of the world, and not its Redeemer. + +He is to be the victim for the sins of the world. Is. xxxix, liii, etc. + +He is to be the precious corner-stone. Is. xxviii, 16. + +He is to be a stone of stumbling and offence. Is. viii. Jerusalem is to +dash against this stone. + +The builders are to reject this stone. Ps. cxvii, 22. + +God is to make this stone the chief corner-stone. + +And this stone is to grow into a huge mountain, and fill the whole +earth. Dan. ii. + +So He is to be rejected, despised, betrayed (Ps. cviii, 8), sold (Zech. +xi, 12), spit upon, buffeted, mocked, afflicted in innumerable ways, +given gall to drink (Ps. lxviii), pierced (Zech. xii), His feet and His +hands pierced, slain, and lots cast for His raiment. + +He will raise again (Ps. xv) the third day (Hosea vi, 3). + +He will ascend to heaven to sit on the right hand. Ps. cx. + +The kings will arm themselves against Him. Ps. ii. + +Being on the right hand of the Father, He will be victorious over His +enemies. + +The kings of the earth and all nations will worship Him. Is. lx. + +The Jews will continue as a nation. Jeremiah. + +They will wander, without kings, etc. (Hosea iii), without prophets +(Amos), looking for salvation and finding it not (Isaiah). + +Calling of the Gentiles by Jesus Christ. Is. lii, 15; lv, 5; lx, etc. +Ps. lxxxi. + +Hosea i, 9: "Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God, when ye +are multiplied after the dispersion. In the places where it was said, Ye +are not my people, I will call them my people." + + +727 + +It was not lawful to sacrifice outside of Jerusalem, which was the place +that the Lord had chosen, nor even to eat the tithes elsewhere. Deut. +xii, 5, etc.; Deut. xiv, 23, etc.; xv, 20; xvi, 2, 7, 11, 15. + +Hosea foretold that they should be without a king, without a prince, +without a sacrifice, and without an idol; and this prophecy is now +fulfilled, as they cannot make a lawful sacrifice out of Jerusalem. + + +728 + +_Predictions._--It was foretold that, in the time of the Messiah, He +should come to establish a new covenant, which should make them forget +the escape from Egypt (Jer. xxiii, 5; Is. xliii, 10); that He should +place His law not in externals, but in the heart; that He should put His +fear, which had only been from without, in the midst of the heart. Who +does not see the Christian law in all this? + + +729 + +... That then idolatry would be overthrown; that this Messiah would cast +down all idols, and bring men into the worship of the true God. + +That the temples of the idols would be cast down, and that among all +nations, and in all places of the earth, He would be offered a pure +sacrifice, not of beasts. + +That He would be king of the Jews and Gentiles. And we see this king of +the Jews and Gentiles oppressed by both, who conspire His death; and +ruler of both, destroying the worship of Moses in Jerusalem, which was +its centre, where He made His first Church; and also the worship of +idols in Rome, the centre of it, where He made His chief Church. + + +730 + +_Prophecies._--That Jesus Christ will sit on the right hand, till God +has subdued His enemies. + +Therefore He will not subdue them Himself. + + +731 + +"... Then they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, saying, +Here is the Lord, _for God shall make Himself known to all._"[273] + +"... Your sons shall prophesy."[274] "I will put my spirit and my fear +_in your heart_." + +All that is the same thing. To prophesy is to speak of God, not from +outward proofs, but from an inward and immediate feeling. + + +732 + +That He would teach men the perfect way. + +And there has never come, before Him nor after Him, any man who has +taught anything divine approaching to this. + + +733 + +... That Jesus Christ would be small in His beginning, and would then +increase. The little stone of Daniel. + +If I had in no wise heard of the Messiah, nevertheless, after such +wonderful predictions of the course of the world which I see fulfilled, +I see that He is divine. And if I knew that these same books foretold a +Messiah, I should be sure that He would come; and seeing that they place +His time before the destruction of the second temple, I should say that +He had come. + + +734 + +_Prophecies._--That the Jews would reject Jesus Christ, and would be +rejected of God, for this reason, that the chosen vine brought forth +only wild grapes. That the chosen people would be fruitless, ungrateful, +and unbelieving, _populum non credentem et contradicentem_.[275] That +God would strike them with blindness, and in full noon they would grope +like the blind; and that a forerunner would go before Him. + + +735 + +_Transfixerunt._ Zech. xii, 10. + +That a deliverer should come, who would crush the demon's head, and free +His people from their sins, _ex omnibus iniquitatibus_; that there +should be a New Covenant, which would be eternal; that there should be +another priesthood after the order of Melchisedek, and it should be +eternal; that the Christ should be glorious, mighty, strong, and yet so +poor that He would not be recognised, nor taken for what He is, but +rejected and slain; that His people who denied Him should no longer be +His people; that the idolaters should receive Him, and take refuge in +Him; that He should leave Zion to reign in the centre of idolatry; that +nevertheless the Jews should continue for ever; that He should be of +Judah, and when there should be no longer a king. + + + + +SECTION XII + +PROOFS OF JESUS CHRIST + + +736 + +... Therefore I reject all other religions. In that way I find an answer +to all objections. It is right that a God so pure should only reveal +Himself to those whose hearts are purified. Hence this religion is +lovable to me, and I find it now sufficiently justified by so divine a +morality. But I find more in it. + +I find it convincing that, since the memory of man has lasted, it was +constantly announced to men that they were universally corrupt, but that +a Redeemer should come; that it was not one man who said it, but +innumerable men, and a whole nation expressly made for the purpose, and +prophesying for four thousand years. This is a nation which is more +ancient than every other nation. Their books, scattered abroad, are four +thousand years old. + +The more I examine them, the more truths I find in them: an entire +nation foretell Him before His advent, and an entire nation worship Him +after His advent; what has preceded and what has followed; in short, +people without idols and kings, this synagogue which was foretold, and +these wretches who frequent it, and who, being our enemies, are +admirable witnesses of the truth of these prophecies, wherein their +wretchedness and even their blindness are foretold. + +I find this succession, this religion, wholly divine in its authority, +in its duration, in its perpetuity, in its morality, in its conduct, in +its doctrine, in its effects. The frightful darkness of the Jews was +foretold: _Eris palpans in meridie.[276] Dabitur liber scienti literas, +et dicet: Non possum legere._[277] While the sceptre was still in the +hands of the first foreign usurper, there is the report of the coming of +Jesus Christ. + +So I hold out my arms to my _Redeemer_, who, having been foretold for +four thousand years, has come to suffer and to die for me on earth, at +the time and under all the circumstances foretold. By His grace, I await +death in peace, in the hope of being eternally united to Him. Yet I +live with joy, whether in the prosperity which it pleases Him to bestow +upon me, or in the adversity which He sends for my good, and which He +has taught me to bear by His example. + + +737 + +The prophecies having given different signs which should all happen at +the advent of the Messiah, it was necessary that all these signs should +occur at the same time. So it was necessary that the fourth monarchy +should have come, when the seventy weeks of Daniel were ended; and that +the sceptre should have then departed from Judah. And all this happened +without any difficulty. Then it was necessary that the Messiah should +come; and Jesus Christ then came, who was called the Messiah. And all +this again was without difficulty. This indeed shows the truth of the +prophecies. + + +738 + +The prophets foretold, and were not foretold. The saints again were +foretold, but did not foretell. Jesus Christ both foretold and was +foretold. + + +739 + +Jesus Christ, whom the two Testaments regard, the Old as its hope, the +New as its model, and both as their centre. + + +740 + +The two oldest books in the world are those of Moses and Job, the one a +Jew and the other a Gentile. Both of them look upon Jesus Christ as +their common centre and object: Moses in relating the promises of God to +Abraham, Jacob, etc., and his prophecies; and Job, _Quis mihi det +ut_,[278] etc. _Scio enim quod redemptor meus vivit_, etc. + + +741 + +The Gospel only speaks of the virginity of the Virgin up to the time of +the birth of Jesus Christ. All with reference to Jesus Christ. + + +742 + +_Proofs of Jesus Christ._ + + Why was the book of Ruth preserved? + + Why the story of Tamar? + + +743 + +"Pray that ye enter not into temptation."[279] It is dangerous to be +tempted; and people are tempted because they do not pray. + +_Et tu conversus confirma fratres tuos._ But before, _conversus Jesus +respexit Petrum_. + +Saint Peter asks permission to strike Malchus, and strikes before +hearing the answer. Jesus Christ replies afterwards. + +The word, _Galilee_, which the Jewish mob pronounced as if by chance, in +accusing Jesus Christ before Pilate, afforded Pilate a reason for +sending Jesus Christ to Herod. And thereby the mystery was accomplished, +that He should be judged by Jews and Gentiles. Chance was apparently the +cause of the accomplishment of the mystery. + + +744 + +Those who have a difficulty in believing seek a reason in the fact that +the Jews do not believe. "Were this so clear," say they, "why did the +Jews not believe?" And they almost wish that they had believed, so as +not to be kept back by the example of their refusal. But it is their +very refusal that is the foundation of our faith. We should be much less +disposed to the faith, if they were on our side. We should then have a +more ample pretext. The wonderful thing is to have made the Jews great +lovers of the things foretold, and great enemies of their fulfilment. + + +745 + +The Jews were accustomed to great and striking miracles, and so, having +had the great miracles of the Red Sea and of the land of Canaan as an +epitome of the great deeds of their Messiah, they therefore looked for +more striking miracles, of which those of Moses were only the patterns. + + +746 + +The carnal Jews and the heathen have their calamities, and Christians +also. There is no Redeemer for the heathen, for they do not so much as +hope for one. There is no Redeemer for the Jews; they hope for Him in +vain. There is a Redeemer only for Christians. (See _Perpetuity_.) + + +747 + +In the time of the Messiah the people divided themselves. The spiritual +embraced the Messiah, and the coarser-minded remained to serve as +witnesses of Him. + + +748 + +"If this was clearly foretold to the Jews, how did they not believe it, +or why were they not destroyed for resisting a fact so clear?" + +I reply: in the first place, it was foretold both that they would not +believe a thing so clear, and that they would not be destroyed. And +nothing is more to the glory of the Messiah; for it was not enough that +there should be prophets; their prophets must be kept above suspicion. +Now, etc. + + +749 + +If the Jews had all been converted by Jesus Christ, we should have none +but questionable witnesses. And if they had been entirely destroyed, we +should have no witnesses at all. + + +750 + +What do the prophets say of Jesus Christ? That He will be clearly God? +No; but that He is a God truly hidden; that He will be slighted; that +none will think that it is He; that He will be a stone of stumbling, +upon which many will stumble, etc. Let people then reproach us no longer +for want of clearness, since we make profession of it. + +But, it is said, there are obscurities.--And without that, no one would +have stumbled over Jesus Christ, and this is one of the formal +pronouncements of the prophets: _Excæca_[280] ... + + +751 + +Moses first teaches the Trinity, original sin, the Messiah. + +David: a great witness; a king, good, merciful, a beautiful soul, a +sound mind, powerful. He prophesies, and his wonder comes to pass. This +is infinite. + +He had only to say that he was the Messiah, if he had been vain; for the +prophecies are clearer about him than about Jesus Christ. And the same +with Saint John. + + +752 + +Herod was believed to be the Messiah. He had taken away the sceptre from +Judah, but he was not of Judah. This gave rise to a considerable sect. + +Curse of the Greeks upon those who count three periods of time. + +In what way should the Messiah come, seeing that through Him the sceptre +was to be eternally in Judah, and at His coming the sceptre was to be +taken away from Judah? + +In order to effect that seeing they should not see, and hearing they +should not understand, nothing could be better done. + + +753 + +_Homo existens te Deum facit. + +Scriptum est, Dii estis, et non potest solvi Scriptura. + +Hæc infirmitas non est ad vitam et est ad mortem. + +Lazarus dormit, et deinde dixit: Lazarus mortuus est._[281] + + +754 + +The apparent discrepancy of the Gospels.[282] + + +755 + +What can we have but reverence for a man who foretells plainly things +which come to pass, and who declares his intention both to blind and to +enlighten, and who intersperses obscurities among the clear things which +come to pass? + + +756 + +The time of the first advent was foretold; the time of the second is not +so; because the first was to be obscure, and the second is to be +brilliant, and so manifest that even His enemies will recognise it. But, +as He was first to come only in obscurity, and to be known only of those +who searched the Scriptures ... + + +757 + +God, in order to cause the Messiah to be known by the good and not to be +known by the wicked, made Him to be foretold in this manner. If the +manner of the Messiah had been clearly foretold, there would have been +no obscurity, even for the wicked. If the time had been obscurely +foretold, there would have been obscurity, even for the good. For their +[goodness of heart] would not have made them understand, for instance, +that the closed _mem_ signifies six hundred years. But the time has been +clearly foretold, and the manner in types. + +By this means, the wicked, taking the promised blessings for material +blessings, have fallen into error, in spite of the clear prediction of +the time; and the good have not fallen in error. For the understanding +of the promised blessings depends on the heart, which calls "good" that +which it loves; but the understanding of the promised time does not +depend on the heart. And thus the clear prediction of the time, and the +obscure prediction of the blessings, deceive the wicked alone. + + +758 + +[Either the Jews or the Christians must be wicked.] + + +759 + +The Jews reject Him, but not all. The saints receive Him, and not the +carnal-minded. And so far is this from being against His glory, that it +is the last touch which crowns it. For their argument, the only one +found in all their writings, in the Talmud and in the Rabbinical +writings, amounts only to this, that Jesus Christ has not subdued the +nations with sword in hand, _gladiumt uum, potentissime_.[283] (Is this +all they have to say? Jesus Christ has been slain, say they. He has +failed. He has not subdued the heathen with His might. He has not +bestowed upon us their spoil. He does not give riches. Is this all they +have to say? It is in this respect that He is lovable to me. I would not +desire Him whom they fancy.) It is evident that it is only His life +which has prevented them from accepting Him; and through this rejection +they are irreproachable witnesses, and, what is more, they thereby +accomplish the prophecies. + +[By means of the fact that this people have not accepted Him, this +miracle here has happened. The prophecies were the only lasting miracles +which could be wrought, but they were liable to be denied.] + + +760 + +The Jews, in slaying Him in order not to receive Him as the Messiah, +have given Him the final proof of being the Messiah. + +And in continuing not to recognise Him, they made themselves +irreproachable witnesses. Both in slaying Him, and in continuing to deny +Him, they have fulfilled the prophecies (Isa. lx; Ps. lxxi). + + +761 + +What could the Jews, His enemies, do? If they receive Him, they give +proof of Him by their reception; for then the guardians of the +expectation of the Messiah receive Him. If they reject Him, they give +proof of Him by their rejection. + + +762 + +The Jews, in testing if He were God, have shown that He was man. + + +763 + +The Church has had as much difficulty in showing that Jesus Christ was +man, against those who denied it, as in showing that he was God; and the +probabilities were equally great. + + +764 + +_Source of contradictions._--A God humiliated, even to the death on the +cross; a Messiah triumphing over death by his own death. Two natures in +Jesus Christ, two advents, two states of man's nature. + + +765 + +_Types._--Saviour, father, sacrificer, offering, food, king, wise, +law-giver, afflicted, poor, having to create a people whom He must lead +and nourish, and bring into His land.... + +_Jesus Christ. Offices._--He alone had to create a great people, elect, +holy, and chosen; to lead, nourish, and bring it into the place of rest +and holiness; to make it holy to God; to make it the temple of God; to +reconcile it to, and save it from, the wrath of God; to free it from the +slavery of sin, which visibly reigns in man; to give laws to this +people, and engrave these laws on their heart; to offer Himself to God +for them, and sacrifice Himself for them; to be a victim without +blemish, and Himself the sacrificer, having to offer Himself, His body, +and His blood, and yet to offer bread and wine to God ... + +_Ingrediens mundum._[284] + +"Stone upon stone."[285] + +What preceded and what followed. All the Jews exist still, and are +wanderers. + + +766 + +Of all that is on earth, He partakes only of the sorrows, not of the +joys. He loves His neighbours, but His love does not confine itself +within these bounds, and overflows to His own enemies, and then to those +of God. + + +767 + +Jesus Christ typified by Joseph, the beloved of his father, sent by his +father to see his brethren, etc., innocent, sold by his brethren for +twenty pieces of silver, and thereby becoming their lord, their saviour, +the saviour of strangers, and the saviour of the world; which had not +been but for their plot to destroy him, their sale and their rejection +of him. + +In prison Joseph innocent between two criminals; Jesus Christ on the +cross between two thieves. Joseph foretells freedom to the one, and +death to the other, from the same omens. Jesus Christ saves the elect, +and condemns the outcast for the same sins. Joseph foretells only; Jesus +Christ acts. Joseph asks him who will be saved to remember him, when he +comes into his glory; and he whom Jesus Christ saves asks that He will +remember him, when He comes into His kingdom. + + +768 + +The conversion of the heathen was only reserved for the grace of the +Messiah. The Jews have been so long in opposition to them without +success; all that Solomon and the prophets said has been useless. Sages, +like Plato and Socrates, have not been able to persuade them. + + +769 + +After many persons had gone before, Jesus Christ at last came to +say:[286] "Here am I, and this is the time. That which the prophets have +said was to come in the fullness of time, I tell you My apostles will +do. The Jews shall be cast out. Jerusalem shall be soon destroyed. And +the heathen shall enter into the knowledge of God. My apostles shall do +this after you have slain the heir of the vineyard." + +Then the apostles said to the Jews: "You shall be accursed," (_Celsus +laughed at it_); and to the heathen, "You shall enter into the knowledge +of God." And this then came to pass. + + +770 + +Jesus Christ came to blind those who saw clearly, and to give sight to +the blind; to heal the sick, and leave the healthy to die; to call to +repentance, and to justify sinners, and to leave the righteous in their +sins; to fill the needy, and leave the rich empty. + + +771 + +_Holiness._--_Effundam spiritum meum._[287] All nations were in unbelief +and lust. The whole world now became fervent with love. Princes +abandoned their pomp; maidens suffered martyrdom. Whence came this +influence? The Messiah was come. These were the effect and sign of His +coming. + + +772 + +Destruction of the Jews and heathen by Jesus Christ: _Omnes gentes +venient et adorabunt eum.[288] Parum est ut_,[289] etc. _Postula a +me.[290] Adorabunt eum omnes reges.[291] Testes iniqui.[292] Dabit +maxillam percutienti.[293] Dederunt fel in escam._[294] + + +773 + +Jesus Christ for all, Moses for a nation. + +The Jews blessed in Abraham: "I will bless those that bless thee."[295] +But: "All nations blessed in his seed."[296] _Parum est ut_, etc. + +_Lumen ad revelationem gentium._[297] + +_Non fecit taliter omni nationi_,[298] said David, in speaking of the +Law. But, in speaking of Jesus Christ, we must say: _Fecit taliter omni +nationi. Parum est ut_, etc., Isaiah. So it belongs to Jesus Christ to +be universal. Even the Church offers sacrifice only for the faithful. +Jesus Christ offered that of the cross for all. + + +774 + +There is heresy in always explaining _omnes_ by "all," and heresy in not +explaining it sometimes by "all." _Bibite ex hoc omnes_;[299] the +Huguenots are heretics in explaining it by "all." _In quo omnes +peccaverunt_;[300] the Huguenots are heretics in excepting the children +of true believers. We must then follow the Fathers and tradition in +order to know when to do so, since there is heresy to be feared on both +sides. + + +775 + +_Ne timeas pusillus grex.[301] Timore et tremore.--Quid ergo? Ne timeas +[modo] timeas._ Fear not, provided you fear; but if you fear not, then +fear. + +_Qui me recipit, non me recipit, sed eum qui me misit._[302] + +_Nemo scit, neque Filius._ + +_Nubes lucida obumbravit._ + +Saint John[303] was to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, +and Jesus Christ[304] to plant division. There is not contradiction. + + +776 + +The effects _in communi_ and _in particulari_. The semi-Pelagians err in +saying of _in communi_ what is true only _in particulari_; and the +Calvinists in saying _in particulari_ what is true _in communi_. (Such +is my opinion.) + + +777 + +_Omnis Judæa regio, et Jerosolomymi universi, et baptizabantur._[305] +Because of all the conditions of men who came there. From these stones +there _can_ come children unto Abraham.[306] + + +778 + +If men knew themselves, God would heal and pardon them. _Ne convertantur +et sanem eos, et dimittantur eis peccata._[307] + + +779 + +Jesus Christ never condemned without hearing. To Judas: _Amice, ad quid +venisti?_[308] To him that had not on the wedding garment, the same. + + +780 + +The types of the completeness of the Redemption, as that the sun gives +light to all, indicate only completeness; but [_the types_] of +exclusions, as of the Jews elected to the exclusion of the Gentiles, +indicate exclusion. + +"Jesus Christ the Redeemer of all."--Yes, for He has offered, like a man +who has ransomed all those who were willing to come to Him. If any die +on the way, it is their misfortune; but, so far as He was concerned, He +offered them redemption.--That holds good in this example, where he who +ransoms and he who prevents death are two persons, but not of Jesus +Christ, who does both these things.--No, for Jesus Christ, in the +quality of Redeemer, is not perhaps Master of all; and thus, in so far +as it is in Him, He is the Redeemer of all. + +When it is said that Jesus Christ did not die for all, you take undue +advantage of a fault in men who at once apply this exception to +themselves; and this is to favour despair, instead of turning them from +it to favour hope. For men thus accustom themselves in inward virtues by +outward customs. + + +781 + +The victory over death. "What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole +world and lose his own soul?[309] Whosoever will save his soul, shall +lose it."[310] + +"I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil."[311] + +"Lambs took not away the sins of the world, but I am the lamb which +taketh away the sins."[312] + +"Moses[313] hath not led you out of captivity, and made you truly free." + + +782 + +... Then Jesus Christ comes to tell men that they have no other enemies +but themselves; that it is their passions which keep them apart from +God; that He comes to destroy these, and give them His grace, so as to +make of them all one Holy Church; that He comes to bring back into this +Church the heathen and Jews; that He comes to destroy the idols of the +former and the superstition of the latter. To this all men are opposed, +not only from the natural opposition of lust; but, above all, the kings +of the earth, as had been foretold, join together to destroy this +religion at its birth. (_Proph.: Quare fremuerunt gentes ... reges terræ +... adversus Christum._)[314] + +All that is great on earth is united together; the learned, the wise, +the kings. The first write; the second condemn; the last kill. And +notwithstanding all these oppositions, these men, simple and weak, +resist all these powers, subdue even these kings, these learned men and +these sages, and remove idolatry from all the earth. And all this is +done by the power which had foretold it. + + +783 + +Jesus Christ would not have the testimony of devils, nor of those who +were not called, but of God and John the Baptist. + + +784 + +I consider Jesus Christ in all persons and in ourselves: Jesus Christ as +a Father in His Father, Jesus Christ as a Brother in His Brethren, Jesus +Christ as poor in the poor, Jesus Christ as rich in the rich, Jesus +Christ as Doctor and Priest in priests, Jesus Christ as Sovereign in +princes, etc. For by His glory He is all that is great, being God; and +by His mortal life He is all that is poor and abject. Therefore He has +taken this unhappy condition, so that He could be in all persons, and +the model of all conditions. + + +785 + +Jesus Christ is an obscurity (according to what the world calls +obscurity), such that historians, writing only of important matters of +states, have hardly noticed Him. + + +786 + +_On the fact that neither Josephus, nor Tacitus, nor other historians +have spoken of Jesus Christ._--So far is this from telling against +Christianity, that on the contrary it tells for it. For it is certain +that Jesus Christ has existed; that His religion has made a great talk; +and that these persons were not ignorant of it. Thus it is plain that +they purposely concealed it, or that, if they did speak of it, their +account has been suppressed or changed. + + +787 + +"I have reserved me seven thousand."[315] I love the worshippers unknown +to the world and to the very prophets. + + +788 + +As Jesus Christ remained unknown among men, so His truth remains among +common opinions without external difference. Thus the Eucharist among +ordinary bread. + + +789 + +Jesus would not be slain without the forms of justice; for it is far +more ignominious to die by justice than by an unjust sedition. + + +790 + +The false justice of Pilate only serves to make Jesus Christ suffer; for +he causes Him to be scourged by his false justice, and afterwards puts +Him to death. It would have been better to have put Him to death at +once. Thus it is with the falsely just. They do good and evil works to +please the world, and to show that they are not altogether of Jesus +Christ; for they are ashamed of Him. And at last, under great temptation +and on great occasions, they kill Him. + + +791 + +What man ever had more renown? The whole Jewish people foretell Him +before His coming. The Gentile people worship Him after His coming. The +two peoples, Gentile and Jewish, regard Him as their centre. + +And yet what man enjoys this renown less? Of thirty-three years, He +lives thirty without appearing. For three years He passes as an +impostor; the priests and the chief people reject Him; His friends and +His nearest relatives despise Him. Finally, He dies, betrayed by one of +His own disciples, denied by another, and abandoned by all. + +What part, then, has He in this renown? Never had man so much renown; +never had man more ignominy. All that renown has served only for us, to +render us capable of recognising Him; and He had none of it for Himself. + + +792 + +The infinite distance between body and mind is a symbol of the +infinitely more infinite distance between mind and charity; for charity +is supernatural. + +All the glory of greatness has no lustre for people who are in search of +understanding. + +The greatness of clever men is invisible to kings, to the rich, to +chiefs, and to all the worldly great. + +The greatness of wisdom, which is nothing if not of God, is invisible to +the carnal-minded and to the clever. These are three orders differing in +kind. + +Great geniuses have their power, their glory, their greatness, their +victory, their lustre, and have no need of worldly greatness, with which +they are not in keeping. They are seen, not by the eye, but by the mind; +this is sufficient. + +The saints have their power, their glory, their victory, their lustre, +and need no worldly or intellectual greatness, with which they have no +affinity; for these neither add anything to them, nor take away anything +from them. They are seen of God and the angels, and not of the body, nor +of the curious mind. God is enough for them. + +Archimedes,[316] apart from his rank, would have the same veneration. He +fought no battles for the eyes to feast upon; but he has given his +discoveries to all men. Oh! how brilliant he was to the mind! + +Jesus Christ, without riches, and without any external exhibition of +knowledge, is in His own order of holiness. He did not invent; He did +not reign. But He was humble, patient, holy, holy to God, terrible to +devils, without any sin. Oh! in what great pomp, and in what wonderful +splendour, He is come to the eyes of the heart, which perceive wisdom! + +It would have been useless for Archimedes to have acted the prince in +his books on geometry, although he was a prince. + +It would have been useless for our Lord Jesus Christ to come like a +king, in order to shine forth in His kingdom of holiness. But He came +there appropriately in the glory of His own order. + +It is most absurd to take offence at the lowliness of Jesus Christ, as +if His lowliness were in the same order as the greatness which He came +to manifest. If we consider this greatness in His life, in His passion, +in His obscurity, in His death, in the choice of His disciples, in their +desertion, in His secret resurrection, and the rest, we shall see it to +be so immense, that we shall have no reason for being offended at a +lowliness which is not of that order. + +But there are some who can only admire worldly greatness, as though +there were no intellectual greatness; and others who only admire +intellectual greatness, as though there were not infinitely higher +things in wisdom. + +All bodies, the firmament, the stars, the earth and its kingdoms, are +not equal to the lowest mind; for mind knows all these and itself; and +these bodies nothing. + +All bodies together, and all minds together, and all their products, are +not equal to the least feeling of charity. This is of an order +infinitely more exalted. + +From all bodies together, we cannot obtain one little thought; this is +impossible, and of another order. From all bodies and minds, we cannot +produce a feeling of true charity; this is impossible, and of another +and supernatural order. + + +793 + +Why did Jesus Christ not come in a visible manner, instead of obtaining +testimony of Himself from preceding prophecies? Why did He cause Himself +to be foretold in types? + + +794 + +If Jesus Christ had only come to sanctify, all Scripture and all things +would tend to that end; and it would be quite easy to convince +unbelievers. If Jesus Christ had only come to blind, all His conduct +would be confused; and we would have no means of convincing unbelievers. +But as He came _in sanctificationem et in scandalum_,[317] as Isaiah +says, we cannot convince unbelievers, and they cannot convince us. But +by this very fact we convince them; since we say that in His whole +conduct there is no convincing proof on one side or the other. + + +795 + +Jesus Christ does not say that He is not of Nazareth, in order to leave +the wicked in their blindness; nor that He is not Joseph's son. + + +796 + +_Proofs of Jesus Christ._--Jesus Christ said great things so simply, +that it seems as though He had not thought them great; and yet so +clearly that we easily see what He thought of them. This clearness, +joined to this simplicity, is wonderful. + + +797 + +The style of the gospel is admirable in so many ways, and among the rest +in hurling no invectives against the persecutors and enemies of Jesus +Christ. For there is no such invective in any of the historians against +Judas, Pilate, or any of the Jews. + +If this moderation of the writers of the Gospels had been assumed, as +well as many other traits of so beautiful a character, and they had only +assumed it to attract notice, even if they had not dared to draw +attention to it themselves, they would not have failed to secure +friends, who would have made such remarks to their advantage. But as +they acted thus without pretence, and from wholly disinterested motives, +they did not point it out to any one; and I believe that many such facts +have not been noticed till now, which is evidence of the natural +disinterestedness with which the thing has been done. + + +798 + +An artisan who speaks of wealth, a lawyer who speaks of war, of royalty, +etc.; but the rich man rightly speaks of wealth, a king speaks +indifferently of a great gift he has just made, and God rightly speaks +of God. + + +799 + +Who has taught the evangelists the qualities of a perfectly heroic soul, +that they paint it so perfectly in Jesus Christ? Why do they make Him +weak in His agony? Do they not know how to paint a resolute death? Yes, +for the same Saint Luke paints the death of Saint Stephen as braver than +that of Jesus Christ. + +They make Him therefore capable of fear, before the necessity of dying +has come, and then altogether brave. + +But when they make Him so troubled, it is when He afflicts Himself; and +when men afflict Him, He is altogether strong. + + +800 + +_Proof of Jesus Christ._--The supposition that the apostles were +impostors is very absurd. Let us think it out. Let us imagine those +twelve men, assembled after the death of Jesus Christ, plotting to say +that He was risen. By this they attack all the powers. The heart of man +is strangely inclined to fickleness, to change, to promises, to gain. +However little any of them might have been led astray by all these +attractions, nay more, by the fear of prisons, tortures, and death, they +were lost. Let us follow up this thought. + + +801 + +The apostles were either deceived or deceivers. Either supposition has +difficulties; for it is not possible to mistake a man raised from the +dead ... + +While Jesus Christ was with them, He could sustain them. But, after +that, if He did not appear to them, who inspired them to act? + + + + +SECTION XIII + +THE MIRACLES + + +802 + +_The beginning._--Miracles enable us to judge of doctrine, and doctrine +enables us to judge of miracles. + +There are false miracles and true. There must be a distinction, in order +to know them; otherwise they would be useless. Now they are not useless; +on the contrary, they are fundamental. Now the rule which is given to us +must be such, that it does not destroy the proof which the true miracles +give of the truth, which is the chief end of the miracles. + +Moses has given two rules: that the prediction does not come to pass +(Deut. xviii), and that they do not lead to idolatry (Deut. xiii); and +Jesus Christ[318] one. + +If doctrine regulates miracles, miracles are useless for doctrine. + +If miracles regulate.... + +_Objection to the rule._--The distinction of the times. One rule during +the time of Moses, another at present. + + +803 + +_Miracle._--It is an effect, which exceeds the natural power of the +means which are employed for it; and what is not a miracle is an effect, +which does not exceed the natural power of the means which are employed +for it. Thus, those who heal by invocation of the devil do not work a +miracle; for that does not exceed the natural power of the devil. +But ... + + +804 + +The two fundamentals; one inward, the other outward; grace and miracles; +both supernatural. + + +805 + +Miracles and truth are necessary, because it is necessary to convince +the entire man, in body and soul. + + +806 + +In all times, either men have spoken of the true God, or the true God +has spoken to men. + + +807 + +Jesus Christ has verified that He was the Messiah, never in verifying +His doctrine by Scripture and the prophecies, but always by His +miracles. + +He proves by a miracle that He remits sins. + +Rejoice not in your miracles, said Jesus Christ, but because your names +are written in heaven.[319] + +If they believe not Moses, neither will they believe one risen from the +dead. + +Nicodemus recognises by His miracles that His teaching is of God. +_Scimus quia venisti a Deo magister; nemo enim potest hæc signa facere +quæ tu facis nisi Deus fuerit cum eo._[320] He does not judge of the +miracles by the teaching, but of the teaching by the miracles. + +The Jews had a doctrine of God as we have one of Jesus Christ, and +confirmed by miracles. They were forbidden to believe every worker of +miracles; and they were further commanded to have recourse to the chief +priests, and to rely on them. + +And thus, in regard to their prophets, they had all those reasons which +we have for refusing to believe the workers of miracles. + +And yet they were very sinful in rejecting the prophets, and Jesus +Christ, because of their miracles; and they would not have been +culpable, if they had not seen the miracles. _Nisi fecissem ... peccatum +non haberent._[321] Therefore all belief rests upon miracles. + +Prophecy is not called miracle; as Saint John speaks of the first +miracle in Cana, and then of what Jesus Christ says to the woman of +Samaria, when He reveals to her all her hidden life. Then He heals the +centurion's son; and Saint John calls this "the second miracle."[322] + + +808 + +The combinations of miracles. + + +809 + +The second miracle can suppose the first, but the first cannot suppose +the second. + + +810 + +Had it not been for the miracles, there would have been no sin in not +believing in Jesus Christ. + + +811 + +I should not be a Christian, but for the miracles, said Saint Augustine. + + +812 + +_Miracles._--How I hate those who make men doubt of miracles! +Montaigne[323] speaks of them as he should in two places. In one, we see +how careful he is; and yet, in the other, he believes, and makes sport +of unbelievers. + +However it may be, the Church is without proofs if they are right. + + +813 + +Montaigne against miracles. + +Montaigne for miracles. + + +814 + +It is not possible to have a reasonable belief against miracles. + + +815 + +Unbelievers the most credulous. They believe the miracles of Vespasian, +in order not to believe those of Moses. + + +816 + +_Title: How it happens that men believe so many liars, who say that they +have seen miracles, and do not believe any of those who say that they +have secrets to make men immortal, or restore youth to them._--Having +considered how it happens that so great credence is given to so many +impostors, who say they have remedies, often to the length of men +putting their lives into their hands, it has appeared to me that the +true cause is that there are true remedies. For it would not be possible +that there should be so many false remedies, and that so much faith +should be placed in them, if there were none true. If there had never +been any remedy for any ill, and all ills had been incurable, it is +impossible that men should have imagined that they could give remedies, +and still more impossible that so many others should have believed those +who boasted of having remedies; in the same way as did a man boast of +preventing death, no one would believe him, because there is no example +of this. But as there were a number of remedies found to be true by the +very knowledge of the greatest men, the belief of men is thereby +induced; and, this being known to be possible, it has been therefore +concluded that it was. For people commonly reason thus: "A thing is +possible, therefore it is"; because the thing cannot be denied +generally, since there are particular effects which are true, the +people, who cannot distinguish which among these particular effects are +true, believe them all. In the same way, the reason why so many false +effects are credited to the moon, is that there are some true, as the +tide. + +It is the same with prophecies, miracles, divination by dreams, +sorceries, etc. For if there had been nothing true in all this, men +would have believed nothing of them; and thus, instead of concluding +that there are no true miracles because there are so many false, we +must, on the contrary, say that there certainly are true miracles, since +there are false, and that there are false miracles only because some are +true. We must reason in the same way about religion; for it would not be +possible that men should have imagined so many false religions, if there +had not been a true one. The objection to this is that savages have a +religion; but the answer is that they have heard the true spoken of, as +appears by the deluge, circumcision, the cross of Saint Andrew, etc. + + +817 + +Having considered how it comes that there are so many false miracles, +false revelations, sorceries, etc., it has seemed to me that the true +cause is that there are some true; for it would not be possible that +there should be so many false miracles, if there were none true, nor so +many false revelations, if there were none true, nor so many false +religions, if there were not one true. For if there had never been all +this, it is almost impossible that men should have imagined it, and +still more impossible that so many others should have believed it. But +as there have been very great things true, and as they have been +believed by great men, this impression has been the cause that nearly +everybody is rendered capable of believing also the false. And thus, +instead of concluding that there are no true miracles, since there are +so many false, it must be said, on the contrary, that there are true +miracles, since there are so many false; and that there are false ones +only because there are true; and that in the same way there are false +religions because there is one true.--Objection to this: savages have a +religion. But this is because they have heard the true spoken of, as +appears by the cross of Saint Andrew, the deluge, circumcision, +etc.--This arises from the fact that the human mind, finding itself +inclined to that side by the truth, becomes thereby susceptible of all +the falsehoods of this ... + + +818 + +Jeremiah xxiii, 32. The _miracles_ of the false prophets. In the Hebrew +and Vatable[324] they are the _tricks_. + +_Miracle_ does not always signify miracle. I Sam. xiv, 15; _miracle_ +signifies _fear_, and is so in the Hebrew. The same evidently in Job +xxxiii, 7; and also Isaiah xxi, 4; Jeremiah xliv, 12. _Portentum_ +signifies _simulacrum_, Jeremiah l, 38; and it is so in the Hebrew and +Vatable. Isaiah viii, 18. Jesus Christ says that He and His will be in +_miracles_. + + +819 + +If the devil favoured the doctrine which destroys him, he would be +divided against himself, as Jesus Christ said. If God favoured the +doctrine which destroys the Church, He would be divided against Himself. +_Omne regnum divisum._[325] For Jesus Christ wrought against the devil, +and destroyed his power over the heart, of which exorcism is the +symbolisation, in order to establish the kingdom of God. And thus He +adds, _Si in digito Dei ... regnum Dei ad vos_.[326] + + +820 + +There is a great difference between tempting and leading into error. God +tempts, but He does not lead into error. To tempt is to afford +opportunities, which impose no necessity; if men do not love God, they +will do a certain thing. To lead into error is to place a man under the +necessity of inferring and following out what is untrue. + + +821 + +Abraham and Gideon are above revelation. The Jews blinded themselves in +judging of miracles by the Scripture. God has never abandoned His true +worshippers. + +I prefer to follow Jesus Christ than any other, because He has miracle, +prophecy, doctrine, perpetuity, etc. + +The Donatists. No miracle which obliges them to say it is the devil. + +The more we particularise God, Jesus Christ, the Church ... + + +822 + +If there were no false miracles, there would be certainty. If there were +no rule to judge of them, miracles would be useless, and there would be +no reason for believing. + +Now there is, humanly speaking, no human certainty, but we have reason. + + +823 + +Either God has confounded the false miracles, or He has foretold them; +and in both ways He has raised Himself above what is supernatural with +respect to us, and has raised us to it. + + +824 + +Miracles serve not to convert, but to condemn. (Q. 113, A. 10, _Ad._ +2.)[327] + + +825 + +_Reasons why we do not believe._ + +John xii, 37. _Cum autem tanta signa fecisset, non credebant in eum, ut +sermo Isayæ impleretur. Excæcavit_, etc. + +_Hæc dixit Isaias, quando vidit gloriam ejus et locutus est de eo._ + +_Judæi signa petunt et Græci sapientiam quærunt, nos autem Jesum +crucifixum. Sed plenum signis, sed plenum sapientia; vos autem Christum +non crucifixum et religionem sine miraculis et sine sapientia._[328] + +What makes us not believe in the true miracles, is want of love. John: +_Sed vos non creditis, quia non estis ex ovibus._[329] What makes us +believe the false is want of love. II Thess. ii. + +The foundation of religion. It is the miracles. What then? Does God +speak against miracles, against the foundations of the faith which we +have in Him? + +If there is a God, faith in God must exist on earth. Now the miracles of +Jesus Christ are not foretold by Antichrist, but the miracles of +Antichrist are foretold by Jesus Christ. And so if Jesus Christ were not +the Messiah, He would have indeed led into error. When Jesus Christ +foretold the miracles of Antichrist, did He think of destroying faith in +His own miracles? + +Moses foretold Jesus Christ, and bade to follow Him. Jesus Christ +foretold Antichrist, and forbade to follow him. + +It was impossible that in the time of Moses men should keep their faith +for Antichrist, who was unknown to them. But it is quite easy, in the +time of Antichrist, to believe in Jesus Christ, already known. + +There is no reason for believing in Antichrist, which there is not for +believing in Jesus Christ. But there are reasons for believing in Jesus +Christ, which there are not for believing in the other. + + +826 + +Judges xiii, 23: "If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have +shewed us all these things." + +Hezekiah, Sennacherib. + +Jeremiah. Hananiah, the false prophet, dies in seven months. + +2 Macc. iii. The temple, ready for pillage, miraculously succoured.--2 +Macc. xv. + +1 Kings xvii. The widow to Elijah, who had restored her son, "By this I +know that thy words are true." + +1 Kings xviii. Elijah with the prophets of Baal. + +In the dispute concerning the true God and the truth of religion, there +has never happened any miracle on the side of error, and not of truth. + + +827 + +_Opposition._--Abel, Cain; Moses, the Magicians; Elijah, the false +prophets: Jeremiah, Hananiah; Micaiah, the false prophets; Jesus Christ, +the Pharisees; St. Paul, Bar-jesus; the Apostles, the Exorcists; +Christians, unbelievers; Catholics, heretics; Elijah, Enoch, Antichrist. + + +828 + +Jesus Christ says that the Scriptures testify of Him. But He does not +point out in what respect. + +Even the prophecies could not prove Jesus Christ during His life; and +so, men would not have been culpable for not believing in Him before His +death, had the miracles not sufficed without doctrine. Now those who did +not believe in Him, when He was still alive, were sinners, as He said +Himself, and without excuse. Therefore they must have had proof beyond +doubt, which they resisted. Now, they had not the prophecies, but only +the miracles. Therefore the latter suffice, when the doctrine is not +inconsistent with them; and they ought to be believed. + +John vii, 40. _Dispute among the Jews as among the Christians of +to-day._ Some believed in Jesus Christ; others believed Him not, because +of the prophecies which said that He should be born in Bethlehem. They +should have considered more carefully whether He was not. For His +miracles being convincing, they should have been quite sure of these +supposed contradictions of His teaching to Scripture; and this obscurity +did not excuse, but blinded them. Thus those who refuse to believe in +the miracles in the present day on account of a supposed contradiction, +which is unreal, are not excused. + +The Pharisees said to the people, who believed in Him, because of His +miracles: "This people who knoweth not the law are cursed. But have any +of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? For we know that out +of Galilee ariseth no prophet." Nicodemus answered: "Doth our law judge +any man before it hear him, [and specially, such a man who works such +miracles]?" + + +829 + +The prophecies were ambiguous; they are no longer so. + + +830 + +The five propositions were ambiguous; they are no longer so. + + +831 + +Miracles are no longer necessary, because we have had them already. But +when tradition is no longer minded; when the Pope alone is offered to +us; when he has been imposed upon; and when the true source of truth, +which is tradition, is thus excluded; and the Pope, who is its guardian, +is biased; the truth is no longer free to appear. Then, as men speak no +longer of truth, truth itself must speak to men. This is what happened +in the time of Arius. (Miracles under Diocletian and under Arius.) + + +832 + +_Miracle._--The people concluded this of themselves; but if the reason +of it must be given to you ... + +It is unfortunate to be in exception to the rule. The same must be +strict, and opposed to exception. But yet, as it is certain that there +are exceptions to a rule, our judgment must though strict, be just. + + +833 + +John vi, 26: _Non quia vidisti signum, sed quia saturati estis._ + +Those who follow Jesus Christ because of His miracles honour His power +in all the miracles which it produces. But those who, making profession +to follow Him because of His miracles, follow Him in fact only because +He comforts them and satisfies them with worldly blessings, discredit +His miracles, when they are opposed to their own comforts. + +John ix: _Non est hic homo a Deo, quia sabbatum non custodit. Alii: +Quomodo potest homo peccator hæc signa facere?_ + +Which is the most clear? + +This house is not of God; for they do not there believe that the five +propositions are in Jansenius. Others: This house is of God; for in it +there are wrought strange miracles. + +Which is the most clear? + +_Tu quid dicis? Dico quia propheta est. Nisi esset hic a Deo, non +poterat facere quidquam._[330] + + +834 + +In the Old Testament, when they will turn you from God. In the New, when +they will turn you from Jesus Christ. These are the occasions for +excluding particular miracles from belief. No others need be excluded. + +Does it therefore follow that they would have the right to exclude all +the prophets who came to them? No; they would have sinned in not +excluding those who denied God, and would have sinned in excluding those +who did not deny God. + +So soon, then, as we see a miracle, we must either assent to it, or have +striking proofs to the contrary. We must see if it denies a God, or +Jesus Christ, or the Church. + + +835 + +There is a great difference between not being for Jesus Christ and +saying so, and not being for Jesus Christ and pretending to be so. The +one party can do miracles, not the others. For it is clear of the one +party, that they are opposed to the truth, but not of the others; and +thus miracles are clearer. + + +836 + +That we must love one God only is a thing so evident, that it does not +require miracles to prove it. + + +837 + +Jesus Christ performed miracles, then the apostles, and the first saints +in great number; because the prophecies not being yet accomplished, but +in the process of being accomplished by them, the miracles alone bore +witness to them. It was foretold that the Messiah should convert the +nations. How could this prophecy be fulfilled without the conversion of +the nations? And how could the nations be converted to the Messiah, if +they did not see this final effect of the prophecies which prove Him? +Therefore, till He had died, risen again, and converted the nations, all +was not accomplished; and so miracles were needed during all this time. +Now they are no longer needed against the Jews; for the accomplished +prophecies constitute a lasting miracle. + + +838 + +"Though ye believe not Me, believe at least the works."[331] He refers +them, as it were, to the strongest proof. + +It had been told to the Jews, as well as to Christians, that they should +not always believe the prophets; but yet the Pharisees and Scribes are +greatly concerned about His miracles, and try to show that they are +false, or wrought by the devil. For they must needs be convinced, if +they acknowledge that they are of God. + +At the present day we are not troubled to make this distinction. Still +it is very easy to do: those who deny neither God nor Jesus Christ do no +miracles which are not certain. _Nemo facit virtutem in nomine meo, et +cito possit de me male loqui._[332] + +But we have not to draw this distinction. Here is a sacred relic.[333] +Here is a thorn from the crown of the Saviour of the world, over whom +the prince of this world has no power, which works miracles by the +peculiar power of the blood shed for us. Now God Himself chooses this +house in order to display conspiciously therein His power. + +These are not men who do miracles by an unknown and doubtful virtue, +which makes a decision difficult for us. It is God Himself. It is the +instrument of the Passion of His only Son, who, being in many places, +chooses this, and makes men come from all quarters there to receive +these miraculous alleviations in their weaknesses. + + +839 + +The Church has three kinds of enemies: the Jews, who have never been of +her body; the heretics, who have withdrawn from it; and the evil +Christians, who rend her from within. + +These three kinds of different adversaries usually attack her in +different ways. But here they attack her in one and the same way. As +they are all without miracles, and as the Church has always had miracles +against them, they have all had the same interest in evading them; and +they all make use of this excuse, that doctrine must not be judged by +miracles, but miracles by doctrine. There were two parties among those +who heard Jesus Christ: those who followed His teaching on account of +His miracles; others who said.... There were two parties in the time of +Calvin.... There are now the Jesuits, etc. + + +840 + +Miracles furnish the test in matters of doubt, between Jews and +heathens, Jews and Christians, Catholics and heretics, the slandered and +slanderers, between the two crosses. + +But miracles would be useless to heretics; for the Church, authorised by +miracles which have already obtained belief, tells us that they have not +the true faith. There is no doubt that they are not in it, since the +first miracles of the Church exclude belief of theirs. Thus there is +miracle against miracle, both the first and greatest being on the side +of the Church. + +These nuns,[334] astonished at what is said, that they are in the way of +perdition; that their confessors are leading them to Geneva; that they +suggest to them that Jesus Christ is not in the Eucharist, nor on the +right hand of the Father; know that all this is false, and therefore +offer themselves to God in this state. _Vide si via iniquitatis in me +est._[335] What happens thereupon? This place, which is said to be the +temple of the devil, God makes His own temple. It is said that the +children must be taken away from it. God heals them there. It is said +that it is the arsenal of hell. God makes of it the sanctuary of His +grace. Lastly, they are threatened with all the fury and vengeance of +heaven; and God overwhelms them with favours. A man would need to have +lost his senses to conclude from this that they are therefore in the way +of perdition. + +(We have without doubt the same signs as Saint Athanasius.) + + +841 + +_Si tu es Christus, dic nobis.[336] + +Opera quæ ego facio in nomine patris mei, hæc testimonium perhibent de +me. Sed vos non creditis quia non estis ex ovibus meis. Oves meœ vocem +meam audiunt._[337] + +John vi, 30. _Quod ergo tu facis signum ut videamus et credamus +tibi?--Non dicunt: Quam doctrinam prædicas? + +Nemo potest facere signa quæ tu facis nisi Deus._[338] + +2 Macc. xiv, 15. _Deus qui signis evidentibus suam portionem protegit. + +Volumus signum videre de cœlo, tentantes eum._ Luke xi, 16. + +_Generatio prava signum quærit; et non dabitur.[339] + +Et ingemiscens ait: Quid generatio ista signum quærit?_ (Mark viii, 12.) +They asked a sign with an evil intention. + +_Et non poterat facere._[340] And yet he promises them the sign of +Jonah, the great and wonderful miracle of his resurrection. + +_Nisi videritis, non creditis._[341] He does not blame them for not +believing unless there are miracles, but for not believing unless they +are themselves spectators of them. + +Antichrist _in signis mendacibus_, says Saint Paul, 2 Thess. ii. + +_Secundum operationem Satanæ, in seductione iis qui pereunt eo quod +charitatem veritatis non receperunt ut salvi fierent, ideo mittet illis +Deus optationes erroris ut credant mendacio._ + +As in the passage of Moses: _Tentat enim vos Deus, utrum diligatis +eum.[342] + +Ecce prædixi vobis: vos ergo videte._[343] + + +842 + +Here is not the country of truth. She wanders unknown amongst men. God +has covered her with a veil, which leaves her unrecognised by those who +do not hear her voice. Room is opened for blasphemy, even against the +truths that are at least very likely. If the truths of the Gospel are +published, the contrary is published too, and the questions are +obscured, so that the people cannot distinguish. And they ask, "What +have you to make you believed rather than others? What sign do you give? +You have only words, and so have we. If you had miracles, good and +well." That doctrine ought to be supported by miracles is a truth, which +they misuse in order to revile doctrine. And if miracles happen, it is +said that miracles are not enough without doctrine; and this is another +truth, which they misuse in order to revile miracles. + +Jesus Christ cured the man born blind, and performed a number of +miracles on the Sabbath day. In this way He blinded the Pharisees, who +said that miracles must be judged by doctrine. + +"We have Moses: but, as for this fellow, we know not from whence he +is."[344] It is wonderful that you know not whence He is, and yet He +does such miracles. + +Jesus Christ spoke neither against God, nor against Moses. + +Antichrist and the false prophets, foretold by both Testaments, will +speak openly against God and against Jesus Christ. Who is not hidden ... +God would not allow him, who would be a secret enemy, to do miracles +openly. + +In a public dispute where the two parties profess to be for God, for +Jesus Christ, for the Church, miracles have never been on the side of +the false Christians, and the other side has never been without a +miracle. + +"He hath a devil." John x, 21. And others said, "Can a devil open the +eyes of the blind?" + +The proofs which Jesus Christ and the apostles draw from Scripture are +not conclusive; for they say only that Moses foretold that a prophet +should come. But they do not thereby prove that this is He; and that is +the whole question. These passages therefore serve only to show that +they are not contrary to Scripture, and that there appears no +inconsistency, but not that there is agreement. Now this is enough, +namely, exclusion of inconsistency, along with miracles. + +There is a mutual duty between God and men. We must pardon Him this +saying: Quid debui?[345] "Accuse me," said God in Isaiah. + +"God must fulfil His promises," etc. + +Men owe it to God to accept the religion which He sends. God owes it to +men not to lead them into error. Now, they would be led into error, if +the workers of miracles announced a doctrine which should not appear +evidently false to the light of common sense, and if a greater worker of +miracles had not already warned men not to believe them. + +Thus, if there were divisions in the Church, and the Arians, for +example, who declared themselves founded on Scripture just as the +Catholics, had done miracles, and not the Catholics, men should have +been led into error. + +For, as a man, who announces to us the secrets of God, is not worthy to +be believed on his private authority, and that is why the ungodly doubt +him; so when a man, as a token of the communion which he has with God, +raises the dead, foretells the future, removes the seas, heals the sick, +there is none so wicked as not to bow to him, and the incredulity of +Pharaoh and the Pharisees is the effect of a supernatural obduracy. + +When, therefore, we see miracles and a doctrine not suspicious, both on +one side, there is no difficulty. But when we see miracles and +suspicious doctrine on the same side, we must then see which is the +clearest. Jesus Christ was suspected. + +Bar-jesus blinded.[346] The power of God surpasses that of His enemies. + +The Jewish exorcists[347] beaten by the devils, saying, "Jesus I know, +and Paul I know; but who are ye?" + +Miracles are for doctrine, and not doctrine for miracles. + +If the miracles are true, shall we be able to persuade men of all +doctrine? No; for this will not come to pass. _Si angelus_.[348] ... + +Rule: we must judge of doctrine by miracles; we must judge of miracles +by doctrine. All this is true, but contains no contradiction. + +For we must distinguish the times. + +How glad you are to know the general rules, thinking thereby to set up +dissension, and render all useless! We shall prevent you, my father; +truth is one and constant. + +It is impossible, from the duty of God to men, that a man, hiding his +evil teaching, and only showing the good, saying that he conforms to God +and the Church, should do miracles so as to instil insensibly a false +and subtle doctrine. This cannot happen. + +And still less, that God, who knows the heart, should perform miracles +in favour of such a one. + + +843 + +The three marks of religion: perpetuity, a good life, miracles. They +destroy perpetuity by their doctrine of probability; a good life by +their morals; miracles by destroying either their truth or the +conclusions to be drawn from them. + +If we believe them, the Church will have nothing to do with perpetuity, +holiness, and miracles. The heretics deny them, or deny the conclusions +to be drawn from them; they do the same. But one would need to have no +sincerity in order to deny them, or again to lose one's senses in order +to deny the conclusions to be drawn from them. + +Nobody has ever suffered martyrdom for the miracles which he says he has +seen; for the folly of men goes perhaps to the length of martyrdom, for +those which the Turks believe by tradition, but not for those which they +have seen. + + +844 + +The heretics have always attacked these three marks, which they have +not. + + +845 + +_First objection_: "An angel from heaven.[349] We must not judge of +truth by miracles, but of miracles by truth. Therefore the miracles are +useless." + +Now they are of use, and they must not be in opposition to the truth. +Therefore what Father Lingende[350] has said, that "God will not permit +that a miracle may lead into error...." + +When there shall be a controversy in the same Church, miracle will +decide. + +_Second objection_: "But Antichrist will do miracles." + +The magicians of Pharaoh did not entice to error. Thus we cannot say to +Jesus respecting Antichrist, "You have led me into error." For +Antichrist will do them against Jesus Christ, and so they cannot lead +into error. Either God will not permit false miracles, or He will +procure greater. + +[Jesus Christ has existed since the beginning of the world: this is more +impressive than all the miracles of Antichrist.] + +If in the same Church there should happen a miracle on the side of those +in error, men would be led into error. Schism is visible; a miracle is +visible. But schism is more a sign of error than a miracle is a sign of +truth. Therefore a miracle cannot lead into error. + +But apart from schism, error is not so obvious as a miracle is obvious. +Therefore a miracle could lead into error. + +_Ubi est Deus tuus?_[351] Miracles show Him, and are a light. + + +846 + +One of the anthems for Vespers at Christmas: _Exortum est in tenebris +lumen rectis corde._[352] + + +847 + +If the compassion of God is so great that He instructs us to our +benefit, even when He hides Himself, what light ought we not to expect +from Him when He reveals Himself? + + +848 + +Will _Est et non est_ be received in faith itself as well as in +miracles? And if it is inseparable in the others ... + +When Saint Xavier[353] works miracles.--[Saint Hilary. "Ye wretches, who +oblige us to speak of miracles."] + +Unjust judges, make not your own laws on the moment; judge by those +which are established, and by yourselves. _Væ qui conditis leges +iniquas._[354] + +Miracles endless, false. + +In order to weaken your adversaries, you disarm the whole Church. + +If they say that our salvation depends upon God, they are "heretics." If +they say that they are obedient to the Pope, that is "hypocrisy." If +they are ready to subscribe to all the articles, that is not enough. If +they say that a man must not be killed for an apple, "they attack the +morality of Catholics." If miracles are done among them, it is not a +sign of holiness, and is, on the contrary, a symptom of heresy. + +This way in which the Church has existed is that truth has been without +dispute, or, if it has been contested, there has been the Pope, or, +failing him, there has been the Church. + + +849 + +The five propositions[355] condemned, but no miracle; for the truth was +not attacked. But the Sorbonne ... but the bull.... + +It is impossible that those who love God with all their heart should +fail to recognise the Church; so evident is she.--It is impossible that +those who do not love God should be convinced of the Church. + +Miracles have such influence that it was necessary that God should warn +men not to believe in them in opposition to Him, all clear as it is that +there is a God. Without this they would have been able to disturb men. + +And thus so far from these passages, Deut. xiii, making against the +authority of the miracles, nothing more indicates their influence. And +the same in respect of Antichrist. "To seduce, if it were possible, even +the elect."[356] + + +850 + +The history of the man born blind. + +What says Saint Paul? Does he continually speak of the evidence of the +prophecies? No, but of his own miracle. What says Jesus Christ? Does He +speak of the evidence of the prophecies? No; His death had not fulfilled +them. But He says, _Si non fecissem_.[357] Believe the works. + +Two supernatural foundations of our wholly supernatural religion; one +visible, the other invisible; miracles with grace, miracles without +grace. + +The synagogue, which had been treated with love as a type of the Church, +and with hatred, because it was only the type, has been restored, being +on the point of falling when it was well with God, and thus a type. + +Miracles prove the power which God has over hearts, by that which He +exercises over bodies. + +The Church has never approved a miracle among heretics. + +Miracles a support of religion: they have been the test of Jews; they +have been the test of Christians, saints, innocents, and true believers. + +A miracle among schismatics is not so much to be feared; for schism, +which is more obvious than a miracle, visibly indicates their error. But +when there is no schism, and error is in question, miracle decides. + +_Si non fecissem quæ alius non fecit._ The wretches who have obliged us +to speak of miracles. + +Abraham and Gideon confirm faith by miracles. + +Judith. God speaks at last in their greatest oppression. + +If the cooling of love leaves the Church almost without believers, +miracles will rouse them. This is one of the last effects of grace. + +If one miracle were wrought among the Jesuits! + +When a miracle disappoints the expectation of those in whose presence it +happens, and there is a disproportion between the state of their faith +and the instrument of the miracle, it ought then to induce them to +change. But with you it is otherwise. There would be as much reason in +saying that, if the Eucharist raised a dead man, it would be necessary +for one to turn a Calvinist rather than remain a Catholic. But when it +crowns the expectation, and those, who hoped that God would bless the +remedies, see themselves healed without remedies ... + +_The ungodly._--No sign has ever happened on the part of the devil +without a stronger sign on the part of God, or even without it having +been foretold that such would happen. + + +851 + +Unjust persecutors of those whom God visibly protects. If they reproach +you with your excesses, "they speak as the heretics." If they say that +the grace of Jesus Christ distinguishes us, "they are heretics." If they +do miracles, "it is the mark of their heresy." + +Ezekiel.--They say: These are the people of God who speak thus. + +It is said, "Believe in the Church";[358] but it is not said, "Believe +in miracles"; because the last is natural, and not the first. The one +had need of a precept, not the other. Hezekiah. + +The synagogue was only a type, and thus it did not perish; and it was +only a type, and so it is decayed. It was a type which contained the +truth, and thus it has lasted until it no longer contained the truth. + +My reverend father, all this happened in types. Other religions perish; +this one perishes not. + +Miracles are more important than you think. They have served for the +foundation, and will serve for the continuation of the Church till +Antichrist, till the end. + +The two witnesses. + +In the Old Testament and the New, miracles are performed in connection +with types. Salvation, or a useless thing, if not to show that we must +submit to the Scriptures: type of the sacrament. + + +852 + +[We must judge soberly of divine ordinances, my father. + +Saint Paul in the isle of Malta.] + + +853 + +The hardness of the Jesuits, then, surpasses that of the Jews, since +those refused to believe Jesus Christ innocent only because they doubted +if His miracles were of God. Whereas the Jesuits, though unable to doubt +that the miracles of Port-Royal are of God, do not cease to doubt still +the innocence of that house. + + +854 + +I suppose that men believe miracles. You corrupt religion either in +favour of your friends, or against your enemies. You arrange it at your +will. + + +855 + +_On the miracle._--As God has made no family more happy, let it also be +the case that He find none more thankful. + + + + +SECTION XIV + +APPENDIX: POLEMICAL FRAGMENTS + + +856 + +_Clearness, obscurity._--There would be too great darkness, if truth had +not visible signs. This is a wonderful one, that it has always been +preserved in one Church and one visible assembly [of men]. There would +be too great clearness, if there were only one opinion in this Church. +But in order to recognise what is true, one has only to look at what has +always existed; for it is certain that truth has always existed, and +that nothing false has always existed. + + +857 + +The history of the Church ought properly to be called the history of +truth. + + +858 + +There is a pleasure in being in a ship beaten about by a storm, when we +are sure that it will not founder. The persecutions which harass the +Church are of this nature. + + +859 + +In addition to so many other signs of piety, they[359] are also +persecuted, which is the best sign of piety. + + +860 + +The Church is in an excellent state, when it is sustained by God only. + + +861 + +The Church has always been attacked by opposite errors, but perhaps +never at the same time, as now. And if she suffer more because of the +multiplicity of errors, she derives this advantage from it, that they +destroy each other. + +She complains of both, but far more of the Calvinists, because of the +schism. + +It is certain that many of the two opposite sects are deceived. They +must be disillusioned. + +Faith embraces many truths which seem to contradict each other. _There +is a time to laugh, and a time to weep_,[360] etc. _Responde. Ne +respondeas_,[361] etc. + +The source of this is the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ; and +also the two worlds (the creation of a new heaven and a new earth; a new +life and a new death; all things double, and the same names remaining); +and finally the two natures that are in the righteous, (for they are the +two worlds, and a member and image of Jesus Christ. And thus all the +names suit them: righteous, yet sinners; dead, yet living; living, yet +dead; elect, yet outcast, etc.). + +There are then a great number of truths, both of faith and of morality, +which seem contradictory, and which all hold good together in a +wonderful system. The source of all heresies is the exclusion of some of +these truths; and the source of all the objections which the heretics +make against us is the ignorance of some of our truths. And it generally +happens that, unable to conceive the connection of two opposite truths, +and believing that the admission of one involves the exclusion of the +other, they adhere to the one, exclude the other, and think of us as +opposed to them. Now exclusion is the cause of their heresy; and +ignorance that we hold the other truth causes their objections. + +1st example: Jesus Christ is God and man. The Arians, unable to +reconcile these things, which they believe incompatible, say that He is +man; in this they are Catholics. But they deny that He is God; in this +they are heretics. They allege that we deny His humanity; in this they +are ignorant. + +2nd example: On the subject of the Holy Sacrament. We believe that, the +substance of the bread being changed, and being consubstantial with that +of the body of our Lord, Jesus Christ is therein really present. That is +one truth. Another is that this Sacrament is also a type of the cross +and of glory, and a commemoration of the two. That is the Catholic +faith, which comprehends these two truths which seem opposed. + +The heresy of to-day, not conceiving that this Sacrament contains at the +same time both the presence of Jesus Christ and a type of Him, and that +it is a sacrifice and a commemoration of a sacrifice, believes that +neither of these truths can be admitted without excluding the other for +this reason. + +They fasten to this point alone, that this Sacrament is typical; and in +this they are not heretics. They think that we exclude this truth; hence +it comes that they raise so many objections to us out of the passages of +the Fathers which assert it. Finally, they deny the presence; and in +this they are heretics. + +3rd example: Indulgences. + +The shortest way, therefore, to prevent heresies is to instruct in all +truths; and the surest way to refute them is to declare them all. For +what will the heretics say? + +In order to know whether an opinion is a Father's ... + + +862 + +All err the more dangerously, as they each follow a truth. Their fault +is not in following a falsehood, but in not following another truth. + + +863 + +Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that +unless we love the truth, we cannot know it. + + +864 + +If there is ever a time in which we must make profession of two opposite +truths, it is when we are reproached for omitting one. Therefore the +Jesuits and Jansenists are wrong in concealing them, but the Jansenists +more so, for the Jesuits have better made profession of the two. + + +865 + +Two kinds of people make things equal to one another, as feasts to +working days, Christians to priests, all things among them, etc. And +hence the one party conclude that what is then bad for priests is also +so for Christians, and the other that what is not bad for Christians is +lawful for priests. + + +866 + +If the ancient Church was in error, the Church is fallen. If she should +be in error to-day, it is not the same thing; for she has always the +superior maxim of tradition from the hand of the ancient Church; and so +this submission and this conformity to the ancient Church prevail and +correct all. But the ancient Church did not assume the future Church, +and did not consider her, as we assume and consider the ancient. + + +867 + +That which hinders us in comparing what formerly occurred in the Church +with what we see there now, is that we generally look upon Saint +Athanasius,[362] Saint Theresa, and the rest, as crowned with glory, and +acting towards us as gods. Now that time has cleared up things, it does +so appear. But at the time when he was persecuted, this great saint was +a man called Athanasius; and Saint Theresa was a nun. "Elias was a man +subject to like passions as we are," says Saint James, to disabuse +Christians of that false idea which makes us reject the example of the +saints, as disproportioned to our state. "They were saints," say we, +"they are not like us." What then actually happened? Saint Athanasius +was a man called Athanasius, accused of many crimes, condemned by such +and such a council for such and such a crime. All the bishops assented +to it, and finally the Pope. What said they to those who opposed this? +That they disturbed the peace, that they created schism, etc. + +Zeal, light. Four kinds of persons: zeal without knowledge; knowledge +without zeal; neither knowledge nor zeal; both zeal and knowledge. The +first three condemned him. The last acquitted him, were excommunicated +by the Church, and yet saved the Church. + + +868 + +If Saint Augustine came at the present time, and was as little +authorised as his defenders, he would accomplish nothing. God directs +His Church well, by having sent him before with authority. + + +869 + +God has not wanted to absolve without the Church. As she has part in the +offence, He desires her to have part in the pardon. He associates her +with this power, as kings their parliaments. But if she absolves or +binds without God, she is no longer the Church. For, as in the case of +parliament, even if the king have pardoned a man, it must be ratified; +but if parliament ratifies without the king, or refuses to ratify on the +order of the king, it is no longer the parliament of the king, but a +rebellious assembly. + + +870 + +_The Church, the Pope. Unity, plurality._--Considering the Church as a +unity, the Pope, who is its head, is as the whole. Considering it as a +plurality, the Pope is only a part of it. The Fathers have considered +the Church now in the one way, now in the other. And thus they have +spoken differently of the Pope. (Saint Cyprian: _Sacerdos Dei._) But in +establishing one of these truths, they have not excluded the other. +Plurality which is not reduced to unity is confusion; unity which does +not depend on plurality is tyranny. There is scarcely any other country +than France in which it is permissible to say that the Council is above +the Pope. + + +871 + +The Pope is head. Who else is known of all? Who else is recognised by +all, having power to insinuate himself into all the body, because he +holds the principal shoot, which insinuates itself everywhere? How easy +it was to make this degenerate into tyranny! That is why Christ has laid +down for them this precept: _Vos autem non sic._[363] + + +872 + +The Pope hates and fears the learned, who do not submit to him at will. + + +873 + +We must not judge of what the Pope is by some words of the Fathers--as +the Greeks said in a council, important rules--but by the acts of the +Church and the Fathers, and by the canons. + +_Duo aut tres in unum._[364] Unity and plurality. It is an error to +exclude one of the two, as the papists do who exclude plurality, or the +Huguenots who exclude unity. + + +874 + +Would the Pope be dishonoured by having his knowledge from God and +tradition; and is it not dishonouring him to separate him from this holy +union? + + +875 + +God does not perform miracles in the ordinary conduct of His Church. It +would be a strange miracle if infallibility existed in one man. But it +appears so natural for it to reside in a multitude, since the conduct +of God is hidden under nature, as in all His other works. + + +876 + +Kings dispose of their own power; but the Popes cannot dispose of +theirs. + + +877 + +_Summum jus, summa injuria._ + +The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength to +make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the least able. + +If men could have done it, they would have placed might in the hands of +justice. But as might does not allow itself to be managed as men want, +because it is a palpable quality, whereas justice is a spiritual quality +of which men dispose as they please, they have placed justice in the +hands of might. And thus that is called just which men are forced to +obey. + +Hence comes the right of the sword, for the sword gives a true right. +Otherwise we should see violence on one side and justice on the other +(end of the twelfth _Provincial_). Hence comes the injustice of the +Fronde,[365] which raises its alleged justice against power. It is not +the same in the Church, for there is a true justice and no violence. + + +878 + +_Injustice._--Jurisdiction is not given for the sake of the judge, but +for that of the litigant. It is dangerous to tell this to the people. +But the people have too much faith in you; it will not harm them, and +may serve you. It should therefore be made known. _Pasce oves +meas_,[366] non _tuas_. You owe me pasturage. + + +879 + +Men like certainty. They like the Pope to be infallible in faith, and +grave doctors to be infallible in morals, so as to have certainty. + + +880 + +The Church teaches, and God inspires, both infallibly. The work of the +Church is of use only as a preparation for grace or condemnation. What +it does is enough for condemnation, not for inspiration. + + +881 + +Every time the Jesuits may impose upon the Pope, they will make all +Christendom perjured. + +The Pope is very easily imposed upon, because of his occupations, and +the confidence which he has in the Jesuits; and the Jesuits are very +capable of imposing upon him by means of calumny. + + +882 + +The wretches who have obliged me to speak of the basis of religion. + + +883 + +Sinners purified without penitence; the righteous justified without +love; all Christians without the grace of Jesus Christ; God without +power over the will of men; a predestination without mystery; a +redemption without certitude! + + +884 + +Any one is made a priest, who wants to be so, as under Jeroboam.[367] + +It is a horrible thing that they propound to us the discipline of the +Church of to-day as so good, that it is made a crime to desire to change +it. Formerly it was infallibly good, and it was thought that it could be +changed without sin; and now, such as it is, we cannot wish it changed! +It has indeed been permitted to change the custom of not making priests +without such great circumspection, that there were hardly any who were +worthy; and it is not allowed to complain of the custom which makes so +many who are unworthy! + + +885 + +_Heretics._--Ezekiel. All the heathen, and also the Prophet, spoke evil +of Israel. But the Israelites were so far from having the right to say +to him, "You speak like the heathen," that he is most forcible upon +this, that the heathen say the same as he. + + +886 + +The Jansenists are like the heretics in the reformation of morality; but +you are like them in evil. + + +887 + +You are ignorant of the prophecies, if you do not know that all this +must happen; princes, prophets, Pope, and even the priests. And yet the +Church is to abide. By the grace of God we have not come to that. Woe to +these priests! But we hope that God will bestow His mercy upon us that +we shall not be of them. + +Saint Peter, ii: false prophets in the past, the image of future ones. + + +888 + +... So that if it is true, on the one hand, that some lax monks, and +some corrupt casuists, who are not members of the hierarchy, are steeped +in these corruptions, it is, on the other hand, certain that the true +pastors of the Church, who are the true guardians of the Divine Word, +have preserved it unchangeably against the efforts of those who have +attempted to destroy it. + +And thus true believers have no pretext to follow that laxity, which is +only offered to them by the strange hands of these casuists, instead of +the sound doctrine which is presented to them by the fatherly hands of +their own pastors. And the ungodly and heretics have no ground for +publishing these abuses as evidence of imperfection in the providence of +God over His Church; since, the Church consisting properly in the body +of the hierarchy, we are so far from being able to conclude from the +present state of matters that God has abandoned her to corruption, that +it has never been more apparent than at the present time that God +visibly protects her from corruption. + +For if some of these men, who, by an extraordinary vocation, have made +profession of withdrawing from the world and adopting the monks' dress, +in order to live in a more perfect state than ordinary Christians, have +fallen into excesses which horrify ordinary Christians, and have become +to us what the false prophets were among the Jews; this is a private and +personal misfortune, which must indeed be deplored, but from which +nothing can be inferred against the care which God takes of His Church; +since all these things are so clearly foretold, and it has been so long +since announced that these temptations would arise from people of this +kind; so that when we are well instructed, we see in this rather +evidence of the care of God than of His forgetfulness in regard to us. + + +889 + +Tertullian: _Nunquam Ecclesia reformabitur._ + + +890 + +Heretics, who take advantage of the doctrine of the Jesuits, must be +made to know that it is not that of the Church [_the doctrine of the +Church_], and that our divisions do not separate us from the altar. + + +891 + +If in differing we condemned, you would be right. Uniformity without +diversity is useless to others; diversity without uniformity is ruinous +for us. The one is harmful outwardly; the other inwardly. + + +892 + +By showing the truth, we cause it to be believed; but by showing the +injustice of ministers, we do not correct it. Our mind is assured by a +proof of falsehood; our purse is not made secure by proof of injustice. + + +893 + +Those who love the Church lament to see the corruption of morals; but +laws at least exist. But these corrupt the laws. The model is damaged. + + +894 + +Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from +religious conviction. + + +895 + +It is in vain that the Church has established these words, anathemas, +heresies, etc. They are used against her. + + +896 + +The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth, for the master tells him +only the act and not the intention.[368] And this is why he often obeys +slavishly, and defeats the intention. But Jesus Christ has told us the +object. And you defeat that object. + + +897 + +They cannot have perpetuity, and they seek universality; and therefore +they make the whole Church corrupt, that they may be saints. + + +898 + +_Against those who misuse passages of Scripture, and who pride +themselves in finding one which seems to favour their error._--The +chapter for Vespers, Passion Sunday, the prayer for the king. + +Explanation of these words: "He that is not with me is against me."[369] +And of these others: "He that is not against you is for you."[370] A +person who says: "I am neither for nor against", we ought to reply to +him ... + + +899 + +He who will give the meaning of Scripture, and does not take it from +Scripture, is an enemy of Scripture. (Aug., _De Doct. Christ._) + + +900 + +_Humilibus dat gratiam; an ideo non dedit humilitatem?[371] + +Sui eum non receperunt; quotquot autem non receperunt an non erant +sui?_[372] + + +901 + +"It must indeed be," says Feuillant, "that this is not so certain; for +controversy indicates uncertainty, (Saint Athanasius, Saint Chrysostom, +morals, unbelievers)." + +The Jesuits have not made the truth uncertain, but they have made their +own ungodliness certain. + +Contradiction has always been permitted, in order to blind the wicked; +for all that offends truth or love is evil. This is the true principle. + + +902 + +All religions and sects in the world have had natural reason for a +guide. Christians alone have been constrained to take their rules from +without themselves, and to acquaint themselves with those which Jesus +Christ bequeathed to men of old to be handed down to true believers. +This constraint wearies these good Fathers. They desire, like other +people, to have liberty to follow their own imaginations. It is in vain +that we cry to them, as the prophets said to the Jews of old: "Enter +into the Church; acquaint yourselves with the precepts which the men of +old left to her, and follow those paths." They have answered like the +Jews: "We will not walk in them; but we will follow the thoughts of our +hearts"; and they have said, "We will be as the other nations."[373] + + +903 + +They make a rule of exception. + +Have the men of old given absolution before penance? Do this as +exceptional. But of the exception you make a rule without exception, so +that you do not even want the rule to be exceptional. + + +904 + +_On confessions and absolutions without signs of regret._ + +God regards only the inward; the Church judges only by the outward. God +absolves as soon as He sees penitence in the heart; the Church when she +sees it in works. God will make a Church pure within, which confounds, +by its inward and entirely spiritual holiness, the inward impiety of +proud sages and Pharisees; and the Church will make an assembly of men +whose external manners are so pure as to confound the manners of the +heathen. If there are hypocrites among them, but so well disguised that +she does not discover their venom, she tolerates them; for, though they +are not accepted of God, whom they cannot deceive, they are of men, whom +they do deceive. And thus she is not dishonoured by their conduct, which +appears holy. But you want the Church to judge neither of the inward, +because that belongs to God alone, nor of the outward, because God +dwells only upon the inward; and thus, taking away from her all choice +of men, you retain in the Church the most dissolute, and those who +dishonour her so greatly, that the synagogues of the Jews and sects of +philosophers would have banished them as unworthy, and have abhorred +them as impious. + + +905 + +The easiest conditions to live in according to the world are the most +difficult to live in according to God, and vice versa. Nothing is so +difficult according to the world as the religious life; nothing is +easier than to live it according to God. Nothing is easier, according to +the world, than to live in high office and great wealth; nothing is more +difficult than to live in them according to God, and without acquiring +an interest in them and a liking for them. + + +906 + +The casuists submit the decision to the corrupt reason, and the choice +of decisions to the corrupt will, in order that all that is corrupt in +the nature of man may contribute to his conduct. + + +907 + +But is it _probable_ that _probability_ gives assurance? + +Difference between rest and security of conscience. Nothing gives +certainty but truth; nothing gives rest but the sincere search for +truth. + + +908 + +The whole society itself of their casuists cannot give assurance to a +conscience in error, and that is why it is important to choose good +guides. + +Thus they will be doubly culpable, both in having followed ways which +they should not have followed, and in having listened to teachers to +whom they should not have listened. + + +909 + +Can it be anything but compliance with the world which makes you find +things probable? Will you make us believe that it is truth, and that if +duelling were not the fashion, you would find it probable that they +might fight, considering the matter in itself? + + +910 + +Must we kill to prevent there being any wicked? This is to make both +parties wicked instead of one. _Vince in bono malum._[374] (Saint +Augustine.) + + +911 + +_Universal._--Ethics and language are special, but universal sciences. + + +912 + +_Probability._--Each one can employ it; no one can take it away. + + +913 + +They allow lust to act, and check scruples; whereas they should do the +contrary. + + +914 + +_Montalte._[375]--Lax opinions please men so much, that it is strange +that theirs displease. It is because they have exceeded all bounds. +Again, there are many people who see the truth, and who cannot attain to +it; but there are few who do not know that the purity of religion is +opposed to our corruptions. It is absurd to say that an eternal +recompense is offered to the morality of Escobar. + + +915 + +_Probability._--They have some true principles; but they misuse them. +Now, the abuse of truth ought to be as much punished as the introduction +of falsehood. + +As if there were two hells, one for sins against love, the other for +those against justice! + + +916 + +_Probability._[376]--The earnestness of the saints in seeking the truth +was useless, if the probable is trustworthy. The fear of the saints who +have always followed the surest way (Saint Theresa having always +followed her confessor). + + +917 + +Take away _probability_, and you can no longer please the world; give +_probability_, and you can no longer displease it. + + +918 + +These are the effects of the sins of the peoples and of the Jesuits. The +great have wished to be flattered. The Jesuits have wished to be loved +by the great. They have all been worthy to be abandoned to the spirit of +lying, the one party to deceive, the others to be deceived. They have +been avaricious, ambitious, voluptuous. _Coacervabunt tibi +magistros._[377] Worthy disciples of such masters, they have sought +flatterers, and have found them. + + +919 + +If they do not renounce their doctrine of probability, their good maxims +are as little holy as the bad, for they are founded on human authority; +and thus, if they are more just, they will be more reasonable, but not +more holy. They take after the wild stem on which they are grafted. + +If what I say does not serve to enlighten you, it will be of use to the +people. + +If these[378] are silent, the stones will speak. + +Silence is the greatest persecution; the saints were never silent. It is +true that a call is necessary; but it is not from the decrees of the +Council that we must learn whether we are called, it is from the +necessity of speaking. Now, after Rome has spoken, and we think that she +has condemned the truth, and that they have written it, and after the +books which have said the contrary are censured; we must cry out so much +the louder, the more unjustly we are censured, and the more violently +they would stifle speech, until there come a Pope who hears both +parties, and who consults antiquity to do justice. So the good Popes +will find the Church still in outcry. + +The Inquisition and the Society[379] are the two scourges of the truth. + +Why do you not accuse them of Arianism? For, though they have said that +Jesus Christ is God, perhaps they mean by it not the natural +interpretation, but as it is said, _Dii estis_. + +If my Letters are condemned at Rome, that which I condemn in them is +condemned in heaven. _Ad tuum, Domine Jesu, tribunal appello._ + +You yourselves are corruptible. + +I feared that I had written ill, seeing myself condemned; but the +example of so many pious writings makes me believe the contrary. It is +no longer allowable to write well, so corrupt or ignorant is the +Inquisition! + +"It is better to obey God than men." + +I fear nothing; I hope for nothing. It is not so with the bishops. +Port-Royal fears, and it is bad policy to disperse them; for they will +fear no longer and will cause greater fear. I do not even fear your like +censures, if they are not founded on those of tradition. Do you censure +all? What! even my respect? No. Say then what, or you will do nothing, +if you do not point out the evil, and why it is evil. And this is what +they will have great difficulty in doing. + +_Probability._--They have given a ridiculous explanation of certitude; +for, after having established that all their ways are sure, they have no +longer called that sure which leads to heaven without danger of not +arriving there by it, but that which leads there without danger of going +out of that road. + + +920 + +... The saints indulge in subtleties in order to think themselves +criminals, and impeach their better actions. And these indulge in +subtleties in order to excuse the most wicked. + +The heathen sages erected a structure equally fine outside, but upon a +bad foundation; and the devil deceived men by this apparent resemblance +based upon the most different foundation. + +Man never had so good a cause as I; and others have never furnished so +good a capture as you.... + +The more they point out weakness in my person, the more they authorise +my cause. + +You say that I am a heretic. Is that lawful? And if you do not fear that +men do justice, do you not fear that God does justice? + +You will feel the force of the truth, and you will yield to it ... + +There is something supernatural in such a blindness. _Digna +necessitas.[380] Mentiris impudentissime_ ... + +_Doctrina sua noscitur vir_ ... + +False piety, a double sin. + +I am alone against thirty thousand. No. Protect, you, the court; +protect, you, deception; let me protect the truth. It is all my +strength. If I lose it, I am undone. I shall not lack accusations, and +persecutions. But I possess the truth, and we shall see who will take it +away. + +I do not need to defend religion, but you do not need to defend error +and injustice. Let God, out of His compassion, having no regard to the +evil which is in me, and having regard to the good which is in you, +grant us all grace that truth may not be overcome in my hands, and that +falsehood ... + + +921 + +_Probable._--Let us see if we seek God sincerely, by comparison of the +things which we love. It is _probable_ that this food will not poison +me. It is _probable_ that I shall not lose my action by not prosecuting +it ... + + +922 + +It is not absolution only which remits sins by the sacrament of penance, +but contrition, which is not real if it does not seek the sacrament. + + +923 + +People who do not keep their word, without faith, without honour, +without truth, deceitful in heart, deceitful in speech; for which that +amphibious animal in fable was once reproached, which held itself in a +doubtful position between the fish and the birds ... + +It is important to kings and princes to be considered pious; and +therefore they must confess themselves to you. + + + + +NOTES + + +The following brief notes are mainly based on those of M. Brunschvicg. +But those of MM. Faugère, Molinier, and Havet have also been consulted. +The biblical references are to the Authorised English Version. Those in +the text are to the Vulgate, except where it has seemed advisable to +alter the reference to the English Version. + + +[1] P. 1, l. 1. _The difference between the mathematical and the + intuitive mind._--Pascal is here distinguishing the logical or + discursive type of mind, a good example of which is found in + mathematical reasoning, and what we should call the intuitive type + of mind, which sees everything at a glance. A practical man of sound + judgment exemplifies the latter; for he is in fact guided by + impressions of past experience, and does not consciously reason from + general principles. + +[2] P. 2, l. 34. _There are different kinds_, etc.--This is probably a + subdivision of the discursive type of mind. + +[3] P. 3, l. 31. _By rule._--This is an emendation by M. Brunschvicg. + The MS. has _sans règle_. + +[4] P. 4, l. 3. _I judge by my watch._--Pascal is said to have always + carried a watch attached to his left wrist-band. + +[5] P. 5, l. 21. _Scaramouch._--A traditional character in Italian + comedy. + +[6] P. 5, l. 22. _The doctor._--Also a traditional character in Italian + comedy. + +[7] P. 5, l. 24. _Cleobuline._--Princess, and afterwards Queen of + Corinth, figures in the romance of Mademoiselle de Scudéry, entitled + _Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus_. She is enamoured of one of her + subjects, Myrinthe. But she "loved him without thinking of love; and + remained so long in that error, that this affection was no longer in + a state to be overcome, when she became aware of it." The character + is supposed to have been drawn from Christina of Sweden. + +[8] P. 6, l. 21. _Rivers are_, etc.--Apparently suggested by a chapter + in Rabelais: _How we descended in the isle of Odes, in which the + roads walk_. + +[9] P. 6, l. 30. _Salomon de Tultie._--A pseudonym adopted by Pascal as + the author of the _Provincial Letters_. + +[10] P. 7, l. 7. _Abstine et sustine._--A maxim of the Stoics. + +[11] P. 7, l. 8. _Follow nature._--The maxim in which the Stoics summed + up their positive ethical teaching. + +[12] P. 7, l. 9. _As Plato._--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 9. + +[13] P. 9, l. 29. _We call this jargon poetical beauty._--According to + M. Havet, Pascal refers here to Malherbe and his school. + +[14] P. 10, l. 23. _Ne quid nimis._--Nothing in excess, a celebrated + maxim in ancient Greek philosophy. + +[15] P. 11, l. 26. _That epigram about two one-eyed people._--M. Havet + points out that this is not Martial's, but is to be found in + _Epigrammatum Delectus_, published by Port-Royal in 1659. + + _Lumine Æon dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro, + Et potis est forma vincere uterque deos. + Blande puer, lumen quod habes concede parenti, + Sic tu cæcus Amor, sic erit ilia Venus._ + +[16] P. 11, l. 29. _Ambitiosa recidet ornamenta._--Horace, _De Arte + Poetica_, 447. + +[17] P. 13, l. 2. _Cartesian._--One who follows the philosophy of + Descartes (1596-1650), "the father of modern philosophy." + +[18] P. 13, l. 8. _Le Maître._--A famous French advocate in Pascal's + time. His _Plaidoyers el Harangues_ appeared in 1657. _Plaidoyer + VI_ is entitled _Pour un fils mis en religion par force_, and on + the first page occurs the word _répandre_: "_Dieu qui répand des + aveuglements et des ténèbres sur les passions illégitimes._" + Pascal's reference is probably to this passage. + +[19] P. 13, l. 12. _The Cardinal._--Mazarin. He was one of those + statesmen who do not like condolences. + +[20] P. 14, l. 12. _Saint Thomas._--Thomas Aquinas (1223-74), one of the + greatest scholastic philosophers. + +[21] P. 14, l. 16. _Charron._--A friend of Montaigne. His _Traité de la + Sagesse_ (1601), which is not a large book, contains 117 chapters, + each of which is subdivided. + +[22] P. 14, l. 17. _Of the confusion of Montaigne._--The Essays of + Montaigne follow each other without any kind of order. + +[23] P. 14, l. 27. _Mademoiselle de Gournay._--The adopted daughter of + Montaigne. She published in 1595 an edition of his _Essais_, and, + in a Preface (added later), she defends him on this point. + +[24] P. 15, l. 1. _People without eyes._--Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[25] P. 15, l. 1. _Squaring the circle._--Ibid., ii, 14. + +[26] P. 15, l. 1. _A greater world._--Ibid., ii, 12. + +[27] P. 15, l. 2. _On suicide and on death._--Ibid., ii, 3. + +[28] P. 15, l. 3. _Without fear and without repentance._--Ibid., iii., + 2. + +[29] P. 15, l. 7. (730, 231).--These two references of Pascal are to the + edition of the _Essais_ of Montaigne, published in 1636. + +[30] P. 16, l. 32. _The centre which is everywhere, and the + circumference nowhere._--M. Havet traces this saying to + Empedocles. Pascal must have read it in Mlle de Gournay's preface + to her edition of Montaigne's _Essais_. + +[31] P. 18, l. 33. _I will speak of the whole._--This saying of + Democritus is quoted by Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[32] P. 18, l. 37. _Principles of Philosophy._--The title of one of + Descartes's philosophical writings, published in 1644. See note on + p. 13, l. 8 above. + +[33] P. 18, l. 39. _De omni scibili._--The title under which Pico della + Mirandola announced nine hundred propositions which he proposed to + uphold publicly at Rome in 1486. + +[34] P. 19, l. 26. _Beneficia eo usque læta sunt._--Tacitus, _Ann._, + lib. iv, c. xviii. Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 8. + +[35] P. 21, l. 35. _Modus quo_, etc.--St. Augustine, _De Civ. Dei_, xxi, + 10. Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[36] P. 22, l. 8. _Felix qui_, etc.--Virgil, _Georgics_, ii, 489, quoted + by Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 10. + +[37] P. 22, l. 10. _Nihil admirari_, etc.--Horace, _Epistles_, I. vi. 1. + Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 10. + +[38] P. 22, l. 19. 394.--A reference to Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[39] P. 22, l. 20. 395.--Ibid. + +[40] P. 22, l. 22. 399.--Ibid. + +[41] P. 22, l. 28. _Harum sententiarum._--Cicero, _Tusc._, i, 11, + Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[42] P. 22, l. 39. _Felix qui_, etc.--See above, notes on p. 22, l. 8 + and l. 10. + +[43] P. 22, l. 40. 280 _kinds of sovereign good in + Montaigne._--_Essais_, ii, 12. + +[44] P. 23, l. 1. _Part I_, 1, 2, _c_. 1, _section_ 4.--This reference + is to Pascal's _Traité du vide_. + +[45] P. 23, l. 25. _How comes it_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 8. + +[46] P. 23, l. 29. See Epictetus, _Diss._, iv, 6. He was a great Roman + Stoic in the time of Domitian. + +[47] P. 24, l. 9. _It is natural_, etc.--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, i, + 4. + +[48] P. 24, l. 12. _Imagination._--This fragment is suggestive of + Montaigne. See _Essais_, iii, 8. + +[49] P. 25, l. 16. _If the greatest philosopher_, etc. See Raymond + Sebond's _Apologie_, from which Pascal has derived his + illustrations. + +[50] P. 26, l. 1. _Furry cats._--Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 8. + +[51] P. 26, l. 31. _Della opinione_, etc.--No work is known under this + name. It may refer to a treatise by Carlo Flori, which bears a + title like this. But its date (1690) is after Pascal's death + (1662), though there may have been earlier editions. + +[52] P. 27, l. 12. _Source of error in diseases._--Montaigne, _Essais_, + ii, 12. + +[53] P. 27, l. 27. _They rival each other_, etc.--Ibid. + +[54] P. 28, l. 31. _Næ iste_, etc.--Terence, _Heaut._, IV, i, 8. + Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 1. + +[55] P. 28, l. 15. _Quasi quidquam_, etc.--Plin., ii, 7. Montaigne, + ibid. + +[56] P. 28, l. 29. _Quod crebro_, etc.--Cicero, _De Divin._, ii, 49. + +[57] P. 29, l. 1. _Spongia solis._--The spots on the sun. Pascal sees in + them the beginning of the darkening of the sun, and thinks that + there will therefore come a day when there will be no sun. + +[58] P. 29, l. 15. _Custom is a second nature_, etc.--Montaigne, + _Essais_, i, 22. + +[59] P. 29, l. 19. _Omne animal._--See Genesis vii, 14. + +[60] P. 30, l. 22. _Hence savages_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 22. + +[61] P. 32, l. 3. _A great part of Europe_, etc.--An allusion to the + Reformation. + +[62] P. 33, l. 13. _Alexander's chastity._--Pascal apparently has in + mind Alexander's treatment of Darius's wife and daughters after the + battle of Issus. + +[63] P. 34, l. 17. _Lustravit lampade terras._--Part of Cicero's + translation of two lines from Homer, _Odyssey_, xviii, 136. + Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + + _Tales sunt hominum mentes, quali pater ipse + Jupiter auctiferas lustravit lampade terras._ + +[64] P. 34, l. 32. _Nature gives_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 19. + +[65] P. 37, l. 23. _Our nature consists_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, + iii, 13. + +[66] P. 38, l. 1. _Weariness._--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[67] P. 38, l. 8. _Cæsar was too old_, etc.--See Montaigne, _Essais_, + ii, 34. + +[68] P. 38, l. 30. _A mere trifle_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 4. + +[69] P. 40, l. 21. _Advice given to Pyrrhus._--Ibid., i, 42. + +[70] P. 41, l. 2. _They do not know_, etc.--Ibid., i, 19. + +[71] P. 44, l. 14. _They are_, etc.--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 38. + +[72] P. 46, l. 7. _Those who write_, etc.--A thought of Cicero in _Pro + Archia_, mentioned by Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 41. + +[73] P. 47, l. 3. _Ferox gens._--Livy, xxxiv, 17. Montaigne, _Essais_, + i, 40. + +[74] P. 47, l. 5. _Every opinion_, etc.--Montaigne, ibid. + +[75] P. 47, l. 12. 184.--This is a reference to Montaigne, _Essais_, i, + 40. See also ibid., iii, 10. + +[76] P. 48, l. 8. _I know not what (Corneille)._--See _Médée,_ II, vi, + and _Rodogune_, I, v. + +[77] P. 48, l. 22. _In omnibus requiem quæsivi._--Eccles. xxiv, II, in + the Vulgate. + +[78] P. 50, l. 5. _The future alone is our end._--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, + 3. + +[79] P. 50, l. 14. _Solomon._--Considered by Pascal as the author of + Ecclesiastes. + +[80] P. 50, l. 20. _Unconscious of approaching fever._--Compare + Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 19. + +[81] P. 50, l. 22. _Cromwell._--Cromwell died in 1658 of a fever, and + not of the gravel. The Restoration took place in 1660, and this + fragment was written about that date. + +[82] P. 50, l. 28. _The three hosts._--Charles I was beheaded in 1649; + Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated in 1654; Jean Casimir, King of + Poland, was deposed in 1656. + +[83] P. 50, l. 32. _Macrobius._--A Latin writer of the fifth century. He + was a Neo-Platonist in philosophy. One of his works is entitled + _Saturnalia_. + +[84] P. 51, l. 5. _The great and the humble_, etc.--See Montaigne, + _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[85] P. 53, l. 5. _Miton._--A man of fashion in Paris known to Pascal. + +[86] P. 53, l. 15. _Deus absconditus._--Is. xiv, 15. + +[87] P. 60, l. 26. _Fascinatio nugacitatis._--Book of Wisdom iv, 12. + +[88] P. 61, l. 10. _Memoria hospitis_, etc.--Book of Wisdom v, 15. + +[89] P. 62, l. 5. _Instability._--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 12. + +[90] P. 66, l. 19. _Foolishness, stultitium._--I Cor. i, 18. + +[91] P. 71, l. 5. _To prove Divinity from the works of nature._--A + traditional argument of the Stoics like Cicero and Seneca, and of + rationalist theologians like Raymond Sebond, Charron, etc. It is + the argument from Design in modern philosophy. + +[92] P. 71, l. 27. _Nemo novit_, etc.--Matthew xi, 27. In the Vulgate, + it is _Neque patrem quis novit_, etc. Pascal's biblical quotations + are often incorrect. Many seem to have been made from memory. + +[93] P. 71, l. 30. _Those who seek God find Him._--Matthew vii, 7. + +[94] P. 72, l. 3. _Vere tu es Deus absconditus._--Is. xiv, 15. + +[95] P. 72, l. 22. _Ne evacuetur crux Christi._--I Cor. i, 17. In the + Vulgate we have_ut non_ instead of _ne_. + +[96] P. 72, l. 25. _The machine._--A Cartesian expression. Descartes + considered animals as mere automata. According to Pascal, whatever + does not proceed in us from reflective thought is a product of a + necessary mechanism, which has its root in the body, and which is + continued into the mind in imagination and the passions. It is + therefore necessary for man so to alter, and adjust this mechanism, + that it will always follow, and not obstruct, the good will. + +[97] P. 73, l. 3. _Justus ex fide vivit._--Romans i, 17. + +[98] P. 73, l. 5. _Fides ex auditu._--Romans x, 17. + +[99] P. 73, l. 12. _The creature._--What is purely natural in us. + +[100] P. 74, l. 15. _Inclina cor meum, Deus._--Ps. cxix, 36. + +[101] P. 75, l. 11. _Unus quisque sibi Deum fingit._--See Book of Wisdom + xv, 6, 16. + +[102] P. 76, l. 34. _Eighth beatitude._--Matthew v, 10. It is to the + fourth beatitude that the thought directly refers. + +[103] P. 77, l. 6. _One thousand and twenty-eight._--The number of the + stars according to Ptolemy's catalogue. + +[104] P. 77, l. 29. _Saint Augustine._--_Epist._ cxx, 3. + +[105] P. 78, l. 1. _Nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli._--Matthew xviii, 3. + +[106] P. 80, l. 20. _Inclina cor meum, Deus, in_....--Ps. cxix, 36. + +[107] P. 80, l. 22. _Its establishment._--The constitution of the + Christian Church. + +[108] P. 81, l. 20. _The youths and maidens and children of the Church + would prophesy._--Joel ii, 28. + +[109] P. 83, l. 11. _On what_, etc.--See Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[110] P. 84, l. 16. _Nihil amplius ... est._--Ibid. Cicero, _De + Finibus_, v, 21. + +[111] P. 84, l. 17. _Ex senatus ... exercentur._--Montaigne, _Essais_, + iii, 1. Seneca, _Letters_, 95. + +[112] P. 84, l. 18. _Ut olim ... laboramus._--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, + 13. Tacitus, _Ann._, iii, 25. + +[113] P. 84, l. 20. _The interest of the sovereign._--The view of + Thrasymachus in Plato's _Republic_, i, 338. + +[114] P. 84, l. 21. _Another, present custom._--The doctrine of the + Cyrenaics. Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 13. + +[115] P. 84, l. 24. _The mystical foundation of its + authority._--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 13. See also ii, 12. + +[116] P. 85, l. 2. _The wisest of legislators._--Plato. See _Republic_, + ii, 389, and v, 459. + +[117] P. 85, l. 4. _Cum veritatem_, etc.--An inexact quotation from St. + Augustine, _De Civ. Dei_, iv, 27. Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[118] P. 85, l. 17. _Veri juris._--Cicero, _De Officiis_, iii, 17. + Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, I. + +[119] P. 86, l. 9. _When a strong man_, etc.--Luke xi, 21. + +[120] P. 86, l. 26. _Because he who will_, etc.--See Epictetus, _Diss._, + iii, 12. + +[121] P. 88, l. 19. _Civil wars are the greatest of evils._--Montaigne, + _Essais_, iii, 11. + +[122] P. 89, l. 5. _Montaigne._--_Essais_, i, 42. + +[123] P. 91, l. 8. _Savages laugh at an infant king._--An allusion to a + visit of some savages to Europe. They were greatly astonished to + see grown men obey the child king, Charles IX. Montaigne, + _Essais_, i, 30. + +[124] P. 92, l. 8. _Man's true state._--See Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 54. + +[125] P. 95, l. 3. _Omnis ... vanitati._--Eccles. iii, 19. + +[126] P. 95, l. 4. _Liberabitur._--Romans viii, 20-21. + +[127] P. 95, l. 4. _Saint Thomas._--In his Commentary on the Epistle of + St. James. James ii, 1. + +[128] P. 96, l. 9. _The account of the pike and frog of Liancourt._--The + story is unknown. The Duc de Liancourt led a vicious life in + youth, but was converted by his wife. He became one of the firmest + supporters of Port-Royal. + +[129] P. 97, l. 18. _Philosophers._--The Stoics. + +[130] P. 97, l. 24. _Epictetus._--_Diss._, iv, 7. + +[131] P. 97, l. 26. _Those great spiritual efforts_, etc.--On this, and + the following fragment, see Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 29. + +[132] P. 98, l. 3. _Epaminondas._--Praised by Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, + 36. See also iii, 1. + +[133] P. 98, l. 17. _Plerumque gratæ principibus vices._--Horace, + _Odes_, III, xxix, 13, cited by Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 42. Horace + has _divitibus_ instead of _principibus_. + +[134] P. 99, l. 4. _Man is neither angel nor brute_, etc.--Montaigne, + _Essais_, iii, 13. + +[135] P. 99, l. 14. _Ut sis contentus_, etc.--A quotation from Seneca. + See Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 3. + +[136] P. 99, l. 21. _Sen._ 588.--Seneca, _Letter to Lucilius_, xv. + Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, I. + +[137] P. 99, l. 23. _Divin._--Cicero, _De Divin._, ii, 58. + +[138] P. 99, l. 25. _Cic._--Cicero, _Tusc_, ii, 2. The quotation is + inaccurate. Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12. + +[139] P. 99, l. 27. _Senec._--Seneca, _Epist._, 106. + +[140] P. 99, l. 28. _Id maxime_, etc.--Cicero, _De Off._, i, 31. + +[141] P. 99, l. 29. _Hos natura_, etc.--Virgil, _Georgics_, ii, 20. + +[142] P. 99, l. 30. _Paucis opus_, etc.--Seneca, _Epist._, 106. + +[143] P. 100, l. 3. _Mihi sic usus_, etc.--Terence, _Heaut._, I, i, 28. + +[144] P. 100, l. 4. _Rarum est_, etc.--Quintilian, x, 7. + +[145] P. 100, l. 5. _Tot circa_, etc.--M. Seneca, _Suasoriæ_, i, 4. + +[146] P. 100, l. 6. _Cic._--Cicero, _Acad._, i, 45. + +[147] P. 100, l. 7. _Nec me pudet_, etc.--Cicero, _Tusc._, i, 25. + +[148] P. 100, l. 8. _Melius non incipiet._--The rest of the quotation is + _quam desinet_. Seneca, _Epist._, 72. + +[149] P. 100, l. 25. _They win battles._--Montaigne, in his _Essais_, + ii, 12, relates that the Portuguese were compelled to raise the + siege of Tamly on account of the number of flies. + +[150] P. 100, l. 27. _When it is said_, etc.--By Descartes. + +[151] P. 102, l. 20. _Arcesilaus._--A follower of Pyrrho, the sceptic. + He lived in the third century before Christ. + +[152] P. 105, l. 20. _Ecclesiastes._--Eccles. viii, 17. + +[153] P. 106, l. 16. _The academicians._--Dogmatic sceptics, as opposed + to sceptics who doubt their own doubt. + +[154] P. 107, l. 10. _Ego vir videns._--Lamentations iii, I. + +[155] P. 108, l. 26. _Evil is easy_, etc.--The Pythagoreans considered + the good as certain and finite, and evil as uncertain and + infinite. Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 9. + +[156] P. 109, l. 7. _Paulus Æmilius._--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 19. + Cicero, _Tusc._, v, 40. + +[157] P. 109, l. 30. _Des Barreaux._--Author of a licentious love song. + He was born in 1602, and died in 1673. Balzac call him "the new + Bacchus." + +[158] P. 110, l. 16. _For Port-Royal._--The letters, A. P. R., occur in + several places, and are generally thought to indicate what will be + afterwards treated in lectures or conferences at Port-Royal, the + famous Cistercian abbey, situated about eighteen miles from Paris. + Founded early in the thirteenth century, it acquired its greatest + fame in its closing years. Louis XIV was induced to believe it + heretical; and the monastery was finally demolished in 1711. Its + downfall was no doubt brought about by the Jesuits. + +[159] P. 113, l. 4. _They all tend to this end._--Montaigne, _Essais_, + i, 19. + +[160] P. 119, l. 15. _Quod ergo_, etc.--Acts xvii, 23. + +[161] P. 119, l. 26. _Wicked demon._--Descartes had suggested the + possibility of the existence of an _evil genius_ to justify his + method of universal doubt. See his _First Meditation_. The + argument is quite Cartesian. + +[162] P. 122, l. 18. _Deliciæ meæ_, etc.--Proverbs viii, 31. + +[163] P. 122, l. 18. _Effundam spiritum_, etc.--Is. xliv, 3; Joel ii, + 28. + +[164] P. 122, l. 19. _Dii estis._--Ps. lxxxii, 6. + +[165] P. 122, l. 20. _Omnis caro fænum._--Is. xl, 6. + +[166] P. 122, l. 20. _Homo assimilatus_, etc.--Ps. xlix, 20. + +[167] P. 124, l. 24. _Sapientius est hominibus._--1 Cor. i, 25. + +[168] P. 125, l. 1. _Of original sin._--The citations from the Rabbis in + this fragment are borrowed from a work of the Middle Ages, + entitled _Pugio christianorum ad impiorum perfidiam jugulandam et + maxime judæorum_. It was written in the thirteenth century by + Raymond Martin, a Catalonian monk. An edition of it appeared in + 1651, edited by Bosquet, Bishop of Lodève. + +[169] P. 125, l. 24. _Better is a poor and wise child_, etc.--Eccles. + iv, 13. + +[170] P. 126, l. 17. _Nemo ante_, etc.--See Ovid, _Met._, iii, 137, and + Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 18. + +[171] P. 127, l. 10. _Figmentum._--Borrowed from the Vulgate, Ps. ciii, + 14. + +[172] P. 128. l. 5. _All that is in the world_, etc.--First Epistle of + St. John, ii, 16. + +[173] P. 128, l. 7. _Wretched is_, etc.--M. Faugère thinks this thought + is taken from St. Augustine's Commentary on Ps. cxxxvii, _Super + flumina Babylonis._ + +[174] P. 129, l. 6. _Qui gloriatur_, etc.--1 Cor. i, 31. + +[175] P. 130, l. 13. _Via, veritas._--John xiv, 6. + +[176] P. 130, l. 14. _Zeno._--The original founder of Stoicism. + +[177] P. 130, l. 15. _Epictetus._--_Diss._, iv, 6, 7. + +[178] P. 131, l. 32. _A body full of thinking members._--See I Cor. xii. + +[179] P. 133, l. 5. _Book of Wisdom._--ii, 6. + +[180] P. 134, l. 28. _Qui adhæret_, etc.--1 Cor. vi, 17. + +[181] P. 134, l. 36. _Two laws._--Matthew xxii, 35-40; Mark xii, 28-31. + +[182] P. 135, l. 6. _The kingdom of God is within us._--Luke xvii, 29. + +[183] P. 137, l. 1. _Et non_, etc.--Ps. cxliii, 2. + +[184] P. 137, l. 3. _The goodness of God leadeth to repentance._--Romans + ii, 4. + +[185] P. 137, l. 5. _Let us do penance_, etc.--See Jonah iii, 8, 9. + +[186] P. 137, l. 27. _I came to send war._--Matthew x, 34. + +[187] P. 137, l. 28. _I came to bring fire and the sword._--Luke xii, + 49. + +[188] P. 138, l. 2. _Pharisee and the Publican._--Parable in Luke xviii, + 9-14. + +[189] P. 138, l. 13. _Abraham._--Genesis xiv, 22-24. + +[190] P. 138, l. 17. _Sub te erit appetitus tuus._--Genesis iv, 7. + +[191] P. 140, l. 1. _It is_, etc.--A discussion on the Eucharist. + +[192] P. 140, l. 34. _Non sum dignus._--Luke vii, 6. + +[193] P. 140, l. 35. _Qui manducat indignus._--I Cor. xi, 29. + +[194] P. 140, l. 36. _Dignus est accipere._--Apoc. iv, II. + +[195] P. 141. In the French edition on which this translation is based + there was inserted the following fragment after No. 513: + + "Work out your own salvation with fear." + + Proofs of prayer. _Petenti dabitur._ + + Therefore it is in our power to ask. On the other hand, there is + God. So it is not in our power, since the obtaining of (the + grace) to pray to Him is not in our power. For since salvation + is not in us, and the obtaining of such grace is from Him, + prayer is not in our power. + + The righteous man should then hope no more in God, for he ought + not to hope, but to strive to obtain what he wants. + + Let us conclude then that, since man is now unrighteous since + the first sin, and God is unwilling that he should thereby not + be estranged from Him, it is only by a first effect that he is + not estranged. + + Therefore, those who depart from God have not this first effect + without which they are not estranged from God, and those who do + not depart from God have this first effect. Therefore, those + whom we have seen possessed for some time of grace by this first + effect, cease to pray, for want of this first effect. + + Then God abandons the first in this sense. + + It is doubtful, however that this fragment should be included in + the _Pensées_, and it has seemed best to separate it from the + text. It has only once before appeared--in the edition of + Michaut (1896). The first half of it has been freely translated + in order to give an interpretation in accordance with a + suggestion from M. Emile Boutroux, the eminent authority on + Pascal. The meaning seems to be this. In one sense it is in our + power to ask from God, who promises to give us what we ask. But, + in another sense, it is not in our power to ask; for it is not + in our power to obtain the grace which is necessary in asking. + We know that salvation is not in our power. Therefore some + condition of salvation is not in our power. Now the conditions + of salvation are two: (1) The asking for it, and (2) the + obtaining it. But God promises to give us what we ask. Hence the + obtaining is in our power. Therefore the condition which is not + in our power must be the first, namely, the asking. Prayer + presupposes a grace which it is not within our power to obtain. + + After giving the utmost consideration to the second half of this + obscure fragment, and seeking assistance from some eminent + scholars, the translator has been compelled to give a strictly + literal translation of it, without attempting to make sense. + +[196] P. 141, l. 14. _Lord, when saw we_, etc.--Matthew xxv, 37. + +[197] P. 143, l. 19. _Qui justus est, justificetur adhuc._--Apoc. xxii, + II. + +[198] P. 144, l. 2. _Corneille._--See his _Horace_, II, iii. + +[199] P. 144, l. 15. _Corrumpunt mores_, etc.--I Cor. xv, 33. + +[200] P. 145. l. 25. _Quod curiositate_, etc.--St. Augustine, _Sermon + CXLI_. + +[201] P. 146, l. 34. _Quia ... facere._--I Cor. i, 21. + +[202] P. 148, l. 7. _Turbare semetipsum._--John xi, 33. The text is + _turbavit seipsum_. + +[203] P. 148, l. 25. _My soul is sorrowful even unto death._--Mark xiv, + 34. + +[204] P. 149, l. 3. _Eamus. Processit._--John xviii, 4. But _eamus_ does + not occur. See, however, Matthew xxvi, 46. + +[205] P. 150, l. 36. _Eritis sicut_, etc.--Genesis iv, 5. + +[206] P. 151, l. 2. _Noli me tangere._--John xx, 17. + +[207] P. 156, l. 14. _Vere discipuli_, etc.--Allusions to John viii, 31, + i, 47; viii, 36; vi, 32. + +[208] P. 158, l. 41. _Signa legem in electis meis._--Is. viii, 16. The + text of the Vulgate is _in discipulis meis_. + +[209] P. 159, l. 2. _Hosea._--xiv, 9. + +[210] P. 159, l. 13. _Saint John._--xii, 39. + +[211] P. 160, l. 17. _Tamar._--Genesis xxxviii, 24-30. + +[212] P. 160, l. 17. _Ruth._--Ruth iv, 17-22. + +[213] P. 163, l. 13. _History of China._--A History of China in Latin + had been published in 1658. + +[214] P. 164, l. I. _The five suns_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 6. + +[215] P. 164, l. 9. _Jesus Christ._--John v, 31. + +[216] P. 164, l. 17. _The Koran says_, etc.--There is no mention of + Saint Matthew in the Koran; but it speaks of the Apostles + generally. + +[217] P. 165, l. 35. _Moses._--Deut. xxxi, 11. + +[218] P. 166, l. 23. _Carnal Christians._--Jesuits and Molinists. + +[219] P. 170, l. 14. _Whom he welcomed from afar._--John viii, 56. + +[220] P. 170, l. 19. _Salutare_, etc.--Genesis xdix, 18. + +[221] P. 173, l. 33. _The Twelve Tables at Athens._--There were no such + tables. About 450 B.C. a commission is said to have been appointed + in Rome to visit Greece and collect information to frame a code of + law. This is now doubted, if not entirely discredited. + +[222] P. 173, l. 35. _Josephus.--Reply to Apion_, ii, 16. Josephus, the + Jewish historian, gained the favour of Titus, and accompanied him + to the siege of Jerusalem. He defended the Jews against a + contemporary grammarian, named Apion, who had written a violent + satire on the Jews. + +[223] P. 174, l. 27. _Against Apion._--ii, 39. See preceding note. + +[224] P. 174, l. 28. _Philo._--A Jewish philosopher, who lived in the + first century of the Christian era. He was one of the founders of + the Alexandrian school of thought. He sought to reconcile Jewish + tradition with Greek thought. + +[225] P. 175, l. 20. _Prefers the younger._--See No. 710. + +[226] P. 176, l. 32. _The books of the Sibyls and Trismegistus._--The + Sibyls were the old Roman prophetesses. Their predictions were + preserved in three books at Rome, which Tarquinius Superbus had + bought from the Sibyl of Erythræ. Trismegistus was the Greek name + of the Egyptian god Thoth, who was regarded as the originator of + Egyptian culture, the god of religion, of writing, and of the arts + and sciences. Under his name there existed forty-two sacred books, + kept by the Egyptian priests. + +[227] P. 177, l. 3. _Quis mihi_, etc.--Numbers xi, 29. _Quis tribuat ut + omnis populus prophetet?_ + +[228] P. 177, l. 25. _Maccabees._--2 Macc. xi, 2. + +[229] P. 177, l. 7. _This book_, etc.--Is. xxx, 8. + +[230] P. 178, l. 9. _Tertullian._--A Christian writer in the second + century after Christ. The quotation is from his _De Cultu Femin._, + ii, 3. + +[231] P. 178, l. 16. (Θεὸς), etc.--Eusebius, _Hist._, lib. v, c. 8. + +[232] P. 178, l. 22. _And he took that from Saint Irenæus._--_Hist._, + lib. x, c 25. + +[233] P. 179, l. 5. _The story in Esdras._--2 Esdras xiv. God appears to + Esdras in a bush, and orders him to assemble the people and + deliver the message. Esdras replies that the law is burnt. Then + God commands him to take five scribes to whom for forty days He + dictates the ancient law. This story conflicted with many passages + in the prophets, and was therefore rejected from the Canon at the + Council of Trent. + +[234] P. 181, l. 14. _The Kabbala._--The fantastic secret doctrine of + interpretation of Scripture, held by a number of Jewish rabbis. + +[235] P. 181, l. 26. _Ut sciatis_, etc.--Mark ii, 10, 11. + +[236] P. 183, l. 29. _This generation_, etc.--Matthew xxiv, 34. + +[237] P. 184, l. 11. _Difference between dinner and supper._--Luke xiv, + 12. + +[238] P. 184, l. 28. _The six ages_, etc.--M. Havet has traced this to a + chapter in St. Augustine, _De Genesi contra Manichæos_, i, 23. + +[239] P. 184, l. 31. _Forma futuri._--Romans v, 14. + +[240] P. 186, l. 13. _The Messiah_, etc.--John xii, 34. + +[241] P. 186, l. 30. _If the light_, etc.--Matthew vi, 23. + +[242] P. 187, l. 1. _Somnum suum._--Ps. lxxvi, 5. + +[243] P. 187, l. 1. _Figura hujus mundi._--1 Cor. vii, 31. + +[244] P. 187, l. 2. _Comedes panem tuum._--Deut. viii, 9. _Panem + nostrum,_ Luke xi, 3. + +[245] P. 187, l. 3. _Inimici Dei terram lingent._--Ps. lxxii, 9. + +[246] P. 187, l. 8. _Cum amaritudinibus._--Exodus xii, 8. The Vulgate + has _cum lacticibus agrestibus_. + +[247] P. 187, l. 9. _Singularis sum ego donec transeam._--Ps. cxli, 10. + +[248] P. 188, l. 19. _Saint Paul._--Galatians iv, 24; I Cor. iii, 16, + 17; Hebrews ix, 24; Romans ii, 28, 29. + +[249] P. 188, l. 25. _That Moses_, etc.--John vi, 32. + +[250] P. 189, l. 3. _For one thing alone is needful._--Luke x, 42. + +[251] P. 189, l. 9. _The breasts of the Spouse._--Song of Solomon iv, 5. + + +[252] P. 189, l. 15. _And the Christians_, etc.--Romans vi, 20; viii, + 14, 15. + +[253] P. 189, l. 17. _When Saint Peter_, etc.--Acts xv. See Genesis + xvii, 10; Leviticus xii, 3. + +[254] P. 189, l. 27. _Fac secundum_, etc.--Exodus xxv, 40. + +[255] P. 190, l. 1. _Saint Paul._--1 Tim. iv, 3; 1 Cor. vii. + +[256] P. 190, l. 7. _The Jews_, etc.--Hebrews viii, 5. + +[257] P. 192, l. 15. _That He should destroy death through + death._--Hebrews ii, 14. + +[258] P. 192, l. 30. _Veri adoratores._--John iv, 23. + +[259] P. 192, l. 30. _Ecce agnus_, etc.--John i, 29. + +[260] P. 193, l. 15. _Ye shall be free indeed._--John viii, 36. + +[261] P. 193, l. 17. _I am the true bread from heaven._--Ibid., vi, 32. + +[262] P. 194, l. 27. _Agnus occisus_, etc.--Apoc. xiii, 8. + +[263] P. 194, l. 34. _Sede a dextris meis._--Ps. cx, 1. + +[264] P. 195, l. 12. _A jealous God._--Exodus xx, 5. + +[265] P. 195, l. 14. _Quia confortavit seras._--Ps. cxlvii, 13. + +[266] P. 195, l. 17. _The closed mem._--The allusions here are to + certain peculiarities in Jewish writing. There are some letters + written in two ways, closed or open, as the _mem_. + +[267] P. 199, l. 1. _Great Pan is dead._--Plutarch, _De Defect. Orac._, + xvii. + +[268] P. 199, l. 2. _Susceperunt verbum_, etc.--Acts xvii, 11. + +[269] P. 199, l. 20. _The ruler taken from the thigh._--Genesis xlix, + 10. + +[270] P. 208, l. 6. _Make their heart fat._--Is. vi, 10; John xii, 40. + +[271] P. 209, l. 1. _Non habemus regem nisi Cæsarem._--John xix, 15. + +[272] P. 218, l. 17. _In Horeb_, etc.--Deut. xviii, 16-19. + +[273] P. 220, l. 34. _Then they shall teach_, etc.--Jeremiah xxxi, 34. + +[274] P. 221, l. 1. _Your sons shall prophesy._--Joel ii, 28. + +[275] P. 221, l. 20. _Populum_, etc.--Is. lxv, 2; Romans x, 21. + +[276] P. 222, l. 25. _Eris palpans in meridie._--Deut. xxviii, 29. + +[277] P. 222, l. 26. _Dabitur liber_, etc.--Is. xxix, 12. The quotation + is inaccurate. + +[278] P. 223, l. 24. _Quis mihi_, etc.--Job xix, 23-25. + +[279] P. 224, l. 1. _Pray_, etc.--The fragments here are Pascal's notes + on Luke. See chaps. xxii and xxiii. + +[280] P. 225, l. 20. _Excæca._--Is. vi, 10. + +[281] P, 226, l. 9. _Lazarus dormit_, etc.--John xi, 11, 14. + +[282] P. 226, l. 10. _The apparent discrepancy of the Gospels._--To + reconcile the apparent discrepancies in the Gospels, Pascal wrote + a short life of Christ. + +[283] P. 227, l. 13. _Gladium tuum, potentissime._--Ps. xlv, 3. + +[284] P. 228, l. 25. _Ingrediens mundum._--Hebrews x, 5. + +[285] P. 228, l. 26. _Stone upon stone._--Mark xiii, 2. + +[286] P. 229, l. 20. _Jesus Christ at last_, etc.--See Mark xii. + +[287] P. 230, l. 1. _Effundam spiritum meum._--Joel ii, 28. + +[288] P. 230, l. 6. _Omnes gentes ... eum._--Ps. xxii, 27. + +[289] P. 230, l. 7. _Parum est ut_, etc.--Is. xlix, 6. + +[290] P. 230, l. 7. _Postula a me._--Ps. ii, 8. + +[291] P. 230, l. 8. _Adorabunt ... reges._--Ps. lxxii, 11. + +[292] P. 230, l. 8. _Testes iniqui._--Ps. xxv, 11. + +[293] P. 230, l. 8. _Dabit maxillam percutienti._--Lamentations iii, 30. + +[294] P. 230, l. 9. _Dederunt fel in escam._--Ps. lxix, 21. + +[295] P. 230, l. 11. _I will bless them that bless thee._--Genesis xii, + 3. + +[296] P. 230, l. 12. _All nations blessed in his seed._--Ibid., xxii, + 18. + +[297] P. 230, l. 13. _Lumen ad revelationem gentium._--Luke ii, 32. + +[298] P. 230, l. 14. _Non fecit taliter_, etc.--Ps. cxlvii, 20. + +[299] P. 230, l. 20. _Bibite ex hoc omnes._--Matthew xxvi, 27. + +[300] P. 230, l. 22. _In quo omnes peccaverunt._--Romans v, 12. + +[301] P. 230, l. 26. _Ne timeas pusillus grex._--Luke xii, 32. + +[302] P. 230, l. 29. _Qui me_, etc.--Matthew x, 40. + +[303] P. 230, l. 32. _Saint John._--Luke i, 17. + +[304] P. 230, l. 33. _Jesus Christ._--Ibid., xii, 51. + +[305] P. 231, l. 5. _Omnis Judæa_, etc.--Mark i, 5. + +[306] P. 231, l. 7. _From these stones_, etc.--Matthew iii, 9. + +[307] P. 231, l. 9. _Ne convertantur_, etc.--Mark iv, 12. + +[308] P. 231, l. 11. _Amice, ad quid venisti?_--Matthew xxvi, 50. + +[309] P. 231, l. 31. _What is a man_, etc.--Luke ix, 25. + +[310] P. 231, l. 32. _Whosoever will_, etc.--Ibid., 24. + +[311] P. 232, l. 1. _I am not come_, etc.--Matthew v, 17. + +[312] P. 232, l. 2. _Lambs took not_, etc.--See John i, 29. + +[313] P. 232, l. 4. _Moses._--Ibid., vi, 32; viii, 36. + +[314] P. 232, l. 15. _Quare_, etc.--Ps. ii, 1, 2. + +[315] P. 233, l. 8. _I have reserved me seven thousand._--1 Kings xix, + 18. + +[316] P. 234, l. 27. _Archimedes._--The founder of statics and + hydrostatics. He was born at Syracuse in 287 B.C., and was killed + in 212 B.C. He was not a prince, though a relative of a king. M. + Havet points out that Cicero talks of him as an obscure man + _(Tusc,_ v, 23). + +[317] P. 235, l. 33. _In sanctificationem et in scandalum._--Is. viii, + 14. + +[318] P. 238, l. 11. _Jesus Christ._--Mark ix, 39. + +[319] P. 239, l. 7. _Rejoice not_, etc.--Luke x, 20. + +[320] P. 239, l. 12. _Scimus_, etc.--John iii, 2. + +[321] P. 239, l. 25. _Nisi fecissem ... haberent._--Ibid., xv, 24. + +[322] P. 239, l. 32. _The second miracle._--Ibid., iv, 54. + +[323] P. 240, l. 6. _Montaigne._--_Essais_, ii, 26, and iii, 11. + +[324] P. 242, l. 9. _Vatable._--Professor of Hebrew at the Collège + Royal, founded by Francis I. An edition of the Bible with notes + under his name, which were not his, was published in 1539. + +[325] P. 242, l. 19. _Omne regnum divisum._--Matthew xii, 25; Luke xi, + 17. + +[326] P. 242, l. 23. _Si in digito ... vos._--Luke xi, 20. + +[327] P. 243, l. 12. _Q. 113, A. 10, Ad. 2._--Thomas Aquinas's _Summa_, + Pt. I, Question 113, Article 10, Reply to the Second Objection. + +[328] P. 243, l. 18. _Judæi signa petunt_, etc.--I Cor. i, 22. + +[329] P. 243, l. 23. _Sed vos_, etc.--John x, 26. + +[330] P. 246, l. 15. _Tu quid dicis_? etc.--John ix, 17, 33. + +[331] P. 247, l. 14. _Though ye believe not_, etc.--John x, 38. + +[332] P. 247, l. 25. _Nemo facit_, etc.--Mark ix, 39. + +[333] P. 247, l. 27. _A sacred relic._--This is a reference to the + miracle of the Holy Thorn. Marguerite Périer, Pascal's niece, was + cured of a fistula lachrymalis on 24 March, 1656, after her eye + was touched with this sacred relic, supposed to be a thorn from + the crown of Christ. This miracle made a great impression upon + Pascal. + +[334] P. 248, l. 23. _These nuns._--Of Port-Royal, as to which, see note + on page 110, line 16, above. They were accused of Calvinism. + +[335] P. 248, l. 28. _Vide si_, etc.--Ps. cxxxix, 24. + +[336] P. 249, l. 1. _Si tu_, etc.--Luke xxii, 67. + +[337] P. 249, l. 2. _Opera quæ_, etc.--John v, 36; x, 26-27. + +[338] P. 249, l. 7. _Nemo potest_, etc.--John iii, 2. + +[339] P. 249, l. 11. _Generatio prava_, etc.--Matthew xii, 39. + +[340] P. 249, l. 14. _Et non poterat facere._--Mark vi, 5. + +[341] P. 249, l. 16. _Nisi videritis, non creditis._--John iv, 8, 48. + +[342] P. 249, l. 23. _Tentat enim_, etc.--Deut. xiii, 3. + +[343] P. 249, l. 25. _Ecce prædixi vobis: vos ergo videte._--Matthew + xxiv, 25, 26. + +[344] P. 250, l. 7. _We have Moses_, etc.--John ix, 29. + +[345] P. 250, l. 30. _Quid debui._--Is. v, 3, 4. The Vulgate is _Quis + est quod debui ultra facere vineæ meæ, et non feci ei_. + +[346] P. 251, l. 12. _Bar-jesus blinded._--Acts xiii, 6-11. + +[347] P. 251, l. 14. _The Jewish exorcists._--Ibid., xix, 13-16. + +[348] P. 251, l. 18. _Si angelus._--Galatians i, 8. + +[349] P. 252, l. 10. _An angel from heaven._--See previous note. + +[350] P. 252, l. 14. _Father Lingende._--Claude de Lingendes, an + eloquent Jesuit preacher, who died in 1660. + +[351] P. 252, l. 33. _Ubi est Deus tuus?_--Ps. xiii, 3. + +[352] P. 252, l. 34. _Exortum est_, etc.--Ps. cxii, 4. + +[353] P. 253, l. 6. _Saint Xavier._--Saint François Xavier, the friend + of Ignatius Loyola, became a Jesuit. + +[354] P. 253, l. 9. _Væ qui_, etc.--Is. x, I. + +[355] P. 253, l. 24. _The five propositions._--See Preface. + +[356] P. 253, l. 36. _To seduce_, etc.--Mark xiii, 22. + +[357] P. 254, l. 6. _Si non fecissem._--John xv, 24. + +[358] P. 255, l. 11. _Believe in the Church._--Matthew xviii, 17-20. + +[359] P. 257, l. 14. _They._--The Jansenists, who believed in the system + of evangelical doctrine deduced from Augustine by Cornelius + Jansen (1585-1638), the Bishop of Ypres. They held that interior + grace is irresistible, and that Christ died for all, in reaction + against the ordinary Catholic dogma of the freedom of the will, + and merely sufficient grace. + +[360] P. 258, l. 4. _A time to laugh_, etc.--Eccles. iii, 4. + +[361] P. 258, l. 4. _Responde. Ne respondeas._--Prov. xxvi, 4, 5. + +[362] P. 260, l. 3. _Saint Athanasius._--Patriarch of Alexandria, + accused of rape, of murder, and of sacrilege. He was condemned by + the Councils of Tyre, Aries, and Milan. Pope Liberius is said to + have finally ratified the condemnation in A.D. 357. Athanasius + here stands for Jansenius, Saint Thersea for Mother Angélique, and + Liberius for Clement IX. + +[363] P. 261, l. 17. _Vos autem non sic._--Luke xxii, 26. + +[364] P. 261, l. 23. _Duo aut tres in unum._--John x, 30; First Epistle + of St. John, V, 8. + +[365] P. 262, l. 18. _The Fronde._--The party which rose against Mazarin + and the Court during the minority of Louis XIV. They led to civil + war. + +[366] P. 262, l. 25. _Pasce oves meas._--John xxi, 17. + +[367] P. 263, l. 14. _Jeroboam._--I Kings xii, 31. + +[368] P. 265, l. 21. _The servant_, etc.--John xv, 15. + +[369] P. 266, l. 4. _He that is not_, etc.--Matthew xii, 30. + +[370] P. 266, l. 5. _He that is not_, etc.--Mark ix, 40. + +[371] P. 266, l. 11. _Humilibus dot gratiam._--James iv, 6. + +[372] P. 266, l. 12. _Sui eum non_, etc.--John i, 11, 12. + +[373] P. 266, l. 33. _We will be as the other nations._--I Sam. viii, + 20. + +[374] P. 268, l. 19. _Vince in bono malum._--Romans xii, 21. + +[375] P. 268, l. 26. _Montalte._--See note on page 6, line 30, above. + +[376] P. 269, l. 11. _Probability._--The doctrine in casuistry that of + two probable views, both reasonable, one may follow his own + inclinations, as a doubtful law cannot impose a certain + obligation. It was held by the Jesuits, the famous religious order + founded in 1534 by Ignatius Loyola. This section of the _Pensées_ + is directed chiefly against them. + +[377] P. 269, l. 22. _Coacervabunt sibi magistros._--2 Tim. iv, 3. + +[378] P. 270, l. 3. _These._--The writers of Port-Royal. + +[379] P. 270, l. 15. _The Society._--The Society of Jesus. + +[380] P. 271, l. 15. _Digna necessitas._--Book of Wisdom xix, 4. + + + + +INDEX + +_The figures refer to the numbers of the Pensées, and not to the pages._ + + +ABRAHAM, + took nothing for himself, 502; + from stones can come children unto, 777; + and Gideon, 821 + +Absolutions, without signs of regret, 903, 904 + +Act, the last, is tragic, 210 + +Adam, + compared with Christ, 551; + his glorious state, 559; + _forma futuri_, 655 + +Advent, the time of the first, foretold, 756 + +Age, + influences judgment, 381; + the six ages, 654 + +Alexander, the example of his chastity, 103 + +Amusements, dangerous to the Christian life, 11 + +Animals, intelligence and instinct of, 340, 342 + +Antichrist, + miracles of, foretold by Christ, 825; + will speak openly against God, 842; + miracles of, cannot lead into error, 845 + +Apocalyptics, extravagances of the, 650 + +Apostles, + hypothesis that they were deceivers, 571; + foresaw heresies, 578; + supposition that they were either deceived or deceivers, 801 + +Aquinas, Thomas, 61, 338 + +Arcesilaus, the sceptic, became a dogmatist, 375 + +Archimedes, greatness of, 792 + +Arians, where they go wrong, 861 + +Aristotle, and Plato, 331 + +Arius, miracles in his time, 831 + +Athanasius, St., 867 + +Atheism, shows a certain strength of mind, 225 + +Atheists, + who seek, to be pitied, 190; + ought to say what is perfectly evident, 221; + objections of, against the Resurrection and the Virgin Birth, + 222, 223; + objection of, 228 + +Augustine, St., + saw that we work for an uncertainty, 234; + on the submission of reason, 270; + on miracles, 811; + his authority, 868 + +Augustus, his saying about Herod's son, 179 + +Authority, in belief, 260 + +Authors, vanity of certain, 43 + +Automatism, human, 252 + + +Babylon, rivers of, 459 + +Beauty, + a certain standard of, 32; + poetical, 33 + +Belief, + three sources of, 245; + rule of, 260; + of simple people, 284; + without reading the Testaments, 286; + the Cross creates, 587; + reasons why there is no, in the miracles, 825 + +Bias, leads to error, 98 + +Birth, + noble, an advantage, 322; + persons of high, honoured and despised, 337 + +Blame, and praise, 501 + +Blood, example of the circulation of, 96 + +Body, + nourishment of the, 356; + the, and its members, 475, 476; + infinite distance between mind and, 792 + +Brutes, no mutual admiration among the, 401 + + +Cæsar, compared with Alexander and Augustus, 132 + +Calling, chance decides the choice of a, 97 + +Calvinism, error of, 776 + +Canonical, the heretical books prove the, 568 + +Carthusian monk, difference between a soldier and a, 538 + +Casuists, + true believers have no pretext for following their laxity, 888; + submit the decision to a corrupted reason, 906; + cannot give assurance to a conscience in error, 908; + allow lust to act, 913 + +Causes, seen by the intellect and not by the senses, 234 + +Catholic, the, doctrine, of the Holy Sacrament, 861 + +Ceremonies, ordained in the Old Testament, are types, 679 + +Certain, nothing is, 234 + +Chance, + according to the doctrine of chance, one should believe in God, 233; + and work for an uncertainty, 234; + and seek the truth, 236; + gives rise to thoughts, 370 + +Chancellor, the position of the, uneral, 307 + +Character, the Christian, the human, and the inhuman, 532 + +Charity, + nothing so like it as covetousness, 662; + not a figurative precept, 664; + the sole aim of the Scripture, 669 + +Charron, the divisions of, 62 + +Children, + frightened at the face they have blackened, 88; + of Port-Royal, 151; + illustration of usurpation from, 295 + +China, History of, 592, 593 + +Christianity, + alone cures pride and sloth, 435; + is strange, 536; + consists in two points, 555; + evidence for, 563; + is wise and foolish, 587 + +Christians, + few true, 256; + without the knowledge of the prophecies and evidences, 287; + comply with folly, 338; + humility of, 537; + their hope, 539; + their happiness, 540; + the God of, 543 + +Church, + history of the, 857; + the, in persecution, like a ship in a storm, 858; + when in a good state, 860; + has always been attacked by opposite errors, 861; + the, and tradition, 866; + absolution and the, 869; + the Pope and the, 870; + the, and infallibility, 875; + true justice in the, 877; + the work of the, 880; + the discipline of the, 884; + the anathemas of the, 895 + +Cicero, false beauties in, 31 + +Cipher, + a, has a double meaning, 676, 677; + key of, 680; + the, given by St. Paul, 682 + +Circumcision, + only a sign, 609; + the apostles and, 671 + +Clearness, + sufficient, for the elect, 577; + and obscurity, 856 + +Cleobuline, the passion of, 13 + +Cleopatra, + the nose of, 162; + and love, 163 + +Compliments, 57 + +Conditions, the easiest, to live in, according to the world and to + God, 905 + +Condolences, formal, 56 + +Confession, 100; + different effects of, 529 + +Contradiction, 157; + a bad sign of truth, 384 + +Conversion, the, 470; + of the heathen, 768 + +Copernicus, 218 + +Cords, the, which bind the respect of men to each other, 304 + +Correct, how to, with advantage, 9 + +Cripple, why a, does not offend us, and a fool does, 80 + +Cromwell, death of, 176 + +Custom, + is our nature, 89; + our natural principles, principles of, 92; + a second nature, 93; + the source of our strongest beliefs, 252 + +Cyrus, prediction of, 712 + + +Damned, the, condemned by their own reason, 562 + +Daniel, 721; + the seventy weeks of, 722 + +David, + a saying of, 689; + the eternal reign of the race of, 716, 717 + +Death, + easier to bear without thinking of it, 166; + men do not think of, 168; + fear of, 215, 216; + examples of the noble deaths of the Lacedæmonians, 481 + +Deference, meaning of, 317 + +Deeds, noble, best when hidden, 159 + +Deism, as far removed from Christianity as atheism, 555 + +Democritus, saying of, 72 + +Demonstrations, not certain that there are true, 387 + +Descartes, 76, 77, 78, 79 + +Devil, + the, and miracle, 803; + the, and doctrine, 819 + +Disciples, and true disciples, 518 + +Discourses, on humility, 377 + +Diseases, a source of error, 82 + +Disproportion of man, 72 + +Diversion, reason why men seek, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 168, 170 + +Docility, 254 + +Doctor, the, 12 + +Doctrine, and miracles, 802, 842 + +Dogmatism, and scepticism, 434 + +Dream, life like a, 386 + +Duty, and the passions, 104 + + +Ecclesiastes, 389 + +Eclipses, why said to foretoken misfortune, 173 + +Ego, + what is the, 323; + consists in thought, 469 + +Egyptians, conversion of the, 724 + +Elect, + the, ignorant of their virtues, 514; + all things work together for good to the, 574 + +Eloquence, 15, 16, 25, 26 + +Emilius, Paulus, 409, 410 + +Enemies, meaning of, in the prophecies, 570, 691 + +Epictetus, 80, 466, 467 + +Error, a common, when advantageous, 18 + +Esdras, the story in, 631, 632, 633 + +Eternity, existence of, 195 + +Ethics, + consoles us, 67; + a special science, 911 + +Eucharist, the, 224, 512, 788 + +Evangelists, the, painted a perfectly heroic soul in Jesus Christ, 799 + +Evil, infinite forms of, 408 + +Examples, in demonstration, 40 + +Exception, and the rule, 832, 903 + +Excuses, on, 58 + +External, the, must be joined to the internal, 250 + +Ezekiel, spoke evil of Israel, 885 + + +Faith, + different from proof, 248; + and miracle, 263; + and the senses, 264; + what is, 278; + without, man cannot know the true good or justice, 425; + consists in Jesus Christ, 522 + +Fancy, + effects of, 86; + confused with feeling, 274 + +Faults, we owe a great debt to those who point out, 534 + +Fear, good and bad, 262 + +Feeling, + and reasoning, 3, 274; + harmed in the same way as the understanding, 6 + +Flies, the power of, 366, 367 + +Friend, importance of a true, 155 + +Fundamentals, the two, 804 + + +Galilee, the word, 743 + +Gentiles, + conversion of the, 712; + calling of the, 713 + +Gentleman, + the universal quality, 35; + man never taught to be a, 68 + +Glory, 151, 401; + the greatest baseness of man is the pursuit of, 404 + +God, + the conduct of, 185; + is infinite, 231, 233; + infinitely incomprehensible, 233; + we should wager that there is a, 233; + a _Deus absconditus,_ 194, 242; + knowledge of, is not the love of Him, 280; + two kinds of persons know, 288; + has created all for Himself, 314; + the wisdom of, 430; + must reign over all, 460; + we must love Him only, 479; + not true that all reveals, 556; + has willed to blind some and to enlighten others, 565, 575; + foresaw heresies, 578; + has willed to hide Himself, 584; + formed for Himself the Jewish people, 643; + the word does not differ from the intention in, 653; + the greatness of His compassion, 847; + has not wanted to absolve without the Church, 869 + +Godliness, why difficult, 498 + +Good, the inquiry into the sovereign, 73, 462 + +Gospel, the style of the, admirable, 797 + +Grace, + unites us to God, 430, 507; + necessary to turn a man into a saint, 508; + the law and, 519, 521; + nature and, 520; + morality and, 522; + man's capacity for, 523 + +Great, the, and the humble have the same misfortunes, 180 + +Greatness, + the, of man, 397, 398, 400, 409; + constituted by thought, 346; + even in his lust, 402, 403; + and wretchedness of man, 416, 417, 418, 423, 430, 443 + + +Haggai, 725 + +Happiness, + all men seek, 425; + is in God, 465 + +Happy, in order to be, man does not think of death, 169 + +Hate, all men naturally, one another, 451 + +Heart, + the, has its reasons, 277; + experiences God, 278; + we know truth, not only by the reason, but also by the, 282; + has its own order, 283 + +Heresy, 774; + source of all, 861 + +Heretics, + and the three marks of religion, 843, 844; + and the Jesuits, 890 + +Herod, 178, 179 + +Hosts, the three, 177 + + +Image, an, of the condition of men, 199 + +Imagination, + that deceitful part in man, 82; + enlarges little objects, 84; + magnifies a nothing, 85; + often mistaken for the heart, 275; + judges, etc., appeal only to the, 307 + +Inconstancy, in, 112, 113 + +Infinite, + the, of greatness and of littleness, 72; + and the finite, 233 + +Injustice, 214, 191, 293, 326, 878 + +Instability, 212 + +Intellect, different kinds of, 2 + +Isaiah, 712, 725 + + +Jacob, 612, 710 + +Jansenists, + the, are persecuted, 859; + are like the heretics, 886 + +Jeremiah, 713, 818 + +Jesuits, + the, unjust persecutors, 851; + hardness of the, 853; + and Jansenists, 864; + impose upon the Pope, 881; + effects of their sins, 918; + do not keep their word, 923 + +Jesus Christ + employs the rule of love, 283; + is a God whom we approach without pride, 527; + His teaching, 544; + without, man must be in misery, 545; + God known only through, 546; + we know ourselves only through, 547; + useless to know God without, 548; + the sepulchre of, 551; + the mystery of, 552; + and His wounds, 553; + genealogy of, 577; + came at the time foretold, 669; + necessary for Him to suffer, 678; + the Messiah, 719; + prophecies about, 730, 733, 734; + foretold, and was foretold, 738; + how regarded by the Old and New Testaments, 239; + what the prophets say of, 750; + His office, 765; + typified by Joseph, 767; + what He came to say, 769, 782; + came to blind, etc., 770; + never condemned without hearing, 779; + Redeemer of all, 780; + would not have the testimony of devils, 783; + an obscurity, 785, 788; + would not be slain without the forms of justice, 789; + no man had more renown than, 791; + absurd to take offence at the lowliness of, 792; + came _in sanctificationem et in scandalum_, 794; + said great things simply, 796; + verified that He was the Messiah, 807; + and miracles, 828 + +Jews, + their religion must be differently regarded in the Bible and in + their tradition, 600; + and is wholly divine, 602; + the carnal, 606, 607, 661, 746; + true, and true Christians have the same religion, 609; + their advantages, 619; + their antiquity, 627; + their sincerity, 629, 630; + their long and miserable existence, 639; + the, expressly made to witness to the Messiah, 640; + earthly thoughts of the, 669; + were the slaves of sin, 670; + their zeal for the law, 700, 701; + the devil troubled their zeal, 703; + their captivity, 712; + reprobation of the, 712; + accustomed to great miracles, 745; + the, but not all, reject Christ, 759; + the, in slaying Him, have proved Him to be the Messiah, 760; + their dilemma, 761 + +Job and Solomon, 174 + +John, St., the Baptist, 775 + +Joseph, 622, 697, 767 + +Josephus, 628, 786 + +Joshua, 626 + +Judgment, + the, and the intellect, 4; + of another easily prejudiced, 105 + +Just, the, act by faith, 504 + +Justice, + the, of God, 233; + relation of, to law and custom, 294, 325; + and might, 298, 299; + determined by custom, 309; + is what is established, 312 + + +King, + the, surrounded by people to amuse him, 139; + a, without amusement, is full of wretchedness, 142; + why he inspires respect, 308; + and tyrant, 310; + on what his power is founded, 330 + +Knowledge, + limitations of man's, 72; + of ourselves impossible, apart from the mystery of the transmission + of sin, 434; + of God and of man's wretchedness found in Christ, 526 + +Koran, the, 596 + + +Lackeys, afford a means of social distinction, 318, 319 + +Language, 27, 45, 49, 53, 54, 59, 648 + +Law, + the, and nature, 519; + the, and grace, 521; + the, of the Jews, the oldest and most perfect, 618 + +Laws, + the, are the only universal rules, 299; + two, rule the Christian Republic, 484 + +Liancourt, the frog and the pike of, 341 + +Life, + human, a perpetual illusion, 100; + we desire to live an imaginary, 147; + short duration of, 205; + only, between us and heaven or hell, 213 + +Love, + nature of self-, 100, 455; + causes and effects of, 162, 163; + nothing so opposed to justice and truth as self-, 492 + +Lusts, the three, 458, 460, 461 + + +Machine, + the, 246, 247; + the arithmetical, 340 + +Macrobius, 178, 179 + +Magistrates, make a show to strike the imagination, 82 + +Mahomet, 590; + without authority, 594; + his own witness, 595; + a false prophet, 596; + is ridiculous, 597; + difference between Christ and, 598, 599; + religion of, 600 + +Man, + full of wants, 36; + misery of, without God, 60, 389; + disproportion of, 72; + a subject of error, 83; + naturally credulous, 125; + description of, 116; + condition of, 127; + disgraceful for, to yield to pleasure, 160; + despises religion, 187; + lacks heart, 196; + his sensibility to trifles, 197; + a thinking reed, 347, 348; + neither angel, nor brute, 358; + necessarily mad, 414; + two views of the nature of, 415; + does not know his rank, 427; + a chimera, 434; + the two vices of, 435; + pursues wealth, 436; + only happy in God, 438; + does not act by reason, 439; + unworthy of God, 510; + is of two kinds, 533; + holds an inward talk with himself, 535; + without Christ, must be in vice and misery, 545; + everything teaches him his condition, 556 + +Martial, epigrams of, 41 + +Master and servant, 530, 896 + +Materialism, on, 72, 75 + +Members, we are, of the whole, 474, 477, 482, 483 + +Memory, + intuitive, 95; + necessary for reason, 369 + +Merit, men and, 490 + +Messiah, + necessary that there should be preceding prophecies about the, 570; + the, according to the carnal Jews and carnal Christians, 606; + the, has always been believed in, 615; + and expected, 616; + prophecies about the, 726, 728, 729; + Herod believed to be the, 752 + +Mind, + difference between the mathematical and the intuitive, 1; + and body, 72, 792; + natural for it to believe, 81; + the, easily disturbed, 366 + +Miracles, + and belief, 263; + a test of doctrine, 802, 842, 845; + definition of, 803; + necessary, 805; + Christ and 807, 810, 828, 833, 837, 838; + Montaigne and, 812, 813; + the reason people believe false, 816, 817; + the, of the false prophets, 818; + false, 822, 823; + their use, 824; + the foundation of religion, 825, 826, 850; + no longer necessary, 831; + the miracle of the Holy Thorn, 838, 855; + the test in matters of doubt, 840; + one mark of religion, 843 + +Misery, + diversion alone consoles us for, and is the greatest, 171; + proves man's greatness, 398; + we have an instinct which raises us above, 411; + induces despair, 525 + +Miton, 192, 448, 455 + +Montaigne, 18; + criticism of, 62, 63, 64, 65; 220, 234, 325, 812, 813 + +Moses, 577, 592, 623, 628, 688, 689, 751, 802 + + +Nature + has made her truths independent of one another, 21; + and theology, 29; + is corrupt, 60; + has set us in the centre, 70; + only a first custom, 93; + makes us unhappy in every state, 109; + imitates herself, 110; + diversifies, 120; + always begins the same things again, 121; + our, consists in motion, 129; + and God, 229, 242, 243, 244; + acts by progress, 355; + the least movement affects all, 505; + perfections and imperfections of, 579; + an image of grace, 674 + +Nebuchadnezzar, 721 + +Novelty, power of the charms of, 82 + + +Obscurity, + the, of religion shows its truth, 564; + without, man would not be sensible of corruption, 585 + +Opinion, the queen of the world, 311 + +Outward, the Church judges only by the, 904 + + +Painting, vanity of, 134 + +Passion, + makes us forget duty, 104; + we are sure of pleasing a man, if we know his ruling, 106; + how to prevent the harmful effect of, 203 + +Patriarchs, longevity of, 625 + +Paul, St., 283, 532, 672, 682, 852 + +Pelagians, the semi-, 776 + +Penitence, 660, 922 + +People, + ordinary, have the power of not thinking of that about which they do + not want to think, 259; + sound opinions of the people, 313, 316, 324 + +Perpetuity, 612, 615, 616 + +Perseus, 410 + +Persons, + only three kinds of, 257; + two kinds of, know God, 288 + +Peter, St., 671, 743 + +Philosophers, + the, have confused ideas of things, 72; + influence of imagination upon, 82; + disquiet inquirers, 184; + made their ethics independent of the immortality of the soul, + 219, 220; + have mastered their passions, 349; + believe in God without Christ, 463; + their motto, 464; + have consecrated vices, 503; + what they advise, 509; + did not prescribe suitable feelings, 524 + +Piety, different from superstition, 255 + +Pilate, the false justice of, 790 + +Plato, 219, 331 + +Poets, 34, 38, 39 + +Pope, the, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 879, 881 + +Port-Royal, 151, 838, 919 + +Prayer, why established, 513 + +Predictions + of particular things, 710; + of Cyrus, 712; + of events in the fourth monarchy, 723; + of the Messiah, 728, 730 + +Present, we do not rest satisfied with the, 172 + +Presumption of men, 148 + +Pride, 152, 153, 406 + +Probability, the Jesuitical doctrine of, 901, 907, 909, 912, 915, 916, + 917, 919, 921 + +Proofs, + of religion, 289, 290; + metaphysical, of God, 542 + +Prophecies, + the, entrusted to the Jews, 570; + the strongest proof of Christ, 705; + necessarily distributed, 706; + about Christ, 709, 726, 730, 732, 735; + proofs of divinity, 712; + in Egypt, 725 + +Prophets, + the, prophesied by symbols, 652; + their discourses obscure, 658; + their meaning veiled, 677; + zeal after the, 702; + did not speak to flatter the people, 718; + foretold, 738 + +Propositions, + the five, 830, 849 + Purgatory, 518 + +_Provincial Letters_, the, 52, 919 + +Pyrrhus, advice given to, 139 + + +Rabbinism, chronology of, 634 + +Reason + and the imagination, 82; + and the senses, 83; + recognises an infinity of things beyond it, 267; + submission of, 268, 269, 270, 272; + the heart and, 277, 278, 282; + and instinct, 344, 395; + commands us imperiously, 345; + and the passions, 412, 413; + corruption of, 440 + +Reasoning, reduces itself to yielding to feeling, 274 + +Redemption, + the Red Sea an image of the, 642; + the completeness of the, 780 + +Religion, + its true nature and the necessity of studying it, 194; + sinfulness of indifference to it, 195; + whether certain, 234; + suited to all kinds of minds, 285; + true, 470, 494; + test of the falsity of a, 487; + two ways of proving its truths, 560; + the Christian, has something astonishing in it, 614; + the Christian, founded upon a preceding, 618; + reasons for preferring the Christian, 736; + three marks of, 843; + and natural reason, 902 + +Republic, the Christian, 482, 610 + +Rivers, moving roads, 17 + +Roannez, M. de, a saying of, 276 + +Rule, a, necessary to judge a work, 5 + + +Sabbath, the, only a sign, 609 + +Sacrifices, of the Jews and Gentiles, 609 + +Salvation, happiness of those who hope for, 239 + +Scaramouch, 12 + +Scepticism, 373, 376, 378, 385, 392, 394; + truth of, 432; + chief arguments of, 434 + +Sciences, vanity of the, 67 + +Scripture, + and the number of stars, 266; + its order, 283; + has provided passages for all conditions of life, 531; + literal inspiration of, 567; + blindness of, 572; + and Mahomet, 597; + extravagant opinions founded on, 650; + how to understand, 683, 686; + against those who misuse passages of, 898 + +Self, + necessary to know, 66; + the little knowledge we have of, 175 + +Sensations, and molecules, 368 + +Senses, + perceptions of the, always true, 9; + perceive no extreme, 72; + mislead the reason, 83 + +Silence, + eternal, of infinite space, 206; + the greatest persecution, 919 + +Sin, original, 445, 446, 447 + +Sneezing, absorbs all the functions of the soul, 160 + +Soul, + immortality of the, 194, 219, + 220; immaterial, 349 + +_Spongia solis_, 91 + +Stoics, the, 350, 360, 465 + +Struggle, the, alone pleases us, 135 + +Style, charm of a natural, 29 + +Swiss, the, 305 + +Symmetry, 28 + +Synagogue, the, a type, 645, 851 + + +Talent, chief, 118 + +Temple, reprobation of the, 712 + +Testaments, + proof of the two, at once, 641; + proof that the Old is figurative, 658; + the Old and the New, 665 + +Theology, a science, 115 + +Theresa, St., 499, 867, 916 + +Thought, + one, alone occupies us, 145; + constitutes man's greatness, 346; + and dignity, 365; + sometimes escapes us, 370, 372 + +Time, effects of, 122, 123 + +Truth, + nothing shows man the, 83; + different degrees in man's aversion to, 100; + the pretext that it is disputed, 261; + known by the heart, 282; + we desire, 437; + here is not the country of, 842; + obscure in these times, 863 + +Types, 570, 642, 643, 644, 645, 656, 657, 658, 669, 674, 678, 686; + the law typical, 646, 684; + some, clear and demonstrative, 649; + particular, 651, 652, 653; + are like portraits, 676, 677; + the sacrifices are, 679, 684 + +Tyranny, 332 + + +Understanding, different kinds of, 2 + +Universe, + the relation of man to the, 72; + his superiority to it, 347 + + +Vanity, + is anchored in man's heart, 150; + effects of, 151, 153; + curiosity only, 152; + little known, 161; + love and, 162, 163; + only youths do not see the world's, 164 + +Variety, 114, 115 + +Vices, some, only lay hold on us through others, 102 + +Virtues, + division of, 20; + measure of, 352; + excess of, 353, 357; + only the balancing of opposed vices, 359; + the true, 485 + + +Weariness, + in leaving favourite pursuits, 128; + nothing so insufferable to man as, 131 + +Will, + natural for the, to love, 81; + one of the chief factors in belief, 99; + self-, will never be satisfied, 472; + is depraved, 477; + God prefers to incline the, rather than the intellect, 580 + +Words, + and meanings, 23, 50; + repeated in a discourse, 48; + superfluous, 49, 59 + +Works, + necessity to do good, 497; + external, 499 + +World, + the, a good judge of things, 327; + all the, under a delusion, 335; + all the, not astonished at its own weakness, 314; + all good maxims are in the, 380; + the, exists for the exercise of mercy and judgment, 583 + + +Transcribers' note + +Numbered anchors changed to letter anchors for the four footnotes in the +introduction. + +All the notes at the end of the text were numbered and appropriate +anchors inserted in the text. + +Note No. 54 on page 28 has the wrong line number and is positioned two +notes after where it should be. Corrected the position. + +"judgment" was consistently used throughout the text. + + +Page |Pensée |Details + | | + 9 | 32 |"beauty whch consists" - Typo for "which". Corrected. + | | + 37 | 121 |"that is infinite" - Added a period at the end of the + | |sentence. + | | + 46 | 154 |Mismatched brackets in original text. + | | + 75 | 260 |"youself" - corrected to "yourself". + | | + 86 | 301 |"It is because they have more reason?" - As in image. + | | +129 | 463 |"feel ull of feelings" - Typo corrected to "feel full of + | |feelings". + | | +133 | 479 |"the worst that can can happen" - deleted one "can". + | | +134 | 484 |Supplied missing period at the end. + | | +158 | 570 |"those whose whose only good" - deleted one "whose" + | | +162 | 587 |"they come with wisdom and with signs." - Typo corrected + | |to "they come with wisdom and with signs." + | | +165 | 598 |"Jesus Christ caused His wn to be slain." - Typo + | |corrected to "Jesus Christ caused His own to be slain." + | | +170 | 612 |"Salutare taum expectabo, Domine." - As in image. + | | +181 | 641 |"but it they have" - Typo corrected to "but if they + | |have". + | | +282 | |Endnote 210. - "P. 158, l. 13. _Saint John_.--xii, 39." + | |-Corrected to ""P. 159, l. 13. _Saint John_.--xii, 39." + | | +286 | |Endnote 331. "_Though ye believe not_, ect.--John x, 38." + | |-Corrected to "_Though ye believe not_, etc.--John x, 38." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pascal's Pensées, by Blaise Pascal + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PASCAL'S PENSÉES *** + +***** This file should be named 18269-0.txt or 18269-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/2/6/18269/ + +Produced by John Hagerson, LN Yaddanapudi, Juliet Sutherland +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |