himself, it thence followeth that, by how much the more a man forgets himself, he has so much the more noble and exact regard to himself. Thus, by an admirable kind of competition, the more a man denies himself, the more he seeks himself; the more he is emptied of himself, the more he is filled with God. To relinquish God is to embrace nothing.'

Such was the theology and religion of the Port Royal; such that of Pascal and his associates.

Unspeakable benefit will accrue to the protestant church if these sentiments be deeply pondered.

Upon these grounds, and others allied to them, we rejoice in this publication of Mr. Faugère's.

We shall now give a brief account of its contents.

VOL. I.-An Introduction, detailing many particulars of Pascal's personal and family history; and concerning his writings, particularly the Fragments: 87 pages.

Letters, from 1648 to 1661;-to his sisters and other relatives, to the Duchess de Roannez, and to the Marchioness de Sablé.-One of these Letters, the fourth, addressed to Mr. Périer, his brother-in-law, on the death of their father, the elder Pascal, and which Professor Vinet calls The great letter,' had been in part transfused into the older editions of the Thoughts, forming chap. xxx. of Part I., ed. 1679; and in Bossut's, vol. ii., art. xviii.; Par. 1812. All the other Letters were till now unpublished.

A Prayer, imploring the right use of illness: 12 pages.-This has been published in the editions of the Thoughts, even those of Condorcet and Voltaire; but in no edition that we have seen is it properly distinguished from the series of the Thoughts: it is inserted as a section or article, and is thus liable to be overlooked. It is indeed a wondrous composition-the union of profoundness, sublimity, and originality in thought, with the utmost simplicity of expression. It is what Dr. Owen recommends,-meditation in the presence of God, and directed in devout address to Him; very similar to the pattern of heavenly meditation in Mr. Baxter's Saints' Everlasting Rest. How painful, that such men as Voltaire and Condorcet could read and edit this utterance of intellect and divine affection, and not be melted into penitence and faith!

Essay on the Conversion of a Sinner: 7 pages.-Written when Pascal was about twenty-three years of age, and first published by the Abbé Bossut, in 1779.

Preface to a Dissertation on the Doctrine of a Vacuum. First published by Bossut.-The Dissertation does not exist. A Discourse on the Passions of Love; i. e., the Modifications of Sexual Love as subsisting between Virtuous People: 15 pages.

Of its genuineness there is no doubt. It was published not long ago, but imperfectly, in the Révue des Deux Mondes, of which we think that Professor Cousin is the editor. If ever other love than divine was worthy of the immortality of our nature, it is that of which the passions-that is to say, the interior movements-are here described.'-Vinet.

(De l'Esprit Géométrique') On Geometrical Reasoning: 30 pages. First published, very defectively, by Condorcet; more completely by Bossut, in 1779.

On the Art of Persuading: 19 pages. Having a connexion of affinity with the next preceding. They appear to be unfinished portions of a treatise on the application of geometrical reasoning to other subjects. There are passages in the Port Royal Logic which manifestly had their source in these fragments. First published by Desmolets, in Contin. Mem. de Littér., v. ii., about 1720.

(Pensées Diverses') Miscellaneous Thoughts: 79 pages. Some are in the old editions, but by far the greater part are from the unpublished MSS.

Solemn Act of Faith and Self-Dedication.-Found sewed up in Pascal's waistcoat after his death. First published by Condorcet, who profanely calls it 'A mystic charm.'

Profession of Faith: 2 pages.-We believe it is in the old editions, but cannot find it.

Thoughts on Eloquence and Style: 18 pages.-Scattered in disorder through the former editions, but many are from the MSS.

6

Thoughts and Notes relative to the Jesuits, the Jansenists, and the Provincial Letters: 249 pages. Of great interest: almost all from the MSS. 'With feelings of the liveliest interest,' says Mr. Fauger, we discovered these hitherto unknown sketches, these rapid conceptions, hurrying forth pell-mell under the first inspiration of genius, soon to become the first work [le chef-d'œuvre] of our language.' Vinet adds, Who does not partake of these emotions? Pascal, speaking to and for himself, questioning himself upon his own thoughts, is here more lively, if it could be, than in the finished work. It is the melted gold flowing pure out of the furnace. Bursts of thought which could not be put into a book, are here brought to light after the burial of two hundred years. We are taken into the great artist's work-room [atélier], and, in a thousand scattered pieces of the marble, we see, at the first glance, the finest passages of Pascal's chef-d'œuvre; such, the inimitable stroke of his chisel.'

Thoughts on the Pope and the Church: 38 pages.-Almost all from the MSS.

Recollections of Conversations with M. Pascal, from the pens

of his sister and her daughter, Fontaine, and Nicole: 40 pages. Published in portions in 1728, &c.

Appendix of Letters by different persons, and other Elucidatory Papers.

VOL. II. This is entirely taken up with the Great Collection: 404 pages; and an Appendix of Documents: 23 pages.

Fragments of a Defence of Christianity; or, Thoughts upon Religion.

General Preface; subsequent Variations and Notes. All by Pascal.

PART I.-The Ruin and Wretchedness of Man without God; or, the Self-Corruption of Human Nature.-Preface.-Mental Dissipations. Deceptive Influences. (Des Puissances trompeuses. There is eloquence in this very combination of words.'-Vinet.) Differences of Men.-Greatness and Wretchedness of Man.Philosophic Systems.

PART II.-Happiness of Man with God.-Scripture Doctrine of the Redeemer.-Preface.-Unbelievers ignorant of real Goodness.-Characters of the true Religion.-Means of attaining Faith: Reason; human authority; inspiration.—The Jews.Miracles.- Types.- Prophecy.-JESUS CHRIST: Mystery of Jesus.-The Christian Religion.-On the Method and Arrangement of the Projected Treatise.

Omissions.-Insulated Citations.-Appendix.

The transposition of the articles contained in this volume renders it impossible for us to compare them with the correspondent ones in the former editions, without an enormous sacrifice of time. So many are marked as being now for the first time published, that we estimate the new matter as about equal to the old. 'But,' says Mr. Vinet, 'nothing is lost all that is retrenched [of the old editions] is found in other places; and if the work has less of the air of a book than those editions, it is, in reality, far better arranged, and evidently discloses much better Pascal's plan. It has been generally taken for granted that the first editors had conformed their arrangement, as exactly as was possible, to the author's intentions: but Mr. Faugère's labours have proved that this is a mistake.' He has restored the actual titles, written by the author at the head of very many of the fragments. These are of great value, for they not merely indicate principal divisions of the proposed work, but they very often explain, by condensing, the precise meaning and aim of a passage.

The diligence and labour of Mr. Faugère have evidently been extremely great. His numerous Notes cast light upon the vast variety of facts and circumstances alluded to in the text; and

tacit references to books, particularly the Essays of Montaigne. *

The printing and paper are beautiful; and, if our ill-natured law did not prohibit our annexing the price at Paris, our rea. ders would call the work cheap. There are three excellently engraved fac-similia plates; one, the signature of Pascal at three epochs of his life; another, a leaf of the manuscript of the Provincial Letters; and the third, a portrait, being a facsimile of a singularly beautiful chalk drawing, made by the elder Mr. Domat, on the inside of one of the boards in a copy of the Corpus Juris Civilis, when his friend was about twentyfive years old. This copy of the Corpus Juris Civilis was discovered a few years ago, at the bottom of an old chest, upon the death of its possessor, a lady, the last of the family of Domat. It has since passed into the library of Mr. Feligonde de Villeneuve, a magistrate of Riom; who gladly enabled Mr. Faugère to publish this accurate fac-simile.

Art. VI. The Chimes: a Goblin Story of some bells that rang an old year out and new year in By Charles Dickens. London: Chapman and Hall.

Mr. DICKENS is not unmindful of the seasons, however others may be. Last year he provided 'A Christmas Carol' for the entertainment of his friends, and a right good 'Carol' it was: and this year he presents in the small and elegant volume before us, 'A Goblin Story,' which will be read with avidity by the old and the young, the rich, and, so far as their means permit, the

That there were qualities in the mind of Montaigne, very likely to attract Pascal by the force of affinity, cannot be doubted. The former directed his lively and acute energies exclusively to one object, man. He says, 'I study myself more than any other subject. This is my metaphysic; this my natural philosophy. His known character of scepticism might furnish occasion for the attribution to Pascal of a similar predilection. We cite a passage from Dugald Stewart, which merits consideration, both on account of its immediate subject and because its reference to Pascal's bosom-friends, the Port Royal confraternity, suggests a probable conjecture upon the revolting of his superior mind against the lively but shallow scepticism of Montaigne.-'After all, however, it may be fairly questioned, notwithstanding the scrupulous fidelity with which Montaigne has endeavoured to delineate his own portrait, if [whether] he has been always sufficiently aware of the secret folds and reduplications of the human heart. That he was by no means exempted from the common delusions of self-love and self-deceit, has been fully evinced in a very acute, though somewhat uncharitable, section of the Port Royal Logic. But this consideration, so far from diminishing the value of his Essays, is one of the most instructive lessons they afford to those who, after the example of the author, may undertake the salutary but humiliating task of self-examination.'-Prelim. Dissert, to the Encylop. Britann. p. 50.

DICKENS'S CHIMES.

poor also. There are few men who can so successfully work out an effective tale from slender materials. His graphic powers are unsurpassed. A suggestion, a mere hint, suffices for his purpose: there is no elaboration needed, no long array of personages or complexity of plot. A sentence, or even a word, an old church, a wretched dwelling, a garret or a cellar, a pampered menial, or a half starved and trembling beggar accomplishes his design. He sets before us, without apparent effort, in all the distinctness and vivid colouring of actual life, the scene or the character which he wishes to describe. We behold the street, the wretched court, the dilapidated staircase, the cold and unfurnished garret to which he introduces us, or talk and exchange looks with the persons whom he brings on the stage. The truthfulness of his sketches is not outward and superficial. It descends to the inner man, embraces the qualities of the individual, and sets him before us in all the minute, as well as the more prominent features of his person and character. This constitutes a leading element in the popularity of Mr. Dickens, and is illustrated in several instances in the volume before us.

The tale is simple, and its incidents are quickly told, but the reader is kept in suspense by a machinery not quite to our mind, nor perfectly consistent in our judgment with the character of the party concerned. We are soon introduced to an old church, between whose chimes and Toby Veck, an elderly ticketporter, a certain fellowship has long existed. These parties act a prominent part, and of the latter the following graphic sketch is given :

'The wind came tearing round the corner-especially the east wind— as if it had sallied forth, express, from the confines of the earth, to have a blow at Toby. And often-times it seemed to come upon him sooner than it had expected, for bouncing round the corner, and passing Toby, it would suddenly wheel round again, as if it cried, Why, here he is!' Incontinently his little white apron would be caught up over his head like a naughty boy's garments, and his feeble little cane would be seen to wrestle and struggle unavailingly in his hand, and his legs would undergo tremendous agitation, and Toby himself all aslant, and facing now in this direction, now in that, would be so banged and buffeted, and touzled, and worried, and hustled, and lifted off his feet, as to render it a state of things but one degree removed from a positive miracle, that he wasn't carried up bodily into the air as a colony of frogs or snails or other portable creatures sometimes are, and rained down again, to the great astonishment of the natives, on some strange corner of the world where ticket-porters are unknown.

• But windy weather, in spite of its using him so roughly, was after all, a sort of holiday for Toby. That's the fact. He didn't seem to wait so long for a sixpence in the wind, as at other times; for the having to fight with that boisterous element took off his attention, and quite freshened him up, when he was getting hungry and low-spirited,