his clothes a girdle of iron, with sharp points affixed to it, the inconvenience of which, must have been at all times great; but whenever he found his mind wandering from the one great subject, or taking delight in the things around him, he struck this girdle with his elbow, and forced the sharp points of the iron more deeply into his side. This fact cannot be recorded with approbation. It is one of the strong evidences of the evil occasioned by the false doctrines of the Church of Rome, that even a genius so elevated and liberal as that of Pascal, could not altogether free itself from the errors of education. What a far more effectual principle of reform is the love of Christ! All the bodily suffering which we can inflict upon ourselves, will not be sufficient alone to inspire one holy, or restrain one unholy thought; but a faithful, affectionate lifting up of the soul to the God of all grace, is blessed by Divine appointment as the means of victory over temptation; and they who have sincerely tried this more excellent way," have realized its success. They know what is the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free.

But though Christians, in a day of clearer light 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 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." Happy will that man be, who, if he is working upon sound principles, and has renounced the notion of human merit before God, shall find, in his daily conduct,. proofs equally strong with those which the life of Pascal furnishes, of a sincere desire to mortify the deeds of the body, and to silence the impure suggestions of carnal inclination.

Worn down, however, by rigid self-denial, and painful devotion to study, the frame of Pascal began to exhibit serious symptoms of decline. The constitutional disease, which had shewn itself in earlier years, gained ground; and after five years of active exertion, his general health completely gave way, and he became, in several respects, a very great sufferer. One part of his affliction was a severe, and almost unceasing pain in the teeth, so that he was unable to sleep, and was compelled to lie whole nights in thought, in

order, if possible, to divert his attention from the agony that he endured.

At this time, however, an incident occurred which must not be omitted, because it tends to exhibit, in a striking point of view, the originality and superiority of his mind. During one of his wakeful and painful nights, some propositions respecting the curve, called the Cycloid, recurred to his recollection. He had, for a long time, given up all mathematical study; but the train of thought to which these recollections led, interested him, and beguiled the pain under which he was suffering. He allowed himself, therefore, to be led on by the beauty of the thoughts which occurred to him, and at length pressed his examination of the subject to such important results, that even now the discoveries which he made that night, are regarded among the greatest efforts of the human mind. Yet so completely had his attention been turned away from such speculations, and occupied with those religious contemplations, which, as relating to God and eternity, he thought far more important, that he did not attempt to commit to paper these interesting and splendid discoveries, till speaking one day of them to the Duke de Roannez, it was suggested to him that they might be made useful in support of the cause of the true religion, at that time persecuted in the persons of the Jansenists; and he then consented to the mode of publication which was subsequently adopted.

It is the curve, described by a nail upon the felly of a wheel of a carriage in motion.

In June 1658, therefore, Pascal issued a paper, under the signature of Amos Dettonville, which is an anagram of the name of Louis de Montalte, the signature affixed to the Provincial Letters, proposing certain questions for solution, respecting the properties of the Cycloid, and offering two rewards if the questions were solved, and the mode of solution were exhibited, by a given day, to certain judges chosen for the purpose. The proposal gave rise to much discussion, and called forth much mathematical talent. Only two persons, however, claimed the prize, the Jesuit Lallouère, and Dr Wallis the Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford; but at the expiry of the given time, they had not satisfied the judges that a proper solution of the questions had been offered, and then immediately Pascal printed his own treatise on the subject, which completely established his claim to the discovery of the right method of solution.

How far this Mathematical discovery could aid the cause of religion, is very questionable. Probably the Duke de Roannez wished it to be inferred, that the highest gifts of superior intellect are bestowed by a kind providence upon the servants of God, as a mark of approbation, and a proof of the nobler gifts of grace; but this is, to say the least of it, a very questionable position, and one not borne out by fact; for generally speaking, the children of this world, are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light. The event, however, has its use in a different way. It tends to confirm our confidence in the superior mind of Pascal,

as one of those lights that God has graciously vouchsafed to his church, to mark out the path of truth, amidst the mazes of error. And it exhibits, in a very interesting manner, the reality of Pascal's religion, that discoveries so calculated to gratify a mind like his, and to call out the ambitious desire of giving them to the world, should have appeared of little importance to him, compared with the general course of pious meditations, in which his days and nights were spent, and only worthy to occupy him seriously when it could be made to appear to him, however erroneously, that the publication might subserve the interests of that religion which was, of all things, nearest to his heart. There is very little indeed of this practical elevation above the world. There are few who really feel it; and whenever it is seen, it is worthy of reverence; for few proofs of the realizing consciousness of another existence, and of a rational hope of happiness in it, are more satisfactory and impressive than the calm and composure with which some superior minds loose their grasp upon those things of the present scene that are naturally precious to them, and find their highest delight in the promises of holiness and glory, beyond this scene of death. As St Paul says, Yea doubtless, and I count all things but dung that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the rightcousness which is of God by faith: that I may him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellow

know