Estienne de La Roche

“ Seven is a number of great prerogative and singularity, as St. Augustine says in the thirty-first chapter of the aforesaid book. Because of its composition which is triple, for first it is composed of 1 and of 6, which are of so great perfection as is said above. Or of 3 and 4, which are of so great dignity and estimation. Or of 2 and 5, which are of so great utility and commodity. And because in its composition it contains so many numbers worthy, perfect, and of great excellence. God, the Creator, regards it in his most admirable works. ”

“ There are three enemies of the soul, to wit: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Man sins in three ways, to wit: with heart, with word, and with deed. Man may offend three things, to wit: God, himself, and his neighbor. God has disposed all things by number, by weight, and by measure. ”

“ There is also another perfection, because there are six transcendent principles, to wit: one, good, true, thing, something, and being. And for these great perfections and dignities, the Creator regards it in his works, for he created everything in six days. ”

“ And we think that after unity more things are found constituted by two than by any superior number.
"Three is the most worthy and most perfect, after one, that is among the numbers. Thus, as says almost every one's maxim, Omne trinum perfectum (Every trine is perfect) . And the perfection does not proceed by the composition of it, as it does of six. But by the great and high mysteries that are found in this number. And first, it has pleased God, the Creator, to be trine in persons. ”

“ And then, as many passions as the human body suffers, such as joy and sadness, hope and fear, hunger and thirst, heat and cold, drinking and eating, sleeping and waking, health and sickness, living and dying, and all relative qualities are also constituted in duplicity, as creator and creature, parent and son, creating and created, producing and produced, abstract and concrete, etc. ”

“ ONE of the earliest French mathematical books is the arithmetic of Étienne de la Roche, in which, the title-page states, are given tables of different accounts, with their canons, calculated by Gilles Huguetan, native of Lyons: "in which may easily be found the accounts all made, as well of purchases as of sales, of all kinds of merchandise. ”