then satisfactory; and within a short period of that its high requirements. He saw that it enjoined up time, Torricelli, the disciple of Galileo, ascertained, on men the necessity of living for God, and of mak by a series of experiments, that the cause of this ing Him the supreme object of their attention and ascent of the water in fountains and pumps, was love; and so strong was his conviction of this, that the pressure of the weight of the atmosphere upon he determined about that time to renounce the stuthe surface of the reservoir. At this juncture, how-dies to which, up to that period, he had so eagerly ever, Torricelli died; but Pascal, to whom the re-applied himself, and thenceforth, to devote the powsult of his experiments had been communicated by ers of his mind, to that subject of supreme interest, Mr. Mersenne, through Mr. Petit, the Intendant of which Jesus Christ has declared to be the one thing Fortifications at Rouen, having repeated the expe- needful. riments of Torricelli, verified their results, and completely refuted the popular notion of the abhorrence of a vacuum. And in the year 1647, in a small tract dedicated to his father, he published the account of these experiments.

It is evident that the resolution then formed, did materially influence M. Pascal's whole character and habits, and that gradually he gave an increased attention to the subject of religion. Still there is reason to suppose, that the state of his inind underwent some material variations in this respect, and that, for several years, he was not altogether so entirely devoted to religious topics, nor so cordially separated from irreligious society, as he afterwards considered to be necessary. His residence at Paris, and his entrance into its society, with a view to recreation, tended, for a time, to dissipate in a degree his religious impressions, and to awaken a desire to return to the ways of that world, which he had professed to renounce, and to those pursuits and pleasures, the vanity and fruitlessness of which he had already confessed.

It does not however appear, that, at this time, he had arrived at a satisfactory solution of the phenomenon in question-he had done little more than ascertained, that it could not arise from the cause to which it had been attributed, according to the popular doctrine of the day, and that the notion of nature's abhorrence of a vacuum, had no foundation in fact. Pascal therefore followed out his inquiries most perseveringly; and in the year 1653, he wrote two pamplets, one on the equilibrium of fluids, and another on the weight of the atmosphere; in which, by a series of satisfactory experiments, he completely established that doctrine on the subject, It does not follow necessarily, that a man conwhich is now universally received. The most im- vinced of the truth, and feeling, in some degree, portant and original of these experiments were the power of religion, does at once, from the time those which showed that the rise of the water, or of that conviction, give himself unreservedly and the mercury in the tube, varied in proportion to the entirely to the duties and the pleasures of a religious height above the level of the sea, of the place where life. Experience shows that there is a wide differthe experiment was tried. Many attempts have ence between the most satisfactory conviction of the been made to rob Pascal of the merit of these dis-understanding in favor of such a course, and the coveries, but they have altogether failed. It was, effectual and habitual control of the strong passions however, to be regretted, that the two latter tracts of the heart, so as to accomplish it; and too frewere not printed till 1663, the year following his quently it is found, that even after an individual death. has really seen and loved the religion of the Bible, and made the path which it points out the object of his decided preference-the temptation to recur to the thoughtless and irreligious, but fascinating and seductive habits of the majority, again acquires fresh force; and though he may not be led aside sufficiently to allow his religious inconsistency to be seen, and reproved by less devoted men, yet he declines so far, as to exhibit to himself in a stronger light his own weakness, and to induce him to seek, when convinced of the need of recovery, for great er assurance, and more palpable assistance in the grace of the gospel of Christ.

At the time, however, when M. Pascal issued his first tract on this subject, his health had manifestly given way before the severity of his studies; and at the close of the year 1647, he had an attack of paralysis, which deprived him, in a great measure, of the use of his limbs. He returned to Paris, and resided there with his father and sister, and, for some time, relaxed from study, and took several journeys by way of recreation. But in the year 1651, he lost his father; and in 1653, his sister Jacqueline, in the fulfilment of a wish which she had long cherished, joined the sisterhood of Port Royal; and being thus left alone at Paris, for his other sister and M. Perier then resided at Clermont, he returned without restraint to those habits of severe and excessive study which must, in a short time, had they not been interrupted, have brought him to the grave. But his friends interfered, and their advice, seconded by the severity of his bodily afflictions, constrained him for a time to lay aside his studies, and to mingle more than he had done with general society. Here he gradually regained his spirits, acquired a fresh relish for the fascinations of life, and began even to think of marriage. But an event which occurred about this time, and which we shall have occasion afterwards to mention, dissipated all these thoughts, and gave an entirely new color to his whole life, and tended especially to induce him to consecrate his splendid talents to the noblest of all employments-the service of God.

This appears to have been the case with Pascal, during his residence in Paris. His sister, Jacqueline, witnessed with regret, on his occasional visits to her, at Port Royal, the deteriorating effect of the promiscuous society with which he associated; and she remonstrated faithfully and earnestly with him on the necessity of greater decision, and the need of a more real and marked separation from those who lived only for this present world.

The mind of Pascal, however, notwithstanding these minor aberrations, had taken a decidedly religious turn; and the power of Scriptural truth gradually gained a permanent influence over his heart, and gave a color to all his pursuits. His attention was drawn off from matters of merely sublunary importance, and fixed on the phenomena of the moral world, and the principles of that book which unveils to us the glories, and imparts the hope of an eternal existence; and this change graThere is reason to suppose, that the paralytic at-dually exhibited itself with greater distinctness. tack that Pascal experienced in the year 1647, first The first public incident of his life which indiled him to the serious consideration of the subject cated this change, was of a controversial and schoof religion. He read, at that time, some few devo-lastic nature. During his residence at Rouen, he tional books, and the effect which they produced attended a series of lectures on philosophy, in which upon his mind, was a clear conviction of the truth the lecturer took occasion to advance some posiof the Christian religion, and of the propriety of tions which tended to call in question the decisions

of the church, and which led him to infer that the body of Jesus Christ was not formed of the blood of the Virgin Mary. M. Pascal addressed himself boldly to the suppression of this heresy. He first remonstrated with the lecturer. but finding this useless, he denounced him to the Bishop of Rouen; and being foiled there by an equivocal confession, he carried the matter before the Archbishop, by whom the philosopher was compelled publicly to renounce the dangerous notions which he had advanced; and the whole of this process was conducted with so much temper, that the defeated philosopher never retained the least acrimonious feeling against his youthful antagonist. That Pascal should apply his extraordinary powers to combat and to give importance to such subtleties, is to be attributed to the genius of the times. In those days the grand and simple truths of revelation were much lost sight of, and theological knowledge and religious zeal, were shown in those metaphysical speculations, and those ready powers of logical discussion, which may gratify the pride of the understanding, but do not mend the heart.

general visiting, and retiring altogether from merely scientific society, retained only the connection which he had formed with a few religious friends, of superior intellectual attainments and devotional habits. In order to accomplish this the more effectually, he changed his residence, and lived for some time in the country.

He was now about thirty years of age; and it was at this time that he established that mode of life in which he persevered to the last. He gave up all search for earthly pleasure, and the use of all indulgences and superfluities. He dispensed as far as possible with the service of domestics. He made his own bed, and carried his own dinner to his apartment. Some persons may be disposed to consider this as a needless and ascetic peculiarity. Nor is it attempted here to justify the stress which he laid upon these minor and comparatively unimportant matters; but be that as it may, every one must admire the elevated piety with which these peculiar notions were associated, and the principle on which these acts of self-denial were performed. Prayer, and the study of the Scriptures became the business of his life, in which he found inexpressible delight. He used to say, that the Holy Scriptures were no a science of the understanding, so much as of the heart; and that they were a science, intelligible only to him whose heart was in a right moral state, whilst to all others they were veiled in obscurity. To this sacred study, therefore, Pascal gave himself, with the ardor of entire devotion; and his sucbeen in matters of general science. His knowledge of the Scriptures, and his facility in quoting them, became very great. It was quite remarkable in that day. His increasing love for the truth of religion, led him also to exercise readily all the powers of his mind, both by his pen, and by his very great conversational powers, in recommending religion to others, and in demolishing whatever appeared likely to oppose its progress, or to veil and to deform its truth. An opportunity of the very first importance shortly afterwards occurred, which called forth the exercise of his splendid talents and extensive knowledge in that way which he most especially desired.

Pascal was not, however, to be kept down by the trammels of the schools, and the semi-barbarous theology of the day. He read and thought for himself. It was impossible for a mind like his to do otherwise; and such was the practical influence of his religious studies on his character, that it was felt and acknowledged by all around him. Even his father, previously to his death, did not hesitate to learn at the feet of his son, and gradually reform-cess in this line of study, was as eminent as it had ed his own manner of life, and became more devoted to the subject of religion; and abounding in his later days in Christian virtues, at length died a truly Christian death.

The circumstance, however, which seemed in the providence of God most effectually to influence M. Pascal's mind in favor of religion-to dissipate all remaining attachment to this world, and to give the especial character to his remaining years, was an accident which happened to him in October, 1654. He was taking his usual drive in a coach and four, when, as they passed the bridge of Neuilly, the leaders became unmanageable at a point of the bridge where there was no parapet, and they were precipitated into the Seine. Happily the traces The sincere religion of M. Pascal, together with broke suddenly by the weight of the horses, and the the connection of his family with the religious recarriage remained safely at the very verge of the cluses of the Monastery of Port Royal, had gatherbridge. Pascal's valuable life was preserved; but ed round him as his friends, many of the illustrious the shock which his frail and languishing frame scholars and Christians who were associated tosustained was very great. He fainted, and remain-gether in that retirement. About the time when ed for a long time in a state of insensibility; and Pascal's mind had been led to the formation of his the permanent nervous impression which this alarm produced was so strong, that frequently afterwards, in moments of peculiar weakness, or during a sleepless night, he fancied that there was a precipice close to the side of his bed, into which he feared that he should fall.

It was after this event that Pascal's religious impressions regained that strength, which they had in a degree lost. His natural amiability of temperhis ready flow of wit-the fascinations of the best circles of Parisian society, and the insidious influence of well applied flattery, had, previously to this accident, succeeded in cooling, in some measure, the ardor of his piety, and had given him somewhat more of the air of a man, whose hopes and whose treasures were to be found within the limits of this transitory and imperfect existence. But this providential deliverance from sudden death, led to a very decided and permanent change of character. He regarded it as a message from heaven, which called on him to renounce all secular occupations, and to devote the remainder of his life exclusively to God. From that time, he bade adieu to the world. He entirely gave up his habits of

religious principles, and to the more serious adop tion of his religious habits, the Monastery of Port Royal had risen into importance and notoriety, which were increased by the difficulties with which it had to contend. Under the superintendence of Angelique Arnauld, sister of M. Arnauld, the celebrated doctor of the Sorbonne, the society of female recluses there, had undergone a very extensive and thorough reform; and many young persons of superior rank and exalted piety had gathered round this renowned leader, and risen under her instructions, and the pastoral guidance of a few excellent men of similar sentiments, the male recluses of the same society, to still loftier attainments in the love of God, and in conformity to his revealed will.

At the same time also, many men of the first talents and acquirements, disgusted with the world, with the fruitlessness of its service, and the falsehood of its promises, and sick of the heartless and dissipated state of society around them, came to dwell together in a retired mansion in the same neighborhood, and to seek in the solitude of the wilderness, that peace which the world cannot give. Among these were two brothers of the Mere An

But though Christians, in a day of clearer ligh and richer privilege can discern the error into which Pascal had been led, and can mourn over the bondage in which he was still retained, yet they who know the difficulty of a sincere and uncompromising service of God, will look with reverence at these evidences of a serious devotion to the cause of holiness, and admire the resolute self-denial which dictated and endured such extraordinary sufferings. It is surely not becoming in the careless, sensual professor of the Christian faith, who in any degree makes his liberty a cloak for licentiousness, to look with contempt on these striking proofs, that Pascal hated vain thoughts, more than he loved his own flesh. It has been well said, that "a poor mistaken Papist, wounded by a girdle, or bleeding under a scourge, with a broken and a contrite heart, is nearer to the kingdom of God, than a proud, insolent, intolerant professor of religion, who, with a less exceptionable creed, is lamentably deficient in the graces of humility, self-denial, and charity." Hap No serious attempt was made to answer the Pro-py will that man be, who, if he is working upon vincial Letters for forty years.