Page 81 of 91
[52] P. 27, l. 12. Source of error in diseases.—Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[53] P. 27, l. 27. They rival each other, etc.—Ibid.
[54] P. 28, l. 31. Næ iste, etc.—Terence, Heaut., IV, i, 8. Montaigne, Essais, iii, 1.
[55] P. 28, l. 15. Quasi quidquam, etc.—Plin., ii, 7. Montaigne, ibid.
[56] P. 28, l. 29. Quod crebro, etc.—Cicero, De Divin., ii, 49.
[57] P. 29, l. 1. Spongia solis.—The spots on the sun. Pascal sees in[Pg 276] them the beginning of the darkening of the sun, and thinks that there will therefore come a day when there will be no sun.
[58] P. 29, l. 15. Custom is a second nature, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, i, 22.
[59] P. 29, l. 19. Omne animal.—See Genesis vii, 14.
[60] P. 30, l. 22. Hence savages, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, i, 22.
[61] P. 32, l. 3. A great part of Europe, etc.—An allusion to the Reformation.
[62] P. 33, l. 13. Alexander's chastity.—Pascal apparently has in mind Alexander's treatment of Darius's wife and daughters after the battle of Issus.
[63] P. 34, l. 17. Lustravit lampade terras.—Part of Cicero's translation of two lines from Homer, Odyssey, xviii, 136. Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[64] P. 34, l. 32. Nature gives, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, i, 19.
[65] P. 37, l. 23. Our nature consists, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 13.
[66] P. 38, l. 1. Weariness.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[67] P. 38, l. 8. Cæsar was too old, etc.—See Montaigne, Essais, ii, 34.
[68] P. 38, l. 30. A mere trifle, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 4.
[69] P. 40, l. 21. Advice given to Pyrrhus.—Ibid., i, 42.
[70] P. 41, l. 2. They do not know, etc.—Ibid., i, 19.
[71] P. 44, l. 14. They are, etc.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, i, 38.
[72] P. 46, l. 7. Those who write, etc.—A thought of Cicero in Pro Archia, mentioned by Montaigne, Essais, i, 41.
[73] P. 47, l. 3. Ferox gens.—Livy, xxxiv, 17. Montaigne, Essais, i, 40.
[74] P. 47, l. 5. Every opinion, etc.—Montaigne, ibid.
[75] P. 47, l. 12. 184.—This is a reference to Montaigne, Essais, i, 40. See also ibid., iii, 10.
[76] P. 48, l. 8. I know not what (Corneille).—See Médée, II, vi, and Rodogune, I, v.
[77] P. 48, l. 22. In omnibus requiem quæsivi.—Eccles. xxiv, II, in the Vulgate.
[78] P. 50, l. 5. The future alone is our end.—Montaigne, Essais, i, 3.
[79] P. 50, l. 14. Solomon.—Considered by Pascal as the author of Ecclesiastes.
[80] P. 50, l. 20. Unconscious of approaching fever.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, i, 19.
[81] P. 50, l. 22. Cromwell.—Cromwell died in 1658 of a fever, and not of the gravel. The Restoration took place in 1660, and this fragment was written about that date.
[82] P. 50, l. 28. The three hosts.—Charles I was beheaded in 1649; Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated in 1654; Jean Casimir, King of Poland, was deposed in 1656.[Pg 277]
[83] P. 50, l. 32. Macrobius.—A Latin writer of the fifth century. He was a Neo-Platonist in philosophy. One of his works is entitled Saturnalia.
[84] P. 51, l. 5. The great and the humble, etc.—See Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[85] P. 53, l. 5. Miton.—A man of fashion in Paris known to Pascal.
