CONTENTS. Page. 35 THOUGHTS IMMEDIATELY RELATING TO RELIGION. CHAPTER I. Wonderful Contrarieties which are found in Man, in regard to Truth, Happiness, and VI. Subordination and Use of Reason, VII. Representation of a Man, wearied with seek-. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. "THE name of Pascal is associated with all that is splendid and illustrious in the highest order of genius. The brilliant movements of his mind in the days of his childhood and youth, have no parallel, except in the extraordinary precocity of such remarkable personages as Crichton and Chatterton. But his claim to our admiration does not rest upon his genius. It rests upon that sublime devotion, which consecrated to the Infinite Mind, all the capacities and glories of that genius. No Christian can peruse the 'Thoughts' which follow, without being constantly reminded, that the great doctrines of universal depravity and redemption by the blood of Christ, circulated their vital influences through every vein of the writer's contemplations and emotions. His prayer for the sanctified use of affliction by disease, presents a soul arrayed in the vesture of a Saviour's righteousness. No chapter in the life of any uninspired man, can furnish a brighter and purer illustration of the beauty of holiness."* Blaise Pascal was born at Clermont, the capital of the province of Auvergne, in France, June 19, 1623. He was the son of Etienne Pascal, and Antoinette Begon. He had an elder brother who died in infancy, and two sisters; Gilberte, the elder, who married M. Perier, and Jacqueline, who took the veil in the convent of Port Royal. The family of Pascal was ennobled by Louis XI, about the year 1478, and from that time, they held in Auvergne distinguished stations, which they honored by their virtues and talents. To these hereditary qualities, Etienne Pascal united an exten * Introduction to the first American edition of Pascal's Thoughts. sive knowledge of Law, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Literature, and held the office of first president of the Court of Aids, at Clermont. His peculiar simplicity of manners, and natural kindness of heart, made his home the abode of peace and happiness; and each day, after discharging the duties of his public office, he returned to the bosom of his family, and refreshed himself by sharing with his amiable wife her domestic cares and the education of their children. In 1626, his wife died. Deeply afflicted by her death, from that time he renounced all worldly ambition, and devoted himself exclusively to the education of his three orphan children. He retired from office, and, in 1631, removed with his family to Paris. Here his attention was chiefly devoted to his only son, who, at a very early age, had shown indications of superior genius. So great was his solicitude, that the remarkable powers of mind, which his son evinced, should be properly developed and cultivated, that he was not willing to commit his education to another. The young Pascal, therefore, was never sent to any public institution, and never had any other tutor than his own father. The chief maxim by which his father was guided in directing his studies, was, never to present to him any subject which he was not fully competent to understand. In accordance with this principle, and with a view to cultivate his memory and taste, he decided that the study of languages alone should occupy his tender years, leaving to early manhood the more exacting pursuits of mathematical and physical science. But the eager curiosity of the boy was not to be thus satisfied, and the wise scheme of his father was frustrated by circumstances, and by the precocity of the child's genius. By freely conversing with him, about the causes of phenomena that attracted his notice, and of which he was anxious to know the reasons, his father, unconsciously to himself, probably stimulated his mind more than if he had allowed him to study the same subjects in books; since to the young, oral instruction is much more exciting than reading. The elder Pascal belonged to a small association of scientific men, among whom were Mersenne, Roberval, Carcavi, and Le Pailleur, who met occasionally at each others' houses, to discuss new inventions and discoveries. From this association, the Academy of Sciences, which was established in 1666, had its origin. Young Pascal was for a time permitted to be present at these discussions. He listened with extreme attention, and earnestly sought explanations of whatever he did not understand. To trace effects to their causes, was one of his chief pleasures, and his sister tells us, that sitting at table one day, he happened to notice that a plate, struck by a knife, immediately ceased ringing, when it was touched by the hand. His curiosity was so much excited to learn the cause of this, that he made a variety of experiments upon sounds, and at the age of twelve years, wrote a short treatise upon the subject, in which his reasonings were very just and conclusive. His father, fearful that this strong predilection for scientific pursuits would retard his progress in classical learning, removed from him all books that treated upon these subjects, and requested his friends to refrain from speaking upon such topics in his presence. The boy was sadly afflicted by this opposition to his ruling tendency. He sought permission of his father to study Mathematics, but it was positively refused, until he should have obtained a knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages. He was eager to know the nature of Geometry, of which he had often heard the associates speak; but all the information he could get on the subject was, that it related to the measurement of bodies, and showed how to construct figures with accuracy, and to ascertain their relations to each other. This vague and general definition, exciting still more the curiosity of the boy, developed his talent for Geometry. From this time he could not rest, but strove to penetrate the mysteries of that science, which was concealed from him with so much vigilance. During his play hours, he shut himself up in an empty room, where he was accustomed to divert himself, and, with a piece of charcoal, traced upon the floor, parallelograms, triangles, and circles, without knowing even the names of these figures. Obliged to furnish his own definitions, he called a circle a round, and a line a bar, and formed axioms in his own way. By comparing his figures, and examining the relations their several lines bore to each other, he gradually arrived at the proof of the thirty-second proposition of the first book of Euclid: That the sum of the three angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles. Just at this moment, his |