by PRINCIPAL TULLOCH WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS edinburgh and london 1878.— reprint , 1882 All Rights reserved...

The translations in this volume are chiefly my own; but I have also taken expressions and sentences freely from others—and especially from Dr M’Crie, in his translation of the ‘Provincial Letters’—when they seemed to convey well the sense of the original.  It would be impossible to distinguish in all cases between what is my own and what I have borrowed.  The ‘Provincial Letters’ have been translated at least four times into English.  The translation of Dr M’Crie, published in 1846, is the most

There are few names which have become more classical in modern literature than that of Blaise Pascal.  There is hardly any name more famous at once in literature, science, and religion.  Cut off at the early age of thirty-nine—the fatal age of genius—he had long before attained pre-eminent distinction as a geometer and discoverer in physical science; while the rumour of his genius as the author of the ‘Provincial Letters,’ and as one of the chiefs of a notable school of religious thought, had sp

Blaise Pascal was born at Clermont-Ferrand on the 19th June 1623.  He belonged to an old Auvergne family, Louis XI. having ennobled one of its members for administrative services as early as 1478, although no use was made of the title, at least in the seventeenth century.  The family cherished with more pride its ancient connection with the legal or ‘Parliamentary’ institutions of their country. [5]   Pascal’s grandfather, Martin Pascal, was treasurer of France; and his father, Étienne, after co

Pascal’s scientific studies may be said to have begun with the remarkable incident of his youth already related, when he elaborated for himself, in a solitary chamber without books, thirty-two propositions of the first book of Euclid.  On the other hand, these studies may be said to have extended to his closing years, when (in 1658 and 1659) he reverted to the abstruser mathematics, and made the cycloid a subject of special thought.  But his scientific labours were in the main concentrated in th

Pascal’s health, we have seen, was very delicate.  His labours to perfect his arithmetical machine had seriously impaired it.  The attack of partial paralysis, described by his niece, seems to have taken place in the early summer of 1647.  As soon as he was able, he removed to Paris, where we find him settled with his younger sister in September of the same year.  It was on the twenty-fifth of this month that Jacqueline writes from Paris of Descartes’s memorable visits.  One of the motives of hi

Whatever day-dreams Pascal may have cherished, “God called him,” as his sister says, “to a great perfection.”  It was not in his nature to be satisfied with either the enchantments or the ambitions of the world.  All the while that he mixed in the luxurious society of Paris, and seemed merely one of its thoughtless throng, there were throbs within him of a higher life which could not be stilled.  His conscience reproached him continually amidst all his amusements, and left him uneasy even in the

“Such is the way in which our teachers have discharged men from the ‘painful’ obligation of actually loving God.  And so advantageous a doctrine is this, that our Fathers Annat, Pintereau, Le Moine, and A. Sirmond even, have defended it vigorously when assailed by any one.  You have only to consult their answers in the ‘Moral Theology;’ that of Father Pintereau, in particular (second part), will enable you to judge of the value of this dispensation by the price which it has cost, even the blood

“What, my fathers! must the imaginations of your doctors pass for faithful verities?  Must we not expose the sayings of Escobar, [150b] and the fantastic and unchristian statements of others, without being accused of laughing at religion?  Is it possible you have dared to repeat anything so unreasonable? and have you no fear that in blaming me for ridiculing your absurdities, you were merely furnishing me with a fresh subject of arousing attack, and of pointing out more clearly that I have not f

“Too long have you deceived the world, and abused the confidence which men have put in your impostures.  It is high time to vindicate the reputation of so many people whom you have calumniated; for what innocence can be so generally acknowledged as not to suffer contamination from the daring aspersion of a society of men scattered throughout the world, who, under religious habits, cover irreligious minds; who perpetrate crimes as they concoct slanders—not against, but in conformity with, their o

From Pascal’s finished work we turn to his unfinished Remains.  The one will always be regarded as the chief monument of his literary skill, and of the executive completeness of his mind.  But the other is the worthier and nobler tribute to the greatness of his soul, and the depth and power of his moral genius.  Few comparatively now read the ‘Provincial Letters’ as a whole; fewer still are interested in the controversy which they commemorate.  But there are hardly any of higher culture—none cer

[3]   Lettres, Opuscules, et Mémoires de Madame Périer et de Jacqueline, Sœurs de Pascal, et de Marguerite Périer, sa nièce; publiés sur les Manuscrits originaux, par M. P. Faugère.  Paris, 1845. [4a]   Jacqueline Pascal, par M. Victor Cousin.  Troisième éd.  1856.  Lélut, L’Amulette de Pascal.  Paris, 1846. [4b]   Sainte-Beuve.  Port Royal.  Tom. ii. iii.  Mr Beard, in his two volumes on Port Royal, gives an excellent sketch of Blaise and Jacqueline Pascal, in which he has made a diligent use o