LETTER XII

Pascal proceeds to fulfil the promise of his last postscript.

P. 135, 1. 2. dans vos escrits, e.g. Première Besponse aux Lettres des Jansénistes ; and Seconde Besponse (Lettre écrite à une Personne de Condition . . .), which appeared after the Seventh and Eighth Letters respectively, and were incorporated with the Impostures in the volume of the completed Besponses aux Lettres of 1657.

P. 135, 1. 4. disciple de Du Moulin. The Jesuits tried hard to make out that Pascal in his attacks against them had borrowed Protestant weapons which had been forged against the Catholic religion in general by the great Calvinist Pierre Du Moulin. Du Moulin (1568-1658), who on account of the part of his adventurous life which he spent in England has a place in the Dictionary of National Biography (see s.v. Moulin), studied at Sedan, Paris, and Cambridge. I do not know whether he matriculated here, for our records are defective for the years 1589-1602, but James I., his consistent patron, obtained for him the degree of D.D. ho'noris causa on the occasion of the royal visit in 1615. He was the grandfather of Jurieu, the stalwart of Calvinism.

NOTES

P. 135> 1. 9. vos responses, i.e. the first six Impostures. See above, noce on 1. 2.

P. 135, 1. 16. estant seul , comme je suis. Could Pascal honestly say that he was single-handed, when, as we know, Nicole and Arnauld were at his elbow, supplying him with munitions of war? Yes, for apart from the fact that he made the material his own by stamping it with his own genius, he never regarded himself as a member of the Port Royalist party which he was defending. He took ail the responsibility of his acts upon himself and he rejoices in his loneliness. “ And yet I am not alone,” he says, “ for I hâve the truth with me.” Cf. Pensées, No. 94.

P. 135, 1. 19. Il est trop aisé , etc. The common-sense and unanswerable reply to those who accuse him of garbling quotations.

P. 136, 1. 1. je ne dois pas estre peu retenu , “ I ought to be extremely careful ”.

P. 136, 1. 17. l'opinion de Vasquez. See above, Letter VI., p. 56, and cf. note on p. 46, 1. 39.

P. 136, 1. 21. l'un de donner , etc. The quotation is from Cajetanus’a Tractatus V de praecepto eleemosynae ad mentem S. Thomae. Opuscula (1498), tom. ii.

P. 136, 1. 24. Cajetan. Tommaso de Vio (1470-1532), O.P., Cardinal and legate for Léo X. in Germany. In the passage in question Cajetanus combats the lax opinions of a certain Sicilian abbot, of St. Antonio of Florence, and of Baptista Trovamala, opposing to them the Sound doctrine of St. Thomas.

P. 136, 1. 31. dans mes Lettres. See above, p. 56, 1. 10 ff.

P. 136, 1. 42. c. I, n. 32, i.e. of the De Eleemosyna (Opuscula moralia, Antwerp, 1621).

P. 136, 1. 42. Corduba. Antonio de Cordova (1559-1634), S. J., author of Instructio confessariorum in tribus partibus (Granada, 1621).

P. 137, 1. 24. où il dit. Vasquez, in the passage quoted, sets forth the opinion of other canonists without committing himself.

P. 137, 1. 34. aux ecclesiastiques. While the effect, if not the purpose, of Vasquez’s reasoning is to exempt the laity from the obligation of almsgiving, he insists in the name of charity that ecclesiastical persons are bound to give in relief not only of extreme but of ordinary necessity. Nouet, in answering the charge against Vasquez in Letter VI. (Première Imposture), maintains that Vasquez only déniés the obligation to give alms ex superfluo in order to found it on a larger basis, viz. the law of charity. But it is obvious that the distinctions laid down by Vasquez and adopted by Nouet open the door to ail sorts of excuses on the part of the rich, and shut it against a very natural means of inculcating the practice of almsgiving and the éléments of the law of charity. Cf. the Réfutation of the Reply to Letter XII. which is sometimes included with the Lettres Provinciales, but which is almost certain ly by Nicole.

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P. 137, 1. 36. j’en parleray. This Pascal never did, but Nicole devotes a note to the subject in his édition of the Letters.

P. 138, 1. 10. Vasquez ... le Phœnix des esprits. See above, note on p. 46, 1. 39.

P. 138, 1. 12. dans la question , etc. Cf. Diana, Quaestiones morales , ii., p. 2.

P. 138, 1. 19. tres-commodes pour les riches. Diana’s words are “ quae quidem confessariis divitum multum plausibilia erunt,” so that the convenience of the rich is médiate and not direct.

P. 138, 1. 26. dans le rapport , i.e. in their quotation.

P. 138, 1. 30. tandis que = tant que, “ so long as ”.

P. 138, 1. 39. omnia pro tempore , etc. Optatus of Milevi, De schism. Donatistarum, i., c. 28 ( MPL , xl., col. 940).

P. 139, 1. 23. ne .. . ny. Cf. Haase, § 102, C.

P. 139, 1. 32. Qu’on est obligé. . . . Nicole quotes Cajetanus’s own words, which are even stronger than this summary of Pascal’s : “ Dives . . . mortaliter peccat contra proximorum indigentiam, occupando superflua quae pauperibus debentur, ex hoc ipso quod superflua sunt ”.

P. 140, 1. 2. De Eleem. See above, note on p. 136, 1. 42.

P. 140, 1. 3. ces paroles de Jésus Christ. Matt. xix. 24.

P. 140, 1. 6. cette parole. Matt. xv. 14.

P. 140, 1. 22. S. Grégoire. Cf. Liber Curae Past., pars. 3, admon. 22.

P. 140, 1. 39. S. Augustin. Cf. Ennar. in Ps. 147.

P. 141, 1. 7. les saintes règles de V Evangile. For Pascal’s obedience to Christ’s Law of Charity, cf. (1) his own words “ J’ayme la pauvreté parce qu’il l’a aymée. J’ayme les biens parce qu’ils donnent le moyen d’en assister les misérables” (Pensées, No. 550), and (2) his sister’s description in her Life : “Il avoit toujours eu un si grand amour pour a pauvreté qu’elle luy estoit continuellement présente; de sorte que, des qu’il vouloit entreprendre quelque chose ... la première pensée qui luy montoit du cœur à l’esprit estoit de voir si la pauvreté pouvoit y estre pratiquée. ... Il disoit encore que la fréquentation des pauvres estoit extrêmement utile, par ce que, voiant continuellement la misere dont ils sont accablez, et que souvent mesme ils manquent des choses les plus necessaires, il faudroit estre bien dur pour ne pas se priver volontairement des commoditez inutiles et des ajustements superflus.”

In the light of these passages Pascal’s scathing rebuke of those who would excuse the wealthy from charitable application of their superfluity becomes intelligible.

P. 141, 1. 9. la simonie. See above, pp. 60 ff.

P. 141, 1. 12. les Canons de l’Eglise. Du Pré (see below, note on p. 144, 1. 26) quotes sixty church councils which fulminated decrees against simony.

P. 141, 1. 13. d’horribles peines . . ., e.g. the Roman Council of 1061. Nicholas II. applies ail the malédictions of Ps. civ. against simoniacs.

P. 141, 1. 32. Valentia. See above, note on p. 60, 1. 37.

NOTES 30I

P. 142, 1. 10. theses de Caen. Professed by P. Érard Bille for whom see below, note on p. 144, 1. 23.

P. 142, 1. 13. Tannerus. See above, note on p. 64, 1. 5.

P. 142, 1. 22. au moins en conscience. The Latin text has “in foro conscientiae ”. The forum conscientiae or forum internum is that inward tribunal in which the confessor sits as judge. The forum externum is the court either of the secular judge, or of the bishop, which détermines questions of irregularity, excommunication, etc.

P. 142, 1. 31. Vous n'avez rien dit sur l'opinion de Valentia. Nouet, in effect, déclinés to discuss the opinions of Valentia or Sanchez, and contents himself with abuse ; which gives away his case. At the same time it must benoted that the earlyChurch and theCanonists regarded many things as simoniacal which would hardly corne into that category to-day, e.g. the sale of tithes, fees for confession, absolution, marriage, burial, etc. The principle underlying the Church’s ruling is that no contract or bargain is permissible in spiritual things. A priest may not say a mass for money, but in virtue of the precept de evangelio vivendum (1 Cor. ix. 13) he may receive money for his maintenance during the discharge of his spiritual office.

P. 142, 1. 33. celle de Tannerus. Tanner’s text, quoted by Nouet, supplies Pascal with the matter for his gibes about “droit positif,” “ cas exprimez,” etc.

P. 142, 1. 39. droit positif = jus positivum , i.e. founded on human discipline and not on divine institution.

P. 142, 1. 41. in casïbus à jure expressis, i.e. cases upon which the law has expressed itself.

P. 143, 1. 13. présomption de tribunal extérieur. Pascal intentionally jumbles together the technical terms in a way to make nonsense of them.

P. 144, 1. 23. Erade Bille. Érard Bille (1591-1650), S. J., native of Avallon in Burgundy, teacher of philosophy, mathematics, and casuistry at Caen.

P. 144, 1. 26. ses écrits. . . . These were not books, but lectures dictated to his pupils. Some students of the University of Caen protested and issued pamphlets against his teaching, and Jacques Du Pré, Oratorian, delivered an Oratio contra doctrinam simoniacam, i.e. “ cette belle harangue imprimée,” which was published in 1645.

P. 144, 1. 30. le P. Milliard. Pierre Milhard, O.S.B., Prior of Sainte- Dôde in the Gers ; author of La grande Guide des Curez , vicaires et Confesseurs (1617), which was censured by the Sorbonne in 1620.

P. 144, 1. 31. suspecte de simonie et punie en justice. An instance of (1 ) 'i praesumptio juris and (2) jus positivum.

P. 145, 1. 4. Giezi. Cf. 2 Kings v. 20 ff.

P. 145, 1. 7. dans les Actes. Cf. Acts viii. 18.

P. 145, 1. 24. en ridicules. Note the plural. Trs. “ make fools of you”.

P. 145, 1. 34. que du faux d'or n'est pas. ... Cf. Haase, § 102, D.

P. 145, 1. 39. troisième calomnie , i.e. the IIP Imposture “ Que les Jésuites favorisent les banqueroutes”.

P. 145, 1. 40. banqueroutiers . See above, note on p. 86, 1. 19.

P. 146, 1. 13. dans ma lettre. See above, note on p. 86, 1. 19.

P. 146, 1. 27. injures au monde. . . . See critical note. “Au monde” seemed rather undignified.

P. 146, 1. 30. des nouvelles de Valladolid , etc. The editors of Pascal’s Œuvres (v. p. 384) quote a personal description of Escobar from the pen of a French traveller, s.d. 25 December, 1659 : “ Il me parut un fort bon homme âgé d’environ 54 à 55 ans. Je disputay contre luy sur la question de l’homicide et des autres qui sont dans les Lettres au Provincial, et il ne me rendit point d’autres raisons de ses maximes, sinon qu’il y avoit des Docteurs encore plus relaschez que luy. Comme il n’avoit point veu ces lettres ... je luy promis de luy en envoyer de France.” According to a book quoted by Sainte-Beuve (P. R., t. iii., p. 117, note 2), Escobar was astonished to hear of the sensation which his writings h ad caused.

P. 146, 1. 31. sa Grande Théologie Morale , of which volume i. appeared in 1652, volume ii. in 1655, and the remaining four volumes in

P. 146, 1. 38. Idem colligitur apertèt etc. Trs. “ This evidently appears from the judgments cited, especially as far as concerns goods acquired after bankruptcy, whereof even a fraudulent debtor can retain sufficient to enable him to live honourably, according to his rank. It is asked whether the laws permit this in the case of the goods which he had at the moment of bankruptcy ? An affirmative answer can be gathered from the decision of Doctors.”

P. 147, 1. 27. au Parlement. It must always be remembered that the Parlement was a judicial and not a legislative body.

P. 147, 1. 32. les Avertissemens. Each Imposture ends with an Avertissement aux Jansénistes containing by way of refrain an accusation of heresy and calumny, e.g. “La main de ce Secrétaire qui feint d’avoir tant de peur qu’on n’épanche le sang humain, ne craint-elle pas de renouveller les hérésies, qui l’ont tiré avec inhumanité de toutes les vaines de la France ? ” etc.

P. 147, 1. 34. la Lettre ou j'espere monstrer , i.e. Letter XV.

P. 148, 1. 7. la violence et la vérité ne peuvent rien l'une sur Vautre. Cf. “ On appelle juste ce qu’il est forcé d’observer. De la vient le droit de l’espée, car l’espée donne un véritable droit ; autrement on verroit la violence d’un costé et la justice de l’autre. . . . Fin de la 12me Provinciale ” ( Pensées , No. 878). See Brunschvicg’s note, ad loc.

NOTES