from him and that for that cause he multiply'd them and separated them from all other Nations not suffering them to make Alliance with them that he brought them out of the Land of Aegypt with those mighty Signs he wrought for them that he fed them with Manna in the Wilderness that he led them into a flourishing and plentiful Land that he gave them Kings and a Magnificent Temple therein to offer Sacrifices to be cleansed by shedding their Blood and that he might at last send them the Messias to make them Masters of all the World. 4. * The Jews were accustom'd to see great and wonderful Miracles and looking upon the great wonder of dividing the Red-Sea and the Promis'd Land but as an Epitome of the great things to be perform'd by the Messias they expected he would do far greater Wonders and that all Moses had done was only a Pattern 5. * Having therefore persisted in these Carnal Errors Jesus Christ came in the fulness of time but not in the outward Splendor as was expected and therefore they did not believe it was him After his Death St. Paul came teaching Men all these things were but Figures that the Kingdom of God was not in the Flesh but in the Spirit that the Babylonians were not Mens Enemies but their Passions that God dwelt not in Temples built with hands but in an humble and contrite Heart that the Circumcising the Body was nothing but that of the Heart 6. * God not being willing to discover these things to this unworthy People and being pleas'd nevertheless to foretel them that they might be believ'd plainly foretold the time and sometimes spake of them plainly but for the most part in Types to the end that those who liked things Mystical should be satisfi'd and those who liked things prefigur'd might see them therein Upon this account it was that when the Messias appear'd the People were divided those that were spiritual believed in him those that were Carnal rejected him and remain'd to be his Witnesses 7. * The Carnal Jews understood not the greatness nor the humiliation of the Messias foretold in their Prophesies They did not know him in his Greatness as when 't is said The Messias shall be Davids Lord although he be his Son that he was before Abraham and had seen him they did not think him so great as he was from all Eternity neither did they know him in his humiliation and in his Death The Messias say they abides Eternally and this Man says he shall dye they did not believe in him Mortal nor Eternal they only sought in him a Worldly greatness 8. * They so much loved the things figuring and so intirely expected them that when the Substance came in the time and manner foretold they were wholly ignorant of him 9. * Those that have pain to believe seeking a Cause wherefore the Jews believed not If it were so evident say some why did they not believe But 't is their refusal is the very ground of our Faith We should not be near so forward to believe had they believ'd we should then have had a far greater pretext not to believe and to doubt It is admirable to see the Jews to be such great lovers of Predictions and yet Enemies to the accomplishment thereof and that this aversion it self was foretold 10. * To give credit to the Messias it was requisite that there should be preceding Prophesies that they should be made by Persons unsuspected and of great dilligence and fidelity and of extraordinary Zeal known to all the World. To bring all this to pass God chose this Carnal People to whose keeping he commited the Prophesies which foretold the Messias as the Redeemer and dispenser of Carnal things which they so much doted upon so that they had an extraordinary Zeal for these Prophets and published to all the World the Books wherein the Messias was promis'd assuring all Nations that he was to come and in the very manner foretold in their Books which they expos'd freely to every Bodies sight But beâ—ng deceiv'd by the Messias his coming in a mean and poor Condition they became his greatest Enemies so that it is come to pass that the People that were the most unlikely of any in the World to favour us do appear for us and by the Zeal they have for their Law and Prophets do bear and keep with the greatest exactness imaginable our Evidences and their own Condemnation 11. * Those who rejected and crucified Jesus Christ and to whom he was a scandal are the very Persons that preserve the Books that Witness of him and that mention that he shall be an offence and scandal therefore in denying him they plainly shew it was him and he was equally prov'd to be the Messias not only by the righteous Jews that believed in him but also by the wicked Jews who rejected him both being foretold by the Prophets 12. * Therefore it is the Prophesies were hid those that were Spiritual which this People hated under the Temporal which they loved had the Spiritual Sense been discover'd then they would not have liked it and not being able to support it they would not have been so Zealous in preserving their Books and Ceremonies And if they had loved these Spiritual promises and that they had preserv'd them uncorrupt till the coming of the Messias thâ—â— Testimony had not been so strong because of their favouring them therefore it was convenient the Spiritual Sense should be hid But on the other hand had the Spiritual Sense been so hid that it had not been discern'd it would not have serv'd to prove the Messias What then was done This Mystery was hid in a number of passages under Temporal things and yet was plainly shew'd in some besides the Time and State of the World were foretold as cleaâ— as the Sun at Noon day and this Spiritual Sense is so plainly manifested in some places that not to know and discern it requires as much blindness as the Flesh imposes on the Spirit when 't is subject to it See here the way of Gods governing things This Spiritual Sense is vail'd with another Sense in a great many places and shew'd plainly in some but very seldom indeed yet in such a way that in those places where 't is hid it may be understood both ways whereas in the places where it is manifested it can be taken but in one sense and can only agree to the Spiritual So that this could not lead into Error and there could none but so Carnal a People as they were be therein mistaken For when good things were promis'd abundantly what hinder'd them from understanding true Spiritual Riches but only their Covetousness that understood it of Worldly Riches But those whose hope and trust was in God referr'd these things to God only for there are two things that divide the Will of Men Covetousness and Charity not but that Desire may subsist with Faith and Charity with the
him so sensible of all things whereby one endeavors to honour God that he omitted no one thing When Tickets were sent him Monthly as the Custom is in many places he repeated them with great respect and every day he would repeat the Sentence and the last Four years of his Life not being able to do any thing else his chief Diversion was to go visit the Churches where some Relicks were expos'd or some other Solemnity and to that end he had a spiritual Almanack which shew'd him where there were particular Devotions and all this he perform'd with so great Piety and Simplicity that the Spectators were supriz'd at it which was the occasion of an Expression of a Person of great Wisdom and Virtue That the Grace of God appears in great Wits by doing of little things and in ordinary Persons by doing great things This great simplicity appear'd when one speak to him of God or of himself so that the day before his Death a Church Man very Eminent for Piety being by his desire come to visit him having been with him a whole hour he came away so satisfy'd that he said to me go be comforted if God takes him away you have cause to be thankful for the Mercy he does him I ever admir'd the Graces that shin'd in your Brother but I never observ'd greater Humility than I now see in him it is incomparable in one of his Parts I would with all my heart be in his Condition The Curate of St. Stephen that visited him in all his sickness perceived the same and would often say he is a Child he is humble he is meek like a little Child It was by reason of this meekness that one might freely tell him his Faults and he would without opposition submit to the advise was given him The great sagacity of his Wit sometimes would make him so impatient that one could scarce please him but when one told him of it or that he perceiv'd he had displeas'd any body in his Passion he would presently repair it by his mild and gentle Behaviour and great Goodness so that he never lost any bodies good will. I endeavour what I can to draw to an end otherwise I could inlarge on these particulars I have but just mention'd them but not desiring to be tedious I 'll draw to his last sickness It begun by a strange aversness he had to his Meat two Months before he dy'd his Physician advis'd he should eat no gross Meat and that he should purge Whilst he was in this State he did a remarkable piece of Charity he took a poor Man and his Wife and Family into his House and let them have a Chamber and dwell gratis he made no other use of them but that he would not be quite alone in his House It chanc'd that the old Mans Son fell sick of the Small Pox my Brother having need of my assistance feared lest I might scruple going to his House upon account of the Small Pox by reason of my Children this made him think of removing this sick Person but fearing there might be danger in carrying him out of his House in the Condition he was in he chose rather to go away himself althougb he was very ill saying there 's less danger for me in this removing therefore it must be I that must depart the House Accordingly he left his House the 29th of June to come to my House and he never return'd any more to his own for three days after he was taken with a violent Cholick which permitted him not to take any Rest but having a great deal of Discretion and Courage he bore those Pains with an admirable Patience yet he rose up every day and took his Medicines himself not suffering any body to assist him The Physicians that tended him though they saw his Pains wax great yet finding no alteration in his Pulse nor Symptome of Feaver said there was no danger using these very words there is not so much as any shadow of danger however seeing the continuation of his Pains and that the want of sleep much weakned him the Fourth day of his Chollick and before his incubation he sent for the Curate and made Confession This made such a stir amongst his Friends that some of them all in a fright came to visit him the Physicians also were so surpriz'd that they could not but shew it saying it was a sign of some danger which they did not expect My Brother seeing the Noise occasioned by it was troubled and said to me I would willingly have receiv'd the Sacrament but seeing they are so startled at my Confessing I fear they would be more therefore I think best to defer it and the Curate was also of the same Opinion Nevertheless his Pain continu'd and as the Curate from time to time came to visit him he slipt none of those occasions of Confessing himself but he said nothing not to affright the Company the Physicians saying there was no danger and in truth he was a little better and sometimes walked in his Chamber yet his Pains never quite left him but sometimes return'd and he grew very lean at which the Physicians were not however much discourag'd but what ever they said he said himself he was in danger and fail'd not to confess every time the Curate came to visit him Also about this time he made his Will wherein the Poor were not forgot and he was troubled in not bequeathing them more for he told me if Monsieur Perrier had been in Paris and that he would have consented he would have given all his Estate to the Poor for he had nothing else in his mind and thoughts but the Poor and he asked me sometimes why he never had done any thing for the Poor though he ever loved them so much I told him it was because he never had wealth enough to help them very much he answer'd me seeing I had not wealth to bestow upon them I ought to have bestow'd my Time and Labour on them it is wherein I have failed and if the Physicians say true and that God is pleas'd to recover me of this sickness I am resolv'd to have no other Employment nor Business all the rest of my Life but to serve the Poor these are the thoughts God took him away in To this great Charity during his sickness he joyned an admirable Patience whereby he much comforted all those that attended him and he said to those as seemed to be concern'd to see him in that weak Condition that as for his part he was nothing troubled at it and that he was even afraid of recovering and being asked the Reason he said 't was because he knew the dangers of health and the benefits of sickness he said also in the height of his Pains when we were grieved at it be not griev'd for me Sickness is the Natural State of Christans because thereby one is as they ought always to be suffering of Pain and deprived
effects that are true the Common People that can't distinguish which amongst these particular effects are true do believe them all in like manner what occasions to believe so many false effects of the Moon is that there are some true as the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea. So also it appears to me as evidently that there are not so many false Miracles false Revelations Sorceries c. but because there are true also nor so many false Religions but because there is one True for if there never had been any thing of all this it 's impossible Men could ever have imagin'd it and much less that so many others should have believed it But as there has been very great things true and thereby have been believed by great Men this impression has been the cause that almost all the World are become even ready to believe also false things And so instead of concluding that there are no true Miracles because there be false ones it should be said on the contrary that there are true Miracles because there be so many false ones and that there are no false ones but by this Reason because there are true ones and in like manner that there are no false Religions but because there is a True one this proceeds from the Mind of Man being inclin'd that way by the Truth becomes thereby more pliable to receive Error 17. * It is said Believe the Church but 't is not said Believe Miracles because the latter is Natural and not the former the one had need of a Precept not the other 18. * There are so few Persons to whom God appears by these extraordinary ways that one should make good use of such occasions because it proceeds not from Nature that hides it but to excite our Faith to serve him with so much the more Zeal as we know him with greater certainty If God did continually discover himself to Men it would be no thanks to believe and if he never discover'd himself there would be but little Faith but he commonly hides himself and discovers himself but seldom to those whom he would ingage in his Service This strange secrecy wherein God keeps himself unseen to the Eyes of Men should teach us sometimes to retire our selves also from the sight of Men the better to contemplate his Majesty He remain'd hid under the Veil of Nature that hid him from us till the Incarnation and when 't was requisite he should appear he hid himself yet more in covering himself with his Humanity he was much easier known when he was invisible than when he became visible And at last when he would accomplish the Promise he made to his Apostles to remain with Men till his last coming he chose to abide with them in the strangest and obscurest manner could be to wit under the Species of the Eucharist It is this Sacrament St. John in the Revelation calls the hidden Manna and I believe the Prophet Esay saw him in this manner when he said Truly thou art a God that hidest thy self this is the greatest secresie he can be in The Veil of Nature was search'd into by many Heathens who as St. Paul saith Confessed the invisible God by visible Nature Many Christian Hereticks knew him through his Humanity and Adored Jesus Christ God and Man But as for us we should think our selves happy in that God would enlighten us so far as to know him under the Species of Bread and Wine Unto these Considerations may be added the Mystery of the Spirit of God also hidden in the Holy Scriptures for there are two perfect Senses the mystical and the litteral and the Jews held to the one not so much as thinking there was another and never thought of troubling themselves to find it So also wicked Persons seeing natural effects attribute them to Nature never thinking there is another Author of them The Jews seeing a perfect Man in Christ Jesus never thought of seeking another Nature in him We did not think it was him saith Esay So also Hereticks seeing the perfect appearance of Bread in the Eucharist think not of seeking any other Substance There is a Mystery hid under every thing every thing is a Veil that covers God Christians should acknowledg him in all things Temporal Afflictions cover Eternal Rewards whereunto they lead us Temporal Pleasures cover Eternal Pains which they do occasion Let us Pray to God that he would make us know and serve him in all and for all things and let us give him Infinite Thanks that having hid himself in so many things to others he has manifested himself in so many things and in so many sundry ways to us §. XXVIII Christian Reflections 1. THe wicked which suffer themselves blindly to be led along by their Passions without knowing God or taking any care to seek him do by themselves verifie the Fundamental Faith that they oppose which is That the Nature of Man is in a State of Corruption And the Jews which so obstinately oppose the Christian Religion do also confirm this other Foundation of the Faith they oppose which is That Jesus Christ is the true Messias and that he is come to Redeem Men and free them from the Corruption and Misery wherein they were as well by the State wherein they are at this time and which is found to be foretold by Prophesies as by the very Prophesies themselves which they precisely keep and preserve as undoubted Marks by which the Messias should be distinguish'd and known So that the Corruption of Man and the Redemption of Jesus Christ which are the two chief Truths that establish Christianity is drawn from the prophane who live in an indifferency of Religion and of the Jews who are irreconcileable Enemies to it 2. * The Dignity of Man in his Innocence consisted in his using and bearing rule over the Creatures but now it consists in withdrawing himself and keeping himself humble and low in Heart 3. * Many do Err and so much the more dangerously that they take a Truth to be the Principle of their Error their fault is not in believing an Error but in following one Truth by excluding of another 4. * There are a great many Truths both Moral and Divine which seem repugnant and contrary and nevertheless subsist in an admirable order The cause of all Heresies is the exclusion of some of these Truths And the Spring of all the Objections made against us by Hereticks is the not knowing some of our Truths And for the most part it happens that not apprehending the relation there may be betwixt two opposite Truths thinking owning one of them excludes the other they hold to the one and exclude the other The Nestorians would needs have two Persons in Jesus Christ because there was two Natures in him and the Eutychians on the contrary taught there was but one Nature because there was but one Person The Catholicks are Orthodox because they joyn both Truths together of
the World. One has no need to turn about nor to give themselves any inconvenience there needs only to have a clear sight but it must be clear for the Principles are so fine and in such great number that 't is almost impossible but they will be lost now the omission of one Principle leads into Error So that one must be clear sighted to perceive all the Principles and then the Judgment sound not to reason on false Principles All Geometricians should then be Witty had they a clear sight for they don't Reason ill upon the Principles they know and the fine Wits would be Geometricians could they but turn their sight towards the unaccustomed Principles of Geometry The cause therefore that some great Wits are not Geometricians is that they can by no means turn themselves to the Principles of Geometry but the Reason that Geometricians are not subtil is because they don't see what is before them and that being accustom'd to the plain and clear Principles of Geometry and not to discourse till after they have seen and examin'd their Principles they are at a loss in matters of Wit after which manner Principles are not handled they can scarce be seen one understands rather than sees them it is very difficult to make them be understood by those that don't understand them of themselves They are things so nice and in such great number that one must have a clear and quick Sense to perceive them and yet not be able to shew them in order as in Geometry because one does not know the Principles and would be a thing impossible to undertake All at once one must see the thing at one view and not by a gradual Reasoning at least to a certain degree So that 't is seldom Geometricians are Witty or that the Witty are Geometricians because Geometricians will handle witty things Geometrically and thereby make themselves ridiculous going about to begin by Definitions and then afterwards by Principles which is not the manner of proceeding in this kind of Reasoning not but the mind doth it but it does it silently naturally and without Art the expression of it is beyond the power of Men and the knowledge of it belongs but to very few Refin'd Wits on the contrary being thus accustomed to judge at one view are so startled when there is laid before them Propositions that they don't understand and for the clearing of which they must pass through difficult Principles and Definitions that they were not wont to see so particularly that they are soon wearied and discouraged But false Wits are neither subtil nor Geometricians Geometricians that are only Geometricians are of a subtil Wit provided that all things are explain'd to them by Definitions and Principles else they are false and insupportable for they are not right but upon Principles well explain'd And the Witty that are nothing but Wits have not patience to descend to the first Principles of imaginary and speculative things which they never have seen in the World nor in Custom 3. * Death is more supportable when 't is not thought of than 't is to think of Death without peril 4. * Sometimes it happens that one takes such Examples to prove certain things that these very things may be taken to prove the Examples which yet nevertheless works its effect for one often thinks the difficulty is in what one would prove one finds the Example more clear so when one would represent a general one gives a particular Instance in some case but if one would shew a particular Case one begins by the general Rule One always finds the thing difficult that one would prove and that clear that one emploies to prove it for when one proposes a thing to prove it ones Imagination is taken up that the thing is obscure and on the contrary that that which is to prove it is clear and so 't is easily understood 5. * We think all Men conceive and feel after the same manner the Objects which present themselves to them but we are much mistaken for there is no Proof of this I find the same words are apply'd in the same occasions and when two Men for instance look upon Snow they both of them express the sight of this Obiect by the same Words in saying it is white and by this likeness of Application one draws a strong conjecture of a Conformity of Idea but this is not absolutely convincing although the greater odds is in the affirmative 6. * All our Reasoning tends only to submit to Knowledge But Fancy is like and contrary to Knowledge like because it doth not Reason contrary because false So that it is very difficult to distinguish betwixt these Contrarieties One says my Opinion is Fancy and that his Fancy is Knowledge and I say the same on my side there is need of a Rule Reason offers it self but it is pliable to every Sense and so there is none 7. * Those that judge of a work by Rule are like those that have a Watch in Comparison of those that have not One says We have been here two Hours another says 'T is but three quarters of an Hour I look on my Watch I say to one You are tired and to the other Your time passes away pleasantly for 't is an Hour and a half and I laugh at those that say that the time seems tedious and that I judge by Fancy they don't know that I judge by my Watch. 8. * There be some that speak well but don't write well it is that the place the support c. warms and draws from their Mind more than would probably be found there without those helps 9. * What there is of good in Montaigne's Book is not to be had without difficulty What there is of ill I mean except Conversation might have been corrected in a Moment had he but been warn'd that he wrote too many Stories and spoke too much of himself 10. * It is a great mischief to follow the exception instead of the Rule one must be severe and contrary to the exception Nevertheless it being certain there be exceptions from the Rule one must judge severely but withal justly 11. * It may be truly said in one sense that all the World is in a mistake for although the Opinion of the People is sound yet they are not so in the Brain because they think Truth is where it is not Truth is indeed in their Opinions but not in the part they think it is 12. * There are but few that are capable to invent there are very many that are not capable and therefore by consequence the greater number and 't is commonly seen they refuse to the inventors the Glory they deserve and that they seek by their Inventions if they go on resolutely and will have it and go to undervalue those that cannot invent all they get for their pains is That they are called by ridiculous Names and are termed Dreamers One must therefore take
all together ty'd up in Bundles without any Order or Method because as I before mention'd they were only the first Expressions of his Thoughts which he wrote down on little bits of Paper as they came in his Mind and that also was so imperfect and ill written that it prov'd the hardest matter in the World to unriddle them The first thing that was done was to cause them to be Copy'd out fair just as they were and in the same confus'd manner as they were found being seen in this Condition and easier to be Read and Examin'd than before at the first view they appear'd so confus'd so abrupt and the most of them so intricate that it was resolv'd a good while not to Publish them at all although there were several Persons of great Quality that often and earnestly desir'd to see them Printed for it was judg'd that Mens Minds and Expectations touching this Work the noise whereof had formerly been spread abroad could not be satisfi'd in the Condition they were in But at length there was a Necessity to comply with the Importunity and great desire every body shew'd in having the Papers Printed and it was the readilier granted hoping those that should Read them would be so Candid to make a distinction betwixt the first Draught or Essay and a Peice compleatly finish'd and to judge of the Peice by the Pattern how imperfect soever it were And so it was resolv'd to make them Publick but there being divers ways of Effecting it there was a good time spent in advising which to take The first that was thought of was doubtless the easiest and that was to have them Printed along in order in the same manner as they were found but it was soon discern'd that to do so was to lose all the Benefit that was expected by them because the perfectest the clearest the most compact and intirest Thoughts being mingl'd and as it were quite hid and cover'd up in heaps of other imperfect obscure and to any but him that writ them unintelligible Thoughts there was too much cause to fear that the one would make the others to be slighted and that the Book swell'd to little or no purpose with imperfect Notions would appear to be but a heap of Confusion and Nonsense and good for nothing There was another Expedient found of Publishing these Papers which was first to review them to clear those Thoughts that were obscure to compleat those that were imperfect and by having regard to Monsieur Pascall's Design in these Fragments in some sort to finish the Work he design'd This doubtless had been the best way but it was a very difficult Matter to effect There was a long time spent in deliberating about it and some Progress was made in it but afterwards it was thought fit to lay this Course aside as well as the former it being consider'd that it was almost impossible rightly to judge the Thoughts and Design of an Author and especially of one Deceas'd and that this would not have been to have Publish'd Monsieur Pascall's Works but others quite different from his So that to avoid the Inconveniencies that might arise by either of these Methods in Publishing his Writings a Medium was chosen which is that observ'd in this Collection There has been chosen out of the many Thoughts he left those which appear the clearest and most perfect and they are Publish'd just as they were found without changing or adding ought unto them only that as they were without any Order and confusedly scatter'd here and there they are reduc'd into some kind of Order and those which Treated of the same Subject are reduc'd under the same Title those which appear'd either too obscure or imperfect are omitted Not but that many of them also were very weighty and might have been of great use to those that would have rightly understood them but being loath to spend the time and labour of clearing and perfecting them they were not judg'd useful in the State they were in And that one may have an Instance of it I will here Relate one Passage whereby one may judge of the rest that are omitted See here the Thought and the manner it was found amongst his Fragments A Tradseman that speaks of Riches a Lawyer that speaks of War of Majesty c. But the Rich speak of Riches Kings speak coldly of great Donatives they made and God speaks of God. There is a very deep Notion in this Thought but it will be understood but by very few because it is but imperfectly explain'd and very briefly and obscurely set down so that had not one often heard him by Word of Mouth deliver the same thing it would have been very hard to have known its meaning in so intricate Terms this is near hand the Scope of it He had made several particular Remarks on the Stile of the Holy Scriptures and especially on the New Testament and he therein discover'd Excellencies that it may be none had done before him Amongst other things the clearness the simplicity and as it may be said the freeness that Jesus Christ uses in speaking of the highest and weightiest things as for Example of the Kingdom of God the Happiness the Saints shall possess in Heaven the Torments of Hell without enlarging thereon as many of the Fathers did and most others that have Writ on these Subjects and he said that the cause thereof was that these things which indeed are very weighty and sublime as to us are not so in regard of Jesus Christ and therefore it is not to be wonder'd at that he speaks so Familiarly of them and without any Admiration as is seen for Instance That a General of an Army speaks coldly of besieging a strong Place or of winning a great Battel and a King speaks indifferently of Fifteen or Twenty Millions whereas a Tradseman or a private Person would be much concern'd and mov'd at such things This is the meaning of the Thought hid and contain'd in those few Words which make up this Fragment and this Consideration together with several others of the same Nature were sufficient to convince any Reasonable Person that acted Sincerely of being an Evidence of the Divinity of Jesus Christ This only Example may suffice to shew what were the other Fragments that were omitted as also the little heed or rather negligence as one may say wherewith they were almost all Written which may fully evince what I said That Monsieur Pascall writ them only for his own Memory never intending they should appear in this Condition and therefore it is hoped that the Defects therein found will the easier be excus'd If in this Collection there be some Thoughts found that are obscure nevertheless I suppose that by making a little serious Reflection thereon they may be found intelligible and are not of the least Moment and it was thought better to Publish them as they are than by a great many Words to go about to explain them which
Dish with his Knife he observ'd it made a great sound but as soon as one put their hand on the Dish the sound ceas'd He desired at that time to know the Reason of it and this experiment inclin'd him to make several others upon the nature and causes of Sounds He therein observ'd so many things that he compos'd a Treatise of Sounds at the age of 12. Years which was esteem'd very Ingenious His Inclination and Love to Geometry began to appear when he was but 12. Years old by so strange a manner that I think it deserves to be here particularly inserted My Father was a Man very skilful in the Mathematicks and by that means was familiar with several Gentlemen learned in those Sciences who frequently resorted to his House but having thoughts of instructing my Brother in the Languages and knowing the Mathematicks-to be a Study that fills and pleases the Mind he was not willing my Brother should come to have any knowledge of it fearing least that might divert him from learning Latin and other Languages wherein he intended to make him perfect for this cause he kept all Books that treated of it out of his sight and forbore speaking or discoursing of it in his presence but all this precaution hinder'd not this Childs Curiosity from being stir'd up so that he often begg'd his Father to teach him the Mathematicks but he deferr'd it promising that he would do that afterwards if he minded his Book well he promis'd him that as soon as he was perfect in Latin and Greek he would teach him the Mathematicks My Brother seeing this averseness asked my Father one day What this Science was and whereof it Treated my Father told him in general that 't was to make true Figures and to find the proportions which they contain'd and at the same time commanded him to speak no more of it and not trouble himself about it But his Genius could not be confin'd within those limits for having got this only Notion that the Mathematicks gave Rules of infallibly finding out just Figures he set himself a-ruminating thereon at his spare hours and being alone in a Hall where he was wont to play he took a Piece of Châ—r-câ—al and drew Figures upon the Ground endeavouring to find means to make Figures for instance a Circle perfectly round a Triangle whose sides and Angles should be equal and other things to the same effect all this he found out of himself afterwards he found out the proportion of Figures betwixt themselves But my Fathers care was so great in concealing these things from him that he did not so much as know their names so that he was forced to make definitions to himself he called a Circle a Round a Line a Bar and so of the rest after these definitions he made Axioms and at length he made perfect Demonstrations and as one proceeds from step to step in these things he advanc'd his Inquiries so far till he came to the 32d. Proposition in the First Book of Euclid As he was one day very busie at his work in the Hall my Father chanced to go in and there stay'd a good while before my Brother knew he was there it is hard to judge which was most surpriz'd the Son in seeing his Father by reason of the strict injunction laid upon him not to think of those things or the Father in seeing his Son exercis'd in such excellent Speculations But my Father was most of all surpriz'd when asking him what he was doing he told him He was seeking such a thing which was exactly what 's treated of in the 32d Proposition of Euclid's Elements my Father ask'd him wherefore he sought after that he answer'd 't was because he had found such and such things and thereupon asking him the same question he told him of other Demonstrations he had made and so retrograding and explaining himself by the Terms of Round and Bar he came to his Axioms and Definitions My Father was so amaz'd at the greatness and strength of his Wit that without saying a word to him he left him and went to Mousieur Le Pailleur's House who was his intimate Friend and also a very Learned Gentleman when he came in he remain'd as 't were speechless and like one in an Extasie Monsieur Le Pailleur seeing my Father in this Condition and also that he shed some Tears was very much surpriz'd and desir'd that he would no longer conceal from him the cause of his trouble My Father told him he did not weep for sorrow but for joy you know the care I have taken to keep my Son from the knowledge of Geometry fearing least it should divert him from his other Studies nevertheless see what he has done whereupon he related to him what he had seen whereby it may be said that he in a manner invented the Mathematicks Monsieur Le Pailleur was no less amaz'd than my Father had been and told him that he thought 't was pity to captivate such a Genius any longer from the knowledge of this Art and that 't was fit to let him have the Books and helps that treated of it without any farther delay My Father being also of his Friends mind let him have Euclid's Elements to read at his leisure Hours as soon as he see it he read and understood them without any help or explanation and whilst he read them he composed and proceeded so far that he was constantly present at the weekly Conferences of the most Learned Men of Paris that assembled at the Academy to shew the Works they made themselves or to examine those made by others My Brother maintain'd his Station amongst them as well for being examin'd as for producing oftner than any one else some new things of his own There was also examin'd in that Assembly Propositions sent out of Germany Italy and other foreign Parts wherein his Judgment was as often taken as any bodies else for he was of so penetrating a Wit that he often discern'd faults that others did not nevertheless he spent at this study of Geometry only his vacant Hours for he learn'd Latin by Rules my Father made a-purpose for him But finding in this Art the Truth he so earnestly sought after he was so well pleased with it that he placed his whole delight therein so that for the little time he spent at it he advanc'd so far that at 16. years of Age he wrote a Treatise of Coniques which was esteemed such a rare production that the like had not been seen since the Days of Archimedes The Learned were of Opinion it should presently be printed saying that though 't was a Work that would ever be highly valu'd in the World nevertheless if it were printed and published at the time when the Author was but 16. years Old this cicumstance would add much to the beauty and pleasure of it But my Brother not being desirous of Worldly applause this Work was never printed During all this time he
MONTALTIUS Heu Satis dixi urgent Lacrymae Sileo Et qui bene precaberis bene tibi eveniat vivo mortuo Vixit An. 39. M. 2. Obiit an rep Sal. 1662. 14. Kal. Sept. Posuit A. P. D. C. Moerens Aurelian Canonista Cecidit Pascalis Heu Heu qualis Luctus Monsieur Pascall is bury'd at Paris in St. Stephen 's of the Mount being the Parish wherein he liv'd behind the great Altar on the right Hand near the Corner of the Pillar of the same Chapel The Epitaph is on the Ground but obliterated Monsieur PASCALL'S Thoughts and Reflections Upon Matters of RELIGION And also upon several other Subjects §. I. Against Atheism LET those that dispute against Religion at least first learn what Religion is before they strive against it If Religion did boast to have a clear sight of God and to behold him openly without a Veil then there might be some colour of disputing against it by saying there is nothing to be seen in the World that shews it with any great evidence But seeing that it declares on the contrary that Men are in ignorance and estranged from God that God has hid himself from their knowledg and 't is the Name he gives himself in the Scriptures Deus absconditus and to conclude that it equally endeavours to teach these two things that God has in the Church given sensible marks to make himself be known to those which sincerely seek him and nevertheless has so cover'd them that they shall not be known but only to those that seek him with all their heart what advantage then can they expect whilst continuing in a State of indifferency wherein they profess to seek the Truth they complain that nothing discovers it to them seeing this obscurity they are in and which they impute to the Church â—ot fully prove one of the main Arguments she holds without prejudicing the other and far from destroying does confirm her Doctrine To say any thing to purpose against it they should declare that they have used their utmost endeavours in trying all ways and even those things the Church offers as means of instruction but yet can find no satisfaction would they speak in this manner they would indeed dispute against one of these pretensions but I hope to make appear that no reasonable Person can say so and I dare avouch that none ever did It may easily be judged how those Persons act that are of this mind They think they have done enough for their information when they have spent a few hours in reading the Scriptures or that they have asked some questions of a Clergy Man concerning the true Religion which being done they boast that they have consulted Men and Books without any success But truly I cannot forbear saying what I have often said that this negligence is insupportable It is not the slight interest of some Stranger that is here in question it is our selves and our All that is here concern'd The Immortality of the Soul is a thing that so much regards and so deeply concerns us that we might have quite lost our Feeling not to be profoundly affected about it All our Thoughts and Actions should be so variously directed according to the Eternal rewards that are to be or not to be hoped for that 't is impossible to stir a right step without directing it by this Compass which must be our last Object Therefore our chiefest interest and duty is to inform our selves on this Subject whereupon depends our chiefest safety and amongst such as are not satisfy'd I make a great difference of those that use their best endeavour to be instructed and those that live carelesly and without thinking or troubling themselves about it I cannot but much pity those that sincerely groan under this doubt that look upon it as the greatest evil and that make it their greatest study and business to use all means possible to get out of it But for such as spend their time without ever thinking of their latter end and that because they have not in themselves knowledg sufficient to convince them neglect to seek any farther and to examine if this Opinion be of those which Men receive by meer credulity or of those which though obscure yet have a good and solid Foundation these I consider quite different This negligence in a business that concerns themselves their Eternity their All affects me more with indignation than compassion it astonishes and affrights me it is monstrous to me I do not say this through the pious Zeal of a spiritual Devotion on the contrary I pretend that Self-Love human Interest the purest light of Reason should inspire us with these Thoughts to know this we need only see what Persons of the meanest Capacities understand It needs no depth of knowledg to understand that in this Life no true solid satisfaction is to be had that our Pleasures are but Vanity that our Miseries are Infinite and that Death which threatens us every moment will in a few years it may be in a few days put us into an Eternal State of Happiness or Misery or of Annihilation betwixt us Heaven Hell or Annihilation there is nothing but Life which is the britlest thing in the World Heaven not being for those which doubt the Immortality of their Soul such can only expect Hell or to be reduc'd to nought There is nothing truer than this nor nothing more terrible let us carry it never so stout this is the end that attends the bravest life in the World. It is in vain to go about to divert their thoughts from this Eternity that waits for them as if they could destroy it in banishing it from their minds â— subsists in spight of them it comes on and Death that lets it in will infallibly in a short time reduce them to a necessity of being Eternally annihilated or miserable See here a doubt of terrible Consequence and it is certainly a very great Evil to be in this Doubt and it is an indispensible Duty to try if one be in it He that doubts and seeketh no Remedy is both unjust and miserable but if in this State he is quiet and satisfy'd let him boast of it and to conclude let him glory in it and let it be of such a State that he makes his Joy and Delight I have not Words to describe so extravagant a Creature How can it be possible to entertain such thoughts What Comfort can there be in expecting nothing but endless Miseries What cause of Joy can there be to see ones self involv'd in utter Darkness What Comfort can there be never to expect any deliverance Repose in this ignorance is a thing so Monstrous that the stupidity and extravagance of it must be shew'd to those that pass their time in it in shewing what is transacted in themselves to awaken them by the sight of their own Folly. For see here how those Men reason which choose to live in this ignorance of themselves and
things in the World thereupon and you will find all things tend to the establishing these two Principles of Christian Religion 15. * If one does not know himself to be full of Pride Ambition Covetousness Weakness Misery and Injustice he must be very Blind And if in knowing it one desires not to be deliver'd from this State what can be thought of so unreasonable a Man Should not such a Religion then be highly esteem'd as does so well understand the Infirmities of Man and how earnest should our desires be for the truth of a Religion wherein such comfortable Remedies are to be found 16. * It is impossible to consider all the Proofs of Christian Religion altogether without being convinc'd of the force of it the which no Reasonable Man can contradict Consider its first Establishment that a Religion so opposite to Nature should settle it self so easily without any force or violence and yet so firmly that no Torments could hinder Martyrs from professing it and that all this should be effected not only without the assistance of any Prince but also in despight of all the Kings of the Earth that resisted it Consider the Holyness the Greatness and the Humility of a Christian Soul. The Antient Philosophers acquir'd a higher degree of Reputation than other Men by their orderly manner of Living and by certain Opinions that had some conformity to those of Christianity but they never looked upon that as Virtue which Christians call Humility they would even have thought it inconsistent with the other Virtues they made profession of It was only the Christian Religion that knew to unite things that till then appear'd so contrary and that first taught Men that Humility is so far from being inconsistent with other Virtues that without it all other Virtues are but Vices and Defects Consider the infinite Wonders of the Holy Scriptures which are Marvelous the greatness and sublimity more than Human of things which it contains the admirable simplicity of its Stile having nothing forc'd nor affected and that bears such a Character of Truth as cannot be disown'd nor gainsaid Consider the Person of Jesus Christ in particular whatever Opinion one has of him it cannot be deny'd but he was endeu'd with great and wonderful Wisdom of which he gave sufficient Testimonies in his Infancy before the Doctors of the Law nevertheless instead of improving those Tallents by Studdy and frequenting the Company of Learned Men he spent Thirty years of his Life in a Handy-craft Trade and a kind of retirement from the World and during the Three years of his Ministry he took into his Company and chose for his Apostles ordinary Persons without Learning or Reputation and incurr'd the hatred and displeasure of those that were esteem'd the Wise and Learned Men of the time a very strange conduct for one that intended to Establish a new Religion Take a serious view of the Apostles chosen by Jesus Christ those Persons who were ignorant and unlearn'd of a sudden were found sufficiently able to put to silence the Wisest Philosophers and Couragious enough to oppose the greatest Kings or Tyrants that resisted the Christian Religion which they taught and preached Then consider the wonderful Succession of Prophets which follow'd one another for near Two Thousand years and that in different manners all foretold even to the least Circumstances the Life and Death of Jesus Christ his Resurrection the Mission of the Apostles the Preaching of the Gospel the Conversion of the Gentiles and several other things touching the Establishment of the Christian Religion and the abolishing of the Law. Consider the admirable accomplishment of these Prophesies so fully and perfectly in the Person of Jesus Christ that it is impossible but to know him therein unless one will be wilfully ignorant Consider the State of the Jewish Nation before and after the coming of Jesus Christ their flourishing State before his coming and their miserable and wretched State after they had rejected him for to this day they continue without any Mark of Religion having neither Temples nor Sacrifices dispers'd over the face of the Earth and the scorn and refuse of all Nations Consider the Duration of Christian Religion having subsisted since the beginning of the World whether it be in the Saints under the Law who lived in expectation of Christ Jesus to come or in those that received and believed in him since his coming there being no other Religion that hath been perpetual which is the principle Mark of the true one To conclude let the Holiness of this Religion be consider'd its Doctrine giving an account of all things even of those that are most discordant in Man and all other particularities Supernatural and Divine that shine in all its parts After all which how can it any way be doubted that the Christian Religion is the only true Religion and whether there was ever any other that was like it §. III. The True Religion prov'd by the distances that are in Man and by Original Sin. 1. THe greatness and Miseries of Man are so visible that true Religion must needs teach us that there is in him some Principle of Greatness and at the same time some great depth of Misery True Religion must of necessity have a distinct knowledg of our Nature that is to say it must understand what it hath of Greatness and all it hath of Misery and the Cause both of the one and the other It must also know how to satisfie us of the strange distances that are therein to be seen if there is but one sole beginning of all things and but one end of all then True Religion must teach us to love and adore him only but finding our selves unable to Worship what we do not know and to love something besides our selves true Religion which instructs us in these Duties doth also inform us of our unability and also affords us necessary Remedies To make a Man happy Religion must teach him there is but one God that 't is our Duty to love him that 't is our perfect Happiness to be his and our greatest Misery to be separated from him this Religion should shew us that we are so full of ignorance that it hinders us from knowing and loving God so that our Duty obliging us to love God and our Corruptions hindering us shews that we are full of unholiness It must make us sensible of the a version we have to God and to our own welfare It must teach us the remedies and the means to obtain those Remedies Let a Man examin all the Religions in the World in this regard and see if there be any but the Christian Religion that answers these particulars Is it what the Philosophers taught who propos'd the good inherent in us to be the chiefest good Is this the chiefest good Have they discover'd the Remedy for our Sorrows to heal the presumption of Man is it to have equall'd him to God and those which have equall'd us with
Beasts and that have given us the Enjoyments of the Earth for our Portion Have they found a remedy for our Concupiscences Lift up your Eyes to God say some behold him whom you resemble and that has made you to adore him you may make your selves like him Wisdom will liken you to him if you will follow it others say bow down your Eyes to the Ground miserable Worms that you are and behold the Beasts whose Companions you are What then will become of Man Shall he be equal to God or to Beasts What a vast distance is this What will become of us What Religion is it will teach us the cure of Pride and Concupiscence What Religion will teach us our Happiness our Duties our Imperfections that hinder us from it the remedies that may cure us and the means to obtain those remedies Let us see what the Wisdom of God says to us on all this and speaks to us in the Christian Religion It is in vain O Man that thou seekest in thy self the remedy of thy Miseries all your knowledg will only reach to know that Truth and solid Good is not to be had in thy self Philosophers have indeed promis'd it but they could not perform it they did not know neither thy true Happiness nor thy true State how was it possible they should give a remedy of your Miseries seeing they never fully knew them your greatest evils are Pride which estranges you from God and Concupiscence which draws you after the World and they have always cherish'd at least one of these Evils If they propose God to you for your Object it was only to increase your Pride they made you think that by Nature you resembl'd him and those which have seen the Vanity of this pretension have flung you into the other Precipice in shewing you that your Nature was like that of Beasts and inclin'd you to seek your Happiness in Sensualities which is the Portion of brute Beasts These are not the means to inform you of your Transgressions expect not therefore neither Truth nor Consolation from Men I am he that form'd thee and that alone can shew thee what thou art but you are not now in the State I set you in I made Man Holy Innocent perfect I fill'd him with light and understanding I communicated my Glory and Majesty to him Man did then with his Eye behold the Glory of God he was not in darkness that blinds him nor in the Mortality and Miseries that surround him but he did not long enjoy that Glory but fell into presumption he would needs become his own Center and live without my support he withdrew himself from my Rule and equalling himself to me through a desire of finding a Felicity in himself I left him to himself and causing all the Creatures I had put under his Feet to revolt from him I made them become his Enemies so that now Man is become like to the Beasts and so far estrang'd from me that there is scarse any little light of his first Author to be found in him his Faculties are so much confus'd or so near extinguish'd his Sences either independent of his Reason or for the most part overcoming his Reason leads him away to the love of Pleasures all Creatures either tempt or afflict him and either sway him by prevailing over him by their force or charm him by their delights which is the more imperious and dangerous slavery of the two 2. * This is the State of Man at present there is as yet remaining in him some little glimering light of the Happiness of his first State but he is overwhelm'd in the Miseries of his ignorance which is become his Second Nature 3. * From these Principles which I briefly lay down you may easily discern the cause of so many vast contrarieties which have divided and astonish'd Men. 4. * Now take notice of the several desires of Greatness and Glory which the sense of so many Miseries cannot extinguish and see if the cause of this be not a second Nature 5. * Know then O proud Man what a Paradox thou art to thy self weak Reason humble thy self frail Nature be silent know that Man doth infinitely surpass Man and expect to understand thy true State from thy Maker which thou art utterly ignorant of 6. * For if Man had never been defil'd by Sin he should with safety have enjoy'd Truth and Happiness and had he been always corrupt he would never have had any Idea of Truth nor of Blessedness But wretched Creatures that we are and the rather as though there were no greatness in our Condition we have a desire after Happiness but cannot attain to it we feel a Notion of Truth and yet possess nothing but a Lye unable quite to be ignorant and cannot know certainly so sure it is we were in a State of Perfection from whence we are miserably fallen 7. * What is it then that this weakness and avidity intimates to us but that there was formerly in Man a real good and there now remains only the Foot-steps of it which he in vain strives to fill up with what he sees round about him seeking in things absent the succour he cannot find in those present and which neither the one nor the other is capable of affording him because this wide Gulf cannot be fill'd but by an Object which is infinite and unmoveable 8. * Nevertheless it is a thing very wonderful that the Mystery farthest off from our Knowledg which is that of the Transmission of Original Sin is such a thing that without it we cannot have a right knowledg of our selves for there is no doubt to be made nothing does more startle our Reason than to say the Sin of Adam doth make those to be guilty which seem to be uncapable of participating of it by reason of their great distance from the Fountain this infection seems not only to be impossible but it also seems to us to be unjust For what seems more contrary to the miserable Rules of our Justice than eternally to Damn an Infant that hath not the power to will for a Sin wherein it seems so little concern'd that 't was committed 6000 years before it had any Being certainly nothing seems more difficult to us than this Doctrine Nevertheless without this Mystery the most incomprehensible of all others we are incomprehensible to our selves the Mystery of our Condition is complicated in this Abyss so that Man is more inconceivable without this Mystery than this Mystery is unfathomable to Man. 9. * Original Sin is foolishness to Man it is granted to be so the want of Reason should not be urged in this Doctrine for it is not expected Reason should attain to it But this foolishness is wiser than the Wisdom of Men Quod stultam est Dei sapientius est hominibus for without this what would they say Man is his whole State depends of this invisible Point and how should he discover it by
then they would see and think of themselves and it is this they cannot endure And so 't is after they have toil'd in so many businesses if they have any little respit they strive to spend it in some Divertisements that wholly take them up and steal them from themselves Therefore when I set upon the consideration of the sundry Agitations of Men the Pains and Perils they expose themselves unto at Court at the Wars in the pursuit of their Ambitious Pretensions from whence arise so many Quarrels Passions and wicked and dangerous Enterprises I have often said that all the Misfortune of Men proceeds from their not knowing how to keep themselves quiet in their Chamber A Man that has Means sufficient to live if he knew how to keep at home would not go abroad to Sea nor to a Siege and if one sought only enough to live one should not much need such dangerous Occupations But when I more narrowly consider'd I found that this aversion Men to have rest and of entring into themselves proceeds from a very effective cause that is from the natural Misfortune of our weak and mortal Condition which is so miserable that nothing can comfort us when nothing hinders us of thinking of it and that we see none but our own selves I speak only of such that look on themselves without any interest in Religion for 't is most certain that 't is one of the Wonders of Christian Religion to reconcile Man to himself in reconciling him to God in making him look on himself with any Comfort and to make Retirement and Rest more agreeable to some than the agitation and company of Men. It is not in staying Man in himself that it produceth these wonderful effects it is in carrying him to God and in supporting him in the thoughts of his Miseries by the hopes of another Life which shall wholly free him from them But as for such who act only by the instinct they find in themselves and in their Nature it is impossible they should subsist in this Rest that gives them leisure to consider of it and not to see themselves presently assaulted with regret and sadness Man that loves himself hates nothing more then to be alone with himself he seeks only himself and yet shuns nothing more than himself because when he sees himself he sees not himself such as he would be and finds in himself whole heaps of unavoidable Miseries and an emptiness of real good things which he is unable to fill up Let Men chuse what Condition they will and lay in store all the goods and satisfactions that may seem to satisfie any Man If he that is in this State be without imployment or any Divertisement and that one lets him make reflection upon what he is all this languishing Felicity will not support him he will of necessity fall into tormenting apprehensions of the time to come and if he be not some other ways diverted then he is unavoidably Miserable The Royal Dignity is it not sufficiently great of it self to render him happy that enjoys it by the sole considering what he is What must he yet be diverted from this Thought as the commoner sort of Men I see it is to make a Man Happy to divert him from the sight of his domestick Troubles by filling his Mind with the Thoughts of dancing well But would it be the same to a King And would he be happier in following these vain amusements then in considering his Greatness What more pleasing Object can one offer to his Mind Would it not interrupt his Joy to trouble his Thoughts about ordering his Steps to keep time with the Musick or in compleatly ordering a Ball instead of letting him in rest and quiet enjoy the Pleasure of Contemplating the Majestical Glory wherewith he is invested Let this be put to the Tryal let a King be left all alone without any satisfaction of the Senses without any care in the Mind without Company to think of himself all at leisure and it will be found that a King that sees himself is a Man full of Miseries and one that feels them as well as any other common Person Also this is very carefully avoided and there never fails to have near the Persons of Kings a great many that continually watch to make Divertisements succeeed after Business and observe all their leisure time to supply them with Pleasures and Pastimes that there might be none of their time vacant That is to say that they are compass'd round with Persons that are wonderfully careful that the King should not be alone and in a Condition to think of himself knowing very well that he would be Miserable all King as he is if he should And indeed the Principal thing that supports Men in great Imployments which in themselves are so painful is that they are perpetually hinder'd from thinking of themselves Observe it well What else is 't to be an Intendent Chancellor or President but to have a great number of People about one that come from all Parts so as not to let them enjoy one hour of the Day to think of themselves And when they come out of favour and that they are dismist and sent to their Country House where they have no want of Riches nor Attendants to serve them in need nevertheless they are Miserable because there is no longer any that come to hinder them from thinking of themselves Hence it is that so many delight themselves at Play in Hunting and other Divertisements that take up all their Thoughts it is not that there is any real Happiness in what may be acquir'd by means of these Divertisements nor that 't is imagin'd that true Happiness is in the Money gain'd at Play or in the Game that is hunted one would not accept it if it were offer'd It is not this soft and easie use that would let us think of our miserable Condition that one seeks after but 't is the noise that diverts us from thinking of it which is most grateful Hence it is Men so much love the noise and bustle of the World that Imprisonment is esteem'd such a great Affliction and that there are so few Persons capable of enduring Solitude See then all that Men could invent to make themselves Happy and those that amuse themselves only to shew the Vanity and Meanness of the Divertisments of Men do indeed know some part of their Miseries for it is one great part to be able to find any Pleasure in things so mean and contemptible but they do not know the very ground that even renders these Miseries necessary to them so far they are from being healed from this inward and natural Misery that consists in not suffering us to take a view of our own selves The Hare they bought could not hinder them from this sight but hunting could hinder them so when they are reproached that what they seek after with so much earnestness cannot satisfie them that there is nothing
and Soul of each particular Christian That as Jesus Christ suffered during his Mortal Life Rose again to a new Life Ascended into Heaven and sate down on the Right Hand of God his Father so also the Body and Soul must suffer die be raised and ascend up into Heaven All these things are fulfilled in the Soul during this Life but not in the Body The Soul suffers and dies unto Sin in Repentance and Baptism the Soul rises to a new Life in these Sacraments and at last the Soul leaves the Earth and ascends to Heaven in Living a Holy Life which makes St. Paul say Conversatio nostra in Coelis est None of these things happen to the Body during this Life but they do afterwards for at Death the Body dies to this Mortal Life at the Day of Judgment it shall rise to a new Life after Judgment it shall ascend up into Heaven and there abide to all Eternity So that the same things arrive to Body and Soul but at different times and the changes of the Body do not happen till those of the Soul are accomplish'd that is to say after Death so that Death is the consummation of the Souls Happiness and the beginning of that of the Body This is the admirable conduct of the Wisdom of God in the Salvation of Souls and St. Austin teaches us on this Subject That God has so order'd it fearing least the Body of Man should be Dead and raised again for ever in Baptism or that he only became Obedient to the Gospel for love of Life whereas the greatness of Faith shines much more when one hopes for Immortality even through the shadows of Death 4. * It is not just we should be without sense and feeling of grief in the Afflictions and sad Accidents that befal us as if we were Angels that have no sense of Nature neither is it just that we should be quite dejected like Heathens that have no sense of Grace but 't is just we should be Afflicted and Comforted like Christians and that the Comforts of Grace should surmount the Sense of Nature to the end Grace may not only be in us but that it may predominate in us that so Sanctifying the Name of our Father his Will may become ours that his Grace may bear sway over Nature and that our Afflictions may be as the Matter of a Sacrifice which his Grace offers for the Glory of God and that these particular Sacrifices may honour and fore-run the Universal Sacrifice wherein whole Nature is to be consumed by the power of Jesus Christ Thus we draw benefit from our own Imperfections seeing they shall serve for matter of this Sacrifice for 't is the aim of all true Christians to make a Benefit of their very Imperfections because all things work together for Good for the Elect. And if we seriously consider it we shall find great helps to our edification in considering the thing in the Truth of it for seeing it is true that the Death of the Body is only the Figure of that of the Soul and that we build on this Principle that we have cause to hope the Salvation of those whose Death we lament it is most certain if we cannot stop the course of our Grief and Sorrow we should at least make this advantage of it that seeing the Death of the Body is so terrible that it causes so much fear in us that of the Soul should cause much greater grief and amazement God has sent the former to those whom we grieve for we hope he has put away the latter let us then consider the greatness of our Happiness by the greatness of our Miseries and let the excess of our Sorrow be the measure of our Joy. One of the most Solid and best Services we can do for the Dead is to do those things they would desire of us if they were living in the World by this means we make them as it were live in us seeing it is their Counsels that live and act in us And as Hereticks are punish'd in the other World for the Sins wherein they have ingag'd their Followers in whom their Poison as yet remains so the Dead are recompensed for those that have follow'd them by their good Counsels and Example 5. * Man is certainly too unable to judge rightly of the state of future things Let us therefore hope in God and not weary our selves by our indiscreet and rash Curiosity Let us refer our selves to God to Govern our Lives and that Grief may not predominate in us Saint Austin teaches us That there is in every Man a Serpent an Eve and an Adam The Serpent is the Senses and Nature the Eve is the Lustful Appetite and the Adam is Reason Nature tempts us continually the Sensual Appetite is ever craving but Sin is not finish'd unless Reason consents Let us then suffer this Serpent and Eve to act if we cannot hinder them but let us pray God that his Grace would so stregthen our Adam that he may continue Victorious that Jesus Christ may be Conquerer and that he might Reign for ever in us §. XXXI Sundry Meditations 1. THe more knowledge we have so much the more we find that there are perfect Men. Common People see no difference betwixt Men. 2. * One may have good Sense and yet not perceive all things aright for there are some that may judge aright in some things that are deceived in others some draw true Consequences from few Principles others draw right Consequences from things where there be many Principles for example some do well comprehend the effects of Water wherein there is but few Principles but whose Consequences are so fine that 't is only a very diligent search can attain to it yet these may not it may be be any great Geometricians because Geometry comprehends a great many Principles and some kind of Wit may be such that it can penetrate a few Principles to the bottom and yet may not penetrate those things wherein there are many Principles There are then two sorts of Wits one that penetrates vigorously and profoundly the Consequence of Principles and that is the Polite Wit the other comprehends a great many Principles without mingling them and that 's the Wit of Geometry the one is strength and clearness of Wit the other is largeness of Wit. Now the one of these may be without the other Wit may be strong and narrow and also may be large and weak There 's a great difference betwixt the Wit of Geometry and a refin'd Wit In the one the Principles are clear but remote from common usage so that one has some difficulty to look that way for want of use but turn a little that way and the Principles will appear plainly and one must have the Understanding very corrupt to reason ill upon such Principles as must needs be seen But in the refin'd Wit the Principles are in the common use and visible to the sight of all
care of boasting of this advantage as great as it is and one ought to rest satisfi'd to be counted one of the little number of those that know the value of it 13. * The Mind believes naturally and the Will loves naturally So that for want of true Objects they will fix upon false ones 14. * Many true things are contradicted many false things pass without contradiction Contradiction is no mark of Fashood nor Allowance is no mark of Truth 15. * Caesar me thinks was too old to think of Conquering the World this Dream was fitter for Alexander he was a young Man hard to be rul'd but Caesar might have been more stay'd 16. * All the World sees one labours at incertainty by Sea by Land at the Wars c. but all the World don't see the Rule of the Persons that shew one ought to do it Montaigne saw that one is displeas'd at a dull head and that Custom is all but he saw not the Reason of this Effect those that see the Effects and not the Causes are in regard to those that see the Causes like those that have only Eyes in comparison of those that have Understanding for Effects are as it were sensible and Reasons are only visible to the Understanding and though 't is by the Understanding those Effects are seen this Understanding is in comparison of the Understanding that sees the Causes as the Corporal Senses are in regard of the Soul. 17. * The sense of the deceitfulness of present Pleasures and the Ignorance of absent Pleasures cause inconstancy 18. * If we dream'd every night the same thing happily it might affect us as much as the things we see every day And if a Tradesman was sure every Night to dream twelve Hours that he was a King I think he would be as happy as a King that should dream twelve Hours every Night that he was a Tradesman If we should dream every Night we were pursu'd by Enemies and disturb'd by these frightning Fancies and that we passed the days in sundry Occupations as when one is on a Journey one should suffer almost as much as if the thing was really true and we should be as much afraid of sleep as if we were to enter into such troubles effectively and indeed it would be almost as bad as if the things were really acted But because Dreams are all different and do vary what is there seen does much less affect than what one sees awake by reason of the continuance which yet is not so equal but it changeth also but not so suddenly or but seldom unless it be in travelling and then one says Me thinks I dream for Life is a Dream a little more inconstant 19. * Kings and Princes recreate themselves sometimes they be not always on their Thrones that would weary them Greatness must be laid aside the better to be rellish'd 20. * My humor does not depend much on the Weather I have my fair and foul Weather within my self the good or ill success of my Affairs don't move me much neither I sometimes set my self against ill Fortune and the Glory of overcoming it makes me master it with Pleasure whereas at other times I am indifferent and as 't were dissatisfi'd even in Prosperity 21. * It is pleasant to consider that there are certain People in the World that having renounced all the Laws of God and Nature yet have made themselves Laws that they exactly obey as for instance Robbers c. 22. * Those great Raptures of Mind the Soul sometimes reaches to are things that it does not keep up unto It flies up but suddenly falls back again 23. * Man is neither Angel nor Beast and the mischief is he that would be thought an Angel acts the Beast 24. * Provided one knows the chief Passion of any Body one may easily please him nevertheless every body has Fancies contrary to his own good even in the very Idea he has of good and this is a variety that puts those to a loss that would gain their Affection 25. * A Horse don't strive to be admir'd by his Companion there is indeed some emulation seen betwixt Horses in running a Race but it don't continue for put them up in a Stable the ugliest and dullest will not therefore part with his Oats to the other It is not so amongst Men their Virtue is not satisfi'd with it self and they are not satisfi'd unless they get some benefit by it over others 26. * As one impairs the Mind so one also spoils the Understanding Our Mind and Knowledge is fram'd according to our Discourse and Company good or bad Company does make or marr us It above all things therefore concerns us to know how to make a good choice to mend and not spoil it and one can't make this choice if one has not already formed and not spoil'd it So that here 's a Circle and happy are they that are got out of it 27. * One thinks naturally one is more capable of attaining the Center of things than to embrace their circumference The visible extent of the World doth surpass us visibly But as it is we that do surpass little things do think our selves the more capable of enjoying them Nevertheless there 's as much capacity requisite to attain to nothing as to arrive at all that that 's infinite is required both for one and the other and I suppose they who can comprehend the last Principles of things may also attain to understand that that 's infinite the one depends on the other the one leads to the other the extremities meet and by reason of their distance do rejoin and meet in God and in God alone Man for instance has relation to all he knows he has need of Place to contain him Time to dure Motion to live Elements to compose him of Heat and Food to nourish him of Air to breath he sees the light he feels the Body To conclude all things are appointed for him To know then what Man is 't is necessary to see wherefore he requires Air to subsist and to know what Air is it should be known wherein it relates to the Life of Man a Flame can't subsist without Air then to know the one one must also know the other All things being caused and causing helped and helping mediately and immediately and all things depending on one another by a natural and insensible Band that binds the most distant and different things I hold it as impossible to know the parts without knowing the whole as it is to know the whole without knowing distinctly the several parts And what it may be most contributes to our weakness of knowing things is that they are single in themselves and that we are compos'd of two opposite Natures of divers kinds of Body and Soul for 't is impossible that the part which reasons in us should be other than Spiritual And if it should be pretended that we were simply Corporeal this would