The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-07-17
Iaa

Im.
Th.. -.rund yonverSisSn came I'm what
may b. d.,.s'rii-.d a. tn. INST orthodox
manner. full grown. In the fash ~ a
mom.nt After his death a slip ~ paTrh-
m-nt was found sewn up in th. lining ~
his wat Nith an in@CTiptiun which showed
that the lightning fash after the manned
81 ~ Paul reached him on November
~ I65t lie never br~Athsd a word OF
hts experience. and even his sister JAG
outline never hoticed any Difference
Naturally there were perpleXities at first
and II was desirable that he should with
draw into solitude for a whil. lie went
to Naumurier n country house hrlonglng
To the Duke Of Iuyns-. the great patron
81 Port Royal. and within = stones throw
~ the abbsy which had nov removed
To it, former malarial site. A few days
later he pa~Asd on to Port Royal itself
| ThenC~forward. although he was never
officially enrolled in their community.
a great part % his time was spent among
the Port Royal -hermitA.- a group Of
! laymen who lid an Austere. semi monaS-
t.c eNisterSs at the abbey gates. lie
was wont to attend all the offices from
prime To complins. and IL did not seem to
Affect his health few months after his
entrance there entered the abbey's most
illustrious pupil. young Jean Racine.
All the hsrmits had their special duties
and Angelique Arnauld. the ahbess. wa,
wont Ia hoast that they had peer Of
France for their clerk Of the works and an
old g,Iardsman TO mend their shoes
In tn" light 81 the mystical experiences
81 that November night Pascal read
Jansen's -Augustinus- and Understood II
thoroughly. a. well AZ the last word %
Port Royal. which was the low" Of God
ohsCurad hy Jansen through his having
followed Augustine too closely This |
doctrine made a special appeal to Pascal. /
and the Rscoticism which was n natural I,
complement Of conversion called forth I
fellow feeling for others through fellow .
suffering.
Tn" troubles ~ Port Royal were az I
hand When the Ultramontans Catholic I
spoke II faith IL meant essentially the .
acceptance ~ a law: 10 the JansenIst .
faith meant the conviction that grace was /
making him whole. Here lies the kew To
all Port Royals q,IArrels with the church
- Rom" In 1912 three years after Pas
calls first cunverslon. the Sorhonn- or
faculty of divinity Of the Paris University 4
condemned five propositions u the
-Augustinu-. all dealing with irr.siStibls
grac-. The Pope declared all five PROPOSE
tons her-tcal. All was now lost II the
Chranontanes were night. and the
reigning Pope was the sole depo-itnry ~
truth Port Royal prepared to resist
In tn" seventeenth century "a religious
opinion was "A political event Therefore
when the Sorbonnc tried and condemned
us5jI Antoine Arnauld. brother Of the
Abh.ss of Port Royal and one If ts con-
fessors the trial became a turning point
IN the history OF the famous abisy. many
causes conCurring Ca that end Arnaud
himself felt that vhih he could argue at
any length. aud a pressntment OF his case
To the public (which was discussing the
afair IN all classes Of society was inds-
pensable. u was useless to argue with
PEOPLE who only yawned AT syllogisms
His thoughts turned 20 Pascal who IN
spite of his youth had been admitted TO
the inner councils Of has party ever since
his conversion. An added advantage was
that Pascal's worldly life fitted him 10
understand the outside world far better
than did most of the Port Royal herrnits
Pascal modestly promised 20 draft a short
pamphlet and leave his leaders Ia decide
whether IL should 10 printed Within
four and twenty hours they had in their
hands the manuscript % IN" FIRST Pro-
yinClnl Letter Space fails us 10 do
justice 10 thess famous letters hy any
quotations. a. ~ has failed rs ~ gs-rsent
quntltions from VI Saint Cyre- wonder
fully clear and satisfactory summaries 81
: situations dognas and methods through
out his valuable work SuTl~n u 10 say
that nothing short Of perusal ~ the com
p"t. originals will satisfy any one who
ONO comes under the spell ~ Pascals
lucid siyl" and reasoning his remarkable
ANALYTICAL attacks, dire-ted with skill
which utterly Disconnected his opponents
Tn. sad history OF Charlotte de Roannez. .
quite typical IA way Of enthusiastic ,
religious movements m general cannot ,
II. oven summarized here Neither can ,
the strange reasoning Of Escohar and ,
others who IMPRESSED the views Of Pascals 1
and provoked his retort= .
In March 1857. IN" assembly ~ the
French clergy drafted formulary or ,
sClarafion Of the faith and voted that a
every priest. monk and nun in France
should 10 required tn sign that he con ,
tlsmned With heart and mouth the doc ,
trIne ~ tho five propositions II Cornelius :
Jansen contained in the Augustinus !
the SAID doctrine not t-ing that % ~ 4
Augustine Tut a mIsinterprrtafion Of IL I
10y Jansen, contrary 10 the spirit Of the '
great doctor" Port ROYAL cared little a
for the Pores hull on the subj ect recently 9
lSsued. hut the formulary was savere 4,
blow Eventually. W. may say all tho
Port Royalists siRned II. even Jacqualiue d
Pascal. who resisted longer than most q
razcalS health hogan Ia fail rapidly in d
as. and all tho energy his illness LEI: him q
vas absorbed in planning an apology for q
'hristIanitv against Lihert n''S and Deists \
BEFORE he could put pen 10 paper he was n
smpt.d On 60 his old scientific domain. =
IN tn. hope Of forgetting IN. agony e
caused 10y sever" pains IN tn. head h." "A
turned his thoughts to the problem of "
he cycloid. which had long bn"n the G.
Despair Of tn" geoneters. and ponder-d a
over IL on. night Ia such good purpose \
hat nafor" morning hs had hit upon q
m answer This problem had occupied \
much attention ever since tho time 81 q