Abstract
A report (by Nicole or De Saci) of a conversation in which Pascal laid out the plan of his projected apology for the Christian religion: starting from a portraiture of man that shows at once his grandeur and baseness, contradictions and misery, he imagines a man who has lived in indifference brought to consider what he really is, so as to lead him toward the certainty of Christianity.
Traduzione di George Pearce · Delphi Classics, 2000 · pubblico dominio
IT HAPPENED ON a certain occasion, about ten or twelve years since, that M. Pascal was induced to deliver what he had revolved in his mind upon the subject above referred to, in the way of verbal relation. It was done in the presence, and at the request of, several of his friends; and, among them, some of considerable distinction. He unfolded to them on this occasion, in a few words, the plan of his entire work; he described the subject, and the proposed matter; briefly recapitulated the reasons which had induced the undertaking, and the principles upon which it was to be founded; and explained the order and connexion he intended to pursue. And those persons, than whom none were more competent to judge of these things, reported that they never heard a more beautiful address, or one more powerful, affecting, and convincing. They were delighted with what they heard; and from the specimen thus afforded, in a discourse carried on for a period of between two and three hours, delivered on the spur of the moment, and without effort or premeditation, they drew the most exalted conclusions of the projected work, if it should ever be carried into full execution by one with whose powers they were so well acquainted, one so matured in literary composition, and one, especially, whose fastidiousness of taste in his writings was so great. He was, indeed, rarely satisfied with his first conceptions, however good they might appear to others; and was accustomed to transcribe as frequently as six or eight times, compositions which ordinary readers deemed as perfect as they could be from their very first transmission to paper.
After having explained to his hearers what kind of demonstrations were wont the most to impress, and produce conviction in the minds of men, he proceeded to show that the Christian religion bore marks of authority and certainty as great as any of those things which are received by mankind as most indubitable and established.
He opened his scheme by drawing a portraiture of man; in which he omitted nothing that could contribute, externally or internally, to a faithful resemblance, even to the most secret recesses and movements of the heart. He then supposed the case of a man, who, having passed his life in ignorance of and indifference to everything, and especially himself, is brought, at length, to contemplate himself by this portraiture, and to consider what he really is. In this review, he discovers with surprise a multitude of things upon which he had never before reflected, A vivid representation, and one that excited the astonishment and admiration of all, was made by the speaker, of both the grandeur and the baseness of man; of his capabilities and his feebleness; the uncertainties and obscurity which surround him on all sides; and the endless contradictions which cross and mingle in his nature. The least enlightened could not, after such a revelation, relapse into indifference; and however insensible they might heretofore have been, they could not but desire, after being thus shown their present state, to know more of the original purposes of their creation, and their future destiny.
M. Pascal having succeeded in exciting a desire to seek the solution of these momentous uncertainties, addressed himself first to those of philosophical minds: and, after unfolding to them all that the most eminent teachers of every sect had inculcated upon the subject of man, he showed such defects, such inconclusiveness, so many contradictions, and so much falsehood, in all their theories, as to make it evident to persons of that description, that it was not in such instructors that any confidence was to be placed.
He then made them accompany him in a survey of all the countries of the world, and all periods of time, and observe the infinitude of religious systems that had prevailed: but he led them to see at the same time, that all these systems so abound with vanity, folly, errors, sophistry, and extravagance, that there is nothing in them really satisfying to the soul.
He then called their attention to the Jewish nation, and fixed their view on the extraordinary circumstances of their history. After describing all the singularities of this people, he paused to remark particularly the influence exercised over them by the means of a single Book, comprehending alike their history, their law, and their religion. He no sooner (said he) opens this book, than he learns that this world is the creation of one God; and that the same God has created man in his own image, and endowed him with all those qualities of body and mind that befitted such an origin. If there were no corroboration of this truth from other sources, reason alone would suffice to show, that there is more probability in this supposition, — that one great Being, a God, is the author of man, and of all things in the entire universe, — than in the various fancies which these same men have devised by their unaided reason. He is, however, arrested at this point by perceiving, in the delineation he has given of man, that he is now very far from possessing all those advantages which he enjoyed when he passed out of the hands of his Maker. But he does not remain long under this difficulty; for, as he pursues his study of the same book, he finds that, &fter man had been created by God in a state of innocence, and in the possession of every perfection, his first act was to rebel against his Creator, and employ the high qualifications he had received at his hand, as instruments of offence against him.
M. Pascal then went on to show that this crime, being in all its circumstances the most heinous that could have been committed, had been punished, not only in the person of this first man, but in his descendants also; to whom this first transgressor communicated his own misery, weakness, and corruption, and will continue so to communicate it, as long as time shall last.
He now pointed out various passages in the book, in which this truth is revealed. He called attention to the fact that, in it, man is never spoken of but with reference to this state of impotence and disorder; that in various parts it is stated, that all flesh is corrupt, that men have given themselves up to evil inclinations, and are prone to sin from their birth. He made his hearers remark, that this first fall is the source, not only of whatever is most inexplicable in man’s nature, but also of a multitude of circumstances, external to him, and of which he knows not the causes. Finally, he showed that human nature is faithfully depicted throughout the book, and is in every respect conformable to the representation made by himself at the outset.
The speaker next proceeded to open the sources of consolation which the book contained. He pointed out the statements therein made, that the remedy for these evils must proceed from the hand of God; that he is willing to be entreated of by us for assistance; and engages even to provide a Deliverer for man, — one who shall make satisfaction in his stead, and supply his own deficiencies and impotence.
After making a number of forcible remarks upon this remarkable book, he desired them to notice, that it is the only one which has ever spoken in a becoming manner of the Supreme Being, and furnished any just idea of a religion entitled to credibility. He laid down for consideration the most obvious marks of such a system; applying them to that which the book in question inculcates; and he drew the especial attention of his auditors to a feature which he deemed the essence of true religion, — the love of the God which is professed to be adored; — a character, altogether peculiar to this one religious system, and which visibly distinguishes it from every other; whose falsehood is, in fact, apparent from the want of this essential feature.
Hitherto, M. Pascal, while preparing his hearer’s minds, and insensibly leading them to his conclusions, had laid down no positive proofs of the truths he wished to establish; he, however, had brought them into a disposition to receive them with readiness, and even heartily to desire that those proofs might be found solid and well founded, inasmuch as they were so obviously conducive to the tranquillity of the spirit, and the clearing up of its uncertainties. They were in that state of mind, which would be natural to all reasonable persons following out such a train of reasoning as had been thus furnished; and it could be little doubted, that, after such a preparation, they would easily yield conviction to the arguments which their instructor next brought forward, to confirm and establish those important verities which form the foundation of the Christian religion.
Proceeding, then, to furnish a brief view of those proofs, after showing, generally, that the truths under discussion were really contained in this book, the authenticity of which no person of competent understanding could doubt, he paused principally upon the writings of Moses, in which these revelations are chiefly comprised; and he made it apparent, by a large number of indubitable coincidences, that it was equally impossible that Moses should have left on record a mere collection of falsehoods, and that the people to whom they were delivered, would have allowed themselves to be so imposed upon.
He then went over the principal Miracles recorded in the work; and as they are most important supports of the religious system taught therein, he proved it to be impossible that they should not be true; not only on the authority of the writings in which they are recorded, but from all the accompanying circumstances from which they derive corroboration.
He next explained the figurative character of the entire law of Moses; showed how all that had befallen the Jewish nation was only a type of those truths which were accomplished at the coming of the Messiah; and that the veil which concealed these figures having been raised, it was easy to trace the accomplishment and perfect consummation of them, in favour of those who have received Jesus Christ.
M. Pascal next proceeded to prove the truth of religion from Prophecy; and on this head he enlarged more than on the preceding. Having made these questions the subject of deep study, and entertaining upon them certain views of a nature wholly original, he explained them with great clearness; he unfolded their meaning and fulfilment, with surprising exactitude, and brought them before his hearers in all their lucidness and force.
Lastly, after going through the Books of the Old Testament, and making various striking observations upon their contents, in reference to the fundamental evidences of revelation, he proceeded to those of the New Testament, and deduced from them also his crowning proofs of the truth of the Gospel.
He began with Christ; and although he had incontrovertibly established his divine mission out of the prophecies, and the symbols of the law, whose entire accomplishment centred in him, he adduced various evidences to the same effect, from his personal qualifications, his miracles, his doctrines, and all the circumstances of his life, and tenor of his actions.
He then descanted upon the character of the chosen Apostles; and, in order to establish the truth of the faith which they were commissioned universally to publish, after showing that they could only be charged with falsehood on one of two suppositions, — that they were deceivers themselves, or had in their turn been made dupes; he made it apparent that both these suppositions were equally impossible.
Finally, omitting nothing that could confirm the veracity of the Gospel history, he concluded with a variety of beautiful and impressive remarks upon the New Testament books themselves; — upon the style of the Evangelists, and their personal history; upon the Apostles, and their several writings; the multitude of Miracles, the Martyrs, and the Saints: in a word, on the various and copious evidences by which the Christian religion is so triumphantly established. And, although the limited nature of his discourse did not allow him to treat these various topics with all that Copiousness which his projected work contemplated; what he brought forward was abundantly sufficient to prove, that all these things were no work of man; and that it was an Infinite Mind alone which could have devised the concurrence of so vast a multitude of events, for proving, in the most incontestable manner, the truth of that religion, which God himself came down from heaven to establish among men.
The above is the substance of the discourse on this occasion, which was delivered to the assembled audience, only as an epitome of the great work which the speaker was contemplating; and it is from the reports of some persons present, that the small portion here furnished has been collected.
IN BRINGING THE present volume to a close, it may be not uninteresting to take a brief retrospect of the diversified subjects it has presented to the reader; and hastily to retrace a road, which I venture to believe has been traversed not wholly without satisfaction or advantage.
The series opened with the slender remains of Pascal’s Correspondence, which have escaped the vicissitudes of centuries, and have, for the most part, been only recently brought to light. These Letters admit us, after a lapse of time which enhances their interest, to many of the secrets of his own bosom, and to some pleasing scenes of his domestic circle. We find in them the records of sore disquietudes; and painfully trace the pressure of physical infirmity and a wounded spirit; yet all sustained with the meekness and patience which were his habitual characteristics. In the solemn reflections to which the bereavement of a revered parent gave rise, conveyed in language of almost unequalled eloquence, we learn the sources from which his own supports in sorrow were derived, and the solid grounds of scriptural doctrine and Christian hope, on which were placed the consolations he tenderly administered to the beloved relatives who shared his affliction. The chastened communications with his young and too attractive pupil, — that romantic episode, which at once gilds and saddens the records of his early years, — furnish us with touching glimpses of the blight of youthful hope and ambition which he then sustained; while we see, with admiration, the fond anticipations of earthly joy merged and swallowed up, in solicitude for the eternal interests of her, who had once been the object of his deep, but conquered attachment.
From the effusions of friendship and love, in epistolary confidence, we were brought to the more robust exercises of the philosopher and mathematician. It is here that Pascal is found on his strongest ground. In the fine delineation of the “ Geometrical Spirit,” we meet with the soundest rules of rigid definition, and incontrovertible demonstration. We are led on, from the simplest of geometrical propositions, to the great principles upon which the whole visible creation, in all its magnitude and minuteness, has been suspended by its mighty Maker; and lose ourselves, at length, in admiring contemplation of the infinitudes of time, motion, and space!
In the next of these treatises, connected with the exact sciences, we find laid down, with admirable simplicity and force, the limits within which’ a finite understanding should restrict its investigations. While the barriers which Revelation assigns to the knowledge and the capabilities of man are strictly imposed, the amplest field is laid open to his researches in human philosophy and science. It is shown, that the ages preceding our own have left this field unexhausted; and intelligence and curiosity are invited and encouraged to an unlimited progress.
But what is this that meets us next in our review? Have we here another Ovid, laying down, anew, rules for the gratification of animal desires? Is it a revived Catullus, or an anticipated Moore, pouring out amatory effusions, redolent with sensuality, and stimulating to voluptuousness? Nothing of all this is the portraiture here presented of the “Passion of Love.” We may, it is true, have paused upon some of the positions which even a Pascal has maintained upon this hazardous subject; and those who know themselves the best, will feel that they need rather rules for the moderation of passion, than vivid pictures, however chaste in conception and true to nature, of their overpowering ascendancy and universal sway. Yet who ever before, painted love with an intelligence so bright, and a philosophy so lofty? And where, in the pages of romance, are furnished more touching pictures of its hopes and its fears, its elation and its despondencies? But could it indeed be otherwise; for the hand is a master’s, and the portrait is himself!
The “most eloquent of men” next lays down the rules by which the thoughts of a superior intellect should be clothed, in language most adapted to captivate the auditor or the reader. They are the rules, in fact, by means of which he himself gained resistless entrance into the minds of men; and of their truth and value, the concurrent testimony of his contemporaries to all that lie uttered and wrote, and the approving verdict of posterity, furnish the best attestation.
We then come to the multitudinous fruits of learning, experience, and wisdom, which are laid up in one of the most copious collections of aphoristic writing that the literature of any language presents. We remember the comparatively brief term assigned to his earthly existence; and we are astonished at the mental power which had accumulated such rich and varied stores; and at that perfection of mental alchemy, by which the materials, thus collected, were elaborated into results so practical and so profound!
The youthful correspondent of learned sovereigns, laying at the feet of royally the proud but fragile produce of early genius, is now seen devoting his more matured powers to the instruction of rank and influence, in its high responsibilities. With a graceful bias in favour of aristocratical distinctions, with the polish of the courtier, heightened and dignified by Christian sentiment, he assigns the respective duties, both of the possessors of high rank, and of their inferiors in station, towards each other. From the one he exacts no austere renunciation of the innocent advantages which Providence has assigned to their position; from the other, no sordid homage unworthy of independent men to bestow. And, with beautiful discrimination, he indicates, what are those qualifications in the great which entitle to an external consideration, and what the richer endowments of intelligence and virtue, which command the secret tribute of the heart. These lessons of wisdom and refinement derive their crowning interest, from our knowledge of the tender friendship entertained by the instructor for the distinguished young person, who was the primary object of his precepts.
The dialogue next turns upon the philosophical systems of the ancient and the (then) modern schools. The stream of pleasant discourse flows on amidst the tranquil shades of the Port Royal retreat; — those scenes sacred to learned repose, and pious meditation; which yet were, perhaps, sometimes sought by those, whom duty might have more beneficially left amongst the haunts of business, or in the discharge of social relations. In the graphic scene to which we are introduced, we might believe we were listening to the rich eloquence of Pascal, and the maturer wisdom of the venerable De Saci. We find set forth, the miserable rules of pride and self-dependence which were all that the heathen teacher could furnish, for the conduct of life, and the attainment of virtue; and are wholesomely instructed, by stern denunciations of those who, abusing the privileges of a purer theology, and a Divine revelation, have left men in the labyrinths of universal scepticism, and given them up to the resistless sway of their lusts and passions. In contrast with both, we have unfolded before us the Christian scheme, by which man’s happiness and well-being in life, and hopes for eternity, are shown to be dependent upon his own improvement of those aids, which are offered to his acceptance by the hand of a just and beneficent Creator.
After this, we find ourselves admitted into another of those repositories, in which our author was accustomed to store the fruits of his meditations, and the materials from which he elaborated his richest compositions. We proceed yet further, and find ourselves in an armoury of thought, strewed with missiles, and hung round with weapons of assault, and defence. There it was, that the skilful controversialist polished and fastened the armour, by which he baffled the fiercest assaults of his opponents; and here were winged and barbed those shafts, alternately of irony and indignation, which carried terror and defeat into their infuriated ranks. And lastly, we penetrate, as it were, into the very inner chamber of his self-communings; and listen to breathings of the spirit, which were, perhaps, never designed to meet any eye but his own. We see in them stern and resentful glances cast at the tyranny of Papal Bulls, and the arrogance of hierarchical power. We find reproachful contrasts drawn between these corruptions of later days, and the simplicity of Apostolic rule. We have questions raised, but left undetermined, upon the extent to which infallibility should be conceded to man. We listen to lamentations over the degeneracy of a church, which he yet could not renounce; and aspirations after a perfection, to which no human form of spiritual government is, probably, destined to attain. We contemplate, in short, a spirit ill at ease, restless and dissatisfied with all that the theology and the church around him presented; and ripe, perhaps, had longer life been given, to embrace a purer doctrine, and a more healthy discipline, — such as that which was fast spreading throughout neighbouring and more enlightened lands!
Yet all these topics, interesting and important as they were, were subordinated and eclipsed by that one great object to which the closing years of Pascal’s life were devoted. To the noblest theme which could engage the thoughts or the pen of man, were now consecrated all his capacities, all his desires, — his toilsome days, and his watchful nights. To show the misery and hopelessness of man, without a voice and a guidance from heaven; to assert the authenticity and Divine authority of Scripture, in which that voice is heard; to silence, by the most copious evidences, internal and external, the cavils of atheism and infidelity against its revelations; to exhibit the necessities of man satisfied, and the types and prophecies which went before fulfilled, in the advent to our world, of a “God manifested in the flesh;” to show how our reconciliation with an offended Creator has been achieved by His sacrifice; and the gates of heaven and immortality opened to us by His resurrection: —
“To justify the ways of God to man;”
and to unfold the mighty scheme of the Eternal Mind in the creation of his moral universe; — these were the topics, enforced by eloquence, enriched by learning, elevated by philosophy, and carrying conviction to the heart, by a profound knowledge of man: this was the undertaking, in which all his intellectual powers were absorbed, with a continually increasing intenseness, as the close of his earthly career drew near.
To the completion of this task, he, in his own calculations, devoted, when he had scarcely attained to manhood, a large proportion of that which, on ordinary estimates of life, might be the residue of his existence. But it seemed good to the Great Disposer of events to exhibit, in the partial disappointment of his hope, a signal instance of the instability of human designs, even the holiest and the best The great conception was matured; the outlines were fully drawn; the scenery began to live and glow; many portions were worked into finish and grace; the richer hues were about to be laid on, and the finer touches to be given; — when the hand of the artist was arrested, the pencil dropped; and the canvass remained, — incomplete, yet immortal!
The copious materials thus collected, have been, as is well known, largely augmented by those recent discoveries of which an account has already been given. These compositions, restored to their original integrity, have been found susceptible of a highly lucid grouping and arrangement, conformable, as far as can be ascertained with the writer’s scheme; a scheme which, in all its perspicuity and comprehensiveness, has been handed down to us (as has been seen in the paper immediately preceding the present) from his own lips, and in his own expressions; and the whole combined, accompanied with his original expositions, leave now little to desire, to aid our conceptions of the scope and spirit of this great work. It is this collection which will form the principal contents of a subsequent volume; and I venture to believe, that the reader who has given his attention to the foregoing pages, will be not unwilling to accompany me in those that are to follow.
THE TRANSLATOR.