PASCAL'S PENSÉES

INTRODUCTION BYT. S. ELIOT

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_This paperback edition of "Pascal's Pensées" Published 1958 by E. P. Dutton & Co. , Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U. S. A. _

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INTRODUCTION

It might seem that about Blaise Pascal, and about the two works on whichhis fame is founded, everything that there is to say had been said. Thedetails 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 discussedagain and again; and his prose style has been analysed by French criticsdown to the finest particular. But Pascal is one of those writers whowill be and who must be studied afresh by men in every generation. It isnot he who changes, but we who change. It is not our knowledge of himthat 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 apart of the history of humanity. That indicates his permanentimportance. 

The facts of Pascal's life, so far as they are necessary for this briefintroduction to the _Pensées_, are as follows. He was born at Clermont, in Auvergne, in 1623. His family were people of substance of the uppermiddle class. His father was a government official, who was able toleave, when he died, a sufficient patrimony to his one son and his twodaughters. In 1631 the father moved to Paris, and a few years later tookup another government post at Rouen. Wherever he lived, the elder Pascalseems to have mingled with some of the best society, and with men ofeminence in science and the arts. Blaise was educated entirely by hisfather at home. He was exceedingly precocious, indeed excessivelyprecocious, for his application to studies in childhood and adolescenceimpaired his health, and is held responsible for his death atthirty-nine. Prodigious, though not incredible stories are preserved, especially of his precocity in mathematics. His mind was active ratherthan accumulative; he showed from his earliest years that disposition tofind things out for himself, which has characterised the infancy ofClerk-Maxwell and other scientists. Of his later discoveries in physicsthere is no need for mention here; it must only be remembered that hecounts as one of the greatest physicists and mathematicians of all time;and that his discoveries were made during the years when most scientistsare still apprentices. 

The elder Pascal, Étienne, was a sincere Christian. About 1646 he fellin with some representatives of the religious revival within the Churchwhich has become known as Jansenism--after Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, whose theological work is taken as the origin of the movement. Thisperiod is usually spoken of as the moment of Pascal's "firstconversion. " The word "conversion, " however, is too forcible to beapplied at this point to Blaise Pascal himself. The family had alwaysbeen devout, and the younger Pascal, though absorbed in his scientificwork, never seems to have been afflicted with infidelity. His attentionwas then directed, certainly, to religious and theological matters; butthe term "conversion" can only be applied to his sisters--the elder, already Madame Périer, and particularly the younger, Jacqueline, who atthat time conceived a vocation for the religious life. Pascal himselfwas by no means disposed to renounce the world. After the death of thefather in 1650 Jacqueline, a young woman of remarkable strength andbeauty of character, wished to take her vows as a sister of Port-Royal, and for some time her wish remained unfulfilled owing to the oppositionof her brother. His objection was on the purely worldly ground that shewished to make over her patrimony to the Order; whereas while she livedwith him, their combined resources made it possible for him to live morenearly 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 andhorses--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 herproperty as she elected, the amiable Jacqueline shrank from doing sowithout her brother's willing approval. The Mother Superior, MèreAngélique--herself an eminent personage in the history of this religiousmovement--finally persuaded the young novice to enter the order withoutthe satisfaction of bringing her patrimony with her; but Jacquelineremained so distressed by this situation that her brother finallyrelented. 

So far as is known, the worldly life enjoyed by Pascal during thisperiod can hardly be qualified as "dissipation, " and certainly not as"debauchery. " Even gambling may have appealed to him chiefly asaffording a study of mathematical probabilities. He appears to have ledsuch a life as any cultivated intellectual man of good position andindependent means might lead and consider himself a model of probity andvirtue. Not even a love-affair is laid at his door, though he is said tohave contemplated marriage. But Jansenism, as represented by thereligious society of Port-Royal, was morally a Puritan movement withinthe Church, and its standards of conduct were at least as severe asthose of any Puritanism in England or America. The period of fashionablesociety, in Pascal's life, is however, of great importance in hisdevelopment. It enlarged his knowledge of men and refined his tastes; hebecame a man of the world and never lost what he had learnt; and when heturned his thoughts wholly towards religion, his worldly knowledge was apart of his composition which is essential to the value of his work. 

Pascal's interest in society did not distract him from scientificresearch; nor did this period occupy much space in what is a very shortand crowded life. Partly his natural dissatisfaction with such a life, once he had learned all it had to teach him, partly the influence of hissaintly sister Jacqueline, partly increasing suffering as his healthdeclined, directed him more and more out of the world and to thoughts ofeternity. And in 1654 occurs what is called his "second conversion, " butwhich might be called his conversion simply. 

He made a note of his mystical experience, which he kept always abouthim, and which was found, after his death, sewn into the coat which hewas wearing. The experience occurred on 23 November, 1654, and there isno reason to doubt its genuineness unless we choose to deny all mysticalexperience. Now, Pascal was not a mystic, and his works are not to beclassified amongst mystical writings; but what can only be calledmystical experience happens to many men who do not become mystics. Thework which he undertook soon after, the _Lettres écrites à unprovincial_, is a masterpiece of religious controversy at the oppositepole from mysticism. We know quite well that he was at the time when hereceived his illumination from God in extremely poor health; but it is acommonplace that some forms of illness are extremely favourable, notonly to religious illumination, but to artistic and literarycomposition. A piece of writing meditated, apparently without progress, for months or years, may suddenly take shape and word; and in this statelong passages may be produced which require little or no retouch. I haveno good word to say for the cultivation of automatic writing as themodel of literary composition; I doubt whether these moments _can_ becultivated by the writer; but he to whom this happens assuredly has thesensation of being a vehicle rather than a maker. No masterpiece can beproduced whole by such means; but neither does even the higher form ofreligious inspiration suffice for the religious life; even the mostexalted mystic must return to the world, and use his reason to employthe results of his experience in daily life. You may call it communionwith the Divine, or you may call it a temporary crystallisation of themind. Until science can teach us to reproduce such phenomena at will, science cannot claim to have explained them; and they can be judged onlyby their fruits. 

From that time until his death, Pascal was closely associated with thesociety of Port-Royal which his sister Jacqueline, who predeceased him, had joined as a _religieuse_; the society was then fighting for its lifeagainst the Jesuits. Five propositions, judged by a committee ofcardinals and theologians at Rome to be heretical, were found to be putforward in the work of Jansenius; and the society of Port-Royal, therepresentative of Jansenism among devotional communities, suffered ablow from which it never revived. It is not the place here to review thebitter controversy and conflict; the best account, from the point ofview of a critic of genius who took no side, who was neither Jansenistnor Jesuit, Christian nor infidel, is that in the great book ofSainte-Beuve, _Port-Royal_. And in this book the parts devoted to Pascalhimself are among the most brilliant pages of criticism thatSainte-Beuve ever wrote. It is sufficient to notice that the nextoccupation of Pascal, after his conversion, was to write these eighteen"Letters, " which as prose are of capital importance in the foundation ofFrench classical style, and which as polemic are surpassed by none, notby Demosthenes, or Cicero, or Swift. They have the limitation of allpolemic and forensic: they persuade, they seduce, they are unfair. Butit is also unfair to assert that, in these _Letters to a Provincial_, Pascal was attacking the Society of Jesus in itself. He was attackingrather a particular school of casuistry which relaxed the requirementsof the Confessional; a school which certainly flourished amongst theSociety of Jesus at that time, and of which the Spaniards Escobar andMolina are the most eminent authorities. He undoubtedly abused the artof quotation, as a polemical writer can hardly help but do; but therewere abuses for him to abuse; and he did the job thoroughly. His_Letters_ must not be called theology. Academic theology was not adepartment in which Pascal was versed; when necessary, the fathers ofPort-Royal came to his aid. The _Letters_ are the work of one of thefinest mathematical minds of any time, and of a man of the world whoaddressed, not theologians, but the world in general--all of thecultivated and many of the less cultivated of the French laity; and withthis 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, andrevised often, in matters of mathematics his mind seemed to move withconsummate natural ease and grace. Discoveries and inventions sprangfrom his brain without effort; among the minor devices of this laterperiod, the first omnibus service in Paris is said to owe its origin tohis inventiveness. But rapidly failing health, and absorption in thegreat work he had in mind, left him little time and energy during thelast two years of his life. 

The plan of what we call the _Pensées_ formed itself about 1660. Thecompleted book was to have been a carefully constructed defence ofChristianity, a true Apology and a kind of Grammar of Assent, settingforth the reasons which will convince the intellect. As I have indicatedbefore, Pascal was not a theologian, and on dogmatic theology hadrecourse to his spiritual advisers. Nor was he indeed a systematicphilosopher. He was a man with an immense genius for science, and at thesame time a natural psychologist and moralist. As he was a greatliterary artist, his book would have been also his own spiritualautobiography; his style, free from all diminishing idiosyncrasies, wasyet very personal. Above all, he was a man of strong passions; and hisintellectual passion for truth was reinforced by his passionatedissatisfaction with human life unless a spiritual explanation could befound. 

We must regard the _Pensées_ as merely the first notes for a work whichhe left far from completion; we have, in Sainte-Beuve's words, a towerof which the stones have been laid on each other, but not cemented, andthe structure unfinished. In early years his memory had been amazinglyretentive of anything that he wished to remember; and had it not beenimpaired by increasing illness and pain, he probably would not have beenobliged to set down these notes at all. But taking the book as it isleft to us, we still find that it occupies a unique place in the historyof French literature and in the history of religious meditation. 

To understand the method which Pascal employs, the reader must beprepared to follow the process of the mind of the intelligent believer. The Christian thinker--and I mean the man who is trying consciously andconscientiously to explain to himself the sequence which culminated infaith, rather than the public apologist--proceeds by rejection andelimination. He finds the world to be so and so; he finds its characterinexplicable by any non-religious theory; among religions he findsChristianity, and Catholic Christianity, to account most satisfactorilyfor the world and especially for the moral world within; and thus, bywhat Newman calls "powerful and concurrent" reasons, he finds himselfinexorably committed to the dogma of the Incarnation. To the unbeliever, this method seems disingenuous and perverse; for the unbeliever is, as arule, not so greatly troubled to explain the world to himself, nor sogreatly distressed by its disorder; nor is he generally concerned (inmodern terms) to "preserve values. " He does not consider that if certainemotional states, certain developments of character, and what in thehighest sense can be called "saintliness" are inherently and byinspection known to be good, then the satisfactory explanation of theworld must be an explanation which will admit the "reality" of thesevalues. Nor does he consider such reasoning admissible; he would, so tospeak, trim his values according to his cloth, because to him suchvalues are of no great value. The unbeliever starts from the other end, and as likely as not with the question: Is a case of humanparthenogenesis credible? and this he would call going straight to theheart of the matter. Now Pascal's method is, on the whole, the methodnatural and right for the Christian; and the opposite method is thattaken by Voltaire. It is worth while to remember that Voltaire, in hisattempt to refute Pascal, has given once and for all the type of suchrefutation; and that later opponents of Pascal's Apology for theChristian Faith have contributed little beyond psychologicalirrelevancies. For Voltaire has presented, better than any one since, what is the unbelieving point of view; and in the end we must all choosefor ourselves between one point of view and another. 

I have said above that Pascal's method is "on the whole" that of thetypical Christian apologist; and this reservation was directed atPascal's belief in miracles, which plays a larger part in hisconstruction than it would in that, at least, of the modern liberalCatholic. It would seem fantastic to accept Christianity because wefirst believe the Gospel miracles to be true, and it would seem impiousto accept it primarily because we believe more recent miracles to betrue; we accept the miracles, or some miracles, to be true because webelieve the Gospel of Jesus Christ: we found our belief in the miracleson the Gospel, not our belief in the Gospel on the miracles. But it mustbe remembered that Pascal had been deeply impressed by a contemporarymiracle, known as the miracle of the Holy Thorn: a thorn reputed to havebeen preserved from the Crown of Our Lord was pressed upon an ulcerwhich quickly healed. Sainte-Beuve, who as a medical man felt himself onsolid ground, discusses fully the possible explanation of this apparentmiracle. It is true that the miracle happened at Port-Royal, and that itarrived opportunely to revive the depressed spirits of the community inits political afflictions; and it is likely that Pascal was the moreinclined to believe a miracle which was performed upon his belovedsister. 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 tothem ourselves. 

Now the great adversary against whom Pascal set himself, from the timeof his first conversations with M. De Saci at Port-Royal, was Montaigne. One cannot destroy Pascal, certainly; but of all authors Montaigne isone of the least destructible. You could as well dissipate a fog byflinging hand-grenades into it. For Montaigne is a fog, a gas, a fluid, insidious element. He does not reason, he insinuates, charms, andinfluences; or if he reasons, you must be prepared for his having someother design upon you than to convince you by his argument. It ishardly too much to say that Montaigne is the most essential author toknow, if we would understand the course of French thought during thelast three hundred years. In every way, the influence of Montaigne wasrepugnant to the men of Port-Royal. Pascal studied him with theintention of demolishing him. Yet, in the _Pensées_, at the very end ofhis life, we find passage after passage, and the slighter they are themore significant, almost "lifted" out of Montaigne, down to a figure ofspeech or a word. The parallels[A] are most often with the long essay ofMontaigne called _Apologie de Raymond Sébond_--an astonishing piece ofwriting upon which Shakespeare also probably drew in _Hamlet_. Indeed, by the time a man knew Montaigne well enough to attack him, he wouldalready 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 indeedto French literature, to leave the matter at that. It is no diminutionof Pascal, but only an aggrandisement of Montaigne. Had Montaigne beenan ordinary life-sized sceptic, a small man like Anatole France, or evena greater man like Renan, or even like the greatest sceptic of all, Voltaire, this "influence" would be to the discredit of Pascal; but ifMontaigne had been no more than Voltaire, he could not have affectedPascal at all. The picture of Montaigne which offers itself first to oureyes, 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. Heexists, so to speak, on a plan of numerous concentric circles, the mostapparent of which is the small inmost circle, a personal puckishscepticism which can be easily aped if not imitated. But what makesMontaigne a very great figure is that he succeeded, God knows how--forMontaigne very likely did not know that he had done it--it is not thesort of thing that men _can_ observe about themselves, for it isessentially bigger than the individual's consciousness--he succeeded ingiving expression to the scepticism of _every_ human being. For everyman who thinks and lives by thought must have his own scepticism, thatwhich stops at the question, that which ends in denial, or that whichleads to faith and which is somehow integrated into the faith whichtranscends it. And Pascal, as the type of one kind of religiousbeliever, which is highly passionate and ardent, but passionate onlythrough a powerful and regulated intellect, is in the first sections ofhis unfinished Apology for Christianity facing unflinchingly the demonof doubt which is inseparable from the spirit of belief. 

There is accordingly something quite different from an influence whichwould prove Pascal's weakness; there is a real affinity between hisdoubt and that of Montaigne; and through the common kinship withMontaigne Pascal is related to the noble and distinguished line ofFrench moralists, from La Rochefoucauld down. In the honesty with whichthey face the _données_ of the actual world this French tradition has aunique quality in European literature, and in the seventeenth centuryHobbes is crude and uncivilised in comparison. 

Pascal is a man of the world among ascetics, and an ascetic among men ofthe world; he had the knowledge of worldliness and the passion ofasceticism, and in him the two are fused into an individual whole. Themajority of mankind is lazy-minded, incurious, absorbed in vanities, andtepid in emotion, and is therefore incapable of either much doubt ormuch faith; and when the ordinary man calls himself a sceptic or anunbeliever, that is ordinarily a simple pose, cloaking a disinclinationto think anything out to a conclusion. Pascal's disillusioned analysisof human bondage is sometimes interpreted to mean that Pascal was reallyand finally an unbeliever, who, in his despair, was incapable ofenduring reality and enjoying the heroic satisfaction of the free man'sworship of nothing. His despair, his disillusion, are, however, noillustration of personal weakness; they are perfectly objective, becausethey are essential moments in the progress of the intellectual soul; andfor the type of Pascal they are the analogue of the drought, the darknight, which is an essential stage in the progress of the Christianmystic. A similar despair, when it is arrived at by a diseased characteror an impure soul, may issue in the most disastrous consequences thoughwith the most superb manifestations; and thus we get _Gulliver'sTravels_; but in Pascal we find no such distortion; his despair is initself more terrible than Swift's, because our heart tells us that itcorresponds exactly to the facts and cannot be dismissed as mentaldisease; but it was also a despair which was a necessary prelude to, andelement in, the joy of faith. 

I do not wish to enter any further than necessary upon the question ofthe heterodoxy of Jansenism; and it is no concern of this essay, whetherthe Five Propositions condemned at Rome were really maintained byJansenius in his book _Augustinus_; or whether we should deplore orapprove the consequent decay (indeed with some persecution) ofPort-Royal. It is impossible to discuss the matter without becominginvolved as a controversialist either for or against Rome. But in a manof the type of Pascal--and the type always exists--there is, I think, aningredient of what may be called Jansenism of temperament, withoutidentifying it with the Jansenism of Jansenius and of other devout andsincere, but not immensely gifted doctors. [B] It is accordingly needfulto state in brief what the dangerous doctrine of Jansenius was, withoutadvancing too far into theological refinements. It is recognised inChristian theology--and indeed on a lower plane it is recognised by allmen in affairs of daily life--that freewill or the natural effort andability of the individual man, and also supernatural _grace_, a giftaccorded we know not quite how, are both required, in co-operation, forsalvation. Though numerous theologians have set their wits at theproblem, it ends in a mystery which we can perceive but not finallydecipher. At least, it is obvious that, like any doctrine, a slightexcess or deviation to one side or the other will precipitate a heresy. The Pelagians, who were refuted by St. Augustine, emphasised theefficacy of human effort and belittled the importance of supernaturalgrace. The Calvinists emphasised the degradation of man through OriginalSin, and considered mankind so corrupt that the will was of no avail;and thus fell into the doctrine of predestination. It was upon thedoctrine of grace according to St. Augustine that the Jansenists relied;and the _Augustinus_ of Jansenius was presented as a sound exposition ofthe 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 newforms. For instance, the insistence upon good works and "service" whichis preached from many quarters, or the simple faith that any one wholives a good and useful life need have no "morbid" anxieties aboutsalvation, is a form of Pelagianism. On the other hand, one sometimeshears enounced the view that it will make no real difference if all thetraditional religious sanctions for moral behaviour break down, becausethose who are born and bred to be nice people will always prefer tobehave nicely, and those who are not will behave otherwise in any case:and this is surely a form of predestination--for the hazard of beingborn 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 ofJansenism in the life of Port-Royal as by the doctrine itself. Thisdevout, ascetic, thoroughgoing society, striving heroically in the midstof a relaxed and easy-going Christianity, was formed to attract a natureso concentrated, so passionate, and so thoroughgoing as Pascal's. Butthe insistence upon the degraded and helpless state of man, inJansenism, is something also to which we must be grateful, for to it weowe the magnificent analysis of human motives and occupations which wasto have constituted the early part of his book. And apart from theJansenism which is the work of a not very eminent bishop who wrote aLatin treatise which is now unread, there is also, so to speak, aJansenism of the individual biography. A moment of Jansenism maynaturally take place, and take place rightly, in the individual;particularly in the life of a man of great and intense intellectualpowers, who cannot avoid seeing through human beings and observing thevanity of their thoughts and of their avocations, their dishonesty andself-deceptions, the insincerity of their emotions, their cowardice, thepettiness of their real ambitions. Actually, considering that Pascaldied at the age of thirty-nine, one must be amazed at the balance andjustice of his observations; much greater maturity is required for thesequalities, than for any mathematical or scientific greatness. How easilyhis brooding on _the misery of man without God_ might have encouraged inhim the sin of spiritual pride, the _concupiscence de l'esprit_, and howfast a hold he has of humility!

And although Pascal brings to his work the same powers which he exertedin science, it is not as a scientist that he presents himself. He doesnot seem to say to the reader: I am one of the most distinguishedscientists of the day; I understand many matters which will always bemysteries to you, and through science I have come to the Faith; youtherefore who are not initiated into science ought to have faith if Ihave it. He is fully aware of the difference of subject-matter; and hisfamous distinction between the _esprit de géométrie_ and the _esprit definesse_ is one to ponder over. It is the just combination of thescientist, the _honnête homme_, and the religious nature with apassionate craving for God, that makes Pascal unique. He succeeds whereDescartes fails; for in Descartes the element of _esprit de géométrie_is excessive. [C] And in a few phrases about Descartes, in the presentbook, 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; butonly after some study will perceive that the fragmentariness lies in theexpression more than in the thought. The "thoughts" cannot be detachedfrom each other and quoted as if each were complete in itself. _Le cœura ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point_: how often one has heardthat quoted, and quoted often to the wrong purpose! For this is by nomeans an exaltation of the "heart" over the "head, " a defence ofunreason. The heart, in Pascal's terminology, is itself truly rationalif it is truly the heart. For him, in theological matters, which seemedto him much larger, more difficult, and more important than scientificmatters, 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 hisanalysis of the _three orders_: the order of nature, the order of mind, and the order of charity. These three are _discontinuous_; the higher isnot implicit in the lower as in an evolutionary doctrine it would be. [D]In this distinction Pascal offers much about which the modern worldwould do well to think. And indeed, because of his unique combinationand balance of qualities, I know of no religious writer more pertinentto our time. The great mystics like St. John of the Cross, areprimarily for readers with a special determination of purpose; thedevotional writers, such as St. François de Sales, are primarily forthose who already feel consciously desirous of the love of God; thegreat theologians are for those interested in theology. But I can thinkof no Christian writer, not Newman even, more to be commended thanPascal to those who doubt, but who have the mind to conceive, and thesensibility to feel, the disorder, the futility, the meaninglessness, the mystery of life and suffering, and who can only find peace through asatisfaction 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 viiSECTIONI. THOUGHTS ON MIND AND ON STYLE 1II. THE MISERY OF MAN WITHOUT GOD 14III. OF THE NECESSITY OF THE WAGER 52IV. OF THE MEANS OF BELIEF 71V. JUSTICE AND THE REASON OF EFFECTS 83VI. THE PHILOSOPHERS 96VII. MORALITY AND DOCTRINE 113VIII. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 152IX. PERPETUITY 163X. TYPOLOGY 181XI. THE PROPHECIES 198XII. PROOFS OF JESUS CHRIST 222XIII. THE MIRACLES 238XIV. 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 similarlydenoted, but are in italics. 

It has been seen fit to transfer Fragment 514 of the French edition tothe 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]--Inthe one the principles are palpable, but removed from ordinary use; sothat for want of habit it is difficult to turn one's mind in thatdirection: but if one turns it thither ever so little, one sees theprinciples fully, and one must have a quite inaccurate mind who reasonswrongly from principles so plain that it is almost impossible theyshould escape notice. 

But in the intuitive mind the principles are found in common use, andare before the eyes of everybody. One has only to look, and no effort isnecessary; 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 almostimpossible but that some escape notice. Now the omission of oneprinciple leads to error; thus one must have very clear sight to see allthe principles, and in the next place an accurate mind not to draw falsedeductions from known principles. 

All mathematicians would then be intuitive if they had clear sight, forthey do not reason incorrectly from principles known to them; andintuitive minds would be mathematical if they could turn their eyes tothe principles of mathematics to which they are unused. 

The reason, therefore, that some intuitive minds are not mathematical isthat they cannot at all turn their attention to the principles ofmathematics. But the reason that mathematicians are not intuitive isthat they do not see what is before them, and that, accustomed to theexact and plain principles of mathematics, and not reasoning till theyhave well inspected and arranged their principles, they are lost inmatters of intuition where the principles do not allow of sucharrangement. They are scarcely seen; they are felt rather than seen;there is the greatest difficulty in making them felt by those who donot of themselves perceive them. These principles are so fine and sonumerous that a very delicate and very clear sense is needed to perceivethem, and to judge rightly and justly when they are perceived, withoutfor the most part being able to demonstrate them in order as inmathematics; 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 seethe matter at once, at one glance, and not by a process of reasoning, atleast to a certain degree. And thus it is rare that mathematicians areintuitive, and that men of intuition are mathematicians, becausemathematicians wish to treat matters of intuition mathematically, andmake themselves ridiculous, wishing to begin with definitions and thenwith 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, andwithout technical rules; for the expression of it is beyond all men, andonly a few can feel it. 

Intuitive minds, on the contrary, being thus accustomed to judge at asingle glance, are so astonished when they are presented withpropositions of which they understand nothing, and the way to which isthrough definitions and axioms so sterile, and which they are notaccustomed to see thus in detail, that they are repelled anddisheartened. 

But dull minds are never either intuitive or mathematical. 

Mathematicians who are only mathematicians have exact minds, providedall things are explained to them by means of definitions and axioms;otherwise they are inaccurate and insufferable, for they are only rightwhen the principles are quite clear. 

And men of intuition who are only intuitive cannot have the patience toreach to first principles of things speculative and conceptual, whichthey have never seen in the world, and which are altogether out of thecommon. 

2

There are different kinds of right understanding;[2] some have rightunderstanding in a certain order of things, and not in others, wherethey go astray. Some draw conclusions well from a few premises, and thisdisplays an acute judgment. 

Others draw conclusions well where there are many premises. 

For example, the former easily learn hydrostatics, where the premisesare few, but the conclusions are so fine that only the greatestacuteness can reach them. 

And in spite of that these persons would perhaps not be greatmathematicians, because mathematics contain a great number of premises, and there is perhaps a kind of intellect that can search with ease a fewpremises to the bottom, and cannot in the least penetrate those mattersin which there are many premises. 

There are then two kinds of intellect: the one able to penetrate acutelyand deeply into the conclusions of given premises, and this is theprecise intellect; the other able to comprehend a great number ofpremises without confusing them, and this is the mathematical intellect. The one has force and exactness, the other comprehension. Now the onequality can exist without the other; the intellect can be strong andnarrow, and can also be comprehensive and weak. 

3

Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand theprocess of reasoning, for they would understand at first sight, and arenot used to seek for principles. And others, on the contrary, who areaccustomed to reason from principles, do not at all understand mattersof feeling, seeking principles, and being unable to see at a glance. 

4

_Mathematics, intuition. _--True eloquence makes light of eloquence, truemorality makes light of morality; that is to say, the morality of thejudgment, which has no rules, makes light of the morality of theintellect. 

For it is to judgment that perception belongs, as science belongs tointellect. 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 thosewho have a watch are in regard to others. One says, "It is two hoursago"; the other says, "It is only three-quarters of an hour. " I look atmy watch, and say to the one, "You are weary, " and to the other, "Timegallops with you"; for it is only an hour and a half ago, and I laughat those who tell me that time goes slowly with me, and that I judge byimagination. 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; theunderstanding and feelings are corrupted by intercourse. Thus good orbad society improves or corrupts them. It is, then, all-important toknow how to choose in order to improve and not to corrupt them; and wecannot make this choice, if they be not already improved and notcorrupted. Thus a circle is formed, and those are fortunate who escapeit. 

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 theylisten to vespers. 

9

When we wish to correct with advantage, and to show another that heerrs, we must notice from what side he views the matter, for on thatside it is usually true, and admit that truth to him, but reveal to himthe side on which it is false. He is satisfied with that, for he seesthat 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 bemistaken, and that perhaps arises from the fact that man naturallycannot see everything, and that naturally he cannot err in the side helooks at, since the perceptions of our senses are always true. 

10

People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they havethemselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind ofothers. 

11

All great amusements are dangerous to the Christian life; but among allthose which the world has invented there is none more to be feared thanthe theatre. It is a representation of the passions so natural and sodelicate that it excites them and gives birth to them in our hearts, and, above all, to that of love, principally when it is represented asvery chaste and virtuous. For the more innocent it appears to innocentsouls, the more they are likely to be touched by it. Its violencepleases our self-love, which immediately forms a desire to produce thesame effects which are seen so well represented; and, at the same time, we make ourselves a conscience founded on the propriety of the feelingswhich we see there, by which the fear of pure souls is removed, sincethey imagine that it cannot hurt their purity to love with a love whichseems to them so reasonable. 

So we depart from the theatre with our heart so filled with all thebeauty and tenderness of love, the soul and the mind so persuaded of itsinnocence, that we are quite ready to receive its first impressions, orrather to seek an opportunity of awakening them in the heart of another, in order that we may receive the same pleasures and the same sacrificeswhich 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 saideverything, so full is he of the desire of talking. 

13

One likes to see the error, the passion of Cleobuline, [7] because she isunconscious of it. She would be displeasing, if she were not deceived. 

14

When a natural discourse paints a passion or an effect, one feels withinoneself the truth of what one reads, which was there before, althoughone did not know it. Hence one is inclined to love him who makes us feelit, for he has not shown us his own riches, but ours. And thus thisbenefit renders him pleasing to us, besides that such community ofintellect 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 towhom we speak may listen to them without pain and with pleasure; (2)that they feel themselves interested, so that self-love leads them morewillingly to reflection upon it. 

It consists, then, in a correspondence which we seek to establishbetween the head and the heart of those to whom we speak on the onehand, and, on the other, between the thoughts and the expressions whichwe employ. This assumes that we have studied well the heart of man so asto know all its powers, and then to find the just proportions of thediscourse which we wish to adapt to them. We must put ourselves in theplace of those who are to hear us, and make trial on our own heart ofthe turn which we give to our discourse in order to see whether one ismade for the other, and whether we can assure ourselves that the hearerwill be, as it were, forced to surrender. We ought to restrictourselves, so far as possible, to the simple and natural, and not tomagnify that which is little, or belittle that which is great. It is notenough 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 togo. 

18

When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is of advantage that thereshould exist a common error which determines the mind of man, as, forexample, the moon, to which is attributed the change of seasons, theprogress of diseases, etc. For the chief malady of man is restlesscuriosity about things which he cannot understand; and it is not so badfor 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, andthe oftenest quoted; because it is entirely composed of thoughts bornfrom the common talk of life. As when we speak of the common error whichexists among men that the moon is the cause of everything, we never failto say that Salomon de Tultie says that when we do not know the truthof 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 infirst. 

20

_Order. _--Why should I undertake to divide my virtues into four ratherthan into six? Why should I rather establish virtue in four, in two, inone? Why into _Abstine et sustine_[10] rather than into "FollowNature, "[11] or, "Conduct your private affairs without injustice, " asPlato, [12] or anything else? But there, you will say, everything iscontained in one word. Yes, but it is useless without explanation, andwhen we come to explain it, as soon as we unfold this maxim whichcontains all the rest, they emerge in that first confusion which youdesired to avoid. So, when they are all included in one, they are hiddenand useless, as in a chest, and never appear save in their naturalconfusion. Nature has established them all without including one in theother. 

21

Nature has made all her truths independent of one another. Our art makesone dependent on the other. But this is not natural. Each keeps its ownplace. 

22

Let no one say that I have said nothing new; the arrangement of thesubject 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 sameway if the same thoughts in a different arrangement do not form adifferent discourse, no more do the same words in their differentarrangement form different thoughts!

23

Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meaningsdifferently 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 timesuitable, and not otherwise. For he that relaxes out of season wearies, and he who wearies us out of season makes us languid, since we turnquite away. So much does our perverse lust like to do the contrary ofwhat those wish to obtain from us without giving us pleasure, the coinfor which we will do whatever is wanted. 

25

_Eloquence. _--It requires the pleasant and the real; but the pleasantmust itself be drawn from the true. 

26

Eloquence is a painting of thought; and thus those who, after havingpainted it, add something more, make a picture instead of a portrait. 

27

_Miscellaneous. Language. _--Those who make antitheses by forcing wordsare like those who make false windows for symmetry. Their rule is not tospeak accurately, but to make apt figures of speech. 

28

Symmetry is what we see at a glance; based on the fact that there is noreason for any difference, and based also on the face of man; whence ithappens 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 weexpected to see an author, and we find a man. Whereas those who havegood taste, and who seeing a book expect to find a man, are quitesurprised 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 isuprightness. 

Beauty of omission, of judgment. 

31

All the false beauties which we blame in Cicero have their admirers, andin great number. 

32

There is a certain standard of grace and beauty which consists in acertain relation between our nature, such as it is, weak or strong, andthe 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 displeasesthose who have good taste. 

And as there is a perfect relation between a song and a house which aremade after a good model, because they are like this good model, thougheach after its kind; even so there is a perfect relation between thingsmade after a bad model. Not that the bad model is unique, for there aremany; but each bad sonnet, for example, on whatever false model it isformed, is just like a woman dressed after that model. 

Nothing makes us understand better the ridiculousness of a false sonnetthan to consider nature and the standard, and then to imagine a woman ora house made according to that standard. 

33

_Poetical beauty. _--As we speak of poetical beauty, so ought we to speakof mathematical beauty and medical beauty. But we do not do so; and thereason is that we know well what is the object of mathematics, and thatit consists in proofs, and what is the object of medicine, and that itconsists in healing. But we do not know in what grace consists, which isthe object of poetry. We do not know the natural model which we ought toimitate; and through lack of this knowledge, we have coined fantasticterms, "The golden age, " "The wonder of our times, " "Fatal, " etc. , andcall this jargon poetical beauty. [13]

But whoever imagines a woman after this model, which consists in sayinglittle things in big words, will see a pretty girl adorned with mirrorsand chains, at whom he will smile; because we know better whereinconsists the charm of woman than the charm of verse. But those who areignorant would admire her in this dress, and there are many villages inwhich she would be taken for the queen; hence we call sonnets made afterthis model "Village Queens. "

34

No one passes in the world as skilled in verse unless he has put up thesign of a poet, a mathematician, etc. But educated people do not want asign, and draw little distinction between the trade of a poet and thatof an embroiderer. 

People of education are not called poets or mathematicians, etc. ; butthey are all these, and judges of all these. No one guesses what theyare. When they come into society, they talk on matters about which therest are talking. We do not observe in them one quality rather thananother, 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 thatthey are fine speakers, when it is not a question of oratory, and thatwe 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 hisentry, that he is a very clever poet; and it is a bad sign when a man isnot asked to give his judgment on some verses. 

35

We should not be able to say of a man, "He is a mathematician, " or "apreacher, " or "eloquent"; but that he is "a gentleman. " That universalquality alone pleases me. It is a bad sign when, on seeing a person, youremember his book. I would prefer you to see no quality till you meet itand have occasion to use it (_Ne quid nimis_[14]), for fear some onequality prevail and designate the man. Let none think him a finespeaker, 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 todo with mathematics; he would take me for a proposition. "That one is agood soldier. " He would take me for a besieged town. I need, then, anupright man who can accommodate himself generally to all my wants. 

37

[Since we cannot be universal and know all that is to be known ofeverything, we ought to know a little about everything. For it is farbetter to know something about everything than to know all about onething. 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 worldfeels 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 onlyreason 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 wealways believe the difficulty is in what we wish to prove, we find theexamples clearer and a help to demonstration. 

Thus when we wish to demonstrate a general theorem, we must give therule as applied to a particular case; but if we wish to demonstrate aparticular case, we must begin with the general rule. For we always findthe thing obscure which we wish to prove, and that clear which we usefor the proof; for, when a thing is put forward to be proved, we firstfill ourselves with the imagination that it is therefore obscure, and onthe contrary that what is to prove it is clear, and so we understand iteasily. 

41

_Epigrams of Martial. _--Man loves malice, but not against one-eyed mennor the unfortunate, but against the fortunate and proud. People aremistaken in thinking otherwise. 

For lust is the source of all our actions, and humanity, etc. We mustplease those who have humane and tender feelings. That epigram about twoone-eyed people is worthless, [15] for it does not console them, and onlygives a point to the author's glory. All that is only for the sake ofthe 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, " "Mycommentary, " "My history, " etc. They resemble middle-class people whohave a house of their own, and always have "My house" on their tongue. They would do better to say, "Our book, " "Our commentary, " "Ourhistory, " etc. , because there is in them usually more of other people'sthan 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, butwords 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 theaudience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think ofwithout that warmth. 

48

When we find words repeated in a discourse, and, in trying to correctthem, discover that they are so appropriate that we would spoil thediscourse, we must leave them alone. This is the test; and our attemptis the work of envy, which is blind, and does not see that repetition isnot in this place a fault; for there is no general rule. 

49

To mask nature and disguise her. No more king, pope, bishop--but _augustmonarch_, etc. ; not Paris--_the capital of the kingdom_. There areplaces in which we ought to call Paris, Paris, and others in which weought to call it the capital of the kingdom. 

50

The same meaning changes with the words which express it. Meaningsreceive their dignity from words instead of giving it to them. Examplesshould be sought. .. . 

51

Sceptic, for obstinate. 

52

No one calls another a Cartesian[17] but he who is one himself, a pedantbut a pedant, a provincial but a provincial; and I would wager it wasthe printer who put it on the title of _Letters to a Provincial_. 

53

A carriage _upset_ or _overturned_, according to the meaning _To spreadabroad_ or _upset_, according to the meaning. (The argument by force ofM. Le Maître[18] over the friar. )

54

_Miscellaneous. _--A form of speech, "I should have liked to apply myselfto 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] didnot want to be guessed. 

"My mind is disquieted. " _I am disquieted_ is better. 

57

I always feel uncomfortable under such compliments as these: "I havegiven you a great deal of trouble, " "I am afraid I am boring you, " "Ifear this is too long. " We either carry our audience with us, orirritate them. 

58

You are ungraceful: "Excuse me, pray. " Without that excuse I would nothave 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 restlessnessof 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 ofordinary lives, and then the vanity of philosophic lives, sceptics, stoics; but the order would not have been kept. I know a little what itis, and how few people understand it. No human science can keep it. Saint Thomas[20] did not keep it. Mathematics keep it, but they areuseless on account of their depth. 

62

_Preface to the first part. _--To speak of those who have treated of theknowledge of self; of the divisions of Charron, [21] which sadden andweary us; of the confusion of Montaigne;[22] that he was quite aware ofhis 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 andagainst his maxims, since every one makes mistakes, but by his maximsthemselves, and by first and chief design. For to say silly things bychance and weakness is a common misfortune; but to say themintentionally 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 withouteyes_. [24] Ignorant; _squaring the circle, [25] a greater world_. [26] Hisopinions on suicide, on death. [27] He suggests an indifference aboutsalvation, _without fear and without repentance_. [28] As his book wasnot written with a religious purpose, he was not bound to mentionreligion; but it is always our duty not to turn men from it. One canexcuse his rather free and licentious opinions on some relations of life(730, 231)[29]; but one cannot excuse his thoroughly pagan views ondeath, for a man must renounce piety altogether, if he does not at leastwish to die like a Christian. Now, through the whole of his book hisonly 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 inhim. 

65

What good there is in Montaigne can only have been acquired withdifficulty. 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 hemade too much of trifles and spoke too much of himself. 

66

One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it atleast serves as a rule of life, and there is nothing better. 

67

_The vanity of the sciences. _--Physical science will not console me forthe ignorance of morality in the time of affliction. But the science ofethics will always console me for the ignorance of the physicalsciences. 

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 knowledgeas on knowing how to be gentlemen. They only plume themselves on knowingthe one thing they do not know. 

69

_The infinites, the mean. _--When we read too fast or too slowly, weunderstand nothing. 

70

_Nature_ . .. --[Nature has set us so well in the centre, that if wechange one side of the balance, we change the other also. _I act. _ Τάζῶα τρέχει. This makes me believe that the springs in our brain are soadjusted that he who touches one touches also its contrary. ]

71

Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; givehim too much, the same. 

72

_Man's disproportion. _--[This is where our innate knowledge leads us. Ifit be not true, there is no truth in man; and if it be true, he findstherein great cause for humiliation, being compelled to abase himself inone way or another. And since he cannot exist without this knowledge, Iwish that, before entering on deeper researches into nature, he wouldconsider her both seriously and at leisure, that he would reflect uponhimself also, and knowing what proportion there is. .. . ] Let man thencontemplate the whole of nature in her full and grand majesty, and turnhis vision from the low objects which surround him. Let him gaze on thatbrilliant light, set like an eternal lamp to illumine the universe; letthe earth appear to him a point in comparison with the vast circledescribed by the sun; and let him wonder at the fact that this vastcircle is itself but a very fine point in comparison with that describedby the stars in their revolution round the firmament. But if our view bearrested there, let our imagination pass beyond; it will sooner exhaustthe power of conception than nature that of supplying material forconception. The whole visible world is only an imperceptible atom in theample bosom of nature. No idea approaches it. We may enlarge ourconceptions beyond all imaginable space; we only produce atoms incomparison with the reality of things. It is an infinite sphere, thecentre of which is everywhere, the circumference nowhere. [30] In shortit is the greatest sensible mark of the almighty power of God, thatimagination loses itself in that thought. 

Returning to himself, let man consider what he is in comparison with allexistence; let him regard himself as lost in this remote corner ofnature; and from the little cell in which he finds himself lodged, Imean 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 themost delicate things he knows. Let a mite be given him, with its minutebody and parts incomparably more minute, limbs with their joints, veinsin the limbs, blood in the veins, humours in the blood, drops in thehumours, vapours in the drops. Dividing these last things again, let himexhaust his powers of conception, and let the last object at which hecan arrive be now that of our discourse. Perhaps he will think that hereis 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 canconceive of nature's immensity in the womb of this abridged atom. Lethim see therein an infinity of universes, each of which has itsfirmament, its planets, its earth, in the same proportion as in thevisible world; in each earth animals, and in the last mites, in which hewill find again all that the first had, finding still in these othersthe same thing without end and without cessation. Let him lose himselfin wonders as amazing in their littleness as the others in theirvastness. For who will not be astounded at the fact that our body, whicha little while ago was imperceptible in the universe, itselfimperceptible in the bosom of the whole, is now a colossus, a world, orrather a whole, in respect of the nothingness which we cannot reach? Hewho regards himself in this light will be afraid of himself, andobserving himself sustained in the body given him by nature betweenthose two abysses of the Infinite and Nothing, will tremble at the sightof these marvels; and I think that, as his curiosity changes intoadmiration, he will be more disposed to contemplate them in silence thanto examine them with presumption. 

For in fact what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with theInfinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothingand everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending theextremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hiddenfrom him in an impenetrable secret, he is equally incapable of seeingthe Nothing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he isswallowed up. 

What will he do then, but perceive the appearance of the middle ofthings, in an eternal despair of knowing either their beginning or theirend. All things proceed from the Nothing, and are borne towards theInfinite. Who will follow these marvellous processes? The Author ofthese wonders understands them. None other can do so. 

Through failure to contemplate these Infinites, men have rashly rushedinto the examination of nature, as though they bore some proportion toher. It is strange that they have wished to understand the beginnings ofthings, and thence to arrive at the knowledge of the whole, with apresumption as infinite as their object. For surely this design cannotbe formed without presumption or without a capacity infinite likenature. 

If we are well informed, we understand that, as nature has graven herimage and that of her Author on all things, they almost all partake ofher double infinity. Thus we see that all the sciences are infinite inthe extent of their researches. For who doubts that geometry, forinstance, has an infinite infinity of problems to solve? They are alsoinfinite in the multitude and fineness of their premises; for it isclear that those which are put forward as ultimate are notself-supporting, but are based on others which, again having others fortheir support, do not permit of finality. But we represent some asultimate for reason, in the same way as in regard to material objects wecall that an indivisible point beyond which our senses can no longerperceive anything, although by its nature it is infinitely divisible. 

Of these two Infinites of science, that of greatness is the mostpalpable, and hence a few persons have pretended to know all things. "Iwill speak of the whole, "[31] said Democritus. 

But the infinitely little is the least obvious. Philosophers have muchoftener claimed to have reached it, and it is here they have allstumbled. This has given rise to such common titles as _FirstPrinciples_, _Principles of Philosophy_, [32] and the like, asostentatious in fact, though not in appearance, as that one which blindsus, _De omni scibili_. [33]

We naturally believe ourselves far more capable of reaching the centreof things than of embracing their circumference. The visible extent ofthe world visibly exceeds us; but as we exceed little things, we thinkourselves more capable of knowing them. And yet we need no less capacityfor attaining the Nothing than the All. Infinite capacity is requiredfor both, and it seems to me that whoever shall have understood theultimate principles of being might also attain to the knowledge of theInfinite. The one depends on the other, and one leads to the other. These extremes meet and reunite by force of distance, and find eachother in God, and in God alone. 

Let us then take our compass; we are something, and we are noteverything. The nature of our existence hides from us the knowledge offirst beginnings which are born of the Nothing; and the littleness ofour being conceals from us the sight of the Infinite. 

Our intellect holds the same position in the world of thought as ourbody occupies in the expanse of nature. 

Limited as we are in every way, this state which holds the mean betweentwo extremes is present in all our impotence. Our senses perceive noextreme. Too much sound deafens us; too much light dazzles us; too greatdistance or proximity hinders our view. Too great length and too greatbrevity of discourse tend to obscurity; too much truth is paralysing (Iknow some who cannot understand that to take four from nothing leavesnothing). First principles are too self-evident for us; too muchpleasure disagrees with us. Too many concords are annoying in music; toomany benefits irritate us; we wish to have the wherewithal to over-payour debts. _Beneficia eo usque læta sunt dum videntur exsolvi posse; ubimultum antevenere, pro gratia odium redditur. _[34] We feel neitherextreme heat nor extreme cold. Excessive qualities are prejudicial to usand 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 toolittle 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 certainknowledge and of absolute ignorance. We sail within a vast sphere, everdrifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end. When we think to attachourselves to any point and to fasten to it, it wavers and leaves us; andif we follow it, it eludes our grasp, slips past us, and vanishes forever. Nothing stays for us. This is our natural condition, and yet mostcontrary to our inclination; we burn with desire to find solid groundand an ultimate sure foundation whereon to build a tower reaching to theInfinite. But our whole groundwork cracks, and the earth opens toabysses. 

Let us therefore not look for certainty and stability. Our reason isalways deceived by fickle shadows; nothing can fix the finite betweenthe two Infinites, which both enclose and fly from it. 

If this be well understood, I think that we shall remain at rest, eachin the state wherein nature has placed him. As this sphere which hasfallen to us as our lot is always distant from either extreme, whatmatters 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 infinitelyremoved from the end, and is not the duration of our life equallyremoved from eternity, even if it lasts ten years longer?

In comparison with these Infinites all finites are equal, and I see noreason for fixing our imagination on one more than on another. The onlycomparison which we make of ourselves to the finite is painful to us. 

If man made himself the first object of study, he would see howincapable he is of going further. How can a part know the whole? But hemay perhaps aspire to know at least the parts to which he bears someproportion. But the parts of the world are all so related and linked toone another, that I believe it impossible to know one without the otherand without the whole. 

Man, for instance, is related to all he knows. He needs a place whereinto abide, time through which to live, motion in order to live, elementsto compose him, warmth and food to nourish him, air to breathe. He seeslight; he feels bodies; in short, he is in a dependent alliance witheverything. To know man, then, it is necessary to know how it happensthat he needs air to live, and, to know the air, we must know how it isthus 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 thoughimperceptible chain, which binds together things most distant and mostdifferent, I hold it equally impossible to know the parts withoutknowing the whole, and to know the whole without knowing the parts indetail. 

[The eternity of things in itself or in God must also astonish ourbrief duration. The fixed and constant immobility of nature, incomparison with the continual change which goes on within us, must havethe same effect. ]

And what completes our incapability of knowing things, is the fact thatthey are simple, and that we are composed of two opposite natures, different in kind, soul and body. For it is impossible that our rationalpart should be other than spiritual; and if any one maintain that we aresimply corporeal, this would far more exclude us from the knowledge ofthings, there being nothing so inconceivable as to say that matter knowsitself. 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 arecomposed of mind and matter, we cannot know perfectly things which aresimple, whether spiritual or corporeal. Hence it comes that almost allphilosophers have confused ideas of things, and speak of material thingsin spiritual terms, and of spiritual things in material terms. For theysay boldly that bodies have a tendency to fall, that they seek aftertheir centre, that they fly from destruction, that they fear the void, that they have inclinations, sympathies, antipathies, all of whichattributes pertain only to mind. And in speaking of minds, they considerthem as in a place, and attribute to them movement from one place toanother; and these are qualities which belong only to bodies. 

Instead of receiving the ideas of these things in their purity, wecolour them with our own qualities, and stamp with our composite beingall the simple things which we contemplate. 

Who would not think, seeing us compose all things of mind and body, butthat this mixture would be quite intelligible to us? Yet it is the verything we least understand. Man is to himself the most wonderful objectin nature; for he cannot conceive what the body is, still less what themind is, and least of all how a body should be united to a mind. This isthe consummation of his difficulties, and yet it is his very being. _Modus quo corporibus adhærent spiritus comprehendi ab hominibus nonpotest, et hoc tamen homo est. _[35] Finally, to complete the proof ofour weakness, I shall conclude with these two considerations. .. . 

73

[But perhaps this subject goes beyond the capacity of reason. Let ustherefore examine her solutions to problems within her powers. If therebe anything to which her own interest must have made her apply herselfmost seriously, it is the inquiry into her own sovereign good. Let ussee, 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 inpleasure, another in the knowledge of nature, another in truth, _Felixqui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_, [36] another in total ignorance, another in indolence, others in disregarding appearances, another inwondering at nothing, _nihil admirari prope res una quæ possit facere etservare beatum_, [37] and the true sceptics in their indifference, doubt, and perpetual suspense, and others, wiser, think to find a betterdefinition. 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 solong 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 theythought of her substance? 394. [38] Have they been more fortunate inlocating 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 usthen abase her to matter and see if she knows whereof is made the verybody which she animates, and those others which she contemplates andmoves at her will. What have those great dogmatists, who are ignorant ofnothing, known of this matter? _Harum sententiarum_, [41] 393. 

This would doubtless suffice, if reason were reasonable. She isreasonable enough to admit that she has been unable to find anythingdurable, but she does not yet despair of reaching it; she is as ardentas ever in this search, and is confident she has within her thenecessary powers for this conquest. We must therefore conclude, and, after having examined her powers in their effects, observe them inthemselves, and see if she has a nature and a grasp capable of layinghold 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 ismore absurd than to say that lifeless bodies have passions, fears, hatreds--that insensible bodies, lifeless and incapable of life, havepassions which presuppose at least a sensitive soul to feel them, naymore, that the object of their dread is the void? What is there in thevoid that could make them afraid? Nothing is more shallow andridiculous. This is not all; it is said that they have in themselves asource 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 beenquite willing to dispense with God. But he had to make Him give a fillipto 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 andmotion, " for it is true. But to say what these are, and to compose themachine, is ridiculous. For it is useless, uncertain, and painful. Andwere 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 fooldoes?[45] Because a cripple recognises that we walk straight, whereas afool declares that it is we who are silly; if it were not so, we shouldfeel pity and not anger. 

Epictetus[46] asks still more strongly: "Why are we not angry if we aretold that we have a headache, and why are we angry if we are told thatwe reason badly, or choose wrongly?" The reason is that we are quitecertain that we have not a headache, or are not lame, but we are not sosure that we make a true choice. So having assurance only because we seewith our whole sight, it puts us into suspense and surprise when anotherwith his whole sight sees the opposite, and still more so when athousand others deride our choice. For we must prefer our own lights tothose of so many others, and that is bold and difficult. There is neverthis contradiction in the feelings towards a cripple. 

81

It is natural for the mind to believe, and for the will to love;[47] sothat, for want of true objects, they must attach themselves to false. 

82

_Imagination. _[48]--It is that deceitful part in man, that mistress oferror and falsity, the more deceptive that she is not always so; for shewould be an infallible rule of truth, if she were an infallible rule offalsehood. But being most generally false, she gives no sign of hernature, 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 themthat the imagination has the great gift of persuasion. Reason protestsin vain; it cannot set a true value on things. 

This arrogant power, the enemy of reason, who likes to rule and dominateit, has established in man a second nature to show how all-powerful sheis. She makes men happy and sad, healthy and sick, rich and poor; shecompels reason to believe, doubt, and deny; she blunts the senses, orquickens them; she has her fools and sages; and nothing vexes us morethan to see that she fills her devotees with a satisfaction far morefull and entire than does reason. Those who have a lively imaginationare a great deal more pleased with themselves than the wise canreasonably be. They look down upon men with haughtiness; they argue withboldness and confidence, others with fear and diffidence; and thisgaiety of countenance often gives them the advantage in the opinion ofthe hearers, such favour have the imaginary wise in the eyes of judgesof like nature. Imagination cannot make fools wise; but she can makethem happy, to the envy of reason which can only make its friendsmiserable; the one covers them with glory, the other with shame. 

What but this faculty of imagination dispenses reputation, awardsrespect and veneration to persons, works, laws, and the great? Howinsufficient are all the riches of the earth without her consent!

Would you not say that this magistrate, whose venerable age commands therespect of a whole people, is governed by pure and lofty reason, andthat he judges causes according to their true nature without consideringthose mere trifles which only affect the imagination of the weak? Seehim go to sermon, full of devout zeal, strengthening his reason with theardour of his love. He is ready to listen with exemplary respect. Letthe preacher appear, and let nature have given him a hoarse voice or acomical cast of countenance, or let his barber have given him a badshave, or let by chance his dress be more dirtied than usual, thenhowever great the truths he announces. I wager our senator loses hisgravity. 

If the greatest philosopher in the world find himself upon a plank widerthan actually necessary, but hanging over a precipice, his imaginationwill prevail, though his reason convince him of his safety. [49] Manycannot bear the thought without a cold sweat. I will not state all itseffects. 

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, andchanges the force of a discourse or a poem. 

Love or hate alters the aspect of justice. How much greater confidencehas 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 witha breath in every direction!

I should have to enumerate almost every action of men who scarce waversave under her assaults. For reason has been obliged to yield, and thewisest reason takes as her own principles those which the imagination ofman has everywhere rashly introduced. [He who would follow reason onlywould be deemed foolish by the generality of men. We must judge by theopinion of the majority of mankind. Because it has pleased them, we mustwork all day for pleasures seen to be imaginary; and after sleep hasrefreshed our tired reason, we must forthwith start up and rush afterphantoms, and suffer the impressions of this mistress of the world. Thisis one of the sources of error, but it is not the only one. ]

Our magistrates have known well this mystery. Their red robes, theermine in which they wrap themselves like furry cats, [50] the courts inwhich they administer justice, the _fleurs-de-lis_, and all such augustapparel were necessary; if the physicians had not their cassocks andtheir mules, if the doctors had not their square caps and their robesfour times too wide, they would never have duped the world, which cannotresist so original an appearance. If magistrates had true justice, andif physicians had the true art of healing, they would have no occasionfor square caps; the majesty of these sciences would of itself bevenerable enough. But having only imaginary knowledge, they must employthose silly tools that strike the imagination with which they have todeal; and thereby in fact they inspire respect. Soldiers alone are notdisguised in this manner, because indeed their part is the mostessential; they establish themselves by force, the others by show. 

Therefore our kings seek out no disguises. They do not mask themselvesin extraordinary costumes to appear such; but they are accompanied byguards and halberdiers. Those armed and red-faced puppets who have handsand power for them alone, those trumpets and drums which go before them, and those legions round about them, make the stoutest tremble. They havenot dress only, they have might. A very refined reason is required toregard 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 ofeverything; it makes beauty, justice, and happiness, which is everythingin the world. I should much like to see an Italian work, of which I onlyknow the title, which alone is worth many books, _Della opinione reginadel mondo_. [51] I approve of the book without knowing it, save the evilin it, if any. These are pretty much the effects of that deceptivefaculty, which seems to have been expressly given us to lead us intonecessary error. We have, however, many other sources of error. 

Not only are old impressions capable of misleading us; the charms ofnovelty have the same power. Hence arise all the disputes of men, whotaunt each other either with following the false impressions ofchildhood or with running rashly after the new. Who keeps the due mean?Let him appear and prove it. There is no principle, however natural tous from infancy, which may not be made to pass for a false impressioneither of education or of sense. 

"Because, " say some, "you have believed from childhood that a box wasempty when you saw nothing in it, you have believed in the possibilityof a vacuum. This is an illusion of your senses, strengthened by custom, which science must correct. " "Because, " say others, "you have beentaught at school that there is no vacuum, you have perverted your commonsense which clearly comprehended it, and you must correct this byreturning to your first state. " Which has deceived you, your senses oryour education?

We have another source of error in diseases. [52] They spoil the judgmentand the senses; and if the more serious produce a sensible change, I donot doubt that slighter ills produce a proportionate impression. 

Our own interest is again a marvellous instrument for nicely putting outour eyes. The justest man in the world is not allowed to be judge in hisown 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 ajust cause has been to get it recommended to these men by their nearrelatives. 

Justice and truth are two such subtle points, that our tools are tooblunt to touch them accurately. If they reach the point, they eithercrush 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, andseveral excellent of the false. Let us now see how much. .. . But the mostpowerful cause of error is the war existing between the senses andreason. ]

83

_We must thus begin the chapter on the deceptive powers. _ Man is only asubject full of error, natural and ineffaceable, without grace. Nothingshows him the truth. Everything deceives him. These two sources oftruth, reason and the senses, besides being both wanting in sincerity, deceive each other in turn. The senses mislead the reason with falseappearances, and receive from reason in their turn the same trickerywhich they apply to her; reason has her revenge. The passions of thesoul trouble the senses, and make false impressions upon them. Theyrival each other in falsehood and deception. [53]

But besides those errors which arise accidentally and through lack ofintelligence, with these heterogeneous faculties . .. 

84

The imagination enlarges little objects so as to fill our souls with afantastic estimate; and, with rash insolence, it belittles the great toits own measure, as when talking of God. 

85

Things which have most hold on us, as the concealment of our fewpossessions, are often a mere nothing. It is a nothing which ourimagination magnifies into a mountain. Another turn of the imaginationwould make us discover this without difficulty. 

86

[My fancy makes me hate a croaker, and one who pants when eating. Fancyhas great weight. Shall we profit by it? Shall we yield to this weightbecause 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 butchildren. But how shall one who is so weak in his childhood becomereally strong when he grows older? We only change our fancies. All thatis made perfect by progress perishes also by progress. All that has beenweak 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 isaccustomed to believe that the king is terrible . .. Etc. Who doubts thenthat our soul, being accustomed to see number, space, motion, believesthat and nothing else?

90

_Quod crebro videt non miratur, etiamsi cur fiat nescit; quod ante nonviderit, id si evenerit, ostentum esse censet. _[56] (Cic. 583. )

91

_Spongia solis. _[57]--When we see the same effect always recur, we infera natural necessity in it, as that there will be a to-morrow, etc. Butnature often deceives us, and does not subject herself to her own rules. 

92

What are our natural principles but principles of custom? In childrenthey are those which they have received from the habits of theirfathers, as hunting in animals. A different custom will cause differentnatural principles. This is seen in experience; and if there are somenatural principles ineradicable by custom, there are also some customsopposed to nature, ineradicable by nature, or by a second custom. Thisdepends on disposition. 

93

Parents fear lest the natural love of their children may fade away. Whatkind of nature is that which is subject to decay? Custom is a secondnature which destroys the former. [58] But what is nature? For is customnot 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 hemay not lose. 

95

Memory, joy, are intuitions; and even mathematical propositions becomeintuitions, for education produces natural intuitions, and naturalintuitions 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. Anexample may be given from the circulation of the blood as a reason whythe vein swells below the ligature. 

97

The most important affair in life is the choice of a calling; chancedecides it. Custom makes men masons, soldiers, slaters. "He is a goodslater, " says one, and, speaking of soldiers, remarks, "They are perfectfools. " But others affirm, "There is nothing great but war, the rest ofmen are good for nothing. " We choose our callings according as we hearthis or that praised or despised in our childhood, for we naturally lovetruth and hate folly. These words move us; the only error is in theirapplication. So great is the force of custom that out of those whomnature has only made men, are created all conditions of men. For somedistricts are full of masons, others of soldiers, etc. Certainly natureis not so uniform. It is custom then which does this, for it constrainsnature. But sometimes nature gains the ascendancy, and preserves man'sinstinct, in spite of all custom, good or bad. 

98

_Bias leading to error. _--It is a deplorable thing to see all mendeliberating on means alone, and not on the end. Each thinks how he willacquit himself in his condition; but as for the choice of condition, orof country, chance gives them to us. 

It is a pitiable thing to see so many Turks, heretics, and infidelsfollow the way of their fathers for the sole reason that each has beenimbued with the prejudice that it is the best. And that fixes for eachman his conditions of locksmith, soldier, etc. 

Hence savages care nothing for Providence. [60]

99

There is an universal and essential difference between the actions ofthe will and all other actions. 

The will is one of the chief factors in belief, not that it createsbelief, but because things are true or false according to the aspect inwhich we look at them. The will, which prefers one aspect to another, turns away the mind from considering the qualities of all that it doesnot 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 itsees. 

100

_Self-love. _--The nature of self-love and of this human Ego is to loveself only and consider self only. But what will man do? He cannotprevent 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 seeshimself full of imperfections. He wants to be the object of love andesteem among men, and he sees that his faults merit only their hatredand contempt. This embarrassment in which he finds himself produces inhim the most unrighteous and criminal passion that can be imagined; forhe conceives a mortal enmity against that truth which reproves him, andwhich convinces him of his faults. He would annihilate it, but, unableto destroy it in its essence, he destroys it as far as possible in hisown knowledge and in that of others; that is to say, he devotes all hisattention to hiding his faults both from others and from himself, and hecannot endure either that others should point them out to him, or thatthey should see them. 

Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evilto be full of them, and to be unwilling to recognise them, since that isto add the further fault of a voluntary illusion. We do not like othersto deceive us; we do not think it fair that they should be held inhigher esteem by us than they deserve; it is not then fair that weshould deceive them, and should wish them to esteem us more highly thanwe deserve. 

Thus, when they discover only the imperfections and vices which wereally have, it is plain they do us no wrong, since it is not they whocause them; they rather do us good, since they help us to free ourselvesfrom an evil, namely, the ignorance of these imperfections. We ought notto be angry at their knowing our faults and despising us; it is butright 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 andjustice. What must we say then of our own heart, when we see in it awholly different disposition? For is it not true that we hate truth andthose who tell it us, and that we like them to be deceived in ourfavour, and prefer to be esteemed by them as being other than what weare in fact? One proof of this makes me shudder. The Catholic religiondoes not bind us to confess our sins indiscriminately to everybody; itallows them to remain hidden from all other men save one, to whom shebids us reveal the innermost recesses of our heart, and show ourselvesas we are. There is only this one man in the world whom she orders us toundeceive, and she binds him to an inviolable secrecy, which makes thisknowledge to him as if it were not. Can we imagine anything morecharitable and pleasant? And yet the corruption of man is such that hefinds even this law harsh; and it is one of the main reasons which hascaused a great part of Europe to rebel against the Church. [61]

How unjust and unreasonable is the heart of man, which feels itdisagreeable to be obliged to do in regard to one man what in somemeasure it were right to do to all men! For is it right that we shoulddeceive men?

There are different degrees in this aversion to truth; but all mayperhaps be said to have it in some degree, because it is inseparablefrom self-love. It is this false delicacy which makes those who areunder the necessity of reproving others choose so many windings andmiddle courses to avoid offence. They must lessen our faults, appear toexcuse 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 asecret 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 bedisagreeable. 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. Welike to be deceived, and they deceive us. 

So each degree of good fortune which raises us in the world removes usfarther from truth, because we are most afraid of wounding those whoseaffection is most useful and whose dislike is most dangerous. A princemay be the byword of all Europe, and he alone will know nothing of it. Iam not astonished. To tell the truth is useful to those to whom it isspoken, but disadvantageous to those who tell it, because it makes themdisliked. Now those who live with princes love their own interests morethan that of the prince whom they serve; and so they take care not toconfer 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 someadvantage in making men love us. Human life is thus only a perpetualillusion; men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in ourpresence as he does of us in our absence. Human society is founded onmutual deceit; few friendships would endure if each knew what his friendsaid of him in his absence, although he then spoke in sincerity andwithout passion. 

Man is then only disguise, falsehood, and hypocrisy, both in himself andin regard to others. He does not wish any one to tell him the truth; heavoids telling it to others, and all these dispositions, so removed fromjustice 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 theother, there would not be four friends in the world. This is apparentfrom the quarrels which arise from the indiscreet tales told from timeto time. [I say, further, all men would be . .. ]

102

Some vices only lay hold of us by means of others, and these, likebranches, fall on removal of the trunk. 

103

The example of Alexander's chastity[62] has not made so many continentas that of his drunkenness has made intemperate. It is not shameful notto 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 thevulgar, when we see that we are sharing in those of great men; and yetwe do not observe that in these matters they are ordinary men. We holdon 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 thelowest of men. They are not suspended in the air, quite removed from oursociety. No, no; if they are greater than we, it is because their headsare higher; but their feet are as low as ours. They are all on the samelevel, and rest on the same earth; and by that extremity they are as lowas 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; forexample, we like a book and read it, when we ought to be doing somethingelse. Now, to remind ourselves of our duty, we must set ourselves a taskwe dislike; we then plead that we have something else to do, and by thismeans 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, weeither entice the imagination into that view, or irritate it to thecontrary. It is better to say nothing; and then the other judgesaccording to what really is, that is to say, according as it then is, and according as the other circumstances, not of our making, have placedit. But we at least shall have added nothing, unless it be that silencealso produces an effect, according to the turn and the interpretationwhich the other will be disposed to give it, or as he will guess it fromgestures or countenance, or from the tone of the voice, if he is aphysiognomist. So difficult is it not to upset a judgment from itsnatural place, or, rather, so rarely is it firm and stable!

106

By knowing each man's ruling passion, we are sure of pleasing him; andyet each has his fancies, opposed to his true good, in the very ideawhich he has of the good. It is a singularly puzzling fact. 

107

_Lustravit lampade terras. _[63]--The weather and my mood have littleconnection. I have my foggy and my fine days within me; my prosperity ormisfortune has little to do with the matter. I sometimes struggleagainst 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 mustnot absolutely conclude from this that they are not lying; for there aresome 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 weare ill we take medicine cheerfully; the illness persuades us to do so. We have no longer the passions and desires for amusements and promenadeswhich health gave to us, but which are incompatible with the necessitiesof illness. Nature gives us, then, passions and desires suitable to ourpresent state. [64] We are only troubled by the fears which we, and notnature, give ourselves, for they add to the state in which we are thepassions of the state in which we are not. 

As nature makes us always unhappy in every state, our desires picture tous a happy state; because they add to the state in which we are thepleasures of the state in which we are not. And if we attained to thesepleasures, we should not be happy after all; because we should haveother desires natural to this new state. 

We must particularise this general proposition. .. . 

110

The consciousness of the falsity of present pleasures, and the ignoranceof the vanity of absent pleasures, cause inconstancy. 

111

_Inconstancy. _--We think we are playing on ordinary organs when playingupon man. Men are organs, it is true, but, odd, changeable, variable[with pipes not arranged in proper order. Those who only know how toplay on ordinary organs] will not produce harmonies on these. We mustknow where [_the keys_] are. 

112

_Inconstancy. _--Things have different qualities, and the soul differentinclinations; for nothing is simple which is presented to the soul, andthe soul never presents itself simply to any object. Hence it comes thatwe weep and laugh at the same thing. 

113

_Inconstancy and oddity. _--To live only by work, and to rule over themost powerful State in the world, are very opposite things. They areunited 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 theirfruit, and call them the Condrien, the Desargues, and such and such astock. Is this all? Has a vine ever produced two bunches exactly thesame, and has a bunch two grapes alike? etc. 

I can never judge of the same thing exactly in the same way. I cannotjudge of my work, while doing it. I must do as the artists, stand at adistance, but not too far. How far, then? Guess. 

115

_Variety. _--Theology is a science, but at the same time how manysciences? 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 ofcountry-place. 

116

_Thoughts. _--All is one, all is different. How many natures exist inman? How many vocations? And by what chance does each man ordinarilychoose what he has heard praised? A well-turned heel. 

117

_The heel of a slipper. _--"Ah! How well this is turned! Here is a cleverworkman! How brave is this soldier!" This is the source of ourinclinations, and of the choice of conditions. "How much this mandrinks! 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. Numbersimitate 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, thehours; in like manner spaces and numbers follow each other frombeginning to end. Thus is made a kind of infinity and eternity. Not thatanything in all this is infinite and eternal, but these finite realitiesare infinitely multiplied. Thus it seems to me to be only the numberwhich multiplies them that is infinite. 

122

Time heals griefs and quarrels, for we change and are no longer the samepersons. Neither the offender nor the offended are any more themselves. It is like a nation which we have provoked, but meet again after twogenerations. They are still Frenchmen, but not the same. 

123

He no longer loves the person whom he loved ten years ago. I quitebelieve it. She is no longer the same, nor is he. He was young, and shealso; she is quite different. He would perhaps love her yet, if she werewhat 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 andrash. 

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 areattached. A man dwells at home with pleasure; but if he sees a woman whocharms him, or if he enjoys himself in play for five or six days, he ismiserable if he returns to his former way of living. Nothing is morecommon than that. 

129

Our nature consists in motion; complete rest is death. [65]

130

_Restlessness. _--If a soldier, or labourer, complain of the hardship ofhis lot, set him to do nothing. 

131

_Weariness. _[66]--Nothing is so insufferable to man as to be completelyat rest, without passions, without business, without diversion, withoutstudy. He then feels his nothingness, his forlornness, hisinsufficiency, his dependence, his weakness, his emptiness. There willimmediately 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 conqueringthe world. [67] Such sport was good for Augustus or Alexander. They werestill young men, and thus difficult to restrain. But Cæsar should havebeen more mature. 

133

Two faces which resemble each other, make us laugh, when together, bytheir resemblance, though neither of them by itself makes us laugh. 

134

How useless is painting, which attracts admiration by the resemblance ofthings, the originals of which we do not admire!

135

The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory. We love to see animalsfighting, not the victor infuriated over the vanquished. We would onlysee the victorious end; and, as soon as it comes, we are satiated. It isthe same in play, and the same in the search for truth. In disputes welike to see the clash of opinions, but not at all to contemplate truthwhen found. To observe it with pleasure, we have to see it emerge out ofstrife. So in the passions, there is pleasure in seeing the collision oftwo contraries; but when one acquires the mastery, it becomes onlybrutality. We never seek things for themselves, but for the search. Likewise in plays, scenes which do not rouse the emotion of fear areworthless, so are extreme and hopeless misery, brutal lust, and extremecruelty. 

136

A mere trifle consoles us, for a mere trifle distresses us. [68]

137

Without examining every particular pursuit, it is enough to comprehendthem 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 thedifferent distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they exposethemselves at court or in war, whence arise so many quarrels, passions, bold and often bad ventures, etc. , I have discovered that all theunhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stayquietly in their own chamber. A man who has enough to live on, if heknew how to stay with pleasure at home, would not leave it to go to seaor to besiege a town. A commission in the army would not be bought sodearly, but that it is found insufferable not to budge from the town;and men only seek conversation and entering games, because they cannotremain with pleasure at home. 

But on further consideration, when, after finding the cause of all ourills, I have sought to discover the reason of it, I have found thatthere is one very real reason, namely, the natural poverty of our feebleand mortal condition, so miserable that nothing can comfort us when wethink of it closely. 

Whatever condition we picture to ourselves, if we muster all the goodthings which it is possible to possess, royalty is the finest positionin the world. Yet, when we imagine a king attended with every pleasurehe can feel, if he be without diversion, and be left to consider andreflect on what he is, this feeble happiness will not sustain him; hewill necessarily fall into forebodings of dangers, of revolutions whichmay happen, and, finally, of death and inevitable disease; so that if hebe without what is called diversion, he is unhappy, and more unhappythan 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, orthat men imagine true bliss to consist in money won at play, or in thehare which they hunt; we would not take these as a gift. We do not seekthat easy and peaceful lot which permits us to think of our unhappycondition, nor the dangers of war, nor the labour of office, but thebustle 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 thatthe prison is so horrible a punishment; hence it comes that the pleasureof solitude is a thing incomprehensible. And it is in fact the greatestsource of happiness in the condition of kings, that men try incessantlyto divert them, and to procure for them all kinds of pleasures. 

The king is surrounded by persons whose only thought is to divert theking, and to prevent his thinking of self. For he is unhappy, kingthough he be, if he think of himself. 

This is all that men have been able to discover to make themselveshappy. And those who philosophise on the matter, and who think menunreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they wouldnot have bought, scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would notscreen us from the sight of death and calamities; but the chase whichturns away our attention from these, does screen us. 

The advice given to Pyrrhus to take the rest which he was about to seekwith so much labour, was full of difficulties. [69]

[To bid a man live quietly is to bid him live happily. It is to advisehim to be in a state perfectly happy, in which he can think at leisurewithout finding therein a cause of distress. This is to misunderstandnature. 

As men who naturally understand their own condition avoid nothing somuch 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 seekingexcitement, if they seek it only as a diversion; the evil is that theyseek it as if the possession of the objects of their quest would makethem really happy. In this respect it is right to call their quest avain one. Hence in all this both the censurers and the censured do notunderstand man's true nature. ]

And thus, when we take the exception against them, that what they seekwith such fervour cannot satisfy them, if they replied--as they shoulddo if they considered the matter thoroughly--that they sought in it onlya violent and impetuous occupation which turned their thoughts fromself, and that they therefore chose an attractive object to charm andardently attract them, they would leave their opponents without areply. But they do not make this reply, because they do not knowthemselves. [70] They do not know that it is the chase, and not thequarry, which they seek. 

Dancing: we must consider rightly where to place our feet. --A gentlemansincerely believes that hunting is great and royal sport; but a beateris not of this opinion. 

They imagine that if they obtained such a post, they would then restwith pleasure, and are insensible of the insatiable nature of theirdesire. They think they are truly seeking quiet, and they are onlyseeking excitement. 

They have a secret instinct which impels them to seek amusement andoccupation abroad, and which arises from the sense of their constantunhappiness. They have another secret instinct, a remnant of thegreatness of our original nature, which teaches them that happiness inreality consists only in rest, and not in stir. And of these twocontrary instincts they form within themselves a confused idea, whichhides itself from their view in the depths of their soul, inciting themto aim at rest through excitement, and always to fancy that thesatisfaction which they have not will come to them, if, by surmountingwhatever difficulties confront them, they can thereby open the door torest. 

Thus passes away all man's life. Men seek rest in a struggle againstdifficulties; and when they have conquered these, rest becomesinsufferable. For we think either of the misfortunes we have or of thosewhich threaten us. And even if we should see ourselves sufficientlysheltered on all sides, weariness of its own accord would not fail toarise from the depths of the heart wherein it has its natural roots, andto fill the mind with its poison. 

Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause forweariness from the peculiar state of his disposition; and so frivolousis he, that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the leastthing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient toamuse him. 

But will you say what object has he in all this? The pleasure ofbragging to-morrow among his friends that he has played better thananother. So others sweat in their own rooms to show to the learned thatthey have solved a problem in algebra, which no one had hitherto beenable to solve. Many more expose themselves to extreme perils, in myopinion as foolishly, in order to boast afterwards that they havecaptured a town. Lastly, others wear themselves out in studying allthese things, not in order to become wiser, but only in order to provethat they know them; and these are the most senseless of the band, sincethey are so knowingly, whereas one may suppose of the others, that ifthey knew it, they would no longer be foolish. 

This man spends his life without weariness in playing every day for asmall stake. Give him each morning the money he can win each day, oncondition he does not play; you make him miserable. It will perhaps besaid that he seeks the amusement of play and not the winnings. Make himthen play for nothing; he will not become excited over it, and will feelbored. It is then not the amusement alone that he seeks; a languid andpassionless amusement will weary him. He must get excited over it, anddeceive himself by the fancy that he will be happy to win what he wouldnot have as a gift on condition of not playing; and he must make forhimself an object of passion, and excite over it his desire, his anger, his fear, to obtain his imagined end, as children are frightened at theface 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 bylawsuits and quarrels, now no longer thinks of them? Do not wonder; heis quite taken up in looking out for the boar which his dogs have beenhunting 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 youcan prevail upon him to enter into some amusement; and however happy aman may be, he will soon be discontented and wretched, if he be notdiverted and occupied by some passion or pursuit which preventsweariness from overcoming him. Without amusement there is no joy; withamusement there is no sadness. And this also constitutes the happinessof persons in high position, that they have a number of people to amusethem, and have the power to keep themselves in this state. 

Consider this. What is it to be superintendent, chancellor, firstpresident, but to be in a condition wherein from early morning a largenumber of people come from all quarters to see them, so as not to leavethem an hour in the day in which they can think of themselves? And whenthey are in disgrace and sent back to their country houses, where theylack neither wealth nor servants to help them on occasion, they do notfail to be wretched and desolate, because no one prevents them fromthinking of themselves. 

140

[How does it happen that this man, so distressed at the death of hiswife 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 painfuland disquieting thoughts? We need not wonder; for a ball has been servedhim, and he must return it to his companion. He is occupied in catchingit in its fall from the roof, to win a game. How can he think of his ownaffairs, pray, when he has this other matter in hand? Here is a careworthy of occupying this great soul, and taking away from him everyother thought of the mind. This man, born to know the universe, to judgeall causes, to govern a whole state, is altogether occupied and taken upwith the business of catching a hare. And if he does not lower himselfto this, and wants always to be on the strain, he will be more foolishstill, because he would raise himself above humanity; and after all heis only a man, that is to say capable of little and of much, of all andof nothing; he is neither angel nor brute, but man. ]

141

Men spend their time in following a ball or a hare; it is the pleasureeven of kings. 

142

_Diversion. _--Is not the royal dignity sufficiently great in itself tomake its possessor happy by the mere contemplation of what he is? Musthe be diverted from this thought like ordinary folk? I see well that aman is made happy by diverting him from the view of his domestic sorrowsso as to occupy all his thoughts with the care of dancing well. But willit be the same with a king, and will he be happier in the pursuit ofthese idle amusements than in the contemplation of his greatness? Andwhat more satisfactory object could be presented to his mind? Would itnot be a deprivation of his delight for him to occupy his soul with thethought of how to adjust his steps to the cadence of an air, or of howto throw a [ball] skilfully, instead of leaving it to enjoy quietly thecontemplation of the majestic glory which encompasses him? Let us makethe trial; let us leave a king all alone to reflect on himself quite atleisure, without any gratification of the senses, without any care inhis mind, without society; and we will see that a king withoutdiversion 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 ofpeople who see to it that amusement follows business, and who watch allthe time of their leisure to supply them with delights and games, sothat there is no blank in it. In fact, kings are surrounded with personswho are wonderfully attentive in taking care that the king be not aloneand in a state to think of himself, knowing well that he will bemiserable, king though he be, if he meditate on self. 

In all this I am not talking of Christian kings as Christians, but onlyas kings. 

143

_Diversion. _--Men are entrusted from infancy with the care of theirhonour, their property, their friends, and even with the property andthe honour of their friends. They are overwhelmed with business, withthe study of languages, and with physical exercise;[71] and they aremade to understand that they cannot be happy unless their health, theirhonour, their fortune and that of their friends be in good condition, and that a single thing wanting will make them unhappy. Thus they aregiven cares and business which make them bustle about from break ofday. --It is, you will exclaim, a strange way to make them happy! Whatmore 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 theywould see themselves: they would reflect on what they are, whence theycame, whither they go, and thus we cannot employ and divert them toomuch. And this is why, after having given them so much business, weadvise them, if they have some time for relaxation, to employ it inamusement, 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 wasdisheartened by the small number of fellow-students in them. When Icommenced the study of man, I saw that these abstract sciences are notsuited to man, and that I was wandering farther from my own state inexamining them, than others in not knowing them. I pardoned their littleknowledge; but I thought at least to find many companions in the studyof man, and that it was the true study which is suited to him. I havebeen deceived; still fewer study it than geometry. It is only from thewant of knowing how to study this that we seek the other studies. But isit not that even here is not the knowledge which man should have, andthat for the purpose of happiness it is better for him not to knowhimself?

145

[One thought alone occupies us; we cannot think of two things at thesame time. This is lucky for us according to the world, not according toGod. ]

146

Man is obviously made to think. It is his whole dignity and his wholemerit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought. Now, the order ofthought 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 kingand what to be a man. 

147

We do not content ourselves with the life we have in ourselves and inour own being; we desire to live an imaginary life in the mind ofothers, and for this purpose we endeavour to shine. We labourunceasingly to adorn and preserve this imaginary existence, and neglectthe real. And if we possess calmness, or generosity, or truthfulness, weare eager to make it known, so as to attach these virtues to thatimaginary existence. We would rather separate them from ourselves tojoin them to it; and we would willingly be cowards in order to acquirethe reputation of being brave. A great proof of the nothingness of ourbeing, not to be satisfied with the one without the other, and torenounce the one for the other! For he would be infamous who would notdie 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 weare so vain that the esteem of five or six neighbours delights andcontents us. 

149

We do not trouble ourselves about being esteemed in the towns throughwhich we pass. But if we are to remain a little while there, we are soconcerned. How long is necessary? A time commensurate with our vain andpaltry life. 

150

Vanity is so anchored in the heart of man that a soldier, a soldier'sservant, a cook, a porter brags, and wishes to have his admirers. Evenphilosophers wish for them. Those who write against it want to have theglory of having written well;[72] and those who read it desire the gloryof having read it. I who write this have perhaps this desire, andperhaps those who will read it . .. 

151

_Glory. _--Admiration spoils all from infancy. Ah! How well said! Ah! Howwell done! How well-behaved he is! etc. 

The children of Port-Royal, who do not receive this stimulus of envy andglory, fall into carelessness. 

152

_Pride. _--Curiosity is only vanity. Most frequently we wish to know butto talk. Otherwise we would not take a sea voyage in order never to talkof it, and for the sole pleasure of seeing without hope of evercommunicating it. 

153

_Of the desire of being esteemed by those with whom we are. _--Pridetakes 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, inorder 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 ofno use, however well these may speak of them; and these will not evenspeak well of them if they find themselves on the weakest side, forthey 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 deathto peace; others prefer death to war. 

Every opinion may be held preferable to life, the love of which is sostrong and so natural. [74]

157

Contradiction: contempt for our existence, to die for nothing, hatred ofour existence. 

158

_Pursuits. _--The charm of fame is so great, that we like every object towhich it is attached, even death. 

159

Noble deeds are most estimable when hidden. When I see some of these inhistory (as p. 184)[75], they please me greatly. But after all they havenot been quite hidden, since they have been known; and though peoplehave done what they could to hide them, the little publication of themspoils 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 greatnessof man, because it is against his will. And although we bring it onourselves, it is nevertheless against our will that we sneeze. It is notin view of the act itself; it is for another end. And thus it is not aproof 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 toyield to pleasure. This is not because pain comes to us from without, and we ourselves seek pleasure; for it is possible to seek pain, andyield 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 paindoes not tempt and attract us. It is we ourselves who choose itvoluntarily, and will it to prevail over us. So that we are masters ofthe situation; and in this man yields to himself. But in pleasure it isman who yields to pleasure. Now only mastery and sovereignty bringglory, and only slavery brings shame. 

161

_Vanity. _--How wonderful it is that a thing so evident as the vanity ofthe world is so little known, that it is a strange and surprising thingto say that it is foolish to seek greatness!

162

He who will know fully the vanity of man has only to consider the causesand 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 objectthat 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 worldwould 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. Indeedwho do not see it but youths who are absorbed in fame, diversion, andthe thought of the future? But take away diversion, and you will seethem dried up with weariness. They feel then their nothingness withoutknowing it; for it is indeed to be unhappy to be in insufferable sadnessas soon as we are reduced to thinking of self, and have no diversion. 

165

_Thoughts. _--_In omnibus requiem quæsivi. _[77] If our condition weretruly happy, we would not need diversion from thinking of it in order tomake ourselves happy. 

166

_Diversion. _--Death is easier to bear without thinking of it, than isthe thought of death without peril. 

167

The miseries of human life have established all this: as men have seenthis, 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 behappy, and cannot wish not to be so. But how will he set about it? To behappy he would have to make himself immortal; but, not being able to doso, 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 hewas diverted, like the Saints and God. --Yes; but is it not to be happyto have a faculty of being amused by diversion?--No; for that comes fromelsewhere and from without, and thus is dependent, and therefore subjectto be disturbed by a thousand accidents, which bring inevitable griefs. 

171

_Misery. _--The only thing which consoles us for our miseries isdiversion, and yet this it the greatest of our miseries. For it is thiswhich principally hinders us from reflecting upon ourselves, and whichmakes us insensibly ruin ourselves. Without this we should be in a stateof weariness, and this weariness would spur us to seek a more solidmeans of escaping from it. But diversion amuses us, and leads usunconsciously to death. 

172

We do not rest satisfied with the present. We anticipate the future astoo slow in coming, as if in order to hasten its course; or we recallthe past, to stop its too rapid flight. So imprudent are we that wewander in the times which are not ours, and do not think of the only onewhich belongs to us; and so idle are we that we dream of those timeswhich are no more, and thoughtlessly overlook that which alone exists. For the present is generally painful to us. We conceal it from oursight, because it troubles us; and if it be delightful to us, we regretto see it pass away. We try to sustain it by the future, and think ofarranging matters which are not in our power, for a time which we haveno certainty of reaching. 

Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupiedwith the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present; andif we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange thefuture. The present is never our end. The past and the present are ourmeans; the future alone is our end. [78] So we never live, but we hope tolive; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable weshould never be so. 

173

They say that eclipses foretoken misfortune, because misfortunes arecommon, so that, as evil happens so often, they often foretell it;whereas if they said that they predict good fortune, they would often bewrong. They attribute good fortune only to rare conjunctions of theheavens; so they seldom fail in prediction. 

174

_Misery. _--Solomon[79] and Job have best known and best spoken of themisery of man; the former the most fortunate, and the latter the mostunfortunate of men; the former knowing the vanity of pleasures fromexperience, the latter the reality of evils. 

175

We know ourselves so little, that many think they are about to die whenthey are well, and many think they are well when they are near death, unconscious of approaching fever, [80] or of the abscess ready to formitself. 

176

Cromwell[81] was about to ravage all Christendom; the royal family wasundone, and his own for ever established, save for a little grain ofsand which formed in his ureter. Rome herself was trembling under him;but this small piece of gravel having formed there, he is dead, hisfamily cast down, all is peaceful, and the king is restored. 

177

[Three hosts. [82]] Would he who had possessed the friendship of the Kingof England, the King of Poland, and the Queen of Sweden, have believedhe 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 undertwo years of age, whom he had caused to be slain, he said that it wasbetter 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, thesame passions;[84] but the one is at the top of the wheel, and the othernear the centre, and so less disturbed by the same revolutions. 

181

We are so unfortunate that we can only take pleasure in a thing oncondition of being annoyed if it turn out ill, as a thousand things cando, and do every hour. He who should find the secret of rejoicing in thegood, without troubling himself with its contrary evil, would have hitthe mark. It is perpetual motion. 

182

Those who have always good hope in the midst of misfortunes, and who aredelighted with good luck, are suspected of being very pleased with theill success of the affair, if they are not equally distressed by badluck; and they are overjoyed to find these pretexts of hope, in order toshow that they are concerned and to conceal by the joy which they feignto feel that which they have at seeing the failure of the matter. 

183

We run carelessly to the precipice, after we have put something beforeus 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, anddogmatists, who disquiet him who inquires of them. 

185

The conduct of God, who disposes all things kindly, is to put religioninto the mind by reason, and into the heart by grace. But to will to putit into the mind and heart by force and threats is not to put religionthere, 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. Toremedy this, we must begin by showing that religion is not contrary toreason; that it is venerable, to inspire respect for it; then we mustmake it lovable, to make good men hope it is true; finally, we mustprove it is true. 

Venerable, because it has perfect knowledge of man; lovable, because itpromises the true good. 

188

In every dialogue and discourse, we must be able to say to those whotake offence, "Of what do you complain?"

189

To begin by pitying unbelievers; they are wretched enough by theircondition. We ought only to revile them where it is beneficial; but thisdoes them harm. 

190

To pity atheists who seek, for are they not unhappy enough? To inveighagainst those who make a boast of it. 

191

And will this one scoff at the other? Who ought to scoff? And yet, thelatter does not scoff at the other, but pities him. 

192

To reproach Miton[85] with not being troubled, since God will reproachhim. 

193

_Quid fiet hominibus qui minima contemnunt, majora non credunt?_

194

. .. Let them at least learn what is the religion they attack, beforeattacking 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 saythat we see nothing in the world which shows it with this clearness. Butsince, on the contrary, it says that men are in darkness and estrangedfrom God, that He has hidden Himself from their knowledge, that this isin fact the name which He gives Himself in the Scriptures, _Deusabsconditus_;[86] and finally, if it endeavours equally to establishthese two things: that God has set up in the Church visible signs tomake Himself known to those who should seek Him sincerely, and that Hehas nevertheless so disguised them that He will only be perceived bythose who seek Him with all their heart; what advantage can they obtain, when, in the negligence with which they make profession of being insearch of the truth, they cry out that nothing reveals it to them; andsince that darkness in which they are, and with which they upbraid theChurch, establishes only one of the things which she affirms, withouttouching the other, and, very far from destroying, proves her doctrine?

In order to attack it, they should have protested that they had madeevery effort to seek Him everywhere, and even in that which the Churchproposes for their instruction, but without satisfaction. If they talkedin 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 Iventure even to say that no one has ever done so. We know well enoughhow those who are of this mind behave. They believe they have made greatefforts for their instruction, when they have spent a few hours inreading some book of Scripture, and have questioned some priest on thetruths of the faith. After that, they boast of having made vain searchin books and among men. But, verily, I will tell them what I have oftensaid, that this negligence is insufferable. We are not here concernedwith the trifling interests of some stranger, that we should treat it inthis fashion; the matter concerns ourselves and our all. 

The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequenceto us, and which touches us so profoundly, that we must have lost allfeeling to be indifferent as to knowing what it is. All our actions andthoughts must take such different courses, according as there are or arenot eternal joys to hope for, that it is impossible to take one stepwith sense and judgment, unless we regulate our course by our view ofthis point which ought to be our ultimate end. 

Thus our first interest and our first duty is to enlighten ourselves onthis subject, whereon depends all our conduct. Therefore among those whodo not believe, I make a vast difference between those who strive withall their power to inform themselves, and those who live withouttroubling 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 effortto escape it, make of this inquiry their principal and most seriousoccupations. 

But as for those who pass their life without thinking of this ultimateend of life, and who, for this sole reason that they do not find withinthemselves the lights which convince them of it, neglect to seek themelsewhere, and to examine thoroughly whether this opinion is one ofthose which people receive with credulous simplicity, or one of thosewhich, although obscure in themselves, have nevertheless a solid andimmovable 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 shocksme; it is to me monstrous. I do not say this out of the pious zeal of aspiritual devotion. I expect, on the contrary, that we ought to havethis feeling from principles of human interest and self-love; for thiswe need only see what the least enlightened persons see. 

We do not require great education of the mind to understand that here isno real and lasting satisfaction; that our pleasures are only vanity;that our evils are infinite; and, lastly, that death, which threatens usevery moment, must infallibly place us within a few years under thedreadful necessity of being for ever either annihilated or unhappy. 

There is nothing more real than this, nothing more terrible. Be we asheroic as we like, that is the end which awaits the noblest life in theworld. Let us reflect on this, and then say whether it is not beyonddoubt 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, asthere are no more woes for those who have complete assurance ofeternity, so there is no more happiness for those who have no insightinto it. 

Surely then it is a great evil thus to be in doubt, but it is at leastan indispensable duty to seek when we are in such doubt; and thus thedoubter who does not seek is altogether completely unhappy andcompletely wrong. And if besides this he is easy and content, professesto be so, and indeed boasts of it; if it is this state itself which isthe subject of his joy and vanity, I have no words to describe so sillya creature. 

How can people hold these opinions? What joy can we find in theexpectation of nothing but hopeless misery? What reason for boastingthat we are in impenetrable darkness? And how can it happen that thefollowing argument occurs to a reasonable man?

"I know not who put me into the world, nor what the world is, nor what Imyself am. I am in terrible ignorance of everything. I know not what mybody is, nor my senses, nor my soul, not even that part of me whichthinks what I say, which reflects on all and on itself, and knows itselfno more than the rest. I see those frightful spaces of the universewhich surround me, and I find myself tied to one corner of this vastexpanse, without knowing why I am put in this place rather than inanother, nor why the short time which is given me to live is assigned tome at this point rather than at another of the whole eternity which wasbefore me or which shall come after me. I see nothing but infinites onall sides, which surround me as an atom, and as a shadow which enduresonly for an instant and returns no more. All I know is that I must soondie, 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 onlythat, in leaving this world, I fall for ever either into annihilation orinto the hands of an angry God, without knowing to which of these twostates I shall be for ever assigned. Such is my state, full of weaknessand uncertainty. And from all this I conclude that I ought to spend allthe days of my life without caring to inquire into what must happen tome. Perhaps I might find some solution to my doubts, but I will not takethe trouble, nor take a step to seek it; and after treating with scornthose who are concerned with this care, I will go without foresight andwithout fear to try the great event, and let myself be led carelessly todeath, 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? Whowould have recourse to him in affliction? And indeed to what use in lifecould one put him?

In truth, it is the glory of religion to have for enemies men sounreasonable: and their opposition to it is so little dangerous that itserves on the contrary to establish its truths. For the Christian faithgoes mainly to establish these two facts, the corruption of nature, andredemption by Jesus Christ. Now I contend that if these men do not serveto prove the truth of the redemption by the holiness of their behaviour, they at least serve admirably to show the corruption of nature bysentiments so unnatural. 

Nothing is so important to man as his own state, nothing is soformidable to him as eternity; and thus it is not natural that thereshould be men indifferent to the loss of their existence, and to theperils of everlasting suffering. They are quite different with regard toall 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 inrage and despair for the loss of office, or for some imaginary insult tohis honour, is the very one who knows without anxiety and withoutemotion that he will lose all by death. It is a monstrous thing to seein the same heart and at the same time this sensibility to trifles andthis strange insensibility to the greatest objects. It is anincomprehensible enchantment, and a supernatural slumber, whichindicates as its cause an all-powerful force. 

There must be a strange confusion in the nature of man, that he shouldboast of being in that state in which it seems incredible that a singleindividual should be. However, experience has shown me so great anumber of such persons that the fact would be surprising, if we did notknow that the greater part of those who trouble themselves about thematter are disingenuous, and not in fact what they say. They are peoplewho have heard it said that it is the fashion to be thus daring. It iswhat they call shaking off the yoke, and they try to imitate this. Butit would not be difficult to make them understand how greatly theydeceive themselves in thus seeking esteem. This is not the way to gainit, even I say among those men of the world who take a healthy view ofthings, and who know that the only way to succeed in this life is tomake ourselves appear honourable, faithful, judicious, and capable ofuseful service to a friend; because naturally men love only what may beuseful to them. Now, what do we gain by hearing it said of a man that hehas now thrown off the yoke, that he does not believe there is a God whowatches our actions, that he considers himself the sole master of hisconduct, and that he thinks he is accountable for it only to himself?Does he think that he has thus brought us to have henceforth completeconfidence in him, and to look to him for consolation, advice, and helpin every need of life? Do they profess to have delighted us by tellingus 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 ofvoice? Is this a thing to say gaily? Is it not, on the contrary, a thingto say sadly, as the saddest thing in the world?

If they thought of it seriously, they would see that this is so bad amistake, so contrary to good sense, so opposed to decency and so removedin every respect from that good breeding which they seek, that theywould be more likely to correct than to pervert those who had aninclination to follow them. And indeed, make them give an account oftheir opinions, and of the reasons which they have for doubtingreligion, and they will say to you things so feeble and so petty, thatthey will persuade you of the contrary. The following is what a personone day said to such a one very appositely: "If you continue to talk inthis manner, you will really make me religious. " And he was right, forwho would not have a horror of holding opinions in which he would havesuch contemptible persons as companions!

Thus those who only feign these opinions would be very unhappy, if theyrestrained their natural feelings in order to make themselves the mostconceited of men. If, at the bottom of their heart, they are troubled atnot having more light, let them not disguise the fact; this avowal willnot be shameful. The only shame is to have none. Nothing reveals more anextreme 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 todesire the truth of eternal promises. Nothing is more dastardly than toact with bravado before God. Let them then leave these impieties tothose who are sufficiently ill-bred to be really capable of them. Letthem at least be honest men, if they cannot be Christians. Finally, letthem recognise that there are two kinds of people one can callreasonable; those who serve God with all their heart because they knowHim, and those who seek Him with all their heart because they do notknow 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 arenot worthy of the care of others; and it needs all the charity of thereligion which they despise, not to despise them even to the point ofleaving them to their folly. But because this religion obliges us alwaysto regard them, so long as they are in this life, as capable of thegrace which can enlighten them, and to believe that they may, in alittle time, be more replenished with faith than we are, and that, onthe other hand, we may fall into the blindness wherein they are, we mustdo for them what we would they should do for us if we were in theirplace, and call upon them to have pity upon themselves, and to take atleast some steps in the endeavour to find light. Let them give toreading this some of the hours which they otherwise employ so uselessly;whatever aversion they may bring to the task, they will perhaps gainsomething, and at least will not lose much. But as for those who bringto 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 religionso divine, which I have here collected, and in which I have followedsomewhat after this order . .. 

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Before entering into the proofs of the Christian religion, I find itnecessary to point out the sinfulness of those men who live inindifference to the search for truth in a matter which is so importantto them, and which touches them so nearly. 

Of all their errors, this doubtless is the one which most convicts themof foolishness and blindness, and in which it is easiest to confoundthem 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 amoment; that the state of death is eternal, whatever may be its nature;and that thus all our actions and thoughts must take such differentdirections according to the state of that eternity, that it isimpossible to take one step with sense and judgment, unless we regulateour course by the truth of that point which ought to be our ultimateend. 

There is nothing clearer than this; and thus, according to theprinciples of reason, the conduct of men is wholly unreasonable, if theydo not take another course. 

On this point, therefore, we condemn those who live without thought ofthe ultimate end of life, who let themselves be guided by their owninclinations and their own pleasures without reflection and withoutconcern, and, as if they could annihilate eternity by turning away theirthought from it, think only of making themselves happy for the moment. 

Yet this eternity exists, and death, which must open into it, andthreatens them every hour, must in a little time infallibly put themunder the dreadful necessity of being either annihilated or unhappy forever, without knowing which of these eternities is for ever prepared forthem. 

This is a doubt of terrible consequence. They are in peril of eternalwoe; and thereupon, as if the matter were not worth the trouble, theyneglect to inquire whether this is one of those opinions which peoplereceive with too credulous a facility, or one of those which, obscure inthemselves, have a very firm, though hidden, foundation. Thus they knownot whether there be truth or falsity in the matter, nor whether therebe 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 thatis necessary to fall into this misfortune if it exists, to await deathto make trial of it, yet to be very content in this state, to makeprofession of it, and indeed to boast of it. Can we think seriously onthe importance of this subject without being horrified at conduct soextravagant?

This resting in ignorance is a monstrous thing, and they who pass theirlife in it must be made to feel its extravagance and stupidity, byhaving it shown to them, so that they may be confounded by the sight oftheir folly. For this is how men reason, when they choose to live insuch ignorance of what they are, and without seeking enlightenment. "Iknow not, " they say . .. 

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Men lack heart; they would not make a friend of it. 

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To be insensible to the extent of despising interesting things, and tobecome insensible to the point which interests us most. 

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The sensibility of man to trifles, and his insensibility to greatthings, indicates a strange inversion. 

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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 whoremain 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 ofthe condition of men. 

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A man in a dungeon, ignorant whether his sentence be pronounced, andhaving only one hour to learn it, but this hour enough, if he know thatit is pronounced, to obtain its repeal, would act unnaturally inspending that hour, not in ascertaining his sentence, but in playingpiquet. So it is against nature that man, etc. It is making heavy thehand of God. 

Thus not only the zeal of those who seek Him proves God, but also theblindness of those who seek Him not. 

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All the objections of this one and that one only go against themselves, and not against religion. All that infidels say . .. 

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[From those who are in despair at being without faith, we see that Goddoes not enlighten them; but as to the rest, we see there is a God whomakes them blind. ]

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_Fascinatio nugacitatis. _[87]--That passion may not harm us, let us actas if we had only eight hours to live. 

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If we ought to devote eight hours of life, we ought to devote a hundredyears. 

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When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in theeternity before and after, the little space which I fill, and even cansee, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I amignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished atbeing here rather than there; for there is no reason why here ratherthan there, why now rather than then. Who has put me here? By whoseorder and direction have this place and time been allotted to me?_Memoria hospitis unius diei prætereuntis. _[88]

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The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me. 

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How many kingdoms know us not!

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Why is my knowledge limited? Why my stature? Why my life to one hundredyears rather than to a thousand? What reason has nature had for givingme such, and for choosing this number rather than another in theinfinity of those from which there is no more reason to choose one thananother, trying nothing else?

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Art thou less a slave by being loved and favoured by thy master? Thouart indeed well off, slave. Thy master favours thee; he will soon beatthee. 

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The last act is tragic, however happy all the rest of the play is; atthe last a little earth is thrown upon our head, and that is the end forever. 

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We are fools to depend upon the society of our fellow-men. Wretched aswe 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 webuild 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 thanthe search for truth. 

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_Instability. _[89]--It is a horrible thing to feel all that we possessslipping away. 

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Between us and heaven or hell there is only life, which is the frailestthing in the world. 

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_Injustice. _--That presumption should be joined to meanness is extremeinjustice. 

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To fear death without danger, and not in danger, for one must be a man. 

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Sudden death alone is feared; hence confessors stay with lords. 

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An heir finds the title-deeds of his house. Will he say, "Perhaps theyare forged?" and neglect to examine them?

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_Dungeon. _--I approve of not examining the opinion of Copernicus; butthis. .. ! It concerns all our life to know whether the soul be mortal orimmortal. 

219

It is certain that the mortality or immortality of the soul must make anentire difference to morality. And yet philosophers have constructedtheir ethics independently of this: they discuss to pass an hour. 

Plato, to incline to Christianity. 

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The fallacy of philosophers who have not discussed the immortality ofthe soul. The fallacy of their dilemma in Montaigne. 

221

Atheists ought to say what is perfectly evident; now it is not perfectlyevident that the soul is material. 

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_Atheists. _--What reason have they for saying that we cannot rise fromthe dead? What is more difficult, to be born or to rise again; that whathas never been should be, or that what has been should be again? Is itmore difficult to come into existence than to return to it? Habit makesthe one appear easy to us; want of habit makes the other impossible. Apopular way of thinking!

Why cannot a virgin bear a child? Does a hen not lay eggs without acock? What distinguishes these outwardly from others? And who has toldus that the hen may not form the germ as well as the cock?

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What have they to say against the resurrection, and against thechild-bearing of the Virgin? Which is the more difficult, to produce aman or an animal, or to reproduce it? And if they had never seen anyspecies of animals, could they have conjectured whether they wereproduced without connection with each other?

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How I hate these follies of not believing in the Eucharist, etc. ! If theGospel be true, if Jesus Christ be God, what difficulty is there?

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Atheism shows strength of mind, but only to a certain degree. 

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Infidels, who profess to follow reason, ought to be exceedingly strongin reason. What say they then? "Do we not see, " say they, "that thebrutes live and die like men, and Turks like Christians? They have theirceremonies, their prophets, their doctors, their saints, their monks, like us, " etc. (Is this contrary to Scripture? Does it not say allthis?)

If you care but little to know the truth, here is enough of it to leaveyou in repose. But if you desire with all your heart to know it, it isnot enough; look at it in detail. This would be sufficient for aquestion in philosophy; but not here, where it concerns your all. Andyet, 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 areason for this obscurity; perhaps it will teach it to us. 

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_Order by dialogues. _--What ought I to do? I see only darknesseverywhere. Shall I believe I am nothing? Shall I believe I am God?

"All things change and succeed each other. " You are mistaken; thereis . .. 

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Objection of atheists: "But we have no light. "

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This is what I see and what troubles me. I look on all sides, and I seeonly darkness everywhere. Nature presents to me nothing which is notmatter of doubt and concern. If I saw nothing there which revealed aDivinity, I would come to a negative conclusion; if I saw everywhere thesigns of a Creator, I would remain peacefully in faith. But, seeing toomuch 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 shegives are deceptive, she should suppress them altogether; that sheshould say everything or nothing, that I might see which cause I oughtto follow. Whereas in my present state, ignorant of what I am or of whatI ought to do, I know neither my condition nor my duty. My heartinclines 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, andwho make such a bad use of a gift of which it seems to me I would makesuch a different use. 

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It is incomprehensible that God should exist, and it is incomprehensiblethat 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, andthat it should not be created, etc. ; that original sin should be, andthat it should not be. 

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Do you believe it to be impossible that God is infinite, withoutparts?--Yes. I wish therefore to show you an infinite and indivisiblething. It is a point moving everywhere with an infinite velocity; for itis 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 remainsnothing for you to know; but rather that there remains an infinity foryou to know. 

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Infinite movement, the point which fills everything, the moment of rest;infinite without quantity, indivisible and infinite. 

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_Infinite_--_nothing. _--Our soul is cast into a body, where it findsnumber, 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 aninfinite measure. The finite is annihilated in the presence of theinfinite, and becomes a pure nothing. So our spirit before God, so ourjustice before divine justice. There is not so great a disproportionbetween our justice and that of God, as between unity and infinity. 

The justice of God must be vast like His compassion. Now justice to theoutcast is less vast, and ought less to offend our feelings than mercytowards the elect. 

We know that there is an infinite, and are ignorant of its nature. As weknow it to be false that numbers are finite, it is therefore true thatthere is an infinity in number. But we do not know what it is. It isfalse that it is even, it is false that it is odd; for the addition of aunit can make no change in its nature. Yet it is a number, and everynumber 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. Isthere not one substantial truth, seeing there are so many things whichare not the truth itself?

We know then the existence and nature of the finite, because we also arefinite and have extension. We know the existence of the infinite, andare ignorant of its nature, because it has extension like us, but notlimits 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 athing, without knowing its nature. 

Let us now speak according to natural lights. 

If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, havingneither parts nor limits, He has no affinity to us. We are thenincapable of knowing either what He is or if He is. This being so, whowill dare to undertake the decision of the question? Not we, who have noaffinity to Him. 

Who then will blame Christians for not being able to give a reason fortheir belief, since they profess a religion for which they cannot give areason? They declare, in expounding it to the world, that it is afoolishness, _stultitiam_;[90] and then you complain that they do notprove it! If they proved it, they would not keep their word; it is inlacking proofs, that they are not lacking in sense. "Yes, but althoughthis excuses those who offer it as such, and takes away from them theblame of putting it forward without reason, it does not excuse those whoreceive it. " Let us then examine this point, and say, "God is, or He isnot. " But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothinghere. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is beingplayed at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tailswill turn up. What will you wager? According to reason, you can doneither the one thing nor the other; according to reason, you can defendneither of the propositions. 

Do not then reprove for error those who have made a choice; for you knownothing about it. "No, but I blame them for having made, not thischoice, but a choice; for again both he who chooses heads and he whochooses tails are equally at fault, they are both in the wrong. The truecourse is not to wager at all. "

Yes; but you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked. Whichwill you choose then? Let us see. Since you must choose, let us seewhich interests you least. You have two things to lose, the true and thegood; and two things to stake, your reason and your will, yourknowledge and your happiness; and your nature has two things to shun, error and misery. Your reason is no more shocked in choosing one ratherthan the other, since you must of necessity choose. This is one pointsettled. But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss inwagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, withouthesitation that He is. --"That is very fine. Yes, I must wager; but I mayperhaps wager too much. "--Let us see. Since there is an equal risk ofgain and of loss, if you had only to gain two lives, instead of one, youmight still wager. But if there were three lives to gain, you would haveto play (since you are under the necessity of playing), and you would beimprudent, when you are forced to play, not to chance your life to gainthree at a game where there is an equal risk of loss and gain. But thereis an eternity of life and happiness. And this being so, if there werean infinity of chances, of which one only would be for you, you wouldstill 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 agame in which out of an infinity of chances there is one for you, ifthere were an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain. But there ishere an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gainagainst a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake isfinite. It is all divided; wherever the infinite is and there is not aninfinity of chances of loss against that of gain, there is no time tohesitate, you must give all. And thus, when one is forced to play, hemust renounce reason to preserve his life, rather than risk it forinfinite 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 iscertain that we risk, and that the infinite distance between the_certainty_ of what is staked and the _uncertainty_ of what will begained, equals the finite good which is certainly staked against theuncertain infinite. It is not so, as every player stakes a certainty togain an uncertainty, and yet he stakes a finite certainty to gain afinite uncertainty, without transgressing against reason. There is notan infinite distance between the certainty staked and the uncertainty ofthe gain; that is untrue. In truth, there is an infinity between thecertainty of gain and the certainty of loss. But the uncertainty of thegain is proportioned to the certainty of the stake according to theproportion of the chances of gain and loss. Hence it comes that, ifthere are as many risks on one side as on the other, the course is toplay even; and then the certainty of the stake is equal to theuncertainty of the gain, so far is it from fact that there is aninfinite distance between them. And so our proposition is of infiniteforce, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equalrisks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain. This isdemonstrable; 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 thefaces of the cards?"--Yes, Scripture and the rest, etc. "Yes, but I havemy hands tied and my mouth closed; I am forced to wager, and am notfree. 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 bringsyou to this, and yet you cannot believe. Endeavour then to convinceyourself, not by increase of proofs of God, but by the abatement of yourpassions. You would like to attain faith, and do not know the way; youwould 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 theirpossessions. 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 wayby which they began; by acting as if they believed, taking the holywater, having masses said, etc. Even this will naturally make youbelieve, and deaden your acuteness. --"But this is what I am afraidof. "--And why? What have you to lose?

But to show you that this leads you there, it is this which will lessenthe passions, which are your stumbling-blocks. 

_The end of this discourse. _--Now, what harm will befall you in takingthis side? You will be faithful, honest, humble, grateful, generous, asincere friend, truthful. Certainly you will not have those poisonouspleasures, glory and luxury; but will you not have others? I will tellyou that you will thereby gain in this life, and that, at each step youtake on this road, you will see so great certainty of gain, so muchnothingness in what you risk, that you will at last recognise that youhave wagered for something certain and infinite, for which you havegiven nothing. 

"Ah! This discourse transports me, charms me, " etc. 

If this discourse pleases you and seems impressive, know that it ismade by a man who has knelt, both before and after it, in prayer to thatBeing, infinite and without parts, before whom he lays all he has, foryou also to lay before Him all you have for your own good and for Hisglory, 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, seavoyages, battles! I say then we must do nothing at all, for nothing iscertain, and that there is more certainty in religion than there is asto whether we may see to-morrow; for it is not certain that we may seeto-morrow, and it is certainly possible that we may not see it. Wecannot say as much about religion. It is not certain that it is; but whowill venture to say that it is certainly possible that it is not? Nowwhen 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 ofchance which was demonstrated above. 

Saint Augustine has seen that we work for an uncertainty, on sea, inbattle, etc. But he has not seen the doctrine of chance which provesthat 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 thiseffect. 

All these persons have seen the effects, but they have not seen thecauses. They are, in comparison with those who have discovered thecauses, as those who have only eyes are in comparison with those whohave intellect. For the effects are perceptible by sense, and the causesare visible only to the intellect. And although these effects are seenby the mind, this mind is, in comparison with the mind which sees thecauses, 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 thetrouble of searching for the truth; for if you die without worshippingthe True Cause, you are lost. --"But, " say you, "if He had wished me toworship 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 thesedifferent assumptions: (1) that we could always remain in it; (2) thatit is certain that we shall not remain here long, and uncertain if weshall remain here one hour. This last assumption is our condition. 

238

What do you then promise me, in addition to certain troubles, but tenyears of self-love (for ten years is the chance), to try hard to pleasewithout success?

239

_Objection. _--Those who hope for salvation are so far happy; but theyhave as a counterpoise the fear of hell. 

_Reply. _--Who has most reason to fear hell: he who is in ignorancewhether there is a hell, and who is certain of damnation if there is; orhe who certainly believes there is a hell, and hopes to be saved ifthere is?

240

"I would soon have renounced pleasure, " say they, "had I faith. " For mypart 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. Icannot do so, nor therefore test the truth of what you say. But you canwell renounce pleasure, and test whether what I say is true. 

241

_Order. _--I would have far more fear of being mistaken, and of findingthat the Christian religion was true, than of not being mistaken inbelieving it true. 

SECTION IV

OF THE MEANS OF BELIEF

242

_Preface to the second part. _--To speak of those who have treated ofthis matter. 

I admire the boldness with which these persons undertake to speak ofGod. In addressing their argument to infidels, their first chapter is toprove Divinity from the works of nature. [91] I should not be astonishedat their enterprise, if they were addressing their argument to thefaithful; for it is certain that those who have the living faith intheir heart see at once that all existence is none other than the workof the God whom they adore. But for those in whom this light isextinguished, and in whom we purpose to rekindle it, persons destituteof faith and grace, who, seeking with all their light whatever they seein nature that can bring them to this knowledge, find only obscurity anddarkness; to tell them that they have only to look at the smallestthings which surround them, and they will see God openly, to give them, as a complete proof of this great and important matter, the course ofthe moon and planets, and to claim to have concluded the proof with suchan argument, is to give them ground for believing that the proofs of ourreligion are very weak. And I see by reason and experience that nothingis more calculated to arouse their contempt. 

It is not after this manner that Scripture speaks, which has a betterknowledge of the things that are of God. It says, on the contrary, thatGod is a hidden God, and that, since the corruption of nature, He hasleft men in a darkness from which they can escape only through JesusChrist, without whom all communion with God is cut off. _Nemo novitPatrem, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare. _[92]

This is what Scripture points out to us, when it says in so many placesthat those who seek God find Him. [93] It is not of that light, "like thenoonday sun, " that this is said. We do not say that those who seek thenoonday sun, or water in the sea, shall find them; and hence theevidence 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 ofnature 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 aGod. " They must have had more knowledge than the most learned people whocame after them, and who have all made use of this argument. This isworthy 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 asense for some souls to whom God gives this light, yet it is false withrespect to the majority of men. 

245

There are three sources of belief: reason, custom, inspiration. TheChristian religion, which alone has reason, does not acknowledge as hertrue children those who believe without inspiration. It is not that sheexcludes reason and custom. On the contrary, the mind must be opened toproofs, must be confirmed by custom, and offer itself in humbleness toinspirations, which alone can produce a true and saving effect. _Neevacuetur crux Christi. _[95]

246

_Order. _--After the letter _That we ought to seek God_, to write theletter _On removing obstacles_; which is the discourse on "themachine, "[96] on preparing the machine, on seeking by reason. 

247

_Order. _--A letter of exhortation to a friend to induce him to seek. Andhe will reply, "But what is the use of seeking? Nothing is seen. " Thento reply to him, "Do not despair. " And he will answer that he would beglad to find some light, but that, according to this very religion, ifhe believed in it, it will be of no use to him, and that therefore heprefers not to seek. And to answer to that: The machine. 

248

_A letter which indicates the use of proofs by the machine. _--Faith isdifferent 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 intothe heart, of which the proof is often the instrument, _fides exauditu_;[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 tobe 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 thatproud man, who would not submit himself to God, may be now subject tothe 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 inexternals. But they are not for educated people. A purely intellectualreligion would be more suited to the learned, but it would be of no useto the common people. The Christian religion alone is adapted to all, being composed of externals and internals. It raises the common peopleto the internal, and humbles the proud to the external; it is notperfect without the two, for the people must understand the spirit ofthe letter, and the learned must submit their spirit to the letter. 

252

For we must not misunderstand ourselves; we are as much automatic asintellectual; and hence it comes that the instrument by which convictionis attained is not demonstrated alone. How few things are demonstrated?Proofs only convince the mind. Custom is the source of our strongest andmost believed proofs. It bends the automaton, which persuades the mindwithout its thinking about the matter. Who has demonstrated that therewill 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 makesso many men Christians; custom that makes them Turks, heathens, artisans, soldiers, etc. (Faith in baptism is more received amongChristians than among Turks. ) Finally, we must have recourse to it whenonce the mind has seen where the truth is, in order to quench ourthirst, and steep ourselves in that belief, which escapes us at everyhour; for always to have proofs ready is too much trouble. We must getan easier belief, which is that of custom, which, without violence, without art, without argument, makes us believe things, and inclines allour powers to this belief, so that out soul falls naturally into it. Itis not enough to believe only by force of conviction, when the automatonis inclined to believe the contrary. Both our parts must be made tobelieve, the mind by reasons which it is sufficient to have seen once ina lifetime, and the automaton by custom, and by not allowing it toincline to the contrary. _Inclina cor meum, Deus. _[100]

The reason acts slowly, with so many examinations, and on so manyprinciples, which must be always present, that at every hour it fallsasleep, or wanders, through want of having all its principles present. Feeling does not act thus; it acts in a moment, and is always ready toact. We must then put our faith in feeling; otherwise it will be alwaysvacillating. 

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 muchdocility. 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 todo 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 aremany who believe but from superstition. There are many who do notbelieve solely from wickedness. Few are between the two. 

In this I do not include those who are of truly pious character, nor allthose who believe from a feeling in their heart. 

257

There are only three kinds of persons; those who serve God, having foundHim; others who are occupied in seeking Him, not having found Him; whilethe 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 theydo not wish to think. "Do not meditate on the passages about theMessiah, " said the Jew to his son. Thus our people often act. Thus arefalse religions preserved, and even the true one, in regard to manypersons. 

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 falsereligions, 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 becauseyou have heard it, you ought to believe nothing without putting yourselfinto the position as if you had never heard it. 

It is your own assent to yourself, and the constant voice of your ownreason, and not of others, that should make you believe. 

Belief is so important! A hundred contradictions might be true. Ifantiquity were the rule of belief, men of ancient time would then bewithout 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 whatthey 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 toa 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 withoutexcuse. 

262

Superstition and lust. Scruples, evil desires. Evil fear; fear, not suchas comes from a belief in God, but such as comes from a doubt whether Heexists 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 becausemen hope in the God in whom they believe. False fear is joined todespair, because men fear the God in whom they have no belief. Theformer fear to lose Him; the latter fear to find Him. 

263

"A miracle, " says one, "would strengthen my faith. " He says so when hedoes not see one. Reasons, seen from afar, appear to limit our view; butwhen they are reached, we begin to see beyond. Nothing stops thenimbleness of our mind. There is no rule, say we, which has not someexceptions, no truth so general which has not some aspect in which itfails. It is sufficient that it be not absolutely universal to give us apretext for applying the exceptions to the present subject, and forsaying, "This is not always true; there are therefore cases where it isnot so. " It only remains to show that this is one of them; and that iswhy 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 andsleepiness recur. Without that we should weary of them. So, without thehunger for spiritual things, we weary of them. Hunger afterrighteousness, the eighth beatitude. [102]

265

Faith indeed tells what the senses do not tell, but not the contrary ofwhat they see. It is above them and not contrary to them. 

266

How many stars have telescopes revealed to us which did not exist forour philosophers of old! We freely attack Holy Scripture on the greatnumber of stars, saying, "There are only one thousand andtwenty-eight, [103] we know it. " There is grass on the earth, we seeit--from the moon we would not see it--and on the grass are leaves, andin these leaves are small animals; but after that no more. --Opresumptuous man!--The compounds are composed of elements, and theelements not. --O presumptuous man! Here is a fine reflection. --We mustnot say that there is anything which we do not see. --We must then talklike others, but not think like them. 

267

The last proceeding of reason is to recognise that there is an infinityof things which are beyond it. It is but feeble if it does not see sofar as to know this. But if natural things are beyond it, what will besaid of supernatural?

268

_Submission. _--We must know where to doubt, where to feel certain, whereto submit. He who does not do so, understands not the force of reason. There are some who offend against these three rules, either by affirmingeverything as demonstrative, from want of knowing what demonstration is;or by doubting everything, from want of knowing where to submit; or bysubmitting 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 judgethat there are some occasions on which it ought to submit. It is thenright 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 mysteriousand supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, ourreligion 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 cannotdistinguish between these contraries. One person says that my feeling isfancy, another that his fancy is feeling. We should have a rule. Reasonoffers itself; but it is pliable in every sense; and thus there is norule. 

275

Men often take their imagination for their heart; and they believe theyare converted as soon as they think of being converted. 

276

M. De Roannez said: "Reasons come to me afterwards, but at first a thingpleases or shocks me without my knowing the reason, and yet it shocks mefor that reason which I only discover afterwards. " But I believe, notthat it shocked him for the reasons which were found afterwards, butthat these reasons were only found because it shocks him. 

277

The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in athousand things. I say that the heart naturally loves the UniversalBeing, and also itself naturally, according as it gives itself to them;and it hardens itself against one or the other at its will. You haverejected the one, and kept the other. Is it by reason that you loveyourself?

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 ofreasoning. Other religions do not say this of their faith. They onlygave reasoning in order to arrive at it, and yet it does not bring themto 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 isin this last way that we know first principles; and reason, which has nopart in it, tries in vain to impugn them. The sceptics, who have onlythis for their object, labour to no purpose. We know that we do notdream, and however impossible it is for us to prove it by reason, thisinability demonstrates only the weakness of our reason, but not, as theyaffirm, the uncertainty of all our knowledge. For the knowledge of firstprinciples, as space, time, motion, number, is as sure as any of thosewhich we get from reasoning. And reason must trust these intuitions ofthe heart, and must base them on every argument. (We have intuitiveknowledge of the tri-dimensional nature of space, and of the infinity ofnumber, and reason then shows that there are no two square numbers oneof which is double of the other. Principles are intuited, propositionsare inferred, all with certainty, though in different ways. ) And it isas useless and absurd for reason to demand from the heart proofs of herfirst principles, before admitting them, as it would be for the heart todemand from reason an intuition of all demonstrated propositions beforeaccepting them. 

This inability ought, then, to serve only to humble reason, which wouldjudge all, but not to impugn our certainty, as if only reason werecapable of instructing us. Would to God, on the contrary, that we hadnever 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 usbut very little knowledge of this kind; and all the rest can be acquiredonly by reasoning. 

Therefore, those to whom God has imparted religion by intuition are veryfortunate, and justly convinced. But to those who do not have it, we cangive it only by reasoning, waiting for God to give them spiritualinsight, 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 byprinciple and demonstration. The heart has another. We do not prove thatwe ought to be loved by enumerating in order the causes of love; thatwould 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 theend, and keep it always in sight. 

284

Do not wonder to see simple people believe without reasoning. Godimparts to them love of Him and hatred of self. He inclines their heartto believe. Men will never believe with a saving and real faith, unlessGod inclines their heart; and they will believe as soon as He inclinesit. 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 itsestablishment, [107] and this religion is such that its veryestablishment suffices to prove its truth. Others trace it even to theapostles. The more learned go back to the beginning of the world. Theangels see it better still, and from a more distant time. 

286

Those who believe without having read the Testaments, do so because theyhave an inward disposition entirely holy, and all that they hear of ourreligion conforms to it. They feel that a God has made them; they desireonly to love God; they desire to hate themselves only. They feel thatthey have no strength in themselves; that they are incapable of comingto God; and that if God does not come to them, they can have nocommunion with Him. And they hear our religion say that men must loveGod only, and hate self only; but that all being corrupt and unworthy ofGod, God made Himself man to unite Himself to us. No more is required topersuade men who have this disposition in their heart, and who have thisknowledge of their duty and of their inefficiency. 

287

Those whom we see to be Christians without the knowledge of the prophetsand evidences, nevertheless judge of their religion as well as those whohave that knowledge. They judge of it by the heart, as others judge ofit by the intellect. God Himself inclines them to believe, and thus theyare most effectively convinced. 

I confess indeed that one of those Christians who believe without proofswill not perhaps be capable of convincing an infidel who will say thesame of himself. But those who know the proofs of religion will provewithout difficulty that such a believer is truly inspired by God, thoughhe cannot prove it himself. 

For God having said in His prophecies (which are undoubtedlyprophecies), that in the reign of Jesus Christ He would spread Hisspirit abroad among nations, and that the youths and maidens andchildren of the Church would prophesy;[108] it is certain that theSpirit of God is in these, and not in the others. 

288

Instead of complaining that God had hidden Himself, you will give Himthanks for having revealed so much of Himself; and you will also giveHim thanks for not having revealed Himself to haughty sages, unworthy toknow so holy a God. 

Two kinds of persons know Him: those who have a humble heart, and wholove lowliness, whatever kind of intellect they may have, high or low;and those who have sufficient understanding to see the truth, whateveropposition they may have to it. 

289

_Proof. _--1. The Christian religion, by its establishment, havingestablished itself so strongly, so gently, whilst contrary tonature. --2. The sanctity, the dignity, and the humility of a Christiansoul. --3. The miracles of Holy Scripture. --4. Jesus Christ inparticular. --5. The apostles in particular. --6. Moses and the prophetsin particular. --7. The Jewish people. --8. The prophecies. --9. Perpetuity; no religion has perpetuity. --10. The doctrine which gives areason for everything. --11. The sanctity of this law. --12. By the courseof the world. 

Surely, after considering what is life and what is religion, we shouldnot refuse to obey the inclination to follow it, if it comes into ourheart; and it is certain that there is no ground for laughing at thosewho 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 thatthe elder gets all. "My friend, you were born on this side of themountain, 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 thewater? 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 onthe other side, I am a hero, and it is just. "

294

On what shall man found the order of the world which he wouldgovern?[109] Shall it be on the caprice of each individual? Whatconfusion! Shall it be on justice? Man is ignorant of it. 

Certainly had he known it, he would not have established this maxim, themost general of all that obtain among men, that each should follow thecustom of his own country. The glory of true equity would have broughtall nations under subjection, and legislators would not have taken astheir model the fancies and caprice of Persians and Germans instead ofthis unchanging justice. We should have seen it set up in all the Stateson earth and in all times; whereas we see neither justice nor injusticewhich does not change its nature with change in climate. Three degreesof latitude reverse all jurisprudence; a meridian decides the truth. Fundamental laws change after a few years of possession; right has itsepochs; the entry of Saturn into the Lion marks to us the origin ofsuch 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 itresides in natural laws, common to every country. They would certainlymaintain it obstinately, if reckless chance which has distributed humanlaws had encountered even one which was universal; but the farce is thatthe caprice of men has so many vagaries that there is no such law. 

Theft, incest, infanticide, parricide, have all had a place amongvirtuous actions. Can anything be more ridiculous than that a man shouldhave the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of thewater, and because his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have nonewith him?

Doubtless there are natural laws; but good reason once corrupted hascorrupted 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 justiceto be the authority of the legislator; another, the interest of thesovereign;[113] another, present custom, [114] and this is the most sure. Nothing, according to reason alone, is just in itself; all changes withtime. Custom creates the whole of equity, for the simple reason that itis accepted. It is the mystical foundation of its authority;[115]whoever carries it back to first principles destroys it. Nothing is sofaulty as those laws which correct faults. He who obeys them becausethey are just, obeys a justice which is imaginary, and not the essenceof law; it is quite self-contained, it is law and nothing more. He whowill examine its motive will find it so feeble and so trifling that ifhe be not accustomed to contemplate the wonders of human imagination, hewill marvel that one century has gained for it so much pomp andreverence. The art of opposition and of revolution is to unsettleestablished customs, sounding them even to their source, to point outtheir want of authority and justice. We must, it is said, get back tothe natural and fundamental laws of the State, which an unjust customhas 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 earto 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 curiousinvestigators of accepted customs. But from a contrary mistake mensometimes think they can justly do everything which is not without anexample. That is why the wisest of legislators[116] said that it wasnecessary to deceive men for their own good; and another, a goodpolitician, _Cum veritatem qua liberetur ignoret, expedit quodfallatur. _[117] We must not see the fact of usurpation; law was onceintroduced without reason, and has become reasonable. We must make itregarded as authoritative, eternal, and conceal its origin, if we do notwish that it should soon come to an end. 

295

_Mine, thine. _--"This dog is mine, " said those poor children; "that ismy place in the sun. " Here is the beginning and the image of theusurpation of all the earth. 

296

When the question for consideration is whether we ought to make war, andkill so many men--condemn so many Spaniards to death--only one man isjudge, and he is an interested party. There should be a third, who isdisinterested. 

297

_Veri juris. _[118]--We have it no more; if we had it, we should takeconformity to the customs of a country as the rule of justice. It ishere that, not finding justice, we have found force, etc. 

298

_Justice, might. _--It is right that what is just should be obeyed; it isnecessary that what is strongest should be obeyed. Justice without mightis helpless; might without justice is tyrannical. Justice without mightis gainsaid, because there are always offenders; might without justiceis condemned. We must then combine justice and might, and for this endmake what is just strong, or what is strong just. 

Justice is subject to dispute; might is easily recognised and is notdisputed. So we cannot give might to justice, because might has gainsaidjustice, and has declared that it is she herself who is just. And thusbeing unable to make what is just strong, we have made what is strongjust. 

299

The only universal rules are the laws of the country in ordinaryaffairs, and of the majority in others. Whence comes this? From themight which is in them. Hence it comes that kings, who have power of adifferent kind, do not follow the majority of their ministers. 

No doubt equality of goods is just; but, being unable to cause might toobey justice, men have made it just to obey might. Unable to strengthenjustice, they have justified might; so that the just and the strongshould unite, and there should be peace, which is the sovereign good. 

300

"When a strong man armed keepeth his goods, his goods are inpeace. "[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 aremore sound? No, but because they are unique, and remove from us the rootof difference. 

302

. .. It is the effect of might, not of custom. For those who are capableof originality are few; the greater number will only follow, and refuseglory to those inventors who seek it by their inventions. And if theseare obstinate in their wish to obtain glory, and despise those who donot invent, the latter will call them ridiculous names, and would beatthem with a stick. Let no one then boast of his subtlety, or let himkeep his complacency to himself. 

303

Might is the sovereign of the world, and not opinion. --But opinion makesuse of might. --It is might that makes opinion. Gentleness is beautifulin our opinion. Why? Because he who will dance on a rope will bealone, [120] and I will gather a stronger mob of people who will say thatit is unbecoming. 

304

The cords which bind the respect of men to each other are in generalcords of necessity; for there must be different degrees, all men wishingto 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 willdoubtless fight till the stronger party overcomes the weaker, and adominant party is established. But when this is once determined, themasters, who do not desire the continuation of strife, then decree thatthe power which is in their hands shall be transmitted as they please. Some place it in election by the people, others in hereditarysuccession, etc. 

And this is the point where imagination begins to play its part. Tillnow power makes fact; now power is sustained by imagination in a certainparty, in France in the nobility, in Switzerland in the burgesses, etc. 

These cords which bind the respect of men to such and such an individualare therefore the cords of imagination. 

305

The Swiss are offended by being called gentlemen, and prove themselvestrue plebeians in order to be thought worthy of great office. 

306

As duchies, kingships, and magistracies are real and necessary, becausemight rules all, they exist everywhere and always. But since onlycaprice makes such and such a one a ruler, the principle is notconstant, but subject to variation, etc. 

307

The chancellor is grave, and clothed with ornaments, for his position isunreal. Not so the king, he has power, and has nothing to do with theimagination. Judges, physicians, etc. Appeal only to the imagination. 

308

The habit of seeing kings accompanied by guards, drums, officers, andall the paraphernalia which mechanically inspire respect and awe, makestheir countenance, when sometimes seen alone without theseaccompaniments, impress respect and awe on their subjects; because wecannot separate in thought their persons from the surroundings withwhich we see them usually joined. And the world, which knows not thatthis effect is the result of habit, believes that it arises by a naturalforce, whence come these words, "The character of Divinity is stamped onhis countenance, " etc. 

309

_Justice. _--As custom determines what is agreeable, so also does itdetermine 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 toprotect. 

When force attacks humbug, when a private soldier takes the square capoff 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 mightlasts for ever. Thus opinion is the queen of the world, but might is itstyrant. 

312

Justice is what is established; and thus all our established laws willnecessarily be regarded as just without examination, since they areestablished. 

313

_Sound opinions of the people. _--Civil wars are the greatest ofevils. [121] They are inevitable, if we wish to reward desert; for allwill say they are deserving. The evil we have to fear from a fool whosucceeds by right of birth, is neither so great nor so sure. 

314

God has created all for Himself. He has bestowed upon Himself the powerof pain and pleasure. 

You can apply it to God, or to yourself. If to God, the Gospel is therule. If to yourself, you will take the place of God. As God issurrounded by persons full of charity, who ask of Him the blessings ofcharity that are in His power, so . .. Recognise then and learn that youare only a king of lust, and take the ways of lust. 

315

_The reason of effects. _--It is wonderful that men would not have mehonour 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 aforce. It is the same with a horse in fine trappings in comparison withanother! 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 byone's hair, that one has a valet, a perfumer, etc. , by one's band, thread, lace, . .. Etc. Now it is not merely superficial nor merelyoutward show to have many arms at command. The more arms one has, themore powerful one is. To be spruce is to show one's power. 

317

Deference means, "Put yourself to inconvenience. " This is apparentlysilly, but is quite right. For it is to say, "I would indeed put myselfto inconvenience if you required it, since indeed I do so when it is ofno service to you. " Deference further serves to distinguish the great. Now if deference was displayed by sitting in an arm-chair, we shouldshow 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 byinternal qualities! Which of us two shall have precedence? Who will giveplace to the other? The least clever. But I am as clever as he. Weshould have to fight over this. He has four lackeys, and I have onlyone. 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 choosethe eldest son of a queen to rule a State? We do not choose as captainof 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 menchoose, as the most virtuous and able? We at once come to blows, as eachclaims to be the most virtuous and able. Let us then attach this qualityto 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 thegreatest 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 aman within the select circle, known and respected, as another would havemerited 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 Ipass by, can I say that he placed himself there to see me? No; for hedoes not think of me in particular. But does he who loves someone onaccount of beauty really love that person? No; for the small-pox, whichwill kill beauty without killing the person, will cause him to love herno more. 

And if one loves me for my judgment, memory, he does not love _me_, forI can lose these qualities without losing myself. Where, then, is thisEgo, if it be neither in the body nor in the soul? And how love the bodyor the soul, except for these qualities which do not constitute _me_, since they are perishable? For it is impossible and would be unjust tolove the soul of a person in the abstract, and whatever qualities mightbe therein. We never, then, love a person, but only qualities. 

Let us, then, jeer no more at those who are honoured on account of rankand 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-learnedlaugh at it, and glory in being above the folly of the world; but thepeople 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 isvery reasonable. Savages laugh at an infant king. [123]

3. In being offended at a blow, on in desiring glory so much. But it isvery desirable on account of the other essential goods which are joinedto it; and a man who has received a blow, without resenting it, isoverwhelmed with taunts and indignities. 

4. In working for the uncertain; in sailing on the sea; in walking overa 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 thissole reason, that they think it just. Otherwise they would follow it nolonger, although it were the custom; for they will only submit to reasonor justice. Custom without this would pass for tyranny; but thesovereignty of reason and justice is no more tyrannical than that ofdesire. They are principles natural to man. 

It would therefore be right to obey laws and customs, because they arelaws; but we should know that there is neither truth nor justice tointroduce into them, that we know nothing of these, and so must followwhat is accepted. By this means we would never depart from them. Butpeople cannot accept this doctrine; and, as they believe that truth canbe found, and that it exists in law and custom, they believe them, andtake their antiquity as a proof of their truth, and not simply of theirauthority apart from truth. Thus they obey laws, but they are liable torevolt when these are proved to be valueless; and this can be shown ofall, looked at from a certain aspect. 

326

_Injustice. _--It is dangerous to tell the people that the laws areunjust; for they obey them only because they think them just. Thereforeit is necessary to tell them at the same time that they must obey thembecause they are laws, just as they must obey superiors, not becausethey are just, but because they are superiors. In this way all seditionis prevented, if this can be made intelligible, and it be understoodwhat 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 whichmeet. The first is the pure natural ignorance in which all men findthemselves at birth. The other extreme is that reached by greatintellects, who, having run through all that men can know, find theyknow nothing, and come back again to that same ignorance from which theyset out; but this is a learned ignorance which is conscious of itself. Those between the two, who have departed from natural ignorance and notbeen able to reach the other, have some smattering of this vainknowledge, and pretend to be wise. These trouble the world, and are badjudges of everything. The people and the wise constitute the world;these despise it, and are despised. They judge badly of everything, andthe 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 ofthings which are not essential; and all these opinions are destroyed. Wehave next shown that all these opinions are very sound, and that thus, since all these vanities are well founded, the people are not so foolishas is said. And so we have destroyed the opinion which destroyed that ofthe people. 

But we must now destroy this last proposition, and show that it remainsalways true that the people are foolish, though their opinions aresound; because they do not perceive the truth where it is, and, as theyplace it where it is not, their opinions are always very false and veryunsound. 

329

_The reason of effects. _--The weakness of man is the reason why so manythings are considered fine, as to be good at playing the lute. It isonly an evil because of our weakness. 

330

The power of kings is founded on the reason and on the folly of thepeople, and specially on their folly. The greatest and most importantthing in the world has weakness for its foundation, and this foundationis wonderfully sure; for there is nothing more sure than this, that thepeople 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. Theywere honest men, like others, laughing with their friends, and when theydiverted themselves with writing their _Laws_ and the _Politics_, theydid it as an amusement. That part of their life was the leastphilosophic and the least serious; the most philosophic was to livesimply and quietly. If they wrote on politics, it was as if laying downrules for a lunatic asylum; and if they presented the appearance ofspeaking of a great matter, it was because they knew that the madmen, towhom they spoke, thought they were kings and emperors. They entered intotheir principles in order to make their madness as little harmful aspossible. 

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 sometimesthey meet, and the strong and the fair foolishly fight as to who shallbe master, for their mastery is of different kinds. They do notunderstand one another, and their fault is the desire to ruleeverywhere. Nothing can effect this, not even might, which is of no usein the kingdom of the wise, and is only mistress of external actions. 

_Tyranny_--. .. So these expressions are false and tyrannical: "I amfair, therefore I must be feared. I am strong, therefore I must beloved. 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 thepleasant; the duty of fear to the strong; the duty of belief to thelearned. 

We must render these duties; it is unjust to refuse them, and unjust toask 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 notfear him. "

333

Have you never seen people who, in order to complain of the little fussyou make about them, parade before you the example of great men whoesteem them? In answer I reply to them, "Show me the merit whereby youhave charmed these persons, and I also will esteem you. "

334

_The reason of effects. _--Lust and force are the source of all ouractions; lust causes voluntary actions, force involuntary ones. 

335

_The reason of effects. _--It is then true to say that all the world isunder 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 bewhere it is not. Truth is indeed in their opinions, but not at the pointwhere 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 judgeeverything by it, while talking like the people. 

337

_The reason of effects. _--Degrees. The people honour persons of highbirth. The semi-learned despise them, saying that birth is not apersonal, but a chance superiority. The learned honour them, not forpopular reasons, but for secret reasons. Devout persons, who have morezeal than knowledge, despise them, in spite of that consideration whichmakes them honoured by the learned, because they judge them by a newlight which piety gives them. But perfect Christians honour them byanother and higher light. So arise a succession of opinions for andagainst, according to the light one has. 

338

True Christians nevertheless comply with folly, not because they respectfolly, but the command of God, who for the punishment of men has madethem subject to these follies. _Omnis creatura subjecta estvanitati. [125] Liberabitur. _[126] Thus Saint Thomas[127] explains thepassage in Saint James on giving place to the rich, that if they do itnot 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 onlyexperience which teaches us that the head is more necessary than feet). But I cannot conceive man without thought; he would be a stone or abrute. 

340

The arithmetical machine produces effects which approach nearer tothought than all the actions of animals. But it does nothing which wouldenable 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 bymind what it speaks by instinct, in hunting, and in warning its matesthat the prey is found or lost; it would indeed also speak in regard tothose things which affect it closer, as example, "Gnaw me this cordwhich 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 disobeyingthe 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 thinkingreed. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapour, adrop of water suffices to kill him. But, if the universe were to crushhim, man would still be more noble than that which killed him, becausehe 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 elevateourselves, and not by space and time which we cannot fill. Let usendeavour, 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 possessworlds. By space the universe encompasses and swallows me up like anatom; by thought I comprehend the world. 

349

_Immateriality of the soul. _--Philosophers[129] who have mastered theirpassions. What matter could do that?

350

_The Stoics. _--They conclude that what has been done once can be donealways, and that since the desire of glory imparts some power to thosewhom it possesses, others can do likewise. There are feverish movementswhich 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, arethings on which it does not lay hold. [131] It only leaps to them, not asupon a throne, for ever, but merely for an instant. 

352

The strength of a man's virtue must not be measured by his efforts, butby his ordinary life. 

353

I do not admire the excess of a virtue as of valour, except I see at thesame time the excess of the opposite virtue, as in Epaminondas, [132] whohad the greatest valour and the greatest kindness. For otherwise it isnot to rise, it is to fall. We do not display greatness by going to oneextreme, but in touching both at once, and filling all the interveningspace. But perhaps this is only a sudden movement of the soul from oneto the other extreme, and in fact it is ever at one point only, as inthe case of a firebrand. Be it so, but at least this indicates agilityif 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 hotthe greatness of the fire of fever. 

The discoveries of men from age to age turn out the same. The kindnessand the malice of the world in general are the same. _Plerumque gratæprincipibus 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 mayget warm. 

Nature acts by progress, _itus et reditus_. It goes and returns, thenadvances further, then twice as much backwards, then more forward thanever, etc. 

The tide of the sea behaves in the same manner; and so apparently doesthe sun in its course. 

356

The nourishment of the body is little by little. Fullness of nourishmentand smallness of substance. 

357

When we would pursue virtues to their extremes on either side, vicespresent themselves, which insinuate themselves insensibly there, intheir insensible journey towards the infinitely little: and vicespresent themselves in a crowd towards the infinitely great, so that welose ourselves in them, and no longer see virtues. We find fault withperfection itself. 

358

Man is neither angel nor brute, and the unfortunate thing is that he whowould act the angel acts the brute. [134]

359

We do not sustain ourselves in virtue by our own strength, but by thebalancing of two opposed vices, just as we remain upright amidst twocontrary 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 ofwisdom are equally foolish and vicious, as those who are two inchesunder water. 

361

_The sovereign good. Dispute about the sovereign good. _--_Ut siscontentus temetipso et ex te nascentibus bonis. _[135] There is acontradiction, for in the end they advise suicide. Oh! What a happylife, 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 aliquophilosophorum. _ Divin. [137]

_Quibusdam destinatis sententiis consecrati quæ non probant cogunturdefendere. _ 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 multitudinelaudetur. _

_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 istherefore by its nature a wonderful and incomparable thing. It must havestrange defects to be contemptible. But it has such, so that nothing ismore ridiculous. How great it is in its nature! How vile it is in itsdefects!

But what is this thought? How foolish it is!

366

The mind of this sovereign judge of the world is not so independent thatit is not liable to be disturbed by the first din about it. The noise ofa cannon is not necessary to hinder its thoughts; it needs only thecreaking of a weathercock or a pulley. Do not wonder if at present itdoes not reason well; a fly is buzzing in its ears; that is enough torender it incapable of good judgment. If you wish it to be able to reachthe truth, chase away that animal which holds its reason in check anddisturbs that powerful intellect which rules towns and kingdoms. Here isa 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, andlight the _conatus recedendi_ which we feel, [150] it astonishes us. What! Is pleasure only the ballet of our spirits? We have conceived sodifferent an idea of it! And these sensations seem so removed from thoseothers 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 mannerwholly different from touch, the reception of sound and light, all thisappears to us mysterious, and yet it is material like the blow of astone. It is true that the smallness of the spirits which enter into thepores 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 keepor 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 happenedto me to . .. In believing I hugged it, I doubted. .. . ]

372

In writing down my thought, it sometimes escapes me; but this makes meremember my weakness, that I constantly forget. This is as instructiveto me as my forgotten thought; for I strive only to know my nothingness. 

373

_Scepticism. _--I shall here write my thoughts without order, and notperhaps in unintentional confusion; that is true order, which willalways indicate my object by its very disorder. I should do too muchhonour to my subject, if I treated it with order, since I want to showthat it is incapable of it. 

374

What astonishes me most is to see that all the world is not astonishedat its own weakness. Men act seriously, and each follows his own mode oflife, 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. Theyfind themselves continually deceived, and by a comical humility think itis their own fault, and not that of the art which they claim always topossess. But it is well there are so many such people in the world, whoare not sceptics for the glory of scepticism, in order to show that manis quite capable of the most extravagant opinions, since he is capableof believing that he is not in a state of natural and inevitableweakness, but, on the contrary, of natural wisdom. Nothing fortifiesscepticism more than that there are some who are not sceptics; if allwere 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 Godhas willed to reveal it to us. But I did not take it so, and this iswhere I made a mistake; for I believed that our justice was essentiallyjust, and that I had that whereby to know and judge of it. But I have sooften found my right judgment at fault, that at last I have come todistrust myself, and then others. I have seen changes in all nations andmen, and thus after many changes of judgment regarding true justice, Ihave recognised that our nature was but in continual change, and I havenot 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 notthan in those who know it. 

377

Discourses on humility are a source of pride in the vain, and ofhumility in the humble. So those on scepticism cause believers toaffirm. Few men speak humbly of humility, chastely of chastity, fewdoubtingly 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 findsfault with him who escapes it at whichever end. I will not oppose it. Iquite 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 likewiserefuse to be placed at the top. To leave the mean is to abandonhumanity. The greatness of the human soul consists in knowing how topreserve the mean. So far from greatness consisting in leaving it, itconsists in not leaving it. 

379

It is not good to have too much liberty. It is not good to have all onewants. 

380

All good maxims are in the world. We only need to apply them. Forinstance, we do not doubt that we ought to risk our lives in defence ofthe 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 highesttyranny. 

We must relax our minds a little; but this opens the door to thegreatest debauchery. Let us mark the limits. There are no limits inthings. 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 tooold. 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 workimmediately after having done it, one is entirely prepossessed in itsfavour; by delaying too long, one can no longer enter into the spirit ofit. So with pictures seen from too far or too near; there is but oneexact point which is the true place wherefrom to look at them: the restare too near, too far, too high, or too low. Perspective determines thatpoint in the art of painting. But who shall determine it in truth andmorality?

382

When all is equally agitated, nothing appears to be agitated, as in aship. When all tend to debauchery, none appears to do so. He who stopsdraws attention to the excess of others, like a fixed point. 

383

The licentious tell men of orderly lives that they stray from nature'spath, while they themselves follow it; as people in a ship think thosemove who are on the shore. On all sides the language is similar. We musthave a fixed point in order to judge. The harbour decides for those whoare in a ship; but where shall we find a harbour in morality?

384

Contradiction is a bad sign of truth; several things which are certainare contradicted; several things which are false pass withoutcontradiction. Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the want ofcontradiction 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, andthus nothing is true, meaning by that pure truth. You will say it istrue that homicide is wrong. Yes; for we know well the wrong and thefalse. But what will you say is good? Chastity? I say no; for the worldwould come to an end. Marriage? No; continence is better. Not to kill?No; for lawlessness would be horrible, and the wicked would kill all thegood. To kill? No; for that destroys nature. We possess truth andgoodness only in part, and mingled with falsehood and evil. 

386

If we dreamt the same thing every night, it would affect us as much asthe objects we see every day. And if an artisan were sure to dream everynight for twelve hours' duration that he was a king, I believe he wouldbe almost as happy as a king, who should dream every night for twelvehours on end that he was an artisan. 

If we were to dream every night that we were pursued by enemies, andharassed by these painful phantoms, or that we passed every day indifferent occupations, as in making a voyage, we should suffer almost asmuch as if it were real, and should fear to sleep, as we fear to wakewhen we dread in fact to enter on such mishaps. And, indeed, it wouldcause 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 andlevel 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. " Forlife 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 isuncertain, to the glory of scepticism. ]

388

_Good sense. _--They are compelled to say, "You are not acting in goodfaith; we are not asleep, " etc. How I love to see this proud reasonhumiliated and suppliant! For this is not the language of a man whoseright is disputed, and who defends it with the power of armed hands. Heis 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 andinevitable misery. For it is wretched to have the wish, but not thepower. Now he would be happy and assured of some truth, and yet he canneither 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 damnit? Would He ask so much from persons so weak?" etc. Scepticism is thecure 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 cannotdefine these things without obscuring them, while we speak of them withall assurance. ] We assume that all conceive of them in the same way; butwe assume it quite gratuitously, for we have no proof of it. I see, intruth, that the same words are applied on the same occasions, and thatevery time two men see a body change its place, they both express theirview 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 ofa conformity of ideas. But this is not absolutely or finally convincing, though there is enough to support a bet on the affirmative, since weknow that we often draw the same conclusions from different premisses. 

This is enough, at least, to obscure the matter; not that it completelyextinguishes the natural light which assures us of these things. Theacademicians[153] would have won. But this dulls it, and troubles thedogmatists to the glory of the sceptical crowd, which consists in thisdoubtful ambiguity, and in a certain doubtful dimness from which ourdoubts cannot take away all the clearness, nor our own natural lightschase away all the darkness. 

393

It is a singular thing to consider that there are people in the worldwho, having renounced all the laws of God and nature, have made laws forthemselves which they strictly obey, as, for instance, the soldiers ofMahomet, robbers, heretics, etc. It is the same with logicians. It seemsthat their licence must be without any limits or barriers, since theyhave broken through so many that are so just and sacred. 

394

All the principles of sceptics, stoics, atheists, etc. , are true. Buttheir conclusions are false, because the opposite principles are alsotrue. 

395

_Instinct, reason. _--We have an incapacity of proof, insurmountable byall 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 miserableto know oneself to be miserable; but it is also being great to know thatone is miserable. 

398

All these same miseries prove man's greatness. They are the miseries ofa great lord, of a deposed king. 

399

We are not miserable without feeling it. A ruined house is notmiserable. Man only is miserable. _Ego vir videns. _[154]

400

_The greatness of man. _--We have so great an idea of the soul of manthat 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 admirehis companion. Not that there is no rivalry between them in a race, butthat is of no consequence; for, when in the stable, the heaviest andmost ill-formed does not give up his oats to another, as men would haveothers do to them. Their virtue is satisfied with itself. 

402

The greatness of man even in his lust, to have known how to extract fromit a wonderful code, and to have drawn from it a picture of benevolence. 

403

_Greatness. _--The reasons of effects indicate the greatness of man, inhaving extracted so fair an order from lust. 

404

The greatest baseness of man is the pursuit of glory. But it is also thegreatest mark of his excellence; for whatever possessions he may have onearth, whatever health and essential comfort, he is not satisfied if hehas 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 notalso ranked highly in the judgment of man. This is the finest positionin the world. Nothing can turn him from that desire, which is the mostindelible 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 bytheir own feelings; their nature, which is stronger than all, convincingthem of the greatness of man more forcibly than reason convinces them oftheir baseness. 

405

_Contradiction. _--Pride counterbalancing all miseries. Man either hideshis miseries, or, if he disclose them, glories in knowing them. 

406

Pride counterbalances and takes away all miseries. Here is a strangemonster, and a very plain aberration. He is fallen from his place, andis anxiously seeking it. This is what all men do. Let us see who willhave found it. 

407

When malice has reason on its side, it becomes proud, and parades reasonin all its splendour. When austerity or stern choice has not arrived atthe true good, and must needs return to follow nature, it becomes proudby reason of this return. 

408

Evil is easy, and has infinite forms; good is almost unique. [155] But acertain kind of evil is as difficult to find as what we call good; andoften on this account such particular evil gets passed off as good. Anextraordinary greatness of soul is needed in order to attain to it aswell as to good. 

409

_The greatness of man. _--The greatness of man is so evident, that it iseven proved by his wretchedness. For what in animals is nature we callin man wretchedness; by which we recognise that, his nature being nowlike that of animals, he has fallen from a better nature which once washis. 

For who is unhappy at not being a king, except a deposed king? WasPaulus Æmilius[156] unhappy at being no longer consul? On the contrary, everybody thought him happy in having been consul, because the officecould only be held for a time. But men thought Perseus so unhappy inbeing no longer king, because the condition of kingship implied hisbeing always king, that they thought it strange that he endured life. Who is unhappy at having only one mouth? And who is not unhappy athaving only one eye? Probably no man ever ventured to mourn at nothaving three eyes. But any one is inconsolable at having none. 

410

_Perseus, King of Macedon. _--Paulus Æmilius reproached Perseus for notkilling himself. 

411

Notwithstanding the sight of all our miseries, which press upon us andtake us by the throat, we have an instinct which we cannot repress, andwhich 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 atpeace with the one without being at war with the other. Thus he isalways divided against, and opposed to himself. 

413

This internal war of reason against the passions has made a division ofthose who would have peace into two sects. The first would renouncetheir passions, and become gods; the others would renounce reason, andbecome brute beasts. (Des Barreaux. )[157] But neither can do so, andreason still remains, to condemn the vileness and injustice of thepassions, and to trouble the repose of those who abandon themselves tothem; and the passions keep always alive in those who would renouncethem. 

414

Men are so necessarily mad, that not to be mad would amount to anotherform of madness. 

415

The nature of man may be viewed in two ways: the one according to itsend, and then he is great and incomparable; the other according to themultitude, just as we judge of the nature of the horse and the dog, popularly, by seeing its fleetness, _et animum arcendi_; and then man isabject and vile. These are the two ways which make us judge of himdifferently, and which occasion such disputes among philosophers. 

For one denies the assumption of the other. One says, "He is not bornfor 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 beingdeduced from greatness, and greatness from wretchedness, some haveinferred man's wretchedness all the more because they have taken hisgreatness as a proof of it, and others have inferred his greatness withall the more force, because they have inferred it from his verywretchedness. All that the one party has been able to say in proof ofhis greatness has only served as an argument of his wretchedness to theothers, because the greater our fall, the more wretched we are, and_vice versa. _ The one party is brought back to the other in an endlesscircle, it being certain that in proportion as men possess light theydiscover both the greatness and the wretchedness of man. In a word, manknows 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 wehad two souls. A single subject seemed to them incapable of such suddenvariations from unmeasured presumption to a dreadful dejection ofheart. 

418

It is dangerous to make man see too clearly his equality with the bruteswithout showing him his greatness. It is also dangerous to make him seehis greatness too clearly, apart from his vileness. It is still moredangerous to leave him in ignorance of both. But it is very advantageousto show him both. Man must not think that he is on a level either withthe brutes or with the angels, nor must he be ignorant of both sides ofhis nature; but he must know both. 

419

I will not allow man to depend upon himself, or upon another, to the endthat 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 anincomprehensible monster. 

421

I blame equally those who choose to praise man, those who choose toblame him, and those who choose to amuse themselves; and I can onlyapprove of those who seek with lamentation. 

422

It is good to be tired and wearied by the vain search after the truegood, that we may stretch out our arms to the Redeemer. 

423

_Contraries. After having shown the vileness and the greatness ofman. _--Let man now know his value. Let him love himself, for there is inhim a nature capable of good; but let him not for this reason love thevileness which is in him. Let him despise himself, for this capacity isbarren; but let him not therefore despise this natural capacity. Let himhate himself, let him love himself; he has within him the capacity ofknowing the truth and of being happy, but he possesses no truth, eitherconstant or satisfactory. 

I would then lead man to the desire of finding truth; to be free frompassions, and ready to follow it where he may find it, knowing how muchhis knowledge is obscured by the passions. I would indeed that he shouldhate in himself the lust which determined his will by itself, so that itmay not blind him in making his choice, and may not hinder him when hehas chosen. 

424

All these contradictions, which seem most to keep me from the knowledgeof 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, norjustice. _

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever differentmeans they employ, they all tend to this end. [159] The cause of somegoing to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step butto this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even ofthose who hang themselves. 

And yet after such a great number of years, no one without faith hasreached the point to which all continually look. All complain, princesand subjects, noblemen and commoners, old and young, strong and weak, learned and ignorant, healthy and sick, of all countries, all times, allages, and all conditions. 

A trial so long, so continuous, and so uniform, should certainlyconvince us of our inability to reach the good by our own efforts. Butexample teaches us little. No resemblance is ever so perfect that thereis not some slight difference; and hence we expect that our hope willnot be deceived on this occasion as before. And thus, while the presentnever satisfies us, experience dupes us, and from misfortune tomisfortune leads us to death, their eternal crown. 

What is it then that this desire and this inability proclaim to us, butthat there was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain tohim only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill fromall his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does notobtain in things present? But these are all inadequate, because theinfinite 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 astrange thing that there is nothing in nature which has not beenserviceable in taking His place; the stars, the heavens, earth, theelements, plants, cabbages, leeks, animals, insects, calves, serpents, fever, pestilence, war, famine, vices, adultery, incest. And since manhas lost the true good, everything can appear equally good to him, evenhis own destruction, though so opposed to God, to reason, and to thewhole course of nature. 

Some seek good in authority, others in scientific research, others inpleasure. Others, who are in fact nearer the truth, have considered itnecessary that the universal good, which all men desire, should notconsist in any of the particular things which can only be possessed byone man, and which, when shared, afflict their possessor more by thewant of the part he has not, than they please him by the possession ofwhat he has. They have learned that the true good should be such as allcan possess at once, without diminution and without envy, and which noone can lose against his will. And their reason is that this desirebeing natural to man, since it is necessarily in all, and that it isimpossible not to have it, they infer from it . .. 

426

True nature being lost, everything becomes its own nature; as the truegood being lost, everything becomes its own true good. 

427

Man does not know in what rank to place himself. He has plainly goneastray, and fallen from his true place without being able to find itagain. He seeks it anxiously and unsuccessfully everywhere inimpenetrable darkness. 

428

If it is a sign of weakness to prove God by nature, do not despiseScripture; if it is a sign of strength to have known thesecontradictions, esteem Scripture. 

429

The vileness of man in submitting himself to the brutes, and in evenworshipping them. 

430

_For Port Royal. The beginning, after having explained theincomprehensibility. _--The greatness and the wretchedness of man are soevident that the true religion must necessarily teach us both that thereis in man some great source of greatness, and a great source ofwretchedness. It must then give us a reason for these astonishingcontradictions. 

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, andour sole evil to be separated from Him; it must recognise that we arefull of darkness which hinders us from knowing and loving Him; and thatthus, as our duties compel us to love God, and our lusts turn us awayfrom Him, we are full of unrighteousness. It must give us an explanationof our opposition to God and to our own good. It must teach us theremedies for these infirmities, and the means of obtaining theseremedies. Let us therefore examine all the religions of the world, andsee if there be any other than the Christian which is sufficient forthis 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 foundthe remedy for our ills? Is man's pride cured by placing him on anequality with God? Have those who have made us equal to the brutes, orthe Mahommedans who have offered us earthly pleasures as the chief goodeven in eternity, produced the remedy for our lusts? What religion, then, will teach us to cure pride and lust? What religion will in factteach us our good, our duties, the weakness which turns us from them, the cause of this weakness, the remedies which can cure it, and themeans of obtaining these remedies?

All other religions have not been able to do so. Let us see what thewisdom of God will do. 

"Expect neither truth, " she says, "nor consolation from men. I am shewho formed you, and who alone can teach you what you are. But you arenow no longer in the state in which I formed you. I created man holy, innocent, perfect. I filled him with light and intelligence. Icommunicated to him my glory and my wonders. The eye of man saw then themajesty of God. He was not then in the darkness which blinds him, norsubject to mortality and the woes which afflict him. But he has not beenable to sustain so great glory without falling into pride. He wanted tomake himself his own centre, and independent of my help. He withdrewhimself from my rule; and, on his making himself equal to me by thedesire of finding his happiness in himself, I abandoned him to himself. And setting in revolt the creatures that were subject to him, I madethem his enemies; so that man is now become like the brutes, and soestranged from me that there scarce remains to him a dim vision of hisAuthor. So far has all his knowledge been extinguished or disturbed! Thesenses, independent of reason, and often the masters of reason, have ledhim into pursuit of pleasure. All creatures either torment or tempt him, and domineer over him, either subduing him by their strength, orfascinating him by their charms, a tyranny more awful and moreimperious. 

"Such is the state in which men now are. There remains to them somefeeble instinct of the happiness of their former state; and they areplunged in the evils of their blindness and their lust, which havebecome their second nature. 

"From this principle which I disclose to you, you can recognise thecause of those contradictions which have astonished all men, and havedivided them into parties holding so different views. Observe, now, allthe feelings of greatness and glory which the experience of so many woescannot stifle, and see if the cause of them must not be in anothernature. "

_For Port-Royal to-morrow (Prosopopœa). _--"It is in vain, O men, thatyou seek within yourselves the remedy for your ills. All your light canonly reach the knowledge that not in yourselves will you find truth orgood. The philosophers have promised you that, and have been unable todo it. They neither know what is your true good, nor what is your truestate. How could they have given remedies for your ills, when they didnot even know them? Your chief maladies are pride, which takes you awayfrom God, and lust, which binds you to earth; and they have done nothingelse but cherish one or other of these diseases. If they gave you God asan end, it was only to administer to your pride; they made you thinkthat you are by nature like Him, and conformed to Him. And those who sawthe absurdity of this claim put you on another precipice, by making youunderstand that your nature was like that of the brutes, and led you toseek your good in the lusts which are shared by the animals. This is notthe way to cure you of your unrighteousness, which these wise men neverknew. 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 arehumbled, 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 recognisethem. Follow your own feelings, observe yourselves, and see if you donot find the lively characteristics of these two natures. Could so manycontradictions 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 isdrawn only from the sight of our vileness. But if you are quite sincereover it, follow it as far as I have done, and recognise that we areindeed so vile that we are incapable in ourselves of knowing if Hismercy 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 ofGod, and set limits to it, suggested by his own fancy. He has so littleknowledge 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 thatGod cannot make him capable of communion with Him. 

But I would ask him if God demands anything else from him than theknowledge and love of Him, and why, since his nature is capable of loveand knowledge, he believes that God cannot make Himself known and lovedby him. Doubtless he knows at least that he exists, and that he lovessomething. 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 ofknowing and of loving Him in the manner in which it shall please Him tocommunicate Himself to us? There must then be certainly an intolerablepresumption in arguments of this sort, although they seem founded on anapparent humility, which is neither sincere nor reasonable, if it doesnot make us admit that, not knowing of ourselves what we are, we canonly 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 claimto give you a reason for everything. And to reconcile thesecontradictions, I intend to make you see clearly, by convincing proofs, those divine signs in me, which may convince you of what I am, and maygain authority for me by wonders and proofs which you cannot reject; sothat you may then believe without . .. The things which I teach you, since you will find no other ground for rejecting them, except that youcannot know of yourselves if they are true or not. 

"God has willed to redeem men, and to open salvation to those who seekit. But men render themselves so unworthy of it, that it is right thatGod should refuse to some, because of their obduracy, what He grants toothers from a compassion which is not due to them. If He had willed toovercome the obstinacy of the most hardened, He could have done so byrevealing Himself so manifestly to them that they could not have doubtedof the truth of His essence; as it will appear at the last day, withsuch thunders and such a convulsion of nature, that the dead will riseagain, and the blindest will see Him. 

"It is not in this manner that He has willed to appear in His advent ofmercy, because, as so many make themselves unworthy of His mercy, He haswilled to leave them in the loss of the good which they do not want. Itwas not then right that He should appear in a manner manifestly divine, and completely capable of convincing all men; but it was also not rightthat He should come in so hidden a manner that He could not be known bythose who should sincerely seek Him. He has willed to make Himself quiterecognisable by those; and thus, willing to appear openly to those whoseek Him with all their heart, and to be hidden from those who flee fromHim with all their heart, He so regulates the knowledge of Himself thatHe has given signs of Himself, visible to those who seek Him, and not tothose who seek Him not. There is enough light for those who only desireto see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition. "

431

No other religion has recognised that man is the most excellentcreature. Some, which have quite recognised the reality of hisexcellence, have considered as mean and ungrateful the low opinionswhich men naturally have of themselves; and others, which havethoroughly recognised how real is this vileness, have treated with proudridicule those feelings of greatness, which are equally natural to man. 

"Lift your eyes to God, " say the first; "see Him whom you resemble, andwho has created you to worship Him. You can make yourselves like untoHim; wisdom will make you equal to Him, if you will follow it. " "Raiseyour heads, free men, " says Epictetus. And others say, "Bend your eyesto the earth, wretched worm that you are, and consider the brutes whosecompanion you are. "

What, then, will man become? Will he be equal to God or the brutes? Whata frightful difference! What, then, shall we be? Who does not see fromall 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 shallthen direct him to it? The greatest men have failed. 

432

Scepticism is true; for, after all, men before Jesus Christ did not knowwhere they were, nor whether they were great or small. And those whohave said the one or the other, knew nothing about it, and guessedwithout reason and by chance. They also erred always in excluding theone or the other. 

_Quod ergo ignorantes, quæritis, religio annuntiat vobis. _[160]

433

_After having understood the whole nature of man. _--That a religion maybe true, it must have knowledge of our nature. It ought to know itsgreatness and littleness, and the reason of both. What religion but theChristian has known this?

434

The chief arguments of the sceptics--I pass over the lesser ones--arethat we have no certainty of the truth of these principles apart fromfaith and revelation, except in so far as we naturally perceive them inourselves. Now this natural intuition is not a convincing proof of theirtruth; since, having no certainty, apart from faith, whether man wascreated by a good God, or by a wicked demon, [161] or by chance, it isdoubtful whether these principles given to us are true, or false, oruncertain, according to our origin. Again, no person is certain, apartfrom faith, whether he is awake or sleeps, seeing that during sleep webelieve that we are awake as firmly as we do when we _are_ awake; webelieve that we see space, figure, and motion; we are aware of thepassage 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 ownadmission no idea of truth, whatever we may imagine. As all ourintuitions are then illusions, who knows whether the other half of ourlife, in which we think we are awake, is not another sleep a littledifferent from the former, from which we awake when we suppose ourselvesasleep?

[And who doubts that, if we dreamt in company, and the dreams chanced toagree, which is common enough, and if we were always alone when awake, we should believe that matters were reversed? In short, as we oftendream that we dream, heaping dream upon dream, may it not be that thishalf of our life, wherein we think ourselves awake, is itself only adream on which the others are grafted, from which we wake at death, during which we have as few principles of truth and good as duringnatural sleep, these different thoughts which disturb us being perhapsonly illusions like the flight of time and the vain fancies of ourdreams?]

These are the chief arguments on one side and the other. 

I omit minor ones, such as the sceptical talk against the impressions ofcustom, education, manners, country, and the like. Though theseinfluence the majority of common folk, who dogmatise only on shallowfoundations, they are upset by the least breath of the sceptics. We haveonly 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, speakingin good faith and sincerely, we cannot doubt natural principles. Againstthis the sceptics set up in one word the uncertainty of our origin, which includes that of our nature. The dogmatists have been trying toanswer this objection ever since the world began. 

So there is open war among men, in which each must take a part, and sideeither with dogmatism or scepticism. For he who thinks to remain neutralis above all a sceptic. This neutrality is the essence of the sect; hewho is not against them is essentially for them. [In this appears theiradvantage. ] 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? Shallhe doubt whether he is awake, whether he is being pinched, or whether heis being burned? Shall he doubt whether he doubts? Shall he doubtwhether he exists? We cannot go so far as that; and I lay it down as afact that there never has been a real complete sceptic. Nature sustainsour feeble reason, and prevents it raving to this extent. 

Shall he then say, on the contrary, that he certainly possessestruth--he who, when pressed ever so little, can show no title to it, andis forced to let go his hold?

What a chimera then is man! What a novelty! What a monster, what achaos, what a contradiction, what a prodigy! Judge of all things, imbecile worm of the earth; depositary of truth, a sink of uncertaintyand error; the pride and refuse of the universe!

Who will unravel this tangle? Nature confutes the sceptics, and reasonconfutes the dogmatists. What then will you become, O men! who try tofind out by your natural reason what is your true condition? You cannotavoid one of these sects, nor adhere to one of them. 

Know then, proud man, what a paradox you are to yourself. Humbleyourself, weak reason; be silent, foolish nature; learn that maninfinitely transcends man, and learn from your Master your truecondition, of which you are ignorant. Hear God. 

For in fact, if man had never been corrupt, he would enjoy in hisinnocence both truth and happiness with assurance; and if man had alwaysbeen corrupt, he would have no idea of truth or bliss. But, wretched aswe are, and more so than if there were no greatness in our condition, wehave an idea of happiness, and cannot reach it. We perceive an image oftruth, and possess only a lie. Incapable of absolute ignorance and ofcertain knowledge, we have thus been manifestly in a degree ofperfection from which we have unhappily fallen. 

It is, however, an astonishing thing that the mystery furthest removedfrom our knowledge, namely, that of the transmission of sin, should be afact without which we can have no knowledge of ourselves. For it isbeyond doubt that there is nothing which more shocks our reason than tosay that the sin of the first man has rendered guilty those, who, beingso removed from this source, seem incapable of participation in it. Thistransmission does not only seem to us impossible, it seems also veryunjust. For what is more contrary to the rules of our miserable justicethan to damn eternally an infant incapable of will, for a sin wherein heseems to have so little a share, that it was committed six thousandyears before he was in existence? Certainly nothing offends us morerudely than this doctrine; and yet, without this mystery, the mostincomprehensible of all, we are incomprehensible to ourselves. The knotof our condition takes its twists and turns in this abyss, so that manis more inconceivable without this mystery than this mystery isinconceivable to man. 

[Whence it seems that God, willing to render the difficulty of ourexistence 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 thesimple submissions of reason, that we can truly know ourselves. 

These foundations, solidly established on the inviolable authority ofreligion, make us know that there are two truths of faith equallycertain: the one, that man, in the state of creation, or in that ofgrace, is raised above all nature, made like unto God and sharing in Hisdivinity; the other, that in the state of corruption and sin, he isfallen from this state and made like unto the beasts. 

These two propositions are equally sound and certain. Scripturemanifestly declares this to us, when it says in some places: _Deliciæmeæ esse cum filiis hominum. [162] Effundam spiritum meum super omnemcarnem. [163] Dii estis[164]_, etc. ; and in other places, _Omnis carofænum. [165] Homo assimilatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similisfactus 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 apartaker in His divinity, and that without grace he is like unto thebrute beasts. ]

435

Without this divine knowledge what could men do but either become elatedby the inner feeling of their past greatness which still remains tothem, 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 couldnot escape either pride or sloth, the two sources of all vice; sincethey cannot but either abandon themselves to it through cowardice, orescape it by pride. For if they knew the excellence of man, they wereignorant of his corruption; so that they easily avoided sloth, but fellinto pride. And if they recognised the infirmity of nature, they wereignorant of its dignity; so that they could easily avoid vanity, but itwas to fall into despair. Thence arise the different schools of theStoics and Epicureans, the Dogmatists, Academicians, etc. 

The Christian religion alone has been able to cure these two vices, notby expelling the one through means of the other according to the wisdomof the world, but by expelling both according to the simplicity of theGospel. For it teaches the righteous that it raises them even to aparticipation in divinity itself; that in this lofty state they stillcarry the source of all corruption, which renders them during all theirlife subject to error, misery, death, and sin; and it proclaims to themost ungodly that they are capable of the grace of their Redeemer. Somaking those tremble whom it justifies, and consoling those whom itcondemns, religion so justly tempers fear with hope through that doublecapacity of grace and of sin, common to all, that it humbles infinitelymore than reason alone can do, but without despair; and it exaltsinfinitely more than natural pride, but without inflating; thus makingit evident that alone being exempt from error and vice, it alone fulfilsthe duty of instructing and correcting men. 

Who then can refuse to believe and adore this heavenly light? For is itnot clearer than day that we perceive within ourselves ineffaceablemarks of excellence? And is it not equally true that we experience everyhour the results of our deplorable condition? What does this chaos andmonstrous 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 havea title to show that they possess it justly, for they have only that ofhuman caprice; nor have they strength to hold it securely. It is thesame with knowledge, for disease takes it away. We are incapable both oftruth 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 certaintyor happiness. This desire is left to us, partly to punish us, partly tomake us perceive wherefrom we are fallen. 

438

If man is not made for God, why is he only happy in God? If man is madefor God, why is he so opposed to God?

439

_Nature corrupted. _--Man does not act by reason, which constitutes hisbeing. 

440

The corruption of reason is shown by the existence of so many differentand extravagant customs. It was necessary that truth should come, inorder that man should no longer dwell within himself. 

441

For myself, I confess that so soon as the Christian religion reveals theprinciple that human nature is corrupt and fallen from God, that opensmy eyes to see everywhere the mark of this truth: for nature is suchthat she testifies everywhere, both within man and without him, to alost God and a corrupt nature. 

442

Man's true nature, his true good, true virtue, and true religion, arethings of which the knowledge is inseparable. 

443

_Greatness, wretchedness. _--The more light we have, the more greatnessand the more baseness we discover in man. Ordinary men--those who aremore educated: philosophers, they astonish ordinary men--Christians, they astonish philosophers. 

Who will then be surprised to see that religion only makes us knowprofoundly what we already know in proportion to our light?

444

This religion taught to her children what men have only been able todiscover by their greatest knowledge. 

445

Original sin is foolishness to men, but it is admitted to be such. Youmust not then reproach me for the want of reason in this doctrine, sinceI admit it to be without reason. But this foolishness is wiser than allthe wisdom of men, _sapientius est hominibus_. [167] For without this, what can we say that man is? His whole state depends on thisimperceptible point. And how should it be perceived by his reason, sinceit is a thing against reason, and since reason, far from finding it outby 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 theJews. _

On the saying in Genesis viii, 21: "The imagination of man's heart isevil from his youth. "

_R. Moses Haddarschan_: This evil leaven is placed in man from the timethat he is formed. 

_Massechet Succa_: This evil leaven has seven names in Scripture. It iscalled _evil, the foreskin, uncleanness, an enemy, a scandal, a heart ofstone, the north wind_; all this signifies the malignity which isconcealed and impressed in the heart of man. 

_Midrasch Tillim_ says the same thing, and that God will deliver thegood nature of man from the evil. 

This malignity is renewed every day against man, as it is written, Psalmxxxvii, 32: "The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slayhim"; but God will not abandon him. This malignity tries the heart ofman in this life, and will accuse him in the other. All this is found inthe Talmud. 

_Midrasch Tillim_ on Psalm iv, 4: "Stand in awe and sin not. " Stand inawe and be afraid of your lust, and it will not lead you into sin. Andon Psalm xxxvi, 1: "The wicked has said within his own heart, Let notthe fear of God be before me. " That is to say that the malignity naturalto man has said that to the wicked. 

_Midrasch el Kohelet_: "Better is a poor and wise child than an old andfoolish 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 themembers obey it, and old because it is in the human heart from infancyto old age, and foolish because it leads man in the way of[_perdition_], which he does not foresee. The same thing is in _MidraschTillim_. 

_Bereschist Rabba_ on Psalm xxxv, 10: "Lord, all my bones shall blessThee, which deliverest the poor from the tyrant. " And is there a greatertyrant than the evil leaven? And on Proverbs xxv, 21: "If thine enemy behungry, give him bread to eat. " That is to say, if the evil leavenhunger, give him the bread of wisdom of which it is spoken in Proverbsix. , and if he be thirsty, give him the water of which it is spoken inIsaiah lv. 

_Midrasch Tillim_ says the same thing, and that Scripture in thatpassage, speaking of the enemy, means the evil leaven; and that, in[_giving_] him that bread and that water, we heap coals of fire on hishead. 

_Midrasch el Kohelet_ on Ecclesiastes ix, 14: "A great king besieged alittle city. " This great king is the evil leaven; the great bulwarksbuilt against it are temptations; and there has been found a poor wiseman 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 notagain"; whence some have erroneously argued against the immortality ofthe soul. But the sense is that this spirit is the evil leaven, whichaccompanies 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 hasdeparted the earth, they therefore knew of original sin?--_Nemo anteobitum beatus est_[170]--that is to say, they knew death to be thebeginning of eternal and essential happiness?

448

[_Miton_] sees well that nature is corrupt, and that men are averse tovirtue; but he does not know why they cannot fly higher. 

449

_Order. _--After _Corruption_ to say: "It is right that all those who arein that state should know it, both those who are content with it, andthose who are not content with it; but it is not right that all shouldsee 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, knowingthis, 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 wellthe defects of man, and desire for the truth of a religion whichpromises remedies so desirable?

451

All men naturally hate one another. They employ lust as far as possiblein the service of the public weal. But this is only a [_pretence_] and afalse image of love; for at bottom it is only hate. 

452

To pity the unfortunate is not contrary to lust. On the contrary, we canquite well give such evidence of friendship, and acquire the reputationof 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 lustwithout doing injury to others. 

455

Self is hateful. You, Miton, conceal it; you do not for that reasondestroy it; you are, then, always hateful. 

--No; for in acting as we do to oblige everybody, we give no moreoccasion for hatred of us. --That is true, if we only hated in Self thevexation which comes to us from it. But if I hate it because it isunjust, and because it makes itself the centre of everything, I shallalways hate it. 

In a word, the Self has two qualities: it is unjust in itself since itmakes itself the centre of everything; it is inconvenient to otherssince it would enslave them; for each Self is the enemy, and would liketo be the tyrant of all others. You take away its inconvenience, but notits injustice, and so you do not render it lovable to those who hateinjustice; you render it lovable only to the unjust, who do not anylonger find in it an enemy. And thus you remain unjust, and can pleaseonly the unjust. 

456

It is a perverted judgment that makes every one place himself above therest of the world, and prefer his own good, and the continuance of hisown 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 tohim. Hence it comes that each believes himself to be all in all toeverybody. 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 theeyes, or the pride of life; _libido sentiendi, libido sciendi, libidodominandi. _"[172] Wretched is the cursed land which these three riversof fire enflame rather than water![173] Happy they who, on these rivers, are not overwhelmed nor carried away, but are immovably fixed, notstanding but seated on a low and secure base, whence they do not risebefore the light, but, having rested in peace, stretch out their handsto Him, who must lift them up, and make them stand upright and firm inthe porches of the holy Jerusalem! There pride can no longer assail themnor cast them down; and yet they weep, not to see all those perishablethings swept away by the torrents, but at the remembrance of their lovedcountry, the heavenly Jerusalem, which they remember without ceasingduring 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; andnot standing but seated; being seated to be humble, and being above themto 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, itis a river of Babylon. 

460

_The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, pride, etc. _--There arethree orders of things: the flesh, the spirit, and the will. The carnalare the rich and kings; they have the body as their object. Inquirersand scientists; they have the mind as their object. The wise; they haverighteousness as their object. 

God must reign over all, and all men must be brought back to Him. Inthings of the flesh lust reigns specially; in intellectual matters, inquiry specially; in wisdom, pride specially. Not that a man cannotboast of wealth or knowledge, but it is not the place for pride; for ingranting to a man that he is learned, it is easy to convince him that heis wrong to be proud. The proper place for pride is in wisdom, for itcannot be granted to a man that he has made himself wise, and that he iswrong to be proud; for that is right. Now God alone gives wisdom, andthat is why _Qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur_. [174]

461

The three lusts have made three sects; and the philosophers have done noother thing than follow one of the three lusts. 

462

_Search for the true good. _--Ordinary men place the good in fortune andexternal goods, or at least in amusement. Philosophers have shown thevanity 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 andadmired; and they have desired to be loved and admired of men, and donot know their own corruption. If they feel full of feelings of love andadmiration, and find therein their chief delight, very well, let themthink themselves good. But if they find themselves averse to Him, ifthey have no inclination but the desire to establish themselves in theesteem of men, and if their whole perfection consists only in makingmen--but without constraint--find their happiness in loving them, Ideclare that this perfection is horrible. What! they have known God, andhave not desired solely that men should love Him, but that men shouldstop short at them! They have wanted to be the object of the voluntarydelight 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 outsideourselves. Our passions impel us outside, even when no objects presentthemselves to excite them. External objects tempt us of themselves, andcall to us, even when we are not thinking of them. And thus philosophershave said in vain, "Retire within yourselves, you will find your goodthere. " We do not believe them, and those who believe them are the mostempty and the most foolish. 

465

The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will findyour rest. " And that is not true. 

Others say, "Go out of yourselves; seek happiness in amusement. " Andthis is not true. Illness comes. 

Happiness is neither without us nor within us. It is in God, bothwithout us and within us. 

466

Had Epictetus seen the way perfectly, he would have said to men, "Youfollow a wrong road"; he shows that there is another, but he does notlead to it. It is the way of willing what God wills. Jesus Christ aloneleads to it: _Via, veritas. _[175]

The vices of Zeno[176] himself. 

467

_The reason of effects. _--Epictetus. [177] Those who say, "You have aheadache;" this is not the same thing. We are assured of health, and notof justice; and in fact his own was nonsense. 

And yet he believed it demonstrable, when he said, "It is either in ourpower or it is not. " But he did not perceive that it is not in our powerto regulate the heart, and he was wrong to infer this from the fact thatthere were some Christians. 

468

No other religion has proposed to men to hate themselves. No otherreligion then can please those who hate themselves, and who seek a Beingtruly lovable. And these, if they had never heard of the religion of aGod 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 beenkilled before I had life. I am not then a necessary being. In the sameway I am not eternal or infinite; but I see plainly that there exists innature a necessary Being, eternal and infinite. 

470

"Had I seen a miracle, " say men, "I should become converted. " How canthey be sure they would do a thing of the nature of which they areignorant? They imagine that this conversion consists in a worship of Godwhich is like commerce, and in a communion such as they picture tothemselves. True religion consists in annihilating self before thatUniversal Being, whom we have so often provoked, and who can justlydestroy us at any time; in recognising that we can do nothing withoutHim, and have deserved nothing from Him but His displeasure. It consistsin 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 theydo it with pleasure and voluntarily. I should deceive those in whom Ihad created this desire; for I am not the end of any, and I have not thewherewithal to satisfy them. Am I not about to die? And thus the objectof their attachment will die. Therefore, as I would be blamable incausing a falsehood to be believed, though I should employ gentlepersuasion, though it should be believed with pleasure, and though itshould 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 warnthose who are ready to consent to a lie, that they ought not to believeit, whatever advantage comes to me from it; and likewise that they oughtnot to attach themselves to me; for they ought to spend their life andtheir care in pleasing God, or in seeking Him. 

472

Self-will will never be satisfied, though it should have command of allit would; but we are satisfied from the moment we renounce it. Withoutit 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 toourselves, we must imagine a body full of thinking members, for we aremembers 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 intheir order in submitting this particular will to the primary will whichgoverns the whole body. Apart from that, they are in disorder andmischief; but in willing only the good of the body, they accomplishtheir 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, andthat there was a body on which it depended, if it had only had theknowledge and the love of self, and if it came to know that it belongedto a body on which it depended, what regret, what shame for its pastlife, for having been useless to the body which inspired its life, whichwould have annihilated it if it had rejected it and separated it fromitself, as it kept itself apart from the body! What prayers for itspreservation in it! And with what submission would it allow itself to begoverned by the will which rules the body, even to consenting, ifnecessary, to be cut off, or it would lose its character as member! Forevery member must be quite willing to perish for the body, for whichalone the whole is. 

477

It is false that we are worthy of the love of others; it is unfair thatwe should desire it. If we were born reasonable and impartial, knowingourselves 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. Thisis contrary to all order. We must consider the general good; and thepropensity to self is the beginning of all disorder, in war, inpolitics, in economy, and in the particular body of man. The will istherefore depraved. 

If the members of natural and civil communities tend towards the weal ofthe body, the communities themselves ought to look to another moregeneral body of which they are members. We ought therefore to look tothe whole. We are therefore born unjust and depraved. 

478

When we want to think of God, is there nothing which turns us away, andtempts us to think of something else? All this is bad, and is born inus. 

479

If there is a God, we must love Him only, and not the creatures of aday. The reasoning of the ungodly in the book of Wisdom[179] is onlybased upon the non-existence of God. "On that supposition, " say they, "let us take delight in the creatures. " That is the worst that canhappen. But if there were a God to love, they would not have come tothis conclusion, but to quite the contrary. And this is the conclusionof the wise: "There is a God, let us therefore not take delight in thecreatures. "

Therefore all that incites us to attach ourselves to the creatures isbad; since it prevents us from serving God if we know Him, or fromseeking Him if we know Him not. Now we are full of lust. Therefore weare full of evil; therefore we ought to hate ourselves and all thatexcited 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 thebody. 

481

The examples of the noble deaths of the Lacedæmonians and others scarcetouch us. For what good is it to us? But the example of the death of themartyrs touches us; for they are "our members. " We have a common tiewith them. Their resolution can form ours, not only by example, butbecause it has perhaps deserved ours. There is nothing of this in theexamples of the heathen. We have no tie with them; as we do not becomerich by seeing a stranger who is so, but in fact by seeing a father or ahusband who is so. 

482

_Morality. _--God having made the heavens and the earth, which do notfeel the happiness of their being, He has willed to make beings whoshould know it, and who should compose a body of thinking members. Forour members do not feel the happiness of their union, of theirwonderful intelligence, of the care which has been taken to infuse intothem minds, and to make them grow and endure. How happy they would be ifthey saw and felt it! But for this they would need to have intelligenceto know it, and good-will to consent to that of the universal soul. Butif, having received intelligence, they employed it to retain nourishmentfor themselves without allowing it to pass to the other members, theywould hate rather than love themselves; their blessedness, as well astheir duty, consisting in their consent to the guidance of the wholesoul to which they belong, which loves them better than they lovethemselves. 

483

To be a member is to have neither life, being, nor movement, exceptthrough the spirit of the body, and for the body. 

The separate member, seeing no longer the body to which it belongs, hasonly a perishing and dying existence. Yet it believes it is a whole, andseeing not the body on which it depends, it believes it depends only onself, and desires to make itself both centre and body. But not having initself a principle of life, it only goes astray, and is astonished inthe 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 itcomes to know itself, it has returned as it were to its own home, andloves itself only for the body. It deplores its past wanderings. 

It cannot by its nature love any other thing, except for itself and tosubject it to self, because each thing loves itself more than all. Butin loving the body, it loves itself, because it only exists in it, byit, and for it. _Qui adhæret Deo unus spiritus est. _[180]

The body loves the hand; and the hand, if it had a will, should loveitself in the same way as it is loved by the soul. All love which goesbeyond this is unfair. 

_Adhærens Deo unus spiritus est. _ We love ourselves, because we aremembers of Jesus Christ. We love Jesus Christ, because He is the body ofwhich we are members. All is one, one is in the other, like the ThreePersons. 

484

Two laws[181] suffice to rule the whole Christian Republic better thanall the laws of statecraft. 

485

The true and only virtue, then, is to hate self (for we are hateful onaccount of lust), and to seek a truly lovable being to love. But as wecannot love what is outside ourselves, we must love a being who is inus, 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 havingdominion 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 Godas the origin of everything, and which as to its morality does not loveone only God as the object of everything. 

488

. .. But it is impossible that God should ever be the end, if He is notthe beginning. We lift our eyes on high, but lean upon the sand; and theearth 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 ofeverything; everything through Him, everything for Him. The truereligion, 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 loveany other object but ourselves, the religion which instructs us in theseduties must instruct us also of this inability, and teach us also theremedies for it. It teaches us that by one man all was lost, and thebond 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 thatwe must be born guilty, or God would be unjust. 

490

Men, not being accustomed to form merit, but only to recompense it wherethey find it formed, judge of God by themselves. 

491

The true religion must have as a characteristic the obligation to loveGod. 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; oursis so. It must have adduced remedies for this; one is prayer. No otherreligion has asked of God to love and follow Him. 

492

He who hates not in himself his self-love, and that instinct which leadshim to make himself God, is indeed blinded. Who does not see that thereis nothing so opposed to justice and truth? For it is false that wedeserve this, and it is unfair and impossible to attain it, since alldemand the same thing. It is, then, a manifest injustice which is innatein 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 bornin it; or that we were obliged to resist it; or has thought of giving usremedies 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 theesteem and contempt of self, to love and to hate. 

495

If it is an extraordinary blindness to live without investigating whatwe are, it is a terrible one to live an evil life, while believing inGod. 

496

Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety andgoodness. 

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 andsloth, God has revealed to us two of His attributes to cure them, mercyand justice. The property of justice is to humble pride, however holymay be our works, _et non intres in judicium_, [183] etc. ; and theproperty of mercy is to combat sloth by exhorting to good works, according to that passage: "The goodness of God leadeth torepentance, "[184] and that other of the Ninevites: "Let us do penance tosee if peradventure He will pity us. "[185] And thus mercy is so far fromauthorising slackness, that it is on the contrary the quality whichformally attacks it; so that instead of saying, "If there were no mercyin God we should have to make every kind of effort after virtue, " wemust 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 thisdifficulty does not arise from the religion which begins in us, but fromthe irreligion which is still there. If our senses were not opposed topenitence, and if our corruption were not opposed to the purity of God, there would be nothing in this painful to us. We suffer only inproportion as the vice which is natural to us resists supernaturalgrace. Our heart feels torn asunder between these opposed efforts. Butit would be very unfair to impute this violence to God, who is drawingus on, instead of to the world, which is holding us back. It is as achild, which a mother tears from the arms of robbers, in the pain itsuffers, should love the loving and legitimate violence of her whoprocures its liberty, and detest only the impetuous and tyrannicalviolence of those who detain it unjustly. The most cruel war which Godcan make with men in this life is to leave them without that war whichHe came to bring. "I came to send war, "[186] He says, "and to teach themof this war. I came to bring fire and the sword. "[187] Before Him theworld lived in this false peace. 

499

_External works. _--There is nothing so perilous as what pleases God andman. For those states, which please God and man, have one property whichpleases God, and another which pleases men; as the greatness of SaintTeresa. What pleased God was her deep humility in the midst of herrevelations; what pleased men was her light. And so we torment ourselvesto imitate her discourses, thinking to imitate her conditions, and notso much to love what God loves, and to put ourselves in the state whichGod loves. 

It is better not to fast, and thereby humbled, than to fast and beself-satisfied therewith. The Pharisee and the Publican. [188]

What use will memory be to me, if it can alike hurt and help me, and alldepends 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 asthe 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 therighteous man takes for himself nothing of the world, nor the applauseof 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 appetitustuus. _[190] The passions thus subdued are virtues. Even God attributesto Himself avarice, jealousy, anger; and these are virtues as well askindness, pity, constancy, which are also passions. We must employ themas slaves, and, leaving to them their food, prevent the soul from takingany of it. For, when the passions become masters, they are vices; andthey give their nutriment to the soul, and the soul nourishes itselfupon 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 hisservants, he desires their conversion by the Spirit of God, and praysGod to correct them; and he expects as much from God as from his ownreproofs, and prays God to bless his corrections. And so in all hisother actions he proceeds with the Spirit of God; and his actionsdeceive us by reason of the . .. Or suspension of the Spirit of God inhim; and he repents in his affliction. 

505

All things can be deadly to us, even the things made to serve us; as innature walls can kill us, and stairs can kill us, if we do not walkcircumspectly. 

The least movement affects all nature; the entire sea changes because ofa rock. Thus in grace, the least action affects everything by itsconsequences; therefore everything is important. 

In each action we must look beyond the action at our past, present, andfuture state, and at others whom it affects, and see the relations ofall those things. And then we shall be very cautious. 

506

Let God not impute to us our sins, that is to say, all the consequencesand results of our sins, which are dreadful, even those of the smallestfaults, 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 itdoes 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 aman 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 notunworthy of God to pull him out of his misery. 

511

If we would say that man is too insignificant to deserve communion withGod, we must indeed be very great to judge of it. 

512

It is, in peculiar phraseology, wholly the body of Jesus Christ, but itcannot be said to be the whole body of Jesus Christ. [191] The union oftwo things without change does not enable us to say that one becomes theother; 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 onebecome the form of the other; thus the union of the Word to man. Becausemy body without my soul would not make the body of a man; therefore mysoul united to any matter whatsoever will make my body. It does notdistinguish the necessary condition from the sufficient condition; theunion 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 ofmatter. 

Thus if God united my soul to a body in China, the same body, _idemnumero_, would be in China. 

The same river which runs there is _idem numero_ as that which runs atthe 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 infidelityand 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 grantjustice to prayers; He has never promised prayer only to the children ofpromise. 

Saint Augustine has distinctly said that strength would be taken awayfrom the righteous. But it is by chance that he said it; for it mighthave happened that the occasion of saying it did not present itself. Buthis principles make us see that when the occasion for it presenteditself, it was impossible that he should not say it, or that he shouldsay anything to the contrary. It is then rather that he was forced tosay it, when the occasion presented itself, than that he said it, whenthe occasion presented itself, the one being of necessity, the other ofchance. But the two are all that we can ask. 

514

The elect will be ignorant of their virtues, and the outcast of thegreatness 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 byfaith. Then faith is not within our power like the deeds of the law, andit is given to us in another way. 

516

Comfort yourselves. It is not from yourselves that you should expectgrace; 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 toScripture. 

The greatest pain of purgatory is the uncertainty of the judgment. _Deusabsconditus. _

518

John viii. _Multi crediderunt in eum. Dicebat ergo Jesus: "Simanseritis_ . .. 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. Werecognise them by telling them that the truth will make them free; forif they answer that they are free, and that it is in their power to comeout of slavery to the devil, they are indeed disciples, but not truedisciples. 

519

The law has not destroyed nature, but has instructed it; grace has notdestroyed the law, but has made it act. Faith received at baptism is thesource of the whole life of Christians and of the converted. 

520

Grace will always be in the world, and nature also; so that the formeris in some sort natural. And thus there will always be Pelagians, andalways Catholics, and always strife; because the first birth makes theone, 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 lustand in grace. 

523

There is no doctrine more appropriate to man than this, which teacheshim his double capacity of receiving and of losing grace, because of thedouble 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 feelingsof greatness, not from merit, but from grace, and after having passedthrough humiliation. 

525

Misery induces despair, pride induces presumption. The Incarnation showsman the greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy which herequired. 

526

The knowledge of God without that of man's misery causes pride. Theknowledge of man's misery without that of God causes despair. Theknowledge of Jesus Christ constitutes the middle course, because in Himwe find both God and our misery. 

527

Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom wehumble ourselves without despair. 

528

. .. Not a degradation which renders us incapable of good, nor a holinessexempt from evil. 

529

A person told me one day that on coming from confession he felt greatjoy and confidence. Another told me that he remained in fear. WhereuponI thought that these two together would make one good man, and that eachwas wanting in that he had not the feeling of the other. The same oftenhappens 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. Fromhim 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 allconditions. 

Nature seems to have done the same thing by her two infinities, naturaland moral; for we shall always have the higher and the lower, the moreclever and the less clever, the most exalted and the meanest, in orderto humble our pride, and exalt our humility. 

532

_Comminutum cor_ (Saint Paul). This is the Christian character. _Albahas named you, I know you no more_ (Corneille). [198] That is the inhumancharacter. The human character is the opposite. 

533

There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who believe themselvessinners; 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 beingso in the future; for we have many other faults for which we may bedespised. They prepare for us the exercise of correction and freedomfrom fault. 

535

Man is so made that by continually telling him he is a fool he believesit, and by continually telling it to himself he makes himself believeit. For man holds an inward talk with his self alone, which it behoveshim to regulate well: _Corrumpunt bonos mores colloquia prava_. [199] Wemust keep silent as much as possible and talk with ourselves only ofGod, whom we know to be true; and thus we convince ourselves of thetruth. 

536

Christianity is strange. It bids man recognise that he is vile, evenabominable, and bids him desire to be like God. Without such acounterpoise, this dignity would make him horribly vain, or thishumiliation 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 theworms 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 aCarthusian monk? For both are equally under obedience and dependent, both engaged in equally painful exercises. But the soldier always hopesto command, and never attains this, for even captains and princes areever slaves and dependants; still he ever hopes and ever works to attainthis. Whereas the Carthusian monk makes a vow to be always dependent. Sothey do not differ in their perpetual thraldom, in which both of themalways exist, but in the hope, which one always has, and the othernever. 

539

The hope which Christians have of possessing an infinite good is mingledwith real enjoyment as well as with fear; for it is not as with thosewho should hope for a kingdom, of which they, being subjects, would havenothing; but they hope for holiness, for freedom from injustice, andthey have something of this. 

540

None is so happy as a true Christian, nor so reasonable, virtuous, oramiable. 

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 thereasoning of men, and so complicated, that they make little impression;and if they should be of service to some, it would be only during themoment that they see such demonstration; but an hour afterwards theyfear they have been mistaken. 

_Quod curiositate cognoverunt superbia amiserunt. _[200]

This is the result of the knowledge of God obtained without JesusChrist; it is communion without a mediator with the God whom they haveknown without a mediator. Whereas those who have known God by a mediatorknow their own wretchedness. 

543

The God of the Christians is a God who makes the soul feel that He isher only good, that her only rest is in Him, that her only delight isin loving Him; and who makes her at the same time abhor the obstacleswhich keep her back, and prevent her from loving God with all herstrength. Self-love and lust, which hinder us, are unbearable to her. Thus God makes her feel that she has this root of self-love whichdestroys her, and which He alone can cure. 

544

Jesus Christ did nothing but teach men that they loved themselves, thatthey were slaves, blind, sick, wretched, and sinners; that He mustdeliver them, enlighten, bless, and heal them; that this would beeffected by hating self, and by following Him through suffering and thedeath on the cross. 

545

Without Jesus Christ man must be in vice and misery; with Jesus Christman is free from vice and misery; in Him is all our virtue and all ourhappiness. Apart from Him there is but vice, misery, darkness, death, despair. 

546

We know God only by Jesus Christ. Without this mediator all communionwith God is taken away; through Jesus Christ we know God. All those whohave claimed to know God, and to prove Him without Jesus Christ, havehad only weak proofs. But in proof of Jesus Christ we have theprophecies, which are solid and palpable proofs. And these prophecies, being accomplished and proved true by the event, mark the certainty ofthese truths, and therefore the divinity of Christ. In Him then, andthrough Him, we know God. Apart from Him, and without the Scripture, without original sin, without a necessary Mediator promised and come, wecannot absolutely prove God, nor teach right doctrine and rightmorality. But through Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ, we prove God, and teach morality and doctrine. Jesus Christ is then the true God ofmen. 

But we know at the same time our wretchedness; for this God is noneother than the Saviour of our wretchedness. So we can only know God wellby knowing our iniquities. Therefore those who have known God, withoutknowing their wretchedness, have not glorified Him, but have glorifiedthemselves. _Quia . .. Non cognovit per sapientiam . .. Placuit Deo perstultitiam prædicationis salvos facere. _[201]

547

Not only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselvesonly 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 ofGod, 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 humbledthemselves, 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 methe means of helping the very poor. I keep faith with everybody; I donot 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 thoseto whom God has more closely united me; and whether I am alone, or seenof 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, ofmiseries, of lust, of pride, and of ambition, has made a man free fromall these evils by the power of His grace, to which all the glory of itis 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 theCross. 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 tormentswhich men inflict upon Him; but in His agony He suffers the tormentswhich He inflicts on Himself; _turbare semetipsum_. [202] This is asuffering from no human, but an almighty hand, for He must be almightyto bear it. 

Jesus seeks some comfort at least in His three dearest friends, and theyare asleep. He prays them to bear with Him for a little, and they leaveHim with entire indifference, having so little compassion that it couldnot prevent their sleeping even for a moment. And thus Jesus was leftalone to the wrath of God. 

Jesus is alone on the earth, without any one not only to feel and shareHis suffering, but even to know of it; He and Heaven were alone in thatknowledge. 

Jesus is in a garden, not of delight as the first Adam, where he losthimself and the whole human race, but in one of agony, where He savedHimself 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; butthen 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 soleoccasion in all His life, as it seems to me. But He receives it not, forHis disciples are asleep. 

Jesus will be in agony even to the end of the world. We must not sleepduring that time. 

Jesus, in the midst of this universal desertion, including that of Hisown friends chosen to watch with Him, finding them asleep, is vexedbecause of the danger to which they expose, not Him, but themselves; Hecautions them for their own safety and their own good, with a sinceretenderness for them during their ingratitude, and warns them that thespirit is willing and the flesh weak. 

Jesus, finding them still asleep, without being restrained by anyconsideration for themselves or for Him, has the kindness not to wakenthem, 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 haswrought that of each of the righteous while they slept, both in theirnothingness before their birth, and in their sins after their birth. 

He prays only once that the cup pass away, and then with submission; andtwice 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, whichHe loves and admits, since He calls him friend. 

Jesus tears Himself away from His disciples to enter into His agony; wemust 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 ourvices, but that He may deliver us from them. 

If God gave us masters by His own hand, oh! how necessary for us to obeythem with a good heart! Necessity and events follow infallibly. 

--"Console thyself, thou wouldst not seek Me, if thou hadst not foundMe. 

"I thought of thee in Mine agony, I have sweated such drops of blood forthee. 

"It is tempting Me rather than proving thyself, to think if thou wouldstdo such and such a thing on an occasion which has not happened; I shallact in thee if it occur. 

"Let thyself be guided by My rules; see how well I have led the Virginand 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, withoutthy shedding tears?

"Thy conversion is My affair; fear not, and pray with confidence as forMe. 

"I am present with thee by My Word in Scripture, by My Spirit in theChurch and by inspiration, by My power in the priests, by My prayer inthe faithful. 

"Physicians will not heal thee, for thou wilt die at last. But it is Iwho heal thee, and make the body immortal. 

"Suffer bodily chains and servitude, I deliver thee at present only fromspiritual servitude. 

"I am more a friend to thee than such and such an one, for I have donefor thee more than they, they would not have suffered what I havesuffered from thee, and they would not have died for thee as I have donein the time of thine infidelities and cruelties, and as I am ready todo, 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 theirmalice. 

--"No, for I, by whom thou learnest, can heal thee of them, and what Isay to thee is a sign that I will heal thee. In proportion to thyexpiation 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 relationbetween me and God, nor Jesus Christ the Righteous. But He has been madesin for me; all Thy scourges are fallen upon Him. He is more abominablethan I, and, far from abhorring me, He holds Himself honoured that I goto 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 mein saving Himself. But this must not be postponed to the future. 

_Eritis sicut dii scientes bonum et malum. _[205] Each one creates hisgod, when judging, "This is good or bad"; and men mourn or rejoice toomuch at events. 

Do little things as though they were great, because of the majesty ofJesus Christ who does them in us, and who lives our life; and do thegreatest things as though they were little and easy, because of Hisomnipotence. 

553

It seems to me that Jesus Christ only allowed His wounds to be touchedafter His resurrection: _Noli me tangere. _[206] We must unite ourselvesonly to His sufferings. 

At the Last Supper He gave Himself in communion as about to die; to thedisciples at Emmaus as risen from the dead; to the whole Church asascended into heaven. 

554

"Compare not thyself with others, but with Me. If thou dost not find Mein those with whom thou comparest thyself, thou comparest thyself to onewho 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, itis one who is abominable. If it is I, thou comparest Me to Myself. Now Iam God in all. 

"I speak to thee, and often counsel thee, because thy director cannotspeak 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 thyseeing 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 consistsin two points. It is of equal concern to men to know them, and it isequally dangerous to be ignorant to them. And it is equally of God'smercy that He has given indications of both. 

And yet they take occasion to conclude that one of these points does notexist, from that which should have caused them to infer the other. Thesages who have said there is only one God have been persecuted, the Jewswere hated, and still more the Christians. They have seen by the lightof nature that if there be a true religion on earth, the course of allthings must tend to it as to a centre. 

The whole course of things must have for its object the establishmentand the greatness of religion. Men must have within them feelings suitedto what religion teaches us. And, finally, religion must so be theobject and centre to which all things tend, that whoever knows theprinciples of religion can give an explanation both of the whole natureof 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 inthe worship of a God considered as great, powerful, and eternal; whichis strictly deism, almost as far removed from the Christian religion asatheism, which is its exact opposite. And thence they conclude that thisreligion is not true, because they do not see that all things concur tothe establishment of this point, that God does not manifest Himself tomen with all the evidence which He could show. 

But let them conclude what they will against deism, they will concludenothing against the Christian religion, which properly consists in themystery of the Redeemer, who, uniting in Himself the two natures, humanand divine, has redeemed men from the corruption of sin in order toreconcile them in His divine person to God. 

The Christian religion, then, teaches men these two truths; that thereis a God whom men can know, and that there is a corruption in theirnature which renders them unworthy of Him. It is equally important tomen to know both these points; and it is equally dangerous for man toknow God without knowing his own wretchedness, and to know his ownwretchedness without knowing the Redeemer who can free him from it. Theknowledge of only one of these points gives rise either to the pride ofphilosophers, who have known God, and not their own wretchedness, or tothe despair of atheists, who know their own wretchedness, but not theRedeemer. 

And, as it is alike necessary to man to know these two points, so is italike merciful of God to have made us know them. The Christian religiondoes this; it is in this that it consists. 

Let us herein examine the order of the world, and see if all things donot tend to establish these two chief points of this religion: JesusChrist is the end of all, and the centre to which all tends. Whoeverknows Him knows the reason of everything. 

Those who fall into error err only through failure to see one of thesetwo things. We can then have an excellent knowledge of God without thatof our own wretchedness, and of our own wretchedness without that ofGod. But we cannot know Jesus Christ without knowing at the same timeboth God and our own wretchedness. 

Therefore I shall not undertake here to prove by natural reasons eitherthe existence of God, or the Trinity, or the immortality of the soul, oranything of that nature; not only because I should not feel myselfsufficiently able to find in nature arguments to convince hardenedatheists, but also because such knowledge without Jesus Christ isuseless and barren. Though a man should be convinced that numericalproportions are immaterial truths, eternal and dependent on a firsttruth, in which they subsist, and which is called God, I should notthink him far advanced towards his own salvation. 

The God of Christians is not a God who is simply the author ofmathematical truths, or of the order of the elements; that is the viewof heathens and Epicureans. He is not merely a God who exercises Hisprovidence over the life and fortunes of men, to bestow on those whoworship Him a long and happy life. That was the portion of the Jews. Butthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God ofChristians, is a God of love and of comfort, a God who fills the souland heart of those whom He possesses, a God who makes them conscious oftheir inward wretchedness, and His infinite mercy, who unites Himself totheir inmost soul, who fills it with humility and joy, with confidenceand love, who renders them incapable of any other end than Himself. 

All who seek God without Jesus Christ, and who rest in nature, eitherfind no light to satisfy them, or come to form for themselves a means ofknowing God and serving Him without a mediator. Thereby they fall eitherinto atheism, or into deism, two things which the Christian religionabhors almost equally. 

Without Jesus Christ the world would not exist; for it should needs beeither that it would be destroyed or be a hell. 

If the world existed to instruct man of God, His divinity would shinethrough every part in it in an indisputable manner; but as it existsonly by Jesus Christ, and for Jesus Christ, and to teach men both theircorruption and their redemption, all displays the proofs of these twotruths. 

All appearance indicates neither a total exclusion nor a manifestpresence 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 himto believe he possesses it; but he must see enough to know that he haslost it. For to know of his loss, he must see and not see; and that isexactly 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 hemust understand this well. For it is not true that all reveals God, andit is not true that all conceals God. But it is at the same time truethat He hides Himself from those who tempt Him, and that He revealsHimself to those who seek Him, because men are both unworthy and capableof 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 deprivationwould have been equivocal, and might have as well corresponded with theabsence of all divinity, as with the unworthiness of men to know Him;but His occasional, though not continual, appearances remove theambiguity, If He appeared once, He exists always; and thus we cannot butconclude 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 hissin, nor the transmission of it to us. These are matters which tookplace 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 wehave wonderful proofs on earth. 

So the two proofs of corruption and redemption are drawn from theungodly, who live in indifference to religion, and from the Jews who areirreconcilable enemies. 

560

There are two ways of proving the truths of our religion; one by thepower 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 wesay that it must be believed for such and such a reason, which arefeeble arguments, as reason may be bent to everything. 

561

There is nothing on earth that does not show either the wretchedness ofman, or the mercy of God; either the weakness of man without God, or thestrength of man with God. 

562

It will be one of the confusions of the damned to see that they arecondemned by their own reason, by which they claimed to condemn theChristian religion. 

563

The prophecies, the very miracles and proofs of our religion, are not ofsuch a nature that they can be said to be absolutely convincing. Butthey are also of such a kind that it cannot be said that it isunreasonable to believe them. Thus there is both evidence and obscurityto enlighten some and confuse others. But the evidence is such that itsurpasses, or at least equals, the evidence to the contrary; so that itis not reason which can determine men not to follow it, and thus it canonly be lust or malice of heart. And by this means there is sufficientevidence to condemn, and insufficient to convince; so that it appears inthose who follow it, that it is grace, and not reason, which makes themfollow it; and in those who shun it, that it is lust, not reason, whichmakes them shun it. 

_Vere discipuli, vere Israëlita, vere liberi, vere cibus. _[207]

564

Recognise, then, the truth of religion in the very obscurity ofreligion, in the little light we have of it, and in the indifferencewhich we have to knowing it. 

565

We understand nothing of the works of God, if we do not take as aprinciple that He has willed to blind some, and enlighten others. 

566

The two contrary reasons. We must begin with that; without that weunderstand nothing, and all is heretical; and we must even add at theend of each truth that the opposite truth is to be remembered. 

567

_Objection. _ The Scripture is plainly full of matters not dictated bythe Holy Spirit. --_Answer. _ Then they do not harm faith. --_Objection. _But the Church has decided that all is of the Holy Spirit. --_Answer. _ Ianswer two things: first, the Church has not so decided; secondly, ifshe should so decide, it could be maintained. 

Do you think that the prophecies cited in the Gospel are related to makeyou believe? No, it is to keep you from believing. 

568

_Canonical. _--The heretical books in the beginning of the Church serveto 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 Hisfirst coming; why prophesied obscurely as to the manner. 

570

_The reason why. Types. _--[They had to deal with a carnal people and torender them the depositary of the spiritual covenant. ] To give faith tothe Messiah, it was necessary there should have been precedentprophecies, and that these should be conveyed by persons abovesuspicion, diligent, faithful, unusually zealous, and known to all theworld. 

To accomplish all this, God chose this carnal people, to whom Heentrusted the prophecies which foretell the Messiah as a deliverer, andas a dispenser of those carnal goods which this people loved. And thusthey have had an extraordinary passion for their prophets, and, in sightof the whole world, have had charge of these books which foretell theirMessiah, assuring all nations that He should come, and in the wayforetold in the books, which they held open to the whole world. Yet thispeople, deceived by the poor and ignominious advent of the Messiah, havebeen His most cruel enemies. So that they, the people least open tosuspicion in the world of favouring us, the most strict and most zealousthat can be named for their law and their prophets, have kept the booksincorrupt. Hence those who have rejected and crucified Jesus Christ, whohas been to them an offence, are those who have charge of the bookswhich 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 beenalike proved both by the righteous Jews who received Him, and by theunrighteous who rejected Him, both facts having been foretold. 

Wherefore the prophecies have a hidden and spiritual meaning, to whichthis people were hostile, under the carnal meaning which they loved. Ifthe spiritual meaning had been revealed, they would not have loved it, and, unable to bear it, they would not have been zealous of thepreservation of their books and their ceremonies; and if they had lovedthese spiritual promises, and had preserved them incorrupt till the timeof the Messiah, their testimony would have had no force, because theyhad 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 toappear at all, it could not have served as a proof of the Messiah. Whatthen was done? In a crowd of passages it has been hidden under thetemporal meaning, and in a few has been clearly revealed; besides thatthe time and the state of the world have been so clearly foretold thatit is clearer than the sun. And in some places this spiritual meaning isso clearly expressed, that it would require a blindness like that whichthe flesh imposes on the spirit when it is subdued by it, not torecognise it. 

See, then, what has been the prudence of God. This meaning is concealedunder another in an infinite number of passages, and in some, thoughrarely, it is revealed; but yet so that the passages in which it isconcealed are equivocal, and can suit both meanings; whereas thepassages where it is disclosed are unequivocal, and can only suit thespiritual meaning. 

So that this cannot lead us into error, and could only be misunderstoodby so carnal a people. 

For when blessings are promised in abundance, what was to prevent themfrom understanding the true blessings, but their covetousness, whichlimited the meaning to worldly goods? But those whose only good was inGod referred them to God alone. For there are two principles, whichdivide the wills of men, covetousness and charity. Not that covetousnesscannot exist along with faith in God, nor charity with worldly riches;but covetousness uses God, and enjoys the world, and charity is theopposite. 

Now the ultimate end gives names to things. All which prevents us fromattaining it, is called an enemy to us. Thus the creatures, howevergood, are the enemies of the righteous, when they turn them away fromGod, and God Himself is the enemy of those whose covetousness Heconfounds. 

Thus as the significance of the word "enemy" is dependent on theultimate end, the righteous understood by it their passions, and thecarnal the Babylonians; and so these terms were obscure only for theunrighteous. And this is what Isaiah says: _Signa legem in electismeis_, [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 Isay. The righteous shall know them, for the ways of God are right; butthe transgressors shall fall therein. "

571

Hypothesis that the apostles were impostors. --The time clearly, themanner obscurely. --Five typical proofs. 

 {1600 prophets. 2000 { { 400 scattered. 

572

_Blindness of Scripture. _--"The Scripture, " said the Jews, "says that weshall not know whence Christ will come (John vii, 27, and xii, 34). TheScripture says that Christ abideth for ever, and He said that He shoulddie. " Therefore, says Saint John, [210] they believed not, though He haddone so many miracles, that the word of Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Hehath blinded them, " etc. 

573

_Greatness. _--Religion is so great a thing that it is right that thosewho will not take the trouble to seek it, if it be obscure, should bedeprived of it. Why, then, do any complain, if it be such as can befound by seeking?

574

All things work together for good to the elect, even the obscurities ofScripture; for they honour them because of what is divinely clear. Andall things work together for evil to the rest of the world, even what isclear; for they revile such, because of the obscurities which they donot understand. 

575

_The general conduct of the world towards the Church: God willing toblind and to enlighten. _--The event having proved the divinity of theseprophecies, the rest ought to be believed. And thereby we see the orderof the world to be of this kind. The miracles of the Creation and theDeluge being forgotten, God sends the law and the miracles of Moses, theprophets who prophesied particular things; and to prepare a lastingmiracle, He prepares prophecies and their fulfilment; but, as theprophecies 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 theelect. 

577

There is sufficient clearness to enlighten the elect, and sufficientobscurity to humble them. There is sufficient obscurity to blind thereprobate, and sufficient clearness to condemn them, and make theminexcusable. --Saint Augustine, Montaigne, Sébond. 

The genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament is intermingled withso many others that are useless, that it cannot be distinguished. IfMoses had kept only the record of the ancestors of Christ, that mighthave been too plain. If he had not noted that of Jesus Christ, it mightnot have been sufficiently plain. But, after all, whoever looks closelysees that of Jesus Christ expressly traced through Tamar, [211]Ruth, [212] etc. 

Those who ordained these sacrifices, knew their uselessness; those whohave 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 thisconfusion. 

_The premiss. _--Moses was a clever man. If, then, he ruled himself byhis reason, he would say nothing clearly which was directly againstreason. 

Thus all the very apparent weaknesses are strength. Example; the twogenealogies in Saint Matthew and Saint Luke. What can be clearer thanthat this was not concerted?

578

God (and the Apostles), foreseeing that the seeds of pride would makeheresies spring up, and being unwilling to give them occasion to arisefrom correct expressions, has put in Scripture and the prayers of theChurch 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, andsome defects to show that she is only His image. 

580

God prefers rather to incline the will than the intellect. Perfectclearness would be of use to the intellect, and would harm the will. Tohumble pride. 

581

We make an idol of truth itself; for truth apart from charity is notGod, but His image and idol, which we must neither love nor worship; andstill less must we love or worship its opposite, namely, falsehood. 

I can easily love total darkness; but if God keeps me in a state ofsemi-darkness, such partial darkness displeases me, and, because I donot 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 sofar as consistent with their own interest. But, apart from that, theyrenounce it. 

583

The world exists for the exercise of mercy and judgment, not as if menwere placed in it out of the hands of God, but as hostile to God; and tothem 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 bepunished, 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 wereno martyrs but in our religion. 

God being thus hidden, every religion which does not affirm that God ishidden, is not true; and every religion which does not give the reasonof it, is not instructive. Our religion does, all this: _Vere tu es Deusabsconditus. _

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 notonly fair, but advantageous to us, that God be partly hidden and partlyrevealed; since it is equally dangerous to man to know God withoutknowing his own wretchedness, and to know his own wretchedness withoutknowing God. 

586

This religion, so great in miracles, saints, blameless Fathers, learnedand great witnesses, martyrs, established kings as David, and Isaiah, aprince of the blood, and so great in science, after having displayed allher miracles and all her wisdom, rejects all this, and declares that shehas neither wisdom nor signs, but only the cross and foolishness. 

For those, who, by these signs and that wisdom, have deserved yourbelief, and who have proved to you their character, declare to you thatnothing of all this can change you, and render you capable of knowingand loving God, but the power of the foolishness of the cross withoutwisdom and signs, and not the signs without this power. Thus ourreligion is foolish in respect to the effective cause, and wise inrespect 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 itis not all this which makes us belong to it. This makes us indeedcondemn those who do not belong to it; but it does not cause belief inthose who do belong to it. It is the cross that makes them believe, _neevacuata 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 toconvert. But those who come only to convince, can say that they comewith wisdom and with signs. 

SECTION IX

PERPETUITY

588

_On the fact that the Christian religion is not the only religion. _--Sofar is this from being a reason for believing that it is not the trueone, that, on the contrary, it makes us see that it is so. 

589

Men must be sincere in all religions; true heathens, true Jews, trueChristians. 

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 witnessesgot 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 itsomething to blind, and something to enlighten. 

By this one word I destroy all your reasoning. "But China obscures, " sayyou; 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 againstthe 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 fivesuns, [214] of which the last is only eight hundred years old. 

The difference between a book accepted by a nation, and one which makesa nation. 

594

Mahomet was without authority. His reasons then should have been verystrong, having only their own force. What does he say then, that we mustbelieve him?

595

The Psalms are chanted throughout the whole world. 

Who renders testimony to Mahomet? Himself. Jesus Christ[215] desires Hisown testimony to be as nothing. 

The quality of witnesses necessitates their existence always andeverywhere; and he, miserable creature, is alone. 

596

_Against Mahomet. _--The Koran is not more of Mahomet than the Gospel isof Saint Matthew, for it is cited by many authors from age to age. Evenits very enemies, Celsus and Porphyry, never denied it. 

The Koran says Saint Matthew was an honest man. [216] Therefore Mahometwas a false prophet for calling honest men wicked, or for not agreeingwith what they have said of Jesus Christ. 

597

It is not by that which is obscure in Mahomet, and which may beinterpreted in a mysterious sense, that I would have him judged, but bywhat 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 hisobscurities for mysteries. 

It is not the same with the Scripture. I agree that there are in itobscurities as strange as those of Mahomet; but there are admirablyclear passages, and the prophecies are manifestly fulfilled. The casesare therefore not on a par. We must not confound, and put on one levelthings which only resemble each other in their obscurity, and not in theclearness, which requires us to reverence the obscurities. 

598

_The difference between Jesus Christ and Mahomet. _--Mahomet was notforetold; 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 succeedfrom a worldly point of view, Jesus Christ, from the same point of view, took the way to perish. And instead of concluding that, since Mahometsucceeded, Jesus Christ might well have succeeded, we ought to say thatsince Mahomet succeeded, Jesus Christ should have failed. 

599

Any man can do what Mahomet has done; for he performed no miracles, hewas not foretold. No man can do what Christ has done. 

600

The heathen religion has no foundation [at the present day. It is saidonce to have had a foundation by the oracles which spoke. But what arethe books which assure us of this? Are they so worthy of belief onaccount of the virtue of their authors? Have they been preserved withsuch care that we can be sure that they have not been meddled with?]

The Mahometan religion has for a foundation the Koran and Mahomet. Buthas this prophet, who was to be the last hope of the world, beenforetold? What sign has he that every other man has not, who chooses tocall himself a prophet? What miracles does he himself say that he hasdone? 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 theHoly Bible, and in the tradition of the people. Its morality andhappiness are absurd in the tradition of the people, but are admirablein that of the Holy Bible. (And all religion is the same; for theChristian religion is very different in the Holy Bible and in thecasuists. ) The foundation is admirable; it is the most ancient book inthe world, and the most authentic; and whereas Mahomet, in order to makehis 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 thefoundation of it. 

601

_Order. _--To see what is clear and indisputable in the whole state ofthe Jews. 

602

The Jewish religion is wholly divine in its authority, its duration, itsperpetuity, its morality, its doctrine, and its effects. 

603

The only science contrary to common sense and human nature is that alonewhich has always existed among men. 

604

The only religion contrary to nature, to common sense, and to ourpleasure, is that alone which has always existed. 

605

No religion but our own has taught that man is born in sin. No sect ofphilosophers has said this. Therefore none have declared the truth. 

No sect or religion has always existed on earth, but the Christianreligion. 

606

Whoever judges of the Jewish religion by its coarser forms willmisunderstand it. It is to be seen in the Holy Bible, and in thetradition of the prophets, who have made it plain enough that they didnot interpret the law according to the letter. So our religion is divinein the Gospel, in the Apostles, and in tradition; but it is absurd inthose who tamper with it. 

The Messiah, according to the carnal Jews, was to be a great temporalprince. Jesus Christ, according to carnal Christians, [218] has come todispense us from the love of God, and to give us sacraments which shalldo everything without our help. Such is not the Christian religion, northe Jewish. True Jews and true Christians have always expected a Messiahwho should make them love God, and by that love triumph over theirenemies. 

607

The carnal Jews hold a midway place between Christians and heathens. Theheathens know not God, and love the world only. The Jews know the trueGod, and love the world only. The Christians know the true God, and lovenot the world. Jews and heathens love the same good. Jews and Christiansknow the same God. 

The Jews were of two kinds; the first had only heathen affections, theother 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 ofnatural religion; among the Jews, the carnal, and the spiritual, whowere the Christians of the old law; among Christians, thecoarser-minded, who are the Jews of the new law. The carnal Jews lookedfor a carnal Messiah; the coarser Christians believe that the Messiahhas dispensed them from the love of God; true Jews and true Christiansworship a Messiah who makes them love God. 

609

_To show that the true Jews and the true Christians have but the samereligion. _--The religion of the Jews seemed to consist essentially inthe fatherhood of Abraham, in circumcision, in sacrifices, inceremonies, in the Ark, in the temple, in Jerusalem, and, finally, inthe law, and in the covenant with Moses. 

I say that it consisted in none of those things, but only in the love ofGod, 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 walkafter other gods, I testify against you this day that ye shall surelyperish, as the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face. "

That strangers, if they loved God, were to be received by Him as theJews. _Isaiah_ lvi, 3: "Let not the stranger say, 'The Lord will notreceive me. ' The strangers who join themselves unto the Lord to serveHim and love Him, will I bring unto my holy mountain, and accept thereinsacrifices, for mine house is a house of prayer. "

That the true Jews considered their merit to be from God only, and notfrom Abraham. _Isaiah_ lxiii, 16; "Doubtless thou art our Father, thoughAbraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. Thou art ourFather 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 theescape 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 topass that, being in the desert, they were not circumcised because theycould 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 thesuperfluities of your heart, and harden yourselves not. For your God isa mighty God, strong and terrible, who accepteth not persons. "

That God said He would one day do it. _Deut. _ xxx, 6; "God willcircumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, that thou mayest loveHim with all thine heart. "

That the uncircumcised in heart shall be judged. _Jeremiah_ ix, 26: ForGod 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 lifeand death, that you should choose life, and love God, and obey Him, forGod is your life. "

That the Jews, for lack of that love, should be rejected for theiroffences, 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 tojealousy with that which is not God, and I will move them to jealousywith those which are not a people, and with an ignorant and foolishnation. " _Isaiah_ lxv, 1. 

That temporal goods are false, and that the true good is to be united toGod. _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 thatGod 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 beannulled. _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 sacrificesestablished. _Malachi_ i, II. 

That the order of Aaron's priesthood should be rejected, and that ofMelchizedek introduced by the Messiah. _Ps. Dixit Dominus. _

That this priesthood should be eternal. _Ibid. _

That Jerusalem should be rejected, and Rome admitted. _Ps. DixitDominus. _

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, andeternal. _Isaiah_ lvi, 5. 

That the Jews should be without prophets (Amos), without a king, withoutprinces, 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 hadGod 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 forGod. 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 consistsin believing that man has fallen from a state of glory and of communionwith God into a state of sorrow, penitence, and estrangement from God, but that after this life we shall be restored by a Messiah who shouldhave come. All things have passed away, and this has endured, for whichall things are. 

Men have in the first age of the world been carried away into every kindof debauchery, and yet there were saints, as Enoch, Lamech, and others, who waited patiently for the Christ promised from the beginning of theworld. Noah saw the wickedness of men at its height; and he was heldworthy to save the world in his person, by the hope of the Messiah ofwhom he was the type. Abraham was surrounded by idolaters, when God madeknown to him the mystery of the Messiah, whom he welcomed fromafar. [219] In the time of Isaac and Jacob abomination was spread overall the earth; but these saints lived in faith; and Jacob, dying andblessing his children, cried in a transport which made him break off hisdiscourse, "I await, O my God, the Saviour whom Thou hast promised. _Salutare taum expectabo, Domine. _"[220] The Egyptians were infectedboth with idolatry and magic; the very people of God were led astray bytheir example. Yet Moses and others believed Him whom they saw not, andworshipped Him, looking to the eternal gifts which He was preparing forthem. 

The Greeks and Latins then set up false deities; the poets made ahundred different theologies, while the philosophers separated into athousand different sects; and yet in the heart of Judæa there werealways chosen men who foretold the coming of this Messiah, which wasknown to them alone. 

He came at length in the fullness of time, and time has since witnessedthe birth of so many schisms and heresies, so many politicalrevolutions, so many changes in all things; yet this Church, whichworships Him who has always been worshipped, has endureduninterruptedly. It is a wonderful, incomparable, and altogether divinefact that this religion, which has always endured, has always beenattacked. It has been a thousand times on the eve of universaldestruction, and every time it has been in that state, God has restoredit by extraordinary acts of His power. This is astonishing, as also thatit has preserved itself without yielding to the will of tyrants. For itis not strange that a State endures, when its laws are sometimes madeto give way to necessity, but that . .. (See the passage indicated inMontaigne. )

613

States would perish if they did not often make their laws give way tonecessity. But religion has never suffered this, or practised it. Indeed, there must be these compromises, or miracles. It is not strangeto be saved by yieldings, and this is not strictly self-preservation;besides, in the end they perish entirely. None has endured a thousandyears. 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 religionhas something astonishing in it. Some will say, "This is because youwere born in it. " Far from it; I stiffen myself against it for this veryreason, for fear this prejudice bias me. But although I am born in it, Icannot help finding it so. 

615

_Perpetuity. _--The Messiah has always been believed in. The traditionfrom Adam was fresh in Noah and in Moses. Since then the prophets haveforetold him, while at the same time foretelling other things, which, being from time to time fulfilled in the sight of men, showed the truthof their mission, and consequently that of their promises touching theMessiah. Jesus Christ performed miracles, and the Apostles also, whoconverted all the heathen; and all the prophecies being therebyfulfilled, the Messiah is for ever proved. 

616

_Perpetuity. _--Let us consider that since the beginning of the world theexpectation of worship of the Messiah has existed uninterruptedly; thatthere have been found men, who said that God had revealed to them that aRedeemer was to be born, who should save His people; that Abraham cameafterwards, saying that he had had a revelation that the Messiah was tospring 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 andthe 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 forever; that thus either their law, or that of the Messiah, of which itwas the promise, would be always upon the earth; that, in fact, it hasalways endured; that at last Jesus Christ came with all thecircumstances foretold. This is wonderful. 

617

This is positive fact. While all philosophers separate into differentsects, there is found in one corner of the world the most ancient peoplein it, declaring that all the world is in error, that God has revealedto 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 sofor four thousand years. 

They declare that they hold from their ancestors that man has fallenfrom communion with God, and is entirely estranged from God, but that Hehas promised to redeem them; that this doctrine shall always exist onthe earth; that their law has a double signification; that duringsixteen hundred years they have had people, whom they believed prophets, foretelling both the time and the manner; that four hundred years afterthey were scattered everywhere, because Jesus Christ was to beeverywhere announced; that Jesus Christ came in the manner, and at thetime foretold; that the Jews have since been scattered abroad under acurse, and nevertheless still exist. 

618

I see the Christian religion founded upon a preceding religion, and thisis what I find as a fact. 

I do not here speak of the miracles of Moses, of Jesus Christ, and ofthe Apostles, because they do not at first seem convincing, and becauseI only wish here to put in evidence all those foundations of theChristian religion which are beyond doubt, and which cannot be called inquestion by any person whatsoever. It is certain that we see in manyplaces of the world a peculiar people, separated from all other peoplesof the world, and called the Jewish people. 

I see then a crowd of religions in many parts of the world and in alltimes; but their morality cannot please me, nor can their proofsconvince me. Thus I should equally have rejected the religion of Mahometand of China, of the ancient Romans and of the Egyptians, for the solereason, that none having more marks of truth than another, nor anythingwhich should necessarily persuade me, reason cannot incline to onerather than the other. 

But, in thus considering this changeable and singular variety of moralsand beliefs at different times, I find in one corner of the world apeculiar people, separated from all other peoples on earth, the mostancient of all, and whose histories are earlier by many generations thanthe 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 thatthey obtained from His own hand. They maintain that they are the onlypeople in the world to whom God has revealed His mysteries; that all menare corrupt and in disgrace with God; that they are all abandoned totheir senses and their own imagination, whence come the strange errorsand continual changes which happen among them, both of religions and ofmorals, whereas they themselves remain firm in their conduct; but thatGod will not leave other nations in this darkness for ever; that therewill come a Saviour for all; that they are in the world to announce Himto men; that they are expressly formed to be forerunners and heralds ofthis great event, and to summon all nations to join with them in theexpectation of this Saviour. 

To meet with this people is astonishing to me, and seems to me worthy ofattention. I look at the law which they boast of having obtained fromGod, and I find it admirable. It is the first law of all, and is of sucha kind that, even before the term _law_ was in currency among theGreeks, it had, for nearly a thousand years earlier, beenuninterruptedly accepted and observed by the Jews. I likewise think itstrange 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 isapparent from the law of the Twelve Tables at Athens, [221] afterwardstaken 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 atonce attracts my attention by the number of wonderful and singular factswhich appear about them. 

I first see that they are a people wholly composed of brethren, andwhereas all others are formed by the assemblage of an infinity offamilies, this, though so wonderfully fruitful, has all sprung from oneman 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, afact which seems to me to inspire a peculiar veneration for it, especially in view of our present inquiry; since if God had from alltime revealed Himself to men, it is to these we must turn for knowledgeof the tradition. 

This people is not eminent solely by their antiquity, but is alsosingular by their duration, which has always continued from their origintill 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 sinceperished, these ever remain, and in spite of the endeavours of manypowerful kings who have a hundred times tried to destroy them, as theirhistorians testify, and as it is easy to conjecture from the naturalorder of things during so long a space of years, they have neverthelessbeen preserved (and this preservation has been foretold); and extendingfrom the earliest times to the latest, their history comprehends in itsduration all our histories [which it preceded by a long time]. 

The law by which this people is governed is at once the most ancient lawin the world, the most perfect, and the only one which has been alwaysobserved without a break in a state. This is what Josephus admirablyproves, _against Apion_, [223] and also Philo[224] the Jew, in differentplaces, 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 yearsafterwards; so that Homer, who has written the history of so manystates, has never used the term. And it is easy to judge of itsperfection by simply reading it; for we see that it has provided for allthings with so great wisdom, equity, and judgment, that the most ancientlegislators, Greek and Roman, having had some knowledge of it, haveborrowed from it their principal laws; this is evident from what arecalled the Twelve Tables, and from the other proofs which Josephusgives. 

But this law is at the same time the severest and strictest of all inrespect to their religious worship, imposing on this people, in order tokeep them to their duty, a thousand peculiar and painful observances, onpain of death. Whence it is very astonishing that it has beenconstantly preserved during many centuries by a people, rebellious andimpatient as this one was; while all other states have changed theirlaws from time to time, although these were far more lenient. 

The book which contains this law, the first of all, is itself the mostancient book in the world, those of Homer, Hesiod, and others, being sixor seven hundred years later. 

620

The creation and the deluge being past, and God no longer requiring todestroy the world, nor to create it anew, nor to give such great signsof Himself, He began to establish a people on the earth, purposelyformed, who were to last until the coming of the people whom the Messiahshould fashion by His spirit. 

621

The creation of the world beginning to be distant, God provided a singlecontemporary historian, and appointed a whole people as guardians ofthis book, in order that this history might be the most authentic in theworld, 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 sofew?

Because it is not the length of years, but the multitude of generations, which renders things obscure. For truth is perverted only by the changeof men. And yet he puts two things, the most memorable that were everimagined, namely, the creation and the deluge, so near that we reachfrom one to the other. 

624

Shem, who saw Lamech, who saw Adam, saw also Jacob, who saw those whosaw Moses; therefore the deluge and the creation are true. This isconclusive among certain people who understand it rightly. 

625

The longevity of the patriarchs, instead of causing the loss of pasthistory, conduced, on the contrary, to its preservation. For the reasonwhy we are sometimes insufficiently instructed in the history of ourancestors, is that we have never lived long with them, and that they areoften dead before we have attained the age of reason. Now, when menlived so long, children lived long with their parents. They conversedlong with them. But what else could be the subject of their talk savethe 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 ofdaily conversation? We see also that in these days tribes tookparticular 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 bookand another! I am not astonished that the Greeks made the Iliad, nor theEgyptians and the Chinese their histories. 

We have only to see how this originates. These fabulous historians arenot contemporaneous with the facts about which they write. Homercomposes a romance, which he gives out as such, and which is received assuch; for nobody doubted that Troy and Agamemnon no more existed thandid 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; thebeauty of the work has made it last, every one learns it and talks ofit, it is necessary to know it, and each one knows it by heart. Fourhundred years afterwards the witnesses of these facts are no longeralive, 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 Sibylsand Trismegistus, [226] and so many others which have been believed bythe world, are false, and found to be false in the course of time. It isnot 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. Wecannot 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 moreprophets; 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 inthe world, and no root in nature. 

630

_Sincerity of the Jews. _--They preserve lovingly and carefully the bookin which Moses declares that they have been all their life ungrateful toGod, and that he knows they will be still more so after his death; butthat 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 themamong all the nations of the earth; that as they have offended Him byworshipping gods who were not their God, so He will provoke them bycalling a people who are not His people; that He desires that all Hiswords be preserved for ever, and that His book be placed in the Ark ofthe 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 provedfalse by Maccabees: "Jeremiah gave them the law. "

The story that he recited the whole by heart. Josephus and Esdras pointout _that he read the book_. Baronius, _Ann. _, p. 180: _Nullus penitusHebræorum antiquorum reperitur qui tradiderit libros periisse et perEsdram esse restitutos, nisi in IV Esdræ. _

The story that he changed the letters. 

Philo, _in Vita Moysis: Illa lingua ac character quo antiquitus scriptaest lex sic permansit usque ad LXX. _

Josephus says that the Law was in Hebrew when it was translated by theSeventy. 

Under Antiochus and Vespasian, when they wanted to abolish the books, and when there was no prophet, they could not do so. And under theBabylonians, when no persecution had been made, and when there were somany prophets, would they have let them be burnt?

Josephus laughs at the Greeks who would not bear . .. 

Tertullian. [230]--_Perinde potuit abolefactam eam violentia cataclysmiin spiritu rursus reformare, quemadmodum et Hierosolymis Babyloniaexpugnatione deletis, omne instrumentum Judaicæ literaturæ per Esdramconstat restauratum. _

He says that Noah could as easily have restored in spirit the book ofEnoch, destroyed by the Deluge, as Esdras could have restored theScriptures lost during the Captivity. 

(Θεὸς) ἐν τῆ ἐπὶ Ναβουχοδόνοσορ αἰχμαλωία τοῦ λαοῦ, διαφθαρεισῶν τῶνγραφῶν . .. ἐνέπνευσε Εσδρᾷ τῶ ἱερεἱ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Λευὶ τοῦς τῶνπρογεγονότων προφητῶν πάντας ἀνατάξασθαι λόγους, και ἀποκαταστῆσαι τῲλαω τὴν διὰ Μωυσέως νομοθίαν. [231] He alleges this to prove that it isnot incredible that the Seventy may have explained the holy Scriptureswith that uniformity which we admire in them. And he took that fromSaint Irenæus. [232]

Saint Hilary, in his preface to the Psalms, says that Esdras arrangedthe Psalms in order. 

The origin of this tradition comes from the 14th chapter of the fourthbook of Esdras. _Deus glorificatus est, et Scripturæ vere divinæ creditæsunt, omnibus eandem et eisdem verbis et eisdem nominibus recitantibusab initio usque ad finem, uti et præsentes gentes cognoscerent quoniamper inspirationem Dei interpretatæ sunt Scripturæ, et non esset mirabileDeum hoc in eis operatum: quando in ea captivitate populi quæ facta esta Nabuchodonosor, corruptis scripturis et post 70 annos Judæisdescendentibus in regionem suam, et post deinde temporibus ArtaxerxisPersarum regis, inspiravit Esdræ sacerdoti tribus Levi præteritorumprophetarum omnes rememorare sermones, et restituere populo eam legemquæ 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 thepeople. 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 aboutthis restoration. --2 Kings xvii, 27. 

633

If the story in Esdras[233] is credible, then it must be believed thatthe Scripture is Holy Scripture; for this story is based only on theauthority of those who assert that of the Seventy, which shows that theScripture 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 ourreligion, founded on Moses, establish it by the same authority by whichthey 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 vocallaw, 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 _BabylonianTalmud_, 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 inBabylon, because the return was promised and foretold. 

637

_Proofs of Jesus Christ. _--Captivity, with the assurance of deliverancewithin seventy years, was not real captivity. But now they are captiveswithout any hope. 

God has promised them that even though He should scatter them to theends of the earth, nevertheless if they were faithful to His law, Hewould assemble them together again. They are very faithful to it, andremain oppressed. 

638

When Nebuchadnezzar carried away the people, for fear they shouldbelieve that the sceptre had departed from Judah, they were toldbeforehand that they would be there for a short time, and that theywould be restored. They were always consoled by the prophets; and theirkings continued. But the second destruction is without promise ofrestoration, 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 thisJewish people existing so many years in perpetual misery, it beingnecessary as a proof of Jesus Christ, both that they should exist toprove Him, and that they should be miserable because they crucified Him;and though to be miserable and to exist are contradictory, theynevertheless still exist in spite of their misery. 

640

They are visibly a people expressly created to serve as a witness to theMessiah (Isaiah, xliii, 9; xliv, 8). They keep the books, and love them, and do not understand them. And all this was foretold; that God'sjudgments 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. Toexamine the prophecies, we must understand them. For if we believe theyhave only one meaning, it is certain that the Messiah has not come; butif they have two meanings, it is certain that He has come in JesusChrist. 

The whole problem then is to know if they have two meanings. 

That the Scripture has two meanings, which Jesus Christ and the Apostleshave 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 giveto 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 humiliatingone, according to their desert; that the prophets have prophesied of theMessiah only--the Law is not eternal, but must change at the coming ofthe Messiah--that then they shall no more remember the Red Sea; that theJews 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 quodfilius hominis habet potestatem remittendi peccata, tibi dico:Surge. _[235] God, wishing to show that He could form a people holy withan invisible holiness, and fill them with an eternal glory, made visiblethings. As nature is an image of grace, He has done in the bounties ofnature what He would do in those of grace, in order that we might judgethat He could make the invisible, since He made the visible excellently. 

Therefore He saved this people from the deluge; He has raised them upfrom 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 awhole 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 ultimateend. 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 theirsatisfaction, and differ only in the object in which they place it; theycall those their enemies who hinder them, etc. God has then shown thepower which He has of giving invisible blessings, by that which He hasshown Himself to have over things visible. 

643

_Types. _--God, wishing to form for Himself an holy people, whom Heshould separate from all other nations, whom He should deliver fromtheir enemies, and should put into a place of rest, has promised to doso, and has foretold by His prophets the time and the manner of Hiscoming. And yet, to confirm the hope of His elect, He has made them seein it an image through all time, without leaving them devoid ofassurances of His power and of His will to save them. For, at thecreation of man, Adam was the witness, and guardian of the promise of aSaviour, who should be born of woman, when men were still so near thecreation that they could not have forgotten their creation and theirfall. When those who had seen Adam were no longer in the world, God sentNoah whom He saved, and drowned the whole earth by a miracle whichsufficiently indicated the power which He had to save the world, and thewill which He had to do so, and to raise up from the seed of woman Himwhom He had promised. This miracle was enough to confirm the hope ofmen. 

The memory of the deluge being so fresh among men, while Noah was stillalive, 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 tolack of power. 

645

The Synagogue did not perish, because it was a type. But because it wasonly a type, it fell into servitude. The type existed till the truthcame, in order that the Church should be always visible, either in thesign which promised it, or in substance. 

646

That the law was figurative. 

647

Two errors: 1. To take everything literally. 2. To take everythingspiritually. 

648

To speak against too greatly figurative language. 

649

There are some types clear and demonstrative, but others which seemsomewhat far-fetched, and which convince only those who are alreadypersuaded. These are like the Apocalyptics. But the difference is thatthey have none which are certain, so that nothing is so unjust as toclaim that theirs are as well founded as some of ours; for they havenone so demonstrative as some of ours. The comparison is unfair. We mustnot put on the same level, and confound things, because they seem toagree in one point, while they are so different in another. Theclearness in divine things requires us to revere the obscurities inthem. 

[It is like men, who employ a certain obscure language among themselves. Those who should not understand it, would understand only a foolishmeaning. ]

650

_Extravagances of the Apocalyptics, Preadamites, Millenarians, etc. _--Hewho would base extravagant opinions on Scripture, will, for example, base them on this. It is said that "this generation shall not pass tillall these things be fulfilled. "[236] Upon that I will say that afterthat generation will come another generation, and so on ever insuccession. 

Solomon and the King are spoken of in the second book of Chronicles, asif they were two different persons. I will say that they were two. 

651

_Particular Types. _--A double law, double tables of the law, a doubletemple, a double captivity. 

652

_Types. _--The prophets prophesied by symbols of a girdle, a beard andburnt hair, etc. 

653

Difference between dinner and supper. [237]

In God the word does not differ from the intention, for He is true; northe word from the effect, for He is powerful; nor the means from theeffect, for He is wise. Bern. , _Ult. Sermo in Missam_. 

Augustine, _De Civit. Dei_, v, 10. This rule is general. God can doeverything, except those things, which if He could do, He would not bealmighty, as dying, being deceived, lying, etc. 

Several Evangelists for the confirmation of the truth; their differenceuseful. 

The Eucharist after the Lord's Supper. Truth after the type. 

The ruin of Jerusalem, a type of the ruin of the world, forty yearsafter 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 thebeginning of the six ages, the six mornings at the beginning of the sixages. [238]

655

Adam _forma futuri_. [239] The six days to form the one, the six ages toform the other. The six days, which Moses represents for the formationof Adam, are only the picture of the six ages to form Jesus Christ andthe Church. If Adam had not sinned, and Jesus Christ had not come, therehad been only one covenant, only one age of men, and the creation wouldhave been represented as accomplished at one single time. 

656

_Types. _--The Jewish and Egyptian peoples were plainly foretold by thetwo individuals whom Moses met; the Egyptian beating the Jew, Mosesavenging him and killing the Egyptian, and the Jew being ungrateful. 

657

The symbols of the Gospel for the state of the sick soul are sickbodies; 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 thesick soul. 

658

_Types. _--To show that the Old Testament is only figurative, and thatthe prophets understood by temporal blessings other blessings, this isthe proof:

First, that this would be unworthy of God. 

Secondly, that their discourses express very clearly the promise oftemporal blessings, and that they say nevertheless that their discoursesare obscure, and that their meaning will not be understood. Whence itappears that this secret meaning was not that which they openlyexpressed, and that consequently they meant to speak of othersacrifices, of another deliverer, etc. They say that they will beunderstood only in the fullness of time (Jer. Xxx, _ult. _). 

The third proof is that their discourses are contradictory, andneutralise each other; so that if we think that they did not mean by thewords "law" and "sacrifice" anything else than that of Moses, there is aplain and gross contradiction. Therefore they meant something else, sometimes contradicting themselves in the same chapter. Now, tounderstand the meaning of an author . .. 

659

Lust has become natural to us, and has made our second nature. Thusthere 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 tothe Jews, and by Saint John, the Forerunner; and then the othermysteries; to indicate that in each man, as in the entire world, thisorder must be observed. 

661

The carnal Jews understood neither the greatness nor the humiliation ofthe Messiah foretold in their prophecies. They misunderstood Him in Hisforetold greatness, as when He said that the Messiah should be lord ofDavid, 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 likewisemisunderstood 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 soughtin Him for a carnal greatness. 

662

_Typical. _--Nothing is so like charity as covetousness, and nothing isso opposed to it. Thus the Jews, full of possessions which flatteredtheir covetousness, were very like Christians, and very contrary. And bythis means they had the two qualities which it was necessary they shouldhave, to be very like the Messiah to typify Him, and very contrary notto be suspected witnesses. 

663

_Typical. _--God made use of the lust of the Jews to make them ministerto Jesus Christ, [who brought the remedy for their lust]. 

664

Charity is not a figurative precept. It is dreadful to say that JesusChrist, 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 theexisting 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 tosay, love earthly pleasures. 

The Old Testament contained the types of future joy, and the Newcontains the means of arriving at it. The types were of joy; the meansof penitence; and nevertheless the Paschal Lamb was eaten with bitterherbs, _cum amaritudinibus_. [246]

_Singularis sum ego donec transeam. _[247]--Jesus Christ before His deathwas almost the only martyr. 

666

_Typical. _--The expressions, sword, shield. _Potentissime. _

667

We are estranged, only by departing from charity. Our prayers and ourvirtues are abominable before God, if they are not the prayers and thevirtues 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_] JesusChrist. 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 isgood. 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 notwill is [_bad_]. 

All that God does not permit is forbidden. Sins are forbidden by thegeneral declaration that God has made, that He did not allow them. Otherthings which He has left without general prohibition, and which for thatreason 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 doesnot will that we should have a thing, that is then forbidden to us assin; since the will of God is that we should not have one more thananother. There is this sole difference between these two things, that itis certain that God will never allow sin, while it is not certain thatHe will never allow the other. But so long as God does not permit it, weought to regard it as sin; so long as the absence of God's will, whichalone 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 Godloved their father Abraham, his flesh and what sprung from it; that onaccount of this He had multiplied them, and distinguished them from allother nations, without allowing them to intermingle; that when they werelanguishing in Egypt, He brought them out with all these great signs intheir favour; that He fed them with manna in the desert, and led theminto 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 bloodthey should be purified; and that at last He was to send them theMessiah to make them masters of all the world, and foretold the time ofHis coming. 

The world having grown old in these carnal errors, Jesus Christ came atthe time foretold, but not with the expected glory; and thus men did notthink it was He. After His death, Saint Paul[248] came to teach men thatall these things had happened in allegory; that the kingdom of God didnot consist in the flesh, but in the spirit; that the enemies of menwere not the Babylonians, but the passions; that God delighted not intemples made with hands, but in a pure and contrite heart; that thecircumcision of the body was unprofitable, but that of the heart wasneeded; that Moses had not given them the bread from heaven, etc. [249]

But God, not having desired to reveal these things to this people whowere unworthy of them, and having nevertheless desired to foretell them, in order that they might be believed, foretold the time clearly, andexpressed the things sometimes clearly, but very often in figures, inorder that those who loved symbols might consider them, and those wholoved 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 thereis only one end, all which does not lead to it in express terms isfigurative. 

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 onething needful. For one thing alone is needful, [250] and we love variety;and God satisfies both by these varieties, which lead to the one thingneedful. 

The Jews have so much loved the shadows, and have so strictly expectedthem, that they have misunderstood the reality, when it came in the timeand manner foretold. 

The Rabbis take the breasts of the Spouse[251] for types, and all thatdoes not express the only end they have, namely, temporal good. 

And Christians take even the Eucharist as a type of the glory at whichthey aim. 

670

The Jews, who have been called to subdue nations and kings, have beenthe slaves of sin; and the Christians, whose calling has been to beservants and subjects, are free children. [252]

671

_A formal point. _--When Saint Peter and the Apostles deliberated aboutabolishing circumcision, where it was a question of acting against thelaw of God, they did not heed the prophets, but simply the reception ofthe Holy Spirit in the persons uncircumcised. [253]

They thought it more certain that God approved of those whom He filledwith His Spirit, than it was that the law must be obeyed. They knew thatthe end of the law was only the Holy Spirit; and that thus, as mencertainly had this without circumcision, it was not necessary. 

672

_Fac secundum exemplar quod tibi ostensum est in monte. _[254]--TheJewish religion then has been formed on its likeness to the truth of theMessiah; and the truth of the Messiah has been recognised by the Jewishreligion, 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 thetype. 

The type has been made according to the truth, and the truth has beenrecognised according to the type. 

Saint Paul[255] says himself that people will forbid to marry, and hehimself speaks of it to the Corinthians in a way which is a snare. Forif 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 shownthee on the mount. " On which Saint Paul says that the Jews have shadowedforth 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 shouldbe recognised by others. For the visible blessings which they receivedfrom God were so great and so divine, that He indeed appeared able togive them those that are invisible, and a Messiah. 

For nature is an image of Grace, and visible miracles are images of theinvisible. _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, bythe 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 thatthe people hostile to Him are the type and the representation of thevery Messiah whom they know not, etc. 

He has then taught us at last that all these things were only types, andwhat is "true freedom, " a "true Israelite, " "true circumcision, " "truebread from heaven, " etc. 

In these promises each one finds what he has most at heart, temporalbenefits or spiritual, God or the creatures; but with this difference, that those who therein seek the creatures find them, but with manycontradictions, with a prohibition against loving them, with the commandto 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 thereinseek God find Him, without any contradiction, with the command to loveHim only, and that the Messiah came in the time foretold, to give themthe blessings which they ask. 

Thus the Jews had miracles and prophecies, which they say fulfilled andthe teaching of their law was to worship and love God only; it was alsoperpetual. Thus it had all the marks of the true religion; and so itwas. But the Jewish teaching must be distinguished from the teaching ofthe Jewish law. Now the Jewish teaching was not true, although it hadmiracles and prophecy and perpetuity, because it had not this otherpoint of worshipping and loving God only. 

675

The veil, which is upon these books for the Jews, is there also for evilChristians, and for all who do not hate themselves. 

But how well disposed men are to understand them and to know JesusChrist, 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 saidthat 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 mustsee if the prophets, in speaking of these things, confined their viewand their thought to them, so that they saw only the old covenant; or ifthey saw therein something else of which they were the representation, for in a portrait we see the thing figured. For this we need onlyexamine what they say of them. 

When they say that it will be eternal, do they mean to speak of thatcovenant 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 whichwe discover a clear meaning, and in which it is nevertheless said thatthe meaning is veiled and obscure, that it is hidden, so that we mightread the letter without seeing it, and interpret it withoutunderstanding it, what must we think but that here is a cipher with adouble meaning, and the more so if we find obvious contradictions in theliteral meaning? The prophets have clearly said that Israel would bealways loved by God, and that the law would be eternal; and they havesaid that their meaning would not be understood, and that it was veiled. 

How greatly then ought we to value those who interpret the cipher, andteach us to understand the hidden meaning, especially if the principleswhich they educe are perfectly clear and natural! This is what JesusChrist did, and the Apostles. They broke the seal; He rent the veil, andrevealed the spirit. They have taught us through this that the enemiesof man are his passions; that the Redeemer would be spiritual, and Hisreign spiritual; that there would be two advents, one in lowliness tohumble the proud, the other in glory to exalt the humble; that JesusChrist 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 intypes: _vere Israëlitæ, vere liberi_, true bread from Heaven. (2) A Godhumbled to the Cross. It was necessary that Christ should suffer inorder to enter into glory, "that He should destroy death throughdeath. "[257] Two advents. 

679

_Types. _--When once this secret is disclosed, it is impossible not tosee it. Let us read the Old Testament in this light, and let us see ifthe sacrifices were real; if the fatherhood of Abraham was the truecause of the friendship of God; and if the promised land was the trueplace of rest. No. They are therefore types. Let us in the same wayexamine all those ordained ceremonies, all those commandments which arenot 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 sawtherein other things. 

680

_Typical. _--The key of the cipher. _Veri adoratores. _[258]--_Ecce agnusDei 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 itis already known to be wicked. _Ego dominus_, etc. --vii, 14, _Faciamdomui huic_, etc. Trust in external sacrifices--vii, 22, _Quia non sumlocutus_, 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 cipherwhich 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 typeof freedom. 

"I am the true bread from Heaven. "[261]

683

_Contradiction. _--We can only describe a good character by reconcilingall contrary qualities, and it is not enough to keep up a series ofharmonious qualities, without reconciling contradictory ones. Tounderstand the meaning of an author, we must make all the contrarypassages agree. 

Thus, to understand Scripture, we must have a meaning in which all thecontrary passages are reconciled. It is not enough to have one whichsuits many concurring passages; but it is necessary to have one whichreconciles even contradictory passages. 

Every author has a meaning in which all the contradictory passagesagree, or he has no meaning at all. We cannot affirm the latter ofScripture and the prophets; they undoubtedly are full of good sense. Wemust then seek for a meaning which reconciles all discrepancies. 

The true meaning then is not that of the Jews; but in Jesus Christ allthe contradictions are reconciled. 

The Jews could not reconcile the cessation of the royalty andprincipality, foretold by Hosea, with the prophecy of Jacob. 

If we take the law, the sacrifices, and the kingdom as realities, wecannot reconcile all the passages. They must then necessarily be onlytypes. We cannot even reconcile the passages of the same author, nor ofthe same book, nor sometimes of the same chapter, which indicatescopiously 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 bythem. 

684

_Types. _--If the law and the sacrifices are the truth, it must pleaseGod, and must not displease Him. If they are types, they must be bothpleasing and displeasing. 

Now in all the Scripture they are both pleasing and displeasing. It issaid that the law shall be changed; that the sacrifice shall be changed;that they shall be without law, without a prince, and without asacrifice; that a new covenant shall be made; that the law shall berenewed; that the precepts which they have received are not good; thattheir sacrifices are abominable; that God has demanded none of them. 

It is said, on the contrary, that the law shall abide for ever; thatthis covenant shall be for ever; that sacrifice shall be eternal; thatthe sceptre shall never depart from among them, because it shall notdepart from them till the eternal King comes. 

Do all these passages indicate what is real? No. Do they then indicatewhat is typical? No, but what is either real or typical. But the firstpassages, excluding as they do reality, indicate that all this is onlytypical. 

All these passages together cannot be applied to reality; all can besaid to be typical; therefore they are not spoken of reality, but of thetype. 

_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 falseliterally, it is true spiritually. _Sede a dextris meis:_[263] this isfalse literally, therefore it is true spiritually. 

In these expressions, God is spoken of after the manner of men; andthis means nothing else but that the intention which men have in givinga seat at their right hand, God will have also. It is then an indicationof 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, andwill in recompense give you a rich land, " that is equivalent to sayingthat the same intention which a man would have, who, pleased with yourperfumes, should in recompense give you a rich land, God will havetowards you, because you have had the same intention as a man hastowards him to whom he presents perfumes. So _iratus est_, a "jealousGod, "[264] etc. For, the things of God being inexpressible, they cannotbe 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 notrevealed to us that it has. Thus, to say that the closed _mem_[266] ofIsaiah signifies six hundred, has not been revealed. It might be saidthat the final _tsade_ and _he deficientes_ may signify mysteries. Butit is not allowable to say so, and still less to say this is the way ofthe philosopher's stone. But we say that the literal meaning is not thetrue 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 torender them capable of loving Him. 

689

One saying of David, or of Moses, as for instance that "God willcircumcise the heart, " enables us to judge of their spirit. If all theirother expressions were ambiguous, and left us in doubt whether they werephilosophers or Christians, one saying of this kind would in factdetermine all the rest, as one sentence of Epictetus decides the meaningof all the rest to be the opposite. So far ambiguity exists, but notafterwards. 

690

If one of two persons, who are telling silly stories, uses language witha double meaning, understood in his own circle, while the other uses itwith only one meaning, any one not in the secret, who hears them bothtalk in this manner, will pass upon them the same judgment. But ifafterwards, in the rest of their conversation one says angelic things, and the other always dull commonplaces, he will judge that the one spokein mysteries, and not the other; the one having sufficiently shown thathe is incapable of such foolishness, and capable of being mysterious;and the other that he is incapable of mystery, and capable offoolishness. 

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 goodthan God, and not a rich land. Let those who believe that the good ofman is in the flesh, and evil in what turns him away from sensualpleasures, [_satiate_] themselves with them, and [_die_] in them. Butlet those who seek God with all their heart, who are only troubled atnot seeing Him, who desire only to possess Him, and have as enemies onlythose who turn them away from Him, who are grieved at seeing themselvessurrounded and overwhelmed with such enemies, take comfort. I proclaimto them happy news. There exists a Redeemer for them. I shall show Himto them. I shall show that there is a God for them. I shall not show Himto others. I shall make them see that a Messiah has been promised, whoshould deliver them from their enemies, and that One has come to freethem from their iniquities, but not from their enemies. 

When David foretold that the Messiah would deliver His people from theirenemies, 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 wellbelieve also that the enemies would be their sins; for indeed theEgyptians 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 andothers, the ambiguity is removed, and the double meaning of enemies isreduced to the simple meaning of iniquities. For if he had sins in hismind, he could well denote them as enemies; but if he thought ofenemies, he could not designate them as iniquities. 

Now Moses, David, and Isaiah used the same terms. Who will say then thatthey have not the same meaning, and that David's meaning, which isplainly iniquities when he spoke of enemies, was not the same as [_thatof_] Moses when speaking of enemies?

Daniel (ix) prays for the deliverance of the people from the captivityof their enemies. But he was thinking of sins, and, to show this, hesays that Gabriel came to tell him that his prayer was heard, and thatthere were only seventy weeks to wait, after which the people would befreed from iniquity, sin would have an end, and the Redeemer, the Holyof 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 thewhole silent universe, and man without light, left to himself, and, asit were, lost in this corner of the universe, without knowing who hasput 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 whoshould be carried in his sleep to a dreadful desert island, and shouldawake without knowing where he is, and without means of escape. Andthereupon I wonder how people in a condition so wretched do not fallinto despair. I see other persons around me of a like nature. I ask themif 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 tothem. For my own part, I have not been able to attach myself to them, and, considering how strongly it appears that there is something elsethan what I see, I have examined whether this God has not left some signof Himself. 

I see many contradictory religions, and consequently all false save one. Each wants to be believed on its own authority, and threatensunbelievers. I do not therefore believe them. Every one can say this;every one can call himself a prophet. But I see that Christian religionwherein 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 saidthat it is chance which has done it. 

Whosoever, having only a week to live, will not find out that it isexpedient 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 wouldamount to the same thing. 

694

_Prophecies. _--Great Pan is dead. [267]

695

_Susceperunt verbum cum omni aviditate, scrutantes Scripturas, si ita sehaberent. _[268]

696

_Prodita lege. _--_Impleta cerne. _--_Implenda collige. _

697

We understand the prophecies only when we see the events happen. Thusthe proofs of retreat, discretion, silence, etc. Are proofs only tothose who know and believe them. 

Joseph so internal in a law so external. 

Outward penances dispose to inward, as humiliations to humility. Thusthe . .. 

698

The synagogue has preceded the church; the Jews, the Christians. Theprophets have foretold the Christians; Saint John, Jesus Christ. 

699

It is glorious to see with the eyes of faith the history of Herod and ofCæsar. 

700

The zeal of the Jews for their law and their temple (Josephus, and Philothe Jew, _Ad Caïum_). What other people had such a zeal? It wasnecessary they should have it. 

Jesus Christ foretold as to the time and the state of the world. Theruler taken from the thigh, [269] and the fourth monarchy. How lucky weare 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, forthe glory of the Gospel!

701

Zeal of the Jewish people for the law, especially after there were nomore prophets. 

702

While the prophets were for maintaining the law, the people wereindifferent. But since there have been no more prophets, zeal hassucceeded them. 

703

The devil troubled the zeal of the Jews before Jesus Christ, because hewould have been their salvation, but not since. 

The Jewish people scorned by the Gentiles; the Christian peoplepersecuted. 

704

_Proof. _--Prophecies with their fulfilment; what has preceded and whathas followed Jesus Christ. 

705

The prophecies are the strongest proof of Jesus Christ. It is for themalso that God has made most provision; for the event which has fulfilledthem is a miracle existing since the birth of the Church to the end. SoGod has raised up prophets during sixteen hundred years, and, duringfour hundred years afterwards, He has scattered all these propheciesamong all the Jews, who carried them into all parts of the world. Suchwas the preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ, and, as His Gospelwas to be believed by all the world, it was not only necessary thatthere should be prophecies to make it believed, but that theseprophecies should exist throughout the whole world, in order to make itembraced by the whole world. 

706

But it was not enough that the prophecies should exist. It was necessarythat they should be distributed throughout all places, and preservedthroughout all times. And in order that this agreement might not betaken for an effect of chance, it was necessary that this should beforetold. 

It is far more glorious for the Messiah that the Jews should be thespectators, and even the instruments of His glory, besides that God hadreserved them. 

707

_Prophecies. _--The time foretold by the state of the Jewish people, bythe state of the heathen, by the state of the temple, by the number ofyears. 

708

One must be bold to predict the same thing in so many ways. It wasnecessary that the four idolatrous or pagan monarchies, the end of thekingdom 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 aboutJesus Christ, as to the time and the manner, and Jesus Christ had comein conformity to these prophecies, this fact would have infinite weight. 

But there is much more here. Here is a succession of men during fourthousand years, who, consequently and without variation, come, one afteranother, to foretell this same event. Here is a whole people whoannounce it, and who have existed for four thousand years, in order togive corporate testimony of the assurances which they have, and fromwhich they cannot be diverted by whatever threats and persecutionspeople 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 hadpreviously existed so long, or of that supreme council of seventy judgeswhich they called the _Sanhedrin_, and which, having been instituted byMoses, lasted to the time of Jesus Christ. All these things were as farremoved from their state at that time as they could be], when Jacob, dying, and blessing his twelve children, declared to them, that theywould be proprietors of a great land, and foretold in particular to thefamily of Judah, that the kings, who would one day rule them, should beof his race; and that all his brethren should be their subjects; [andthat even the Messiah, who was to be the expectation of nations, shouldspring from him; and that the kingship should not be taken away fromJudah, nor the ruler and law-giver of his descendants, till the expectedMessiah should arrive in his family]. 

This same Jacob, disposing of this future land as though he had been itsruler, 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 twochildren, Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Joseph had presented to him, theelder, Manasseh, on his right, and the young Ephraim on his left, he puthis arms crosswise, and placing his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and his left on Manasseh, he blessed them in this manner. And, uponJoseph's representing to him that he was preferring the younger, hereplied to him with admirable resolution: "I know it well, my son; butEphraim will increase more than Manasseh. " This has been indeed so truein the result, that, being alone almost as fruitful as the two entirelines which composed a whole kingdom, they have been usually called bythe name of Ephraim alone. 

This same Joseph, when dying, bade his children carry his bones withthem when they should go into that land, to which they only came twohundred years afterwards. 

Moses, who wrote all these things so long before they happened, himselfassigned to each family portions of that land before they entered it, asthough he had been its ruler. [In fact he declared that God was to raiseup 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 landwhich they were to enter after his death, the victories which God wouldgive them, their ingratitude towards God, the punishments which theywould receive for it, and the rest of their adventures. ] He gave themjudges who should make the division. He prescribed the entire form ofpolitical government which they should observe, the cities of refugewhich they should build, and . .. 

711

The prophecies about particular things are mingled with those about theMessiah, so that the prophecies of the Messiah should not be withoutproofs, nor the special prophecies without fruit. 

712

_Perpetual captivity of the Jews. _--Jer. Xi, 11: "I will bring evil uponJudah from which they shall not be able to escape. "

_Types. _--Is. V: "The Lord had a vineyard, from which He looked forgrapes; and it brought forth only wild grapes. I will therefore lay itwaste, and destroy it; the earth shall only bring forth thorns, and Iwill forbid the clouds from _[raining]_ upon it. The vineyard of theLord is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant. Ilooked that they should do justice, and they bring forth onlyiniquities. "

Is. Viii: "Sanctify the Lord with fear and trembling; let Him be youronly dread, and He shall be to you for a sanctuary, but for a stone ofstumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a ginand for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and many among themshall stumble against that stone, and fall, and be broken, and besnared, and perish. Hide my words, and cover my law for my disciples. 

"I will then wait in patience upon the Lord that hideth and concealethHimself 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 willclose your eyes; He will cover your princes and your prophets that havevisions. " (Daniel xii: "The wicked shall not understand, but the wiseshall understand. " Hosea, the last chapter, the last verse, after manytemporal blessings, says: "Who is wise, and he shall understand thesethings, etc. ?") "And the visions of all the prophets are become unto youas a sealed book, which men deliver to one that is learned, and who canread; and he saith, I cannot read it, for it is sealed. And when thebook is delivered to them that are not learned, they say I am notlearned. 

"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people with their lips dohonour me, but have removed their heart far from me, "--there is thereason and the cause of it; for if they adored God in their hearts, theywould understand the prophecies, --"and their fear towards me is taughtby the precept of man. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do amarvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder;for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and their understandingshall be [hid]. "

_Prophecies. Proofs of Divinity. _--Is. Xli: "Shew the things that are tocome hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: we will incline ourheart unto your words. Teach us the things that have been at thebeginning, and declare us things for to come. 

"By this we shall know that ye are gods. Yea, do good or do evil, if youcan. Let us then behold it and reason together. Behold, ye are ofnothing, and only an abomination, etc. Who, " (among contemporarywriters), "hath declared from the beginning that we may know of thethings done from the beginning and origin? that we may say, You arerighteous. There is none that teacheth us, yea, there is none thatdeclareth the future. "

Is. Xlii: "I am the Lord, and my glory will I not give to another. Ihave foretold the things which have come to pass, and things that are tocome 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 deafthat have ears and hear not. Let all the nations be gathered together. Who among them can declare this, and shew us former things, and thingsto come? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may bejustified; 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 beforeyour 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 amthe Lord, your Holy One and creator. 

"I have made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. I am Hethat drowned and destroyed for ever the mighty enemies that haveresisted 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 notknow it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in thedesert. 

"This people have I formed for myself; I have established them to shewforth my praise, etc. 

"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine ownsake, and will not remember thy sins. Put in remembrance youringratitude: see thou, if thou mayest be justified. Thy first fatherhath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. "

Is. Xliv: "I am the first, and I am the last, saith the Lord. Let himwho will equal himself to me, declare the order of things since Iappointed the ancient people, and the things that are coming. Fear yenot: 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 havecalled thee by thy name. "

Is. Xlv, 21: "Come and let us reason together. Who hath declared thisfrom ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I, theLord?"

Is. Xlvi: "Remember the former things of old, and know there is nonelike me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient timesthe things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and Iwill do all my pleasure. "

Is. Xlii: "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things doI declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them. "

Is. Xlviii, 3: "I have declared the former things from the beginning; Idid them suddenly; and they came to pass. Because I know that thou artobstinate, that thy spirit is rebellious, and thy brow brass; I haveeven declared it to thee before it came to pass: lest thou shouldst saythat 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 theenew things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not knowthem. They are created now, and not from the beginning; I have kept themhidden from thee; lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them. 

"Yea, thou knewest not; yea, thou heardest not; yea, from that time thatthine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou couldst deal verytreacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. "

_Reprobation of the Jews and conversion of the Gentiles. _--Is. Lxv: "Iam sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that soughtme not; I said, Behold me, behold me, behold me, unto a nation that didnot 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; apeople that provoketh me to anger continually by the sins they commit inmy 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 assembletogether, and will recompense you for all according to your works. 

"Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and onesaith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it [and the promise offruit]: for my servants' sake I will not destroy all Israel. 

"Thus I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah, aninheritor of my mountains, and mine elect and my servants shall inheritit, and my fertile and abundant plains; but I will destroy all others, because you have forgotten your God to serve strange gods. I called, andye did not answer; I spake, and ye did not hear; and ye did choose thething which I forbade. 

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, my servants shall eat, but yeshall be hungry; my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; myservants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry and howl forvexation of spirit. 

"And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lordshall slay thee, and call His servants by another name, that he whoblesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in God, etc. , becausethe former troubles are forgotten. 

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the formerthings 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 ofweeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 

"Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, Iwill hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shalleat straw like the bullock; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. Theyshall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. "

Is. Lvi, 3: "Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: formy salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 

"Blessed is the man that doeth this, that keepeth the Sabbath, andkeepeth his hand from doing any evil. 

"Neither let the strangers that have joined themselves to me, say, Godwill separate me from His people. For thus saith the Lord: Whoever willkeep my Sabbath, and choose the things that please me, and take hold ofmy covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house a place and a namebetter than that of sons and of daughters: I will give them aneverlasting name, that shall not be cut off. "

Is. Lix, 9: "Therefore for our iniquities is justice far from us: wewait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk indarkness. We grope for the wall like the blind; we stumble at noon dayas in the night: we are in desolate places as dead men. 

"We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves; we look forjudgment, 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 comethat 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 ofthem unto the nations, to Africa, to Lydia, to Italy, to Greece, and tothe people that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory. Andthey shall bring your brethren. "

Jer. Vii. _Reprobation of the Temple_: "Go ye unto Shiloth, where I setmy name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of mypeople. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, Iwill do unto this house, wherein my name is called upon, wherein yetrust, and unto the place which I gave to your priests, as I have doneto Shiloth. " (For I have rejected it, and made myself a templeelsewhere. )

"And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all yourbrethren, even the seed of Ephraim. " (Rejected for ever. ) "Thereforepray not for this people. "

Jer. Vii, 22: "What avails it you to add sacrifice to sacrifice? For Ispake not unto your fathers, when I brought them out of the land ofEgypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this thingcommanded I them, saying, Obey and be faithful to my commandments, and Iwill be your God, and ye shall be my people. " (It was only after theyhad sacrificed to the golden calf that I gave myself sacrifices to turninto good an evil custom. )

Jer. Vii, 4: "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of theLord, 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. --Joshuavi, 26. --I Kings xvi, 34. --Deut. Xxiii. 

Malachi i, II. The sacrifice of the Jews rejected, and the sacrifice ofthe 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 willgive them another name. "

"Make their heart fat, "[270] and how? by flattering their lust andmaking them hope to satisfy it. 

714

_Prophecy. _--Amos and Zechariah. They have sold the just one, andtherefore 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 newlaw, Jerem. Xxxi, 32. 

Malachi. _Grotius. _--The second temple glorious. --Jesus Christ willcome. 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 itlong 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 sceptreshould not depart from Judah until the eternal King came, they spoke toflatter 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 thatthey 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 theMessiah, since they had no longer any king but a stranger, and wouldhave no other. 

720

We have no king but Cæsar. 

721

Daniel ii: "All thy soothsayers and wise men cannot shew unto thee thesecret which thou hast demanded. But there is a God in heaven who can doso, and that hath revealed to thee in thy dream what shall be in thelatter 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, tomake it manifest in thy presence. 

"Thy dream was then of this kind. Thou sawest a great image, high andterrible, which stood before thee. His head was of gold, his breast andarms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, hisfeet part of iron and part of clay. Thus thou sawest till that a stonewas cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, thatwere of iron and of clay, and brake them to pieces. 

"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold brokento pieces together, and the wind carried them away; but this stone thatsmote 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 powerso vast that thou art renowned among all peoples, art the head of goldwhich thou hast seen. But after thee shall arise another kingdominferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bearrule over all the earth. 

"But the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, and even as ironbreaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, so shall this empire breakin pieces and bruise all. 

"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of clay and part ofiron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of thestrength of iron and of the weakness of clay. 

"But as iron cannot be firmly mixed with clay, so they who arerepresented by the iron and by the clay, shall not cleave one to anotherthough united by marriage. 

"Now in the days of these kings shall God set up a kingdom, which shallnever be destroyed, nor ever be delivered up to other people. It shallbreak in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever, according as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of themountain without hands, and that it fell from the mountain, and brake inpieces the iron, the clay, the silver, and the gold. God hath made knownto thee what shall come to pass hereafter. This dream is certain, andthe 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 thehe-goat, who vanquished him and ruled over the earth, whereof theprincipal horn being broken four others came up toward the four winds ofheaven, and out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxedexceedingly great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward theland of Israel, and it waxed great even to the host of heaven; and itcast down some of the stars, and stamped upon them, and at lastoverthrew the prince, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, andthe place of his sanctuary was cast down. 

"This is what Daniel saw. He sought the meaning of it, and a voice criedin this manner, 'Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision, ' AndGabriel said:

"The ram which thou sawest is the king of the Medes and Persians, andthe he-goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that is betweenhis eyes is the first king of this monarchy. 

"Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdomsshall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. 

"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when iniquities are come tothe full, there shall arise a king, insolent and strong, but not by hisown power, to whom all things shall succeed after his own will; and heshall destroy the holy people, and through his policy also he shallcause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall destroy many. He shallalso stand up against the Prince of princes, but he shall perishmiserably, and nevertheless by a violent hand. "

Daniel ix, 20. "Whilst I was praying with all my heart, and confessingmy sin and the sin of all my people, and prostrating myself before myGod, even Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, cameto me and touched me about the time of the evening oblation, and heinformed me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee theknowledge of things. At the beginning of thy supplications I came toshew that which thou didst desire, for thou are greatly beloved:therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeksare determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish thetransgression, and to make an end of sins, and to abolish iniquity, andto bring in everlasting righteousness; to accomplish the vision and theprophecies, and to anoint the Most Holy. (After which this people shallbe no more thy people, nor this city the holy city. The times of wrathshall be passed, and the years of grace shall come for ever. )

"Know therefore, and understand, that, from the going forth of thecommandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah thePrince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks. " (TheHebrews 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, thatis 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 firstseven. Christ will then be killed after the sixty-nine weeks, that is tosay, in the last week), "the Christ shall be cut off, and a people ofthe prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, andoverwhelm all, and the end of that war shall accomplish the desolation. "

"Now one week, " (which is the seventieth, which remains), "shall confirmthe 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 theoblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shallmake it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shallbe poured upon the desolate. "

Daniel xi. "The angel said to Daniel: There shall stand up yet, " (afterCyrus, under whom this still is), "three kings in Persia, " (Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius); "and the fourth who shall then come, " (Xerxes) "shallbe far richer than they all, and far stronger, and shall stir up all hispeople against the Greeks. 

"But a mighty king shall stand up, " (Alexander), "that shall rule withgreat dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall standup, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided in four partstoward the four winds of heaven, " (as he had said above, vii, 6; viii, 8), "but not his posterity; and his successors shall not equal hispower, for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besidesthese, " (his four chief successors). 

"And the king of the south, " (Ptolemy, son of Lagos, Egypt), "shall bestrong; but one of his princes shall be strong above him, and hisdominion shall be a great dominion, " (Seleucus, King of Syria. Appiansays that he was the most powerful of Alexander's successors). 

"And in the end of years they shall join themselves together, and theking's daughter of the south, " (Berenice, daughter of PtolemyPhiladelphus, son of the other Ptolemy), "shall come to the king of thenorth, " (to Antiochus Deus, King of Syria and of Asia, son of SeleucusLagidas), "to make peace between these princes. 

"But neither she nor her seed shall have a long authority; for she andthey that brought her, and her children, and her friends, shall bedelivered to death. " (Berenice and her son were killed by SeleucusCallinicus. )

"But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up, " (PtolemyEuergetes was the issue of the same father as Berenice), "which shallcome with a mighty army into the land of the king of the north, where heshall put all under subjection, and he shall also carry captive intoEgypt their gods, their princes, their gold, their silver, and all theirprecious spoils, " (if he had not been called into Egypt by domesticreasons, says Justin, he would have entirely stripped Seleucus); "and heshall continue several years when the king of the north can do noughtagainst him. 

"And so he shall return into his kingdom. But his sons shall be stirredup, 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 shallalso form a great army, and fight him, " (Ptolemy Philopator againstAntiochus the Great at Raphia), "and conquer; and his troops shallbecome insolent, and his heart shall be lifted up, " (this Ptolemydesecrated the temple; Josephus): "he shall cast down many tenthousands, but he shall not be strengthened by it. For the king of thenorth, " (Antiochus the Great), "shall return with a greater multitudethan before, and in those times also a great number of enemies shallstand up against the king of the south, " (during the reign of the youngPtolemy Epiphanes); "also the apostates and robbers of thy people shallexalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. " (Thosewho abandon their religion to please Euergetes, when he will send histroops to Scopas; for Antiochus will again take Scopas, and conquerthem. ) "And the king of the north shall destroy the fenced cities, andthe arms of the south shall not withstand, and all shall yield to hiswill; 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 ofEgypt, " (despising the youth of Epiphanes, says Justin). "And for thathe shall make alliance with him, and give his daughter" (Cleopatra, inorder that she may betray her husband. On which Appian says thatdoubting his ability to make himself master of Egypt by force, becauseof 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, andshall 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, whostopped the progress of Antiochus the Great, because he offended theRomans in the person of their allies), "and shall cause the reproachoffered by him to cease. He shall then return into his kingdom and thereperish, and be no more. " (He was slain by his soldiers. )

"And he who shall stand up in his estate, " (Seleucus Philopator orSoter, the son of Antiochus the Great), "shall be a tyrant, a raiser oftaxes in the glory of the kingdom, " (which means the people), "butwithin 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 ofthe kingdom, but he shall come in cleverly by flatteries. All armiesshall bend before him; he shall conquer them, and even the prince withwhom he has made a covenant. For having renewed the league with him, heshall work deceitfully, and enter with a small people into his province, peaceably and without fear. He shall take the fattest places, and shalldo that which his fathers have not done, and ravage on all sides. Heshall forecast great devices during his time. "

722

_Prophecies. _--The seventy weeks of Daniel are ambiguous as regardsthe term of commencement, because of the terms of the prophecy; and asregards the term of conclusion, because of the differences amongchronologists. But all this difference extends only to two hundredyears. 

723

_Predictions. _--That in the fourth monarchy, before the destruction ofthe second temple, before the dominion of the Jews was taken away, inthe seventieth week of Daniel, during the continuance of the secondtemple, the heathen should be instructed, and brought to the knowledgeof the God worshipped by the Jews; that those who loved Him should bedelivered from their enemies, and filled with His fear and love. 

And it happened that in the fourth monarchy, before the destruction ofthe second temple, etc. , the heathen in great number worshipped God, andled an angelic life. Maidens dedicated their virginity and their life toGod. Men renounced their pleasures. What Plato could only makeacceptable to a few men, specially chosen and instructed, a secretinfluence imparted, by the power of a few words, to a hundred millionignorant men. 

The rich left their wealth. Children left the dainty homes of theirparents to go into the rough desert. (See Philo the Jew. ) All this wasforetold a great while ago. For two thousand years no heathen hadworshipped the God of the Jews; and at the time foretold, a great numberof the heathen worshipped this only God. The temples were destroyed. Thevery kings made submission to the cross. All this was due to the Spiritof God, which was spread abroad upon the earth. 

No heathen, since Moses until Jesus Christ, believed according to thevery Rabbis. A great number of the heathen, after Jesus Christ, believedin the books of Moses, kept them in substance and spirit, and onlyrejected what was useless. 

724

_Prophecies. _--The conversion of the Egyptians (Isaiah xix, 19); analtar 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, thehouse of God, destined for the dispensation of His Word, shall be fullof filth and impurity; and that the wisdom of the scribes shall becorrupt and rotten. Those who shall be afraid to sin, shall be rejectedby 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 theshadow of His hand hath He hid me, and hath made my words like a sharpsword, and said unto me, Thou art my servant in whom I will beglorified. Then I said, Lord, have I laboured in vain? have I spent mystrength for nought? yet surely my judgment is with Thee, O Lord, and mywork with Thee. And now, saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb tobe His servant, to bring Jacob and Israel again to Him, Thou shalt beglorious in my sight, and I will be thy strength. It is a light thingthat thou shouldst convert the tribes of Jacob; I have raised thee upfor a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto theends of the earth. Thus saith the Lord to him whom man despiseth, to himwhom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Princes and kingsshall worship thee, because the Lord is faithful that hath chosen thee. 

"Again saith the Lord unto me, I have heard thee in the days ofsalvation and of mercy, and I will preserve thee for a covenant of thepeople, to cause to inherit the desolate nations, that thou mayest sayto the prisoners: Go forth; to them that are in darkness showyourselves, and possess these abundant and fertile lands. They shall nothunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for hethat hath mercy upon them shall lead them, even by the springs of watersshall 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 Hispeople, and He will have mercy upon the poor who hope in Him. 

"Yet Sion dared to say: The Lord hath forsaken me, and hath forgottenme. Can a woman forget her child, that she should not have compassion onthe son of her womb? but if she forget, yet will not I forget thee, OSion. I will bear thee always between my hands, and thy walls arecontinually before me. They that shall build thee are come, and thydestroyers shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, andbehold; all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As Ilive, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, aswith an ornament. Thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thydestruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and the children thou shalt have after thy barrenness shall say again inthy ears: The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I maydwell. Then shalt thou say in thy heart: Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removingto 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 liftup mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; andthey shall bring thy sons in their arms and in their bosoms. And kingsshall be their nursing fathers, and queens their nursing mothers; theyshall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up thedust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shallnot be ashamed that wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from themighty? But even if the captives be taken away from the strong, nothingshall hinder me from saving thy children, and from destroying thyenemies; and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord, thy Saviour andthy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. 

"Thus saith the Lord: What is the bill of this divorcement, wherewith Ihave put away the synagogue? and why have I delivered it into the handsof your enemies? Is it not for your iniquities and for yourtransgressions that I have put it away?

"For I came, and no man received me; I called and there was none tohear. Is my arm shortened, that I cannot redeem?

"Therefore I will show the tokens of mine anger; I will clothe theheavens with darkness, and make sackcloth their covering. 

"The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know howto 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 myface from shame and spitting. But the Lord hath helped me; therefore Ihave not been confounded. 

"He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? who will bemine adversary, and accuse me of sin, God himself being my protector?

"All men shall pass away, and be consumed by time; let those that fearGod hearken to the voice of His servant; let him that languisheth indarkness put his trust in the Lord. But as for you, ye do but kindle thewrath of God upon you; ye walk in the light of your fire and in thesparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shalllie down in sorrow. 

"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek theLord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pitwhence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarahthat bare you: for I called him alone, when childless, and increasedhim. Behold, I have comforted Zion, and heaped upon her blessings andconsolations. 

"Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me: for a law shallproceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of theGentiles. "

Amos viii. The prophet, having enumerated the sins of Israel, said thatGod 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 theearth in the clear day; and I will turn your feasts into mourning, andall your songs into lamentation. 

"You all shall have sorrow and suffering, and I will make this nationmourn 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 wordsof the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the northeven to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of theLord, and shall not find it. 

"In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. Theythat have followed the idols of Samaria, and sworn by the god of Dan, and followed the manner of Beersheba, shall fall, and never rise upagain. "

Amos iii, 2: "Ye only have I known of all the families of the earth formy people. "

Daniel xii, 7. Having described all the extent of the reign of theMessiah, he says: "All these things shall be finished, when thescattering of the people of Israel shall be accomplished. "

Haggai ii, 4: "Ye who, comparing this second house with the glory of thefirst, 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, andwork. For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts; according to the wordthat I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spiritremaineth among you. Fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yetone little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and thesea, and the dry land, " (a way of speaking to indicate a great and anextraordinary change); "and I will shake all nations, and the desire ofall 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 tosay, it is not by that that I wish to be honoured; as it is saidelsewhere: All the beasts of the field are mine, what advantages me thatthey are offered me in sacrifice?). "The glory of this latter houseshall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and inthis place will I establish my house, saith the Lord. 

"According to all that thou desiredst in Horeb in the day of theassembly, saying, Let us not hear again the voice of the Lord, neitherlet us see this fire any more, that we die not. [272] And the Lord saidunto me, Their prayer is just. I will raise them up a prophet from amongtheir brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; andhe shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall cometo pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he willspeak in my name, I will require it of him. "

Genesis xlix: "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, andthou shalt conquer thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow downbefore thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou artgone up, and art couched as a lion, and as a lioness that shall beroused up. 

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from betweenhis feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of thepeople 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 appearchiefly in Jerusalem, and will be a descendant of the family of Judahand of David. 

He is to blind the learned and the wise, Is. Vi, viii, xxix, etc. ; andto preach the Gospel to the lowly, Is. Xxix; to open the eyes of theblind, give health to the sick, and bring light to those that languishin 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; Hoseaxiv, 10; but they are to be intelligible to those who are well informed. 

The prophecies, which represent Him as poor, represent Him as master ofthe nations. Is. Lii, 14, etc. ; liii; Zech. Ix, 9. 

The prophecies, which foretell the time, foretell Him only as master ofthe nations and suffering, and not as in the clouds nor as judge. Andthose, which represent Him thus as judge and in glory, do not mentionthe time. When the Messiah is spoken of as great and glorious, it is asthe 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 todash 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 wholeearth. 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 Hishands 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 Hisenemies. 

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 yeare multiplied after the dispersion. In the places where it was said, Yeare not my people, I will call them my people. "

727

It was not lawful to sacrifice outside of Jerusalem, which was the placethat 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 nowfulfilled, as they cannot make a lawful sacrifice out of Jerusalem. 

728

_Predictions. _--It was foretold that, in the time of the Messiah, Heshould come to establish a new covenant, which should make them forgetthe escape from Egypt (Jer. Xxiii, 5; Is. Xliii, 10); that He shouldplace His law not in externals, but in the heart; that He should put Hisfear, which had only been from without, in the midst of the heart. Whodoes not see the Christian law in all this?

729

. .. That then idolatry would be overthrown; that this Messiah would castdown 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 allnations, and in all places of the earth, He would be offered a puresacrifice, not of beasts. 

That He would be king of the Jews and Gentiles. And we see this king ofthe Jews and Gentiles oppressed by both, who conspire His death; andruler of both, destroying the worship of Moses in Jerusalem, which wasits centre, where He made His first Church; and also the worship ofidols in Rome, the centre of it, where He made His chief Church. 

730

_Prophecies. _--That Jesus Christ will sit on the right hand, till Godhas 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 fromoutward 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 hastaught anything divine approaching to this. 

733

. .. That Jesus Christ would be small in His beginning, and would thenincrease. The little stone of Daniel. 

If I had in no wise heard of the Messiah, nevertheless, after suchwonderful 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 aMessiah, I should be sure that He would come; and seeing that they placeHis time before the destruction of the second temple, I should say thatHe had come. 

734

_Prophecies. _--That the Jews would reject Jesus Christ, and would berejected of God, for this reason, that the chosen vine brought forthonly wild grapes. That the chosen people would be fruitless, ungrateful, and unbelieving, _populum non credentem et contradicentem_. [275] ThatGod would strike them with blindness, and in full noon they would gropelike 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 freeHis people from their sins, _ex omnibus iniquitatibus_; that thereshould be a New Covenant, which would be eternal; that there should beanother priesthood after the order of Melchisedek, and it should beeternal; that the Christ should be glorious, mighty, strong, and yet sopoor that He would not be recognised, nor taken for what He is, butrejected and slain; that His people who denied Him should no longer beHis people; that the idolaters should receive Him, and take refuge inHim; that He should leave Zion to reign in the centre of idolatry; thatnevertheless the Jews should continue for ever; that He should be ofJudah, 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 answerto all objections. It is right that a God so pure should only revealHimself to those whose hearts are purified. Hence this religion islovable to me, and I find it now sufficiently justified by so divine amorality. But I find more in it. 

I find it convincing that, since the memory of man has lasted, it wasconstantly announced to men that they were universally corrupt, but thata Redeemer should come; that it was not one man who said it, butinnumerable men, and a whole nation expressly made for the purpose, andprophesying for four thousand years. This is a nation which is moreancient than every other nation. Their books, scattered abroad, are fourthousand years old. 

The more I examine them, the more truths I find in them: an entirenation foretell Him before His advent, and an entire nation worship Himafter His advent; what has preceded and what has followed; in short, people without idols and kings, this synagogue which was foretold, andthese wretches who frequent it, and who, being our enemies, areadmirable witnesses of the truth of these prophecies, wherein theirwretchedness 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, inits doctrine, in its effects. The frightful darkness of the Jews wasforetold: _Eris palpans in meridie. [276] Dabitur liber scienti literas, et dicet: Non possum legere. _[277] While the sceptre was still in thehands of the first foreign usurper, there is the report of the coming ofJesus Christ. 

So I hold out my arms to my _Redeemer_, who, having been foretold forfour thousand years, has come to suffer and to die for me on earth, atthe time and under all the circumstances foretold. By His grace, I awaitdeath in peace, in the hope of being eternally united to Him. Yet Ilive with joy, whether in the prosperity which it pleases Him to bestowupon me, or in the adversity which He sends for my good, and which Hehas taught me to bear by His example. 

737

The prophecies having given different signs which should all happen atthe advent of the Messiah, it was necessary that all these signs shouldoccur at the same time. So it was necessary that the fourth monarchyshould have come, when the seventy weeks of Daniel were ended; and thatthe sceptre should have then departed from Judah. And all this happenedwithout any difficulty. Then it was necessary that the Messiah shouldcome; and Jesus Christ then came, who was called the Messiah. And allthis again was without difficulty. This indeed shows the truth of theprophecies. 

738

The prophets foretold, and were not foretold. The saints again wereforetold, but did not foretell. Jesus Christ both foretold and wasforetold. 

739

Jesus Christ, whom the two Testaments regard, the Old as its hope, theNew as its model, and both as their centre. 

740

The two oldest books in the world are those of Moses and Job, the one aJew and the other a Gentile. Both of them look upon Jesus Christ astheir common centre and object: Moses in relating the promises of God toAbraham, Jacob, etc. , and his prophecies; and Job, _Quis mihi detut_, [278] etc. _Scio enim quod redemptor meus vivit_, etc. 

741

The Gospel only speaks of the virginity of the Virgin up to the time ofthe 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 betempted; and people are tempted because they do not pray. 

_Et tu conversus confirma fratres tuos. _ But before, _conversus Jesusrespexit Petrum_. 

Saint Peter asks permission to strike Malchus, and strikes beforehearing the answer. Jesus Christ replies afterwards. 

The word, _Galilee_, which the Jewish mob pronounced as if by chance, inaccusing Jesus Christ before Pilate, afforded Pilate a reason forsending Jesus Christ to Herod. And thereby the mystery was accomplished, that He should be judged by Jews and Gentiles. Chance was apparently thecause of the accomplishment of the mystery. 

744

Those who have a difficulty in believing seek a reason in the fact thatthe Jews do not believe. "Were this so clear, " say they, "why did theJews not believe?" And they almost wish that they had believed, so asnot to be kept back by the example of their refusal. But it is theirvery refusal that is the foundation of our faith. We should be much lessdisposed to the faith, if they were on our side. We should then have amore ample pretext. The wonderful thing is to have made the Jews greatlovers of the things foretold, and great enemies of their fulfilment. 

745

The Jews were accustomed to great and striking miracles, and so, havinghad the great miracles of the Red Sea and of the land of Canaan as anepitome of the great deeds of their Messiah, they therefore looked formore striking miracles, of which those of Moses were only the patterns. 

746

The carnal Jews and the heathen have their calamities, and Christiansalso. There is no Redeemer for the heathen, for they do not so much ashope for one. There is no Redeemer for the Jews; they hope for Him invain. There is a Redeemer only for Christians. (See _Perpetuity_. )

747

In the time of the Messiah the people divided themselves. The spiritualembraced the Messiah, and the coarser-minded remained to serve aswitnesses 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 notbelieve a thing so clear, and that they would not be destroyed. Andnothing is more to the glory of the Messiah; for it was not enough thatthere 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 nonebut questionable witnesses. And if they had been entirely destroyed, weshould 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; thatnone 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 longerfor want of clearness, since we make profession of it. 

But, it is said, there are obscurities. --And without that, no one wouldhave stumbled over Jesus Christ, and this is one of the formalpronouncements 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, asound mind, powerful. He prophesies, and his wonder comes to pass. Thisis infinite. 

He had only to say that he was the Messiah, if he had been vain; for theprophecies are clearer about him than about Jesus Christ. And the samewith Saint John. 

752

Herod was believed to be the Messiah. He had taken away the sceptre fromJudah, 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 sceptrewas to be eternally in Judah, and at His coming the sceptre was to betaken away from Judah?

In order to effect that seeing they should not see, and hearing theyshould 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 thingswhich come to pass, and who declares his intention both to blind and toenlighten, and who intersperses obscurities among the clear things whichcome to pass?

756

The time of the first advent was foretold; the time of the second is notso; because the first was to be obscure, and the second is to bebrilliant, 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 thosewho searched the Scriptures . .. 

757

God, in order to cause the Messiah to be known by the good and not to beknown by the wicked, made Him to be foretold in this manner. If themanner of the Messiah had been clearly foretold, there would have beenno obscurity, even for the wicked. If the time had been obscurelyforetold, 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 beenclearly foretold, and the manner in types. 

By this means, the wicked, taking the promised blessings for materialblessings, have fallen into error, in spite of the clear prediction ofthe time; and the good have not fallen in error. For the understandingof the promised blessings depends on the heart, which calls "good" thatwhich it loves; but the understanding of the promised time does notdepend on the heart. And thus the clear prediction of the time, and theobscure 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 thecarnal-minded. And so far is this from being against His glory, that itis the last touch which crowns it. For their argument, the only onefound in all their writings, in the Talmud and in the Rabbinicalwritings, amounts only to this, that Jesus Christ has not subdued thenations with sword in hand, _gladiumt uum, potentissime_. [283] (Is thisall they have to say? Jesus Christ has been slain, say they. He hasfailed. He has not subdued the heathen with His might. He has notbestowed upon us their spoil. He does not give riches. Is this all theyhave to say? It is in this respect that He is lovable to me. I would notdesire Him whom they fancy. ) It is evident that it is only His lifewhich has prevented them from accepting Him; and through this rejectionthey are irreproachable witnesses, and, what is more, they therebyaccomplish the prophecies. 

[By means of the fact that this people have not accepted Him, thismiracle here has happened. The prophecies were the only lasting miracleswhich 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 themselvesirreproachable witnesses. Both in slaying Him, and in continuing to denyHim, they have fulfilled the prophecies (Isa. Lx; Ps. Lxxi). 

761

What could the Jews, His enemies, do? If they receive Him, they giveproof of Him by their reception; for then the guardians of theexpectation of the Messiah receive Him. If they reject Him, they giveproof 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 wasman, against those who denied it, as in showing that he was God; and theprobabilities were equally great. 

764

_Source of contradictions. _--A God humiliated, even to the death on thecross; a Messiah triumphing over death by his own death. Two natures inJesus 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 leadand 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 restand holiness; to make it holy to God; to make it the temple of God; toreconcile it to, and save it from, the wrath of God; to free it from theslavery of sin, which visibly reigns in man; to give laws to thispeople, and engrave these laws on their heart; to offer Himself to Godfor them, and sacrifice Himself for them; to be a victim withoutblemish, 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 arewanderers. 

766

Of all that is on earth, He partakes only of the sorrows, not of thejoys. He loves His neighbours, but His love does not confine itselfwithin these bounds, and overflows to His own enemies, and then to thoseof God. 

767

Jesus Christ typified by Joseph, the beloved of his father, sent by hisfather to see his brethren, etc. , innocent, sold by his brethren fortwenty pieces of silver, and thereby becoming their lord, their saviour, the saviour of strangers, and the saviour of the world; which had notbeen but for their plot to destroy him, their sale and their rejectionof him. 

In prison Joseph innocent between two criminals; Jesus Christ on thecross between two thieves. Joseph foretells freedom to the one, anddeath to the other, from the same omens. Jesus Christ saves the elect, and condemns the outcast for the same sins. Joseph foretells only; JesusChrist acts. Joseph asks him who will be saved to remember him, when hecomes into his glory; and he whom Jesus Christ saves asks that He willremember him, when He comes into His kingdom. 

768

The conversion of the heathen was only reserved for the grace of theMessiah. The Jews have been so long in opposition to them withoutsuccess; 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 tosay:[286] "Here am I, and this is the time. That which the prophets havesaid was to come in the fullness of time, I tell you My apostles willdo. The Jews shall be cast out. Jerusalem shall be soon destroyed. Andthe heathen shall enter into the knowledge of God. My apostles shall dothis after you have slain the heir of the vineyard. "

Then the apostles said to the Jews: "You shall be accursed, " (_Celsuslaughed at it_); and to the heathen, "You shall enter into the knowledgeof God. " And this then came to pass. 

770

Jesus Christ came to blind those who saw clearly, and to give sight tothe blind; to heal the sick, and leave the healthy to die; to call torepentance, and to justify sinners, and to leave the righteous in theirsins; to fill the needy, and leave the rich empty. 

771

_Holiness. _--_Effundam spiritum meum. _[287] All nations were in unbeliefand lust. The whole world now became fervent with love. Princesabandoned their pomp; maidens suffered martyrdom. Whence came thisinfluence? The Messiah was come. These were the effect and sign of Hiscoming. 

772

Destruction of the Jews and heathen by Jesus Christ: _Omnes gentesvenient et adorabunt eum. [288] Parum est ut_, [289] etc. _Postula ame. [290] Adorabunt eum omnes reges. [291] Testes iniqui. [292] Dabitmaxillam 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 theLaw. But, in speaking of Jesus Christ, we must say: _Fecit taliter omninationi. Parum est ut_, etc. , Isaiah. So it belongs to Jesus Christ tobe 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 notexplaining it sometimes by "all. " _Bibite ex hoc omnes_;[299] theHuguenots are heretics in explaining it by "all. " _In quo omnespeccaverunt_;[300] the Huguenots are heretics in excepting the childrenof true believers. We must then follow the Fathers and tradition inorder to know when to do so, since there is heresy to be feared on bothsides. 

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, thenfear. 

_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 insaying of _in communi_ what is true only _in particulari_; and theCalvinists in saying _in particulari_ what is true _in communi_. (Suchis my opinion. )

777

_Omnis Judæa regio, et Jerosolomymi universi, et baptizabantur. _[305]Because of all the conditions of men who came there. From these stonesthere _can_ come children unto Abraham. [306]

778

If men knew themselves, God would heal and pardon them. _Ne convertanturet sanem eos, et dimittantur eis peccata. _[307]

779

Jesus Christ never condemned without hearing. To Judas: _Amice, ad quidvenisti?_[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 giveslight to all, indicate only completeness; but [_the types_] ofexclusions, 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 manwho has ransomed all those who were willing to come to Him. If any dieon the way, it is their misfortune; but, so far as He was concerned, Heoffered them redemption. --That holds good in this example, where he whoransoms and he who prevents death are two persons, but not of JesusChrist, who does both these things. --No, for Jesus Christ, in thequality of Redeemer, is not perhaps Master of all; and thus, in so faras it is in Him, He is the Redeemer of all. 

When it is said that Jesus Christ did not die for all, you take undueadvantage of a fault in men who at once apply this exception tothemselves; and this is to favour despair, instead of turning them fromit to favour hope. For men thus accustom themselves in inward virtues byoutward customs. 

781

The victory over death. "What is a man advantaged if he gain the wholeworld and lose his own soul?[309] Whosoever will save his soul, shalllose 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 whichtaketh 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 enemiesbut themselves; that it is their passions which keep them apart fromGod; that He comes to destroy these, and give them His grace, so as tomake of them all one Holy Church; that He comes to bring back into thisChurch the heathen and Jews; that He comes to destroy the idols of theformer and the superstition of the latter. To this all men are opposed, not only from the natural opposition of lust; but, above all, the kingsof the earth, as had been foretold, join together to destroy thisreligion 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. Andnotwithstanding all these oppositions, these men, simple and weak, resist all these powers, subdue even these kings, these learned men andthese sages, and remove idolatry from all the earth. And all this isdone by the power which had foretold it. 

783

Jesus Christ would not have the testimony of devils, nor of those whowere not called, but of God and John the Baptist. 

784

I consider Jesus Christ in all persons and in ourselves: Jesus Christ asa Father in His Father, Jesus Christ as a Brother in His Brethren, JesusChrist as poor in the poor, Jesus Christ as rich in the rich, JesusChrist as Doctor and Priest in priests, Jesus Christ as Sovereign inprinces, etc. For by His glory He is all that is great, being God; andby His mortal life He is all that is poor and abject. Therefore He hastaken this unhappy condition, so that He could be in all persons, andthe model of all conditions. 

785

Jesus Christ is an obscurity (according to what the world callsobscurity), such that historians, writing only of important matters ofstates, have hardly noticed Him. 

786

_On the fact that neither Josephus, nor Tacitus, nor other historianshave spoken of Jesus Christ. _--So far is this from telling againstChristianity, that on the contrary it tells for it. For it is certainthat 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 thatthey purposely concealed it, or that, if they did speak of it, theiraccount has been suppressed or changed. 

787

"I have reserved me seven thousand. "[315] I love the worshippers unknownto the world and to the very prophets. 

788

As Jesus Christ remained unknown among men, so His truth remains amongcommon opinions without external difference. Thus the Eucharist amongordinary bread. 

789

Jesus would not be slain without the forms of justice; for it is farmore ignominious to die by justice than by an unjust sedition. 

790

The false justice of Pilate only serves to make Jesus Christ suffer; forhe causes Him to be scourged by his false justice, and afterwards putsHim to death. It would have been better to have put Him to death atonce. Thus it is with the falsely just. They do good and evil works toplease the world, and to show that they are not altogether of JesusChrist; for they are ashamed of Him. And at last, under great temptationand on great occasions, they kill Him. 

791

What man ever had more renown? The whole Jewish people foretell Himbefore His coming. The Gentile people worship Him after His coming. Thetwo peoples, Gentile and Jewish, regard Him as their centre. 

And yet what man enjoys this renown less? Of thirty-three years, Helives thirty without appearing. For three years He passes as animpostor; the priests and the chief people reject Him; His friends andHis nearest relatives despise Him. Finally, He dies, betrayed by one ofHis 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, torender 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 theinfinitely more infinite distance between mind and charity; for charityis supernatural. 

All the glory of greatness has no lustre for people who are in search ofunderstanding. 

The greatness of clever men is invisible to kings, to the rich, tochiefs, and to all the worldly great. 

The greatness of wisdom, which is nothing if not of God, is invisible tothe carnal-minded and to the clever. These are three orders differing inkind. 

Great geniuses have their power, their glory, their greatness, theirvictory, their lustre, and have no need of worldly greatness, with whichthey 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 noaffinity; for these neither add anything to them, nor take away anythingfrom them. They are seen of God and the angels, and not of the body, norof the curious mind. God is enough for them. 

Archimedes, [316] apart from his rank, would have the same veneration. Hefought no battles for the eyes to feast upon; but he has given hisdiscoveries to all men. Oh! how brilliant he was to the mind!

Jesus Christ, without riches, and without any external exhibition ofknowledge, is in His own order of holiness. He did not invent; He didnot reign. But He was humble, patient, holy, holy to God, terrible todevils, without any sin. Oh! in what great pomp, and in what wonderfulsplendour, He is come to the eyes of the heart, which perceive wisdom!

It would have been useless for Archimedes to have acted the prince inhis books on geometry, although he was a prince. 

It would have been useless for our Lord Jesus Christ to come like aking, in order to shine forth in His kingdom of holiness. But He camethere appropriately in the glory of His own order. 

It is most absurd to take offence at the lowliness of Jesus Christ, asif His lowliness were in the same order as the greatness which He cameto 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 theirdesertion, in His secret resurrection, and the rest, we shall see it tobe so immense, that we shall have no reason for being offended at alowliness which is not of that order. 

But there are some who can only admire worldly greatness, as thoughthere were no intellectual greatness; and others who only admireintellectual greatness, as though there were not infinitely higherthings in wisdom. 

All bodies, the firmament, the stars, the earth and its kingdoms, arenot equal to the lowest mind; for mind knows all these and itself; andthese bodies nothing. 

All bodies together, and all minds together, and all their products, arenot equal to the least feeling of charity. This is of an orderinfinitely more exalted. 

From all bodies together, we cannot obtain one little thought; this isimpossible, and of another order. From all bodies and minds, we cannotproduce a feeling of true charity; this is impossible, and of anotherand supernatural order. 

793

Why did Jesus Christ not come in a visible manner, instead of obtainingtestimony of Himself from preceding prophecies? Why did He cause Himselfto be foretold in types?

794

If Jesus Christ had only come to sanctify, all Scripture and all thingswould tend to that end; and it would be quite easy to convinceunbelievers. If Jesus Christ had only come to blind, all His conductwould be confused; and we would have no means of convincing unbelievers. But as He came _in sanctificationem et in scandalum_, [317] as Isaiahsays, we cannot convince unbelievers, and they cannot convince us. Butby this very fact we convince them; since we say that in His wholeconduct 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 leavethe 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 soclearly 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 restin hurling no invectives against the persecutors and enemies of JesusChrist. For there is no such invective in any of the historians againstJudas, Pilate, or any of the Jews. 

If this moderation of the writers of the Gospels had been assumed, aswell as many other traits of so beautiful a character, and they had onlyassumed it to attract notice, even if they had not dared to drawattention to it themselves, they would not have failed to securefriends, who would have made such remarks to their advantage. But asthey acted thus without pretence, and from wholly disinterested motives, they did not point it out to any one; and I believe that many such factshave not been noticed till now, which is evidence of the naturaldisinterestedness 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 speaksindifferently of a great gift he has just made, and God rightly speaksof 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 Himweak 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 thanthat of Jesus Christ. 

They make Him therefore capable of fear, before the necessity of dyinghas come, and then altogether brave. 

But when they make Him so troubled, it is when He afflicts Himself; andwhen men afflict Him, He is altogether strong. 

800

_Proof of Jesus Christ. _--The supposition that the apostles wereimpostors is very absurd. Let us think it out. Let us imagine thosetwelve men, assembled after the death of Jesus Christ, plotting to saythat He was risen. By this they attack all the powers. The heart of manis strangely inclined to fickleness, to change, to promises, to gain. However little any of them might have been led astray by all theseattractions, nay more, by the fear of prisons, tortures, and death, theywere lost. Let us follow up this thought. 

801

The apostles were either deceived or deceivers. Either supposition hasdifficulties; for it is not possible to mistake a man raised from thedead . .. 

While Jesus Christ was with them, He could sustain them. But, afterthat, 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 doctrineenables us to judge of miracles. 

There are false miracles and true. There must be a distinction, in orderto 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 usmust be such, that it does not destroy the proof which the true miraclesgive 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); andJesus 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 duringthe time of Moses, another at present. 

803

_Miracle. _--It is an effect, which exceeds the natural power of themeans 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 employedfor it. Thus, those who heal by invocation of the devil do not work amiracle; 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 convincethe entire man, in body and soul. 

806

In all times, either men have spoken of the true God, or the true Godhas spoken to men. 

807

Jesus Christ has verified that He was the Messiah, never in verifyingHis doctrine by Scripture and the prophecies, but always by Hismiracles. 

He proves by a miracle that He remits sins. 

Rejoice not in your miracles, said Jesus Christ, but because your namesare written in heaven. [319]

If they believe not Moses, neither will they believe one risen from thedead. 

Nicodemus recognises by His miracles that His teaching is of God. _Scimus quia venisti a Deo magister; nemo enim potest hæc signa facerequæ tu facis nisi Deus fuerit cum eo. _[320] He does not judge of themiracles by the teaching, but of the teaching by the miracles. 

The Jews had a doctrine of God as we have one of Jesus Christ, andconfirmed by miracles. They were forbidden to believe every worker ofmiracles; and they were further commanded to have recourse to the chiefpriests, and to rely on them. 

And thus, in regard to their prophets, they had all those reasons whichwe have for refusing to believe the workers of miracles. 

And yet they were very sinful in rejecting the prophets, and JesusChrist, because of their miracles; and they would not have beenculpable, if they had not seen the miracles. _Nisi fecissem . .. Peccatumnon haberent. _[321] Therefore all belief rests upon miracles. 

Prophecy is not called miracle; as Saint John speaks of the firstmiracle in Cana, and then of what Jesus Christ says to the woman ofSamaria, when He reveals to her all her hidden life. Then He heals thecenturion'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 supposethe second. 

810

Had it not been for the miracles, there would have been no sin in notbelieving 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 seehow careful he is; and yet, in the other, he believes, and makes sportof 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 theyhave seen miracles, and do not believe any of those who say that theyhave secrets to make men immortal, or restore youth to them. _--Havingconsidered how it happens that so great credence is given to so manyimpostors, who say they have remedies, often to the length of menputting their lives into their hands, it has appeared to me that thetrue cause is that there are true remedies. For it would not be possiblethat there should be so many false remedies, and that so much faithshould be placed in them, if there were none true. If there had neverbeen any remedy for any ill, and all ills had been incurable, it isimpossible that men should have imagined that they could give remedies, and still more impossible that so many others should have believed thosewho boasted of having remedies; in the same way as did a man boast ofpreventing death, no one would believe him, because there is no exampleof this. But as there were a number of remedies found to be true by thevery knowledge of the greatest men, the belief of men is therebyinduced; and, this being known to be possible, it has been thereforeconcluded that it was. For people commonly reason thus: "A thing ispossible, therefore it is"; because the thing cannot be deniedgenerally, since there are particular effects which are true, thepeople, who cannot distinguish which among these particular effects aretrue, believe them all. In the same way, the reason why so many falseeffects are credited to the moon, is that there are some true, as thetide. 

It is the same with prophecies, miracles, divination by dreams, sorceries, etc. For if there had been nothing true in all this, menwould have believed nothing of them; and thus, instead of concludingthat there are no true miracles because there are so many false, wemust, on the contrary, say that there certainly are true miracles, sincethere are false, and that there are false miracles only because some aretrue. We must reason in the same way about religion; for it would not bepossible that men should have imagined so many false religions, if therehad not been a true one. The objection to this is that savages have areligion; but the answer is that they have heard the true spoken of, asappears 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 truecause is that there are some true; for it would not be possible thatthere should be so many false miracles, if there were none true, nor somany false revelations, if there were none true, nor so many falsereligions, if there were not one true. For if there had never been allthis, it is almost impossible that men should have imagined it, andstill more impossible that so many others should have believed it. Butas there have been very great things true, and as they have beenbelieved by great men, this impression has been the cause that nearlyeverybody is rendered capable of believing also the false. And thus, instead of concluding that there are no true miracles, since there areso many false, it must be said, on the contrary, that there are truemiracles, since there are so many false; and that there are false onesonly because there are true; and that in the same way there are falsereligions because there is one true. --Objection to this: savages have areligion. But this is because they have heard the true spoken of, asappears by the cross of Saint Andrew, the deluge, circumcision, etc. --This arises from the fact that the human mind, finding itselfinclined to that side by the truth, becomes thereby susceptible of allthe falsehoods of this . .. 

818

Jeremiah xxiii, 32. The _miracles_ of the false prophets. In the Hebrewand 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 Jobxxxiii, 7; and also Isaiah xxi, 4; Jeremiah xliv, 12. _Portentum_signifies _simulacrum_, Jeremiah l, 38; and it is so in the Hebrew andVatable. 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 bedivided against himself, as Jesus Christ said. If God favoured thedoctrine 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 thesymbolisation, in order to establish the kingdom of God. And thus Headds, _Si in digito Dei . .. Regnum Dei ad vos_. [326]

820

There is a great difference between tempting and leading into error. Godtempts, but He does not lead into error. To tempt is to affordopportunities, which impose no necessity; if men do not love God, theywill do a certain thing. To lead into error is to place a man under thenecessity of inferring and following out what is untrue. 

821

Abraham and Gideon are above revelation. The Jews blinded themselves injudging of miracles by the Scripture. God has never abandoned His trueworshippers. 

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 wereno rule to judge of them, miracles would be useless, and there would beno 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 withrespect 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, utsermo 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 Jesumcrucifixum. Sed plenum signis, sed plenum sapientia; vos autem Christumnon 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 usbelieve the false is want of love. II Thess. Ii. 

The foundation of religion. It is the miracles. What then? Does Godspeak against miracles, against the foundations of the faith which wehave in Him?

If there is a God, faith in God must exist on earth. Now the miracles ofJesus Christ are not foretold by Antichrist, but the miracles ofAntichrist are foretold by Jesus Christ. And so if Jesus Christ were notthe Messiah, He would have indeed led into error. When Jesus Christforetold the miracles of Antichrist, did He think of destroying faith inHis own miracles?

Moses foretold Jesus Christ, and bade to follow Him. Jesus Christforetold Antichrist, and forbade to follow him. 

It was impossible that in the time of Moses men should keep their faithfor Antichrist, who was unknown to them. But it is quite easy, in thetime of Antichrist, to believe in Jesus Christ, already known. 

There is no reason for believing in Antichrist, which there is not forbelieving in Jesus Christ. But there are reasons for believing in JesusChrist, which there are not for believing in the other. 

826

Judges xiii, 23: "If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not haveshewed 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. --2Macc. Xv. 

1 Kings xvii. The widow to Elijah, who had restored her son, "By this Iknow 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, therehas never happened any miracle on the side of error, and not of truth. 

827

_Opposition. _--Abel, Cain; Moses, the Magicians; Elijah, the falseprophets: 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 notpoint out in what respect. 

Even the prophecies could not prove Jesus Christ during His life; andso, men would not have been culpable for not believing in Him before Hisdeath, had the miracles not sufficed without doctrine. Now those who didnot believe in Him, when He was still alive, were sinners, as He saidHimself, and without excuse. Therefore they must have had proof beyonddoubt, which they resisted. Now, they had not the prophecies, but onlythe miracles. Therefore the latter suffice, when the doctrine is notinconsistent with them; and they ought to be believed. 

John vii, 40. _Dispute among the Jews as among the Christians ofto-day. _ Some believed in Jesus Christ; others believed Him not, becauseof the prophecies which said that He should be born in Bethlehem. Theyshould have considered more carefully whether He was not. For Hismiracles being convincing, they should have been quite sure of thesesupposed contradictions of His teaching to Scripture; and this obscuritydid not excuse, but blinded them. Thus those who refuse to believe inthe 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 Hismiracles: "This people who knoweth not the law are cursed. But have anyof the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? For we know that outof Galilee ariseth no prophet. " Nicodemus answered: "Doth our law judgeany man before it hear him, [and specially, such a man who works suchmiracles]?"

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. Butwhen tradition is no longer minded; when the Pope alone is offered tous; 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 nolonger of truth, truth itself must speak to men. This is what happenedin the time of Arius. (Miracles under Diocletian and under Arius. )

832

_Miracle. _--The people concluded this of themselves; but if the reasonof it must be given to you . .. 

It is unfortunate to be in exception to the rule. The same must bestrict, and opposed to exception. But yet, as it is certain that thereare 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 powerin all the miracles which it produces. But those who, making professionto follow Him because of His miracles, follow Him in fact only becauseHe comforts them and satisfies them with worldly blessings, discreditHis 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 fivepropositions are in Jansenius. Others: This house is of God; for in itthere are wrought strange miracles. 

Which is the most clear?

_Tu quid dicis? Dico quia propheta est. Nisi esset hic a Deo, nonpoterat facere quidquam. _[330]

834

In the Old Testament, when they will turn you from God. In the New, whenthey will turn you from Jesus Christ. These are the occasions forexcluding particular miracles from belief. No others need be excluded. 

Does it therefore follow that they would have the right to exclude allthe prophets who came to them? No; they would have sinned in notexcluding those who denied God, and would have sinned in excluding thosewho did not deny God. 

So soon, then, as we see a miracle, we must either assent to it, or havestriking proofs to the contrary. We must see if it denies a God, orJesus Christ, or the Church. 

835

There is a great difference between not being for Jesus Christ andsaying so, and not being for Jesus Christ and pretending to be so. Theone party can do miracles, not the others. For it is clear of the oneparty, that they are opposed to the truth, but not of the others; andthus miracles are clearer. 

836

That we must love one God only is a thing so evident, that it does notrequire miracles to prove it. 

837

Jesus Christ performed miracles, then the apostles, and the first saintsin great number; because the prophecies not being yet accomplished, butin the process of being accomplished by them, the miracles alone borewitness to them. It was foretold that the Messiah should convert thenations. How could this prophecy be fulfilled without the conversion ofthe nations? And how could the nations be converted to the Messiah, ifthey did not see this final effect of the prophecies which prove Him?Therefore, till He had died, risen again, and converted the nations, allwas not accomplished; and so miracles were needed during all this time. Now they are no longer needed against the Jews; for the accomplishedprophecies constitute a lasting miracle. 

838

"Though ye believe not Me, believe at least the works. "[331] He refersthem, as it were, to the strongest proof. 

It had been told to the Jews, as well as to Christians, that they shouldnot always believe the prophets; but yet the Pharisees and Scribes aregreatly concerned about His miracles, and try to show that they arefalse, or wrought by the devil. For they must needs be convinced, ifthey acknowledge that they are of God. 

At the present day we are not troubled to make this distinction. Stillit is very easy to do: those who deny neither God nor Jesus Christ do nomiracles which are not certain. _Nemo facit virtutem in nomine meo, etcito 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 whomthe prince of this world has no power, which works miracles by thepeculiar power of the blood shed for us. Now God Himself chooses thishouse 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 theinstrument of the Passion of His only Son, who, being in many places, chooses this, and makes men come from all quarters there to receivethese miraculous alleviations in their weaknesses. 

839

The Church has three kinds of enemies: the Jews, who have never been ofher body; the heretics, who have withdrawn from it; and the evilChristians, who rend her from within. 

These three kinds of different adversaries usually attack her indifferent ways. But here they attack her in one and the same way. Asthey are all without miracles, and as the Church has always had miraclesagainst them, they have all had the same interest in evading them; andthey all make use of this excuse, that doctrine must not be judged bymiracles, but miracles by doctrine. There were two parties among thosewho heard Jesus Christ: those who followed His teaching on account ofHis miracles; others who said. .. . There were two parties in the time ofCalvin. .. . There are now the Jesuits, etc. 

840

Miracles furnish the test in matters of doubt, between Jews andheathens, Jews and Christians, Catholics and heretics, the slandered andslanderers, between the two crosses. 

But miracles would be useless to heretics; for the Church, authorised bymiracles which have already obtained belief, tells us that they have notthe true faith. There is no doubt that they are not in it, since thefirst miracles of the Church exclude belief of theirs. Thus there ismiracle against miracle, both the first and greatest being on the sideof the Church. 

These nuns, [334] astonished at what is said, that they are in the way ofperdition; that their confessors are leading them to Geneva; that theysuggest to them that Jesus Christ is not in the Eucharist, nor on theright hand of the Father; know that all this is false, and thereforeoffer themselves to God in this state. _Vide si via iniquitatis in meest. _[335] What happens thereupon? This place, which is said to be thetemple of the devil, God makes His own temple. It is said that thechildren must be taken away from it. God heals them there. It is saidthat it is the arsenal of hell. God makes of it the sanctuary of Hisgrace. Lastly, they are threatened with all the fury and vengeance ofheaven; and God overwhelms them with favours. A man would need to havelost his senses to conclude from this that they are therefore in the wayof 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 deme. Sed vos non creditis quia non estis ex ovibus meis. Oves meœ vocemmeam audiunt. _[337]

John vi, 30. _Quod ergo tu facis signum ut videamus et credamustibi?--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 ofJonah, the great and wonderful miracle of his resurrection. 

_Nisi videritis, non creditis. _[341] He does not blame them for notbelieving unless there are miracles, but for not believing unless theyare themselves spectators of them. 

Antichrist _in signis mendacibus_, says Saint Paul, 2 Thess. Ii. 

_Secundum operationem Satanæ, in seductione iis qui pereunt eo quodcharitatem veritatis non receperunt ut salvi fierent, ideo mittet illisDeus optationes erroris ut credant mendacio. _

As in the passage of Moses: _Tentat enim vos Deus, utrum diligatiseum. [342]

Ecce prædixi vobis: vos ergo videte. _[343]

842

Here is not the country of truth. She wanders unknown amongst men. Godhas covered her with a veil, which leaves her unrecognised by those whodo not hear her voice. Room is opened for blasphemy, even against thetruths that are at least very likely. If the truths of the Gospel arepublished, the contrary is published too, and the questions areobscured, so that the people cannot distinguish. And they ask, "Whathave 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 andwell. " That doctrine ought to be supported by miracles is a truth, whichthey misuse in order to revile doctrine. And if miracles happen, it issaid that miracles are not enough without doctrine; and this is anothertruth, which they misuse in order to revile miracles. 

Jesus Christ cured the man born blind, and performed a number ofmiracles on the Sabbath day. In this way He blinded the Pharisees, whosaid that miracles must be judged by doctrine. 

"We have Moses: but, as for this fellow, we know not from whence heis. "[344] It is wonderful that you know not whence He is, and yet Hedoes such miracles. 

Jesus Christ spoke neither against God, nor against Moses. 

Antichrist and the false prophets, foretold by both Testaments, willspeak openly against God and against Jesus Christ. Who is not hidden . .. God would not allow him, who would be a secret enemy, to do miraclesopenly. 

In a public dispute where the two parties profess to be for God, forJesus Christ, for the Church, miracles have never been on the side ofthe false Christians, and the other side has never been without amiracle. 

"He hath a devil. " John x, 21. And others said, "Can a devil open theeyes of the blind?"

The proofs which Jesus Christ and the apostles draw from Scripture arenot conclusive; for they say only that Moses foretold that a prophetshould come. But they do not thereby prove that this is He; and that isthe whole question. These passages therefore serve only to show thatthey are not contrary to Scripture, and that there appears noinconsistency, 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 thissaying: 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 tomen not to lead them into error. Now, they would be led into error, ifthe workers of miracles announced a doctrine which should not appearevidently false to the light of common sense, and if a greater worker ofmiracles had not already warned men not to believe them. 

Thus, if there were divisions in the Church, and the Arians, forexample, who declared themselves founded on Scripture just as theCatholics, had done miracles, and not the Catholics, men should havebeen led into error. 

For, as a man, who announces to us the secrets of God, is not worthy tobe believed on his private authority, and that is why the ungodly doubthim; 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 ofPharaoh and the Pharisees is the effect of a supernatural obduracy. 

When, therefore, we see miracles and a doctrine not suspicious, both onone side, there is no difficulty. But when we see miracles andsuspicious doctrine on the same side, we must then see which is theclearest. 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 alldoctrine? No; for this will not come to pass. _Si angelus_. [348] . .. 

Rule: we must judge of doctrine by miracles; we must judge of miraclesby 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 updissension, 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 hisevil teaching, and only showing the good, saying that he conforms to Godand the Church, should do miracles so as to instil insensibly a falseand subtle doctrine. This cannot happen. 

And still less, that God, who knows the heart, should perform miraclesin favour of such a one. 

843

The three marks of religion: perpetuity, a good life, miracles. Theydestroy perpetuity by their doctrine of probability; a good life bytheir morals; miracles by destroying either their truth or theconclusions 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 conclusionsto be drawn from them; they do the same. But one would need to have nosincerity in order to deny them, or again to lose one's senses in orderto deny the conclusions to be drawn from them. 

Nobody has ever suffered martyrdom for the miracles which he says he hasseen; for the folly of men goes perhaps to the length of martyrdom, forthose which the Turks believe by tradition, but not for those which theyhave seen. 

844

The heretics have always attacked these three marks, which they havenot. 

845

_First objection_: "An angel from heaven. [349] We must not judge oftruth by miracles, but of miracles by truth. Therefore the miracles areuseless. "

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 permitthat a miracle may lead into error. .. . "

When there shall be a controversy in the same Church, miracle willdecide. 

_Second objection_: "But Antichrist will do miracles. "

The magicians of Pharaoh did not entice to error. Thus we cannot say toJesus respecting Antichrist, "You have led me into error. " ForAntichrist will do them against Jesus Christ, and so they cannot leadinto error. Either God will not permit false miracles, or He willprocure greater. 

[Jesus Christ has existed since the beginning of the world: this is moreimpressive than all the miracles of Antichrist. ]

If in the same Church there should happen a miracle on the side of thosein error, men would be led into error. Schism is visible; a miracle isvisible. But schism is more a sign of error than a miracle is a sign oftruth. 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 tenebrislumen rectis corde. _[352]

847

If the compassion of God is so great that He instructs us to ourbenefit, even when He hides Himself, what light ought we not to expectfrom Him when He reveals Himself?

848

Will _Est et non est_ be received in faith itself as well as inmiracles? And if it is inseparable in the others . .. 

When Saint Xavier[353] works miracles. --[Saint Hilary. "Ye wretches, whooblige us to speak of miracles. "]

Unjust judges, make not your own laws on the moment; judge by thosewhich are established, and by yourselves. _Væ qui conditis legesiniquas. _[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. " Ifthey say that they are obedient to the Pope, that is "hypocrisy. " Ifthey are ready to subscribe to all the articles, that is not enough. Ifthey say that a man must not be killed for an apple, "they attack themorality of Catholics. " If miracles are done among them, it is not asign of holiness, and is, on the contrary, a symptom of heresy. 

This way in which the Church has existed is that truth has been withoutdispute, 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 wasnot attacked. But the Sorbonne . .. But the bull. .. . 

It is impossible that those who love God with all their heart shouldfail to recognise the Church; so evident is she. --It is impossible thatthose who do not love God should be convinced of the Church. 

Miracles have such influence that it was necessary that God should warnmen not to believe in them in opposition to Him, all clear as it is thatthere is a God. Without this they would have been able to disturb men. 

And thus so far from these passages, Deut. Xiii, making against theauthority of the miracles, nothing more indicates their influence. Andthe same in respect of Antichrist. "To seduce, if it were possible, eventhe elect. "[356]

850

The history of the man born blind. 

What says Saint Paul? Does he continually speak of the evidence of theprophecies? No, but of his own miracle. What says Jesus Christ? Does Hespeak of the evidence of the prophecies? No; His death had not fulfilledthem. But He says, _Si non fecissem_. [357] Believe the works. 

Two supernatural foundations of our wholly supernatural religion; onevisible, the other invisible; miracles with grace, miracles withoutgrace. 

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, beingon 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 Heexercises over bodies. 

The Church has never approved a miracle among heretics. 

Miracles a support of religion: they have been the test of Jews; theyhave 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. Butwhen there is no schism, and error is in question, miracle decides. 

_Si non fecissem quæ alius non fecit. _ The wretches who have obliged usto 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 ithappens, and there is a disproportion between the state of their faithand the instrument of the miracle, it ought then to induce them tochange. But with you it is otherwise. There would be as much reason insaying that, if the Eucharist raised a dead man, it would be necessaryfor one to turn a Calvinist rather than remain a Catholic. But when itcrowns the expectation, and those, who hoped that God would bless theremedies, see themselves healed without remedies . .. 

_The ungodly. _--No sign has ever happened on the part of the devilwithout a stronger sign on the part of God, or even without it havingbeen foretold that such would happen. 

851

Unjust persecutors of those whom God visibly protects. If they reproachyou with your excesses, "they speak as the heretics. " If they say thatthe grace of Jesus Christ distinguishes us, "they are heretics. " If theydo 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, "Believein miracles"; because the last is natural, and not the first. The onehad need of a precept, not the other. Hezekiah. 

The synagogue was only a type, and thus it did not perish; and it wasonly a type, and so it is decayed. It was a type which contained thetruth, 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 thefoundation, and will serve for the continuation of the Church tillAntichrist, till the end. 

The two witnesses. 

In the Old Testament and the New, miracles are performed in connectionwith types. Salvation, or a useless thing, if not to show that we mustsubmit 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, sincethose refused to believe Jesus Christ innocent only because they doubtedif His miracles were of God. Whereas the Jesuits, though unable to doubtthat the miracles of Port-Royal are of God, do not cease to doubt stillthe innocence of that house. 

854

I suppose that men believe miracles. You corrupt religion either infavour of your friends, or against your enemies. You arrange it at yourwill. 

855

_On the miracle. _--As God has made no family more happy, let it also bethe case that He find none more thankful. 

SECTION XIV

APPENDIX: POLEMICAL FRAGMENTS

856

_Clearness, obscurity. _--There would be too great darkness, if truth hadnot visible signs. This is a wonderful one, that it has always beenpreserved in one Church and one visible assembly [of men]. There wouldbe 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 hasalways existed; for it is certain that truth has always existed, andthat nothing false has always existed. 

857

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

858

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

859

In addition to so many other signs of piety, they[359] are alsopersecuted, 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 perhapsnever at the same time, as now. And if she suffer more because of themultiplicity of errors, she derives this advantage from it, that theydestroy each other. 

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

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

Faith embraces many truths which seem to contradict each other. _Thereis a time to laugh, and a time to weep_, [360] etc. _Responde. Nerespondeas_, [361] etc. 

The source of this is the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ; andalso the two worlds (the creation of a new heaven and a new earth; a newlife 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 thetwo worlds, and a member and image of Jesus Christ. And thus all thenames suit them: righteous, yet sinners; dead, yet living; living, yetdead; 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 awonderful system. The source of all heresies is the exclusion of some ofthese truths; and the source of all the objections which the hereticsmake against us is the ignorance of some of our truths. And it generallyhappens that, unable to conceive the connection of two opposite truths, and believing that the admission of one involves the exclusion of theother, they adhere to the one, exclude the other, and think of us asopposed to them. Now exclusion is the cause of their heresy; andignorance that we hold the other truth causes their objections. 

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

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

The heresy of to-day, not conceiving that this Sacrament contains at thesame time both the presence of Jesus Christ and a type of Him, and thatit is a sacrifice and a commemoration of a sacrifice, believes thatneither of these truths can be admitted without excluding the other forthis reason. 

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

3rd example: Indulgences. 

The shortest way, therefore, to prevent heresies is to instruct in alltruths; and the surest way to refute them is to declare them all. Forwhat 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 faultis not in following a falsehood, but in not following another truth. 

863

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

864

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

865

Two kinds of people make things equal to one another, as feasts toworking days, Christians to priests, all things among them, etc. Andhence the one party conclude that what is then bad for priests is alsoso for Christians, and the other that what is not bad for Christians islawful for priests. 

866

If the ancient Church was in error, the Church is fallen. If she shouldbe in error to-day, it is not the same thing; for she has always thesuperior maxim of tradition from the hand of the ancient Church; and sothis submission and this conformity to the ancient Church prevail andcorrect 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 Churchwith what we see there now, is that we generally look upon SaintAthanasius, [362] Saint Theresa, and the rest, as crowned with glory, andacting towards us as gods. Now that time has cleared up things, it doesso appear. But at the time when he was persecuted, this great saint wasa man called Athanasius; and Saint Theresa was a nun. "Elias was a mansubject to like passions as we are, " says Saint James, to disabuseChristians of that false idea which makes us reject the example of thesaints, as disproportioned to our state. "They were saints, " say we, "they are not like us. " What then actually happened? Saint Athanasiuswas a man called Athanasius, accused of many crimes, condemned by suchand such a council for such and such a crime. All the bishops assentedto 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; knowledgewithout zeal; neither knowledge nor zeal; both zeal and knowledge. Thefirst three condemned him. The last acquitted him, were excommunicatedby the Church, and yet saved the Church. 

868

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

869

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

870

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

871

The Pope is head. Who else is known of all? Who else is recognised byall, having power to insinuate himself into all the body, because heholds the principal shoot, which insinuates itself everywhere? How easyit was to make this degenerate into tyranny! That is why Christ has laiddown 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--asthe Greeks said in a council, important rules--but by the acts of theChurch and the Fathers, and by the canons. 

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

874

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

875

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

876

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

877

_Summum jus, summa injuria. _

The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength tomake 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 ofjustice. But as might does not allow itself to be managed as men want, because it is a palpable quality, whereas justice is a spiritual qualityof which men dispose as they please, they have placed justice in thehands of might. And thus that is called just which men are forced toobey. 

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 theFronde, [365] which raises its alleged justice against power. It is notthe 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, butfor 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, andmay serve you. It should therefore be made known. _Pasce ovesmeas_, [366] non _tuas_. You owe me pasturage. 

879

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

880

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

881

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

The Pope is very easily imposed upon, because of his occupations, andthe confidence which he has in the Jesuits; and the Jesuits are verycapable 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 withoutlove; all Christians without the grace of Jesus Christ; God withoutpower over the will of men; a predestination without mystery; aredemption 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 theChurch of to-day as so good, that it is made a crime to desire to changeit. Formerly it was infallibly good, and it was thought that it could bechanged 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 priestswithout such great circumspection, that there were hardly any who wereworthy; and it is not allowed to complain of the custom which makes somany who are unworthy!

885

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

886

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

887

You are ignorant of the prophecies, if you do not know that all thismust happen; princes, prophets, Pope, and even the priests. And yet theChurch is to abide. By the grace of God we have not come to that. Woe tothese priests! But we hope that God will bestow His mercy upon us thatwe 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, andsome corrupt casuists, who are not members of the hierarchy, are steepedin these corruptions, it is, on the other hand, certain that the truepastors of the Church, who are the true guardians of the Divine Word, have preserved it unchangeably against the efforts of those who haveattempted to destroy it. 

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

For if some of these men, who, by an extraordinary vocation, have madeprofession of withdrawing from the world and adopting the monks' dress, in order to live in a more perfect state than ordinary Christians, havefallen into excesses which horrify ordinary Christians, and have becometo us what the false prophets were among the Jews; this is a private andpersonal misfortune, which must indeed be deplored, but from whichnothing 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 longsince announced that these temptations would arise from people of thiskind; so that when we are well instructed, we see in this ratherevidence 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 bemade to know that it is not that of the Church [_the doctrine of theChurch_], and that our divisions do not separate us from the altar. 

891

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

892

By showing the truth, we cause it to be believed; but by showing theinjustice of ministers, we do not correct it. Our mind is assured by aproof 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; butlaws 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 fromreligious 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 himonly the act and not the intention. [368] And this is why he often obeysslavishly, and defeats the intention. But Jesus Christ has told us theobject. And you defeat that object. 

897

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

898

_Against those who misuse passages of Scripture, and who pridethemselves in finding one which seems to favour their error. _--Thechapter 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] Aperson who says: "I am neither for nor against", we ought to reply tohim . .. 

899

He who will give the meaning of Scripture, and does not take it fromScripture, 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 erantsui?_[372]

901

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

The Jesuits have not made the truth uncertain, but they have made theirown 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 aguide. Christians alone have been constrained to take their rules fromwithout themselves, and to acquaint themselves with those which JesusChrist bequeathed to men of old to be handed down to true believers. This constraint wearies these good Fathers. They desire, like otherpeople, to have liberty to follow their own imaginations. It is in vainthat we cry to them, as the prophets said to the Jews of old: "Enterinto the Church; acquaint yourselves with the precepts which the men ofold left to her, and follow those paths. " They have answered like theJews: "We will not walk in them; but we will follow the thoughts of ourhearts"; 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 asexceptional. But of the exception you make a rule without exception, sothat 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. Godabsolves as soon as He sees penitence in the heart; the Church when shesees it in works. God will make a Church pure within, which confounds, by its inward and entirely spiritual holiness, the inward impiety ofproud sages and Pharisees; and the Church will make an assembly of menwhose external manners are so pure as to confound the manners of theheathen. If there are hypocrites among them, but so well disguised thatshe does not discover their venom, she tolerates them; for, though theyare not accepted of God, whom they cannot deceive, they are of men, whomthey do deceive. And thus she is not dishonoured by their conduct, whichappears holy. But you want the Church to judge neither of the inward, because that belongs to God alone, nor of the outward, because Goddwells only upon the inward; and thus, taking away from her all choiceof men, you retain in the Church the most dissolute, and those whodishonour her so greatly, that the synagogues of the Jews and sects ofphilosophers would have banished them as unworthy, and have abhorredthem as impious. 

905

The easiest conditions to live in according to the world are the mostdifficult to live in according to God, and vice versa. Nothing is sodifficult according to the world as the religious life; nothing iseasier than to live it according to God. Nothing is easier, according tothe world, than to live in high office and great wealth; nothing is moredifficult than to live in them according to God, and without acquiringan interest in them and a liking for them. 

906

The casuists submit the decision to the corrupt reason, and the choiceof decisions to the corrupt will, in order that all that is corrupt inthe 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 givescertainty but truth; nothing gives rest but the sincere search fortruth. 

908

The whole society itself of their casuists cannot give assurance to aconscience in error, and that is why it is important to choose goodguides. 

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

909

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

910

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

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 thecontrary. 

914

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

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

916

_Probability. _[376]--The earnestness of the saints in seeking the truthwas useless, if the probable is trustworthy. The fear of the saints whohave always followed the surest way (Saint Theresa having alwaysfollowed 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. Thegreat have wished to be flattered. The Jesuits have wished to be lovedby the great. They have all been worthy to be abandoned to the spirit oflying, the one party to deceive, the others to be deceived. They havebeen avaricious, ambitious, voluptuous. _Coacervabunt tibimagistros. _[377] Worthy disciples of such masters, they have soughtflatterers, and have found them. 

919

If they do not renounce their doctrine of probability, their good maximsare 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 notmore 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 thepeople. 

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

Silence is the greatest persecution; the saints were never silent. It istrue that a call is necessary; but it is not from the decrees of theCouncil that we must learn whether we are called, it is from thenecessity of speaking. Now, after Rome has spoken, and we think that shehas condemned the truth, and that they have written it, and after thebooks which have said the contrary are censured; we must cry out so muchthe louder, the more unjustly we are censured, and the more violentlythey would stifle speech, until there come a Pope who hears bothparties, and who consults antiquity to do justice. So the good Popeswill 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 thatJesus Christ is God, perhaps they mean by it not the naturalinterpretation, but as it is said, _Dii estis_. 

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

You yourselves are corruptible. 

I feared that I had written ill, seeing myself condemned; but theexample of so many pious writings makes me believe the contrary. It isno longer allowable to write well, so corrupt or ignorant is theInquisition!

"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 willfear no longer and will cause greater fear. I do not even fear your likecensures, if they are not founded on those of tradition. Do you censureall? 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 whatthey 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 nolonger called that sure which leads to heaven without danger of notarriving there by it, but that which leads there without danger of goingout of that road. 

920

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

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

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

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

You say that I am a heretic. Is that lawful? And if you do not fear thatmen 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. _Dignanecessitas. [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 mystrength. If I lose it, I am undone. I shall not lack accusations, andpersecutions. But I possess the truth, and we shall see who will take itaway. 

I do not need to defend religion, but you do not need to defend errorand injustice. Let God, out of His compassion, having no regard to theevil 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 thatfalsehood . .. 

921

_Probable. _--Let us see if we seek God sincerely, by comparison of thethings which we love. It is _probable_ that this food will not poisonme. It is _probable_ that I shall not lose my action by not prosecutingit . .. 

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 thatamphibious animal in fable was once reproached, which held itself in adoubtful position between the fish and the birds . .. 

It is important to kings and princes to be considered pious; andtherefore 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 inthe text are to the Vulgate, except where it has seemed advisable toalter 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 theintroduction. 

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

Note No. 54 on page 28 has the wrong line number and is positioned twonotes 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. "