Pope Clement IX

As a preface to the volume, Madame Perier drew up the life of Pascal, which has usually been prefixed to the various editions of the work.

This life seems to have been written soon after Pascal's death, but it was not until 1668, when Pope Clement IX, as was supposed, had put an end to the disputes respecting Jansenism and made the peace of the Church, that they undertook to put the fragments in order.

The principal part in this undertaking was assumed by the Duc de Roannes, assisted by Arnaud, Nicole, and others.

It was agreed that nothing should be published that would be likely to stir up any of the controversies between the Jansenists and Jesuits.

In 1664, both houses were laid under interdict.

In May 1666, de Sacy was arrested and sent to the Bastille, where he completed the revision of his translation of the Bible, 1668.

In 1669, Clement IX, a man of peaceful disposition, issued a brief of reconciliation known as the Pacification of Clement IX.

A great change instantly took place.

Louis Lemaitre was assisted in the work by his brother, and the translation was improved by Arnaud and Nicole.

Pope Clement IX described the work as rash, pernicious, different from the vulgate, and containing many stumbling blocks for the unlearned.

When confined in the Bastille, Lemaitre and his friend Nicolas Fontaine wrote Les Figures de la Bible, which work is usually attributed to the latter author.

According to the Jesuits, the Port Royalists are represented under the figure of David, their antagonists as Saul.