Thoughts on the Jesuits and the Jansenists

Abstract

Fragments tied to the contest between Jesuits and Jansenists: probability and the casuists, the persecution of the Jansenists, and the three marks of true religion — perpetuity, holiness of life, and miracles.

Traduzione di George Pearce · Delphi Classics, 2000 · pubblico dominio

THE FOLLOWING SECTION, in which we have collected a multitude of fragments and notes relating to the memorable contest in which Pascal engaged with the Jesuits, may properly be considered as an Appendix to the Provincial Letters.

The greater number of these fragments are extracted from the autograph MS. It was with a feeling of the liveliest curiosity that we traced, for the first time, these sketches of thought heretofore almost unknown; — these hasty suggestions and first inspirations of genius, soon about to be incorporated in the master-piece of our literature. Faithful to our design of preserving, with a religious care, the very minutest relic of this great mind, we have not scrupled, in the following pages, to present to the reader even the most rudimental of these sketches.

These notes possess, further, an historical interest; inasmuch as they prove that Pascal, in writing those letters, was not, as has been pretended by some, the mere instrument for carrying out the conceptions of others. They prove with what care he studied for himself the doctrines which he denounced: they sound in our ears, as it were, the first cries of his offended conscience against their enormities. The members of Port Royal, — especially Arnauld, — assisted him in his researches, made useful suggestions, and furnished some materials; and therefore it is that we find, among the fragments, a page of quotations in Arnauld’s hand-writing, with annotations by Pascal. But if the latter found, in his communions with Port Royal, the occasion for his great work, and was supplied there with some of the documents that hé needed, his eloquence was the fruit of his own deep convictions, no less than of his immortal powers. (French Editor.)

The interesting remarks before cited almost supersede those topics, in reference to the papers now about to be furnished, which might have suggested themselves to the mind of the Translator. We seem, indeed, by means of these notes, and yet more, perhaps, by the copious section which follows, entitled, “Thoughts and Notes for the Provincials,” brought into the workshop, or (if the figure be more appropriate) the laboratory of the mind; and admitted to the secret processes by which the materials of a great work are collected, and moulded into form and symmetry.

These collections furnish, also, a striking proof of the extent to which Pascal was accustomed to meditate upon the subjects on which his mind was engaged, up to the period when it kindled into elaborate composition. It is, at the same time, pleasing to consider, that his habit of committing to paper even the most imperfect of these reflections, has, (as was before remarked,) in some degree, compensated for the inability for more lengthened writing, which his increasing infirmities progressively induced.

We see here also an instance of the large amount of labour and care which this eminent writer bestowed upon his more finished compositions. It is by such means, indeed, and such only, that the master-pieces of literature have, at all times, been produced. There have been some gifted minds, which have, more than others, possessed the power of mental elaboration of their great conceptions, before they were given forth to the world; and their first thoughts have therefore required little subsequent improvement. Others, whether from inclination, habit, or an inaptitude for a continuous meditation, have produced their ideas — as the painter dashes off a hasty sketch — in a less digested state; and the perfection afterwards attained has been the result only of multiplied revisions. But, by whatever methods those fine compositions have been achieved, deep thought, and persevering labour, (however sedulously disguised, and unseen,) are the law of their production; and none who seek exemption from such law must ever hope for literary eminence. Whether by the silent process of meditation, or by often repeated correction, (the requisite mental power for the production of a great work being presupposed,) the minuter graces of composition have ever to he supplied, — the finer touches, the softer shades, and the richer hues, to be worked in, — before it can be a candidate for general approval, and, still less, aspire to the suffrages of posterity. Time should be allowed, that the fondness for a first conception may subside; the rudeness of hasty thought must be redressed; the luxuriances of fancy pruned, redundancies corrected, harshness of diction softened down, expression heightened to brilliancy and point. It is needless to repeat here the numberless transcriptions to which, it is well known, the finest passages of Pascal’s writings were subjected; for practices such as these, are, more or less, common to every great writer; nor is the labour ever intermitted, until the whole composition is brought into a state of purity and grace; and the high demands of taste and judgment are fully satisfied.

If there have been, indeed, exceptions to these rules, they have been found in those rare instances in which the affluence of the mind, and prodigality of the imaginative powers, have poured out their purer ore with so exhaustless an abundance, that mankind have, on that account, been willing to forgive its large mixture of debasing alloy. Yet who has not desired that even a Shakspere had been able, or disposed, to submit many portions of his immortal effusions to revision, at a period when judgment was more chastised, while feeling and imagination remained uncooled?

Language, like music, demands the union of a refined ear, a pure taste, and much mental effort, to form its richest combinations and bring out it§ highest powers. Ill-chosen words and disjointed periods may convey the desired meaning to an uncultivated reader, — as notes maybe strung together to amuse an unpractised ear. But the one is not to be dignified with the name of composition, or the other of harmony, when brought to the standard of judgment and taste.

We must not, however, forget that these accessories to a great work are not to be allowed to compensate for deficiency in the higher attributes of originality or strength. Who does not feel, that the choicest diction, and the smoothest style, are ineffectual to conceal poverty of thought, or failure of rhetorical force? Grace must be only the handmaid of knowledge, and felicity of language the plastic instrument of a high intelligence: judgment must maintain her authoritative seat; while imagination, feeling, and enthusiasm inform and pervade the whole composition. It is only by the combination of these qualities, that perfection is attained, and the literary art is complete. It is when they meet and harmonize, in the sustained diction, the appropriate epithet, the unbroken metaphor, and the varied pause; — when the stately period is alternated by the terse suggestion, or abrupt interrogatory; — when attention is relieved by graceful description, lucid reasoning, or high argument; — and again, (if the elevation of the subject justify the transition,) when the mind is quickened and roused by vehemence and declamation, — by breathing thoughts, and burning words; — it is then, that the mighty instrument, by which man holds communion with man, is strung and pitched to its full powers, and rolls its rich tones and harmonies into the transfixed spirit: then the whole intellectual being is mastered and possessed; — taste is satisfied, the ear filled, imagination excited, passion inflamed the fastnesses of the judgment and conviction are stormed. The chaplet of immortality invests the work, and it floats triumphantly down the stream of time!

It is from the insufficient cultivation of these higher qualities of excellence, that mediocrity so much pervades the literature of a period, when all are readers, and almost all writers. It is not that gross defects prevail, — for this the diffusion of taste and intelligence precludes; but eminence is not aimed at. The surface spreads widely, but the depth is lost. The urgency of demand causes eagerness and haste in the supply. Men write for the day; and rarely look forward to the longevity of years, — never of centuries. The standard of taste is debased; and literature — from the loftiest of arts — tends downward to a mechanical craft, and a sordid speculation. There is, I well know, little of novelty, and there may be thought to be somewhat of querulousness, in such remarks as these.

And I am not forgetful of that caution which wisdom directs, against an exaggeration of the merits of the past, in a depreciating comparison of the present. Many circumstances, also, incident to a highly artificial state of society, almost necessitate the evils complained of. A fast increasing population, the importunity of physical wants, wide extending education, and the ceaseless opening up of fresh topics of investigation, and new sources of intelligence; all these things keep the press in continual requisition, and multiply without limit ephemeral productions. But it is not to be denied, that it is by such means that the higher classes of literature become depressed. The works, which consume years in toil, and a life in meditation, meet with little encouragement. Statistics and calculations oppress the minds of men, wrestling to preserve a standing in life, or wrapt in the inextricable coil of speculation, or ambition: in their few moments of leisure, they resort with morbid eagerness (as the over-tasked body to fatal stimulants) to the pages of an unwholesome or unprincipled fiction: and thus, from this concurrence of causes, the purer efforts of imagination lose their interest; literary enthusiasm excites a smile; eloquence droops; and poetry dies!

It is not then inconsistent with a cheerful view of present advantages, or with the most sanguine hopes of the future, to desire and aim at a better state of things. Something may be done by recalling great models, and holding up a high standard. We see, from time to time, that the public yet know how to appreciate learning and eloquence, depth of research, and enlargement of views. When a Macaulay delivers the deathless annals of a great nation, thousands bend spell-bound over the manly eloquence of his glowing page. Neither is there any want of taste and feeling, to welcome again chaste creations of fancy, such as those which have slept, but not died, with the broken staff and buried wand of our modern Prospero; or to wander with delighted foot among the sweet haunts of the Muses (although they have been closed to us from a yet more remote period); —

“Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill.”

All may do their part and endeavour, that refinement of the intellect may keep pace with the enlargement of its acquisitions; that the amenities of life may adorn and solace its labours; and that a graceful literature may fulfil its fitting vocation, of ennobling the sentiments, purifying the heart, and rectifying the principles.

To return, however, from this too-extended digression: — Collections such as these that follow, are, as far as I am aware, unknown in our literature. Our libraries possess curious variations of eminent works; and they can show manuscripts, which the student would not exchange for volumes embossed with gold, or clasped with diamonds. But repositories, such as these, of the raw material of thought, — heaps of ore, out of which ingots of the purest specimens of national eloquence have been fused, and drawn out, are wanting among our learned treasures. Its novelty may, therefore, perhaps justify the copiousness of the assemblage, which otherwise might have demanded some reduction; — and, indeed, after the enthusiastic expressions with which M. Faugère has introduced these papers, it would have been scarcely consistent with good taste, to deviate from the rule upon which he has acted, in suppressing no portion, however imperfect, of these Notes. In a subsequent part of the work, however, I may find it expedient to exercise somewhat of an editorial discretion, in a measure of curtailment of the ample materials of a similar description furnished by the French Editor; not altogether unmindful of the caution (although a somewhat fastidious one) offered by his learned contemporary, M. Cousin, against the production of a facsimile in the form of an edition. (Translator.)

THOUGHTS ON THE JESUITS AND THE JANSENISTS.

I. “STATE SUPER vias et interrogate de semitis antiquis, et ambulate in eis. Et dixerunt: Non ambulabimus, sed post cogitationem nostrum ibimus” They have said to the people, Come with us; follow the opinions of the new authors; reason shall he our guide; we shall he like others, who follow each their natural light. Philosophers have… [The passage breaks off here, and the whole is erased in the MS.]

All the various religions and sects have followed the guidance of natural reason. The Christian alone has submitted to rules imposed by another, and has conformed to those which Christ left behind him, to be transmitted to the faithful. Such a constraint was irksome to those worthy fathers: they wished for liberty to follow, like others, their own imaginations. In vain we cry to them, like the prophets of old time to the Jews, “Get you to the church; learn the laws of the ancients, and follow their paths.” They reply, like the Jews, “We will not walk therein; we will follow the devices of our own heart.” They have said, “We will be like others.”

II. + They cannot acquire perpetuity, and they seek for universality; and, to gain this, they would corrupt the whole church, that they may he exalted to the rank of saints.

III. + Can it be from anything but a worldly spirit that you allow such matters to be probable? Would you impose this upon us as truth; and, if duelling had not been sanctioned by fashion, would you, looking at it dispassionately, lay it down as a probable opinion, that people might lawfully fight and kill each other?

3 [This figure 3, placed at the head of the page by Pascal, seems to show that this fragment was only the continuation of another passage, which has not been found. It is entirely in his hand-writing, and almost illegible. At the end of this volume is a facsimile of page 100 of the MS., containing the second part of this fragment, now for the first time published entire. (French Editor.) This facsimile is given in the Provincial Letters. See Appendix. (Transl.)]

IV. + If they do not renounce the doctrine of probability, their good maxims have as little sanctity as their evil ones, for they are founded on mere human authority; and thus, if they are more just, they will be more conformable to reason; but not more really holy. They partake still of the wild stock upon which they are grafted.

— + If what I am stating does not serve to correct your errors, it will at least be useful to the public.

— + If these are silent, the stones will cry out.

— Silence is the greatest persecution. The saints are never silenced. It is true there should be a call; but it is not decrees of councils that should be studied, if any one be conscious of such a call. Our lessons ought to be on the necessity of bearing our testimony. Now, when Rome has spoken, and when we believe that she [In the MS. it stands he, which was meant by Pascal, no doubt, for the Pope. The whole of these notes are written with great rapidity.] has condemned the truth, and that this condemnation has been placed on record, and that the books which opposed it have been censured; we must raise our voices yet higher, in proportion as the censure is unjust, and it is sought to silence us with violence; till we succeed in finding a Pope who will listen with impartiality, and consult the voice of antiquity as his guide to justice.

— + Thus, while good Popes ever find the church complaining.

— The Inquisition and the Society, the two scourges of the Truth.

— + Why do they not charge you with Arianism? For they have said, that Jesus Christ is God; perhaps they mean, not by nature, but as it is said, “ Dii estis V. If my letters are condemned at Rome, what I condemn in them is condemned in heaven! [Some of the following passages have been already given in the original French in the Appendix to the Provincial Letters. (Transl.)]

— + “Ad tuum, Domine Jesu, tribunal appelle.”

— + You yourselves are accessible to corruption.

— Finding myself condemned, I might have feared that my writings were objectionable; but the example of so many other pious works satisfies me of the contrary. It is no longer permitted to write well.

— So corrupt, or so ignorant is the Inquisition!

— It is better to obey God than man.

— I fear nothing; I hope nothing. It is not so with the bishops. The Port Royal has its fears; and it is bad policy to disperse its members, [Allusion to threats, that were at that time held out, of breaking up the Port Royal Society.] for they will then have nothing to fear for themselves; and thus will become more formidable to others.

— + I fear not your personal censures, if they axe not supported by the authority of tradition.

— + Will you censure everything? What! even my respect for yourselves? No. Say then what is it? You do nothing, unless you designate what is objectionable, and why it is so; and nothing could have been easier than to do this.

VIII. + People without sincerity, without faith, without honour, without truth, double-hearted, double-tongued; and, like the amphibious animal in the fable, half fish and half bird. (Erased.)

IX. + The Port Royal is as good as Voltigerod. In proportion as your procedure is just according to that standard, it is unjust by the rule of Christian piety.

X. It is important for kings and princes to be held in esteem for piety; and for this purpose they must take you for Confessors!

XI. + As often as the Jesuits succeed in taking the Pope by surprise, they will make all Christendom perjured.

— + The Pope is easily led into error through the multiplicity of his affairs, and his faith in the Jesuits; and the Jesuits have no difficulty in deceiving him, by their doctrine of calumny. [Provincial Letters, XVIII.]

• Morals and languages are particular sciences, but universal in their nature.

— + The zeal of the saints in the pursuit of truth would be useless, if there were safety in probabilities.

• The fear of the saints who had always sought the highest measure of certainty.

• St Theresa having always obeyed her Confessor.

• We may try our devotion to God, by comparing it with other things which we most regard.

• It is probable that this food will not poison me.

• It is probable that I shall not lose my suit by not urging it.

— + If it were true, that learned authors and their reasons were capable of settling these matters, I should then say, that they are not learned or reasonable. What! a husband may make a gain of his wife, according to Molina! Is the reason that he assigns satisfactory? or is the contrary so, which is assigned by Lessius?

XV. + Will you dare in this way to trifle with the king’s edicts, by alleging that it is no duel, to go to the field for the purpose of meeting your antagonist?

— + So, the church has forbidden duelling, but not to walk abroad!

• And thus usury, but not…

• And simony, but not…

• And revenge, but not…

• And the “quam primum,” but not…

• Their interpretation of safety is curious. After having proved that all their ways are safe, they have pronounced to be safe, not that way which leads to heaven without danger of failure, but that which leads to it without danger of departing from that way.

• Every one may add; none may take away.XVIII. Those who love the church, lament the corruption of morals; but they comfort themselves by reflecting that the laws remain. These men, however, corrupt the very laws themselves: the standard is destroyed.

Lax opinions are so universally acceptable, that it is surprising that those which they hold should excite disgust. It is, however, because they have exceeded in them all bounds. There are, besides, many who see what is right, although they cannot attain to it; but there are few who do not know that the purity of religion is opposed to our corruptions. They see the absurdity of supposing that an eternal reward is held out for Escobartan morals.

The easiest modes of living, according to worldly principles, are the most difficult, according to those of God: on the contrary, nothing is so difficult in the esteem of the world, as a life of religion; nothing more easy in the view of God. Nothing is more easy, according to the world, than to possess large concerns and abundant wealth; nothing is more difficult in God’s opinion, than to be immersed in such things, without imbibing a love for them, and being infected with their spirit.

XX. Take away “probability,” and you will never please the world; concede it, and you will never displease it.

XXI. The zeal of the saints in the discovery and practice of holiness would be fruitless, if probability were safe.

XXII. The Jansenists resemble heretics in the purity of their morals, [ This is a striking, but indirect, testimony to those whom Pascal still continued to term “Heretics.” (Transl.) ] but you resemble them only in their evil qualities.

XXIII. + “Probability.” They hold some true principles, but they abuse them. Now the abuse of truth should be as severely condemned as the propagation of falsehood.

• As if they maintained that there were two hells; one for sinners against charity, the other for sinners against justice.

• If such flagitious reasons as these are “probable,” everything may be so: —

1st reason. “Dominas actum conjugalium” (Molin.)

2d reason. “Non potest compensari.” (Less.)

• It is to oppose, not holy, but abomiable doctrines.

• They reason like those who would prove night to be noonday.

• Bauny, a burner of barns. [Provincial Letters, No. VIII.]

• [Two words that are illegible.]… The Council of Trent for priests committing mortal sin; “ quam primum”…

• A considerable measure of alms-giving, a reasonable penance; although we cannot assign the just measure, we can see what is not such. It is amusing to see the Casuists pretend to fix it in the way they do!

— + People who accustom themselves to evil-speaking and evil-thinking.

— + The largeness of their numbers, so far from an evidence of their merits, proves the contrary.

— + The humility of one constitutes the pride of many.

XXVI. + They make the exception the rule. Did the ancient Fathers give absolution before penance? Do it, then, in the spirit of exception. But you make the exception your rule without exception; so that you do not allow that your rule admits of an exception.

XXVII. + Sinners without penitence; righteous men without charity; a God without power over the will of man; a predestination without mystery! [This thought occurs again further on, with some variation.]

XXVIII. + They give the reins to lust, but cherish scrupulosity: the very contrary should be their rule.

• They have not been content with introducing such morality into our temples; “templis inducere mores” They have not only claimed to be tolerated in the church, but, as if they deemed themselves the stronger party, they have sought to drive out all those who are…

— + Mohatra. One need be no theologian to be disgusted with it!

• Who would have predicted of your Generals, that the time was at hand that they would prescribe these morals to the universal church, and would call resistance to these corruptions an act of war: “Tot et tanta mala pacem?”

XXX. + See their inconsistency! On one hand they say we must follow tradition, and they dare not disavow it; and on the other, they will affirm just what they please. We may certainly believe the first, as it will be the same thing to oppose, as not to believe them.

XXXI. + The servant knows not what his master does, for his master tells him only the act, but not its consequences; and thus he obeys servilely, and often sins in despite of the consequences. But Jesus Christ tells us consequences.

• You violate these consequences.

XXXII. + “Probability” is necessary for other maxims, such as those respecting L’Ami, and the calumniator.

— + “A fructibus eorum;” judge of their faith by their morals.

— + “Probability” avails little without corrupt means, and means are nothing without “ probability.”

— + There is a satisfaction in the power and in the knowledge to do good; “ scire et posse grace and probability contribute to this satisfaction, for we may feel ourselves accountable to God, while we place reliance in their authorities.

Difference between ease of conscience and safety. Nothing produces safety but truth; nothing gives ease of conscience but a sincere endeavour to be virtuous.

• There is such a disproportion between the merit which he believes himself to possess and folly, that we can scarcely understand how he can so mistake himself.

• The Jesuits.

XXXV. + The Jesuits desire to reconcile God and the world, and have gained nothing but contempt from both. In the light of conscience this is evidently perceived; and even, as regards the world, they are not good politicians. They possess power, as I have often said, but it is, so to say, power in respect of other religionists. “They have sufficient credit to get a chapel built, and appoint a mart for indulgences; not to procure the appointment of bishoprics, or fill up ecclesiastical offices. It is a sorry position that these monks hold in the world, even by their own confession. (P. Brisacier Benedictines.) Nevertheless…you yield to those whom you see to be more powerful than yourselves; and oppress, with all the puny means you possess, such as are less conversant than you in worldly intrigue.

XXXVI. In corrupting the Bishops and the Sorbonne, if they have not the advantage of rendering their decision just, they have at least that of rendering their judges unjust. Thus, when the time shall come that they themselves shall be condemned, they will be able to plead “ad hominem” that the tribunal is unjust, and so they will demur to its decision. But this will avail them nothing. For as they cannot now conclude that the Jansenists are rightly condemned, merely from the fact of their condemnation, so will they not be able to conclude that themselves are unjustly condemned, because their judges are corrupt. Their sentence will be just, not because it is pronounced by judges of uniform integrity, but of integrity in that particular instance; which will be demonstrated by other means.

XXXVII. + Heretics, who fortify themselves by means of the corrupt doctrines of the Jesuits, ought to be informed that they are not those of the church…

.. the doctrine of the church, and our divisions yet leave us one altar.

XXXVIII. If, while differing among ourselves, we were to condemn, you would be right. Uniformity, without diversity, is useless to others; diversity, without uniformity, ruinous to ourselves. The one is injurious externally, the other internally.

XXXIX. + The casuists leave the decision of their questions to a corrupt reason, and the choice between those decisions to a corrupt will; so that everything that is most corrupt in man’s nature takes part in their proceedings.

XL. + The whole body of their casuists cannot succeed in satisfying the conscience, while it is in error; and, therefore, it is most important to make choice of sound guides.

• Thus they will be doubly culpable; both in following those courses which they ought not to have followed, and in listening to teachers to whom they ought not to have listened. [The last four paragraphs are from M. P. Guerrier’s collection of MS. ]

XLI. + As the two leading objects of the church are, the building up the piety of the faithful, and the conversion of heretics, we axe the more afflicted at the conspiracy which prevails in the present day for introducing errors, of all others, the most calculated to preclude the return of heretics into her bosom, and fatally to corrupt the few remaining pious and catholic members of our communion! The assaults at this time so openly made upon the great truths of religion, and such as are the most vital to our salvation, fill us not only with grief, but with alarm and dismay: because, independently of the resentment which all Christians should feel at these disorders, we are under especial obligation to seek remedies for them, and to employ the authority which God has committed to us, to see that the people entrusted to our charge, &c., &c.

XLII. + As the tranquillity of the state is chiefly to be valued for preserving in safety the possessions and privileges of the people, so the tranquillity of the church serves for securing the truth, which is her possession, the treasure nearest to her heart. And as no state ought to suffer, without opposition, the ravages of an enemy in her borders, from a mistaken unwillingness to interrupt tranquillity; and peace is only just and valuable when it serves the purpose of securing our privileges; — it becomes unjust, and pernicious, when it leaves them exposed; and a war that is undertaken for their defence, is righteous and necessary. In the same way, when truth is violated, by the enemies of the faith seeking to undermine it in the hearts of believers, and to replace it with errors; — would it then be to serve the church, or to betray her, to remain in peace? Is it not, I ask, plain, that, as it is sinful to disturb peace, when truth is in the ascendant, it is equally so to continue in peace, when truth is subverted? There is a time when peace is fitting, and a time when it is unfitting. It is written, “There is a time for peace, and a time for war and it is for the interests of truth, duly to discern that time. But there is not a time for truth, and a time for error: on the contrary, it is written, that the truth of God remains ever sure; and therefore it is, that Christ, while he says he is come to give peace, says also, he is come to bring war into the world. But he says not that he is come to bring both truth and falsehood. Truth is then the first principle, and the great end of all things.

• The evil of putting them into French having been committed, it became necessary to do the good act of condemning them.

— + There is one heresy only, which is explained differently in the schools and in the world.

XLIV. + “Est et non est,” — is this to be admitted as part of the same faith, as well as miracles… [Three or four words follow that are illegible]

— + When St. Xavier performs miracles…

— + St. Hilary. — + Unhappy persons! to compel us to talk of miracles. (Erased.)

Unjust judges! make not your laws for the occasion, but frame your decisions according to established precedents, and those even of your own.

“Vae! qui conditis leges iniquas.”

— To weaken your adversaries, you dispossess the whole church of her arms.

— + Perpetual miracles, false.

— If they affirm that our salvation is from God, they are heretics.

If they say, they are obedient to the Pope, that is hypocrisy.

They are ready to subscribe all the decrees; that avails them not.

If they say, life may not be taken for an apple, they contravene catholic morality.

If miracles are wrought amongst them, that is no proof of purity of faith; but rather excites suspicion of heresy.

The obduracy of the Jesuits surpasses, then, that of the Jews, for they only condemned Christ, because they doubted that his miracles were wrought by a Divine power; while the Jesuits, although they do not doubt that the Port Royal miracles are from God, still condemn the brotherhood as guilty. [This passage, although there is some probability of its being Pascal’s, is not to be found in the MS. autograph; nor in any other MS. which we have consulted.]

— + When they upbraid your obliquities, they are heretics.

— + When they say the grace of Christ separates his people, they are heretics.

— + If they perform miracles, it is a proof of heresy.

— + It is said, (Ezekiel,) Behold the people of God that speak thus!

— + Hezekiah.

— + My reverend Father, all those things were figures. All other religions have perished; this will never perish.

Miracles are more important than you suppose; they have served for the foundation, and will be the preservation of the church, till Antichrist shall come, which will be the end of all things.

• The two witnesses.

— + In the Old and New Testaments, miracles were wrought for the explanation of figures. They either concerned our salvation, or were useless, except to prove that we ought to submit ourselves to creatures. Figure of the sacrament.)!

— + The synagogue was a figure, and thus did not perish: it was no more than a figure, and therefore it has perished. It was a figure, containing in it truth; and therefore has subsisted till the time came when it contained truth no longer.

XLVI. + There have always been times when men have held the doctrine of the true God, and when the true God has revealed himself to men.

— + Two foundations; one internal, the other external; grace, miracles; all supernatural.

— + Unhappy men, to compel me thus to recur to the very foundations of religion!

— Sinners purified without repentance; the just justified without charity; Christians without the grace of Christ; God without power over the will of his creatures; a predestination without mystery; a redemption without certainty.

Miracles are no longer necessary, because we have them already. But when tradition is no longer listened to, when nothing is suggested but the Pope, — when he too has been circumvented; and when, having thus cast off the real sources of truth — tradition, and circumvented the Pope — its depositary, truth can no more be freely manifested: then it is that men, no longer speaking the truth, the truth itself must speak to men. This is what occurred in the time of Arius. mental. The following is the original, which is only attempted to be rendered literally:— “En l’ancien testament et au nouveau, les miracles sont fait pour l’affranchissement des figures. Salut ou chose inutile, sinon pour montrer qu’il faut se soumettre aux créatures. — Figure du sacrament.” (Transl.)

— + Miracles under Dioclesian and under Arius.

They subvert perpetuity by their “probability holiness, by their moral system; miracles, by destroying either their authority or their results.

• If we are to believe them, the church has nothing more to do than to establish perpetuity, holiness, miracles.

Heretics contradict them, or deny the consequences: they do the same thing. + But they must either be without sincerity in the denial, or without rationality in denying the consequences.

XLVIII. + Be this as it may, the church is left without evidences if they are in the right.

— + You corrupt religion to favour your friends, or to prejudice your enemies. You make it the mere instrument of your will.

• Is your character staked upon Escobar?

— + You have, perhaps, reasons for not condemning him; it might be sufficient for you to concur in what I am now addressing you respecting him.

— + Would the Pope be dishonoured by deriving his illumination from God and from tradition? and is it not dishonouring him to separate him from this holy union? [2d. Coll. MS, P. Guerrier.]

— + Tertullian; “nunquàm Ecclesia reformabitur — + Perpetuity.

— Molina.

— Novelty.

— + Heretics have always combated these three marks of authenticity, of which they are themselves not possessed.

LIII. + These are the results of the sin, both of the people and of the Jesuits: the great wished to be flattered; the Jesuits wished for the favour of the great. Both deserve to be abandoned to a spirit of falsehood; — the one for deceiving, the other for being deceived. They have been avaricious, ambitious, voluptuous: “ Coacervabunt sibi magistros LIV. + It is consistent in them to commit injustice, lest the Molinists should appear to have acted with justice. Thus they must not be spared; they are to have the credit of doing such things.

• When we have heard only one side, we are apt to incline to it, and then the opposite side comes, and changes our view; but here the Jesuit confirms it.

— + Not what they say, but what they do; — + It is against me only they clamour; I am content. I know to whom I must render account.

— + Christ has ever been a “Rock of offence.”

— + Condemnable condemned.

• We have found two obstacles in our endeavour to give men comfort: — the one, the internal rules of the Gospel; the other, the external laws of the state and of religion. Of the one, we are masters; with the other, this is the way we have dealt. “amplienda, restringenda, à majori ad minus.”

Junior.

LVII. +… Let us treat them as mercifully as it is possible to do, holding the middle course between the love of truth and the dues of charity.

• Piety does not consist in never opposing our fellow-men; it were very easy, &c., &c.

• It is a false piety that would preserve peace at the expense of truth. It is also a false zeal to maintain truth by a violation of charity.

— + Thus they have herein no cause of complaint.

— + Their maxims have their time and their place.

— + Their vanity tends to raise them above their errors.

• Resembling the pagans in their faults, and the martyrs in their punishment.

— + They had only to take the extract and disavow it.

— + “Sanctificum prœlium.”

— + Mons. Bourseys, can they not at least deny that he opposes the condemnation?

LVIII. + Jesus Christ never condemned without hearing. To Judas he said, “Amice, ad quid venisti?” To the guest without the wedding garment, the same, &c.

• “Nisi videritis signa, non creditis he blames them, not for not believing without miracles, but for not being themselves the spectators of them. [MS. collection of P. Guerrier.]

• They direct their eyes on high, but they build upon the sand; and the ground shall shake, and they shall fall while looking up to the heavens.

LXI. + If St. Augustin were among us now, and carried as little weight as his defenders, he would be powerless. God dealt well with his church in sending him forth with suitable credentials.

LXII. + Truth is so obscured, and falsehood so rampant, in the present day, that it is charity alone that can recognize her.

LXIII. + If there was ever a period when we are justified in professing two opposite principles, it is when we are reproached with omitting one of them. The Jesuits and the Jansenists then are wrong in concealing them; but the Jansenists are the most so, for the Jesuits have succeeded best in professing both.

LXIV. + The five propositions condemned — no miracle in that, for truth was not attacked. But the Sorbonne, — the Bull…

LXV. — + It is impossible that those who love God with their whole heart can undervalue the church, so strong are her evidences.

LXVI. These females, [The Nuns of Port Royal. See Provincial Letters, No. XVI.] overwhelmed with astonishment at finding it stated that they were in the high-way to perdition; that their Confessors were leading them to Geneva; and inculcating the belief that Christ was not present in the Eucharist, nor at the right hand of the Father; — knowing the falsehood of these allegations, they committed themselves to God in the spirit of the Psalmist: “Vide si via iniquitatis in me est” What was the consequence? That place of theirs which had been called the Temple of Satan, God made his own sanctuary. It was declared that children ought to be removed from their domicile; God made it the scene of their recovery from disease. Their dwelling was said to be the “Arsenal of Hell God distinguished it as the repository of his graces. Finally, they were menaced with all the wrath and all the vengeance of heaven; and, lo! God has overwhelmed them with his favours. He must be bereft of sense and reason who can believe such persons to be in the way to perdition.

• You will charge me in vain with traducing Escobar, for he is too well known.

LXIX. + To the heart of man it is a matter of indifference whether there be three or four Persons in the Trinity; but not, &c., &c. Thence it is that they are eager to sustain the one, and not the other.

• It is well to do the one, but the other must not be omitted. God has equally declared, &c., &c.

• Thus, he who believes only the one and not the other, does not believe it because God has revealed it, but because his own inclinations do not lead him to deny it; and he is willing to assent, and thus satisfy in an easy manner his conscience by bearing a cheap testimony, &c., &c…

• Yet is it a false testimony.

LXX. + It is the extravagant idea you have conceived of the importance of your society, that has led you to put forth these atrocious maxims. It is evident that this is your method in regard to calumny, for you stigmatize in me as scandalous, the very same kind of misrepresentations, which, in your own case, you justify. Why?

Because you regard me as a mere individual, but yourselves as — Imago. [Allusion to a work intended as an apology for the Society: “Imago primi seculi.” Pascal speaks of this book in the commencement of his 5th Provincial.]

— + It is clear that your praises are follies, by the foolish… as the privilege of “non damné.”

— + Do you deem it calculated to encourage your children to condemn them when they are seeking to serve the church?

— + It is a device of Satan to divert into other fields the arms with which those persons are combating heresy.

— + Your policy is bad.

— + What says St. Paul? Does he adduce the testimony of prophecies at all times? No; but miracles.

— + What says Jesus Christ? Does he bring forward prophecies? No; his own death had not yet fulfilled them; but he says, “si non fecissem believe the works.

— + “Si non fecissem quœ alius non fecit.”

— + Abraham, Gideon, were confirmed in their faith, through miracles.

— + Two supernatural foundations of our faith, which is wholly supernatural; the one visible, the other invisible.

— + Miracles with grace, miracles without grace.

— + The synagogue, which has been regarded with satisfaction as a figure of the church, and with dislike as being nothing more than a figure, has been restored, being ready to fall when it was an object of Divine favour, and yet only a figure.

Miracles prove the power of God over the heart, by that which he exercises over the body.

• The church has never allowed of miracles among heretics.

— + Miracles the support of religion. They distinguished the Jews from other nations; and now they, in the same way, distinguish the Christians, saints, the innocent in life, true believers.

— A miracle among schismatics is not a thing to fear; for the schism, which is more palpable even than the miracle, plainly marks their error. But when there is no schism, and the error is the question in dispute, then the miracle makes the distinction.

— + Judith. God makes himself heard at last in the midst of these later oppressions.

• If the decay of charity leaves the church almost without true worshippers, miracles will serve to revive it.

• It is one of the last effects of grace.

— + O, could a miracle be wrought upon the Jesuits!

— + When a miracle disappoints the expectations of those among whom it is wrought, and there is a disproportion between the state of their faith and the efficacy of the miracle, then a change must be made. But with you it is otherwise: there would be as good reason to say that if the Eucharist raised a body from death, you must become a Calvinist, as remain a Catholic.

• But when it fulfils their expectation, and those who were looking for the blessing of God upon the remedies, find themselves cured without the use of remedies…

• Impious! Never was a miracle wrought by the power of the devil, without a more signal one being wrought on God’s part; at least without a prediction that such would be the case.

On the miracle. [That is, the miracle wrought at Port Royal, on Pascal’s niece, by the touch of the holy thorn. (The incident will be found in some of the popular Memoirs of Pascal.) The above few notes and memoranda relating to it are peculiarly obscure; but I have thought it right to give them as nearly as possible as they stand in the original. (Transl.)]

• As God never rendered a family more happy, so has he never found one more grateful.

• I have read them again since, for I did not know them…

THE END

• Are we safe: is the principle sure? Let us examine. Our own testimony goes for nothing. St. Thomas.

• Will that person scoff at the other? Who ought to scoff? Yet this one scoffs not, but pities him.

• They seek concealment in a throng, and call in numbers to their aid. Tumult.

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