NOTES

NOTES

The following brief notes are mainly based on those of M. Brunschvicg. But those of MM. Faugère, Molinier, and Havet have also been consulted. The biblical references are to the Authorised English Version. Those in the text are to the Vulgate, except where it has seemed advisable to alter the reference to the English Version.

[1] P. 1, l. 1. The difference between the mathematical and the intuitive mind.—Pascal is here distinguishing the logical or discursive type of mind, a good example of which is found in mathematical reasoning, and what we should call the intuitive type of mind, which sees everything at a glance. A practical man of sound judgment exemplifies the latter; for he is in fact guided by impressions of past experience, and does not consciously reason from general principles.

[2] P. 2, l. 34. There are different kinds, etc.—This is probably a subdivision of the discursive type of mind.

[3] P. 3, l. 31. By rule.—This is an emendation by M. Brunschvicg. The MS. has sans règle.

[4] P. 4, l. 3. I judge by my watch.—Pascal is said to have always carried a watch attached to his left wrist-band.

[5] P. 5, l. 21. Scaramouch.—A traditional character in Italian comedy.

[6] P. 5, l. 22. The doctor.—Also a traditional character in Italian comedy.

[7] P. 5, l. 24. Cleobuline.—Princess, and afterwards Queen of Corinth, figures in the romance of Mademoiselle de Scudéry, entitled Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus. She is enamoured of one of her subjects, Myrinthe. But she "loved him without thinking of love; and remained so long in that error, that this affection was no longer in a state to be overcome, when she became aware of it." The character is supposed to have been drawn from Christina of Sweden.

[8] P. 6, l. 21. Rivers are, etc.—Apparently suggested by a chapter in Rabelais: How we descended in the isle of Odes, in which the roads walk.

[9] P. 6, l. 30. Salomon de Tultie.—A pseudonym adopted by Pascal as the author of the Provincial Letters.

[10] P. 7, l. 7. Abstine et sustine.—A maxim of the Stoics.

[11] P. 7, l. 8. Follow nature.—The maxim in which the Stoics summed up their positive ethical teaching.

[12] P. 7, l. 9. As Plato.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, iii, 9.

[13] P. 9, l. 29. We call this jargon poetical beauty.—According to M. Havet, Pascal refers here to Malherbe and his school.

[14] P. 10, l. 23. Ne quid nimis.—Nothing in excess, a celebrated maxim in ancient Greek philosophy.

[15] P. 11, l. 26. That epigram about two one-eyed people.—M. Havet points out that this is not Martial's, but is to be found in Epigrammatum Delectus, published by Port-Royal in 1659.

[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.

[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 haveut 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.