It  leads  them  to  startling  conclusions  on
the  subject  of  discipline,  it  makes  them
memorable  reformers  in  matters  of  instruc-
tion. The  Jesuits  had  substituted  for  the-
old  monas^ic~?etgime  of  incessant  punish-
ment, mainly  corporal,  an  elaborate  system
of  rewards.  Appeal  to  the  spirit  of  emu-
lation was,  in  fact,  a  leading  principle  of
the  Jesuit  schoolmaster.  The  Port- Roy-
alists, on  the  other  hand,  thought  of  this
spirit  as  a  relic  of  the  old  Adam.  A
striking  sentence  in  Pascal's  Pensees  shows
us  how  he  was  alive  at  once  to  the  beauty
of  the  Port- Royal  theory,  and  to  the  dan-
ger in  its  practice :  'L'admiration  gate
tout  des  1'enfance.  Oh  !  que  cela  est  bien
dit !  qu'il  a  bien  fait !  qu'il  est  sage  !  Les
enfants  de  Port-Royal,  auxquels  on  ne
donne  point  cet  aiguillon  d'envie  et  de
gloire,  tombent  dans  la  nonchalance.'  Dis-
cipline supported  by  little  punishment  and
no  rewards — this  seeming  like  a  counsel


JANSENISTS   (THE)


of  perfection.  Yet  Pascal's  hint  at  the
failure  in  practice  is  not,  so  far  as  we  know,
borne  out  by  the  facts  of  the  case.  In
•estimating  its  probabilities,  too,  it  must  be
remembered  that  there  were  never  at  one
time,  and  perhaps  not  in  the  whole  sixteen
or  seventeen  years  during  which  the  schools
lasted,  more  than  fifty  pupils ;  that  each
teacher  seems  to  have  been  responsible  for
only  six  pupils ;  and,  above  all,  that  Port-
Royalist  scholars,  as  well  as  teachers,  were
choice  spirits  :  the  pupils  were  sent  to
these  schools  on  no  conventional  grounds,
but  because  their  parents  believed  in  the
system.
Yet  even  more  interesting  than  the  dis-
cipline is  the  instruction  of  these  teachers.
