Poland’s Past

To the Editors:

In case other readers had not already sent you such a remark, may I state that the epigraph of Martin Malia’s excellent article on Poland [NYR, September 29, 1983, p. 18], which in French reads “il est inutile d’espérer pour entreprendre ni de réussir pour persévérer” was the motto of William the Silent, the Dutch hero of the independence struggle against Philip II of Spain. Pascal’s register seems to me rather different.

Elisabeth Labrousse

Paris, France